Act of Faith
O my God, I firmly believe that You are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that Your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Amen.
Where Does This Prayer Come From?
No single saint wrote it.
It comes from the Church's catechisms.
And it never traveled alone.
Faith, hope, and love were made as three short "acts," side by side.
In 1728, Pope Benedict XIII attached indulgences to making them.
In 1756, Pope Benedict XIV confirmed the grant.
And here's the surprising part.
He didn't require any set wording.
Any words would do,
as long as they named the real reason for believing.
The Church cared less about the exact words and more about the reason behind them.
That's why this prayer ends the way it does:
"because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived."
Wait a second.
That line isn't just pious phrasing.
The First Vatican Council used it in 1870 to explain why we believe at all.
The Catechism still quotes it today (CCC 156).
Faith isn't "I figured it all out."
It's "God said it, and God does not lie."
Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.
— Hebrews 11:1
The version on this page is the one in the Baltimore Catechism of 1885.
Generations of American Catholics memorized it.
Only a few old words like "Thee" and "Thou" have been updated.
You may see the Church differently.
But you at least have to admit the prayer's final reason isn't "because the Church says so."
It says "because You have revealed them."
You're not trusting a feeling.
You're trusting a Person.
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