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510 • Conclusion and Appendices
women who followed Jesus and
were taught by him while he was
alive, and who, following Jesus’
death, Resurrection, and Ascension,
formed the Church with the
Apostles and helped spread the
Good News, or Gospel message.
Contemporary members of the
Church, as followers of Jesus, can
also be referred to as disciples.
DIVINE FILIATION:
An effect of
Baptism and Confirmation: becom-
ing adopted sons and daughters
of God, participating in God’s life
and love.
DIVINE PERSON:
The term used
to describe the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit in their relation to and
distinction from one another within
the unity of the Trinity. Each of the
three divine Persons is God in one
divine nature.
DIVINE PROVIDENCE:
God’s lov-
ing care and concern for all he has
made; he continues to watch over
creation, sustaining its existence
and presiding over its development
and destiny.
DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH:
A person from any era in Church
history whose sanctity and writings
have had a profound influence on
theological and spiritual thought.
A person is declared a Doctor by
the Pope.
DOCTRINE/DOGMA:
The
name given to divinely revealed
truths proclaimed or taught by the
Church’s Magisterium; the faithful
are obliged to believe these truths.
DOMESTIC CHURCH:
“The
Christian home is the place where
children receive the first proclama-
tion of the faith. For this reason the
family is rightly called ‘the domestic
church,’ a community of grace and
prayer, a school of human virtues
and of Christian charity” (CCC, no.
1666).
DOXOLOGY:
The name given to
a prayer of Trinitarian adoration
in which the three Persons of the
Trinity are invoked.
-E-
EASTER:
The annual celebration of
the Resurrection of Jesus.
EASTERN CHURCHES AND
WESTERN CHURCHES:
The
Eastern Churches originated in that
region of the world that was at one
time part of the Eastern Roman
Empire. These churches possess
their own distinctive traditions
that may be seen in their liturgy,
theology, and law. The Western