Here’s a collection of questions that you may or may not know the answer to—though at some point, if you went to a Catholic grammar school, I'm sure you probably had the answers.

1. Name Pseudo-Dionysius’s nine ranks of angels and…
2. …the three groups of three into which they are divided.
3. There are four “sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance.” What are they?
4. What are the Precepts of the Church?
5. What is the only word in the Latin Mass that is directly from the Aramaic and has not become part of English like “Amen” and “Hosanna” or “Alleluia”?
6. Name the three longest-reigning popes (extra credit if you can get them in order).
7. Who was the first apostle to be martyred?
8. Who is the patron saint of bakers?
9. Before Pope John Paul II, who was the last pope that was not Italian?
10. Give three nicknames for St. Thomas Aquinas.
11. How many people appear by name in the Stations of the Cross?
12. What famous writer contributed to the New Jerusalem Bible?
13. Only three angels appear by name in the Bible. Name them. (Extra credit: name the books of the Bible they appear in.)
14. What is the shortest book in the Old Testament?
15. What is the shortest book in the New Testament?
16. Who was the only British pope and what name did he take?
17. Who was the last Holy Roman Emperor?
18. Before joining the Franciscans, what order did St. Anthony of Padua belong to?
19. Two successive popes were prisoners of Napoleon Bonaparte. Who were they?
20. What saint’s name was added to the Canon of the Mass by Pope John XXIII during the Second Vatican Council?
21. What are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit?
22. What are the two largest orders/congregations/societies in the Catholic Church?
23. What is the name of the pope’s cathedral, and what was its original name?

ANSWERS

1. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominions, Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels and Angels
2. The first three groups of the angelic host hover around God and hear and proclaim his judgements; the second group of three govern the stars and elements; the last triad give protection to the earth and deliver messages.
3. Willful murder, the sin of Sodom (homosexual acts), oppressing the poor and defrauding laborers of their wages.
4. (a) Attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor; (b) Confess your sins at least once a year; (c) Receive Holy Communion at least during the Easter season; (d) Observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church; (e) Provide for the needs of the Church.
5. Saboath (in the Sanctus)
6. St. Peter; Blessed Pius IX; St. John Paul II
7. St. James the Greater (c. 44)
8. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a Third Order Franciscan who bestowed copious amounts of bread to the poor and hungry.
9. Hadrian VI (1522-1523), a Dutchman who is also one of the shortest pontificates.
10. The Angelic Doctor, the Common Doctor, and “The Dumb Ox”
11. Three (or Four): Mary (Station IV), Simon of Cyrene (Station V), and Veronica (Station VI). Sometimes Pilate’s name appears in Station I.
12. J.R.R. Tolkien
13. Gabriel (in the Gospels at the Annunciation); Raphael in the book of Tobit; Michael in the book of Revelation.
14. The Book of Obadiah (wedged between Amos and Jonah): it’s exactly twenty-one verses long.
15. The Third Letter of Saint John is only fifteen verses.
16. The only Briton (more specifically, Englishman) to be elected pope was Nicholas Breakspeare was Pope Hadrian IV 1154-59. Extra points if you knew that Reginald Cardinal Pole, another Englishman, missed being pope by a single vote.
17. Francis II
18. St. Anthony was originally a Canon of Saint Augustine.
19. Popes Pius VI and VII
20. St. Joseph
21. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and the Fear of the Lord (taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah). The Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Longanimity, Goodness, Benignity, Mildness, Fidelity, Modesty, Continence and Chastity.
22. The Society of Jesus (“The Jesuits”) have nearly 20,000 members. The Franciscans — which take in the Leonine Union, Conventuals, the Capuchins, the Third Order Regular, the Sisters of Saint Francis, and the Poor Clares, along with tertiaries — come in second.
23. The pope’s cathedral is the Church of Saint John Lateran. It was originally called the Church of the Most Holy Savior.