F

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Faber, Frederick William - Oratorian and devotional writer (1814-1863)
Fabian, Pope Saint - Biography of this pope who was martyred in 250
Fabiola, Saint - Divorced, remarried, widowed, penitent, renowned for her generosity. She died in 399 or 400
Façade - The face or front of any building. In ecclesiastical architecture the term is generally used to designate the west front; sometimes the transept fronts
Fact, Dogmatic - Any fact connected with a dogma and on which the application of the dogma to a particular case depends
Faculties, Canonical - In law, a faculty is the authority, privilege, or permission, to perform an act or function
Faculties of the Soul - Article covers the meaning and classification
Faith - In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word means essentially steadfastness. As signifying man's attitude towards God it means trustfulness or fiducia
Faith, Hope, and Charity (Saints) - Two groups of martyrs. The first were martyred along with their mother Sophia during the reign of Hadrian, and buried on the Aurelian Way. The second band, also along with someone named Sophia, were martyred at a later date, and buried along the Appian Way
Faith, The Rule of - The word rule (Lat. regula, Gr. kanon) means a standard by which something can be tested, and the rule of faith means something extrinsic to our faith, and serving as its norm or measure
Faithful, The - Those who have bound themselves to a religious association, whose doctrine they accept, and into whose rites they have been initiated. Among Christians the term is applied to those who have been fully initiated by baptism and, regularly speaking, by confirmation
Faldstool - A movable folding chair used in pontifical functions by the bishop outside of his cathedral, or within it if he is not at his throne or cathedra
Fallopio, Gabriello - Anatomist (1523-1562)
Falsity - A perversion of truth originating in the deceitfulness of one party, and culminating in the damage of another party
Family - In the classical Roman period the familia rarely included the parents or the children. Its English derivative was frequently used in former times to describe all the persons of the domestic circle, parents, children, and servants. Present usage, however, excludes servants
Fast - Abstinence from food or drink
Fatalism - The view which holds that all events in the history of the world, and, in particular, the actions and incidents which make up the story of each individual life, are determined by fate
Fate - Lat. fatum, from fari, to tell or predict
Fathers of the Church - The word Father is used in the New Testament to mean a teacher of spiritual things, by whose means the soul of man is born again into the likeness of Christ:
Fathers, The Apostolic - Christian writers of the first and second centuries who are known, or are considered, to have had personal relations with some of the Apostles, or to have been so influenced by them that their writings may be held as echoes of genuine Apostolic teaching
Fear (in Canon Law) - A mental disturbance caused by the perception of instant or future danger
Fear (from a Moral Standpoint) - Viewed from the moral standpoint, that is, in so far as it is a factor to be reckoned with in pronouncing upon the freedom of human acts, as well as offering an adequate excuse for failing to comply with positive law, particularly if the law be of human origin
Feast of Fools - A celebration marked by much license and buffoonery, which in many parts of Europe, and particularly in France, during the later middle ages took place every year on or about the feast of the Circumcision (1 Jan.)
Feasts, Ecclesiastical - Feast Days, or Holy Days, are days which are celebrated in commemoration of the sacred mysteries and events recorded in the history of our redemption, in memory of the Virgin Mother of Christ, or of His apostles, martyrs, and saints, by special services and rest from work
Febronianism - The politico-ecclesiastical system outlined by Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, Auxiliary Bishop of Trier, under the pseudonym Justinus Febronius
Felicitas, Saint - Roman martyr. Article explains how she and the seven martyrs who are called her sons have come to have different feast days
Felicitas and Perpetua, Saints - Martyred at Carthage in 203
Felix I, Pope Saint - The successor of Pope St. Dionysius, Felix died in 274. He is sometimes confused with a Roman martyr of the same name
Felix II - Pope (more properly Antipope), 355-358; d. 22 Nov., 365
Felix III (II), Pope Saint - Felix II was an antipope, irregularly imposed by the Arians while Pope Liberius was still alive, so St. Felix III is sometimes called Felix II. Pope St. Felix III was much involved in battling heresy, and died in 492
Felix IV (III), Pope Saint - Since Felix II was an antipope imposed by the Arians while Pope Liberius was still alive, St. Felix IV is sometimes called Felix III. Pope St. Felix IV died in 530
Felix V - Regnal name of Amadeus of Savoy, Antipope (1440-1449) (1383-1451)
Felix of Nola, Saint - Third-century confessor. Possibly the same as St. Felix of Nola, bishop and martyr
Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe- - French bishop and author, b. in the Chateau de Fenelon in Perigord (Dordogne), 6 August, 1651; d. at Cambrai, 7 January, 1715
Ferdinand III, Saint - King of Leon and Castile, Third Order Franciscan, d. 1252
Feria - A day on which the people, especially the slaves, were not obliged to work, and on which there were no court sessions
Ferrer, Saint Vincent - Biography of this Spanish-born Dominican missionary, who died in 1419
Fetishism - The word fetish is derived through the Portuguese feitico from the Latin factitius (facere, to do, or to make), signifying made by art, artificial (cf. Old English fetys in Chaucer)
Feudalism - The source of feudalism rises from an intermingling of barbarian usage and Roman law
Fiacre, Saint - Biography of this Irish priest and hermit, patron saint of gardeners, d. 670
Ficino, Marsilio - Entry on this Renaissance Platonist, by M. Schumacher. Details his life and explores his relation to the classical thinkers
Fideism - A philosophical term meaning a system of philosophy or an attitude of mind, which, denying the power of unaided human reason to reach certitude, affirms that the fundamental act of human knowledge consists in an act of faith, and the supreme criterion of certitude is authority
Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Saint - Former lawyer who joined the Capuchins, and was sent as a missionary to the Calvinists. Martyred in 1622
Filioque - It expresses the Procession of the Holy Ghost from both Father and Son as one Principle; and, it was the occasion of the Greek schism
Final Perseverance - The preservation of the state of grace till the end of life
Fioretti di San Francesco d'Assisi - Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi, the name given to a classic collection of popular legends about the life of St. Francis of Assisi and his early companions as they appeared to the Italian people at the beginning of the fourteenth century
Fire, Liturgical Use of - One of the most expressive and most ancient of liturgical symbols
Firmament - The notion that the sky was a vast solid dome seems to have been common among the ancient peoples
First-Born - The word, though casually taken in Holy Writ in a metaphorical sense, is most generally used by the sacred writers to designate the first male child in a family
First-Fruits - First-fruit offerings are designated in the Law by a threefold name: Bikkurim, Reshith, and Terumoth
Fish, Symbolism of the - The symbol itself may have been suggested by the miraculous multification of the loaves and fishes or the repast of the seven Disciples, after the Resurrection, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but its popularity among Christians was due principally, to the famous acrostic consisting of the initial letters of five Greek words forming the word for fish (Ichthys), which words briefly but clearly described the character of Christ and His claim to the worship of believers: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour
Fisherman, The Ring of the - Ring worn by the popes, with a representation of St. Peter in a boat on it
Fitzherbert, Maria Anne - Wife of King George IV; b. 26 July, 1756 (place uncertain); d. at Brighton, England, 29 March, 1837
Flabellum - A fan made of leather, silk, parchment, or feathers intended to keep away insects from the Sacred Species and from the priest
Flagellants - A fanatical and heretical sect that flourished in the thirteenth and succeeding centuries
Flagellation - Includes history and its use in scripture
Flanders - Designated in the eighth century a small territory around Bruges; it became later the name of the country bounded by the North Sea, the Scheldt, and the Canche
Flathead Indians - A name used in both Americas, without special ethnologic significance, to designate tribes practising the custom of compressing the skull in infancy by artificial means
Flavia Domitilla - A Christian Roman matron of the imperial family who lived towards the close of the first century
Flood of Noah - A catastrophe fully described in the Book of Genesis
Florence - Located in the province of Tuscany (Central Italy)
Florence, Council of - The Seventeenth Ecumenical Council was the continuation of the Council of Ferrara
Florida - The Peninsular or Everglade State, the most southern in the American Union and second largest east of the Mississippi
Fontevrault, Order and Abbey of - The monastery of Fontevrault was founded by Blessed Robert d'Arbrissel about the end of 1100
Fonts, Holy Water - Vessels intended for the use of holy water
Fools, Feast of - A celebration marked by much license and buffoonery, which in many parts of Europe, and particularly in France, during the later middle ages took place every year on or about the feast of the Circumcision (1 Jan.)
Forgery, Forger - The deliberate untruthfulness of an assertion, or in the deceitful presentation of an object, and is based on an intention to deceive and to injure while using the externals of honesty
Form - The original meaning of the term form, both in Greek and Latin, was and is that in common use - eidos, being translated, that which is seen, shape, etc., with secondary meanings derived from this, as form, sort, particular, kind, nature
Formosus, Pope - Reigned 891-896
Fortitude - One of the gifts from the Holy Ghost is a supernatural virtue
Fortunatus - Lengthy biographical article on the talented sixth-century poet and hymn-writer
Forty Hours' Devotion - Somewhat dated with regard to the liturgical details, but otherwise an accurate depiction. A eucharistic devotion
Foucault, Jean-Bertrand-Léon - A physicist and mechanician, b. at Paris, 19 Sept., 1819; d. there 11 Feb., 1868
Foundling Asylums - Under this title are comprised all institutions which take charge of infants whose parents or guardians are unable or unwilling to care for them
Four Masters, Annals of the - The most extensive of all the compilations of the ancient annals of Ireland
Foxe's Book of Martyrs - Protestant martyrology, from Wyclif to Cranmer, illustrated with woodcuts. The author was a controversialist sympathetic to John Knox
Fra Angelico - Biography of this Dominican, a famous painter, who died in 1455
France - Geography, statistics, and history
Frances of Rome, Saint - Wife and mother, Benedictine oblate, mystic, d. 1440
Francis I - King of France; b. at Cognac, 12 September, 1494; d. at Rambouillet, 31 March, 1547
Francis, Rule of Saint - As known, St. Francis founded three orders and gave each of them a special rule
Francis Borgia, Saint - Long essay on the dramatic life of the Duke of Gandia turned Jesuit
Francis de Sales, Saint - Biographical article on the Bishop of Geneva, and Doctor of the Church, who died in 1622
Francis of Assisi, Saint - Long article on St. Francis, founder, mystic, perhaps the most beloved Catholic saint of all
Francis of Paula, Saint - Founder of the Order of Minims, d. 1507
Francis Solanus, Saint - Spanish Franciscan missionary to South America, d. 1610. Short biographical article
Francis Xavier, Saint - Biographical article on one of the first Jesuits, and missionary to Asia, who died in 1552
Franciscan Crown - Also known as the Seraphic Rosary. Brief history, general description of how one prays this chaplet
Franciscan Order - An article on the history of the Franciscan order and its role within the Catholic Church
Franks, The - A confederation formed in Western Germany of a certain number of ancient barbarian tribes who occupied the right shore of the Rhine from Mainz to the sea. Their name is first mentioned by Roman historians in connection with a battle fought against this people about the year 241
Fraternal Correction - The admonishing of one's neighbor by a private individual with the purpose of reforming him or, if possible, preventing his sinful indulgence
Fraticelli - A name given to various heretical sects which appeared in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, principally in Italy
Fraud - In the common acceptation of the word, an act or course of deception deliberately practised with the view of gaining a wrong and unfair advantage
Frederick I (Barbarossa) - German King and Roman Emperor (1123-1190)
Frederick II - German King and Roman Emperor, son of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily; born 26 Dec., 1194; died at Fiorentina, in Apulia, 13 Dec., 1250
Free Will - The question of free will, moral liberty, or the liberum arbitrium of the Schoolmen, ranks amongst the three or four most important philosophical problems of all time
Freemasonry - An overview of Freemasonry and description of its condemnation by the Catholic Church
Free-Thinkers - Those who, abandoning the religious truths and moral dictates of the Christian Revelation, and accepting no dogmatic teaching on the ground of authority, base their beliefs on the unfettered findings of reason alone
French Academy, The - Founded by Cardinal de Richelieu in 1635
French Catholics in the United States - History and statistics of French Canadian immigration to the United States
French Concordat of 1801, The - This name is given to the convention of the 26th Messidor, year IX (July 16, 1802), whereby Pope Pius VII and Bonaparte, First Consul, re-established the Catholic Church in France
French Literature - Origin, foundations, and types
French Revolution - A view of its effect on the Church
Frequent Communion - Discusses the history and practice
Friar - A member of one of the mendicant orders
Friars Minor, Order of - History, traditions, and saints of the order
Friends, Society of - Quakers, an Anglo-American religious sect
Frontal, Altar - An appendage which covers the entire front of the altar, from the lower part of the table to the predella, and from the gospel corner to that of the epistle side
Fulda - This diocese of the German Empire takes its name from the ancient Benedictine abbey of Fulda
Funeral Pall - A black cloth usually spread over the coffin while the obsequies are performed for a deceased person