Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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NOTION

A concept, idea, or mental apprehension. In the Trinity, notions are the distinctive characteristics of the divine persons by which they are known. The notions of the individual persons are: 1. ungeneratedness and active generation as a mark of recognition of the Father; 2. passive generation of the Son; and 3. passive spiration as a distinctive characteristic of the Holy Spirit. The notions are internal divine activities that characterize the persons and distinguish them, as compared with the essential acts that are common to all three persons. (Etym. Latin notitia, a being known, knowledge.)