Caltholic Array of Deeply Held Opinions ...

[Carol]

> > Potioncat:
> > So that's why I believe in the the "holy catholic church."  
> 
> Geoff:
> Curiously, I nearly quoted the Apostles Creed but decided not to. We
do occasionally say it, even in the Non-conformist churches.
>
Carol:
I was also thinking of the Apostle's Creed. That's how I learned the
meaning of the word "catholic," too. I remember as a kid asking our
(Episcopal) priest why we Episcopalians were praying for the Catholics
and not for the "holy Episcopal church"! Then, of course, I wanted to
know why the Catholic church considered itself universal. (I suppose
it goes back to the time when Roman Catholic and Christian were
virtually anonymous, if you didn't count Greek Orthodox, which
probably didn't have that name yet.)

For anyone not familiar with the Apostle's Creed, here it is, in the
old-fashioned form that I prefer:

"I Believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And
in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy
Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was
crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he
rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the
right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy
Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The
Resurrection of the body: And the Life everlasting. Amen."

The capitalization is as it appears in The Book of Common Prayer. The
text (and capitalization) may vary slightly in other denominations.
There's also the Nicene Creed, which refers to "the holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church," but I won't go into that.

Carol, who used to know the whole morning prayer service by heart