Editing Catholic Mass (section)

===Profession of Faith (the Creed) ===

*after the homily, the priest will sit for a moment in silence to lead the people in reflection
*then all will stand to recite the '''Nicene Creed''' or the '''Apostles' Creed'''
*the Nicene Creed is derived from language adopted by the Councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381) 
**the Councils were instrumental is affirming the Christian faith, especially against the heresies that distorted or denied the nature of God and Jesus, including: 
***the Father is "maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible" 
****heretics claimed that only heaven is divine and the earth is impure and of a god of darkness
****known as "dualism" which divides the divine from the earthly
***that the Lord Jesus Christ is "born of the Father before all ages... begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father... and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary"
****heretics claimed that Jesus the man was not divine, or that he was not actually human, and that he was not born of the Virgin Mary
****or, they claimed, as did Arius (of "Arianism" or the "Arian heresy"), that the Father pre-existed the Son, therefore the son did not always exist
****that Christ and the Holy Spirit are not of the "same substance" (from Council of Nicaea) as God the Father
****these heresies opened up possibility in belief in polytheism
*****or actually treated Christianity as polytheistic
***note that the "severe" monotheistic religions, such as Judaism and Islam do not believe in the Holy Trinity
* the Creeds represent the essence of the Catholic faith