Abr fife?*-'-/-,

By J. F. N.

Our Sunday Visitor Press

Huntington, Indiana





_

7.5'X1U>\

Instructing

the

Non-Catholic

Before Marriage

By J. F. N.

(I)



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction - III

Instruction One— Matrimony is of God 7
Instruction Two—The Best Marriage 12
Instruction Three—The Promises Expected

From the Non-Catholic 21

Instruction Four—Removing the First Bar-
riers to Conversion 31

Instruction Five—Contents of the Catechism
Analyzed 43

Instruction Six—The Catholic Temple, The
Mass, The Priesthood 58

What the Fully Instructed Convert Should
Know 69

Answers to Inquirer’s Objections 75

(II)

Dsacfdffler*



INTRODUCTION

According to a custom, which prevails

in most dioceses of the United States, a

Catholic contemplating marriage with a

non-Catholic must bring the latter to his

or her pastor for several instructions be-

fore a dispensation may be requested of

the Chancery.

These instructions vary from four to

eight according to the local requirement,

and their purpose is (1) to acquaint the

non-Catholic with the Catholic concept of

marriage and its consequences, and (2) to

dispose him more favorably toward the

religion of the one whom he intends to wed

for life.

Of course, it is always hoped that the

Protestant party will continue instructions

in order that he may make his entire sub-

mission to the Church in view of a beauti-

ful Catholic marriage.

Most Protestants are acquainted with

the demands of Rome calculated to guar-

antee a valid marriage between a Catholic

and Protestant by eliciting the Protest-

ant’s sincere consent to an indissoluble

union, and to the fulfillment of certain

promises which he makes in writing.

(in)



INTRODUCTION

The Catholic, who is keeping company

with a non-Catholic, should call on the

pastor two or three months before the in-

tended wedding “to talk it over”. The

Catholic should come alone for the first

interview. Thereupon he or she should

bring the non-Catholic friend for the
series

of instructions.

The priest will receive the Protestant

party kindly and make him feel at ease.

He should know that his own good is
in

the Catholic Church’s mind when
he is

asked to come for a few
instructions

which relate to the Church’s teaching
con-

cerning marriage. He knows that if
his

friend were deeply interested in
anything

else he would want to know all
about it;

that, therefore, he should
want to know

much about the religion of the
one who

is to be his life partner,
the religion in

which he is expected to rear
whatever chil-

dren may result from the marriage.

He should know that the
Catholic

Church performed the marriage
ceremony

for all Christians for fifteen
centuries ; and

that even today her clergy
witness two-

thirds of all marriages performed
among

Christians ; that, therefore,
the Catholic

(IV)



INTRODUCTION

Church's stand on marriage is worthy of

consideration; that the prime purpose of

the instructions is to explain that stand.

J. F. N.

(V)



TO BE BORNE IN MIND

Our Catholic people need instruc-

tion on the subject of marriage nearly

as badly as the non-Catholic. It seems

that most of them, even of the other-

wise well-informed, regard marriage

between a Catholic and a non-Catholic

before a Justice of the Peace or min-

ister as only illicit, and not invalid.

Many among them believe that any

Protestant marriage is dissolved

when one of the parties becomes a

Catholic, and therefore that a Cath-

olic may marry a divorcee if only he

or she embraces our faith.

The Catholic attitude as represent-

ed to the Protestant by our Catholic

laity is often not impressive. This is

because they present the Catholic atti-

tude as resting on a purely ecclesias-

tical basis—and the authority of the
Catholic Church is not recognized by

the Protestant.

(VI)



Instruction One

MATRIMONY IS OF GOD

I

What the Catholic Church Does Not Teach

( 1 ) She does not teach that only those

marriages are valid, which are witnessed

by the Catholic priest. The Church recog-

nizes the validity even of the marriage

contracted by two pagans, and therefore,

she surely recognizes the marriage con-

tracted by two Protestants. It is only when

one party to the marriage is a Catholic

that the Church insists on one of her re-

presentatives witnessing it.

(2) The Church does not teach that

the offspring of a marriage between two

Protestants, or even two pagans, are ille-

gitimate. In fact, the Catholic Church

makes no pronouncement on marriages

contracted by others than her own mem-

bers nor on children resulting from those

marriages.

(3) The Church does not claim the

power to annul all Protestant marriages,

or any marriage whatsoever, if validly

contracted.

( 7 >



8 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

II

What the Catholic Church Does Teach

(1) The Church teaches that God is

the author of marriage, both as a Con-

tract and as a Sacrament. Hence it is not

the Catholic Church, but God, who deter-

mines both the character and consequences

of marriage.

Most non-Catholics entertain the false

notion that the teaching of the Catholic

Church relating to marriage is her own

teaching, that she is arbitrary in enforc-

ing this teaching, that she takes undue ad-

vantage of the Protestant by enjoining her

views and exacting unreasonable promises

from him. On the contrary, the Catholic

Church stretches her own laws as far as

she may in favor of her children. That

her “favors are to be extended” has be-

come an axiom in Catholic practice.

Therefore the severity of the Church’s

attitude toward marriage is explained by

the fact that she regards herself only

as the representative of God in this world,

and hence may not take a different

position from His own. She merely enun-

ciates what is His law, what has been His

decision. No legislation of the Church, no



WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES 9

dispensation of the Church, can make that

permissible, which God has decreed is not

permissible.

(2) The Catholic Church declares with

God Almighty that marriage makes of the

wedded pair “two in one flesh” (Gen. 11,

24), and that it binds both “until death do

them part”, that “what God hath joined

together, no man may put asunder” ( Matt.

XIX, 6). History proves that such was

the almost universal concept of marriage

from the beginning. Christ Himself tells

us that while divorce was permitted for a

brief period by Almighty God in the Old

Law for a special reason, “from the be-

ginning it was not so.”

There is no record of divorce in Chris-

tian countries until the so-called Reforma-

tion, and that means for fifteen long cen-

utries. The Church vigorously upheld the

teaching of her Founder against kings and

princes even at the expense of losing the

allegiance of whole nations.

Does such an attitude seem severe? Not

when one considers the purpose of mar-

riage, which will be explained later. Div-

orce is quite a new thing in most countries.

In some parts of our own country the law

is opposed to it. There is no divorce per-



10 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

missible in the state of South Carolina. In

the state of New York divorce is allowed

only for the so-called Biblical reason of

“unfaithfulness”.

Ill

What About the Biblical Reason?

For the Biblical reason people appeal to

St. Matthew, the fifth chapter, third verse,

and to the nineteenth chapter, ninth verse.

A careful study of these two texts will
convince one that Matthew quotes Christ

as authorizing separation only, with no

privilege, even to the innocent party, of re-

marrying. St. Mark (X, 9-12) and St.

Luke (XVI, 18) quote our Divine Savior

as of the same occasion noted by St. Mat-

thew, but they make no reference whatso-

ever to any reason justifying the complete

severance of the marriage bond.

Defenders of the so-called Biblical rea-

son lift from the general context the single

text which they quote from St. Matthew.

Does not Matthew, who justifies the

“putting away” of a wife because of un-

faithfulness, distinctly quote Christ as say-

ing that “he that shall marry her that is

put away committeth adultery” ? Evident-

ly, therefore, Matthew could have had



THE BIBLICAL REASON 11

separation only in mind. St. Mark leaves

no room for doubt for he says “whosoever

putteth away his wife and marrieth an-

other, committeth adultery.” St. Luke is

equally, emphatic, for he says “everyone”.

St. Paul clearly avers that death alone

dissolves the marriage tie ( 1 Cor. VII, 10-

11, and Rom. VII, 2-3).

The possibility of securing a divorce

leads many to enter marriage without

proper deliberation and care, and it is not

surprising that they later regret their step.

But in all countries, in which no divorce

is procurable even in our day, unhappy

married life is the exception. Conviction

from the very beginning that the bargain

is a life-time one stimulates the wedded

pair to pull together in all things, and to

further cultivate the affection which was

cemented before the altar.



Instruction Two

THE BEST MARRIAGE

I

The Purpose of Marriage

(1) Generally speaking marriage was

instituted for the purpose of prop-

agating the human race here on earth,

each member of which by his very

birth becomes a candidate for Heaven.

As such, marriage is the fount of

the family, the basic unit of society. Our

homes are built around it. It is only in the

ideal home, where parents are in complete

accord, where true love between husband

and wife is blessed of Heaven, that chil-

dren can be reared with benefit to them-

selves and to the social life in which they

must take their part.

Through marriage a man and a woman

each find a helpmate which Holy Scripture

says God intended the generality of people

to have (Gen. II, 18) to complete their

happiness.

Marriage has as a third purpose the

serving of a need which most people in our

day seem to regard as its only purpose.



PURPOSE OP MARRIAGE 13

namely the lawful satisfying of sexual

cravings.

(2) In each particular case marriage

is intended to unite through life “for better

or for worse” a man and woman, who sin-

cerely trust and love each other. As such

it is regarded as a vocation or state of life,

in which the Heavenly Father would have

the individual find the greatest measure of

temporal happiness
;
in which husband and

wife will labor together for their mutual

sanctification and salvation
;
in which they,

as parents, will become co-creators with

their God and, by instruction and example,

rear the children committed to them in

such wise that they will be made happy

both in this life and in the next.

II

The Sacramental Marriage

(1) Because of the purpose and effects

of marriage it must be clear to everyone

that God Himself is intensely interested in

every marital union. It is because of this

interest that the Almighty married the

first couple created by Himself, and

forbade any human power, whether it be

of the spiritual or temporal order, to “put

the marriage contract asunder”.



14 * INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

It is because God’s people in the Old

Law had a thorough comprehension of the

primary purpose of matrimony that they

believed themselves to have incurred His

displeasure if the marriage union was not

richly blessed with children.

Until recent times marriage was regard-

ed at least as a sacred contract, a holy con-

tract, a divine contract, falling under the

jurisdiction of religion. Hence the mar-

riage ceremony was always performed by

a clergyman, who blessed the union in the

name of God.

Today in our country more people are

married by a civil officer than by an

ecclesiastical official, because marriage, in

the popular mind, is not vested with a sac-

red character; and the thought of having

the union blessed never enters the minds

of the majority of the people.

(2) The Catholic Church holds with

St. Paul that Christian “Marriage is a

great Sacrament” (Eph. V, 32), which im-

plies that in its worthy reception special

graces are conveyed to the souls of the

wedded pair, and special aid provided for

the day of trial.

The Church holds with this same Apos-



SACRAMENTAL MARRIAGE 15

tie that marriage represents the union of

Christ with His Church. This union of

Christ with His Church is a holy one, an

indissoluble one, and is built on love and

mutual interests. So should be the union

of husband and wife.

It is because of the greater dignity He

wished to confer on marriage in the New

Law that Christ’s first appearance, at the

opening of His public ministry, was at a

wedding at Cana, in Galilee. He brought

His disciples to this wedding in order to

impress upon them the lesson that God

wishes to be present at every marriage in

order to bless it and make it truly happy.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the

Catholic Church would have her people re-

ceive this Sacrament where it should be

received, namely before the altar in God’s

temple. In this sacred precinct the priest,

in the name of Christ, receives the marital

promises of enduring fidelity, and imme-

diately thereafter offers up the Holy Sac-

rifice of the Mass to implore God’s bene-

diction on the wedded couple. The Church

even permits the interruption of the Mass

at its most solemn part for the reading of

a very special blessing from her official

prayerbook.



16 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

III

The Mixed Marriage

(1) By a mixed marriage is commonly

understood a marriage between people of

different faiths, whether it be between a

Jew and a Presbyterian, a Lutheran and a

Methodist, or a Catholic and one of any

other faith.

Jews look with great disfavor on mar-

riages between one of their own and a

Gentile of whatever faith; Lutherans are

opposed to their own marrying one even of

a different Protestant faith. But there is

an ever greater reason for the Catholic

Church to take a stand against marriages

between her children and adherents of

other religions.

Why is the Catholic Church more logical

than others in her opposition to mixed

marriages ?

(a) Because she is the only Church

which holds that marriage is a Sacrament

in the true sense, one of seven Sacraments

instituted by Christ, and committed to her

keeping. St. Paul declares that it is in

Christ’s Church that matrimony is a sac-

rament. (Eph. V, 32)

(b) Because, honestly believing that



THE MIXED MARRIAGE 17

hers is the very religion which Christ

founded, she must require the observance

“of all things whatsoever she has been

commanded” (St. Matt. XXVIII, 20). If

the Old Testament religion forbade mixed

marriages (Cf. Gen. XXIV, 3 ; XXVIII, 1;

Deut. VII, 3; 3 Kings XI, 2), how much

greater reason is there for the more per-

fect religion of the New Testament to for-

bid them?

The Church would not be true to her

commission if she did not point out to her

children the way to the happiest kind of

marriage, made so by the blessing of God.

Husband and wife certainly should, if

possible, try to be one in the understand-

ing of God and His terms of salvation;

they should, if possible, serve Him united-

ly and not ever run a risk of rearing their

children in doubt.

The average Protestant sacrifices no

principle when he yields to the Catholic in

this matter because he usually regards

membership in a particular religious or-

ganization as a matter of preference rath-

er than of obligation. It is not so with the

Catholic, who (rightly or wrongly in the

Protestant mind) believes that all present

day religions other than his own, as good



18 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

as they may be in many respects, are of

human origin, and therefore, not identical

with the divine religion founded by Christ

and first spread by His Apostles.

(2) It must be clear, from what has

been said, that a mixed marriage is not an

ideal marriage; it is one which may only

by tolerated, because it lacks that which

effects the most perfect bond, namely a

union of souls
;
it creates “a house divided

against itself”
;
it paves the way for future

serious difficulties.

What, for instance, must most children

think of parents whose beliefs and relig-

ious practices are in conflict? Whom will

these children follow, their father or their

mother? In childhood they may follow the

one whom they are ordered to follow, but

in later life they will follow neither. They

will reason within themselves “if father

and mother could not agree in religion,

why should I bother about it at all” ?

The proposal sometimes offered that the

boys follow their father, and the girls fol-

low their mother, is basically unsound

should the mother be right in her belief

and the father wrong. Such a practice

must needs promote utter indifferentism.

There are those who believe they are



THE MIXED MARRIAGE 19

very fair when they suggest that the chil-

dren be not raised in any religion, but be

allowed passive minds, so that they can de-

cide for themselves, when they reach their

majority, whether they wish to embrace

the Church or not. The position would be

conceivably fair only if the Almighty had

never imposed a definite religion for ac-

ceptance by His children, or if religion

were a human thing to be adopted if it

should attract and avoided if it should be

repugnant.

No one would think of applying such

logic to an educational policy, to an econ-

omic policy, to a health program. In other

words, no parents would deprive their boy

of an education because at the age of six

or ten he is too young to know whether he

would care for it
;
no parents would decline

to include their boy in their last will be-

cause he is not old enough to decide wheth-

er he should like to have their fortune or

not; no parents would neglect their boy’s

physical health on the theory that he may,

when he becomes older, select from the

various codes offered for advancement in

health.

Just as parents assume that their boy

would want an education if he could fore-



20 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

know its value; that he would want the

parents’ fortune if he knew the advantage

of money; that he would later on thank

his parents if they laid in his life the

foundation for good health—so should
parents assume that their children would

wish to be God’s children from infancy,

and would want membership in the true

Church if they understood the importance

and benefits thereof.



Instruction Three

THE PROMISES EXACTED FROM
THE NON-CATHOLIC

I

A Life-Long Bargain

(1) When the non-Catholic is unpre-

pared to affiliate with the Catholic Church

before marriage, the priest is obliged to

remove all danger of an invalid marriage,

by ascertaining whether the non-Catholic

agrees to enter an indissoluble union, i. e.,

to regard the contract as binding until

death. We have seen that Almighty God
approves of no other, and that therefore,

His Church cannot.

The Catholic party intends to bind her-

self for life, but the bargain should be

mutual. If she were to be divorced, her

conscience would compel her to remain a

widow until the death of the man she

married.

This does not mean that the Catholic

Church would compel one of her children

to live through life with one who makes

her lot miserable by unfaithfulness or by

excessive cruelty. In such a case the in-

nocent party may have his or her

(21)



22 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Church’s permission to procure a legal

separation and receive the support which

goes with it. But neither may remarry

during the life time of the other.

(2) Does not such a demand impose a

great hardship on the couple? In most

cases it does not, because their mutual love

should continue to grow rather than wane,

and with the blessing of God on their

marriage it should endure and be lastingly

happy. If God calls young people to the

married state He surely will provide hap-

piness for the individuals concerned, if

only they will try to merit that consider-

ation. If they so prepare themselves for

marriage as to win His blessing, they will

receive it.

Laws are always made for the general

good, even though they should work a

hardship in exceptional cases. The tax

laws of your community except nobody,

even though they work imrpffense hard-

ships on some. Rather than make an ex-

ception the property of the one taxed is

even taken away from him. Your local edu-

cation laws bind every parent to send his

children to school for many years, and

those who administer them will listen to

no pleas from parents for exceptions. If



PROMISES OF THE NON-CATHOLIC 23

exceptions were lightly made the whole

fiscal and educational systems would be

thrown into chaos.

Alongside the hardship created for one

party to the marriage weigh the hardship

inflicted on the other party, if he or she be

adverse to separation. Think of the hard-

ships inflicted on the children, who are

separated from either father or mother.

In our country’s divorce laws no consid-

eration is given to the rights of children.

They have an inalienable right to the un-

interrupted love, and protection, and sup-

port, and guidance of both parents. Our

orphan asylums, our juvenile prisons are

filled with children of divorcees, yet not

they, but the parents, are to blame.

II

The Catholic Party Must Have Liberty

(1) The non-Catholic must promise in

writing that he will allow his consort full

liberty to practice her religion without in-

terference or annoyance. This is clearly

her right, and one distinctly recog-

nized by the Constitution of the United

States and by the Constitution of every

state in the Union. The man who will not

accord this privilege to a Catholic wife

should certainly not marry her. If he



24 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

craves to marry her, he must take her as

she is, religion and all.

In fact, the non-Catholic in a mixed

marriage must promise to permit all

children, with which the marriage is

blessed, to be baptized and brought up in

the Catholic faith. Certainly the Church

could not reconcile her own conscience to

any provision short of this.

The Catholic Church sincerely believes

that she has the true faith; she sincerely

believes that she is God’s agent in this

world primarily for the purpose of assist-

ing people in working out their salvation

;

and she honestly believes that they must

accomplish this by compliance with the

definite provisions ordained by God Him-

self.

While the Church concedes that others

than Catholics may be saved if they hon-

estly believe they have the truth and live

accordingly, she is absolutely convinced

that she has the truth, and therefore would

be very unprincipled if she acted as though

she had not. Her stand is not arbitrary,

her motive is not selfish. She thinks not

of adding a few more souls to her member-

ship, but of helping souls for their own

eternal good.



PROMISES OF THE NON-CATHOLIC 25

(2) The Catholic party must also prom-

ise that she will practice her religion with

the same fidelity with which she would if

she married a Catholic man or remained

unmarried, and that she will try by her

good Christian example not only to win

the favor of Heaven for herself, but for

her husband as w’ell. Many a Protestant,

reared in prejudice, and therefore inimi-

cal toward the Catholic faith at the time

of his marriage, has been won by the

prayers and good example of his devoted

Catholic wife.

United, harmonious co-operation in the

things in which the Lord has the greatest

interest, should be the chief consideration

of newly-weds. A union of souls is more
important than a union of bodies; the

sameness of faith is more important than

the sameness of earthly aims. When one

party to a marriage seldom prays and

never attends public worship, lives in a

state of sin, it devolves on the other to

supply the omission and to do the Lord’s

work for two.

Could one consider anything more scan-

dalous to children than wrangling over

religion between parents? Could anything

be more disedifying to them than to see



26 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

one parent engage in prayer and the other

not, or to see one parent go to a Catholic

church and the other to a Protestant

church, to see one parent attend divine

services regularly, and the other seldom

or never?

Ill

Corollaries

( 1 ) A companionate, or trial marriage is
no marriage at all. Those, therefore, who

would enter a contract with any idea of

seeking a legal separation if a better op-

portunity for more congenial companion-

ship should offer itself, are not married

before God, no matter whether the cere-

mony be witnessed by a justice of the

peace, or a Protestant minister, or the

Pope.

(2) They would not contract a valid un-

ion, who before or at the time of the mar-

riage mutually agree not to have any chil-

dren, because the primary purpose of mar-

riage would be frustrated.

At this time a great deal of birth pre-

vention propaganda is carried on, but it is

not warranted by a single appealing rea-

son except that which contends that it

costs more to raise and educate several



27COROLLARIES

children that it does one. Nature de-

nounces the practice as immoral ; the Bible

declares the practice to be “a detestable

thing”; the divorce courts register it as a

domestic enemy; the American Medical

Association has denounced it
;

statistics

prove it to be a social menace
;
and nearly

every government of Europe has warned

its people against it.

Do not understand that the Catholic

Church insists that parents may not limit

the number of their children, but the lim-

itation must result from mutual consent

to self control. In other words, parents

are not obliged to have children, but are

not allowed to do wrong in order not to

have children.

There is the closest relationship between

birth control and divorce. Dr. Alfred, of

Columbia University, recently gave the

following figures to the press: 63% of all

divorces are granted to couples who have

no children; 26% of divorces are granted

to parents of one child; 9% are granted

in favor of parents of two children; only

4% to parents of three children ; less than

2% to parents of four children; and less

than iy2% to parents of five or more chil-
dren.



28 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

From these figures only one inference

may be gleaned, namely, that children are

not only a binding tie between husband

and wife, not only intensify their mutual

love, but bring greater happiness into the

home.

One needs not have refined moral taste

to be shocked at the very thought of using

a contraceptive appliance.

Would the mere fact of matrimony make

right a practice which directly defeats its

very purpose? Are not the married cou-

ple exonerated of indulgence guilt precise-

ly because their indulgence is related to

parenthood, which could eventuate in no

other way? Parenthood need not be di-

rectly sought by husband and wife, but

neither may it be directly opposed and

frustrated, by checking the effect after

placing the cause.

Who would not concede that it would be

a great wrong if all married people prac-

ticed birth prevention regularly? Now by

what philosophy is it right for some to do

what it would be wrong for all to do?

If being on the side of nature and na-

ture’s God be wrong, then the Catholic

Church is wrong.

If the defense of principles which tend



COROLLARIES 29

to curb the looser morality be wrong, then

the Catholic Church is wrong.

If opposition to a movement which is

calculated to minimize the spirituality

and to exaggerate the animality in man is

wrong, then the Catholic Church is wrong.

There were from six to fifteen chil-

dren in the families from which sprang

George Washington, Benjamin Frank-

lin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Madison,

John Marshall, the great jurist, Abraham

Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, General Sherman,

General Pershing.

There were eight in the Shakespeare

family; twelve in the Walter Scott family;

twelve in the Tennyson family; eleven in

the Washington Irving family; eight in

the Charles Dickens family; nine in the

Carlyle family; eight in the Longfellow

family; twelve in the Fennimore Cooper

family; nine in the Phillips Brooks family.

The scoffer pretends to be shocked by

the words addressed by God to Adam and

Eve “increase and multiply.” They under-

stand the words to mean that people must

aim to have as many children as possible.

But such is not the meaning of God’s

words. The words of God rather contain

a blessing. They mean Adam and his pos-



30 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

terity would be blessed with “other

selves,” the greatest of all possessions.

God addressed similar words to Noah. It

is due to the co-operation which mother

lends to the Creator and later to the Re-

deemer, and still later to the everlasting

beatitude of her offspring, that St. Paul

says “She shall be saved through child

bearing” (I Tim. II, 15).



Instruction Four

REMOVING THE FIRST BAR-
RIERS TO CONVERSION

We have discussed the subject of mar-
riage as the entire Christian world always

regarded it until very recent times. We
have seen that from the beginning of the

human race marriage was held to be a sa-

cred contract, which had Almighty God

for its author
;
that in Christianity it was

elevated to a Sacrament in order that it

might confer heavenly blessings and

graces on the wedded pair for the easier

fulfillment of the obligations which it car-

ries with it. We have seen that it always
effected a life-long union, calculated to

promote the love which gave it being. We
have seen that peace, and security, and

protection, especially to wife and children,

are guaranteed only through a union

which is not dissolvable.

Everyone who is serious about marriage,

who will have deliberated sufficiently be-

fore taking the step, certainly wants to

effect a union such as we have contem-

plated
;
and the one who is so disposed has

no special reason to fear that his marriage

will prove to be unhappy.

(31 )



32 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Having decided to contract marriage

with a Catholic on the terms which have

been expounded, the inquirer should be

eager to learn what credentials the Cath-

olic Church has to offer in support of her

claim to be the true representative of

Heaven in all things relating to the soul’s

salvation.

In order that, in a friendly chat, his

observations may be more suited to the

particular attitude of mind of the Protest-

ant party, the priest wTill ask these ques-

tions :

(1) Do you hold membership in any re-

ligious denomination?

(2) Were your parents active members

in any church? If so, in which?

(3) Were you ever baptized? If so, do

you know in what manner?

(4) Were you reared in prejudice

against the Catholic Church?

(5) Do you believe in the existence of

God ? In the immortality of the soul ? In

the Divinity of Christ?

If the party under instruction does not

hold membership in any church, it should

be clear to him, first, that church mem-

bership, together with the prayers and

special worship associated with it, and



BARRIERS TO CONVERSION 83

the lofty ideals for which Christianity

stands, is admittedly better than non-

membership, both for the party concerned

and the prospective children; and second-

ly, that if God demands membership in a

definite religious society established by

Himself as a condition necessary for sal-

vation, then no one can be indifferent

about it.

I

Christian and Catholic Should Be The

Same

History upholds the Catholic contention

that, for fifteen centuries after Christ and

the Apostles, to be a Christian was to be a

Catholic. The inquirer’s remote ancestors,

no matter where they had their home in

Europe, belonged to the Catholic Church.

The breach of the Church’s unity in the

sixteenth century was forced by kings and

other temporal rulers, who were motivat-

ed either by their ambition to control the

Church in their respective realms, or to

enrich themselves by the confiscation of

Church property, or to nullify in their

own regard certain moral demands of the

Church, such as the law forbidding them

to divorce their lawful wives and to re-



34 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

marry. Without this encouragement

Luther and Calvin and Cranmer would not

have succeeded any better than ex-priests

of our own day in leading the people away

from the one Church which was taken for

granted, which had produced millions of

martyrs and saints all through its long

life, and to which the nations owed not

only their past greatness, but even their

respective civilizations.

The inquirer’s parents were probably

honest in their convictions, but one can

be honest even in his adherence to error.

Did not everyone sincerely believe for

thousands of years that the earth was sta-

tionary and the sun moved? But were

they not in error nevertheless?

Truths of the natural order, such as the

one just mentioned, when definitely dis-

covered, hold good for all time. Truths of

the supernatural order, once definitely re-

vealed by Almighty God, also hold good

for all time. He who would alter them,

or preach doctrines opposed to them, as

Christ predicted would frequently occur

during the centuries, evidently teaches

error, and misleads the people. This the

so-called Reformers did.

St. Augustine, a convert to the Catholic



STATE OF PROTESTANTISM 35

Church in the early fifth century, declared

with truth that “whatsoever the universal

Church practices must necessarily be

claimed as having descended from the very

Apostles themselves.” What the universal

Church taught in the time of St. Augus-

tine it has taught in every century since.

Therefore any contrary doctrine taught

by small groups, separated from the his-

toric Church, must be wrong.

II

Present State of Protestantism

Not only was Protestantism as such

born fifteen centuries after Christ, but

most forms with which we are acquainted

today either had a far later origin, or they

are off-shoots of the religions which owe

their origin to sixteenth century founders.

There are in our country, for instance, ac-

cording to the latest United States Govern-

ment census on religious denominations,

22 bodies of the Lutheran church, 17 bod-

ies of the Methodist church, 17 bodies of

the Baptist church, 10 bodies of the Pres-

byterian church—each owing its existence,
for the most part, to rejection of doctrines

or policies having been held by other

groups of the same name. Error, by its



36 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

very nature, tends to disunite, truth to

unite.

The inquirer may be surprised to learn

that the Catholic Church is making the

greatest progress today, and is held in

highest honor, in the very countries where

it was practically outlawed and bitterly

persecuted for three centuries; and that

Protestantism has disintegrated most in

the very countries where it was long up-

held by law and even enforced by the civil

government. In England and Germany,

for instance, more Catholics attend divine

services on any given Sunday than the

sum total of those professing the religions

which have been long encouraged, promot-

ed, and supported by the state.

It may be of interest to you to learn

that the world over there are 100,000,000

more Catholics than there are Protestants

of all sects combined; that even in the

United States there are nearly as many

Catholics as there are members in nearly

four hundred Protestant organizations.

There are easily twice as many Catholics

at Mass on Sunday in the United States

as there are Protestants at their respective

services. In other words, there are life

and vigor in the Catholic religion, and so



CATHOLIC DOCTRINE NO OBSTACLE 37

little of it in all but a few Protestant de-

nominations. Protestant churchmen fre-

quently make mention of this.

Ill

Catholic Doctrine Not The Obstacle

Little of the prevalent hostility towards

the Catholic Church is due to her beliefs

and practices. It is generally admitted

that Catholics believe everything which

the most exacting Protestant regards as

essential
;
that they pray more and attend

religious services better than the people of

any other religious organization. It is

also admitted that Catholics excel all oth-

ers in their service to the poor, the orphan,

the aged, the delinquent, the sick. There-

fore Catholics meet the requirements both

of those who maintain that Faith is the

one thing necessary, and of those who hold

that works are the only things which mat-

ter.

Hostility toward the Catholic Church,

therefore, arises principally from other

sources, among which are:

(1) The prejudices which rival protest-

ing organizations have aroused through

their literature.

(2) The misunderstanding of many



38 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

points of Catholic teaching, such as those

relating to the Infallibility of the Pope,

Purgatory, Confession, the Veneration of

the Saints, the Church’s attitude towards

the Bible, etc.

(3) The seeming exclusiveness of Cath-

olics who, in this country, conduct their

own schools, have their own cemeteries,

forbid membership in certain fraternal

organizations, oppose marriage with non-

Catholics.

(4) The assumption that Catholics owe

civil allegiance to the Pope, demand union

of the state in all countries with the

Church; that the Church meddles in poli-

tics, and hampers the freedom of civil

governments.

The Church’s Unpopularity

At the birth of Protestantism in Eng-

land, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, the

Catholic Church was attacked by men of-

ficially assigned to the task; abuses, real

and fictitious, were exploited and exagger-

ated
;
and these abuses were represented to

be the natural fruits of a religion which

had become corrupt. While this literature

was carefully preserved most of that con-



THE CHURCH’S UNPOPULARITY S9

taining erudite defense of the Catholic

Church was destroyed.

The motive behind the official attacks

was the justification of the break with

Rome, in order that kings and emperors

might command both the religious and

civil allegiance of their subjects. To this

end subjects were compelled to accept the

religion of the ruling power. Practically

all the first Protestants were forced out

of the Catholic Church.

The first move on the part of royal per-

secutors was to enrich themselves and

their abettors with confiscated church

property, with treasures of monasteries

and convents, whose members were us-

ually expatriated.

During the centuries since, the original

charges levelled against the Catholic

Church have been capitalized by enemies

of all religion as much as by the devotees

of the sects. The persistent reiteration of

the charges in book, pamphlet, the denom-

inational press, the pulpit, in the organs of

socialism, communism, of infidels and

atheists, have created the present anti-

Catholic state of mind.

The best answer to the slanders is found

in the declaration of their emptiness by



40 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

thousands of educated converts who care-

fully examined them all.

The Jewish rabbis, the Scribes and

Pharisees of Christ’s own country, did all

in their power to create a hostile state of

mind towards Him. Yet no one in our

time, not even enemies of Christianity,

would hold that Christ was guilty of the

things with which He was charged.

Does the fact that the Apostles, and

thousands of their converts, were perse-

cuted and martyred for their Faith, prove

that they were in religious error?

The Christian religion was very unpop-

ular during the first three centuries of its

existence, yet these centuries are referred

to as the golden era of the Church. The

persecution was not provoked by any error

in Christianity, but by the many condem-

nations which worldly and evil-minded

rulers discovered in its code of morals.

It is strange that Protestant Christians

today must be reminded that the unpopu-

larity of the Catholic Church is a mark in

its favor, for did not Christ Himself de-

clare?

—

“If they have called the good man of

the house Beelzebub, how much more

them of his household?” (Matt. X, 24-25)



THE CHURCH’S UNPOPULARITY 41

“If you had been of the world, the world

would love its own; but because you are

not of the world . . . therefore the world

hateth you.” (John XV, 19)

“You shall be hated by all nations for

My name’s sake.” (Matt. XXIV, 9)

“If the world hate you, know ye that it

hath hated Me before you.” (John XV, 18)

“The world hateth Me because I testify

of it that its works are evil”—a good
cause for which to be hated. (John VII, 7)

“For they shall deliver you up in coun-

cils, and they will scourge you in their

synagogues. And you shall be brought be-

fore governors, and before kings for My

sake . . . And you shall be hated by all

men for My sake.” (Matt. X, 17)

“Yea, the hour cometh that whosoever

killeth you, will think that he doeth a ser-

vice to God.” (John XVI, 2)

“Blessed are they that suffer persecu-

tion for justice’s sake; for theirs is the

kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when

men shall revile you, and persecute you,

and shall say all manner of evil against

you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be

exceeding glad: because your reward is

very great in Heaven.” (Matt. V, 11)



42 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

The religion of Jesus Christ was to be

treated in accordance with the above utter-

ances. Surely the bitterest anti-Catholic

will see their clear application to the Cath-

olic Church. Persecution of God’s Church

is a mark of divinity, clearly so stated in

Holy Scripture.



Instruction Five

CONTENTS OF THE CATECHISM
ANALYZED

It is customary for a priest instructing

a Protestant to follow the order of the

little catechism, and to ask the inquirer

to pray while he investigates. He is

reminded that Faith is a gift of God,

His very greatest gift, which is bestowed

on adults usually in response to inquiry

accompanied by earnest prayer. This

fact furnishes the answer to a question

often asked: “Why do otherwise learned

people not easily find the truth if it be in

possession of an institution which is so

old and so widespread?”

Granting the existence of God, and the

immortality of the soul, it should be clear

that the Creator and Father of us all

should want harmony of belief and practice

among His children in this world, and that

He should clearly define the terms on

which eternal beatitude is to be attained.

Granting that the destiny of man is

supernatural, it should be clear that sup-

ernatural means of attaining it would be

placed within the reach of every one

(43 )



44 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

through an institution commissioned, em-

powered and obligated to administer them.

We would, therefore, naturally expect
the Almighty to reveal the things which

every man must believe, to make known

His Will in relation to the things which

every man must do, and to provide the

helps which must be served to the soul

both for its elevation to the supernatural

state and for its preservation in that state.

The true religion, therefore, must teach a

set of truths, enjoin a code of practice,

and be in possession of special divinely in-

stituted means for the imparting and pro-

moting of the supernatural life.

The Catechism emphasizes these facts

and treats them in the order indicated,

dealing (1) with revealed truths or mat-

ters of faith; (2) with The Command-

ments, or Christian ethics; and (3) with

the Means of Grace or the divine helps to

salvation.

I

Divine Revelation

There are certain things which the most

brilliant mind could learn only from reve-

lation; for instance, the existence of God



DIVINE REVELATION 45

in Three Persons; the Incarnation of the

Second Person of this Trinity; His Virgin

birth; the character of life after death;

the terms on which eternal reward are

conditioned.

Human reason can find nothing contra-

dictory in any teaching of Faith, while it

could not, without revelation, know what

some of the supernatural facts are.

The Bible, or Holy Scripture, contains

most of the revelation made by Almighty

God, but it itself declares that His full

revelation was not committed to writing.

The Bible, as you are aware, was not

written by any one individual to whom

God revealed Himsef. The greater part

of it is composed of the Old Testament,

which had served its principal purpose be-

fore the Christian religion was founded.

It contains a record of the creation, of the

fall of our first parents, of the destruction

of most of the human race by the Deluge

because of the apostasy of the early human

race. It records the establishment of a

temporary definite religion, which was to

be a national religion for the Jewish peo-

ple, preparing them for the coming of the

divine Redeemer, Who was promised im-
mediately after Adam’s fall. This promise



46 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

was frequently reiterated to Abraham,

Moses, to many teachers of that people, of

whose race He was to be born.

The Jewish people, surrounded by pa-

gans and polytheists, retained their faith

in the One God, worshipped Him alone,

and looked for God to become man as their

Liberator and Redeemer. This Redeemer

came some over nineteen hundred years

ago, and established a world-wide re-

ligion, which bears His Name (Chris-

tian). Most of His teachings are record-

ed in the New Testament, which was writ-

ten by some of His disciples. These Scrip-

tures also furnish a brief account of His

life, and narrate the spread of His Church

after His return to Heaven. The purpose

of the writers was not to supply the entire

world for all time with inspired documents

as sources of faith, but rather to instruct

the people of their own time.

The Catholic Church preserved the sa-

cred writings, and on her authority alone

can they be accepted as divinely inspired.

Therefore, the Protestant is very in-

consistent in denying the authority, even

the infallible authority of the Catholic

Church, while accepting the Bible as a rule



DIVINE REVELATION 47

of faith. The Catholic Church had the

Bible for fifteen hundred years before

Protestantism was born; and only a be-

liever in the Church’s infallible authority

can rightly assume that the Church did

not incorporate uninspired writings in the

canon of New Testament Scripture, or that

she did not alter the writings of the Apos-

tles, or of Mark and Luke, to suit Her own

purpose. The original writings of these

contemporaries of Christ are no longer in

existence, and therefore, no one could

prove the identity of any part of the pres-

ent New Testament with the original, ex-

cept through the Catholic Church.

Instead of being the enemy of the Bible,

as she is accused by her enemies, the Cath-

olic Church has been the Bible’s warmest

friend. She preserved it for the world at

a time when copies could be produced

only by transcribing them by hand from

beginning to end; and today she is the

only defender of the Bible in its entirety.

That the Bible was not to be a sort of

textbook of religion, to be interpreted by

its every reader, is clear from the fact

that this practice has given birth to the

hundreds of religious sects, each teaching

many things contradictory of others, yet



48 INSTRUCTING THE} NON-CATHOLIC

all claiming the support of this Book,

which can truly have authority only

through the Church, which produced it.

Protestants are not only wrong in main-

taining the “Bible only” theory, but they

misrepresent the Catholic Church’s atti-

tude toward Tradition. It is very true that

the Catholic Church includes Tradition

with the Bible as sources of Faith, but

Tradition means something quite different

from what our enemies represent it to be.

Tradition, for the most part, is the writ-

ten record of the beliefs of Christians of

practically every century as contained in

the writings of successors of the Apostles,

of saintly Doctors of the Church, in the

decisions of the General Councils, at which

the entire Christian world was represent-

ed. Tradition, therefore, is the diary of

the Church from her early childhood to

the present time. From this written diary

the Church should be able to indicate what

were the prevailing beliefs during every

century since the time of her founding by

Christ. These truths are embodied, in

large part, in the Apostles’ and Nicene

Creeds.



GOD'S LAWS 49

II

God’s Laws

The Ten Commandments, although pro-

mulgated by Almighty God to the head of •

the Jewish religion, are binding in the

Universal religion of the New Law, be-

cause they are based on the very laws of

nature. In other words, it would be wrong,

even though Almighty God did not so

declare it, if the creature did not worship

the Creator, if he profaned His Name and

perjured himself; it would be wrong for

children to disobey or ill-treat their par-

ents; it would be wrong for people to

commit murder or adultery or theft; it

would be wrong to lie or even to desire

what is evil.

These laws are immutable. Therefore

the Catholic Church has no power over

them. Nor has she power over other di-

rect ordinances of God, such as those re-

lating to marriage, divorce, birth preven-

tion.

The Ten Commandments as learned by

Protestants are numbered differently be-

ginning with the second. This is because

the first Commandment, as it appears in

the Catholic records, was divided into two.



50 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOIJC

This division was made principally to

make a case against the honor which

Catholics pay to saints, and to their

images and relics. Catholics, as you are

‘aware, are accused of paying divine wor-

ship to the Mother of Jesus and to other

saints. As a matter of fact, every Cath-

olic child is taught that one would be

guilty of idolatry if one worshipped any-

one short of God Himself.

Catholics pay higher human honor to

Mary and the saints both because they de-

serve it, and because God Himself set us

the example. God sent an angel from

Heaven to honor Mary, to carry a mes-

sage to Joseph. Christ eulogized St. John

the Baptist, St. John the Apostle, and

even Mary Magdalene after her conver-

sion. Today these saints are with God in

Heaven and the recipients of high honors

at His hand. Catholics honor them mere-

ly because they are so holy and dear to

God. Therefore, Catholics honor them

solely on God’s account, and know that

they are honoring God by honoring those

whom He so loves. Hence no case is made

against the Catholic Church by forming

two Commandments out of the first. But

because this is done, our second Command-



GOD’S LAWS 51

ment is the Protestants’ third, our third

their fourth, and so on until the tenth is

reached; then our ninth and tenth are

made one, and thus the total number of

Ten is written.

The Church has enacted Commandments

or precepts of her own, six in number,

which relate to the observance of Sundays

and Holydays, to the reception of two Sac-

raments, to the support of religion, and to

fast and abstinence. These laws the

Church could alter, and one or other of

them is occasionally suspended, such as

the fast and abstinence law.

Catholics abstain from meat on Friday

both to show their appreciation and do a

little in return for the Redemption, which

was wrought for mankind on the memora-

ble Good Friday. Fasting is one of three

forms of penance recommended in Holy

Scripture
;
the other two forms are prayer

and alms-giving.

Today there are many who claim that

the Bible code of morality is antiquated,

just as others claim that the old Creeds are

antiquated. Such declarations may appeal

to one’s prejudices or passions, but not to

one’s reason. A creed is nothing more
than a statement of revealed truths.



52 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

These must remain in force until they are

definitely abrogated. But they cannot be

abrogated even by God Himself, simply

because they are truths relating to facts

of the supernatural order and of history.

Of course, creeds drafted by would-be re-

formers of God’s Church could and should

be abrogated in every point in which they

differ from the original revelation.

No circumstance of time, or place, or

progress can make right any practice

which is forbidden either explicitly or im-

plicitly by a Commandment of God.

The so-called “new morality” is nothing

more than defiance of man’s higher na-

ture by his lower, of his reason by his in-

clinations, of laws of God by his decision

“not to serve.” But such an attitude does

not invalidate the eternal code of morality

by which every man’s conduct will be

judged.

Ill

The Means of Grace

God does not live in the same order in

which we human beings live; therefore, if

our destiny be life eternal with God in

Heaven, our souls, even in this world, must

be elevated to the supernatural order.



MEANS OF GRACE 53

Means must always be of the same nature

as the end to which they lead.

Faith teaches that to the natural life

of the soul of the first human pair was

superadded a supernatural life
;
that their

souls were created “in the image and like-

ness of God” Himself. But this higher

life, which, because a pure gift, is called

“grace,” was to be the inheritance of

Adam’s posterity only on condition that

he would be faithful officially to one com-

mand of God, by which his loyalty would

be tested.

Human nature, as a whole, existed at

that time in Adam and Eve. If they

sinned, that human nature, tainted, would

be inherited by their descendants. The

Bible tells us that they did sin in their

representative capacity. Hence their

every descendant, save her who was to

be the mother of the Redeemer, received

his soul from the Almighty bereft of sup-

ernatural life. This means that Heaven,

with its supernatural glory, was closed

against all mankind; that the best people

could expect no more than a natural re-

ward in the hereafter, or one in keeping

with their soul’s nature, for service to

God in this world.



54 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

But, because the Heavenly Father want-

ed His children on earth to be associated

with Him in everlasting bliss, yet demand-

ed that the disloyalty of our first parents

be repaired, His love and justice and

mercy decreed a way to restore our lost

inheritance. God promised Adam imme-

diately after his fall, as He later promised

Noah, and Abraham, and many patriarchs

and prophets in the Old Law, that one of

the Persons of the Blessed Trinity Itself

would', come into this world to become

mankind’s Savior, which the name “Jesus”

signifies.

All know the Christmas story of His

birth in this world at Bethlehem, in Pales-

tine, of the Virgin Mary. All know the

beautiful but sad story of His life, which

was one of poverty, humility, obedience

and persecution. All know the story of

His death, by which He made an infinite

atonement for the original transgression.

He was the second Adam “becoming obed-

ient unto death, even the death of the

Cross” to undo the work of the first Adam.

The Application of Christ’s Merits

Now the Catholic Church teaches that

the Redemption by Christ made the salva-



MEANS OF GRACE 65

tion of all possible, but not actual. Man

still has free will, and still has all the pro-

pensities to evil which he inherited with

Original Sin. While every human creature

inheriting a tainted nature from Adam

is conceived and born in what is known

as Original Sin, through the merits of

Jesus, also called Christ, it is possible for

every human being to become the adopted

son of God, by coming under the sacramen-

tal influence of God’s Church, and receiv-

ing the supernatural life which he would

have inherited had Adam not sinned. Evi-

dently this supernatural life must be con-

ferred by some means instituted by the

Redeemer, Who was also the founder of

the Christian religion. These means are

known as the Sacraments, or means of

grace.

The Sacraments are seven in number,

the first of which, namely Baptism, im-

parts the supernatural life of grace to the

soul. On this account the Bible calls Bap-

tism a rebirth, through “water and the

Holy Ghost,” (St. John 3:5). But even

after Baptism one can sin, or violate a

law of God in a serious matter, and griev-

ous sin always destroys grace previously

received.



56 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Therefore one would expect a Sacrament

to restore this grace after it will have been

lost. Christ provided that in the Sacra-

ment of Penance. He provided a Sacra-

ment, called Confirmation, to render the

baptized person strong against trials and

temptations. He instituted a Sacrament

to assist the soul at the hour when divine

help is most important, namely in one’s

last illness. This Sacrament is known as

Extreme Unction.

We have seen that He elevated marriage
to the dignity of a Sacrament, in order

that the wedded pair might receive the

spiritual strength needed for the new ob-

ligations assumed. He even instituted a

Sacrament in proof of His infinite love,

known as the Holy Eucharist, whereby

the soul is intimately and personally unit-

ed to Him, and by which it is nourished

supernaturally and sanctified. Then, as

might be expected, He instituted a Sacra-

ment, empowering accredited representa-

tives to administer the other six sacra-

ments. This Sacrament is known as Holy

Orders, and through it the Apostles were

ordained priests, and through it they, in

turn, ordained successors.

It must be very clear to all that a re-



MEANS OF GRACE 57

ligion, which has these supernatural

means of salvation, must surpass a thou-

sand times any and all religions which

have them not. There is, therefore, an

infinite difference between the Catholic re-

ligion and any other, no matter how close

may be the outward resemblance.

We often hear it said that the Funda-

mentalist Protestant believes nearly every-

thing the Catholic believes. Even if he

believed everything which the Catholic

believes, and his religion could not trace

its origin directly to a divine Founder, nor

prove Apostolic Succession for its clergy-

men (a condition necessary for a legiti-

mate commission and valid Orders) there

would be the immeasurable difference that

there must be between a human and a di-

vine religion.



Instruction Six

THE CATHOLIC TEMPLE, THE
MASS, THE PRIESTHOOD

I

The Catholic Place of Worship

Every non-Catholic, who has attended

divine services in a Catholic church, will

have noted that the edifice has an atmos-

phere more sacred and serious than that

which pervades the temples of other re-

ligious organizations. Nothing of a pro-

fane or worldly character may be held

within its precincts.

He will have noted that as a worshipper

enters the portals of the parish church he

dips his finger into water and signs him-

self with the Sign of the Cross; that he

bends his knee profoundly before he en-

ters the pew
;
that he kneels a few moments

in prayer before he seats himself. These

are not meaningless acts, but are prompted

by deep-seated convictions.

The water, with which he makes the

Sign of the Cross, is blessed, and its use

signifies that all worldly and distracting

thoughts must be banished and the mind

(58 )



CATHOLIC PLACE OP WORSHIP 59

purified when the sacred place is entered.

The genuflection, or bending of the knee,

and the prayer said in a kneeling posture,

are motivated by the belief of the Catho-

lic that the Eucharistic presence of God is

an actuality within the tabernacle of the

Altar. The little red light, which burns

day and night within the Sanctuary rail-

ing, indicates this presence.

The non-Catholic attendant at services

in a Catholic church will also have noted

that the organ and the choir are located in

the rear instead of the front of the tem-

ple, and that the Altar occupies the place

of honor. The Altar represents Calvary,

because thereon is repeated the sacrifice,

which Christ offered in Person for the re-

demption of mankind, and which He re-

news through the priest for the applica-

tion of the merits of that redemption to

individuals, and for the perpetual glorifi-

cation of the Holy Trinity.

This renewal of Christ’s immolation on

Calvary is known as the Mass, which was

instituted at the Last Supper, at which

time the Savior empowered and delegated

the Apostles to do in His Name what He

had done, by transubstantiating bread and

wine into His Body and Blood, for the



60 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

twofold purpose of continuing His un-

bloody oblation, and of producing the Holy

Eucharist— so that the faithful might re-
ceive Holy Communion from the, priest’s

hands as the Apostles had received it from

Christ’s hands.

Through the Mass Christ becomes “the

priest forever,” as David predicted he

would be (Ps. 109), and as St. Paul de-

clared that He actually is from the day of

the Last Supper, (Hebrew 5:6). Through

the Mass the prophecy of Malachy is ful-

filled, namely that “From the rising of the

sun even to its setting, in every place a

clean oblation is offered in My Name
among the Gentiles” (Mai. 1 :11). Through

the Mass alone God is adequately honored,

and reparation is made for the countless

sins committed daily throughout the world.

It is no wonder, then, that the Church

obligates all Catholics to attend Mass on

all Sundays and Holydays of Obligation

(six in number) as the most fitting man-

ner of fulfilling the Commandment, which

reads “Remember thou keep holy the Sab-

bath day.”

While every prayer and movement of

the priest, representing Christ at the Al-

tar, has the deepest significance, there are



CATHOLIC PLACE OF WORSHIP 61

three parts of the Mass which are integral

to the sacrifice, namely the Offertory, the

Consecration and the Communion. At the

Offertory the bread and wine are present-

ed to Almighty God; at the Consecration

they are transmuted into the living Christ,

Who is thus enabled to become the priest

in Person; at the Communion the conse-

crated elements are received by the priest

and distributed to those people, who have

disposed themselves for it, usually by the

reception of the Sacrament of Penance, by

meditation and prayer.

Before his ordination the candidate for

the priesthood takes a vow of celibacy or

chastity, and consecrates himself for life

to the service of the Almighty, especially

in the sanctuary of His temple. At the

Altar he acts as an official representative

both of God and the people, and the vest-

ments he wears signify that he puts on

the person of Christ, Whose instrument

he is in the act of repeating the Last Sup-

per sacrifice, which was one with that of

Calvary.



62 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

II

The Priest and His Duties

It is because of his official consecration

to God that Catholics have such regard for

their priest even if, in many respects, he

betrays much of the human in his life.

Ideally he should not be of the world, be-

cause he was “called out of the world,”

and set apart to busy himself with divine

things. Of the priest St. Paul says

:

“Every high priest, taken from among

men is ordained for men in the things

which appertain to God, that he may

offer gifts and sacrifices for sins”

(Hebrew V, 1). He is “ordained for

men”; therefore he must have no family

ties, no special attachment for any

individual. All his time must be at the

disposal of the people, for daily Mass,

sickness, public prayer, instruction, etc.

He is ordained for the people “in the things

that appertain to God ;” therefore he must

instruct his flock in the knowledge of God

and show them how to live according to

the Commandments of God. He must

“spend himself and be spent for the salva-

tion of souls.”

It is because religious practice must be



THE PRIEST AXD HIS DUTIES 63

built on religious knowledge that the

Catholic Church conducts her own schools,

which are under the priest’s supervision.

Such importance is attached to early re-

ligious education that Catholics make

great sacrifices to build and maintain a

parochial school system, where secular in-

struction equal to the best procurable in

the state public schools is combined with

instruction in the things of the soul, in

the things of Heaven, in the things of God.

The non-Catholic who believes in virtue

and character must needs approve the

principle underlying Catholic education.

Those who exhibit antagonism towards

private religious schools entertain wrong

ideas concerning their purpose or efficien-

cy. Their purpose is to combine knowl-

edge of God with the knowledge of secu-

lar things, knowledge of the world to come

with knowledge of this world, to train the

will and conscience along with the mind

and memory. Their efficiency is demon-

strated in every locality by the success of

their pupils in competitive tests, whether

relating to spelling, composition, or ora-

tory. It is well known here in America

how much they excel in physical culture or

athletics.



64 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

The course of studies leading to the

priesthood is a very long one; it covers at

least twelve years following a successful

completion of the elementary grades. It

embraces, therefore, a high-school course,

a college course, and a four-year graduate

course. Throughout these twelve years,

the candidate for the priesthood has plen-

ty of time to ponder over the obligations

which he is expected to assume. He is

deeply grounded in the spiritual life, and

hence is deserving of reproach, if after his

ordination, he is not all that the Church

and the Catholic people expect him to be.

Since there was a Judas among the

Apostles selected and instructed by Christ

Himself people should not be scandalized

at the very rare serious fall of a priest;

but they are terribly scandalized when one

of their number violates his vow or apos-

tatizes. Even non-Catholics are much

more shocked by the fall of a priest than

by the fall of a Protestant minister.

Much is written in sectarian books, in

anti-Catholic literature about the corrup-

tion of the Catholic clergy in the Middle

Ages. Even if the accounts were not

grossly exaggerated for the special pur-

poses of the writers, there would be a



A VISIT TO THE CHURCH 65

satisfying explanation. Catholic Kings

and other rulers enjoyed the privilege of

nominating Bishops. When they them-

selves were religious and well-meaning

they proposed persons worthy of the of-

fice; but when they wished to control the

Church within their domains they pro-

posed the names of men who were not

worthy candidates, men of worldly influ-

ence and wealth, who, in turn, ordained

to the priesthood those who had neither

the qualifications nor training. There

were frequently conflicts between Kings

and Popes on this account; the success of

the so-called Reformation in different

countries is explained by these abuses. But

even in those days there were great saints

and holy priests.

Ill

A Visit to the Church

The priest will be glad to take you to the

parish church and explain other things,

which fall under the observation of the

Protestant attending Catholic services.

For instance, the Confessional, whose in-

terior should be shown to you.

There are definite times for the hearing

of confessions, at each of which there are



66 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

usually large numbers to make their con-

fession.

Ask the priest to explain the seal of con-

fession.

Genuine supernatural sorrow as a con-

dition for forgiveness, the absence of

which would nullify the Sacrament even if

the penitent made a complete confession

and received absolution, is essential. Few

Protestants understand that Contrition is

so requisite a part of the Sacrament of

Penance.

Then the devotion of the Way of the

Cross might interest you. This usually

fascinates the interested non-Catholic.

Intense meditation on the passion and

death of Christ is something wholly for-

eign to the average Protestant. He is

impressed by representations of the dif-

ferent stages of Christ’s passion por-

trayed by the fourteen Stations of the

Cross.

Probably you will even need an ex-

planation of the Church’s attitude toward

statues and images, which, like the Sta-

tions of the Cross, preach forcibly to the

heart. The statue of the Sacred Heart,

for instance, preaches the lesson of Christ’s

infinite love, and the notion of worshipping



A VISIT TO THE CHURCH

it is far from the mind of the one who

kneels in prayer before it. He is either

thanking his Divine Lover, or is petition-

ing Him, in the name of His love, for some

special spiritual or temporal favor either

for himself or for others. In a similar

manner you will recognize beautiful lessons

in the statues of the Blessed Virgin, and

of St. Joseph. Every parish has special

Sodalities, of which the Blessed Virgin is

patroness, and whose members are en-

couraged to imitate her holy life. She,

the Mother of Christ, is the best possible

patroness of mothers. She, the purest of

Virgins, is the best possible patroness of

young people.

You need not be informed that nearly

every man and woman belongs to some lay

organization which honors far less noble

patrons. For instance, there are the

Knights of Pythias, the Daughters of Re-

becca. There are lay organizations dedi-

cated to animals and fowls, one knows

not why, such as the Elks, the Moose, the

Eagles, the Owls. If such honor be not

opposed to common sense, then surely the

honor paid to Mary, to St. Joseph, St. An-

thony, St. Theresa, or St. Anne, is highly

proper.



88 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHODIC

Do you understand the reason for burn-

ing candles during day time services, the

liturgical significance of the wax candles ?

You will be interested in visiting the

baptistry and to learn why we baptize by

infusion, and not by immersion or sprink-

ling; why we baptize infants, and the

effect of Baptism when administered the

first time to an adult. One who had been

baptized in another faith has the ceremony

repeated conditionally, and such an one is

expected to read a form of Profession of

Faith, by which he exhibits his sincerity

in renouncing any teaching not in accord-

ance with Catholic beliefs, and acknowl-

edges his acquiescence in all Catholic

teaching.



WHAT THE FULLY INSTRUCT-
ED CONVERT SHOULD

KNOW
Rather than have the words of the little

Catechism committed to memory the priest

would prefer that the convert to the Cath-

olic faith have a thorough grasp of and be

able to answer in his own way questions

as follows:

I

FUNDAMENTALS

How does man differ from the most

highly developed animal?

What is the nature of the human soul?

Could the soul have any but a direct

divine origin?

The soul being immortal, what is its

destiny?

Is it not necessary that man have cer-

tainty about the requirements of God for

the soul’s salvation ?

Should we not expect an authorized

teacher and interpreter of God’s revela-

tion?

NOTE—For supplementary reading we recom-
mend the book “Father Smith Instructs Jackson”

by Our Sunday Visitor Press.

( 69 )



70 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Could there be several such commission-

ed teachers, each differing from the other?

Whom do Christians regard as the
Founder of a universal religion, possessing

both the doctrines to be believed and the

means by which the soul might be sancti-

fied?

Who was Jesus Christ?

What proofs have we of His divinity?

What did He do to redeem mankind ?

Why was a Redemption necessary?

What do you understand by the Holy

Trinity?

By what act or sign do Catholics profess

their belief in the Holy Trinity?

By which marks or evidences can the

true Church be known from the others?

To which Church do these marks cor-

respond?

How do even the oldest Protestant de-

nominations miss the mark of Apostoli-

city?

Who were the Apostles?

What commission and power did Christ

confer on them?

Must successors of the Apostles have

the same commission and powers?

By what ordinances are these powers

conferred?



THE COMMANDMENTS 71

What are angels?

In what essential do they differ from

man?

Were they tried as were our first

parents?

Did they obey?

What is the fate of the disloyal angels?

By what name are these known since

their fall?

What do we understand by a Guardian

Angel?

II

THE COMMANDMENTS

How many laws or commandments did

God promulgate for man’s observance?

What is the import of the First Com-

mandment?

What is forbidden by the Second Com-

mandment?

What is demanded by the Third Com-

mandment?

What obligations does the Fourth Com-

mandment impose?

Can you enumerate some sins opposed

to the Fifth Commandment?

What does the Sixth Commandment

forbid ?



72 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

What are evident sins against the

Seventh Commandment?

Which sins violate the Eighth Com-

mandment?

How do we offend against the Ninth

Commandment?

What is the implication of the Tenth

Commandment?

Precepts of the Church require a certain

manner of Sunday observance, impose

fasting and abstinence on certain days,

regulate the frequency with which the

Sacrament of Penance and Holy Eucharist

must be received, and pronounce on the

proper reception of the Sacrament of

Matrimony. Do you know what the several

stipulations are?

Ill

MEANS OF GRACE

What do you understand by sanctifying

grace?

What is your impression about actual

grace?

How many Sacraments are there? Name

them.

Who instituted the Sacraments?

What is Baptism for?

What is Original Sin ?



MEANS OF GRACE 73

Was any individual preserved from it?

How necessary is Baptism?

How would you baptize?

What is the purpose of Confirmation?

Who may administer Confirmation?

What is the Holy Eucharist?

In what condition must the soul be to

receive the Holy Eucharist?

Is it necessary to receive Holy Com-

munion under both forms as the Apostles

did?

Does any one receive under both forms?

If so, who and why?

Where is the Sacrament of the Holy

Eucharist prepared?

What is your comprehension of the

Mass?

What does transubstantiation mean?

What is understood by the Sacrament

of Penance?

What is necessary for its effective re-

ception ?

How often should one receive this Sac-

rament ?

What is the greatest essential for a valid

confession ?

What is Extreme Unction for?

To whom may Extreme Unction be given

and when?



74 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

What do you understand by Holy

Orders ?

When was it instituted, and who were

the first to receive it at Christ’s hands ?

What is the ideal marriage?

Is absolute divorce ever allowed after a

valid marriage?

Is separation without privilege of re-

marriage ever allowed?

Why does the Catholic Church oppose

mixed marriages?

Is wilful birth prevention sinful?

Is it wrong only because the Catholic

Church prohibits it?

Which official prayers should be commit-

ted to memory?

If you have not learned all of them, will

you agree to read them from your Cate-

chism or Prayerbook once a day until you

know them?

Do you know how to say the Rosary?

Does it consist of mere repetitions of the

same prayer?

Do you know the principle underlying

the wearing of a scapular or medal?

Do you know the meaning of the Way of
the Cross, of the Benediction service?



Answers to the Inquirer’s

Objections

ARE ONLY CATHOLICS SAVED?

The Catholic Church teaches neither

that all Catholics are saved nor that all

Protestants or infidels are lost. The Cath-

olic sinner is more responsible before God

than any other sinner, because he offends

with greater knowledge. It is certain,

therefore, that the Catholic who dies un-

repentant after a life of grievous sin will

be lost the same as any other unrepentant

sinner. Of course, the Catholic Church

pretends to pass no judgment on the fate

of any particular individual. When we de-

clare that a person must belong to the re-

ligion of Jesus Christ in order to attain

salvation, we have in mind the one who

lives outside that religion through his own

fault. Not even the Almighty obligates

one to fulfill a duty of which he is ignorant.

But it should be clear that only God may

stipulate what is necessary for the soul’s

salvation. It should be equally clear that

if He has established a definite religion as

a way to salvation, no one may know-

(75)



76 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

ingly and wilfully ignore it and still hope

to be saved.

The teaching of the Catholic Church,

therefore, which reads : “Outside the

Church there is no salvation” means that

the ordinary way to Heaven is through the

religion of Christ; that those who are

saved without having held membership in

that religion belonged to the soul if not to

the body of the Church—by living accord-
ing to the lights they had and by ever hav-

ing the disposition to comply with the

terms of God the moment they should be-

come acquainted with the same.

Sincerity is not identical with truth, but

when one has no means of knowing what

the truth is the Almighty cannot demand

more than sincerity.

ATHEISM

Atheism has not a foot to stand on. The

philosophical argument of the relation

between cause and effect must always lead

to God. We may ride along with the ex-

treme evolutionist as far as he can go,

but there we run into God, the author of

the first atom, and of the law governing

the activity of the proton and electron

within the atom. We may account for



ATHEISM 77

this thing or that thing without God, but

not for the first thing or the first law.

Nature is the atheist’s God, but nature

is just as cruel as the God Whom the scof-

fer repudiates because of alleged cruelty.

The universe not only calls for a God, but

it itself, in the words of Holy Scripture,

narrates “the glory of God.” The uni-

verse, vast as it is, is limited, and there-

fore is not infinite, and therefore could

not be God. We could always conceive of
one more star, one more planet, but we

cannot conceive of any addition to infinity.

The universe is material, and therefore it

could not be God.

The world had few professed atheists

until modern times, and the whole human

race could not have been wrong all the

time. The professed atheist of today is

neither a philosopher nor a scientist; in

other words he has not arrived at his be-

lief either by reasoning or by experiment.

God is simply in his way, and therefore

must be disowned. He is prejudiced

against God, Who could not endorse either

his policies or his morals. Even Voltaire,

the infidel, wrote: “If there had not been

a God it would have' been necessary to

invent one.”



78 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Atheism becomes a religion for its pro-

fessors. They become fanatical about it.

The would-be atheist becomes more zeal-

ous in the promotion of his destructive

theory than the Christian in the promotion

of his consoling creed. Error is usually

more aggressive than truth.

AGNOSTICISM

The Agnostic is one who claims to know

nothing about God or religion, and acts on

the theory that this ignorance absolves

him from all obligation to concern himself

about religion.

No one would think of defending such

an attitude in any other relationship. The

same individual would leave no stone un-

turned to arrive at knowledge which would

be necessary or even helpful to him in any

other field.

There is culpable and inculpable ignor-

ance; but ignorance of God is culpable; it

can easily be overcome. St. Paul tells us

that even the pagan, who had no revela-

tion from Heaven, could be certain both

of the existence of God and of His attri-

butes, among which are not only His good-

ness and mercy, but also His justice and

power to punish His ungrateful creatures.



THE DOCTRINE OF HELL 79

The “I do not know” of the Agnostic is in

reality “I do not care to know.” Is it not

strange that the most important informa-

tion of all is the very knowledge which he

does not care to possess?

THE DOCTRINE OF HELL

The existence of hell as a place of eter-

nal separation from God should not create

any difficulty for anyone who has a proper

sense of justice. Eternal association with

God in glory for his faithful children may

be a pleasant reality to contemplate, but

it is no more reasonable than eternal sep-

aration from Him for His defiant children.

For a soul that will live forever it must

be either happiness or misery, and there-

fore either heaven or hell. If God’s good-

ness prompts Him to reward the good, His

justice must demand that He punish the

wicked. God cannot be indifferent towards

sin as men are. Yet even here on earth we

have thousands of prisons filled with vio-

lators of the laws of men. On the occasion

of the murder of the Lindbergh baby by

its kidnappers the editors of two New

York papers declared that “hell would be

too good for those criminals”.

The cruelty of hell vanishes when we



80 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

consider that it is not God who condemns

the unrepentant sinner, but himself. God

did far more than we could have expected

Him to do to save man from hell. As long

as he lives the individual may make salva-

tion certain
;
but if he positively refuses to

do so, if his life be one of open rebellion

and of contempt of God, he certainly can-

not expect to be rewarded forever and ever

for it.

Hell was not created by God simultane-

ously with heaven. It was created when

angels who were put on trial for the ac-

quisition of Heaven declared “I will not

serve”. They could not be admitted into

heaven because of their rebellion
;
yet they

were not annihilated. They still live as

devils, transformed and perverted, and the

place in which they live is called Hell.

Since the heaven of the angels becomes

the heaven of good people, so the hell of

the angels becomes the hell of bad people.

PURGATORY

When we say that “it is either heaven

or hell for the human soul after death”,

we speak of its permanent fate. A place
of temporary punishment or of purgation

to prepare the soul of the average good



PURGATORY 81

person for Heaven is not only very reason-

able but in full harmony with Holy Scrip-

ture. You would hardly believe that even

your own mother is worthy of immediate

entrance into heaven. Yet you would repel

the thought that she should be separated

from God forever. You would never think

of dividing the people of the world into

two groups, namely, the very good and the

very bad. You would think of still another

group constituted of those who belong to

neither extreme. If heaven is for the very

good and hell for the very bad, must there

not be a place for those who, at the time

of death, are neither worthy of immediate

heaven, nor deserving of eternal hell?

Holy Scripture tells us m effect a hun-
dred times that man will be rewarded or

punished according to his works. Holy

Scripture encourages prayer for the dead,

which implies a middle state in the other

world which we call Purgatory. St. Mat-

thew speaks of a place in the other world

from which there is no exit until one pays

the last farthing. This place can be neith-

er heaven nor hell.

The Catholic Church does not pretend

to know whether any given person goes to

purgatory, or how long the soul may be



82 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

compelled to remain there. Often she is re-

presented as teaching that a certain num-

ber of Masses will release a soul. This is

a charge invented by her enemies. She

merely teaches that the most powerful of

all prayers is the Mass, and therefore en-

courages Masses for the departed.

No practice of religion is so consolatory

as that of remembering the dead by pray-

er and good works, with the conviction

that they are applied to the soul for

speedier purgation.

PROHIBITION

The Catholic Church is neither wet nor

dry in the modern sense of those terms,

but she insists more than any other in-

stitution that the middle course, namely,

that of moderation be observed. Temper-

ance actually means moderation. When

you are asked to be temperate in eating,

it is not meant that you should not taste

food.

Of course, the Catholic Church is not

opposed to total abstinence. She advocates

it not because the one who drinks temper-

ately sins, but because total abstention

from alcoholic liquor may be practiced as

a virtue. For the one who cannot taste of



RELIGION AND SCIENCE 83

drink without going to excess total abstin-

ence is an obligation imposed by con-

science. For such there would be no sacra-

mental absolution without a pledge of total

abstinence. But for the one who can con-

trol himself in relation to drink there is no

need of imposing total abstinence either

by personal resolution or by law.

The Catholic Church has made no pro-

nouncement on prohibition as it is estab-

lished by law in the United States or else-

where. If a prelate or priest denounces

prohibition he is either denouncing the

philosophy on which it is based, namely,

that which represents the moderate use of

alcohol as sinful, or he is denouncing

it because it has become a failure as a

practical means of promoting temperance.

Professional prohibitionists do not suffi-

ciently distinguish between use and abuse.

RELIGION AND SCIENCE

Religion has absolutely nothing to fear

from true science, and science has nothing

to fear from the true religion. Some over-

zealous Christians have been too much in-

clined to assume that science could explain

little without making any effort to ascer-

tain how much it could explain. Some

scientists, on the other hand, have been



84 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

inclined to repudiate religion altogether

if they found any reference in Holy Scrip-

ture to statements which went counter to

some definitely proved teaching of science.

When there is a seeming contradiction

between the teaching of faith and the

teaching of science one must apply one’s

mind rather than theology to discover a

reconciliation. One must see whether, by

granting the dogma of science, it cannot

be brought in full harmony with the teach-

ing of religion. Mr. W. H. Mallock, the

English scientist, contended that if the

apologist on either side would do this, he

would find that both can be firm believers

not only in God, but in all revealed truths

of faith.

A RELIGION OF CEREMONIES

The non-Catholic, unacquainted with the

truths which underlie the Catholic cere-

monial, entertains the notion that the

Catholic religion, in its divine services, is

all exterior pomp and ceremony, and that

Catholics are attracted to church princi-

pally by the ritual.

As a matter of fact, the average Catho-

lic patronizes the service which contains

the least of ritual, for instance, the Low



A RELIGION OF CEREMONIES 85

Mass. Of course, every ceremony is deep-

ly significant, and is suggested by a pro-

found truth or reality.

Protestantism made its first appeal to

the people by eliminating all ceremonies

from its church services, but in late

years one denomination after another has

copied Catholic practices although, in their

case, ceremonies become what they had

been wont to designate “empty.” They

are “empty” in the Protestant service, be-

cause the doctrine on which they are based

in the Catholic ritual, is not accepted with

the outward mimicry. One after another

the things which were repudiated by Pro-

testantism are being introduced—the
Crucifix, statuary, windows containing fig-

ures of saints, the vested choir, proces-

sions, candles, etc. It seems to be Pro-

testantism’s last effort to attract people

to the churches, knowing how well Catho-

lics still go out to worship on Sunday.

SO MANY EXTRAVAGANT TRUTHS

Is not the Catholic teaching concerning

Original Sin, the Mass, and the Holy Eu-

charist difficult to accept? It should not

be difficult at all. Is it more difficult to

believe that the sin of our First Parents



86 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

was visited on their posterity than to be-

lieve that the whole world was plunged

into suffering and destitution by a single

murder committed at Sarajevo, Serbia, in

the year 1914? That crime occasioned the

World War with all its consequences. Is

it more difficult to believe what the Cath-

olic Church teaches about Original Sin

than to believe somebody’s blunder in 1929

caused the industrial depression which

lasted several years, accompanied by the

loss of fortunes, great and small, in which

everyone became a direct or indirect suf-

ferer? No injustice was done anybody

when God deprived Adam’s descendents

of gifts to which they had no claim what-

soever. God deprived us of nothing be-

longing to our nature, but only of what

was above our nature, and whose repos-

session He made possible despite the sin

of our First Parents.

The Mass is nothing more than a per-

fect form of worship dignifying a per-

fect religion. It was God’s arrangement

for providing for Himself such homage

from this earth everyday and everywhere,

as is worthy of Himself. Why should God

have been glorified on earth on only one

occasion throughout the life of the human



MANY EXTRAVAGANT TRUTHS S7

race? Since sin abounds at all times re-

paration for it should more abound.

Every religion, of whatever character,

has offered sacrifice to God, because it is

a form of worship which recognizes the

absolute dependence of the creature on

the Creator, a form of homage which

may not be given to any created being. In

the Old Law God Himself instituted defin-

ite sacrificial worship, established a priest-

hood, gave minute directions concerning

services at the Altar. Sacrificial worship

should therefore be expected in the New

Law
;
and it certainly seems plausible that

the Son of God, Who established a perfect

religion, should also have provided it with

the most exalted form of official worship.

It should not be difficult to believe in

the Eucharist after believing in the In-

carnation. Every genuine Protestant be-

lieves that God left Heaven, took a human

body, lived in this world thirty-three years,

and was finally murdered by His creatures.

Though, this is difficult to believe, it is an

undeniable fact of history. But after be-

lieving that God so loved the human race,

it is certainly not difficult to believe that

He would go one step farther, and invent

a means whereby He could continue to



88 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

live among men and sanctify individual

souls by personal union with them. It is

difficult to believe that many stars, mil-

lions of times larger than this earth are

thousands of billions of miles removed

from it. Yet who is there who does not

accept this truth on the authority of the

science of astronomy—in other words, on
faith in the word of teachers who know?

THE CATHOLIC AND FREEDOM

The intellect of the Catholic is less en-

slaved than that of any other person. Is

there anything more to be deplored than

a doubting or unsettled state of mind?

The Catholic is at peace in believing, be-

cause his faith is tantamount to certain

knowledge.

Whose intellect is more enslaved, that

of the one who believes twice two are

four, or of the one who doubts this truth ?

Our government spends more money for

the imparting of educational facts than

for any other purpose. Does the one who

takes full advantage of educational op-

portunity become more and more enslaved

as he gathers knowledge, most of which is

accepted by faith in the scientist, or his-

torian, or mathematician ? 'Christ truly



CATHOLICS AND PROSPERITY 89

said: “The truth shall make you free”

—

free from the slavery of error, free from

the disturbing influence of doubt and un-

certainty.

THE CATHOLIC RELIGION AND
PROSPERITY

The argument most used today in favor

of the superiority of Protestantism is the

greater material prosperity which it is

claimed obtains in Protestant countries.

Even if the argument were based on facts

it would prove nothing, because, according

to Christ, His religion was not to be of

the world, and was to be preached princi-

pally to the poor and lowly. Material

prosperity and spiritual prosperity do not

commonly go hand in hand, yet the latter

sort of prosperity is the kind which

Christ’s religion was founded to produce

and promote.

But are Protestant countries more

prosperous than Catholic? It might be

asked in the first place “What is a Pro-

testant country?” England is no longer

Protestant; Germany is no longer Pro-

testant, and the United States is not Pro-

testant. The vast majority of people in

these three countries are indiflferentists,



90 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

have apostatized from all religion, and

therefore the normal prosperity of these

lands before the World War and since

should be more logically credited to a lack

of religion on the part of the bulk of the

people. The dollar has been the god of

these countries, and there was no percep-

tible turning to the true God or to any re-

ligion even after the “dollar god” was

taken away from them during the years

between 1929 and 1932.

Religion has absolutely nothing to do

with the material prosperity of a nation.

It is mainly created or retarded by the

presence or absence of coal or ore, without

which there can be no large industries.

Mexico, Central America, and the larger

part of all South America, lie in the

tropics, where perpetual summer checks

initiative. Then the greater portion of

the people in these countries are of In-

dian blood, are exploited, victimized, and

held in practical slavery by shrewd poli-

ticians. Spain was most Catholic when

England was most Protestant, yet Spain

was then far more prosperous than Eng-

land. Holland is Protestant and Belgium

is Catholic, and who would say, that be-

fore the War, Belgian prosperity was not



THE CHURCH AND CIVILIZATION 91

superior to that of Holland? France is

more Catholic than most so-called Protes-

tant countries are Protestant, yet today

her people are more generally prosperous

than any other on earth. North Germany

is Protestant and South Germany is Cath-

olic, and who would say that North Ger-

many is superior? South Germany has

saved all Germany to civilization since the

late war. Communism is most rife in

North Germany.

The most prosperous parts of the United

States are those in which Catholics have

the largest representation.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND
CIVILIZATION

The Catholic Church is often identified

with the so-called Dark Ages, and the no-

tion prevails that she succeeds best if she

keeps her people in ignorance and dark-

ness.

As a matter of fact, the people of Eu-

rope would have remained as dark and

superstitious and ignorant as the people

of Asia had it not been for the civilizing

influence of the Catholic Church.

But every student of history is acquaint-

ed with what happened to Europe in the



92 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

fifth and sixth centuries. The Catholic

Church had made great progress in the

enlightened civilization which emanated

from Rome and Athens. Her schools

abounded everywhere; some of the great-

est scholars and saints known to history

were hard at work at that time ; and even

at this day they are extolled and quoted

by master minds.

Every vestige of the culture which had

obtained in that era was destroyed by

hordes of barbarians, who invaded Eu-

rope, and then remained in the territory

which they had conquered.

A century or two thereafter were nat-
urally “dark,” and a new civilizing and

Christianizing process had to be under-

taken, and it was successfully accom-

plished by the Church. In the year 1,000

not only was all of Europe Christian, but

most of the kings and queens were saints,

so thoroughly did the Catholic Church do

her work.

If by “darkness” enemies of the Catho-

lic Church mean that people generally,

even of the later Middle Ages, did not have

libraries, patronize daily newspapers, did

not attend school for twelve or sixteen

years as they do today, then we grant that



THE CHURCH AND CIVILIZATION 93

the Middle Ages were dark, but so was the

last century. Be it remembered that the

printing press was not invented until the

fifteenth century, and that therefore there

could have been no family libraries, no

daily or even weekly newspapers or mag-

azines. The people of our generation

might, with equal truth, charge the people

of the last generation with being dark,

because they did not have the radio nor

the motion picture by which the work of

educating youths is so facilitated at the

present time.

The people of the Middle Ages deserve

more credit than the people of our day for

their interest in the things of the mind.

A large percentage of the population had
libraries, but in order to acquire them it

was necessary for them to copy any given

book by hand from another manuscript

book. Even school text books were in

hand writing. We wonder if the pleasure-
seeking people of our day would have done

half so much for education. We forget
that we are the heirs of all the good

things invented and produced by those

who lived during the last thousand years,

and that most of the inventors and dis-

coverers were Catholic,



94 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Even one century ago Americans as well

as Europeans were burning tallow can-

dles to light their homes; people traveled

by stage coach, and mail was transferred

from writer to receiver in the same way.

It is only half a century since we have had

electrically-driven machinery, the gasoline

motor, the telephone in common use. Even

Abraham Lincoln never saw any of these

things.

But there was a far more truly Chris-

tian civilization in the late Middle Ages

then there is today. The youthful crimin-

al was not so prominent
;
family life was a

thousand times more wholesome
;
the evils

of murder, suicide, divorce, birth preven-

tion, swindling on a large scale, were prac-

tically unknown. The fine arts of paint-

ing, sculpture, architecture and music

flourished, and their masters dedicated

their works to the furtherance of religion

and Christian culture. Their products

are about the only things which attract

the attention and admiration of all modern

tourists in Europe.

Despite our boasted progress, fewer

schools of high learning, fewer universi-

ties, had been founded by Protestants since

the so-called Reformation, than were



THE CHURCH AND CIVILIZATION 95

founded by the Catholic Church before

that movement.

If, today, there are Catholic countries,

so-called, in which the state of illiteracy is

high, it must be remembered that the

Catholic Church being universal, is dom-

inant in countries whose people were only

recently civilized, for instance, in Mexico,

Central America, Colombia, Venzuela,

Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia. The population

of this vast area is principally Indian and

lives in mountain districts. Visit our own

southwest and see how little the American

government, whose wards they are, has

accomplished with the Indian. Visit the

southern part of our country generally,

which is overwhelmingly Protestant,

and note the backwardness of a very high

percentage of the population. We are
certain that Protestants would not have

elevated the people of any given country,

now Catholic, to a higher degree of culture

than they have attained, after making al-

lowance for the many difficulties in the

way.



96 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE
MASONS

The Catholic Church does not charge

the individual Mason with malice of any

sort. She is opposed to oath-bound secret

societies generally, and more so if they

make a religious appeal to their members,

as is too often the case. It is very com-

mon for the Mason to say that the lodge

offers him sufficient religion. It has its

temples, chaplains, ritual, burial services;

it has its feast days, such as those of St.

John the Baptist, and Ascension Thurs-

day.

Masonry was condemned by the Church

before there was any American Masonry.

Therefore the condemnation was not aim-

ed at the latter specifically. In Italy,

France, Spain, and some other countries

Masonry was anti-religious, and fought

the Catholic Church with all its energy.

Scottish Rite Freemasonry of the United

States, southern Jurisdiction, makes no

secret of its hostility to the Catholic

Church. It publishes the New Age Maga-

zine, always anti-Christian in tone
;

it

sponsored the Fellowship Forum, at the

beginning, a professedly anti-Catholic

weekly.



THE CHURCH AND MASONS 97

Most Masons in the United States do not

enter the higher degrees, and could not, if

they would, speak for the Order.

An oath is a serious and sacred thing,

and should not be demanded by a fraternal

organization. But a blind oath imposing

on people the obligation to obey orders,

the character of which cannot be antici-

pated, is not justifiable.

Members of secret societies under the

Church’s ban often charge Catholic fra-

ternal organizations, such as the Knights

of Columbus, with demanding a similar

oath, but the charge is not true. The

Knights of Columbus take no oath at all,

and have submitted their complete ritual

to the court, and even to a Committee of

Masons, who kindly offered to take their

defense against those who circulated a

“bogus” Knights of Columbus oath.

The Catholic Church well knows that

the average person who affiliates with the

Masons, or Knights of Pythias, or Odd

Fellows, or Sons of Temperance, the four

organizations banned by name, does so for

fraternal, or business, or social, or insur-

ance reasons. But according to the prin-

ciple “He that is not with Me is against



98 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

Me,” enunciated by Christ, human organ-

izations no matter how perfect, may never

be offered in substitution of a divine re-

ligion.

THE CHURCH AND STATE

A serious wrong is done the Catholic
Church when she is accused of demanding

a formal union between herself and every

civil government. The very idea of expect-

ing a Protestant State to designate the

Catholic religion the religion of the State

is ridiculous.

The teaching of the Catholic Church on

this matter is very sane. It is that where

nearly all the people of any given country

are Catholics, the government should con-

stitutionally recognize their Church. Would

a government be a government “of the

people, for the people and by the people,”

if it were actually unfriendly toward the

religion professed by nearly all its people?

Catholics of the United States, and

Rome itself, are highly satisfied with the

policy which obtains in this country, where

all religions are respected and are given

perfect freedom to carry on their work.

It is the right kind of separation between

Church and State. But separation in



CHURCH AND STATE 99

Latin countries, whose population is pre-

dominantly Catholic, does not mean the

same thing. It means the domination of

the Church by the State, and almost always

persecution of the Church by the govern-

ernment, over which a secretly organized

minority will have obtained control.

Mexico and Spain offer clear examples of

this at the present time. Italy and France

offered prominent examples only a couple

of decades ago.

But why the Catholic Church is singled

out for opposition because she defends the

theory of union of Church and State under

ideal conditions is difficult to understand.

There has always been a closer union be-

tween Church and State in Protestant

than in Catholic countries. Even today in

England there is an established Church,

and the king is head of both Church and

State. The same situation prevails in

Norway, Sweden, Denmark. None of

these is a Catholic country, yet it is as-

sumed to be quite natural that the Pro-

testant king should unite the temporal and

spiritual order under the same head. Such

intimate union between Church and State

never prevailed in any Catholic country.



100 INSTRUCTING THE NON-CATHOLIC

THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE

The stumbling-block which, more than

any other, checks the interest of Protest-

ants in the Catholic religion is the Infalli-

bility claimed by the Church for the Pope.

However, it is rather a mental than an

actual hazard. People assume Infallibility

to mean one of several things, which it

does not mean.

There are those *dio are certain that

the Church claims divine inspiration for

the Pope, others are equally certain that

the Church regards the Pope as incapable

of sin, or of committing any error.

Infallibility rather means that the head

of the Church, speaking in the name of

the Church for all her members, in those

matters which relate to faith and morals,

is preserved from error in the same way

which Christ promised to preserve the

Church from error. Protestants claim the

Bible to be Infallible, and it is. But its

Infallibility in theory becomes error in

practice, simply because in Protestantism

the Bible has no mouth-piece or spokes-

man. Evidently the Bible must be pro-

tected from error in its interpretation if

there is to be any guarantee of the correct

meaning of disputed texts,



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE 101

The Catholic teaching is a thousand

times easier to believe than the teaching

advocated by numerous Protestants, who

hold that every sincere Bible reader is in-

spired, so that he may read the right

meaning into Holy Scripture. If the indi-

vidual is inspired he is infallible. If one

can believe that, he surely can believe that

the head of the great Catholic Church,

nineteen centuries old, in possession of a

written record of doctrinal pronounce-

ments throughout these ages, is protected

from error when he speaks officially on

matters doctrinal or moral as the spokes-

man of a Supreme Court. Christ promised

to be with His Church “all days even unto

the consummation of the world.” He

would not be with His Church if He al-

lowed it to fall into error. He obligated

the people “to hear the Church”. He could

not so obligate them if He allowed the

Church to teach them error. He declared

that those who hear the Apostles heard

Him. This should not be true if He allow-

ed the Apostles of His day, or the succes-

sors of the Apostles of any given age,

united under their chief, to whom He com-

mitted “the keys of the Kingdom of Heav-

en,” to teach error.



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