The Apostles' Creed

A traditional Catholic prayer

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Where it comes from

Christ sits in judgment with one arm raised and Our Lady beside Him; below, the risen climb toward the light on one side and the damned fall away on the other. The Creed says it in one line: He shall come to judge the living and the dead. Through the Middle Ages it was believed that the Twelve composed it together at Pentecost, each giving one article; historians treat that story as a legend. The old creed of the Roman Church from which it grew probably existed before the middle of the second century, and the text prayed today probably took its final shape at Rome before AD 700. It begins with the Father who made heaven and earth and ends with the life everlasting, and you are between.

Herbert Thurston, “Apostles' Creed”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (1907): newadvent.org

In painting

The traditional prayers  ·  The Rosary