Parts of the Mass
What term refers to when the assembly pauses to acknowledge their sins and ask for God's mercy and forgiveness?
Penitential Act
In 1095, this Pope set the First Crusade in motion when he gave a fiery speech at the Council of Clermont, urging Western Christians to march east.
Pope Urban II
Preserved in Italy, this linen burial cloth bears the faint image of a crucified man and is perhaps the most famous and debated relic in the world.
Shroud of Turin
Michelangelo spent four years on scaffolding to paint the iconic ceiling of this chapel, the location where the College of Cardinals gathers to elect a new Pope.
Sistine Chapel
Known for his vow of strict poverty and deep love of nature, this Italian friar is said to have preached to birds and is now the patron saint of ecology.
St. Francis of Assisi
Promulgated by a church council in 325 AD, this specific profession of faith is the one most commonly recited on Sundays, expanding significantly on the shorter Apostles Creed.
Nicene Creed
The famous "Kings' Crusade" (the Third Crusade) was led by Philip II of France, Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire, and this English king known for his bravery.
Richard the Lionheart
Catholic relics are divided into three classifications. A bone, vial of blood, or strand of hair from a canonized saint belongs to which classification of relic.
First-Class Relic
Housed in St. Peter's Basilica, this 1499 marble masterpiece by Michelangelo depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus.
Pietà
Guided by mystical visions, this teenage peasant girl, known as the "Maid of Orléans," led French troops to victory in the Hundred Years' War before being martyred in 1431.
St. Joan of Arc
What term refers to an ancient, joyful hymn of praise sung or recited.
The Gloria
Though the First Crusade was officially led by nobles, it was preceded by an ill-fated "People's Crusade" led by a charismatic French priest known as Peter the...
Peter the Hermit
According to tradition, this 4th-century saint—the mother of Emperor Constantine—traveled to the Holy Land and discovered the True Cross.
Saint Helena
This Italian Baroque master, famous for his intense, shadowy technique called tenebrism, painted The Calling of St. Matthew for a Roman church.
Caravaggio
Known as the "Angelic Doctor," this 13th-century Dominican friar and philosopher synthesized Catholic doctrine with Aristotelian thought in his massive masterwork, the Summa Theologica.
St. Thomas Aquinas
This two-word Latin title for the "Lamb of God" is sung or recited while the priest breaks the consecrated bread.
Angus Dei
During the disastrous Fourth Crusade in 1204, the crusaders never actually made it to Jerusalem; instead, they ended up besieging and sacking this Christian, Byzantine capital.
Constantinople
Housed in a Naples cathedral, a vial of this 3rd-century martyred bishop's blood famously liquefies on specific feast days throughout the year.
Saint Januarius or San Gennaro
Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed this massive, 98-foot-tall sculpted bronze canopy that stands directly over the papal altar in St. Peter's Basilica.
Baldacchino (or St. Peter's Baldachin)
Canonized as a "martyr of charity," this Polish Franciscan friar famously volunteered to take the place of a stranger who was condemned to the starvation bunker at the Auschwitz death camp.
St. Maximilian Kolbe
The English word "Mass" actually derives from the final Latin words spoken at the dismissal, which are "Ite, [this two-word phrase].
"Ite, missa est"
King Baldwin the 4th
Also known as the Spear of Destiny, this relic is named for the Roman centurion who, according to tradition, pierced the side of Jesus during the crucifixion.
Holy Lance (or the Spear of Longinus)
This author described his epic middle-twentieth-century book series as a "fundamentally religious and catholic work" though it was done "unconsciously so at first."
Lord of the Rings
According to early Church history, this 3rd-century Alexandrian martyr had all her teeth violently smashed and extracted by a mob. She then voluntarily leapt into their fire rather than renounce her faith, making her the highly specific patron saint of dentists.
Saint Apollonia