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Tabernacle
- A cupboard or boxlike receptacle for the exclusive
reservation of the Blessed Sacrament. In early Christian times the
sacred species was reserved in the home because of possible
persecution. Later dove-shaped tabernacles were suspended by chains
before the altar. Nowadays tabernacles may be round or rectangular
and made of wood, stone, or metal. They are covered with a veil and
lined with precious metal or silk, with a corporal beneath the
ciboria or other sacred vessels. According to the directive of the
Holy See, since the Second Vatican Council, tabernacles are always
solid and inviolable and located in the middle of the main altar or
on a side altar, but always in a truly prominent place (Eucharisticum
Mysterium, May 25, 1967, II, C).
Temperance
- The virtue that moderates the desire for pleasure. In the
widest sense, temperance regulates every form of enjoyment that
comes from the exercise of a human power or faculty, e.g., purely
spiritual joy arising from intellectual activity or even the
consolations experienced in prayer and emotional pleasure produced
by such things as pleasant music or the sight of a beautiful scene.
In the strict sense, however, temperance is the correlative of
fortitude. As fortitude controls rashness and fear in the face of
the major pains that threaten to unbalance human nature, so
temperance controls desire for major pleasures. Since pleasure
follows from all natural activity, it is most intense when
associated with our most natural activities. On the level of sense
feeling, they are the pleasures that serve the individual person
through food and drink, and the human race through carnal
intercourse. Temperance mainly refers to these appetites.
Temporary Vow
- A commitment made to God to practice poverty, chastity,
obedience, or some other virtue for a specified length of time. When
made in a religious institute, the vows are public, being accepted
by the superior in the name of the Church. The first vows of
religion are generally temporary, to be renewed according to the
constitutions and preliminary to perpetual vows. But they do not,
therefore, imply only a temporary commitment. They are canonically
temporary, so that after they expire the one who made them is free
to leave the institute of Christian perfection. But intentionally,
even the person who takes only temporary vows should have the desire
to persevere in the vowed commitment until death.
Temptation
- Solicitation to sin, whether by persuasion or offering some
pleasure. It may arise from the world, the flesh, or the devil.
Temptation from the world is the attractiveness of bad example and
the psychological pressure to conform. Temptations from the flesh
are all the urges of concupiscence, whether carnal or spiritual,
where man's fallen nature has built-in tendencies to the seven
capital sins. Demonic temptations arise from instigations of the
evil spirit, whose method is to encourage every form of avarice or
selfishness, in order to lead one to pride, and through pride to all
other sins.
Ten Commandments - Also called the Decalogue, they are the divinely revealed precepts received by Moses on Mount Sinai. Engraved on two tablets of stone, they occur in two versions in the Bible. The earlier form (Exodus 20:1-17) differs from the later (Deuteronomy 5:6-18) in two ways. It gives a religious motive, instead of a humanitarian one, for observing the Sabbath; and in prohibiting avarice, it classes a man's wife along with the rest of his possessions, instead of separately. With the exception of forbidding graven images and statues and the precept about the Sabbath, the Ten Commandments are an expression of the natural law. More or less extensive sections of the Decalogue are found in the laws of other ancient people. However, the Ten Commandments excel the moral codes of other religious systems in their explicit monotheism, their doctrine of God's awesome majesty and boundless goodness, and their extension of moral obligation down to the most intimate and hidden desires of the human heart. The following is a standard Catholic expression of the Ten Commandments:
© Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Thaddeus
- Courageous’ One of the twelve Apostles, also called
Jude; he is also called Lebbaeus. He is the author of one of
Catholic Epistles. In all four lists of the Apostles, the name of
Thaddeus is always associated with that of Simon and the Cananean,
or Zealot.
Theological
virtue - The supernaturally infused “good habits” of
faith, hope and charity, having God as their object and motive.
Faith enables one to accept the truths revealed by God on the basis
of His authority; hope allows on to anticipate eternal life by
trusting in God and His grace; charity impels one to love God,
oneself and others for His sake. Acts of faith, hope and charity
assist one in growing in holiness and in becoming more cooperative
by obeying God and His plan.
Theology - Literally "the science of God," used by the Stoics in the third century B.C. to describe a reasoned analysis of the deity. Earlier uses were more naturalistic. Thus, Plato in the Republic and Aristotle in his Metaphysics called Homer, Hesiod, and Orpheus theologians because they first determined the genealogies and attributes of the gods.
With the advent of Christianity,
theology came to mean what its etymology suggested, and was defined
by St. Augustine as "reasoning or discourse about the divinity."
Through the patristic age to the period of the Schoolmen, this
remained the acceptable generic meaning. Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
is credited with first having used the tern in its modern
connotation. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) defended theology as a
science because it investigates the contents of belief by means of
reason enlightened by faith (fides quaerens intellectum), in
order to acquire a deeper understanding or revelation. He also
distinguished theology proper from "natural theology" or what
Gottfried Leibniz later called "theodicy," which studies God as
knowable by reason alone and independent of divine authority. Since
the thirteenth century the term has been applied to the whole study
of revealed truth and gradually replaced its rival synonyms.
Theophany
- (biblical). A direct communication or appearance by God to human
beings. Instances: God confronting Adam and Eve after their
disobedience (Genesis 3:8); God appearing to Moses out of a burning
bush (Exodus 3:2-6); Abraham pleading with Yahweh to be merciful to
Sodomites (Genesis 18:23). These theophanies were temporary
manifestations. They were not like the Incarnation, which, though it
began in time, will continue for all eternity.
Theotokos
- Mother of God. A term canonized by the Council of Ephesus (A.D.
431) in defense of Mary's divine maternity, against Nestorius, who
claimed that she was only the mother of the man Christ (Christotokos).
Thessalonians,
First and Second Letters to
the - Two letters written by St. Paul to the Christians of the
city of Thessalonica. Both were written from Corinth about A.D. 51.
In the first, St. Paul sets the people's minds at rest about the
fate of the righteous dead. They are alive and at the Second Coming
of Christ will rise in their glorified bodies. In the second letter,
the Apostle admonishes the new converts to be steadfast in the faith
in spite of false teachers who are trying to seduce them
Thomas,
Saint - ‘twin’ One of the twelve Apostles whose
equivalent Greek name was Didymus. Thomas is mentioned specifically
in connection with a number of events as related in the Gospel of
John. He is observed as wholeheartedly devoted and loyal to Jesus;
wiling to die for Him if they occasion demanded it. However, his
skepticism in questioning the Resurrection of Christ merited for him
the title of “doubting Thomas.” We posses no other certain facts
regarding his later life, but there are many legends concerning his
work and martyrdom in India.
Thurible
- A medal vessel capable of holding burning charcoal. When
incense is added to the burning charcoal, it produces rising smoke,
which signifies prayer ascending to heaven. A thurible can be used
as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the recitation of the Divine
Office and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It also goes by
the name of a censer.
Timothy
- A young man of Lystra, born of a mixed marriage. His
father was Greek, and his mother was Jewish. When Paul visited
Lystra on his second missionary journey Timothy was highly
recommended to him as a disciple of considerable influence in the
Church and well instructed in the Sacred Scriptures. Timothy was
then sent on many difficult missions as Paul’s representative, and
became one of the greatest promoters of the Gospel.
Timothy,
First Letter to
- The first of two New
Testament letters addressed by St. Paul to Timothy, who had
oversight of the Churches in Macedonia. Along with 2 Timothy and
the letter to Titus 1 Timothy is considered one of the Pastoral
Epistles, addressed not to a local Church or the universal Church
but to an individual to provide instruction for the execution of
pastoral duties. In 1 Timothy, St. Paul warns Timothy of the danger
of false teachers who propound erroneous doctrines about the
authentic role of the old law for Christians (1:1-20), and instructs
him about liturgy, women’s roles and the selection of ministers. The
letter presents a set of instructions to guide Timothy in a number
of areas.
Timothy,
Second Letter to
- The second of two New
Testament letters addressed by St. Paul to Timothy who had oversight
of the Churches of Macedonia. This pastoral epistle continues the
line of thought initiated in 1 Timothy concerning the dangers of
false teachers. The letter commends endurance and steadfastness in
suffering.
Titus,
Letter to - A letter of St. Paul to Titus, a
native of Antioch who became one of the apostle's faithful
companions. Paul wrote after Titus became Bishop of Crete, and
instructed him about the heresies, mainly Gnosticism, that he had to
combat, and about methods of church organization. The letter was
written as Paul was on his way East after his first imprisonment in
Rome.
Tobit,
The book of - An Old Testament book
concerned particularly with the problems and tribulations of life in
the Diaspora (non-Palestinian areas inhabited by Jews). The message
of the books is that God will heal and protect those who are pious
and compassionate. While Tobit is part of the Catholic (and Eastern
Orthodox) Bible, it does not appear in the Jewish or Protestant
canons.
Torah
- 1. the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; 2. the entire body of
Jewish law revealed by Yahweh and interpreted and taught by priests,
prophets, and sages.
Transfiguration
- The appearance of Christ in His divine glory on the summit
of a mountain. This event took place about a week after Christ had
promised the primacy to Peter at Caesarea Philippi and had foretold
His Passion and Death. Peter, James and John were witnesses to this
great manifestation, which was further enhanced by the appearance of
Moses and Elijah, conversing with Christ about His approaching
death. When Moses and Elijah began to withdraw, a great cloud
enveloped Christ and the voice of His Father from heaven declared
the supremacy of His glorified Son. The site of the Transfiguration
may have been Mt. Hermon, a short distance north of Caesarea, or
more likely Mt. Tabor (or Thabor) in southern Galilee.
Transubstantiation
- The complete change of the substance of bread and wine into
the substance of Christ's body and blood by a validly ordained
priest during the consecration at Mass, so that only the accidents
of bread and wine remain. While the faith behind the term was
already believed in apostolic times, the term itself was a later
development. With the Eastern Fathers before the sixth century, the
favored expression was meta-ousiosis "change of being"; the
Latin tradition coined the word transubstantiatio, "change of
substance," which was incorporated into the creed of the Fourth
Lateran Council in 1215. The Council of Trent, in defining the
"wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the
bread into the body, and the whole substance of the wine into the
blood" of Christ, added "which conversion the Catholic Church calls
transubstantiation" (Denzinger 1652). After transubstantiation, the
accidents of bread and wine do not inhere in any subject or
substance whatever. Yet they are not make-believe; they are
sustained in existence by divine power.
Tribunal
- Ecclesiastical court of justice, established both in Rome
and in each diocese. There are three Roman tribunals: the Sacred
Apostolic Penitentiary, Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura,
and the Sacred Roman Rota. Diocesan tribunals are mainly concerned
with marriage cases, and their officers, judges, and members are
listed in national Catholic directories.
Tridentine Mass
- The Eucharistic liturgy celebrated in the Latin Rite
according to the Roman Missal promulgated by the apostolic
constitution Quo Primum of Pope Pius V on July 14, 1570. A
revised missal was decreed by the Council of Trent in order to unify
what by then had become a variety of "Roman Rites" that had
proliferated since the Middle Ages. "For four centuries it furnished
the priests of the Latin Rite with norms for the celebration of the
Eucharistic Sacrifice, and heralds of the Gospel carried it to
almost all the world" (Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution,
promulgating the Roman Missal revised by decree of the Second
Vatican Council, April 3, 1969).
Triduum
- A period of three days of prayer, either preceding some
special feast or preparing for some major enterprise. Commemorates
the biblical three days that Christ lay in the tomb.
Trinity,
Blessed - A term used since A.D. 200 to denote the
central doctrine of the Christian religion. God, who is one and
unique in his infinite substance or nature, is three really distinct
persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The one and only God Is
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yet God the Father is not
God the Son, but generates the Son eternally, as the Son is
eternally begotten. The Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the
Son, but a distinct person having his divine nature from the Father
and the Son by eternal procession. The three divine persons are
co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial and deserve co-equal glory
and adoration.
Trust
- Reliance on someone. One has confidence in people as
persons, trusts them to be faithful to their commitments, and hopes
to obtain from them what they promise. Applied to God, trust is a
form of hope, but with the special nuance that God will not deny his
grace to one who does what one can. This means that, provided a
person co-operates with divine grace according to his or her
ability, that person will merit further grace from God.
Truth
- Conformity of mind and reality. Three kinds of conformity
give rise to three kinds of truth. In logical truth, the mind
is conformed or in agreement with things outside the mind, either in
assenting to what is or in denying what is not. Its opposite is
error. In metaphysical or ontological truth, things
conform with the mind. This is primary conformity, when something
corresponds to the idea of its maker, and it is secondary conformity
when something is intelligible and therefore true to anyone who
knows it. In moral truth, what is said conforms with what is
on one's mind. This is truthfulness and its opposite is falsehood.
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