ENCYCLICAL LETTER

LUMEN FIDEI

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF FRANCIS

TO THE BISHOPS, PRIESTS, DEACONS,

CONSECRATED PERSONS ,AND THE LAY FAITHFUL

ON FAITH

The Church, mother of our faith

The sacraments and the transmission of

faith

Faith, prayer and the Decalogue

The unity and integrity of faith

CHAPTER

THREE

I DELIVERED

TO YOU

WHAT I

ALSO

RECEIVED

(cf. 1 Cor 15:3)

The church, mother of our faith. (2 Cor 4:13). LF37

"But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance

with scripture — ‘I believed, and so I spoke’ — we also believe, and

so we speak"

The word,

once

accepted,

becomes

a response,

a

confession

of faith,

which

spreads to

others and

invites them

to believe.LF37

"All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though

reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image" (2 Cor 3:18).

It is a light reflected from one face to another, even as Moses himself bore a

reflection of God’s glory after having spoken with him: "God… has shone in

our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of

Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). LF37

Faith’s past, that act of Jesus’

love which brought new life to

the world, comes down to us

through the memory of others —

witnesses — and is kept alive in

that one remembering subject

which is the Church. LF38

Faith is not simply an individual decision

which takes place in the depths of the

believer’s heart, nor a completely private

relationship between the "I" of the believer

and the divine "Thou",

between an autonomous subject and God.

By its very nature, faith is open to the "We"

of the Church; it always takes place within

her communion. LF39

The sacraments and the transmission of

faith.

It is through the apostolic Tradition preserved in

the Church with the assistance of the Holy Spirit

that we enjoy a living contact with the foundational

But what is communicated in the Church, what is handed down in

her living Tradition, is the new light born of an encounter with the

true God, a light which touches us at the core of our being and

engages our minds, wills

and emotions, opening us to relationships lived in communion.

The

sacraments

communicat

e an

incarnate

memory,

linked to the

times and

places of

our lives,

linked

to all our

senses.

LF40

In baptism we receive both

a teaching to be professed

and a specific way of life

which demands the

engagement of the whole

person and sets us on the

path to goodness. Those

who are baptized are set in

a new context, entrusted to

a new environment, a new

and shared way of acting,

in the Church. Baptism

makes us see, then, that

faith is not the

achievement of isolated

individuals; it is not an act

which someone can

perform on his own, but

rather something which

must be received by

entering into the ecclesial

communion which

transmits God’s gift.LF41

Baptism"we were buried with him by

baptism into death, so that, just

as Christ was raised from the

dead by the glory of the Father,

we too might walk in newness of

life" (Rom 6:4).

The Trinity.Water is at once a symbol

of death, inviting us to

pass through self-

conversion to a new and

greater identity, and a

symbol of life, of a womb

in which we are reborn by

following Christ in his

new life - - - - Christ’s

work penetrates the

depths of our being and

transforms us radically,

making us adopted

children of God and

sharers in the divine

nature.

It thus modifies all our

relationships, our place

in this world and in the

universe, and opens

them

to God’s own life of

"Their refuge will be

the fortresses of

rocks… their water

assured" (Is 33:16).

The baptized,

rescued from the

waters of death,

were now set on a

"fortress of rock"

because they had

found a firm and

reliable foundation.

LF42

Infant baptism.

Since faith is a reality lived within the community of the Church, part of a

common "We", children can be supported by others, their parents and

godparents, and welcomed into their faith, which is the faith of the Church - - -

- Parents are called, as Saint Augustine once said, not only to bring children

into the world but also to bring them to God, so that through baptism they can

be reborn as children of God and receive the gift of faith. LF43

the Eucharist is an act of remembrance, a making present of the

mystery in which the past, as an event of death and resurrection,

demonstrates its ability to open up a future, to foreshadow ultimate

fulfilment. - - - The bread and wine are changed into the body and

blood of Christ, who becomes present in his passover to the Father:

this movement draws us, body and soul, into the movement of all

creation towards its fulfilment in God. LF44

The creed does

not only involve

giving one’s

assent to a body

of abstract

truths; rather,

when it is

recited the

whole of life is

drawn into a

journey towards

full communion

with the living

God. LF45

Faith, prayer and the DecalogueChristians learn to share in Christ’s own

spiritual experience and to see all things

through his eyes. From him who is light from

light, the only-begotten

Son of the Father, we come to know God and

can thus kindle in others the desire to draw near

to him LF46

"I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of

the land of Egypt" (Ex

20:2).

The Decalogue is not a

set

of negative commands,

but concrete directions

for emerging from the

desert of the selfish and

self-enclosed ego in

order to enter into

dialogue with God, to be

embraced by his mercy

and then to bring that

mercy to others. Faith

thus professes the love

of God, origin and

upholder of all things,

and lets itself be guided

by this love in order to

the storehouse of memory which

the Church hands down:

1-the profession of faith,

2-the celebration of the

sacraments,

3-the path of the ten

commandments,

4-and prayer.

The unity and

integrity of faith

Faith is "one", in the

first place, because

of the oneness of

the God who is

known

and confessed.

All the articles of

faith speak of God;

they are ways to

know him

and his works.

Consequently, their

unity is far superior

to any possible

construct of human

reason.

They possess a

unity which

enriches us

because it is given

to us and makes us

Faith is also one because it is directed to the one Lord -

- -

By professing the same faith, we stand firm on the same

rock, we are transformed by the same Spirit of love, we

radiate one light and we have a single insight into

Since faith is one, it must be

professed

in all its purity and integrity. LF48

the magisterium always speaks in obedience to the

prior word on which faith is based; it is reliable

because of its trust in the word which it hears,

preserves and expounds. LF49