Dear fellow geniuses, April showers will bring May flower processions and Pentecost and Mother’s Day and other wonderful things. In the meantime, enjoy the remainder of the fourth month with a few good brain benders.

1. Scripture

When did Mary pray the Magnificat?

• a) at the wedding feast in Cana
• b) at the Annunciation
• c) at the Presentation in the Temple
• d) when she visited her cousin Elizabeth

2. Current Events

Can you name the late, celebrated Catholic who was remembered around the world on April 2, the third anniversary of his or her death?

• a) Gerald R. Ford
• b) Sister Lucia dos Santos
• c) Pope John Paul II
• d) Patricia Crowley

3. Saints

Who were the first canonized martyrs of the Far East?

• a) the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
• b) St. Paul Miki and his companions of Nagasaki, Japan
• c) St. Lorenzo Ruiz and companions of the Philippines
• d) the Chinese Martyrs, 120 Catholics who died between 1648 and 1930

4. Theology

What are permissible name substitutes for “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” when administering the sacrament of Baptism?

• a) “Maker, Liberator and Sustainer”
• b) “Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier”
• c) “Source, Manifestation and Presence”
• d) There are no permissible substitutes.

5. Hawaii’s Beatified

The first group of nuns arrived in Hawaii on May 4, 1859. They belonged to which order?

• a) Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
• b) Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse
• c) Sisters of Mercy
• d) Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

6. Picture

Who is this saint and one of three women doctors of the church? (Hint: She celebrates her feast day on April 29 and helped end the Great Schism in the 14th century.)

• a) Therese of Lisieux
• b) Hildegard of Bingen
• c) Catherine of Siena
• d) Teresa of Avila

7. Sacraments

What is the name of the final Communion given to a dying person?

• a) Anointing of the Sick
• b) viaticum
• c) unction
• d) surplices

8. Church in Hawaii

In what year did Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario retire?

• a) 1993
• b) 1997
• c) 1989
• d) 1992

9. Liturgy

During Mass, when do the priest and deacon kiss the altar?

• a) before the First Reading
• b) at the beginning and end of Mass
• c) after the Sign of Peace
• d) They don’t kiss the altar anymore but genuflect before it.

10. Church Trivia

What is the correct way to address a Cardinal?

• a) Your Holiness
• b) Your Excellency
• c) Your Eminence
• d) Your Grace

11. Popes

What is “Urbi et Orbi”?

• a) the name of the first 20th century sculpture donated to the Vatican Gardens
• b) the now famous prayer delivered by Pope John XXIII when the first astronauts entered space
• c) Pope Benedict’s favorite restaurant in Rome when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
• d) “to the city and to the world” — the papal blessings given at Christmas and Easter

12. Sin & Virtue

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that prudence, one of the four cardinal virtues, “guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure” and refers to it as “auriga virtutum,” which means what in Latin?

• a) “charioteer of the virtues”
• b) “arduous virtue”
• c) “conscience of values”
• d) I don’t know. Do I look like I know Latin?