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.

Random Term from the Dictionary:

SUNDAY

The first day of the week. Since New Testament times it replaced the Jewish Sabbath (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2). St. John called it the Lord's Day, which the Western Church later translated Dominica. The immediate reason for substituting Sunday for the Sabbath was to commemorate Christ's Resurrection from the dead. Eventually sunday also became a memorial of the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Moreover, the original purpose of the Sabbath remained as a liturgical day of rest to recall God's lordship of the universe. "On the seventh day, He rested; that is why Yahweh has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred" (Exodus 20;8-11).