The first Commandment is, 'I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them.

By the first Commandment we are commanded to worship the one, true, and living God, by Faith, Hope, Charity, and Religion.

The sins against Faith are all false religions, wilful doubt, disbelief, or denial of any article of Faith, and also culpable ignorance of the doctrines of the Church.

We expose ourselves to the danger of losing our Faith by neglecting our spiritual duties, reading bad books, going to non-Catholic schools.

The sins against Hope are despair and presumption.

The chief sins against Religion are the worship of false gods or idols, and the giving to any creature whatsoever the honor which belongs to God alone.

The first Commandment does not forbid the making of images, but the making of idols; that is, it forbids us to make idols to be adored or honored as gods.

The first Commandment forbids all dealing with the devil and superstitious practices, such as consulting spiritualists and fortune-tellers, and trusting to charms, omens, dreams, and such like fooleries.

All sins of sacrilege and simony are also forbidden by the first Commandment.

It is forbidden to give divine honor or worship to the Angels and Saints, for this belongs to God alone.

We should pay to the Angels and Saints an inferior honor or worship, for this is due to them as the servants and special friends of God.

We should give to relics, crucifixes, and holy pictures a relative honor, as they relate to Christ and his Saints, and are memorials of them.

We do not pray to relics or images, for they can neither see, nor hear, nor help us.