| Index of Catholic Terminology |
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F
Faculties: The right a priest has to exercise his priestly office within the diocese.
Faith: Ultimately, trust in God and his Son as the Divine Savor. The act of spiritual and intellectual assent to a revealed truth of God with the assistance of divine grace.
Faithful: Those persons who profess their faith; all those who are members of the Church by baptism and profession of faith.
Falda: A white silk garment having a train, worn by the Pope over his cassock at solemn occasions.
False Decretals: A collection of documents anonymously compiled under the name of Isidorus Mercator, containing Apostolic canons and letters of the popes and pronouncements of the councils, and which was published in the ninth century. This collection is in great part a forgery.
Fasting : Fasting is the activity whereby a person restricts the amount of food eaten to only one full meat per day. It can be in the context of a special time in that person's life, perhaps a retreat or an intense period of prayer. The Church requires all adult members in good health to fast on Good Friday as a penitential action and invites this fasting to continue into the day on Holy Saturday as a joyful preparation for the celebration of Easter. The "Communion Fast" is when Catholics also Fast before receiving Communion by abstaining from food or drink one hour before receiving Holy Communion.
Fear of God: To be in awe of God.
Feast Day:A day of special solemnity within the Church.
Ferial: Pertaining to weekdays.
Fire, blessing of: The first ceremony of Holy Saturday which is the blessing of fire, from which the paschal candle and sanctuary lights are lit.
First Friday: See "Sacred Heart".
Flagellants: Certain fanatical groups who made a practice of scourging themselves in common; the group of those practicing the lashing of their bodies in penance. They became heretical and as such last appeared about the fifteenth century. Public penance or in common, is against the wish and will of the Church.
Focolare: A lay movement started in Trent, Italy by Chiara Lubich in 1943, now claiming more than a million followers. Its aim is world unity though the living witness of Christian love and holiness in the family and in small communities.
Font:A basin or bowl in a Church used for the Baptismal water.
Forty Hours Devotion: A devotion to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for a forty hours duration. Also referred to as "Forty Hours Prayer" or "Forty Hours Adoration."
Fra: A title of address for a friar or monk, a shortened form of frate, brother.
Franciscans: The religious order following the rule of St. Francis of Assisi, established by him in the thirteenth century; friars minors; sometimes referred to as the Seraphic Order. The followers were divided into two groups, conventuals and observantines; at a later date the Capuchins, the recollects, and Alcantarines were also formed as branches. Among the sisters, the Order of Poor Clares follow the rule which was given to St. Clare by St. Francis as the Second Order. A third order of Franciscans whose membership is composed of the laity or diocesan clergy who wish to dedicate their lives to observances of penance and religious practice was formed; these are known as tertiaries.
Frankincense: One of the three gifts offered to the Christ Child by the Magi. A resin used in making incense; an incense of fine quality. Frankincense is the main ingredient, boswellia carteri, of the incense used in today's liturgies. A resin produced by a family of desert trees that grow in southern Arabia, it is derived from a sap that dries, forming crystalline lumps of an amber/gold color. For Christians, it has a rich prayer and purification symbolism. From earliest Christian days, it has been associated with Christ, beginning with the magi gift (Mt 2.10-11). Even before that, the Jews regarded its rich spicey scent as a pure offering, pleasing to God. Even beyond Judeo-Christian circles, frankincense has been prized for centuries in Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Rome not only as a way to honor gods, but as a medicine, and as a base for perfume.
Free Will: The faculty or capability of making a reasonable choice from among several alternatives.
Friar: A member of the so called mendicant religious orders. The chief mendicant orders are: the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians.
Friary: A residence for friars.
Friday Penance :In commemoration of the sufferings of Christ, Catholics may perform some act of self-denial every Friday. This used to take the form of abstaining from meat, but now Catholics may choose one of several forms of self-denial.
Fruits of the Holy Spirit: Twelve virtues related to the work of the Holy Spirit in People. They are: charity, faith, joy, peace, goodness, patience, benignity, longanimity, mildness, modesty, continence, and chastity.
Funeral: The last rites (Liturgy / Mass) as prescribed in the Roman ritual for the soul of a departed person and the internment of the body. The Mass is properly called The Mass of the Resurrection.
Fundamentalists: Generally refers to those who adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Fundamental Option: The life choice a person makes toward or away from God; this life choice is reinforced by a pattern of behavior.
