An act of faith is a prayer in which a person professes the beliefs of Christianity.[1] In the Catholic Church, an individual is required to make an act of faith when they come to the age of accountability.[2] An example of an act of faith is as follows:[3]
I Firmly believe there is one God; and that in this one God there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that God the Son took to himself the nature of man in the Virgin Mary's womb, by the operation of the power of the Holy Ghost; and that in this our human nature, he was crucified and died for us; that afterwards he rose again, and ascended into heaven, from whence he shall come to repay to the just ever lasting glory, and to the wicked everlasting punishment: moreover, I believe whatso- ever else the catholic church proposes to be believed, and this, because God, who is the sovereign Truth, which can neither deceive nor be deceived, has revealed all these things to this church.
— The Posey of Prayers, p. 67
References
- 1.Coulter, Michael L.; Myers, Richard S.; Varacalli, Joseph A. (2012). Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy: Supplement. Scarecrow Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780810882751.
- 2.Schouppe, François Xavier (1879). Abridged Course of Religious Instruction, Apologetic, Dogmatic, and Moral: For the Use of Catholic Colleges and Schools. Burns & Oates. p. 351.
- 3.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: The Posey of Prayers; Or The Key of Heaven: Being a Magazine of Devotion Collected from Catholic Authors, and Adapted to All Persons and Occasions. The Eighth Edition, Revised. London: E. Booker. 1799. p. 67.