Glossary Definitions E - G

Edmund Rice

Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762-1844) was the founder of two religious institutes of religious brothers, the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. Edmund Rice was born in Ireland at a time when Catholics faced oppression under the Penal Laws but was a teenage when reforms of those laws began in 1778. He forged a successful career in business but a tragic accident led to the death of his pregnant wife, Mary, and left his daughter born on his wife’s deathbed, handicapped. Edmund was left a widower, with an infant daughter, also named Mary, in delicate health. Edmund devoted the remainder of his life to the education of the poor, beginning with the establishment of a school in Waterford in 1802. After selling his business, Edmund Rice worked with others further the work of educating poor people. In 1808 seven school staff, including Edmund Rice, took religious vows under the authority of the Bishop of Waterford, calling themselves Presentation Brothers following the example of Nano Nagle’s Presentation Sisters. Later, Edmund Rice petitioned Pope Pius VII for his community of Brothers to be made into a pontifical congregation so that they might be freed from difficulties associated with their status as a diocesan congregation under the control of each bishop in the individual dioceses in which the Presentation Brothers worked. Ultimately, Edmund obtained pontifical status for his Presentation Brothers but in the 1820’s further difficulties consequent upon growth and expansion led to the establishment of two distinct congregations: the Presentation Brothers; and the Christian Brothers. Edmund Rice died on August 29, 1844 at Mt. Sion in Waterford. Large crowds filled the streets around his house to honour him. On October 6, 1996, the Beatification of Edmund Ignatius Rice took place and he became known as Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice.

Elizabeth Seton

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821) was the first native born citizen of the United States to be canonised by the Roman Catholic Church. She established the first Catholic school in the United States at Emmitsburg, Maryland and founded there the Sisters of Charity.

Elizabeth Ann Bayley was the daughter of a socially prominent New York family. Elizabeth’s father re-married after the death of Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine, in 1777 and Elizabeth’s stepmother Charlotte Amelia Barclay was active in the social action of the Church and would take young Elizabeth with her on her rounds visiting the poor in their homes and distributing needed items. After her father’s second marriage ended in separation due to marital conflict, Elizabeth experienced a period of darkness reflected in her later journals. On 25 January, 1794, aged 19 Elizabeth married William Magee Seton, a wealthy businessman in the import trade. Socially prominent in New York the Setons belonged to the fashionable Trinity Episcopal Church. Elizabeth was active in nursing the sick and dying among family, friends and needy neighbours and was a founder member of The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children. Elizabeth’s husband, William, died on 27 December, 1803, having suffered both from bankruptcy and from tuberculosis in the preceding years. Elizabeth was introduced to Roman Catholicism by her late husband’s business partner who had provided support to Elizabeth and her sister. On 14 March, 1805 Elizabeth was received into the Roman Catholic Church at St Peter’s Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in the city of New York at that time. After struggling through difficult and trying years, on 31 July, 1809, Elizabeth established a religious community in Emmitsburg, Maryland, initially called the Sisters of Charity of St Joseph and their first school was the start of the Catholic parochial school system in the United States. From that point on, Elizabeth became known as ‘Mother Seton’. The remainder of her life was spent in leading and developing the new congregation. Today, six separate religious congregations trace their roots to the Sisters of Charity.

Eschatology

The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. The word arises from the Greek, eschatos, meaning "last" and -logy meaning "the study of"

Christian eschatology looks to study and discuss matters such as death and the afterlife, Heaven and Hell, the Second Coming of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the end of the world, the Last Judgment, and the New Heaven and New Earth in the world to come.

Eternal Life

Continued life after death as outlined in Christian eschatology or teaching about the ‘last things’: death, judgment, hell, heaven.

Eucharist, Mass

One of the seven Sacraments of the Church and is the summit and source of all Christian worship and life. It signifies and effects the unity of the people of God and achieves the building up of the Body of Christ. Mass is the popular name for the Eucharistic sacrifice. The Mass consists of two main parts: Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Form criticism

A method of biblical criticism that classifies units of scripture by literary pattern seeking to determine a unit’s original form and the context of its literary tradition. Further information

G*d

Is a particular way of designating the word ‘God’. The designation G*d seeks to respect the ancient Jewish tradition that the respect due to the divinity demands that the divine name not be used directly when addressing the Almighty One, the Creator and Source of Life.

Gentile

Derived from Latin translations of the Bible where the word is used to refer to non-Israelite peoples or nations. In Hebrew versions of the Bible the equivalent word is ‘Goy’ and in Greek versions ‘Ethnos’ where the meaning is ‘belonging to a clan or tribe’. Latin and later English translators of the Bible selectively used the term ‘gentiles’ to refer to non-Israelite peoples or nations.