THE TRIUMPHS AND GLORIES ofthe CATHOLIC CHURCH THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED IN DEFENCE OF HIS FAITH A COMPLETE EXPOSITION OF THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, TOGETHER WITH A FULL EXPLANATION OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS INCLUDING THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CHURCH IN EVERY AGE BY THE REV. HENRY A. BRANN, D. D. THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD THE CHURCH IN AMERICA BY JOHN GILMARY SHEA, L.L. D. THE ENCYCLICAL LETTERS ON THE STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES TO THE DEFENDERS OF OUR FAITH AND THE RULERS OF THE WORLD BY HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIII. LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED WITH EXQUISITELY ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS THREE VOLUMES IN ONE Ntvo Dork: THOMAS KELLY, Publisher. «6 Copyright, 1895. by Thomas Kelly. Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England. (Ail rights reserved.) IOAN STACK 433 A prl»ud ud Bond Bj T* (iut, K»w Tot*. Qzr Imprimatur. + MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York. • f 860 VOLUME I. TRIUMPHS AND GLORIES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. PART I. Page Discovery of America by Columbus 5 SECTION SECOND. Chapter I. The Progress of the Gospel throughout the World 13 II. The Church in America 20 IIJ. The Triumphs of the Catholic Church prove her a Divine Institution 24 SECTION THIRD. Catholic Belief, or a Short and Simple Exposition of Catholic Doctrine. I. Introduction 50 II. Of the Creator 51 III. Of the Most Holy Trinity 51 IV. Original Sin 53 V. The Incarnation of God the Son 55 VI. Jesus our only Mediator of Redemption 56 VII. The Holy Bible 57 VIII. The Unwritten Word of God, called by St. Peter "the Word of the Lord that en- dureth forever " 60 IX. The Interpretation and the Reading of Holy Scripture 66 X. Infallibility of the Church and the Pope 73 XI. Justification— How Christ's Redemption is Applied to Men 82 XII. The Holy Sacraments— Holy baptism 86 XIII. On Sin— Nature and Consequences of Sin 88 XIV. The Sacrament of Penance 93 XV. The Holy Eucharist 95 XVI. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass— The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Serves to Apply Christ's Redemption to Men 97 XVII. Ceremonies and Ritual of the Church 102 XVIII. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament 109 XIX. Confirmation — Extreme unction — Holy orders — Matrimony 113 VI CONTENTS. Chaptkk Pack XX. Only one true Church — First mark: Oneness of Faith, of Worship, of Sacraments, and of Supreme Ruler. 1 18 XXI. The Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome 120 XX11. List of all the General Councils held in the Church of God from the time of the Apostles to A. D. 1 880 1 29 XXIII. Second Mark: Holiness 134 XXIV. Third Mark: Catholicity 1 39 XXV. Fourth Mark: Apostolicity 144 XXVI. List of the Sovereign Pontiffs who, in a Direct line, have Succeeded St. Peter in the see of Rome 146 XXVII. The Sign of the Cross 151 XXVIII. On Prayer 153 XXIX. Works of Penance — On Indulgences 1 56 XXX. On Purgatory 1 59 XXXI. On Reverence to, and the Invocation of, the Angels and Saints 163 XXXII. The Blessed Virgin Mary justly called Mother of God — Honor and Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary 165 XXXIII. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary 169 XXXIV. Reverence to Relics and other Religious Objects 173 XXXV. On the Use of the Latin Language 176 XXXVI. Some Things that Catholics do not Believe 178 XXXVII. Conclusion 182 PART II. Practical Directions to a Protestant before and after Being Received into the Catholic Church. No. 1 — Answers to some Difficulties, and to some Questions that a Person earnestly seeking the true Religion might wish to ask — The " Confiteor " or Confession 185 2 — The Apostles' Creed — Creed of Pope Pius IV. — A Shorter Form of Profession of Faith — Mode of Reception — A very short Form of Profession of Faith, to be used only in cases of very grave and urgent necessity 194 3 — Conversion of Victorinus 199 4 — Some Distinguished Converts of North America 203 5 — Earnest Appeal to Protestants, Suggested by the Affecting Words of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, to the Donatists 204 6 — A Choice of Prayers — The Hail Mary — Gloria Patri — A Daily Prayer — Rosary of the Blessed Virgin — Joyful Mysteries — Sorrowful Mysteries — Glorious Mysteries — The Ange- lus — Prayers for the Dying — The Divine Praises — Act of Resignation to the Will of God — Prayer in our Last Agony 205 7 — A Prayer for a Good Death 208 8 — Stations (or Way) of the Cross — A Prayer to our Crucified Lord — Aspirations to Jesus — Pious Offering — A Prayer in Sickness or Affliction — A Prayer for our Holy Father, the Pope— The Fourth Penitential Psalm— The Sixth Penitential Psalm— Prayer for An- other's Conversion — For a Friend in Distress — For the Sick — Prayer for a Bishop or Priest — For the Dead — Prayer for a Departed Father and Mother — Other Prayers for the Dead— A Prayer for the Faithful Departed — On the Day of a Person's Decease or Burial — For the Patronage of St. Joseph 210 9— Hymns — Hymns to the Holy Ghost — Adeste, Fideles — The Stabat Mater 216 10— Te Deum Laudamus 219 1 1 — Observations on Faith, by Cardinal Newman 220 CONTENTS. vn No. Page 12 — Acts of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Contrition — An Act of Faith — An Act of Hope — An Act of Charity — An Act of Contrition — Short Acts of Faith, Hope, Love, and Contri- tion 221 1 3 — The Mass not a Mere Form of Words * 222 14— A Short Method of Hearing Mass 224 15— Method of Confession— Sins more directly against God— Sins against our Neighbor- Sins against Ourselves— Second, Be Heartily Sorry — Special Act of Contrition — Third, Make a Firm Resolution never to Sin again — Fourth, Make a Candid and Humble Confession 227 i0 — The Ten Commandments of God — The Commandments of the Church — The Seven Deadly Sins, and the opposite Virtues — The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy — The Seven Cor- poral Works of Mercy — The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit — The Eight Beatitudes 235 PART III. Miscellaneous Subjects. 1 — St. Peter in Rome — St. Peter went to Rome and first taught Christianity there — St. Peter was Bishop of Rome 25 years — St. Peter died in Rome 239 2 — The Truth About Cusa, Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler 250 3 — The Transmission of the Sin of Adam to his Children Considered 255 4 — Communion in One Kind 259 5 — Predestination 272 6 — Justification by ' ' Faith Alone " Considered 276 7 — List of the Chief Fathers of the Church and of some other noted Ecclesiastical Writers. . . 292 8 — Canonized Founders of Orders and Congregations in the Church 296 9 — Chief Heresies 297 10— Cardinal Manning on Total Abstinence — Five Good Reasons for Total Abstinence 300 1 1 — Lines on the Blessed Virgin by the American Poet Longfellow 301 1 2 — Census of Religions in the World 302 1 3 — Census of Catholics in the World 303 14 — Difficulties of Private Interpretation, by Father G. Bampfield, B. A., Oxon 304 1 5 — List of Some Protestant Sects in the United States of America 307 PART IV. A Christian's Rule of Life. Preface 3 1 : Chapter I. Of the Means of Preserving the Grace of God 3 1 5 II. Devout Exercises to be Practiced 319 1 — Acts on Rising in the Morning 3 J 9 2 — Method of Making Mental Prayer 320 3 — Acts to be Made by Way of Preparation and Thanksgiving both for Confession and Communion 321 4 — Method of Hearing Mass. ., 3 2 5 5 — Acts to be Made in Visiting the Most Holy Sacrament and the Divine Mother 326 6 — Christian Acts, to be Made in the Evening Before Going to Bed 3 2 7 7 — Devout Prayers to Jesus and Mary to Obtain the Graces Necessary to Salvation 329 mm CONTENTS. Pack 111. The Practice of the Christian Virtues. 343 i — The Practice of Humility 343 a— The Practice of Mortification 345 3— The Practice of Charity toward our Neighbor 347 4— The Practice of Patience 349 5— The Practice of Conformity to the Will of God 352 6— The Practice of Purity of Intention 354 7— Rules for Avoiding Tepidity 355 8— The Practice of Devotion toward the Great Mother of God 356 9— On the Practice of Certain Means by which we May Acquire the Love of Jesus Christ. 357 An Epitome of the Virtues in which a Christian Soul, that Desires to Lead a Perfect Life and Become a Saint. Should Exercise Itself 366 Spiritual Maxims for a Christian 371 Pious Reflections to Excite in Us the Holy Love of God, and Devotion to Mary 372 Sure Signs by which we May Know whether We Have the Divine Love in Us 375 Twelve Short Ejaculations for the Twelve Greatest Solemnities in the Year — Seven of Our Lord and Five of the Blessed Virgin, which May be Used at Any Other Time and on Any Day, according to Each One's Devotion 370 CONTENTS. ix VOLUME II. PART I. Page Pope Leo XIII. on the Study of the Holy Scriptures for the Promotion of Catholic Truth i PART II. The Catholic Christian Instructed in Defence of the Faith. Preface 25 Chapter I. Of the Sign of the Cross 41 II. Of the Sacrament of Baptism 43 III. Of the Ceremonies of Baptism, and the Manner of Administering this Sacrament in the Catholic Church 48 IV. Of the Sacrament of Confirmation, and the Manner of Administering it 54 V. Of the Sacrament of the Eucharist 58 Sec. 1 — The First Proof of the Real Presence, from the Words of Christ at the First Institution of this Blessed Sacrament 59 Sec. 2 — The Second Proof of the Real Presence, from St. John vi. 51, etc 64 Sec. 3 — Other Proofs of the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament 69 Sec. 4 — Transubstantiation Proved — Objections Answered 73 Sec. 5 — Of the Bread and Wine Made Use of in this Sacrament 78 Sec. 6 — Of Communion in One Kind 80 Sec. 7 — Of the Manner of Administering the Blessed Sacrament — Of Devotion be- fore and after Communion — Of the Obligation of Receiving it — And of its Effects 83 Sec. 8 — Of the Worship of Christ in the Sacrament — Also of Benedictions and Processions 89 VI. Of the Sacrifice of the Mass 91 VII. Of Hearing Mass — Also of the Order and Ceremonies of the Mass, and the Devotion Proper for that Time 96 VIII. Of Saying Mass in Latin 108 IX. Of the Sacrament of Penance — Of Confession, and the Preparation for it — Of ab- solution, etc in X. Of Indulgences and Jubilees 120 XL Of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction 124 XII. The Order of the Recommendation of a Soul that is Just Departing 127 XIII. Of the Office for the Burial of the Dead 131 XIV. Of Prayers for the Dead, and of Purgatory 1 33 CONTENTS. Ckaitui XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XXI. XXII XIII. xxiv. XXV. XJCVI. xxvu. XXVIII. Pace Of the Sacrament of Holy Order* 1 39 < >f the Superiority of Bishops, and of the Supremacy of the Pope 141 iibacy of the Clergy 148 Of Religious Orders and Confraternities 153 Of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and of the Nuptial Benediction 160 Of the Churching of Women after Child-bearing 166 e Fasts of the Catholic Church 168 Sec 1 — Of Fasting and Abstinence in General 168 Sec. a—Of the Fast of Lent 171 Sec 3— Of Other Days of Fasting and Abstinence in the Catholic Church 175 Of the Church Office, or Canonical Hours of Prayer in the Catholic Church 176 Of the Festivals of the Catholic Church— Also of the Holy Week, and the Cere- monies Thereof 178 Of the Invocation of Angels and Saints 185 Of the Devotion of Catholics to the Blessed Virgin Mary — Of Her Perpetual Vir- ginity — Of the Beads, Rosary, and Angelus Domini 192 Of the Use and Veneration of Relics in the Catholic Church 196 Of the Use of Pictures and Images in the Catholic Church 200 Of Exorcisms and Benedictions, or Blessings of Creatures in the Catholic Church, and of the Use of Holy Water 206 PART III. 1. 11. in. IV. V. VI. The Order and Ceremonial of the Most Holy and Adorable Sacrifice of the Mass. 1.— From the Beginning of Mass to the Creed. The Use of Ceremonies 21 ~ Preparation for Mass 2I , The Beginning of Mass. 2I o The Introit. Kyrie Elelson and Gloria in Excelsis 222 The Dominus Vobiscum 22 . The Collect. Epistle, and Gradual 226 The Gradual. Tract, and Sequence 22 3 The Gospel, and some Ceremonies used before and after it 229 II.— From the Offering to the Communion. The Offertory and Oblation The Lavabo The " Orate Fratres." and Secret Prayers 2^6 The Preface j The Canon of the Mass The Memento of the Living The " Communicantes " " t The Prayer " Hanc Igitur Oblationem " ... .1. ......... .. 2I7 The Consecration The Prayer after the Elevation 249 The Remaining Prayer of Oblation ' 25 ° The Memento of the Dead 2J2 The " Nobis Quoque Peccatoribus " 2 55 CONTENTS. x» Chapter Pack The Canon Continued 256 Our Lord's Prayer 257 The Sequel of Our Lord's Prayer 258 The " Pax Domini " 259 The " Angus Dei " and Prayers before Communion 261 The Communion of the Priest 263 The Communion of the Faithful 264 III. — From the Communion to the End of Mass. I. The Ablutions 269 II. The " Communio " and Postcommunion 270 The End of Mass 273 Mass of the Dead 275, Appendix. I. High or Solemn Mass 279. II. The Incensing of the Altar 284 III. The Kyrie and Gloria in Excelsis 285 IV. The Creed 287 V. The Solemn Offertory 287 VI. The Preface in Solemn Mass 290. VII. The Canon and Consecration in Solemn Mass 291 VIII. From the Consecration to he " Pater Noster " 291 IX. From the " Pater Noster " to the Communion 291 X. From the Communion to the End of the High Mass 295; High Mass of the Dead 297 Solemn Vespers 298 Compline 303, PART IV. The Grounds of Faith. Revealed Truth Definite and Certain 309 The Church a Historical Witness 319. The Church a Divine Witness 327 Rationalism the Legitimate Consequence of Private Judgment 339 mi CONTENTS. VOLUME III. PART I. Pack Encyclical Letter or Pope Leo XIII. to the Rulers of the World 13 PART II. The Glories of Jesus. Advertisement. Essential to the Right Understanding and Proper Use of the Following Work. 25 On the Principles of a Purgative Life 2 9 SECTION SECOND. On the Principles of an Illuminative Life— Considerations on the Love of Jesus 4° First Consideration — Jesus Amiable 4° Second Consideration — Jesus Loving 42 Third Consideration — Jesus Loved 48 Other Considerations Capable of Exciting and Fostering within Us the Love of Jesus Christ.. . 51 » SECTION THIRD. On the Principles of a Unitive Life 57 Considerations on the Love of God 57 Various Motives of the Love of God 62 Instructions on the Litany 69 Devout Exercises Proper for Fridays 76 An Easy and Effectual Method of Thinking Often of God in the Day 84 Acts Before Mass 86 Prayers for Holy Mass 89 Pious Reflections and Acts before Holy Communion 9 6 Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 102 Litany of the Sacred Heart of Mary i°4 Litany of St. Catherine of Sienna , 105 Litany of St. Bridget. Patroness of Ireland 106 A Canticle after Communion 107 Litany for a Happy Death 108 Hymn to Our Saviour Jesus 109 Hymn for Christmas Day 1 10 ■ The Stabat Mater 113 Hymn to Jesus 115 CONTENTS. xiii . PART III. Pagb Stations of the Cross 117 The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary 121 PART IV. A Concise Exposition of the Tenets of the Catholic Church, concerning the Invocation of Saints 127 A Sketch of the Life of St. Alphonsus Liguori 131 PART V. The Glories of Mary, in a Paraphrase on the Salve Regina. Chapter I. " Salve Regina, Mater Misericordiae " 135 1 — How Great Should be Our Confidence in Mary, Queen of Mercy 135 2 — How Great Our Confidence Should be in Mary as Our Mother 139 3 — The Great Love Borne Us by Mary Our Mother 143 4 — Mary is the Refuge of Repentant Sinners 147 II. " Vita Dulcedo " 152 1 — Mary is Our Life, Since She Obtains Us the Pardon of Our Sins 152 2 — Mary, Again, Is Our Life, Because She Obtains Us Perseverance 155 3 — Mary Renders Death Sweet to Her Servants 159 III. " Spes Nostra Salve " 163 1 — Mary is the Hope of All the Children of Adam 163 2 — Mary is the Hope of the Sinner 166 IV. " Ad Te Clamamus, Exules Filii Hevae " 170 1 — Mary's Readiness to Assist Those Who Invoke Her 170 2 — The Power of Mary to Defend Those Who Invoke Her in Temptations 173 V. "Ad Te Suspiramus Gementes et Flentes in Hac Lachrymarum Valle " 177 1 — Necessity of Mary's Intercession, in Order to Obtain Salvation 177 VI. " Eja, Ergo, Advocato Nostra " 187 1 — Mary Is a Powerful Advocate 187 2 — Mary Is a Compassionate Advocate 190 3 — Mary Is Mediatrix of Peace between God and Sinners 193 VII. " Illos Tuos Misericordes Oculos ad Nos Converte " 197 1 — Mary is Ever Watchful to Succor our Miseries 197 VIII. " Et Jesum Benedictum Fructum Ventris Tui, Nobis post Hoc Exilium Ostende " 200 1 — Mary Preserves Her Servants from Hell 200 2 — Mary Succors Her Servants in Purgatory •. 204 3 — Mary Conducts Her Servants to Heaven 205 IX. " O Clemens, O Pia " 210 1 — The Greatness of Mary's Clemency and Goodness 210 X. " O Dulcis Virgo Maria " 214 1 — The Sweetness of the Holy Name of Mary, in Life and Death 214 CONTENTS. SECTION 8ECOND. Pack Origin of the Scapular of the Blessed Virgin Mary— Spirit and Advantages of That Devotion, and Duties to be Performed I— Of the Origin of this Devotion a— Of the Advantages Which It Procures 2I ° j— Of the Duties to be Fulfilled 4— Of the Spirit of this Devotion * The Litany of Saints, to Solicit Divine Love 218 218 220 221 221 PART VI. The Glories of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Ever-Blessed Virgin Mary. Cnattu I. Of the Admirable Love God Bore St. Joseph 227 II. Of the Wonderful Qualities. Whereby God Rendered St. Joseph Amiable above All Others, except Jesus and Mary 235 III. Of the Great Love and Special Devotion We Owe St. Joseph 238 IV. What Was the Reason that It Was So Long before St. Joseph, the Most Amiable and Best-Beloved of God, Had Such Love and Devotion Paid Him as Was Due to the Greatness of His Merits? 241 V. Of the Ten Particular Clients of St. Joseph, Who, by Their Examples, Moved Us to a Particular Devotion to Him 247 VI. Of the Daily Devotions that May be Exercised toward St. Joseph 258 The Alphabetical Litany of St. Joseph 260 The Seven Dolors of St. Joseph 263 The Seven Joys of St. Joseph 264 VII. What Devotions Are to be Said to St. Joseph upon His Feast 265 VIII. Devotions to St. Joseph during the Octave of His Feast, or According to the Oppor- tunity or Affection of His Clients 270 IX. Containing Nine Occasions of Devotions Proper to St. Joseph, and Practiced by His Clients 272 X. Of the Assistance St. Joseph Gives to His Devout Clients toward Attaining Interior Perfections, and in What This Perfection Consists 278 XI. Of the Assistance St. Joseph Gives to Spiritual Maladies, Especially to Those Souls Which are in a Bad State 285 XII. The Assistance Which St. Joseph Gives in Curing Corporal Diseases, Especially the Plague 289 XIII. The Assistance Which God Gives on All Occasions by St Joseph's Intercession 296 XIV. An Exhortation to Have Recourse to St. Joseph, and to Confide in His Powerful Protection 299 SECTION SECOND. Portrait of the Great St. Joseph 302 The Seven Sorrows of St. Joseph 303 The Seven Joys of St. Joseph . ...................................... 303 SECTION THIRD. Portraiture of the Virtues of the Illustrious and Admirable St. Joseph, Spouse of the Mother of God .... ••*.... 70^ Eight Meditations upon Some Passages of the Life of St. Joseph,' which May SerVe Through the Octave of His Feast, or at Other Times . 3IO CONTENTS. xv Page Meditation i — Of the Illustrious Birth and Name of St. Joseph 310 Meditation 2 — Of the Humble Calling of St. Joseph 312 Meditation 3 — Of the Marriage of St. Joseph 313 Meditation 4 — Of St. Joseph's Journey with the Blessed Virgin to Meet St. Elizabeth 315 Meditation 5 — Of St. Joseph's Virtues, Exercised at the Birth, Circumcision, and Presentation of Jesus in the Temple 317 Meditation 6 — Of the Flight into Egypt, His Return from Thence, and of the Losing of Jesus, and Finding Him in the Temple 319 Meditation 7 — Of St. Joseph's Many Years' Conversation with Jesus and Mary at Nazareth. . 321 Meditation 8 — Of St. Joseph's Happy Departure 323 PART VII The Glories of the Holy Afigels. Dedicatory Epistle to Our Blessed Lady of Angels . 327 To My Good Angel Guardian 327 An Exhortation to the Love and Honor of the Holy Angels 328 SECTION SECOND. Devotion to the Holy Angels — Part 1 333 Motive I. The Admirable Perfection of these Blessed Spirits 333 II. The Incomparable Goodness of the Angels 335 III. All the Angels are Employed in the Service of Man 336 IV. All men are Assisted by the Angels 337 V. The Angels Render Men Innumerable Services. 338 VI. The Angels Help Us in Temporal Things 340 VII. The Angels Assist Us in Spiritual Things 341 VIII. The Protection Afforded Us by the Angels Against the Enemies of Our Salvation . 343 IX. The Great Helps the Holy Angels Afford Us at the Hour of Death 347 X. Devotion to the Holy Angels is a Sign of Predestination to Singular Glory in Heaven 348 XI. The Blessed Virgin is Glorified by Our Devotion to the Angels 349 XII. The Honor of God Alone is Connected with the Devotion to the Holy Angels. . . 350 Devotion to the Nine Choirs of Angels — Part II 352 Practice I. To Have a Singular Devotion to the Holy Spirits of the First Choir — the Angels, Archangels, and Principalities 352 II. To Honor Specially the Powers, Virtues, and Dominations 354 III. To Entertain a Profound Respect and Extraordinary Love for the Thrones, the Cherubim and'Seraphim 355 IV. To Have a Great Devotion to the Seven Spirits who are Before the Throne 357 V. To Converse Interiorly with the Angels 358 VI. To Make Novenas in Honor of the Holy Angels — to take certain days to honor them — and to Celebrate Their Feasts with Particular Devotion 360 VII. To Have a Great Confidence in the Angels, and Recur to Them in All Necessities. 362 VIII. To Labor for the Conversion of Sinners and the Release of Souls from Purgatory — and to Practice Virtue, etc., in Honor of the Angels 363 IX. To Endeavor to Extend the Devotion to the Angels 364 VOL COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA. THE SPREAD OE THE GOSPEL. THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CHURCH. CATHOLIC BELIEF. RULE OF LIFE. Planting: of the Cross. THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. HE PLANTS THE CROSS ON AMERICA'S SHORES.— HIS TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. ORE than four hundred years ago, there stood near a small town on the coast of Spain an ancient convent. It still stands there, on a height above the sea, surrounded by a forest of pine trees. A stranger, traveling on foot, with a little boy, one day stopped at the gate of the convent, and asked the porter to give him a little bread and water for his child. Poor and friendless though he was, when he stood at the convent gate, he afterwards became one of the most famous of men. That stranger was the great Christopher Columbus ; and the little boy was his son Diego. His discovery of America was not the result of accident — else, Colum- bus had been but an unwilling instrument. But it was the result of a process of reason ; a vast conception, executed with almost peerless efforts. Columbus was born in Genoa, about 1435, °f a good Catholic family. The family name in Italian is Colombo ; and in Spanish history he is known as Christoval Colon. Of his early life, but little is known. He was sent to Pavia, the chief Italian seat of learning, to prosecute his studies, and although he remained at school but a short time, he made rapid progress, especially in geometry, astronomy and cosmography. He commenced his naval career at an early age ; took part in a naval expedi- tion fitted out at Genoa, by John of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, in 1459, against Naples ; and in 1474, was captain of several Genoese ships, in the service of Louis XL, of France. He subsequently went to Lisbon, where his brother Bartholomew found a profitable occupation in constructing sailing charts for navigators. At this time the government of Portugal encouraged navigation and maritime discovery. Columbus soon embarked on an arduous voyage to the north. He made several other voyages to England and to the islands possessed by Spain and Portugal in the western ocean. In conse- quence, he soon became the most experienced navigator of his time. He 6 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. took notes of everything he saw, and kept his mind intently fixed upon the studies in which he was destined to effect so great a revolution. \\ bile ■ resident of Lisbon, Columbus married the daughter of Pales- tivllo, an Italian cavalier, who had been one of the most distinguished navigators under Prince Henry of Portugal, and had colonized and gov- erned the island of Porto Santo. By this marriage, he obtained access to the charts and papers of Palestrello, and of other experienced navigators connected with his wife's family. The passage round the Cape of Good Hope had not yet been discovered. The great object, at this time, was to discover the shortest route to the East Indies, whose wealth enriched the cities of the Mediterranean.- In his conversations with the geogra- phers and pilots whom he found in Lisbon, Columbus consulted them on the possibility of a western passage to the countries of Cathay and Zipangu, described by Marco Polo. By this means he became acquainted with a number of facts which confirmed a theory he had already formed. Pedro Forrea, his wife's relation, had found on the coast of Porto Santo, pieces of carved wood, evidently not cut with a knife, and which had been carried thither by strong westerly winds. Other navigators had picked up in the Atlantic, canes of an extraordinary size, and many plants not apparently belonging to the Old World. The bodies of men were found, thrown by the waves on the shores of the Azores, who had features differing essentially from those of Africans or Europeans, and who had evidently come from the west. These facts gave additional force to the reasonings which Columbus founded on his thorough knowledge of the existing cosmographical science of his time ; and he was finally induced to attempt the discovery. Not having the means of fitting out a suitable expedition at his own ex- pense, he obtained an audience of John II., King of Portugal, and fully unfolded to that monarch his plan. He proposed, in case the king would furnish him with ships and men, to undertake a shorter and more direct route to India, than any which had yet been attempted, by sailing directly to the west, across the Atlantic. The councillors and men of learning were di- rected to examine the project ; and the king was advised to fit out an expe- dition to undertake the discovery without the knowledge of its projector. A caravel was dispatched, with the ostensible purpose of carrying provisions to the Cape de Verd islands ; but with secret orders to pursue the route laid down in the papers of Columbus. But Providence inter- fered on behalf of justice. The caravel stood westward from the islands for several days, and then the weather grew stormy and the pilots afraid. They put back to Lisbon, and covered their own want of courage by ridi- culing the project of Columbus. With a just indignation at this attempt to defraud him of the results DISCO VER Y OF AMERICA B Y COL UMB US. y of his labors, Columbus abandoned Portugal, toward the end of the year 1484, and arrived at the port of Palos, in Spain. Here he experienced the fate of most men whose projects are grand or startling. Ferdinand and Isabella were at this time engaged in a war with the Moors of Gran- ada ; and although they listened to Columbus's proposals, they were too much occupied to give him the aid necessary for carrying out his great enterprise. Wearied out by years of fruitless solicitation, he had deter- mined to abandon the country, and had actually left the court for France, when his friends, St. Angel and Quintanilla, a good monk, by their earnest and eloquent intercessions, induced Queen Isabella to recall him. The queen, now fully convinced of the importance of the enterprise, dis- played her zeal for its success by offering to pledge her jewels to raise the required funds. This was not necessary, however, and arrangements were speedily made for fitting out the expedition. On April 17, 1492, were signed the articles of agreement, by which Columbus received from the sovereigns the hereditary titles of Ad- miral and Viceroy of all the seas, islands, and countries he should dis- cover. He was entitled to reserve for himself one-tenth of all pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other articles of merchandise in whatever manner found, bought, bartered or gained within his admiralty, the costs being first deducted ; and he was permitted to contribute an eighth part of the expense of the expedition, and to receive an eighth part of the profits. The vessels were prepared for the voyage, in the port of Palos. The largest, which was decked, was called the Santa Maria (Holy Mary), and on board of this ship Columbus hoisted his flag. The second, called the Pinta, was commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon. The third, called the Nina, had latine sails, and was commanded by Vicente Yanes Pinzon. About one hundred and twenty persons embarked on the expedition. On Friday, Aug. 3, 1492, the adventurers sailed. They directed their course to the Canary Islands, where they were delayed for some time in consequence of an injury done to the rudder of the Pinta. On Sept. 6th they left the Canaries ; and that may be regarded as the first day of the most memorable voyage which has ever been undertaken. The winds were at first light, and little way was made ; the second day, the fleet lost sight of land. The companions of Columbus, who were now advanc- ing over the ocean, unable to conjecture the termination of their voyage, began to feel astonished at the boldness of the enterprise. Many of them shed tears and broke into loud lamentations, believing that they should never return. Columbus endeavored to console them and inspire them with new courage. Columbus had taken the precaution of keeping secret the true reckon- 8 DISCOVER Y OF AMERICA B V COLUMBUS. ing of the distance passed over, while he kept a false reckoning for the inspection of his companions, which made the distance considerably less ; notwithstanding this deception, his people were now growing ex- tremely am the length of the voyage. The admiral endeavored in 10 soothe their rising fears, sometimes by arguments and ex- illations, sometimes by awakening fresh hopes, and pointing out new : land. Light breezes from the southwest springing up on Sept. 20th, had a cheering effect on the people, as they proved that the wind did not always prevail in the same direction. Three days later a whale observed, heaving up his huge form at a distance, which Columbus pointed out as an indication of the proximity of land. The prevalence of calm-, however, and the great quantities of sea-weed which they encoun- tered, retarding the course of the ships, occasioned fresh alarm. Colum- reasoned, expostulated, and promised in vain. The men were too much under the influence of terror to listen to reason. The more Colum- bus argued the more boisterous became their murmurs, until there came a heavy swell of the sea unaccompanied by wind. This, fortunately, dispelled the terrors occasioned by the previous dead calm. On Sept. 25th while Columbus, with his officers, were studying a map, and endeavoring to make out from it their position, they were aroused by a shout from the Pinta, and, looking up, beheld Martin 1/0 Pinxon, mounted on the stern of his vessel, who cried with a loud voice. M Land ! land ! Sefior, I claim my reward ! " * pointing at the same time to the south-west, where there was indeed an appearance of land, at about twenty-five leagues distance. Columbus threw himself upon his knees, and returned thanks to God, and Martin Alonzo repeated the Gloria in Exec/sis, in which he was loudly joined by the crews of the ships. They changed their course, and sailed all night in the same direc- tion. At daylight all eyes were turned in that quarter ; but the supposed land, which had caused so much joy, had disappeared, and they found that they had been deceived by the appearance of clouds in the horizon. The direct course to the west was again resumed. The crews soon relapsed into their former despondency. Neverthe- less, the multitude of birds which they saw continually flying about the ships, the pieces of wood which they picked up, and many other symp- toms of land, prevented them from giving themselves wholly up to de- spair. Columbus, in the midst of so much uneasiness and dejection, remained calm and self-possessed. On Oct. nth the indications of land became more and more certain. A reed quite green floated by, fish, such as abound near rocks, were seen, the trunk of a bamboo, and a plank, rudely carved, were picked # A pension of 30 crowns had been promised by the sovereign to the first man who should discover land. Pinta. Santa Harla. Columbus Before Ferdinand and Isabella. COLUHBUS DISCOVERS LAND. DISCO VER Y OF AMERICA B Y COL UMB US. 9 up by the people of the Nina, and those in the Pinta saw a branch of a tree with berries on it. They sounded at sunset and found bottom. The wind was now unequal ; and this last circumstance completely satis- fied the mind of Columbus that land was not far off. The crew assembled, as usual, for evening prayer. As soon as the service was over, Columbus desired the people to return thanks to God for having preserved them in so long and dangerous a voyage, and assured them that the indications of land were now too certain to be doubted. He recommended them to look out carefully during the night, for that they should surely discover land before the morning ; and he promised a doublet of velvet to whom- soever should first descry it, in addition to the pension to be given by the sovereigns. About ten o'clock at night, while Columbus was sitting on the top of the castle or cabin on the high poop of his vessel, he thought he beheld a glimmering light at a distance. Fearing that his hopes might deceive him, he called Pedro Gutierrez, and inquired whether he saw a light in that direction ; the latter replied in the affirmative. He then called Roderigo Sanchez, of Segovia ; but before he came it had dis- appeared ; they saw it, nevertheless, twice afterward, in sudden gleams, as if it were a torch in the bark of a fisherman, rising and sinking with the waves, or in the hands of some person on shore, borne up and down as he walked. Columbus considered this appearance as a certain sign of land, and, moreover, that the land was inhabited. At two in the morning a gun from the Pinta, which was ahead, gave the joyful signal of land. It was in the night of Oct. nth 1492, after a voyage of thirty-five days, that the New World was discovered- The crews longed for the return of day, that they might feast their eyes on the long-desired sight. At length day broke, and they enjoyed the prospect of hills and valleys, clothed in delicious verdure. The three vessels steered toward it at sunrise. Trie crew of the Pinta, which, as usual, was in advance, commenced chanting the Te Deum ; and all sin- cerely thanked heaven for the success of their voyage. They saw, as they approached, the inhabitants issuing from the woods, and running from all parts to the shore, where they stood gazing at the ships. They were all quite naked, and from their attitudes and gestures appeared to be lost in astonishment. Columbus gave the signal to anchor, and ordered the boats to be manned and armed. He entered his own boat, richly attired in scarlet, and bearing the royal standard ; whilst Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and Vicente Yanez, his brother, put off in company in their boats. As they approached the shore they were delighted with the luxuriance of the tropical vegetation with which it was adorned, with the pure, fresh at- mosphere, and the crystal transparency of the sea. No sooner did Co- lumbus land than he threw himself upon his knees, kissed the earth, and IO DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. returned thanks to God with tears of joy. His example was followed by the rot. who were penetrated with the same sentiments of gratitude. Columbus, thefl rising, drew his sword, displayed the royal standard, and took solemn possession on behalf of the Castilian sovereigns, giving the island the name of San Salvador. He then exacted from his followers the oath of obedience to him as admiral and viceroy, representing the persons of the sovereigns. The natives who, at their first landing, had fled to the woods, finding that there was no attempt to pursue or molest them, gradually recovered from their terror, and approached their new visitors with great awe, fre- quently prostrating themselves, and making signs of adoration. When they had still further recovered from their fear, they approached the Spaniards, touched their beards, and examined their hands and faces, ad- miring their whiteness. Columbus treated them with kindness ; they su|>[>osed that the ships had sailed out of the firmament which bounded their horizon, or that they had descended from above, and that these strange beings were inhabitants of the skies. The island which the Spaniards had discovered was called by the na- tives Guanahana ; but it has since retained the name of San Salvador ; the English call it Cat Island. It is one of the Bahama group, between Florida and Hispaniola. When the admiral returned to his vessel, some of the natives swam after him, others paddled in their canoes, and the caravel was quite sur- rounded with them. They were ignorant of the use of iron, and some of them, catching hold of the Spanish swords by the blades, received slight wounds. On the morrow, they came off to the fleet to exchange balls of cotton for beads, hawks' bells, and other trinkets. They had appended to their ears little plates of gold, which soon caught the eyes of the Spaniards. On being asked where they had obtained them, they always pointed toward the south. Columbus determined to go in search of the country thus indicated, always hoping speedily to arrive at Cathay and Zipangu. In pursuit of these countries, he prosecuted his researches until he discovered Cuba. The interpreters whom he had brought from San Salvador, learned here that some gold was found in Cuba, but that it was much more abundant in another country farther to the east. The prospect of obtaining gold inflamed the cupidity of the Spaniards, and Alonzo Pinzon, the commander of the Pinta, which was the best sailer in the fleet, wishing to arrive first at the land where the precious metal abounded, crowded all sail, and was soon out of sight. On Dec. 5th, Columbus, with the remaining ships, sailed from the eastern point of Cuba, and soon arrived at the rich country of which he had received such a glowing description. It was called by the natives DISCO VER Y OF AMERICA B Y COL UMB US. 1 1 Haiti ; Columbus gave it the name of Hispaniola. They anchored first at Port St. Nicholas, and shortly after at a little distance from Cape Francois. The natives took to flight at the appearance of the ships ; but kind treatment to one of their number, who accidently fell into the hands of the Spaniards by the upsetting of his canoe, gave them confidence ; and they came in multitudes to the ships, exchanging fruits, provisions, and gold for bits of porcelain, beads, and hawks' bells. Guanacanagari, the prince of the country, or Cacique, as he was called by his people, re- ceived Columbus with much kindness, and in return was treated by him with great distinction. They contracted a friendship, which continued ever afterward undiminished. He was loaded with ornaments of gold, which, he informed the Spaniards, came from a country farther to the east, called Cibao. Columbus, deceived by the resemblance of the names, believed at first that it was Zipangu ; but he afterward learned that Cibao was the name of a mountain in the centre of the island. The fleet now proceeded to the east, for the purpose of approaching the gold mines of Cibao. On the night of Dec. 24th, Columbus's vessel, the Santa Maria, struck upon a reef, and he was compelled to abandon her, and take refuge, with his crew, on board the Nina. The cacique and his people assisted the Spaniards in saving their effects, and con- sented to their erecting a fort with the timber of the wreck. It was named La Navidad, and garrisoned with thirty-eight men, the first colony in Spanish America. The admiral left provisions in the fort, articles to barter with the natives, and whatever was necessary for its defence. He then took leave of the friendly cacique, with the promise to return soon. On Jan. 4, 1493, Columbus set sail, proceeding to the east, in order to complete the examination of the north coast of the island, and on his way met the Pinta, near Monte Christo. He affected to be satisfied with the excuses made by Alonzo Pinzon, to explain his parting company. At length, on the 16th, the two ships directed their course for Spain. The weather was favorable at the commencement of the voyage ; but heavy gales came on when the ships were near the Azores, and the Pinta was a second time lost sight of. The admiral's vessel was in such immi- nent danger that he despaired of ever reaching land. He was fearful that the knowledge of his discovery would perish with him ; and to pre- vent this, he wrote a brief account of his voyage on two leaves of parch- ment, and put each of these leaves into a tight cask. One of these casks was thrown overboard immediately ; the other was allowed to remain on deck to await the foundering of the vessel. But Providence interposed to save so valuable a life ; the storm subsided. They arrived at the Azores on Feb. 15th, and at Palos on Mar. 15th, seven months and a half after their departure from the same port. Alonzo Pinzon arrived 1 2 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA' BY COLUMBUS. about the same time at a northern port in Spain, and died a few days Columbus's return was a perfect triumph. He was received at Palos with enthusiastic joy. Ringing of bells and processions of magistrates welcomed him to Barcelona, where the sovereigns were at that time holding their court. He made a public entry into the city ; the whole population came out to meet him ; he walked in the midst of the Indians whom he had brought with him, and had dressed for the occasion in their native costume. The rich productions of the New World were borne in open baskets before him, as he proceeded through an immense crowd to the palace, where Ferdinand and Isabella were seated on the throne, awaiting his arrival. As soon as he appeared with his train, they rose up. Columbus threw himself upon his knees ; but they commanded him to be seated in their presence ; " a rare honor in this proud and punctilious court." He then gave an account of his voyage, and of the discoveries he had made, and showed the various products of the New World, which he had brought, and the Indians who attended him. Fer- dinand, delighted with the success of this great enterprise, confirmed to Columbus all his privileges, and permitted him to join to the arms of his own family, those of the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, with the emblems of his discoveries and of the dignities resulting from them. Such was the reception of Columbus in Spain, after his return from his glorious enterprise. The object of his life had been attained. His subsequent career was a practical illustration of the influence of envy and of the ingratitude of men. By his own genius and perseverance Colum- bus had achieved one of the most grand and brilliant enterprises which history has recorded. In endeavoring to obtain the means of prosecut- ing it, he had met with every obstacle which envy and ridicule could create. After the feat was accomplished, his glory excited the ambition and the malice of those who could not really rival him. For awhile, even the truth of the discovery was denied. This, however, innumerable proofs silenced. Then detraction insinuated that Columbus had learned it all from the books of older navigators. Finally the work was consum- mated by the removal of the old navigator from all his offices, and by sending him home in chains. Miltiades was victor at Marathon, yet was banished from the country he had saved. Themistocles won at Salamis ; and he, too, was banished by the ungrateful Athenians. But this was the "unkindest cut of all." Columbus gave a new world to the sway of Spain, yet died in disgrace. His memory, however, is cherished by the world, while his detractors are forgotten. Columbus deserves to rank among those truly great men—" the stars in the heaven of fame "—who have raised themselves to renown by their vast achievements. TRIUMPHS AND GLORIES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. > ♦ — •- ®t)e IProgresa of tt)e ©ospel tyrougtyout tt)e iDcrtfr. tfiE spread of the kingdom of God over the whole earth from the day of Pentecost to the end of time is the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. Our Lord is King, but his kingdom is not of this world, though in this world. He sent his Apostles with power, not to gain a few proselytes in this land or that, but to teach the nations: " Go teach all nations, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you." (St. Matt. [xxix. 19.) The nations were to sit as pupils. And the Church applies to them the prophecy of David: "Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." (Ps. xviii. 5.) Men of many lands were among the converts on the day of Pentecost; and the synagogues at Jerusalem, representing various countries, gave proselytes to the faith. After the martyrdom of St. Stephen, a. d. 33, the disciples were scat- tered, and St. Philip, the deacon, preached in Samaria and converted so , 4 THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. many that St. Peter and St. John went down to confirm them. Through the eunuch of Queen Candace, St. Philip was the instrument of introducing Christianity into Abyssinia, the first home of the faith in .1. In the year 42 and thereafter St. Paul spread the Church through Arabia, Asia "Minor, Cyprus, and in 51 preached the gospel in Macedon and other parts of Greece. The twelve chosen Apostles, according to the uniform tradition, took different lands. St. Peter planted his see at Antioch, and preaching far ami near at last made Rome the scene of his labors and of his glo- rious death with St. Paul in that city. That St. Thomas carried the cross to India is attested by a constant tradition, and his body rests near Goa. St. Matthew evangelized Persia ; St. Andrew announced the Word of God in southern Russia and in Achaia, where he received the crown of martyrdom. St. Bartholomew had preached the faith in Armenia, founding the faith in the land where the ark rested after the flood and the dove brought the olive branch of hope. St. Jude made the name of Jesus known in the land of Mesopotamia, whence Abraham was called by God to the Land of Promise ; St. Philip in Phrygia, St. Matthias in Colchis. In Africa St. Simon preached the Word of God in Libya, and St. Philip the deacon opened the innermost parts of Africa to the Word of God. The disciples of our Lord, the earliest associates of the Apostles, were the founders of many churches. St. Mark the Evangelist carried the faith to Egypt, and was the first bishop of Alexandria, whence the faith spread to Upper Egypt and Libya. Carthage and Numidia received the truth at an early period, and here apparently the Holy Scriptures were first translated into Latin, the Greek language not prevailing there. After St. Peter and St. Paul established the Church at Rome, and sealed its triumph by their blood, churches were founded by their im- mediate followers in many cities of Italy, such as Milan, Ravenna, Bo- logna, Naples and Palermo. The knowledge of Christ reached Spain in the days of the Apostles, and St. Paul proposed to visit the Christians there. Leon, Astorga and Saragossa claim that their ancient churches were founded by disciples of the Apostles, and the records of the martyrs and of the early councils combine to show that the faith had taken root there, and the Church been fully organized. Gaul was the land where the religion of the Druids prevailed, extend- ing also to Britain and Ireland. The idolatry of Rome had been planted in the Roman colonies or military settlements, but had not overthrown the national faith in Gaul and Britain. Marseilles, which was to a great THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. 15 extent a Greek city, received Christian teachers from Asia Minor ; Laza- rus with Mary and Martha being, according to tradition, early pioneers of the faith, and soon alike the worshippers of Jupiter and the votaries of the Druids listened to the Word of God ; and the cathedrals of Aries, Narbonne, Paris, Lyons and Vienna claim to represent sees founded al- most in the days of the Apostles. Where the Roman power extended into Germany beyond the Rhine, the Alps and the Danube, Christianity entered, and there are traces of bishops in early days at Cologne, Mentz, Spire and Sirmium. The cathe- drals of those cities are really monuments of the early establishment of the faith. Britain gave the first Christian king in the person of King Lucius who obtained bishops before the end of the second century. Justin Martyr and Tertullian mention the spread of the gospel through Asia Minor, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and Mauritania, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Germany and parts to which the Roman arms had never been able to penetrate. In the spread of the gospel every Christian was a missionary. The vast extent of the Roman Empire made the diffusion of the gos- pel in the first centuries rapid, as means of communication between Rome and all the different countries under the imperial sway were frequent and well known. Everywhere the Apostles and their coadjutors established the same Church, one in faith, one in its teaching, one in its sacrifice, the Mass, one in its priesthood and in its sacraments, one in union with its head, St. Peter, revered by all as the one who, confirmed by God, was to confirm his brethren. The New Testament was not all written when their labors began, and the Church spread more rapidly than the written Word. During this first period occurred the first general persecution under Nero, a. d. 67, and under Domitian, a. d. 95, in the latter of which St. Andrew was put to death and St. John the Evangelist was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and then banished to Patmos. These persecu- tions caused many Christians to seek a residence in country parts, where they made known the faith. At Rome they made the Catacombs the place of their meetings for divine worship, and often, when the fury of its tyranny raged, their abode, and the burial place of the martyrs, thou- sands of whose bodies, attested by inscriptions and evidences of martyr- dom, still lie in those revered monuments of the primitive Christians. Persecutions could not exterminate Christianity. The followers of Christ permeated the whole empire. " We are but of yesterday," says Tertullian, " yet we fill all that belongs to you : we leave to you only your temples. Should we withdraw from you into some foreign land, 1 6 THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. the loss of so many citizens would weaken your power. You would shudder over the desolation, the silence of a world in some sort extinct ; you would seek in vain for subjects to rule over." When Constantine embraced the faith Rome had forty churches. Bishops were scattered all over Italy. Northern Africa was divided into bishoprics. A council of nineteen bishops was held in Spain in 306; eight sees were represented at that of Aries in Gaul in 314. There were bishops in Austria, Bavaria, the Tyrol, at Augsburg, Trent, London, York, and in the east in the cities of Greece, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Chaldaea, Egypt. Sapor, king of Per- sia in 326, announced that from his kingdom to China churches abounded and thousands were embracing the faith. The Iberians on the Black Sea, learning of the faith from the example and miracles of a captive Chris- tian girl, sent to Constantine for missionaries. Frumentius, shipwrecked on Abyssinia, became its apostle to revive the faith, which had become extinct in that country. Meanwhile the Church, free to pursue her course, rapidly won over the pagan remnant in the Roman Empire and reclaimed many from heresy, although Arius, by his impiety, plunged thousands once more into all the mazes and delusions of error. In this schism of the Church the Arians were soon supported by some of the emperors, and others inau- gurated the Iconoclast heresy. The Roman Empire had done its appointed work, and began to crum- ble away. Hordes of fierce warriors from the pagan northland of Europe and the steppes of Asia moved in all directions on the doomed empire. The successors of Constantine tried to employ some against the others. The Goths from Scandinavia crossed the Alps ; the Vandals, Suevi, and Alans, overran Gaul. Alaric the Goth at last took Rome itself, and the Visigoths and Vandals then invaded Spain, the latter nation passing into Africa, where they desolated the whole land. Some of these tribes adopted to some extent the creed of Arius, but whether Arian or heathen they destroyed Catholic churches and institutions, and slaughtered the ministers of God. The southern part of the island of Britain was in- vaded by the still pagan tribes in Ireland and Scotland, and sought as- sistance from the heathen Saxons. Never had the cause of the Church seemed so desperate ; but at this very moment, when her enemies might exult over her, we see Pope St. Leo confronting Attila, and by his majesty arresting that heathen devastator of the earth. The reconquest of the world was begun again. A Briton boy, carried a prisoner to Ireland, escaped to return to it a missionary invested with the episcopal office by Pope Celestine (432). He made the whole island Christian, and missionaries soon thence bore the faith to Scotland, Eng- THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. I 7 land, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and the continent. In Gaul the Franks, after the conversion of King Clovis (481) were rapidly won to the faith. The Suevi, in Spain, and subsequently the Goths, became Catholic. The reconquest of England was completed by St. Augustine, who was sent by the Pope to that island (596), and who planted his see at Canterbury. When Charlemagne had established his empire, he brought much of Germany to the faith, and missionaries from Ireland and England bore the faith from the Alps and the Danube to the frozen north. The Arian heresy was gradually suppressed, and Catholicity again prevailed. In the east the faith gained Georgia, several provinces of Persia, India, and Abyssinia. But a heavy punishment awaited nations that had spurned fidelity to the seat of Catholic unity. Mohammedanism arose (622) in Arabia, and ere long Egypt, northern Africa, and Spain, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia were lost to the Church and to Christianity. Arianism had so sapped away the vivifying element in the hearts of the people that they yielded almost without a struggle ; the faithful perished, the weak succumbed and renounced Christianity. Constantinople was spared for a time, as though God gave the Eastern Empire a last oppor- tunity for repentance. Mohammedanism was not to be overcome by argument. Their only argument was the sword ; and the Church nerved the hands of Latin Christendom to check its power. From a mere foothold in the moun- tains of Asturias, the Catholic Spaniard, encouraged by the crushing de- feat which befel the Moslem on the field of Poitiers (732), in France, fought steadily on for centuries till he had recovered the peninsula from the followers of the prophet. In the east successive crusades met the armies of the Saracens in Syria and Egypt, and though they did not re- cover the Holy Land, they saved Europe. Meanwhile Catholicity was forming the nations in the lands it had recovered, and Christian life showed itself in the churches, monasteries, and schools of learning, in the development of architecture, arts and sciences. Throughout the Moslem world it was nurturing in hope what- ever scanty remnants of the faithful could be found. The remaining nations in Germany and Scandinavia were won, and in the ninth century the Bulgarians received the faith and sent their submission to Rome. In the tenth century Denmark became permanently Christian by the conversion of Sweyn, an apostate and persecutor : and the Russians be- held their winterland illumined by the light of Catholic faith. Vladimir, their duke, receiving in marriage the hand of Anna, a Greek princess, destroyed all the idols on his states and received baptism : but Russia embraced the new schism which had originated at Constantinople, and IS THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. keeping it from Catholic unity, prepared it for its overthrow. For it is a remarkable spectacle to behold on one side of Europe the Spanish nation, iiful to the Church, wrest its heritage back from the grasp of the Mo- hammedan, and on the other the Greeks, revolting from the see of unity, fall under Mohammedan sway almost at the same time, and fall utterly, completely, and helplessly. As there were still parts of Europe where paganism lingered, the Popes formed bodies of apostolic men for the foreign mission. Otho, bishop of Bamberg, converted Pomerania (1124); the natives of the island of Rugen received baptism from Bishop Absalom of Roskild, in 1168. About the same time Livonia was permanently gained to the Church by Meinhard, a canon from Holstein. During the pontificate of Innocent III., Christian, a Cistercian monk, became the apostle and first hi -hop of Prussia. The crusades had opened to the knowledge of Europe new regions, of which the Christian nations knew little. Contemporaneously arose the great missionary orders, the Franciscans and Dominicans. The Franciscans sought to regain Moorish Spain and Morocco, but the pioneers won the crown of martyrdom in Morocco in 1220. Others followed to renew their labors and share their fate the next year. Do- minicans entered the same field, and so many were gained that a bishop was appointed. Other fathers of these two orders revived the faith of the Christian remnant in Syria, and won many from the Mohammedan folly. St. Hyacinth converted thousands in the north, in Russia, and ex- tended his labors even to Thibet and China. Bosnia, Servia, Wallachia, were similarly regained in part at this time, and the body of the faithful in these countries still exists. Missions were also begun among the Tar- tars, where Friar du Plancarpin labored zealously. Others extended the field to include China, and a see was founded at Pekin, by Father John de Montecorvin (1307), where blessed Oderic, with an Irish friar, converted many. Jordan Catalani revived the faith of the Christians of St. Thomas in India (1330), and won many disciples of Bramah to Christianity. While the Church was thus extending her influence through Asia, and seeking to regain what had been wrested from her by the followers of Mahomet, the enemy of truth sought to weaken her authority in Europe. Heresies, of which the Albigensian was the chief, in the middle of the twelfth cen- tury sprang up and ravaged the south of France and the chief cities of Germany. They condemned marriage, and all civil and ecclesiastical authority. St. Bernard, Peter the Venerable, and subsequently St. Dom- inic, labored to regain the provinces which received these heresies. In the fourteenth century John Wickliffe in England taught that all things THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. 19 are God, that no one in sin has any authority in Church or State ; he de- nied the doctrines of the holy Eucharist, penance and orders, and main- tained that private judgment should interpret Scripture. His doctrine found many adherents and weakened the faith in England. They were taken up early in the next century by John Huss and Jerome of Prague, and their numerous followers took up arms, captured Prague, and rav- aged Germany, destroying churches, convents, clergy and all signs of religion. To bring back to the fold the souls led astray by these false shepherds was now a work for the Church. St. John Capistran is among those whose labors were blessed by Heaven. The Greek Empire was won for a time from schism by the Council of Florence, but, again rejecting the precious blessing of unity with the holy see, fell a victim to the Turks, and Mohammedanism spread over the Eastern Empire and Christianity almost faded away in what became known as Turkey in Europe and Turkey in Asia. While the votaries of the Greek, Armenian, Syriac and Coptic schism gradually sank lower and lower in point of education and sacred learning, those who adhered to Rome, supported and guided by Franciscan and other missionaries, rose even amid their condition of slavery. Meanwhile the impulse given to navigation by the crusades led to voyages on the Atlantic south of Gibraltar. The Canary Islands were discovered, and Albert de las Casas, appointed as bishop by Pope Innocent VII., labored with zealous Franciscans to win the natives to the faith. As the Portuguese soon took the lead in voyages of discovery, and coast- ing along Africa reached the Cape of Good Hope, missions were estab- lished at various points, and western Africa for the first time received the light of the Gospel. These missions date from 1462 when Pope Pius II. commissioned a body of Franciscan missionaries under Alfonso Bo- lano. Ambassadors from Congo were baptized in Portugal : the king of the country showed every inclination to embrace the faith, which his uncle embraced. Some Dominican fathers completed the good work and Congo soon had a Christian ruler. The Portuguese, continuing their discoveries, opened eastern Africa, India, China, and Japan to the faith. The establishment of the Society of Jesus gave new apostolical laborers, who preached in Congo, Angola, Monomotapa, and Abyssinia. St. Francis Xavier evangelized southern India, especially the fishery coast ; and proceeding thence to Malacca, Amboyno, Ternate. While the Franciscans were winning Ceylon, where Catholicity is to this day so strong, St. Francis, in 1549, sailed to Japan, and began the wonderful conversion of thousands in that empire. In no heathen nation in modern times had the faith been received with such earnestness. Fearful persecutions followed, rivaling those of the primi- 2 o THE CHURCH IN AMERICA. tivc Christians, but, though nearly exterminated, the little remnant of Catholics has persevered to our day, when the empire was again open to the teaching of truth. ! ♦« Cljaptcr 11. £hc Cljurcl) in America. JN 1492 Columbus discovered America for Spain, and zealous mis- eries came to plant the cross and instruct the natives of the West Indies, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile. The various religious orders — the Dominicans, Franciscans, Au- s^ustinians, and Jesuits— took part in these labors. At this day the mass of the people in Spanish America are Catholics of Indian origin, descend- ants from the converts of the early missionaries. The Spanish missions nded from the Straits of Magellan to Chesapeake Bay and the branches of the Mississippi. The greatest of their triumphs was in Para- guay, where a whole nation was converted and civilized by the Jesuit fathers. Nut while a new world was thus opened for the conquest of the Church, she beheld many countries of Europe torn from the bosom of Christ by heresy and schism, and once more bent her energies to reclaim the erring and save the weak. The heresy of Luther (15) reviving those of Wickliffe and Huss, swept from Catholicity much of Germany, Den- mark, Norway, and Sweden, covetous kings and nobles adopting his views to seize ecclesiastical property and throw off all the restraints of religion. The heresy of John Calvin overran Switzerland, the Low Countries, the south of France and Scotland. England fell into schism through the lust of her king, Henry VIII., and during the minority of his infant son unprincipled men established a new faith, new clergy, and new worship. In all the north, Ireland alone remained faithful. In all these countries the Catholic religion was suppressed, the clergy slain or expelled, the religious houses and schools destroyed, the churches pillaged and given to the new religion, or turned to profane uses. In France the Calvinists for a time threatened to obtain the upper hand, many of the nobles joining the heresy, and even Henry, king of Navarre, the heir to the French throne. Catholicity triumphed, but the land was drenched in blood and covered with ruins. Belgium, under Spanish rule, retained the faith, although Holland fell away. The Church at once sent forth a new race of clergy, full of learning, piety, and zeal. In this new war for the reconquest of Europe the Jesu- THE CHURCH IN AMERICA. 2 1 its led the way. They checked heresy in Germany, and saved many of the states. St. Vincent de Paul, the Ven.Mgr.Olier, Cardinal de Berulle, with religious of various orders filled the French clergy with zeal, con- futed the Calvinists, and won thousands back to the faith, as the holy doctor St. Francis de Sales did in Savoy and Switzerland. The heresy of Luther, Calvin and Henry made its conquests in the first fifty years. Since then the Church has steadily regained ground, while Protestantism, weakened by divisions, has lost all doctrinal stand- ard, and has in many parts become a mere nominal form of Christianity without spiritual life. The faith in Ireland was kept alive by seminaries at Rome and in the Catholic countries ; and similar institutions sent out priests who feared God and feared not man, who with the scaffold before their eyes, confirmed the faith of the Catholics, and won back Protest- ants in England, Scotland and Wales. Penal laws, persecutions, hang- ing, drawing and quartering of priests and bishops failed utterly to ex- terminate Catholicity. Ireland is still Catholic, and in Great Britain the Church has the English and Scotch hierarchies, with thousands of priests, religious of both sexes, colleges, schools, and works of mercy. In Hol- land the Catholic body has steadily increased, and is now barely in a minority. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, long closed to the faith, the Church is again progressing. - Germany in our time has seen a crafty persecution by which the Catholic bishops and clergy have been exiled till nearly all the dioceses are without bishops, and thousands of parishes without priests ; but this has served only to make the Catholics more earnest in their faith, and bind them more firmly to Rome, the centre of unity, banishing from among them the laxer views which prevailed in the last century. As the discovery of America opened a field for all the maritime powers of Europe, not only Spain but Portugal, England, France, Hol- land and Sweden planted colonies in America. Portugal settled Brazil after driving off a Protestant French colony, and Catholicity soon con- verted thousands of Indians to the faith, the Ven. Father Anchieta being their great apostle. France planted the colony of Canada on a truly Cath- olic basis, and so imbued the people with the faith, that though now for more than a century under Protestant rule their attachment to religion is unshaken ; and there are religious establishments, convents and churches coeval with the settlement. Missionaries, both Franciscan and Jesuit, traversed the whole northern and central parts of North America, converting whole tribes to the faith, and in others weakening superstition and gaining many whose descendants are to this day Catholic. Holland and Sweden planted colonies on the Hudson and Delaware, which afterwards fell into the hands of England, and the latter country 22 THE CHURCH IS AMERICA. Milled all the rest of the North American coast, from Nova Scotia to Florida, planting Protestantism in all the colonies except Maryland, which, settled mainly by Catholics under Catholic influence, was the first home of Catholicity. Thence it spread ; growing more rapidly than the great republic, which ultimately arose there, till, towards the close of the nineteenth century, it numbered a hierarchy of nearly seventy arch- bishops and bishops, and seven million of Catholics. The Church gained in a similar manner in Australia, and to a less de- gree in the British West Indies and Guianas. Hut while the Church, ever active and unconquered, thus labored to recall to the faith the nations which had been deluded from her fold by the crafty persuasions of the old enemy, promising to make them like gods, a new danger arose. Deism, presented in an attractive form in England, was taken up in France, and the whole doctrine of Christianity, and even the existence of God, was assailed. Infidelity invaded all classes in France. A war was begun upon the Jesuits. They were driven from France, Spain and Portugal, and Pope Clement XIV. was at last forced to disband the order, without a single member being ar- raigned or even accused of any crime or misdemeanors. Infidelity em- boldened by this triumph burst all bounds. The king of France died on the scaffold, priests and bishops were slaughtered, the Christian religion was abolished, and a goddess of Reason was worshipped in the cathe- dral at Paris. The French republic propagated its doctrines by the sword, the German Empire fell, the kings of Spain, Portugal, Naples, were driven from their thrones. The ideas of the French Revolution were infused into most of Europe. Pope Pius VI. died a prisoner in the hands of the French, and his successor, Pius VII., was elected at Venice, where the cardinals at last gathered. Infidel and Protestant alike exulted that the papacy was crushed forever, and the Catholic religion crushed. But in a few years religion was restored in France, and the Church began in that and other countries to work against the new infidel ideas. France, Spain, Portugal and Italy remained nominally Catholic, but their governments were more and more swayed by unbelievers. The same was the case with Brazil and new Spanish American republics. In all the ac- tion of the State was constantly hostile to the Church. Religious orders were especially hateful to these men. Fearful of the influence of Catholic teaching in all these countries the government sought to control the edu- cation of the young, and either exclude all religion, or fill the tender minds with doubts and distrust of religion. In France and Belgium, the Catholic party resolutely fought for its natural rights ; but in Spain and Spanish America, religion suffered. Brazil fell completely into the hands of infidels and the adherents of secret societies, who by stratagem con- GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS. 23 trolled even the confraternities in the Churches. Though they did not butcher bishops and priests they succeeded in sending two holy bishops to prison as felons. In Italy the king of Sardinia put himself at the head of the enemies of religion, and after driving Austria out of Italy by the aid of France, seized Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the kingdom of Na- ples with much of the territory which, under the name of St. Peter's Patrimony, had been for centuries the States of the Church. France maintained the Pope in Rome, but becoming involved in a war with Prussia, withdrew, and Victor Emmanuel seized the holy city, and set himself up as above God, stabling his horses in churches, and turning chapels into ballrooms. The head of the Church became a prisoner in the Vatican. Convents, colleges, monasteries, asylums were suppressed. Churches and ecclesiastical property were seized and sold ; religion was insulted and crushed, and every liberty given to error ; so that under connivance of government the most vile and wicked books and papers were sold, and every means taken to destroy all religion and morality. Against this new torrent of vice the Church is now struggling. She is Catholic, her faithful being in all lands from Lapland and the Esqui- maux to Terra del Fuego and the Cape of Good Hope, and the islands of the Pacific. Every nation under heaven has had the gospel preached to it ; has had the Church of Jesus Christ and His Apostles presented to it ; has had many cleansed in the sacred waters of baptism, nurtured by the divine bread of the Eucharist in life and death. Never has the Church had so many children in all lands, never so many bishops closely united to their head ; never has she been so united in her doctrine, her discipline, her firm front against the enemies of man's salvation. JOHN GILMARY SHEA, LL. D. Cljaptcr 111. She Sviumpljs of tl)C Catholic Cljurcl) prouc her a Oimnc Institution. BY REV. HENRY A. BRANN, D. D. 'HE triumphs of the Church in every age have been miraculous and prophetic, and consequently prove her divine origin by the dou- ble force of a miracle and of a prophecy. Our Lord promised that His Church would be universal,* and He commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel everywhere, promising to l?e with them to the end of time. They were to be witnesses to the truth of His teaching in every land under the sun.f His Church was to last forever, for she was to be founded on a rock, which the powers of hell should never be able to destroy 4 He predicted even the difficulties which she was to encounter in her progress through the world. The apostles and disciples were to be dragged before the courts of justice as criminals, to be beaten in the synagogues, to be summoned before kings and other rulers to an- swer to the charge of preaching the doctrine of Christ, and on His account the preachers of His creed were to be hated of all men.§ Peter, the head of the Church, was to be crucified ; 1 the rest were to be betrayed by friends and relatives, and put to death for no other reason than that of being Christians. Yet He would always be near them and protect them. They were not to be solicitous as to what they should say. He would put words of wisdom into their mouths when the occasion called for their defense ; % and these words their enemies would not be able to answer. Miracles were to prove their authority. In the name of Christ they were to cast out devils, speak with various tongues, take up serpents without the danger of being poisoned, drink poison without being affected by it, and to have, moreover, the power of healing the sick.** The Holy * St. Matt. viii. n; St. Luke xxiv. J St. Matt. xvi. 18. If St. Luke xxi. 14. 26, et seq.; St. Matt, xxviii. 19. § St. Matt. x. ** St. Mark xvi. t Acts i. 8. I St. John xxi. PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 25 Ghost, the third person of the divine Trinity, was to be sent to protect, to guide, and to comfort them after Christ had ascended into heaven. This Holy Spirit would teach them all truth. He would be their com- forter.* After these promises Jesus Christ sent His apostles into the whole world to teach and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The apostles were to teach man- kind all things which they had heard from the divine Master, who was to remain with them all days, even to the end of the world. + He prom- ised them also success in their mission, in spite of all the difficulties which they were to meet in accomplishing it. The gates of hell were never to prevail against them. Every one of these promises was accomplished. On the very day of Pentecost, after the descent of the Holy Ghost, Peter preached two ser- mons with such fruitful result as to convert eight thousand men to the Christian faith. J If we add to these the number of women and children who must have embraced Christianity with their husbands, fathers and brothers, the number of converts must have been fully fifteen or twenty thousand. After this event St. Luke tells us that the number of believ- ers steadily increased. A persecution followed this wonderful conver- sion; but the persecution only promoted instead of impeding the spread of the gospel. The Christians were scattered through Judea and Sama- ria, everywhere making converts and spreading the seeds of divine grace. Thus Philip converted a whole city of Samaria.§ He also converted the powerful eunuch in the service of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, and trav- eled, evangelizing Azotus and all the neighboring towns, till he stopped at Caesarea. Peter and John, sent to confirm those who had been bap- tized in Samaria, returned to Jerusalem, and then evangelized many places in Samaria. Within a year after the descent of the Holy Ghost Judea and Samaria were filled with believers in Christ. The wonderful growth of the Church was not confined to those re- gions. Ten years after the death of Jesus Christ Peter wrote from Rome a letter to the faithful scattered through Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. John, in the reign of Domitian, wrote to the seven large and flourishing churches which were in Asia, namely, Ephesus, Smyrna, Per- gamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Paul traveled over Asia and parts of Europe, founding so many churches that twenty years after our Lord's death he could write in the Epistle to the Romans that their faith was known in the whole world. f Thus, even in the lifetime of the apostles, the number of Christians was immense. St. Clement, of Rome, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, writes, that by the ministry * St. John xiv. % Acts ii. 41. | Rom. i. 8. t St. Matt, xxviii. 18. § Acts viii. 26 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH of Peter and Paul, an immense number of converts was made, who suf- fered martyrdom and cruel torments, leaving to posterity illustrious exam- ples of fortitude and patience. St. Ignatius the martyr writes to the Philadeiphiana that the Church of Christ was spread from one end of the earth to the other. St. Justin the martyr, who lived about the middle of the second century, bears testimony that there was no race, whether of barbarians or of Greeks, or of any other kind of men, no matter by what name known, whether they live in tents or wander homeless, who did not recite prayers and offer thanksgiving to the Father and Creator of all, in the name of Jesus Christ crucified. St. Irenaeus, who follows a little later, confirms this testimony, by enumerating among the churches Germany, Gaul, Spain, Egypt and Libya, illuminated by the same faith as the whole earth is illumined by the same sun. The well-known testimony of the eloquent Tertullian, who died a.d. 245, confirms all these. " We are but of yesterday," says he, " yet we have filled all your places, your cities, islands, towns, assemblies, camps, tribes, palaces, the senate and the forum; we have left to you only your temples."* The same writer again says: " In whom else have all the nations believed, except in Jesus Christ, who has already come ? In Him all believe, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, the inhabitants of Pontus and Asia and Pamphylia; those who dwell in Egypt, and the region of Africa, even beyond Cyrene ; Romans and natives ; and the Jews in Jerusalem, and other peoples ; and the different tribes of the Getuli, as well as the Moors ; the whole of Spain and the different tribes of Gaul ; even the recesses of Britain, inaccessible to the Roman arms, acknowledge Christ. The Sar- matians and the Draci, the Germans and the Scythians, the most remote peoples, so numerous that we cannot name them all, adore His name. He reigns among them. All gates are open to Him, and none are closed at His approach. Before Him iron barriers break down, and brazen gates are opened. "f Tacitus and other pagan writers bear similar testimony to the won- derful propagation of Christianity. He says, speaking of the days of Nero, " An immense number of Christians was found. "J Seneca, con- founding Christians and Jews together, says that they were spread every- where, and that, although conquered, they gave laws to their conquerors. This was an allusion to the moral influence exercised on their persecutors by the Christian victims. Pliny the younger, writing to Trajan, speaks of the great number of Christians in his province. " They were," he said, "of every age, of every order, and of both sexes, not only in the large Apology, chap. 37. f Against the Jews, chap. 7. % Annals L. 15, chap. 14. PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 2 7 cities, but in the small towns and rural districts. The pagans were few, and their temples deserted and pagan rites neglected."* The fact that the Catholic religion was thus wonderfully spread over the whole world in a very short time is clearly shown from all these au- thorities ; the fact that it has been wonderfully preserved is equally cer- tain. It is still universal. From the rising to the setting of the sun the name of Christ is known, and His Church is engaged in spreading the gospel. There are over four hundred millions of Christians in the world, and of these over two hundred millions belong to the Catholic Church. Her hierarchy, her patriarchs or archbishops, bishops, vicars apostolic and priests, are in every part of the world, civilized or barbarian. The con- sideration of this fact alone should make the infidel a believer. St. Au- gustine, even in his remote age, could appeal to the universality of the Church as an argument to prove her divine origin. He beautifully says : " The Church can say to her enemies, ' Look at me ; you can see me even if you do not want to see me.' Those who lived long ago in Judea be- came believers because they knew of the miraculous birth of Christ from a virgin, His passion, death, resurrection and ascension, and the wonder- ful deeds which He performed, and His prophecies, which were fulfilled. You did not see these things, therefore you will not believe. Consider, therefore, what you can see and what you do see. Is it not a wonderful thing that the whole human race should adore a crucified man ? You did not see that He was born of a virgin ; but you do see that the promise of God to Abraham has been fulfilled, ' In thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.' " Certainly what was true in St. Augustine's time, and could be used by him as a valid argument to prove the divine origin of the Church, has equal, if not greater, force in our age, when so many new conquests have been added to her former triumphs. Nor can any human cause give an adequate explanation of this prog- ress, or of these victories. The work of Christian conversion transcends all other achievements recorded in history. " No king, no legislator, no philosopher, whether Greek or barbarian," says Eusebius of Caesarea, " ever dreamed of conquering the world with such means as Christ em- ployed." Even the greatest philosophers considered themselves success- ful if they could get a hearing and an acceptance of their teaching in a city or in one nation. Christ sent His disciples to all the nations. " Go teach all nations," was His command ; " teach them piety, change their religions, make them accept my doctrine. They will believe." And all this was said to simple, unarmed apostles, protected by no human power. " Others have tried to conquer the world," says Tertullian, " but who ever § Lib. x. Epis. 97. a8 THE TRIUMPHS OP TUB CATHOLIC CHURCH succeeded but Christ ? " Solomon reigned, but only from Dan to Bersa- bee. Darius ruled, but only the Babylonians and the Persians. He never could subdue all nations. Pharaoh and his successors governed Egypt, but Egypt alone. Nabuchadonosor ruled from Judea to Ethiopia. Alex- ander the Macedonian, though he conquered the whole of Asia, could not keep his conquest. The Germans are bounded by their own terri- tories. The Britons are limited by the seas. The Mauri and the Getuli are kept back by Roman arms. Even the conquering Romans are lim- ited by the barriers erected on the frontiers to guard the empire from in- >n. But the name and kingdom of Christ are universal. In Him all nations believe, and His kingdom extends beyond the limits of civiliza- tion. The barbarian adores Him as well as the cultured king. The name of Christ is spoken in the court and in the peasant's hut, and by all revered, honored and adored. Hostile races and nations unite in adoring Christ. This wonderful growth of Christianity took place in spite of every form of human opposition. Every prejudice in human nature opposed the spread of the gospel, and still opposes its preservation and propaga- tion. In the language of St. Paul, the apostles " preached Christ crucified, to the Jews a scandal, and to the Gentiles foolishness." The Jews were a despised race, spurned by the Roman people, and the death penalty of crucifixion was considered infamous. Cicero tells us that this form of punishment was abhorrent to the Romans, and considered fit to be in- flicted only on the lowest and the worst criminals. Hence St. Chrysostom asks, " Was it easy to persuade men to accept the gospel of Christ ? " Certainly not. The apostles taught that a crucified man should be adored as God ; and the Gentiles were to believe that one born of a Jew- ish woman was the true God. How could the Gentiles believe this, un- less the grace of God impelled them ? All knew that He had been cru- cified, and that He was dead and buried ; but, except the apostles, none had seen Him risen from the dead and ascending into heaven. The doctrines of Christianity were contrary to all the received opin- ions of men. Christianity taught them to adore one God in three per- sons ; that the Son of God had become incarnate ; that there was an original sin whose taint had infected all mankind ; that there would be a resurrection of the body, even though it had dissolved into the earth after burial, or into the air after cremation ; that there was a sacrament in which the body and blood, soul and divinity of the incarnate God were daily present on the Christian altar ; and a sacrifice of the Mass in which a miracle daily took place in the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Redeemer. All these mysteries were contrary to the creed of paganism, above the grasp of human intelligence, and impervious to its attempts to comprehend them. Was it not hard PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 2 9 for proud human reason to accept them ? They were incomprehensible. They required the submission of intellectual pride, so hard to all, but especially to philosophers and men of learning. Yet these were among the first to become Christian converts. The practices of Christianity were even harder to accept than its creed. Considering the habits and customs of the pagan nations contemporane- ous with our Lord, the polytheism of their religion which peopled the woods and streams with divinities ; their literature, impregnated with errors and obscenities ; the low condition of their morals — polygamy, slavery and despotism everywhere — how could the faith of Christ make progress, if human means alone were used ? That faith made war on everything which men had cherished. It was opposed to every passion and to every vice. To the avaricious it said, " Do not lay up treasures on earth ; " to the luxurious it said, u For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption ; but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting."* To the proud it preached humil- ity; to the irascible it said, " When you have received a blow, offer the other cheek ;" to the vindictive it preached forgiveness of injuries, and taught men even to love those who had done them an injury; to all it said, " De- tach yourselves from this world ; do not love the world, nor the things of this world, for all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life. "J Yet, in spite of all this opposition to human frailty, pride, prejudice, passion and vice, the doc- trines of Christ were accepted by the whole world, and millions in every age have followed His teaching, His precepts and His counsels in their lives and conduct. God alone could have brought about such a result. God alone could have brought rebellious human nature into subjection to the religion of mortification and self-denial. Consider, further, the extrinsic difficulties that opposed the spread of the gospel. Paganism was rooted in the very hearts and minds of the peo- ple by their education and family traditions. How hard it is to convert one prejudiced man ; how much more difficult to convert the whole prej- udiced Jewish and pagan world ! The whole power of pagan Rome, with centuries of absolute control, could not make as many Jews give up their religion as Peter did in one sermon. Yet it was harder to convert Jews to Christianity tlian to convert Jews to paganism. The Jews were carnal, and looked only to this earth for happiness. They had a false notion of the Messias as of a powerful temporal ruler, who was to restore the glory and prosperity of their race and nation, and free them from the domina- tion of the Romans. Such a Messias they expected, and consequently * Gal. vi. : 8. t Gal. xi. : i. t 1 St - J ohn i! - l6 - 30 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH refused to accept Him in the person of the poor, humble and crucified Jesus of Nazareth. The Gentiles were, at the time, both in Greece and in Italy, cultured and educated ; but their morals were corrupt, for they were givtn up to every form of licentiousness. Their own writers tell the story of Roman and Grecian moral degradation. The Gentile mythology irfhameful. The pagan gods and goddesses were libertines. Of Jupiter, the chief of them, Juvenal sarcastically writes, " Quam multas matres fe- cerit Wcdeus" (He was a seducer of women). St. Augustine, while he praises the Romans for many virtues which they practiced, nevertheless writes, "The ancient Romans, like other nations, except the Jews alone, -hiped false gods, and immolated victims, not to God, but to demons. The Romans were fond of praise, and hence liberal with money ; they longed for great glory and wealth ; these they craved for, for these they longed to live, and for these were willing even to die ; to these they made all other passions subservient." The pagan philosophers, like Socrates, Plato and Cicero, worshiped the divinities publicly, although privately despising them ; and insisted that whatever had been instituted as relig- ious worship by the custom of the country, should remain unchanged ; that all innovations and new religions should be opposed. Seneca is quoted by St. Augustine as saying, " We worship, as a matter of outward form rather than as a reality, all this ignoble crowd of gods which ancient superstition has bequeathed to us."* Those philosophers denied the prov- idence of God, and His influence in promoting virtue. Most of them doubted the immortality of the soul. Even Socrates doubted of this immortality, and before he died ordered a cock to be sacrificed to Es- culapius — an act of base superstition by the greatest of the pagans, The ordinary people worshiped everything but the Creator of the universe. The Egyptians worshiped the leeks that grew in their gardens, as Juvenal tells us, " O sanctas gentas, quibus hczc nascuntur in hortis Numina " (O holy people, whose gods grow in your gardens ) ! Horace exemplifies this base idolatry of his contemporaries by representing them as worship- ing a god made of wood by a carpenter : "Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum; Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum, Maluit esse Deum, Deus inde ego."f Like the modern Chinese, the old pagans worshipped a wooden Josh. Thus were all the pagans in error as to the primary truths of natural re- ligion and natural morality. The Gentile priests were bitterly hostile to the progress of Christianity. Their livelihood and their authority depended on the worship of the idols • De Civ. Dei, Lib. 6, ch. 10. | Lib . ii# Sat< 8 , PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 31 which Christianity was endeavoring to overthrow. The Roman emper- ors also, who considered the prosperity of the empire dependent on paganism, opposed Christianity with the full force of their great power. These emperors were the high priests of paganism, as well as the political chiefs of the state. Their cruel and inhuman persecutions of the Chris- tians forms a black stain on the pages of history. Every form of torture was used throughout the whole Roman empire, every influence, political and religious, employed to suppress the Church of Christ. Calumny was the common weapon of her enemies. Tacitus tells us that Nero, to divert suspicion from himself, the true criminal, spread the rumor that it was the Christians, " detested by the people for their wickedness," who had set fire to Rome. They were, says Tacitus, put to death, not so much on ac- count of the conflagration as for being enemies of the human race. The same charge was made against them which has been made in modern times, that they were the enemies of the political institutions of the coun- try, the deadly foes of the empire. They were accused of being traitors, disloyal to the emperor, because they would not worship the false gods. Countless were the numbers put to death for the faith during ten bloody persecutions. Their martyrdom was a moral miracle, nor can any natural cause be found adequate to its explanation. As the Church of Smyrna wrote in the second century, giving an account of the death of St. Polycarp : " The martyrdom of these Christians was universally ad- mired. Their constancy and fortitude were the miracle of the age. Lac- erated and tortured in every way — even to the very veins and arteries of their bodies — still they persisted and persevered, so that even their ene- mies pitied them, and wept. Not one of these martyrs cried out or groaned ; such was their fortitude that they despised all the tortures of the flesh, and proved that the Lord Himself stood by them and conversed with them." St. Jerome, two centuries later, writes, that the Chris- tian religion is proved to be true by the testimony of the martyrs who died for it. No one could behold the constancy of those martyrs under torture, exulting in the midst of suffering, without silently thinking that unless the gospel was true, they would never have defended it with their blood. For their profession of faith was not in a luxurious system favor- ing pleasure and riches, but in a creed that implied the penalty of the jail, of scourging, of persecutions, hunger, nakedness and thirst upon all who professed it, This constancy of the martyrs is the triumph of God. Both as a fact inexplicable on human grounds, and as a testimony, the martyrdom of these Christians proves the divinity of the cause for which they died. Nor were the impediments to the progress of the Church merely exter- nal, confined to Jewish and Gentile opposition. Within the bosom of 32 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH the Church other obstacles arose ; heresies and schisms. From the very be- ginning, half-converted Jews and pagans created divisions, and gave rise to the Gnostics and "the Judaizing," as they were called. The latter, in spite of the decrees of the Council of Jerusalem, persisted in mixing the rites of the Mosaic with those of the new law. The Gnostics denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the body. They rejected the Old Testament, and many of the books of the New. Their fundamental error consisted in denying that God created matter. Matter, they asserted, was eternal. The origin of evil was deduced from matter, which produced a series of spirits, or minor deities, who created and governed the visible Id. Simon Magus is generally credited with being the father of Gnos- m, whose roots and branches spread through Christendom, and have left their poison in society to this day. Gnosticism was a mixture of false pagan philosophy and Christian truth. Simon and his paramour, Helen, a Phoenician woman, propagated their hybrid belief through Judea, and even in Rome, where a statue was erected to his honor. Cerinthus, a Jew, who had studied philosophy in Alexandria, was an- other disturber of the peace of the Church. He is said to have been the instigator of the dispute at Antioch, of which mention is made in the - of the Apostles, regarding the necessity for Christian converts of ob- serving the Mosaic law. He taught that Christ was different from Jesus ; that in Him there were two distinct persons, and that the observance of the Mosaic law was necessary to salvation. The Menandrians, who claimed a divine mission from their founder, Menander; the Ebionites, who denied the divinity of Christ, and insisted on the necessity of circumcis- ion for salvation ; the Nazarenes, mixed up in the city of Pella with the refugee Christians from Jerusalem, insisted on the concurrency of the He- brew law with the Christian dispensation ; the Nicolaites, who were founded by one of the first seven Christian deacons, and taught the law. fulness of promiscuous intercourse between the sexes ; all these were used by the devil to bring discredit on the Christian name, and prevent the spread of the gospel. The Gnostic sects were propagated like pestilential microbes through the East. The true Christians were held responsible for the crimes of the false ones ; just as in our day the Church is accused of the crimes com- mitted by her rebellious children. She is accused of the very things which she condemns and reprobates ; and maliciously assailed with the same old calumnies. Saturninus at Antioch tried to corrupt the faith and morals of the people there. His errors spread throughout Syria. He con- demned marriage as an invention of the devil, and asserted that Christ was not endued with real flesh, but only covered with its shadow. Basil- ldes, about the same time, in the reign of the emperor Hadrian (a.d. 117), PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 33 sowed tares in the wheatfields of Christian Egypt. He disturbed the peace of Christian minds by teaching that seven eons or mysterious beings were begotten of the Supreme God, and that the princes of the angels were be- gotten of these eons. From the first angels sprang the first heaven and other angels; from these a second heaven, and other angels ; and so on until, by continual propagation of angels, who of course were material, three hun- dred and sixty-five families were begotten. From Archon, the God of the Jews, and the chief of the seven angels of the lower heaven, was be- gotten this terrestrial globe. To free human souls from bodily chains, and restore them to the kingdom of light, the eon, Nun, or mind, was united to the man Jesus when He was baptized in the Jordan. But when Jesus died on the cross, Nun, or mind, returned to its origin, and left the man Jesus to His fate. Carpocrates of Alexandria, at the same time preached that Jesus Christ was a mere man, superior, however, to all oth- ers. His doctrine in this respect was nearly the same as that of the mod- ern Unitarians. Another Gnostic heretic was Valentinus of Alexandria, a man skilled in Egyptian lore and Greek philosophy. He went to Rome about the year of our Lord 140, and died in the island of Cyprus a.d. 160. He taught that God was a compound of thirty eons, which constituted His divinity. From the last of these eons, Sophia (Wisdom), was procre- ated an unformed substance called Achamot, which, wandering through space, communicated vital force to matter, which Satan ruled ; and from this communication arose spiritual, vital and material elements. From these elements arose a demi-urge, son of Achamot, and formed this visible world and man. All the eons sent Jesus to be a redeemer, and to bring back Ach- amot and all spiritual natures to the pleroma of the divinity. This son Jesus was united to the Messias in the baptism of the Jordan. Besides all this almost incomprehensible nonsense, Valentinus taught immoral doctrines, and his followers were depraved. Nor should we wonder that many Christians were led astray by these ridiculous errors, when we consider the number in our enlightened age who have been carried off by the ab- surdities of modern pantheism, theosophy and Buddhism. Those Gnostic heretics of the early ages hampered the efforts of the Christian apostles to convert the world. The pagans could not always distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit in the divisions which they saw among those who professed to revere Christ. The evil repute and corrupt morals of the heretics, whom the pagans confounded with the true Christians, was an additional obstacle to the spread of Christianity. At the same time pagan philosophers began to write works and make charges against the religion of Christ. Celsus, an Epicurean philosopher, wrote a work in which he enumerates them. He attacks both Moses and our Lord, and, contrasting their teaching with that 34 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH of the pagan philosophers, ridicules the dogmas of Christianity. He admits the truth of the miracles of the New Testament, but attributes them to magic art. He specially charges the Christians with being dis- loyal to the emperor, because they were hostile to the gods and the idols. Thus the charge of disloyalty to the state, as we have already noticed, began at a very early period to be made against the followers of Christ. Prophyrius and others followed the lead of Celsus. Then other heretics followed the early Gnostics. Cerdo and Marcion again preached the duality of God — one God the author of evil, another God the author of good. Marcion further rejected the whole of the Old Test- ament, and of the New accepted only the Gospel of St. Luke and some of the epistles of St. Paul : an early instance of Protestant willfulness in ac- cepting or rejecting the Holy Scriptures. Other heretics followed. Ta- tian, toward the end of the second century, condemned marriage as adultery ; forbade the eating of flesh-meat or the drinking of wine, and insisted that only water should be used in the sacrifice of the Mass. He also denied that the body of Christ was a real body. At the same time Bardesanes in Mesopotamia propagated similar errors. Montanus, with two women, Priscilla and Maximilla, taught new errors. He pretended* that the Holy Ghost had descended on him to perfect Christianity, left incomplete by the apostles. He also condemned second marriage as unlawful. He pretended to great sanctity, and imposed three Lents on his followers, instead of the one imposed by custom and apostolical tra- dition. Many of the faithful were led away from the true Church by the seeming holiness of this heretic and his followers. They formed large churches in Asia Minor, in Africa, and in the city of Constantinople. They finally merged with the Novatians and the Donatists. Schism and heresy invaded even the sacred precincts of the Eternal ( it y. Blastus and Florinus, two bad priests, spread dissensions among the Christians of Rome. Blastus condemned the universal custom of the Church as to the time of celebrating Easter. Florinus taught that God is the author of all evil, even of sin, and propagated Gnostic errors in Italy. Step by step heresy marched with the progress of the true faith and tried to prevent its triumph. At the close of the second century the great heresy which denied the divinity of Jesus Christ broke out with renewed force. Theodotus, a Byzantine, taught that Christ was a mere man, conceived, however, in a supernatural manner, a man above the com- mon, holy and wise and superior to the prophets. Another Theodotus founded the sect called the Melchisedechites, who held that Melchisedech was superior to Christ. Praxeas and Noetus, about the year 236, also taughl that Christ was only a man. They denied the doctrine of the Trinity, saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost were not PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 35 three distinct persons, but only three names given to the same God, ac- cording to His different modes of existing and of acting. They said that God was called the Father because He created all things; the Son because He associated to Himself the human nature of Christ; the Holy Ghost because He excited sentiments of piety in the hearts of men. Since, therefore, they held that it was the same God who was born, who suffered and died, they were called Patripassians; men who believed that God the Father died on the cross. Catholic writers of the time, as Tertullian and St. Hippolytus, refuted these errors. Another heretic, Beryllus, denied that the Son existed before the incarnation. Him Origen refuted, and the bishops of the time, gathered in council, condemned. Sabellius, about the middle of the third century, denied the distinction of persons in the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, accord- ing to him, were only three names of the same deity, who was called Fa- ther when He manifested Himself to the world; Son when He united Himself to Christ to redeem the world; and Holy Ghost when He sancti- fied the faithful. He exemplified his theory by the sun, which has a vis- ible disk, an illuminating halo, and the power of giving heat.* Paul of Samosata at the same time denied all distinction of persons in God, and asserted His absolute unity of personality as well as of nature. St. Denis of Alexandria wrote against him and refuted his erroneous opinions. The list of schisms and heresies grew longer day by day. In the mid- dle of the third century broke out the famous Novatian schism. Nova- tian was a Roman priest, learned and eloquent, but ambitious and turbu- lent. He was jealous of Cornelius, who had been elected supreme pontiff. As the Roman Church treated with clemency those who had apostatized during the persecutions, but who had become afterward penitent, Nova- tian found fault with what he considered laxity of discipline. Many priests and people agreed with him, and went so far as to deny the right or the power of the priests or bishops of the Church to admit to the sac- raments those who had offered incense to idols or betrayed the faith dur- ing the persecutions. " No sacramental absolution was to be given to such sinners," said Novatian. For this excessive severity he was excommuni- cated. Synods in Italy and Africa condemned his opinions. In revenge he and his followers spread calumnies against Pope Cornelius, in conse- quence of which three obscure, credulous, and ignorant bishops of Italy ordained Novatian Bishop of Rome, and made him the first anti-pope. He sent out letters to different churches, informing them of his election, but the true Pope exposed the plot and prevented the schism from spreading. It * The Rev. O. B. Frothingham and other modern Unitarians use this same comparison to explain what they call their Trinity. There is nothing new under the sun. (See " Age of Unreason," by Rev. H. A. Brann, D.D.) 36 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH was on occasion of this schism that St. Cyprian wrote his admirable work OH the unity of the Church, proving that unity of body and unity of head are essential to the society founded by Jesus Christ for the spiritual wel- fare of all mankind. The Novatians finally denied the power of the Church to absolve all grievous sinners as well as apostates, no matter how repen- tant they might be, and the sect which may be called, on account of its crafty methods and hypocritical spirit, the Jansenism of the third century, spread through Italy, Gaul, Spain, Egypt, and Asia, but finally disappear- ed about the seventh century. The controversies about the proper time of celebrating the Easter festival and the rebaptism of heretics, also marred the charity of Christendom. Immediately after these scandals arose the great heresy of the Manich- eans. Their founder was Manes, a Persian, who, mingling the teachings of Zoroaster with the heresies of the Gnostics, formed a new creed which was to take the place of Christianity. Manes taught with the Gnostics that there are two eternal principles, one good, the other bad; the good one is God, Lord of the kingdom of light, purest light Himself, but ap- prehensible only by reason; the evil principle, bad by nature and material, is called Satan, the lord of darkness, who strives to corrupt others. Each principle produces beings after its own kind, and distributes them through its kingdom. These made war on each other, during which the demons, products of the bad principle, carried away as prisoners many good and rational souls from the kingdom of light. Of these and the demons was born Adam, containing all the souls of men. As the element of light and goodness was in him, Satan sent his own daughter Eve to corrupt him. She succeeded. After he fell, Christ, the son of God, was sent by the good principle to redeem mankind, a race mixed with good and evil. But Christ is only a portion of heavenly light existing in the sun. The Holy Ghost is also a celestial substance, but inferior to the Son. Christ assumed not a real body, but the shadow of a body. He appeared to die on the cross, but did not die on it. Manes called himself the Holy Ghost promised by Christ to teach mankind the things which the apostles failed to teach. He denied the resurrection of the flesh. In morals, he taught that the body, as formed by the evil principle, should be mortified by frequent fastings ; that blasphemy, which con- sisted chiefly in speaking against his teaching, was to be abhorred ; that children should not be procreated ; and that no animals should be killed. He imitated the example of Christ in organizing the Manicheans into a society. He chose twelve apostles and seventy-two disciples, and ap- pointed over them a supreme head. Their public worship was simple, consisting of prayers, hymns, and pious reading. They had neither sac- rifice, nor altar, nor image, nor temple. Their assemblies were held in PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. ^>7 private houses. They had, however, secret rites and ceremonies, which writers of veracity say were immoral and infamous. This dangerous heresy was widespread, and continued to live with varying fortune even in the middle ages. The Albigenses and the Waldenses held and propa- gated in the Middle Ages many of the false and immoral doctrines of the Manicheans and Gnostics. The nearer the Church came to her final triumph over pagan and Jewish opposition, the more dangerous struggles she had to experience within her own fold. The schism of the Donatists and the Arian heresy arose just about the time that the political power of Rome passed from pagan to Christian hands. The devil, in his last effort to hold humanity captive, fought hardest against Christ. The ten bloody persecutions of the Roman emperors had scarcely ended, and the Christians had just be- gun to enjoy peace and prosperity under Constantine, when the Donatist schism broke out in Africa and spread over Italy. The election of Caecilian the archdeacon to the bishopric of Carthage, was the occasion of the dis- sension. The vote for Caecilian was unanimous, but two ambitious priests, Botrus and Celeusius, who had expected the mitre for themselves, rose against the new bishop. Other priests joined them, and a wealthy woman named Lucilla helped them with her purse. Her grievance against the bishop was that he had reproved her for kissing, before going to communion, the bones of a man whose martyrdom had not been authenticated. In the year 311 these conspirators accused Caecilian of having, while he was a deacon during the persecution, refused to supply food to the confessors in prison. They accused him also of being a tra- ditor — a traitor who had given up the sacred Scriptures to the pagans to avoid persecution — and that he had been ordained by a bishop who was also a traditor. The calumnies were accredited by many, so that Secundus and other bishops called from Numidia by the seditious of Carthage, re- pudiated Caecilian, and consecrated and put in his place Majorinus the lector, a servant of Lucilla. This schism spread from Carthage to the whole of Northern Africa, to Numidia and Mauritiana. Majorinus died a. d. 313, and in his place was elected Donatus, from whom the schis- matics were called Donatists. These appealed to the emperor Constan- tine for recognition, but he refused to touch the case, as one exclusively pertaining to the bishops. " Not daring to judge the case of a bishop," says St. Augustine, " the emperor left it to be examined and determined by the bishops."* In the year 313 Pope Melchiades convoked at Rome a synod in which were assembled, besides the bishops of Italy and Gaul, Caecilian and his adversaries in the East. For three days the questions between them were discussed, and finally decision rendered in favor of * Epist. 162. THE TRIUMPHS Of TUB CATHOLIC CHURCH Caccilian. Donatiu was condemned, and the bishops who had abetted his faction were permitted to retain their sees, provided they would com- municate with Caecilian. The schismatics, however, despising the judg- ment of the Roman synod, complained to the emperor that they had not received a proper hearing, and that the number of bishops sitting in rment was too small. Constantine, to prevent further dissensions, reluctantly called together another and more numerous council, at Aries, aul. a. i). 314. Pope Sylvester presided over this council through his legates. About two hundred bishops were present, and the papal legates ling were the priests Claudius and Vitus. The Donatists again re- peated their charges before the fathers of the council, but failed to prove them against Caecilian, who was consequently declared innocent and his accusers condemned. Some of them again appealed from the decision of the council to the emperor. He heard their appeal at Milan, a. d. 316, but decided against them, and thus Caecilian was again vindicated. In spite of all these condemnations the schismatics would not acquiesce, but attacked the emperor himself, and persecuted the true Christians. The emperor then undertook to punish the schismatics who took up arms against the imperial decree of condemnation and thus became rebels to the State as well as to the Church. They gradually fell into numerous errors and heresies. They accused the Church of having erred in pardoning the tradttors, and claimed to be the only true Church them- selves, although they were only a small and insignificant sect like the modern Anglicans. They rebaptized, reconfirmed, and reordained all clerics who joined them. Another schism at the same time broke out in Egypt. The author of it was an Egyptian bishop named Meletius who had been deposed for crime by Peter, the patriarch of Alexandria. Meletius refused to obey the sentence, and went so far as to usurp the patriarchal rights of Alex- andria. He ordained priests, consecrated bishops, and prepared the way in that city for the great Arian heresy. This, the most dangerous of all that had so far arisen, originated in Alex- andria in Egypt. The devil's instrument was Arius, who, when a deacon, had favored the Meletian heresy, and in consequence had been excommunicated by the patriarch, Peter. But Achilles, the successor of Peter, restored him to communion and admitted him to the priesthood. He was a jealous and ambitious man, who wanted to become patriarch of Alexandria himself. So when Alexander, after the death of Achilles, became patriarch, Arius be- gan to attack his orthodoxy. Alexander, soon after his election, made a discourse on the Trinity in an assembly of the priests and people. Arius took occasion to attack this discourse, and to teach that the divine Word or Son was not begotten of the substance of the Father, but created out PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 39 •of nothing by the free will of the Father ; that the Son was indeed pro- duced before all other created things, but not eternal ; that He was not the true God, but only the chief of creatures ; that He was called the Son of God mainly because, as the workman and instrument of God in creating", He had been raised to a special participation and association with divine grace and glory. Hence it is clear that the controversy be- tween Arius and his followers, and the Christians, was not about a mere subtlety or the meaning of words, but about the very corner stone of Christian faith, the divinity of the eternal Word, and of Jesus Christ. Arius, who was an eloquent man of ability, of pleasant manners, and skilled in logic, propagated his errors not only by preaching but by writ- ing. He wrote a work called Thalia in defence of his opinions, and won over to his views many of the priests and people. He traveled through Palestine and Asia Minor, propagating his doctrine, and used such art that he won over even many of the bishops to his heresy. The chief of these was Eusebius of Nicodemia, in Bithynia. The whole eastern Church became tainted with his heresy. Clerics and laymen discussed the questions so frequently and with such violence, that the Christian religion became an object of ridicule in the public theatres controlled by the pagans. In vain were councils convened to suppress the false teachings of the Arians, and in vain did the great Athanasius write against them in defence of Christian orthodoxy. Even after the General Council of Nicaea, which was held a. d. 325, and in which three hundred and eighteen bishops, gathered together under the presidency of the papal legates Osius, bishop of Cordova, and the priests Vitus and Vin- centius, solemnly condemned Arianism, it continued to advance, to trouble the minds of the orthodox, to make perverts, to create dissensions and even civil war, for centuries. The difference of a letter in a word, Homoiousios instead of Homoousios, threw the whole world into confus- ion, for upon that difference depended the future of Christianity. If the eternal Word had not the same substance as the eternal Father, but only a similar substance, as the Arians and the Semi- Arians contended, then the eternal Word was not the true Son of God, and Jesus Christ was not •divine. The consubstantiality of the Father and of the Holy Ghost was al- so denied by the Arians and the Semi- Arians. Sometimes they minimized their doctrines only to reassert them more crudely than before. They im- posed on emperors or deceived them, misled many of the bishops, and in the year 359 succeeded in imposing on a whole council at Rimini. The his- tory of this council is especially interesting. After the Council of Nicaea, when the emperor Constantius found that the Arian dissensions still con- tinued to disturb the public peace, he called the bishops together at Rimini to judge what was expedient to be done for the sake of public order. 4 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH The Arians and the Semi-Arians had again and again changed the form- ulas of their faith, but always asserted their heresy. Constantius himself was a Semi-Arian. Four hundred bishops, of whom eighty were Arians, assembled at this council. These at first demanded the abolition of all the formulas of faith published since the Council of Nicaea, except the formula approved by the emperor Constantius, in which the Father and the Son were said to be in all things similar. But as in this formula the words " substance " and M consubstantial " were suppressed, the Catholic bishops refused to accept it, but, instead, confirmed the Nicene Creed and condemned the Arian sect and its adherents. Then they sent legates to the emperor to tell him what had been done and to ask per- mission to return to their sees. But several prominent and powerful Semi-Arians, Ursacius, Valens, and others, forestalled the arrival of the legates and induced Constantius to refuse to see them and to order them to remain at Rimini. In the meantime the Arian faction, openly abetted by the imperial power, tried by force and fraud to break the constancy of the Catholic bishops, so as to induce them to omit the word " substance '* from the formula of faith. The crafty heretics, to gain their point, pre- tended not to be Arians at all, but rather to abhor the Arian blas- phemies. The faith would be safe, said they, without the word " sub- stance," a word not found in the Scriptures, a word that was disturbing the Church and destroying Christian unity. Craft won over simplicity. The Catholic bishops, suspecting no evil, subscribed the formula dictated by Valens and Ursacius. It did not indeed contain a heresy if the words alone be considered, but appeared to be orthodox, for it asserted that the Son of God was born of God, before all ages, before all things and all principles ; that He was God of God like to His eternal Father, as the Scriptures declared. The bishops did not, therefore, really fall into heresy or accept heresy. But they ignored the Nicene formula and sup- pressed the words " substance " and " consubstantial " for the reasons of policy given by the Arian leaders ; and these used this suppression as an argument to overthrow the faith defined by the fathers of the Council of Nicaea. The Catholic bishops were shocked when they found that their motives were misinterpreted, and that they were accused of favoring Arianism. At once they regretted their compliance, reaffirmed the doc- trines defined at Nicaea, and again condemned the Arians. This action of the fathers did not, however, put an end to the heresy. It was fa- vored by the Imperial Court of Constantinople. The whole eastern Church was torn by factions, by Arians, and by Semi-Arians, who in- sulted the true Christians and brought the true faith into contempt among the pagans. Even after the death of Constans these deplorable dissensions among the Christians continued, and new ones arose. PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 41 As Arius denied the divinity of the second person of the Trinity, so Macedonius denied the divinity of the third person, the Holy Ghost. His followers spread a new heresy. These and the subsequent heresies of the Nestorians, Eutychians, and Monothelites, probably did as much to mar the glory of Christianity and to impede its progress as all the persecutions of the pagan emperors. Yet the Church triumphed in spite of all. If we, moreover, consider the heresies and false religions that have continued to make war on the Church ever since she ascended the throne of the Cesars with Constantine, the divine character of her triumph be- comes still more striking. What human institution could have lived through the Greek schism, the " great schism of the West," and the Prot- estant revolt of the sixteenth century ? Yet though the whole East re- volted and though many nations of the West rebelled, the Church always preserved her unity and integrity intact. The Mohammedan hordes, which overran the Roman Empire, conquered Constantinople, and in- vaded the West, would have destroyed Christianity if it was a merely human creed. The northern barbarians who overspread Europe, in- stead of putting out the light of Christian faith, were illuminated by it after a few centuries of struggle. The persecutions of Ger- man emperors, French and English kings, all through the Middle Ages, only made the Church more persistent in defending the truth, and more tenacious of the doctrines of her divine founder. The persecutions of modern revolutions and of Protestantism resulted just as the persecu- tions of the pagans and of the Mohammedans had resulted, in the defeat of the enemies of Christ. The Church, in spite of all the heresies, schisms, and persecutions that have taken place since the Council of Nicaea, is still as young and unconquerable as ever. This is a fact which every eye can see. While the persecutors have died and the persecutions have failed, she pursues her beneficent course through the centuries, conquering every obstacle and always knowing how to suffer and how to wait. If we further consider the means employed in the work of evangeliz- ing the world, we see another proof of the divine character of the gospel. These means were humanly inadequate to the task. The disciples of Christ were few in number, yet they undertook to convert the whole world. They were not learned men. They had no natural attractions for those to whom they preached. On the contrary they were rude and illiterate. They were Jews belonging to a race despised and hated by those whom they undertook to convert. As St. Paul says, " The foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the wise ; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the strong : And the mean things of the world, and the things 42 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH that are contemptible hath God chosen, and the things that are not, that lestroy the things that are." * St. Ambrose, speaking of the divine plan for the conversion of the world, says, " God did not choose philosophers, or noblemen, or men of wealth for the mission, but fisher- men and publicans, lest it should seem that He had drawn men to 1 lis grace by the power of learning, or of wealth, or of rank." Eusebius of area, commenting on the words of our Lord, " Go teach all nations," adds: M What if the disciples had answered their Master and said, ' How can we do what you command ? How can we publicly teach the Ro- mans ? How can we venture to teach learned Egyptians ? What tongue shall we, who know only the Syriac, use in addressing the Greeks ? What language shall we use with the Persians ? With the Armenians ? With the Chaldeans? With the Scythians? With the inhabitants of India? And how can we learn the language of all the barbarous tribes in the world ? We shall give offence to all of them. We must tell them to give up the gods of their country and worship one God alone, the Creator of all things. Where is the eloquence or power of speech to effect this purpose ? What hope can we have of succeeding since we must under- take to impose laws on men, contrary to their own laws sanctioned for centuries by religion among all the nations to which we are sent ? Where are we to get the money for our journey, or the supplies for our necessi- ties ?' All these objections the Apostles might have made. Perhaps they would have expressed them if Jesus Christ had not forestalled them by saying that they were to accomplish all things in His name. For when He told them to teach all nations, He added, ' in my name! This was sufficient. The divine name removed every objection and conquered every difficulty." f The Apostles went forth to conquer with no arms but those of the spirit. "For the weapons of our warfare," says St. Paul, "are not car- nal, but powerful through God." % They were sent forth to battle in a new style of warfare ; they wore only one garment, they had no shoes, no staff nor scrip, and they were to depend for their food on the hospitality of those who would receive them. They were to be patient, and meek as lambs before wolves. They were to go among the wolves. They were to have the simplicity of doves. But by the power of God, the lambs were to conquer the wolves, and " These lambs were only twelve," says St. Chrysostom, " while the whole world was full of wolves." Yet clemency and meekness won the fierce hearts and conquered the proud minds of Greeks and barbarians. Was not this success above the human ? Can any human cause explain it ? * I Cor. i. 27. f Dem. Evangel i 3. J 2 Cor. x. 4. PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 43 Again, while the Apostles exacted from the new converts the performance of difficult tasks, even the giving up of life for the new faith, they could promise no present, or immediate, or temporal remuneration for the sacri- fices made. They could promise only future and invisible rewards, which by their very nature do not attract men. " Difficult things had to be done here," says St. Chrysostom, " that advantages might be gained here- after." The pagans said, " Where is the proof of the resurrection? Who has ever come back from the dead ? Who, being buried, has ever risen again ? While we know none of these things, we are asked to give up our life for one who was crucified." Yet the power of God made men believe in these wonderful truths. If the Apostles had been deceivers, instead of preaching them they would have done the contrary of what they did. Like Mohammed, they would have promised their followers rewards here, sensual delights and luxuries on earth and in paradise. Yet the Apostles never temporized, never minimized the truth or the se- verity of Christian morality ; they never spared human passions, but attacked them in season and out of season, with a pertinactity and cour- age which cost them their lives. They made war on all the popular preju- dices and religions of the time. The effect of this preaching was miraculous and divine. It penetrated to the very vitals of humanity. It penetrated into the inner life of individ- uals and of society and changed the habits, thoughts, morals, and laws of mankind so that they worshiped what they had despised and they loved what formerly they had detested. Hence St. Augustine beautifully ad- dresses the Christian religion : " Thou trainest children as children should be trained ; thou teachest young men to be brave, the old ones to be quiet according to the age and condition of each one's body and soul ; thou teachest wives to be subject to their husbands in a chaste and faith- ful obedience, not for the gratification of lust, but for the propagation of children and for the fellowship of the family ; thou appointest husbands over their wives not to deceive the weaker sex, but to love them with sin- cere love ; thou makest children subject to their parents, not as slaves to masters, but with a free service ; thou placest parents over children to rule them piously ; thou unitest brothers to brothers with the ties of re- ligion stronger than the ties of blood ; thou joinest together every form of relationship, of blood and of affinity, with mutual charity based on the laws of nature and of the human will ; thou teachest servants not merely on account of their condition, but from love, to be faithful to their mas- ters ; thou teachest masters, the servants of the Lord God, by considera- tion of His supreme dominion, to be gentle to their servants, more ready to advise than to punish them ; thou joinest together citizens to citizens, nations to nations, and men to men by the memory of their common ori- 44 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH gin from our first parents, not only in civil society, but in the bonds of a common brotherhood ; thou teachest rulers to look after the welfare of their people, and the people to obey their rulers, showing that although all are not equal, to all charity is due, and to no one should an injury be done." * The change effected by the religion of Christ in society was rapid and striking. St. Justin, in his Apology, triumphantly calls attention to this change. He says, " The reign of lust has been succeeded by the reign of chastity ; the superstitions of magic by the worship of the true God ; the reign of avarice and of cupidity by generosity and benevolence which prompt us to provide for the wants of the poor and distressed ; to hatreds, quarrels, and enmities have succeeded peace and forgiveness of injuries. Since Christ came, we live together in peace and associate with those whom formerly we despised, and with whom we refused to have any intercourse." " We appeal to your tribunals," says Tertullian, refer- ring to the pure morals and virtuous lives of the early Christians, " and to the records of your criminal courts. Your pagan criminals fill the jails, or are sent to the mines, or are thrown to wild beasts, or crown the ranks of the gladiators. You find no Christian there, except for the sole crime of being a Christian." Tertullian again says, " that the pagans wondered when they heard of a Christian being guilty of any offense." Contemporary pagan writers bore equal testimony to the reformation of morals brought about in society by Christian influence. Pliny the second, when proconsul of Bithynia, wrote to the emperor Trajan, that the Christians were guilty of no crime, that they were bound by oath to avoid crimes, to avoid stealing, robbery, adultery, not to break their word, and to be faithful to their pledges, and that their only offense consisted in assem- bling on a certain day in the week, before the dawn, to sing hymns to Christ, whom they worshiped as God. Julian the apostate was forced to bear similar testimony to the good character of the Christians, to their kind- ness to strangers, to their care in burying the dead, and " to the holiness which they feign. Is it not disgraceful to us pagans," said he, " that not one of the Jews begs, and the impious Galileans support not only their own, but our paupers ? " The Apostles not only converted the poorer classes, but imposed the faith on the learned, the noble, and the wealthy. We need name but a few of the early converts to prove this : Polycarp, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin, Clement, Ammonius, Origen, Aristides, Apollinaris, Athenagoras, Quadratus, Apollonius, Glabrio, who was a magistrate under Trajan, Flavius Clement, a man of consular dignity, the cousin of the emperor Domitian, and Flavia Domitilla, of the imperial race of Augustus. Ter- De Moribus Eccl. C 33. PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 45 tullian says that they filled the palace, the forum, and the senate, and Pliny says they were of every rank and condition in society. St. Jerome, in his preface to the catalogue of ecclesiastical writers, says, "Let Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian, those rabid dogs against Christ, learn ; let their followers learn how great and how noble were the men who founded and built up the Church, and let them cease to call our faith rustic simplicity. Was there not, from the very beginning of the Church, a public school in the city of Alexandria, where the most learned men, Ammonius, Pantae- nus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others flourished, and to which even the pagans flocked in crowds ?" St. Jerome died in Bethlehem a. d. 420. St. John Chrysostom, who died a. d. 407, proposes an infidel objec- tion common in his day — " the faithful were slaves, women, nurses, mid- wives, eunuchs " — to which he answers, " It is not true that the Church was composed of these alone as every one knows. But if such poor peo- ple accepted the faith, this is only another proof of the admirable preach- ing of the Apostles who, although they were but fishermen, a most un- learned class of men, were able to persuade their hearers to the immediate acceptance of dogmas which neither Plato nor the Platonists were able to understand. If the Apostles had convinced only the learned, we should not so much wonder. But the drawing of slaves, nurses, and eunuchs to such sublime philosophy and making them rivals to the angels is a very strong proof that it was the work of divine inspiration. If they had preached vile and low doctrines, we could easily understand their accept- ince by the populace. But if they preached great and profound truths which required superior intelligence to be understood, truths which al- most transcend the power of human nature ; the more you try to show that those who accepted them were dull and stupid, the more forcibly you will prove that the Apostles who persuaded the masses were full of wisdom and of divine grace." Nor was this fruit of apostolic zeal and preaching merely transitory. It has lasted until our days, and will last forever. " The Catholic Church," wrote Macaulay, " is still sending forth to the furthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine ; and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she con- fronted Attila. The number of her children is greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in the new world have more than compensated for what she has lost in the old. Her spiritual ascendancy extends over the vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri and Cape Horn." Compare all human institutions, all religions and sects with the Cath- olic Church, and behold the difference ! The history of philosophical systems is found in books ; but those systems have done little or nothing 4 6 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH for the reformation of mankind. Some have even left no traces behind them. And w hat has become <>i the sects ? They have decayed, or are dying, be- cause- th and arc all human. A man began them, a man made them, and the law of human institutions is the great law of decay and death. The i ant sects, with all their waste of money, have never converted a nation. They scatter the liible to the winds, but reap no fruit. Even their missions, extravagantly subsidized, are failures. The sects them- selves, although pretending to owe their existence to the necessity of reforming the world, and boasting that they would reform it, and get rid of the vices and superstitions of the mother Church, have succeeded only in producing infidelity, civil war and immorality. Their loose notions on marriage, and their sanction of divorce, have demoralized the Chris- tian nations. This was, from the very commencement of the so-called reformation, the consequence of the Protestant rebellion. Erasmus, in the sixteenth century, wrote: "Look around this new evangelical (Prot- estant) people, and see if they are less avaricious, or if they indulge less in lust and luxury than those whom they hate. Show me one drunkard whom these gospellers have made sober, one brawler whom they have made meek, one thief whom they have made honest, one blasphemer whom they have made reverent, one libertine whom they have made chaste. I can show you many who have been made worse by their change of religion." It is a well-known fact that the leaders in the Prot- estant revolt were chiefly men of loose character, like Luther, Calvin and Henry VIII., and that immorality instead of reform was the immediate consequence of the Protestant heresy. Of the Protestant reformers and missionaries we may well say what Tertullian said of the heretics of his time : " Their business seems to be, not to convert pagans, but to pervert our faithful people ; they glory in destroying the faith of those who have it, rather than in imparting it to those who never had it ; for the very work which they do is based on the destruction of truth. They dig up our foundations to build their own."* No wonder, then, that St. Chrysostom, considering all these triumphs and victories of the Church, should eloquently cry out : " Nothing is equal to the Church. Not walls nor munitions of war ; for they crumble away, while the Church never grows old. The barbarians demolish for- tifications ; but the very demons cannot conquer the Church. Facts prove that this is no empty boast. How many have assaulted the Church, yet all her enemies have perished. For the Church transcends the skies. Such is the greatness of the Church that she always conquers when at- tacked, breaks the snares set to impede her progress ; shines more * De Praescrip., ch. 17. PROVE HER A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 47 brightly the more she is calumniated ; receives wounds, but never suc- cumbs to them ; is tossed on the waves, but never submerged ; is assailed by storms, but never shipwrecked ; struggles, but is never thrown ; gives battle, but is never conquered." The same eloquent doctor of the Church thus argues : "If the infidel asks, How do you prove that Christ is God ? we shall not seek a proof from heaven, nor of that kind. For if I should say to him, Christ cre- ated the heavens, the earth and the sea, the infidel would not listen. If I say, Christ raised the dead to life, gave sight to the blind, put demons to flight, the infidel will not believe. If I say, Christ promised the kingdom of heaven to those who believe, or if I speak of the resurrection, the infi- del will only laugh. How, therefore, can I produce proof to convince him ? From those things which we both hold and admit in common, as facts indisputable. What are these things which the infidel will admit with me that Christ did ? The infidel must admit that Christ founded Christianity, that He is the author of the Christian Church everywhere existing. From this fact we argue and prove that Christ is God. For we say that a mere man could never have accomplished such a work as the conquest of land and sea in so short a time ; such a work as the conver- sion of men from their passions and superstitions to the pure creed of the gospel. Christ liberated all mankind from vice and superstition. He converted not only the Romans, but the Persians, and all the barba- rian tribes. This He accomplished, not by force of arms, or at great ex- pense, or with armies, or in battles fought and won, but in the beginning through the preaching of eleven humble, ignorant, poor, shoeless, un- armed men, each of whom owned only one coat. He did more than this. He persuaded all nations to neglect the things of this life, and to think of the future ; to change all their national laws and customs, rooted for centuries in the political life of the people, and to accept a new, a stricter and a more severe code. Now, unless Christ was God, how could He do all this ? Consider also, that His followers, although persecuted in every way, steadily increased in numbers, while those who had crucified Him were cast out, lost their nationality, and wander to this day through the world, expatriated and exiled." Against the arguments thus far produced to prove the divinity of Christianity from its triumphs, only one objection is ever seriously made. Let us hear and answer it. Infidels say that the progress and preservation of the Church is not more wonderful than the spread of Mohammedanism. But there can be no serious comparison made between the spread of the doctrines of Jesus Christ and the propagation of Mohammedanism. As St. Thomas ob- serves, repeating what the fathers and other Christian apologists had long 48 THE TRIUMPHS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ago remarked : " Christianity was propagated not by force of arms, nor by the promise of sensual pleasures, but flourished during the most cruel persecutions, during which not the learned alone, but the masses of the people flocked to the Church. Christianity taught doctrines above the ken of human intelligence, and a code of morals restricting the liberty of the will and repressing every human passion ; Christianity is a system of belief which teaches contempt for the pleasures and attractions of this world. It is a miracle that these doctrines should have been accepted by corrupt human nature. The conversion of the world to the faith of Christ is an exceptional event in history, and evidently the work of di- vine inspiration. Heresies, and notably the Mohammedan sect, were prop- agated by means directly opposite to those employed by Christ and His Apostles. Mohammedanism promised carnal delights to its followers, and made converts by the sword. Mohammed gave loose reins to licen- tiousness. Besides, the Koran, which he imposed on his followers, is full of fables, whose contradictions and monstrosities even a child can per- ceive. It is a work full of self-evident falsehoods. He worked no miracles ; his argument was the sword, the weapon of thieves and tyrants. No in- telligent people accepted his teaching in the beginning. The brutal in- habitants of the desert, led by cupidity and licentiousness, were the first to flock to his standard, and these compelled others, at the point of the sword, to accept the absurd and immoral creed of the false prophet. In conclusion, then, we may say, that the continual triumph of the Church over her persecutors in every age should recall to the minds of her enemies, when they again think of persecuting her, the words of Ga- maliel (Acts v. 34, 35-38, 39), when the Jews debated whether they should imprison the Apostles or not, " Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you are about to do with those men. And now, there- fore, I say to you, refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or work be of men, it will come to nothing : But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it; lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God. And they agreed with him." The result proved that the work was of God. The Catholic Church, to borrow the words of a French orator, is ever found to be " the anvil which breaks all the hammers of persecution." The gates of hell have never prevailed, and never can prevail, against her ; because she is divine in her origin, divine in her founder, divine in her doctrines and laws, and will always remain immediately under divine protection until the end of the world. The Farewell. The Departure. THE CRUSADES. The Wreck. CATHOLIC BELIEF; OR, A SHORT AND SIMPLE EXPOSITION OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE. Catholic Belief. Chapter 1. Introduction. ^i LL men readily admit that, to be in a position to judge fairly of ^J\ any case, one should hear both sides. /^^ As then, the honest mind naturally shrinks from passing a severe judgment on any one before hearing what he has to say for himself, so, no lover of truth and charity should hastily condemn, without a hearing, the largest body of Christians existing — the two hun- dred and twenty millions of Catholics who are living in communion with the See of Rome. The greater number of those who differ from Catholics draw most of the information they possess about the Catholic Church from Protestant sources, thus hearing only one side. It may be, then, that many will be glad of the opportunity this work affords, of learning from Catholics themselves what they really be- lieve, and something of what they have to say in defence of their holy religion. True Religion is that bond which unites finite to infinite, time to eter- nity, man to God. The good to be attained by Religion is the highest that can be conceived — the complete and perfect enjoyment of God. The means through which it leads men to that good are the noblest that can be imagined — truth and justice ! One therefore cannot remain indif- ferent between false and true Religion, for true Religion alone supplies all the proper means to obtain that supreme good. Some persons, owing to the pressing calls of business, or other cares, may not have the inclination or time to read long works about religion, while a brief statement of Catholic doctrine may be read, or listened to, with interest, by all who love the truth, and long to meet with it. Well, then, dear reader, deign to accept and read this short and sim- ple exposition of what Catholics really do believe, written by one who feels it his greatest blessing to be a member of the Holy, Catholic, and Roman Church, and who cannot help most earnestly wishing that all men INTRODUCTION. 51 possessed the same peace of mind and happiness which he enjoys in her communion. The first duty of every man who desires to discover truth, is, as Lord Bacon of Verulam observes, to examine if he has any prejudice lurking in his mind, by which the admission of truth is obstructed ; for, as this philosopher goes on to remark, the kingdom of men which is founded in knowledge, cannot be entered in any other manner than the Kingdom of God is entered, namely, by being in the condition of little children. Let me beg, then, the honest inquirer, before reading this book, to place himself in a state of impartiality, and lay aside that settled feel- ing of self-confidence which leads him to take it for granted that Roman Catholics must be in the wrong. May God grant you, dear reader, a spirit of humility, charity and jus- tice in reading this book, and an earnest desire to know the truth. ' Do not omit to pray for this gentle and teachable spirit, feeling encour- aged in so doing by those words of St. James (i. 5); " If any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and up- braideth not ; and it shall be given him ;" and by what is said in Psalm xxiv. 9, " He will guide the mild in judgment ; He will teach the meek His ways." Chapter It ©f tt)t €xtatox. /^fc'HERE is but one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the su- (t\ ) P reme > incorporeal, uncreated Being, who exists of Himself, and ^£/ is infinite in all His attributes and perfections, such as holiness, goodness, power, wisdom, justice, mercy, and truth. He always was, He is, and He always will be. He is everywhere present, knowing and seeing all things, even our most secret thoughts. From Him all creatures have and hold existence. adaptor 111. ©f t\)t Most ^olg Srinttg. HIS is a profound mystery, revealed to us by God. The Catholic Church teaches that in one God there are three persons; the Father, 5 2 OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY. the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; really distinct one from the other, and equal in eternity, power, immensity, and all other perfections; because all the three persons have one and the same divine nature or essence. It would be a contradiction to assert that there are three Gods and one Of that there are three persons and one person ; but it is no contra- il to affirm that God is one in essence and three in personality. A ; can be one in one respect, and three in another respect. Thus the human soul, though one, is threefold in its powers ; namely, the under- derstanding, the memory, and the will. Likewise a man is one human being, and threefold in his rational, animal, and vegetative life. Comparisons, however, are necessarily imperfect upon such a subject as the blessed Trinity. It is a great mystery, surpassing all understand- ing, to be adoringly believed on earth, and to be understood only in heaven. We are not able to understand how each of the three persons can be God, and yet that there is but one God. It should be borne in mind that many things exist also in nature which we cannot explain, or even comprehend, and yet know to be facts. Among such may be noted the nature of latent substance of bodies, the cause of gravitation, the attrac- tion of the magnet, and the amazing power and swiftness of the electric current. Human reason cannot of itself discover or demonstrate that there are three persons in God, yet this revealed truth far from being repugnant to reason can be shown to agree with it. For God as an in- telligent being of infinite perfection must naturally know Himself, and in Himself know all things. To this end «He must form to Himself an in- ward word through which the comprehension of Himself is effected. When we understand a thing, the interior word or image which our, intellect forms within itself in order to comprehend a thing is not a thing subsisting in itself, but accidental and transient, and therefore not a person ; but in God in whom reason shows that there can be no acci- dent of any kind, this eternal self-comprehension, or word, is not an accidental, transient thing, but a thing identified with divine nature, and at the same time, perfectly distinct from the Father, who is that in- tellectual supreme Being, who by comprehending Himself generates this His Word, and therefore He is a distinct subsistence or person, because, although identified with the same nature of the Father, yet inasmuch as it is generated by the Father, it is perfectly distinct from Him, who is generator, and forms in Himself an individual, distinct and incommuni- cable subsistence, which is everything that is required for being truly a divine person, called in Holy Scripture the Word, and the Son of God ; for by person is understood an intellectual individual substance. Likewise God loves Himself in the Son, and is beloved in return by ORIGINAL SIN. 53 the Son, and in Himself He loves all other things, and this eternal per- manent act of mutual love is also, not a thing accidental and transient, as an act of love is in us, but is a thing identified with divine nature, eternal, permanent, subsisting, singular, incommunicable, perfectly dis- tinct from the Father and the Son, from both of whom this divine act proceeds, and is also therefore a distinct person, called in Holy Scripture the Holy Ghost. Therefore, to say that in one God there are three persons, is no more repugnant to reason than saying that the one God must of necessity be considered under three different respects: — ist, as a God who knows Himself, that is, as a subject ; 2d, as a God who is known by Himself, that is, as an object of knowledge ; and 3d, as a God who is loving Him- self and beloved by Himself, as knowing and as known, that is, an object of mutual love. These remarkable self-subsistent eternal differences or relations are what constitute the three really distinct persons in the one God. Chapter lb. Original 0in. y^f^RIGINAL sin is distinguished {torn actual, or personal sin, because II 4 actual or personal sin is the sin which we personally with our own ^-^ free will commit, whilst original sin is that sin which our human nature has committed with the will of Adam, in whom all our hu- man nature was included, and with whom our human nature is united as a branch to a root, as a child to a parent, as men who partake with Adam the same nature which we have derived from him, and as members of the same human family of which Adam was the head. The difference that exists between original and personal sin is, that the latter is committed with the will physically our own, whilst original sin is committed with a will physically of another, and only morally our own, because it forms with that other (Adam), who is our head, one moral body. If our hand strike a fellow-creature unjustly, though the hand has itself no will, yet it is considered guilty, not indeed as viewed separately by itself, but inasmuch as it is united to the rest of the body, and to the soul, forming one human being therewith, and thus sharing in the will of the soul with which it is connected. Also the sin committed inwardly by the human will, by a bad desire, belongs to the whole human being. Of the original sin in which we are born we are not personally guilty 5 4 ORIGINAL SIN. with our own personal will, but our nature is guilty of it by the will of Adam our head, with whom we form one moral body through the human nature which we derive from him. It is a point of Catholic faith that original sin does not consist in what is called concupiscence, which is a propensity to evil of the inferior part of the human soul. Sin of any kind in order to be a sin, in the strict sense of the word, must be within the sphere of morality, that is, it must depend upon free- will ; and hence the noted principle in moral philosophy and theology, that there is no sin where there is no will. Concupiscence, therefore, which is not will, but a blind involuntary inclination of our lower nature (and therefore an irresponsible tendency to evil), is not of itself sinful unless it be consented to by the human will, or rendered strong by bad and not retracted habit. Concupiscence is indeed sometimes called sin in Holy Scripture (Ro- mans vii. 7, Galatians v. 24), but it is called so, as the holy Council of Trent explains, not in a strict, but in a wide sense, that is, inasmuch as it is a consequence of original sin, and an incentive to actual sin. This concupiscence, or inclination to evil, in fact, still remains in those in whom the guilt and stain of original sin has been entirely washed away by the sacrament of holy baptism. Moreover, strictly speaking, no one is regarded as a sinner merely because he feels tempted to sin. This miserable propensity to evil excites the compassion of God rather than His anger. God said to Noe : " I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man ; for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth." (Genesis viii. 21.) The Catholic Church teaches that Adam by his sin has not only caused harm to himself, but to the whole human race ; that by it he lost the supernatural justice and holiness which he received gratuitously from God, and lost it, not only for himself, but also for all of us ; and that he, having stained himself with the sin of disobedience, has transmitted not only death and other bodily pains and infirmities to' the whole human race, but also sin, which is the death of the soul. The teaching of the Council of Trent (Session V.) is confirmed by these words of St. Paul : " Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death ; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned" (Rom. v. 12.) The Royal Psalmist in Psalm 1. (li.) 7, says : " For behold I was con- ceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me." (In the Hebrew text it is in singular, i.e., " conceived me in sin.") Upon this text St. Augustine says : " David was not born in adultery, for he was born from Jesse, a just man, and his wife. Why does he say that THE INCARNATION OF GOD THE SON. 55 he was conceived in iniquity unless because iniquity is derived from Adam ?" Surely the early Christians believed in original sin, as it can be gath- ered from what St. Augustine said to Pelagius, opposing him on the mat- ter. "I did not invent original sin, which Catholic faith holds from ancient time ; but thou, who deniest it, thou, without doubt, art a new heretic." (De nuptiis, lib. xi. c. 12.) It may be said that this belief is as old as the human race, for traces of this ancient tradition are spread in all nations, insomuch that Voltaire had to confess that " The fall of man is the base of the theology of nearly all ancient people." (Philosophic de l'histoire, chapitre xvii.) Besides the guilt of original sin, which is that habitual state of sinfulness in which we are born (because our human nature is justly considered to have consented in Adam to the rejection of original justice), there is also in man the stain of original sin, entailing the privation in the human soul of that supernatural lustre, which, had we been born in the state of orig- inal justice, we all should have had.* As neither Adam nor any of his offspring could repair the evil done by his sin, we should ever have remained in the state of original sin and degradation in which we were born, and we should have been for ever shut out from the beatific vision of God in Heaven, had not God, in His infinite mercy, provided for us a Redeemer. Chapter b. $f)e Incarnation of (Boh t\)t 0on. O^ ESPECTING this great mystery, Catholics believe that the holy y\ Trinity, out of infinite mercy, decreed to provide for us a Re- ^T/ deemer who could suffer, and suffer as an individual of the human race, and at the same time be in Himself so exalted as to be able to give infinite value to His sufferings ; because sin, being an offence against the infinite majesty of God, could only be atoned for by an ex- piation of infinite value. To accomplish this end, God the Son, the second person of the holy Trinity, the Eternal Word, chose the blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth to become His mother, and on receiving her consent, He, by the super- natural agency of the Holy Spirit, took human flesh from her, and thus became man, and His holy name is Jesus Christ. * About the way in which original sin is transmitted, see Part III. No. 3. 56 JESUS OUR ONLY MEDIATOR OF REDEMPTION. By becoming man the Eternal Word did not lay aside His divine nature, but. remaining what He had ever been from all eternity, took upon Himself human nature without a human personality, so that from the first moment of His incarnation there was in Him, and there ever will be, not one only but two natures, the divine and the human, united in 1 li- divine personality, the person of God the Son. The divine nature of Jesus is one and the same as that of the Eternal Fatber and of the Holy Spirit, and His human nature is in all things like ours, sin and tendency to sin excepted. He is equal to the Father as to 1 lis Godhead, and less than the Father as to His manhood. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died in His human nature on Mount Calvary, and thereby effectually interposed His atonement be- tween His Eternal Father and man, and thus made a plentiful expiation and paid a full ransom to the Eternal Justice for the sins of the whole world. ♦ ♦ ♦ Chapter \S\. Jesus our onlB JHeMator of ttebemptton. y^ATHOLICS believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is alone the great I I i centre of the Christian religion, the fountain of all grace, virtue, ^\ and merit, as in the natural world (if the comparison may be allowed), the sun is the centre and enlivening created source of light, heat, and growth. This grand truth they believe to be the vital, essential part of Chris- tianity, " For other foundation no man can lay but that which is laid ; which is Christ Jesus." (i Corinthians iii. n.) They hold that to be united to Jesus Christ is the highest and noblest aim of man, and that only the holy Catholic Church supplies the means for the closest union with Jesus Christ ; and they are convinced that the yearning to possess this closer communion with Christ has, by divine attraction, drawn thousands of earnest minds to seek in the Catholic Church this the highest happiness to be enjoyed on earth. They believe that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, because He has re- deemed us from the bondage of Satan, with the ransom of His most precious blood ; that He alone is our Saviour because He saves us from the stain, the guilt, and the curse of sin ; that He is our only mediator of redemption and salvation, because He alone, by His own merits, has efficiently interposed between God and man, to obtain the full pardon of our sins through the sacrifice of Himself: "There is one God, and one THE HOLY BIBLE. 57 mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a redemption for all." (1 St. Timothy ii. 5, 6.) "Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts iv. 12.) They believe that Jesus died on the cross to purchase mercy, grace, and salvation for all men — "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 St. Timothy ii. 4.) And that since Adam's fall, mercy, grace, and salvation can be obtained by man only through the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Believing that Jesus Christ is truly God, they hold that the homage of supreme adoration is due to Him, the God-man, as well as to God the Father, and to God the Holy Spirit. Chapter foil. 0CI)e §ole Bible. (^WHAT part of divine revelation which has been committed to writ- (1 I J * n ^ ky persons inspired by the Holy Ghost, is called Holy Scrip- ^^ ture, or the Holy Bible ; the Book of Books. Holy Scripture is composed not only of all the books received by Protestants as divinely inspired, but also of some other books which were written after the Jewish list or canon of Scripture was made, but which nevertheless are held in great veneration by the Jewish Synagogue, and by many Protestants themselves. Such are the books of Tobias, Judith, Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (or the Son of Sirach), the Prophecy of Baruch, and the first two books of Machabees. These books, though not registered in the Jewish canon, were nevertheless held by many fathers of the early centuries as canoni- cal and forming a part of the deposit of revealed truths entrusted to the Church. In the schismatic Greek Church, and in other separated churches of the East, the canon, or authorized list of the books of Scripture, agrees with that of the Roman Catholic Church. The efforts made by early Protestants to induce the Greek Church to reject that inspired portion of Scripture, called by the Catholic Church deutero-canonical, and, by Prot- estants, the Apocrypha (that is, hidden), only served to call forth repeat- edly from the Greeks assembled in council new synodical declarations that those books are inspired. So long as the Church had not testified with her authority to the 5 8 THE HOLY BIBLE. divine inspiration of certain books, some of the fathers may have he< ! about the inspiration of them, and reasonably thought that sue books could not be quoted to establish revealed truth, until the Church had first cleared away all doubts, by inserting them in the canon, and thus established the inspiration and canonical authority of those books. Thi^ the Church did in the celebrated Council of Hippo in Africa, in the year 393, attended by all the bishops of Africa, at which also the great doctor and father of the Church, St. Augustine, was present.* In Statute XXXVI. of this council (393) it was decreed t : "That nothing be read in the Church under the name of Divine Scripture, ex- cept the canonical Scriptures, and the canonical Scriptures are — Genesis. Daniel. Exodus. Tobias. Leviticus. Judith. Numbers. Esther. Deuteronomy. Two books of Esdra (Ezra and Nehemiah). Josue. Two books of Machabees. Judges. ^ uth (and of the new testament.) Four books of Kingdoms. Four books of the Gospel. Two books of Paralipomenon. One book of the Acts of the Apostles. job. Thirteen letters of Paul the Apostle. TheTsalter of David. One letter of the same to the Hebrews. Five books of Solomon. Two of Peter the Apostle. The books of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets. Three of John. Isaias. One of the Apostle Jude. Jeremias. One of James. Ezechiel. One book of the Apocalypse of John." This list of canonical books issued by this great council agrees in substance with the list of divinely inspired books held by Catholics to the present day. This any one can see by comparing this list with that prefixed to the Catholic English Bible, called the Douay Bible, and with that of the old Latin Vulgate, or any other Catholic version of Holy Scrip- ture, and likewise with the canon of Scripture given by the ecumenical councils of Florence and of Trent. The Council of Hippo in 393, and the Third of Carthage in 397, was fol- lowed by the Sixth Council of Carthage in 419, attended by two hundred and eighteen bishops, and by two legates sent by the Roman pontiff. * Possidius in the Life of St. Augustine, referring to this Council of Hippo, thus writes : — " About the same time Augustine, when yet only a priest, argued (disputavit) about Faith and the Creed in the presence of the bishops of all Africa gathered in council, being desired by them so to do." And this he did with such praise and admiration of all, that all wished him a bishop; and Valerius, for fear of losing him from his diocese, asked and obtained that he should be installed bishop of Hippo in his stead, though he was yet alive. This was done in the year 394. t See Labbe, Vol. IV. THE HOLY BIBLE. 59 The list or canon of books of Scripture decreed in the 29th Decree of this council agrees with the list given by the two previous councils just mentioned, and ends with these words : " Quia a Patribus ita accepimus in Ecclesia legendumT * (Because we have received from the fathers that these are the books to be read in the Church.) These words should not be passed unnoticed by those who allow themselves to be led astray by the assertion that " in the name of Holy Scripture we do understand those books of whose authority there was never any doubt in the Church." f Let such persons reflect what an as- sumption it is to suppose that they themselves are, or that their leaders in the sixteenth century were, more competent to judge of the Tradition of the Church of the first four centuries than the Council of Hippo and the Third of Carthage, both held in the fourth century, and the Sixth Council of Carthage held in the beginning of the fifth century; and better judges than all the bishops of Christendom of that age; for the above list of canonical books sanctioned by these three councils was thenceforward received by the whole of Christendom. Before the decision of these three councils was given, some of the fathers doubted the divine inspiration of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and of some other books of the New Testament. Protestants, however, hold them as canonical. For respecting these books they justly say : " This dissent of some of the fathers moves us not. This dissent of a few, be- fore the canon of Scripture was finally settled, should not be taken into account, especially after the adoption of these books as divinely inspired by all Christendom in the end of the fourth century. The bishops of that time were in a better position to judge of the Tradition of the Church about these books." This observation is just. Protestants, however, should be consistent, and apply the same reasoning to certain books of the Old Testament known by them under the name of Apocrypha. Although the inspiration of some of these books was held to be doubtful by a few of the fathers, previous to these two councils, the same fathers ceased to have any doubt upon it after the decision of these councils ; so that, whilst some of the Apocrypha have been considered uninspired, as the 3rd and 4th of Esdras, and 3rd and 4th of Machabees, some other of these books have been recognized as inspired, and are called by Catholics deutero-canon- ical. These have, therefore, the very same sanction and authority that all the books of the New Testament have, in addition to the long-stand- ing veneration of the Jewish Church for them. *See the Works of Leo the Great, Vol. III., p. 643 or 635; see also Labbe, Vol. IV., p. 430, edition of Florence. fSee article VI. of the Established Church of England. 60 THE UNWRITTEN WORD OF GOD. St. Jerome himself, before the said two councils of Carthage, seemed to doubt the inspiration of the books of the Old Testament not inserted in the Jewish canon ; yet afterwards, when the declaration made by those two councils came to his knowledge, he ceased to doubt with re- gard to those apocryphal books which were by them declared inspired, and consequently called, no more apocryphal but deutero-canonical, and !\ quoted from those same books to uphold Catholic doctrine. About the importance, and, indeed, the necessity of a decision of the Catholic Church to establish the inspiration, canonicity, and authenticity of Holy Scripture, the saying of the great doctor of the Church, St. Au- gustine, Bishop of Hippo, is well known : " For my part, I should not be- lieve the gospel [meaning the written gospel], were I not moved thereto by the authority of the Catholic Church." (Ego vero evangelio non cred- erem nisi me Catholica Ecclesice commoveret auctoritas.^) (Against the Epistle of Manes, called Foundation, chapter v.) Chapter bill. tl)at cnburetl) forcuer." ESIDES the written Word of God Catholics believe also the unwrit- ten Word of God, called in Holy Scripture The Word of God spoken (Acts iv. 31) ; The Word of Faith preached (Romans x. 8); T/ie Gospel heard and preached (Colossians i. 23) ; The Word of God received, heard, believed (1 Thessalonians ii. 13) ; the Word of Christ heard. (Romans x. 17.) Whenever in the New Testament the Word of God revealed by Christ, or through His Apostles is spoken of before it was committed to writing, it always refers to the unwritten Word of God. Even after the Word of God was in part committed to writing, some passages evidently refer to the Word of God unwritten; as, for instance, where St. Peter says : "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this is the word which hath been preached unto you." (r Ep. i. 25.) There- fore, whenever the Word of God, without any qualification, is mentioned in Holy Scripture, it should not be taken as referring exclusively to the written Word, for it generally refers both to the written and unwritten Word of God. By Tradition we do not mean a mere report, a hearsay, wanting suf- ficient evidence to deserve belief ; or a local tradition started by man, THE UNWRITTEN WORD OF GOD. 61 and therefore merely human, as were those traditions of the Pharisees condemned by our Lord ; but we mean a Tradition first coming from. God, continually taught, recorded, and in all desirable ways kept alive by a body of trustworthy men successively chosen in a divine, or divinely appointed manner, and well instructed, and who are, moreover, protected by God as a body from teaching what is wrong, or handing down un- faithfully to others the doctrine committed to them. St. Paul gives us an idea of how this Tradition should proceed when he says: "For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received." (i Corinth, xv. 3.) And again, when writing to St. Timothy, he says : "The things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also." (2 St. Timothy ii. 2.) Ho!y Scripture and the Tradition just described are both the Word of God : the first, inspired by God to some chosen one, who wrote it out ; the other, taught by His own divine lips on earth, or inspired by the Holy Spirit in the mind of one man, or body of men, to be continually handed down and perpetuated successively under His divine protection to their legitimate successors ; neither therefore of these divine Words can be re- jected without the guilt of unbelief. St. Ephrem says : "Be firmly persuaded of this, not as an opinion but as a truth, that whatsoever has been transmitted, whether in writing only or by word of mouth, is directed to this end, that we may have life and may have it more abundantly." (Vol. iii. Serm. lix.) St. Basil says : " Of the dogmas and teachings preserved in the Church, we have some from the doctrine committed to writing, and some we have received transmitted to us in a secret manner from the Traditions of the Apostles ; both these have the same force in forming sound doctrine, and no one who has the least experience of ecclesiastical laws will gainsay either of these. For should we attempt to reject, as not having great au- thority, those customs that are unwritten, we should be betrayed into in- juring the gospel even in primary matters, or rather in circumscribing the gospel into a mere name." (De Spiritu Sanct., Vol. iii. cxxvii.) This divine Tradition is not liable to failure either from human fraud or infirmity, because it has the security of divine guardianship, that is to say, because those whose office it is to keep alive this tradition, are divinely protected from teaching what is false. This appears from that passage of Isaias, which even Protestants admit refers to the Church, and in which God says : " This is my covenant with them. My Spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, from henceforth and for ever." (lix. 21.) This appears also 62 THE UNWRITTEN WORD OF GOD. from those passages of St. Jofon, where it is recorded that Christ said : "And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete [or Comforter] that he may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of truth. ... But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth." (xiv. 16, 17; and xvi. 13.) I lence St. Irenzeus says: "For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace ; and the Spirit of Truth." (Against Heresies, vol. iii. c. xxiv.) The necessity of believing the unwritten living Word of God appears also from the fact that the fundamental virtue of faith, without which no adult is a Christian, is an assent to the Word of God preached by men sent by God, and charged by Him to preach the truths revealed to them by Him who is infinite knowledge, greatness, and truth, and who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Hence St. Paul says : " Faith cometh by hearing" (Romans x. 17), and therefore by the Word of God preached by the Apostles, or by their legitimate successors to the persons who hear and believe it. Hence the same Apostle also says : " And how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach unless they be sent?" (Romans x. 14, 15.) And to be sent by legitimate, divinely established authority, is to be sent by God. (See Acts xiii. 4.) So long as there are nations to be taught, the command of Christ to His Apostles to teach "all nations," indeed, "every creature," will never cease to be in force ; and divinely authorized teaching will never cease to be the Word of God. Whether this Word is preached without being com- mitted to inspired writing, as was the case during the twelve years which elapsed between the ascension of our Lord and the writing of the first Gospel, the Gospel of St. Matthew, — whether preached by the Apostles and their successors during the progressive formation of the New Testa- ment up to the year of our Lord 99, when the Gospel of St. John, the last in- spired book of the New Testament, was written, — whether preached after the death of St. John (101), that is, in the second, third, and fourth centuries, when only very few possessed all the books of the Old and of the New Testament, and the inspiration of some of them was uncertain (for the canon or authorized list of the inspired books of the Old and the New Testaments was only finally settled in the Council of Carthage in the year 397) — whether preached after the fourth century for the space of a thou- sand years, during which time no printed Bible existed, but only Bibles written by hand, which consequently were very voluminous, costly, and rare, — or whether preached after the year 1450, when the art of printing began to come into use, and printed Bibles could be obtained; that Word of Christ, I say, entrusted by Him with His own divine lips, or by inspira- THE UNWRITTEN WORD OF GOD. 63 tion to the Apostles, and by the Apostles transmitted in a divinely appointed manner to the whole chain of their legitimate successors, is always the Word of God, firmly to be believed by every Christian. Hence St. Paul, in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (ii. 14), could say : " Brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions [that is to say, the entrusted Word of God], which you have learnt whether by word [that is, by my preaching] or by our epistle " [that is, by my inspired writ- ings]. When Jesus Christ said to the Apostles : " He that heareth you, heareth me" (St. Luke x. 16), He did not limit this duty of hearing the Apostles even as Himself to the time when the inspired writings of the New Testa- ment did not exist, but extended it to subsequent times ; and the duty of preaching applies not only to the twelve Apostles, but also to their legiti- mate successors, for through their successors alone were the Apostles to teach all nations, and their apostolic office was to last until the end of the world. This we see from the following words of Christ to the Apostles : " Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature." (St. Mark xvi. 15.) "Going therefore teach ye all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and be- hold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." (St. Matthew xxviii. 19, 20.) And no one is exempted from the duty of believing their teaching, for Christ subjoined : " He that believeth not, shall be condemned." (St. Mark xvi. 16.) Hence any legitimate bishop upholding the Tradition of the Church could say what St. John the Evangelist said in his old age, when nearly all the books of the New Testament were written : " We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." (1 St. John iv. 6.) And St. Irenaeus could say, concerning the heretics of his time : "We challenge them to that Tradition which is from the Apostles, which is preserved in the churches through the succession of the presbyters." (Against Heresies, book iii. chap, ii.) And Origen said: "We are not ... to believe otherwise than as the churches of God have by succession transmitted to us." (Commentary on St. Matthew, Book iii.) St. Chrysostom gave out as an axiom : " It is a tradition [of the Church], seek nothing further." (Commentary on the passage, 2 Thessalonians ii. 14, book xi. homily 4.) To suppose that Tradition has lost its authority from having been (in part) committed to writing, would be as unreasonable as to say that the natural law was made void from the moment that the Ten Command- ments were laid down in writing on Mount Sinai. 64 THE UNWRITTEN WORD OF GOD. Some might ask : Which of these two divine Words is the more use- fa] to us ? This question may be considered as answered by the fathers already quoted. I will, therefore, make only one more citation. The holy bishop of Hierapolis (Papias), the hearer of St. John and friend of St. Polycarpi referring to Tradition, says : " If any one came to me who had accompa- nied the elders, I questioned him concerning their words, what Andrew and Peter said ; for I did not think that what is in the books would aid me as much as what comes from the living and abiding voice." (Eusebius, I), iii., p. 39.) I will here make a supposition which may perhaps enable the inquirer to see better the import of this answer. Suppose two rivers run side by side, both abounding with precious stones, which persons standing on the banks of either river were most anxious to obtain and know the name and value of, that knowledge being of vital interest to them. On one of the rivers floats a noble ship, having on board trustworthy men, able and willing to impart this knowledge to these people. On the other river, however, we will suppose to be no such vessel, no such guide. The people who stand on the shores of this second river, who refuse to have recourse to the well-informed guides that are on the ship on the other river, and who in the valuation of the precious stones which they may find, only trust themselves, would be liable to make great mistakes in valuing each stone, and would have widely different opinions among themselves about them. If some of those self-guided men should happen to set a right value on any of the jewels, it would only be by chance ; no one of them could feel sure of not being mistaken about it, whilst those who sought the experienced men on board the ship could easily learn with certainty the right value of each of the jewels found in both rivers. Like two sacred rivers flowing from Paradise, the Holy Bible and divine Tradition both contain the Word of God; both are full of the precious jewels of revealed truths. Though these two divine streams are in themselves, on account of their divine origin, of equal sacredness, and are both full of revealed truths, still, of the two, Tradition is to us more clear and safe. And why ? 1 st, Because Tradition can testify in its own behalf through the many authorized witnesses who carry this Tradition in themselves, whilst Holy Scripture cannot make good its authority without referring to Tradition to testify to its inspiration and preservation. 2d, Because a word may have two or more different meanings, and an expression may be true in one of these meanings and not in another. Again, as an expression may be true, for example, if taken THE UNWRITTEN WORD OF GOD. 65 figuratively, and not true if taken literally; true if applied to some par- ticular person, and not true if applied to all ; true if taken in its plain sense, and not true if taken in a strained or fanciful sense ; true if taken in a sense that does not exclude other things, and not true if taken in an exclusive sense ; true if taken to act through the medium of other things, and not true if taken to act without a medium ; true if taken to mean a counsel, and not true if regarded as a precept ; true if taken permis- sively, and not true if regarded as the active cause of a thing ; the Bible, which is a mere letter needing an interpreter, cannot by itself set the mistaken interpreter right. But Tradition being a living word because carried in the mind and on the lips of divinely appointed living teachers, can say with regard to each of its own expressions, and also as to the expressions in Holy Writ itself, in what sense exactly those expressions are true, and in what sense they are not true ; and, if wrongly interpreted by any one, Tradition can set that person right, and explain the true meaning of it ; and all this it can do with an authority which, by a privilege granted to her by Christ, is infallible, and, owing to the unfailing promised assistance of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Church, is divine. The ark of old, when in the hands of the sacerdotal and Levitical order, and carried or preserved by them in the midst of the chosen peo- ple of God, was a source of blessings. If carried off to another nation, and kept in the hands of unauthorized or self-authorized persons, it was to them a source of scourges. (1 Kings vi.) So likewise the Holy Scripture, when separated from Tradition, which is its support and lawful expounder, and thrown into the hands of unauthorized interpreters, instead of being a source of blessing, becomes a cause of endless contention and division, an occasion of doubt, fanati- cism, and ceaseless wrangling, as sad experience proves. Tradition, without Holy Scripture, Old or New, sufficed for many years, and could still suffice. But Holy Scripture has never sufficed by itself; it. always stood in need of divine Tradition: for it is only by this divine Tradition that we learn that Holy Scripture is an inspired book. It is only Tradition that can give with authority and certainty the right meaning of Holy Scripture. Without Tradition the Holy Scripture may be made to speak in many discordant ways, thus destroying its author- ity altogether. To use an illustration : A court of a never-interrupted body of judges might, by the help of a living, well-known, and well-established tradi- tion of orally enacted laws, suffice for the guidance and welfare of a people ; but no code of written laws could suffice without a court to testify to the genuine nature of them, to their being still in vigor, 66 THE INTERPRETA TION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. and to give with authority the right meaning of them in all cases <>( dispute. St. Irenaeus testifies that in his time many nations had salvation writ- ten in their own hearts without paper and ink, and were diligently guarding the ancient Tradition. (Book iii. chap, iv.) \ After Tradition had been in full and successful operation for several years, God added the written Word, but it was not for the purpose of superseding Tradition, a thing which neither our Lord nor His Apostles ever said ; but it was rather to strengthen Tradition itself ; for in this very written Word He left recorded repeatedly and forcibly, as we have already seen, that Tradition or the successive oral teaching of the body of teachers instituted and empowered by Himself for that purpose, was to have its full authority and vigor whilst there existed a nation, or even one creature to be taught the gospel ; that is, until the end of the world. Hence the ancient and successive fathers of the Church always recognized the necessity of appealing to Tradition, the unwritten Word of God, in order to confute heresies, to settle controversies about religion, and to establish with authority and certainty what, according to the revelation of God, we ought to believe and to do in order to be saved. The fathers of the Church plainly expressed their belief that the Written Word of God by itself, without the help of Tradition, would always leave disputes unsettled, points of belief and morals undeter- mined, and true religion a problem unsolved. Chapter IX. Sl)c interpretation anb ttje Heading of §olj) 0criphtre. 'HE Holy Scriptures are the Word of God. This I will assume as admitted by Protestants generally. But it is clear that if the Scriptures are wrongiy interpreted, they become the word of man. For, as the Protestant Bishop Walton says : " The Word, . of God does not consist in mere letters, whether written or printed, bu| I in the true sense of it." * This is what St. Jerome had said ages before*-* "Let us be persuaded that the gospel consists not in the words but in the sense. A wrong explanation turns the Word of God into the word of man, and, what is worse, into the word of the devil ; for the devil * Prolegomena (or Preface) of his Polyglot, chap. v. THE INTERPRETA TION OF HOL Y SCRIPTURE. 67 himself could quote the text of Scripture ; " * and he did so when he tempted our Lord in the desert. (St. Matt. iv. 6.) Protestants should consider well this point, especially those who so confidently and plausibly boast that they stand by the Bible alone, and imagine that to stand by the Bible alone means that they rely not upon human authority, but upon the Word of God. Certainly nothing can be better than to stand by the Word of God, but whether what they call standing by the Bible alone be to stand by the Word of God, we shall see. Let us observe, 1st, that the Bible, though divinely inspired, is but a written document, and a written document often so obscure, that St. Au- gustine, though so great a scholar, and a doctor of the Church, confessed that there were more things in the Bible he did not understand than those he did. Let us consider, 2d, that the Bible, because a written document, would remain always silent unless interpreted, that is, unless some mean- ing is affixed to the words, by some one. It is clear that the Bible can- not speak and interpret itself, — you must take the Book in your hand, open it, read it, compare passages, and attach a certain meaning to those words which fall under your eyes. Therefore, when a Protestant says : " I stand by the Bible alone," he does not mean that he stands by the Bible uninterpreted, for in such case the Bible is mute. He does not mean that he stands by the Bible as in- terpreted by the Church, for that would not be the Protestant but the Catholic principle. Nor does he mean that he stands by the Bible as in- terpreted by somebody else ; as that would be, according to his notion, to give up his right of private interpretation. But he means that he stands by the Bible alone as interpreted by himself, and that the sense in which he himself understands it is the Word of God. And therefore a person who is guided by this principle comes to say this : " The Bible, interpreted by the fathers, may or may not be the Word of God ; the Bible interpreted by the Church may or may not be the Word of God ; the Bible interpreted by any one besides myself may or may not be the Word of God ; but the Bible interpreted by me, that is indeed the Word of God, my only teacher, my guide, my infallible authority." To a Catholic who would rejoin : " What, my friend, if you were to understand some passage of Scripture in a wrong sense ? " The person who would still stick to that principle would have to reply : " That would be a great pity, but still, not acknowledging any other authority but my *In his comments on the Epistle to the Galatians, speaking against the Luciferians. THE INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. own private judgment, I have a right to look upon that interpretation mine as the Word of God." And if a Catholic were to add : " Is it not reasonable to suppose th; the interpretation of the Bible by the whole body of bishops of the Catl olic Church, though disagreeing with your private interpretation, shoul< be the right one, and therefore more likely the word of God : " the Prot m would be reduced to answer: " I do not agree, because that intei pretation would not be mi**" " If you argue so," the Catholic may justly reply, " I must say that with you, my friend, the me and the mine stanc for all argument." Let him who has eyes see what spirit is at the root of this boaste< saying, and how shallow is the principle of standing by the Bible alone. The Bible in the original language, or when truthfully translated, indeed in itself the Word of God, and infallible ; but the Bible is not the Word of God, nor infallible, with regard to us, unless rightly interpreted, that is, interpreted with authority, certainty, and infallibility. For if the interpretation be wrong, the Bible ceases to be, with regard to the reader the Word of God ; and if the interpretation be unauthorized, doubtful fallible, the Bible becomes, with regard to 'the reader, unbinding, doubt ful, fallible. In the gospel, however, we are commanded, under pain of condemn; tion, to believe ; that is, to hold without a doubt as true what is taught as divinely revealed, therefore there must be somewhere the rightful in- terpreter, and the right interpretation. Again, the gospels and the epistles contain severe censures on the sin of schism and heresy. It is clear that all schism and all heresy must be essentially in opposition to truth ; we must therefore necessarily know with certainty what is true, before we can know what is opposed to the truth : but by private interpretation, an undoubted belief or infallible knowledge of revealed truth is impossible, therefore no schism or heresy could be condemned contrary to Scripture and to all antiquity.. The words of Christ to the Pharisees, " Search the Scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting ; and the same are they that give testimony of me " (St. John v. 39), cannot be taken as the sole means of salvation recommended, much less recommended to all, as to those who cannot read, or who cannot possess a Bible ; much less still as a necessary means of salvation. Nor can it be taken as though Christ thereby recommended private in disregard of authoritative interpretation of Scripture ; 1st, because that is not stated nor implied in that passage; 2d, because He Himself, in that very place, interprets authoritatively the Scriptures, by saying : " They testify of me ; " 3d, because in fact the Pharisees showed that THE INTERPRE TA TION OF HOL Y SCRIPTURE. 69 their private interpretation wrongly led them to look upon Christ as a breaker of the Sabbath (St. John v. 18), and consequently to reject Him as the Saviour ; 4th, because from what our Saviour then said, it can- not be gathered that the Pharisees thought that life was to be had from Scripture privately interpreted, to the exclusion of authoritative interpre- tation ; thus a person may piously read and interpret Scripture privately for his own learning and edification, and yet respect, accept, and prefer authoritative interpretation to his own, at least in those cases in which it can be had. Thus, Catholics do think to have life in Holy Scriptures, but do not thereby exclude authoritative interpretation, but on the contrary take it for their guide. But let us, for argument's sake, suppose that the Pharisees went by private interpretation of Scripture. Even in this supposition »it would not follow that Jesus Christ, by that saying, meant to approve their conduct ; for also Catholics do often say to Protestants who go by private inter- pretation : " Search the Scriptures, for you will find that they bear testi- mony to the divinity of Jesus, to the institution of the seven sacraments, to the unfailing authority of the Catholic Church;" and no one ever dreamt to affirm that by so saying Catholics mean to approve the Protestant principle of private interpretation. Again, if that passage and the other in praise of the Bereans (Acts xvii. 1 1) were to be taken in the Protestant sense to establish the principle of private interpretation, two consequences, quite inadmissible, would follow, namely: 1st, that if the Pharisees or the Bereans had found by their private interpretation that the Old Testament (which was the only part of the written Word they had then) did not bear testimony to Christ, or that it bore testimony against Him, as many did imagine, they would have been justified in disbelieving Jesus Christ ; 2d, that not believing in Christ until moved by private interpretation of Scripture was better than simply believing in Christ on the word of Christ, or of His Church, without consulting the Scriptures, as the Apostles and thousands of Jew- ish and pagan converts did. To avoid these two inadmissible consequences, it remains that the above cited and similar passages must be understood in the Catholic sense just mentioned. To the Apostles our Lord gave the charge to " teach all nations," and the faithful were commanded to hear and believe them. (St. Mark xvi. 16.) This commission was accompanied by a promise that He would be with them in this office of teaching to the end of time. (St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) From these expressions it is clear that their lawful successors were also included in the commission and promise given to the Apostles, ?o THE INTERPRETA TION OF HOL Y SCRIPTURE. It follows then that the authoritative interpretation of Scripture made b] the lawful successors of the Apostles is the true one, and truly the Won of God ; a contradictory interpretation must therefore of necessity false, and is not the Word of God ; because a thing under the same aspe( cannot be true and untrue at the same time, for truth in all things is 01 and the contradiction of it is error. Hence St. Peter condemns private interpretation of Scripture, sayinj " No prophecy [or explanation] of Scripture is made by private interpre tation." (2 St. Peter i. 20.)* Those who refuse to hear and to follow the legitimate interpretation, and the faith of the Church, often, instead of the Word of God, that is, what God really meant in Holy Scripture, have only their own inventions and errors, and these they mistake for the Word of God. These persons consequently fall into a maze of perplexities, and often change their interpretation. They are, as St. Paul expresses it: ''tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." (Ephesians iv. 14.) St. Peter warns us of this danger, when, referring especially to St. Paul's epistles, he says : " In which are certain things hard to be under- stood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 St. Peter iii. 16.) Hence it appears how rash and dangerous is the principle of private interpretation, which emboldens every individual to prefer his own private view of any passage of Scripture to the solemn interpretation and deci- sion of the whole body of Catholic bishops of past and present time united to the see of Peter. Persons actuated by such pride cannot expect to be led by God unto truth. Objectors say that to submit to the teaching of the Church is to give up our reason. But if it could not be called a surrender of reason for the early Christians to submit to the teaching of the Apostles, because it was a submission to the messengers of Christ, to the witnesses and authorized expounders of revelation as long as the Apostles lived, surely it cannot be considered a surrender of reason, but a high exercise of reason and a most reasonable act for other Christians to conform themselves to the teaching of the Catholic Church, that is, to the body of the Catholic bishops with the Roman pontiff at their head, who are the lawful mes- sengers of God, the legitimate successors of the Apostles, the witnesses and authorized expounders of revelation ; for they, in an uninterrupted succession, keep up that apostolic office, which, according to Christ's dec- laration, and through the promised special assistance of the Holy Spirit,, was to last to the end of time. Not a few Protestants think themselves authorized by St. Paul to fol- low their private interpretation of Scripture by those words, " Prove all * See footnote on this passage in Catholic (Douay) Bible. THE INTERPRETA TION OF HOL Y SCRIPTURE. 7 1 things," which occur in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap. v. 21. 1st, It is hard to have to include in the words "all things" the Holy Scrip- ture, as there is no allusion to it in that chapter ; and, if admitted, it would prove too much : namely, not only the sense of a certain text, but whether the text "prove all things" is itself to be admitted or not. 2d, It would be absurd to suppose, that that direction was authorizing each Thessalo- nian in particular to follow his own private interpretation of Scripture ; for, in that case, the dissensions, instead of decreasing, would have been in- creased, and the whole congregation turned into a little Babel. It is plain that that direction was given to the whole congregation as a body with their pastors, to whom in that very letter the lay people were recommended to pay deference (verse 12), were the principal part of it. Surely if the whole congregation of a town agrees with their legitimate pastors about admitting or not admitting a certain doctrine, and they both follow the Tradition, that is; the doctrine of the Apostles kept alive among them, as recommended to them by St. Paul himself (2Thess. ii. 15), they would be sure to go right ; but that would not be by the Protestant but by the Catholic system of interpretation. Objectors also say that every one has the assistance of the Holy Spirit to interpret the Bible rightly. But if this were so, people would agree and would not contradict each other in their interpretation of Scripture ; for no passage of the inspired Word of God, in its right meaning, can really contradict another passage in matters of faith, of morals, and of fact. But numerous Protestant denominations often differ one from another and often contradict each other in vital points, and each assumes to prove his particular doctrine from Holy Scripture. I say vital, for, on account of these very points, they have thought themselves in duty bound to sep- arate from some other community. This plainly shows that they are not inspired by the Holy Spirit, who being the spirit of unity and truth, can- not create discord, teach error, cannot suggest a false meaning, and cannot contradict Himself. This principle of private interpretation of Holy Scripture, during the three centuries since Luther's time, has given rise to hundreds of sects among Protestants, and this in spite of the efforts of several of the civil governments to prevent such subdivisions. Had this principle been adopted in the beginning of Christianity, and gone on working through- out the Christian world for eighteen centuries unrestrained by the civil power, the sects would probably by this time have enormously increased.* * According to a return of the English registrar-general on the ist October, 1882, the number of Prot- estant sects having places registered for the performance of religious worship in England and Wales exceeds 1S0, and in Ireland, where Protestants, as compared with Catholics, are few, there are nearly 150. In the United States of America Protestant denominations are also numerous. (See Part III. No. 17.) Cardinal Hosius enumerated 270 different sects of Protestants in the sixteenth century as then existing. 72 THE INTERPRET A TION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. The Bible without an authorized, that is, divinely given, interprets could not condemn any heresy, nor could any of the Christian sects ad- judge any individual or any other sect as guilty of heresy, without abdi- cating its own principle of private interpretation for all. Even Tertullian, a father of the second century, could say : " Wherefore the Scriptures can- not be the test [speaking of controversy] nor can they decide the conflict since, with regard to them, the victory must remain in suspense." (Tertul. Book on Prescription, chapter xix.) In all centuries those persons who maintained and taught their own private interpretation in opposition to that of the Church, have been regarded by all the fathers, saints, and doc- tors of the Church as heretics, and were condemned as such by the Church* Catholics do well to read and study the Holy Scriptures for their greater instruction and edification, but always in a spirit of submission to the Catholic Church, so as never to prefer their own private view to the n interpretation and teaching of " the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (i St. Timothy iii. 15.) Before Luther's innovations the Catholic Church did not forbid the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue to the laity, except in France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was the unheard-of system of private interpreta- tion, brought in by the reformers in disparagement of that of the Church, and so, liable to abuse, that caused her to put, in general, some restrictions to private reading. The approved Catholic versions of the Holy Scriptures in English or any other tongue, with notes, although not indiscriminately circulated, is not withheld from the faithful ; and the reverent reading of it is encour- aged by the Church. It is well known that new and cheap editions of fcloly Scripture are frequently issued, both in the United Kingdom and abroad, by Catholic booksellers with the approval of the bishops. To most editions is prefixed a letter of Pope Pius VI. in the year 1778, to the Most Rev. Antony Martini of Turin, archbishop of Florence, in which his Holiness praises him for opportunely " publishing the Sacred Writings in the language of his country suitable to every one's capacity," and en- courages the pious reading and studying of Holy Scripture by the faithful. The pious reading of Holy Scripture will not induce Catholics to be- come Protestants, but rather lead sincere, dispassionate Protestants to become Catholics, as has often been the case. Listen to what a distin- guished convert says of himself on this subject : * " They who solicitously seek for truth, ready to own their error as soon as the truth is discovered, are by no means to be numbered among heretics," says St. Augustine. (Epistle 43 to Donat.) This is also the opinion of all Catholic theologians. Such persons are material, not formal, heretics. INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH AND POPE. 73 "The first remote cause of my conversion I have always considered to be the delight which I have taken from my youth up in the study of Holy Scripture. " As a boy at school I read and re-read it, and learned much by heart ; and as a clergyman of the Church of England, I read aloud in church, for five years and more, four chapters nearly every day. And as I read, I became more and more convinced that the doctrines of the Catholic Church were also the doctrines of Scripture. "This will surprise many, and many will not believe me ; for the les- son which every Protestant English child learns about Catholics is, that they dread the Scriptures because their religion is unscriptural. " Never was lesson more false. I cannot find language strong enough in which to declare my conviction that the Catholic Church alone honors and loves the Scriptures with real honor and love ; and that the faith of the Catholic Church, and that alone, agrees in a wondrous harmony with ivery syllable of the Word of God." * o/lere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclcsiam suam in definienda doctrina dc fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit ; ideoque ejusmodi Romani Pontificis definitiones ex sese, non autem ex consensu Ecclesice irreformabiles esse." The following is a translation of this definition : — Wherefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our Saviour, th( exaltation of the Catholic religion, and the salvation of the Christian peo- ple, we, the sacred council, approving, teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed: that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedrd — that is, when discharging the office of pastor and teacher of all Christians, by reason of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regard- ing faith or morals to be held by the whole Church — he, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, possesses that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be en- dowed in defining doctrine regarding faith or morals : and that therefore such definitions of the said Roman pontiff are of themselves unalterable and not from the consent of the Church." Consequently, Catholics believe that the Pope is infallible when he teaches the faithful ex cathedrd, that is, "from the chair" of St. Peter, in matters of faith or of morals. The word infallibility, as applied to the Pope, does not mean that everything that the Pope does is the wisest and most judicious course that could be taken ; it does not mean that what he says as a preacher or a writer is necessarily free from error ; it does not even mean that in his office of supreme ecclesiastical judge he may not be mistaken, but it means that when he teaches the faithful as the visible head of the Church, in the manner described in the definitions just quoted, he in such cases is pro- tected by the special promise and providence of God, who is Himself the only source of infallibility, from wrongly interpreting the Word of God, and from teaching error. By teaching ex cathedrd is meant, when the Pope is speaking, not as a private theologian, or in some other limited character, but defining solemnly a doctrine in his capacity of successor of St. Peter and pastor of the universal Church. The addition of the words, " a doctrine regarding faith or morals," sig- nifies that the Pope, in virtue of this definition, is believed to be infallible only when he teaches a doctrine concerning faith or morals, that is to say, in matters relating to revealed truth, or to principles of moral con- duct in life. These limitations show that Catholics are not, according to the defini- tion, bound to believe that the Pope cannot err in matters other than INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH AND POPE. 81 faith or morals, or even in matters of faith or of morals, when he is speaking as a private individual, and not in his official capacity ex cathedrd. It is important here to remark that infallibility, as applied by Catho- lics to the Pope, differs from impeccability : for infallible, speaking of men, means preserved by God in certain cases from erring ; and impeccable means either unable to sin, as God is, or preserved by God from sinning. The Pope is not impeccable ; on the contrary, any Pope may fall into sin ; but nevertheless, every Pope is infallible in expounding Holy Scrip- ture, in defining, that is, declaring, in precise words revealed truth, and teaching points of faith or of morals, when he does all this ex cathedrd. In a somewhat like manner in civil matters a judge may be blamable in his private life, and yet eminent and faultless in his official duty of deciding points of civil law. Protestants are apt to make this objection, How can a sinfal man be infallible ? They should not, however, be astonished that the successor of St. Peter, though liable to commit sin, should, by virtue of the all- powerful prayer and unfailing promise of Jesus Christ, be preserved under certain conditions by the Holy Ghost from expounding falsely the Word of God, when they see in Holy Writ that sinful men, as were Balaam, Solomon, and Jonas, have been made to speak infallibly, or to put the Word of God into writing free from all error. Caiaphas was unjust ; and yet he was inspired by God to utter infallibly this prophecy : "It is ex- pedient for you that one man should die for the people" (St. John xi. 50), upon which the Evangelist, in the same place, makes this remark : " And this he spoke not of himself : but being the High Priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation." Again, many of the Scribes and Pharisees were of sinful life, and yet our Lord, referring to them, says : "The Scribes and the Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do ; but according to their works do ye not ; for they say and do not." (St. Matt, xxiii. 2, 3.) And St. Peter himself, though guilty at one time of sin, is acknowledged by Christians to have been infallible in teaching the Church, both by word and by writing. It seems hardly consistent that Protestants should find fault with Catholics for believing that the Pope has the special assistance of the Holy Spirit, since many of them go so far as to assume that assistance for every private individual. Again, those Protestants who hold that they are assisted by the Holy Spirit in the interpretation of Scripture, by a strange inconsistency, do not consider themselves to be infallible ; for they admit that they are liable to err, liable to contradict themselves, and liable to contradict each other ; whereas Catholics, consistent with 8 a JUSTIFICATION, their principle* hold that the Pope, for the very reason that he is assist^ by the Holy Ghost, when he teaches the whole Church, or any part, or even any me.nber of it. ex cathtdrd, in points of faith or of morals, can- n.»t. within such defined limits, err in the interpretation of the Word of God, and cannot either contradict himself, or contradict the teaching e: cathedra* of another Pope, or the dogmatical definition of a rightly con- stituted general council. I low is it, then, some may ask, that this Catholic dogma of the Pope: infallibility is so often clamored against as impious and absurd ? The honest inquirer will, I think, cease to be astonished at this if he will only observe that declaimers against the Pope's infallibility are not always careful accurately to state the terms and limitations of the solemn defini- tion as just quoted, and that they then cry out against a phantom of their own imagining ; thus condemning Catholics for a doctrine which they do not hold. Chapter Xh Justification. Cjoiu Ovist's ttcicntptiou is 3lpplieb to JHcn. Of[ USTIFICATION is a divine act which conveys sanctifying grace, and by that grace communicates a supernatural life to the soul, which by sin, whether original or actual, had incurred spiritual death ; that is to say, justification is a change in the human soul or translation from the state of sin into the state of grace. It is a gift of Almighty God, a ray, as it were, coming direct from the divine goodness and filling the soul, which makes those who receive it pleasing to God and justified in His sight. The grace of justification produces a change affecting the soul of the regenerate by its presence, elevating and perfecting it. By this grace the likeness to God is brought out in them, and they are raised to a state of friendship with Him, and of divine sonship. The Catholic Church teaches that the grace of justification not merely covers sin, but blots it otit ; that is, blots out the guilt and stain arising from sin, and remits the everlasting punishment due to it. Justifying is not dressing splendidly a dead man's body, it is vivify- ing it. It is not covering a leprosy with a beautiful shining dress, it is curing it thoroughly. It is not gilding a piece of coal, leaving it inwardly black, but it is transforming it into a brilliant diamond. What unspeakable regrets it would leave in the justified man if he had JUSTIFICA TION. 83 ever to see his soul, indeed magnificently arrayed, still in itself stained with sin, deformed, corrupt, black, and horrible as before. Merely covering sin is a human way of forgiving, which consists in passing over the crime of a sinner, and in treating him outwardly as if he had not committed it, and as if no stain were in the soul in consequence of it, though the guilt and the stain are still there. God's way of pardoning a sinner is very different, and wholly divine. It is a way worthy of His infinite goodness, sanctity, omnipotence, and worthy, too, of the immense efficacy of Christ's blood, and of His super- abundant redemption, and of His infinite merits. God's way of pardoning is to cleanse away entirely the guilt and stain of sin, so that instead of it, God sees in the pardoned sinner the " charity of God poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost" (Rom. v. 5), which, like a fire, has destroyed all the dross of sin, and rendered man mre, upright, and holy. Hence the justification of a sinner is represented in Scripture as the put- ting on of the new man who is " created in justice, and holiness of truth " (Ephesians iv. 24); the "renovation of the Holy Ghost." (Titus iii. 5.) ! In the case of grown-up persons, some dispositions are required on the part of the sinner in order to be fit to obtain this habitual and abiding frace of justification. A man can only dispose himself by the help of livine grace, and the dispositions which he shows do not by any means effect or merit justification, but only serve to prepare him for it ; and for that reason are simply called dispositions or preparations. This is the teaching of the Council of Trent, which declares : " We are said to be justified gratuitously, because none of the things which precede justifica- tion, whether it be faith or good works, can merit this blessing for us." (Session VI. chapter viii.) The same holy council declares that sins are remitted gratuitously by the mercy of God through the merits of Jesus Christ. (Sess. VI. chapter vii.) The principal dispositions required for justification are the following acts, which can only be made by the assistance of God's actual grace, namely, an act of faith or belief in revealed truths, of fear of God, of hope, and of charity; an act of repentance for past sins, with a purpose to avoid sin in future, and to keep the commandments ; a desire of receiving bap- tism for those who have not yet been baptized, and for those, who have fallen into sin after baptism, a resolution to approach the sacrament of penance. (Council of Trent, Sess. VI. chap, vi.) Justification may be lost by wilfully violating a commandment of God, either by doing what is forbidden, or by not doing what is com- manded. Justification is a talent or gift which should be made to bear fruit, or we shall be punished for the neglect. 84 JUSTIFICATION. B) justification we are raised to the dignity of sons of God, heirs His kingdom ; and this entails upon us the duty of acting in a way b( coming to so high a dignity. " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the coi mandments," said our Lord. (St. Matt. xix. 17.) By justification w< are incorporated with Christ, like a branch growing on a vine ; but if tl branch produces no fruit it will be cut off and cast into the fire. (St John xv. 6.) Hence, the grace of justification is compared by oui Saviour, not to a pond, but to a fountain, whose waters reach untc heaven : " Hut the water that I will give him shall become in him a foui tain of water springing up into life everlasting." (St. John iv. 14.) ACTUAL GRACE. After we are justified we still stand in need, in order to perform any meritorious good work, of another grace called actual. Justifying grace, of which we spoke in the preceding chapter, called also habitual grace, is something in itself lasting ; actual grace is something that passes, and extends only to individual acts for the time it is needed. Actual grace is a passing, supernatural, divine help, enlightening our understanding, and moving our will, and enabling us to perform any single good ac- tion ; for instance, to accept any supernatural revealed truth, or to per- form any good work, considered good in the supernatural order. Grace does not force man's free will, but respects it, and leaves man free to act with it or not. Grace, therefore, does not destroy our free- will, but only helps it, and our own working with grace is required. " God who has created thee without thee, will not save thee without thee " (" Qui creavit te sine te non salvabit te sine te "), says St. Augustine : and in Holy Scripture it is repeatedly stated that God will render to every one according to his works. A renovation which renders a soul renewed, pure, bright, amiable and endearing to God. We stand in continual need of actual grace to perform good acts, both before and after being justified. " Without me you can do noth- ing," says our Saviour, and St. Paul declares that without God's grace we are incapable of even a good thought. The good acts, however, done by the help of grace without justification are not, strictly speaking, mer- itorious, but serve to smooth the way to justification, to move God, though merely through His mercy and condescension, to help us and render us better disposed for the same. But if, with the assistance of actual grace, good works are done by a person who is in a state of justi- fying grace, then they are acceptable to God, and merit an increase of grace on earth and an increase of glory in Heaven. Hence St. Paul says : " God is not unjust that He should forget your work, and the love which you have shown in His name." (Hebrews vi. 10.) HOW CHRIST'S REDEMPTION IS APPLIED TO MEN. 85 And writing to Timothy, he declares that " a crown of justice " was laid up for him ; and not only for him, " but to them also that love His [Christ's] coming." (2 Timothy iv. 8.) And in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, he says, " for that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." (iv. 17.) All our merits, however, without any exception, are grounded on the merits of Jesus Christ, and on His grace, without which no one can move a step towards heaven. The merit of a good action performed in a state of grace, as being in consequence of justification, and in union with our Lord, is truly our own merit, because that good action is really performed by us, by our co-operation with God's grace ; but it is also, and principally, a merit of our Lord, as a grape is the fruit of the branch, and yet also and princi- pally the fruit of the parent vine without which, or if not connected with which, the branch could not produce any fruit, or indeed have become a branch at all. Our merit, therefore, does not take away from Christ's merits, for without Him we can do nothing. We merit through Christ, Christ makes us merit ; or still more properly, Christ merits in us, and therefore all the glory is His. "God forbid," says the Council of Trent, " that a Christian should confide or glory in himself and not in the Lord, whose goodness towards men is so great that He regards as their merits the very gifts which He Himself bestows upon them." (Session VI. chap, xviii.) And St. Augustine had said long before, " God crowns His own grace when He crowns our merits." JESUS CHRIST died for all mankind ; He truly died that " He might taste death for all." (Hebrews ii. 9.) Yet we know that all men will not be saved, but only those who do His will ; for we read in St. Paul : " And being consummated, He became to all that obey Him the cause of eternal salvation." (Hebrews v. 9.) And so, notwith- standing Christ's redemption, it is stated in the gospel that some " shall go into everlasting punishment." (St. Matt. xxv. 46.) St. Paul did not say that God will save all men, but, " Who will have all men to be saved" (1 Timothy ii. 4), implying thereby that for salvation, man's will and co-operation is required to fulfil the conditions, and use the means appointed by God Himself for the purpose. Only those who " have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Apocalypse [Rev.] vii. 14), that is, who have the merits of Christ applied to them, and who persevere to the end in doing what is commanded, will be saved. The direct means instituted by Christ Himself for applying His infi- nite merits to the souls of men are the holy sacraments, which are so So THE HOLY SACRAMENTS. many channels instituted by Jesus Christ to convey to men His grace purchased for us at the price of Mis most precious blood : " You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains." (Isaias xii. 3.) Chapter Xll- L Y El r ( HA R/ST, qualities are objects of knowledge which we can acquire by the testimony ^i the senses ; but we cannot form any exact notion of the nature or ell mentary structure of the inward substance. We know for certain that ii each body there must be the substance, or that underlying thing u\ which the accidents rest, and that the substance is the essential part in body: but of the nature of substance itself we have only a very imperfe< knowledge. When a change in the substance of anything takes place in which thine all the outward appearances remain as they were before, but only the n ward imperceptible substance is entirely changed, this is called transubstan- tiation. Transubstantiation, therefore, is the entire change of the inward imperceptible substance, while all the outward appearances of that sub- stance remain as they were before, unchanged. The Catholic Church teaches that before consecration what on the altar appears to be bread and wine is simply bread and wine, and that after the consecration of that bread and of that wine that which still ap- pears to be bread and wine is no longer bread and wine, but the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Something remains, namely, the outward qualities or species of bread and wine ; and something is changed, namely, the in- ward invisible substance of that bread and of that wine into the body and blood of Christ ; this inward change or conversion is what is called tran- substantiation. Catholics believe that in the holy Eucharist transubstantiation, or a change of substance, and not consubstantiation, or co-existence of two substances, takes place, for the simple reason that our Saviour, at the Last Supper, did not say: "In this" or "with this is my body," "in this," or " with this is my blood," but he said : "THIS is my body," "THIS is my blood," which words, in their natural meaning, imply a change of sub- stance ; for if what Jesus held in His hands was truly His body and His blood, it must have ceased to be the substance of bread and of wine. And this is still more apparent from the New Testament as written in the Syro-Chaldaic, Greek, and Latin languages, in which the word this, in the expression, "This is my body," is neuter and cannot be referred to bread, which in those languages is of masculine gender, so that, according to the force of these languages, the only plain meaning is — this thing which I hold in my hand is my body. If we were to interpret these expressions to mean — This bread is my body ; this wi?ie is my blood — there would be a downright contradiction, because bread is one substance and the body of Christ is another, wine is one substance and the blood of Christ is another substance ; and if we were to stretch those expressions to mean — In this bread there is my St. Patrick and St. Bridget. St. Francis-Xavier. THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 9 ; body ; in this wine there is my blood — it would be doing a grave vio- lence to the text. To believe in transubstantiation, therefore, is in plain words to be- lieve the assertion of Christ without hesitation or demur, without seek- ing for an escape, and without a doubt. To Christ asserting : " This is my body," " This is my blood," it is to answer with simplicity of faith : " Yes, Lord, I believe what thou sayest ; It is thy body, it is thy blood." To explain away these two expressions by flying to a figurative meaning, is to admit that the literal sense is plainly in favor of the interpretation followed by Catholics in all ages. Transubstantiation takes place when the words of consecration, " This is my body," " This is my blood," used and ordered by Christ, are pronounced over the elements of bread and wine in the holy sacrifice of the Mass by a priest, rightly ordained. As Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, when visible on earth could and should be adored, though His divinity was under the veil of His humanity, so He can and should be adored in the holy Eucharist though His divinity and humanity are under the veil or accidents of bread and wine. All persons who are capable of being instructed in this holy mystery, are bound by the command of Christ to receive this adorable sacrament ; and the Catholic Church, which allows to the faithful, and even recom- mends, the daily reception of the blessed Eucharist, commands the re- ception of it, " at least once a year " at Easter time. This solemn precept is based on the words of Jesus Christ : " Amen, amen, I say unto you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you." (St. John vi. 54.) Chapter Xbl- £hc €)ohj Sacrifice of tljc Jttass, £()c Jjolg Sacrifice of tlie iftass scroes to applg Ctyttat's ttebemption to Jtlen. ACRIFICE is the highest act of religion, because other acts with which we worship God may also be used, though in a limited sense, in honoring the angels, the saints, kings and other high personages, while sacrifice is so exclusively due to God, that it can only be offered to Him ; for the natural end of sacrifice is to show, by the destruction of, or notable change in, the victim, the sovereign dominion over creation which belongs to God alone. 9$ TJIE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. From the beginning of the world the servants of God were accus- tomed to offer sacrifice to the most high God. And in all ancient re- ligions, true or false, this worship of sacrifice was always looked upon as the most solemn act of religion. It was therefore proper, that as in the law of nature, and in the iic law. there were sacrifices instituted by the Almighty, there should also be in the law of grace a continual sacrifice whereby to wor- ship God in a manner worthy of Him, besides the one sacrifice offered by our Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary. As the sacrifices with shedding of blood of the Old Law were figures of the sacrifice offered by Christ on Calvary with the shedding of His most precious blood, so those sacrifices of the Old Law that were with- out the shedding of blood were types of another sacrifice in the New Law, which also was to be without blood-shedding. The prophet Malachias foretold in plain words this daily sacrifice of the New Law when he said : " For from the rising of the sun, even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles : and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation ; for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachias i. u.) What it was reasonable we should have, what was foreshadowed by the figures of the Old Testament, and, moreover, what was even fore- told, our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished at the Last Supper. For the holy Eucharist which He then instituted is not only a sacrament but also a true sacrifice offered up then by the same Jesus Christ to His Eternal Father, and offered also by Himself daily through the ministry of the priest whenever the priest celebrates holy Mass at the altar ; the faithful who are present uniting in the oblation. The holy sacrifice of the Mass is a commemorative sacrifice, regarded as a true sacrifice by the Apostles and their successors, and by the whole Catholic Church in all centuries. It is still so regarded even by all ancient schismatical churches, who separated themselves from the Cath- olic Church between the fifth and ninth centuries, and who have, up to the present, preserved among them the sacrifice of the Mass as an insti- tution of Christ. To complete a commemorative sacrifice, the actual putting to death of the victim is not necessary, but only the real presence of the victim, accompanied by a mystical death, or by such a notable change in the thing offered as may represent death. Jesus Christ "dieth now no more" (Romans vi. 9), and yet He offers Himself to His Eternal Father as one dead, though alive, "a Lamb standing as it were slain" (Apocalypse [or Revelation] v. 6), showing THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF- THE MASS. 99 continually to God the Father His five most precious wounds, the marks of His immolation on Calvary. In like manner His having died once, never to die again, does not prevent Jesus Christ from being offered a true Victim in the holy sacrifice of the Mass as an immolation with only a mystical death. Some of the sacrifices of the Old Law were of this kind, as, for exam- ple, the typical sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham ; and in the offering of the sparrows. Of these we read in the book of Leviticus (xiv. 6): "The other [sparrow] that is alive he [the priest] shall dip with the cedar- wood, and the scarlet and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that is immolated;" "he shall let go the living sparrow." Another instance is the "Emissary-goat" (or scape-goat), "he shall present alive before the Lord, that he may pour out prayers upon him, and let him go into the wilderness." (Leviticus xvi. 10.) Moreover, there are sacrifices of lifeless things, which serve to sup- port animal life, in which, therefore, actual death is not possible. Such were the loaves of proposition or shew-bread, called in Leviticus (xxiv. 9) " most holy of the sacrifices of the Lord by a perpetual right." Such likewise were the sacrifices described in the second chapter of Leviticus in verses 2, 9, 16, where it is ordered that a handful of the flour offered by the people should be offered by the priest in sacrifice upon the altar, and there burned by the priest Aaron or his sons. This sort of sacrifice was regarded by the Jews as a true sacrifice, called mincha, which word is translated by the seventy interpreters (in the old Greek version called the Septuagint) and by the Latin Vulgate simply sacrifice. Now it is clear that in this kind of sacrifice neither an actual nor even a mystical death took place, but only a very notable change, which is enough for the nature of a sacrifice. In the holy Eucharist, the Victim, namely, Jesus Christ, is truly pres- ent, therefore He can be offered up, and He is truly offered up, as an obla- tion to His Eternal Father ; and although the death of the victim does not occur in reality, yet it takes place mystically; the body of Christ be- ing made present, as though separated from the blood, since by the power of the consecrating words, first the body of Christ is caused to be present under the species (or what appears to the senses) of bread, and then His blood is caused to be present under the species of wine. This mystical death, by seeming separation of the blood from Christ's body, joined with the true offering of Jesus Christ, who is truly present, living and entire under each species, can and does constitute a real sacrifice commemorative of that of the cross. This twofold consecration is by Christ's institution so essential for the loo TH& HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS SERVES sacrificial act, that if there were only a consecration of the bread, or only a consecration of the wine, our Lord would be present, but not as a sacrifice, because in these cases the mystical immolation would not be complete. Jesus Christ is called by the royal psalmist, " A priest for ever accord ing to the order of Melchisedech " ( Psalm cix. 4), because the sacrifice which Melchisedech offered as " the priest of the most high God" (Genesis xiv. 18), was that of bread and wine, which was not a direct figure of the sacrifice offered up on Calvary with spilling of blood, but of the sacrifice of the Mass, which is offered under the species of bread and wine, without the shedding of blood, and offered for ever ; " the clean oblation " spoken of by the prophet Malachias. (i. n.) It seems plain that it is also in reference to the sacrifice of the Mass that mention is made by St. Paul of an altar as belonging to the Chris- tian dispensation ; an altar always denoting a sacrifice. (Hebrews xiii. 10.) The holy sacrifice of the Mass does not differ in its essence from the sacrifice offered up upon Mount Calvary. As we find on Calvary and in the Mass the same identical Victim, and the same principal Offerer, Jesus Christ, the two sacrifices are essentially the same. The two sacrifices only differ in non-essentials, because only the manner of offering is different. One was offered by Christ personally, the other is offered by Him through His ministers. That was offered with real suffering, real shedding of blood and real death of the Victim ; this with only a mystical suffering, a mystical shedding of blood, and a mystical death of the same Victim. Therefore the priest, at the time of the consecration, does not say : "This is the body of Christ," but acting in the person of Christ, says : " This is my body," according to the divine command, " Do this," or, as these words might be rendered, Offer up this. It is on account of this sacri- fice offered daily on our altars by Christ that our Lord is called " A priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech." (Psalm cix. 4; Hebrews vii. 17.) ST. PAUL affirms that Christ offered Himself only once, meaning, by suffering, blood-shedding, and death; as he compares Christ's oblation to the oblations of animal victims of the Old Law which were made by a real destruction of their animal life. There is nothing in the Mass which is opposed to this teaching of St. Paul. So far from it, the Mass is a perpetual witness to the fact of that single death in blood ; it is one of the most striking attestations we can make that Christ died for the world ; there cannot be a more conspicuous witness to the one death of the one Victim than the holy sacrifice of the Mass ; that august act, which, instituted by Christ Himself, shows forth the Lord's death till He come, that death, without which the Mass would have neither a meaning nor even an existence. TO APPLY CHRIST'S REDEMPTION TO MEN. 101 What is, then, the chief purpose of the Mass ? The chief purpose of the holy sacrifice of the Mass is to apply practically to our souls individ- ually those merits and graces which the sacrifice of the cross had already gathered and prepared for all mankind ; it is a channel or secondary fountain of the effects of redemption, not the original source ; not adding value or merit to the sacrifice of Christ offered once for all on Calvary. It is not a sacrifice totally distinct from, and independent of, that of the cross, as the different victims and sacrifices of the Old Law were inde- pendent of, and additional to, each other ; but it is a renewal and repeti- tion of the " once offered " oblation, by being a renewed sacrificial presentation of the same Victim in another and unbloody manner through the ministry of the priest. It is renewed and repeated that we may have an opportunity of practically joining in that sacrifice ; repeated not for the sake of redeeming mankind afresh, or of adding to the merits of the redemption, but to apply Christ's satisfaction and merits, gained on Cal- vary, to the Church in general, and to each soul in particular. The following illustration will perhaps assist in making this more plain. If some one had defrauded the state, and a rich man should offer to pay the amount stolen on condition that the guilty person should be for- given ; should the state accept the terms, on the understanding that the guilty person should first make a special application to the state, signed by the rich man and by himself, no one would call this second require- ment a lessening of the value of the first. It seems easy to conceive that this second demand is neither unreasonable, nor unjust, nor disparaging to the former ; and why ? Because it is based on the same agreement and presupposes it ; it is only something required for properly carrying out the transaction in its details ; a condition reasonably exacted in order to have the promised forgiveness in an orderly and profitable manner, and not with the intention of adding to the sum already laid down. Thus the sacrifice of the Mass cannot be considered to detract from the sacrifice offered up "once for all" on Calvary, because the sacrifice of the Mass rests upon it, derives all its value from it, and presupposes it ; and yet the Mass is a true sacrifice, because Jesus Christ is truly offered itp, though in another form ; and offered, not in the sense of adding new merits, as if wanting to the first, but because it is a means appointed by the Eternal Father and the incarnate Son, for applying the merits of the one bloody sacrifice to the whole Church in general, and to each soul in particular. To illustrate the same thing by another example, we may suppose that in a certain empire an orator, by a prodigy of eloquence, had obtained from the emperor the freedom of a certain province, on the condition, however, that such freedom should be granted only to those inhabitants 102 CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. who were present at the recital, before appointed persons, of that oration by a deputy of the said orator. It is clear that this condition, far from lessening the value of the original oration, would only tend to increase the honor of the orator and the value of his oration, by causing each inhabitant of that province to appreciate it more fully, and feel more deeply indebted to that orator. The same may be said of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, for it gives an opportunity to each of us in particular : i st, To join our Lord and the priest in offering the divine Victim of Calvary, present on our altars, to the Eternal Father ; 2d, To feel more deeply indebted to Jesus Christ by commemorating with a deep sense of gratitude and love the great sacrifice of Calvary. 3d, To reap the fruit of that great sacrifice by having it practically and personally applied to us. All these benefits, as is evident, redound entirely to the greater honor of Christ and of His great sacrifice on Mount Calvary. The Mass no more detracts from Christ's passion and death than did the offering which Christ Himself made at His first entering into the world, or at His presentation in the temple, or at His Last Supper, or than baptism or any other sacrament does ; for by all of them Christ ap- plies to us the merits of His passion and death. In fact, holy Mass is but one of the means left by our Saviour for applying His merits to man. He Himself instituted holy Mass when He gave the command to His Apostles : " Do this for a commemoration of me." (St. Luke xxii. 19.)* Ceremonies cm& Ritual of tt)e Catholic <£t)urcl). N the administration of the sacraments and in the celebration of the Mass and other sacred services, the Church makes use of ceremo- nies ; that is, she employs certain forms and rites for the purpose of administering the things of God in a becoming and dignified manner, and proper to impress the faithful with sentiments of faith and piety befitting the occasion. Ceremonies do not form an essential part of the institution of Christ, most of them having been added by the Church in the time of the Apos- * See Part II. No. I5,_A Method of Hearing Mass. CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. 103 ties or in subsequent ages. Consequently they may, by the same author- ity, be changed or omitted (as, in fact, in cases of necessity they are omit- ted), without affecting the validity of the sacraments. But as they are prescribed by the Church, acting under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in order the better to show forth the dignity and the effects of the sacra- ments, and to dispose us to receive them in a more devout manner, it would be wrong to omit them, except in cases of necessity. That it is proper and dutiful, and therefore important, that divine ser- vice and the administration of the sacraments should be accompanied by ceremonies may be gathered from the fact that not only the Latin Church, but also all the ancient churches of the East abound in ceremonies from a very remote period, and many of them traceable to apostolic times. Thus we see that the Greek, Armenian, Chaldean, Syro-Chaldean, Coptic, and Eutychian churches in the East have at all times used ceremonies as well as the Roman Catholic Church. Long experience testifies to the rood effect which the use of ceremonies produces on the people. If solemn ceremonies were not used in the celebration of the Mass, Catholic belief in the real presence of Christ upon our altars would not be fitly expressed. If the faithful saw the altar stripped of ornaments, and the officiating priests without distinctive vestments, not bending the knee, and not giving any outward token of worship before the conse- crated elements, their Catholic instinct would be shocked. On the other hand, when they see the great pains taken and the great cost often in- curred for the becoming adornment of the house of God, for making the altar, the tabernacle, and the throne gleam with rich ornaments ; when they see that the priests and their assistants are robed with distinctive emblematic vestments, and especially when they see them bend their knees in humble adoration before the consecrated Host and the conse- crated chalice, their faith and devotion are strengthened, and the practical lesson they receive is likely to do them more good than any sermon on the subject. What we have said of the ceremonies of the Mass may be applied in due proportion also to those ceremonies used in the administration of the sacraments, and in all the services of the Church. It is objected that there is danger that ceremonies may lead to mere formality ; but I venture to say that the ceremonies used by the Catholic Church, especially those used in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, far from leading people to formality, draw them on to greater spirituality and fervor. Let us consider these externals, first, with regard to the officiating priest, and afterwards with respect to the people. The Mass ordinarily consists of the following things : — The 42d Psalm, 104 CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. beginning " Judica me, Dcus" (Judge me, O God) — the Confiteor — the In- ■t, or entrance prayer — the " Kyric eleison" (Lord, have mercy)— M Christe eleison " (Christ, have mercy), repeated nine times — the "Gloria in cxcclsis" (Glory to God in the highest) — the Collect — the Epistle for the day — the prayer, " Munda cor meutn" (Cleanse my heart, O God) — the Gospel for the day — the Nicene Creed — the Offertory — part of the 25th Psalm, beginning at the verse " Lavabo" — (that is, I will wash) — Oblation prayef — the prayer called Secret — the Preface — the Sanclus, or Holy, Holy, 1 loly — the Canon, or prayers according to solemn, unvarying rule — conse- cration of the Host — consecration of the wine — prayers after consecra- tion — the Lord's Prayer — Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) — three prayers before communion — communion of the priest — prayers after communion — the blessing of the people — the last Gospel, most frequently from the first chapter of St. John (In the beginning was the Word). (See Method of Hearing Mass, Part II. No. 15.) Now it appears that all this is thoroughly spiritual, and without any ceremonial formality, especially when we consider that the greatest part of this is said or done by the priest in secret, that is, in a low tone of voice. What is less important in the Mass, and what may strictly be called ceremonial, consists in the priest's changing his position ; in his reverently bowing the head and kneeling : in kissing the altar and paten (or silver plate on which the Host is placed); in joining or in raising his hands ; in looking up toward heaven, or to the crucifix on the altar ; in making re- peatedly the sign of the cross ; and in turning towards the people when addressing them, as when he says " Dominus vobiscum " (The Lord be with you), and " Orate, fratres" (Brethren, pray). But men are struck at the reflection that many of these things Jesus did, and that, therefore, they cannot be called valueless formalities, un- less indeed we were to say that the priest does these things without the proper interior spirit, which would be an accusation our Lord forbids us to make under pain of sin: "Judge not, that you may not be judged." (St. Matt. vii. 1.) If we consider, now, the Mass with regard to the people present who assist at Mass, the more ground is there to convince us that no tendency to mere formality exists in the Mass, but that everything in it leads rather to spirituality. In the Mass there is no set form of prayers required to be repeated after the priest in a formal way by the people, as is constantly done in Protestant churches and chapels, but the people are left free to follow the Mass in spirit, either meditating on the passion of our Lord, or making some acts of repentance, love, praise, adoration, and like acts of devotion ; CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. 105 or reciting some prayers, each in his own way, in keeping with each one's capacity, needs, and desires ; or following the Mass according to the direction of the book of devotion which each worshipper may have chosen for his own use. The different ceremonies, far from leading the pious worshipper to mere formality, serve to arouse and keep alive attention and devotion. When in the beginning of the Mass the priest bends his body and strikes his breast thrice saying the Confiteor or confession, this calls the devout Catholic to make acts of contrition for his sins. The intoning of the Gloria in excelsis raises his soul to glorify God. The chanting of the Gospel and Creed makes him stand up for the faith. The singing of the Sanctus invites him to join the choirs of the angels in praising the sanc- tity of God. The uplifting of the Host and of the chalice, and the re- peated genuflections of the priest, draw him to worship God on his knees ; and so we may say of the rest. Every act tends to keep up the attention, the devotion, and the fervor of pious persons attending Mass. The ceremonies, therefore, of the Mass, far from inducing formality, are a good and powerful preservative against it. But perhaps some may say : What need is there for holy water, for lighted candles in daytime, and for such costly vestments ? Why so many changes of position, so much kneeling and standing ? Why so much singing and playing of the organ and of other instruments ? Why make so often the sign of the cross ? Why use incense ? tl will endeavor to reply briefly to all these questions. With regard to holy water, the use of it is not commanded, but piously commended to the laity. If St. John the Baptist, in his baptism of pen- ance, and our Lord in His baptism of regeneration, have made use of the element of water to signify the purification of the soul, surely we cannot make objection if the Church at the threshold of the house of God and in other circumstances makes use of the same element to remind the people that they must follow after purity of soul by repentance if they would that their prayers should be answered by God. The use of holy water is very ancient. St. Justin the Martyr, who lived in the second century, says in the second book of his Apology, that every Sunday in their assemblies the faithful were sprinkled with holy water. As to lighted candles in the daytime, I would say that they are used chiefly as seemly emblematic ornament ; and as such need not serve any other purpose. A lighted candle is an ornament most suited for the altar, 1st, because exceedingly primitive and purely ecclesiastical, which many other ornaments are not ; 2d, because the light, the burning and self-consuming of the candle, can be taken as a beautiful emblem of our 10b CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. faith, which must be lively ; of our charity, which must be burning and diffusive ; of our devotion, which, like that of Mary Magdalen, must not spare sacrifices. As to rich vestments, holy Church is glad to use them, when convei ient, in holy functions, because it redounds to the honor of God. If it considered dutiful and honorable toward a prince that people should aj pear at his court in their best distinctive robes and ornaments, surely cannot but be right that priests, the embassadors and ministers of Go< should in public functions appear before the altars of God in His sancti ary with their rich distinctive emblematic vestments. This was pn scribed by God in the Old Law, though the priests then made offerings of no great intrinsic value, but only figurative ones. There is still more reason for the use of them now that the Lamb of God prefigured b^ them is personally and corporally present. All the Oriental churches make use of rich vestments and abound in ceremonies. As to bowing down the body\ and bendiiig the knee, in sign of reverence, the patriarchs and the prophets, and even Jesus Christ Himself on earth also did the same repeatedly, and this St. John saw in a vision done by the twenty-four elders worshipping in heaven. As to music and singing, it is what the psalmist David repeatedly recommends. (See Psalms xcvii. and cl.) And why shall we not make music as well as other things serve to the praises of God ? Music, when good and properly adapted, gives expression, grandeur, and solemnity to our sacred services, and to the offering of our praises to God. If some- times it has not this effect upon some persons the cause is probably due to early prejudice or perhaps to the defect or absence of the musical sense ; or it may be that the music is not well adapted to the words and to the religious feelings the subject should inspire; or, lastly, when the people do not attentively or intelligently follow the words and their re- spective musical expression. As to the sign of the cross (see chapter under this head), the Church makes frequent use of it, especially during the Mass, because it is the sign of our redemption. We cannot be reminded too often that we must be meek and patient and ready to suffer, because we profess to be followers of the Cross, that is, of our crucified Saviour. The cross is a memorial of the sufferings and death of Christ. It speaks to us strongly of the malice and terrible consequences of sin, and of the immense love of God toward us. The primitive Christians, asTertullian and other ancient writers testify, were accustomed to make the sign of the cross very often during the day. Since, in this age, Christians make this sign less often, let us use it willingly, and rejoice to see it still frequently used, at least by the priests CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. 107 in their priestly ministrations, to teach us not to be ashamed of the cross of Christ, but to glory in it, as St. Paul gave us the example : " But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Galatians vi. 14.) As to incense, it is a thing which the common sense of man has reserved to do honor to God with. Hence the wise kings offered incense to the child Jesus to honor His divinity. In Leviticus (ii. 1) it was commanded that incense should be placed on the sacrifice called mincha. There was in the temple of Solomon a special altar, called the altar of incense, upon which, every day at a certain hour, incense was offered to God. (St. Luke i. 9-1 1 .) Incense is a symbol of charity and of prayer. Holy David says : " Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight " (Psalm cxl. 2) ; and St. John saw the four and twenty ancients and the angels offering up to God "golden vials full of odors [incense], which are the prayers of saints." (Apocalypse [or Revelation] v. 8.) Again in chapter viii. 3, he says : " And* another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God." Incense may also be taken to mean the fragance of virtue, as also the inferior honor given to things which relate to God. In this sense the altar, the crucifix, the missal, the priest, the assisting ministers, and the faithful themselves, are also incensed. Some may object : How is all this consistent with those words of our Lord to the Samaritan woman, " But the hour cometh and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth " ? (St. John iv. 23.) I answer that external worship, if accompanied by inward spirit, is justly said to be worship " in spirit." Besides, worship " in truth " requires external worship, for a man who refuses also externally with his body to adore God who is the Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor of his body as well as of his soul, could not be called a " true adorer." The very words " adorer," and " adore," imply outward action of the body. When a ceremony — for example, kneeling, or striking the breast — is done not as a mere matter of form, but as accompanied by, or as an ex- pression of, the mind and heart, then it is a ceremony done in spirit and in truth, because it is then dictated by the spirit ; it is an effect of the spirit; it is an outward expression of the spirit, and therefore it is a worship in spirit and in truth ; the outward expression then corresponds to the inward feelings, and is a real worship and not a merely formal or an empty ma- terial action of the body. When our Saviour in the Garden of Gethsemane prostrated Himself io8 CEREMONIES AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH. with His face to the ground before His Eternal Father, He was truly ad< ing in spirit ; and so likewise when He attended the sacrifices and oth< holy functions in the temple. We must not suppose that our Saviour's words to the Samaritan woman imply any slight of the Jewish rite as though only a formal, material wor- ship. Can we suppose that the patriarchs, that David, other prophets, and all just men of the Old Law, were not adorers in spirit ? Christ com- pares the new adorers with the Jews as they were then for the most part, not as they ought to have been, according to the spirit of the law. God has expressed strongly in Isaias (i. u) and other places how in the Old Law He hated mere externals, and even prayer itself done without spirit and with a heart attached to sin. Therefore Christ by his words to the Samaritan woman would show that the true adorers of the New Law, who possess not mere emblems and figures, as the Jews did, but enjoy the ad- vantage of having realities, will also be more careful to worship with a purer heart and with a purer intention, with better will and more attention and spirit than the generality of the Jews did then. Thus Catholic prayer-books are full of beautiful prayers suited to ac- company every act of worship performed by the priest at the altar ; and nothing is more recommended in Catholic theology, sermons, catechisms, and books of devotion, than the necessity of assisting at Mass and other holy services with a heart detached from sin, and with attention and fervor. If, then, outward demonstrations of veneration, faith, love, and zeal, when dictated by the inward spirit, are spirit and truth, it is all the better if a ritual should abound with externals, provided they are accompanied by the inward devotion of the spirit. Some Protestants might here perhaps observe : What you say may be right, but this Catholic system of ceremonies puzzles me ; I think that I should hardly feel myself at home in it. I would answer : It is not astonishing, my friend, that the Catholic system of worship should somewhat puzzle you as a Protestant. This system is new to you, and not very easily understood, and perhaps your mind has been prejudiced against it from childhood. But it would be un- reasonable, on that account, for you to turn your back upon it discouraged. Would you act in this manner if a good business, in which you were very much interested, were offered to you, and which at first you might find a little difficult to understand or conduct ? Surely you would not act so, especially if you saw engaged in it happy little children, well up to the work and quite at their ease. So if the Catholic worship appears at first sight somewhat strange or perplexing, be not disheartened ; a little good- will, a little instruction, a little explanation, a little study, and above all a little practice, will enable you to overcome every difficulty, and you will BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 109 soon find yourself also quite at home in it and enjoy it, too, almost as much as Catholics themselves. Look at the Catholic children ; they find it quite easy to follow the Mass, and benediction ; they understand well what seems so difficult to you ; and you can easily understand it, too, if, taking the advice of our Lord, you only condescend to be as they are, and allow yourself to be taught as they do. % ♦ % Chapter XbllL BeneMctton of \\)t ffiteeb 0acrametti (^■J^HE real presence of Jesus Christ in the blessed sacrament by tran- (IJl ) SUDSt antiation implies that Jesus Christ is present there so long as ^^ the species (accidental qualities which fall under the senses) of the bread or of the wine remain unaltered. And therefore the blessed sacrament, that is to say, Jesus Christ there present in the blessed sacra- lent, can and ought to be adored by the faithful. This is what the Catholic Church teaches, and she provides that in most churches consecrated " particles," that is, the blessed sacrament, be kept permanently (generally in the tabernacle on the altar): 1st, That it may be ready at any time to be administered to sick and dying persons ; for, as the consecration of the blessed sacrament can only take place during Mass, which is celebrated only once a day by each priest, and only in the morning, if the blessed sacrament were not reserved, it might occur that some Christians would die without the great advantage of re- ceiving this sacrament, which, when administered to those supposed to be in danger of death, is called Viaticum ox food for the journey ; 2d, In order to afford to the faithful the great consolation of having Jesus Christ always in the midst of them in the tabernacle on the altar, to receive their visits, adoration, and prayers, and to dispense His graces. Thus is literally fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias that the Saviour was to be, and to be called, Emmanuel, that is, God with us. (vii. 14.) And also the promise of Jesus Christ Himself that He would not leave us orphans. The churches where the blessed sacrament is reserved, as is the case in all. Catholic parish churches and in those of religious orders, are often open — some the whole day long, others some hours — morning and even- ing. Then the faithful can through the day visit the blessed sacrament, and pass some precious minutes in silent supplication before God, and in adoration of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. no BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. But to kings of this world we are not satisfied to offer our homage in private : we also like occasionally to make a public demonstration of our loyalty and attachment to them. So besides this private and silent de- votion of the faithful, the Church has provided special solemn rites to* show forth our faith, giving us the opportunity of pouring out the inner- most love of our hearts, and of expressing publicly our devotion toward our Lord God and King present in the blessed sacrament. This she does by public processions, by the Quarant'ore or forty hours exposition of the blessed sacrament, especially during Lent, and more frequently by the simple rite called benediction. Benediction, as a rule, takes place in the afternoon or evening ; less solemnly on week-days, more solemnly on Sundays and festivals. When the hour to give benediction is come, all, or the greater part of the wax candles about the altar are lighted. This may seem strange to those who are not acquainted with the Catholic belief in the real pres- ence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the blessed sacrament. If Jesus Christ were not present, this display of wax candles might justly be looked upon as a mere show, a mere waste, and a profusion of lights to no pur- pose ; but it will not appear so to those who enter into the spirit of Cath- olic belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the blessed sacrament. Surely what we do for our God and King, who is there really present, can never be too much. And as lighted candles and beautiful flowers are the most seemly ornaments for the altar during divine worship, the faithful gladly bear the expense, not heeding those who may say — " Why this waste ? " When the altar is made ready and everything prepared, the officiating priest, in his vestments, accompanied, if convenient, by other priests, and preceded by servers and the censer-bearer in their surplices, comes to the altar, at the foot of which all kneel. One of the priests takes the blessed sacrament (or consecrated Host) out of the tabernacle and reverently places it within the round crystal frame in the centre of the monstrance, which is made of gold or silver, finely wrought and often adorned with precious stones ; and he thus exposes it on an elevated throne above the middle of the altar, when the hymn beginning " O Salutaris Hostia (O Saving Host), is sung by the choir and people. The clergy then profoundly adore the blessed sacrament, and the of- ficiating priest, rising, puts three times a small spoonful of incense (that is, sweet-smelling aromatic gum) into the burning censer or "thurible," and waving it thrice before the consecrated Host offers the ascending fragrance to God ; as we read in the Apocalypse (or Revelation), the angels were seen to do in heaven. The liturgical Latin hymn, " O Salutaris Hostia" (O Saving Host) BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT III being sung - , it is generally followed by the Litany of the blessed Virgin, commonly called of Loreto, commencing with invocations to each per- son of the holy Trinity, and then is sung the " Tantum ergo Sacr amen- tum" which hymn is never omitted : followed by a prayer said by the officiating priest standing. After the second offering of incense, a rich silk veil is placed upon the shoulders of the officiating priest, who then ascends the altar-steps, takes in his hands with the veil the monstrance which contains the blessed sacrament, previously taken down from the throne, and turning to the people, makes with it the sign of the cross over them, and thus blesses the faithful with the most holy. This is done in silence, except that a small bell, and sometimes the tower bell of the church, is sounded, to call the attention not only of those who are in the church, but also of those who are detained at home ; that they all may prepare themselves kneeling to receive the blessing of God. Then the blessed sacrament is replaced in the tabernacle, whilst the 116th Psalm, " Laudate Dominum omnes gentes" (O praise the Lord, all ye nations) is sung, and some concluding prayers are recited. After another profound adoration by the clergy, the tabernacle is locked. The priests and servers then rise, make a genuflection, and re- turn in order to the sacristy. This is a most impressive rite, naturally connected with Catholic be- lief in the real presence. " Can there be a more touching rite, even in the judgment of those who do not believe in it ? How many a man, not a Catholic, is moved, on seeing it, to say : ' Oh, that I did but believe it ! ' when he sees the priest take up the fount of mercy, and the people bent low in adoration ! It is one of the most beautiful, natural, and soothing actions of the Church."* Pious } Blessed and praised every moment be the most holy and Ejacttlation. ) most divine sacrament. Hymns and Prayers commonly said at the Exposition and Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament. When the Priest opens the Tabernacle and incenses the Blessed Sacrament, is sung the Hymn, O Salutaris Hostia, O saving Victim, opening wide Quae coeli pandis ostium; The gate of heaven to men below ! Bella premunt hostilia, Our foes press on from every side; Da robur, fer auxilium. Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow. Uni Trinoque Domino To thy great name be endless praise, Sit sempiterna gloria, Immortal Godhead, One in Three ! Qui vitam sine termino . O grant us endless length of days Nobis donet in patria. Amen. In our true native land with thee. Amen. * Cardinal Newman, Present Position of Catholics in England, ed. 4, p. 256. 112 BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. After which generally follows the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, am frequently also a prayer and response. The?i is sung the "Tantum erg Sacramentum," all present making a profound inclination of the body at words "veneremur cernui." • Tantum ergo Sacramentum Venere"mur cernui ; Et antiquum documentum Novo cedat ritui; Praestet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui. Down in adoration falling, Lo the sacred Host we hail; Lo ! o'er ancient forms departing, Newer rites of grace prevail; Faith for all defects supplying Where the feeble senses fail. To the everlasting Father, And the Son who reigns on high, With the Holy Ghost proceeding Forth from each eternally, Be salvation, honor, blessing Might and endless Majesty. Amen. Genit6ri, Genitoque Laus et jubilatio, Salus, honor, virtus quoque Sit et benedictio; .Procedenti ab utroque Compar sit laudatio. Amen. Then are sung the following Versicle and Response. V. Panem de Coelo praestitisti eis (Alleluia). V. Thou didst give them bread from heaven (Alleluia). R. Omne delectamentum in se habentem (Al- R. Containing in itself all sweetness (Alle- leluia). luia). Alleluia is added in Paschal time, and during the octave of Corpus Chrism Ore 'm us. Let us pray. Deus qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili, O God, who, under a wonderful Sacrament, passionis tuae memoriam reliquisti ; tribue, hast left us a memorial of thy passion ; grant qua£sumus, ita nos corporis et sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari; ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen. us, we beseech thee, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of thy body and blood, that we may ever feel within us the fruit of thy redemption, who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen. Here the benediction is given with the blessed sacrament, all bowing down in profound adoration and beseeching our Lord there present to be- stow His blessing on themselves, and on the whole Church, and upon the world. Then is often sung in Latin thrice, followed by the Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord), Psalm 116. Adoremus in aeternum May we forever adore Sanctissimum Sacramentum. The most holy sacrament. An Act of Spiritual Communion.* I believe in Thee, O my Jesus, present in the most holy sacrament of * With Saint Alphonsus Liguori, I would exhort all who seek to advance in the love of Jesus Christ to make a spiritual communion each time they visit the blessed sacrament or hear Mass. It would be better to make a spiritual communion three times on these occasions; namely, at the beginning, middle, and end of the visit, and of the Mass. COX FIRM A TION. 1 1 3 the altar ; I love Thee above all things ; and I desire to receive Thee into mv soul. Since I cannot now receive Thee sacr amenta I ly, come at least spir- itually into my heart. I embrace Thee, and I unite myself to Thee as if Thou wert already within my heart. Oh, never let me be separated from Thee! O Lord Jesus Christ, let the sweet and consuming force of Thy love ab- sorb my whole soul, that I may die for the love of Thee, who wast pleased to die upon the cross for the love of me. Chapter XIX- mfirmation. <£*trcme Unction. (join ©rbers. ittatrimonij. ESIDES Baptism, Holy Eucharist, and Penance, the Catholic Church holds four other sacred rites as sacraments, namely, Confirmation, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Confirmation is a sacrament instituted by our Lord, by which le faithful, who have already been made children of God by baptism, :eive the Holy Ghost by the prayer, unction (or anointing with holy oil, called chrism), and the laying on of the hands of a bishop, the suc- cessor of the Apostles. It is thus that they are enriched with gifts, graces, and virtues, especially with the virtue of fortitude, and made per- fect Christians and valiant soldiers of Jesus Christ, to stand through life the whole warfare of the world, the flesh and the devil. The first recorded instance of confirmation being administered to the faithful is in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where St. Peter and St. John confirmed the Samaritans who had been already bap- tized by St. Philip. " They prayed for them that they might receive the ftbly Ghost. . . . Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Vers. 15, 17.) By this sacrament a certain dedication and consecration of the soul to God is made, the mark of which is left forever on the soul. This mark is called a cfuiratter, and can never be effaced. Hence this sacrament can only be received once. All Christians are bound to receive confirmation. The want of oppor- tunity only can excuse from sin for not receiving it. It must be received in a state of grace ; and therefore, if a Christian is conscious that he is in a state of mortal sin, he must first come to the sacrament of penance. The time to receive confirmation is from about seven years to any older age. " All must make haste to be confirmed by a bishop ; that is, H4 XTREME UNCTION HOLY ORDERS. to receive the sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost." (St. Clement, Epistoh ad Julium.) THE sacrament of extreme unction consists in the anointing, by tl priest, of those in danger of death by sickness, with holy oil, accompanie( with a special prayer. It is called extreme, because administered to sicl persons when thought to be near the close of life. It is a true sacrament, because it possesses all the requisites for a sac rnment. ist, It has the outward sign, which consists in the anointing with a little oil the seat of the senses, as the eyes, the ears, the nostrils the lips, the hands, and the feet, accompanied by special prayers. 2d, has the promise of grace, as recorded by the Apostle St. James : " Is an; man sick among you ? Let him bring in the priests of the church ; and 1< them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lon And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man ; and the Lord shall rau him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." (v. 14, 15. 3d, That it has been instituted by Christ is gathered from this, that none but God can give to an outward rite the power of forgiving sins and of imparting inward grace, as St James asserts is imparted through this rite. This sacrament can be received several times during life, but only once in the same dangerous illness. Christians should not be negligent and postpone to the last moment of life the reception of this sacrament, for there is a danger of dying with- out it, and thus they would be deprived of special graces, and of a more thorough purification of the soul, which would have rendered them bet- ter prepared for death and more fit to meet their eternal Judge. A slight danger, or as St. Alphonsus Liguori expresses it, " a danger of danger," that the illness might become serious, justifies the reception of the sacrament. By postponing, one may also lose the blessing of recovery. For, as experience confirms, when God sees it to be good, extreme unction, be- sides purifying the soul, gives health to the body. " The prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up." (St. James v. 15-) FOR carrying on divine worship, ruling the Church, and administer- ing the sacraments, a priesthood is required, and it belongs to God alone to institute the priesthood. In the Old Law, God chose and raised to the priesthood Aaron, his children and their descendants, and they were to be assisted in their priestly functions by the members of the tribe of Levi ; and thus the priesthood was transmitted to posterity simply by family descent. In the New Law the means instituted by Christ for the transmission of the priesthood was not by limiting it to one family or tribe, but by having HOL Y MA TRIMONY. 1 1 5 the sacrament of holy orders conferred on those Christians whom the Apostles and their successors should see fit to choose among the baptized and who are willing to be ordained. Holy orders, then, is a sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained, and receive power and grace to perform their sacred duties. The sacramental character of holy orders is manifest in Holy Scrip- ture. St. Paul, in his epistles to St. Timothy, says : " Neglect not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the priesthood." (1 St. Timothy iv. 14.) "I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands." (2 St. Timothy i. 6.) Here we have all the essentials of a sacrament — the outward sign — :he inward grace annexed — and divine appointment ; for, as we have be- fore said, God alone can make outward signs to be means of grace. MATRIMONY, also called marriage, is the conjugal union of man ind woman who are naturally and legally fit to marry. It was raised by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament, and is a bond >nly to be dissolved by death. The married state is charged with many responsibilities, and has many difficulties to meet, many burdens to bear, and many temptations to over- come. Jesus Christ, in raising Christian marriage to a higher order, to a su- pernatural dignity, imposed stricter and nobler duties on the married couple. They have to be subject one to the other in the fear of God, and the women "subject to their husbands, as to the Lord." (Ephesians v. 22.) They have to love, nourish, and cherish each other, as Christ loved the Church (ver. 25), and to train up their children in the fear of God. " Provoke not your children to anger ; but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord." (vi. 4.) It is therefore clear that for the married state there is needed not merely an ordinary, but a very great and special grace, such as is re- ceived in a sacrament. Jesus Christ ennobled and blessed marriage by assisting personally at the nuptials of Cana in Galilee : He sanctioned the marriage bond with those sacred and plain words : " What therefore God hath joined to- gether, let not man put asunder" (St. Mark x. 9), and raised it to the dignity of a sacrament of the New Law. St. Paul calls it not only a sacrament, but a " great sacrament," be- cause it is a sacrament in a twofold manner ; first, in the ordinary sense of a sacrament of the New Law, being an outward sign of a holy and in- dissoluble union fortified by grace ; secondly, because marriage itself, 1 1 6 HOL Y MA TRIMONY. \\ hen lawful, is a mystical sign and an emblem of Christ's union with the Church : " This is a great sacrament," he says, " but I speak in Chris and in the church." (Ephesians v. 32.) Hence St. Cyril says : " Christ sanctified wedlock, and gave grace t< marriage." (Cap. ii. in Johannem No. xxii.) Tertullian, St. Irenaeus, St Augustine and St. Ambrose style marriage a sacrament. The Neste rians, Copts, Armenians, and Greeks, though separated from the Catholi< Church, are unanimous in recognizing marriage as a sacrament ; agree ing in this with the Roman Catholic Church, which has always regardec marriage as a sacrament of the New Law. It is the teaching of the Church that legitimate matrimony betweei baptized persons can never be a mere contract, but is always also a sacn ment. Though not defined as a point of faith, it is more generally hel< that the ministers of this sacrament are the contracting parties them- selves, when by word or outward signs they mutually accept each other as husband and wife. In those parts of the world (as in England), where the decrees of the Council of Trent respecting matrimony have not yet been published and promulgated, the presence of the Catholic parish priest is not essential for the validity of the sacrament, it is only required in order to render it lawful ; but in those parts where the Council of Trent is officially pub- lished, his presence is required to render the contract valid as well as lawful in the eyes of the Church. The words which the priest pronounces upon the contracting parties — " I join you together in matrimony, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," are only intended to acknowledge and solemnly ratify the sacred engagement just effected by the contracting parties. The other prayers which he recites afterwards serve to implore more abundant blessings upon the couple just married. Hence it follows that both parties ought to be in a state of grace when they contract the sacrament of marriage, for two reasons, 1st, be- cause they themselves administer the sacrament, and 2d, because they receive that sacrament. As the union of Christ with the Church cannot be broken, so the bond between husband and wife is indissoluble. There is no cause that can justify, or power upon earth that can authorize the breaking of a legal and true marriage bond between Christians after the marriage has been consummated. Separation, except by mutual consent, is forbidden. For grave rea- sons, it is sometimes permitted to the innocent party to live separately, but this separation would only improperly be called divorce, as in such case the marriage bond is not broken, and neither party can marry again HOL Y MA TRIMONY. 1 1 ; during the lifetime of the other ; if ever, therefore, the word divorce is used, this word is understood to mean only a separation from, bed and board ; but divorce, properly and strictly so called, in the sense that a divorced person may remarry during the lifetime of his or her respective partner, is forbidden by the law of God : and there is no reason that can justify, or authority on earth that can sanction it. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Church in all ages, as proved from passages of the fathers and doctors of the Church. For the first five centuries the indissoluble nature of marriage is testi- fied by Hermas, St. Justin, Athenagoras, Tertullian, St. Leo of Alexan- dria, Origen, St. Basil, St. Ephrem, St. Chrysostom, St. Cyprian, Lactan- tius, St. Hilary, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine. Jesus Christ was too explicit on this point to allow of being misun- derstood. His words are as follows : " Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery ; and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." (St. Luke xvi. 18.) St. Paul teaches that nothing but death can dissolve the mar- riage bond. "To them that are married," he says, " not I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband. And if she depart, that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away his wife." (i Corinthians vii. 10, n.) The common impression among some Protestants that the Church or the Pope has occasionally sanctioned divorce or the breaking of the mar- riage bond, allowing one or both of the parties to remarry during the lifetime of the other, is without a true foundation. It should be noticed that there are some cases which render a mar- riage invalid and null, as, for example, default of consent, close affinity, illegality of contract, defect of age, and other invalidating causes. In these cases the Church can, after inquiring into the matter, declare the union to have been null and void from the beginning ; and this has been done, and may be done again. Strictly speaking, however, this is not dissolving an existing marriage, but in reality only declaring that no marriage ever existed between certain parties, on account of some imped- iment which made the contract void. But a valid marriage completed between baptized persons cannot, in any case, be dissolved. God has joined them together, and that sacred bond no one, not even a Pope, can rend asunder. Society in general, and Catholics especially, ought to be most thank- ful to Jesus Christ for having established this inviolable sanctity of mar- riage, by which numberless scandals, and family strifes and miseries, are prevented, family happiness more universally secured, and the weaker sex and children greatly protected. u8 ONLY ONE TRUE CHURCH. If in some particular case this law may happen to be burdensom( especially to persons who have been wanting either in prudence in the choice they made, or in justice and kindness toward their partners, thi$ hardship to the few is small compared with the immense good derivec from this law by society at large. The sufferer must not, on account of his special grief, revolt agaim God, but bear patiently this like any other trouble, and adorn the general dispensation of the Creator and Lord of nature. Chapter XX< ©nlj) ©ne ®rue Cl)urct). first iltark— ©neness of ifaitl), of ta)or$l)tp, of Sacraments, anb of Supreme Ruler. ' yjfOME, and I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb." I | i (Apocalypse [Rev.] xxi. 9.) ^-| In the Old Law, only in the temple of Jerusalem could sac- rifices be offered to God. That was a figure of the Church of Christ, that special body of Christians which Christ recognizes as His own, and to which it is necessary to belong in order to be acceptable to God, as a member of the mystical body of Christ. The true Church of Christ on earth is the union of all the faithful, who communicate one with another by profession of the same faith, by the participation of the same sacraments, and who are subject to their own bishops, and in a special manner to the Roman pontiff, who is the visible centre of all Catholic union. This society of Christians forms, as it were, one body with that which Christ, whilst on earth, founded principally on St. Peter, and also on the other Apostles, who were, as a ruling body, to continue, in their lawful successors, to rule the same until the end of the world. This ruling body in the Church Jesus Christ established with the intention of providing all men, through them, with the proper means to obtain eternal salvation. As there is but one God, one baptism, one truth, one faith, one fold, one Shepherd, one way, one body, one spirit, so that there can be but one true Church of God on earth, the spouse, as St. Paul and St. John call her, of Jesus Christ. And first of all, the true Church must have its members united in faith, for Christ sent His Apostles to teach one set of truths, not contradictory doctrines, and commands all men to believe the faith preached by the Apostles, for He says : " He that believeth not [what you shall have taught] shall be condemned." (St. Mark xvi. 16.) He requires FIRST MARK— ONENESS OF FAITH. 1 19 the same unity in the duties ordered by Him to be fulfilled by Christians, for He says : " Going therefore, teach ye all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) The promise of salvation is attached to that faith, hope, and charity which Christ has taught, and to no other. Again, what Christ has taught as true must necessarily be true for all times, for all people, and under all circumstances, and therefore, unity of doctrine is a necessary mark of a faith that comes from God, and any system of religion which is not consistent and unchanging in its teaching is thereby convicted of not being the true religion of our Lord ; since " Jesus Christ is yesterday, and to-day, and for ever the same." This Church of Christ is the Catholic Church, under the government of St. Peter's successor, the Bishop of Rome ; because this Church alone possesses, enjoys, and shows forth all the four marks of God's true Church, as pointed out in Scripture, and declared in the Nicene creed in the words : " I believe one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church." THE true Church of Christ must not be a mere medley of disjointed parts, but the parts must be so corresponding and so well connected together as to form a perfect whole, like several members forming a compact, organized, and living body : and this we understand when we say that the true Church must be one. (Ephesians iv. 16.) That is, one in faith, and one in organization. Protestants hold and proclaim, as aright for all, the private interpreta- tion of the Bible. This principle, if it were from God, should make them all agree in what they believe and teach ; but they are divided by this principle into a great number of denominations, opposed in various points of belief one to the other.* Catholics, however, are all united in one body, holding one faith every- where the same ; in having the same sacraments and sacrifice, and all sub- mitting to the same one, visible, universal chief pastor, the Roman pontiff, who is the centre of all Catholic union. Catholics all agree in acknowledging Jesus Christ to be their only Re- deemer, and in believing all that Jesus Christ taught and continues to teach by His Church, especially whenever that Church declares and defines any doctrine of faith or of morals ; so that every one can know exactly what he must believe, and what he must do in order to be saved. And there is not an instance of any point of faith once defined as true by the Church in a general council, or by the Pope speaking ex cathedrd, having been contradicted by another general council or by any Pope speaking ex cathedrd; nor will there be such an instance to the end of time. *See Part III. No. 17 of this book, Statistics of Protestant Sects. 120 THE SUPREMACY OF THE BISHOP OF ROME. They also share in a common sympathy, and are in perfect commun- ion with one another all over the world. They share one with another their prayers and all good works. They communicate also in worship ; for Catholics admit everywhere their fel- low-Catholics to the participation of the sacraments ; in the case of priests, they are allowed by the local bishops and by their fellow-priests to cele- brate holy Mass in their churches in every land. But above all, Catholics are united under the guidance of the same one visible chief pastor, the Bishop of Rome, the lawful successor of St. Peter, to whom Jesus Christ committed the care of His whole flock on earth. Cbapttr XXL in tlje €l)urct) of (Sob from tl)c time of tl)c jostles to X 0. 1894. Y a General or Ecumenical Council is understood a council to which the bishops of the whole world are lawfully summoned for the settling of some important matter, though it is not necessary for the validity of the council that all should attend. A council, in order to be ecumenical, must be convoked by the Pope, or at least with his consent, and be presided over by him or by his legates. The decrees of a council must also have his approval. A general council headed by the Pope, by reason of its representing the whole Church, has the privilege of doctrinal infallibility and supreme authority. It is evident that even the largest assembly of bishops without the Pope would be a body without a head, and could not represent the whole Church. General councils show the supernatural vitality which exists in the Church of God for her own preservation and purity. To the present time (a. d. 1894) the ecumenical councils are nineteen in number. The first eight were held in the eastern part of Christendom, the remaining eleven were held in the western part. The following list of general councils will place in a prominent light the fact that there has always existed in the Catholic Church oneness of body, that is, intercommunion between all the Catholic bishops, and de- pendence upon their visible head, the Roman pontiff, and oneness of faith, which the Church, faithful to her office, has never failed, when needed, boldly and clearly to state ; and there is no instance of a doctrine on faith or morals, defined by one general council, having been changed by another general council or by any Pope : 1. The First Council of Niccea {or Nice, now called Isnick, in Asia Minor, about ninety miles from Constantinople) was held in the year 325, under Pope Sylvester I. in the palace of the emperor. There were pres- ent 318 bishops ; the Emperor Constantine the Great also assisting. Arius, presbyter of Alexandria, was condemned for denying the di- vinity of the Word, or Son of God, and His consubstantiality with the Father ; at this council the greater part of what is commonly called the Nicene creed was published. 130 LIST OF GENERAL COUNCILS. 2. The First Council of Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium, was held in 381, in the emperor's palace, confirmed by Pope Damasus I.; 15c bishops and the Emperor Theodosius the Elder attended. The followers of Macedonius were condemned for denying the divii ity of the Holy Ghost and His consubstantiality with the Father and the Son. A few more things were added to the Nicaean creed. 3. The Council of Ephcsus, Asia Minor, was held in the Church of St Mary in 431, under Pope Celestine I. About 200 bishops, and Theodosii the Younger, were present. Nestorius was deposed from his see of Constantinople, and condemnec for maintaining that in Jesus Christ there were two distinct persons- human person born of the Virgin Mary, and the divine person, that is the Eternal Word. In consequence of this error he denied to the blesse< Virgin the title of Theotdkos (or mother of God), contrary to the Catholic doctrine, which confesses Mary to be the mother of that divine person, in whom are intimately and indissolubly united, by what is called hypo- static union, the divine and the human nature. 4. The Council of Clialctdon (now called Scutari), facing Constantino- ple, in Asia Minor, under Pope Leo the Great, was held in 451, in the Church of St. Euphemia the Martyr, near the Bosphorus in Bithynia. Paschasinus and Lucentius, bishops, and Boniface, priest, presided at this council as legates of Pope Leo the Great. Six hundred and thirty bish- ops, and the Roman Emperor Marcian, were present. Papal supremacy was acknowledged. Eutyches, abbot of Constantinople, and Didscorus, archbishop of Alex- andria, were condemned for teaching that in Jesus Christ there was only one nature. 5. The Second of Constantinople, held in the sacristy of the cathedral in 553, confirmed by Pope Vigilius: 165 bishops and the Emperor Justinian were present. Though neither the Pope nor his legates attended, yet the council is considered ecumenical from its having afterward received the sanction of the Pope. The so-called "Three Chapters," or heretical writings of Theodorus of Mopsuesta, of Theodoretusand of Iba, favoring the already anathematized doctrines of Nestorius, were condemned. 6. The Third of Constantinople, held in the hall of the imperial palace, in the years 680 and 681, under Pope Agatho, attended by 170 bishops. The Monothelites, with their leaders Cyrus, Sergius and Pyrrhus, were condemned for maintaining, as their name implies, that in Jesus Christ there was only one operation and one will, namely, the divine will. This heresy attempted to revive, under a new form, the error of Eutyches, which had been already condemned. LIST OF GENERAL COUNCILS. 131 Pope Agatho dying before the council came to a conclusion, it was confirmed by Leo II., his successor, who translated the " Acts " of this council from the Greek into Latin. 7. The Second of Niccea, held in the Church of St. Sophia in 787, under Pope Adrian I., attended by 367 bishops. In this council the Iconoclasts (or breakers of sacred images) were condemned for rejecting the use of holy images, and the practice of pay- ing them due respect. The last session of this council was held at Con- stantinople. 8. The Fourth of Constantinople, held in the Church of St. Sophia in 869 and 870, under Pope Adrian II., attended by 102 bishops. The intruded patriarch Photius, the author of the Greek schism, was condemned and deposed, and St. Ignatius was restored to his see of Con- stantinople, which had been unjustly usurped by Photius. This is the last general council held in the eastern part of Christendom. 9. The First of Later an, held in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, in Rome in 11 23, under Pope Calistus II., attended by 300 bishops and 600 mitred abbots. The contest regarding investitures, or appointment to benefices, was settled. The rights of the Church and of the emperors in the serious business of the election of bishops and abbots were regulated. 10. The Second of Lateran, held at Rome in 1 139, under Pope Innocent II., attended by 1,000 bishops, the Pope himself presiding. The errors of the Albigenses and the heresies of Peter De Bruys and his disciple, Arnold of Brescia, were condemned, and the schism of Peter Leo was repressed. One of the decrees of this council anathematized those heretics who rejected infant baptism, the holy Eucharist, the priest- hood, and matrimony. 11. The Third of Lateran, held at Rome in 11 79, under Pope Alex- ander III., who presided in person. It was attended by 300 bishops. The errors of the Waldenses were condemned, and a better form of electing the sovereign pontiff was prescribed. Most beneficial rules were also framed for the election of bishops, for regulating the rights of patrons, and for the gratuitous instruction of the people, especially of poor children. 12. The Fourth of Lateran, held at Rome in 1215, under the great Pope Innocent III., attended by 412 bishops and upward of 800 abbots and friars, besides the representatives of all sovereigns and princes of Christendom. A short exposition of the Catholic faith was drawn up in opposition to the errors of the time, especially those of the Albigenses and Waldenses. Ecclesiastical laws were framed for the reformation of morals among i$2 UST OF GENERAL COUNCILS. Christians. The obligation of confession for adults, instead of several times a year, was reduced to once a year at least; and holy communion like* i^e to at least once a year, and that at Easter time. A decree author- izing an expedition (known as Crusade) for the recovery of the holy places in Palestine was likewise published, and the election of Frederick II. of Germany as Roman emperor was confirmed. 13. The First of Lyons, ancient Lugdunum (Rhone), France, held in 1245 in the monastery of St. Just, under Pope Innocent IV., who him- self generally presided, attended by 140 bishops and many abbots and procurators of chapters. There was also present Baldwin, emperor of Constantinople, with other princes and various ambassadors. The Emperor Frederick II. (a noted persecutor of the Church, who, owing to the aid of the powerful Pope Innocent III., his godfather, ascended the throne of the German empire) was excommunicated and \ deposed after the powerful defence made by his imperial representatives I and advocates had been heard. 14. The Second of Lyons, held in the Church of St. John in 1274, under j Pope Gregory X., attended by 500 bishops of the Latin and the Greek ] Rite, nearly 70 abbots and about 1,000 minor prelates, the Pope presiding in person. The schismatic Greeks returned to the unity of the Church, acknowl- edging the Pope as the head of the whole Church, of the Greek as well 1 as of the Latin Rite. 15. The Council of Viemia in France, the ancient Vienne Alldbrogum j (Isere, Dauphiny), was held in the metropolitan Church in the year 131 1 and 13 1 2, under Pope Clement V. There were 300 bishops and many other prelates present. The order of Knights Templars was abolished. The errors of the Begards, who pretended that man is capable of attaining such perfection in this life as to become impeccable (or incapable of sinning), even when freely gratifying the evil propensities of the body, were condemned. The Council of Constance, or Constantia, on the Lake of Constance, Baden, was assembled in 141 4; when, owing to the interference of states, there were three candidates contending for the papal chair, namely, John XXIII., Gregory XII., and Benedict XIII. It was attended by about 200 bishops and a number of other prelates. At this council the serious schism caused by this usurpation, which had so long disturbed the Church of God ended, and the errors of John Wickliffe and others were condemned. In November, 141 7, Pope Martin V. was recognized by all as the law- fully elected Pope, and he presided over the council until it closed. In the last session Pope Martin V. approved and ratified all that the council LIST OF GENERAL COUNCILS. 133 had defined " conci liar iter" that is, according to the strict rules of defin- ing' in general councils, and, therefore, in these definitions the council was received as ecumenical, although it does not rank among ecumenical councils, because in some of its sessions (or sittings) it was not strictly ecumenical. 16. The Council of Florence, Italy, held in 1438 and 1439, under Pope Eugenius IV. Attended by 200 bishops of the Latin and of the Greek Rite, and by the emperor of the Greeks, John Paleologus. The supremacy of the Pope over the whole Church was declared. Once more the eastern and Russian schismatic bishops who were present submitted to the supremacy of the Pope, and were thereby reunited to the Catholic Church. 17. The Fifth Lateran, held at St. John Lateran, Rome, a. d. 15 12— 1517, under the Popes Julius II. and Leo X., attended by 120 bishops. Many representatives of kings and princes were also present. It abolished the Pragmatic Sanction, that is, the collection of 38 decrees, which the Council of Bale had published, concerning the rights and privileges of the Roman pontiff, the authority of councils, the election of prelates, and other ecclesiastical matters. The dogma relating to the immortality of the soul was defined. The Council of Pisa was con- demned, and the ecclesiastical discipline reformed. An impulse was given to an expedition or crusade against the Turks, who were at the time threatening to overrun Christendom. 18. The Council of Trent (in the Austrian Tyrol), held from 1545 to 1563 under the Popes Paul III., Julius III., Marcellus II., Paul IV., and Pius IV. It was attended by about 200 bishops, 7 abbots, and 7 generals of religious orders, and by the representatives of Catholic kings and princes. Including an adjournment of four years, and a suspension of ten years, this council lasted eighteen years. The Catholic doctrine regarding the Holy Scripture, Tradition, orig- inal sin, justification, and the seven sacraments, was clearly explained, the contrary errors condemned, and abuses in morals and discipline reformed. 19. The Vatican Council, held in the Basilica of St. Peter, Rome, was opened on the 8th of December, 1869, and continued to the 18th of July, 1870. It was summoned by Pope Pius IX., of glorious memory, who occasionally presided in person, but generally by his legates. The patri- archs, archbishops and bishops present at this council, at any time between December 8, 1869, and July 18, 1870, were 704. This number included 113 archbishops and bishops in partibus infidelium (in infidel regions), of whom all but 38 held the office of administrator, auxiliary, coadjutor, vicar-apostolic, or prefect-apostolic. 134 SECOND M. I RK— HOLINESS In this council the dogma of the supremacy of St. Peter and his suc- cessors, previously recognized in the First Council of Ephesus, a. d. 43 1, and more fully explained in the Council of Florence, a. d. 1438, wa- again solemnly affirmed and defined. This dogma of faith teaches that on St. Peter was conferred a primacy of jurisdiction over the other Apos- tles, and over the whole flock of Jesus Christ, and that the Bishop of Rom< is the successor of St. Peter in that jurisdiction. It was also declared that this jurisdiction extends over the whole Church on earth, and over every member of the Church, and that all the faithful are bound to sub- mit to it, not only in things that belong to faith or to morals, but also in things that belong to the discipline and government of the Church. At this council the Pope's infallibility, when speaking ex cathedrd in matters of faith or of morals, was also solemnly defined. Besides the supremacy and the infallibility of the Pope (see chap, x.), this council also defined, against the daring attacks of modern infidelity, the existence of a personal God. Some people wrongly imagine that the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope is a new doctrine, because it was for the first time defined explicitly as an article of faith at the Vatican Council; but they who argue thus might with as much show of reason assert that the dogma which teaches the existence of a personal God is therefore also a new doctrine because that article of the faith was for the first time defined as dogma (in order to oppose modern heresy) in this council, or that the dogma of the immortality of the soul was a new doctrine because it was first defined at the Fifth Council of Lateran, a. d. 1512-1517. This Vatican Council issued likewise some very important decrees relating to discipline. Cljaptcr XX\\\. Seconb Jttark— (Joltncss. (^VHE Catholic Church is holy, because, as our Catechism says, " she (m I ) teaches a holy doctrine, offers to all the the means of holiness ; ^^ and is disti?iguished by the eminent holiness of so many thousands of her children." Catholics see clearly, and non-Catholics themselves for the most part admit, that among the various Protestant sects there are grave errors, divisions, and losses to deplore. These may be contradictions, or unsound, unscriptural tenets, or the SECOND MARK— HOLINESS. 135 loss of sacraments, the abandonment of the evangelical counsels of per- fection, or it may be some faulty principles, inconsistent with holiness, which, if carried out into practice in their natural consequences, would certainly prove to be opposed to God's perfections, to man's salvation and to the well-being - of society. The following are some of the tenets held by various denominations:* That the grossest sins do not hurt the elect, who do not forfeit thereby the grace of adoption and the state of justification. This Luther taught. That God is the author of sin, and at the same time the avenger of it. This Calvin taught. That there is no falling from the grace of God, but that " once in grace one is always in grace, how grievous soever the sins he may com- mit." (Calvin: Book of Institutions, chapter ii.) That there is no free will in man. (Luther on Slave will.) That God sees no sin in believers. That "no sin, unbelief alone excepted, can cause damnation." (Luther on Captivity of Babylon?) That several books of Holy Scripture are to be rejected, although they are sanctioned by the same authority that has in the Sixth Council of Car- thage, a. d. 419, sanctioned all the books of the New Testament. That a man has a right to prefer and maintain his own interpretation of Scripture, in opposition to the judgment of all the fathers and bishops of the Catholic Church. That man is justified 'by fait k only, without anything else; understand- ing, by faith, a mere reliance on Christ for pardon. That repentance, love of God, and of our neighbor, are not necessary for justification or for salvation. That good works are not only not necessary, but hurtful to justifica- tion. That everything that happens, happens necessarily by divine predes- tination, and that therefore our will has no freedom. That man is totally depraved, and that all his works are sinful. That all sins are of equal guilt. That " works of supererogation cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety. "t That the exact observance of the commandments of God is impos- sible. * See Bp. Bossuet (Variations), and Bp. Milner's End of Religious Controversy. t See 14th Article of Religion, in the Book of Common Prayer of Church of England. By works of supererogation it is meant works or virtues not commanded but only counselled by Christ, called counsels of perfection, such as voluntary poverty, voluntary state of celibacy, or chaste single life for God's sake, and voluntary obedience, which is the putting off of oneself under a legitimate superior to obey him in any mat- ter which is not in violation of the law of God. 136 SECOND MARK— HOLINESS That it is a matter of indifference which Christian religion you profess That God (so Calvin blasphemously taught) has predestined anc consigned some men, independently of their acts, and without any fault of their own. to everlasting perdition. (Institute lib. iii. chap. 21.) That God permits those who are predestined to eternal damnation tc do some good in this life, but that He permits it only in order to make them the more guilty, and punish them the more severely in eternity (Calvin: Institute lib. iii., chap. 2, No. II.) And many more tenets hurtful and unsound. These fruits show of what sort the tree (the right of private interpretation of Scripture against legitimate authority) is, fc M by their fruits you shall know them. 1 ' (St. Matt. vii. 20.) Notwithstanding these faulty principles, a high moral standard is often found amongst Protestants of various denominations. This is because, happily, such persons do not carry out their professed principles to their legitimate conclusions, but follow rather the dictates of natural sense of right and wrong, and adhere to certain portions of Catholic faitl still surviving among them. The Catholic Church is truly holy. Her teaching, both in faith and in morals, inspires her children with a love of perfection; leads them to holiness of life, to practice all virtues, to abhor all sin, to avoid the occa- sions of it, and to observe faithfully all God's commandments. This is all included in the idea of true holiness. She urges the use of prayer and of the holy sacraments, and of all other means through which God's grace can be obtained. Holy Church commands her children to render to all whatever is their due: loyal allegiance to the ruling civil power in temporal concerns; faithful obedience to ecclesiastical superiors in spir- itual matters; affection and ready submission to parents, and to those act- ing in their stead; respect to all placed over us; consideration and kind- ness to all placed under us; respect and Christian love toward all, and even love in return for ill treatment. The Church encourages us to devote ourselves, as much as our other duties will allow us, to spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Such are : to instruct the ignorant ; to reclaim the sinner ; to help those in danger and trouble on sea and on land ; to relieve the poor ; to shelter the home- less, the young and the infirm ; to visit the afflicted, the aged, the sick, and the dying, in workhouses, orphanages, hospitals, asylums and prisons, or wherever they may be ; to bury the dead, and to pray for them and for the spiritual and temporal wants of our neighbor in general. We are taught by holy Church to worship God, who is of infinite maj- esty, power, truth, mercy and goodness, by frequent acts of adoration, humility, faith, hope, contrition and love ; and by regular and devout at- tendance at the services of the Church, which she celebrates not only on SECOND MARK—HOLINESS. 137 Sundays and festivals but also on week-days. Holy Mass, as a rule, is celebrated daily in all Catholic churches by each priest, in order to show forth the death of the Lord, and keep the faithful constantly in remem- brance of Him and His all-availing - passion and death. She puts constantly before her children the life of Jesus Christ as the perfect model for their imitation : " Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans xiii. 14.) " Leaving you an example that you should follow His steps." (1 St. Peter i. 21.) The lives of the saints also are often placed before us that we may be encouraged by their bright example in the practice of humility, obedience, purity, charity, patience, self-denial, devotion, perseverance and zeal ; which virtues the saints possessed in a degree called heroic, that distin- guished them from ordinary pious Christians. The example of the martyrs who died for Christ, for the faith, and for virtue's sake, are also continually placed before us, that we may learn how to endure sufferings and even death rather than be unfaithful to God, and stain our conscience with sin. The Christian motto is : " Malo mori quam f oedari" (Death before dishonor). The Church commands us to be continually watchful over ourselves, as not wilfully to allow, even for a moment, one bad thought to defile le mind. Those who, unhappily, have fallen into sin, she encourages to repent ind to return to God without delay, and to approach the sacrament of >enance in order to have their souls cleansed in the most precious blood )f Jesus, which is applied to them in that life-restoring, healing, and com- forting sacrament. The Catholic Church forbids the least injustice to any one, and strictly )bliges us to make reparation and restitution, according to our ability, for any injury or injustice that we may have done to any one, even though >ur neighbor may not be aware of the wrong. She presses us to approach frequently and devoutly the most blessed sacrament of holy communion, that our souls may be fed and strength- ened by that heavenly food, our hearts more and more inflamed with the ire of divine love, and that thus we may continually grow in grace and )iety. In short, the Catholic Church forbids all that is wrong, even for the sake of obtaining the greatest temporal advantage ; she commands all that is dutiful and encourages all that is good, holy, and perfect, even the striving after the attainment of those sublime virtues, for the observ- ance of which Jesus Christ gave not precepts but only counsels, called "counsels of perfection." The Church cannot be held responsible for the conduct of bad Cath- 138 SECOND MARK— HOLINESS. olics, for they are bad, inasmuch as they depart from the Catholic teacl ing and rule. All Catholics who faithfully and humbly follow ti guidance of the Church, whatever may be their nation, or lawful callii and position in life, will become exemplary Christians, and it may even saints. Here the question naturally arises : Are the fruits of sanctity or virti which are attained through grace, and practised to the high degree calK heroic, to be found amoncr the members of the Catholic Church, or amonj the different new teachers who undertook to reform the Church in the sixteenth century ? The first thoughts that strike most people who consider this subject are, that not one of those leaders of the Reformation is regarded by any as a saint, but that some of them are admitted, even by many Protestants, to have been quite the reverse of saints, and, that all the saints of Christen- dom, even those saints retained in the calendar of the state Church of England, and under whose names many Protestant churches are dedi- cated, lived and died strict members of the Catholic Church, in commun- ion with the see of Rome, zealously attached to her doctrine and disci- pline. In this calendar of the Church of England we still meet with Pope St. Gregory I., the zealous asserter.of papal supremacy (March 12) ; St. Benedict (March 21) of Monte Cassino, the patriarch of the western monks and nuns ; St. Dunstan of Canterbury (May 18), the vindicator of clerical celibacy ; St. Augustine of Canterbury (May 26), who, after the Saxon invasion, preached the Catholic faith to the inhabitants of pagan England ; and the name of St. Bede, known as Venerable Bede (May 27), the Benedictine monk of Yarrow, Northumberland, the faithful historian of those days of Catholic glory in England ; the glorious martyr St. Lawrence (Aug. 10), the devoted deacon of St. Sixtus II., Pope and mar- tyr ; St. Jerome (Sept. 30), who was so devoted to the papal chair in the fourth century ; St. Clement, Pope and martyr (Sept. 23), whose apostolic letters still exist ; Pope St. Sylvester (Dec. 31), (under whom the Chris- tian Emperor Constantine the Great was converted to Christianity), who, empowered by the emperor, first built, in several parts of Rome, churches for public worship, which, history states, he adorned with sacred images. The names of other saints in communion with the Roman see, for example, St. David, St. Chad, St. Edward, St. Richard, St. Alphege, St. Martin, St. Swithin, St. Giles, St. Lambert, St. Leonard, St. Hugh, St. Remigius, St. Edmund M., St. Agnes, St. Catherine, St. Etheldreda, St. Margaret, are all retained in the calendar of the state Church of England, and give names to many churches of that establishment. Besides these there are very many other saints in the Roman Catholic THIRD MARK— C A THOLICITY. *39 Church, who, for the extraordinary purity and sanctity of their lives, many learned and candid Protestants admit were saints. Even Luther acknowledges St. Anthony, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis of As- sisi, St. Bonaventure and others to be saints, though they were avowed Roman Catholics and defenders of the Roman Catholic Church against the heretics and schismatics of their times. But, added to this and other testimonies, it is certain that the super- natural virtues and heroic sanctity of a countless number of holy persons of different nations, sexes, ranks, and professions, have wondrously adorned the Catholic Church in every age. For three hundred years every successor of the glorious St. Peter, al- most without exception, numbering more than thirty, received, like St. Peter, the crown of martyrdom in, or near, their beloved city of Rome. A great number of Popes, and an immense number of bishops, are re- garded by the Church as saints, besides more than twelve millions of martyrs who are known to have nobly sealed their belief in the Catholic faith with their blood. Chapter XX\b. SMjfcb iflark— Catholicity ATHOLICS believe, as expressed in the Nicene creed, that the true Church of God is Catholic, that is to say, universal or spreading its jurisdiction throughout all nations: not territorial, not national, not of one continent, not limited to a portion of earth, but of a Church which having its parts in communion with each other and well organized together, forms one whole, one body, one universal empire in spirituals; a Church which has its members not only in one or some coun- tries of the earth, but in any and in every part of the world. Jesus Christ sent His Apostles to teach, not only one nation, but all nations; therefore the true Church of Christ cannot be merely a nationat Church, separated in its teaching and discipline from all other churches, but must be the Church which, everywhere one and the same, is spread throughout all the world. Catholics are truly Catholics, in fact and in name. In fact, from their being not of one nation only, but of all nations of the earth; in name, because whenever and wherever Catholics are mentioned, without any additional designation, only Christians are understood in communion with the see of Rome and not others, excepting with few among themselves who make a point of calling themselves Catholics. 140 THIRD MARK— CATHOLICITY. I At all times heretics, to avoid the force of this mark, so strikingl favor of Catholics, have endeavored to change the name of " Catholics into that of " Romans" and Romanists. St. Gregory of Tours relat the Arians that they persistently called the Catholics Romans. " R orum nomine vocitant nostra religionis homines" (Hist., book xvii. chap.j 25), but never succeeded in depriving the Catholics of their name. The Protestants of the present day have somewhat departed from the old method. Seeing that it is useless to attempt to deprive us of this mark of Catholicity, which throughout all ages distinguishes the true Church of God, they endeavor to weaken the force of it by qualifying it and saying: " We grant that you are Catholics, but you are not simply Catholics, you are Roman Catholics." They want thus to insinuate that there are many sorts of Catholics — Roman, Greek, Anglican, Russian* and so forth — and that the word " Roman " is a specifying term. They thus hope to establish for themselves a right to get a place in the Church Catholic, and to share with us this luminous mark of Catholicity. This is a mistake, for it is well known that either by the word " Cath- olics," or by the words " Roman Catholics," the same kind of people ard pointed out. The word " Roman " does not limit Catholics to the natives or inhab- itants of Rome, or to a limited portion of earth, but extends to wherever] Catholics happen to be. Protestants themselves call Catholics " Roman:'! therefore, according to them, the word Roman is not a specifying terra indicating one sort among different sorts of Catholics, but an amplifying word adding one attribute as a fuller notion, and not a specific difference. I will make this plain with an illustration. If to the expression " English dominions " one were even to add "Queen's English dominions," the word u Queen's " would not indicate that there are different kinds of English dominions, but would only express more fully the same thing, adding a notion which is already supposed in the former expression. Thus the word " Roman " does not limit the word " Catholic," but completes it, declaring more expressly that which is already supposed in the word " Catholic," namely, that the Catholic Church has its centre in Rome. The absurdity of taking the word " Catholic " in a limiting sense appears from this, that " Catholic " means that the Church has the whole earth for its mission; " Roman," that it has but a portion of it. The con- tradiction is manifest. Let this be marked by certain ministers who keep back simple people from becoming Catholic under the false plea that they are Catholics, though not Roman, making them suppose that the Roman Catholic Church is a national Church like their own, thus bringing to nought the glorious marks of oneness and Catholicity. THIRD MARK— C A THOLICITY. 1 4 1 A little reflection might convince any one that the Catholic Church is not a human institution, created by the state. It does not depend upon any earthly power for spiritual authority — for rights, for the free exercise of spiritual jurisdiction — or for support, as churches which are only national do; but is by divine institution throughout all states and king- doms of the world free and independent. It should be remembered that the Pope, the successor in the chair of St. Peter, whether exercising temporal power or not, remains from age to age the visible head of the Church of God on earth, with the full author- ity, jurisdiction and privileges granted to him by our Lord; and therefore Catholics are Roman because Rome is the centre, and the Bishop of Rome is the visible head of Catholicity, and no one is entitled to be called Catholic unless he is in communion with the see of Rome. To call Catholics " Roman " in this sense, does not alter the fact that they are Catholic in name and in truth; for the Catholic Church is truly universal, and spread among all nations, although the Church is also Roman in having the Roman pontiff for her visible head. In this sense the word " Roman " marks the unity of the Church and points to the Bishop of Rome as the one visible shepherd. In this sense " the Catholic Church " and " the Roman Catholic Church " is the same thing: for both lames, though one more fully than the other, express one and the same reality. But when, owing to the remnant of the ancient faith yet lingering nth them, a Protestant in repeating the Apostles' creed says: " I believe le holy Catholic Church," he surely cannot mean, " I believe the par- icular denomination to which I belong," or, " I believe my national :hurch to be the Catholic Church," if he reflects that, local and limited as lis denomination or Church is, and separated from all other churches and lations of the world, it cannot in truth be called " Catholic." Again, it is not reasonable for Protestants to say that they believe the " Catholic " but not the " Roman " Catholic Church. Such a mode of interpreting this passage of the Nicene creed seems but a paltry way of appropriating to themselves this glorious mark of Catholicity by confus- ing the minds of simple people, and mystifying the sense of the words " Catholic " and " Roman." I will here endeavor to show the error of this interpretation. When Protestants say that they " believe the Catholic but not the Roman Catholic Church," they may be taken to argue with Catholics in this manner: "We admit that you are Catholics, because in fact your Church is not limited to some nations but spreads itself throughout all nations, but still you are also ' Roman ' because you acknowledge the Bishop of Rome to be the visible head of your Church, and therefore we 14^ THIRD MARK— C A THOLICITY. are justified in calling you Roman: and we are careful to call you I name, because this word ■ Roman ■ makes it appear to unreflecting peoj that you are only national like ourselves." After having called us Roman Catholics, they also tell us that th< themselves are not Roman Catholics, because they reject the supremacy of the Pope. And though they are members of a Church which is only national, or of a denomination only limited, and therefore not Catholic in the proper sense of the term, they yet call themselves Catholic in some other particular sense of their own, and they say therefore that they are Catholics, though not Roman Catholics. It is easy, however, to see that this is not fair reasoning. Surely it would not be fair dealing if a Mohammedan were to maintain that he ia[ a Christian on the ground that, although he does not believe Christ to be God and Saviour, yet he believes a great deal that is written about Him, and therefore has a right to call himself a Christian, and to say : " I am a Christian, but not a thoroughgoing Christian." The least you would say of such a man, I imagine, would be, that he acts unfairly, and de- ceives himself, not taking the word " Christian " in the common meaning, but attaching to it a meaning of his own, which no one, unless told his particular views, could possibly understand. Nor does it avail such Protestants to say that by professing to believe the Catholic Church, they mean the universal invisible Church; for this would amount to believing in a Church that does not and cannot come forward and speak out, and therefore does not teach. This would bring to nought the essential office of teaching committed by Christ to His Church, and the corresponding duty on the part of the faithful to believe what she teaches. The Church on earth is essentially and perpetually visible. She is that " mountain ... on the top of mountains I (Isaias ii. 2 ; Daniel ii. 35), that " city seated on a mountain," a city that 44 cannot be hid." (St. Matt. v. 14.) Some Protestants answer in this manner — " When we say, * I believe the Catholic Church, 1 we do not mean, ' I believe my denomination or national Church.' We do not mean, ' I believe an invisible Church,' but we mean, ' I believe a visible Church, spread throughout the world, com- posed of different national churches, Greek, Roman, Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian, and others, which, though disagreeing in certain things, yet agree with each other in essentials, and are so many branches of one tree, forming one universal Church.' " It should be observed, however, 1st, that such interpretation of this pas- sage of the creed was never admitted in the Church. Such an interpretation was implicitly (that is, in an implied manner) rejected in all centuries, as is evident from the fact that the Catholic Church has always regarded as THIRD MARK— CATHOLICITY. 143 schismatical any Christian community not in communion with herself, and as heretical any community rejecting any of her defined articles of faith. 2d, that this interpretation is universally and openly rejected not only by Catholic, but also by the separated Greek and other schismatical churches, and is held only by some Protestants, and by a human tradi- tion of the Anglican state Church, who make use of this explanation to justify their position with regard to this article of the creed. 3d, that this interpretation or theory cannot stand, for these different communities are, in fact, not united in essential matters. On the con- trary, they disagree in some doctrine which one community considers essential to profess and another considers essential to deny. They can- not, therefore, be compared to branches of the one only tree, having the same stem and root, and partaking of the same sap, whatever resemblance they may have in certain features. Perhaps by the. words, "agree in essentials," they mean that the said immunities, though differing from one another in points considered vi- il by some of them, yet that they all agree in the things defined by the irst six general councils, which are admitted in the "Homilies"* of the state Church of England to be binding upon all Christians. But the ;arly Church and those six general councils based their right of making iny definition on this fundamental principle, admitted by all the members )f the said Church, namely, that " everything which the Church in com- mnion with the see of Rome should ever define as an article of faith was be believed by all." It is self-evident that, without this previous general admission of the luty of believing whatever the Church teaches and shall ever teach as in article of faith, any assembling of general councils for the sake of set- ling disputes of religion would be of no use. I said, " in communion with the see of Rome." The necessity of this is lanifest. The bishops themselves of those six general councils were con- voked and presided over by the Pope through his legates. They submitted to the Pope's orders. The canons framed by the council had to receive the inal sanction of the Pope before their validity would be recognized. More- over, the bishops implicitly admitted or expressed in plain words in those very councils the primacy of jurisdiction or supremacy of the Roman see. Thus, in the first general council, that of Nicaea, the fathers said, as quoted by the Council of Chalcedon (Fourth General Council, Act 16), "The Roman Church always had the primacy." (See page 113.) In the second general council (the first of Constantinople), in the let- ter which the fathers wrote to Pope Damasus I., as recorded by The- odoret in the fifth book of his Ecclesiastical History (chap, ix.), the * Second Book of Homilies, Against peril of idolatry, 2d part. 1 44 FOUR TH MARK—APOSTOLICIT I . fathers or bishops of that council acknowledged that the Roman Churc is the head and they the members. In the fourth general council, that of Chalcedon (in the ist, 2d and 3d Acts), the fathers several times called Pope St. Leo, a. d. 451, the then reigning pontiff, "The Bishop of the universal Church," "To whom the Saviour has entrusted the guardianship of the vineyard," as they add in their letter to the same holy pontiff. With the exception, therefore, of the Catholics in communion with Rome, who, to this day, adhere to the said fundamental principle, all schismatical churches or Christian communities which repudiate that principle are convicted of not adhering either to that early Church, or to all the definitions of those first six general councils ; and, with regard to those definitions which they do accept, they do not agree with the spirit with which they were made, nor with the above stated fundamental prin- ciple upon which they were based. To say that the Church, called in the gospel the "kingdom of God," is made up of a number of discordant churches which have no real intercom- munion and no visible connection, and each of which considers the other either schismatical or heretical, though agreeing in some few points, would be as strange as to say that Europe forms one empire, though composed of different nations independent one of another ; and disunited as they are, though rivals, and though at times even at war, that all the nations of Europe are one because they agree with each other in some points of law, custom, or civilization. This would be like saying that the Church of God is a society composed of disconnected and clashing elements, without any visible head, without unity, order and proportion, and without that intercom- munion, harmony, and sympathy between the members of it, which a well-regulated society should have, and which on this account is com- pared by St. Paul to a perfect human body. (Ephesians iv. 16.) This would be like supposing that the Church is only a Church of disunion or no Church at all, and that her office of teaching tends only to puzzle or to mislead people by continual contradictions. Cljaptcr XX\). ifburtl) Jttark— 3lpo0toltritg. 'HE true Church of Christ must be apostolic ; that is, she must be a Church which has not sprung up in modern times, nor has ever separated herself from any other Church, but the very Church once founded by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, although now become FOURTH MARK—APOSTOLICITY. 145 more unfolded, like a nobly spreading tree which once was but a small plant. Apostolicity regards especially the clergy, hence it is defined : "an un- broken succession of pastors who, from the time of the Apostles down to the present day, have been rightly ordained, lawfully sent, and who in succession have taught the same unchanging doctrine." By this right ordination, legitimate mission, and pure apostolic doctrine, the Catholic Church of to-day is the continuation of the Church founded by Jesus Christ and the Apostles ; forms with it but one living identical body, which carries on and transmits the mission which the Apostles had from Christ, and is the only true abiding messenger sent by Christ for the guidance of men to eternal salvation. The Roman Catholic Church alone is all this because she is not failing to any of these conditions: 1st, In her the right of ordination was ever preserved intact. 2d, She lawfully derived, transmitted, and transmits the mission received. 3d, Her apostolic doctrine has never changed ; it has from time to time been unfolded and made more clear, especially when heresy or some other necessity has called for a solemn and precise definition ; but there is no case of the Roman Catholic Church holding a doctrine which was previously declared heretical, or declaring heretical what was formerly defined by the Church as a dogma of faith ; so much so that it is a proverbial saying, even among Protestants, that the Roman Church est semper eadem (is always the same). In the Catholic Church alone, from the time of the Apostles until low, there has been an unbroken succession of pastors, lawfully ordained ind sent* The Catholic Church never separated herself from any other murch, and there never was a time, from the foundation of Christianity, men she did not exist. It is this wonderful fact, which ever made so ^reat an impression on the minds of a number of distinguished scholars, ind brought them to make their submission to the Catholic Church. Such was the case with Cardinal Newman, whose testimony regarding himself is explicit. The study of ancient ecclesiastical history as exhib- *The Greek schismatic Church, by separation from communion with the Roman see in the ninth cen- tury (879) under Photius, who was patriarch of Constantinople, and rejecting the lawful authority of the Church of Christ, though possessing rightful ordination, has not lawful mission, nor continuity of the whole deposit of Catholic doctrine. That the Holy Ghost does not proceed from the Son as well as from the Father is a heresy anathematized by St. Cyril of Alexandria in a provincial synod held in that city; and this con- demnation of St. Cyril against Nestorius was confirmed by the General Council of Ephesus in 431; and yet the Greek Church, since her separation from the Catholic Church in 879, adheres to this heresy. In the Second General Council of Lyons, 1274, the Greek bishops retracted their error, and together with the Latin bishops condemned it, and caused the words, "Who proceeds from the Father and the Son," to be, as it is amongst Catholics, inserted in the Nicene creed, but soon relapsed into the former error. Again, in the General Council at Florence, held in 1439, which was attended also by the schismatical Greek bishops, this heresy was condemned (Session xxv.), but on returning home the Greek bishops relapsed into their schism and heresy, and still adhere to it. 146 LIST OF SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS. ited in the writings of the fathers, he tells us, was " the one intellects cause of his renouncing the religion in which he was born, and submittii himself to the holy see. The identity of the Catholic Church of the nine teenth century with the Church of the fathers was " the great manifest his torical phenomenon," his eminence bears witness, " which converted m< Protestant denominations, on the contrary, are all modern ; the old< of them having only a few centuries of existence. They saw no se( quite like themselves at the time of their separating from the Cathol Church, or probably they would have joined it. These sects, in fact, onl began when their several founders gave them existence ; hence they ai often distinguished by the name of their founder or by some special fe; ture of their new doctrine ; * and far from being apostolic, they rejec apostolical Tradition and the testimonies of the first successors of tl Apostles, either in profession or in practice, or in both. Cardinal Bellai mine has enumerated a score of Protestant doctrines, which are but old heresies, condemned in the early centuries of the Church. (De Notis Ecclesice, book iv., chap, ix.) The following historical series of all the Bishops of Rome, successors of St. Peter, to the present time, confirms the fact that this luminous mark of apostolicity belongs to the Roman Catholic Church alone. Chapter XXbl* Cist of tf)e 0ooereign pontiffs tufa, in a Mrect line, f)aue 0ncccebe5 St. J)eter in tt)e 0ee of Home. CENTURY I.— 4 -Popes. Vulgar Era. NO. A. D. 1. Saint Peter, native of Bethsaida in Gal- ilee, became Pope on the Ascension of Jesus Christ; that is, in the year 29 of the Vulgar era.f and Bishop of Rome in 42, where he died a martyr in the year 67 2. St. Linus, native of Volterra: martyr 67 3. St. Cletus, Rome: martyr 78 4. St. Clement I., Rome: martyr go * See .List of Sects in Part III. of this Book, No. 17. f The Vulgar era is designated by the initials A. D. from the Latin Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord). It is the era of which all Christian nations make use in the designation of years. It was in- troduced by Dionysius Rexiguus about A. D. 540, and sometime after was universally adopted. A more diligent examination, however, of ancient monuments CENTURY II.— 11 Popes. Vulgar Era. NO. A. D. 5. St. Anacletus, Athens, Greece: martyr 100 6. St. Evaristus, Bethlehem: martyr 112 7. St. Alexander I., Rome: martyr 121 8. St. Sixtus I., Rome: martyr 142 9. St. Telesphorus, Greece : martyr : con- firmed the lenten fast, introduced the Gloria in Excelsis in the Mass, and al- lowed three Masses to be celebrated by each priest on Christmas day 152 has caused many learned writers to consider this calculation inexact. According to them our Lord was born in the seventh year before the first year of the Vulgar era. Therefore, strictly speaking, the Vul- gar or Christian era commences when Christ was be- tween six and seven years of age. So that, adding seven years to the date of the Vulgar era, gives the real date from the birth of our Lord. LIST OF SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS. 147 Vulgar Era. A. D. 10. St. Hyginus, Athens : martyr: instituted subdeaconship and the minor or- ders Succeeded 1 58 St. Pius I., Aquileia: martyr 158 St. Anicetus, Syria : martyr 167 St. Soter, Naples: martyr 175 St. Eleutherius, Epirus: martyr 182 St. Victor I. , Africa: martyr 193 16. St. 17. St. 18. St. 19. St. 20. St. 21. St. 22. St. 23- St. 24. St. 25. St. 26. St. 27. St 28. St 29. St 30- St 31. St. 32. St. 33- St. 34- St. 35- St. 36. St. 37- St. 3S. St. 39- St. 40. St. 41- St NO. 42. St. 43- St. 44. St. 45- St. 46. St. 47. St. CENTURY III.— 15 Popes. Zephyrinus, Rome: martyr 203 Calistus, Rome: martyr 221 Urban I. , Rome: martyr* 227 Pontianus, Rome: martyr 233 Anterus, Greece: martyr 238 Fabian, Rome : M. (at his election a dove rested on his head) 240 Cornelius, Rome, martyr: reprehended St. Cyprian, B. of Carthage, for rebap- tizing heretics 2 54 Lucius I., Lucca: martyr 255 Stephen I., Rome: martyr 258 Sixtus II., Athens, Greece: martyr... 259 Dionysius, Turin 261 Felix I., Rome: martyr: prescribed the rite for the dedication of churches 272 Eutychian, Tuscany: martyr 275 Caius, Dalmatia: martyr 283 Marcellinus, Rome: martyr, under Dio- cletian 296 CENTURY IV.— 11 Popes.* Marcellus I., Rome: martyr 304 Eusebius, Calabria 3°9 Melchiades, Africa 3 11 Sylvester I., Rome: commanded that the altars be of stone; received the Em- peror Constantine into the Church as catechumen. Constantine was baptized and died near Nicomedia ' 3 T 4 Marcus, Rome 337 Julius I., Rome 34 1 Liberius, Rome: was banished by Con- stantius, the Arian emperor, but re- stored 35 2 Felix II., Rome: during the exile of Pope Liberius 355 Damasus I., Spain: commanded the Gloria Patri to be added at the end of every Psalm 3 6 ° Siricius, Rome 384 Anastasius I., Rome: prescribed that at the reading of the gospel in the Mass all should stand 399 * The dates of accession of several Popes before the time of Constantine slightly differ in some of the early catalogues. 48. St. 49. St. 50. St. 51. St. 52. St. 53- St Vulgar Era. A. D. CENTURY V.— 12 Popes. Innocent I., Albano Succeeded 402 Zosimus, Greece: condemned Pelagius and Celestius 417 Boniface I., Rome 418 Celestine I., Rome 423 Sixtus III., Rome 432 Leo I., the Great, Tuscany. He stayed Attila and Genseric from further invad- ing Italy • 44°' Hilarius, Sardinia 401 Simplicius, Tivoli 4 0& Felix III. , Rome 4§3 Gelasius I., Africa. He decreed the canon of Scripture with which the Tri- dentine canon agrees 49 2 Anastasius II., Rome 49° Symmachus, Rome 498 54- St. 55- St. 56. St. 57- 58. 59- St. 60. St. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65- 66. St CENTURY VI.— 13 Popes. Hormisdas, Frosinone 5*4 John I. , Tuscany: martyr 523 Felix IV. , Benevento 526 Boniface II. , Rome 53« Dioscorus, Antipope 53° John II., Rome: of the family Mercuri. 532 Agapetus I. , Rome 535 Silverius, Frosinone: martyr 53° Vigilius, Rome 53 s Pelagius I., Rome: condemned the heretical "Three Chapters " 555 John III., Rome 560 Benedict I., Rome 574 Pelagius II., Rome 578 Gregory I., the Great, Rome: reformed the plain chant, Apostle of England. Through humility styled himself ser- vant of servants, yet he maintained and exercised supreme pontifical jurisdic- tion like any other Pope 590 CENTURY VII.— 20 Popes. Sabinianus, Volterra : introduced the use of bells 604 Boniface III., Rome 607 69. St. Boniface IV., Valeria in the Marsi: in- stituted All-Saints' day; obtained the Pantheon from the Emperor Phocas, which he dedicated to God in honor of the blessed Virgin and all the holy martyrs 60S 70. Deodatus I., Rome 615 71. Boniface V., Naples 619 72. Honorius I., Capua. He was greatly censured for having been remiss in condemning heretics 625 73. Severinus, Rome 640 67 68. 148 LIST OF SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS. NO. 74- 75- 70. St 77- Si 78. St 79- 8o. 8l. St 82. St 83- St 84. 85. 86. St «7. 88. 89. 90. 91. St. 92. St. 93- 94- 95. xfo. St. 97- 98. 99. St. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. St. St. Vulgar Era. A. I). John IV. , Dal in.it ia Succeeded (>jo Theixlore I., Greece 642 Martin I. Todi : martyr 649 Eugenius I., Rome 655 Vitalianus, Segni: introduced the use of organs in churches 657 Deodatus II., Rome C72 Donus I. , Rome 676 Agatho, Greece 678 Leo. II., Sicily. Improved the Church chant 682 Benedict II., Rome 684 John V. , Antioch 685 Conon, Thrace 686 Sergius I., Sicily 687 CENTURY VIII.— 13 Popes. John VI , Greece 701 John VII., Greece 705 Sisinnius, Syria 708 Constantinus, Syria 708 Gregory II., Rome 715 Gregory III., Syria 731 Zachary, Greece 741 Stephen II., Rome: died before his con- secration 752 Stephen III., Rome, called by some Stephen II. Pepin gave him the Ital- ian provinces which he had conquered from :he usurping king of Lombardy, Astulphus 752 Paul I., Rome 757 Stephen IV., Syracuse, called by some Stephen III 768 Adrian I. , Rome (Colonna) 771 Leo III., Rome: consecrated Charles the Great emperor of the West, and thus restored the Roman Empire after 300 years' cessation 795 CENTURY IX.— 19 Popes. Stephen V., Rome, called by some Stephen IV 816 Paschal I. , Rome 817 Eugenius II., Rome 824 Valentinus, Rome 827 Gregory IV., Rome 827 Sergius II., Rome 844 Leo IV., Rome: fortified the Vatican and Leonine City against Saracens. . . . 847 ♦Benedict III., Rome 855 ♦Between St. Leo IV. and Benedict III. is placed by some comparatively recent detractors of the papacy the feminine name of Joan or Johanna. A female Pope is a thing not only improbable and ab- surd, but also impossible; for, according to Catholic belief, a woman cannot even be a priest, much less a bishop and a Pope. This name, in fact, is not found Vulgar . NO. A. 108. St. Nicholas I., the Great, Rome. . Succeeded 109. Adrian II., Rome 865 up. John VIII., Rome 872 in. Martin II., or Marinus I., Gallese 112. Adrian III., Rome 884 113. Stephen VI., Rome, called by some Stephen V 885 1 14. Formosus, Ostia 891 Sergius, Antipope. 115. Boniface VI., Rome: reigned only fif- teen days; considered not legitimately elected 896 116. Stephen VII., Rome, called by some Stephen VI 897 117. Romanus, Gallese 898 118. Theodorus II., Rome 898 119. John IX., Tivoli 898 CENTURY X.— 24 Popes. 120. Benedict IV. , Rome 900 121. Leo V. , Ardea 903 Christophorus, Rome: Antipope.. .903 122. Sergius III., Rome 904 123. Anastasius III., Rome 911 124. Lando, Sabina 913 125. John X., Ravenna 915 126. Leo VI., Rome 92S 127. Stephen VIII., otherwise VII., Rome. 929 128. John XL, Rome 931 129. Leo VII., Tusculum 936 130. Stephen IX. or VIII. , Rome 939 131. Martin III., or Marinus II., Rome. .. . 943 132. Agapetus II., Rome 946 133. John XII., Rome 956 Leo VIII. , Antipope 963 134. Benedict V., Rome 964 135. John XIII., Rome 965 136. Benedict VI., Rome 972 137. Donus or Domnus II., Rome 973 138. Benedict VII., Rome 975 139. John XIV., Pavia 984 Boniface VII, Antipope, French, last- ing 7 months 985 John XV., Home: unconsecrated, died •within four months from his doubt- ful election 985 in any of the ancient chronologies of Popes, nor is it mentioned by any of the contemporaries, nor by any trustworthy historian during some centuries that followed the epoch of the pretended reign. Leib- nitz, Blondel, Boxhorn, Cave, and other Protestants, have proved the whole thing to be absolutely false. It appears this story has no other foundation than a false rumor by Frederick Spanheim, eagerly received by people disaffected to the papal chair. A Protes- tant clergyman, W. S. Baring Gould, shows the ab- surdity of the story in his curious Myths of the Mid- dle Ages. LIST OF SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS. 149 Vvlgar Era. NO. A. D. 140. John XV. or XVI.: established rules for solemn canonization of saints. Suc- ceeded 985 141. Gregory V. .Germany (Bruno), of royal blood. He was interrupted for a short time by an intruded John XVII. of Placentia 996 142. Sylvester II., Auvergne, France (Ger- bert): gave to Stephen, ruler of Hun- gary, the title of king 999 CENTURY XL— 18 Popes. 143. John XVIII. , Rome 1003 144. John XIX. , Rome 1003 145. Sergius IV., Rome: the first Pope who changed his name on ascending the papal throne. His baptismal name was Peter 1009 146. Benedict VIII., Rome 1012 147. John XX. , Rome 1024 148. Benedict IX. , Rome 1033 149. Gregory VI., Rome: abdicated in 1046 1045 150. Clement II., Saxony 1048 151. Damasus II., Bavaria 1048 152. St. Leo IX., Alsace, Bavaria, Germany... 1049 153. Victor II., Sweden 1055 154. Stephen X. or IX. , Germany 1057 Benedict X. , Antipope 1058 155. Nicholas II., Burgundy, France (Ghe- rard) : ordered that in future Popes be elected by the cardinals in conclave. . . 1059 156. Alexander II., Milan , 1061 157. St. Gregory VII., Soana (Aldobrandeschi): withstood the encroachments of Caesar- ism; absolved Henry IV. at Canossa, who ungratefully afterward invaded Rome 1073 158. Victor III., Benevento 1087 159. Urban II., Rheims 1088 160. Paschal II., Tuscany io 99 CENTURY XII. -16 Popes. 161. Gelasius II., Gaeta 1118 162. Calistus II., Burgundy 1118 163. Honorius II., Bologna 1124 164. Innocent II., Rome 1130 165. Celestine II., Citta di Castello H43 166. Lucius II., Bologna H44 167. Bl. Eugenius III., Montemagno, Pisa. He had been a disciple of St. Bernard. He was thrice compelled to leave Rome on account of seditions 1*45 168. Antastasius IV., Rome 1153 169. Adrian IV. (Nicholas Breakspeare), Langley, England H54 170. Alexander III., Siena *I59 171. Lucius III., Lucca 1181 172. Urban III., Milano 1185 NO. 173- 174- 175. 176. 177. 178. 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 186. 187. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193- 194. 195. 196. 197. 199. 200. Vulgar Era. A. D. Gregory VIII. , Benevento. . .Succeeded 1187 Clement III., Rome 1187 Celestine III., Rome 1191 Innocent III., Anagni 1198. CENTURY XIIL— 17 Popes. Honorius III., Rome : approved the order of the Dominicans 1216. Gregory IX., Anagni 1227 Celestine IV., Milan 1241 Innocent IV., Genoa : convoked the thirteenth general council at Lyons, in which the Emperor Frederick II. was deposed 1243 Alexander IV. , Anagni 1254 Urban IV. , Troyes: instituted the feast of Corpus Christi 1261 Clement IV., Narbonne, France 1265 Bl. Gregory X., Piacenza: summoned the fourteenth general council, second of Lyons i27r Innocent V., Savoy, Dominican: elect- ed after a conclave of 3 years 1276 Adrian V. , Genoa 1276 John XXL, Lisbon: converted Pom- erania and Norway 1277 Nicholas III., Rome: St. Francis fore- told him the papacy 1277 Martin IV., Champagne, France 1281 Honorius IV., Rome 1285 Nicholas IV. , Ascoli: Franciscan 1288 St. Celestine V., Terra di Lavoro, Naples: resigned the pontificate for a hermitage 1294 Boniface VIII. , Anagni: canonized St. Louis, king of France; ordered a jubi- lee to be proclaimed every 100 years.. 1294 CENTURY XIV.— 10 Popes. Bl. Benedict XL, Treviso: Dominican.... 1303 Clement V., Bordeaux: ordered the election of Popes in conclave; removed to Avignon; helped the rebuilding of St. John Lateran, destroyed by fire; under him took place the fifteenth gen- eral council at Vienne, France, in 131 1. 1305. John XXII. , Cohors, France: ordered the bells to be tolled every evening for the angelus 1316 Benedict XII., Foix, France 1334 Clement VI., Limoges, France: Bene- dictine: endowed with wonderful mem- ory 1342 Innocent VI., Limoges, France 1352 Bl. Urban V., Mende, France: transferred his residence from Avignon to Rome; Pale61ogus abjured the Greek schism in his hands: Benedictine 13 62 In the year T378 began a schism, that i5o LIST OF SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS. Ni>. 202. -■•*• 205. 206. 207. 208. 209. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216. 217. 218. Vulgar Era. A. D. is, a series of Antipopes, whuh lasted 51 years, i.e., till the star 1429. Gregory XI. .Limoges, France: returned to Rome 1377 Suceeeded 1370 Urban VI., Naples 1378 Boniface IX., Naples; published the crusade against Bajazet 1389 CENTURY XV.— 13 Popes. Innocent VII., Sulmona 1404 Gregory XII., Venice: resigned in 1409 1406 Alexander V. , Bologna. 1409 John XXI 1 1. , Naples: opened the Coun- cil of Constance in 1414, which lasted four years: ceased to be Pope in 141 5. 1410 Martin V., Rome: elected in the Coun- cil of Constance 141 7 Eugenius IV., Venice: in the Council of Florence subscribed the decree of reunion of the Greek and Latin church- es in 1439, but after 5 years the Greeks separated again 1431 Nicholas V., Sarzana: introduced the carrying of the holy sacrament in pro- cession on the festival of Corpus Christi 1447 Calistus III., Valentia, Spain: issued a solemn decision that Joan of Arc had died a martyr for her religion, country, and king 1455 Pius II., Siena 1458 Paul II., Venice : (^Eneas Sylvius): worked and gave audience during night, rested in daytime; introduced typography into Rome 1464 Sixtus IV., Savona: Franciscan: re- ceived an embassy from the czar of Russia, J. Basilowitz, declaring that he, having refused to acknowledge the patriarch of Constantinople, accepted the union of the Roman Church, sworn in the Council of Florence 1471 Innocent VIII., Genoa : under his pon- tificate Spain was freed from Moham- medanism ; Pico of Mirandola, at the age of 24 years, sustained 900 theses, extracted from Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic authors ; Christopher Co- lumbus discovered America 1484 Alexander VI. , Spain 1492 CENTURY XVL— 17 Popes. Pius III., Siena * 1503 Julius II., Savona : laid the foundation stone of the Basilica of St. Peter ; marched at the head of an army against Perugia, and entered tri- umphantly into Bologna without one drop of blood being shed; convoked Vulgar NO. A. the seventeenth general council, the fifth of Lateran; prohibited dueling by excommunication Sueeeeded 1 ; 219. Leo X., Florence: concluded the Coun- cil of Lateran ; excommunicated Lu- ther, A. D. 1 520 1 j 220. Adrian VI., Utrecht, Netherlands 1; 221. Clement VII., Florence (De Medici): excommunicated Henry VIII., king of England (153°) 1523 222. Paul III., Rome (Farnese) : convoked the Council of Trent to put down here- sies and correct abuses 1534 223. Julius III., Tuscany 1550 224. Marcellus II., Montepulciano (Cervini) 1555 225. Paul IV., Naples: Caraffa (Theatine) 1555 226. Pius IV., Milan (Medici): ended and confirmed the Council of Trent 1559 227. St. Pius V., Bosco, near Alessandria, Piedmont (Ghislieri) : Dominican : re- pressed the Turks 1 566 228. Gregory XIII., Bologna (Buoncom- pagni) : corrected the calendar 1572 229. Sixtus V. (Peretti), Ancona : Francis- can : he published a revised edition of the Bible, called the Vulgate 1585 230. Urban VII. (Castagna), Rome 1590 231. Gregory XIV. (Sfondrati), Cremona.. 1590 232. Innocent IX. (Facchinetti), Bologna. . 1591 233. Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini), Flor- ence : published an edition of the Vul- gate, newly revised, as in present use. 1592 CENTURY XVII.— 11 Popes. 234. Leo XI. (Medici), Florence 1605 235. Paul V. (Borghese), Rome 1605 236. Gregory XV. (Ludovisi), Bologna. . . . 1621 237. Urban VIII. (Barberini), Florence. .. . 1623 238. Innocent X. (Pamphili), Rome 1643 239. Alexander VII. (Chigi), Siena 1655 240. Clement IX. (Rospigliosi), Pistoja... 1667 241. Clement X. (Altieri), Rome 1670 242. Innocent XI. (Odescalchi), Como 1676 243. Alexander VIII. (Ottoboni), Venice. . . 1689 244. Innocent XII. (Pignatelli), Naples... 1691 CENTURY XVIII.— 8 Popes. 245. Clement XI. (Albani), Urbino 1700 246. Innocent XIII. (Conti, Dominican), Rome 1721 247. Benedict XVII., Rome: Orsini praised the Thomistic school 1724 248. Clement XII. (Corsini), Florence.... 1730 249. Benedict XIV. (Lambertini), Bologna 1740 250. Clement XIII. (Rezzonico), Venice... 1758 251. Clement XIV. (Ganganelli), Saint An- gelo in Vado 1769 252. Pius VI. (Braschi), Cesena 1775 THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. 151 NO. 253- 254- 255. 256. 257. 258. Vulgar Era. CENTURY XIX— a. d. Pius VII. (Chiaramonte), Cesena 1800 Leo XII. (Genga), Spoleto 1823 Pius VIII. (Castiglioni), Cingoli 1829 Gregory XVI. (Capellari),Belluno 1831 Pius IX. (John Mary Mastai-Ferretti), born at Sinigaglia (Marco), Italy, May 13, 1792: died Feb. 7, 1878; reigned nearly 32 years ; created Pope, June 16 1846 His Holiness Leo XIII. (Vincent Joa- chim [Gioacchino] Pecci *), bishop of Perugia ; born in Carpineto, Velletri, March 2, 1810 ; thirteen days after the death of his glorious predecessor he was created Pope, Feb. 20, 1878, whom may God long preserve 1878 Note. — The Roman Pontiffs. — The number of Popes from St. Peter to Leo XIII. inclusively, with- out counting the Antipopes, is commonly said to be 258. Of this number, 82 are venerated as saints, 33 were martyred : 104 have been Romans, and 103 natives of other parts of Italy; 15 Frenchmen, 9 Greeks, 7 Germans, 5 Asiatics, 3 Africans, 3 Span- iards, 2 Dalmatians, I Hebrew, 1 Thracian, 1 Dutch- man, 1 Portuguese, 1 Candiot, and 1 Englishman. Nine pontiffs have reigned less than 1 month, 30 less than one year, and 11 more than 20 years. Only 6 have occupied the pontifical chair over 23 years. These are St. Peter, who was supreme pastor in Rome (besides the seven years of his pontificate in Antioch) 25 years, 2 months, 7 days ; Sylvester L, 23 years, 10 months, 27 days; Adrian I., 23 years, 10 months, 14 days; Pius VI., 24 years, 6 months, 3 days; Pius VII., 23 years, 5 months, 6 days; and Pius IX., who celebrated his thirtieth year in the pontifical chair June 19, a.d. 1876, and reigned 31 years, 7 months, 21 days. Chapter XXfcll. &f)e 0tgn of tf)e Cross. (^J^HIS holy sign, the " sign of the Son of man" (St. Matt. xxiv. 30), /ill j is made use of by the Catholic Church in all the sacraments to ^^ show us that they derive all their virtue from the cross ; that is, from the death and passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The pious custom of signing oneself with the sign of the cross is in frequent use among Catholics. The sign of the cross is made upon ourselves in the following manner : We first place the extended fingers of our right hand on our forehead, saying : " In the name of the Father ; " then, putting them on our breast, we say, "and of the Son;" then on our left shoulder, and immediately after on our right shoulder, while we say, " and of the Holy Ghost." We then join both hands upon our breast, and say, " Amen." It is honorable to disregard human respect, to profess outwardly what we are, namely, followers of Jesus Christ. This is what we do when we make the sign of the cross, as this sign recalls to the mind of all persons present the mystery of our redemption, wrought by our Lord and Saviour on the cross, and in which redemption we believe and trust. *Pronounced Petchee. 1 5 2 THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. The cross is the natural emblem, and, as it were, the distinguishii banner of Christians. Every Christian, therefore, like St. Paul, ought in to be ashamed to sign himself with it, but ought to " glory in the cr of Christ." (Galatians vi. 14.) Should a feeling of shame come over you whilst making this si{ banish it by recalling to mind those words of Jesus Christ : " For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when He shall come in His majesty, and that of His Father, and of the holy angels." (St. Luke ix. 26.) For these reasons, and also for the edification of others, it is com- mendable and useful for Christians to make the sign of the cross. The sign of the cross is also an excellent act of faith in the two fundamental truths of the Christian religion, namely, in the mys'tery of the holy Trin- ity, one God in three persons, and in the mystery of the incarnation. For by saying, in the "name," in the singular number, we profess to believe that there is only one God. By saying, " of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," we profess to believe that in one God there are three divine persons. By the form of the cross, which we trace with our right hand from our forehead to our breast, and then across from the left shoulder to the right shoulder, we profess to believe that the Son of God is our Redeemer, who wrought our redemption by dying for us upon the cross. By the word " Amen " (so be it), we mean to confirm and seal, as it were, our belief in the said fundamental truths. The sign of the cross was used in the first five centuries even more frequently than it is now. Passages could be quoted from Lactantius, from Eusebius of Caesarea, from St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Ephrem, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Ambrose, and from St. John Chrysostom, all of them fathers of the fourth century, to prove it. But I will quote only two passages. Tertullian, who wrote in the second century, says : " At every fresh step and change of place, whenever we come in or go out, when we put on our sandals, or wash, or take our meals, or light our lamps ; whether we are about to recline or to sit down, and whenever we begin a con- versation, we impress on our forehead the sign of the cross " (Ad omue progressum atque pr omotum, ad omnem aditum et exitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lumina, ad cubicula et sedilia, quandocumque nos con- vey satio exercet, frontem, cruets signaculo terimus). (De Corona Mi litis, chap. iii. 4.) St. Jerome, a father of the fourth century, addressing the Roman lady, Eustochium, writes : "Before every action, at every step, let your hand form the sign of the cross." (Episto/a xviii. ad Eustochium, titulo iv.) IN GOD I TRUST. ON PRAYER. < I53 St. Basil asserts as a noted fact that the practice of making the sign of the cross was introduced by the Apostles. (Book on the Holy Ghost, chap, xxxvii.) Let us, therefore, in imitation of the ancient Christians, be fond of making the sign of the cross before doing anything of any consequence. It will be like directing our intention to do that thing for God. It will be the token of putting our whole trust in the merits of Jesus Christ which he earned on the cross, and of our invoking God's help through those merits. papier XX&ttt ©n Prager. RAYER is " the raising up of the mind and heart to God," begging His aid and blessing. It forms a considerable part of the worship we owe to God. It may be useful to give an outline of the Cath- olic teaching on this subject. Although God gives some graces without being asked, such as the first moving graces of faith, and the grace of prayer, He has other graces, necessary for salvation, in store only for those who humbly ask for them. It is therefore necessary for those who have the use of reason to pray. To make use of prayer is not only a counsel but a divine precept : "Watch ye and pray," our Lord directs, "that ye enter not into tempta- tion." (St. Matt. xxvi. 41.) " We ought always to pray and not to faint.'' (St. Luke xviii. 1.) Therefore, to neglect prayer altogether for any great length of time rould not only be dangerous but a grievous sin. There are certain occasions in life in which we are especially bound to ray: as when pressed by a strong temptation which we feel we have not the strength to overcome ; or when in evident danger of death ; or when we have to receive a sacrament, for the due reception of which sacrament prayer is required by way of preparation ; or in time of great public ca- lamity; and, in general, when there is a particular need of divine assistance. Let us not say, " God is infinite goodness, He knows all our wants, He will grant us what is needful without our asking for it." God requires that we should ask, not because He has need of knowing our wants, or because He is not ready to help us, but that we may, by asking, show our humility and dependence on Him, and enjoy the advantage and honor of praying to Him. It is a part of the cherished duty of princes and princesses to present. 1 54 ON PRA YER. themselves, morning and evening, to their royal parents, to converse wit them, to show them their filial love, respect and gratitude, and to mal known their wants and wishes to them. Few would object to be a prii merely on account of the task of having to present themselves dutiful every day to their parents. Surely, if it be a task, it is a sweet one. Prayer, rightly regarded, is a sweet duty, and it is a great honor be allowed to present ourselves before our Creator, the omnipotent Kind of heaven ; to be allowed to call Him Father ; to be permitted to com- municate with Him ; to show Him our reverence, gratitude and love, and to put our wants before Him. By it we enjoy an opportunity of dutifully acknowledging Him as the source of all good, the Author of our salvation ; and of kindling in our hearts love toward Him by that sweef. intercourse which prayer procures to us, and by the benefits that prayer obtains. Indeed, to render the duty of prayer sweeter still, God does to us what kings and queens do not do to their children. He encourages us to approach Him with confidence, by pledging His word that our peti- tions shall never be rejected, even if we be in a state of sin like the poor publican or the penitent thief ; for, though the prayer of the just is more acceptable to God, according to St. James, " The continual prayer of a just man availeth much " (v. 16), yet Christ says in general, without excluding the sinner: " Every one that asketh receiveth." (St. Matt. vii. 8.) For as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: " The efficacy of prayer does not depend on the merit of the person who prays, but on the mercy of God, and on His faithfulness to His promise." This promise of God, however, does not extend to petitions for things that are not for our spiritual good; as these could not be asked in the name of Jesus Christ, and because God, as a loving Father, would not grant what would be hurtful to us. Such petitions God refuses, as He refused that of the mother of the two sons of Zebedee, saying: " You know not what you ask" (St. Matt. xx. 22); but He gives something better instead. Therefore, when we ask for temporal favors, it should always be with resignation to God's will, and on condition that what we ask is profitable to our souls. Our Saviour gave us an example of this resignation when, in the Garden of Gethsemane He besought His Eternal ' Father to take from Him the bitter chalice that was prepared for Him, and then added: " But yet not my will, but thine be done." (St. Luke xxii. 42.) Prayer, such as it should be, is always favorably heard. If sometimes our prayers are not answered, it is because we pray amiss, as St. James reminds us — either because we pray with some lingering attachment to sin, or without attention and devotion ; or because we pray without confidence and without humility. ON PRAYER. I55 Therefore prayer should be made : ist, With devotion and attention; such an attention, at least, is requi- site, as would discourage wilful distractions. If we ourselves do not pay 'attention to what we say, how can we expect that God will attend to it ? To this effect it is good before prayer to remain some moments silent, and consider in whose presence we are, the suitable attitude in which we should place ourselves, and with what dispositions and feelings we should Sray. This is the advice of Ecclesiasticus (or the Preacher): " Before brayer, prepare thy soul; and be not as a man that tempteth God." Pxviii. 23.) 2d, With confidence: " nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like ji wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind." (St. Barnes i. 6.) "All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray," says our Lord, " believe that you shall receive: and they shall come unto you." 'St. Mark xi. 24.) Distrust or diffidence dishonors God: confidence hon- ors God's goodness and faithfulness to His promises. 3d, With humility. For it is written, " God resisteth the proud, and riveth grace to the humble." (St. James iv. 6.) The parable of the Phar- see and the publican is an instance of it. And it is also written, " The Drayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds." (Ecclesias- :icus xxxv. 21.) If our prayer is made with these conditions, it is sure to be heard with favor. Sometimes, however, either to try us, or to cause us to value more what we ask for, or to make us pray more earnestly, so that He might afterward reward us more abundantly, God delays to grant what we ask, as we iearn from the parable of the unjust judge (St. Luke xviii. 1), and from the persevering woman of Canaan. (St. Matt. xv. 22.) Therefore we should not be disheartened when the favor is delayed, but recalling to mind those words of Christ, " Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you " (St. Matt. vii. 7), we should, full of confidence, persevere in prayer; for that delay is for our good. We should also pray for others; and this sort of prayer, whilst it will do good to our neighbor, will not be less beneficial to us than if we were praying for ourselves alone, but even more. The reason is, because our prayer is then grounded on charity. In the Lord's Prayer, which is the model of all prayers, we are taught to pray to our heavenly Father for ill others as well as for ourselves. • Therefore, besides praying for ourselves in particular, let us also pray for the conversion of sinners; for the enlightenment of the Jews and of all unbelievers; for the unity of all Christians in the true faith, and for final 1 56 WORKS OF PENANCE. : perseverance in it; for those who are sick or dying, or in any danger; our parents and relatives, friends and enemies; for those who rule the Church and nation; for those who suffer persecution, distress of mind or body, or any other kind of hardship and misery, and this, whether they are near to us or faraway; and God, the giver of all good gifts, will bestow Hia blessing both upon them and upon us in abundance, through Jesua Christ our Lord, in whose blessed name we always are to pray. Cljapter XXIX- iDorks of penance, ©n 3n&ulgcnce0. N the case of those who have fallen into mortal sin after baptism, when the guilt of such sin and the everlasting punishment due to it are forgiven through the merits of Christ in the sacrament of penance, there still very often remains a debt of temporal punish- ment to be paid by the sinner. This debt remains not from any imper- fection in the power of absolution, in the sacrament of penance, or from any want of efficacy in the atonement of Jesus Christ, more than suffi- cient of itself to atone for the sins of the whole world, but because by God's will chastisement for past sins helps us to make up for the imper- fection in our repentance, and serves as a correction. The fear of tem- poral punishment often helps to strengthen the resolution of amendment: it acts as a check to prevent us from again falling into sin, and excites us to make reparation for the scandal given. From this we see that, whilst the God-man, Jesus Christ, has, by aton- ing for our sins, done what we could not possibly do for ourselves, He has not excused us from doing, with the help of His grace, what we can to punish ourselves for the offences and outrages we have offered to God. Good sense tells us that this is but right and just. Our first parents, after the guilt of their sin had been forgiven, had to undergo a long course of temporal chastisement for their sin. This was also the case with Aaron, Moses, his sister Miriam, and the people of Israel in the desert. (See Numbers xii., xiv., xx.). David, in like man- ner, upon repenting of his sin, and humbly saying, " I have sinned," heard from the prophet Nafehan these words : "The Lord also hath taken away thy sin : thou shalt not die ; nevertheless because thou hast given occa- sion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing the child that is born to thee shall surely die." (2 Kings [2 Samuel] xii. 13, 14.) WORKS OF PEN A NCE. 1 5 7 Again, David says of himself ; " I have labored in my groanings ; every light I will wash my bed ; I will water my couch with my tears." (Psalm k 7-) The Catholic Church has ever taught that after sin has been remitted n the sacrament of penance, penitential works, such as prayers, fastings, alms, and other works of piety must still be performed. These peniten- tial works of themselves, however, do not satisfy the justice of God for :iny sin, but only inasmuch as they derive all their value from that all- 'availing atonement which Jesus Christ made upon the cross, and in virtue >f which alone all our good works find acceptance in the sight of God. Thus it was that in the primitive Church the penitential canons were established, and the forty days' fast of Lent was observed from the time >f the Apostles. St. Jeronfe says : " According to the apostolical tradi- tion at the proper season of the year we observe Lent." {Epistola 27, ad Marcellum.) And St. Leo says: "Let the apostolical institution of forty days be spent in fasting." (Third Sermon on Lent.) The General Council of Nicaea, held in the year 325, not only alludes 10 the penitential discipline then in vigor throughout the whole Church of God, but further establishes certain penitential works to be performed by some kinds of sinners in Canon IX., and following. This ought to be especially noticed by those Protestants who profess veneration for antiq- uity, and notably for the first six general councils. The pardon granted to the penitent thief in the saving words : " Amen, I say to thee, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise" (St. Luke xxiii. 43), cannot be taken as a proof that we are excused by God from doing works of penance. That was a wonderful and special grace granted under extraordinary circumstances ; namely, when the blood of redemption was actually being shed upon the cross ; moreover, the dying thief, besides bearing testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ, confessed his guilt, and in the spirit of penance suffered the torment of his crucifix- ion and the cruel breaking of his legs, as penalties justly due to his sins ; and it may be that it was the first time that he repented and received pardon of his sins. The Catholic Church, which teaches the necessity of penitential works in general, holds also that grown-up persons who receive pardon of actual sins for the first time in baptism, and even those who, having fallen again into sin after baptism ; die martyrs, and those who come to the sacrament of penance with a very intense perfect contrition, or who, approaching that sacrament with imperfect contrition, afterward obtain the benefit of a plenary indulgence, have no remaining debt of temporal punishment to pay. IT is a pity that many Protestants should have been so ill-informed 1 5 8 ON INDULGENCES. about indulgences as to suppose that it means the forgiveness of a sin, or, astonishing to say, a permission to commit a sin. By an indulgence is meant not the forgiveness of a sin, nor a permis- sion to commit a sin, but the remission, through the merits of Jesus Christ, of t tie whole or part of the debt of temporal punishment due to a sin, the guilt and ever lasting punishment of which sin have, through the merits of Jesus Christ, been already forgiven in the sacrament of penance. Indulgences do not secure heaven, but hasten the time of entering it to those who have already secured heaven by having obtained forgive- ness of their sins and put themselves in a state of grace before death. Catholics believe that the power of granting indulgences was left by Christ to the Church. It is included in the promise made by Jesus Christ to St. Peter : " And whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven" (St. Matt. xvi. 19), for these words contain an ample and universal power given to St. Peter and his successors of loos- ing a properly disposed person from everything that may hinder him from going to heaven ; and the debt of temporal punishment does hin- der for a time even a justified soul from going into eternal bliss ; that is, until that debt be paid or remitted. It may be said, at least according to their principles, that Protestants give, in their way, a kind of plenary or full indulgence to every one, when they say that works of penance are not necessary ; but Catholics believe that from all of us poor sinners works of penance are required, and that the power of binding and loosing, which includes that of grant- ing an indulgence, was left only to the legitimate successors of the Apostles, in whom alone this power is still vested. Thus the criminal Corinthian was subjected to a very severe penance by St. Paul. At length, however, upon the solicitation of the brethren, the Apostle granted to that repentant sinner an indulgence, suspended the punishment inflicted upon him, and readmitted him to the commun- ion of the faithful. (1 Corinth, v., and 2 Corinth, ii.) Experience proves that this granting of an indulgence is very useful : it encourages the faithful to deeper repentance, to have more frequent recourse to the sacraments of penance and communion, and to exercise works of charity and devotion : for it is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that, in order to obtain any indulgence, the soul must be in a state of grace, that is, must be free from mortal sin ; and the conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence almost always are, that the applicant should worthily receive the sacraments of penance and the holy Euchar- ist, as a preparation for the reception of the indulgence, and perform some outward works of piety. Therefore an indulgence granted only under such conditions, far from being an inducement to sin, encourages ON PURGATORY. 159 us to repent and to do penance and other works of piety, and is a happy corrective of sin and a preservative against falling again into sin. Chapter XXX. ©n Itagatorg. URGATORY is a state of suffering after this life, in which those souls are for a time detained which depart this life after their deadly sins have been remitted as to the stain and guilt, and as to the everlasting pain that was due to them ; but which souls have on account of those sins still some debt of temporal punishment to pay ; as also those souls which leave this world guilty only of venial sins. In purgatory these souls are purified and rendered fit to enter into heav- jn, where nothing defiled enters. Catholics believe that a Christian who dies after the guilt and ever- lasting punishment of mortal sin have been forgiven him, but who, either from want of opportunity or through his negligence, has not dis- charged the debt of temporal punishment due to his sin, will have to dis- charge that debt to the justice of God in purgatory. They believe also that those Christians who die with the guilt of ven- ial sin,* only, upon their soul do not immediately enter heaven, where "nothing defiled" can enter, but go first to purgatory for an allotted time, and after being purified there from the stain of these venial or lesser faults, are admitted into heaven. As to the place, manner, or :ind of these sufferings, nothing has been defined by the Church. As works of penance have no value in themselves except through the lerits of Jesus Christ, so the pains of purgatory have no power in them- selves to purify the soul from sin but only in virtue of Christ's redemp- tion ; or, to speak more exactly, the souls in purgatory are able to dis- charge the debt of temporal punishment demanded by God's justice, and to have their venial sins remitted only through the merits of Jesus Christ, I yet so as by fire." The Catholic belief in purgatory rests on the authority of the Church and her apostolic traditions recorded in ancient liturgies, and by the an- cient fathers, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Ar- nobius, St. Basil, St. Ephrem of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Greg- ory of Nyssa, St. Ambrose, St. Epiphanius, St. John Chrysostom, St. *See Chapter XIII. on mortal sin, in which a notion of venial sin is also given. 160 ON PURGATORY. Jerome, St. Augustine, on the Fourth Council of Carthage, and on mai other authorities of antiquity. That this tradition is derived from the Apostles, St. John Chrysostoi plainly testifies in a passage quoted at the end of this chapter, in whi< he speaks of suffrages or help for the departed. St. Augustine says of Aerius, that he was the first who dared teach that it was of no use to offer up prayers and sacrifices for the dea< and this doctrine of Aerius he reckoned among heresies. (Book of Heresies, Heresy 53d.) There are also passages in Holy Scripture from which the fathers have confirmed the Catholic belief on this point. St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (chap iii. 1 1— 1 5) writes : " For other foundation no man can lay but that which is laid ; which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be manifest ; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire : and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall re- ceive a reward. If any man's work burn, he shall suffer loss ; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." The ancient fathers, Origen in the third century, St. Ambrose and St. Jerome in the fourth, and St. Augustine in the fifth, have interpreted this text of St. Paul * as relating to venial sins committed by Christians, which St. Paul compares to " wood, hay, stubble," and thus with this text they confirm the Catholic belief in purgatory, well known and believed in their time, as it is by Catholics in the present time. In St. Matthew (chap. v. 25, 26) we read: "Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him ; lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the of- ficer, and thou be cast into prison. Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing." On this passage St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, a father of the third century, says : " It is one thing to be cast into prison, and not go out from thence till the last farthing be paid; and another to receive at once the reward of faith and virtue ; one thing in punishment of sin to be purified by long suffering and purged by long fire, and another to have expiated all sins by suffering (in this life); one, in fire, at the day of judgment to wait the sentence of the Lord, another, to receive an im- mediate crown from him." (Epistle Hi.) * Origen, Homily xiv. on Leviticus, and in Homily xvi. (in some editions xii.) on Jeremias; St. Am- brose in his comments on i Corinthians; St. Jerome in his second book against Jovinian, title 4, part 2; St. Augustine in his Enarratio on Psalm xxxvii. title 4. ON PURGATORY. 161 Our Saviour said : " He that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come." (St. Matt. xii. 32.) From this text St. Augustine argues, that " It would not have been said with truth that their sin shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in* the world to come, unless some sins were remitted in the next world." (De Civitate Dei, book xxi., chap, xxiv.) On the other hand, we read in several places of Holy Scripture that God will render to every one (that is, will reward or punish) according as each deserves. (See, for example, St. Matt. xvi. 27.) But as we can- not think that God will punish everlastingly a person who dies burdened with the guilt of venial sin only — it may be an " idle word " — it is rea- sonable to infer that the punishment rendered to that person in the next rorld will only be temporary. The Catholic belief in purgatory does not clash with the following leclarations of Holy Scripture, which every Catholic firmly believes, lamely, that it is Jesus who cleanseth us from all sin, that Jesus bore "the iniquity of us all," that " by His bruises we are healed " (Isaias liii. ;) ; for it is only through the blood of Jesus and His copious redemption that those pains of purgatory have power to cleanse the souls therein de- tained. Likewise the Catholic belief in purgatory is not in opposition to those texts of Scripture in which it is said that a man when he is justified is translated from death to life ; that he is no longer judged ; that there is no condemnation in him. For these passages do not refer to souls taken to leaven when natural death occurs, but to persons in this world, who from the death of sin pass to the life of grace. Nor does it follow that, lying in that state of grace, that is, in a state of spiritual life, they must \o> at once to heaven. A soul may be justified, entirely exempt from eternal condemnation, and yet have something to suffer for a time ; thus ilso in this world many are justified and yet are not exempt from suffer- ing. Again, it is not fair to bring forward against the Catholic doctrine >n purgatory that text of the Apocalypse (Rev. xiv. 13) : " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; for their works follow them," for this text applies only to those souls who die perfectly in the Lord, that is, entirely free from every kind of sin, even venial, and from the stain, the guilt, and the debt of temporal punishment of every sin. Catholics believe that these souls have no pain to suffer in purgatory, as is the case with the martyrs and saints who die in a perfect state of grace. It is usual to bring forward against the Catholic belief in purgatory 162 ON PURGATORY. that text which says: " If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." (Ecclesiasticus xi. 3.) This text confirms and illustrates the truth that when death conn the final doom of every one is fixed, and there is no more possibilit of changing it, so that one dying in a state of mortal sin will always main in a state of mortal sin, and consequently be rejected for ever ; ai one dying in a state of grace and friendship with God will for ever re main accepted by God, and in a state of grace and in friendship with Hii Hut this text proves nothing against the existence of purgatory ; for soul, although in a state of grace, and destined to heaven, may still have to suffer for a time before being perfectly fit to enter upon that eternal bliss to enjoy the vision of God. Some might be disposed, notwithstanding, to regard this text as op- posed to the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, by saying that the two places alluded to in the texts are heaven and hell. But this interpretation Catholics readily admit, for at death either heaven or hell is the final place to which all men are allotted, purgatory being only a passage to heaven. This text surely does not tell against those just ones of the Old Law who died in a state of grace and salvation, and who, though sure of heaven, yet had to wait in some middle state, until after the ascension of Jesus Christ ; neither, therefore, does it tell against purgatory. Christ's redemption is abundant, "plentiful," as Holy Scripture says (Psalm exxix. 7) ; and Catholics do not believe that those Christians who die guilty only of venial sins unrepented of, and unforgiven, are condemned to the everlasting pains of hell, as Protestants must believe, if consistent with their principles. Catholics believe that for such there is still a way, although painful, of being cleansed from these lesser faults after this life, through the merits of Jesus Christ. And this is in purga- tory, where they can be purified like gold in the fire, and made fit to en- ter into the heavenly Jerusalem, wherein " there shall not enter any- thing defiled " (Apocalypse [Rev.] xxi. 27) ; or, to use the language of St. Paul, " he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." (1 Corinth, iii. 15.*) Catholics also believe that the souls in purgatory continue to be mem- bers of the Church of Christ, and that they are relieved by the sacrifice of the Mass, by prayer, and by pious works, such as almsdeeds. These and other helps are called " suffrages," which are applied to them by the faithful here on earth, with the intention of helping them. Indulgences may also be applied to them. The living can pray for each other efficaciously. St. James the Apos- tle says: "Pray for one another, that you may be saved." (v. 16.) Why, then, should we not be able to pray also with efficacy for the de- *See note on this passage in the Douay Catholic version. ON THE INVOCA TION OF THE SAINTS. 163 parted, especially since the souls in purgatory quitted this life in the state of grace and love which, according to St. Paul, "never falleth away." (1 Corinth, xiii. 8.) If death does not break their ties of love toward us, the same should not sever our bonds of love toward them, nor prevent us from doing what we can in their behalf. The Jews retain in their liturgy to this day the pious practice of praying for the departed. This Catholic belief is comprised in those words of the Apostles' creed, " I believe the communion of saints." The natural meaning of this decla- ration being that we are in communion of prayers with the saints, whether in heaven, in purgatory, or on earth. It has always been the practice of the Catholic Church to offer prayers and other pious works in suffrage for the dead, as is amply testified by the Latin fathers ; for in- stance, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Augustine, St. Gregory ; and amongst the Greek fathers, by St. Ephrem of Edessa, St. Basil, and St. John 'hrysostom. St. Chrysostom says : " It was, not without good reason, ordained by the Apostles that mention should be made of the dead in the tremendous lysteries, because they knew well that these would receive great benefit from it." (On the Epistle to Philippians, Homily iii.) By the expression tremendous mysteries " is meant the holy sacrifice of the Mass. St. Augustine says : " It is not to be doubted that the dead are aided >y the prayers of holy Church and by the salutary sacrifice, and by the ilms which are offered for their spirits ; that the Lord may deal with them lore mercifully than their sins have deserved. For this, which has been landed down by the fathers, the universal Church observes." (Vol. v., Sermon 172, Enchirid?) The same pious custom is proved also from the ancient liturgies of the Greek and other Eastern churches, both Catholic and schismatic, in which the priest is directed to pray for the repose of the dead during the celebration of the holy mysteries. Chapter XXXL ©n fteoerence to, cmb tt)e Invocation of, tt)e Angela anb ©amis. <^jj\ IGHTLY to understand the Catholic doctrine of the invocation of ^|| saints, it is .necessary that Protestants should bear in mind that (^T tne word worship has different significations, according as it is ap- plied to God or applied to creatures. When applied to God, it means the highest degree of honor, due to God as God, and to God alone. When applied to things created, it means inferior, that is, less honor, 1 64 ON THE INVOCATION OF THE SAIN justly paid to them, either on account of their exalted position amoi creatures, or on account of a special reference they bear to God. Catholics believe that the saints reigning with Christ are to be honore ami invoked, that they offer prayers to God for men, and that their relic are to be held in veneration. We read in Holy Scripture that angels we worshipped by Abraham and Josue (Genesis xix. 1 ; Josue v. 15) ; thi the prophets Samuel and Eliseus were worshipped, that is, treated wit marks of honor and reverence. (1 Book of Kings [or 1 Samuel] xxviii, 14.) And in the First Book of Paralipomenon (or 1 Chroncicles) xxix. 20, we read : " And all the assembly blessed the Lord the God of their fathers ; and they bowed themselves, and worshipped God, and then the king" (David). In the Protestant version it reads: "worshipped the Lord and the king." "The continual prayer of a just man availeth much" (St. James v. 16) ; and we find St. Paul earnestly asking the prayers of the Roman Cnristians, saying : " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God." (Romans xv. 30.) All Christians allow that it is right and useful to ask the prayers of holy persons who are upon earth ; it cannot surely be wrong or useless to ask the prayers of the saints in heaven, now that they are so near to God, and in no danger of offending Him. That the saints can know something of what passes on earth, and can sympathize with us, may plainly be inferred from what our Saviour says in St. Matthew (xxii. 30), that the saints "shall be as the angels of God irk heaven :" and from what He said in St. Luke (xv. 7, 10), "I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance." If angels see a sinner doing penance, the saints, who are like the angels of God, are able to see the same. The holy prophets, enlightened by God, could see what was passing in distant places, and could even foresee future things. We have a striking instance in Exodus xxxii. 7, 14. When Moses was on the mountain with God, out of sight of the people below, God told him that the people had fallen into idolatry, and that He would therefore destroy them. But Moses at once prayed God to spare them, and God did so. If Moses, far away and out of sight, but with God, was allowed to know what was passing elsewhere, and to pray as he did for the idolatrous Israelites, we may naturally suppose that the saints in heaven are allowed to know something of what takes place on earth, and to pray for sinners. Surely the saints in the glory of heaven are not less enlightened than the proph- ets ; nor can it be said that they have lost the power of praying, being nearer to the throne of God. If charity prompts us to pray one for an- VIRGIN MARY JUSTLY CALLED MOTHER OF GOD. 165 other here on earth, may not the saints pray for us in heaven, where "Charity never falleth away"? (1 Corinth, xiii. 8.) Shall it not be per- mitted to us who "are fellow-citizens with the saints" (Ephesians ii. 19), to ask their intercession, that they through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, may obtain for us what we stand in need of ? We naturally feel that these blessed souls, being - bound to us by ties of nature and grace, must have a zealous desire to help us in our necessities,* and that God will not withhold from them this satisfaction. The power which the blessed Virgin and all the saints enjoy of inter- ceding for us is a privilege communicated to them by Christ and based on His divine merits. An objection often raised against the invocation of saints is, that it places them between God and men, making them mediators in the same way as Jesus Christ is the Mediator. This objection has no real founda- tion because Jesus is the only Mediator of redemption, and also of inter- cession by His own rights and merits ; whereas the mediation of the saints is not a mediation of redemption but only a mediation of interces- sion, and this through the merits of Jesus Christ, their divine Saviour and >urs. Hence the Church ends all her prayers with these words, " Through fesus Christ our Lord." In the sense of intercessor through Jesus Christ, a saint, or any one >ven here on earth who prays for his neighbor, may be considered and >e called a mediator, as Moses was, who could say of himself: "I was the mediator, and stood between the Lord and you." (Deuteronomy v. 5.) Chapter XXX1L :t)e S1C06C& birgtn Jttara justly callcfc ittotljcr of ©oft, Jjonot anb JDcootion to % filesseb tHrgin Jttarj}, (TJ^HE blessed Virgin Mary is rightfully called mother of God ; for fill ) J esus Christ, God incarnate (that is, God made man), is truly her ^-^ son, as St. Luke (i. 35) expressly states : "The Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." St. Elizabeth calls the blessed Virgin "■ the mother of my Lord." (St. Luke i. 43.) And the blessed Virgin called our Saviour "Son." (St. Luke ii. 48.) The General Council of Ephesus (held a. d. 431) condemned Nes- *The rich man in hell (St. Luke xvi. 27) felt sympathy for his brothers on earth ; we can but suppose that the saints in heaven have no less sympathy for their relatives and friends. 1 66 VIRGIN MARY JUSTLY CALLED MOTHER OF GOD. tonus as a heretic for denying this title of " mother of God " (in the Gre Tkiotok'os) to the blessed Virgin. Those, therefore, who refuse to h this title of " mother of God" show that they do not realize the imam tion of the Son of God. They thus virtually deny the personal divini of the Redeemer and the efficacy of the redemption ; for in that case t blood which was shed on Calvary would not have been the blood of God-man, but simply the blood of a man. It would be like falling int the heresy of Nestorius, who (contrary to the Catholic faith, which teaches that in Jesus Christ there are two natures but only one divine person) taught that in Christ, besides the two natures there are also two persons, the divine person and the human ; and that the Eternal Son of God did not become man in the sense of assuming to Himself our human nature, but only in the sense of residing in the humanity as in a temple, or of being united to it, not in one person but in some other mysterious way only ; and* consequently that the blessed Virgin was merely the mother of that supposed human person, but not of that divine person which is in Christ. The reason why many Protestants object to join in the affection due to our Lady, mother of God, is because they do not properly compre- hend and realize in their hearts the import of this title, " mother of God." Let us then see what this title means. It does not mean that Mary is the mother of the divinity, if by divin- ity be understood the divine nature, for the divine nature is " uncreated, eternal, before all worlds." Nor does it mean that Mary is the mother of the second person of the blessed Trinity, God the Son, according to His divine nature, which would be the same as being mother of the divinity, to assert which would be indeed not only absurd but blasphemous. . Nor does it mean that Mary became the mother of a person that did not exist before, as is the case naturally with all ordinary mothers, for the Son of God who became the son of Mary is in Himself co-eternal with the Father. But it means that Mary is mother of God the Son, with regard to His human nature, which He assumed in time, and which human na- ture He had not before He took it from Mary, for until then He possessed only one nature, the divine. After His incarnation God the Son possessed two natures, the divine and the human. In other words, Mary gave birth to a perfect and com- plete human nature which, from the very first instant that she conceived it of the Holy Ghost, God the Son made His own, assumed it, and united it to His Godhead, and thus God the Eternal Word was made flesh and became man. Hence the fathers speak of a twofold birth or nativity of the " Word," or God the Son ; the one, His being born of God the Father from all HONOR AND DEVOTION TO VIRGIN MARY. 167 eternity ("ex Patre natum ante om?tia sczcula") ; and the other, which is in time, His being born man of the blessed Virgin ("ex Maria Virgine, et homo f actus est "). God the Son, by assuming this perfect human nature, which He took from the blessed Virgin, was born in the flesh, and became really the son of Mary according to His human nature. Therefore the blessed Virgin, the mother of Jesus Christ, is properly and justly called " mother of God," that is, mother of God the Son from the time that He became also man of the substance of His mother, and was born of her in the world. True that the blessed Virgin Mary is simply a creature, deriving all her graces, privileges, and glory from God, and is wholly dependent upon Him ; but it is no less true that God chose her to be the mother of the Word incar- nate, that the divine infant whom she bore and brought forth into the world is a divine person, clothed indeed with human nature, but in whom no human personality exists, because two persons could not so exist in the mystery of the incarnation. If Mary were not truly the mother of the Eternal Word made man, neither would the Eternal Word be truly incarnate, nor truly the Son of man, as He occasionally called Himself. The blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, is justly styled " mother of God," because she is the mother of Jesus Christ, whose humanity is assumed by, and united to, a divine person, that is, God the Son. No wonder, then, that the blessed Virgin Mary should exclaim in her great hymn of praise to God, known as the Magnificat : " For He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name." (St. Luke i. 49.) BECAUSE the blessed Virgin Mary, as the Archangel Gabriel de- clared, is " full of grace " (St. Luke i. 37), and because of her incompara- ble dignity of being the chosen mother of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church regards her as the most highly favored of all creatures, as a creature highly exalted above all men and angels : and consequently teaches that she is to be honored as the most blessed among women, ac- cording to the admonition of St. Paul : ' Render, therefore, to all men their dues, . . . honor to whom honor." (Romans xiii. 7.) All the honor given to the blessed Virgin by men does not equal the least one of those countless acts of honor given to her by her divine Son our Lord during the time that He lived with her and St. Joseph at Naz- areth ; when, as we learn from the gospel, He " was subject to them." (St. Luke ii. 5 1 .) We need not therefore be afraid of honoring her whom the Word incarnate so greatly honored. We are encouraged by the Church to do so, and to frequently recommend ourselves to her prayers. This honor and this recourse to her intercession, far from detracting from the divine worship due to God and to the mediation of Jesus Christ, are felt by Catholics to be really tokens of respect to our blessed Saviour HONOR AND DEVOTION TO VIRGIN MARY. on whose account chiefly we honor her: in fact, we honor her whom Himself has so wonderfully honored, and whom He must wish all to honor. To dishonor Christ's mother would be to dishonor Christ; U honor and to love her is to honor and to love Christ, since it is abov( all for 1 lis sake that we show such affection and reverence to her. This is >weetly expressed by Father Faber in a hymn to our blessed Lady, beginning: " Mother of mercy,* day by day My love of thee grows more and more; Thy gifts are strewn upon my way Like sands upon the great sea-shore. M But scornful men have coldly said Thy love was leading me from God; And yet in this I did but tread The very path my Saviour trod. ' They know but little of thy worth Who speak these heartless words to me, For what did Jesus love on earth One half so tenderly as thee ? " Jesus, when His three hours were run, Bequeathed thee from the cross to me; And oh ! how can I love thy Son, Sweet mother ! if I love not thee ?" It has been well said: " The glories of the mother are the reflection of the divinity of her Son, and every crown that is wreathed for Mary is laid at Jesus' feet." The parable in the gospel of the poor publican, who, " standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes toward heaven; but struck his breast, saying, O God, be merciful to me a sinner" (St. Luke xviii. 13), proves humility to be the best disposition to render our prayers availing; and our recourse to the Virgin Mary is the effect of humility and of a sense of our unworthiness. Moreover, Catholics see clearly that in ask- ing the blessed Virgin to pray for them, they thereby affirm that she is not herself the fountain of grace or of merit, since she herself, in order to obtain graces and merits for us, must t as well as we, have recourse to God, her and our Creator and Saviour; and that when she prays, she prays only through the mediation and merits of her divine Son. In asking the blessed Virgin Mary to pray to Jesus for us, we thereby openly declare that Jesus Christ is our only Redeemer. * Being mother of the Redeemer, she cannot but feel compassion toward those for whom her Son died. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 169 Otyqjfer XXXWX. c Immaculate Conception oi tl)e Bksstb birgin iltari). (^Ja^HE prophet Jeremias (i. 5) and St. John the Baptist (St. Luke i. 45) /ill ) were sanctified before their birth, but some while after their con- ^~s ception; whereas it is the Catholic belief that the blessed Virgin was, by a special privilege, preserved immaculate, that is, free from the stain of original sin, from the first moment of her conception. The immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin Mary, or her con- ception without the stain of original sin, refers to her soul, not to her body; for it is an admitted principle in theology that a human body is not in itself capable of guilt and of the stain of sin, as sin causes a moral and not a material stain. The Catholic Church teaches that in all other human beings descended from Adam, the soul, when created and united by God to the infant body yet unborn (which union is called passive conception, ind in which parents have no part), necessarily contracts, by thus becom- ing a child of fallen Adam, the stain of original sin, which can afterward )e washed away by having the merits of Jesus Christ applied to it; but that with the blessed Virgin Mary it was otherwise, for, at the very instant in which her soul was created and infused into her body, she was preserved from contracting the stain of original sin, by having sanctifying grace >estowed upon her in the very first moment of her existence, and this through the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ, her Son, which were applied to her in the way of prevention, and, therefore, in a special and more per- fect manner. The soul of the blessed Virgin was of itself liable to contract the stain of original sin like any other child of Adam, and, therefore, in need of redemption, but in view of and through the merits of Jesus Christ, whose nrgin mother she was to be, and in whose favor some other general laws as that a woman cannot be mother and virgin at the same time) were suspended, she was, by exception, preserved from contracting this stain. Tie Council of Basle (September 21, 1429) declared that the blessed Vir- gin Mary had never been subject to original sin. Whilst the greatest part of Protestants are loath to admit the exemp- tion of the blessed Virgin Mary from all sin, we find that even the Koran of Mahomet, written twelve centuries ago, deriving most likely the notion from ideas spread among Christians in the East, declares (chapter 3) that Mary the mother of Jesus was always protected from all the attacks of Satan. 170 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. All Christians admit that God could preserve the blessed Virgin maculate, and most persons will feel that it would redound to the honor oi Christ that His mother should never have been defiled by sin, nevei have been the slave of the devil, nor ever, even for an instant, have beei an object hateful to God; for the Christian mind shudders at the thought that the one who was to be the living temple of God incarnate shoulc have been permitted by God, who could prevent it, to be first the abod< of the devil. That which some Protestants think possible, reasonable, and strongh demanded by the honor of Christ, Catholics hold as an article ol faith. It is true that before the solemn definition of this doctrine a diversity of opinion was tolerated by the Church, and maintained by some Catholk theologians, who were not on that account accused of heresy; but this diversity was because the Church had not yet given an explicit definitioi on the subject, and some of the terms employed in debate in the divinity schools of that time were not sufficiently precise and definite, and acleai distinction between active and passive conception was not made. The doctrine was solemnly defined as an article of faith by Pope Pius IX., speaking ex cathedrd on the 8th of December, 1854, as follows: 11 Auctoritate Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, beat or um Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac Nostri declaramus, pronunciamus et definimus, doctrinam, quat tenet, beatissimam Virginem Mariam in primo instanti sues Conceptionis fuisse singulari omnipotentis Dei Gratia et privilegio, intuitu meritorm Christi Jesu Sa/vatoris, humani generis, ab oni7ii originalis culpae labe prce- servatam immunem, esse a Deo revelatam, atque idcirco ab omnibus fide libus firmiter constanterque credendam. " Quapropter si qui secus ac a Nobis definitum est, quod Deus aver tat, praesumpserint corde sentire, ii noverint, ac porro sciant, se proprio judicio condemnatos, naufragium circa fidem passos esse, et ab unitate Ecclesice de/ecisse." This extract from the solemn definition may be translated as follows: " By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we declare, pronouce, and define, that the doctrine which holds that the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore is to be firmly and steadfastly believed by all the faithful. " Wherefore, if any shall presume, which may God avert, to think in their heart otherwise than has been defined by us, let them know and, more- over,understand, that they are condemned by their own judgment, that they THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 171 - have made shipwreck as regards the faith, and have fallen away from the unity of the Church." That this doctrine is in accordance with Holy Scripture and the ancient Tradition of the Church, may be seen in books* that treat on this subject, as also in the apostolic letter of his holiness Pope Pius IX., " Ineffabilis Deus" (so named from the Latin words with which I the said encyclical letter begins), of the 8th of December, 1854, which contains the dogmatical definition of the immaculate conception. In this document is also clearly explained how this doctrine, far from de- tracting from the redemption of Christ, adds to it a new lustre, inasmuch as it shows Christ's merits to be so efficacious as not only to have power to efface the stain of original sin after it is contracted, but also, what is more wonderful and beneficial, to preserve the soul from contracting it. To treat this important subject in a satisfactory manner would require an entire volume, but for the satisfaction of some I will here quote one text of Holy Scripture, and a few passages from the ancient fathers in confirmation of the Catholic belief in the immaculate conception. In the book of Genesis (iii. 15) God said to the serpent : "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed." According to all ancient interpreters this is a prophecy. The woman mentioned is Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, and the seed of the woman is Jesus Christ himself, the Redeemer of mankind. Certainly the enmity which exists between Jesus Christ and the ser- pent, that is, the devil, is a perpetual one, and excludes sin of all kinds. But the same enmity, it is here declared by God, should exist between the woman (th*at is, the blessed Virgin Mary) and the evil spirit. Therefore it follows that the enmity which exists between the Virgin Mary and the devil must be a perpetual one, and also necessarily excludes all sin, and, therefore, also original sin, which of itself suffices to enslave a person to the devil. This text sufficiently proves that the blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her Son Jesus Christ, was from the first moment of her exist- ence immaculate : that is, she was preserved from contracting the stain of original sin in the first moment that her soul was united to her body and began to exist as a human being, that is, at the time of her passive conception. In the Hebrew and Samaritan text and Alexandrian version the pronoun is masculine or neuter, therefore referable either to seed, or to Christ, but this does not weaken the argument, for the proof does not depend upon the pronoun referring rather to one than to the other, but *See F. Passaglia, S. J., and Bishop Ullathorne, O. S. B., on the Immaculate Conception, as also Father Patrizi, S. J. 172 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. upon the absolute and perpetual enmity of the Son and His mother agairu the demon, from which enmity it follows that both the Son and tl mother have perfectly and entirely triumphed over the demon, thoug] a diverse title : that is, the Son by his own virtue, the mother by vim of the Son. The ancient writer of De Nativitatc Christi, found in St. Cyprian* works, says : Because (Mary) being "very different from the rest of niai kind human nature, but not sin, communicated itself to her." (Sec tl Anglican Bishop Fell's edition, a. d. 1700, p. 60, col. 2.) Theodordtus, a father who lived in the fifth century, says that Man "surpassed by far the cherubim and seraphim in purity." Had Theodc retus believed that Mary was born in sin, he would hardly have used sue an expression. St. Ephrem, a father of the fourth century, says that Mary was "ei tirely free from every defilement and stain of sin." (Oratio ad Beatai Virgifie.} St. Cyril of Alexandria, who lived in the beginning of the 5th centun has these words : " With the exception of Christ and His blessed mother we are all born in sin." (Lib. vi. in Joannem C. 15.) St. Maximus, bishop of Turin, a father of the fifth century, says " Mary clearly was a worthy dwelling-place for Christ, not on account the beauty of her person, but because of original grace." (Homilia ante Natalem Domini?) In the Greek liturgy of St. Chrysostom, a father of the fourth centun which liturgy is still used by the United Catholic Greeks and the schis- matic Greeks, the following words are directed to be chanted by the choir during the canon of the Mass : " It is truly meet that we should praise thee, O mother of God, who art always to be blessed, and who art exempt from every fault : thou art the mother of our God, to be venerated in preference to the cherubim ; thou art beyond comparison more glorious than the seraphim." (Goar : Euchologium, p. 78.) Theodorus, patriarch of Jerusalem, said in the second Council of Nicaea that Mary " is truly the mother of God, and virgin before and after child- birth ; and she was created in the condition more sublime and glorious than that of all natures, whether intellectual or corporeal." (Labbe, vol. viii.) Add to all this, that disbelief in the immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin Mary would imply belief in the following revolting con- sequences : that He who is holiness itself, and has an infinite horror of sin, took human nature from a corrupt human source, whilst He might have taken it from an incorrupt one ; that the infinite purity was enshrined in the ark of the maternity which had been sullied by original sin, whilst REVERENCE TO RELICS. 17; He might have avoided it ; that the divine person drew the precious blood of his humanity from a source which was not from the first immaculate, whilst He might have preserved it immaculate, and this without dimin- ishing, but rather enhancing, the glory of His redemption. Who can believe that, it being in the power of God the Son to exempt the blessed Virgin, who was to be His mother, from contracting the stain of original sin, He should not have done so ? Who can believe that, it being in the power of God the Son to prepare a spotless holy temple wherein to dwell incarnate for nine months, should have preferred to have one which had been first profaned by the stain of original sin ? Who can imagine that God, who could become incarnate by preparing to Himself a mother immaculate in her conception, should have preferred a mother who had first been stained by sin and had been once in the power and slavery of Satan ? . To admit such oppositions is shocking to Christian minds. Christian sense, grounded on theological reasons, sees at a glance that the mother of God incarnate must have always been immaculate : that without this the enmity of Mary to sin would not have been perpetual and complete. It having been in the power of God to preserve Mary unstained from or- iginal sin, there is every reason to believe that He should have done it. Potuit ergo fecit (God was able, therefore He did it). It is hard, indeed, to imagine how the incarnation of the Son of God could have taken place, unless the mother had been preserved free from the stain of original sin, and had always been adorned with the splendor of the most perfect holi- ness. Cljapkr XXXll). Hcuerence to ftelic0 anh ott)tv tteltgtou0 ©bjecta. ^JHE Catholic Church teaches that the images or representations of mm \) ^ esus Christ, of His blessed virgin mother, and of the saints in ^£^ general, are to be honored with "due honor;" not, indeed, for what they are in themselves, but for what they represent. This honor is called relative honor, because it relates or refers to the person rep- resented. Thus it would be simply a token of affection toward our parents if we were to kiss the likeness of a dear father or mother. At the House of Lords it is a customary mark of respect to Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen to bow before her chair of state, even though it be empty. Again, men honor Her Majesty by putting her portrait in a distinguished 174 REVERENCE TO RELICS. place and by bowing before it. It would be dishonoring the Queen liei self to treat her portrait with any disrespect. The reverence paid by Catholics to holy images does not offend againj the commandment of God. It is true that the latter part of the first cor mandment declares: "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thingj but this is explained by the words that follow : " Thou shalt not adoi them (/ion adorabis ea), nor serve them." (Exodus xx. 4, 5, and Deut< onomy v. 9.) The meaning, therefore, clearly is : Thou shalt not maJ unto thyself a graven thing or idol for the sake of adoring it as a false goc or idol. The words, " bow down," in the Protestant version, instead of "adore," are calculated unhappily to mislead unreflecting persons. This commandment cannot be taken to condemn the use of images intended to promote the honor and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ, the true living God, or the inferior honor due to the holy angels and the saints, as this is not worship of strange gods, and, therefore, not idolatry. It was thus understood by the Jews, who by the command of God placed two graven images of the cherubim on the ark of the covenant (3 Kings vi. 23), and other images of angels in the Temple of Solomon. (2 Paralipomenon [or 2 Chronicles] iii. 10, 11.) It is, in fact, thus practi- cally understood also by those Protestants who have no scruple in making graven images, and even in setting them up in their places of worship. No Christian certainly could find in his heart to treat the crucifix, that affecting image and appealing likeness of our crucified Saviour, as an idol, and trample it under his foot. Christian feeling would prompt him to re- spect it, as he respects and reveres the precious word, the sound, the very letters, of the holy name of Jesus. It would be idolatry to worship any saint, or the image of any saint as God, but it is not idolatry to honor the saints for what they are, namely, the faithful servants of God, and to honor pictures of them for what these pictures represent. If we may pay respect to the likeness of a parent, child, or friend, living or departed, we may surely honor pictures of the saints who are the special friends of God, and show our reverence for those who, now glorious in heaven, are "The spirits of the just made perfect" (Heb. xii. 23), who are "like to Him " (1 St. John iii. 2) and who behold Him "face to face." (1 Corinth, xiii. 12.) The danger which some Protestants suppose to exist that any one Chris- tian might, through ignorance, worship the image for the reality — in other words, make an idol of it — is very remote indeed ; for every Christian, even the least educated, knows how to distinguish an image from what it rep- resents. The very word "image" or "likeness" itself marks plainly this distinction. If any one, seeing a poor Catholic woman praying before an image or picture of the blessed Virgin, were to say to her : "The blessed REVERENCE TO RELICS. 175 Virgin is in heaven and not there, my good woman," she would look at such a person with pity and surprise for thinking it necessary to remind her of that. Josue and the ancients did not break the commandment of God when they remained a whole day prostrate before the ark of the covenant and the likenesses of the cherubim, as stated in the book of Josue (vii. 6) in these words : " But Josue rent his garments, and fell flat on the ground before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and all the ancients of Israel." In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Doctrine (chapter the fourth), learned amongst the first lessons by every Catholic child in England, is seen the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments of God, taken from the twentieth chapter of Exodus, but following, as to the last two command- ments, the order of the repetition of the law in the fifth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy (see especially verse 21). The division of the command- ments into ten adopted by the Catholic Church is that made by St. Augus- tine, bishop of Hippo, in the fifth century, in his book of "Questions on Exodus" (Question 17). This is a philosophical arrangement worthy of remark and study, and naturally suggested by the different matter of each part. This division is followed by the Protestants in Germany, and in general, except by the English Protestants. In the same chapter of the Catholic Catechism we are taught the kind of respect and honor we should pay to relics and pictures in answer to the following questions : Question : " Should we give honor to relics, crucifixes, and holy pictures?" Answer. "Yes; we should give to relics, crucifixes, and holy pictures an inferior and relative honor, as they relate to Christ and his saints, and are memorials of them." Question : I May we not pray to relics or images ?" and the plain answer put in the mouth of the child is : " No, for they can neither see, nor hear, nor help us." As to those who fear lest it be idolatrous to pay honor to relics, I would only refer them to St. Jerome, who, opposing Vigilantius for pre- tending that the honor paid by the faithful to relics was idolatrous, argued with him in this way: "Not only do we not adore the relics of the martyrs, but we do not even adore the angels, the archangels, the cherubim and seraphim. Yet we honor the relics of the martyrs that we may adore Him whose martyrs they are. We honor the servants, that the honor bestowed on them may redound to their Master." That God wills we should bestow honor on the relics of his saints, we gather from the marvelous virtue with which it pleases God some- times to honor their bones and other relics. Thus in the Fourth Book of Kings (2 Kings of the Protestant version) we read : "Some that were 176 ON THE USE OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE. burying a man, . . . cast the body into the sepulchre of Elisei [Elisha]. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man cai to life, and stood upon his feet." (xiii. 21.) The afflicted woman in the gospel who, full of faith and humilit; trusted for her cure in the touch of the hem of the garment of our Loi (St. Matt. ix. 20); and those who had confidence in the "shadow" of Peter to cure their sick (Acts v. 15); and those who confided in tl "handkerchiefs" and "aprons" that had touched the body of St. Pai and brought them to the sick (Acts xix. 12) — all these were not disaj proved by our Lord nor by the Apostles, but rewarded by God, who, b) these humble means, cured them. The many celebrated miracles wrought at the tombs of the martyi prove that the honor we pay to them is agreeable to God. (See St Augustine, book xxii., City of God, chap, viii.) Chapter XXXl). ©n tl)c Use of tl)c Cattn Canguage. 'HE Church is apostolic. She is the Church of St. Peter and of the other Apostles, and she has guarded with tenderness all the pre- cious memories they have left. When the Apostles parted from each other for their mission to announce to all nations the gospel of salvation, two languages chiefly were spoken and understood by the two great civilized divisions of man- kind — the Latin language for the most part in the west and the Greek in the east. They preached the faith chiefly in Latin and Greek ; their teachings and their institutions were written in those two rich languages, and the Church has preserved these monuments with a religious venera- tion. This is one reason why her language is for the most part Latin in the west, and Greek in the east. Yet this which, in fact, is a testimony in favor of her antiquity, is made by some a theme of reproach against her. Providence had already disposed all in advance. Latin and Greek became dead languages, and hence invariable, and wonderfully adapted to formulate (or express with precision) the doctrines of the Church which alters not because she is divine. An interesting calculation made on the changes that have been made in the living languages, shows, that had the Church adopted the various living languages instead of the Latin, she would have been obliged to ON THE USE OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE. 177 modify the formula (or essential words) used in the administration of the sacrament of baptism a great many times ; otherwise these formulas would not have expressed correctly the idea they should convey. By this we can judge of the many changes which the wording of the creed, and de- crees of the early councils and those of the Popes would undergo, were they not recorded in an unalterable (or dead) language. Protestants have perhaps reason in preferring the use of spoken mod- ern tongues in their authorized books of religion. Living languages, con- tinually changing, are more suited to convey doctrines which are subject to frequent alteration. But the Catholic Church prefers old, unchange- able languages because she is herself unchangeable. The Church speaks Latin, not only because she is unchangeable, but also because she is Catholic, or universal, and has to address herself to ill people in all times. During the first four centuries of Christianity Latin was the language )f the civilized world, and although then a living language, it had that :haracter of universality which the Church requires. When in course of time the world was divided into many nationalities, the Church still pre- served her beautiful primitive language, and thus remained unchanged in ler speech as in her essence. Thus the Church speaks Latin because she is apostolic, unchanging, and Catholic. St. Paul, it is true, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (chap, xiv.), lirected the Christians to use in their assemblies a language understood >y all the faithful present ; but many Protestants draw from this an ob- jection which does not apply to the present question. The Apostle confines himself to the preaching, exhorting, and instruct- ing the assembled faithful, all which, he says, must be done in the ver- lacular or common language of the people. The word "prophecy" includes instructions — speaking on things divine. The Catholic Church follows this apostolic command to the letter. Her bishops, priests, mis- sionaries, and catechists always employ in their teaching a language understood by all. They speak, when needed, in the most obscure and most barbarous dialects, in order that the Word of God preached may reach the understanding of all. The Catholic Church speaks not only the particular distinctive lan- guage of each land and tribe when instructing the people, but has also a special Catholic language, that her pastors, belonging to every nation, may readily communicate with each other, that they may minister to- gether at the altar, and that her laity, of whatever tongue, may not, when in a foreign land, feel strange in the house of God, but feel at home in any Catholic place of worship, in any part of the world. i 7 8 THINGS THA T CA THOLICS DO NO T BELIE VE. In this way the Church unites in one universal tongue to implore mercy and sing the praises of God. This beautiful and sublime harmonj of nations in one faith, with one voice, in the one fold of the one Sin p herd, is worthy of the Church of Christ, and of the unity which is her grand characteristic. The Mass is a sacrifice offered directly to God, and it is not necessary for the people to follow in the Latin the words of the priest. When the Catholic priest stands at the altar, though there may be persons pr- from every clime, so soon as he pronounces aloud any part of the service. all understand, and take an intelligent part in his ministration ; a fact which reminds one of the preaching of the Apostles on the Day of Pente- cost, when all from every nation heard St. Peter, each in his own tongue. (Acts ii. 6.) The Church speaks Latin, therefore, not only because she is apostolic, unchangeable, and Catholic, but also because she is one. Change of language in the liturgy would seem to break the link with the past, and raise some suspicion of innovation in what is expressed in the liturgy ; while the having retained the same ancient language indi- cates that the Church which continues to use it is the very same as of old, and that she has not changed in any essential matter, having been so careful as not to change even her language, which, compared with doc- trine, is of much less importance. It is fairly presumed that the Church which possesses the language of antiquity has antiquity on her side; that, being the inheritor of the lan- guage, she is also the inheritor of the ancient faith. The fact of her stiU using the Latin language makes us feel the more sure that the Catholic Church is the one old, unchangeable Church of God. Chapter XXXfol* 0ome <£l)mg0 tljat CatfjoltCB bo not Belteue. (^(^/^E have already passed in review what seem to be the principal II iH P omts °f Catholic belief, and now, in order to meet the most \£J\cJS' common of the misapprehensions and misrepresentations on these matters, we will here state, though it may be in part a repetition, some things that Catholics do not believe. i st. They do not believe that there is any other Mediator of redemp- tion than our Saviour Jesus Christ, " For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved" than that of Jesus THINGS THA T CA THOLICS DO NOT BELIE VE. 1 79 (Acts of the Apostles iv. 12); and when they call the blessed Virgin or any other saint a mediator, it is not in the sense of Mediator of redemp- tion, attributed to our Saviour, but in the sense of intercessor or pleader, in which sense any Christian may be called a mediator, whenever he in- tercedes or mediates between God and his fellow-man, as Abraham and Moses and St. Paul did, and thus prays for his neighbor. God himself commanded Eliphaz and his friends to apply to the patriarch Job that he [should pray for them, and God promised to accept his prayers. " Go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust ; and my servant Job shall pray for you ; his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you." (Job xlii. 8.) In this sense Moses could also say, "I was the me- diator, and stood between the Lord and you." (Deuteronomy v. 5.) 2d. They do not believe that the blessed Virgin is in any way equal or even comparable to God, for she, being a creature, although the most highly favored, is infinitely less than God. Nor do they claim for her any power beyond that which she derives from Him ; for she is entirely dependent on God for her existence, her privileges, her grace, and her glory. The strong, loving expressions used oftentimes by Catholics, which jseem to attribute to the blessed Virgin more than is here stated, are to be understood in the limited sense meant by Catholics themselves, as here explained ; that is, in a way consistent with the Catholic teaching and spirit, and not in the unlimited, un-Catholic sense which persons not un- derstanding that teaching may be led to apply to them. These tender expressions, I say, ought not to be judged of by cold or hostile criticism, [for they spring from fervent, heartfelt devotion and unmeasured love. If it were permitted to take offense at expressions which are only true tin a limited sense, surely from those words of Scripture : "I have said, You are gods" (Psalm lxxxi. 6), one might argue that Holy Scripture holds certain men to be really gods. From those words of the Gospel : " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters he cannot be my disciple " (St. Luke xiv. 26), one might pretend that Christ encourages ; the hating of parents and other relatives. That direction of our Lord, "If thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off" (St. Matt. v. 30), might be taken to justify self-mutilation. And from the words : " How knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife ?" (1 Corinth, vii. 16) some might argue that according to Scripture a man can be the saviour of his wife. If, therefore, even in the interpretation of Holy Scripture, it would be a wrong principle to take in the full extent expressions that were meant to be understood in a qualified sense only ; so still more unjust it would i8o THINGS THAT CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE. be to apply this wrong principle to expressions found in books of de> tion or in religious poetical compositions, in which a certain latitude the expansion of a warm heart is allowed. It is a common practice among men to use expressions which are ti only in a secondary and limited sense. For instance, a great poet oj artist is spoken of as "'divine;" mothers often call their children their little" angels," " kings," and " queens," and are said to " adore " or " idolize " them, and no one thinks of blaming such tender exaggerated expressions of heartfelt love. In like manner the title of " Worshipful " is given to every guild or ancient company of the city of London, to mayors and magistrates, and justices of the peace. Thus again, in the marriage ser- vice in the Book of Common Prayer of the Established Church of Eng- land, the bridegroom has to say to the bride : " With my body / thee worship? No one should take offence at these expressions ; indeed, it would seem captious to do so ; more especially when the speaker declares his meaning. 3d. Catholics do not believe that there is any authority upon earth or in heaven that can give leave to commit any sin, even the least ; or that a sin can be forgiven for money ; or that a priest can give valid absolu- tion to a sinner who does not repent and truly purpose to forsake sin and amend his life. 4th. They do not believe that a man can by his own good works, in- dependently of the merits and passion of Jesus Christ and of His grace, obtain salvation, or make any satisfaction for the guilt of his sins, or ac- quire any merit. 5th. They do not believe that it is allowable to break a lawful oath, or tell a lie, or to do any other wicked thing whatever for the sake of pro- moting the supposed interest of the Church, or for any good, however great, likely to arise from it. The false- and hateful principle, that the end justifies the means, or that we may do evil that good may come, is utterly condemned by the Catholic Church. 6th. They do not believe that it is in the power of the Church to add to the truths contained in the " deposit of faith," that is, to frame or en- force any doctrine which has not for its source the written or unwritten Word of God, or authority from the same. Nor do they believe, when the Church makes a definition in matters of faith, that this definition or article of faith is a new doctrine, but only a solemn declaration and a clearer statement of what was believed, at least implicitly (that is, in an implied way, or inferentially), in the time of the Apostles, though some private persons might have doubted of it. 7th. Catholics do not believe that Protestants who are baptized, who THINGS THAT CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE. 181 lead a good life, love God and their neighbor, and are blamelessly igno- rant of the just claims of the Catholic religion to be the only one true re- ligion (which is called " being in good faith "), are excluded from heaven, provided they believe that there is one God in three divine persons ;* that God will duly reward the good and punish the wicked ; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God made man ; who redeemed us, and in whom we must trust for our salvation ; and provided they thoroughly repent of having ver, by their sins, offended God. Catholics hold that Protestants who have these dispositions, and, more- over, have no suspicion of their religion being false, or have not means o discover, or fail in their honest endeavors to discover, the true religion, md who are so disposed in their heart that they would at any cost em- )race the Roman Catholic religion if they knew it to be the true one, are Catholics in spirit and in some sense within the Catholic Church, without hemselves knowing it. She holds that these Christians belong to, and ire united to, the " soul," as it is called, of the Catholic Church, although hey are not united to the visible " body " of the Church by external communion with her, and by the outward profession of her faith. Very different is the case of a person who, having the opportunity, eglects to learn from genuine, trustworthy sources what the Catholic re- gion is and really teaches, fearing that, were he to become convinced f the truth of the Catholic faith, he would be compelled by his conscience o forsake his own religion and bear the worldly inconveniences attached o this step. This very fear shows a want of good faith, and that he is not that insurmountable ignorance which could excuse him in the sight of od, but that he is one of those of whom it is said in Psalm xxxv. 4, j He would not understand that he might do well." Fairness, no less than common sense, teaches that a man should study nd examine the teaching of the Catholic Church at Catholic sources be- ore condemning her. Surely no man ought to reject Catholic doctrines f he has not made himself well acquainted with them. Nor is it fair to orm a judgment on misrepresentations made by ill-informed, interested, r prejudiced persons ; but he should rather, by the study of authorized atholic works, judge of the truth with that calm and unprejudiced mind hich the all-important subject of religion deserves. Thus having heard oth sides you will be in a state to pass a judgment and not in danger of eing guided by prejudice. Our Saviour gave no hope of salvation to the Samaritan woman unless he entered the one true Church of that time, saying to her, destitute of * A believer in one God who, without any fault on his part, does not know and believe that in God there are three divine persons, is, notwithstanding, in a state of salvation, according to the opinion of most Catholic theologians. i82 CONCLUSION. a sure guide: " You adore that which you know not; we adore th; which we know; for salvation is of the Jews." (St. John iv. 22.) So lil wise there is no salvation for any one who, having by God's grace coi to the knowledge of the truth, obstinately refuses to join the true Chun of God. There was no safety out of the ark of Noe during the deluge, and one can be saved who is in no sense within the true Church, prefigurec by that ark. According to St. Cyprian: "No one can have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape the deluge out of the ark of Noe, he who is out of the Church may also escape." (Book on the Unity of the Church.) It is hard to understand how a Protestant can daily say in the Apos- tles' creed, as many happily do still say : "I believe in the holy Catholic Church," without at least a thought arising in his mind, that perhaps, after all, the Church which alone is truly Catholic or universal, both in name and in fact, has more claim on his love and obedience than his own de- nomination, which really is not Catholic. Copter XXXtm. 1 Conclusion. (3^ VV AY the blessing of God accompany the reading of this short % "I exposition of Catholic doctrine and practice ! (\sJJVv May honest-hearted Protestants, by the study of these few- pages of plain and candid explanation, be helped to form a more correct idea of the real teaching of the Catholic Church, and be bet- ter disposed to listen to her claim upon their love and obedience. "The charity of Christ presseth us" (2 Corinth, v. 14) to entreat such earnest-minded persons to pray heartily to God for supernatural faith, for light to lead them on to the truth, and for strength to tear themselves away from all dangerous hindrances and from all attachments to any known sin. If these earnest souls persevere in prayer and in avoiding sin and the occasion of sin, they shall find the truth — and the truth shall make them free indeed: " For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (St. Matt. vii. 8 ; St. Luke xi. 10.) Jesus said: " Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God." (St. Matt. v. 8.) He also said: " Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my CONCLUSION— A PRAYER. 183 voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." (St. John x. 16.) If, then, they are constant in prayer, they shall be guided into the one fold of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour, to whom, with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. A PRAYER* ? or light to find the true Church of Christ, and for grace to submit humbly and heartily to her guidance when found. O God the Father, my Creator; O God the Son, my Redeemer; O God the Holy Ghost, my Sanctifier; Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy lpon me ! O Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who didst appoint thine Apostles to act in thy stead, with power to teach all revealed truth, and to dispense thy sacraments, give me light to know thy one true Church visible here on earth. Help me, dear Saviour, to submit myself humbly to her guidance, and let me not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Thou who didst heal the sick, heal me. Thou who didst give sight to the blind, grant that I may see. Let me find in thy Church pardon ind salvation, through the merits of thy most precious blood. Help me, a poor sinner, to follow after thee, and to press forward to the full enjoyment of thee forever in heaven. Amen. Ejaculations or little prayers ; recommended to be repeated very often, humbly and fervently. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like to thy heart. Dear Jesus, lead me into thy one fold, O God of my salvation. O God the Holy Spirit, give me light to know, and courage to profess, the true religion. Jesus, our God: Have mercy on us. Maxim. No security is too great where Eternity is at stake. * It is strongly recommended to pray and to pray much, as conversion is a matter depending on God's light and grace. How many are thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Roman Catholic religion, and yet have not the courage to embrace it, because they do not pray, or do not pray properly and enough. See observations of Cardinal Newman on Faith, in Part II. of this book, No. 12. NO CROSS, NO CROWN. PART II. PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS TO A PROTESTANT BEFORE AND AFTER BEING RECEIVED INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. '0, 1 — Answers to some SDifftcnlties, cm& to some Qtlnestions ttjat a Person earnestly seeking tl)e trite Religion migl)t mist) to ask. Question. — May we not consider that all Christian denominations are ood for salvation, provided a man lives up to the principles of the relig- ion he professes ? Answer. — No ; for though, under certain conditions, as explained at Chapter XXXVI. , No. 7, some may be saved, who, without any fault of their wn, are not outwardly, that is, visibly, united to the body of the Church, et it is a great mistake to say that all Christian religions or denomina- tions are good, and leading to salvation. The Church of Jesus Christ, as is explained in Chapter XX., can be but one, and Jesus Christ has threatened condemnation to any one who refuses to hear this one appointed divine teacher. (St. Mark xvi. 16.) We are as much bound to submit our intellect to God as we are bound to submit to Him our will. But to give credit to opinions taught by per- sons not sent by God, or by interpreters not authorized by Him, is not submitting our intellect to God. Again, as the law of God in morals excludes vice, so in intellectual matters it excludes error in faith (" dissensions, sects "), and forbids it under pain of exclusion from heaven. (See Galatians v. 20, 21.) i86 PART II.— NO. i. God, who is essential truth, can only command true faith, that is, be lieving what is true; therefore every one is bound to look for the true faith. To suppose that God is indifferent as to whether we have the truth 01 the contradiction of it, which is error, whether we commit ourselves t< the guide appointed by Him, or rebel against that guide, and commit ourselves to unauthorized teachers, would be to bring to naught the ol ject of revelation, to nullify the office of the Church, to contradict the declaration of Christ, and, if done wilfully, to offer an insult against the God of holiness, charity, and truth. • Question. — I can scarcely suppose that God requires of me to give uj the religion of my fathers, in which I was born and brought up, for an- other religion, in which it may be difficult for me to feel at home. Does God require of me such a sacrifice as the ruin of my prospects, the loss property, the opposition of parents and friends, who will, in all likelihood, resent such a step and forsake me, leaving me an outcast of society, anc an object of pity and suspicion ? A?iswer. — This must naturally be a painful thought, but instead of re garding this step as abandoning the religion of your fathers, you shoulc consider it, as it really is, a coming back to the old religion and faith of your forefathers, of which faith you and your parents have unconsciously been deprived ; for it is a well-known historical fact that down to the time of the so-called Reformation in the sixteenth century, almost with- out exception all Christian people in England were Catholics, and that the people in England have been forced into Protestantism by the bai ishment of all Catholic bishops and priests, and by stringent penal laws against anyone who was absent from Protestant service, or who attendee Catholic worship. If Protestantism had been introduced in a fair way (as by persuasion), Protestants would have built churches for themselves, leaving the Cath- olic churches in possession of their rightful owners. The simple fact that all Catholic cathedrals, churches, colleges, and other Catholic public edi- fices in England have been taken away from Catholics by Protestants, and not one of them left in their hands, is a sign that Protestantism was introduced into that country in a violent way.* Were the hardships entailed on a Protestant for embracing the true religion even greater in number and more severe than they really are, they ought not to be considered great when compared with the gain : and one ought to be ready to undergo them with a generous heart, out of a sense of duty to God, and in view of one's eternal interest. The sacrifice of any temporal advantage is never too great to secure *See Part III., No. 10, of this book. ANSWERS TO SOME DIFFICULTIES. 187 everlasting salvation. No earthly advantage, which is but for a time, can make up for the loss of heaven. Our Lord expressed this truth in those searching and solemn words : "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul ?" (St. Matt. xvi. 26.) The example of so many millions of martyrs who died for the faith ought to stir up our courage and devotion. Our Lord says : " He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me." (St. Matt. x. 37, 38.) "So likewise everyone of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple." (St. Luke xiv. 33.) " For he who shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed when he shall come in his majesty, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels." (St. Luke ix. 26.) " Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth; I came not to send peace, but the sword." (St. Matt. x. 34.) From all this it is plain that our Lord Jesus Christ expects some sacri- fice from us. We ought, therefore, not to be backward in making them for the love of Him who sacrificed Himself unsparingly for the love of us. We ought to be glad to have an opportunity of doing so : and our Lord will not be sparing in His rewards. (See St. Matt. xix. 29.) Some are naturally much affected by the thought of having to leave the religion in which they were born and educated, and in which theypassed so great a part of their life. But surely this is to allow oneself to be guided by feeling rather than by duty, conscience, and reason. If this were a good motive, all those who have the misfortune of being brought up in heresy would be justified in remaining in it. To have been born and bred in a certain religion is not a sound reason for retaining it, when you come to see clearly that it is not true. You will be answerable to God for obstinately continuing to profess a religion which, by God's grace, you have seen to be false, and for obstinately refusing to embrace that religion which, by God's grace, you feel convinced is the true religion founded by Jesus Christ. The thought of changing your long-cherished religious profession dis- turbs and alarms you. You should observe, however, that though, on the one hand, you are required to give up all that is false in the religious belief you have professed until now, you will happily retain everything good and true that you possessed as a Protestant, to which you have only to add those necessary points of belief in which you are deficient. Whatever truth and whatever good there is in the religious belief you have hitherto professed you will find, in all their genuine simplicity and fulness, in the Catholic Church. Instead of having less affection for 1 88 PART II— NO. i. your parents and friends, your love for them will be deepened, your svi pathy ennobled and enlarged, your love for Jesus Christ intensified, anc your respect for the Word of God more consistent and more true. If what keeps you back were fear of not being able to surmount cci tain difficulties, you should consider that as it is a strict duty on your part to embrace the true religion, God will not fail to' give you the neces- sary strength to that end. To doubt this and to distrust God's assistance would be more unreasonable, more offensive to God and more fatal to yourself than the distrust shown by the Israelites in the desert of being able to overcome the obstacles which opposed their taking possession of the promised land. (See book of Numbers, chapters xiii. and xiv.) Question. — If a person believes all that the Catholic Church teaches, and frequents Catholic services and fulfills other Catholic duties, is he not then a Catholic, without any need of a formal reception by a Catho- lic priest ? Answer. — No adult baptized Protestant is considered to be a convert to the Catholic Church until he is received into the Church according to the prescribed rite. No other way of admitting any non-Catholic Chris- tian as a member of the Catholic Church was ever known but that of ab- solving him with an external rite from ecclesiastical censures (that is, certain spiritual disadvantages and penalties) resting on him, and of ad- mitting him into the Church. This rite is performed only by a Catholic priest in the name of the Church.* A foreigner or alien is not considered to be a subject of the British Empire unless he has undergone the formalities of naturalization making him a British subject ; and a Christian estranged from the Church of God is not, as a rule, reckoned as belonging to the Church — the king- dom of God on earth — unless he is duly absolved and received. One must be within the ark to be safe from the deluge ; one must be within the walls of the city to be safe from the'enemy. The Church is that ark, that city. St. Jerome says : " Whoever is not in the ark of Noe will perish by the deluge." (Epistle to Pope Damasus.) And in a passage of Isaias which refers to the Church it is said : " Salvation shall possess thy walls." (lx. 18.) Question. — Nicodemus was a disciple of Christ, though secretly ; can- not I in like manner be a Catholic in heart and in secret ? Answer. — Nicodemus was a disciple of Jesus Christ in secret ; but he presented himself to our Lord. Begin therefore by presenting yourself to the Catholic priest, to be instructed and received into the Church. After being received into the Church privately, if weighty reasons in the judgment of your spiritual director justify it, such as loss of home, or * See Conversion of Victorinus, Part II. No. 3, of this book. ANSWERS TO SOME DIFFICULTIES. 189 property, or employment, and so long as those weighty reasons last, you need not make your Catholicity public, but may attend to your Catholic duties privately. Circumstances, however, may occur in which either plain duty or the sacredness of truth, or the honor of God, or the edifica- tion of neighbors may require of you "to contend earnestly for the faith" (St. Jude 3) ; imitating Nicodemus himself, who when required boldly came forward and attended to the burial of Christ ; for in such cases, as St. Paul warns us, " with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." I (Romans x. 10.) Question. — What should a person do who is convinced of the truth of the greater part of Catholic teaching, but who is not quite satisfied about • some points ? Answer. — Humbly beg God's aid and blessing ; apply with confidence : to a Catholic priest ; state your difficulties to him, and ponder well, be- fore God, upon his explanations and advice. As a father, he will be sure to receive you kindly, whoever you are, and will patiently hear what are your difficulties. He will gladly remove from your mind any mistaken notion about the Catholic faith, and, it may be, he will be able to remove your difficulties. It is very important that you should hear for yourself an answer to our religious difficulties from one who, by study, training, and in virtue }f his office, is fitted to deal with such matters ; for it often happens that he particular objections you may have on your mind are not answered, 3r, perhaps, even so much as mentioned, in ordinary books of Catholic nstruction. Go, then, to him at once, as you value your immortal soul ; for you may never be able by yourself to overcome your difficulties ; and by de- aying you may lose, through a mere crotchet perhaps, after all, the riceless joy and peace of living and dying in the embrace of your true mother the holy Catholic Church, the Church founded and ever protected }y Jesus Christ. Question. — What steps should be taken by any one who, after having thought on the matter well and prayed earnestly, has decided to become a Catholic ? Answer. — You must apply to a Catholic priest, who will judge of your dispositions and of your knowledge of the Catholic faith. He will jive you further instruction if needed, and explain your duties, and how you have to act after your reception into the Church. When he is satis- fied that you are properly prepared, he will appoint the time for your be- ing received. Question. — What is the usual practice for the reception of a convert into the Catholic Church ? 190 PART II.— NO. i. Answer. — On coming to be received, if it is certain that you have never been baptized, you will receive the sacrament of baptism, and that is a full reception into the Church without any other form. In such case, it may be useful to make a confession of your past sins ; but you are not bound to do it, because holy baptism remits not only original sin, but also all actual sins. For a convert who presumably has been baptized when a Protestant though not quite certain that he has been baptized well, coming to be re- ceived into the Church, the practice is : ist. You go to the altar or to the sacristy, or other place convenient for your reception.* 2d. The priest who is with you says certain prayers appointed by the Church; you, in the meantime, kneel down and pray silently. 3d. You will then read, or repeat aloud, after the priest, the profession of faith, namely, that summary of Catholic belief known as the Creed of Pope Pius IV., or some other authorized form, as that approved by the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. (See Part II., No. 2, Second Form of Profession of Faith.) 4th. After this, the prayer called the " general confession," or Confit- eor ft is said by yourself, or by the priest, if no one else is there to say it for you. He will then release you from the ban and censures of the Church, under which as a Protestant (by misfortune, probably, rather than by fault), you have hitherto been, and he will so receive you into the fold of the Church. If you do not yourself say the Confiteor, you will do well to repeat in a low voice with sorrow of heart those words of the penitent in the gospel: " O God, be merciful to me a sinner." (St. Luke xviii. 13.) 5th. The priest will then administer to you baptism under condition {sub conditione) , by pouring a little water thrice on your head or forehead, whilst he addresses you by your Christian name, and pronounces these words: " [Christian name], if thou art not already baptized, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."* * It has been the practice until of late to hear a preparatory confession from a Protestant before being received into the Church; which confession was completed and followed by sacramental absolution after the conditional baptism had been administered. This practice, I am authorized to state, is now, as a rule, discontinued; for, by an instruction of the holy see, which is printed in the Appendix to the 4th Provincial Council of Westminster (Chapter xviii.). it is required: (1) That those persons who, on being converted to the Catholic faith in England, are conditionally baptized, shall also make a full sacramental confession of the sins of their past life; and (2) that this confession with conditional absolution, shall follow the con- ditional baptism. I said, " as a rule," because if a convert, of his own accord, wishes to open his mind and tell his sins beforehand to the priest, completing his confession, and receiving absolution after having received conditional baptism, there is nothing to prevent it. \ The Confiteor will be found four pages hence. X The Latin form used by the priest is: " [N. N.], si non es baptizatus, ego te baptizo in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiriius Sancti. A men. * ANSWERS TO SOME DIFFICULTIES. 191 " If thou art not already baptized," makes this act to be no bap- tism at all if the first baptism was valid. In this way the danger and even the possibility of administering- a second baptism is effectually avoided. Conditional baptism is, as a rule, administered for safety's sake to all converts from Protestantism, on their reception into the Church, from the fear that, as sometimes has been the case, what they received before as baptism was not really baptism, either for want of intention, or on ac- count of some defect in the element used, or in the words uttered, or on account of some serious fault in the administration; and to obtain full information about every case is almost an impossibility.* It is to be remarked, therefore, that only when there has previously been really no baptism, does this baptism " under condition" take effect; for holy baptism is a sacrament that can be received only once. In baptism under condition the ceremonies prescribed for baptism are not required, nor are sponsors needed. 6th. After the baptism under condition the priest recites the ancient hymn of the Church, beginning: " Te Deum laudamus" ("We praise thee, O God ").„ (See Part II., No. 10.) 7th. Being now baptized and received into the Church, you will go and kneel in the confessional, or other appointed place in the Church, to make your confession and to receive from the priest the sacramental abso- lution, f While receiving absolution, you must renew your sorrow and your hatred of sin, and your resolution to amend, making a sincere act of contrition. (See Part II., No. 12, and middle of No. 15.) As some converts feel a great deal of needless alarm and anxiety about confession, it may be well here to remark — 1 st. That we are bound to confess only mortal sins (that is, grievous sins which " kill the soul," by depriving it of the grace of God) (see chap- ter XIII.), which after self-examination can be called to mind. Our venial sins (that is, lesser faults, which, " though they offend God, do not kill the soul "), we are not bound to confess, although it is recommended to do so. Holy communion, an act of contrition, or a fervent act of the love of God, suffices, through the merits of Christ, without sacramental confession, to cleanse the soul from the stain of venial sin. 2d. That it is not required of us to mention each sin of the same sort or kind in detail, but the sins of one kind may be all mentioned together : for example, the penitent confessing may say : " I accuse myself of having * Though a priest is not bound under the said circumstances to make investigation about the validity of the baptism of each convert, yet if, in some particular case, the priest happens to be thoroughly convinced that a person has been validly baptized, the baptism under condition is omitted according to directions from Rome. \ Directions how to approach the sacrament of penance will be found in Part II., No. 15, of this book. 92 PART II.— NO. i. been guilty of grievous disobedience to my father or mother, or of having given way to great spiteful anger, about [so many] times," stating, accord- ing to the best of his belief, after careful examination, the number ; and thus also of other mortal sins. A circumstance which may cause a veni sin to become mortal, or a sin of one kind to become further a sin o another kind, must also be declared. 3d. That if we are not able to remember the exact number of our sins, it is enough to state the probable number, to the best of our recollection and judgment, saying: " Thave committed that sin about [so many] times " a day, a week, or a month. In fact, we are bound to reveal our conscience to the priest as we know it ourselves, there and then stating the things certain as certain, those doubtful as doubtful, and the probable number as probable ; for God does not require impossibilities, but only what we can offer, namely, sincerity and ordinary diligence. Confession, fairly explained and rightly understood, is not so difficult as some imagine it to be. Confession is the healing medicine of the soul, and we must not wonder that, in the providence of God, it is somewhat bitter ; yet we ought to be ready to use it for our soul's health, as we take a medicine for the good of the body, however distasteful that medicine may be. If prisoners condemned to death were offered release on condition that they would make confession of their misdeeds, in secret only, to one of the judges, who would be bound, in honor, never to reveal a word of what they had confessed, surely they would thankfully avail themselves of the offer, and would easily overcome their natural dislike to self-accusation in order to purchase life and liberty. So a Christian ought not to consider it too hard a condition of forgiveness to have to confess to any priest he may choose, who has the authority, called " faculty," from his bishop to hear confessions, and who is most solemnly bound, not only in honor but in conscience, by the law of God and by the positive law of the Church, to the most sacred and inviolable secrecy with regard to what he hears in sacramental confession. The penitent sinner will not think it too hard to make confession of his sins if he only considers the punishment his sins have deserved, the sufferings which our Saviour underwent for his sins, the forgiveness he receives, his rescue from the slavery of Satan, and his restoration to the friendship of God, and what a great folly it is, for the sake of sparing himself a little shame here in confessing his sins, to expose himself to eternal shame hereafter. , Jesus Christ shed His precious blood, to the last drop, in the midst of the most cruel torments on the cross, to provide for us sinners an over- flowing fountain of salvation in the sacrament of penance — the sacrament of reconciliation. To refuse to make use of this life-giving sacrament, on I ANSWERS TO SOME DIFFICULTIES. 193 the plea that to confess to a priest is disagreeable to nature, is unworthy of a Christian. Let me add that confession is not, after all, so hard in practice as some not accustomed to it may imagine. With God's grace and the assistance of your confessor, added to your own good dispositions, confession be- comes surprisingly easy and consoling. How many converts there are who, though in alarm before making heir confession, have afterward exclaimed : " And is that all ? Had I nly known how easy it was, I would not have endured upon my con- cience the burden of sin so long, and put off my reception into the Cath- lic Church. Thank God ! now I feel an unspeakable peace." Oh, that many, many more would thus readily obtain peace and hap- piness ! Why are there persons who endanger their salvation by choosing to remain in a state of uncertainty in matters necessary to be believed, aving all the while their conscience burdened with sin and misery ? Cardinal Newman feelingly observes on this point : " How many are the souls in distress, anxiety, or loneliness, whose one eed is to find a being to whom they can pour out their feelings unheard y the world ! Tell them out they must ; they cannot tell them out to hose whom they see every hour. They want to tell them and not to tell hem ; and they want to tell them out, yet be as if they be not told ; they /vish to tell them to one who is strong enough to bear them, yet not too itrong to despise them ; they wish to tell them to one who can at once idvise and can sympathize with them ; they wish to relieve themselves of 1 load, to gain a solace, to receive the assurance that there is one who hinks of them, and one to whom in thought they can recur, to whom they can betake themselves, if necessary, from time to time, while they are in he world. How many a Protestant's heart would leap at the news of such l benefit, putting aside all distinct ideas of a sacramental ordinance, or of I grant of pardon and the conveyance of grace ! If there is a heavenly dea in the Catholic Church, looking at it simply as an idea, surely, next ifter the blessed sacrament, confession is such. And such is it ever found n fact — the very act of kneeling, the low and contrite voice, the sign of the cross hanging, so to say, over the head bowed low, and the words of eace and blessing. Oh, what a soothing charm is there, which the world can neither give nor take away ! Oh, what piercing, heart-subduing tran- quillity, provoking tears of joy, is poured almost substantially and phys- cally upon the soul, the oil of gladness, as Scripture calls it, when the penitent at length rises, his God reconciled to him, his sins rolled away or ever ! This is confession as it is in fact." {Present Position of Cath- olics, p. 351.) Oh ! if they only would, how many might joyfully exclaim, with the i 9 4 PART II.— NO. 2. royal psalmist : " Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of tl snare of the fowlers ; the snare is broken, and we are delivered " (Psall cxxiii. 8 ) ; and why will they not ? " Oh, taste and see that the Lord is sweet ; blessed is the man t hopeth in him." (Psalm xxxiii. 9.) The "Confiteor" or Confession. Confiteor Deo omnipotent, beatae Mariae semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistae, Sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et tibi, Pater, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Vir- ginem, beatum Micha61em Archangelum, bea- tum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes sanctos, et te Pater, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum. I confess to Almighty God, to blessec Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to you, father, that I have sinned exceed- ingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. [Here strike your breast in sorroiu thrice.'] Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Vir- gin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, all the saints, and you, father, to pray to the Lord our God for me. Sfo. 2 .— £t)e Apostles' aireetr. Divided into 12 Articles. 1, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; 2, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord ; 3, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary ; 4, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; 5, He descended into Hell ; the third day He rose again from the dead ; 6, He ascended into heaven ; sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; 7, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead ; 8, I believe in the Holy Ghost ; 9, the holy Catholic Church ; the communion of saints ; 10, the forgiveness of sins; 11, the resurrection of the body; 12, and the life everlasting. Amen. Creed of Pope Pius IV.* I [IV., Christian name\ with a firm faith, believe and profess all and every one of those things which are contained in that creed which the *This Creed, an extension of the Nicene Creed, was composed at the conclusion of the General Coun- cil of Trent (capital of the Austrian Tyrol), held from the year of our Lord 1545 to 1563, to meet the errors of the first Protestants, Luther, Calvin, and others, then spreading. A few supplementary words were added by Pope Pius IX., referring to the Supremacy and Infallibility of the Roman pontiff. CREED OF POPE PIUS IV. 195 ,holy Roman Church maketh use of. Namely : I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus- Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God of God : Light of Light : true God of true God ; begotten, not made, consubstantial * to the Father ; byt whom all things were made. Who, for us men, and for our salva- tion, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead : — of whose kingdom there shall !be no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver, iwho proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who, together with the ather and the Son, is adored and glorified ; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess e baptism for the remission of sins : and I look for the resurrection of e dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen4 I most steadfastly admit and embrace the apostolical and ecclesiasti- 1 traditions, § and all other observances and constitutions of the same 'hurch. I also admit the Holy Scriptures, according to that sense which our oly mother the Church has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures : | neither will IRever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unani- mous consent of the fathers. ^[ I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of ithe New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the I salvation of mankind, although not all of them necessary for every one, * Of one substance with. f Or through whom, " per quem." |So far, this is, word for word, the Nicene creed, which was mainly composed by the Council of Nicsea, ild in the year of our Lord 325, against the Arians, who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. §That is, " I admit as points of revealed truth what the Church declares that the Apostles have taught such, whether clearly or not clearly expressed or not even mentioned in the written Word of God: as, for instance, that baptism is to be conferred on infants, that Sunday instead of Saturday (called the Sabbath) is to be kept holy: and moreover, I admit those points of discipline which the Church holds as established by the Apostles, or by their successors as lawful rulers of the Church in the early centuries of Christianity, such as points of liturgy or of Church government. I This means: " I will not take the Holy Scripture in a wrong sense;" as would be the case if one were to interpret a passage of Scripture in a sense opposed to that defined by the Church. (See Chapter VIII.) lIThis regards points of faith or morals not yet defined by the Church; and it means that when it is known that the fathers (venerated Christian writers of ancient times) agree in the interpretation of any passage of Scripture on matters of faith or of morals, it would be rash and wrong to disregard their inter- pretation; as in such cases their testimony represents the faith of the Church. It does not, however, imply that an obligation rests on a private person to consult the fathers when reading Holy Scripture for his own edification and instruction. To put such an interpretation on this passage would be mere cavilling. 196 PART IL— NO. 2. namely, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme V tion, Orders, and Matrimony ; and that they confer grace ; and thai these, baptism, confirmation, and orders, cannot be repeated without sin of sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and appro ceremonies of the Catholic Church used in the solemn administration the aforesaid sacraments. I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which h been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent, concerning ori nal sin and justification. I profess likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a t proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead. And that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood ; which conversion the Catholic Church calls tran- substantiation. I also confess that, under either kind alone, Christ is re- ceived whole and entire, and a true sacrament. I steadfastly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages* of the faithful. Likewise that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be held in veneration. f I most firmly assert that the images^ of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever Virgin, and also of other saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honor and veneration are to be given them.§ I also affirm that the power of granting indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people. (See Chapter XXIX.) I acknowledge the holy Catholic, apostolic, Roman Church for the mother and mistress of all churches, and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter, prince of the Apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ. (See Chapter XXL, on the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome.) I likewise undoubtingly receive and profess all other things which the sacred canons and general councils, and particularly the holy Council of * That is, spiritual helps, such as pious works or prayers. f This article does not enjoin as a command the pious invoking of the saints and the honoring of their Telics, as this, except in the public services of the Church, is left by the Church to the discretion and devo- tion of each individual ; but it intends to condemn the error of those who reject altogether as wrong the in- vocation of saints and the honor paid to them and their relics. % Or pious memorials. § In this passage also there is no command implied to keep holy images for private devotion, but it binds us to admit the principle of the lawfulness of the practice, and that it is right and good to use them. A SHORTER FORM OF, PROFESSION OF FAITH. 197 .Trent and the (Ecumenical Vatican Council, have delivered, defined, and declared, and in particular, about the supremacy and infallible teaching of the Roman pontiff.* And I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church has condemned, Rejected, and anathematized. I [Christian name], do at this present freely profess and sincerely hold •this true Catholic faith, out of whichf no one can be saved 4 And I promise most constantly to retain and confess the§ same entire and un- stained, with God's assistance, to the end of my life. A Shorter Form of Profession of Faith. 1 IX name], son [or daughter] of [name and sur- erred, inasmuch as I have held and believed \name of the father], born in [place of birth doctrines opposed to her teaching : 1 and whether married or single], kneeling before I now, enlightened by divine grace to see my you Rev. Father duly authorized by the bishop past errors, profess that I believe the Holy of [Bishopric] , having before my eyes the holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church to be the Gospels, which I touch with my hand, and only and true Church established on earth by knowing that no one can be saved without that Jesus Christ, to which I submit myself with faith which the Holy Catholic Apostolic Ro- my whole heart. I believe all the articles that ;man Church holds, believes, and teaches, she proposes to my belief, and I reject all the against which I grieve that I have greatly articles that she rejects and condemns, and I 'Et ab CEcumenico Concilio Vaticano tradita prtzsertim de Romani Pontificis Primatu el infallibili magis- \ {Extra quani). % This expression should not appear too strong, as it is only a repetition of what Christ said : " But he t believeth not, shall be condemned." (St. Mark xvi. 16.) This condemnation is not intended to apply to the earnest Christian who has not the means of knowing the Catholic faith, for he thus belongs in some i sense to the Catholic Church, being excused, on account of involuntary or invincible ignorance. This re- j mark applies also to those who are altogether out of the light of the faith, but who follow with fidelity the 'light of the natural law they possess written in their hearts. (See Chapter XXXVI., Some Things that • Catholics do Not Believe, No. 7.) § This condemns the opinion of some, that for salvation it is enough to believe the Catholic faith only inwardly ; for, not professing habitually the religion of Christ is equivalent to being ashamed of Christ ; and regarding those who are ashamed of Him, Christ declared He would be ashamed of them when He should come in the glory of his Father. (St. Mark viii. 38, and St. Luke ix. 26.) St. Paul declares, " with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans x. 10.) From the moment that one is convinced that the Catholic faith is the true faith, and the Catholic Church the tru* Church of Christ, it is his duty to become a member of it, and be added to it also exteriorly by an out- ward reception ; as otherwise he would belong neither implicitly nor explictly to it, that is, neither to the soul nor to the body of the Church. Not to the soul, because that is the privilege only of a person in good faith, as explained in Chapter XXXVI. No. 7. Not to the body, because, as we suppose, he refuses to join it outwardly in the manner appointed by the Church. Thus it was not enough for St. Paul or for Cornelius the centurion to believe inwardly, though enlightened by a supernatural light, but the former had, by God s direction, to apply for that purpose to the priest Ananias, and Cornelius to St. Peter. (See example of Vic- torinus, Part II. No. 3.) 1 I am authorized by his lordship the bishop of Calcedonia, General Commissary of the Holy Office, Monsignor Vincent Leo Sallua, to state that this form of profession of faith is authorized by the holy see for the whole of Christendom, and that it is the form constantly used in Rome for the reception of Protes- nts and schismatics into the Catholic Church. I 198 PART II.— NO. 2. am ready to observe all that she commands inc. And especially, I profess" that I believe : One only God in three Divine Persons, dis- tinct from, and equal to, each other — that is to say, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; The Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation, >n, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the personal union of the two Natures, the divine and the human; the divine Maternity of the most holy Mary, to- gether with her Immaculate Conception and most spotless Virginity; The true, real, and substantial presence of the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist; The seven Sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind; that is to say, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Pen- ance, Extreme Unction, Orders, Matrimony; Purgatory, the Resurrection of the dead, Everlasting life; irot 1 The Primacy, not only of honor, but al jurisdiction, of the Roman Pontiff, succesi of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Vic. Jesus Christ; The veneration of the Saints, and of t images; The authority of the Apostolic and 1 astical Traditions, and of the Holy Script which we must interpret and understand only in the sense which our holy mother the Catho- lie Church has held, and does hold; And everything else that has been defined and declared by the Sacred Canons, and by the General Councils, especially by the Holy Council of Tnent ; and by the Oecumenical Council. With a sincere heart, therefore, and with un- feigned belief, I detest and abjure every error, heresy, and sect opposed to the said Holy Cath- olic and Apostolic Roman Church. So help me God, and these His holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand. Mode of Reception. The priest authorized by the bishop sits on a chair, and the person to be received kneels before him and reads the above profession of faith, touching with his right hand the Gospel. Then the psalm Miserere, or De Profundis, is recited, ending with Gloria Patri. After this the priest rises and says : Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison, Pater noster. V. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem. R. Sed libera nos a malo. V. Salvum fac famulum tuum [vel famulam tnam] Domine. R. Deus meus sperantem in Te. V. Domine exaudi orationem meam. R. Et clamor meus ad Te veniat. V. Dominus Vobiscum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. Oremus. Deus cui proprium est miseren et parcere, Te supplices deprecamur, ut hunc famulum tuum [vel famulam tuam] quern excommunicationis catena constringit miseratio tuae pietatis clementer absolvat. Per Christum, etc. (Here the Priest sits and says) — Auctoritate Apostolica qua fungor in hac parte absolvo te a vinculo Excommunicationis quam incurristi, et restituo te sacro-sanctis Ecclesiae Sacramentis, Communioni et unitati fide- lium in Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. ( The priest enjoins a salutary penance consisting of a prayer, or visit to a church, or similar. Then the baptism under condition is administered when needful to do so. CONVERSION OF VICTORINUS. 199 A ve»y short Form of Profession of Faith, to be used only in cases OF VERY GRAVE AND URGENT NECESSITY. Theologians teach that in case of an urgent necessity, as of grave ill- ness, a short, comprehensive form may be used. I propose the following as an example : I [Christian name], do sincerely and solemnly declare that, having been brought up in the Protestant religion [or other religion, as the case may be], but now, by the grace of God, having been brought to the knowl- edge of the truth, I firmly believe and profess all that the holy Catholic and Roman Church believes and teaches, and I reject and condemn what- ever she rejects and condemns. No. 3.— Conferment of totctorinuB.* To encourage timid souls to apply at once to a Catholic priest for in- struction when the truth of the Catholic religion comes home to their minds, and not to allow themselves to be kept back by human respect from frankly applying to be received into the Church when thoroughly :onvinced of the truth of her divine claim to their obedience, I might here mention many illustrious examples of our own time of conversion to the Catholic faith in England. Foremost among these would stand the honored names of Henry Ed- ward Manning (now cardinal archbishop of Westminster), of John Henry Newman (now cardinal), of Father Frederick Faber, of Akers, Allies, Anderdon, Ashburnham, Aspinall, Badeley, Bagshawe, Ballard, Bampfield, Barff, Belaney, Bellasis, Beste, Bethell, Blair, Bowden, Bow- yer, Britten, Brownlow, Buchan, Buckler, Bury, Bute, Campbell, Caswall, Christie, Clarke, Clutton, Coffin, Coleridge, Dalgairns, Denbigh, Digby, Douglas, Dunraven, Emly, Fincham, Formby, French, Lane-Fox, Galton, Gainsborough, Garside, Goldsmid, Gordon, Grindle, Harper, Hibbert, Humphrey, Hutchison, Hutton, Jerrard, Kenyon, Keogh, Kerr, Knox, Laing, Towry-Law, Leigh, Leslie, Lindsay, De Lisle, Lockhart, Louth, Lucas, Luck, Macmullen, Manners, Marshall, Maskell, Maude, Maxwell, Mayo, Mivart, Molesworth, Montagu, Monteith, Morell, Morris, Scott- Murray, North, Northcote, Oakeley, Paley, Palmer, Patmore, Patterson, Phillips, Pollan, Procter, Wegg-Prosser, Pye, Welby-Pugin, Ranken, * His full name was Fabius Marius Victorinus. He was of "consular dignity," and is supposed to have been one of the teachers of St. Jerome. He flourished in the time of the Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, about A. D. 352. St. Jerome {De Scriptoribus Eccl. cap. 101) gives this short notice : "Victorinus, of African origin, taught rhetoric under Constantius, and, when already much advanced in years, he embraced the faith of Jesus Christ. He wrote some books against Arius . . . and commen- taries upon the Apostle St. Paul." 200 PART II.— NO. j. Rawes, Rhodes, Richardson, Ripon, Robertson, Roscommon, Roi Watts-Russell, Ryder, St. John, Hope-Scott, Seager, Orby-Shipley, Sped cer, Stanton. Stokes, Talbot, Healy-Thompson, Thynne, Todd. Turnbull Urquhart, De Vere, Ward, Wenham, Wilberforce (three brothers), Win- chester, Woodward, Warmoll, and others ; and of noble women not a i\ w. best known to God and to the poor, but some whose names cannot be unknown to many an English Poor Mission, as Argyll, Atchison, Athole, Buccleuch, Chisholm, Coleridge, Fullerton, Gladstone, Hamilton, 1 las- tings, Herbert, Holland, Kenmare, Lockhart, Londonderry, Lothian, Queensberry, Stanley, Tatton Sykes, Thynne, Waterford, and Wilber- force, who, with many more of either sex, in every condition of life, some highly distinguished in their profession, have shown great moral courage and loftiness of mind, undaunted by the frown of the world, or by any personal or public loss. These all have cheerfully submitted to the Cath- olic Church, and have humbly sought and found reception into her fold, in lasting joy and peace. But passing over our own day, I prefer to relate a truthful and affect- ing history of early Christian times — the conversion of Victorinus, a celebrated orator and poet of Rome, which occurred in the fourth century. It is recorded by the illustrious African bishop and doctor of the Church, St. Augustine, in his deeply interesting work called " Confessions." From this historic account it will be seen that the formal reception by an authorized priest, now required of a convert on becoming reconciled and formally admitted a member of the Catholic Church, is not anything new, but is a practice which has been the universal custom of the Churcl from very early times. This narrative by St. Augustine, translated for me by my kind friend, Mr. William Hutchison, from the beautiful Latin (Con/esszones, book viii., chap. 2), is as follows: " Therefore [O Lord], I went straightway to the priest, Simplicianus, who, in the conveying of thy grace, was the spiritual father of Ambrose, then bishop, and whom Ambrose really loved as his father, f " To Simplicianus I disclosed the mazy wanderings of my errors. When, however, I told him that I had read certain books of the Platonic school, which Victorinus, formerly professor of rhetoric in the city ol Rome, had translated (from the Greek) into Latin, and who, as I ha< heard, died a Christian, he rejoiced with me that I had not fallen in with the writings of those other philosophers that are full of fallacies and de- * St. Augusine wrote his " Confessions" about the year of our Lord 400. f St. Augustine calls Simplicianus the spiritual father of St. Ambrose, because it was at the hands of this holy Roman priest that St. Ambrose received the grace of holy baptism. Simplicianus was sent from Rome by Pope Damasus I. to Milan, to aid St. Ambrose, whom he succeeded in that bishopric. (See St. Augustine's " Retractations," book ii., chap, r.) CONVERSION OF VICTORINUS. 20I ceits, according- to the principles of this world ; * whereas the Platonic writings tend, in every way, to suggest God and His divine Word.f "To encourage me, then, in the love of Christ's humility, hid from the wise, and revealed to little ones4 he recalled to mind the same Victorinus, with whom he, when living at Rome, had been most intimately acquainted ; and he took occasion to relate to me an account of his friend that I will not pass over in silence, because it redounds to the great glory of thy grace, O Lord. "Simplicianus related how this aged and most learned man, thoroughly versed in all the liberal sciences, who had read and judged and explained so many works of the philosophers, who had taught so great a number of noble senators, and who also had merited and gained for himself, in acknowledgment of his remarkable success as a teacher, the rare honor, so highly prized by the citizens of this world, of having his statue set up in the Roman Forum ; how he, even to that, his old age, had been a worshiper of idols, taking part in those profane rites to which nearly all the nobility as well as the people of Rome at that time were so given up ; for they worshiped all kinds of monstrous divinities, even the barking [dog-headed] Anubis of Egypt ; monsters, who all in former days had, as enemies to the Romans, fought against Neptune, Venus, and Minerva ; § so that, indeed, Rome was now supplicating the very demons she had vanquished. " How this aged Victorinus, who, by his thunderlike eloquence, for so many years had been defending these hateful idols, yet now, old as he was, did not blush, O God, to become the child of thy Christ, the new- born babe of thy baptismal font, submitting his neck to the yoke of lumility, and his subdued forehead to the reproach of the cross.. " O Lord, my Lord, thou who didst bow the heavens and didst come iown, who didst touch the mountains, and they gave forth smoke, || by what winning ways didst thou make entrance for thyself into that heart ? " Victorinus, as Simplicianus told me, used to read Holy Scripture, and most diligently examine and most profoundly study all Christian votings; and one day he said to Simplicianus, not publicly, but in a more :onfidential and friendly way: 'You must know that now I am a Chris- tian.' To this Simplicianus replied: ' I will not believe it, nor shall I account you as a Christian unless I see you among the faithful in the Church of Christ.' " Victorinus, turning it into jest, with a smile replied: ' Do the walls, then, make people Christians ? ' And often would he say that now he * See Colossians ii. 8. f Logos, Sermo, or Verbum. % St. Matthew xi. 25. § See Mneid of Virgil, book viii. I Psalm cxliii. 5. line 698. I 202 PART II.— NO. 3. \\ as a Christian, and Simplicianus as often made the same reply as befor to which Victorinus would always return the same jest about the wall for he was afraid of offending his friends, those haughty worshipers demons, from the lofty height of whose Babylonian dignity, as from tl cedars of Libanus,* which the Lord had not yet broken in pieces, feared that a heavy storm of enmity would fall down upon him. But, after a while, by reading, and by a thirst for truth, he gaine inward strength, and feared to be disowned by Christ before the hoi angels if he should be afraid to confess Him before men; and he seemt to himself guilty of a great crime in being ashamed of the mysteries the humiliationf of thy eternal Word, and of not having been ashame( of the sacrilegious rites of proud demons, in which, as a haughty w( shiper, he had taken part. " Emboldened to cast off false shame in quitting vanities, he tool shame to himself for not having stood by the truth; so that suddenly and unexpectedly he said to Simplicianus, who told me so himself: 4 Come, let us go to the Church, for a Christian I will be.' " Simplicianus, beside himself with joy, at once went with him. When there, after he had received the first instructions in the Christian mysteries, he soon also gave in his name that he might be regenerated in holy baptism, to the wonder of Rome and joy of the Church. ' The proud saw and were angry, they gnashed with their teeth and pined away. 'J ' But as for thy servant, the Lord God was his hope, and he had not regard to vanities and lying follies. '§ " At last, when the hour came for his making profession of the faith, which, at Rome, it is the custom for those who come to receive thy grace to pronounce in a set form of words learnt by heart, from a raised place, in the sight of the faithful, Simplicianus told me that it was proposed by the priests to Victorinus to make his profession privately, as it was cus- tomary to allow to some who seemed likely to be troubled through bash- fulness; but that he chose rather to make his profession of the saving faith in the presence of the holy congregation. " What he had been accustomed to teach from his chair of rhetoric was not indeed a matter of salvation, and yet he had professed that science publicly; how much less reason could there be for him, who never had feared when speaking his own words to crowds of foolish men, now to be afraid to pronounce thy words, O Lord, before thy gentle flock ? " When, then, as he went up to make his present profession of faith, all who knew him (and who was there that did not know him ?) one and all, according to their acquaintance with him, uttered his name in an out- * Psalms xxviii. 5. f St. John i. 14. % Psalm cxi. 9. § Psalm xxxix. 4. SOME DISTINGUISHED CONVERTS OF NORTH AMERICA. 203 burst of joy ; and, from the mouths of all rejoicing together, in a hushed voice on all sides, resounded, ' Victorinus ! Victonnus ! ' " Quickly the people broke silence at the joy of seeing him, and quickly all again were still, in order to hear him speak. " He pronounced the truthful Christian faith with admirable confi- dence, and all were longing to carry him off into their innermost heart ; and this, O Lord, they did by the embrace of joy and love — these two affections were the hands that took him prisoner." ;0. \— 0ome Oistmguisljeb Concerts of Nortl) America. r Among the many illustrious men who have left the ranks of Protestant- ism for the Catholic Church in America are the Most Rev. James Roose- velt Bayley, D. D., late archbishop of Baltimore; the Most. Rev. James 7 rederick Wood, D. D., archbishop of Philadelphia ; the Right Rev. Josue r oung, D. D., late bishop of Erie; Tyler, late bishop of Hartford ; Becker, ishop of Wilmington ; Gilmour, bishop of Cleveland : S. H. Rosencrans, }ishop of Columbus ; E. P. Wadhams, bishop of Ogdensburg ; and the late _,. S. Ives, D. D., formerly Protestant bishop of North Carolina, who, having ecognized the truth of Catholicism, renounced everything to become a lay- man in her fold ; the Very Rev. George H. Doane, vicar-general of the diocese of Newark, and son of the Protestant bishop of that name ; the ate Rev. Francis A. Baker, C. S. P., a well-known missionary in the Jnited States ; the Rev. James Kent Stone, late president of Hobart and Kenyon colleges, now a Passionist (Father Fidelis) ; the Very Rev. I. T. Hecker, C. S. P.; A. F. Hewitt, C. S. P.; Edward Dwight Lyman; ormerly Protestant clergymen of distinction, and now Catholic priests ; enerals Rosecrans, Newton, James A. Hardy and others; Orestes A. 3rownson, LL. D., the distinguished reviewer, whom Lord Brougham styled " the master-mind of America ; " General D. W. Clark of Vermont ; Dr. Joshua Huntington, the well-known author of Rosemary, Gropings after Truth, etc.; the Hon. Thomas Ewing, senator from Ohio, and for some time secretary of the United States Treasury ; the Hon. Henry May, one of the leaders of his party in the House of Representatives ; Homer Wheaton, Esq., of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., at first a lawyer, afterward a Prot- estant minister, until he was led into the Catholic Church ; the late Judge Arrington of Chicago ; Prof. Otto Shurrer of the University of Notre Dame, formerly a Lutheran minister; Prof. Lucius Tong of the same institution; Hon. Frank Hurd, the distinguished member of Congress; the late Senator Progh, and the late Prof. Halderman, an eminent man of science. Besides these, there are the Hon. Thomas B. Florence of 904 PART II.— NO. 5. Philadelphia, for sixteen years a member of the United States House Representatives ; the Hon. Judge T. Parkin Scott of Baltimore, and great number of others, eminent in the different walks of Life. Xo. 5— Earnest Appeal to Protestants, Suggested bn tl)c Effect- ing lUorbs of St. Augustine, Bisljop of t)ippo, to tlje Donatists. Let me beg of you, my brethren, to consider how beautiful is the Catholic unity in doctrine by which the faith is preached, without shadow of change and with authority, in each Catholic cathedral and church ; and how reverenced it is by the faithful. See how the Catholic teaching is set high in our colleges above the assaults of infidelity and the contradictory wranglings of so-called scientific theories ; how striking is the Catholic unity in government, by which spiritual jurisdiction, issuing from Christ, flows in fair subordination through bishop and priest, so that each pastor knows his own flock, while his flock knows him and hears his voice. What a contrast between this blessed vision of peace within the Church and the scene of disorder and tumult that oppresses you outside ! There, nearly every pulpit is made the centre of a different teaching, which de-« livered without authority, is heard without submission ; there, sometimes, the very foundations of Christianity are uptorn to be shaped anew, ac- cording to the individual bias or the caprice of an excited assembly ; there, the flock strays after strangers whose own the sheep are not. Here seasonably come those words of St. Augustine : " Diverse doc- trines resound, various heresies arise. Fly to the tabernacle of God — namely, the Catholic Church ; there you will be protected from the con- tradiction of tongues." * I will also appeal to you in the affectionate words which the same holy doctor and father of the Church addressed to the Donatists of his day : " Come to us, brothers, come, that you may be engrafted on the true vine. You yourselves cannot but perceive what the Catholic Church is, and what it is to be cut off from the stem. If, then, there be among you any who have care of themselves, let them arise, and come and draw vigor from the root. Let them come before it is too late ; before they lose the little Catholic sap that yet remains to them, and become dry wood fit only for the fire. Come, then, to us, brothers, if you will, and be engrafted on the vine. It grieves us to see you lying as you are, lop- ped off from the tree. Reckon, then, one by one, the pontiffs who have * Diversae doctrinae personant , diversae haereses oriuntur. Curre ad tabernaculum Dei, id est, Ecclesmm Githolicam ! ibi protegeris a conlradictione /inguarum." PRA VERS. 205 sat from this time downward on Peter's very seat, and mark the regular succession in that order of fathers. That seat is the rock which the proud gates of hell overcome not." 3fa. 6—21 €t)oice of praters. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread ; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us ; and lead us not into temptation ; but deliver us from jvil. Amen. The Hail Mary. Hail Mary, full, of grace, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou imong women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, [other of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. [men. Gloria Patri. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Imen. A Daily Prayer. O God, of infinite majesty and power, Creater of heaven and earth, I idore thee profoundly, and thank thee from the bottom of my heart for the great benefits of creation and redemption, and for all the other bless- ings which thou hast bestowed upon me ; I love thee with all my heart, ind above all things. And, because thou art the very truth who canst teither be deceived, nor deceive any one, I firmly believe all things thou last revealed to the Church, and through the Church hast made known into me. I trust, in thy infinite mercy and goodness, that thou wilt par- Ion all my sins through the merits of Jesus Christ, and give me all the lecessary means of salvation, doing on my part what thou commandest md requirest of me. I am extremely sorry for having offended thee. r ith the help of thy grace, which I humbly and fervently implore, I will lever offend thee willfully again, for the time to come. Give me strength to withstand every temptation ; give me patience in my troubles : help me to keep in charity with all my neighbors, and grant me the grace of )erseverance. O Virgin Mary, intercede for me ; Saint Joseph, pray for me ; my guardian angel, protect me ; all ye saints and angels of heaven, pray for me. Amen. 206 PART II.— NO. 6. ROSARV OF THE BLESSED VlRGIN. By the rosary (or beads) is meant an excellent devotional practice devised by the wise God, made known by the Blessed Virgin herself t( St. Dominic, and commenced in the thirteenth century. It consists of fifteen small parts. Each part is made up of "a mystery," one "Our Father " and ten " Hail Marys," followed by one " Glory be to the Father.' No other prayers whatever form part of the rosary : those that are sail before or after each decade, are merely pious additions. By "mystery" is understood a trait of the life of our Lord or of His holy Mother. These mysteries are divided into three series of five each, called the Joyful, the Sorrowful, and the Glorious. Joyful Mysteries. i. The Annunciation to the blessed Virgin. 2. Visitation of the blessed Virgin to St. Elizabeth. 3. Birth of Jesus at Bethelem. 4. Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. 5. Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple. Sorrowful Mysteries. 1. The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 2. Scourging of Jesus at the pillar. 3. Crowning of Jesus with thorns. 4. Carrying of the cross by Jesus to Mount Calvary. 5. Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary. Glorious Mysteries. 1. The Resurrection of Jesus. 2. Ascension of Jesus. 3. Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. 4. Assumption of the blessed Virgin into heaven. 5. Crowning of the blessed Virgin in heaven. Note. — Most people say only the third part of the rosary, that is, five decades, each day : in that case, though you may say either the Joyful, or the Sorrowful, or the Glorious Mysteries at your choice, yet it is the prevailing custom to say the Joyful Mysteries on Mondays and Thursdays, the Sorrowful on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the Glorious on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Angelus.* I. V. Angelus Domini nuntiavat Mariae. I. The angel of the Lord announced unto Mary. R. Et conc£pit de Spiritu Sancto. R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost. * At Easter Time, instead of the " Angelus," the " Regina Coeli laetare, Alleluia," is said, standing. PRA VERS. 207 Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fruc- tus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostras. Amen. II. V. Ecce Ancilla Domini. R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Ave Maria, etc. III. V. Et Verbum caro factum est. R. Et habitavit in nobis. Ave Maria, etc. V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix. R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. II. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. R. Be it done unto me according to thy word. (St. Luke i. 38.) Hail, Mary, etc. III. And the Word was made flesh. R. And dwelt among us. (St. John i. 14.) Hail, Mary, etc. V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Or emus. Gratiam tuam, quassumus, Domini, menti- bus nostris infunde; ut qui, angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per Passionem ejus et Crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur ; per eundem Christum Dominum Nostrum. Amen. Let us Pray. Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the in- carnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may, by His Pas- sion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His resurrection ; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. From Compline on Holy egina Coeli, laetare; alleluia. uia quem meruisti portare; alleluia. Resurrexit sicut dixit; alleluia. Ora pro nobis Deum; alleluia. Saturday till Trinity Eve. Joy to thee, O Heavenly Queen, alleluia. He whom thou wast meet to bear; alleluia. As He promised, hath arisen; alleluia. Pour for us to Him thy prayer; alleluia. V. Gaude et lsetare, Virgo Maria; alleluia. V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary ; alleluia. R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere; alleluia. R. For the Lord hath risen indeed; alleluia. Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui Dom- i nostri Jesu Christi mundum laetificare dig- itus es; praesta, quaesumus, utper ejus Geni- icem Virginem Mariam perpetuae capiamus udia vitae, per eundem Christum Dominum ostrum. R. Amen. V. Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobis- um. R. Amen. V. Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei, quiescant in pace. R. Amen. Let us Pray. O God, who didst vouchsafe to give joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ ; grant, we beseech Thee, that, through His Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen. V. May the divine assistance remain always with us. R. Amen. V. May the so'uls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. R. Amen. 208 PART II.— NO. 7. Prayers for the Dying. Let us say three " Our Fathers " in honor of the agony of Jesus, ar three " Hail Marys," in honor of our Lady's dolors, for the faithful wl are this day throughout the world in their last agony. Indulgences: 300 days every recital. Plenary once a month, both applicable to the he souls in purgatory. The Divine Praises, said after Mass and Benediction hi many Churches the People repeating each portion after the Priest. 1. Blessed be God. 2. Blessed be His holy name. 3. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. 4. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. 5. Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. 6. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. 7. Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception. 8. Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother. 9. Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen. Act of Resignation to the Will of God. May the most just, most high, and most amiable will of God be don( praised, and eternally exalted in all things. Amen. May the most sacred Heart of Jesus be loved by all. Prayer in our Last Agony. Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. (St. Luke xxiii. 46/ Lord Jesus, receive my soul. No, 7.— 21 |)ra])er for a @oo& IDcatl). Lord Jesus, God of goodness, and Father of mercy, I prostrate mysel before Thee with a contrite and humble heart, and commend to Thee rm last hour, and what thereafter awaits me. When my feet, motionless, shall warn me that my course in this worl is approaching its end, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my hands, cold and shaking, shall no longer be able to keep holding the crucifix pfesented to me, and I shall be obliged to let it drop on my bed of sorrow, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my eyes, cloudy, and turned aside, through dread of imminent PRA VERS. . 209 death, shall cast upon Thy image languid and dying looks, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my lips, cold and trembling, shall utter for the last time Thy adored name, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my cheeks, pale and livid, shall inspire compassion and grief in the bystanders, and my hair, moistened by the cold sweat of death, shall announce that my end is come, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my ears, ready to be shut for ever to the discourses of men, shall ■ open to listen to Thy voice, uttering the irrevocable sentence that fixes • my everlasting doom, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my fancy, disturbed by painful and dreadful imaginations, shall be plunged into sadness, and my spirit, troubled by the sight of my in- iquities and by the dread of Thy justice, shall struggle with the spirit of darkness who would turn away my eyes from Thy soothing mercies, and I throw me into despair, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my feeble heart, torn by the pangs of illness, shall be assailed by the dread of death, and exhausted by the efforts it shall have made against the enemies of my salvation, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When I shall shed the last tears, symptoms of my imminent dissolu- tion, receive them, O Lord, as a sacrifice of expiation, and grant that I may breathe my last as victim of penance ; and in that terrible moment, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my relatives and friends, standing by me, shall sympathize with my miserable state, and pray for me, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When I shall have lost the use of my senses, and the whole world shall disappear from me, and I shall sigh in the anguish of agony and the strug- gles of death, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When the last sighs of my heart shall compel my soul to leave the 3dy, receive them, O Lord, as signs of a holy longing to fly to Thee ; and len, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. When my soul, from the door of my lips shall go out of this world for /er, and shall leave my body pale, cold, and lifeless, accept, O Lord, the ssolution of my being as a homage which I offer to Thy divine majesty ; id then, O loving Jesu, have mercy on me. Lastly, when my soul shall appear before Thee, and shall behold for le first time the immortal splendor of Thy majesty, O Lord, pray, do not :ject it from Thee ; deign to receive my poor soul in the arms of Thy ercy, that it may sing Thy praises for ever. O God, who, condemning us to death, didst conceal the moment and e hour of it, grant that, walking in the paths of justice and holiness, we ay deserve to depart from this world in Thy holy love, through the 2IO . IWRT fl.—NO. 8. merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in tl unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen. Sfa 8.— Stations (or tUaij) of tljc <£ross. The " Stations of the Cross " is a devotional exercise instituted as means of helping us to meditate on, and have sympathy for, the suffering of our divine Lord. The early Christians had the deepest love and venen tion for the places made sacred by the sufferings and presence of Jesi Christ. Devout pilgrims went to the Holy Land, from the furthest par of the earth, to visit Jerusalem, the Garden of Olives, and Mount Calvar To encourage the piety and devotion of her children, the Church grante( many and great indulgences to those who with true sorrow visited certain spots of our Lord's passion. Now, there were many who wished to share in this devotion, and partake of the spiritual blessings attached to it, but who, through various causes, were unable to do so ; therefore the Church sanctioned the erecting in churches of fourteen pictures, representing four- teen scenes of the passion, called " stations of the cross," and granted to persons who practice this devotion the same indulgences as are granted to those who visit the said holy places in Jerusalem. If you have a prayer-book with the prayers of the " Way of the Cross" in it, you will follow the directions, and say the prayers therein laid down. If not, you can still practise this devotion in a church where the stations are duly erected, and gain likewise the indulgences by acting as follows: First you say three " Our Fathers " before the holy sacrament in prep- aration for the " Way of the Cross," in order to obtain help from God to do it well ; then you go to the first station, kneel down, meditate for a few minutes on the mystery there represented, or on any other point of the passion of our Lord, and conclude with the Lord's Prayer, a "Hail Mary," and " Glory be to the Father." You rise and walk to the other thirteen stations, doing before each the same thing. At the end of the fourteenth station, you go again before the high altar, thank Almighty God for the privilege and assistance granted, and recite five " Our Fa- thers," " Hail Marys," and " Glory be to the Father," according to the in- tention of the sovereign pontiff. Prayer to our Crucified Lord, while we coiitemplate what He suffered for us. Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself on my knees in Thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and be- PRA VERS. 21 I seech Thee to impress upon my heart lively sentiments of Faith, Hope, and Charity, with true repentance for my sins, and a most firm purpose of amendment ; while with deep affection and grief of soul I call to mind and ponder on Thy five most precious wounds, having before my eyes that which the prophet David spoke of Thee, O good Jesus : "They have dug my hands and feet ; they have numbered all my bones." (Psalm xxi. 17.) Note. — To the devout reciting of this foregoing prayer, " Behold, O kind," &c, in any language, is annexed, by Pope Pius VII., April 10, 1821 (in a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences), a plenary indulgence, which may be obtained by all the faithful who, after having xmfessed their sins with contrition, and received holy communion, shall levoutly recite it before any representation of Christ crucified. This in- lulgence is also applicable to the souls in purgatory. Aspirations to Jesus. Jesus, poor, abject, unknown, and despised, hated, calumniated, perse- lted, and abandoned by men, tempted by the devil, betrayed, and sold >r a vile price. R. Have mercy on us. Jesus, sorrowful unto death, dragged along and bound with ropes and lains, clothed in the garment of shame and ignominy, blamed, accused, mdemned and set aside for Barabbas. R. Have mercy on us. Jesus, stripped with infamy, and scourged unto blood, beaten and de- ided, crowned with thorns, saluted in mockery, defiled with spittle, truck, outraged, and jeered. R. Have mercy on us. Jesus, laden with the cross of our sins, and with the maledictions of le people, nailed to the infamous tree between two thieves, overwhelmed nth. opprobrium, agony, and humiliations, despised, and dishonored be- >re men. R. Have mercy on us. O most sweet Jesus, Thou who for love of us hast deigned to suffer an lfinity of shame and incomprehensible humiliation, may our hearts be leeply impressed with esteem and love for Thy sufferings, and an ardent ;sire to imitate Thee in Thy humble, poor, laborious, beneficent, and lespised life. Amen. Pious Offering. Eternal Father, we offer Thee the most precious blood of Jesus Christ )r the whole state of Christ's Church, and for all other ends which may )e pleasing to Thee. 212 PART II.— NO. 8. A Prayer in Sickness or Affliction. O Lord Jesus Christ, I receive this affliction with which Thou pleased to visit me as coming from Thy fatherly hand. It is Thy wil and therefore I submit — "Not my will, but Thine be done." May n to the honor of Thy holy name, and for the good of my soul. I h( offer myself with an entire submission to all Thy appointments ; to suf whatever Thou pleasest, as long as Thou pleasest, and in what manne Thou pleasest ; for I, Thy creature, O Lord, have often and most ungrat fully offended Thee, and Thou mightest justly have visited me with Tl severest punishments. Oh, let Thy justice be tempered with mercy, and let Thy heavenly grace come to my assistance, to support me under this affliction ! Confirm my soul with strength from above, that I may bear with true Christian patience all the uneasiness, pains, and troubles under which I labor ; preserve me from all temptations and murmuring thoughts, that in this time of affliction I may in no way offend Thee ; and grant that this and all other earthly trials may be the means of preparing my soul for its passage into eternity, that, being purified from all my sins, I may believe in Thee, hope in Thee, and love Thee above all things, and finally through Thy infinite merits, be admitted into the company of the blessed in heaven, there to praise Thee for ever and ever. Amen. O God, who hast doomed all men to die, but hast concealed the hour of their death, grant that I may pass my days in the practice of holiness and justice, and that I may be able to quit this world in the peace of a good conscience, and in the embrace of Thy love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for our Holy Father the Pope. " The Lord preserve him and give him life ; and make him blessed upon the earth ; and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies." (Psalm xl. 3.) The Fourth Penitential Psalm. (The Psalms called Penitential are the 6th. 31st, 37th, 50th, 101st, 129th and I42d.) Psalm 50 (Prot. Version, 51). Miserere. 1. David prays for remission of his sins. 8. for perfect sanctity. 17. Praises a contrite heart, and prays for the exaltation of the Church. Miserere mei, Deus : * secundum magnam 1. Have mercy upon me, O God; according misericordiam tuam. to thy great mercy. Et secundum multitudinem miserationum 2. And according to the multitude of thy tuarum : * dele iniquitatem meam. tender mercies: blot out my iniquity. Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea : * eta 3. Wash me yet more from my iniquity; peccato meo munda me. and cleanse me from my sin. PR A VERS. 21 Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: * et peccatum meum contra me est semper. Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci:* ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris. Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum:* et in peccatis concepit me mater mea. Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti:* incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti nihi. Asperges me hyssopo et mundabor:* lava- bis me, et super nivem dealbabor. Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam: * et exultabunt ossa humiliata. Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis: * et ines iniquitates meas dele. Cor mundum crea in me, Deus : * et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis. Ne projicies me a facie tua:* et Spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me. Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui:* et spiritu principali confirma me. Docebo iniquos vias tuas:* et impii ad te xmvertentur. Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salu- tismese:* et exultabit lingua mea justitiam lam. _Domine labia mea aperies:* et os meum mnuntiabit laudem tuam. Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem itique: * holocaustis non delectaberis. Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus:* cor :ontritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies. Benigne fac Domine, in bona voluntate tua sion:* ut aedificentur muri Jerusalem. Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, obla- tiones, et holocausta : * tunc imponent super iltare tuum vitulos. [Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. >icut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.] 4. For I acknowledge my iniquity: and my sin is always before me. 5. Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight: that thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged. 6. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities: and in sins did my mother conceive me. 7. For behold, thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me. 8. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. 9. Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness: and the bones that have been hum- bled shall rejoice. 10. Turn away thy face from my sins; and blot out all my iniquities. 11. Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels. 12. Cast me not away from thy face: and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. 13. Restore unto me the joy of thy sal- vation: and strengthen me with a perfect spirit. 14. I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted unto thee. 15. Deliver me from blood -guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice. 16. Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord: and my mouth shall declare thy praise. 17. For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt-offer- ings thou wilt not be delighted. 18. A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 19. Deal favorably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion: that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. 20. Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations, and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thine altar. [Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the begin- ning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.] 214 PART II.— NO. 8. The Sixth Penitential Psalm.* Psalm 129 — The cry of a contrite heart De profundis clamdvi ad te, Domine : * Domine, exaudi vocem meam. nit aures tua; intendentes : * in vocem deprecationis mea;. Si iniquitates observaveris , Domine :* Dom- ine, quis sustinebit? Quia apud te propitiatio est : * et propter legem tuam sustinui te Domine. Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus : * spe- ravit anima mea in Domino. A custodia matutina usque ad noctem : * speret Israel, in Domino. Quia apud Dominum mtsericordia : * et co- piosa apud eum redemptio. Et ipse redimet Israel,* ex omnibus iniqui- tatibus ejas.* [Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen. De Profundis. imploring the Divine mercy. 1. Out of the depths have I cried unto the O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. 2. Oh, let thine ears consider well : the vol of my supplication. 3. If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquitic Lord, who shall stand it? 4. For with Thee there is merciful forgi\ ness : and because of Thy law I have wait for Thee, O Lord. 5. My soul hath relied on His Word soul hath hoped in the Lord. 6. From the morning watch even until night let Israel hope in the Lord. 7. For with the Lord there is mercy : and with Him is plentiful redemption. 8. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. [Eternal rest give to them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. Prayer for Another's Conversion. O Divine and adorable Saviour, Thou who art the way, the truth, and the life, I beseech Thee to have mercy upon [N.] and bring him [or her] to the knowledge and love of Thy truth. Thou, O Lord, knowest all his dark- ness, his weakness, and his doubts ; have pity upon him, O merciful Saviour ; let the beams of Thy eternal truth shine upon his mind ; clear away the cloud of error and prejudice from his eyes, and may he humbly submit to and embrace with his whole heart the teaching of Thy Church. Oh, let not his [or her] soul be shut out from Thy blessed fold ! Unite him to Thyself in the communications of Thy love, so that, partaking of the blessings of Thy grace in this life, he may come to the possession of those eternal rewards which Thou hast promised to all who believe in Thee and who do Thy will. Hear this my petition, O merciful Jesus, who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest ever and ever. Amen. For a Friend in Distress. O merciful Lord, give the sweetness of Thy comfort to Thy afflicted servant [N.], and, according to Thy accustomed mercy, remove the heavy *This Psalm is often said by Catholics for the souls in purgatory, in which case, instead of ending it with the " Glory be to the Father," it is ended as here laid down. • SPECIAL PRA YERS. 2I 5 burden of his afflictions. Give him, I humbly beseech Thee, patience in his sufferings, resignation to Thy adorable will, and perseverance in Thy service. For the Sick. V. Heal Thy servants, O Lord, who are sick, and who put their trust in Thee. R. Send them help, O Lord, and comfort them from Thy holy place. O Almighty and everlasting God, the eternal salvation of them that believe in Thee, hear us in behalf of Thy servants who are sick ; for whom we humbly crave the help of Thy mercy ; that, their health being restored to them, they may render thanks to Thee in Thy Church ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Prayer for a Bishop or Priest. O God, who hast raised up Thy servant [N.] to the dignity of Bishop [or Priest], grant, we beseech Thee, that he may also be admitted in leaven to Thy everlasting fellowship, through Jesus Christ our Lord. [men. For the Dead. O Almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over the living and the dead, and art merciful to all who Thou foreknowest will be Thine >y faith and good works ; we humbly beseech Thee, that they for whom re offer up our prayers may, by Thy mercy and goodness, obtain pardon md full remission of their sins ; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, 'ho, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth one God, world without end. Amen. Prayer for a Departed Father and Mother. O God our Heavenly Father, Who hast commanded us to honor our r ather and our Mother, have mercy on the departed souls of my dear r ather and Mother, and grant that, if they are not yet with Thee, they lay soon come to enjoy Thy blessed vision in Heaven ; through Jesus "hrist our Lord. Amen. Other Prayers for the Dead.- The Psalm Miserere and the Psalm De Profundis and others may be recited for the dead, saying, at the end of each, instead of " Glory be to the Father," etc. , the Versicle : V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord. R. And let perpetual light shine upon them. A Prayer for the Faithful Departed. O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that, 2l6 PART //.—NO. p. through pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon which they ha always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen. On the Day of a Person's Decease or Burial. O God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, humbly beseech Thee for the soul of Thy servant [N.], which Thou has this day commanded to depart out of this world, that Thou wouldst ndj deliver it into the hands of the enemy, nor forget it unto the end, buj wouldst command it to be received by Thy holy angels, and conducted to Paradise, its true country ; that, as in Thee it hath hoped and believed, it may not suffer the pains of hell, but may take possession of eternal joys. Through Christ our Lord. For the Patronage of St. Joseph. O God, who by thy adorable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose the blessed Joseph for the spouse of thy most Holy Mother, grant, we beseech thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in heaven ; who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen. 3Co. 9,— C)ijmu0. Hymn to the Holy Ghost. " Veni, Creator Spiritus." Ascribed to St. Ambrose [Fourth Century). English Version by Mr. William J. M. Hutchison (1881). Veni, Creator Spiritus, Come, O Creator Spirit, come, Mentes tuorum visita, And make Thy children's minds Thy home; Imple superna gratia, O fill our hearts with grace divine, Quae tu creasti p^ctora. Our hearts, by new creation Thine. Qui diceris Paraclitus, Altissimi donum Dei, Fons vivus, ignis, charitas, Et spiritdlis unctio:- Tu septiformis mune.'e, Digitus Paternae dexterae, Tu rite promissum Patris, Sermone ditans guttura: Accende lumen sensibus, Infunde amorem cordibus, Infirma nostri corporis Virtute firmans perpeti. Thou, Who The Comforter art named, And gift of God most high proclaimed, Thou living fount, Thou fire and love, And soul's sweet unction from above: Thou, Who Thy seven-fold gifts hast planned, Thou finger of the Father's hand, Sure promise of the Father, Thou, Who dost our tongue with speech endow: Revive our senses, light impart, And pour Thy love within each heart ; Our mortal frame, so weak in fight, Make strong with Thy enduring might. HYMNS.— ADES.TE, FIDELES. 217 Hostem repellas longius, Pacemque dones protinus; Ductore sic te praevio Vitemus omne noxium. Per te sciamus da Patrem, Noscamus atque Filium, Teque utriusque Spiritum Credamus omni tempore. Deo Patri sit gloria, Ejusque soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, Nunc et per omne sseculum. Amen. [Tempore Paschali.~\ Deo Patri sit gloria, Et Filio, qui a mortuis Surrexit, ac Paraclito, In sasculorum ssecula. Amen. The Foe yet further drive away, And give us now Thy peace, we pray; So may we, close to Thee, our Guide, Escape all harm from every side. Give us to know in Thy clear light, The Father and the Son aright, And Thee from Both the Spirit pure To own, while ages all endure. To God the Father endless praise And to His only Son we raise; Like praise, O Holy Ghost, to Thee Both now and through eternity. Amen. [For Paschal Time.~\ Praise to the Father, and the Son Who from the dead arose, Life won; And equal praise forever be, O God the Comforter, to Thee. Amen. Adeste, Fideles — Hymn for Christmas. Adeste, fideles, Lseti triumphantes; Venite, venite in Bethlehem: Natum videte Regem angelorum: Venite adoremus, Venite adoremus, Venite adoremus Dominum. Deum de Deo, Lumen de lumine, Gestant puellas viscera; Deum verum, Genitum, non factum: Venite adoremus, &c. Cantet nunc Io ! Chorus angelorum: Cantet nunc aula ccelestium, Gloria In excelsis Deo ! Venite adoremus, &c. Ergo qui natus Die hodierna, Jesu tibi sit gloria; Patris aeterni Verbum caro factum ! Venite adoremus, &c. Ye faithful, approach ye, Joyfully triumphing: O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem: Come and behold ye Born the King of angels: O come, let us worship, O come, let us worship, O come, let us worship Christ the Lord. God of God, Light of Light, Lo, He disdains not the Virgin's womb: Very God, Begotten, not created: O come, let us worship, &c. Sing choirs angelic, Sing with exultation ; Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above, Glory to God In the highest ! O come, let us worship, &c. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning; Jesu, to Thee be glory given; Word of the Father In our flesh appearing: O come, let us worship, &c. 218 PART //.—NO. 9. The "Stabat Mater." Stabat Mater dolorosa Juxta crucem lacrymosa, Dum pendebat Filius. Cujus animam gementem, Contristatam, et dolentem, Pertransivit gladius. O quam tristis et afflicta Fuit ilia benedicta Mater Unigeniti. Qua? moerebat, et dolebat, Pia Mater, dum videbat Nati poenas inclyti. Quis est homo qui non fleret, Matrem Christi si videret In tanto supplicio ? Quis non posset contristari, Christi Matrem contemplari Dolentem cum Filio ? Pro peccatis suae gentis Videt Jesum in tormentis, Et flagellis subditum. Vidit suum dulcem Natum Moriendo desolatum, Dum emisit spiritum. Eia Mater, fons amoris, Me sentire vim doloris Fac, ut tecum lugeam. Fac ut ardeat cor meum In amando Christum Deum, Ut sibi complaceam. Sancta Mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas Cordi meo valide. Tui Nati vulnerati, Tarn dignati pro me pati, Poenas mecum divide. Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, Donee ego vixero. Juxta Crucem tecum stare, Et me tibi sociare In planctu desidero. At the Cross her station keeping, Stood the mournful Mother weeping; Close to Jesus to the last: Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, All His bitter anguish bearing, Now at length the sword had passed. Oh, how sad and sore distressed Was that Mother highly blessed Of the sole-begotten One ! Christ above in torment hangs: She beneath beholds the pangs Of her dying glorious Son. Is there one who would not weep, Whelmed in miseries so deep Christ's dear Mother to behold ? Can the human heart refrain From partaking in her pain, In that Mother's pain untold ? Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, She beheld her tender Child All with bloody scourges rent: For the sins of His own nation, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent. O thou Mother ! fount of love ! Touch my spirit from above, Make my heart with thine accord: Make me feel as thou hast felt, Make my soul to glow and melt With the love of Christ my Lord. Holy Mother ! pierce me through, In my heart each wound renew Of my Saviour crucified: Let me share with thee His pain, Who for all my sins was slain, Who for me in torments died. Let me mingle tears with thee, Mourning Him who died for me All the days that I may live: By the Cross with thee to stay, There with thee to weep and pray, Is all I ask of thee to give. TE DEUM LAUDAMUS. 219 Virgo virginum praeclara, Mihi jam non sis amara; Fac me tecum plangere. Fac ut portem Christi mortem, Passionis fac consortem, Et plagas recolere. Fac me plagis vulnerari, Fac me Cruce inebriari, Et cruore Filii. Flammis ne urar succensus, Per te, Virgo, sim defensus In die indicii. Christe, cum sit hinc exire Da per Matrem me venire Ad palmam victorias. Quando corpus morietur, Fac ut animae donetur Paradisi gloria. Amen Virgin of all virgins best ! Listen to my fond request: Let me share thy grief divine: Let me to my latest breath, In my body bear the death Of that dying Son of thine. Wounded with His every wound, Steep my soul till it hath swooned In His very blood away: Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, Lest in flames I burn and die, In His awful judgment day. Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, Be Thy Mother my defence, Be Thy Cross my victory; While my body here decays, May my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee. Amen. K0. 10 — ®e SOcum Ccm&mnus. Te Deum laudamus:* te Dominum confite- mr. Te aeternum Patrem, * omnis terra venera- ir. Tibi omnes angeli, * tibi cceli, et universal protestates: Tibi Cherubim, et Seraphim, * incessabili )ce proclamant: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, * Dominus Deus ibaoth : Pleni sunt coeli et terra, * majestatis gloriae jae. Te gloriosus * Apostolorum chorus. Te Prophetarum * laudabilis numerus. Te Martyrum candidatus * laudat exercitus. Te per orbem terrarum * sancta confitetur icclesia: Patrem * immensae majestatis. Venerandum tuum verum * et unicum r ilium. Sanctum quoque * Paraclitum Spiritum. Tu Rex gloriae, * Christe. We praise Thee, O God: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship Thee: the Father everlasting. To Thee all angels cry aloud: the heavens and all the powers therein. To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim: contin- ually do cry: Holy, holy, holy: Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full: of the majesty of Thy glory. The glorious choir of the Apostles: praise Thee. The admirable company of the Prophets: praise Thee. The white-robed army of Martyrs : praise Thee. The Holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge Thee. The Father : of an infinite majesty. Thy adorable, true : and only Son. Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ. 220 PART II.— NO. ii. Tu Patris* sempiternus es Filius. To ad liberandum susceptiirus hominem, * non horruisti Virginis literum. Tu devicto mortis aciileo, * aperuisti creden- tibus regna coelorum. Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, * in gloria Patris. Judex cr^deris* esse ventnrus. f Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis stibveni, * quos pretioso sanguine redemisti. Sterna fac cum Sanctis tuis, * in gloria nu- merari. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, * et benedic haereditati tuae. Et rege eos, et extolle illos, * usque in aster- num. Per singulos dies * benedicimus te. Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi. Dignare, Domine, die isto, * sine peccato nos custodire. Miserere nostri, Domine, * miserere nostri. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos : * quemadmodum speravimus in te. In te, Domine, speravi ; * non confundar astern um. Thou art the everlasting son : of the When Thou tookest upon Thee to deli 1 man : Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's wo: When Thou hadst overcome the death : Thou didst open the kingdom of tied to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God : the glory of the Father. We believe that Thou shalt come : to be our Judge. We pray Thee, therefore, help Thy servants : whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy pro blood. Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints: in glory everlasting. O Lord, save Thy people: and bless Thine inheritance. Govern them : and lift them up forever. Day by day we magnify Thee. And we praise Thy name for ever : yea, for ever and ever. Vouchsafe, O Lord, this day : to keep us without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us. O Lord, let Thy mercy be showed upon us: as we have hoped in Thee. O Lord, in Thee have I hoped : let me not be confounded for ever. No. 11.— ©bscroattons on JTaitl), bg Carbinal Newman. "Faith is not a mere conviction in reason; it is a firm assent, it is a clear certainty, greater than any other certainty ; and this is wrought in the mind by the grace of God, and by it alone. As, then, men may be convinced and not act according to their conviction, so may they be con- vinced and not believe according to their conviction. They may confess that the argument is against them, and that they have nothing to say for themselves, and that to believe is to be happy, and yet, after all, they avow they cannot believe ; they do not know why, but they cannot ; they acquiesce in unbelief, and they turn away from God and His Church. Their reason is convinced, and their doubts are moral ones, arising in their root from a fault of the will. In a word, the arguments for religion do not compel anyone to believe, just as arguments for good conduct do t Here it is usual to kneel. A CTS OF FAITH, E TC. 221 not compel any one to obey. Obedience is the consequence of willing .to obey, and faith is the consequence of willing to believe; we may see what is right, whether in matters of faith or obedience, of ourselves, but we cannot will what is right without the grace of God. Here is the dif- ference between other exercises of reason and arguments for the truth of j religion. It requires no act of faith to assent to the truth that two and two make four ; we cannot help assenting to it, and hence ihere is no merit in assenting to it ; but there is merit in believing that the Church is from God ; for though there are abundant reasons to prove it to us, yet we can, without an absurdity, quarrel with the conclusion; we may complain ;that it is not clearer, we may suspend our assent, we may doubt about it, [if we will; and grace alone can turn a bad will into a good one." (Dis- courses to Mixed Congregations on Faith and Doubt, No. 11.) !Xo. 12 — 3tct0 of jFcutt), $ope, Cljaritg, anh Contrition, An Act of Faith. (From the Penny Catechism of Christian Doctrine, for England, 1881.) I firmly believe that there is One God ; and that in this one God there |are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; that the Son !took to himself the nature of man, from the Virgin Mary's womb, by the jpower of the Holy Ghost ; and that in this our human nature He was [crucified and died for us ; that afterwards He rose again and ascended into heaven, from thence He shall come to repay the just with everlasting ! glory, and the wicked with everlasting punishment. Moreover, I believe i whatsoever else the Catholic Church proposes to be believed, and this be- cause God who is the sovereign Truth, who can neither deceive nor be de- ceived, has revealed all these things to this His Church. An Act of Hope. O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and Thy infinite mercy id goodness, and because Thou art faithful to Thy promises, I trust in lee that Thou wilt grant me forgiveness of my sins, through the merits Jesus Christ Thy Son ; and that Thou wilt give me the assistance of I Thy grace, with which I may labor to continue to the end in the diligent 'exercise of all good works, and may deserve to obtain the glory which Thou hast promised in heaven. An Act of Charity. O Lord, my God, I love Thee with my whole heart, and above all things, because Thou, O God, art the sovereign Good, and for Thine own 222 PART II.— NO. 13. infinite perfections art most worthy of all love; and for Thy sake love my neighbor as myself. An Act of Contrition. O my God, who art infinitely good in Thyself, and infinitely good to me, I beg pardon from my heart for all my offences against Thee ; I am sorry for all my sins, and detest them above all things, because they deserve Thy dreadful punishments, because they have crucified my loving Saviour, Jesus Christ, and because they offend Thy infinite goodness; and I am firmly resolved by the help of Thy grace never to offend Thee for the time to come, and carefully to avoid the occasions of sin. (It is the strict duty of every Christian to make sometimes these or similar acts of faith, hope, charity, and contrition, and it is strongly recommended to repeat them often, because by an act of faith we worship God's infinite wisdom and truth ; by an act of hope we worship God's infinite mercy, and honor our Saviour'! redemption by placing in that divine redemption our fulf reliance for pardon, justification, and grace ; by an act of charity we worship God's infinite goodness, holiness, and all His perfections in general ; by an act ol contrition we worship God's infinite justice and mercy, and acknowledge Him as the Father of Mercies.) Short Acts of Faith, Hope, Love, and Contrition. Act of Faith. — My God, I believe in Thee, and all Thy Church doth teach, because Thou hast said it, and Thy word is true. Act of Hope. — My God, I hope in Thee for grace and for glory, be cause of Thy promises, Thy mercy, and Thy power. Act of Charity. — My God, because Thou art so good, I love Thee wit! all my heart, and for Thy sake I love my neighbor as myself. Act of Contrition. — O my God, because Thou art so good I am very sorry that I have sinned against Thee, and I will not sin again. 3fo. 13.— f Thee, and in which Thy Father is well pleased. Amen. 35o, 15 — iltctljotr of Confession. A person who wishes to receive the sacrament of penance has to do lese five things — First, he has to examine carefully his conscience. Sec- >nd, to be heartily sorry for having offended God. Third, to make a firm resolution never to commit any sin again. Fourth, to make a candid and lumble confession of all his mortal sins to a priest. Fifth, he must have in intention of doing the penance enjoined by the priest, and of satisfying lis neighbor to the best of his power if he has done injury to any one. Before all this, however, he should say the following or a similar prayer to obtain divine aid to make a good confession : "O Almighty God, I long to return to Thee, the fountain of all good. [ desire, like the prodigal son, to look seriously into my heart, and to for- sake my evil ways without delay. I am wearied in pursuit of empty toys, seeking in vain to satisfy my thirst with muddy waters, and my hunger rith husks fit only for swine. " But, O my God, though I can go astray from Thee by myself, I can- The sign of the cross is made thus : We place the extended fingers of our right hand on our forehead, rhile saying, " In the name of the Father ;" then putting them on our breast, we say, "and of the Son ;" len we place them on our left shoulder, and immediately afterward on our right shoulder, while we say, "and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 228 PART II.— NO. if. not make one step toward Thee without the help of Thy grace. This gt\ then, I most humbly implore for the sake of Jesus Christ my Redeemer And since I have now to examine my conscience, and call to mind my sins, in order to detest and bitterly to deplore them and confess them, merci- fully enlighten my understanding that I may clearly see the state of rm conscience. Disclose to me, O my God, those secret thoughts, irregular desires, criminal words and actions, or omissions of my duty, by which 1 have violated Thy sacred laws, or given scandal to my neighbor. Do not permit self-love to deceive me, but help me that I may behold the true state of my heart, and weep bitterly over my sins, and now humbly and sin- cerely confess them to Thy minister." You will then proceed to examine your conscience, and as you are bound to confess mortal sins, and not bound, although recommended, to confess lesser faults, called venial sins, your first care should be to find out the mortal sins, that is, the grievous sins you may have committed since your last confession to, and absolution by, a Catholic priest, and find out also the precise number of times each such sin was committed, or at least the probable number. If you are not in the regular habit of making your examination of con- science, the following list of sins may be of some assistance to you. Sins more directly against God. Have you been guilty of disbelieving an article of faith ? — Made a bad confession or communion ? Have you neglected needful instruction in religion? Have you rashly exposed yourself to the danger of infidelity by read- ing dangerous books or keeping bad company ? How often ? Have you abused the words of Holy Scripture by indecent or grossly irreverent application of them ? Have you been negligent in procuring the necessary instruction for those under your care in their duties to God ? Have you despaired of salvation or of the forgiveness of your sins ? Have you thought it impossible to avoid mortal sin or to be good ? Have you presumed on God's goodness without caring to amend ? Have you notably delayed repentance ? Have you murmured against the providence of God ? Have you thought God cruel or unjust, or indifferent to our doing good or evil ? Have you neglected to prevent evil, when it was your duty and in your power to do so ? Have you said and maintained maliciously that all religions were good ? METHOD OF CONFESSION. 229 Have you been wilfully negligent in the church during divine worship ? j Have you neglected prayer for several weeks ? Have you said your prayers with great want of attention ? Have you been irreverent in the church by talking, laughing, or mak- ing others behave irreverently ? Have you sworn to a lie, or sworn to do what was wrong ? Have you broken your lawful oath ? Have you taken the holy name of God in vain ? Have you passed Sunday or a holy day of obligation in idleness or sin, or have you been the occasion to others of so passing such time ? Have you done or commanded servile work for a considerable space of time without necessity upon those days ? Sins against our Neighbor. [Sins in Thought]. — Have you judged rashly, injuriously, of your neigh- bor ? How often ? Have you wilfully harbored any thought of rancor or of revenge against any one ? Have you from hatred avoided any one, or refused to show him ordi- nary civility ? Have you maliciously envied any one for their appearance, merit, reputation, talent, fortune, or employment ? Have you knowingly harbored any desire of revenge ? [Sins in Words.'] — Have you spoken very harshly, or used abusive lan- guage, toward your neighbor ? How often ? Have you grievously deceived your neighbor ? Have you wilfully misconstrued another's actions ? Have you said what was false of your neighbor ? Have you .detracted your neighbor by revealing, to his or her injury, ithout just cause, what was true but secret ? Have you encouraged calumny or detraction by listening with pleas- e to reports of that kind ? Have you been a scandal to any one by giving bad advice or bad ex- ple, by instilling bad principles, or by using bad language in the pres- ence of any one ? [Sins of Deed]. — Have you cheated any one in buying or selling ? How often ? Have you injured any one by stealing, helping to steal, or usury, ex- tortion, or by any unlawful contract ? Have you knowingly bought or received stolen goods ? Have you refused or neglected to pay your just debts ? 230 PART II.— NO. 15. Have you neglected the work or business for which you were hire and were obliged by contract to perform ? I lave you neglected to restore ill-gotten goods, or to make compensa- tion for wrong done to your neighbor when it was in your power to dos Have you shared in the sin of another by counsel, by command, by consent, by flattery, or by silence ? Have you neglected to restore the character which you may have in- jured by calumny or detraction ? [Sins of Omission]. — Have you neglected your duties as a Christian ? as a parent ? as a husband ? as a wife ? as master ? or as servant ? In short, any duty belonging to your state of life or calling ? How often ? Have you been wanting in your duty as son or daughter ? Have you been guilty of grave disrespect or of grave disobedience to your parents, guardians, or superiors ? Have you despised or insulted them ? Have you provoked them to great anger, to curse or to swear ? Have you treated them in a haughty and insulting manner ? Have you spoken evil of them? Have you omitted to assist your neighbor in his great necessity when you could have helped him ? Sins against Ourselves. [By Pride]. — Had you too great an esteem of yourself, or boasted un- duly, and haughtily despised others ? Did you feel a secret pleasure in hearing others seriously disparaged, or found fault with ? [By Covetous?iess]. — Have you through covetousness been unjust to your wife and family ? Have you been seriously wanting in charity and compassion toward the poor ? Did you use toward them unmerited, imperious, ill-natured, or insulting language ? Have you received exorbitant interest for money lent ? Have you charged exorbitant prices ? Have you knowingly kept that surplus of change of money which was given to you by mistake ? Have you desired to steal, defraud, or commit any other kind of in- . justice ? [By Impurity]. — Have you sinned against purity, by wilfully dwelling upon and taking pleasure in any unchaste thought ? How often ? By desiring to commit any immodest action ? By going into bad company ? Talking immodestly ? Listening with pleasure to impure language? Singing any unchaste song ? METHOD OF CONFESSION. 231 Reading any immodest book? or lending any such book to any other? Looking unchastely at any immodest object ? Doing any immodest action either alone or with others ? Permitting any immodest liberty to be taken with you ? [By Anger], — Have you harbored great dislike toward any one ? How often ? Have you given way to great angry passion ? Have you of set purpose taken part in a serious quarrel or duel ? Have you provoked others to quarrel or fight ? Have you struck your wife or husband ? struck your children unduly ? Have you struck any one else in anger ? Have you been guilty of wanton cruelty to any animal ? Have you refused to forgive any injury ? or refused to be reconciled ? or refused to give signs of reconciliation or forgiveness ? Have you been guilty of great impatience ? of too severely correcting hose under your charge ? of cruel and abusive treatment ? [By Gluttony\ — Have you exceeded the bounds of temperance, by ating or by drinking to excess ? Have you induced others to do so ? ow often ? Have you through drunkenness been a scandal to your neighbor, a ource of unhappiness, and quarrel, and injustice to your family ? [By Envy\. — Have you felt sorry at the prosperity of others ? or have ou rejoiced at their misfortune ? [By Sloth~\. — Have you for a long time neglected prayer or other re^ igious duty ? How often ? Have you performed these duties carelessly ? Have you led a life of idleness ? Have you neglected to admonish those whom it was your duty to dmonish ? Have you neglected to pray when assailed by great temptation or in reat danger of sin ? Have you remained voluntarily in proximate (that is, near) occasions f sin ? Examine yourself carefully whether any of the sins you have commit- ed have been the cause of bad example or scandal to others Second, Be Heartily Sorry. Having tried to bring to your memory the different sins of which you lave been guilty, together with their number, and such circumstances as lay have considerably increased their malice or changed their nature, you should pass to the next thing to be done in preparation for confession — lamely, you should endeavor to excite in your heart a great sorrow for PART II.— NO. 15. having committed them, and a sincere detestation of them. For this j U pose you should — 1 st. Beg of Almighty God to give you grace to feel this abhorrence your sins. 2d. Consider those things which may help you to detest your sins ; as, for example, that by your sins you have lost heaven, deserved In 11, rebelled against your Creator, grieved and offended a God of infinite goodness, been very ungrateful to your greatest Benefactor, your Heav- enly Father, and your Redeemer who suffered so much, and died on the cross for you : that you have deprived yourself of the grace of God, and become an object hateful to Him. 3d. By saying with great fervor, and more than once, the following or a similar act of contrition : Special Act of Contrition. Lord Jesus, behold at Thy feet a great sinner. I am ashamed and distressed on account of the many sins which I have committed. 1 reproach myself bitterly for having been so ungrateful and wicked. I have abused Thy goodness, O Lord, my Redeemer, my best Benefactor. I have offended Thee, O God of infinite goodness ! Every time I committed a grievous sin I have deserved and called down upon myself that dreadful sentence : " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." (St. Matt. xxv. 41.) I cannot complain of this sentence, for of my own accord I have de- parted from Thee, and lived wilfully away from Thee, and in a state of rebellion against Thee. How often did Thy sweet voice invite me to repentance ! How often have Thy corrections warned me to return ! and I was deaf to Thy call, and hardened my heart against Thee. Often hast Thou stretched out Thy hand to me, O Lord, and I turned my back upon Thee : but, O Lord, I now repent : I am sorry indeed- Who shall give "a fountain of tears to my eyes," that day and night I may weep for my ingratitude to Thee, O Lord ? My transgressions are a heavy burden to me. The thought of being astray from Thee alarms me ; I am wretched, buried as I am in the depth of sin and misery. But I will not despair ; for if my sins are many and great, Thy mercy, O Lord, is greater. Thou hast waited for me until now to give me time to repent. A humbled and contrite heart Thou wilt not despise ; why shall I not trust in Thee ? Yes, I do trust in Thy infinite mercy, O Lord, in Thy precious blood shed for me, in Thy divine promise of receiving the repentant sinner, like the prodigal son, as soon as ever he returns to Thee. METHOD OF CONFESSION. 233 Fall of confidence, therefore, and out of the depth of my poor heart, I cry out to Thee : " O God, be merciful to me a sinner." (St. Luke xviii. 13.) I detest all my sins; I heartily wish that I had never committed them. They are hateful now in my sight ; but as my repentance can never be sufficient, I beg to offer Thee, O Lord, the sighs, the tears, the faintness and the sweat of blood, the horror and the grief for sin, with which, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Thou didst supply the poorness of my repentance. Touch my stony heart, O Lord, with Thy powerful grace, that with tears of sorrow I may bewail my ingratitude and all my past sins in the bitterness of my heart. Root out of my soul whatever is displeasing to Thee, and lay in me the foundation of a new life. I love Thee, O Lord Jesus, with all my heart and soul, and wish to love Thee more and more. With the help of Thy grace, I will never offend Thee again ; no, nevermore. Strengthen Thou my resolution. (See pages 211 and 222.) Third, Make a Firm Resolution never to Sin again. A true sorrow for having offended God must contain a firm purpose of amendment. Without this, the sorrow would not be true nor sufficient 'or making a good confession. It is clear that if a person, although uneasy for having offended God, yet were wavering whether he should or should not choose to commit sin again, that person would not be truly sorry, nor be in a fit state to obtain ardon of his sins. Would a father show readiness to forgive a son who had grievously offended him, if that son should remain sullen, or showed himself dis- posed to repeat the same fault ? When a person is truly sorry for having offended God, he is also de- ermined, with the help of God's grace, not to offend Him ever again, and is resolved also to avoid proximate occasions of sin. It might happen that, notwithstanding this resolution to quit all sin, you might after some time yield to temptation, change your mind for the worse, and fall again into sin ; because neither this resolution nor the ab- solution you receive will render you impeccable. Yet it is no less true that when you are sincerely determined to avoid sin, you are then in a fit state to receive pardon, and if you are not so resolved, you would not be in a fit state for receiving absolution. It would be foolish to hesitate to make such a resolution on the ground that it is a promise, and to say : If I make a promise, and then fail to keep my word, it would be still worse. But it is not so, because, strictly speaking, it is not a promise which is -\U PART II.— NO. is. demanded of you, but only a resolution, that is, a determination, that y( will do what you are bound to do— namely, observe the commandments and avoid sin. Now, to resolve over and over again, "I will not offend God ; I will do my duty," does not create a new obligation, but it encourages us to do what we are simply bound to do. If a sentry at his post, with a view to drive away timidity and encourage himself to do his duty, were to re- peat to himself: "I will be brave, I will not desert my post," that would not surely be contracting a new obligation. Whether you make such resolutions or not, you are equally bound not to offend God ; but the making of fresh resolutions serves to strengthen your will, and confirm you in your duty and fidelity to God ; and you do not thereby impose upon yourself a fresh obligation. It is clear, therefore, that to make such resolutions is a real gain, and can but be profitable to your soul. It would therefore be to your interest to repeat often and fervently such purpose of amendment as the following : my God, with the help of Thy grace, I will never wilfully offend Thee again. Rather would I die than wilfully offend Thee, O my God ! 1 will no longer be unfaithful and ungrateful to Thee. I will no more add to the number of my sins, but put a stop to them, dear Lord. Hence- forth I will be altogether Thine. By myself I can do nothing, but with the help of Thy grace I can resist all temptations and keep all Thy com- mandments. Help me, O Lord, with Thy powerful grace, that I may nevermore offend Thee. O, what a happiness, could I live without offend- ing Thee any more ! Psalm 118 (Prot. vers. 119), beginning, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way," or part of it, might be recited with great spiritual profit, as it is full of beautiful resolutions to observe God's commandments. Fourth, Make a Candid and Humble Confession. After having prepared yourself in this manner, you should go to con- fession with modesty and humility, determined to be sincere, and willing to suffer some shame in penance for your sins, and thus avert the greater shame and confusion which you will otherwise certainly have to endure in the Day of Judgment. Then kneel down at the side of the confessional where the priest is seated for hearing confessions. Before confessing, turn toward the priest, and say — " Bless me, father, for I have sinned." Immediately after these words recite the first part of the " Confiteor," consisting of the following words in English or other language (see page 194): METHOD OF CONFESSION. 235 " I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to Blessed Michael the Archangel, to Blessed John the Baptist, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you, my spiritual father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed ; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." If it is your first confession you will tell it to the confessor. If you have been to confes- sion before you will tell the confessor how long since you had been ; whether in it you received absolution or not ; and whether you performed the penance enjoined on you by the confessor. You then begin to confess your sins. If needed, the priest will read- ily help you in the matter, especially if you ask him to do so. Tell him, if he does not know it, that it is your first confession. If it is your first confession, you have to confess all the grievous sins committed during your life ; or, if you have been to confession before, you have to confess the sins you have committed since your last confes- sion, at which you received absolution. The priest will give you some advice, enjoin a penance, usually some prayers to be said by you, and in the end, if he finds you properly dis- posed, give you, in God's name, absolution of your sins, whilst you make an act of sincere contrition ; and this absolution will be made good by God in heaven, according to His promise to His Apostles : " Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." (St. Matt, xviii. 18.) And according to what we read in St. John : " He said therefore to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them : and he said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (xx. 21.) You will now leave the confessional, and, kneeling in some other part of the church, you will offer a hearty thanksgiving to God for the great helps and wonderful blessings received. And, if time allows, you will then perform the penance, usually some prayers, enjoined on you by the priest, your confessor. A true penitent, who wishes to repair by well-doing the evil done, has a choice in the following Commandments, Virtues, Works, and Beatitudes. : 35o. 16 — &l)e Sen Commcmimtents of ©oft. (Taken in substance from Exodus xx. and Deuteronomy v.) I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 236 PART II.— NO. 16. 1. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not mal to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heave above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. (Deut. v. 21.) 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. The Commandments of the Church. We are chiefly commanded by the Church — 1. To keep the Sundays and holy days of obligation holy, by hearing Mass, and resting from servile works. 2. To keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the Church. 3. To go to confession at least once a year. 4. To receive the blessed sacrament at least once a year, and that at Easter or thereabouts, as directed by the bishop of each one's diocese. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to marry within certain degrees of kindred, nor to solemnize marriage at the forbidden times. The Seven Deadly Sins, and the opposite Virtues. Pride. Covetousness. Lust. Anger. Gluttony. Envy. Sloth. Humility. Liberality. Chastity. Meekness.* Temperance. Brotherly Love. Diligence. * The virtue of meekness, so strongly recommended to us by our Saviour, should extend also to ani- mals, so as never to cause them unnecessary pain. The saints had not only a fervent love for the souls of men, and an anxious care for the poor and suffering, but had also a tender compassion for every living crea- ture. " The just regardeth the lives of his beasts: but the bowels of the wicked are cruel." (Proverbs xii. 10.) A striking lesson of tenderness towards God's creatures is conveyed to us in the divine command repeatedly given: " Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam." (Exodus xxiii. 19.; Deut. xiv. 21.) The gentle poet Coleridge has well written: " He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all." THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH. 237 The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy To reclaim sinners. To instruct the ignorant. To counsel the doubtful. To comfort the sorrowful. To bear wrongs patiently. To forgive offences. To pray for the living and the dead. The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy. To feed the hungry. To visit the sick. To give drink to the thirsty. To visit the imprisoned, and To clothe the naked. To bury the dead. To harbor the harborless. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Isaias xi. 2.) 1. Wisdom. 2. Understanding. 3. Counsel. 4. Fortitude. 5. Knowledge. Fear of the Lord. 6. Piety. In the fifth 1. Blessed are 2. Blessed are 3. Blessed are 4. Blessed are 5. Blessed are 6. Blessed are 7. Blessed are 8. Blessed are leaven. The Eight Beatitudes. chapter of St. Matthew Jesus said : the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the meek; for they shall possess the land, they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall have their fill, the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy, the clean of heart; for they shall see God. the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. they that suffer persecution for justice' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of PART III MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. ;No. 1 — St Peter in Home. In the face of millions of Catholics recognizing, generation after gen- eration, the Bishops of Rome as the successors of St. Peter in that see ; in the face of the most ancient and most illustrious of all dynasties, the regular line of 257 Roman pontiffs (a. d. 1884), who have at all times claimed to succeed to the chair of Peter, and in the face of a large num- ber of historians and other ancient writers who have asserted the same thing, without one single ancient writer asserting the contrary, some modern writers have boldly questioned the fact that St. Peter ever was in Rome. As it has happened in other instances that the bitter attacks of our adversaries only served to bring out the Catholic truth in greater relief, so it is in this case. The modern denial of the fact that St. Peter was ever in Rome only gave an opportunity to Catholics to bring forth a host of historical documents in proof of this point of general belief. To prove that St. Peter was in Rome as the founder and first Bishop of that Church, it would almost suffice to see the great embarrassment into which they have thrown themselves who deny it. They are unable to tell us, if this is not the fact, how it happens that the whole of Christendom has uniformly, through all ages, believed that St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and there suffered martyrdom. They cannot explain how it is that this historical fact was never doubted or gainsaid, even by schismatics, heretics, and other bitter ene- mies of the Roman see, for upward of fourteen centuries, though they were deeply interested in raising doubts about it. 240 PA RT III.— NO. i. %! Holy Scripture informs us that before St. Paul went to Rome, in the tenth year of the Emperor Claudius, there was already in Rome a large number of Christians, to whom St. Paul wrote, and of whom he could say that their faith was spoken of in the whole world. (Romans i Now, if St. Peter did not convert the Roman people, and was not their pastor, how is it that our opponents cannot tell us who first converted the Romans; and, if not St. Peter, who was their bishop? They cannot explain how so important a belief, if untrue, could be imposed upon all Christianity, even at the time when St. John the Evan- gelist was still living, without any one protesting against it, or even noticing the imposture, but rather all taking it for granted. As it cannot be supposed that St. Peter had no see during the last twenty-five years of his life, if St. Peter was not Bishop of Rome during that period, they ought to tell us of what other place he was bishop, and where he died, and how and when his mortal remains have been trans- ferred to Rome. But of these things they tell us nothing. If St. Peter was not the first Pontiff of Rome, they ought to be able to explain how since St. Linus the supremacy over the whole Church was ever claimed, and is still claimed, by the Roman see, and not by any other, not even the see of Antioch, which St. Peter occupied for a time. But this also they are unable to explain. Besides this grave embarrassment, their not being able, also, to bring forth in support of their assertion any positive argument, but only nega- tive ones, serves to betray the weakness of their cause. These are the chief of their objections. " Chronologists," they say, " vary in fixing the time that St. Peter went to Rome. It is difficult to reconcile the assertion that St. Peter was in Rome with certain passages of Scripture. We cannot account for St. Paul's not sending, in his letter to the Romans, his salutations to St. Peter if St. Peter had then been the Bishop of Rome. Holy Scripture," they add, " does not state that St. Peter went to Rome, or lived or died there." In answer to this it should be noted that the disagreement of writers regarding the time in which a fact occurred renders doubtful, at most, only the thing upon which those writers differ, namely, time, not the fact upon which they agree. Indeed, if the disagreement about some point regarding a fact renders that point doubtful, the agreeing about the fact itself which they relate is a great sign of the truth of the fact related. Therefore, even supposing that the historians disagree in fixing the exact date on which St. Peter went to Rome, or died in Rome, this is not a reason for denying that St. Peter lived and died there. Thus no one thinks of denying the birth, the baptism, and the death of our Lord, ST. PETER. ST PETER IN ROME. 241 merely because chronologists are divided in fixing the exact years when these facts occurred. Thus, likewise, because, ignorant of certain particulars, we are unable to reconcile one fact with another, or to explain some expressions, or ac- count for certain omissions, is not a reason for denying what is otherwise satisfactorily proved from trustworthy documents. Thus, suppose we were unable to account why mention is not made in Holy Writ of St. Peter's going to Rome, and of his dwelling and teaching there ; suppose we could not explain why St. Paul, writing to the Romans, did not send his salutations to St. Peter — this is not a reason why we should deny what is otherwise testified about St. Peter by posi- tive and solid authority ; otherwise we might deny that St. John was bishop of Ephesus, and St. James bishop of Jerusalem, on the ground that St. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, did not send his salutations to their bishop, St. John; and, writing to the Hebrews, did not salute St. James, their bishop in Jerusalem. We attach more value to the testimony of a few trustworthy witnesses asserting a thing than to the silence of a hundred persons who do not deny what the others affirm. Sometimes the very notoriety of a fact, universally admitted, is the very reason why no pains are taken to establish it, and sometimes why no mention even is made of it. Thus, for example, the historian Euse- bius, bishop of Caesarea, who lived in the fourth century, after having stated that St. Paul was beheaded and St. Peter crucified under Nero, adds, " I think it superfluous to look for other testimonies in proof of these facts, for that these things have taken place is testified by remark- able and most splendid monuments." (Book ii., chap. 25.) These seeming discrepancies can, I think, be reconciled, and these difficulties surmounted. I will here give a short sketch of the movements of St. Peter in his apostolic labors, which, I trust, will enable the reader to solve most, at least, of those difficulties. St. Peter began his apostolic labors ten days after the ascension of our Lord into heaven, that is, on the Day of Pentecost, 15th of May of the 'ear 34 from the birth of Christ. In fact, on the very Day of Pentecost, St. Peter, full of the Holy Ghost, preached before a large crowd of peo- )le and converted three thousand of them. (Acts ii. 41.) Some days fter, being freed from prison by an angel (Acts v. 19), he preached in the >mple and converted five thousand more. During the four years that he tayed in Jerusalem he visited and preached the gospel in many parts of le Samaritans (Acts viii. 25), and visited especially the city of Samaria tself, where he administered the sacrament of confirmation to the baptized Christians of that city, and sharply rebuked Simon Magus. (Acts viii.) 242 PART III.— NO. /. In the beginning of the fourth year of his dwelling in Jerusalem Peter was visited by St. Paul. (Acts ix. 27, 28.) During the same St. Peter " passed through, visiting all, and came to the saints who dwelt at Lydda " (Acts ix. 32), where he miraculously cured Eneas from his eight years' infirmity; then he went to Joppe (now called Jaffa), and there he raised to life Tabitha (Dorcas), who had died shortly before. It was i n that same town of Joppe that St. Peter had the vision of the great linen sheet descending from heaven. (Acts x. 11, 12.) After a few days he went, by God's direction, to Caesarea, where he instructed the centurion Cornelius and his household, all of whom he baptized and received into the Church. (Acts x. 23.) From Caesarea he returned to Jerusalem (Acts xi. 18), but did not tarry there long. Having heard that in Syria, in the city of Antioch, the gospel had made wonderful progress, Barnabas and several of the disciples hastened thither, and St. Peter also ; which thing, though not mentioned by St. Luke, because the principal subject of his history was not St. Peter but St. Paul, is, however, attested by Anacletus (Epistola iii.), by Marcellus (Epistola iii.), by St. Innocent I. (Epistola xiv.), by St. Damasus in the Pontifical Book, by St. Jerome {De Viris Illustribus), by Eusebius (in Chronicon), by St. Leo (Sermone z\, De SS. Petro et Paulo), and by others. During his episcopacy in Antioch, which lasted seven years, St. Peter made excursions to the near provinces of Asia Minor, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia, as St. Leo testifies (Sermon on Saints Peter and Paul). In the eleventh year after the ascension of our Lord, which was the second year of the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, St. Peter left the bishopric of Antioch, which he intrusted to Euodius, and chose for himself Rome. Before, however, going to Rome, he first went to Jerusa- lem. Then it was that Herod cast him into prison, as related in the Acts of the Apostles. (Chap, xii.) But being miraculously delivered by an angel from prison a second time, he made his way to Rome. St. Peter was the first to preach the gospel in Rome, and owing to his sanctity, zeal, prudence, and power of working miracles, it was not long before he made many converts. The number of Christians increasing steadily every year, he chose the most distinguished among them, and sent them as bishops or priests to different parts of the world, as recorded in the Roman Martyrology. To Sicily he sent Pancras, Marcian, and Berillus ; to Capua, Priscon ; to Naples, Aspren ; to Terracina, Epaphro- ditus ; to Nepe, Ptolomeus ; to Fiesole, Romulus ; to Lucca, Paulinus ; to Ravenna, Apolinaris ; to Verona, Exuperius ; to Padua, Prosdorimus ; to Ticinus, Syrus ; to Acquileia, Hermogora. To Gaul (France), likewise, ST. PETER t IN ROME. 243 St. Peter sent to Toulouse, Martial ; to Cologne, Maternus ; to Rheims, Sixtus ; to Aries, Trophimus ; to Vienne, Crescent. To Germany he sent Eucharius, Egistus, and Marcian. To Spain he sent Torquatus, Ctesi- phons, Secundus, Indalesius, Cecilius, and Esikius ; and others to other places. In the seventh year of St. Peter's pontificate in Rome the Emperor Claudius banished from that city all the Jews. With the Jews the Christians, who were considered by the pagans a Jewish sect, had also : to go. St. Peter, leaving Rome, directed his journey, according to some, first to Britain ; according to Metaphrastes, first to Carthage, where he placed Crescent as bishop of the Christians who were in that city, then to Alex- andria, where he raised that see to a patriarchate, and placed in it St. Mark, with jurisdiction over all the surrounding regions.* He also made Rufus bishop of Thebes, after which he continued his journey to Jeru- salem. About that time there arose a great dispute at Antioch, some holding that the Christians were bound to observe circumcision and other legali- ties of the law of Moses, others maintaining the contrary ; and as they could not come to any conclusion, hearing that St. Peter had returned to Jerusalem, they sent there St. Paul and St. Barnabas to consult him and the other Apostles and priests who were there on the matter. A council I was held, and after sufficient time had been given to debate, St. Peter ; who was then Bishop of Rome, stood up, referring to a special revelation made to him by God, declared that certain Jewish legalities were not binding on Christians ; which decision was immediately confirmed by St James, bishop of Jerusalem, and by all the rest. (Acts xv. 8.) That that council took place in the tenth year of Claudius, St. Jerome gathers from the Epistle to the Galatians ; for St, Paul, who was con- verted the year next after our Lord's ascension, went to Jerusalem to visit St. Peter the third year of his conversion (Gal. i 18), and fourteen years after that visit he went again to Jerusalem (Gal. ii. 1) and attended the council. (Acts xv.) So that altogether there elapsed eighteen years be- tween our Lord's crucifixion and the Council of Jerusalem ; and the eighteenth year from the death of Christ was the tenth of the reign of the Emperor Claudius. Claudius died after a reign of thirteen years, and his edict of banish- ent against the Jews, which he enacted four years before, ended with is life. To Claudius succeeded Nero (at the age of eighteen), who, in the be- inning of his reign, was of a peaceable disposition. This encouraged * St. Mark died a martyr in Alexandria (Egypt) in the eighth year of Nero. 244 PART III.— NO. i. many of the Jews and Christians to return to Rome, as Aquila and Pr cilia did. St. Peter hastened also to Rome in the very first year of \\ IWo years after this (second of Nero), St. Peter was joined in Rome St Paul, who, some years before, when Peter was absent, had written his Epistle to the Romans, and now came there a prisoner. A difficulty is advanced here from the Acts of the Apostles that St. Paul found in Rome that the Jews knew of the Christian religion only by report, which could not be if St. Peter had preached to them. We must bear in mind that St. Peter's first coming to Rome was before the expulsion of the Jews by Claudius. St. Paul was conducted to Rome in the reign of Nero, after the Jews had been permitted again to reside in the city. Those who had heard St. Peter had been banished, and probably had not returned. Two years later (fourth of Nero), being set free, St. Paul passed some time in that capital, and then left for Spain and other parts. In the tenth year of the reign of Nero (the twenty-second of St. Peter's Roman pontificate), Rome was set on fire. Nero, to free himself from the charge of being the author of that conflagration, and turn else- where the menacing rage of the people, threw the blame on the Chris- tians, and under that pretext many of them were made to suffer impris- onment and death. The following year Nero enacted the first sanguinary persecution against the Christians, which was kept in full vigor for the remainder of his life. In the twelfth of Nero (the twenty-fourth of St. Peter's Roman pontif- icate), St. Peter, who had absented himself for a time, came back to Rome, and St. Paul also, to revive the Church, which through Nero's persecution was being cruelly wasted. During this year it was that St. Peter wrote his second epistle, in which he foretells his approaching death: " Being assured that the laying away of this my tabernacle is at hand." (Chapter i. 14.) At that time Simon Magus so captivated the Romans, and Nero espe- cially, by his magical arts, that they decreed to him divine honors. On the day that Simon Magus was to delight the Romans by an ascent in the air, and they were in most anxious expectation to see such a prodigy, St. Peter and St. Paul went to the spot where this was to take place, full of confidence in God that he would confound that impostor and undeceive the poor deluded people. And so it was : as Simon Magus, before an immense crowd of people, was already carried by the wicked spirits on high in what appeared to be a carriage drawn by fiery horses, St. Peter made a fervent prayer to God that He would abase that man, and, behold, in an instant, the fiery horses and chariot vanished away, and Simon Magus fell headlong to the ground and died. z ST. PETER IN ROME. 245 This defeat of Simon Magus, wrought by St. Peter, enlivened the pirits of the Christians, and was the cause of a great many conversions, ut Nero, exasperated at seeing himself and the Romans thus deprived )f the magical amusements of Simon Magus, ordered St. Peter and St. 3 aul to be cast into the Mamertine prison, on the Capitol, and there they were kept in strict confinement for nine months. From that prison St. '^lul wrote his second letter to St. Timothy, requesting him to come to .\ome to be witness of his martyrdom, which then was near. While prisoners they converted to the faith Process and Martinian, ;he keepers of the prison, and forty-seven other prisoners, who were bap- ized with the water which, for this purpose, St. Peter miraculously caused to spring forth in the rock floor of the prison itself ; which prison ind fountain of pure water still exist in wonderful preservation under |;he Church of St. Joseph at the foot of the Capitol. In the year 74 of the common era, that is, in the year 80 since the birth }f Christ, in the year 35 after the ascension of our Lord, in the thirty- : ourth year of St. Paul's conversion, in the twenty-fifth year since St. Peter ;ook possession of the see of Rome, in the thirteenth year of Nero, July ■th, St. Peter and St. Paul were sentenced, St. Peter to be crucified St. Paul to be beheaded, on account of their being disciples of Jesus Christ. They were in consequence taken out of prison, and St. Peter was crucified pn Mount Janiculum, not far from the Vatican Hill, * with his head toward (the earth, at his special entreaty, because, in his humility, he thought him- self unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord and Saviour did ; and St. Paul was taken to the Salvia Waters, about four miles southward from JRome, on the left of the road to Ostia, and there beheaded. When his head fell under the sword, it made. three bounds, and a fountain sprung jforth at each place where the head touched the ground. The three foun- tains — known as Le Tre Fontane — are still to be seen on that spot, about itwo miles beyond the noble basilica of St. Paul, which stands outside the walls {fuori le mtcra) of Rome, by the left bank of the Tiber on the Ostian Way. " This simple sketch of St. Peter's life from the Day of Pentecost to his death will enable any one to explain several of the difficulties which have been raised through not knowing how to reconcile certain facts with others ; how, for example, St. Peter could have been seven years at Antioch and twenty-five years Bishop of Rome, and yet be in Jerusalem in the fourth, eleventh, and eighteenth years after our Lord's ascension, as inferred from the Epistle to the Galatians, and from the Acts of the holy Apostles. St. Peter having fixed his see in Rome to the end of his life, and having died there a martyr, it follows, as a matter of course, that his heirs and * The very spot is venerated at St. Pietroin Montorio, Rome. say 246 PART III.— NO. 1. successors in that see should enjoy the prerogatives of that episcopat that is, the supremacy which St. Peter received — not for his own priv advantage, but for the good of the Church; for if any bishop can si with St. Augustine "that we are Christians is for our own sake, that are bishops is for your sake" {"Quod christian! sumus propter nos quod propositi stimus propter vosest"} (Librode Pastoribus, c. i.), how much more pointedly St. Peter and his successors can say : " That we are pon- tiffs is not for our sake but for the good of the Church, which at all times needs a supremacy to set in order many things which would othcrw is] remain unsettled, and keep all the flock of Christ together." And as the need ever is greater as the flock of Christ increases, so the supremacy is to be enjoyed in perpetuity by all the successors of St. Peter. * To give more satisfaction to those who may have been prejudiced in this matter, or who wish to enter more fully into this subject, I will here subjoin some other proofs to confirm this fact. I must premise that amongst the first Christians pagan Rome was often designated under the name of Babylon, and naturally so, especially among the converted Jews, who saw the great similarity between the two capitals on account of their vastness, pagan immorality, superstition, and common antagonism to the people of God. For this reason no one mistook what St. John in the Apocalypse desig- nated under the figure of Babylon. In the end of the first general Epistle of St. Peter we have these words : " The Church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you : and so doth my son Mark ; " in which passage the word " Babylon " must be taken to mean Rome ; in fact, it is not recorded either in Holy Scripture or elsewhere that St. Peter or St. Mark had ever been to ancient Babylon in Asia t ; and no ancient writer has ever said that this letter was dated really from ancient Babylon, or that it was so understood by anyone ; on the contrary, it is recorded positively in the history of Eusebius (Book ii., chap. 15) as having been stated by Papias, the disciple of St. John the Evangelist and friend of St. Polycarp, that St. Peter, in his first epistle, which he wrote from Rome, called Rome figuratively Babylon. The same thing is asserted by St. Jerome in his book of Illustrious Men when he speaks of St. Mark. That St. Peter was in Rome is also proved from those ancient writers who relate as a notorious fact that St. Mark wrote his gospel in Rome as he heard it there preached by St. Peter. This is stated by Eusebius (His- tory, Book ii., chap. 15) ; by Irenaeus (Book ii., chap. 1) ; by St. Jerome * See Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, Chap. XXI. f Josephus (Bookxviii. Anliq. Ch. 12) records that in the time of Caius the Jews in Babylon of Assyria were killed or banished. The Babylon in Egypt was, according to Strabo (Book xvi.) only a castle and an obscure place. ST. PETER IN ROME. 247 in his book of Illustrious Men just quoted, when speaking of St. Mark ; by St. Damasus in his Pontificate in the Life of St. Peter ; by Isidorus in the Life of St. Mark ; by Ado of Vienne, in France, in his Ckronicon, year 45 ; by Tertullian (Book iv. against Marcion), who also adds that the Gospel of St. Mark is attributed to St. Peter, because St. Mark was the interpreter and disciple of St. Peter. I might dispense with quoting testimonies of ancient writers to the fact that St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, as it is a thing acknowl- edged by a good number of Protestant writers, as, for instance, by Cave, who in his Literary History of Ecclesiastical Writers writes thus : "That St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome we affirm boldly with the whole multitude of the ancients. We give testimonies above all exception, taken from the remotest antiquity : Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, disciple St. Peter, and certainly his successor in the see of Antioch (Epistle to le Romans) ; Papias of Hierapolis, hearer of St. John the Evangelist, at least in his old age (see Eusebius, ii. 15) ; Irenaeus of Lyons, a bishop be- mging to the apostolic times, disciple of St. Poly carp (Against Heresies, ii. 1) ; Dionysius of Corinth (see Eusebius, ii. 25) ; Tertullian (in the took of Prescriptions, xxxvi. ; of Baptism, iv. : Scorpiate, last chapter), the Roman priest Cajus, an ecclesiastic of great repute (see Eusebius, ii. 25) ; Origenes (see Eusebius, iii. 1 — vi. 14). After names so venerable, md after monuments of antiquity so illustrious, who will call in doubt a ling so clearly and constantly attested ? " To Cave I might add the learned Ernestus Bunsen, who in a letter to le Times, June 5, 1871, admits the coming of St. Peter to Rome in the r ear 42. He grounds his belief especially on a passage of the History of Aisebius (Armenian version), in which Eusebius says that in the second '-ear of the reign of Claudius, that is, in the year 42 of the Christian era, *hilo had familiar intercourse with St. Peter whilst in Rome preaching le gospel. Also Dr. Von Dollinger wrote thus : " All the fathers understood the rord ' Babylon,' used in St. Peter's Epistle, to signify Rome. It has been isserted, especially by those who maintain the monstrous opinion that st. Peter never was at Rome, that we must take the word literally for Jabylon on the Euphrates. These authors do not remember that the Jews lad been driven from Babylon and Seleucia a short time previous to the writing of this epistle, and we cannot suppose that St. Peter, the Apostle )f the circumcision, would travel to so distant a city in which he could ind none of his nation. In the epistle St. Peter says that St. Mark was rith him ; we know from the writings of St. Paul that St. Mark was at Lome about this time. It has been said that in an epistle in which there exists no allegory, nor allegorical form of speech, St. Peter could not, -\}S r ART III.— NO. I. without some qualification, call Rome by the name of Babylon. Now it observed that St. Peter wrote to those Jewish converts who were iai Iar with the writings of the prophets, by whom Rome, the centre of ganism, is frequently designated by that appellation. I might cite tl example of JLuther, who, without previous allusion to the Apocahpse. dates his letter, written at Wartburg, from the Island of Patmos." ( // tory of the Church.) Calvin himself wrote: "I cannot withstand the consent of those writers who prove that Peter died at Rome." (Institutions, Book iv.) Wishing, however, to give satisfaction to my readers on this important point, I will here name some illustrious ancient authors, who plainly assert that St. Peter went to Rome ; others, that he was the first to teach there others, that he there held the pontifical Roman see for twenty-five years; others, that he died there a martyr, being suspended on the cross, and that his successors, the Bishops of Rome, were sitting on the chair of Peter. St. Peter went to Rome and first taught Christianity there. Thus St. Leo says : "The most blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apos- tolic Order, is destined to be the bulwark of the Roman Empire." (Firs sermon on the Birthday of the Apostles.) Theodor£tus says plainly that St. Peter was the first to dispense evan- gelical doctrine to the Romans. (Chap. i. in his comments on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans.) The same thing is said by Eusebius. (History, Book ii., chap. 14.) Paul Orosius in the seventh book of his History (chap, vi.) confirms the same thing in these words : " In the beginning of the reign of Clau- dius, Peter, the Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, came to Rome, taught with faithful word the saving faith, and confirmed it with very powerful signs ; from thence Christians began to be there." St. Peter was Bishop of Rome 25 years. Eusebius says that St. Peter, having preached the gospel in Rome, persevered twenty-five years Bishop of Rome. (Chronicon, 74.) The same thing is asserted by Isidorus in the Life of St. Peter, and by Sulpicius. (History, Book ii.) The same is implied by those fathers or ancient writers who call the Roman see " the chair of Peter ;" as, St. Jerome calls St. Damasus.the "Successor of the Fisherman," and his chair the chair of Peter. (Epist. 15 ad Damasum.) (See also First Let- ter to Pope Damasus.) Sozomenus. (Book iv., chap. 14.) ST. PETER IN ROME. 249 St. Augustine. (Book ii., chap. 51, against the Letters of Petillian.) Pruclentius. (Hymn of St. Laurence.) St. Cyprian, very frequently in his works. (See an instance in Book i., Letter 3, to Cornelius.) St. Prosper, with his noted expression, " Rome, the see of Peter, which on account of that pastoral honor is made the head of the world." " Sedes Roma Petri Quae pastoralis honoris Facta caput mundo." — (Book De Ingratis.) To these should be added those fathers who, in their list of the Roman pontiffs, place St. Peter at the head of it, as, St. Irenaeus. (Book iii., chap. 3.) Dorotheus. (In Synopsi.) St. Augustine. (Episto/a 53 ad Generosum, tit. 2, and contra Epistolary Fundamenti, chap, iv., tit. 8.) St. Peter died in Rome. That St. Peter ended his life in Rome is stated by — St. Augustine. (Book i., De Consensu Evangelistarum.) Eusebius. (Ckronicon, 71, A Christ nato.) Paul Orosius. {History, Book viii.) St. Maximus. (Sermon v. on the Birthday of the Apostles.) Origen. (Book iii. on Genesis, as stated by Eusebius, History, Book chap. 2.) St. Jerome, who writes thus : " Simon Peter goes to Rome to combat mon Magus ; he retains there the sacerdotal chair twenty-five years, up the last ; that is, up to the year 13 of Nero, by whom, being nailed to cross, he died a martyr with his head downward." (Book of Ilhistrious en.) Tertullian adds that St. Peter was crucified in Rome, after having or- ained St. Clement for his successor. (Book of Prescriptions, chap. 32.) Clement, in fact, succeeded St. Peter, though after Linus and Ana- etus, who were previously the bishop-coadjutors of St. Peter, and there- re St. Clement, in his humility and discretion, wished they should ucceed before himself. The same Tertullian, alluding to the death of St. 5 eter and St. Paul in Rome, addresses that city thus : " Happy Church, over which the Apostles have poured forth the whole of their doctrine ogether with their blood." (Book of Prescriptions, chap. 36.) I abstain from giving the quotations of Pope St. Clement I., St. Ana- cletus, St. Marcellus I., St. Damasus I., St. Innocent I., St. Leo I., St. Gela- ius I., John III., St. Gregory I., St. Agatho, Adrianus, St. Nicholas I., who all have asserted that they were succeeding to Peter, and sitting in the hair of Peter. 250 PART ///.—NO. 2. Some might take the exception that they were speaking in their own cause. Yet their testimony is of great weight if we consider that they were all holy men, who would not claim as a right that which they were not lawfully entitled to, and that they did, however, claim to be the direct successors of St. Peter, and this without any one protesting or doubting, or showing surprise, or finding fault with what they asserted. I close this short essay by quoting two general councils in support of this assertion — that of Ephesus in the year 431, and that of Chalcedon in 451. In the Council of Ephesus the Roman pontiff, Celestinus I., is called "The ordinary successor and Vicar of Blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles" ("Ordinarius successor et Vicarius Beati Petri Apostolorum Principis.") (Chap. 16.) In the Council of Chalcedon, as the letter of Pope St. Leo the Great, the Roman pontiff at that time, was read, all the 630 fathers who were sitting in that council exclaimed, " Peter has spoken through Leo " ("Pctrus per Leo7iem locutus est.") In the quoted expressions used by these two general councils, their belief that St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome is evidently implied. No, 2 — £l)e Srutl) about Cusa, Copernicus, (Balileo, anfc Kepler. The astronomical system which had prevailed in the world down to the seventeenth century is what is called the, geocentric or Ptolemaic sys- tem, by which it was supposed that the earth was motionless, and that the sun went daily round it, causing the days and the nights ; and that the sun in the course of twelve months moved gradually forward and backward inside the equatorial zone in such a way as to cause the differ- ent seasons. This was the system received by the Arabians, the Chinese, the Per- sians, and the Europeans. " For," says an eminent French philosopher, •' all the researches which have been prosecuted with the most scrupulous exactness have failed to bring to light any other astronomy than that of Ptolemy." In accordance with this theory, which is so strongly and con- stantly suggested by our senses, is of course the language of revelation addressed to man. Such being the state of astronomy from the remotest antiquity, to have departed from a system rendered so venerable by age required an intellect of the boldest originality. With such an intellect was gifted a priest of humble origin, Nicholas Cusa, a son of a fisherman. This celebrated man was born in a small hamlet called Cusa on the banks of the Moselle. Having studied in the most famous universities THE TRUTH ABOUT CUSA, ETC. 251 of Germany and Italy, he became archdeacon of Liege, and in that capac- ity he assisted at the Council of Basil in 143 1. He had previously written several works, and among them was a treatise on astronomy, in which, well-nigh two centuries before Galileo, he boldly laid it 'down as his con- viction that the earth and not the sun is in motion, and that the true sys- tem of astronomy should be called, not geocentric (earth-central) but heliocentric (sun-central). This opinion he maintained side by side with his friend, Cardinal Cesarini, before the assembled fathers of the council. What was the consequence ? Was he summoned to Rome to answer for his bold speculations ? Yes, he was summoned before the reigning pon- tiff, Nicholas V., but it was to receive the highest dignity the Pope could confer on him : to receive the cardinal's hat, and with it the bishopric of Brixen in the Tyrol. But the glory of Cusa is cast into the shade by the transcendent lustre of the immortal Copernicus. This great man left early his native town of Thorn, on the banks of the Vistula, and journeyed to Rome under the conviction that in no other place on earth could he display his talents more advantageously. Nor did he err. Already, in the year 1500, he was professor in the Pope's university, and was engaged in giving lectures on his new astronomical theory to more than two thousand pupils. During his long sojourn in Rome, Copernicus enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the highest dignitaries of the Church, and when he was about to return to Germany, a pension for life was given him. Nor lid the liberality of his ecclesiastical friends stop here. When afterward le was unable, out of his slender income as canon of Frouenburg, to give to the world the great work to which he had devoted the labor of his life, Cardinal Schomberg, with princely munificence, came forward and indertook the entire expense of the publication. No wonder, then, when the great work appeared, it should have on its title-page a tender and grateful dedication to the reigning pontiff, Paul III. If the Roman authorities have shown themselves so favorable to the cultivation of science in the instances of Cusa and Copernicus, how is it that the fate of Galileo was so different ? It may be said that all the troubles which befell Galileo arose from lis wilful and obstinate departure from the prudent course which had )een pursued both by Cusa and Copernicus. Neither of these philosphers had ever claimed for his scientific opinion lore than the arguments advanced to support it warranted him to claim -that is to say, a strong and very strong probability in its favor. Again, Cusa and Copernicus had kept the question of religion alto- gether aloof from their philosophical speculations. Now, these are pre- cisely the two points on which Galileo committed his capital errors. 252 PART III.— NO. 2. The discoveries which Galileo had made by the use of the teleso especially the discovery that the planet Venus has changing phast convinced him of the truth of the Copernican system that he not only asserted it as a demonstrated fact, but treated with scornful disdain ail who called it into question. Now, was Galileo justified in doing so ? Had he really proved the truth of his scientific views ? All modern philosophers affirm that he had done no such thing. The celebrated Delambre, who, under the direction of the French Constituent Assembly, measured the arc of the meridian between Dunkerque and Barcelona, says that till the velocity of light was ascertained by Reaumur, and the aberration of light was calculated bi Bradly, and till the laws of gravitation were established by Newton, all the Copernicans were reduced to mere probabilities. Hence, we are toll by Lord Macaulay, that the founder in England of the inductive school of philosophy, Lord Bacon, rejected the theory of Galileo with scorn ; and so did Descartes. No wonder, then, that when Jie went to Rome for the first time to defend himself from his assailants, though gardens and palaces were thrown open to him, and the highest dignitaries lavished on him every mark of respect ; though a commission of the ablest astrono- mers in Rome, appointed by Cardinal Bellarmine, declared that the dis- coveries made by Galileo were undeniable, yet did not regard his proofs as demonstrative of the truth of the Copernican system. Thus, after ob- taining the blessing of Paul V. and bidding farewell to troops of friends, the philosopher returned to Florence. The second capital error committed by Galileo was to pretend to prove his theory from Holy Scripture, asserting that portions of the Scripture could not be satisfactorily explained unless his theory was admitted. A denunciation was drawn up against him ; he was formally accused of in- terpreting the Scriptures in a sense at variance with the teaching of the fathers. This denunciation was quashed in the very first stage of the proceedings in hopes that Galileo would desist from his imprudent at- tempts. But, on the contrary, he became more and more persisting. Letter after letter came to him from his numerous friends in Rome, entreating him not to interfere with the Scriptures, and to confine himself to scientific argumentation. Monsignor Ciampoli wrote, " I have been emphatically assured by Cardinal Barberini (afterward Pope Urban VIII.) that you will be put to no trouble, provided you do not travel out of the limits of physics and mathematics." But Galileo would not be content either to hold his opinion as a phi- losophical probability, or to uphold it on merely scientific grounds. He would have it acknowledged as an unquestionable truth, and would have it declared by the Inquisition as conformable to Scripture. For this pur- THE TRUTH ABOUT CUSA, ETC. 2 5, pose he set out for Rome a second time, and was again well and warmly received. With great ability and vehemence he defended on every occa- sion the Copernican system ; but his keen satire and sarcasm excited and inflamed many opponents. The Tuscan ambassador, writing to his court, says of him, " He is so heated that he seems not to know how to govern himself." At a most inopportune moment, Galileo forced the Pope to send his affair before the Inquisition. In a few days a papal decree, founded on a decision of the Inquisition, was issued obliging him to promise that he would no'longer teach, as a demonstrated fact, that the earth moved round the sun, as such opinion appeared contrary to Scrip- ture. To this decree he humbly submitted, returned to the fair city on the banks of the Arno, in his pleasing villa called Segni, situated in the lovely suburbs of Bellosguardo. Seven years after, that is, in 1632, Galileo was cited before the Inquisi- tion for having broken his promise and taught his system in a printed sarcastic dialogue. After a trial of ten months, Galileo was condemned June, 1633. During these ten months, with the exception, perhaps, of three days (others say one night, when for his own convenience he slept lear the court), he resided in the palace of the Tuscan ambassador. He ras ordered to abstain from teaching, as a demonstrated fact, that the earth was in motion, as it appeared to be against the express words of Scripture.* He was, moreover, sentenced to remain a prisoner at the food will of the court, and to recite the seven Penitential Psalms once a reek for three years. To this sentence Galileo submissively bowed , and dthout ever uttering " Eppur si muove" (It moves, however), words con- stantly attributed to him, he left the presence of his judges. It was at the pleasing villa of Ascetri, about a mile from Florence, lat Galileo was located, at a short distance from the Church of St. Mat- thew, where his two daughters were cloistered nuns. To this convent the father used often to go in order to enjoy the sweet conversation of lis daughters, and to be comforted by the many proofs of tender affec- ion his children gave him. Thus the theory of the rotation of the earth, mich Cusa and Copernicus had been by Catholic dignitaries allowed and encouraged to teach, and even rewarded for teaching, Galileo was for- )idden to teach on account of his pretension of teaching it, not as a mere theory, but as a demonstrated truth, and, moreover, as a truth proved from Scripture. To us who live in times when the system of Copernicus is no more regarded as a theory but as a demonstrated truth, it seems very easy to reconcile it with Holy Scripture by saying that Scripture never intended to teach any astronomical system, but that it spoke of the earth, sun, * The decree of the Inquisition against Galileo is not formally a papal document. 254 PART III.— NO. 2. moon and stars as they appear to the human eye (as all men, includ astronomers, still commonly speak of sunrise and sunset), accommodat- ing itself to the popular way of speaking; but it was not an easy thing when the Copernican system was only a theory supported by mere prob- abilities. No wonder, then, that Protestants of that age fell into the same mis- take of denouncing as warmly as Catholics the rotary system of the earth as clashing with Holy Scripture. As a proof of this I here subjoin part of a correspondence written in the year 1853, about Kepler, to the editor of the London Catholic Standard. Dear Sir : On perusing in a German newspaper a few days ago, a very full report of an eloquent discourse delivered at Leeds by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (Wiseman) on the encouragement given to science by the Catholic Church, it occurred to me, aprop Galileo and the Roman Inquisition, that we Catholics would do well to bring more prominently forward than we are accustomed to do, another contemporaneous event of a similar kind— one which entitles us to reply to every taunt cast at us on account of Galileo, that, even granting his ecclesiastical judges condemned him in the manner popularly supposed, they at least did not do so without first having the example set them by a Protestant tribunal not unlike their own, and under circumstances just the same. I allude here to the condemnation of the celebrated astronomer Kepler by the theological faculty of Tubingen, in 1596, for affirming the identical scientific truth, which thirty-seven years later got Galileo into trouble. The great majority of English Protestants are, without doubt, ignorant of this interesting case, which I venture to think a very fair set-off to their favorite story about Galileo. It may very likely have escaped the attention of many Catholics also ; and, therefore, with your permission, Mr. Editor, I will just give the heads of it as briefly as possible. John Kepler, born near Stuttgard, in Wurtemberg, in 157 1, 1 need scarcely remark, reflected no less lustre on Protestant Germany in the seventeenth century than Galileo on Catholic Italy. Kepler it was who, by his great discovery of the elliptical form of the planetary orbits, was led to establish those laws in the astronomy known by his name, which first settled the truth of the Copernican system on an immovable basis, purifying it as he did from the erroneous hypothesis of the circular orbits, which its great author had still left adhering to it. For doing this, Bailli, in his Histoire de C Astronomie Moderne, calls Kepler "one of the greatest men that ever ap- peared on the earth," and " the true founder of modern astronomy." When he wrote his celebrated work, whose lengthy title begins with the words, " Prodromus Dissertationum Cosmographicarum," etc., in which he undertook by argument to demonstrate the truth of the Copernican system, not less reprobated at that time by the Protestants of Ger- many and England than by the Catholics of Italy, he had to lay it before the Academical Sen- ate of Tubingen for their approbation, without which, in the regular course of things, it could not be printed. The unanimous decision of the divines comprising this senate was that Kepler's book contained a deadly heresy, because it contradicted the teaching of the Bible in that pass- age where Joshua commands the sun to stand still. To this Kepler replied, " that as the Bible addressed itself to mankind, in general, it spoke of things in the life of men as men in general are accustomed to speak of them; that the Bible was in no respect a Manual of Optics or Astronomy, but had much higher objects in view; that it was a blamable abuse to seek in it for answers to worldly things; that Joshua had wished to have the day prolonged, and God had responded to his wish; how this had happened was not a subject for inquiry." Such an answer as this might at least have been expected to make an impression on a body of theologians, the THE SIN OF ADAM TRANSMITTED. 2 55 very pillar and foundation of whose religious creed was the right of every man to explain the Bible for himself. So far from this, they repeated their condemnation with more acerbity than before, and had not the Duke of Wiirtemberg, who was personally attached to Kepler, inter- posed in his behalf, he would inevitably have been subjected to a persecution far more rigorous than anything Galileo had to undergo. As it was, the vexations with which his clerical oppo- nents contrived to embitter his existence on account of his opinions, in spite of the duke's pro- tection, were such as occasioned him to write in despair to his friend Mastlin, "that he held it for the best to imitate the disciples of Pythagoras, and keep silence on the discoveries he had made, lest, like Apian, he should lose his situation, and be doomed to die of hunger." The upshot was, that he quitted Wiirtemberg, and fled for refuge — whither ? — to the Jesuits of Gratz and Ingoldstadt ! who, staunch Protestant as he was to the last, honored his great talents, and received him with open arms because of the services he had rendered to science. Eventually, on the death of Tycho Brahe, he received the appointment of court astronomer to the Emperor Rudolph II., at Prague I am, very truly yours, R. Raby. Munich, Saturday in Holy Week, 1853. 3fo. 3 .— &f)e ftrmtsmtesion of \\\t Sin of 2Umm to l)ts Cfyilfrrm Consibcreir. The transmission of original sin is a mystery which Catholics believe on the authority of God who reveals it. It is not out of harmony with reason, and to some extent admits of explanation. God decreed to raise human nature to a supernatural order of love tnd friendship with Himself, with a right and duty of aspiring to Him as our supernatural end, and being preserved from death, of finally possess- ing Him in the " beatific vision " of Him in heaven. No sooner did God create Adam than He bestowed upon him, as head of the whole human family, all the supernatural gifts called holiness and original justice, to be transmitted, together with human nature itself, to all his children. - Unhappily, Adam by his sin of disobedience, which was also a sin of pride, disbelief and ambition, forfeited, or, more properly speaking, re- jected that original justice ; and we, as members of the human family, of which he was the head, are also implicated in that guilt of self-spolia- tion, or rejection and deprivation of those supernatural gifts ; not indeed on account of our having willed it with our personal will, but by having willed it with all the will of our first parent, to whom we are linked by nature as members to their head. Hence, it appears that not the whole sin of Adam is imputed to us, not his ambition, his pride, his disbelief, not even his disobedience, re- garded only as such ; in short, not his sin, so far as it was only personal to Adam ; but we are implicated in that special guilt of his sin in which he could and did act as the head of the human family ; for only in that 256 I A R T III.— NO. 3. capacity could the guilt of his act be attributed to his posterity, and transmitted with nature itself to every human being descended from hi Now, what was this special and transmissible guilt of the sin of Adam ? Inasmuch as Adam received certain supernatural gifts, to be transmit- ted by him to his descendants, the special guilt of the sin of Adam con- sists in this: that he sinfully rejected those gratuitous supernatural gifts; and, on account of our union with him as his offspring and members of the human family, of which he is the head, we also have shared with Adam in his self-spoliation and voluntary deprivation of original graced Therefore, original sin does not consist in the privation of original justice considered as a mere privation, as a mere misfortune, or even as a punishment, because mere privation, mere misfortune and mere punish- ment are not sin. But when we speak of original sin, we speak of sin properly so called in the range of morality ; and, therefore, although the essence of original sin consists in the privation of original justice, yet it consists in this privation, or, more properly, deprivation or self-spoliation, inasmuch as the deprivation is offensive to God and ruinous to us, hav- ing been (and being) willed by our human nature in Adam, with the will of Adam. Hence original sin is also called sin of nature ; sin in which our per- sonal will has no part, but with which only our nature has to do, as being one with that of Adam. According to this explanation, there is no need to suppose that our will was included in the will of Adam like as in law the will of the infant is said to be included in that of a guardian. Nor is there any need to suppose an express or an implied bond be- tween God and Adam, to the effect that, if Adam had remained faithful to God, he and his offspring should enjoy those supernatural gifts, but if not faithful, he should lose them for himself and for his posterity. Nor can we suitably employ as an illustration the example of a man .who, having by his own fault lost his estates, his children are also de- prived of them ; for with regard to the children this would be a mere misfortune, unaccompanied by any fault in them or stain of sin. It is not by an arbitrary act on the part of God that we inherit origi- nal sin, nor is it on His part an imputing to us a guilt which we really have not. On the contrary, original sin is a necessary consequence of the sinful breaking by Adam of the supernatural order established by God; in which sin we share, inasmuch as we form one moral body, that is, one family, with him. In this mystery of original sin we have great reason to humble our- selves, and to adore God's judgments ; but we have no ground to com- plain, as if our contracting the guilt of original sin were unjust. THE SIN OF ADAM TRANSMITTED. 257 It was a great favor that the supernatural gifts of sanctity and origi- ; nal justice should have been gratuitously conferred upon Adam. It was I also a great favor that such gifts should have been intended not only for 1 Adam but for the whole human race, so that each of the children of ■ Adam should receive it on receiving human nature, and that they should J receive it without any merit, or even without any predisposition on their part. But from this order of things it followed, that if the first man should sin, human nature, which was all included in him, would lose those gifts. Therefore, on account of the sin of the first man, all his children are indeed born deprived of certain gifts, but gratuitous gifts. They are born averse to God, but averse to God as a supernatural end which is not demanded by nature. If God is said not to love them, the meaning of : this is only that God, who loves them as His intelligent creatures, does not love them with a love of gratuitous friendship, with a love ready to I confer on them a supernatural blessedness. They are truly sons of wrath, but only inasmuch as the supernatural beatitude is denied to them, and ; in which privation their condemnation consists. They are called sinners, j but not because any actual personal guilt of Adam is imputed to them, I but inasmuch as the deprivation of grace brought upon himself by Adam :as a necessary consequence of his sin is justly considered voluntary in \ them by the will of the head of the human race. Therefore they are sin- ;ners, not by any personal sin of their own, but by a sin, so to speak, of [nature, because brought upon nature by the actual refusal of those gifts by Adam in the name of the whole human nature, and as head of the whole human family. Nor can it be said that God does thereby impute to us the personal sin of another. He imputes a sin which is ours, though, at the same ;time, also of another; because it is not the sin of Adam, inasmuch as ithat was personal which God imputes, but the necessary effect of his sin, that is, the deprivation, the rejection, as it were, of original justice, which Adam wilfully incurred as head of the whole human race, and which, therefore, we also, as united to Adam, have incurred. In this no vestige of injustice appears. Men do not thereby lose any- thing which their nature requires. God cannot be charged with being the cause of the sin of nature ; but the cause of it is the free will of .dam, the head parent of all men. This sin, therefore, is justly attrib- ted to all his descendants. All complaint that could possibly be raised might be reduced to the )llowing : "Why did God give these supernatural gifts to human nature be passed on to all men through Adam only, and not give them sue- Jssively to each individual?" But such a complaint comes to this: 258 PART III.— NO. j. I " Why did not God create another order of Providence rather than this in which as many as derive their nature from the first parent, if this ture should happen to become sinful, would have to be born in sin ?" It is evident that there is no just ground for this complaint ; for God, being Master of His gifts and of His creatures, has a right to choose the mode whereby to communicate those gifts to them. Were we to grant, for argument's sake, that the other mode would have been in some respects better, yet as God is not bound to do what is in itself absolutely best, but only what is good or relatively best, it follows that neither God's justice nor even His goodness can be justly found fault with for having acted thus. The supernatural gifts destined by God for all human nature could not be lost by human nature through the sin of any one but that of Adam. For only the will of the head of the human family could be considered in this point the will of the whole human family. As those gifts were given to human nature, they could only be lost by the will of one whose will, in respect to those gifts, was the will of the whole human nature ; and such the will of Adam was. If Eve alone had sinned, we should not have incurred original sin, be- cause Adam alone, and not Eve, was the head of the human race. Hence both Tradition and Scripture attribute the fallen state to one alone, namely, Adam ; and to this one they contrast the only second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ. Eve, therefore, was the first to give occasion to our ruin, but not to effect it. From this teaching it is easy to understand that only the first sin of Adam could transmit its guilt to posterity, because only at the commit- ting of the first sin of our first parent was there annexed the implied re- jection of original justice granted to nature, and should a second or a third sin have been committed by Adam, there was no more original grace to reject, and therefore nature could no more be affected thereby. The grace also which Adam could recover, through the merits of Jesus Christ being applied to him, was not transmissible, because received for himself alone as an individual through faith and other personal disposi- tions, and not for human nature. So, also, the justice and sanctity which any parent besides Adam might have obtained through being regenerated in Christ does not pass to his children. The reason is this : because that recovery of grace is granted by God to the individual, and not simply to nature, and could not, therefore, pass to another by generation ; for generation, which is an act not of the superior, but of the inferior part of man, is only capable of transmitting nature, and the gifts, if any, attached to nature and not the gifts granted and attached to an individual person. COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 259 The generation by which human nature and original sin are transmit- ted to us is done in virtue of the first Adam, and not in virtue of the ■ second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, or in virtue of the newness of life in Christ. They who generate do not generate as being children of Christ, but inasmuch as they are children of Adam. No. &♦— Communion in One limb. The Church has always believed that there is no command from our Lord Jesus Christ for the laity to receive the holy Communion under two kinds, that is, under the species of bread and of wine. She holds that this twofold reception was not demanded by the nature or by the institution |of this holy sacrament. The Church therefore either left the faithful free to receive under both r kinds or under one kind, or she regulated this point of discipline as she thought proper under existing circumstances. When the Church left the lay people free to receive either under one or under both kinds, the custom sometimes inclined more to one side, sometimes more to the other. If at any time it became an obligation for the laity to receive under both kinds or to receive only under one, it was when the Church, for good reasons, thought proper to issue an express command on the matter, or when some general custom prevailed that had the force of law. Up to the fifth century the Church left the people free to receive holy Communion either under one or under both kinds. The Manichean heretics considered wine as evil, and held that Christ had no real blood. Owing to the permission which existed at that time of receiving Communion under one kind alone, these heretics could ap- proach to the altar with Catholics and receive the most holy Eucharist under the form of bread alone, without causing surprise ; and by so do- ing they would not manifest their heretical principles, or be known as members of that heretical sect. On this account Pope Leo I. in the year 443, and Pope Gelasius in 496, commanded that all should communicate under both species — not for the sake of correcting any abuse that had crept into the Church, but because they considered that such a command would deter these heretics from profaning this holy sacrament, and would serve to detect them and expose their heresy. When the Manichean heresy died away, the law which was made on their account was relaxed. The faithful were again left free to receive holy Communion either under both kinds or under one, just as they felt piously inclined ; and by degrees the custom of taking holy Communion 260 PART III.— NO. 4. under the species of bread alone prevailed, especially in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when it became universal, without any positive law binding to this effect. It was only in the fifteenth century, when some turbulent men began to accuse the Church of error for permitting holy Communion under on. kind, that the Church in the Councils of Constance and of Trent sanctioned with a positive law the then prevailing custom among the laity of taking holy Communion under the species of bread only, lest, by introducing and permitting Communion under both kinds, she might appear to con- nive at the errors of those innovators, and to admit, contrary to truth, that for fifteen centuries she had not known the nature of this sacrament ; that she had allowed this sacrament to be mutilated and profaned. The necessity of counteracting these errors and their destructive consequent was considered a sufficient reason for enacting a general law that the people of the Latin Rite should receive holy Communion under the spe- cies of bread only. It has always been believed that in those things which are not im- mediately connected with the essence of a sacrament, the Church has a right to change her discipline and the mode of administering the sacra- ments according to the needs of time and circumstances. Hence we find various changes introduced in the Roman ritual, as it was considered ad- visable at different times and places, in reference to things that are not of the essence of the sacraments. At this very day the Roman Catholic Church sanctions different rites, languages, and ceremonies in the administration of the sacraments and in the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Mass : namely, the Latin, United Greek, Armenian, Chaldaic, Syro-Chaldaic, Maronite, and Coptic rites, each in their respective language ; all of which, while they agree in points of faith defined by the Church, differ in many usages of less importance. Amongst other things they differ in the manner of administering the holy Communion ; some being permitted to give it under both kinds, some having to administer it under one kind alone. It might be contended that, even admitting that the administration of this sacrament under the species of wine is non-essential with regard to a Christian who receives under the species of bread, yet it would seem more profitable to receive under both and that therefore it is surprising that a command should have been given enjoining what is less -profitable. To this it may be answered, that the privation of this additional com- fort and advantage is abundantly compensated, with regard to the receiver himself in particular, by affording him the opportunity of an act of obe- dience, and greater facility of approaching the holy table, and with regard to the Church at large, by rendering the administration of the sacrament a COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 261 more easy and less exposed to irreverence. For if the holy Eucharist had always to be given under both kinds, those unable to bear the taste of wine, the sick, and those who live in remote and almost inaccessible re- gions, or in very hot or very cold climates, where wine can with very great difficulty be procured or preserved, these people would, in many instances at least, have to be deprived of Communion. The same may be said of those poor localities where they cannot afford to buy wine, especially for large number of communicants. Also the administration of the holy Eucharist under the species of bread alone is less subject to irreverence ; for experience has proved that in the administration of the chalice there is danger of spilling the sacred blood, especially when great crowds are approaching Communion, besides other difficulties and irreverences liable to happen. But there are two other very important reasons which have induced the Church to confirm by a positive law the custom, which had already generally prevailed, of giving Communion under the species of bread only. One was that the Church herself might not seem to countenance the error of those who denied the real presence of the body and blood of Christ under each species ; the other to oppose the error of those who, in the fifteenth century, as we have already remarked, taught that the holy Eucharist is no sacrament unless given under the two species ; which error, if admitted, would have sapped the very foundation of the Church, inas- much as it would have been equivalent to saying that the Church had been teaching what was false for fifteen centuries. No one, therefore, should blame the Church for having enacted such a law, based on a constant belief of the Church that Communion under one kind was a complete sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, and rest- ing also on the custom then prevailing, and on the greater facility thus afforded of promoting the well-being of the Church at large. On the other hand, it is not to be wondered at that people who had already formed a party in opposition to the Catholic Church, who denied Christ's presence under either kind or under both kinds, and regarded the sacraments as mere empty symbols, and who were, moreover, guided by the novel principle of private interpretation, should have also opposed this law of the Church. Alas ! what dogma or law is there that cannot be at- tacked under the destructive principle of private interpretation ? How easy it is, even with a seemingly good intention, to make Holy Scripture speak according to one's inclination or fancy, when all authority to decide is rejected except one's own ! From the fact that St. Paul frequently mentions Communion in both kinds, some persons conclude that therefore there must have been a divine precept obliging all the faithful to receive under both. 262 PART III.— NO. 4. I Such a consequence does not follow, as those fervent primitive Chris- tians may gladly have availed themselves of it because in itself a privilege. That it was not a custom nor a divine precept to receive under both kinds appears from what our Lord Himself did on the day of His resur- rection, when He made Himself known to the two disciples at Emmaus, as we read, "in the breaking of bread" (St. Luke xxiv. 30, 31), which pas- sage St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St. Chrysostom understand as signify- ing a real Communion ; as seems also clear from the context itself, and from the spiritual effect produced by the breaking of the bread ; for their eyes were then opened to recognize our blessed Lord. That the primitive Christians used also to receive Communion under one kind alone may be inferred from the Acts of the Apostles (ii. 42), by which we learn that the first baptized converts of Jerusalem " were perse- vering in the doctrine of the Apostles and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers," and also from Acts xx. (verse 7), where the inspired writer says : " And on the first day of the week, when we were assembled to break bread, Paul discoursed with them." In these passages no mention is made of the species of wine. Besides, we know from genuine historical documents that the early Christians were permitted to carry home the holy sacrament with them under the species of bread only, in order to receive holy Communion privately. These texts of Holy Scripture and this custom of early Christians prove that the Apostles and their immediate successors gave Communion, at least sometimes, under one kind alone, and that, therefore, the giving Communion under both kinds was not considered to be required either by the nature of the sacrament or by the command of Christ, but that it was left to the judgment of the Church. Some Protestants refer us to the fifty-fourth verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John : " Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you," in order to prove the necessity of receiving Communion under both kinds. When Catholics quote the latter part of this chapter of St. John in proof of the real presence of Christ in the blessed sacrament, many Protestants take upon themselves to declare that the whole chapter refers only to faith and not to holy Communion. It is remarkable, therefore, that in order to prove the necessity of re- ceiving Communion under both kinds, Protestants should quote from this sixth chapter of St. John. It is again somewhat strange that they who hold that in this chapter both the eating and the drinking mean one and the same thing (namely, partaking of Christ's body and blood spiritually, by faith), should oppose COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 263 Catholics who hold that to receive our Lord in either kind is partaking in reality both of the body and blood of Christ, and, therefore, keeping ! Christ's commandment contained in this passage. Yet as an objection is drawn from this passage, I will not leave it un- noticed. It appears that the scope of our Lord in this passage of St. John was not to reveal the mode of partaking of His body and blood ; and thus His hearers understood His words. They did not strive about the manner or medium of reception of His body and blood — whether under the species of oil, or of milk, or of wine, or of bread, or of fruit, or other chosen thing. This point our Lord did not touch at all, and therefore His hearers could not have anything to say on the matter, but they strove only about the possibility of His giving His real flesh as food. " How can this man," said they, " give us His flesh to eat ? " (verse 53.) Therefore fhe answer of our Lord should be taken to mean merely a precept to partake of His flesh and blood in reality, and not as referring to the mode of reception of His body and blood under the particular species of bread and wine. The elements )f bread and wine are not even once mentioned in the whole chapter. Some may think that, though wine is not mentioned, natural bread at >ast is mentioned in the latter part of the chapter, which relates to the loly Eucharist. But on examination it will be found that not once in the mole chapter can the word " bread " be taken in the sense of natural >read. Every time that the word " bread " occurs there, it is so qualified that it ignifies not natural bread, but a peculiar bread, that is, Jesus Christ Him- ilf, and relates to what Christ had said before at verse 51: "I am the iving bread." Thus in verses 52 and 59, He says, "This bread;" in rerse 52, "The bread that I will give;" in verse 59, "The bread that ime down from heaven." Therefore from the above-quoted text (chap. A. 54) the necessity of receiving Christ's body and blood is indeed clearly lade known, but whether His body and His blood is to be received under le species of bread and of wine, or of some other elements, whether under me species alone, or under two different species or more, is not pointed nit. It is necessary here to remark, that according to the Catholic belief, >sus Christ in the blessed sacrament is not partly contained under one >ecies and partly under another— that is to say, Christ is not with His >ody deprived of His blood under the species of bread ; and with His )lood without His body under the species of wine separately : but He is the blessed sacrament whole and entire, with His divinity, soul, body, ind blood, under either of the species ; and this is so by the necessity or exigency of the case, that is, by virtue of the existing mutual insepara- 264 PA RT III.— NO. 4. bility called concomitance, which means that the body and blood, hui soul, and divine nature of Christ, must always go together. The reasc is because not the dead body of Christ is made present by consecration, but His living body with His blood, soul, and divinity, which after His resurrection are never to be separated again from each other. This might be called inseparableness, that is, the impossibility of the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ ever being separated. It is part of the doctrine of the incarnation that the inseparability (arising from what is known as "hypostatic union") of the two natur< divine and human, in Christ is such that His divinity can never be sep- arated from His humanity nor from any part of it, even when those parts were separated from each other, as occurred at Christ's death ; and that after Christ's resurrection that inseparability became still more close, not even admitting the possibility of any part of His manhood being ever for an instant separated from each other. St. Paul assures us of it when he says : " Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth no more." (Romans vi. 9.) His soul can no longer be separated from His body or blood, nor His blood from His body, as it was at His death on Calvary. His glori- fied human nature does not admit of mutilation or separation of its parts, so that the body, and blood, and soul, and divinity of Christ must always remain united. The words of consecration, therefore, which realize the presence of the body under the species of bread, and of the blood under the species of wine, involve the belief that under either kind Jesus Christ is present in the perfection of His human and divine natures. Hence, under the species of bread is received not only Christ's body, but also His blood, soul and divinity ; and, under the species of wine, not only Christ's blood, but also His body, soul and divinity. Therefore the communicant who receives under the species of bread alone, receives the same precious gift, the body and the blood, the divine and the human nature of our Lord, as truly and entirely as the one who receives holy Communion under the species both of bread and of wine. It might be urged that there must be some reason why our Lord Jesus Christ in this passage (St. John vi. 54) used the figure of eating and drinking. The reason seems clear. In verse 52 our Lord had promised to give His flesh to be eaten. As some of His hearers disbelieved the possibility of this, our Lord confirmed His teaching, by adding that they had not only to partake of His flesh, but of His blood also. Now, having pre- viously used the word " eat " with regard to His flesh, He could not with propriety of language use the same word, " eat," with regard to His blood, and say, " Unless you eat my flesh and blood," but was compelled to use COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 265 the word " drink " respecting the blood, that He might speak with pro- priety of language. Thus for example, a man after having said, " Eat ' this orange," and wishing for some reason to advert to its juice, could ■ not with propriety say, " Eat this juice," but he would be obliged to say, : "Drink this juice." Some objector might say that the commemoration of our Lord's pas- | sion, which we should make in receiving the holy Eucharist, requires the 1 presence of both species ; but no necessity exists, for it is evident that a ' person can, if he wishes, call to mind Christ's bitter passion when he re- ceives the holy Eucharist under one kind alone as perfectly as the one who receives Communion under the two species. The commemoration of Christ is commanded (1 Corinth, xi. 24, 25) after each of the species, and by St. Luke (xxii. 19) after the species of i bread ; therefore the commemoration of Christ and His passion and death can be well made on taking Communion under one kind only. To com- memorate depends upon our free will, and we can commemorate or call to mind the death of Christ perfectly on taking Communion under one kind only. Let us see, now, whether the nature of this sacrament requires both species, as some imagine, or in other words, whether Communion under one kind only is, or is not, a true sacrament, conferring on the receiver ; the same essential grace as is conferred by this sacrament when given nder the two species. Here should be recalled to mind the Catholic doctrine, just stated, of e real presence of Christ's body, soul and divinity, under each kind in is sacrament, from which doctrine it clearly follows that he who re- eives Communion under the species of bread only, thereby receives Christ as entirely as the one who receives Him under both kinds. Is not Communion under one kind an outward sign conferring the in- ward grace which it signifies, and therefore a true sacrament ? In the schismatic Greek Church they give Communion under both kinds by tak- ing with a small spoon out of the chalice a little wine, consecrated, with a few crumbs of consecrated bread moistened in it. Between a mem- ber of the Latin Church who receives Communion under the species of unleavened bread, and a member of the Greek Church who receives it under the species of leavened bread moistened in a few drops of conse- crated wine, there is no essential difference. The Greek schismatic Church, moreover, in some instances gives Com- munion also under one kind only, and never insisted upon this difference as a cause of separation from the Church of Rome. It is true that receiving Communion under both kinds separately might help the receiver to call to mind more vividly the death of Christ, II.' 266 PART III.— NO. 4. but between a remembrance and a more lively remembrance there is difference in essence but only in degree ; and this seeming disadvantage cannot render the sacrament invalid. Baptism by immersion, or dipping under water, as practised in some parts of Christendom, signifies more •vividly the burial and resurrection of Christ, yet baptism by effusion, that is, by pouring water on the head, is equally valid, and is generally used by the Church in the west. In this way may be fairly answered those accusations so freely made against Catholics of mutilating and profaning this sacrament, of defraud- ing the laity % of their inheritance, or of giving them only, as some strangely maintain, half a sacrament, half the inheritance. All these ac- cusations fall to the ground of themselves, for whether under one kind or under both, the communicant receives the entire sacrament, that is, the body and blood, the soul and divinity, of Jesus Christ. Catholics might also with justice reply to the accusations of their op- ponents by saying that Protestants, instead of an inheritance more pre- cious than many jewels, only give to the receiver, so to speak, an empty coffer. Instead of realities, they give natural elements, more empty, poor, and weak than those that were formerly in use under the Old Testament ; instead of a sacrament that signifies what it contains and gives what it signifies, they dispense empty signs, signifying what they do not contain, and not giving what they signify ; instead of a sacrament in which Christ is really present, they give that from which the body and blood of Christ are truly absent ; and are careful at the same time to declare that what they dispense is but bread and wine : that Christ's body is nowhere but in heaven, as far distant from the bread consecrated as heaven is from earth. It is hardly the part of those who give the cup without the precious blood to accuse Catholics of giving the divine blood without the cup, for we have already remarked that Catholics receiving the body of Christ under one kind necessarily receive His blood also. But some still accuse us of giving to the laity a mutilated sacrament. To suppose that Communion in one kind is a mutilated sacrament would involve consequences both impious and absurd. A mutilated sacrament is a sacrilege both in the giver and in the receiver, as it would then be *«a profanation of a holy thing instituted by Christ. Can we think that the early Christians in the east and west were habitually sacrilegious ? Did an Ambrose, a Jerome, a Basil, a Serapion, and other saints who at their death partook of this sacrament under one kind only, receive a mutilated sacrament ? Did they make a sacrilegious Communion before appearing in the presence of their Lord ? Shall the Catholic Church be accused of having throughout all ages profaned the COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 267 holiest of sacraments, or of having all along been ignorant of its nature ? Protestants may refer us to Holy Scripture and say : " If it cannot be shown from the nature of this sacrament that both kinds are required in the Communion, it can be proved from the fact that our Saviour in giving the chalice said : ' Drink ye all of this '" (St. Matt. xxvi. 27), implying thereby that all persons — priests and laymen — were bound to receive the chalice, besides the consecrated bread. " It is remarkable," they say, " that Jesus Christ did not use this ex- pression when He gave the consecrated bread. It seems," they add, " that Christ foresaw that some people would in course of time neglect this part of the sacred rite, and that, therefore, He used this expression to put his followers upon their guard." We reply, that there is no reason why we should take those words, " Drink ye all of this," as addressed to the laity ; for, first, it is clear that our Saviour addressed these words only to the Apostles, " the twelve " then present, and the Apostles were priests, not laymen. If everything that was said to the Apostles (that is, to priests) must be understood as addressed to laics, it would follow that also the words delivered by our Saviour to the Apostles : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptiz- ing them " (St. Matt, xxviii. 19) ; " Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained " (St. John xx. 23), should be taken as addressed to every layman, woman and child, as well as to priests. (See St. Matt. xxvi. 29.) That the word " all " in the text quoted refers only to the Apostles present, and not to any one absent, is shown clearly by the words that occur in St. Mark (xiv. 23), "And they all drank of it ;" for if all who had to drink actually drank, there remained no one else to whom the word "all" could be applied. Again, the expression, " Drink ye all," clearly refers to the same per- sons to whom He said, " Do this ;" therefore it means, " Do in after time what you have seen me do now : " that is, " Give thanks, bless, consecrate and take." If the words " drink ye all " were to be taken as addressed to laymen as well as to consecrating priests, it would follow that the laity — men, women and children — have the right and the power, and are bound to consecrate ; as it would be arbitrary, indeed, to say that the words " do this " mean " thank, bless, consecrate and take " when applied to priests, but when applied to laymen only mean " receive this." The natural interpretation, acknowledged also as such by Protestants, of the words, " Drink ye all of this," is, " Hand the chalice one to an- other, and drink, each and all of you, a portion out of it." Christ had no need to say the like words respecting the bread, as He 268 PART II1.—X0. 4. had broken it (probably into as many pieces as there were Apostles), given one portion to each ; but with regard to the chalice, which was only one, and of which all the Apostles had to partake, it was natural t Christ should say, u Drink ye all of this." This interpretation, which appears so genuine from the context, seensl evidently more so by the corresponding expression used by St. Luke, "Take and divide it among you " (xxii. 17), which expression is clearly used as equivalent to the other, " Drink ye all of this." Some will perhaps say: "Why, then, did our Saviour, at the very time that He instituted the holy Eucharist, distribute it under the species of bread and of wine, if there was not a necessity for receiving under both kinds ? " We answer that Christ instituted the holy Eucharist under both cies, and the consecrating priest is bound to partake of it under both spe- cies, because the holy Eucharist, besides being a sacrament, is also a sac- rifice. It is requisite for a sacrifice that the victim should be really present, and immolated or destroyed, at least mystically, in order that it may represent the death of the victim. This was done at the Last Sup- per, and is still done in the Mass, by the symbolical severance of the body and blood of Christ through the separate consecration of each of them. It is also requisite for the completion of the sacrifice that the priest who has immolated the great Victim, by mystically separating, by a dis- tinct consecration, the body and the blood of that Victim, should con- sume it in both these kinds as often as he celebrates Mass, in order to show forth in a still more striking manner " the death of the Lord until He come" (1 Corinth, xi. 26); whereas, at other times, when they do not act as sacrificers, neither priests nor bishops, nor the Pope himself, even upon their death-beds, receive Communion in the western parts of Chris- tendom otherwise than the rest of the faithful, namely, only under the species of bread which has been previously consecrated by a priest dur- ing Mass. We do not read that our Lord at the Last Supper said anything about the distribution of this sacrament to the laity, as we have already noticed, much less whether it should be given to them under both kinds or under one alone. This being the case we are obliged to take apostolico-eccle- siastical tradition for our guide on this subject. The Apostles, as we have already remarked, used to give Communion also under one kind. It is said in the Acts of the Apostles that the first Christians " were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles and in the communion of the breaking of bread and in prayers" (ii. 42), "breaking bread from house to house " (ii. 46), " on the first day of the week, when we were assembled to break bread." (xx. 7.) COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 269 The Apostle Paul is far from insisting on the necessity of receiving under both kinds, for in the following passage of his First Epistle to the Corinthians his words imply that under either kind alone we receive a full sacrament, namely, the blood and body of Christ. He writes: " Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinth, xi. 27.) If by taking Communion unworthily under one kind alone a person becomes guilty both of the body and blood of the Lord, it follows that by receiving under one kind a person receives the entire sacrament and the whole Jesus Christ. The mistranslation of this passage which occurs in the authorized Protestant English Version must have materially served to fix more deeply in the minds of the readers the Protestant view of the Com- munion of the laity under both kinds ; for the Protestant version puts the conjunction " and " in place of the disjunctive " or," contrary to the Latin Vulgate, and even contrary to the translation of Beza, and the German translation of Luther, which has the word "oder" ("or"). Many Protestant scholars have acknowledged the corruption of this text in the English Protestant authorized version. Amongst others, the late Dr. Stanley, Anglican dean of Westminster, who wrote these re- markable words :•" Probably from the wish to accommodate the text to the change of custom, or from hostility to the Roman Catholic practice of administering the bread without the cup, the English translators have unwarrantably rendered q 'and', that is, 'and' for 'or': xai for ?/ occurs only in the Alexandrian,* and in three cursive manuscripts." (Com- ments on First Epistle to Corinthians xi. 27, note p. 211.) Dean Alford says : " The meaning of this ?} (' or') is not to be changed to xai ('and ') as is most unfairly done in our English version and the completeness of the argument thereby destroyed. "f The ancient Sinaitic Codex, discovered by Baron Constantine Tischen- dorf in 1859, in the Monastery of Saint Catharine, Mount Sinai, has $ ("or"). What took place in the time of the Apostles was done in all after ages, so that there never was a time in which the Communion under one kind, and especially under that of bread, was not practiced. $ Even when by universally prevailing custom, or by positive law of the Church, Communion was given under both kinds, there were yet exceptional cases in which Communion under one kind was allowed. *The Alexandrian Codex was brought into England in 1628, and is now in the British Museum. fThe Anglican compilers of the revised version (1881) of the New Testament have corrected this ssage. tin England at the beginning of the seventh century, Communion was publicly given in the churches der one kind. (See Ven. Bede, Hist., book ii., chapter 5.) 270 PART IIL—NO. 4. Both ways of giving Communion run side by side throughout ages, not only in the Latin Church, but also in the Greek and other ern churches, both before and after these latter had detached themseh from the Roman Catholic Church. That in Holy Scripture no divine command is given nor any other kind of necessity can be discovered obliging the priests to give, and the laity to receive, Communion under both kinds, is a thing which seems also admitted by a great number of Protestants. The Protestant "Confession of Augsburg" (a. d. 1550), alluding to the Catholic custom of giving Communion under one kind, excuses the Catholic Church from any blame in this matter. (See Augsburg Con- fession, page 235.) When the Protestant religion was established in England, King Ed- ward and Parliament in 1548, by separate Acts, under the title of " ( munion under both kinds," provided that this sacrament should only be commonly so delivered and ministered, yet an exception was made in case necessity should otherwise require. (Burnet's History of the Refor- mation, part ii., p. 41.) The Calvinists of France, in their Synod of Poitiers, 1560, decreed thus: "The bread of our Lord's Supper ought to be administered to those who cannot drink wine, on their making a protestation that they do not refrain from it through contempt." (On the Lord's Supper, chap. iii., p. 7-) All this tends to confirm what we have tried to prove with a fair number of arguments, that though we are commanded by Christ to re- ceive the holy Communion, yet, that Communion under both kinds does not fall under a divine precept, and that it is not a thing demanded by the institution of this sacrament, nor by the nature of it ; but that Christ left this point, as a matter of discipline, to be regulated by the Church, according to time and other circumstances. Yet it is sad to think, that, notwithstanding all this, some who may read these pages will perhaps persist in maintaining (such is the force of education, habit, and prejudice) that this sacrament, if taken under one kind alone, is no sacrament at all, or that it is only a mutilated sacra- ment. In this case the manner of reasoning adopted by such persons seems to be as follows : " In spite of the foregoing observations I hold to my private opinion that the words of the institution of this sacrament imply a necessity and a command to the laity of communicating under both kinds. The passages which you bring to prove that Communion was given by the Apostles under the species of bread alone do not satisfy me, nor is the expression you quote from St. Paul enough to convince me of COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 271 that the body and blood of Christ is received under each kind. I am not moved by the historical fact that even in those centuries when Com- munion in both kinds was in use, yet in a vast number of cases, as of sick, of infants, of prisoners, of persons living- in remote places, or keep- ing themselves concealed through raging persecutions and other causes, the Church sanctioned Communion under one kind. I am not willing to admit that the word ' all ' is clearly confined to those then present whom it is said, 'They all drank;' nor am I concerned about the consequences of my opinion, which implies that the Church, during fifteen centuries before the Reformation, was ignorant of a most impor- tant divine precept, and of the nature of the most holy of sacraments, and that she was a constant profaner of the same. I do not even pay regard to the view of those Protestants, or bodies of Protestants, who, by admitting exceptional cases, seem to agree with Catholics in this mat- ter. Their way of thinking is not an authority for me ; my opinion is as good as theirs ; I will not be argued out of it." It is to be hoped, however, that many candid Protestants will reason differently : perhaps somewhat in this manner : " From the observations made in this essay it appears that no proof can be drawn from the words of the institution of a divine precept bind- ing upon all persons to receive Communion under both kinds. It is clear from Holy Scripture, that Christ intrusted the dispensation of this and the other sacraments to the Apostles and their successors, who were well formed and competent to regulate this point. It belonged to them to etermine whether this sacrament ought to be distributed under two kinds, r under one alone. I cannot suppose that the Apostles and their suc- essors were uninformed on this important point of religion. It is known hat in the time of the Apostles, and in all after centuries, Communion nder one kind alone was, to say the least, occasionally given, and this enough to prove that the Church always held that no divine precept xisted commanding all the faithful to receive Communion under both inds, or forbidding to receive Communion under one kind alone. I can- ot understand how saints, as St. Ambrose, on their death-bed would ave consented to receive, and the Church would have dared to give, ommunion under one kind, as undoubted historical testimonies prove as done, if to give it under one kind were to mutilate a sacrament ; to uppose that this did really take place would reflect on our Lord Him- elf, as having been unable to foresee or provide properly for His Church n this important point. Therefore I think I cannot do better in this matter than distrust yself, my prejudices and my private interpretation, or the interpretation f those who claim no higher authority than their own private opinion in 272 PART III,— NO. j. I deciding the sense of Holy Scripture, and put my confidence in the holy Catholic Church to guide me in this point — that Church which shows every mark that her pastors are the lawful successors of the Apostles t,, whom Christ said: ' Teach ye all nations . . . teaching them to ob- all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.' (St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) " From this passage it also seems evident that the Apostles, together with their successors, were made the interpreters, promulgators, teachers and the natural guardians of the commands of Christ. It was, therefore, their business, and not that of laymen or other unauthorized persons, to declare which commandments are divine and which are not, and how far the obligation of such divine commandments extends. To the Apostles was promised the Holy Ghost, to abide personally with them and their successors for ever. (St. John xiv. 16.) Therefore, I cannot do better than accept what is held by the Catholic Church on the subject." 2fo. 5,— predestination. I begin by premising that God on account of His goodness, mercy and holiness, desires the salvation of all men. St. Paul says : That God " will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a redemption for all, a testimony in due times." (1 Tim. ii. 4.) And in a passage which follows close upon the mention of predestination to life the same Apostle says : "He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." (Romans viii. 32.) St. Peter declares that God is " Not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance." (2 St. Peter iii. 9.) Our Lord Jesus Christ touchingly represents Himself as knocking at the door of our hearts, most desirous to get admittance : " Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me." (Apocalypse [Revelation] iii. 20.) If any one is lost, notwithstanding the means of salvation that God affords to every one, such a one cannot justly blame God, but only him- self and his sins. Sin is the only cause of exclusion from heaven. No one is a reprobate but by his own fault. Hence our Saviour justly re- proached the Jews for refusing to be saved, with those touching words, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy PREDESTINA TION. 2 73 children as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not!" (St. Matt, xxiii. 37.) Grace is a gift of God entirely gratuitous in itself, and so excellent that no creature, independent of Christ, is able to merit it by his own works ; but our divine Saviour has merited it for us by the shedding of His precious blood ; and on account of Christ's infinite merits, divine mercy gives to every man a measure of grace, at least sufficient for his salvation. (See 1 St. Timothy ii. 4.) Even the greatest sinner is moved from time to time by grace to return to God, and God gives him sufficient grace to correspond. It is nevertheless true that God distributes this precious gift in an un- equal manner, giving more to some and less to others, according to the inscrutable designs of His mercy and of His wisdom ; but to no one does He give less grace than is sufficient for salvation. The goodness of God goes before and meets the soul, and gives to every soul gratuitously a first grace (an actual, not justifying grace), by the aid of which the soul can perform good works (not, however, deserv- ing heaven), and obtain further grace. The holy patriarchs, Job and Abraham, the Syrophcenician woman, Nicodemus, and the centurion, are examples. Most frequently one of the first graces is the grace to pray in order to obtain more abundant help. This first grace may be compared to a sum of money given to a poor person, which, if turned to a good . account, may make his fortune, but, if abused or not accepted, will be of I no benefit to him. Every one can, by prayer, obtain more grace from God, prepare himself to obtain the free gift of justification, and, by coop- erating or working with it, arrive at everlasting life. Almighty God, because he is Eternal and All-knowing, knows before- hand the cooperation of the good with His grace, their good works, per- severance, and final salvation. As the salvation of the good is owing to God's grace, given to them in the measure that He foreknew they would make use of, and not resist, though they could have resisted it, it follows that those that are saved must be considered to have been predestined, because their salvation was not only foreseen but effected by God, through His grace, which sanctified them and helped them in the good use of their free will left in them unconstrained. Thus there is predestination of the good who are saved ; but it cannot be said, strictly speaking, that there is predestination of the wicked who are lost ; because, although God knows beforehand their resistance to His grace, their obstinacy in sin, and their final condemnation, yet it cannot be said that because He knows beforehand He therefore wills beforehand, and by willing causes the works of the wicked ; nay, His having poured upon them His grace to enable them to do good proves the very contrary. 2 74 PART III.— NO. s- If God by His grace, which He refuses to none, stirs and enables us avoid sin, He cannot be said to lead us into sin should we resist His grace. The second Council of Orange (near Avignon, in France), a. d. 529, pronounced thus : " that any persons are by the divine power predestined to evil, we not only do not believe, but if there be any persons minded to believe so great an evil, with utter detestation thereof we say anathema to them." (Canon 25.) St. Fulgentius says: "Never could God have predestined man to that which He had Himself intended to forbid by His precept, and to blot out by His mercy, and to punish by His justice." Catholics do not believe that any soul is predestined by God to be lost, or that God causes any man to fall into sin and thus be lost. This the Catholic Church condemns as an impious and monstrous doc- trine.* She teaches that as'God foresees everything, so it must ever have been known to Him that many of the children of Adam would not attain everlasting life in heaven, notwithstanding the plenteous redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, because His precious blood has not been, through their own fault, applied to them to free them from the stain of original sin ; or that, though freed from original sin and justified, they would of their own free will resist His grace, which is given in a sufficient measure to all, would plunge into sin, forfeit justification, die without re- penting, and consequently be justly condemned. Now, this foreknowledge cannot properly be called predestination in the strict sense ; and in fact the word " predestination " is never applied in Holy Scripture to those who are lost. It may properly be called "pre- science," "foreseeing," "prevision," or "judicial reprobation," which ex- pressions do not imply that God has an active part in their having deserved that doom. The doctrine of predestination to life and prevision to ever- lasting misery, as taught in the Catholic Church, is reconcilable with God's goodness, justice, holiness, and wisdom ; with the just man : s merits and the wicked man's demerits ; it is reconcilable with God's commands and threats ; with His rewarding the good and punishing the wicked, and agrees with that saying of St. James (i. 13), that God " tempteth no man." If any should ask why God, who can predestinate some to eternal life, cannot predestinate others to everlasting condemnation, the answer is plain. Salvation is an act of mercy, and can be granted even to one who has no merit ; condemnation is an act of justice and a punishment, and can only be inflicted on a guilty person ; and therefore God can pre- destinate only in the former case and not in the other, because God can- not be unjust. To this purpose St. Augustine of Hippo eloquently says, referring to punishment and reward : "God returns evil for evil because He is just ; * See Council of Trent, Session vi. , Canon 6. PREDESTINA TION. 2 75 , good for evil because He is good ; good for good because He is good and just; only He does not render evil for good because He is not unjust." (On Grace and Free Will, chap. 23.) On the other hand, the foreknowledge of God about the perdition of some men has not the least influence over their actions ; and no one will be lost in consequence of God's necessary foreknowledge, but only be- cause that one has himself deserved such condemnation. ! r ■-. That no one is condemned without some great fault of his own is [ clear from these declarations in Holy Scripture : that God "will render to 'every man according to his works." (Romans ii. 6.) " Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." (St. Luke xiii. 27.) " Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink." (St. Matt. xxv. 42.)* "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Psalm ix. 17.) All which, and other similar passages, show that those who are lost are lost on account of their being guilty of grievous sin. It may be objected that some texts represent God as the author of sin ; that He "loved Jacob "and "hated Esau" (Malachias i. 2; Romans ix. i3)t ; that He darkened the minds of some so that they might not see ; hardened the hearts of others that they might not be moved to repent- ance ; that there is no evil of which He is not the cause — and such-like [pressions. The answer to this difficulty is, that when there is a truth plainly ited in the Holy Scripture, which truth other texts seem to contradict, the liversally admitted rule of interpretation demands that these passages lould be explained in a sense consistent with that plain doctrine, as there innot be any contradiction in the Word of God. Therefore all the ex- ressions just quoted, and similar ones, must be understood to mean that rod darkens the mind, hardens the heart, and offers temptation, not di- jctly but indirectly, that is, by permitting or not stopping these evils as He might, but which He is not in His justice bound to do. Most ungrounded and unwise it would be to say that, since only those who are predestined to life will be saved, therefore it is of no use to pray, or to try to do good, as, if predestined to life, no matter what amount of evil we commit, we should be saved. Nor is it true to say that he who is not predestined to life, whatever he may do, will be lost, and that the predestined one, whatever he may do, will be saved ; for none will be lost but the wicked, and none will be saved but the good : and the more good works the just man by God's grace shall do on earth, the fairer shall be his blissful mansion in heaven, *See Job xxxiv. 9-1 1. t See Note in Douay version. 276 PART III.— NO. 6. " for star differeth from star in glory" (i Corinth, xv. 41) ; and the more works of darkness the wicked man shall do in this world, the greater shall be his punishment hereafter. There is being "beaten with many strips and "beaten with few stripes." (St. Luke xii. 47, 48.) The doctrine of predestination, understood in the Catholic sen^ from discouraging prayer, diligence, faithfulness, hope and all good works, is an incentive to the same, because God has so predestined men that they should attain their salvation through those very means by which we strive to imitate our Saviour Jesus Christ, and become, a Paul says, "conformable" to his image. (Romans viii. 29.) * As long as we live, though the testimony of the Holy Spirit f and of a good conscience can give us a holy confidence, and even a great confi- dence, yet unless (as declared by the Council of Trent, Session vi. chap. 9) a person has received from God a special revelation, as was given to Daniel the prophet, our salvation cannot be certainly known to us with certainty of faith, and therefore no one should presume upon his security or be cast down by despair. We must love God and rely on His justice and mercy, and follow the advice of St. Paul, "with fear and trembling work out your salvation " (Philippians ii. 12), who also writes : " I chastise my body and bring it into subjection : lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway" (1 Corinth, ix. 27) ; and remember the admonition of St. Peter: "Wherefore, brethren, labor the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election." (2 St. Peter i. 10.) 3io. 6.— Gratification by "JTaitl) ^lone " Consibereb. 1. As in revolutions the leaders try to gain the people over by the bait of promised independence, so at the time of the so-called Reforma- tion, which was a revolution against Church authority and order in religion, it seems that it was the aim of the reformers to decoy the people under the pretext of making them independent of the priests, in whose hands our Saviour has placed the administering of the seven sacraments of pardon and of grace. **• They began, therefore, by discarding five of these sacraments, includ- ing the sacrament of orders, in which priests are ordained, and the sacra- ment of penance, in which the forgiveness of sins is granted to the penitent by virtue of those words of Christ : " Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (St. John xx. 23.) They then reduced, as it appears, to a mere matter of form the two * See footnote in Douay Bible on this passage. fSee footnote in Douay Bible on Romans viii. 16. JUSTIFICA TION B Y FAITH ALONE. 277 ■sacraments they professed to retain, namely, holy baptism and the holy Eucharist. To make up for this rejection, and enable each individual to prescribe for himself, and procure by himself the pardon of sins and divine grace, independently of the priests and of the sacraments, they nvented an exclusive means, never known in the Church of God, and still rejected by all the eastern churches and by the Roman Catholics throughout the world, by which the followers of Luther ventured to de- clare that each individual can secure pardon and justification for himself ndependently of priests and sacraments. They have framed a new dogma, not to be found in any of the creeds, or in the canons of any gen- eral council ; I mean, the new dogma of justification by faith alone, or by faith only. 2. This new doctrine has gone through many changes in course of ;ime. It exists even now under many shades of variety in its details. Still, it may be asserted, that the vast majority of Protestants think that :he only means appointed by our Saviour for our being pardoned, justi- ied, and adopted by God — that is, for our passing from a state of con- demnation to a state of acceptance with God, with the consequent alessings of grace and state of salvation, or, as Catholics would say, from : ,|i state of sin to a state of grace — is faith alone. HBy adding the word "alone," Protestants profess to exclude all exte- . dor, ceremonial, pious, or charitable works, works of obedience or of pen- ance, and good moral acts whatever, as means of apprehending justifica- tion, or as conditions to obtain it. Protestants by that word " alone " mean also to exclude the sacraments of baptism and penance as means of (apprehending or possessing themselves of justification, which they main- tain is only apprehended by faith. By the word "alone," Wesleyans (who as a body seem, next to the (Anglican Establishment, to retain more of Catholic doctrine than other (dissenters) and some others do not actually shut out hope, repentance, belief in gospel truths, fear of God, and a purpose of amendment from accompanying faith. They teach that although it is not the part of these moral acts to secure justification, yet the faith which alone takes hold upon Christ has necessarily these results. Most other Protestants, on the contrary, by the word " alone " seem to exclude (with the exception of belief in the plan of redemption and repentance) belief in all other re- vealed truths and all other interior good moral acts whatsoever — love of God and neighbor, resolution to avoid sin, fear of God, obedience, readi- ness to do works of penance and the desire to receive the sacraments of baptism and penance ; either because they hold it impossible to make these works properly, or because they consider them sinful in the-mselves, or at least unnecessary and useless for justification. 278 PART III.— NO. 6. I Indeed, some of them go so far as to consider these interior good acts, as well as other exterior good deeds, rather hindrances than disposition to justification. To do these acts with the view of being justified is, they say, like ing a penny to the Queen to obtain from her a royal gift. Come as are, they add ; you cannot be too bad for Jesus. Through faith alone in His promise, they assert, you can and should accept Christ's merits, seize Christ's redemption and His justice, appropriate Christ to yourself, be- lieve that Jesus is with you, is yours, that He pardons your sins, and all this without any preparation and without any doing on your part ; in fact, that however deficient you may be in all other dispositions which Catholics require, and however loaded with sins, if you only trust in Jesus that He will forgive your sins and save you, you are, by that trust alone, forgiven, personally redeemed, justified, and placed in a state of salvation. 3. Nothing certainly can be better for us poor sinners than to be con- verted, pardoned, actually redeemed, saved and united with Christ. Catholics, indeed, can not aim at anything more needful and desirable than this. The question, however, is not about that. The question is, Is justification, according to Scripture, to be had only by this trusting or faith in Christ for personal salvation, or is it not ? We know that Christ died for all, and yet that all are not saved ; but only such are saved as fulfil certain conditions and become just ; so that the promise of salvation is not absolute but conditional. Hence St. Paul says: "He became to all that obey Him the cause of eternal salvation." 4 Now these conditions, these dispositions demanded by Christ before making us share His merits, His grace, and the fruit of His redemption, before pardoning and justifying us, are they many, or is there only one ? And if only one, is it the reliance or faith in Christ for personal salvation taught by Protestants, or is it another kind of faith, or some other means? Some Protestants are apt to say : " If I have Jesus Christ with me I can not wish for more : " yes, if by this kind of faith you can really have Him ; but if this kind of faith is not the right means, and if faith is not the sole, exclusive means appointed by Him for that purpose, you may imagine that you possess Christ, whilst in reality you do not. To people who are brought up in the belief of justification by faith alone, and who are constantly told that the word " faith " in Holy Scrip- ture mostly means simple acceptance or reliance on Christ for personal salvation, this theory of justification by faith alone must naturally appear very scriptural indeed ; for they imagine it to be confirmed every time that mention is made in Scripture of being saved by faith. But on exam- ining, with unprejudiced mind, all the texts generally brought forward in * See Hebrews v. 9 ; also St. Matthew xxv. 46. JUSTIFICA TION BY FAITH ALONE. 279 proof of that doctrine, it is found that not one of them tells clearly in favor of it. The word " faith," in Scripture, sometimes means confidence in God's omnipotence and goodness ; that He can and is willing to cure or benefit us by some miraculous interposition. Mostly it refers to revealed truths, and signifies belief in them as such. No one has a right to give to the word " faith" a new meaning, and take it, for instance, to signify reliance on Jesus for being personally saved through this very reliance alone, un- less Jesus Christ or the Apostles had, in some instance, clearly attributed such a meaning to the word " faith," and taught the doctrine of trust in Christ for personal salvation as the only requisite for justification. No one should attach a particular meaning to the word " faith," without hav- ing a good warrant in Scripture or in divine tradition. 4. Now in many passages of Holy Scripture in which " saving faith " is plainly spoken of, by " faith " is not meant a trust in Christ for personal salvation, but evidently a firm belief that Jesus is the Messias, the Christ, the Son of God ; that what is related of Him in the Gospel is true, and that what He taught is true. This faith, however, does not exclude, but leads to, trusting in Christ, and to all other virtues. The following are instances. In St. John we read : " These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that )elieving you may have life in His name." (xx. 31.) It is evident that le saving belief here mentioned is not a trust in Christ for personal sal- tation, but the believing what is asserted of Christ in the gospel. In St. lark we read : " And after that John was delivered up Jesus came into ralilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand ; repent and >elieve the gospel." (i. 14, 15.) It is clear that here our Saviour for sal- tation requires repentance and belief in all the gospel truths, of course, in order to carry them into practice. Thus, likewise, the whole eleventh chapter of St. PauJ's Epistle to the lebrews (which, as is admitted on every side, treats of saving faith), evidently shows that the object of this saving faith is not to make a per- son confident of actually obtaining mercy through trusting in Christ, but is to make him certain of the existence of truths not to be discovered )y simple reason, but revealed, by God. The saving faith of the chamberlain of Queen Candace, required by )t. Philip, was not directly a confidence in Christ for mercy, but a belief in His divinity. (Acts viii. 37.) The faith of the man sick of the palsy, that gained for him the pardon of his sins, was not a reliance on Christ for the forgiveness of his sins, but a belief in the divine omnipotence and goodness of Christ, that He could and would heal his body. (St. Luke v. 2S0 PART III.— NO. 6. 20.) When Jesus Christ said to Martha : " Every one that liveth and lieveth in me shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?" Martha answered, "Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into this world." (St. John xi. 26, 27.) This was not a trust in Christ for pardon, but a belief that Jesus was th< of God, the Messias. Again, Jesus Christ declared that saving faith was to know and U- lieve that His Father was the only true God, and that He Himself was His divine Son, sent by Him to redeem the world. " Now this is eternal life ; that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (St. John xvii. 3.) St. Paul, explaining the nature of justifying faith, says : " For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans x. 9.)* It is clear that to believe in Jesus Christ, and consequently to believe what He teaches and what He promises, is not the same as a mere confidence in Christ for pardon. When our Saviour said : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; " " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be condemned " (St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, and St. Mark xvi. 16), our 'Lord evidently spoke of saving faith, and this faith was simply to believe the revealed truths taught by Christ and preached by the Apostles, with the intention of practising them as a necessary condition of justification. These texts, which all refer to saving faith, prove to evidence that not trust in Christ for personal salvation, but the faith of the creed, the faith in revealed truths, the faith of the gospel, as St. Paul calls it (Philippians i. 27), is the faith availing for justification, though this saving faith, as we have said, does not exclude trusting in Christ, but leads to it. St. Paul confirms all this plainly in his Second Epistle to the Thessa- lonians, where he says that the love of the truth is necessary for salva- tion (chap. ii. 10) — that not to believe the truth is to wish not to be jus- tified, but to be judged (verse 11) — that we are chosen to salvation and sanctification through belief of the truth (verses 12, 13). That by faith of the truth St. Paul meant believing everything revealed by God, and taught by the true messengers of God, he makes sufficiently clear in verses 14, 15, where he tells them to stand fast and hold everything they had been taught by him. 5. Now surely it must be admitted, that whenever in other parts of Holy Scripture saving faith is spoken of without any clear indication of its meaning (the word " faith " being left unexplained by the context), * See also Philippians iii. 9, 10. THE TRIUMPH OF CHRI5T. ■ : JUSTIFICA TION B Y FAITH ALOXE. 28 1 such a meaning should be attached to this word " faith " as is clearly set forth in other texts ; according to the universally accepted rule of inter- pretation, that we must interpret the obscure or less clear texts of Scrip- ture by those that are more clear. To interpret passages of Scripture which are not clear as though clear, and some even in contradiction to other clear texts, is against reason, and violates the first rule of interpre- tation. In no text of Holy Scripture in which " saving faith " is clearly men- tioned, are we compelled by the context to take the word " faith " to mean, primarily, trust, and not belief in gospel truths as the first and direct meaning. Therefore, to take certain texts of Scripture in which faith, or belief, or approaching to Christ is mentioned, and take them to mean reliance in Christ for pardon as the primary meaning, and that re- liance as the sole means of justification, is a mere assumption, and con- trary to the rule of interpretation just mentioned. 6. To trust in God for mercy and pardon has certainly its place along with the other dispositions in the plan of justification. But no- where in Holy Scripture is justification clearly attributed to that trust as the sole apprehending instrument of justification. Thus we see that if the penitent publican trusted in the mercy of God, it was not at the same time without some love of God, fear, repent- ance, prayer, confession of his guilt, and humility, shown by his standing at the far end of the temple, striking his breast, and calling himself a sinner ; and there is no allusion made to his having been forgiven only in view of his trust as the sole apprehending instrument of justification, but rather having regard to all the aforesaid dispositions, trust included, and especially his humility, which our Saviour contrasted with the pride of the Pharisee, who boldly felt assured that he was justified. And of this penitent publican our Saviour declared : " I say to you this man went down into his house justified rather than the other." (St. Luke xviii. 14.) Thus St. Peter, speaking to Simon the sorcerer, though he raised somewhat his hope for pardon, yet said to him : " Do penance therefore from this thy wickedness : and pray to God if perhaps this thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee." (Acts viii. 22.) Thus it is also clearly said that " we are saved by hope " (Romans viii. 24); but it is not said that this hope or trust is the only apprehend- ing instrument of justification ; and faith or belief in gospel truths is not excluded, but implied in it, as Protestants also teach ; and this faith in gospel truths demands in its turn, and leads to all the other dispositions which the revealed Word of God requires, not for apprehending justifica- tion, but for being rendered fit to receive it. If you pretend that by trusting in Christ you apprehend Christ and become justified, then it is 282 PART III.— NO. 6. through your efforts and through your work you get justification ; th the getting of justification depends on you, not as merely disposi yourself, as Catholics teach, but as on an active agent ; then would jus fication not be gratis, but partly a fruit of your work. This novel apprehending, besides being unscriptural, is also uncalle for. God bestows His justification on us when he finds us disposed receive it. No apprehending instrument is required. We simply recei His justifying grace when it is given to us, just as we receive any oth grace. Trusting* is not in itself apprehending ; it is quietly expecting and waiting the gift of God to be given by Him when He shall be pleased to bestow it on us, even without our perceiving it. Thus a man on the point of drowning, without grappling at anything, is caught and rescued by another, moved to compassion by his miserable condition, by his cries, by his humble prayer, and by the confidence he places in him who comes to his rescue. Luther admitted that justification and salvation by faith alone was a new doctrine, for in his comments on i Corinthians v.,. he was vain enough to speak of himself as one " to whom the mystery of genuine faith, hidden from former ages in God, had been revealed." But having determined to introduce his newly invented doctrine of justification by a mere reliance in Christ for pardon, which he called faith, and despairing to find another text that could serve his purpose better than the text of St. Paul, Romans iii. 28, "For we account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law," he thought of making this text the great bulwark of his new doctrine ; and being at the same time fully convinced that even this text was insufficient to establish his new principle, he be- took himself to the mad expedient of corrupting this passage, adding the word " alone " (" allein" which word still remains in the Protestant Ger- man version of the Bible) to the word " faith," in order to make it ap- pear that saving faith was not only in contrast to the works of the Old Law, called by St. Paul the law of works, but also to the deeds of the New Law, called by the same holy Apostle the law of faith ; that thus it might help him to start a new method of justification by faith alone. People remonstrated with him on every side on this account ; even his fellow-reformer Zuinglius accused him in these sharp words : " Luther, thou corruptest the Word of God. Thou art seen to be a man- ifest and common corrupter and perverter of Holy Scripture ; " but it was of no avail. Despairing to find one text in the whole Scripture to prop efficiently his device, and seeing the necessity of introducing this word " alone " in order to give this passage the appearance of favoring his novel principle of justification by faith alone, he declared unblush- ingly that this word should remain in spite of everything and of every JUSTIFICA TION B Y FAITH ALONE. 283 body ; and this on no other but his own authority, and for no other rea- son than his own will. The new doctrine started by Luther was adopted by the State Church of England, and embodied in the eleventh of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion of 1562, still in force, in these words : "Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort." During fifteen centuries, both in the Western and Eastern churches, the saving faith mentioned in Holy Scripture was always understood to signify belief in God and God's revelation, as such belief naturally leads to the adoption of all prescribed dispositions and means for being justi- fied ; and the kind of apprehending saving faith which means confidence to get pardon, without the sacraments, by the sole means of that confi- dence, as taught in these later times by Protestants, was then unknown. Luther invented, as we have said, this doctrine, and was the first to affix such meaning to the word " faith." His new interpretation of the word was adopted in course of time by a vast number of Lutherans, Calvinists, and other Protestants ; and from that period only there existed men who saw in the word "faith," occuring so frequently in Holy Script- ure, that which had never been seen by the fathers, by the doctors, by he saints, and by the whole Church of God. To show the unfairness of taking the word " faith " occurring in Holy Scriptures in this new Protestant sense of trust in Christ for pardon, to he exclusion of any other disposition or means, and not in the Catholic sense of belief in revealed truths, which belief virtually implies the use of all dispositions, trust included, and of all proper means, allow me to use he following illustration. Suppose that a man afflicted with a grave disease sends for a physician )f repute. The physician comes and prescribes, and, to inspire the )atient with more confidence, tells him, " Only believe in me and you will be cured." Can we suppose that the poor sufferer, on the departure )f the physician, would say : " I shall take no medicine, for the physician aid, ' only believe and you will be cured ? ' " Such way of reasoning and acting seems impossible to occur with re- ard to the cure of the body, but respecting the cure of the soul it is an jnhappy matter of fact that thousands of persons fall into this sad mis- ake. 7. We seem to hear Jesus, our Heavenly Physician, say : " I died for ill, and thereby prepared in my blood a remedy for all. If you would lave the merits of my passion and death applied to you, and free your souls from sin, you must come to me, you must believe that I am what I epresent myself to be, and you must believe all that I teach. (St. Mark 284 PART III.— NO, 6. 1 xvi. 15, 16.) Moreover, assisted by my grace, you must fear and serve me. (St. Luke i. 50; Proverbs i. 7 ; xiv. 27; xix. 23 ; Psalm Ixxxiv. 10 [or Prot. version lxxxv. 9] ; Psalm cii. [or ciii.] 11-13.) You must hop, and trust in my goodness, omnipotence, and mercy. (1 St. John iii. Romans viii. 24; Psalms xxxii. [or xxxiii.] 18.) You must love me, (Galatians v. 6 ; 1 St. John iv. 19 ; St. Luke x. 27.) You must love your neighbor (1 St. John iii. 14 ; iv. 7-16 ; 1 St. Peter iv. 8 ; St. James ii. 25 ; Daniel iv. 24) ; and forgive your enemies. (St. Matt. vi. 14, 15 ; St. Mark xi. 25, 26 ; 1 St. John iii. 15.) You must humble yourselves, and be sorry for the sins you have committed, hate the evil you have done, and repent. (Psalm 1. [or li.] 19 ; Psalm cxlvi. [or cxlvii.] 3 ; St. James iv. 6 ; 1 St. Peter v. 5 ; Isaias lvii. 15; St. Luke i. 51, 52.) You must turn tome, amend your lives, have a good intention of avoiding sin for the future, of keeping my commandments, and of doing works of penance. (Zacharias i. 3, 4 ; St. Luke x. 13; xiii. 5 ; Ezekiel xviii. 21, 30, 31 ; St. Matt. iii. 7, 8; Acts ii. 38.) If, assisted by my grace, you come to me with these dispo- sitions, then I am ready to apply to you the atonement of my passion and death, not as though this mercy were due to any merit of yours, but freely, without any price, to grant you forgiveness of your sins, to unite you to myself by justifying grace, and place you in a state of salvation through the sacrament of baptism (Acts ii. 38 ; St. John iii. 5 ; Titus iii. 5 ; Ephesians v. 26), or through the sacrament of penance. (St. John xx. 23.) In one Vvord, I say to you, Believe : and you are saved." The natural import of these last words would be, " Believe that I am what I declare myself to be, and believe what I teach. Do also what I have told you to do, and then you shall have the merits of my passion and death applied to you, and you shall be justified." It would be unwarrantable to detach the last words, " Believe and you are saved," to disconnect them from what preceded, and then cry out: " The Lord declares that faith alone is necessary, faith afone is sufficient for our justification ; we have only to trust in Christ for pardon, and we are justified." The Catholic Church, therefore, teaches the necessity of faith or belief in revelation, of hope or trust, fear and love of God, humility, repentance, purpose to observe the commandments and to apply for the sacraments to obtain justification. Her teaching accords with Holy Scripture, whilst the Protestant theory of justification by faith alone is not according to Scripture rightly interpreted, but is opposed to it. 8. Even by the light of reason and common sense, one can see that it is right on the part of God that He should require these dispositions in a sinner before granting him the free gift of justification. What more rea- sonable than that our Saviour should say : " If you wish that I should JUSTIFICA TION BY FAITH ALONE. 285 grant you pardon of your sins and apply to you the merits of my passion and death, and justify you freely, do not contradict me and disbelieve what I have revealed, but believe me and have faith ; do not despise me, but fear and revere me ; do not despair, and do not distrust me as if I were unmerciful, but trust and hope in me ; do not reject me, but love me ; be not unconcerned about having offended me, or about offending me again, but detest your sins, be sorry for them, and be determined, with the help of my grace, to avoid all sin in future, and to keep my command- ments : for if you be wanting in these dispositions, you set yourself in opposition to me, you offend me and reject me, and so long as you are in this deplorable state of opposition to me, you are unfit to receive my mercy, my pardon and my grace." 9. The common pretext put forward by many Protestants for looking upon reliance on Christ for pardon as the only thing required for justifi- cation, and for rejecting all other, seems to be, that they regard this kind of faith as simple acceptance of a gift freely offered, and do not consider it a work, whilst the other dispositions, they think, not being simple ac- ceptance but something else, are works, and, if such, they cannot be admitted as requirements for justification, for St. Paul, they say, expressly declares that we are not justified by works. This, however, should not create a difficulty, for St. Paul, as we have already pointed out, when he said that we are justified by faith without the works of the law, clearly meant that Christian justification was totally different from the kind of justification which the Jewish converts imagined it to be. They thought it was nothing else but the result of their own exterior good works, independent of grace ; whilst Christian justification, or justification by faith, is a free gift of God ; he therefore insisted that the Jewish rites and ceremonies, now done away with, never could of them- selves effect justification : and that though the moral precepts are still in force, and therefore good and necessary to be kept, yet that justification was not a natural fruit of, nor due to, the keeping of them as a strict debt ; but justification was granted as a free gift, undeserved as a claim or merit by good works done without grace, or even by works done with the help of divine grace.* But St. Paul never meant to discountenance gospel works, that is, internal or external moral acts or good works, done by God's grace before being justified, and done, not as deserving justifica- tion, but as a preparation to it, for if he had meant to assert such a thing, he would have set faith against faith, grace against grace, God against God, just as if God were discountenancing what He himself had inspired and helped them to do. St. Paul could never have meant that. * The Council of Trent declares: " None of those things which precede justification, whether faith or good works, can merit this grace " (of justification). (Session vi. chapter 9.) a 8 6 PART III.— NO. 6. Protestants admit that these works are good and necessary to be done after being justified as fruits and signs of justification. How can it b£ wrong or useless to do them before ? How can they be supposed to have been discountenanced by St. Paul, merely because he said that justifica- tion is not the natural result of ceremonial, or even of good moral works? Although justification is not the result of good works, yet good works are congenial to, and in harmony with, justification, and an indisposition to good moral works is an indisposition to justification ; and, therefore, a willingness to do those moral works is a good disposition to justification. St, Paul cannot be supposed by the expression just quoted to have dis* countenanced good works before being justified in view of being justi- fied, so long as we regard them as dispositions or preparations to justi- fication, and not as producing justification, since justification is purely a. gracious, free gift of God. To be convinced that St. Paul, in that passage and in other similar passages, did not mean to depreciate good moral works, done with the help of divine grace, as dispositions for justification, but only meant to set aside certain kinds of works — as the Jewish rites and ceremonies, or works merely done in the order of nature without faith and grace — let us observe that, if we had to understand St. Paul in these passages to exclude all sorts of good moral works, faith itself would have to be excluded, as faith is evidently the work of the mind and of the will, as much as fear* love and repentance. Even that kind of faith which resolves itself into a mere confidence for personal salvation is also an act of the mind and of the will, and, therefore, a work ; and presupposes two acts, of the mind and of the will, namely, belief in revelation, and consent of the will and affection to this plan for obtaining justification. In fact, faith is clearly called " work " in the gospel itself, in which we find these words : " What shall we do that we may work the works of God ? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent." (St. John vi. 28, 29.)* Now faith, though a work, is not excluded, buj; required by St. Paul, because a work of faith, and not a work of the law ; for the same reason the fear of God, hope, charity, repentance, humility, willingness to obey, and other dispo- sitions, though acts of the mind and of the will, are works, and not ex- cluded by St. Paul.f Even supposing that these inward acts of virtue have been carried out into outward acts, yet because they are works of faith, done through, and as fruits of, faith and grace, and are not works * Also St. Paul calls faith a work: " Being mindful of the work of your faith." (i Thess. i. 3; 2 Thess. i. n.) f The necessity of doing good moral work, observing the commandments, and avoiding sin in order to persevere in justification and obtain salvation, is made manifest from Matt. xix. 17; 1 John ii. 4; and from the Epistle to the Romans xi. 6-13. Look also at the references to the same. JUSTIFICA TION B Y FAITH ALONE. 287 of the Jewish law, nor mere efforts of natural strength, they should not be regarded as excluded by St. Paul as dispositions to justification. In that and other instances St. Paul makes mention only of faith, be- cause faith (that is, belief in revealed truths) is the root and foundation of all other supernatural virtues, and because a true lively faith cannot remain inactive, but makes a man ready to carry at once into practice all that faith requires to the intent for which faith is given; therefore, it was not necessary that St. Paul should mention the works of faith. It was enough to mention faith, since faith (that is, belief in revealed truths) leads to all other dispositions which faith requires to effect its purpose, being itself, so to speak, a spring of work. And this is still more appar- ent if we consider the people whom he was addressing. They certainly would not even have dreamed of an inactive principle of religion, or of an idle faith, and therefore it was quite enough for his purpose to discard the works of the Old Law and mention only faith. To do so answered better the object he had most at heart in his epistle, of winning them. He took care not to excite their susceptibility or opposition by putting flatly before them a new law, superseding the old, but insinuated it in an inoffensive manner by the word " faith," meaning belief in the new law r of grace. As the word " law " in common speech among the Jews meant the whole system of the ancient dispensation, so the word " faith " was introduced as a contradistinction to mean the whole system of the new Christian dispensation. 10. That St. Paul in these passages, by the expression "without the forks of the law," did not exclude other dispositions except faith, but implied them in the word "faith," is made still more clear by other pas- sages of his, in which he also attributes justification to hope, charity, fear )f God, penance, willingness to keep the law, and holy baptism. Thus, with regard to hope, he says : " We are saved by hope." Romans viii. 24.) As to charity, he says : " If I should have all faith [therefore, also, what Protestants call saving faith], so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 2.) Again, the faith that availeth is a "faith that worketh by charity." (Gal. v. 6.) As to penance, he says : " For the sorrow that is according to God worketh penance steadfast unto salvation." (2 Corinth, vii. 10.) As to willingness to keep the commandments, St. Paul says : " The doers of the law [of faith] shall be justified." (Romans ii. 13.) Again : " Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin, unto death, or of obedience, unto justice ?" (Rom. vi. 16.) . As to the sacrament of baptism, St. Paul says clearly that by it we ! 288 PART III.— NO. 6. partake of Christ's death and redemption, and are justified from • I le saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the I [ol Ghost." (Titus iii. 5.) " Know ye not that all we, who are baptized i Christ Jesus, are baptized in His death ? For we are buried togeth with Him by baptism unto death." (Rom. vi. 3, 4.) Now, unless we were to accuse St. Paul of contradicting himself, we must conclude from these passages that by the expression " without the works of law " he did not exclude the works of faith ; on the contrary, we are compelled to admit that in the word " faith " he includes them. And as it would be unreasonable to pick out one of these passages, and say, for example : "We are clearly told by St. Paul that we are 'saved by penance,' therefore neither faith, nor hope, nor humility, nor prayer, nor anything else is necessary for salvation, but penance alone is required and is sufficient — or, at least, penance is the only thing that apprehends justification — so equally unreasonable would it be to look upon faith in the sense of trust as the only disposition or condition necessary, or the only means to attain" justification. By this Catholic interpretation, not only is St. Paul made to agree with himself but also with other parts of Holy Scripture, as, for instance, with those already quoted. 11. The necessity of these various dispositions to fit us for the reception of the free gift of justification is in such harmony with Scripture, reason, and common sense, that although Protestant ministers preach very warmly and frequently upon this cherished theory of justification by faith alone, yet in practice, as can be seen in their tracts, books, sermons, and hymns, they not infrequently, by way of preparation for the reception of justification by faith, excite people to repentance, to the love of God and of our neighbor, to a fear of wrath to come, to confidence in the mercy of God and to prayer.* They even pray with them on their knees, and often repeat with them those words of the penitent publican, " O God, be merciful to me a sinner." In fact, practically, they excite the people to all those disposi- tions which Catholics teach should always accompany faith, confession itself not excluded. Thus, during the revival meetings of Messrs. Moody and Sankey from America in London in the year 1875, any person, who, being moved by Mr. Moody's earnest appeals to seek conversion, had re- sorted to the inquiry room, was handed over to a Protestant minister or other person, to whom the distressed one opened his or her conscience, * Thus, for instance, in the Justified Believer by Mr. W. Mackenzie, M. A., the person to be justified is encouraged to prepare himself for it by feeling alarmed and terrified, by believing the gospel record, by in- tense anguish and sorrow, by conflict of spirit, and by feeling the trouble, the wounds, and the burden of the soul, by readiness to obey, by feeling unworthy, sorrowful, and ashamed like Ezra, by making a strict ex- amination of conscience (p. 65), by weeping like St. Peter and Mary Magdalen. The same thoughts occur in the Pilgrim's Progress, and other Protestant works on justification. J USTIFICA TION B Y FAITH ALONE. 289 making acts of contrition, and expressing determination to lead a good life ; in fact, the penitent may be said to have made to the other a candid confession. This evidently shows that a great many Protestants, whatever be their teaching in theory, encourage in practice those other good dispositions which Catholics believe to be requisite in order that justification may take place, feeling that to do so is consistent with Holy Scripture, with reason and good sense, with the honor due to Jesus Christ, and with His free gift of justification. Wesleyan ministers, in fact, professedly teach that faith is not saving faith unless it includes repentance, fear of God, belief in gospel truths, and obedience. If the requirement of these four acts, or moral works, does not prevent the Wesleyans and other Protestants from considering a believer to be justified " gratis by God's free grace, through the redemp- tion that is in Christ Jesus," the same should be said of Catholics, though, besides the four- moral acts mentioned, admitted to be needful by Protes- tants, they require a few more, namely, consent to the suggestions of pre- ventive grace, incipient love of God and desire to receive the sacraments. Catholics can thus truly speak of having " their hearts purified by faith " (Acts xv. 9), because actuated by a lively faith in gospel truths, as it em. )races, or rather holds forth not only some, but all the requirements for ustification. Another proof that very many Protestants in their hearts look upon he Catholic system of justification as scriptural and reasonable is, that vhen they undertake to oppose it, they do not give as their reason of )pposition that Catholics require belief in God's revelation, fear of God, epentance, humility, a willingness to do penance, and to keep the com- mandments (which indeed is all that the Catholic Church teaches to be leedful for receiving pardon and justification in the sacrament of pen- mce) ; but the reason they assign is, that Catholics, as they imagine, exact long series of penitential or other works, in order to be justified. The fact, however, is, that no Catholic theologian teaches that these >enitential works should necessarily be done before justification in order o be justified. Nor does the Council of Trent teach that. The only con- ditions for justification which that general council requires (Session vi., chapter 6), are faith in God and in our Saviour Jesus Christ, consent to he suggestions of preventive grace inciting us to conversion, dread of the effects of divine justice, excited by motives derived from the teaching of aith, united at the same time with hope. In this hope, love's dawn, or he initial love of God, may already be traced, called forth by the con- sideration of divine mercy and Christ's merits. Finally, sincere hatred of sin, and a firm resolution of amendment of life. 290 PART III.— NO. 6. A sinner may receive justification in the sacrament of penance without having previously performed any penitential work. To be willing to per- form them afterward suffices. The necessity of performing penitential works before justification is not even mentioned by the Council of Trent. Hence the constant ordi- nary practice of the Church is to grant absolution to the true penitent in the tribunal of penance, before he has performed any exterior act of pen- ance. If sometimes it is done otherwise it is in rare and exceptional ca No doubt it is better if a person by way of preparation does some peni- tential actions, * but this is not absolutely necessary. About the works of penance, Catholic theologians say that a man who wishes to be justified must be willing to bring forth worthy fruits of pen- ance, because Christ says : " Except you do penance you shall all like- wise perish." (St. Luke xiii. 5.) That the word " penance " includes also exterior works of penance, appears clearly from the 21st verse of the eleventh chapter of St. Matthew, and Acts of the Apostles xxvi. 20. Surely Protestants cannot find fault with us because we teach that, in order to be justified, at least a willingness should be required of the sinner to observe this commandment as well as all other commandments. Are they pre- pared to say that a man can be justified whilst determined to break the commandments ? I think not ; for this would amount to saying that a man is in a fit disposition to make peace with his enemy while offering him a new insult, or in a fit condition for receiving a gift while striking the giver, or that the giver cannot show his readiness and freedom in giving, unless He should give to a person who is in open revolt against him. Our Protestant brethren, therefore, cannot do better than adopt openly the teaching of the Catholic Church, so clearly set forth in the General Council of Trent, which requires the above-enumerated dispositions for the reception of the grace of justification in the sacraments of baptism or of penance, and at the same time professes to believe, and solemnly teaches, that justification is not merited by those dispositions, but that a man is, notwithstanding those dispositions, justified freely and gratis, purely through the gracious good will of God. Here are the precise words of the council : " Gratis autem justificari ideo dicamur, quia nihil eorum qua justificationem prcecedunt, sive fides sive opera, ipsam justifications gratiam promerentur ; si enim gratia est, jam non ex operibus, alioquin ut idem Apostolus inquit, gratia jam non est gratia " (" But that therefore we are said to be justified freely [gratis], because none of those things which precede justification, either faith or works, deserve that same grace of justification ; for if it be grace then it is not from works ; otherwise, as the same Apostle says, grace is no more grace"). (Session vi., chap. 8.) * See Isaias i. 16, 17, 18. JUSTIFICA TION B Y FAITH ALONE. 29 1 Take an illustration of it from the widow spoken of in the Fourth" Book of Kings, chapter iv. (2d Book in Protestant version). By doing what* she was told by the prophet Eliseus, that is, by borrowing empty vessels and by pouring in the oil she was not the cause of the prodigious multi- plication of that liquid, nor did she, by so doing, deserve it, but that mi- raculous supply of oil was still a free gift of the prophet ; and yet if she had not done what she was told she would have got no oil. Thus, not- withstanding the dispositions demanded by the Catholic Church for ob- taining justification, and all dispositions and preparations on the part of the subject, justification is a still a free gift of God. Where there is a living human body there is a soul : so likewise where there is the true Church of Christ, compared by St. Paul to a living body, there is the Holy Spirit which animates it. As the Catholic Church is always guided in her teaching by the Holy Spirit (Acts xv. 28), if we set ourselves against the Church we set ourselves against the Word of God and against the Holy Spirit ; but if we allow ourselves to be guided by the Church, we cannot go wrong, and we feel sure that we are guided by the Holy Spirit ; " tne Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God." (Romans viii. 16.) " For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans viii. 14.) Would that our Protestant friends might see that their theory of jus- tification rests upon a mistake, by attributing to the word " faith," occur- ring in Holy Scripture, the sense of trust as the primary meaning, under the specious reason that trust supposes faith in gospel truths, and faith in gospel truths leads to trust in Christ for pardon ; not perceiving that the same thing could be said of the fear and love of God, of repentance and of obedience, all of which, in germ, are implied in faith in gospel truths, and faith in gospel truths leads to them ; and that therefore trust is no more apprehending justification than is faith in gospel truths itself and the other above-mentioned acts of virtue, but all must be placed only in the rank of dispositions or conditions toward being justified. In a sermon on "Justification by faith," preached in 18 12 in Albion Street Chapel, Leeds, by Mr. Jabez Bunting, and published at the request of the Methodist Conference, then assembled in that town, the preacher devotes a full page of his pamphlet to prove that justification is nothing else in itself than the pardon of our sins.* But regeneration, and there- fore justification and pardon of sins, given for the first time, are clearly * This agrees with the Catholic teaching, provided this pardon is not separated from the infusion of charity in the soul. St. Bernard, speaking the sentiment of the Catholic Church, says : "Happy, and truly happy, he whose sins God will not lay to his charge. To be justified it needs but to have His favor whom we have offended. Not to sin belongs to God alone. The indulgence of God is man's justice." (See work on the Love of God, and fragments from a fragment, by St. Bernard, translated by Marianne Caroline Patmore, and Coventry Patmore, page 87. 292 PART III.— NO. 7. attached by our Lord to the sacrament of baptism (St. John iii. 5), whicli is emphatically styled by St. Paul "the laver of regeneration" (St. Titus iii. 5); and again our Lord Jesus Christ has plainly and peremptorily attached the pardoning of sins at other times to the sacramental absolu- tion of the priest (St. John xx. 21-23), and not to mere trusting; though hope or trust in God is in itself one of the necessary dispositions never to be omitted on coming to the sacrament of penance, as the Catholic Church teaches. Let our Protestant friends not forget that there is such a thing as a perverted trust, called presumption, when a man will trust and at the same time neglect the necessary conditions and the use of the necessary means appointed by God to obtain salvation. In that case it is not trusting in Christ, but rather against Christ. This is not doing a thing pleasing to God, but rather tempting God. It is not to hope against hu- man hope as Abraham laudably did, but rather to trust against godly trust. Prayer. — O God, give light to see, and strength to embrace the truth, to Thy honor and glory, and for the salvation of our soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. No. 7.— Cist of tljc Cl)icf JTatl)crs of % Cljurct) ani> of some otl)cr notch Ecclesiastical iDritcrs. Fl. signifies flourished; c. (circa) about ; d. died. The fathers of the Church are writers, for the most part bishops, who flourished in the Church within the first twelve centuries, who have al- ways been highly esteemed for their great learning in matters of Chris- tian religion, and almost all of them for their exalted holiness of life. They are considered trustworthy witnesses of what was generally taught in the time in which they lived, and of the apostolic Tradition. As such, they have been venerated by all antiquity and by the later ages ; and their teaching about faith and morals has always been con- sidered of great weight, especially when they all agree in what they state. It is, therefore, important to know something about them, especially in what part of Christendom they lived, and in what time they flourished. The nearer they are to apostolic times, the weightier is their authority. The following list will be useful to many : Fathers of the First Century. St. Barnabas, martyr, bishop of Cyprus, a disciple of St. Paul, who died about a. d. 76. Hermas, flourished about the year 90. St. Clement, Roman pontiff, d. 100. LIST OF FA THFRS OF THE CHURCH. 293 Of the First and Second Centuries. St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, martyr, d. 114. St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, martyr, d. 155. St. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, fl. about 120. St. Quadratus, bishop of Athens, fl. about 123. Of the Second Century. St. Justin of Sichem, Palestine, professor of philosophy, martyr, d. 163. Tatianus, disciple of St. Justin, martyr, d. c. 170. St. Hegesippus, a converted Jew, d. about 180. St. Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, fl. about 176. Melito, bishop of Sardis, fl. about 176. Athenagoras, Christian philosopher, fl. about 176. St. Theophanes of Antioch, d. about 186. St. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, fl. between 161 and 192. Of the Second and Third Centuries. St. Irenseus, bishop of Lyons, terse, energetic, d. 202. Apollonius of Rome (Senator), fl. 180-210. Clement, priest of Alexandria, elevated in his style, fl. d. about 217. St. Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, d. 235. Tertullian of Carthage, concise, energetic, fl. between 195 and 230. Of the Third Century. Caius of Rome, priest, fl. between 211 and 217. Minutius Felix of Rome, orator and governor, consultor, fl. about 220. Julius of Africa, fl. about 221. Origen, patriarch of Alexandria, too diffuse, d. 253. St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, martyr, vigorous, d. 258. St. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, d. 265. St. Gregory, Thaumaturgus, bishop of Csesarea, d. 265-270. St. Archelaus, bishop of Cascari,_/f. 276-282. St. Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea, fl. between 270 and 283. Of the Third and Fourth Centuries. St. Victorinus, bishop of Pictavium, martyr, d. c. 302. St. Methodius, bishop of Patara, martyr, d. c. 303. St. Pamphilus of Csesarea, apologist, martyr, d. 309. St. Peter, patriarch of Alexandria, d. 311. Of the Fourth Century. Arnobius of Africa, rhetorician,,/?, about 310. Lactantius of Fermo, rhetorician, d. about 325. Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, d. 340. St. James, bishop of Nisibi, d. between 338 and 350. Firminius, martyr, fl. about 340. St. Hilarius, bishop of Poitiers, styled by St. Jerome the " Rhone of Latin Eloquence," d. 367-368. 294 PART III.— NO. 7. St. Eustachius, bishop of Antioch, d. 360-361. St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, d. 371-373. Luciferus of Cagliari (Sardinia), d. 371. St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea, pure and elegant, d. 373. Titus, bishop of Bostra, d. about 378. St. Ephrem Cyrus, deacon of Nisibi, Mesopotamia, d. 379. St. Zeno, bishop of Verona, d. about 380. St. Damasus from Spain, Roman pontiff, d. 384. St. Cyril, patriarch of Jerusalem, d. in the year 386. St. Gregory of Nazianzum, Asia Minor, archbishop of Constantinople, sublime, majestic d. 389. St. Macarius, Senior (or the Elder), d. 390-391. St. Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, d. after 394. St. Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, brilliant, pleasing, d. after 394. St. Philostratus of Brescia, d. between 387-397. St. Pacianus, bishop of Barcelona, d. 392. Didymus of Alexandria, d. about 395. St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, concise, pointed, d. 397. St. Optatus of Africa, bishop of Milevi, fl. about 370. St. Asterius, bishop of Amasea in Pontus, d. 400. Of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries, St. Jerome of Stridon (Dalmatia), priest, fl. 370, d. 420. St. Epiphanius, bishop of Salamina, Cyprus, d. 403. St. John Chrysostom of Antioch, archbishop of Constantinople, perspicuous, splendid, d. 407. St. Gaudentius, bishop of Brescia, d. about 410. St. Prudentius from Spain, styled "the glory of the Christian poets," fl. about 405. Rufinus of Aquileia, priest and monk, d. 410. Sulpicius Severus of Agen, priest,^, about 415. St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, universally admired,./?. 386, d. 430. St. Paulinus, bishop of Nola, d. about 431. Of the Fifth Century. Sinesius, bishop of Ptolemais, d. 429. St. Nilus of Mount Sinai, abbot, d. about 430. St. Isidorus, priest of Pelusium, Africa, fl. 400-434. Cassian John, priest of Marseilles, fl. between 4i6 t and 433. St. Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, fl. between 412 and 444. St. Proclus, bishop of Constantinople, d. 446. St. Hilarius, bishop of Aries, d. 449. Marius Mercator, fl. between 418 and 450. St. Peter Chrysologus, bishop of Ravenna, fl. 433-450. St. Eucherius, bishop of Lyons, d. about 450. Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus (Zuars), province of Antioch, perspicuous and pleasing, fl. 423, d. 458. St. Vincent of Lerins, priest of Provence, fl. between 434 and 450. St. Basil, bishop of Seleucia, d. about 459. St. Leo the Great, Roman pontiff, eloquent, d. 461. St. Prosper of Aquitania (Gascogne) bishop, fl. 428-463. LIST OF FA THERS OF THE CHURCH. 295 St. Maximus, bishop of Turin, d. about 465. Salvian, priest of Marseilles, fl. c. 430, d. c. 485. St. Apollinaris, of Sydon, priest, d. 484-490. Faustus, bishop of Riez, Provence, d. after 490. Gennadius, bishop of Marseilles, fl. c. 494. St. Gelasius, Roman pontiff, d. 496. Of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries. Vigilius, bishop of Tapsa, fl. about 485. St. Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, d. 521. St. Avitus, bishop of Vienne (France), d. 523. Of the Sixth Century. Boethius Manlius, of Pavia, philosopher, martyr, d. 524. St. Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspa (Africa), clear, copious and sweet, d. 533. St. Caesarius, bishop of Aries, d. 542. Facundus, bishop of Hermiana, fl. 545. Cassiodorus of Squillace (Calabria), abbot, d. c. 562. St. Gregory, bishop of Tours, clear and elegant, d. 595. St. John Climacus, monk of Palestine, d. 598. Of the Sixth and Seventh Centuries. Venantius Fortunatus of 'Italy, archbishop of Poitiers, fl. c. 565. St. Eulogius of Alexandria,^. 581. St. Gregory the Great, Roman pontiff, d. 604. Of the Seventh Century. St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville (Spain), d. 637. St. Maximus, martyr, abbot of Constantinople, d. 662. St. Ildephonsus, archbishop of Toledo, 667. Of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. Venerable Bede, priest and monk, native of Yarrow, Northumberland, England, d. between 732 and 735. Of the Eighth Century. St. Boniface of England, bishop of Maintz, Germany, and martyr, d. 755. St. John of Damascus, styled " the Scholastic," priest and monk of the Monastery of St. Saba, few hours from Jerusalem, d. about 730. St. Paulinus, bishop of Aquileia, fl. 780. Of the Eighth and Ninth Centuries. Alcuin of York, disciple of St. Bede, d. 804. Of the Ninth Century. Paschasius Rathbertus, monk of Soissons, d. 865. Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, d. 882. Anastasius, priest, keeper of the Vatican Library (Rome), d. 886. 296 PART III.— NO. 8. Of the Tenth Century. Atto, bishop of Vercelli, d. 945. Flodoardus or Frodoardus of Epernay, d. 966. Ratherius, bishop of Verona, d. 974. St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, d. 988. Of the Eleventh Century. Burchard, bishop of Worms, fl. 1020. Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, clear, fl. 1076. Theophylact, archbishop of Constantinople, d. about 107 1. St. Peter Damianus of Ravenna, bishop of Ostia, cardinal, d. 1072. Of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. St. Bruno, Carthusian abbot, Cologne, d. 1101. St. Anselm of Aosta, Piedmont, archbishop of Canterbury, d. 1109. Hugo of St. Victor, priest, fl. 1120. Of the Twelfth Century. Rupertus, abbot of Deutch, d. 1135. Peter Lombard, bishop of Paris, fl. 1145. St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux (Champagne), d. 1153. Eminent ecclesiastical writers after this date are known chiefly by the name of Scholastics; as were Alexander of Hales, d. 1245. St. Thomas Aquinas, Dominican, d. 1272. St. Bonaventure, Franciscan, d. 1274. John Duns Scotus, Franciscan, d. 1308. John Gerson, d. 1439. Vo. 8 — £anont;c£r ftmnbtxs of ©rbcrs anb Congregations in tt)e £l)nrd). ™p^f Names, Orders and Congregations. £ le £ ^°" s ' t h of Names, Orders and Congregations. ** Jan. 15. St. Paul, first hermit,. . . 342 Mar. 21. St. Benedict, abbot, patriarch Jan. 16. St. Anthony, patriarch of Monks of the West, Order Monks, 356 of Benedictines, . . . 543 Jan. 29. St. Francis of Sales, doctor, April 2. St. Francis of Paula, Order Visitation Nuns, . . . 1622 of Minims, 1507 Jan. 31. St. Peter Nolasco, Order of April 8. St. Albert, compiler of Car- Our Blessed Lady of melite Rules, . . . . 12 14 Mercy, 1258 April 28. St. Paul of the Cross, Pas- Feb. 7. St. Romuald, The Carnal- sionists, 1775 doli, 1027 May 19. St. Peter Celestine, founder Feb. 8. St. John of Matha, Trinita- of Celestines, .... 1296 rians 12 13 May 26. St. Philip Neri, Oratorians, . 1595 Mar. 11. St. John of God, Brothers of May 31. St. Angela of Brescia, Ursu- Charity, for the Sick, . 1550 lines, 1540 CHIEF HERESIES. 297 Month of Feast. June 6. June 9- June 19. June 25- July 12. July 18. July 19. July 20. July 3 1 - Aug. 2. Aug. 4. Aug. Aug. 7- 12. Names, Orders and Congregations. St. Norbert, Premonstraten- sians, St. Columb, abbot, founder of Monasteries, .... St. Juliana Falconieri, the Mantellate Servites, . St. William, Monte Vergine, near Naples, .... St. John Gualbert, Valom- brosa, St. Camillus cle Lellis, for Visiting the Sick, . . . St. Vincent de Paul, Lazar- ists,and Sisters of Charity, St. Jerome Emilianus, The Somasky, St. Ignatius of Loyola, found- er of the Society of Jesus, St. Alphonsus Liguori, doc- tor, Redemptorists, . . St. Dominic, Order of Friars Preachers, . . . . . . St. Cajetan, Theatines, . St. Clare of Assisi, Poor Clares, ...... Died. A. D. Month of Feast. Aug. 21. "34 597 1340 Aug. Aug. 21. 23- 1 142 1073 Aug. 27. 1648 1660 Aug. 28. 1537 Oct. 4- *SS6 Oct. Oct. 6. 15- 1787 Oct. 21. 1221 1547 Nov. 4- 1253 Nov. 20. Names, Orders and Congregations. ad St. Jane Frances de Chantal, foundress, with St. Fran- cis de Sales, of many Con- vents of the Visitation, 1641 St. Bernard Ptolemy, Olive- tans, I34 8 St. Philip Benizi, promoter of the Order of the Servites of Mary, 1285 St. Joseph Calasanctius, foun- der of the Order of the Pious Schools, called also Piarists, 1648 St. Augustine, bishop, doctor, Augustinians, .... 430 St. Francis of Assisi, Order of Friars Minor, . . . 1226 St. Bruno,Carthusian Monks, 1101 St. Teresa, reformer of the Barefooted Carmelites, . 1582 St. Ursula, patroness of Ur- sulines, 650 St. Charles Borromeo, Ob- lates of St. Charles, . . 1584 St. Felix of Valois, Trinita- rians, 122 1 Ko. — €l)ief 4jere0tC0. 1. The Arians, founded by Arius, an ambitious priest of Alexandria; who denied the divinity of our Lord, and said that He was not born of the Father, but made by Him ; that He was not equal to, but inferior to, the Father. These heretics were condemned at the Council of Nice, a town in Bithynia, a. d. 325, under Pope St. Sylvester I. The Nicene creed was drawn up at this council. 2. The Manicheans, who taught that our Lord did not take to Him- self a real body, but only the appearance of a body, something similar to what the angels assumed when they visited holy persons, as mentioned in Scripture. They also said that there were two gods, a good one and a bad one. These heresies commenced about a. d. 280, and were finally condemned in the Fourth Lateran Council by Pope Innocent III., a. d. 1215. 3. The Macedonians, founded by Macedonius, who had usurped the see of Constantinople. He denied the Godhead of the Holy Ghost, and said that He was only a creation like the angels, but of a higher order. 1$8 PART III.— NO. p. This heresy was condemned at the First Council of Constantinople, a. k 381, under Pope St. Damasus I. 4. The Pelagians, founded by Pelagius, a native of Britain. He de- nied the existence of original sin in the soul of man, and taught that without the aid of grace man is perfectly able to fulfill the law of God. This heresy was condemned at a council of African bishops held at Carthage, a. d. 416, the decision of the council being confirmed by Pope St. Innocent I. 5. The Nestorians, founded by Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople. He taught that there were two separate persons in our Lord, one the Son of God, and the other the son of man ; and that the blessed Virgin was not Mother of God, but only of the Man Christ. This heresy was. con- demned at the Council of Ephesus, a. d. 431, under Pope St. Celestine I. The latter part of the " Hail Mary " was added — " Holy Mary, Mother of God," etc. 6. The Eutychians, founded by Eutyches, who taught that there was only one nature, the divine, in our Lord. He said*, that at the moment of the incarnation, the human nature was absorbed by, or changed into, the divine. This heresy was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon, a. d. 451, under Pope St. Leo the Great. 7. The Semi-Pelagians taught that the beginning of faith and first de- sire of virtue came from the powers of man alone, unassisted by divine grace. They also said that the grace of final perseverance can be merited by our own efforts, and is not a free gift of God. This heresy was first taught by some priests of Marseilles. It was condemned at the Second Council of Orange, a. d. 529, the decrees of the council being confirmed by Pope Boniface II. 8. The Monothelites said that Jesus Christ had no separate human will, but only a divine one. They were condemned at the Third Coun- cil of Constantinople, a. d. 680, under Pope St. Agatho. 9. The Iconoclasts, or breakers of holy images, rejected the use of holy images and pictures, and the practice of paying them due respect. They were condemned at the Second Council of Nice, a. d. 787, under Pope Adrian I. 10. The Greek Heresy and Schism was commenced in 879 by Pho- tius, who, though not a priest, took unjust possession of the see of Con- stantinople. This schism was consummated in a. d. 1054, by Michael Cerularius, who broke entirely away from the supremacy of the Popes, and established what is called the Greek Church. The Greeks say that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father alone, instead of from the Father and the Son, as taught by the Catholic Church from the begin- ning. Photius was deposed and condemned at the Fourth Council of CHIEF HERESIES. 299 Constantinople, a. d. 870, under Pope Adrian II., and St. Ignatius was restored to his see. 11. The Heresy of Berengarius, who was archdeacon of Angers. He said that the body and blood of our Lord are not really present in the holy Eucharist, but only in figure. He was condemned at Rome, a. d. 1078. 12. The Albigenses taught that there were two Gods and two Christs ; they condemned marriage, denied all the sacraments and the resurrection of the body. It was whilst preaching to these heretics that the devotion of the rosary was revealed by the blessed Virgin to St. Dominic. 13. The Waldenses taught that it was a heinous sin for a magistrate to condemn to death for any crime ; that it was a mortal sin to take an oath ; and that the clergy became reprobates by holding one farthing's worth of property. ' The Albigenses and Waldenses were condemned at the Third Lateran Council, under Pope Alexander III., a. d. 1179. 14. The Heresy of Wickliffe. He taught that the Pope is not the visible head of the Church ; that bishops have not preeminence over simple priests ; that all ecclesiastical powers are either forfeited or are in abeyance during mortal sin ; that man is bound to sin ; that God ap- proves of sin ; that confession is quite useless ; and that temporal princes should cut off the head of any ecclesiastic who sinned, etc. These doc- trines were, after the death of Wickliffe, preached by John Huss and his followers in the towns and villages of Bohemia. Condemned at the Council of Constance, a. d. 1414. 15. The Heresy of Luther. Luther was a monk of the Order of St. Au- gustine, and professor in the University of Wittenberg. Pride and jeal- ousy induced him to attack the ancient faith, and invent a new creed. Pope Leo X. having granted a plenary indulgence, Luther was annoyed that the commission to preach it was given to the Dominicans, and not to his own order. He then attacked the doctrine of indulgences itself. He also taught that faith alone will save mankind ; that the sacrifice of the Mass is an abomination ; that there is no necessity for confession, abstinence, fasting, or any mortification whatever. He said that priests might marry ; he denied the supremacy of the Pope ; he wrote against purgatory, free will, and almost every article of Christian belief. 16. Calvin, who is regarded as second only to Luther, was the founder of Presbyterianism. His chief stronghold was Geneva. He taught, among other things, that God created men on purpose to damn the greater number of them ; that God is the author of all sin ; and that man has no free will. He denounced not only the Pope, but bishops and priests also. 300 PART Hie— NO. ro. At the Council of Trent, held from 1545 to 1563 a. d., the her, Luther, Calvin, and others were condemned. The creed of Pope Pius IV. is grounded on the decisions of this council. 17. The J so called after their leader, Jansenius, bishop of Vpres. in Flanders. He maintained that man was not free ; that it was im- possible to keep some of God's commandments; that all good work unbelievers are sins ; that God will punish us for not practicing virtues which are not in our power ; that our Lord died only to save a few priv- ileged souls, and not the whole human race. Two illustrious French bishops, Bossuet and Fenelon, defended the truth against these her Christopher de Beaumont, archbishop of Paris (1 746-1 781), was also a great champion of the true faith, and by his virtues and exertions did much to put down this heresy, which had already been condemned by Pope Urban VIII., a. d. 1642, and by Pope Clement XL, a. d. 1705. 2Co. 10.— Cardinal ittanning on fatal Abstinence* " When I see around me even- day the wreck of men. women and children, from the highest to the lowest class, the utter desolation of homes once happy and innocent, the destruction of the domestic life of the millions of our great working class, upon whom the whole fabric of our commonwealth must rest, I feel that temperance and total abstinence ought to be familiar thoughts in the minds even of those who have never in all their life been tempted to excess. If they would all conscientiously unite by example, by word, and by influence to save those who are per- ishing in the dangers from which they themselves are happily safe, many a soul and many a home now fearfully wrecked would, I believe, be saved. M When St. Paul told the Christians in Rome that it ' is good not t eat flesh and not to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother is offended, or scandalized, or made weak' (Romans xiv. 21), he certainly did not intend to limit the wide reach of this principle of Christian char- ity to meats offered to idols. ... If any self-denial on our part, in things that are lawful and to us altogether safe, shall help, or encourage, or support, or give even a shadow of strength to those to whom such lawful things are not only dangerous but often deadly, then assuredly the love of souls will prompt us to place ourselves at their side, and, in sharing their acts of self-denial, to give them a hand and a heart of sympathy. "Now I say this not as a precept, but as a counsel. If it be good, as * Extract from the introductory letter by His Eminence to Father Bridgett's interesting book, entitled Tie Discipline ef Drimk. LINES ON THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 50I St. Paul says it is, freely to forego lawful things for the sake of others, it is certainly good for us, of our own free will, to offer any little mortifica- tion we can in reparation and expiation, and intercession for others. It is on this ground, as it seems to me, that total abstinence may be affirmed to be a wise and charitable use of our Christian liberty. •• And if, by laying on ourselves so slight a privation, we can in any wav help those who are perishing, and those who are tempted, I do not think we shall ever have cause to regret that we freely chose that slight self-denial." Five Good Reasons for Total Abstinence.* The late Dr. Guthrie of Edinburgh said : " I have four good reasons for being an abstainer : My head is clearer, my health is better, my heart is lighter, and my purse is heavier." And we would add, " My ear is readier to the cry of the poor, and our self-denial will edify our neighbor." " Now, we that are stronger ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." (Romans xv. i.) No. 11 —fines on tl)c Blesscb birgm bn tl)c American fleet, Congfelloiu. " Prince Henry {on gaining a view of Italy after passing the Alps). " Oh, had I faith, as in the days gone by, That knew no doubt, and feared no mystery ! This is indeed the blessed Mary's land, Virgin and Mother of our dear Redeemer ! All hearts are touched and softened at her name ; Alike the bandit with the blood-stained hand, The priest, the prince, the scholar and the peasant. The man of deeds, the visionary dreamer, Pay homage to her as one ever present ! And even as children, who have much offended A too indulgent father, in great shame, Penitent, and yet not daring unattended To go into his presence, at the gate Speak with their sister, and confiding wait 'Til she goes in before and intercedes ; So men, repenting of their evil deeds, And yet not venturing rashly to draw near With their requests an angry Father's ear, Offer to her their prayers and their confession, And she for them in Heaven makes intercession. And. if our faith had given us nothing more * See Temperance Lessott Book. 302 PART IIL— NO. 12. Than this example ot all womanhood, So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good, So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure, This were enough to prove it higher and truer Than all the creeds the world had known before." Ko. 12.— Census of tteligtons in tl)c toortf*. Dr. Hurst's Outline History of the Church (1875) gives the following populations to the creeds of the world : Christianity, .... 407,000,000. Judaism, ..... 7,000,000. Buddhism, .... 340,000,000. Mohammedanism, .... 200,000,000. Brahmanism, .... 175,000,000. Confucianism, .... 80,000,000. All other forms of religious belief, . 1 74,000,000. Of the Christian populations of the world, 131,007,449 are assigned to Protestantism ; 200,339,390 to Roman Catholicism ; and 76,390,040 to the Oriental churches. In the New World, comprising North and South America, the Roman Catholics are in the majority, having about sixty millions, and the Protestants about thirty-seven millions.* I $ According to Hubner, in his Statistical Tables of all the Countries of the Earth, there are in the German Empire 25,600,000 Protestants, 14,-' 900,000 Catholics, 38,000 Orthodox Greek Christians, 512,000 Jews, 6,000 of all other denominations or of none. In Austro-Hungary there are 23,. 900,000 Catholics, 3,600,000 Protestants, 7,220,000 Greek and other Chris- tians, 1,375,000 Jews, 5,000 Mohammedans and others. In France there are 35,390,000 Catholics, 600,000 Protestants, 118,000 Jews, 24,000 Moham- medans and others. In Great Britain and Ireland there are 26,000,000 Protestants of various denominations, 5,600,000 Catholics, 26,000 Greeks, etc., 46,006 Jews, 6,000 Mohammedans and others. In Italy there are 26,- 660,000 Catholics, 96,000 Protestants, 100,000 Greeks, etc., 36,000 Jews, 25,000 Mohammedans and others. In Spain there are 16,500,000 Catho- lics, and 180,000 adherents of other denominations (details not given). In European Russia there are 56,100,000 Orthodox Greek Christians, etc., 2,680,000 Protestants, 7,500,000 Catholics, 2,700,000 Jews, and 2,600,000 Mohammedans and others. In Belgium there are 4,920,000 Catholics, 13,- 000 Reformed Church, 2,000 Jews, and 3,000 belonging to other denomina- tions. In the Netherlands there are 2,001,000 members of the Reformed Church, 1,235,000 Catholics, 64,000 Jews and 4,000 of other denomina- * Behm and Wagner. CENSUS OF CA THOLICS IN THE WORLD. 303 tions. In Sweden and Norway there are 4,162,000 members of the Na- tional Evangelical Church, 4,000 Greeks and other Christians, and 2,000 Jews ; the number of Catholics is not officially given — it is estimated at less than 1,000. $0, 13 —£tm\\5 of Catl)oltC0 in tl)c tDorlb, The Deutsche Retches zeitung estimates the number of Catholics in the world as follows : Number of Catholics in France, 36,405,000 ; Austro- Hungary, 25,357,000; Italy, 27,942,000; Spain, 16,912,000; German Fatherland, 15,950,000 ; Russia (including Poland), 18,300,000 ; England, Ireland, Scotland, and Malta, 6,140,000; Belgium, 5,450,000; Portugal, 4,433,000; Holland, 1,652,000; Switzerland, 1,127,000; Turkey, 500,000;. Roumania, 114,000; Montenegro, 25,000; Greece, 10,000; Leichtenstein, 9,000 ; Monaco, 7,000 ; Servia, 4,000 ; Denmark, 2,000 ; and Norway, 1,000 — total in Europe, 153,344,000. Brazil, 10,000,800 ; Mexico, 9,389,460. United States, 8,000,000 ; Colombia, 2,950,017 ; Peru, 2,699,945 ; Bolivia, 2,325,000; Chili > 2,116,718; Argentine, 1,812,490; Venezuela, 1,784,197; Guatemala, 1,190,754; Ecuador, 946,053; Flayti, 550,000; Uruguay, 440,- 000; Salvador, 434,520; Honduras (census of 1858), 357,700; Nicaragua, 300,000; Paraguay, 293,844; San Domingo, 250,000 ; Costa Rica, 185,000; British America, 2,100,000; Spanish West Indies, 2,080,652 ; French, 340,- 000; Dutch, 34,000: Danish, 26,000 — total in America, 51,400,391. Philippine Islands, 5,700,000; British India, 1,600,600 ; Timor and Macao, 70,000; China, 423,887; Cochin China and Tonkin, 510,581; Japan, 20,000; Corea, 20,000; Mongolia, 5,000; Mantchooria, 9,000; Thibet, 9,300 ; Siam, 11,150; Cambodia, 11,000 ; v Burmah, 11,950 ; Malaya, 6,000; Dutch Possessions, 31,324; Maronites, 530,000; United Jacobites, 35,000 ; Armenians in Syria and Asia Minor, 10,000 ; Chaldeans, 20,000 ; Melchites, 20,000 ; Levant (Latin Rite), 60,000 ; Siberia and Caucasus, 52,000 — total in Asia, 9,166,192. Algeria, 270,000; Reunion, 150,000; Noyotte and Nossi-be, 20,000; Tetuan, 15,000; Canary Islands, 283,000; Fernando Po, 500; Madeira, I2I >753i St. Thomas, 21,441; Cape Verde, 90,604; Continent, 500,000; Cape and Natal, 30,000 ; Mauritius, 90,000 ; Madagascar, 30,000 ; Tunis, 26,000; and Egypt, 35,000 — total in Africa, 1,686,998. Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, 590,000 ; Sandwich Islands, 25,000; Wallis, 4,000; Futana, 1,000; Tonga, 2,000; Fiji, 5,000; Samoan Islands, 5,000 ; on French territory, 20,000 — total in Australasia, 652,000. Grand total, 219,249,531 (about 220 millions). 304 PART III.— NO. 14. No. 14.— ^Difficulties of |)rfoate Interpretation, by JTatljcr ©. Bmnpficlb, S.X, ©mn.* " I was a young man when my inquiry into truth began. I wished save my soul — to know the truth and do the right ; I asked myself an< others how I was to find the truth ; the answer was ever the same, ' Search the Scriptures.' " But here came a difficulty. " I knew that the Scriptures were the Word of God ; but I knew also that God's Writings are then only of use to us when we know what God meant by that which He wrote. God's Word, if we put to it the devil's meaning or man's meaning, is not God's Word at all. ' The letter killeth ;' it is ' the spirit ' which ' quickeneth.' f What we need is God's meaning of God's Word. The same Holy Ghost who wrote the Scriptures, He only can interpret them. " Was it possible for me to miss this meaning ? I read in the gospels that the Scriptures could be so misused. The devil tempted our Lord with Scripture texts, using God's Word with the devil's meaning (St. Mat- thew iv.); the Pharisees rejected our Lord by Scripture : % ' Search the Scriptures, and see that out of Galilee a prophet riseth not ' (St. John vii. 52), using God's Word, indeed, but perverted by man's sin : of the Sad- ducees our Lord said that though they read the Scriptures, they knew them not (St. Mark xii. 24) ; and the Apostles were 'foolish and slow of heart to believe all the things which the prophets have spoken.' (St. Luke xxiv. 25.) It was not the multitude who ' knew not the law ' who condemned our dearest Lord, but the Pharisee, the scribe, and the lawyer, whose whole study was in the Sacred Writ. " Nay, the Scriptures themselves told me plainly, § ' that no prophecy of the Scripture is made by private interpretation.' (2 St. Peter i. 20.) And, again, that in St. Paul's epistles, at least, there [ ' are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their destruction.' (2 St. Peter iii. 16.) The Scriptures, then, can be used to our destruction, and who was I that I should think myself learned or stable ? ' Thinkest thou/ said Philip to Queen Candace's chamberlain, 1" ' that thou understandest what thou * St. Andrew's Magazine, April, 1879. f 2 Cor. iii. 6. " The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (Prot. version.) % " Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." (Prot. version.) § " No prophecy of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation." (Prot. version.) I " Are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." (Prot. version.) 1[ " Understandest thou what thou readest ? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me ?" (Prot. version.) DIFFICUL TIES OF PRIVA TE INTERPRE TA TION. 305 readest ?' who said ' How can I, unless some one show me ? ' (Acts viii. 30, 3 1 -) " It was, then, I concluded, possible for me to miss the true meaning of God's Word ; and if I missed it, I missed it to my ' own destruction.' The fault lay not in the Scriptures, which are holy, but in my wretched- ness, who misinterpreted. " When I stated this difficulty to others, I received always the same answer, ' Pray to God the Holy Ghost, and He will guide you.' But here arose two or three difficulties. " (a) I knew that without God's help no man can understand the Scrip- tures ; but I knew also, that God's help is given more or less in proportion to the fervency of prayer and the righteousness of him who prays. It is the ' continual prayer of a just man ; ' or, as the Protestant translation renders it, ' the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man ' (St. James v. 16), not the lukewarm prayer of the unrighteous, that ' availeth much.' Dared I 'trust in myself that I was righteous?' (Luke xviii. 9) — my prayer ' fervent and effectual ? ' If conscience did not compel, humility would exhort me to think otherwise ; and, if so, how could I tell that the true meaning of Scripture was given me in answer to such worthless prayers as mine ? The fault lay not in God, who is ever ready to give to them that ask, but in the poverty of the asking and the asker. " (b) But I found that, on this view, not only must I trust in myself that I was righteous, but also despise others. (St. Luke xviii. 9.) For I found that others did the very same thing which I did — namely, pray to the Holy Ghost, and yet explained Scripture in a sense wholly opposite to mine. If I learned from the Scripture that baptism was necessary to sal- vation, another from the very same Scripture would teach that baptism was not necessary to salvation, and that my doctrine was soul-destroying and hateful to God. If I prayed to the Holy Spirit, so did he ; if I was fully convinced, so was he ; if to my spirit I hoped that ' the Holy Spirit gave testimony that I was a child of God ' (Rom. viii. 16), * the same claim also did he make. How could I tell that he was wrong and I right ? My prayers answered and his not ? Was I holier than he ? I dared not think so. " Of one thing I was certain, that the Holy Ghost could not teach to me that a doctrine was true and to him that the same doctrine was not true. One of us was wrong, and teaching, what God hates, a lie ; but by what sure sign could I say what was wrong ? . " Sometimes I was told that these differences were not essential points ; but I could not understand this. Men certainly differ, for example, on the question whether baptism is necessary to salvation or not. Surely a de- " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." (Prot. version.) 306 PART II J. —NO. 14. bate about a necessity is an essential point. In no worldly business, I am certain, in no question about the life of our bodies should we say, • Such a thing may be necessary, but it is not essential for us to know whether it is necessary or not.' 41 Moreover, who would dare to tell us which part of our Lord's teach- ing was essential and which not ? ■ Such a truth will save us, but such another truth He need not have brought from heaven.' This I knew, that not one jot or one tittle of His words shall pass away (St. Matt. v. 18 ; St. Matt. xxiv. 35), and that we dare not add to nor take from His words (Rev. xxii. 18, 19), but I knew not who was to be the judge of our Lord's teaching, and tell us which part we must believe and which we might reject. " It is a marvel to me how men can believe that Christ, who is love, has so left Christianity in the world, that nearly nineteen centuries have passed away, and men are still in doubt about the very necessities of sal- vation. In the Catholic Church alone is no doubt. " (c) The third difficulty which came to me, when I was told to pray to the Holy Ghost and He would guide me, was this. ' But then,' was my reply, ' if I can be mistaken when I interpret Scripture, how am I to tell when I am mistaken, and when not?' To this question I have to this day been unable to obtain an answer, except in the Catholic Church. I propose it once more for solution. "The answer which I made to myself was that if our interpretations of Scripture are little more than guesses, in which we might be mistaken, we could never tell if we were right or not ; and that, as a result, the possession of truth was to us impossible ; if we once admit doubt we cease to know it as a truth. Most of all should this be the case with religious truth : if heaven is not a certainty it were hard to struggle for it ; if it be doubtful that there are three persons in God, who could worship them ? What martyr would bleed for an opinion which was possibly false ? " Our interpretations are fallible opinions ; and opinions, however probable, are not certain truth. It seemed to me, then, that we had the choice of two evils, either to hold that each individual interpreter of Scrip- ture is infallible, or to acknowledge that all interpretations of Scripture are fallible, and therefore all religious doctrines uncertain. I need not show the absurdity of the first alternative ; for the upholders of pri- vate judgment are the very men who deny infallibility. I fear, then, we must accept the second, and own that there is no certain religious truth on earth, unless, indeed, the Catholic Church be right, and God has provided, in his mercy, a guide whom he has made infallible." PROTESTANT SECTS IN THE UNITED STATES. 307 No, 15.-ftei of Some flJroicstcmt 0cct0 in it)e Unite* Stcttea of America* Adventist or Second Adventist. ; Baptist (Regular). ! Free-Will Baptist. : Seventh-Day Baptist. ■ German Seventh-Day Baptist. Free Communion Baptist. , Anti-Mission Baptist. Six-Principle Baptist. Cath. Apost. Church (not Roman). Christian. Christian Connection. Christian Perfectionist. . Church of God. Congregationalist Unitarian. Congregational i st. Disciples (Campbellites). Dunkers. Episcopal (Protestant). Evangelical Association. Friends or Quakers. Hicksites. Lutheran. Mennonites. Methodist. Methodist Episcopal. Methodist Protestant. Methodist Church. African Methodist. Zion African Methodist. Methodist Episcopal (South). Free Methodist. Western Primitive Methodist. Independent Methodist. Moravians (Unitas Fratrum). Mormon. New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian). Presbyterian. Presbyterians, Associated and United. Reformed Church (late Dutch Reformed). Reformed Church (late German Reformed). Reformed Mennonites. River Brethren. Second Advent. Shakers. Spiritualist. True Wesleyan. Unitarian. Unitarian Congregationalist. United Brethren in Christ. Universalist. A CHRISTIAN'S RULE OF LIFE. BY ST. ALPHONSUS MARY DE LIGUORI, BISHOP OF ST. AGATHA, AND FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER. NEWLY TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN, AND EDITED BY ROBERT A. COFFIN, C.S.S.R. Preface, r iHE name of St. Alphonsus is too well known and loved, and the merits of his works too well appreciated, to make it necessary for the editor to say more than a few words by way of introduc- tion to the present volume. The favorable manner in which the prospectus of the new translations was received, has fully justified the grounds for believing that the time had now arrived " when the world would welcome a complete edition of the saint's works, presented to them by the children of his own congre- gation. It would be impossible to place before the reader the many letters of encouragement and support which the editor received at the commence- ment of the undertaking, especially from the venerable prelates and other distinguished ecclesiastics, whose approbation he was the most anxious to secure, and for which he desires in this place to express his grateful acknowledgments. It is unnecessary to do more than just allude here to those still higher sanctions and approbations of the works of St. Alphonsus, conferred upon them by so many sovereign Pontiffs ; but lest it might be objected that their interest and utility have lessened, and that their influenc was a mat- ter of time and place, of national character and disposition, the editor cannot refrain from inserting here, in order to meet such an objection, the striking words of two who have occupied the chair of St. Peter ; and who, though at an interval of more than a quarter of a century the one from the other, bear the same testimony as well to the peculiar merits of the works of St. Alphonsus, as to the great utility of publishing a com- plete edition of them not only in Italy, but in those countries of which it is sometimes said that they are too cold to appreciate and enter into the glowing spirit, and almost enthusiastic devotion of a warm Italian heart. Pope Leo XII. in a Brief dated February 19, 1825, to Signor Marietti, of Turin, approving of his complete edition of the works of St. Alphonsus, classes the saint among the number of the pious and learned writers raised up by divine Providence to stem the torrent of bad publications which at that time was coming down on society at large, and says of him, " that he is pre-eminent for a most tender piety and devotion, and IS d 312 PREFACE. for the singular zeal with which, in his writings, he urges the frequenta- tion of the Sacraments, and inculcates the love of Jesus Christ, and con ' fidence in His merits and mercy, together with devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, and to the saints, which are indeed the surest bul- warks against every kind of demoralization." And of Signor Marctti himself, his Holiness says, " that in collecting and publishing the works of such a writer, he had deserved well, not only of religion, but, if it di but know its own real good, of society in general." In like manner, his Holiness Pope Pius IX., in a letter to the Rev. Father Hugues, dated November 25, 1846, is pleased to express his joy and consolation on hearing that the German edition of St. Alphon- sus's works had met with such great success " at a moment, too, when, by- the insidious devices of the enemies of religion, so many pestilential books are in circulation on every side, to corrupt and deprave the minds and morals especially of those not on their guard against them." " Where- fore.'Jhis Holiness continues, " we greatly commend your pious undertak- ing, and we encourage you to continue with still greater diligence in endeavoring to spread the most wholesome writings of St. Alphonsus every day more and more. To read them cannot but be of the greatest advantage, not only to Christians in general, but also to ecclesiastics, and to those especially who have the care and direction of souls. From the works of that most holy and most learned man, written with an extraor- dinary tenderness of piety and devotion, breathe in every page a special love for Jesus Christ, and confidence in His merits and mercy ; they in- spire the highest devotion to the Virgin Mother of God and to the saints ; they inflame men's hearts with the desire of frequenting the most holy Sacraments, and furnish a most copious supply of excellent admonitions, counsels, and injunctions for procuring and carrying on the work of the salvation of souls." Nothing is wanting to add force to such testimonies as these ; they speak for themselves. At the same time it must not be forgotten that the present edition rests also under the shadow and protection of St. Peter, having received the benediction of the Holy Father, in the form which is here prefixed. With regard to the present volume, the editor believes that it is im- possible for any one to make use of it with a good will, and with an ear- nest desire to advance in the way of perfection, corresponding to his state in life, without finding himself led on as it were irresistibly to the spirit of prayer, and to a more tender love of our dearest Lord and His most blessed Mother ; and if so, the aim which St. Alphonsus had in view will have been gained, as, indeed, it has been hitherto, wherever his works have been known and read. PREFACE. 313 Instances, moreover, might be mentioned of persons who owed their conversion, under God, to having met with The Practice of the Love of fesus Christ, the Treatise on Prayer, etc., etc. Works of perhaps greater eloquence, humanly speaking, of a more finished style, had left little or no impression on their souls ; sermons on the terrors of the divine judg- ments and the torments of an eternal fire had been to them as unmean- ing words ; and so for many a sad long year they remained in the cold indifference of a sinful life, until at length St. Alphonsus, with his oft-re- peated words, " I love thee, I love thee, I love thee ; pray, and you shall be saved ; pray, for God will hear you ; pray, and heaven is yours," roused them from the sleep of death ; opened a new world, as it were, before them ; filled them with encouragement and hope ; spoke to them of sweeter joys and more lasting pleasures ; and led them with broken but loving hearts to seek forgiveness through the intercession of Mary in the Sacred Heart of Jesus crucified. The victory which neither eloquence nor learning could achieve; was reserved for the irresistible power of the simplicity of a heart burning with the love of God, and with desire for the salvation of souls. That Almighty God will deign in like manner to make use of the present volume for the welfare both of those who are going on to per- ection, and of those who, alas, are strangers to the love of Jesus, and to the compassion of His dearest Mother, who do not, and cannot, or rather know not, how to pray — of this there can be no doubt ; for what He has one of old, He does now, and will ever do. The success, then, of the present volume, as indeed of the whole under- taking, the editor leaves unreservedly in the hands of God ; and should the pains and labor which have been bestowed upon it be of any worth, to Him, and to Him alone, be the praise. " Neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that watereth, but God Bwho giveth the increase." In conclusion, the editor will only add, that all the references given by St. Alphonsus have been carefully corrected and verified, as far as it was possible. The editor desires to avail himself of this opportunity of expressing his sincere thanks to the several friends who, by their learning, advice, and otherwise, have kindly assisted him in the present volume. Robert Aston Coffin, C.S. S.R. Si 't. Marys, Clapham. Reciting the Rosary. Reading Imitation of Christ. THE FAITH OF OUR FOREFATHERS. . A CHRISTIAN'S RULE OF LIFE. In this rule the first chapter treats of the means we must make use of to keep ourselves in the grace of God. In the second, the acts of those devout exercises which should be practised are set forth at length. In the third is shown the exercise of the principal virtues which a Christian ought to practice. CHAPTER I. OF THE MEANS OF PRESERVING THE GRACE OF GOD. We must be fully persuaded that in order to obtain eternal salvation it is not sufficient to wish to be saved ; but we must further take the means which have been left us by Jesus Christ. Otherwise, if we com- mit sins, it will not avail us in the Day of Judgment to excuse ourselves by saying that the temptations were great, and we were weak ; because God has given us the means, through His grace, to conquer all the assaults of our enemies; if, then, we will not take advantage of them, and are overcome, the fault is our own. All men desire to be saved ; but because they omit to employ the means of salvation they sin, and are lost. i. To fly the occasions of sin. — The first means is, to avoid all occasions of sin. It is impossible for any one who does not endeavor to fly from the occasions of sin, especially in the matter of sensual pleasures, to avoid falling into sin. St. Philip Neri said : " In the war of the senses, the conquerors are the cowards who fly." The occasion is like a veil put before our eyes, so that we can see nothing else — neither God, nor hell, nor the resolutions we had made. The Scripture says it is impossible to walk on burning coals without being burnt : £ Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?" (Prov. vi. 28.) So it is morally im- possible for any one to put himself voluntarily into the occasion of sin and not to fall, although he may have made a thousand resolutions and a thousand promises to God. This is clearly shown every day by the 316 OF THE MEANS OF PRESERVING THE GRACE OF GOD. misery of so many poor souls who are plunged into vice for not avoiding the occasions. Anyone who has had the evil habit of sins of impurity must know that, in order to restrain himself, it is not enough merely to avoid those occasions which are absolutely proximate ; for if he does not also fly from those which are not altogether proximate,- he will easily fall again. Nor must we allow ourselves to be deceived by the devil into thinking that the person toward whom we are tempted is a saint ; it often happens that the more devout a .person is, the stronger is the temptation. St. Thomas Aquinas says that the holiest persons attract the most. The temptation will commence in a spiritual way, and will terminate car- nally. The great servant of God, F. Sertorio Caputo, of the Society of Jesus, said that the devil first induces one to love a person's virtue, then the person, and then blinds a man and brings him to ruin. We must also fly from evil companions : we are too weak ; the devil continually is tempting us, and the senses are drawing us to evil ; the slightest sugges- tion of a bad companion is alone wanting to make us fall. Therefore the first thing that we have to do to save ourselves is to avoid evil occasions and bad companions. And we must in this matter use violence with ourselves, resolutely overcoming all human respect. Those who do not use violence with themselves will not be saved. It is true that we must not put confidence in our own strength, but only in the divine assistance ; but God wills that we should do our part in using violence with ourselves, when it is necessary to do so, in order to gain paradise : " The violent bear it away." (St. Matt. xi. 12.) 2. Mental Prayer. — The second means is mental prayer. Without this, the soul will find it almost impossible to remain a long time in the grace of God. The Holy Spirit says: "In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." (Ecclus. vii. 40.) He who often medi- tates on the four last things, namely death, judgment, and the eternity of hell and paradise, will not fall into sin ; these truths are not to be seen by the natural eyes, but only with the eyes of the mind : if they are not meditated on, they vanish from the mind ; and then the pleasures of the senses present themselves, and those who do not keep before themselves the eternal truths are easily taken up by them ; and this is why so many abandoned themselves to vice, and are damned. All Christians know and believe that they must die, and that we shall all be judged ; but be- cause they do not think about it, they live far from God. Without men- tal prayer there is no light : we walk in the dark, and, walking in the dark, we do not see the danger we are in, we do not make use of the means we ought, nor pray to God to help us, and so we are lost. With- out prayer we have neither light nor strength to advance in the ways of God, because without prayer we do not ask God to give us His grace, OF THE MEANS OF PRESERVING THE GRACE OF GOD. 317 and without so praying we shall certainly fall. It was for this reason that Cardinal Bellarmine declared it to be morally impossible for a Chris- tian who did not meditate to persevere in the grace of God ; whereas, one who makes his meditation every day can scarcely fall into sin ; and if unhappily he should fall on some occasion, by continuing his prayer he will return immediately to God. It was said by a servant of God, that " mental prayer and mortal sin cannot exist together." Resolve, then, to make every day, either in the morning or in the evening — but it is best in the morning — half an hour's meditation. In the following chapter you will see, briefly explained, an easy method for making this prayer. For the rest, it is sufficient that during that time you should occupy your thoughts by reading some book of meditations, either this one, or one of the many there are ; and from time to time excite some good affection or some such aspiration as you will find pointed out in the following para- graph. Above all, I beg you never to leave off this prayer, which you should practise at least once a day, although you may be in great aridity, and should feel great weariness in doing it. If you do not discontinue it, you will be certainly saved. Together with prayer, it is of great use to make a spiritual reading, in private, in some book which treats of the life of a saint or of the Chris- tian virtues, for half or at least a quarter of an hour. How many, by reading a pious book, have changed their way of living and become saints, like St. John Colombino, St. Ignatius Loyola, and so many others. It would also be a most useful thing if you were every year to make a retreat in some religious house. But at any rate do not omit your daily meditation. 3. The frequenting of the Sacraments. — The third means is frequenting the sacraments of confession and communion. By confession the soul keeps itself purified ; and by it not only obtains remission of sins, but also greater strength to resist temptations. For this purpose you should choose your director, and always confess to the same, consulting him on all important matters, even temporal ones ; and obey him in everything, especially if you are distressed by scruples. He who obeys his confessor need not fear to go astray : "He that heareth you heareth me." (St. ■ Luke x. 16.) The voice of the confessor is the voice of God. The holy Communion is called heavenly bread, because as common bread preserves the life of the body, so the Communion preserves the life of the soul : " Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man .... you shall not have life in you." (St. John vi. 52.) On the other hand, to those who often eat this bread eternal life is promised : " If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." (St. John vi. 52.) Therefore the Council of Trent calls the Communion "the medicine which delivers us from 3l3 OF THE MEANS OF PRESERVING THE GRACE OF GOD. venial sins, and preserves us from mortal ones." You should, then, re- solve to go to Communion at least once a week, being determined not to give it up for anything in the world ; there is no affair of greater impor- tance than that of your eternal salvation. Indeed, the longer you remain in the world, the greater need you have of assistance, because your temp* tations are greater. A certain learned priest wrote three books against the opinion which I had maintained, namely, that a person who desin - to keep himself in the grace of God may be allowed to communicate every week, although he may not be purified from the affection to venial sins. On this matter, I beg the reader to read the last answer in my Instruziom Morale, lately printed in vol. iii. append, i, § 4, at the end. To make a good confession, as also a good communion, see the following chapter, where you will also find the acts which may be made before and after confession and communion by way of preparation and thanksgiving. 4. To hear Mass. — The fourth means is to hear Mass every day. When we assist at Mass we give more honor to God than all the angels and saints in heaven can give Him, because theirs is the honor of crea- tures ; but in the Mass we offer to God Jesus Christ, who gives Him an infinite honor. Read the following chapter, where you will also find a way of assisting at Mass with much profit. 5. The visit to the Most Holy Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin. — The fifth means is to make a visit every day to the most holy sacrament in some church, and to the divine Mother before some devout image. Jesus Christ dwells on the altars of so many churches in order to dispense graces to all who come to visit Him ; and thus the souls of those who practise this beautiful devotion receive innumerable benefits from it. At the end of the next chapter you will find the prayer which may be said when visiting the most holy sacrament, and one you should say in visits to the divine Mother. The graces you ought especially to ask for, both from Jesus and Mary, are the love of God and holy perseverance till death. 6. Prayer. — The sixth means which I recommend you, above all, to put in practice is holy prayer. It is certain that without the divine assist- ance we can do nothing good for our souls. God also has declared that graces are granted to those only who ask for them : " Ask, and it shall be given you." (St. Matt. vii. 7.) Seek, and it shall be given you ; there- fore, as says St. Teresa, "he who seeks not does not receive." Hence it is a common opinion of the holy fathers, with St. Thomas, that without prayer it is impossible to persevere in the grace of God, and to save one- self. But he who prays is sure of the help of God ; we have His word for it, which cannot fail, repeated so often in the sacred gospels : " All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, DE VO UT EXERCISES TO BE PR A C TISED. 3 1 9 and they shall come to you." (St. Mark xi. 24.) " Every one that asketh receiveth." (St. Luke xi. 10.) "Amen, amen, I say unto you, if you ask the Father any thing in my name, He will give it you." (St. John xvi. 23.) God grants everything that we ask Him for in the name of Jesus Christ. If, then, we wish to be saved we must pray, and pray with hu- mility and confidence, and, above all, with perseverance. And this is why mental prayer is so useful, because then we remember to pray ; otherwise we forget it, and so are lost. St. Teresa says that out of her I desire of seeing every one saved, she would have wished to go to the top of a mountain and then to cry out, so as to be heard by all men, nothing but these words, " Pray ! pray ! " The ancient fathers of the desert in their conferences decided that there was no better means of saving our- selves than by continually repeating the prayer of David : " Incline unto ; my aid, O God ! O Lord, make haste to help me ! " So let us also try to say. Or else let us make use of the beautiful ejaculation of the blessed ■ F. Leonard of Porto Maurizio : " My Jesus, mercy ! " and the two princi- pal graces which we must always ask for, as I have said before, are the love of God and holy perseverance. We must always ask the same ; graces from the most holy Mary, who is called the dispenser of all the divine graces ; and when we pray to her, she certainly obtains them for us from God. Therefore does St. Bernard thus exhort us: "Let us seek grace, and let us seek it through Mary ; for what she seeks she finds, and she cannot be disappointed." CHAPTER II. DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. I. ACTS ON RISING IN THE MORNING. Make the sign of the cross, and then say: (1) "My God, I adore thee and love thee with all my heart." (2) "I thank thee for all thy benefits, and especially for having preserved me this night." (3) " I offer thee whatever I may do or suffer this day, in union with the actions and sufferings of Jesus and of Mary, with the intention of gaining all the indulgences I can." (4) "I resolve to fly from all sin this day, and especially such a one (it is good to make a resolution, particularly about the fault into which we fall the oftenest); and I beg of thee to give me perseverance, for the love of Jesus Christ. I resolve to conform myself to thy holy will, and particularly in those things which are contrary to my inclination, saying always : ' Lord, thy will be done.' 120 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. " My Jesus, keep thy hand over me this day. Most holy Mary, take me beneath thy mantle. And do thou, eternal Father, help me, for the love of Jesus and Mary. O my angel guardian and my patron saints, assist me." An " Our Father" and a "Hail Mary" and the creed, with three M Hail Marys " in honor of the purity of Mary. When you begin any work or study, say, " Lord, I offer thee this work." When you eat, " My God, bless this food and me, that I may commit no fault about it ; and may all be for thy glory." After havin eaten, " I thank thee, Lord, for having done good to one who was thin enemy." When the clock strikes, " My Jesus, I love thee ; never permi me to offend thee again, and let me never be separated from thee." I adverse circumstances, " Lord, since thou hast so willed it, I will it also.' In time of temptation often repeat, " Jesus and Mary ! " When yo know or doubt of some fault or sin you have committed, say imme diately, " My God, I repent of having offended thee, O infinite good- ness ; I will do so no more." And if it was a grievous sin confess it directly. It would be a good thing for parents, masters and mistresses, to make the children under them learn these acts by heart, that they may make use of them afterward throughout their whole life. 2. METHOD OF MAKING MENTAL PRAYER. Mental prayer consists of three parts : the preparation, meditation, and the conclusion. The preparation consists of three acts : one of faith in the presence of God ; of humility, with a short act of contrition ; and of prayer to be enlightened, saying as follows, for the first : " My God, I believe that thou art present with me, and I adore thee with all the affec- tion of my soul." For the second : " O Lord, by my sins I deserve to be now in hell ; I repent, O infinite goodness, with my whole heart, of hav- ing offended thee." For the third : "My God, for the love of Jesus and Mary, give me light in this prayer, that I may profit by it." Then say a " Hail Mary " to the most blessed Virgin, that she may obtain light for us ; and a " Glory be to the Father," to St. Joseph, to your guardian angel, and to your patron saint, for the same end. These acts should be made with attention, but briefly ; and then you go on directly to the medita- tion. In the meditation you can always make use of some book, at least at the commencement, and stop where you find yourself most touched. St. Francis of Sales says that in this we should do as the bees, which stop on a flower as long as they find any honey on it, and then pass on to another. It should also be observed that the fruits to be gained by medi- tation are three in number : to make affections, to pray, and to make res- DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PR A C TISED. 3 2 1 • olutions ; and in these consists the profit to be derived from mental prayer. After you have meditated on some eternal truth, and God has spoken to your heart, you must also speak to God ; and first, by forming- affections, be they acts of faith, of thanksgiving, of humility, or of hope : but above all, repeat the acts of love and contrition. St. Thomas says that every act of love merits for us the grace of God and paradise : " Every act of love merits eternal life." Each act of contrition obtains the same thing. Acts of love are such as these : "My God, I love thee above all things. I love thee with all my heart. I desire to do thy will in all things. I rejoice that thou art infinitely happy," and the like. For an act of contrition it is enough to say ; " O infinite goodness, I re- pent of having offended thee." In the second place, you must pray ; ask God to enlighten you, to give you humility or other virtues, to grant you a good death and eternal salvation ; but, above all, His love and holy perseverance. And when the soul is in great aridity, it is sufficient to repeat : " My God, help me ! Lord, have mercy on me ! My Jesus, have mercy ! " and if you do noth- ing but this, your prayer will succeed exceedingly well. In the third place, before finishing your prayer, you must form a par- ticular resolution ; as, for instance, to avoid some occasion of sin, to bear with an annoyance from some person, to correct some fault, and the like. Finally, in the conclusion, three acts are to be made : in the first, we must thank God for the inspirations we have received ; in the second, we must make a determination to observe the resolutions we have made ; in the third, we must ask God, for the love of Jesus and Mary, to help us to keep our purpose. The prayer concludes by the recommendation of the souls in purgatory, the prelates of the Church, sinners, and all our re- ; latives and friends, for which we may say an " Our Father " and a " Hail Mary." St. Francis of Sales exhorts us to choose some thought which may have struck us more especially in our prayer, that we may remem- der it during the rest of the day. Benedict XIV. granted seven years' indulgence to those who make half an hour's mental prayer during the day, and a plenary indulgence if it is made every day for a month, on the condition of confession and communion. I ACTS TO BE MADE BY WAY OF PREPARATION AND THANKSGIVING BOTH FOR CONFESSION AND COMMUNION. Before confessing, the penitent should beg for light from God to enable him to know what sins he has committed, and to obtain the grace of a true sorrow and purpose of amendment. He should also particularly recommend himself to Our Lady of Sorrows that she may obtain contrition for him. Then he may make the following acts : Act before Confession. — O God of infinite majesty, behold at thy feet a DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. traitor, who has offended thee over and over again, but who now hum Mi seeks forgiveness. O Lord, reject me not ; thou dost not despise a heai that humbles itself: "A contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt Qi despise." (Ps. 1. 19.) I thank thee that thou hast waited for me till now, and hast not let me die in sin, casting me into hell as I deserved. Since thou hast waited for me, my God, I hope that, by the merits of Jesus Christ, thou wilt pardon me in this confession for all the offences I have committed against thee ; I repent, and am sorry for them, because by them I have merited hell and lost paradise. But, above all, it is not so much on account of hell which I have merited, but because I have offended thee, O infinite goodness, that I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. I love thee, O sovereign good ; and because I love thee, I repent of all the insults I have offered thee. I have turned my back upon thee ; I have not respected thee ; I have despised thy grace and thy friendship. O Lord, I have lost thee by my own free will ; forgive me all my sins for the love of Jesus Christ, now that I repent with all my heart ; I hate, de- test, and abominate them above every ill. And I repent not only of mortal sins, but also of venial sins, because these are also displeasing to thee. I resolve for the future, by thy grace, nevermore willingly to offend thee. Yes, my God, I will rather die than ever sin again. And if a person confesses a sin into which he has often relapsed, it is a good thing to resolve particularly not to fall into it again, by promising to avoid the occasion of it, and to take the means pointed out by the confessor, or such as he may himself judge to be most effi- cacious, for correcting himself of it. Act after Confession. — My dear Jesus, how much do I not owe thee ! By the merits of thy blood I hope that I have this day been pardoned. I thank thee above all things. I hope to reach heaven, where I shall praise thy mercies forever. My God, if I have hitherto lost thee so often, I now desire to lose thee no more. From this day forward I will change my life in earnest Thou dost merit all my love ; I will love thee truly ; I will no longer see myself separated from thee. I have promised thee this already ; now I repeat my promise of being ready to die rather than offend thee again. I promise also to avoid all occasions of sin ; and to take such means as shall prevent my falling again. My Jesus, thou know- est my weakness ; give me grace to be faithful to thee till death, and to have recourse to thee when I am tempted. Most holy Mary, help me ! Thou art the mother of perseverance ; I place my hope in thee. Preparation for Communion. There is no means more efficacious in freeing us from our sins and in enabling us to advance in the love of God, than the holy Communion. Why is it, then, that some souls find them- selves always in the same tepidity, and committing the same faults, notwithstanding the many DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. 323 communions they make ? This happens through the want of a proper disposition and prepara- tion. Two things are requisite for this preparation. The first is to disengage our heart from all affections which are an impediment to the divine love. The second is to have a great desire to love God. And this, says St. Francis of Sales, should be our chief intention when we communicate, namely, to increase in divine love. Out of love alone, says the saint, ought our God to be received, who out of love alone gives Himself to us. For this end let us make the following acts. Acts before Communion. — My beloved Jesus, true Son of God, who didst die for me on the cross in a sea of sorrows and ignominy, I firmly believe that thou art present in the most holy sacrament ; and for this faith I am ready to give my life. My dear Redeemer, I hope by thy goodness, and through the merits of thy blood, that when thou dost come to me this morning, thou wilt inflame me with thy holy love, and wilt give me all those graces which I need to keep me obedient and faithful to thee till death. Ah, my God, true and only lover of my soul, what couldst thou do more to oblige me to love thee ? Thou wast not satisfied, my Love, with dying for me, but thou wouldst also institute the most holy sacrament, making thyself my food, and giving thyself all to me ; thus uniting thy- self most closely to such a miserable and ungrateful creature. Thou dost thyself invite me to receive thee, and dost greatly desire that I should receive thee. O infinite Love ! A God gives Himself all to me i my God, O infinite Love, worthy of infinite love, I love thee above all things; I love thee with all my heart; I love thee more than myself, more than my life ; I love thee because thou art worthy of being loved ; and I love thee also to please thee, since thou dost desire my love. Depart from my soul, all ye earthly affections ; to thee alone, my Jesus, my treasure, my all, will I give all my love. This morning thou dost give thy- self all to me, and I give myself all to thee. Permit me to love thee ; for desire none but thee, and nothing but what is pleasing to thee. I love thee, O my Saviour, and I unite my poor love to the love of all the angels and saints, and of thy Mother Mary, and the love of thy eternal Father. Oh, that I could see thee loved by all ! Oh, that I could make thee loved by all men, and loved as much as thou dost deserve ! Behold, O my Jesus, I am now about to draw near to feed on thy most sacred flesh. Ah, my God, who am I ? and who art thou ? Thou art a Lord of infinite goodness, and I am a loathsome worm, defiled by so many sins, and who have driven thee out of my soul so often. Dcmine, non sum dignus. Lord, I am not worthy to remain in thy )resence ; I ought to be in hell for ever, far away, and abandoned by thee. But out of thy goodness thou callest me to receive thee. Behold, 1 come : I come humbled and in confusion for the great displeasure I lave given thee, but trusting entirely to thy mercy and to the love thou 324 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. hast for me. I am exceedingly sorry, O my loving Redeemer, for hav- ing so often offended thee in time past. Thou didst even give thy lift for me, and 1 have so often despised thy grace and thy love, and hav< exchanged thee for nothing. I repent, and am sorry with all my heart for every offense which I have offered thee, whether grievous or light, because it was an offense against thee, who art infinite goodness. 1 hope thou hast already pardoned me ; but if thou hast not yet forgiven me, pardon me, my Jesus, before I receive thee. Ah, receive me quickly into thy grace, since it is thy will soon to come and dwell within me. Come, then, my Jesus, come into my soul, which sighs after thee. My only and infinite good, my life, my love, my all, I would desire to receive thee this morning with the same love with which those souls who love thee most have received thee, and with the same fervor with which thy most holy mother received thee ; to her communions I wish to unite this one of mine. O blessed Virgin, and my Mother Mary, give me thy Son ; I intend to receive Him from thy hands. Tell Him that I am thy servant, and thus will He press me more lovingly to His heart, now that He is coming to me. Acts after Communion. The time after communion is a precious time for gaining treasures of grace, because the acts and prayers made whilst the soul is thus united to Jesus Christ have more merit, and are of more value than when they are made at any other time. St. Teresa says that our Lord then dwells in the soul enthroned as on a mercy-seat, and speaks to it in these words: " My child, ask of me what you will; for this end am I come to you to do you good." Oh, what great favors do those receive who converse with Jesus Christ after communion ! The Ven. F. Avila never omitted to remain two hours in prayer after communion; and St. Aloysius Gonzaga con- tinued his thanksgiving for three days. Let the communicant, then, make the following acts, and try during the rest of the day to go on making acts of love and prayer, in order to keep himself united to Jesus Christ, whom he has received in the morning. Lo! my Jesus, thou hast come, thou art now within me, and hast made thyself all mine. Be thou welcome, my beloved Redeemer. I adore thee, and cast myself at thy feet ; I embrace thee, I press thee to my heart, and thank thee for that thou hast deigned to enter into my breast. O Mary, O my patron saints, O my guardian angel, do you all thank Him for me ! Since, then, O my divine King, thou art come to visit me with so much love, I give thee my will, my liberty, and my whole self. Thou hast given thyself all to me : I will give myself all to thee ; I will no longer belong to myself ; from this day forward I will be thine, and altogether thine. I desire that my soul, my body, my faculties, my senses, should be all thine, that they may be employed in serving and pleasing thee. To thee I consecrate all my thoughts, my desires, my af- fections, and all my life. I have offended thee enough, my Jesus ; I de- DE VO UT EXERCISES TO BE PRA C TISED. 325 sire to spend the remainder of my life in loving thee, who hast loved me so much. Accept, O God of my soul, the sacrifice which I, a miserable sinner, make to thee, and who desires only to love and please thee. Work thou \ in me, and dispose of me, and of all things belonging to me, as thou : pleasest May Thy love destroy in me all those affections which are dis- pleasing to thee, that I may be all thine, and may live only to please thee. I ask thee not for goods of this world, for pleasures, for honors ; give : me, I pray thee, by the merits of thy passion, O my Jesus, a constant sor- row for my sins. Enlighten me, and make me know the vanity of worldly goods, and how much thou dost deserve to be loved. Separate me from all attachment to the world, and bind me entirely to thy love, that from ' henceforth my will may neither seek nor desire any thing but what thou I wiliest. Give me patience and resignation in infirmities, in poverty, and , in all those things which are contrary to my self-love. Make me gentle toward those who despise me. Give me a holy death. Give me thy holy love. And, above all, I pray thee to give me perseverance in thy grace till death ; never permit me to separate myself from thee again (Jesu dul- cissime, ne permit las me separari a te). And I also ask of thee the grace always to have recourse ,to thee, and to invoke thy aid, O my Jesus, in all my temptations ; and the grace to ask thee always for holy perseverance. eternal Father, thy Son Jesus Christ has promised me that thou ! wilt grant me everything that I shall ask thee in His name : " If you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it you." (St. John xvi. \ 23.) In the name, therefore, and by the merits of this Son, I ask for thy : love and holy perseverance, that I may one day love thee in heaven with all my strength, and sing thy mercies for ever, secure of nevermore being separated from thee. most holy Mary, my mother and my hope, obtain for me these graces which I so desire ; as also a great love for thee, my Queen ; may I always recommend myself to thee in all my necessities ! 4. METHOD OF HEARING MASS. The same action is performed in the Mass as was accomplished on Calvary ; except that there the blood of Jesus Christ was really shed, while on the altar it is shed mystically ; but in the Mass the merits of the passion of Jesus are applied to each one in particular. To hear Mass, therefore, with great fruit, we must pay attention to the ends for which it was instituted, namely : 1. To honor God. 2. To thank Him for His benefits. 3. To satisfy for our sins. 4. To ob- tain graces. For this reason you may use the following prayer during Mass: Eternal Father, in this sacrifice I offer to thee thy Son Jesus with all the merits of His passion : 1. In honor of thy majesty. 2. In thanksgiv- ing for all the favors thou hast hitherto shown me, and for all those which 326 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. I hope to receive for all eternity. 3. In satisfaction for my sins, and for those of all the living and dead. 4. To obtain eternal salvation, and all the graces which are necessary for me to gain it. At the elevation of the Host: My God, for the love of this thy Son, par don me and give me holy perseverance. At the elevation of t lie Chalice : By the blood of Jesus, give me thy love and a holy death. At the communion of the priest make a spiritual com?nunion, saying: My Jesus, I love thee, and desire to possess thee. I embrace thee, and I will nevermore separate myself from thee. 5. ACTSTO BE MADE IN VISITING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT AND THE DIVIN1 MOTHER. My Lord Jesus Christ, who, for the love thou bearest to mankind, dost remain night and day in this sacrament, full of pity and love, awaiting, calling, and receiving all who come to visit thee ; I believe that thou art present in the sacrament of the altar ; I adore thee from the depths of my own nothingness ; I thank thee for the many graces thou hast given me, and especially for having given me thyself in this sacrament ; for having given me Mary thy mother as my advocate, and for having called me to visit thee in this church. I salute thy most amiable and most loving heart ; and I do so, first, in thanksgiving for this great gift ; second, to atone for all the insults thou hast received in this sacrament from all in- fidels, heretics, and bad Catholics ; third, I intend in this visit to adore thee in all those places where thou, thus veiled in the most holy sacra- ment, art least reverenced and most abandoned. My Jesus, I love thee with my whole heart. I am sorry that I have hitherto so often offended thy infinite goodness. With the help of thy grace, I resolve to displease thee no more ; and, unworthy as I am, I now consecrate myself wholly to thee ; I renounce and give to thee my will, my affections, my desires, and all that is mine. Henceforward do with me, and all that belongs to me, whatsoever thou pleasest. I ask for nothing but thee and thy holy love, final perseverance, and a perfect fulfillment of thy will. I recommend to thee the souls in purgatory, especially those who were most devout to this most holy sacrament, and to most holy Mary. I also recommend to thee all poor sinners. And lastly, my beloved Saviour, I unite all my affec- tions with those of thy most loving heart ; and thus united, I offer them to thy eternal Father ; and in thy name I beseech Him to accept and grant them. On visiting any image of the ever-blessed Virgin. — Most holy, immacu- late Virgin Mary, my Mother, I, the most miserable of sinners, have this day recourse to thee, the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the universe, DE VO UT EXERCISES TO BE PR A C TISED. 327 , the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners. 1 worship thee, O great Oueen, and I thank thee for the many favors thou hast hitherto obtained for me ; especially for having delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved. I love thee, O most amiable Lady, worthy of all love ; and for the love I bear thee, I promise to serve thee always, and to do everything in my power to make others serve thee also. In thee do I hope ; I place my salvation in thy hands. Accept me for thy servant, receive me under thy mantle, O Mother of mercy. Thou art all-powerful \ with God ; free me, then, from all temptations, or at least obtain for me strength to conquer them as long as I live. From thee I beg a true love of Jesus Christ ; and by thy help I hope for a good death. I beseech thee, Mother, by the love thou bearest to God, that thou wilt always help \ me, but especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not till thou : shalt see me safe in heaven, blessing thee, and singing thy mercies for all eternity. Amen. This is my hope. So may it be. 6. CHRISTIAN ACTS, TO BE MADE IN THE EVENING BEFORE GOING TO BED. Before going to rest, make your examination of conscience in the following manner: First thank God for all the favors you have received ; then cast a glance over all the actions you ! have done, and the words you have spoken, during the day, repenting of all the faults you have , committed. Afterward make the Christian^ acts in the following manner: Act of faith. — O my God, who art infallible truth, because thou hast revealed it to thy Church, I believe all that she proposes to my belief. I believe that thou art my God, the Creator of all things ; that thou dost reward the just with an eternal paradise, and dost punish the wicked in hell for all eternity^ I believe that thou art one in essence, and three in persons, namely Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I believe in the incarna- j tion and death of Jesus Christ. I believe, in fine, all that the holy Church believes. I thank thee for having made me a Christian ; and I protest '■■ that I will live and die in this holy faith. Act of hope. — O my God, confiding in thy promises, because thou art powerful, faithful and merciful, I hope, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to obtain pardon of my sins, final perseverance, and the glory of paradise. Act of love and contrition. — O my God, because thou art infinite good- ness, worthy of infinite love, I love thee with all my heart above all things ; and for the love of thee I love my neighbor also. I repent with all my heart, and am sorry above all things for all my sins, because by them I have offended thy infinite goodness. I resolve, by the help of thy grace, which I beseech thee to grant me now and always, rather to die than ever to offend thee again. I propose, also, to receive the holy sacraments dur- ing my life, and at the hour of my death. 3«8 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. It is well to know that, to those who make these Christian acts with the desire of receiving the holy sacraments during their life and at their death, Benedict XIII. granted seven indulgence; and a plenary indulgence, applicable to the souls in purgatory, when they an regularly for a month; as also a plenary indulgence in articulo mortis. Besides, by a c< sion of Benedict XIV., the indulgence may be gained several times a day by a y one who re- cites the above acts, provided he does so with the intention of gaining the indulgence. Conclude the whole by saying the rosary and the litany of the blessed Virgin. Devout acts to be made every day. — I adore thee, my God, most holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three persons and one only God. I humble myself in the abyss of my nothingness to the will of thy in- finite majesty. I firmly believe all that thou hast deigned to make known to me by means of the Holy Scripture and thy holy Church, because thou hast said it ; and I am ready to give my life a thousand times for this faith. I place all my hope in thee. Whatever good I may have, whether spiritual or temporal, either in this life or in the next, I hope for from thee, through the merits of Jesus Christ, O God, my life and my only hope. I love thee, infinite goodness, with all the affection of my heart and of my soul, because thou dost merit all my love. I wish I knew how to love thee as the angels, the saints, and just men love thee. I unite my imper- fect love with that which all the saints, most holy Mary, and Jesus Christ bear to thee. My God, because thou art the supreme good, infinitely worthy of being loved and served, I am sorry and repent of all my sins, detesting them as much as possible above every other evil. I resolve for the future rather to die than to consent to anything that may give thee the slightest dis- pleasure. I offer thee now and forever my body, my soul, and all my senses and faculties, my memory, my understanding, and my will. Do with me, Lord, and with all that belongs to me, what thou pleasest. Give me thy love and final persev erance, and grant that in all temptations I may always have recourse to thee. I resolve to employ myself entirely in those things which are pleasing to thee, being ready to suffer any pain and labor in order to please thee, saying always, Lord, may thy will be done. I desire that all should serve and love thee. I would gladly spend my time in persuading all mankind to love and honor thy majesty. I offer to thy majesty all the works I shall ever do, steeping them in the blood of Jesus, my Redeemer. I intend to gain all the indulgences I can in my actions this day, and to apply them by way of suffrage to the souls in purgatory. I recommend to thee all the souls in purgatory, as also all sinners ; DEVOUT EXER CISES TO BE PR A C TISED. 329 enlighten and strengthen these unhappy creatures, that they may know and love thee. I rejoice exceedingly that thy happiness is infinite, and will never have an end. I thank thee for all the graces and benefits which thou hast bestowed upon all mankind, but especially upon me, who have been more ungrate- ful than others. My beloved Jesus, I take refuge within thy sacred wounds : do thou there defend me this day, and forever, from all temptations, till thou shalt grant me to see thee and love thee eternally in paradise. Amen. This is my hope, and so may it be. 7. DEVOUT PRAYERS TO JESUS AND MARY TO OBTAIN THE GRACES NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. Prayer to Jesus Christ to obtain His holy love. — My crucified Jesus, I confess thee to be the true Son of God and my Saviour. I adore and thank thee for the death thou didst suffer for me. My dear Redeemer, if I have hitherto done nothing but offend thee, I am now sorry for it above all things, and I desire nothing but to love thee. Thou hast prom- ised to hear those who pray to thee ; by the merits of thy passion I ask thee to give me thy holy love. Ah, draw my heart entirely to thyself, that from this day forward I may love thee with all my strength, and may love none other but thee ; and so may I one day come to love thee for ill eternity in paradise. Prayer to obtain final perseverance. — O sovereign and eternal God, I thank thee for having created me ; for having redeemed me by means of lesus Christ ; for having made me a Christian by calling me to the true faith, and giving me time to repent after the many sins I have committed, infinite goodness, I love thee above all things ; and I repent with all ly heart of all my offences against thee. I hope thou hast already par- loned me ; but I am continually in danger of again offending thee. For the love of Jesus Christ, I beg of thee holy perseverance till death. Thou :nowest my weakness ; help me, then, and permit me not ever again to separate myself from thee. Rather let me die a thousand times, than iver again to lose thy grace. O Mary, my mother, obtain for me holy >erseverance. Another prayer to obtain final perseverance. — Eternal Father, I humbly idore and thank thee for having created me, and for having redeemed ie by means of Jesus Christ. I thank thee for having made me a Chris- tian by giving me the true faith, and by adopting me for thy child in holy 330 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. baptism. I thank thee for having given me time for repentance after my many sins, and for having (as I hope) pardoned all my offences against thee. I renew my sorrow for them, because I have displeased thee. infinite goodness ! I thank thee also for having preserved me from fall- ing again, as often as I should have done, if thou hadst not held me up and saved me. But my enemies do not cease to fight against me, nor will they until death, that they may again have me for their slave ; if thou dost not keep and help me continually by thine assistance, I shall be wretched enough to lose thy grace anew. I therefore pray thee, for the love of Jesus Christ, to grant me holy perseverance till death. Thy Son Jesus has promised that thou wilt grant us whatever we ask for in His name. By the merits then of Jesus Christ, I beg of thee for myself, and for all those who are in thy grace, the grace of nevermore being sep- arated from thy love, but that we may always love thee in this life and in the next. Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. Tlie same prayer to obtain final perseverance. — Eternal God, I adore and thank thee for having created and redeemed me by means of Jesus Christ ; for having made me a child of thy holy Church ; for having waited for me when I was in sin ; for having pardoned me so often, and preserved me from many faults, into which I should have fallen again, if thou hadst not helped me by thy grace. But my enemies will not cease tempting me till death ; if thou dost not assist me, I shall offend thee more than before. For the love of Jesus Christ, give me holy perseverance. Jesus Christ has promised that thou wilt grant us all those graces which we ask for in His name ; by the merits, then, of this thy Son, I beg of thee the grace nevermore to separate myself from thee {ne permit tas me separari a te). And this grace I also ask for all who are now in thy friendship. I know certainly that if I continue to ask for perseverance, I shall obtain it, because thou hast promised to hear those who pray to thee. My only fear is, that I shall omit on some occasion to recommend myself to thee, and so I shall be lost. I therefore beseech thee to give me this grace in the name of Jesus and Mary. Thus, my God, do 1 certainly hope to die in thy grace, and to come and love thee in paradise, where I shall be se- cure of nevermore being separated from thee, and shall love thee for all eternity. Amen. Prayer to Jesus Christ, to obtain His holy love. — My crucified love, my dear Jesus ! I believe in thee, and confess thee to be the true Son of God and my Saviour. I adore thee from the abyss of my own nothingness, and I thank thee for the death thou didst suffer for me, that I might ob- tain the life of divine grace. My beloved Redeemer, to thee I owe all my salvation. Through thee I have hitherto escaped hell ; through thee have I received the pardon of my sins. But I am so ungrateful, that, instead DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. 331 • of loving thee, I have repeated my offences against thee. I deserve to : be condemned, so as not to be able to love thee any more : but no, my ; Jesus, punish me in any other way, but not in this. If I have not loved ! thee in time past, I love thee now ; and I desire nothing but to love thee with all my heart. Without thy help I can do nothing. Since thou dost command me to love thee, give me also the strength to fulfil this thy sweet and loving precept. Thou hast promised to grant all that we ask of thee : " You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." (St. John xv. 7.) Confiding, then, in this promise, my dear Jesus, I ask, first of all, pardon of all my sins ; and I repent, above all things, because I have offended thee, O infinite goodness. I ask for holy perse- verance in thy grace till my death. But, above all, I ask for the gift of thy holy love. Ah, my Jesus, my hope, my love, my all, inflame me with that love which thou didst come on earth to enkindle ( Tui amoris in me ignem accende). For this end, make me always live in conformity with thy holy will. Enlighten me, that I may understand more and more how worthy thou art of our love, and that I may know the immense love thou hast borne me, especially in giving thy life for me. Grant, then, that I may love thee with all my heart, and may love thee always, and never cease to beg of thee the grace to love thee in this life ; that living always, and dying in thy love, I may come one day to love thee with all my strength in heaven, never to leave off loving thee for all eternity. O Mother of fair love, my advocate and refuge, Mary, who art of all creatures the most beautiful, the most loving, and the most beloved of God and whose only desire it is to see Him loved, ah, by the love thou bear- | est to Jesus Christ, pray for me, and obtain for me the grace to love Him always, and with all my heart. This I ask and hope for from thee. Amen. The same prayer, to be said every day to Jesus Christ, to obtain His holy ; love. — My crucified love and my most sweet Jesus, I believe in thee, and I confess thee to be true Son of God and Saviour of the world ! I adore thee from the abyss of my misery, and thank thee for the death which thou didst suffer, to obtain for me the life of divine grace. O most faithful of all friends ! O most loving of all fathers ! O kindest of all masters ! my beloved Redeemer, to thee I am indebted for my salvation, for my soul, my body, and my whole self. Thou hast delivered me from hell ; through thee I have received the pardon of my sins ; through thee do I hope for paradise. But my ingratitude is so great, that instead of loving thee, after so many mercies and special endearments of love, I have only offended thee afresh. I confess that I deserve not to be allowed to love thee any more. But no, my Jesus, choose some other punishment for me, td not this. If I have despised thee up to this time, now I love thee, 332 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. without thy help I can do nothing. Since, then, thou dost command m< to love thee, and dost offer me thy grace — provided I ask it in thy name confiding in thy goodness, and in the promise thou hast made me, say ing, " Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that I will do (St. John xiv. 13) — I present myself, poor as I am, before the throne thy mercy ; and by the merits of thy passion, 1 ask thee first to pardon all my sins, of which I repent with all my soul, because by them I have offended thee, who art infinite goodness. Pardon me, then, and at the same time, give me holy perseverance till death; grant me also the gift of thy holy love. Ah, my Jesus, my hope, and my only love, my life, my treasure, my all, shed over my soul that light of truth and that fire of love, which thou didst come to bring into the world. Enlighten me to know every day better why thou shouldst be loved, and to see the immense love thou hast shown me in suffering and dying for me. Ah, grant that the same love may be in me as that with which thy eternal Father loves thee. And as He is in thee, and is one with thee, so may I, by means of a true love, be in thee, and by a perfect union of will become one with thee. Grant me, then, O my Jesus, the grace of loving thee with all my affections, that I may love thee always, and ever beg the grace to love thee ; so that, end- ing my life in thy love, I may come to love thee in heaven with a purer and more perfect love, never to cease loving thee, and to possess thee for all eternity. O Mother of beautiful love, most blessed Virgin, my advocate, my mother, my hope after Jesus — who art of all creatures the most loving toward God, and desirest nothing but that He should be loved by all — ah, for the love of this Son, dying before thine eyes for my salvation, pray for me, and obtain for me the grace to love Him always, and with all my heart. I ask it of thee, and from thee do I hope to obtain it. Amen. Prayer to obtain confidence in the merits of Jesus Christ, and in the inter- cession of Mary. — Eternal Father I thank thee for myself, and on behalf of all mankind, for the great mercy that thou hast shown us in sending thy Son to be made man, and to die to obtain our salvation ; I thank thee for it, and I should wish to offer thee in thanksgiving all that love which is due for such an inestimable benefit. By His merits our sins are par- doned, and thy justice is satisfied for the punishment we had merited ; by these merits thou dost receive us miserable sinners into thy grace, while we deserve nothing but hatred and chastisement. Thou dost receive men to reign in paradise. Finally, thou hast bound thyself, in consideration of these merits, to grant all gifts and graces to those who ask for them in the name of Jesus Christ. DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. 333 I thank thee also, O infinite goodness, that, in order to strengthen our confidence, besides giving us Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, thou hast also given us thy beloved daughter Mary as our advocate ; so that, with that heart full of mercy which thou hast given her, she may never cease to succor by her intercession any sinner who may have recourse to her ; and this intercession is so powerful with thee, that thou canst not deny her any grace which she asks of thee. Hence it is thy will that we should have a great confidence in the merits of Jesus, and in the intercession of Mary. But this confidence is thy gift, and it is a great gift which thou dost grant to those only who ask thee for it. This confidence, then, in the blood of Jesus Christ, and in the patronage of Mary, I beg of thee, through the merits of Jesus and Mary. To thee, also, my dear Redeemer, do I turn ; it was to obtain for me this confidence in thy merits that thou didst sacrifice thy life on the cross for me, who was worthy only of punishment. Accomplish, then, the end for which thou hast died ; enable me to hope for all things through confidence in thy passion. And O Mary, my Mother, and my hope after Jesus, obtain for me a firm confidence, first in the merits of Jesus thy Son, and then in the intercession of your prayers — prayers which are all-power- ful in gaining all they ask. O my beloved Jesus ! O sweet Mary ! I trust in you : to you do I give my soul ; you have loved it so much, have pity on it, and save it. Prayer to obtain the grace of being constant in prayer. — O God of my ul, I hope, in thy goodness, that thou hast pardoned all my offences against thee, and that I am now in a state of grace. I thank thee for it with all my heart, and I hope to thank thee for all eternity (Misericordias ; Domini in cetemum cantabo). I know that I have fallen because I have \ not had recourse to thee when I was tempted, to ask for holy perseverance. ; For the future, I firmly resolve to recommend myself always to thee, and especially when I see myself in danger of again offending thee. I will always fly to thy mercy, invoking always the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, with full confidence that when I pray thou wilt not fail to give me the strength which I have not of myself to resist my enemies. This I resolve and promise to do. But of what use, O my God, will all these resolutions and promises be, if thou dost not assist me with thy grace to put them in practice, that is, to have recourse to thee in all dangers ? Ah, Kternal Father ! help me, for the love of Jesus Christ ; and let me never mit recommending myself to thee whenever I am tempted. I know that thou dost always help me when I have recourse to thee ; but my fear is, that I should forget to recommend myself to thee, and so my negligence will be the cause of my ruin, that is, the loss of thy grace, the greatest evil that can happen to me. Ah, by the merits of Jesus Christ, give me so, 334 DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. grace to pray to thee ; but grant me such an abundant grace that always pray, and pray as I ought. O my Mother Mary, whenever had recourse to thee, thou hast obtained for me the help which lias kepi me from falling. Now I come to beg of thee to obtain a still gr grace, namely, that of recommending myself always to thy Son and to thee in all my necessities. My Queen, thou obtainest all thou dost desire from God by the love thou bearest to Jesus Christ ; obtain for me now this grace which I beg of thee, namely, to pray always, and never to cease praying till I die. Amen. Prayer to be said every day, to obtain the graces necessary for salvation. — Eternal Father, thy Son has promised that thou wilt grant us all the graces which we ask thee for in His name. In the name, therefore, and by the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask the following graces for myself and for all mankind. And first, I pray thee to give me a lively faith in all that the holy Roman Church teaches me. Enlighten me, also, that I may know the vanity of the goods of this world, and the immensity of the infinite good that thou art ; make me also see the deformity of the sms I have committed, that I may humble myself and detest them as I ought ; and, on the other hand, show me how worthy thou art by reason of thy goodness, that I should love thee with all my heart. Make me know also the love thou hast borne me, that from this day forward I may try to be grateful for so much goodness. Second, give me a firm confidence in thy mercy of receiving the pardon of my sins, holy perseverance, and, finally, the glory of paradise, through the merits of Jesus Christ and the intercession of Mary. Third, give me a great love toward thee, which shall detach me from the love of this world and of myself, so that I may love none other but thee, and that I may neither do nor desire anything but what is for thy glory. Fourth, I beg of thee a perfect resignation tc thy will, in accepting with tranquillity sorrows, infirmities, contempt, persecutions, aridity of spirit, loss of property, of esteem, of relations, and every other cross which shall come to me from thy hands. I offer mysell entirely to thee, that thou mayest do with me and all that belongs to me what thou pleasest ; do thou only give me light and strength to do thy will ; and especially at the hour of death help me to sacrifice my life tc thee with all the affection I am capable of, in union with the sacrifice which thy Son Jesus Christ made of His life on the cross on Calvary Fifth, I beg of thee a great sorrow for my sins, which may make me grieve over them as long as I live, and weep for the insults I have offered thee, the sovereign good, who art worthy of infinite love, and who hast loved me so much. Sixth, I pray thee to give me the spirit of true humility and meekness, that I may accept with peace, and even with joy, all the con tempt, ingratitude and ill-treatment that I may receive. At the same DEVOUT EXERCISES TO BE PRACTISED. 335 time I also pray thee to give me perfect charity, which shall make me wish well to those who have done evil to me, and to do what good I can, at least by praying, for those who have in any way injured me. Seventh, I beg of thee to give me a love for the virtue of holy mortification, by which I may chastise my rebellious senses, and cross my self-love ; at the same time, I beg thee to give me holy purity of body, and the grace to resist all bad temptations by ever having recourse to thee and thy most holy Mother. Give me grace faithfully to obey my spiritual father and all my superiors in all things. Give me an upright intention, that in all I desire and do I may seek only thy glory, and to please thee alone. Give me a great confidence in the passion of Jesus Christ, and in the intercession of Mary immaculate. Give me a great love toward the most adorable sacra- ment of the altar, and a tender devotion and love to thy holy Mother. Give me, I pray thee, above all, holy perseverance, and the grace always to pray for it, especially in time of temptation and at the hour of death. Lastly, I recommend to thee the holy souls of purgatory, my relatives and benefactors ; and in an especial manner I recommend to thee all those who hate me or who have in any way offended me ; I beg of thee to render them good for the evil they have done or wish to do me. Finally, I recommend to thee all infidels, heretics, and all poor sinners ; give them light and strength to deliver themselves from sin. Oh, most loving God, make thyself known and loved by all, but especially by those who have been more ungrateful to thee than others, so that by thy goodness I may come one day to sing thy mercies in paradise ; for my hope is in the merits of thy blood, and in the patronage of Mary. O Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. So I hope ; so may it be. Prayer to obtain all holy virtues. — My Lord and my God, by the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask thee first to enlighten me ; make me know the vanity of the goods of this world, that there is no other good but to love thee, the supreme and infinite good. Make me know my unworthi- ness, and how worthy thou art of being loved by all, and especially by me for the love thou hast borne me. Give me holy humility to embrace with cheerfulness all the contempt I may receive from men. Give me a great sorrow for my sins. Give me the love of holy mortification, that by it I may curb my passions,- and punish my rebellious senses. Give me a love for the obedience I owe to my superiors. Give me grace to direct all I do to the sole end of pleasing thee. Give me holy purity of mind and body, and a detachment from everything that does not tend to the love of thee. Give me a great confidence in the passion of Jesus Christ, and in the intercession of the ever-blessed Mary. Give me, above all, a great love toward thee, and a perfect conformity to thy divine will. I recommend to thee, also, the souls of purgatory, my relatives, bene- VOU\ Vfi/ti factors, and friends, ind .ill those from whom I ha> ived an) Of injur) . I pra) thee, showet down upon them all blessm i uully, i mmend to thee infidels, heretics, and all those who an m .1 sm. Since thou, m) God, art worth) of infinite love, make th) known and loved b) .ill ; bul all\ h\ me. who hav< most mi ^i.iutul to thee. I have olVcnded thee enough ; make me love th«. v 1 v dmed\ . ami bring me to heaven, w hnr I shall mh^ tin mcieu-s for all , ;\ Blessed Mary, prt] t< forme. Amen, l x rmy4r 0/ a devout soul to Mary and Jesus, — My Queen and ro\ Mother, it thou protect me 1 fear not that I shall go to lull; bee thou dost interpose th\ prayers and tin merits foi those whom th*>u dost protect, and Jesua Christ knows not how to A,\w anything that thou vlost ask Him. M\ dear Lady for the love thou hast foi th) pray to Him, anil have pity on me. Ami thou. \u\ Jesus. b\ the pi and merits ol thy mother, and l>\ the blood which thou hast shed forme, deliver me horn hell ; because in hell 1 cannot love thee. From this lull I pray thee to deliver me, b) that compassion which forced n to die on i he foi the love of me lesus and Mary, you are m) and my hope. PrmytT to be made ex' cry day to obtain holy / . — My (\od and thee, in order to love thee eternally in paradi- Prayer to consecrate oneself to the .:' Virgin. — Most holy \\\. Mary, Mother of God, I [A'. A'. |. although most unworthy oi being thy servant, nevertheless, moved by thy wonderful compassion, and by a de- sire to serve thee, choose thee this day, in presence d my angel guard- ian, and ol all the heavenly court, for my special lady, advocate, mother : and 1 firmly resolve to serve thee always, and to do everything hi./',', j i ZkkCl'.h', ro /',/, PRACTISSD. ■-; \ my power to m ^ e <*her» nerve thee also, I tescech thee, then, most iher, by the blood of thy Son, which was shed for nv \kt mc into the number of thy client* as thy servant (or ever, Protect . my actions, and obtain for me grace so to measure my thoughts, , and works, that I may never ofend thy most pure eyes, nor those y divine Son Jesus, Remember me, and abandon me not at the ay death, To most holy Mary, to obtain the forgiveness of our sins and holy perse* <*,— Behold, O Mother oi God, at thy feet a miserable sinner, who i § recourse to thee, and trust* in thee, O mother of mercy, have pity J me, I hear thee called by all the refuge and the hope of sinners; l>9u art, then, my refuge and hope also. By thy intercession thou hast iwer to fare me, Help me, for the lore of Jesus Christ ; Send thy Indtoa fallen wretch, who recommends himself to thee, and who dedi* ttes himself to thee as thy faithful servant, I offer myself, ther i seen of heaven, to serve thee all my life ; accept me, and reject me not, ieserve, O my mother, m thy protection have I placed all my l|pe*, 1 blessand thank God a thousand times for having in His mercy /en me this confidence m thee, which I consider as an earnest of my ivation. Ah, how many times have I unhappily fallen became I had t recourse to thee! I hope now, that through the merits of Jesus IB and thy prayers, these sins have been pardoned, 1 may still, not' 1 thstandmg, again lose the divine grace. Do thou, my \jady, protect ever let me agam become the shtve of heU, Help me always, By t jr help 1 know 1 shall conquer ; and f know that thou wilt surely assist i; if I recommend myself to thee; but my fear is, that in the occasions c falling, 1 should omit to call upon thee, and so should be lost. Thk, t m, is the grace 1 seek from thee, and which I beseech and conjure thee t obtain for me, namely, that m the assaults oi hell I should always 1 re recourse to thee, and say-, "Mary, help met help me, Mary, my i Xhet, permit me not to lose my God I " To most holy Mary, to otiain agooddeath^O Vtoty, what death shaft Hie? When I now think of my sins, and of that moment in which! ^\\exokeand\^nidged,lamcfmUnmdedand tremble, 0my mother, f the Mood of Jesus Christ and m thy intercession do I place my hopes, i comforter of the aMcted, abandon me not at that moment; fail not to t mole mem that great aMction, If thou help me not, I shatt he lost, *h lady, before death comes, obtain for me a gyeat sorrow for my sins, roud. He has promised to hear those who pray to Him ; but if a proud lan prays to Him, the Lord hears him not. To the humble, on the con- trary, He dispenses His graces : " God resisteth the proud, and giveth rrace to the humble." (St. Jas. iv. 6.) Humility is of two kinds ; humility >f affection and humility of the will. The former consists in the con- action we have of our own wretchedness, so that we can neither know tor do anything but what is evil. All that we have and do that is good :omes from God. Let us come now to the practice of humility. With regard, then, to the humility of affections : first, we must put no con- idence in our own strength, nor in our own resolutions ; but we must be ilvvays diffident and fearful of ourselves : "With fear and trembling work nit your salvation." (Phil. ii. 12.) St. Philip Neri said: "He who fears lot is sure to fall." Second, we must not glory in things that belong to is, as in our natural abilities, in our actions, in our birth, in our relatives, ind the like. It is therefore well never to speak of our actions, except to point out where we have been wrong. And it is better not to speak of Hirselves at all, either for good or bad ; because, even when we blame >urselves, it is often an occasion of vainglory, by making us think that we shall be praised, or at least be considered humble, and thus humility be- :omes pride. Third, let us not be angry with ourselves after we have committed a fault. That would not be humility but pride ; and it is even device of the devil to take away all our confidence, and make us leave )ff following a good life. When we see that we have fallen, we should say with St. Catharine of Genoa, " Lord, these are the fruits of my own garden." Then let us humble ourselves, and rise up immediately from the fault we have committed by an act of love and contrition, resolving lot to fall into the same fault again, and trusting in the help of God. aid if we unhappily do fall again, we must always do the same. Fourth, ur neighbor as ourselves. So that, as we desire our own good, and take lelight in it when we have it, and, on the contrary, are sorry for any evil lat may happen to us, so also we must desire our neighbor's good, and ?joice when he obtains it ; and, on the other hand, we must be sorry for lis misfortunes. So, again, we must neither judge nor suspect evil of our leighbor without good grounds. And this is what constitutes interior ;harity. External charity consists in our words and actions toward our neigh- >or. As to words, first, we must abstain from the least shadow of de- raction. A detractor is hateful to God and man. On the contrary, he rho speaks well of every one is beloved by God and men ; and when the lult cannot be excused, we must at least excuse the intention. Second, >t us be careful not to repeat to any one the evil that has been said of lim by another ; because sometimes long enmities and revenge arise from such things. The Scripture says he who sows discord is hated by God. Tiird, we must take care not to wound our neighbor by saying anything that may hurt him, even were it only in jest. Would you like to be mghed at in the same way as you laugh at your neighbor ? Fourth, let is avoid disputes. Sometimes on account of a mere trifle quarrels are >egun which end in abuse and rancor. We have also to guard against the spirit of contradiction, which some indulge when they gratuitously set themselves to contradict everything. On such occasions give your )pinion, and then be quiet. Fifth, let us speak gently to all, even to our lferiors ; therefore let us not make use of imprecations or abuse. And rhen our neighbor is angry with us, and is somewhat abusive, let us an- swer meekly, and the quarrel will be at an end : " A mild answer breaketh 34§ THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. wrath." (Prow xw 1.) And when we are annoyed by our neighbx must be careful not to say anything ; because our passion will then make us go too far: it will make us exaggerate, and afterward we shall tainly be sorry for it. St. Francis of Sales says, "I was never angry in my life, that I did not repent of it shortly afterward." The rule is to be silent so long as we feel ourselves disturbed. And when our neighbor continues to be irritated, let us reserve the correction till another time, even though it should be necessary; because for the moment our words would not convince, and would do no good. With regard also to the charity of our actions toward our neighbor : First, it is practiced by aiding him as we best may. Let us remember what says the Scripture : " For alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." (Job iv. u.) Almsgiv- ing, then, saves us from sin and from hell. By alms is understood any assistance which it is in our power to render to our neighbor. The kind of almsgiving which is the most meritorious is, to help the soul of our neighbor by correcting him gently and opportunely, whenever we can. And let not us say with some, "What does it signify to me?" It does signify to one who is a Christian. He who loves God wishes to see Him loved by all. Second, we must show charity toward the sick, who are in greater need of help. Let us take them some little present, if they are poor. At least let us go and wait on them, and comfort them, even though they should not thank us for it ; the Lord will reward us for it. Third, we must, above all, show charity to our enemies. Some are all kindness with their friends ; but Jesus Christ says, " Do good to those that hate you." (St. Matt. v. 44.) By this you may know that a man is a true Christian, if he seeks to do good to those who wish him evil. And if we can do nothing else for those who persecute us, let us at least pray that God will prosper them, according as Jesus commands us : " Pray for them that persecute you." (St. Matt. v. 44.) This is the way the saints revenged themselves. He who pardons anyone who has offended him, is sure of being pardoned by God, since God has given us the prom- ise, "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven." (St. Luke vi. 37.) Our Lord said one day to the blessed Angela of Foligno that the surest sign of a soul being loved by God is when it loves a person who has offended it. Fourth, let us also be charitable to our neighbors who are dead, that is, to the holy souls in purgatory. St. Thomas says that if we are bound to help our neighbors who are alive, we are also bound to remember them when dead. Those holy prisoners are suffering pains which exceed all the sufferings of this life, and therefore are in the greatest necessity, since they cannot possibly help themselves. A Cistercian monk once said to THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 349 the sacristan of his monastery : " Help me, brother, by your prayers, when I can no longer help myself." Let us, then, endeavor to succor these holy souls, either by having Masses said for them, or by hearing Masses for them, by giving alms, or at least by praying and applying indulgences in their behalf ; they will show themselves grateful by obtaining great graces for us, not only when they reach heaven, if they get there sooner through our prayers, but also in purgatory. 4. THE PRACTICE OF PATIENCE. St. James says that patience is the perfect work of a soul : " And pa- tience hath a perfect work." (St. James i. 4.) It is by patience that we rain heaven. This earth is a place where we can gain merit ; therefore is not a place of rest, but of labors and sufferings ; and it is for this end lat God makes us live here, that by patience we may obtain the glory )f paradise. Every one has to suffer in this world ; but he who suffers rith patience suffers less and saves himself, while he who suffers with lpatience suffers more, and is damned. Our Lord does not send us :rosses that He may see us lost, as some impatient people say, but that re may be thereby saved, and inherit more glory in heaven. Sorrows, :ontradictions, and all other tribulations, when accepted with patience, >come the brightest jewels in our heavenly crown. Whenever, then, we ire in affliction, let us console ourselves and thank God for it, since it is a sign that God wishes us to be saved, by chastising us in this life, where the chastisements are but slight and short, so as not to punish us in the lext, where the chastisements are cruel and eternal. Woe to the sinner rho is prosperous in this life ! it is a sign that God has reserved for him eternal punishment. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi said, " All sufferings, however great, >ecome sweet when we look at Jesus on the cross." And St. Joseph Cal- isanctius : " He who cannot suffer for Jesus Christ does not know how to gain Jesus Christ for his own." He who loves Jesus Christ bears >atiently all external crosses — sickness, pains, dishonor, loss of parents md friends ; and all interior crosses — afflictions, weariness, temptations, md desolation of spirit, and he bears them all in peace. On the other land, he who is impatient and angry when he is in tribulation, what does le do ? He does but increase his suffering, and adds to his punishments the next life. St. Teresa says in her writings, '* The cross is felt by lose who drag it after them by force ; but he who embraces it with a food will does not feel it." Hence St. Philip Neri also said, " In this rorld there is no purgatory : it is either heaven or hell ; he who bears ribulation with patience is in heaven, but he who does not is in hell." *et us go on to the practice. 35© THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. First, patience must be practised in sickness. The time of sickness a time for testing the devotion of people, whether it is of lead or of gold. Some are pious and cheerful when they are in good health; but when they are visited by any illness they lose their patience, complain of e\ ery- thing, and give themselves up to melancholy, and commit a thousand other faults. Their gold turns out to be lead. St. Joseph Calasanctius said, "If sick people were patient, we should hear no more complaints." Some complain and say : " But as long as I am in this state, I cannot go to church, nor to communion, nor to Mass; in short, I can do nothing." You say you can do nothing. You do everything when you do the will of God. Tell me, why do you want to do those things you have named? Is it to please God ? This is the good pleasure of God, that you should embrace with patience all you have to endure, and should leave every- thing else that you wish to do alone. " God is served," writes St. Francis of Sales, M more by suffering than by any other works we can do." If our sickness be dangerous, then especially must we accept it with all patience, being willing to die, should the end of our life be really at hand. Neither let us say, " But I am not now prepared ; I should like to live a little longer to do penance for my sins." And how do you know that if you were to live on you would do penance, and would not fall into greater sins ? How many there are who, after recovering from some mortal illness, have become worse than they were before, and have been lost ; while if they had died then, perhaps they would have been saved. If it is the will of God that you should leave this world, unite yourself to His holy will, and thank Him for allowing you the help of the holy sacra- ments, and accept death with tranquillity, abandoning yourself into the arms of His mercy. This compliance with the divine will, by accepting death, will be sufficient to insure your eternal salvation. In the second place, we must accept also with patience the death of our relatives and friends. Some, on the death of a relative, are so incon- solable, that they leave off saying their prayers, frequenting the sacra- ments, and all their devotions. Such a one goes so far as even to be angry with God, and to say, "Lord, why hast thou done it?" What rashness is this ! Tell me, what does all your grief profit you ? Do you, perhaps, think to do pleasure to the dead person ? No ; what you are doing is displeasing to him as well as to God. He desires that, with re- gard to his death, you should become more united to God, and should pray for him if he is in purgatory. In the third place, let us accept the poverty which God sends us. When you are in want even of the necessaries of life, say, " My God, thou alone art sufficient for me." One such act will gain treasures for us in paradise. He who possesses God has every good. In the same way THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 35 x let us embrace with patience the loss of property, the failure of our ex- pectations, or even the loss of those who were helping us. Let us be re- signed at such times to the will of God, and God will help us ; and if He should not then help us as we should wish, let us be content with what- ever He may do, because He will do it to try our patience, that He may enrich us with greater merits and the goods of heaven. In the fourth place, we must accept patiently contempts and persecu- tions. You will say, " But what evil have I done, that I should be so persecuted ? Why have I had to suffer such an affront ?" My brother, go and say this to Jesus Christ on the cross, and He will answer, " And I, what have I done, that I should have to suffer such sorrow and igno- miny, and this death of the cross ?" If Jesus Christ has suffered so much for the love of you, it is no great thing that you should suffer this little for the love of Jesus Christ. Particularly if you have ever during your life committed some grievous sin, think that you deserve to be in hell, where you would have to suffer much greater contempt and persecution from the devils. If, also, you should be persecuted for having done good, rejoice exceedingly. Hear what Jesus Christ says : " Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice's sake." (St. Matt. v. 10.) Let us be convinced of the truth of what the Apostle says, that he who would live inited to Jesus Christ in this world must be persecuted. In the fifth place, we must practise patience also in spiritual desola- tion, which is the heaviest affliction for a soul that loves God. But God this way proves the love of His beloved ones. At such times let us mmble ourselves and be resigned to the will of God, putting ourselves entirely into His hands. Let us be most careful, also, not to leave off my of our devotions, our prayers, frequenting of the sacraments, our visits to the blessed sacrament, or our spiritual reading, As we do everything then with weariness and trouble, it seems to us to be all lost, mt it is not so : while we persevere in all these things, we work without iny satisfaction to ourselves, but it is very pleasing to God. In the sixth and last place, we must practice patience in temptations. >ome cowardly souls, when a temptation lasts a long time, are disheart- ened, and will sometimes even say, " God then desires my damnation." \o ; God permits us to be tempted, not for our damnation, but for our idvantage, that we may then humble ourselves the more, and unite our- selves more closely to Him, by forcing ourselves to resist, redoubling )ur prayers, and thereby acquiring greater merits for heaven. " And be- muse thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee." (Tob. xii. 13.) Thus was it said to Tobias. Every temptation which we overcome gains for us fresh degrees of glory, and greater strength to resist future temptations. Nor does God ever permit 352 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. us to be tempted beyond our strength : " And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able; but will make also, with temptation, issue, that you may be able to bear it." (i Cor. x. 13.) We should, however, beg our Lord to deliver us from temptations ; notwithstanding, when they come, let us resign ourselves to His holy will, beseeching Him to give us strength to resist. St. Paul was troubled with carnal temptations, and he prayed to God to deliver him from them ; but the Lord said to Him : " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for power is made perfect in infirmity." (2 Cor. xii. 9.) In sensual temptations espe- cially, the first precaution to be taken is to remove ourselves as far as possible from all occasions, and then immediately to have recourse to Jesus Christ for help, not trusting in our own strength. And when the temptation continues, let us not cease to pray, saying: "Jesus help me! Mary, ever Virgin, assist me ! " The mere invocation of these all-power- ful names of Jesus and Mary will suffice to defeat the most violent assaults of hell. It is also of great use to make the sign of the cross on •our forehead or over our heart. By the sign of the cross, St. Anthony Abbot overcame similar attacks of the devil. It is also a very good thing to acquaint your spiritual father with your temptations. St. Philip Neri used to say, " A temptation which is declared is half overcome." 5. THE PRACTICE OF CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD. All sanctity consists in loving God ; and the love of God consists in fulfilling His holy will. In this is our life: " And life in His good will." (Ps. xxix. 6.) And he who is always united to the will of God is always in peace ; for the divine will takes away the bitterness of every cross. By saying, God wills it so, God has so willed it, holy souls find peace in all their labors : " Whatsoever shall befall the just man, it shall not make him sad." (Prov. xii. 21.) You say, "Everything goes wrong with me; God sends me all kinds of misfortunes." Things go wrong with you, my friend, because you make them go wrong ; if you were to be resigned to the will of God, all would go well, and for your good. The crosses which God sends you are misfortunes because you make them misfor- tunes; if you would take them with resignation, they would no longer be misfortunes, but riches for paradise. The Venerable Balthazar Alvarez says, " He who in his troubles resigns himself with peacefulness to the divine will, runs to God post-haste." Let us now come to this practice. And first, let us resign ourselves in the sicknesses which befall us. Worldly people call illnesses misfortunes, but the saints call them visita- tions of God and favors. When we are ill we ought certainly to take remedies in order to be cured, but we should always be resigned to 354 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. Fourth, we must be resigned in aridity of soul ; if, when we say our prayers, make our communions, visit the blessed sacrament, etc., all seems to weary and give us no comfort, let us be satisfied in knowing that \u please God, and that the less satisfaction we feel ourselves in our devo- tions the more pleasure do we give Him. At no time can we know better our own insufficiency and misery than in the time of aridity ; and there- fore let us humble ourselves in our prayers, and put ourselves with resig- nation into God's hands, and say, " Lord, I do not deserve consolations ; I desire nothing but that thou have pity on me ; keep me in thy grace, and do with me what thou wilt." And so doing, we shall gain more in one day of desolation than in a month of tears and sensible devotion. And, generally speaking, this should be the continual tenor of our prayers, offering ourselves to God that he may do with us as he pleases ; saying to Him in our prayers, our communions, and in the visit, " My God, make me do thy will." In doing the will of God we shall do everything. For this end let us accustom ourselves to have always on our lips the ejacula- tion, Fiat voluntas tua (Thy will be done), even in the least things we do ; for instance, if we snuff out a candle, break a glass, or stumble over something, let us always repeat, " God's will be done ! " And when we lose any of our possessions, or when one of our relatives dies, or anything else of the same sort happens to us, let us say, " O Lord, it is thy will, it is my will also." And when we fear any temporal ill, let us say, " O Lord, I will whatever thou wiliest." Thus we shall be very pleasing in the sight of God, and shall be always in peace. 6. THE PRACTICE OF PURITY OF INTENTION. Purity of intention consists in doing everything with the sole view of pleasing God. The good or bad intention with which an action is per- formed renders it good or bad before God. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi said " God rewards actions according to the amount of purity of intention with which they are done." Let us examine the practice of it. In the first place, in all our exercises (of devotion), let us seek God and not ourselves : if we seek our own satisfaction we cannot expect to receive any reward from God. And this holds good for all spiritual works. How many labor and exhaust themselves in preaching, hearing confes- sions, serving at the altar and in doing other pious works ; and because in these they seek themselves and not God, they lose all. "When we seek neither approbation nor thanks from others for what we do, it is a sign that we work for God's sake : as also when we are not vexed at the good we undertake not succeeding ; or when we rejoice as much at any good that is done by others, as if it had been done by ourselves. Further, whenever we have done some good in order to please God, let us not tor- THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 355 ment ourselves in endeavoring to drive away vainglory ; if we are praised for it, it is enough to say, " To God be the honor and glory." And let us never omit doing any good action which may be edifying to our neigh- bor, through the fear of vainglory. Our Lord wishes us to do good even before others, that it may be profitable to them. " So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (St. Matt. v. 16.) Therefore when you do good, have, first, the intention of pleasing God ; and, second, that also of giving a good example to your neighbor. In the second place, in our bodily actions : whether we work, or eat, or drink, or amuse ourselves with propriety, let us do all in order to please God. Purity of intention may be called the heavenly alchemy which changes iron into gold ; by which is meant, that the most trivial and or- dinary actions, when done to please God, become acts of divine love. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi used to say, " A person who performs all his actions with a pure intention will go straight to paradise." A holy hermit, before putting his hand to any work, used to raise his eyes to heaven and keep them fixed there for a short time ; and when he was asked what he was doing, he replied, " I am taking my aim, so that I may not miss the mark." Let us also do in like manner : before beginning any action, let us make sure of our aim, and say, " Lord, I do this to please thee." RULES FOR AVOIDING TEPIDITY. Souls that make no account of venial sins, and give themselves up to tepidity, without a thought of freeing themselves from it, live in great danger. We do not here speak of those venial sins which are committed by mere frailty, such as useless or idle words, interior disquietudes, and negligence in small matters ; but we speak of venial sins committed with full deliberation, above all when they are habitual. St. Teresa writes thus, "From all deliberate sin, howsoever small it may be, O Lord, deliver us ! " The Venerable Alvarez used to say, " These little backbitings, dis- likes, culpable curiosity, acts of impatience and intemperance, do not in- deed kill the soul, but they weaken it so that when any great temptation takes it unexpectedly it will not have strength enough to resist, and will consequently fall." So that as, on the one hand, deliberate venial sins weaken the soul, so, on the other, do they deprive us of the divine assist- ance ; for it is but just that God should be sparing with those who are sparing toward Him : " He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap spar- ingly." (2 Cor. ix. 6.) And that is what a soul that has received special graces from God has the most reason to fear. Still more ought it to fear lest such faults should be caused by some passionate attachment, as of 35& THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. ambition or avarice, or of aversion or inordinate affection toward any per- son. It happens not unfrequently to souls that are in bondage to some passion as it does to gamblers, who, after losing many times, at the last throw say, " Let us risk everything," and so finish by losing all they have. In what a miserable state is that soul which is the slave of some passion ; for passion blinds us, and lets us no longer see what we are doing. Let us now come to the practice of what we have to do in order to be able to deliver ourselves from the wretched state of tepidity. It is necessary, in the first place, to have a firm desire to get out of this state. The good desire lightens our labor, and gives us strength to go forward. And let us rest assured that he who makes no progress in the way of God will always be going back ; and he will go back so far that at last he will fall over some precipice. Second, let us try to find out our predominant faults to which we are most attached, whether it be anger, ambition, or inordinate affection to persons or things : a resolute will overcomes all with the help of God. Third, we must avoid the occa- sion, otherwise all our resolutions will fall to the ground. And, lastly, we must, above all, be diffident of our own strength, and pray continually with all confidence to God, begging Him to help us in the danger we are in, and to deliver us from those temptations by which we shall fall into sin ; which is the meaning of the petition, Ne nos inducas in tentationem (Lead us not into temptation). He who prays obtains : " Ask, and you shall receive." (St. John xvi. 24.) This is a promise of God, and can never fail ; therefore we must always pray, always pray ; and let us never leave off repeating, "We must pray always, we must pray always; my God, help me, and that soon ! " 8. THE PRACTICE OF DEVOTION TOWARD THE GREAT MOTHER OF GOD. As regards this devotion, I hope that the reader is fully persuaded that, in order to insure eternal salvation, it is most important to be devout to the most holy Mary. And if he should wish to be still more convinced of it, I would beg him to read the book I have written, called The Glories of Mary. We shall here speak only of the practices you may observe that you may obtain the protection of this sovereign Lady. First, every morn- ing and evening, when you get up and before you go to bed, say three " Hail Marys," adding this short prayer : " By thy pure and immaculate conception, O Mary, make me pure in body and holy in soul ! " And put yourself beneath her mantle, that she may keep you that day or that night from sin. And every time you hear the clock strike, say a " Hail Mary ; " do the same whenever you go in or out of the house, and when you pass by any picture or statue of the blessed Virgin. So, also, when you begin and finish any of your occupations ; such as your study, work, THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 357 eating - , or sleeping, never omit to say a " Hail Mary." Second, say the rosary, meditating on the mysteries, every day — at least five decades. Many devout people also say the Office of Our Lady ; it would be well to say, at any rate, the Little Office of the Name of Mary, which is very short, and composed of five short psalms. Third, say an " Our Father " and " Hail Mary " every day to the ever blessed Trinity in thanksgiving for the graces that have been bestowed upon Mary. The blessed Virgin herself revealed to a person that this devotion was very pleasing to her. Fourth, fast on bread and water every Saturday in honor of Mary, or at least on the vigils of her seven feasts ; or, at any rate, fast in the ordinary way, or eat only of one dish, or abstain from something you like. In short, make use of some kind of mortification on Saturdays, and on the above- named vigils, for the sake of this Queen, who, as St. Andrew of Crete says, repays these little things with great graces. Fifth, pay a visit every day to some image of your patroness, and ask her to give you holy perse- verance and the love of Jesus Christ. Sixth, let no day pass without reading a little about our Lady, or else say some prayer to this blessed Vir- gin. For this purpose we have here put seven prayers to Mary for the seven days of the week. (See chap. ii. 7.*) Seventh, make the nove- nas for the seven principal feasts of Mary, and ask your confessor to tell you what devotions and mortifications you should practise during those nine days : say at least nine " Hail Marys " and " Glory be to the Father," and beg her each day of the novena to give you some special grace that you are in want of. Lastly, often recommend yourself to this divine Mother during the day, and particularly in time of temptation, saying at such times, and often repeating with great affection, " Mary, help me ! help me, my Mother ! " And if you love Mary, try to promote devotion to this great Mother of God among your relatives, friends and servants. 9. ON THE PRACTICE OF CERTAIN MEANS BY WHICH WE MAY ACQUIRE THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST. Jesus Christ ought to be our whole love. He is worthy of it, both be- cause He is a God of infinite goodness, and because He has loved us to such an excess, that He died for us. Oh, what a great obligation we are under to Jesus Christ ! All the good we enjoy, all our inspirations, calls, pardons, helps, hopes, consolations, sweetnesses, and loving affections, come to us through Jesus Christ. Let us see by what means we are to acquire this love of Jesus Christ. In the first place, we must desire to have this love of Jesus Christ, and we must, therefore, often ask Him to give it us, especially in our prayers, * The seven prayers to which the saint refers are in the Glories of Mary, and have been indulgenced by Pius VII. Vid. Raccolta d ' Jndulgenze. 35§ THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. in our communions, and in the visit to the blessed sacrament. And this grace must also be sought for at the hands of the ever-blessed Mary, from our guardian angel and our holy patrons, that they may enable us to love Jesus Christ. St. Francis of Sales says that the grace of loving Jesus Christ contains all other graces in itself ; because he who truly loves Jesus Christ cannot be wanting in any virtue. In the second place, if we wish to acquire the love of Jesus Christ, we must detach our hearts from all earthly affections ; divine love will find no place in a heart that is full of this world. St. Philip Neri used to say, "The love we give to creatures is all so much taken from God." In the third place, we must often exercise ourselves, especially when we pray, in making acts of love to Jesus Christ. Acts of love are the fuel with which we keep alive the fire of holy charity. Let us make acts of love and complacency, saying, " My Jesus, I rejoice that thou art infinitely happy, and that thy eternal Father loves thee as much as Himself." Of benevolence, " I wish, my Jesus, that all could know and love thee." Of predilection, as " My Jesus, I love thee more than all things. I love thee more than myself." Let us also often make acts of contrition, which are called acts of sorrowful love. In the fourth place, if any one wishes to make sure of being inflamed with love toward Jesus Christ, let him often try to meditate on His pas- sion. It was revealed to a holy solitary, that no exercise was more effi- cacious in enkindling love than the consideration of the sufferings and igno- miny which Jesus Christ endured for love of us. I say it is impossible that a soul, meditating often on the passion of Jesus Christ, should be able to resist His love. It was for this that, although He could have saved us by one drop of His blood, nay, even by a single prayer, He chose to suffer so much and to shed all His blood that He might attract all hearts to love Him ; therefore he who meditates on His passion does what is very agree- able to Him. Do you, then, often make your meditation on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do so at least every Friday, the day on which He died for the love of us. For this purpose I have written many med- itations on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially the Darts oj Fire, which speak of the love which Jesus Christ has borne us in the great work of our redemption. Abridgment of the Rule of Life for a Christian. — I. On rising in the morning, make the following acts: i. "My God, I adore thee; I love thee with my whole heart, and I thank thee for all thy benefits, especially for having preserved me the night past." 2. " I offer thee all my actions and sufferings of this day, in union with the actions and sufferings of Jesus and Mary ; and I make the intention of gaining all the indulgences in my power during the present day." 3. " I purpose, O Lord, to avoid THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 359 offending- thee this day ; but be thou pleased to support me constantly in thy hands, that I may not betray thee. O Mary most holy, shelter me under your mantle. My angel guardian and all my holy patrons, assist me." Then conclude with an " Our Father," " Hail Mary," and creed ; and say, finally, three " Hail Marys," in honor of the purity of Mary. II. Take care to make half an hour's meditation as soon as possible in the day. For though meditation is not absolutely necessary, it is morally necessary, in order to obtain the grace of perseverance. Those who neglect it will find it very difficult to persevere in the grace of God. The reasons for this are twofold : the first is, because the eternal truths cannot be seen by the eyes of the flesh, but by the eye of the understanding, which is reflection. Hence he does not perceive them who does not meditate ; and for want of perceiving them he will hardly arrive at a due appreciation of the importance of salvation, of the means which secure it, and of the obstacles which hinder it ; so that his salvation will be placed in immi- nent risk. The second reason is, because the soul that does not practice meditation will also be backward to practice prayer. Now prayer is nec- essary, not merely as a precept, but as a means to observe the command- ments, since, as a general rule, and speaking of adults, God only gives His grace to those who ask for it. But without meditation a person has a very faint notion of his own spiritual wants, and he is, moreover, but slightly impressed with the necessity of praying, in order to overcome temptations and to save his soul ; thus he is led to pray but little or not at all, and for want of prayer is eventually lost. The eminent Bishop Palafox said, " How will the Lord give us perseverance, unless we ask Him for it? And how shall we ask Him for it without prayer?" On the other hand, St. Teresa declares that it is hardly possible for a man that prays to remain long in sin ; he will either forsake prayer or forsake sin : prayer and sin are incompatible. III. With regard to practice, meditation has three parts : preparation, consideration and conclusion. In the preparation must be made three acts: i, of the presence of God ; 2, of humility ; 3, of petition for light. We say, 1. " My God, I believe thou art here present, and I adore thee" ; 2. "I deserve at this moment to be burning in hell. O my God, I am sorry for having offended thee. " 3. " Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus and Mary, grant me light in this meditation, that I may profit by it." Then say a " Hail Mary " to the divine Mother, and a " Glory be to the Father," etc., in honor of our angel guardian. Then read the point of meditation, and be sure to meditate, at least occasionally, on the passion of Jesus Christ. It must also be understood that the fruit of prayer does not so much consist in meditating, but, rather, 1. In producing affections — for instance, of humility, confidence, love, sorrow, offering, resignation 360 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. and the like. 2. In making petitions, and especially imploring God to grant us perseverance and His holy love. 3. In making the resolution to avoid some particular sin, and of practicing some particular virtue. Finally, the conclusion is made thus : I. "I thank thee, O God, for the lights thou hast given me." 2. " I purpose to keep the resolutions I have made." 3. " And I beg thy grace to fulfill them." Neither must we ever forget to recommend to God the holy souls in purgatory, and all poor sinners. We must never omit our accustomed meditation, whatever coldness and weariness we may feel over it ; for St. Teresa says, " To do so would be to cast ourselves into hell with our own hands." Moreover, let all bear in mind that Benedict XIV. granted a plenary indulgence to everyone who shall make a meditation of half an hour every day for a month, with confession and Communion; and partial indulgences are also granted every day to those who meditate. IV. Do not omit to hear Mass daily. But what is of the greatest im- portance is, that those who hear Mass should make a special application to their own souls of the merits of the passion of Jesus Christ. Mass should be heard for the same ends for which it was instituted, namely : 1, to honor Almighty God ; 2, to thank Him for His benefits ; 3, to make atonement for the punishment due to our sins ; 4, to obtain divine grace. So that we ought, then, to pray as follows : " Eternal Father, in this Mass I offer thee Jesus Christ, with all the merits of His passion : 1, to honor thy majesty ; 2, to thank thee for all thy benefits toward me ; 3, in satis- A faction for my sins, and for those of all the living, and of those who died in thy grace ; 4, to obtain all the graces necessary for salvation." At the elevation of the Host, we may say, " By the blood of Jesus Christ, grant me to love thee in this life and in the next." When the priest communi- cates, make the spiritual Communion thus: " My Jesus, I love thee, and I long for thee in my soul ; I embrace thee, and wish nevermore to be separated from thee." V. In addition to this, read some spiritual book for half an hour, or at least a quarter ; and it will be best to make use of the lives of the saints. VI. Moreover, do not fail to pay every day a visit to the most holy sacrament, when you should make at least the following acts : 1. " O Lord, I thank thee for thy love in leaving thyself to me in this holy sacra- ment." 2. " With my whole heart I love thee, O Good, above all other good ; and because I love thee I am sorry for all my offences against thee, whether great or small." 3. " I beseech thee to grant me perse- verance in thy grace and thy holy love." At the same time make a visit to our blessed Lady, before one of her images, and beg of her also the same graces of perseverance and the love of God. THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 3 61 VII. In the evening make the examination of conscience, and then add the Christian acts. VIII. Frequent the holy sacraments of confession and Communion at least once a week, and oftener if possible. With regard to confession, say beforehand : " I thank thee, O my God, for having waited for me until now. I hope, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for the pardon of all my offences against thee. I am sorry for them, and repent of them with my whole heart, because by them I have lost heaven and have de- served hell ; but, above all, I am grieved to my inmost soul, and hate and detest my sins more than all evils, because they have offended thy infinite goodness. I purpose in future rather to die than offend thee any more." After confession, thank Almighty God for the pardon which you hope you have received, and renew your good resolution nevermore to offend Him, and to avoid all occasions of sin ; and pray to Jesus and Mary for perseverance. As to the holy Communion, we must know that it is the grand med- icine, as the Council of Trent terms it, which purifies us from our daily venial faults, and preserves us from mortal ones. He who communicates most frequently will be freest from sin, and will make greatest progress in divine love ; only let him communicate with a good desire. But, in order to derive more abundant fruits from Communion, he should man- age to spend half an hour after receiving in performing devout acts, or at least in praying out of some spiritual book ; however, let no one make this more frequent Communion without the counsel of his spiritual di- rector, and, on this account, IX. It is well to make choice of a good confessor, and to follow his di- rection in all spiritual matters, and even in temporal matters of importance; nor should he be left without a good reason. St. Philip Neri spoke thus : " Let those who are desirous of advancing in the way of God put them- selves under an enlightened confessor ; and let them obey him, as occu- pying the place of God. Whoever does this may feel assured that he will never have to render an account to God of what he does." And this is only conformable to the words of Jesus Christ, that whosoever hears His ministers, hears Himself : " He that heareth you heareth me." A general confession should be made, if it has not hitherto been made, for it is a most excellent means of bringing one's life into good order ; and it is ad- visable to make it to the director himself, that he may be the better able to guide us. X. Avoid idleness, dissipated companions, immodest conversations, and, more than all, evil occasions, especially where there is danger of in- continency ; and for this reason one cannot be too cautious in keeping his 362 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. eyes from dwelling on any dangerous objects. For a person that does not avoid the voluntary occasions of sin, especially those which have fre- quently proved fatal to his innocence, it is morally impossible to persevere in the grace of God : " He that loves the danger shall perish in it." XI. In temptations trust not to yourself, nor to all the good resolu- tions and promises which you have made, but rely solely on the divine assistance ; and for this reason have immediate recourse to God and the blessed Virgin. Especially in temptations against purity, the great- est care must be taken not to remain to dispute with the temptation. In such moments some are accustomed to set their will to make acts of the contrary virtue ; but they run considerable risk. The best plan to adopt on these occasions is to renew the firm purpose rather to die than to offend God, and forthwith to make the sign of the cross without re- monstrance, and to call on God and the divine Mother, making frequent invocations of the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, which have a wonderful efficacy against filthy suggestions, and should therefore be in- voked continually till the temptations are over. Of ourselves we have not strength to overcome the attacks of the flesh, our most cruel enemy ; but God readily supplies the strength to all who ask Him ; but he that fails to do so almost invariably falls a prey to the enemy. The same is to be observed in combating temptations against faith, protesting at such times, without remaining in dispute, that we are ready to die for the holy faith, and instead of then eliciting acts of faith, it is better to elicit other acts, as of love, contrition, and hope. XII. If you commit a venial fault, make an act of the love of God and of contrition, purpose amendment, and forthwith resume your wonted tranquillity. To remain troubled after a fault is the greatest fault that a person can commit, for a troubled soul is incapable of doing the least good. If, by mischance, the fault has been grievous, then immediately make an act of contrition, which is sufficient to recover the divine grace, resolve never to be guilty of the same again, and take the first opportu- nity of going to confession. XIII. Endeavor to hear all the sermons in your power. And it would be most advisable to make a spiritual retreat once a year in some religious house ; or, if that be impracticable, at least in your own house, by apply- ing yourself for eight days to prayer and spiritual reading ; during this time all company and conversation on secular matters should be avoided. In like manner make a retreat of one day every month, with confession and Communion. If your state of life allow it, become a member of some confraternity in which the sacraments are frequented, and there make your eternal salvation the grand and sole aim. Whoever enters a con- fraternity for the sake of managing, directing, or out of party spirit, will • THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 3 6 3 derive more harm than good from it. If a person would really profit by- it, he must enter it solely with a view to his spiritual interests. XIV. In all the vicissitudes of life, such as illnesses, losses, and perse- cutions, be ever mindful to bow with resignation to the will of God, and repose on these words : " God wills it so, and so I will it likewise." Or thus : " God will have it so ; so be it done." He that behaves in this man- ner stores up immense rewards for heaven, and always lives in peace. On the contrary, he that refuses to bow to the will of God only redoubles his afflictions ; for he must endure them whether he will or no ; and more- over, by his impatience, he lays up for himself an additional punish- ment. XV. Be especially careful to preserve a tender and marked devotion to most holy Mary, by performing daily in her honor some exercise of piety. Never omit — the first thing in the morning and the last at night — to say three times the M Hail Mary " in honor of her purity, imploring her to keep you from all sin. Read every day something, be it only a few lines, on the blessed Virgin. Say her litanies, and the rosary, medi- tating on the mysteries. When you leave or enter the house, ask her blessing with a " Hail Mary ; " and on passing by any of her images, sa- lute her in the same way. When the clock strikes, say the " Hail Mary ; " and then, " Jesus and Mary, I love you. Do not permit me to offend you." With the advice of your confessor, fast on Saturdays, on the vigils of the seven festivals of our blessed Lady, and make the novenas for the said feasts; as also for Christmas, Pentecost, and for the feast of your patron saint. Necessary advice for people of all states of life that they may secure their salvation. — God wishes us all to be saved : " Who will have all men saved." (i Tim. ii. 4.) And He is ready to give to all the help necessary for salvation ; but He grants it only to those that ask Him, as St. Augus- tine says, " He gives only to those who ask." Hence, it is a common opinion of theologians and of the holy fathers that prayer is necessary for adults as a means of salvation ; that is to say, that a person who does not pray, and neglects to ask of God the help requisite for overcoming temptations, and for preserving grace already received, cannot be saved. On the other hand, our Lord cannot refuse to give graces to those who ask for them, because He has promised to do so : " Cry to me, and I will hear thee." (Jer. xxxiii. 3.) Have recourse to me, and I will not fail to hear you. Ask of me all you desire, and you shall attain it : " Ask, and it shall be given to you." (St. Matt. vii. 7.) These promises, how- ever, are not to be understood with reference to temporal goods, because God only gives these when they are for the good of the soul ; but He has promised absolutely to give spiritual graces to anyone who asks Him ; 3^4 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. ' and having promised it, He is obliged to give them to us: "By His promise. He has made Himself our debtor," says St. Augustine. It should also be observed, that on God's part prayer is a promise, and on our part a binding precept : " Ask, and it shall be given you." " We ought always to pray." (St. Luke xviii. 1.) These words, "ask," "we ought," convey, as St. Thomas teaches, a grave precept, which is binding for our whole life ; but especially when a man is in danger of death, or falling into sin ; because if he does not then have recourse to God, he will certainly be overcome. And he who has already fallen under God's dis- pleasure, commits a fresh sin when he does not turn to God for help to arise out of his miserable state. But will God hear him while he is yet His enemy ? Yes, He does hear, if the sinner humbles himself, and prays for pardon from his heart ; since it is written in the gospel, " For every one that asketh, receiveth." (St. Luke xi. 10.) It says that God has promised to hear all that pray to Him, whether they are just or sinners. In another place God says, " Call upon me . . . and I will deliver thee." (Ps. xlix. 15.) Call upon me, and I will deliver thee from hell, to which thou dost stand condemned. No, there will be no excuse in the day of judgment for any one who dies in mortal sin. It will be of no use for him to say that he had not the strength to resist the temptation which troubled him ; because Jesus Christ will answer : " If you had not the strength, why did you not ask it of me, and I should certainly have given it you ? If you fell into sin, why did you not have recourse to me, that I might have delivered you from it ? " You see, then, that if you desire to be saved, and would keep yourself in the grace of God, you must often pray to Him that He would keep His hand over you. The Council of Trent declares that for a man to persevere in the grace of God, it is not enough that he should have only that general aid which He gives to all ; but he must also have that special assistance which can only be obtained by prayer. For this reason all the doctors of the Church say, that each one is bound, under grievous sin, to recommend himself often to God, and to ask for the grace of holy perse- verance at least once a month. And anyone who finds himself in the midst of many dangerous occasions is under the obligation of asking more frequently for the grace of perseverance. It is, besides, most useful to keep up some particular devotion to the Mother of God, who is called the Mother of perseverance, in order to ob- tain this grace ; and a person who has not this special devotion to the blessed Virgin, will find it very difficult to persevere ; for as St. Bernard says, all divine graces, and especially this one of perseverance, which is the greatest of all, come to us by means of Mary. THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 365 Would to God that preachers were more mindful in putting before their hearers this great means of prayer ! Some, even in the whole course of their Lenten sermons, scarcely mention it more than once or twice in passing : while they ought often to make it their chief subject, besides speaking of it in every discourse ; if they omit to do so, they will have to render a heavy account for it to God. Thus, also, many confessors are particular merely about the resolution their penitents make not to offend God again ; and few take the trouble to inculcate that they must pray when they are tempted again to fall ; but we must be well persuaded that when a temptation is violent, if the penitent does not beg for God's assistance, all his resolutions will avail him little ; prayer alone can save him. It is certain that he who prays is saved ; he who prays not is damned. Therefore, I repeat, if you wish to be saved, pray continually to the Lord that He would give you light and strength not to fall into sin. Thus we must be importunate with God in asking Him for His grace. "■ This importunity with God is our opportunity," says St. Jerome. Every morning we must beseech Him to keep us from sin during that day. And when any bad thought or occasion of sin presents itself to your mind, or you are tempted by some dangerous occasion, immediately have recourse to Jesus Christ and the blessed Virgin, and say, " My Jesus, help me ! most blessed Virgin, come to my aid ! " It is enough at such a time to pronounce the names of Jesus and Mary, and the temptation will vanish ; but should the temptation continue, persevere in invoking the assistance of Jesus and Mary, and you will be victorious. Rules for a good life. — I. In the morning, on rising from bed, to make the Christian acts. Every day to make mental prayer for half an hour ; to read at" least for a quarter of an hour some spiritual book. To hear Mass. To make the visit to the most blessed sacrament and to the divine Mother. To say the rosary. And in the evening to make the examina- tion of conscience, with the acts of contrition, and the Christian acts, together with the litany of the ever-blessed Mary. II. To go to confession and Communion at least every week, and oftener if possible, with the advice of your spiritual director. III. To choose a good, learned and pious confessor, and to be directed always by him, as well in your exercises of devotion as in all affairs of importance, and not to leave him without a good reason. IV. To avoid idleness, bad companions, immodest conversations, and, above all, occasions of sin, especially where there is danger of inconti- nency. V. In temptations of impurity particularly, to sign yourself immedi- ately with the sign of the* holy cross, and to invoke the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, as long as the temptation lasts. 366 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. VI. When you commit any sin, to repent of it at once, and resolve to amend ; and if it is a grievous sin, to confess it as soon as possible. VII. To hear sermons as often as you can, and to belong to some con- fraternity, with no other end than to attend to the affair of your eternal salvation. VIII. To fast in honor of the ever-blessed Mary on Saturday, and on the vigils of her seven feasts, observing some other corporal mortification, according to the advice of your spiritual father, to make the novenas of the above-named feasts of Mary, as well as of the Nativity, Pentecost, and that of your holy patron. In adverse circumstances, as in sickness, losses, persecutions, you must unite yourself in all things to the will of God, and be resigned, saying always, "This is (or has been) the will of God ; may His will be done." IX. To make the spiritual exercises every year in some religious house, or in some place apart ; or at least to make them in your own house, ap- plying yourself during those days as much as possible to prayer, spiritual reading, and to silence. And in the same way to make a day of retreat every month, by going to Communion, and by avoiding all conversation. AN EPITOME OF THE VIRTUES IN WHICH A CHRISTIAN SOUL, THAT DESIRES TO LEAD A PERFECT LIFE AND BECOME A SAINT, SHOULD EXERCISE ITSELF. It would be useful to read this epitome every time you make your day's retreat, that you may see in what virtues you are wanting. To desire always to increase in love toward Jesus Christ. Holy de- sires are wings with which souls fly to God. St. Aloysius Gonzaga made himself a saint in a short time through the great desire he had of loving God ; and as he knew he should never be able to love Him as much as He was worthy of being loved, he consumed himself in ardent desires. On this account, St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi called St. Aloysius a mar- tyr of love. To meditate often on the passion of Jesus Christ. St. Bonaventure said that the wounds of Jesus Christ are wounds which pierce every heart, and inflame them with holy love. Often during the day to make acts of love toward Jesus Christ, begin- ning from the time you wake in the morning, and trying to make an act of love as you fall asleep. " Acts of love," says St. Teresa, " are the fuel with which the fire of divine love is kept burning in our hearts." Always to ask Jesus Christ to give you His holy love. The grace of loving God, as wrote St. Francis of Sales, is the grace which contains and brings along with it all the other graces ; because he who truly loves God will endeavor to avoid anything that might be displeasing to Him, and THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 3 6 7 will study how to please Him in all things. It is therefore necessary, above all things, to ask of God the grace to love Him. To frequent the holy Communion. A soul can do nothing that is more pleasing to God than to communicate in a state of grace. The rea- son of this is, that love tends to perfect union with the object beloved ; as Jesus Christ loves a soul that is in grace with an immense love ; He ardently desires to unite Himself with it. This is what holy Communion does ; by it Jesus Christ is wholly united to the soul : " He that eats my flesh dwells in me, and I in him." Consequently the soul can perform no action that is dearer to Jesus Christ than that of receiving Him in the holy Eucharist. For this reason let spiritual souls endeavor to communicate many times in a week, and if possible every day, but always with the permission of their director ; for Communions and mortifications, done out of a person's own head, lead to pride rather than spirituality. For the rest, the penitent should earnestly ask his director both for Commun- ions and mortifications ; because directors are induced to grant them, more or less frequently, according to the greater or less desire of them which they discover in their penitents. To make during the day many spiritual Communions ; at least three. Often to visit the most holy sacrament of the altar, at least once or twice a day , and in the visit, after the acts of faith, of thanksgiving, of love and contrition, to ask fervently for perseverance and holy love. When disturbances, losses, affronts, or other adverse things happen, to have recourse to the ever-blessed sacrament, at least in spirit, if you can- not go to the church. Every morning, on getting up, to offer yourself to God to suffer in peace, and to accept from His hands all the crosses which shall befall you on that day ; embracing also in peace all contradictions. Fiat voluntas tua, is the word which is constantly in the mouths of the saints : Lord, may thy will be always done ! To be glad, and to rejoice that God is infinitely happy and blessed. If we love God more than ourselves, as we are bound to love Him, we ought to rejoice more at God's happiness than at our own. To desire heaven and death, that we may be delivered from the danger we are in of losing God, and to go and love Jesus Christ with all our strength and forever, without the fear of losing Him again. Often to speak with others of the love which Jesus Christ has borne us, and of the love we owe to Him. To go to God without reserve, not denying Him anything which we know to be pleasing to Him ; but rather choosing such things as are most agreeable to Him. To desire and endeavor to persuade all to love Jesus Christ 368 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. Always to pray for the souls in purgatory, and for poor sinners. To drive away from your heart all affections that have not God for their object. Often to have recourse to the saints, and especially to the ever-blessed Mary, that they may obtain for you the love of God. To honor Mary in order to please God. To do all your actions with the sole end of pleasing Jesus Christ ; say- ing at the commencement of each action : " O Lord, let it be all for thee." To offer yourself many times during the day to God and to Jesus Christ, as willing to suffer any pain for His love, and say : " My Jesus, I give myself all to thee ; here I am : do with me what thou wilt." To be resolved to die a thousand times rather than commit a deliberate sin, even though only a venial one. To deny yourself even lawful satisfactions ; doing so at least once or twice a day. When we hear people talk of riches, honors, and amusements of the world, let us remember that all things have an end ; and let us then say, " My God, I wish for thee alone, and nothing more." To make two hours of mental prayer, or at least one hour during the day. To make use of all those external mortifications which obedience per- mits ; but to pay particular attention to interior mortification, such as ab- staining from gratifying our curiosity, from answering when we are reproached, from saying witty things, and the like, and never to do any- thing for your own satisfaction. Whatever devout exercise you may perform, to do it as if it were the last time you had to do it. To this end, in your meditation you should often think of death ; and when you go to bed, think that you will one day there expire. Not to leave off your usual devotions, or any other good work, on ac- count of any aridity or weariness that you may experience. He who begins to leave them off for a slight cause is in danger of giving them up entirely. Not to leave undone any good action out of human respect. Not to complain in sickness of any want of attention on the part of the doctors, servants, or assistants, and to try and conceal even our sufferings as much as we can. To love solitude and silence, in order to be able to discourse with God alone. And for this reason we must shun the conversations of this world. To drive away sadness, preserving our tranquillity and a cheerful countenance in all events with a constant uniformity. One who wills what God wills should never be afflicted. THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 3 6 9 To recommend yourself often to spiritual persons. Always to have recourse immediately to Jesus and Mary with great confidence in your temptations ; continuing to pronounce the names of Jesus and Mary as long as the temptation lasts. To have great confidence, first in the passion of Jesus Christ, and then in the intercession of Mary ; and to ask God every day to give you this confidence. After a fault, not to be disturbed and never to despair, even though you should know yourself to be wanting in fidelity, and should fall, over and over, again into the same fault ; but to repent immediately, and to renew your promise of amendment, with confidence in God. To render good to any one who does you evil, or at least to pray to the Lord for him. To answer with meekness when any one says or does anything to in- jure you ; and so you will gain him over to you. Moreover, when you feel yourself annoyed, it is well to be silent until you are composed^ otherwise you will commit many faults without perceiving it. ' When you have to correct any one, you should choose a time when neither you nor the person who is to be corrected are excited, otherwise the correction will prove more hurtful than useful. To speak well of all ; and to excuse the intention when you cannot justify the action. To help your neighbor as much as you can, especially one who has been opposed to you. Not to say or do anything that may be displeasing to anyone ; and except it were necessary in order to please God rather than men. And if sometimes you are wanting in charity toward anyone, to ask his pardon, or at least speak kindly to him. To speak always with meekness, and in a low voice. To offer to God the contempt you meet with, and not to complain of it afterward to others. To observe carefully the rules given you by your director. To consider and honor in your superiors the person of Jesus Christ Himself. To love the most humble employments. To choose the poorest things for yourself. To obey without replying, and without showing repugnance ; and, on the other hand, not to ask anything for your own satisfaction. Not to speak of yourself, whether it be good or evil ; sometimes to speak in disparagement of ourselves fosters pride. To humble yourself even toward your inferiors. Not to excuse yourself when you are reproved or calumniated, unless 37© THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. it should be absolutely necessary for the common good, or to av* ing scandal to others. To visit and assist the sick as much as possible ; and especi. most abandoned. Often to say to yourself: " If I wish to become a saint, I must if I wish to please God, I must do His will, and not my own." Always to renew your resolution of becoming a saint, and not courage in whatever state of tepidity you may find yourself. To renew each day the resolution you have taken of going on fection. Let the religious endeavor every day to renew the vows of the fession. The doctors of the Church say that a person who renc vows of religion gains a plenary indulgence, as he does the first ti makes them. The exercise which is most essential to be practiced by a soul that desires to please God is to conform itself in all things to the divine will, and to embrace with peace all things which are contrary to the senses in pains, sicknesses, affronts, contradictions, loss of property, the death of relatives or of other persons who are dear to us ; and to receive them each day as we awake as coming from God. Tribulations are those blessed treasures where the saints find such stores of merits. We cannot give greater glory to God than by conforming ourselves in all things to His holy will. This is the continual practice of devout souls. And it is the end to be attained by mental prayer. St. Teresa says, " That all that a person who gives himself up to prayer ought to seek is conformity to the divine will ; and let him be sure that in this consists the highest per- fection." This, then, must be our only intention in all our actions, in our meditations, and in our prayers ; we must always pray, " O Lord, teach me to do thy will." "Tell me, O Lord, what thou dost desire of me, and I will do it all." " Thy will be done." Such is the prayer con- tinually on the lips of the saints. And this is all that God requires of us : " My son, give me thy heart." But perfection consists in conforming ourselves to the will of God in those things which are disagreeable to us. The Venerable F. Avila said, " It is of more use to say once, ' Blessed be God ' in any contradiction, than to thank Him six thousand times when we are pleased." We must also be conformed to those crosses which come to us by means of oth- ers, as in calumniations, deceptions and contempt, because it all comes from God. Not that the Lord wills the fault of the person who offends us, but He does will that we should be humble and mortified : " Good things and evil are from God." (Ecclus. xi. 14.) We call tribulations evils and misfortunes ; and we make them so by suffering them with im- THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 371 patience ; but if we received them with resignation, they would become graces and jewels to enrich our crown in heaven. In a word, he who is always united to the will of God becomes a saint, and enjoys even here on earth a perpetual peace. " Whatever shall befall the just man it shall not make him sad." (Prov. xii. 21.) To recommend ourselves to the prayers of devout people ; but still more to recommend ourselves to the saints in heaven, and especially to the ever-blessed Mary, setting great value on devotion toward this divine Mother ; and not omitting any opportunity of inducing others to practise it. Those who have a great confidence in the patronage of Mary ought to be very grateful to God for it, for it is a great pledge of their salva- tion ; and those who have it not, ought to pray that He would grant it to them. SPIRITUAL MAXIMS FOR A CHRISTIAN. Of what use will it be to gain the whole world, and to lose our soul ? Everything has an end ; but eternity has no end. All may be lost, provided God be not lost. No sin, however small, is a light evil. If we desire to please God, we must deny ourselves. That which is done for our own satisfaction is all loss. In order to save ourselves we must be in constant fear of falling. Let me die so that I please God. The only evil we ought to fear is sin. All that God wills is good, and therefore to be desired. He who desires nothing but God is happy and contented at every- thing that happens. I ought to imagine to myself that there are no others in the world but God and myself. The whole world cannot satisfy our heart ; God alone can satisfy it. All good consists in loving God. And loving God consists in doing His will. All our riches are in prayer. He who prays obtains everything he can wish for. Let us consider that day lost on which we omit our mental prayer. " He who leaves off praying," said St. Teresa, " casts himself into hell of his own accord." Let us not pass a day without reading some spiritual book. Points of honor are the plague of spirituality. To be humble of heart, and not merely in word, it is not sufficient to say that we are deserving of all contempt, but we must also be glad when we are despised. And what has a Christian learned to do, if he cannot 3/2 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. suffer an affront for God's sake? When you are insulted, take it all cheerfully. He who thinks on hell, which he has deserved, finds every trouble easy to bear. 1 le who loves poverty possesses all things. In the things of this world we must choose the worst ; in the things of God we must choose the best. An obedient soul is the delight of God. True charity consists in doing good to those who do us evil, and thus to gain them over. Of what use are the riches and honors of this world at the hour of death ? It is a great grace of God to be called to His holy love. God does not leave a single good desire unrewarded, All attachment, even to good things, except to God is bad. Let us be grateful, and first of all to God. Let us therefore resolve to deny Him nothing, making choice of those things which are most pleasing to Him. The most beautiful prayer is when, in sickness, we unite ourselves to the will of God. A holy life and sensual pleasures cannot agree together. He who trusts in himself is lost ; he who trusts in God can do all things. And what greater delight can a soul have than to know that it is pleasing God ? God is ready to give Himself to those who leave all for His love. The only way by which we can become saints is the way of suffering. It is by aridity and temptations that God tries those who love Him. No one can be lost who loves God and trusts in Him. Let us beg of God to give us a tender devotion to His divine Mother. He who looks on Jesus crucified suffers everything in peace. He who loves God most in this world is the happiest. All that is not done for God, turns to pain. No kind of disquietude, although for a good end, comes from God. It is enough that we do not stand still ; we shall arrive in the end. He who desires God alone, is rich and happy : he is in want of noth- ing, and may laugh at all the world. Nothing can satisfy one whom God does not satisfy. God, God, and nothing more. We must overcome all to gain all. PIOUS REFLECTIONS TO EXCITE IN US THE HOLY LOVE OF GOD, AND DEVOTION TO MARY. God is a treasury of all grace, of all good, of all perfection. THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 373 God is infinite, God is eternal, God is immense, God is unchangeable. God is powerful, God is wise, God is provident, God is just. God is merciful, God is holy, God is beautiful, God is brightness itself, God is rich, God is all things, and He is therefore worthy of love ; and of how much love ! God is infinite ; He gives to all, and receives nothing from anyone. All that we have comes to us from God ; but God has nothing from us : "Thou art my God, for Thou hast no need of my goods." (Ps. xv. 1.) God is eternal ; He has ever been eternal, and always will be. We can count the years and the days of our existence ; but God knows no begin- ning, and will never have an end : " But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail." (Ps. ci. 28.) God is immense, and is essentially present in every place. We, when we are in one place, cannot be in another. But God is in all places, in heaven, on earth, in the sea, in the depths, without us, and within us. " Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy face ? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there : if I descend into hell, thou art present." (Ps. cxxxviii. 7, 8.) God is unchangeable ; and all that He has ordained by His holy will from eternity He wills now, and will do so for ever. "For I am the Lord, and I change not." (Mai. iii. 6.) God is powerful ; and with respect to God all the power of creatures is but weakness. God is wise ; and with respect to God all human wisdom is ignorance. God is provident ; and with respect to God all human foresight is ridiculous. God is just ; and with respect to God all human justice is defective : " And in His angels He found wickedness." (Job iv. 18.) God is merciful ; and with respect to God all human clemency is im- perfect. God is holy ; in comparison with God all human sanctity, though it be heroic, falls short in an infinite degree : "None is good but God alone." (St. Luke xviii. 19.) God is beauty itself ; yes, how beautiful is God ! and with respect to God all human beauty is deformity. God is brightness itself ; and with respect to God all human brightness, even that of the sun, is darkness. God is rich ; and with respect to God all human riches is poverty. God is all things ; and with respect to God the highest, the most sub- lime, the most admirable of created things, and even if they were all united in one, are as nothing : " All men are as nothing before thee." (Ps. xxxviii. 6.) He is, therefore, worthy of love ; and oh, how much! THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. Ah, God is worthy of so much love that all the angels and all the saints of paradise do nothing but love God, and they will throughout all eternity be occupied only in loving Him ; and in this love of God, they are and will be always happy. Ah, God is so worthy of love, that He is obliged to love Himself with an infinite love ; and in this same love, so necessary, but at the same time so delightful, which God bears to Himself, consists His beatitude ; and shall we pot love Him ? How did the saints love Him? St. Francis Xavier used to loosen his clothes and throw himself on the ground, not being able to stand against the impulse of holy love. St. Stanislaus Kostka bared his breast, and used to run to fountains to refresh himself with the water. The heart of St. Philip Neri became sensibly enlarged by the force of holy love. St. Francis of Sales said, that if he had known that there was the smallest fibre in his heart that was not saturated with divine love, he would have wished to tear it out at once, and to cast it far from him. And St. Catharine of Sienna, St. Teresa, St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, and other souls like them, were often in transports, and ravished, as it were, through the violence of the holy love of God ; and St. Mary Mag- dalene of Pazzi, not satisfied with loving Him so much herself, sometimes went about her convent, in order to give vent to her love, crying with a loud voice, "Love is not loved ; Love is not loved." And shall we not love Him? Do you know why we do not love Him ? It is because we know Him so little. The saints, who knew Him better than we do, loved Him so much. Let us also try to know Him a little more. Let us meditate from time to time on His divine attributes, on His divine perfections ; let us at least, from time to time, raise our minds by a simple glance to Him, in the way I have here proposed, and our hearts will also become inflamed with this holy, divine love. It is condescension in so great a God, that He should permit Himself to be loved by such vile creatures as we are ; and it is also His sweet com- mandment. When God gave Moses His law on the top of Mount Sinai, before giv- ing him any other precept He taught him this (Deut. vi. 5) : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength." And He enjoined him, first of all, to imprint well these words in his own heart : " And these words shall be in thy heart;" and afterward to promulgate them with ardor among the children of Israel : " And thou shalt tell them to thy children." Let us THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 375 also love Him as He deserves ; let us fulfill perfectly this His precept, which is at the same time so noble and so sweet ; which is, in fine, the first and greatest precept of the law : " This is the greatest and the first commandment." (St. Matt. xxii. 38.) And let us live and die in the ful- fillment of this precept. SURE SIGNS BY WHICH WE MAY KNOW WHETHER WE HAVE THE DIVINE LOVE IN US. Divine love is compared in the Scriptures to fire. Our Lord, in declaring to us in the gospel that He had come on earth to bring down the divine love, expresses Himself by saying that He had come on earth to bring fire. " I am come to cast fire on the earth." (St. Luke xii. 49.) And God Himself, in the Apocalypse, counsels a soul to provide itself with burnt gold : " I counsel thee, O soul, to buy of me gold fire-tried " (Apoc. iii. 18) ; that is, divine love. Now fire has these two properties : it resists what is contrary to itself — I mean to say, that instead of being put out by winds and gusts, it is thereby augumented ; and it is operative — if it is fire it will act. Here are, therefore, two sure signs, by which we may find out if we have our- selves the holy love of God — works and patience. Do we always work for our God, at least by means of a pure, right intention of doing His divine will in all things, of finding His divine good pleasure in all things ? Do we voluntarily suffer for His sake everything that is against our inclination: poverty, tribulations, sick- ness, and everything else ? And instead of such things making us go far from Him, do they bring us nearer to Him ? If they do, then we have the holy love of God. Our love is a fire which acts, which op- poses what is contrary to itself, otherwise we have it not ; our love toward God will be not true, but false ; it will be a love of the lips, but not of the heart. St. John also warns us against this in his second epistle, chap. iii. 18 : " My little children [see how he makes use of the very expressions of love], let us not love in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth." St. Gregory says, " If there is no work, there is no love." And Jesus Christ : " He that hath my commandments and keepeth them [he who keeps my commandments and observes them faithfully], he it is that loveth me." And St. Augustine adds: "The bitterest and most dis- agreeable things are rendered comparatively easy, and almost of no account, by love." So that if we always act in the manner laid down above — that is, for our God — if we keep His divine commandments, if we observe them faithfully (and with the divine commandments come also those of the holy Church, the obligations of our state, and each one's 37^ THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. own duty), if we overcome with generosity and even with cheerfulness, for our God, everything that is contrary to our nature, though it be most distasteful to us, we have in us the holy love of God. Our love is then a fire which acts, which resists what is contrary to itself ; otherwise we have it not : our love toward God will certainly not be true, but false ; it will be a love of the lips, not a love of the heart : " My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth." Let us give some more practical examples. Suppose you have an op- portunity of making such and such profit, but it is dishonest to do so ; or an opportunity occurs for you to indulge yourself in some pleasure, but that pleasure is unlawful ; the duties of your state trouble you, or the labors of your employment weary you ; and for the sake of your God you do not care to make that profit, you renounce that pleasure, do your duty, and continue your work ; then you have the holy love of God'; your love is a fire which operates ; otherwise you have it not ; your love toward God will not be true love, but false ; it will be a love of the lips, and not a love of the heart : " My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth." Further, suppose some tribulation comes upon you suddenly; that an action is brought against you unexpectedly, on which all you have de- pends; that you suddenly lose some person in whom were all your hopes, and who was your whole support — do you with promptness offer it all to our Lord ; do you even bear all with joy ? If so, you have the holy love of God. Your love is a fire which resists what is contrary to itself ; otherwise you have it not : your love will not be true, it will be false — a love of the lips, not a love of the heart : " My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth." But it is a still surer sign of love to suffer than to act ; because in act- ing a person employs himself in favor of the person beloved, and so far gives a sign of love ; but in suffering a person has no care for himself, and thinks of nothing but the person beloved, and therefore gives a sign of greater love. And by this mark God was pleased singularly to try the great love of holy Job toward Him. The holy man Job was certainly a great lover of God ; but when did he show himself most truly to be so ? Was it when he was surrounded by a numerous family ? When he was in the enjoyment of an abundance of earthly goods ? When he was in perfect health ? Yes, even then, for even then he acknowledged that all came from God ; he thanked Him for all these things, offered sacrifices, and fulfilled his duty ; giving good advice to his sons, and continually praying for them that they might never sin and offend their Lord : " Lest, perhaps, my sons have sinned." (Job i. 5.) But his love of God showed itself really great, when God, THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 377 on purpose to try his great love for Him, despoiled him of all his posses- sions at once ; caused all his sons to die at the same time ; deprived him entirely, in one moment, of his health ; so that he was reduced to such a state, that, covered with ulcers from head to foot, he sat on a dung-hill, and scraped with a potsherd the corrupt matter from all his members ; with all these horrible misfortunes, and in the midst of all these unheard- of afflictions, he did nothing but repeat continually, with invincible and more than wonderful patience: " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; as it hath pleased the Lord, so be it done ; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job. i. 21.) But why speak of the holy Job ? Jesus Christ Himself said to His Apostles, as He was going to His passion, " That the world may know that I love the Father," etc. " Arise, let us go hence." (St. John xiv. 31.) Here, then, we have the surest and most incontestable proof of the true love of God — patience, patience : the voluntary suffering anything for Him. The sayings and doings of the saints on this matter are also known to all. St. Teresa said, "either to suffer or to die;" St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, "to suffer, and not to die ;" St. John of the Cross, "to suffer and be silent." The holy martyrs invited their executioners to torment them, and the wild beasts to devour them. St. Lidwina willingly suffered a painful illness for thirty-three years. St. Frances of Rome willingly suffered the unjust banishment of her husband, and the confiscation of all their property ; and St. John of the Cross, already named, willingly endured a cruel imprisonment for nine months, with numberless other inconveniences and hardships. See, see, the surest and most incontestable mark of the true love of God, patience, patience ; suffering, willingly suffering everything for Him. And oh, happy and blessed is he who by these two sure marks of works and patience, of acting and suffering for our great God, shall dis- cover in himself the holy love of God ! All the gold in the world, when compared to the smallest degree of the holy love of God, is nothing but a handful of sand : " All gold in comparison of her is as a little sand." (Wisd. vii. 9.) All the riches of the world, even compared to the least degree of the holy love of God, are as nought, as the wise man says in the Scripture : " I esteemed riches nothing, in comparison of her." (Wisd. vii. 8.) But why talk about all the gold or all the riches of the world, while all the greatest of the supernatural gifts are worth nothing without the holy love of God ? This is the language of the holy Apostle Paul, who 37* THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. possessed the holy love of God in such abundance, and who therefore so will knew its value, (i Cor. xiii.) If, said he, I had the gift of all tongues, and could speak not only in all the languages of men, but also in that wonderful language with which the angels speak to each other : " If I speak with the tongues of men and angels," and had not the holy love of God, "and have not charity," I should be no better than a cymbal that was out of tune : " I am become as sounding brass or as a tinkling cymbal." If I had the highest gift of prophecy, so that I could penetrate the depths of the most abstruse mysteries : " And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries ;" if I had the gift of all sciences, and such a great faith that I could remove mountains from one place to another ; "if I should have all knowledge, and all faith, so that I could remove mountains," and had not the holy love of God, " and have not charity," 1 am good for nothing : " I am nothing." This beautiful virtue of charity, or holy love of God, is the queen of all the other virtues, and reigns, and will reign, for all eternity. After death faith will have its reward, because it will see that in which it has believed ; but the virtue of faith will have no place in paradise. After death hope will have its reward, because it will possess that which it hoped in ; but there will be no virtue of hope in heaven. After death, charity or love toward God will have its reward and will reign eternally, because with infinite beatitude it will continue to love, through- out all eternity, that same God which it loved here on earth. Therefore, oh, how happy, oh, how blessed is he who, by these two most certain marks of works and patience, voluntarily acting and suffering for his God, is able to recognize in himself the holy and true love of God ! Let us, then, all love our God, and let us all love Him in the manner and according to the rule here given. In all our works let us have God before our eyes, in everything fulfilling always His divine will, his divine good pleasure ; and let us bear not only patiently but also joyfully all that is contrary to our self-love and to our human sensibilities. It is for this one only end, that of loving our God, that we have been created and put into this world by Him. To the accomplishment of this one only end let us turn all our care, all our solicitude. On His love alone let us set any value ; let us often ask Him to give us His holy love alone : "Thy holy love alone [let all and each of us say constantly], give me thy holy love alone, O Lord, together with thy holy grace, and I am rich enough ; nor will I ask anything else of thee ; " as that great saint who was so filled with the love of God, the great St. Ig- natius, continually prayed. THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. 379 A short act of perfect love toward God, to be repeated very often. — My God, I love thee above all things, and in all things, with my whole soul, because thou art worthy of all love. TWELVE SHORT EJACULATIONS FOR THE TWELVE GREATEST SOLEMNITIES IN THE YEAR SEVEN OF OUR LORD AND FIVE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, WHICH MAY BE USED AT ANY OTHER TIME AND ON ANY DAY, ACCORDING TO EACH ONE'S DEVOTION. For the holy Nativity of our Lord. — Come, my Jesus, and be born in my heart. For the Circumcision of our Lord. — May thy name, O Jesus, be my joy. For the Epiphany. — With the wise men, O Jesus, I adore thee and love thee. For Easter. — My Jesus, let me first suffer, and then rejoice with thee. For the Ascension of our Lord. — Take my heart also with thee into heaven. For Pentecost. — Holy Spirit, Light, Fervor, and Perseverance ! For the Feast of Corpus Christi. — Jesus, our food ! Jesus, our sweet- ness ! Jesus, our joy ! For the Immaculate Conception. — Most holy Virgin, free from sin and full of grace at the first moment of thy existence, may I be free from sin and in the grace of God at the last moment of my life. For the Nativity of the ever-blessed Virgin. — Thy birth, O blessed Vir- gin, was holy ; may my death be holy. For the Annunciation. — O Virgin, ever blessed, thou art raised to the sublime dignity of Mother of God ; may I remain always faithful in His service. For the Purification. — Most holy Virgin, purer than the angels after thou hadst brought forth thy Son, may I be purified at least after I have sinned. For the Assumption. — Most holy Virgin, who didst die out of pure love, may I at least die with contrition. Let all, all, be devout to the most blessed Virgin ; and after God, let us honor the most holy Virgin. Happy is the Christian who has the most blessed Virgin for him ; and miserable is that Christian who has not the blessed Virgin on his side. The most blessed Virgin can obtain everything from God, because she is His true Mother, and is so much beloved by Him ; and she will do everything for us, because she is our Mother also, and loves us so much. Let us, therefore, always try to gain her friendship more and more ; let us ingratiate ourselves with her more and more, by continually fostering in ourselves devotion toward her. 380 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. Every day let us say her rosary. Fast in her honor every Saturday. Observe the novenas and the fast before all her principal feasts. Practise some devotion also on all her smaller, even smallest, feasts. And let us, besides, in all our necessities, in all our misfortunes, have recourse to her, have confidence in her, and, through her, security in life, security in death, security throughout all eternity. It must be so ; for do you know what takes place in heaven ? The most blessed Virgin stands before her divine Son {Mater stat ante Fil- ium), and she reminds Him of the womb, where He was enclosed for nine months, and the sacred breast, at which she so often gave Him suck ; the Son places Himself before His divine Father {Filius stat ante Patrem), and shows Him His pierced side and those sacred wounds which He re- ceived for our sake (Ft ostendit Patri latus et vulnera) ; and at the sight of such sweet pledges of a Son's love, He can deny nothing to His divine Son — all is obtained for us : there can be no refusal where there are so many signs of love (Ibi nulla poterit esse repulsio, ubi sunt tot amoris in- signia). It is thus that St. Bernard, himself so devout to the ever-blessed Virgin, encourages us. But since the most blessed Virgin is also the Mother of fair love, as well as being true Mother of God {mater pule hr a dilectionis), she obtains for us holy love ; and through her means God Himself fills our hearts with His holy love (Igfiem sui amoris accendat Deus in cordibus nostris). Live, Jesus our love, and Mary our hope ! VOL. II. POPE LEO XIII. ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. THE GROUNDS OF FAITH. POPE LEO XIII. ON THE STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, FOR THE PROMOTION OF CATHOLIC TRUTH. THE ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR HOLY FATHER, LEO XIII., BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE POPE, ON THE STUDY OF SACRED SCRIPTURE, IS AD- DRESSED TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, AND BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC WORLD IN GRACE AND COM- MUNION WITH THE HOLY SEE. THE Most Provident God, who by an admirable counsel of charity, raised mankind in the beginning to a participation in the divine na- ture, and then, after they had been freed from a common stain and from destruction, restored them to their pristine dignity, has also conferred upon them the singular safeguard of laying open to them in a supernatur- al way the mysteries of His divinity, wisdom, and mercy. For although there are also included in divine revelation things which are not inac- cessible to human reason, so revealed to men that they can be understood by all quickly with firm certainty and without any admixture of error, yet not for this reason is revelation to be said to be absolutely necessary, but because God in His infinite goodness designed man for a super- natural end (Cone. Vat., sess. iii., cap. 2, de Revel.). This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the Universal Church, is contained both in unwritten conditions and also in written books, which are called sacred and canonical, because, being written with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and as such they were given to the Church (Ibid). This, indeed, the Church has always held and openly professed with respect to the books of both Testaments ; and those most important documents of the ancients are known, in which it is announced that God spoke first through the prophets, then through Himself, and afterwards through the Apostles ; that He also provided the Scriptures, which are called canonical (St. Aug. de Civ. Dei, xi, 3); that 2 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE these are oracles and divine utterances ; that writings were given by the I leavenly Father to the human race wandering far from their fatherland, ami were transmitted by sacred authors (St. Clem., Rom. i. ad Cor., 45 ; St. Polycarp ad Phil., 7 ; St. Iren, c. Haer, ii. 28, 2). Now, such being the excellence and dignity of the Scriptures, that being composed (con- fecta) by God Himself as their author, they embrace His highest mys- teries and works, it follows that that part of sacred theology which is concerned with the preservation and interpretation of these divine books is also of the greatest excellence and utility. Whilst, therefore, with the aid of God, We have taken care and not fruitlessly, that certain other kinds of learning — namely, those which appear to be most effective for the increase of the divine glory and of man's welfare — should be pro- moted by means of frequent letters and exhortation, We have been think- ing long since of stimulating, commending, and also directing more in accordance with the requirements of the times, this most noble study of the sacred writings. We are in truth moved and almost impelled by the solicitude of Our Apostolic position not only to desire to open up this beautiful fountain of Catholic revelation more safely and abundantly for the advantage of the faithful, but also to prevent it from being injured in any part by those who are manifestly drawn to the Holy Scriptures by an impious audacity, or who fallaciously and imprudently attempt to bring to light certain novelties. We are not indeed unaware, venerable brethren, that there are not a few Catholics, men of great ability and learning, who zealously undertake the defense of the divine books, and the work of making them better known and understood. But whilst rightly praising their diligence and the fruits of their labors, We cannot but most earnestly exhort others also, whose skill, learning, and piety give the greatest promise in this matter to merit the same praise by their efforts — that is to say, We wish and are anxious that a larger number should duly undertake and constantly maintain the protection of the divine writings ; and that they especially who have been called by divine grace to holy orders should devote themselves with daily increasing dili- gence and industry to reading, meditating on, and explaining those same writings. For apart from their beauty and the obedience due to the Word of God, the principal reason why this study appears to be so deserving of commendation lies in the manifold utility which We know on the sure authority of the Holy Spirit will flow from it : " ALL SCRIPTURE INSPIRED OF GOD IS PROFITABLE TO TEACH to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice that the man of God may be perfectly furnished to every good work" (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17). That the HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIII. STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 3 Scriptures were indeed given by God to men with such an intention is shown by the example of Christ Our Lord and the Apostles. For He who " procured authority by miracles, secured faith by authority, and at- tracted the multitude by faith." (St. Aug. de util cred. xiv. 32), was wont to appeal to the sacred writings in fulfiling His sacred embassy ; for oc- casionally He even points out from them that He was sent by God and is God ; He draws arguments from them to teach the disciples and to confirm His doctrine ; their testimonies He both vindicates from the calumnies of disparagers and opposes to the Saducees and Pharisees to convict them, and He turns them against Satan himself when audacious- ly tempting Him : and towards the very end of His life when He had risen again He made use of these writings and explained them to His dis- ciples — until He ascended to the glory of the Father. Now the Apostles, who were trained by His voice and His precepts, although He gave " signs and wonders to be done by their hands " (Acts iii.), still drew great power from the divine books in bringing home Christian wisdom to peoples far and wide, in breaking down the obstinacy of the Jews, and in repressing the heresies that arose. This is plain — and especially in the case of St. Peter — from their discourses which they wove for the most part by the words of the Old Testament into a most fiym argument in favor of the New Law ; and the same is manifest from the Gospels of Matthew and John and from the Epistles which are called Catholic ; but it is most clearly evident from the testimony of Him who "boasts that he had learned the Law of Moses and the Prophets at the feet of Gamaliel, so that, armed with spiritual weapons, he afterward said confidently : ' The arms of our warfare are not of flesh but the power of God'" (St. Hier, de Studio Script, ad Paulin ap. liii. 3). Let all, therefore, and especially young soldiers in the sacred warfare, learn from the examples of Christ Our Lord and the Apostles how much importance is to be attached to the sacred writings, and with what zeal and with what a religious spirit they ought to approach this armory as it may be called. For to those who may have to treat of the truths of Catholic doctrines amongst the learned or the unlearned nowhere, are there afforded either more abundant re- sources or a fuller exposition respecting God the highest and most per- fect good, and the wisdom of His works as reflecting His glory and char- ity. And with regard to the Preserver of the human race there is nothing more copious or more expressive than what is found in the collective text of the Bible; and Jerome rightly affirms that "ignorance of the Scrip- tures is ignorance of Christ " (/#. Is. Pro/.): for from them stands out, as it were, His image living and breathing from which comes in a truly won- derful way, a mitigation of evils and encouragement to virtue, and an invitation to divine charity. 4 POPE LEO XIIL ON THE AS FAR AS THE CHURCH IS CONCERNED, its foundation, nature, functions and graces are so frequently mentioned therein, so numerous, strong and ready to hand are the arguments in its fav- or, that the same Jerome has most truly declared: " He who is strengthened by the testimonies of the sacred Scripture is a bulwark of the Church " (Jn. In. Is. liv. 12). And if a search be made with respect to the regula- tion and discipline of life and morals, apostolic men will discover in the same writings liberal and most excellent support, directions full of sanc- tity, exhortations seasoned with gentleness and force, and distinguished examples in every kind of virtue ; and there are besides in the name and word of God Himself the most important promise of rewards and the threats of punishment for eternity. It is this peculiar and special power of the holy Scriptures derived from the divine afflatus of the Holy Spirit which lends influence to the sacred orator, confers apostolic freedom of speech, and imparts nervous energy and irresistible eloquence. For whoever, in speaking, reproduces the spirit and strength of the divine Word, speaks " not in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost and in much fullness " (1 Thess., i. 5). Wherefore, they who deliver discourses on religion and deliver the divine message in, such a way as to use scarcely anything else but the language of human science and prudence, rely more on their own than on divine arguments, and their sermons, however brilliant they may appear, must be weak and cold, inasmuch as they want the fire of God's Word (Jer. xxiii., 29), and must be far inferior to those into which the divine Word infuses its power ; for " the Word of God is living and effect- ual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword, and reaches unto the division of the soul and the spirit" (Heb. iv. 12). Of course it must also be admitted by those of much experience that there is in the sacred writ- ings a wonderful variety and a rich eloquence worthy of the greatest subjects, as St. Augustine taught and expressly pointed out {de doctr. Chr. iv., 6, 7), and as is confirmed by the fact that the most eminent among sacred orators have gratefully attested before God that they owed their fame principally to the assiduous use of the Bible and pious med- itation. The holy fathers, who had complete knowledge and experience of all this, never ceased from extolling the sacred writings and their fruit. In numerous places they call them " that most wealthy treasury of heavenly doctrines" (Chrysos. in. Gen. horn. 21, 2; hon. 60, 3 ; St. Aug. de Dis- cipl. Chr. 2), or perennial fountains of salvation (St. Athan. Ep. fest. 39), or they recommend them as fertile fields and most pleasant gardens in which the Lord's flock may be reinvigorated and delighted (St. Aug. Serm. 26: 24; St. Ambr. in Ps., c. xviii., Serm. 19, 2). These words of STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 5 » St. Jerome to the cleric Nepotianus may be aptly referred to : " Read the holy Scriptures frequently ; nay, let the sacred writings never be out of ^ your hands ; learn that which you may teach. . . . Let the discourses of the priests be based upon the reading of the Scriptures" (St. Heiron devit cler ad Nepot) ; and appropriate is the opinion of St. Gregory the Great, than whom nobody has described more judiciously the duties of the priests of the Church. "It is necessary," he says, "that those who attain to the office of preaching should never give up the study of the sacred Scriptures" (St. Greg. M. Regul, post, ii., al 22; Moral xviii., 26, al 14). Here, too, it is well to recall the admonition of St. Augustine: " He is an empty preacher of the Word of God publicly who does not inwardly take it to heart" (St. Aug. Serm. 179, 1), and the instruction of the same Gregory to preachers " that they should examine themselves as to the words of divine Scripture before setting them forth to others, lest in reproving other people's conduct they should neglect themselves " (St. Greg. M. Regul, post, iii., 24, al 48). But from the example and pattern of Christ, who "began to do and to teach," the voice of the Apostles had already insisted upon this, addressing not Timothy alone but the clergy of all ranks in this command, "take heed to thyself and to doctrine; be ear- nest in them ; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee" (1 Tim., iv. 16). Assuredly exceptional aids to salvation and protection, both for one's self and others, are ready to hand in the sacred writings, a fact which is the subject of eloquent praise in the Psalms ; but these aids are for those who bring to the consideration of the divine writ- ings not merely docile and attentive mind but a just and pious disposition of soul. For these books are not to be regarded as of the ordinary kind, but because they were dictated by the Holy Spirit Himself, and contain matters which are of the highest moment, and in many points recondite and exceedingly difficult to understand and interpret ; they always need the coming of the same Spirit — that is, His light and grace ; and these, as we are frequently reminded by the authority of the divine psalmist, are to be asked for with humble prayer, and to be preserved by holiness of life. CLEARLY, THEREFORE, AROSE THE PRECAUTIONS TAKEN BY THE CHURCH, which, by means of the most admirable institutions and laws, has taken care "that this heavenly treasury of the sacred books which the Holy Spirit bountifully gives to men should not lie neglected " (Cone. Trid., sess. v., decret., de refor. 1), for she has arranged not only that a large portion of them should be read and piously pondered by all her ministers in the I daily office of sacred psalmody, but also that the explanation and in- terpretation of them should be dealt with by men of suitable ability in cathedral churches, in monasteries, and in convents of other regulars in 6 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE which studies may conveniently flourish. And she has strictly ordered that at least on Sundays and solemn festivals the faithful should be nour- ished with the salutary words of the gospel {ibidem, 1,2). To the wisdom and care of the Church, also, has been due in every age a lively devotion to the Scriptures, which has been productive of pre-eminent advantages. In this connection, to strengthen our previous exhortations, it gives us pleasure to note how from the beginning of the Christian religion those who were distinguished by sanctity of life and the knowledge of divine things always paid frequent and assiduous attention to the sacred writ- ings. We see the immediate disciples of the Apostles, among them Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, likewise the apologists, especially Justin and Irenaeus in their letters and books, whether con- cerned with the protection or recommendation of Catholic dogmas, deriv- ing from the sacred writings in particular confidence, vigor, and every grace of piety. Catechetical and theological schools having sprung up in connection with various Episcopal sees — those at Alexandria and Anti- och were most celebrated — the teaching imparted in these consisted scarcely of anything else but the reading, explanation, and defence of the divine Scriptures. From them came forth many fathers and writers whose labors, studies, and excellent works formed such a rich store dur- ing the three following centuries or so that the period was called the " golden age of Biblical exegesis." Among the Easterns the principal place is held by Origen, wonderful for the quickness of his intellect and persevering labors, whose numerous writings and immense work, the Hex- apla, nearly all others have drawn upon in turn. Mention should be made of a number who have extended the limits of this study. For instance, among the most distinguished, Alexandria produced Clement and Cyril ; Palestine, Eusebius and another Cyril ; Cappadocia, Basil the Great and the two Gregorys — Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa ; Antioch, the renowned John Chrysostom, whose skill as a Biblical scholar rivalled his lofty eloquence. Nor were others less noteworthy in the West. Eminent amongst those deserving of a singular commendation are the names of Tertullian, Cyp- rian, Hilary, and Ambrose, Leo the Great and Gregory the Great ; most illustrious of all those of Augustine and Jerome, one of whom was remark- ably acute in discerning the meaning of Scripture and most successful in applying it to the support of Catholic truth, while the other from his ex- traordinary knowledge of the Bible and his great labors upon its appli- cation, has been honored by the voice of the Church with the title of Doctor Maximus. Although this study was not pursued with the same ardor and fruit from that time up to the eleventh century, still it flour- ished, mainly through the exertions of the clergy, for they took care to STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 7 consult the best works that the ancients had left on this subject, and pub- lish them suitably edited with editions of their own, as was done espe- cially by Isidore of Seville, Bede, and Alcuin ; or to elucidate the sacred manuscript with glosses, as did Valafridus, Strabo, and Anselm Laudu- nensis, or, like Peter Damian and Lanfranc, to take fresh measures for preserving them in their entirety. But in the twelfth century a great many treated, in a praiseworthy way, of the allegorical meaning of the Scriptures ; in this expository method St. Bernard, whose writings scarcely savor of anything else than the divine Scriptures, easily excelled all others. A fresh and agreeable development was given to this study by the system of the scholastics. Although they sought to investigate the genuine reading of the Latin version, as is plainly shown by the Cor- rectoria Biblica which they drew up, yet they devoted greater zeal and industry to explanation and interpretation ; for in a regular and clear manner, than which there had been nothing better previously, the various senses of the sacred language was distinguished ; the weight of each was considered theologically ; the parts of the books and the subjects of the parts were defined ; the designs of the writers were sought out ; the re- lationship and interconnection of the sentences explained. Everyone must see how much light was by this means brought to bear on obscure passages. Moreover, a choice abundance of Scriptural learning is fully displayed both in their works on theology and their commentaries on the Scriptures ; in which respect Thomas Aquinas held the palm amongst them. Then when our predecessor Clement V., added to the Athenaeum, in this city, and some celebrated universities, courses of Oriental litera- ture, Our people began to labor with greater accuracy on the primitive codex of the Bible and on the Latin copy. The erudition of the Greeks being then brought back to Us, and all the more effectually because of the new method of book printing, happily discovered, the cultivation of the sacred Scripture extensively increased. It is marvelous in what a short space of time copies, chiefly of the Vulgate, multiplied by the press, filled, so to speak, the Catholic world, in such honor and regard were the sacred volumes held during this very period which is unfairly assailed by the enemies of the Church. Nor should we omit to notice what a number of learned men, mainly from the religious congregations, come forward to promote Biblical knowledge from the Council of Vienna to that of Trent ; and these employing new aids and bringing into requisi- tion their varied stock of erudition and ability not only increased the accumulated resources left by those who had gone before, but it may be said opened the way for the pre-eminence of the age which followed the same Council of Trent, and during which the glorious age of the Fathers almost appeared to have returned. Nobody is unaware, and it is pleasant 8 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE to us to recall the fact, that our predecessors, from Pius IV. to Clement VIII., caused the preparation of those celebrated editions of ancient ver- sions of the Vulgate and the Alexandrine which were afterwards brought out by the command and authority of Sixtus V., and the same Clement, and are in common use. It is known that in those times other ancient versions of the Bible as well as the Polyglots of Antwerp and Paris, thor- oughly suitable for the purpose of sincere investigation, were most care- fully brought out that there was no book of either Testament which had not more than one capable expositor ; and no serious question connected with the subject that did not in an elaborate way exercise the abilities of many ; amongst whom not a few of the more studious Holy Fathers won for themselves a distinguished reputation. Nor in truth has energetic ability been wanting amongst our people since that age, for men of dis- tinction have continued to do good work in the same sphere, and against the figments of Rationalism wrested from philology and kindred studies have vindicated the sacred writings by arguments drawn from the same sources. They who consider all these things fittingly as they should, will certainly allow that the Church has never in any way failed to provide for the diffusion amongst her children of the waters from the fountains of divine Scripture, and that she has always maintained and equipped with every resource of learning the watchful attitude in which she has been divinely placed for the protection and safeguarding of the dignity of these writings, so that she has not heeded and does not need any stim- uli from outsiders. Now, venerable brethren, THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH OUR OFFICE WAS ESTABLISHED, demands that We should communicate with you as to the best 'method of ordering these studies. But it is well to take cognizance in this place of the kind of men who turn away from and oppose Our prin- ciples, and what are the arts and arms upon which they rely. As here- tofore the issue was chiefly with those who, relying on private judgment and repudiating the divine traditions and magisterium of the Church, maintained that the Scripture was the only source of revelation and the supreme deciding authority ; so now the contention is against the ration- alists, who, as their children and heirs, relying upon their view, have alto- gether rejected even the very remains of Christian faith accepted by their fathers. For they deny altogether the revelation, inspiration and holi- ness of the Scripture, and assert that they are nothing else but the devices and contrivances of men ; that they are not true narratives of historical facts, but either inept fables or lying stories ; that the predictions and prophesies are not such, but either predictions invented after the events, STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 9 or foreknowledge acquired by natural means ; that the miracles and prodigies of divine power are not really such, but astonishing things by no means above the powers of nature, or delusions and myths : that the Gospels and the Apostolic writings are plainly to be attributed to other authors. Astounding errors of this kind by which they think that the sacred truths of the divine books will be torn to shreds, they put forward as decisive pronouncements of a so-called new and liberal science ; as to which their own views are so unstable that they frequently change them and add to them. Although they feel and speak so impiously concern- ing God, Christ, the Gospel, and the rest of the Scripture, there are not wanting amongst them those who desire to be considered both Christian and Evangelical theologians, and under this honorable name they display the temerity of a haughty disposition. These men have been joined and aided by not a few who are engaged in other studies, and who, through a dislike of revelation, have been in a similar way drawn into opposition to the Bible. We cannot in truth sufficiently deplore how far this opposi- tion has extended, and how much more bitter it becomes from day to day. It is introduced amongst erudite and earnest men, though they can guard against it with less difficulty ; but it is mainly amongst the multi- tude of the unlearned that these furious enemies labor with every sort of design and artifice. They pour forth the destructive virus in books, pamphlets, and journals ; they insinuate it in speeches and discourses ; they have now invaded every place, and they keep withdrawn from the guardianship of the Church many schools of youth, in which, even by mockery and scurrilous jokes, they wretchedly deprave credulous and weak minds, and train them into contempt for the Scriptures. These things, venerable brethren, should move and excite a common pastoral anxiety to oppose to this new and falsely-called science, the ancient and true knowledge which the Church received from Christ through the Apostles, and in such a struggle should call forth suitable defenders of the sacred Scripture. Therefore, let it be the first care that in ecclesiastical seminaries and academies the divine writings should be treated as the importance of this study and the requirements of the time demand. And for this purpose nothing ought to be deemed more advisable than the prudent selection of teachers ; for this office there ought to be chosen not ordinary men, but those who are fit for the discharge of the duties, and are recommended by a great love and daily use of the Bible, and whose minds are properly equipped with learning. And the education of those who will hold this office in the future should be looked to at an early age. It will be well, therefore, wherever it can be conveniently done, that some students of the greatest promise, after they have creditably gone through their theo- IO POPE LEO XIII. ON THE logical course, should be assigned altogether to the study of the sacred books, the opportunity being given them of a somewhat fuller curriculum. Let teachers thus chosen and trained approach with confidence the task entrusted to them, and that they may the better understand it, and may bring forth the fitting fruit, it seems right to furnish them with cer- tain proofs detailed with exceptional fulness. Let such attention, then, be given to the abilities of young students from the threshold of their studies that their judgment shall be carefully moulded and cultivated for examining the sacred books, and seizing their meaning. Useful for this end is the tract called De Introductione Biblica, which affords the student suitable help for proving the perfection and authority of the Bible, for investigating and ascertaining its legitimate sense, and for radically re- futing captious propositions. It is scarcely necessary to say how im- portant it is that these things should be examined in the beginning methodically, skilfully, consecutively, and with the aid of theology, since the whole subsequent treatment of Scripture either rests upon these foundations or is made clear by their light. Next, let the diligence of the teacher be most zealously expended on that more fruitful part of this study which is concerned with interpreta- tion, so that his hearers may be often able to employ the riches of the divine Word for the promotion of religion and piety. Of course, we un- derstand that owing to their extent and to want of time the whole of the Scriptures can not be expounded in detail in the schools ; but as there is need of furthering a certain mode of interpretation, the prudent teacher should avoid the defect, on the one hand, of those who go over the vari- ous books too cursorily ; and, on the other hand, of those who dwell at immoderate length on some single part of one book. And if in many schools the course pursued in the higher colleges cannot be well followed — that is to say, that certain books should be expounded freely, with some continuity and wealth of explanation — the parts of the books se- lected for interpretation should receive a treatment that is suitably full, so that the students being as it were attracted and trained by this speci- men, they will themselves thoroughly examine the rest, and be devoted to this study during their lives. In this course, in accordance with the usages of our ancestors, let the Vulgate version be taken as the model, which version, as the Council of Trent has decreed, must be held as "authentic in public reading, disputation, preaching, and exposition" (Sess. iv., Deer, de edit, et usu sacr. Libor), and which the Church by daily custom recommends. At the same time due consideration must be given to other versions, which received the praise of, and were used by, Christians in ancient times, especially the original codices. For although the Greek and Hebrew meaning is well brought out in the Vulgate, still STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. II if there is in it anything not wholly accurate, advantage will be derived from the examination of " the earlier language," as St. Augustine advises (De Doct. 2,'Chr. iii, 4). Then it is self-evident how much assiduity must be employed in this examination, as it is "the duty of the commentator to explain not what he wishes himself, but what is the meaning of the author whom he interprets " (St. Hier., ad Pammach). After weighing the reading with every care where it is necessary then will be the time for research and putting forward an opinion. And it is of the first im- portance that the commonly approved rules of interpreting should be followed all the more exactly the more bitter the attacks of adversaries. Therefore with the study of the meaning of the words, of the order which is followed, of parallels and the like, let there be combined oppo- site and learned illustrations from outside sources : let this be done cau- tiously, however, lest more time and labor should be thus expended than in obtaining a knowledge of the sacred books, and lest the multiplicity of the points submitted for instruction should prove more injurious than useful to the minds of youth. From this the progress to use of the sacred Scripture in theology will be safe. And here attention should be paid to the fact that, in addition to the other causes of difficulty which are usu- ally met with in certain works of the ancients, there are some peculiar to the sacred book. For according to the authority of the holy Spirit in the words of Holy Writ are laid down many things which far surpass the strength, power, and acuteness of human reason, that is to say, divine mysteries, and various other things connected with them, and this some- times to a larger extent and in more recondite manner, than the letter of the text and the laws of hermeneutics appear to indicate ; besides the lit- eral meaning itself certainly admits of other senses, either to illustrate dogma or to commend the precepts of life. Accordingly, it is not to be denied that the sacred books are involved in a certain religious obscurity, so that no one can approach them without a guide (St. Hier., ad Paulin de studio Scriptures, ep. liii, 4), God, according to the common opinion of the Fathers, arranging it so in order that men might examine them with great earnestness and zeal, and should more deeply impress upon their minds and hearts the precepts so fully set forth therein ; and should understand especially that God had delivered the Scriptures to the Church, which on that account in the reading and treatment of His Word should be followed as a more sure guide and teacher. For WHERE THE GRACES OF THE LORD HAVE BEEN BESTOWED there the truth is to be learned, and already St. Irenaeus taught that the Scriptures are expounded without danger by those who hold the Apostolic succession (C. Haer., iv, 26, 5). 12 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE This view, indeed, which was also the view of the other Fathers, was adopted by the Vatican Synod when renewing the Tridentine Decree concerning the interpretation of the inspired Written Word, "it declared that its meaning was that in matters of Faith and morals pertaining to the promotion of Christian doctrine that is to be considered the true sense of the Holy Scripture which Holy Mother Church has held and holds, whose province it is to judge respecting the true sense and inter- pretation of the sacred Scriptures : and therefore no one is permitted to interpret the sacred Scriptures contrary to this sense or, even contrary to the unanimous consensus of the Fathers" (Sess. iii., cap. II., de Revel. of Cone. Trid. Sess. iv., deer, de edit, et usu Saer libor). By this law, full of wisdom, the Church does not at all retard or check the investiga- tion of Biblical science, but rather exhibits it free from error and greatly furthers its true progress. For a wide field is open to each private teacher in which, pursuing safe methods, he may by his own industry in interpret- ing brilliantly and usefully enter into rivalry with the Church. Indeed in the parts of divine Scripture which yet require a fixed and definite ex- position, such measures can be taken that in the design of God's loving providence the judgment of the Church may be hastened, as it were, by this diligent investigation ; and in points already defined the private teacher can be equally of service if he places before the faithful in a clearer light and before the learned with greater ability, or if he proves himself more successful in repelling adversaries. Wherefore, let it be the sacred and primary duty of the Catholic in- terpreter to see that those testimonies of the Scripture, of which the sense has been authentically declared either through sacred authors with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as in the case in many parts of the New Testament, or through the Church with the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, " either by a solemn decision or by the ordinary and universal magisterium" (Cone. Vat. Sess. iii., 3, de fide), are explained by him in the same sense ; and with the aid of his knowledge let him show that that interpretation alone can be rightly approved of according to the laws of sound hermeneutics. In other things the analogy of faith is to be followed and the Catholic doctrine as accepted by the authority of the Church can be taken as the supreme standard ; for as the same God is the author of the sacred books and of the doctrine deposited with the Church, a different sense to that which she adopts cannot by any legiti- mate interpretation be deduced from those books. Whence it appears that that interpretation is to be rejected as false and absurd which places , the inspired authors at variance with one another, or which is opposed to the doctrine of the Church. It also behooves teachers in this department of religious education to be so endowed mentally as to have a thorough STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 13 grasp of all theology and to be well versed in the commentaries of the Fathers, Doctors, and best interpreters. This is inculcated by St. Jerome, (Ibid. 6, 7), and emphatically by St. Augustine, who justly complains "if every study, however humble and easy, in order to be understood re- quires a teacher or master, what greater presumption can there be than to be unwilling to learn the inspired books from their interpreters " (Ad Honorat, de util, it cred xvii. 35). This was felt and confirmed by the example of the other Fathers " who sought to understand the divine Scriptures, not by their own presumption, but from the writings and auth- ority of their predecessors, who themselves, it is certain, receive the rule of interpretation by Apostolic succession" (Rufin, Hist. Eccl. ii. 9). Now, as the authority of the Fathers, by whose labors " after the time of the Apostles as planters, waterers, builders, pastors and nourishers, the Holy Church increased" (St. Aug., c. Julian, ii., 10, 37), is supreme, as often as there is any public testimony from them pertaining to doctrines of faith or morals, let all explain it in the same way ; for it is quite clear from their agreement that it was so handed down by the Apostles accord- ing to the Catholic faith. The view of the Fathers is also to be con- sidered as of great weight, when, as it were, in a private way they dis- charge the office of teachers in these matters, inasmuch as they are men whom not only the science of revealed religion and the knowledge of many things useful for the understanding of the Apostolic books strong- ly commended, but whom as persons distinguished by sanctity of life and zeal for the truth God Himself has assisted with the more ample safe- guards of His own Light. Therefore, let the interpreter make their ex- position his own ; let him reverently follow in their footsteps, and let him by an intelligent choice of their opinions make use of their labors. Nor need he think on this account that he is hindered when a just cause arises from proceeding further in inquiry and expounding, provided he relig- iously observes the instruction wisely given by Augustine, namely, that the literal and, as it were, obvious sense is by no means to be departed from unless reason prevents it from being held, or necessity compels its abandonment (De Gen. ad litt., 1 viii, c. 7, 13), and this instruction is to be followed the more steadfastly, because of the danger of error owing to the great desire for novelties and the license of opinion. Let him take care not to neglect those allegorical and similar interpretations of the Fathers when they depart from the literal meaning and are supported by the authority of many. For SUCH A METHOD OF INTERPRETATION THE CHURCH RECEIVED FROM THE APOSTLES, and has approved of by her own example, as is evident from the liturgy ; not that the Fathers in this way strove to prove dogmas !4 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE of faith, but because they well knew it to be fruitful in nourishing virtue and piety. The authority of the other Catholic interpreters is less indeed, but since the study of the Bible has made a certain con- tinuous progress in the Church their commentaries must also receive their own share of honor, from which works many things may be oppor- tunely sought for refuting contrary opinions and unravelling difficulties. And, indeed, it is really discreditable that any one ignorant of or despis- ing the excellent works which have been left in abundance by Catholics, should prefer the writings of the heterodox, and should seek from them — with imminent danger to sound doctrine, and not unfrequently to the detriment of faith — the explanation of passages to which Catholics have already most effectively devoted their abilities and labors. For although the Catholic interpreter can be sometimes assisted by the studies of the heterodox prudently used, let him remember at the same time a fact which is also evident from many ancient documents (Cir. Clem. Alex. Strom, vii., 19 ; Orig. de Princ. iv. 8 ; in Levit. horn. 4, 8 ; Tertull. de praescr. 15 seqq.; St. Hilar. Pict. in Math. 13, 1), that the pure sense of the sacred Scriptures is nowhere found outside the Church and cannot be given by those who, wanting the true faith, do not reach the marrow of the Scriptures, but nibble at the bark. It is most desirable and necessary that the use of the divine Scripture should permeate the whole teaching of theology and be almost its very soul ; such, in every age, the Fathers and most distinguished theologians regarded it, as evinced by their actions. For they endeavored to point out and to prove by the divine writings what are the objects and effects of faith, and from these writings also, as well as from divine tradition, '"to refute the novel fictions of heretics and to search out the reason, meaning, and connecting links of Catholic dogmas. Nor will any one be surprised at this who bears in mind that the divine books must hold such a place among the fountains of revelation that theology cannot be treated prop- erly and according to its dignity except by their study and assiduous employment. For, although it is right that youth should be so trained in the academies and schools as to obtain an understanding and knowl- edge of dogmas by arguing from the articles of faith to other things to be deduced from them, according to the rules of approved and solid phi- losophy, still a serious and erudite theologian must by no means neglect the demonstration of dogmas drawn from Biblical authorities, for "the- ology does not accept its principles from other sciences, but immediately from God by revelation. And, therefore, it takes not from other sciences as if they were superior to it, but it uses them as inferiors and handmaids." This mode of treating theology is taught and commended by Aquinas, the prince of theologians (Summ. theol., p. 1. q. 1. a. 2), who, moreover, STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 15 from this well understood mode of dealing with Christian theology showed how a theologian could defend his own principles by argument on those things which are received through divine revelation ; as by an AUTHORITY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES and dispute against heretics and use an article against those who deny another. If, however, the adversary believes none of those things which have been divinely revealed, the course then is not to prove the articles of faith by argument, but to solve any argument he may bring forth against faith (I. dem. a. 8). It is, therefore, to be seen that youths, suitably instructed and prepared, should approach Biblical studies so that they should not disappoint just hopes, or, what is worse, incautiously fall into the danger of error, carried away by the fal- lacies of rationalism and apparent erudition. They will, however, be most excellently prepared if, under the guidance of St. Thomas, they religiously cultivate and understand philosophy and theology in the way we have marked out and prescribed. Thus let them duly proceed, both in Biblical knowledge and what is called positive theology, and they will make most gratifying progress in both. To prove, expound, and illustrate Catholic doctrine by a legitimate and skilful interpretation of the sacred books is a great deal; but another task, and that of as great moment as it is laborious, remains, namely, that the integral authority should be most effectually defended. This, indeed, cannot be fully and generally done except by recourse to the living and proper magisterium of the Church, which, in itself and on account of its admirable extension, its extraordinary sanctity, its inexhaustible fecundity in all good things, its Catholic unity and its invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility, and an irrefragable testimony of its divine mission (Cone. Vat. sess. iii., c. iii. fide). Since, however, the divine and infallible mag- isterium of the Church is also based on the authority of the sacred Scrip- ture we must, therefore, first of all, require and assume at least a human faith in the Scripture, in the books of which, as in the language of most approved witnesses of antiquity, the divinity and mission of Christ our Lord, the establishment of the hierarchy of the Church, and THE PRIMACY CONFERRED ON PETER AND HIS SUCCESSORS, are surely and clearly to be found. It will be greatly conducive to this if a number of men from the sacred ministry are specially prepared to do battle for the faith in this field likewise, and to repel the attacks of the enemy, having been careful to put on the armor of God, as the Apostle advises (Eph. iv. 13 Sequ.), and being not unaccustomed to the enemy's new weapons and methods of warfare. This is beautifully enum- 1 6 POPE LEO XI I L ON THE erated by St. Chrysostom among the duties of priests in the following words : " We must exert great zeal in order that the Word of Christ may dwell abundantly in us (Cfr. Col. iii. 16) ; and we should be prepared, not for one kind of combat alone, for the warfare is varied and varied are the enemies; and neither do all use the same weapons, nor do they adopt merely one mode of assailing us. He, then, who is to enter the field against all comers, should be aware of the contrivances and strata- gems of all ; he should be at once an archer and slinger, a tribune and the leader of a cohort, a commander and a soldier, a member of the iqfantry and of the cavalry, an expert in naval and mural warfare ; for unless every art of warfare is known, the devil knows how to take ad- vantage of a single side, if that be neglected, and to carry off the sheep by sending in his plunderers" (De Sacerd'w. 4). We have above indicated the various artifices and stratagems of the enemy in making their attacks ; now let us point out what supports must be relied upon for the purposes of defence. These consist, in the first place, in the study of the ancient languages of the East, and, at the same time, in what is called the critical art. As the knowledge of both is nowadays much prized and honored if the cler- gyman possess it to a greater or less degree, according to the require- ments of places and people, he will be the better able to sustain the dig- nity and carry out the duties of his position; for he ought to become "all things to all men " (1 Cor. ix. 22), being ready always to " satisfy every one that asketh a reason of that hope which is in him " (1 Peter, iii. 15). Therefore it is necessary for professors of sacred Scripture and becoming for theologians to understand those languages in which the canonical books were first penned by the hagiographical writers, and it will be most advantageous if they are cultivated by Church students, especially those who aspire to degrees in theology. And provision should be made in all academies for what has already been most commendably established in some — that is, professorships of the other ancient languages likewise, especially the Semetic, and of correlative branches of learning for the benefit above all of those who it is decided are to devote themselves to sacred literature. On the same account these ought themselves to be particularly learned and skilled in true criticism ; for wrongly and to the detriment of religion the system honored with the name of the Higher Criticism has been introduced to bring out the origin, integrity and au- thority of every book ascertained alone by internal evidence as they term it ; whereas, on the contrary, it is clear in questions of a historical char- acter, such as that respecting the origin and preservation of books, that historical proofs are of pre-eminent importance, and that they should be most zealously procured and investigated, and that the internal evidence STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 17 referred to is not of sufficient value to be called to one's aid except by way of strengthening certain points. If another course is pursued, seri- ous inconvenience will result, for the enemies of religion will have greater confidence in their work of attacking and destroying the authenticity of the sacred books. In fact, the meaning of the Higher Criticism, which is so much extolled, will come to this — that in interpreting each one should fol- low his own inclination and prejudiced opinions ; neither will it shed on the Scriptures the light sought for, nor will learning derive any advan- tage from it, but that sure mark of error, diversity and dissimilarity of view will be apparent, as is already shown by the leaders of this new system themselves ; and most of them being infected with the maxims of a vain philosophy and of rationalism, they will not hesitate to remove from the sacred books prophecies, miracles, and everything else that is above the natural order. In the second place, it is necessary to meet the attacks of those who, abusing their knowledge of physical science, inves- tigate the sacred books with minute care, in order that they may expose the ignorance displayed on this subject by the authors, and may vilify their writings. And since these contentions are concerned with sensible objects, they are all the more dangerous, falling as they do, into the hands of the masses, and especially those of youth who are fond of liter- ature, and who, when they have once lost their reverence for divine rev- elation in any of its parts, will easily give up all belief in the whole. It is beyond doubt that the more suitable natural science is, if rightly taught, for ensuring the perception of the glory of the great Maker stamped upon creation, the more effectually it may be employed, if instilled in a wrong way in the minds of the young, to uproot the first principles of sound philosophy and corrupt morals. Wherefore, a knowledge of natural sci- ence will afford valuable assistance to the teacher of sacred Scripture by enabling him the more readily to expose and refute the fallacies of this kind also which are brought forward against the authority of the sacred books. Indeed, no real difference can arise between the theologian and the physical scientist so long as each keeps to his own province, both in accordance with the warning of St. Augustine, being on their guard against " making any rash statement, or asserting as known what is un- known " (In. Gen. Op Imperfhi., 30). But if there should be any disa- greement as to how the theologian should act, St. Augustine also gives a rule compendiously. " Let us show," says he, " that whatever they can demonstrate by sure proofs respecting the nature of things is not con- trary to Our writings, but let Us likewise show that whatsoever they may have brought forth from any of their works in opposition to our writings, that is, to the Catholic faith, is .in some sense false, or that we consider it altogether unworthy of belief." (Be Gen. add litt. i. 21, 41.) 1 8 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE In considering the justice of this rule, it must be borne in mind, first of all. that the sacred writers, or rather " the Spirit of God which spoke through them, deemed it inadvisable to teach men these things (that is, the innermost constitution of visible objects) as they would not be con- ducive to salvation" (St. Aug. id, n. 3, 20); and accordingly that these writers, instead of duly entering into an investigation of nature some- times described and treated of affairs either in a certain figurative style, or in the ordinary language, as is frequently done in daily life at the present day, even amongst men of the greatest learning. As in common language suitable expressions are first found for what falls under the senses, in like manner (as the Angelic Doctor reminds us), the sacred writer followed sensible impressions or the language which God Himself used in addressing men, adopting the # human mode of speech to be within the reach of their understanding. It must not be concluded that because Holy Scripture is to be strenu- ously defended the opinions expressed by individuals, or afterwards by interpreters in making it known, are to be equally upheld ; their opinions being those of the age in which they lived, in explaining passages where questions of physical science arose they may sometimes have erred in judgment, so as to make statements which by no means meet with ap- proval now. In their interpretations, therefore, we must carefully note what they really hand down respecting the faith or what is closely con- nected with it, and what they set forth with unanimous accord ; for, as St. Thomas holds, " in matters which are not of faith the saints could, like ourselves, have different opinions." In another passage St. Thomas also most wisely observes : " To me it appears safer that views respecting which philosophers have held a common opinion, and which are not op- posed to our faith, should neither be affirmed as dogmas of faith, although they are sometimes put forward in the name of philosophers, nor be de- nied as contrary to faith, lest the wise men of this world should be afforded an occasion of contemning the teaching of faith " (Opus, x). Although the interpreter ought to show that the points which natural scientists have by certain arguments maintained as beyond doubt are no- wise at variance with the Scriptures properly expounded, at the same time the fact should not be lost sight of that these men have sometimes claimed certitude for statements which have afterward been called in question and repudiated. If writers on physics, going beyond the con- fines of their own province, invade the domain of philosophy with pre- verse opinions, let the theological interpreter send them to the philoso- phers for refutation. It will be well to adopt the same course in reference to cognate studies, especially, history. For it is to be regretted that many laboriously investigate and bring to light the monuments of an- STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 19 tiquity, the manners and institutions of nations, and other similar testi- monies of the past, too often with the design of discovering mistakes in the sacred books, and thus weakening and damaging their authority everywhere. This is done by some with a palpably hostile disposition, and without impartiality of judgment ; and they rely on ancient secular books and documents as securely as if the suspicion of error could not be met with in them, whilst if they come across a supposed error in the books of the sacred Scripture, without duly discussing it, they refuse to accord even a like measure of credibility to them. It may happen that copyists may make certain mistakes in writing out from manuscripts, though this must not be admitted unless where it has been considered and proved ; and it may also happen that the genuine meaning of some passage may remain in doubt. In determining it the most approved rules of interpretation will be serviceable. But it would be utterly mis- chievous either to restrict inspiration to some portions of sacred Scripture or to admit that the sacred author himself had erred. Nor can we toler- ate the method of those who free themselves from difficulties of this kind by not hesitating to grant that inspiration attaches to matters of faith and morals and nothing besides, for they falsely imagine that when there is question of the truth of certain views we are not so much to search for what God has said as to consider the cause for which He has said it. For all the books which the Church has received as sacred and canonical, have been written IN THEIR ENTIRETY AND IN ALL THEIR PARTS AT THE DICTATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, and so far is it from being possible for an error to occur in what has been divinely inspired that of itself inspiration not only excludes all error but excludes and rejects it with the same necessity that renders it im- possible for God, the Supreme Truth, to be the author of any error what- soever. THIS IS THE ANCIENT AND CONSTANT BELIEF OF THE CHURCH, defined by a solemn decision of the Councils of Florence and Trent and subsequently confirmed and more expressly proclaimed at the Vatican Council, by which it was absolutely decreed that "The books of the Old and New Testaments in their entirety and in all their parts as enumerated in a decree of the same Council (of Trent) and as contained in Latin and the old Vulgate edition, are to be received as sacred and canonical. The Church regards them as sacred and canonical, not because being arranged by human diligence alone they were then approved by her authority, nor merely because they contain revelations without error, but because being written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they have God for 20 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE their author" (Sess. iii., o. ii., de revel). Accordingly, to assert that the Holy Ghost took men as instruments to write as if any thing false could have come not indeed from the first author but from the inspired writers is of no consequence whatsoever. For He, by His supernatural power, so stimulated and moved them to write, and so assisted them when writ- ing, that they properly conceived, desired to write with fidelity, and suit- ably expressed with infallible truth all those things — and only those — which He commanded ; otherwise He would not be the author of the whole of the sacred Scripture. This was always the opinion of the Fathers : " When, then," says St. Augustine, " they wrote what He pointed out and said it should by no means be asserted that He did not write, seeing that His members did what they understood from the dic- tation of the Head " (De Consensu Evangel, 1. i, c. 35). And St. Gregory the Great declares : " It is entirely superfluous to inquire who wrote these books, as the Holy Spirit is firmly believed to be their author. He wrote them who dictated when they were being written ; he was the writer who was the inspirer of the work " (Praef. in Job n. 2.) It follows that they who think anything false can be found in authentic parts of the sacred books assuredly either pervert the Catholic idea of divine in- spiration or make God Himself the author of error. So thoroughly con- vinced were all the Fathers and Doctors that Holy Writ, as set forth by the sacred writers, is entirely free from error, that they endeavored not less skilfully than religiously to reconcile and harmonize the many pas- sages which appeared to present any divergencies or contradictions (it is for the most part these passages that now form the groundwork of the objections raised in the name of the " new science ") and they unani- mously declared that these books, both in their entirety and in their parts, are equally of divine inspiration, and that God Himself having spoken through the sacred authors could set down nothing whatever foreign to truth. Let what Augustine wrote to Jerome be of force everywhere : " I acknowledge to you, my friend, that I have learned to pay to those books alone of the sacred Scriptures which are now called canonical such rever- ence and honor as to believe firmly that no error whatever was commit- ted by their authors in writing them. And if I should meet in these writings with anything that appears contrary to truth, I will come to no other conclusion than that the manuscript was wrong, or that the inter- preter did not follow what was stated, or that I myself failed to under- stand perfectly " (Ep lxxxiii. 1. et crebrius alibi). Now, to strive fully to establish the sanctity of the Bible with every aid from the deeper sci- ences is far more than can be justly expected from the skill of interpreters and theologians alone. It is to be desired also that those amongst Cath- STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 21 olics who have attained any reputation in external sciences should join and assist in this work. As in the past ability of this kind has never been so, it is not now, thank God, wanting to the Church ; and it is to be hoped that it will increase for the benefit of faith. FOR WE OUGHT TO CONSIDER NOTHING OF GREATER IMPORTANCE THAN THAT THE FAITH should have more numerous and more powerful defenders, and that they should understand the tactics of her adversaries ; and nothing could be more effective in impressing upon the masses the duty of accepting the truth than to see it publicly professed by those who have gained distinc- tion in any particular walk of life. Nay, the ill will of disparagers would quickly cease, or at least they would not dare so boldly to accuse faith of being the enemy of science if they saw the highest honor and rever- ence paid to it by distinguished scientific men. Since then, they who with their Catholicity have received from a kindly Providence this happy talent can do so much for the advantage of religion, let each, in the fierce controversy respecting those subjects which touch the Scriptures in any way, choose for himself a suitable sphere of study, and excelling in it, repel with distinction the attacks made on the sacred writings by a dishonest science. And here it is pleasant to command it deserves the action of some Catholics, who have formed societies and provided them with abundant funds, that learned men may be enabled with every possible facility to engage in and pro- mote these studies. This method of employing money is most excellent and suitable to the times: The less the hope of receiving aid from the State in such studies, the more ready and liberal should be the generos- ity of individual Catholics, so that those who have been favored by God with riches may use it for the protection of revealed truth. That efforts of this character may be conducive to the advancement of true Biblical science, let the learned rely upon the principles We have above pointed out, and let them firmly hold that God, the maker and ruler of all things, is the author of the Scriptures, and, therefore, that neither from nature nor from the monuments of history can anything be gathered that is opposed to them. If such difficulty there should seem to be, it should be carefully disposed of by bringing to bear upon it the prudent judgment of the theologians and interpreters as to the more probable and correct meaning of the passage, and by earnestly examin- ing the force of the arguments brought against it. Nor should we leave , off if even then something tells against it, for, as truth cannot be opposed to truth, it is certain that a mistake must have occurred either in the in- terpretation of the sacred words or in some part of the discussion ; if it 22 POPE LEO XIII. ON THE cannot be discovered in either of these, further patience must be exer- cised in the investigation of the meaning. For many objections, drawn from all kinds of sciences, have for a long time past been raised against the Scripture, and, being empty, have turned out worthless. In like man- ner, there are certain passages in Scripture (not properly belonging to the domain of faith or morals) which have at one time received various interpretations, and which later investigation has placed in a clearer and truer light. Time obliterates unsound views, but "truth remains and prevails forever " (III. Esdr. 4, 38). Wherefore, as nobody should assume that he rightly understands the whole of the Scripture in which August- ine acknowledged that there were many things he did not understand (ad. Januar. Ep. lv. 21), if any point should be met with too difficult to be explained, let each one adopt the prudence and moderation of the same doctor : " It is better even to be oppressed under unknown but serviceable standards than to place one's neck uselessly in the snares of error after it has been freed from the yoke of slavery in the work of in- terpretation " (De Doctr., Chr, m. 9, 18). If those who are engaged in these auxiliary labors properly and modestly FOLLOW OUR ADVICE AND INSTRUCTIONS, if in writing and teaching they direct their efforts to refuting the ene- mies of truth, and preventing the loss of faith amongst the young, then they can rejoice that they are performing a duty worthy of the sacred writings, and rendering such assistance to Catholicity as the Church rightly expects from the piety and learning of her children. Such, venerable brethren, are the instructions and cautions we deem it opportune by God's grace to impart concerning the study of the sacred Scripture. Let it be your care now to see that they are, as they should be, religiously obeyed and observed, so that the thanks due to God for having communicated the words of His wisdom to the human race may be more signally rendered, and that the results we desire may be most suc- cessfully attained, to the advantage especially of youths who are undergo- ing ecclesiastical training, and who are our most earnest care and the hope of the Church. Be instant by authority and exhortation in providing that these studies are held in due honor and prosper in the seminaries and academies subject to your jurisdiction. May they flourish happily and in the fullest measure under the direction of the Church in accordance with the wholesome teachings and examples of the Fathers and the laud- able custom of our ancestors ; and, in the course of time, may they make such progress as to be truly a support and glory for Catholic truth, which has been divinely given for the eternal salvation of the people. Finally, with a paternal love, We urge all students and ministers of STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 2$ the Church to approach the sacred writings always in a most pious and reverent disposition ; for they cannot be understood with the requisite profit unless the pride of worldly science is put aside, and zeal be culti- vated for the wisdom which is from on High. When the mind has once been applied to this study, and enlightened and strengthened by it, it will be capable, in an extraordinary degree, of detecting and avoiding the de- ceptions of human science, of recognizing genuine fruit, and of reckoning it amongst eternal possessions. Thus the soul will be greatly inflamed, and will struggle in a more eager spirit for the promotion of virtue and divine love : " Blessed are they that search His testimonies, that seek Him with their whole heart" (Ps. cxviii, 2). Now, relying on the hope of divine aid, and trusting to your pastoral zeal, We most lovingly in the Lord and as a pledge of Heavenly favors and a mark of Our special good will, impart the Apostolic Benediction to you all and to all the clergy, and people entrusted to your care. Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the 18th day of November, 1893, in the sixteenth year of Our Pontificate. LEO XIIL, POPE. THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED IN DEFENCE OF THE FAITH. THE SACRAMENTS, SACRIFICES, CEREMONIES AND OBSERVANCES OF THE CHURCH, BY WAY OF QUESTION AND ANSWER. BY THE MOST REV. DR. CHALLONER. PREFACE. THE design of the following sheets being to explain the doctrine and ceremonies of the Catholic Church, and to vindicate the same from the misrepresentations of our adversaries, the reader, whether Catholic or Protestant, may reasonably expect that I should not send him abroad into the world without taking some-notice of a late perform- ance of Dr. Conyers Middleton, entitled, A Letter from Rome Showing an Exact Conformity between Popery and Paganism; or, The Religion of the Present Romans Derived from that of their Heathen Ancestors. This being a work directly leveled against some part of the ceremonies of the Church, and having been received with great applause by many in Eng- land, so as to have passed through three editions in the space of a few years, it is to comply with so reasonable an expectation that I have de- termined to employ my preface in making some animadversions upon this letter of the doctor ; to which, though consisting of seventy pages in quarto, I hope, with the help of God, in one short sheet to give a full and satisfactory answer. The chief objections which the doctor advances against the religion of modern Rome, and upon which he grounds the parallel which he pre- tends to make between popery and paganism, are these : ist, The use of incense and perfume in churches ; 2d, The use of holy water ; 3d, The burning of lamps and candles ; 4th, Offerings, or votive gifts ; 5th, Images, which he jumbles together with the veneration of the saints ; 6th, Chapels on the wayside for the devotion of travelers, crosses, and sometimes chapels upon hills ; 7th, Processions ; 8th, Miracles, with which it seems he is very much offended wherever he meets them ; and therefore he dwells longer upon that subject than any other. All these things he pretends to discover in the religion of the old pagans, and, therefore, imagines he has a right to conclude that the modern Romans have derived their whole religion from them. Before I proceed to examine these particulars, and to answer the doc- tor's objections against them, I cannot but take notice of a piece of foul play in him, unworthy of that candor of which he makes profession, and which he acknowledges he met with in all those whom he had the honor to converse with at Rome ; which is, that having undertaken in his title page to show an exact conformity between the religion of the present Romans and that of their pagan ancestors, and in the body of his book 28 PREFACE. having more than once given the preference to the latter, yet, in draw- ing his parallel, he has been so disingenuous as to dissemble, on the one side, all the grosser superstitions of the pagans, and for the most part only to take notice of certain observances, which were no otherwise criminal than in being applied to the worship of false gods ; and, on the other side, he has quite passed over in silence the most substantial parts of the religion of the present Romans, and only caviled at some cere- monies, or matters of less importance. For, can the doctor really think that the belief of the Scripture, and of the creeds, is no part of the relig- ion of Rome ? Is not the one, true, and living God worshiped there in three persons, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost ? Do not the people universally believe in Jesus Christ ? Is not the eucharistic sacrifice offered in all their churches, in memory of His death and pas- sion ? Is not the Word of God preached amongst them ; the divine office, consisting of psalms, Scripture lessons, etc., daily sung ; the sacraments frequented, etc. ? And which of these things has been derived by the modern Romans from their heathen ancestors ? But it was not the doc- tor's purpose to take notice of any of these things ; no, not so much as even of the articles of the profession of faith, published by Pope Pius IV., which he very well knows to be the standard of what he calls popery ; and yet he has not so much as offered to show any conformity in any one of them (excepting the article of saints and their images, which he grossly misrepresents) with the doctrine or practice of the pagans. To such shifts as these are persons unhappily driven who are resolved to maintain a bad cause. But let us see what these gross superstitions are, upon which the doc- tor grounds his charge against the modern Romans, and would have his readers believe they are no better than pagans. In the first place, he in- stances the use of incense in churches ; and we may presume he is too well acquainted with the rules of rhetoric not to rank in the front some of those which he esteems his strongest arguments : so that he looks upon this- as one of the most notorious instances of heathenish supersti- tion. But has he anything to urge against it from Scripture, the only rule of a Protestant's faith ? Not a single word. On the contrary, if he had been as well read in the Scriptures as he would seem to be in the heathen poets, he would have found the use of incense in the temple of God, and that by God's own ordinance (see Exod. xxx. 7, 8 ; xl. 27 ; Levit. xvi. 12, etc.), in records of a far more ancient date than any he can produce for the use of it amongst the heathens, who in this, as in many other things, did but mimic the sacred ceremonies prescribed in the law of God. And certainly a person that has been but moderately versed in the sacred writings, will be surprised to find the use of incense ranked by the doc- PREFACE. 29 tor among the heathen rites, since it is so frequently mentioned with honor in God's holy Word ; as when the psalmist desires that his prayer may ascend as incense in the sight of God (Ps. cxli. 2) ; as when the prophet Malachi, as his words are rendered in the Protestant Bible, fore- tells, chap. i. 11, that in the church of Christ incense shall be offered in every place to God's holy name ; as when St. John, in the Revelation, chap. v. 8, and viii. 4, etc., represents to us odors and incense burning before God in the heavenly Jerusalem. For, allowing these texts to be figurative, yet we are not to suppose that the sacred penman would de- scribe to us the service, either of the militant or triumphant Church, by figures borrowed from heathenish superstition. As for what the doctor has alleged against the use of incense out of the acts of the martyrs, who chose rather to die than offer incense to false gods, and out of the law of Theodosius, which confiscates the places in which the pagans had offered incense to their deities, he could not but know that all this was utterly foreign to his purpose ; but if he had a mind to be informed of the anti- quity of the ceremonial use of incense amongst the Christians, he might have found it in the most ancient liturgies, and even in the very canons attributed to the Apostles, Can. 3. The next thing the doctor objects to as heathenish, is the use of holy water, which he pretends to derive from the heathens, because he finds in his poets that the pagans of old, on entering their temples, used to be sprinkled with water ; and he thinks he has discovered, in some scraps of old Greek verses, that there was salt mingled with this water, and, which is still a more wonderful discovery, on poring over old medals, he im- agines he has found out something not unlike a sprinkling-brush amongst the things used by the pagan priests. But what a pity it is that, amongst all these great discoveries, he has not met with any account of the heathen ever making use of " water sanctified by the word of God and prayer, in the name and by the virtue of Jesus Christ." For this is what we call holy water, and this the pagans never used. As for the rest, we find mention of holy water, that is, water sanctified for religious uses, in the most sacred records of the divine law, long before the heathens abused it to their superstition. (See Numbers xix.) And the doctor might, with full as good a grace, have proved the sacrament of baptism to be a heathenish practice, from the pagans' use of water in their tem- ples, as have alleged it against holy water, which is with us a memorial of our baptism, as that in the old law was a figure of it. As for the yearly festival, which the doctor says is celebrated with great solemnity in the month of January, and is called the Benediction of Horses, I never yet met with it in the Roman Calendar ; and though I have spent the greater part of my life abroad, I never saw nor heard of any such cere- 30 PREFACE. mony as that which he pretends is practised upon that day by the monks of St. Anthony, near St. Mary Major, in Rome. But however this be, we m.i\ hope there is nothing heathenish in this ceremony, since the doctor, who is so good a Christian, procured, though it was, as he says, at the ex- pense of eighteen pence, his own horses to be blessed by these good monks (p. 20). The third thing with which the doctor quarrels, as derived from the heathens, is the burning of lamps before the altars, and setting up wax candles to burn in the time of divine service. This, he says, was first in- troduced by the Egyptians, for which he quotes, in the margin, Clement of Alexandria, Stromat, L. I. C. 16. But this author says no such thing ; and the true original of setting up lights, or burning lamps in temples, is to be found in the law of God. (Exod. xxv., xxxvii. and xl.) And as the devil affected to have his temples, altars, priests, sacrifices, and all other things which were used in the worship of the true God, so no wonder that he succeeded in having lamps set up in his temples in imitation of those which by the law of God were appointed to burn before the sanc- tuary. The doctor, therefore, is very much mistaken when he too hastily concludes that every ceremony used by the heathens in the worship of their false gods is consequently heathenish, and as such ought to be ban- ished from the worship of the true God, since the greater part of these ceremonies were indeed borrowed by the heathens from the worship of the true God. Next to the lamps or wax lights burning before the altars, he falls upon the number of offerings or votive gifts hung up, in testimony of cures or deliverances, around the altars or shrines of the saints ; all which he takes for downright heathenism, because he finds the footsteps of the like offerings hung up in the temples of the heathens. But here let him take notice, once for all, that practices, in themselves innocent, are not rendered unlawful by having been abused by the heathens to their super- stition — and all that was heathenish in this case was the referring and dedicating these things to the honor of their false deities — and that it can- not be disagreeable to the true and living God that such as believe they have received favors from Him by the prayers of His saints, should make a public acknowledgment of it. The doctor could not but be sensible that the things to which he has hitherto objected had nothing heathenish in their nature, and that not one of them was ever condemned or prohibited by the law of God ; and therefore, since truth would furnish him with no arms in order to make out his charge of idolatry and heathenish superstition, in which he pre- tends that modern Rome equals or exceeds her pagan ancestors, he is forced to call in to his assistance misrepresentation and slander. For PREFACE. 31 what is it else but the grossest misrepresentation and downright slander, to charge the Church of Rome, as he does (p. 29), of " the finishing and last scene of genuine idolatry, in crowds of bigoted votaries prostrating themselves before some image of wood or stone, and paying divine hon- ors to an idol of their own erecting " ? The doctor should have remem- bered here what he promised in his preface, viz., to " produce," for what he should charge upon us, " such vouchers as we ourselves would allow to be authentic." Instead of which we are, it seems, upon his bare word, without either proof or witness, to believe a charge which in itself is highly improbable, and which every one that is acquainted with the doc- trine and practice of the Catholic Church knows to be absolutely false. The second Council of Nice, to which the Council of Trent refers in the decree concerning images, declares that " divine honor {latria) is not to be given to them " (Acts vii.) ; and the Council of Trent, Sess. xxv., de- clares that we are not to believe there is any divinity or virtue in them for which they are to be worshiped ; that we are not to pray to them, nor put our trust in them. And every child among us knows that if we keep with respect the images or pictures of Christ and His saints, it is not to make them our gods, as the heathens did their idols, nor to give them the honor that belongs to God ; but, by the honor we show to the memorials, to express our esteem, love and veneration for the persons represented by them, and to use them as helps to raise our thoughts and affections to heavenly things. But, to make out the easier this charge of idolatry against us, the doc- tor has made an important discovery, which he fathers upon St. Jerome — though indeed it is a brat of his own — which is, that all images of the dead are idols, and consequently are liable to all those censures which in the Scripture, in the fathers, and in the laws of Christian emperors, are pronounced against idols. An important discovery, indeed, by which it appears that, after all the pretences of his own Church to a thorough reformation, she has not yet got rid of idols, but has them everywhere standing, and new ones daily erected, in spite of the law of God ; and that not only in every private house inhabited by her children (scarcely one of which is found without some image or picture of the dead), but also in her public places, and in her very churches, out of which, though she has generally removed the images of Christ (which it is hoped the doctor will not look upon to be idols, if he believes the resurrection of his Redeemer), yet she has brought in, in their stead, the images of Moses and Aaron, who are certainly dead ; and, what is worse still, has introduced dead lions and unicorns into their sanctuary, in place of the cross of Christ ; though this also of late has been erected upon the top of the chief church of the kingdom, surrounded with many others of the doctor's idols, to the great 32 PREFACE. offence of the Puritans, who are the only people that will thank the doc- tor for the pains he has been at to furnish them with arms against the Established Church ; though it is to be feared, if they take for good the doctor's definition of an idol, their zeal against idolatry may raise some scruple in them with relation to the images of kings deceased, which they carry in their pockets, or hoard up in their bags, and which, it is thought, they worship more than the living God, or any deity whatsoever. What, then, is the real difference between idols (Lat. simulacra) and those images or pictures which we have in our churches ? It is this, that idols, according to the ecclesiastical use of the word adopted by the holy fathers and all antiquity, are only such images as are set up for gods and honored as such ; or in which some divinity or power is believed to reside by their worshipers, who accordingly offer prayers and sacrifice to them, and put their trust in them. Such were the idols of the Gentiles, and such were those images of the dead of which St. Jerome speaks (in cap. 37, Isaia), viz., the gods of those nations which Sennacherib and his prede- cessors, the Assyrian kings, had destroyed ; which, having been no better than the images of her doubly dead, were by Sennacherib and his servants foolishly and impiously compared to the true and living God. So that it is true enough that these idols were images of the dead, which is all that St. Jerome asserts ; * but it is not true that all images of the dead are idols, which is what Dr. Middleton would infer. I shall only add, with relation to St. Jerome, that he expressly affirms that the saints are not to be called dead, but living ; and therefore their images are out of the question. (E. contra Vigilant. " Sancti non appellantur mortui sed viventes." ) " But our notion of the idolatry of modern Rome," says the doctor, p. 31, " will be much heightened still and confirmed, as oft as we follow them into those temples and to those very altars which were built origi- nally and dedicated by their heathen ancestors, the old Romans, to the honor of their pagan deities, where we shall hardly see any other altera- tion than the shrine of some old hero filled now by the meaner statue of some modern saint." There is another trifling difference, which he does not think worth while to take notice of ; which is, that all these temples are now dedicated to the service of the true and living God ; that the Word of God is there preached, the divine praises sung, and the great eu- charistic sacrifice, the memorial of the passion of Jesus Christ, daily cele- brated ; whereas, before, they were dedicated to the worship of the devil. But, besides this, the doctor cannot be ignorant that the modern Roman altars are not the same as those the heathens made use of for their sacri- fices ; that the image of Christ crucified is placed upon all our altars, not to be worshiped as a god, like those idols, which he calls shrines of his old * Qua idola intelligimus imagines morluorum : in cap. 37. Isaia. " PREFACE. 33 heroes, but as a memorial of Christ's passion ; that the churches, though called by the names of the saints whose relics are there deposited, or memory celebrated, are not erected to the saints, much less to their images, but to the God of the saints ; that our devotion to the saints goes no far- ther than the desiring their prayers ; and that their pictures or images are no more with us than their memorials, which we respect for their sakes. But the doctor, it seems, is offended that the Pantheon and other temples of the pagans have been changed into churches of the blessed Virgin and the saints, and thinks that the old possessors (the heathen deities) had a better title to them than the Mother of Christ, or His mar- tyrs; and declares that he should be much more inclined to pay his devo- tion to a Romulus or Antonine than to the illustrious martyrs, Lawrence or Damian, pp. 33, 34. I suppose, by the same rule, he must take it very ill to find so many popish churches, nigher home, changed into Protestant temples, without so much as taking the pains to newly christen them ; so that, without going to Rome, we find a Lawrence, an Alban, and a great number of other Romish saints in the very heart of London. For since he openly declares that the pagan deities had a juster title to religious veneration than any of these saints, consequently a church of St. Law- rence must needs give him more offence than a temple of Bacchus. But some may possibly apprehend, from the way the doctor speaks of the martyrs of Christ, that he is no greater friend to Christianity in gen- eral than he is to popery ; for though some ancient heretics have objected of old to the Catholic Church, as he now does, that we had but changed our idols, in worshiping the saints instead of the pagan deities (which was the objection of Vigilantius and of Faustus the Manichaean, as we learn from the writings of St. Jerome against Vigilantius, and of St. Au- gustine against Faustus, L. 20, C. 21), yet no one who pretended to the name of Christian ever ventured to prefer the pagan deities to the martyrs of Christ. This was an extravagance that none but Julian the Apostate was capable of, from whom the doctor has copied it. (See Cyril of Alex- andria, i. 6, contra Julianum.) As to what he tells us upon hearsay, that some of the images of the saints were originally statues of the pagan deities, and others designed by the sculptors or painters for the representation of their own mistresses, till he brings some better authority for it than a " 'tis said," we shall not think it worth our while to take any notice of it. For if, in things that he positively asserts, he makes no scruple of advancing notorious un- truths — as when he tells us, p. 33, that many of the Romish saints were never heard of but in our legends, and that many more have no other merit than that of raising rebellions in defence of their idols, and throw- ing whole kingdoms into convulsions for the sake of some gainful impos- 34 PREFACE. ture — if, I say, in such things as these, which he affirms to be certain, he advances such falsehoods, who will venture to believe what he tells only on hearsay ? I lis pretending to derive the name of St. Orestes from Mount Soracte is ridiculous beyond measure ; and his suspecting that some who are hon- ored as martyrs were originally no other than the heathen deities, by reason of some affinity which he discovers in their name, is a groundless suspicion, as any one will be convinced that is not entirely a stranger to ancient Church history, in which we find, by innumerable instances, that as a great part of the primitive saints and martyrs had been converts from paganism, so a great many of their names had no small affinity with those of the heathen deities, and sometimes were the very same, as in the New Testament itself we find a Dionysius (Acts xvii. 34), which is the Greek name of Bacchus, and a Hermes (Rom. xvi. 14), which is the name of Mercury. As to what he writes of Julia Evodia, no such saint was ever honored in our Church, much less any St. Viar; so that those pretty stones, like the inscriptions that he alleges, which are the works of private persons without any authority, are not worthy our notice, any more than Usher's conjecture concerning St. Amphibalus, or Mabillon's concerning St. Ver- onica ; for, allowing them both to be as well grounded as the doctor can desire, it will only follow that there has been a mistake in the name of the ecclesiastic harbored by St. Alban, and that of the pious woman on whose handkerchief our Saviour imprinted the image of His face. But, after all, neither the one nor the other was ever canonized by the Church, nor are their names found in the Roman martyrology. I cannot comprehend why the doctor, p. 44, should bring in the adora- tion of the Host, which he calls the principal part of worship, and the distinguishing article of faith in the creed of modern Rome, of which he confesses he cannot find " the least resemblance or similitude in any part of the pagan worship," unless it were to disprove that exact conformity, which in his title page he has promised to prove, betwixt popery and paganism ; or rather, to make way for alleging against us the authority of Tully, which he prefers before that of the Apostles and evangelists, of the absurdity of believing that to be God which we receive under the sacramental veils : an absurdity which the doctor could have no reason for objecting to, had he not forgotten his own catechism, which informed him that "the body and blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." For if the faithful, in this system, may not be said to feed upon their God, neither can they in the system of transubstantiation. But now the doctor is pleased to leave the churches, and to make an PREFACE. 35 excursion into the country, " the whole face of which," as he is pleased to tell us, p. 44, "has the visible character of paganism upon it;" because of the little chapels which frequently occur upon the way, where travel- ers often kneel down to say a prayer ; and because of the many crosses everywhere erected. And who will dare presume after this to open his mouth in favor of popery, when he understands that the doctor has dem- onstrated, by what he has discovered in his travels, that all papists are pagans, because their very travelers are so superstitious as sometimes to kneel down and say a prayer before a country chapel, where they find some memorial of Christ's passion ; and because they have everywhere erected the antichristian standard — the cross of Christ ? But what is still more heathenish in the doctor's eyes, is, that these little oratories or crosses are sometimes under trees, and sometimes upon the tops of hills, which he ingeniously interprets to be the high places condemned in the Old Testament. But the truth is, and all papists are convinced of it, that a place is neither better nor worse for divine worship because it is on a high or a low place, near trees or at a distance from them : and what was condemned of old in the high places mentioned in the Scripture, was not their being upon hills, for God is no less the God of the mountains than of the valleys, and His temple in Jerusalem was built upon a hill, viz., Mount Moriah (2 Chron. iii. 1) ; but they were condemned because the worship there exhibited was either heathenish or schismatical ; that is, it was either given to strange gods, or, if to the God of Israel, was given contrary to His appointment, who had forbidden sacrifice to be offered in any other place but in His temple at Jerusalem. (See Deut. xii. 5, 11, 13, From the country the doctor returns again to the towns, and there quarrels with the images and altars which he pretends to meet with every- where, and which he takes to be visible marks of paganism : but were the old pagans to come to life again, and to understand whose images these are, viz., of Jesus Christ, of His blessed Mother, of His Apostles and martyrs, by whose preaching, labors and blood, pagan superstition was banished out of the world, and who upon that account are now hon- ored, they would be far from being of the doctor's mind, and would look upon these images as evident proofs of these people being Christians, who show so much regard to Christ and His saints. But in the towns the doctor is also offended with processions, which, as he is pleased to say, are seen on every festival of the Virgin, or other Romish saint ; which he supposes to be the Thusiai kai pornpai kai choreia, (sacrifices, pomps and dances), mentioned by Plutarch in Numa, p. 16, and concludes that these processions must needs be heathenish, the more, be- cause he finds in Apuleius an account of something like a procession per- 36 PREFACE. formed by the heathens in honor of their gods. But the doctor might have found an account of a religious procession in an author much more ancient than Apuleius, amongst the worshipers of the true God, if he would have consulted 2 Samuel vi. I fear the doctor has no great opinion of this kind of monuments of antiquity ; the less, because he finds herein frequent mention of miracles, which are things he can never digest, wherever he meets them. But the pagans, it seems, pretended to miracles, and therefore the Romish religion, which pretends to miracles, must needs be paganish. It is a pity the doctor did not here speak out in favor of his friends the free-thinkers, and argue thus : " The pagans pretended to build their re- ligion upon miracles ; therefore, the Jewish religion of old, and the Chris- tian now, both which appeal to miracles as their first and chief founda- tion, are no better grounded than paganism." But even in the instances which the doctor alleges (and we may be sure he has picked out such as he thought most to his purpose), it is easy to take notice that the mira- cles pretended to by the pagans had no probable grounds to support them, no number of witnesses to attest them, no contemporary writers to vouch for them, but, as in the case of the victory supposed to have been gained over the Latins by the assistance of Castor and Pollux, all was built upon a popular opinion, or the testimony of one or two that pre- tended to have seen those deities ; which was greedily swallowed by the general and senate as a token of the divine favor, who thereupon erected a temple to them. Whereas, in the case which the doctor supposes to be parallel to this, of the victories gained against the infidels in the holy wars by the assistance of the martyrs, these saints, as it appears by what he has in the margin, were seen by both the Christian and the infidel army : and the history of it was written, as we learn from the doctor himself, by an eye-witness. But whether the miracles, which he has pitched upon for the subject of his ridicule, be true or false, there is nothing at least heathenish in them, and, consequently, nothing that can be of any service to him to make out the exact conformity, which he pretends to demonstrate, be- tween popery and paganism. In the meantime the doctor is not ignorant that it is not upon such things that we lay any stress, as is the case with most of those to which he objects ; neither have we any need to appeal to them ; for God has been pleased in every age to work far more evident miracles in His Church by the ministry of His saints : in raising the dead to life, in curing the blind and the lame, in casting out devils, in healing in a moment inveterate diseases and the like stupendous works of His power, attested by the most authentic monuments, and very frequently (as may be seen in the acts of the canonization of the saints) by the de- PREFACE. 2,7 positions of innumerable eye-witnesses, examined upon oath, and by the public notoriety of the facts ; which kind of miracles, so authentically attested, will be to all ages a standing evidence that the Church, in whose communion they have all been wrought, is not that idolatrous Church which the doctor pretends, but the true spouse of Christ, which alone has inherited in all ages that promise which her Lord made at His departure (St. John xiv. 12, 13) : " Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do." And here I might take my leave of the doctor, for what he adds, p. 65, etc., of deriving the church sanctuaries from the asylum opened by Romulus to receive fugitives, the authority of the Pope from the pagan pontiff, and the religious orders from the colleges of the augurs, Falii, etc., is so very weak that it would be trifling away my time to take any notice of it. But before we part I must put the doctor and his friends in mind that some people will naturally infer, from what he imagines he has so fully proved, viz., that popery and paganism stand upon the same bottom, and that one is no better than the other ; they will infer, I say, that the orders which his Church pretends to have by succession from the Church of Rome, are no more valid than if they proceeded from an Indian brahman or a Mohammedan dervise (Chandler's serm., p. 36) ; and by the self-same way of arguing, by which he pretends to demon- strate an exact conformity between the religion of the present Romans and that of their heathen ancestors, these same gentlemen will, with a much fairer show of probability, prove an exact conformity between the religion by law established and popery. The consequence of which will be, if the doctor be not mistaken in his parallel, that English Protestancy is no better than heathen idolatry. But that I may not seem to say this without reason, let us suppose that Chandler, or some other of the same kidney, should take into his head to charge the Church by law established with popery, and to this purpose should heap together all that he could of those ceremonies, observ- ances, etc., which Protestants have retained from the old religion, and in one of his learned declamations deliver himself as follows to his dis- senting auditory : " Beware, my dearly beloved, of those people that call themselves the Church of England ; for their religion is wholly derived from that of their Romish ancestors, and has an exact conformity, or uniformity rather, with popery, and, consequently, with paganism, from which, as Dr. Mid- dleton has lately demonstrated, the papists have borrowed their whole religion. Now mark ye, my beloved, how plainly I shall prove that 38 PREFACE. these people who call themselves Protestants have taken their whole re- ligion from the papists : 44 1 st. Their churches are the very same which were originally built by their popish ancestors, and are still dedicated to the same popish saints as formerly they were, though one of their own divines plainly tells them they might better have dedicated them to Bacchus or Venus. Now, of all the honors that the papists have ever given to their saints, this of dedi- cating temples to them was certainly the greatest — far greater than that of kissing their relics or desiring their prayers ; and, consequently, if the Church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to Christ. "2d. In their churches they have altars, too, like the papists ; and what should altars do there, if they did not offer sacrifice like the papists ? To these altars they cringe and bow ; which is giving religious honor, which God has appropriated to Himself, to insensible creatures, and therefore is no better than downright idolatry. In many places they have over these altars images and pictures, like the papists, in spite of the second commandment. And though they are pleased to tell us that they worship them not, yet what can we think when we see them perpet- ually bowing down to that which is indeed no more than an image, viz., the name of Jesus, which, of all images of Christ, has the least of solid substance in it, as being only formed in the air by the empty sounds of the two syllables of His name ? But what respect they have for images we may judge by that which they show to the cross, which they have lately erected in the highest place of the capital city of the kingdom ; and so much are they bewitched with the notion of this standard of popery that they look upon none rightly baptized without being marked with the sign of the cross. "3d. Their liturgy or common prayer is wholly popish, and at the best but a bungling imitation of the Romish mass : from this they have bor- rowed their collects, lessons, etc., and a great part of what they call their communion service. Their orders of bishops, priests and deacons, both as to the name and thing, were taken from Rome ; and from thence they all pretend to derive their succession. Their way of ordaining ministers re- sembles that of the papists, and is equally blasphemous in their bishops pretending to give the Holy Ghost, with the power of forgiving and re- taining sins. Their surplices are but the rags of the whore of Babylon. Their organs and music in their churches, their singing boys, their an- thems and " Te Deums," are all popish inventions. "4th. Their Church government by archbishops and bishops, their spiritual courts, their dignities of deans, archdeacons, prebendaries, etc., PREFACE. 39 are all visibly derived from the papists ; and, like the papists, their bish- ops pretend to give confirmation, in which they are the less excusable, because in their very articles of religion (Art. 25) they declare that "con- firmation comes of a corrupt following of the Apostles." The same thing they declare with regard to the popish sacrament of penance or priestly absolution, and yet have retained it in their ' Order for the visitation of the sick ;' where they prescribe auricular confession and a form of abso- lution the same in substance as that used in the Church of Rome. '"_ 5th. Like the papists they pay an idolatrous worship to the ele- ments of bread and wine, to which they kneel at the time of communion ; and their declaring (contrary to the express words of their catechism) that they do not believe the body and blood of Christ to be there does but aggravate their guilt beyond that of the papists, because these believe that in the sacrament they worship Christ, whereas our pretended Prot- estants believe they have nothing there but bread and wine. " 6th. They observe days like the papists in honor of the saints and angels : which, if it be not religious worship, I know not what is. They pray to be defended by the angels in their collect for Michaelmas day, which is rank popery. Their calendar is full of popish saints. They pre- scribe fasts and abstinence like the papists, and from them have taken into their books the fasts of Lent, vigils, ember-days and Fridays : though, to give them their due, this part of popery, for a long time, has been found nowhere but in their books. ''In fine, their godfathers and godmothers in baptism, their churching of women after child-bearing, their whole order of matrimony, their con- secration of churches, their anointing of kings, and such like observances, are no better than popery ; and, in a word, the whole face of their religion, both in town and country, is an exact resemblance of that of their popish forefathers. And consequently, since popery and paganism stand upon a level, I cannot but conclude that English Protestancy is nearly allied to paganism. For whilst we see these pretended Protestants worshiping at this day in the same temples, at the same altars, sometimes before the same images, and always with the same liturgy and many of the same cere- monies as the papists did, they must have more charity, as well as skill in distinguishing, than I pretend to, who can absolve them from the same crime of superstition and idolatry with their popish ancestors," (Dr. Middleton, pp. 70, 71.) So far the Nonconformist, agreeably to the copy which the doctor has •set him in his parallel between popery and paganism. Now this kind of rhetoric, I am persuaded, whatever effect it might have with regard to dis- senters, would excite no other emotions in the minds of Church Protes- tants than those of indignation or contempt ; and the same would be their 40 PREFACE. disposition with regard to Dr. Middleton's performance, if they would make use of the same weights and measures in our case as in their own. I shall add no more but that I cannot but apprehend that the doctor, in pretending to impeach us of paganism, has impugned the known truth, a truth so evident that, notwithstanding the violent humor of Luther, and all his bitter declamations against us, yet he could not help acknowledging, in his book against the Anabaptists, " That under the papacy are many good Christian things ; yea, all that is good in Christianity ; and that Protestants had it from thence. I say, moreover," says he, " that under the papacy is true Christianity — even the very kernel of Christianity." So far the father and apostle of the Reformation ; who, whilst he is forced to grant that we have the very kernel of Christianity, has, I fear, kept nothing for himself but the shell. If the doctor, in quality of one of his children, has inherited any part of this treasure, I do not envy him the in- heritance, but shall leave him in the quiet possession of it. THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED IN DEFENCE OF THE FAITH. THE SACRAMENTS, SACRIFICES, CEREMONIES AND OBSERVANCES OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER I. OF THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. Q. Why do you treat of the sign of the cross before you begin to speak of the sacraments ? A. Because this holy sign is made use of in all the sacraments, to give us to understand that they all have their whole force and efficacy from the cross, that is, from the death and passion of Jesus Christ. " What is the sign of Christ," says St. Augustine,* " which all know, but the cross of Christ ? which sign, if it be not applied to the foreheads of the be- lievers, to the water with which they are baptized, to the chrism where- with they are anointed, to the sacrifice with which they are fed, none of these things are duly performed." Q. But did the primitive Christians only make use of the sign of the cross in the administration of the sacraments ? A. Not only then, but also upon all other occasions. u At every step," says the ancient and learned Tertullian,f "at every coming in and going out, when we wash, when we sit down at table, when we light a candle, when we go to bed — whatsoever conversation employs us, we imprint on our foreheads the sign of the cross." Q. What is the meaning of this frequent use of the sign of the cross ? A. It is to show that we are not ashamed of the cross of Christ ; it is to make an open profession of our believing in a crucified God ; it is to help us to bear always in mind His death and passion, and to nourish thereby in our souls the three divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Q. How are these three divine virtues exercised in the frequent use of the sign of the cross ? * Tract. 229, in Joan. \ L. de Corona Milit. c. 3. 42 THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. A. i st, Faith is exercised, because the sign of the cross brings to our remembrance the chief article of the Christian belief, viz., the Son of God dying for us upon the cross. 2d, our hope is thereby daily nourished and increased, because this holy sign continually reminds us of the passion of Christ, on which is grounded all our hope for mercy, grace, and salvation. 3d, charity, or the love of God, is excited in us by that sacred sign, by rep- resenting to us the love which God has shown us in dying upon the cross for us. Q. In what manner do you make the sign of the cross ? A. In blessing ourselves we form the sign of the cross by putting our right hand to the forehead, and so drawing, as it were, a line down to the breast or stomach, and then another line crossing the former from the left shoulder to the right ; and the words that we pronounce at the same time are these : " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" by which we make a solemn profession of our faith in the blessed Trinity. But in blessing other persons or things, we form the cross in the air, with the right hand extended toward the thing we bless. Q. Have you any thing more to add in favor of the cross, and the use of signing ourselves with the sign of the cross ? A. Yes. The cross is the standard of Christ, and is called by our Lord Himself (St. Matt. xxiv. 30) "The sign of the Son of Man." It is the badge of all good Christians, represented by the letter Tau* ordered to be set as a mark upon the foreheads of those that were to escape the wrath of God. (Ezekiel ix. 4.) It was given by our Lord to Constantine, the first Christian emperor, as a token and assurance of victory, when he and his whole army, in their march against the tyrant Maxentius, saw a cross formed of pure light above the sun, with this inscription, " £n touto nika" (By this conquer) ; which account the historian Eusebius, in his first book of the Life of Constantine, declares he had from the emperor's own mouth. To which we may add that the sign of the cross was used of old by the holy fathers as an invincible buckler against the devil, and as a powerful means to dissipate his illusions, and that God has often made it an instrument in their hands of great and illustrious miracles, of which there are innumerable instances in ancient Church history, and in the writings of the fathers, which it would be too tedious here to recount. * St. Jerome upon Ezek. ix. BY OUR FAITH WE ARE SAVED. THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 43 CHAPTER II. OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. Q. What do you mean by a sacrament ? A. An outward sign or ceremony, of Christ's institution, by which grace is given to the soul of the worthy receiver. Q. What are the necessary conditions for a thing to be a sacrament ? A. These three: ist. It must be a sacred sign, and consequently, as to the outward performance, it must be visible or sensible. 2d. This sacred sign must have annexed unto it a power of communicating grace to the soul. 3d. This must be by virtue of the ordinance or institution of Christ. Q. How do you, then, prove that baptism is a sacrament, since the Scripture nowhere calls it so ? A. Because it has these three conditions : ist. It is an outward visible sign, consisting in washing with water, with the form of words prescribed by Christ. 2d. It has a power of communicating grace to our souls, in the way of a new birth ; whence it is called by the Apostle (Tit. iii. 5.) : " The laver or washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." 3d. We have the ordinance and institution of Christ (St. Matt, xxviii. 19) : *! Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And (St. John iii. 5) : " Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the king- dom of God." Q. In what manner must baptism be adminstered, so as to be valid ? A. It must be administered in true natural water, with this or the like form of words, " I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; " which words ought to be pronounced at the same time as the water is applied to the person that is baptized, and by the same minister, who ought to have the intention of doing what the Church does. Q. What if the words, "I baptize thee," or any one of the names of the three persons, should be left out ? A. In that case it would be no baptism. Q. What if the baptism should be administered in rose water, or any of the like artificial waters ? A. It would be no baptism. Q. Ought baptism to be administered by dipping, or by pouring of the water, or by sprinkling with the water ? A. It may be administered validly in either of these ways ; but the 44 THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. custom of the Church is to administer this sacrament either by dipping- in the water, which is used in the east, or by pouring of the water upon the person baptized, which is more customary in these parts of Christen- dom. Moreover, it is the custom in all parts of the Catholic Church, and has been so from the Apostles' days, to dip or pour three times at the names of the three divine persons ; though we do not look upon this as so essential that the doing otherwise would render the baptism invalid. Q. What think you of those who administer baptism so slightly that it is doubtful whether it may in any sense be called an ablution or wash- ing : as for instance, those who administer it only with a fillip of a wet finger ? A. Such as these expose themselves to the danger of administering no baptism. Q. What do you think of baptism administered by heretics or schis- matics ? A. The Church receives their baptism, if they observe the Catholic matter and form ; that is, if they baptize with true natural water, and have the intention of doing what the Church does, pronouncing at the same time these words, " I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Q. What think you of baptism administered with the due form of words, but without the sign of the cross ? A. The omission of this ceremony does not render the baptism invalid. Q. What is your judgment of the baptism said to be administered by some modern Arians, " In the name of the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Ghost"? A. Such a corruption of the form makes the baptism null and invalid* Q. What is the doctrine of the Church as to baptism administered by a lay man or woman ? A. If it be attempted without necessity, it is a criminal presumption ; though even then the baptism is valid, and is not to be reiterated : but in case of necessity, when a priest cannot be had, and a child is in imminent danger of death, baptism may not only validly, but also lawfully, be ad- ministered by any person whatsoever. In which case a cleric, though only in lesser orders, is to be admitted preferably to a layman, and a man preferably to a woman, and a Catholic preferably to a heretic. Q. How do you prove that infants may be baptized who are not capable of being taught or instructed in the faith ? A. I prove it, ist, by a tradition which the Church has received from the Apostles,* and practiced in all ages ever since. Now, as none were ♦St. Irenaeus, i. ii. c. 39. Origcn, 1, 5, in c. 6, ed. Rom. St. Cyprian, Ep. ad Fidum. St. Chrysos- tom, Horn. ad. Neophytos. St. Augustine, 1, 10. de. Gen. c. 23, etc. THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 45 more likely or better qualified than the Apostles to understand the true meaning of the commission given them by their Master to baptize all na- tions, so none were more diligent than they to execute faithfully this com- mission according to His meaning, and to teach their disciples to do the same. (St. Matt, xxviii. 20.) So that what the Church has received by tra- dition from the Apostles and their disciples, was undoubtedly agreeable to the commission of Christ. 2d. I prove it by comparing together two texts of Scripture, one of which declares that without baptism no one can enter into the kingdom of heaven (St. John iii. 5) : "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The other text declares that infants are capable of this kingdom (St. Luke xviii. 16): " Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God : " and consequently they must be capable of baptism. 3d. Circumcision in the old law corresponded to baptism in the new law, and was a figure of it. (Col. ii. 11, 12.) But circumcision was ad- ministered to infants (Gen. xvii.) ; therefore baptism in like manner is to be administered to infants. 4th. We read in Scripture of whole families being baptized by St. Paul. (Acts xvi. 15, 33 ; Cor. i. 16.) Now it is probable that in so many whole families there were some infants. 5th. As infants are not capable of helping themselves by faith and repentance, were they not capable of being helped by the sacrament of baptism they could have no share in Christ and no means to be delivered from original sin, and consequently almost one-half of mankind, dying before the use of reason, must inevitably perish, if infants were not to be baptized. 6th. If infant baptism were invalid, the gates of hell would have long since prevailed against the Church ; yea, for many ages there would have been no such thing as Christians upon earth : since, for many ages before the Anabaptists arose, all persons had been baptized in their infancy, which baptism, if it were null, they were no Christians, and consequently there was no Church. Where, then, was that promise of Christ (St. Matt. xvi. 19.) ? " Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." And (St. Matt, xxviii. 20) : " Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Besides, if infant baptism be null, the first preachers of the Anabaptists had never received baptism, or had received it from those who never had been baptized. A likely set of men for bringing back God's truth ban- ished from the world, who had not so much as received the first badge or character of a Christian ; and who, so far from having any orders or mission, had not been so much as baptized. 46 THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. Q. How do you prove, against the Quakers, that all persons ought to be baptized ? A. From the commission of Christ (St. Matt, xxviii. 19): "Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" from the general sentence of our Lord (St. John iii. 5) : " Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ;" from the practice of the Apostles, and of the first Christians, who were all baptized. Thus we read (Acts ii. 38), with relation to the first converts to Christianity at Jerusalem, when they asked of the Apostles what they should do, that " Peter said unto them, Do penance, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ." And (ver. 41) : "Then they therefore that received his word were bap- tized," etc. Thus we read of the Samaritans converted by Philip (Acts viii. 12, 15), that "they were baptized, both men and women: and that Simon (Magus) himself also believed, and was baptized," as was also the eunuch of Queen Candace, vers. 36, 38. Thus we find Paul baptized by Ananias, Acts ix. 18 ; Cornelius and his friends by order of St. Peter, Acts x. 47, 48; Lydia and her household by St. Paul, Acts xvi. 15, etc. In fine, from the perpetual belief and practice of the whole Church ever since the Apostles' days, which in all ages and all nations has ever admin- istered baptism in water to all her children, and never looked upon any to be Christians till they were baptized. Now, "if a person will not hear the church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican." (St. Matt, xvii.) Q. How do you prove from Scripture that the Apostles gave baptism in water ? A. From Acts viii. 36, 38 : " See here is water," said the eunuch to St. Philip, " what does hinder me to be baptized ? . . . and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him." And Acts x. 47, 48 : " Can any man forbid water," said St. Peter, " that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord : " where we see that even they who received the Holy Ghost, and consequently had been baptized by the Spirit, were, nevertheless, commanded to be baptized in water. Hence St. Paul (Eph. v. 25,-29) tells us that " Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water, in the word of life." And Heb. x. 22 : " Let us draw near with a true heart . . . having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water." Q. What are the effects of the sacrament of baptism ? A. 1 st. It washes away original sin, in which we were all born by THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 47 reason of the sin of our first father Adam. 2d. It remits all actual sins, which we ourselves have committed (in case we have committed any before baptism), both as to the guilt and pain. 3d. It infuses the habit of divine grace into our souls, and makes us the adopted children of God. 4th. It gives us a right and title to the kingdom of heaven. 5th. It im- prints a character or spiritual mark in the soul. 6th. In fine, it lets us into the Church of God, and makes us children and members of the Church. Q. How do you prove that all sins are remitted in baptism ? A. From Acts ii. 38 : " Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." Acts xxii. 16 : "Arise and be baptized," says Ananias to Paul, "and wash away thy sins [in the Greek, "be washed from thy sins"], calling upon the name of the Lord." Ezek. xxxvi. 25 : "I will pour clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness." Hence, in the Nicene creed, we "con- fess one baptism unto the remission of sins." Q. May not a person obtain the remission of his sins and eternal sal- vation, without being actually baptized ? A. In two cases he may. The first is, when a person not yet baptized, but heartily desiring baptism, is put to death for the faith of Christ, before he can have this sacrament administered to him ; for such a one is bap- tized in his own blood. The second case is, when a person that can by no means procure the actual administration of baptism, has an earnest desire of it, joined with a perfect love of God and repentance of his sins, and dies in this disposition ; for this is called the baptism of the Holy Ghost {Baptismus Flaminis). Q. From whence has baptism the power of conferring grace, and wash- ing away our sins ? A. From the institution of Christ, and in virtue of His blood, passion, and death ; from whence also all the other sacraments have their efficacy. For there is no obtaining mercy, grace, or salvation, but through the pas- sion of Jesus Christ. Q. In what manner must a person that is come to the years of dis- cretion, prepare himself for the sacrament of baptism ? A. By faith and repentance ; and therefore it is necessary that he be, first, well instructed in the Christian doctrine, and that he firmly believe all the articles of the Christian faith. 2d. That he be heartily sorry for all his sins, firmly resolving to lead a good Christian life, to renounce all sin- ful habits, and make full satisfaction to all whom he has any way injured. Q. But what if a person should be baptized without being in these dis- positions ? A. In that case he would receive the sacrament and character of bap- tism, but not the grace of the sacrament nor the remission of his sins, 48 THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. which he cannot obtain till by a sincere repentance he detests and re- nounces all his sins. Q. Is it necessary for a person to go to confession before he receives the sacrament of baptism ? A. No, it is not ; because the sins committed before baptism are washed away by baptism, and not by the sacrament of penance ; and therefore there is no need of confessing them. Q. What think you of those who put off for a lung time their children's baptism ? A. I think they are guilty of a sin, in exposing them to the danger of dying without baptism : since, as daily experience ought to convince them, young children are so quickly and so easily snatched away by death. CHAPTER III. OF THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM, AND THE MANNER OF ADMINISTERING THIS SAC- RAMENT IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Q. Why does the Church.make use of so many ceremonies in baptism ? A. i st. To render thereby this mystery more venerable to the people. 2d. To make them understand the effects of this sacrament, and what the obligations are which they contract in this sacrament. Q. Are the ceremonies of baptism very ancient ? A. They are all of them very ancient, as may be demonstrated from the writings of the holy fathers ; and, as we know no beginning of them, we have reason to conclude that they come from apostolical tradition. Q. In what places does the Church administer the sacrament of bap- tism ? A. Regularly speaking (excepting the case of necessity), she does not allow baptism to be administered anywhere but in the churches that have fonts ; the water of which, by apostolical tradition, is solemnly blessed every year on the vigils of Easter and Whitsunday. Q. What is the meaning of having godfathers and godmothers in bap- tism ? A. i st. That they may present to the Church the person that is to be baptized,* and may be witnesses of his baptism. 2d. That they may an- swer in his name, and be sureties for his performance of the promises which they make for him. Q. What is the duty of godfathers and godmothers ? A. To see, as much as lies in them, that their godchildren be brought THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. 49 up in the true faith, and in the fear of God ; that they be timely instructed in the whole Christian doctrine, and that they make good those engage- ments which they have made in their name. Q. May all sorts of persons be admitted for godfathers and god- mothers ? A. No : but only such as are duly qualified for discharging the obli- gations of a godfather or godmother. Upon which account none are to admitted that are not members of the Catholic Church ; none whose lives are publicly scandalous ; none who are ignorant of the Christian doctrine, •etc. {Rit. Rom?) Q. How many godfathers and godmothers may a person have in the Catholic Church ? A. The Council of Trent, Sess. xxiv. chap. 2, orders that no one should liave any more than one godfather and one godmother ; that the spiritual kindred which the child and its parents contract with the godfathers and godmothers, which is an impediment to marriage, may not be extended to too many persons. Q. In what order or manner does the Catholic Church proceed in the administration of baptism ? A. 1 st. The priest, having asked the name of the person who is to be baptized (which ought not to be any profane or heathenish name, but the name of some saint, by whose example he may be excited to a holy life, and by whose prayers he may be protected), inquires of him, "N., what dost thou demand of the Church of God ? " To which the person himself, if at age, or the godfather and godmother for him, answers, " Faith :" by which is meant not the bare virtue, by which we believe what God teaches, but the whole body of Christianity, as comprehending both belief and practice ; into which the faithful enter by the gate of baptism. The priest goes on and asks, ** What does faith give thee ? " Ans. " Life everlasting." Priest. " If, then, thou wilt enter into life, keep the com- mandments ; thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind ; and thy neighbor as thy- self." After this, the priest blows three times upon the face of the person who is to be baptized, saying, " Depart out of him or her, O unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost the Comforter." This ceremony was practised by the universal Church long before St. Augustine's days, who calls it a most ancient tradition :* it is used in contempt of Satan, and to drive him away by the Holy Ghost, who is called the Spirit or breath of God. Then the priest makes the sign of the cross on the forehead and on * L. de Nuptiis, c. 18 et 29. 50 THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. the breast of the person that is to be baptized, saying, " Receive the sign of the cross upon thy forehead, and in thy heart ; receive the faith of the heavenly commandments, and let thy manners be such that thou mayest now be the temple of God." This sign of the cross upon the forehead is to give us to understand that we are to make open profession of the faith of a crucified God, and never to be ashamed of His cross ; and the sign of the cross upon the breast is to teach us that we are always to have Christ crucified in our hearts. After this there follow some prayers for the person that is to be baptized, to beg of God to dispose his soul for the grace of baptism. Then the priest blesses some salt, and puts a grain of it into the mouth of the person that is to be baptized ; by which ancient ceremony we are ad- monished to procure and maintain in our souls true wisdom and prudence, of which salt is an emblem or figure, inasmuch as it seasons and gives a relish to all things. Upon which account it was commanded in the law (Levit. iii. 13) that salt should be used in every sacrifice or oblation made to God, to whom no offering can be pleasing where the salt of discretion is wanting. We are also admonished by this ceremony so to season our souls with the grace of God as to keep them from the corruption of sin, as we make use of salt to keep things from corrupting. Then the priest proceeds to the solemn prayers and exorcisms, used of old by the Catholic Church in the administration of baptism, to cast out the devil from the soul, under whose power we are born by original sin. " I exorcise thee," says he, " O unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, »J« and of the Son, »J« and of the Holy Ghost, »J* that thou mayest go out, and depart from this servant of God, N. ; for He commands thee, O thou cursed and condemned wretch, who with His feet walked upon the sea, and stretched forth His right hand to Peter that was sinking. Therefore, O accursed devil, remember thy sentence, and give honor to the living and true God. Give honor to Jesus Christ His Son, and to the Holy Ghost, and depart from this servant of God, N. For our God and Lord Jesus Christ has vouchsafed to call him to His holy grace and bless- ing, and to the font of baptism." Then he signs the forehead with the sign of the cross, saying, " And this sign of the holy cross, which we im- print on his forehead, mayest thou, cursed devil, never dare to violate, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen." All that has been hitherto set down of the prayers and ceremonies of baptism is usually performed in the porch or entry of the church, to sig- nify that the catechumen or person that is to be baptized is not worthy to enter into the church until the devil first be cast out of his soul. But after these prayers and exorcisms the priest reaches forth the extremity of his stole to the catechumen ; or, if it be an infant, lays it upon him, THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. 5 1 and so introduces him into the church, saying, "A 7 !, come into the tem- ple of God, that thou mayest have part with Christ, unto everlasting life. Amen." Being come into the church, the priest, jointly with the party that is to be baptized, or, if it be an infant, with the godfather and godmother, recites aloud the Lord's prayer and the Apostles' creed. Then he reads another exorcism over the catechumen, commanding the devil to depart, in the name and by the power of the most blessed Trinity. After which, in imitation of Christ, who cured with His spittle the man that was deaf and dumb (St. Mark vii. 32, etc.), he wets his finger with his spittle and touches first the ears of the catechumen, saying, "Ephpheta," that is, "Be thou opened ; " then his nostrils, adding these words, " Unto the odor of sweetness. But be thou put to flight, O devil, for the judgment of God will be at hand." By which ceremony the Church instructs her catechu- mens to have their ears open to God's truth and to smell its sweetness ; and begs this grace for them. Then the priest asks the person that is to be baptized, "A 7 "., dost thou renounce Satan ? " To which the person himself, if at age, otherwise the godfather and godmother, in his name, answer, " I renounce him." The priest goes on, " And all his works ? " Ans. " I renounce them." Priest : " And all his pomps ? " Ans. " I renounce them." This solemn renunciation of Satan, and of his works and his pomps, in the receiving of baptism, is a practice as ancient as the Church itself, and in a particular manner requires our attention ; because it is a promise and vow that we make to God, by which we engage ourselves to aban- don the party of the devil, to have nothing to do with his works, that is, with the works of darkness and sin ; and to cast' away from us his pomps, that is, the maxims and vanities of the world. It is a covenant we make with God, by which we on our part promise Him our allegiance, and to fight against His enemies ; whilst He on His part promises us life everlasting if we are faithful to our engagements. But in the moment we break this solemn covenant by willful sin, we lose both the grace of baptism and all that title to an eternal inheritance which we received in baptism, together with the dignity of children of God ; and become im- mediately slaves of the devil and children of hell. After this renouncing Satan and declaring war against him (to give us to understand what kind of arms we are to procure in this spiritual conflict), the priest anoints the catechumen upon the breast and between the shoulders with holy oil, which is solemnly blessed by the bishop every year on Maundy Thursday ; which outward unction is to represent the inward anointing of the soul by divine grace, which like a sacred oil penetrates our hearts, heals the wounds of our souls, and fortifies them 52 THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. against our passions and concupiscences. Where note that the anointing of the breast is to signify the necessity of fortifying the heart with heavenly courage to act manfully and do our duty in all things ; and the anoint- ing between the shoulders is to signify the necessity of the like grace to bear and support all the adversities and crosses of this mortal life. The words which the priest uses at this juncture are, " I anoint thee with the oil of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, that thou mayest have eternal life.. Amen." Then the priest asks the catechumen, "N., dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth ? " Ans. " I believe." Priest. " Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who was born and who suffered for us ? " Ans. " I believe." Priest. " Dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the commun- ion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting ? " Ans. " I believe." Which answers are made, either by the catechumen himself, if able, or by the godfather and godmother, and imply another part of the covenant of baptism, viz., the covenant of faith, by which we oblige ourselves to a steady and sincere profession of the great truths of Christianity ; and that, not by words alone, but by the constant practice of our lives. After this the priest asks, "N., wilt thou be baptized ? " Ans. " I will." Then the godfather and godmother, both holding or touching their godchild, the priest pours the water upon his head three times in the form of a cross, or (where the custom is to dip), dips him three times, saying at the same time these words, "JV., I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Which words are pronounced in such manner, that the three pourings of the water concur with the pronouncing of the three names of the divine per- sons ; for the form is to be pronounced but once. But if there be a doubt whether the person has been baptized before or not, then the priest makes use of this form : "N., if thou art not already baptized, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Then the priest anoints the person baptized, on the top of the head in form of a cross with holy chrism, which is a compound of oil and balm, solemnly consecrated by the bishop. Which ceremony comes from apostolical tradition, and gives to understand : ist. That in baptism we are made partakers with Christ (whose name signifies Anointed), and have a share in His unction and grace. 2d. That we partake also in some manner of His dignity of king and priest, as all Christians are called by St. Peter (1 Pet. ii. 9), "A royal [or kingly] priesthood" — and therefore we are anointed in this quality as kings and priests are anointed. 3d. That we are consecrated to God by baptism, and therefore are anointed THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. 53 with holy chrism, which the Church is accustomed to make use of in anointing all those things which she solemnly consecrates to the service of God. The prayer which the priest recites on this occasion is as follows : — " May the Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has regenerated thee of water and the Holy Ghost, and who has given thee remission of all thy sins, *f« anoint thee with the chrism of salvation in the same Christ Jesus our Lord, unto life everlasting. Amen." Then the priest says, "Peace be to thee." Ans. "And with thy spirit." After which the priest puts upon the head of the person that has been baptized, a white linen cloth, commonly called the chrism, in place of the white garment with which the new Christians used formerly to be clothed in baptism, to signify the purity and innocence which we receive in baptism, and which we must take care to preserve till death. In put- ting on this white linen, the priest says, " Receive this white garment, which thou mayest carry unstained before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life. Amen." Then he puts a lighted candle into the hand of the baptized, or of the godfather, saying, " Receive this burning light, and keep thy baptism without reproof ; observe the commandments of God, that when our Lord shall come to His nuptials, thou mayest meet Him, together with all the saints, in the heavenly court, and mayest have life eternal, and mayest live for ever and ever. Amen." Which ceremony alludes to the parable of the ten virgins (St. Matt, xxv.), who*" took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom : " and admonishes us to keep the light of faith ever burning by the light of good works ; that whensoever our Lord shall come, we may be found with our lamps burning, and may go in with Him into the eternal life of His heavenly kingdom. Lastly : The priest, addressing himself to the person baptized, says, " Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee. Amen." Then he admonishes, as well the parents as the godfather and godmother, of their respective duty with regard to the education and instruction of their child, and of the care which the Church requires of the parents, not to let the child lie in the same bed with them, or with the nurse, for fear of its being overlaid. And, lastly, he informs them of the spiritual kindred which is contracted between the sponsors and the child, as also between the spon- sors and the parents of the child, which makes it unlawful for them after- ward to marry with those to whom they are thus spiritually allied. 54 THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. CHAPTER IV. OF THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION, AND THE MANNER OF ADMINISTERING IT. Q. What do you mean by confirmation ? A. A sacrament by which the faithful, after baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of the hands of the bishop, and prayer, accom- panied with the unction, or anointing of their foreheads with holy chrism. Q. Why do you call it confirmation ? A. From its effects, which are to confirm or strengthen those that re- ceive it in the profession of the true faith, to make them soldiers of Christ, and perfect Christians, and to arm them against their spiritual enemies. Q. How do you prove from Scripture that the Apostles practised con- firmation ? A. I prove it from Acts viii. 14-18, where we read of St. Peter and St. John confirming the Samaritans. "They prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost .... then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost," etc. Also Acts xix. 5, 6: "They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them." It is of confirmation also that St. Paul speaks, Heb. vi. 1, 2 : "Not laying again the foundation," etc., "of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of hands," etc. And 2 Cor. i. 21, 22 : " Now he who confirmeth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God ; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Q. How do you prove that confirmation is a sacrament ? A. 1 st. Because it is plain from Acts viii. that the visible sign of the imposition of hands has annexed to it an invisible grace, viz., the impart- ing of the Holy Ghost ; consequently confirmation is a visible sign of in- visible grace, and therefore a sacrament. 2d. Because the Church of God, from the Apostles' day, has always believed it to be a sacrament, and administered it as such. (See St. Dionysius, L. de Eccles. Hierarch. c. 4. Tertullian, L. de Baptismo, c. 7. L. de Resurrectione carnis, c. 8 ; L. Prczscrip. adversus Hcereses, c. 4. St. Cornelius, Epist. ad Fabium An- tioch, apud Eusebium, L. 6. Histor. c. 43. St. Cyprian, Epist. 70, ad Jan- uarium ; Epist. 72, ad Stephanum Papam ; Epist. j$, ad Jubaianum ; Epist. 74, ad Pompeium ; Firmilian, Epist. ad St. Cyprianum. The Council of Illiberis, can. 38. The Council of Laodicea, can. 48. St. Cyril of Jerusa- lem, Catech. Mystag. 3. St. Pacian, Epist. 1 and 3, ad Sympron. et in Sermone de Baptismo. St. Ambrose, L. de iis qui mysteriis initiantur, c. THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. 55 7. The author of the book of the sacraments, attributed to St. Ambrose, L. 2, c. 2. St. Optat. of Milevis, L. 7, contra Parmenianum. St. Jerome, in Dialogo contra Luciferianos. St. Innocentius, Epist. 9, ad Decentium. St. Augustine, Tract. 6. in Epist. 1 Joannis, L. 2. contra Literas Piteliani, c. 104, etc. St. Cyril of Alexandria, ad Joe lis, 2. v. 24. St. Leo, Pope, Serm. 4. de Nativ. Theodoret in comment, ad Cantic. 1. v. 3. St. Greg- ory the Great, Homil. 17, in Evangelia, etc.) Q. Who is the minister of this sacrament ? A. The ordinary minister of this sacrament is a bishop only. Q. Can this sacrament be received any more than once ? A. No ; because, like baptism, it imprints a character or spiritual mark in the soul, which always remains. Hence, those that are to be con- firmed are obliged to be so much the more careful to come to this sacra- ment worthily, because it can be received but once ; and if they then re- ceive it unworthily, they have no share in the grace which is thereby communicated to the soul ; instead of which they incur the guilt of a grievous sacrilege. Q. In what disposition is a person to be, in order to approach worthily to the sacrament of confirmation ? A. He must be free from mortal sin, and in the state of grace ; for the Holy Ghost will never come into a soul which Satan possesses by mortal sin. Q. In what manner, then, must a person prepare himself for the sac- rament of confirmation ? A. 1 st. He must examine his conscience, and if he find it charged with willful sin, he must take care to purge it by a good confession. 2d. He must frequently and fervently call upon God to dispose his soul for receiving the Holy Ghost. Q. What kind of grace does this, sacrament communicate to the soul? A. It communicates to the soul the fountain of all grace, viz., the Holy Ghost, with all His gifts ; but more in particular a fortifying grace, to strengthen the soul against all the invisible enemies of the faith. Q. Is, then, this sacrament absolutely necessary to salvation ? A. It is not so necessary but that person may be saved without it : yet it would be a sin to neglect it, when a person might conveniently have it, and a crime to contemn or despise it. Q. What kind of persons stand in most need of the grace of this sac- rament ? A. Those who are most exposed to persecutions upon account of their religion, or to temptations against faith. Q. At what age may a person be confirmed ? A. Ordinarily speaking, the Church does not give confirmation till a 56 THE CEREMONIES OF CONFIRMATION. person is come to the use of reason, though sometimes she confirms in- fants ; in which case great care must be taken that they be put in mind, \\ hen they come to the use of reason, that they have received this sacra- ment. Q. What is the obligation that a Christian takes upon himself in confirmation ? A. He enlists himself for a soldier of Christ ; and consequently is obliged, after having received this sacrament, to fight manfully the bat- tles of his Lord. Q. May a person have a godfather or godmother in confirmation? A. He may, by way of an instructor or encourager in the spiritual warfare; and this godfather or godmother contracts the like obligations as in the sacrament of baptism, and the same spiritual kindred. Q. May a person that is confirmed take a new name ? A. It is usual so to do, not by way of changing one's name of baptism,. but by adding to it another name of some saint to whom one has a par- ticular devotion, and by whose prayers he hopes to acquit himself more faithfully of the obligations of a soldier of Christ. Q. Is a person obliged to receive this sacrament fasting ? A. No, he is not ; though it is advisable so to receive it. Q. In what manner is the sacrament of confirmation administered ? A. First, the bishop, turning toward those that are to be confirmed, with his hands joined before his breast, says : " May the Holy Ghost come down upon you, and the power of the Most High keep you from all sin." Ans. " Amen." Then, signing himself with the sign of the cross, he says : " Our help is in the name of the Lord." Ans. " Who made heaven and earth," etc. Then extending his hands toward those that are to be 'confirmed (which is what the ancients call the imposition of hands), he prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost. Bishop. " Let us pray." " O almighty, everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and who hast given them the remission of all their sins, send forth upon them thy sevenfold Holy Spirit, the Comforter from heaven." Ans. " Amen." Bish. " The spirit of wisdom and of understanding." Ans. " Amen." Bish. " The spirit of counsel and of fortitude." Ans. " Amen." Bish. " The spirit of knowledge and of piety." Ans. " Amen." CONFIRM A TION EXP LA I NED. 5 7 Bish. " Replenish them with the spirit of thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the *J* cross of Christ, in thy mercy, unto life everlasting. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reign- eth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." Then the bishop makes the sign of the cross with holy chrism upon the forehead of each one of those that are to be confirmed, saying, "N., I sign thee with the sign of the »f« cross, I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." After which he gives the person confirmed a little blow on the cheek, saying, " Pax tecum" that is, "Peace be with thee." Then the bishop, standing with his face toward the altar, prays for those that have been confirmed, that the Holy Ghost may ever dwell in their hearts, and make them the temple of His glory. He then dismisses them with his blessing : " Behold, thus shall every man be blessed who feareth the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Sion, that you may see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life, and may have life everlasting. Amen." Q. I would willingly be instructed in the meaning of these ceremo- nies ; therefore pray tell me, first, why the Church makes use of chrism in confirmation ; and what this chrism is. A. Chrism is a compound of the oil of olives and balm of Gilead, solemnly consecrated by the bishop on Maundy Thursday ; and the unc- tion, or outward anointing of the forehead with chrism, is to represent the inward anointing of the soul in this sacrament with the Holy Ghost. The oil, whose properties are to fortify the limbs, and to give a certain vigor to the body, to assuage our pains, etc., represents the like spiritual effects of the grace of the sacrament in the soul. And the balm, which is of a sweet smell, represents the good odor or sweet savor of Christian virtues and an innocent life, with which we are to edify our neighbors after having received this sacrament. Q. Why is this unction made on the forehead, and in the form of a cross ? A. To give us to understand that the effect of this sacrament is to arm us against worldly fear and shame : and therefore we receive the standard of the cross of Christ upon our foreheads, to teach us to make an open profession of His doctrine and maxims, and not to flinch from this profession for fear of anything that the world can either say or do. Q. What is the meaning of the bishop's giving a little blow on the cheek to the person that is confirmed ? A. It is to imprint in his mind that, from this time forward, he is to 58 SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST. be ready, like a true soldier of Jesus Christ, to suffer patiently all kinds of affronts and injuries for his faith. Q. And why does the bishop, at the same time as he gives the blow, say, " Peace be with thee " ? A. To signify that the true peace of God, which, as St. Paul says, 44 exceeds all understanding,"* is chiefly to be found in patient suffering for God and His truths. CHAPTER V. OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST. Q. What do you mean by the sacrament of the Eucharist ? A. The sacrament which our Lord Jesus Christ instituted at His last supper, in which He gives us His body and blood under the forms or ap- pearances of bread and wine. Q. Why do you call this sacrament the Eucharist ? A. Because the primitive Church and the holy fathersf have usually called it so : for the word " Eucharist " in the Greek signifies " thanks- giving," and is applied to this sacrament because of the thanksgiving which our Lord offered in the first institution of it, St. Matt. xxvi. 27; St. Mark xiv. 23 ; St. Luke xxii. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 24. And because of the thanksgiving with which we are obliged to offer and receive this great sac- rament and sacrifice, which contains the abridgment of all God's wonders, the fountain of all grace, the standing memorial of our redemption, and the pledge of a happy eternity. This blessed sacrament is also called the holy Communion, because it unites the faithful with one another, and with their Head, Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. x. 16, 17.) And it is called the Supper of our Lord, because it was first instituted by Christ at His last supper. Q. What is the faith of the Catholic Church concerning this sacrament ? A. That the bread and wine are changed by the words of consecration into the real body and blood of Christ. Q. Is it, then, the belief of the Church, that Jesus Christ Himself, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially present in the blessed sacrament ? A. It is ; for where the body and blood of Christ are, there His soul also and His divinity must needs be ; and consequently there must be whole Christ, God, and Man : there is no taking Him in pieces. * Philip, iv. 7. f St. Justin, 3 in Apolog. 2. St. Irenaeus, i. 4. c. 34. Tertullian, L. de Cor. Militis, c. 8. St. Cyprian, Episl. 54. 1st Council of Nice, can. 18. PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE. 59 Q. Is that which we receive in this sacrament the same body as that which was born of the blessed Virgin, and which suffered for us upon the cross ? A. It is the same body ; for Christ never had but one body ; the only difference is that then His body was mortal and passible, but now im- mortal and impassible. Q. Then the body of Christ in the sacrament cannot be hurt or divided, neither is it capable of being digested or corrupted ? A. No, certainly : for though the sacramental species, or the outward forms of bread and wine, are liable to these changes, the body of Christ is not. Q. Is it, then, a spiritual body ? A. It may be called a spiritual body, in the same sense as St. Paul (i Cor. xv. 44), speaking of the resurrection of the body, says: " It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body ; " not but that it still remains a true body, as to all that is essential to a body, but that it partakes in some measure of the qualities and properties of a spirit. SECTION I. THE FIRST PROOF OF THE REAL PRESENCE, FROM THE WORDS OF CHRIST AT THE FIRST INSTITUTION OF THIS BLESSED SACRAMENT. Q. How do you prove the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in this sacrament ? A. I prove it, first, from the express and plain words of Christ Himself, the Eternal Truth, delivered at the time of the first institution of this blessed sacrament, and recorded in no less than four different places in the New Testament, viz., St. Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; St. Mark xiv. 22, 24 ; St. Luke xxii. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25. In all these places Christ Himself as- sures us that what He gives us in the blessed sacrament is His own body and blood. St. Matt. xxvi. : "Take ye and eat ; this is my body. . . This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins." St. Mark xiv. : " Take ye and eat ; this is my body . . . This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many." St. Luke xxii. : "This is my body which is given for you . . . This chalice is the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you." 1 Cor. xi. : " This is my body which is broken [in the Greek, klom- enon, " sacrificed "] for you . . . This dnalice is the new testament in my blood." Now the body which was given and sacrificed for us, the blood of the new testament which was shed for us, is without any doubt the real body and blood of Christ ; therefore what Christ gives us in this blessed sacrament is His real body and blood : nothing can be more plain. Q. Why do you take these words of Christ at His last supper, accord- ing to the literal, rather than in the figurative sense ? 60 PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE. A. You might as well ask a traveler why he chooses to go the high road, rather than by the by-paths with evident danger of losing his way. We take the words of Christ according to their plain, obvious, and natural meaning, agreeably to that general rule acknowledged by our adversa- ries,* that in interpreting Scripture the literal sense of the words is not to be forsaken and a figurative one followed without necessity ; and that the natural and proper sense is always to be preferred, where the case will admit it. It is not therefore incumbent upon us to give a reason why we take these words of Christ according to their natural and proper sense ; but it is our adversaries' business to show a necessity of taking them otherwise. The words themselves plainly speak for us ; for Christ did. not say, " This is a figure of my body," and " This is a figure of my blood ;" but He said, "This is my body," and "This is my blood." It is their duty, as they value the salvation of their souls, to beware of offering vio- lence to texts so plain, and of wresting them from their evident meaning. However, we have many reasons to offer why we take the words of Christ (which He spoke at His last supper in the institution of the blessed sacrament) in their most plain, natural, and obvious meaning. First, be- cause He was then alone with His twelve Apostles, His bosom friends and confidants, to whom He was always accustomed to explain in clear terms whatever was obscure in His parables or other discourses to the people. St. Mark iv. 1 1 : " To you," says He to His disciples, " it is given to know the mysteries [the secrets] of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables." And ver. 34 : " Without a par- able spoke he not unto them [the people] : but when they were alone he expounded all things to his disciples." St. John xv. 15 : "I will not now call you servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth ; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." How, then, is it likely that on this most important of all occasions, when, the very night before His death, He was taking His last leave and farewell of these His dear friends, He should deliver Himself to them in terms, which (if they are not to be taken ac- cording to the letter) are obscure beyond all example, and nowhere to be paralleled ? 2d. He was at that time making a covenant, which was to last as long as time itself should last : He was enacting a law which was to be for- ever observed in His Church : He was instituting a sacrament, which was to be frequented by all the faithful until He should come again : He was, in fine, making His last will and testament, and therein bequeathing to His disciples, and to us all, an admirable legacy and pledge of His love. Now such is the nature of all these things, viz., of a covenant, of a law, * Dr. Harris's Sermon on Transubstantiation, pp. 7, 8. FROM THE WORDS OF CHRIST. 61 of a sacrament, of a last will and testament, that as he that makes a cove- nant, a law, etc., always designs that what he covenants, appoints, or ordains, should be rightly observed and fulfilled ; so, of consequence, he always designs that it should be rightly understood, and therefore always expresses himself in plain and clear terms in his covenants, laws, etc. This is what all wise men observe in their covenants, laws, and last wills, industriously avoiding all obscure expressions which may give occasion to their being misunderstood, or to contentions and law-suits about their meaning. This is what God Himself observed in the old covenant, in all the ceremonial and moral precepts of the law, in all the commandments, in the institution of all the legal sacraments, etc ; all are expressed in the most clear and plain terms. It can, then, be nothing less than impeaching the wisdom of the Son of God, to imagine that He should make His new law an everlasting covenant in figurative and obscure terms, which He knew would be misunderstood by the greater part of Christendom ; or to suppose that He should institute the chief of all His sacraments under such a form of words, as, in their plain, natural, and obvious meaning, imply a thing as widely different from what He gives us therein, as His own body is from a bit of bread : or, in fine, to believe that He would make His last will and testament in words affectedly ambiguous and obscure, which, if taken according to that sense which they seem evidently to express, must lead His children into a pernicious error concerning the legacy that He bequeaths them. In effect, our Lord certainly foresaw that His words would be taken according to the letter by the bulk of all Christendom ; that innumerable of the most learned and most holy would understand them so ; that the Church, even in her general councils, would interpret His words in this sense. It must be, then, contrary to all probability, that He who foresaw all this would affect to express Himself in this manner in His last will and testament, had He not meant what He said ; or that He should not have somewhere explained Himself in a more clear way, to prevent the dread- ful consequence of His whole Church's authorizing an error in a matter of so great importance. Q. Have you any other reason to offer for taking the words of the in- stitution according to the letter, rather than in a figurative sense ? A. Yes : we have, for so doing, as I have just now hinted, the author- ity of the best and most authentic interpreter of God's Word, viz., His holy Church, which has always understood these words of Christ in their plain and literal sense, and condemned all those who have presumed to wrest them to a figure. Witness the many synods held against Beren- garius, and the decrees of the general councils of Lateran, Constance, and Trent. Now, against this authority hell's gates shall never prevail. 62 OBJECTIONS TO THE SACRAMENT (St. Matt. xvi. 18.) And with this interpreter Christ has promised that both He Himself and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, should abide forever. (St. Matt, xxviii. 20; St. John xiv. 16, 17.) Q. But are not many of Christ's sayings to be understood figuratively.as when He says that He is "a door, a vine," etc. ? And why, then, may not also the words of the institution of the blessed sacrament be understood figuratively ? A. It is a very bad argument to pretend to infer that because some of Christ's words are to be taken figuratively, therefore all are to be taken so : that because in His parables or similitudes His words are not to be taken according to the letter, therefore we are to wrest to a figurative sense the words of the institution of His solemn covenant, law, sacrament, and testament, at His last supper : that because He has called Himself "a door," or " a vine," in circumstances in which He neither was nor ever could be misunderstood by any one (He having taken so much care in the same places to explain His own meaning), therefore He would call bread and Avine His body and blood, in circumstances in which it was natural to understand His words according to the letter, as He foresaw all Chris- tendom would understand them, and yet has taken no care to prevent this interpretation of them. There is therefore a manifest disparity between the case of the ex- pressions you mention, viz., " I am the door, the vine," etc., and the words of the last supper, "This is my body, this is my blood." 1st. Because the former are delivered as parables and similitudes, and consequently as fig- ures ; the latter are the words of a covenant, sacrament, and testament, and therefore are to be understood according to their most plain and obvious meaning. 2d. Because the former are explained by Christ Himself in the same places in a figurative sense, and the latter not. 3d. Because the former are worded in such a manner as to carry with them the evidence of a figure, so that no man alive can possibly misunderstand them, or take them in any other than a figurative meaning ; the latter are so ex- pressed, and so evidently imply the literal sense, that they who have been the most desirous to find a figure in them have been puzzled to do it : * and all Christendom has for many ages judged without the least scruple that they ought to be taken according to the letter. 4th. Because the Church of God has authorized the literal interpretation of the words of the institution of the blessed sacrament ; not so of those other expressions. In fine, because, according to the common laws and customs of speech, a thing may, indeed, by an elegant figure be called by the name of that thing of which it has the qualities or properties ; and thus Christ, by hav- * It was the case of Luther himself, as we learn from his epistle to his friends at Strasburg, torn. iv. fol. 502. And of Zuinglius, as we learn from his Epistle to Pomeranus, fol. 256. OF THE EUCHARIST ANSWERED. 6 3 ing in Himself the property of a door, inasmuch as it is by Him that we must enter into His sheepfold (St. John x. 9), and the property of the vine, in giving life and fruit to its branches (St. John xv. 1), might, accord- ing to the usual laws of speech, elegantly call Himself a door and a vine r but as it would be no elegant metaphor to call bread and wine, without making any change in them, His body and blood — because bread and wine have in themselves neither any similitude, nor quality, nor property of Christ's body and blood — so it would be absurd, for the same reason, to point to any particular door or vine, and say, "This is Jesus Christ." Q. But may not the sign or figure, according to the common laws of speech, be called by the name of the thing signified ? And have we not instances of this nature in Scripture ? as when Joseph, interpreting the dream of Pharaoh (Gen. xli. 26), says, "The seven beautiful kine are seven years ;" and our Lord, interpreting the parable of the sower (St. Luke viii. 11), says, " The seed is the word of God ; " and St. Paul (1 Cor. x. 4) says, "The rock was Christ." A. In certain cases, when a thing is already known to be a sign or figure of something else, which it signifies or represents, it may, indeed, according to the common laws of speech and the use of the Scripture, be said to be such or such a thing ; as in the interpretation of dreams, par- ables, ancient figures, and upon such like occasions ; when a thing is said to be this or that, the meaning is evident, viz., that it signifies or repre- sents this or that. But it is not the same in the first institution of a sign or figure ; because, when a thing is not known beforehand to be a sign or representation of some other thing, to call it abruptly by a foreign name would be contrary to all laws of speech, and both absurd and unintel- ligible. For instance, if a person, by an act of memory, had appointed within himself that an oak tree should be a sign or memorandum of Alexander the Great, and pointing to the tree should gravely tell his friends (who were not acquainted with his design), " This is that hero that overcame Darius," such a proposition as this would justly be cen- sured as nonsensical and unworthy of a wise man ; because such a figure of speech would be contrary to all laws of speech, and unintelligible. Just so would it have been, if our Saviour, at His last supper, without giv- ing His disciples any warning beforehand of His meaning to speak figur- atively, and without their considering beforehand the bread and wine as signs and representations of anything else, should have abruptly told them, " This is my body, this is my blood," had He not meant that they were so indeed. For, abstracting from the change which Christ was pleased to make in the elements by His almighty word, a bit of bread has no more similitude to the body of Christ than an oak tree has to Alexander the Great. So that nothing but the real presence of Christ's body and 64 SECOND PROOF OF THE REAL PRESENCE. blood could verify His words at His last supper, or vindicate them from being highly absurd and unworthy the Son of God. Q. But do not those words which our Lord spoke (St. Luke xxii. 19), 41 This do for a commemoration of me," sufficiently clear up the difficulty, and determine His other words to a figurative sense ? A. These words, M Do this in commemoration of me," inform us, in- deed, of the end for which we are to offer up, and to receive, the body and blood of Christ, viz., for a perpetual commemoration of His death ( 1 Cor. xi. 26) ; but they no way interfere with those other words, " This is my body, and this is my blood," so as to explain away the real presence of Christ's body and blood. For why should Christ's body and blood be less present in the sacrament because we are commanded in the receiving of them to remember His death ? Certainly St. Matthew and St. Mark, who, in their gospels have quite omitted these words, " Do this in com- memoration of me," never looked upon them as a necessary explication of the words of the institution, or as anywise altering or qualifying the natural and obvious meaning of these words, " This is my body, this is my blood." Q. But does not the remembrance of a thing suppose it to be absent ; for, otherwise, why should we be commanded to remember it ? A. Whatsoever things we may be liable to forget, whether really pres- ent or really absent, may be the object of our remembrance ; and thus we are commanded in Scripture to " Remember God." (Deut. viii. 18 ; Eccles. xii. 1.) For " in Him we live, and move, and be." (Acts xvii. 28.) So that this command of remembering Christ's death is no wise opposed to His real presence ; but the most that can be inferred from it is, that He is not visibly present, which is very true ; and therefore, lest we should forget Him, this remembrance is enjoined. Besides, if we hearken to the Apostle (1 Cor. xi. 26), he will inform us that what we are commanded to remember is the death of Christ. Now the death of Christ is not a thing really present, but really past, and therefore a most proper subject for our remembrance. SECTION II. THE SECOND PROOF OF THE REAL PRESENCE, FROM ST. JOHN VI. 51, ETC. Q. What other proof have you for the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist, besides the words of the in- stitution, "This is my body, and this is my blood "? A. We have a very strong proof in the words of Christ, spoken to the Jews in the sixth chapter of St. John, where, upon occasion of the miracle of feeding the multitude with five loaves, having spoken of the necessity of believing in Him who is the living bread that came down SECOND PROOF OF THE REAL PRESENCE. 65 from heaven, He passes from this discourse concerning faith, to speak of this sacrament, ver. 51, etc. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven : If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever : and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews, therefore, strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them : Amen, amen, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day ; for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live forever." In which words the eating of Christ's flesh, and the drinking of His blood are so strongly, so clearly, and so frequently inculcated, and we are so plainly told that the bread which Christ was to give is that very flesh which He gave for the life of the world, that he must be resolved to keep his eyes shut against the light, who will not see so plain a truth. Q. How do you prove that Christ in this place is speaking of the bless- ed sacrament ? - A. By comparing the words which He spoke upon this occasion with those which He delivered at His last supper in the institution of the bless- ed sacrament. In the one place He says, " The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world:" in the other, taking bread and distributing it, He says, "This is my body, which is given for you : " where it is visible that the one is the promise which the other ful- fills ; and consequently, that both the one and the other have relation to the same sacrament. Hence we find that the holy fathers have always explained those words of the sixth chapter of St. John as spoken of the sacrament. (See St. Irenaeus, L. 4. c. 34. Origen, Horn. 16, upon Num- bers. St. Cyprian upon the Lord's prayer. St. Hilary in his 8th book of the Trinity. St. Basil in his Moral Rules, Reg. 1. c. 1. St. Cyril of Jeru- salem, Catech. Mystag. 4. St. Ambrose of the Mysteries, c. 8. St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and St. Cyril of Alexandria, writing upon the sixth chapter of St. John. St. Epiphanius, Haeres. 55. Theodoret, 1. 4. Hist. Eccles. c. 11, etc.) Q. But does not Christ promise eternal life (St. John vi. 51, 54, and 58), to every one that eateth of that bread of which He is there speak- ing ? which promise cannot be understood with relation to the sacrament, which many receive to their own damnation. (1 Cor. xi. 29.) 66 THE HOL Y EUCHARIST DEFENDED AND EXPLAINED. A. He promises eternal life to every one that eateth of that bread ; but this is to be understood provided that he eat it worthily, and that he persevere in the grace which he thereby receives. And in this sense it is certain that this sacrament gives eternal life : whereas the manna of old had no such power, ver. 54. In like manner our Lord promises (St. Matt, vii. 7, 8), that " every one that asketh shall receive : " and yet many "ask and receive not, because they ask amiss." (St. James iv. 3.) Thus St. Paul tells us (Rom. x. 13), that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved : " which also certainly must be understood provided they do it worthily and perseveringly, lest this text contradict that other (St. Matt. vii. 21), " Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." Thus, in fine, Christ tells us (St. Mark xiv. 16), "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved:" and yet many believe and are baptized, like Simon Magus (Acts viii. 13), who for want of a true change of heart, or of perseverance in goodness, are never saved. Q. But if those words of Christ (St. John vi. 52, 53, etc.) be under- stood of the sacrament, will it not follow that no one cdn be saved with- out receiving this sacrament, and that, also, in both kinds, contrary to the belief and practice of the Catholic Church ? since our Lord tells us, ver. 54, " Amen, amen, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have [or you shall have] no life in you." A. It follows, from these words, that there is a divine precept for the receiving of this blessed sacrament ; which if persons willfully neglect, they cannot be saved. So that the receiving this sacrament, either act- ually or in desire, is necessary for all those who are come to the years of discretion, not for infants, who are not capable of " discerning the body of the Lord." (1 Cor. xi. 28.) But that this sacrament should be received by all, in both kinds, is not a divine precept, nor ever was understood to be such by the Church of God, which always believed that under either kind Christ is received whole and entire, and consequently, that under either kind we sufficiently comply with the precept of receiving His flesh and blood. Q. Why may not those words of Christ (St. John vi. 51, 52, 53, etc.) be taken figuratively, so as to mean no more than the believing in His incarnation and death ? A. Because it would be too harsh a figure of speech, and unbecoming the wisdom of the Son of God, to express the believing in Him by such strange metaphors as eating His flesh and drinking His blood ; such as no man ever used before or since : and to repeat and inculcate these ex- THE HOL Y E UCHARIST DEFENDED AND EXPLAINED. 6 7 pressions so often, to the great offence both of the Jews, and even of His own disciples, who upon this account "went back, and walked no more with him " (vers. 60 and 66), when He might so easily have satisfied both the one and the other, by telling them that He meant no more by all that discourse than that they should believe in Him. Q. Did, then, the Jews, and these disciples who cried out (ver. 61), " This saying is hard, and who can hear it ? " understand our Saviour right, or did they mistake His meaning ? A. They understood Him rightly, so far as relates to the real receiving of His flesh and blood ; but as to the manner of receiving, they under- stood Him no.t, since they had no thoughts of His giving himself whole and entire, veiled in a sacrament, but apprehended the eating of His flesh cut off from His bones, and drinking of His blood, according to the vul- gar manner of other meat and drink, which we digest and consume. However, their not understanding Him seems not to have been so faulty as their refusing to believe Him : hence our Lord reprehends, not their want of understanding, but their not believing (ver. 64) ; and Peter in the name of the Apostles (vers. 69, 70), in opposition to those disciples who had fallen off, says, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the •words of eternal life. And we believe and have known that thou art the Christ, the Son of God." So that these people ought, like the Apostles, to have submitted themselves to believe what as yet they understood not, and not to have run away from Him, who by His evident miracles proved Himself to be the Son of God, and consequently incapable of an untruth. By which example we may see how much more wisely Catholics act (who, in this mystery, like the Apostles, submit themselves to believe what they cannot comprehend, because they know that Christ has the words of eternal life) than those who, like the apostate disciples, cry out, " This is a hard saying, and who can hear it ?" and thereupon will walk no more with Christ and His Church. Q. What did our Lord say to His disciples who were offended with His discourse concerning the eating of His flesh ? A. He said unto them (vers. 62, 63), "Doth this scandalize you, if then you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?" Which words are variously interpreted, and may either be understood to signify that they who made a difficulty of believing that He could give them His flesh to eat then, whilst He was visibly amongst them, would have much more difficulty in believing it after He was gone from them by His ascension ; or else Christ, by mentioning His ascension, would correct their mistaken notion of His giving them His flesh and blood in that gross manner which they apprehended : or, in fine, He mentioned His ascension into heaven to convince their incredulity by the evidence 68 THE HOL V EUCHARIST DEFENDED AND EXPLAINED. of so great a miracle, which at once was to demonstrate both His almighty power and the truth of His words. Q. What is the meaning of the following words (ver. 64), " It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life"? A. The meaning is, that the flesh separated from the spirit, in the manner which the Jews and incredulous disciples apprehended, would profit nothing ; for what would it avail us to feed on dead flesh, separated from the soul and divinity, and consequently from the life-giving spirit? But then it would be blasphemy to say that the flesh of Christ, united to His spirit (in that manner in which the Catholic Church believes His flesh to be in the blessed sacrament, accompanied with His soul and divinity), profits nothing : for if the flesh of Christ were of no profit, He would never have taken flesh for us, and His incarnation and death would be unprofitable to us ; which is the height of blasphemy to affirm. "What means, 'the flesh profits nothing'?" says St. Augustine, writ- ing upon this text, Tract. 27, in Joan. " It profits nothing, as they understood it : for they understood flesh as it is torn to pieces in a dead body, or sold in the shambles, and not as it is animated by the spirit. Wherefore it is said, ' the flesh profits nothing,' in the same manner as it is said, ' knowledge puffeth up.' (1 Cor. viii. 1.) Must we, then, fly from knowledge? God forbid: what, then, means, 'knowledge puffeth up'? That is, if it be alone without charity ; therefore the Apostle added, ' but charity edifieth.' Join, therefore, charity to knowledge, and knowledge will be profitable, not by itself, but through charity : so here also, ' the flesh profiteth nothing,' viz., the flesh alone : let the spirit be joined with the flesh, as charity is to be joined with knowledge, and then it profits much. For if the flesh profited nothing, the Word would not have been made flesh, that He might dwell in us." So far St. Augustine. Besides, according to the usual phrase of the Scripture, flesh and blood are often taken for the corruption of our nature, or for man's natural sense and apprehension, etc. As when it is said, 1 Cor. xv. 50, " that flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God ; " and St. Matt. xvi. 1 7 : " Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee," etc. And in this sense, ' the flesh profiteth nothing," but it is the Spirit and grace of God that quickeneth and giveth life to our souls. And as the words which our Lord had spoken to them tended to explain to them so great a sacrament, in which they should receive this spirit, grace, and life in its very foun- tain, therefore He tells them, " the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." OTHER PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE. 69 SECTION III. OTHER PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST S BODY AND BLOOD IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. Q. Have you any other proofs from Scripture of the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the blessed sacrament ? A. Yes, 1 Cor. x., where the Apostle, to discourage Christians from having anything to do with the sacrifices offered to idols, tells them, ver. 16, that "the cup of blessing which we bless is the Communion of the blood of Christ, and the bread which we break is the Communion of the body of Christ." 2d. 1 Cor. xi. 27 : " Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink \i pin7- St. Gaudentius, Tract. 2. in Exod. St. Cyril of Alexandria, contra Nestor., p. 112. Theodoret in 1 Cor. xi. St. Leo, Serm. 7. de Passione Domini. Hesychius in c. 23. Levit. St. Gregory, Horn. 22. in Evang.) 2d. That " the blood of the testament with which Moses sprinkled the ;o OTHER PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE. people (Exod. xxiv. and Ileb. ix.), saying, " This is the blood of the testa- ment which God hath enjoined unto you." was a figure of the blood of Christ in this sacrament, our Lord Himself sufficiently declared, by evi- dently alluding to this figure, when He gave the cup to His disciples, saying, "This is my blood of the new testament;" (St. Matt. xxvi. 28 ; St. Mark xiv. 24), or, " This cup is the new testament in my blood." (St. Luke xxii. 20; 1 Cor. xi. 25.) 3d. That the manna was a figure of this sacrament, appears from St. John vi. 5S : " Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead : he that eateth this bread shall live forever." And from 1 Cor. x., where the Apostles, speaking of the figures of our sacraments in the Old Law, and taking notice of the cloud and the passage of the Red Sea as figures of baptism (vers. 1 and 2), in the 3d and 4th verses gives the manna and the water from the rock as figures of the Eucharist. The same is the cur- rent doctrine of the holy fathers, and is sufficiently demonstrated from the analogy which is found between the manna and this blessed sacra- ment. For which see the annotations in the Douay Bible, upon the six- teenth chapter of Exodus. Q. How do you prove from these ancient figures the real presence of Christ's body and blood in this sacrament ? A. Because, if in this sacrament there were nothing more than bread and wine taken in remembrance of Christ, and as types and figures of His body and blood, then would the figures of the Old Law equal the sacraments of the New Law, yea, far excel them. For, who does not see that the paschal lamb was a more noble type, and far better representing Christ than bread and wine ? Who does not perceive that the blood of victims solemnly sacrificed to God was a better figure of Christ's blood than the juice of the grape ? Who. can question but the heavenly manna, which is called the bread of angels, and was so many ways miraculous, was far beyond the bread of man ? Who will not acknowledge that it is something more excellent and divine to foretell things to come, than only to commemorate things past ? It must, therefore, be visible to every Christian, that if the paschal lamb, the blood of the testament, and the manna, were types of Christ, given to us in this sacrament, this sacra- ment itself must be something more than a type, figure or remembrance of Christ ; and consequently must contain and exhibit Him really to us. Q. But why may not a person suppose that the figures of the Old Testament might equal or excel the sacraments of the New ? A. No one who pretends to the name of Christian can suppose this. Since the Apostle assures us that the old law had nothing but " a shadow of the good things to come" (Heb. x. 1), that all its sacrifices and sacra- ments were but "weak and needy elements" (Gal. iv. 9), and that it was OTHER PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE. 7 1 annulled by reason of " the weakness and the unprofitableness thereof." (Heb. vii. 18.) And does not the very nature of the thing assure us that the figure must be inferior to the thing prefigured ? Q. Have you any other argument from Scripture in favor of the real presence of our Lord's body in the blessed sacrament ? A. Yes. Those innumerable texts of Scripture which prove the uner- ring authority of the Church of Christ, and the indispensable obligation of the faithful to follow the judgment of the Church, and to rest in her decisions, plainly demonstrate that to be the truth which the Church so long ago_declared, with relation to this controversy ; and that all Chris- tians are obliged to yield to this decision. Q. When did the Church decide this matter ? A. As soon as ever it was called in question, that is, about eight hun- dred years ago, in the days of Berengarius, who was the first that openly attacked the doctrine of the real presence, and was thereupon condemned by the whole Church in no less than fourteen councils, held during his lifetime in divers parts of Christendom ; and the determination of these councils was afterward confirmed by the general councils of Lateran, Constance, and Trent. Q. What Scripture do you bring to show that all Christians are obliged to submit to these decisions of the councils and pastors of the Church ? A. St. Matt, xviii. 17 : "And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican." St. Luke x. 16: "He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." St. John xx. 21 : "As the father hath sent me even so I send you." Heb. xiii. 7 : " Remember your prelates, who have spoken the word of God to you ; whose faith follow." Ver. 17 : " Obey your prelates, and be subject to them." 1 St. John iv. 6 : " He that knoweth God heareth us [the pastors of the Church] : he that is not of God heareth not us : by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." And what wonder that Christ should require this submission to His Church and her " pastors and teachers, whom he has given for the perfecting of the saints [etc.], that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine . . ." since, even in the Old Law, He required, under pain of death, a submis- sion to the synagogue and her ministers in their decisions relating to the controversies of the law, as may be seen in Deut xvii. 8, 9, etc. Q. What Scripture do you bring to show that the Church is not liable to be mistaken in these decisions ? A. This is evidently proved from a great many texts both of the Old and the New Testament : in which we are assured, 1st. That the "church of the living God is the pillar and ground of truth," and consequently 72 OTHER PROOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE. not liable to error, (i Timothy iii. 15.) 2d. " And I say to thee that thou art Peter ; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell [the powers of darkness and error] shall not prevail against it." (St. Matt. xvi. 18.) 3d. " But because I have spoken these things to you, sor- row hath filled your heart." (St. John xvi. 6.) " And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." ( St. Matt, xxviii. 20.) 4th. That the Holy Ghost, " the spirit of truth, shall abide with her forever," with these same teachers of the Church (St. John xiv. 16, 17), and "guide them into all truth," ch. xvi. 13. 5th. That God has made a covenant with the Church, that His spirit, and His words, which He has put into her mouth, at the time when our Redeemer came, should " not depart out of her mouth, nor out of the mouth of her seed, nor out of the mouth of her seed's seed, from henceforth and for ever." (Isaiah lix. 20, 21.) 6th. That God has made a solemn oath to His Church, like that which He made to Noah, " that He would not be wroth with her, nor re- buke her." (Isaiah liv. 9, 10.) That He has promised to be her " ever- lasting light " (Isaiah lx. 18, 19, etc.) ; and to "set his sanctuary in the midst of her for evermore." (Ezek. xxxvii. 26.) All which is inconsis- tent with her being led astray by damnable errors. And thus the Scrip- ture, by plainly giving testimony to the Church and Church authority, plainly also gives testimony to the truth of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, which has been so often declared by that authority. Q. Besides these arguments from Scripture and Church authority, have you anything else to allege in proof of the real presence ? A. Yes, 1st. The authority of all the ancient fathers, whose plain tes- timonies may be seen in an appendix to a book, entitled,-^ Specimen of the Spirit of the Dissenting Teachers, etc., anno 1736. 2d. The perpetual consent of the Greeks, and all the Oriental Chris- tians, demonstrated by Monsieur Arnaud and the Abbe Renaudot, in their books, bearing title La Pei-petuite de la Foy, etc., confirmed by the authentic testimonies of their patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, etc.; * by the * See the testimony of seven archbishops of the Greek Church, Perpetuite, vol. viii. p. 469. The testi- monies of the archbishops and clergy of the isles of the Archipelago, etc., p. 472, etc. Of divers abbots and religious, chaps, iv. and v. Of four patriarchs of Constantinople, of the patriarch of Alexandria, and of thirty- five metropolitans or archbishops, anno 1672, chap. vi. p. 623. Of the churches of Georgia and Mingrelia, chap. vii. p. 634. Of the patriarchs of Jerusalem, and of several other archbishops, abbots, etc., pi 703. Of Macarius and Neophytus, patriarchs of Antioch, p. 723, etc. Of Methodius, patriarch of Constantinople, Response Generale, p. 151. See also the orthodox confession of the Oriental Church, signed by the four patri- archs, and many other bishops, ibidem, p. 138. That the same is the faith of the Armenians, is proved by the testimony of Haviadour, an Armenian prelate, and of Uscanus, bishop of St. Sergius ; also of David the patriarch, and other bishops and priests of the Armenians, given at Aleppo', an. 1668. In the appendix to the first volume of the Perpetuite, pp. 78, 81, 82. Of James, patriarch of the Greater Armenia, and many other bishops and priests. Response Generale, i. 1, chap, xviii. Of the archbishops of the Armenians in Con- stantinople, Adrianople. and Amasaea. ibid. Of Cruciadorus, patriarch of the Lesser Armenia, with other bishops and priests, an. 672, torn. 3, Perpetuite, p. 774. Of the Armenians of Grand Cairo, an. 1671, and of several bishops at Ispahan the same year, ibid. pp. 775, 778. See also, in the first and third volumes of the TRANSUBSTANTIA TION PRO VED. 73 decrees of their synods against Cyril Lucar ; * by the writings of their ancientf and modern divines ; and by all their liturgies, and acknowl- edged by many Protestant witnesses. X Now what can be a more con- vincing evidence of this doctrine's having been handed down by tradition from the Apostles, than to see all sorts of Christians who have any pre- tensions to antiquity, agreeing in it ? 3d. Both ancient and modern Church history furnishes us with many instances of the best-attested miracles, which from time to time have been wrought in testimony of this sacred truth : of which, in divers parts of Christendom, there are standing monuments to this day. It would be too tedious to descend to particulars, and so much the less necessary, because all the miracles of Jesus Christ Himself, as they prove that He could not be a liar, so they demonstrate that what He gives us in this sacrament is verily and indeed His body and blood, as He has so clearly told us. SECTION IV. TRANSUBSTANTIATION PROVED. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. Q. What do you understand by transubstantiation ? A. That the bread and wine in the blessed sacrament are truly, really, and substantially changed by consecration into the body and blood of Christ. Q. In what, then, does the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation dif- fer from the consubstantiation maintained by the Lutherans ? A. It differs in this, that Luther and his followers maintained the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine, or with the bread and wine ; whereas the Catholic Church believes that the bread and wine are converted into the body and blood of Christ, so that there Perpetnite, and in the Response Generate, many other attestations of the belief of the Muscovites, Jacobites, or Surians, Copts, Maronites, and Nestorians, touching the real presence and transubstantiation. * See the acts of the synod of Constantinople, tyider the patriarch Cyril, of Beraea, an. 1639. And of the synod under the patriarch Parthenius, an. 1642. And of the synod of Cyprus, an. 1668. f See (besides the testimonies of the Greek fathers of the first six centuries) Anastasius of Sina in his Odegos ; Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople, in his Theoria. St. John Damascene, Orat. 3, de Imagini- 1ms, lib. 2. Paralel. c. 5, 1. 4. Fidei Orthodoxy, c. 13. The second Council of Nice of 350 bishops, act 6. Elias Cret. Comment, in Orat. 1. St. Greg. Naz. Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, Antihertico, 1. Num. 10. Theophylactus ad cap. 26. St. Matthiae Euthymius in Matt. 26. Samonas, bishop of Gaza, in Discept. contra Achmed Saracenum. Nicholas of Methone, de Corp. et Sang. Christi. Nicholas Cabasilas, Mark of Ephesus and Bessarion, qui omnes in suis opusculis (says Bishop Forbes, de Fuck. 1. 1. c. 3.) apper- tissime Transubstantionem cofifitentur, Jeremias Patriarcha in Resp. 1 and 2 ad Lutheranos. Gabriel Phila- delph. de Sacrament. The Greeks of Venice in Resp. ad Cardinal, Guis. Agapius, etc. See also in the two additional volumes of Renaudotto, the Perpetuite de la Foy, etc., the concurrent testimonies of divines of the other Oriental sects, and of all their liturgies. % Sir Edwin Sandy's Relation of the Religions of the West, p. 235. Doctor Potter's Answer to Charity Mistaken, p. 225. Bishop Forbes de Euch. 1. 1. c. 3. p. 412. Crusius in Germano-graecia, 1. 5, p. 226. Danawerus, 1. de Eccles. Grac. hodierna, p. 46, etc. Hence, Doctor Philip Nicholai, a Protestant, in his first book of the Kingdom of Christ, p. 22, writeth thus : " Let my Christian readers be assured, that not only the churches of the Greeks but also of the Russians, and the Georgians, and the Armenians, and the Indians, •and the Ethiopians, as many of them as believe in Christ, hold the true and real presence of the body and blood of the Lord," etc. 74 TRANSUBSTANTIA TION PRO VED. remains nothing of the inward substance of the bread and wine after consecration, but only the outward appearances or accidents. Q. How do you prove this transubstantiation ? A. ist. From the texts of Scripture above quoted, especially from the words of the institution (St. Matt. xxvi. 26, etc.), and from the words of Christ (St. John vi. 51, etc.), for our Lord, when He first gave the blessed sacrament, did not say, " in this, or with this, is my body and blood ; " but He said," This is my body," and " this is my blood." Neither did He say (St. John vi.), " in the bread that I will give will I give you my flesh," etc., but He said, " The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." 2d. From the tradition of the ancient fathers, whose doctrine may be seen in the books above quoted. 3d. From the authority and decision of the Church of God, in her gen- eral councils of Lateran, Constance, and Trent. And indeed (supposing that the words of Christ, in the institution of the blessed sacrament, are to be taken according to the letter, as both Catholics and Lutherans agree), the most learned Protestants have often urged against Luther and his followers that the Catholic transubstantia- tion is more agreeable to the letter of Christ's words than the Lutherans' consubstantiation. (See the Bishop of Meaux's Histoire des Variations, 1, 2, num.31, 32, 33.) Q. But does not St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. and xi., speaking of the sacrament, after consecration, call it bread ? A. He does; and so do we, ist. Because it is the bread of life, the food and nourishment of the soul. 2d. Because it still retains the quali- ties and accidents of bread, and has the whole outward appearance of bread ; and therefore, according to the Scripture phrase, it is called bread, as angels appearing in the shape of men are oftentimes in Scripture called men. (See St. Luke xxiv. 4, and Acts i. 10, etc.) 3d. Because it was con- secrated from bread, and therefore, according to the usual method of speaking in Scripture, it is called bread, being made from bread ; as man is called dust (Gen. iii. 10), because made out of dust ; and the serpent is called a rod (Exod. vii. 13) because made from a rod, etc. Besides, we have two very good interpreters that inform us what this bread is, of which St. Paul is there speaking, viz., the same Apostle, when he tells us (1 Cor. x. 16) that "the bread which we break is the commun- ion of the body of Christ ; " and our Saviour Himself when He tells us (St. John vi. 52), " and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." Q. But what will you say to our Saviour's calling the sacrament the " fruit of the vine " ? (St. Matt. xxvi. 29.) A. If it were certain our Saviour had so called the consecrated wine OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 75 of the blessed sacrament, it would prove no more than St. Paul's calling the other kind bread ; that is, it would only show that the name of wine, or the fruit of the vine, might be given to it, from having the accidents and appearance of wine, and having been consecrated from wine. But there is all the reason in the world to think that this appellation of the fruit of the vine was given by our Saviour, not to the consecrated cup or chalice, but to the wine of the paschal supper, which they drank before the institution of the sacrament. This appears evident from St. Luke, who thus relates the whole matter, chap. xxii. Ver. 14. "And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15. " And he said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer. 16. " For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17. " And having taken the chalice, he gave thanks and said, Take and divide it among you. 18. " For I say to you, that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till the kingdom of God come. 19. " And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you : do this for a commem- oration of me. 20. " In like manner, the chalice also, after he had supped, saying, This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you. 21. "But yet behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table." Where it is visible that it was not the sacramental cup, but that which was drank with the passover, to which our Saviour gives the name of the fruit of the vine. Q. But if the bread and wine do not. remain after consecration, what then becomes of them ? A. They are changed by the consecration into the body and blood of Christ. Q. How can bread and wine be changed into the body and blood of Christ ? A. By the almighty power of God (to whom nothing is hard or im- possible), who formerly changed water into blood, and a rod into a ser- pent (Exod. vii.), and water into wine (St. John ii.), and who daily changes bread and wine by digestion into our body and blood. Q. But do not all our senses bear testimony, that the bread and wine still remain ? 76 TRANSUBSTANTIA TION PRO VED. A. No: they only bear testimony that there remain the color and taste of bread and wine, as indeed there do ; but as to the inward sub- stance, this is not the object of any of the senses, nor can be perceived by any of them. Q. Are not our senses deceived, then, in this case ? A. Properly speaking, they are not, because they truly represent what is truly there, viz., the color, shape, taste, etc., of bread and wine ; but it is the judgment that is deceived, when, upon account of the color, shape, taste, etc., it too hastily pronounces that this is bread and wine. Q. But are we not sufficiently authorized by the testimony of the senses, to make a judgment of a thing's being in effect that which it has all the appearances of ? A. Regularly speaking, we are, when neither reason nor divine au- thority interposes itself to oblige us to make another judgment. And thus the miracles and resurrection of Christ were demonstrated to the Apostles by the testimony of their senses. But the case would have been altered, if God Himself had assured them that what appeared to be flesh and bones was indeed another thing ; for in such a case they ought cer- tainly to have believed the testimony of God rather than their own senses. Q. Can you give any instances in which the testimony of man's senses has represented one thing, and the divine authority of God's Word has assured us that it was not indeed what it appeared to be, but quite another thing ? A. Yes, we have # many such instances in Scripture, as when angels have appeared in the shape of men, Gen. xix.; St. Matt, xxviii.; St. Mark xvi., etc.; and the Holy Ghost in the shape of a dove, St. Luke iii. 22, etc. Q. Is there not, then, any of our senses that we may trust to, in rela- tion to the judgment that we are to make concerning the inward part of the sacrament of the Eucharist ? A. Yes, we may safely trust to the sense of hearing which informs us by the Word of God, and the authority of the Church of God, that what appears to be bread and wine in this sacrament is indeed the body and blood of Christ : now " faith then cometh by hearing [St. Paul, Rom. x. 1 7], and hearing by the word of Christ." Q. But if the substance of the bread and wine be not there, what is it, then, that gives nourishment to our bodies when we receive this sacra- ment ? A. This sacrament was not ordained for the nourishment of the body, but of the soul, though I do not deny but the body is also nourished when we receive the blessed Eucharist, not by the substance of the bread and wine, which is not there, nor by the body and blood of Christ, which is incorruptible, and therefore cannot be digested for our corporal nour- OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 77 ishment, but by the quantity and other accidents of the bread and wine (if, with the Aristotelian philosophers, you suppose them really distin- guished from matter and substance), or by another substance which the Almighty substitutes, when, by the ordinary course of digestion the sac- ramental species are changed, and the body and blood of Christ cease to be there. Q. But how can the accidents of bread and wine remain without the substance ? A, By the almighty power of God ; which answer, if it satisfy you not, I refer you to the Cartesian philosophers, who will tell you that as the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament are contained precisely in the same circumscription and dimensions as the bread and wine were before the consecration, it follows, of course, that they must affect our senses in the same manner : now, color, taste, etc., according to modern philoso- phy, are nothing but the affections of our senses. (See Purchot, part I. Phys. 2, sec. 5, cap. 1.) Q. How can the whole body and blood of Christ be contained in so small a space as that of the Host ; nay, even in the smallest sensible par- ticle of it ? A. By the same almighty power by which a camel can pass through the eye of a needle : " With men this is impossible," says our Saviour (St. Matt. xix. 26, and St. Mark x. 27), " but not with God. For all things are possible with God." Q. How can the body of Christ be both in heaven and, at the same time, in so many places upon earth ? A. By the same almighty power of God, which we profess in the very first article of our creed, when we say, " I believe in God the Father Al- mighty." So that it is a question better becoming an infidel than a Chris- tian to ask, " How can this be ? " when we are speaking of a God to whom nothing is impossible ; and who would not be God, indeed, if He could not do infinitely more than we can conceive. It is like the Jew- ish question (St. John vi. 52), "How can this man give us his flesh to eat ? " As if the power of God were not as incomprehensible as Himself ; and as if it were not worse than madness for weak mortals to pretend to fathom the immense depth of the power of the Almighty by the short line and plummet of human reason. Q. But is it not an evident contradiction for the same body to be at once in two places ? A. Not at all ; no more than for one God to subsist in three distinct persons ; or one person in two natures ; or one soul to be at once in the head and in the heart ; or two bodies to be at once in the selfsame place ; as when Christ's body came in to the disciples, the door being shut (St. 78 ' OF THE BREAD AND WINE, ETC. John xx. 26), or our bodies, after having returned to dust, to be many ages after restored at the resurrection. Q. How do you prove there is no evident contradiction in any of all these things ? A. Because thousands of as good philosophers and divines as any among you cannot see any such contradiction ; which is a plain demon- stration there is no evidence in the case, and consequently it would be the highest rashness to deny the possibility of these things to the power of the Almighty. Q. But what need was there that Christ should leave us His real body and blood in this sacrament, since, without His real presence, He might have bequeathed the self-same graces to our souls ? A. He might, indeed (if so He had pleased), as He might also have brought about the salvation of mankind, if He had so pleased, without becoming man Himself and dying upon a cross for us ; but He chose these wondrous ways as most suitable to His love, and most proper to excite us to love Him. And who shall presume to call Him to an account why He has condescended so far ? Q. But are not the body and blood of Christ liable to be hurt and abused in this sacrament ? A. The body and blood of Christ are now immortal, impassible, and incorruptible, and consequently not liable to be hurt, nor divided, nor corrupted, though they may be said, indeed, to be abused by the unworthy communicant; and upon that account St. Paul (1 Cor. xi. 27), says: " Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord." But this abuse no more hurts the immortal body of Christ, than this or any other crime can hurt or violate His divinity. SECTION V. OF THE BREAD AND WINE MADE USE OF IN THIS SACRAMENT. Q. What kind of bread does the Church make use of for the sacra- ment of the Eucharist ? A. The Church of Rome makes use of wafers of unleavened bread ; that is, of bread made of fine wheaten flour, with no other mixture but pure water. Q. Why does not the Church make use of common bread for this sacrament ? A. Because she follows the example of Christ, who at His last supper, when He first instituted and gave the blessed sacrament to His disciples, made use of unleavened bread. Q. How do you prove that ? OF THE BREAD AND WINE, ETC. 79 A. I prove it, because the day in which Christ first gave the blessed sacrament was (according to St. Matt. xxvi. 17; St. Mark xiv. 12, and St. Luke xxii. 7) "the first day of the unleavened bread." Now upon that day, and for the whole following week, there was no other bread to be found in Israel ; and it was even death to use any other but unleavened bread, as we learn from Exod. xii. 15 : "Seven days shall you eat un- leavened bread : in the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses : whosoever shall eat any thing leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall perish out of Israel." Verse 19 : " Seven days there shall not be found any leaven in your houses." So that it is plain that our Saviour made use of unleavened bread at His last supper, and that there was no other bread used at that time. Q. Is there any other reason why we should prefer unleavened bread ? A. Yes, unleavened bread is an emblem or symbol of sincerity and truth. Hence St. Paul admonishes us, 1 Cor. v. 7, 8 : " Purge out the old leaven of malice and wickedness, and to feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Q. What kind of wine do you make use of for this sacrament ? A. Wine of the grape, with which, by apostolical tradition, we mingle a little water. Q. Has the practice of mingling water with the wine been always ob- served from the Apostles' days ? A. It certainly has, and that throughout the whole Church. (See St. Justin, Apolog. 2 ; St. Irenaeus, 1. 5, c. 2 ; St. Cyprian, Epistola 63, ad Cce- cilium, etc. Q. Did Christ, when He gave the cup to His disciples, mingle water with the wine ? A. It is probable He did ; though the Scripture neither mentions the water nor the wine, but only speaks of His giving them the cup ; how- ever, the ancient and universal practice of the Church in all probability comes originally from the example of Christ. Q. Is there not some mystery or secret meaning in the mingling of the water with the wine in the chalice ? A. Yes ; it represents to us, 1st, the union of the human and divine nature in the person of the Son of God ; 2d, the union of the faithful with Christ their head ; 3d, the water and blood that flowed from the side of Christ. Q. Why did our Lord appoint bread and wine for the matter of this sacrament ? A. 1st. Because bread and. wine, being most nourishing to the body, were the most proper to represent the grace of this sacrament which is the food 8o OF COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. and nourishment of the soul. 2d. Because bread and wine are both com- posed of many individual parts (viz., grains or grapes), made by a per- fect union of them all ; and therefore, as the holy fathers take notice, are a most proper type and symbol of Christ's mystical body, the Church, and of that unity which our Lord recommends to the faithful by this sac- rament. According to St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. 17 : "For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread." O. What other things are signified or represented by the outward forms of bread and wine in this sacrament ? A. They are chiefly designed to signify or represent to us three things ; the one now past, viz., the passion of Christ, of which they are the remembrance ; another really present, viz., the body and blood of Christ, of which they are the veil ; and a third to come, viz., everlast- ing life, of which they are the pledge. SECTION VI. — OF COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. Q. Why do not the faithful in the Catholic Church receive under the form of wine as well as under the form of bread ? A. The Catholic Church has always looked upon it to be a thing in- different whether the faithful receive in one kind or both ; because she has always believed that they receive Jesus Christ Himself, the fountain of all grace, as much in one kind as in both ; but her custom and disci- pline, for many ages, has been to administer this sacrament to the laity in one kind only, viz., under the form of bread, by reason of the danger of spilling the blood of Christ, if all were to receive this cup ; which dis- cipline was confirmed by the general Council of Constance, in opposition to the Hussites, who had the rashness to condemn in this point the prac- tice of the universal Church. Q. Did the Catholic Church never allow of the Communion in both kinds? A. She did, and may again if she please ; for this is a matter of disci- pline, which the Church may regulate or alter, as she shall see most ex- pedient for the good of her children. Q. What do you mean, when you say this is a matter of discipline ? I thought Communion in one kind had been looked upon in the Catholic Church as a matter of faith. A. You must distinguish in this case between that which is of faith and that which is of discipline only. It is a matter of faith that under one kind we receive Christ whole and entire, and the true sacrament, and that there is no command of Christ for all the faithful to receive in both kinds ; so far it both is and ever was the faith of the Catholic Church, for her faith is unalterable. But whether the blessed sacrament OF COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 81 should actually be administered to the laity in one kind or in both, that is to say, what is most proper or expedient for the Church to practice or ordain in this particular, considering the circumstances of time, place, etc., this is what I call a matter of discipline, which may be different in different ages without any alteration in the faith of the Church. Q. But did not Christ command the receiving in both kinds (St. Matt. xxvi. 27), " Drink ye all of this " ? A. These words were addressed to the twelve Apostles, who were all that were then present, and the precept was by them all fulfilled : " And they all drank of it." (St. Mark xvi. 23.) Now it is certain that many things were spoken in the gospel to the Apostles in quality of pastors of the Church which were not directed to the laity, as when they were com- missioned to preach and baptize (St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20), and to absolve sinners (St. John xx. 22), and upon this very occasion to do what Christ had done, that is, to consecrate and administer this sacrament in com- memoration of Him. (St. Luke xx. 19.) And consequently it is no argu- ment that all are obliged to drink of the cup because Christ commanded all the Apostles to drink of it, any more than that all are obliged to con- secrate the sacrament because Christ commanded all the Apostles to do it ; for both these commands were delivered at the same time, upon the same occasion, and to the same persons. Q. But why should the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the Church, be commanded to drink of the cup rather than the laity ? or why should Christ, at the first institution of the sacrament, consecrate and give it in both kinds, if all Christians were not to receive it in both kinds ? A. To satisfy both these queries at once, you are to take notice that the blessed Eucharist, according to the faith of the Catholic Church (as we shall show hereafter), is a sacrifice as well as a sacrament ; and of this sacrifice, by the institution of Christ, the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the Church, are the ministers, whom He has com- manded to offer it in commemoration of His death. (St. Luke xxii. 19.) Now, this sacrifice in remembrance of Christ's death,' for the more lively representing the separation of Christ's blood from His body, requires the separate consecration of both kinds ; and therefore the priests, who are the ministers of this sacrifice, receive at that time in both kinds ; and Christ, who, in the first institution of this sacrifice, consecrated and gave both kinds, designed, without doubt, that it should be so received, at least by the ministers. O. But why should not the nature of the sacrament as much require both kinds to be received by all, as the nature of the sacrifice requires both kinds to be consecrated ? OF COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. A. Because the nature of the sacrament consists in being the sign and cause of grace : now, under either kind, there is both a sufficient sign of -race, viz., of the nourishment of the soul, and at the same time the foun- tain and cause of all grace, by the real presence of Christ, in whom are locked up all the treasures of grace, so that the nature of the sacrament suffi- ciently subsists in either kind. But the nature of the sacrifice particularly requires the exhibiting to God the body and blood of His Son, under the veils that represent the shedding of His blood, and His death ; and there- fore the nature of the sacrifice requires the separate consecration of both kinds, which, being consecrated, must be received by some one, and by no one more properly than by the priest. Q. Does not Christ say (St. John vi. 54), "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you " ? A. He does: and in the same chapter, vers. 57, 58, He tells us, "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him ; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me," which texts are easily reconciled, if we consider that, according to the Catholic doctrine, and according to the truth, whosoever receives the body of Christ most certainly receives His blood at the same time ; since the body which he receives is a living body (for Christ can die no more, Rom. vi. 9), which cannot be without the blood. There is no taking Christ by pieces ; who- ever receives Him, receives Him entirely. Q. But are not the faithful deprived of a great part of the grace of this sacrament by receiving in one kind only«? A. No : because the grace of this sacrament, being annexed to the real presence of Christ, who is the fountain of all grace, and Christ being as truly and really present in one kind as in both, consequently He brings with Him the same grace to the soul when received in one kind, as He does when received in both. Q. Is it not then a privilege granted to the priests above the laity, to receive in both kinds ? A. No : their receiving in both kinds, as often as they say Mass, is no privilege, but the consequence of the sacrifice which they have been offer- ing, as you may gather from what I have told you already ; for at other times, when they are not saying Mass, no priest, bishop, or Pope, even upon his death-bed, ever receives otherwise than in one kind. Q. Have you anything more to add in favor of Communion in one kind? A. Yes : 1st. That the Scripture in many places, speaking of the holy Communion, makes no mention of the cup. (See St. Luke xxiv. 30, 31 ; Acts ii. 42, 46 ; xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. x. 17.) 2d. That the Scripture promises life eternal to those who receive in one kind. (St. Johnvi. 51,57, 58.) 3d. That MANNER OF ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENT. S3 the ancient Church most certainly allowed of Communion in one kind and practised it on many occasions. (See Tertullian, 1, 2, ad Uxorem c. 5 ; St. Denys of Alexandria, Epis. ad Fabiurn Antioch, recorded by Eusebius, 1. 6. Histor. c. 34 ; St. Cyprian, 1. de lapsis. St. Basil, Epist. 269. St. Ambrose, de Satyro Fratre ; Paulinus in Vita Ambrose, etc.) 4th. That many learned Protestants have acknowledged that there is no command in Scrip- ture for all to receive in both kinds. (See Luther, in his Epistle to the Bohemians ; Spalatensis, de Rep Eccles, 1. 5. c. 6 ; Bishop Forbes, 1, 2, de Eucharist, c. 1, 2 ; White, bishop of Ely, Treatise on the Sabbath, p. 79. Bishop Montague, Orig., p. 79.) Q. But what would you say further to a scrupulous soul, which, through the prejudice of a Protestant education, could not be perfectly easy upon this article ? A. I should refer such person to the Church and her authority, and to all those divine promises recorded in Scripture by which we are assured that in hearing the Church and her pastors, we are secure ; that Christ and His holy Spirit shall be always with them to guide them into all truth ; and that the gates of hell shall never prevail against this author- ity. So that a Christian soul has nothing to fear in conforming itself to the authority and practice of the Church of God ; but very much in pre- tending to be wiser than the Church, or making it a scruple to hear and obey her spiritual guides. SECTION VII. OF THE MANNER OF ADMINISTERING THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ; OF DEVOTION BEFORE AND AFTER COMMUNION J OF THE OBLIGATION OF RE- CEIVING IT ; AND OF ITS EFFECTS. Q. In what manner is the blessed Eucharist administered to the people ? A. After the Communion of the priest in the Mass, such of the people as are to communicate go up to the rails before the altar, and there kneel down, and taking the towel, hold it before their breasts in such a manner that if, in communicating, it should happen that any particle fell, it would not fall to the ground, but be received upon the towel. Then the clerk, in the name of all the communicants, says the Confiteor, or general form of confession, by which they accuse themselves of all their sins to God, to the whole court of heaven, and to God's ministers, and crave mercy of God, and the prayers and intercession of both the triumphant and mili- tant Church. After which the priest, turning toward the communicants, says : " May almighty God have mercy on you, and forgive you your sins, and bring you to life everlasting. Amen. " May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution and remission of all your sins. Amen." 84 MANNER OF ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENT. Then the priest, taking the particles of the blessed sacrament which are designed for the communicants, and holding one of them, which he elevates a little over the pix or paten, pronounces the following words : " Ecce Agnus Dei," etc., that is, " Behold the Lamb of God : behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world." Then he repeats three times, " Domine non sum dignus," etc.; that is, " Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof ; speak but only the word, and my soul shall be healed." After which he distributes the holy Communion, making the sign of the cross with the consecrated particle upon each one, saying to each one, " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul unto everlasting life. Amen." Q. In what manner is the blessed sacrament administered to the sick ? A. The Catholic Church has always practiced the reserving of some consecrated particles of the blessed Eucharist for communicating to the sick, and where she enjoys free exercise of religion takes care that this blessed sacrament be carried to them with a religious solemnity, attended with lights, etc. When the priest comes into the chamber where the sick person lies, he says, " Peace be to this house." Ans. " And to all that dwell therein." Then setting down the pix, with the blessed sacrament, upon the table, which must be covered with a clean linen cloth, he takes holy water and sprinkles the sick person and the chamber, saying, " As- perges," etc. ("Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed : thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.") (Ps. 1.) "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy ! Glory be to the Father," etc. Then he again repeats the anthem, " Thou shalt sprinkle me," etc. After which he adds, " Our help is in the name of the Lord." Ans. " Who made heaven and earth." Priest. " O Lord, hear my prayer." Ans. " And let my cry come unto thee." Priest. "The Lord be with you." Ans. " And with thy spirit." Priest. " Let us pray." THE PRAYER. " O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, graciously hear us, and vouchsafe to send thy holy angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, visit, and defend all who dwell in this habitation. Through Christ our Lord, Amen." Then the priest, coming to the sick person, endeavors to dispose him and to prepare him for receiving the blessed sacrament ; and, if he have any sin upon his conscience, hears his confession and absolves him. After which the sick person, or some other in his name, says the Con- fiteor, and the priest says, " May the almighty God have mercy on thee," etc., as above : " Behold the Lamb of God," etc., " Lord I am not DEVOTION, ETC., AT COMMUNION. 85 worthy," etc. And, in giving the blessed sacrament, if it be by way of viaticum, or preparation for death, he says, " Receive, brother [or sister], the viaticum of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who may guard thee from the wicked enemy, and bring thee to everlasting life. Amen." But if the sick person be not in danger of death, the priest, in giving the blessed sacrament, pronounces the usual form : " May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul to life everlasting. Amen." After which the priest says the following prayer : " O holy Lord, almighty Father, eternal God, we beseech thee with faith that the sacred body of our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, may be available to this our brother [or sister] who has received it, as a medicine to eternity, both for body and soul : through the same Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen." Then, if there remain in the pix any other particles of the blessed sacrament, the priest gives the benediction therewith to the sick person: otherwise he pronounces the usual blessing, making the sign of the cross, and saying, " May the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, descend upon thee, and remain always with thee. Amen." Q. In what disposition of soul is a person obliged to be, in order to receive worthily the blessed sacrament ? A. He is obliged to be in the state of grace, and free, at least, from the guilt of mortal sin ; that is to say, from the guilt of any willful trans- gression in any matter of weight, of the commandments of God, or of his Church. The reason of this is, because a soul, under the guilt of mortal sin, is an enemy to God, and a slave of the devil ; and therefore it would be a grievous crime for a soul in that state to presume to receive the body and blood of Christ, which, according to the doctrine of St. Paul (1 Cor. xi. 29), would be receiving damnation to itself. Q. What, then, is a person to do in order to prevent so great an evil ? A. St. Paul tells us (1 Cor. xi. 28), that he is to try himself ; that is, to search and examine diligently his own conscience before he ventures to approach this blessed sacrament. Q. And what if, upon examination, he finds his conscience charged with any weighty matter ? A. He must take care to discharge it in the manner Christ has ap- pointed, viz., by a hearty repentance and sincere confession : laying open the state of his soul to those sacred judges to whom Christ said (St. John xx. 23), "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." Q. What else is required of a person that is to receive the blessed sacrament ? 86 DISPOSITION OF THE COMMUNICANT. A. He must be fasting, at least from midnight, for so the Church commands, agreeably to a most ancient and apostolical tradition : so that if, through inadvertence, a person has taken any thing, though it were no more than one drop or crumb, after twelve o'clock at night, he must by no means receive that day, as it would be a crime to attempt it. Q. Is there no exception to this rule ? A. Yes, the case of danger of approaching death excepted ; for then persons are permitted to receive the blessed sacrament by way of viati- cum, though they are not fasting. Q. What kind of devotion do you recommend to a Christian that is preparing himself for holy Communion ? A. Besides the clearing of his conscience from sin by a good confes- sion I recommend to him, ist. To think well on the great work he has in hand ; to consider attentively who he is, and who it is that he is prepar- ing to receive, and earnestly to beg of God to make him worthy. 2d. To propose to himself a pure intention, viz., the honor of God, and the health of his own soul ; and in particular, that by worthily receiving Christ he may come to a happy union with Him, according to that say. ing of St. John vi. 56 : " He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him." 3d. To meditate on the sufferings and death of his Redeemer, to comply with that command of our Lord (St. Luke xxii. 19), " Do this for a commemoration of me." 4th. To prepare himself by acts of virtue, more especially of faith, love, and humility, that so he may approach his Lord with a firm belief of His real presence in this sacrament, and of His death and passion ; with an ardent affection of love to Him, who has so much loved us, and with a great sentiment of his own unworthiness and sins, joined with a firm confidence in the mercies of his Redeemer. Q. What ought to be a Christian's behavior at the time of receiving this blessed sacrament ? A. As to the interior, he ought to have his soul at that time full of the sentiments we have just now mentioned, of faith, love, and humility ; and as to the exterior comportment, he ought to have his head erect, his eyes modestly cast down, his mouth moderately open, and his tongue a little advanced on his under lip, that the priest may conveniently put the sacred Host on his tongue ; which he must gently convey into his mouth, and after having moistened it for a moment or two on his tongue, swal- low it as soon as he can. In all which he is carefully to avoid : ist, the putting his mouth to the towel ; 2d, the chewing with his teeth, or raising the Host to the roof of his mouth ; 3d, the letting the sacred particles quite dissolve in his mouth ; 4th, the spitting soon after communion. But should the particles happen to stick to the roof of his mouth, let him DE VO TION, ETC., AT COMMUNION. 8 7 not be disturbed, nor put his finger into his mouth to remove it, but gently remove it with his tongue as soon as he can, and so convey it down. Q. What devotion do you recommend after Communion ? A. 1st. Adoration, praise, and thanksgiving, in order to welcome our dear Saviour upon His coming under our roof. Here let the soul cast herself at the feet of her Lord ; let her, like Magdalen, wash them in spirit with her tears, or, if she dare presume so high, let her embrace Him, with the spouse in the Canticles, and say, " I have found him whom my soul loves ; I will hold him, and I will not let him go." Let her, like the royal prophet, invite all heaven and earth to join with her in praising her Lord ; and let her excite all her powers to welcome him. 2d. I recom- mend to the devout communicant to make a present or offering to Christ, in return for His having given Himself. The present that He expects is our heart and soul, which, with all its faculties, ought on this occasion to be offered and consecrated to our Lord. 3d. At this time the soul ought to lay all her necessities before her Redeemer, and not neglect so favorable an opportunity of suing for His mercy and grace, both for herself and the whole world ; for those more especially for whom she is in particular obliged to pray : but, above all things, let her pray that nothing in life or death may ever separate her from the love of Him whom she has here received and chosen for her Lord and Spouse for ever. Q. What do you think of those who spend little or no time in recollec- tion and devotion after Communion ? A. I think they in some manner affront Christ, in so quickly turning their backs upon Him, and that they wrong their own souls, which by this neglect are robbed of those graces and comforts which they would have received if they had stayed in His company. Q. Have you anything more to recommend after Communion ? A. I have this to recommend, with regard to the whole following day, that a person take care to be more than ordinarily collected, and very much upon his guard against the snares of the enemy, who is never more busy than upon this occasion to fling some temptation or provocation in a Christian's way, by which he may disturb the soul, and rob her of the treasure which she has received ; and therefore it behooves Christians to be cautious against this wicked enemy and all his stratagems, lest, by putting us into a passion, or otherwise drawing us into sin, he quickly drive Christ out of our souls. If you desire to be more perfectly instructed in what relates to this blessed sacrament, and the devotion that is proper before and after Communion, I refer you to Father Lewis de Grenada's Memorial of a Christian Life, book iii. ; Dr. Gobinet's 2d vol. of the Instruction of Youth, or Rev. Mr. Gother's book of Instructions and Devotions for Confession and Commtmion. 88 INSTRUCTION ON EASTER COMMUNION. Q. Are all Christians, arrived at the years of discretion, under an obli- gation of receiving this sacrament ? A. They certainly are. ist. By a divine precept or commandment of Christ (St. John vi. 54) : " Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." Which precept ob-, liges to the receiving sometime, at least, in our life, and at our death. 2d. By a precept or commandment of the Church, published in the great Council of Lateran, anno 1215, by which all the faithful are obliged to re- ceive at least once a year, and that within the Easter time (which begins on Palm Sunday and lasts till Low Sunday*), except the person, by the advice of his pastor, should, for some just reason, be permitted to put off his communion till another time. Q. What is the penalty imposed by this council on such as neglect their Easter Communion ? A. The council orders that such offenders should be excluded the Church ; and, if they die in their transgressions, be deprived of Christian burial. Q. Are persons actually excommunicated who neglect their Easter Communion ? A. No, they are not, till their superiors pronounce the sentence of ex- communication against them ; because the council does not actually in- flict this penalty, but only orders or authorizes the inflicting of it. Q. If a person has passed by the time of Easter, or was hindered from communicating at that time, is he obliged to communicate afterward, as soon as he can ? A. Yes, he is ; at least, if you speak of one who has been a whole year without communicating ; for the Church precept obliges the receiv- ing at least once a year. For the same reason, a person that has not been at Communion within the year, and foresees that he shall be hindered at Easter, ought to anticipate his paschal Communion by receiving before- hand. Q. And what if a person has made a sacrilegious Communion at Easter ; has such a one satisfied the precept of the Church ? A. No, certainly. (See the 55th proposition condemned by Innocent XI.) And therefore such a one remains obliged to go to Communion, in the same manner as if he had not communicated at all. 0. At what age are Christians obliged by the precept of the Church to communicate ? A. As soon as they come to the years of discretion, as is expressed by the Council of Lateran ; that is, when they have that perfect use of rea- * The time appointed in the archdiocese of Dublin begins on Ash Wednesday, and terminates on As- cension day. WORSHIP OF CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 89 son, and are so well instructed in their duty as to be able to discern the body of the Lord, and to receive it with due reverance and devotion. This happens in some earlier, in others later ; but seldom earlier than about ten years of age. Q. But if a child, that is between seven and ten years of age, should be in evident danger of death ? A. Many divines are of opinion if such a one be come to the use of reason (which is commonly presumed after seven years of age), that he may, or even ought to receive, because of the command of Christ. (St. John vi. 54.) So Suarez, Novarrus, etc. Q. What are the effects of this blessed sacrament in the worthy re- ceivers ? A. It is the food, nourishment, strength, and life of the soul, by sup- plying it with sanctifying grace, by repairing its forces, by arming it against its passions and concupiscences, by maintaining it at present in the life of grace, and bringing it to life and glory everlasting ; according to that saying of St. John vi. 51 : "And the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world ;" and ver. 59 : "He that eateth this bread shall live forever." SECTION VIII. OF THE WORSHIP OF CHRIST IN THIS SACRAMENT J ALSO OF BENEDICTIONS AND PROCESSIONS. _ Q. What kind of honor is due to this blessed sacrament ? A. Divine honor and adoration, inasmuch as it contains truly and really the divine person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ; who, as He is truly God, ought most certainly to be adored wheresoever He is. Q. Is there no danger of idolatry in this practice ? A. No, certainly : because this honor is not paid to the outward veil, or the sacramental signs, but to Jesus Christ who lies hidden there : now, Jesus Christ is no idol, but the true and living God. Q. But if the doctrine of the real presence and transubstantiation should not be true, would we not then, at least, be guilty of idolatry ? A. W T e are as positively certain, by divine faith, of the truth of the doctrine of the real presence and of transubstantiation, as Protestants can be of the divinity of Jesus Christ ; therefore we are as much out of the reach of the danger of idolatry in worshiping Christ in the sacrament, as they are in worshiping Him in heaven. I shall add, for their further sat- isfaction, that some of their best divines have discharged us from all dan- ger of idolatry in worshiping Christ in this sacrament, as they may find in Dr. Jeremy Taylor's Liberty of Prophesying, sec. 20, num. 26, and in Mr. Thorndike's/z^ Weights and Measures, ch. xix., p. 125. Dr. Taylor's words on this subject deserve to be remarked ; he writes as follows : 90 WORSHIP OF CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 44 Idolatry is a forsaking the true God, and giving divine worship to a creature or to an idol ; that is, to an imaginary God. Now it is evident that the object of their (the Catholics') adoration, in the blessed sacra- ment, is the only true and eternal God, hypostatically joined with His holy humanity, which humanity they believe actually present under the veil of the sacramental signs. And if they thought Him not present, they are so far from worshiping the bread in this case, that themselves profess it idolatry to do so, which is a demonstration that their soul has nothing in it that is idolatrical ; the will has nothing in it but what is a great ene- my to idolatry : and nothing burns in hell but proper will." So far this learned Protestant prelate. Q. Why does the Catholic Church reserve the blessed sacrament in her churches ? A. She reserves the blessed sacrament in tabernacles upon her altars, partly that she may have it there to carry to the sick at all hours, when- ever they shall be in need of it, and partly for the comfort of her children, who by this means have Jesus Christ always amongst them, and may come when they please to visit Him. This custom of reserving the blessed sacrament is as ancient as Christianity, as appears from the most certain monuments of antiquity.* And it is upon account of the blessed sacra- ment reserved in the tabernacle, that a lamp hangs before the altar, to burn there day and night, and that we kneel as often as we pass before the tabernacle. Q. Why is the blessed sacrament, upon certain days, exposed to the view of the people in a monstrance set upon the altar ? A. It is to invite the people to come there to adore Jesus Christ, and to excite in them a greater devotion, by the sight of their Lord veiled in these sacred mysteries. Q. What is the meaning of the benediction given on certain days ? A. It is a devotion practiced by the Church, in order to give adora- tion, praise and blessing to God for His infinite goodness and love, testi- fied to us in the institution of this blessed sacrament, and to receive at the same time the benediction or blessing of our Lord there present. Q. Why is the blessed sacrament sometimes carried in solemn pro- cession through the streets ? A. To honor our Lord there present with a kind of triumph, and thereby to make Him some sort of amends for the injuries and affronts which are so frequently offered to this divine sacrament, and to obtain His blessing for all those places through which He passes. *Tertullian, L. ii., ad Uxorem, c. 5. St. Cyprian, 1. 1. de Lap sis, etc. THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF OUR LORD. OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 91 CHAPTER VI. OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. Q. What do you mean by the Mass ? A. The Mass is the liturgy of the Catholic Church, and consists in the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, and the offering- up of this same body and blood to God by the ministry of the priest, for a perpetual memorial of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross, and a continuation of the same till the end of the world. Q. Why is this liturgy called the Mass ? A. Some think this word is derived from the Hebrew word missach (Deut. xvi.), which signifies a "voluntary offering" ; others are of the opinion that it is derived from the missa or mzsszo, that is, from the " dis- mission " of the catechumens and others, who were not permitted an- ciently to be present at this sacrifice. But be this as it will, the name is of very ancient use in the Church, as appears from St. Ambrose, L. 2. Epist. 14, ad Sororem ; St. Leo, Epist. 81, ad Dioscorum ; and St. Greg- ory, Horn. 6. in Evangelia. Q. Is the Mass properly a sacrifice ? A. Yes, it is. Q. What do you mean by a sacrifice ? A. A sacrifice, properly so called, is an oblation or offering of some sensible thing made to God by a lawful minister, to acknowledge, by the destruction or other change of the thing offered, the sovereign power of God, and to render Him the homage due to His supreme Majesty. Q. How, then, is the Mass a sacrifice ? A. Because it is an oblation of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, under the outward and sensible sign of bread and wine, offered to God by the ministry of the priests of the Church, lawfully consecrated and em- powered by Christ ; and this oblation is accompanied with a real change and destruction of the bread and wine by the consecration of them into the body and blood of Christ, and a real exhibiting of Christ our Victim, heretofore immolated upon the cross, and here mystically dying in the separate consecration of the two different species ; and this oblation is made to God to acknowledge His sovereign power, to render Him our homage, and for all the other ends for which sacrifice is offered to His divine Majesty. Q. What are the ends for which sacrifice of old was offered, and is still to be offered to God ? A. For these four ends : 1st, for God's own honor and glory, by ac- 92 OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. knowledging His sovereignty and paying Him our homage; 2d, to give God thanks for all His blessings ; 3d, to beg pardon for our sins ; 4th, to ob- tain grace and all blessings from His divine Majesty. Q. Have the servants of God, from the beginning of the world, been always accustomed to honor Him with sacrifice? A. Yes, they have. Witness the sacrifice of Abel (Gen. iv.), the sac- rifice of Noah (Gen. viii.), the sacrifice of Melchisedech (Gen. xiv.), the sacrifices of Abraham (Gen. xv. and xxii.), the sacrifices of Job (ch. i. 42), and the many different kinds of sacrifices prescribed in the law of Moses ; of these ancient sacrifices some were holocausts, or whole burnt- offerings, in which the victim or host was wholly consumed by fire, and thereby given fully to God without reserve, for the more perfect acknowl- edgment of His sovereignty. Others were pacific or peace offerings ; and these were either offered in thanksgiving for blessings received, or for the obtaining of graces and favors from the divine Majesty. Again, some were bloody sacrifices, in which the victim was slain ; others un- bloody, as the sacrifice of Melchisedech, which was bread and wine (Gen. xiv.); the sacrifices of fine flour with oil and frankincense, of unleavened cakes, etc., prescribed (Levit. ii.); of the scape-goat (Levit. xvi.), etc. Q. Were these sacrifices of the law of nature and of the law of Moses agreeable to the divine Majesty ? A. They were, as often as they were accompanied with the inward sacrifice of the heart ; not for any virtue or efficacy that they had in them- selves (being but weak and needy elements), but in view of the sacrifice of Christ, of which they all were types and figures, and in consideration of the faith of those who offered them, by which they believed in a Redeemer to come, whose blood alone was capable to reconcile them to God. Q. Why are all these sacrifices now abolished ? A. Because they were but figures of the sacrifice of Christ, and, there- fore, were to give place to His sacrifice, as figures of the truth. Q. How do you prove that these ancient sacrifices had no power nor efficacy of themselves, and were to make way for another sacrifice, viz., that of Christ ? A. This is evident from many texts of Scripture ; I shall only allege one at present, viz., Psalm xxxix., spoken in the person of Christ to His Father : " Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not ; but ears thou hast perfected to me" ; or, as St. Paul reads it (Heb. x. 5), " but a body thou hast fitted to me. Holocausts for sin did not please thee." Q. What is the sacrifice of Christians under the new law ? A. We have no other sacrifice but that of Christ, which He once offered upon the cross, and daily offers, by the ministry of His priests, upon the altar, viz., the Eucharist. OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 93 Q. Is the sacrifice of the cross and that of the Eucharist the same sac- rifice, or two distinct sacrifices ? A. It is the same sacrifice ; because the Victim is the self-same, viz., Jesus Christ, and the Priest or principal Offerer is also the self-same Jesus Christ : it was He who offered Himself upon the cross ; it is He who offers Himself upon the altar. The only difference is in the manner of the offering ; because in the sacrifice of the cross Christ really died, and, therefore, that was a bloody sacrifice ; in the sacrifice of the altar He only dies mystically, and, therefore, this is an unbloody sacrifice. I say, He dies mystically, inasmuch as His death is represented in consecrating apart the bread and wine, to denote the shedding of His sacred blood from His body at the time of His death. Q. Why do you say that Jesus Christ is the priest that offers the sac- rifice of the altar, since there is always another priest to perform this office ? A. Because the priest who officiates in the Mass officiates as Christ's vicegerent, and in His person ; and, therefore, when he comes to the con- secration of the elements, in which this sacrifice essentially consists, he speaks not in his own name, but in the name and person of Christ, say- ing : " This is my body, this is the chalice of my blood," etc. So that Christ Himself is the principal priest ; the officiant only acts by His au- thority, in His name and person. Q. But what need was there of the sacrifice of the altar, since we were fully redeemed by the sacrifice of the cross ? A. i st. That we might have in the sacrifice of the altar a standing memorial of the death of Christ. 2d. That by the sacrifice of the altar the fruits of His death might daily be applied to our souls. 3d. That His children might have, till the end of the world, an external sacrifice, in which they might join together in the outward worship of religion, as the servants of God from the beginning of the world had always done. 4th. That in and by this sacrifice they might unite themselves daily with their High-Priest and Victim, Jesus Christ, and daily answer the four ends of sacrifice. Q. What proofs have you that the Mass is properly a sacrifice ? A. Because, as we learn from many plain texts of Scripture, quoted in the foregoing chapter, and from the perpetual tradition of the uni- versal Church, in the consecration of the holy Eucharist the bread and wine are really changed into the body and blood of Christ ; and conse- quently, in and by this consecration, the real body and blood of Christ, our Victim, which for us was immolated upon the cross, are in the Mass exhibited and presented to God. Therefore the Mass is properly a sacri- fice, and the same sacrifice as that which Christ offered upon the cross. 94 OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. And that this sacrifice is propitiatory for obtaining the remission of our sins we learn from the very words of Christ our Lord, at the first institu- tion of it at His last supper, when, in the consecration of the elements, speaking in the present tense, He tells us (as His words are in the original Greek) : " This is my body which shall be delivered for you." (i Cor. xi. 24.) "This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many " (St. Matt. xvi. 28; St. Mark xiv. 24), or, "This [cup] is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for many," viz., for the remission of sins. Q. Have you any other texts of Scripture for the sacrifice of the Mass ? A. Yes, besides many figures of this sacrifice in the Old Testament (of which the most evident is that of the bread and wine offered by Mel- chisedech, the priest of the most high God, Genesis xiv.; according to whose order Christ is said to be a priest for ever (Psalm xc); and that, as the holy fathers* take notice by reason of this sacrifice of the Euchar- ist) we have the prophecy of Malachi i. 10, 11, where God, rejecting the Jewish sacrifices, declares His acceptance of the sacrifice or pure offering which should be made to Him in every place among the Gentiles ; which texts the ancient fathers, both Greek and Latin, urge to show that the Eucharist is a sacrifice. (See St. Justin, in Dialog, cum Try phone ; St. Ire- naeus, 1.4. c. 32 ; St. Chrysostom, in Psa. xcii.; St. Augustine, 1. 18. de Civ- itate Dei, c. 35, etc.) In the New Testament we have Heb. xiii. 10, where the Apostle tells us, that under the new law " we have an altar [and consequently a sacrifice] whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle ; " that is, they who continue in the service of the Old Law. And in 1 Cor. x. 14-21, the same Apostle makes a parallel between the partakers of the Christian sacrifice and those who partake of the Jewish or heathenish victims ; so as evidently to suppose that the Christian table which he mentions (ver. 21) is an altar, where Christ is mystically immolated and afterward eaten by the faithful ; as, in the Jewish and heathenish sacrifices, the victim was first offered on the altar and then eaten by the people. From whence the Apostle infers that they who were partakers of this great sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ (ver. 16) ought not to be partakers with devils, by eating of the meats sacrificed to idols, (ver. 21.) The sacrifice of the 1 Mass is also mentioned in the thirteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apos- tles, ver. 2, where what we read in the Protestant Testament, " As they ministered to the Lord and fasted," etc., in the Greek original is, M As they were sacrificing {litourgounton) to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy * St. Cyprian, Epist. 63. St. Chrysostom, Horn. 35. in Gen. Epiphanius, Beer. 55. St. Jerome, Epist. 126, ad Evag. St. Augustine, Cone. 1 Ps. 33 ; L. 15. de Civ. Dei, c. 22. L. 18. c. 35, etc. St. Cyril Alex., L. 2. Glaphyr. ; Theodoret, Qti. 24. in Gen. OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 95 Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Where the word which we have rendered, in English, " sacrificing - ," is the selfsame which, to this day, is used by the Greeks to express the sacrifice of the Mass. Besides these arguments from Scripture for the sacrifice offered to God in the blessed Eucharist, we have the authority and the perpetual tradi- tion of the Church of God from the days of the Apostles. Witness the most ancient liturgies and nations, Latins, Greeks, Goths, Syrians, Arme- nians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Indians, etc. Witness the manifold testi- monies of the councils and fathers of all ages ; witness the frequent mention in all Christian antiquity of altar, sacrifice, oblation, priest, etc. Witness, in fine, the universal consent of Christians of all denominations before Luther's time, in offering up the Eucharist as a sacrifice, which is a matter of fact that cannot be contested. To which, if we add another truth no less notorious, viz., that no one of our adversaries can pretend to assign the time in which the use of this sacrifice first began, we cannot have a morecertain proof of an apostolical tradition. It is the rule which St. Augustine gives to discern apostolical traditions by. (L. 4. de Bapt. c. 24.) Q. But does not St. Paul say (Heb. x. 14), " For by one oblation [viz., that of the cross] he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified " ? What room, then, can there be for the sacrifice of the Mass ? A. What the Apostle says is certainly true, that the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross is that one offering by which we are perfected for ever, because the whole world was redeemed by that one sacrifice, and all other means of our sanctification or salvation have their force and efficacy from that one offering. Yet as that one offering, by which " Christ hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified," is no way injured by His supplications, which as man He makes for us to His Father in heaven, where, as the same Apostle tells us (Heb. vii. 25), "He is always living to make intercession for us ; " so neither is it any way injured, but highly honored, by the representing of the same offering to God in the sacrifice of the altar. Q. But the Apostle tells us (Heb. ix. 25), " Nor yet that he should offer himself often ;'" what say you to this ? A. He speaks there of His offering Himself in a bloody manner, by dying for the redemption of the world, which was to be but once. But though the price of our redemption was to be paid but once, yet the fruit of it was to be daily applied to our souls by those means of grace which Christ has left in His Church, that is, by His sacraments and sacrifice. 96 OBLIGA TION OF HEARING MASS. CHAPTER VII. OF HEARING MASS ALSO OF THE ORDER AND CEREMONIES OF THE MASS, AND THE DEVOTION PROPER FOR THAT TIME. Q. Are the faithful obliged to be present at the sacrifice of the Mass ? A. They are obliged, by a precept of the Church, to be present thereat upon all Sundays and holydays. Q. Why does the Church oblige all her children to assist at the sacri- fice of the Mass upon all Sundays and holydays ? A. That as Sundays and holydays are particularly set apart for the worship of God and the sanctification of their souls, they may answer these ends by assembling together on these days, to commemorate the death of Christ, and to offer to God this solemn worship of sacrifice by the hands of the priest, and of their High-Priest, Jesus Christ : ist, in testimony of God's sovereignty, and as a homage due to His divine Maj- esty ; 2d, to give Him thanks for all His blessings, general and particu- lar ; 3d, to beg mercy and pardon for all their sins ; 4th, to obtain all necessary graces from the fountain of all grace. Q. Why might not this as well be done without going to hear Mass ? A. Because, as we have seen in the foregoing chapter, the Mass is a sacrifice instituted by Christ, to be offered for all those ends ; and as in this sacrifice Christ Himself is both the priest and the victim, who here presents to His eternal Father that same body and blood by which we were redeemed, it must be evident that there can be no better means of adoring God and offering our homage to Him than by uniting ourselves to this sacrifice of His only Son ; no more acceptable thanksgiving than that which is here offered by and through Jesus Christ ; no means of ob- taining mercy and pardon comparable to this oblation of the blood of the Lamb ; in fine, no more seasonable time for obtaining the favors of heaven, than when we appear before the throne of grace with Him and through Him in whom His Father is always well pleased. Q. In what disposition of the soul ought persons to go to hear Mass ? A. They ought to go as if they were going to Mount Calvary to be present at the passion and death of their Redeemer (since the Mass is, indeed, the same sacrifice as that which He there offered) ; and conse- quently there can be no better devotion for the time of Mass than that which has relation to the passion of Christ, which is therein commemo- rated and represented to the eternal Father. And all the faithful when they are at Mass should endeavor to put their souls in the like disposi- tion of adoration, thanksgiving, love, and repentance for their sins with THE VESTMENTS WORN AT MASS EXPLAINED. 97 which a good Christian would have assisted at the sacrifice of the cross, had he been present thereat. Q. What think you of those, who, during the time of Mass, instead of attending to this great sacrifice, suffer themselves to be carried away with willful distractions ? A. Such as these do not hear Mass ; that is, they do not fulfill the Church precept nor satisfy the obligation of the day, but mock God while outwardly pretending to honor Him, for their heart is far from Him. Q. What do you say to those, who, during the time of the Mass, are laughing and talking, or pass that time in criminal amusements ? A. These are not only guilty, like the former, of breaking the Church precept, but also must answer for the scandal that they give by their ill example, and. for hindering others from attending to their duty, as well as for profaning these most sacred mysteries by such an unchristian behavior at this holy time. Q. I should be glad if you would explain to me the order and cere- monies of the Mass ; and, first, pray what is the meaning of the priest's vestments ? A. The priest, in saying Mass, represents the person of Christ, who is the high-priest of the New Law, and the Mass itself represents His pas- sion ; and therefore the priest puts on vestments to represent those with which Christ was ignominiously clothed at the time of His passion. Thus, for instance, the amice represents the rag or clout with which the Jews muffled our Saviour's face, when at every blow they bade Him prophesy who it was. that struck Him (St. Luke xxii. 64)^ the alb repre- sents the white garment with which He was invested by Herod ; the gir- dle, maniple and stole represent the cords and bands with which He was bound in the different stages of His passion ; the chasuble, or outward vestment, represents the purple garment with which He was clothed as a mock king ; upon the back of which there is a cross, to represent that which Christ bore on His sacred shoulders. Lastly, the priest's tonsure or crown is to represent the crown of thorns which our Saviour wore. Moreover, as in the Old Law the priests who were to officiate in sacred functions, had, by the appointment of God, vestments assigned for that purpose, as well for the greater decency and solemnity of the divine worship as to signify and represent the virtues which God required of His ministers, so it was proper that in the Church of the New Testament Christ's ministers should, in their sacred functions, be distinguished from the laity by their sacred vestments, which might also represent the vir- tues which God requires in them : thus the amice, which is first put upon the hand, represents divine hope, which the Apostle calls the helmet of salvation ; the alb, innocence of life ; the girdle, with which the loins are 98 ON THE CRUCIFIX, CANDLES, INCENSE, ETC begirt, purity and chastity ; the maniple, which is put on the left arm, patiently suffering the labors of this mortal life ; the stole, the sweet yoke of Christ to be borne in this life, in order to a happy immortality in the next ; in fine, the chasuble, which, as uppermost, covers all the rest, the virtue of charity. In these vestments the Church makes use of five colors : the white, on the feasts of our Lord, of the blessed Virgin, of the angels, and of the saints that were not martyrs ; the red on the feasts of Pentecost, of the invention and exaltation of the cross, and of the Apostles and martyrs ; the green, on the greater part of the Sundays ; the violet, in the peniten- tial times of Advent and Lent, and upon vigils and ember-days ; and the black, upon Good Friday, and in the masses for the dead. Q. Why is there always a crucifix upon the altar at the time of Mass ? A. That as the Mass is said in commemoration of Christ's passion and death, the priest and people may have always before their eyes the image that represents His passion and death. Q. What is the meaning of having lighted candles upon the altar at the time of Mass ? A. ist, To honor the triumph of our King, which is there celebrated by these lights, which are tokens of our joy and of His glory. 2d, To denote the light of faith with which we are to approach Him. Q. What is the meaning of making a reverence to the altar ? A. ist. Because the altar is a figure of Christ, who is not only our sac- rifice and our High-Priest, but our altar also, inasmuch as we are to offer our prayers and sacrifices through Him. 2d. Because the altar is the seat of the divine mysteries, and therefore deserves our reverence. Q. What is the meaning of the use of incense, in the Mass and other offices of the Church ? A. Incense is an emblem of prayer, ascending to God from hearts in- flamed with His love, as the smoke of the incense ascends on high from the fire of the censer. Hence the royal prophet (Ps. cxl.) says, " Let my prayer, O Lord, be directed like incense in thy sight." And St. John in the Revelation (chap. v. 8 ; chap. viii. 4), saw the four and twenty elders and the angel offering up to God odors and incense, which were the prayers of the saints. Moreover, the incensing of the altar, of the priest, etc., is, according to the use of the Church, a token of honor to the thing that is incensed ; not of divine honor, since we also incense the whole choir and the people, but of a due respect for the things of God, for His ministers, and people. Q. What is the use of singing and of organs in the divine service ? A. To help to raise the heart to heaven, and to celebrate with greater solemnity the divine praises. OF THE ORDER AND CEREMONIES OF THE MASS. 99 Q. Tell me now, if you please, the different parts of the Mass, and the ceremonies thereof ; that I may be the better instructed in this heavenly sacrifice. A. i st. The priest, standing at the foot of the altar, having made a low reverence, begins with the sign of the cross, saying, "In nomine Patris" etc. (In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost) ; and then recites, alternately with the clerk, the 42d Psalm, " Judica me Deus," etc. (Judge me, O God, etc.), composed by David in the time that he was persecuted by Saul and kept at a distance from the tabernacle or temple of God, and expressing his ardent desires and hopes of approach- ing to God's altar, and offering praise and sacrifice to Him : and therefore this psalm is most proper here, as expressing those sentiments of the soul with which we ought to come to this holy sacrifice. 2d. The priest, bowing down at the foot of the altar, says the Confiteor, or general confession, acknowledging his sins to God, to the whole court of heaven, and to all the faithful there assembled, begging their prayers to God for him : and the clerk repeats the same in the name of the people ; to the end that both priest and people may dispose themselves for this great sacrifice by a sincere repentance of their sins. Our adversaries ob- ject to this form of confession, because therein we confess our sins to the saints, as if this were giving them an honor that belongs to God alone, not considering that the confessing our sins to any one, so far from being an honor peculiar to God, is what we are directed in Scripture to do to one another. (St. James v. 16.) And, accordingly, in this very form, which we call the Confiteor, we not only confess our sins to God and to His saints, but the priest also confesses to the people, and the people to the priest. 3d. The priest in going up to the altar begs for himself and the people that God would take away their iniquities, that they may be worthy to enter into His sanctuary. Then coming up to the altar, he kisses it in reverence to Christ, of whom it is a figure ; and, going to the book, he reads what is called the Introit, or entrance of the Mass ; which is different every day, and generally an anthem taken out of the Scripture, with the first verse of one of the Psalms, and the Gloria Patri to glorify the blessed Trinity. 4th. He returns to the middle of the altar, and says, alternately with the clerk, the Kyrie Eleison, or, Lord have mercy on us ; which is said three times to God the Father ; three times Christe Eleison, or, Christ, have mercy on us, to God the Son ; and three times again, Kyrie Eleison, to God the Holy Ghost. This frequent calling for mercy teaches us the necessity of approaching to this sacrifice with a penitential spirit, and that the best devotion for the beginning of the Mass is to offer up to God the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart. IOO OF THE ORDER AND CEREMONIES OF THE MASS. 5th. After the Kyrie Eleison, the priest recites the Gloria in Excelsis, or, Glory be to God on high, etc., being an excellent hymn and prayer to God, the beginning of which was sung by the angels at the birth of Christ. This, being a hymn of joy, is omitted in the Masses for the dead, and in the penitential times of Advent, Lent, etc. After this the priest, turning about to the people, says, " Dominus vobiscum " (The Lord be with you). Ans. " Et cum spiritu tuo" (And with thy spirit). Then returning to the book, he says, " Oremus " (Let us pray), and then reads the collects or prayers of that day, concluding them with the usual termination, " Per Dominum nostrum," etc. (Through our Lord Jesus Christ, etc. ), with which the Church commonly concludes all her prayers, as hoping for no mercy, grace, or blessing, but through our Saviour Jesus Christ. 6th. After the collects the Lesson or Epistle of the day is read (and upon the Wednesdays and Saturdays in the " ember weeks," several les- sons or epistles), at the end of which the clerk answers, " Deo gratias," or, Thanks be to God ; to give God thanks for the heavenly instructions contained in that divine lesson of Holy Writ. The lesson or epistle is followed by the Gradual or Tract, consisting of some devout verses taken out of Scripture ; to which are joined the Alleluias to praise God with joy, excepting in the penitential time between Septuagesima and Easter, for then Alleluia is not said. 7th. After the Epistle and Gradual, the book is removed to the other side of the altar, in order to read the Gospel of the day ; which removal of the book represents the passing from the preaching of the Old Law, fig- ured by the lesson or epistle, to the gospel of Jesus Christ, published by the preachers of the New Law. The priest, before he reads the gospel, makes his prayer, bowing down before the middle of the altar, that God would cleanse his heart and his lips, that he may be worthy to declare His gospel. At the beginning of the gospel both priest and people make the sign of the cross: 1st, upon their foreheads, to signify that they will not be ashamed of the cross of Christ and His doctrine ; 2d, upon their mouth, to signify that they will profess it in words ; 3d, upon their breast, to signify that they will always keep it in their hearts. During the gos- pel the people stand, to show by this posture their readiness to go and do whatsoever they shall be commanded by the Saviour in His divine Word. At the end, the clerk answers in the name of the people, " Laus tibi Christe" (Praise be to thee, O Christ), to give praise to our Redeemer for His heavenly doctrine ; and the priest kisses the book, in reverence to those sacred words which he has been reading out of it. In the high or solemn Mass, the gospel is sung by the deacon, and lighted candles are held by the acolytes on each side, to denote the light which Christ brought us by His gospel. OF THE ORDER AND CEREMONIES OF THE MASS. 101 8th. After the gospel, upon all Sundays, as also upon the feast of our Lord, of the blessed Virgin, of the Apostles, and of the doctors of the Church, the priest, standing at the middle of the altar, recites the Nicene creed, and kneels down at the words, " Et Homo factus est" (And he was made man), in reverence to the mystery of our Lord's incarnation. Then turning about to the people, he greets them with the usual saluta- tion : "Dominus Vobiscum " (The Lord be with you). Ans. " Et cum Spiritu tuo" (And with thy spirit). After which he reads a short sen- tence of Scripture called the Offertory, and then takes off the veil from the chalice, in order to proceed to the offering up the bread and wine for the sacrifice. 9th. He offers, first, the bread upon the paten or little plate ; then pours the wine into the chalice, mingling it with a little water, and offers that up in like manner, begging that this sacrifice may be accepted by the Almighty for the remission of sins for all there present, for all the faithful living and dead, and for the salvation of all the world. Then, bowing down, he says, " In the spirit of humility, and in a contrite mind, may we be received by thee, O Lord, and so may our sacrifice be made this day in thy sight that it please thee, O Lord God." Then he blesses the bread and wine with the sign of the cross, invoking the Holy Ghost, saying, " Come thou, the Sanctifier, the almighty and eternal God, and bless »f« this sacrifice prepared for thy holy name." After this, he goes to the corner of the altar, and there washes the tips of his fingers, saying, " Lavabo," etc. (I will wash my hands among the innocent, and I will encompass thy altar, O Lord, etc), as in the latter part of the 25th Psalm. This washing of the fingers denotes the cleanness and purity of the soul with which these divine mysteries are to be celebrated, which ought to be such as not only to wash away all greater filth, but even the dust which sticks to the tips of our fingers, by which are signified the smallest faults and imperfections. 10th. After washing his fingers, the priest returns to the middle of the altar, and there bowing down, begs of the blessed Trinity to receive this oblation in memory of the passion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for an honorable commemoration of the blessed Virgin and of all the saints, that they may intercede for us in heaven, whose memory we celebrate on earth. Then turning about to the people, he says, " Orate Fratres," etc., that is, " Brethren, pray that my sacrifice and yours may be made acceptable in the sight of God, the Father Almighty." The clerk answers, in the name of the people, " May the Lord receive this sacrifice from thy hands, to the praise and glory of His own name, and for our benefit, and that of all His holy Church." nth. Then the priest says in a low voice the prayers called the Secreta, 102 THE DEVOTIONS MOST PROPER A T MASS. which correspond to the collects of the day, and are different every day. 1 le concludes, by saying aloud, " Per omnia saecula saeculorum ; "' that is, • World without end." Ans. "Amen." Then after the usual salutation, "The Lord be with you." Ans. " And with thy spirit ; " he admonishes the people to lift up their hearts to God (Sursum Cot-da) and to join with him in giving thanks to our Lord (Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro). To which the clerk answers, " Dignum et justum est" (It is meet and just.) Then follows the Preface, so called because it serves as an intro- duction to the canon of the Mass ; in which, after solemnly acknowledging ourselves bound in duty ever to give thanks to God, through his Son Jesus Christ, whose majesty all the choirs of angels ever praise and adore, we humbly beg leave to have our voices admitted, together with theirs, in that celestial hymn, " Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus," etc., i. e., " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts ; the heavens and the earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." 1 2th. After the Preface follows the canon of the Mass, the most sacred and solemn part of this divine service, which is read with a low voice, as well to express the silence of Christ in His passion, and His concealing at that time His glory and His divinity, as to signify the vast importance of that common cause of all mankind, which the priest is then representing, as it were in secret, to the ear of God ; and the reverence and awe with which both priest and people ought to assist at these tremendous myster- ies. The canon begins by invoking the Father of mercies, through Jesus Christ His Son, to accept this sacrifice for the holy Catholic Church, for the Pope, the bishop, the king, and all the professors of the Catholic and apostolic faith throughout the whole world. Then follows the Memento, or commemoration of the living, for whom in particular the priest intends to offer up that Mass, or who have been particularly recommended to his prayers, etc. To which is subjoined a remembrance of all there present, followed by a solemn commemoration of the blessed Virgin, the Apostles and martyrs, and all the saints, to honor their memory, by naming them in the sacred mysteries, to com- municate with them, and to beg of God the help of their intercession, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then the priest spreads his hands over the bread and wine, which are to be consecrated into the body and blood of Christ, according to the ancient ceremony prescribed in the Levitical law, Levit. i. 3,4, 16, that the priest or persons who offered sacrifice should lay their hands upon the victim before it was immolated ; and he begs that God would accept of this oblation, which he makes in the name of the whole Church ; and that He would grant us peace in this life and eternal salvation in the next. THE DEVOTIONS MOST PROPER A T MASS. 103 Then he blesses the bread and wine with the sign of the cross (a ceremony frequently repeated in the Mass, in memory of Christ's passion, of which this sacrifice is the memorial ; and to give us to understand that all grace and sanctity flow from the cross of Christ, that is, from Christ crucified) ; and he prays that God would render this oblation blessed, received, ap- proved, reasonable, and acceptable, that it may be made to us the body and blood of His most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he proceeds to the consecration, first, of the bread into the body of our Lord, and then of the wine into His blood ; which consecration is made by the words of Christ pronounced by the priest in His name, and as bearing His person. This is the chief action of the Mass, in which the very essence of this sacrifice consists ; because, by the separate consecra- tion of the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ are really exhib- ited and presented to God, and Christ is mystically immolated. Immediately after the consecration follows the elevation, first of the Host, then of the chalice, in remembrance of Christ's elevation upon the cross, and that the people may adore their Lord veiled under these sa- cred signs. At the elevation of the chalice, the priest recites these words of Christ, "As often as you shall do these things, you shall do them in commemoration of me." Then he goes on, making a solemn commem- oration of the passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ ; and begging of God to accept this sacrifice, as He was pleased to accept the oblations of Abel, Abraham, and Melchisedech ; and to command that it may, by His holy angel, be presented upon His altar above, in presence of His di- vine Majesty, for the benefit of all those who shall partake of those mys- teries here below. Then the priest makes the Memento, or the remembrance for the dead, praying for all those that are " gone before us with the sign of faith, and rest in the sleep of peace ; " and in particular for those for whom he desires to offer this sacrifice, that God would grant them a " place of refreshment, light, and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Then raising his voice at "Nobis qiwque peccatoribtis" (And to us sin- ners), etc., he strikes his breast in token of repentance, like the humble publican in the gospel, and begs of God mercy and pardon, and to be admitted into some part and society with the holy Apostles and martyrs, through Christ our Lord. He goes on, " By whom, O Lord, thou dost always create, sanctify, enliven, bless, and give us all these good things." Then kneeling down, and taking the sacred Host in his hand, he makes the sign of the cross with it over the chalice, saying, " Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, is to thee, God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory ;" which last words he pronounces, ele- vating a little the Host and chalice from the altar ; and then kneels down, 104 THE DEVOTIONS MOST PROPER A T MASS. living with a loud voice, "Per omnia seecula saculorum" (For ever and ever). Ans. M Amen." 13th. After this follows the Pater Noster, or Lord's Prayer, which is pronounced with a loud voice ; and in token of the people's joining in this prayer, the clerk, in their name, says aloud the last petition, " Scd libera nos a tna/o" (But deliver us from evil), to which the priest answers 11 Amen ; " and goes on with a low voice, begging that we may be deliv- ered from all evils, past, present, and to come ; and by the intercession of the blessed Virgin and of all the saints be favored with peace in our days, and secured from sin and all disturbances, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then he breaks the Host in imitation of Christ's breaking the bread before He gave it to His disciples, and in remembrance of His body being broken for us upon the cross ; and puts a particle of it into the chalice, saying to the people, " The peace of the Lord be always with you." Ans. " And with thy spirit." This ceremony of mixing a particle of the Host with the species of wine in the chalice, represents the reunit- ing of Christ's body, blood, and soul, at His resurrection : and the priest's wish or prayer for peace, at the time of this ceremony, puts us in mind of that "Pax vobis," or " Peace be unto you," which our Lord spoke to His disciples when He first came to them after His resurrection. (St. John xx. 19, 21, 26.) 14th. Then follows the Agnus Dei, etc., which the priest pronounces three times, striking his breast in token of repentance : the words are, " Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us." At the third time instead of, " Have mercy on us," he says, " Grant us thy peace." After the Agnus Dei, follow three prayers, which the priest says to himself by way of preparation for receiving the blessed sacrament. After which, kneeling down, and then rising and taking up the blessed sacrament, he three times strikes his breast saying, " Domine non sum dignus," etc. (Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof ; say thou only but the word, and my soul shall be healed). Then receiving the sacred Host, he says, "The body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting. Amen." Having paused a while, he proceeds to the receiving of the chalice, using the like words: "The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ," etc. Then follows the Communion of the people, if any are to receive. 15th. After the Communion, the priest takes, first, a little wine into the chalice, which is called the first ablution, in order to consume what remains of the consecrated species in the chalice ; and then takes a little wine and water, which is called the second ablution, upon his fingers over the chalice, to the end that no particle of the blessed sacrament may re- main sticking to his fingers, but that all may be washed into the chalice, THE DEVOTIONS MOST PROPER AT MASS. 105 and be so received. Then wiping the chalice, and covering it, he goes to the book and reads a versicle of the Holy Scripture, called the Commun- ion, because it used to be sung in the high Mass, at the time that the peo- ple communicated. After this, he turns about to the people with the usual salutation, " Dominus vobiscum /" and then returning to the book, reads the collects or prayers called the Post Communion : after which he again greets the people with " Dominus vobiscum," and gives them leave to depart, saying, " Ite, missa est," i. e., "Go, the mass is done." Here, bowing before the altar, he makes a short prayer to the blessed Trinity, and then gives his blessing to all there present, in the name of the same blessed Trinity, " Benedicat vos," etc. (May the almighty God, the Father, ►J-vthe Son, and the Holy Ghost, bless you.) He then concludes, by reading, at the corner of the altar, the beginning of the Gospel ac- cording to St. John, which the people hear standing ; but at these words, " Verbum caro factum est " (The Word was made flesh), both priest and people kneel, in reverence to the mystery of Christ's incarnation. The clerk at the end answers, "Deo gratias" (Thanks be to God): and then the priest departs from the altar, reciting to himself the Benedicite, or the canticle of the three children, inviting all creatures in heaven and earth to bless and praise our Lord. Q. In what manner ought the people to be employed during the Mass? A. In such prayers and devotions as are most suitable to that holy sacrifice ; which, having so close a relation to the passion of Christ, is then best heard when the assistants turn the attention and affections of their souls toward the mysteries of the passion of our Lord, which are there represented. Q. Is it not a good way of hearing Mass, to accompany the priest through every part of it, so as to accommodate one's devotion to what he is then about ? A. It is a very good and profitable way : not that the very prayers of the priest, especially in the canon and consecration, are always proper for the people ; but that in every part of the Mass it is proper that the peo- ple should use such prayers as are adapted to what the^riest is then doing. Q. What kind of prayers and devotions do you esteem the best adapted to the several parts of the Mass ? A. I should recommend, 1st. In the beginning of the Mass, an earnest application of the soul to God, by way of begging His divine grace for worthily and profitably assisting at this sacrifice. 2d. At the Confiteor, and what follows to the Kyrie Eleison, inclu- sively, I should advise the assistants to an humble confession of their sins to God, with a most hearty repentance, and earnestly begging His mercy. 106 THE DEVOTIONS MOST PROPER AT MASS. 3d. At the Gloria inexcelsis, let them join in that heavenly hymn, and excite their souls to the affections expressed therein. 4th. At the Collects, let them recommend to God their own necessi- ties, and those of the whole Church. 5th. At the Epistle, Gradual and Gospel, either let them attend to the heavenly lessons contained in them ; or, if they have not the convenience for this, let them employ themselves in giving thanks to God for reveal- ing to us His divine truths, and instructing us not only by His servants, the prophets and Apostles, but also by His Son ; and begging of God that their lives may always be conformable to the maxims of His gospel. 6th. At the Credo, let them recite it to themselves, with a lively faith of those great truths contained in it. 7th. At the Offertory, let them join with the priest in offering up, first, the Host, and then the chalice, for themselves and the whole Church ; but let them at the same time unite themselves closely with their High- Priest Christ Jesus, and with Him, through Him, and in Him, offer up their hearts and souls to God, to be consecrated to His divine service, and changed into Him ; and in particular, at the mingling of the water with the. wine in the chalice, let them pray for this happy union with God. 8th. At the Lavabo, when the priest washes his fingers at the corner of the altar, let them excite in their souls a hearty act of repentance, and beg to be washed from their sins in the blood of the Lamb. 9th. When the priest turns about and says, " Orate Fratres" let them pray that God would accept of that oblation for His own honor and their salvation. 10th. At the Preface, let them raise up their hearts to God, and at Sursum Corda pour forth their souls in thanksgiving to Him ; joining themselves with the heavenly choirs, and with them humbly and fervently pronouncing that sacred hymn, "Sanctus, n etc. (Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, etc.). 1 ith. During the canon of the Mass, let them together with the priest, as well as with the invisible priest, Christ Jesus, offer up the sacrifice for the four ends of sacrifice, viz., 1. For God's honor, adoration, and glory. 2. In thanksgiving for all His benefits, and especially for our redemption through Jesus Christ. 3. To obtain mercy and pardon through Him for all their sins. 4. To obtain all the graces and blessings of which they stand in need. Let them also join in the solemn commemoration that is here made of the passion, resurrection, and ascension of the Son of God, and the glory of His Church triumphant in heaven. 1 2th. At the Memento for the living, let them earnestly commend to God their parents, friends, benefactors, etc.; their superiors, spiritual and temporal ; those who have particularly desired their prayers ; those who THE DEVOTIONS MOST PROPER AT MASS. 107 are in their agony, or other great necessity, temptation, or affliction ; those to whom they have given scandal or ill example ; their enemies and all unbelievers and sinners, that God may convert them ; in fine, for all true servants of God, and for all those for whom God would have them to pray. 13th. At the Consecration and elevation, let them again offer them- selves to God with and through Christ, and with all the reverence of their souls adore their Lord there really present under the sacramental veils. 14th. At the Memento for the dead, let them represent to the eternal Father this victim, which takes away the sins of the world, in behalf of all the faithful departed in the communion of the Church, and particularly of their relations, friends, etc., and those who stand most in need of their prayers, or for whom God is best pleased that they should pray. 15th. At the Pater Noster, let them join in that heavenly prayer, begging in the first petition ("hallowed be thy name") the honor and glory of God's name ; in the second petition, the propagation of His king- dom here upon earth, and that they may have a share in His kingdom in heaven ; in the third petition, the perfect accomplishment of His will by all and in all ; in the fourth, the participation of the bread of life ; in the fifth, the forgiveness of their sins ; in the sixth, the grace of God against temptations ; and in the seventh, a deliverance from all evils. 1 6th. At the breaking of the Host, let them remember Christ's body, broken for them upon the cross, and let them pray for that peace which the priest wishes them, with God, with their neighbors, and with them- selves. 1 7th. At Agnus Dei, etc., let them, in the spirit of humility and con- trition, beg mercy and pardon for their sins. 1 8th. During the following prayers, and whilst the priest is receiving, let them make a spiritual communion: 1st, by a lively faith of the real presence of the Lamb of God, slain for our sins, and of the abundance of grace which He brings to those who receive Him worthily. 2d, by an ardent desire of partaking of this life-giving food. 3d, by humbly acknowl- edging at the " Domine non sum dignus" and heartily bewailing their un- worthiness and sins, which hinder them from daring to approach this heavenly table. 4th, by fervent prayer, begging that Christ would com- municate to them some share in those graces which He brings with Him to the worthy receiver, and that He would come at least spiritually to their souls, and take possession of them, and unite them to Himself by an in- dissoluble bond of love. 19th. After the Communion let them return thanks to God for the passion and death of His Son, and for having been permitted to assist at these divine mysteries ; let them receive with humility the benediction 108 SA YING MASS IN LA TIN. given by the priest in the name of the blessed Trinity ; let them beg pardon for their negligences and distractions ; and so, offering themselves and all their undertakings to God, depart in peace. Q. What advice would you give to those who through indisposition, or other unavoidable impediments, are not able to assist at Mass upon a Sunday or holyday ? A. I would advise them to endeavor to hear Mass, at least in spirit, according to the method prescribed by Rev. Mr. Gother for the absent, in his little book of Instructions and Devotions for Hearing Mass. Q. What if a person, through the absolute necessity of his unhappy circumstances, should be tied to a place where he can never hear Mass, do you think he might not then be allowed to join in prayer with those of another communion, by way of supplying this defect ? A. No: certainly it is a misfortune, nay, a great misfortune, to be kept, like David, when he was persecuted by Saul, at a distance from the temple of God and His sacred mysteries ; but it would be a crime upon that ac- count to join one's self with an heretical or schismatical congregation, whose worship God rejects as sacrilegious and impious. In such a case, therefore, a Christian must serve his God alone, to the best of his power, by offering to Him the homage of prayer, adoration, contrition, etc., and must frequently hear Mass in spirit, by joining himself with all the faith- ful throughout the earth, wherever they are offering to God that divine sacrifice ; ever sighing after those heavenly mysteries, and praying for his delivery from that Babylon which keeps him at a distance from the temple of God. CHAPTER VIII. OF SAYING MASS IN LATIN. Q. Is it not a great prejudice to the faithful, that the Mass is said in Latin, which is a language that the generality of them do not understand ? A. It is no prejudice to them, provided they be well instructed in the nature of this sacrifice, and taught, as we have explained above, how to accompany the priest with prayers and devotions adapted to every part of the Mass, such as they commonly have in their Manuals, or other prayer- books. Hence, it is visible to any unprejudiced eyes, that there is far more devotion among Catholics at mass, than amongst Protestants at common prayer. Q. But is not the Mass also a common prayer that ought to be said alike by all the faithful ? A. It is a common sacrifice, that is offered for all, and in some measure SA YING MASS IN LA TIN 109 by all ; but as for the particular form of prayers used by the priest in the Mass, there is no obligation for the faithful to recite the same ; all that God or His Church expects from them is to assist at that sacrifice with at- tention and devotion ; and this they comply with, when they endeavor to follow the directions given above, and use such prayers as are best adapted to each part of the Mass, though they be not the self-same as the priest uses. Q. Can you explain to me by some example, how a person may de- voutly and profitably assist at this sacrifice, though he be ignorant of the prayers which the priest is saying ? . A. Yes : what do you think if you or any good Christian had been upon Mount Calvary when Christ was offering Himself upon the cross a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, would not the very sight of what was doing (provided that you had the same faith in Christ as you now have) have sufficed to excite in your soul most lively acts of love of God, thanksgiving for so great a mercy, detestation of your sins, etc., though you could neither hear any word from the mouth of Christ your High- Priest, nor know in particular what passed in His soul ? Just so in the Mass, which is the same sacrifice as that which Christ offered upon the cross, because both the priest and the victim are the same : it is abund- antly sufficient, for the people's devotion, to be well instructed in what is then doing, and to excite in their souls suitable acts of adoration, thanks- giving, repentance, etc., though they understand not the prayers used by the priest at that time. I must add that, for the devout and profitable concurring in sacrifice offered to God, it is not even necessary that the people should hear or recite the same prayers with the priest, but that even the very seeing of him is more than God was pleased to require in the old law. Hence we find (Luke i. 10), " And all the multitude of the people was praying without at the hour of incense." And (Levit. xvi. 1 7) it was expressly ordered that there should be no man in the tabernacle or temple when the high-priest went with the blood of the victim into the sanctuary to make atonement. Q. But does not St. Paul (1 Cor. xvi.) condemn the use of "unknown tongues " in the liturgy of the Church ? A. He says not one word, in that whole chapter, of the liturgy of the Church ; but only reprehends the abuse of the gift of tongues, of which some amongst the Corinthians were guilty, who out of ostentation affected to make exhortations or extemporary prayers in their assemblies, in lan- guages utterly unknown, which for want of an interpreter could be of no edification to the rest of the faithful. But this is far from being the prac- tice of the Catholic Church, where all exhortations, sermons, and such 1 10 SA YING MASS IN LA TIN like instructions, are made in the vulgar language ; where no new, un- known, extemporary prayers are recited, but the ancient public liturgy and office of the Church, which by long use are well known, at least as to the substance, by all the faithful : where, in fine, there is no want of interpreters, since the people have the Church offices interpreted in their ordinary prayer-books;* and the pastors are commanded to explain to them the mysteries contained in the Mass. (Council of Trent, sess. xxii. chap. 8.) Q. But why does the Church celebrate the Mass in Latin, rather than in the vulgar language ? A. ist. Because it is her ancient language, used in all her sacred offices, even from the Apostles' days, throughout all the western parts of the world : and therefore the Church, which hates novelty, desires to cele- brate her liturgy in the same language as the saints have done for many ages. 2d. For the greater uniformity in public worship, that a Christian, in whatsoever country he may be, may still find the liturgy performed in the same manner and in the same language to which he is accustomed at home ; and for this the Latin is certainly of all languages the most proper, as being the most universally studied and known. 3d. To avoid the changes to which all vulgar languages, as we find by experience, are daily exposed ; for the Church is unwilling to be incessantly chopping and changing her liturgy at every turn of language. Q. Have any other Christians besides Roman Catholics ever cele- brated their liturgy in a language which the greater part of the people did not understand ? A. Yes : it is the practice of the Greeks, as we learn from Alex. Ross, in his view of the Religions of Europe, p. 481 ; and Mr. Breerwood, in his Enquiries (chap. ii. p.12). It is the practice of all other sects of Chris- tians in the east and south, viz., of the Armenians, of the Syrians, of the Nestorians, of the Copts or Egyptians, and of the Abyssinians or Ethio- pians, who all use in their liturgies their ancient languages, which have long since ceased to be understood by the people, as we learn from Mon- sieur Renaudot, in his Dissertation upon the Oriental Liturgies, chap. vi. And as for Protestants, we learn from Dr. Heylin's History of the Reforma- tion, p. 128, etc., that in Queen Elizabeth's time "The Irish Parliament passed an Act for the Uniformity of the Common Prayer, with permission of saying the same in Latin, where the minister had not the knowledge of the English tongue ; but for translating it into Irish there was no care taken. The people are required by that statute, under several penalties, to frequent their churches, and to be present at reading the English lit- urgy, which they understood no more than they do the Mass. By which * See the Missal for the Laity, Key to it, and the complete Catholic Directory, Almanac, and Registry. OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. m means we furnished the papists with an excellent argument against our- selves, for having the divine service celebrated in such a language as the people do not understand." Thus Dr. Heylin. CHAPTER IX. OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE | OF CONFESSION, AND THE PREPARATION FOR IT ; OF ABSOLUTION, ETC. Q. What do you mean by the sacrament of penance ? A. An institution of Christ, by which our sins are forgiven which we fall into after baptism. Q. In what does this institution consist ? A. On the part of the penitent, it consists in these three* things, viz., contrition, confession and satisfaction ; and on the part of the minister in the absolution pronounced by the authority of Jesus Christ. So that penance is a sacrament, by which the faithful who have fallen into sins, confessing the same with true repentance and a sincere purpose of making satisfaction to God, are absolved from their sins by the ministers of God. Q. How do you prove that the ministers of God have any such power as to absolve sinners from their sins ? A. I prove it from John xx. 22, 23, where Christ said to His ministers, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins you shall forgive, they are for- given them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." And Matt, xviii. 18: " I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." Q. But was this power given to any besides the Apostles ? A. It was certainly given to them and to their successors to the end of the world, no less than the commission of preaching, baptizing, etc., which, though addressed to the Apostles, was certainly designed to con- tinue with their successors, the pastors of the Church, forever, according to that of Christ (Matt, xxviii. 20), " And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." And so the Protestant Church understands these texts, in the order for the Visitation of the Sick in the Book of Common Prayer, where she prescribes a form of absolution, the same in substance as that used in the Catholic Church, viz. : " Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to His Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His great mercy for- give thee thine offences ; and by His authority committed to me, I ab- U2 OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. solve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Q. Is it your doctrine that any man can forgive sins ? A. We do not believe that any man, by his own power, can forgive sins, as no man by his own power can raise the dead to life ; because both the one and the other equally belong to the power of God. But as God has sometimes made men His instruments in raising the dead to life, so we believe that He has been pleased to appoint that His ministers should, in virtue of His commission, as His instruments, and by His power, absolve repenting sinners : and as this is evident from the texts above quoted, it must be a false zeal, under pretext of maintaining the honor of God, to contradict this commission which He has so evidently given to His Church. Q. But will not sinners thus be encouraged to go on in their evil ways, upon the confidence of being absolved by the pastors of the Church when- ever they please, from their sins ? A. The pastors of the Church have no power to absolve any one with- out sincere repentance and a firm purpose of a new life ; and therefore the Catholic doctrine of absolution can be no encouragement to any man to go on in his sins. Q. What, then, is required on the part of the sinner, in order to ob- tain the forgiveness of his sins in the sacrament of penance ? A. Three things, viz., contrition, confession and satisfaction. By con- trition we mean a hearty sorrow for having offended so good a God, with a firm purpose of amendment. By confession we mean a full and sincere accusation made to Gods minister of all mortal sins, which after a dili- gent examination of conscience, a person can call to his remembrance. By satisfaction we mean a faithful performance of the penance enjoined by the priest. Q. What preparation do you recommend before confession, in order to discharge one's self well in this important duty ? A. A person that is preparing himself for confession has four things to do before he goes to confession, ist. He must pray earnestly to God for His divine grace, that he may be enabled to make a true and good confession. 2d. He must carefully examine his own conscience, in order to find out what sins he has committed, and how often. 3d. He must take due time and pains to beg God's pardon, and procure a hearty sor- row for his sins. 4th. He must make firm resolutions, with God's grace, to avoid the like sins for the future, and to fly the immediate occasions of them. Q. Why must he begin his preparation by praying earnestly to God for His divine grace ? OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 113 A. Because a good confession is a work of the utmost importance, and withal a difficult task, by reason of the pride of our hearts, and that fear and shame which are natural to us, and which the devil, who is a mortal enemy to confession, seeks to improve with all his power ; and, therefore, a Christian, who desires to make a good confession, ought, in the first place, to address himself to God by fervent prayer for His divine assistance ; and the more he finds the enemy trying to instill into him an unhappy fear or shame, the more earnestly must he implore the mercy and grace of God upon this occasion. Q. In what manner must a person examine his conscience in order to make a good confession ? A. He must use a moral diligence to find out the sins he has commit- ted : which requires more or less time and care, according to the length of time from his last confession, and the greater or less care that he usu- ally takes of the state of his conscience. The common method of exam- ination is, to consider what one has done against the commandments of God ; what neglects there might have been of Church precepts ; how one has discharged one's self of the common duties of a Christian, and of the particular duties of one's respective station in life ; how far one has been guilty of any of the seven sins which are commonly called capital, be- cause they are the springs or fountains from whence all our sins flow, etc.; and for the helping of a person's memory in this regard, the table of sins, which is found in the Manual, or other prayer-books, may be of no small service. Q. Is a person to examine himself as to the number of times that he has been guilty of this or that sin ? A. Yes ; because he is obliged to confess, as nearly as he can, the number of his sins. But in sins of habit, which have been of long stand- ing and very numerous, it will be enough to examine and confess the length of time he has been subject to such a sin, and how many times he has fallen into it in a day, week or month, one time with another. Q. What method do you prescribe to a person, in order to procure that hearty sorrow for sin which is the most necessary part of the prepara- tion for confession ? A. The best method to procure it is to beg it heartily of God ; it must be His gift ; for none but God can give that change of heart, which is so essential to a good confession ; and He has been pleased to promise (Matt. vii. 7), " Ask, and it shall be given you : seek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." To this end all those pious meditations, considerations, and devout acts of contrition, which are found in books of devotion, will much contribute, if read leisurely and attentively, so as to sink into the heart. But because many persons con- 1 1 4 PREPARA TION FOR CONFESSION. tent themselves with running over, in haste, the prayers before confession, which they meet with in their books, with little or no change in their hearts, which, perhaps, are grown hard by sinful habits, it is to be feared their performances are too often nothing worth in the sight of God. Q. What do you advise in the case of habitual sinners, in order to procure a true change of heart ? A. I advise them to a spiritual retreat for some days, in which, being retired as much as possible from the noise of the world, they may think upon the great truths of religion ; of the end for which they came into the world ; of the benefits of God ; of the enormity of sin ; of the sudden passing away of all that this world admires ; of the last four things ; of the passion of Christ, etc., in order that a serious consideration of these great truths, joined to retirement and prayer, may make a due impression on their hearts, and effectually convert them to God. Those whose cir- cumstances will not permit them to make a regular retreat, may at least endeavor, during some days, to think as often and as seriously as they can upon the truths above mentioned ; and, by frequently and fervently calling upon the Father of mercies, in the midst of their employments, may hope to procure to themselves the like grace. Q. What must be the chief motive of a sinner's sorrow and repent- ance, in order to qualify him for absolution ? A. Divines are not perfectly agreed in the solution of this query ; but all are perfectly agreed in advising every one to aim at the best motive he can ; and that the best and safest way is, to renounce and detest our sins for the love of God above all things. Q. What do you mean by the resolution of amendment, which you suppose to be so necessary an ingredient to the preparation for confession ? A. I mean a full determination of the soul to fly, for the future, all willful sin, and the immediate occasions of it. Q. What do you mean by the immediate occasions of it ? A. All such company, places, employments, diversions, books, etc., as are apt to draw a person to mortal sin, either in word, deed, or thought. Q. And is a person indispensably obliged to avoid all such immediate occasions of sin ? A. He is obliged to avoid them to the very utmost of his power, ac- cording to the gospel rule of parting even with the hand or an eye, that is an occasion of offence to the soul. (Matt, xviii. 8, 9.) Q. What Scripture do you bring to recommend the confession of our sins to God's ministers ? A. 1 st. The precept of God in the Old Testament (Num. v. 6, 7), " When a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed the Holy Family. CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. CONFESSION ENFORCED B Y SCRIPTURE. 1 1 5 commandment of the Lord, and offended, they shall confess their sin," etc. 2d. The example of the people who hearkened to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, who were baptized by him, " confessing their sins." (Matt. iii. 6.) 3d. The prescription of St. James v. 16, " Confess your sins one to another ; " that is, to the priests or elders of the Church, whom the Apostle had ordered to be called for (ver. 14). 4th. The practice of the first Christians (Acts xix. 18) : "Many of them that believed came con- fessing, and declaring their deeds." Q. How do you prove that there is any command of Christ for the confession of our sins to his ministers ? A. I prove it from the commission which Christ has given to his min- isters (John xx. 22, 23) : "Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (Matt, xviii. 18) : " Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven : and whatso- ever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." For it is clear that this commission of binding or loosing, forgiving or retaining sins, according to the merits of the case and the disposition of the peni- tent, cannot be rightly executed without taking cognizance of the state of the soul of him who desires to be absolved from his sins by virtue of this commission ; and consequently, cannot be rightly executed without confession. So that we conclude with St. Augustine,* that to pretend it is enough to confess to God alone is making void the power of the keys given to the Church (Matt. xvi. 19), that it is contradicting the gospel, and making void the commission of Christ. Q. Are Christians then obliged to confess all their sins to the minis- ters of Christ ? » A. They are obliged to confess all such sins as are mortal, or of which they have reason to doubt lest they may be mortal ; but they are not obliged to confess venial sins, because, as these do not exclude eternally from the kingdom of heaven, so. there is not a strict obligation of having recourse for the remission of them to the keys of the Church. Q. But by what rule shall a person be able to form a judgment whether his sins be mortal or venial ? A. All those sins are to be esteemed mortal, which the Word of God represents to us as hateful to God, against which He pronounces a woe, or of which it declares, that such as do those things shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Of these we have many instances (Rom. i. 29, 30, 31 ; 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10 ; Gal. v. 19, 20, 21 ; Eph. v. 5 ; Apocalypse xxi. 8) ; and in the Old Testament. (Isa. v. ; Ezek. xviii., etc.) But though it be very easy to know that some sins are mortal and others but venial, yet to Homil. 49. Inter. 50. 1 16 ON MORTAL AND VENIAL SINS. pretend to be able always perfectly to distinguish which are mortal, and which are not, is above the reach of the most able divines ; and therefore a prudent Christian will not easily pass over sins in confession, under pre- tence of their being venial, unless he be certain of it. And this caution is more particularly necessary in certain cases, where persons, being ashamed to confess their sins, are willing to persuade themselves they are but venial ; for in such cases, it is much to be feared, self-love may bias their judgment. Q. Is it a great crime to conceal, through shame or fear, any mortal sin in confession ? A. Yes, it is a great crime ; because it is telling a lie to the Holy Ghost ; for which kind of sin Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead by a just judgment of God. (Acts v.) It is acting deceitfully with God, and that in a matter of the utmost consequence. It is a sacrilege, because it is an abuse of the sacrament of penance, and is generally followed by a still greater sacrilege, in receiving unworthily the body and blood of Christ ; and what, is still more dreadful, such sinners seldom stop at the first bad confession and communion, but usually go on for a long time in these sins, and very often die in them. It is not only a great crime to conceal one's sins in confession, but also a great folly and madness ; because such of- fenders, if they have not renounced their faith, know very well that these sins must be confessed, or that they must burn for them ; and they can- not be ignorant that these bad confessions do but increase their burden, by adding to it the dreadful guilt of repeated sacrileges, which they will have far more difficulty of confessing, than those very sins of which they are not so much ashamed. Q. Have you any instances in Church history of remarkable judgments of God upon those who have presumed to approach the blessed sacrament without making a sincere confession of their sins ? A. Yes ; we have several recorded by St. Cyprian (L. de Lapsis), and other grave authors ; but the most common and indeed the most dread- ful punishment of these sins, is that blindness and hardness of heart which God justly permits such sinners to fall into, and which is the broad road to final impenitence. Q. Have you anything to offer by way of encouragement to sinners to confess their sins sincerely ? A. Yes ; ist. The great benefit that their souls will reap in the remis- sion of their sins, promised by Christ (Matt, xviii. 18, and John xx. 22, 23), and the other advantages which an humble confession of sins brings along with it ; such as a present comfort and ease of conscience, a remedy against future sins, directions and prescriptions from the minister of God for curing the spiritual maladies of the soul, etc. 2d. That by this short ON SINCERITY IN CONFESSION. j i i 7 passing confusion, which will last but a moment, they will escape the dreadful shame of having their sins written on their foreheads, at the last day, to their eternal confusion. 3d. That the greater their sins have been, the greater will be their joy, as of the whole court of heaven so of their confessor here upon earth, to see their sincere conversion to God testified by the humble confession of their most shameful sins ; upon which ac- count, so far from thinking worse of them, he will conceive far greater hopes of their future progress, and a more tender affection for them. 4th. That by the the law of God and His Church, whatever is declared in con- fession can never be discovered, directly nor indirectly, to any one, upon any account whatsoever, but remains an eternal secret between God and the penitent soul, of which the confessor cannot, even to save his own life, make any use at all to the penitent's discredit, disadvantage, or any other grievance whatsoever. (See Decretum Innocentii XL, die 18 Nov 3)> commands bishops, priests, deacons and subdeacons to abstain from their wives, under pain of degradation. The second Council of Aries (can. 2) ordains that no married man be made priest, unless he promise conversion, that is, to live continently. The second Council of Carthage (can. 2) ordains that bishops, priests and deacons shall live continently, and abstain from their wives ; and this be- cause the Apostles so taught, and all antiquity observed ("£# quod apostoli docuerunt, et ipsa servavit antiquitas, nos quoque cuslodiamus"^). And the fifth Council of Carthage, anno. 398 (can. 2), ordains, in like manner, that all bishops, priests and deacons should abstain from their wives, or be deposed. There are many other ancient canons to the like effect, as well as decrees of the ancient popes : as of Siricius, in his epistle to Him- merius, bishop of Tarragona, c. 7 ; of Innocent I. in his epistle to Vic- tricius, bishop of Rome, 9 ; of St. Leo the Great, Epist. 82, to Anastasius, c. 3 and 4. Hence St. Epiphanius, who flourished in the east in the fourth century, in his great work against all heretics, Hcer. 59, writes thus : "The Church does not admit him to be a deacon, priest, bishop, or subdeacon, though he be a man of one wife, who makes use of conjugal embraces." He adds, that this "is observed in those places chiefly in which the canons of the Church are exactly kept ; which, being directed by the Holy Ghost, aims always at that which is most perfect ; that those who are employed in di- vine functions may have as little worldly distractions as possible." And St. Jerome, Epist. 50, says : " Bishops, priests, and deacons are chosen either virgins or widowers, or from the time of their priesthood perpetu- ally chaste." He affirms the same in his book against Virgilantius, by name of the churches of the east and of Egypt, and of the see apostolic and of all bishops, in his book against Jovinianus. (See also Origen, Horn. 13, upon Numbers; Eusebius, i. 1. Demonstr. Evang. c. 9 ; and St. John Chrysostom, Homil. de Patentiajob?) If you ask the reason why the Church has insisted so much, in all ages, upon this point of discipline, besides that alleged above, out of St. Paul (1 Cor. vii. 32, 33), " The reason of single life for the clergy," says Mr. Thorndike, an eminent Protestant divine (in his letters at the end of his Just Weights and Measures, p. 239), "is firmly grounded by the fathers and canons of the Church upon the precept of St. Paul, forbidding man and wife to part, unless for a time to attend unto prayer. (1 Cor. vii. 5.) For priests and deacons being continually to attend upon occasions of celebrating the Eucharist, which ought to be continually frequented ; if 150 CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. others be to abstain from the use of marriage for a time, then they always." Thus far Mr. Thorndike. Q. But were not the Apostles married ? A. Some of them were before they were called to the apostleship ; but we do not find that they had any commerce with their wives after they were called by Christ. St. Jerome expressly affirms that they had not, Epist. 50. And this seems to be clear from St. Matt. xix. 27, where St. Peter says to our Lord, " Behold, we have forsaken all things, and fol- lowed thee "; for that amongst the " all " which they had forsaken," wives " also were comprehended is gathered from the enumeration made by our Saviour in the 29th verse, where He expressly mentions " wives." Q. But did not St. Paul say (1 Cor. ix. 5), "Have we not power to carry about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the apostles ? " etc. A. The Protestant translation has willfully corrupted the text in this place ; it should have been translated " a woman, a sister." The Apostle speaks not of his wife, for it is visible from 1 Cor. vii. 7, 8, he had none ; but he speaks of such pious women as, according to the custom of the Hebrew nation, waited upon the Apostles and other teachers, servings them in necessaries ; as they had done also upon our Lord in the time of His mortal life. (See St. Luke viii. 2, 3.) Though St. Paul, that he might be less burthensome to the faithful, chose rather to serve himself, and live by the work of his own hands. Q. Does not the Apostle (1 Tim. iii. 2, 12) require that bishops and deacons should be the " husband of one wife " ? A. The meaning of the Apostle is not that every bishop, priest or dea- con should have a wife, for he himself had none ; and he declares (1 Cor. vii. 8), " But I say to the unmarried, and to the widows, it is good for them if they so continue, even as I " ; but his meaning is, that none should be admitted to be a bishop, priest or deacon that had been married more than once ; which law has ever since been observed in the Catholic Church : for since it was not possible in those days of the first preaching of the gospel (when there were few or no converts, either among the Jews or Gentiles, but such as were married), to have found a sufficient number of proper ministers, if they had not admitted married men. They were consequently obliged to admit such to the ministry ; but with this lim- itation, provided they had not been twice married. But now the Church has a sufficient number of such as are trained up to a single life, and are willing to embrace perpetual continence ; and, therefore, prefers such to the ministry, and is authorized so to do by the Apostle. (1 Cor. vii. 32, 33, 38.) And if, after having consecrated themselves to God in this kind of life, they should be for looking back, and engaging in a married life,, they are expressly condemned by the same Apostle. (1 Tim. v. 12.) OBJECTIONS ANS WERED. I 5 1 Q. Is it not said (Heb. viii. 4), " Marriage is honorable in all " ? A. The Protestant translation has strained the text to make it say more than the original, which may full as well be rendered in the imper- ative mood, thus: " Let marriage be honorable in all, and the bed un- defiled : for whoremongers and adulterers God will judge," which is rendered in the Protestant translation by the imperative, " Let your conversation be without covetousness," etc. So that the true meaning of this text is, that married persons should not dishonor their holy state by any liberties contrary to the sanctity of it ; but not to allow marriage to those who have chosen the better part, and consecrated themselves by a vow to God. Q. But is not forbidding marriage called the doctrine of devils ? (1 Tim. iv. 3.) A. It certainly was so in those of whom the Apostle there speaks, viz., the Gnostics, the Marcionites, the Encratites, the Manicheans, and many heretics, who absolutely condemned marriage as the work of the devil. For our part, no people can reverence marriage more than we do : for we hold it to be a sacrament, and forbid it to none but to those who have voluntarily renounced it, to consecrate themselves more effectually to the divine service : and in such as these St. Paul condemns it as much as we. (See 1 Tim. v. 12.) Take notice that these same heretics also condemned absolutely the use of all kinds of meat, not on fasting days only (as was always practiced by the Church), but at any time whatsoever ; because they looked upon all flesh to be from an evil principle. So that it is evi- dent these were the men of whom the Apostle (1 Tim. iv.) intended to speak. Q. But do you think that a vow of continency so strictly obliges any person that it would be a sin in such a person to marry ? A. Yes, most certainly ; because the law of God and nature requires that we should keep our vows to God. " When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it : for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee ; and it would be sin in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform." (Deut. xxxiii. 21, 22, 23.) " Vow and pay unto the Lord your God." (Psalm lxxvi. 11.) " Pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldst vow and not pay." (Eccles. v. 4.) For if it be a crime to break our faith with man, how much more with God ? If you say that the state of continency is not more acceptable to God than that of marriage, and therefore cannot be the proper matter of a vow, you con- tradict the doctrine of the Apostle, " He that giveth his virgin in mar- riage, doth well ; but he that giveth her not, doth better." (1 Cor. vii. 38.) 1 5 2 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. Hence, St. Augustine (L. de Bono Viduitatis, c. n) affirms that the breach of such a vow of chastity is worse than adultery ; and St. John Chrysostom says {ad Theodorum Lapsum): " Though you call it marriage a thousand times, yet I maintain it is much worse than adultery." Hence the Council of Illiberis (can. 13), the fourth Council of Carthage (can, 104), and the great Council of Chalcedon (can. 15), excommunicate those who presume to marry after such a vow. What would the Church of those ages have thought of a religion introduced into the world by men that had notoriously broken through these most solemn engage- ments, and who raised the fabric of their pretended reformation upon thousands of broken vows? Q. But all have not the gift of continency ; why should the first re- formers be blamed, if, finding they had not this gift, they ventured upon marrying with nuns ? A. Continency is not required of all, but of such as have by vow en- gaged to keep it ; and, therefore, before a person engages himself by vow, he ought certainly to examine whether he has a call from God, and whether he can go through with what he thinks of undertaking ; but after he has once engaged himself by vow, he is no longer at liberty to go back, but may assure himself that the gift of continence will not be denied him, if he use proper means to obtain and preserve it, particularly prayer and mortification ; which, because Luther laid aside by quitting his canonical hours of prayer and the other religious exercises to which he had been accustomed in his convent, no wonder if he lost the gift of continency, which he owns he enjoyed whilst he was a " Popish friar." " Whilst I was a religious," says he, " I observed chastity, obedience and poverty ; and, in short, being wholly disengaged from the cares of this present life, I wholly gave myself up to fasting, watching and prayer." (In Gal., i. 15, t. 5. Wittemb., fol. 291, 2.) But as soon as he became a reformer, to dem- onstrate that he was changed for the worse, he declares he had so far lost this gift, that he could not possibly live without a woman. {Sermon de- Matrim., t. 5. fol. 119, 1.) Q. But does not Christ say concerning continency (St. Matt. xix. 11), "All men cannot receive this saying;" and St. Paul (1 Cor. vii. 9), " If they cannot contain, let them marry ; for it is better to marry than to burn " ? A. No ; both those texts are willfully corrupted in the Protestant Testament. In the original (St. Matt. xix. 11), Christ does not say, " All men cannot receive this saying ;" but He says, " All men receive not this saying ;" and St. Paul (1 Cor. vii. 9) does not say, "If they cannot con- tain, let them marry ;" but he says, "If they do not contain, let them marry," where he speaks not of such as have vowed chastity, but of other OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS AND CONFRATERNITIES. 153 Christians, whom he advises rather to marry than to burn with unlawful lust here, and for unlawful lust hereafter. And the same advice is most frequently inculcated by Catholic divines. But as for those who have vowed chastity, they must make use of other means to prevent this burn- ing - , particularly prayer and fasting. But what a wretched case must that of the adversaries of celibacy of the clergy be, when, to maintain it, they have in so many places willfully corrupted the Scripture ? And what a melancholy case must it be, that so many thousands of well-meaning souls should be wretchedly deluded with the pretence of God's pure Word, whilst, instead of this, they have nothing put into their hands but corrupt translations, which present them with a mortal poison, instead of the food of life. CHAPTER XVIII. OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS AND CONFRATERNITIES. Q. What is the meaning of so many religious orders in the Catholic Church, under different denominations : are not all Catholics of the same religion ? A. Yes, certainly ; all Catholics, and consequently all these religious, though called by different denominations, are all of one religion, profess- ing one and the same faith, acknowledging one and the same Church au- thority, and all the same decisions of the Church ; subject to one and the same head, and closely united together in one communion. Q. In what do these religious orders differ one from another, if they are all of one religion ? A. They differ in having different rules and constitutions prescribed by their respective founders, different habits, different exercises of devo- tion and penance, different institutes ; some wholly sequestered from the world, and addicted to prayer and contemplation ; others employed in preaching, teaching, and converting souls ; others attending the sick, re- deeming captives, etc., so as to make a beautiful variety in the Church of God of different companions, all tending toward Christian perfection, though by different exercises according to the spirit of their respective institutes. Q. Are not all these religious consecrated to God by certain vows ? A. Yes : there are three vows which are common to them all, viz., of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By the vow of poverty they renounce all property in the things of this world, so as to have nothing at their own disposal ; by the vow of chastity they renounce all carnal pleasures ; 154 THEIR VOWS AND OBLIGATIONS. and by the vow of obedience they give up their own will to follow that of God in the person of their superior. O. How do we know that this voluntary poverty, perpetual chastity, and entire obedience, are agreeable to God ? A. That voluntary poverty, or renouncing the goods and possessions of this world, is agreeable to God is evident from St. Matt. xix. 21 : "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, follow me." That perpet- ual chastity is agreeable in God, is no less evident from St. Matt. xix. 1 2 : "There be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake : he that is able to receive, let him receive it." And that an entire obedience to lawful superiors must needs be agreeable to the divine Majesty, is evident, because " obedience is better than sacrifice ;" since by obedience we give up to God, and for God, that which is nat- urally most dear to us, viz., our liberty ; and that which stands most in the way of our soul's welfare, viz., our own will and self-love. Q. Ought any Christian to embrace this state of life without a call from God ? A. No, certainly ; it would be rashness to attempt it. Q. How shall any person know if he have a call from God to this state of life ? A. By consulting God, his director, and his own heart. In choosing a state of life, every one ought to consult God, in the first place, by fer- vent prayer, begging daily of Him, like the convert St. Paul (Acts ix. 6), " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" He ought also to consult a vir- tuous and prudent director, and lay open to him the inclinations of his heart, and the motives from which he is inclined to embrace this kind of life ; for there is no better proof of a call from God than when a person, after having consulted God by prayer, finds in himself a strong inclina- tion to a religious life, and that for a long time, and upon motives which have nothing in them of self-love, but are such as could not be suggested but by the grace of God. Q. What are the motives upon which a Christian should embrace a religious life ? A. To do penance for his sins, to fly from the dangers and corruptions of this wicked world, to consecrate himself wholly to the service of God, and sanctify himself by the exact observance of his vows, and all the ex- ercises of a religious life, and to tend without ceasing to Christian per- fection. Q. But may it not be feared that young persons may too rashly en- gage themselves by vows in a religious state for which they are not fit ? A. To prevent this inconvenience, the Catholic Church suffers none to SCENES IN EGYPT. OF THE ANTIQUITY OF A RELIGIOUS STATE OF LIFE. 155 be professed, in any order of men or women, without a year's noviceship, by w r ay of probation or trial. Q. Is a religious state of life very ancient in the Church of God ? A. Yes, very ancient ; for (not to mention St. John the Baptist's life in the wilderness (St. Luke i. 30), and the lives of the first Christians of Jerusalem, who " had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods .... continuing daily with one accord in the temple," etc. (Acts ii. 44, 45, 46), in which they exhibited a specimen of a religious life), we learn from the most certain monuments of antiquity that even in the first three centuries there were religious men, whom Eusebius called " Ascetae," and great numbers of nuns or virgins consecrated to God ; though neither the one nor the other were as yet formed into regular monasteries till the beginning of the fourth century. . About the middle of the third century, St. Paul, the first hermit, fly- ing from the fury of the persecution begun by Decius, in the year 289, retired into the desert of Thebais, and there passed ninety years and upward in a lonesome cave, in conversation with God. His wonderful life is extant, written by St. Jerome. About the year 271 St. Anthony, a young gentleman of Egypt, left his estate and the world to consecrate himself to a religious life. He found at his first retirement some others that had already undertaken that kind of life, though few in number, and those few living near the towns or villages ; but he, by his example, drew great numbers after him into the desert, and is generally looked upon as the author and father of the monastic life. His life, written by the great St. Athanasius, is full of excellent lessons of spirituality. About the year 313 St. Pachomius retired from the world, and, after having lived some time in solitude with St. Palemon, became the father of many religious, and the founder of the famous congregation of Ta- benne, to which he prescribed a rule he had received from an angel. From these beginnings the deserts of Egypt and the Thebais were soon peopled with innumerable solitaries, all parts of which were so full of religious of both sexes, of admirable virtue, that when Rufinus visited those countries in the latter end of the fourth century, he found in the city of Oxyrincus alone, ten thousand religious men, and twenty thou- sand nuns. From Egypt this kind of, life, so agreeable to the principles of Chris- tianity, quickly spread itself through all parts of the world inhabited by Christians. St. Hilarion, having learned St. Anthony's way of living, be- gan to practise the like in Palestine about the beginning of the fourth century ; and that country was also quickly replenished with religious men and women : whilst St. James, afterward bishop of Nesibis, St. Julian 156 FOUNDERS OF THE CHIEF RELIGIOUS ORDERS. Sabas, and other great servants of God, whose lives and miracles are recorded by Theodoret in his Philotheus, propagated the same way of liv- ing in Syria and Mesopotamia. About the same time, or not long after, the deserts of Pontus and Cappadocia began also to be inhabited by re- ligious men, whose manner of life was embraced by those two great lights of the Church, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, the latter of whom composed an excellent rule for his religious, professed to this day by the Greek and Russian monks, and by some in Poland and Italy. And in the western part of the Church we find that the monastic life had already gained a great footing there in the fourth century. St. Augustine informs us of a monastery near the walls of Milan, full of good religious men, under the care of St. Ambrose (i. 8. Confess, chap. 6) ; and of several such religious societies in Rome, in his book of the Manners of the Catholic Church, chap. ii\ of a religious house near Treves, in Ger- many, where two courtiers, upon reading the life of St. Anthony, conse- crated themselves to God. (i. 8. Confess, c. 6.) And the same St. Augus- tine, upon his return into Africa, after his conversion, propagated the same kind of life in that part of, the world also. In France the great St. Martin, bishop of Tours in the fourth century, whose apostolic life and miracles are recorded by Sulpicius Severus, founded the monastery of Marmontier, in which he united the clerical and monastic life, as St. Eusebius had done before him at Vercelli, in Piedmont. But the most famous monastery in all France was that of the isle of Lerins, founded toward the close of the fourth century by St. Honoratus, afterward bishop of Aries : which became the fruitful parent of many great saints and illustrious prelates. As for our British islands, though we know not the particular time when the first monasteries began to be established, yet we are assured that we were not long behind our neighbors in embracing this kind of life. The monastery of Bangor, in Wales, in which there were abpve two thou- sand monks, was very ancient : and we are told of an ancient monastery at Winchester, before the English Saxons came over into England. As for Ireland, St. Patrick, who established Christianity there, introduced also the monastic discipline amongst his converts ; which from thence was propagated among the Picts in Scotland, by St. Columba, or Colum- kil, the apostle of that nation, who, having first founded in Ireland the famous abbey of Dearmach, afterward passed into Scotland, and founded that in the isle of Hy, from which two monasteries many others, as well in Ireland as in Scotland, had their origin, all following the institute of the aforesaid St. Columba, of whom The Venerable Bede, in his third book of the ecclesiastical history of the English Church (chap. 4), writes thus : " Of whose life and words [he speaks of St. Columba] some writ- FOUNDERS OF THE CHIEF RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 157 ings are said to be preserved by his disciples. But whatsoever he was himself, this we know of him for certain, that he left successors renowned for much continency, the love of God, and regular observance." From this monastery of the isle of Hy, St. Aidan, the first bishop of Lindisfarn, and many other apostolic preachers came, who preached and established Christianity among the northern English, as St. Augustine and his companions did amongst those of the south, St. Felix amongst the east English, and St. Birinus amongst those of the west. Q. I should be glad to know which are the chief religious orders that flourish at present in the Church of God, together with the names of their founders, the time of their first institution, etc. A. I shall endeavor to satisfy you as briefly as I can : and first as to the east. The orders that flourish there are those of St. Anthony and of St. Basil, of which we have spoken already. In the west St. Augustine, upon his return into Africa about the year 390, with divers others his companions, entered into a religious society, wherein he lived for three years before his coming to Hippo. After his coming to that city, where he was first made priest and afterward bishop, he erected a monastery within his own house, living there with his clergy in common. To this institution the canons regular of St. Augustine owe their origin, who have flourished ever since in the Church of God, and have branched out into divers congregations, as that of St. John Lateran, of St. Victor, of St. Genovesa, etc.; as the hermits of St. Augustine's order, commonly called Austin Friars, derive their institute from his first religious society before his coming to Hippo. Those hermits were re- moved from deserts into towns by Pope Innocent IV., to the end that their godly conversation might be more profitable to their neighbors. From this order Luther apostatized in the sixteenth century, and, like the dragon (Rev. xii. 4), "drew with him the third part of the stars of heaven [that is, great numbers of religious of all denominations], and cast them to the earth." Toward the end of the fifth century, St. Benedict, vulgo Bennet, re- tired from the world ; and after having practised for many years a relig- ious life in a most eminent degree of perfection, founded twelve monas- teries in Latium, and the thirteenth at Mount Cassin, in the kingdom of Naples, from which he happily passed to the mountain of eternity in the sixth century. He composed an excellent rule, which was afterward embraced by almost all the religious of the west, till toward the twelfth century, and has furnished the Church of God with innumerable prelates and apostolic men, and heaven with innumerable saints. The wonderful life of St. Bennet was written by St. Gregory the Great, in his Dialogues* From the rule of St. Bennet, many other orders have sprung besides 15$ FOUNDERS OF THE CHIEF RELIGIOUS ORDERS. the Benedictines ; as the Cluniacenses, so called from their first abbey of Cluny, in France. These were instituted by St. Odo in the tenth century, and for a long time flourished in great sanctity ; the Camaldulenses, instituted by St. Romwald, amongst the Apennine mountains, about the year iooo, and to this day edifying the Church, yield a sweet odor of sanctity to all that come near them ; the monks of Valambrosa, instituted by St. John Gualbert in the eleventh century, and so called from the place of their first institution ; the Cistercians, so called from their first abbey, founded about the end of the eleventh century by St. Robert, abbot of Molesme, in France. St. Robert, being obliged to return to his abbey of Molesme, left for his successor St. Albericus, who was succeeded by St. Steven Harding, an Englishman, who had the happiness to receive St. Bernard into his society, by whose preaching and miracles this order was wonderfully propagated ; and the religious of it, from him, are com- monly called Bernardines. Of this order is the famous abbey of La Trappe, in France, which in these days has renewed the austerities and abstracted lives of the primitive religious. I pass over several other re- ligious, professing the rule of St. Benedict, as the Silvestrines, the Gran- dimontenses, the Celestines, so called from St. Peter Celestine, their founder, the Olivetans, etc. Toward the end of the eleventh century, St. Bruno, a doctor of Paris, with six companions retired from the world to the desert mountains of Carthusia, in the diocese of Grenoble in Dauphine, and there laid the foundation of the order of the Carthusians, formerly in England called the Charter-house monks, who to this day have happily preserved their primitive fervor, observing perpetual silence (only when they are singing the praises of God), perpetual abstinence, wearing always a rough hair shirt, and continually employed in prayer and contemplation. About the year 1120 St. Norbert, who had exchanged court life for the voluntary poverty recommended by the gospel, founded an order of •canons regular called, from him, Norbertines, and Premonstratenses (from Premontre, the place of their first abbey), in the diocese of Leon, in France. In the same age also was instituted in France the order of the Blessed Trinity, for the redemption of captives out of the hands of infidels, by St. John de Matha and St. Felix de Valois, two holy priests and solitaries, invited to this charitable work by divine visions ; and in the following age another order was instituted in Spain for the same end, by St. Peter Nolascus, which is commonly called the Order of our Lady de Mercede, or of the Redemption. About the year 1200 the Carmelites were first brought into Europe, and quickly spread through all parts of Christendom, where they have Nourished exceedingly: but nowhere heretofore more than in England, FOUNDERS OF THE CHIEF RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 159 where, from the color of their mantles, they were called White Friars. These were originally hermits, living upon Mount Carmel, who, whilst the Christians were in possession of Syria and the Holy Land, were as- sembled together by Aimeric, the patriarch of Antioch, and received a rule from Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem. This rule was afterwards miti- gated by the Pope, but embraced again in its full extent by St. Teresa, in the sixteenth century, and by the friars and nuns that follow her re- form, and are called Discalced, or Barefooted Carmelites. Not long after the Carmelites' coming into Europe, God was pleased to raise two new orders, which have flourished from that time to this day, and furnished the Church with several Popes, innumerable cardinals,, bishops, ecclesiastical writers and apostolic men, and have both been very fruitful in saints, viz., the order of St. Dominic and that of St. Francis.. The Dominicans, or Friars Preachers, were instituted for preaching the gospel to infidels and sinners, which they have done with great success : these were formerly, in our country, called Black Friars, from the color of their cloak or outward habit, which is black, as the Franciscans were called Grey Friars. St. Francis would have his religious, out of humility, called Friars Minors, whom he trained up in great poverty and penance : and so great and speedy was the increase of this order, that in a chapter held by the saint himself at Assisium, there were assembled no less than five thousand religious. This order (at present the most numerous in the Church of God) is divided into three chief branches, under their respect- ive generals, viz., the Conventuals, the Observants, and the Capuchins. The Observants are again subdivided into Cordeliers, Recollects, etc. Besides which there is the congregation of St. Peter of Alcantara, which is the most strict of all. The nuns who follow the rule of St. Francis are commonly called Poor Clares, from St. Clare, who first received the habit from St. Francis, and was the first abbess. Besides these, there are Capu- chines or Penitents, nuns of the third order of St. Francis, etc. The other orders that have been founded between the beginning of the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries are the Servites, or Servants of the Blessed Virgin, instituted about 1232, by seven gentlemen of Florence, who retired to a neighboring mountain to do penance : the Crucigeri, or Crutched Friars, though these by some are supposed to have been much more ancient ; the Jesuati, instituted by St. John Columbin, anno 1356 ; the Brigittins, by St. Brigit, anno 1360 ; the Hieronimites, by Pedro Ferdinando, anno 1383 ; the Minims, by St. Francis of Paula, about the year 1450, etc. The sixteenth century gave rise to several new orders : the Theatins, or regular clerks, were instituted, anno 1258, by St. Cajetan Thianaeus, a man of apostolic life. This order flourishes very much in Italy, as well as the Carnabites, or Regular Clerics of St. Paul. 1 60 SA CRAMENT OF MA TRIMONY. The Jesuits, or Society of Jesus, were instituted by St. Ignatius of Loyola, anno 1540, as a troop or company of auxiliaries, to assist the pas- toral clergy in that time of the Church's great necessity ; to labor in the conversion and sanctification of souls ; to train up youth in piety and learning ; to defend the faith against heretics, and propagate it amongst infidels ; in all which particulars this order has done signal service to the Church in these last two centuries. About the same time St. John de Deo founded an order of Religious Brethren, to take care of the sick, and to provide for them all necessary assistance, both for soul and body. In the beginning of the seventeenth century St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, instituted the order of the Nuns of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin. And thus have I given you a short account of the chief orders that at present flourish in the Church. Besides these religious orders, there are certain regular congregations of clergy living in common, though not under the tie of religious vows : as the Oratorians, instituted by St. Philip Nerius, in the sixteenth cen- tury ; the Fathers of the Christian Doctrine ; the Lazarians, or Fathers of the Mission, etc. Q. Are there not also many confraternities amongst the Catholics, in which many of the laity are enrolled ? Pray, what is the meaning of these confraternities ? A. Confraternities or brotherhoods are certain societies or associations instituted for the encouragement of devotion, or for the promoting of certain works of piety, religion and charity, under some rules or regula- tions ; though without being tied to them so far as that the breach or neglect of them would be sinful. The object of these confraternities is, that thereby good works may be promoted, the faithful encouraged to frequent the sacraments, to hear the Word of God, and mutually to assist one another by their prayers, etc. CHAPTER XIX. OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY, AND OF THE NUPTIAL BENEDICTION. Q. When was matrimony instituted ? A. It was first instituted by the almighty God, between our first parents in the earthly paradise (Gen. ii.), and was afterward confirmed by Christ in the New Testament (St. Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6), where He con- cludes : " What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." And our Lord, to show that this state is holy, and not to be SA CRAMENT OF MA TRIMONY. 1 6 1 condemned or despised, was pleased to honor it with His first miracle, wrought at the wedding of Cana. (St. John ii.) Q. What are the ends for which matrimony was instituted ? A. For the procreation of children, which may serve God here, and people heaven hereafter ; for a remedy against concupiscence, and for the benefit of conjugal society, that man and wife may mutually help one another, and contribute to each other's salvation. Q. How do you prove that matrimony is a sacrament ? A. Because it is a conjunction made and sanctified by God Himself ; not to be dissolved by any power of man, it being a sacred sign or mys- terious representation of the indissoluble union of Christ and His Church. Hence, St. Paul (Eph. v. 31, 32) expressly calls it a "great sacrament" or *' mystery," with regard to Christ and His Church : and as such it has been always acknowledged in the Catholic Church. (See St. Ambrose, L. i. de Abraham, c. 7 ; St. Augustine, L. de Bono Conjug. c. 18 and 24 ; L. de Fide et Operibus. c. 17 ; L. de Nuptiis et Concup. 10, etc.) Q. Does matrimony give grace to those who receive it ? A. Yes : if they receive it in the dispositions that they ought, it gives a grace to the married couple to love one another according to God, to restrain the violence of concupiscence, to bear with each other's weak- nesses, and to bring up their children in the fear of God. Q. How comes it that so many marriages are unhappy, if matrimony be a sacrament which gives so great a grace ? A. Because the greater part do not receive it in the dispositions they ought : they consult not God in their choice, but only their own lust or temporal interest ; they prepare not themselves for it by putting them- selves in the state of grace ; and are too often guilty of freedoms before marriage which are not allowable by the law of God. Q. In what disposition ought persons to receive the sacrament of mat- rimony ? A. They ought to be in a state of grace by confession ; their inten- tion ought to be pure, viz., to embrace this holy state for the ends for which God instituted it : and if they be under the care of parents, etc., they ought to consult them, and do nothing in this matter without their consent. Q. In what manner does the Catholic Church proceed in the adminis- tration of matrimony ? A. 1 st. She orders that the banns should be proclaimed on three Sun- days, or festival days, before the celebration of marriage ; to the end, that if any one know any impediment why the parties may not (by the law of God or His Church) be joined in matrimony, he may de- clare it. 162 SACRAMENT OF MA TRIMONY. 2d. The parties are to be married by their own parish priest, or a priest authorized by him, in the presence of two or three witnesses. 3d. The parties express, in the presence of the priest, their mutual consent, according to the usual form of the Church : after which the priest says, " I join you in matrimony, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 4th. The priest blesses the ring, according to this form : V. " Our help is in the name of the Lord." R. " Who made heaven and earth." V. " O Lord, hear my prayer." R. " And let wiy cry come to thee." V. "The Lord be with you." R. " And with thy spirit." Let tis pray. " Bless, *J« O Lord, this ring, which we bless »f« in thy name, that she who shall wear it, keeping inviolable fidelity to her spouse, may ever re- main in peace and in thy will, and always live in mutual charity : through Christ our Lord. Amen." Then the priest sprinkles the ring with holy water ; and the bride- groom, taking it, puts it on the fourth finger of the left hand of the bride, saying, " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Here also, according to the custom of Ireland, the bridegroom puts some gold and silver into the hand of the bride, saying, " With this ring I thee wed, this gold and silver I thee give, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow." After this the priest says, V. #" Confirm, O God, this which thou hast wrought in us." R. " From thy holy temple which is in Jerusalem." V. " Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Our Father," etc. " And lead us not into temptation." R. "But deliver us from evil." V. " Save thy servants." R. "Trusting in thee, O my God." V. " Send them help, O Lord, from thy sanctuary." R " And defend them from Sion." V. " Be to them, O Lord, a tower of strength." R. " Against the face of the enemy." V. " O Lord, hear my prayer." R. "And let my cry come to thee." V. "The Lord be with you." R. " And with thy spirit." Let us pray. " Look down, O Lord, we beseech thee, upon these thy servants, and afford thy favorable assistance to thy own institutions, by which thou hast ordained the propagation of mankind ; that those who are joined to- OF THE NUPTIAL MASS AT THE BENEDICTION. 163 gether by thy authority, may be preserved by thy aid : through Christ our Lord. Amen." 5th. After this, if the nuptial benediction is to be given, the priest says the Mass appointed in the missal, for the bridegroom and the bride ; and having said the Pater Noster, turning about to the newly married couple, he says over them the following prayers : Let us pray. " Mercifully give ear, O Lord, to our prayers, and let thy grace accom- pany this thy institution, by which thou hast ordained the propagation of mankind ; that this tie, which is made by thy authority, may be preserved by thy grace : through our Lord Jesus Christ," etc. Let us pray. " O God, who by thy omnipotent hand didst create all things of noth- ing ; who at the first forming of the world, having made man to the like- ness of God, didst, out of his flesh, make the woman, and give her to him for his help ; and by this didst inform us that what in its beginning was one ought never to be separated :. O God, who by so excellent a mystery hast consecrated this union of both sexes, that thou wouldst have it to be a type of that great sacrament which is between Christ and His Church : O God, by whom this contract and mutual commerce has been ordained, and privileged with a blessing, which alone has not been recalled, either in punishment of original sin, or by the sentence of the flood, mercifully look on this thy servant the bride, who, being now to be given in mar- riage, earnestly desires to be received under thy protection. May love and peace abound in her ; may she marry in Christ, faithful and chaste ; may she ever imitate the holy women of former times ; may she be as ac- ceptable to her husband as Rachel, and as discreet as Rebecca ; may she in her years and fidelity be like Sarah, and may the author of evil at no time have any share in her actions ; may she be ready in faith and the commandments ; may she be true to her engagements, and flee all unlaw- ful addresses ; may she fortify her infirmity by thy discipline ; may she be gravely bashful, venerably modest, and well learned in the doctrine of heaven ; may she be fruitful in her offspring ; may she be approved and innocent, and may her happy lot be to arrive at length to the rest of the blessed in the kingdom of heaven ; may they both see their children's i children to the third and fourth generation, and live to a happy old age ; through the same Lord Jesus Christ," etc. After the priest's communion, they both receive the blessed sacrament ; and at the end of the Mass, before the usual blessing of the people, the priest turns to the bridegroom and bride, and says : 164 DUTIES OF MARRIED PEOPLE TO ONE ANOTHER. " The God of Abraham* the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob be with you: and may He fulfil His blessing in you, that you may see your chil- dren's children to the third and fourth generation, and afterward enter into the possession of everlasting life, by the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth God for r and ever. Amen." Then the priest admonishes them to be faithful to each other, and to love one another, and to live in the fear of God ; and exhorts them to be continent, by mutual consent, at the times of devotion, and especially at the times of fasting and of great solemnities ; and so he finishes the Mass in the usual manner. Q. Is there any obligation of receiving this nuptial benediction when persons are married ? A. The Church wishes that it were never omitted in the first marriage, when it may be had, because of the blessing it draws down from heaven ; and it would certainly be a fault for persons to marry without it, when or wherever it may be had. Q. Why does not the Church allow of this nuptial benediction when the man or woman has been married before ? A. Because the second marriage does not so perfectly represent the union of Christ and His Church, which is an eternal tie of one to one. Q. Why does not the Church allow of the solemnity of marriage from the first Sunday of Advent till after Twelfth-Day ; nor from Ash Wednesday till after Low Sunday ? A. Because the times of Advent and Lent are times of penance, as the times of Christmas and Easter are times of extraordinary devotion, and therefore are not proper for marriage feasts or such like solemnities. Q. What are the duties of married people to one another ? A. You shall hear them from Scripture (Ephes. v. 22-25, 28-33) : " Let women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord. Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church : he is the Saviour of his body. Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself up for it. . . . So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies : he that loveth his wife, loveth himself. For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the Church. Because we are mem- bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife ; and they shall be two in one flesh." (Gen. ii.) "This a great sacrament, but I speak in Christ and in the Church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular love his wife as himself : and let the wife' fear her husband." DUTIES OF MARRIED PEOPLE TO ONE ANOTHER. 165 See, to the same effect, Colos. iii. 18, 19. (1 Peter iii. 1-7): "Let wives be subject to their husbands ; that if any believe not the word, they may be won without the word, by the conversation of the wives. Consider- ing your chaste conversation with fear. Whose adorning, let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel. But the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, which is rich in the sight of God. For after this manner heretofore the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters ye are. . . . Husbands likewise dwelling with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the female as to the weaker vessel, and as to the co-heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers, be not hindered." (1 Cor. vii. 3-7, 10, 11): "Let the husband render the [marriage] debt to his wife ; and the wife also in like manner to the husband. The wife hath not power of .her own body, but the husband. Defraud not one another, except perhaps by consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to prayer ; and return together again, lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency. But I speak this by indulg- ence, not by commandment. For I would that all men were even as myself. But to them that are married, not I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband. And if she depart, that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband : and let not the hus- band put away his wife." (Titus ii. 4, 5): "That they may teach the young women to be wise, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, sober ; having a care of the house ; gentle, obedi- ent to their husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." There are also excellent documents for married people in the book of Tobias, ch. vi. 16, 17, 22 : "Then the angel Raphael said to him, Hear me, and I will show thee who they are over whom the devil can prevail. For they who in such a manner receive matrimony as to shut out God from themselves and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding ; over them the devil hath power. . . . Thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for the love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayest obtain blessing in children." And chap. iii. 8, 16, 17: "Thou knowest, Lord, that I never coveted a husband, and have kept my soul clean from all concupiscence. I never kept company with them that play, nor with them that walk in lightness did I make myself a partner. But a husband I consented to take, with thy fear, not with my lust." And chap. iii. 8, 9 : " Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for his helpmate. And now, Lord, thou knowest, 166 CHURCHING OF WOMEN, AFTER CHILD-BEARING. that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name may be blessed for ever." Q. What are the duties of married people with regard to the educa- tion of their children ? A. They are obliged to train them up from their very infancy in the tear of God, and to give them early impressions of piety ; to see that they be instructed in the Christian doctrine, and that they be kept to their prayers and other religious duties ; in fine, to give them good ex- ample, and to remove from them the occasions of sin, especially bad com- pany and idleness. Q. Does the Catholic Church allow her children to marry with those that are not of her communion ? A. She has often prohibited such marriages, as may be seen in the 1 6th canon of the Council of Illiberis, the ioth canon of the Council of Laodicea, the 14th- canon of the Council of Chalcedon, the 67th canon of the Council of Agde, etc. ; though sometimes, and in some places, the pastors of the Church, for weighty reasons, have been forced to dispense with this law, and celebrate such marriages. Q. Why is the Church so averse to this kind of marriages ? A. 1 st. Because she would not have her children communicate in sacred things, such as matrimony is, with those that are out of her com- munion. 2d. Because such marriages are apt to give occasions to dis- sension in families, where one of the parties draws one way, the other another. 3d. Because there is a danger of the Catholic party being per- verted, or at least of not being allowed the free exercise of religion. 4th. Because there is a danger of the children being brought up in error, of which we have seen some sad instances. Where note that those bargains are by no means to be allowed by which the contracting parties agree to have the boys brought up in the religion of the father, and the girls to follow that of the mother. God and His Church will have no such divi- sion, nor thus give up their right to anyone. CHAPTER XX. OF THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN, AFTER CHILD-BEARING. Q. What is the meaning of the churching of women after child-bear- ing ? Is it that you look upon them to be under any uncleanness, as formerly in the old law, or to be any way out of the Church, by child- bearing ? A. No, by no means : but what we call the churching of women is CHURCHING OF WOMEN, AFTER CHILD-BEARING. 167 nothing else but their coming to the church to give thanks to God for their safe delivery, and to receive the blessing of the priest upon that occasion. Q. What is the manner or form of churching of women ? A. The woman that desires to be churched kneels down at the door or entry of the church, holding a lighted candle in her hand, and the priest, vested with his surplice and stole, sprinkles her first with holy wate, and then says : V. " Our help is in the name of the Lord." R. " Who made heaven and earth." Anthem. " This woman shall receive a blessing from the Lord." Psalm 23. " The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof ; the world and all they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas ; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord : or who shall stand in his holy place ? The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour. This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O ye princes ; and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates : and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory ? the Lord who is strong and mighty : the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes ; and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates : and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory ? the Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glory." " Glory be to the father," etc. " As it was in the beginning," etc. Anthem. "This woman shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God her Saviour ; for this is the generation of them that seek the Lord." After this the priest stretches out to her hand the end of his stole, and thus introduces her into the church, saying, " Come into the temple of God, adore the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, who has given to thee to be fruitful in thy offspring." Then she kneels before the altar, giving thanks to God for His bene- fits bestowed upon her, while the priest prays as follows : " Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Our Father," etc. V. " And lead us not into temptation." R. " But deliver us from evil." V. " Save thy handmaid, O Lord." R. 168 FASTING AND ABSTINENCE. u Trusting in thee, O my God." V. " Send her help, O Lord, from thy sanctuary." R. " And defend her from Sion." V. " Let not the enemy have any power over her." R. - Nor the son of iniquity presume to hurt her." V. " O Lord, hear my prayer." R. " And let my cry come to thee." V. " The Lord be with you." A'. " And with thy spirit." Let us pray. " Almighty and everlasting God, who, by the blessed Virgin Mary's happy delivery, has changed into joy the pains of the faithful in their child-bearing : mercifully look down upon this thy servant, who comes with joy to thy holy temple to return thee thanks ; and grant that after this life, she may, by the merits and intercession of the same blessed Mary, deserve to be received with her child into the joys of everlasting happiness : through Christ our Lord. Amen." Then the priest sprinkles her again with holy water in the form of a cross, saying, " May the peace and blessing of almighty God the Father, »J« and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, come down upon thee and remain with thee for ever. Amen." CHAPTER XXI. OF THE FASTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. SECTION I. OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE IN GENERAL. Q. Have you any reason to think that fasting and abstinence are agreeable to God ? A. Yes, certainly : John the Baptist's abstinence is commended (St. Luke i. 15, and St. Matt. iii. 4.) And Anna the prophetess is praised (St. Luke ii. 37) for " serving God with fasting and prayer night and day." The Ninevites, by fasting, obtained mercy. (Jonas iii. 5.) Daniel joined fasting with prayer (Dan. ix. 3); and by fasting was disposed for heav- enly visions. (Dan x. 3, 7, 12.) The royal prophet "humbled his soul in fasting." (Psalm xxxiv. [or xxxv.] 13.) Ezra and Nehemiah sought and found seasonable aid from God by fasting (Ezra viii. 23 ; Nehemiah i. 4); and God by the prophet Joel calls upon his people (Joel ii. 12) to " turn to him with all their heart in fasting, weeping and mourning." Q. But did our Lord Jesus Christ design that His followers should fast ? A. Yes : He not only gave them an example by fasting forty days (St. Matt. iv. 2), and prescribed to them lessons concerning fasting (St. Matt. vi. 1 6, etc.); but also expressly affirmed that after the Bridegroom FASTING AND ABSTINENCE. 169 should be taken from them, that is, after His passion, resurrection, and ascension, all His children, that is, all good Christians, should fast. (St. Matt. ix. 15 ; St. Mark ii. 20; St. Luke v. 35.) Hence, we find the first Christians at Antioch fasting (Acts xiii. 2), and Paul and Barnabas ordained with prayer and fasting (ver. 3), and priests ordained by them in every church, with prayer and fasting (Acts xiv. 23); and the Apos- tles "approving themselves as the ministers of God " — in fasting. (1 Cor. vi. 4, 5, etc.) Q. Has fasting any particular efficacy against the devil ? A. Yes : "This kind [of devils] can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting," saith our Lord. (St. Mark ix. 29.) Q. What are the ends for which Christians are to fast, and for which the Church prescribes days of fasting and abstinence ? A. 1st, to chastise ourselves, and to do penance for our sins, that so, like the Ninevites, we may obtain mercy of God. 2d, to curb and restrain our passions and concupiscences, and to bring the flesh under subjection to the spirit. 3d, to be enabled, by fasting, to raise our souls the easier to God, and to offer Him purer prayer. Q. What are the rules prescribed by the Catholic Church with regard to eating on fasting days ? A. 1st. The Church prohibits all flesh-meat on fasting days ; and in Lent eggs also and cheese : formerly wine was prohibited ; but this pro- hibition, by a contrary custom, has been long since laid aside. 2d. The Church allows her children but one meal on fasting days ; besides which, custom has introduced a small collation at night. 3d. The meal which the Church allows on fasting days must not be taken till toward noon : formerly, for the first twelve hundred years of the Church, the meal was not to be taken in Lent before the evening ; and on other fasting days not till three o'clock in the afternoon. These rules regard the days of fasting ; but as to those that are only days of abstinence, such as the Sundays in Lent, where meat is prohibited, and the Fridays throughout the year, we are only obliged to abstain from flesh on those days, but nowise confined to one meal. Q. But why does the Church prohibit flesh on days of fasting and ab- stinence ? A. Not that she looks upon any meats as unclean by the new law ; but she does it that her children may better comply with the ends of fasting, viz., mortification and penance, by abstaining on those days from that kind of food which is most nourishing and agreeable. Q. But is not this condemned by the Apostle (1 Tim. iv. 3), where he calls it the doctrine of devils to command "to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving " ? I7 o FASTING AND ABSTINENCE. A. The Apostle speaks of the doctrine of those who, with the Marcion- ites, Manichaeans, and other heretics, forbid the use of meat, not as the Church does, by way of mortification and penance on days of fasting and humiliation, but as a thing absolutely unclean and unlawful to be used at any time, as coming from an evil principle. All who know any thing of Church history, know that this was the system of many heretics, who also upon the same account absolutely condemned marriage, as tending to the propagation of the flesh. Now, they that know these things are guilty of the highest injustice in pretending that these words of the Apos- tle were leveled at the Catholic Church, when their own conscience must tell them that they were designed for another set of people. The Cath- olic Church is far from condemning the use of God's creatures, in proper times and seasons ; but she neither does, nor ever did, think all kinds of diet proper for days of fasting and penance : and in this particular the modern Church is so far from going beyond the primitive Christians, that, on the contrary, all kinds of monuments of antiquity make it evident that our forefathers, in the first ages of the Church, were more severe in their abstinence than we are now. Q. But does not the Apostle say (i Cor. x. 25), "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake " ? A. He speaks not this with relation to the days of fasting, as if any sorts of meat might be eaten on fasting days ; but he speaks, as is visible from the context, with regard to meats offered to idols, which some weak brethren were so much afraid of eating that upon this account they durst not eat the meat sold in the shambles, lest it might have been offered to idols. Upon the same principle the Apostle adds (vers. 27, 28) : " If any of them that believe not, invite you, and you be willing to go ; eat of any thing that is set before you, asking no question for conscience' sake. But if any man say, This has been sacrificed to idols, do not eat of it for his sake that told it, and for conscience' sake." Q. Do you take it to be a sin to eat meat on fasting days, or otherwise to break the Church fasts, without necessity ? A. Yes, certainly ; because it is a sin to disobey our lawful superiors, and more particularly to disobey the Church of God. " If he will not hear them, tell the Church. And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican." (St. Matt, xviii. 17.) Q. Does not Christ say (St. Matt. xv. 11), " Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man" ? A. True : it is not any uncleanness in the meat, as many heretics have imagined, or any dirt or dust which may stick to it by eating without first washing the hands (of which case our Lord is speaking in the text you quote), which can defile the soul : for every creature of God is good, and FAST OF LENT, HOW TO BE OBSERVED. 171 whatsoever corporal filth enters in at the mouth, is cast forth into the draught ; but that which defiles the soul, when a person transgresses the Church fast, is the disobedience of the heart in breaking the precept of the Church, which God has commanded us to hear and to obey. Thus an Israelite would have been defiled in the time of the old law by eating of blood or swine's flesh ; and thus our first parents were defiled by eating the forbidden fruit, not by the uncleanness of the food, but by the dis- obedience of the heart to the law of God ; Q. What are the conditions that ought to accompany a Christian fast, to make it such a fast as God has chosen ? A. The great and general fast of a Christian is to abstain from sin ; for God would not accept of the fasts of the Jews (Isa. lviii.), because on the days of their fasting they were found doing their own will, and op- pressing their neighbors : so that the first condition that ought to go along with our fasts is to renounce our sins ; the second is to let our fasts be accompanied with alms-deeds and prayer (Tob. xii. 8) ; the third, to endeavor to perform them in a penitential spirit. Q. What persons are excused from the strictness of the Church fast ? A. Children under age, sick people, women who are with child or that give suck ; likewise those who upon fasting days are obliged to labor hard ; and, in a word, all such who, through weakness, infirmity, or other hindrance, cannot fast without great prejudice or danger. Where note, 1st, that if the cause be not evident, a person must have recourse to his pastor for a dispensation. 2d, that in some of the above-mentioned cases, a person may be excused from one part of the fast and not from another : or may be excused from fasting, and yet not from abstinence. 3d, that such as for some just cause are excused from fasting, ought to endeavor, as far as their condition and circumstances will allow, to be so much the more diligent in their devotions, more liberal in their alms, more patient in their sufferings, and to make up, by the interior spirit of pen- ance, what is wanting to the outward fast. SECTION II. OF THE FAST OF LENT. Q. When did the Church first begin to observe the fast of Lent? A. We know no beginning of it ; for it is a fast that has ever been ob- served by the Church from the time of the Apostles, and stands upon the same foundation as the observance of the Lord's day ; that is, upon apos- tolic tradition. Q. Have the ancient fathers often mentioned this solemn fast of forty days which we call Lent ? A. Yes ; it is mentioned by the holy fathers in innumerable places ; 172 FAST OF LENT, HOW TO BE OBSERVED. who also inform us that they had received it by tradition from the Apos- tles. (See St. Jerome, Epist. 54 ad Mar cc Hum and St. Leo the Great. Serm. 43 and 46.) And the transgressors of this solemn fast are severely pun- ished by the 6Sth canon of the Apostles. Q. Have you anything else to offer to prove that the fast of Lent comes from an ordinance of the Apostles ? A. Yes : it is proved by the rule of St. Augustine, Ep. 1 18, to Januarius, viz., that what is found not to have had its institution from any council, but to have been ever observed by the universal Church, that same must needs have come from the first fathers and founders of the Church, that is, from the Apostles. But the fast of Lent is not found to have had its in- stitution from any council, but to have been observed in all ages, from the beginning, amongst all Christian people from east to west : therefore the fast of Lent is an apostolical ordinance and tradition. Q. For what ends was the fast of Lent instituted ? A. 1 st, that by this yearly fast of forty days we might imitate the fast of our Lord. (St. Matt. iv. 2.) 2d, that by this institution we might set aside the tithe, or tenth part of the year, to be more particularly consecrated to God by prayer and fasting ; as it was commanded in the law to give God the tithe of all things. 3d, that by this forty days' fast joined with prayer and alms-deeds, we might do penance for the sins of the whole year. 4th, that we might at this time enter into a kind of spiritual exercise and retreat from the world ; to look more narrowly into the state of our souls, to repair our decayed strength, and to provide effectual remedies against our usual failings for the time to come. 5th, that by this solemn fast we might celebrate in a more becoming manner the passion of Christ, which we particularly commemorate in Lent : in fine, that this fast might be a preparation for the greater solemnity of Easter, and for the paschal Communion. Q. In what spirit would the Church have her children undertake and go through the fast of Lent ? A. In a penitential spirit ; that is, with a deep sense of repentance for having offended God ; an earnest desire and resolution of a new life, and of mortifying and chastising themselves for their sins. These lessons she inculcates every day in her office and liturgy ; witness the hymns pre- scribed for this holy time, the responsories, collects, tracts, etc. I shall give you a specimen of the spirit of the Church in this regard, by setting down some passages of the Scripture which she orders to be read in her canonical hours of prayer every day during this time : 1. At Lauds, Isa. lviii. : "Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins." ASH WEDNESDAY, AND OF THE SPIRIT OF FASTING. i 73 2. At Prime, or the first hour, Isa. lv. : " Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found : call upon him, while he is near." 3. At Terce, or the third hour, Joel ii. : " Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God." 4. At Sext, or the sixth hour, Isa. lv. : " Let the wicked forsake his way ' and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is bountiful to for- give." 5. At None, or the ninth hour, Isa. liii. : " Break thy bread to the hun- gry, and bring in the needy and the harborless into thy house : when thou shalt see the naked, clothe him, and despise not thine own flesh." 6. At Vespers, or evensong, Joel ii. : " Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep, and shall say : Spare, O Lord, spare thy people, and give not thy inheritance to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them." To the same effect she often repeats in her office the following exhorta- tion : " Let us repent, and amend the sins which we have ignorantly com- mitted ; lest, being suddenly overtaken by the day of our death, we seek for a time of penance and be not able to find it." And again : " Behold, now is an acceptable time, behold, now are the days of salvation ; let us recommend ourselves in much patience," etc. Q. Why do you call the first day of Lent Ash Wednesday ? A. From the ceremony of blessing ashes upon that day, and putting them upon the foreheads of the faithful, to remind them that they must very quickly return to dust, and therefore must not neglect to lay hold of this present time of mercy, but, like the Ninevites and other ancient penitents, do penance for their sins in sackcloth and ashes. The prayers which are said by the Church for the blessing of the ashes are directed for the obtaining from God the spirit of compunction, and the remission of sins for all those who receive those ashes ; and the priest, in making the sign of the cross with the ashes on the forehead of each one of the faithful, says these words : " Remember, man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return." Q. Was it ever the custom of the Catholic Church to meet on that day to curse sinners ? A. No ; but to pray to God to obtain mercy for sinners. Q. What benefit is it to the faithful to have regular times of fasting set aside by the Church, rather than to be left to their own discretion to fast when they please ? A. 1 st. It is to be feared that many would not fast at all, were they not called upon by these regular fasts of the Church. 2d. It is not to be 174 ASH WEDNESDAY, AND OF THE SPIRIT OF FASTING. doubted but that sinners may more easily and readily find mercy when they thus join all in a body with the whole Church of God in suing for mercy. Q. But is this mercy to be expected if sinners only mortify themselves in point of eating, and in all other things indulge themselves in their ac- customed liberties ? A. It is certain that the true spirit of penance, which is the spirit of Lent, requires that they should be mortified, not only in their eating but also by retrenching all superfluities in other things, as in drinking, sleep- ing, idle visits, and unnecessary divertisements, according to the words of the Church hymn for Lent : " Utamur ergo parcius, Verbis, cibis, et potibus, Somno, jocis, et arctius Perstemus in custodia." Q. What do you think of preparing for Lent by a carnival of de- bauchery and excess ? A. I think it a relic of heathenism infinitely opposed to the spirit of the Church. The very name of Shrovetide in the language of our fore- fathers, signifies the season or time of confession ; because our ancestors were accustomed, according to the true spirit of the Church, to go to con- fession at that time, that so they might enter upon the solemn fast of Lent in a manner suitable to this penitential fast. Q. Why is the Evening Office, or Vespers, said before dinner on all days in Lent excepting Sundays ? A. It is a relic of the ancient custom of fasting in Lent till the even- ing. Q. Why is Alleluia laid aside during the time of Lent ? A. Because it is a canticle of joy, and therefore is omitted in this time of penance : but instead of it the Church at the beginning of all the ca- nonical hours of her daily office repeats these words : " Praise be to thee, O Lord, King of everlasting glory." O. Why is the fifth Sunday in Lent called Passion Sunday ? A. Because from that day till Easter the Church in a particular man- ner commemorates the passion of Christ. Q. Why are the crucifixes and altar-pieces covered during this time in which we celebrate Christ's passion ? A. Because the Church is then in mourning for her Spouse, who in His passion was truly a hidden God by concealing His divinity, and becom- ing for us, as it were, " a worm and not a man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." THER DA YS OF FA S TING. 1 7 5 SECTION III. OF OTHER DAYS OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Q. Does the Church observe any other days of fasting and abstinence besides the forty days of Lent ? A. Yes : she fasts upon the Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in the four ember-weeks, and upon the vigils or eves of some of her festivals ; as also upon Wednesdays and Fridays in Advent ; she abstains on the Fridays throughout the year, and on the Sundays in Lent, unless leave be given to the contrary. Q. Which do you call the four ember-weeks ? A. The four ember-weeks are the weeks in which the Church gives holy orders at the four seasons of the year ; viz., the first week in Lent, Whitsun-week, the third week in September, and the third week in Ad- vent ; and they are called ember-weeks from the custom of our fore- fathers of fasting at that time in sackcloth and ashes, or from eating noth- ing but cakes baked under the embers, and therefore called ember-bread. Q. Why has the Church appointed these fasts of the ember-days at the four seasons of the year ? A. ist, that no part of the year might pass without offering to God the tribute of a penitential fast. 2d, that we might beg His blessing on the fruits of the earth, and give Him thanks for those which we have al- ready received. 3d, that all the faithful might join at these times in prayer and fasting, to obtain of God worthy pastors, these being the times of their ordination. Thus the primitive Christians fasted at the times of the ordination of their ministers. (Acts. xiii. 2, 3 ; xvi. 22.) Q. Why does the Church fast upon the eves or vigils of some holy- days ? A. To prepare her children by mortification and penance for the more worthy celebration of those days. Q. Why do we abstain upon Fridays ? A. Because our Lord suffered for us upon a Friday. From this rule of abstaining upon Fridays we except Christmas day, should it occur upon a Friday or Saturday, as we do not abstain on that day. Q. What is the meaning of the three Rogation days ? A. The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension day are called Rogation days, or days of solemn supplication and prayer. On these days (formerly kept as days of abstinence) the priest and people in Catholic countries go in procession, singing the litanies, to beg God's blessing upon the fruits of the earth, and to be preserved from pestilence, famine, etc. Upon the same account we formerly kept abstinence on the day of St. Mark (April 25th) with the like solemn supplications and lita- 1 76 CANONICAL HOURS OF PRA YER EXPLAINED. nies. Saturday was formerly kept as a day of abstinence ; but in the east, instead of the Saturday, they fast upon a Wednesday, as being the ila\ on which the Jews held their council against Christ, and on which He was sold by Judas. > ♦ • CHAPTER XXII. OF THE CHURCH OFFICE, OR CANONICAL HOURS OF PRAYER IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Q. What do you mean by the Church office ? A. It is a form of prayer consisting of psalms, lessons, hymns, etc., used by all the clergy and by the religious of both sexes in the Catholic Church. This office is divided into seven parts, commonly called the seven canonical hours, according to the different stages or stations of Christ's passion, viz., the Matins, or midnight office, to which are annexed the Lauds, or morning praises of God ; the first, third, sixth and ninth hours of prayer, commonly called Prime, Terce, Sext and None ; the Vespers, or evensong, and the Complin. All these are duly performed by the clergy and religious every day, according to the royal prophet (Psalm cxviii.) : " Seven times in the day I give praise to thee." Q. Have you any warrant in Scripture for these different hours of prayer ? A. Yes ; as to the midnight office King David tells us (Psalm cxviii.) that he arose at midnight to confess to God ; and we find that SS. Paul and Silas, even in prison, prayed at midnight, and sung praises to God. (Acts xvi. 25.) As for the Lauds or praises of God at break of day, they are also rec- ommended to us by the example of the psalmist (Psalm lxii.) : " O God, my God, to thee do I watch from the morning light," and by the admo- nition of the wise man (Wisdom xvi. 28), " That we ought to get up before the sun to bless God, and at the rising of the light to adore Him." Of Prime, or the first hour of prayer at sun-rising, we may understand that of the royal prophet (Psalm v.), " In the morning thou shalt hear my voice," etc. At Terce, or the third hour of prayer, it was that the Apostles received the Holy Ghost. (Acts ii. 15). At Sext, or the sixth hour, St. Peter was praying when he was called by a vision to open the Church to the Gentiles. (Acts x. 9.) And we read of the same St. Peter with St. John going up to the temple at the " ninth hour of prayer." (Acts iii. 1.) For Vespers or evensong, and Complin, which is evening prayer, we have the example of the royal prophet (Psalm liv.) : " In the evening, and the morning, and at noonday I will speak and declare, and CANONICAL HOURS OF PRAYER EXPLAINED. 177 He will hear my voice." Hence we find that the night office, the morn- ing praises, the third, sixth and ninth hours of prayers, and the evensong were, among the primitive Christians, regularly observed, not only by the clergy, but also by the rest of the faithful ; to which the religious after- ward added the Prime and Complin. Q. Can you give me a short scheme of these canonical hours of prayer, according to the Roman breviary ? A. Matins begin with the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apos- tles' creed ; then, after a versicle or two, to call for God's assistance, and the Gloria Patri, etc., follows the 94th Psalm (or 95th) by which we invite one another to praise and adore God. Then comes a hymn, which is fol- lowed by the psalms with their proper anthems, and the lessons of the day, with their responsories. In the matins for Sundays we read eighteen psalms and nine lessons ; on festivals and saints' days we read nine psalms and nine lessons, divided into three nocturns ; on ferial, or com- mon days, we read twelve psalms and three lessons. The psalms are so distributed that in the week we go through the whole psalter : the les- sons are partly taken out of the Old and the New Testament, partly out of the acts of the saints, and the writings and homilies of the holy fathers. Upon festival days, and during the whole paschal time, and upon all Sun- days from Easter to Advent, and from Christmas to Septuagesima, we close the matins with the " Te Deum." In the Lauds we recite seven psalms and one of the Scripture canticles, with their respective anthems and a hymn ; then the canticle " Bene- dicts" with the prayer or prayers of the day ; and, in the end, an anthem and prayer of the blessed Virgin Mary. The Prime begins with the " Pater" " Ave" and creed, " Deus in Adju- torium" etc., " Gloria Patri" etc. After which there follows a morning hymn, then the 53d Psalm (or 54th), with a part of the 118th (or 119th), to which on Sundays is prefixed the 1 1 7th Psalm, and subjoined the Ath- anasian creed. Then follows an anthem, a capitulum, or short lesson, with its responsory, and divers prayers to beg God's grace for the follow- ing day. Terce, Sext and None begin with a "Pater" and "Ave" and consist, each of them, of a proper hymn and six divisions of the 1 18th Psalm; which excellent psalm the Church would have her clergy daily recite, because every verse of it contains the praises of God's holy law and command- ments, or excites the soul to the love and esteem thereof : or, in fine, prays for the grace to fulfil the same. After the psalm follows an anthem, then a lesson, responsory and prayer, and each hour is concluded with the " Pater Nosier." Vespers, or evensong, is begun also with " Pater" " Ave," etc., and 1 78 FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH. consists of five psalms, with their anthems, a short chapter or lesson, a hymn, and the " Magnificat? or canticle of the blessed Virgin Mary, with its proper anthem, and a collect or prayer, to which are usually joined three or four commemorations, consisting of anthems, verses and prayers. Complin consists of the Lord's Prayer, the Confiteor, etc., four psalms, an anthem, hymn, lesson, responsory, the canticle ** Nunc dimittis? witlr its anthem, and some short prayers, which are closed with an anthem and prayer of the blessed Virgin, and the " Pater? " Ave " and creed. CHAPTER XXIII. OF THE FESTIVALS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH J ALSO OF THE HOLY WEEK, AND THE CEREMONIES THEREOF. Q. What are the days which the Church commands