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DERKEVEY
LIDRARY
UNIVLSSITY OF
CAUFC RNIA
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Copyrighted, March, 190a, by Century Art Co., Phila,
^.^pynghtcd, March^ 190a, by (Jemury Art Co., Phila.
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The Catholic Church Alone
The One True Church of Chrisl^
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And 1 say to thee ; That thou art Peter and upon this rock 1 will
build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
— Matthew xvi. 18-19.
And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And
whatsoeyer thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also
in heaven ......
SUMPTUOUSLY ILLUSTRATED WITH FAMOUS PAINTINGS BY
THE GREAT MASTERS
5/^ VOLUMES IN ONE
BY THE DISTINGUISHED EXPONENTS OF CATHOLICISM
REV. HENRY DODRIDGE, D. D.
REV. HENRY EDWARD MANNING, D.D.
REV. F. LEWIS, of Granada
REV. STEPHEN KEENAN
REV. BERNARD VAUGHAN, S. J.
REV. THOMAS N. BURKE, O. P.
Introduced by Rev. M. A. White, O S. A.
1903
CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL COMPANY
NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA
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By J. JOSEPH STALEV
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^rclibishop of I]ew York.
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One Lord, one faith, one baptism ; One God and Father of all. — Ephes. iv. 5, 6.
These words of the great apostle of the Gentiles show clearly that it is not a matter of indifiference
what faith or religion we profess. We often hear the expression from so-called enlightened men : "It
is all the same to what religion we belong, we can be saved in any if we only believe in G>jd ?nd live
uprightly." But this assertion is impious I Consider, my dear Christian, there is but one God and
this one God has sent only one Redeemer, and this one Redeemer has preached but one Doctrine and
has established but one Church. Had God wished that there should be more than one Church, then
Christ would have founded others. Jesus, knowing the will of His Father, the eternal God, founded
only one Church — the Catholic Church.
Iragcr of Hati«
OGOD of patience, of consola-
tion and of hope, fill our
hearts with peace and joy,
and grant that we may become per-
fect in all good, and by haith, Hope
and Charity attain the promised sal-
vation.
flB*®**!®©*®******®****
" I lay down my life for my sheep." — John x. IS.
WHAT HAS CHRIST OBTAINED FOR US BY HIS DEATH?
The remission of our sins, the grace to lead a life pleasing to God in this world and eternal
happiness in the next, for which we now fondly hope ; with secure confidence may we now expect
and most assuredly will obtain, if we do not fail on our part. What are the means of obtaining
eternal happiness ? The grace of God, that is, His continual assistance, is the practice of the
divine virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, the keeping of God's commandments, the frequent use
of the sacraments, and constant prayer. These means must be diligently employed, for God,
who, as Saint Augustine says, " created us without us," will not save us without us, that is,
without our co-operation. We should keep this lesson cons<^antly before our minds as our guiding
star, pointing out the way to heaven.
»?m^r^^^M
Omy God I I love Thee above all
thin^ with my whole heart
and sonlf b e cause Thou art all-
good and worthy of all love. I love my
nrighfeor as myself for the love of Thee.
1 lorgive all who have injuied me and
ask pafdon of all whom I have injured.
'^Cbaritv covereth a multitude of sins**
Epistle I Peter iv. 7-11. Dearly beloved, be prudent and watch in prayers. But before all
things have a mutual charity among yourselves; "for charity covereth a multitude of sins."
Using hospitality one towards another without murmuring ; as every man hath received grace,
ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as the words of God ; if any man minister, let him do it
as of the power which . God administereth ; that in all things God may be honored through
Jesus Christ. ^
Nothing renders us more worthy of the snnctifying grace of the Holy Ghost than the practice
of this virtue — Charity. We should always speak kindly of ou- neighbor. Be generous towards
the poor out of the means which God has given us, in imitation of De La Salle, Founder of the
Brothers of the Christian Schools, who distributed his vast xjrtune among the poor, and who was
canonized by Pope Leo, May 24, 1900.
corporal distempers a total loss of appetite, which no medicine can
restore, forbodes certain decay and death ; so in the spiritual life of
the soul, a neglect or disrelish of pious readings and instruction
is a most fatal symptom. What hopes can we entertain of a
person to whom the science of virtue and eternal salvation doth
not seem interesting or worth his application ?
" It is impossible," says St. Chrysostom, " that a man should
be saved, who neglects assiduous pious reading." No less-
criminal and dangerous is the disposition of those who mis-
spend their precious moments in reading romances, which fill
the mind with a worldly spirit, with a love of vanity, pleasure,
idleness, and trifling, which destroy and lay waste all the
generous sentiments of virtue in the heart, and sow there the
seeds of every vice, which extend their influence over the whole
soul. Who seeks nourishment from poison ? What food is to the
body, that our thoughts and reflections are to the mind : by them
the affections of the soul are nourished. The chameleon changes its color as it is affected by
sadness, anger, or joy, or by the color upon which it sits; and we see an insect borrow its
lustre and hue from the plant or leaf upon which it feeds. In like manner, what our meditations
and affections are, such will our souls become, either holy and spiritual, or earthly and carnal.
By pious reading the mind is instructed and enlightened, and the affections of the heart are
purified and inflamed. Reading religious books is commended by St. Paul as the summary of
spiritual advice. (2 Tim. 14, 13.)
Devout persons never want a spur to assiduous reading, or meditation ; they are insatiable in
this exercise, and according to the golden motto of Thomas a Kempis, they find their chief delight
in a closet with a good book. Worldly and tepid Christians stand certainly in the most need of
this help to virtue. The world is a whirlpool of business, pleasure and sin. Its torrent is always
beating upon their hearts, ready to break in and bury them under its flood, unless frequent pious
reading oppose a strong fence to its waves. The more deeply a person is immersed in its tumul-
tuous cares, so much the greater ought his solicitude to be to seek repose, after the fatigues and
dissipations of business and companj"^ ; to plunge his heart by secret prayer in the ocean of the
divine immensity, and by pious reading to afford his soul some spiritual reflection; as the wearied
husbandman, returning from his labor, recruits his spent vigor and exhausted strength by
allowing his body necessary refreshment and repose.
Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, has declared that He was sent by His heavenly Father " to
preach the Gospel to the poor." (Luke iv. 18.) " Let us go," said He to His Apostles, " into the
(5)
f, PREFACE.
neigliboring towns and cities, that I may preach there also, for to this purpose am I come." (Mark
i. 38.) The mission of Jesus Christ was and is to be continued by his priests: "As the Father
hath sent me, I also send you." Immediately before ascending to heaven. He again laid and
impressed upon all pastors of souls that the most important duty is that of preaching. His last
solemn word to those whom He charged to continue His work is : " All power is given to me in
heaven and on earth. The universe belongs to me by title of heritage. Already heaven is acquired by
my labors and sufferings. The earth remains to be conquered, and I rely on you, my Apostles,
my priests, to subdue it to the empire of my grace : Go, then, and teach all nations, and
preach my Gospel to every creature."
Incompliance with this obligation "the Apostles went forth and preached everywhere" (Mark
xxvi. 20), in the face of all kinds of opposition. "They obeyed God rather then men." (Act v.
29.) St. Paul would not even allow any one to regard as a merit his zeal to announce the Gospel.
To preach was for him, as he tells us, a necessity. He uttered against himself a kind of anathema
if ever he neglected so sacred a duty: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel." What he
most emphatically insisted on, in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus, was the duty of preaching
the word of God. He adjures his two disciples and all pastors of souls, by all that is most holy
and awful; he adjures them by the presence of God, and of Jesus Christ, by his future coming,
by his eternal reign, to preach the word of God, to preach it in season and out of season — to use
all persuasive means which the most ardent charity inspires: "I charge thee, before God and
Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming and his kingdom, preach
the word; be instant in it in season and out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience
and doctrine." (2 Tim. iv. i, 2.)
Hence the Church has never ceased to exhort her pastors to discharge most faithfully their
duty of preaching the word of God. In one of her canons she ordains that, if a priest having
charge of souls shall fail to give them the bread of the word of God, he shall be himself
deprived of the Eucharistic Bread; and if he continue in his criminal silence, he shall be sus-
pended. The preaching of the word of God has, indeed, always been the great object of the
solicitude of the Church. The Council of Trent arms the bishops with her thunders, and charges
them to inflict her censures upon those mute pastors whom the Holy Ghost has branded as "dumb
dogs, not able to bark." (Isa. Ivi. 10.) The all important duty of giving religious instruction
was never more binding, and more necessary to be complied with, than it is in our age. What
the Fathers of the Council of Trent say on this duty applies more emphatically to our age and
country :
"As the preaching of the divine word," they say, "should never be interrupted in the Church
of God, so in these days it becomes necessary to labor, with more than ordinary zeal and piety, to
nurture and strengthen the faithful with sound and wholesome doctrine, as with the food of life :
for false prophets have gone forth into the world, (i. John iv. i), with various and strange doc-
trines (Heb. xiii. 9), to corrupt the minds of the faithful, of whom the Lord has said; I sent
them not, and they ran; I spoke not to them, yet they prophesied. (Jer. xxiii. 21.)
" In this unholy work their impiety, versed as it is in all the arts of Satan, has been carried
to such extremes, that it would seem almost impossible to confine it within bounds; and did we
not rely on the splendid promises of the Saviour, who declared that He had built His Church on
so solid a foundation that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it, (Matt. xvi. 18), we
would be filled with most alarming apprehensions, lest, beset on every side by such a host of
enemies, assailed by so many and such formidable engines, the Church of God should, in these
days, fall beneath their combined efforts. Not to mention those illustrious states, which heretofore
PREFACE. 7
professed, in piety and holiness, the Catholic faith, transmitted to them by their ancestors, but are
now going astray, wandering from the paths of truth, and openly declaring that their best claims
of piety are founded on a total abandonment of the faith of their fathers, — there is no region
however remote, no place however securely guarded, no corner of the Christian republic into
which this pestilence has not sought secretly to insinuate itself. Those who proposed to them-
selves to corrupt the minds of the faithful, aware that they could not hold immediate personal
intercourse with all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrines, by adopting a different
plan, disseminated error and impiety more easily and extensively. Besides those voluminous works|
by which are sought the subversion of the Catholic faith, they also composed innumerable smaller
books, which veiling their errors under the semblance of piety, deceived with incredible facility
the simple and the incautious." (Preface to the Catechism of the Council of Trent.) "It is,
indeed, incumbent upon the ministers of the altar," says our Holy Father, Pius IX, in his address
of 1877 to the Lenten preachers, "to lift up their voices as loudly as possible, to save society
from the abyss." "Cry," says the Lord to the pastor, "cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,
and show my people their wicked doings." (Isa. Iviii. i.) " If thou dost not speak to warn the
wicked man from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I shall require hi^
blood at thy hand." (Ezek. xxxiii. 8.)
Now, if we see such perverse zeal in the ministers of Satan to spread, by all possible means,
their doctrines, with what zeal should not Christians, and especially Christian Pastors, be moved
to make known the Gospel truths, and repeat them in season and out of season, regardless of
fastidious minds which are displeased when a priest repeats a thing and goes over old, but
necessary ground again. "What," exclaims St. Francis de Sales, — "what, is it not necessary,
in working iron, to heat it over and over again, and in painting to touch and retouch the canvas
repeatedly ? How much more necessary is it to repeat the same thing again and again, in order
to imprint eternal truths on hardened intellects, and on hearts confirmed in evil: St. John, the
Baptist, and the Apostle St. Paul spoke from their prison walls ; St. Peter spoke freely and
forcibly before the ancients, saying that it is better to obey God than men ; and the Apostle St.
Andrew spoke from the wood of the cross."
When in Japan, St. Francis Xavier climbed mountains, and exposed himself to innumerable
dangers, to seek out those wretched barbarians in the caverns where the}' dwelt like wild beasts,
and to instruct them in the truths of salvation. St. Francis de Sales, in the hope of converting
the heretics of the province of Chablais, risked his life by crossing a river every day for a year,
on his hands and knees, upon a frozen beam, that he might reach and preach to those stubborn
men. St. Fidelis, in order to bring the heretic of a certain place back to God, cheerfully oflfered
up his life for their salvation.
The first part of this book, written by the Rev. Father Dodridge, D. D., embraces the Twelve
Articles of the Creed, The Ten Commandments, The Seven Sacraments, Sin and its Effects on the
Soul, Death, Judgment, Hell and Heaven, The Lord's Prayer beautifully explained. The Hail
Mary explained. The Ceremonies of the Church are clearly defined. It is very important that
every Catholic should understand these subjects thoroughly, so as to have an enlightened
knowledge of the real beauty of his religion. As children we learned our Catechism in the order
of question and answer, so the author indulged the hope that by adopting a similar style of
instruction he would awaken memories of our youth, and thereby induce us to perfect, as far as
possible, the work began in childhood. If we see a builder lay the foundation stone of a house,
and then throw aside his implements of labor, and leave the house unfinished, we characterize him
as insane. How much more should we condemn the young man or wOman, who will endeavor
8 PREFACE.
to persuade himself or herself, that having learned the Catechism that he or she is properly
instructed in the faith. This is a delusion. The Catechism is the groundwork — the foundation
stone ; but we must finish the structure. We must enlighten the heart and soul by instructive
reading. In this part of the book the author proves, defines and explains the sublime truths of
our holy religion so that we can see them reflected as the mirror reflects our shadow.
The second part of this work, written by the distinguished Rev. Henry Edward Manning, D.D.,
in a profound and scholarly way, proves the Catholic Church alone to be infallible. This he makes
clear from the promise of Christ to St. Peter, in the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew, where he says,
" Thou art Peter, that is a rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it," Matt. i6: i8. He shows how this Church has withstood persecution
from the day of her establishment to the present time, and that although the powers of darkness
will never cease to make war upon her, their eff"orts will always be as vain as the winds and the
rain against a house that is built upon a rock, and as her faith has stood the shock both
against the attack of Jews and Pagans, and the deceitful reasoning of Arians, Nestorians,
Butychians, Donatists and Pelegians, so will it remain immovable to the world's end.
The third part of this book, written by the Rev. F. Lewis, points out the motives which
should urge us to lead truly Christian lives. He shows us the deep love which our Divine Lord
cherishes for each one of us, so that he became man, assumed our infirmities, and by his death
on the cross satisfied his off^ended Father, and thus opened heaven and purchased man's redemption.
Here he points out, like a guiding star, the way to follow in order to save our souls. He proves
that this world is short, dangerous, blind and deceitful. That it is a barren soil, a wood full of
thorns, a green meadow full of snakes, a garden luxuriant in flowers but no fruit, a river of
tears, a fountain of cares, a sweet poison and a pleasing frenzy.
The fourth part of this work, written by the Rev. Stephen Keenan, is of priceless value.
This profound scholar conducts the reader, step by step, through the sublime mysteries of our
holy religion, from the morning of creation to the present day. The questions are asked, and
the answers and proofs follow, so that the simplest child can understand his religion by making
a study of it. This eminent divine, who spent his whole life in acquiring a thorough knowledge
of our faith, gives us in this work the embodiment of his masterly knowledge in expounding our
religion, so that the reader having made a studjj^ of this part stands prepared to answer all
questions put him by non-Catholics. Here too we find this learned priest reviewing both the Old
and New Testaments, explaining their sacred mysteries in the plainest manner, and as the
Sacred Scriptures are written in mystery as laid down by St. Peter ; this is an important part
of the book — a guide and key to our religion.
The fifth part of this book is by the Rev. Father Vaughin, S. J. His subject is one of
peculiar interest. In his own masterly way he reviews Protestantism from its birth to the present
hour. This contribution I regard as of rare value.
The sixth part of this book is from the pen of Pope Leo XIII., on Americanism. The
controversy which has been going on for some time, has been set at rest by the Holy Father.
PREFACE. 9
The life of Father Hecker, the Paulist, recently translated into French, advocated the philosophy
of making some concessions to Protestantism, to wean them over to the True Church of Christ,
and on this point the Bishops of the Church in this country were somewhat divided and His
Holiness seeing this, speaks with the power and authority of Christ, that he cannot yield up any
portion of that divine treasure handed down to him, step by step, from Christ himself.
The last chapter of this work is taken up with priceless gems selected from the sermons of
the immortal Father Thomas N. Burke, the Dominican. One of these sermons is worth more
than the entire book costs, composed by him who electrified the Catholic world by the charm
of his eloquence, and vanquished England's boasted historian, James Anthony Fronde. I consider this
book, " The One True Church," one of the most useful and instructive ever published in this
country, and therefore I trust it will find its way into every Catholic family. This book strips
schism of her mask, and stops the mouth of heresy. It points out with an evidence not to be
impeached the day of separation ; when Protestantism was born, and the hour of revolt and rebellion;
when the heretic said, like Lucifer, in the pride of his heart, " I will not serve." If there ever
was a work which rendered almost visible and tangible to men that promise of the Redeemer to
this Church, " And the gates of hell shall not prevail against her," surely this work is " The
One True Church." If infidelity, immorality and heresy have opened wide their mouths and are
everywhere devouring their victims, is it not a blessing from God that the children of the Church
should be preserved from them, and fed with the wholesome food of pious reading ? The reader
will see that the Catholic Church has withstood the persecutions of 1900 years. The Catholic
Church having triumphed over her enemies, stands to-day more proud, more vigorous than ever,
having the laurel wreath of victory entwined around her virgin brow.
REV. M. A. WHITE, O. S. A.
PAOB.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED 17
The Creed Defined 17
The Second Article of the Creed . 23
The Third Article of the Creed 29
The Fourth Article of the Creed 30
The Fifth Article of the Creed ' 32
The Sixth Article of the Creed 34
The Seventh Article of the Creed 35
The Eighth Article of the Creed 37
The Ninth Article of the Creed , 40
The Tenth Article of the Creed 64
The Eleventh Article of the Creed 66
The Twelfth Article of the Creed 68
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 70
The First Commandment 70
The Second Commandment 81
The Third Commandment 82
The Fourth Commandment 83
The Fifth Commandment 85
The Sixth Commandment 87
The Seventh Commandment 88
The Eighth Commandment 91
The Ninth Commandment 95
The Tenth Commandment 95
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED 97
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED 106
Baptism Expounded no
Confirmation Expounded 113
The Eucharist Expounded 115
PENANCE EXPOUNDED 133
Extreme Unction Expounded 140
Holy Orders Expounded 141
Matrimony Expounded 144
EXPOUNDING OF SIN 148
The Seven Deadly Sins Expounded 151
The Three Theological Virtues Expounded 155
The Four Cardinal Virtues Expounded 160
Religion Expounded 162
Laws Expounded 162
SCRIPTURE, TRADITION, COUNCILS, AND HEAD OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED • . . 164
The Four Last Things Expounded 170
The Lord's Prayer Expounded 174
The Hail Mary Expounded 176
Ceremonies in General Expounded 178
Particular Ceremonies Expounded 179
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES 191
Chapter I. — Section I. — Infallibility Promised by Christ to His Church . 191
Section II. — The Means Promised by Christ, to Render His Church Infallible 194
Section III. — The Faith of the Ancient Church Relating to the Matter Under Debate 197
Chapter II. — Section I. — The Distinction between Fundamentals and Non-Fundamentals, Examined . . 200
Section II. — The First Part of the Distinction Renders the First Reformers and Their Respective
Churches Inexcusable 203
(")
la CONTENTS.
PAOB.
Section III. — The Second Part of the Distinction Contradicts the Word of God 207
Section IV. — It Gives the Lie to the Nicene Creed 209
Section V. — It Destroys All Certainty in Matters of Faith 210
Section VI. — It Renders All Church Authority Precarious 213
Chapter III. — The Church in Connnunion with the See of Rome, Has Alone, a Just Title to Infallibility . 216
Chapter IV. — The Church of Rome Vindicated 221
Section I. — ^The State of Religion in Christendom Before the Pretended Reformation 221
Section II. — The Antiquity of the Doctrine Called Popery Proved from Protestant Writers .... 224
Chapter V. — Popery as Ancient as Christianity 228
Section I. — No Christian Church Teaching a Doctrine Opposite to Popery, Ever Appeared in the
World Before It 228
Section II. — Thfc Same Arguments Continued 232
Section III. — Objections Answered 237
Section IV. — The Adviser's System Concerning the First Establishment of Popery , . 241
Chapter VI. — The Character of the Capital Reformer Considered 246
Section I. — He Had No Ordinarj' Mission 246
Section II — I^uther Had No Extraordinary Mission 251
Section III. — His Doctrine Concerning Free- Will, Repentence, and Good Works 253
Section IV. — His Doctrine Concerning the Legislative Power 254
Section V.— Luther No Slave to Truth 254
The Declaration of the Duchess of York, Concerning the Occasion and Motives of Her Conversion . 256
HOW TO SHUN EVIL ; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE 261
Chapter I. — Of the First Motive that Obliges Us to Virtue and the Ser\'ice of God, Considering in Itself ;
and of the Excellency of His Divine Perfections 261
Chapter II. — Of the Second Motive that Obliges Us to Virtue and the Service of God, Which Is, the
Benefit of Our Creation 267
Chapter III.— Of the Third Motive that Obliges Us to Serve God, Which Is, the Benefit of Our Preserva-
tion and Direction 272
Chapter IV. — Of the Fourth Motive that Obliges Us to the Pursuit of Virtue, Which Is, the Inestimable
Benefit of Our Redemption 277
Chapter V. — Of the Fifth Motive that Obliges Us to Virtue, Which Is, the Benefit of Our Justification . . 283
Chapter VI. — Of the Sixth Motive that Obliges Us to the Love of Virtue, Which Is, the Benefit of Divine
Predestination 290
Chapter VII. — Of the Seventh Motive that Obliges Us to the Pursuit of Virtue, Which Is, Death, the First
of the Four Last Things 293
Chapter VIII. — Of the Eighth Motive that Obliges Us to the Pursuit of Virtue, Which Is, the Last Judg-
ment, the Second of the Last Four Things 300
Chapter IX.— Of the Ninth Motive that Obliges Us to Virtue, Which Is, Heaven, the Third of the Four
Last Things 304
Chapter X. — Of the Tenth Motive that Obliges Us to Love Virtue, Which Is, the Fourth of the Four
Last Things, That Is, the Pains of Hell 311
Chapter XI. — Of the Eleventh Motive that Obliges Us to the Pursuit of Virtue, Which Is, the Inestimable
Advantages Promised It in This Life 319
Chapter XII. — Of the Twelfth Motive that Obliges Us to the Pursuit of Virtue, Which Is, the Particular
Care the Divine Providence Takes of the Good, in Order to Make Them Happy, and the Severity
with Which the Same Providence Punishes the Wicked. — The First Privilege 324
Chapter XIII. — Of the Second Privilege of Virtue, that is, the Grace of the Holy Ghost Bestowed upon
Virtuous Men 332
Chapter XR\ — Of the Third Privilege of Virtue, Viz., Supernatural Light and Knowledge 334
Chapter XV. — Of the Fourth Privilege of Virtue, That Is, the Consolations Which Good Men Receive from
the Holy Ghost 339
Chapter XVI.— Of the Fifth Privilege of Virtue, Viz., the Peace of Conscience, Which the Just Enjoy
and of the Inward Remorse that Torments the Wicked 347
Chapter XVII. — Of the Sixth Privilege of Virtue, Viz., the Hopes the Just Have in'God's Mercy, and of
the Vain Confidence of the Wicked 352
Chapter XVIII. — Of the Seventh Privilege of Virtue, Viz., the True Liberty Which the Virtuous Enjoy,
and of the Miserable and Unaccountable Slavery the Wicked Live in 358
Chapter XIX. — Of the Eighth Privilege of Virtue, Viz., the Inward Peace and Calm the Virtuous Enjoy,
and of the Miserable Restlessness and Disturbance the Wicked Feel Within Themselves 369
Chapter XX. — Of the Ninth Privilege of Virtue, Viz. , that God Hears the Prayers of the Just, and Rejects
Those of the Wicked 376
Chapter XXI. — Of the Tenth Privilege of Virtue, Which Is, the Assistance Good Men Receive from God
in Their Afilictions; and of the Impatience, on the Contrary, with Which the Wicked Suffer
Theirs 380
CONTENTS. 13
PAGE.
Chapter XXII.— The Eleventh Privilege of Virtue, Which Consists in the Care God Takes to Supply the
Temporal Necessities of the Just 385
Chapter XXIII.— The Twelfth Privilege of Virtue, Which Is, the Quiet and Happy Death of the Virtu-
ous: and, on the Contrary, the Deplorable End of the Wicked 390
Chapter XXIV. — Against the First Excuse of Those Who Defer Changing Their Lives, and Advancing
in Virtue, till Another Time 399
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII AND IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE . 401
The Pope's Birthplace 403
At Benevento and Perugia ' 404
Archbishop Pecci at Perugia 405
Cardinal Pecci is Elected Pope ■ 407
Tlie Coronation 408
Encyclical on Socialism and Communism , 410
Pope Leo's Homage to St. Thomas 415
Encyclical on Marriage and Divorce 415
His Success with European Governments 415
His Appointments in America 415
Letters of Condolence 416
The Holy Father's Love for Ireland 417
The Boston Committee to the Clergy and People of Ireland 418
Pope Leo's Private Mass 420
The Holy Father's Faith in Ireland 423
The Plenary Council at Baltimore (1884) .... 424
Important Events 430
Pope Leo XIII Mediates between Germany and Spain 430
Pope Leo and Italy 431
Fiftieth Anniversary of Pope Leo's Priesthood 432
The Golden Rose 433
Pope Leo and the French Republic 433
Death of Cardinal Pecci 434
Encyclical on the Labor Question 435
The Pope's Golden Jubilee — Sixty Thousand Persons Crowd the Great Cathedral 436
Ireland's Congratulations 437
England's Congratulations 437
America to the Pope . 437
Pope Leo on "Americanism" 437
The Underlving Principle 438
All Things to all Men , 438
Teaching and Governing 438
Differences Pointed Out 439
Liberty not License 439
No Thought of Wrong or Guile 440
Law of God's Providence 440
Those Liable to Stray 440
Virtue, Nature and Grace 441
No Merely Passive Virtue 441
Contempt of Religious Life 442
A Fuller and Freer Liberty 442
No Difference of Praise 442
Let Those be Set Apart 442
The Question of Americanism 443
Pope Leo and the Spanish-American Difficulty 444
Rome in the Holy Year 1900 444
How the Pontiff Spends the Day 445
The Pope's Body Servant ..'....' 445
The Pope's Personality 446
Where He Seeks Solitude . 446
Our Holy Father's Great Endurance 447
14 CONTENTS.
PACK.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED 453
Preliminary Chapter. — General Idea of Religion 453
Chapter I. — On God ■. 456
Section I. — On the Existence of God 456
Section II. — On the Nature of God and His Perfections 457
Section III. — On the Unity of God 458
Section IV. — On the Trinity of Persons in God • ■ , . 459
Chapter II. — On the Works of God 460
Section I. — On the Creation of the World 460
Section II. — On the Creation of Angels 461
Section III. — On the Creation of Man 462
Section IV. — On theTerrestrial Paradise and the State of Innocence 463
Chapter III. — On the Sin of Man, and Its Consequences 464
Section I. — On the Sin of Our First Parents 464
Section II. — On the Punishment of the First Sin of Man, and on Original Sin 465
Section III. — On the Necessity and the Promise of a Redeemer 466
Chapter IV. — Abridged History of Religion from the Fall of Man till the Coming of the Messiah .... 467
Section I. — In What Way Men Were to be Sanctified Before the Coming of the Messiah 467
Section II.— The Lives of Adam, Eve, and Their Children, After the Fall 468
Section III. — On the Corruption of the Human Race, and the General Deluge 469
Section IV. — On the State of the World, from the Deluge to the Vocation of Abraham 470
Section V. — On the Promises of God to Abraham, and on the Posterity of that Holy Man ... 471
Section VI. — On Isaac and Jacob, from Whom All the Jews Have Descended 472
Section VII. — The Servitude of the Israelites in Egypt, and Its Cause ...... 473
Section VIII. — The Deliverance of the Israelites by Moses, the Paschal Lamb, and Passage of the
Red Sea 474
Section IX. — The Journey of the Israelites to Mount Sinai; the Bitter Waters; the Manna, etc . . 476
Section X. — The Law Given to the Israelites, and the Blood of the Covenant 478
Section XI. — Moses on Mount Sinai , 479
Section XII.— The Golden Calf, the Punishment Whiclr Followed; the Veil; the Choice of Aaron
and the Levites 480
Section XIII. — The Spies ; Murmur and Sedition of the Israelites ; Their Punishment ; Reward of
Caleb and Josue 48 1
Section XIV. — The Waters of Contradiction ; the Brazen Serpent ; Prediction of Baalam ; and Death
of Moses , 482
Section XV. — Conquest and Distribution of the Land of Promise, Under the Guidance of Josue, and
State of the Israelites Under the Judges 483
Section XVI. — The State of the Israelites Under the Kings, and on Saul and David 484
Section XVII. — On Solomon and the Temple of Jerusalem 485
Section XVIII. — Division of the Tribes Under Jeroboam, and State of the People of God Under the
Kings of Juda and Israel .- 486
Section XIX. — On the Prophets and Their Prophecies 487
Section XX. — Dispersion of the Ten Tribes — Babylonish Captivity — Return and Re-Establishment of
the Jews 489
Section XXI. — State of the Jews, from the Babylonish Captivitj' till Their Total Ruin by the
Romans 490
Section XXII. — The Morality and Religion of the Jews, from the Babylonish Captivity till the Coming
of the Messiah 492
Section XXIII. — On the State of the Gentile People, from the Vocation of Abraham to the Coming
of the Messiah 493
Chapter V. — On the State of Religion after the Coming of the Messiah 494
Section I. — On Jesus Christ. Proofs of the Coming of the Messiah, by the Accomplishment of the
Prophecies in the Person of Christ 494
Section II. — On Jesus Christ, or the Messiah 498
Section III. — Historj' of the Incarnation 499
Section IV. — History of Jesus Christ, from His Temporal Birth till His Retirement into Egypt . . 500
Section V. — Life of Christ till His Baptism, and the Life of St. John the Baptist 502
Section VI. — Continuation of the Life of Christ till the End of the First Year of His Preaching . . . 503
Section VII. — The Second Year of Christ's Mission 504
Section VIII. — Continuation of the Life of Christ 505
Section IX. — Transfiguration of Jesus Christ 506
Section X. — Life of Christ Continued till the End of the Third Year of His Mission 507
Section XI. — Life of Christ Continued till After the Institution of the Holy Eucharist 508
CONTENTS. ■ 15
PAGK,
¥
Seotion XII. — On the Discourse Delivered by Jesus After His Last Supper 509
Section XIII. — ^Jesus in the Garden of Olives 509
Section XIV. — ^Jesus Before Caiphas 510
Section XV. — Jesus Condemned to Death by Pilate 511
Section XVI. — On the Prophecies Which Regard the Death of Jesus 512
Section XVII.— Why and for Whom Did Christ Die, and How Did He Satisfy for Sin— the Descent
into Hell 513
Section XVIII. — The Resurrection of Christ, His Appearances Afterwards, and His Life till His
Ascension 514
Section XIX. — The Ascension — A General Notion of the Qualities of Christ in Heaven 515
Section XX. — The Qualities of Jesus with Relation to His Father and with Relation to His
Creatures 516
Section XXI. — The Qualities of Jesus with Relation Men 517
Section XXII.— Descent of the Holy Ghost 519
Section XXIII. — The Preaching of the Gospel to the Samaritans and the Gentiles 520
Section XXIV. — List of the First Persecutions 521
ChvpTER VI. — On the Church 523
Section I. — The Church of Chrisi; Her Visibilitj- ; General Idea of Her Distinguishing Marks . . . 523
Section II. — The Unity of the Church 524
Section III. — The Union of the Members of the Church; the Communion of Saints 525
Section IV. — The Sanctity of the Church 526
Section V.— The Catholicity of the Church 528
Section VI. — On the Title of Apostolicity Given to -the Church 528
Section VII.— The Church, Called Roman and Catholic, Is the Only True Church of Christ .... 529
Section VII. — On the Combats and Struggles of tlie Church Against Her Enemies 532
Section IX. — Combats of the Church Against Infidels, Jews, Heretics, etc 533
Section X. — The Principal Sects, the Fathers Wlio Refuted Their Errors, and the Councils Which
Condemned Them 534
Section XI. — The Struggles of the Church Against Bad Christians 541
Section XII. — On the Advantages We Derive from the Church , 541
LIFE AND LABORS OF SAINT DE LA SALLE 543
PROTESTANTISM UP TO DATE 555
HEADLESS CHURCHES 559
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA 562
PLEDGES AND PERFORMANCES 570
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH -575
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY 588
CHRIST ON CALVARY 598
i nM » BBM >8> :^ ^ ^:coo»coc«<e «w
Tlic Madonna of the Scapular.
Our Lady of the Rosary.
The Queen of Heaven.
Guardian Angel.
St. Charles Borromeo.
St. Anthony of Padua.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Immaculate Conception of Mary.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Tomb of the Blessed Virgin.
The Tomb of Christ.
The Holy Way of the Cross.
St. De La Salle.
St. Teresa.
St. Cecilia.
Pope Leo XIII.
The Holy Family.
Faith, Hope, Charity.
The Good Shepherd.
The .Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Christ Blessing Little Children.
The Queen of the Rosary.
The Blessed Eucharist.
The Descent from the Cross.
Vision of Our Lord to St. Francis of AssisL
St. Dionysius, Bishop of Paris.
St. Dominic.
The Resurrection.
The Crucifixion.
The Last Supper.
Purgatory.
TYPOGRAVURES.
The Holy Father.
Dedication.
The Plenary CounciL
Life of Christ in 48 pictures.
(16)
The Holy Face.
The Prayer to St. Peter.
St. De La Salle.
PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
The Annunciation.
Wlieu the lime whs eonie fixed by
God from all c'leriiity to sliower ditvvu
His ble^ugs upuii mankind by giving
tliema l{cdeemer. lie sent from lieavcn
tlie aii^el (Gabriel to Slary, a virgin
living in Ntukiretli. The angei greeted
her, saying: Hail, full uf grace; llie
li4tid Is witli thee : blessed art thou
amongst women. Then he a;>sured her
that, by the iiiefTable virtue of the
Holy lihost, she should conceive, bear
a son, and still remain a virgin And
Mary said : Heh«>ld the handmaid <t{
the Lord, be it done to me ai-cording to
thy word. (St. Luke, 1 ) '
The Birth of Christ.
When tile night had finished half its
course, and ttie wiiole creation lay
hushed in silence. » hen the hour wus
come foe the eternal Wortl to be boi u
in tim6, the nnileiilk;.l and ever im-
maculate Virgin brought forth her
flist-born son, wr.i,ipj.l him up in
swaddling-clothes, an 1 laid him in the
manger There, unknown to the world,
shivering with the cold, and destitute
of the common solaces of life, Jesus liiy
in an open stable. He began to dwell
amongst us in a state of hinuility, pov-
erty and sutt'erings, and by that has
shown us what judgment we are to
form of the riches and pleasures of the
world. (St. Luke, U.)
Presentation of Jesus in the
Temple.
At the end of forty days Mary re-
paired to Jerusalem that she might
there Siitisfy Llie twofold precept of her
own puritication and of the child's pre-
sentation in the Temple, though they
Iwtli were excitipi fr4)m the law. There
lived at that linu- in Jerus<ilein a good
old man called Si. neon, who had re-
ceiveil u promise that lie should not de-
tail out of life before he iuul seen the
Messias. Inspired to visit thel'einple at
the lime of our Lord's presentation, he
took the Divine Infant into his arms,
and praised the Lord, saying ; " Now
dost 'fhou dismiss Thy servant in peace,
since, according to Thy word, mine
eyes have seen Thy salvation, which
Thou hast prepared before the face of
all peoples." (St. Luke, IL)
Adoration of the Kings.
Led on by a star, the Wise 51en ol the
East cftiiie to Hethlehem, iifler ha^'illg
vainly inquired at Jeru^ilem lor the
new-born Saviour. They ■ found the
child, with .Mary His mother. They
fell upon their knees, oiiened their
trciisures and presented to Him their
olfeiings of gold, finnkiiieeiise and
myrrh. When Ihey hud /inislied their
ads of adoniliou, (.iod admonished
them not to rcluni to Jeru.salem. where
Ileroii songlit the life of the child, and
they returned l)y another way to their
country. If we imitate the Wise lien
in seeking the Saviour, we shall surely
find llim. (St. .Matt., 11 >
The Flight into Egypt.
An angel in the night informed Joseph
that Herod intended to destroy the
child, and admonished him to save
both Jesus and Ills mother by a speedy
flight into Egypt. He rose n|>on the
first notice that was given him, took
the child and His mother and ml out
on the perilous journey, uncertain wlien
or whether he should ever return or
not. The love he bore to Jesus, the
desire he had of serving llim to the
extent of his power, softened every
hanlsbip, and made him forget the
labors of an unexiieoted banishment
If once assurol of the divine wiU, let
us follow it without fear. (Matt. U.)
Rest During the Flight.
Jesus might have rendered Himself
invisible, or by a visible exertion of His
power might have disarmed Hetod ;
but He chose to fly, for the encoumge-
uient of those who were afterwards to
sulTer bunishment for His sake. liy His
own example He would instnict His
followeisthat in theheatof iiersecuUon
they may laudably fly to save their
lives, in the hope of some future good.
We may venture to acivpt with devout
belief the pious and beautiful legends
of the miraculous interposition of tiod
in behalf of His beloved pilgrims.
" He hath given Ills angels charge over
thee: to keep thee in all thy waj-s."
(I's 90. 11.)
The' Holy Family.
St. JOdeph Is the bead of the Roly
Family : he earns a livelihuo<l for Jesus
anil Mary in the sweat of his brow.
Mary is the heart; .She ke|>t all the.se
words, iionderiug them in their heart
(Luke II. l;i.) Bill this meditation dues
not iniiiede her in the discharge of her
hoiischiild duties, for Jesus occupies
both her heart and her hands Three
times a year tlie Jews were obliged to
visit the Temple at Jerusnlein, The
parents of Jesus willingly complied
with this requirement of the law, Jesus
did not ai'comiuiny them on these pil-
grimages till He was twelve years old,
and then the journey brought tl}eni
great sorrow.
Jesus Amidst the Doctors.
" His parents went every year to Je-
rusalem, at the solemn day of the
I>a.sch And when lie was twelve years
old, they going up into Jerusalem ac-
cording to the custom of the feast, and
having fullilled the days, when they
returned the Child Jesus remained in
.leriisideiii. and His parents knew it not.
And thinking that He was in the com-
I>any, they came a day's journey, and
sought II nu among their kinsfolk and
uoqiiaintani'e. .\ui\ not (Indinj; Hiin,
they returned into Jerusalem, seeking
Him. And it came to puss that after
three days they found llim in the
Temple, sitting in the midst of the
dix'tors, hearing them, and tusking them
questions. And all that heard llim
were a.stonished at His wisdom and at
His answers" (St Luke, II )
Jesus Assists St. Joseph at
Work.
"And seeing lliin. they wondered.
And His mother said to llim : Son, why
hast Thou done so to us? Behold Thy
father and I have sought Thee sorrow-
ing. .\nd he said to them : How is it
that you sought me? Did you not
know that I miBt be about my Father's
business? .\nd they understool not
the word that He spoke unio them.
And He went down with them, and
came to Nazareth, and was subject to
them." (Luke II, iS-^1 )
From His twelfth to His thirtieth
year Jesus dwelt with Mary and Joseph
in their humble hone at Xazareth. a I-
vancing" in wisd rnandaTe. and gr.u-e
with God and men." helping ■'t. Joseph
at his work. " Is not this the i-arpeii-
ter's sou?" (Matt . XIII. 5.5 i
Baptism of Jesus-
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to
the Jordan unto John, to be baptized
by him But John stayed Uim, saying;
I ought to be baptized by Thee, and
Thou comest to me? And Jesus an-
swering, said to him : Suffer it to be so
now: for it becometh us to fulfill all
justice. Then he suffered Him .^iid
Jesus being baptized, forthwith came
out of the water ; and Ip, the heavens
were opened to llim ; and He saw the
Spirit of tiod descending as a dove,
and (»>ining upon Him. And behold
a voice fmm heaven, saying: This is
my beloved 8on. in whom' 1 am well
pleaseii " By (iisbaptismin the Joi-ilan
Jesus consecrated and sanctioned Hie
baptism of the New Law.
(St .Matthew. Ill )
The Miracle at Cana.
After His baptism. Jesus began to
f reach and chose Ilisdisciples. Though
le had not yet wrought any public
miracle in testimony of His divine mis-
sion. His name was much talked of in
the country Being at (ana, a town
in (ialilee. He and His disciples were
invited to a marriage fea-st. Mary, His
mother, was also there. Piiring the
entertainment the wine failed, which,
being oi)serveil by the llleKsed Virgin,
she mentioned It to Jesus, whose iiower,
she knew, wius eqiiiil to His charity.
The answer she received might be cun-
stniKl into a refusal by any one less
acquainted than Mary was with the
designs of her divine Son : she told the
waileistodo what Jesus would direct
them ; which having been done it ap-
peared that Jesus, at the instance of
His mother, had changed water inio
wine This was the first mimcle by
which Jesus manifested His glorv
(M. John. II.)
Jesus Purges the Temple.
■'.Vfter this He went down to Car-
pharnauin. He and His mother, and
Ills brethren and Mis disciples: and
tliey remained there nut many days.
And the Pascli of the Jews was at
hand, and Jesns went up to Jerusalem:
and He found in the Temjile them that
soUl oxen and sheepand doves, and the
cliiingeis of imiiiey sitting. And when
He had made as it were a scourge of
little cords. He drove them all out of
the Temj'le. the sheep also and the
oxen ; and the money of the chiingeis
He fioured out. and tiie tables lie over-
threw. And to them that sfild doves
He .said : Take these things hence, and
make not the house of mv Father a
house of tmflic. And Ilisdisciples re-
membered that it was written : The zeal
of Thy liouse hath eaten me uji."
(,St. John, II.)
Jesus and the Samaritan
Womati.
On His wav from Jiidea into t^lilee.
Jesus passed through .Samaria. Near the
town of Sichar he was resting at a well
when a W'lman came, whom he asked
to let Him drink .At this the woinin
was surtmseil. for the .lews had noco-n-
muuicntion with the Samaritans Jes'is
explaine't to her His mission, saving:
The water I shall give shall beco'ne a
living fountain of life everlasting He
raention?d some past actions of her life.
and to her question which temple, that
in Jerusalem ortnat on Mount Garizim.
was the tni» niace of dirine worship.
He answetwl thit the time was at hand
when both were to he aixilished. and
the tnie adorers would adore the Father
in spirit and in truth Then the woman
hastened into the town to inform the
Eeople of the wonderful prophet she
ad found. (St John, IV.)
Jesus Heals the Sick.
" He hath done all things well : He
hath made, both the deaf to bear, and
the dumb to speak " fMark VII. X )
What motive had Jesus in nerforming
the astounding miracles relnted in the
Gosnels? Thev manifested His elorv.
and showed Him to be the Son of God.
Because Jesusdid these miracles before
His disciples, "thev believed in Him "
Here we have the utility of miracles,
namely to confirm in our hearts the be-
lief in Christ How can anv unpreju-
diced and reasonable mind call in ques-
tion the miracles of our bles!<e<I Ixird?
If their falsity could have lieen proven,
the enemies of Jesns would, have has-
tened to do so. Well may we be proud
as Christians, that the doctrine of our
divine Master is attested by tiountless
undeniable miracles.
The (^Miraculous Draught of
Fishes.
"And sitting. He taught the multi-
tudes out of the ship Now when He
had ceased to speak. He said to Simon :
I.annchout into thedee)*. and let down
your net.s" for a dmnght. And Simon
answering, said to Him: Master, we
have labored all the night, and have
taken nothing: but at Thv word I will
let down the net And wh^n they hnd
done this, thev enclosed a very great
multitude of fishes, and their net broke.
And they beckoned to their partners
that were in the other ship, that they
should.come and help them And they
came and filled iMith the shiiis. so that
they were almost sinking Which when
Sinion Peter saw. he fell down at Jesus'
feet, saving; Depart fiom me. fori am
a sinful man. O l/>ni. And Jesus saith
to Simon ; Fear not; from henceforth
thou Shalt catch men " (St Luke, V.)
The Sermon on the Mountain.
Jesns. in His discourse uiioii the
mountain, specifies the virtues which
He expects to see in His faithful follow-
ers ; piiritv of inteiilion, a desire of
)ileasing <;od in all things, (laternal
love, meekness, pardon ot injuries, dili-
gence in I'rayer. a seritais endeavor at
salvation, a perfect observance of His
commiiudments, and a cleanness of
lieart free not only from grievous sins,
but also, as much as may t>e. from those
les,ser transgressions which tarni'h the
heautv of the sfiul. and lead by degrees
to Tierditiou For whoever is unfaithful
in little things will be likewise unfiiith-
fiil in greater things Jesns closes Mis
summary of Christian duties witli the
injunction : Judge not. that yon may
not he judged, and with the paratile of
the firihity of His Church.
(St Matt., IV.)
The Annunciation.
The Birth a: Ciuiat.
Presentation of Jesus in the
Temple.
Adoration of the Kings.
The Flight Into Egypt. Rest During the Flight.
The Holy Family. Jesus Amidst the Doctors.
M
wKB'"* jSm
tj#vdip
t^miomi
bUm
Jesus Assists St. Joseph at
Work.
Baptism of Jesus-
The IVIIracle at Cana. Jesus Purges the Temple.
Jesus and the Samaritan
Woman.
Jesus Heals the Sick. The Miraculous Draught of
Fishes,
Copyrighted, March, 190a, by Century Art Co., Phila.
The Sermon on the Mountain,
Jesus Raises the Youth of
Nairn.
'And it oarae lo nass afterward that
He went into a city tnat is called Nairn,
and there went with Him His dis-
ciples and a greai raultitnde And
when He oauie nigh tu tlie giite of llie
city, behold a dead man was carrie»l
out, the ontysonof his motlier, and she
was a widow : and a great multitude of
the city wils with her Whom the Lord
had seen, being moved with mercy lo-
wanl her. He said to her: Weepnot.
And He came near, and touched the
bier (And they that cHrried it stood
still. \ And He said : Young man. I say
to thee, arise. And he that was dead
sat up, and began to speak And He
gave him to his mother. And there
camea fear on them : and they gloritieil
(.iml. saying : A great propitet is risen up
among us, and God hath visited His
(keople." (St. Luke. VII )
The Woman Taken in Adultery.
Jealous of the great fame of .lesu.s
the Pharisees watched every opjK>r-
tunity to destroy Hiscredit and slander
His reputation' amongst the peonle.
They Jmd surprised a woman in aiiul-
lery. They led her to Jesus and asketl
Uim what lie would have done lo her.
Their intention was. to accuse him of
cruelty if He condemned her. and of
violating the Iaw if He acquitted her.
For the law of Moses onlained that
every woman convicted of adultery
should be stone<l to death. They in-
sisted on an answer. Jesus said : " Let
him who is without sin amongst you
cast the tirst stone on her." The Phari-
sees sneaked away Jesus asked the
woniiiu if any one had condemned her.
and she answere<l. "No one"—" Neither
shall 1," replied He. "liepart iu peace,
and beware thou sin no more "
(St. John, VUI.)
Jesus Raises Jairus' Daughter.
" Behold a certain rulercame up and
adore*! Him, saying: Lord, my daughter
is even now dead: but come, lay Thy
hand upon her and she shall live. And
Jesus rising up followed llim with Ills
disciples . . . And when Jesus was
come into the house of the ruler, and
saw the miustreU and the multitude
making a rout. He said : Give place, for
the girl is not dead, but sleepeih. And
they laughed Him to scorn. And wlieu
the muUitnde was put forth, He went
in, and took her by the hand. And the
maid an>se And the fame thereof
went abroad into all that country."
(St. Matt., IX.)
The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.
.U'Mis having retired to the sea of
Tiberias. He crossed it. Coniinglo the
oi)t>().sito shore. He foundamultiiude of
peoplji who had come to hear his in-
structions and see His miracles. Theday
began to ilecline. The apostles advised
llieir divine Master to dismiss the mul-
titude, for the place was a desert, and
ti>e pet)ple liad brought no provisions
witli them. •' But Jesus said to them :
They have no nee<l togo: give you them
to eat They answered Hum : W'c have
here but hve loave.s and two fishes.
He sjiid to them : Bring them hither
to me And when He had comniaiided
the muliitndes to sit down upon the
griuss, lie took the Hve loaves and the
two lishes, blessed and bnike and gave
the hmves to His disciples, and the dis-
ciples to the mnllltude. And they did all
eat and were filled. And tliey "took up
what remiiined. twelve full Imskels of
fragments. Andthenumberoftliem that
did eat was five thousand men. besides
women and children. (."^t-Matt., XIV.)
St. Peter Upon the Waters.
The wonderful uiiiltiplication of the
loaves and fishes filled the people with
such gratitude towards Jesus, tnat they
wished to crown him king. But He
Uedand hidinaneiKhtx>riugmountata.
Meanwhile the apostles hml put to sea.
A storm arose during the night. To-
wards monilug Jesus a^lvanceitovvanls
them walking <iu the water. The ajH»-
ties were terrified at the apparition
Jesiu spoke to them, saying: "Fear
not: it IS I." Peter was fii-st to know
his Master's voice, and replieil : " I»rd.
if it fa yon bid me come to you upoa
the waters." Jesus said. "Come " Pe-
ter wa I keil boMly on the water till he
came near to our LonL when he begaa
to lose courage and sink. Terrified, be
cried out. " Save me :" and Jesus siret-
cheil forth IHs hand, took hi>ld of him,
saying ; " Thou man of little faith, wh v
didst thou doubt?" He entered with
him into the boat ; the wind fell, and
they rowed ashore. (St. Matt.. XIV.)
Jesus Gives to St.Peter the Keys.
"And Jesus came into the quarters of
Csesarea Philippi. and He asked His
disciples, saying : Who do men say that
the 8on of man is? But they said:
Some John the Bupiist.and other some
Klias, and others Jeremiad, or one of
the prophets. Jesus saith to them ;
But who do yon say that I am? Simon
Peter answere*! and said: Thou art
Christ the Son of the living Cod. And
Jesus answering, said to Him : Blessed
art thou, Simnii Itar-Jona : because
flesh and bhuid hath not revealed it to
thee but my Father who is in heaven.
And I say to thee, that Ihon art Peter,
and upon this nnrk I will build my
ChunTh,and the gates of hell shall not
prevail ngainst it. And I will give to
thee the keysof the king<lom of heaven.
And whatsoever thou shall bind upon
earth, it shall be boinidals<^> in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shall loose upon
earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. "
^St. Malt., XVI,)
The Good Shepherd.
"And He spoke to them this parable,
saying: What man of you that hath an
hundred sheep: and if he shall lose
one of them, doth he not leave the
ninety-nine in the desert, and go after
that which was lost until he find it?
And when he hath found it, lay it upon
his shcmlders rejoicing; and coming
home call together his friends and
neighbors, saying to them : Rejoice
with me. l^K-anse I have found my
sheep that was lost. I sjiy to y(Hi, that
even so there shall be joy in heaven
upon one sinner that doth )>enftnce,
more than upon ninety-nine just who
need uoi penauce."
(St. Luke. XV.)
Jesus Blesses the Children.
One day. after teaching. Jesus sat
down to rest, u hen the mothers brought
their children to Him, that He might
bless them. The disciples, anxi(ms to
Sparc Him, rebuked them, and tried to
keep them back. But Jesus said to
them: "Suffer the little children to
come unto me. and forbid them not:
for of such is the kingdom of God.
Amen I say to you, whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of (iod as a
little child, shall not enter into it."
And embracing them, and laying His
hands upon them, He blessed them.
(St. Mark, X.)
The Resurrection of Lazaru«.
Tuizarus was taken dan^nmslv ill in
Bethanla. and his two sisters, Martha
and Mary, notified Jesus, hoping thai
He would eoine and heal him .lesus
answered, that this sickness was not to
death, but for the manifestation of His
and His Father's glory. After some
days Jesus went to Bethania. I^zariis
had died meanwhile, and had t>eHn
fourdays in his gruve. He aske<l the
sisters where they had laid him. and
went with them lo the tomb, which
was chised with a stone This was re-
moved. Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven,
and, after a short but fervent prayer,
cried with a loud voice:" Ijazarus.come
forth !" And thedead man came forth,
bound as he was "Loose his liands."
said Jesus, "and let him go." And
iAians went home with his sisters.
(St John, XL)
Jesus Enters Jerusalem.
The lime drawing near when Jesus
was lo begin His sufferings for the re-
demption of mankind. He went with
His apostles towanl Jerusalem. At the
village of Bethphage he sent two of His
disciples for an tu« and a colt. They
brought them, laid their garments on
them, and He sat on the colt. Mean-
while news had reached Jerusalem
that Jesus was about to enter the city
in triumph, and a great multitude went
out to meet Him. They spread their
garmentson the way. cut branches from
the palmsand olive trees, strewed them
before Him. and cried: " Hosanna to
the Son of David ! Blessed is He that
Cometh in the name of the Ix)M Ho-
sanna in the highest !"
fSt. John, XII)
The Last Supper.
The promise of Jesus, that He would
give us His body lo eat and His blood
t«> drink, which He had made after the
miraculous multiplication of loaves in
the desert, was fuUilleil by Him at the
I-ast Snpi)er. Whilst silting at the table
with IHsa;K*tles,Jesusl(Ktkof the bread
that was before Him, and, holding il in
Mis sacred liands, lifted up His eyes to
heaven; then He gave than ks. and, bless-
ing the bread, gave it to His ai>osiles,
saying, " Take ye and eat : This is my
Body, which is given for you." By these
words Jesus changed the bread into
His adorable UkK . Taking then the
chahce. He said : '• Drink ye all of this,
for this is my blood of the new testa-
ment, which shnll be shed for you and
for many for the remission of sins. Do
this for a commemoration of me." By
these words Jesus changed the wine
into His blood ; and by the words, " Do
this in commemoration of me," He or-
dained the afxwtles priests, and insti-
tuted for all time the adorable Sacra-
ment of the Altar. (St. Matt.. XXVI.)
Jesus at Gethsemani.
Poor, ami exercised in lalx^rs from
His youth, Jesus is ready to do and
sufler still more, according to the di-
vine decrees. " My Father, if it be
possible, let this chalice pass from me ;
nevertheless not as 1 will, but as Thou
wilt "—" And His sweat became as
drops of blood trickling down ujx)n
the ground. And there appeared to
Him an angel from heaven, strength-
ening Ilim. And being in agony. He
prayed the longer." Encouraged by
His exiimj)k'. and strengthened by His
grnce. the zealous Christian humbly
submits to hardships and distress, as
He has seen his Redeemer do before
him. Prayer is his best and only com-
fort ; it is taught him by the example
of Je.sus in the Garden of Gethsemani.
{St. Matt., XXVI.)
Jesus Condemned to Death.
From Gethsemani Jesus, abandoned
by His disciples, was led captive, after
His betrayal by Judas, to Annas and
Caiphas. and then to the tribunal of
Pilate, the Roman governor Pilate
asked what accusation they brought
against Jesus .' and .seeing that the Jews
had accused Him out of mere spue and
envy. trie<l to release Him There was
in prison a notorious criminal named
Bambbas, and. in the hope of saving
Jesus. Pilate asked the Jews whom of
the two he should release, as was cus-
tomary on the fea-st of the pasch They
cried: ".Away with Jesns! Give us Ba-
rabbasl" In hopes of moving them to
compassion, he had Jesus cruelly
scourged N*ot. appeasing thereby the
hatred of the Jews, he delivered Jesus
unto them to be crucified.
(St. MaU. XXVII.)
Jesus Carries His Cross,
The Jews, having at length extorted
the sentence which they had so obsti-
nately been bent upon, carried it
Into immediate execution. They had
already prepared a huge cross This
they laid upon the shoulders of our
divine I-ord. to carry to Calvary, the
place of executions Two thieves were
condemned to be cnicified at the same
time. Jesus, therefore, went forth, bear-
ing His cross, burdened, as the nrophet
had said, with our iniquities, and
carryingall the grief that a sinful world
had heapetl upon Him. He went forth
towards Mount Calvary, amidst the
insults of the multitude that crowded
round to be spectators of His sufferings.
(St. Matt., XXVII.)
Jesus Falls the First Time,
Jesus carrying the cross was so weak-
ened by its heavy weight as to fall ex-
hausted to the ground. The sins and
misdeeds of the world were the heavy
burden which oppressed Ilim. The
cross was lo Him light and sweet, but
our sins were so galling and insuptwrt-
able that he fell under their weight.
Jesus thus bearing our burden, should
we not then, bear in union with Him
our easy burden of suffering, and the
sweet yoke of His commandments?
Jesus Meets His Mother.
How painful and how sad it must
have been for ^lary, the sorrowful
mother, to behold her beloved Son laden
with the burden of the cross ! What
unspeakable pangs her most tender
heart experienced ! IIow earnestly did
she desire to die in place of Jesus, or at
least with Him ! Let us particrpate in
the suflTerings of Jesus and Mury, to
that, afflicted with them on earth, we
mayenjoy their consolations at the hour
of our death and their blissful presence
in heaven.
Jesus Raises the Youth of
Nairn.
The Woman Taiien In Adultery, Jesus Raises Jairus' Daughter.
The Miracle ot the Loaves and
Fishes.
St. Peter Upon the Waters. Jesus Gives to St.Peter the Keys.
The Good Shepherd.
Jesus Blesses the Children.
The Resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus Enters Jerusalenit
The Last Supper.
Jesus at Gethsemani.
Jesus Condemned to Death.
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1
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Jesus Carries His Cross. Jesus Falls the First Time,
Copyrighted, Marcli, 1902, by Century Art Co., Phita.
Jesus Meets His Mother.
Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus.
The cniel sulleriiigs of Jesus drained
His slruiigth. lie was too enfeebled to
bear the heavy weight uf the cross, and
to go on as fast as His executioners
would have Itim. Therefore, laying
hold of Simon of Cyrene, they made
liini take and carry the cross after Jesns.
At tlrst he did it unwilliut;ly. bnt sw>n
made a virtue of ueceK^ty.and therehy
changcil what was a disgme«ful imjMV
sitiou into a Sininv tif merit an*! sal-
vation. 1-et the example of Simon fur-
nish lis with an additional reastai for
|>altenily enduring ihe trials and con-
tradictions of life, thus bearing the
erofis with our \Ain\ and atoning for our
Mils.
Veronica Wipes Jesus' Face.
Among the tender-hearted womct»
who followed the crowd to be near
Jesus and to offer Uim symi>athy, was
one named Veix>nica. Seeing Him sit
weak and suffering, covereii with per-
spiration and blood, she offered Uim a
handkerchief to wipe I!i» face. Jesus
t(N>k thtt cloth, applietl it to His face and
bunded it back to the go>Kl woman
On looking at the handkerchief, she
saw impnnteil np(m it the likeness of
the divine countenance. Thus did our
Lord repay the kindness of His servant.
Jesus Falls the Second Time.
Jesus. sutVering under the weight of
His cross, again falls to the ground;
but His cruel executioners do not ptM'-
mit Him to rest a momeiu. Pushing
ami striking Uim, they urge Him on-
wanl It is the fre<iuent repetition of
our sins which oi)presses Jesus. Let us,
therefore, firmly resolve never again to
fall intoonr formersins. Let usask our
Lord, without whose grace we can <lo
nothing, to sti-engthen us that we faith-
fully carry out this resolution.
Jesus Consoles the Women.
"And there followed Uim a great
multitude of i>eople and uf women,
who l)ewailed and lamented lUm. Hut
Jesus, turning to them, said ; 'I'augh-
ters of Jerusalem, weep not over me,
but weep for yourselves and for your
children. For Iwliold the days shall
come wherein they will say: Blessed
are the barren ami the wombs that
have not l>orne. Then tliey shall be-
gin to say to the mouniains : Fall upon
us; and to the hills: Cover us. For if
in the green wood they di» these things,
what shall \Hi done in the dry ?"— These
woids teach lis that our sorrow must
not spring from mere sentiment, but
from grief at the cause of our Lord's
sufferings. (St. Luke, XXHL)
Jesus Falls the Third Time.
Jesus, arriving e.xhansteil at the foot
of Calvar>'. falls for the third lime to
the gnmnd. Fix ytmr eyes well on
Him That s^teetacle will give you
courage to bear your tm-n j»etty crosses :
it will give you strength to folUiw in
the footsteps of our 1^1 d. And should
you ever grow weary and be well-nigh
fainting under your burden, look at
Jesus and jjersevere. iNiy to yourself:
Can I not bear this light and easy
weight for the love of Ilim who. be-
neath the crushing weight of the cross,
likoks at me with weary eyes, and asks
me to keep Ilim company ?— Surely,
after all that He has suffered for you,
you will not refuse Him this little con-
solation.
Jesus is Stripped of His
Garments.
After arriving on Calvary, Jesus was
cruellydesiiuiledof His garments. This
inflicted uimju Him a twofoht torment :
one of physi»il |iain. by re-ot>ening
once more all the wounds He hud re-
ceived in IHs cruel scourging: the
other of niitrul toriure, by ex)<osing
HimtotliegazeofthemuUitude —Jesus
is siripjif*! of His garments that He may
die poosesseil of nothing: how happy
will I also die, after laying aside all
those evil desirvs and sinful inclina-
tions which adhere to me closer than a
garment ! I w ill not spare myself, how-
ever {Miinful this should be for me:
despoiled of my own will I desire to
die, in order to iive with Jesus for ever.
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.
Jesus, being St ripiu'd of 11 is garments,
was violently thrown ui»ou the cross,
and His hands and feel were most
cruelly nailed theivto. In such ex-
cruciating )tains He remained silent,
beeause it pleased His heavenly Father
There He lay, ihe victim of the world's
iniquity, siteiit and uncomplaining
AHer a few moments the soldiei-s came,
and, raising the cross aloft, carried it to
the hole made in the ground to receive
it. There it was finally secured, and
the disfigured, sconrgetorn. bleeding
form of our I-ord appeared higli above
the heads of all, a spectacle unto angels
and men.
Jesus on the Cross.
L4K)k at your Lord and Master as He
hangs upon the cross, an<l learn from
Him a lesson of patience and resigua-
tion. No word ot repining, no murmur
of complaint will ever break from the
lips of him who fixes his eyes upon that
lorn and bleeding Victim. It mutters
not how sorely he may be tried, either
by anguish of mind or pain of body;
his sum of wix* cannot even be com-
pared with that ocean of sorrow which
deluged the henrt of Jesus. '■ O all ye
that pass the way, attend, and see if
there beany sorrow like to my sorrow.'*
(lament. L. 12)
Jesus Between the Thieves.
"There were crucified with Him two
thieves, one on the right hand, and one
on the left." as the prophet had fore-
told: " He was reputed with the wicked,
and He hath borne the sins of many "
(Js. L III, l^) As if lie were of all
malefactors the most no'orious. He
hung in the middle, an adorable spec-
tacle to the world, to men and to the
angels— Jesus 'hrisi. the Redeemer of
^ mankiml. the Mf<lialor of peace be-
tween heaven and earth, billing and
dying for love of mun The people
with unfeeling hearts stooil looking on,
and the rulers with them derided Uim
in His torments. (St. Matt , XXVII )
Jesus Dying on the Cross.
Jesus, having faithfully accomplished
the work appointed for Him by His
Heavenly Father, now gathered up all
His remaining strength to utter a last
farewell. "And Jesus, crying with a
loud voice, said : Father, into Thy
hands I commend my spirit. .Xml say-
ing this. Hegave npthe ghost " Solemn
and terrible moment Since the tlawn
of ereation the woild has never wit-
nessed such a scene of horn>r The
rocks are rent asunder. darkne:« is
spn-ad (tver the face of the earth, the
dead come forth from their graves But
in heaven the scene is different The
choirs of angels, rejoicing at the com-
pletion of the work of redemption,
burst forth into a chant of praise and
thanksgiving. (St. Luke. XXXIII j
The Precious Blood of Jesus.
I^t us look upon Jesus, how willingly
He shed His precious blood for us He
has given sight to the blind, hearing to
the ilea f. He consoled the afflicted, re-
lieved the |K)or. gave life to the dead
And now liehold Him on the cross, a
bleeding victim, bleeding, yea. dying
for love of man ! Tiie last drop of blood
left His sacred veins, and in virtue of its
intinlte efficacy it washed us fi-ee from
all sin. provided we avail ourselves of
the means established hy our divine
Redeemer for the application of its in-
finite merits, *' Therefore we beseech
Thee, come to the assistance of Thy
servants.whom Thou hast redeemed by
Thy precious blood."
Jesus Taken Down from the
Cross.
Since Jesus had now fully accom-
plished the end for which He came into
llie world, the hnnds of His enemies
could never be laid on Uim again,
'■•'oseph of Arimathea, a noble coun-
selor, who was also himself looking for
the kingdom of (iml, came and went in
Imldly to IMIale. and beggetl the b<xly
of Jesus. Hut Pilate wondered that He
should he already dead. And when he
understiMHl it bv the centuri<m. he gave
thelMMly t.)Josepli " (Mark. XV.) "And
Nic(Hlennis also came, he who at the
tin-t came to Jesus by night, bringing a
mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an
hundre<l pound weight. They took
therefore tne body of Jesus, andbound
it in linen cloths with the spices, as the
n annerof the Jews is toburv."
(St. John, XIX.)
Jesus in the Arms of His
Mother.
What are the thoughts suggested to
us by the contemplation of Jesus lying
in the arms of His mother. bruise<1, dis-
figured, dead? Are they not bitter re-
collections of the share we had in
making Him what He is? Our sinful
acts have been unto His fle>h as the
thongs of the scourge, as the sting of
the crow n of thorns, as the nails which
pierced His hands and feet.a<i the point
of the lance which drank the last drop
of His heart's blood. But thou, Os^ir-
rowful mother Mary, what were Ihy
sentiments and feelings in that solemn
hour? How lovingly didst thou press
thy Son*s disfigured form to thy breast !
O Mary, mother of sorrows, permit me
to weep with thee, to love with thee, to
adore with thee !
The Burial of Jesus.
*'Now there was in the place where
He wascrucifiod a garden: and in the
garden a new sepulchre, wherein no
man hail yet been laid. There, therefore,
because of the Parasceve of the Jews,
they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre
was nigh at hand " Before consigning
the body of our Lord to the tomb, Joseph
and Nicodemus, assisted by the holy
women. Mary and Salome, performed
for it all lho<e offices of piety which
their faiih and love prompted. The
lifeless form was wrapped in spices nnd
fine linen, and bonie to the grave w hich
Joseph had causeil to be hewn out of
the rock as a resting-place for himself.
And having closed the eutranceof the
sepulchre with a rock, all withdrew.
(St. John, XIX.)
The Resurrection of Jesus.
"And when the Sabbath wa*; past.
Mary Magdalen. Mary the mother of
Janies.and ."^alome, bought sweet spices.
that coming they might anoint Jesus.
And very early in the morning, the
first day of the week, they came to the
sepulchre, the sun being now risen.
And they said to one another: Who
shall roll us back the stone fnun the
door of the sepulchre? And looking.
they saw the stone rolled back. For it
was ver>- great And entering into the
sepulchre, they saw a young man sit-
ting on the tiirht .side, clothed with a
white rolMi: and they «eie astonished.
Whosaith to them : He notaflrighled ;
you seek Jesus of Xnzareth.- who was
crucified. He is risen. He is not here.
Beiioltl the place where they laid Him.
Bui i:o. tell His disciples, and Peier,
that Hegoeth before yon into (.'alilee:
there you shall see him. as Ue told
you."
(St Mark, XVI-)
Jesus Ascends into Heaven.
After His resurrection our blessed
Lord remained forty days here on earth,
appearing to His aj:K)stles and instruct-
ing them III Ihe natureand use of those
spiritual jrfjwers which Me had im-
parted to them for the good of iniin-
kind. On ihe fortieth day Heas.'-embled
Uis apostles. "And he led them out as
far as Be'hania, and lifting up His
hands. He blessed them. And it came
to pass, whilst He blessed them, He
departed from them, and was carried
up to heaven." (John, XXIV.) The
ascension of Jesns took place from
Mount Olivet. This mountain having
been the scene of His agony and hu-
miliation, was chosen hy Him as the
scene of Uis final glorification.
(Acts. I.)
"Now to the King of Ages, immortal.
Invisible, the only dod, be honor and
glorv for ever and ever. Amen."
(I Tim I. 17.)
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Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus. Veronica Wipes Jesus' Face. Jesus Falls the Second Time. Jesus Consoles the Women.
Jesus Falls the Third Time.
Jesus is Stripped of His
Garments.
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.
Jesus on the Cross-
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P
HHb^hm^
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Jesus Between the Thieves.
Jesus Dying on the Cross. The Precious Blood of Jesus. Jesus Taken Down from the
Cross.
,mW
Jesus in the Arms of His
IVlother.
The Burial of Jesus. The Resurrection of Jesus.
Copyrighted, March, igo-^, by Century Art Co., Phila.
Jesus Ascends into Heaven.
HE Catholic Peligion
Expounded.
By Rev. HENRY DODRIDGE.
fii fji A dU Ju id m m
W W rtj ^J^ rj^ rH fit KB
THE CREED DEFINED.
Q. What is the Creed?
A. It is a short collection of articles, and
the sum of what Christians ought to believe.
Q. By whom were they drawn up, and to
what purpose?
A. By the twelve Apostles, to the end they
might be more easily retained by the faithful,
and to distinguish them from all societies of
unbelievers.
Q. Do they contain the whole, of what a
Christian ought to believe ?
A, No, only the general heads, yet so, that
all other particular articles are deducible from
them ; especially if we believe the ninth article,
viz. : The holy Catholic Church.
Q. How many are these heads, and in what
order are they disposed ?
A. They are twelve, distributed with respect
to the three Persons of the blessed Trinity.
The first part has a relation to God the Father,
and the creation ; the second to God the Son,
and man's redemption ; the third to God the
Holy Ghost, and man's sanctification, and glori-
fication.
Q. Which is the first article?
A. I believe in God the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
Q. What is God?
A. I conceive him, as a Being eternal, self-
existent, independent, from whom all other
things are derived, and upon whom all and
every thing entirely depends.
Q. What inducement have you to think there
is such a Being?
A. Faith, reason, conscience, the testimony
of my senses, and the general concurrence of
all mankind oblige me to be of that persuasion.
Q. In what manner does Faith convince you
of God's existence ?
A. Because he has revealed his existence,
and confirmed the truth of the revelation, by
undeniable proofs, and motives of credibility ;
fully declared in the Old and New Testament.
Q. How can your reason prove the existence
of God, who appears, by your description, to
be an incomprehensible Being, above the reach
of man's reason ?
A. My reason tells me, that he is, but not
what he is ; my reason informs me of some
of His perfections : others I learn by Faith ;
but as to a comprehensive knowledge of that
great Being, he would not be God, could we
comprehend the whole that belongs to him.
Q. Let me hear your proofs from reason of
God's existence ?
A. In the first place, it is demonstrable from
(17)
i8
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
the eflfects. I see a multitude of things in this
visible world, which, not being capable of pro-
ducing themselves, recourse must be had to
some self-existent, and original cause, which
gave them being ; for without such a necessary
and self-existent Being, all things would remain
in the state of indifferency, and nothing could
receive a being. Again, I have within me a
silent monitor, which is that fear I am seized
with, as often as I commit a wicked action,
which can proceed from nothing else, but an
apprehension of being called to an account,
and punished by some power I ought to have
obeyed.
Q. What do your senses declare in proof of
a Deity ?
A. Those surprising great bodies, the earth,
the sea, and air ; with the sun, moon, and stars,
as they could not be produced by any mortal
hand, make me conclude, they are the eflFect
of some great and omnipotent power ; to which,
if we add the beautiful variety of trees, fruits,
herbs, and flowers, which cover the earth, the
rich mines which are lodged within its bowels,
the several species of beasts, and insects, which
range and creep upon it, with the various kinds
of fish, which swim in the waters ; and birds
that fly in the air, they all inform me of some
wise and omnipotent power, which gave them
being, which I am still further convinced of,
when I consider the admirable structure of their
bodies, the regularity of their motions, their
specific propagation, their wise economy, and
how dextrously they labor, to obtain their
respective ends.
Q. Do all mankind join in a belief of this
supreme Being?
A. No nation was ever so ignorant or bar-
barous, as not to acknowledge some sort of
Deity, though they were involved in many
errors, as to the qualities belonging to him.
Q. You seem, then, not to allow there were
ever any atheists. What do you say to the
objections which those sort of people are said
to make, against your proofs of a Deity ? Why
might not the visible world be produced by
chance ? We may conceive things producing
one another, by an infinite succession of causes
and efiects, without arriving at a necessary and
self-existent Being. Is not this as conceivable,
as a self-existent and eternal Being? Again,
atheists will tell you, that there is no real dis-
tinction between good and evil, but what is
learned from education, especially by human
polic}' and priestcraft.
A. I cannot be persuaded there was ever any
such person as a real atheist ; who denied a
supreme Being, interiorly, to whom he owed
obedience. I own, some have attempted to bring
arguments for that piirpose, but it was rather
to show their pretended wit, or from the cor-
ruption of their morals, which prompted them
to wish there was no God to punish them for
their sins ; which the royal prophet alludes to
when he says, the fool said in his heart there
is no God. Ps. xiii. i.
Q. What answer do you make to the objec-
tions of those pretended atheists ?
A. To say that the world was produced by
chance, is a manifest contradiction to the com-
mon reason of all mankind. What happens by
chance, has nothing of regularity, either as to
time, place, or disposition of parts : whereas the
world is a regular subordination of causes and
efiects. Can chance produce a book by shufiling
together the letters of the alphabet ? When we
behold a watch, a house, or ship, we conclude
they were the efiects of some intelligent and .
skillful operator, who joined their parts together ;
and by consequence, the parts of this visible
world are so artfully united, that they are a con-
vincing proof of some wise and powerful opera-
tor, who brought them under that regularity. As
to what is alleged, concerning things making
one another, that can have no reference to
several parts of the universe, viz. : The earth,
sea, sun, moon, stars, and many other bodies,
which receive not a being by generation^ but are
single^ and incapable of multiplication. As for
other creatures, viz. : The fruits of the earth,
birds, beasts, fishes, and the rest, which seem to
produce one another, they cannot be conceived
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
19
to act as principal, but only as instrumental
causes ; because, as some are void of sense, and
others of reason, they cannot be conceived as
principal authors of those artificial parts, and
wonderful properties, which are produced ; but,
on the contrary, they manifestly point out, a
wise and all-powerful author, who acts as princi-
pal. The like inconvenience and contradiction
appears, in an infinite succession of causes and
effects, without arriving at some necessary and
self-existent being ; for no effect we know of, is
producible originally, without a wise and omnipo-
tent power : and though we cannot have a com-
prehensive idea, that there is such a power as to
all its perfections, yet without having recourse
to that necessary being, we cannot account for
the existence of the world, and the parts which
compose it. Whereas an infinite succession is
not only inconceivable in itself, but leaves us in
the dark, how the parts of the universe were
capable of being produced with so great beauty
and variety.
Q. What is God's will, how are we to con-
ceive it, and in what manner is it fulfilled ?
A. God has only one will, though accord-
ing to our way of conceiving it, we distinguish
several kinds; for example, first, we conceive
that nothing happens contrary to his absolute
will : now, his will is made known to us by
certain outward tokens, viz. : By precepts, pro-
hibition, permission, advice, etc. Hence, a
good life consists in obeying the will of God ;
his absolute will is always fulfilled, but his
conditional will is not, as in the reprobate
whom he permits to follow their own free will ;
though he has a real will that they should be
saved ; as a merchant when he casts his goods
overboard, has a will to save them, but per-
mits the mariners to destroy them.
Q. What is love and hatred, and how is
God capable of such affections?
A. Love is a desire of good, either in itself
or to ourselves or others. There are several
kinds : a love of complacency, that is, when
we love a thing for itself; a love of concupi-
scence, when we desire it for our own sakes ;
a love of benevolence, when we desire it for
the sake of others ; a love of beneficence, when
we actually confer the good we desire ; a love
of friendship, is a reciprocal love of benevolence.
God's love for man, is of complacency, benevo-
lence, beneficence, and, in the just, of friend-
ship. Hatred is an aversion to evil, either
grounded in the thing or personal ; one is
called abomination, which God has against sin ;
the other of enmity, which God is incapable of
because he cannot wish evil to man.
Q. What is providence, and after what man-
ner does God govern the world ?
A. It is a direction of all things to their
proper end, by suitable means : all things I say,
both great and small, natural and supernatural ;
so that he concurs immediately both to neces-
sary agents and free agents. Hence, predestina-
tion and reprobation belong to God's provi-
dence.
Q. What is predestination, and in what
manner are we to speak of it ?
A. Predestination is an eternal purpose of
saving some persons : reprobation is an eternal
purpose of permitting some persons to be
damned : they both are inclusive of merits and
demerits ; yet, with this difference, a foresight
of sin, or the ill use of grace, is the motive of
reprobation ; but whether persons are predesti-
nated upon a foresight of merit, or good use of
grace, is not determined by the church ; 'tis more
conformable to the Scriptures to saj'-, predestina-
tion is gratuitous ; and as predestination in-
cludes the preparation of means, especially the
first grace, it is a point of faith that is
gratuitous.
Q. What errors are condemned by the church
concerning predestination and reprobation ?
A. First, that of Origen, who afiirmed that
men's souls were created before the world, and
were predestinated upon account of the good
works they had performed before they, were
united to bodies. Secondly, the Pelagians, who
taught, that good works without grace, by
nature alone, might be a motive of predestina-
tion. Thirdly, the Semipelagians, who though
20
•THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
they owned salvation could not be obtained
without gfrace (wherein they differed from the
Pelagians) yet they affiimed, God predestinated
mankind, upon a foresight of some natural
endeavors, toward obtaining grace. Fourthly,
the Calvinists, who think themselves infallibly
certain of their predestination. Fifthly, Calvin-
ists, Lutherans, Jansenists, and others, who say
God has not a will, or gives not sufficient
grace to all persons to be saved. Sixthly,
Calvinists, etc., who affirm that God has an
absolute will to damn some persons, without
an}' foresight of their sins.
Q. Which are the principal effiscts of pre-
destination?
A. I. An efficacious call. 2. Justification
and perseverance. 3. Glorification.
Q. What difference do you make in believing
a God, believing God, and believing in God ? *
A. To believe a God, is to believe there is
such a being. To believe God, is to believe all
to be true that he has revealed. To believe in
God, is to love him, and to put our trust in
him, as our last end.
Q Having explained what belong to the
divine attributes, we are to proceed to some
other matters; and first, why do you call God
Father ?
A. A Father is he who begets children, and
gives them a being: in which sense God is the
Father of all mankind, whom he produced by
creation, preserves their being, and provides
them with all necessaries and conveniences^
which is the character of a kind father, but in
a more particular manner, he is the father of
all good Christians, whom he has adopted and
made heirs of his kingdom.
Q. What further instructions can you draw
from the word father?
A. Several very useful, in order to pay a
grateful acknowledgment to the Divine Majesty
for all the benefits we are made partakers of.
Creation, in the first place, is so surprising a
meditation, that words cannot express, what we
are indebted to him on that account. There is
• I. Credo Deutn. 2. Credo Deo. 3. Credo in Deutn.
nothing that happens between man and man, in
the way of being obliged to one another, that
can have an}' resemblance to it ; it is so extra-
ordinary a subject of humility, that it strikes
us dumb, and in a manner thoughtless with
confusion ; preservation has in a manner the
same influence upon us, for as we were created
out of nothing, so we should in an instant be
reduced to nothing, unless the same hand which
created us continued to support us: this reflec-
tion obliges us to have recourse to him upon
all occasions. I might descend to many more
particulars, as his providential care in supplying
us with all things we want, our redemption,
vocation, justification, perseverance, and ever-
lasting happiness, which are the effects of his
being our Father.
Q. You have given rather the moral and
metaphorical sense of the word father: what is
the literal meaning of the word as it stands in
the creed ?
A. Literally the word father points out the
mystery of the Trinity, and namely the first
person, who is called father, upon account of
his begetting the second person, by an eternal
generation.
Q. A father is prior to his son ; how does
this agree with the son's eternal existence?
A. We are not to conceive any priority among
the divine persons, as to time, or dignity, but
only as to origin, so that the Father is called
the first person, because he is unbegotten and
proceeds from no other person; whereas the
second person is begotten by the Father, and
the third person proceeds from the Father and
the Son.
Q. Pray explain in a few words, what we are
obliged to believe concerning the Trinity, and
how the learned explain their thoughts upon
this high subject ?
A. The mystery of the Trinity is one God,
in three persons ; or, more distinctly, three
persons, that have the same nature, essence,
or substance; which are equivalent terms, accord-
ing to the use that is made of those words upon
the present occasion.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
21
Q. Are there no more, nor less, than three
persons in God, and how are they distinguished
from one another, and from the divine essence?
A. It was an error against faith, of the
Sabellians and others, that in God, as there
was only one essence, or nature, so there was
only one person, and that the three names
given to God in the Scriptures, did not import
diflferent persons, but took their appellations
from diflferent operations of the same person.
Other heretics, among which were the Arians,
held that as there were three persons in God,
so there were three natures, not substantial.
Now the doctrine of the Catholic church is,
that the three persons, though really distinct
in themselves, are not distinct as to the same
natiire wherewith they are identified.
Wherein the error of Gilbert of Poiree, bishop
of Poictiers, is condemned, in the council of
Paris in the year 1147; as likewise in the
council of Rheims in the following year, who
was of opinion, that the three persons were
really distinct from the divine essence, whereby
he seems obliged to assert a quatemity of
persons.
Q. What do divines mean by processions?
A. By procession they understand the emana-
tion or flowing of one thing from another.
Hence, they distinguish in God two proces-
sions, one whereby the Son proceeds from the
Father, the other whereby the Holy Ghost
proceeds from the Father and the Son. And
it is an article of faith that there are neither
more nor less.
Q. Why is God's omnipotency inserted in this
article, rather than any other of the divine
attributes ?
A. Chiefly for two reasons. First, because,
mention is there made of the world's creation,
which requires an omnipotent power. Secondly,
because the first person is the origin of all
power.
Q. Are not the second and third persons like-
wise omnipotent ?
A. Yes, equally, they all having the same
essential and absolute perfections. Yet works
of power, are commonly attributed to the first
person, upon account of his being the origin
of power ; works of wisdom to the second per-
son, on account of the wisdom he showed in
our redemption : works of goodness to the third,
on account of our santification and divine assist-
ance ; though at the same time all the three
persons are equally concerned in all outward
works of power, wisdom, and goodness.
Q. In the next place you call God the Father
Creator, may not each person be called Creator?
A. Yes, but creation is there attributed to the
first person, for the reasons above recited.
Q. What is Creation ?
A. It is the prodiiction of a thing out of noth-
ing.
Q. What errors have men fallen into con-
cerning the world's creation ?
A. Aristotle, and several other of the heathen
philosophers had no notion of creation : and
hence, they established the principle* nothing
is made out of nothing. And further, those who
believed God was an eternal Being, conceived
the material world to be also eternal ; and as it
were an essential property belonging to God.
But we have a more perfect account of the
Deity from the Scriptures, which gives the par-
ticulars of the world's creation, and reason tells
us that no material thing can belong to God
essentially, only originally as a first cause.
Gen. i.
Q. What do you itnderstand by heaven and
earth, which you say was created ?
A, By heaven I understand every thing in
heaven ; by earth every thing on earth.
Q. What are angels, and what properties be-
long to them ?
A.. Angel is a word according to its etymology
which signifies a messenger : as the word apostle
signifies a public messenger; so that thej' imply
not a nature but a power or oflfice. If an angel
be considered as to its nature, it is a spiritual
substance created by God without a body.
Q. Is it an article of faith that the angels
have no bodies ?
* Ex niliilo nihil fit.
22
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
A. I cannot say it is ; but it is approaching
that way, and generally held by the church.
Q. Are they not commonly painted with bodies
and wings ?
A. Yes, not that they reallj' have bodies, but
because they assume them, when they appear
to men. They are represented with wings, to
signify that their motions are as quick as
thought.
Q. What other properties belong to them ?
A. They have a clear knowledge of nature,
both as to causes and effects : they have also
great power proportioned to their vast knowl-
edge, and were created in grace with free will,
which some made a good use of, but others
abused it.
Q. Who are they who abuse it?
A. The wicked angels, we call devils.
Q. Have these also still great knowledge and
power ?
A. They lost not their natural perfections by
their rebellion against God, but only such as
were supernatural ; so that their knowledge still
extends to all the secrets of nature ; and God
permits them to exercise great power over men,
so as to tempt them to sin, possess their bodies,
but not force their will ; which is always free,
and out of their power.
Q. Divines tell us, there are several orders,
and degrees, among those spiritual beings ; pray
give an account of them, and the grounds you
have to make a distinction among them ?
A. Divines gather this distinction of spiritual
beings from the Scriptures, especially from the
prophets. Isaiah, and Ezekiel, which are particu-
larly described by St. Gregory the Great in his
34th Homily upon the Gospels, where he tells
us the Scriptures make mention of nine orders,
or degrees of those blessed spirits, viz.: Sera-
phims, cherubims, thrones, dominions, princi-
palities, powers, virtues, archangels, and angels.
Isaiah, vi. i. Gen. iii. 24. Heb. ix. 5. Ephes.
i. 21. Colos. i. 16. Thessal. iv. 15.
Q. Has every man an angel-guardian allotted
Wm?
A. Yes, all mankind, but especially Christians,
who, after baptism, has a particular care of, and
protects them from the devil's power and strata-
gems. As also our augel-guardian is appointed
to hinder us from falling into temporal calami-
ties, or any misfortune. This doctrine of hav-
ing an angel-guardian appointed for every one,
is a certain truth, universally held by the church
against Calvin and others ; who contradict it.
Q. Can you produce any proof from the Scrip-
tures and fathers, that every one has an angel-
guardian appointed him ?
A. Yes, I can from the i8th chapter of St.
Matt. ver. 10. Where Christ saith, "5^^ that
you despise not one of these little ones: for I
say unto you^ their angels in heaven ahvays see
the face of my Father who is in heaven.'''' Again,
out of the i2th chapter of the Acts, ver. 15,
'•''And they said it is his angelP Also, out of
the 33d and 90th Psalm, ver. 8. ver. 11. Now
as to the fathers, nothing can be more clear
and fully expressed, than what St. Basil, St.
Ambrose, and St. Chrysostom write in confirma-
tion of this doctrine.*
Q. What account have we in the Scriptures
concerning man's creation ? When was he
created ? What does his nature consist of ?
What conditions or state was he in, upon and
after his creation ?
A. Adam and Eve, were made on the sixth
day, his body formed from clay, and hers from
one of Adam's ribs : man in the whole consists
of a body and soul united together, in such a
manner, that the body was in subjection to
the soul. As to the condition, and state man
was in, it was far different at his creation, from
what he found himself in afterwards.
Q. What condition was man placed in at his
creation ?
A. It was in his power not to die, had he
made use of the means : his soul was created
in grace, accompanied with other supernatural
gifts : his body was entirely submissive to his
soul, free from concupiscence, or any irregular
appetites ; and no creature whatever, was capable
* vide St Bas. Serm. 3. Adver. Eunomium. St. Ambr. expo, in
Psal. 118. H. 9. St. CHrys. Horn. 60. cap. 18. Mat.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
23
of giving him any pain or affliction. Again,
his soul was an immortal being, created accord-
ing to God's likeness, with a will, memory,
and understanding, and entirely free in his
actions, which are prerogatives, that other crea-
tures could not pretend to, who were either
inanimate, or animal beings.
Q. Do men still claim all these perfections,
or only some of them, or if they lost any of
them, how, and what are they ?
A. Man lost God's grace, and all supernat-
ural gifts, by his disobedience ; and as an eflFect
of this was made liable to death, concupiscence,
pain, trouble, and all those vexations which are
incident to human life. Whereby the Pelagian
heresy is condemned, which consists in this,
that man was not created in grace, that he
was not to be immortal, though he had not
sinned, and that death, concupiscence, and the
miseries of human life, were not the conse-
quence of Adam's sin, but circumstances belong-
ing to the state wherein he was first placed ;
and from hence they inferred, as the Calvinists
do, that there was no other sin transferred by
Adam to posterity, besides concupiscence, which
they maintain to be that original sin, so often
mentioned in the Scriptures. However, though
man lost these advantages, he still retained
free will. But the Lutherans and Calvinists
pretend, we only enjoy free will in regard of
evil, not in regard of good. Indeed, free will
is much impaired by the. misfortune of original
sin, but not destroyed.
Q. What particulars have we concerning the
creation of other things in the world ?
A. The first chapter of Genesis gives a descrip-
tion how it was performed, viz.: In six days,
and all things contained in it, viz. : The first
day, God created an undigested heap of matter,
out of which all bodies were afterwards formed ;
and the same day he made the heavens, and
a luminous body. The second day, he divided
the earth and the waters. The third day, he
separated the earth from the waters, so as to
allot them their proper channels ; and the same
day he gave the earth a prolific quality, so
that it produced all sorts of fruits, minerals,
etc., and at the same time he planted the
terrestrial paradise. The fourth day, he made
the sun, moon and stars. The fifth day, he
made the birds, and fishes, etc. On the sixth
day, he made beasts and reptiles ; and on the
same day he made Adam and Eve, and placed
them in the terrestrial paradise afterwards.
Q. Why did God form things by degreeS;
who might have done all things at one instant ?
A. It was his divine pleasure, and to show
that nature and grace, by degrees make things
perfect ; and to give us a more distinct idea that
all things were created by him.
THE SECOND ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the second article of the creed ?
A. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord.
Q. What is chiefly contained in this article ?
A. A belief or faith, in the second person
of the blessed Trinity, his incarnation or assum-
ing human nature.
Q. Why is he called Jesus, and who gave
him that name?
A. The name was given by God's appoint-
ment, when the angel Gabriel saluted the
blessed Virgin Mary, and it imports as much
as a Saviour ; to signify that he was to be the
Redeemer of mankind ; as well as to comply
with the custom among the Jews, whereby the
names they gave to things, was explanatory of
the office, or use, they were to be put to.
Mat. i. 21. Hence, Josue, the leader of God's
people, was called Jesus, because he overcame
their enemies, and introduced them into the
land of Promise.
Q. In what manner did he become a Saviour,
or Redeemer of mankind?
a4
THE CATHOLIC REUGION EXPOUNDED.
A. By being a mediator between God and
man, which he was capable of effecting, not
precisely as he was God, nor preciselj' as man ;
but as he was both God and man: his divine
person rendered his actions infinitely satisfactory
and redemptive; his human nature rendered
him capable of suffering, and being a mediator.
Q. You say that Jesus Christ is both God
and man, pray can you produce any proofs
from Scripture that he is both God and man ?
A. Yes I can, out of St. John's Gospel, C.
i., V. I and 14. " In the beginning was the
word, and the word was with God, and the word
was God — and the word was made flesh, and
dwelt among tis^ Again, out of the epistle of
St. Paul to the Philippians. C. ii., v. 6, 7.
Where he says, that " Chtist, when he was in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God ; but he hath debased himself,
taking the form of a servant ; made unto the
likeness of men, and found iti habit as a man?"*
Q. Is not Christ, as God, a mediator?
A. No, because as God, he is equal to the
Father, and cannot be conceived to make any
supplication to him.
Q. In what sense are the saints in heaven,
mediators between God and man?
A. In the same manner, as all upon earth
are mediators for one another ; by praying for
one another; that is, they are mediators, by
way of intercession, not by way of redemption.
Q. Why do Catholics show a particular
respect, and bow at the name of Jesus, rather
than at any other name of Christ or God ?
A. All God's names are equally worthy of
respect ; but the custom of bowing at the name
of Jesus is obser\'ed on account of its being
particularly given to signify the work of man's
redemption ; and therefore St. Paul says, that
every knee is to bow when it is mentioned.
Phil. ii. 10.
Q. What signification has the word Christ,
and in what manner is it attributed to the
second person, in the mystery of the incarna-
tion?
A. Christ, in the Greek language, signifies
anointed. Hence, the Messiah, by the ancient
prophets, is called the Christ, or the anointed.
Q. Why was the Messiah called the
anointed ?
A. From the threefold character he bore, viz.:
As being a king, prophet and a priest, who were
all, according to the ceremonies of the old law,
usually anointed with oil, at their consecration,
and installation.
Q. Was our blessed Redeemer visibly anoint-
ed with oil ?
A. No, he was anointed invisibly by grace,
emblemed by oil. First, by having his human
nature united to the divine person, the fountain
of grace. Secondly, by having his soul replen-
ished with all sorts of supernatural gifts and
graces.
Q. What particular meaning is there, in the
ceremony of unction, that it was made use of
upon the aforementioned occasions ?
A. The meaning is mystical, and very instruc-
tive. Oil has three excellent qualities ; it heals
wounds, strengthens the limbs, and preserves
metal from rust : and upon these accounts, is well
adapted, to signify those spiritual gifts, which
ought to distinguish persons in authority, who
are obliged to direct, strengthen, and heal all
those who are subject to them.
Q. How is Christ a king, had he any regal
power ?
A. He had a claim to regal power, being
God and King of the whole universe. Again,
as man, being the redeemer of all mankind,
who were subjects of his spiritual kingdom. A
temporal king he was not, his kingdom not
being of this world. However, he was of the
royal stock of David. Luke i. 32, 33.
Q. How was Christ a prophet ?
A. So he is styled by the inspired writers of
the old law, and fully answered the character
by foretelling many things which happened to
the Jewish nation, and to himself, viz.: His
passion and sufferings, his resurrection, the
destroying of Jerusalem, and conversion of
heathenish kingdoms. Deut. xviii. 15.
Q. In what does Christ's priesthood consist ?
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
25
A. He was not a priest according to the old
law, which office was propagated by descent in
blood, and executed by offering up beasts, etc.
But he was a priest according to the new law,
offering himself up as a sacrifice upon the
cross ; as also a priest, according to the order
of Melchizedeck, in offering himself at the last
supper, under the appearances of bread and
wine. Ps. cix. 5.
Q. Are there no priests in the new law,
besides Christ ? Has he none to succeed him
in his priesthood ?
A. A God, a religion, a priesthood, and a
sacrifice, are correlatives, and depend upon one
another. They are frequently mentioned and
asserted in the new law. The manner is thisj
as to priesthood. Christ was the only priest
that offered himself up, as a bloody sacrifice
upon the cross, for the redemption of mankind :
as to this character, he has no successors. But
then as he was a priest, according to the order
of Melchizedeck, in offering up himself, under
the forms of bread and wine, in this, he has
as many successors as there are priests in the
new law, who offer him up in the same manner.
But even here, Christ is still the chief high
priest, and though others are really priests,
they are only ministerially so, both jointly at
the same time offering up the same sacrifice ;
so the sacrifice of the cross, and the sacrifice of
the mass, are the same sacrifice as to substance,
though after a different manner, one being
bloody, the other unbloody ; and the latter a
commemorative sacrifice of the former, as to the
manner.
Q. In what manner did Christ complete
this great work he came about ?
A. First, by appearing as a Redeemer, and
pa5dng the full ransom required, according to
the strictest demands of justice, merit and
satisfaction. Secondly, as a master, by deliver-
ing lessons proper for all stations and circum-
stances. Thirdly, as a pattern, by practicing
himself, what he taught others.
Q. Why is the second person's assuming
human nature, called the incarnation, and in
what manner do you explain this wonderful
union ?
A. It is called incarnation, from the Latin
word caro^ flesh, not that the union is only with
man's flesh, but partly because flesh is a word
commonly used in the Scriptures for the whole
man ; and partly to show God's goodness and
humility, who was pleased to join himself to the
more ignoble part of man's nature-
Q. Was the second person united both to
man's soul and body ?
A. Yes ; and that in such a manner as to be
liable both to grief and trouble of mind, with the
defects of the body, as hunger, thirst, cold, pain,
etc., nay, even to death; and, in general, all
inconveniences, excepting ignorance, and sin,
with other moral defects, which the divine person
was incapable of.
Q. According to the description you give of
this mystery, Christ consists of one divine person
having two natures, one divine, and the other
human and no human person to be admitted.
Now this is altogether unintelligible.
A. It is entirely a mystery, and above human
understanding, as all other mysteries of faith are
wherein we are to captivate our understanding in
obedience to faith, and divine revelation.
Q. Which are the effects prodixced in mankind,
by means of the redemption ?
A. In general, these three: grace, justification,
and merit.
Q. What is grace?
A. In general, it is a gift bestowed on a person,
without any inducement from the party on whom
it is bestowed ; and this includes all gifts what-
soever, both natural and supernatural.
Q. What is the difference between natural and
supernatural gifts ?
A. Natural gifts or graces, are such as are
given by God, for man's well-being in this life,
viz. : Man's body, soul, free-will, with all sorts of
temporal conveniences. Supernatural gifts are
such as immediately conduce toward procuring
man's eternal happiness ; whereof some are out-
ward; for instance, instruction in the true faith,
and practical duties of religion, good example,
26
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
miracles, etc. Others are internal, as good
thoughts, and pious aflfections, whereby the
understanding is enlightened, and the will
moved, and excited to perform such actions, as
lead us on to future happiness.
Q. What is properl}-^ the grace of Christ, or
the grace obtained by redemption ?
A. It is ever}' inward, or outward means which
immediately tends to make man eternally happj'^,
and which are produced onljf through the merits
of Christ.
Q. Is there any diflference in the grace which
is purchased by our redemption ?
A. Yes, some of the diflferences I have hinted
at alread}', others there are, observable from the
following divisions of those supernatural gifts.
For instance, there is grace g^ven on account of
our neighbor, and grace given on our own account
only. The first is called, grace gratis given;*
the other, g^ace that makes us acceptable to God.f
There is actual grace, and habitual grace ; there
is sufficient grace and efficacious grace.
Q. What do you mean by grace given, on
account of our neighbor? Why is it called
gratis given, for is not all grace gratis given ?
A. St. Paul, in his first epistle to the Corin-
thians, reckons above nine of the first kind, viz. :
Working of miracles, speaking of languages,
curing diseases, prophesying, etc., which were
bestowed upon the apostles, and others, after-
ward, in order to facilitate the world's conver-
sion. Now these are called gratis giving, because
they are sometimes given to such as want sanc-
tifying grace, which renders them acceptable to
God.
Q. What is actual grace, and how distin-
guished from habitual grace ?
A. Actual grace is a passing motion given by
God, disposing the soul for good actions, whereby
she may become happy, and working its effect,
by enlightening the understanding, and produc-
ing pious affections in the will. Habitual grace
is an established state of the soul, whereby she
* Gratia gratis data.
t Gratia gratum facieas.
is entirely placed in God's favor, and made
capable of advancing herself more and more,
by subsequent actual grace.
Q. What difference is there between sufficient
and efficacious grace, and why so called ?
A. We call it sufficient grace, when God does
bestow all requisites to enable us to perform
good actions and produce supernatural effects,
though something intervenes to hinder the said
effects. Grace is said to be efficacious, when it
infallibly produces its effects, in concurrence
with man's free-will ; which is no ways lessened
nor taken away by efficacious grace, but still
enjoys the liberty of assenting, or dissenting,
as the church has defined against Calvin.
Q. Give me the true system of actual grace,
as it is maintained in the Catholic church.
A. It requires chiefly these particulars, viz. :
To make our good actions meritorious, and cap-
able of obtaining salvation, besides the natural
efforts of the soul, and outward helps ; as in-
structions, example, etc. It is required, that
the mind be illustrated, and the will excited,
by certain inward motions of grace. The con-
trary opinion is condemned by the church,
against the Pelagians, who asserted the suffi-
ciency of nature without grace. That the said
grace is necessary, not only for carrying on
meritorious works, but even to begin them ; as
the church has defined against the Semipelag-
ians. That this actual or exciting grace is
purely gratuitous, without any consideration of
the creature's merits, is decreed against the
aforesaid heretics.
Q. Can nature, of herself, without the grace
aforesaid, arrive at the knowledge of truth,
either natural or supernatural? Can natitre
alone perform any good action, overcome temp-
tations, love God, and keep all his command-
ments, avoid venial sins, and persevere in good-
ness to the end?
A. The doctrine of the Catholic church is
this; certain natural truths may be known by
man, by the light of reason alone, without the
special assistance of grace ; but grace is required
to know supernatural or revealed truths, both
THE CATHOLIC REUGION EXPOUNDED.
27
speculative and practical, for faith is a special
gift of God. As for good works, it is the
general opinion of divines, that nature without
grace can perform several works that are morally
good, but not profitable towards obtaining future
happiness ; because several circumstances are
wanting, to make them serviceable in that way.
Hence, those who presume to teach, that infidels,
etc., are incapable of performing any action that
is morally good, are in danger of incurring the
censure of that condemned proposition, every
action of a sinner is sinful ; which is prescribed
in Huss, Michael Bains, and Calvin. As to
temptations, slight ones may be overcome with-
out grace, but not great and frequent ones ; and
neither small nor great, without grace, can be
overcome, so as to disp'^se persons thereby for
a supernatural reward : much less, morally
speaking, can God be loved above all things,
and the commandments kept by nature only,
without the special assistance of God's grace;
neither can a person without the said special
grace, avoid all venial sin, or persevere to the
end.
Q. What are the properties of habitual grace ?
A. It is inherent in the soul, and an habitual
state, whereby a person lives in God's favor,
even when he ceases to act, as it appears in
infants after they are baptized, though incapable
of acting by exciting grace ; yet it is not so
permanent a state, but it may be lost by subse-
quent offences, the just often falling both from
faith and grace. Hence, habitual grace, being
Inherent in the soul, a person becomes by it
intrinsically just, and not only by the imputa-
tion of God's extrinsical justice, so that God
does not only pardon his sin, by not Imputing
it, but inwardly purifies his soul from sin, by
Inherent grace. In the next place, habitual
grace puts a person in a condition of meriting
properly ; that is deserving both more grace,
and an eternal reward ;* for by the works pro-
ceeding from it, he applies Christ's merits,
which works, are the immediate effects of God's
grace. These are the chief articles of our faith
* De Condigoo.
concerning habitual grace, defined in the coun-
cil of Trent.
Q. What is justification, and how performed ?
A. In general it Is an Infusion, and reception
of habitual grace ; which is common to angels,
to our first parents In the state of Innocence,
and to the blessed Virgin ]\Iary, who were just
without remission of sin. But as It regards
sinners, it is a translation of a person from the
state of sin, to the state of grace; so that it
includes infusion of grace, and remission of sin.
Q. What dispositions are required for a per-
son to be justified before God ?
A. These six following, according to the doc-
trine delivered in the council of Trent, viz.: First,
faith. Secondly, fear. Thirdly, hope. Fourthly,
the love of God. Fifthly, a detestation of sin.
Sixthly, a purpose of offending no more, and
keeping God's commandments.
Q. Why is faith required ? Why do the
Scriptures ascribe justification to faith? Does
faith always justify ?
A. St. Paul assures us, that it Is impossible
to please God without faith. Heb. xi. 6. The
Scripture ascribes justification, first to faith,
because it is the foundation on which justifi-
cation is built. And again, because faith, in'
the language of the Scripture, often Includes
all the speculative, and practical duties of the
gospel, which concur to man's justification.
But faith alone, which is only the assent we
give to revealed truths, cannot justify, as St.
James assures us ; because the greatest sinners,
are capable of such a faith. St. James 11. 24.
Q. But is there not another kind of faith,
viz.: A belief, and confidence that our sins are
forgiven us, by the merits of Christ, and that
thereby we are of the number of the elect ?
A. This cannot be called faith, but a vain
presvimption. If we pretend to be Infallibly
certain of our justification In particular; or
that we are of the number of the elect: and
in case we had such a faith. It could net
justify us, as St. Paul and St. James declare,
without the concurrence of charity and good
works. I. Cor. xiii. 2, 3. St. James il. 24.
38
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
Q. What sort of fear is required in justifi-
cation ? Methinks fear, is rather an obstacle
than a disposition, fear being opposite to love.
A. The fear of God and his punishments, is
everywhere recommended in the holy Scrip-
tures, and proceeds from an impulse of actual
grace ; and moreover, it is a disposition towa:rds
coming into God's favor, and the beginning
of love. Hence, arises the other dispositions,
viz. : Hope of salvation through Christ's merits ;
the love of God, as the fountain of justice ;
the detestation of sin, and purpose of amend-
ment. Yet these dispositions are not required
in infants, who are justified otherwise, by the
infusion of grace, and incapable of preparing
themselves by acts.
Q. What is merit ?
A. Merit in general, is a work that one way
or other deserves a reward, either rigorously,
according to its intrinsic value; or by virtue
of a promise, or out of a kind of decency.
Christ merited our redemption in the first
manner: good works of just men produced by
actual grace, merit heaven in the second
manner: and the good works of sinners, with-
out habitual grace, but with the assistance of
actual grace, may be said to merit some spiritual
reward, in the third manner. The first two
are called merit properl}' ; * the last is called
merit improperly .f Yet, all our merit proceed-
ing from Christ's merits, being God's pure
gift, and only applying his merits, the whole
body of our good actions, are ascribed to him.
From hence, commonly five things are required
in merit properly .| First, that it be good in
itself and all its circumstances. Secondly, that
a person be in the state of habitual grace.
Thirdly, he is to be put upon earth, because
there can be neither merit nor demerit, either
in heaven, hell, or purgatory; the work of
salvation and damnation being entirly com-
pleted. Fourthly, that it be free. Fifthly,
that there be a promise of reward from Almighty
God for such works.
• De Condigno.
X De Condigno.
t De Congruo.
Q. What conditions are required to merit
improperly ?*
A. Neither the state of grfCCe, nor any com-
pact, or promise of reward ; all that is required,
is, that the action be good, and proceed from
actual grace ; for it is congruous, and seems
agreeable to the infinite goodness of God, that
such works, even of a sinner, should one way
or other be considered, in order to dispose him
towards happiness.
Q. It remains now that you say something
of the following words of the second article,
viz.: His only Son our Lord. In what sense
is Christ the Son of God, and how his only
Son ?
A. Christ is the natural Son of God, by
virtue of his eternal generation. And again,
he is the only Son of God, upon the same
account : however, God has more sons than one,
by adoption, viz.: All men that are in the
state of grace, whom he makes choice of, as
heirs to his kingdom.
Q. What errors are prescribed by this
article ?
A. Several, the chief whereof are : first that of
the Arians, who aflSrmed, that the second per-
son of the blessed Trinity, was not equal to the
Father ; had not the same nature or essence ;
that there was a time when he was not ; that
he was created, etc. Secondly, the Eutych-
ians are condemned, who affirmed Christ had
not two distinct natures : they were condemned
in the general council of Chalcedon, in the
year 451. Thirdly, the Nestorians are con-
demned, who affirm the union of the two
natures in Christ, was not really physical
and hypostatical in the same person, but only
moral and denominative, and by consequence
that in Christ there were really two persons ;
divine and human; and that the Virgin Mary
was not really the mother of God. They were
condemned in the general council of Ephesus,
in the year 431. Fourthly, another error of
the Arians (which was condemned in the
council of Sardica, in the year 347) was, that
* De Congruo.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
29
Christ was only the adopted, and not the
natural Son of God ; which followed from their
capital error, that he was only a creature.
Now, adoption, is assuming a foreign person,
to a right of inheritance; which cannot be
ascribed to Christ, whose person was divine.
By the same rule, Felix and Elipandus, are
convicted of an error ; they maintained that
Christ as man was the adopted Son of God ;
which must not be allowed, because adoption
falls upon the person. From the whole it
appears, that two nativities or generations, are
to be conceived in Christ ; one eternal, whereby
he proceeds from the father ; the other temporal,
whereby he was born of the mother ; and by
this means he is God's only Son, and she the
mother, both of God and man.
O. Now give us the sense of the last words
of this article, our Lord.
A. He is our Lord, first, by the title of his
divine person and nature ; and again, he is
our Lord, as man ; because he is our redeemer,
and purchased us with the price of his most
precious blood.
THE THIRD ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the third article ?
A. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary.
Q. In what manner did the blessed Virgin
Mary conceive ?
A. Not by the help of man, but by the
operation of the Holy Ghost, who formed
Christ's body out of hers, and furnished it
with a human soul.
Q. How was this article opposed by the
heretics of the primitive ages ?
A. By the Manicheans, who contended that
Christ's body was not real; but had only the
appearance of human flesh ; contrary to the ist
chapter of St. John, verse 14, where he says the
Word was made flesh ; by the Apollinarists,
who contended, that Christ's fl.esh was created
from eternity ; contrary to St. Paul in his
epistle to the Galatians, where it was said he was
made from a woman in the plenitude of time,
chapter iv. verse 4 ; by Valentine and Apelles,
who attributed to him a body from heaven, and
an aerial bodj', which passed through the blessed
Virgin, as it were through a channel ; contrary
to the epistles of St. Paul to the Hebrews, and
Romans, where Christ is said to be from the
seed of Abraham and David. Heb. ii. 16. Rom.
i. 3. By the Monothelites, who maintained that
Christ had only one will; contrary to the 226.
chapter of St. Luke, verse 42 ; where he says,
not my will, but thine be done.
Q. Why is the conception attributed partic-
ularly to the Holy Ghost ; did not all three
persons of the blessed Trinity concur ?
A. Yes, they all concurred in that wonderful
work, as they do in all other outward perform-
ances. But the conception is particularly at-
tributed to the Holy Ghost, for several reasons.
First, because it was a work of goodness, and
love ; and the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the
mutual love of the Father and the Son ; so
works of that kind are ascribed to him. Sec-
ondly, because it was a work of grace, without
any merits of man ; and the Holy Ghost being
styled the fountain of grace, therefore this ex-
traordinary work of grace is attributed to him.
I omit several other congruities.
Q. What particularities are there in Christ's
conception, to distinguish it from that of the rest
of mankind?
A. Several very remarkable and miraculous,
viz.: First, the conception was without the help
of man. Secondly, the body was formed, and
perfected in an instant, and immediately inspired
30
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
with a soul. Thirdly, at the same instant, the
divine person was united both to the body and
soul. Fourthly, from the same instant, the soul
was endowed with a perfect use of reason. Fifthly,
at the same instant, the soul was made happy by
the beatifical vision. Sixthly, the soul was re-
plenished with all perfections, natural and super-
natural, that were not inconsistent with the
qualifications above recited, viz. : He was with-
out servile fear, but not without reverential fear:
he could not be said to have either faith or hope;
and though his body was by right impassable,
yet it was capable of suSering, by a miraculous
suspension of the rays of beatitude.
Q. If Christ's body was formed by the opera-
tion of the Holy Ghost, why is not Christ called
his son ?
A. Because a son is only produced by genera-
tion, which has nothing like it iu the incarnation.
Q. How can the Virgin Mary be styled the
mother of God, as being only the mother of
Christ? The second person has a father, but
not a mother.
A. She is so styled by St. Elizabeth, as we
read in the ist chapter of St. Luke, verse 43.
Whence is this to me, that the mother of my
Lord should come to me. Again, she is the
mother of God, as being the mother of Christ,
who is truly God. And Nestorius was con-
demned in the council of Ephesus, for denying
she was the mother of God.
Q. Was the Virgin Mary always a virgin ?
A. Yes, both before, at, and after she had
conceived and brought forth the Son of God.
Q. How before ?
A. So it was foretold by the prophets in
several places. Isa. vii. 14. Matt. i. 23.
Q. How at her conception ?
A. Because, according to St. Luke she did
not conceive by the help of man, but by the
operation of the Holy Ghost. Luke i. 31, 35.
Q. How after her conception, was not St.
Joseph her husband ? Besides, the gospel
makes mention of the brethren of Christ.
A. By a constant tradition, the doctrine of
all the fathers, and the decency of the thing
itself, she never knew man, either before or
after. Hence, Helvidius and Jovinian, were
condemned by the church, for saying, she had
children, afterward, by St. Joseph ; indeed she
was married to St. Joseph, but this was to
screen her from the law, which stoned an
adultress, of which St. Joseph might have
justly suspected her, and even prosecuted her,
as being conscious he had not known her, had
he not been informed of the mystery. Hence,
St. Jerome is of opinion, that she had made a
vow of virginity, with the consent of her hus-
band. As to those who are called Christ's
brethren, they were only kinsmen, called
brethren according to the Jewish custom.
Q. For what end did God take human flesh;
could the world be redeemed by no other means?
A. The second person of the blessed Trinity,
became man, for the abolishing of sin, both
original and actual. And, though this method
was not absolutely necessary, yet it was neces-
sary to comply with the demands of strict
justice, where the satisfaction ought to be
equal to the ofience ; which was done super-
abundantly in this mystery, where the actions
of Christ were infinitely meritorious and satis-
factor}^, and the offence only respectively infi-
nite, as being against an infinite goodness.
THE FOURTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q, Which is the fourth article ?
A. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cruci-
fied, dead and buried.
Q. How was Christ capable of suffering ? As
God, it was impossible; again, his union with
the divine person, as also the state of beatitude
he enjoyed from the beginning, excluded suffer-
ing.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
31
A. As the union of the divine and human
nature was a miraculous work, so it was attended
with many other supernatural circumstances ;
among which, one was, the suspension of the
properties of a glorified body, whilst Christ
was upon earth. By this means he was in a
capacity of suffering, both in body and soul,
and obnoxious to all the infirmities of human
nature ; excepting sin and ignorance, viz. : Grief,
fear, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and even death ;
which last circumstance is the most inconsistent
with a glorified bod}', had not a miracle inter-
posed.
Q. Why is the name of Pontius Pilate in-
serted in the creed ?
A. Though it may seem not to be a material
circumstance, yet he is taken notice of, chiefly
upon two accounts. First, by fixing the date
of Christ's suffering, the truth of the history
was confirmed, and might be compared with
the public records of the Roman empire, under
which, Pontius Pilate then governed Judea.
Secondly, to signify that the predictions were
fulfilled, whereby it had been frequently fore-
told, that Christ should suffer, both from Jews
and Gentiles.
Q. Why is particiilar mention made of the
manner of Christ's death by crucifixion ?
A. This was specified to show that the
prophecies were fulfilled by his dying that
death, which was not only foretold, but the
several instruments, etc., were mentioned, which
were employed on that occasion. Again, to
put us in mind of Christ's great humility, and
love for mankind, in suffering a death which
was ignominious, both among the Jews and
Gentiles, and inflicted upon none but notorious
malefactors : such a death was a folly to the Gen-
tiles and a scandal to the Jews.
Q. What occasion is there to specify Christ's
death, after his crucifixion, or that he was
buried ? We may reasonably suppose that he
died, and was buried, from his being crucified.
Again, how could he die, and what difference
is there between his death and the rest of
mankind ?
A. It was requisite to specify he was dead
against those, who held his crucifixion was only
in appearance, and by consequence, that Christ
did not really die, which was an error of some
primitive heretics ; and afterwards of the Mani-
cheans, contrary to all the four evangelists,
who agree that he gave up the ghost. Mat.
xxvii. 50. Alark xv. 37. Luke xxiii. 46. John
xix. 30. As to his burial, that was also a cir-
cumstance proper to be inserted, to be a proof
of his resurrection, which might have been
contested with more show of truth, had not his
body been laid in the grave. Now, how Christ
could die being God ; it must be observed that
death did not affect his divinity, but only his
humanity. For what is death ? It is a separa-
tion of the soul from the body, and in this
manner Christ was subject to death as he was
to the other infirmities of man's nature ; yet
at the same time, Christ was immortal, by the
hypostatical union, and it was a miraculous
condescension, which made him capable of dying
and of being subject to the other infirmities.
The difference on his side, was, his death was
miraculous and voluntary, though in obedience
to his father's will and precept. John x. 17,
18. And, again, his body was not liable to
corruption, as other bodies are ; according to
that of the Psalmist, " thou wilt not suffer thy
holy one to see corruption." Psalm xv. 10.
Q. Was the divine person during the three
days of the body and soul's separation, still
united to them both ?
A. Yes, though the soul descended into the
lower parts of the earth, the body still remain-
ing in the grave.
Q. Which are the principal benefits derived
from Christ's death ?
A. He died for all mankind, and not only for
the predestinate, as Calvin erroneously taught,
and the Jansenists assert, who esteem it Semi-
pelagianism, to say that Christ died for all
mankind. 2 Cor. v. 15. Whereas, St. Paul says,
that " Christ died for all," and in another place,
he says that " Christ gave himself a redemption
for all." I Tim. ii. 5. At the same time, though
32
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
Christ died, merited and satisfied for the sins
of all mankind, all are not partakers of those
favors, unless they apply them by faith, the
sacraments and good works, which are the
channels through which they are conveyed.
Again, every action of Christ, from the begin-
ning, was infinitely meritorious, but the whole
work of man's redemption was consummated
by his death. Lastly, it was by his death, and
upon the view of his merits, that all in the
law of nature and law of Moses were justified,
and that the gates of heaven were first opened
to them.
THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the fifth article ?
A. He descended into hell, the third day he
rose again from the dead.
Q. What signification has the word hell in
the holy Scriptures ?
A. The word in the original Hebrew, is
Sheol, that is, a place below. The Latin word
is inferi.
Q. Does the Scripture use the word only for
one particular place, or are there several places,
or states, distinguished by that appellation ?
A. There are several places, or states, distin-
guished by it. First, the place or state of the
damned, sometimes called Gahenna the abyss,
and properly hell, as being the lowest, and
remotest place from heaven. Secondly, death,
or the state of man's soul, after it is separated
from the body. Thirdly, the state of those
persons, who died in God's favor, in the law
of nature, and law of Moses ; before Christ
appeared to release them and introduce them
into heaven : this place is distinguished by the
name of Abraham's Bosom, or Limbus Patrum.
St. Luke xvi. 22. Fourthl}', a state of purga-
tion, where the souls of those are detained,
who have died in the guilt of lesser or venial
oflFenses, or not sufficiently satisfied for former
mortal sins, for which they are punished in
that state, which is therefore called purgatory.
Q. Now you are to tell me the meaning of
the word hell, as it stands in the Creed : and
which of the aforesaid places Christ descended
into, whether into all or only some?
A. In the first place, by hell, cannot be
understood the place of the damned, the souls
there being out of the reach of redemption,
which was the design of Christ's descending ;
much less did Christ suffer the pains of the
damned, as Calvin impiously maintains. Again,
hell cannot signify the grave or state of death ;
because his soul did not remain in the grave ;
neither can it be understood of the state of
death, which is expressed in the former article,
where it is said he was dead and buried. The
true meaning of the word hell, therefore is,
that Christ descended into that place, where
the souls of the just were preserved until he
released them, called Limbus Patrum or Abra-
ham's Bosom. And in this exposition all the
fathers agree, and prove it from the Scriptures ;
particularly from the prophecy of Zachary,
where he says, " by the blood of the Testa-
ment, thou hast sent forth thy prisoners out
of the pit." Chapter ix. ii. From the epistle
of St. Paul to the Ephesians, chap. iv. 8, 9.
Where he says Christ ascended on high, hath
led captivity captive ; he gave gifts to men ;
and that he ascended : what is it but because
he descended first into the lower parts of the
earth ? See also. Col. ii. 15.
Q. Did Christ descend into purgatory, and
release the souls there from their punishment ?
A. There is nothing clearly expressed, either
in the Scriptures or fathers, as to this point,
so as to make it an article of faith ; but that
he did descend thither and release either all
ST. CHARLES BORROMEO.
We behold this Saint of God administering the last rites of the Church to the sick. During the great plague he refused to leave
Milan, and was ever seen attending to the spiritual wants of the dying, and even sold his bed for their suDDort.
ST. ANTHONY OP PADUA.
When St. Anthony first went to Padua, in Italy, there was no Franciscan convent in that city, and the nearest was in Arcella, a mile
bom Padua. With the permission of his superiors, he took up his abode at the house of Count Tisco, a man of great piety and devoted
to our Saint. One day, when the Count happened to be near the room, he was surprised to see streams of light issuing from it, and
looking in he beheld St. Anthony, with a lovely child in bis arms, rays of Divine light siurounding the child's head, and while he gazed
in awe and wonder the vision disappeared.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
33
or some, is ver}' probable from the first of St.
Peter iii. 19, 20. Where we read, that Christ
being dead, came in spirit, and preached to
them also that were in prison, who had been
incredulous in the days of Noah, when the ark
was building. And, again, out of the Acts of
the Apostles. Chap. ii. 24. where it is said,
God raised him up loosing the sorrows of hell.
Besides it is conformable to the goodness of
God, and the great design of man's redemption ;
and several strong conjectures favor this opinion.
Q. You say Christ descended ; but how is
this to be understood, did he descend as to
his divinity, as to his body, or as to his soul ?
A. Christ as God, can neither be said prop-
erly to ascend, nor descend ; because he is
actually every where at all times : his body
remained in the sepulchre till the third day,
and by consequence, that did not descend with
him : what descended therefore was, his soul
in conjunction with the divine person, from
which it was inseparable.
Q. Why did our Saviour rise again ? In
what manner, and how upon the third day,
and what proofs are there that his followers
have not imposed upon the world by that
article ?
A. Christ's resurrection was the re-uniting
of his body and soul, and showing himself
again. Now, there were several reasons why
this should be. First, to fulfill the predictions,
whereby both the ancient prophets, and he
himself had declared that he would rise again,
specifying three days' time ; which is not to
be understood of three complete days, but only
the parts of three days; for dying on Friday,
he rose again on Sunday. Mar. xiv. 58. Secondly,
had he not risen, and appeared again, the Jews
might have taken an occasion from thence, to
have questioned both his power and doctrine,
and looked upon the whole business of his
life as artifice and contrivance. Hence, St. Paul
tells us, his resurrection confirmed all he had
said and done, and ought to be regarded as
the main and fundamental point of the Chris-
tian religion. Thirdly, he rose again, to con-
3
firm the doctrine of the general resurrection,
which was a truth denied by the sect of Jews
called Sadducees, who also denied the immor-
tality of the soul. To these we may add, that
raising himself from the dead, was a proof of
his divinity ; for though others have been
raised from the dead, yet he alone raised
himself
Q. But now as to the truth of the fact, what
proofs can you produce, that his disciples did
not impose upon the world ? The Jews sus-
pected some such fraud, and therefore they
placed guards at his sepulchre, lest they should
steal his body, and so spread about a report
that he was risen again.
A. No fact could be better attested. Ten
apparitions are mentioned in the Scriptures,
when sometimes more, sometimes less, were
present, and at one apparition, about five hun-
dred persons were present ; and we may very
well suppose, that during the forty days between
his resurrection and ascension, he frequently
conversed with his disciples ; and the Scripture
tells us positively he did.
Q. The Jews look upon these proofs as
insuflBcient. They allege, that the guards
might be asleep, or bribed, while his body
was conveyed away. Besides (say our modem
unbelievers), the witnesses of these apparitions
were all party men. Why did he not appear
to the chiefs of the synagogue, and show him-
self publicly in the temple ?
A. The Jews, neither then, nor ever since,
could produce any arguments, either that the
guards were asleep, or corrupted by bribery to
conceal the fact. The'y were reproached by
the apostles, for forging this report, without
any reply. Besides, it is not improbable but
that several great persons, not of the party,
might be present at some of these apparitions ;
as several thousands were immediately after
converted, upon the truth of the fact being
asserted : nor could the Jews have any grounds
to suspect forgery, when they saw the apostles
work so many miracles, expressly in proof of
his resurrection. As to the qvieries, why did
34
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
he not appear to the chief of the synagogue,
and publicly in the temple ? Such arguments
would have prevailed very little with a people
hardened in wickedness, and who would not
be convinced by so many undeniable miracles,
which he had wrought for three years together
among them, and were so obstinate, that when
they could not deny the fact, they attributed
the miracles he wrought, to his corresponding
with the devil. What likelihood was there,
that those who would not believe their own
senses, upon so many other occasions, would
be convinced by apparitions which might be
subject to the same cavilling? And if we may
judge of the true reason why the chiefs of the
synagogue were not favored with such appari-
tions ; it was because they did not deserve the
favor, and had it been granted, they were so
exasperated, blind and obstinate, that it would
have been of no use to them, only to have
aggravated their crimes.
THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the sixth article ? '
A. He ascended into heaven, sits at the right
hand of God the Father Almighty.
Q. When did he ascend into heaven?
A. Forty days after his resurrection.
Q. How was he employed during those forty
days ?
A. He instructed his apostles and his disci-
ples, in several matters belonging to the church
he had established; particularly by frequent
apparitions, he confirmed the truth of his resur-
rection. He explained to them the nature of
the sacraments, with the ceremonies to be used,
as also what was required in the government
of his church, relating to power and church
discipline.
Q. What grounds have you to believe such
matters were the subject of his conversa-
tion ?
A. Very good grounds. The Scripture tells
ns in the Acts of the Apostles, that he was
speaking of the kingdom of God ; chapter i.
verse 3. It was the part of a law-maker, to
speak of such matters. Hence, the fathers
generally agree, that several customs and prac-
tices observed in the church, were ordered by
him at that time, whereof they mention several
particulars, only known by tradition, and no-
where expressed in the Scriptures.
Q. Explain the manner of his ascension : did
he ascend as to his divinity, or only as to his
soul and body ; and why did he ascend ?
A. As to his divinity, God being a pure
spirit, and present every where by his immen-
sity, he was incapable of local motion, and by
consequence, could neither properly ascend or
descend. What is meant therefore, is, that his
body and soul ascended visibly in the sight of
the apostles to heaven, though they were both
before in a state to bliss, but imperceptible to
human eyes ; Acts i. 9. Again it is said he
ascended, that is, by virtue of his own pov/er,
and was not carried to heaven as Eli as was, by
outward help, which was a proof of his being
God. He ascended into heaven, not only to
open the gates for himself, but for his followers ;
not only to take possession of his own inheri-
tance, but also to make us joint heirs with him;
not for his own happiness alone, but that we
may for ever (if we please) be happy with him.
He went to take care of our eternal interest ;
and so he told his apostles, "I go to prepare
a place for you, that where I am, there you
may be also;" Jo. xiv. 2, 3. He ascended in
order to draw our hearts after him, and that
pur thoughts, our wishes and desires, may be
always aiming higher than this miserable world,
and so aspiring toward him in heaven. Thus.
THE CATHOUC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
35
says St. Paul, "our conversation is in heaven;"
Phil. iii. 20.
Q. Why is he said to sit, and why at the
right hand? Why are the words of Father
and Almighty made use of on this occasion ?
A. Sitting is a posture signifying ease, honor,
and the stability of the state of supreme glory
and sovereign power he was placed in ; so that
we do not understand that Christ is always in
a sitting posture. The right hand, though
only metaphorically applied to God (for we do
not imagine that God has any hands or feet,
he being a pure spirit, without any body at all),
denotes preference and power, and that Christ
as man, excelled all created beings, and was a
powerful intercessor. Lastly, the word Father,
and Almighty, insinuate, that those who apply
themselves to him, might expect to be treated
in the same manner, as a tender parent treats
his child, and have the comfort of being suc-
cored by a power which could not be withstood.
THE SEVENTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the seventh article ?
A. From thence he shall come to judge the
quick and the dead.
Q. What difference do you observe between
the first and this latter coming of our Saviour ?
A. At his first coming, he appeared in quality
of a redeemer, showing to mankind continual
instances of mercy, and in his behavior con-
formed himself, as if he had been only a
common person, deprived of all those advantages,
which otherwise were due to his character. At
his second coming, he will appear as a judge,
pronouncing sentence to the utmost rigor of
justice, and clothed with all the outward
marks of authority and majesty.
Q Are not all mankind judged at their death ;
what occasion is there for a second and general
judgment?
A. Yes they are, but a second and general
judgment is requisite upon several accounts.
First, to justify before the whole world, the
conduct of divine providence, in regard to the
different treatment of the just, and the wicked,
the one being permitted to live under tribu-
lation, whilst the other flourished and enjoyed
their ease ; for then it will be made appear by
the difference of their fate, that the just were
not deserted by Almighty God, seeing that
they are considered with an eternal reward for
their past sufferings. A second reason why a
general judgment is appointed, is, to do public
justice to the injured part of mankind, who
suffered in their reputation, or otherwise, for
then all fraudulent dealings, rash censures,
sinister intentions, and other insincere prac-
tices, will be laid open, and every man appear
in his true colors, to the comfort of the
injured; and confusion of the oppressor. A
third reason, for this general judgment, is, that
whereas, at a person's decease, sentence was
only pronounced upon the soul, at the general
judgment, the soul and body being reunited,
it will pass upon the whole man ; that as they
had mutually concurred in good and bad
actions, they may receive a sentence suitable to
their behavior in both respects.
Q. What is meant by the quick and the
dead, are those that are living at the approach
of the general judgment, to appear alive before
the judge?
A. By the quick and the dead, we understand
all mankind, that ever inhabited the earth, from
the creation down, of all nations and states,
both infidels, Jews, Turks, heretics, and true
believers, all who live under the law of nature,
the old law, and law of grace. And as for
those persons who are alive upon the ap.
proach of the last day, Ps. xcvi. 3, it is the
36
THE CATHOIJC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
most probable opinion they will be all con-
sumed by fire, wben tbe world shall perish, by a
general conflagration, and immediately make
their appearance before the judgment seat.
Q. But then, as to the time, when this general
judgment will happen, and the place where it
will be executed, how shall we come to know
these matters ?
A. The time when, is a secret locked up in
the breast of the Almighty; Mat. xxiv. 36.
And for the same reason, that we are not
made acquainted with the time of our death,
viz.: That being always prepared, we may not be
surprised, and called to an account, when we
are unprovided to give it ; which appears to be
a rational way of proceeding; seeing that if
the time was revealed, persons would be apt
to defer their repentance, until that hour ap-
proached, as they now commonly do, though
uncertain that they shall be allowed a moment ;
and would be much more inclined to defer it,
in case they had any certainty of the time
when death would happen. However, as sick-
ness and age, give persons notice of approach-
ing death, so there will be certain visible
tokens, forerunners of the general judgment ;
besides universal wars, plagues, and famines ;
antichrist will make his appearance, who by
persecution and false miracles, will for three
years exercise a tyrannical power over the
world, and draw unto his party a great part
of mankind ; but, at last will be baffled by
Enoch and Elias, who are still reserved to
return again upon the earth, for that purpose.
As the day of judgment approaches nearer,
there will be visible tokens in the heavens,
earth, and seas, which will strike a terror into
all mankind, and make them wither and pine
away with fear.
Q. !Methinks these visible admonitions will
be capable of working men up to repentance,
and make them prepare themselves against that
great day ?
A. Much to the contrary : our blessed Saviour
tells us, they will be in a state of insensibility,
as mankind was when Noah foretold the destruc-
tion of the world at the general deluge ; for
though he frequeutl}' admonished them of it, for
a hundred years together, they still continued
in their wickedness until the judgment fell
upon them.
Q. Can 3^ou give me any information as to
the place, or any other circumstance ? Will
the trial be general or particular and what have
sinners to apprehend upon the occasion ?
A. We are informed in the Scriptures, that
the place will be the valley of Josaphat,
near Jerusalem, in the sight of Mount Calvary ;
Joel iii. 2. So that the Son of God will exer-
cise the severity of his j ustice, where he showed
such tokens of his mercy ; a sad remembrance
to the Jews, who put him to death, and to
wicked Christians, who crucified him by their
scandalous lives. — Whether the trial will be
general or particular, with such like circum-
stances, is only known to God. Thus much
we may be certain of, that though it may be
general, and pass over in an instant, yet it
\n\\ affect every one in particular, as much as
if he were the only person that was called to
the bar. Lastly, as to the apprehensions sin-
ners will lie under upon the occasion, there are
three circumstances which will throw them into
the utmost confusion, viz. : The qualities of
the judge, who cannot be imposed upon by
bribes, nor inclined through partiality to favor :
the nature of the evidence, which will be a
man's own conscience, with the corroborating
proofs of the devil, and all those he has injured,
will appear against him : the severity of the
scrutiny, which will take in all our thoughts,
desires, wishes, affections, words and works,
though never so secret ; the intention, motive,
and circumstances of them ; the use of our
will, memory, and understanding ; all the facul-
ties of both body and soul ; the use of God's
holy graces ; the neglect of doing good, and
misspent time ; and not only all our own sins,
but others which we have any ways occasioned :
for our Saviour assures us, " That nothing is
hid that shall not be revealed, nor secret that
shall not be known." Mat. x. 26.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
37
Q. Are there any more circumstances to be
considered in this general judgment? Will
Christ sit to judge as God or as man ? What
kind of punishment will the wicked be con-
demned to ? Will their punishment be ever-
lasting, or have an end, or at least be subject
to a mitigation ? Will the fire spoken of in
Scripture really affect the soul, or is it only a
metaphorical expression, to signify the sharp-
ness of pain ?
A All the three divine persons will sit in
judgment, which is- attributed to the Son,
because it is a work of wisdom ; at the same
time, Christ as man, will hear and give sentence,
according to St. John ; chapter v. 27. — " The
Father hath given him power to execute judg-
ment, because he is the Son of man." As to
the punishment, fire is commonly expressed,
which we are to understand literally and prop-
erly ; but in what manner it will affect the
soul, is not declared. This punishment will
have no end, no intermission, as Origen erro-
neously taught.
Q. How shall the just and reprobate be
placed, and what shall be the sentence of the
just, and that of the wicked ?
A. The just shall be placed on the right,
and the reprobate on the left hand of the judge.
The judge will say to the just, " come ye
blessed of my Father, and receive the kingdom
which is prepared for you ; for I was hungry,
and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty, and you
gave me to drink," etc. Mat. xxv. 34, 35.
How joyful this sentence will be to them, all
the tongues of men and angels are not able
to express : nor is it easier to describe the
envy, malice, and despairing rage of those on
the left hand ; when having heard this sentence,
they begin to hear the thunder of their own>
" Go ye cursed into eternal fire, which hath
been prepared for the devil and his angels ;
for I was hungry, and you gave me not to
eat, I was thirst)^ and you gave me not to
drink," etc. Mat. xxv. 41, 42. To depart from
God, b}' losing him and all that is good ; never
to see God's face, nor ever to enjoy his favor;
this is that hell of hells, which the divines
call pain of loss. But then not only to lose
all good, but also to be sunk for ever into the
abyss of everlasting evils, without any hope
of comfort, is that pain of sense, which even
the worst of sinners cannot firmly believe without
trembling.
THE EIGHTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the eighth article ?
A. I believe in the Holy Ghost.
Q. What do you profess in this article ?
A. As the former articles contained, what we
are to believe, concerning the two first persons
of the blessed Trinity, this regards the third
person, which in sum is, that the Holy Ghost
is consubstantial to the Father and the Son,
and therefore true God ; that he proceeds from
them both, and is equal in all things to them :
this is proved first from the Creed itself, where
the form of belief is expressed in the same way,
I believe in the Holy Ghost, as well as in the
Father, and in the Son. Secondly, from St,
Peter's words to Ananias ; Acts v. 3, 4. "Why
did Satan tempt thy heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost ? Thou hast not lied unto men but unto
God." Here you see the Holy Ghost is called
God. Thirdly, from St. John, in his first epistle,
chapter v. verse 7, where he says, " there are
three that bear testimony in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three
are one." Fourthly, from the form of baptism,
where the Holy Ghost is equally mentioned with
the Father and the Son, which ought not to be,
if he was not God. Again, from St. Paul, 2
38
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
Cor. xiii. 13. Where he thus concludes his
epistle ; " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communication
•of the Holy Ghost, be with 3'ou all." From
hence we prove the Holy Ghost to have the
same divine nature with the Father and the
Son ; as also to be a different person from them
both : so that we ought to glorify, and worship
him equally with the Father and the Son, as
the last end and object of all our affections.
Hence, the Macedonian heresy condemned by
the church, which denied the divinity of the
Holy Ghost. Anno. 381.
Q. The Scriptures, it is true, tell us that the
Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, but
makes no mention of his proceeding from the
Son.
A. Though one is not so expressly mentioned
in the Scriptures, as the other, yet it is suffi-
ciently asserted ; particularly where Christ says,
in the 15th chapter of St. John, verse 26;
" The paraclete whom I shall send from the
Father;" chapter xxvi. "He shall receive of
mine.
Q. What is the proper signification of the
word Ghost?
A. In our ancient language it is the same
as Spirit.
Q. What names are commonly given to the
Holy Ghost in the Scriptures ?
A. He is called the paraclete, that is, the
Comforter, the Advocate, the Finger of God,
Goodness, the Gift, etc. Which appellations,
signify the offices, and effects that are ascribed
to him.
Q. What are the gifts proceeding from the
Holy Ghost?
A. These seven, enumerated in the eleventh
chapter of the prophet Isaiah; verse 2. First,
wisdom, which teaches us to direct our lives
and actions to God's honor, and the salvation
of our souls. Second, understanding, which
makes our faith lively, enabling us to penetrate
the highest mysteries. Third, counsel, which
discovers the snares of the devil. Fourth,, for-
titude, which overcomes the difficulty of tempta-
tions, and enables us to undergo all dangers
for God's* sake. Fifth, knowledge, by which
we know, and understand the will of God.
Sixth, piety, by which we are zealous in doing
his will. Seventh, the fear of God, which curbs
us from sin, and makes us obedient to his law.
Q. Which do you call the fruits of the Holy
Ghost ?
A. St. Paul reckons these twelve. First,
charity, which fills us with the love of God
and our neighbor. Second, joy, which enables
us to serve God with cheerfulness. Third, peace,
which keeps us unmoved in our minds, amidst
the storms and tempests of the world. Fourth,
patience, which enables us to suffer all adversities
for the love of God. Fifth, longanimity, which
is an untired confidence of mind, in expecting
the good things of the life to come. Sixth,
goodness, which makes us hurt no man, and do
good to all. Seventh, benignity, which causes
a certain sweetness in our conversation and
manners, so as to profit and advance others in
virtue thereby. Eighth, mildness, which allays
in us all the motions of passion and anger.
Ninth, fidelity, which makes us punctual ob-
servers of our covenants and promises. Tenth,
modesty, which observes a fitting mean in all
our outward actions. Eleventh, continency,
which makes us not only temperate in meat
and drink, but in all other sensible delights.
Twelfth, chastity, which keeps a pure soul in a
pure body.
Q. In what manner is the Holy Ghost given?
A. Two ways, visibly and invisibly. He was
both ways given to the apostles ; invisibly, when,
after the resurrection, Christ breathed upon them
and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost; Jo. xx. 22.
Visibly, ten days after his ascension, when he
sent them to preach, and the Holy Ghost
appeared over theni in fiery tongues. A^ in,
he is given invisibly in man's justification,
when grace is bestowed ; and in the sacrament
of confirmation.
Q. Under what appearances has the Holy
Ghost shown himself to mankind ?
A. Chiefly two, in the shape of a dove, when
THE CATHOIvIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
39
our Saviour was baptized, by St. Jolin the
Baptist ; and in fiery tongues, at his descending
on the apostles at Pentecost.
Q. What was meant b}' his appearing under
these representations ?
A. By the dove, was signified innocence, and
purity. The fiery tongues had several signifi-
cations ; the tongues imported the gift of lan-
guages ; the fire signified zeal ; and they appeared
split, that they might represent the variety of
gifts that were betowed, viz. : Working miracles,
prophesying, etc.
Q. Did these visible marks always atteud the
giving of the Holy Ghost ?
A. In the first age, and during the apostles'
time, they continued, as requisite to the first estab-
lishment of the gospel, but ceased by degrees.
Q. You say the Holy Ghost appeared in the
figure of a dove ; and, I suppose this is the
reason why he is still represented by pictures
and images under that form. Can a pure spirit
and immortal being, be truly expressed by such
like representations ?
A. You judge right, as to the grouud and
rise of that custom, but seem not to understand
the true meaning of it. We pretend not to
express the true likeness of a spirit much less
of an infinite spiritual substance. The design
is only to assist the memory, preserve the
remembrance of the mystery, and receive in-
struction, from what is signified by such out-
ward tokens.
Q. If this be all you mean, I see no reason
why the Father and the Son, and even the
whole Trinity, may not either separately, or
conjunctively, be represented in the same man-
ner, either by painting or carving; though,
indeed, the custom is more authorized, by
representing the second person under the
figure of a man, because he took human flesh
upon him ; whereas the other persons did not ?
A. You still talk coherently, there being as
much for the one as for the other ; neither is
the circumstance you mention of the second
person, only, being united to a human body,
any objection against representing the other
persons by visible tokens. For as we do not
pretend to express Christ's divinity by pictures,
or images, but only his body ; so neither do we
intend to represent the divinity of the other
persons, by any figure or image, but only the
outward shape of the thing, under which they
made their appearance.
Q. This argument may hold good as to the
persons separately considered. The first person
may be represented as an old man, as he appeared
to Daniel : the second, as a man whose nature he
assumed ; and the Holy Ghost as a dove, for the
same reason. But you pretend besides to make
pictures and images representing the Trinity,
which was never represented by an outward
appearance.
A. This difiiculty is easily removed, by the
same rule. And in the first place, it is far from
truth that we have no representation of the
Trinity : it is frequently represented both by
facts and words in the holy Scriptures : I shall
only mention the three men who appeared to
Abraham, whom he addressed as if they were but
one ; and these words in the first epistle of St.
John, chapter v. verse 7. " These three are one."
Is not this a sufficient ground to form an image,
representing one and three? What are words,
but images representing to the ear, what pictures
do to the eye ; and if it be lawful to make use of
words, to signify the mystery of the Trinity, why
may not a picture be drawn to the same purpose?
Words and pictures can neither express the
nature of the thing, but still they are serviceable
to put us in mind, and keep up the memory of
the mystery.
40
THE CATHOUC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
THE NINTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which, is the ninth article ?
A. The holy Catholic church, the communion
of saints.
Q. What is the signification of the word
church ?
A. According to its etymology in the Greek,
it is a congregation, or assembly of people,
called together, upon any account whatever,
and is sometimes taken from the place where
they meet.
Q. It is not our present purpose, to take
notice of what signification it bears among
secular and profane authors, but what sense it
carries in the Scriptures and ecclesiastical
writers.
A. In the Scriptures, it has sometimes a
limited, other times a more extensive significa-
tion : one, while it signifies the society of saints
and angels : another, while a society of the
faithful on earth : sometimes the congregation
of the \vicked ; and again, for that of the elect,
or predestinated onlj\ Hence, divines have
distinguished the church into triumphant in
heaven, and militant upon earth ; to which
they add the suffering church in purgatory.
Q. I easil}' conceive, that the name of church,
may be given to all these congregations, as
the general signification of the word imports.
But did not Christ establish a particular con-
gregation on earth ; pray, what do 5'ou call
that?
A. The church Christ established on earth,
was a congregation of people baptized, and
united together by believing and professing
the same faith he had taught ; and governed
by lawful pastors and bishops, subordinate to
his vicar upon earth, as he had appointed.
Q. It is suitable to the divine wisdom, that
in establishing a community of such, a regu-
lation should be observed to prevent the in-
conveniences of errors in belief, and disobedi-
ence in practical duties ; yet we find in the
Scriptures, mention made of several churches,
even of true believers ; as the churches of Jeru-
salem, Smyrna, Athens, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome,
etc. Is the church founded by Christ, divided
into several bodies ?
A. These different appellations are not designed
to signify different societies, either as to faith
or government, but only the different districts,
where the faithful assembled, under the same
universal church; aud were so distinguished,
in the apostolic letters, accordingly as there
was occasion of being instructed in their
respective duties ; a different address being
requisite, to make a proper application, of
Avhat they were to be informed of.
Q. I observe some difference in wording this
article, and the former : in the former you sa}-,
I believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ,
and in the Holy Ghost. — Here, in this article,
you only say, I believe the holy Catholic church,
not, I believe in the holy Catholic church.
A. The difference you observe is not acci-
dental, but premeditated and designed. To
believe in God, is to place our last end in
him : now, the church being only the means
and not the end, what, therefore, we profess,
in her regard, is, that there is a church, whose
voice we ought to hear and obey, in order to
obtain our last end.
Q. But here another difl&culty may be started :
objects of faith are obscure, and lie not within
the cognizance of our senses : now, the church,
being a visible society, how can it be known
by faith?
A. I own, the church, as to its visible being,
is not an object of faith, but only known by
the senses and reason, and by the undeniable
marks it carries, explained in the Scripture,
the apostles' creed, and answerable to all the
requisites that prudence can suggest, to sub-
mit to its authority. What is the object of
faith in the church ? Is the divine authority
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
41
conferred upon it, in being directed by the
Holy Ghost, having a power of binding and
loosing, and producing grace, and all sorts of
supernatural eflfects, by means of the sacra-
ments? These are invisible, and the objects
of faith only ; and of this we have a parallel
case in our blessed Saviour, whilst he was
upon earth. His humanity was the object of
sense and reason, but his divinity was the
object of faith.
Q. By the definition you g^ve of the particu-
lar church of Christ, which was "his kingdom on
earth, it is requisite that three things concur,
to become a member of it, viz.: First, that the
persons be baptized, either actually or in desire.
Secondly, that they believe the doctrines Christ
delivered ; and thirdly, that they be obedient to
the authority he placed them under. Now we
find there are a great many, who pretend to be
members of Christ's church, who are divided in
their faith, teaching doctrines directly contrary
to one another, and by separating themselves
into different congregations, do not all pay sub-
jection to the same authority, but either to none,
or to those of their own choosing. Did Christ
give this liberty to any distinct body of men, to
believe and pay obedience to whom they pleased ?
This does not seem consistent with the wisdom
of so wise a legislator. If every civil com-
munity is provided with rules against divisions,
certainly the God of peace and unity, would not
establish a church to be exposed to all the
inconveniences of errors and disobedience, but
prescribe some certain method how to obviate
them.
A. The three things required, to become a
member of Christ's church, and requisite, as
you properly observe ; so that, notwithstanding
there are a great many congregations, who
pretend to belong to God's church, and lay
claim to it, by making a profession of Chris-
tianity, yet, not believing what Christ taught,
and disobeying the authority appointed by him,
when the matter is strictly inquired into, they
are not members of his church.
Q. Pray let me understand who those
persons are, with the reasons in particular, why
you cannot allow them to be members of Christ's
church ?
A. The congregations I mean, are heathens,
Turks, Jews, and heretics of all denominations ;
to whom we may join schismatics, and persons
excommunicated.
Q. Why are not schismatics members of the
church ?
A. Because they are separated from it, by
disobeying the governors appointed by Christ,
and are branches cut off from the tree of life.
Q. Why are not persons excommunicated, to
be esteemed members of the church ?
A. They are cut off from the body, for
obstinately violating the church's order, and
therefore enjoy not the privileges.
Q. Are sinners (that is to say, such as are in
mortal sin,) members of the church ?
A. Yes, but rotten members. Hence the
Scriptures compare the church to Noah's ark,
which contained animals, clean and unclean ; to
a sheepfold, where goats are mixed with sheep ;
to a granary, that contains straw, chaff and
corn ; to a great house, with vessels of gold,
silver and wood. Thus argued St. Austin,
against the Douatists, who excluded sinners.
Thus, it is defined against Calvin, who makes
the church cgnsist only of the elect. Sinners
that are reprobates, are members as to the
present state, but not as to the future state
of the church.
Q. I easily conceive why heathens, Turks,
and Jews, ought not to be esteemed members
of Christ's church : because they either deny
God or Christ the Redeemer. But, as for the
rest, the case is not so plain : they acknowledge
one only true God ; they acknowledge Christ to
be their Redeemer ; they believe the holy
Scripture, which is the rule of instruction,
both as to what Christ taught, and what is to
be practiced ; and by this compliance, seem to
have a right to be esteemed members of Christ's
church. I do not see anything else that can
be required of them.
A. You have mentioned requisites, but not
48
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
all. To believe a God, and that Christ is our
Redeemer, are a good foundation ; but unless we
believe all that Christ taught, and obey those
whom he ordered to be obeyed, we fail in the two
essential parts of a Christian's duty; for our
Saviour assures us. Mat. xvi. i6, " that he who
believes not shall be condemned ;" and again,
that " he who will not hear the church, let him
be to thee as a heathen and a publican." Mat.
xviii. 17. The Scriptures, it is true, are good
rules ; but theu we are at a loss, unless we are
rightly instructed in the sense of them ; neither
can the Scriptures alone satisfy us which books
are to be allowed as Scripture, and which to be
rejected. — Many have perverted the sense of
Scriptures, to their own damnation ; who, at the
same time, pretended to be members of Christ's
chuTch, but were not.
Q. Has not every one, who enjoys the use
of his reason, a capacity to understand as much
of the Scriptures, as is necessary to inform him
of, and comply with, any Christian duty ? What
occasion has he to descend to every particular
point ; or what power has any congregation to
draw up forms of belief, and oblige others to
subscribe to them ?
A. Were men's reasoning faculty free from
mistakes, passion and prejudice, much might be
said in its favor ; but as it is exposed to those
inconveniences, it must be set to rights by
proper means. Woful experience has demon-
strated the insufficiency of reason, as it is under
the direction of private persons. All affairs
whatever, have been thrown into confusion,
under a pretence of reason, both public and
private, civil and religious. Servants have their
pretended reasons not to obey their masters,
and subjects have theirs not to obey their prince ;
and it is no wonder, if many, who style them-
selves Christians, should be disobedient to the
laws of Christ's church, upon a pretence that
their reason sufficiently informs what, and whom
they ought to obey. By thus relying upon pri-
vate reason, dissensions happen in families,
rebellion in kingdoms, and heresies in Christ's
church : such were the heresies even in the
apostolic and primitive ages ; some denying the
resurrection, others Christ's divinity, and the
divinity of the Holy Ghost, with many other
errors ; all taking their rise from the liberty
private reason took to expound the Scriptures,
according to their own taste. Now it is plain,
from the censures that were always passed upon
such persons, that they were never esteemed
members of Christ's church ; notwithstanding
their belief in a Redeemer, and their allowing
the Scriptures to be a rule of belief, and the
practical duties of a Christian, their faith was
defective and obedience was wanting.
Q. All you alleged only amounts to this ; that
those heretics were not members of Christ's
visible church, as being separated from that visi-
ble society which bore that name. But why
might the}' not be members of Christ's church
invisibly, as being invisibly united to Christ their
head, and only separated from the visible society
through mistake and innocent errors ?
A. This notion is inconsistent with the nature
of a visible society, and more especially with
that of Christ's establishing, and indeed a con-
tradiction in itself. In visible societies, no re-
gard is had to inward dispositions, but only to
outward actions, in point of misbehavior : a
general protestation of allegiance to a prince,
will not excuse a rebel, who is declared an out-
law, for opposing the administration of justice,
upon the idle pretence of expounding the laws
in his own sense. On the other hand, how can
heretics be united to Christ, their invisible head,
who reject the means of that invisible union ;
Christians are united invisibly to Christ by
faith and obedience ; now, where is their faith,
who do not believe every thing Christ teaches ?
Where is their obedience, who resist the authority
placed over them ? As to what you insinuate
concerning mistakes, and the innocent errors of
many, who believe wrong, and separate them-
selves, only on that account, for want of oppor-
tunity of being better instructed ; these are out
of the case ; we only speak of those who can
have no such pretences : however, even those,
who have invincible ignorance to excuse them,
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
43
for not believing with, and obeying the church,
cannot be esteemed visible members of Christ's
church, as not being placed in the ordinary road,
that he has chalked out for their salvation ; yet
they are not out of the road of his extraordinary
gfrace, insomuch, that the invincible ignorance
they labor under, in regard of the common
road appointed by Christ, will not be imputed
to them as a crime ; but on the contrary, if they
are good livers in all other respects, and care-
fully comply with the law of nature, they may
be invisibly united to Christ, and invisible mem-
bers of his church.
Q. This is a charitable condescension ; but
then it seems to be contrary to the universal
rule and doctrine of your church, which says,
that none are saved out of the Catholic com-
munion ; which is very uncharitable, if it be
understood of a church in one communion only.
A. It never was the universal doctrine of
the Catholic church, that none are saved, who
die out of the Catholic communion ; for they
always except invincible necessity, and invinci-
ble ignorance. Now, invincible necessity is, that
which is not in a man's power to hinder,
though he desire it ever so much ; or it is a
real impossibility under the present circum-
stances, of obtaining something which we desire ;
as if a person, for example, who lived out of
the Catholic community, is sensible of his
error, and desires to be reconciled to the
Catholic church, but dies before a priest can
be brought to him ; such a one has invincible
necessity. Invincible ignorance, is that which
is not voluntary ; so that if persons would
gladly embrace the truth, and sincerely use
their best endeavors to find it out, and to know
the whole compass of their duty, and would
both faithfully and immediately comply with
the most difi&cult parts of it when known, how
contrary soever they may be to their passions,
to their prejudices, to the conveniences of life,
to their interest in this world, and to the
expectation of their friends ; their ignorance is
invincible, and may be excused from the sin
of heresy. When Catholics, therefore, say,
as they have always said, that none are
saved out of the Catholic communion, their
meaning is, that no one is saved unless he be
in the Catholic - communion, either actually or
virtually ; either in fact or in desire ; and that
there is no sure and safe way to heaven, out
of the Catholic communion. This general rule
of the Catholic faith, that none are saved out
of the communion of the orthodox and uni-
versal church, follows by a plain and neces-
sary consequence from the Scripture, as well
as from the apostolical and Nicene creed. For
if Christ has only one holy Catholic and apos-
tolical church, which is the communion of
saints ; if he has only one church which is
built upon a rock, and against which, " the
gates of hell shall not prevail ; " St. Mat. xvi.
1 8, if he has only one church, " which is the
pillar and support of truth," i Tim. iii. 15.
And with which he promised to continue,
" always, even to the end of the world ; " St.
Mat. xxviii. 20, and which is, therefore, the
church of all ages, as well as the church of all
nations ; if he has only one church to which
the Lord added, and adds daily, " such as shall
be saved ; " Acts ii. 47, then it is, at least, a
general rule of divine faith, that none are
saved out of the communion of this church.
Nay, setting aside invincible necessity and
invincible ignorance, the rule is universal and
without exception. This doctrine of the Catholic
church, is so unquestionable, that many Prot-
estants have taught the same. Calvin says,
that out of the bosom of the visible church,
no remission of sins, no salvation is to be
hoped for; L. iv. inst. chap. i. § 4. Beza, the
great disciple of Calvin, says, there is only
one true church : and there always was, and
always will be, a church, out of which there
is no salvation.* Trelactius says, it is a thing
of absolute necessity, if we will be saved, to
embrace the communion of the Catholic church,
out of which, there is no salvation. f The
learned bishop Pearson, bishop of Chester, in
• In. Confess. Fidei cUap. v. J 2. ibid. J i.
t I<- ii. Instit. de Eccles. Part 2. J 10.
44
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
his exposition of tlie Creed, page 349, says,
that " the necessity of believing the hoi}-
Catholic church, appears first in this, that
Christ has appointed it as the only way unto
eternal life. We read at the first, says he,
that the Lord added to the church, daily, such
as should be saved ; and what was then daily
done, has been done since continually : Christ
never appointed two ways to heaven ; nor did
he build a church to save some, and make
another institution for other men's salvation.
' There is no other name under heaven, given
among men, whereby we must be saved but
the name of Jesus:' Acts iv. 12. And that
name is no otherwise given under heaven,
than in the church. As none were saved from
the deluge, but such as were within the ark
of Noah, framed for their reception b}' the
command of God : as none of the first born of
Egypt lived, but such as were within those
habitations, whose door posts were sprinkled
with blood, by the appointment of God for
their preservation : as none of the inhabitants
of Jericho, could escape the fire and sword, but
such as were within the house of Rahab, so
none shall ever escape the eternal wrath of
God, which belong not to the church of God."
The Protestants of Switzerland saj' in their
profession of faith,* " we have so great a value
for being in communion with the true church
of Christ, that we say, those cannot have life
in the sight of God, who are not in com-
munion with the true church of God, but
separate themselves from it." The Protestants
of Scotland, An. 1568, in their profession of
faith, say, " as we believe in one God, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; so we
firmly believe that there was from the begin-
ning, that there now^ is, and that to the end
of the world there will always be, one church,
which is the Catholic, that is, the universal
church, out of which church there is neither
life, nor everlasting happiness."
The French Huguenots, in their catechism on
* Confess. Helvetica. C. xvii. An. 1556, et in Syntag. Confess.
Fidei Genevae. An. 1654. Page 34.
the tenth article of the Creed, say, " Why is this
article of forgiveness of sins put after that of the
church ? Answer, Because no one obtains par-
don of his sins, unless he be first incorporated
with the people of God, and continue in unity
and communion with the body of Christ and so
be a member of the church : for none of those
who withdraw themselves from the communion
of the faithful, to make a sect apart, ought to
hope for salvation, as long as they continue
separated from them." Thus you see that it is
not onl}- the Catholic doctrine, that none are
saved out of the Catholic communion, but it is
also the doctrine of many Protestants.
As to what you say, that this doctrine is
uncharitable : I answer it is not, nay , I aflfirm it
to be the reverse : for is it not charity to publish
what the word of God, the Creed and tradition
of all ages obliges us to think concerning salva-
tion out of the Catholic and undivided commu-
nion ? Is it not charity to put them in mind
that no religion is safe to any one, because he
and his friends were bred up in it, because it
suits best with his interest, and is the prevailing
religion of the place ? Was it not charitable in
St. Luke to tell us, " that the Lord added daily
to the church." Acts ii. 47, in one undivided
communion, "such as should be saved?" In
like manner, is it not charity in us to declare
openlj', that people cannot be saved without
baptism, nor without keeping the command-
ments ? for in all this we declare nothing from
ourselves, but from the word of God. True
charity always was, and always will be, unknown
practically, to those who want it. Wicked men
think it highly uncharitable to have their pleas-
ures disturbed by the unwelcome news of death
and hell. Can any thing appear more unchari-
table to infidels, or unbelievers, than these words
of charity itself: "he who believes not shall be
damned?" St. Mark xvi. 16. And will not
heretics always think these words of our Saviour
Christ uncharitable: "he that will not hear the
church, let him be unto thee as a heathen or
publican." Mat. xviii. 17. But must not saving
truth be told, because we are pretty sure before
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
45
hand that it will not be believed ? Must charity
neglect its duty, because heresy is deaf? True
charity flatters not, nor does it invent new ways
to heaven, but does all it can to help all thither
according to the old way, the only wa}'. On
which account it admonishes, proves, and en-
deavors to convince all people of the mistakes
and errors in which they are engaged. And it
is plain to the world, that this is what the priests,
and preachers of the Catholic church have con-
tinuall)' done, even to the loss of thousands and
thousands of their lives : so that this very charge
of uncharitableness against us, is not groundless
and weak, but is itself uncharitable in a high
degree.
Q. But does not the Scripture say, that a
remnant of all religions shall be saved ?
A. No, the Scripture no where says so. But
men who are resolved to live and die in error,
will never want a text for it. The prophet
Isaiah, it is true, says, that a remnant only of
the Jews was to return from Babylon. Isa. x.
20, 21, 22. And St. Paul, quoting these words
of Isaiah, tells us, " though the number of the
children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a
remnant (that is a small part of themj shall be
saved." Rom. ix. 27. Which remnant the
apostle himself explains of such of the Jewish
nation as at that time, by entering into the
cliurch, were saved by God's grace. Rom. xi. 5.
But what relation has this to the saving of a
remnant of all religious, of Christians, Jews,
Turks, and Pagans; which even Protestants
themselves in the i8th of the 39 articles say,
" they are to be had accursed who presume to
say, that every man shall be saved by the law
or sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent
to frame his life according to that law and light
of nature," etc. Art. 18.
Q. You satisfied me as to those points, that
all who are actually and visibly members of
Christ's Church, ought to believe the doctrine
that he taught ; and also obey the authority he
has placed over them : but you say nothing to
two other matters, viz. : How any human power
can presume to impose creeds, and forms of
belief upon the members of Christ's Church
methinks as to this, every one ought to be at
liberty in regard of particular articles : is it not
sufficient to believe the gospel in general, with-
out troubling one's self about this or that
opinion ? Besides, the whole bod}' of revealed
religion, contains an endless number of articles,
which the greatest part of Christ's members
are never acquainted with, and by consequence
they can give no assent to them. Again,
where is there any obligation of submitting to
this or that person, who pretends a commission
to oversee and govern Christ's Church?
A. We find by daily experience, that a great
many take the liberty to expound the gospel
truths according to their own meaning, and by
this method have denied many of those revealed
articles which were delivered by God, and neces-
sary to be believed, to support his veracity,
and promote virtue, so that there is scarce
one article of the Christian religion, but
what has, by some heretic or other, been
questioned, and flatly denied. To obviate this
inconvenience, it was reqi:isite to prepare an
antidote to expel the poison ; which was, by
giving the true meaning of God's laws, and
obliging those that were members of Christ's
Church, to make a profession of such articles
as were necessary to support the fabric, and
preserve the Church from ruin. And whose
business was it to speak of this matter, but
theirs, who were appointed by Christ to govern
his Church ? As to what you allege, concern-
ing the vast number of revealed articles, which
can neither be known, nor distinctly assented
to, by every member, you seem to mistake the
case : every one is called upon to give his
assent according to his knowledge and capa-
city, whereby it happens that a more explicit
belief and obedience to more articles is found
in some than in others, though all are alike
disposed to admit of every article, when dis-
tinctly known and proposed. And in this the
civil and ecclesiastical authority observe the
same method, every subject is not acquainted
with all the laws of a nation ; yet a subject
46
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
is supposed to obey them all when it is required
of him.
Q. So that you place the authority of the
Church, and the civil power upon the same
footing as to obedience, and by consequence
that Christians are as much obliged to sub-
scribe to forms of belief, as subjects are to a form
of human laws.
A. The difference is not very great ; only
that of the authority of the Church, is more
conspicuous, more necessary, and better recom-
mended in the Scriptures ; because the Church
is an universal establishment, under which the
g;reat concern of salvation is carried on, and
therefore Christ founded it himself in person, and
promised to guard it against all enemies, to
which purpose he bestowed several privileges
upon the governors.
Q. What are those privileges that Christ's
Church enjoys, which cannot be claimed by any
civil powers ?
A. The first is to be judge in all spiritual
causes, viz. : that belong to faith, in expound-
ing the law : according to that of the prophet
Malachi, " the priest's lips shall keep knowl-
edge, and they shall seek the law at his
mouth." Chap. ii. 7. And our Saviour Christ
says, " he that hears you hears me ; and he
that despises you despises me." Luke x. 16.
Again, " he that will not hear the Church, let
him be to thee as a heathen or a publican."
Matt. xvii. 17. And such are they, who will
not believe the teaching or doctrine of the
Church. The second is infallibility. The third
is perpetuity.
Q. How do you prove the Church of Christ to
be infallible ?
A. St. Paul assures us, that " she is the
pillar and ground of truth." i Tim. iii. 15.
Now if she be the pillar and ground of truth,
she must in her pastors and prelates be, to
all Christians, according to the promise of
Christ, a sure and infallible guide in deciding
controversies of religion. And he assures us,
that " the gates of hell shall not prevail against
her." Matt. xvi. 18. Again, "I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another paraclete,
that he may abide with you for ever, the spirit
of truth : he shall teach you all things and
suggest all things unto you." Jo. xiv. 16, 26.
"He has given us pastors and teachers for
the perfecting of the saints for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ till we all meet in the unity of faith,
that we henceforth be no more children tost to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine by the craftiness of men." Eph. iv.
II, 12, 13. All which, though much more
might be added from the holy Scriptures,
together with the article of our Creed, " I
believe the holy Catholic Church," gives us
assurance above all exception, that God's Church
cannot err; if she should, the gates of hell
would certainly prevail against her ; she would
not be the pillar and ground of truth, neither
would the spirit of truth nor Christ, abide
with her pastors for ever ; neither would any
be obliged to hear and obey her as Christ
requires, under pain of damnation. "He that
will not hear the Church, let him be to thee
as an heathen or a publican." Matt, xviii. 17.
Neither would there be any certain means to
know truth from falsehood, could she err ;
whom could we consult or rely on in matters
of faith? what assurance can we have of our
religion, of all mysteries of our belief, of holy
Scriptures and what else concerns our salvation,
could she err ? and would not Christ's order
of treating as heathens and publicans, those
who disobey, and the Church's punishments be
unjust, could she err? and what can we think
of those who teach that the Church may err,
and has erred, who persecute severely those,
(though they themselves, even according to
their own tenet, may be in error) who cannot
subscribe to their erroneous doctrine against
the belief of all the fathers, councils, creeds.
Scripture, and of all the faithful in all ages ;
believing, professing, and teaching that the
Church cannot err ?
Q. How do you prove the perpetuity, or per-
petual continuance of the Church of Christ ?
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
47
A. From several plain texts of Scripture, in
whicli it is promised or foretold, that the Church
or kingdom established by Christ shall stand
to the end of the world. " Behold I am with
yon to the end of the world," says our Saviour
Christ. Matt, xxviii. 20. " They shall fear
thee," says the psalmist, " as long as the sun
and moon endure throughout all generations."
Ps. Ixxii. 5. And the prophet Daniel tells us,
that the Church of Christ shall never be de-
stroyed, but that it shall stand for ever. Dan.
ii. 44. Again, as we believe in the Creed ; so
every article thereof must be always true,
therefore there must always be a holy Catholic
Church.
Q. You have satisfied me as to this point,
but let me hear what proofs you can bring of
the Church of Christ being always visible and
known ?
A. I can prove it from many texts of Scrip-
ture, as from the fifth chapter of St. Matthew,
verse 14, where our blessed Saviour compares
it to a city placed upon a hill which cannot
be hid. Now, it is certain, nothing can be
more conspicuous or visible, than a city placed
upon a mountain. The prophet Daniel calls
it, " a g^eat mountain which fills the whole
earth." Dan. ii. 35, 44. The prophet Isaiah
calls it a mountain on the top of mountains,"
and says, that " all nations shall flow unto it."
Isa. ii. 2. Besides, how can the universal
Church of Christ be invisible or unknown ;
since she shall always profess her faith, and
the terms of her communion, and having min-
isters preaching, baptizing, and administering
the sacraments : these are all outward and
sensible actions, which are inconsistent with
an invisible society of men. Therefore the
Church of Christ must of necessity be always
visible, and not invisible as some would have
it, upon account of their being convinced that
there were none of their religion, or way of
thinking, to be seen or heard of in the world
about two hundred years ago.
Q. I need not ask what is meant by the
Church, the nature of the thing requiring that
it should be understood principally of the supe-
riors who govern. But there may be some diflB-
culty in finding out this Church, since there
are so many different congregations who pretend
to it. Are there no visible marks whereby it
may be known ; otherwise the ignorant part
of mankind will be at a loss for a director.
They are not capable of discussing every point
in particular, and even the learned, when they
rely upon that method to find out truth, run
into a thousand errors and absurdities. It
seems requisite therefore, that the Church estab-
lished by Christ, should be undeniably conspic-
uous, by certain tokens and marks, which can-
not be applied to any other congregation ?
A. Providence, and the particular goodness
of God, hath taken care of all these matters,
to the full conviction and satisfaction of all
who will not shut their eyes at noon-day.
All visible creatures whatever, have certain
outward marks, whereby they are distin-
guished, and known from one another. A
man, a beast, a ship, a house, are known by
their outward form, and different structure of
their parts. The same is observable in moral
beings ; and societies of men, kingdoms, cor-
porations, cities, courts of judicature, families,
etc., carry many outward marks, by which
they are known from one another. It is after
the same manner that the Church of Christ is
known, which is a visible society of men, upon
whom such outward marks are fixed, that none
can be ignorant of them, who do not wilfully
shut their eyes against them.
Q. Pray give me a general notion of these
outward marks, which I expect you will explain
in particular.
A. The chief of these outward marks are
expressed in the present article of the Creed
under our consideration, viz. : The unity, sanc-
tity, universality, and apostolical succession of
the Church ; the ^last mark being added by the
first general council of Constantinople ; to which
may be added, several other outward marks,
which cannot be applied to any other society
of men, namely, miracles, conversion of nations,
48
THE CATHOUC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
(
morality of doctrine, obedience, patience in
suffering, martyrdom, antiquitj^, etc.
Q. These outward marks make a good appear-
ance, and plead strongly for truth, where they
are found : but there are two difficulties that
occur to me, before we proceed any further.
The first is, how you will account for their
behavior, who stand off, and are not convinced
by such plain proofs, and cannot see the city
that is placed upon a high hill, nor behold
the sun that shines upon them, nor find out
the way, wherein fools cannot err (for such
the Church of God is described to be in the
holy Scriptures) and it is inconceivable, that
such multitudes of men, of the greatest pene-
tration, learning and zeal, should not discover,
and own the Church recommended b}^ such
advantageous circumstances. Another difficulty
I have is, you take no notice of the inward and
more essential marks of Christ's Church, viz. :
Adhering to God's word, the true administra-
tion of the sacraments, zeal for God's glory,
and the performing of good works, and an
innocent life. These are the marks whereby
Christ's Church is to be known.
. A. I own it is a melancholy reflection to
consider the blindness and stupidity of judg-
ment which is occasioned in mankind, through
'^ pride, interest, and the love of pleasures. Who
can be but astonished, at the stupidity of Pharaoh,
and the learned Egyptians, who could not, or
would not, discover the finger of God in so many
miracles that were wrought among them by Moses
and Aaron ? What a thick veil of darkness was
thrown over the Jews, when they would not
acknowledge the Messiah : and the undeniable
proofs of his miracles made no impression upon
them ? Could there be a greater stupidity than
that of the whole world, when they adored stocks
and stones, and acknowledged the vilest creatures
to be their Gods? And what wonder is it, if
heretics should lie under the same infatuation,
and not see the Church, though represented to
them with so many outward marks? I say this
upon a supposition, that it is an error in the
judgment, which obstructs their sight, though
we have reason to think, great numbers, like
Pharaoh, are persuaded that the hand of God is
with the Church, but other motives carry their
affections another way, and the world has too
strong a hold of them, to act according to what
they think, which is both the case of heretics, as
also of many true believers, and true members
of God's Church, who, though fully persuaded
of the great truths of the Christian religion, yet
live directly contrary to what they profess, as to
all particular duties of a Christian. And the
stupidity and perverseness of the will, is equally
as unaccountable as the blindness of the under-
standing. The other difficulty you take notice
of, is a plain evasion. Heretics being destitute
of all visible marks of being God's people, have
recourse to equivocal tokens, which being invisi-
ble, cannot distinguish them from the wicked.
Can the adhering to God's word be a true token
of truth, if they pervert the sense of it ? The
true administration of the sacraments is the
point in question, and cannot be a mark of
truth, where the substance of the ceremony may
be destroyed by inward indispositions. As for
zeal for God's glory, and a pretended innocence
of life, they may be all under a wrong manage-
ment, and the effects of hypocrisy, and no marks
of truth in the regard of men, God alone being
able to make the discovery.
Q. You have clearly convinced me that these
pretended marks of the true Church, are not
the real ones, but vain subterfuges of heretics.
It remains now, that you give a particular ex-
planation of the marks mentioned in the Creed ;
and first, what is meant by the unity in Christ's
Church?
A. In the first place, it imports, that Christ
established only one Church upon earth, not
Churches. And the Church, in the general
council of Nice, held in the year 325, made this
unity a part of her Creed, I also believe one
holy Catholic and apostolic Church. Which
is plainly expressed by St. Paul to the Ephes-
ians, where he says, there is one body, and one
spirit, as you are called in one hope of your
calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
49
Chapter iv. verses 4, 5. And St. John declares,
" there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."
John X. 16. Again, as the Church of Christ is
a kingdom which shall stand for ever, it must
be always one: for every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation, and
every city or house divided against itself shall
not stand, says our Saviour Christ. Matt. xii.
25. It was upon this account, that when the
|Novatians erected a separate community, St.
Cyprian attacked them in his book of the Unity
of the Church, " there is," says he, " but one
God, one Christ, one Church, and one faith;
unity is incapable of division ; to leave this
original unity, is to forfeit life, being, and
the state of salvation." St. Augustine, upon
the like occasion, attacked the Donatists, who
had also established themselves as a Church
distinct from the rest of Christians. " You
are with us," says he, " in baptism, in the Creed,
and in the other sacraments of God ; but in the
spirit of unity, and bond of peace ; lastly, in the
Catholic Church, you are not with us." * For
which he gives this reason, " because they do
not communicate with the whole, wheresoever it
is spread." How then can any one without a
manifest delusion, persuade himself that the
Catholic Church, which we profess in the Creed,
is in more communions than one ?
Q. It is plain to me, both from what the
Scriptures declare, and from the general design
of our Saviour, that his intent was not to form
different societies and governments, much less
to allow them to be divided in their belief. But
pray what was this unity or union chiefly to
consist in?
A. Chiefly in these two points, viz. : To agree
to the articles of faith, and be governed by the
same authority. Hence the faithful in the Acts
of the Apostles, are described to be in one heart,
and one soul. Chap. iv. 32. St. Paul says
they are to mark those who study to make
divisions, and do not follow the doctrine deliv-
ered to them.
Q. I shall not trouble you with inquiring
* L. de Unst. Eccles. Cap. 4.
4
how the faithful can all believe the same articles ;
I know you will tell me, that upon account of
their capacities and circumstances, some may
have a more explicit belief than others, but that
all are equally disposed, in regard of other
articles when proposed, and that no one ought
to maintain any doctrine, opposite to what the
Church teaches. But at the same time, when I
consider the different opinions and behavior of
those who pretend to be members of the Church,
I am not able to reconcile it with that unity
you speak of What is that clashing among
the divines, and dividing themselves into Thom-
ists, Molinists, and Scotists; what are all those
religious orders ranged like different camps and
armies, and commanded by generals who ap-
pear to be of different opinions and interests ?
instead of union, here is nothing but divisions
and confusion.
A. We do not carry the union to such a
height, as to make the faithful of one and the
same mind, in all the controversies of life, but
only where the essential points of religion are
concerned, and so as not to tear the seamless
garment of Christ. The divisions of divines
and schoolmen, have no relation to faith, and
all their contentions are carried on, with a per-
fect submission to the authority of the Church.
And as for the several societies of religious
orders, their particular rules and practices are
under the same regulation. All communities,
both civil and ecclesiastical, have the liberty of
dividing themselves into different bodies, and
observing different methods, in private economy,
without encroaching upon the rights of the
supreme power, to which they owe obedience
or any danger of becoming either rebels or
heretics ; nor is it any breach of unity, to !
use a different dress, different language, or be
of different interests in regard of property, or
of different opinions in matters foreign to faith,
provided they refuse not communion in the
same places of worship, nor maintain any articles
inconsistent with the doctrine of the Church.
Q. If these marks are peculiar to any one
society of men, such as observe this unity bid
50
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
fair for the claim of being Christ's Church ;
but why are they not applicable to those
societies, which, since the Reformation, are
separated from the Church of Rome?
A. It is evident to any considerate person,
that no sect or body of men, separated from
the Church of Rome, can ascribe to them-
selves any such marks of unity. Lutherans,
Calvinists, the Church of England, Anabap-
tists, Quakers, and the other sects, almost with-
out number though they are in a perfect union
in their attacks against the Church of Rome,
yet they are divided among themselves, not
only in indiflferent matters, but in the two
essential points of faith and obedience. They
erect chair against chair, refuse communion,
frequent not the same places of worship ; they
are under no regulation, as to belief, every
one striking out a scheme from the Scriptures,
according to his own fancy. They have no
method of bringing different civil governments
to a unity in faith. Every independent govern-
ment in civil matters, claiming the like indepen-
dency in religpious matters, so that Babylon and
Jerusalem, representing confusion and unit}',
are the true emblems of the pretended reformed
bodies, and the Church of Rome.
Q. I still want to be informed by what
method this unity in Christ's Church is
effected, for it appears to be a diflBcult mat-
ter to preserve unity of faith where there
are so many occasions of contention, and where
(as we find by dailj' experience) worldly con-
siderations are so prevailing as to cause a rap-
ture?
A. I told 5'ou before, that the Divine Good-
ness had provided against this inconvenience,
by appointing governors in his Church, who
were to reconcile all differences where faith
was concerned.
Q. That indeed you mentioned to me in
general, but I want to be informed of more
particulars, for I suppose it may be with Christ's
Church, as it is with all other regular societies,
who have a head to preside over them, and
pronounce upon causes when particular mem-
bers misbehave themselves, and lay claim to
more than their due.
A. You have touched upon a point, which
when duly considered, will fully instruct you
by what means Christ does preserve unity in
his Church, which cannot be better explained
than by comparing the Church with a temporal
monarchy, the peace whereof is preserved by
appointing a head in whom the executive
power is lodged, in order to see the laws of
the kingdom observed. This method Christ
observed in forming his Church, among the
twelve Apostles, who were fellow-laborers in
building the Church and propagating the Gos-
pel, one was appointed by Christ himself, as
we learn both from St. Matthew, and ,St. John,
viz.: Matt. xvi. i8. St. Peter to be the head
of the rest, and to stand as the centre of unity
when the Church was threatened with divisions,
by disobedience of refractory members. Jo.
xxi. 15, 17. Now the Church being established
not only for the Apostles' time, or any set
number of years; but for perpetuity, it was
requisite, that there should always be one con-
tinued, as St. Peter's successor, in order to
preserve the same unity : and a person of this
authority, has constantly claimed and exercised
the said supreme supervisorship, from the Apos-
tles' time down.
Q. By this system, you seem to lodge the
whole authority of the Church, with St. Peter's
successor. I thought Christ had been the Lead
of his own Church. Do you allow nothing to
the rest of the Apostles upon whom the Church
was also founded ? Nothing to all the bishops,
who were the Apostles' successors ? Nothing
to general councils, who represent the Church ?
Nothing to a national Church, governed by
their own bishops and clergy ? Nothing, in
short, to temporal princes, who by divine
appointment, claim, a natural obedience and
superiority over all members, both civil and
ecclesiastical ?
A. These reflections you make, when justly
applied, confirm what I have said, as to pre-
serving of unity of the Church ; for the headship
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
51
I mentioned, allows every power the claim
they can pretend to, either by natural or divine
right, in their proper district. Christ, who
founded the Church, is still the invisible head,
and governs it invisibly by his divine assist-
ance, and visibly by his representatives, who
take care that his laws are duly complied with.
Now, St. Peter and his successors, may be
called the visible and ministerial heads of the
Church, while Christ is the chief and invisible
head. In the same sense, God is the only
invisible king, father and master of all man-
kind, yet, so that there are other visible kings,
fathers, masters, who under him govern all
visible societies.
Q. But still methinks, the rest of the Apostles
might claim a power equal with St. Peter, they
were priests and bishops unconfined in their
jurisdictions, as being commanded to preach
all over the world.
A. That they were priests and bishops, is
not denied ; but that they had the same power
with St. Peter, will not be allowed without a
distinction : they had the same power as to
the essential parts of the sacerdotal and epis-
copal character, but not without a subordina-
tion to St. Peter, to whom Christ gave the
charge of all his sheep; St. John x. 21, 15.
And consequently, of the Apostles themselves,
and bid him confirm his brethern ; St. Luke
xxii. 32.
Q. I am satisfied, let us proceed to the second
mark of the Church. Why is it called holy ?
A. Upon many accounts. First, because it
was founded by Christ, and put under the
direction of the Holy Ghost, the origin of holi-
ness. Secondly, the doctrine it delivers, all
tends towards holiness, viz.: The lessons are
such as are agreeable to reason, and service-
able towards making men good, and both good
neighbors, good subjects, and good Christians.
Thirdly, it has appointed and provided us with
instruments and means of becoming holy, viz. :
The use of the sacraments, which are the chan-
nels of grace. Fourthly, because true holiness
is not to be found in any other society. Fifthly,
it abounds with the fruits of holiness, even
visible, as to the eye, which are no where so
conspicuous.
Q. Some of these reasons are very intelligi-
ble, but it does not appear they all answer
your purpose, which I presume is to insinuate,
that only one Church can lay claim to holi-
ness.
A. You judge right, but pray be pleased to
inform me wherein I fail in the application ?
Q. I mean the two last points. Are all the
members of Christ's Church holy? Are there
no good and holy persons to be found, among
the several bodies of reformers ? Is it not visi-
ble to the eye, that great numbers of them,
practice all the methods of the gospel, and show
plentiful fruits of holiness, by their good works,
and innocent lives ?
A, I will endeavor to set you right, as to
all these particulars. First, by showing you
what grounds the Church of Rome has to claim
the title, and then demonstate the unjust pre-
tensions of those who are divided from her.
The title of holy, is not given to Christ's Church,
to signify that all the members are hoi}', but
that they ought all to be holy, and that num-
bers in effect are so ; as, also, upon account of
the reasons above mentioned, and therefore, in
the beginning, all the faithful were styled
saints, or holy persons, because, they made pro-
fession of a religion truly holy. Now, in order
to make good the first point, I am to set
before you, the marks of holiness, which always
were conspicuous in the Church of Rome,
and which cannot be more eflfectually per-
formed than by showing the conformity it
has, with what the gospel requires to make
men holy. Are not fasting, prayer, and
alms, the three great duties of a Christian,
recommended in the gospel, as the means of
becoming holy, and outward tokens of a mind
well disposed towards God ; and where are these
practices more duly performed, than in the
Church of Rome ? When two days every week,
the ember days, rogation days, the eves of every
feast, with the forty days of lent, are deputed for
52
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
fasting, in order to keep corrupt nature from com-
mitting excess, and mortify the flesh, that it may
not rebel against the spirit ? By whom is the
great work of prayer, more exactly performed,
and the words of the Scripture better fulfilled,
of praying at all times, and without intermis-
sion, than by those who are constantly employed
in it, both night and day, not only privately
in their bed chambers, morning and evening;
not only on the Sabbath day, but upon a great
number of holy days, throughout the whole
year; nay, all the night long, thousands of
religious persons, deprive themselves of their
sleep, and rise at all hours to spend the night
in prayer? Where can we behold such monu-
ments of charity to the poor, both public and
private, as have been, and still are to be seen
within the districts of the Church of Rome,?
Where that religion flourishes, every city,
village and province, can show buildings,
erected for the blind, the lame, the sick, the
incurable, with not only a fund for their main-
tenance, but an infinite number of persons em-
ployed, for no other business but to take care
of them ? Nay, the marks of holiness are still
more visible : they aim at carrying holiness to
the highest pitch, by obser\'ing what they are
advised to, as well as what is commanded.
The gospel exhorts us, to be obedient to every
living soul, to deny ourselves, and if we will
be perfect, give all we have to the poor. Where
are there any instances of this practice, but in
the Church of Rome ? What are all the religious
houses, whereof there are many thousands, but
schools established for this purpose ? Are not
poverty, chastity, and obedience, holy and
evangelical practices ? Can there be a greater
self-denial, than to submit to the will of others ?
Do not those who oblige themselves, by
vowing a single life, find more opportunities
of applying themselves to God's service, than if
they were entangled in worldly incumbrances ?
What can it be but an effect of holiness, that
makes so many forsake the world, part with
their substance, and be content with only food
and raiment?
Q. I cannot deny, but these tokens of holi-
ness are apparent in the Church of Rome, but
they cannot be accounted a distinguishing mark,
if other societies do also lay claim to them.
A. They are obliged to lay claim to what is
essential to the true religion. But the right
of their claim is disputed.
Q. How can that right be refused them?
Do they not fast, pray, and give alms ; have
they not erected, and still do continue to erect,
many hospitals for the poor ? And though they
do not make vows of poverty, chastity and
obedience, they practise the substance of those
pious admonitions, and comply with them strictly
as far as the law of God obliges ?
A. There is a show of holiness, in all socie-
ties whatever, both in infidels, Turks, Jews, and
heretics ; but it is no distinguishing token of
truth, upon several accounts. First, in some
societies, those holy practices are joined with
many abominable sins, against the law of
nature, so that their profession is directly
destructive to holiness: by other societies they
are practised, only as mere ceremonies, not con-
tributing towards inward holiness and by con-
sequence, are only an equivocal mark ; but,
what is chiefly to be regarded on the present
occasion, is, that the instances of holiness,
among other Christian societies, are so very few,
in comparison of what we observe in the Church
of Rome that they are nothing ; and the Church
of Rome is left in full possession of the dis-
tinguishing mark of holiness.
Q. I will not dispute the case, as to those
societies, whose practices are directly opposite
to the law of nature; it is pretty plain, holi-
ness cannot be found among them: but as for
those who make a profession of observing both
the law of nature and the law of the gospel
what hinders them from the claim to holiness,
and in the first place, do not they pray ?
A. Yes, they pray, but when, and how ?
What they do privately is only known to
themselves ; their public prayers are very rarely
performed ; midnight prayers, are banished and
ridiculed; and the whole duty has lain under
THE CATHOLIC REUGION EXPOUNDED.
53
the greatest discouragement, ever since the
demolishing of some thousands of religious
houses, filled with persons, deputed to serve God
by continual prayer.
Q. I own this had no good aspect, neither did
it look as if they, who had a hand in such
works, were any great friends to prayer, seeing
they destroyed the method of carrying on that
duty. But you cannot deny, what is visible to
the eye, I mean the colleges, hospitals, work-
houses for the poor, and other pious foundations,
which are a lasting proof of their good disposi-
tions, and an undeniable mark of holiness ?
A. What is fact, cannot be denied, nor will I
presume to question the good intention of the
founders : but, when some circumstances are
considered, those pious works will come far
short of answering the present purpose, or en-
titling their religion to the name of holy, or
making those foundations a distinguishing mark
in the way of holiness. For to omit that the
colleges in both our universities, and all the
Churches, in a manner, throughout the whole
kingdom, were the marks of other peoples' holi-
ness : did they not, by methods contrary to
holiness : destroy many hundreds of hospitals,
collegiate Churches, and other pious foundations ;
distribute their lands and revenues, among
courtiers and flatterers, and load the nation with
innumerable taxes, for maintaining the poor,
which formerly were provided for, by those
pious foundations? And what are those few
establishments, which have since appeared, to
demonstrate their holiness ? Indeed, while
death was laying his hands upon them, some
have been willing to part with what they could
no longer keep, and by their last will and testa-
ment, have ordered some charitable benefac-
tions, but who among them have done any
thing considerable in that way, either to
deprive themselves of all, or part of
their substance, whilst they were in their
bloom, and able to enjoy what they had ; much
less to forsake the world personally, retire from
it, and content themselves with mere necessaries,
the remainder of their days? These are
instances of holiness, they are unacquainted
with. It would be too invidious a reflection, to
charge the founders of many of their charitable
establishments with worldly and politic views ;
but their workhouses, and the rest, are not out
of the reach of such a charge, the manner of
their management, affords but too much grounds
to make such a reflection.
Q. You have made so nice an inquiry into
this mark of their holiness, that I must g^ve up
the cause, when their holiness is compared with
that of the Church of Rome, which infinitely
surpasses it, both in the motives and extent
of their charities. But, what observations do
you make, as to their fasting, a practice recom-
mended by the Scriptures for promoting holiness,
and subduing the flesh to the spirit ; this is so
conspicuous in other Christian societies, espe-
cially in the Church of England, that it is ordered
in their canons and liturgies ; ember days, lent,
and occasional fasts, are publicly exhibited in
their calendars and almanacs, and enforced by
statutes, proclamations, and other sanctions,
both civil and ecclesiastical.
A. I am apt to think, those whose cause you
plead, would not be well pleased to hear 3^ou
insist upon this topic, or to mention fasting as a
mark of holiness. The whole duty of fasting
is become among them a mere politic contrivance,
wherein religion, virtue, and holiness, are not
the least concerned ; this evidently appears, both
from the laws relating to it, and the manner of
practising it.
Q. I can scarce believe, that a practice of that
kind, which is so frequently recommended, both
in the old and new scriptures, and so serviceable
of itself, towards the extinguishing of vice, and
promoting of virtue, can be so much misrepre-
sented by any who profess Christianity, as not
to look upon it as a religious and holy work.
A. And yet, so it is, that fasting is not only
misrepresented, but it is neglected, and ridiculed
when practised for any such purposes, and as the
days appointed for it, are marked down in their
calendars, it seems to be a kind of providential
management, that their tongues shall not go
54
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
together with their hearts, but contradict one
another, and make their religion destroy itself.
It would be plain dealing, rather to expunge
those fasts out of their calendar, than let them
stand there, a reproach to their cause. What
precedents do they find in the Scriptures,
that fasts are ordained for encouraging
the breed of cattle, or augmenting the number
■of sailors, by employing them to catch herrings,
etc., as their statutes for fasting specify?* The
ancient prophets tell us it was ordained for a
sinner's conversion ; our Saviour says, for expell-
ing the devil ; St. Paul says for subduing the
flesh to the spirit. Let reformers view them-
selves in this glass, and see whether their way
of fasting can be a mark of holiness. Now, as
to other marks of holiness, povert}?^, chastity
and obedience, they are not only strangers to
them in practice, but they scarce know even the
meaning of the words. There are many poor,
it is true, among them, but it is always against
their wills : they never strip themselves of all
their substance, upon a religious account, or
scarce ever dispose of any part of it, till they
can keep it no longer. Chastity lies under the
greatest discouragement, when they contradict
what our Saviour taught, and decry a spiritual
castration, and advise the ministers of the Church
to involve themselves in the cares of the flesh,
and break their promise made to God, for
observing virginity, contrary to St. Paul's doc-
trine. And, as for obedience, or self-denial, they
never could show one instance of it : a general
obedience to superiors, placed over us by nature,
or God's positive law, does not answer what is
expected from us by self-denial, which specifies
times, places and persons, when, where, to whom,
and how the virtue of obedience may be carried
to the greatest height, by a voluntary self-denial.
Q. Two points yet remain, wherein, I am not
^ully satisfied. Why may not persons be esteemed
hoi}' without these voluntary practices ? Is it
'not suflBcient to comply with what the law of
nature, and God's law, has ordained in such
cases ? Besides, it does not appear, that those
» See Act. v. Eliz. Chap. 5.
voluntary practices can be complied with, or that
any vow can be binding, whereby persons oblige
themselves to practice them.
A. I do not say, but that persons may be
holy, by observing the laws mentioned, but there
is a greater appearance of holiness, the more
zeal persons show, in observing the law. Did
not the Apostles and primitive Christians, excel
others in perfection ? And, when persons oblige
themselves by vow, to perform particular reli-
gious and holy practices, as those of renouncing
the things of this life, by a vow of poverty ;
den3dng themselves, by vowing to obey such
particular persons, and by renouncing the pleas-
ures of the flesh, by a vow of chastity ; then
they may justly be said to comply with the
will of God in the most perfect manner, and in
this we place the marks of holiness. I will not
enter into a detail of that controversy, how far
such vows are lawful and possible to be kept,
etc., only inform j'ou that vows of particular
good actions, not commanded either by the law
of nature or the law of God, have been made
as we read in the Scriptures, where the}' are
ordered to be kept. And, as to the lawfulness
and possibility of giving our possessions to
others, or obliging ourselves to follow the will
of others, does it not every day happen, in all
contracts between man and man, confirmed by
promise or oath ? Nor is there any special
difl&culty in vowing chastity, unless we deprive
God of the power of preserving it by his grace ;
which he does by prayer, and other helps
whereby grace is obtained for avoiding sins of
the flesh, as well as other sins. And, I believe,
when the behavior of thousands who enter into
a matrimonial state, is looked into, it will be
found that it is not the only, nor always the
most effectual help, to preserve chastity. Now,
that the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedi-
ence, are practiced in the Church of Rome, is
as plain a fact, as that they are religious per-
formances and a mark of holiness.
Q. There is one thing you have not as yet
considered, which is this : I own all these per-
formances are outward tokens of holiness, but
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
55
true holiness consists in the purity of the heart,
and such performances may be all show, and
proceed from hypocrisy. An invisible thing, as
holiness is, cannot be a visible mark of the
Church.
A. Here you run again to invisible things,
which belong not to the present inquiry, which
is all about the visible tokens of that society
of men, God has established upon earth. And,
as this article of the Creed declares his Church
is holy, we are to judge of true holiness, by the
outward behavior ; which, though it may be an
equivocal mark in particular persons, or where
there is a remarkable defect in the outward
behavior of any society, who neglect and despise
the methods of becoming holy, yet when all the
outward methods of becoming holy, are pro-
fessed and practised by a Church, it deservedly
claims the title of holiness.
Q. We have dwelt long enough upon this sub-
ject. The next mark of the Church, is Catholic,
pray tell me what you mean by that word ?
A. The word signifies universal, and it may
be considered as a true mark of Christ's Church
upon two accounts : First, merely attending to
the name. Secondly, by attending to the thing
signified.
Q. How can the name only distinguish the
true Church ? It was not called Catholic, but
only Christian, in the Apostles' time. Besides,
how could it be Catholic before it was universal ?
Nor could universality be ascribed to it when
the Apostles were supposed to make the Creed;
hence, the word Catholic is not found in some
ancient Creeds, as Rufinus tells us. Again,
heretics of old, st5'led themselves Catholics, and
the modern reformers still lay claim to it.
A. The Creed is as ancient as the Apostles, and
there is no inconvenience, if the Church had then
the appellation of Catholic, upon the account of
the ancient prophets foretelling its universality ;
as also, because, in the Apostles' da3'S, it was
preached over several parts of the world. In
some Churches, indeed, there was some small dif-
ference in the words of the Creed, upon account
of heresies, that sprung up in the Apostles' days,
and immediately after, so that it was necessary
to add some words in opposition to them ; yet, as
Rufinus observes, no such alteration in the Creed
was made use of at Rome. However, in all the
first ages, the true Church was always known by
the name Catholic, as it appears by the writings
of the ancient fathers. I own the Donatists, and
some other ancient heretics, coveted to be esteemed
and called Catholic, but St. Austin and the
orthodox party, showed the absurdity of their
claim. First, because the Donatists made a par-
ticular society, were confined to Africa, and by
consequence, could not be the Catholic or unL
versal Church. Secondly, because their distin-
guishing name was taken from those persons who
were authors of the defection, as Montauists,
Manicheans, Pelagians, Arians, Novatians, Dona-
tists, etc. Thirdly, because those who were indif-
ferent persons, called none Catholics but such as
were in communion with the universal Church.
Fourthly, those very heretics themselves, were
so convinced, that they had no right to that
appellation, that they seldom called themselves
by that name ; and, if they were asked to show
a person the Church where Catholics assem-
bled, they durst not point at their schismatical
meetings, but sent them to those who communi-
cated with the Churches abroad. These are St.
Augustin's reasons,* and may be applied to
all the modern reformed societies.
Q. I see plainly, those in communion with
the Church of Rome, have the name of the
true Church, and that according to St. Augus-
tin's argument, the name alone, as it is cir-
cumstantiated, is a mark of the true Church,
and I suppose this was the reason, why the
very name Catholic, held him in the commun-
ion he was of But then, as to the thing]
signified, how will you make it appear, that
universality belongs to the Church in com-
munion with Rome ? What do you mean by
universality ? If universality be a mark of the
true Church, heathens, Turks, Arians, Greeks,
nay, the late reformed bodies may pretend to
lay claim to it.
• Vide St. Aug. cont. Ep. Fundament. C. 41.
56
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
A. Universality is not so strictly to be taken,
as to exclude all other things in every kind
and respect, but only comparatively to other
societies, and chiefly as to time, place, and
doctrine ; in these three respects, the true
Church is universal, and no other. It flour-
ished in many parts of the earth, in every age
since it was established, and the very same
Creed was always its rule. Heathens are not
under our consideration, but only those bodies,
who believe in the true God, and were sepa-
rated from the Church universal ; and, though
heathens might be called an universal body, as
to place, they were not so as to time, or doc-
trine. It is probable, there \\-ere no heathens
before the deluge, that is, for above 1500 years,
at least, among the sons of Seth ; till all flesh
had corrupted their ways, some time before the
flood. During that time, the Church flourished
under the law of nature, though men were
depraved in their morals. Again, they were
not universal as to doctrine, being divided into
numberless sects, and paying worship to dif-
ferent gods ; and though they have laid claim
to a great universality ever since, as to place,
yet soon after the apostolic age, they lost even
that claim.
Q. But the Turks, the Arians, and the Greek
Church, once were, and still some are, a very
spreading body, and might dispute universality.
A. The Turks can dispute no universality
as to time or doctrine, their rise was not till
six hundred years after our Saviour's time;
they are divided in their faith, and many large
kingdoms are strangers to their faith and dis-
cipline. The Arians never were ; nor at pres-
ent are universal in any respect : when they
jwere most numerous, they came far short of the
true believers, and even then counted heads by
fraudulent subscriptions. They were divided
into many sects. Their rise was not till about
three hundred years after our Saviour's time ;
they continued not many years, and at present
are almost reduced to nothing. As for the
Greeks, for near a thousand years, they were not
divided from the true Church, and under her
might claim universality, as to time, place and
doctrine. But upon their schismatical defec-
tion, they lost all the three advantages, and
are now contemptible to the rest of God's
Church, upon each account.
Q. I will leave these, and the rest I men-
tioned, to make out their universality, which I
find they can have no pretensions to, and come
nearer to our own times. Are not our modern
reformers extended all over Europe, and equal
in number to the whole body of those in com-
munion with Rome ?
A. It is true, the number of pretended re-
formers is greatly increased in several northern
kingdoms ; but it is far from equaling what
may be found adhering to the Church of Rome,
even in Europe. They reckon the British do-
minions, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and some
principalities in Germany. Those in com-
munion with Rome, reckon France, Flanders,
Spain, and greater part of Germany, Italy, and
all the islands in those seas ; they reckon also
Portugal, with their dominions, in the East and
West Indies : the two great kingdoms of Mexico
and Peru; where they are all in communion
with the Church of Rome, without any mixture
of other professions; whereas, in Holland, Ire-
land, and among the Protestant princes in Ger-
many, there is so great a mixture, that in some
of these kingdoms there is a superior number
of the inhabitants in communion with the Church
of Rome; in some an equal, and in others a
number little inferior. If to this we add, that
the kingdoms in communion with Rome, do far
exceed the reformers in power, riches, univer-
sities, episcopal sees, and all the outward advant-
ages and appearances of an universal Church,
there is no room for making a comparison as
to place. But then, as to the other two requi-
sites: universality of time and doctrine, the
reformers cannot have the least pretence to
insist upon them. As to time, they appeared
but as it were yesterday, they were so far from
being universal as to time and place, that for
above twelve hundred years they covered not
a foot of land, and have been so divided as to
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
57
doctrine, tliat they are of different professions,
and diflferent communions ; so that their Church
in no sense can be called universal.
Q. But pray give me leave to make one
observation in their favor, especially with regard
to universality of place. Do they not possess
several tracts of land, and have they not colonies
abroad, in both the Indies ?
A. Those are mere rays of a Church, and no
part of Christ's seamless garment, when com-
pared with those vast countries, which are
united to the Church of Rome, where we meet
with so many archbishoprics, bishoprics, par-
ishes, and great numbers of religious communi-
ties, who are governed regularly by and under
one spiritual pastor, the bishop of Rome. What
are a few planters of sugar and tobacco, a strong
fort erected on the shore, half a dozen of tip-
pling houses to entertain sailors, and ware-
houses for their merchandise ? What is a consul
residing at Aleppo, at Constantinople, Venice,
or Lisbon, in order to obtain the name of an
established, and universal Church in those parts,
especially considering, that they profess a dif-
ferent religion, one from another, and are of
different communions ? Now the case is quite
otherwise with those in communion with Rome,
who observe the rule, and carry the mark of
universality, mentioned by Vincentius Lyrinen-
sis, viz.: Professing a faith that is the same
without any difference in doctrine and govern-
ment.
Q. Let us now proceed to the fourth mark of
the Church, viz.: Apostolic. What is imported
by that title?
A. The immediate and express meaning is,
that the true Church of Christ, ought to have
the Apostles for its founders.
Q. This all must pretend to, because the
Apostles were the first builders, employed by
Christ : But what follows from hence, in order
to fix a distinguishing mark upon the true
Church ?
A. What I infer from thence is, viz.: That the
true Church must be very ancient, viz.: As old
as the Apos^t^es- And the next inference is,
that antiquity is a mark of Christ's Church, or
that the society of true believers was prior in
time to any body of men divided from them.
And, thirdly, it follows, that the true Church of
Christ must derive its succession from the
Apostles.
Q. The two first inferences are plain and
undeniable, and that succession is also a mark
of the true Church, by what I have sometimes
observed in the writings of Tertullian, St.y
Augustine, and other orthodox fathers, who
urged the antiquity of the Church ; and in order
to prove it, trace the succession of the true
pastors to the Apostles : whereas those who
were taxed with novelties, could run up no
higher than certain persons, who first broached
those errors, since the Apostles' days ; and to
render their proof more plain, and as it were
to the eye, they produce a list of the orthodox
bishops, but particularly of the bishops of Rome,
successors to St. Peter. But what I further
desire is, to be convinced that the bishops and
pastors, and such as now are in communion with
Rome, do succeed the Apostles.
A. This succession appears by the catalogues
in every nation, faithfully preserved, of all the
kings, popes, archbishops, bishops, etc., who, in
all parts of the world, have governed every
kingdom, and diocese, and constantly professed
what their ancestors taught, and practised. I
shall not run abroad into foreign nations, but
only observe, how the succession was carried on,
in the British Isles, and some neighboring
countries ; France, Spain, Italy, Germany,
Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Swedeland, etc.,
can produce lists of their kings and bishops, '
from their first conversion to Christianity, with-
out any interruption, all living in communion
with Rome, till some dropped off, upon Luther
and Calvin's appearing. As for the British
dominions, the reformers themselves own, and
Catholic writers have demonstrated from public
records, and the histories and writings of every
age, that every king, archbishop of Canterbury,
and so respectively, that every bishop and
learned man lived in communion with Rome,
58
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
and made profession of the Romisli faitli ; from
Henry the VIII's reign upwards for five hun-
dred 3'ears, to the Norman conquest. The same
unity of doctrine, and Church government, is
owned by the reformers ; and proved in the
same manner, by Catholic writers : as to the
Saxon monarchs, and during the heptarchy,
from the conquest, till the Saxons were con-
verted from Paganism, which comprises about
five hundred years. So that there is an un-
contested succession of the Church, in com-
munion with Rome, for a thousand years with-
out an}' interruption. As to the British Church,
it lay under great oppression after its first
establishment, the latter end of the second cen-
tury, by the Roman governors, the Dioclesian
persecution, the Picts invasion, and Saxon
usurpation, who being all Pagans, gave a dis-
turbance to the succession ; yet as far as their
imperfect records are able to inform us, we have
an account of several of their princes, bishops,
and monk", who lived in communion with Rome,
and professed the same faith with the universal
Church abroad, and joined with the Saxons upon
their conversion.
Q. I cannot see any way reformers can have
to refuse this mark of apostolical succession ;
and therefore they endeavor to evade the force
of the argument, by rendering the mark of
antiquity insignificant. Hence they distinguish,
between a personal and doctrinal succession.
The first, they sa}', is not material, because a
personal succession maj?^ be continued by intrud-
ers, and false teachers ; whereas a doctrinal suc-
cession is made out, by showing a conformity
of doctrine, with the Scriptures, the primitive
pure ages, at, and soon after the Apostles' time,
as also by adhering to such as had an apos-
tolic spirit, and undertook to reform the Church,
this makes it apostolic.
A. This doctrine, between a personal and
doctrinal succession, is a mere evasion, and in
itself a contradiction : there cannot be a quality,
without a subject of adhesion ; nor a doctrine
conveyed, without hands to convey it ; so that
what you call a succession of doctrine, supposes
a succession of persons. I own, a personal suc-
cession only, is not a sufficient mark of truth,
for the reasons you insinuate ; but other cir-
cumstances are required, to show that the per-
sons are not innovators ; but then a succession
of doctrine is unintelligible, when conveyances
are wanting.
Q. I do not see, that such a succession of
doctrine is unintelligible, (though I own it is
very improperly called succession, for want of
persons to convey it) yet, at the same time, if
the doctrine is conformable to the Scriptures,
• to the faith of the Apostles, and the primitive
ages, it may truly be called apostolical in the
sense of the article.
A. By this method of appealing to Scriptures,
etc., all heretics, whatever, may have a pretence
of justifying their innovations; and it was the
method they made use of in every age, when
they appeared. The Marcionists, Manicheans,
Ariaus, Donatists, etc., constantly appealed to
the Scriptures, and had passages ready to allege
in defence of every error they maintained. But
how did Tertullian, St. Epiphanius, St. Augus-
tine, and the rest of the orthodox fathers, pro-
ceed against them ? They owned the Scriptures
were a good rule, for inquiring into the truth,
but could not be a judge in the case; if either
any of the books were rejected, or erroneously
expounded ; and therefore, they , urged the
authority of the Church, which was commis-
sioned to determine these matters. They pro-
duced catalogues of bishops, and ancient fathers,
to give testimony of what was the true sense
of the Scriptures. They called upon heretics to
name the persons who had handed down their
errors, from the Apostles ; now if ancient here-
tics, who lived so near the times of the Apostles,
were at a loss upon this account ; how can
modern reformers, make out their succession,
after so many ages of interruption, or what
pretence can they have of justifying themselves
who have no arguments to urge, but what all
heretics made use of, viz.: Appealing to Scrip-
tures, expounded according to their own private
judgment? As for the noise they make abort
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
59
the primitive and pure ages, which they pretend
to follow ; they can have no claim, either to the
doctrine or discipline of those times, and there-
fore, they refuse to stand by any such evidence,
but appeal both from fathers and councils to
the word of God.
Q. I own the want of personal succession is
a great inconvenience ; and therefore, some of
the reformers have attempted to avoid it, and
to this purpose, have offered a list of persons,
through whose hands the truth has been con-
veyed to them, viz.: The Albigenses in France,
the Hussites, in Bohemia, and the Wickliffeites
in England ; who were forerunners of the
Reformation, and held out a light for Luther
and Calvin, etc.
A. What can this chain of a few broken links,
eifect to their purpose? Can it reach through
so many ages as is required ? Or can the
reformers with all their skill, join the links
together ? The defects, which may be observed
in this pretended succession, plainly shows the
desperateness of the defence : I will only men-
tion some of them. Those pretended successors
of the Apostles were heretics, condemned, by
the universal Church at that time. They did
not immediatelj'' succeed one another, there
being a gap of some ages between them. They
had no comirunication, but lived in different
places, and at different times. They varied in
essential points from each other. * They were
only a few ignorant, obstinate persons, without
government, bishops, or pastors, and a mere
mob; and in open rebellion against the lawful
powers under whom they lived. In fine, they
were all reduced to nothing, long before the
Reformation, and innovation of Luther and
Calvin; and therefore, could not be their im-
mediate predecessors, as to time, much less as
to doctrine ; their tenets being directly opposite
to the Refonnation, in many essential points;
(and this kind of succession, can be no more
prejudicial to the claim of God's Church, than
a list of rebels can be prejudicial to the royal
succession of kings, if by beginning with Oliver
* See Mons. Bossuet's Hist, of the Variat, h. 1 1.
Cromwell, a catalogue should be made of all
the rebels, that opposed the crown, in every
reign since the conquest.
Q. I own these are but scandalous and
dirty channels, for conveying the waters of
life, and the reformers appear to have dug
themselves cisterns, which cannot hold them.
But they have still another way of maintain-
ing their succession : they might lurk invis-
ibly in the body of the universal Church, and
as they received the Scriptures with all the
necessary points of the Christian religion,
excepting the additional articles, and super-
stitious practices of the Church of Rome ; they
might claim a succession through that
channel.
A. The more the reformers struggle, the
more they are entangled. Was there ever any
system more inconsistent with itself, and more
absurd in all its consequences ? A system
destructive to all government, both civil and
ecclesiastical ; a system, that opens a gap to
rebellion, disobedience, schism, and heresy ;
and puts it in the power of any body of
men, or even single persons, to justify their
defection, both in Church and State. And, in
the first place, what proofs are there of this
invisible state of the Church? Would it not
be a madness to pretend, there is now an
invisible army of Spaniards, lurking in our
kingdom, without any further proof? But, as
they cannot be serious upon this point, as it
imports a total invisibility, they have recourse
to the members of the Church of Rome, as
the channels of truth, and chain of their
succession. And pray, how was this ? Why,
during those ages, wherein the reformers were
destitute of a regular succession of pastors ;
this want was supplied by popish pastors, who
during all those ages, are to be conceived as
monsters, consisting of two opposite natures ;
half papists, and half reformed clergy : if con-
sidered as holding all the points essential to
Christ's Church, they were reformers and con-
tinued the succession as true pastors. If con-
sidered as practising, holding and imposing,
6o
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
additional articles contrary to the gospel, tliey
were false teachers, and in that respect, had
no succession from the Apostles. Now, reform-
ers claim their succession under the first con-
sideration, and allow popish teachers to have
been the channel through which passed all
the essentials of the true religion ; but now,
observe the circumstances of this whimsical
succession. Is not the true faith, as much
destroyed by additional articles, as by subtract-
ing from them? If the popish pastors, during
several ages, imposed additional articles, incon-
sistent with the true faith, they could not be
orthodox teachers. No man can act lawfully
without a commission, and what commission
can false teachers give, who are themselves
without commission ? But, the absurdity of
this plea, will appear further, when the late
reformers fly to the Church of Rome, for their
consecration, episcopal, and sacerdotal ; such as
suflBciently qualifies them to preach and govern
the Church. For in the first place, few of
them ever pretended to this consecration, being
neither bishops, nor priests ; others cannot
make out their consecration, and scarce any of
them esteem that consecration to be necessary.
But of what advantage is consecration, in case
thej' could be favored with it ? The ancient
heretics, viz. : Arians, Donatists, Pelagians,
etc., received the orders of espiscopacy, and
presbytery, from orthodox pastors, but this
gave them no authority, to teach heretical
doctrine : and though both they, and the late
reformers, receive the Scriptures from the ortho-
dox part}', they are not well qualified thereby, to
expound it in their owtq sense. Those who laid
hands upon them, gave them no such com-
mission, but, on the contrary, obliged them to
submit to the powers that ordained them, both
as to jurisdiction, or doctrine.
Q. After all, I do not see why pastors, suffi-
ciently qualified by ordination, parts, learning,
and zeal, may not have a right of reforming
the church, when those who consecrated them,
neglect their duty, which was the pretended case
of the reformers, in these latter times. No com-
mission is required to pferform good actions ; the
law and the gospel, gives every man a commis-
sion in those circumstances ; so that all the
noise about succession, is little to the purpose.
A. You now touch the heart of the cause, and
the plea has a plausible appearance, but it lays
open the nakedness of the pretended reforma-
tion, in all its parts. The thing signified by
reformation, is making things better. Now the
character, parts, and zeal, are very useful quali-
fications ; yet they are not suflScient, without
other ingredients. We are to inquire into their
power, what it is that wants reformation ? Their
motive, the effects, etc. It is an easy matter to
cry out reformation, reformation : but, in the
first place, who were to be reformed ? In what
were they to be reformed ? Who undertook to
reform ? What motive had they ? What was
their method ? Did they actually reform the
faith of the Church ? This I will inquire into,
through each particular ; they pretend to reform
those to whom Christ had given a special com-
mission to govern and reform others, and to
whom he had given frequent promises of his
assistance, that they should always teach the
truth ; so that there could be no occasion for the
reformation, unless Christ broke his promise.
Thej' pretend to reform the Church, in matters
of faith, and points of discipline. As to the
first, there could be no occasion for it since
Christ has promised in the i6th chapter of St.
John, the 28th chapter of St. Matthew, that he,
and his holy spirit will abide with his Church,
and teach her all truth to the end of the world,
and that the gates of hell shall never prevail
against her ; by which it is evident, that she could
not err in matters of faith. As to her manners,
if there was any occasion, it was to have been
done, and was continually done in ever}' age, by
councils, general, national and provincial, as it
appears by the canons, still extant for that pur-
pose. Nor would our late reformers have done
amiss, had they proceeded no further, and
observed the usual methods of reforming, and
shown due respect to superiors in the under-
taking. Those who pretended to reform, were
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
6i
persons of scandalous lives, and sucli instru-
ments as God never would make use of to carry
on a good work. As to their motives, they were
avaricious, ambitious, sacrilegious, carnal, and
rebellious ; opening a gap to any private person,
to reform the established laws, both of Church
and State ; upon a pretence of errors committed
by the supreme powers. Now, whether they
actually did reform the Church or no, appears
by the consequences. The doctrines they ad-
vanced tended to liberty, and vice ; they destroyed
all Church authority, and gave it to the laity,
contrary to the doctrine of the gospel. The
denying of free will, merit of good works, con-
fession, fasting, and decrying of voluntary pov-
erty, chastity, and obedience, were manifest
oppositions to a good life ; destroying pious
foundations, designed for the poor, and God's
service; seizing their lands, and throwing them
away among debauched court favorites, were the
very reverse of a reformation.
Q. In the next place, you are to satisfy me
as to the two other marks of the Church, viz.:
Miracles, and the conversion of heathenish
nations. And as to the first what is it you
call a miracle ?
A. It is a surprising work, above the reach
of art or nature, and which speaks an almighty
power.
Q. A work of that kind cannot be mentioned
as a mark of truth, upon several accounts.
First, because jugglers are often known to
impose upon men by tricks, which appear to be
above either art or nature. Secondly, the devil,
and wicked persons by combination with him,
do often perform surprising things, which fall
not under the power either of art or nature, that
we can discover. Thirdly, to make wonderful per-
formances a certain mark of truth, or that the
divine power is employed in them ; we must be
capable of discerning how far art and nature can
extend in their productions. Again, heathens
can work miracles.
A. As to the first, what jugglers perform are
easily discovered by the inquisitive and learned,
as we find by experience. As to the second, the
devil, it is true, has a great insight into both art
and nature, and is capable of performing won-
derful things, which we cannot account for ; but
there being many things he cannot effect, and
even what wonders he does perform, are always
detected, and proved not to be the works of
divine power. As to the third, though we can-
not dive into all the secrets of art and nature, so
as to discover every particular effect, and form a
judgment, that it proceeds not from a divine
power ; yet, there are several performances,
which we are sure can have only God for their
author, as, namely, raising the dead to life,
prophesying, or foretelling future contingencies,
and curing distempers, naturally incurable, with-
out any applications either from art or nature.
As for miracles being performed by heathens,
and heretics, they were commonly detected to
be impostures, and not miracles: and though
God should have made use of such instru-
ments, to perform miracles ; yet we never find
he did it in confirmation of their doctrine.
Q. What construction then do you put upon
the wonders, performed by Pharaoh's magicians,
by Simon Magus, by Appolonius Tyaneus, and
those that antichrist will perform ? These are
to be performed to confirm the doctrine he will
teach.
A. Great numbers will be carried away by
them, not merely by the force of those proofs,
but by blindness, and obstinacy, in punishment
of sin: for God never permits false prophets
and magicians, but he raises up the workers
of miracles to oppose them, and detect their
forgery. Moses and Aaron detected Pharaoh's
magicians ; St. Peter detected Simon Magus,
and Enoch and EHas will confront antichrist.
So that as God's power is employed in work-
ing true miracles, his goodness and justice inter-
pose to detect false ones.
Q. When miracles are true, and done by the
power of God, all the world must confess, Prot-
estants as well as Catholics, Jews and heath- '
ens themselves ; that those who work miracles
to confirm their doctrine, are true Apostles, and
that the faith they teach is true: for miracles
68
THE CATHOUC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
axe certainly a divine attestation of truth, and
as such are urged in the Scriptures both old
and new, appealed to by Christ himself, as a
testimony greater than that of St. John, to
prove himself the Messiah. St. John v. 33, 36.
And by St. Paul, as the signs and seal of his
Apostleship. 2 Cor. xii. 12. And if it were
once clearly proved, that you have had any of
these extraordinary persons in the Church of
Rome, professing the faith of that Church, who
have been workers of miracles, like Christ and
the Apostles, in curing the sick, the lame, the
blind, and raising the dead to life; we should
be worse than infidels, if we did not own the
Church of Rome to be the true Church, and the
Roman faith the true faith. Have you any
authority that may be depended upon, that
such miracles have been done by the saints of
your communion ?
A. We have as good authority for the truth
of many surprising miracles, done by such as
believed and preached the Roman faith, as can
be had for the truth of any historical fact : for
instance, the miracles wrought by St. Augus-
tine, our Apostle, at the conversion of England,
in confirmation of the Roman Catholic faith,
viz.: The mass, transubstantiation, invocation of
saints, prayer for the dead, etc., attested by
venerable Bede, and all our Chronicles; Hol-
lingshead. Stow, Goodwin, and others. The
miracles done at St. Stephen's relics, related at
full length by St. Augustine the Great,* as an
eye witness to many of them : and can any one
doubt, but St. Stephen himself, as well as St.
Augustine, the relater of these miracles,
preached the same faith as those persons did,
who came to venerate his relics, and implore
I his intercession, for the cure of their sick, and
raising of their dead ? The public miracles
done by St. Bernard, (before thousands of
people), preaching the Roman Catholic faith
against the Henricians, and Albigenses, who
were a branch of the Manichean's sect ; attested
by all the histories of those times. The mir-
acles done by St. Dominick, and St. Francis;
one the founder of the Dominican, the other
of the Franciscan Order, both strongly united
to the Church and See of Rome ; related by St.
Antoninus.* The miracles done by St. Francis
Xaverius at the conversion of the Indies : Mr.
Pory of Cambridge, in his Geographical Dic-
tionary, page 410, witnessing, that this great
saint and Jesuit, and preacher of the Roman
Catholic faith, did miraculously cure the deaf,
the dumb, the lame, the blind, the sick, and
raised the dead to life. In a word, a volume
would not suffice to relate the miracles done
by the saints of our communion ; public, cer-
tain, uncontested, and prodigious miracles ; the
truth whereof is so undoubted, that they are
published to the world for truth by Protestants
themselves, as may be seen in the Protestant
Centuriators of Magdeburg, in the 13th chapter
of their history of every century. The truth
of these miracles, the learned part of Protest-
ants own, and the most incredulous part, have
nothing to object against them, but what might
formerly with as good reason, have been objected
by the Jews and heathens, against the miracles
of Christ and the Apostles : for all they can
say against them is, that they are reported by
Catholics, and that they will not believe Catho-
lics : and may not Jews and heathens say, that
the miracles of Christ and his Apostles, were
reported by Christians, and that they will not
believe Christians : whereas miracles being facts,
can have no other proof but the credit of his-
torians, to recommend the truth of them : they
being the last and highest proof of doctrine,
can have no other proof for themselves but the
evidence of sense, to those who saw them done,
and their testimony and report to others. In
the proof of miracles, no one can go higher
than to make it appear by the most creditable
authors ; that such miraculous things were
done, at such a time and place, in the sight of
whole multitudes of people; by which means
we may be as certain of the truth of a miracle,
* h. XX. de Civ. DeL Chap. 8.
* Hist. Part. ii. L. 23.
THE CATHOUC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
63
as of any other fact we see or hear. Cannot
I prudently believe sucli persons, as St.
Antoninus, venerable Bede, St. Augustine the
Great, St. Ambrose, etc.? On the other hand,
if such men may be reputed forgers, this will
overthrow the credit of those men, and writings,
which convey all the proofs we have for the
miracles of the primitive Christians, and the
divine establishment of the Christian religion;
either then own our miracles to be true, or if
you take the liberty to give the lie to all the
world, who attest the truth of them; any one
inclined to be an infidel, may with as good
reason question all the facts, by which the
Christian religion is proved to be divine ; or
any other facts, under pretence that there is no
geometrical or metaphysical certainty for such
things. In a word, we have all the evidence
that the nature of miracles can admit of; the
highest human testimony that can be had for
the truth of them, and all the authority that
can be had for the truth of any; and he that
requires more, is a prejudiced and unreasonable
man.
Q. It only remains, concerning the marks of
the Church that you add a word or two, of the
conversion of infidels, which appears to me an
unquestionable proof, if the facts be true. And
in the first place, let me understand the nature
of this argument ; what nations have been con-
verted, and who were the instruments employed
by Almighty God in that great work?
A. The propagation of the Christian religion,
has always been looked upon as an undeniable
effect of divine power, as the circumstances
plainly declare. The persons first employed,
were unqualified as to any human means. The
doctrine they established was directly oppo-
site to the interest and affections of all mankind,
and the method they made use of, in all appear-
ance, was destructive to the cause they under-
took ; the Apostles were persons without power,
interest or learning, the doctrine they taught
was a denial of all the pleasures of life ; and the
conquest they gained, was by being overcome,
and being put to death by their enemies, so that
nothing but the force of truth, and justice of
their cause, could prevail upon mankind, and
bring about their conversion. As to the truth
of the fact, it depends upon historical credit,
which informs us, that there were such persons
as Christ and his Apostles, and that b}^ their
means such a conversion was made.
Q. All this must be owned by every party
that professes itself Christian, but the Apostles
not living long enough to complete the work,
how was it carried on ? The heathenish worship
was the prevailing religion, for three hundred
years after, in all parts of the world, and in some
nations nothing was done, in order to their con-
version, till several ages after.
A. What you have insinuated is very much
to our present purpose. Christianity was but
gradually propagated, during the first three
hundred years after Christ ; and even after
that time, only few nations entirely embraced
it. The remaining part of the labor, was
undertaken and completed by persons in com-
munion with the See of Rome, who professed
the same doctrine, that is now taught by
Roman Catholics. The conversion from Pagan-
ism to Christianity, is entirely owing to them ;
they were the instruments employed in con-
verting the French, Spaniards, English, as
also Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Hun-
gary, and all the principalities of Germany ;
and of late years, persons of the same religion,
have brought to the Christian faith infinite
numbers of the inhabitants of both the East
and West Indies.
Q. These are facts that cannot be called in
question, as being supported by the same his-
torical credit, which gives testimony of the
propagation of Christianity during the first
three hundred years.
A. And if this be so, there cannot be a
stronger proof of the truth of a religion, and
that they who were employed in the work,
were the instruments of heaven. And that on
the contrary, all those sects, who are divided
from the Church of Rome, not being able to
show, or even pretending to lay claim to the
64
THE CATHOUC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
conversion of any one heathenish nation, are
entirely destitute of the divine assistance ; the}'
cannot complain of want of opportunities, being
daily conversant in the way of trade with the in-
fidel nations. They have learned men among
them, capable enough to instruct them in Chris-
tianity, and of late have made little subscrip-
tions to carry on that work, but without any
effect. God will not concur with such instru-
ments, who are more zealous to fill their ware-
houses, than propagate the gospel.
Q. What is meant by the last words of this
article, the communion of saints ?
A. By saints are to be understood, all the
blessed in heaven, all the faithful on earth, and
all the suffering souls in purgatory ; between
whom there is a communion or correspondence,
conformable to their stations. The blessed in
heaven pray for the faithful on earth ; and the
faithful on earth give thanks to God for their
glory, and honor them, and beg their prayers.
The faithful on earth pray for one another, by
being united under the same invisible head,
Christ Jesus, and under the same visible head
to avoid schism, in the same faith to avoid
heresy, and in the same sacraments and sacri-
fice, and bonds of love, whereby they partdike
of each other's merits, and the prayers of the
Church.
Q. Does not the communion of saints reacli
to infidels, heretics, schismatics, etc.?
A. No more than the branches are nourished
by the tree from whence they are cut off; they
may pretend a communion with Christ, but by
not submitting to the superiors ho has appointed
by rejecting the true faith, hy not making use
of the sacraments, the communion is broke ;
all they partake of are prayers for their con-
version.
THE TENTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the tenth article?
A. The forgiveness of sins.
Q. How do you explain this matter?
A. We believe that God has given a power
to his Church to forgive sin ; for tho.ugh it is
God alone that can forgive sin, as the princi-
pal agent, yet he may employ others as instru-
ments to confer grace, and by consequence to
forgive sin.
Q. Where is this power expressed in the
holy Scriptures ?
A. First, when orginal sin is*forgiven by the
sacrament of baptism. Second, when Christ
said, whose sins you shall forgive, they are
forgiven. St. John xx. 23. Again, when
Christ having cured the lame and sick man of
a palsy, and told him, his sins were forgiven
him, the Jews were scandalized, saying within
themselves, that only God could forgive sin,
this man blasphemes ; but our Saviour seeing
their thoughts, said, which is easier to say,
thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, rise up
and walk ; therefore to let you see, says he,
that the son of man has power to forgive sins.
Matt. ix. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, he ordered the sick
man to rise and take up his bed and walk.
He wrought that miracle to convince them
that such a power was conferred upon him as
man.
Q. But is not this power an usurpation of
the divine authority? It encourages persons
to commit sin, seeing that the priest has a
power to absolve whom he pleases ; nay, fur-
ther, why may he not give them leave to
commit sin ?
A. It is rather an acknowledgment of the
divine power; because an instrument has no
virtue of itself, but derives all its eflBcacy from
the principal agent ; whereof there is a plain
instance in working miracles where God is
ST. CEGILIA.
On the evening of her wedding day, with the music of the marriage-hymn ringing in her ears, Cecilia, a rich, beautiful and noble
Roman maiden, renewed tlie vow by which she had consecrated her virginity to God. " Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh- for I
have a .spouse you know not of^an An^el of my Lord." The lictor sent to dispatch her struck the three blows allowed by the law and fair
Cecilia gave back her pure spirit to Christ. A. D. 179. '
ST. TERESA.
St. Teresa was born at Avila, in Old Castle, on the twenty-eighth of March, 1515. She was a Carmelite nun and during her life
established thirty convents. Our Divine Lord favored her with twenty visions. On one occasion she beholds herself covered with spots,
defects and faults; for the smallest are visible in a bright beam of Divine light, darting in upon her; she sees that she is all misery and
imperfection, and cries out: " Who shall be justified brfore Thee ' "
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
65
honored, and his power illustrated by those
who cure distempers and raise the dead; by
being the instruments he employs for those
purposes. As for priests having a power to
forgive whom they please, or to give persons
leave to sin ; those are ignorant surmises and
downright calumnies. The power of absolving
from sin, is granted with such restrictions,
that no one is capable of receiving any benefit,
but only such as bring proper dispositions, and
are esteemed worthy of absolution in the sight
of God.
Q. Pray what are those dispositions?
A. There are several. First, a sinner must
be inwardly and sincerely sorrowful for having
offended God. Secondly, he must make a firm
resolution not to ofiend him any more. Thirdly,
he must humbly and sincerely declare all his
mortal or deadly sins by confession. Fourthly,
he must promise to restore the good name, or
goods of others, he has unjustly detained.
Fifthly, he must promise to avoid the occasions
of sinning, etc.
Q. When these things are complied with, the
power of absolving seems useless, and the power
is only declarative, not executive.
A. When those dispositions are accompanied
with a perfect love of God above all things, and
with a will to confess, the sin is forgiven before
absolution ; but when the love of God is only
weak and imperfect, absolution completes the
work ; not unlike to a blast, which recovers a
few sparks of fire, which otherwise might dis-
appear and come to nothing. Thus, a sinner
who begins to love God, by an humble ac-
knowledgment and confession of his sins, renders
himself capable of receiving a further grace, by
the power God has left to his Church.
Q. Has the Church a power of absolving
from all sins whatever? This I mention, upon
account of some expressions in the Scriptures,
which seem to insinuate, as if certain sins
could not, or would not be forgiven, even by
God himself, much less by the Church.
A. The Scriptures only speak of the greater
difficulty there is, in having some sins for-
given, more than others : for instance, habitual
sins, blasphemy, impugning the known truth,
etc., and where there is a direct opposing of
God's grace, upon which forgiveness entirely
depends : but even in these cases, the Scrip-
tures assure us, that God's mercy cannot be
limited, and mention several particulars where
such sins have been forgiven. The only sin
that God can be said to be incapable of for-
giving, is final impenitence, whereby a sinner
renders himself incapable, for want of proper
dispositions ; not that there is a want of either
power, or will, in God, but because forgiveness,
in that case, is inconsistent with his divine
justice, and nature of the offence. Now as to
the power of the Church, it is under no limita-
tions where the offender brings proper dispo-
sitions ; hence, the Novatians (who affected a
strictness of discipline, in order to seduce the
people, and make them believe they were
more holy than others) were condemned for
heretics, pretending that the Church had not
power to forgive some sort of sins.
Q. Is this all that is meant by the forgive-
ness of sins ?
A. No, by the power of forgiving sin, we
are to understand another power flowing from
it, viz. : A power of granting indulgences.
Q. What is an indulgence ?
A. This will be specified when we come tO(
explain the sacrament of penance.
66
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
THE ELEVENTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the eleventh article?
A. The resurrection of the body.
Q. In what does this mystery consist ?
A. We believe, that at the consummation of
the world, all mankind shall have their souls
. and bodies re-united, in order to share equally
of their eternal fate.
Q. What necessity is there for this union ?
And how is it possible to resume the same
bodies, which are changed into other substances,
especially in case of cannibals, who eat one
another, and may be supposed often to have but
one body, the substance of one being become the
substance of some other, by digestion, etc.
A. There is no absolute necessity, only it is
God's pleasure it should be so: though there
are some congruous reasons for that re-union.
First, man in the state of innocence, was
designed not to die ; so, for the recovery of
that state, the body and soul must be re-united.
Secondl}', as the bodj' and soul concurred in
good and bad, it is proper they should mutually
partake of the effects, in a future state ; besides,
without that re-union, man is not a complete
being, but imperfect.
Q. Why was this article inserted in the Creed ?
A. To prevent and guard against certain
errors of those days. First, against the Sad-
ducees, a sect among the Jews, who denied the
resurrection and immortality of man's soul.
Secondlj-, against Hymeneus and Philetus, who,
(as St. Paul says), 2 Tim. chap. ii. verses 17,
18, said the resurrection was then over,
expounding the doctrine only of a spiritual
resurrection from sin to grace.
Q. Why is the resurrection of man, called in
the Creed, the resurrection of the body ?
A. To show us, that (whereas man doth con-
sist of two parts, viz.: Soul and body), it is
only the body which perishes by death, the
soul being immortal and consequently incapable
of resurrection, for nothing is revived but that
■which is first dead.
Q. How do you prove the immortality of the
soul?
A. Abstracting from faith and divine revela-
tion; I prove it. First, because the soul is a
spiritual being, and consequently of a superior
nature to the body, entirely distinct from it,
and independent of it; and therefore it is not
liable to be destroyed by that which destroys
the bod}'. Secondly, as the soul is a spirit, it
has no parts, no extension, and so of its own
nature it is indivisible, and incorruptible, and
by consequence immortal: for death consists in
a dissolution or separation of one part from
another, which dissolution, can have no place
in that which has no parts.
Q. How do you prove man's soul to be a
spiritual substance or being?
A. Because man's soul is endowed with a
vast extent of thought and knowledge ; with a
memory of innumerable things, with a free will,
which nothing controls ; with reason and an
understanding capable of contemplating the
highest truths, and such as are the most
abstract from matter, even the most subtle
notions of metaphysics, the first principles of
sciences, the laws of argumentation, and infinite
series of demonstrations, etc., capable of reflect-
ing upon herself, and her own operations, and
the manner how she acts; unconfined by time
or place as to her ideas, and not to be satisfied
in her desires, with any thing less than the one
true and sovereign Good. Now, no matter or
corporeal substance alone, can be endowed with
reason, understanding, and a conscious life; it
being repugnant to the common ideas of all
mankind, that mere matter should be conceived
thinking, understanding, or reasoning: and daily
experience teaches us, that this principle of
life within us, which we call our soul, is
endowed with a capacity of reflecting upon
itself, and its own faculties, upon the very
power of reflection, and the act thereof, and the
manner how it reflects. Therefore, this principle
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
67
of life within us, cannot be material; for
it is evident that matter can only act upon that
which is material, whereas the soul of man con-
ceives and contemplates many things which are
entirely abstracted from matter, and have no
connection with matter, such as the ideas
of universality, spirituality, infinity, eternity,
truth, wisdom, etc., all which is entirely
abstracted and distinct from matter. Therefore
the soul of man must be a spiritual being.
Q How do you prove the general resurrec-
tion of the body ?
A. From many texts of Scripture. St. Paul
says, if there be no resurrection of the dead,
your faith is vain : i Cor. xv. verses 12, 14. I
know, says holy Job, that my Redeemer lives,
and in the latter day, I shall rise again from
the earth — and in my flesh I shall see God —
I myself and not another; chapter xix. verses
25, 26, 27. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive; i Cor. xv. verse 22.
This corruptible body, saj'^s St. Paul, must put
on incorruption, and this mortal body must put
on immortality; i Cor. xv. verse 53. Again, St.
John in the Apocalypse, speaking of the wicked
at the general resurrection, says, they shall
seek death and shall not find it, they shall
eternally desire to die, and death shall ever fly
from them. Chap. ix. ver. 6. Besides, the soul
being immortal, and only one part of the whole
man, it is imperfect without the other ; it is not
in that state for which it was created, it is
therefore in a state of violence unsuitable to
its nature, and it is not likely that a separa-
tion so unnatural is intended to last for ever;
but seems more agreeable to human reason, to
believe there is a certain time appointed by
Almighty God, in which all separated souls
shall resume their bodies. This argument our
Saviour urged against the Sadducees, and proved
the resurrection of men's bodies by the im-
mortality of their souls. Matt. xxii.
Q. The manner of the resurrection is not
very intelligible. Will the same body rise as
to every part ? At what age or size ? Will the
wicked arise as well as the just?
A. Mysteries of faith are not within the
reach of man's understanding ; however, it is
easy to conceive that he who made all things
out of nothing, is able to collect the scattered
parts of man's body, and replace them. As to
cannibals, being nourished so as to claim the
same body, it is a false and whimsical conceit ;
they are not nourished entirely by human
flesh : besides, as there is an increase, so there
is a continual waste in human bodies, so that
at least every one may recover his own. As to the
rest that regards this mystery, the Scriptures
seem to say, that everybody will be perfect,
and as it were at man's estate, no blemish or
deformity : the wicked as well as the just, will
resume their bodies, but not with the same
circumstances; the bodies of the just, will be
glorified, free from the clogs we now carry
about us, and embellished with many rare
qualities.
Q. Can you give me any account of the
excellent qualifications, the bodies of the just
will be favored with upon their resurrection ?
A. The Scriptures tell us, first, in general,
that they will be so pure, as in a manner to
be spiritualized, that is to say, free from any
pain or inconveniences. Secondly, clear as
light, that is transparent, every body having
a clarity, proportionable to its merits. Thirdly,
agility, that is to say, a capacity of moving
as quick as thought, from place to place,
without any impediment.
68
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
THE TWELFTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.
Q. Which is the twelfth article?
A. Life everlasting.
Q. What is the capital point to be believed
by this article ?
A. That there is a future state, wherein
both the just and wicked shall remain for
eternity. The wicked in everlasting punish-
ment, and the just in everlasting pleasures;
by enjoying the sight of God himself. Whereby
are condemned all Atheistical principles of
those who denied the soul's future being and
immortality, especially the Epicureans, who
placed man's happiness in riches, honors,
pleasures, or a pretended content of mind.
Q. This is what I suppose you call true
happiness, or beatitude. Pray give me a gen-
eral description of it ?
A. Beatitude, or the final happiness of the
just, is a state wherein we are freed from all
that is evil, and enjoy all that is good.
Q. Why is beatitude everlasting?
A. Because otherwise it would not be per-
fect, since the fear of losing it would be a
continual torture to the mind.
Q. Can you give me a description of happi-
ness in the next life, as to the particulars
following, viz. : What is it to see God ? Will
the corporal eyes behold him ? Did any one
ever see God whilst living? What is it the
blessed see in God? Have all the just an
equal share of happiness? Will the just be
happy immediately after their decease, or not
till after the general resurrection ?
A. As to those particulars, some points we
are to believe as articles of faith ; in others
the learned are divided, and may be free to
judge at pleasure. God cannot be seen by
\the corporal eye, because he is a pure spirit ;
hence the Anthropomorphites were condemned
as heretics, for affirming God had a body
essentially belonging to him. The corporal
eye can only see God's visible effects. Again,
no man living can see God according to the
general law of Providence ; for though the
Scriptures sometimes seem to say, that the
ancient patriarchs and prophets saw God; yet
it is to be understood only of angels or some
visible thing representing him, not that they
saw God in his own substance. I purposely
say, according to the general law of Providence ;
for it is a disputed point among divines,
whether Moses, St. Paul, and St. Stephen,
were not by a particular privilege, favored
with the sight of God, even while they were
alive. It is an article of faith, that the soul
is not naturally adapted to see God, without
some supernatural assistance, which divines
call the light of glory. The contrary doctrine
being condemned by the general council of
Vienna, against those heretics called Begardi
and Beguines, Anno 131 1. As to what the
blessed will see in God, the Scriptures affirm
I Jo. iii. 2, that they will see him as he is
in himself, face to face, i Cor. xiii. 12, which
imports, that they will see the divine nature,
and three persons with his attributes, and
what is essential to the deity, Psalm xxxv. 10.
As is defined by the council of Florence against
the Armenians, Anno 1438. It is also a certain
truth, that the saints will one way or other,
have the knowledge of several things, espe-
cially such as belong to them, particularly the
prayers that are directed to them, by the
faithful on earth ; it being defined in the
council of Trent, that it is not a foolish prac-
tice to address ourselves to the saints by
prayer : and from hence we may infer, that it
is a rashness to affirm that they do not hear
or know our petitions ; after all, we must not
pretend that we can have a comprehensive
knowledge of God. As to the equality of
happiness, all equally share it, as to the
primary blessing of seeing God ; but there is
an inequality in the manner, according to every
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
69
one's deserts, this distribution is required by
tlie divine justice which rewards men propor-
tionably. As to the time when the saints
shall be admitted to see God, it is an article
of faith, defined in the council of Florence,
that with regard to such as have nothing to
be purged away, it will happen immediately
upon their decease.
iXPLANATION of the
TEN COMMANDMENTS.
AAA iXl l2!^ A A A
US tU OJ ^JJ Q^ WWW
Q. When, by whom, and upon what occasion,
were the ten commandments delivered ?
A. They were delivered by Almighty God to
the people of Israel, through the hands of
Moses, soon after they were freed from the
bondage of Egypt. The occasion was, that
they might have a more distinct knowledge of
their duty, by several particulars being specified.
Q. Had they no knowledge of their duty
before?
A. Yes, but not suflBcient for their direction :
not onl}'^ the Jews, but all other nations were
provided by the light of nature, to distinguish
between good and evil ; but the world was
become so corrupted, that it was requisite to
explain matters more clearly, and recommend.
under distinct heads, the obligations they lay
under, in regard of God and their neighbor.
Q. Do the ten commandments contain the
whole of man's duty ?
A. They express only some general points, yet
so, that all particular duties are reducible to them.
Q. As how?
A. This will appear when we come to explain
every commandment in particular; meantime,
it is sufficient to observe in general, that the
worshiping of God, implies all religious duties,
that immediately regard the Supreme Being.
Honoring father and mother, speaks obedience
to all sorts of superiors. The commandments
not to kill, steal, commit adultery, etc., extend
to all the duties we owe to our neighbor.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the first commandment ?
A. Thou shalt not have strange God's before
me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any
graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that
is in heaven above nor in the earth beneath,
or in the waters under the earth : thou shalt
not adore nor worship them.
Q What is imported by this command-
ment?
A. Some things aire commanded, other things
are forbidden, other things are not forbidden.
Q. What is commanded?
A. Religion.
Q. What is religion ?
A. It is a worship due to God.
Q. By what methods do we pay this duty ?
A. By honor, by oblation, sacrifice, prayer, vowa
and oaths, also by erecting altars and Churches,
(70)
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
71
Q. What do you call honoring, and how is
it common]}^ expressed in our language ?
A. Honoring, is giving a testimony or ac-
knowledgment of some excellency or qualifica-
tion, and is called adoration, worship, respect,
reverence, etc.
Q. Which are the excellencies or qualifica-
tions to be honored ?
] A. There are several, some are infinite,
Ibelonging only to God; others are the perfec-
tions of creatures, whereof some are natural,
as wit, beauty, strength, and such like quali-
fications, either of body or mind : others
acquired, as authority, and all arts and sciences;
others are supernatural, as grace, virtue, etc.
Q. Is honor equally due to all who are
masters of those perfections ?
A. No, not equally, but proportionably to
the excellency of the object.
Q. How do you explain this inequality of
honor?
A. Divine honor is paid only to God.
Civil honor, to persons who enjoy natural or
acquired perfections ; and a religious honor
betwixt both, to supernatural qualifications.
The holy fathers called divine honor lalria,
and religious honor dulta, to which divines
add hyperduh'a, an honor given, on account
of some singular excellency, as that given to
the Blessed Virgin Mary, as being the mother
of God.
Q. I easily grant, that civil honor is due
on account of natural and acquired qualifica-
tions : and that persons are to be reverenced
and respected on those accounts, and that the
same is due to others who possess supernatural
perfections. But is it not a harsh expression
to say, that creatures are to be adored, or
worshiped, or to style that honor religious
that is given on that score ?
A. Words are to be taken in the sense cus-
tom or intention has fixed upon them, I own
the word worship or adoration, in the language
of the Church of England, is generally taken
for divine honor ; though the Latin and
Greek words ( adoratio Trpoaxwaat^) are frequently
in the Scriptuies applied to creatures; some-
times the word worship, or adoration, signifies
bowing or respect, in a more general sense.
The Latin word cultus, has a much larger
signification, and has been used even by Prot-
estant divines, to comprehend an inferior
honor ; see Camierus, Tom. ii. L. 18. chap. i.
And Junius against Bellarmin, related by Bishop
Montague, in his appeal, page 255. So that
speaking in the language of the Church of
England, it is the greatest calumny in the
world, to say, or suppose, that Catholics wor-
ship any created being whatever, with the
adoration that belongs to God.
Q. I should be glad to be informed, in what
manner these matters may be explained, so as
not to deprive God of the honor which is
proper to him alone?
A. This may be done by distinguishing wor-
ship into several branches, viz. : Relative, abso-
lute, external, internal. Relative honor or
worship, is when a thing is honored, not ou
its own account, but for the thing it repre-
sents, as that paid to images. Absolute honor
is, when a thing is honored for some excel-
lency inherent in the thing itself, as learning,
holiness, etc., though all honor may be said to
be relative to God, because all excellencies are
derived from him, and have a relation to him.
External honor or worship, is paid by visible
tokens, as kneeling, prostrating, bowing, un-
covering, etc. Internal honor, is an acknowledg-
ment of some excellency in a thing without any
outward tokens.
Q. Which of these honors do you call reli-
gious, and which civil ?
A. The honor we pay to God, angels, saints,
to their images, pictures, and relics, may be
styled religious. The honor we pay to things
on account of civil qualifications, we call civil.
The reason why the first is called religious,
is because they tend towards the good of
religion, either absolutely or relatively ; ab-
solutely, when they are placed on God, his
angels, and saints, who are qualified for it by
divine and supernatural perfections inherit in
73
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
them ; or relatively, as to images, pictures, etc.,
which, though they have no supernatural per-
fection inherent in them, yet they promote
religion, by being a means of suggesting
religious thoughts.
Q. Which are the exterior tokens of honor,
belonging only to God ?
A. Sacrifice, altars, churches, vows and oaths.
Q. What is sacrifice ?
A. It is the offering of some visible thing to
God, by some real change in acknowledgment
of God's supreme dominion over all created
beings. This action in all ages and by all
nations, was appropriated only to God, as also
were altars, churches, vows, and oaths.
Q. The practice seems to import more, other-
wise, why does the Church of Rome offer sac-
rifice, erect altars and churches to saints ? Do
we not also make vows and promises to men,
and swear by creatures ?
A. Churches, altars, etc., are only consecrated
to God, though they are distinguished by the
names of saints and angels, who are also
honored by those foundations : but as for sac-
rifice, it is directed or offered only to God.
Promises indeed, are made to men, but not
vows, and if we swear by creatures, such oaths
are either an express or implicit invocation of God.
Q. What do you say as to the other out-
ward tokens of honor, viz.: Kneeling, bowing,
etc., especially as to burning incense ?
A. Such outward tokens, are indifferent of
themselves, to signify supreme or inferior honor,
and depend upon the intention of the performer.
Heathens made use of these to signify' a
supreme honor to the false gods : Christians
often make use of them, only to signify an
inferior relative honor : hence, to bow to princes,
kneel to parents, to be uncovered in churches,
etc., are actions no ways derogatory to the
honor we pay to God. As for burning incense,
though formerly it was a token of divine,
supreme honor, custom has imposed another
signification on it ; it signifies no more now
than to represent the prayers of the faithful,
mounting up into heaven.
Q. What is prayer, another duty ordered by
the first commandment?
A. It is a raising up of our minds to God,
whereby we beg for good things, and to be
freed from all evil ; or in general, it is a petition
directed to another, in order to obtain some-
thing, returning thanks for what is obtained,
and celebrating the donor's praises.
Q. To whom may prayers be directed?
A. First, to God the original author of all
gifts. Secondly, to the saints and angels, that
they may use their interest with Almighty
God for us. Thirdl}', to the faithful on earth,
who pray for, and desire each other's prayers.
Q. I thought prayer had been an act of
religion directed only to God ?
A. All prayers are directed to God, either
immediately, or by the mediation of others, and
even then they directly implore God, though
jointly they regard saints and angels.
Q. What occasion is there for praj'^er, seeing
that God knows our wants, without our inform-
ing him, and will grant what we want, if he
thinks it convenient? Again, what occasion is
there to pray to saints or angels, since we may,
and are ordered to apply ourselves to God him-
self immediately?
A. Though God knows our wants, he expects
we should be sensible of them, and express
them, the subjection we are under requiring
that duty, and that we may return thanks and
glorify his name. It is true we are ordered to
pray to God immediately, which we do by pray-
ing to saints, the prayers directed to them,
including an express invocation of God. When
we desire the prayers of the faithful on earth,
it does not exclude the duty of praying to God,
for as God orders us to pray for one another,
it is expressly complying with the duty of
prayer to God.
Q. How many sorts of prayer are there?
A. Vocal and mental, public and private.
Vocal prayer is expressed by words; mental is
conceived only in thoughts, and if it proceeds
not to ask any thing, it is called contempla-
tion. Public prayer is pronounced by the
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
73
ministers of the Churcli. Private prayer, by
private persons not deputed for that ofl&ce by
character.
Q. Do we only pray with a voice and mind,
are there not other ways of praying ?
A. The voice is the means whereby we peti-
tion and give thanks; but all the ceremonies
accompanying prayer, are a part of prayer,
viz.: Music with other solemn decorations ; for
these have a voice and are instruments of God's
praise, though not so as to articulate words :
hence, ceremonies have the force of prayer when
religiously performed.
Q. What dispositions are required in prayer,
and what are the things we are to pray for ?
A. On the petitioner's part, there is required
attention, because prayer is both a rational and
a Christian action.
Q. What is attention?
A. It is an application of our thoughts, to
what we are employed about ; and is . two-fold,
external and internal; the first regards the
pronunciation only, the other the sense of the
words, or some other pious object in general.
Q. Can those be said to pray, who make use
of a language they do not understand ?
A. Yes, provided their mind be always fixed
upon God, and good things. God is praised in
any voice though inarticulate, as by music, etc.
I Cor. xiv. 2.
Q. What other dispositions are there to
render prayer more perfect.
A. Devotion and fervor. The first is a
promptitude of the soul, for that duty; the
other is an uncommon activity, exclusive of
weariness.
Q. When is the duty of prayer to be per-
formed ?
A. The Scripture tells us we are always to
pray; which St. Augustine expounds thus:
We are not to understand the words literally,
but that those are always a praying who are
employed in their respective duties; St. Luke,
^;xiii. I, and i Thess. v. 17.
Q. Which are the prefixed times for prayer ?
A. Chiefly these, morning and evening, pub-
lic days assigned for that purpose, time of
trouble, sickness and temptation.
Q. What things are we to pray for?
A. Some things absolutely, others condition-
ally, viz.: Absolutely, we pray for all super-
natural gifts, graces, the conversion of sinners,
infidels, a happy death, heaven, etc.; condition-
ally, health, peace, fair weather or rain, yet all
with submission to the divine will. As for
riches, honors, and the pleasures of life, they
are not the proper subject of prayers, because
they are commonly prejudicial to the soul.
Q. What is a vow?
A. It is a promise made to God of perform-
ing some good action.
Q. Explain it more at large.
A. The promise must be, with an intention
to oblige one's self: and the thing promised
must be good, possible, and better done than
undone.
Q. What is a promise ?
A. It is an engaging of one's faith : and a
breach of it is a lying to the person to whom
it is made.
Q. Are vows made to saints ?
A. No, only to God : saints are called upon
as witnesses.
Q. How many sorts of vows are there ?
A. Several : the chief are absolute, not ex-
pressing nor implying a condition. A con-
ditional vow is when a condition is expressed
or implied. An express vow is when the thing
promised is expressed in words or thoughts. A
tacit vow is when the thing promised is acknowl-
edged to have a vow annexed ; as in the vows
of priests, where chastity, etc., are not expressed,
but implied. A simple vow is that which is
made without ceremonies appointed by the
Church. A solemn vow is that which is
made in the profession of religious persons, etc.
Q. In what cases are vows lawful and valid,
and when are they neither lawful nor valid ?
A. In the first place, a purpose or intention to
do a thing, is no vow, unless a persou does actu-
ally, in words or thoughts oblige himself If a
person actually makes a vow in words, but
74
EXPI.ANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
declares lie has no intention inwardly to comply
with it, or oblige himself, the Church will oblige
him to stand to his vow ; and he sins mortally,
at least in matters of consequence. Vows made by
persons in sickness, in danger of death, or by
young persons, if they have a sufficient presence
of mind, are obligatory. A vow to do things
which are unlawful or bad, or things out of
one's power, or things that are vain, indifferent,
and of no consideration, in order to promote
j goodness, is invalid; and it is an offence to
make such vows. — Things that are indifferent
of themselves, may become good by circum-
stances ; in which cases, they may be vowed.
Q. Why do vows oblige ? When do they
oblige ? How does the obligation cease ? Are
persons obliged to perform vows made by
others ?
A. Vows are obligatory of their own nature;
because, not to keep our promise with God, is
derogatory to his honor; and we lie to him in
fact. Hence, the Scriptures command us to
comply with our vows, otherwise we offend God.
Num. XXX. 3. Prov. xx. 25. Isa. xix. 21.
Q. Vows destroy freedom.
A. Those who vow, enjoy freedom both before
and after. They were at liberty to vow or not
vow ; and when they had vowed, the obligation
they laid upon themselves no more destroyed
their freedom, than the commandments of God
destroy freedom.
Q. What occasion is there of vows to do good ?
Are we not all obliged to do good, both by the
law of nature and God's positive law ?
A. True : the law of nature and divine laws
oblige us to do good; but still we may use
means, and impose a law upon ourselves, in
order to be more punctual in observing those
laws, viz. : By submitting to pains and forfeit-
ures, if we disobey God. Again, the law of
nature, and law of God, though they command
good in general, and several species of doing
good, yet they do not particularize matters, as
to time, place, persons, or how they are to be
complied with. For instance, the law of God
commands obedience, charity, etc.; but it does
not specify every particular person whom we
are to obey, or to whom we are to bestow
charity, or when, or how ; these we may im-
pose upon ourselves by vows. I am not
obliged to give such a sum, or to such a per-
son, or at such a time, unless I oblige myself
by vow.
Q. What do you say as to the time when a.
vow is to be fulfilled ?
A. The rule is given in the 23d chapter of
Deuteronomy, v. 21. " When thou hast vowed
a vow to our Lord thy God, thou shalt not
delay to pay it: because our Lord thy God
will require it, and if thou delay, it shall be
reputed to thee as a sin." Hence, a vow of
immediately doing a thing, is to be done the
first opportunity. If no time is mentioned, it
is not to be deferred too long, lest a person
become incapable.
Q. Is an heir obliged to perform the vow of
his parent?
A. A distinction is to be observed between
personal and real vows. For instance, an heir
is not obliged to visit Rome or Jerusalem,
because his father made such a vow : but if his
father made a vow to bestow an alms, he is
obliged to perform it, if he tied himself to it
by promise and consent, or if that incumbrance
is expressed in the settlement ; because it is a
debt of charity and justice.
Q. How does the obligation of performing a
vow cease?
A. There are three ways to make a vow not
to be any longer binding, viz.: Irritation, com-
mutation, and dispensation. By the first, the vow
is declared never to be binding. By the second, it
is changed into another vow, of equal or greater
good. In the third, the obligation is destroyed
upon a just account. But, in all these cases,
superiors are to be consulted and followed.
Again, the obligation of a vow ceases, when the
matter becomes impossible. Secondly, when it
cannot be performed without danger of death,
or some great detriment to the body, or tem-
poral loss, in which cases a dispensation is to
be obtained. Thirdly, when the fulfilling the
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
75
vow becomes unlawful ; for instance, in subse-
quent marriage, after a simple vow of chastity,
especially if the other party insist upon it.
Fourthly, when the matter becomes indifferent.
Fifthly, when it hinders a greater good. Sixthly,
when superiors have a just reason to grant a
dispensation.
Q. What is a vow of religion, and at what
age are persons capable of making it ?
A. It is a vow of poverty, chastity, and
obedience ; and is either simple or solemn. A
simple vow of religion may be made by men
at fourteen, by women at twelve ; and if before,
it is in the power of parents to render it void,
because they are then under tutelage. A solemn
vow of religion cannot be made, either by man
or woman, before they have completed the six-
teenth year of their age. Hence, the Council
of Trent has declared all such vows null, which
are made before that age.
Q. What is a vow of poverty ?
A. It is a voluntary renunciation of property
in all worldly goods, confirmed by vow.
Q. What grounds have you for this practice ?
A. Very sufficient grounds ; because worldly
goods withdraw us from God's service. Hence,
though we happen to possess them, we are not to
set our hearts upon them, but enjoy them with
indifferency, and make use of them, as St. Paul
says, as if we did not make use of them, i Cor.
vii. 31. Hence our blessed Saviour advises those
that would serve him perfectly, to give all they
have to the poor. Matt. xix. 21. Conformably
to this advice, vows are made to renounce prop-
erty, and be content with the use of necessaries
only.
Q. What is a vow of chastity ?
A. It is a promise made to God, of entirely
renouncing the pleasures and allurements of the
flesh, and whereby a person obliges himself
never to marry.
Q, What motives can persons have, to lay
such an obligation on themselves ?
A. vSeveral, very much conducing to the good
of religion, especially for such as are designed
for spiritual oflBces for the goods of this life, the
pleasures of the flesh, and the care 01 providing
for children, occasion a continual dissipation, and
call men off from attending to their functions,
as St. Paul observes ; and therefore, in the same
chapter, he advises such persons to live single.
I Cor. vii. ver. 32, 33, et ver. 8.
Q. Is it not unlawful to vow what is not in our
power ? now, chastity is entirely a gift of God,
not in our power.
A. I own chastity is a gift of God ; so are all
other supernatural gifts : but yet God bestows
grace suflScient to obtain them ; so they cannot
be said to be things out of our power.
Q. Which are the means provided by God, to
obtain his supernatural gifts ?
A. The sacraments, prayer, corporal mor-
tification, etc., by which means we obtain grace,
and overcome vicious habits, and the natural
inclination we have to sin. The sacraments are
continual channels of grace : b}'- prayer, we may
hope to obtain whatsoever we ask for : by mor-
tifying the flesh, we are disposed for chastity,
sobriety, etc.
Q. I own these are the usual means God has
left in his Church, to avoid several sins ; but as
for chastity, marriage is the proper remedy ap-
pointed by God ; and a vow not to marry rejects
this remedy. No man ought to place himself in
a state, where he is incapable of making use of
that remedy.
A. It is true, marriage is one remedy to pre-
serve chastity ; and therefore all persons are at
liberty to make use of it, unless they oblige
themselves by vow to make use of other remedies,
which are also assigned for that purpose, and are
suflBcient, when rightly applied.
Q. It appears that marriage is the only
remedy to preserve chastity ; and, by conse-
quence, a vow to the contrary is unlawful.
A. If marriage were the only remedy, all
would be in a state of damnation, unless they
married ; because, it is found by experience, that
marriage is not always an effectual remedy, see-
ing that thousands are found to sin against
chastity, notwithstanding a married life. As,
on the other hand, multitudes live chastely,
76
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
though unmarried; which is a proof that other
remedies are sufficient, and by consequence a
vow of chastity does not put it out of a person's
power of living chastely.
Q. Marriage is what God commands, there-
fore, the forbidding priests and religious to
marry, is a wicked doctrine.
A. Is the obliging men to keep their vows,
which they freely made, a wicked doctrine ? If
so, how will you excuse either Solomon, David,
Moses, or St. Paul ; who teach us to pay that
which we have vowed ? It is better, says Solo-
mon, that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou
shouldst vow and not pay it. Eccl. v. 4, 5. Vow
and pay it, says holy David, unto the Lord your
God. Psalm Ixxvi. 11. When thou hast
vowed a vow unto the Lord thy God, says Moses,
thou shalt not delay to pay it. Dent, xxiii. 21.
St. Paul says, that widows, who marry after they
have vowed continency, have damnation, because
they have made void their first faith, i Tim. v.
12. But because the reformation was built upon
many thousands of broken vows, it must there-
fore be a wicked doctrine in the Church to forbid
so horrible a sacrilege.
Q. St. Paul says, if they cannot contain,
let them marry. And in another place, the
spirit and the flesh are contrary one to the
other, so that 3'ou cannot do the things you
would. Again, St. Paul says, that marriage is
honorable in all.
A. The two first mentioned texts are a mere
corruption in the Protestant Bible, which wants
a reformation much more than the Catholic
Church ever did. St. Paul, here speaking of
persons who lie not under the restraint of a
vow, says thus (according to the Greek text):
" If they do not contain, let them marry."
I Cor. vii. 9. And again, " The spirit and
the flesh are contrary one to the other, so
that you do not do the things that you
would." Gal. V. 17, For which the Protest-
ant Bible put, " If they cannot contain, etc. —
so that you cannot do the things that you
would." The reason of this gross and scan-
dalous corruption, is to make it patronize the
lewdness and intemperance of the first ecckoi-
astical reformers. As to the words of St. Paul,
where he says, that "marriage is honorable in
all," Heb. xiii. 4, we must not imagine from
hence, that it is honorable among all sorts of
men, as you seem to insinuate ; for if so, the
marriage of a brother and a sister would be
honorable, and that of those who vowed con-
tinence, to whom the same Apostle sa3'S, "it is
damnable." i Tim. v. So that the meaning
of the Apostle is, that marriage is honorable
in all things, that is, in all its parts and cir-
cumstances, etc.
Q. What is a vow of obedience ?
A. First, we are to consider what obedience
is, which is a virtue whereby we comply with
the will of a superior: for, as in natural and
artificial things, inferiors are moved by supe-
riors, so in human actions the same is to be
observed as both the law of nature and the
law of God do expressly require, to preserve
unity in a community.
Q. What if a superior commands any thing
against God's law, or things which no ways con-
duce to God's honor, but only to try obedience ?
A. In the first case, he must not obey unless
the case be doubtful. If the thing commanded
tends towards preserving the rules of the order,
he is to obey. If the thing be manifestly
indifferent, and no ways conducing to virtue, as
to lift up a stone, or the like ; it is the perfection
of obedience to comply, but not required by his
vow.
Q. What things are forbidden by the first
commandment ?
A. All superstitious practices.
Q. What is superstition ?
A. It is a false worship of God, either by
paying supreme honor to any thing but the true
God, or by honoring the true God after an undue
manner.
Q. Pray, give me examples of both kinds.
A. Of the first kind is idolatry, which pays'
divine honor to creatures.
Q. In what manner may persons commit
idolatry ?
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
n
A. First, when they regard idols as Gods.
Secondly, when they worship a false God,
represented by an idol.
Q. Is it not superstition and idolatry, to Tvor-
ship the true God as he is represented by pictures
and images ?
A. By no means. The whole substance of
worship centres in the true God ; for what respect
is paid to the representative is only relative.
^ Q. But the Jews were condemned by Almighty
God, for worshiping the true God by representa-
tions.
A. This is a false gloss put upon their prac-
tice. The Jews were condemned on several
accounts. First, for esteeming the images them-
selves to be Gods. Secondly, because they
mingled the adoration of idols with that of the
true God, pretending thereby to adore him.
Q. In what manner is superstition committed,
by paying worship to the true God in an undue
manner ?
A. In general, whenever religious ceremonies
are made use of, which either have a false signi-
fication, or are designed to produce eflfects, which
cannot be ascribed to God, or to any natural or
artificial cause.
Q. What instances are there of this kind ?
A. There are several kinds of superstitious
practices. The chief whereof are divination,
or foretelling what is to happen, or discovering
secrets without proper means, which not being
made use of, the devil either tacitly or expressly,
must interfere in the matter.
Q. Give me an account of the most vulgar
superstitions of ignorant people?
A. To believe dreams, to judge from the
motion of the planets and stars, which may
serve to pronounce on natural effects, but not
on the effects of man's free will. To foretell a
person's fortune, by the lines of his hand ; to
imagine some days are more lucky than others ;
to pretend to cure distempers, by applying
things which have no virtue, capable of effect-
ing the cure, etc.
Q. How do you excuse the sacraments from
superstition, seeing that the elements, neither
by art or nature, are capable of producing the
effects attributed to them ?
A. Because they have that virtue by divine
institution.
Q. What else is forbidden by the first com-
mandment ?
A. Sacrilege, perjury, and blasphemy.
Q. What is sacrilege ?
A. It is abusing things, which are consecrated
to the service of God and religion; and it
regards persons, things, and places, viz.: Priests,
ornaments, images, and churches.
Q. What is perjury?
A. It is a false oath, when a person swears
what is not true, or to do what he does not
perform, or even intend.
Q. What is blasphemy?
A. It is injurious language against God, his
saints, or holy things.
Q. What things are not forbidden by the
first commandment ?
A. It is not forbidden to make pictures, or
images of God, saints, and angels, nor to place
them in churches, or give them due respect.
It is not forbidden to preserve relics of holy
persons, and show them due respects. It is not
forbidden to honor and desire the saints to pray
for tis. It is not forbidden to bless bread,
water, candles, or any other creature appro-
priated to religious uses.
Q. Does not the commandment expressly
forbid making the likenesses of any thing in
heaven, or in earth ? And though it were law-
ful to make images, they are not to be honored
in a religious way, but only used in an his-
torical way ?
A. It does not absolutely forbid images, only
conditionally, so as not to worship them, nor
adore them as Gods. Nay, God himself com-
manded Moses to make two cherubims of beaten
gold, and place them at the two ends of the
mercy seat, over the ark of the covenant, in
the very sanctuary; Exod. xxv. He also com-
manded a serpent of brass to be made, for the
healing of those who were bit by the fiery
serpents : which serpent, according to St. John,
78
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
was an emblem of Christ; John iii. 14. Besides,
if all images or likenesses were forbid by this
commandment, we should be obliged to fling
down our sign posts and deface the king's
coin. And, because a person by his image is
capable of respect, or disrespect, an historical
use of them is not sufficient.
Q. How do you prove that there is a relative
honor due to the images or pictures of Christ
and his saints?
A. From the dictates of common sense and
reason; as well as of piety and religion, which
teach us to express our love and esteem for
persons whom we honor, by setting a value
upon all things that belong to them, or have
any relation to them : thus, a loyal subject, a
dutiful child, a loving friend, value the pictures
of their king, father, or friend ; and those who
make no scruple of abusing the pictures, or
images of Christ and his saints, would severely
punish the man that should abuse the picture
or image of his king. Besides, a relative honor
is allowed of and even practiced by Protestants
themselves. It is allowed of by Bishop Mon-
tague,* a learned Protestant divine, who grants
that there is a reverence or veneration; an
honor or respect, due to the images or pictures
of Christ and his saints. It is practiced by
them, in the honor they give to their churches,
to the altar, to the Bible, to the symbols of
bread and wine in the sacrament, to the name
of Jesus, which is an image or remembrance
of our blessed Saviour to the ear, as a picture
or crucifix is to the eye. Such also was the
honor which the Jews gave to the ark, and
cherubims ; such was the honor which Moses
and Joshua gave to the land on which they
stood, as being holy ground ; Exod. iii. 5,
Joshua V. 15, and such is the honor which
Catholics give to the images or pictures, before
which they kneel or pray ; so that they do not
give divine honor to them,t no nor even to the
highest angel or saint, much less to images or
pictures, as some maliciously slander them with,
• Part, 2. Originnm. ? 145 et in Epistomio. P. 318.
t Con. Trid. Sess. xxv.
and call them idolators upon that account ; but
I would have our adversaries consider, that mis-
representation, slander, and calumny, is as
much forbid by the commandments as idolatry.
Q. What grounds have you for paying a
veneration to the relics of saints ?
A. Besides the ancient tradition and practice
of the first and purest ages, attested by the best
monuments of antiquity; we are warranted so
to do by many illustrious miracles done at the
tombs, and by the relics of the saints, which
God, who is truth and sanctity itself, would
never have effected, if this honor paid to the
precious remains of his servants was not agree-
able to him.*
Q. I own there is no harm in preserving
relics, but we are not to use them supersti-
tiously, ascribe miracles to them, and impose
upon the world false relics ?
A. The Church is free from superstition, in
the use of relics : they are preserved in memory
of the saints, and to proclaim God's glory. And
miracles being wrought in all ages by them,
makes the practice more authentic. As for
false miracles and false relics, all the care
imaginable is taken to discountenance such
abuses.
Q. You believe, then, that great miracles have
been done by relics ?
A. A man must have a good share of con-
fidence that can deny it; it is what the devil
could never do. And I think, at present, no
learned Protestant doubts of it : I refer you
particularly to Dr. Cave, and to the translators
of Monsieur du Pin,t whose words are these:
" It pleased God for the testimony of his doc-
trine and truth, to work great miracles by the
dead bodies of his saints, in witness that they
had been his messengers, and instruments of
his will."
Q. Have you any instances in Scripture, of
miracles done by relics ?
A. Yes, we read of a dead man raised to life
» See St. Aug. L. 22 de Civ. Dei. Cap. viii. et St. Ambr. Epist.
85, et Serm. 95.
t Cent. S. page 120.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
79
by the bones of the prophet Elisha; 2 Kings
xiii. 21. And that the handkerchiefs and
aprons, which had but touched the body of
St. Paul, cast out devils, and cured all diseases.
Acts xix. 12.
Q. Then as to praying to saints, God only
is the author of all spiritual blessings, and by
consequence the only object of prayer. Christ
is our only mediator. The saints neither know
our necessities, nor can hear our prayers. God
commands us to apply ourselves immediately
to him. We have no precept or example in
Scripture, to apply ourselves to saints.
A. These diflacidties are easily removed, when
the following points are considered. First, that
God, by his divine providence, has appointed
certain means whereby men are to obtain their
ends, both temporal and spiritual. Marriage,
to propagate their species ; ploughing and sow-
ing, to procure bread and preserve life. For
spiritual ends, he has prescribed instruction in
religion, prayer, fasting, alms, frequenting the
sacraments, and all moral duties, in order to
practice virtue, and become happy hereafter.
Among other spiritual practices, he prescribes
that of praying for one another; and if this be
useful while living, why is it not after death,
when saints are more capable of being service-
able by their prayers ?
Q. Before we proceed any further, pray tell
me what you mean by praying to saints ?
A. We mean no more, than desiring them
to pray to God for us. So that we do not pray
or address ourselves to them, as the authors
and givers of grace and glory; because, in
this sense, we hold it our duty to pray to God
alone.
Q. Why are not these prayers to saints sin
usurpation of God's authority, who is the author
of all spiritual blessings ?
A. For several reasons. First, because we
desire no more of the saints, than that they
would pray for us, and with us, to our common
Lord, by the merits of him, who is both our
and their mediator, that is, Jesus Christ our
Saviour; and surely no one will say that prayer
for one another, is derogatory to God's authority,
while we are upon earth. Secondly, we acknowl-
edge God, at the same time, to be the origin of
all blessings. Thirdly, saints are applied to,
only as court favorites, whose interest is pre-
vailing with a prince, and does not lessen his
authority. Fourthly, prayers to saints illustrate
and extend God's authority, because they are
an instance of his esteem for virtuous persons,^
whose petitions he grants on their account.
Q. How do you prove that it is good and
profitable to pray to the saints; and that it is
an ancient custom so to do ?
A. Because it is good and profitable to desire
the prayers of God's servants here upon earth:
as St. Paul often does in his epistles ; Heb.
xiii. i8. Brethren, pray for us; i Thess. v. 25.
And St. James says, the prayer of a righteous
man avails much ; James v. 16. Moses by his
prayers obtained mercy for the children of
Israel; Exod. xxxii. 11 and 14. Samuel by his
prayers defeated the Philistines; i Sam. vii. 8,
9, 10. And God himself commanded Eliphaz,
and his two friends, to go to Job, that Job
should pray for them, promising to accept of
his prayers; Job iv. 8. Now if it be acceptable
to God, and good and profitable to ourselves,
to seek the prayers of God's servants here on
earth, how much more of the saints and angels
in heaven ? It has been always the constant
custom and practice of the Church, in all ages,
to desire the prayers or intercession of the
saints : this is acknowledged by Mr. Thorn-
dike, a learned and Protestant author. It is
confessed, says he, that the lights, both of the
Greek and Latin Church, St. Basil, St. Gregory
Nazianzen, St. Gregory Nyssen, St. Ambrose,
St. Jerom, St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, St.
Cyril of Jerusalem, and St. Cyril of Alex-
andria, Theodoret, St. Fulgentius, St. Gregory
the Great, St. Leo, more, or rather all after that
time, have spoken to the saints, and desired
their assistance or prayers."*
Q. But is not this practice of desiring the
prayers or intercession of the saints and angels
* In Epil. Par. iii. P. 358.
8o
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
superfluous, and derogatory to our Saviour
Christ, since Christ is our only mediator ?
A. No, by no means, no more than to desire
the prayers of our brethren here below. Christ
is the only mediator of redemption, but this
does not exclude others from being mediators
of intercession : and this distinction is to be
observed in the prayers for one another on
earth. In this sense Moses is called the
mediator between God and the Israelites. How-
ever, those of the Church of England, have no
reason to cry out, and exclaim against us, for
desiring the prayers and intercession of the
saints and angels; since they themselves,
according to their own language, worship the
angels : we, it is true, desire their prayers, but
they their succor and defence ; as may be
seen in their common prayer book, in the collect
for Michaelmas day, the 29th of September.
Q. How can saints and angels hear our prayers
at such a distance? Has God any occasion to
be informed by them of our wants?
A. Distance of place is no obstruction, be-
cause they hear not by ears, but by under-
standing. The manner whereof is not con-
ceivable, no more is the nature of any spiritual
substance. Again, by seeing God, they see all
things which belong to complete their happi-
ness, and it is a part of their happiness, to
know the state of those for whom they are con-
cerned ; and were they not concerned in prayers
directed to them, their condition in this, would
be worse than when alive; because they would
not be able to assist their friends when in
distress. Do not the angels- rejoice at the con-
version of a sinner? St. Luke says they do,
Luke XV. 10. If then they know our repent-
ance, and rejoice at it, have we not reason to
believe they know our petitions too ? Do not
the devils, by the light of nature alone, know
our actions, and accuse us of our sins ? Rev.
xii. 10. Again, the saints know we are in want
of assistance, in general at least, and being
sensible of it, may pray for us in general, as
we on earth pray for one another at a distance,
though ignorant of each other's necessities in
particular. Lastly, there is no occasion that
God should be informed, either by the living,
or saints dead, but the nature of prayer
requires, that we should mention what we want.
Q. We are ordered to pray to God himself
immediately.
A. Why then do we make use of prayers for
one another living ? Again, all prayers to saints
are directed also immediately to God, viz.:
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Besides, the
order of Divine Providence requires that we
should make use of the means he has assigned
to obtain our ends, both in a natural and spiritual
way ; the husbandman applies himself immedi-
ately to God by sowing, and the faithful by
prayer.
Q. There is no precept or example in the
Scriptures of praying to saints and angels.
A. While we are advised to pray for one
another, and commanded too, it implies both a
precept and example. The Creed supposes as
much by the communion of saints. The
instance of Dives and Lazarus imports, there
was a communication between the living and
the dead. Are not the prayers of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc., mentioned in the
Scriptures, and their names invoked after their
decease ? Do not the twenty-four elders offer
to God, the prayers of the faithful ? Did not
Jacob, when he gave his blessing to the sons
of Joseph, desire also the angel to bless them ;
Gen. xlviii. 16. saying, the angel that delivered
me from all evils, bless these children ?
Besides, what occasion is there of a precept
for a voluntary practice ? There are many
practices, and even precepts, whereof there
are no mention in the Scriptures, as observing
Sundays, infant's baptism, etc.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
8i
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which, is the second cottunandment ?
A. Thou shalt not take the name of the
"Lord thy God in vain.
Q. What is forbidden by this commandment ?
A. It is forbidden to mention the name of
God in common conversation, or upon any
frivolous occasion ; also, cursing, swearing, or
common oaths and perjury.
Q. What is an oath ?
A. It is calling upon God to witness.
Q. How many sorts of oaths are there?
A. Several, viz.: Assertory, promissory, exe-
cratory, solemn, simple, explicit, implicit, an
oath by God, or by creatures. An assertory
oath, is calling God to witness a thing either
is, or is not. A promissory oath, is to call
God to witness, that a person purposes either
to do, or not to do a thing. An execratory
oath, is to call God to witness, that a person
wishes some evil to himself or others, and it
is called a curse. A solemn oath, is before a
court of judicature. A simple oath, is in pri-
vate conversation. An explicit oath, is ex-
pressed by words. An implicit oath, is signi-
fied b}^ signs, as holding up the hands, kissing
the gospel, etc. An oath by God, is expressed
by invoking God, or some of his divine attri-
butes. An oath by creatures, is when they are
called upon, as depending upon God's power and
influence.
Q. Are oaths lawful ?
A. Yes, when duly performed ; because they
are an act of religion, publishing God's omni-
science and veracity, when we call upon him as a
witness.
Q. What conditions are requisite to make an
oath lawful ?
A. Chiefly these three; mentioned in the
Scripture. Jer. iv. 2, truth, judgment, or discre-
tion and justice : that is to say, what we swear is
to be true ; secondly, it is to be upon rational
inducements ; and thirdly, what we swear, must
not be to do evil or indiff"erent things. Without
the first condition, it is perjury ; without the
second, it is taking God's name in vain ; and
there is danger of perjury and scandal, as
swearing in common conversation ; without the
third, it is an addition to the evil we threaten, i
and accompanied with many bad circumstances. I
Q. What is the j ust cause of an oath ?
A. God's honor, our own, our neighbor's law-
ful good or defence.
Q. Does not the Gospel forbid swearing on
au}' account whatever, since it says, swear not
at all ? Matt. v. 34.
A, The Gospel only forbids oaths, where the
necessary conditions are wanting. Again, Christ
only forbids customary swearing, which was
frequent among the Jews. Thirdly, he forbids
them to swear things that are unlawful of
themselves : for it appears by Herod and others,
that they thought themselves obliged to fulfill
unlawful oaths.
Q. What use can oaths be of, though lawful ?
A just man will do his duty without an oath,
and a wicked man it cannot bind.
A. St. Paul says, oaths are used to confirm
truth : Heb. vi. 16. And they are as a support
for corrupted nature ; and in practice are bene-
ficial to the public : for though wicked men
regard not their oath, yet their honor is
engaged by it, and they are kept to their duty
by temporal punishment, which they are liable
to by the breach of their oaths.
Q. In what state are they, who swear often
without regard to truth, or falsehood, swearing
without necessity, or for trivial matters ?
A. In a very dangerous state, "for our I,ord|
will not hold him guiltless, that shall take his
name in vain." Exod. xx. 7. " Swear not,
neither by heaven, etc., that you fall not under
judgment." James v. 12. " A man that swears
much, shall be filled with iniquity, and a
plague shall not depart from his house." Eccl.
xxiii. 12. And no wonder, seeing such live in
a daily profanation of God's holy name, in the
82
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
violation of God's commandments, and the con-
tempt of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, conse-
quently in the way of perdition.
Q. What should they do, who would quit
this ill custom of swearing ?
A. They must, for the love of God, watch
carefully over their senses, curb their passions,
fly all occasions of anger, choler, company,
drinking, or whatever they find occasions them
to swear; resolving rather to die than swear
deliberately; obliging themselves to some
prayers, alms, or penal works, every time
they swear, desiring others to mind them
thereof; seriously considering, that, "if of every
idle word that men should speak, they shall
render an account in the day of judgment."
Matt. xii. 36; what account have they to give
for profaning the holy name of God, by swear-
ing, cursing, blaspheming, etc.
Q. What are we commanded to do by this
commandment ?
A. As in the former, we are commanded to
honor God with our hearts; so in this we are
commanded to honor him with our tongues ; as
by prayer, edifying discourse, and the like.
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT.
Q. What is the third commandment ?
A. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q. When was this day first appointed to be
kept holy ?
A. God sanctified it, and ordered it should
be a day of rest on the seventh day after the
creation, and that men might give thanks for
the benefit of the creation. Gen. ii. 2. And it
is highly probable, the true believers in the
law of nature, observed it as a day of rest and
devotion.
Q. How came it to be altered to Sunday, the
first day of the week, which is the first day
after the Sabbath ?
A. Because it was only a ceremonial law,
obliging the Jews, as to the seventh day, though
it was a moral precept in the main, obliging all
persons to return thanks to God, for the crea-
tion and all other blessings. Now the day was
altered by the Apostles, in commemoration of
our Blessed Saviour's resurrection, and the
descent of the Holy Ghost; which happened
the first day after the Sabbath.
Q. What things are forbidden on that day?
A. As the day was ordered to be kept holy
by the authority of the Church, so the Church
has commanded all persons to abstain from
servile works, traffic and courts of judicature.
Q. What things are strictly commanded by
this commandment?
A. As the two former commandments con-
tain our duty in heart and words; so by this
we are commanded to sanctify the Sabbath or
Lord's Day to Almighty God by actual service.
Exod. XX. Jer. xvii. 27. In giving him that
public worship which the Church prescribes,
viz.: To hear mass, and spend the day in prayer,
in hearing instructions, reading good books,
examining and detesting what we have done
amiss, and the like: and therefore those who
spend this day in idleness, sports, vanity, idle
visits, drinking, gaming, and the like, do not
comply full}' with the end of this command-
ment, nor with the Church's desire concerning it.
Q. When is it that persons may be dispensed
with, to work upon Sundays?
A. Only in cases of absolute necessity, or
when the work is very inconsiderable.
Q. When may persons be excused from being
present at mass ? '
A. In case of sickness, necessary business,
or want of opportunity, so that they are at too
great a distance.
Q. Let me hear some particular cases, where
persons may be excused or are inexcusable in
laboring and omitting to hear mass on Sundays.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
83
A. Servile works are such as are usually
performed by servants only, as digging, plough-
ing, mechanical works ; but not writing, study-
ing, etc. Apothecaries are excused in making
up medicines, and cooks in preparing victuals
by necessity: so cattle may be fed, or any great
loss hindered, by laboring on that day; as the
loss by fire or water; so glass-makers and
laborers in forges, may attend their fires; yet
mass, and the rest, is to be attended to. Servants
sweeping rooms, etc., are excused, but not wash-
ing without absolute necessity. A frequent
custom of shaving on Sundays, is not pennitted.
Journeys ought not to be performed unless in
necessit}' ; but in these and all other cases, mass
is always to be heard.
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
^. What is the fourth commandment?
A. Honor thy father and thy mother.
Q. What is the general sense of this com-
mandment ?
A. By father and mother, are to be under-
stood, all superiors whatever.
Q. Why are all superiors to be honored and
obeyed ?
A. Chiefly because they are God's represen-
tatives; and again, because they preserve peace
and unity in every community; lastly, because
they are authors of many favors to inferiors.
Q. Name the persons distinctly, who are con-
cerned in this precept.
A. Subjects, in regard of princes; and all
subordinate civil magistrates. All the faithful,
in regard of the pope, bishops, and priests.
Children, in regard of parents; servants in
regard of masters; young persons, in regard of
their seniors.
Q. What are the obligations of children, in
regard of their parents?
A. Respect, both in words and actions; obedi-
ence, love, and assistance, when they are in
necessity; and, in consequence of this, they are
not to enter into the married state, nor any
other station, without consulting and expecting
their approbation, unless they are unreasonable.
Dent, xxvii. "16. Col. iii. 20. They are also to
pay their parents' debts, as far as justice and
charity oblige them ; and if their parents have
wronged any person, either in money or land,
children are to restore it, in case they are in
possession of it. Acts v. 29. However, if par-
ents lay any unjust commands, or hinder their
children from becoming religious, when they
are come to the years of discretion, they are
not to be obeyed.
Q. What are the punishments and blessings
relating to this precept?
A. Obedient children are blessed with a long
life, and temporal felicity : disobedient children,
with temporal miseries and a short life.
Q. Is a short life always a punishment ?
A. No, it is sometimes a blessing, as the wise
man says, in the book of wisdom, " He was taken
away, lest malice should change his heart, and
lest any evil might deceive his soul." Chap,
iv. ver. 11.
Q. What are the obligations of parents toward
their children ?
A. In general, they are to see that they are
provided with all necessaries, both temporal and
spiritual : viz. To take care that they are
instructed, in their youth, in the Christian
rudiments ; that they observe good hours and
regularity ; that they correct them with discre-
tion, neither with severity, nor too much indul-
gence; for "he that spares the rod, hates his
son, but he that loves him chastises him
betimes." Pro. xiii. 24. To give them good
example by a regular life, neither speaking nor
acting indecently before them ; to exhort them
to keep Sundays and holy-days holy, and to
frequent the sacraments ; to settle them in the
world, in some commendable station, and not
84
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
to deprive them of their due by spending their
substance. Not to threaten them into mar-
riage, nor by ill usage compel them in some
manner to enter into a religious state ; nor
disinherit them, unless there be the highest
provocation : not to show any remarkable par-
tiality to one child more than to another, which
is often followed with great discontent and ruin
of him who is less esteemed.
Q. What are the obligations of servants and
laborers to their masters ?
A. They are to be obedient, respectful, and
exactly faithful in every trust and concern
committed to them ; punctually and carefully
doing what is given them in charge, and belongs
to their place ; rightly spending their time,
labor, and industry, in their master's service,
as they know he expects and requires : not let-
ting him lose by their idleness, nor by making
advantage to themselves of what belongs to
their master: according to that of St. Paul,
-where he exhorts servants, "to be subject to
their masters, in all things pleasing, not con-
tradicting, not defrauding them, biit in all things
showing good fidelity." Tit. ii. 9. And, in
another place, he commands them, saying,
" Ser\'ants, obey in all things those who are
your masters, according to the flesh, not eye
ser\'ers, as pleasing men, but with simplicity of
heart, fearing God." Col. iii. 22. They are
likewise under a strict obligation of restitution,
of whatever damage the master shall suffer by
their fault, idleness, connivance, concurrence,
etc. They must also live in peace, love, and
charity, with their fellow servants.
Q. What are the obligations of masters to
their servants and laborers ?
A. The Apostle St. Paul informs us, in these
words : " Masters," says he, " give unto your
servants that which is just, knowing that you
have also a master in heaven" (Col. iv. i), to
whom all masters must be accountable. They
are obliged to stand to the promise or agree-
ment they made with their servants; to give
them sufficient and wholesome meat and drink,
fit lodging, etc. They are not to employ them
in any ill office, work, and the like ; nor require
more of them than they can do, nor be too
harsh or severe with them ; nor make them
labor on Sundays and holy-days. They are
obliged to instruct, admonish, and give them
good example, etc. "-If anj'^ provide not for his
own, especially for his domestics, he has denied
his faith, and is worse than an infidel," says
St. Paul. I Tim. V. 8.
Q. What are our obligations towards our
spiritual superiors ?
A. We must love them, because they are our
spiritual parents, who in Christ through the
gospel have begot us (i Cor. iv. 15), that is,
are authors of our spiritual life ; who are nurses
of our souls, and under God are the instru-
mental causes of our spiritual good. " We
beseech you, brethren," says St. Paul, " to
know those who labor among you, that you
love them the more for their work's sake."
I Thess. V. 12. We must hear, respect, and
obey them as Christ's ambassadors ; the hear-
ing or despising them, is the same as the
hearing or despising Christ. " He who hears
you, hears me," says our Saviour, " and he who
despises you, despises me." Luke x. 16. So
that we ought to submit to them in all things
belonging to faith, and the government of our
souls. " Obey your prelates," says St. Paul,
" and be subject to them, for they watch, as
being to render an account for your souls."
Heb. xiii. 17. We must pray for them, that
they may discharge their duties for the good
of their flock. We must also maintain or assist
them with necessaries for this life, since their
study, labor and employ, are to afford us
necessaries for the life to come. " Let him,"
says St. Paul, " who is instructed in the word,
communicate to him who instructs him in all
his goods." Gal.- vi. 6. " Even so has our Lord
ordained, that they who preach the gospel
should live of the gospel." i Cor. ix. 14.
Q. What are our obligations toward our
sovereign, and such temporal governors as are
placed over us ?
A. We must love them, honor them, obey
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
85
them, and not speak ill of them. " Thou shalt
not revile or mis-speak the prince of the people."
Acts xxiii. 5. We must duly pay, without
fraud, to such, all due taxes, customs, etc.
" Render to Caeser the things that are Cseser's.
, Matt. xxii. 25. Again, " render tribute to
whom tribute is due, and custom to whom
custom," etc. Rom. xiii. 7. We must pay for
them, " I exhort you," says St. Paul, "that
supplications, prayers, etc., be made for kings,
and all who are in authority, that we may
lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all holiness
and purity." i Tim. ii. i. We must obey
them in all lawful things. " Be subject, for
God's sake, to every human creature, whether
to the king as supreme, or to governors as sent
by him, for the punishment of malefactors." i
Pet. ii. 13.
Q. What are the obligations of superiors
both spiritual and temporal?
A. They are many and great, and in all
their degrees ought to govern those under their
charge, with charity and justice; to procure
their good, and defend them from evil ; to
correct and punish those who obey not their
just laws; and to encourage such as duly observe
them ; wherein if they fail, they are answerable
to God ; but their failing in their duty will
not excuse the failing of subjects on their
side.
Q. What is forbidden by this command-
ment ?
A. All disrespect, stubborness and disobedi-
ence to parents, and all lawful superiors, both
spiritual and temporal.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the fifth commandment?
A. Thou shalt not kill.
Q. Is it always unlawful to kill another?
A. No ; only where murder is committed.
Q. What is murder ?
A. It is a voluntary taking away a person's
life, by private authority.
Q. In what cases is killing no murder?
A. When it is done by public authority, as
when malefactors are punished with death by
the magistrates, and in time of war.
Q. What other things are forbidden by this
precept ?
A. Interior thoughts of murder, or the desire
of any person's death ; anger, and study of
revenge ; injurious words, that provoke persons ;
quarreling, striking, and maiming another.
Matt. V. 38. To desire one's own death ; to
procure abortion, etc.
Q. Is it lawful to kill one's self, or to hasten
one's own death, by excesses in drinking, etc..
or expose one's self to danger of death ?
A. Suicide is murder, because God alone is
master of life and death. When excesses
manifestly hasten death, or the dangers are
manifest, and persons expose themselves to
them without just cause, there is a kind of
murder.
Q. Do not Catholics hold, that it is lawful
for them to kill and murder heretics ?
A. Not at all : this is a mere calumny im-
posed upon them. Matt. v. 44., for we know
that we are commanded to love them, Rom.
xviii. 20. and help them in their necessities,
and to wish them all the good we wish our-
selves, even when they would oppress and
persecute us. And, as the Church prays for
their conversion, so ought we, after the example
of our Saviour Christ and all his saints, to
have great compassion for them, and pray to
God for them, that he may mercifully enlighten
and bring them to the knowledge of the true
faith, that we may all make one fold under one
shepherd. Luke xxiii. 34. i. Tim. ii. i.
Q. What do you say as to nursing out children,
and overlaj'ing them ?
86
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
?^-
A. The fathers exclaim against putting them
out to nurse; and when it is necessary, whole-
some, virtuous, and good-natured nurses are to
be provided ; otherwise the child may be ruined.
The same care is required in not overlaying ;
for many children are smothered.
Q. What say you to ignorant physicians,
surgeons, etc.?
A. They are often guilty of murder ; although
they do not do it on purpose, but by gross and
culpable ignorance; for ignorance is esteemed
malice, in him who is obliged to know.
Q. You say, that anger, hatred, revenge, in-
jurious words, fighting, quarreling, etc., are
forbidden by this commandment : if so, what
must a Christian do when he is aflfronted ?
A. St. Peter says " he must not render evil
for evil, nor railing for railing." i Eph. iii.
9. Our Saviour says, " Bless them that curse
you ; do good to them that hate you ; pray for
them that persecute you." Matt. v. 44. He
must therefore receive the affront with humil-
ity, meekness, and patience.
Q. But must a Christian quietly permit him-
self to be beaten, wounded, killed, and the like ?
A. No : in all these cases, a necessary and
moderate defence is lawful ; and as long as the
assault continues, he may do his utmost to
defend himself But, if once the attack ceases,
it is no longer a defence, but an unjust re-
venge, to use any further violence against an
assailant.
Q. You have said enough concerning the
murder of a man's body ; pray let me hear what
you have to say of the murder of a man's
soul ; and who those are that are guilty of it.
A. You do well to inquire into this point ;
for alas ! there are but few to be found, who duly
weigh, and well consider, what a g^eat crime
it is, to murder a man's soul. One murdered
body gives alarm to a whole country ; all that
hear it are concerned, for fear the case may
shortly be their own, if it should escape unpun-
ished : and therefore they pursue the murderer,
that he may rather die, than do so any more.
But though the number of poor murdered souls
be much greater, yet there are many so pro-
fanely wicked, as to make it their diversion ;
and few so truly good, as to be struck with
horror at the thoughts of it. A man who makes
his neighbor drunk, is a downright murderer
of his soul ; and yet so stupid and wicked, as
to laugh at his exploit, and triumph in his
iniquity. All those are guilty of this murder,
who, either by word, or ill example, incite
others to sin, or divert them from doing good;
so that a man who thus gives scandal to his
neighbor, and draws him into any great sin,
" it were better for him, that a mill-stone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were cast
into the sea." As often as he makes his neigh-
bor guilty of some grievous sin, so often he
multiplies the heavy weight, which will one
day, sink him into the pit of hell. Such a
man not only deserts God, and serves the devil,
but as many men as he engages in his wicked-
ness, so many volunteers he raises for the same
service ; and these raise as many more to fight
the cause of hell, against the God of heaven :
and thus the murder of men's souls increases
and multiplies to the end of the world.
Q. What is commanded by this command-
ment ?
A. To defend our own and innocent neigh-
bor's life, to exercise works of charity, both
spiritual and corporal, as our neighbor's need
requires ; to render good for evil, and to pray
for our perseciitors, as Christ commands us.
Rom. xii. 14.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
87
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the sixth commandment ?
A. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Q. What is forbidden by this precept ?
A. Not only adulter}', which is a carnal act,
with another's wife or husband, but also fornica-
tion, incest, sacrilege, wilful pollution, sin
against nature, i Thess. iv. and all other
exterior acts which proceed from lust.
Q. What are the things forbidden, which tend
to adultery, fornication, or lust ?
A. All unchaste touching of ourselves, or
others, as also unchaste or lewd discourse, lust-
ful kisses, filthy songs and books, immodest
pictures, etc.
Q. How do you prove fornication, and volun-
tary pollution, to be grievous sins ?
A. Out of St. Paul, in his epistle to the Colos-
sians, ch. iii. ver. 5. where he says, " mortify
your members upon earth ; fornication, unclean-
ness, lust, evil concupiscence, etc., for which the
wrath of God comes upon the children of incred-
ulity.
Q. Which are the particular kinds of lust ?
A. These will be specified when we come to
explain the seven deadly sins,
Q. Why is adultery named in the prohibition
of this commandment, rather than any of the
other kinds ?
A. Because, besides the impurity of the act,
and the injustice against our neighbor, and
injury to the sacrament of matrimony; it con-
tains also a wrong done against the common-
wealth, in regard, that lawful heirs are deprived
of their due by bastards : and therefore a married
woman who knows for certain she has bastards,
who are accounted as her lawful children, is
bound by sparing and other means, to endeavor
to recompense the loss, that her husband's lawful
children, or next heirs, shall receive b}?- her
bastards.
Q. Is it lawful for a man to dismiss his wife,
upon account of adultery ?
A. Yes, if the fact be evident.
Q. Can he who hath so dismissed his wife
marry another during her life ?
A. No, by no means ; " for he that dismisseth
his wife," says our Saviour Christ, " and marries
another, committeth adultery." Matt. v. 32.
And St. Luke says, " he that marries her that
is so dismissed, commits adultery." Luke
xvi. 18.
Q. Can a wife that is so dismissed from her
husband, marry again during her husband's life ?
A. No, she cannot.
Q. How do you prove she cannot marry
again ?
A. From the first epistle of St. Paul to the
Corinthians, where he says, " to those who are
joined in wedlock, not I only command, but the
Lord, that the wife depart not from her husband:
but if she shall depart, that she remain un-
married." Chap. 7. ver. 10, 11. And in the
same chapter he says, " a woman is bound by
the law, so long as her husband lives ; but if her
husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom
she will."
Q. What is commanded by this command-
ment ?
A. It commands husbands and wives to love
and be faithful one to another, which is a mutual
and unchangeable right, not transferable to any
other during life. Whoever entices a wife to
this sin, robs her of her innocency, the hus-
band of the love and faithfulness of his Wife,
to which he has an incommunicable right, and
may bring other irreparable mischiefs.
Q. How is this adominable sin of the flesh,
to be avoided ?
A. The best means for avoiding it, is to be-
ware of bad company, and the occasions of
the sin, to shun intemperance, and especially
idleness ; to fast and pray, confess often, and
communicate with much devotion.
88
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the seventh commandment?
A. Thou shalt not steal.
Q. What is forbidden by this commandment?
A. All unjust taking away or detaining our
neighbor's goods, either by stealth or robbery,
or any other way : as also all fraudulent ways in
buying or selling, exchanging, or in other con-
tracts : all neglect of trust or promise ; all
unjust gain, all deceit by words, or deeds :
finally, all unjust ways whatever, which causes
damage to another. i Cor. vi. lo. Lev. xix. 35.
Prov. xi. I.
Q. What is theft, and how many ways are
there of committing this sin ?
A. Theft in general, is a taking away or
detaining what belongs to another ; if it be done
privately, it is called simple theft : if by vio-
lence, it is called rapine : if it is a thing conse-
crated to God, or taken from a Church or any
sacred place, it is a sacrilegious theft: if the
public is robbed, it is called in the law pecula-
tus : if cattle are stolen, it is called abegeatus,
or driving. And it is to be observed, that the
sin is so much the greater or less; as the preju-
dice which is done, is greater or less, and so it is a
mortal sin, when the thing that is taken is of
a considerable value in itself, or when it is con-
siderable in respect of the person, from whom
it is taken; as a penny is a considerable loss
to a beggar, and twelve pence to an ordinary
man.
Q. How many particular ways are there of
stealing or depriving others of their right ?
A. They are almost numberless, according to
Vdifferent stations and circumstances; the chief
jwhereof are servants, who g^ve away their
master's goods, meat and drink, without their
knowledge and consent ; or who put more upon
their master's account, than thej' have laid out;
or who by their negligence permit their master's
goods to be lost. Gamesters, who cheat or take
advantage of the ignorance, or incapacity of
those they play with. Agents or stewards who
take premiums, without leave from those who
emplo}' them. Dealers, who conceal any con-
siderable fault in the goods they dispose of.
Tailors, and others, who retain part of the stuff
of which they make clothes or other things.
All those who, to the loss of their creditors, do
defer, and put off paying their debts when they
are able ; as also those who defer to make resti-
tution. Physicians and surgeons, who prolong
their patients' diseases on purpose to gain by
them. Usurers and notaries, who make con-
tracts of usury. Judges, who knowingly judge
a cause wrongfully. All lawyers and advocates,
who prolong processes with design to gain by
them. Those who buy of children, or of such
as know not the true value of things. Such
as buy or receive stolen goods, knowing them
to be such. Exaction for service, where the
price is not fixed by law or custom. Wives,
who dispose of considerable things, without the
knowledge of their husbands. Also those who
coin false money. All those who do not give
alms to the poor, according to their ability ; and
such as feign themselves to be poor, and receive
alms when they have no need, so take that
which belongs to others.
Q. When may persons be excused from sin,
though they take or detain what belongs to
others ?
A. A Person in extreme necessity, make take
bread or other food, where he finds it. A pre-
sumptive leave of the master may excuse a ser-
vant, disposing of small matters. In other cases,
when the thing is only a trifle, it is but a
venial sin.
Q. Is it theft to keep what we find ?
A. The rule is this, if it is a hidden treasure'
of long standing, we are to observe the laws of
the country; if it is a thing casually lost or
misplaced, public inquiry is to be made after
the owner, and when he is found out, it is to
be restored; if he cannot be found, it belongs
to the poor, according to the custom of the
Church, and if he who finds it is poor himself
he may keep it with the advice of his confessor.
EXPIvANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
89
Q. What is the great obligation all persons
lie under who are any ways guilty of theft?
A. They are obliged to make restitution,
according to that of St. Paul, " render to all
men their due."
Q. What is restitution ?
A. It is an act of justice, whereby the thing
is restored, to the true owner, and all loss and
damage repaired.
Q. Who is the person that is to make resti-
tution ?
A. In the first place, he who steals or detains
what belongs to another. Secondl}', all those
who are accomplices and concur with him.
Q. By what means do persons usually become
accomplices, so as to be obliged to restore ?
A. A servant who is employed by his master.
He who commands. He who approves of the
injustice. He who protects thieves, and know-
ingly receives stolen goods. He who by his
oflSce is obliged to inform, and hinder persons
from committing injustice.
Q. How are these concurrences to be under-
stood ?
A. When the concurrence is the occasion of
the theft, or of non-restitution, they are obliged
to restore the whole, or the part, accordingly as
they partake of the things that are stolen ;
otherwise they lie under no obligation of resti-
tution, though they sin in the injustice.
Q. If a person buys goods, which he cer-
tainly knows are stolen, is he obliged to resti-
tution ?
A. Yes, or otherwise an equivalent, if the
owner is known and requires it.
Q. What are those obliged to, who consume
by eating and drinking, the things that are
stolen ?
A. They are obliged to restore an equivalent
to what they have destroyed.
Q. What if a person buys a stolen thing,
not suspecting it was stolen ?
A. If he buys it at a less price, when he
knows the owner, he is obliged to restore the
thing, or the full price ; being first indemnified
as to the change.
Q. When is restitution to be made in cases
of damages ?
A. Wilful damages are a sin, and require
restitution, but damages that happen by acci-
dent, and where there is great diligence used
to hinder them, are not a fault in the sight
of God, and oblige not to restitution, unless by
contract, or that the civil law orders it. When
there is a neglect, or not a suflEcient care, it is
more or less a sin, and some kind of restitu-
tion is required, both in the court of conscience
and law.
Q. Is he who receives money, eatables, or
other things, consumable by use, called loan,
obliged to restitution ?
A. Yes, because in those things the dominion
is inseparable from the use, and transferred by
the contract, so that the borrower is to make
good the loss.
Q. Is he who borrows a thing by the con-
tract, called accommodatum, that is, whereby
not the dominion, but the use only is conferred,
obliged to make good the loss, or damage, as
in hiring a horse, or the like ?
A. If he does not wiHully abuse it, and takes
great care to have it returned safe, he is not
obliged to restitution, unless the bargain be
otherwise; yet in some cases, he is obliged to
make all good, viz.: If he returns it not by a
careful and creditable person. If he puts it
to any other use, than for what it was lent, as
riding a horse out of the way, or keeping it
longer than the time : though if it be stolen in
the road, for which it was hired, he is not
obliged to make it good, unless he borrowed at
all events. If a person borrows a thing that
is faulty, and does not know the fault by the
lender's information, the borrower is not obliged
to make good the damage.
Q. Is a person obliged to stand by the loss
of a house that is damaged by fire, water, or
falling down, etc. ?
A. If it happens by the hirer's fault, he is
obliged to make restitution ; or without his
fault, if that be specified in the contract.
Q. What restitution is to be made for the
90
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
loss of goods, loss of life, corporal damages, and
loss of reputation ?
A. As for goods, the same in specie are to
be restored, otherwise an equivalent. If the
goods were capable of fructifying, such damages
are also to be made good, by a prudent arbi-
trator's opinion. In the case of killing, resti-
tution is to be made to the family, or heirs,
)where proper judges are to make an estimate
of the loss, considering the person's age, use-
fulness, gains, etc. The like estimate is to be
made, in the case of wounding or occasioning
the loss of a leg, an arm, a hand ; and what
might be the damage, considering the person's
age, and occupation or employment. As to the
restitution of reputation, three things are to be
considered. First, whether a person has really
suflfered in his reputation. Secondly, whether
his reputation was not lost before. Thirdly,
whether he has not recovered his reputation.
Now, if a person has lost his reputation, or it
is lessened, the defamer is obliged to restitu-
tion, and make good all the loss he suflfers in
his vocation, by the defamation.
Q. What method is to be used in restoring
a person's reputation ?
A. If a person is defamed, by spreading a
calumny, the calumniator is to own the fiction,
before those he has spoke it to, and confirm it
with an oath, if thought necessary : if what he
said was true, but divulged to those who were
before ignorant of it, he ought to own he was
in the wrong, in speaking evil of him, and to
take all opportunities to praise him, and speak
well of him, on account of his many good
qualities. If he cannot re-establish his reputa-
tion by this method, he is to make him satis-
faction some other way, by the advice of his
confessor, and especially by repairing his loss
in a pecuniary way.
Q. What restitution is to be made by such as
take game ?
A. Several things are to be considered. All
wild creatures, birds, beasts, and fish, are com-
mon, and belong to the captor, if taken without
trespass to others. Taking of wild creatures
may be prohibited to some, by human laws : but
then such as are qualified, are obliged to make
damages good, unless something is expressed by
contract to the contrary. When wild creatures
are enclosed, by persons qualified, it is theft to
kill them in the enclosure, or even out of the
enclosure, if they are accustomed to return into
the enclosure, and there is an obligation of res-
titution : if they return never into the enclosure,
it is not theft to kill them out of it ; as birds,
hares, etc. The same is to be said of fish ; and
though the law may forbid such captures under
penalties, the captor is not obliged to restitution.
Such wild beasts as feed upon the unqualified
person's goods, and by the law of nature, being
no man's property, belong to him who first takes
them. Binsfield says, it is not lawful to use art
in drawing pigeons to one's dove house.
Q. What restitution is to be made in point of
gaming and wagers ?
A. What is won by gaming, from those who
have not dominion, as children, drunken per-
sons, or manifestly unskillful, is to be restored ;
much more what is won by cheating, or any
indirect way of drawing in persons. In these
cases human laws are to direct. He who cer-
tainly knows he shall win a wager, is obliged
to restore.
Q. To whom is restitution commonly to be
made?
A. To the person injured, or in case of his
death, to his heirs: but if the person injured
cannot be found, after diligent inquiry, restitu-
tion is to be made to the poor.
Q. What other circumstances are to be ob-
served in restitution ?
A. As to the manner, public injustices are to
be recompensed by the person offending, private
injustices by proxies, on account of reputation.
Things in kind are to be restored first, then
an equivalent. As to debts, the laws of the
kingdom are to be observed, and commonly,
debts by contract, are to be satisfied before those
by theft, etc., unless where a greater necessity
intervene. When the owner cannot be found,
the advice of the confessor is to be followed.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
91
Q. When is restitution to be made ?
A. The precept being negative, it obliges
always, and at all times ; so that restitution is to
be made immediately, unless there be a just
cause of delay, and without this the sin increases.
Hence, a person who either denies to restore, or
notably defers it, or will not restore till death, is
incapable of absolution : but if he has a leave
from his creditors to delay, then he is not obliged
to restore immediately.
Q. Can a person be excused from making res-
titution ?
A. Never, only in two cases. First, when the
person injured forgives the debt. Secondly,
when the debtor labors under an absolute in-
capacity.
Q. What rules are there to judge of a persons'
incapacity ?
A. If he is always in extreme necessity, he is
absolutely incapable. No one is obliged to de-
prive himself of the means of living, in a mode-
rate way ; yet he is obliged to cut off all super-
fluous expenses, and so time after time pay part,
and bring himself into a less compass ; but if
the creditor is under any want or oppression, the
debtor is more obliged to want conveniences,
than the creditor.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the eighth commandment?
A. Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor.
Q. What is forbidden by this precept ?
A. All injustices against others by words.
Q. Which are the principal matters to be con-
sidered on this occasion ?
A. All false proceedings by words; both in
open court, and public or private conversation,
viz.: Of judges, witnesses, informers, pleaders,
and by secresy, promises, liars ; as also equivo-
cation, mental reservation, hypocrisy, flattery,
whispering, rash judgment, detraction, etc.
Q. What is a judge?
A. He who is appointed, by the supreme
power, to administer justice according to law.
Q. Which are the qualifications of a judge?
A. Chiefly these three, authority, justice, and
knowledge ; in defect whereof, his sentence is
either null, i^njust, or rash.
Q. How upon defect of authority?
A. When he acts without commission. When
persons are judged, who belong not to his juris-
diction. When he judges matters, where per-
sons are exempted. When he passes sentence
upon hidden matters, viz.: Spiritual matters, in
open court.
Q. How upon defect of justice ?
A. When he omits to do justice, out of fear
of offending some great person. When he is
drawn away by gifts and bribes. When he
offends in passing sentence, either out of par-
ticular affection, or hatred against the person.
Q. How upon a defect of .knowledge and
prudence ?
A. When he is ignorant of the law. When
he goes upon conjectures and slight proofs.
When he observes not the methods of the law,
as to witnesses, and by attending to their char-
acter, etc.
Q. In what things is the judge to be directed,
in order to act with knowledge and prudence?
A. He is not to follow his own private
opinion, but proceed according to the proofs,
which appear in court. He is not to pardon
crimes, without the license of the supreme'
power, unless the crimes be contained in his
commission: there must likewise be a just
cause for the pardon, and it is never to be
granted until justice is done to the injured
party, both as to body, goods or reputation.
Q. Is a judge obliged to restitution, when he
passes sentence without authority, justice, or
knowledge?
98
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
A. He is to make good the losses the inno-
cent person sustains by such a sentence.
Q. What obligation is there of informing
against a criminal ?
A. When a crime manifestly tends towards
the subversion of the public good, all public
oflficers, in the first place, are obliged to inform,
and even all other private persons, when the
public is in danger. Some divines extend the
obligation to become an informer in the court
of judicature: others think a private informa-
tion satisfies the obligation, without being a
prosecutor.
Q. What are the obligations of a witness?
A. First, he is obliged to appear and give in
his testimony, when he is called, according to
law, by a lawful superior: secondly, when he is
called in the aforesaid manner, and refuses to
appear, he sins mortally, and is answerable for
the damages another suflfers, for want of his
evidence; thirdly, if the accused has nothing
alleged against him, but his crime is a secret,
and causes as yet no infamy, a witness, who
can speak plain to the fact, is not obliged to
appear; fourthly, if a person can free an inno-
cent from death or infamy, by appearing as a
witness, he is obliged in conscience to give his
testimony, though not required b}' the law;
otherwise, no one, unless commanded, is obliged
to become witness against another ; fifthly, to
take money, to become a witness, is a mortal
sin, unless it be what is allowed for the expenses
of his journey; lastly, a false witness is obliged
to restore what damage is occasioned by his
evidence.
Q. What is the obligation of a counsellor, or
pleader at the bar ?
A If he undertakes a cause which he knows
to De unjust, he sins, and is obliged to restitu-
tion. If he undertakes it out of ignorance, he
is culpable according to the degree of his
ignorance. If he is doubtful of the justice of
the cause, he may undertake it, but is obliged
to acquaint his client with his doubts; and he
must desist, as soon as he finds the cause is
unjust. He may take a fee, proportionably to
the cause, labor, and time ; but is not to exact
what is unreasonable, but be guided in his
demands by the laws and customs of the
countr}^ He is obliged in charity to under-
take the cause of the poor innocent parties,
otherwise he sins mortally. He sins, if he con-
tracts with his client to have the half, third,
or fourth part of what is contended for; because
this administers occasion of using knavery, by
so large a compensation.
Q. What is a lawyer, etc., obliged to, who, for
want of skill, draws a will, whereby the right
heir is deprived of his inheritance he wasdesigned
to enjoy ?
A. He sins, and is obliged to make good the
loss. He is also guilty in the same manner, who
conceals and produces not a writing which is
requisite to do justice to another.
Q. What is a secret?
A. It is a thing private from the world.
Q. How many secrets are there ?
A. Some are strictly so, and only known to a
man's self; others in a larger sense, only known
to few. Again, some are secrets of their own
nature, as thoughts ; others may be known by
others, as all outward actions.
Q. By how many ways are secrets committed
to others ?
A. Chiefly three ways, viz. : In sacramental
confession ; secondly, by an occurrence whereby a
person, out of confession, becomes acquainted
with a thing, which, if further published, may
become detrimental to his neighbor ; thirdly,
when a thing is communicated to another, with
a promise of not publishing it, either in express
words, or tacitly, by asking advice, and with such
circumstances that the person to whom it is
revealed, may easily perceive he is under an
obligation not to publish it any further.
Q. In what cases is it lawful to reveal or not
reveal secrets ?
A. The secrets of sacramental confession are
to not be revealed, under a most grievous sin,
unless the penitent allow of it. Yet if a per-
son out of confession says, I tell you this is
as under confession, he is obliged to conceal it,
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
93
by the law of nature, though not under the
seal of confession. When a person knows, by
any way, the secret sin of another, if he reveals
it, so that the person is damaged, either in his
goods, body, or reputation, he sins grievously;
and Sylvius says, both against charity and
justice, so as to be obliged to restitution.
When a person promises to keep a secret, he
sins grievously if he reveals it even to a
superior, unless it is a trivial matter, and then
it is only a venial sin. Yet if a secret is
committed to a person, which, of its own nature,
tends to the public loss, or any great private
detriment to -another, if he cannot hinder it by
fraternal correction, it is lawful, and he is obliged
to reveal it to proper persons, and according to
law.
Q. Is it allowed to open other's letters, or pry
into secret writings ?
A. Not without express or presumptive leave,
unless a parent or tutor take that liberty ; much
less is it lawful to have a hand in defamatory
libels. «
Q. What is a lie ?
A. It is speaking contrary to what one believes
with a design to deceive.
Q. Is it in no case lawful to lie ?
A. No, it is ill in itself, so never lawful.
Secondly, it is unlawful, because veracity is
necessary to the preservation of human society.
Thirdly, it is absolutely forbid by God. " Thou
shalt not lie, neither shall any man deceive his
neighbor." Lev. xix. ii. " Better a thief, than
the continual custom of a lying man ; but both
shall inherit perdition." Eccl. xx. 27. " Lying
lips are abominable to our Lord." Prov. xii. 22.
" Lie not one to another," Col. iii. 9, says St.
Paul. The terrible examples of Ananias and
Saphira, and of Giezi, should terrify liars. Acts v.
" Their part .shall be in the lake burning with
fire and brimstone." 4 Reg. v. Apoc. xxi. 8. As
theirs must be, who slander, detract, belie, or
deride the Church of God, her faith, worship,
sacraments, ministers, etc., which, alas ! is too
commonly done, to the ruin of many souls.
Q. How many sorts of lies are there ?
A. Chiefly three, viz. : Officious, jocose, and
pernicious. The first hurts nobody : the second
is to divert others : the third is with damage to
others. The two first are only venial sins. The
third is mortal, when the damage is considerable.
Lies are called material lies, when a person says
what is false in itself, but judged true by the
speaker ; otherwise, it is a real and formal lie.
Q. What opinion have you of equivocations,
mental reservations, dissimulation, hypocrisy,
and flattery ?
A. They are also lies, either in words or in
fact.
Q. How do you understand them to be un-
lawful ?
A. Equivocation is when words may have ?
double sense or meaning. If both are usual,
it is no lie ; if one is extraordinary and unusual,
it is a lie. Mental reservation is when a person
keeps in his mind a sense, wherein the words
are true, but not in the sense as they are
usually understood, and as those he spoke to
understand them. Some divines allow of
mental reservations, when the words are only
equivocal, and so as they may be true in either
sense, according to common construction, as
are all metaphors ; as also in particular cases ;
where life, or great damage and injustice would
follow ; * though not in common use and
conversation. Dissimulation is when outward
actions are contrary to a man's mind and
opinion, which is a lie in fact. Hypocrisy is
a dissimulation of sanctity, and a lie in fact.
Flattery is to attribute to another some per-
fection which he has not, or to praise a person
who deserves no praise.
Q. What is whispering?
A. It is speaking evil to some by way of
secrecy, to break friendship between others, the
worst way of slandering, because such oblige
all they speak to, not to give them up for
authors, whereby the slandered, for want of
knowing what is ill spoke of them, have no
possibility of clearing themselves, or detecting
the author. " The whisperer and the double
• But some hold that to be very loose doctrine.
94
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
tongued is accursed, for he has troubled many
that were at peace." Eccl. xxviii. 15. Whisper-
ers are placed among those whom God gives
over to a reprobate sense, and are worthy of
death ; and not onl}^ the}^ who do thera, but
they also who consent to the doers, Rom i.
28, 29, etc., which make the hearers equally
guilty, if they do not discourage such, much
more those who are inquisitive to hear.
Q. What is rash judgment?
A. It is to judge ill of a person upon light
or insufficient grounds, proceeding from mere
jealousies, surmises, or hear-says ; which our
Saviour Christ forbids: "Judge not," says he,
"that you may not be judged." Matt. vii. i.
Again, " as you will that men do to you, do
you also to them in like manner." Luke vi. 31.
Not judging evil of any, as you would no one
should judge of you without sufficient grounds.
Less grounds may suffice to suspect than judge,
and less to doubt than to suspect, or judge
positively. But passion, self-interest, malice,
hatred, or some evil affection, from which such
usually proceed, make things appear quite
otherwise than they really are. Prudence,
joined with charity, should move us to inter-
pret doubtful things to the best, or at least to
suspend our judgment, even when there appears
some reason to move otherwise our assent.
We may notwithstanding be so circumspect
with whom we converse or have business with,
as that they shall not deceive us, though they
should prove knaves : which caution may be
used without rash judgment, suspecting, or
doubting of the honesty of our neighbor.
Q. What is detraction ?
A. It is a secret straining of another's good
name, which may be done directly or indirectly.
They do it directly, first, who accuse any of a
false crime : secondly, who make it worse than
really it is : thirdly, who discover a secret crime ;
fourthly, who put an ill construction upon a
good action or intention. They do it indirectly,
who deny a person's good qualities : secondly,
who lessen them : thirdly, who conceal them,
when a person wants defence : fourthly, who
coldly commends a person, etc., which are sins
either from malice, passion, envy, ill-will, or
for want of charity ; and always contrary to
the law of God and nature. " Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself." Matt. xxii. 39.
" Brethren," says St. James, " detract not
one another." James iv. 11. "Refrain your
tongue from detraction," says the wise man.
Sap. i. II.
Q. What is a promise, and why ought it to
be kept?
A. It is a verbal engagement to another, to
do or not to do a thing ; and, when not com-
plied with, it is a lie in fact, and unlawful on
the same account.
Q. What conditions are required, to make a
promise valid or binding, and not binding ?
A. The thing promised must be possible
and lawful, and a person must have an inward
intention of fulfilling it, otherwise he is not
obliged before God, yet he is guilty of a lie.
Again, it must be made with deliberation. To
break a promise in a trifle, is only a venial
sin, yet it lessens a man's character. Lastly,
if any thing intervenes, before the promise is
performed, that would have hindered it, it is a
condition making it void ; as, for example, to
marry one whom he thought chaste, but she
fornicates.
Q. What is commanded by this command-
ment ?
A. To speak and witness the truth in all
things. " Speak the truth every one to his
neighbors." Zach. viii. 16.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
95
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the ninth commandment ?
A. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
Q. What is forbidden by this command-
ment ?
A.' Concupiscence, or all unlawful desires
against chastity ; as also all voluntary delight
and complacency in impure thoughts.
Q. How do you prove that unchaste thoughts
and desires, which are voluntary, are mortal
sins ?
A. Out of St. Matthew ; " It was said of old,
thou shalt not commit adultery ; but I say unto
you, whosoever shall see a woman to lust after
her, hath already committed adultery in his
heart." Chap. v. 27, 28.
Q. Were not such sins forbidden by the sixth
commandment ?
A. The sixth commandment forbids all out-
ward actions against chastity : this forbids all
inward actions, as thoughts and desires.
Q. Why was a particular prohibition given of
inward actions ?
A. Because the Jews, even the most learned
sort, were apt to think there was no offence, only
where the outward action was committed.
Q. What is concupiscence ?
A. In general, it is an appetite, desire, or in-
clination.
Q. When is concupiscence a sin ?
A. When we concur voluntarily.
Q. How do we concur ?
A. There are three degrees in concurring.
The first is an involuntary motion, or bare
impression from nature, which is not sinful.
The second is voluntary, in dwelling on it with
delectation ; but this is sinful. The third is a
consent to what is unlawful ; this is also more
sinful. There is also a consent in the delecta-
tion ; but this is not a consent to the outward
action, as in the third degree.
Q. What are we commanded by this com-
mandment ?
A. To entertain chaste and modest thoughts
and desires.
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT.
Q. Which is the tenth commandment ?
A. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods,
etc.
Q. What things are forbidden by this com-
mandment ?
A. All unlawful desires, that tend to the
prejudice of our neighbor's goods or sub-
stance.
Q. Were not these things forbidden by the
seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment forbids only
outward actions against justice ; the tenth for-
bids inward actions, on account of the Jews, who
imagined such desires were not sinful. Some
join these two last commandments into one, and
divide the first into two ; but that division is
contrary to St. Augustine's opinion, which is
the more common, and generally received in the
Church, and agrees with that division of the
commandments which I have here set down.
Q. How do you prove covetous desires to be
great sins ?
A. From the first epistle of St. Paul to Timo-
thy, where he says, " They who would become
rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of
the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurt-
ful desires, which drown men to destruction and
perdition." Chap. vi. ver. 9.
Q. In what manner do persons become guilty
of this commandment ?
A. In the same manner as they offend by
carnal concupiscence, viz.: By taking a pleasure
96
EXPIvANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
in thinking of, and inwardly consenting to un-
just actions.
Q. Give me some particular instances of this
kind?
A. It is a sin to wish a scarcity of provisions,
upon a view that a person may sell his goods
dearer, or to hoard up com to the prejudice of
the poor. It is a sin to envy another for his
riches, honors, preferments, praises, or any
other external goods, or internal gifts of nature,
or grace. In fine, it is a sin to desire what
belongs to others, unless it be accompanied
with lawful circumstances, etc.
Q. What are we commanded by this com-
mandment ?
A. To entertain honest thoughts and desires,
and be contented with our own estate and con-
dition.
Q. Is it possible for us to keep all the ten
commandments ; for are there not some things
in the second table of the law, which seem to
be impossible ? See St. Luke i. 6. Matt. xix.
17. Matt, xi, 29, 30.
A. Yes, it is possible to keep them, and not
only possible, but even necessary and eas}', by
the assistance of God's grace ; for there is
nothing commanded by them, but what the law
of nature, and right reason dictates to us, and
therefore ought to be observed and done, even
if it were not commanded us ; neither is there
any thing commanded in the second table, but
what every body expects and desires others
should do to him ; therefore we must do the
same to others, according to that. " All things,
whatsoever you will, that men do to you, do
you also to them, for this is the law;" -Matt.
vii. 12. Besides, it would be making God un-
just, and a mere tyrant, to command impos-
sibilities under pain of eternal damnation, (as
we find in the Scriptures, he does the keeping
of his commandments) if it was not in our power
to keep them. See Exodus xx. 5. Deut. xxvii.
26. Matt. V. 19. Matt. xx. 17.
Q. Why then do so many Protestant writers,
and even Luther himself, pretend and say, that
it is impossible to keep all the commandments ?
A. Because they are not willing to oblige
themselves to the observance of them, but had
rather make God the author of sin, by com-
manding impossibilities (a most high blasphemy)
and justify their own iniquities, by saying,
they cannot help it, than humbly acknowledge
and confess their sins, with purpose to amend
by compliance wit^, and acceptance of the law
of God.
ST. DOMINIC.
Fathers
Mother
St. Dominic, during his apostolical labors, institutetl the celebrated devotion of the Rosary, consisting of the recital of fifteen "Our
lers " and one hundred and fifty " Hail Marys," in honor of the fifteen principal mysteries of the life of our blessed Saviour and Holy
ST. DIONYSIUS. BISHOP OF PARIS.
Of all the Roman missiouaries sent into Gaul, St. Dionysius carried the faith the furthest into the country. A glorious martyrdom
crswned bis labors and that of his companions, who gave up their lives for the salvation of souls and the exaltation of the name of Christ
ommandments of the
Church Expounded.
Q. Has the church power to make laws bind-
ing in conscience?
A. Yes.
Q. For what reason ?
A. First, because the Scriptures say, all supe-
riors are to be obeyed ; Rom. xiii. 2. Secondly,
if the civil magistrate has that power, with more
reason the church may pretend to it. Thirdly,
because the Scriptures command obedience to
the church; Matt, xviii. 17.
Q. It is suflScient to obey the law of nature,
and God's law. What need then is there of
obeying the laws of the church ?
A. Both the law of nature and the law of God
demand obedience to all superior powers. Again ,
human laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, specify
obedience, as to particulars of time, place, and
persons, which the law of God mentions com-
monly in general. Besides, if we do not obey
the church, we are not entirely obedient to God :
for according to the word of God, whosoever
despiseth the church, despiseth God himself:
Luke X. 16. Therefore we must obey the pre-
cept of the church.
Q. Is it a sin to break any of the church pre-
cepts ?
A. Yes ; because God commands us under
pain of damnation to obey the church ; for our
Saviour enjoins us to look on every one, who
will not hear and obey the church, as a heathen
and a publican. Matt, xviii. 17. And as they
who break the just laws of a kingdom oflfend
God and deserve punishment ; so they who
oppose the church's laws, offend God, and deserve
punishment. They " who resist power, resist
the ordinance of God ; and they who resist, bring
damnation to themselves." Rom. xiii. 2.
Q. How many are the precepts of the church ?
A. Chiefly six, relating to holy-days, fasting,
confession, communion, tythes, and marriage.
Q. Which is the first precept of the church ?
A. It concerns the keeping of holy-days.
Q. What are holy-days ?
A. They are days consecrated and set apart
for the practice of religious duties.
Q. Has the church authority to ordain the
keeping of feasts or holy-days ?
A. Yes, she has ; for Christ's church is no
way inferior to the synagogue, which ordained
and kept many, which Christ himself approved,
when he kept the dedication of the temple ; Dent,
xvi. Lev. xxiii. Maca. iv. Job x. 22. She
has the example of the church in the apostles'
days, which translated the solemnity of the Sab-
bath to Sunday, and appointed the feasts of
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. St. Clem-
ent (who was St. Peter's disciple) records in his
eighth book of the apostolical constitutions, that
the apostles ordered the celebrating St. Stephen's
and other of their fellow apostles' days, after
their death ; Acts xv. 41. And we read that St.
Paul went through Syria, and Cilicia, confirming
(9')
98
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
the churches ; Acts xvi. 4. Commanding them
to observe the precepts of the apostles, and of
the seniors or ancients. And accordingly we
keep the feasts commanded by the church. Prot-
estants themselves command many, but they
keep few, and as they please.
Q. For what ends in particular were holy-days
appointed ?
A. To return thanks to God for some remark-
able favor, and to preserve it in our memory.
As, namely, Sunday, to return thanks for the
creation, preservation, and providing us with all
necessaries, and conveniences. As also, because
Christ rose again and sent down the Holy Ghost
on that day.
Q. Why are holy-days appointed for saints ?
A. First, to return thanks to God, for the favor
he has done to mankind, by making them instru-
ments of his glory, by their doctrine and good
example ; and therefore we celebrate their nativ-
ity, death, and any other remarkable passage of
their lives.
Q. What is the principal end of these com-
memorations ?
A. That we may invoke their assistance, and
make good resolutions to imitate their example,
where we find it applicable to our circumstances ;
and to fill our souls with holy desires and long-
ings after that blessed state they now enjoy in
heaven.
Q. Wh}' have we no command or instance in
the Scriptures to celebrate those feasts ?
A. We are advised by the Scriptures, to do any
thing that tends to God's glor}', and our own
spiritual profit ; nor is there any occasion of a
particular precept for that purpose. Besides, the
old Scripture mentions holy-da3's, without any
command from God ; Exod. xxiii. Numb. xxix. and
from the beginning of the new law, Sundays and
other days, were appointed by the church, with-
out any express mention in the Scriptures. It
is sufficient that we are commanded to hear and
obey the church in religious practices.
Q. What is forbidden, and commanded by this
precept?
A. The obligations are the same with those of
Sundays, viz.: Hearing mass, abstaining from
servile works, and spending the day in religious
duties, as reading good books, going to confes-
sion and communion, etc. Yet dispensations for
laboring are more easily granted ; but still mass
is to be heard, and the church must judge of
the reason for dispensing.
Q. Which is the second precept of the church?
A. Fasting.
Q. What is fasting, and how many sorts of
fasting are there ?
A. Fasting is abstaining from nourishment.
But there are several ways of fasting, viz.: Fast-
ing from sin, which is the end of all fasting.
Natural fasting, which is abstaining from all
meat and drink, which the church requires from
those who go to communion. Ecclesiastical fast-
ing, which is abstaining from all flesh-meats, and
eating but one meal in the four and twenty
hours, on such days as the church commands.
Q. Is there any precept of the law of nature
or divine law for fasting ?
A. The law of nature obliges all persons to
abstain from all such nourishments, that are
prejudicial to the body or soul, by committing
excess. There was a precept of fasting when
the fruit was forbidden to our first parents;
Gen. ii. 17. God gave several precepts of fasting
in the law of Moses ; both as to distinction of
meats, and the time when they were to abstain.
The gospel advises fasting, and commands it in
general ; but the distinction of meats, time, and
manner, are only a precept of the church ; 2 Par.
XX. Joel, i. 2. Jona. iii. Luke ii. 37. Matt. xvii.
20. Matt.' vi. 17.
Q. Does not the apostle St. Paul say, that
the distinction of meats is the doctrine of
devils ?
A. Yes, and so do we call it a doctrine of
devils, in the sense of the Manichees, and other
heretics, who taught that certain meats were
created b}'^ the devil, and consequently bad in
themselves. But the meats we abstain from,
we know to be from God, and good in them-
selves ;* we eat them with thanksgiving the
* See Tiletnot. Tom. ii. p. 231. et 280.
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
99
day before, and the day after the fast; we take
them to be the most substantial and nourish-
ishing food; for which reason we abstain from
them in order to subdue the lust of the flesh,
or do penance for our sins: and neither this
great apostle, nor any one that understands
and follows him, ever said, that this laudable
and pious distinction is the doctrine of devils;
it being manifest that every one can, for the
good of his soul or body, lawfully abstain from
what meat he pleases; nay, the same apohtle
says, "wherefore, if meat scandalize my brother,
I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize
my brother." i Cor. vii. 13. Besides, if all
distinction of meats were unlawful, the great
St. John Baptist had been guilty of the doc-
trine of devils; for he drank neither wine nor
strong drink; and his food was locusts and
wild honey. Matt. iii. 4. Matt. xi. 18. The
prophet Daniel had been guilty, for he says of
himself, " flesh and wine entered not into my
mouth for three weeks." Dan. x. 3.
Q. But does not our Saviour Christ himself
say, that what enters into the mouth does not
defile a man ?
A. Yes, these indeed are his words, but do
not belong to this point ; for no one surely
will urge this text, which may seem to be
against fasting in general, except libertines and
impious persons, who give full scope to their
evil inclinations, and would fain discredit all
restraining and mortification of the flesh; who
impose upon ignorant and weak people, and
manifestly profane the word of God, in pre-
tending to prove that Christ declared festing
to be an idle and useless action. When even
our Saviour commends St. John Baptist's rig-
orous abstinence and other austerities; and
fasted himself forty days and forty nights for
our instruction; Matt. xi. Matt. iv. 2, when
also he tells us that certain devils, "cannot be
overcome but by prayer and fasting;" Mark
ix. 28. And that the children or companions of
the bridegroom, that is, his own disciples or fol-
lowers, should fast when he was gone from
them ; Luke v. 35, which they undoubtedly did :
witness what St. Paul, writing to the Corinthi-
ans, says of himself, and the preachers of the
gospel, 2 Cor. vi. 5. In a word, the body of the
Scripture, the practice of the servants of God,
nay, even the liturgy, or common prayer-book
of the modern church of England, will rise in
judgment against these loose livers, " whose
God is their belly, and whose end is perdition,"
Phil. iii. 19. To explain now the meaning of
our Saviour's words, it must be observed that
the Scribes and Pharisees, were very careful to
wash their hands, their dishes, and cups, before
they eat or drank, lest they should be defiled ;
although they were inwardly full of unclean-
ness and iniquity : they saw our Saviour's dis-
ciples eat bread without washing their hands,
and therefore they boldly reproached him for it,
upon which he answered them, saying : " what
enters into the mouth does not defile a man, but
what proceeds out of the mouth, and comes from
the heart, defiles a man ; for from the heart pro-
ceeds evil thoughts," etc. Mat. xv. 11. Now it
is plain, that our Saviour says nothing here
against fasting ; for even after Christ had spoken
the aforesaid words, eating of hog's-flesh would
have defiled the souls of the apostles, and of
the whole Jewish nation ; the primitive Chris-
tians would have been defiled by eating blood or
strangled meat, which was forbid ; and though
all meats are clean in themselves, yet to eat meat
that is forbidden, doth defile the soul, as the
apple defiled Adam's, and as taking of drink to
excess defiles the drunkard ; not that it was the
forbidden fruit, but the sin of disobedience that
defiled Adam, nor is it the wine or strong liquor,
but intemperance or drunkenness that defiles the
drunkard.
Q. Now, although I clearly see, that it is
both lawful and laudable to fast, yet I do not
well see that the church can command us to fast.
A. The Jewish church often ordained fasts.
The people of Ninive ordered an universal fast.
The church of England do sometimes proclaim
and order a general fast; it is therefore mani-
fest that the Catholic church, can more war-
rantably oblige us to fast, after the example of
lOO
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
the apostles, who commanded the primitive
Christians to abstain from blood and strangled
meat, i Esdr. viii. 21. 2 Chron. xxii. 2. Jer.
xxxvi. 9. Jona. iii. 5. Acts xv. 20.
Q. Why is fasting commanded by the church,
and what are the benefits ?
A. There are several inducements for fasting,
I viz. : First, out of obedience to God and his
fchurch. Secondly, as is a part of religion,
hence it is recommended in the Scriptures as a
token of humiliation, a bridle to the concupi-
scence of the flesh, a part of prayer, a means
to obtain grace, and the remission of sins,
appeasing God's anger, casting out the devil,
and in satisfaction for sin.
Q. Is it not a Jewish ceremony, and only a
mere outward performance ?
A. So it is made by some who fast only out
of policy and interest, viz.:* To increase the
breed of cattle, to promote the fishing trade,
in order to establish a nursery of sailors, and
for the manning of the fleet. But it was always
practiced in the old law ; and since Christianity
was established, as a religious duty, and had
the same effect as prayer, alms, and other out-
ward practices, when accompanied with due
dispositions, as intention, attention, and good
motives: for certainly fasting in order to chas-
tise the flesh, and keep it in subjection to the
spirit, and promote virtue, is as much a religious
performance as prayer, and alms, though when
proper dispositions are wanting, both prayer,
alms, and all other outward practices are vain,
and hypocritical ; hence there are three sorts of
fasting, viz. : Politic, hypocritical, and reli-
gious.
Q. In what manner is fasting commanded by
I the church ?
A. By abstaining from certain meats upon
certain days.
V Q. What sorts of meats are forbidden on days
of fasting?
A. Chiefly flesh, and sometimes eggs, and
white-meats, as milk, butter, cheese, etc.
Q. Are not all meats good, and where is
•See an Act of Parliament of the 5th of Q. Eliz. Cliap. v.
there any example, or precept in the Scrip-
tures, to make a distinction of meats ?
A. All meats are good in themselves, but
bad when they are abused, viz. : When they are
used with excess, the law of nature forbids
them, and when they are made use of, contrary
to the law of God or his church (which we ought
to obey) they are bad, because they are forbid-
den. Was not the forbidden fruit good in itself,
were not unclean beasts good of themselves,
were not blood and strangled meats good though
forbidden by the apostles ? Hence we have
both examples and precepts for distinction of
meats. Acts xv. 20.
Q. On which days is fasting chiefly com-
manded ?
A. The forty days of Lent: the vigils or eves
of several particular feasts. The ember-days,
and Fridays by the custom of England ; with
abstinence from flesh on the rogation days, and
Saturdays : and other times according to the cus-
tom of nations or laws of the universal church.
Q. By whom was Lent instituted, and why do
you fast those forty days ?
A. The fast of Lent is supposed to be of apos-
tolical institution ; according to St. Augustine,
Tertullian, St. Jerom, and other ancient fathers
of the church.* But be this as it will, it is cer-
tainly of a very ancient date; for it appears from
the fifth canon of the first general council of
Nice, that in the fourth century the Lenten fast
was well established both in the East and West.
We fast the forty days of Lent, that we may in
some sort imitate the forty days' fast of our
Saviour Christ, and that all may do penance, and
obtain pardon of God for their sins : that all may
be duly disposed for a worthy celebrating Christ's
passion, and receiving the blessed sacrament at
Easter; and that thereby we may partake of the
merits of Christ's sufferings ; and that we may
rise from sin, and live united to Christ by his
holy grace, obtained by the worthy fruits of
penance.
* See St. Aug. Epis. xxxvi. alias Ixxxvi. ad Casu. Chap. xi. N.
XXV. Tert. L. de jeju. paulo post initi. St. Jer. Eps. liv. ad Mar-
cellus.
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
lOI
Q. Why do you fast on vigils ?
A. That mortifying our appetites, and doing
penance thereon for our sins, we may better
prepare ourselves for a devout celebrating the
feasts that follow, and recommend to God, by
fasting and prayer, the present necessities of
the faithful.
Q. Why are ember-days made fasts, and why
so called ?
A. They are so called from embers, or ashes,
used formerly on days of public penance, to
humble and put us in mind, that dust we are,
and into dust we must return. There are three
of them, at the four seasons of the year viz.:
Spring, summer, autumn and winter, being the
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, of the first
week in Lent, of Whitsun week, of the third week
in September, and of the third week in Advent.
They are commanded to be kept in prayer and
fasting, according to the example of the apos-
tles. Acts xiii. 2, 3. First, in order to prevail
with Almighty God to provide the flock of
Christ with able and virtuous pastors, and to
beseech him, that he would permit none (who
are ordained at those times) to enter into the
sacred order of priesthood, but such as are
called by him to the ministry of his church.
Secondly, to thank and beseech God for the
received and expected fruits of the earth, to
satisfy him for the abuses of his gifts, and to
do penance for the sins committed within these
seasons.
Q. Why on Fridays in England ?
A. In memory that Christ suffered for us on
a Friday : and to move us to do penance for
our sins, which was the cause of his sufferings :
and this custom, agreeably to our ancient canons,
has the force of a law.
Q. Why do you abstain from flesh on the
rogation days ; which be they, and why so
called ?
A. The rogation days, are the three days
immediately following the fifth Sunday after
Easter; and they are so called from the Latin
word rogOy which signifies to ask or request.
These days are solemnized throughout the
whole church with abstinence from flesh, and
public prayers for the fruits of the earth, on
which also, in Catholic countries, a procession
is made, that the whole church, both laity and
clergy, may be represented as present to ac-
knowledged God's goodness, and providence
over us, and to pray for the continuance
thereof.
Q. Why do you abstain from flesh on Satur-
days ?
A. To prepare ourselves for a devout keep-
ing of the Sunday.
Q. Why is the Litany read, procession, and
abstinence made on St. Mark's day ?
A. To supplicate and beseech God to preserve
us from all pestilential distempers.
Q. In what manner is fasting performed on
the aforesaid days ?
A. Sometimes by only eating one meal a day,
and abstaining from flesh. Other times by
abstaining only from flesh, but with liberty of
eating more meals than one; and these are
called days of abstinence.
Q. Is it allowed to take a collation at night ?
When is the one meal to be eaten ? Is it
allowed to drink any time of the day ?
A. A moderate collation, viz: A crust of bread,
or the like, at night, is allowed, by a general
custom of the church. The meal is to be eaten
about noon, and not sooner, unless in case of a
journey, or some other good reason. As for
drinking, it is the more common opinion, that
it is no breach of the fast to take a little drink
when very dry or thirsty, or for some other real
necessity ; yet it is n-ot supposed that it is allowed
to sit tippling, for the sake of company, or
through a love or desire of drink, and the
reason is, because strong drink excites and
inflames the inordinate desires of the flesh, as
much or more than meat ; besides, as I have
already said, fasting was instituted by the
church, in order to subdue our disorderly pas-
sions, to do penance, and make satisfaction for
our sins.
Q. How is the obligation to be understood of
eating but one meal ?
102
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
A. It is to be understood so, that after once
eating or breaking the fast, it is a new sin as
often as a person eats.
Q. In what cases are persons excused in eating
flesh, and more meals than one on fasting days ?
A. The cases are reduced to these three, in
general, viz. : Incapacitj', necessity, and labor.
• Q. What sort of incapacity does excuse, and
what necessity ?
A. As to one meal a day, young people, till
they arrive at the age of one and twenty, are
excused; though, as they advance in years, they
are advised to accustom themselves to the usage
of the church more or less. Also old persons,
who are very weak or feeble, are excused : but it
is to be observed, that no persons, how old soever,
are exempt, unless a considerable weakness does
accompany their age ; for, by all that I can find,
the notion of people being exempt from fasting
when arrived at the age of sixty-three, is ground-
less; as may be seen in a book entitled a Treatise
of Tasting, by R. P. Thomas, Cong. Orat. Part
the 1st, Cap. xvii.* Also infirm persons, breed-
ing women, and those who give suck, are ex-
cused ; as likewise common beggars, and such as
are not in a capacity to make one full meal, by
reason of their poverty.
Q. What sort of labor will excuse to eat more
than one meal ?
A. When the labor is hard, and impairs their
strength, for instance, laboring men and trades-
men, as smiths, carpenters, and all such as are
forced to gain their living by the sweat of their
bodies ; as also all such as are upon tedious and
necessary journeys.
Q. Are persons in the aforesaid cases per-
mitted to eat flesh ?
A. No, they are not, unless their case requires
it, and then they are in all cases to observe the
rules of the church, in order to obtain a dispen-
sation.
Q. What are the methods, in order to obtain a
dispensation ?
A. They are to advise with, and have the con-
sent both of their physician and spiritual director,
* Et ex St Basil. Hom. ii. de jejn.
and observe their orders, both as to the substance
and manner.
Q. What if the case be evident or doubtful,
and access cannot be had either to the physician
or director ?
A. If the case is evident, and access cannot be
had to the persons aforesaid, in that case a person
is to follow his own conscience, with the advice
of some knowing religious person. If doubtful,
he must wait till he can consult his physician
or director, and not incline to favor himself.
Q. Is a person dispensed with at liberty to
eat flesh, etc., as often as he pleases ?
A. No; that is to be specified in particular,
Q. Who are to grant dispensations ?
A. The pope, for the whole church ; bishops,
for their diocese ; and pastors, to particular per-
sons under their charge.
Q. Which is the third precept of the church ?
A. It concerns the time when persons ought
to confess their sins.
Q. Are all persons obliged, by the divine law,
to confess their sins, and is it absolutely neces-
sary to salvation ?
A. It is necessary for all persons who have
been guilty of mortal sin after baptism : Num.
V. 6. John XX. 23. James v. 16. Acts xix. 18,
19. For confession, accompanied with due requi-
sites, is commanded by God as the ordinary
means for remission of sins committed after
baptism : but it is not absolutely necessary
actually, but only in desire, when it cannot be •
made.
Q. What has the church commanded as to
confession ?
A. The fourth general council of Lateran,
which was held in the j^ear 1215. Can. xxi. has
ordered all to confess their sins once a year,
without specifying the time (and that it be made
to one's own priest), though the church in the
council of Trent, Sess, xiv. C. v. et C. viii. seems
to specify that the annual confession be made in
Lent, in order for the better disposing of the
faithful for their paschal communion. Now, the
reason why the church commands all the faith-
ful to confess at least once a year, is because
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
103
she is sensible of the negligence of many in
their soul's concern ; and therefore, as a tender
mother, puts them in mind of their obligation in
this point.
Q. Who is one's own priest ?
A. The pope, our bishop, and our own pastor
or parish priest.
Q. Is the confession that is made to a priest,
who is not approved of by the bishop, invalid ?
A. Yes, and it is even so defined by the church,
in the fourth general council of Lateran, etc.
Can. xxi. et Concil. Baj. Chap. viii. et Concil.
Rhem. And it is to be observed, that the con-
fession made to any priest who is not empowered
by the bishop, is not only invalid, but the peni-
tent likewise becomes guilty of a grievous sin,
by a breach or violation of this third precept of
the church.
Q. At what age are we obliged to go to con-
fession ?
A. When we come to the use of reason, which
is ordinarily conceived to be at eight years of
age, for then we generally come to the knowledge
of good and evil, and may fall into sin.
Q. Is it certain that we are not obliged to
go to confession, but once a year ?
A. The church obliges us to no more ; but
then it is to be observed, that the church, by this
precept, does not take oflF the obligation, which
every one may have, of confessing oftener : since
all who are guilty of mortal sin are obliged to
confess as often as there is any apparent dan-
ger of death, by sickness, war, sea, or any dan-
gerous undertaking ; as likewise before receiv-
ing any of the sacraments (except baptism) the
benefit whereof, if duly considered, should move
us often to confess our sins, and not to neglect
it, as is too commonly done: for he who
defers his eternal welfare from day to day, and
from week to week, is both void of reason and
conscience ; since it depends of himself (with
the grace of God) to repent and confess his sins.
Besides, our Saviour himself commands us to
be always prepared, because we know not the
day nor the hour when death will call upon us.
Luke xii. 40. Moreover, it is to be feared, as it
commonly happens, that those careless Christians,
who confess their sins but once or twice a year,
do make a bad confession.
Q. Which is the fourth precept of the church ?
A. It concerns the time when persons ought
to communicate, or receive the blessed sacra-
ment.
Q. What is the precept ef the church con
cerning communion ?
A. In the primitive ages Christians received
it every day ; by degrees, they were ordered to
receive upon several great feasts ; at last, the
fourth general council of Lateran, Can. xxi.
decreed, under pope Innocent the Illd that all
of both sexes were obliged to communicate once
a year, at the time of Easter, and that within
their own parish church ; and this decree is rati-
fied by the council of Trent.
Q. How do you compute the time of Easter,
when people are obliged to communicate ?
A. From Palm-Sunday, until Low-Sunday,
inclusively, by a decree of Eugenius the IVth.
Q. Are there no exceptions, as to the decree
of Innocent III. in the Lateran council ?
A. Yes ; by a license from the pope, our
bishop, or pastor, persons may communicate out
of their parish church. Again, it is left to the
discretion of the confessor, if there is occasion
to defer communion, until after Easter.
Q. Are people obliged to receive the blessed
sacrament at any other time of the year ?
A. Yes, when persons are in danger of death,
which is an ecclesiastical custom all over the
church, and has the force of a law ; and several
national councils do expressly command it.
Hence, several divines hold, there is a divine
precept for it, grounding themselves on the
council of Nice, where it is called a necessary
viaticum. Besides, it is to be observed, that
though the church only obliges us to commu-
nicate once a year ; 5'et she exhorts us to a
frequent communion, provided we come with the
necessary dispositions ; and the reason is,
because great fruit is reaped from this heavenly
nourishment. Matt. xi. 28. And that it is to
be feared, that those who make use of the food
Z04
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
of eternal life, but once or twice a year, make
no g^eat account of their salvation.
Q. At what age are we obliged to receive the
holy communion ?
A. When we come to sense and understand-
ing, so as to be capable to discern the greatness
of this mystery, which is conceived ordinarily to
be at about twelve years of age ; but it is first
requisite, that we be well instructed in the cate-
chism or Christian doctrine.
Q. What punishment does the church inflict
on those who comply not with this precept, and
that which we spoke on last ?
A. She orders them to be banished from the
communion of the faithful, and deprived of
Christian burial :* but this excommunication
does not fall upon those whom the pastor puts
ofi" for a time, in order that they should do
penance, and duly prepare themselves.
Q. Is there any divine precept of receiving the
blessed sacrament incumbent upon all, and is it
necessary for salvation ?
A. It is not absolutely necessary to salvation,
as baptism is for infants, and penance for
sinners : j^et there is a divine precept of receiv-
ing, one time or other, either actually or in
desire, founded in these words of our Saviour
Christ : " Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, you shall not have
life in you." John vi. 54.
Q. What do you say concerning infants
receiving the blessed sacrament ?
A. There is no divine precept for infants
receiving the holy sacrament, for they cannot
prove themselves, as St. Paul requires ; i Cor.
xi. 28, and they have a right to heaven by bap-
,\tism alone.
] Q. Which is the fifth precept of the church ?
A. Payment of tithes.
Q. ' What are tithes ?
A. The tenth part of the products of the
earth.
Q. To whom are tithes payable? On what
account ? And by. what law ?
A. They are payable to the ministers of the
• See Cone. 4. Later.
church, in order to support them creditably,,
without any interruption to their spiritual
duties. They are demanded as a part of
religion, and an acknowledgment of God's
supreme dominion over all the earth, and the
fruits thereof are assigned for the benefit of his
representatives, employed in religious matters :
they are also due by the law of nature, " for a
laborer," as St. Paul says, " is worthy of his hire
or reward." i Tim. v. i8. And in another
place, he says, that " they who serve the altar,
live by the altar." i Cor. ix. 13. They are
likewise due by human laws, civil and ecclesias-
tical, established for that purpose. Hence we
read, in the 14th chapter of Genesis, ver. 20, and
the 7th of the Hebrews, ver. 2, that Abraham
paid tithes to Melchisedec, who was the high
priest. Hence, in the law of Moses, the Levites,
or sacerdotal race, were ordered by Almighty
God to have all the tithes paid to them ; and,
besides, had five large cities settled upon them,
with all their dependencies and lands belonging
to them. Levi, xxvii.
Q. Is the tenth part precisely due by the law
of nature, or law of God ?
A. It was due precisely by God's appointment
among the Jews ; but the Mosaic law being
abolished by the gospel, all the church could
demand, was a competent subsistence for the
ministry, till, by degrees, the tithes were again
ordered for the ministry, by civil and ecclesiasti-
cal laws, as they now stand, according to the
different customs of nations. Num. xviii. ver.
21 et 28. Mala. iii. 10.
Q. Which is the sixth precept of the church ?
A. It concerns the time of celebrating mar-
riage.
Q. When are marriages not to be solemnized,
according to the precept of the church ?
A. From the first Sunday of Advent, until the
Epiphany or Twelfth-Day be past : and from
Ash Wednesday until Low-Sunday be past.
Q. Why is the celebration of marriage forbid-
den at these times ?
A. Because they are times appointed by the
church for penance, prayer, or devotion, and
COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH EXPOUNDED.
105
therefore not proper to be spent in carnal pleas-
ures, and public feasting. This prohibition is
of ancient date, and confirmed by the council of
Trent ;* and is agreeable to the advice of the holy
Scriptures.
*Sess. 24. Decrt. de Reform. Matri. Cap. x. See Joel xi. 16, et
I Cor. vii. 5, et i Pet. iii. 7,
Q. Are there no exceptions ?
A. Yes, when there is danger of scandal, or a
foreign long journey to be taken, etc. But then
the marriage is to be performed privately, and
the reasons are to be allowed of by the superiors
of the church.
ACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
Expounded.
n A (D d^lk^iia CD Si
qj ^u OS ^j^ rj^ tu w OB
Q. What is the signification of the word sac-
rament ?
A. Among profane writers, it has several sig-
nifications ; but, as it is used in the Scriptures
and ecclesiastical authors, it is taken for a hid-
den or mysterious work ; and in general is
a visible sign of some holy thing.
Q. In what other sense are the sacraments of
the new law a sign ?
A. St. Thomas says, they are a commemora-
tive of Christ's passion and merit ; a demonstra-
tive of grace present, and a prognostic of future
glory.
Q. What is a sign, and how many sorts of
signs are there ?
A. A sign, in general, is what puts us in mind
of something else ; of which there are two kinds,
one natural, the other arbitrary. For instance,
smoke is a natural sig^ of fire : the rainbow is a
sign of God's promise, that there should not be
another deluge. Gen. ix. Some signs are prac-
tical, others speculative. Of the first kind are
the sacraments, which produce grace; of the
second kind, was the brazen serpent, represent-
ing Christ's crucifixion.
Q. What is properlj'^ a sacrament of the new
law?
A. It is a visible sign of inward invisible
grace, instituted or appointed by Christ for man's
sanctification.
(io6)
Q. Can only God institute sacraments ?
A. As God is the only author of grace, so he
only can ordain signs that are capable of pro-
ducing grace.
Q. What has the council of Trent defined con-
cerning Christ being the author of the sacra-
ments ?
A. So as to be understood that Jesus Christ
immediately instituted them : though such a
power might have been given to his church in-
strumentally.*
Q. What sort of sacrament was St. John
Baptist's baptism ?
A. The council of Trent defines, it had not
the same effect with the baptism of Christ. f
Q. Are not holy water, blessed bread, and
other consecrated things, sacraments ?
A. No, we call them sacramentals or signs
only of holiness. They give not sanctifying
grace, but only actual grace, as being outward
parts of prayer; they cause not actual grace
by their own force, nor has man power to
assign actual grace to such things.J
Q. Were there no sacraments before the law
of grace ? Which were they, and what effect
had they ?
A. The divine worship always required the
* Sess. vii. Can. i. de Sacr. in gen.
t Sess. vii. Can. i. de Baptis.
t Ex opere operate.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
107
use of visible signs suitable to the state man
lived in.
Q. What sacraments belonged to the law of
nature ?
A. The sacrifices, and other outward tokens
signifying a belief in the Messiah.
Q. What sacraments belonged to the law of
Moses ?
A. They were very numerous, viz. : Circum-
cision, the paschal lamb, ordination of priests ;
and in general all their sacrifices were signs
of what would happen under the law of grace.
Q. What effect ha;d those sacraments ?
A. They were only speculative signs of sanc-
tifying grace : yet they conferred a legal sanc-
tity, which consecrated the performers so far
as to make them obedient to the law of Moses.
Q. What are we to believe as to the matter
and form of the sacraments, and how are they
to be conceived ?
A. Eugenius the IVth, in his decree, in the
council of Florence, which was held in the year
1439, declares, that every sacrament requires
matter, form, and intention of doing what the
church does. Now the matter a:id form, are
not to be taken strictly and properly ; but only
metaphorically, that is, for some sensible thing,
action, words or signs, to determine the mean-
ing.
Q. What is Calvin's opinion concerning the
form of sacraments ?
A. He pretends the words are not consecra-
tory, but only concionatory or instructive, and
serve only to nourish the faith of the receiver.
An opinion condemned by the council of
Trent,* and manifestly false, as appears in
the sacrament of baptism, where the infant has
no faith, and is incapable of instruction.
Q. Were the matter and form of the sacra-
ments determined and specified by Christ?
A. Most of them were specified. Yet several
divines are of opinion, that the matter and form
of ordination was only determined in general,
it being left to the church, to specify the
particular matter and form ; which always were
*Sess. vii. Can. v. de Sacr. in gen.
to be such, as expressed the power that was
given. Whereby these divines easily reconcile
the rituals of ancient times, among the Latins ;
and the difference between the Grecian and
Latin rituals, where there is some variety in
the matter and form. According to these
divines, though Christ appointed the contract
to be the matter of the sacrament of matrimony ;
yet the church has a power to specify the nature
of the contract: as the council of Trent did,*
by declaring clandestine contracts, which before
were only unlawful, to be afterwards void or
null, and not a sufficient matter.
Q. Is it lawful to change the matter and
form of the sacraments ? And in what cases
is it forbidden or allowed ?
A. An essential variation, makes the sacra-
ment invalid. Now a variation is essential, if
a different matter is made use of, or the sense
of the form altered : but if the alteration
happen only in the ceremonies, it is only acci-
dental, and destroys not the sacrament ; for
instance, the form of baptism is valid in any
language : as also, if through ignorance of the
Latin tongue, one should say, e£-o te baptizo
in nomine patris^ et filio^ et spiritus sanctus. If
there be a doubt of the form, it is to be repeated
conditionally. The form of baptism is invalid,
if a person should say, I baptize thee in the
name of God, or in the name of the Trinity,
because they are not equivalent to the true
form.
Q. Who are the ministers of the sacraments ?
A. Only bishops and priests, by their office ;
though the laity in some cases are the ministers ;
as for instance, a layman, in case of necessity,
where a priest is not to be had ; as also heretics,
schismatics, etc., may validly baptize, if they
make use of the true matter and form, and
intend to do what the church does ; as it is
defined in several councils against the Donatists.
Neither is the state of grace requisite to the
validity of the sacrament, in the minister; as
it is defined against Wickliffe.f Women may
• Sess. xxiv. decret. de Reform. Matri.
t Con. Trid. Sess. vii. Can. xii. de Sacr. in gen.
io8
SACRAxMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
also baptize validly, and lawfully in case of
necessity.
Q. Are ministers the causes of g^ce in the
sacraments ?
A. They are only the instruments ; God is
the only principal cause, as he is in working
miracles.
V Q. Does the minister sin mortally, if he
•administers a sacrament in the state of mortal
sin?
A. Yes, but the ritual sa5'S, that if he has
not an opportunity of confessing, he is to make
an act of contrition.
Q. What if the minister is in the state of
mortal sin, can a person receive a sacrament
from him?
A. In extreme necessity he may : he may
also without extreme necessity, if the minister
is not denounced by the church ; and even
otherwise, if there is any urgent occasion ; but
if there is no urgent occasion, he co-operates
with the sin ; yet care must be taken, not to
judge rashly of the minister's state.
Q. What intention is required in the min-
ister ? What effects do the sacraments pro-
duce ? In what manner do they produce
g^ace ? What is the proper grace of every
sacrament ? What number of sacraments are
there in the new law ?
A. In the first place, intention, in general,
is a violation, or act of determining of a
thing by the means ; it is requisite to every
rational action, and much more to every
religious action.
Q. How piany kinds of intention are men
capable of?
A. Chiefly three, \-iz.: Actual, which is ac-
companied with an actual attention of the
mind, to the thing we are about. A virtual
intention, is when the actual intention is
judged to remain in its force, by not being
expressly retracted, or interrupted by too long
a time. An habitual intention is the facility
of performing a thing, obtained by habit or
custom, without any actual reflection, or virtual
influence, upon the work.
Q. Apply these matters to the ministers of
the sacraments ?
A. An actual intention is most desirable, a
virtual intention is sufficient, an habitual in-
tention is not sufficient.
Q. In what cases is there a defect of a
sufficient intention ?
A. If a minister performs the work in a.
ludicrous manner. If he retracts his intention.
If he is asleep, drunk, or mad ; he has either
no intention, or only an habitual one.
Q. Is it necessary to intend the effect of
the sacrament ?
A. No, otherwise heretics and Pagans could
not baptize validly. It is sufficient to have
an intention of doing what the church of
Christ does, without considering which is the
true church.
Q. What intention is required in those who
receive the sacraments ?
A. At least an habitual intention, and gen-
erally actual, or virtual intention, that they
may receive lawfully. Yet there is something
particular in the case of extreme-unction, when
an interpretative intention is sufficient, accord-
ing to the practice of the church.
Q. Are not dispositions reqiiired in the
receivers ?
A. Yes, several, as faith in some, and
charity in others ; not that the sacrament is
not given without them, but that grace is not
g^ven without them.
Q. What benefit has the receiver who par-
takes of a sacrament without due disposi-
tions ?
A. He receives the character in the three
sacraments of baptism, confirmation and order,
though not the particular sacramental grace;
which, however, is bestowed upon him, when
the fiction or impediment is removed by true
penance, (at the same time he is supposed,
when he receives the said sacraments, to have
the general dispositions for the character, viz.:
Intention, etc.). This recovering of the sacra-
mental grace, is expressly asserted by St.
Augustine, and is the opinion of the church.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
109
Q. What is particularly to be observed, con-
cerning those who receive the sacraments ?
A. First, as to infants, no dispositions are
required. As to adult persons, several disposi-
tions are required, to make the sacraments
valid, viz.: Intention and consent, excepting
the sacrament of the Eucharist ; other disposi-
tions are required in the adult, to receive the
effect, viz.: Sanctifying grace, faith, contrition,
or attrition, etc.
Q. What eflFect have the sacrameutals, viz.:
Exorcisms, crossing, agnus dei, holy water,
etc., and how do they produce their eflfects ?
A. The chief effects are, pious thoughts, or
actual grace ; the remission of venial sin, by
means of such grace ; the remission of temporal
pain ; driving away temptations, and the devil ;
restoring to corporal health. But these effects
are not infallibly produced by virtue of the
sacramentals alone : so that they produce their
effects, as being an outward part of the prayers
of the church, and of the pious prayers of those
who make use of them.
Q, You say the sacraments produce grace, in
what manner is this done ? Do they all pro-
duce the same sort of grace ?
A. They all produce grace in the nature of
channels or vehicles, where God is as principal,
the minister as joint instrument, the elements
as separate instruments. As to the grace
conferred, it is different in most of the sacra-
ments , some confer the first grace, as baptism
and penance, and they are called the sacra-
ments of the dead; others confer an increase
of grace, and are called the sacraments of the
living, as are all the rest of the sacraments.
Q. Give me a distinct account of the specific
grace, conferred by each of the sacraments ?
/ A. The grace of baptism is regenerative, it
remits original sin, entitles to the name of
Christian, and gives a right to partake of the
other sacraments. The grace of confirmation
is strengthening, and gives courage to profess
the true faith. The grace of the holy eucharist
is nutritive, and unites us to Christ. The
^race of penance is remissive of actual sins,
and occasions sorrow for them, and protection
against a relapse. The grace of extreme-unction
strengthens the sick person against temptations,
at that time, and procures health. The grace
of order disposes the ministry to perform their
functions with spiritual profit. The grace of
matrimony enables the parties to comply with
the burdens of their state. 1
Q. Is not a character the effect of some of
the sacraments, and what are the properties
belonging to it ?
A. A character is a spiritual power in the
soul, whereby a person is distinguished from
others, and made capable of receiving, and
giving other sacraments, and performing what
belongs to the divine worship.
Q. Which are the properties of the sacra-
mental character?
A. It is given only in three sacraments, viz. :
Baptism, confirmation, and orders.* It is indel-
ible. It is a quality distinct from the soul,
but some divines say the contrary.
Q. How many sacraments are there in the
new Law ?
A. Seven, viz.: Baptism, confirmation, eucharist,
penance, extreme-unction, holy orders, and matri-
mony. The divine will was the chief reason of
the number. But there is a certain analogy,
between a corporal and spiritual life. A Chris-
tian is born spiritually by baptism ; the spiritual
life is increased, and strengthened by confirma-
tion ; it is nourished by the eucharist : when
sick, it is purged by penance ; when danger-
ously ill, it is restored by extreme-unction;
economy is preserved in spiritual matters by
order; the species is preserved by marriage,
and grace g^ven to answer the ends of that
state.
Q. Why do the Scriptures and ancient fathers
never mention the number of the sacraments to
be seven ?
A. They never mention the number to be
two ; it is sufl&cient to mention the things.
So the Scriptures never mention, that there are
twelve principal articles of our belief, to which
* Ccn. Trid. Sess. vii. Can. ix. de Sacr. in gen.
no
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
all the rest are reduced ; neither do they ever
mention the word trinity or consubstantiality.
There was no occasion to mention the number,
until the dispute arose, and this it was, which
made the church mention the number, which
she defined in the general councils of Florence
and Trent.*
Q. Do not the number of orders, viz. : Episco-
pac)', priesthood, deaconship, etc., increase the
number of sacraments ?
A. No, they are all resolved into priesthood
which is the plenitude of orders ; all the others
are as it were, species or branches of priest-
hood.
Q. What do you say as to the dignity, and
necessity of the sacraments respectively ?
A. It is defined by the council of Trent, that
they are not all equal in dignity, and that the
eucharist is the most excellent, as being the
fountain of all grace.f As to the necessity,
it is defined by the council of Trent, that they
are necessary to salvation ; but some in one
manner, and some in another.^ For instance,
baptism is absolutely necessary for infants.
Baptism and penance are necessarj' for the
adult, either actually or in desire. Matrimony
is necessary* for the whole, but not for every
particular. Order is necessarj^ for those, who
perform the sacerdotal functions. The euchar-
ist, confirmation, and extreme-unction, are neces-
sary, according to the precepts of God and
his church, at certain times, but not absolutely,
when not obtainable.
Q. As there are a great number of cere-
monies made use of in administering the sacra-
ments, let me have your opinion of them ?
A. Ceremonies are external performances,
made use of either by Christ, the apostles, or
the church afterwards ; not essential to the
sacraments, but instituted for decency, and to
promote devotion.
Q. Is it lawful for any particular person, or
even national church, to alter the ceremonies?
A. No, if they are approved of, and prac-
ticed by the whole church, and handed down
by tradition, from the earliest times of Chris-
tianity ; because these are supposed to have
been in use, from Christ and his apostles.
Such as those are exorcisms, sufflation, the
sign of the cross in baptism, anointing, impos-
ing of hands, etc.
Q. Is it not superstition, to make use of
ceremonies ?
A. By no means, superstition is to make
use of outward performances, expecting bless-
ings from them, which neither nature, nor
appointment, can promise or produce. The
ceremonies the church makes use of, are in the
nature of prayer, of which they are a part. Now
God has annexed certain blessings to prayer.
Q. But are not many of the ceremonies
ridiculous, and a hindrance to true devotion,
by their number?
A. Not at all ; they are significative, and
represent all the pious duties of the Christian
religion ; and if any appear ridiculous, the
church takes care to retrench them, and reform
herself in all matters of discipline.
BAPTISM EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is baptism ?
A. It is an exterior washing of the body,
under a certain form of words ; or thus, it is
the first and most necessary sacrament, insti-
•Trid. Sess. vii. Can. i. de Sacr. gen.
t Sess. vii. Can. iii. de Sacr. in gen.
i Sess. vii. Can. iv. de Sacr. in gea.
tuted by Christ, to free us from original sin,
and all actual sin committed before baptism ;
it makes us children of God and his church ;
it is the first sacrament, because before it no
other sacrament can be validly received ; it is
the most necessary, for unless a man be bom
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
in
again of water, and the Holy Ghost, he can-
not enter into the kingdom of God. Jo. iii. 5.
Q. How many sorts of baptism are there ?
A. We commonly reckon three, viz. : i,
baptism of water ; 2, of the spirit ; 3, and of
blood ;* but the first is only properly a sacra-
ment.
Q. What is the baptism of the spirit, and
what effects has it ?
A. It is a true contrition, with an ardent
desire of baptism, if it cannot be otherwise
obtained ; it remits both original and actual
sin, but not always the temporal pain due to
sin.f
Q. What is the baptism of blood and what
are its effects ?
A. It is a martyrdom, and remits original
and actual sin, with all the temporal pain.
Hence the holy innocents are esteemed mar-
tyrs, as being baptized in their own blood.J
Q. When was the sacrament of baptism first
instituted by Christ ; and when were Christians
first obliged to receive it ?
A. It was instituted before Christ's passion ;
some holy fathers and divines say, it was
instituted when Christ was baptized by St.
John ; others, when Christ said, unless a man
be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
St. John iii.§ St. Augustine says, Christ bap-
tized the apostles; but be this as it will, it
is certain they baptized all persons, after the
ascension of our Saviour, according to the
commission they received from Jesus Christ,
when he said, go, teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Matt, xxviii. 19.
And that the obligation then began, as the
gospel was promulgated.
Q. Which is the essential matter of baptism ?
A. Natural water, as it is defined in the
council of Trent ; || so that artificial water, or
♦ I, Aquse ; 2, Flaminis ; 3, Sanguinis.
t St. Aug. L. 4. de Bap. C. 22, 23 et 25.
J St. Cypri. Ep. bcxiii. ad jubaianu.
j St. Greg. Naz. Orat. in nat St A«g. Sam. 29, 36 et 27 de Bap.
I Sess. vii. Can. ii de Bap.
Other liquids, are not a proper matter. It must
also be applied by ablution, so that ice, unless
dissolved, is not sufiicient : besides, the water
ought to be consecrated, according to the
Ritual ; but this is not absolutely necessary,
only upon account of the precept.
Q. After how many ways may this ablution
be performed ?
A. Three, by immersion, that is, plunging
and dipping the body. Secondly, by infusion,
or effusion. Thirdly, by aspersion upon some
particular part. It is probable the apostles
baptized by aspersion, or effusion ; because
3,000 were baptized in one day. Acts ii. 41.
Yet in the primitive ages, the practice was to
baptize b}?^ three immersions, which the church
has altered for three infusions. One infusion
is sufiicient, as to the validity of the sacrament,
as also without making the sign of the
cross.
Q. Which is the form of baptism, and how is
it to be explained ?
A. The necessary form are these words : I
baptize thee in .the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Some add
the word. Amen, brt it is not in the Roman
Ritual. Again, we are to baptize in the name, as
St. Augustine says, and not in the names. Neither
is baptism valid, in the name of Christ, in the
name of God, or in the name of the Trinity :
because they do not express the mystery ; and
tradition requires a distinct signification. Again,
it is to be observed, that the same person who
applies the matter, must pronounce the form,
otherwise the baptism is invalid.
Q. Why are the apostles in the Scripture
said to have baptized in tl: t name of Christ ?
Acts viii. 12.
A. St. Cyprian and other Fathers say, that
in the name of Christ signifies b}' the authority
' of Christ ; but that they at the same time made
use of the distinct form. St. Thomas, as also
the Roman catechism say, if the name of Christ
was only made use of, it was by a particular
dispensation, to the end, the power of Christ
might particularly be established at that time.
112
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL, EXPOUNDED.
Q. Is it necessary to salvation, that all per-
sons, even infants, should be baptized ?
A. It is absolutely necessary for all adult
persons to be actually baptized if they can : or
in desire, where it cannot be actually obtained.
As for infants, they are to be actually baptized;
as is defined against the Pelagians ; and since
against the Calvinists, in the council of Trent.*
This doctrine is grounded upon the words of
our Saviour Christ, where he says, unless a
man be bom again of water and the holy
spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God. St. John iii. 5.
Q. Is baptism to be deferred until infants are
able to answer for themselves ?
A. No; the contrary is defined against the
Anabaptists, by the council of Trent.
Q. Is a child half born to be baptized?
A. If life appear, it may : if life be doubtful,
the ritual orders baptism under condition, f
The same ritual orders the baptism of a monster
under condition.
Q. Which are the efiects of baptism?
A. A total remission of original and actual
sin, with the pains due to them. Hence, no
satisfaction is appointed, when adult persons
are baptized. Again, all spiritual and super-
natural gifts are given at the same time. It
is an entire regeneration, or new life; it gives
a right to all the other sacraments ; it opens
the gates to heaven ; it gives a character, and
cannot be reiterated. All these points are defined
by the council of Trent.
Q. What is to be said concerning the minister
and place of baptism ?
A. Every man is a minister, in case of neces-
sity, that is to say, when a priest cannot be had,
using the true matter and form, with an inten-
tion of doing what the church does : but only
the bishop or parish priest is the proper minister
by office, | or one deputed by the ordinary. Hence
chaplains are not to baptize by office, nor superiors
of religious orders. Hence there is a regulation
• Sess. vii. Can. viii. de Bap.
t Sub conditione.
t Ex officio.
to be observed, when there is urgent necessity,
viz. : A man is to be preferred to a woman, and
those in higher orders to those in lesser. As to
place, the rituals order it to be in the church,
unless in princes' children, and even then it is
to be done in an oratory, and the water fetched
from the parish church.
Q. Is it lawful to receive baptism ?
A. No, it is not lawful to receive it, upon
any account, more than once. Heb. vi. ver. 4,
6. And the reason is, because it imprints a
spiritual character in the soul, which shall re-
main forever, either to our great joy in heaven,
or our confusion in hell.
Q. What are the penalties for re-baptiziug ?
A. By the old civil law, it was death ; and
now, by the canons of the church, it is irregu-
larity, and otherwise punishable.
Q. What is required of him who has a mind
to receive baptism ?
A. It is required of him, and he promises
to God, to renounce the devil, his works, his
pomps, and all his vanities. Moreover, it is
necessary for him, who is come to the use of
reason before he receives baptism, to have
faith, a true and hearty sorrow and detestation
for all his sin, and to begin to love God.*
Q. What do you understand by the works,
pomps, and vanities of the devil ?
A. By the works of the devil, we under-
stand all kinds of sin. By the pomps and
vanities of the devil, we understand vain-glory,
wordly ambition, and every other kind of
pride.
Q. For what end are godfathers and god-
mothers appointed us, and what is the discipline
of the church as to this point?
A. That they may answer for and instruct
us, in case our parents should die, or be want-
ing or negligent in that part of their duty ;
which obligation lies on them. At present,
since the council of Trent, there is to be only
one godfather and one godmother, and no more ;
and they ought both to be Catholics, and of a
good reputation. According to the council of
* Cone. Trid. Sess. vi. e. 6.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
"3
Trent, a spiritual aflBnity is contracted between
the baptized and the sponsors, as also between
the father and mother of the baptized, and the
sponsors ; but not between the sponsors them-
selves. This affinity is an impediment,* not
only making marriage unlawful, but also invalid,
between the parties. It is also to be noted,
that he who baptizes the child, contracts a spir-
itual affinity with the child, and with the child's
parents : but where a child is baptized without
the ceremonies, in case of necessity, there is no
affinity contracted, when the ceremonies are
performed afterwards ; and the reason is, because
that ceremony is not a sacrament. This is
declared by Innocent III.
Q. Are we bound to fulfill all that our god-
fathers and godmothers have promised in our
name?
A. We certainly are ; for it is upon that con-
dition we are admitted to baptism, and were
made members of the Church, and heirs of the
kingdom of heaven. Gal. v. 3, 6.
Q. What obligation does baptism lay upon
us?
A. To believe firmly all that the Catholic
Church teaches. Secondly, to keep faithfully
all the commandments of God and his Church.
Rom. vi. 3, 4. And lastly, to follow diligently
the example of our Saviour Christ, and his
saints, i Pet. ii. 21.
CONFIRMATION EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is confirmation?
A. It is a sacrament conferred by a bishop,
by imposition of hands, and unction with chrism,
under a certain form of words, and instituted to
confirm the baptized in the faith of Christ and his
Church, and to resist all temptations against it.
Q. What grounds have you to believe it is
properly a sacrament ?
A. First, from the Scriptures, where we read,
in the Acts of the Apostles, Chap, viii, when
Peter and John were sent to confirm the
Samaritans, by imposition of hands, to receive
the Holy Ghost, though they had already been
baptized. Heb. vi. 2 ; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22 ; Acts xix.
5, 6. Secondly, from the holy fathers, who all
agree that confirmation is a sacrament.f
Q. That ceremony was used only in those
times, to give the Holy Ghost visibly, in order
to work miracles and other gifts.
A. That was one effiact proper then, but it also
gave sanctifying grace; and was practised in
* Impedimentum dirimens.
t See St. Ambr. de Sacr. L. iii. C. 2, et L. de Spin Sane. C. 6, et
7. St. Aug. deTriuit. L. 15, C.26etinPs. 26. Tertul. L. de Bap.
C 8, et L. de Resur. C. 8, St. Hier. Contr. Lucifer, Tom. iv. Part 2.
8
every age since, for the latter purpose, as the
fathers all assert.
Q. Do Protestants hold it to be a sacrament ?
A. No ; only a ceremony, for instruction of
youth in their faith, after they have arrived at
the use of reason, and to put them in mind of
their baptismal vows. But, though they will
not in formal terms call it a sacrament, yet they
will own the antiquity and use of it, from the
Apostles' time ; and, by their book of common
prayer, it is ordered, that "As soon as the
children can say, in their mother tongue, the
creed, the Lord's prayer, the ten command-
ments," etc. they be brought to the bishop, by
one that shall be their godfather or godmother,
and the bishop shall confirm him, etc. " For as
much as confirmation is administered to them
who are baptized, that by the imposition of
hands and prayer, they may receive strength
and defence against all temptations to sin, and
the assaults of the world and the devil." Now,
what is the strength and defence which they
receive against the temptations of sin, the world,
and the devil, but the grace of God ? If then
they own grace to be given thereby, they ought
114
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
to owu it to be a sacrament, as having all requis-
ites to a sacrament, viz. : Matter, form, and a pro-
per minister. And it is the Acts of the Apostles,
Chap, viii, that the visible sign of the imposition
of hands has annexed to it an invisible grace,
viz. : The imparting of the Holy Ghost ; conse-
quently, confirmation is a visible sign of invisi-
ble grace, and therefore is a sacrament.
Q. What is the matter of this sacrament ?
A. Imposition of hands and unction with
chrism.
Q. The Scriptures make no mention of unction
with chrism.
A. This is known by constant traditions of
the primitive fathers, who expressly assert it.
The immediate matter is the anointing ; the
remote matter is the chrism. Both Scripture
and fathers make imposition of hands part of the
ceremony ; as also chrism is mentioned by all
the fathers.* And it is defined by the council
of Trent, that virtue is to be ascribed also to the
chrism. Some divines think the Apostles made
use of chrism, otherwise their immediate succes-
sors would not have used and imposed it. This
opinion seems to be agreeable to St. Paul, where
he says, he who confirmeth us with 3'ou in
Christ, and who have anointed us, who hath also
sealed us, and hath given the earnest of the
spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.
Q. What is chrism, and why was it assumed
for that use ?
A. It is an ointment made of oil of olives and
balsam : an}'' other oil is not sufficient matter.
Now, oil has several qualities which signify the
effect of this sacrament, viz. : Spiritual strength
and purity of conscience, and presentation from
rust, that is, from sin ; and the sweetness of
balsam, the odor of a good life.
Q. Is it requisite that the chrism be conse-
crated, and that by a bishop ?
A. Yes, it is requisite to the validity of the
sacrament; though some divines are of a con-
trary opinion.
• St. Aug. in Ps. 44, ver. 9, et L. 3, de Trini. C. 27. St Greg, in
I C Cant St Anibr. in Ps. 118, et L. de Spirit Sane. C. 3. Cone.
Laod. C. 28. Cone. Trid. Sess. vii. Can. ii. de Confir.
Q. Who is the minister of confirmation ?
A. A bishop is the only ordinary minister,
as it is decreed in the general council of
Florence. Besides, the council of Trent has
defined, that a bishop is the only ordinary
minister ; * and this appears from the Scripture
itself, where we read, in the eighth of the
Acts, that Peter and John were sent to confirm
the Samaritans. This has been the constant
tradition and practice of the Church, as we
learn from St. Cyprian, St. John Chrysostom,
St. Jerom, etc. However, St. Thomas and
some other divines hold, that the pope can
dispense with a private priest, to administer
this sacrament, provided he makes use of the
chrism consecrated by a bishop : but St. Bona-
venture and others think no such dispensation
can be granted by the pope.
Q. What is the form of this sacrament ?
A. It is the prayer made use of, to implore
the assistance and bestowing of the Holy Ghost :
and the words joined with the unction, viz.:
N. I sign thee with the sign of the 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.
Q, Why is no mention made of the aforesaid
form of confirmation, in the writings of the
fathers, and ancient rituals ?
A. The fathers purposely declined mention-
ing the nature of the sacraments, especiallj^
the form. As for rituals, the form of words
sometimes was varied, though it was always
a prayer signifying the nature of the s?.cra-
ment.
Q. What are the particular effects of con-
firmation?
A. It bestows, in the first place, an increase
of our baptismal grace : it also confers upon us
the Holy Ghost, with all his gifts. Again, it
gives a particular grace confirming persons in
their faith, and protecting them against heresy,
and gives a spiritual courage and strength to
resist all the visible and invisible enemies of
our faith. It also makes us perfect Christians;
* Sess. vii. Can. iii.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
"5
and lastly, gives a character of being complete
soldiers of Christ; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22, which char-
acter is indelible, and therefore this sacrament
cannot be repeated. Hence, those that are to
be confirmed are obliged to be so much the
more careful to come to this sacrament worthily,
since it can be received but once; and if they
then receive 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. Who are capable of receiving confirma-
tion, and what dispositions are required ?
A. In the first place, the person must be
baptized. Again, infants are capable, because
it was the custom formerly to confirm children
immediately after they were baptized ; but now,
not until the perfect itse of reason; and then
they are obliged to know the principal articles
of their faith, to confess their sins, and by a
true contrition, to be in the state of grace; it
is also advisable to receive it fasting, but this
is not of strict obligation.
Q. What say you as to the necessity of
receiving this sacrament ?
A. It is not of that absolute necessity, but
that persons may be saved without it; yet there
is a precept for receiving it, which obliges all
adult persons, when they have a fit opportunity ;
or else they are guilty of a mortal sin, if it
be omitted, out of contempt, or any gross neglect ;
and that they foresee they cannot have an oppor-
tunity hereafter : but as the ritual expresses,
or when the persons are exposed to dangerous
temptations, either inward or outward, of losing
their faith ; for in such circumstances, they omit
the proper means, provided by the law of God to
resist them.
Q. What ought to be done after receiving con-
firmation ?
A. We ought to give most hearty thanks to
God, for the abundance of grace we have received
from him ; to take a firm resolution to spend our
lives Christianly, and to profess our faith
openly; " for with the heart we believe unto
justice, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." Rom. x. 9, 10. We ought
earnestly to ask of God the fruits of the Holy
Ghost, etc.
Q. What is the obligation that a Christian
takes upon him in confirmation ?
A. He lists himself there for a soldier of
Christ ; and consequently is obliged, after hav-
ing received this sacrament, to fight manfully
the battles of his Lord.
THE EUCHARIST EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is the holy Eucharist ?
A. It is a sacrament wherein are contained
the body and blood of Christ, under the forms
or appearances of bread and wine, given for
our spiritual nourishment.
Q. By what names is it usually known?
A. It was called in the primitive Church, and
by the holy fathers Eucharist, which is a Greek
word, and signifies thanksgiving ; and is applied
to this sacrament, because of the thanksgiving,
which our Saviour Christ, offered in the first
institution of it, according to St. Matthew xxvi.
27 ; St. Mark xiv. 23 ; St. Luke xxii. 19.
And, because of the thanksgiving with which
we are obliged to ofi'er and receive this great
sacrament and sacrifice, which contains the
fountain of all grace, the standing memorial
of our redemption, and the pledge of a happy
eternity. It is called the Lord's supper, because
it was instituted by Christ at his last supper.
It is called the Viaticum, as being the bread
of a Christian during the journey of this life.
It is called the holy communion, because all
partakers are joined in faith and love by it. It
is called the sacrifice, being by immolation
oflfered to God.
it6
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
Q. Is it a memorial, and of what?
A. It is in general a memorial of love, being
the greatest of legacies. It is a memorial of
Christ's passion. It is demonstrative of g^ace
present, and prognostic of future glory.
Q. How does the eiicharist differ from the
rest of the sacraments ?
A. First, in dignity ; hence, it is called the
hoi}' sacrament. Secondly, it contains the
fountain of g^ace. Thirdly, there is a miracu-
lous conversion, by destroying the matter.
Fourthly, it consists not only in use but in a
permanent thing.
Q. What figures were there formerly of the
eucharist, and how did they represent it ?
A. It was prefigured by Melchisedec's oflfering
bread and wine, as to the matter ; for Christ
was a priest according to the order of Melchi-
sedec. As to the effect, it was prefigured by
the manna, which had all sorts of delicious
tastes. As to the thing contained, Christ's body
that suffered, it was prefigured by all the sacri-
fices, immolated by the law of Moses. Hence,
Christ is called the " Lamb slain from the begin-
ning of the world." But the most express figure
was the killing and eating of the paschal lamb.
The blood of the lamb was sprinkled on their
doors, whom the destroying angel spared. So
the blood of Christ is sprinkled, to redeem
men from sin. Christ again, is called the in-
nocent Lamb. Again the paschal lamb was eaten
with unleavened bread.
Q. What is the faith of the Catholic Church
concerning this sacrament ?
A. That the substance of bread and wine is
changed, by the words of consecration, into the
real body and blood of Jesus Christ. That under
each form is truly and really the bod}^ and
blood ; as also the soul and divinity of Jesus
Christ, which by the apostatical union is insepa-
rable from his body and blood. That whosoever
receives under one kind alone, receives whole
Christ, as much as if he received under both.
That by dividing the species, the body of Christ
is not hurt, but remains entire under the least
particle.
Q. In what manner is Christ present in this
sacrament ?
A. By the true and real presence of his
divine and human nature, and not in figure
only, as some would have it.
Q. Is the body of Christ present in the
eucharist, after a natural, corporeal, and visible
manner, as he was upon earth before he suf-
fered ?
A. No ; for according to St. Paul, there is a
natural body, and there is a spiritual body;
so that it may be called a spiritual body in
the sense of St. Paul, speaking of the resur-
rection of the body, where he says, " it is sown
a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."
I Cor. XV. 44. Not but that it still remains a
true body, as to all that is essential to a body ;
for surely no one will pretend to say that the
body of Christ, which is now in heaven, is not
the same true and real body which was born
of the blessed Virgin Mary, and which suf-
fered upon the cross. And as Christ's body
has now the qualities of a glorified body, as
being spiritualized, so it partakes in some
measure of the qualities and properties of a
spirit. Therefore, it is easier conceived how
Christ's body may be in the sacrament, without
extension or greatness of place ; for as a spirit
requires no extension for its being, so neither
does a body when it is become spiritual and
immortal ; and since Christ's body is in the
eucharist, in the manner of being, as it was in
after his resurrection, viz. : Incorruptible, im-
mortal, and impassible, (Christ rising from the
dead, dies no more, death shall no more have
dominion over him, Rom. vi. 9). So, it is not to
be imagined Christ suffers when the sacrament
is broken, eaten, and the like. Thus may be
conceived how Christ's body may be whole and
entire in every part, after the sacred host is
divided ; and also, how it may be in many places
at once : for though we cannot easily understand
this possible to an extended body, remaining in
its corporeal manner of being, yet there is no
such difficulty in relation to a spirit, or any other
thing, in its manner of being like a spirit ;
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
117
because a spirit has no dependence on place, nor is
confined either to it, or by it. Neither is it more
strange for Christ to be in the blessed sacrament,
and at the same time in heaven, than it was for
him to be in heaven, and at the same time on
earth, when he appeared to St. Paul ; Acts ix. 29.
Nor after all, are our senses to guide us in this,
or in any other mystery of faith ; but faith
itself viz. : The word of God, of Jesus Christ,
who says, " this is my body ; " i Cor. xv. 8.
His power and truth make it to be, what he
solemnly asserts ; this we believe, as well as all
other mysteries upon his word, proposed unto
us by his Church ; upon his word we rely, by
which he made all things out of nothing, and
changes the nature of things, when, and as he
pleases ; as when he changed Lot's wife into a
pillar of salt, Genesis xix. Water into blood.
Exodus vii. As likewise water into wine, John
ii. 9. Neither is the difiiculty greater here in
believing upon God's word, against our senses,
than in believing upon God's word, the young
man to be an angel, Mark xvi ; Matthew xxviii.
The dove and fiery tongues to be the Holy
Ghost, Matt, iii.. Acts ii.; when to our senses
they appear otherwise. God's word makes
things infinitely surer to us, than our senses ;
for alas, how often, and easily are our senses
deceived? while God's word can never deceive
us : we ought therefore, always to submit to it,
when we know it to be God's word.
Q. How do you prove from God's word the
real presence of the body and blood of Christ,
to be in this sacrament ?
A. I prove it from no less than four diflfer-
ent places, in the New Testament, delivered by
Christ himself, at the time of his instituting
this sacrament, viz., from the 26th chapter of
St. Matthew, from the 14th of St. Mark, from
the 22d of St. Ivuke, and from the nth of the
ist epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians ; in
all these places, Christ himself assures us, that
what he gives us in the blessed sacrament, is
his own body and blood. First, in the 26th of
St. Matthew we read, ver. 26, 27, " And as they
were at supper, Jesus took bread and blessed
it, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples,
and said ; take, and eat, this is my body : and
having taken the chalice, he gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of this ; for
this is my blood of the New Testament, which
shall be shed for many to the remission of sins."
Secondly, In the 14th of St. Mark we read, ver.
22, 23, et 24. " And when they had been eating,
Jesus took bread and blessed it, and broke it,
and gave it to them, and said ; take, eat, this
is my body ; and having taken the chalice,
giving thanks, he gave it to them ; and they
all drank of it. And he said to them, this is
my blood of the New Testament, which shall
be shed for many."
Thirdly, In the 2 2d of St. Luke we read, ver.
19, 20. " And when he had taken bread, he
gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them,
saying; this is my body which is given for
you ; do this for a commemoration of me. In
like manner (he took) also, the chalice, after
he had supped, saying ; this chalice is the New
Testament in my blood, which shall be shed
for you."
Fourthly, In the nth of the ist epistle of St.
Paul to the Corinthians, we read, ver. 23, 24,
25. " I received from the Lord, that which I
also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus
Christ, the night in which he was betrayed,
took bread, and giving thanks, broke it, and
said : take ye and eat, this is my body, which
shall be delivered for you ; do this in remem-
brance of me. In like manner also, (he took)
the chalice after he had supped ; saying, this
chalice is the New Testament in my blood, do
this, as often as you shall drink it, in remem-
brance of me."
Q. Why do you take these words of Christ,
at his last supper, according to the letter, rather
than in a figurative sense ?
A. I have many reasons to offer why we
take the words of Christ (which he spoke at
his last supper) in their plain and literal sense.
First, because, whatever Christ has plainly and
expressly said in Scripture, ought to be under-
stood by us, in the literal and proper sense of
Ii8
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
the words, where the case will admit of it :
this is what our adversaries themselves, either
do, or must allow ; otherwise, it is not possible
to prove by Scripture, that an3' one text of
the Gospel ought to be taken literally and
properly. Now, it is certain that Christ has
plainly and expressly said in the Scripture that
what he iiistituted at his last supper, was the
same body and blood which he gave for the
life of the world : and there is no doubt but
that the body, which he gave and sacrificed for
us, and the blood which he shed for us, was
his true and real body and blood : Christ, says
St. Paul, gave himself for his Church, Ephesians
V. 26. And in another place, St. Paul says, that
Christ entered by his own blood into the sanc-
tuar}^ Hebrews ix. 12. Therefore, the words of
Christ, which he spoke at his last supper, in
the institution of the blessed sacrament, ought
to be taken in the literal and proper sense of
the words. Secondly, when God, speaks in the
holy Scripture, with an express design to make
kno^^•n to us some new institution or command,
upon which our salvation depends ; or to dis-
cover some high mystery of faith, which was
entirely new to the world, and which was neces-
sary for the world to know, but could not be
known only from his words ; then, if ever, we
have good reason to believe the word of God
speaks plainl}', and ought to be taken in the
natural and literal sense of the words : now,
here, our Saviour spoke those words, this is my
bod}', this is my blood, at the institution of a
great sacrament upon which our salvation
depends, with an express design to reveal a
high mystery of faith, which was entirely new
to the world, and which was necessary for the
world to know, but could not be known to his
disciples only from his words. We conclude,
then, that his words upon such an occasion,
ought in all reason to be understood in the
plain, obvious, and literal sense; especially,
since there is no absurdit}'^ or contradiction in
the literal sense, which can oblige us to have
recourse to a figurative meaning, since there is
nothing in the belief of the real presence, but
what is clearly within the sphere of infinite
power ; nay, it is an easier thing to comprehend
that God can change one thing iuto another,
than make all things out of nothing, as he did
the world. Thirdly, because Christ was af that
time making a covenant which was to last to
the end of the world. 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. In fine, he
was making his last will and testament, and
therein beqiieathing 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, of a sacrament, of
a last will and testament, that he who makes a
covenant, a law, a last will and testament, etc.,
alwaj'-s designs that what he covenants, appoints,
or ordains, should be rightly observed and ful-
filled ; so, of consequence, he always designs that
it should be rightly vinderstood, and therefore
he always expresses himself in the most plain
and clear terms. This is what all wise men
ever observe in their covenants, laws, or last
wills, industriously avoiding all obscure expres-
sions, which may give occasion to their being
misunderstood. This is what God himself
observed in the old covenant, in all the cere-
monies and moral precepts of the law; all are
expressed in the most clear and plain terms.
It then can be nothing less, than impeaching
the wisdom of the Son of God, to imagine that
he should institute the chief of all his sacra-
ments, under such a form of words, which in
their plain, natural, and obvious meaning, imply
a thing so widely different from what he gives
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 accord-
ing to that sense, which the}' seem evidently to
express, must lead his children into a pernicious
error concerning the legacy, which he bequeaths
them. In effect, it is certain that our Saviour
Christ, foresaw that his words, would be taken
according to the letter, by the greatest part of
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
119
Christians ; and 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, had he not really meant what he said;
or that he should not have somewhere explained
himself in a more clear way, to prevent the
dreadful consequence of his whole Church's
authorizing an error, in a matter of the greatest
importance ; particularly when he was then
speaking alone to his beloved Apostles and
bosom friends, to whom he was always accus-
tomed to explain in clear terms (as St. Mark
assures us) whatever was obscure in his par-
ables or other discourses to the people. Chap.
iv. ver. 11 et 34. Fourthly, because I have the
authoritj' of the best and most authentic inter-
preter of God's word, viz.: The holy Catholic
Church, which has always understood these
words of Christ, in their plain literal sense,
and condemned all those who have presumed to
wrest them to a figurative one : witness the
many synods held against Berengarius, and the
decrees of the general councils of Lateran, Con-
stance, and Trent. Now, against this authority,
the Scripture assures us, the gates of hell shall
never prevail. St. Matt. xvi. ver. 18. And
with this interpreter, Christ has promised that
he and the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth, will
abide for ever. St. Matt, xx ; St. John xiv.
Q. But are not many of Christ's sayings to
be understood figuratively, as when he says, I
am the door, I am the true vine, etc. ? Why
then may not the words of the institution of
the last supper be also 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 : at this rate an Arian might
pretend that when our Saviour in holy Scrip-
ture is called God, and the Son of God, it is
onl}'^ figuratively, because he is in other places
figuratively called a door, a vine. There is a
manifold disparity between the case of the
expressions 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. First, because
the former is delivered as parables and simili-
tudes, and consequently as figures ; the latter
are the words of a covenant, sacrament, and last
will, and therefore are to be understood accord-
ing to their most plain and obvious meaning.
Secondly, because the former are explained by
Christ himself in the same place in a figura-
tive sense, but the latter are not. Thirdly,
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 take them in
any other than a figurative meaning : for who
will pretend to say that our Saviour was really
a door, or a vine-tree ? but the latter are
expressed, and so evidently imply the literal
sense, that they who have been the most desir-
oiis to find a figure in them have been puzzled
to do it. This was the case of Luther him-
self, as we learn from his epistle to his friends
at Strasburg.* And of Zuinglius, as we learn
from his epistle to Pomeranus. f
Q. But may not the sign or figure be called
by the name of the thing signified ? And have
we not instances of this in Scripture ?
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 be said according to the common laws
of speech, and the use of the Scripture, to be
such or such a thing, that is it signifies or
represents such a thing ; as in the interpreta-
tion of parables, ancient figures and the like.
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 representa-
tion of some other thing, to call it abruptly by
a foreign name, would be contrary to all laws
of speech, and both absurd and unintelligible,
as if you should say that a morsel of bread is
London bridge, or that a bit of cheese is Can-
terbury church ; because by an art of memory
they put you in mind of those buildiugs : but
this would be justly censured as nonsensical
* Tom. 5, fol. 502. t Fol- 256-
I20
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
and unworthy of a wise man : just so it would
have been if our blessed Saviour at his last
supper, without acquainting his disciples before-
hand, that he designed to speak figuratively,
should have abruptly told them, this is my
body, this is my blood, had he not meant that
they were really so. 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 Christ's body
than a morsel of bread has to London bridge ;
so that nothing but the real presence of Christ's
body and 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 these words which our
Saviour spoke, viz. : Do this in remembrance
of me, Luke xxii. 19, determine his other
words to a figurative sense ? For the remem-
brance or commemoration of a thing supposes
it to be absent.
A. These words, do this in remembrance of
me, inform us, indeed, of the end for which
we are to oflFer up, and receive the body and
blood of Jesus Christ, viz. : For a perpetual
commemoration of his death and passion, as
St. Paul teaches us, i Corinthians xi. 26.
But they no ways interfere with those other
words, this is my body, and this is mj' blood ;
so as to explain away the real presence of
Christ's body and blood. It is certain, St.
Matthew and St. Mark never looked upon
those words, do this in remembrance of me,
as a necessary explication of the words of the
institution, this is my body, this is my blood,
as any ways altering or qualifj'ing the natural
and literal meaning of them; since they have
in their gospels quite omitted those words, do
this in remembrance of me. As to what 3'ou
allege, that the remembrance of a thing sup-
poses it to be absent, I answer, that whatso-
ever things we may be liable to forget, whether
really present or really absent, may be the
object of our remembrance ; for what can be
more intimately present to us than God, and
yet the Scripture commands us to remember
our Creator, Ecclesiastes xii. i, though in him
we live, move, and have our being, Acts xvii.
28. So that this command of remembering
Christ, is no ways opposite to his real pres-
ence : 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.
Q. But notwithstanding all that has been
said, is it not the greatest absurdity, and even
blasphemy, to say that a man can make his
God, or that a priest can turn a wafer, or a
bit of bread into his Saviour?
A. It never was the belief of the Catholic
Church that the bread is changed by the
priest into the body and blood, soul and
divinity, of Jesus Christ. We believe, indeed,
as I have already said, that by the almighty
power of God, making use of the ministrj'^ of
the priest, the bread is changed into the body
of Christ : but we neither do nor ever did
believe and teach, that the bread, which is a
material substance, is changed into the soul,
which is a spirit ; much less do we believe
and teach that it is changed into the divinity;
nay, we believe it to be blasphemy, and heresy,
to imagine any such thing : we believe, it is
true, that the body and blood, soul and divinity,
of Jesus Christ, are truly and really present
in the blessed sacrament, and that Christ is con-
tained whole and entire under either kind ; not
that the bread and wine are changed into Christ's
soul or divinity; but that the bread and wine
are only changed, or converted into his body and
blood ; however, by the natural connexion b}-
which Christ's body and blood (which is now
risen from the dead to die no more) is always
accompanied with the soul, and the divinity with
both body and soul, by reason of the hypostatical
union of the divine and human nature in Christ;
we therefore believe that Christ's soul and
divinity are also present, not by change or con-
version, but by concomitance.* Therefore it is
not our belief, that a priest can make his God, etc,
Q. Have you any thing more to add by way
•Sec Cone. Trid. Sess. xiii. C. 3 et 4.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL. EXPOUNDED.
121
of proof out of Scripture, in favor of the real
presence of the body and blood of Christ in the
blessed sacrament?
A. Yes, I have several more strong proofs, as,
first, from the words of Christ spoken to the
Jews in the sixth chapter of St. John ; and
secondly, from the first epistles of St. Paul to the
Corinthians, the tenth and eleventh chapter ;
thirdly, from the ancient figures of the encharist,
which demonstrate that there is something more
noble in it than bread and wine, taken only
in remembrance of Christ ; fourthly, from the
unerring authority of the Church in her deci-
sions, in relation to this controversy ; all
which I shall here pass over for brevity sake,
since they are already excellently well ex-
plained by an eminent divine, in a book
entitled, " The Catholic Christian," etc.
Q. Besides these arguments from Scripture
and Church authority, have you any thing else
to allege in proof of the real presence ?
A. Yes, first, the authority of all the ancient
fathers, whose plain testimonies may be seen
in an appendix to a book entitled a Specimen
of the Spirit of the Dissenting Teachers, etc.
Secondly, the perpetual consent of the Greeks,
and all the oriental Christians demonstrated
by Monsieur Arnaud, and others, in a book
entitled. La Perpetuite de la Foy, etc.* Con-
firmed by the authentic testimonies of their
patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, etc. By
the writings of their ancient and modem
divines : and by all their liturgies : and even
acknowledged by many Protestant writers. See
Sir Edwin Sandy's relation of the religion of
the west, p. 233. Dr. Potter's answer to charity
mistaken, p. 225. Bishop Forbes on the Euch-
arist. Dr. Nicholai of the kingdom of Christ,
etc.f Now, what can be a more convincing
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. Thirdl}',
both ancient and modern Church history fur-
nishes us with many instances of miracles, the
'h-y. C. JO, II, et 13, T. i.
t L. i. C. 3, P. 22.
best attested, which from time to time have
been wrought in testimony of this same truth,
of which in divers parts of Christendom there
are standing monuments to this day. My last
proof is, from the doctrine of the Church of
England, as it is delivered in her catechism,
which is printed in the common prayer book,
which acknowledges that the body and blood
of Christ are verily and indeed taken and
received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.
This is the doctrine of the Church of Eng-
land, which expresses the real and substantial
presence of Christ's body and blood in the sac-
rament, as fully as any Catholic can do : for if
verily and indeed be not the same as really and
truly, and of as full force to exclude a mere figura-
tive presence, I confess I am yet wholly ignorant
of the signification even of the most common
words ; and it will be impossible to know what
men mean, even when they deliver themselves
in the plainest terms. So that it must either
be owned that the words of Christ's institution
import a real and substantial presence of his
body and blood, even according to Protestant
doctrine, or we must suppose the Church of
England guilty of a most scandalous equivoca-
tion or gross contradiction ; for how that can
be verily and indeed taken and received which
is not verily and indeed there, is a greater
mystery than transubstantiation.
Q. You have satisfied me as to this point:
but pray what is the doctrine of the Church
concerning the matter of this sacrament ?
A. The matter is bread and wine, viz.:
Wheaten bread and wine of the grape, which
Christ made use of; and without them the
consecration is not valid,
Q. Why are bread and wine made use of?
A. It is in the first place, the divine will.
Again, by reason of the analogy, with respect
to the end and effect. They signify a spiritual
nourishment. They represent Christ's passion,
or separation of his blood from his body.
Q. Is bread to be leavened or unleavened ?
A. It is certain that Christ used unleavened
bread, because he celebrated the last supper on
122
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
the first day of the Azyms, or unleavened
bread : see St. Matt. xxvi. 7, 17 ; St. Mark xiv.
12 ; St. Luke xxii. 7, when the Jews were for-
bid, under pain of death (as we read in Exodus
xii. 15, etc.), to eat any leavened bread, for
those seven days ; nay, they were even forbid
to keep it in their houses. However, there is
no divine precept. Hence, the Greek Church
are allowed to consecrate in leavened bread.
Q. Is water to be mixed with the wine ?
A. Yes, by the Church precept ; and, it is
probable after Christ's example. Water repre-
sents the water which flowed from our Saviour's
side : not but that consecration without water
is valid.
Q. Is the consecration valid in wine only, or
bread only?
A. Yes ; but there is a divine precept not
to separate them, from these words of Christ,
" Do this for a commemoration of me," etc., St.
Luke xxii., i Cor. x. Besides, unless they are
consecrated together, they do not represent
Christ's passion distinctly.
Q. What is the form of this sacrament?
A. The sufficient and necessary form of the
consecration of bread, are these words : " This
is my body : " of wine, " This is the chalice of
my blood, of the new and everlasting testament,
a mystery of faith, which shall be shed for you
and for many, to the remission of sins." The
prayer, and words before and after, are only
necessary, by reason of the Church precept.
These forms are known by the Scripture and
constant doctrine of the fathers : for, as the
catechism of the council of Trent argues, " Do
thts,^''* falls upon the words, as well as upon
the signification.
Q. What is transubstantiation ?
A. It is the conversion or change of the
bread and wine into the body and blood of
Christ.
Q. In what manner is this performed? Is
the substance of bread and wine annihilated ?
Is Christ's body created anew, or does it for-
sake Heaven ?
*Hoc facite.
A. No : it is done by a total change of one
substance into the other, by the almighty power
of God, to whom nothing is hard or impossible ;
who daily changes bread and wine, by digestion,
into our body and blood.
Q. How can there be a change of substances,
seeing that on one hand, the bread and wine still
remain in their natural properties, viz. : Their
quality, extension, color, and taste ; they are
tangible, they retain their usual property of
nourishing, nay, they are subject to corruption.
Are Christ's body and blood subject to these
affections ? Are they extended, are they seen,
touched, can they be moved, or subject to cor-
ruption ?
A. What appears to the senses are not the
substance, but only the accidents of bread and
wine ; and even local extension is not essential
to a body ; so that, though the substance of
bread and wine are changed, they still retain
their natural properties, under the new sub-
stance, into which they are miraculousl}'^
chauged. Now, these properties, which are still
retained, belong not to Christ's body and blood
immediately, but are the accidents of the former
substance. Hence extension, motion, visibility,
tangibility, nourishment, and corruption, are not
ascribed in Christ's body and blood, only in-
directly, and in appearance.
Q. By this transubstantiation, the evidence of
all our senses, and reason too, seems to be
destroyed, which God bestowed upon rational
creatures, as a rule or guide to judge of all
matters whatever; so that they cannot be de-
ceived without injury to the divine goodness and
veracity, in providing us with a deceitful guide.
A. The senses are commonly the mediums of
true information, but in no cases the judges;
judgment being an act of the understanding.
However, in some cases, the senses are not proper
mediums or true informers, being detected of
' false information, both in natural and super-
natural things. For instance, our sight gives
false information concerning the bigness of the
celestial bodies, that the stars are no bigger than
walnuts, and the sun no bigger than a plate,
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
123
when at the same time they are bigger than the
whole earth. The senses all gave a wrong in-
formation concerning the divine nature of
Christ, as also that he who appeared to the
women in the monument was a man, although
the Scripture says he was an angel. St. Mark
xvi. ; St. Matthew xxviii. In the same manner,
the reasoning faculty is not a true judge,when it is
under the direction of ignorance, passion, malice
etc. There is a distinction to be made between
the faculty of reason and the right use of it. For
instance, the faculty of reason is a false informer,
when it pretends to penetrate into the mysteries
of faith. Hence, both the senses and reasoning,
though in other things true informers, yet in
mysteries of faith are liable to mistake, as in the
trinity ; so that, though our senses speak bread
and wine ; faith and reason, rightly made use of,
correct their information : for to say you would
believe your senses rather than God, is blas-
phemy.
Q. Do not miracles entirely depend upon the
testimony of the senses ? Why then shall we
not believe that to be only bread, where all our
senses declare it to be so ?
A. We believe not miracles, purely upon the
testimony of the senses, but from reason. But
the case is not parallel. In miracles, there is
no contrary circumstance or precept, to neglect
their information ; but in the eucharist, we are
to believe Christ's words, which are inconsistent
with the information of sense. In many cases,
all our senses are wrong informers, as reason
tells us; and why should we depend upon them,
when both faith and reason inform us of their
misrepresentation ?
Q. When Christ changed water into wine,
the people judged there was the substance,
from the qualities it had of wine. If therefore
bread retains the same qualities, we may con-
clude it has the substance.
A. The case is not parallel. The testimony
of the .senses was sufficient to convince them it
was true wine, since there was no circumstance
or words made use of by Christ, to signify there
were only the accidents or species of wine in
the substance of water. Now, in the eucharist,
the words of Christ, " This is my body," can-
not be verified, if the substance of bread
remained : otherwise, our Saviour should have
said, " In this bread is my body, and in this
wine is my blood : " but as our Saviour said no
such thing, but on the contrarj;- absolutely
declared that what he gave to his Apostles was
his body, in this latter case the senses cannot
be true informers.
Q. By what power is this change made, and
why is it called transubstantiation, seeing there
is no such Avord in the Scriptures ? And why
may not the Lutherans' opinion be allowed,
who affirm, there is consubstantiation, that is,
that both the substance of bread, and Christ's
body, are present ?
A. We have it by constant tradition, that the
change is made by the words pronounced in
consecration, whereby God himself acts as prin-
cipal, and the priests as instrumental, in the
person of Christ ; and therefore the priest does
not say, " This is the body of Christ ;" but
" This is my body." It is true, there is no
such word as transubstantiation in the Scrip-
ture, in express terms, but only equivalently,
and therefore the council of Trent says, it is
a proper word to express that mystery. In the
same manner, there are no such words in the
Scripture as consubstantiation, trinity, person,
or original sin, but all are found there equiva-
lent. As for consubstantiation, condemned by
the council of Trent, against the Lutherans, it
does not verify Christ's words ; for then he
should have said, "Here is my body."* So
there is a necessity of a change, by transub-
stantiation. This is what many learned Prot-
estants have urged against Luther and his fol-
lowers. See the Bishop of Meaux's History of
the Variations of the Protestant Churches.f
Q. Is not the eucharist often called bread
after the consecration? And why, if it is not
really bread ?
A. It is still called bread, and nothing can
be more agreeable to the common practice of
* Hie est Corpus meum. f Lib. ii. Numb. 31, 32, 33.
124
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
men, and the rules of speech. First, because it
has to our senses all the natural appearances
and effects of bread and wine : for this reason,
angels, in the Scripture, are called men. Joshua
V. 13; Genesis xix ; Luke xxiv. 4; Acts i.
10. Secondly, because it was bread and wine
before consecration. Thus God said to Adam,
" Dust thou art, and unto dust thou must
return," Genesis iii. 19. Aaron's rod, which was
changed into a serpent. Exodus vii. 10, is still
called a rod, because made from it. Thirdly, it
is called bread, because it is the bread of life,
the spiritual food and nourishment of the soul.
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 of the blessed sac-
rament, it would prove no more than St. Paul's
calling the consecrated host, bread; i Cor. x.
11, 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 will
appear evident, from the 2 2d chapter of St.
Luke, to any one who will but read, from the
14th verse to the 21st, where it is plain ; 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. The ancient fathers often called this sacra-
ment a figure and sign, which seems not to
import grace present.
A. It cannot be a sacrament, without being a
figure or sign ; but the fathers in no place call it
a symbol or figure only ; so as to deny or ex-
clude the verity and substance of Christ's body
and blood from being contained under them.
The eucharist is called the sign or figure of
Christ's body, upon account of the species, which
represent it not as absent, but really present.
Hence Tertulliau says, Christ did not doubt to
say, " This is my body," when he gave the
figure of his body ; so divines say, it is a full
figure, not an empty one.*
Q. Which are the articles of faith that follow
from the real presence, and are defined by the
Church ?
A. First, against the Lutherans, that the
reality subsists without the use, and not only
while it is taken. Again, that every particle
contains the true body and blood, in the conse-
cration of both species. Again, that the soul
and divinity of Christ are also present. Again,
that the body and blood are present, by force of
the words of consecration, and both present
under each species, by concomitance. Again,
that Christ, in the sacrament, is to be adored
with divine worship. That when the species are
divided or broken, the whole body of Christ is
in every particle, but undivided in itself. That
when the species are corrupted, the body of Christ
is not corrupted, but ceases to be present. Lastly,
that the body of Christ is not every where as the
Ubiquitarians affirm, but only in heaven locally,
and in the eucharist sacrameutally.
Q. What is the principal effect of the eucha-
rist?
A. To bestow nutritive grace, and in greater
plenty than any other sacrament : though it
does not confer first grace, but supposes it
already given by penance. Hence, remission of
sin is not the proper effect. The eucharist, as a
sacrament, only profits those who receive it.f
But, as it is a sacrifice, it profits others. Venial
sins hinder not the nutritive grace : yet they
slacken the growth of virtue like a bad soil.
Q. Who are rightly disposed to receive the
eucharist ?
A. Divines distinguish three sorts of per-
sons. First, such as receive the sacrament
only, without the effect. Secondly, those who
receive the effect only by faith, and ardent
* Figura plana o vacua,
t Ex opere operaiu.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAI. EXPOUNDED.
125
charity, not having an opportunity to receive
the sacrament itself: yet these do not receive
the proper sacramental grace. Thirdly, such
as receive both the sacrament and the effect.
The first communion is called sacramental
only, the second spiritual only, the third sac-
ramental and spiritual. Hence it is defined
by the council of Trent,* that faith alone is
not a sufiicient preparation ; but there must be
a true contrition, and not a supposed one, but
acquired by confession if there be an oppor-
tunity of having a confessor : all which are
required by St. Paul, when he says, " Let a
man prove himself, and so let him eat of this
bread, and drink of this cup ; for he who eats
and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks dam-
nation to himself, not discerning the body
of our Lord." i Cor. xi. 28. The Church so
expounds the preparation that is required.
Again, this precept of confessing extends even
to priests, who are obliged by oflEce to cele-
brate, unless a confessor is wanting ; and then
the council of Trent says, they are to make an
act of contrition, and afterwards quam primum
confiteri^ which words, as Pope Alexander Vllth
declares, import the first opportunity, and not
the stated time of the. priest's usual confession.
In fine, in order to receive the blessed sacra-
ment worthily, and the eflFects thereof, we must
be in the state of grace, that is, free from
all mortal sin, and affection to venial. We
must also approach with a right intention :
first, to glorify God, and give him thanks for
so great a favor and blessing, in bestowing
upon us his only Son ; secondly, to strengthen
our souls in spiritual life, and to gain an
increase of charity and all other virtues ; and
thirdly, to obtain the grace and assistance of
Almighty God, in order to correct all our fail-
ings and imperfections, and to overcome such
and such temptations.
Q. How is fasting required in the case of
communion ?
A. There is an ecclesiastical precept (which
St. AugTistinef says, was all the Church over in
• Sess. xiii. Can. xi. f Epist. ad Janu. 54, alias 118, n. 6.
his time) that no communicant should either
eat or drink from the midnight before. Yet St.
Augustine observes, that on Maundy-Thurs-
day, it was a custom to receive not fasting, in
honor and memory of Christ's last supper. How-
ever, when the sacrament is given, by way of
viaticum, in danger of death, fasting is not
necessary. i
Q. Is there an obligation of receiving under
both kinds ?
A. There is no divine precept. There is
indeed a divine precept of taking the body and
blood, which is complied with under one kind
alone ; because, as I said before, undei- either
kind is contained both the body and blood of
Christ.
Q. Yet, methinks, the precept is divine, and
that it falls upon both eating and drinking,
which requires both kinds. For in the first
place, the institution was such, and the Apostles
received at Christ's hands in both kinds. Again,
it was expressed by these words, 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. Besides, it was the practice in the
primitive ages, to receive both kinds. Again,
Pope Gelasius I. who lived in the fifth century,
commanded communion under both kinds.
A. It is owned, both kinds were given to the
Apostles at the institution, but every circum-
stance at the institution was not a divine pre-
cept. As to the words," unless you eat and drink,"
John vi. 54, they are not to be understood of
the distinct actions, but only of partaking of
the body and blood: for in the same chapter,
life everlasting is promised to those who eat
only; " he that eats of this bread, shall live for
ever," verse 59. Again, " if any one eateth me
the same shall also live by me," verse 58. You
see eating alone will suffice. Again, the Scrip-
ture, in many places, speaking of the holy com-
munion, makes no mention of the cup; see St.
Luke, etc., chapter xxiv. 30, 31; Acts ii. 42,
46, et chap. XX. 7. Besides, it is to be observed,
that whosoever receives the body of Christ,
must certainly receive his blood at the same
is6
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
time, since the body which he receives is a
living body (for Christ can die no more, says
St. Paul,) Rom. vi. 9, which cannot be without
his blood : there is no taking Christ by pieces ;
whoever receives him, receives him wholly. So
that the faithful are no ways deprived of any
part of the grace of this sacrament, by receiving
in one kind only : and the reason is, 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; conse-
quently, he brings with him the same grace to
the soul, when received in one kind, as he does
when received in both. Again, many learned
Protestants have acknowledged, that there is no
command in Scripture, for all to receive in both
kinds. See Luther in his epistle to the Bohe-
mians. Bishop Forbes, lib. 2. de Euch. cap. i. 2.
White, Bishop of Ely, in his treatise on the
Sabbath, p. 97. And Bishop Montague, Orig.
p. 97. But abstracting from what has been
said, our adversaries have no reason to object
against us, for defrauding the laity of part of
the grace of the sacrament; since they deprive
them of the whole, viz.: Both body and blood,
as receiving neither one nor the other, but only
a little bread and wine. As for the practice of
the primitive ages, both kinds were commonly
taken, but not always : for the ancient fathers
give an account, that in time of persecution.
Christians took only the consecrated bread,
which they carried home with them. Also,
abstemious persons, who had an aversion to
wine, only received the consecrated bread.
Again, infants received only the consecrated
. wine. Pope Gelasius, indeed, ordered both
(cinds to be given, in order to detect the Mani-
cheans, who abstained from wine, on account
that they held wine to be a liquor of the devil's
invention, and communicated only in the other
kind, upon that belief This was the ground
of Pope Gelasius's prohibition ; but afterwards,
in Pope Leo the second's time, it was free to
communicate in one, or both kinds.
Q. When did the custom of communicating in
both kinds, cease, and what i easons were there
to order only one kind ?
A, It ceased by degrees. And the reasons
were these: first, there was danger of great
irreverences, by spilling the consecrated wine,
when the communicants were very numerous.
Secondly, lest the wine being reserved for the
sick, it should grow sour and be corrupted.
Thirdly, to confound those heretics, who believed
Christ's body was without his blood. And
lastly, this discipline of the Church was con-
firmed by the general council of Constance, in
the year 1414; to put a stop to the Hussites,
and other heretics, who held that both kinds
were of divine precept.
Q. Can the Church still order or permit both
kinds to be received ?
A. Yes, if she shall judge the reasons to be
sufficient.
Q. But did not Christ expressly command the
receiving in both kinds, when he said, drink ye
all of it ? Matt. xxvi. xxvii.
A. These words were addressed to the twelve
Apostles only, no other being present at the
last supper, and the precept was by them all
fulfilled ; " and they all drank of it." St.
Mark xiv. 23. And this command is constantly
observed by the bishops and priests of the
Catholic Church, as often as they consecrate.
But this is no more an argument for the
laity's being obliged to drink the cup, than
their being obliged to consecrate, to forgive
sins, or preach the gospel; St. Luke xxii. 19;
St. John XX. 22 ; St. Matt, xxviii. 19. Be-
cause we find in the Scripture, Christ com-
manded the Apostles so to do.
Q. Are priests obliged to receive both kinds ?
A. Yes, when they consecrate ; and the
reason is, because the eucharist is a sacrifice,
as well as a sacrament. Now, unless both
kinds are consecrated and offered by the
priest, and received, it does not represent
Christ's passion.
Q. May not deacons consecrate ?
A. By no means : do this, * was directed to
*Hoc facite.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
127
bishops and priests only. However, deacons may
be the extraordinary distributers of the sacra-
ment ; as it was sometime a practice in the
primitive ages.
Q. What is a sacrifice, and how does that
appellation agree with the eucharist?
A. A sacrifice, properly so called, is an
external oblation or ofifering made to God
alone, by a lawful minister, with a change in
the thing offered by consumption, in testi-
mony of his supreme power. Now this agrees
with the eucharist, because the eucharist is "n
oblation of the body and blood of Jesus
Christ, oflfered under the outward and sensible
signs of bread and wine, to God alone, by the
ministry of the priests of the Church, law-
fully consecrated and empowered 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 spe-
cies ; and this oblation is made to God, to
acknowledge his sovereign power, to render him
our homage, and for all other ends for which
sacrifices are offered to his divine Majesty.
Q. What are the ends for which sacrifice in
the old law was offered, and is still to be offered,
to God ?
A. For these four ends. First, for God's own
honor and glory, by acknowledging his sove-
reignty, and paying him our homage. Secondly,
to give God thanks for all his blessings.
Thirdly, to beg pardon for our sins. Fourthly,
to obtain 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 sacrifices ?
A. Yes, they have. Witness the sacrifice of
Abel ; Gen. iv. The sacrifice of Noah ; Gen.
viii. The sacrifice of Melchisedec ; Gen. xiv.
The sacrifices of Abraham ; Gen. xv. et xxii.
The sacrifices of Job, i. et xiii. And the many
different kinds of sacrifices prescribed in the law
of Moses.
Q. How is a sacrifice, properly so called, dis-
tinguished from other oblations, viz.: Prayer,
good works, and a contrite heart ?
A. These want requisites, viz. : They are either
spiritual oblations only, or are not offered only
by a priest ; nor is there any change to testify
God's supreme dominion.
Q. How many kinds of sacrifice belonged to
the old law?
A. Chiefly five : first, holocaust, where the
whole was consumed or burnt, and thereby
given fully to God without reserve, for the more
perfect acknowledgment of his sovereignty.
Secondly, propitiatory, or sin-offerings, for ap-
peasing God's anger and remitting sin. Thirdly,
eucharistic, for returning thanks. Fourthly,
impetratory, for obtaining blessings ; and fifthly,
pacific, or peace-offerings, which were both eucha-
ristic and propitiatory.
Q. Why are all those sacrifices now abol-
ished ?
A. Because, they were but figures of the
sacrifice of Christ ; and therefore, were to give
place to his sacrifice, as being only figures of
the truth.
Q, Were the sacrifices of the old law figures
of the sacrifice of the new ?
A. Yes, both of Christ's passion, and of the
eucharist.
Q. What is the mass, and from whence is
the word derived ?
A. The mass, in one sense, may be called
the liturgy of the Catholic Church ; but, prop-
erly speaking, it is the sacrifice, or oblation of
Christ's body and blood, under the appearance,
or species, of bread and wine : 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. As to
the word mass, some are of opinion that it
comes from the Hebrew word missach, which
signifies a voluntary offering; Dent. xvi. 10.
128
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
But others are of opinion, tliat it is derived
from the Latin word, missio, or ruissa, that is,
dismission, or sending away ; because the cate-
chumens and others, were formerly dismissed,
as not being permitted to be present at this
sacrifice, only from the beginning till the offer-
tory, and the gospel and sermon being ended,
the deacon publicly said, ite missa est, go out
all you who are infidels, catechumens, and peni-
tents : for the mass of the faithful is now to
begin. Hence, at the end of the mass, the
words, ite missa est, are still retained, and now
the meaning is, depart, for the mass is ended.
But be this as it will, the name is of very
ancient use in the Church, as appears from St.
Ambrose, St. Leo, and St. Gregory.*
Q. How does the sacrifice of the mass differ
from the sacrifice Christ made upon the cross ?
A. There is no difference as to the host, or
thing offered, nor as to the principal priest who
offers ; the chief offerer being Christ himself
The difference therefore is only in the manner
of the offering, the one was bloody, the other
unbloody ; for in the sacrifice of the cross
Christ really died, and therefore it was a bloody
sacrifice ; in the sacrifice of the mass, he only
dies mystically, inasmuch as his death is rep-
resented in the consecrating apart the bread
and wine, to denote the shedding of his sacred
blood from his body at the time of his death,
and therefore this is an unbloody sacrifice, and
of course a commemorating sacrifice, which has
all its virtue from the sacrifice of the cross.
Q. Is the sacrifice of the mass offered to
saints ?
A. No ; only to God ; the saints are only
mentioned, to give praise, and thanksgiving to
God for them, and that they may join in prayer
with us, and for us.
Q. Is the mass a true and proper sacrifice?
A. Yes, it is.
Q. How can it be a true and proper sacri-
fice, since a true sacrifice requires a change, or
mactation, or immolation, in the thing offered ?
*St. Amb. Iv. 2, Epis. 14, ad sororem. St. I/CV. Epis. 81, ad dios-
cortL St Greg. Horn. 6, in Evang.
now in the mass these things are not to be
found.
A. In bloody sacrifices a mactation, or slay-
ing, was necessary, but not in others ; Mel-
chisedec's was a true and proper sacrifice, and
so were the pacific sacrifices of the old law ;
however, in the sacrifice of the mass there is
a real change, by the real conversion of the
bread into his body, as also a mystical immola-
tion or death ; when the body and blood, are,
as it were, separated by distinct consecrations.
Q. Have you any texts of Scripture for proof
of the sacrifice of the mass ?
A. Yes ; besides many figures of this sacri-
fice in the Old Testament (of which the most
evident is that of the bread and wine offered
to Melchisedec, the priest of the most high
God; according to whose order, Christ is said
to be a priest for ever. Gen. xiv. i8. Psalm
ex. And that as the holy fathers* take notice
by reason of this new sacrifice of the eucharist) we
have the prophecy of Malachi i. lo, ii, 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 text the ancient
fathers, both Greek and Latin, urge to show
that the eucharist is a sacrifice. See St. Jus-
tin, St. Irenseus, St. Chrysostome, St. Augus-
tine, etc.f In the New Testament St. Paul
tells us, that under the new law we have an altar
(and consequently a sacrifice) whereof they
have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle,
Heb. xiii. lo, that is, they who continue in
the service of the old law. And in the loth
chapter of his ist epistle to the Corinthians,
from the 14th verse to the 21st, he makes a
parallel between the partakers of the Chris-
tian sacrifice, and those who partake of the
Jewish or heathenish victims, so as evidently
to suppose, that the Christian table, which he
mentions, verse 21, is an an altar where Christ
is mystically immolated, and afterwards eaten
* See St. Cypr. epist. 63. St. Chryst. Horn. 35 St. Jerom. epist.
126, ad Evan. St. Aug. Cone, i, in Ps. 33. L. 15. de Civ. Dei., etc.
t St. Just in Dial, cum Trypho. St. Irenae. L. 4. C. 32. St.
Chryst in Ps. 92. St. Aug. L. 18. de Civ. Dei. C. 35.
^^--g^
THK DKSCENT FROM THE CROSa
Consider the sighs and tears of the Virgin Mother, with what pangs she embraced the bloody remains of her beloved Jesus. Here
unite your tears with those of His disconsolate Mother. Reflect that your Jesus would not descend from the cross until He consummated
the work of redemption, and that at His departure from as well as His entrance into the world He would be placed in the bosom of His
beloved Mother. Hence learn constancy in your pious resolutions ; cleave to the standard of the cross. Consider with what purity that
soul should be adorned, which receives in the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist Christ's most sacred Body and Blood.
VISION OF OUR LORD TO ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI.
In the year 1221, while the saint was praying with fervent devotion, Jesus appeared to him and said : " Francis, demand what thou
wilt for the salvation of nations."
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
129
by the faithful, as in the Jewish and heathen-
ish sacrifices, the victim was first oflFered on
the altar, and then eaten by the people. From
whence the Apostle St. Paul infers, verse 16,
that they who were partakers of this great sac-
rifice of the body and blood of Christ, ought
not to be partakers with devils, by. eating the
meats sacrificed to idols. The sacrifice of the
mass is also mentioned in the Acts of the
Apostles, xiii. 2, where we read in the Protes-
tant Testament, As they ministered to the
Lord, and fasted, etc. In the Greek original it
stands thus. As they were sacrificing {Aeztotir-
goimta7i) to the Lord and fasting, the Holy
Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for
the work whereunto I have called them. Where
the Greek word, which we have rendered in
English, sacrificing, is the self same 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 perpetual tradition of the Catholic Church,
from the days of the Apostles. Witness the
most ancient liturgies of all churches and
nations. Witness the manifold testimonies of
councils, and fathers of all ages. Witness the
frequent use in all Christian antiquity, of the
names 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 sacri-
fice ; which is a matter of fact that cannot be
contested.
Q. But does not St. Paul say, that Christ,
by one offering, viz., that of the cross, hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified?
Heb. X. 14. 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 eflEcacy from that one offering : yet as that
9
one offering, by which Christ bath 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, he ever liveth to make
intercession for us, Heb. vii. 25, so neither is
it any ways injured, but highly honored by
the representing of the same offering to God
in the sacrifice of the altar.
Q. But St. Paul tells us that Christ does
not offer himself often, Heb. ix. 25. What
say you to this ?
A. St. Paul 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 the sacraments, and sac-
rifice.
Q. Have you any thing more to allege for
proof of the sacrifice of the mass ?
A. Yes ; we have the words of the institu-
tion, as they are related by St. Luke, xxii. 19,
20. This is my body which is given for you.
This cup is the New Testament in my blood,
which ( cup ) is shed for you. Now, since we
really believe by the words of consecration,
that the bread and wine are truly changed
into the body and blood of Christ; and con-
sequently, that our victim, which for us was
immolated upon the cross, is in the mass
exhibited, and presented to God. The mass
therefore is properly an offering or sacrifice ;
and it is also a propitiatory sacrifice ; for if
the cup, viz. : The blood of Christ be shed
for us, that is, for our sins, it must needs be
propitiatory, at least by applying to us the
fruit of the bloody sacrifice of the cross.
Q. But what need was there of the sacrifice
of the mass, since we were fully redeemed by
the sacrifice of the cross ?
A. First, that we might have in the sacrifice
of the mass, a standing memorial of the death
of Christ. Secondly, that by the sacrifice of
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
the mass the fruit of his death might daily
be applied to our souls. Thirdly, that his
children might have, until 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 had always
done, from the beginning of the world.
Fourthly, that in and by this sacrifice they
might unite themselves daily with their high
priest and victim Christ Jesus ; and daily
answer the four ends of sacrifice.
Q. What effects has the eucharist as a sacrifice?
A. The council of Trent* has defined that
it is more than a sacrifice of praise, or a mere
commemoration of Christ's passion, and that
it is latreuticum, that is to say, by it we give
to God divine honor; eucharisticum, that is,
by it we give thanks to God, for his benefits
and mercies bestowed upon us ; propitiatorium,
that is, by it we obtain pardon and remission
of our sins; impetratorium, that is, by it we
obtain new graces and blessings.
Q. Does it remit sin, or the pain due to sin,
by way of satisfaction?
A. It is propitiatory, and satisfactory'^, by
virtue of the divine institution ; as to pain,
both in this world, and purgatory, when it is
applied with due dispositions, and according to
the intention of the Church, it being the best
of satisfactory or good works.
Q. Is the mass of a wicked priest, as valu-
able as that of a just one?
A. It has the same effect absolutely, because
a wicked man offers in the person of Christ and
the Church ; yet the private devotion of the
good priest may add to the efiScacy in other
respects.
Q. For whom is mass offered ?
A. For all the faithful both living and dead,
as also for all infidels, heretics, etc., that they
may be converted ; yet, their particular names
are not to be mentioned in the mass.
Q. What advantage is the sacrifice of the
mass to the living and the dead ?
A. It procures to the living the merits and the
* Sess. xxii. Can. iii.
fruit of the sacrifice of the cross, that is, the
grace we stand in need of, especially to those for
whom it is said, and those who assist devoutly at
it. As to the dead, it lessens their pains in pur-
gatory, and hastens their deliverance out of it.*
Q. What means all the ceremonies of the
mass, and how can additions be made to the
sacrifice instituted by Christ ?
A. They have a spiritual meaning and are
instructive : they are added, some by Christ
himself, others by the Apostles, others since by
the Church, but are not essential, yet they can-
not be omitted without a great sin. We shall
explain these ceremonies hereafter.
Q. How ought persons to hear mass, and with
what affection ?
A. With great respect, devotion and attention,
Jeremiah xviii. lo, and with that affection for I
which sacrifices were instituted, that is, with a
devout acknowledgment of our duty to God ;
with an earnest desire to appease the wrath of >
God, which we have deserved for our sins ; and '
also with thanksgiving to our blessed Saviour,
that he has vouchsafed to leave to his Church
his own precious body and blood, as a pledge of
his love, to be offered up to his eternal Father .
by us, in testimony of the aforesaid acknowledg- |
ment, and as a means to appease his deserved .
anger.
Q. But 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 rather mock God,
whilst outwardly they pretend to honor him,
when their heart is far from him. The like is to
be said of those who in time of mass are laugh-
ing or talking, or who pass the greater part of
the time in criminal amusements. These sort
of persons must also answer for the scandal they
give by their ill example, and for their hinder-
ing others from attending to their duty ; as well
* St. Aug. L. 9, Confess. 2 Mach. xii. ver. 43, etc. Cone. Trid.
Sess. xxii. Cp. ii. Can. iii.
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
131
as for tlieir profaning these most sacred mys-
teries, by such an unchristian behavior at this
holy time.
Q. Is it not a prejudice to the faithful, that
mass is said in an unknown tongue ?
A. No ; for the mass contains only those
prayers which the priest alone is commanded to
say, as the mediator between God and his people.
Neither are the people ignorant of what is
said, since they have the mass expounded and
Englished in their ordinary prayer book ; and it
is visible to any unprejudiced eye, that there
is far more devotion among Catholics at mass,
than there is at the Protestants' common prayer.
Q. Can you explain to me, by some example,
how a person may devoutly and profitably
assist at this sacrifice, though he be ignorant
of the prayers which the priest is saying?
A. Yes, we can ; for what do you think, if
you, or any good Christian, had been present
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 the love of God, thanksgiving for so great
a mercy, detestation for 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, be-
cause both the priest and the victim are the
same. It is abundantly sufficient for the peo-
ple's devotion, to be well instructed in what is
then doing, and to excite in their souls suitable
acts of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, repen-
tance, etc., though they understand not the
particular prayers used by the priest at that
time. Besides, it is not necessary for the devout
and profitable concurring in sacrifice offered to
God, that the people should hear or recite the
same prayers with the priest ; nay, even the
very seeing of him is more than what God was
pleased to require in the old law. Hence we
find, that the whole multitude of the people
were praying without, when Zachary went into
the temple to burn incense. St. Luke i. 10.
And 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
victims into the sanctuary, to make atonement.
Leviticus xvi. 17.
Q. But does not St. Paul condemn the use
of unknown tongues in the liturgy of the
Church ? I Corinthians xiv.
A. Whoever will but read that whole chapter
with attention, will easily see, that St. Paul
speaks not a word of the liturgy of the Church,
but only reprehends the abuse of the gift of
tongues, which some among the Corinthians
were guilty of, who out of ostentation
affected to make exhortations or extempore
prayers in their assemblies, in languages 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 practice
of the Catholic Church, where all exhortations,
sermons and such like instructions, are made
in the vulger language, where 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 often to them, particularly upon
Sundays and holy-days,* the mysteries con-
tained in the mass. Besides, after all, though
the Latin be a dead language, yet, in the sense
of St. Paul, it cannot be called an unknown
tongue, since there is no language in Europe
more universally understood, there being scarce
a village without somebody who understands it.
Q. But why does the Church celebrate the
mass in Latin, rather than in the vulgar
language ?
A. First, 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, who
hates novelty, desires to celebrate her liturgy
in the same language as the saints have done
*Conc. Trid. Sess. xxii. Cap. 8.
132
SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
for so many ages. Secondly, for a greater
uniformity in the public worship; that so a
Catholic, in whatsoever country he chances to
be, may still find the liturgy performed in the same
manner, and in the same language, to which
he is accustomed at home. Thirdly, to avoid
the changes to which all vulgar languages,
as we find by experience, are daily exposed.
Nor is this method peculiar to the Catholic
Church alone: for all the oriental -schismatics,
how different soever, use, in their liturgies,
their ancient languages, which have long since
ceased to be understood by the people ; as we
learn from Monsieur Renaudot, in his Disser-
tation upon the Oriental Liturgies, chap. vi.
The Greeks say mass in the old Greek, of
which the common people (as Mr. Brerewood,
in his Inquiries, says) understand little or
nothing. C. ii. p. 12. The Ethiopians and
Armenians say mass in the old Ethiopian and
Armenian tongue, which none but the learned
understand. The Syrians, Indians, and Egypn
tians, say mass in S3Tiac, though Arabic is
their vulgar language. The Muscovites say
mass in Greek, though it is not the language
of the people, who speak nothing but a kind
of Sclavonian. So that those who declaim so
violently against the Roman Catholic Church,
for not having the public service in the vulgar
tongues, have the universal practice of Chris-
tendom against them. And what is very remark-
able, is, that the Protestants have furnished us
with an excellent argument against themselves,
for having the divine service celebrated in such
a language as the people do not understand:
for we read, in Dr. Heylin's History of the
Reformation, p. 128, etc., that, in Queen Eliza-
beth's time, "The Irish Parliament passed an
act for the uniformity of 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 severe penalties,
to frequent their churches, and to be present at
the reading the English liturgy, which they
understood no more of than they do of the
mass."
ENANCH
«<^ v36 ^ t^
KXPOUNDED.
s*®^^®*©
Q. What is the signification of the word
penance ?
A. It is much the same with repentance;
and, according to the Latin and Greek, is used
to signify a change of the mind.
Q. What is the ecclesiastical use of the
word?
A. It is sometimes taken for a certain virtue
belonging to justice, and is a sincere grief for
having offended God, with a firm purpose to
offen'd him no more. Again, it is taken for a
sacrament, which is a sorrow for sins committed
after baptism, including confession, and a pur-
pose of making satisfaction. So that it is a
sacrament, whereby the sins we commit after
baptism are forgiven us.
Q. When was this sacrament first instituted ?
A. There was an intimation and promise of
it, when our Saviour said, " Whatsoever you
shall bind upon earth, shall be bound in heaven ;
and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth,
shall be loosed .in heaven." St. Matt, xviii.
1 8. Which promise was actually performed,
after our Saviour's resurrection; when "he
breathed upon his Apostles, and said to them,
receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you
shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose
sins yon shall retain, they are retained." St.
John, XX. 2 2, 13
Q. How do you prove from hence that pen-
ance is a sacrament ?
A. From the notion and definition of a sac-
rament, viz.: An outward and visible sign of
inward grace, ordained by Jesus Christ. The
outward or visible sign, is the sinner's confes-
sion, and the form of absolution pronounced
by the priest ; the inward grace is the remis-
sion of sins, promised by Jesus Christ. See St.
John XX. 22, 23. The institution of Christ is
gathered from the same place, and from St.
Matt, xviii. 18.
•Q. What is the matter and form of this
sacrament ?
A. The matter is twofold, viz.: Remote and
immediate. The remote matter is sin, mortal
and venial : the immediate are the acts of the
penitent, viz.: Contrition, confession, and satis-
faction. The form are the words of absolution.
Q. To what end is this sacrament instituted ?
A. For the remission of sins committed after
baptism.
Q. Is this sacrament necessary for salvation?
A. Yes, it is as necessary as baptism, in
regard of those who fall into mortal sin after
they are baptized.*
*St. Cypr. Ep. 57, ad Cornel. St. Chrys. L. 3, de Sacred. St.
Ambr. L. 1 , de Poenit. Cp. 2. St. Aug. Ep. 288, ad Honorat Con,
Trid. Sess. vi. C. xiv.
(133)
134
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
Q. Are not the words importing a power of
forgiving and retaining sin, sufficiently verified
by the power given to the Apostles to preach
the gospel ?
A. This indeed the Calvinists pretend, but
falsel}', there being two distinct ceremonies
instituted for that purpose, viz.: Baptism, and
penance, as the fathers expressly affirm, besides
preaching. See St. Ambrose, in his book of
Penance.
Q. What differences are observable between
baptism and penance?
A. In baptism, sin is forgiven, by a true
contrition, as a necessary preparation in the
adult. It requires not confession : it remits the
whole pain due to sin: it absolves not juridi-
cally : it g^ves a character, and cannot be
repeated. It is absolutely necessary to infants ;
and to adults, at least in desire, if otherwise
not obtainable. As for penance, jurisdiction is
necessarj'^ : it requires certain dispositions, viz.:
A sorrow and purpose to sin no more : it may
be repeated : it requires confession, but it does
not remit all the pain due to sin : lastly, it
requires satisfaction.
Q. What is it to forgive sin ?
A. It is to pronounce the words of absolution
ministerially, under Christ, the principal cause.
So that we do not believe that man can forgive
sins by his own power, 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 man his instrument 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
this is what the Protestants pretend to believe,
as well as we; for we find in their common
prayer book, in the order for the visitation of
the sick, where they prescribe a form of abso-
lution, the same in substance as that used in
the Catholic Church : which is as follows :
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
forgive thee thine offences : and, by his author-
ity committed to me, I absolve thee from all
thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Q. What is it to retain sins ?
A. It is to refuse or defer absolution for sin,
or to inflict penalties for sin.
Q. Pray tell me in what cases is a confessor
to refuse or defer absolution.
A. The rule of the Church is to defer abso- i
lution (excepting the case of necessity) to '
those of whose disposition the confessor has
just cause to doubt ; and to refuse or deny \
absolution to those who are certainly indisposed '
for it ; which is the case of all such as refuse
to forgive their enemies, or to restore ill-gotten
goods, or to forsake the habits or immediate
occasions of sin ; or, in a word, to comply with
any part of their duty, to which they are /
obliged under mortal sin.*
Q. What is contrition, and why so called ?
A. It is an inward sorrow of the mind, for
having offended so good a God, with a firm
purpose not to offend him any more. It is so
called, because the word contrition signifies a
bruising, or breaking a thing into pieces, which
is metaphorically applied to the heart, which is
as it were bruised and broken by grief
Q. How many sorts of contrition ^re there ?
A. Two ; perfect and imperfect.
Q. What is perfect contrition ?
A. It is a hearty sorrow for having offended
God, including a love of God above all things,
as he is good in himself
Q. What is imperfect contrition ?
A. It is a sorrow for having offended God,
upon account of the pains of hell, the turpitude
of sin, or some other imperfect, but supernatural
motive.
Q. By what name do you call imperfect contri-
tion, and how does it differ from perfect contrition ?
A. It is called attrition. Now, as to the dif-
ference, they differ in their motive. The motive
*SeeRit. Rom. de Sacratn. Pceni et Doert.
Prop. 1679. Cone. Trid. Sess. xiv, Cap. 4.
Inn. II coutr. 65.
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
135
of perfect contrition is God, as he is good in
himself. The motive of attrition is fear of
punishment, etc. Yet here also the motive
must be supernatural, and the sorrow must
proceed from actual grace. Again, they differ
in their effects. The first is capable to justify
a person without the sacrament of penance,
who has a desire, but not the opportunity of a
confessor. The second only disposes a person
for justification in the sacrament.
Q. When are we obliged to make an act of
contrition ?
A. Chiefly upon the following occasions, viz.:
In danger of death : again, as often as we
receive any of the sacraments, if we have not
the convenience of confessing.
Q. Are we obliged to make so many distinct acts
of contrition, according to the number of our sins ?
A. No; one true act of contrition extends to
all, yet a diligent examen of every sin, is to be
premised before we make our confession.
Q. What is confession, and how many sorts
are there ?
A. Confession in general, is a declaration of
a person's sins, which ma}'^ be either general,
or particular, public, or private, to God, or to
man, by way of advice, or sacramental.
Q. What is sacramental confession ?
A. It is an accusation of our sins to a proper
priest; that is to say, to a priest who is
approved of by the bishop, etc., in order to
receive absolution.
Q. Can you bring any Scripture, which
recommends the confession of our sins to the
ministers of God, and can you prove it to be
commanded by Christ ?
A. In the first place, I can produce the pre-
cept of God in the Old Testament, where he
expressly commands, that when a man or
woman, shall commit any sin, that men commit,
to do a trespass against the Lord, and that
person be guilty, then they shall confess their
sins, which they have done, etc. ; Numbers v.
6, 7. Secondly, the example of the people, who
hearkened to the preaching of St. John the
Baptist, who were baptized by him, confessing
their sins; St. Matt. iii. 6. Thirdly, the com-
mand of St. James, confess your sins one to '
another, chapter v. verse 16, that is, to the
priests of the Church. Fourthly, the practice
of the first Christians, many that believed came,
and confessed, and declared their deeds. Acts.
xix. 18. Now, as to. the command of Christ, '(
for the confession of our sins to his ministers; |
I prove it from the commission which he gave
to them, when he said to his Apostles, receive
ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins you shall for- i
give, they are forgiven ; and whose sins you j
shall retain, they are retained ; St. John xx.
ver. 22, 23. Here he gave them, and their
successors, viz.: The bishops and priests of his
Church, commission or power to remit sin.
Again, the Apostles and their successors, were
made spiritual judges, by Christ our Lord,
and had a power from him to bind and loose
from sin, as we read in the i8th chapter of
St. Matthew, verse 18. Amen, I say to you,
whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be
bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Here
he made them judges and physicians of our
souls : therefore it follows, by a necessary con- •
sequence, that the laity were obliged to confess
their sins to them : for how could they exer-
cise this power, and pronounce sentence, unless
they first knew the state of the sinner's con-
science, neither could they prescribe such
remedies, and give such advice as was neces-
sary for the penitent's cure, or amendment,
unless they first knew the particular qualities
and condition of the several sins the penitent
commits, which cannot be without confession ;
so that we conclude with St. Augustine, that to
pretend that it is enough to confess to God alone,
is making void the power of the keys given to
the Church, that is, contradicting the gospel, and
making void the commission of Christ. Horn.
xlix.; St. Matt. xvi. 19.
Q. Are Christians obliged to confess all their
sins ?
A. Yes ; all mortal sins that can be remem-
bered after a diligent examen. Moreover, the
136
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
penitent is to declare their number, species,
and circumstances ; not only the circumstances
as alter the kind or nature of the sin, but also
according to some divines, such as very much
aggravate the guilt. Now, as to venial sins,
there is no strict obligation to confess them ;
but if it be doubtful whether the sin be mortal
or venial, he is to confess it under that doubt.
Q. By what rule shall a person be able to
know whether his sins are 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 it pronounces a
wo, 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,
both in the Old and New Testament. See
Isaiah v. Ezek. xviii. Romans i. 29, 30, 31.
I Cor. vi. 9, 10. Galatians v. 19, 20, 21.
Ephesians v. 5. Apoc. xxi. 8.
Q. In what cases is confession sacrilegious
and void ?
A. If any mortal sin is wilfully omitted, or
a diligent examen neglected, either as to num-
ber or species of the sins, or for want of a
true sorrow for sin, or a firm purpose of amend-
ment. The confession is also invalid, if the
priest to whom he made it, has not the necessary
faculties and approbation. But, in case the
penitent omits any sin, after a diligent examen,
the confession is valid ; however, if afterwards
he calls to mind any sin he omitted, he is to con-
fess it ; if he remembers it before communion, it
ought to be confessed before he goes to com-
munion ; if he remember it after communion, he
must confess it in his next confession.
Q. Is it a great sin to conceal, through shame
or fear, any moral sin in confession ?
A. Yes ; it is a grievous sin, because it is
lying to the Holy Ghost, for which Annanias
and Saphira were struck dead, by a just judg-
ment of God ; Acts v. James ii. 10. It is acting
deceitfully with God, and that in a matter of
the utmost consequence. It is a sacrilege, as
being an abuse of the sacrament of penance,
and is generally followed by another great
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. But, it is not only
a great crime, but also, a great folly and madness
to conceal one's sins, in confession ; because,
such offenders know very well that these sins
must be confessed, or that they must burn for
ever in the flames of hell for them ; and they
cannot be ignorant, that these bad confessions,
do but increase their burden, by adding to it the
dreadful g^ilt of repeated sacrileges, which they
will have far more difficulty of confessing, than
these very sins of which they are now so much
ashamed.
Q. But suppose the sinner has been so unfor-
tunate as to make a bad confession, or perhaps a
great many bad confessions ; what must he do to
repair this fault, and to reinstate himself in
God's grace ?
A. He must apply himself to God, by hearty
prayer for his grace and mercy ; and so prepare
himself to make a general confession of all his
sins, at least from the time he first made a bad
confession ; because, all the confessions he has
made, since he began to conceal his sins, were
all sacrilegious ; and consequently, null and void;
and therefore, must be all repeated again.
Q. What observation do you make concerning
the secrecy of confession, both in regard of the
penitent and the confessor ?
A. In the first place, there is no obligation of
a public confession of private sins. Again, we
are not to discover other person's sins, but only
our own. As to the confessor, he is obliged to
perpetual secrecy, both by the law of nature, the
law of God, and his Church ; so that whatever is
declared in confession, the confessor can never
discover it, either directly, or indirectly, to any
one, upon any account whatsoever; nay, not
even to save his own life.* The violation of
this secrecy, is punished with deposition and.
perpetual penance.
* See Deere. Inno. xi. i68a.
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
137
Q. Tell me now in short, how many, and
what are the conditions necessary for the worthy
receiving the sacrament of penance ?
A. There are five ; first, to examine our con-
sciences. Secondly, to conceive a hatred and
detestation against sin, and a sorrow for having
fallen into it, and incurred the displeasure and
wrath of God. Thirdly, to make a firm resolu-
tion of sinning no more. Fourthly, to make a
good confession of all our sins to a priest, who is
approved by the Church. Fifthly, a resolution
of making satisfaction to God and our neighbor,
according to our ability.
Q. Who is the proper minister of penance,
and qualified to hear confessions ?
A. Only those, who are lawfully ordained to
offer up the sacrifice of the mass, and have
priest's orders.
Q. Has every priest power to absolve from
sin ?
A. In answer to this, we are to observe, that
there are two powers a priest is endowed with.
One is a power of binding and loosing the
soul, called the power of order: the other is
a power, of exercising the power of binding
and loosing, and is called the power of juris-
diction. The first power is given when a
priest is ordained, and made capable of absolv-
ing : the other a priest does not receive, until
subjects are allotted him, on whom he is to
exercise that power, which is conferred upon him
by the pope, bishop, or other prelates, who have
jurisdiction. So that every priest has not the
power of jurisdiction, and by consequence, every
priest cannot absolve from sin. How much
therefore does it behove all penitents, to be very
careful to make use of a priest who has the
power of jurisdiction, that is, of one who is
rightly approved ; because, if they confess to one
who is not approved of by the bishop of the
place, their confession is null, and the priest's
absolution is of no force or value. As to what
may be objected, that there are some priests who
are exempt from the power and jurisdiction of
the bishop, as having faculties from the superior
of their own order, by virtue, of a privilege
granted to them by the pope : to this I answer,
that there are no such privileges and exemp-
tions now in England ; for all such privileges
and exemptions which have formerly been
granted, are all recalled by Innocent the XII's
decree, in the year 1695, as also by the decree
of Benedict XIV, in the year 1745,* which
expressly obliges all regular priests, of what
denomination soever here in England, to a
strict submission and obedience to the bishops,
in respect to the jurisdiction, or power of
administering the sacraments.
Q. What is the form of absolution ?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee, and
I, by his authorit)'', absolve thee, as far as I
have power, and thou standest in need, from
all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Q. What is satisfaction ?
A. It is doing what is sufficient, or what is
required from a person, for the injury he does
to another.
Q. What is sacramental satisfaction ?
A. It is undergoing the penalty imposed by
the priest, towards repairing the injur}'' done
to God's honor, and redeem the temporal pain
due to sin.
Q. Which are the penalties whereby we may
satisfy for sin ?
A. In the first place, all calamities human
life is subject to, when they are willingly
embraced for that purpose. Again, fasting,
prayer, and alms, with all other pious works.
Q. In what manner do we repair God's
honor, by the aforesaid pains, and why ?
A. They are all recommended, and commanded
in the Scriptures, by Almighty God. We are
to submit with patience to all temporal calami-
ties in compliance with Divine Providence.
By prayer, we submit our soul, and regulate
all its faculties to the divine will. By fasting,
we punish the body for committing excesses.
By alms, we satisfy for the ill use we make
of the goods of fortune. For as all sins are
* See Innocent XII, decree in Mr. Dodd's Church History of
England, volume 3 ; page 528.
138
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
committed against God, our neighbour, and
ourselves; so all duties to God are contained
under prayer, both internal and external ; duties
toward our neighbor, as acts of fraternal love,
etc., are contained under alms. Duties toward
ourselves, as mortification and the like, are
contained under fasting.
Q. Whence have priests the power of impos-
ing penalties or satisfactory works ?
A. From Christ, who gave them power of
binding and loosing, both from sins and the
penalties due to sin ; as in temporal tribunals,
the power that frees from death, extends to
assign, or pardon punishment, proper to reform
the oflfender.
Q. Which are the chief properties of the
penalty imposed?
A. They satisfy for the temporal pain, and
ought to be medicinal, that is, proper to reform
the sinner.
Q. Is satisfaction an essential part of the
sacrament of penance ?
A. An intention of satisfaction is essential,
but actual satisfaction, belongs only to the
integrity of the sacrament ; for the absolution
is valid, before the satisfaction is performed;
though in some cases it is requisite that satis-
faction precede absolution.
Q. This doctrine of satisfaction supposes a
false thing, viz.: That some pain is due to sin
after the fault is pardoned.
A. Divines distinguish between eternal pain
and temporal pain ; the eternal pain is forgiven,
but the temporal pain commonly remains, as
it appears both from the necessity of the thing,
the instance of David, who was punished by the
death of his children, after his sins were for-
given ; 2 Kings xii, and other instances of
temporal calamities, inflicted for offences though
pardoned. And this method of temporal pain
is the foundation of our faith as to sacramental
satisfaction, indulgences, purgatory and prayer
for the dead.
Q. Can one person satisfy for another?
A. Yes ; it is defined by the Church, and
appears in the prayers of persons, etc. Yet
medicinal satisfaction is personal, and cannot
be communicated to another.
Q. What is an indulgence ?
A. It is a remission of the temporal punish-
ment due to sins, after the sins themselves, as
to the guilt and the eternal punishment, are
forgiven by the sacrament of penance, or
perfect contrition. Hence nothing can be more
grossly misrepresented than indulgences are by
our adversaries; for the generality of Protestants
imagine that an indulgence is a leave to com-
mit sin, or at least, that it is a pardon for
sins to come ; whereas it is no such thing. For
we believe there is no power in heaven or earth
that can give leave to commit sin ; and con-
sequently there is no giving pardon beforehand
for sins to come.
Q. How do you prove that the Church has
received a power from Christ to grant indul-
gences, that is, to discharge a penitent sinner
from the debt of the temporal punishment
which remains due to sins?
A. I prove it from the promise which Christ
made to St. Peter, I will give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven : St. Matt. xvi.
13. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth,
shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.*
Which promise made without any exception,
reservation, or limitation, must needs imply a
power of loosing all such bonds as might other-
wise hinder, or retard a Christian soul from
entering heaven.
Q. How does an indulgence take off the
obligation of personal satisfaction ?
A. It takes off the penal but not the medicinal
part.
Q. Do indulgences for the dead remit the
pains in purgatory ?
A. Not by way of absolution or jurisdiction,
but only by way of prayer, or suffrage accepted
by God.f
Q. What dispositions are required to gain an
indulgence ?
* See Cone. Trid. Fess. xxv. Deere, de ludul.
t See Bellar. L. 2. de purga.
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
139
A. The person must be in tbe state of grace,
confess, and communicate, and perform the
things required while he is in the state of
grace.
Q. What is a plenary indulgence ?
A. If duly obtained, it is a remission of all
the temporal punishment due to past sins.
Q. What is a particular indulgence ?
A. It is a remission of part of the temporal
punishment due to sin.
Q. I suppose this is meant by an indul-
gence of seven, ten, twenty, thirty, or forty days
or years. But I comprehend not the meaning
of this calculation.
A. According to the ancient canons and dis-
cipline of the Church, temporal punishments of
such a number of days or years, were decreed
for certain sins : and when there was suflEcient
reason to shorten the time, it was called an
indulgence.
Q. But these canons being no longer in
force, I do not see what can be the present
meaning of an indulgence, for so many days
or years. If a sinner is obliged no longer to
those punishments, he is free, and stands not
in need of an indulgence.
A. Though those canons are not in force,
the law of God is still in force, which requires
temporal punishment for sin,* and the Church
by the power it has, relaxes as much pun-
ishment as was formerly inflicted by the ancient
canons.
Q. Has not Christ abundantly satisfied, both
for sin, and the punishment due to it, both
temporal and eternal ? Can the Church dis-
pose of the merits and satisfaction of Christ?
A. Christ has abundantly satisfied and laid
up the treasure for that purpose, but the remedy
is to be applied accordingly as he has ordered.
It is applied by the sacraments, and good works
for the remission of sin ; it is applied by indul-
gences for the remission of temporal pun-
ishment, as there shall be found just occasion,
Q. What is a jubilee ?
\. It is a solemn plenary indulgence, accom-
•SeeBellar. L. i. de Indulg.
panied with certain privileges, relating to cen-
sures and dispensations, granted to the inferior
pastors of the Church by the supreme pastor,
and specified in his bulls, or orders directed to
them for that purpose ; and it is so called from
the resemblance it bears with the jubilee year
in the old law (which was a year of remission,
in which bondsmen were restored to liberty,
and every one returned to his possession) ;
Levit. XXV. 27. But according to some it is
so called from the Latin word jubilatio, which
signifies joy or exultation, because it causes a
spiritual joy in the souls of all who are made
partakers thereof: it is granted every twenty-
fifth year, as also upon other extraordinary
occasions, to such as being truly penitent,
shall worthily receive the blessed sacrament,
and perform the other conditions of fasting,
alms, and prayer, usually prescribed at such
times..
Q. What are the fruits or effects, which
usually are seen among Catholics at the time
of a jubilee?
A. At that time the Church most pressingly
invites all sinners to return to God with their
whole hearts, and encourages them by setting
open her spiritual treasure in their favor ; so
that the most usual effects of a jubilee are the
conversions of great numbers of sinners, and
the multiplying of all sorts of good works
among the faithful. So far it is from being
true, that indulgences are an encouragement to
sin, or an occasion of a neglect of good works,
as our adversaries unjustly object.
Q. What is irregularity?
A. It is a disability of becoming a cleric, or
exercising clerical functions, occasioned either
by nature, or personal faults, ordained by the
law, for the greater honor of God, and the
sacred function.
Q. How many defects render persons irregular?
A. Chiefly seven, viz.: Of the mind, as gross
ignorance, etc., of the body, as eunuch, deform-
ity, etc. Birth, as bastards, etc. Servitude,
as slaves, etc. Want of age, required by the
council of Trent. Again, bigamy, want of
140
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
lenity, as murderers, hangmen, butchers, judges,
and witnesses, in case of death, etc.
Q. What criminal defects render persons
irregular ?
A. Chiefly five, viz. : Re-baptizing ; receiving
or exercising spiritual functions, contrary to
the canons ; heresy ; all concerned in murder,
or voluntary mutilation ; and an infamous life.
Q. Does irregularity annul ordination?
A. No ; it only renders the receiving and
exercise unlawful and sinful.
Q. How prove you that there is a power in
the Church of excommunicating?
A. First, from the power of the keys ; also
from the eighteenth chapter of St. Matthew,
where it is said. If he will not hear the
Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and
a publican, ver. 17. And from the 2d epistle
of St. John, where he says, Receive him not
into the house, nor say unto him, peace be to
you, ver. 10. And likewise from the ist
epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, 5th
chapter. With such a one do not so much as
eat, ver. 11, and in the same chapter, Deliver
such a one over to Satan, ver. 5.
EXTREME UNCTION EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is extreme unction, and why so
called ?
A. It is anointing the sick by a priest, under
a certain form of words. It is called extreme,
because it is applied only to dying persons,
and with respect to former unctions, as iu
baptism, confirmation, etc., it is the last.
Q. How do you prove that this anointing
of the sick is a sacrament? when, and by
whom, was it instituted?
A. Because it is an outward sign of an
inward and spiritual grace. The anointing,
together with the prayers that accompany it,
are the outward sign ; the inward grace is the
forgiveness of sins, promised in these words
of St. James, If he be in sins, they shall be
forgiven him, chap. v. ver, 15. It is uncertain
when this sacrament was instituted. But the
council of Trent* has declared, that it was
instituted by Christ, and promulgated by St,
James, in the 5th chapter of his epistle, where
it is commanded, Is any one sick among you,
let him call for the priests of the Church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him
with oil, in the name of the Lord : and the
prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and
the Lord shall ease him ; and if he be in
• Sess. xiv. Can. i. de Extr. Unct. et Can. iii.
sins, they shall be forgiven him, ver. 14, 15.
It is also intimated by St. Mark, in the 6th
chapter, where it is said, the Apostles anointed
with oil many that were sick, ver. 13.
Q. What is the matter and form of this
sacrament, who is the minister of it, and is it
necessary for salvation ?
A. The immediate matter is oil of olives,
blessed by a bishop, as the council of Trent*
declares. The form are these words : " By
this holy unction, and his own most tender
mercy, may the Lord pardon thee whatsoever
sins thou hast committed by thy sight, by
thy hearing," and so of the other senses. The
only minister is a bishop or priest. And
though the sacrament is not absolutely neces-
sary, yet it is necessary, both by divine and
ecclesiastical law. All these points are declared
by the words of St. James, above quoted.
Q. Who may receive this sacrament?
A. Only adult persons, and such as are in
danger of death, by sickness, or by wounds ;
but not infants, and such as are fools, and
always mad. Some divines say, children of
seven years of age may receive it, being
capable of venial sin, though they never com-
municated.
* See Sess. xiv. de lust. Sacra. Extr. Unct. Can. i.
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
141
Q. Are persons to be anointed before a
battle, or persons condemned, or in a ship-
wreck ?
A. No.
Q. When ought this sacrament to be given ?
A. In every sickness, where there is danger
of death : but it is to be observed, that we
ought not to defer it till the last hour, or
agony of death ; because it is much more
profitable for the sick person to receive it
whilst he has leisure, reason, and memory, to
prepare himself for it.
Q. How ought a person to prepare himself
for this sacrament ?
A. If he be in mortal sin, he must clear his
conscience, by a true and sincere confession.
He ought also to make an act of contrition, at
the time he receives it, and to beg of God to
forgive him the sins which he has committed,
by every organ or part that is anointed.
Q. But suppose he has lost his speech, and
therefore cannot confess his sins ; what ought
he then to do?
A. In that case, he must make an act of
contrition, or sorrow for his sins, and give signs,
that he has a desire to obtain the forgiveness
of them, and to receive the extreme unction.
Q. Can this sacrament be given to persons
out of their senses?
A. Yes ; if they desired it before, or very
probably would have desired it.
Q. What parts are to be anointed ?
A. The eyes, ears, nose, lips, hands and
feet, and in some cases the reins, but not in
women. When any member is wanting, the
nearest part is to be anointed.
Q. What are the effects of this sacrament?
A. First, it remits all venial sins, and mortal
sins forgotten : secondly, it remits something
of the debt of punishment due to past sins :
thirdly, it heals the soul of her infirmity and
weakness, and a certain propension to sin,
contracted by former sins, which are apt to
remain in the soul, as the unhappy relics of
sin : fourthly, it gives strength and grace to
the soul, to bear with patience the pains and
illness of the body, and it arms her against
the temptations of her spiritual enemies : fifthly,
it restores corporal health, if God sees it expedi-
ent for the good of the soul.
Q. Can the same person receive this sacra-
ment more than once ?
A. Yes ; but not in the same illness, unless
it should be of long continuance, and that the
state of the sick person should be changed, so
as to recover out of danger, and then fall into
the like case.
HOLY ORDERS EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is holy order ?
A. It is a sacrament by which the ministers
of Christ are consecrated for their sacred func-
tions, and receive grace to discharge them well.
Q. How do you prove that holy orders are a
sacrament ?
A. Because they are a visible sign, instituted
by Christ to confer grace. The outward and
visible sign is found in the imposition of the
bishop's hands, and prayer. Acts vi. 6. et xiii.
3. After which manner we find the seven
deacons were ordained ; as also St. Paul and
St. Barnabas. The invisible grace conferred by
this imposition of hands, is attested by St. Paul,
in his second epistle to Timothy, where he
says. Stir up the grace of God, which is in
thee, by the imposition of my hands, chap. i.
6. Hence it is evident, that this sacrament was
instituted by Christ ; for the apostles, of them-
selves, could not annex the gift of grace to
any outward sign or ceremony.
Q. When did Christ institute this sacrament ?
A. At his last supper, when he said to his
apostles. Do this in remembrance of me. St.
142
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
Luke xxii. 19. And after his resurrection, he
confirmed it with a new power, when, breathing
on them, he said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost;
whose sins you shall forgave, they are forgiven
them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they
are retained. St. John xx. 22, 23. These two
powers being the essential parts of priesthood,
viz. : To concentrate and oflFer the unbloody sacri-
fice of his body and blood, and to forgive sins.
Q. Who is the minister of this sacrament?
A. A bishop onl}-, as it is defined in the
council of Trent.* Hence it says, confirming
and ordaining is not common to priests.
Titus i. 5.
Q. Can any bishop confer orders ?
A. Heretics and schismatics may validly, but
not lawfully, ordain ; yet, by the decree of the
council of Trent, no alien bishop can ordain
priests, without dismissory letters from the
proper bishop.
Q. To whom does the right of mission, voca-
tion, and election, of the ministry, belong ?
A. To the pastors of the church, viz.: The
bishops and the pope.
Q. But suppose some should pretend, as the
first reformers did, to an extraordinary calling
or mission.
A. Let them prove their extraordinary mission
from God, by some miracles or the like, and
then they say something to the purpose.
Q. Is it not lawful for any one to take upon
him priestly power, without the ordination of
the Catholic Church ?
A. No, it is not; because it is usurping a
power, which no ways belongs to them ; which
we find has been severely chastised b}' Almighty
God, in the person of Ozias, as also in the per-
sons of Core, Dathan, and Abiram ; 2 Paral.
xxvi. 19; Numb. xvi. 32, etc.
Q. What need is there for ordaining those
w'ho have already the spirit of God in them, viz.:
The inward unction of the Holy Ghost, which
of itself sufficiently authorizes any one to
administer and preach the word of God with-
out anv further ceremony ?
*Sess. xxiii. Can. vii.
A. This doctrine was unheard of in the
Church, whilst it was governed by the Apostles ;
for, in those times, we read, that bishops, priests,
and deacons, were constantly ordained by the
imposition of hands ; nor was it lawful for any
one to presume to preach, and administer the
sacraments, unless he were first so ordained,
and sent by the lawful pastors of the Church.
Acts xiv. 23 ; I Tim. iv. 14. Nay, even St.
Paul and St. Barnabas, though they were imme-
diately called to the apostleship by God himself,
as the Scripture testifies ; yet we see they were
afterwards ordained with the iisual ceremony of
laying on hands. Acts ix. 15 ; Acts xiii. 2.
This extraordinary example, recorded in holy
writ is a most convincing proof that ordination
is indispensably necessary, to all who enter into
the sacred ministry, since St. Paul himself \<"as not
excepted, who, if he had not been ordained, had
not partaken of the priesthood. It is therefore
a high and sacrilegious presumption, for any
man to take upon him to preach the gospel, to
administer the sacraments, and have the care
of souls; unless he is first ordained, and sent
by those who were ordained, by lawful pastors
in the Church, before him, according to the
sacrament which Christ has instituted for that
purpose, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that
entereth not by the door, into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is
a thief and a robber. St. John x. i. Now it is
evident, that none but the bishops and priests
of the Catholic Church derived their ordination
and mission from the Apostles ; and that the
pastors of all other churches have climbed up
into the fold by another way.
Q. What and how many are the conditions
necessary for him who is to receive holy
orders ?
A. There are five principal ones.
Q. Which is the first ?
A. That he be called by God, as Aaron was.
I Heb. V. 4. So that he must not choose this
holy state, of his own head.
Q. How shall a person know whether he be
called by God?
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
143
A. If he has the conditions we are going to
speak of; and if his spiritual director, after a
due trial, councils or advises him to it, then he
ma}'- well presume he is called by God : yet, after
all, he ought to fear and tremble ; for Judas,
though he was called by God himself, was mis-
erably lost. St. Matthew x. 4; John xvii. 12.
Q. Is it not sufficient that he has a great
desire to be of the Church, and that his par-
ents design him for it ?
A. No ; for it often happens that this great
desire comes not from God, but either from
the love of idleness and ease, or from an
expectation of gaining honor and esteem in
the world, or from some other disorderly pas-
sion, which deserves the curse of God. As for
parents, they are often as worldly and as vain
as their children ; moreover, they are commonly
ignorant of the obligations of a churchman,
and of the dangers of this high calling ; so that,
as our Saviour said to the children of Zebe-
dee and their mother, they know not what
they ask. St. Matt. xx. 22.
Q. What is the second condition ?
A. A resolution and sincere desire of spend-
ing his health and life, in promoting the glory
of God, and in working out his own salvation,
and that of his neighbors.
Q. What is the third condition ?
A. An honest, virtuous, and exemplary life.*
Q. What is the fourth condition ?
A. He must be free even from all hidden
mortal sins, at least for a long time before he
receives this sacrament, and be in love and
peace with God and man ; for it is to the min-
isters of the Church, God spoke, saying, Be
ye clean, who carry the vessels of the Lord.
Levit. xxi. 8.
Q. What is the fifth condition ?
A. A learning and knowledge enough to in-
struct and guide others, both by word and ex-
ample, according to the law of God and his
Church ; for God warns the ignorant, saying,
Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will
aLso reject thee, that thou shalt not be a priest
* See Cone. Trid. Sess. xziii. Cap. xii.
to me. Ose. iv. 6. And it is to the ministers
of the Church Christ says, You are the light
of the world. Let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father who is in heaven. St. Matt. v. 13,
14. See the epistle of Pope Benedict, Dec. 14,
1740.
Q. Which are the virtues that are most requi-
site in those persons who aspire to the ecclesi-
astical state ?
A. The spirit or love of prayer, chastity,
temperance, prudence, humility, contempt of
the world, patience in adversity, fortitude, or
strength of mind, love of retirement, to be
laborious, and given to study, i Timothy iii.; 12
Timothy iii.
Q. What persons are incapable of receiving
holy orders ?
A. All those who are not baptized, all her-
maphrodites, and all women. I permit not a
woman to teach, says St. Paul, i Tim. ii. 12;
I Cor. xiv. 34. Hence the Pepusiani, who or-
dained women, were declared heretics, as St.
Epiphanius gives an account.
Q. How many orders are there ?
A. Only one total, but seven partial, which
makes but one sacrament of ordination ; for
they have all a reference to, and are included
in, priesthood.
Q. How are they called ?
A. Priest, deacon, sub-deacon, acolyth, exor-
cist, lector, and porter.
Q. Why are not bishops reckoned among the
rest?
A. If you reckon episcopacy, then indeed
there are eight orders ; but commonly it is not
named with the rest, because it is an eminent
degree, which surpasseth them all, as being the
source from whence all the rest are derived ; for
they all proceed from it, and end in it; and as,
in a kingdom, the king is not reckoned in the
number of the officers that govern under him,
because his power is transcendent, and runs
through all the magistrates of the kingdom ; so,
in like manner, the bishop is not ordinarily
reckoned in the number of the other orders, for
144
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
he is iu his Church, as the king in his kingdom,
the prince and head of all ecclesiastical hier-
archy, or holy principality.
Q. What is the respective function of each
order ?
A. The office or function of a priest is to
consecrate, or offer sacrifice, to forgive sins, ad-
minister the sacraments, and preach God's word,
etc. A deacon is to assist the bishop or priest
in the sacrifice of the mass, to read the gospel,
etc. A sub-deacon offers the sacred vessels to
the deacon, and reads the epistle, etc. An
acolyth prepares the cruets, and carries the lights,
etc. An exorcist reads the exorcisms, to ex-
pel the devil, etc. A lector reads the prophecies,
etc. A porter takes care to admit none but the
faithful into the Church, and keeps the Church
decent.
Q. Why are some orders called lesser, others
greater ? and which be they ?
A. The greater orders are priesthood, deacon,
and sub-deacon : and they are so called, because
they regard the sacrifice immediately ; the others
lesser, because more remotely.
Q. Are all the orders called holy ?
A. No ; only the greater, for the reason given.
Q. What is a hierarchy ?
A. It is a holy government of sacred min-
isters, viz.: Bishops, priests and ministers, in-
stituted by Christ, for the sauctification of
mankind.*
Q. Are the ministers all equal ?
A. No ; the pope is by divine right the head,
and bishops are by divine right above priests,
both by the power of order and jurisdiction ;
that is, a bishop can ordain, and confirm, and
demand obedience over priests. See St. Matt.
xvi. i8, 19; St. John xxi. 15; St. Luke xxii.
Philipp. i. I ; I Tim. iii. 2 ; Tit. i. 7 ; Acts xx. 28.
Q. Does not St. Hierome say, that bishops and
priests are the same ?
A. No ; on the contrary, he expressly says,
priests cannot ordain : indeed he says, in the
beginning they were promiscuously styled
presbyters, or seniors, in the Scriptures ; and
moreover, that simple priests had a share in
jurisdiction; but not that simple priests could
claim jurisdiction, by divine right. Hence, the
Arians were declared heretics, for making priests
and bishops equal.
Q. What is the proper function of a bishop ?
,A. To govern in chief; to chastise the wicked
and disobedient, by excommunicating them ; to
preach and exhort ; to administer the sacraments
of confirmation, and holy orders.
MATRIMONY EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is matrimony ?
A. It is a lawful contract between a man and
a woman, whereby they deliver up a right to
each other's bodies, in order t6 propagate their
species.
Q. When was this contract first instituted ?
A. It was first instituted by Almighty God,
between our first parents in the earthly paradise,
Gen. ii. And this institution was confirmed by
Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, where he
says. What God hath joined together, let no
man put asunder, St. Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6. And
our blessed Saviour, in order to show that this
state is holy, and not to be condemned, or
despised, was pleased to honor it with his first
miracle wrought at the marriage of Cana in
Galilee ; St. John ii.
Q. For what end was matrimony instituted ?
A. For the procreation of children, which
may serve God here, and people heaven here-
after; as also for a remedy against concupis-
cence: and for the benefit of conjugal society,
that man and wife may mutually help one
another, and contribute to one another's salvation.
Q. Is matrimony a sacrament ?
*Conc. Trid. Sess. xxiii. Can. vi.
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
145
A. Yes.
Q. How do you prove it to be a sacra-
ment ?
A. Because it is a conjunction made and
sanctified by God himself, and not to be dis-
solved by any power of man ; as being a sacred
sign, or mysterious representation, of the indis-
soluble union of Christ and his Church. Hence,
St. Paul expressly calls it a great sacrament,
Eph. V. 3 1, 32 ; or mystery ; with regard to Christ
and his Church. And the holy fathers all agree,
it confers grace for the purposes above men-
tioned ; see St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine.*
Q. Was matrimony always a sacrament ?
A. No ; not till it was elevated to that dignity,
by Christ in the law of grace.
Q. Is marriage between Jews and infidels, and
persons unbaptized, a sacrament ?
A. No : yet it is a natural contract among
them, aud obliges the parties as such.
Q. What is the matter and form of this sacra-
ment ?
A. As the Church has not decided this point,
there are two opinions concerning it : the one
is, that the matter is the mutual delivery of
their bodies ; and the form, the words, or out-
ward signs, whereby this delivery is accepted.
Others, especially Melchior Cano, Estius, and
Sylvius, think the delivery, or contract, to be
the matter ; but the form to be the words of the
priest, I join you together in matrimony, etc.,
or some other words equivalent. Now, the differ-
ence in these opinions is ; the former make the
contractors to be the ministers of the sacrament.
But the latter make the priest to be the minis-
ter of the sacrament, and the contractors only
ministers of the civil contract.
Q. What is the effect of this sacrament ?
A. It gives a special grace for the religious
educating of children, and bearing with the
difiiculties, and complying with the obligations
of the state, and to be faithful and loving to
each other.
Q. How comes it then, that so many mar-
* St. Amb. L. i. de Abra. C. 7. St. Aug. L. de bono Conitto. C
18, et h. de Nup. et Core. C. 10.
10
riages are unhappy, if matrimony be a sacra-
ment which gives so great a grace ?
A. Because, the greatest 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 themselves in the
state of grace ; and too often are guilty of
freedoms before marriage, which are not allow-
able by the law of God.
Q. In what dispositions ought persons to
receive this sacrament ?
A. They ought to be in the state of grace,
by confession ; their intention 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 kind
without their consent.
Q. What are the obligations of the married
couple ?
A. First, to be united and live together
during life ; St. Mark x. Secondly, to be faith-
ful to one another, as they have promised in
marriage; i Corinthians vii. 4, etc. Thirdly,
to assist one another in their distress ; to bear
patiently the indiscretion, weakness and bur-
dens of each other ; Galatians vi. 2 ; Colossians
iii. Fourthly, to get their children baptized as
.soon as possible; and to instruct and bring
them up Christian-like ; Ephesians vi. Fifthly,
to give good example to their children, and to
their whole family, and to engage all to serve
God, and pray to him, especially morning and
evening ; 2 Corinthians xii. 14. Hence, all
jealousies, bitterness, hatred, reproaches, con-
tentions, scolding, fretfulness, abuses and ex-
cessive love of their children and the world,
are to be avoided ; as also, all immoderate
affection, without reason or decency, for one
another, whereby they make slight account of
the law and love of God; St. Peter iii. i.
Again, the wife is obliged to be submissive,
and obedient to her husband in all things that
are not contrar^^ to the law of God ; for the
man is the head of the woman, as Christ is
146
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
the head of the Church; Ephesians v. She
must likewise be careful that she does not
miscarry through her own fault ; nor must she
let the infant sleep in the same bed with her,
or its nurse, for the space of a twelve month,
for fear it should be overlaid; Rom. Rit. The
husband is obliged to be loving and careful of
his wife, and provide for her and his family ;
Ephesians v. 28, etc.
Q. Can man and wife separate or break the
marriage contract, so as to be at liberty to
marry another?
A. There are several cases wherein they may
separate, as to cohabitation, with the approba-
tion of the Church ; but the contract can never
be broke or annulled, so as to have liberty to
marry again, as the council of Trent has
defined against late heretics, who allow of
parting and re-marrying, in case of adultery.*
Q. Can marriage be dissolved (quoad vincu-
lum) by a person's entering into religion ?
A. The council of Trent f has declared, that
if the marriage be not consummated, it may be
annulled, by entering into religion ; and the
reason is, because, as yet, they are not one
flesh.
Q. Were not the Jews accustomed to break
the marriage contract, and marry again ?
A. Such a custom was permitted by their
law, (upon account of the hardness of their
hearts,) St. Matthew xix. 8, and a bill of
divorce granted in some cases ; but they
abused the law, extending it to cases not
allowed of; besides, it was not approved of,
but only permitted by divine appointment;
however, our Saviour recalled that law; St.
Mark x.
Q. Is it lawful to have more wives than one ?
A. No; for it is expressly forbid by the law
of God. See St. Matt, xix.; St. Mark x.; St.
Luke xvi. ; i Cor. vi.
Q. Did not the ancient patriarchs keep
several wives at the same time ?
A. This was done by. divine dispensation, as
* Sess. xxiv. de ref. matr.
t Sess. zxiv. initio.
the council of Trent (following St. Augustine,
etc.,) declares. Polygamy not being against
a first, but only a secondary precept of the law
of nature, which God can dispense with. How-
ever, it never was permitted for a woman to
have more husbands than one, this being
against the first precept of the law of nature,
viz. : The procreation of children, which would
be obstructed thereby.
Q. Are all persons qualified to enter into
the contract of marriage ?
A. No ; because sometimes the contract may
be against the law of nature, the law of God,
and human laws, both civil and ecclesiastical.
Q. Is the contract void where persons lie
under incapacity from those laws ?
A. Impediments are of two kinds, some
annul the contract ; others only render the
contract unlawful.
Q. Has the Church power to appoint those
impediments ?
A. Yes ; for so it is expressly defined in the
council of Trent.*
Q. Which are the chief impediments render-
ing the contract of marriage illegal ?
A. A simple vow of chastity, or to become
religious. Secondly, espousals with another,
or a mutual promise of future marriage.
Thirdly, to solemnize marriage on days pro-
hibited by the Church.
Q. In what cases are espousals dissolvable ?
A. By mutual cbnsent ; by marriage ; by
entrance into religion ; a long absence, not
returning at the time appointed, or thereabouts ;
want of age ; afiinity or consanguinity super-
vening ; a notable deformity of body happening
after ; fornication, heresy supervening ; if any
condition promised is not fulfilled ; a capital
crime ; holy orders ; an insupportable cruel
temper ; if anything happens after, which
would have hindered the promise. Yet in all
these cases the Church is to be consulted.
* Sess. xxiv. Can. iv. de matr.
PENANCE EXPOUNDED.
147
Q. At what time is marriage prohibited by
the Church?
A. From the first Sunday in Advent, till the
Epiphany, or Twelfth-Day be past ; or from
Ash- Wednesday, till after Low-Sunday.*
Q. Which are the chief impediments that
render the contract of marriage null ?
A. Holy orders, or solemn profession in any
religious order ; or if the contract is between
persons a-kin, either in afl&nity or consan-
guinity, viz. : Within the fourth degree : again,
if either party be not baptized; as also clandes-
tined marriages, that is without the parish
priest or one deputed by him, and at least two
witnesses, but this is only an impediment where
the council of Trent is received.f
Q. How far is the consent of parents requi-
site in marriage ?
A. It is a great sin to marry without their
knowledge and consent, unless there be plain
reasons not to ask it: for the Scripture every
where mentions, parents giving their children
in marriage. However, the council of Trent
has decreed, that marriage without their con-
sent is valid.J
Q. Does the Catholic Church allow those of
* Con. Trid. Sess. xxiv. de reform, matr. C. x.
t Sess. xxiv. de reform, matr. Cap. i.
{Sess. xxiv, de reform, matr. Cap, L
her communion to marry with those who are
of a different communion ?
A. She has often prohibited such marriages,
as may be seen in the councils of Illiberis,
Laodica, Chalcedon, Agde,* etc. And the rea-
son is, first, because she would not have her
children communicate in sacred things, such
as matrimony is, with those that are out of her
communion. Secondly, because such marriages
are apt to give occasion to disturbances in
families, whilst one of the parties draws one
way, and the other another. Thirdly, because
there is a danger of the Catholic party being
perverted, or at least of not being allowed the
free exercise of religion. Fourthly, because
there is a danger of the children being brought
up in error, of which we have seen several bad
instances. However, sometimes, and in some
places, the pastors of the Church for weighty
reasons have been forced to dispense with this
law, and tolerate such marriages. But it is to
be observed, that these bargains are by no
means to be allowed of, by which the contract-
ing parties agree to have the boys brought up
in the religion of the father, and the girls to
follow the mother; for God and his Church
will have no such division, nor give up their
right to any one.
*See Concil. IIH. Can. xvi. Laodi. Can. x. Chal. Can. xiv. Agd«
Can. Ixvii.
XPOUNDING
^
OP" SIN
Q. What is sin ?
A. It is defined by St. Augustine to be any
tbought, word, or deed, against the law of God*;
which includes all sins of omission, which are
interpreted in an affirmative sense. It also
includes all human laws, civil and ecclesiasti-
cal, which are God's laws radically ; for as St.
Paul sa5's, he who resisteth power, resisteth the
ordinance of God. Rom. xiii. 2.
Q. Is it necessarj' to avoid sin above all
things, and why ?
A. Yes, it is necessary ; and the reason is,
because it is sin alone that makes us enemies
to God, and damns us eternally. Jer. ii. 19. i
Jo. iii. 6, etc.
Q. What is required to make an action
sinful ?
A. It must be voluntary, and it is said to be
voluntary, when it proceeds from knowledge
and deliberation, and without force. For
instance, the actions of children and madmen,
and of one dragged to idolatry, are not volun-
tary.
Q. What kind of fear mitigates sin, and how
shall it be known ?
A. The fear of great evil, as death, etc.,
whereby persons of the strongest resolutions,
*L. 22. cont Faust, C. xxvii.
are driven to evil actions. But there is a dif-
ference between the law of nature, and divine
positive laws ; human laws, Ecclesiastical and
civil. In the latter, viz. : Ecclesiastical and
civil, the fear of death, or some great evil, may
commonly excuse the offender totally, but not in
the two first. I say commonly, for if the public
good be concerned, he is not excused. For
instance, a soldier cannot desert his post ; nor
can a Catholic eat flesh on prohibited days,
when the honor of the church is concerned.
Q. Does concupiscence render an action in-
voluntary ?
A. No, it rather increases it.
Q. When does ignorance make an action
involuntarj' ?
A. In three cases, viz. : When we are not
obliged to know ; when not affected ; when
otherwise we should not have done the action.
Q. What things are to be considered to know
the nature of moral action ?
A. Several, viz. : Knowledge, will, intention,
election or choice, council, consent and fact.
Q. How many sorts of moral actions are
there, and how known ?
A. In general two, good and bad ; which are
known by their object, end, and circumstances,
so that no action is indiflferent (in individuo).
(148)
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
149
Q. Pray tell me how many kinds of sins
there are?
A. Two, viz. : Original and actual.
Q. What is original sin, and which are the
evils we suflfer by it ?
A. Original sin, is the sin in which we are
all born, through the disobedience of our first
father Adam. Rom. v. 12. Eph. ii. 3. The
evils which proceed from it, are death, sickness,
labor, and inclination and facility to do evil, a
slackness and difi&culty to do good ; and lastly,
an eternal loss of heaven, unless we are
cleansed by baptism. St. Jo. iii. 5.
Q. What is actual sin ?
A. It is the sin we commit ourselves, such
as cursing, swearing, lying, stealing, etc.
Q. How many ways is actual sin committed ?
A. Several, viz. : By thoughts, words, deeds,
or actions ; by infirmity, ignorance, malice,
omission, etc.
Q. How many kinds of actual sins are there ?
A. Two, mortal and venial.
Q. What is mortal sin ?
A. It is a sin whereby we lose the grace and
love of God, and make ourselves liable to eternal
damnation. St. James i. 15.
Q. Why is it called mortal sin?
A. Because it kills the soul.
Q. How can that be since the soul is im-
mortal ?
A. Because, as I said before, by mortal sin
the soul loses the grace of God, which is its
spiritual life ; and makes itself guilty of the
eternal flames of hell, which is the worst of
death. Rom. viii. 9 et 10. Psalm xxxiii. 22.
Q. Can a person be damned for only one mortal
sin ?
A. Yes, certainly; for the devils have been
damned for one bad thought.
Q. What is venial sin?
A. It is a much less offence, whereby the grace
of God is not lost; but it lessens his love in
our hearts. Prov. xxiv. 16. St. Matthew xii.
36.
Q. What rules can you give that we may
know mortal sins from venial ?
A. The principal rules are these. First,
mortal sins are marked in the Scripture by the
word wo, the threats of deserving death, eternal
pain, excluding from heaven, etc. Secondly, the
opinion of the fathers and divines, when they
all agree; and when they diff"er to follow the
safer part. The third general rule, is reason,
viz.: When the dishonor done to God, and
injury to our neighbor, is notoriously against
the love of God and charit}'.
Q. What consideration may induce us to
judge sins are only venial?
A. Chiefly two, viz. : Surreption or surprise,
and smallness or trifle of matter.
Q. Can a sin that is venial become mortal ?
A. No, because it is a contradiction. How-
ever, venial sins dispose a person to commit
mortal; for as Ecclesiasticus tells us, C. xix. i.
He who contemneth small faults, shall fall by
degrees into greater.
Q. Can a sin that is mortal of its nature,
be only venial by accident ?
A. Yes, in three cases chiefly, viz.: To steal a
trifle. Secondly, for want of deliberation. And
thirdly, for want of sufi5.cient use of reason, as
in children, and persons half asleep.*
Q. Can a sin that is only venial of its own
nature, become mortal by accident ?
A. Yes, for instance, he who thinks a venial
to be a mortal one, and yet commits it. Second-
ly, by contempt. Thirdly, by danger.f
Q. Which are the most common venial sins ?
A. These following, viz.: Idle words; small
excesses in eating or drinking; too much
pleasure in diversions; jocose lies, or lies out
of excuse; coming late to prayers; neglecting
alms ; harsh words ; and flattering speeches ;
small thefts; distractions in time of prayer not
fully resisted, etc.
Q. Are we obliged to avoid venial sins, and
why ?
A. We ought undoubtedly ; and the reason
is, because they are a token of the want of zeal
for God's service; they likewise weaken the
• See St Tho. i. 2. Ques. 88. art. 6 in Corp.
t St. Tho. i. 2. q. 88. ait. 2. in Corp.
X50
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
will, and incline it to mortal sin, for a wound
neglected gangrenes, and a garment torn is to
be immediately mended; besides, it diminishes
tbe grace of God, and makes us liable to
g^evous torments, wbich we must suffer in
purgator}' if we do not make satisfaction in
this life.
Q. Can venial sins be forgiven without the
( sacrament of penance ?
A. Yes, by sacramentals, viz.: Holy water,
signing with the sign of the cross, alms, fast-
ing, etc. Yet these things suppose the per-
former to be in the state of grace, that is to
sa}-, free from all mortal sin, and that every
work is accompanied with inward devotion, and
acts of the mind; because the}' do not produce
their effects by their own force.
Q. Which are the intrinsic causes of sin ?
A. Ignorance of the understanding; passion
of the sensitive appetite, and malice of the will.
Q. What is ignorance, and how does it con-
cur to sin ?
A. It is a three-fold, viz.: Invincible, affected,
and supine.
Q. What is invincible ignorance ?
A. When it is not in our power to know a
thing, and it excuses from sin.*
Q. What is affected ignorance ?
A. When a person knows not a thing which
he is obliged to know, and might have known
it, but neglected it. This' does not excuse from
sin.
Q. What is supine ignorance?
A. When a thing may be known with ease.
This excuses not from sin.
Q. What are the things we are obliged to
know?
A. First, all Christian or religious duties.
Secondly, what belongs to our particular state
or calling.
Q. What is passion, and when does it excuse
or aggravate sin?f
A. A sin of passion is called a sin of in-
*See St. Tho. i. 2. q. 76, art. 2. 2. St. Aug. de Gra. et de Lib.
Arb. C. iii. n. 5.
fN. B. — By passion, we mean any strong or vehement emotion of
the soul, as inclination, desire, etc.
firraity ; it is grounded in self-love. Passion
does not excuse from sin ; yet strong passion
diminishes it, because it renders sin less volun-
tary. If passion is so violent as to hinder
reason entirely, it excuses from sin. But pas-
sion consequent, or which comes after sin,
aggravates it; but antecedent, or going before,
diminishes it.
Q. What is a sin of malice?
A. It proceeds from clear knowledge, reflec-
tion, or habit, and is a great aggravation.
Q. What is a sin of omission?
A. It is the omitting to do what God or his
church commands ; as for example, if a rich per-
son neglects to give alms, or any one should
neglect to say his daily prayers, or neglect to
hear mass when he can, upon a Sunday, etc.
Q. What is a circumstance, and how many
circumstances are there ?
A. It is something belonging to an action,
but not of its substance. Aristotle and St.
Thomas name several, viz. : Who, what, where,
with what help, why, how, when. Who, denotes
the person, as whether a religious man or lay-
man, a relation or otherwise, a married person
or single. This circumstance is to be declared
in sins of impurity, murder, etc. What, denotes
the quantity, as how much, or whether conse-
crated or not. This circumstance is to be de-
clared in sins of theft. Where, denotes the
place, as whether in the church, or any other
sacred place: this circumstance is to be declared
in sins of theft, murder and carnal sins in fact.
With what help, denotes the scandal given, where-
by others might be in danger of being drawn into
sin, or whereby God may be dishonored, and his
church brought into contempt : this circumstance
chiefly regards all public sins. Why, denotes the
motive, intention, or end: this circumstance is
to be declared, when the end of doing an action
is a mortal sin in itself, as for example, to steal
a sword, with a design or intention to kill a
man with it. How, denotes whether done out
of ignorance or knowledge. When, denotes the
time how long. This circumstance properly
belongs to the sins of desire, anger, and ill-will ;
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
151
so that persons should declare how long they
continued in the same dismal desires, anger,
hatred, and the like, without interruption.
Q. What circumstances are we obliged to
express in confession ?
A. All those which change the species or
nature of the sin, as the council of Trent has
defined.* Again, all those circumstances which
change not the species, but which very much
aggravate, according to the most probable opin.
ion, are to be confessed, viz. : Stealing from the
indigent, etc.
Q. Whence do sins derive their enormity?
A. Sins derive their nature from the object ;
and the more worthy the object that is abused,
the greater is the sin. Hence, sins imme-
diately against God are greater than those
against ourselves or neighbors. Spiritual sins
are greater than carnal. Sins against our neigh-
bor's soul are greater than those against his
person or goods, but this is to be taken when
equally compared ; as the ruin of a man's soul
is worse tban the destruction of his person or
goods. Again, the enormity may be compared
as to the cause : hence sins of malice exceed sins
of ignorance and passion.
Q. Which are the degrees whereby sins are
committed ?
A. These four, viz.: Suggestion, delectation,
consent, and fact.
Q. What is suggestion, and how far sinful?
A. Suggestion is the first impression of a temp-
tation : it is not sinful if only resisted. In
carnal sins, it is often a venial sin, especially
when occasion is given to it by dangerous
objects.
Q. What is delectation ?
A. It is to take pleasure in thinking on
what is sinful, though there be no consent to
commit the fact. If the fact be a mortal sin,
the delectation is a mortal sin : if the fact be
venial, the delectation is only venial. This
delectation commonly happens in sins of the
flesh, envy, anger, revenge, etc. Now this
delectation may happen two ways, by taking a
pleasure in the thought, or in the thing itself,
and by consenting to the pleasure. When
there is delectation in the pleasure, it is called
morosa, and is accompanied with consent, viz.:
In the voluntary delight.
Q. What is consent ?
A, When a person resolves to commit the sin.
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS EXPOUNDED.
Q. Which are the seven deadly or capital sins ?
A. Pride, covetousness, luxury, envy, glut-
tony, anger, sloth.
Q. Why are they called deadly or capital sins ?
A. Because they are the source and root of
all other sins.
Q. What is pride ; and is it a great sin ?
A. It is an inordinate desire of esteem, and
being above others, viz.: To think we have good
from ourselves ; to think we have good from
another, but by our own merits ; to pretend to
have what we have not. By pretending to
have things, so as to despise others, as if they
*Sess. xxiv. C. V. et Can. vii.
had them not. There is not a sin more griev-
ous or more dangerous ; for it is the sin of the
fallen angels ; and of the first man. It is the
sin which we have the greatest difficulty to
preserve ourselves from ; and the last we over-
come. Eccle. X. 7. I Pet. V. 5. Isa. xiv. 12,
etc. Gen. iii. 5.
Q. How many branches are there of pride?
A. Eight, viz.: Vain-glory, ambition, disobe-
dience, boasting, hypocrisy, contention, obsti-
nacy, and curiosity.
Q. Explain every particular.
A. Vain-glory is a manifestation of a per-
son's own excellency before men : for instance,
t
I5«
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
by expecting to be esteemed for things not
worthy of praise, as for wicked things and the
like. Secondly, by expecting esteem from those
who are not competent judges, as from igno-
rant people. Thirdly, by expecting esteem,
when the motive is bad, as it happens in
prayer and alms. In these cases, where the
': the object is mortal, the sin is mortal. Ambi-
: tion is an inordinate desire of honors. Dis-
obedience is preferring a man's own will to the
will of a lawful superior. Boasting is a mani-
festation of a person's own excellenc}', by
words. Hypocrisy is a dissimulation of holi-
ness, either by words or actions. Contention
is properly maintaining what is contrary to truth,
by words. Discord is adhering to a man's own
opinion, with making a partj'. Curiosity is a
disordinate desire of knowing more than is
necessary, or convenient, or profitable.
Q. What considerations will abate pride ?
A. The defects of soul and body, ignorance,
error, others' perfections, follies, misfortunes,
and to remember that holy lesson of our Saviour
Christ, Learn of me, because I am meek and
humble of heart, St. Matt xi. 29, and to con-
sider that we are sinful dust, and shall soon
return again to dust : and that whatsoever good
we have or do, is the free g^ft of God. Its
opposite virtue is humility, which inclines us
to conceive a mean opinion of ourselves, Gal.
vi. 3, to require neither esteem nor respect of
others ; to despise no person ; and to sufier
contempt and disrespect patiently and calmly.
St. Luke xxi. 19. This is a virtue so neces-
sary, that no one can be saved without it,
according to the express words of our Saviour
Christ. St. Luke xviii. 17.
Q. What is covetousness ?
A. It is a disordinate or immoderate desire
or love of riches or worldly goods.
Q. When is the love of worldly things im-
moderate ?
A. When the heart of man is tied to them.
Q. How can we know when the heart is tied
to the world ?
A. By one of these four signs. First, when
a person is overjoyed for possessing, or over-
sad for losing, any earthly thing, Ps. li. 9. 2
Cor. vii. 10. Secondly when he acquires or
keeps any thing unjustl}-, Isa. xxxiii. i. Thirdly,
when he seeks greedil}^ after worldl}^ goods, or
retains them with too great an affection, i Tim.
vi. 9. Fourthl}', when he is not bountiful to the
poor, according to his ability, St. Luke xi. 41.
Q. If this be true, there are but few who are
not covetous.
A. Very right ; there are but few : for every
one is covetous, who is tied to his share of this
world, although he came lawfully by it, Jer.
viii. 10. Phil. ii. 21.
Q. Can the poor be covetous?
A. Yes ; the poorest person is covetous, if he
loves the riches he has not, St. Matt. xiii. 22,
or if he thinks it a misfortune for him to be
poor, and is impatient in his poverty.
Q. Which are the crimes that usually attend
a covetous mind ?
A. All sorts of injustices, viz. : Treachery, like
Judas, who betrayed our Saviour. Deceit, or
fraud. Falsehood, when fair words draw persons
on, as in trafficking. Perjury, when a false
oath backs their words. Violence, when covetous-
ness induces a person to steal. Solicitude, an
unquiet mind, in obtaining and preserving
riches, Obdurateness against the poor, in refus-
ing to assist them in their wants.
Q. What considerations are profitable against
covetousness, and what is the virtue opposite to
it?
A. To consider that vre. brought nothing with
us into the world, nor shall carry any thing out
of it, I Tim. vi. 7. That God has promised, if
we seek in the first place his kingdom and its
justice, that all other things shall be added
unto us, St. Matt. vi. 33. To consider the
threats pronounced against it in the Scripture.
The dangers it exposes men to; the difficulty
of being saved ; since our Saviour has told us, /
that it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven
than for a camel to pass through the eye of a
needle. Matt. xix. 24. To consider that amend-
ment is almost impossible. The neglect of
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
153
spiritual duties. The folly of the vice. The
extravagances of heirs. The shortness of this
life. The pains of hell, and joys of heaven.
The virtue opposite to this vice, is liberality,
which weans our hearts from earthly things,
and inclines us to share our goods freely, not
with the rich, and persons in easy circum-
stances, but with the poor, for it is much better
to give than to take. Acts. xx. 35. And St.
Paul says, that God loves a cheerful giver, 2
Cor. ix. 7.
Q. What is luxury ?
A. An inordinate desire of carnal sins, or
delights of the flesh; which is an abominable
sin, and ought not to be so much as named
among Christians, Eph. v. 3.
Q. Are all carnal pleasures inordinate ?
A. All but between man and wife.
Q. When is a person guilty of this odious
sin?
A. Not only when he commits the fact, but
likewise when he wilfully, with delight or
pleasure. Job xxxi. i , hearkens to, looks upon,
or thinks of, any thing whatsoever, which any
ways moves him to this detestable sin, Eph. v. 4,
5. Matt. v. 28.
Q. What are the remedies against lust, and
what is the virtue opposite to it ?
A. Flying the occasions ; fasting ; avoiding
idleness, and bad company ; reading good books ;
guarding the senses, but most especially the
eyes ; meditating on hell ; constant prayer ;
modest in dress ; to confess often, and communi-
cate with devotion. The virtue opposite to this
vice is chastity, which is a purity of body and
mind, making us abstain from carnal pleasures :
it is an angelical virtue, which God bestows
upon people of prayer upon the obedient, and
humble, Wisd. viii. 21. James iv. 6. There is
no virtue that renders persons more acceptable
to God, than this of chastity, Rev. xiv. 4.
Q. What is envy ?
A. It is a sadness or repining at the worldly
or spiritual good of our neighbor, because it
seems to lessen our own, or a rejoicing at his
damage or distress.
Q. What branches has envy ?
A. Want of love for our neighbor; whispering
or talking to break friendship ; detraction, a tak-
ing away another's reputation ; rash j udgment,
reproach, contempt of others, hatred, etc. So
detestable is this vice, that God warns us not
to eat with an envious man. Proverbs xxiii. 6,
being contrary to charity, and human society.
It makes men like devil's, whose nature is malice.
By the devil's envy, death entered into this
world. Sap. ii. 24. It caused Cain to kill his
brother. Genesis iv. and the Jews, our Saviour
Christ ; and seeing it destroys in man the love
of God and our neighbor, and fills the world
with innumerable mischiefs, it is no wonder
that it is put among the vices that exclude
from heaven, Galatians v. 21. i Peter ii. i.
Q. What are the remedies to cure envy ?
A. To consider the unreasonableness of the
sin, which neither increaseth our happiness,
nor diminishes that of our neighbors ; that it
robs us of charity, and deforms us to the like-
ness of the devil or evil spirits, who continually
go about to devour us ; for it is a kind of death
to them, to see that man is happier than them-
selves, I Peter v. 8. To consider the disturbance
it gives to a person. To place our affections
only on future happiness. The virtue opposite
to this vice is charity, or brotherly love, which
consists in doing and wishing as much good to
our neighbor as we would have others do to us,
St. John xiii. 35. This is the chief badge of
a Christian. Again, humility is a very power-
ful virtue, in order to overcome this odious
vice; for whosoever is humble, is not sorry
that his neighbor is more rich, more learned,
and more esteemed, than himself
Q. What is gluttony ?
A. An inordinate desire of meat or drink.
Q. How many ways are there of offending in
this kind ?
A. Chiefly five, viz. : First, to eat unseason-
ably to please the appetite. Numbers xi. 5.
Proverbs xxi. 17. Secondly, to desire delicacies,
or not to be satisfied without choice meat and
drink, Ezekiel xvi. 49. Thirdly, to eat or drink
154
EXPOUNDING OP SIN.
to excess, so as to make a person sick, Eccle-
siastes xxxvii. 32. Fourthly, to eat with greedi-
ness. Fifthly, to seek for what is most pleasing.
Q. Which is the worst and most destructive
kind of gluttony ?
A. Drunkenness.
Q. What is drunkenness ?
A. A disordinate use, and desire of intoxi-
cating liquor, so as by it to lose any share of
our reason, or senses.
Q. How is it sinful or excusable?
A. It is excusable, if a person knows not the
strength of the liquor; if out of surprise he
drinks too much, more than to satisfy nature,
it is only a venial sin : but if he knows the
strength of the liquor, and will drink to excess,
it is a mortal sin ; 1 Corinthians vi. 10. Isaiah
V. 22. It is likewise a grievous .sin, as often
as it is a considerable prejudice, either to body,
estate, or family : it is also a mortal sin, to
cause wilfully another to be intoxicated.
Q. What are the eflfects of drunkenness ?
A. Dullness and incapacity, both in regard
of temporal and spiritual duties. Irregularity
of the passions. Loquacity, or an unbridled
use of the tongue, in lying, swearing, and
profane discourse. Scurrility, in abusing and
exposing our neighbor. Uncleanness, by pollu-
tion, vomiting, etc.
Q. What remedies are there against the sin
of drunkenness, and what is the virtue opposite
to it?
A. To consider, that it makes a man worse
than a beast ; as also to consider the abstinence
of Christ and his saints ; that it brings beggary,
diseases, and damnation. To reflect on the
happiness of an abstemious life. The virtue
that is opposite to it, is temperance, which
bridles the inordinate desire of meat and drink,
as likewise all other disorderly passions.
Q. What is anger?
A. It is an inordinate desire of revenge, or
of punishing those who displease us.
Q. How, and when is anger innocent or sin-
ful?
A. It is a natural passion of the soul, and
may be either good or bad. A superior sins
not in being angry, or desiring to punish a
fault in a subject : but in others, it is both
against justice and charity : and even superiors
may sin in excess of anger?
Q. What branches are there in anger?
A. Scolding, when anger breaks forth into
contradiction by words, and ends in threats and
blows. Swelling with anger, as when a person
ruminates in his mind, by how many ways he
will take revenge. Contumely, when a person
makes use of injurious words, reflecting upon
other's morals, imperfection of body and mind,
or misfortunes. Malediction, by wishing another
some evil, from God, the devil, or some mis-
fortune. Indignation, when we refuse to see, or
converse with others through anger. Clamor,
when we attack another with confused language,
without any regard to what is said. Blasphemy,
when in anger we use injurious words, either
against God, his saints, or any holy thing.
Lastly, manslaughter and murder. All which
are grievous sins, in the sight of God, St.
Matt. v. 22. Gal. v. 20. Eph. iv. 31.
Q. What are the remedies against anger, and
what is the virtue opposite to it ?
A. Meekness, which suppresseth in us all
passion and desire of revenge : patience, which
is a voluntary suffering of all injuries, hard-
ships, miseries, troubles, labor, and poverty, for
God's sake, as Christ has done. St. Peter ii. 23.
To remember the example of our blessed Saviour
in his sufferings, who calls upon all his followers ;
learn of me, because I am meek, etc. St. Matt,
xi. 29, To consider the evil effects, as
quarreling, fighting, murder. Resisting the
first attack ; silence, which will pacify our
neighbor ; the obligation of brotherly love ; to
consider and do all things rationally and dis-
creetly, with the eyes and light of faith ; and
to beg earnestly the grace of God so to do.
2 Cor. iv. 17. St. James i. 17.
Q. What is sloth?
A. It is an unwillingness, or laziness of the
mind to perform those duties which are required
to save man's soul.
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
155
Q. When is a person guilty of sloth?
A. First, when he does not take proper
care of his own serious affairs ; i Thess.
iv. II. I Cor. xiv. 38. Secondly, when he
does not take pains to know the things which
every Christian is obliged to know ; or when
he acts not according to his knowledge, nor
reaps any profit from it. Thirdly, when he
neglects the obligations of his state and calling,
and is given to idleness, etc. i Tim. v. 13.
Fourthly, when he spends his time in insigni-
ficant and frivolous affairs : such as unprofitable
discourse, visits, plays, etc. Fifthly, when he
neglects the service of God, and uses no dili-
gence to overcome his failings, or to advance
in virtue.
Q. Is sloth a great sin ?
A. Yes, certainly it is a deadly sin; for our
Saviour assures us, that every tree that yieldeth
not good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into
the fire. St. Matt. vii. 19. And again, cast,
says he, the unprofitable servant into utter
darkness where there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. St. Matt. xxv. 30. Hence>
an idle life is quite contrary to the gospel,
which prescribes a watchful, laborious, and
penitential life ; it requires self-denial, forsaking
the world, crucifying the flesh, abounding in
every good work, the working our salva-
tion with fear and trembling: Phil. ii. 12.
Not to be weary in doing good ; Gal. vi.
9, to walk circumspectly; to understand what
is the will of God; to redeem time; to
walk worthy of our vocation ; Eph. v. 16.
Wherein is sufficiently condemned an idle life,
which exposes persons to many temptations and
dangers, and brings them under the guilt of
many sins, and the neglect of the greatest
duties, in making this life 9, sacrifice to self-
love, in wasting their time, their money, etc.
For all which they stand accountable to
Almighty God, and so should fly idleness, as
the broad and large way that leads to perdition. I
Q. Which are the effects of sloth ?
A. Tepidity, which is a coldness in devotion :
pusillanimity, which is a cowardice to under-
take what a person has in his power, or is able
to perform : aversion for spiritual things : weari- ■
ness of life : distrust of God's mercy : incon-
stancy, or a want of resolution to prosecute
every Christian dut3^
Q. Which are the remedies against sloth ;
and by what virtues is it overcome ?
A. To consider the labors of Jesus Christ,
of his apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, etc.
To consider the easiness of spiritual duties,
and with what diligence men labor for temporal
advantages. That every one is to account for
the time he loses. That heaven is only be-
stowed upon laborers. To pass no day without
doing some good action. To call to mind fre-
quently, the words of the prophet Jeremiah,
chap, xlviii. 10. Cursed is he who does the
work of God negligently. Now the chief virtues
that are opposite to sloth, are diligence, which
makes us careful and zealous in performing our
duties, both to God and man; as also devotion,
which is a sincere endeavor, and pious zeal for
the service of good, and for everything that re-
gards our duty and calling. St. Mark, xii. 33.
THE THREE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES EXPOUNDED.
Q. Which are the three theological virtues,
and why are they so called ?
' A. Faith, hope, and charity; and they are
called theological, because they regard God as
their immediate object, i Cor. xiii. 13.
Q. What is faith?
A. It is a supernatural light, or divine virtue,
infused by God into the soul, whereby we firmly
believe and assent, to all things that are revealed
by God and proposed by his church.
Q. Is faith a gift of God?
A. Yes, as it is defined against the Pelagians,
156
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
and even without charity, as the council of
Trent has defined against the Calvinists. Phil,
i. 28, 29.
Q. Is faith necessary to salvation ?
A. Yes, it is, as St. Paul assures us, where he
says, that without faith, it is impossible to please
God. Heb. xi. 6. And St. Mark says, he who
believes not, shall be condemned. Chap. xvi.
16. However, it does not follow from hence,
that faith alone will save a man, without good
works, as Luther, and other heretics have
taught.* For the fathers by their lives and
writings ; councils by their decrees ; pastors by
their preaching and exhorting, to do good and
avoid evil ; to keep God's commandments, etc.,
universally show, as the Scripture does, in sev-
eral places, that faith alone, without good works,
will never save a man. If I should have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing, says St. Paul, i Cor. xiii,
2. And St. James declares, that faith without
works is dead ; C. ii. 26. And our Saviour says,
if thou wilt enter into life, keep the command-
ments. St. Matt. xix. 17. All which is more
than sufficient to prove, that faith alone will
save no man.
Q. What is the formal object or motive into
which faith is resolved ?
A. The authority of God revealing, who can
neither deceive, nor be deceived ; Heb. vi. 1 8.
Q. Is not faith resolved into reason, human
authority, miracles, etc. ?
A. No; these are only the motives of credibility,
which induce and dispose the mind to believe.
Q. Which are the properties of faith ?
A. It is so certain, as to exclude all doubt-
ing ; it requires a pious affection of the will ;
it extends to every thing that is revealed, either
explicitly, or implicitly ; so that not to believe
all articles, is. at least, an imperfect faith, or
rather human faith ; Heb. xi. i .
Q. What is the material object of faith ?
A. Every thing that is revealed, viz.: The
word of God, written, or unwritten.
* See Luther i. i. Vit prop. 15. 18. f. SJ. Senn. de Ind. 65. See
Bossueti. Variations Tom. i. L. i. P. 8, q.
Q. Is it not sufficient to believe all that is
written in the Bible?
A. No, it is not ; for we must believe all apos-
tolical traditions, as St. Paul declares ; therefore,
brethren, says he, stand firm; and keep the
traditions, which you have learnt, whether by
word, or whether by our epistle. 2 Thess. ii. 14.
Q. From whom do we receive the word of
God, and the meaning of it ?
A. From the Catholic church.
Q. How is faith divided ?
A. Into human and divine, actual and habit-
ual, internal and external, living and dead, ex-
plicit and implicit.
Q. How do 3'ou explain these branches?
A. Human faith depends upon the informa-
tion of man. Divine faith upon the informa-
tion of God, proposed by motives of credibility.
Habitual faith is the gift of faith, infused by
God, and inherent in the soul. Actual faith is
the actual assent we give, to what God has
revealed. Internal faith is the inward assent
given by the intellect. External faith is the
outward profession by words or signs. Living
faith is joined with charity, or the love of God,
as in the just. Dead faith is that which is
void of charity, as in the wicked. Hence, the
council of Trent has defined, that true faith is
separable from charity; yet, it may be lost by
its opposite vice, viz.: Infidelity. Explicit faith
is when an article is believed explicitly, dis-
tinctly, and in distinct terms, as the Trinity.
Implicit faith is when we believe in general,
ever}'' thing that is revealed, and proposed by
the church ; or when we believe an article not
in express terms, but by believing an article
wherein it is contained; as he who expressly
believes the Trinity, believes implicitly, that
the second and third person are consubstantial
with the Father: again, he who explicitly
believes the incarnation, implicitly believes
Christ to have a human soul, body, and will.
Q. When does an external act, or public pro-
fession of faith, oblige?
A. As often as God's honor, or the good of
our neighbor requires it: Acts iv. 20. Hence,
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
157
no one is to deny his faith; for our Saviour
says, he who shall deny me before men, I will
also deny him before my Father who is in
heaven; St. Matt. x. 33. Again, an internal
act of faith obliges, when baptism is received
by adult persons ; as also, when we have a
temptation against faith, or when we receive any
of the sacraments, or when we are in danger
of death, etc.
Q. Which are the vices opposite to faith ?
A. Infidelity, apostasy, heresy. Infidelity is
either positive, that is, when a person has faith
sufficiently proposed, or negative, that is, when
faith is not sufficiently proposed. The first is
sinful, the latter innocent. Apostasy is either
total, as when Christ and his doctrine is denied,
as in Jews, Turks, and Atheists; or partial, as
when some particular articles are rejected.
Heresy is an obstinate error of those who are
baptized, against some particular articles which
are of faith ; so that it is to be observed, that
if a person should deny or obstinately doubt
of only one point of faith, he would thereby lose
his whole faith ; and the reason is, because true
faith must always be entire, and he who fails
only in one article, is made guilty of all, by
disbelieving the authority of God, upon which
all are equally grounded.
Q. What is schism ? and does it destroy faith ?
A. It is a sin of disobedience against charity,
and separation from the church ; and it is often
joined with heresy.
Q. Is blasphemy against faith ?
A. It is a sin opposite to the profession of
faith ; as being an injurious speech, or thought,
against God or holy things, which either attrib-
utes to God what does not belong to him, or
denies what does belong to him ; or gives to
creatures what belongs to God.
Q. What is hope ?
A. It is a gift of God or divine virtue, whereby
we certainly and confidently expect life everlast-
ing, through Christ's merits, applied by our
endeavors, as the means. Romans viii. 24, 25.
Q. On what is our confidence or hope ground-
ed?
A. Upon the promises of God, who affi.rmed,
that he would give eternal happiness to such as
fulfill his law or commandments. Hebrews vi.
18, 19. I John iii. 21. Secondly, on the super-
abundant merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
whereby God gives us his grace in this world,
and promises us his kingdom and everlasting
bliss in the world to come. St. John x. 10.
Rom. V. 10.
Q. What are the properties of hope ?
A. It supposes faith. It is founded on a moral
certainty, excluding unreasonable solicitude; not
in an infallible certainty, as the Calvinists pre-
tend. It excludes not fear, but this fear must
not be a worldly fear, which is an apprehension
of worldly pain only, but a servile fear of eternal
punishment ; which is good, as excluding the
will of offending: but most especially the fear
attending hope, is a filial fear, which is a fear
of offending God.
Q. What is the object of hope?
A. The primary object of hope is life ever-
lasting. The secondary object are the means
of obtaining it, as grace, perseverance, and good
works, proceeding from grace. Hence the Quiet-
ists are condemned, who pretend that perfection
consists in hoping for nothing, not even life
everlasting.
Q. When are we obliged to make acts of
hope?
A. When we come to the use of reason and
begin to know that God is our last end, for
which he created us ; being then obliged to
hope for eternal salvation, and means to arrive
thereto; also when we are obliged to pray, to
do acts of penance, or beg any thing necessary
for our salvation, we must hope God will not
be wanting on his side, if we do as we ought :
blessed is the man whose hope is in the name
of our Lord, and hath not regard to vanities.
Psalm xxxix. 5.
Q. What sins are opposite to hope ?
A. First, despair by defect, when a person
has a diffidence, that God will not save him,
or provide him with the means, which he there-
fore neglects. St. Matt, xxvii. v. Eph. iv. 19.
158
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
Gen. iv. 13. Secondly, presumption, by rely-
ing wholly on God's mercy, without the means
of good works. Rom. ii. 4, 5. These sins are
sometimes joined with heresy, when a person
believes that God can not or will not pardon
his sins.
Q. Can there be true hope without true
charity ?
A. Yes ; as there is true faith without charity,
but then it is a weak and imperfect hope.
Q. What is charity ?
A. It is a divine virtue, or g^ft of God,
whereby we love God above all things, for him-
self; and our neighbor as ourselves, for God's
sake, as he requires.* Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy
soul and with all thy mind, etc. Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself, St. Matt. xxii.
37, etc. God is charity, saj's St. John, and
he that abides in charity, abides in God, and
God in him, i John iv. 16.
Q. What is it to love God above all things ?
A. It is to prefer him, his divine will, and
commands, before all things, purely for his
sake, so as to be willing to lose all things,
even life itself, rather than the grace or love
of God by mortal sin. If any one loves me,
he will keep my commands, St. John xiv. 23.
And , again ; this is the charity of God, that we
keep his commandments, i John v. 3. He
that loves father or mother more than me, is
not worthy of me. Matt. x. 37, says our Saviour
Christ. All transitory happiness is infinitely
below the end for which God made us, and
therefore is as much below our love ; God having
made us for himself, nothing but God can
make us happy ; the love of the world ever
heaves us worse than it found us, it fills us
with a thousand disquiets and solicitudes ; the
love of God is the only happy love ; when once
we come to taste how sweet it is to love God,
the soul is charmed therewith, it despises all
other things, as rivals infinitely below him;
the more we love God, more still we shall dis-
cover in him perfections inviting us to love
• St. Aug. L. 3. de Doct. Christ. C. x. n. i6.
him : nor we cannot pretend to love God with
our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, as
he requires, if we prefer our life, liberty, riches,
pleasures, or any created thing whatever before
him ; we must choose rather to lose all than
him, who most, and only deserves our love.
He is our Father, Creator, Conserver, Redeemer,
etc. Ought we not then to give him oi:r hearts,
our souls, and all ? Son, give me thy heart,
Prov. xxiii. 26. And St. Paul says, If any one
love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
accursed, i Cor. xvi. 22. Set your affections
on the things that are above, and not on the
things that are upon the earth. Col. iii. 2, which
never made any one happy, nor can be able to
do it.
Q. What is it to love our neighbor as our-
selves ? who is our neighbor ? and in what order
is charity to proceed ?
A. To wish him as much good, for body and
soul, as to ourselves ; to do him no wrong, by
thought, word, or deed ; to be ready to do him
good, and hinder any harm we can from befall-
ing him, either in respect of soul or body, chiefly
for the love of God, and to love him as ourselves,
that is, as well as ourselves, not by equalit}^, but
by likeness ; for as our Saviour says, All things
whatsoever ye would that men do to you, do 3^ou
also them, St. Matt. vii. 12. And again ; This is
my command, that you love one another, as
I have loved you, St. John xv. 12. By this, all
men shall know that you are my disciples, if you
love one another, John xiii. 35. Above all
things, have always mutual charity among your-
selves, I Peter iv. 8, which surely they want, who
either upon account of religion, or any other
pretence, hate their neighbor. Now, our neigh-
bors are all mankind, even our enemies, whom we
are bound to love, according to that of our
Saviour, I say unto you, love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, and do good to
them who hate you, St. Matt. v. 44. The order
of charity is this ; first, love God ; secondly,
our own souls ; thirdly, our neighbor's souls ;
fourthly, our own life and body ; fifthly, the
life and body of our neighbor ; sixthly, our
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
159
own fame and temporal goods ; seventhly, tlie
fame and temporal goods of our neighbor.
Then, in necessity, relations, carnal, spiritual,
and civil, are to be preferred to others.
Q. What are the chief qualities of charity ?
A. To esteem, love, praise, and obey God
above all things, so that it is the greatest or
strongest aflFection of the soul, so as to prefer
his honor, good, and will, to our own, or any
other's. Again, charity loves God upon his
own account, and for his own great perfections,
because it is a love of perfect friendship, which
immediately regards the good of the object that
is loved, and not barely a love of concupiscence,
which regards the good of the lover, which is
only the secondary object of charity; so that
charity has two arms, one regards God imme-
diately, the other ourselves, which is likewise
loving God, because it is obeying God's will to
love, or wish the greatest good to ourselves.
Hence, the Quietists are condemned, who pre-
tend that true charity excludes the secondary
object, and ought to make us indifferent to our
own chiefest good, and exclude all other motives,
even salvation, which they take to be a merce-
nary motive. Charity, indeed, as St. Paul
says, seeks not its own interest; i Cor. xiii.
5. But this is to be understood either with
regard to temporal goods, or with regard to
the primary object, but not exclusively of it.
The Scripture every where recommending God
to be loved and served as our reward.
Q. Is charity necessary to salvation ?
A. Yes, most certainly ; for our Saviour says,
lie that loves not, remains in death ; i John iii.
14. And St. Paul says, that if we distribute
all our substance to feed the poor, and de-
liver up our bodies so as to be burnt, and have
not charity, it will avail us nothing; i Cor.
xiii. 3.
Q. Who are they who have true charity ?
A. They only who are so affected, as would
rather die, and lose all that is most dear to
them, than break any of God's commandments :
this is the love of God, says St. John, that we
keep his commandments ; i John v. 3. O that
all could truly say with the Apostle, who shall
separate us from the love of Christ, etc. ?
Rom. viii. 25. But alas ! all seek the things
that are their own, not the things that are
Jesus Christ's; Phil. ii. 21.
Q. What are the effects of perfect charity,
and how is charity lost?
A. It remits sins : charity, says St. James,
covers a multitude of sins, chapter v. 20. It
gives spiritual life to the soul ; we know, says
St. John, that we are translated from death to
life, because we love the brethren ; i John iv.
14. It renders man acceptable to God, for he
that abides in love, abides in God, and God in
him; i John iv. 16. Charity is lost by break-
ing any of God's commandments in any weighty
matter. If you love me keep my command-
ments ; St. John xiv. 14.
Q. Which are the acts of charity ?
A. Some are interior, viz. : A love towards the
object, to wish it all good. Joy, when good
happens to it. Peace, by laboring to procure,
and join in doing good. Compassion, by being
moved with its evil, as if it were our own.
Other acts are exterior, viz. : Not only acts of
benevolence, but of beneficence, viz.: Actually
to assist in procuring his good, both spiritual by
prayer, good example, instruction, etc., as also
the good of his body by alms, etc.
Q. What is alms ?
A. It is an act of mercy, or compassion,
whereby, for the love of God, we relieve our
neighbor in all his wants, both corporal and
spiritual.
Q. Which are the corporal alms, or works of
mercy ?
A. These seven: i. To feed the hungry. 2.
To give drink to the thirsty. 3. To clothe the
naked; St. Matt. xxv. 35, 36. 4. To harbor
the poor with lodging. 5. To visit the sick and
imprisoned. 6. To redeem the captives, and pay
the debts of others. 7. To bury the dead, St.
Matt. xxvi. lO-
Q. Which are the spiritual alms, or works of
mercy, and how many ?
A. Seven, viz. i. To give good advice, or
i6o
EXPOUNDING OP SIN.
counsel to the doubtful, Job xxix. 21. 2. To
correct or admonish those who do amiss ;, Gal.
vi. I. 3 To instruct the ignorant; Prov.
xiv. 33. 4. To comfort the aflSicted; Rom.
xii. 17. 5. To forgave injuries and offence; 2
Cor. i. 4. 6. To bear patiently person's ill
humors ; James v. 16. 7. To pray for the
living and the dead, and for our persecutors;
Matt. V. 44.
Q. When is it that a work of mercy is most
meritorious ?
A. When it is really done for God's sake,
and applied to the person that stands most in
need of it.
Q. What are the offences we ought to for-
give ?
A. All offences and injuries, let them be
never so great, or many ; St. Matt, xviii. 21, 22.
Q. What is the reward of the works of mercy ?
A. Mercy from God in this life, and the king-
dom of heaven in the next.
Q. What shall be the lot of those who are
hard-hearted to the poor ?
A. God himself affirms, that judgment with-
out mercy, and the everlasting fire of hell, are
allotted to those who show no mercy to persons
iu distress; St. Matthew xxv. 41, etc.
Q. What sins are opposite to charity ?
A. In the first place, every mortal sin, but
not venial sins, which only lessen the fervor
of charitable acts, and by breeding evil habits,
dispose towards mortal sins. Also, hatred of
our neighbor, envy discord, schism, fighting.
duelling, unjust war, unmercifulness, and scan-
dal, are all opposite to charity.
Q. What is scandal, and how many sorts of
scandal are there ?
A. Scandal, if we search the etymology and
derivation of the word, signifies something laid
in our way, which is apt to make us fall ; and
so it is taken for the same as a stumbling-block ;
and in this sense, the Psalmist says, they have
laid for me a scandal or stumbling-block, by
the way side ; Ps. cxxxix. 6. From this
literal signification, scandal by a metaphor, is
taken to signify any thing that is the cause, or
occasion of another's falling into sin : and ac-
cordingly, scandal, by St, Thomas, the doctor
of the schools, is said to consist in words or
actions, which are evil, and which occasions the
spiritual ruin of another person's soul. Scandal,
therefore, i§ a sin of bad example, which is apt
to draw or induce other persons into sin, whether
it be by words, actions, or omissions. Now,
there are several sorts of scandal, viz.: Direct,
with an intention ; or indirect, as bad example.
Active, which is the scandalous action. Pas-
sive, which is the spiritual loss, or ruin.
Q. By how many ways may men scandalize,
or concur to the spiritual ruin of their neighbor ?
A. Six ways directly, viz.: By command, by
advice, by consent, by provoking, by praising,
by concurring; Prov. xvii. 15. Three ways
indirectly, viz.: By silence, by not hindering,
and by not discovering.
THE FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES EXPOUNDED.
Q. Which are the four cardinal virtues, and
why so called ?
A. Prudence, j ustice, fortitude and temperance;
Sap. viii. 7. They are called cardinal meta-
phorically, from the Latin word cardo, which
signifies a hinge ; as being the hinges, or general
rules, in the practice of all other moral virtues :
and second iu dignity, to the theological virtues.
Q. What is prudence?
A. It is a moral virtue, which makes us wary
in all our actions, that we may neither deceive
others, nor be deceived ourselves, or which sug-
gests to us, what things are to be embraced, and
what avoided, with regard always to God's com-
mand ; and that we do all things, in their proper
time and manner ; St. Matt. x. 16; Eccles. iii. 32.
PURGATORY.
Purgatory is a middle state of souls, suffering for a time on account of their sins. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians : "And the fire
shall try every msia's work of what sort it is. If any man's work burn he shall suffer loss ; but he himself siaAl be saved, yet so as
by fire."
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EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
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Q. Which are the functions of prudence?
A. Three, viz.: Previous consultation, sound
judging, and execution.
Q. How are these functions to be performed ?
A. Eight ways, to consider things past : to
attend to what is present : by providing against
what may happen hereafter : by reasoning upon
every point: by docility, or a promptitude to
be informed : b}' sagacity, or quickness in
taking, or judging: by industry, or quick
execution in applying the means : by circum-
spection, in reflecting upon circumstance : by
caution, in providing against evil events.
Q. Which are the defects of prudence ?
A. Precipitation, to engage without due re-
flection. Inconsideration, the want of attention,
before the choice of means. Negligence, or
omission in the execution, after a prudent
choice.
Q. Which are the excesses in prudence ?
A. Carnal prudence, or diligence, in seeking
to please corrupt nature. Craft, a subtle and
clandestine way of managing, which in facts is
called deceit, or tricking, cunning or cheating,
called frauds. Solicitude, an anxious care in
obtaining, or conserving worldly goods, or
difiidence in providence, for fear of wanting
hereafter.
Q. What is justice?
A. It is a moral virtue, which inclines the
will to give every man his due, as God re-
quires ; Rom. xiii. 7.
Q. In what is justice grounded?
A. In dominion, in birth-right, in contract,
in g^fts, in promises, etc.
Q. What vices are opposite to justice?
A. Usurpation, theft, rapine, detraction, usury,
acceptation of persons, etc.
Q. Among what persons, and by what actions
are injustices commonly committed ?
A. In purchases, in buying, selling, the
price of goods: by judges, witnesses, last wills
and testaments ; by servants, detractors, etc.
Q. What obligation arises from injustice?
A. Restitution either in . 'nd, or equivalent ;
let it be goods or reputation.
Q. What is fortitude?
A. It is a moral virtue, which gives us
courage to endure all hardships, dangers, and
even death itself, for our faith and the service
of God; Prov. xxviii. i; i Peter v. 14, 15; St.
Matt. X. 28.
Q. When is it chiefly practised ?
A. In bearing afflictions, whether providential,
or maliciously designed, viz.: Heat, cold,
poverty, imprisonment, danger of death, in
time of battle, wounds, pains of the body, or
mind, death, or martyrdom.
Q. Which are the qualities of ft)rtitude ?
A. Patience, not to repine at hardships,
longanimity, not to complain of the dilatoriness
of assistance.
Q. Which are the defects of fortitude ?
A. Cowardice, to want boldness in dangers,
that are according to reason.
Q. What are the excesses of fortitude?
A. To be rash and expose one's self to danger
contrary to reason, as in duelling, etc.
Q. What is temperance ?
A. It is a moral virtue, moderating man's
affections, or appetites in tasting, and touching,
that is, eating and drinking according to right
reason ; Eccles. xxxvii. 34 ; i Thess. v. 21 ; i
Peter ii. 11.
Q. Which are the chief branches belonging
to temperance?
A. Abstinence, which moderates the use of
eatables, and sobriety, which moderates the use
of drink.
Q. Which are the opposite vices to temperance?
A. Excess, as drunkenness, gluttony, and
indecency.
Q. Is it necessary for a Christian to be
exercised in these virtues ?
A. Yes, it is ; for we must not only decline from
evil, but do good ; Ps. xxxvi. 27.
Q. What are the other virtues which our
Saviour cliiefl}' requires of us to pursue ?
A. Humility, patience, meekness, chastity, and
vigilance; St. Matt. xi. 24; St. Mark xiii. 33, 34,
35, etc. ; St. Luke xxi. 19. ; St. Matt. v. 28.
l62
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
RELIGION EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is religion ?
A. It is the worship we pay to God as the
supreme being.
Q. How many sorts of worship are there ?
A. Several, viz.: Supreme, inferior, hyperdulia,
religious and civil, absolute and relative.
. Q. How do you explain these several kinds ?
A. Worship is paid to things upon account of
their excellency. Supreme worship is paid to
God only, and it is called Latria. Inferior wor-
ship is paid to saints and holy things, and it is
called dulia. Hyperdulia is paid on account of
some singular excellency communicated only to
one, as to the blessed Virgin Mary. Religious
worship is upon account of some supernatural
excellency. Civil worship is on account of some
natural or acquired excellency. Absolute wor-
ship is on account of some inherent excellency.
Relative worship is on account of some relation
it has to inherent excellency.
Q. Is the cross of Christ, and other instru-
ments, the object of supreme worship?
A. No, they are not.
Q. Which are the proper acts of religion ?
A. Interior and exterior. Devotion, or a
promptitude of the soul to worship God. Prayer,
which is raising the mind to God, by meditation,
or petitioning for what we want, viz.: Absolutely,
grace and heaven; conditionally, all things that
conduce that way ; also praise and thanksgiving
are parts of prayer. Prayer is mental or vocal,
public or private, in set form or extemporary,
with attention or pharisaical ; actual attention
is either to the words, or to God and pious objects ;
an habitual intention is not sufficient.
Q. Which are the outward acts of religion ?
A. External worship ; by genuflexion, cross-
ing, kneeling, uncovering, knocking the breast,
incense, prostration, oblations, sacrifice, erecting
altars, dedicating churches, vows, oaths, etc.
Q. Are all outward acts of religion indifferent,
to signify supreme honor?
A. All excepting altars, sacrifice, and churches ;
which are all offered to God alone : as for other
acts, they are determined by the intention.
Q. Is God worshiped by counsel, or particular
works not commanded ?
A. Yes, by vows of poverty, chastity, and
obedience.
Q. Which are the vices directly opposite to
religion ?
A. Superstition, to adore God by false ways,
or expect supernatural effects from improper
causes ; also idolatry, Judaism, Mahometanism,
heresy, divination, conjuration, perjury, blas-
phemy, sacrilege, etc.
LAWS EXPOUNDED.
Q. What are laws ?
A. They are the ordinances and command-
ments of superior powers, as rules to know what
is to be performed, and what avoided.
Q. How are laws distinguished ?
A. Eternal and temporary, divine and human,
natural and positive, old and new, ecclesiastical
and civil, etc.
Q. Explain the nature of these laws.
A. Eternal, is the divine will, in order to
make our will conformable to his. The law of
nature, is the impression made by nature,
■ informing us of truth and falsehood, right and
wrong ; whereby we first know general princi-
ples, both speculative and practical, viz.: That
something is certain, as for example, our own
existence ; that the s^me thing can be, and can-
not be, at the same time ; good is to be done,
evil avoided ; do as you would be done by. The
secondar}?^ principles are contained in the deca-
logue, or ten commandments, and regard God,
our neighbor, and ourselves. The third are
EXPOUNDING OF SIN.
163
drawn from the former. Conscience is an inward
persuasion, that this or that particular action is
good or bad. Now, conscience is sometimes
rightly informed, other times erroneous, prob-
able, scrupulous, doubtful, or opinionative.
God's positive law is what is written in the Old
and New Scripture, or known by tradition. The
old law is what was delivered by Moses, either
moral, judicial, or ceremonial. The new law
are the writings and traditions of Christ and
the evangelists. The difference between the old
and new law is, they agree in the law of nature,
and all moral laws : they differ in the judicial
and ceremonial laws, which are abrogated. The
law of Moses was but for a time, as to the judicial
and ceremonial part. The old law chiefly
regarded temporal felicity ; the new law, future
happiness : the old law was the figure ; the new
law, the substance. Human laws are given by
men, and must proceed from a lawful power:
they must be for the public good, and be promul-
gated. Ecclesiastical laws regard the good of
the soul, civil laws regard life, liberty, and
property ; both equally binding in conscience.
CRiPTURE, Tradition, Councils, and
Head of the Church Expounded.
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Q. What is the Scripture?
A. It is the word of God, written by persons
inspired by God himself to speak the truth ;
and it is divided into the Old and New Testa-
ment, which are called canonical books.
Q. Why are they called canonical ?
A. They are so called from the Greek word
canon, which signifies a rule ; therefore we call
them canonical books, that is to say, books
which contain the rule of our faith.
Q. How many canonical books are there?
A. There are many, which are divided into five
sorts, viz.: Legal historical, sapiential, prophetical,
and doctrinal. The legal books of the Old Testa-
ment are the five books of Moses, viz. : Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
The historical books are, Joshua, Judges, Ruth ;
the four books of Kings, the two first of which
are called by some the books of Samuel ; the
two books of Paralipomenon, or Chronicles ;
the two books of Esdras ; the books of
Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Job and the two
books of the Macchabees. The sapiential books
are those of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles,
lor Song of Solomon, Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus.
•The prophetical books are the Psalms of David,
(which are also sapiential, legal and historical)
the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, with Baruch,
Ezekiel, Daniel ; and the twelve lesser prophets,
(164)
viz. : Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecha-
riah, and Malachi. The doctrinal chiefly regards
those of the New Testament, which are the four
gospels of St. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ;
the Acts of the Apostles ; the fourteen Epistles
of St. Paul, viz. : His Epistle to the Romans,
his two Epistles to the Corinthians, his Epistle
to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the
Philippians, to the Colossians, his two Epistles
to the Thessalonians, and his two Epistles to
Timothy ; his Epistle to Titus, to Philemon,
and to the Hebrews ; the Epistle of St. James ;
the two Epistles of St. Peter ; the three Epistles
of St. John ; the Epistle of St- Jude ; and the
Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John. All
these books are undoubtedly canonical, as being
received and declared as such by the Catholic
church. See the council of Laodicea, etc.*
And consequently, all and every part thereof
are infallibly true ; for otherwise, as St. Augus-
tine says, if any part was false or doubtful, all
would be uncertain. However, certain it is,
that some books are doubted of by the Catholic
church, which we call Apocryphal ; that is to
say, hidden or not certainly known, as not
*Conc. Laod. Can. 60. et Cone. Cartha. 3 Cp. 47. An. 397. et
Cone. Trid. Sess. iv. An. 1546. et St. Atha. in Synop. St. Aug. L.
^. 4e Doct Christ. C. 8. n. 12, etc.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
165
being so evident whether they were divine
Scripture, because they were not in the Jews'
canon, nor at first in the church's canon, but
were never rejected as false or erroneous ; in
which sense are the prayer of Manasses, the
third book of Bsdras, and the third of the
Macchabees. As for the fourth of Esdras, and
fourth of Macchabees, there is more doubt.
But as to the book ascribed to Enoch, the
gospel of St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Bartho-
lomew, and the like, mentioned by St. Jerom,
and St. Augustine,* they are in a worse sense
called Apocryphal ; and are rejected, as con-
taining manifest errors.
Q. How do you know for certain, which
books are divine and canonical Scripture, and
which not ?
A. By the testimony of the Catholic Church,
which without interruption, succeeded the
Apostles, and with whom our Saviour has
promised to abide, and teach all truth, to the
end of the world.
Q. You tell me the Scripture is the infallible
word of God : why then does your Church
forbid the faithful to read it, since nothing
can be more clear and easy to be understood,
in all things necessary to salvation ? This
has an ill aspect, and looks as though it was
with design to keep the people in ignorance.
A. You seem to mistake the case. The
Catholic Church never forbid her children the
reading of the holy Scriptures : on the con-
trary, she always did and does teach, that the
reading of the holy Scriptures (provided it be
with a humble and reverent mind, and with
submission to the interpretation of the Church
from whom we received them) is a good and
laudable practice, and ought to be the daily
exercise of every Christian. Now, all the
restraint there ever was, and even that not
general, was by the fourth rule of the index
of Pope Pius the fourth ;t and this only relates
to the reading of the Scripture in the vulgar
languages, by which he remits the people to
* St. Jer. Ep. ad Letram, St. Aug. L. 15. C. 23. de civ. Dei.
t See the Index to the council of Trent.
their pastors and confessors, as the most proper
judges of their capacities, and the disposition
of their souls. The reason of this restraint
was, in order to arm the people against the
danger of novelty and error : which would
necessarily follow, if every cobbler and tinker
was allowed to interpret the Scripture accord-
ing to their silly fancies ; since St. Peter as-
sures us, that in St. Paul's epistles, there are
some things hard to be understood, which they
that are unlearned and unstable, wrest, as
they do also the other Scriptures, to their own
destruction ; 2 Peter iii. 16. Hence it follows,
that the Scriptures are not so clear and plain
as you pretend they are, in all points that
concern our salvation ; otherwise, it would not
be truly said, that they wrest the Scriptures
to their own destruction. As to what our
adversaries allege against us, that the true
reason of not putting the Scripture into the
hands of every one, is to keep the common
people from discovering the errors and follies
of their religion. Nothing can be more absurd
than this : because, if there were any grounds
to fear the making any such discover}', I ask,
whether of the two would be best able to do
it, the learned or unlearned ? surely the learned.
Yet these are all allowed to read the Scrip-
tures, and are not clear-sighted enough to
make this discovery. A man must be strangely
blinded with prejudice, not to see the absurd-
ity of this calumny.
Q. Why may not every particular Christian
have liberty to interpret the Scripture accord-
ing to his own private judgment, without
regard to the interpretation of the Church ?
A. The reason is, first, because St. Peter
declares, that no prophecy of the Scripture is
of private interpretation ; 2 Peter i. 20. vSec-
ondly, because as men's judgments are as
different as their fancies, such liberty as this
must needs produce almost as many religions
as there are men. Thirdly, because Christ
has left his Church, and her pastors and teach-
ers, to be our guides in all controversies
relating to religion, and consequently in the
i66
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
understanding of holy writ. He gave some
apostles, and some prophets, and some evan-
gelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for edifj'ing of the body of Christ,
until we all come in the unity of the faith ; that
we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by slight of men and cunning crafti-
ness, whereby the}' lie in wait to deceive,
etc.; Eph. iv. ii, 12, etc. Lastly, Protestants
themselves confess, that as the Scriptures were
not written without the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, so neither can they be rightly
interpreted without the gift of the Holy
Ghost ; now this gift is not given to every
one. For to one is given by the spirit the
word of wisdom, to another the word of knowl-
edge, to another prophecy, etc. ; i Cor. xii. 8.
From whence we may conclude that the gift
of interpreting Scripture is not a gift for every
one, but chiefly, as we may reasonably suj>-
pose, for such as God has g^ven, apostles,
pastors, and doctors to his Church. As to
reformers in particular, it does not appear that
they have hitherto been endowed with any
other g^ft but that of contradicting each other's
interpretation, throughout all the Reformed
Churches. Witness the Lutherans, Calvinists,
Anabaptists, Independents, Arians, Socinians,
etc. The Lutherans say, that the Scripture
teaches them to hold the real presence ; the
Calvinists say, that it teaches them to deny
it; those of the Church of England say, that
the Scripture teaches them to baptize infants ;
the Anabaptists say, that it teaches them to
condemn it ; the Arians and Socinians say,
that the Scripture teaches them that Christ is
a creature ; and other Protestants say, it teaches
them to believe that he is the eternal Creator
of all things. Now no one will say, that this
is the gift of the Holy Ghost. So that Prot-
estants themselves, on the one hand, confessing
that the Scriptures cannot be rightly inter-
preted without the gift of the Holy Ghost;
.and it being evident on the other hand that
Protestant Churches, from their contradicting
one another have not that gift, we therefore
conclude that they have not a right to judge
of the sense of Scripture, and expound it for
themselves. Besides, if the very disciples of
Christ could not understand the Scriptures,
without an interpreter, as we find by St. Luke
they could not ; xxiv. 27, et 54. Can it then
be supposed that every private man and woman
among Protestants are better enlightened than
they were? If the Apostles themselves did
not understand the holy Scriptures, till our
Saviour opened their understanding ; St. Luke
xxiv. 54. Let this at least teach reformers,
that natural talents alone are not sufficient for
expounding Scripture, unless their understand-
ing be by our Saviour Christ in like manner
opened.
Q. Are not all necessary points of doctrine
contained in the holy Scripture ? and is not the
Scripture the sole rule of faith ?
A. No ; for we find that St. Paul taught
many things to his flock at Thessalonica and
Corinth, by word of mouth, which are not in
his epistles, and yet nevertheless he enjoins
them to believe, as being of equal authority
with what he had written. We command you,
brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you withdraw yourselves from every
brother that walketh disorderly, and not after
the tradition he received of us ; 2 Thess.
iii. 6. And again, I pray you, brethren,
that you remember me in all things, and keep
the traditions as I have delivered them to
you; I Cor. xi. 2. St. John likewise assures
us, that all our Saviour did and taught for
the salvation of mankind is not written ; John
xxi. 25. In short, this doctrine implies a con-
tradiction ; for if nothing is to be believed
with divine faith, but what is clearly contained
in the Scripture, then this very doctrine, which
our adversaries thus boldly affirm, is not to be
believed : because it is no where to be found
in Scripture ; for where is it written in the holy
Scripture, that the Apostles were commanded
by our Saviour Christ to write all that he and
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
167
^:
themselves had taught ? In a word, will
he Church of England say, that the fol-
\ lowing articles are not to be believed, viz.:
That the Virgin Mary was always a virgin ;
that the Sabbath was, by divine authority,
translated to the Sunday ; that the Christian
Passover, or Easter, is always to be celebrated
on a Sunday ; that infants are to be baptized ;
i that the baptism of heretics is valid ; and that
the Apostles' creed is of divine authority?
Yet certainly these articles are not clearly con-
j tained in the holy Scripture, but Protestants
received them from the tradition of the Church
of Rome. Therefore it is plain that all neces-
1 sarjr points of doctrine are not contained in
' the holy Scripture. Now, from what has been
said, it follows to a demonstration, that the
Scripture alone, without the tradition of the
Apostles, and interpretation of the Catholic
Church, cannot be the sole rule of faith ;
because, as I have already proved, there are
many things that are necessary to be believed,
which are not contained in the Scripture.
Besides, we do not find that there is one text
in the whole Scripture that clearly and
expressly afiirms, that the Scripture alone is
the whole and sole rule of faith. Again, the
Scripture alone cannot be the sole rule of
faith, because one great article of the Christian
faith, is to believe that these books are divine
Scripture. Now this we could never have
known, but by the tradition and declaration of
the Catholic Church ; for the Scripture itself
no where gives us a catalogue of the canonical
books. It no where affirms, that all and every
one of those books which are contained in
the Protestant Bible or Testament, are the
infallible word of God. Our adversaries, there-
fore, are very unhappy in their choice of a
rule of faith, which is not only without any
foundation from the Scripture, but even
excludes the Scripture from being any part
of their faith, as not coming under their only
rule by which they pretend to steer in matters
of faith.
Q. What is tradition ?
A, All such points of faith, or Church disci-
pline, which are not clearly, or not at all
expressed in the Scripture; but were taught
or established by the Apostles, and have care-
fully been preserved in the Church ever since.
Q. How many sorts of traditions are there ?
A. Chiefiy two, viz. : Apostolical, and ecclesi-
astical ; the apostolical are those which had
their origin, or institution from the Apostles :
such as the number of the sacraments ; the
Apostles' creed ; infants' baptism ; the I^ord's
day; receiving the blessed sacrament, fasting;
mixing water with the wine in the eucharist ;
and making the sign of the cross in baptism,
etc. The ecclesiastical, are such as had their
institution from the Church ; as many cere-
monies always in use time after time, such as
fasts, feasts, blessing of water, candles, bread,
etc.
Q. How are we to know what traditions are
truly apostolical, and what not ?
A. In the same manner, and by the same
authority, by which we know what Scriptures
are apostolical, and what not ; this is by the
authority of the apostolic Church, guided by the
unerring spirit of God.
Q. What Scripture can you bring in favor
of tradition ?
A. From the ^26. chap., ver. 7, Deuter-
onomy. Ask thy Father and he will show thee,
thy elders, and they will tell thee ; i Cor. iv.
2 ; Psal. xviii. 5, etc. Again out of the 2d
Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, xi. 2 ;
2 Thess. iii. 6. Therefore, brethren, stand fast,
and hold the traditions which ye have been
taught, where by word or epistle, 2 Tim. i. 13,
et chap. ii. 2. et chap. iii. 14 ; chap. ii. 25.
Q. What are councils, and how many kinds ?
A. They are assemblies of the superiors of
the Church to consult about faith, and other
spiritual matters ; and they are either universal,
national, provincial, or diocesan.
Q. Who presides over them ?
A. The pope in a universal ; the primate in
a national ; the metropolitan in a provincial ;
and the bishop in a diocesan.
i68
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
Q. How many general councils do you reckon,
and which are they ?
A. They are commonly computed these
twenty. The eight first are called the Eastern
or Greek general councils.
1. The council of Nice, held under Pope Sil-
vester, anno 325, in which the Arian heresy
was condemned.
2. The council of Constantinople, held under
Pope Damascus, anno 381, against the
Macedonians, Eunomians, and Apollina-
rists.
3. The council of Ephesus, held under Pope
Celestinus I, anno 431, against the Nestori-
ans.
4. The council of Chalcedon, held under Pope
Leo I, anno 451, against the Eutychians.
5. The 2d council of Constantinople, held
under Pope Virgilius, anno 553, against
Origenists.
6. The 3d council of Constantinople, held
under Pope Agatho, anno 680, against the
Monothelites.
7. The 2d council of Nice, held under Pope
Adrian I, anno 787, against the Iconoclasts.
8. The 4th council of Constantinople, held
under Pope Adrian II, anuo 869, against
Photius.
The Western or Latin general councils.
9. The ist council of Lateran, held under
Pope Calixtus II, anno 1122, for the recovery
of the Holy Land.
10. The 2d council of Lateran, held under
Pope Innocent II, anno 11 39.
11. The 3d council of Lateran, held under
Pope Alexander III, anno 11 79, against the
Albigenses, who maintained the errors of
the Manichaeans.
12. The 4th council of Lateran, held under
Pope Innocent III, anno 12 15, against the
Waldenses and Albigensens.
13. The 1st council of Lyons, held under Pope
Innocent IV, anno 1245, ^^^ ^^^ recovery of
Holy Land.
14. The 2d council of Lyons, held under Pope
Gregory X, anno 1274, in which the
Greeks renounced their schism, but relapsed
soon after.
15. The council of Vienne held under Pope
Clement V, anno 131 1, against the Dul-
cinians and Beguardins, as also for the
recovery of the Holy Land.
16. The council of Pisa, called in the time of
Gregory XII, anno 1409, which put a stop
to the schism, and deposed both the con-
tending pontiffs, viz. : Gregory XII, and I
Benedict XIII, and chose Alexander V, by
whom this council was approved.
17. The council of Constance, held under Pope
John XXIII, anno 1414, which broke the
neck of the long schism, and condemned
the errors of Wickliffe and Huss.
18. The council of Florence, held under Pope
Eugenius IV, anno 1439, in which the
Greeks renounced their schism.
19. The 5th council of Lateran, held under
Pope Julius II, anno 15 12, Pope Leo X,
concluded it, anno 15 17, for the recovery
of the Holy Land. Some divines dispute
whether this was a general council.
20. The council of Trent, held by Paul III,
etc., anno 1545, against the errors of Luther
and Calvin. Pope Pius IV, brought this
council to a happy conclusion, anno 1563.
Q. Who is the pope, and what power has he ?
A. He is the bishop of Rome, successor of
St. Peter, visible head of the Church, and has
jurisdiction over the whole Church.
Q. What is the Catholic doctrine as to the
pope's supremacy ?
A. It is comprised in these two articles : i.
That St. Peter, by divine commission, was
head of the Church under -Christ. 2. That the
pope or bishop of Rome is successor to St.
Peter, is at present head of the Church, and
Christ's Vicar upon earth.
How do you prove St. Peter's supremacy ?
A. First, from the i6th chapter of St. Mat-
thew verses 18, 19 ; where our Saviour says,
Thou art Peter, (that is a rock) and upon this
rock will I build my Church, and the gates of '
hell shall not prevail against it. And I will
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
169
give unto thee tlae keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Secondly, from the 2 2d chapter of St. Luke,
verses 31, 32. The Lord said Simon, Simon,
behold Satan had desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not, and when thou
art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Thirdly,
from the 21st chapter of St. John, verse 15,
etc. Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these ? he
said unto him, yea. Lord, thou knowest that I
love thee. He said unto him, feed my lambs ;
he said to him again the second time, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? He said unto
him, yea. Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He said unto him, feed my lambs. He said
unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved, because
he said unto him the third time lovest thou me ?
And he said unto him. Lord, thou knowest all
things, thou knowest that I love thee; Jesus
said unto him, feed my sheep. In the first of
these texts our Lord promised, that in the
building of his Church Peter should be as a
rock or foundation stone ; and under the
metaphor of the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, ensured to him the chief authority in
his Church : as when a king gives the keys
of a city to one of his courtiers, he thereby
signifies that he gives him the government of
that city. In the second text, our Lord not
only declared his particular concern for Peter,
in praying for him, that his faith might not
fail : but also gave him the care of his breth-
ren, the other Apostles, in charging him to
confirm or strengthen them. In the third text,
our Lord, in most solemn manner, thrice
committed to Peter the care of all his sheep
without exception, that is, of his whole Church.
Q. How do you prove that this commission
given to Peter, descends to the pope or bishop
of Rome ?
A. Because by the unanimous consent of
the Fathers, and the tradition of the Church
in all ages, the bishops of Rome are the suc-
cessors of St. Peter, who translated his chair
from Antioch to Rome, and died bishop of
Rome.* Hence the see of Rome, in all ages
is called the see of Peter, the chair of Peter,
and absolutely the see Apostolic : and in that
quality, has from the beginning, exercised
jurisdiction over all other Churches, as appears
from the best records of ancient history .f Be-
sides, supposing the supremacy of St. Peter,
which we have proved above from plain Scrip-
ture, it must consequently be allowed that this
supremacy which Christ established for the
better government of his Church, and maintain-
ing of unity, was not to die with Peter, no
more than the Church, which he promised
should stand for ever. For how can any
Christian imagine that Christ should appoint
a head for the government of his Church, and
maintaining of unity during the Apostles'
time ; and design another kind of government
for succeeding ages, when there was like to be
so much more need of a head. Therefore, we
must grant that St. Peter's supremacy was by
succession to descend to somebody. Now, I
would willingly know, who has half so fair a
title to this succession as the bishop of Rome.
*See Cone. Calced. Sess. i, 2, 3.
t See Cone. 4. Later. Can. v.
170
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
THE FOUR LAST THINGS EXPOUNDED.
Q. Which are the four last things ?
A. Death, judgment, hell and heaven.
Q. What is death ?
A. It is a separation of the soul from the body.
Q. Which are the most useful considerations
concerning death ?
A. First, that we frequently consider that we
must certainly die, and that but once. Heb.
ix. 27. Secondly, that the time, place and man-
ner of our death is uncertain. St. Matt. xxv.
13. St. Mark xiii. 35. Thirdly, that God com-
mands us to be prepared ; and always on our
guard ; and assures us that death will sur-
prise those foolish people, who sleep and live
in sin. St. Matt. xxiv. 44. Eccl. ix. 13.
Fourthly, that generally speaking, we shall die
as we have lived ; if we spend our life in the
state of grace, we shall in all appearance die in
the state of grace ; or if we pass our life in
the state of sin, we shall in all likelihood die
in the state of sin. Prov. i. 24 ; Eccl. xli. i ,
Rom. ii. 5, 6, 7, 8. Fifthly, that our eternal lot
depends on the hour of death. Eccl. iii. 8, et
C. ix. 10. Lastly, that we ought to submit
to its stroke, as being the punishment of sin ;
for had not man sinned, he had never died, but
been translated alive to heaven.
Q. What is judgment, how many sorts, and
what circumstances ?
A. It is the sentence upon men, pronounced
by God. It is particular when man dies, and
general at the end of the world. The circum-
stances are the sig^s that will forerun it, viz. :
In the heavens, earth, and seas ; antichrist will
appear, and against him Enoch and Elias. The
world will be converted and consumed by fire.
The general resurrection, and union of body and
soul. The qualities of the judge, severity of the
examen, in thoughts, words, and actions ; and
general and particular duties. The strength of
the proofs, from conscience and the devil.
Q. How ought we to think of judgment?
A. We ought, first, to consider that all our
thoughts, words, actions, and omissions, since we
came to the use of reason, shall be judged. St.
Matt. xii. 36. Secondly, that there can be no
appeal from, nor revoking of the judgment. St.
Matt. xxv. 46. Thirdly, that the law of God,
is the rule of our judgment, and that it will be
put in execution upon the spot, without showing
us either pity or mercy. Rom. ii. 16 ; Heb.
X. 31. Lastly, that the punishment and reward
appointed for us by our judge, shall be everlast-
ing. St. Matt, xxv, 46.
Q. What is hell ?
A. A place of eternal punishment, with the
pain of separation from God, and the pain of
sensible torments for all eternity, proportionable,
as to heathens, Christians, ignorance and malice.
Q. How ought we to think of hell ?
A. First, we ought to consider that the damned
shall never see the face of God ; Psalm xlviii. 12.
That they shall burn and be tormented both in
body and soul during eternity. Apoc. xx. 10.
Secondly, that they shall sufi"er all the evils and
all the misery that can be thought of, without
anj' comfort or rest, and that the worm of their
conscience shall be gnawing and tearing them as
long as God shall be God. St. Mark xi. 43. 45.
Q. What is heaven ?
A. It is an eternal place of pleasures of
body and mind, free from all evil, and enjoy-
ing all good, proportioned to every one's merits.
Q. How ought we to think of heaven ?
A. We ought often to consider, that the
blessed shall suffer no kind of evil ; Apoc. vii. 16,
etc., that they shall abound in all good things ;
Ps. XXXV. 9. That they shall see God and his
saints face to face; i Cor. xiii. 12. That their
bodies shall be glorious, immortal, active, vigor-
ous, and bright, i Cor. xv. 42. That they shall
possess everlasting joys and happiness, with-
out any danger or apprehension of ever losing
them, St. John xvi. 22. In a word, that the eye
hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it
entered into the heart of man to conceive,
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
171
■what God hatn prepared for those who love
him. I Cor i. 9.
Q. Pray, what do you mean by purgatory ?
A. A middle state, wherein such souls are
detained who depart this life in God's grace,
yet not without some venial sins, or without
having made such satisfaction for their sins as
God's justice requires.
Q. Why do you say that those who die guilty
of lesser sins, go to purgatory ?
A. Because, such as depart this life, before
they have repented for these venial frailties,
and imperfections (as many Christians do, who
■either by sudden death, or otherwise, are taken
out of this world, before the}'- have repented
for these ordinary failings), cannot be supposed
to be condemned to the eternal torments of hell,
since the sins of which they are guilty, are but
small, and which even God's best servants are
more or less liable to. Nor can they go straight
to heaven in this state, because the Scripture
assures us, that nothing that is defiled shall
enter there. Rev. xxi. 27.
Q. Pray tell me, upon what do you ground
your belief of purgatory ?
A. Upon Scripture, tradition, and reason.
Q. What grounds have you for purgatory
from Scripture ?
A. First, because the Scripture in many
places teaches us, that it is the fixed rule of
God's justice to render to every man according
to his works. See Psalm Ixii. 12. St. Matt,
xvi. 27, Rom. ii. 6. Rev. xxii. 12. So that
according to the works which each man has
done in the time of his mortal life, and
according to the state in which he is found at
the moment of his departure out of this life,
he shall certainly receive reward or punish-
ment from God. Hence, it evidently follows,
that as by this rule of God's justice, they that
die in great and deadly sins, not cancelled by
repentance, will be eternally punished in hell ;
so, by the same rule, they who die in lesser,
or venial sins, will be punished some where
for a time, until God's justice be satisfied, and
this is what we call Purgatory. Secondly,
because the Scripture assures us, that we are
to render an account hereafter to the great
judge, even for every idle word, that we have
spoken; Matt. xii. 36. And, consequently,
every idle -word not cancelled here by repent-
ance, is liable to be punished by God's justice
hereafter. Now, no one can think that God
will condemn a soul to hell for every idle
word ; therefore, there must be another place of
punishment for those, who die guilty of these
little transgressions. Thirdly, because St. Paul
assures us, that every man's work shall be
made manifest, i Cor. iii. 13, 14, 15. For the
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed
by 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 (that is,
upon the foundation which is Jesus Christ), he
shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall
be burnt, he shall suffer loss : but he himself
shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Here, you
see, St. Paul" informs us, that every man's work
shall be made manifest by a fiery trial ; and
that they who have built upon the foundation,
which is Christ, wood, hay, and stubble (that is
to say, whose works have been very imperfect
and defective, though not to the degree of losing
Christ), shall suffer loss, but yet shall be saved
so as by fire ; that is, by a purging fire, as
the fathers understand it ; of which St. Augus-
tine writes, they who have done things deserv-
ing temporal punishment, shall pass through a
certain purging fire, of which the apostle St.
Paul speaks. Hom. xvi. ex. L. 50 Hom. Again,
on the 37th Psalm, n. 3. he says, this fire shall
be more grievous than whatever man can
suffer in this life. So he prays, purge me O
Lord, in this life, and render me such, as may!
not need the mending fire. Being for them
that shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Fourthly,
because our Saviour says, that whosoever
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not
be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in
the world to come. Matt. xii. 13. Which last
words would be superfluous and absurd, if sins
not forgiven in this world could never be
172
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
forgiven in the world to come. Now, if there
may be forgiveness of sins in the world to
come, there must be a purgatory or third place,
for in hell there is no forgiveness, and in heaven
no sin. Besides, a middle place is also implied
by the prison mentioned in St. Matthew, chap-
ter v. 26. out of which a man shall not come
till he has paid the uttermost farthing. And
by the prison mentioned in St. Peter ; where
Christ is said by his spirit to have gone and
preached to the spirits that were in prison,
which sometimes were disobedient, etc. St.
Pet. iii. 18, 19, 20. From this last text, it
appears that at the time of our Saviour's death
there were some souls in a state of suffering
(in prison) in the other world, on account of
lesser sins not deserving of damnation, for cer-
tainly our Saviour would not have gone and
preached to them, had they not been capable
of salvation. These souls, therefore, were not
in heaven, where all preaching is needless, nor
in hell, where all preaching is unprofitable ;
but in the middle state of suffering souls they
were, which is the purgatory maintained, by the
Catholic Church.
Q. Pray, what do you say to that text of
Scripture, if the tree fall towards the south, or
towards the north, in the place where the tree
falleth there shall it lie? Eccles. xi. 3.
A. I say that it is no way evident that this
text has relation to the state of the soul after
death : but if it be so understood, as to have
relation to the soul, it makes nothing against
purgatory, because it only proves what no Cath-
olic denies, viz. : That when once a soulis come
to the south, or to the north, that is, to heaven
or to hell, its state is unchangeable.
Q. But does not the Scripture promise rest,
after death, to such as die in the Lord ? Rev.
xiv. 13.
A. Yes, it does ; but then we are to under-
stand, that those are said to die in the Lord,
who die for the Lord by martyrdom ; or at least,
those who at the time of their death, are so
happy as to have no debts nor stains to inter-
pose between them and the Lord. As for others
who die but imperfectly in the Lord, they
shall rest indeed from the labors of this
world, but as their works that follow them, are
imperfect, they must expect to receive from the
Lord according to their works.
Q. Let me now hear what grounds you have
for the belief of a purgatory upon tradition, or the
authority of the Church ?
A. Because, both the Jewish Church, long
before our Saviour's coming ; and the Christ-
ian Church, from the very begining in all
ages, and all nations, has offered up prayers
and sacrifice for the repose,* and relief of the
faithful departed, which evidently imply the
belief of a purgatory or third place : and it is
certain that the Church of Christ always believed
that there is a purgatory, as is evident from the
writings of the ancient fathers, and the ex-
press definitions of the general councils. See
Tertullian, St. Cyprian, etc.
Q. What grounds have you for the belief
of purgatory, from reason ?
A. Because reason teaches these two things,,
first, that every sin, be it never so small, is an
offence to God, and consequently deserves pun-
ishment from the justice of God; and therefore
every person who dies under the guilt of any such
offence unrepented of, must expect to be pun-
ished by the justice of God. Secondly, that
there are some sins, in which a person may chance
to die, that are so small, either through the
levity of the matter, or for want of a full de-
liberation in the act, as not to deserve everlasting
punishments. From whence is plainly follows,
that besides the place of everlasting punishment
which we call hell, there must be also a place of
temporal punishment for such as die in those les-
ser offences, and this we call purgatory.
Q. Do yon then think that any repentance
can be available after death, or that they are
capable of relief in that state ?
* See 2 Mach. xii. Tert. L. de Mil. Coro. C. 3. St. Cypr. Epis.
Ixvi. EusebL. de Vit. Constan. C. 71. St. Jo. Chrj-s. Horn. iii.
ect. Tertul. L. 4. de Ania. C. 58. St. Cypr. Ep. Hi. ad Antonin.
St. Amb. in C. 3. Ep. ad Cor. St.Jer. in C. 5. Mat. St. Aug. L.
20. de Civi. Dei. 24 et L. 21. C. 13. Cone. Flor. Sess. Ult. Cone.
Trid. Sess. vi. Can. xxx. et Sess. xxv. dear, de Purga.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
A. No repentance can be available after
death; but God's justice must take place,
which will render to every man according to
his work : however, they are capable of relief ;
but not from any thing that they can do for them-
selves, but from the prayers, alms, and other
suffrages offered to God for them by the faith-
ful on earth, which God in his mercy is
pleased to accept of, by reason of that com-
munion which we have with them, by being
fellow-members of the same body of the Church,
under the same head, which is Christ Jesus.
Q. How do you prove that it is lawful and
profitable to pray for the dead?
A. If there be a place of temporal punish-
ment where some souls are purged, and venial
sins remitted after this life, as I have already
proved there is ; then that charity which obliges
lis also to pray that the living may be saved,
obliges us also to pray that the dead may be freed
from their punishments. Besides, if we consult
the Scripture, or primitive tradition with rela-
tion to the promise or encouragement given in
favor of our prayers, we shall nowhere find
the dead excepted from the benefit of them ;
and the perpetual practice of the church of
God (which is the best interpreter of the
Scripture) has, from the beginning, ever author-
ized prayer for the dead, as believing such
prayers beneficial to them.* Again, we find
that praying, and making offerings for the
dead, was practiced by Judas Macchabasus,f
and by the Jews, before the coming of Christ,
who were then the true people of God; now,
had this doctrine and practice of the Jews'been
unlawful and unprofitable, our blessed Saviour
would certainly have condemned it; as he
reproved all the evil doctrines and traditions
* See Cone. Nice. C. 65.
1 2 Maccha. xii. 43, 44, 45.
of the Scribes and Pharisees, but we do not
find that he ever spoke one word against this
public practice. As to what several church-
men of the reformed Church buzz so indus-
triously from the pulpit into the people's ears,
viz. : That praying for the dead was only an
invention to get money, it is a scandalous
reflection upon Christendom, and even the
primitive Christians, since it has always been
the practice from the beginning, both among
the Greeks and Latins, f and all the ancient
Churches to pray for the dead, and so continues
to this day. A little reflection might let people
see that these gentlemen have found out a much
easier method to subsist by, than praying day
and night either for the living or the dead.
Q. St. John, in his first Epistle, chapter v.
16. says, that it is not lawful to prSy for the
dead : there is a sin, says he, unto death, for
that I do not say that any one should ask.
A. What the Apostle here signifies by a sin
to death, is final impenitence, or a mortal sin
persevered in until death, and for such a sin
we are not taught to pray, but what is this to
those who die guilty only of venial sins or
small failings ? for such as these, the Apostle
himself, in the words immediately preceding,
seems to command, or at least encourages us
to pray, where he says, he that knoweth that
his brother committeth a sin, which is not unto
death, let him ask, and life shall be given him.
I John V. 16. Now some object that we pray
for all who die in the communion of the Catholic
Church ; this is very true, we do so, and the
reason is, because we do not certainly know
the particular state in which each one dies ;
however, we are sensible that our prayers are
available for those only that are in a middle
state.
t See the Translations of Monsieur Du Pin. Cent. 7. p. 3.
174.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
THE LORD'S PRAYER EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is the Lord's prayer?
A. It is a prayer made by Christ our Lord,
to be said by all Christians ; and delivered as
a model, according to which all our petitions
are to be drawn up ; Matt. vi. 9, etc. ; Luke xi. 2.
Q. What are the general contents of this
prayer ?
A. It mentions the good we petition for, and
the evil we desire to be freed from.
Q. Which are the goods we desire, and the
evils we petition to be freed from ?
A. The goods we desire are three, viz. : The
glory of God ; the salvation of our souls, and the
obeying divine will. The evils- are these four ;
want of necessaries, that we may be capable of
honoring God, and laboring for our salvation ;
secondly, to be freed from sin ; thirdly; to avoid
temptations ; and, fourthly, to be protected in
"pain, and temporal calamities.
Q. Which is the preface to these seven peti-
tions ?
A. Our Father who art in heaven.
Q. Why is this prayer addressed to God as a
Father, and in what sense is he a Father?
A. Father is the most endearing title, and
rather used than King, Lord, or an}' other that
is of a forbidding import ; for as fathers have
naturally a love and tenderness for their chil-
dren, so it gives the petitioner great hopes of
succeeding, when he is ordered to approach the
Almighty, in quality of a father. Now, God is
our father on several accounts, viz. : By crea-
tion, in giving us our being ; by preservation,
in preserving our being ; by a providential care,
in furnishing us with all things necessary and
convenient for life, and often distinguishing
favors of fortune, parts, etc. Again, by furnish-
ing us with means to be happ}^ hereafter, viz. :
Faith, grace, and being his adopted children,
of an eternal inheritance ; as also by the incar-
nation, by redeeming us from the slavery of sin,
and the devil.
Q. Why do you say our father, rather than
my father?
A. To signify that we are all brethren of
the same father, and therefore ought to love
one another ; and respectively not only to pray
for ourselves, but all mankind, viz. : Friends,
and enemies, and for the conversion of sinners,
infidels, heretics, etc. So it is a common prayer.
Q. Why is the prayer addressed to God in
heaven ?
A. Not that God is only in heaven, for he is
every where ; but because heaven is the place
where he resides, with the greatest show of
majesty, and by his omnipotency, is capable of
affording assistance to all petitioners.
Q. Which is the first petition ?
A. Hallowed be thy name.
Q. Is not God's name always holy, and how
do we petition that it may be made holy ?
A. We do not petition, that it may be holy
in itself, it being always intrinsically so, neither
can we add nor detract, from the intrinsical
holiness of his name. What we therefore are
to petition for is, that his name may be honored,
and treated with due respect, and not abused ;
with respect, by faith, hope, and charity ; believ-
ing what he has revealed, and practising the
holy things he has ordained, and not abuse his
holy name, by oaths, perjury, blasphemy, ob-
scene and profane language ; Rom. ii. 23, 24.
Q. Which is the second petition ?
A. Thy kingdom come.
Q. Which are God's kingdoms ?
A. All the temporal kingdoms of this world ;
the kingdom of his Church. The kingdom of
grace, whereby he reigns spiritually in man's
soul, and the kingdom of glory in a future
state.
Q. In what sense do we petition that each
of these kingdoms may come ?
A. We do not petition that temporal king-
doms may come, because they are come, and
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
175
God actually governs all kingdoms ; neither do
we petition that the kingdom of the Church
may come, it being already established ; yet we
may petition for its greater extension, by add-
ing to it all those parts of the earth which are
separated from it by infidelity or heresy. What
we chiefly pray for, is, that the kingdom of grace
may be established in our souls, by believing
and practising what he has ordered, and that
by so doing, we may at last reign with him in
his kingdom of glory, in a future state.
Q. Which is the third petition?
A. Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.
Q. What is it to do the will of God ?
A. It is to comply with all his commands,
both as to what we are to believe, and what to
practice, and that not only what himself im-
mediately commands, but what is commanded
by his representatives, viz. : Civil and ecclesias-
tical powers, and in a word, all subordinate
powers, as parents, masters, etc,
Q. Can we perform the will of God as the
saints and angels do in heaven ?
A. No, not as to the equality, because they
never deviate from God's will : but we are to
endeavor at it, by a general desire if corrupted
nature would suffer us, and strive for it, with
fervor and zeal.
Q. What else do we petition for?
A. That God would be pleased to discover
to us his will in difficult matters, which occur
in human life, viz. : In regard of a state of life,
and in suffering all sorts of calamities.
Q. Which is the fourth petition?
A. Give us this day our daily bread.
Q. What is meant by bread ?
A. Not only strictly what is so called, but
all things that are necessary for life in general,
or our particular state of life, as far as it is
God's pleasure, but not superfluities as to
worldly conveniences, much less are we to pray
for riches, honors, and any other thing, that is
apt to turn us from God's service ; St. Matt,
iv. 4 ; St. John vi. 35. Again, by bread is
also understood, the spiritual bread whereby
the soul is nourished ; among which we may
reckon God's grace, pious books, but most
especially the blessed eucharist. Hence, in the
place of daily, St. Matthew, vi. 11. has super-
substantial, that is, uncommon and supernatural
bread.
Q. Which is the fifth petition?
A. And forgive us our trespasses, as we for-
give them that trespass against us.
Q. What do we beg by this petition ?
A. To have our sins forgiven, which, being
an injury and debt owing to God, and we being
unable to pay it ourselves, we may and do
petition that he will pardon us.
Q. Does God immediately pardon us, upon
this petition ?
A. No, unless we comply with the conditions,
viz. : A sincere sorrow for having offended him,
and a firm resolution to offend no more : as
also forgiveness of others who have offended us,
because we are obliged to love our neighbor,
which requires of us to lay aside all thoughts
of revenge; St. Matt, xviii. 21; St. Mark vi.
25 et 26.
Q. It this petition to be made by all man-
kind?
A. Yes ; all are daily offenders, either mortally
or venially : none ever have been excepted, but
our blessed Saviour and his virgin mother.
Q. Which is the sixth petition ?
A. And lead us not into temptation.
Q. Does God tempt us to sin, and what is
it you call temptation ?
A. Temptation is provoking men to sin : in
which sense, God tempts no man ; such temp-
tations are ascribed to the world, the flesh, and
the devil ; St. James x. 13 ; St. Matt. iv. 3 ;
Rom. vii. 23; St James i. 14. Yet God
permits us to fall into several temptations or
trials from those quarters, in order to try our
fidelity, and gain a greater reward by resisting
them. What we pray for therefore, is the
divine assistance and grace, that we may come
off" victorious, upon such occasions, and that he
will not desert us : but most especially, we
pray for the gift of perseverance.
176
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
Q. Which is the seventh petition?
A. But deliver us from evil.
Q. Which are the evils we petition to be
freed from ?
A. In the fifth petition, we begged to be
freed from the evils of sin, by having them
forgiven, in this we beg to be freed from the
devil and all his stratagems ; from evil company ;
from all temporal evils that ma}' happen to our
body, soul, or fortunes ; inasmuch as they may
be an impediment to laboring in God's service ;
but this is to be understood conditionally, and
with resignation to the divine will. What we
absolutely pray for, on this occasion is, that
we may bear with patience all temporal calami-
ties, and that they may not oppress us so as
to make us deviate from our duty to God.
Q. Can we pray to be freed from the mis-
eries of human life ?
A. We are not to pray for our death, where-
in we are to submit entirely to God's holy
will, but, in St. Paul's sense, we may desire
to be dissolved ; Phil. i. 23.
Q. What means the word. Amen ?
A. It is a Hebrew word of confirmation or
assent, signifying so be it, or let it be done;
consequently, it confirms, with a repetition and
general wish, all the seven petitions, and is the
usual close of all prayers whatever, being as
it were an abridgment.
THE HAIL MARY EXPOUNDED.
Q. What is this prayer, and by whom was
it drawn up, and for what end ?
A. It is called the angelical salutation, and
expresses the excellencies of the blessed Virgin
Mary. It was composed of three parts. The
first are the words of the angel Gabriel salut-
ing her. The second, the words of St. Eliza-
beth when visited by her. The third, the
words of the Church, desiring her intercession ;
which is the chief motive for which it was ap-
pointed.
Q. Which part was composed by the angel
Gabriel ?
A. Hail Mary, full of grace, our Lord is
with thee, blessed art thou among women; St.
Luke i. 28.
Q. What means the word hail ?
A. It is a word, in the original tongue, sig-
nifying joy and peace, upon account of good
tidings : and, upon the present occasion, it im-
ported not only a congratulation of comfort and
joy to the Virgin Mary, that she was so much
in favor with the Almighty, as to be made
choice of, to bring forth the Saviour of the
world ; but a general joy to all mankind, for
the news of their approaching redemption.
Q. What signifies the word Mary ?
A. It was the proper name of the blessed
Virgin, and signifies the excellency of her per-
son and employment, if we attend to the origi-
nal sense of the word, which signifies a lady
and a sea star. By the first, it is imported,
that she was to be the lady, and queen of all
mankind, by bringing forth the king and ruler
of the world. Secondly, that she was the star,
to guide us through the dangerous seas of this
life, by the example of her virtues, and inter-
cession.
Q. Why is she said to be full of grace ?
A. By grace are understood all supernatural
gifts, which made her acceptable to God, and
preferable to all other creatures; and this is
expressed by fulness ;* and this was requisite,
that her womb might be a suitable receptacle
for the author of grace ; but most especially,
the fulness of grace consists in the particular-
ity of graces, viz.: She was not only sancti-
fied in her mother's womb, as some few others
had been, but was exempt from the guilt of
original sin, and, as a consequence of that, from
concupiscence of the flesh, and never was guilty
*See St. Epiph. torn. ii. p. 292.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
177
of the least sin ; * for it was not proper that
the flesh, from which the pure body of Christ
was to be formed, should ever be corrupted or
defiled by any sin, either original or actual,
mortal or venial. Besides, she possessed all di-
vine gifts in the most eminent degree, viz.: Faith,
hope, charity, humility, obedience, and chas-
tity, with all the moral virtues, etc.
Q. What signifies, our Lord is with thee?
A. It imports, that God was not only with
her in a general manner, by all the aforesaid
gifts, but that the second person, at that very
moment the angel spoke, was to be united to
her, by forming a perfect human body of her
flesh ; and at the same time, a human soul was
infused into it, and both united to the second
person of the most blessed trinity.
Q. What means, blessed art thou among
women, and what is it to be blessed ?
A. To be blessed, in general, is to be in the
favor of Almighty God, and the more a person
is in God's favor the more blessed he is, and
the more favors God shows a person, the
greater is his blessing. Hence the Virgin
Mary is, upon account of the favor shown her,
blessed above all other women, f An abridg-
ment of these favors, are her purity from all
sin ; she being a mother and a virgin, and
what is more, she being the mother of the
world's redeemer, and mother of God.
Q. In what other sense is she to be called
blessed ?
A. Because all nations shall honor her, and
call her blessed, as St. Luke declares, C. i. 48.
All generations shall honor her, by invoking her
as a common mother, and having great power
with Almighty God.
* St. Aug. L. de Nat. et Grat C. xxxvi. n. 4*. 'Cone. Trid. Sess. v.
Deer, de Pec. Orig.
t See St. Jer. Cont. Jovin, ect. h, 13. C. 44. in Ezech,
Q. Which part was composed by St. Eliza-
beth?
A. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Q. What is the meaning of these words ?
A. The fruit of her womb was Jesus, the
redeemer of the world, who was not only blessed
in himself, but a blessed fruit, that spread itself
every where, and to every person who received a
benefit from him. Jesus is added by the Church.
Q. Which part of this prayer was composed
by the Church ?
A. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us,
sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.*
Q. Explain the meaning of every word ?
A. The Church calls her holy, because the
angel declared she was full of grace : the Church
calls her Mary, that name being confirmed to
her by the same angel : she calls her mother of
God, from these words of the angel. Thou shalt
conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus; Luke i. 31. As also because
she is the true mother of Jesus Christ, who is
both God and man, as the council of Ephesus
has defined against Nestorius. Lastly, pray for
us sinners, desiring her intercession ; now, that
is, every moment, because every moment we are
in danger ; and at the hour of our death, because
then we are most incapable of helping ourselves,
and then the devil is most industrious to tempt
us, either by despair, or deferring our conversion.
Q. Why are we particularly exhorted to beg
the Virgin Mary's intercession ?
A. For several reasons. First, her great power
with Almighty God. Secondly, her flaming love,
charity, and willingness to assist all who call
upon her with their prayers. And lastly, because
she is the common spiritual mother of all man-
kind.
* Con. Ephes. Anno 431.
178
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
CEREMONIES IN GENERAL EXPOUNDED.
Q. What are ceremonies, and how many kinds
are there ?
A. Ceremonies are outward actions, made use
of for decency, honor, and instruction : and there
are chiefly two sorts, civil and religious.
Q. Why are they necessary ?
A. Because man being composed of body and
soul, which mutually concur in all performances,
both civil and religious. It is both requisite and
necessary that these be attended with certain
visible ceremonies, to distinguish what we are
doing, and render the performance of the duty
more significant.
Q. I easily conceive the necessity of ceremonies
in civil matters, which cannot be managed, unless
civil power be conferred, executed, and obeyed,
with proper ceremonies. But what occasion is
there for ceremonies in religious matters ?
A. For the same reasons that they are neces-
sary in civil matters; and particularly that God
may be served with decency, with more honor,
and the people instructed in their duty.
Q. How with decency ?
A. By churches, or places set apart for divine
service, decently adorned, a thing not refused to
men of distinction : for princes, nobility, gentry,
etc., take care of commodious and decent places
of abode.
Q. How for God's greater honor ?
A. The ceremonies are to be answerable to the
dignity of the person, both as to show, riches,
grandeur, etc.
Q. How for the people's instruction ?
A. The ceremonies are to represent the mys-
teries of faith, to explain them to the eye, for
the benefit of the illiterate and ignorant, and
capable of exciting them to piety.
Q. Do not ceremonies destroy the substance
of inward devotion ? Are they not sometimes
superfluous, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes
superstitious ?
A. They are so far from destroying the sub-
stance, that they preserve it, as leaves do the
fruit, from the inclemency of the season, and
for that reason are not superfluous ; and as to
the superfluity of their number, they are all
tending towards piety, and on that score very
profitable. If any religious ceremonies appear
ridiculous, it is owing to ignorance or scoffing ;
and as to superstition, there can be none, where
no other effect is ascribed to them than what
God or nature has ordained.
Q. Who was the first author and contriver
of religious ceremonies ?
A. God himself, in the law of nature, the
law of Moses, and the law of grace.
Q. What religious ceremonies were there in
the law of nature ?
A. We read of few, besides sacrificing of
beasts, to acknowledge God's supreme power,
which was attended with ceremonies of altars,
etc. Gen. xv. And we may justly suppose,
that prayer was attended with the ceremonies
of time, place, and kneeling, lifting up hands,
etc. Again, circumcision was a ceremony of the
law of nature.
Q. What ceremonies were appointed by the
law of Moses ?
A. An infinite number, in general regarding
the consecrating of their kings, priests, and
sacrifices, their temple, etc. Ex. xxix. et xl.
which were ordained to declare God's majesty,
and prefigure the law of grace, as the sanctum
sanctorum, the manna, the paschal lamb, the
shew-bread, the curing of the leprosy, the
priest's vestments, images of cherubims, their
cleansing from legal impurities, their feasts, etc.
Q. Did Christ, in the new law, make use of
or appoint religious ceremonies ?
A. Yes, several, he was circumcised, pre-
sented in the temple, baptized by St. John, per-
formed the ceremonies of the pasch, ordered
fasting, and water baptism, used clay and spit-
tle in curing the blind, lifted up his eyes, and
prostrated himself, washing feet, etc. ; St. Mark
vii. St. Luke viii.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
179
Q. Did the Apostles use and ordain religious
ceremonies ?
A. Yes, several, viz. : Imposition of hands,
the anointing with oil, abstaining from certain
meats, the matter and form of the sacraments,
which were delivered by Christ, during the
forty days, between his resurrection and ascen-
sion, etc.
Q. Has the Church authority to ordain cere-
monies, and does she not ordain those that are
superfluous ?
A. Yes, she has power to add or diminish,
as being the proper judge, which are signifi-
cant and instructive. And though we are to
adore God in spirit, this does not exclude cere-
monies, but only directs us to attend to their
spiritual meaning.
PARTICULAR CEREMONIES EXPOUNDED.
Q. When and wherein are particular cere-
monies made use of?
A. In adorning Churches, in celebrating
mass, in administering the sacraments, in
priest's vestments, in celebrating Sundays, in
celebrating feasts of our Lord, in celebrating
feasts of the blessed Virgin, in celebrating
feasts of the saints, in the devotion practised
in holy week, in observing fasts, in consecrat-
ing and blessing several of God's creatures, in
postures of the body, etc.
Q. Which are the chief ornaments in
churches ?
A. Pictures, images, crucifixes, altars, taber-
nacles, and candles.
Q. For what use are pictures, images, and
crucifixes ?
A. They are the books of the ignorant, and
illiterate, tci put them in mind of several mys-
teries and passages belonging to religion.
Q. Are Ihey to be honored, worshiped, and
prayed to?
A. We neither pray to pictures nor images,
nor do w« believe any perfection inherent in
them ; wr; only pay them a relative honor, on
account of the things and persons they repre-
sent ; a?, we honor the king, and a friend, by
keeping their pictures, and placing them
decently : yet with this difference, that pictures
in churches are regarded with a religious
honor, because it is paid on account of some
religious qualification ; but the honor we pay
to the pictures of others, is called civil honor,
because it is paid on account of some natural
or acquired perfection.
Q. Was it always customary, to place pictures
and images in churches ?
A. In the law of Moses such things were
ordered, as the brazen serpent in the desert,
and the figures of seraphims, cherubims, and
other images to adorn the tabernacle. As to
the law of grace, for the first three ages, the
Christians not being permitted to have public
churches, there was no occasion for that cere-
mony, nor was it much practised upon the
conversion of the world, in Constantine's days,
that the heathens might not be scandalized,
who placed idols in their temples ; but by
degrees, as idolatry was abolished, it was cus-
tomary to set up the images of Christ crucified,
and the pictures of saints and martyrs.
Q. What are altars, and why are they placed
in churches ?
A. They are tables on which the Christian
sacrifice is laid and offered, viz. : The body
and blood of Jesus Christ ; and they represent
Mount Calvary, where the bloody sacrifice was
offered.
Q. What is the tabernacle ?
A. As the Jews formerly were ordered tO'
make a rich chest, to preserve their manna ; so
Christians have one, to keep, or preserve the
blessed sacrament in, for the benefit of the sick,.
and whereof the Jewish tabernacle was a figure.
i8o
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
Q. Why are candles exposed and lighted ?
A. To signify the light of the gospel, and
the light that will shine eternally in heaven,
not to give light to the eye.
Q. What is the mass ? why performed in
Latin? was it always performed with so much
ceremony, and what is the meaning of the chief
of those ceremonies ?
A. It is the Christian sacrifice, which our
Saviour offered at the last supper, viz. : His
body and blood, accompanied with certain
prayers, which are usually said in Latin, that
being a public language, the best known of
anji- other, in order to preserve unity among
different nations. It is true, our blessed Saviour
did not use all these ceremonies, at the first
institution, which by degrees were appointed
by the Apostles, and their successors, for greater
solemnity. The chief whereof are, the lessons
taken from the gospels, and other parts of the
holy Scriptures, with prayers suitable to the
purpose. As to the meaning of every particular
ceremony, they are instructive, and represent
some passages of our blessed Saviour's life,
and passion, viz. : The priest standing at the
steps of the altar, and bowing, represents Christ
humbling himself in the garden, to prepare for
bis passion. His turning to the people, and
saying, dominus vobiscum ; that is, the Lord
be with you, puts them in mind to be attentive
and to join with him in that oblation. Standing
up at the gospel, imports their willingness to
profess and defend it. The priest washes his
fingers, to represent the cleanliness from sin.
He kisses the altar, to signify Christian peace,
and willingness to embrace the cross.
Q. Why is there always a crucifix upon the
altar at the time of mass?
A. That as the mass is said in remembrance
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 the frequent use
of the sign of the cross in the mass, and the
administration of the sacraments ?
A. First, to signify that all good must come
through Christ crucified. Secondly, it is to
show that we are no more ashamed of the cross
of Christ, than the Apostle St. Paul was, who
gloried in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ;
Gal. vi.- 14. Thirdly, it is to make an open
profession of our believing in the crucified God,
although it was a scandal to the Jews, and folly
to the Gentiles, so to do, i Cor. i. 23, and to
help us to bear always in mind his death and
passion. Fourthly, it is to chase away the
devil, and dissipate his illusions, St. Matt,
xxiv. 30, for the cross is the standard of
Christ,* and the evil spirit trembles at the
very sight of the instrument of our redemption.
See St. Matt. etc.
Q. At what times is it fit to make the sign
of the cross ?
A. At our rising, and going to bed; when
we begin prayer, and every other work ; and
particularly in time of temptation, or any dan-
ger whatsoever.f
Q. Was the sign of the cross made use of
in the primitive Church ?
A. Yes ; as it plainly appears from St. Augus-
tine : if the sign of the cross, says this great
Father of the Church,J be not applied to the
foreheads of the faithful ; to the water with
which they are baptized ; to the chrism with
which they are anointed; to the sacrifice with
which they are fed, none of all these things
are duly performed. The reason is, because
all the sacraments have their whole force and
efficacy from the cross ; that is, from the death
and passion of Jesus Christ, on the cross.
Q. Did the primitive Christians only make
use of the sign of the cross in the administra-
tion of the sacrament ?
A. Not only then, but upon all other occa-
sions ; at every step, says the ancient and learned
Tertullian, at every coming in and going out,
when we put on our clothes, when we wash,
when we sit down to table, when we light
candles, or whatsoever conversation employs us,
»St. Cyril. Catec. St. Aug. Serm. 19.
t St. Jer. de Cust. Virg. ad Eust. St. Amb. Senn. 43.
t St. Aug. Tract 119. in Jon.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
i8i
we imprint on our foreheads the sign of the
cross.'''
Q. Can you prove, that by means of the
sign of the cross, we receive any favor from
God?
A. There are innumerable instances of it, in
ancient Church history, and in the writings
of the holy fathers, which would be too tedious
to relate. I shall only recount that the cross
was given by our Lord Jesus Christ to Con-
stantine, 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 : By this
thou shalt conquer: and by it he forthwith
conquered his enemies. Which account the
ancient Eusebius, in his book of the life of
Constantine, declares he had from that em-
peror's own mouth.
Q. What ceremonies are made use of in the
sacraments, and what is their signification ?
And first, as to baptism ?
A. There are a godfather and a godmother,
who are to instruct the child, if the parents
neglect it. The priest breathes upon the infant,
to signify spiritual life. This ceremony St.
Augustine f makes mention of, and says it was
universally practised in his time ; and it is
used in contempt of the devil, and to drive him
away, by the Holy Ghost, who is called the
spirit or breath of God. The infant is signed
with the cross, to signify that he is listed, a
soldier of Christ. Salt is put into the child's
mouth, which is an emblem of prudence, and
imports grace, to preserve the soul incorrupt.
Spittle is applied to the child's ears and nos-
trils, in imitation of Christ, who used that
ceremony in curing the deaf and dumb. The
anointing signifies the healing quality of grace ;
the head denotes the dignity of Christianity ;
the anointing the shoulders, that he may be
strengthened to carry his cross ; the breast that
his heart may concur in all duties ; the white
* Tertul. Iv. de Coron. Milit. Cap. 3.
t L. de Nupt C. 18 et 19.
linen cloth, or chrysom, put on the child, sig-
nifies innocence of behavior ; and the wax taper,
or candle, signifies the light of faith he is
endowed with, and the flame of charity.
Q. Which are the ceremonies, and the signifi-
cation of them, in the sacrament of confirma-
tion?
A. Anointing with oil denotes that it gives
strength to profess the faith, and makes a per-
son a perfect Christian. A stroke on the
cheek signifies the persecution he is to undergo
and endure. The imposition of hands signifies
the overflowing of the Holy Ghost.
Q. What are the ceremonies in the sacra-
ment of the Holy Eucharist, and what their
signification ?
A. Bread and wine, and water mixed with
the wine. The first signifies the nourishment
of the soul : the second signifies the water
flowing from Christ's side.
Q. What is meant by the ceremony of ex-
posing the blessed sacrament to the view of
the people, in a remonstrance set up upon the
tabernacle or 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 practised by the Church,
in order to give adoration, praise, and blessing
to God, for his infinite goodness and love,
testified to us in the institution of this blessed
sacrament ; and to receive, at the same time,
the benediction or blessing of our Lord here
present.
Q. What is the meaning of the blessed
sacrament being sometimes carried in solemn
procession through the streets ?
A. It is 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 ofiered to this
divine sacrament, and to obtain his blessing
for all those places through which he passes.
I82
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
Q. Which are the ceremonies of the sacra-
ment of penance, and the signification of them ?
A. The penitent kneels, to show his humil-
ity ; the priest stretches his hands upon the
penitent, to signify the grace he receives : the
penitent confesses his sins, as a token of con-
trition.
Q. Which are the ceremonies of extreme
unction, and what are their meaning?
A. The anointing with oil signifies the
strength of grace and recovery of health, if
God sees it convenient. The seat of the five
senses are anointed, as being the instruments
whereby God is offended.
Q. Which are the ceremonies of holy orders,
and their meaning ?
A. Anointing is made use of, to signify the
grace that is given, as also power; hands are
imposed to represent the giving of the Holy
Ghost; and certain instruments are delivered,
to distinguish the nature of the function.
Q. Which are the ceremonies of marriage,
and their signification ?
A. The ring signifies perpetual love, and it
is put on the fourth finger, because it is said
a vein goes from thence to the heart : money
is given to signif}' the communication of
worldly goods, and that there be no strife about
them : the married couple join hands, to sig-
nify the indissolvability of marriage : they are
blessed by the priest, in order to receive the
grace belonging to the state, viz. : For the
education of their children, and to bear with
diflBculties, etc.
Q. What is the meaning of the churching
of women after child-bearing? Is it that you
look upon them to be under any uncleanness,
as formerly in the old law, or to be any ways
out of the Church by child-bearing ?
A. No ; by no means : but what we call
the churching of women is 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. Which are the principal Sundays distin-
guished from the rest ?
A. The four Sundays before Christ's nativity,
called Advent Sundays, from the word Adven-
tus, that is, coming; to put us in mind, that
the birth of Christ approaches, and that we
are to prepare for a worthy celebration of it ;
as also to prepare for the second coming of
our Saviour, at the day of judgment. Other
remarkable Sundays, are Septuagesima, Sexa-
gesima, Quinquagesima, and Quadragesima ;
which are designed to prepare ourselves for
penance, and a worthy celebration of the pas-
sion and resurrection of our Lord. As also
Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, and Low Sun-
day. Passion Sunday is so called from the
passion of Christ, then drawing nigh, and was
ordained to prepare us for a worthy celebrating,
of it; Palm Sunday is a day in memory and
honor of the triumphant entry of our Saviour
Christ into Jerusalem ; and is so called from
the palm branches which the Hebrew children
strewed under his feet, crying Hosanna to the
son of David, Matt. xxi. And hence it is,
that yearly on this day, the Church blesses
Palms, and makes a solemn procession, in
honor of the same triumph, all the people
bearing palm branches in their hands. The
palms are likewise an emblem of the victory
which Christ gained over sin and death, by
dying on the cross. Low Sunday, is the oc-
tave of Easter day, and is called by the
Church, Dominica in Albis, from the Catechu-
mens, or Neophytes, who were on that day
solemnly divested in the Church of their
white garments.
Q. What are the principal feasts of our Lord ?
A. Christmas Day, so called from the mass
that is said in honor of our blessed Saviour's
nativit}'', or birth at Bethlehem : And on this
day we ought to give God thanks, for sending his
Son into the world for our redemption, we ought
also to endeavor to study, and learn those great
lessons of poverty of spirit, of humility, and of
self-denial, which our blessed Redeemer teaches
us from the crib of Bethlehem.
Q. What is the reason that on Christmas
day mass is said at midnight?
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
183
A. Because Christ was born at midnight.
Q. Why are three masses said by every priest
upon Christmas day ?
A. This ancient observance may be under-
stood to denote three different births of Christ ;
his eternal birth from his father, his temporal
birth from his mother, and his spiritual birth
in the hearts of good Christians.
Q. Are there any other feasts of our Lord?
A. Yes ; the circumcision, or New Year's day.
It is a feast in memory of Christ being circum-
cised the eighth day after his birth, as the law
of Moses ordained ; Gen. xvii. 12, and that he
then first shed his blood for the redemption of
the world ; and on this day, we ought to study
how we may imitate him by a spiritual circum-
cision in our hearts. It is called New Year's
day, because on the first of January the Romans
reckoned the beginning of the new year, and
Christ offered his blood as a gift. Hence, the
custom among Christians of New Year's gifts.
The Epiphany, or twelfth-day : Epiphanj' is
a Greek word, signifying manifestation, because
our Lord then began to manifest himself to
the Gentiles, viz : To the three kings in the
east, who came and adored our blessed Saviour
in the manger. It is called twelfth-day, because,
it is celebrated the twelfth day after the
nativity exclusively. Gold, myrrh, and frank-
incense were offered, to signify, he was a king,
man, and God. The devotion of this day, is to
give God thanks for our vocation to the true
faith, and like the wise men, to make our offer-
ings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh ; that is
of charity, prayer, and mortification, to our new-
bom Saviour. On this day the Church also
celebrates the memory of the baptism of Christ,
and of his first miracle of changing water into
wine, in Cana of Galilee.
The Resurrection, or Easter day, is a solem-
nity in memory and honor of our Saviour
Christ's rising from death on the third day.
It is called Easter, from the east, so Christ is
called Oriens, or rising. For, as the prophet
Zechariah says, his name shall be called Oriens,
chapter iv. 12. Because as the material sun
daily arises from the east, so, he, the Son of
justice, at this day rose from the dead. The
devotion of this time, is to rejoice in Christ's
victory over death and hell ; and to labor to
imitate his resurrection, by rising from the death
of sin to the life of grace.
Ascension day : A feast kept the fortieth day
after Christ's resurrection, in memory of his
visible ascending into heaven, in sight of his
Apostles and disciples ; and therefore, it is a
festival of joy, as well as by reason of the tri-
umphs of our Saviour on this day, and the
exhaltation of our human nature, by him now
exalted above the angels ; as likewise, because
our Saviour has taken possession of that king-
dom in our name, and is preparing a place for
us. It is also a part of the devotion of this
day, to labor to disengage our hearts from this
earth, and earthly things, to remember that we
are but strangers and pilgrims here, and to
aspire after our heavenly country, where Christ,
our treasure, is gone before us, in order to
draw our hearts thither after him.
Whitsuntide, or Pentecost: A feast in com-
memoration and honor of the Holy Ghost,
descending visibly Upon the heads of the
Apostles, in the shape of tongues, as it were
of fire. It is called Whit Sunday, because at
this time the Catechumens, who were then
baptized, were all in white. It was anciently
called Wied Sunday, that is, holy Sunday ; for
Wied, or Wihed, signifies holy in the old Saxon
language. It is called Pentecost, from the-
Greek word, signifying fiftieth, it being the(
fiftieth day after the resurrection, and the tenth'
after the ascension. The proper devotion of this'
time, is to invite the Holy Ghost into our souls «
by fervent prayer, and to give ourselves up to»J
his divine influences.
Trinity Sunday : a feast celebrated on the
Sunday after Whit Sunday, being the octave
of Whit Sunday, to signify that the work of
man's redemption was completed by the whole
Trinity, and the truth of the mystery of the
Trinity, being acknowledged solemnly on this
day, against the several heresies that denied it.
1 84
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
Corpus Christ! day : a feast instituted by the
Church in honor and memory of the body and
blood of Christ, really present in the most
holy sacrament of the Eucharist ; during the
octave of which feast, the blessed sacrament is
exposed, to be adored by the faithful, in all the
principal Churches in Catholic countries, and
'great processions are made in honor of it, and
itherefore, it is called Corpus Christi day, or the
day of the body of Christ; a standing proof
of the real presence.
The transfiguration of our Lord, a feast in
remembrance of Christ appearing in glory, upon
Mount Tabor, to St. Peter, James, and John;
and it is so called from the Latin word, trans-
figuro, which signifies to transfigure or change
shape.
Q. Which are the feasts in honor of the
blessed Virgin Mary?
A. These ; the conception, nativity, presenta-
tion, annunciation, visitation, assumption, and
purification.
Q. What is the conception ?
A. A feast in honor of the blessed Virgfin
Mary being conceived in her mother's womb.
Q. What is to be observed in her concep-
tion?
A. First, she was conceived in her mother's
old age, St. Anne being her mother, and St.
Joachim her father; secondly, she was sanctified
in her mother's womb ; thirdly, she was
exempted from the guilt of original sin, as is
piously believed, though not an article of faith.
Q. What is the nativity of the blessed
Virgin ?
A. A feast in honor of her happy birth, of
I whom the Author of all life and salvation, was
I to be bom to the world; he was both God and
man, and by consequence, she was the mother
of God, and in this she is to be honored above
all other women.
Q. What is the presentation of the blessed
Virgin?
A. A feast in memory of her being offered
by her parents, at three years of age, in the
temple.
Q. What is the annunciation, or Lady-day?
A. It is a feast in memory of the most happy
message, or embassy, brought to her by the
angel Gabriel, signifying that she was to be
the mother of God, and of a Redeemer. It is
also the day of our Lord's incarnation, when
he was first conceived by the Holy Ghost in
the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary; and it
is called the annunciation, from the message
brought from heaven this day to the blessed
Virgin ; St. Luke i.
Q. What is the visitation?
A. It is in memory of her visit made to St.
Elizabeth, mother of St. John Baptist, after she
had conceived the Son of God, at whose pres-
ence, St. John Baptist leaped into his mother's
womb.
Q. What is the assumption ?
A. A feast in memory of her being assumed,
or taken up into heaven, both body and soul,
immediately after her decease.
Q. Is it an article of faith, that she was
bodily carried into heaven ?
A. No; it is only piously and generally
believed to have happened, by a particular
privilege, as by a particular privilege her soul
was free from original sin, so it was congruous
that her body should not be subject to corrup-
tion, for the Church piously believes, agree-
ably to the doctrine of the ancient fathers and
the council of Trent, that she was never guilty
of any actual sin.*
Q. What means the feast of the purification,
or Candlemas day ?
A. It is the feast in memory both of the pre-
sentation of our blessed Saviour, and of the
purification of the blessed Virgin, made in the
temple of Jerusalem, the fortieth day after her
happy child-birth : for it was a ceremony prac-
ticed in the old law, and renewed in the new ;
whereby a mother was obliged to appear in the
temple, and return thanks, forty days after the
birth of her child. It is called purification, from
the Latin word purifico, to purify ; not that the
♦St. Aug. Epist. s8; St. Amb. in Psal. cxviii; St. Beined.
Epist 174 ; Cone. Trid. Sess. vi; Can. xxiii.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
X85
blessed Virgin was tainted with any sin, or any-
thing by her child-birth, which needed purifying,
as being the mother of purity itself, but in com-
pliance with the ceremony, which was according
to the law of Moses, as we read in Leviticus xii.
6, and as our Saviour Christ submitted to circum-
cision. Upon this day, the Church makes a
solemn procession, with lighted candles, which
are blessed by the priest before mass, and carried
in the hands of the faithful, as an emblem of
Christ, who is the light of the world ; and from
this ceremony it is called Candlemas day.
Q. Has the Church power to appoint feasts of
saints ? And what end has she in appointing
them ?
A. As the Church has power of making laws
that are binding, so particularly this power re-
gards religious duties, as in honoring saints.
Q. How are the saints honored at their feasts ?
A. Not by dedicating churches and altars to
them, but to God only, in acknowledgment of
the benefit he has done to us by his saints, and
on that account, we give them such a name as
St. Peter's church, St. Paul's, etc., and, by re-
counting their birth, sufferings, and virtuous
practices, we are induced to imitate their several
kinds of martyrdoms and suflPerings for the faith
of Christ, as also for their several ways of virtue
and perfection, by following their example in
our behavior, and begging their prayers, so that
we honor God in his saints.
Q. Which are the principal feasts of saints
v/hose memory we celebrate ?
A. The twelve Apostles, which are common
to all titular saints, or the patrons of nations,
by whom we were converted : the founders of
religious orders, who have benefited Christianity,
by establishing and practicing the evangelical
councils. And again, the saints of particular
provinces, dioceses, and parishes, where holy
persons have lived, and their memory been re-
corded by their miracles and good example, and
have churches erected to their memory.
Q. Are there no other feasts ? and what is
the meaning of their ceremonies ?
A. Yes ; Michaelmas, All Saints, All Souls,
the Invention of the Cross, the Exaltation of
the Cross, Shrovetide, Ash- Wednesday, etc.
Q. What means the feast of Michaelmas ?
A. It is a solemnity, or solemn mass, in
honor of St. Michael, prince of the heavenly
host, and likewise of all the nine orders of holy
angels ; as well as to commemorate the famous
battle fought by him and them, in heaven,
against the dragon and his apostate angels,
which we read of in the Apocalypse or Reve-
lation, xii. 7 ; as also to recommend the whole
Church of God to their patronage and prayers.
And it is called the dedication of St. Michael,
by reason of a Church in Rome, dedicated, on
that day, to St. Michael by Pope Boniface.
Q. What is the meaning of All Saints ?
A. It is a feast instituted by the Church in
honor of all the saints, and that we might
obtain the prayers of them all, since the whole
year is too short to aflPord us a particular feast
for every saint.
Q. What is the meaning of All Souls day?
A. It is a day instituted by the Church in
memory of all the faithful departed, that, by
the prayers and suffrages of the living, they
may be freed out of their purging pains, and
come to everlasting rest.
Q. What is the meaning of the Invention
and Exaltation of the Holy Cross, commonly
called Holy-rood days ?
A. The Invention of the Cross is a feast
kept in memory of the miraculous finding of
the holy cross, by St. Helen, mother of Con-
stantine the Great, after it had been hid and
buried by the Infidels 180 years. The Exalta-
tion is kept in memory of setting up the said
holy cross, by Heraclius the emperor, who
having regained it a second time, from the Per-
sians, after it had been lost fourteen years,
carried it on his own shoulders to Mount Cal-
vary, and exalted it with great solemnity. It
is called Holy-rood day, or Holy-cross, from
the great sanctity which it received, by touch-
ing and bearing the oblation of the most pre-
cious body of Christ ; the word Rood, in the
old Saxon tongue signifying cross. The chief
i86
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
devotion of this day, as well as that of the
Exaltation of the Cross, is to celebrate the
victorious death and passion of our blessed
Redeemer.
Q. What is the meaning of Shrovetide?
A. It signifies a time of confessing ; for our
ancestors were used to say, we will go to shrift,
instead of, we will go to confession ; and in the
more primitive times, all good Christians did
then (as many do now) confess their sins to a
priest, the better to prepare themselves for a
holy observation of Lent, and worthy receiving
the blessed sacrament at Easter.
Q. What signifies Ash-Wednesday ?
A. It is a day of public penance and hu-
miliation in the whole Church of God, and it
is so called from the ceremony of blessing ashes
on that day, wherewith the priest signeth the
people with a cross on their foreheads, to put
them in mind of what they are made, repeating,
at the same time, those words of Genesis iii.
lo : Remember, man, that thou art dust, and
to dust thou shalt return : so to prepare them
to do penance for their sins, as the Ninivites
did, in fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
Q. Which are the ceremonies of Holy Week ?
A. Tenebrae, Maundy Thursday, Good Fri-
day, Holy Saturday, washing feet, fifteen can-
dles, the triangular candle, the paschal candle,
etc.
Q. What is meant by the three days of
Tenebras, viz.: Wednesday, Thursday, and Fri-
day, before Easter ?
A. It is a mournful office, in which the
Church laments the death of Christ. It is
called the Tenebrae office, from the Latin word
which signifies darkness, because at the latter
end of the office, all the lights are extin-
guished, in memory of the darkness which
overspread the face of the earth whilst Christ
was hanging on the cross : and, at the end of
the office, a noise is made to represent the
earthquake, and splitting of the rocks, which
happened at the time of our Lord's death.
Q. What means Maundy Thursday?
A. It is a feast in memory of our Lord's
last supper, when he instituted the blessed
Eucharist or Sacrament of his precious body
and blood ; and began his passion by his bitter
agony and bloody sweat. From the Gloria in
Excelsis of the mass of this day, until the
mass of Easter eve, all the bells are silent
throughout the Catholic Church because we are
now mourning for the passion of Christ. Our
altars are also uncovered, and stripped of all their
ornaments, because Christ, our true altar, hung
naked upon the cross. It is called Maundy
Thursday from the first word of the antiphon-
Mandatum novum do vobis, etc. ; St. John xiii.
34. I give you a new command (or mandate)
that you love one another as I have loved
you ; which is sung on that day in the
Churches, when the prelates beg^n the cere-
mony of washing their people's feet.
Q. What is the meaning of the prelates and
superiors washing the feet of their subjects
upon this day ?
A. It is a ceremony in imitation of Christ's
washing the feet of his Apostles ; St. Jo. xiii.
Q. What is the meaning of visiting the sep-
ulchres upon Maundy Thursday ?
A. The place where the blessed sacrament
is reserved in the Church, in order for the
office of Good Friday (on which day there is
no consecration), is by the people called the
sepulchre, as representing by anticipation the
burial of Christ : and where there are many
Churches, the faithful make their stations to
visit our Lord in these sepulchres, and medi-
tate on the different stages of his passion.
Q. What means Good Friday ?
A. It is a day we keep in memory of the
great work of our redemption, which was con-
summated by Christ in dying on the cross. The
devotion proper for this day, and for the whole
time in which we celebrate Christ's passion, is
to meditate upon the sufferings of our Re-
deemer, and to study the excellent lessons of
virtue which he teaches us by his example in
the whole course of his passion ; especially his
humility, meekness, patience, obedience, resig-
nation, etc. And above all, to learn his hatred
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
187
of sin, and his love for us ; that we may also
learn to hate sin, which nailed him upon a
cross ; and love him who has loved us even
unto death.
Q. What is the meaning of creeping to, and
kissing the cross on Good Friday ?
A. It is to express, by this reverence out-
wardly exhibited to the cross, our veneration
and love for him who upon this day died for
us on the cross.
Q. What is the meaning of Holy Satur-
day?
A. It is Easter eve, and therefore in the
mass of this day, the Church resumes her
Alleluias of joy, which she had intermitted
during the penitential time of Septuagesima
and Lent. This day and Whitsun eve were
anciently the days deputed by the Church for
solemn baptism, and therefore on this day the
fonts are solemnly blessed
Q. What signifies the Paschal candle, which
is blessed on this day?
A. It signifies the new light of spiritual joy
and comfort, which Christ brought us at his
resurrection ; and it is lighted from the begin-
ning of the gospel, until after the communion,
betwixt Easter and Ascension Day, to signify
the apparitions which Christ made to his dis-
ciples during that space.
Q. What is the meaning of the triangular
candle ?
A. It signifies that the light of the gospel,
which Christ brought to us, is the work of
the blessed trinity, to whom we are to render
thanks.
Q. What do you mean by exorcisms ?
A. The rites and prayers instituted by the
Church for the casting out devils, or restraining
them from hurting persons, or disturbing
places, or abusing any of God's creatures to
their harm or prejudice.
Q. Has Christ g^ven to his Church any such
power over the devils ?
A. Yes, he has, as we read in St. Matthew,
St. Mark and St. Euke ; Matt. x. i ; Mark iii.
15 ; Luke ix i ; where this power was given to
the Apostles, and to the seventy-two disciples,
and the other believers. See St. Mark xvi.
17 ; St. Luke x. 19. And that this power was
not to die with the Apostles, nor to cease
after the apostolic age, we learn from the
perpetual practice of the Church, and the ex-
perience of all ages.
Q. Which are the things we bless, and why ?
A. We bless Churches, and other places set
aside for divine service ; altars, chalices, vest-
ments, incense, bells, etc. : by way of devoting
them to God's service. We bless candles,
Agnus Deis, salt, water, etc. : by way of beg-
ging of God that such as religiously use them
may obtain his blessing. We bless our meat
and other things which God has given us for
our use, that we may use them with modera-
tion, in a manner agreeable to God's institution,
that they may be serviceable to us, and that
the devil may have no power to abuse them
to our prejudice.
Q. But is it not superstition to attribute any
virtue to such inanimate things as blessed
candles, Agnus Deis, holy water, etc.
A. It is no superstition to look for a good
effect from the prayers of the Church of God ; *
and it is in virtue of these prayers that we hope
for benefit from these things, when used with
faith ; and daily experience shows that our hopes
are not vain.
Q. What warrant have you in Scripture for
blessing inanimate things ?
A. From the first epistle of St. Paul to
Timothy, C. iv. 4, 5 ; where he says, that every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be re-
jected which is taken with thanksgiving : for it
is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. , ■
Q. What do you mean by Agnus Deis ?
A. Wax stamped with the image of the Lamb
of God, blessed by the Pope with solemn prayers,
and anointed with holy chrism.
Q. What do you mean by holy water ?
A. Salt and water sanctified by the word of
God and prayer.
Q. Can you show me from holy Writ, that
*See St. Epiph. Hser. 30. Theod. L. 5. Hist. Eccles. C. 21.
1 88
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION EXPOUNDED.
water, salt and the like, may be lawfully used to
obtain any favor from God ?
A. I can ; for God himself ordered holy and
purified waters to be made in the old law ;
Num. V. 17. et C xix. 9. Again, we read in the
second and fifth chapters of the fourth book of
Kings, that the prophet Elisha miraculously
healed the noisome waters of Jericho, by casting
salt in the spring.
Q. Why is salt blessed and mingled with the
water?
A. To signify unto us, that, as salt preserves
meat from corruption, and gives it a relish, so
does the grace which we receive in virtue of
the prayers of the Church, when we use this
water with faith, defend us from unclean spirits,
and give us a taste for heavenly things.
Q. What is the use of holy water ?
A. The Church blesses it with solemn prayer,
to beg God's protection and blessing upon those
who use it ; and particularly, that they may be
defended from the power of darkness. More-
over, it may well serve to put us in mind of
the covenant we made against the devil, when,
by the water of baptism, we were mercifully
cleansed from sin ; and of renewing our prom-
ise, or of making an act of contrition.
Q. Are the prayers of the Church so pre-
vailing with God, as to obtain us his assistance
against the wiles and power of the enemy of
our salvation, when we use holy water with
faith ?
A. Nothing prevails more upon God than
prayer in general ; and the Apostle St. James,
V. 16, exhorting us to pray for one another,
assures us, the assiduous prayer of a just man
avails much. Now, if the prayers of particu-
lars be so powerful, it is manifest that the con-
stant prayers of the whole Church, from the
rising of the sun to the going down thereof,
are always graciously heard ; and that God
grants to all those who co-operate with his
grace, the fruit of the perseverant prayer of
the Church, to which Christ said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, if you ask the Father any
thing in my name, he will give it you. St. Jo.
xvi. 23.
Q. Is the use of holy water ancient in the
Church of God ?
A. Yes, it is ; being mentioned in the apos-
tolical constitution, and in the writings of the
holy fathers and ancient church historians.
See Constit. Apost. 1. 8. c. xxxv ; St. Cypr. 1.
I. Epist. 12 ; St. Hier. ib ; St. Basil, L. de Spir.
Sancto, c. xxvii ; St. Greg, the Great, 1. 9. Epist.
71 ; St. Epiph. Haer. xxx; Thod. 1. 5, etc.
Q. How ought we to use holy water, or what
advantage ought we to draw from it ?
A. First, we ought to look upon it, and upon
other sacred rites and ceremonies of the
Catholic Church, with due reverence and
esteem ; to be persuaded that they are all
instituted to help on the great affair of our
salvation, either by putting us in miud of the
unspeakable favors which we have already
received from God, or by raising our affections
to heaven, humbly begging the divine assist-
ance, whereof we stand in need every moment
of our lives; and ought never to imitate those
mistaken people who rail against all things
which they understand not ; St. Jude x.
Secondly, we ought to use holy water with
attention and devotion, always endeavoring to
make an act of contrition, or some other act of
religion ; saying, 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. 8.
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CHAPTER I.
SECTION 1.— INFALLIBILITY PROMISED BY CHRIST TO HIS CHURCH.
S the Divine Wisdom
has permitted
many sacred
truths in holy-
writ, to be
wrapped up in
dark figures,
or enigmatical
expressions,
both to excite
our industry in
searching, and
exercise our
faith in believ-
ing, when they
are explained to us by sufficient authority ; so
there are others so very clear and intelligible,
that their meaning is obvious, and lies open to
every sincere and unbiased reader. Of this
sort, are many historical and moral tracts, both
in the Old and New Testament ; and I dare
confidently say, that all the principal texts re-
lating to the Infallibility of the Church, are of
this nature.
The word of God teaches it in the plainest
and strongest terms. The promises of Christ
are not wrapped up in parables, or a prophetic
language, that requires deep searching to dive
into it, but they are delivered in words so easy
and intelligible, that any man, who makes it
not his study to deceive himself, may under-
stand them. The solemnity also of the circum-
stances, wherein Christ made those sacred en-
gagements to his Church, is so remarkable,
that they cannot but imprint an idea of some
extraordinary favor bestowed upon her.
His first promise of protecting his church
against all the powers of darkness, was ad-
dressed to St. Peter, in reward of that noble
profession of his Divinity, " which neither flesh,
nor blood, but the Father, which is in Heaven,
had revealed unto him." Matt. xvi. 17. The
other promises v/ere made at his last Supper,
in that Sermon, which is, as it were, his last
Will and Testament, every word whereof, seems
to be the overflowing of a heart, filled with
concern for his future Church. It was then
that Christ unbosomed himself to his Apostles,
as a friend, or father ; comforted them in their
affliction for his approaching departure, and as
a pledge of his unalterable love to his Church,
bequeathed to them, "the Spirit of Truth," to
be her guide and teacher to the world's end.
All which he ratified again a few moments
before his ascension into Heaven, when he gave
his Apostles their commission, " to teach and
baptize all nations," and encouraged them to
undertake it with a promise of his perpetual
assistance. Matt, xxviii. v. 20.
I appeal, then, to the Word of God, for the
(191)
192
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
truth and justice of the cause, which I have
undertaken. The word of God, shall be the
Judge between the Church of Rome, and the
reformed churches. It is by this rule, I desire
that this important cause may be decided. It
is true, indeed, if I were to write against Infi-
dels, there would be need of other proofs,
because the authority of Scripture would be
' questioned by them. But, since the cause de-
pending, is not between Christians and Infidels,
but between Christians and Christians, who all
believe the Scriptures to have been written by
Divine Inspiration, and to contain nothing but
undoubted truth, there can be no exception
made against the arms, I intend to make use
of, in defence of my cause. Neither can I be
accused of " running round in a circle," as is
the usual objection ; because the divine author-
ity of Scripture, is as 2. posiulatum^ which I take
for granted, and use it as an argument ad
hominem. And therefore, if I make it appear,
that the doctrine of Infallibility is the doctrine
of the Gospel, the doctrine of Jesus Christ,
who is truth itself: then I shall have reason
to hope, that all those, whom neither interest,
nor passion can hinder from sincerely desiring
to save their souls, will make it their endeavor
to seek the truth in that Church, where it is
infallibly taught.
First, then, let us consider our Saviour's
words to St. Peter, recorded in the i6th chapter
of St. Matthew, I give them the first place, as
being the clearest and strongest proof of an
Infallible Church. For they contain an abso-
lute and unconditional promise ; there being no
condition, either expressed, or hinted at in the
whole text. It is a promise delivered in such
clear and strong terms, that without straining
the text in a very notorious manner, it can
bear no other sense than that, in which the
Roman Catholic Church has always under-
stood it.
The occasion of this promise is also very
remarkable, as I have already hinted. St. Peter's
name till then was Simon Barjona. But God
having pre-ordained him to be the chief pillar
of his Church, enlightened him in a particular
manner, with a distinct faith of the Divinity
of Christ, whereof he made this solemn pro-
fession ; " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living
God." Matt. xvi. v. 16. Hereupon our Saviour
dignified him with a title, suitable both to the
firmness of his faith, and the eminent station
he was to hold, and gave him the name of
Cephas, or Peter; both which signify a rock.
And then, as a further mark of distinction, he
thus addresses to him the promise I speak of.
"Thou art Peter [that is, a Rock] and upon
this Rock I will build my Church, and the
gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."
Matt. xvi. V. 18.
It is not my business here, to examine what
prerogative this gave to St. Peter, in being alone
called the Rock, upon which the Church was
to be built. I shall only make my reflections
upon the promise itself, by which Christ had
engaged his word, " That the gates of Hell shall
not prevail against the Church," that is built
upon it : which, if it be not a proof of an In-
fallible Church, I own I am at a loss to find
words clear and strong enough to express it.
What other meaning can we give to the words
of Christ, that will bear any connection with
their obvious and natural signification ? That
they contain a promise, is plain. That the
promise, which they contain, is made to the
Church, is no less plain; and since all God's
promises have a relation to some favor, it remains
only to consider what this favor is.
First, then, Christ promises " to build his
Church upon a Rock." What does this mean ?
Is it probable that Christ, who foresaw every
thing that was to happen, would have told St.
Peter, That his Church should be built upon
a rock, if he had foreseen its future fall ? Had
he no design, that the Rock upon which his
Church was to be built, should be a firm and
lasting foundation to it? Or did he act by
chance, and without end, or design ? But Christ
himself has answered all these questions in the
following words: " I will liken him unto a wise
man, who built his house upon a Rock ; and
THE BLESSED EUCHARIST.
Christ Himself instituted the sacrament of the altar the night before His passion. The three first evangelists and St. Paul give the
history of the institution of the first Eucharist. Our Lord, they.tell us, took bread into His hands, and having given thanks, He took it
and gave it to His disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you ; this do as a commemoration.of me."
THE iiUEEN OF THE ROSARY.
How acceptable to God is this holy rosary— this beautiful garland of fragrant, heavenly flowers of prayer and meditation— and what
powerful effect it produces before the throne of His omnipotence and mercy !
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
193
the rain descended, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was
founded upon a Rock. Matt. vii. 24, 25. Whence
it is plain, that Christ, by promising, that his
Church should.be built upon a Rock, intended
to assure us, that its foundation should be so
strong, so deeply laid, that it should stand in
spite of all storms, oppositions, or any efforts
whatever to make it fall. And therefore, to
prevent the very possibility of all but wilful
mistakes, in the second part of the promise he
explains himself, and declares positively, " That
the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."
Which words contain two things. First, they
imply a general prediction of what should happen
to the Church, from the efforts and malice of
her enemies, who should oppose, or endeavor to
corrupt her holy doctrine. And secondly, a posi-
tive assurance, that all their strength and malice,
which our Saviour calls " the gates of Hell,"
shall never prevail against her.
The prediction has been fully verified. The
Jews, the professed enemies of Christ, were
the first champions of Satan, who declared
themselves openly, and made many furious
assaults upon his Church. These were soon
followed by several apostate Christians, as the
Ebionites, the Nicolaites, the Corinthians, and
many others, who conspired together to cor-
rupt the purity of her doctrine. But the ten
bloody persecutions raised by the Heathen
Emperors in the three first centuries, aimed
at nothing less than to extirpate the Chris-
tian Religion, and destroy the Church, root
and branch.
When these storms ceased, and the Church
was delivered from foreign enemies, her own
bowels again rose up against her, in so violent
a manner, as seemed to threaten her utter
ruin. Arius, and his followers supported by
the secular power of Christian Emperors, and
a great number of apostate Bishops, made a
furious war upon her for many years together.
All the means, that artifice, or malice could
suggest, were employed to undermine the very
foundations of Religion. The most zealous
13
Catholic Bishops, were either murdered, or
imprisoned, or sent into banishment ; so that
the wolves being let in amongst the flock,
every thing seemed to tend to the utter extir-
pation of the Catholic Faith. This was the
state of the Church in those turbulent times :
and her condition has in some measure been
the same from time to time, whenever the
Devil and his Ministers made any new attempt
upon the purity of her Faith ; as has happened
almost in every age from the very infancy of
the Church, to this time downwards.
So here we see the " Powers of Hell " have
always been armed against the Church, and
the prediction implied in the fore-mentioned
text has been fully verified. But we have
not as good security of the effects of Christ's
promises, as for the event of his predictions ?
Is he not equally infallible, when he promises
blessings, as when he foretells calamities and
disasters ? There can be no doubt of it. And,
therefore, though the Powers of Darkness will
never cease to make war upon the Church,
their efforts will always be as vain, as the
winds and rain against a house, that is built
upon a Rock. And as her Faith has stood
the shock, both against the united force of
Jews and Pagans, and the deceitful reasoning
of Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, Donatists,
Pelagians, and others ; so will it remain im-
movable and incorruptible to the world's end.
And this is so manifest a truth, that to deny
it, we must either interpret the Scriptures
backwards, or give our Saviour flatly the lie.
For, if words retain their usual signification,
we cannot charge the Church of Christ with
error, even against any one single article of
Faith, but we must draw this impious conse-;
quence from it, that he was either ignorant of
the event of his promise, or unfaithful to it ;
and that after having in so solemn a manner,
engaged his sacred word to St. Peter, that "the
gates of Hell shall not prevail against his
Church," he has nevertheless delivered her up
to the power of Satan, to be destroyed by
him.
194
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
This consequence will appear undeniable, if
we consider the two following truths, viz.: i,
That Faith is essential to the Constitution of
the Church; and 2, That Heresy destroys Faith.
For it plainly follows hence, that if the whole
Church falls into Heresy, she is without Faith,
and is no more the Church she was before,
than a man can continue to be a man without
a Soul. The Church of Christ, (as I shall
show hereafter) can only be that, which believes
wholly and entirely, the doctrine that was
taught by Christ, and delivered to her by the
Apostles. If, therefore, she ever renounced any
part of that doctrine, does it not follow that
she then turned Apostate ? That she ceased
from that moment to be the chaste Spouse of
Christ ? That " the gates of Hell prevailed
against her ? " And, that, by consequence, our
Saviour, in permitting that to happen, which
he promised should not happen, was unfaithful
to his word ?
Again ; Christ either foresaw, that " the gates
of Hell should not prevail against his Church,"
or he foresaw it not. If not, then he promised
he knew not what, which is blasphemy. But
if he did foresee it, then (since his foresight
was infallible in every thing) the event
must answer it infallibly ; and so it must be
infallibly true, that the gates of Hell never
have prevailed, nor ever will prevail against
his Church.
In a word, I take this to be a demonstration.
The gates of Hell (according to Christ's own
words) will never prevail against his Church ;
but, if she falls into any error against Faith,
the gates of Hell prevail against her; there-
fore, she cannot fall into any error against Faith.
Therefore, she is Infallible in all matters of
Faith.
If it be asked, how any Congregation, or
Society of men can be Infallible, since all men
(as the Psalmist says) are Liars, that is, sub-
ject to errors ? My answer is, that all men of
themselves are certainly subject to errors, even
in the most ordinary things ; but much more
in matters of Faith, which are above human
reason. And, therefore, if the infallibility of
the Church was to depend upon the judgment,
wit, or learning of men, it would have but a
very weak foundation, and would be like " the
House of the foolish Man built upon the Sand,
which was overthrown by the Winds and Flood
that beat upon it." Matt. vii. 26. But our
Saviour was not this foolish Man : for he did
not tell St. Peter, that his Church should be
built upon the Sand, but that it should be built
upon a Rock, and that therefore, " the gates of
Hell should not prevail against it ; " and we
cannot doubt, but he has made good his words,
and has found means to do it, notwithstanding
the natural weakness and fallibilit}' of the
members, whereof she was to be composed.
SECTION 1!.— THE MEANS PROMISED BY CHRIST, TO RENDER HIS CHURCH INFALLIBLE.
The means then, by which this great work
was to be brought about, have no less their
warrant and security from the word of God,
and promises of Christ, than the thing itself
If this be clearl}' made out, the evidence will
be so full, as to leave no room for any further
dispute, unless it be for dispute's sake. We
grant then, that no human industry, wit, or
learning, are sufficient to secure the church
from falling into error, and that nothing can
render her Infallible, but the assistance and
direction of an Infallible Guide. But Christ
has taken care to provide such a guide for his
church : a guide of infinite wisdom, and has
promised, that this Guide shall "lead her into
all truth," and remain with her " to the end
of the world." All which stands recorded in
' the Gospels in such plain and express terms,
that men must wilfully shut their eyes not to
see it.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
195
Our Saviour's words spoken to his Apostles,
and recorded by St. John, in his 14th chapter,
are these, " I will ask my Father, and he will
send you another Comforter to abide with you
for ever." John xiv. v. 16. And soon after,
he informs them, who this Comforter is to be,
and to what end his Father will send him.
" The Comforter (says Christ) which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you." John xiv. v. 26. This
promise is again repeated in the i6th chapter,
which contains a continuation of the same
discourse. " I have yet many things to say
unto you. But you cannot bear them now.
However, when the Spirit of Truth is come, he
will lead you into all Truth." John xvi.
V. 12.
Here we have the means, by which the Church
of Christ is to be for ever protected against
the gates of Hell, clearly and distinctly set
down, viz. : " The perpetual assistance of the
Divine Spirit, teaching the Church, and lead-
ing her into all truth;" nay, and these means
secured to her by him, " to whom all power
is given in Heaven and Earth." And who
can suspect, that Christ should even abandon
his Church, and suffer her to become a prey
to her enemies, after the sacred engagement
of so many promises to the contrary ?
But, if it be objected, that all the foremen-
tioned texts contain no more, than a promise
of the visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon
the Apostles, which was accomplished ten days
after Christ's ascension into Heaven : I answer,
that this cannot be. For though that be a
part of the promise, it is not the whole. And,
therefore, as that part was fully performed, we
cannot doubt, but the other part will be so
too.
That it is not the whole promise, is mani-
fest : because one part of it says expressly,
that the Comforter, or Holy Ghost, shall abide
with them " for ever; " which, though addressed
•to the Apostles, as the whole sermon at our
Saviour's last supper was, yet, like many other
truths contained in it, could not regard their
persons alone ; for they were not to live " for
ever ; " but comprehended likewise all those,
who were to succeed them in after ages. And
that this was the intent of our Saviour's
promise appears clearly from his last words
before his ascension, recorded by St. Matthew :
"All power (says Christ) is given unto me in
Heaven and Earth. Go ye, therefore, and
teach all ' nations, baptizing them, etc. And
lo ! I am with you all days even to the con-
summation of the world." Matt, xxviii. v. 19,
20. For in what manner was Christ to be
always with them, since he was then upon
the point of withdrawing from them his visi-
ble presence ? It was, doubtless, by the invisi-
ble grace, assistance, and protection of the
Divine Spirit. And since this is promised to
continue '' even to the consummation of the
world," it explains the former words " for ever,"
and renders it manifest, that the forementioned
texts are not to be limited to the Apostles,
but that the Church throughout all ages has
a title to the promise which they contain.
Which truth is yet further confirmed from
the end, or motive, for which the promise was
made. Now this was no other, than that the
Church should be guided into all truth. And
has not the Church stood in need of being
guided into all truth in every age, as much
as in the time of the Apostles ? Surely rather
more. Because, the further we are removed
from the source of any truth, which depends
upon authority more than natural reason, the
harder it is to trace our way back to it.
And, therefore, if the Divine Assistance was
necessary to guide the Church into all truth,
even in those happy times, when the Apostles
themselves, who had been taught in the
school of Christ, instructed her either by word
of mouth, or by their writings, it cannot be
denied, but this assistance has been at least
fully as needful to her in after ages, when the
words and writings of the Apostles by the dis-
tance of time could not avoid sharing the fate
%
196
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
of other authors, of being liable to misinter-
pretations, false glosses, changes, and corrup-
tions ; unless the same infallible guide, which
preserved the Church from error in her infancy,
had continued ever since to conduct her in
the paths of truth.
What rea.son, then, is there to think, that
Christ .should withdraw his divine spirit from
Ihe Church at a time, when his assistance was
most needful to her ? Or that the engagement
of an unlimited, and unconditional promise
should ever become void, whilst the sole end
and motive of it was not only fully subsisting,
but rather more pressingly calling upon it,
than at first? Or must we accuse Christ of
inconstancy, and say he was less tender of his
Church in process of time, than when he
espoused her first, and sealed the contract with
his precious blood ? If so, then St. Paul made
choice of a very improper pattern to set before
the Ephesian husbands, in exhorting them " to
love their wives as Christ loved his Church."
Eph. V. v. 25. But St. Paul remembered these
words of Hosea : "I will espouse thee to me for-
ever — I will espouse thee to me in faith." Hos. ii.
v. 19, 20, and therefore, hazarded nothing in
recommending the love of Christ to his Church,
as a perfect pattern of a constant and unchange-
able love; of which it would come very short,
if he should ever leave her to be corrupted
and adulterated with false doctrine, as Protes-
tents say he has.
But St. Paul foresaw no such change. He
doubted not, but Christ would be for ever faith-
ful to his spouse ; and as the most effectual
pledge of his love, " present her to himself
without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."
Eph. v. V. 27. He therefore, calls the Church,
"the pillar and ground of truth." i Tim. iii.
V. 15, which would be flatly false, if she were
capable of teaching any thing contrary to God's
revealed word. For the same reason, Christ
himself has declared, that "he, who will not
hear the Church, shall be reputed as a heathen
and a publican." Matt, xviii. v. 17. And can
any man deserve these infamous characters, for
not hearing a Church, that shall teach false
doctrine? Finally, for the same reason, Christ
has pronounced, that, "he who believes shall
be saved, and he who believes not shall be
damned." Mark xvi. v. 16. But what is it
we are bound to believe under pain of eternal
damnation ? It is, doubtless, the doctrine of
that Church, which Christ established on earth:
for there can be no other true one. And is it
possible, that Christ should oblige mankind
under pain of eternal damnation, to believe a
Church, which he foresaw, would seduce them
in process of time ? Shall a man be damned
for not believing a seducer ?
This implies a contradiction to another part
of Christ's own doctrine, who expressly com-
mands us " to beware of false prophets." Matt.
vii. V. 15. For if we are bound to beware of
them, and yet the Church herself may turn
false prophet, and mislead us ; then we are both
commanded to beware of her, and at the same
time, threatened with eternal damnation, if we
refuse to believe her. What strange stuff is
this ! What incoherence do men run them-
selves into, when they once abandon the
truth ? But Christ in commanding us to
beware of false prophets, has set a mark of
infamy upon all broachers of new doctrine to
distinguish them from his Church, which there-
fore, he commands us to believe under pain of
eternal damnation ; and by laying this com-
mand upon us, he showed plainly, that it was
his intention to establish an infallible Church
upon earth : a Church, that should be a safe
and unerring guide, to those who followed her
doctrine : finally, a Church, that should be
taught and guided by the spirit of truth, even
unto the end of the world.
Thus we see the many sacred testimonies,
upon which the belief of an infallible Church is
founded. I know very well, that no text of
holy scripture is so clear, but persons of much
wit and little sincerity, may find interpretations
to perplex it, or set it in a false light. The
true sense of it, may be eluded by precarious
distinctions, or perverted by false glosses : as
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
197
scarce any man can express himself so clearly,
but wit and malice may put a misconstruction
upon his words. But the question is not,
whether the texts I have produced, may with
some pain and study, be interpreted otherwise,
than the Roman Catholic Church has always
understood them, but whether in their natural,
obvious, and literal sense, they do not lead an
unbiased reader to the idea and belief of an
infallible Church ? This certainly is a point,
which deserves to be taken seriously into con-
sideration, by all sincere lovers of truth.
Now, then, let us suppose that the contra-
dictories of the texts, I have quoted, were
found in holy writ. As for instance, suppose
our Saviour had said to St. Peter, " I will not
build my Church upon a rock, and the gates
of hell shall prevail against it." Suppo.se he
had said to his Apostles, " I will not be with
you unto the end of the world. I will not
send the Holy Ghost to abide with you for
ever. He shall not teach you all things, nor
lead you into all truth." Finally, suppose St.
Paul had positively declared, " that the Church
is not the pillar and ground of truth ; would
not all men of sound sense have concluded
from such texts, that there is no such thing,
as an infallible Church on earth ? They cer-
tainly would ; because the obvious and natural
meaning of them is plain, that it is impos-
sible not to draw that consequence from them.
Now, if one part of two contradictories cannot
but force a man of an unbiased judgment to
conclude against the doctrine of infallibility,
the other part is surely of equal force, to
oblige him to conclude in favor of it. So that
it. is nothing to the purpose, whether Protest-
ants can, or cannot strain the texts I have pro-
duced, from their obvious and natural mean-
ing ; but it is very much to the purpose to
consider, whether they can bring any evidence
from scripture, to disprove the infallibility of
the Church, of equal strength and clearness
to the texts, I have brought to prove it. For
if they cannot, as I am very sure they cannot ;
then it is manifest, that the word of God, and
by consequence, the truth is on the Roman
Catholic side, and against them.
I shall conclude this chapter with some quota-
tions from the ancient fathers, to convince the
reader, that the belief of an infallible Church
was the primitive faith ; and that those great
lights of the Christian Church understood the
texts, I have quoted, as Roman Catholics now do.
SECTION III.— THE FAITH OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH RELATING TO THE MATTER UNDER DEBATE.
In the beginning of the sixteenth century,
that is, just before the pretended reformation,
the article of infallibility was believed and
professed by the whole Catholic Church. And
the Church of England, in her homily, con-
cerning the peril of idolatry, third part, (of
which we shall have more hereafter) tells us,
that Popery had then been the religion of
whole Christendom for eight hundred years and
more. This brings the doctrine of infallibility,
which is an essential part of Popery, as high
as the seventh century. Here, then, Protest-
ants are obliged to show, in which of the pre-
ceding ages, this doctrine was first broached.
and regarded by the Church as a novelty.
For if they cannot, they must confess it to be
derived from the Apostles themselves.
But I shall save them this fruitless labor, by
showing, that it was taught in the primitive
ages. The Church of England has received the
four first general councils, act. i. Eliz. c. i. The
first of which was held, an. 325, and the last of
them, an. 451. Now let us see whether these
councils, which were the representatives of the
Catholic Church, were not held to be infallible
in their decisions of faith, St. Greg. Epist. 24,
speaks thus of all four together: "I do profess
to reverence the first four councils, as I reverence
198
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
the four first books of the gospel." And
I presume St. Gregory believed the gospels to
be infallible in their doctrine. St. Leo, Epist.
73, says, " the council of Calcedon, was assem-
bled by the Holy Ghost." St. Cyril, Epis. and
Anast. writes thus of the council of Ephesus:
" How can it be doubted that Christ did preside
in that holy and great council ?" And St.
Athanasius, ad Episc. Afric. says, "the word of
God by the Nicene council does remain for-
ever." This, certainly, is the language of per-
sons believing the Church to be infallible in
the decisions of her representatives, the general
councils. Let us now see what the Fathers
have written of the Church in general.
St. Ireneus, who lived in the age immediately
after Christ and his Apostles, has the following
words. Lib. iii. c. 4 : " Truth is not to be sought
from others, which you have easily from the
Church; with whom the Apostles have fully
deposited all truth; that whosoever desires it,
may have from it the living waters."
This cannot be said of a Church, that is cap-
able of leading her children into errors. For a
Church, that can err, has not all truth deposited
with her.
St. Cyprian, who lived in the third century,
writes thus: " Christ in the gospel, when his
disciples went away from him, as he was speak-
ing, turning to the twelve, said : What ! will you
also leave me? Peter answered him : ' Lord, to
whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of
eternal life; and we believe, and have known,
that thou art the Son of the living God.' Peter
speaks there, upon whom the Church was built,
declaring in the name of the Church, that
though great numbers of such stubborn and self-
willed people, as will not submit, become desert-
ers, yet the Church will never fall from Christ :
Which Church is the people united to the priest ;
and the flock following their Pastor." Cypr.
epist. 69, ad Florentium Papinimum.
Again. Lib. de Unit. Eccl. "The Church
having received the light of Christ, spreads its
rays through the whole world. Yet it is one
light, which is thus diffused. Neither is the unity
of the body at all injured by it. By her fertility,
her branches reach over the earth, and every
place is watered by her copious streams ; yet
there is but one head, and one fountain, one
mother rich in her numerous issue. By her
fruitfulness we are bom ; we are nourished with
her milk, and we are enlivened by her spirit.
The spouse of Christ cannot be an adulteress;
she is uncorrupt and pure. She knows but one
house, and with a chaste modesty secures the
sanctity of one chamber. She it is, that pre-
serves us for heaven; and gives to her children,
whom she has brought forth, the inheritance of
a crown.
If St. Cyprian's testimony be of any weight,
we have here the doctrine of infallibility clearly
taught by him. He tells us, in the first passage,
" that the Church will never fall from Christ."
Therefore, she will always maintain the doc-
trine, which Christ has taught. And, in the
second, " that the spouse of Christ cannot
become an adulteress, but that she is uncorrupt
and pure. Therefore, she cannot be corrupted
with false doctrine; which is just what Roman
Catholics now believe and teach.
St. Cyril of Alexandria. Dial de Trin.
Lib. 4, writes thus : " He gave the name of
rock to nothing else, but the unshaken and
constant faith of the disciple: on which, the
Church of Christ is so settled and established,
as never to fall, but to bear up against the
gates of hell, and so to remain for ever."
The first part of this passage, is very much
magnified by Protestant writers, against St.
Peter's supremacy. But this being foreign to
my subject, I shall only throw a rub in their
way, and so proceed. As St. Cyril says, "that
Christ gave the name of the rock to nothing
else but the unshaken and constant faith of
St. Peter;" so St. Jerom, Epist. 61, ad Pam-
machium, says as expressly, " that it was not
St. Peter's body, but his faith, that walked
upon the waters, T. 2. p. 254. Now both
these fathers waived the literal meaning of the
scriptural text, and delivered only the alle-
gorical, or causal sense of it ; as being fittest
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
199
for their purpose, when they wrote. And in that
sense their expressions were not improper ; be-
cause St. Peter's faith was the only meritori-
ous cause both of his walking upon the waters,
and of Christ's promise, that his Church should
be built upon him. And, therefore, as it would
be impertinent to conclude from St. Jerom's words,
that St. Peter's body, or person, did not walk
upon the waters ; so it does not very much rec-
ommend the good sense of Protestant writers to
conclude from St. Cyril's words, that he intended
to exclude St. Peter's person from being the
rock, upon which Christ promised to build his
Church.
But I am less surprised at their not distin-
guishing between the allegorical and literal
interpretations of scriptures, than I am at their
overlooking the plain meaning of the second
part of St. Cyril's words; viz.: " On which the
Church of Christ is so settled, and established,
as never to fall, but to bear up against the gates
of hell, and to remain for ever." In which the
doctrine of infallibility, is as strongly and clearly
asserted, as words can express it. I shall only
add some passages from St. Austin, and so end
this chapter.
Aug. Enarr, in Psalm 57, Num. 6. Tom. 4. p.
545, [they have gone astra}' from the womb, and
spoken lies. Psalm 57]. " Were they, there-
fore, gone astray from the womb ; because they
have spoken lies ? Or rather have they not
spoken lies, because they were gone astray from
the womb? For it is in the Church's womb
that truth remains. Whosoever is separated
from this womb of the Church, must of necessity
speak lies. I say, he must necessarily speak
lies, who refuses to be conceived, or being con-
ceived has been thrown out by the mother."
Serm. de Symb. ad Catech. Tom. 6. p. 554.
"After a confession of the Trinity, follows the
Holy Church. Here is shown God and his
temple — which is the Holy Church, the one
Church, the true Church, the Catholic Church,
which fights against all heresies. Fight she
may, but she cannot be foiled. All heresies
have gone out from her like useless branches
lopped off from the vine, but she remains in her
root, in her vine, in her charity. ' The gates of
hell shall not prevail against her.' "
Enarr. 2, in Psalm loi, upon these words, " In
the assembling the people together in one, and
kings to serve our Lord, he answered him in the
way of his strength." St. Austin writes thus :
" But that Church which was spread through all
nations, now has no longer a being. It is quite
lost. This is the cry of those who are not in
the Church. O impudent clamor ! She is not,
because you do not belong to her 1 See, that you
have not for that reason lost your being. For
she will have a being, though you have none.
This abominable and accursed calumny, full of
presumption and deceit, void of all truth, wisdom
and reason, idle, temerarious, rash and perni-
ciuous, the spirit of God foresaw, when even, as it
were, against them he proclaimed her unity, ' in
assembling the people in one, and kings to
serve our Lord ' — because there were to arise
some, that would say against her, it is true,
she was, but now, she is perished. Show me,
says she, the fewness of my days. I do not
inquire for my days in the next world. Those
are without end. It is not those days of
eternity I ask for. I desire to know my con-
tinuance in this world. These days I desire
you to show me. And he has showed me,
neither was the answer insignificant. And
who was it but he that is the very way ? And
what was the information he gave me ? ' Be-
hold I am with you all days even to the con-
summation of the world '."
And now I leave it to the judgment of any
impartial reader, whether the fathers I have
quoted, were Protestants, or Catholics in their
principle, relating to the matter under debate.
They wrote against the heretics of their times,
who all pretended the Church had failed. But
they, on the contrary, not only maintained that
she had not failed, (nay, St. Austin calls it an
impudent clamor, an abominable and accursed
calumny, to say she had failed) but also, that
she cannot fail : that it is in the Church's
womb, that truth remains : that being the
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SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
spouse of Christ, she cannot become an adulteress,
but will always be pure aud uncorrupt in her
doctrine ; that she will always remain in her
root, and continue to do so to the end of the
world: all which St. Austin proves from these
two texts : " The gates of hell shall never
prevail against it." Matt. xvi. v. i8. " And lo!
I am with you all days, even to the consum-
mation of the world." Matt, xxviii. v. 20.
Whence it follows, that all the passages I have
quoted, contain as full a condemnation of the
present reformed churches, as those of the here-
tics, against whom they were written ; and that
not only the word of God, but the whole cur-
rent of antiquity is flatly against them : unless
they will call unto their assistance old excom-
municated heretics, and shelter themselves
under the protection of the professed enemies
of the Church of Christ. For let them look
back as far as they please into primitive ages,
it is amongst heretics alone, the}' will find any
friends. These were the men that pleaded for
a fallible Church ; and their argfuments, which
the fathers answered, are now revived by Prot-
estant writers, and turned against the Church
of Rome, as we shall see hereafter.
It was for this reason, that Luther no sooner
began his pretended reformation, but he declared
open war against the fathers, whom he treated
with as much arrogance and contempt, as if
they had been a parcel of blockheads, or mere
school boys. Good manners, indeed, ought to
have made him forbear the latter, but the bad-
ness of his cause obliged him to the former.
For he could not but be against antiquity, when
antiquity was against him : and let the reformed
Churches put the fairest glosses they please
upon their separation from the Church of Rome,
the antiquity of her doctrine maintained in the
primitive ages, by persons, who certainly deliv-
ered the public faith of the Church in their
times, is an argument of such weight against
them as will ever carry the cause in the judg-
ment of any thinking man, in whom the love
of the world has not stifled all sense of a
future state.
The reason, therefore, why I have produced
the testimony of these ancient fathers main-
taining the Church's infallibility against the
heretics of their times, is to convince the reader,
that the primitive Church understood the prom-
ises of Christ, which are the sole foundation
of her infallibility, in the same sense as Roman
Catholics now do. And that by consequence,
the sense we give them, is not a precarious
interpretation of private judgment; but has the
whole authority of the Church of Christ to sup-
port it : since those eminent saints and doctors
cannot be regarded otherwise, than as authentic
witnesses of what her public faith was in those
primitive ages.
CHAPTER II.
SECTION I.— THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN FUNDAMENTALS AND NON-FUNDAMENTALS, EXAMINED.
[HEY, who in spite of the most solemn
promises of Christ, are resolved that
there shall be no such thing as an
infallible Church, have found out two
ways to elude the force of them: i. By tacking
a condition to all God's promises, which shall
be fully answered hereafter. And, 2. By dis-
tinguishing between fundamentals and non-
fundamentals; whereby they pretend to bafile
all the evidence Catholics produce to prove their
point.
They say, then, that the promises of Christ,
as also the words of St. Paul, regard only such
articles of faith, as are fundamental, that is,
absolutely necessary to salvation, according to
their system. And so they allow the Church to-
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
20I
be infallible in them, but not in other points,
which are not fundamental.
With this distinction, they think themselves
safely intrenched ; though it be in reality iising
the word of God as familiarly as a logical ques-
tion, in which any precarious distinction is laid
hold of, that but serves to stave off an argument,
and keep the defendant from being non-plus'd.
But surely some more respect is due to the
sacred word of God ; and before a person under-
takes to limit the sense of it, he ought to con-
sider very seriously, whether such a limitation
be grounded in the word of God itself; whether
he offers no violence to the text, by wresting
it from the sense intended by the Holy
Ghost, to one prompted by the prejudice of a
party -cause ; whether his interpretation be in
any manner agreeable to the sense of the ancient
Church. Finally, whether by so limiting the
word of God, he will not draw on himself this
curse pronounced by St. John, in his Revelations,
" If any one shall add unto these things,
God will add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book. And if any man shall
take away from the words of this book, God
will take away his part out of the book of
life." Rev. xxii. v. i8. If the enemies of infalli-
bility had taken these precautions to heart, we
should never have been acquainted with their
distinction between fundamentals and non-funda-
mentals. For it is not only without any ground
in the sacred text, but a mere forced interpreta-
tion upon it.
However, I presume it is to the first part of
this distinction we are principally indebted for
that charity which Protestants so much boast
of, in allowing salvation to be attainable, and by
consequence, all means necessary to it to be
found in the Church of Rome. Antonius de
Dominis, an apostate Archbishop of Spalatro,
is said to have first imported this contraband
merchandise into England, and it was greedily
taken up, and is used by many Protestant
writers. Dr. Potter tells us, p. 63, " That the
most necessary and fundamental truths, which
constitute a church, are on both sides unques-
tioned." Dr. Stillingfieet assures us likewise in
his " rational account of the grounds of the Prot-
estant religion," p. 54, that "the Church of Eng-
land makes no articles of faith, but such as have
the testimony and approbation of the whole
Christian world of all ages, and are acknowl-
edged to be such by Rome itself." And Mr.
Thorndike, in his Epilogue, p. 146, says: "I
must, and do freely profess, that I find no posi-
tion necessary to salvation prohibited, none de-
structive to salvation enjoined to be believed by
the Church of Rome."
This important concession (which will always
rise up in judgment against reformed churches)
extorted from our adversaries by the evidence
of truth, was but a few years ago confirmed
in the most solemn and authentic manner, by
the Protestant university of Helmstat, (April
28, anno 1707) upon occasion of the match
proposed between the princess of Wolfembuttel,
and the emperor Charles ; who insisted upon
this condition, that the princess, who was a
Protestant, should conform to the Church of
Rome. Whereupon, the duke her father, sent
the divines of Helmstat, to have their decision
of the following case, viz.: " Whether a Prot-
estant princess, who is to be married to a
Catholic prince, may with a safe conscience
embrace the Roman Catholic religion ? " And
their decision, which is contained in a large
printed sheet, begins thus :
"We answer, that the question propounded,
cannot be solved solidly, without deciding
first, whether, or no, the Catholics are in
fundamental errors, or such as are inconsistent
with salvatioii ? Or, which amounts to the
same, whether the constitution of the Romish
Church be such, as one may practice in it the
true worship of God, and attain to salvation ?
Our answer to this second query, on which
the first depends, is without hesitation in the
affirmative, for these three reasons."
Then they proceed to expound their reasons,
which are too long for me to insert. But the
following words are remarkable: "Neither
can it be deemed, that the Romish Church is
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SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
not a true Church, wherein the ministry of
God's word, and the use of sacraments sub-
sists. For, if she were no more, or had never
been a true Church, all her members would
be in a state of damnation, and irrevocably
lost ; which none amongst us would dare to
advance. Nay, Melancthon himself has main-
tained, that the Roman Church, did not cease
being the true Church," etc., and towards the
end, I find this paragraph : " Having demon-
strated, that the foundation of religion subsists
in the Roman Catholic Church, so that one
may be orthodox, and live and die well, and
obtain salvation in it, it is easy to decide the
question propounded." They, therefore gave
their judgment, that the princess of Wolfem-
buttel might safely change her religion, and
become a member of the Church of Rome, to
qualify herself for her marriage.
Here we have the judgment of a whole
Protestant university given on a very solemn
occasion, i. That the true worship of God is
practised in the Church of Rome. 2. That
she never ceased to be a true Church, for
which we quote Melancthon's authority. 3.
That her members may be orthodox, and live
and die well, and obtain salvation. Nay, that
none amongst them dare maintain, that the
members of the Church of Rome are in a state
of damnation. And all this they infer from
this avowed principle, viz.: " Because that
Church was never guilty of any fundamental
error."
The first part, therefore, of the distinction,
namely, " that the Church cannot err in fun-
damentals," is most certainly true. However,
I cannot let it pass, without drawing some
consequences from it, before I offer my reasons
against the second part, which denies her in-
fallibility in points, that are not fundamental.
The first consequence I draw from it is, that
the Protestants of Bngland, are guilty of the
blackest calumny and injustice in charging the
Church of Rome with idolatry. For who can
be so blind as not to see, that the charges of
idolatry is not only a flat contradiction to their
owning, that she never erred in fundamentals,
but wholly inconsistent with their so much mag-
nified charity in allowing salvation to be at-
tainable in that Church ? What ! can a Church
be orthodox, nay, infallible in fundamentals,
and yet fall into idolatry ? Can the divine spirit
be said to lead her into all fundamental truths,
and at the same time permit her to teach, " that
divine worship is to be paid to creatures ?" Or
is salvation consistent with the practice of it ?
These incoherences are so manifest, that if ca-
lumny be a deadly sin, and restitution of fame
an indispensable duty, truly, I cannot see how
the authors, or abettors of so black a calumny,
as is that of charging a whole Christian Church
with idolatry, can have any pretence to salva-
tion, without making that Church as effectual
a reparation of honor, as the divines of Helm-
stat have already done. Nay, the reparation
ought to be as general and public, as the slan-
der has been. Dr. Stillingfleet's large treatise
to prove Papists idolaters, and many other
books and sermons upon the same subject
ought to be solemnly condemned ; and the peo-
ple made sensible, that a Church free from
fundamental errors, cannot be an idolatrous
Church : that the true worship of God, which
is owned to be in the Church of Rome, is as
opposite to idolatry, as Christ is to Belial, or
light to darkness. In a word, that since Pro-
testants cannot deny, but that the members of
the Roman Catholic Church may be orthodox,
and live and die well, and obtain salvation, it is
inconsistent with all sense and reason, to charge
them with a crime, which, being a violation of
the very first commandment of the decalogue,
must unavoidably make them forfeit their titles
to the kingdom of God. This is the repara-
tion they are bound in conscience to make
to the Church of Rome. Nor can they refuse
to do it, without resolving to continue not only
in a deadly sin, but the grossest contradiction
to themselves.
But what shotild make Protestants, who
neither want wit, nor learning, become guilty of so
palpable a contradiction, as suffices to startle any
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
203
thinking man, in whom all sense of natural jus-
tice, truth and honor is not utterly extinguished ?
Trul}', I can give no other reason for it, than
their being blindly persuaded of the lawfulness
to blacken Papists by any methods whatsoever,
whether foul, or fair, just, or unjust, right, or
wrong. Now both the parts of the contradiction,
I have proved upon them, are most proper to
answer this honest end. Idolatry is an abomin-
able crime, therefore. Papists must be made guilty
of it ; for it will render them very odious. Yet
salvation must not be denied them ; because this
charitable opinion (the nonsense whereof will not
be perceived by every body) will serve as a foil to
set oflF the uncharitableness of Papists, who deny
salvation to all, that are not of their Church. I
thank God, we have at least charity enoi:gh to
return good for evil, and pray heartily for the sal-
vation of those, who hate and slander us in such
an unchristian manner.
SECTION II.— THE FIRST PART OF THE DISTINCTION RENDERS THE FIRST REFORMERS, AND
THEIR RESPECTIVE CHURCHES INEXCUSABLE.
It follows, secondly, from the first part of
the distinction, that both the first reformers
were inexcusable for beginning, and that the
Churches established by them can give no
satisfactory reasons for continuing their sepa-
ration from the Church of Rome. For how
can they justify their separation from her, if
she be orthodox in all fundamentals, that is,
in all points necessary to salvation ? The
ground of this query is, because in matters of
religion (the end whereof is the salvation of
souls) nothing is of any solid weight, or mo-
ment, but what has a reference to this end.
Which made our Saviour say, that "there is
but one thing necessary ; " and without all
dispute, salvation is this one thing. And there-
fore since, according to the Protestant distinc-
tion, all things necessary to salvation, are to
be found in the Roman Catholic Church, there
can be nothing to give a just pretence to a
breach of communion, and separation from her.
For is it any ways justifiable to raise, or main-
tain a schism from a Church, which has all
means necessary to salvation infallibly secured
to her? This cannot hold with any manner
of reason, if we consider the nature of schism,
how fatal its consequences are, and that even
the sin of rebellion in a government is seldom
attended with so great a train of evils, as a
schism in the Church. Now, the very greatest
advocates for rebellion, will scarce allow it
to be justifiable in any other case, than when
the very constitution, and fundamental laws
of the kingdom are invaded. For then the
sovereigns may be said to err in fundamentals.
But all faults in governments of an inferior
nature are suflBcient even to give a colorable
pretence to the sin of rebellion against a law-
ful sovereign.
Let us apply this to schism, which is a
rebellion against the Church, and as heinous
in its nature, as that against the State : and,
therefore, ought to have at least as just a pre-
tence to color it : so that, if it were possible
for the Church to err in fundamentals, it is
the only case, in which a schism would be
justifiable : because in any other case, the
remedy is worse than the disease. And if
this be so in all schisms whatsoever, that,
which was caused by the leaders of the refor-
mation^ and threw all Europe into disorder
and confusion, is much less capable of being
justified upon any other grounds.
Whoever is the least versed in history, can-
not be ignorant of the deplorable calamities
both in Church and State, to which it gave
birth : as subjects revolting from their sover-
eigns : the empire torn to pieces, by the dif-
ferent factions of princes, either opposing, or
espousing the cause of Martin Luther. The
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SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
kingdom of France engaged by the Hugue-
nots in a bloody civil war for many years :
sacred places profaned, religious houses pil-
laged and burnt, the revenues of the Church
seized b}' the secular power, thousands of fam-
ilies utterly ruined ; and, in a word, all the
scenes of horror and desolation, which an obsti-
nate and bloody war, carried on by parties
mutually incensed can produce, were the fruits
of this fatal schism. Nay, has it not been
even of late years, the occasion of bloodshed
in several parts of Europe ? And is it possi-
ble, the dreadful prophanations I have men-
tioned, and the spilling of so much Christian
blood, should have no other pretence to justify
it, than the interest of a few speculative ques-
tions, or points of religion, not at all funda-
mental, or in any manner necessary to sal-
vation.
Truly, were I to have judged of the impor-
tance of the cause, from its dismal effects, I
should have concluded without hesitation, that
the very essentials of religion were at stake
in those unhappy times : that the Church was
threatened with nothing less than a total
subversion : in a word, that Christianity was
upon the point of being abolished, and the
alcoran just going to take place of the bible.
For then I should not have been surprised to
see all Europe in a flame, and prodigal of its
best blood, for the defence of so great and
good a cause. But, God be praised, the Prot-
estant distinction has prevented all such mis-
takes. Christianity never was in danger, the
bible is yet safe in Catholic hands, and all the
fundamentals of religion stand firm. The
very enemies of the Roman Catholic Church,
declare, she has never erred in fundamentals,
that is, in any point necessary to salvation.
And what can they desire more? What rea-
sonable grounds can there be for a schism ?
Why are the members of that Church perse-
cuted ! Why are they deprived of their birth-
right, and the privileges of all other subjects ?
Why are Jews, Quakers and Anabaptists pre-
ferred before them ? Since they teach nothing
that is contrary to salvation ? For is not
eternal salvation, and all means necessary to
it, sufiBcient to answer all the ends and pur-
poses of religion ?
But can any of the reformed churches
promise themselves as much ? There are some
weighty reasons for the negative. First, they
are all fallible ; and may, therefore, be mistaken
in their belief, that they want nothing neces-
sary to salvation. Secondly, They have the
whole body of Roman Catholics, all the world
over, against them ; and their judgment is not
TAnthout weight. Thirdly, Their very owning
that salvation is attainable in the Roman Catho-
lic Church, is a strong proof of their being
excluded from it. For, since St. Paul has posi-
tively declared these two things, namely, that
there is but " one faith," because God cannot
reveal contradictories : and that " without faith
it is impossible to please God," I cannot see
how they, who own salvation possible in the
Church of Rome, which, therefore, has the
faith required by St. Paul, can flatter them-
selves with the hopes of it in any other com-
munion ; since all other Churches, by continu-
ing in their schism, break that unity of faith,
which St. Paul requires, as necessary to please
God ; and by consequence, to salvation.
I am sensible, I shall here be taxed with
uncharitableness, in denying salvation to all
Churches, but my own. To which I answer,
First, that if I believe myself to be in the true
Church of Christ, I cannot do otherwise without
contradicting the faith of that Church, which
teaches, that there is no salvation for those who
keep wilfully and obstinately out of it. I
answer, secondly, that I can never think it an
uncharitable office to admonish persons of the
danger, in which I conceive they are ; though
I should really be mistaken in my judgment
of the matter. But I own sincerely, that I can-
not make it a point of honor to pretend to be
more charitable than the holy fathers were in
the primitive ages ; who agreed unanimously
in declaring all those to be in the state of
damnation, who separated themselves from their
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
205
Church ; and I dare say, with the greatest
assurance, they were all in communion with the
see of Rome. I shall choose a few passages out
of many.
N. B. That most of the fathers, I shall quote,
wrote against heretics, who denied none of those
articles which Protestants call fundamental.
St. Irenseus, I,- 4. adv. Hser. c. 62, writes thus:
" God will judge those, who make schisms ;
who are abominable, void of the love of God ;
and having more concern for their own conve-
nience, than for the unity of the Church : who
for inconsiderable reasons, divide and break
asunder the great and glorious body of Christ,
and endeavor as much as in them lies, to ruin
it utterly ; having peace in their mouths, but
working nothing but destruction ; truly strain-
ing at a gnat, and swallowing a camel. For,
whatever evils they design to redress, it will be
much less than the evil of schism."
St. Cyprian, de Unit. Eccl. " Whosoever,"
says he, " leaving the Church, cleaves to an
adulteress, is cut off from the promises of the
Church. He that falls from the Church of
Christ, shall never come to the rewards of
Christ. He is an alien, he is a profane per-
son, he is an enemy. He cannot have God for
his father, who has not the Church for his
mother. If it were possible for any to escape,
that was not in the ark of Noah, it shall like-
wise be possible for him to escape, who is not
in the Church."
Idem infra. " What peace can the enemies
of their brethren promise themselves ? What
kind of sacrifices do they imagine they offer
up, who are in contention with the Priests?
Can they think that Christ is with them in
their meetings, being assembled out of the
unity of the Church ? Such as these, though
they suffer death in the confession of his name;
yet is not their blood capable of washing out
their stain. The unpardonable and horrid crime
of schism, is not to be expiated by suffering.
He can be no martyr, who is not" in the Church.
They are enemies to God, who will not keep peace
tp the Church. Though they deliver their bodies
to be burnt, or are torn to pieces by wild beasts, yet
this will never be a crown of their faith, but
a punishment of their treachery' : nor a glorious
issue of a Christian courage, but a desperate
end. Such a one may be put to death, but he
can never be crowned."
St. John Chrysostom, Hom. 11. in cap. 4.
Epist. ad Ephesios: "This is spoken," says he,
"not only to those who rule, but also to sub-
jects, who are under their government. A
certain holy man spoke a thing, which was
very bold, and yet he spoke it. And what was
it ? He afl&rmed, that this sin [of schism] ' can-
not be washed away, even with the blood of
martyrdom.' For tell me, for what reason do
you suffer martyrdom ? Is it not for the glory
of Christ ? And how can you, who desire to
lay down your lives for Christ, in the mean
time overthrow the Church, for which Christ
shed his blood ?"
St. Aug. L. de Unit. Eccl. c. 19 : "None can
arrive to salvation, or life everlasting, but he
that has Christ for his head. And it is impos-
sible, that any should have Christ for his head,
unless he be a member of his body, the
Church."
Idem Epist. 204. ad Donat : " Being out of
the pale of the Church, separated from its
unity, and bond of charity, thou wouldst not
escape damnation, though thou shouldst be
burnt alive for confessing the name of Christ."
N. B. That St. Augustine was no uncharit-
able man.
Idem L. 2. contra. Epist. Parm. c. 11 : " We
produce these instructions from holy writ, that
it may evidently appear, that there is no wick-
edness can compare with the sacrilege of schism,
because there is no just necessity for separa-
tion."
St. Fulgentius ad Petrum Diaconum, c. 39:
" Believe stedfastly," says he, " and doubt not
at all, but that every man, who is a heretic,
or schismatic, baptized in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
if he be not in the unity of the Catholic Church,
though he gives ever so much alms, and lose
206
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
his life for the name of Christ, yet he cannot
be saved. For neither baptism, nor liberal
alms, nor death itself for the profession of
Christ, can avail a man any thing in order to
salvation, if he does not hold the unity of the
Catholic Church."
This was the language of the ancient fathers,
which fully justifies the doctrine of the Church
of Rome, in excluding from salvation, all such
as are guilty of heresy, or schism. For it is a
plain case, that it was their judgment, that
though a man be a Christian by baptism, and
the belief of Christ, nay, though he suffers death
for professing Christ, yet he cannot escape eternal
damnation, if he be separated from the unity of
the Catholic Church.
What an authentic condemnation is this of
Luther and Calvin, and other leaders of the
pretended Reformation ? And, indeed, of all the
reformed churches : which, though they are
Christian churches, by their due administration
of baptism, and their belief of the incarnation,
death, resurrection and divinity of Jesus Christ,
yet (if the judgment of the ancient Church be
of any weight) are incapable of salvation, in
being separated from their mother-Church, from
which they all went forth, just as those here-
tics and schismatics did, against whom the
fathers, quoted by me, have pronounced sentence
of eternal damnation. To which those eminent
saints were not prompted by heat, or passion,
or uncharitableness, (whereof the Church of
Rome is now accused for adhering to their doc-
trine) but merely by the force of truth, and an
ardent zeal for retrieving those prodigals, who
had quitted their father's house, and saving
from perdition the sheep that were gone astra)'.
If any one objects, that the Church of Rome
is alone accountable for the separation, as being
the cause of it, by excommunicating the reformed
churches ; if any one, I say, objects this by
way of jest, (for I presume no man of sense
can do it seriousl}') I answer him, however,
first, that the Arians, and all other heretics,
that ever were in the world, have the same
plea. The Arminians have it against the Church
of Holland; and the Socinians against the
Church of England. For the fourth canon of
the national Synod, under king Chailes I. anno
1640, orders, that any one, who is accused of
Socinianism, unless he will absolutely and in
terms abjure it, be excommunicated.
I answer, secondly, that the sentence of
excommunication pronounced by the Church
of Rome presupposed the schism, and was the
punishment, but uot the cause of it : As a bill
of attainder against rebellious subjects, (which
is a kind of lay excommunication) is not the
cause of rebellion, but a just punishment of it.
Lastly, I answer him in the words of an
ingenious Protestant, who, in his apology for
the non-juring clergy, in answer to Dr. Sharpe,
late Archbishop of York, by whom they were
accused of schism, writes thus : " You," says
he, " have separated from them, and not they
from you. For they are just where they were
when you left them, and have not budged a
foot from their Church. You cannot say they
have broken from you, unless you will aflSrm,
that when a ship breaks from the shore, where
she lay at anchor, the shore removes from her,
and not she from the shore."
This represents exactly the case between the
Church of Rome, and the reformed churches ;
and particularly between the Roman Catholics
(though now contemptible in their number)
and the Protestants in Great Britain. The
Roman Catholics are just where the Protestants
left them, and have not budged a foot from their
Church. Their faith and religion is the very
same as it was, not only when the Reformation
began, but for nine hundred years before it was
ever thought of; that is, ever since England's
conversion. And Protestants can no more say,
that Roman Catholics have broken from them,
than they will afiirm, "that when a ship breaks
from the shore, where she laid at anchor, the
shore removes from her, and not she from the
shore." And who, then, are authors of the
schism ? Who are accountable to God for
the damnation of so many souls ? But this is
too much in answer to so weak an objection.
I shall now proceed to examine the second
part of the distinction.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
2C7
SECTION III.— THE SECOND PART OF THE DISTINCTION CONTRADICTS THE WORD OF GOD.
The second part of the distinction denies the
Church to be infallible in points that are not
fundamental. This I shall prove to be a con-
tradiction to the word of God. First, it is
inconsistent with our Saviour's promise, " that
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Because the gates of hell would prevail effec-
tually against the Church, if she should ever
fall into any heresy, let that heresy be what it
will.
It is true, some heresies strike more directly
at the root of Christianity than others, and those
may be called fundamental heresies. But every
heresy, whether it be fundamental, or not, de-
stroys all divine faith ; so that if the Church
should teach any one point of doctrine, contrary
to the revealed word of God (which I call heresy)
she would lose all faith ; she would be no longer
the Church of Christ, but the school of Satan,
and the gates of hell would prevail against her.
For the devil is certainly the " father of lies," and
much more of heresy, which is the worst of lies,
because it gives the lie to the revealed word of
God. And would not then the devil prevail
against the Church, if he made her become the
mother of lies, and even of such lies, as are a
contradiction to God's own word ? I think the
matter will bear no manner of dispute.
Nor is it any thing to the purpose, whether
the lie be in a matter, or relating to an object,
that is fundamental, or not. Because whatever
its immediate object be, the whole theological
virtue of faith, is as much destroyed by it, as the
whole theological virtue of charity is destroyed
by any one mortal sin.
To pursue this comparison, which will help to
set the matter in a clear and easy light, we may
say, that faith is to the Church, what charity is
to the soul: and heresy is just as opposite to
faith, as mortal sin is to charity. Now, though
blasphemy, for example, be a more grievous sin
than calumny, yet charity is lost, and the soul
receives a mortal wound by the one, as well as
the other. In like manner, therefore, though a
fundamental heresy, as the denying the divinity
of Christ, be more impious with reference to its
immediate object, than one that is not funda-
mental ; yet the one, as well as the other, gives
a mortal wound to faith : and, by consequence, if
the Church should teach any such heresy, she
would be without faith, and the gates of hell
would prevail against her ; though the immediate
object of that heresy, were not relating to any
matter of importance, or in itself necessary to
salvation.
The principle, whereon this doctrine is founded,
is because divine faith is grounded uponrevelation,
and not upon the importance of its immediate
object, or as the belief of that truth, is of itself a
means necessary to salvation. As, for instance,
it is not a fundamental point, whether Balaam's
ass spoke, or not ; or whether Samson killed a
thousand Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass,
or with the jaw-bone of a horse. Mankind with-
out all dispute, might have been saved, though
these two scriptural events had never happened.
Yet, if I should presume to deny, or dispute
either of them, I should be a rank heretic for my
pains. Because, by so doing, I should call in
question, the whole authority of the Bible ; which,
if it can lie in any one point, may do so in all
the rest. And so the whole law and prophets
would be rendered precarious. Nay, I should
lose all divine faith, though I believed every
thing else : because faith is not barely a belief
of things revealed, but the principal motive of
our belief of them must be precisely, because they
are revealed. And, therefore, if I deny, or ques-
tion any one revealed point, though ever so in-
considerable in itself, I believe nothing upon the
motive of divine revelation ; and by consequence,
my whole faith is destroyed.
Whence it plainly follows, that if the Church
should err in any one single point of faith,
whether it be fundamental as to its object, or not,
she would lose all divine faith, and a Church
2o8
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
without divine faith is no longer the Church of
Christ. She is no longer that virgin-Church with-
out spot, or blemish, which Christ espoused to
himself for ever, but becomes an adulteress, and
is delivered up to the power of Satan ; which is a
contradiction to what our Saviour has positively
promised.
Secondly, It is no less a contradiction to
his promise, that " the Holy Ghost shall
teach his Church all things." Because this
promise is not only without limitation, but is
a full answer to any distinction, that puts a
limitation upon it. For the word, " all," is
comprehensive and universal, including every
revealed truth, that comes within the determi-
nation of the Church ; and to restrain it, is to
oflfer violence to the sense, it naturally imports.
Thirdly, It is a contradiction to St. Paul,
saying, that the Church "is the pillar and
ground of truth." Because a Church guilty of
errors opposite to any revealed truths whatever,
whether fundamental, or non-fundamental, can-
not be called " the pillar and ground of truth,"
without violentl}' wresting words from their
obvious and natural signification.
Fourthly, Neither can it easily be reconciled
with these words of St. Paul to the Ephesians,
iv. II, 14. "He gave some apostles, and
some prophets, and some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers. . . . that we be no
more like children tossed to and fro, and carried
about by every wind of doctrine." For who sees
not that this end designed by Christ, is in a
manner frustrated by limiting the Church's
infallibility, to fundamentals only ? Because
the number of these being wholly precarious
(as I shall show hereafter) if there be no infal-
lible Church to fix our belief in reference to all
revealed truths whatsoever, we shall still be
children in faith, and " every wind of doctrine "
will suffice to toss us from one belief to another.
This appears plainly in the numberless
divisions, and diversity of opinions in the
refor7ned churches ; not any two of them agree-
ing in the same system of religion. And it is
morally impossible men should agree, when
every one is encouraged by the practice of the
very founders of his Church to make his own
private judgment the rule and standard of his
faith ; and no unerring judge is allowed of to
appeal to in doubtful cases.
It is true, any Church may, by the severity
of laws and censures oblige men to a respectful
silence ; but this will never deliver them from
doubts and uncertainties, nor fix their faith
upon a solid basis. Their tongues and pens
may acquiesce, but their judgment will still
revolt. Their private reasons will stand good,
and keep their full force. Nay, what seems
reason to-day, will, perhaps, seem otherwise to-
morrow ; aud thus will they always be wavering,
" like children tossed to and fro, and carried
about by every wind of doctrine ; " whereas, if
an infallible judge be acknowledged, whenever
that judge pronounces sentence, all doubts
immediately vanish. The judgment is immov-
ably fixed, and every private understanding
" captivated unto the obedience of faith."
And this is the true reason of that perfect
harmony in all matters of faith among the
members of the Roman Catholic Church. For
though they be allowed to dispute pro and con
about questions not determined by the Church
(which some will needs miscall divisions
amongst them) yet when the Church declares
herself positively upon any point, there is no
appeal from her to any private judgment; but
every one is bound by the principles of his
religion to submit to her decisions. So that
all the members of this Church even in the
most distant parts of the world, nay, though
differing in every thing else, as interest,
humors, customs, discipline, and language, yet
agree perfectly in all points of faith. Because
they have but one unerring guide to follow,
which is the Church directed according to
Christ's promise, by the spirit of truth.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
209
SECTION IV.— IT GIVES THE LIE TO THE NICENE CREED.
The antiquity and authority of the Nicene
Creed, is owned by all : and it being next
after the Apostle's Creed the shortest summary
of Christian religion, I question not but Prot-
estants will easily grant, that all its articles
are fundamental. I should, therefore, be glad
to know what they think, or mean, when they
pronounce this article, " I believe One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church." I presume
the true meaning of it is, that Christ has a
Church on earth, which is One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic.
This, then, is an article of the Christian
faith ; and since articles of faith are unchange-
able, it has always been, and will always con-
tinue to be one. For if it should ever cease to
be true, that Christ has such a Church on earth,
whoever should then pronounce that article of
the Nicene Creed, instead of professing an article
of faith, would make profession of a downright
falsehood : which being absurd in itself, it is
manifest that the Church described in the Nicene
Creed, can never cease to have a being upon
earth.
Whence I argue thus. The Church described
in the Nicene Creed, will have a being as long
as the world lasts. But if she should at any
time become guilty of any errors whatsoever
against the revealed word of God, she would
then cease to have a being ; therefore, the
Church described in the Nicene Creed, (which
is undoubtedly the Church of Christ) can never
become guilty of any such errors.
That she would then cease to have a being,
I prove thus. Because she would then neither
be One, nor Holy, nor Catholic, nor Apostolic.
First, She would not be One. Because there
can be no unity of faith, where there is no
faith at all. Now the Church loses her whole
faith by any one error against the revealed
word of God ; as I have alreadj'^ showed.
Therefore, if she should ever become guilty
of any such error, her unity of faith must of
consequence, be destroyed by it.
I prove again, that heresy and unity of faith,
are inconsistent. Because heresy is the natural
product of private judgment; and private judg-
ment is a constant source and principle of
division. The reason whereof is manifest ;
because men differ not only from one another
in their private judgment, nay, it is morally
impossible it should be otherwise, but are fre-
quently inconsistent even with themselves : so
that as often as they see things in a different light,
they are apt to change their belief accordingly.
Hence it is, that no heresy ever came into
the world, but various sects spawned from it
soon after ; and a dunghill is not more fruitful
in breeding vermin, than private judgment,
and Scripture corrupted by it are in producing
sects. It is, therefore, morally impossible, that
a Church corrupted with any heresy, should
be one.
Secondly. She would also cease to be Holy.
Because this title cannot belong to a Church
adulterated in her doctrine, and void of faith.
Thirdly. She would not be Catholic ; because
she would want universality of time. For since
truth is more ancient than error, the former
would have had a priority of time before the
latter. In a word, she is called Catholic because
her faith is Catholic ; and no errors can be the
objects of Catholic faith, nor have I ever heard
of Catholic heresies in my whole life.
Lastly. She would not be Apostolic, any
more than the schismatical Churches of the
Donatists, Novatians, and other heretics, who
never erred in fundamentals. But why may
not their Churches be called Apostolic ? Because
the Apostles never taught errors of any kind
whatever, whether fundamental, or non-funda-
mental. And, therefore, if the doctrine of the
Church of Christ were at any time of this
linsey-woolsey texture, made up of fundamental
2IO
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
truths and non-fundamental lies, it would cease
to be a doctrine derived from the Apostles ;
and a Church cannot be called Apostolic, unless
she has the whole body of her doctrine from
them.
Hence, it plainly follows, that the second part
of the distinction utterly overthrows the fore-
mentioned article of the Nicene Creed. And
if one article can ever prove false, we may give
up the rest for company's sake, and the Apos-
tle's Creed into the bargain.
Again, I argue thus. The Church of Christ
on earth has either always been One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic, or not. If not, then
those, who said the Nicene Creed, whilst there
was no such Church, professed that they
believed a thing which was false. But if
Christ always had such a Church, then I must
be so free as to tell the reformed gentlemen,
that a Church, which we believe and profess to
be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic in her
doctrine, is proof against any Protestant dis-
tinction : and to reform the faith of such a
Chuch, is the same bold attempt, and as unwar-
rantable, as to reform the creed itself.
I shall conclude this section with observing,
how unlucky our adversaries are in their
favorite distinction, since in the first part of it
they contradict themselves, and in the second,
they give the lie to the word of God, and the
Nicene Creed. But something was to be said
to throw dust before the eyes of ignorant
people. The promises )f Christ were positive,
and clear against them. If they denied all,
the matter would have an ill appearance. If
they granted all the reformalion was utterly
overthrown. The best way, therefore, in so
difficult case, was to split and divide. A dis-
tinction in disputes makes a handsome figure,
and a show at least of saying something,
though nothing to the purpose. But their
well-aflFected brethren would not perceive this.
And, therefore, it was better to do so, than be
silent, and give up all, when all was at stake.
But I have still something more to say to the
second part of the distinction.
SECTION v.— IT DESTROYS ALL CERTAINTY IN MATTERS OF FAITH.
If the Church can err in points that are not
fundamental, we can have no certainty of the
truth of any articles, but such, as have their
evidence from human reason ; and so we shall
all be in a fair way of turning deists ; because
every man will be furnished with a plausible
pretence to question the decisions of the Church
in an}' point, that has ever been disputed. For
he needs but maintain stiffly, that the matter in
question is not fundamental, and this will be a suf-
ficient warrant to believe, or disbelieve it, accord-
ing as his own private reason shall direct him.
Thus an Arian will say, that the consubstan-
tiality of the Son, is no fundamental point, and
that the Church has erred in it. A Socinian
will say the same of his divinity, and a Nesto-
rian of the unity of his person ; and an anti-
trinitarian is so far from yielding, that the
belief of the adorable trinity is necessary to
salvation, that he regards it as a mere chimera.
Nay, deists maintain, that the belief of a God,
is the only fundamental point of religion.
How, then, shall we know what points are
fundamental, and what not ? Can Protestants
fix any sure mark, or rule, to know a funda-
mental by, and distinguish it from such as are
not fundamental ? Have the reformed churches
ever agreed about their number of fundamentals ?
But how is it possible they should ? Since
when they argue against Papists, they all dis-
own an infalliable judge to determine the mat-
ter, and a fallible one may be mistaken, in
his calculation, and either obtrude that for a
fundamental, which is not so, or reject one,
that really is so: and so he may either over-
shoot his mark, or fall short of it. Besides,
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
211
there never will be wanting some of those, who
will copy after the pattern set before them by
the two great patriarchs of the reformation^ and
appeal from any judge to their own darling
private reason.
If they say, that all fundamentals are con-
tained in the three creeds: I answer, first, that
then this article, " I believe One, Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church," is, by consequence, a
fundamental ; which is like to do Protestants
but little service, as I have already showed.
I answer, secondly, that there is no mention
in the creeds either of the sacrament of the
Lord's supper, or of episcopacy being of divine
institution, or of the revelation of Scriptures.
All which may, therefore, be mere impositions
for ought we know. But whether they be in
the number of fundamentals, or not, I am sure
they are articles of great importance.
If they answer, that these and all funda-
mentals are clearly expressed in Scripture ;
I answer, first, that the Scriptures are no less
clear in numberless points, which are not funda-
mental : and by what rule, then, shall we dis-
cern the one from the other ? For the Scrip-
tures do not tell us whether they are funda-
mental truths, or not. I answer, secondly, that
the Arians, reading Scripture with Arian spec-
tacles, found their own doctrine clearly expressed
in Christ's own words. Because the Scriptures,
when interpreted by private judgment, are
usually made a mere nose of wax, which may
be turned and set what way any man pleases.
The rankest heretic that ever was upon the
face of the earth, never wanted clear Scripture,
as he pretended, to support his cause. Nay,
the devil himself, when he tempted Christ, had
Scripture ready to color his wicked suggestion.
But it was Scripture interpreted by the spirit
of, lies: as it always is, when private judgment
sets up for an interpreter of it against the sense
and authority of the Church.
I presume no man will say, that the thirty-
nine articles, though they may properly be
called the Church of England's creed, contain
nothing but fundamentals. For, besides that
many of them are mere negatives, or contra-
dictories to the pretended Popish errors, which
according to the distinction are no fundamental
points ; there are some others, which only
regard discipline : and the discipline of all
churches being changeable, according to the
34th article, can never come up to the nature
of a fundamental. And by consequence, the
thirty-nine articles determine not their number,
but leaves us in an entire uncertainty of it.
Now if we have no certain rule to know funda-
mentals by, it follows, that there is scarce any
point of faith the truth whereof may not be
questioned; because we may doubt, whether it
be fundamental. And if it be not, the Church
may err in it, according to the second part of
the distinction, which renders all faith and
religion precarious.
Hence it is, that rejecting first, and then
limiting the Church's authority in deciding
controversies of religion, has opened the way
to the most impious and blasphemous her-
esies. And there is scarce any thing so sacred
in religion, but has been, and is to this day
questioned by some of those, who have been
brought up in the principles of the reformation.
For when the Church is made cheap, and her au-
thority precarious, what wonder is it, that (the
very best and strongest fence of religion being
broken down) men should run loose into the
most extravagant opinions ? For what principle
can a man have after that, to fix his belief of
any mystery, but his own private reason ? And
since the very sublimest mysteries of the Chris-
tian religion appear the most repugnant to
human reason, when a person has once imbibed
this principle, and settles it as a rule and
maxim to govern his faith by, viz.: That there
is no Church on earth, not even the Church
established by Christ, but may deceive him,
he will never stand to examine, whether the
points in question be fundamental, or not, but
whether they be consonant to reason and good
sense ; and if they appear otherwise, he will
conclude, that the Church may err in them,
as well as any other. Nay, more probably in
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SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTED.
them, because he cannot persuade himself, that
God should ever reveal that for a divine truth,
which, perhaps, in his notion is rank nonsense.
As, that the eternal and immortal God should
become a mortal man ; which is a scandal to Jews,
and a folly to Gentiles. Or, that three divine
persons really distinct, should be but one God :
which seems as impossible to him, as that Peter,
Paul, and John, should be but one man. Or
that two and one should not make three.
Hence it is, that the nation swarms with
Socinians, Anti-trinitarians, and those, who
style themselves Free-thinkers ; which is now
become a modish sect. And what wonder is it ?
For the sect of Free-thinkers, though of a later
date as to its name, than the other sects, that
have spawned from the refor7nation^ is but the
natural fruit of it. Nay, no man can pretend
to set up for a reformer of religion, unless he
be first an adept in the liberal science of free-
thinking. That is, unless he sets up his own
private judgment against the Church, which
he intends to reform.
It was thus the first great reformation of
Arius began. In the same manner, Nestorius,
Eutyches, Pelagius, Donatus, Luther, Calvin,
Zuinglius, and the whole college of reforming
apostles, commenced free-thinkers, by refusing
to submit their private judgment to their mother-
Church, in order to become reformers of it. In
a word, the only difference between the modem
free-thinkers, as they make a separate sect, and
the other forementioned reformers, is, that free-
thinkers are for a thorough reformation all at
once, without giving quarter even to funda-
mentals ; and so reform by wholesale, what
others have only reformed by retail. So that
I really see not, how a member of any of the
reformed Churches can fairly undertake to con-
fute a free-thinker, upon reformation principles,
or without exposing his own weak side.
Suppose a member of the Church of Eng-
land should tell a free-thinker, that he is bound
to submit his private judgment to that Church.
He would certainlj- answer him, that by the
same rule, Luther and Calvin ought to have
submitted to the Church of Rome : and then
the great work of the reformation would never
have been heartily carried on.
If he should tell him again, that there is a
gfreat difference between the virgin-Q,\\\\.rQ\x of
England, and the corrupt Church of Rome :
the free-thinker would be apt to put this puz-
zling question to him, viz.: Whether in the
beginning of the reformation there was any
thing to make good this charge against the
Church of Rome, but the private judgment of
the free-thinking Martin Luther? For Luther
for a long time stood alone, as Bishop Tillotson
assures, and we shall see more at large here-
after.
Lastly, If the Protestant should tell him,
that a man by himself is more likely to err,
and go astray, then a whole Church ; because
thousands can see more than one : and that
therefore he ought in reason to submit to the
Church established by law. The free-thinker
would readily answer him, that this is estab-
lishing a very dangerous Popish principle, and
building the authority of a particular reformed
Church upon the ruins of the whole reformation.
For according to this principle, Luther, Calvin,
and the other reformers, were wholly in the
wrong in trusting to their own private judg-
ment, preferably to that of the whole Church
then in being.
If the Protestant replies that their private
judgment was grounded on the word of God ;
the free-thinker will readily answer, that he
desires no more; provided he be but allowed
to be himself (as Luther and Calvin were) the
interpreter of God's word. For, in reality,
whoever appeals from the Church to the written
word of God, appea,ls effectually to his own
private judgment ; because he makes that the
sole interpreter of it.
He will also answer him, that numbers in
religion, unless there be something else to
support it, is no conclusive argument for the
truth. For if it were, he ought to turn Papist,
rather than Protestant. Since if the matter
were to be decided by polling, the Papists
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
213
would carry it against all the Protestants in
Europe much more against the Church of
England taken singly.
Thus will the free-thinker stand his ground
against any reformed Church ; and upon re-
formation principles, maintain the doctrine of
free-thinking. But surely none of the reformed
Churches can have the confidence to write
seriously against free-thinking, or be hearty
enemies to it ; since they all owe to it their
very birth and being.
Was not free-thinking the very mother and
nurse of the reformation ? For if Luther, and
Calvin, and others, who reformed their reforma-
tion^ had not been staunch free-thinkers, they
would certainly have submitted to the Church,
whereof they were all members for many years.
And then, reforyning would never have come
into fashion. But they thought their mother-
Church was grown old and blind ; and, there-
fore, would not trust her any further than they
could see with their own eyes. So they all
set themselves to think freely. One thought
one way, another thought another way. For
they all differed in their way of thinking : and
each one thought himself as able a free-thinker,
and as capable of modeling a Church, as any
of the rest: which at length produced the
different reformed Churches of Lutherans, Cal-
vinists. Independents, Brownists, Arminians,
Anabaptists, Quakers, and the like. And is it
then a wonder that Churches, which have
received their beginning from, and owe their
whole creation and existence to free-thinking,
should at all times produce some members,
who being men of wit and learning, should
claim the first privilege to themselves, and
think as freely as their forefathers ? The
thing cannot naturally be otherwise. For since
the founders of their churches have set them
the example, why should not they follow it ?
Why should not Toland, Clark, and Whiston,
and the author of the discourse of free-thinking
turn reformers, as well as Luther, Calvin,
Zuinglius, etc. Papists alone can claim no
right to free-thinking in matters of religion.
Because believing their Church to be infallible
in her decisions according to the promises of
Christ, they are bound to submit to her with-
out limitation, or reserve, in every thing she
teaches. Which, indeed, is the only thing upon
earth that can maintain unity of faith, take
away all uncertainty in matters of religion,
and keep men from " being like children tossed
to and fro, and carried about by every wind of
doctrine."
SECTION VI.— IT RENDERS ALL CHURCH AUTHORITY PRECARIOUS.
This is a natural consequence from what has
been said already; but I shall further prove it
from the 20th Protestant article of religion,
where we find the following clause: "The
Church has authority in controversies of faith,
and yet it is not lawful for the Church to
ordain anything, that is contrary to God's word
written. Neither may it so expound one place
of Scripture, that it be repugnant to the other."
It seems, then, "that the Church has authority
in controversies of faith." But what sort of
authority do the compilers of the articles allow
her ? Are her children bound to submit to it,
or not ? If not, then her authority stands for
a mere cipher, But if they are, then the
compilers, and all their Protestant predecessors
and brethren were inexcusable in not submit-
ting to the Church of Rome.
Again, has she authority in all controversies,
or only in some ? If in all, then the distinc-
tion between fundamentals and non-funda-
mentals must be dropped : unless the compilers
cah make it appear, that the Church of England
has a special charter from Christ to require
submission even to articles, that are not funda-
mental, which, however, they pretend the Church
214
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
of Rome never had. But if she has authority
only in some controversies, such, I presume,
as regard fundamentals ; then her authority is
as precarious, as the number of her funda-
mentals, and every article may be disputed
with her.
But the* latter part of the article explains,
or rather kicks down the whole extent of her
authority. "The Church has authority ....
And yet it is not lawful for the Church to
ordain anything, that is contrary to God's
word written. Neither may it so expound one
place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to the
other."
Here, then, it is supposed, that the Church
is capable : First, Of ordaining things contrary
to the word of God. Secondly, Of expounding one
place of Scripture, so as to make it be repug-
nant, or a contradiction to another." For,
whoever puts in a caveat against any thing,
supposes the thing to be possible. Otherwise,
it would be like making a law to forbid men
to fly, or walk upon their heads. But who is
here to be the judge to determine, when the
Church commits any such blunder ? I presume
she will not give verdict against herself. Every
private man, then, may erect himself into a
judge of the doctrine of his mother-Church;
for he is here furnished with fair pretences for
it. And it is in effect what Luther and Calvin
did, when they pretended to reform the Church
of Rome.
What a large and noble field is here again
laid open for the free-thinker to exert himself
in, and triumph over the Church ! What ! Is
she, then, capable even of such gross absurdities,
as by a contradictory interpretation of Scripture
to make "one part of it be repugnant to
another!" If this be true, what must become
of faith and religion? Must not free-thinking
break in upon us like an irresistible torrent,
when the Church, whose wisdom and authority
in interpreting Scriptures should be the main
bulwark against it, is supposed even by her
own teachers not to be wholly incapable of
imposing contradictions on her children instead
of revealed truths ? If a private man be con-
victed of contradicting himself, he becomes
contemptible by it. And what idea must we
then have of a Church, whose judgment is
represented to us as capable of a weakness,
that would sink the reputation even of a
private person? Surely, Christ never meant
to establish such a Church as this, when he
made her the solemn promise, that " he would
be with her all days even to the consummation
of the world," and designed her to be our
guide to heaven, and lead men to salvation.
But the compilers of the article considered
wisely, that they were then settling the authority
of a Church, which was yet in her leading strings.
For she had broke loose from her mother-Church
but a few years before ; and to justify that separa-
tion, it was necessary to give a broad hint, that
her mother had prevaricated by " ordaining things
contrary to the word of God," and " expounding
it so, as to make it repugnant to itself" For
when a daughter runs away from her own mother,
they, who espouse the daughter's cause, cannot
do less than give some plausible reasons for
such an extraordinary conduct, which is irregular
in itself; and at the same time precaution her
against the failings, which they lay to the mother's
charge. This obliged the compilers to cramp
the authority of their infant-Church at the very
time, when they could not avoid making a decent
mention of it.
In effect, it is impossible for the advocates of
any reformed Church to plead for Church author-
ity, without speaking incoherently, and boxing
themselves. For if they allow a coactive power,
over men's consciences ; that is, a power to oblige
them both to an outward conformity, and an in-
ward submission to all her decrees ; it flies imme-
diately in their face, that they are then guilty
both of heresy and schism, in not having paid
that conformity and submission to the Church
of Rome. But if they allow her no such power
(as the second part of the distinction is effectually
inconsistent with it) her authority becomes pre-
carious of course, and she holds it only by the
courtesy of her own children ; who may dispute
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
ai5
it with her, when the fancy takes them ; just as
Luther and Calvin, and the other reformers dis-
puted it with their mother-Church.
The tnith of the whole matter is this. The
compilers of the thirty-nine articles had a hard
task to perform. Something v/as to be said of
course, concerning the Church's authority. But
it was dangerous to say too much, for fear of
running insensibly into the Popish error of in-
fallibility : which would have mined the whole
pretence of the reformation. They were, there-
fore, under an unhappy necessity of building
with one hand, and pulling down with the other.
And so they first granted, " that the Church has
authority in controversies of faith." For to set
up a Church, without giving her any authority
at all, would not have looked decent. This,
therefore, had a handsome appearance. But lest
this concession should render the first reformers
wholly inexcusable, in not having submitted to
that authority in their mother-Church, they took
care, that the very next lines tacked to it should
give it a mortal stab ; by insinuating, that the
Church is not incapable of the grossest errors
both in doctrine and practice. In practice, by
ordaining things contrary to the word of God :
and in doctrine, by expounding one place in
Scripture so, that it be repugnant to the other.
Which, though it was chiefly designed for an
innuendo, that the Church of Rome had been
guilty of both ; yet every one may without much
logic, conclude from it, that the Church of Eng-
land, which is directly spoken of in the article,
is no less fallible, than her mother-Church was
supposed to be ; and by consequence, if her own
children should judge her guilty of errors, they
have the same title to reform her, as she had to
reform the Church of Rome. For what was
warrantable in her, cannot be unwarrantable in
them ; according to the old proverb, " what is
sauce for a goose is sauce for a gander." Nay,
the thing has already happened ; for the Presby-
terians, Quakers, and Independents, who pretend
to have several articles of impeachment against
her, have eflFectually separated themselves from
her communion on that score : and let any man
then judge, whether this does not render all
Church authority precarious.
But God forbid the Church of Christ should
be suspected capable of such an absurdity, as
to make the word of God contradict itself.
Nay, whatever Church is capable of it, is mani-
festly convicted not to be of divine extraction,
but of a spurious breed. She has too much
of an earthly complexion to be the beautiful
spouse of Christ : neither has the spirit of
truth, but the father of lies for her guide. The
Church of Christ is the " pillar and ground of
truth," according to St. Paul. She is without
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, according
to the same Apostle. Christ " has espoused
her to himself for ever ;" Osea ii. And the
spouse of Christ cannot be an adulteress, but
is incorrupt and pure, according to St. Cyprian.
This made St. Augustin depend so entirely
upon her authority, that he declared, " he
would not believe the gospels themselves, unless
the authority of the Church induced him to
it ;" Contra Epist. Fund. c. 4. And since he
received the Scriptures themselves barely upon
her authority, it cannot be doubted, but he
believed, she might likewise be safely trusted
with the interpretation of their true sense and
meaning. So that this learned and ancient
father was not for precaution ing his readers
with suppositions, that she could " ordain any
thing contrary to the word of God, or make
Scriptures contradict themselves." Nay, in the
heat of his zeal for the Church of God, he
would have called it "an abominable and
accursed calumny, full of presumption and
deceit ; void of all truth, wisdom and reason ;
idle, rash, and pernicious;" Enar. 2. in Psalm
loi. And therefore to confound all such
injurious suppositions, and show the entire
confidence he had in his guide, he made the
forementioned declaration ; which though it
raises the Church's authority to its highest
pitch, it only places it upon its true and proper
basis.
2l6
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
CHAPTER III.
THE CHURCH IN COMMUNION WITH THE SEE OF ROME, HAS ALONE, A JUST TITLE TO INFALLIBILITY.
fathers :
HAVE now proved the infallibility
of the Church, which Christ has es-
tablished on earth, from the concur-
ring testimonies of Scriptures and
which is all that can be required for
proof of anj' article of religion. For how can
we learn revealed truths, but from the revealed
word of God, interpreted bj' that authority,
which Christ himself has established, and
appointed for that end ? And, therefore, those
who in their defence of the Church's infalli-
bility, lay a stress upon certain rational con-
gruities, as, that it is inconsistent with the
infinite goodness of God, to leave men without
an infallible guide, appear to me to take the
question by the wrong handle. For the dispute
between Catholics and Protestants is not, whether
Go<J in his infinite goodness be bound to give us
such a guide, but whether in effect, he has been
so merciful as to do it ? Now the revealed
word of God tells us positively he has. The
promises of Christ are as clear as words can
make them ; and the faith of the ancient
Church, grounded on those promises, is con-
v^ed to us in the writings of the holy fathers.
Upon this foundation, the Church's infallibility
is built. A foundation so strong and firm, that
if God's word may be relied on, it wants no
arguments from congruities of human reason
to support it.
Now, then, let us see, where the infallible
Church is to be found. The point I have
undertaken to prove is, That the Church in
communion with the see of Rome, has alone an
unquestionable title to it. And I shall either
give her this name, or call her the Roman
Catholic Church, or the Church of Rome : she
being so called, because the bishop of Rome is
her visible head, or supreme pastor. But,
whatever name I give her, I desire the reader
to take notice, that I mean not the particular
diocese of Rome. For this is no more the
Catholic Church, than the head is the whole
body ; or the diocese of Canterbury, the whole
Church of England. This caution would
appear frivolous, were it not necessary to avoid
a childish equivocation much affected by Pro-
testant writers, as will appear hereafter ; for it
serves to cast a mist before people's eyes, and
keep the true state of the question out of sight;
which does more service to a weak cause, than
a thousand arguments.
My first proof, that the Church in com-
munion with the see of Rome, is alone that
infallible Church, which Christ has established,
is this : because all the reformed churches
frankly disown the title of infallible. And
they are ver}' just to themselves in so doing.
And as to the Greek Church (though it be a
part of her faith, "that the visible Church of
Christ is infallible"), she cannot pretend to it
with any color of reason. It follows then
that the Church in communion with the see
of Rome is the only one, that has a just claim
to it.
That the Greek Church can have no pre-
tence to it, is a very plain case. Because a
Church that has changed her faith backward
and forward cannot call herself infallible.
Now, the most authentic histories prove the
Greek Church guilty of this charge in her
faith relating to the procession of the Holy
Ghost, and the supremacy of the bishop of
Rome ; for in all other points she agrees with
us, and has condemned the reformation in
several councils. When Photius first began his
schism, being provoked to it, because the pope
(to whom he appealed, and thereby acknowl-
edged him his superior) refused to confirm his
ordination, as being irregular and uncanoni-
cal ; the Greek Church was in perfect com-
munion with the see of Rome ; and there
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
217
appeared no disagreement in any article of
faith between the two Churches. Photius
made the breach, chiefly by maintaining, " that
the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father
alone ; " and the article of supremacy followed
of course : because a subject cannot rebel
against his sovereign without impeaching his
authority. Photius, being the first patriarch
of the east, drew, by degrees, the greatest part
of the Greek Church into his error. After a
long contest, and great endeavors used to bring
her back to the ancient faith, she at length
renounced her errors, and subscribed the con-
demnation of them in the general council of
Florence. The pope's supremacy, together with
other articles, was subscribed to by all the
bishops of both Churches (Mark of Ephesus
alone excepted), and so she was again united to
the Church of Rome. But returning not long
after to her vomit, she has ever since continued
guilty both of heresy and schism ; and Mus-
covy, which has received its Christianity from
the Greeks, is in the same condition.
This is a short and faithful account of that
whole business. And if Protestants can pro-
duce any authentic history to prove the like
change relating to any article of faith in the
Church of Rome, then I shall freely own her to
be as fallible as the Greek Church, and
acknowledge that there is no such thing as an
infallible Church on earth.
I prove it, secondly. In the beginning of the
sixteenth centur}', the Church of Rome was the
only Christian Church upon earth, that could
show a perpetual visibility from the time of the
Apostles down to that age. For the reformed
churches began not to creep out of the shell
till the year 1517; and the Greek Church,
(considered precisely as a schismatical Church),
began about the middle of the ninth century.
Now then, the true Church of Christ was
either always visible, or she was invisible for
several hundred years before the sixteenth cen-
tury. If she was always visible, and if the
Church of Rome was not this true Church of
Christ, to which all his promises of infallibility
were made, then Protestants are bound to mark
out distinctly, in what other external communion,
or visible society of men the true Church of
Christ subsisted for the space of 1500 years
before the reformation. Which if they pretend
to do, then I infer these two consequences
from it : i. That the Church of England ought
to have received her ordination and mission
from this true visible Church of Christ, and
not from the anti-Christian and idolatrous
Church of Rome (as Protestants commonly
st3'le her), from which notwithstanding the
Church of England labors all she can to prove
that her ordination and mission is derived. 2.
That all the reformed Churches were bound to
have joined themselves to the external com-
munion of this true visible Church of Christ,
and not to have set up separate communions
of their own. Whereas both Luther and Calvin
declared publicly (as I shall show hereafter) that
they had separated themselves from the whole
Christian world.
But if they say, that the true Church of
Christ was invisible, for several hundred years;
then it is manifest, that none of the reformed
Churches at their separation from the Church of
Rome, joined themselves to the true Church of
Christ. For I cannot well conceive how men can
either receive instructions from, or join themselves
to an invisible Church, But I am still less capa-
ble of apprehending how the Church of England
could receive her ordination and mission from
the hands of invisible bishops and pastors. So
that this ridiculous system of an invisible
Church overthrows the very pretence of any real
ordination, mission, or hierarchy in that Church.
Hence it follows, that the Church of England
at least is obliged to own, that the true Church
of Christ has always been visible. And since
the promises of Christ were only made to his
own true Church, I conclude again that they
were not made to any Church, that ever was
invisible since the time of the Apostles.
Now all the reformed Churches were invisible
for many hundred years, as is fairly owned
by Protestant authors, whom I shall quote
2l8
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
hereafter ; the fact being wholly undeniable :
and the Greek Church is actually guilty of
heresy, even in a fundamental point ; as Prot-
estants must likewise own ; the consequence,
therefore, is, that if the Church of Christ be
infallible, as I have proved she is, the Roman
Catholic Church alone can maintain her title
to it ; as having been always visible in a suc-
cession of bishops and pastors teaching one
and the same faith from the beginning of
Christianity down to this very time.
I prove it thirdly : The Church in commun-
ion with the see of Rome, was the true Church
of Christ when St. Paul wrote his epistle to
the Romans ; whom he styles " the beloved of
God, called to be saints ;" and gives God thanks,
" for that their faith was spoken of throughout
the whole world ; " Rom. i. 7, 8 ; which he
would not have done, had it been tainted with
any error. Now, as the see of Rome was then
free from error, so it is manifest, that the
whole Christian Church in communion with
her, was likewise untainted : because St. Paul
says, that " their faith was spoken of," that is
preached " throughout the whole world." The
consequence whereof, is, that the true Church
of Christ was then only visible in that society
of Christians, which was united in faith and
communion with her supreme pastor, the bishop
of Rome, who at that time was * St. Peter.
For St. Paul had never been at Rome when
he wrote that epistle ; as appears from his own
words ; Rom. i. 13, and xv. 22.
Hence, I argue thus. The Church in com-
munion with the see of Rome, was once the
true Church, and is owned by most Protestants:
I may say all, and to have continued so for some
ages. Therefore, unless it can be made out
with demonstrative evidence, that she has since
forfeited her title, she must still be acknowl-
edged the same true Church, to which all the
promises of infallibility were made. I say, unless
it be made out with demonstrative evidence,
because nothing but demonstrative and incon-
* St Peter came to Rome in the second year of the Emperor
Claudius, anno Christi 42. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, anno 57.
testible evidence can be of any weight against
a Church, that ever was in possession of the
truth.
This was St. Austin's argument both against
the Manichees and Donatists, who would needs
reform their mother-Church. But this great
champion of the Catholic faith required nothing
less of them than incontestible evidence for a
sufficient conviction of the Church's being in
an error. The Manichees labored all they could
to make him once more their proselyte. But
to satisfy them that he had embraced the
Catholic faith, and continued in it upon solid
grounds, he wrote thus to them: "Not to speak
of the wisdom, which you do not believe is in
the Catholic Church, there are many other
things which most justly keep me in her com-
munion. I. The agreement of people and
nations hold me. 2. Authority began with
miracles, nourished with hope, increased with
charity, confirmed by antiquity holds me. 3.
A succession of bishops descending from the
see of St. Peter, to whom Christ after his res-
urrection committed his flock to the present
episcopacy, holds me. 4. Lastly, the very
name of Catholic holds me ; of which this
Church alone has, not without reason, so kept
the possession, that though all heretics desire
to be called Catholics, yet, if a stranger asks
them, where Catholics meet, none of the heretics
dares point out his own house, or his own
Church. These, then, so many and such sacred
ties of the Christian name, justly keep a man
steadfast in believing the Catholic Church. But
there is nothing of all this amongst you to
invite, or hold me. You promise truth indeed,
and make a great noise about it : and if you can
make it appear with such an incontestible evi-
dence, that no man can doubt of it, all the
motives that hold me in the Catholic Church,
must yield to it. Contra Bpist. Fund. c. 4.
Here we see what St. Austin demanded of
the Manichees to prove any thing against the
Catholic Church ; which in his time was un-
doubtedly the Church in communion with the
see of Rome ; because one of the motives that
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
219
kept him in it, was the succession of bishops
descending from the see of St. Peter to him,
who was then bishop of Rome, when he wrote
his book against the Manichees. Besides, St.
Austin was himself a massing bishop, believed
there was a purgatory, prayed for his mother's
soul, implored the prayers of the saints in
heaven, had a great veneration for their relics,
and believed that God wrought miracles by
them ; whereof, he has left several authentic
proofs in his writings. Nay, he certainly
believed the supremacy of St. Peter, and his
successors ; for why should he else mention the
succession of bishops from St. Peter's see, rather
than any other, as a motive that held him in
the Catholic Church ? All which show plainly,
both that St. Austin was a staunch Papist, and
that the faith of the Catholic Church in his
time, which is now about thirteen hundred years
ago, was downright Popery. And, indeed, it is
no small comfort for Roman Catholics, that when
they are now questioned about their religion,
they can answer for themselves word for word,
what St. Austin says to the Manichees, which
no member of any reformed Church can do
without talking nonsense.
But as he demanded unquestionable evidence
of the Manichees, so he required the same of
the Donatists concerning the re-baptism of per-
sons baptized by heretics. Because the Church
being in possession of a constant practice of
not re-baptizing them, he thought nothing less
sufficient to impeach this practice than a posi-
tive declaration in Scripture, that persons bap-
tized by heretics, were to be re-baptized in the
Catholic Church. His words are these : Lib.
de Unit. Eccl. c. 24. " Show," says he, " that
the canonical Scriptures have openly declared,
that he, who has been baptized among heretics
in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, is to be baptized in
the Catholic Church. . . . We demand of you
some clear evidence, which needs no interpreter."
Aliqidd manifesium^ quod interprete non egeai,
a vobis fiagitamus.
Since, therefore, the Church in communion
with the see of Rome, is acknowledged to
have been formerly the true Church, to which
all the consequence, that Church, to which all
the promises were made ; since she was in
possession of her title for some ages, nothing
less than unquestionable evidence, that she
has since changed her faith, can deprive her
of it. Nay, this evidence, whether from Scrip-
ture, or undeniable tradition, must be so clear,
according to St. Austin, that no man can
doubt of it. Veritas tarn manifesta^ ut in
dubium venire non possit. Or (as Dr. Stilling-
fleet explains in his rational account, p. 539)
" Such as being proposed to any man, and
understood, the mind cannot choose but in-
wardly assent to it." Which the doctor required
of all those, that pretended to contradict the
decisions of his Church, not reflecting that
the first reformers never could produce any
such evidence against the Roman Catholic
Church. For it would have been very strange
indeed, that if there had been any such evi-
dence against her, she should not have seen
it for the space of above eight hundred years,
in which the book of Protestant homilies allows
her to have had possession of whole Christen-
dom before the reformation : and it would be
no less strange, that the Roman Catholics in
Great Britain should not be clear-sighted
enough to perceive it ; or if they saw it, that
they should not yield to it ; when it is so
much their interest to do it ; and conscience,
which would then be on the same side with
their interest, would oblige them to it.
I prove it, fourthly : Christ committed his
whole flock to St. Peter, and made him a
promise, that his Church should be built upon;
him. Christ, then, has no other Church on
earth, than that, which is built upon St. Peter ;
and to this alone, the promises of a perpetual
assistance were made. But no other Church
can be said to be built upon St. Peter, than
that, which has St. Peter, and his successors
for its head ; and this no other, than the"
Church in communion with the see of Rome,
which was St. Peter's seat, as appears from
220
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
the forementioned passage of St. Austin, and
lias always been tlie episcopal seat of his suc-
cessors ; therefore, that alone is Christ's infal-
lible Church on earth, as being alone the
Church, to which all the promises of a per-
petual assistance were made ; and to which no
separate communion can have any title.
I prove it, fifthly : The infallibility prom-
ised b}' Christ must be lodged either in the
Church of Rome, or in some other Church,
from which the Church of Rome has separated
herself: and then that Church, in which it is
lodged, and from whose communion the Church
of Rome has separated herself, must in all
ages have had a succession of bishops and
pastors, teaching a doctrine directly opposite
to what is now called Poper3\ But no history
has ever informed us of a Church, wherein
there has been a perpetual succession of bish-
ops and pastors teaching a doctrine opposite
to that of the Church of Rome, aud from
whose communion that Church separated her-
self; nay, the very enemies of our Church
confess that " Popery reigned universally and
without contradiction for many hundred years,"
as we shall see in the following chapter :
therefore, the infallible Church established by
Christ, can be no other than the Church of
Rome : which Church alone can truly show a
perpetual succession of bishops teaching the
same doctrine from age to age, aud from which
all other Churches went forth, and separated
themselves. Unless any one will say, that
when children run awa}' from their father's
house, the house runs away from them. For
in all the changes of religion, that have ever
happened, the Church of Rome has acted no
other part, than to keep where she was before.
And so the change was in those, who fell
from the faith they once possessed, but not in
the Church, that maintained it.
I prove it, sixthly, and lastly, thus. Towards
the end of the sixth century, when St. Gregory
sent missioners to convert England ; there was
only the Church in communion with the see of
Rome (which was the great body of Christians
spread over most nations both of the east and
west) and some separate communions consisting
of the remains of Arians, Nestorians, Euty-
chians, Donatists, Pelagians, and such others,
who are looked upon as heretics by Protestants
themselves. These, therefore, were no part of
the true Church of Christ, as being cut off
from it. I ask, then, whether Christ had at
that time a Church on earth, or not ? If not,
then whosoever pronounced this article of the
Nicene Creed, " I believe One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic Church," made profession of a
falsehood ; which is absurd. If he had, it was
the Church then in communion with the see
of Rome : and, therefore, if the Church now
in communion with that see be in her faith,
the same she was in pope Gregory's time, it
follows manifestly, that as she was then, so
she is now the only true, and by consequence,
infallible Church of Christ on earth.
It remains, then, only to show, that her
faith is the same now, as it was then. For
proof, whereof we have the concurring testi-
monies of historians, both Protestant and
Catholic; who agree unanimously, that St.
Austin brought that religion into England,
which is now called Popery. Some Protestants,
indeed, are pleased to say, that it was con-
verting England from one idolatry to another.
But it is no matter in what language they
express it, so they own the fact. Besides, it
is notoriously known to all, who have but read
the chronicles, that England never changed its
faith for nine hundred years. That is, from
its conversion to Christianity under pope Gre-
gory, till the twenty-third year of Henry VIII.
whom bishop Tillotson styles the postillion of
the reformation. It is, therefore, demonstration,
that Roman Catholics in Great Britain, hold
now the same faith, and profess the same
religion, as was planted by St. Austin in Eng-
land, when it was first converted by him.
And, by consequence, as St. Austin was then
a niember of the true Church of Christ, so
Roman Catholics cannot but be so at present.
These surely are arguments enough, both
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
221
for their number and strength, to prove a
thing which will bear no manner of dispute, if
there be an infallible Church on earth ; as I
hope I have proved effectually there is. So
that, whoever is convinced of it, must be fond
of losing his labor, if he goes about to seek
it elsewhere, than in the Roman Catholic
Church. It is for this reason, all Protestant
writers muster up their whole strength against
this article of our faith : and when fair arguing
fails them, employ their best talents to ridicule,
what they cannot confute. Because, in this
dispute their all is at stake : and if this one
article be proved against them, the whole
reformation falls to the ground of course, as
having nothing to support it.
I am sensible, however, I have one powerful
enemy to deal with, and but one. I mean the
prejudices of education ; which, as they are the
strongest bias upon men's judgment, so are
they usually of so tenacious a nature, that to
reason a person out of a prepossession of a
long standing, and deeply imbibed, is almost
as hard a task, as it would be to undertake to
reason him out of his natural complexion. A
Protestant, who from his tender years has been
prepossessed against the Church of Rome, and
scarce ever heard of her but in libels and invec-
tives against her, will say thus to himself: What !
Is it possible, that a Church corrupted with so
many errors, as the Church of Rome has always
been represented to me, should be infallible in
her doctrine ! Can such good and learned men,
as our preachers are, deceive us ! This (though
it be no more, than every Jew, or Mahometan
may say for himself) especially, if joined with
the consideration of interest, which has a very
persuasive power, will sufl&ce to frustrate the
strongest and clearest proofs.
However, this shall not discourage me from
doing justice to an injured Church, or endeavor-
ing to vindicate her from the aspersions her ene-
mies have thrown upon her to color their own
apostasy, and separation from her. In order to
do it, I shall endeavor to convince the reader,
that the pretended errors laid to her charge, are
really and truly the ancient faith of the Church :
that is, the doctrine taught by Christ and his
apostles. For proof whereof, I shall demonstate
that no Church, teaching a doctrine opposite
to the pretended errors of the Church of Rome,
ever appeared in the world before her. For if
this can be made evident, it will follow, first.
That the pretended errors of the Church of
Rome have antiquity on their side ; which is
one necessary mark of truth : Because all
truths belonging to the Christian faith, being
derived from Christ himself, and his Apostles,
must of necessity be more ancient than their
opposite errors. It will follow, secondly, That
the doctrine of the reformation came too late into
the world, to be the doctrine of the Apostles.
By the doctrine of the reformation I mean every
branch of it, that is opposite to what is now
called Popery.
CHAPTER IV.
The Church of Rome Vindicated.
SECTION I.— THE STATE OF RELIGION IN CHRISTENDOM BEFORE THE PRETENDED REFORMATION.
ARTIN LUTHER, an Austin friar,
began his pretended reformation in
the year of our Lord, 1517. The
Greek and Latin Churches, though
they had been united in the general council
of Florence, were then again divided. Muscovy
followed the fate of the Greek Church, and the
Spanish West-Indies were, as they are now,
in the communion of the Church of Rome.
The Greeks differed from the Latins only in
222
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
the article relating to the procession of the
Holy Ghost, as I have already observed. "Which,
however, drew unavoidably after it that of the
supremacy. In all other doctrinal points -what-
ever, they agreed with the Church of Rome,
as they do at present. For proof, whereof, I
refer the reader to the learned book, entituled,
The Church of Christ showed by the etc., part
I. chap. I. p. lo, II, 12, 13, 14. Where he
may likewise be satisfied, that the Nestorians,
Armenians, Cophtes, Syrians, and Ethiopians,
also reject the doctrine of the reformation in
all points, wherein it differs from the Roman
Catholic Church.
As the Latin Church, that is, the Church in
communion with the see of Rome, at the time
when Luther set up for a reformer^ she was
spread over all the principal kingdoms of
Europe : England, Scotland, Ireland, the whole
empire, with the seventeen provinces of the
Netherlands, the large kingdoms of France and
Spain, all Ital}', with the kingdoms of Naples
and Sicily, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, etc.,
were all united in the same faith, acknowledg-
ing the pope for their common father, the true
vicar of Christ, and supreme head of their
Church. So that Luther had not any in the
whole world to communicate with. And was it
not a presumption even to a degree of mad-
ness for a private monk to set up his own pri-
vate judgment in opposition to all Christendom,
and stand single against the whole world ?
Truly, it would look like a dream, rather than
a serious truth, were it not attested by all
writers, and Luther himself.
For in the preface to his works he boasts,
that he was alone at first. Primo solus eram.
And in his preface to the book de abrogafida
Missa privata, he writes thus : " With how
many medicines, and powerful evidences of
Scripture have I scarce yet settled my con-
science to be able alone to contradict the pope,
and to believe him antichrist ; the bishop his
apostles, and the universities his stews? How
oft did my heart tremble, and reprehend me by
objecting their strongest and only argument ;
art thou alone wise ? And do all err." It
seems the good man had some terrible
gripes of conscience, before he could work him-
self into a belief, that the successor of St. Peter
was antichrist ; that all the bishops in the world
were the devil's apostles ; and the great nurse-
ries of piety and learning his stews. How
troublesome is it to have too tender a con-
science ! But Kate Boren cured him soon after
of all gripes and qualms.
Calvin owns the same truth, Epist. 141. " We
have been forced," says he , " to break off from
the communion of the whole world." A toto
mundo discesswnem facere coacti sutnus. Nay,
many Protestant writers glory in Luther's sepa-
ration from the whole world. " If there had
been right believers," says one, " who went
before Luther in his office, there had been no
need of a Lutheran reformation!''' Georgius
Billius, in Aug. Conf. Art. 7, p. 137. " It is
ridiculous," says another, '* to think, that in the
time before Luther, any had the purity of doc-
trine, and that Luther should receive it from
them." Bened. Morgestern de ecclesia, p. 145.
This gentleman, like a drag-net, sweeps all
before him ; fathers, councils, doctors ; nay, I
fear the Apostles themselves will scarce escape.
It is, then, an incontestable truth, that Luther
did not only separate himself from his own
mother-Church, but that there was not any pre-
existent visible Church of Christians in the
whole world, into which he could incorporate
himself. But how long had the Roman Catho-
lic Church, from whose communion he separated
himself, already had a being before the reforma-
tion f This is a point of great importance, and
challenges a serious examination.
It is certain, she was venerable for her an-
tiquity, even at the time when Luther took upon
him to reform her. For, first, all separate
Christian communions then extant in the world
had either gone out immediately from her, or
spawned from those that had ; and some of these
were very ancient, as Nestorians, Eutychians,
and such others.
Secondly : The four first general councils were
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
223
all in communion with the bishop of Rome.
The first of Nice against the Arians, anno 325,
was in communion with pope Sylvester, whose
legates, together with Osius presided at it.
The second of Constantinople, against the
Macedonians, anno 381, was in communion
with pope Demasus, whom the fathers of that
council in their sy nodical letter to him, thank
for calling them to a council as his members ;
and Demasus in his answer, styles them his
most honorable children.
The third of Ephesus against Nestorius,
anno 431, was in the communion of pope
Celestin; whose legate told the council that
his master was their head, and the successor
of St. Peter ; whose place and authority the
bishop of Rome held, Act 2. T. 3, Cone. p. 619;
Act 3, p. 626, against which, not one in the
council made the least exception. So that it
even proves a great deal more, than is neces-
sary for my present purpose.
The fourth of Calcedon, against Eutyches
and Dioscorus, anno 451, was in communion
with St. Leo ; to whom the council wrote in
this manner : Rogamus igitur^ et tuts decretis
honora nostrum judicium ; et sicut nos capite in
bonis adjecimus consonantiam, sic et summitas
tua filiis quod decet adhibeat. That is, " We
desire you to honor our judgment with your
decrees : and as we have agreed with our head
in all good things, so may your highness
grant to us, your children, that which is
fitting." Cone. Caked, in Epist. ad St. Leonem,
Tom. 4, p. 837, D, E.
I only mention these four general councils,
because they are allowed of by the Church of
England. Act i. Eliz. c. And the time in
which they were held, witnesses their antiquity;
for the first was held near twelve hundred years,
and the last of the above a thousand and fifty
years before the reformation.
Whence it follows, first, that the Church in
communion with the see of Rome, not only
had a being, (whereof no man doubts) but was
wholly incorrupt and free from errors, both
from the time of the Apostles to the first
general council, and in .the whole interval of
time between that and the fourth, or last
council allowed of by the Church of England.
The reason is clear, because not one of the
four first councils accused her of any errors ;
and had she been guilty of any, it cannot be
doubted, but those councils would have called
her to an account, and condemned her, as they
did the Arians, Macedonians, Nestorians, and
Eutychians. Nay, it is manifest, that the faith
of those councils, and the see of Rome was
one and the same ; for otherwise, they would
not have been in the same communion ; and
since the Church of England allows of those
councils, it is no less manifest, that she believes
their faith was orthodox.
Whence it follows, secondly : that the Church
of England, which owns the authority of the
four first councils, must likewise acknowledge,
that the Roman Catholic Church, or the Church
in communion with the see of Rome, was at
least free from corruptions till the middle of
the fifth century, in which the fourth general
council was held.
Now, then, if we can but make the Popery,
which Luther reformed., shake hands with the
religion of those times ; that is, if it can but
be clearly proved, that the very same doctrine
which was professed by the Church of Rome,
when Luther began to reform was likewise
professed by the Catholic Church in those
ancient tines, in which she is acknowledged
to have been free from corruptions ; will it not
be a demonstrative proof, that the doctrine
called Popery, and the Church which professes
it, are as ancient as Christianity itself? The
evidence will certainly be beyond all manner
of dispute. Let us then make some inquiry
into this important matter, and see how far
the doctrine called Popery, may be traced,
even from the concessions of such Protestant
writers, as are beyond exception.
224
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
SECTION II.— THE ANTIQUITY OF THE DOCTRINE CALLED POPERY PROVED FROM
PROTESTANT WRITERS.
First : Bishop Tillotson, Serm. 49, p. 588,
writes thus : " In the beginning of the refor-
mation, when antichrist sat securely in the
quiet possession of his kingdom, Luther arose,"
etc. These words, " securely,'' and in the " quiet
possession," must be owned to be very em-
phatical ; though I cannot draw any positive
consequence from them, as to the number of
years, which that secure and quiet possession
had already lasted : but since so learned a man
as the bishop was, could not be ignorant of it,
it is probable he foresaw the advantage we
should make of it, had he been too particular:
and, therefore, judged it not safe to speak out;
but chose rather to leave the reader in the dark,
than let him know more, than was fitting for
him.
Perkins in his exposition upon the creed, p.
400, ventures to be a little plainer. His words
are these : " We say that before the days of
Luther, for the space of many hundred years,
an universal apostasy overspread the whole
face of the earth, and that our Church was not
then visible in the world." Here Popery, which
the author is pleased to call " an universal
apostasy," is owned to have " overspread the
whole face of the earth for many hundred years"
before the days of Luther. However, he did
not think it proper to specify, as he might
have done, how many hundred years this uni-
versal apostacy had already lasted. But every
intelligent reader will be apt to guess, that when
a man says " many hundred years," he does not
mean a very small number.
But the Protestant Homily book, in order to
set forth in the most pathetical manner the
danger of Popery, which the composer has the
charity to call " abominable idolatry ;" this
book, I say, (the authority whereof, cannot be
questioned) has ventured to explain some part
of Perkins' " many hundred years." The words
are as follows: "Laity and clergy, learned and
unlearned; all ages, sects, and degrees of men.
women and children of whole Christendom, had
been at once drawn in abominable idolatry ; and
that for the space of eight hundred years and
more." Hom. against peril of idolatry. Part
HI. p. 251, printed London, anno 1687.
Here, then, we have " eight hundred years,"
with a " more " at the end of them, allowed to
Popery before the reforviation. The word
" more " may be made to signify as much, or as
little as every one pleases. But it may modestly
be extended so far, as to make the total number
amount to about nine hundred years in all ;
which brings universal Popery to St. Gregory's
time, who transplanted it into England ; where
it flourished just nine hundred years before the
reforination. So that now we have brought it safe
to the beginning of the seventh century : that is,
within a hundred and fifty years of the fourth
general council : and now I have only this small
interval of time to provide for it ; which if I can
do with the help of a good Protestant guide, it
will easily find its way to the very time of the
Apostles.
But I have luckily met with one, who even
out-goes my wishes, and has conducted Popery
not only to the fourth, but even beyond the
first great general council of Nice. The person
I speak of, is Mr. Napier : who, in his book
upon the Revelations, Prob. 37, p. 68, is so sin-
cere as to own that Popery, which he cannot
forbear giving an ugly name, to, reigned uni-
versally in the very beginning of the fourth
century, and under the first Christian emperor,
that ever was in the world. But lest any one
should through mistake, think Mr. Napier to be
an obscure, or inconsiderable writer, Mr. Col-
lier in his Historical Dictionary, has taken care
to publish his merits, for he styles him a " pro-
found scholar, and of great worth."
This learned and worthy person, then writes
thus : " From the year of Christ, three hundred
and sixteen, the anti-Christian and papistical
reign has begun : reigning universally, and
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
225
without any debatable contradiction, one thou-
sand, two hundred and sixty years.' And
again, chap. 11, p. 145 : ' The Pope and clergy,
have possessed the outward visible Church, even
one thousand, two hundred and sixty years.' " I
presume he counts to the time, that the reforma-
tion was established in Great Britain.
This, however, is precise and clear; though
the other three gentlemen were more, or less
upon the reserve. Tillotson has only favored
us with a broad hint. Perkins, indeed, allows
Popery many hundred years ; but is careful not
to let us know how many. The Homilist gives
it eight hundred years and more ; but his
" more," is like a string, that may be let out,
or drawn in as much as every one shall fancy.
But the learned and worthy Napier speaks
boldly, and may serve as a comment upon the
other three. For we are certified by him that
the papistical reign began from the year of
Christ, three hundred and sixteen : that is, pre-
cisely a year more than twelve hundered before
Luther commenced reformer. What pity is it,
that he has not specified the very day of the
month, on which Popery begas its universal
reign? For when his hand was in, he might
have done the one with as much ease as the
other: and then Papists might have had the
pleasure to keep the anniversary feast of its
accession to the empire of the universal Chris-
tian world.
But though Mr. Napier has done Popery a
considerable service, by allowing it an universal
reign, even in the beginning of the fourth
century, yet the four Protestant annalists, com-
monly called the Magdeburgians, carry it still
higher, and stick not to date their pretended
" decay of the Christian doctrine," and the
'' straw and stubble of papistical errors," as they
call them, even from the age immediately after
Christ and his Apostles. Thus God has con-
founded the enemies of his Church, by making
them become witnesses of the truth against
their wills ; and proclaim the antiquity of her
faith in those very writings, which they
intended for the sharpest invectives against it.
15
Upon the whole, I cannot but make this
observation, viz.: If Popery had its beginning
in any age since the time of the Apostles, it is
morally impossible, but so considerable an event
must have been transmitted to posterity, I will
not say by one, or two historians of note, but
by hundreds, who would have marked out the
time, when it happened, with such an unques-
tionable certainty, that it would have been
impossible either to doubt of it, or differ in
opinions about it. Thus we know exactly the
very year when Arianism and Lutheranism began.
The facts were never questioned by any man
in the world; and the certainty of them leaves
no room for any diversity of opinions about
them.
If then, there were any ancient records, or
authentic history, that fixed precisely the time
when Popery began, would not all Protestants
have quoted them for the chronology of a fact,
which must have sunk the credit of the Church
of Rome to all intents and purposes, and estab-
lished the reformed churches upon the most
solid foundation ? It is very sure, they never
would have overlooked an advantage of that
importance ; nay, every man of learning would
have had it without book ; and the date of
every branch of Popery, would have been as
well known, as that of the reformation ; con-
cerning which, there never were two opinions
among thousands, that have written of it.
Since, therefore, instead of this unanimous
agreement, in fixing the time that Popery began,
we find nothing but cutting and shuffling, pre-
carious guesses, and diversity of opinion among
the very best Protestant writers ; it is a demon-
strative proof, that they have no ancient, or,
authentic records concerning any beginning of it'
since the time of the Apostles. And we may
justly conclude, that, as it reigned universally
for many hundred years before the reformation,
according to Perkins ; for eight hundred years
and more according to the book of Homilies ; for
above twelve hundred years, according to Mr.
Napier ; and is owned by the Magdeburgians to
have had a being even in the second century ;
226
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
we may conclude, I say, that it never had any
other beginning, than that of Christianity ; viz. :
from Christ himself, and his Apostles. But this
argument shall be treated at large hereafter.
I observe, secondly, that the old childish whim
of introducing Popery in the monkish ages (as
Protestants style them) of pretended ignorance
and darkness, is quite thrown out of doors both
by the Homilist and Mr. Napier. For in the
beginning of the fourth century, there were no
monks at all, as Protestants understand the word,
and though there were several monasteries of
them in the beginning of the seventh ; yet what
Protestants call monkish ages, are of a much
later date ; and so the pretended ignorance and
darkness of those ages could not favor the intro-
duction of Popery, which, according to the book
of Homilies, was fully established long before.
This, shall likewise be fully handled, in chap. 5.
But, to return once more to the learned Mr.
Napier, whose chronology relating to the grand
epoch of Popery is very curious ; we see, he fixes
it precisely in the j-ear of Christ, 316. That is,
nine years before the first great general council
of Nice, which was held anno 325. Nay, he tells
us expressly, that even then it reigned univer-
sally : so that it may be truly said in Bishop
Tillotson's language, that even then " Anti-christ
sat securely in the quiet possession of his king-
dom." Very strange! Unless we had some in-
formation how he got into it. For a kingdom
of so vast an extent, as the whole Christian world,
is not usually got in hugger-mugger, or like a
purse by stealth.
However that may be, it follows evidently from
Mr. Napier's chronology, that the fathers of the
Nicene council, though allowed of, and respected
by Protestants themselves, were all staunch
Papists. And what is very remarkable, many of
the bishops of that council were eminent saints ;
and carried about them the glorious marks of
their past sufferings for the faith of Christ.
I ask, then, whether the bishops of the Nicene
council had been Papists from their infancy, or
not ? If so, then without all dispute they had
been brought up by Papists, and so Popery is
still more ancient than Mr. Napier makes it.
But if they had not been Papists from their in-
fancy, then they were all infamous apostates ; St.
Athanasius among the rest. And is it not very
strange, that not one of them should be touched
with remorse, nor represent to the council his
fall from the ancient religion, nor exhort them
to a reformation ; especially, when the supposed
change from one religion to another was of so
fresh a date, that there was not a bishop in the
council, but must have been concerned in it?
But it is still more wonderful, that the
Arians, their mortal enemies, who were ad-
mitted to, and heard in the council, should not
reproach them with their apostasy, and so put
them to open shame. And yet the acts and
histories of that council mention no such thing.
Nay, Eusebius himself, who was present at it,
and has written the history of the Church
down to this time, knew nothing of any uni-
versal apostasy from the primitive faith of the
Church to Popery. For had he known it, it
is incredible he would have passed it over in
silence. And therefore, since neither he, nor
those, that wrote immediately after him have
left us any history, record, or monument of
any change in the faith of the universal visi-
ble Church introduced before their time, it is
manifest, there never was any such change ;
and, by consequence, the Popery, which Mr.
Napier owns to have reigned universally, even
nine years before the council of Nice, was the
very religion that had been handed down to
them from the Apostles themselves.
But I shall now set aside these testimonies
of Protestant writers, which witness the an-
tiquity of the Roman Catholic faith, and en-
deavor to take a more eftectual way to prove
it without being at the courtesy of any Prot-
estant evidence, to vouch for it. But (to avoid
an unnecessary multiplicity of words) as all
the pretended errors of the Church of Rome,
are briefly expressed by the word. Popery ; so
the doctrine of the reformation^ as it is directly
opposite to it, shall for brevity-sake be called
Protestancy. Because I shall have occasion to
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
227
repeat them both frequently, and it is no mat-
ter what names we give them, so we but
understand one another.
Now the whole question is, whether the doc-
trine called Protestancy, or that which is called
Popery, has a fairer title to antiquity. If
Protestancy be the true Christian doctrine,
which was taught by the Apostles, it must
have had a being in the world pre-existent to
that of Popery : and there must have hap-
pened a " total change from Protestancy to
Popery," in some age, or other since the time
of the Apostles. For without this change
Popery could not have got possession of the
universal visible Church, as it certainly had
at the beginning of the reformation^ when the
courageous Martin Luther stood alone against
the whole Christian world.
It shall, therefore, be my task to demonstrate
that there never happened any such change,
or which amounts to the same, " that no Church
teaching a doctrine opposite to the pretended
errors of the Church of Rome, ever appeared
in the world before her :" which if it be made
evident, the consequence will be, that the doc-
trine called Popery, is as ancient as Christian-
ity itself, and has been handed down to us from
Christ and his Apostles.
But it is very necessary, the reader should
here observe, that Poperj^ in general may be
divided into two parts ; viz.: The discipline and
the faith of the Church of Rome. The proper
object of faith is all revealed truths, which
are the same in all ages, nor can any author-
ity upon earth pretend to make the least
change in them. But the discipline of the
Church, being not of divine revelation, but
human institution, is doubtless, changeable :
because the same legislative power, which can
make laws and regulations for the public good,
may likewise for just reasons, alter, suspend,
or repeal the laws, or regulations it has made.
Thus the ancient penitential canons, though
they were in force for some ages, have not
been binding for many hundred years past.
Thus likewise the council of Trent regulated
the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, and
affinity otherwise, than they were before. Nay,
even the Apostolical constitution of the council
of Jerusalem which forbids blood, and things
of blood and things strangled ; Acts xv. 29 ; re-
mained not long in force, but as the motive
ceased, the obligation became void of course.
For let laws be ever so good in themselves,
they are not good at all times, nor in all
places.
Now, then, when I pretend to prove, " that
the doctrine called Popery, is as ancient as
Christianity," I mean not the discipline, but
the faith of the Church of Rome. For it is
absurd to maintain, that regiilations of disci-
pline, which came gradually into the Church,
and have been subject to variations, are as
ancient as the Church itself.
It is, however, a common practice, though a
very unfair one, among Protestant writers, when
they design to charge the Church of Rome
with novelty, to confound the one with the
other, and exemplify promiscuously in points
of faith, or discipline, as if they were upon
the same footing ; whereas, to say anything
to the purpose against that Church, they must
prove precisely, that she differs in some article
of faith, or revealed doctrine from the ancient
orthodox Church. All matters of discipline,
must therefore be thrown out of the question ;
and whatever objection is made from that head,
is but trifling, whether the facts objected be
true, or false.
228
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
CHAPTER V.
Popery as Ancient as Christianity.
SECTION I.— NO CHRISTIAN CHURCH TEACHING A DOCTRINE OPPOSITE TO POPERY,
EVER APPEARED IN THE WORLD BEFORE IT.
is morally impossible, that a consid-
erable revolution should happen
either in Church, or state, without
being ever taken notice of by any
historian writi?jg in or about the time, when
it happened. Nay, the thing is contrary not
only to experience, but the very immediate
end of history, which is to instruct posterity
in the knowledge of what has happened in
former ages ; and though transactions of the
greatest moment may be mangled, and dis-
guised b};- authors according as they are
affected, they can never be wholly overlooked,
or omitted by them.
This is particularly true in reference to any
considerable changes in religion : because such
changes being the constant source of extraor-
dinary events, by causing disturbances, and
many times entire revolutions in the state, can
never escape the notice of an historian. And
a person may as soon make me believe the
greatest contradiction in nature, as that such
changes may really happen, and not to be
mentioned in any history of that state, or king-
dom, in which they happened.
What historian has ever written the life of
Queen Elizabeth, but made the changes in
religion, and the establishment of the reforma-
tion in England, the principal subject of his
history ? The same may be said of those, who
wrote the lives of the first Christian emperors,
whose histories are all filled with ample rela-
tions of the heresies, that started up in their
times, and the disturbances they occasioned
both in Church and state : the opposition they
met with : the princes that favored them, the
fathers that wrote against them, the councils
wherein they were condemned, etc. Nay, I
dare challenge any Protestant to name me one
considerable heresy, I mean, what both Papists
and Protestants own to be a heresy, whereof
there is not a particular account in some history
of note. As, who was the first author of it :
where and when it was first broached : what
progress it made : what influence it had upon
the affairs of Christendom : what bishops op-
posed it : what books were written against it ;
what councils called to condemn it : and other
such particulars, as are a full evidence for the
truth of the main fact.
Hence I infer first. That an universal silence
of historians in relation to auy considerable
change in matters of religion is a proof amount-
ing to a moral demonstration, that there never
happened any such change.
I infer secondly, That to accuse any Church
of gross errors, whereof no particular author,
or beginning is to be found in any authentic
record, is a mere groundless charge, and cannot
be maintained with any color of justice, or
reason.
It is upon these two principles I shall ground
my argument to prove, that the doctrine called
Popery, is as ancient as Christianity : and I
have endeavored to set the whole matter in as
clear a light as is possible in the following
manner.
If the doctrine called Popery, be not as
ancient as Christianity, then Protestancy, as far
as it is directly opposite to it, must be the
religion which Christ and his Apostles estab-
lished in the world. I presume all Protestants
will readily grant this. Nay, if I am not under
a very great mistake, it is what they principally
contend for. Because the most plausible thing,
they can say for themselves, is, that the whole
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
229
business of the reformation was to recover
religion from the corruptions introduced into
it; and bring it back to its ancient purity.
But it follows hence, that there have been
two great changes in the state of the Christian
religion, since its first establishment by Christ
and his Apostles. The first, from Protestancy
to Popery, (for Popery had full possession of
the whole visible Church for many hundred
years before the reformation.) The second,
from Popery to Protestantism, which was affected
by that reformation. These two changes, there-
fore, must be clearly made out from the incon-
testible evidence of authentic histories and
records. For if it cannot be thus evidently
proved, that the first change, viz. : " from
Protestancy to Popery," happened as really
and truly, as the second, viz. : " Popery to
Protestantism," then it will follow, that Prot-
estancy never had a being before Popery ; the
consequence whereof will be, that Popery had
its beginning from the very time of the Apos-
tles.
Now these two changes, if they both really
happened, may be called at least equally great.
Nay, the first, viz. : " from Protestancy to
Popery," appears evidently far more difiScult,
than the second , by reason of some doctrines
in the Church of Rome, which, if they were
not taught by the Apostles could never be
introduced but with the greatest diflSculty im-
aginable. I shall instance in a few.
First, It being a principle of Protestancy,
as well as Popery, that Christ alone has the
power of instituting sacraments ; because he
alone can appoint proper instruments to convey
his grace to our souls : if Protestancy, which
allows but of two sacraments, was the religion
taught by the Apostles, and established in the
infancy of the Church, I leave any man of
common sense to judge, whether five new
ones, never heard of in the time of the
Apostles, could have been afterwards imposed
upon the Church, and rendered an article of
her faith without the greatest difficulty, and
the most vigorous opposition at least for some
time. Would not every good Protestant bishop
have immediately stood in the gap, and cried
out against such a monstrous innovation?
Would they not have written against it, and
alleged, that Christ had instituted but two
sacraments, that the Apostles never had preached
but two, that the number precisely of two,
and no more had been handed down to them
by the immediate successors of the Apostles ;
and that, therefore, no human power could
make any addition to it without impiety and
sacrilege ? Finally, would they not have stig-
matized the first authors of such an innova-
tion, and cut them off from the communion
of the Church ? It is certainly most rational
to judge, that the bishops and pastors then in
being, if they were of the religion which
Protestants now confess, would have exerted
their utmost zeal and authority in a case of
that importance; unless we suppose they were
all lain asleep with opium ; or doated, and
knew nothing of the matter ; for no man hith-
erto has ever heard or read one word of any
opposition, or resistance made to the coining of
any one of the five sacraments, which are now
denied by Protestants ; or of any disturbance,
that has ever happened in the Church about
it. Very strange ! That such a change should
ever happen without noise, or trouble ; or if
there were disturbances about it, that no
historian should give us any information
of it!
Secondly : I should be glad to know, by
what secret charm the mass got admittance
into the universal Church ; if it was neither
instituted by Christ, nor introduced by the
practice of the Apostles themselves. For, if
the popish doctrine relating to it, viz. : " That
it is a true sacrifice, or an external oblation of
the real body and blood of Christ, under the
forms of bread and wine, ordained by Christ
himself at his last supper : "If this, I say, be
false doctrine, we cannot doubt, but that the
Apostles, and their immediate successors were
wholly strangers to it ; and that by consequence,
none of the primitive bishops, or priests ever
230
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
said mass, as being all true Protestants in
this, as well as other articles of faith.
Here, then, lies the stress of the diflBculty,
viz. : How all the bishops and priests in the
world having been brought up, as we must
suppose, in the principles of the Protestant
religion, and, by consequence, in a total ignor-
ance both of the doctrine and use of the mass^
should afterwards not only unanimously agp-ee
to embrace this new scheme of religious wor-
ship, but even to regard it as the most sacred
and solemn part of the public devotion of the
Church. What! could all this be done with-
out contradiction, noise, or trouble ! Or, if
there were contentious, schisms, and disputes
about it, as it is morally impossible, but there
must have been, unless the whole thing be a
fiction, could events of that importance escape
the notice of all historians !
But thirdly : Sacramental-confession, has its
peculiar diflSculty. For it is not a mere specu-
lative point, but of all practical duties 'the
most repugnant to human nature; and I dare
say no man would ever have submitted to it,
who was not first convinced, that he could not
be saved without it. But what increases the
difficulty of introducing the practice of it, is,
that no dignity, whether in Church, or state,
ever exempted any member of the Church of
Rome from the obligation of it. All bishops,
kings, and princes, nay emperors and popes
themselves, have an equal share in the burden,
with the very meanest of the laity. They
must all fall prostrate at the feet of their
confessors, discover their most hidden sins,
submit them to their censure, and perform the
penance enjoined them.
Now, if this was not the doctrine of the
Apostles ; if all the popes and bishops of the
primitive Church were brought up in the prin-
ciples of the refortnation ; finally, if the obli-
gation of auricular confession be a popish error,
and was, b}^ consequence, unknown to antiquity ;
then I cannot forbear asking this question,
which of the two is the most surprising, the
extravagance of those, who first took a fancy
to impose this heavy yoke both on themselves
and others, or the weakness of those, who sub-
mitted to it? For, that it was efiectually sub-
mitted to, is plain matter of fact. But since
the very attempt of introducing a novelty (if
it really was one) so burdensome and odious,
was no better than a mad and extravagant
undertaking, can any one imagine it met not
with very great opposition in the beginning,
and put the whole Church into disorder and
confusion ? Is it not natural to suppose, that
both the laity and clergy rose up in defence of
the Christian liberty, their fore-fathers had
enjoyed; and alleged that since all Christians
before them had been saved without stooping to
the yoke of confession, they saw no reason,
but they might be saved upon the same easy
terms ? And would not all these particulars
(had they really happened) have been recorded
in some history of note ? Truly, whoever
believes the contrary, is capable of swallowing
any improbability whatsoever.
This, therefore, is an incontestible truth, viz.:
that a change from Protestancy to Popery, in
the particulars, I have specified, could not be
eflfected without great opposition, nor, by conse-
quence, without occasioning troubles and
schisms in the Church. For further proof
whereof, let us suppose, that a set of men
should at present attempt to introduce the
number of seven sacraments, the 7nass, auricular
confession, or any noted branch of Popery, into
the Church of England; and I appeal to the
judgment of all men in their senses, whether
those religious zealots would not meet with a
very warm opposition from all the bishops, and
the whole English clergy.
We have an instance of a fresh date of their
episcopal zeal for the Protestant religion in the
reign of King James II., who only endeav-
ored to compel them to order his proclamation
for liberty of conscience, to be read in all the
churches. But the world knows what success
he met with, and the history of the seven
golden candlesticks, will never be forgotten.
Their zeal threw the whole nation into a flame.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
231
and Whitehall became soou after too warm for
that unfortunate prince. If, therefore, Protes-
tancy was the religion established by Christ
and his Apostles, and professed in the infancy
of the Church, can we imagine the good primi-
tive bishops, who were so ready to lay down
their lives for the Church, were not full as
zealous against Poper}'-, as those of the Church
of England ? Or that the}' were not read}' to
stand in the gap, and oppose the torrent with
their utmost strength, when they saw it flowing
in upon the Church ?
But such an imagination being wholly ground-
less, it follows, that what I have undertaken to
prove, is an undeniable truth*; viz. : That the
first supposed change from Protestancy to
Popery, could not be effected with less diffi-
culty, than the second, from Popery to Pro-
testancy. Nay, to speak naturally, the diffi-
culty to effect it, and by consequence, the oppo-
sition made to it, must have been much greater
for the reasons I have given.
Now, no man of any reading can be so igno-
rant, as not to know with what difficulty and
opposition the second change called the reforma-
tion was begun, carried on, and at last effected.
Innumerable histories are filled with ample
relations of the obstinate and bloody wars it
occasioned in Germany, France, the Low-Coun-
tries, and other kingdoms and states. They
all tell us with what vigor it was opposed
by Leo X., and the following popes; by
the Emperor Charles V. Francis I. of
France, and his successors, and even by Henry
VIII. under whom great numbers suffered
in Smithfield for that cause. Finally, the his-
tory of the council of Trent, in which it was
condemned, is known by all men of learning,
so that no man can doubt of the truth of a
fact so particularized and circumstantiated in
all histories written upon that subject.
Here, then, I may justly demand of Protest-
ants the same satisfactory account of the first
supposed charge from Protestancy to Popery.
For since they were always equally opposite,
and the same causes produce naturally the same
effects, no rational man will ever be made to believe
that a change from Popery to Protestancy in a
few kingdoms only should occasion such a num-
ber of remarkable events, cause so many bloody
wars, such disturbances in the Church, and
revolutions in the state ; and that an entire
change from Protestancy to Popery should not
be attended with any of the like effects.
I desire, therefore, some tolerable account
of the particular circumstances of this charge.
As, who were the principal actors in it ? In
what age it happened ? Whether it came in
by degrees, or all at once ? If all at once,
then we must either suppose, that the whole
Christian world went to bed Protestants, and
rose Papists the next morning by unanimous
consent : or that a formidable body of Papists,
like Cadmus's armed men, rose out of the
ground, and in a trice cut the throats of all
true Protestants in the world : or finally, that
Popery dropped from the clouds, and got full
possession of the universal Church, without
being perceived by any body, till the clear-
sighted Martin Luther made the happy discovery.
For truly I can think of no other way to render
it possible, that it should get admittance all at
once, or without opposition, noise, or trouble.
This, however, being somewhat out of the
way, and proper only for machinery exploits upon
the theatre ; I must rather suppose Protestants
will say, it came in by degrees. But then it
is reasonable they should give me a satisfactory
answer to a few questions, and prove the truth
of the facts from unquestionable records. For
if Popery came in by degrees, it got footing
first in one place, then in another : As the
reformation did in Germany, Switzerland, and
Geneva, before it crossed the seas to visit Eng-
land. So that we must suppose there were
Protestants and Popish states and kingdoms
for some time in former ages, as there have
been ever since the reformatioti. I ask, then,
where it was that Popery made it first entrance ?
Was it in the east, or west, south, or north ?
What kingdom, state, or nation abjured the
Protestant religion first ? Who was the first
232
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
Popish bishop of Rome, emperor, or king?
What Protestant and Popish kings were con-
temporary ? What wars happened in their
several reigns about religion ? What books
were written for and against Popery ? What
Protestant councils were called to condemn it ?
And lastly, by what name were those, who
adhered to the ancient Protestant religion,
distinguished from the other who embraced
Popery ? for I am sensible that Protestants
and Papists are names invented since the
reformation. And since it is highly improbable,
that two such diflferent communions, or religions,
as those of the reformation^ and the Church
of Rome, should be at any time in the world,
without names to distinguish them ; because
even the most inconsiderable sect never wanted
a name, I should be glad to know what their
names were in former ages, viz. : From the
time that Popery first got footing in some par-
ticular state, or kingdom, till its full establish-
ment in the universal visible Church. I could
ask a great many more puzzling questions,
but I should be satisfied, if Protestants can
but answer the few I have put, and produce
unquestionable authority for proof of their
answers: As Papists can do to prove every
material circumstance of the reformation ; and
as both Protestants and Papists can do in re-
ference to any considerable heresy, that ever
was broached in the Church. But if they can
give no tolerable account of the forementioned
particulars, as I am sure they must be con-
scious to themselves they cannot ; if there never
was an historian in the world, that wrote
the history of the wonderful change from
Protestancy to Popery, under whatever names
you please ; as there are hundreds, who have
written the history of the reformation ; then it
is reasonable to conclude, that the supposed
change is a mere fiction, and that any grub-
street tale has full as good a foundation.
I doubt not, however, but that by the art of
invention, some ingenious hypothesis may be
made-; an imaginary scheme may be formed to
show the metaphysical possibility of a thing,
that never has happened, nor ever will happen.
But this way will not do. I demand not the
invention of a fruitful brain, but plain facts,
and good history to prove them. Nothing less
will satisfy me, nor indeed any man, who is
not fond of being deceived. I desire to know
the true history of Popery ; I mean not that
Popery which was established every where upon
the ruins of paganism, whereof I have already
given a very good account ; but of that Popery,
which we suppose to be the younger sister of
Protestantism. I desire to know when and where
this unfortunate babe, so hated and persecuted
b}' the best natural people in Europe, was born,
where she was nursed, who were her parents
and masters. What memorable adventures she
met with, when she made her first appearance.
By what trick, or slight she got the inheritance
away from Protestancy, her supposed elder
sister, nay and maintained the full possession
of it for many hundred years. In a word, how
she came to be mistress of the whole Christian
world. These are the most material points, for
which I demand authentic history : and till I
have some good account of them, I shall con-
tinue with a very safe and easy conscience in
my belief, that the religion, which now is called
Popery, is as ancient as Christianity, and that
it never had any other beginning, than what
Christ and his Apostles gave it.
SECTION 11.— THE SAME ARGUMENTS CONTINUED.
Though the gentlemen of the reformation may
find it too hard a task to inform us how Popery
in general got into the Church, they may, per-
haps, be able to give us a better account of
some particular branches of it. I shall, there-
fore, to avoid being tedious, choose only one of
the three, I have already spoken of I mean
the mass : which being the most solemn worship
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
233
both of the Greek and Latin Church, could not
easily steal into the world without being per-
ceived, if it had not its beginning from Christ
and his Apostles. I must likewise observe, that
the mass is, in the opinion of most Protestants,
the very rankest part of Poper}', and the most
hated b}^ them ; witness the sanguinary laws,
made against it in Queen Elizabeth's time. And
therefore, if Protestancy was established in the
world before Popery, I leave any man of sense
to judge whether the mass could get admittance
without the greatest diflBculty and resistance
imaginable.
However, I shall give one remarkable posi-
tive proof of its antiquity : And I make choice
of it, because every Englishman, who has but
read the chronicles, will easily apprehend the
force of it. England was converted from Saxon
paganism to Christianity towards the end of the
sixth century ; that is, about five hundred
years before the Norman conquest, and about
nine hundred years before the reformation. The
persons who converted it were sent from Rome by
pope Gregory the Great ; and we may be sure
preached and established the religion of the place
from whence they came ; which at that time
flourished in all parts of the Christian world. The
religion they brought over with them, continued
in England without any alteration from its first
establishment till the pretended reformation :
as the book of Homilies plainly owns in telling
us that before the reformation^ " whole Christen-
dom had been drowned in abominable idolatry
for the space of eight hundred years, and more : "
for I presume England was a part of the Chris-
tendom it speaks of
Hence, it follows, first, that as Popery was
the religion of England in the beginning of
the reformation, so it was that very religion to
which it was converted nine hundred years
before by St. Austin, and his fellow-missioners.
It follows, secondly, that the mass and Chris-
tianity came together into England. Because,
as I have already observed, it cannot be doubted
but that they, who brought their religion from
Rome, and received all their directions from
thence, as St. Austin and his fellow-laborers did
even in things of much less moment, (witness
holy Bede's history of England) it cannot be
doubted, I say, but they established the same
form of worship in England, as was practised
at Rome.
Now, that mass was at that time said at Rome,
is manifest from St. Greg. 8, Hom. upon the
Gospels, where we find these remarkable words :
Quia largienti domino missarum solemnia ter
hodie celebraturi sumus, loqui diu de evangelica
ledione non possumus. That is, " Since, God
willing, I shall say mass thrice to-day, I cannot
be very long in my discourse upon the Gospel."
This was spoken by St. Gregory on Christmas
Day ; which is the only day in the whole year,
on which every Roman Catholic priest says
m.ass thrice. And it is an unanswerable proof,
that the m.ass so well established in the Church
of Rome at the time when England was con-
verted, that even the custom of saying three
masses on Christmas day, which is but a point
of discipline, was then observed in that Church.
But it follows, thirdly, that at the time,
when England was converted, the mass was
the public worship of the whole Christian
Church. Because we read no where, that there
was any schism, or disagreement about that
article in pope Gregory's time.
Here, then, we have a clear and intelligible
account that the mass was established in the
whole Christian Church, nine hundred years
before the reformation ; and so well established
that no man can with any color, or probability
of reason pretend it was then a new thing:
and if any one should pretend it, I can pro-
duce unquestionable authority to disprove him.
The most ancient of the fathers have left
us an account of the manner of celebrating mass
in their times. As St. Justinus, Martyr, Apol. 2.
The author of the apostolic constitutions, L. 2. c.
57, and L. 8. c. 5. et seq. St. Cyril of Jeru-
salem Catech. 5, Mystag. Besides, all learned
men own St. Basil and St. Chrysostom to be
the authors of the liturgies, that bear their
name, and are to this day used in the Greek
234
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
Churcli. The Roman liturgy is likewise verj'
ancient, as appears from the sacramentary^ or
ritual of pope Gregory the Great, who abridged
the liturgy of pope Gelasius, a father of the
fifth age ; and he only put it into some better
order, with a few inconsiderable alterations
made in it. So that any impartial reader of
antiquit}'- will find the whole Church at mass
the fourth and fifth century, and a cloud of
venerable witnesses to attest it.
But I shall in a few words trace it even to
the third and second century ; and that, with
the help of four substantial Protestant wit-
nesses ; I mean, the four Magdeburgians, or
Centuriators, who very honestly own the fact,
in censuring St. Ignatius, the disciple of St.
John, the holj' martyr Irenaeus, St. Cyprian,
St. Martial and Tertullian, for teaching the
doctrine of the mass ; the substance or essence
whereof consists precisely in being " an un-
blood}' sacrifice offered to God by the priests
of the new law upon an altar : " or, what
amounts to the same : " An external oblation of
the body and blood of Christ under the forms
of bread and wine." For, as to the ceremonies,
they belong only to the decency, or solemnity,
but are no part of the substance of the mass.
And, therefore, as they were gradually intro-
duced in the primitive ages ; so, if the Church
thought fitting, she might even now make
alterations in them.
This being premised, let us see what the
Centuriators have blamed in the forementioned
fathers of the second and third age. St. Igna-
tius is censured by them for using these words,
Offerre et immolare sacrificium : Epist. ad
Smern : " to immolate, or offer sacrifice." St.
Irenaeus for saying, "that Christ had taught
a new oblation in the New Testament, which
the Church receiving from the Apostles does
offer throughout the whole world;" Iren. L. 4,
c. 32. St. C3rprian is accused of superstition
for saying, " that the priest is Christ's rep-
resentative, and offers sacrifice to God the
Father ;" Cyp. L. 2, c. 3. They reprehend Ter-
tullian for using the words Sacrificium offerre.,
" to offer sacrifice." L. de cocena domini. And
St. Martial for saying, " that sacrifice is offered
to God, the Creator, upon the altar."
Here is a plain confession of four Protestant
writers, that mass was said in the second and
third century, and five eminent fathers of those
ages are quoted for it. St. Ignatius had re-
ceived his doctrine from St. John himself, and
been eye-witness of his actions ; and the rest
lived so near the time of the Apostles, that I
dare presume to say, they were somewhat bet-
ter acquainted with what they had taught and
practiced, than the pretended reformers, who
appeared in the world some twelve, or thirteen
hundred years after. Yet then it was, that
this august and venerable sacrifice, which the
prophet Malachy had foretold, " should be
offered up to God from east to west ;" Mai. i.
II, which for near fifteen hundred years
together, had been the relief of departed souls,
the consolation of the just, and sanctuary of
sinners, was, by the impiety of a few mis-
creants, rendered the object of hatred and con-
tempt, and banished out of the Church, as far
as in them lay.
However this be, I am sensible I have
proved more than I needed : because my only
business is to put Protestants to their proof
concerning the beginning of the mass. I am
but the defendant, they are the plaintiff's. They
are, therefore, bound to make good their charge,
and show that the mass is a Popish invention,
and has no foundation in the doctrine of Christ
and his Apostles ; that the primitive Christians
knew nothing of it, and that, by consequence,
it had its beginning in some distant age from
the time of the Apostles.
I have already given my reason to show the
moral impossibility of introducing it without
the greatest opposition, noise, and trouble, in
case the primitive Church was wholly a
stranger to it. I have also made it evident,
that changes, contests, and troubles can never
happen in Church, or state, without being
recorded in some history of the times, in which
they happened. If, therefore, the mass be
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
235
■\\ithout foundation in the doctrine of Christ and
his Apostles, if the use of it was unknown in
the primitive Church, I desire any Protestant
for the credit and reputation of his cause, and
the satisfaction of tender consciences, to let us
know the names of the writers who lived about
the time, when the mass was first brought into
the Church, and have written the history of it.
For I presume, it is from them we should cer-
tainlj' learn, who were the first inventors, or
l^romoters of it. How, where and when such
an extraordinary novelty was first brought
into credit. And surely, they will not conceal
from us one very remarkable particular, viz. :
Who was the first massiiig pope, bishop, or
priest. I expect we shall also be informed,
what resistance it met with; who were the
zealous Protestant bishops that opposed it.
What disturbances it raised, in what councils
it was condemned, and what reluctance the peo-
ple were at first brought to be present at it.
These surely, and other such remarkable
facts will be the subject of the histories written
in, or about the time, in which they happened.
But if no account of them appears in any
ancient, or creditable history, I must repeat,
what I have already laid down, as a principle,
viz. : That such a silence, in a matter of the
greatest importance, is a proof amounting to a
moral demonstration, that they never happened
at all ; that the pretended change from a total
denial, or ignorance of the mass^ to an entire
establishment of it, is altogether fictitious ; and
that, by consequence, the mass had its begin-
ning from the institution of Christ, and the
doctrine and practice of the Apostles, according
to St. Austin's judgment, who, writing against
the Donatists, gives this for a rule : " That
when any doctrine is found generally received
in the visible Church, in any age whatsoever,
whereof there is no certain author, or begin-
ning to be found ; then it is sure, that such a
doctrine came down from Christ and his
Apostles." L. 4. de bap. c. 6, v. 24, as also L.
de Unit. Eccl. c. iq.
If any one pretends, that the mass crept in
by insensible degrees, and so made no noise,
or disturbances to be taken notice of by any
historian ; the answer is so very weak, that I
am almost ashamed to confute it seriously.
For first: The thing is without example; and
I defy Protestants to produce one single instance
of the like nature in any considerable heresy
owned as such by both sides. For let them
name what heresy they please, as that of the
Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, Monothelites,
Pelagians, Donatists, Novatians, etc., they all
caused great disturbances in the Church ;
histories of them have been written, and we
can show how, where and when they began ;
what progress they made, what fate they met
with, and other particulars: and to pretend
that Popery alone, supposing it to be a com-
pound of gross errors, or any branch of it, but
particularly the mass^ should steal into the
Church like a thief in the night, without
being perceived, or opposed by anybody, is as
mere a whim, as ever was hatched in a dis-
tracted brain.
But, secondly : The thing will appear to be
altogether impracticable, if we consider how
watchful the Church has always been in dis-
covering any heresy, and how vigorous in
opposing the growth of it. So that many have
been suppressed at their very appearance, as
Quietism was toward the end of the last cen-
tury. And it is an undeniable truth, that the
Church has exerted herself with the same
watchfulness and vigor in all ages, without
the least regard to the dignity, or character
of the persons, who by mistake, or otherwise,
endeavored to corrupt the purity of the Chris-
tian faith.
Thus, though Tertullian and Origen were
two great pillars of the Church in their time,
and their orthodox writings are justly valued
by all men of learning, yet the Church was
watchful enough to discover the tares that
grew up amongst the wheat ; and the reputa-
tion neither of their wit, nor learning could
save their errors from being condemned. The
same may be said of some errors held by
236
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
Lactantius, Amobius, Cassianus, and others,
which could not escape the watchful eye of the
Church, and were accordingly censured by her.
Nay, what is most remarkable, the error of the
holy bishop and martyr, St. Cyprian, who was
a man of an extraordinary character, was very
warmly opposed, and underwent the same fate.
So true it is, that the Church has alwa3^s been
extremely jealous of the purity of her faith ;
watchful, in detecting the least error again.st it ;
and inflexible, in doing justice upon it. And
is it then possible, that a thing so odious to
Protestants, as the mass, should either creep
into the Church without being perceived: or
if perceived, should not be immediately opposed
and condemned ! Is it probable, that the gross
errors of Popery should be the only criminals,
that escaped the hands of justice? But the
thing is so very gross in itself, so contradictory
to experience, and inconsistent with reason that
it confutes itself. I shall add two short remarks
of no small importance.
I observe, first, That if the reformed religion
had antiquity on its side, Martin Litther, the
first and principal reformer, who neither wanted
wit, nor learning, would not have overlooked, or
slighted an advantage of that importance ;
because the ancient religion is certainl}' the true
one. And, therefore, since it is an undeniable
fact, that this capital reformer, instead of appeal-
ing to the ancient fathers, treated them as pro-
fessed enemies, naj', declared in express terms,
as will appear in the following chapter, that
fathers, councils, and the practice of ages was
against him, it follows that the doctrine of the
reformation can lay no claim to antiquity, but
has the infamous mark of novelty stamped
upon it.
I observe, secondly, That though I have
named several of the ancient fathers, who were
censured for particular error, I have never
heard of any father, or doctor of the Church in
all antiquity, who ever was censured for any
Popish error. I mean, for any of those pre-
tended errors, which Protestants call Poperj',
as the mass, purgatory, invocation of saints, etc.
Which, however, are clearly found in their writ-
ings. This is a demonstration, that the ancient
Church did not look upon them as errors, but
as orthodox doctrine. For had they been looked
upon as errors, they could not have escaped the
censure of the Church. As, for instance, the
doctrine of the Mass would have been no less
censured in St. Cyprian than his teaching the
rebaptism of persons baptized by heretics ; and
since the one was really condemned, and not the
other, it is an unanswerable proof, that the
Mass was held to be the doctrine of Christ and
his Apostles.
I shall conclude with summing up the princi-
pal heads of the argument, I have handled in
this chapter, that the reader may have a clear
view of them at once.
If Protestancy, as opposite to Popery, be the
true religion, then it is that religion, which was
taught by Christ and his Apostles ; and by con-
sequence, Protestancy had a being, before Popery.
If so, then it follows that there happened in some
age, or other, an entire change from Protestancy
to Popery, which was in the possession of the
whole Church for many hundred years. But it
is morally impossible, that such a change should
happen without opposition, nay, without causing
great disturbances both in Church and State ;
and it is without example, that such consider-
able events should neither be recorded in anjr
histories written about the time when they hap-
pened, nor transmitted to posterity b}'^ writers of
the following age ; therefore, if Protestants can-
not produce any such history, as it is certain
they cannot, the pretended change from Protes-
tancy to Popery is wholly groundless ; and by
consequence, the religion of the Church of Rome
is as ancient as Christianity : and her enemies
are guilty of as many calumnies, as they lay
errors to her charge.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
237
SECTION 111.— OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
Obj. I. The whole argument of this chapter
amounts to no more, than a mere negative proof;
and therefore is not conclusive.
Ans. That some negative arguments are as
strong, as an}^ positive demonstration ; though
there be others, that are frivolous and childish.
As, for instance : it is as strong a proof as
any positive demonstration, that Great Britain
never was conquered by the Turks, because no
history has ever made mention of it : and a
man that should refuse to yield to such a
proof, because it is but a negative one, would
justly deserve to be cudgeled into better reason.
But if any oue should seriously maintain, that
neither William the Conqueror, nor Henry the
VIII. ever eat black puddings, because the fact
is not recorded in any histor};- ; I believe he
would not get the reputation of a profound wit
by it. Now these two specimens may in some
measure direct us to distinguish a good negative
argument from a bad one : and I dare confi-
dently say, that the universal silence of histor-
ians proves my points as effectually, as that
Great Britain never was conquered by the
Turks.
Obj. 2. Praying in an unknown tongue,
jubilees, and celibacy of priests, were not
practised in the ancient Church.
Ans. Though all this were true, the objection
is impertinent : because no article of faith is
concerned in it.
This, and the four following objections are
taken out of a little anonymous book, entitled,
" Friendly and seasonable advice to the Roman
Catholics of England." But though the book
be little in bulk, it contains the largest collec-
tion of bare-faced lies and calumnies, that ever
were crowded together under one cover. The
author, whoever he may be, has, perhaps,
already accounted for it before the great tri-
bunal ; for it was written full thirty years ago.
But if he be still alive, I cannot do less than
return the favor of his friendly and seasonable
advice, by advising him to repent while it is
yet time, and atone for the wrong he has done
to truth.
Obj. 3. "The use of images," says this
author, " can be derived no higher (as to its
being decreed) than the second council of Nice,
anno 7S7."
Ans. The consubstantiality of the Son can
be derived no higher (as to its being decreed)
than the first council of Nice, anno, 325. And
is this a good proof that it was not the faith
of the Church in the three first centuries ?
However, with the adviser's good leave, even
the actual use of images was introduced into
the Church long before the lawfulness of it
was defined in the second Nicene-council. For
how could it otherwise have occasioned the
heresy of the Incouoclasts, or image-breakers,
which was condemned in that council ? Though,
in reality, it is nothing to the purpose to know,
when the actual use of them first became the
public practice : For it is certain the Church
never obliged the faithful to it as a thing
essential to Christianity. On the contrary, it
is a point of discipline only, which was not
universally practised, till idolatry was utterly
extinguished in Christendom. But since that
time, the Church had reason to declare, " That
the images of Christ and his Saints are to be
retained : And that a due honor, and venera-
tion is to be given to them." Cone. Trid.
Sess. 25. Nor do I see how any thing of
moment can be objected against it. But to a
thinking spectator, it cannot but appear some-
what odd, that the Church of England should
admit the pictures of Moses and Aaron into
her churches, and banish those of Jesus Christ,
and his Apostles.
Obj. 4. " The administering the sacrament in
one kind (says the friendly adviser, p. 15,) is no
older than the council of Constance."
Ans. If he means, that the Church's faith
before that council, was, that " administering the
238
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
sacrament is one kind in contrary to Christ's
institution." (as he must mean, if he pretends
to speak to the purpose,) his assertion is flatly
false. But if his meaning be, that the council
of Constance ordered, that the sacrament should
from that time forward be administered to the
laity in one kind only ; though the fact be true,
the objection is foreign to the matter under
debate ; if it be made evident, that " receiving
under one, or both kinds, is a point of discipline
only."
Now, that it has always been regarded by
the Church as such, is an undeniable truth ;
because it is without dispute, that in the
primitive ages the sacrament was received some-
times in both kinds, sometimes in one. I
shall not need to prove the former; and there
are three undeniable instances of the latter
from the practice of the primitive Church.
First. In the communion of infants, who were
allowed to drink of the cup, without receiving
the consecrated host. Cyp. L. de lapsis.
Secondly. In domestic communions : the faith-
ful being permitted by reason of the persecu-
tion in the second and third age, to carry
consecrated hosts to their own houses for private
communions in one kind only. Tert. L. 2,
and Uxoram. c. 5, S. Cyp. L. de lapsis.
And thirdly. In the manner frequently used
of administering the sacrament, to the sick.
Euseb. Lib. 6, Hist. c. 44, p. 246.
All which are unanswerable proofs, that the
manner of receiving the communion either in
one, or both kinds, was regarded by the primitive
Church, as a point of discipline only; and,
therefore, changeable according as the nature,
or exigency of circumstances should require.
And it cannot be questioned but the primitive
Church understood the meaning of Christ's
precept and institution somewhat better than
our late reformers; and would never have
allowed of a communion under one kind onl}',
upon any exigency whatsoever, if they had
looked upon it as a mangling of the sacrament,
or a violation of Christ's ordinance.
And, therefore, what the friendly adviser
says, p. 10, that the taking away the cup from
the laity is contrary to our Saviour's institution,
is more than he can make out. But what he
adds, viz. : " That the very council of Constance,
which first enjoined communion in one kind,
confesses, that it is contrary to our Saviour's
institution," is a calumny not to be matched
but by many others of his own forging in the
same book. For it is in eflfect to call the
council an assembly either of Atheists, or of
fools and madmen. For who but Atheists and
madmen are capable of making a decree like
this ? viz. : " Notwithstanding that Christ has
commanded all men to receive the sacrament
in both kinds, it shall be given in one kind
only to the people." Surely a man must re-
nounce his reason to judge, that an assembly
of Christian bishops and pastors, in their senses,
should make such a mad and impious decree in
the face of the whole world.
As to the council's 7ion obstante^ etc. Which
is made the pretence for this calumny, the
obvious and genuine meaning of it is this, viz. :
" Not\nthstanding that our Saviour instituted
the sacrament in both kinds, all are not com.
manded and bound to receive it in both kinds."
Which is no less true, than to say, " that
though God has instituted all sorts of meats
for the use of mankind, yet all men are not
commanded nor bound toeat of all sorts of meats."
Nay, the Antichians were by the Apostles ex-
pressly forbid blood and things strangled. Both
kinds, indeed, v/ere consecrated by Christ,
that both might be offered up in sacrifice, and
be a perfect representation of his death by the
mystical separation of his body and blood. But
since neither laymen, nor women are priests,
as they have no power to consecrate, so they
are not within the command of receiving both
kinds.
Obj. 5. " The doctrine of Purgatory (says
the friendly adviser, p. 12), was first built upon
the credit of those fabulous dialogues attributed
to Gregory the first."
Ans. This is very strange. For, according ,
to the best of my skill in chronology, St.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
239
Austin lived about two hundred years before
St. Gregory : St. Cyril of Jerusalem is more
ancient than St. Austin ; and Tertullian than
both. Yet these, and many more of the same
antiquity, teach the doctrine of Purgatory as
fully and clearly, as the council of Trent, Let
us hear Air. Thorndike, an eminent Protestant
divine. " The practice," saj's he, " of the
Church interceding for them [the dead] at the
celebration of the Eucharist, is so general and
so ancient, that it cannot be thought to have
come in upon imposture, but that the same
aspersion will seem to take hold of the com-
mon Christianity." Thomdike's just weights
and measures, c. 16, p. 106.
This is somewhat more charitable and man-
nerly, than what the friendly adviser tells us,
p. 36. " That the doctrine of Purgatory has
been decreed by the Church of Rome, only to
oblige people to give liberally for themselves,
or their deceased friends to those, who sell
their prayers so commonly, that they occasioned
that proverb, ' no penny, no pater noster.' "
What wonderful exploits will not such logic
as this perform against Popery! But, if it
should be applied to baptisms and burials in
the Church of England, I believe the parsons'
would not be very much pleased with it. For
let me tell the friendly adviser, "no penny, no
pater noster," is much truer in Protestant bap-
tisms and burials, than in Popish masses for
the dead. For I fear there are' but few parsons
so disinterested, as to baptize, or bury without
their fee ; whereas, there are thousands of masses
said for the dead, without the least view, or
prospect of gain.
Obj. 6. The adviser is likewise pleased to
acquaint us, p. 14, that auricular confession to
a priest was never imposed as necessary, till
the Lateran council, anno, 12 15, Can. 21.
Ans. I must here return upon him with my
former argument, viz.: That no man of common
sense will believe him, unless he can produce
some history of the thirteenth century, giving
an account of the opposition which this new
odious article met with, and the disturbances it
occasioned in the Church. For it is as iucrea-
ible, that a new doctrine, so hateful and repug-
nant to human nature, as that of auricular con-
fession, after its having been believed unneces-
sary to salvation for near twelve hundred years,
should be imposed upon the Church as neces-
sary, and submitted to without opposition, noise,
or trouble ; this I say, is as incredible as the
most fabulous romance, that ever was invented.
Since, therefore, the canon of the Lateran council
relating to the point in question, was effectu-
ally received by the universal Church without
any manner of opposition, or trouble, it is a
demonstration, that it defined nothing but the
ancient faith of the Church, nor imposed that
as a necessary duty, which had been believed
unnecessary before.
The naked truth of the whole matter is this.
The obligation, or necessity of auricular con-
fession, had always been the faith of the
Church. But there was a great neglect in the
practice of it among Christians ; some delaying
it from year to year, and others putting it off
to their very last sickness. To put a stop to
this evil, the Lateran council fixed the time ;
and by its twenty-first canon obliges all the
faithful, " to confess once a year, and receive
the sacrament at Easter." And let any one
judge, whether this be imposing a new article
of faith, as the adviser tells us. But it is his
method to charge through thick and thin, and
calumniate boldly, in hopes, that at least some
part of the dirt he throws at us may stick.
Obj. 7. No man will at least deu}', that the
article of Tran substantiation, was first coined
in the Lateran council.
Ans. I shall make bold both to deny it, and
prove it to be false. The friendly adviser, p. 15,
calls Transubstantiation the discriminating
doctrine of our Church, yet at the same time,
has the confidence to tell us, that our own
doctrine acknowledges, that it was not held by
the fathers. For which he quotes Valentia.
Secondly, That our schoolmen confess, that
Transubstantiation is not ancient. For which
Suarez is quoted. And thirdly, that Scotus and
240
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
Duranus plainlj' deny it. It is very strange,
that four such eminent divines, and noted
Papists should betray their own Church in a
discriminating point of doctiiiie. But false
quotations make as fine a show in the margin
as true ones : and ignorant people, for whom
alone the friendly adviser has calculated his
treatise, will look upon him as a scholar of the
'first magnitude, and easily mistake bold for-
geries, for deep learning.
But to give a direct answer to the objection,
the Lateran council decreed nothing but the
ancient faith of the Church. For there is a
large diflference between coining words, and
coining articles of faith. All men of learning
know, that the word consubstantial was first
made use of in the great council of Nice, to
express the divinity of Christ against the
Arians. Was this, then, coining a new article
of faith ? No, it was only coining a new word
to express the ancient faith, and distinguish
Catholics from Arians. In like manner, there-
fore, the word transubstantiation was first used
in the fourth Lateran council, to express the
ancient faith in relation to the mystery of the
holy Eucharist, as appears from the writings
of the ancient fathers.
The word transubstantiation signifies a change
of one substance into another ; and in relation
to the Eucharist, it signifies a change of the
bread into the body, and of the wine into the
blood of our Saviour, Christ, made by the words
of consecration : now let us see whether the
ancient fathers have not very plainly taught
this doctrine.
St. Cyril, of Jerusalem, in Catech. 4, myst.
" Since therefore, Christ himself does thus
afi&rm, and say of the bread, ' this is my
body,' who from henceforward dares be so bold
as to doubt of it ? And since the same does
assure us, and say, ' This is my blood,' who
I sa}!-, can doubt of it, and say it is not his
blood ? In Cana of Gallilee, he once with
his sole will turned water into wine, which
much resembles blood. And does he not deserve
to be credited that he changed wine into blood ? "
St. Greg. Nyssen. in Orat. Catec. c. 37. " I
do, therefore, now rightly believe, that the bread
sanctified by the word of God, is changed into
the body of God the word. And here, like-
wise, the bread, as the Apostles say, is sanctified
by the word of God and prayer. Not so, that
by being eaten it becomes the body of the word,
but because it is suddenly changed into his
body, by this word, ' this is my body.' And
this is effected by the virtue of benediction ;
by which the nature of those things, which
appear, is transubstantiated into it."
St. Chrysost. Hom. 83, in Matt., " the things
we propose, are not done by human power ; he,
that wrought these things, at his last supper,
is the author of what is done here. We hold
but the place of ministers, but he that sanctifies
and changes them, is Christ himself."
St. Ambrose de his, qui Mysteriis initiantur,
c. 9. " If Christ by his words was able to
make something of nothing, shall he not be
thought able to change one thing into another ?"
St. Jerome, Epist. ad Heliod. " God forbid,
that I should speak detractingly of those men,
[bishops] who succeeding the Apostles in their
functions, do make the body of Christ with
their sacred mouth."
These are a small part of the testimonies of
the ancient fathers, both Greek and Latin, who
have explained the doctrine of Transubstantia-
tion in as clear terms, as any Roman Catholic
divine can now do. It is, therefore, a calumny
to say, that it was imposed upon the Church by
the Lateran council, which was held above seven
hundred years after the fathers, quoted by me,
explained it in their writings. The word was
new indeed, but the doctrine is as ancient as the
Church of Christ. Adamus Francisci (marg.
Theol. p. 256) confesses, that " transubstantiation
entered early into the Church." And Antonius
de Ada, mo. another Protestant writer ( Anat. Miss.
p. 36) fairly owns, " that he has not hitherto
been able to know, when this opinion of the real
and bodily being of Christ in the sacrament did
begin ;" which, according to St. Austin's maxim
against the Donatists, is owning in effect, that
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
241
it had its beginning from Christ and his Apostles.
See above, p. 131.
But how could Transubstantiation be coined
into an article of faith in the Lateran council,
which was held, anno 12 15, when all the world
knows that Berengarius was the author of a
heresy against it in the eleventh century ; and
in that very century was condemned by no less
than eleven national, or provincial councils.
The last whereof, held at Placentia, anno 1094,
defines, "That the bread and wine, when they
are consecrated upon the altar, are truly and
essentially changed into the body and blood of
our Lord." Tom. 10, Cone. Lat. p. 502. And
in the Roman council, anno 1079, Berengarius
was obliged to make his retractation in this form.
" I, Berengarius, with my heart believe, and
with my tongue confess, that the bread and wine,
which are placed upon the altar, are by the
mystery of holy prayer, and the words of our
Redeemer, substantially changed into the true
and proper, and life-giving flesh and blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ." Both which are con-
vincing proofs, that Dr. Cosen imposes i:pon his
reader in his history of Transubstantiation ;
when he tells us, p. 159, "That it was invented
about the middle of the twelfth century, and con-
firmed by no ecclesiastical, or papal decree before
the year 12 15, unless he means the word instead
of the thing signified by it, which is trifling
instead of proving.
SECTION IV.— THE ADVISER'S SYSTEM CONCERNING THE FIRST ESTABLISHMENT OF POPERY.
To return once more to our friendly adviser, I
shall now take under consideration his wonder-
ful contrivance to bring in Popery in the dark.
So that if we believe him, it groped its way into
the universal Church, without being perceived,
or opposed by any body. Now here lies the
usefulness and ingenuity of the contrivance.
Popery was certainly in possession of the univer-
sal visible Church for many hundred years before
the reformation. The fact is so unquestionable,
that impudence itself cannot deny it. For if it
could, the adviser would have been the readiest
man to do it.
But the knot of the difficulty is, to give some
rational account, how it first got into posses-
sion. For, if it were allowed, that Popery had
possession of the Church from the verj' begin-
ning of Christianity, the reformed Churches
would not have a word to say for themselves.
Or, if it were owned, that it came in barefaced,
whilst all men's eyes were open to observe it.
Papists would ask a thousand troublesome
questions about it. As, by whom, how, where,
and when it was brought in ? Whether no
Protestant princes, or bishops, had zeal enough
16
to oppose it ? Or no Protestant councils were
called to condemn it ? And the like. And
unless these questions were answered categori-
cally, and the answers proved from authentic
history, the matter would look but very scur-
vily in the judgment of all wise men.
Wherefore, to avoid splitting upon either of
these rocks, observe the ingenuity of our
friendly adviser. For he has ordered matters
so cunningly, that (unless we will question
his veracity) we must believe, that Protestancy
was thrust out, and Popery let in, and the
faith of the Church turned topsy turvy with-
out opposition, noise, or trouble, or scarce any
body's being sensible of it. And to render the
matter evident even to a demonstration, he tells
us, that the whole business was transacted in
the dark, and whilst the world was in a pro-
foiind sleep ; for which he quotes this clear
text of scripture : " the tares were sowed while
men slept ;" Matt. xiii. 25. So that we can
suppose no less, than that some strong sopor-
iferous draught was given to all the bishops,
doctors, and pastors of the Church, which laid
them all so fast asleep, threw whole christen-
242
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
dom into so deep a lethargy, and in a word,
produced sucli a universal ignorance and stu-
pidity, amongst all degrees of men, that they
either could not distinguish black from white,
or if they could, were unable to exert them-
selves in any manner, to oppose the absurd and
monstrous doctrines, that were imposed upon
them. Nay, and the virtue of this powerful
enchantment lasted from the year 900, till a
few years before the reformation : all which
time, an Egyptian darkness was spread over
the whole face of the earth. And it was in the
time of this universal ignorance and darkness,
that the Pope and his agents played all their
pranks ; established Popery with the greatest
ease imaginable, and cut out work for the blessed
refo7'7nation^ that followed. And thus the argu-
ment contained in the preceding sections is
answered with a wet finger.
But truly, there is scarce a fable in Ovid,
to be compared with this wonderful metamor-
phosis of the Church. That of Ulysses and
his companions changed into hogs comes the
nearest to it. And I think the friendly adviser
has committed an oversight in not making use
of this authentic piece to illustrate and adorn
his ingenious system. For truly, Ovidius, Lib.
14, Metamorphoses, would have made as beau-
tiful a figure in the margin, as the greatest
part of the authors he has quoted.
However, to be somewhat more serious, than
the matter really deserves, I shall gfive a sum-
mary of it in his own words. " It cannot be
denied," says he, " that from the time of the decay
of the western empire, and the irruption of the
Goths and Vandals into Europe, there began to
be a great decay of learning, and barbarism crept
in \)y degrees. And at length, this ignorance
became so universal, that the study of the
liberal arts was generally laid aside. Yea,
such gross folly possessed the world, that
Christians believed more absurd things, than
Pagans gave credit to. And that age, which
bred many of these errors, is commonly called
the obscure age."
(Here he quotes Baronius, anno 900 : so
that this is the epoch, from which the time of
universal darkness is to be dated.) He con-
tinues :
" This age was wholly without persons eminent
for wit, or learning. The very inferior priests
not being able to translate an epistle into
Latin; which Egyptian darkness continued in
all the western world, till a few years before
the reformation."
I confess, six hundred years of Egyptian
darkness was a fair time for the popes to play
all their tricks of legerdemain, and juggle all
mankind out of their senses. It is very strange,
however, that in all this time there should not
be one single man of the learning and zeal of
Martin Luther to prevent so great a mischief
"This g^oss stupidity," says the adviser,
"must needs make the world apt and easy to
be abused with the most absurd and monstrous
doctrines : for ignorance is the mother of errors.
This made way for the politic guides of Rome
to impose such opinions on the Church, as
might best serve for their own ends. These
tares were sowed, while men slept; Matt. viii.
25. And there were many circumstances
concurring in those unlucky ages, which con-
tribute to the furthering of the Roman de-
signs. The withdrawing of the emperors into
the east, and the first decay of the west-
ern ernpire: then the destruction of the eastern,
and the desolation of the famous oriental
Churches, by the spreading inundation of the
Turks and Saracens. So that the Pope had
neither emperor, nor patriarch for a long time
to oppose him ; the miseries of all Christendom
giving him opportunity to make himself sole
governor of these parts of the world." Section
3, p. 46, etc.
This, I think, is nonsense enough for one
time. But from the words of our friendly
adviser, one would be apt to surmise, that from
the loss of Constantinople, till the reformation^
the popes had either massacred, or deposed all
the Christian princes and bishops in the west.
For what . else can the poor man mean, by
his saying, " That the Pope made himself sole
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
243
governor of these parts of the world ?" Which,
whether to be meant of his temporal, or spiritual
power, is equally absurd. And as to what he
says, "That the Pope for a long time had
neither emperor, nor patriarch to oppose him ;"
it is notoriously known, that since the reign
of Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor in the
eighth century, the west has never been with-
out Christian emperors, nor the east without
its patriarchs, even since the Turks became
masters of Constantinople. And, therefore, the
adviser either wrote contrary to his own
knowledge, or showed himself very ignorant of
history.
To say nothing of his blunder in chronology
concerning the first decay of the western em-
pire, which happened several hundred years
before the age of pretended darkness, let us
briefly examine the system itself, and see
whether there be any thing either like truth,
or probability in it. He tells us then, that
the dark times began from the year 900, and
that this age, viz. : The tenth, " bred many of the
Popish errors." But how does this agree with
the book of Homilies, which sa3's positively,
that before the reformation^ "whole Christendom
had been drowned in abominable idolatry for the
space of eight hundred years and more ? " For
by good computation, this brings Popery two
whole centuries (and as much more, as you
please) higher than the time unluckily pitched
upon by the adviser. Nay, the Homilist assures
us, that the abominable idolatry, he speaks of,
(which in Protestant language expresses very
pathetically the whole body of papistical doc-
trine) was spread over whole Christendom, even
some time before the eighth century. So that,
to the great disappointment of all the Popes of
the tenth and following centuries, there was
nothing for them to do in all that tedious time
of Egyptian darkness, in which our friendly
adviser, out of his abundance of charity, has
cut out so much good employment to keep
them out of idleness. For, if we' give credit
to the Homilist, whose authority will probably
carry it, their market was forestalled, and the
whole business completed above two hundred
years before they could come into pla3\
I shall, therefore, leave the adviser to fight it
out as well as he can with the book of Homilies.
But he has a more formidable enemy to deal
with, I mean a whole multitude of authentic
writers, bearing testimony, that Popery was
established in England full three hundred years
before the tenth century. Venerable Bede, whose
learning and veracity were never called in ques-
tion, and who lived in the very next age after
England had received the Christian faith, is one
of the writers I speak of So that, whoever de-
sires to be satisfied of the truth of the fact, I
insist upon, needs but read his ecclesiastical his-
tory of England in the third tome of his works ;
and he will find that the religion called Popery,
was planted in this island by St. Augustine and
his companions ; with a full account of its growth,
and establishment in the seventh century.
Besides, it is a known truth, that the reforma-
tion made the first change of religion in Eng-
land, after its conversion. The consequence
whereof is, that as England knew no other reli-
gion than Popery immediately before the reforma-
tion ; so it received that very religion from St.
Austin. And this saint, who confirmed the doc-
trine he preached by unquestionable miracles,
(which are related by holy Bede) taught no
other than the faith of the universal Christian
church at that time. Which is a full demonstra-
tion, that Popery was not beholden to the ad-
viser's Egyptian darkness for its establishment
in the world ; since that darkness came at least
three hundred years too late.
But thirdly : the adviser has no less a man
than Martin Luther himself, with the whole
college of reforming apostles against him. For
in the beginning of the reformation^ their usual
language was, " what do we care for the fathers ?"
And Luther was above all remarkable for it. " I
care not a rush," says he, " if a thousand Austins,
or a thousand Cyprians stood against me." Tom.
2, fol. 344. " Neither do I concern myself what
Ambrose, Austin, or councils say, — I know their ,
opinions so well, that I have declared against
244
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
them," fol. 345. He speaks with the same con-
tempt of St. Jerome. Whence it is evident, that
he looked upon all these fathers as teachers of
papistical doctrine, and enemies to the reforma-
tion.
What pity is it, that the friendly adviser did
not come time enough into the world to tell
Martin Luther that his rejecting the fathers of
the fourth and fifth century would spoil the most
ingenious system, that ever was invented to
make Popery pass for a novelty, brought into
the Church in dark ages, far distant from the
time of those fathers I For if so great a man as
Luther stuck not to confess, that Popery Avas
taught by the most eminent saints and doctors
in the very brightest and most learned ages of
the Church; who will after that believe the
adviser's tale of a tub, that it came sneaking in
many hundred years after, only by the means of
a universal ignorance, and Egyptian darkness ?
And therefore, the learned Mr. Napier, of whom
I have already spoken, is to be highly commended
for his sincerity in owning that Popery reigned
universally, in the very beginning of the fourth
century. For this is speaking like a true disci-
ple of the principal Apostle of the reformation.
But, though there were none of these facts
to disprove the adviser's system, it would be
fully confuted by the very improbability, na)'^,
moral impossibility of the principal supposition,
whereon it is grounded, viz. : " That an uni"
versal ignorance and stupidity, which he calls
an Eg3'ptian darkness, reigned in the world
for the space of near six hundred years. That
in all this time there were no persons eminent
either for wit, or learning ; and that this gave
the politic guides of Rome full opportunity to
impose such opinions on the Church as might
best serve their own ends, and made the world
apt and easy to be abused with the most absurd
and monstrous doctrines."
This is the adviser's supposition to support
his system, expressed in his own words. Which,
though malicious in the highest degree, yet at
the same time is so very extravagant, that it
jroves my pity rather than anger. For we
have here whole Christendom fairly divided into
two classes of men, commonly known by the
honorable titles of knaves and fools. The popes
with their ministers and agents, according to
this charitable supposition, were all knaves,
void of religion, honor, and conscience : and
the rest of Christendom, both laity and clergy,
were all fools and blockheads, led by the nose,
and abused with the most absurd and monstrous
doctrines. And all this lasted for the space of
many hundred years.
A most stupendous imagination, and only fit
for the learned inhabitants of Moorfields ! It
is true, indeed, some ages may produce more
persons of a superior genius than others : and
liberal arts and sciences may flourish more at
one time than another ; because most things
have their ebbings and flowings in the sub-
lunary world. But that ignorance and stupidity
should become universal for many hundred
years together, and the greatest part of man-
kind turned into mules and asses, ready saddled
and bridled to be ridden by the popes just as
they pleased ; may pass, indeed, for a very dull
poetical fiction, but never for a good theolog-
ical argument against Popery.
What ! Were there neither schools, nor
universities, nor libraries in all the time of
this pretended universal ignorance, and Egyp-
tian darkness I Did the popes interdict all wit
and learning under pain of excommunication!
Or did parents, in compliance with his holiness,
renounce their natural concern for their child-
ren, and oblige them to spend their youth in
idleness, or vice I For all this, or something
very like it, must be supposed, to g^ve any
color or probability to the adviser's system.
All schools must have been suppressed, uni-
versities abolished, libraries destroyed, and wit
and learning made state crimes against the
pope. Naj"-, and there must have been an
universal reform made amongst the bishops
and pastors of the Church, by a positive law,
that none but dunces and blockheads should
be duly qualified for holy orders. And even
this would not have fully answered the politic
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
245
ends of Rome, unless we further suppose, that
all the princes of Europe had their eyes put
out, and arms tied to render them incapable
of seeing, or opposing the absurd and monstrous
doctrines, wherewith they were abused by the
politic guides of Rome.
How miserably low must the credit of a
cause be sunk, when it standi in need of such
nonsense to support it! I confess, unless I
had quoted the adviser's own words, it might
have been reasonably suspected that I had
trumped up a ridiculous hypothesis of my own,
barely for the pleasure to confute it. Let us
but place it in a true light, and consider the
extravagance and weakness of it.
Popery was certainly in possession of the
universal Church for many hundred years.
Some account then was to be given how it
came to be established. For, since it is a
thing without example, that any nation ever
parted tamely with its ancient religion ; if
Popery was an intruder upon the ancient Church,
how could it find means to establish itself
without opposition, whilst men were in their
right senses? And if it met with opposition,
this would have caused disturbances and schisms,
and these disturbances would have been re-
corded by the writers of the times, in which they
happened. Now here the diflSculty begins to
pinch, because no history can be produced of
any disturbance, or schism in the Church, oc-
casioned by any man's teaching the discrimi-
nating doctrines of Popery ; whereas, on the
contrary, there never was a doctrine opposite to
any branch of Popery started in the Church,
but it met with a vigorous resistance in its
very birth, and caused disorders, which are
related by historians : as that of Berengarius,
Wyolif, John Huss, the Waldenses, and others.
In order, therefore, to make Popery (though
pretended to be a doctrine opposite to the
ancient faith) come in without noise, or resist-
ance, our friendly adviser has no other expe-
dient to bring about this wonderful event, than
to assert boldly, that Christendom was under a
general infatuation for many hundred years to-
gether ; and so make Popery steal its way into
the Church unperceived, and unopposed in the
midst of a thick darkness of universal ignorance
and stupidity.
But the thickest darkness cannot hide the
extravagance of this ridiculous fable. There
are numberless historical facts, that give it the
lie. As first, the many learned universities,
that flourished in those very ages of pretended
darkness. Amongst which, that of Paris, foun-
ded by Charlemagne, and that of Oxford, founded
by king Alfred, were most famous. Secondly,
The great number of ecclesiastical writers,
whereof Bellermine de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis
reckons up between two and three hundred in
those very ages : and many of these were as
eminent both for holiness learning as any of
the ancient writers. Thirdly, besides innu-
merable provincial and national synods there
were about ten general councils held between
the ninth and sixteenth century ; and some of
them were more numerous than any that had been
held before. Nor did they meet in cellars
under ground, like clippers and coiners, but in
the face of the universal Church, attentive to
every thing, that was transacted in those august
assemblies. Nay, and the histories of them are
faithfully transmitted to us, without any mention
of the least change made in the ancient faith
of the Church. Fourthly. The long and warm
disputes between the emperors and popes, con-
cerning the privilege of investitures, which
lasted some ages, and show that the popes
were not arbitrary lords and masters, nor led
all Christendom by the nose. And lastly, (to
omit many more historical facts for brevity's
sake), the Greek schism, which began in the
ninth century, and was not ended till the
council of Florence, anno 1437. During which
time, if the popes had made any false steps
in point of doctrine, the sharp-sighted Greeks,
who were continually upon the watch to la}-
hold of any advantage against the Latins,
would undoubtedly have reproached them with
246
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
it. Since they even accused them of shaving
their beards, eating hog's flesh, and man}^
other trivial matters.
Now these are demonstrative proofs, that
Christendom was neither so stupidly ignorant,
as to be unable to discern absurd and mon-
strous innovations from the ancient doctrine,
nor so sheepishly passive, as to submit tamely
'to any j'oke, the popes should lay upon them.
Whence I conclude, that since the adviser's
system is a flat contradiction both to history,
and common sense, it can do no prejudice to
the argument, I have handled in the preceding
sections : which, unless some better answer be
g^ven to it, is a moral demonstration, that " no
Christian Church, teaching a doctrine opposite
to Popery, ever appeared in the world before
it," and that, by consequence, the Church of
Rome teaches no other than the ancient faith
of the Church.
But some will say, it is improbable, that
any man should attempt to reform the faith
of a Church, unless he were sure that some
considerable errors had crept into it. I answer,
that this, if it were true, would be a good
apology for Arius, Socinius, and other such
refo7-mers. But St. Paul was of another opinion.
For he tells us expressly, " that there must
be heresies, that they, who are approved, may
be made manifest." i Cor. xi. 19. Let us
then consider the character of the first, and
principal 7-eformer of popery, and judge from
it, whether the children of the reformation
have any just reason to glory in such, a father.
CHAPTER VI.
The Character of the Capital Reformer Considered.
SECTION I.— HE HAD NO ORDINARY MISSION.
HE person I speak of, is Martin Luther,
the first discoverer of the pretended
errors of the Church of Rome. For
as to those that followed him, they
had nothing to do but enter at the breach,
which he had made, and share with him at the
plunder of their mother Church.
I pretend not, however, to concern myself
in any particular manner with the Church,
that takes its denomination from him, or con-
sider Luther any otherwise than as head of
the reformation in general. For the only end
I promise to myself, is to show, that a person
of a scandalous character has not the true
marks of a reformer of Christ's Church ; un-
less the word reformer be taken for synony-
mous with that of heretic ; and I hope thereby
to convince the reader, that the Church of
Rome may be uncomipt, and free from errors,
though Martin Luther thought fit to be of
another opinion.
Let us now consider the character which a
grave archbishop and primate of England has
given of this great apostle of the reformation.
" In the beginning of the reformation," says
Tillot. Serm. 25, p. 588, " when antichrist sat
securely in the possession of his kingdom,
Luther arose ; a bold and rough man, but a
fit wedge to cleave asunder so hard and knotty
a block : and appeared stoutly against the
g^oss errors and corruptions of the Church
of Rome, and for a long time stood alone."
I shall make but two short remarks upon
the bishop's words. First, he dignifies his hero
with the titles of " a bold and rough man, and
a fit wedge to cleave a hard and knotty
block." Surely, thesfe titles are not much
becoming an apostolical man ; and I fear the
bishop will be thought to have had before his
eyes the pattern of some famous gladiator,
rather than a meek and humble preacher of
the Gospel. Secondly, the bishop has here
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
«47
owned a fact, which may serve indeed, to set
oflF the intrepidity of his bold and rough man,
who, as he tells us, " for a long time stood
alone;" but the credit of the reformation must
suffer by it. For it is but an odd argument
to convince any man, that Luther had the
truth on his side, because the whole world was
against him.
I imagine, indeed, the bishop did not fully
reflect upon the consequences of this conces-
sion. For if Martin Luther for a long time
stood alone, and had by consequence, the whole
Christian world against him, (which agrees
exactly with his own, prima solus erani) it fol-
lows plainly, that he had no ordinary mis-
sion from any man upon earth. Because it is
a thing contrary to all practice, and even com-
mon sense, that a man shall be commissioned
to teach and preach a doctrine opposite to that
of the Church, or immediate superior, from
whom he receives his commission. Does a king
ever g^ve commissions to his ofl&cers to levy
forces against himself? Have judges their
credentials to subvert the laws of the govern-
ment, under which they serve ? Or will any
man, for example, say that Mr. Wh on had,
by virtue of his ordination, a power given him
to teach a doctrine contrary to that of his
mother Church. Either then it was an irregu-
larity in him to do so, or not. If not, why
were his writings condemned ? Why was he
expelled the university ? If so, then Martin
Luther was guilty of a much greater irregu-
larity in preaching a doctrine in which he had
the whole Church against him ; and from which
he could not by consequence, have a commis-
sion for so doing. For Luther " for a long
time stood alone."
In effect, when Luther first set out in quality
of reformer^ the Roman Catholic Church was
spread over all the principal kingdoms of
Europe, which were then in perfect communion
with the bishop of Rome, and had been so
from their conversion to Christianity, as I have
already observed. They all acknowledged the
pope for head of the Church, and professed no
other religion, than what goes now under the
odious name of Popery. Mass was said in all
the Churches of Christendom. The real pres-
ence of the body and blood of Christ in the
holy Eucharist, the doctrine of transubstantia-
tion, the number of seven sacraments, which
are since reformed away into two, were the uni-
versal belief. Praying for the souls departed,
imploring the intercession of saints, and pay-
ing due respect to their images and relics,
were then practised in all places, where Chris-,
tianity was known. Nay, I defy any man to
mark me out one single province, town, vil-
lage, or even family in Christendom, where the
Protestant religion, either as now established by
law in Great Britain, or as it is modeled by
any of the late reformed churches, was publicly
professed and practised when Martin Luther
made his first appearance. For Luther " for a
long time stood alone."
Now, besides the irregularity of a man's set-
ting up a new religion of his own head, and
without commission to impower him to do it,
is it rational to judge that all Christendom was
then, and had continued for many hundred
years, under a kind of lethargy, or infatuation,
and that but one single man, a private Austin
friar, should start up all on a sudden in his
right senses ? Were there not at that time
hundreds of bishops, doctors, and pastors in the
world, as learned and zealous for the purity of
the Christian faith as Martin Luther? It is,
therefore, very strange, that he should either be
the only man, clear-sighted enough to detect
the gross errors of Popery, or if others were
equally convinced of them, that he alone should
have zeal enough to oppose them.
This argument has frequently been urged
against the first broachers of heresies, who
always pretended, that the Church had fallen
into errors ; and it is but too plain, that the
reformation labors under this great prejudice,
viz. : That whereas the true Church has, and
can have no other than Christ himself, and his
blessed Apostles commissioned by him, for its
founders, the reformation^ on the contrary, has
248
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
this resemblance with all known heresies that
were ever broached, that it has for its author a
single private person preaching and writing,
not only without commission from any lawful
superior, but even in direct opposition to all
the Church authority, that was then visibly
extant upon earth. For Luther " for a long time
stood alone."
The case, then, fairly and impartially stated,
is this, viz. : Whether this one single man,
without commission, or authority from any law-
ful superior, was more to be depended upon in
the g^eat cause of faith and religion, than the
whole visible Church that was against him,
when he first took upon himself the title of
reformer? I cannot but think that every
impartial judge will decide it in the negative.
To set this matter in its clearest light, I
shall put a case almost parallel to it. Sup-
pose some private man in Great Britain should
take upon him to run down the whole consti-
tution ; and tell the people, that the king and
parliament have no legislative power ; that the
judges are a pack of fools and knaves ; and
understand nothing of the law ; that no regard
is to be had to the king's lieutenants, justices
of the peace, or other subaltern "officers ; sup-
pose, I say, extravagances of this nature, tend-
ing manifestly to the disturbance and subver-
sion of the government, should be talked, or
written by any private man ; I ask whether it
would be rational to believe him in opposition
to the sense of the whole nation ? No, surely.
But, on the contrary, he would be either treated
as a madman, or persecuted as a disturber of
public peace : which in all likelihood would
have been the fate of Martin Luther, had he
not found the secret to shelter himself under
the favor and protection of his sovereign, the
duke of Saxony, by setting before him the
sweet bait of filling his cofifers with the reve-
nues of the Church, and plunder of rich mon-
asteries ; which was every where the first fruit
of the reformation^ as all the world knows.
But, to make now the application of the case
supposed ; when the reformation was first
thought of, the Roman Catholic Church was
the only established Church of all the prin-
cipal kingdoms and states of Europe. This
Church was governed by the pope as head.
Each kingdom by its primate, and each par-
ticular diocese by its respective bishop and pas-
tors under him ; just as Great Britain is
governed by king and council, lord lieutenants,
justices of peace, etc. The Scriptures, canons,
and decrees of councils, were the law, according
to which the Church was governed both in her
faith and discipline. She had then prescrip-
tion for what is now called Popery, of many
hundred years ; as is acknowledged by the
most eminent Protestants. All the bishops,
divines, and learned men of Europe, and many
other parts of the world, were united in the
same faith, and believed themselves to be in the
bosom of the true Church. Martin Luther
alone, a private Austin friar, starts up, and tells
the world, that this whole Church was tainted
Avith many gross errors : that himself was the
only true interpreter of Scriptures ; that the
canons and decrees of councils signified nothing.
That the Pope was antichrist, and all the
bishops, doctors, and divines, were no better
than a parcel of blockheads and impostors. For
this was the main scope of all his reforming
writings. I speak modestly : for according to
his usual good manners, he calls them all
calves and asses. Nay, the very fathers of the
Church, those great lights and ornaments of i
the Christian faith, were treated no better by;
him ; and Dr. Tillotson had all the reason in]
the world, to call him " a bold and rough man,|
and a fit wedge to cleave a knotty block." 1
But, to conclude the parallel, I have but this
one question to ask.; whether it was moro
rational to believe this single man in oppo-
sition to the concurring faith and authority of
the universal Church, than it would be now to
believe a single factious fellow against the^
sense and judgment of the whole nation ? For
if this cannot be judged rational, as surely it
cannot, then the doctrine of the reformation
appears manifestly unsound in its very head
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
249
and source : and time, whicli cannot change
tlie nature of things, nor turn falsehood into
truth, has not in the least bettered its
cause.
I shall here take the freedom to demand a
thing, wherein if any Protestant can but give
me some tolerable satisfaction, I will not only-
give up this whole chapter relating to Luther,
but likewise own, that a reformer of the
Church's faith, and a heretic are not synony-
mous terms. I question not but every Protes-
tant will grant, that there have been heretics
in the world : and I shall mention one, of
whose just claim to that title, no true Protes-
tant can doubt. I mean, Arius, who denied the
consubstantiality of the Son : and though he
pretended to have plain Scripture for his doc-
trine, (as these words of Christ, " my Father
is greater than I ") this hindered not his being
condemned for a heretic by the great council
of Nice. And, indeed, he had all the marks of
one : as, broaching a doctrine contrary to the
faith, of the whole visible Church of Christ in
being : preaching without a commission from
her : appealing from her authority to the dead
letter of Scriptures, and making his own private
judgment the sole interpreter of it. In a word
an invincible obstinacy even after sentence
juridically pronounced against him, first by
his immediate superior, and afterwards by the
supreme tribunal of the Church. These are
the usual marks of what we call an arch-
heretic, and were undoubtedly very notorious
in Arius.
Now the thing I demand is precisely this,
viz. : Some satisfactory reason, why Arius was
a heretic any more than Luther. Or (which
amounts to the same) that some proper and
distinguished mark of a heretic may be found
to belong to Arius, which cannot be appro-
priated to Martin Luther. Whoever can per-
form this will do the reformation a signal piece
of service. But if it cannot be done, (and I
fear the task will prove somewhat hard) then
it follows, that the respective churches founded
by Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, etc., are all her-
etical churches like the Arians, and no part of
the Church of Christ.
If any one be so weak as to say, that the
great diflference between Arius and Luther is,
that Arius opposed the doctrine of the Church,
when she was pure, but Luther rose up against
her, when she was corrupt in her doctrine : I
shall only answer him, that this is begging the
question, instead of proving; and the followers
of Arius will say just the same in defence of
their masters, and plain Scripture will be pre-
tended for it. So that if nothing can be pro-
duced to distinguish Luther's behavior towards
his mother-Church from that of Arius ; if
they be found to sympathize in all the proper
and characteristic marks of what we commonly
mean, by a true and staunch heretic; we can-
not judge otherwise, than that either both must
be absolved, or both condemned.
However, if Martin Luther may be allowed
to be a judge in his own cause, he has not
been wanting to himself in pronouncing sen-
tence in favor of his new doctrine ; though
not altogether with the modesty of an evan-
gelical preacher. His own words shall be the
best proof of what I say. Tom. 2. fol. 333,
I, against Henry VIII. of England: "I
am certain," says he, "I have my doctrine
from heaven ; it shall stand, and the pope
shall fall in spite of all the gates of hell,
and the powers of the air, the earth, and
sea."
I should be glad to know, whether that
part of his doctrine was from heaven, which
he learnt in the colloquy he had with the
devil, related at large by himself
Again. Tom. 7, fol. 274. " I was the first,
to whom God vouchsafed to reveal the things
which have been preached to you ; and cer-
tain I am, that you have the pure word of
God."
N. B. That if Martin Luther was the first,
to whom God vouchsafed to reveal the things,
which he preached, it follows that the Apostles
never knew, nor preached his doctrine ; which
makes me fear his works will never pass for
250
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
canonical Scripture, or the revealed word of
God; though we have his own word for it.
But what follows is a very extraordinary piece,
and will certainly very much edify the reader.
" I, Martin Luther, by the grace of God,
ecclesiastes in Wittenberg, to the popish bish-
ops grace and peace. This title I now assume
with the utmost contempt of you and Satan,
that you may not plead ignorance. And
should I style myself an evangelist by the
grace of God, I could sooner prove my claim
to this title, than you to that of bishop. For
I am certain that Christ himself calls me so,
and looks upon me as an ecclesiastes. He is
that master of my doctrine. Neither doubt I,
but in the great day of accounts he will be
my witness, that this doctrine is not mine,
but the doctrine of God, of the spirit of the
Lord, and of the pure and sincere gospel
So that should you kill me, 3'e bloodsuckers,
yet you will never extinguish either me, or
my name, or my doctrine, unless Christ be
not living. Since now I am certain that I
teach the word of God, it is not fit I should
want a title for the recommending of this
word, and work of the ministry, to which I
am called by God ; which I have not received
of men, nor by men, but by the gift of God,
and revelation of Jesus Christ — And now I
declare beforehand, that for the time to come,
I will not honor you so far, as to condescend
to submit myself, or my doctrine to 3'our
judgment, or to that of an angel from heaven."
Tom. 2, fol. 305, 2.
Here we have a piece of insolence and arro-
gance never to be paralleled, nay even to a
degpree of frenzy and madness. We see here
a miserable wretch, flying in the face of supe-
riors, trampling upon authority, and even assum-
ing to himself that infallibility, which he
would not allow to the Church of Christ.
But God, who resists the proud, confounded
his arrogance, by permitting him to fall not
only into the most impious absurdities in point
of doctrine, as will appear hereafter, but even
scandalous irregularities in practice. For,
though it cost him nothing to mimic the style
of a Paul, he could never attain the strength
of a Paul to resist the bufiets of Satan. His
marriage, doubly sacrilegious, by engaging a
person consecrated to God in the same crime,
betrayed a weakness of so scandalous a nature,
as not only gave great offence to his friend
Melancthon, (L. 4, Epist. 24) and the sober
part of his new reformed Church, but will be
an everlasting mark of dishonor to the refor-
mation^ and a convincing proof that the head
of God had no part in it. For, if the tree
may be known by its fruit, and the man by
his works, we may justly conclude that the
world, the flesh and the devil, were far more
prevalent in this pretended reformer, than the
spirit of God.
Was it by divine inspiration that he lived at
open defiance of all ecclesiastical authority ?
Was it b}'' divine inspiration that he broke vows,
threw off" his religious habits, and with it all the
duties of a religious state, to which he had con-
secrated himself for life ? Finally, was it by the
impulse of the Holy Ghost that he indulged
himself in wantonness, when he should have
been singing the divine office, as the rule of his
order required of him ? I know not whether
these be proper marks of an apostolical spirit
and a man called by Christ to the work of the
ministry; but I am sure they are marks of a
very fresh date, and wholly unknown to antiquity.
For we read, indeed, of the Apostles, who were
married before their vocation to the Apostleship,
that they left their wives to follow Christ ; and
many othei apostolical men have done the same
after their example. But it is to Luther's re-
formatiofi alone we owe those excellent patterns
of persons breaking through the most sacred
engagements of holy orders, and religious vows,
to become fathers of children not altogether in a
spiritual way; and very different from that of
the Apostles of the Gentiles, who begot the
Corinthians, and many other spiritual children
in Jesus Christ, through the Gospels, Cor. iv. 15.
It seems, however, that Martin Luther found
it, if not more edifying, at least more comfortable
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
251
to join the state of matrimony with his apostoli-
cal labors, and call Kate Boren to his assistance
in the work of the ministry. For I question not
but her good example brought in a plentiful
harvest of female converts; and as to Luther's
practice, it was but a natural consequence to his
doctrine. The one prepared the way for the
other. For to what end did he preach down
celibacy, and vows of chastity, if he had intended
to keep them ? He was not ignorant that mar-
riage of priests was forbidden by the established
laws of the Church, and breaking vows b)^ the
laws of God, but flesh and blood prevailed, and
it was from these he had out the confidence to
boast of The charms of liberty and a female
companion gave him wonderful light into matters
of religion, and made him discover errors unseen
before. Without these extraordinary helps to
quicken his zeal, and spur him on to undertake
the glorious work of the reformation^ he might
have continued a private monk till death ; and
as utter a stranger to all popish errors^ as when
he first made his solemn vows. It is certain,
however, that his preaching, as he did, without 1
a mission from any lawful superior, is an essen- '
tial flaw in every thing he taught contrary to
the doctrine of his mother-Church, entitles him
to no better character than that of a hardened
apostate, and one abandoned by God, to be a
scourge to his Church, and the instrument of
his secret, but just judgment on those, whom he
seduced.
SECTION II.— LUTHER HAD NO EXTRAORDINARY MISSION.
When God raises men in an extraordinary
manner, as he did the Prophets and Apostles, he
never fails to qualify them accordingly : and all
those, who had their mission immediately from
him, were manifestly guided by his spirit. The
virtues, that shone in their actions, and the
miracles they wrought, were their credentials,
and it was impossible to see their works, without
being convinced of the truth of their words.
This may likewise be said of the great re-
formers of manners, whom God has raised
from time to time to repair the gradual de-
cays of Christian morality ; as St. Benedict,
St. Bernard, St. Dominick, St. Francis, St.
Ignatius, and other holy founders of religious
orders. They were all powerful in works and
words. They prepared themselves for the
great work of the conversion of sinners, by
retirement, prayer, fasting, mortification of their
senses, and an entire contempt of the world.
And what is very remarkable in the lives of
these great men, they never made a step but
with obedience and submission to their lawful
superior. Meekness and humanit}', two virtues
peculiarly recommended by Christ, were the
most distinguishing parts of their character;
and even their greatest enemies could never
reproach them with any one irregular practice.
But, alas I How far is Martin Luther, the
founder of the reformation^ from coming up
to the least part of this noble character ! He
pretends to have had his mission immediately
from God. But must we take his own bare
words for it ? Where are his credentials ?
What miracles has he wrought? What extra-
ordinary virtues can he show to convince us of
the truth of what he says ? I have already
discovered some considerable flaws both in his
principles and practice, which are no marks of
an extraordinary call. However, allowing these
to be but after-slips of human frailty, if he
was really called to the ministry of the gospel
immediately by God himself, the least we can
suppose is, that God infused into him the
proper previous dispositions to fit him for so
high a station, and above all, inspired him with
a most ardent love of him ; this being a quality
inseparable from a true zeal for the service of
his holy Church. But to prevent our falling
into this mistaken good opinion of him, Luther
252
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
himself has taken care to inform us of the
true state of his soul the year before he set up
his separate communion. " Out of thy own
mouth I judge thee thou wicked servant." Luke
xix. 22.
For in the preface to his first tome, p. 6, he
tells us how his soul was at that time affected
towards God. "I was mighty desirous," says
he, " to understand Paul iu his epistle to the
Romans : but was hitherto determined, not by
any faintheartedness, but by one single ex-
pression in the first chapter, viz.: ' therein is
the righteousness of God revealed.' For I
hated that word, ' the righteousness of God :'
because I had been taught to understand it of
that formal and active righteousness, by which
God is righteous, and punishes sinners, and
the unrighteous. Now knowing myself, though
I lived a monk of an irreproachable life, to be
in the sight of God a sinner, and a most un-
quiet conscience, nor having au}'^ hopes to ap-
pease him with my own satisfaction, I did not
love, nay, I hated this righteous God, who
punishes sinners ; and with heavy muttering,
if not with silent blasphemy, I was angry with
God, and said, as if it were not enough for
miserable sinners, who are lost to all eternity
by original sin, to suffer all manner of calam-
ity by the law of the decalogue, unless God
by the Gospel adds sorrow to sorrow, and even
by the gospel, threatens us with his righteous-
ness and anger. Thus did I rage with a fretted
and disordered conscience."
Blessed God I What a disposition is here to
prepare a man for the ministry of the gospel,
the preaching of the pure word of God, and
the reformation of Christ's Church ! What
strange marks are these of an extraordinary
call ? A man, raging with a fretted and dis-
ordered conscience ; angry with God, murmur-
ing against him, nay, hating, and silently
blaspheming his j ustice for punishing sinners ?
How can we represent the very damned souls
in hell in blacker colors ? For the very worst
we can say of them is, that they hate, curse,
and blaspheme God's justice for punishing
their past crimes. Because to hate any of
God's attributes, is to hate God himself; and
the very thought of hating God carries horror
with it.
How happy is the Church of Rome in having
such an accuser I The infamy of the evidence
is her full justification, and a convincing proof,
that the spirit of God had no part in a work,
wherein Martin Luther was a principal actor.
If a man, who by his own confession hated
and blasphemed God, is to be depended on in
the great concern of religion; and that, upon
the credit of his having been divinely inspired,
and called in an extraordinary manner; then
let the Church of Rome be thought guilty of
the errors, whereof he has accused her.
But we have hitherto seen but one part of
his true picture. He has been so just to
posterity as to leave it drawn at full length
in his own writings. Let us then take a full
view of him, and when we have considered him
attentively, judge, whether he bears the least
resemblance of a man divinely inspired, and
commissioned immediately by Christ to reform
his Church.
The passages I have made use of, are all
taken out of his works, printed at Wittemberg.
The first tome anno 1582, the second 1562,
the third 1583, the fourth 1574, the fifth 1554,
the sixth 1580, the seventh 1558. And all
these have, at the beginning, Martin Luther
and his protector, the duke of Saxony, repre-
sented at their prayers before a crucifix. If
any Protestant can convict me of unfair dealing
in my quotations, I shall be ready to make
any public reparation, that shall be demanded
of me.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
253
SECTION III.— HIS DOCTRINE CONCERNING FREE-WILL, REPENTANCE, AND GOOD WORKS.
"If God foresaw," says he, "that Judas
would be a traitor, Judas of necessity became
a traitor. Neither was it in the power of Judas,
or of any other creature to do otherwise, or to
change his will," De Servo Arb. Tom. 2, fol.
460, 3.
"This is the highest degree of faith to
believe God to be just, though by his own
will, he lays us under a necessity of being
damned ; and in such a manner too, as if he
took delight in tormenting the miserable."
Fol. 434, I.
" Thou shalt not covet," " is a commandment
which proves us all to be sinners ; since it is
not in any man's power not to covet. — And the
same is the drift of all the commandments, for
they are all equally impossible to us." De
Lib. Chris. Tom. 4, 2.
Here God, the Father of mercies, is repre-
sented as a merciless and arbitrary tyrant :
commanding things which we have it not in
our power to perform, and punishing the non-
performance with eternal torments,
" Free-will after sin is no more than an
empty name : and when it does its best, sins
mortally." Adversus Execrat. Anti. Bullam.
Tom. 2, fol. 3, 2.
"Man's will is in the nature of a horse. If
God sits upon it, it tends and goes as God
would have it go. If the devil rides it, it
tends and goes, as the devil would have it.
Nor can it choose which of the riders it will
run to, or seek. But the riders themselves
strive who shall gain, and possess it." De
Ser, Arb. Tom. 2, fol. 434, 2.
This doctrine paves the way to, and is an
apology for any wickedness whatsoever. Be-
cause necessity has no law. But what follows
makes large amends for it in delivering us not
only from eternal damnation for any sins but
infidelity. So that a man may be the most
profligate sinner upon earth, and yet be in the
state of salvation, if he does but believe.
" A person," says he, " that is baptized, can-
not, though he would, lose his salvation by any
sins how grievous soever, unless he refuses to
believe. For no sins can damn him but un-
belief alone." Capt. Bab. Tom. 2, fol. 74, i.
" The contrition, with which a man reflects
upon his past years in the bitterness of his
soul, by considering the grievousness, the
damage and baseness, the multitude of his sins,
and then the loss of eternal happiness, and
the incurring eternal damnation, makes him a
hypocrite, and even the greater sinner." Serm.
de Pcenit. Tom. i, fol. 50, 2.
"The Papists teach, that faith in Christ
justifies indeed, but that God's commandments
are likewise to be kept. Now this is directly
to deny Christ, and abolish faith." In Ep. ad
Gal. Tom. 5, fol. 311, 2.
A man must be very wicked, indeed, to turn
Papist, since they teach that God's command-
ments are to be kept. What follows is admira-
ble.
" Let this be your rule : where the Scriptures
command the doing a good work, understand
it in this sense, that it forbids thee to do a
good work, because thou canst not do it." Tom.
3, fol. 171, 2.
This certainly is a most golden nile, to in-
terpret the Scriptures backwards. Not to do
what they command, and to do what they for-
bid. Martin Luther was without all dispute
the first, to whom this rule was revealed. And
I presume he had it in view, when contrary to
express word of God, he denied all legislative
power in men.
254
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
SECTION IV.— HIS DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE LEGISLATIVE POWER.
"Neither pope, nor bishop, nor any man
living, has a right to impose one syllable upon
any Christian, unless he gives his consent. And
whatsoever is done to the contrary, is by the
spirit of tyranny." Cap. Bab. Tom. 2, fol.
76, 2.
" The power of making laws belongs to God
alone." Contra Reg. Ang. Tom. 2, fol.
346, I.
This is reforming- both Church and state
with a. witness, by purging the one as well as
the other of all its laws ; which, as to discipline
in the Church, and order of government in the
state, were all made by men ; who, according to
Luther's gospel, have no legislative power. But
these, perhaps, were all involuntary mistakes ;
which (though it derogates very much from the
credit of his being inspired) are no reflection
upon his sincerity. But the following piece will
show, how great a lover he was of truth, when
he was convinced of it, and what pains he took
to find it.
SECTION v.— LUTHER NO SLAVE TO TRUTH.
Epis. ad Amicos Argent, Tom. 7, fol. 502, i.
" If Carlostadius, or any man else, could five
years ago have convinced me, that in the
sacrament there is nothing but bread and wine,
he had wonderfully obliged me : for with great
anxiety did I examine this point, and labor
with all my force to get clear of the difficulty.
[Mark well the reason why he took so much
pains.] Because by this means I know very
well I should terribly incommode the Papacy —
But I find I am catched without hope of escap-
ing. For the text of the Gospel is so clear and
strong, that it will not easily admit of a mis-
construction."
Poor man! What a hardship it was upon
him, that he should be forced to own the truth,
when he had so good an inclination to deny
it! But why did he not spell the Gospel
; backwards, according to his own rule, and
declare that these words of Christ " this is my
body; this is my blood," signify the same, as
"this is not my bod}'; this is not my blood?"
for this would have done his business with the
greatest ease imaginable.
But I assure the reader, he will find him
more resolute in the following piece. For there,
to be revenged of the pope, he stoutly gives
himself the lie ; and repents of having come
too near the truth in his former writings.
Adversus Execrab. Anti. Bullam. Tom. 2,
fol. 109, I. " Whereas I said that some of John
Huss's articles were evangelical ; this I retract.
And now I say not that some, but all John
Huss's articles were condemned at Constance
by Antichrist, and his apostles in that syna-
gogue of Satan. And I tell thee plainly to
thy face, most holy vicar of God, that all the
condemned propositions of John Huss are
evangelical and Christian, and that all thine
are wholly impious and diabolical. Therefore,
as to the condemned articles of John Huss, I
maintain them all, and am ready by the grace
of God to defend them."
N. B. That one of John Huss's evangelical
articles, which he had learned of his master
Wycliff, was this, viz. : " That the committing
a mortal sin made kings and bishops forfeit
their power and character." Which doctrine
introduces anarchy both into Church and state.
I am sorry I have been forced to foul my
paper with so much ribaldry. But I thought
it necessary, in order to convince the reader
of two things: first, that I have not wronged
the person, who gave birth to the reformation^
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
255
in any thing I have said of him. And, secondly,
that a person so violent and brutal in his
temper, on the one hand, and on the other,
guilty of such scandalous, nay, even impious
and blasphemous doctrine, cannot be looked
upon as an inspired man, or raised immediately
by God to reform his Church. Those, whom
Almighty God has almost in all ages chosen
as peculiar instruments of his mercy, have ever
appeared in the world, not only with a clear
character, but with the most evident marks of
the divine spirit residing in their hearts, and
speaking by their mouths. A meek and
humble zeal appeared in all their works, and
every word they spoke, hath truth stamped
upon it. Luther, therefore, was not of this
heavenly race; nor could his mission be imme-
diately from God, who had the character of the
beast impressed on every feature: and since it
is likewise manifest, that he had no ordinary
mission from any man upon earth, the conse-
quence is, that whatever he preached in oppo-
sition to his mother-Church, was a doctrine
either borrowed from old condemned heretics,
or hammered out in his own brain. And so
we can regard him no otherwise, than as an
instrument of divine justice, and one of those
great scourges which God makes use of from
time to time, and permits to prosper in their
wickedness, both to try and purify the faith of
the elect, and accomplish his just judgments
on reprobate sinners.
If any one asks me, whether all the extrava-
gant and scandalous opinions of Luther, or other
reformers^ are to be charged upon any particular
reformed Church, or the whole reformation? I
answer to the first, that neither the Lutheran,
nor any other particular reformed Church, can
justly be charged with any proposition, which
they disavow and condemn ; as I presume they
all do the grosser part of the errors scattered
up and down in their writings. As, for instance;
if a Lutheran, or preacher of any sect, should
now presume to maintain in any government
whatsoever, " that the power of making laws
belongs to God alone;" I believe a collar of
hemp would soon put a stop to such seditious
doctrine. Or, if a preacher should now tell the
British wives, that they may lawfully have
"ten, or more husbands living at once;" or the
young man, " that it is impossible for him to
live without a maid :" I fancy such a preacher,
though he should quote Paul for his author,
as Luther did, would not be long without
having his canonical gown turned over his
head.
I answer to the second, that even the re-
formation in general cannot justly be charged
with the scandalous doctrine of any particular
reformer^ provided that all the reform.ed
Churches disown this principle, viz.: "That the
rule of faith is Scripture, as interpreted by a
man of sound judgment." For, if they stand
to that principle, they are all equally accountable
for every thing taught by their reformers^ even
when they contradict one another : because
they surely look upon them as men, who were
not only of sound judgment, but great learn-
ing. All opinions, therefore, though ever so
extravagant, or impious, if supported by the
fore-mentioned principle, are properly the doc-
trine of the reformation^ unless that principle
be utterly disowned. Because whatever follows
clearly from an avowed principle of a party,
may justly be charged upon the whole party ;
as, whatever follows clearly from any principle,
maintained by the Church of Rome, may pro-
perly be called her doctrine. But if the re-
formed Churches disown that principle, and
instead of it make the revealed word of God, as
interpreted by the Church, the rule of their
faith ; there will be no danger of their account-
ing for the scandalous doctrine either of
Martin Luther, or his fellow reformers: but
then the reformation loses its best support.
But I shall waive all further remarks relat-
ing to this matter, as being foreign to my
present purpose. For I am wholly upon the
defence of my own Church, and have had no
other view in exposing the irregular conduct,
and extravagant principles of Martin Luther,
than to invalidate the testimony of a man, who
»5^
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
has appeared as a principal evidence against
the Church whose cause I espouse. Luther
was the first informer against her, " and for a
long time stood alone ;" Tillot. Those who fol-
lowed him, only built upon the foundation
which he had laid ; though they could not agree
with their architect about the manner of the
superstructure ; but like the builders of Babel,
were divided in their tongues.
If, therefore, I have clearly showed, that this
great informer against the Church of Rome is
not restus in curia, that he is no legal evidence,
but a scandal to his cause : I hope it will be
of some use to remove the general preposses-
sion against the doctrine of that Church, and
serve as a collateral proof to convince impartial
readers, that the errors charged upon the
Church of Rome, are all imaginary and ficti-
tious ; and then the positive proofs, of her
infallibility being considered without prejudice,
will lose nothing of their weight : as they will
most certainly do upon persons strongly pre-
judiced, and prepossessed against it.
I shall here add the copy of a printed paper
I casually met with. For, as we have now
seen by what hands the first foundation of the
reformation in general was laid ; so will this
piece inform us, who were the three principal
authors of the particular reformation in Great
Britain, and what motives induced them to it.
The piece I mean, is the declaration of the
Duchess of York, occasioned by her conver-
sion to the Roman Catholic faith, and publish-
ed in the year 1670.
THE DECLARATIONIOF THE DUCHESS OF YORK, CONCERNING THE OCCASION AND MOTIVES
OF HER CONVERSION.
" It is so reasonable to expect, that a person
always bred up in the Church of England,
and as well instructed in the doctrine of it as
the best divines and her capacity could make
her, should be liable to many censures, for
leaving that, and making herself a member of
the Roman Catholic Church, to which, I con-
fess, I was one of the greatest enemies it ever
had ; that I choose rather to endeavor to satisfy
my friends by reading this paper, than to have
the trouble to answer all the questions that
may daily be asked me. And first, I do profess
in the presence of Almighty God, that no
person, man, or woman, directly or indirectly,
ever said any thing to me, (since I came into
England) or used the least endeavor to make
me change vny religion. It is a blessing I
wholly owe to Almighty God, and I hope the
hearing of a prayer I daily made him, ever
since I was in France and Flanders, where
seeing much of the devotion of the Catholics
(though I had very little myself) I made it
my continual request to Almighty God, that
if I were not, I might, before I died, be in the
true religion. I did not in the least doubt,
but that I was so ; and never had any manner
of scruple till November last: when reading a
book, called " The History of the Reformation,
by Dr. Heylin ; which I had heard very much
commended, and had been told, if ever I had
any doubt in my religion, that would settle me ;
instead of which, I found it the description of
the most horrid sacrileges in the world : and
could find no reason why we left the Church,
but for three of the most abominable ones, that
were ever heard of amongst Christians. First,
Henry VHI. renounces the pope's authority,
because he would not give him leave to part
with his wife, and marry another, in her life-
time. Secondly, Edward the Sixth was a child,
and governed by his uncle, who made his estate
out of Church lands.
" And then queen Elizabeth, who being no
lawful heiress to the crown, could have no way
to keep it, but by renouncing a Church that
could never suflFer so unlawful a thing to be
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY.
" It is an article of faith that the Blessed Virgin Maiy by a special grace and privilege of God, on account of the merits of Jesus Christ,
1 from the first instant of her o ncepUon protected and preserved from every stain of original sin."
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
Who can fancy the tender gaze, the loving countenance, the divine caresses, by which she was received by her Son and placed over all
cr«ated beings, honored as became such a mother with the glory that became such a Son.
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
257
done by one of her children. I confess, I can-
not think the Holy Ghost could ever be in
such councils : and it is very strange, that, if
the bishops had no design but (as they say)
the restoring us to the doctrine of the primitive
Church : they should never think upon it,
till Henry VI H. made 'the breach upon so
unlawful a pretence. These scruples being
raised I began to consider of the diflference
between the Catholics and us ; and examined
them as well as I could by the holy Scriptures,
which, though I do not pretend to be able to
understand, yet, there are some things I found so
easy, that I cannot but wonder I had been so long
without finding them out : as the real presence
in the blessed sacrament, the infallibility of
the Church ; confession, and praying for the
dead. After this, I spoke severally to two of
the best bishops * we have in England, who
both told me, there were many things in the
Roman Church, which it were very much to
be wished we had kept ; as confession, which
was, no doubt, commanded by God ; that praying
for the dead was one of the ancient things in
Christianity ; that for their parts, they did it
daily, though they would not own it. And
afterwards pressing one of them very much
upon the other points, hef told me, that if
he had been bred a Catholic, he would not
change his religion ; but, that being of another
Church, wherein he was sure were all things
necessary to salvation, he thought it very ill,
to give that scandal as to leave that Church,
wherein he had received his baptism.
" All these discourses did but add more to the
desire I had, to be a Catholic : and gave me
the most terrible agonies in the world, within
myself For all this, fearing to be rash in a
matter of that weight, I did all I could to sat-
isfy myself; made it my daily prayer to God,
to settle me in the right ; and so went on
Christmas-day to receive in the king's chapel ;
after which I was more troubled than ever,
•Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury — Blandfort, Bishop of
Worcester.
t Blandfort, Bishop of Worcester.
17
and could never be in quiet, till I had told my
desire to a Catholic, who brought a priest to
me, and that was the first I ever did converse
with, upon my word. The more I spoke to
him, the more I was confirmed in m}^ design :
and, as it is impossible for me to doubt of the
words of our blessed Saviour, who says, the
holy sacrament is his body and blood ; so I
cannot believe, that he who is the author of all
truth, and who has promised to be with his
Church to the end of the world, would permit
them to give that holy mystery to the laity
but in one kind, if it were not lawful so to do.
" I am not able, nor if I were, would I enter
into disputes with any body. I only, in short,
say this, for the changing of my religion, which
I take God to witness, I would never have
done, if I had thought it possible to save my
soul otherwise. I think, I need not say, it is
any interest in this world leads me to it. It
will be plain enough to every body, that I must
lose all the friends and credit I have here by
it ; and have very well weighed, which I could
best part with, my share in this world or the
next. I thank God I found no difficulty in the
choice.
" My only prayer is, that the poor Catholics of
this nation, may not suflfer for my being of
their religion : that God would but give me
patience to bear them, and then, send me any
afflictions in this world, so I may enjoy a blessed
eternity hereafter.
" St. James's, August 20, 1670."
I am sensible this piece will make a more
powerful impression upon minds, that are sin-!
cere, than the strongest arguments I can pro-
duce. For in disputes all men are naturally
upon their guard, as in an enemy's country :
and suspect there lies a fallacy hid in every
argument, that presses too hard upon them.
But in this piece, there is nothing but plain
matter of fact, delivered with such an air of
sincerity and candor, as prevents all suspicion
358
SHORTEST WAY TO END DISPUTES.
of fallacious dealing, and finds its way to the
heart without resistance. I will only add this
one reflection, that there is not a Protestant in
the world, but if he traces the reformation of
the Church, whereof he is a member, to its
source, will find that either avarice, ambition,
revenge, or some other criminal passion gave
a beginning to it.
fla CEi c&f en tT'j tTj iT'j CI3 C!& en da
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How to Shua Evil; or, The Sinner's Guide.
Bg the
REV. F. LEWIS
Sen en cci i3^ C[d iX< A en (Kr en
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(259)
Hoai to Shan Evil; on, The Sionefs Guide.
By the fiev. F. ItEWIS.
8B©*^^®SiS
CHAPTER 1.
OF THE FIRST MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO VIRTUE AND THE SERVICE OF GOD, CONSIDERING
J . ^y , ^ . IN ITSELF ; AND OF THE EXCELLENCY OF HIS
'i^ ^N. ~ '/
DIVINE PERFECTIONS.
-WO things, Christian reader,
particularly dispose the
will of man to the under-
taking of any commend-
able action. The con-
sideration of duty and
justice is the one; the
other, the benefit and ad-
vantage we may reap by
it. All wise men, there-
fore, agree, that justice
and profit are the two
most powerful induce-
ments to incline our will
to whatsoever it ought to
undertake. Now, though
profit be more generally
sought after, yet justice
is, in itself, the more
prevalent of the two ; for,
as Aristotle teaches, no
worldly advantage can be
equivalent to the excel-
lence of virtue, nor any loss so great, as that a
prudent man should not embrace it rather than
incline to vice. The design of this book being
to allure and incline men to embrace the beauty
of virtue, it will be proper to begin with the
principal part, showing how far we are obliged
to it, on account of the duty we owe to God,
who, being goodness itself, neither commands,
requires nor asks any thing in this world, but
that we be virtuous. Let us see, in the first
place, and seriously consider, on what grounds,
and for what reasons. Almighty God claims this
duty of us.
But since these are innumerable, we shall here
touch upon only six of the chief of them, on
account of every one of which, man owes all he
is or can do. The first, greatest and most in-
explicable of them, is the very being of God^
which comprehends the greatness of his infinite
majesty and of all his perfections ; that is, the
incomprehensible immensity of his goodness and
mercy, of his justice, his wisdom, his omnipo-
tence, his excellence, his beauty, his fidelity,
his sweetness, his truth, his felicity, with the
rest of those inexhaustible riches and perfec-
tions that are contained in his divine essence.
All which are so great and wonderful, that,
according to St. Augustine, if the whole world
were full of books, and each particular creature
employed to write in them, and all the sea
turned into ink, the books would be sooner
(261)
262
HOW TO SHUN EVIL ; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
filled, the writers sooner tired, and the sea sooner
drained, than any one of his perfections could
be fully expressed. The same doctor says
further, that should God create a new man, with
a heart as large and as capacious as the hearts
of all men together, and he, by the assistance
and favor of an extraordinary light, come to
the knowledge of any one of his inconceivable
attributes, the pleasure aud delight this must
cause in him would quite overwhelm and make
him burst with joy, unless God were to support
and strengthen him in a very particular manner.
This, therefore, is the first and chief reason,
that obliges us to the love and the service of
God. It is a point so universally agreed upon,
that the very Epicureans, who, by their denying
of a Divine Providence, and the immortality
of the soul, have ruined all philosophy, never
went so far as to cut off all religion, which is
nothing else but the worship and adoration we
owe to God. For one of those philosophers,
discoursing upon this matter (Cic. de Nat.
Deorum), brings very strong and undeniable
arguments, to prove, that there is a God ; that
this God is infinite in all his perfections, and
deserves, therefore, to be reverenced and adored ;
and that this duty would be incumbent on us,
though God had no other title to it. If a king,
even out of his own dominions, purely only
for the dignity of his person, is treated with
respect and honor, when we have no expecta-
tion of any favor from him ; with how much
more justice are we to pay the same duties to
this King and Lord, who, as St. John says,
has these words written upon his garment, and
upon his thighs, King of kings, and Lord
OF LORDS I This is he, who with three fingers
holds up the frame of the earth. It is he that
disposes the causes of all things ; it is he that
gives motion to the celestial orbs, that changes
the seasons, and that alters the elements. He
it is that divides the waters, produces the winds,
and creates all things. It is from him that
the planets receive their force and influences.
It is he, in fine, that, as King and Lord of the
universe, gives every creature its life and
nourishment. And, besides all this, the king-
dom he is in possession of, neither came to him
by succession, nor by election or inheritance,
but by nature. And as man is naturally above
an ant, so this noble Being is, in such an emi-
nent degree, above all created things whatsoever,
that they, and all the world together, are scarce
any more, in regard of him, than one of these
insects. If philosophers, so ill principled as the
Epicureans were, have acknowledged this truth,
what ought we to do, who are brought up in the
Christian religion ? — a religion, which teaches
us, that, notwithstanding the infinite obligations
we have to God, we are more indebted to him,
upon this account, than upon any other ; so that,
if a man had a thousand hearts and bodies,
this reason alone should be enough to make
him offer them all to his honor and service.
This is a point which all the saints, who have
had a sincere and disinterested love for him,
have faithfully complied with. And, therefore,
St. Bernard, upon this subject, says, ''True love
is neither increased by hope, nor lessened by
distrust ;" Serm. 83, in Can tic. Hereby giving
us to understand, that it is not the reward he
expects, that makes him serve God : but that
he would go on still with the same fervor,
though he were sure he should never have any
thing for it ; because he is not influenced by
interest, nor wrought upon by any other con-
sideration, but that of the pure love which is
due to his infinite goodness.
But though this, of all obligations, is the
greatest, yet it is that which, least of all, moves
those who are not perfect. Because, the greater
power self-love has over them, the more they are
carried on by their own interest ; and, being
as yet but rude and ignorant, they are unable
to conceive the beauty and excellence of this su-
preme goodness. Whereas, were they but a little
more enlightened, the very brightness of this
divine glory would charm them into a love of it
above all other things. For which reason, it will
be very proper to instruct them upon this mat-
ter, that they may acquire a more perfect knowl-
edge of the majesty of God. All I intend to
HOW TO SHUN EVIL ; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
263
make use of, for the eflfecting of this, shall be
taken out of St. Denis, who wrote his treatise
of Mystical Divinity with no other design, but
to let us know how infinitely different God
Almighty's excellences and perfections are, from
those of creatures : that, by seeing this, we may
learn, if we have a mind to know what God is,
the necessity of shutting our eyes to the beauties
we observe in creatures, for fear of deceiving
ourselves, whilst we judge of God by those
things that bear no proportion at all with his
greatness. We are to look upon them as mean
and base, and raise up our souls to the contem-
plation of a Being that exceeds all beings ; of a
Substance, above all other substances ; of a Light,
that eclipses all other lights; and of a Beauty
which is so far beyond all beauties imaginable,
that the greatest of them, and the most com-
plete, is but ugliness and deformity when set by
this. This is what we are told by the cloud
Moses entered into to discourse with God, which
removed every thing but God from him, that he
might, by that means, have a better knowledge
of God; Exod. xxiv. 16, 18. And Elias's cov-
ering his face with his cloak, when he saw the
glory of God passing before him, is a lively ex-
pression of the same thing ; 3 Kings xix. 13.
It is certain, then, that a man, to contemplate
the perfections and beauty of God, should turn
away his eyes from all the things of this world,
as too base and mean to be regarded at the same
time with him.
We shall understand this much better, if we
consider the vast difference between this uncre-
ated Being and all that are created ; that is to
say, between the Creator and his creatures. For
all these we see had a beginning, and may have
an end ; but he is without a beginning, and can
have no end. They all acknowledge a superior,
and depend upon another ; but he knows nothing
above himself, and, therefore, is independent.
The creatures are variable and inconstant, but
the Creator is always the same, and cannot
change. The creatures are composed of dif-
ferent matters, but the Creator is a most pure
Being, and free from all those mixtures which
bodies are made up of ; for, should he consist of
several parts, there must, of necessity, have
been some being above and before him, to have
ordered these parts, a thing altogether impossi-
ble. The creatures can never come to such a
degree of perfection as not to admit of a further
increase ; they may receive more than they have
already, and know what they are at present igno-
rant of ; but God can never be better than he is
now, because he contains within himself the
perfections of all other beings : nor is it possible
that he, who is the Source of all riches, should
ever be richer. Nor can he know more than he
does already, because his wisdom is infinite, and
his eternity, which has all things present to it,
suffers nothing to be concealed from his knowl-
edge. Aristotle, the chief of all the heathen
philosophers, not ignorant of this truth, calls
him a pure act ; which is a complete and abso-
lute perfection, incapable of any further addi-
tion, there being nothing imaginable above it ;
nor can we think of any thing it stands in need
of There is no creature in the world free from
motion and change ; and it is this that helps
them in the finding of what they want, for they
are all of them poor and needy. God, on the
contrary, is fixed and immovable ; because he is
never exposed to any kind of necessity, but is
present in all places. There is, in all created
things, some difference or other, by which one
creature is to be easily known and distinguished
from another ; but the purity of God's essence
allows of no difference or distinction. So that
his being is his essence, his essence is his
power, his power is his will, his will is his
understanding, his understanding is his being,
his being is his wisdom, his wisdom is his
justice, his justice is his mercy. And though
the effects of the one are contrary to those of
the other, because the duty of mercy is to
pardon, and that of justice to punish ;
they are, notwithstanding, so perfectly one and
the same thing in him, that his mercy is
his justice, and his justice is his mercy.
So that, to appearance, there are contrary
perfections and qualities in God; but yet, as
s64
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
St. Augustine observes, there is no such thing
in effect (Medit. c. 19 and 20), because he is
very remote and yet very present, very beauti-
ful and very strong, constant and inconceiv-
able, confined to no place and in all places,
seen by none, and yet seeing all, who changes
every thing, whilst he himself can never change.
He it is, who is always in action, and yet
always enjoys an eternal rest: it is he that
fills all things, but cannot himself be circum-
scribed : who provides for all without the least
solicitude: who is great without quantity, and
consequently immense : who is good without
quality, and, therefore, truly and sovereignly
good: nay, what is yet more, he only is good;
Matt. xix. 17. In fine, not to lose ourselves
in this abyss, we may venture to say, that as
all things are tied up to the bounds of a
limited being, so they have a limited power,
beyond which they can never pass. The works
they are employed about are limited, the places
they live in have their bounds, they have
names to distinguish them by, and definitions
by which we may know them, and are reduci-
ble to their particular kinds. But as for this
supreme Substance, it is as infinite in its power,
and in all its other attributes, as it is in its
being. It is not known by any definition, nor
comprehended under any kind, nor confined to
any place, nor distinguished by any name. On
the contrary, according to St. Denis, it has all
names, though it has no name, because it con-
tains within itself all those perfections which are
signified by names. We may, therefore, say,
that all creatures, as they are limited, are to be
comprehended ; whilst this divine essence, inas-
much as it is infinite, is far above the reach of
any created understanding. For, as Aristotle
says, since that which is infinite has no end, it
is not to be comprehended but by him alone who
comprehends all things. What else could be
the meaning of those two seraphims Isaias saw
near the majesty of God, seated upon a high
throne, each of which had six wings ; with two
of them they covered his face, and with two his
feet; Isa. vi. 12. Was it not to teach us, that
these, which possess the chief places in heaven,
and are seated the nearest to God, are not capa-
ble of knowing perfectly what he is, though they
have the favor to see him clearly, in his very
essence and in all his beauty ? For as a man,
standing on the shore, sees the sea itself, yet
cannot discover its depth or extent, so these
blessed spirits, with all the saints in heaven, see
God truly and really, but can neither fathom
the abyss of his greatness, nor measure the
duration of his eternity. For this reason God is
said to be seated upon the cherubims : and, though
they are filled with treasures of wisdom, never-
theless, to show how short they come of con-
ceiving his majesty, or of understanding his
essence, it is said, that he sits upon them.
This is the darkness David speaks of, when
he says, God made darkness his covert; Ps. xvii.
12. To g^ve us to understand what the apostle
has expressed more clearly, saying, that God in-
habiteth light inaccessible ; i Tim. vi. 16. The
prophet calls light darkness, because it dazzles
our eyes so that we cannot look against it to see
God. And as, according to one of the philoso-
phers, there is nothing more resplendent or
visible than the sun, and nothing at the same
time which we can less look at, because of its
extraordinary brightness and the weakness of
our sight ; in like manner, there is nothing more
intelligible in itself than God is, and yet noth-
ing, for the same reason, that we understand
less.
If, therefore, any man desire to know what
God is, when arrived at the highest degree of
perfection he is capable of conceiving, he must
with humility confess, that an infinite space still
remains ; that what he proposed to himself is
infinitely greater than he imagined ; and that
the more sensible he is of these incomprehen-
sibilities, the further advance he has made in
this sublime science. For this reason St.
Gregory, writing upon those words of Job, v.
9, Who doth great things and unsearchable^ and
wonderful things without number — says thus :
We never speak better of the works of the
Almighty God, than when, surprised with
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
265
astonisliment and ravished with wonder, we
keep an awful silence. And as those persons,
who design to praise another, whose deserts
are beyond all they are able to say, think they
best discharge themselves from their obligation
when they say nothing at all ; so ought we,
in St. Denis's opinion, to reverence the won-
ders of this supreme Deity with a holy and
profound respect of soul, and with a chaste
and devout silence. The saint seems herein
to allude to those words of David, A hymn, O
God, becometh thee in Sion (Ps. Ixiv. 2), which
St. Jerome has translated thus : " Thou, O God,
art praised by silence in Sion : " to signify to
us, that we cannot praise God in a more per-
fect manner than by saying nothing at all in
praise of him, acknowledging the incapacity
of our understanding, owning with humility
that this inexpressible substance is too high
for us to conceive ; and confessing that his
being is above all beings, his power above all
powers, his greatness above all greatnesses,
and that his substance infinitely excels, and is
inconceivably diflferent from all other sub-
stances, whether material or spiritual. Upon
which St. Augustine says excellently well,
" When I seek my God, I seek not the beauty
of the body, nor the agreeableness of the sea-
sons, nor the brightness of the light, nor the
sweet charms of the voice, nor the odoriferous
smell of flowers, perfumes and essences ; it
is neither manna nor honey, nor any other
thing that is pleasing to the flesh ; I seek
none of these things when I seek my God :
and yet I seek a certain light not to be seen
by the eyes, and exceeding all light ; a voice
beyond all voices, yet not to be discerned by
the ears ; a smell surpassing all smells, which
the nostrils are not capable of; a sweetness
more delightful than all sweetness, yet un-
known to the taste, and a satisfaction above
all satisfactions, that is not to be felt. For
this light shines where there is no place, this
voice sounds where the air does not carry it
away, this smell is perceived where the wind
does not disperse it, and this taste delights
where there is no palate to relish it, and this
satisfaction is received where it is never lost."
L. 10. Conf. c. 6. Soliloq. c. 31.
If none of these reasons, as weighty as they
are, can give you the satisfaction you expect,
of having some idea of this unspeakable
majesty, cast your eyes upon the frame of this
material world, the work of God's own hands ;
that so the contemplation of such a noble efiect
may give you some insight into the excellence
of the cause. Presupposing, in the first place,
with St. Denis, that in every thing there is a
being, power and action, which bear such pro-
portion to one another, that the power is always
suitable to the being, and the action to the
power. This being presupposed, consider the
beauty, the order and extent of this world :
since, as astronomers tell us, there are stars in
heaven fourscore times as big as the earth
and sea together. Consider again, how many
different sorts of creatures there are upon the
earth, in the water and in the air ; you will
see every thing so complete and perfect in its
kind, monsters only excepted, that you can wish
for nothing to be added or diminished, to make
its being more complete ; and yet, according to
St. Augustine, who grounds his opinion on
Ecclesiasticus xvii. i, God, in one single
moment, created this world, as great and wonder-
ful as it is ; drew a being from no being, and
wrought this great work without any matter to
work upon ; without any help or assistance ;
without any outward draft or platform ; with-
out any tools or instruments ; without any limits
of either space or time. He created the whole
earth, and all that is contained within the
extent of the same, by one single act of his
will. Consider, further, that God could have
produced a thousand worlds more, much fairer
and larger than this, much better peopled, too,
as easily as he created this ; and that, if he
had made them, he could with as much ease,
and without any kind of opposition, reduce
them to nothing again.
Now, if, according to our supposition taken
from St. Denis, by the effects and operations of
266
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
things we judge of their power, and by their
power of their being ; how powerful must that
cause be, which has produced such wonderful
effects I And, if this power be so great, what
must the Being be, which we are to judge of
by this power ? This, doubtless, surpasses all
expression or imagination ; and yet we are fur-
ther to consider, that all these great and per-
fect works, which are or might have been, are
nothing at all in comparison of the divine
power, but infinitely inferior to it : who, then,
can reflect on, or contemplate the greatness of
so eminent a Being, and so high a power,
without surprise and astonishment? Yet,
though we did not see with our corporal eyes,
we cannot, from what has been said, but con-
ceive, in some measure, how great and incom-
prehensible this power is.
St. Thomas, in his Sum of Divinity, explains
this infinite g^atness very clearly, by this
example : We see, says he, that in material
or corporeal things, that which is the most
perfect is the greatest in quantity. Thus the
water is greater than the earth, the air is
greater than the water, and the fire grater
than the air. The first heaven is greater
than the element of fire ; the second heaven
gpreater than the first; the third than the
second ; and so of the rest, till you come to the
tenth sphere or empyreal heaven, which is of
unmeasurable greatness. This will appear much
plainer yet, if we consider what proportion the
sea and earth joined together have with the
heavens ; for astronomers tell us, they are both
but as a point in comparison of them ; which
they prove by this demonstration. They divide
the heavens equally into twelve signs, through
which the sun performs its yearly course; and
because a man may always see six of these
signs, in whatsoever part of the earth he be,
they conclude, that the earth is but as a point,
or a sheet of paper, in the middle of the world;
for, if its extent could be, though ever so little,
compared with that of the heavens, we should
not be able to discover half of them at once,
in any part of the earth whatsoever. Now, if
the empyreal orb, the most excellent and most
noble of all material substances, is so incom-
parably bigger than all the other orbs ; we may
from thence infer, that God, who is above all
beings imaginable, whether corporeal or spir-
itual, as being the Author of them all, must be
infinitely greater than all of them together;
not in quantity, for he is a pure Spirit, but in
the excellence and perfection of his being.
But, to come more home to our subject, you
may, I say, by this means know, in some man-
ner, what God's perfections are, because they
cannot but bear a proportion to his being.
The author of the book called Ecclesiasticus,
speaking of God's mercy, says, " His mercy is
as great as himself^'' Eccl. ii. 23. Nor are any
of his other attributes less. So that his good-
ness, his mercy, his majesty, his meekness,
his wisdom, his bounty, his omnipotence and
his justice, are all entirely equal. Thus he is
infinitely good, infinitely merciful, infinitely
wise, infinitely amiable, and upon these consid-
erations most infinitely worthy to be obeyed,
respected, reverenced and feared, by all crea-
tures. Nay, were man's heart capable of an
infinite love and fear, justice would oblige him
to give it all to God, upon the account of his
infinite greatness. For, if, the greater quality
a person is of, the more respect we are to show
him, we ought to pay God an infinite respect,
because his dignity is infinite. Whatsoever,
therefore, our love wants of acquiring this
degree, is wanting upon no other account but
our inability of making God the returns his
boundless greatness deserves.
Since, then, it is certain that, were there no
other consideration but that alone, it would be a
sufficient motive to oblige us to the love of God ;
what can he be in love with, who does not love
this goodness ? Or what can he be afraid of,
who does not fear this infinite majesty? Whom
will he serve, who will not serve this Lord ?
What was our will given us for, but to love
and to embrace good ? If, therefore, this great
God be the sovereign good, why does not our
will embrace it before all other goods? If it is
HOW TO SHUN EVIIv; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
267
»n unhappiness and misery not to love him,
nay, and that, too, above all things in the
world, what should those persons expect, who
love every thing else better than they do him?
Who would ever have thought that man could
carry his ingratitude and malice so far: and
yet, what do they less, who are continually
offending this sovereign goodness, for a beastly
pleasure, for a trifling punctilio of honor, or for
some vile and sordid interest ? What, then,
shall we think of them, who sin upon no motive
at all, but either out of mere malice or custom,
and without the least hope of advantage or
profit ? Yet this pass mankind is now come to.
O, unparalleled blindness and folly ! O, insen-
sibility, worse than that of brutes ! O, the dia-
bolical rashness and impudence of man ! What
punishment does he not deserve, that lets him-
self be carried away by such a crime as this ?
What torments ought not he to expect, who
has the boldness to despise so high a majesty?
Such an unhappy soul shall, without doubt, be
condemned to those pains and torments pre-
pared for it ; to burn with the devils in hell
for all eternity; — a punishment far less than
such offences deserve.
This is the first and chiefest reason that
obliges us to the love and service of God. An
obligation so close and strict, that there is noth-
ing in the world can oblige us to love the crea-
tures, because of their perfections, which is to
be called an obligation, if we compare it with
this. For as the perfections of the creatures
are but mere imperfections, in comparison with
the perfections of God; so all the obligations,
that proceed from these perfections and excel-
lences, cannot with any justice be called obli-
gations, if you set them against those we owe
to God : nor can the offences we commit against
the creatures, be properly accounted such, if we
but consider those we are guilty of towards
God. This is the reason why David, in his
Penitential Psalm, cries out. Against thee alone ^
meaning God, have I sinned ; Ps. i, 5. Though,
at the same time, he had sinned against Urias,
whom he murdered; against Urias's wife, whom
he seduced; and against all his subjects, in
the scandal his bad example gave them : and
yet, after all, he declared he had sinned against
God alone ; looking upon all those other offences
as nothing at all, if compared with those he had
committed against the law of God. This crime
so afBicted him, that he took no notice of the
rest. — For as God is infinitely greater than all
the creatures; so the obligations we have to
serve him, and the offences we commit against
his divine majesty, are infinitely greater too,
there being no comparison nor proportion be-
tween finite and infinite.
CHAPTER II.
OF THE SECOND MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO VIRTUE AND THE SERVICE OF GOD, WHICH
IS THE BENEFIT OF OUR CREATION.
[jNOTHER obligation we have in the
pursuit of virtue, and the keeping of
God's commandments, besides his
being in itself, is the consideration
of what he is towards us, that is, of those in-
numerable favors we have received from him ;
which, though we have spoken of elsewhere,
upon other occasions, we will nevertheless treat
of them again, that so we may the better under-
stand how much we are obliged to this liberal
Benefactor.
The first of these benefits is our creation^
which being so well known, I will only say,
that such a favor is of itself sufficient to oblige
man to give himself up entirely to the service
of his Creator; because in justice he stands
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indebted for all lie has received ; and since by
this benefit he has received his being, that is,
his body with all its senses, and his soul with
all its faculties, it follows he is obliged to
employ them all in the service of his Creator,
under the penalty of being looked on as un-
grateful to so bountiful a Benefactor. For, if a
man builds a house, who should have the use or
the rent of it, but he that built it ? If a man
plants a vine, who else should have the fruit of
it but the planter ? If a man has any children,
who are they obliged to serve but the father
that begot them ? This obligation is so strict,
that the laws themselves give every father a
right and power to sell his own children, if he
should be reduced to a very pressing necessity.
For his having given them their being, makes
his authority over them so absolute, that he
may dispose of them as he pleases. — What power,
then, and authority ought he to have, who is the
sovereign Master and Author of all creatures
both in heaven and on earth, since the nower
a father has over his children extends so far ?
And if those persons who receive a favor are,
according to Seneca, obliged to imitate a good
soil, which returns with interest what it receives,
how shall we be able to make God any such return,
when, after having given him all we have, we can
g^ve him no more than what we have received
from him ? And if he who gives back but
just what he received, does not comply with
this precept of the philosopher, what shall we
say of him that does not return so much as
the least part of it ? Aristotle tells us it is
impossible for a man to make equal returns to
the favors his father and the gods have be-
stowed on him. How, then, can it be possible
for us to make any return to this great God,
who is the Father of all fathers, and from whom
mankind has received infinitel}' more than
from all the fathers in the world together?
If for a son to disobey his father is so heinous
a sin, how grievous a crime must our rebellion
be against God, who has so many titles to the
name of Father, that, in comparison with him,
no father deserves to be so called. And, there-
fore, he, with much reason, complains of this
ingratitude, by one of the prophets, in these
words : // I am your Father^ where is my
honor ? And if I am your Lord, where is
my fear ? Mai. i. 6. It is upon the account
of the same ingratitude that he expresses his
indignation in another place with much more
severity and anger, saying. Is it thus that you
requite the Lord, O foolish and tcnwise nation ?
Is not he thy Father, that has taken thee into
his possession, and has made and created thee ?
Deut. xxxii. 6. These are truly the ungrateful
creatures, that never lift up their eyes toward
heaven to contemplate on it, nor look down to
consider themselves. Did they but enter into
this consideration, they would soon inform
themselves what they are, and desire to have
some knowledge at least of their original.
They would be willing to know by whom and
for what end they have been created, that they
might by this means be acquainted with one
part of their duty. But having already neg-
lected the one, they easily neglect the other,
and live as if they had made and created them-
selves. This was the crime of that unfortu-
nate king of Egypt, whom God threatened so
severely by his prophet, when he sent him
this message : Behold, O Pharaoh, king of
Egypt, it is to thee that I speak ; thou great
dragon, that liest dowtt in the midst of thy
rivers, and sayest, The river is mine, and I
have made myself These words, if they are
not in the mouths, are at least in the hearts
of those who think as seldom of their Creator
as if they themselves were the authors of their
own being, and would acknowledge no other.
St. Augustine's sentiments were quite different
from these ; for the knowledge of his own
origin brought him to the knowledge of him
from whom he had received it. Hear how he
speaks in one of his soliloquies : " I returned
to myself, and entered into myself, saying.
What art thou ? And I answered myself, A
rational and a mortal man. And I began to
examine what this was, and said, O, my Lord
and my God, who is it that has created so
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269
noble a creature as this is? Who, O Lord,
but thou? Thou, O my God, hast made me,
and not I myself. What art thou? Thou by
whom I and all things live. Can any one
create and make himself? Can he receive his
being and his life from any one else but from
thee ? Art not thou the chief being, from
whom every other being comes ? Art not thou
the fountain of life, from which all lives flow ?
For whatsoever has life lives by thee, because
nothing can live without thee. It is thou, O
Lord, that hast made me, and without thee
nothing is made. Thou art my Creator, and
I am thy creature. I thank thee, O my Lord
and my God, because thou hast created me ;
thou, by whom I live, and by whom all things
live. I thank thee, O my Creator, because
thy hands have made and fashioned me. I
thank thee, O my Light, for having enlight-
ened and brought me to the knowledge of
what thou art, and what I am myself"
This is the first favor we have received from
God, and the foundation of all the rest, because
all other benefits presuppose a being, and this
is first given us at our creation. Nay, there
is no benefit but has a near relation to our
being, as the accidents of a thing have to the
substance of it ; by which you may see how
great a benefit this is, and how deeply you are
indebted to God for it. If, then, it is certain,
that God is very careful and exact in requiring
some acknowledgment for all the benefits he
bestows upon us, not out of any interest or
advantage to himself, but only for our good ;
what acknowledgment do we think he will ex-
pect from us, for that favor, upon which all
others are built ? For God is no less rigorous
in exacting our thanks, than he is liberal in
conferring his grace ; not that he gets any
thing by it, but because the performance of
our duty is so very advantageous to us. Thus
we read in the Old Testament, that God no
sooner bestowed any grace upon his people,
than he commanded them not to forget the
same. As soon as he had brought his Israel-
ites out of the slavery of Egypt (Exod. xii.).
he immediately commanded them to keep a
solemn feast every year, in remembrance of
that happy day. He destroyed all the first-
born of the Egyptians, but, at the same time,
to prevent his people's ingratitude, he gave
orders, that in return for so signal a favor,
they should offer up all their first-born to him.
A little after their departure from Egypt (Exod.
xvi. 33), when he first rained down the manna
from heaven, a food with which he maintained
them for forty years in the wilderness, he
ordered immediately that a certain quantity of
it should be put into a vessel, and kept in
the sanctuary, as a memorial to all their pos-
terity of so extraordinary a mercy ; Exod. xvii.
14. After the victory which he gave them
over the Amalekites, he bids Moses write it
down in a book for a memorial, and deliver
the same to Josue. Now, if God has been so
exact, in requiring that his people should never
forget those temporal favors he has done them,
what will he not expect from us, for this im-
mortal one ? For since the soul he has given
us is immortal, the benefit we receive with it
must be so too. It was this that introduced
the custom amongst the old patriarchs, of
erecting altars, as often as God had favored
them in any particular manner ; Gen. xiii. 7,
8 ; xiii. 18 ; xxii, etc. Nay, the very names
they gave their children expressed the favors
they had received, that so they might always
be mindful of them. Hence St. Augustine took
occasion to say that man ought to think of
God every time he draws his breath ; Soliloq.
c. 18. Manuale c. 29. Medit. c. 6. Because,
as it is by the means of his being that he
lives, he should be continually giving God
thanks for this immortal being, which he has
had from the divine mercy.
We are so strictly obliged to the perform-
ance of this duty, that it is the advice even
of worldly philosophers never to be ungrateful
to God. Hear how Epictetus, a very noted
Stoic, speaks upon this matter. " Have a care,"
says he, " O man, of being ungrateful to that
sovereign Power, and forgetting to return
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thanks, not only for having given you all your
senses and life itself, but for all those things
that support it : not only for the pleasant
fruits, for the wine, the oil, and for whatever
other advantages of fortune you have received
from him ; but praise him particularly for
having endowed you with reason, by which
you may know how to make that use of
every thing which it ought to be put to, and
understand the true worth and excellence of
all things." If a heathen philosopher obliges
us to such acknowledgments for these common
and ordinary things, what sentiments of grati-
tude should a Christian have, who has, beside
all these, received the light of faith, which is
a most inestimable favor.
But you will perhaps ask, What obligations
can these benefits lay upon me, which are
common to all, and seem rather to be the ordi-
nary graces of God, since they are nothing
but the consequences and products of such
causes as work always after the same manner ?
This objection is so much below a Christian,
that a heathen would be ashamed to make it,
and none but a beast can be guilt}'^ of such
baseness. That you may the more easily
believe me, hear how the same philosopher
condemns it : " You will say, perhaps, that you
receive all these benefits from nature. Sense-
less and ignorant creature that you are ! do
not you see, that when you say so, j'ou only
change the name of God ? For what is nature
but God, who is the Author of nature ? It is
therefore no excuse, ungrateful man, to say
you owe this obligation to nature, not to God,
because without God there is no such thing as
nature. Should you borrow a sum of money
of Lucius Seneca, and afterward say you were
obliged only to Lucius, and not to Seneca, that
would only change your creditor's name, but
not your creditor."
§ I. Of another Part of this Motive that obliges
us to the Service of God, which is, that we
are to receive our Perfection from him.
It is not justice alone that obliges to the
service of our Creator: our own necessities
force us to address ourselves to him, if we
desire to arrive at the happiness and perfection
of our being, which is the end of our creation.
For the better understanding hereof, you must
conceive that, generally speaking, whatever is
born is not bom with all its perfections : it has
something, but it wants much more yet, and
none but he that began the work can rightly
finish it. So that no being can be perfected
by any other cause than that which put the
first hand to it. This is the reason why all
effects have an inclination and tendency towards
those particular causes which produced them,
that they may receive their last stroke and
perfection from them. The plants love the
sun, and run as deep as they can into the
earth which shot them forth. The fishes con-
tinue in the waters where they were first engen-
dered. A chicken runs under the hen's wings
as soon as it is hatched, and follows her up
and down for shelter. A lamb, as soon as it
is brought forth, runs after its ewe, and can
distinguish it from a thousand others of the
same color. It follows her without ever losing
sight of her, and seems to say, " Here it is I
received whatsoever I have, and it is here I
will receive whatsoever I want." This is what
usually happens in the works of nature; and
if those of art had any sense or motion, they
would do the same. Should a painter draw a
piece and leave out the eyes, what would it do
were it sensible of its wants? whither would
it go ? Not to the palaces of kings or princes,
who, as such, could never be able to supply
its defects, but to the master's house, that he
who drew the first strokes might give the last,
and finish it quite. Is not this your own case,
O rational creature ? You are not yet fin-
ished. You have, it is true, received something,
but there is a great deal yet wanting to make
you as complete and perfect as you should be.
You are scarce any more than a rough draught.
You have received nothing of the beauty and
lustre you are to have. This you will be very
sensible of, if you do but observe the propension
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
271
of nature itself, which, being always in want,
never rests, but is continually craving and
wishing for more. God thought fit to starve
you out, that your own wants might force you
to have recourse to him. For this reason it
was he left you at first unfinished. His not
giving you at your creation all that you stood in
need of, was an effect not of covetousness, but
of love. It was not to leave you poor, but
to make you humble. It was not to forsake
you in your necessities, but to oblige you
to address yourself to him. For since you
are really poor and blind, why do you not
go to the Father that made you, and to the
painter that first began to draw you, that he
may give you what you have not yet received ?
Consider whether David did not understand this
secret, when he said, Thy hands, O Lord I have
made me, and formed me : give me understanding,
and I will learn thy commandments; Ps. cxviii.
73. As if he had said, all that is in me is the
work of thy hands, O Lord ! but thy work is
not yet completed. I am not quite finished, O
Lord, because the eyes of my soul are not yet
opened. I have not light enough to see what
is convenient for me. Whom shall I have
recourse to for the obtaining what I want,
unless to him who has given me what I have ?
Grant me, O Lord! that light which is neces-
sary for me. Enlighten the eyes of this wretch
that has been born blind, that he may see thee,
and that thou, O God ! may est finish what thou
hast already begun in me.
As, therefore, there is none but this great
God that can perfect the understanding, so
neither is there any beside him, that can com-
plete and rectify the will, with all the other
faculties of the soul ; that so he, who first
began the work, may finish it. It is this
Lord alone, who satisfies without leaving any
want, who enlarges without noise, who enriches
without vanity, and gives a solid contentment,
without possessing many things: with whom
the creature lives, though poor, yet content;
though rich, yet destitute; though alone, yet
happy ; though deprived of all things, yet
possessing all. It is upon this occasion the
wise man says, with so muoh reason. One is as
it were rich, when he hath nothing ; and another
is as it were poor, though he hath great riches;
Prov. xiii. 7. By this we are taught, that the
poor man, who has God for his inheritance, as
St. Francis had, is truly rich, and that he whom
God takes no notice of is very poor, let him
be ever so rich in worldly possessions.
What advantage have great and wealthy men
by all their riches, if they are, nevertheless,
racked with such cares and diseases, that all
they have cannot give them any ease? Or
what comfort can rich clothes, a plentiful table,
and chests crammed with gold and treasures, '
bring to an unquiet and troubled mind ? How
often, and with what restlessness, does the rich
man turn and toss about every night in his
down-bed; nor can all his wealth help him to
the least wink of sleep, or give any rest to
his disturbed conscience ? It follows, from
what has been said, that we are infinitely
obliged to serve God, not only on account of
his benefits, but for whatsover else contributes
to the making our happiness complete.
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CHAPTER 111.
OF THE THIRD MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO SERVE GOD, WHICH IS THE BENEFIT OF OUR
PRESERVATION AND DIRECTION.
OTHER obligation man has to God,
besides that of his creation, is the care
he takes to preserve him. He it is
who gave you your being, and who
still continues the same to you. So that you
depend now as much upon his power, for the
preserving of it, as you did, before he gave it to
you, for the receiving it ; and it is as impossible
for you to subsist without him, as it was before
you were created, to create yourself. Nor is the
second obligation less than the first, but rather
greater, for that was laid upon you but once ;
whereas this is conferred on you every moment
of your life. For, to be continually preserving
you after your creation, requires no less love
nor power than it did to create you. If, there-
fore, your obligation to him, for having created
you in an instant, be so great; what do you
not owe him for preserving you so many
moments, so many hours, nay, so many years?
You cannot go a step unless he gives you
power to move. You cannot so much as open
or shut your eyes without his will and assist-
ance. For, if you do not believe it is he who
moves every joint and member of your body,
you are no Christian ; but if you believe it is
from him yoti receive this favor, and yet, after
all, are so impudent as to offend him, I cannot
tell what name to give you. If a man were
standing on the top of a high tower with a
small cord in his hand, and another man
hanging at the end of it, do you think that
he who should be so near falling down head-
long, would dare to give abusive language to
the person that held the cord ? Imagine your-
self to be in such a condition. You depend
on the will of God as it were on a thread ; so
that, should he forsake you but for one moment,
you would be instantly reduced to your first
nothing. With what insolence, then, can you
dare provoke so dreadful a Majesty, who is so
merciful as to support you, even when you sin
against him ? For, as St. Denis says, such
is the virtue of the sovereign Good, as to give
creatures power to disobey and rebel at the
very moment they are rebelling against it.
Since there is no denying this truth, how dare
you presume to make use of those senses and
members, as instruments to offend him who
preserves them? O incredible blindness and
folly ! O unheard-of rebellion and disobedience I
Was there ever so horrid a conspiracy as this
is, that the members should rise up against
their Head, for which they ought to die a
thousand times ? The day will come when
this affront shall be most severely punished.
It is then that God will hear those complaints,
which his own honor, trampled under foot by
you, shall make to his divine justice. Disloyal
and ungrateful man I is it not just, since you
have conspired against your God, that the
whole world should rise up and exclaim against
you ? that God should arm all his creatures to
revenge the injuries you have offered him?
and that the whole earth should fight for him
against the ungrateful ? Without doubt, there
is no greater j ustice than that they, who would not
open their eyes to so many mercies, when they
might have done it, should be forced to it now
by severity and rigor, without finding any
remedy or comfort.
If to all these benefits we add the whole
world, which is as a rich and plentiful table God has
prepared and spread for your particular use, how
infinitely will the obligation be increased ?
There is not any one thing under the face of
heaven, but what is entirely for man or for his
service. And should any one object, that flies
are of no use to man, he may observe, they are
food for birds, which are created for him. Though
a man does not eat the grass of the fields, it
nourishes the cattle which are necessary for
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273
his subsistence. Cast your eye about the world,
and j-ou will see what rich lands, and what
large possessions you have, and how great your
inheritance is. All that moves on the earth, all
that swims in the waters, that flies in the air,
or that shines in the heavens, is made for j'ou.
These things are all of them the effects of God's
bounty, the witnesses of his mercy, the sparks
of his charity, and the common publishers of
his greatness. Consider these are so many
preachers God sends to you, that you may not
want the opportunity of knowing him. Every
thing, says St. Augustine, on earth and in
heaven, perpetually exhorts me, O Lord I to love
you. And that no man may pretend to a law-
ful excuse from so just a duty, they speak the
same language to everybody else.
O! that you had but ears to hear the
voices of the creatures, you would easily under-
stand how they all agree in their inviting you
to the love of God ; for they silently declare they
have been created to serve you : that you may,
therefore, love and adore this common Lord, not
only for yourself, but for them. The sky says,
It is I, that by my stars continually furnish
you with light that you may not walk in the
dark. It is I, that by my different influences
occasion the production of all things necessary
for life. The air, on the other side, tells you,
It is I who gives you breath ; it is I who re-
freshes you with my gentle blasts, and tempers
the heat of 3'our vital spirits, that you may
not be scorched up by it ; it is I who maintains
this almost infinite number of different kinds of
birds, pleasing your eyes with the beauty of
their feathers, charming your ears with the
sweetness of their notes, and satisfying the
niceness of your appetites with their delicious
taste. The water says. It is for you that I
pour out my seasonable and moderate rains ; it
is for you that my streams and fountains are
always running ; it is for your nourishment
that I engender such variety of fish. I water
your lands and your gardens, that they may
bring you their fruits in due season. I make
a short passage for you through the sea, that
18
you may thereby have the opportunity of
making use of the whole world, and of joining
the riches of other countries with those of your
own. What shall I say of the earth, the
common mother of all things, and the universal
shop, as it were, of nature ; where all the
different causes produce their several effects ?
She may, with a great deal of reason, speak
to you, as the rest have done, and tell you, it
is she that, like a mother, carries you in her
arms ; it is she that supplies you with all the
necessaries of life ; it is she that maintains
you with the variety of her products ; that, to
serve you, she holds a correspondence with all
the other elements, and with the heavens
themselves, for the procuring of their influence ;
and that she, in short, like a tender mother,
neither forsakes you whilst you are alive, nor
leaves you at your death ; for she it is that
nourishes and supports you during your life,
and takes you into her bosom when you are
dead, and there gives you a resting place. To
conclude, all the world cries out aloud to you.
Behold, O mortal man, and consider, what a
love your Creator has had for you; since it is
for your sake that he has made me, commanding
me, at the same time, for the love of him, to
serve you ; that so you may love and serve
him, who has created me for you, and you
for himself.
This, O Christian, this is the general voice
of all the creatures ; and can you, after this,
deny, that you are most strangely dull and
stupid, if you have no ears to hear the same ?
How can you avoid confessing, that you are
guilty of an unparalleled ingratitude, if you
take no notice of so many favors ? If you are
not ashamed to receive an obligation, why do
you refuse to make a simple acknowledgment
of it to him from whom you have received it,
that so you may escape the punishment your
ingratitude otherwise deserves ? For, according
to a great writer, there is no creature in the
world but what speaks these three words to
man : ''''Receive^ give^ take heed ; that is to say,
receive the benefit, give what is due, and
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take heed of the punishment which follows in-
gratitude, if you do not do so ; " Rich, de
S. Vict.
And, that you may have more cause to
admire, consider how Epictetus, a heathen
philosopher before mentioned, has been able to
lift himself up to this sublime divinity. He
advises us, in these words, to make the crea-
tures serve us, as so many memorials of the
Creator : —
" When the raven croaks," says he, " and
thereby gives you notice of some change of
weather, it is God, not the raven, that g^ves
you this notice. If men should, by their
words and discourses, advise you to any thing,
is it not God that has g^ven them power to
advise you thus ? thereby to let you under-
stand, that he exercises his divine power
several waj's, in order to bring about his de-
signs ; for when God thinks fit to acquaint us
with matters of greater moment, he makes
choice of more excellent and more inspired
men for this purpose." Afterwards, he adds
this : " In fine, when you shall have read my
instructions, say to yourself. Is it not Epictetus,
but God, that has given me this advice ; for
whence could he have had such precepts and
rules as these are, if God had not suggested
them to him ? " Thus far the words of Epic-
tetus. Now, is there any Christian -in the
world, that will not be ashamed, and blush to
be excelled by a heathen ? If there be, he
may well be confounded to think, that his
eyes, with the assistance of the light of faith,
cannot see as far as those that were in the
darkness of human reason.
S I. From what has been said is inferred how
unworthy it is not to serve God.
Since things are really just as we have
represented them, is it not great ingratitude and
neglect for man to be surrounded on all sides by
so many benefits, and yet to forget him from
whom he has received them all ? St. Paul says.
" that he who does his enemy a good turn, heaps
coals of fire upon his head " (Rom. xii. 20.), by
which he inflames his charity and love. Now,
if all the creatures in the world are so many
benefits God bestows on you, the whole world
can be nothing else but one fire, and all the
creatures so much fuel to feed and increase it.
Is it possible any heart should be in the midst
of such flames as these, and not be entirely
inflamed, or so much as warmed by them ? How
comes it then, that after receiving so many bene-
fits and graces, you should neglect even to cast
your eyes toward heaven, to see from whence
they all come ? If you were to go a great
journey, and in the way, being quite tired, and
almost dead with hunger, should be forced to
sit down at the bottom of a high tower, from
the top of which some charitable person should
take care to supply you with whatsoever you
wanted, could you forbear looking up sometimes,
if it were but to have a sight of one that was
so kind and charitable to you ? Does God do
any thing less for you, than continually shower
down from above all sorts of blessings upon
you ? Find me out, if you can, but one thing-
in the world, that does not happen by his
particular providence. And yet you never so
much as look up to know, and by that means
to love, so liberal and constant a Benefactor.
What can be said of such hard-heartedness, but
that man has divested himself of his own nature,
and is grown more insensible than brutes ? It
is a shame to say whom we resemble in this
particular, but it is fit that man should hear it.
We are like a herd of swine feeding under an
oak, which, all the time their keeper is shaking-
down the acorns from the top of the tree, do
nothing else but grunt and fight with one
another for their meat, without ever looking
upon him that gives it them, or lifting up their
eyes to see from whose hands they receive such
a benefit. O ! the brutal ingratitude of the chil-
dren of Adam ! who, having received not only a
rational soul, which other creatures have not,
but also an upright body, and eyes set to look
up toward heaven, yet will not lift up the eyes
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275
of the soul to behold him that bestows such
blessings on them.
It is to be wished, that brutes and irrational
creatures did not excel us in this point. For
this duty of acknowledgment is, in effect, so
deeply engraved by the finger of God upon all
his creatures, that the fiercest of them have not
been deprived of so noble an inclination. There
are a great many examples in history to prove
what we here assert. Is there any beast more
fierce than a lion ? and 3'et Appian, a Greek
author, tells us of a man who, having accidentally
sheltered himself in a lion's cave, and there
plucked a thorn out of one of his feet, shared
with him every day of the prey he got, as an
acknowledgment of the favor and the cure he
had wrought upon the beast. This man was
taken up a considerable time after for some
notorious crime, and was condemned to be ex-
posed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre at
Rome, to be torn in pieces by them. The same
lion, which had been taken some days before,
being let loose, eyed the man, and, knowing him,
came up gently and fawned upon him, just as a
dog does upon his master when he has been
abroad, and ever after followed him up and down
without doing any harm. We read of another
lion, who, having received the same favor from
a seaman, that had been cast by a storm upon
the coast of Africa, brought him daily a part of
his booty, which maintained him and his com-
pany until such time as they put to sea again.
Nor is that less to be admired, which they tell
us of another, who, as he was fighting with
a serpent, was so put to it, that in all appearance
he would have lost his life, had not a gentleman,
who was riding that way, accidentally come to
his assistance, and killed the serpent ; the lion,
to return the obligation, gave himself up entirely
to his deliverer, and followed him whithersoever
he went, serving him as a hound in hunting.
The gentleman at last took shipping, and left
his lion on shore. The beast was so impatient
and uneasy to stay behind, that he took to the
water, and, not being able to make to the
vessel, was drowned. What shall I saj- of the
gratitude and fidelitj'' of horses ? Pliny gives
us a relation of some, that have had such a
lively concern for the loss of their masters, as to
shed tears for them; and of others, that have
starved themselves to death for the same reason.
Some there are, again, that have revenged their
masters' death upon those that murdered them
by tearing them in pieces, or by trampling
them under their feet. Nor is the gratitude
of dogs less surprising, of whom the same
author relates such strange things as are
almost incredible. Amongst the rest he tells
us of one, that, having fought for his master,
who was murdered by highwaymen, as long as
he was able, sat by the dead body, to keep off
the birds and beasts from devouring it. He
speaks of another, that would neither eat nor
drink after he had seen his master, Lucius,
dead. He relates another much more remark-
able passage, that happened at Rome in his
time, which is this : A man, that was con-
demned to die, had a dog which he had kept
very long, and which never left him all the
time he was in prison, no, nor after his execu-
tion ; but, on the contrary, staying always by
him, made known his grief by his howling.
If any body flung him a piece of bread, he
would take it up, and carry it immediately to
his master, and put it into his mouth. At last,
the body being thrown into the Tiber, the dog
leaped in, and got under it, to keep it from
sinking. Can there be anything in the world
more grateful than this was ? Now if beasts,
who have only a small spark of natural
instinct, whereby to acknowledge a good turn,
are yet so ready to requite, serve and attend
their benefactors, how can man, who has so
much more light to know the good he receives,
be so forgetful of him that bestows so much
upon him ? How comes he to suffer himself
to be exceeded by beasts, in courtesy, fidelity
and gratitude ? Especially, when the benefits,
which man receives from God, are so infinitely
beyond those which beasts receive from men ;
when the Benefactor is so excellent, his love so
singular, and his intention so sincere, that he
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proposes no interest to himself, but does all
out of mere charity and bounty. This is,
indeed, a matter of no small wonder and aston-
ishment, and evidently shows there are devils,
that blind our understandings, harden our
hearts, and impair our memories, that we may
not remember so liberal a Benefactor.
Now, if it be so great a crime to forget
this Lord, what must it be to affront him, and
to convert his favors into the instruments of
our offences against him ? Seneca says, that
not to pay back the benefits we have received,
is the first degree of ingratitude ; the second is
to forget them ; the third is to render evil for
good ; and this last is the highest degree. But
what is all this to the affronting and abusing
your Benefactor with those very kindnesses he
has shown to you ? I doubt whether there is
any man in the world, who has ever dealt with
his fellow creatures, as we frequently deal with
God. What man would be so ungrateful, as to
go immediately , and employ a considerable sum
of money he had received from his prince, in
raising an army against him ? And yet you,
base and miserable wretch ! never cease to
make war upon God, with those very bounties
you have received from him. What can a man
think more abominable than this ? Should a
husband make a present to his wife of a neck-
lace of pearl, or a rich set of diamonds, to
oblige her to honor and love him the more ;
what would you say of the perfidiousness of
this woman, if she should throw all away
immediately upon her gallant, to tie him the
more strongly to her, and make herself more
the mistress of his affection ? Every body
would certainly look upon this as the basest
action she could be guilty of; and yet the
offence here is only between equals. How much
more heinous, then, is the crime, when the
affront is offered to God? And yet this it is
those persons are guilty of, who waste all their
strength, and spend their estates, and ruin their
health, in committing sinful actions. Their
strength makes them proud, their beauty makes
them conceited, and their health unmindful of
God. Their wealth enables them to devour
the poor, to vie with the great ones, to pamper
their flesh, and to corrupt the virtue of some
unthinking maid, making her, like Judas, sell
what Christ purchased by his blood, whilst they
buy it with money like the Jews. What shall
I say of the abuse of other graces ? The sea
serves but to satisfy their gluttony, and the
beauty of creatures their lust. The fruits and
product of the earth serve to feed their avarice,
and their wit and natural gifts go to the increas-
ing of their vanity. They are puffed up in pros-
perity, even to folly, and cast down to despair in
adversity. They choose the darkness of the
night to hide their theft, and the light of the day
for the laying of snares, as we read in holy Job.
In short, whatever God has created for his own
glor}'-, they have devoted to satisfy their inordin-
ate passions.
What shall I say of their essences and per-
fumes, of their stately furniture, their sumptu-
ous tables, and niceness and superfluity of their
dishes, with their different sorts of sauces, and
their several ways of cooking ? Nay, sensuality
and luxury are so much in fashion, that men
have made a trade of these scandalous excesses,
and published books to instruct us how to sin in
this matter. They have corrupted all things by
their misusing them, and, instead of taking an
occasion from them to praise God, the end they
were given them for, they have made use of them
as the incentives to their debaucheries and van-
ities ; thus perverting the lawful use of the crea-
tures, they have made those things help and
assist them in vice, which ought to have encour-
aged and excited them to virtue. There is noth-
ing, in fine, which they have not sacrificed to
the gratifying of their senses, and the pamper-
ing of their flesh, whilst they have quite
neglected to relieve their neighbor, though God
has so particularly recommended him to their
care. They never complain that they are poor,
but to those that are so themselves; nor do
they ever so much as think of paying their
debts, unless when any body comes to beg
an alms of them; take them at any other
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time, and you shall neither find them poor nor
in debt.
Have a care this be not laid to your
charge at the hour of your death. Do not suf-
fer so heavy a burden as this, to be pressing
upou you at that time. Consider that the
greater the concern is, the more strict account
you must give of it. To have received much,
and to have made but small acknowledgment
of it, is a kind of judgment laid upon you
already. It is a great sign of a man's reproba-
tion when he continues to abuse those favors
God Almighty bestows on him. Let us look
upon it as the utmost disgrace, that beasts
should surpass us in this virtue; since they
requite their benefactors with gratitude, whilst
we neglect to do it. If the Ninevites are to
rise up in judgment against the Jews, and con-
demn them for not entering into a state of pen-
ance after our Saviour's preaching, let us take
care that the same Lord have no reason, at'
the last day, to condemn us upon the examples
of beasts, for taking so little notice of our
Benefactor, when they have expressed much
love to theirs.
CHAPTER IV.
OF THE FOURTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO THE PURSUIT OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS THE
INESTIMABLE BENEFIT OF OUR REDEMPTION.
|ET us come now to the great work
of our redemption, a favor not to be
comprehended by either men or
angels. A mystery so much above
whatsoever I am able to say, and myself so
unworthy at the same time to speak any thing
of it, that I neither know where to begin or
where to leave off, what to take or what to
leave. Were not man so stupid as to stand
in need of these incentives, to stir him up to
the love of virtue, it would be much better to
adore this profound mystery in silence, than
to eclipse it by the darkness of our expression.
They tell us of a certain famous painter, who,
having drawn a picture representing the death
of a king's daughter, and painted her friends
and relations standing about her with most
sorrowful countenances, and her mother more
melancholy than the rest ; when he came to
draw the father's face, he hid it under a shade,
to signify that so much grief was not to be
expressed by art. Now if all we are able to
say falls short of explaining the benefit of
our creation, what eloquence will suflSce deserv-
edly to extol that of our redemption ? God
created the whole universe by one single act
of his will, without spending the least part of
his treasures, or weakening the strength of his
almighty arm. But to the redeeming of it, there
went no less than thirty-three years of sweat
and toil, with the effusion of his blood to the
very last drop, and not one of his senses or
members was exempt from suffering its particu-
lar pain and anguish. It looks like a lessen-
ing of such sublime mysteries, to attempt to
explain them with mortal tongue. What shall
I do then ? shall I speak, or shall I hold my
peace? I am obliged not to be silent, and am
unfit to speak. How can I be silent of such
wondrous effects of God's mercy ? And how
shall I be able to discourse of such ineffable
mysteries ? To be silent looks like ingratitude,
and to speak of it seems a rashness. Where-
fore, I here prostrate myself before thee, O my
God, imploring thy divine assistance and mercy
to the end, that whilst my ignorance detracts
from thy glory, instead of extolling and dis-
playing it, those who are capable of doing it
may praise and glorify thee in heaven, that
they may supply what I am deficient in, and
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beautify and adorn what a mortal man cannot
but spoil by the meanness of his capacity.
After God had created man, and with his
own band seated him in a place of delights,
investing him with honor and glory, that
which ought to have engaged him the more
deeply in his Creator's service emboldened
him the more to rebel against him. Whereas,
the infinite favors he had received should have
laid a stricter obligation on him, to love that
divine goodness that bestowed them, he made
use of them as instruments of his ingratitude.
This was the cause of his being driven out
of Paradise, into the banishment of this world,
and condemned to the pains of hell, that, as
he had been the devil's associate in sin, he
might partake of his sufferings and torments.
When Giezi, Elisha's servant, had received the
present which Naaman the leper made him,
the prophet said to him: "Since thou hast
received Naaman's money, the leprosy, therefore,
of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto
thy seed for ever;" 4 Kings v. 25, 27. God
has pronounced a like sentence against man,
judging it requisite, that since he has coveted
the riches of Lucifer, which are his guilt and
his pride, he should in like manner be defiled
■with Lucifer's leprosy, which is the punishment
of his rebellion. Thus man, by imitating the
devils' sins, becomes like them, and shares
with them in their punishment, as well as in
their g^ilt.
Man having brought such a disgrace upon
himself, this same God, whose mercy is as
great as his majest}', considered not the affront,
which was offered to his infinite goodness, so
much as he did our misery. He was more
concerned for the unhappy condition we were
reduced to, than angry for the offences we
had committed against him ; and, therefore,
) resolved to succor us by the means of his
only Son, and to make him the Mediator
of our reconciliation with himself But
what was this reconciliation ? Who is
able to express this mercy ? He settled
such a close friendship betwixt God and man,
as to find out a way to make God not only
pardon man, receive him into his favor again,
and make him one and the same thing with
himself, by love, but, what is far beyond all
expression, he united him to himself in such
a manner, that there are no created beings in
nature so closely united as these two are now;
because they are not only one in love and in
grace, but in person too. Who could ever have
thought, that such a breech as this would have
been so made up again ? Who could have
imagined that these two things, which nature
and sin had set at such a distance, should ever
have been united together, not in the same
house, at the same table, in the same union
of grace and love, but in the same person? Are
there any two things in the world more different
from one another, than God and a sinner?
And yet, are there any things more closely
united than God and man are now? There is
nothing, says St. Bernard, more high than
God, and nothing lower 'than the clay man
was made of. Yet has God, with so much
humility, descended into this clay, and this
clay with so much honor ascended to God,
that we may say the clay has done whatsoever
God has done, and God has suffered all the
clay has suffered.
When man, finding himself naked, and be-
come an enemy to God, endeavored to hide
himself in the most concealed parts of the
terrestrial paradise, who would have made him
believe a time would come, when this base and
vile substance should be united to God, in one
and the same person ? This alliance was so
strict and close, that it could not be separated
even by death, which broke the union between
soul and body, but could never divide the
divinity and humanity, because God never
quitted what he had once taken on him for
our sake.
Thus our peace was concluded ; this is the
medicine we have received at the hands of our
Saviour and Mediator. And though we are
infinitely more indebted to God for so sovereign
a cure, than we are any wise able to express,
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279
we are no less obliged to him for tlie manner
of applying it, than for the remedy itself. I
am infinitely indebted to thee, O my God, for
having redeemed me from hell, and restored
me to thy favor; but I owe thee much more,
for the manner of restoring my liberty, than
for the liberty itself. All thy works, O Lord,
are to be admired in every part of them ; and
though man may seem to lose himself in the
contemplation of any one of thy wonders, the
same disappears, as soon as he lifts up his eyes
towards heaven to reflect upon another. Nor
is this any discredit to thy greatness, O Lord,
but an argument of thy glory.
What course, O my God, hast thou taken to
heal me ? Thou mightest have procured me
my salvation by an infinite number of ways,
without putting thyself to the trouble or ex-
pense ; but thy bounty was so great and sur-
prising that to give me a more manifest proof
of thy goodness and mercy, thou hast chosen
to relieve my miseries by thy own pains and
sufferings, which were so vehement, that the
very thoughts of them drew a bloody sweat
from thy veins, and thy undergoing of them
Tent the very rocks with sorrow. Let the
heavens and the angels praise thee, O my
God, for ever; and let them never cease to
publish thy wondrous works 1 What need hadst
thou of our goods, or what damage were our
miseries to the ? " If thou shouldst sin," says
Elihu to Job, "what hurt wilt thou do to God ?
And if thy transgressions should be multiplied,
what wilt thou do against him ? On the contrary,
if thou shalt do that which is just what wilt
thou give him, or what can he receive from thy
hand ? " Job xxxv. 6, 7. This great God, who
is so powerful, and so far above the reach of
any misfortune ; he, whose riches, whose power
and whose wisdom can neither be increased
nor lessened ; he, who was neither greater nor
(less after he had created the world than he was
before ; he, who can receive no more glory
from all the praises men and angels are able
to give him, than he has always had from all
eternity ; he, who would be no less glorious.
though each particular mouth were to be em-
ployed in cursing and blaspheming him : this
Lord, I say, whose majesty is so great and
infinite, notwithstanding our infidelities and
treacheries have been such as deserve his
eternal anger and hatred, has vouchsafed, even
when he had no need at all of us, and upon
no other motive but that of his excessive love
to us, to bow down the heavens of his great- ■
ness, and to descend into this place of banish-
ment, to clothe himself with our flesh, to
undertake the payment of our debts, and, that
he might discharge us, to undergo the most
dreadful torments that ever were, or that ever
shall be undergone! It was for my sake, O
my God, that thou hast been bom in a stable,
laid in a manger, circumcised the eighth day,
and forced to fly into Egypt : it was for the
love of me, that thou hast been so affronted
and injured : it was for me that thou hast
fasted, watched and wandered from place to
place ; that thou hast sweated, wept and sub-
jected thyself to all those miseries which my
sins have deserved, notwithstanding that thou
wert so far from being the offender, as to be
all this while the party offended ; it was for
me, that thou wert apprehended, forsaken, sold,
denied, and brought before several courts and
judges; it was for my sake that thou wert
accused before them, and that thou wert ,
affronted, buffeted, spit upon, whipped, blas-
phemed, put to death and buried. Thou hast,
in fine, vouchsafed, for the healing of my
wounds, to die upon a cross, in the sight of
thy most holy mother, in so great poverty, as
not to have one drop of water at the hour of
thy death, and in so stupendous a manner for-
saken by all, that thy heavenly Father himself
seemed to neglect thee at that time. Can any
thing enter into the heart of man more lament-
able than this, to see a God of most infinite
majesty come down upon earth to end his life
upon a cross, like a notorious malefactor?
If any man, though of ever so mean a con-
dition, were to be executed for some public
crime he had committed, there is nobody
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could, without some kind of concern, especially
if he had known him before, consider the
deplorable state his misery had reduced him
to, and the unhappy end he was going to make.
Now if it be surprising to see a man of but
an ordinary condition brought to such disgrace,
how ought we to be astonished, when we see
the Lord of all created things in no better
circumstances? What a subject of wonder
should it be, to see a God like a malefactor ?
and if it be true, that the greater the quality
a person is of, the more we are surprised at
his disgrace and fall, what surprise should here
seize us ? O you blessed angels, who had so
full a knowledge of the greatness of this Lord,
what did you think, when you saw him hang-
ing upon a cross ? God commanded Moses to
put two cherubims at the sides of the ark,
with their faces turned towards the mercy-
seat, and looking upon one another with
admiration (Exod. xxv. i8) ; and for what
other end was all this, but to g^ve us
to understand with what a holy aston-
ishment those supreme spirits must be seized,
when they considered the eflfect of so great a
charity, and beheld this great God, who cre-
ated heaven and earth, nailed to the holy
cross, to atone for our crimes ? Nature herself
is amazed, and every creature is astonished.
The principalities and powers of heaven are
ravished with this inestimable goodness, which
they behold in God. Is there any body, after
all this, that is not swallowed up in the abyss
of such wonders ? Who is there, that is not
drowned in the ocean of such infinite mercies?
Who is there that can contain his admiration,
so as not to cry out with Moses, when God
showed him the figure of this mystery upon
the mount, "O the Lord, the God, merciful and
gracious, patient and of much compassion, and
true !" Exod. xxxiv. 6. He was unable to do
any thing else, but publish aloud the infinite
goodness God had given him a sight of. Who
would not, like Elias (3 Kings xix. 13), hide
his eyes, if he saw his God passing by, not in
the brightness of his majesty, but under the
veil of his littleness ; not overturning moun-
tains, or splitting the rocks in pieces by his
omnipotence, but delivered up into the hand
of the wicked, and making the very rocks
melt and burst asunder with compassion ? Who
is there that will not shut the eyes of his
understanding and open the bosom of his will,
that at the sight of so boundless a love, it
may be inflamed with gratitude, and return all
the love it is able to give, without setting any
limits or measure to its passion ? O height
of charity I O greatness of mercy ! O abyss
of incomprehensible goodness !
It is true, O Lord, that I am thus indebted
to thee for having redeemed me ; how great
must the obligation be, for having redeemed
me in such a manner ? For to redeem me thou
hast suffered such torments, and such disgrace,
as are above the reach of our imagination.
Thou hast made thyself the scorn of men, and
the contempt of the world, for the love of me.
To procure me honor, thou hast dishonored
thyself ; and hast suffered thyself to be accused,
that I might be acquitted. Thou hast shed
thy blood, to wash away the stains of my guilt.
Thou hast died, to raise me to life, and by thy
tears hast delivered me from everlasting weep-
ing and gnashing of teeth. How truly dost
thou deserve the name of a kind Father, since
thou hast had so tender a love for thy children ?
How justly art thou called a good Shepherd,
who hast given thyself for the nourishment
of thy flock ? How truly faithful a guardian
art thou, since thou hast so freely laid down
thy life for those whom thou hast taken into thy
care ? What present shall I make thee,
answerable to this ? With what tears shall I
return these tears ? With what life shall I
repay this life ? What proportion is there
between the life of a man and the life of his
God, between the tears of a creature and those
of his Creator ?
But if, O man, thou shouldest perhaps
imagine, that his suffering for everybody else,
as well as for thee, has lessened thy obliga-
tion, thou deceivest thyself. For though he
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suffered for all mankind in general, it was in
such a manner, that he suffered for each par-
ticular person. For his infinite wisdom gave
him as clear and distinct a representation of
all those for whom he underwent those tor-
ments, as if there had been but one single
person ; and his immense charity, which made
him take in all together, has done no less for
each one in particular. So that he has shed
his blood for every single man, as much as
for all mankind together ; and so great has
been his mercy, that had there been but one
sinner in the whole world, he would have suf-
fered as much for him alone, as he has done
now for all the world. Consider, therefore, how
infinitely thou art obliged to this Lord, who
has done so much for thee, and who would
have done a great deal more, if there had been
any need of it for procuring thy happiness.
§ I. JVe may gather from what has hitherto
been said, how grievous a thing it is to offend
God. — I appeal now to all creatures, whether
man can possibly think of any greater benefit,
any more generous favor, or any obligation
more binding than this is. Tell me, O all ye
choirs of angels, whether God has ever done
so much for you? Can any man, then after all
this, refuse to give himself up entirely to the ser-
vice of God ? " I am indebted to thee, O Lord,"
says St. Anselm, " for all that I am, upon three
several counts : because thou hast created me, I
owe thee all that is in me : but I owe thee the
same debt, and with more justice, because thou
hast redeemed me, and because thou hast
promised to reward me with the enjoyment of
thyself, I cannot but acknowledge I am wholly
thine. Why, then, do not I give myself once,
at kast, to him, to whom I am so justly due ?"
O insupportable ingratitude ! O invincible
hardness of man's heart, which is not to be
softened by so many favors I There is nothing
in the world so hard but it may, by some means
or other, be made softer. Fire melts metal ;
iron grows flexible in the forge ; the blood of
certain animals will soften even the diamond
itself: but, O more than stony heart, what
iron, what diamond is so hard as thou art, if
neither the flames of hell, nor the care of so
charitable a Father, nor the blood of the un-
spotted Lamb, which has been shed for thee,
can make thee soft and flexible ? Since thou,
O Lord, hast showed so much goodness, so
much mercy, and so much kindness to man,
is it to be endured that any one should not
love, that any one should forget this benefit,
and that any one should still offend thee? What
can that man love, that is not in love with thee ?
What favors can work upon him, that is not to
be wrought upon by thine ? How can I refuse
to serve him who has had such a love for
me, who has sought after me with so much
solicitude, and who has done so much for
the redeeming of me ? " And I," says our
Saviour, " If I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all things to myself; John xii. 32.
With what force, O Lord, with what chains ?
With the force of my love, with the chains
of my mercies. "I will draw them," says the
Lord, "with the cords of Adam, with the bands of
love ; " Osee xi. 4. Who is there that will not
be drawn with these cords ? Who will not
suffer himself to be bound with these chains,
or who will not be won by these mercies ?
Now, if it be so heinous a crime not to love
this great God, what must it be to offend him,
and to break his commandments ? How can
you dare employ your hands in injuring those
hands which have been so liberal to you as to
suffer themselves to be nailed to a cross for
your sake ? When the holy patriarch, Joseph,
was solicited, by his lewd mistress, to defile
his master Potiphar's bed, the chaste and
grateful young man, by no means consenting
to so foul an action, made this reply : "Behold,
my master hath delivered all things to me, and
knoweth not what he hath in his house : neither
is there any thing which is not in my power, or
that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who
art his wife: How then can I do this wicked thing,
and sin against my God?" Gen. xxxix. 8, 9.
As if he had said. Since my master has been
so kind and generous to me ; since he has put
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all that he is worth into my hands, and has
done me such an honor as to intrust me
with his whole estate; how shall I, who am
bound by so many obligations, dare aflfront so
good a master ? We are to observe, here, that
Joseph did not say, / ought not, or, // is not
Just that I should offend him, but, How can I do
this wickedness ? — to signify that extraordinary
favors ought to deprive us, not only of the will,
but, in some measure, of the very power of
offending our benefactor. If, therefore, so great
an acknowledgment was due to such benefits
as these, what is it those favors we have received
from God do not deserve ? That master, who
was but a mortal man, had intrusted him with
the management of his estate. God has de-
livered into your hands almost all he has ;
consider how much the riches of God exceed
those of Potiphar, for so much more have you
received than he did. And, to make this ap-
parent, what is it God possesses that he has not
intrusted you with ? Ps. iii. The sky, the earth,
the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, the birds,
the fishes, the trees, the beasts ; whatsoever, in
short, is under the heavens, is in your power: and
not only what is under heaven, but even what
is in heaven itself; that is, the glory, the
riches, and the happiness that is to be found
there. "All things are yours," says the Apostle,
"whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or the
world, or life, or death, or things present, or
things to come ; for all are yours ;" (i Cor. iii.
22); for they all contribute to your salvation.
Nor is that which is in heaven all we
have ; the very Lord of heaven himself
is ours too. He has given himself to us
a thousand ways ; as our Father, our Tutor,
our Sa\'iour, our Master, our Physician, our
Price, our Example, our Food, our Remedy,
and our Reward. To conclude, the Father has
given us the Son ; the Son has made us worthy of
the Holy Ghost; and it is by the virtue of the Holy
Ghost that we deserve the Father and the Son, who
are the very sources and fountains from whence
all sorts of riches flow.
If it be true, that Gr>d ha? given you the
possession of all, how can you find in your
heart to offend so bountiful and so generous z.
Benefactor ? If it be a crime not to requite such
great favors, what must it be to despise and
offend him that bestows them ? If young
Joseph thought himself unable to do an injury
to his master, because he had committed the
care of his house to him, with what face can
you affront him who has delivered all heaven
and earth, nay, himself too, into your hands ?
O miserable and unhappy man ! if you are
not sensible of this evil, you are more ungrate-
ful than the brutes are, more savage than the
most savage tigers, and more senseless than
any senseless thing in nature. For what lion
or tiger is so enraged as to fly at him that
has done him a kindness ? St. Ambrose tells
us of a dog that, seeing his master killed by one
of his enemies, continued all night by the body,
barking and howling. The next day, amongst a
great many people that crowded to see the corpse,
the dog spied out the person that had committed
the murder, and immediately flew upon him, and
so, by his barking and biting, discovered the
malefactor, who otherwise might have probably
escaped. If a dog showed so much love and
fidelity to his master for a morsel of bread,
how can you be so ungrateful as to let a dog
exceed you in good nature and gratitude ? And
if this creature was in such a rage against the
man that had murdered his master, how can
you forbear being incensed against those who
have put yours to death? And who do you
think are they but your own sins ? It was
they that apprehended and bound him, that
scourged and crucified him. Your sins, I say,
were the cause of all this. For his execu-
tioners could never have had so much power,
if your sins had not given it them. Why,
then, do you not rise up in arms against these
barbarous murderers, who have taken away
your Lord and Saviour's life ? How can you
behold him lying dead before you, and for
your sake, without increasing your love for
him, and your aversion to sin, which has been
the occasion of his death ? especially, knowing
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283
that, whatsoever he either said, did or suffered,
in this world, was for no other end but to
excite in our hearts a horror and detestation
of sin. He died to make sin die, and suffered
his hands and feet to be nailed, that he might
bind up sin in chains, and bring it under sub-
jection. Why, then, will you let all your Sav-
iour's toils, sweat and pains be lost to you ? Since
he has, with his blood, delivered you from your fet-
ters, why will you still remain a slave ? How
can you forbear trembling at the very name of
sin, when God has done such extraordinary things
to ruin and destroy it ? What could God have
done more, in order to bring men off from sin,
than place himself upon a cross betwixt it and
them ? If a man were to see heaven and hell
open before him, would he then dare offend God ?
And yet it is, without doubt, a thing much
stranger and more surprising, to see a God
nailed to an infamous cross. If, therefore, so
frightful a spectacle as this cannot work upon
man, there is nothing in nature will be able to
move him.
CHAPTER V.
OF THE FIFTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO VIRTUE, WHICH IS THE BENEFIT OF OUR
JUSTIFICATION.
UT what would the benefit of our re-
demption avail, were it not followed
by that of justification, by which this
extraordinary favor is applied to us ?
For, as physic, though ever so well prepared, is
wholly useless, if not applied to the distemper, so
this heavenly medicine would work no cure in us,
unless applied by means of this benefit we now
treat of. This application is peculiarly the work
of the Holy Ghost, to whom the sanctification of
man is attributed. He it is who prevents the
sinner with his mercy, who having thus pre-
vented, calls him, who justifies him when called,
who conducts him, when justified, in the paths
of justice, and thus raises him to perfection
by the gift of perseverance, to crown him in
the end with everlasting glory. These are the
different degrees of grace contained under the
inestimable favors of justification.
§ I. The first of all these graces is that of
our vocation. When man, by the force of the
divine Spirit, having broken all the bands and
fetters of his sins, is freed from the tyrannic
slavery of the devil, and raised from death to
life ; when, of a sinner, he becomes a saint,
and a child of God from a child of wrath^
which is not to be done without the special
help of the divine grace, as our Saviour testi-
fies to us by these words: "No man can come to
me, except the Father, who has sent me, draw
him" (John vi. 44); to signify to us that neither
free-will, nor all the advantages of human
nature, are sufficient of themselves to lift a
man out of the depth of sin, and raise him to
a state of grace, unless the Almighty lend
him a helping hand. And as St. Thomas,
explaining these very words, says, "That,
as the stone naturally tends downwards, and
cannot raise itself up again without some
exterior assistance, so man, according to the
bent of his nature, depraved by the cor-
ruption of sin, is always sinking downwards in
the desire of earthly things ; so that God must, '
of necessity, lend a hand to lift him up to a
supernatural love and desire of heavenly de-
lights, or he will never be able to rise." This
sentence very well deserves both our considera-
tion and tears, for by it man comes to know
himself, grows sensible of the corruption of his
nature, and of the necessity he perpetually lies
under of begging Almighty God's assistance.
But to come to the, point, it is impossible for
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man to return from sin to grace, unless the
almighty hand of God raise him up. But this
is a favor of such value that there is no express-
ing how many graces are contained in it. For,
there being nothing more certain than that sin
is, by this means, extracted from the soul, and
that it is sin which is the cause of all its
miseries, how great a good must this conse-
quently be, which expels and banishes so many
evils ? But, for as much as the consideration
of this benefit is a powerful motive to make us
grateful for it, and excite us to the pursuit of
virtue, I will explain here, in short, the vast
riches this benefit brings along with it.
First, then, it is by this that man is reconciled
to God, and restored to his favor ; for the greatest
misery sin causes in our souls is the rendering
them odious to God, who, as he is goodness itself,
bears such a hatred to sin as is proportioned to
his goodness. For this reason, the royal prophet
says, " Thou, O Lord, hatest all them that work
iniquity; thou shalt destroy all them that tell lies;
the Lord will abhor both the blood-thirsty and the
deceitful man ;" Ps. v. 7, 8. It is this which, in
effect, is the greatest of all evils, and the source
from whence all others flow; as the love of God, on
the other side, is the greatest of all goods, and
the very fountain of all the rest. This, there-
fore, is the evil we are freed from, by virtue of
our justification, since by it we are restored to
God's favor; and, though we were his enemies
before, this reconciles us to his love again, and
that not in any mean degree, but in the highest
that may be, which is that of a father for his
son. This it is the beloved evangelist St. John
so much extols, where he says, " Behold what
manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we shall be called, and should be the
sons of God;" St. John iii. i. He does not think
it enough to say that we are called the children
of God ; he adds, further, that we are really so;
to the end that human distrust, which carries so
much weakness and imperfection along with it,
should have a clearer and more distinct view
of the liberality of God's grace, and perceive
that he has truly and really ennobled man, by
making him his son, and not given him the
title only. If, as we have said, it is so miser-
able a thing to be hated by God, what a happi-
ness must it be to be beloved by him. Phil-
osophers tell us that, the worse any thing is,,
the better and more excellent its contrary must
be. Whence, we are to conclude that thing to
be supremely good whose opposite is supremely
evil, such as man is when he is become the
object of God's hatred. If men use so much
caution in this world, not to lose the love of
their masters, fathers, princes, superiors or
kings, how solicitous should we be to keep in
favor with this powerful King, this heavenly
Prince, this sovereign Lord and Father, in com-
parison of whom all earthly power and author-
ity is a mere nothing ! This favor is the
greater by how much it is more freely bestowed ;
for, as man could do nothing before he was
created to deserve his being, because at that
time he was not ; so neither could he, after
having once fallen into sin, do any thing at all
that might deserve the gift of justification; not
because he was not, but because he was wicked
and odious in the sight of God.
Another benefit, besides this, is, that justifica-
tion takes off the sentence of everlasting tor-
ments, which man's sins had condemned him
to. For, whereas sin makes a man the object
of God's hatred, and it is impossible that any
one should be hated by him, and not, at the
same time, be in the greatest misery imaginable,
it follows that the wicked, having cast
Almighty God off from them, and ungratefully
despised him, deserve very justly to be cast
away by God, and to be despised and neglected
by him. They deserve to be banished for ever
from his presence, never to enjoy his com-
pany, never to enter into his most beautiful
and glorious palace. And because, in separat-
ing themselves from him, they have had an
irregular love for the creatures, it is but jus-
tice they should be condemned, for the same,,
to eternal pains and torments, which are so
rigorous that, if we compare all that men suflFer,
in this life, to them, they will look more ideal
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
285
than real torments. Let us add to these miser-
ies the never-dying worm, which will continu-
ally gnaw the very bowels, and tear the con-
sciences of the wicked ; add, also, the company
which these unhappy souls must always keep,
which shall be no pleasanter than that of all
the damned. What shall I say of their hor-
rible and melancholy habitation, full of dark-
ness and confusion, where there never shall be
any order, joy, rest or peace; never any com-
fort, satisfaction or hope ? where there shall be
nothing but eternal weeping and gnashing of
teeth, eternal rage and blasphemies ? God
delivers those whom he justifies from all these
miseries, and, having restored them to his grace
and favor, frees them entirely from his wrath
and vengeance.
There is another advantage, yet more spiritual
than the former, which is the reforming and
renewing of the inward man, all deformed and
disfigured by sin. Because sin, in the first
place, deprives the soul, not only of God, but
of all its supernatural force, and of all those
treasures and gifts of the Holy Ghost, with
which it was enriched and adorned. So that,
being once robbed of the riches of grace, it is
immediately maimed and wounded in all its
natural powers and faculties; because man,
being a rational creature, and sin being an
action against reason, as it is very natural for
one contrary to destroy another, it follows, of
course, that, the greater and more numerous
our sins are, the greater must be the ruin the
faculties of the soul lie open to, not in them-
selves, but in the natural inclination they have
to do good. Thus, sin makes the soul miser-
able, weak, slothful, inconstant in the doing of
what is good, and bent upon all kinds of evil,
unable to resist temptations, and soon tired with
walking in the way of God's commandments.
It also deprives the soul of true libertj', and
of that sovereignty of the spirit, and makes it
a mere slave to the world, the flesh, the devil,
. and its own inordinate appetites ; bringing it
tinder a harder and more unhappy servitude
than that of the Israelites in Egypt or Baby-
lon. Nor are these all the miseries which sin
reduces the soul to : it oppresses it, besides, in
such a manner that it can neither hear God
speaking to it, nor perceive those dreadful
calamities with which it is threatened ; it is
quite senseless to that sweet smell which comes
from the virtues and examples of the saints ;
it cannot taste how sweet the Lord is, nor feel
the strokes of God's hand, any more than those
graces which he pours into it, to excite it to
the love of him. Besides all these ills, it takes
away the peace and joy of conscience, and so,
by degrees, lessens and cools the fervor of the
spirit, till it leaves poor man in such a miser-
able condition that he is foul, deformed and
abominable in the sight of God, and of his saints.
The grace of justification delivers us from
all these miseries. For God, who is an infi-
nite abyss of mercy, thinks it not enough to
pardon our sins, and receive us into his favor,
unless he free our souls from all those dis-
orders which sin had raised in it, by reform-
ing and renewing the inward man. So that
he heals our wounds, he cleanses us from our
filth, he loosens our chains, he eases us of the
burden of our evil desires, he frees us from
the slavery and captivity of the devil, he mod-
erates the heat of our passions, he restores
us to a true liberty, he beautifies the soul
anew, he settles peace and joy in our con-
sciences again, he enlivens our inward motions,
he makes us forward to do what is good, and
backward to do that which is not, he strength-
ens us against temptations, and, after all these
benefits, he enriches us with a treasure of
good works ; in fine, he repairs our inward
man, with all its faculties, after such a man-
ner, that the Apostle does not hesitate to call
those, who are thus justified, " new men and new
creatures ;" 2 Cor. iv. 16. So great is the grace
of this renovation, that, when we receive it by
baptism, it is called a regeneration (Gal. vi.
15) ; when by penance, a resurrection ; not only
because the soul, by virtue of it, is raised from
the death of sin to the life of grace, but because
it holds some proportion with the glory of
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the general resurrection at the last day.
This is so certainly true, that no tongue
is able to declare the beauty of a jus-
tified soul, but only that divine vSpirit which
beautifies and makes it his temple and dwell-
ing-place; so that, if we should compare all
the riches of the earth, all the honors of the
world, all the benefits of nature, and all the
virtues we are able to acquire, with the beauty
and riches of such a soul, they would all
appear base and deformed before it. Because
the life of grace has the same advantages over
that of nature, the beauty of the soul over that
of the body, inward riches over the outward,
and spiritual strength over the corporeal, as
heaven has over earth, a spirit over a body, or
eternity over time. For all these things are
transitory, limited and only beautiful to the
eyes of the body ; nor have they need of any
more than a general assistance and support
from God, whilst the others stand in need of
a peculiar and supernatural help, and cannot
be called temporal, because they lead us to
eternity ; nor can we say they are altogether
finite, because they make us worthy to partake
the infinity of God, who has such an esteem
and love for them that he is even enamored
with their beauty. And though God could do
all these things only by his will, yet he was
not so satisfied, but would adorn the soul with
infused virtues, and the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost; by the means whereof, not only
the essence, but all the faculties of the soul
are adorned and beautified with these heavenly
graces.
To all these extraordinary benefits, his infi-
nite goodness and boundless liberality has
added another, which is the presence of the
Holy Ghost and of the blessed Trinity, which
descends into the soul of him that is justified,
to instruct him what use to make of all these
riches ; like a good father, who not only leaves
his estate to his son, but provides him a
guardian to look after and manage it for him ;
so that, as the soul of one that is in sin is a
den of vipers, dragons and serpents ; that is to
say, a place where all sorts of wicked spirits
dwell, according to our Saviour (St. Matthew,
ch. xii.) ; so the soul of a justified man becomes
the habitation of the Holy Ghost and of the
blessed Trinity, which, having expelled all
these hellish monsters and wild beasts, make
it its temple and place of abode, as our Saviour
has expressly signified by these words : " If
any one love me, he will keep my word, and
my Father will love him, and we will come to
him, and will make our abode with him ;" St.
John xiv. 23. From which words the holy
fathers and the school-men conclude that the
Holy Ghost dwells, in a particular manner, in
the soul of a justified man, distinguishing
between the Holy Ghost and his gifts ; and
declaring that such persons partake, not only
of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, but of the
Holy Ghost himself; who, entering into every
soul thus disposed, makes it his temple and
dwelling-place; and to this end, he himself
cleanses, sanctifies and adorns it, with his gifts,
that it may be a place worthy to entertain
such a guest.
Add to all these benefits one more, which is,
that all those who are justified become living
members of Jesus Christ; whereas they were
dead before, and incapable, whilst they remained
in that condition, of receiving the influence of
his grace, whence many other singular privi-
leges and excellences flow to it. For this is
the reason why the Son of God loves and
cherishes these persons as his own members,
and, as their Head, is continually communicat-
ing force and vigor to them. And, lastly, the
eternal Father beholds them with eyes of affec-
tion, because he looks upon them as living
members of his only Son, united to and incor-
porated with him by the participation of the
Holy Ghost. And, therefore, their actions are
pleasing to him and meritorious to themselves,
inasmuch as they are actions of the living
members of his only Son Christ Jesus, who
produces all that is good in them. This is,
also, the reason why those persons who are
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287
Almighty God address themselves to him with
a perfect confidence ; because they suppose that
what they ask is not so much for themselves
as for the Son of God, who is honored in them
and with them. For, since the members can
receive no benefit but the head must partake of
it, Christ being their Head, they conceive that
when they ask for themselves they ask for him.
And, if what the Apostle says be true, that they
who sin against the members of Jesus Christ sin
against Jesus Christ himself, and that he looks
upon any injury offered to one of his members,
upon his account, as done to him, as he said to the
Apostle himself, when he persecuted the Church ;
what wonder is it that the honor done to these
members should be done to him ? This being
so, what confidence will not the just man bring
with him to his prayers, when he considers
that in begging for himself, he, in some mea-
sure, begs of the heavenly Father for his beloved
Son? For when a favor is granted at the
request of another, it may, doubtless, rather be
said to be bestowed on him that begs, than on
him that receives it ; as we see, that he who
serves the poor for the love of God, serves God
more than he does the poor.
There remains another benefit, to which the
r^t tend and are directed ; it is the right and
title those that are justified have to eternal
life. For God, who is no less merciful than
lie is just, as he on the one side condemns im-
penitent sinners to everlasting torments, so, on
the other side, he rewards them who are truly
penitent with everlasting happiness. And
though he could forgive men their sins, and
restore them to his friendship and favor, with-
out raising them so high as to partake of his
glory, yet he would not do so, but out of the
excess of his mercy justified those whom he had
pardoned, adopted those whom he had justified,
and made them his heirs, giving them a share
in his riches and an inheritance with his only
Son. Hence proceeds that lively hope, which
comforts the just in all their tribulations, because
they are assured beforehand of this inestimable
treasure. For though they see themselves
surrounded with all the troubles, infirmities
and miseries of this life, they know very well
that all the evils they can possibly suffer here
are nothing, in comparison of the glory which
is prepared for them hereafter ; nay, on the
contrary, they assure themselves, that " our
present tribulation, which is momentary and
light, worketh for us above measure exceed-
ingly an eternal weight of glory ; " 2 Cor.
iv. 17.
These are the advantages comprehended
under that inestimable benefit of justification,
which St. Augustine, with a great deal of
reason, prefers before the creation of the whole
world ; because God created all the world with
one single word: but the justifying of a man
after his fall was at the expense of his blood,
and of those other most grievous pains and
torments he endured. Now, if we are so
strictly obliged to the Almighty's goodness
for having created us, how much more do we
owe his mercy, for having justified us ; a
favor we stand so much the more indebted
for, as it cost him more than the other?
And though no man can certainly tell
whether he be justified or not, yet he may
give a probable guess, especially by the change
of his life ; as, for example, when one that
before never scrupled at committing a thousand
mortal sins, would not now commit one, though
it were to gain the world: let him that per-
ceives he is in such a happy condition, con-
sider what an obligation lies upon him to serve
his Lord, for having thus sanctified him, and
at the same time delivered him from all those
miseries, and heaped all those favors on him
which we spoke of. But if he happen to be in
a state of sin, I know nothing that can more
efiicaciously excite him to a desire of being
freed from it, than the consideration of those
misfortxmes which sin draws after it, and of
those treasures of blessings which go along
with the incomparable benefit of justification.
§ II. Of some other Effects that are wrought
by the Holy Ghost in the Soul of a justified Man^
and of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. — Not-
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withstanding those effects which are produced
by the Holy Ghost in the soul of one that is
sanctified are very great, yet they do not end
there. This divine Spirit deems it not enough
to put us in the way of justice, but, after having
led us in, still helps us forward till all the storms
of this world being weathered, he brings us into
the haven of salvation ; so that, when he has
entered into a soul by the grace of justification, he
does not remain idle there ; he not only honors
such a soul with his presence, but also sanctifies
it with his virtue, doing in it and with it whatever
is necessary for the obtaining its salvation. He
behaves himself there like a head of a family in
his house, looking after and directing like a master
teaching in his school, like a gardener cultivating
in his garden, and like a king in his kingdom
ruling and governing it. He further performs
in the soul what the sun does in the world ;
that is, he gives light to it: and, like the
soul in the body, animates and enlivens it,
though he does not act as the former does
upon its matter, but as the head of a family
in his house. Can man desire any greater
happiness in this world than to have such a
Guest, such a Guardian, such a Companion,
such a Governor, such a Tutor, and such an
Assistant within himself; for he being all
things, exercises all capacities in the soul, in
which he takes his habitation : thus we see,
that, like fire, he enlightens the understanding,
inflames the will, and raises us from earth to
heaven. It is he who, like a dove, makes us
simple, peaceable, gentle and kind to one
another : he it is who, like a cloud, defends
us against the burning lusts of the flesh, who
moderates the heat of our passions, and, in
fine, like a violent wind, forces and bends
down our wills toward that which is good,
and carries them away from all such affections
as may lead to evil. Hence it is, that they
who are justified conceive such a horror of
the \'ices they had so great a love for before
their conversion, and so great an esteem for
the virtues they so much detested before.
This David very lively represents to us, speak-
ing of himself in one of his Psalms, where
he says, " I hated and abhorred iniquity (Ps.
cxix. 163) ; " and again, in the same Psalm,
" I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,
as much as in all riches ; " ver 14. Who was
it but the Holy Ghost, that occasioned this
alteration ? for he, like a loving mother, put
wormwood upon the breasts of this world, and
most delicious honey into the commandments
of God.
This plainly shows, that whatsoever good we
do, what progress sover we make, we are entirely
obliged to the Holy Ghost, for the same. So
that, if we are converted from sin, it is by his
grace; if we embrace virtue, it is he that
brings us to it ; if we persevere in it, it is by
his assistance ; if, in short, we one day receive
the reward he has promised, it is he himself
that gives it us : for which reason St. Augustine
says very well, "God rewards his own benefits
when he rewards our services." So that one
favor procures us another, and one mercy is
only a step to the obtaining of another. The
holy patriarch Joseph (Gen, xlii. 25) thought
it not enough to give his brothers the corn
they went to buy in Egypt, but ordered his
servants to put the money they brought to pay
for it into the mouth of the very sack : God
in some measure does the same with his elect,
for he gives them not only eternal life, but '
grace and a good life to purchase it. Where-
upon Eusebius Emissenus sa3's excellently well,
" that he who is adored, to the end that he
may show mercy, has showed mercy already,
when he gave us grace to adore him."
Let every man, therefore, consider how he
has spent his life, and reflect upon all those
favors God has bestowed on him, and on all
those crimes, these frauds, adulteries, thefts
and sacrileges, which he has preserved him
from falling into, and by this means he will
see upon what accounts he stands indebted to
him ; because, according to St. Augustine, it is
no less mercy to preserve us from falling into
sin, than to pardon it when committed, but
much greater; and, therefore, the same saint,
THR RESURRECTION.
What encouragement does this sublime triumph over death give us ? It encourages us to nse spiritually with Him, and live henceforth
B new life, which we do by renouncing sin, fleeing its occasions, laying aside our bad habits, subduing our corrupt inclinations, and by
aiming after virtue and heavenly things.
THE CRUCIFIXION.
j„ Only few there were who clung to the Saviour in unwavering faith and true love, ready to die with Him and for Him. Of these, three
were especially faitbiu] — Mary His Mother, John and Magdalen — Mary and John, pure and innocent, and Magdalen, weeping for ber sins.
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
289
writing to a virgin, says, " Man is to make
account, that God has pardoned him all sorts
of sin, inasmuch as he has given him grace
not to commit them ; " Lib. 2. Conf. c. 7.
Let not, therefore, your love be little, as if he
had pardoned you but little ; rather endeavor
to love much, because you have received much.
For if a man loves a creditor that forgives a
great debt, how much more reason has he to
love a Benefactor that bestows so much on him ?
For he who has lived chastely all his lifetime,
has, therefore, continued so, because he had
God to direct and guide him ; he who,
of an impure person, becomes pure, has had
God to correct him ; and he who continues
impure to the end, is justly forsaken by
Almighty God. This being a matter be-
yond all doubt, it only remains that we saj?^,
with the prophet, " Let my mouth be filled
with praise, that I may sing thy glory and
honor all day ; " Ps. Ixx. 8. Upon which
words St. Augustine says, " What means all the
day ? Nothing else, but that I will praise thee
for ever, and without ceasing; in my pros-
perity, because thou comfortest me ; in my
adversity, because thou chastisest me ; since I
have had my being, because it is from thee
that I have received it ; when I sinned, because
thou forgavest ; when I return to thee, because
thou receivedst me ; and when I persevered to
the end, because thou rewardest me. For this
reason my mouth shall be filled with thy
praise, O Lord, and I will sing thy glory all
the day."
It would be proper here to speak of the
benefit of the sacraments, which are the instru-
ments of our justification, and particularly of
that of baptism, as also of the light of faith,
and of the grace we receive with it ; but having
treated this subject elsewhere, I shall add no
more at present ; yet I cannot pass in silence
that grace of graces, that sacrament of sacra-
ments, by virtue of which God is pleased to
live with us on earth, to give himself every
day to us as our food and as our sovereign
remedy. He was sacrificed on the cross but
once for our sakes ; but here he is daily offered
up to his Father on the altar, a propitiation
for our sins. " This is my body which is given
for you," says he ; " do this for a commemora-
tion of me ; " Luke xxii. 19. O precious pledge
of our salvation ! O divine sacrifice ! O most
acceptable victim ! Bread of life ! Most deli-
cious nourishment ! Food of kings ! O sweet
manna, which contains whatsoever is pleasant
and delightful ! Who can ever be able to
praise you according to your deserts ? who
can worthily receive ? who can honor you with
due respect and reverence ? My soul quite
loses itself, when it thinks of you ; my tongue
fails me ; nor am I able to express the least
part of your wonders as I desire to do.
Had our Lord bestowed this favor upon
none but innocent and holy men, it would have
still been inestimable ; how great, then, must
this unparalleled charity be, which, after having
moved him to communicate himself so freely
to those, has further prevailed on him to pass
through the impure hands of many wicked
priests, whose souls are the habitations of
devils, whose bodies are vessels of corruption,
whose lives are continual sacrileges, and spent
in nothing else but in sin and iniquity? And
yet, that he may visit and comfort his friends,
he suffers himself to be touched by such
polluted hands, to be received into such profane
mouths, and to be buried in their noisome and
abominable breasts. His bodj'^ was sold but
once ; but in this sacrament he is sold a
thousand times. He was scorned and despised
but once in his passion ; whereas these impious
priests offer him infinite affronts and injuries
at the very table of the altar. He was once
crucified between two thieves ; but here he is]
crucified millions of times in the hands of
sinners.
Who is there that will pretend, after all this,
to be able to pay due respect and honor to a Lord
that has consulted our interest so many several
ways ? What returns can we make for so wonder-
ful a nourishment ? If servants serve their mas-
ters for a poor livelihood, if soldiers for their pay
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expose themselves to fire and sword, what ought
we to do for this Lord, who maintains us with this
heavenly and immortal food ? If God, in the
old law, required so great an acknowledgment
for the manna he sent from heaven, though it
was corruptible food, what returns will he expect
for this, which, besides being exempt from cor-
ruption, makes all those who receive it worthily
incorruptible? If the Son of God thanks his
Father, in the gospel, for only one meal of
barley-bread, what kinds of thanks should we
give him for this bread of life ? If we are so
much indebted to him for the nourishment he
gives us to preserve our being, how much greater
is our obligation for that food which preserves
in us the supernatural being of grace ? For we
do not commend a horse purely because he is a
horse, but because he is a good horse ; nor wine
because it is wine, but because it is good wine ;
nor man because he is man, but because he is a
good man. If you are so much obliged to him
that made you man, how much greater is your
obligation for having made you a good man?
If the acknowledgment be so great on account
of corporal benefits, what should it be for the
spiritual ? If you are so deeplj' indebted for
the gifts of nature, how much more do we owe
for those graces? And if, to conclude, his
having made you a son of Adam, lays so
strict a tie of gratitude on you, how much
must you be obliged to him for having made
you a son of God himself? For it is certainly
true, as Eusebius Emissenus says, " That the
day we are bom to eternity is infinitely better
than that which brought us forth to the toils
and dangers of this world."
This, dear Christian, is another motive, and,
as it were, a new chain added to the others,
to bind your hearts the faster, and oblige you
to the pursuit of virtue and service of this
Lord.
CHAPTER VI.
OF THE SIXTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO THE LOVE OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE
BENEFIT OF DIVINE PREDESTINATION.
DD to all the benefits we have hith-
erto spoken of, that of election, which
belongs to none but those whom
God has chosen from all eternity to
be partakers of his glory. It is for this inesti-
mable benefit the Apostle thanks God in his
own and in the name of all the elect, when,
in his epistle to the Ephesians, he says,
! " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly things, in
Christ: as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and unspotted in his sight in charity.
Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption
of children through Jesus Christ unto himself :
according to the purpose of his will ; " Ephes. i. 3,
4, 5. The royal prophet highly extols this
favor, when he says, " Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest and receivest unto thee ; he shall
dwell in the court ; " Ps. Ixiv. 5. This, therefore,
we may justly call the grace of graces, and
benefit of benefits ; inasmuch as God, purely out
of his own goodness, bestows it on us before we
deserve it. For he, like one who is the absolute
master of his own riches, without wronging any
man, but rather afibrding every one suflScient
assistance to work his salvation, pours out the
abundance of his mercy on some particular per-
sons, without any limits or measure.
It is also the benefit of benefits, not onlyi
because it is the greatest, but because it is the
very source of all the rest. For God, having
chosen man for his glory, bestows on him,
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291
through the means of this first favor, whatsoever
is necessary for obtaining of his glory, as he
testifies by the mouth of one of his pro-
phets, in these words : " I have loved thee with
an eternal love, and therefore with loving kind-
ness have I drawn thee" (Jerem. xxxi. 3 ) ;
that is, I have called you to my grace, that by its
help you may arrive at my glory. The Apostle
expresses the same thing to us, in much
clearer terms : " Whom God has foreknown,
he has also predestinated to be made con-
formable to the image of his Son, that he might
be the first-born among many brethren. And
whom he predestinated, them he also called;
and whom he called, them he also justified;
and whom he justified, them he also glorified;"
Rom. viii. 29, 30. The reason of this is,
because as God disposes all things sweetly and
regularly, he has no sooner been pleased to
choose a man for his glory, but he bestows on
him, on account of his grace, many others, and
furnishes him with a suflicient supply of all
things necessary for the obtaining of the first
grace. So that, as a father that has a design
to bring one of his children up for the Church,
or the bar, employs him, whilst he is but a
child, about such things as have a regard to
the one or the other, and directs all the actions
of his life to this end ; so the eternal Father,
when he has chosen a man for his glory,
to which the way of justice leads us, takes
care always to keep him right in this road,
that so he may attain the end he is designed
for.
It is fit, therefore, that they who perceive in
themselves any token of this favor, should
thank God sincerely and heartily for it. For
though it is a secret hid from human eyes, yet
there are certain signs of our election, as there
are of our justification. And as the surest
mark of our justification is the conversion of
our lives, so the best token of our elec-
tion is our perseverance in a good life ; for
he who has lived many years in the fear of
the Lord, and has been very careful not to
fall into any kind of sin, may piously believe
that, according to the Apostle, " God will con-
firm him to the end, that he may be blameless
in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ;" i Cor. i. 8.
It is true, no man ought to think himself
secure, since we see that Solomon, after he had
led a pious life for several years, was seduced
in his old age ; but yet this example is only
a particular exception from a general rule,
which is the same in efiect with what the
Apostle has taught us, and which the same
Solomon tells us, in his Proverbs (ch. xxii. 6) ,
in these words : " It is a common saying, a
young man according to his way, when he is
old will not depart from it ;" so that, if he was
virtuous in his youth, he will be so when he
is old. By these or such like conjectures, which
are to be met with in the writings of the saints,
a man may humbly presume that God, out of
his infinite goodness, has made him one of the
number of his elect. And as he hopes to be
saved through God's mercy, so may he with
all humility conclude he is of the number of
those that are to be saved, since the one pre-
supposes the other.
This principle once settled, a man will soon
see how strictly he is obliged to serve God
for so extraordinary a favor, as is that of hav-
ing his name written in that book, whereof our
Saviour, speaking to his Apostles, says, "Rejoice
not in this, that spirits are subject unto you ; but
rejoice in this, that your names are written in
heaven;" Lukex. 20. For what greater benefit can
there be, than to have been beloved and chosen
from all eternity, ever since God has been God ?
to have been lodged in his bosom, and made
choice of by him for his adopted child, when
he begot his own Son, according to nature in
the glory of the saints, who were then all
really present in the divine understanding?
Weigh, therefore, all circumstances of this
election, and you will find that each of them
is an extraordinary favor, and a new obligation
to serve God. Consider the dignity of him
who has elected you ; it is God himself, who,
as being infinitely rich and infinitely happy,
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had no need of you or of any one else in the
world. Reflect next upon the person elected,
how unworthy he is of such a grace, since
he is no better than a poor mortal creature,
exposed to all the necessities, infirmities and
miseries of this life, and worthy for his sins
to be condemned to eternal torments in the
next. Observe how glorious an election this
is, since the end for which you have been
elected is so noble that nothing can be above
it; for what can be greater than to become
the Son of God, the heir to his kingdom and
sharer with him in his glory ? Examine, in
the next place, how gratuitous his election was,
since it was before all merit whatsoever, pro-
ceeding only from the good will of Almighty
God, and, according to the Apostle, " to the
praise of the glory of his g^ace ; " Ephes. i. 6.
For the more generous and free a favor is, the
greater the obligation it lays on him that receives
it. Consider, also, how ancient this election is,
for it did not begin with the world, but was
long before it, for it is co-eternal with God,
who, being himself from all eternity, has, in
like manner, from all eternity loved his elect,
has always had them in his divine presence,
and has them there still, beholding them with
a fatherly eye of love, and being always re-
solved to confer so great a favor on them. Con-
sider, after all, how particular this benefit is,
since he has been pleased to honor you with
so infinite a blessing, as is the admitting of
you into the number of his elect, whilst there
are so many nations quite ignorant of him,
and which he has rejected, and, therefore, he
separated you from the mass of perdition, to
raise you to a holy union with his saints, mak-
ing that which was the leaven of corruption
become the bread of angels. Such a grace
should put a Stop to our pens and tongues,
that we may be wholl}' taken up in the
acknowledging and admiring of it, and in learn-
ing what returns we are to make for it. But
what should give a greater value to this favor,
is the small number of the elect, whilst that
of the reproved is so great, that Solomon (Eccl.
i. 15) calls it infinite ; the number of fools ^ that
is, of the reprobate, is infinite. But if none
of all these considerations is able to make any
impression on you, be moved, at least, by the
excessive price this sovereign Elector has given
to purchase you ; it is no less than the life
and blood of his only begotten Son, whom he,
from all eternity, resolved to send down into
the world, to put this, his divine decree, in
execution.
If this be true, what time can suffice to
spend in humble reflections upon so many
mercies ? What tongue can be eloquent enough
to express them ? What heart capacious enough
to conceive them ? What returns and acknowl-
edgments can be made for them? With what
love shall a man be ever able to repay this
eternal love ? Can any man be so base as to
defer loving God to the end of his life, when
God has had such a love for him from all
eternity ? Who will part with such a friend
as this is, for any friend in this world ? For
if the Scripture sets such a value upon an old
friend, how much ought we to praise that
friendship which is eternal ? " Forsake not an
old friend, for a new one will not be like
him ; " Eccl. ix. 14. If this advice holds good
in all cases, who is there that will not prefer
this friend before all the friends in the world ?
And if this be true, that possession, time out
of mind, gives him a title that had none
before, what must a possession do that has
been everlasting? It is eternity that has en-
titled God to the possession of us, that he
might, by this means, make us his.
What riches or honor can there be in the
world, which a man should not give in exchange
for this blessing ? What troubles or misfortunes,
which we ought not to suffer for purchasing it ?
Is there any man, though ever so wicked, that
would not fall down and kiss the ground a
beggar trod on, were he assured by divine
revelation that the beggar was predestined to
everlasting happiness, that would not run after
him, and, prostrating himself at his feet, call
him a thousand times happy ? Who is there
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293
that would not cry out, O blessed soul, is it
possible that you should be one of this happ}'
number of the elect ? Is it possible that God
should have made choice of you from all eternity,
to see him one day in all his beauty and glory ?
that he should have chosen you to be a com-
panion and brother to the elect ? Are you one
of those who are to be seated among the choirs
of angels ? Must you hear the heavenly music ?
And shall you behold the resplendent face of
Jesus Christ and his holy mother? Happy
the day which first brought you into the world ;
but much happier that of your death, because
then you shall begin to live for ever. Happy
the bread you eat, and the ground you tread
on, since it bears such an inestimable treasure !
But much more happy those pains you endure,
since they open you the way to eternal ease
and rest ! For what clouds of afiliction can
there be, which the assurance of this happiness
will not disperse I
We should doubtless break out into such
transports as these, did we behold a predestined
person, and know him to be so. For if all
people run out to see a young prince, that is
heir to some great kingdom, as he passes
through the street, admiring his good fortune,
as the world accounts it, to inherit large
dominions, how much more reason have we to
admire the happiness of a man elected from
his birth, without any preceding merits on his
side, not to a temporal kingdom in this world,
but to an eternal crown of glory in heaven.
Here you may learn how great these obli-
gations are, which the elect owe to God, for so
unspeakable a favor. And yet there is not one
of us all, if we do what is required of us, that
is to look upon himself as excluded this num-
ber. On the contrary, "every one should use
his endeavors," according to St. Peter, "to make
his calling and election sure, by good works ;"
2 Pet. i. 10. For we are most certain that he
who does so shall not miss his salvation; and,
what is more, we know that God has never yet
refused, nor ever will refuse, any man his grace
and assistance. It is, therefore, our main busi-
ness, since we are assured of these two points,
to continue in the doing of good works, that
we may by that means be of the number of
those happy souls whom God has chosen to be
partakers of his glory for ever.
CHAPTER VII.
OF THE SEVENTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO THE PURSUIT OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS
DEATH, THE FIRST OF THE FOUR LAST THINGS.
NY one of the afore-mentioned motives
ought to be sufl&cient to persuade men
to give themselves up entirely to the
service of a master that has obliged
them with so many favors. But, because duty
and justice have less influence over the gener-
ality of mankind than profit and interest, I
will, therefore, add those great advantages
which are proposed as the recompense and
reward of virtue, both in this life and in the
next, and shall first speak of the two greatest,
viz. : The glory we shall acquire, and the pun-
ishment we shall avoid, by faithfully adhering
to it. These are the two oars that are so ser-
viceable to us in this voyage; they are, as it
were, the compass by which we may steer our
course more steadily and securely. This is the
reason why St. Francis and St. Dominick, in
their rules, both of them moved by the same
spirit, and making use of the very same words,,
commanded the preachers of their orders, never
to take any other subjects of their sermons but
virtue and vice, heaven and hell ; the one to
instruct us how to live well, the other to incline
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us to it. It is a received opinion among phi-
losophers, that reward and punishment are, as it
were, the two springs which make the wheels
of a man's life turn round in regular motion.
For such, alas ! is our unhappiness, and so
great the corruption of our nature, that no one
can endure naked virtue, that is to say, if the
fear of punishment does not go along with it,
or the hope of a reward attend it. But since
there is no punishment or reward which can so
justly deserve our consideration as those which
are never to have an end, we will, therefore,
speak here of everlasting glory and everlasting
torments, together with those other two things
that are to precede them, which are death and
judgment. For any one of these points, con-
sidered with attention, may be infinitely advan-
tageous to the making us love virtue and hate
vice, according to the wise man, where he says:
" In all that thou undertakest, remember thy
last end, and thou shalt never do amiss;"
Eccl. vii. 40. He means here those four things
we have just now mentioned, and which we are
going to discourse on.
To begin with the first, which is death. The
reason why this, of all the rest, works most on
us, is its being the most certain, the most fre-
quent, and the most familiar of them all,
especially if we reflect upon the particular judg-
ment that is to be griven on the whole course of
our lives at that time, which, when once past, will
not be reversed on the general j udgment day ; for
whatsoever is then decreed shall stand good
for ever. But how rigorous this judgment will
be, and how severe an account will be taken
of our actions, I do not desire you should
believe upon my bare allegation, but that you
give credit to a passage, related by St. John
Climachus upon this point, to which he him-
self was an eye-witness, and is, indeed, one of
the most dreadful I ever read in my life. He
tell us, " there was a certain monk in his time
called Hesy chins, who lived in a cell on n-^unt
Horeb. Having led a very careless and negli-
gent sort of life, during the whole time of his
retirement, without so much of ever thinking
of his salvation, he was at last taken very ill,
and, being past all hopes of recovery, lay for
about the space of an hour as if he had been
quite dead. But afterwards coming to himself
again, he earnestly desired that we would all
go out of his cell. And as soon as ever we
had left him, he walled up his door, and
remained thus, shut up within his cell, for
twelve years, never speaking one word to any
person during all that time. He lived upon
nothing but bread and water; and continued
always sitting, keeping his whole thoughts,
as if it had been in perpetual ecstacy, so
bent upon what he had seen in his vision,
that he never so much as once altered
the posture he was in, but remaining as it
were, always out of his senses, and in deep
silence, wept most bitterly. A little before his
death we broke open his door, and went into
his cell, earnestly desiring him to speak some
words of edification. But all we could get from
him was: 'Pardon me, my brethren, if I have
nothing else to say to you but this, that he
who has the thoughts of death deeply imprinted
upon his mind can never sin.' " These are
St. John Climachus's own words, who was pre-
sent when this happened, and relates nothing
but what he saw ; so that, though the passage
may seem incredible, there is no cause to mis-
trust the truth of it, since we have it from so
gfrave and so credible an author. There is
nothing which we ought not to fear, when we
consider the life this holy man led, but much
more if we inquire into the frightful vision that
was the occasion of his long penance ! This
evidently makes out the truth of that saying
of the wise man : " Be mindful of thy last end,
and thou shalt never do amiss ; " Eccl. vii. 40.
If, then, this consideration be of such force to
make us avoid sin, let us briefly reflect upon
the most remaAable circumstances that attend
it, to the end we may by this means obtain so
great a benefit.
Remember, therefore, that you are a man
and a Christian. As man, you know you are
to die, and as a Christian you know you are to
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295
give an account of your life as soon as dead.
Daily experience will not permit us to doubt the
one, nor the faith we profess let us call the
other into question. Every one of us all lies
under this necessity. Kings and popes must
submit to it. The day will come when you
shall not live to see night, or a night
when you shall not survive till day. The day
will come, and you know not whether it may
not be this very day or to-morrow, when you
yourself, who are now reading this treatise in
perfect health, and who perhaps think the
number of your days will be answerable to
your business and wishes, shall be stretched
out in your bed, with a taper in your hand,
expecting the last stroke of death, and the
execution of that sentence which is passed upon
all mankind, and from which there is no appeal.
Consider, then, the uncertainty of this hour,
for generally it surprises us when we least
think of it, and is, therefore, said to come like
a thief in the night ; that is, when men are
fastest asleep. A violent and mortal sickness
is the usual forerunner of death and of all its
attendants. Pains, aches, distractions, griefs,
ravings, long and tedious nights, which quite
tire and wear us out, are but so many ways
and dispositions towards it. And as we see
that an enemy, before he can force his entrance
into a town, must batter down the walls, so the
forerunner of death is some raging distemper,
which so furiously, without intermission, batters
down our natural vigor, and breaks in upon
the chief parts of the body, that the soul, not
able to hold out longer, is obliged to sur-
render.
But when the sickness grows desperate, and
the physician or the distemper itself undeceive
us, by leaving us no hopes of life, how great
is our anguish at that time ! Then it is we
begin with concern and sorrow to think of
departing this life, and of forsaking whatsoever
we held most dear. Wife, children, friends,
relations, estates, dignities, employments, all
vanish when we die. Next follow those last
accidents, that attend us just at our going off.
which are much more grievous than all the
rest ; the feet grow cold, the nose shrinks in,
the tongue stammers and is incapable of per-
forming its duty; in fine, all the senses and
members are in confusion and disorder on so
sudden and hasty a departure. Thus man, at
his going out of the world, by his own suffer-
ings, pays back those pains he put others to
when he came into it ; so that there is no great
difference, as to the matter of suffering, between
his birth and his death, since they are both of
them attended with grief, the first with what
his mother endured, and the last what he
endured himself.
Nor is this all that makes this last passage
so terrible ; for after this violent anguish, there
appears before him the approach of death, the
end of life, the horror of the grave, the miser-
able condition of the body, just ready to be
preyed on by worms ; but what is more dread-
ful yet than all the rest, is the lamentable state
of the poor soul, as yet shut up in the body,
but knowing not where she shall be within two
hours ; it is then you will imagine yourself
before the judgment seat of Almighty God, and
all your sins rising up against you ; it is then,
unhappy man, you will be sensible of the
heinousness of those crimes you committed with
so little concern ; it is then you will curse a
thousand times the day in which you sinned, and
those pleasures which were the occasions of your
offences : your condition will be so deplorable,
that you will never be able sufficiently to deplore
yotir own blindness and folly, when you shall see
for what trifles ( for all you have so foolishly set
your affections on are no better ) you have
exposed yourself to the dangers of suffering
■ most exquisite torments, which you will even 1
then be sensible of : for the pleasure being now
all over, and the judgment that is to be passed
on them approaching, that, which of itself was
little, and now ceases to be, seems nothing, and
that, which of itself is of so much weight and
consequence, being present, appears just as it is ;
thus will you become sensible of the danger you
have exposed yourself to, of losing so much bliss
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for the enjoyment of mere vanities, and which
way soever you turn your eyes, you will see you
are surrounded with subjects of sorrow and
trouble ; for you have no time left to do penance,
the glass of your life is run out, nor must you
expect the least assistance from your friends or
from those idols you have hitherto adored ; nay,
what you have had the most affliction for will be
the greatest torment and affliction to you
then. Tell me now, if you can, what your
thoughts will be at that time, when you
shall see yourself reduced to such extremities ?
whither will you run? what will you do?
or to whom will you have recourse ? To go
back is impossible, to go forward is intoler-
able, to continue as you are is not allowed ;
what is it then you will do? "Then," says
God, by the mouth of his prophet, " the sun
shall go down at noonday, and I will darken
the earth in the clear day, and I will turn
your feasts into mourning, and all your songs
into lamentation, and your last day into a day
of bitterness ;" Amos vii. 9, 10. Is there any
thing more dreadful than these words? God
says the sun shall go down at midday, because
then the wicked having the multitude of their
sins laid before them, and perceiving God's
justice is beginning to shorten the course of
their life, many of them will be seized with
such dread and despair, as to imagine that God
has entirely removed his mercy from them.
So that, though they are still in broad day,
that is, within the bounds of life, a time to
merit good or evil, they persuade themselves
that, do what they can, it is lost, since it is
impossible to obtain pardon. Fear is a very
powerful passion ; it makes those things which
are little seem great, and gives us a near view
of that which is furthest from us. If a light
apprehension has been able sometimes to do so
much, what must a certain and real danger
do? Though they see they have a little life
left, and all their friends about them, yet they
fancy they already begin to feel the torments of
the damned in hell. They look on themselves as
between life and death, and, grieving at the loss
of the goods of this life, which they are just ready
to part with, they begin to suffer the pains of
the next, which they apprehend. They think
those men happy whom they leave behind, and
envying the condition of others, increase their
own misery. It is then the sun shall truly set
to them at noon, when, which way soever they
look, the way to heaven shall seem to be blocked
up against them, and they shall not see so
much as the least glimmering light. If they
look up towards God's mercy, they think them-
selves unworthy of it ; if they reflect on his
justice, they imagine it is now going to fall on
them ; that till then it has been their day,^
but now it is the day of God's wrath ; if they
consider their lives past, there is scarce one
moment but what rises up in judgment against
them ; if they reflect on the present time, they
see themselves on their death-beds ; if they look
forward, they imagine they see the judge wait-
ing for them. What can they do, or whither can
they fly from so many objects of fear and terror?
The prophet tells them, " that God will darken
the earth in the clear day ;" which is, that those
things, which they have most delighted in
before, shall now become the greatest occasions
of their sorrow. A man in perfect health loves
to see his children, his friends, his family, his
riches, and whatsoever else can be any way
agreeable to him ; but this light shall be then
turned into darkness, because all these things
Tvill be a great affliction to a dying man ;
and there is nothing will be a greater torment to
him than what he most delighted in. For as
we naturally are pleased in the possession of
what we love, so are we equally troubled and
concerned at the loss of it. This is the reason
why they will not let a man's children come
near him when he is dying ; and why women,
that are unwilling to lose their husbands, keep
from them at this time, for fear the sight of
one another should increase grief and sorrow.
And, though the journey is so long, and the
period of absence endless, yet grief breaks
through all, and scarcely allows him that is
departing leisure to bid his friends farewell.
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If you have ever been in this condition, you
cannot but acknowledge all that I say to be
true ; but if you have never yet made the ex-
periment, believe those that have. " Let them
who have been at sea recount the dangers they
have met with there ;" Eccl. xliii. 26.
§ II. If the circumstances which go before
death are so frightful, what must those be
which follow it? Death has no sooner closed
the sick mau's eyes, than he is brought before
; the judgment seat of Almighty God, to render
his accounts to him, who will avenge himself
with severity and terror for the crimes which
have been committed against him. For the
understanding of this, 5''ou are not to inquire
of the men of the world, who, living in Egypt,
that is, in darkness and ignorance, are always
exposed to mistakes and errors. Ask the saints,
who dwell in the land of Jessen, where the
light of this truth shines always in its full
vigor. They w^ill tell you, not only by their
words, but by their actions, how terrible this
account will be.
For David, though so holy a man, was so
prepossessed with this fear, and with the just
apprehensions of the account he was to give,
that he begged of God, saying, " Enter not into
judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy
sight no man living shall be justified;" Ps.
cxlii. 2. Arsenius was a great saint, who had
lived a very virtuous and rigid life for several
years in the desert ; and yet, finding that he
had but a very little time to live, was seized
with such apprehensions of this judgment, that
his disciples, who were all gathered together
about him, perceiving it, asked him this ques-
tion : " Father, are you afraid now ?" To which
the holy man made answer : " This is no new
fear, which you observed in me, my children ;
it is what I have been sensible of all my
lifetime." They write that St. Agatho, when
he was near his death, was seized with the same
apprehensions, and, being asked what he could
be afraid of, who had lived so virtuously, said,
" Because the judgments of God are quite dif-
ferent from those of men." St. John Climachus
gives us another no less dreadful example of
a holy monk, which, being very remarkable,
I will here relate it in the saint's own words.
" There was a certain religious man," says he,
" called Stephen, that lived in this place, after
having spent a great many years in a monastery^
where he was in much repute, on account of
his tears and fasting, and where he had enriched
his soul with several other excellent virtues ;
but having an extreme desire to lead a solitary
and retired life, he built himself a cell at the
bottom of mount Horeb, where the prophet.
Elias had the honor to see God. This man,
notwithstanding his great austerity and rigor,
thinking that what he did was not enough,
but aspiring to a more rigid and severe way
of living, went to another place called Siden,
where some holy anchorets lived. Here he-
continued for some years in the severest and
strictest life imaginable, destitute of all human
comfort and conversation, having seated his
hermitage about three score and ten miles from
any town. But the good old man, towards the
end of his life, came back again to his first
cell, at the foot of mount Horeb, having there
with him two disciples that were natives of
Palestine, who had retired thither not long-
before he came back. Within a few days after
his return, he fell into his last sickness. The
day before he died, being in a kind of ecstasy,
but with his eyes open, and gazing first on one
side of his bed, and then on the other, just as
if he saw persons there, who made him give
an account of his life, he answered so loud
that every person cquld hear him, sometimes
saying, ' Yes, I confess it : that is true ; but I
have fasted so many years in atonement for the
sin.' Sometimes he was heard to say, 'That is
false; you wrong me; I never did any such thing.'
Immediately after, ' As to that, I acknowledge
:t. You are in the right, but I have bewailed
the same, and have done penance for it, by
serving my neighbor upon such and such oc-
casions.' Then again he cried out, ' That is
not true ; you are all impostors.' But to
other accusations, he answered, 'It is true, and.
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I have nothing to say to that point, but that
oirr God is a God of mercy.' Certainly this
invisible judgment, being so severe, could not but
be terrible and frightful. And what ought to
make it more dreadful, they laid such crimes
to his charge as he had never been g^uilty of.
O my God ! if a hermit, after about forty years
spent in religious and solitary life, after having
obtained the gift of tears, declared that he had
nothing to say for himself, as to some sins that
are brought against him, what will become of
such a miserable and unhappy wretch as I am ?
Nay, what is yet more, I have been credibly in-
formed by several, that, whilst he lived in the
desert, he used to feed a leopard with his own
hands. He died as he was giving this account
of himself, leaving us in an entire uncertainty
of the end of this judgment, and of the sentence
that was passed on him." Thus far St. John
Climachus. By this, we may plainly see, what
apprehensions a man that has lived idly and
carelessly must be in, when he comes to die,
since such great saints as these have been so
hard put to it at that moment.
Should you ask one, what there is in death
that can aflfright such holy men, I will answer
you out of St. Gregory's fourth book of Morals
(ch. 16, 17, 18), where he says, "The saints,
seriously considering how just the Judge is, to
to whom they are to give an account of all their
actions, are continually thinking on the last
moment of their lives, and carefully examining
themselves on what answer they shall make
to every question their Judge shall put to them.
But if they find themselves free from all those
sinful actions, which they might have com-
mitted, another subject of their apprehension
is, lest they should have consented to those
bad thoughts to which man's corruption always
exposes him. For let us suppose that the over-
coming of surh temptations as lead to the per-
formance of some sinful action, is no very hard
matter, yet you will not find it so easy to secure
yourself against the continual war, raised by
bad thoughts. And though these holy men
are always afraid of the secret judgments of so
just a Judge, yet they then particularly fear
them most, when they are at the point of dis-
charging the common debt of nature, and when
they perceive themselves advancing nigher to
their sovereign Master. But this fear of theirs
is much greater, at that time when the soul is
just going to quit the body. Then it is that
the mind is no longer filled with idle thoughts,
nor the imagination drawn away by impertinent
fancies. Neither does he, that is now done
with this world, think of any thing that is
in it. Dying men think of nothing but them-
selves and God who is just before them. They
look on every thing else as no concern of
theirs. But if, whilst they are in this condi-
tion, they cannot think of any good action,
which they have knowingly omitted, they are
afraid lest they might have omitted that which
they did not know ; because they cannot pass
a true judgment on themselves, nor have per-
fect knowledge of their own failings. This
is the reason of their being seized at death
with such great and secret apprehensions,
because they know they are on entering into
a state, which they shall never afterwards be
able to change." These are St. Gregory's own
words, which plainly show us there is much
more to be feared in this judgment, and at
this hour, than worldly men imagine.
If this judgment is so rigorous, and has
been so much and so justly dreaded by holy
men, what apprehensions ought theirs to be,
who are not so ? they who have spent the
greatest parts of their lives in vanities
and trifles, who have so frequently despised
God, and his commandments, who have scarce
so much as ever thought of their salvation,
and have taken so little pains to prepare
themselves for their last hour ? If the just man
be ready to sink under the weight of his fear, how
shall the sinner be able to keep up? If the
cedar of Lebanon be thus shaken, what will
become of the reed in the wilderness? And in
short, " If," as St. Peter says, " thejustman shall
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and
the sinner appear?" i Pet. iv. 18. Tell me
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
299
now, after all this, what will be your thoughts
at that hour, when, having left this world, you
appear before the divine tribunal, in a lonely,
poor and naked condition, without any other
assistance but what your own good works will
bring you, without any other company but that
of your own conscience ; and if your accounts
fall short, how miserable will 3'^our condition
be ? To what shame and confusion will your
past neglects put you ? The princes of Judah
were, without doubt, very much surprised when
they saw the conqueror Sesach, king of Egypt,
putting all Jerusalem to the sword. Their
present punishment brought them to a sense
of their former crimes ; and yet what was all
this in comparison with the trouble and dis-
order the wicked shall be in, when they are
near their end ? What shall they do ? whither
shall they go ? or what defence shall they be
able to make ? Their tears will be then un-
profitable to them, their repentance will not
avail, their prayers will not be taken notice of,
nor their promises of future amendment regarded:
they will have no time given them to do pen-
ance ; and as for their riches, their honors, or
the respect the world gave them, they will
signify least of all. For, according to the wise
man, " riches shall not be profitable in the
day of vengeance, but justice will deliver a
man from death ;" Prov. xi. 4. What will a poor
soul do, when it sees itself surrounded with so
many miseries ? What will it do but cry out,
with the royal psalmist, " The sorrows of death
have encompassed me, and the dangers of hell
have found me out ?" Ps. cxiv. 3. Unhappy
wretch that I am I To what a miserable condi-
tion have my sins redu.ced me ? how unex-
pectedly has this unfortunate hour stolen on
me? how suddenly has it surprised me when
I least thought of it ? what good will all my
former titles and honors do me now ? All my
friends and servants, those riches and revenues
which I have once been master of, what service
can I expect from them now ? Six or seven
feet of clay at the most, with a poor winding
sheet to bury me in, is to be my whole inheri-
tance ; and to complete my misery, all that
money I have been so long hoarding up, with
so much pains and injustice, I must now leave
behind me, to be squandered away by an ex-
travagant heir, whilst the sins I have been
guilty of in getting it, will pursue me to the
next world to condemn me to eternal torments.
Where is now the delight I took in all my
former recreations and pleasures ? They are
now at an end for ever, and nothing but the
pangs of them remain ; that is, the scruples
and remorse of my guilty conscience, the stings
of which pierce my very heart, and will torment
me for all eternity. Why did I not rather employ
my time in preparing myself for this last
hour? How often have I been forewarned of
what I suffer, but would never g^ve ear to the
advice ? " Why have I hated instruction, and
my heart despised reproof ; and have not obeyed
the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to
them that instructed me ?" Prov. v. 12, 13. I
have committed all kinds of sins and iniquities,
in the very bosom of the Church, and in the
sight of all the world.
See here what anxieties and disquietudes the
wicked will be rent with. See here what a bur-
den their own thoughts will be to them in this
miserable condition. But to preserve you from
falling into the same misfortunes, I here advise
you to gather, from what has been said, these
three considerations, and to keep them continually
in your mind. The first is, that of the trouble
you will be in at the hour of your death, for all
those sins you have committed against God dur-
ing the whole course of your life. The second
is, how you will wish to have served him, that i
he might be favorable to you at this moment.
The last is, what a rigid penance you would
willingly undergo in this world, if you could but
obtain the favor of returning thither, that you
might begin, from that very moment, to live as
you will then desire to have lived before.
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CHAPTER VIII.
OF THE EIGHTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO THE PURSUIT OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE LAST
JUDGMENT, THE SECOND OF THE FOUR LAST THINGS.
BS soon as ever the soul has left the
body, immediately follows its par-
ticular judgment, and after that, the
general one of all mankind together ;
at which time shall be accomplished what the
Apostle said : "We must all appear before the
judgment-seat of Christy that every one may
receive the proper things of the body, according
as he hath done, whether it be good or evil ; "
2 Cor. V. lo. Having treated, in another place,
of those dreadful signs, which are to be the
forerunners of the general judgment-day, I shall
speak here of nothing but that severe and
exact account, which will be then required from
us, and of what is to follow, that this may
teach man how much he is obliged to the pur-
suit of virtue.
As to the first, which is the strict inquiry
God will make into all our actions, it is so
frightful, that there was nothing surprised holy
Job more than to consider, that God, whose
majesty is so great, could show so much rigor
towards man, notwithstanding his being so frail
a creature, as to set down every word, every
thought, every motion of his, in his book of
justice, to require a particular account thereof.
After having said a great deal to this purpose,
he goes on thus : " Why dost thou hide thy
face, and lookest upon me as thy enemy ? Thou
exercisest thy power against a leaf which is
driven to and fro by the wind, and thou pur-
suest the dry stubble. For thou writest bitter
things against me, and hast a mind to destroy
me for the sins of my youth ; thou hast put
my feet in the stocks, and hast observed all
my paths, and hast taken notice of the steps
of my feet. I who am to be consumed as a
rotten thing, and as a garment that is moth-
eaten ; " Job xiii. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.
Immediately after he adds, " Man that is bom
of a woman, and has but a short time to live,
is full of miseries. He comes forth like a
flower, and is trodden down; he flies away like
a shadow, and never continues in the same
state. And dost thou think fit to open thy
eyes upon such a one, and to bring him into
judgment with thee? Who can make that
clean which is conceived of unclean seed ? Who
but thou alone?" Job xiv. i, 2, 3, 4. These
are the terrible words which Job spoke, filled
with surprise and astonishment at the severity
the divine justice exercises against so poor and
helpless a creature as is man; against one so
bent on any thing that is evil, and that drinks
up iniquity like water. For that God should
be so severe to the angels, who are spiritual,
and very perfect creatures, is not to be a matter
of so much wonder: but for his justice to call
men, whose vicious inclinations are numberless,
to so strict an account, as not to pass over any
one circumstance of their whole lives, not to
leave out any one idle word, nor so much as
one moment of time that has been misemployed,
without a very narrow inquiry into it, is a sub-
ject of the greatest amazement. For who can
hear these words of our Saviour without aston-
ishment? "I say unto you, that every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall render
an account for it in the day of judgment ; "
Matt. xii. 36. If we are to give an account of
such words as these are, that hurt nobody, what
an examination will be made into lewd dis-
courses, unchaste thoughts, bloody hands, and
lascivious looks ? What, in short, into all that
time men have spent in committing sinful
actions ? And if this be true, as doubtless it
is, what can a man say of the severity of this
judgment, but will fall far short of it ? What
a fright will a poor man be in, to see himself
accused before so venerable an assembly, of
some light word he spoke in his lifetime, with-
out any design or intention ? Who will not be
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301
surprised at so strange a charge ? or who
would have dared to aflBrm this, had not God
himself said it? Was there ever any prince
that called his servant to account for the loss
of a pin or a needle ? O the excellence of the
Christian religion I what perfection and purity-
dost thou teach, and how strict an account wilt
thou require of it, and with how rigorous a
judgment wilt thou examine into it!
Now if this judgment day be so great a sub-
ject of all men's astonishment, what shame and
confusion must sinners be then put to ? For
all the wickedness they have ever committed,
with so much caution and privacy in their most
secret closets, and all the impurities they have
ever been defiled with, and all the evil that has
lain hid in the darkest recesses of their souls,
shall be then made public, and exposed to the
view of all the world. Is there any man now,
whose conscience is so clear, as not to begin to
blush and be afraid of this confusion? We see
how often it happens, that men, upon no other
motive but that of a sinful and criminal shame,
will not discover their secret sins to their con-
fessors, not even in confession, where the obli-
gation to secrecy is so inviolable, and the tie so
sacred. They, for no other reason but this,
choose rather to let their souls be pressed down
under the weight of their sins, than to undergo
the shame of revealing them. How great, then,
will that shame be, which men shall be put
to before God, and in the sight of all ages, past,
present and to come ? The prophet tells us this
confusion will be so extraordinary, that the
wicked " shall say to the mountains : cover us,
and to the hills, fall upon us," that we may
not be exposed to such shame; Hos. x. 8.
But what horror will they be filled with, at
the hearing of this last sentence thundered out
against them : " Depart from me, ye accursed,
i'nto everlasting fire, which has been prepared
or the devil and his angels;" Matt. xxv. 41.
What will the damned think at the
sound of those dreadful words? "If," says
Job, "we can scarce endure the least
sound of his voice, who shall be able to
look against the thunder of his greatness ? "
Job xxvi. 14. This word will carry such force
along with it, that it will make the earth open
in a moment, to swallow up and bury in its
bowels those who, as the same Job says (ch.
xxi. 12), "Take the timbrel and harp, and
rejoice at the sound of the organ." St. John,
in his Revelation, describes this fall in these 1
words : "I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having great power, and the earth
was enlightened with his glory. And he cried
mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon
the great is fallen, it is fallen, and is become
the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and
hateful bird ;" Rev. xviii. 1,2. In the same
place the holy evangelist adds: "And a mighty
angel took up a stone like a mill-stone, and
cast it into the sea, saying. Thus with violence
shall that great city Babylon be thrown down,
and shall be found no more at all." After the
same manner shall the wicked, who are to be
understood here by Babylon, be flung into the
dungeon of everlasting darkness and confusion.
But what tongue shall be able to express the
multitude of torments they are to suffer there?
Their bodies shall burn in scorching flames,
which shall never be extinguished ; the worm
of conscience shall perpetually gnaw and tear
their very souls in pieces, without ever being
tired or sated. It is there that weeping, and
wailing, and gnashing of teeth, we are so often
threatened with in holy Scripture, shall never
cease. There it is that the damned, hurried on
with rage and despair, shall vent their fury on
God and themselves, biting off their flesh,
bursting their hearts with sighs and grief,
breaking their teeth with grinning and vexa- !
tion, like madmen pulling their own limbs in
pieces, and continually blaspheming that just
God who has condemned them to such torments.
There every one of them will a thousand times
curse the hour of his birth, frequently repeating,
though with a different spirit, these words of
holy Job: "Let the day perish wherein I was
born, and the night in which it was said, A
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man-child is conceived. Let that day be turned
into darkness, let not God regard it from above,
neither let the light shine upon it. Let dark-
ness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a
cloud overcast it, and let it be wrapped up in
terror. As for that night, let a dark tempest
seize upon it, let it not be reckoned among the
days of the year, nor come into the number of
the months. Why died I not in the womb ?
Why did I not give up the ghost when I came
out of the belly ? Why was I placed upon the
knee ? or why had I the breast to suck ? "
Job iii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12. These are the com-
plaints the damned shall make in hell for all
eternity. O unhappy tongues, which shall
never utter anything but blasphemies I O
wretched ears, which shall never hear any-
thing but frightful shrieks and groans? O
unhappy eyes, which shall never see anything
but objects of misery ! O wretched bodies,
which, instead of being refreshed, shall be
eternally burning in hell-flames ! What a con-
dition will those sensual persons be in then,
who have spent all their days in sports and
delights? 01 for how short and how fleeting
a pleasure have they brought on themselves an
endless train of miseries ? Foolish and sense-
less creatures! what do all your pastimes,
which lasted so short a time, avail you, when
the consequence is an eternity of pain and
sorrow ? what is now become of all your riches
and treasures ? where are now your delights ?
Your seven fruitful years are now over, and
they are followed by seven years of such bar-
renness that your former abundance is all
swallowed up, and not the least sign or mem-
ory of it remains. Your honor is lost, and
your happiness drowned, in that ocean of sor-
row. You are reduced to such extremity as not
to be allowed one single drop of water to quench
the scorching thirst which parches up your very
bowels ; nay, your last prosperity is so far from
giving you any comfort now, that it is rather
one of your greatest torments. For then shall
be fulfilled this saying of Job: "The delight
of the wicked shall be changed into worms"
(Job xxiv. 20) ; which according to St. Gregory
will happen, when the remembrance of their
past pleasures shall be an increase of ^heir pre-
sent torments : when they shall call to mind
the days they have seen, and those they now
see ; thus unhappily experiencing, at their own
cost, that, for things of so short a continuance,
they sufier miseries which shall never have an
end. Then they will plainly see how the enemy
has deceived them, and being now, though too
late, sensible of their folly, they will begin to
make use of these words in the book of Wis-
dom : "We fools have wandered out of the way
of truth, and the light of justice has not shiued
upon us, and the sun of understanding has not
rose upon us. We have wearied ourselves in
the way of wickedness and destruction, we have
walked through hard ways ; but as for the way
of the Lord we have not known it ; " Wisd.
V. 6, 7. These are to be the perpetual com-
plaints of the damned, this their repentance,
this their sorrow ; but all to no purpose, for the
time of improving is now past.
The due consideration of these things cannot
but excite us to the love of virtue. And, there-
fore, St. Chrysostoni often makes use of these
arguments in his homilies, to exhort us to it.
In one of them he says, " That you ma}' prepare
your soul in time, to be the temple and abode
of God, call to mind the dreadful day when we
are to appear before the throne of Jesus Christ,
to give an account to him of all our actions.
Consider in what manner this Lord will come
to judge the living and the dead. Consider
how many thousands of angels will attend
him. Imagine you already hear the sound
of that frightful but irrevocable sentence,
which Jesus Christ will pass against the v/orld.
Consider that, as soon as this sentence shall
be given, some will be tumbled headlong into
outward darkness ; others, though they have
taken a great deal of pains for the preserving
of their virginity, shall have the gates of
heaven shut on them ; some shall be tied up
like bundles of weeds, and flung into the fire ;
others again shall be delivered up as a prey,
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303
to the worm which will never die, and con-
demned to everlasting wailing and gnashing
of teeth." We are all of us convinced of the
truth of these things ; why then do not we,
whilst we have time, cry out with the prophet,
" Who will give water to my head, and foun-
tains of tears to my eyes, and I will weep day
and night?" Jer. ix. i. Let us, therefore,
hasten and endeavor, before it is too late, to
prevent the judgment by a confession of our
sins : it is written : " Who shall confess to you,
O Lord, in hell?" Ps. vi. 6.
Let us consider, further, that God has given
us two eyes, two ears, two feet and two hands,
that, if we should happen to lose the use of
any one of these members, the other may still
serve us. But he has given us but one soul,
so that, if we lose that, we have no other left
us to enjoy eternal glory. Let it, therefore,
be our main concern to preserve it, for this
soul must be one day saved or damned with
the body for ever, and must appear before the
tribunal of our great God, where, if you would
excuse yourself, saying, you were dazzled with
the false glittering of money, the judge will
answer, that he forewarned you of this danger,
when he said, "What doth it profit a man, if
he gain the whole world, if he loses his own
soul ? " Matt. xiv. 26. Should you say, the
devil seduced me, he will tell you, that Eve
did not clear herself by saying, it was the
serpent that deceived her; Gen. iii.
Look into the Scriptures, and consider the
prophet Jeremiah's vision : first he saw a
watching-rod, and then a great cauldron boil-
iug over a hot fire, to signify how God dealt
with men. First he threatens, and then, if
that will not do, punishes them. Nor is it to
be doubted, but that he who will not submit
to the correction of the rod, shall be made to
undergo the torture of the cauldron. Read but
the Gospel, and you will see that nobody offered
to intercede for those unhappy wretches whom
our Saviour condemned. Brothers did not
speak for their brothers, nor friends for their
friends ; the father did not stand up for his
son, nor the son for his father. But what do
I speak of these, who were sinful men, since
neither Noe, Daniel or Job, notwithstanding
all their virtue and piety, will be able to alter
the sentence once given by the judge? Ezech.
xxvi. See whether any one durst so much as
open his mouth in favor of him, who was
turned away from the wedding-dinner ; Matt.
xxii. II, 12, 13, and xxv. 11, 12, 13. See
whether any body ever spoke one word for that
servant who would not trade with the talent
his master intrusted him with. Which of all
those five virgins, that could not get any
admittance into heaven, ever found any one
that undertook to plead her cause ? Jesus
Christ himself called them fools, for managing
themselves so unwisely as, after having despised
the delights of the flesh, and extinguished the
fire of concupiscence, nay, after having observed
the great precept of virginity, to neglect the
commandment of humility, which seems to be
much easier, and to take a pride in their
chastity. Consider whether the rich man, who
took no pity on Lazarus, could obtain one
single drop of water, which he begged of the
patriarch Abraham, as poor a comfort as it
was, to mitigate those scorching flames that so
tormented him ; Luke xvi. Why then will we
not charitably assist each other? why will we
not praise and glorify God before the sun of
his justice is set, and before he removes his
light from our eyes ? We had much better
let our tongues be parched with fasting for the
short remainder of this life, than, having
satisfied them in this world, to let them be
reduced to the necessity of begging a drop of
water in the next, out of all possibility of
obtaining it. If we are so nice and tender here,
that we cannot suffer the heat of a light fever
the space of three days, how shall we be able
to endure those eternal burnings? If the
sentence of death passed on us by a mortal
judge, who cannot take aw^y above forty or
fifty years of our life at furthest, be so terrible,
why do not we tremble at the sentence that is
to be given by a Judge, in whose power it is
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to deprive us of life everlasting? It terrifies
us to see the punishments inflicted on male-
factors here on earth, to see the executioners
drag them away by force, scourge, disjoint,
quarter, tear or burn them ; and yet what is
this but a mere dream or shadow, in comparison
to the pains of hell? For death puts an end
to all these sufierings, but there the worm of
conscience never dies, there life is never at an
end; the tormentors are never tired, and the
fire never is put out. Let us, therefore, set
what we will against this misery, let it be fire
or sword, wild beasts, or any other kind of
torment whatever; to this it will appear but
as an imperfect draft or representation.
What will these unhappy wretches do, when
they shall see themselves deprived of so many
blessings, and condemned to suffer such un-
speakable miseries ? What will they say ?
How will they cry out against themselves?
How horribly will they sigh and groan, and
yet to what little purpose ? For neither is the
sailor useful after he has lost his vessel, nor
the physician when his patient is dead. It is
then — but too late, alas I — they will begin to
reflect on their sins, and to say. We should
have looked better to ourselves, and not
fallen into this deplorable state. Alas I how
often have we been told of this, and would
take no notice of it? The Jews shall then
know him, who came in the name of the
Lord, but it shall not avail them, because
they would not know him when this know-
ledge might have been beneficial to them.
But what shall we, miserable creatures, be able
to say for ourselves, when heaven and earth,
the sun and moon, night and day, nay, the
whole world, shall cry out against us, and be
witnesses of the sins we have committed?
But should every thing else be silent, we have
still our consciences to rise up against and
accuse us. This is almost all taken out of
St. John Chrysostom, and is suflBcient to show
us how terrible the idea of this dreadful day
must be to those persons, who have not gov-
erned themselves by the dictates of reason and
virtue. St. Ambrose, as severely as he searched
into his own actions, gives us plainly to
understand, in his commentaries on St. Luke,
that this was his sentiment : his words are
these: "Woe unto me, O Lord, if I do not
bewail my sins ; if I do not rise at midnight
to praise thy holy name, if I deceive my
neighbor, or if I speak against the truth,
because the axe is now laid to the root of the
tree." Let him, therefore, who is in the state
of grace, endeavor to bring forth the fruits of
justice ; let him who is in the state of sin,
endeavor to bring forth the fruits of penance.
For the Lord is nigh at hand, and comes to
gather in his fruit, and will give life to those
who work faithfully and profitably, and death
to them who are idle and unserviceable.
CHAPTER IX.
OF THE NINTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO VIRTUE, WHICH IS, HEAVEN, THE THIRD OF
THE FOUR LAST THINGS.
NY one of these considerations, we
have here proposed, should suffice
to persuade us to the love of virtue.
But because the heart of man is so
stubborn, that very often all of them together
are not able to prevail on it, I will here add
another motive, no less powerful than any of
the others ; that is the happiness and reward
promised to a good life, which is, the possession
of everlasting glory ; wherein two things par-
ticularly occur to be taken notice of; one is,
the beauty of the place itself, which is heaven ;
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305
the other, the glory and excellency of the
King, who keeps his residence there with all
his elect.
As for the first, though no tongue is able
to express the beauty of this place, yet we
will endeavor to guess at it 9.S well as we
can, and to discover as it were, at a distance,
some part of it. The first thing then to be
_ considered is, the end for which God created
jthis excellent frame; for, generally, the best
way of knowing the worth of a thing is, to
inquire into the design of it. Now the design
of this place is to make known God's glory.
For though, as Solomon says, " The Lord has
made all things for himself" (Prov. xvi. 4),
it is plain, nevertheless, that he particularly
made this place for this end, because it is
"here that he manifests the greatness and
splendor of his glory in a more than ordinary
manner. Therefore, as the great king Ahasu-
erus ( Esther i. ), who reigned over an hun-
dred and twenty-seven provinces, made a
sumptuous feast in the city of Susa, the
metropolis of his empire, which lasted a hun-
dred and four-score days, with all the cost and
state imaginable, to let his subjects see how
powerful and how rich he was ; so this al-
mighty King is pleased to make a noble feast
in heaven, not for a hundred and four-score
days only, but for all eternity, to show the
infinite immensity of his riches, his wisdom,
his bounty and his goodness. This is the
feast Isaias speaks of, when he says, " In this
mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto
this people a feast of fat things, a feast of
wines on the lees, of fat things full of mar-
row, .of wines on the lees well refined." ( Isa.
XXV. 6); that is to say, of most rich and
delicious things. If God has prepared this
banquet to make the greatness of his glory
known, we must needs imagine, that since this
glory of his is so great, the beauty of the
place where he resides is proportionable to it.
We shall better understand this, if we but
examine into the power and riches of the
Xrord who has chosen it for his residence. As
to his power, it is so great, that he created
the whole world out of nothing with one word,
and with one word can destroy it again when-
soever he please. Nay, it reaches so far that with
one single word he could have created not only one
wf rid, but millions of them, and have reduced
them to nothing with another. And what is
more considerable yet, whatsoever he has made
has cost him no pains nor trouble, nor was it
harder to him to create the noblest seraphim
than it was to create the least insect, because
this infinite Power can do whatsoever it has a
mind to do, and whatsoever it has a mind to
do it does purely of its own will, and is neither
tired by the greatest works nor eased by the
least. If this Lord is so powerful, if the glory
of his holy name is so great, and if he has
such a love for his own glory, how beautiful
must that place or that banquet consequently
be, which he has prepared to show us his
glory? What is there wanting towards the
perfection of this great work? There can be
no want of hands, because the Workman is
infinitely powerful; no want of skill, because
he is infinitely wise ; no want of will, because
he is infinitely good ; no want of wealth, be-
cause he is infinitely rich. If, then, all things
be so well disposed to make it great, what
must that work be, which is performed by the
omnipotence of the Father, by the wisdom of
the Son, and by the goodness of the Holy
Ghost? — where goodness inclines, wisdom di-
rects, and omnipotence performs all that an
infinite goodness desires, and an infinite wisdom
prescribes, though all these things are the
same in the same divine Persons.
There is another remarkable thing yet to be
considered in this matter, which is, that God
has prepared this stately place, not only for
his own honor, but also for the glory of all
his elect. How solicitous God is for them, and
for the effecting of all he has promised in their
behalf, when he said, " Whosoever shall glorify
me, I will glorify him" (i Kings ii. 30),
plainly appears by his actions, since he has
put every thing in the world under their
ao
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command, even whilst they are in this life. How
wonderful was it to see Josue command the
sun to stand still in the midst of its course,
and to make it stop, as if he had the direction
of the whole world in his power I " God," as
the Scripture says, " obeying the voice of a
man;" Jos. x. 14. How strange was it to see
the prophet Isaias bid king Ezechias (Isa. xxxiii.
8) choose whether he would have the sun go
back ten degrees upon the dial, or forward, for
either should be performed ! How prodigious
was it to see the prophet Elias (3 Kings xvii.
I, and xviii. 43, etc.) lock up the waters and
clouds of heaven as long as he thought fit ;
and then command them, by virtue of his word
and prayer, to pour down their rain again 1
Nor is it during their lifetime only that God
has given his saints such powers ; he continues
the same after their death and confers it on
their very bones and ashes; 4 Kings xiii. 21.
Who can forbear praising God, when he reads
of the prophet Elisha's bones raising a dead
man to life, who was accidentally thrown by
a band of highwaymen into the prophet's
grave? Who will deny that God bestows
great favors on his saints, when he hears that
the sea opened for three miles together, the day
that St. Clement was martyred, that so those
persons who had mind to see the relics of one
that had suffered for Christ's sake, might pass
over? God has been pleased to inspire the
whole Church to institute a feast in honor of
St. Peter's chains, that we may see what an
esteem he has for the bodies of the saints,
since he commanded us to pay such solemn
respect for the fetters they wore. But what is
all this in comparison with the honor which
God did not only to this Apostle's fetters, not
only to his bones or body, but to his very
shadow; which, as St. Luke afl5rms in the
Acts (ch. V. 15), cured all persons of their
distempers that could come within the reach of
it. O God ! how infinitely art thou to be ad-
mired I O God ! how infinitely good art thou,
and with what an infinite honor dost thou
reward thy saints! Thou hast given this man
what thou never madest use of thyself; for
nobody ever saw Jesus Christ curing the sick
with his shadow. Now if it be certain that
God has such a love for his saints, even at such
a time and in such a place too as designed for them
to toil and labor in, and not to receive their re-
wards ; how, great must that glory be which he has
prepared to honor them with, and for which he
will be honored and praised in them I What may
we imagine he, who has so g^eat a desire to
glorify them, and who, at the same time, both
can and knows best how to do whatsoever is
capable of contributing to their glory, has
prepared and provided for this end ? Consider
further, how liberal God is in rewarding services
done him. He commanded Abraham to sacrifice
his son, whom he loved so tenderly; and just
as the patriarch was on the point of comply-
ing with his command, his divine goodness
stopped him, and would not let him proceed
any further. " The angel of the Lord said ta
him. Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither
do thou any thing to him ; now I know that
thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy
only begotten son for my sake. By my own
self have 1 sworn, saith the Lord, because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy
only begotten son for my sake, I will bless;
thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars
of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea-
shore : thy seed shall possess the gates of their
enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed, because thou hast
obeyed my voice ;" Gen. xxii. 12, 16, 17, 18.
Was not this service well requited ? It is
truly a return that becomes God, who ought
to appear like himself in all things, as well
in the favors he bestows, as in the punish-
ments he inflicts.
David began one night to consider with him-
self, that he had a house to dwell in, and the
ark of God had none, and thereupon resolved
to build one for it. But God sent the prophet
Nathan to him the next morning with this
message : " Because thou hast thought of build-
ing me a house, I swear to thee, that I will
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307
build cne for thee and tliy posterity, which
shall remain for ever ; and I will give thee a
kingdom that shall have no end, nor will I ever
remove my mercies from it ;" 2 Kings vii. ; 3
Kings viii. ; i Chron. xvii. This was the
promise God made David ; nor did he fail in
t*he performance of it, for the kingdom of
Israel was governed by the princes of the house
of David down to the coming of our Saviour,
who reigns there now, and will there reign for
all eternity. What follows on this is, that
heaven is nothing else but the general reward
which God gives his saints, for all the services
they have done him ; and would we but at the
same time consider how generous God is, in
the presents he makes, we might give some
kind of gness at least at the qualities and
conditions of this glory ; though it is an abyss
too deep for us to fathom.
Another way of passing a judgment on it
is, to reflect on the price God has thought fit
it sholild be purchased at for us. For since
he has been so liberal to us, we must not
think he would set a greater value on things
than they are worth in themselves. Yet that
we might, after we had sinned, be made par-
takers of this glory, nothing less than the
blood and death of his only Son could procure
it for us. So that God has been pleased to
die the death of man, that man might live the
life of God. God has suffered those afflictions
and tribulations which were due to man, that
man should enjoy the rest and ease that be-
longed to God. Nor would man have ever been
honored with a place among the choir of
angels, had not God been nailed to the cross
betwixt two thieves. How great a favor,
then, must this be, for the procuring of
which a God, has sweated blood, has been taken
prisoner, has been scourged, spit upon and buf-
eted ; and, after all, has been fastened to a cross !
What can that be, which God who is so generous,
has prepared, to procure at so great a rate ? Could
a man but fathom this abyss, he could have no
better way of finding out the greatness of
eternal glory.
But besides all this, God requires of us as
much as possibly can be required of man,
which is, that we take up our cross and fol-
low him ; and if our right eye offend us, we
pluck it out ; that we have no further concern
for father and mother, nor regard any thing in
this world, be it what it will, if it be consistent
with whatsoever God shall command us. And
after we have punctually complied with all that
he enjoins, he tells us he bestows this glory
gratis. This is what he says, in St. John : " I
am Alpha and Omega ; the Beginning and the
End. To him that thirsteth I will give of
the fountain of the water of life, free cost ;"
Apoc. xxi. 6. How great a favor must this be,
when God requires so much for it ; and yet, when
we have given him all we can, he tells us him-
self, he gives it to us for nothing. I say,
" for nothing," with respect to what our actions
are worth in themselves, when separated
from the value grace puts on them. Tel]
me now, if this Lord is so liberal in grant-
ing of his favors ; if he has been so
good as to bestow upon every one so many
several kinds of benefits even in this life ; if
every creature, both in heaven and earth, has
been created for man's use in general ; if he
has given the sinner as well as the just, the
bad man as well as the good, a free and com-
mon possession of this world, how shall we be
able to rate those inexhaustible riches, which
he has laid up for none but the just ? How
will he, who has been so generous in confer-
ring his favors on those who have not deserved
them, reward those to whom his graces are in
some manner due ? How noble must he be in
requiting services done him, who has been
always so forward in bestowing of his mercies I
And if he is so bountiful in his gifts and
presents, how magnificent will he be in the
returns he makes ! It is certain we can neither
express nor conceive the glory he will bestow
on the grateful, since he has here laid so many
obligations on the unthankful.
§ I. Something of this glory may be further
discovered by the situation and height of the
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place designed for it, which is not only the
most capacious, but the noblest and most
beautiful of all the rest. It is called in the
Scripture, " the land of the living." Whence
we are to infer, that the land we now live in
is the land of the dying. If therefore, it is cer-
tain, there are so many excellent and curious
things in this country of the dying, what
must there be where those persons reside
who are to live for ever ? Look about, in
in every quarter of the world, and consider
how many beautiful objects there are in it.
Observe the greatness of the heavens, the
brightness of the sun, moon and stars, the
beauteousness of the earth and of the trees,
of birds, and other creatures. Consider how
pleasant the plain and open fields are : how
delightful the mountains, with their unevenness ;
the valleys, with their greenness ; and how the
springs and rivers, which are dispersed and
scattered, like so many viens throughout the
whole body of the earth, contribute with their
freshness to its beauty. Reflect on the vast
extent of the seas, which have such a great
variety of wonders in them. What are the
lakes and pools of pure water, but, as it were,
the eyes of the earth, or the mirrors of the
heavens ? Or what can we think of the verdant
meadows, intervvoven with roses and other flow-
ers, but that they resemble the firmament all be-
spangled with stars in a clear night ? What
shall we say of the mines of gold and silver, and
other rich metals, of rubies, emeralds, diamonds
and other precious stones, which seem to stand
in competition with the stars themselves, for a
glittering lustre and beauty ? What shall we
say of that variety of colors which is to be seen
in birds, in beasts, in flowers, and in an infinite
number of other wonderful objects? Besides all
this, art has added to the perfections of nature, and
so improved thebeautyof all things. Hence come
those works, which are so pleasing to the eye, glit-
tering with gold and precious stones, noble
paintings, delightful gardens, royal garments,
stately structures adorned with gold and marble,
and innumerable things of other sorts. If,
then, there are so many, and such delights in
this, which is the lowest of all the elements,
and the land of the dying, what must there
be, in that sublime place, which as far exceeds
all the other heavens and elements, in riches,
honor, beauty, and all kinds of perfections, as
it does in height I If we consider how much
those beauties of the heavens, which are visible
to our eyes, as the sun, moon and stars, sur-
pass those of this lower world in brightness,
in form, and in duration, how glorious must we
imagine those of the next world to be, which
are only to be seen with immortal eyes I All
we are able to conceive or think will come
infinitely short of them.
We know man must have three difi"erent
places of habitation, answering to the three
different states of life. His first place of habi-
tation is his mother's womb after his concep-
tion ; his second is the world he lives in after
his birth ; his third is heaven, where he is
placed after his death, if he has lived a good
life. These three several places bear some sort
of proportion to one another, so that the third
has, in an infinite degree, all those advantages
over the second, which the second has over the
first, as well in duration, greatness and beauty,
as in all other qualities whatsoever. As to the
duration it is visible, for the length of life, in the
first place, is nine months ; in the second, it some-
times extends to a hundred years ; but in the
third, it lasts for eternity. The same is to be
said of the largeness of the first place, which
has no grater extent than that of a woman's
womb ; the second is no narrower than the whole
world itself; and as for the greatness of the
third, the best rule we have, whereby to judge
of it is, the wide disproportion which is between
the first and the second place : nor does it less
excel those other places in beauty, 'riches, and
all other perfections and accomplishments, most
proper to recommend it to us, than it does in
extent and duration. If, therefore, this world
of ours be so great and glorious as we have
represented it, and if notwithstanding, the other
we have been speaking of, be as far above it
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309
as we said it is, how charming must its beauty
be, and how vast and spacious its extent !
This we may discover by the great difference
there is between the inhabitants of both places,
because the stateliness of a building should
hold a proportion with the quality of the per-
son that is to live in it. We are to consider,
that the place we live in is the land of the
dying, the other of the living; the one is the
habitation of sinners, the other of saints ; the
one is the dwelling place of men, the other of
angels ; the one is a place for penitents, the
other for those who are justified ; the one is the
field of battle, the other the city of triumph.
In the one, to conclude, there are enemies as well
as friends ; whilst there are none but friends
in the other, and those are no other but the elect
themselves. The same difference, that is be-
tween the inhabitants of these two places, is
between the places themselves. For God has
created all places suitable to the quality of
the persons they are designed for. " Glorious
things are spoken of thee, O city of God ; "
Ps. Ixxxvi. Thou art unmeasurable in thy
extent, and most stately in thy structure. The
matter which thou art made of is most precious,
the people that live in thee are most noble :
all thy employments are delightful, all sorts of
goods abound in thee, nor is there any kind
of misery whatsoever, which thou art not
entirely secure from. Thou art very great in
every thing, because he who made thee is very
great, because the end which he designed thee
for is very noble, and because those citizens,
for whose sake he had created thee, are the
most honorable of all mankind.
All we have hitherto said relates only to the
accidental glory of the saints, besides which
there is another sort, called essential glory,
infinitely beyond the accidental. This essential
glory consists in seeing and enjoying God
himself, which St. Augustine speaks of, when
he says, " that virtue shall be rewarded with
no less a price than with God himself, the
giver of all earthly virtue, whom we shall see
for all eternity, whom we shall love without
ever being cloyed, and whom we shall praise
without ever giving over." So that this is
the greatest reward we can receive; for it is
neither heaven nor earth, nor sea, nor any
created being whatsoever; but it is God him-
self, who, notwithstanding his being free from
all kind of mixture, contains within himself all
that is good and perfect. For the understand-
ing of this point you must conceive, that one of
the greatest mysteries in this divine substance
is, that it comprehends within itself, in an infin-
itely eminent degree, the perfections of all the
creatures, though, at the same time, it is a most
pure Being : because God having created them
all, and directed them to their last end, he must
of necessity possess what he gives to others.
Whence it follows, that the blessed shall enjoy
and behold all things in him, each in propor-
tion to the glory he shall be partaker of. For
as the creatures serve us now instead of a mir-
ror, in which we may behold some part of God's
beauty, so God himself will, at that time, be
the glass wherein we shall see the beauty of the
creatures, but in a much more perfect manner
than if we saw them in themselves. Thus God
will be the universal happiness of all the saints,
he will be their complete felicity and the accom-
plishment of all their desires ; he will then be
a mirror to our eyes, music to our ears,
sweetness to our taste, and a most pleasing
perfume to our nostrils. In him we shall
behold all the variety of the several times and
seasons of the year, the freshness of the spring,
the clearness of the summer, the plenty of the
autumn, and the repose of the winter. There
is nothing, in short, that can please all the
senses of our bodies, or the faculties of our
souls, which we shall not meet with in him.
" It is in him," says St. Bernard, " we shall
find the fullness of light for our understanding,
tie abundance of peace for our wills, and the
continuation of eternity for our memories."
There the wisdom of Solomon will appear but
folly, the beauty of Absalom deformity, the
strength of Samson weakness, the long lives of "
the old patriarchs a short mortality, and the
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riches of all the kings of the earth mere poverty
and want.
If, as most certainly it is, all this be true,
why do 3'ou stay to look for straws in Egypt,
and to drink muddy water in filthy puddles,
when you should be going on toward this
spring-head of happiness, this fountain of
living waters ? Why do you beg by parcels,
what you may find heaped up together, and
more abundantly in this great all ? If you aim
at pleasures, raise up your heart, and consider
how delightful this good must be which con-
tains in itself all goods and pleasures. If you
are in love with this created life, how much
greater satisfaction will you take in that life
which has created every thing! If the health
you enjoy be a pleasure to you, how much
more will you be pleased with him who is
himself the Author of health ! If you are
taken with the knowledge of the creatures,
how much more will you be with that of
the Creator ! If beauty charms you, he it
is whose beauty the sun and moon admire.
If nobility be what you seek after, he is
the very source and origin of all that is
noble; if you wish for long life, he is ever-
lasting ; if plenty be your desire, he is the full-
ness of all riches; if you love music and
charming voices, the angels are continually
singing in his presence; if you hunt after com-
pany and conversation, you will there have the
company of all the blessed, who have but one
heart and one soul. If you aim at honorable
employments and covet riches, they are both to
be found in the house of God ; if, in fine, 3'ou
would be freed from all kinds of miseries and
sufferings, it is there you will be happily
delivered from them, and that forever. God
commanded his people in the old law, to cir-
cumcise their children on the eighth day, giv-
ing us thereby to understand that on tli''
eighth day, that is the day of the general resur-
rection, which is to follow the week of this life,
he will circumcise and cut off" the miseries of
those persons who shall have circumcised them-
selves, and have put a stop to all their inor-
dinate desires, who shall have retrenched all
their superfluities and have overcome their fail-
ings for his sake. What can be happier than
^uch a life as this, which is free from all misery
and trouble, and which, as St. Augustine says,
shall never be exposed to any fear or poverty,
indisposition or sickness ; where there never
shall be any anger or envy, where we shall
never stand in need of eating and drinking,
never covet worldly preferments and honors,
never be afraid of devils, never dread the pains
of hell, nor apprehend the death either of the
body or of the soul ; for we shall live there
with all manner of content and satisfaction,
enjoying the delights of immortality, which
shall never be interrupted or disturbed with
divisions and factions; for there all things are
in perfect and perpetual peace and concord.
To all these advantages must be added, that
of living in the company of angels, of enjoying
the conversation of all those sublime spirits,
and of seeing those noble troops of saints, who
are more bright and glorious than the stars of
heaven. There the patriarchs shall appear with
glory, for their perfect obedience, and the
prophets, for their lively hope; there you shall
behold the martyrs adorned with crowns, dyed
in their own blood, and the virgins clothed in
white robes, in token of their chastity. But
what tongue shall be able to express the
majesty of the sovereign Monarch, who resides
in the midst of them all? Were we every day
to suffer fresh torments, nay, should we undergo
for some time the pains of hell itself, that we
might see the Lord in his glory, and enjoy the
happy company of his elect, it would certainly
be worth our while to endure all this, that we
might arrive at such a height of happiness.
Thus far St. Augustine.
If, therefore, this be so great a blessing, how
happy shall those eyes be, that are to be always
fixed on those objects I What a happiness must
it be, to see this stately city, to behold these
honorable citizens in all their glory, to have a
sight of the face of this Creator, the magnifi-
cence of these buildings, the riches of these
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
3"
palaces, and the common joy of this heavenly
country I What must it be, to behold all the
orders of these blessed spirits, the authority
of this sacred senate, and the majesty of those
venerable elders, whom St. John saw seated on
thrones in the presence of God! Apoc. iv. 4.
What a pleasure must it be, to hear these
angelic voices, these charming singers, and this
harmonious music, not in four parts, as ours
here is, but in as many parts and of as many
diflferent voices as there are blessed souls in
heaven! How shall we be charmed when we
hear them sing this most ravishing song, which
the same St. John once heard: " Benediction,
and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honor, and power, and strength to our God for-
ever and ever. Amen;" ch. vii. 12. And, if
it be so pleasing a thing to hear the harmony
of these voices, how much more delightful must
it be to see the unity and concord of these
unanimous souls and bodies I to observe what
a union there will be between men and angels,
but more particularly between men and God I
What a happiness shall it be, to see these fine
fields, these fountains of life, and these pastures
on the mountains of Israel ! Ezek. xxxiv. 14.
What a glorious thing will it be, to sit down
at this sumptuous table, to have a place amongst
the guests, to eat of the same dish with Jesus -
Christ, that is, to share with him in his glory!
There the blessed shall be at rest, and have a
full enjoyment of eternal bliss. It is there that
they shall sing and praise, and be perpetually
entertained with the most delicious banquets.
Since, therefore, faith tells us, that such great
blessings as these are the rewards of virtue,
can any man stand so much in his own light
as not to resolve on an immediate pursuit after
it, in hope of so large a recompense ?
CHAPTER X.
OF THE TENTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO LOVE VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE FOURTH OF
THE FOUR LAST THINGS, THAT IS, THE PAINS OF HELL.
[NY, the least part of this great reward
we have now spoken of, should be
more than sufficient to inflame our
hearts with the love of virtue. But
if, to the fullness of that glory which is reserved
for the just, we further add, the severity of
those torments that are prepared for the wicked,
what an effect should this have on us, especi-
ally there being no middle state between these
two! The wicked man cannot comfort himself
hy saying, " All that can come of my living
wickedly is, that I shall never enjoy God ;
as for the rest, I expect neither happi-
nesss nor misery." The sinful man shall
not escape thus. One of these two opposite
conditions must be his lot : he must either
reign with God for all eternity, or burn for
evir with the devils in hell. These are the
two baskets the Lord in a vision showed the
prophet Jeremiah, before the gates of the temple
(Jer. xxiv. i, 2), one of which had very
good figs, and the other very naughty ones,
which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
God's design by this was to let his prophet
know that there were two sorts of persons, the
one, objects of his mercy, the other of his
justice. The first cannot be in a more happy
condition, nor the latter in a more miserable ;
because the happiness of the first consists in
seeing God, the perfection of all goodness,
while the misery of the other is to be deprived
of his sight, the greatest misfortune that can
possibly befall poor man.
This truth, well considered, would make
those men who sin so unconcernedly, sensible
what a weight they lay on themselves. They
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who get their living by carrying of burdens,
observe first what they carry, and lift it up a
little, to see if it is not too heavy for them ;
and will you, who are brought up amidst the
delights and charms of sin, let your sensual de-
sires draw you away so far, in opposition to
the will of God, as to oblige you to carry the
heavy burden of sin, without any hope of
ease or rest, and all this for the enjoyment
of a base, infamous pleasure ? Try first its
weight, that is consider the punishment attend-
ing it, that you may see whether you are able
to bear it. That you may the better con-
ceive how painful this torment is, and how
weighty a burden you lay on your shoulders,
as often as you sin, I will propose to you the
following considerations : and though I have
treated of this matter elsewhere, yet I cannot
pass it over without saying something on it
again in this place, though quite different from
what I have said before ; for the subject is so
copious, there is no exhausting it.
Consider first the immense greatness of God,
who is to punish sin. He is God in all his
works, that this, great and wonderful in them
all, not only in heaven, earth and sea, but even
in hell, and in all other places. Now if this
Lord is God, and show himself God in all his
actions, he will certainly appear so no less in
his wrath, in his justice, and in the punish-
ment he inflicts on sin. This is what he
means, when he says, by the prophet Jeremiah,
"Fear ye not me? Will ye not tremble at
my presence, who have placed the sand for the
bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that
it cannot pass it, and though the waves toss
themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though
they roar, yet can they not pass over it ? "
Jer. V. 22. As if it had said more plainly,
Is it not highly requisite that ye should fear
the strength of that arm, which has wrought
so great a miracle ; which will be neither
less powerful nor less wonderful in the pun-
ishment it inflicts, than in all its other works ?
So that we have as much reason to fear him
infinitely, on the account of the miseries he
can reduce us to, as we have to praise
him for the favors he has bestowed on
us. It was this that made the same pro-
phet, j;hough innocent and sanctified in his
mother's womb, to tremble, when he said, " Who
will not fear thee, O King of nations, for glory
appertains to thee?" Jer. x. 7. And' in an-
other place, " I sate alone, because of thy hand ;
for thou hast filled me with commination ;" ch.
XV. 17. The holy prophet knew very well,
that these threats did not touch him ; yet, for
all this, they were so dreadful as to make him
tremble. Therefore, it is with reason we say,
the pillars of heaven shake before the majesty
of God, and the powers and principalities all
tremble in his presence; not that they are in
doubt of their own happiness, but because they
are in continual admiration of his infinite
majesty. If these pure spirits are not free
from fear, what apprehension should sinners,
and such as despise God's commandments, be
in, as being the persons on whom he will
thunder out the dreadful effects of his ven-
geance 1 This is, without doubt, one of the
chief reasons, which ought to stir up in our
souls a fear of this punishment, as St. John
plainly shows us in the Apocalypse (ch. xviii.
8), where, speaking of the punishments which
God will inflict, he says, " Babylon's plagues
shall come in one day, death, and mourning,
and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire ;'
because God is strong who shall judge her." And
St. Paul, who very well knew his great strength,'
says, " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands;
of the living God ;" Heb. x. 31. It is no dreadful
thing to fall into the hands of men, because they
are not so strong but that a man may break
from them, nor have they power enough to
thrust a soul headlong into hell. Our Saviour,
for this reason, said to his disciples, " Be not
afraid of them that kill the body, and after
that have no more that they can do. Fear him
who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast
into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear him."
Luke xii. 4, 5. These are the hands the
Apostle says it is terrible to fall into. Those
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
313
persons were surely very sensible of the force
of these hands, who cried out, in the book of
Ecclesiasticus (ch. ii. 22), "Unless we do
penance we shall fall into the hands of the
Lord, and not into the hands of men." All
this plainly makes it appear, that as God is
great in his power, in his authority, and in
all his works, so will he be in his anger, in
his justice and in punishing the wicked.
This will still be more evident, if we but con-
sider the greatness of the divine justice which
inflicts this punishment ; and we may see more
of it, in those dreadful examples we have in
the Holy Scriptures. How remarkably did God
punish Dathan and Abiron (Num. xvi.), with
all their accomplices, by making the earth to
open and swallow them alive, and by sinking
them down into hell for rebelling against their
superiors ! Who ever heard of any threats or
curses like those that are to be read in Deute-
ronomy, against the transgressors of the law ?
These are some of those many dreadful
communications : " I will send armies of
enemies against you, says God, which shall
besiege your cities, and shall bring you
into such straights, that the tender and
delicate woman among you, which would
not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the
ground, for delicateness and tenderness, shall
devour the afterbirth, with the blood and the rest
of the uncleanness that flows from her. She
shall eat them, for want of all things, secretly
in the siege." Deut. xxviii. 50, 52, 55, 56, 57.
These are, indeed, most terrible punishments ;
and yet neither are these, nor any others what-
soever, that man can sufiier in this life, any
more than a mere shadow, or a faint resem-
blance, in comparison of those which are re-
served for the next. Then will be the time
that the» divine justice shall organize itself
against those who have here despised his mercy.
If, therefore, the shadow and the resemblance be
so frightful, what shall we think of the sub-
stance and original ? And if the chalice of the
Lord be so unpalatable now, when there is water
mixed with it, and when the severity of justice
is lessened so much by the mildness of mercy^
how bitter must the potion be, when we shall
be forced to drink it off without any mixture
at all ! and when those persons who would
not accept God's mercy shall feel nothing
but the effects of his judgments ! And yet these
torments, though so great, are all infinitely less
than what our sins deserve.
Besides the consideration of the greatness of
God's justice, another way to make us under-
stand the rigor of these punishments he will
inflict, is to reflect on the efiects of his mercy,
on which sinners so much presume. For what
greater subject of astonishment can we have,
than to see a God taking human flesh on
him, and suffering in his body all the torments
and disgraces which he underwent, even to the
dying on the cross ? What greater mercy
could he show, than thus to humble himself,
to carry the burden of all our sins, that he
might thereby ease us of their weight, and to
offer up his most precious blood for the salva-
tion of those very wretches who shed it ? Now,
as the works of the divine mercy are wonderful
in themselves, so will the efiects of God's jus-
tice be. For since God is equal in all his
attributes, because all that is in him is God,
it follows, that his justice is no less in itself
than his mercy is ; and as, by the thickness of
one arm, we may judge how big the other is,
so we may know how great the arm of God's
justice is, by that of his mercy, since they are
both equal.
If God, when he was pleased to make known
his mercy to the world, performed such wonder-
ful and almost incredible things, that the same
world looked on them as folly, what do you
think he will do at his second coming, which
is the time designed for manifesting the sever-
ity of his justice? especially since every sin
that is committed in the world gives him a
new occasion to exercise it ; whereas he never
had any motive to mercy but that same
mercy itself; there being nothing at all, in
human nature, that deserves his favor:
but as for justice, he will have as many
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reasons to execute its utmost rigor, as there
have been crimes committed by mankind. Judge
by that how terrible it must be. .
St. Bernard, in one of his sermons on the
coming of our Saviour, has explained this very
well, in these words : " As our Lord, at his first
coming into the world, showed himself very mer-
ciful and easy in forgiving, so, at his second,
he will show himself as rigid and severe in pun-
ishing ; and as there is no one but may be
reconciled to his favor now, it will be impossi-
ble for any one to obtain it then ; because he
is as infinite in his justice as he is in his mercy,
and can punish with as much rigor as he par-
dons with mildness. His mercy, it is true, has
the first place, provided our behavior has not
been such as may provoke the severity of his
justice." These words g^ve us to understand,
that the greatness of God's mercy is the stan-
dard whereby we may gaiess at his justice.
The same doctrine is held forth to us by the
royal prophet, saying, " Our God is the God
from whom cometh salvation ; God is the Lord
by whom we escape death. God shall wound
the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of
such a one as goeth on still in his wickedness ; "
Ps. Ixviii. 20, 21. This shows how kind and
merciful God is to those who return to him,
and how severe against hardened and obstinate
sinners.
Another proof of this we have, in the extra-
ordinary patience with which God bears, not
only the world in general, but every sinner in
particular. How many do we daily see, who,
from the very first moment they came to the
use of reason till their latter days, have been
employed in nothing but sin, without ever
regarding God's promises or threats, his mer-
cies or commands, or any other thing that
tended to their conversion ? And yet this
sovereign goodness has been all the while
expecting them with patience, without cutting
oflp one minute of their unhappy lives, and has
not ceased to make use of several means to
bring them to repentence, but all to no pur-
pose. What, therefore, will he do, when, after
having exhausted this long patience, his anger,
which has been so long a time gathering in
the repository of his justice, shall overflow the
banks which kept it in? With how much
force and violence will it rush in on them I
This is what the Apostle meant, when he said,
" Knowest thou not, O man, that the benignity
of God leadeth thee to penance? But accord-
ing to thy hardness, and impenitent heart, thou
treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day
of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment
of God, who will render to every man accord-
ing to his works ; " Rom. ii. 4, 5, 6.
What can he mean by treasurest up to thy-
self wrath, but as they who hoard up riches
daily heap gold on gold, and silver on silver,
for the increasing of their stock ; so God daily
adds to the treasure of his anger, in proportion
to the number of the sinner's crimes. Were a
man to be altogether employed for fifty or sixty
years together, in heaping up treasures, so as
not to let one day or hour pass without mak-
ing some addition to it, what a mighty sum
would he find at the end of that time ! How
miserable, then, must your condition be, since
you scarce sufier one moment of your life to
slip without adding something to the treasure
of God's wrath, which is every minute increased
by the number of your sins ! For though
nothing else were to be put in but the im-
modest glances of your eyes, the malicious
and vicious desires of your heart, and the
oaths and scandalous words that come from
your mouth, these alone would suffice to fill a
whole world. Then, if so many other enor-
mous crimes as you are daily guilty of, be
added to these, what a treasure of wrath and
vengeance shall you have heaped against your-
self at the end of so many years !
If, besides all this, we make a serious reflec-
tion on the ingratitude and malice of the
wicked, it will, in a great measure, show us
with what severity and rigor this punishment
is to be inflicted. To pass a true judgment
on this matter, we should consider, on one
side, how merciful God has dealt with men,
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
315
-what lie did and said for them whilst he was
here on earth, and how much he suflfered for them,
what dispositions and means he has found for
their leading a virtuous life, how much he has
pardoned or seemed not to take notice of, the
benefits he has done them, the evils he has
■delivered them from, with infinite other graces
he is always bestowing on them. Let us consider,
on the other hand, how forgetful men have been
of God, their ingratitude, their treason, their in-
fidelities, blasphemies, the contempt they have
had of both him and his commandments, which
has been carried so far, that they have trampled
him under foot, not only for a trivial interest,
hut very often for nothing, and out of mere
malice; nay, they are come to such a degree
•of impudence, that the laws of God are the
frequent matter of their pleasantry, ridicule and
impiety. What do you think those persons
who have despised so high a majesty can ex-
pect, those who, as the Apostle says (Heb. x.
29), "have trodden under foot the Son of God,
and have esteemed the blood of the covenant
unclean, with which he was sanctified," but to
be punished and tormented on that day, where-
in they must render an account of themselves,
according to the affronts and injuries they have
oflFered ? For, God being a most equitable
judge, that is to say, such a one as will
punish the offender proportionably to the of-
fence given, and being, besides, the party
offended, how great must the torments be,
-which the soul and body of the criminal,
delivered up to his justice, shall suffer, since
they are to equal the grievousness of the
■crimes by which the divine Majesty has been
.affronted! And if it was necessary that the
Son of God should shed his blood to satisfy for
those sins which had been committed against him
(the merits of the person supplying what might
be wanting to the rigor of the punishment),
what must follow when this satisfaction is to
be made by no other way but by the severity
of the punishment, without any consideration
of the person at all ?
If, as we have seen, the quality of the
Judge ought to make us so much afraid, what
should that of the executioner do? For the
sentence which God shall pass against a soul
is to be put in execution by the devil, and
what favor can be expected from so cruel an
enemy? That you may conceive something
of his fury and malice, consider how he dealt
with holy Job, when God had delivered him
into his power. What cruelty and violence
did he not exercise on this righteous man,
without the least show of tenderness or pity?
He sent the Sabeans to drive away his oxen
and asses ; his sheep and his servants he
destroyed by fire ; he overthrew all his houses,
he killed his children, he covered his body all
over with sores and ulcers, leaving him no
part of those vast riches he possessed before
but a dunghill to sit on, and a tile to scrape
off the corruption that ran from his sores.
And, to add to his sorrow, he left him a
wicked wife, and such friends as it had been
more humanity to destroy than spare ; for they,
with their tongues, pierced and tormented his
heart more cruelly than the worms that
preyed on his flesh. Thus he behaved himself
towards Job. But what was it he did, or rather
what was it he left undone, against the Saviour
of the world, in that dreadful night, when he
was delivered up to the power of darkness ? It
is more than can be comprised in a few words.
If, then, this enemy of mankind, and all his
accomplices, are so inhuman, so bloody, such
enemies to mankind, and so powerful to do
harm, what will become of you, miserable
creature, when you shall be delivered up into
their hands, with a full and absolute authority,
to execute on you all the cruelties they shall
be able to invent? And. this not for a day, on
for a night, nor for a year only, or for an age,
but for all eternity. Do you think these merci-
less devils, when they have you in their
clutches, will use you kindly ? O ! how dark
and dismal will that unhappy day be, when
you shall be delivered up to the power of these
ravenous wolves, these savage beasts !
But that you may the better conceive what
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usage is to be expected at their hands, I will
here set down a notable example, out of St.
Gregory's Dialogues; h. 4. c. 33. He tells
us, " That there was a religious man in one
of his monasteries, no riper in virtue than in
years, who was ready to die of a very violent
sickness. The brothers being all met together,
according to their custom, to assist him in this
his dangerous passage, and kneeling about his
bed to pray for him, the dying man cried out
to them, ' Begone, begone, fathers, and leave
me a prey to this dragon, that he may swallow
me up, for my head is already in his fiery jaws,
and he presses me with his scales, which are
like the teeth of a saw, so that I am in most
insupportable torments. I desire you, therefore,
to quit the room, and leave me to him, for not
being able to make an end of me whilst you
are here, he puts me to so much greater pain.'
The religious advised him to take courage, and
make the sign of the cross : ' How shall I do
it,' says he, ' when the dragon has so twisted
his tail about my hands and feet, that I am not
able to stir ? ' They, not at all disheartened at
this, renewed their prayers with much greater
fervor than before, and seconding them with
sighs and tears, obtained of the Father of mer-
cies his deliverance from this violent agony,
which left him so astonished and confounded,
that he afterward lived so virtuous a life as to
put him out of all danger of seeing himself
reduced to such circumstances again."
These are the wicked spirits which St. John
describes in his Revelation, under the most
frightful forms we are able to conceive. " I
saw," says he, " a star fall from heaven upon
the earth, and there was given to him the key
of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bot-
tomless pit ; and the smoke of the pit arose as
the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and
the air was darkened with the smoke of the pit.
And from the smoke of the pit there came out
locusts upon the earth, and power was given
to them, as the scorpions of the earth have
power. And it was commanded them that they
should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any
green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who
have not the seal of God on their foreheads : and
it was given to them that they should not
kill them ; but that they should torment them
five months, and their torment was as the
torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
And in those daj^s men shall seek death, and
shall not find it; and they shall desire to die,
and death shall fly from them. And the shapes
of the locust were like tmto horses prepared
for battle : and on their heads were, as it were,
crowns like gold ; and their faces were as the
faces of men. And they had hair as the hair
of women : and their teeth were as the teeth
of lions. And they had breast-plates as breast-
plates of iron, and the sound of their wings
was as the sound of chariots of many horses
running to battle. And they had tails like to
scorpions, and there were stings in their tails."
Apoc. ix. i-io. Thus far are the words of
St. John. Now what was the design of the
Holy Ghost in showing us the greatness of
these torments under such terrible representa-
tions and figures ? What other design could
he have, but to let us know, by these dread-
ful forms, how great the wrath of the Lord
will be, what the instruments of his justice,
what punishments are to fall on sinners, and
what power our enemies are like to have, that
the dread of these things might deter us from
ofiending God ? For what star was it that fell
from heaven, and had the key of the bottom-
less pit delivered to it, but that bright angel,
who was flung headlong out of heaven into
hell, and to whose power the kingdom of dark-
nes was committed ? And what were these
locusts, so fierce and so well armed, but the
devils his accomplices, and the ministers of his
rage ? What were these green things, which
they were commanded not to hurt, but the
just, who flourish by being watered with the
heavenly dew of grace, and thus bring forth
the fruits of eternal life ? Who are those that
have not the seal of God stamped on them,
but such as are destitute of his Spirit, the true
and fallible mark of his servants and of the
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sheep of his flock ? It is against these unhappy
wretches the divine justice has raised such
forces, that they may be tormented, both in
this life and in the next, by those very devils
whose service they have preferred, before that
of their Creator, as the Egyptians once were
by the flies and gnats, which they adored.
Add to all this, how dreadful it will be to
behold, in this sad place, those hideous and
frightful monsters, this devouring dragon, and
this writhing serpent. What a horrible sight
must it be to see this huge and monstrous
behemoth, which is said in the book of Job, to
erect his tail like a cedar, to drink up whole
rivers, and to devour mountains.
A thorough consideration of all these things
is sufl&cient to make us understand what tor-
ments the wicked are to sufiier. For who can
imagine, from what has been said, but that
these pains must be very great? What can a
man expect from the greatness of God himself;
from the greatness of his justice in punishing
sin ; from the greatness of his patience in bear-
ing with sinners ; from the infinite multitude of
favors and graces by which he has endeavored
to invite and draw them to himself; from the
greatness of the hatred he bears to sin, which
deserves to be infinitely hated, because it of-
fends an infinite Majesty ; and from the great-
ness of our enemy's cruelty and fury ? What
can we, I say, expect from all these things,
which are so great, but that sin should meet
with a most severe and terrible punishment?
If, therefore, so severe a punishment is ordained
for sin, and no doubt can be made of it, since
faith testifies this truth, how can they, who
pretend to own and believe it, be so insensible
of the heavy weight every sin they commit
throws on them, when, by giving way to but
one ofience, they bring themselves into the
■danger of incurring a penalty, which on so
many accounts appears so terrible ?
§ I. Of the duration of these Torments. — But
though all these considerations are sufficient,
without any further addition, to make us
tremble, we shall have much more reason to be
afraid, if we do but reflect with ourselves on
the duration of the pains mentioned. For if,
after several thousands of years, there should
be any limits set, or any ease given to these
sufferings, it would be some kind of comfor*
to the wicked : but what shall I say of thei]
eternity, which has no bounds, but will last as
long as God himself? This eternity is such,
that, as a great doctor tells us, should one of
the damned, at the end of every thousand
years, shed but one tear, he would sooner over-
flow the world than find any end to his miseries.
Can any thing, then, be more terrible ? This is cer-
tainly so great an evil, that, though all the pains
of hell were no sharper than the prick of a pin,
considering they were to continue forever, man
ought to undergo all the torments of this world
to avoid them. O ! that this eternity, this ter-
rible word forever were deeply imprinted in
your heart I how great would be the benefit
you would reap by it I We read of a certain
vain and worldly-minded man, who, consider-
ing seriously one day on this eternity of tor-
ments, was frightened with the duration of
them into this reflection : No man in the world
in his right senses would be confined to a bed
of roses and violets for the space of thirty or
forty years though he were at this price to
purchase the empire of the whole earth. If
so, said he to himself, what a madman must
he be, that will, for things of much less value,
run the hazard of lying infinite ages on a bed
of fire and flames ! This thought alone wrought
him up to such and so immediate a change of
life, that he became a great saint and a worthy
prelate of the Church. What will those nice
and effeminate persons say to this, whose whole
night's sleep is disturbed and broken if a fly
be but buzzing in their chamber? What will
they say, when they shall be stretched out on
a bed of fire, and surrounded on all sides
with sulphurous flames, not for one short
summer's night, but for all eternity ? These
are the persons to whom the prophet Isaias
(ch. xxxiii. 14) put this question: "Who
among you can dwell with the devouring fire ?
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Who among you can dwell with everlasting
burnings ? " Who can be able to bear such a
scorching heat as this for so long a time ? O
foolish and senseless men! lulled into a lethargic
sleep by the charms of this old deceiver of man-
kind! Can any thing be more unreasonable than
to see men so busily providing for this mortal
and corruptible life, and at the same time to
have no greater concern for the things which
regard eternity ? If we are blind to this mis-
take, what will our eyes be open to ? What will
we be afraid of, if we have no apprehension of
this miser}'^? or what shall we ever provide
against, if not against a matter of such impor-
tance?
Since all this is so undeniably true, why
will we not resolve to walk in the way of
virtue, though ever so painful, that we may
avoid those punishments we are threatened
with, if we take the contrary way ? Should
God leave it to any man's choice, either to be
tormented with the gout or tooth-ache, in such
a violent manner, as not to have any hopes of
ease either day or night, or else to turn Car-
thusian or barefoot Carmelite, and undergo all
the austerities those religious men are obliged
to, it is not to be imagined any man would be
so stupid as not to choose either of these two
states, though on the bare motive of self-love,
rather than suffer such torture for so long a
time. Why then do not we accept of so easy
a penance to avoid such lasting torments,
since the pains of hell are so much more
insufferable, of so much longer continu-
ance, and God requires so much less of us
than the life of a Carthusian or Carmelite?
Why do we refuse to undergo so little pain,
'when by it we may escape so long and so rig-
orous a punishment ? Can any man be guilty
of greater folly than this is ? But the punish-
ment of it shall be, that since man would not,
by short penance done here, redeem himself
from so much misery, he shall do penance in
hell for all eternity, without reaping any bene-
fit by it. The fiery furnace which Nabuchodo-
nosor commanded to be kindled in Babylon is
a type hereof (Dan. iii. 47) ; for though the
flames mounted forty-nine cubits, they could never
reach to fifty, the number of years appointed for
solemnizing the Jewish jubilee; to signify to
us, that though the flames of this eternal fur-
nace of Babylon, which is hell, are continually
casting forth a most violent heat, and put those
souls which are thrown into them to most ex-
quisite pains and torments, yet they shall
never obtain for them the grace and remission
of the year of jubilee. O unprofitable pains I
fruitless tears ! O penance so much the
more rigorous, as it is accompanied with per-
petual despair ! How small a part of all those
evils you are now forced to suffer might have
obtained you a pardon, if you would but will-
ingly have undergone it in this life ! How easily
might we prevent our falling into such miseries
with but a little pains and trouble ! Let our eyes>
then, melt into fountains of tears, and let our
hearts break forth into continual sighs without
intermission. " For this," says the prophet, " I
wail and howl ; I will go stripped and naked ;
1 will make a wailing like the dragons, and
mourning as the ostriches; for her wound is
desperate; " Mich. i. 8.
If men had never been told these truths, or
if they had not looked on them as infallible,
we should not wonder to see them fall into
that supine negligence they are subject to.
But have we not a deal of reason to be aston-
ished, when those very persons who hold what
we have here asserted as an article of faith,
and know that, as our Saviour has said, Heaven
and earth shall pass away^ but not my word ;
that is to say, it shall infallibly have its effect,
live so inexcusably careless and unconcerned?
Tell me now, O man, blind in body, but blinder
more in soul and understanding, what pleasure
can you find in all the advantages and riches
of the world, to counterbalance the hazard of
your eternal salvation? "If," says St. Jerome,
" you were as wise as Solomon, as beautiful as
Absalom, as strong as Samson, as old as Enoch,
as rich as Crcesus, and as powerful as Caesar,
what good would all this do you, if, when you
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319
die, the worms should prey upon your body,
and the devils seize on your soul to torment
it, as they do the rich glutton's, for all eter-
nity?"
Thus much for the first part oi the exhor-
tation to virtue. We will treat now of the
extraordinary favors which are promised it,
even in this life.
CHAPTER XI.
OF THE ELEVENTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO THE PURSUIT OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE
INESTIMABLE ADVANTAGES PROMISED IT IN THIS LIFE.
KNOW not what excuse men can plead
for not following virtue, which is
supported by such powerful reasons:
for in its behalf may be urged all
that God is in himself, all he deserves, what
favors he has done us, what he still promises,
and what punishments he threatens. And,
therefore, we have cause to ask how there
come to be so few Christians that seek virtue,
since they confess and believe all that has
been said. For it is no wonder that the
heathens, who are ignorant of its value, should
not prize what they do not know, like a delv-
ing peasant, who, if he happen to find a
precious stone, makes no account of it, because
he is ignorant of its value. But for Chris-
tians, who are well acquainted with these great
truths, to live as if they believed nothing at
all of them, to be so entirely forgetful of God,
to be such slaves to their vices, to let their
passions so tyrannize over them, to be so
wedded to the things of this world, and so
little concerned about those of the next, to
give themselves over to all manner of crimes,
as if there were neither death, judgment,
heaven nor hell ; this is what should surprise
the whole world, and give us ground enough
to ask, " Whence does this blindness, this stu-
pidity proceed? "
This mighty evil owes its rise to more
causes than one. The chief one is the
general prepossession of worldlings, that God
reserves to the next life all the rewards he
promises to virtue, without allowing it any
recompense in this. This is the reason why
men, who consult their own interests so much,
and are so violently wrought on by present
objects, concern themselves so little about what
is to come, as looking after nothing that does
not give them immediate satisfaction. Nor is
this mistake a new one, for it is what was
made in the days of the prophets. Thus we
see that whenever Ezekiel either [made any
great promises, or threatened severely in the
name of God, the people laughed at him, and
said to one another, " The vision which this
man sees will not come to pass yet; nor shall
his prophecies be fulfilled this great while ; "
Ezek. xii. 27. They also jeered the prophet
Isaias, and repeated his words, saying, " Com-
mand and command again, command and com-
mand again, expect and expect again, expect
and expect again, a while hence, another while
hence;" Isa. xxviii. 13. This, then, you see, is
one of the chief reasons of men not observing
the commandments of God. They have nothing
they think to hope for, from his mercy at pres-
ent, but that all is to be put off till hereafter.
Solomon, as very sensible of this common error,
took occasion from hence to say, " That the
reason why men give themselves over, without
any kind of consideration, to all manner of
vice, is because the sentence passed against the
wicked is not immediately put in execution."
And afterwards he says, " That the greatest
misery in this life, and what of all makes
men sin most, is to see that the good
and the bad, that those who offer up sacrifice,
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and those who contemn it, fare alike in all
things, in appearance at least ; " Eccles. ix. 2,
etc. And, therefore, the hearts of men are
filled with malice in this life, and they are
afterwards plunged into hell. What Solomon
said concerning the wicked is suflBciently con-
firmed in themselves, in the prophet Malachy
(ch. iii. 14, 15), where they say, "He loses
his labor that serves God ; and what good have
we got by keeping his commandments, and by
our walking pensively before the Lord of
hosts ? Wherefore we esteem those happy who
are proud, since they are exalted, whilst they
commit iniquity, and have tempted God, and
are yet secure." This is the common talk of
sinners, and one of the chief motives of their
continuing in their crimes. For, as St. Am-
brose says, " they think that to buy hopes
with dangers is too hard a bargain, "that is, to
purchase future goods with present evils, and
to let go what they have in their hands to
feed themselves up with an imaginary posses-
sion of things which they have no hold of
yet ; " L. 7. in Luc. c. 7.
There is nothing better, in my opinion, to
disabuse us of this dangerous mistake, than
these words of our Saviour, interrupted with
his tears, when considering the deplorable
state of Jerusalem; he wept over it, saying,
" If thou also hadst known, and that in this
thy day, the things that are for thy peace :
but now they are hidden from thy eyes ; "
Luke xix. 42. Our Saviour considered,
on one side, what advantages this people had
received by his coming; for all the treasures
and all the graces of heaven were brought
down from thence, with the Lord of heaven.
On the other side, he saw that this same peo-
ple, despising the poor and mean appearance
which he made in his dress and in his person,
would neither receive nor own him for what he
was. He knew how great a loss this nation
which he loved so tenderly would suflfer by their
ignorance. For they were to lose not only all
those graces which he brought with him for
them, but their temporal government and
liberty. The Lord, pushed on by the force of
g^ief, shed these tears and spoke these few
words, which he broke oflf abruptly, though
they were as significant as they were short.
The same words may be well applied to our
present purpose ; because if, on the one hand,
we consider the beauty of virtue, with the extra-
ordinary graces which go along with it, and
how these graces, on the other hand, are hid
from the sight of carnal men, it is manifest we
have reason to weep, and to say with our
Saviour, " If thou also hadst known I " O
unhappy sinner, how great a value would
you set on virtue ! how would you long after
it, and what would you not do for obtaining
it, should God but open your eyes to let you
see what riches, what pleasures, what peace,
what liberty, what tranquillity, what light,
what sweetness, and what other benefits
are its continual attendants ? But these are
all hid from the eyes of worldlings, who, mind-
ing nothing but its hard and bitter outside,
imagine all within to be troublesome and
unpleasant, and that it may pass current in
the next life, but not in this. So that, reason-
ing according to the flesh, they say they will
not be at the charge of certain dangers for
the purchase of uncertain hopes, nor hazard
their present happiness for a slippery depend-
ence on what is to come. This is the common
discourse of those who are daunted by the out-
ward appearance of virtue. They do not know
that Christian philosophy is like Christ him-
self, who, under the form of a poor and humble
man, continued still to be God and sovereign
Lord of all things. And for this reason it is
said of the faithful that they " are dead " to
the world : but their " life is hid with Christ
in God ; " Col. iii. 3. For as our Saviour's
glory was concealed under this veil, so should
the glory of all such as imitate him. We read
of certain images that were called Silenes,
coarse and rough on the outside, but very
curious and artificial within, so that all the
beauty and art lay hid, whilst that which was
but mean and ordinary was turned outward.
THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS.
In 1675 our blessed Lord appeared to Margaret Mary Alacoque, saying : " Behold this heart which has loved mankind so much,
and which receives only ingratitude and coldness in return for its love. My desire is that you make reparation to my heart for this
ingratitude and induce others to do likewise."
THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
Would God have permitted the blessed Mother of His only begotten Son, from whom He received flesh, to be touched by sin, even for
an instant and be in the power of Satan ? No, God's hand preserved her. And the Church most justly applies to her the words of Holy
Scripture: " Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee " (Cant iv. 7).
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321
Thuri che eyes of the ignorant were deceived by
the appearance, but the inside ingenuity attracted
the wiser sort. Such, without doubt, have been
the lives of the prophets and Apostles, and of
all true and perfect Christians, as was the life
of their Lord and Master.
But if you still find the practice of virtue
hard, reflect on the means God has assisted
you with to make it easy. Such are the infused
graces, with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the
sacraments of the new law, and several other
divine favors, that serve as oars and sails to a
ship, or as wings to a bird. Consider what the
very name and being of virtue import, which
is essentially a very noble and perfect habit ;
and, therefore, regularly speaking, ought, like
all other habits, to make us act with facility
and pleasure. Consider, further, that our
Saviour has promised to his elect, not only
the goods of glory, but those of grace, the lat-
ter for this life, and the former for the life to
come. As the royal prophet assures us, saying,
" The Lord will give grace and glory " (Ps.
Ixxxiii. 12), which are like to rich vessels, filled
with all kinds of good things, the one for this
life, and the other for the next ; by which we
may see there is something more in virtue than
appears at first sight. Consider, again, that
since God lets us want nothing that is neces-
sary, having so plentifully provided all crea-
tures with whatever they stand in need of, it
is not to be imagined, since nothing can be
more necessary or of greater importance to man
than virtue, that he would leave us entirely to
the disposal of our own free wills, which are so
weak and impotent to the blindness, of our un-
derstanding, to the inconstancy of our humors,
to our own desires, which are so bent on evil, to a
nature, in short, so depraved by sin, without
strengthening us with infused habits, which are,
as it were, oars to help us over all those shelves
and sands, that hinder us from making our
way through the sea of this life. For it is
unreasonable to think that the Divine Provi-
dence, which has taken so much care for the
fly, the spider and the ant, having supplied
them with all things requisite for their subsist-
ence, could have left man, the noblest of all
creatures under heaven, without such means as
are necessary for his acquiring virtue.
To go further yet, how can God possibly be
so sparing to his faithful servants, as to leave
them in their necessities, and forsake them in
the midst of their sufi^erings, whilst the world
and the devil, by too many different false
delights and pleasures, win the hearts of those
who serve them ? How can you imagine the
practice of virtue to be so mean, and that of
vice so noble? Can you persuade yourself
that God would ever permit this last so much
to surpass the other? What do you think
God designed to signify to us by the answer
his prophet Malachy made in his name, to the
complaints of the wicked? "Return," said he,
" and you shall see what difierence there is
between the righteous man and the wicked,
between him that serves God and him that
serves him not; " Mai. iii. i. This shows
that God does not think it enough to propose
the advantages of the next life, of which he
treats afterwards, to those who return to him ;
but he says to them, Be cotiverted^ and you
shall see ; as if he had said. It is not my only de-
sign you should wait till the other life to know
the advantages you are to reap, but return to
me and you shall see, this very moment, what
difference there is between the good and the bad,
the riches of the one and the poverty of the
other ; the joy, peace and satisfaction the one
enjoys, and the sorrow, restlessness and discon-
tent that follow the other ; the light the one walks
in, and the darkness that surrounds the other.
Thus experience will show you how many advan-
tages, more than you imagined, the followers of
virtue have over those that follow vice.
God gives almost the very same answer again
to some other persons who had no better opinion
of virtue than the former. Deceived by the
same appearance, they laughed at those who
were virtuous, and said to them, " Let your
Lord be glorified, and we shall see it in your
joy ; " Isa. Ixvi. 5. After these few words, the
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prophet, giving a large account of the torments
prepared by God's justice for the wicked, imme-
diately tells us what joys are laid up for the
just. " Rejoice," says he, " with Jerusalem, and
be glad with her, all ye that love her : Rejoice
for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her.
That ye may suck, and be filled with the breasts
of her consolations, that ye may milk out, and
flow with delights from the abundance of her
glor3^ For thus saith the Lord : Behold I will
bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and
as an overflowing torrent the glory of the gen-
tiles, which you shall suck : you shall be carried
at the breasts, and upon the knees they caress
you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will
I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in
Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart
shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish
like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall
be known to his servants;" ch. Ixvi. lo, ii, 12,
13, 14. This is to signify, that as men, by
the vast extent of the heavens, earth and sea,
and by the brightness of the sun, moou and
stars, judge of the omnipotence and the infinite
beauty of God, the Author of these wondrous
'works, shall discover to the just the greatness
of his power, riches and mercy, by those
infinite favors he will bestow on them, and the joy
they receive. So that, as he showed the world
his severity and rigor toward the wicked, by
the punishments he inflicted on Pharao, he
will, in the same manner, show the greatness
of his love to his elect, by the extraordinary
favors he will confer on them. Happy the
soul that shall receive favors from God in
token of his infinite love ! and unhappy those
whose torments and sufferings shall manifest
the rigor of his justice! For each of these
attributes being infinite, what effects must sucli
infinite causes produce!
I must further add, that if you shall think
the way of virtue uneasy and melancholy, you
may look into those words the divine wisdom
utters of herself, as follows : "I walk in the
ways of justice, in the midst of the paths of
judgment, that I may enrich them that love
me, and may fill their treasures ; " Prov. viii.
20, 21. What are these riches but the riches of
this heavenly wisdom, far more precious than
are the riches of the world, and bestowed on the
lovers of justice, which is the same we have
hitherto called virtue ? For if her riches did
not much better deserve the name, than all other
riches, how could the Apostle have thanked God
for the Corinthians being rich in spiritual
things ? I Cor. i. 5. He calls them rich with-
out any kind of limitation, whilst he styles others
the rich of this world only.
§ 1. Gospel authority for what has been said.
For further proof of what I have said, I will add
this divine sentence of Jesus Christ. St. Mark
tells us, that when St. Peter asked our Saviour,
what reward they should have who had quitted
all for love of him, he gives him this answer :
" Amen I say to you, there is no man who hath
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or children, or lands, for my sake and
for the Gospel, who shall not receive a hundred
times as much, now in this time ; and in the
world to come life everlasting ; " Mark x. 29, 30.
If you weigh those words exactly, you cannot
in the first place deny, but that Jesus Christ
makes a formal distinction between the rewards
of virtue in this life and in the next, the one
being a promise of a future, and the other of a
present, happiness. You must confess, too, that
it is impossible this promise should not be
performed, since heaven and earth are sooner to
pass away than one tittle of these words,
how hard soever they appear, shall fail.
And as we certainly believe, there is in God
both Trinity and Unity, because he has said
so, though this mystery is beyond the reach
of our reason, so are we to believe this other
truth, though, it exceeds all human under-
standing, since it is grounded on the same
authority of God's own word.
What, then, is this hundred fold^ which the
just receive even in this life? For we seei
they are, for the most part, men of no very
considerable quality nor very rich, of no great
employment in the state, nor enjoy any other
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323
worldly advantages, but, on the contrary, many
of them live retired, obscure, poor and neces-
sitous. How then can this infallible word of
God be proved to be true, but by acknowledg-
ing, that God makes them so spiritually rich,
that they are more happy and quiet than if
they were sovereign lords of the world, and
yet are destitute of the conveniences of this
life? Nor is this to be wondered at, because,
as God may preserve mankind by other means,
and not by bread alone, so it is not necessary he
should satisfy those souls he has such a love for
with temporal goods, having better ways of doing
it. This we have seen in a particular manner
justified in all the saints, whose prayers, fastings,
tears and labors have given them far greater
delight and satisfaction than all the joys and
pleasures of the world could ever have done :
which shows us plainly, that what they received
was a hundred times better than what they left for
the love of God. For instead of the false and
apparent goods they forsook, they received such
as were true and real ; instead of the uncertain,
those which were certain, spiritual instead of
temporal, ease instead of care, quiet instead of
trouble, and for a vicious and unpleasant life,
a virtuous and delightful one ; so that if, for
the love of God, you have despised the base
treasures of this world, you shall find in him
such as are inestimable. If for his sake you
have contemned false honors, you shall meet
with true ones in him. If you have forsaken
a mortal father on his account, the eternal
Father will satisfy you with all kinds of
delights. If, in fine, you bid adieu to hurtful
pleasures for the love of him, he will entertain
you with such as shall be free from the least
tincture of bitterness or alloy. When you
shall arrive to such a degree of perfection as
this is, you will then abhor what you took the
greatest pleasure in before. For when our eyes
are once cleared up by this heavenly bright-
ness, we discover a new light, which represents
things quite different from what they appear to
us at first. What we then thought sweet,
tastes bitter to us now ; and what we looked on
as bitter then, we now find to be sweet. We
are pleased now with that which frighted us
before, and look on that as hideous and ghastly,
which once seemed beautiful and charming.
Thus we find our Saviour's words to be verified,
by his bestowing on vis the incorruptible goods
of the soul for the corruptible ones of the
body, and for the goods of fortune those of
grace, which are incomparably better, and more
capable to satisfy man, than all earthly goods.
In further proof of this important truth, I
will give you an example, taken out of the
lives of the famous men of the order of the
Cistercians. It is there written, " that as St.
Bernard was preaching in Flanders, full of
zeal for the conversion of souls to God, amongst
those who were touched with a particular grace,
was a certain person called Arnulphus, one of
the chief men of that country, and closely tied
to the things of this world. But he at last,
breaking through all, became a Cistercian
monk, in the monastery of Clairvaux. St. Ber-
nard was so pleased with this great change,
that he used often to say, that God had mani-
fested his power as wonderfully in converting
Arnulphus, as in raising Lazarus from the
dead, having drawn him from so many plea-
sures, which, like a grave, he lay buried in, to
raise him to a new life, which was no less to
be admired in its process than it had been in
his conversion." But because it would be too
tedious to give you a particular account of this
holy man's virtues, I shall only make use of
what serves our present purpose: "This good
monk was very subject to terrible fits of the
colic, which often put him in a very dying
condition. One day it seized on him so vio-
lently, that he lost both speech and senses ;
whereon the religious, seeing but little hopes of
life left, gave him the extreme unction. Soon
after, coming to himself, he began to praise
God, and cried out aloud, 'All thou hast ever
said, O most merciful Jesus ! is very true.'
The religious, surprised at his frequent repeat-
ing the same words, asked him what he meant,
but he made them no answer, continuing to
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cry out louder aud louder, ' All thou hast ever
said, O most merciful Jesus, is very true.'
Some who were present fancied his pains had
put him beside himself; but he, perceiving
their mistake, said to them, 'It is not so, my
brothers, it is not so, for I never was better in
my senses than now whilst I tell you, that all
that Jesus Christ has said is very true.' Hereon
the rest of the monks said. It is what we all
of us believe, but why do you repeat it so
often ? ' Because,' said he, ' our Saviour has
told us in his Gospel, that whosoever shall for-
sake his friends and relations for the love of
him, shall receive a hundred fold now in this
world, and in the world to come life everlast-
ing; Mark x. 30. This is what I find true
by my own present experience ; for I assure
you, I at this very moment receive that
hundred fold ; the excessive pains I endtire
being so pleasing to me, through the lively
hope I have now given me of my salvation,
that I would not exchange it for a hundred
times as much as I left when I forsook the
world. And if so great a sinner as I am finds
so much satisfaction in what I suffer, what
consolations must they who are perfect be sen-
sible of? For the anticipated fruition of those
eternal pleasures, which I now enjoy by hope,
is not a hundred times only, but a hundred thou-
sand times better than all the delights the world
could ever afford me.' They were all astonished
to hear a man of no learning at all talk
so piously and sublimely ; but it plainly ap-
peared that what he said was dictated by the
Holy Ghost."
This is a demonstration, that God can give
those who serve him more pleasure and delight,
than they forsook for his sake, and yet not
enrich them with temporal goods. And thus
we see how much in the wrong those men
have been, who could never persuade themselves
that virtue had a reward in this life. The
twelve following chapters shall serve for the
better undeceiving such persons, wherein we
shall treat of twelve wonderful fruits and privi-
leges that attend virtue even in this life ; by
which they who have hitherto loved nothing
but the world, may understand that it is more
delightful than they imagine. And though it
is in some manner requisite for the perfect
comprehending of this truth, that a man should
have had some experience from the practice of
virtue, because there is no one knows her own
worth so well as she herself does; this defect
may, nevertheless, be supplied by faith, since
by means of it we believe the Holy Scriptures
to be true, out of which I intend to prove all
I shall say on this subject, that so no one
may call the truth of it in question.
CHAPTER XII.
OF THE TWELFTH MOTIVE THAT OBLIGES US TO THE PURSUIT OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE PAR-
TICULAR CARE THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE TAKES OF THE GOOD, IN ORDER TO MAKE
THEM HAPPY, AND THE SEVERITY WITH WHICH THE SAME PROVIDENCE
PUNISHES THE WICKED.— THE FIRST PRIVILEGE.
[F all these favors, the greatest certainly
is, the care God takes of those who
serve him. From this, as from their
fountain, flow all the other privileges of
virtue. For, though providence extends itself to all
creatures, yet we see how particularly careful it is
of those whom God has chosen for himself; be-
cause they, being his children, and receiving as
his gift, an affection truly filial for him, he, on
his part, loves them with a truly fatherly love,
and his love is the measure of the care he
takes for them. Yet no man can conceive how
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325
great his providence is, unless lie has either
had experience of it, or read the Holy Bible
with much attention, and observed those pas-
sages there that treat of this matter ; for there
is scarce any part of Scripture but treats on
this subject. It turns on these two points, to
ask, and to promise, as the world turns on its
poles. So that, whenever God on one part
requires our observance of his command-
ments, he promises a generous reward to
those who comply, and severely threatens such
as neglect to obey. This doctrine is so
distributed, that almost all the moral books in
it require and promise, whilst the historical
verify the fullfiUing of both ; giving 'us to
understand how differently God deals with the
just man and the sinner. But, considering how
liberal he is, and how poor man, how ready he
is to promise, and how backward man is to
perform — we must needs find a great difference
between what he requires and what he gives.
All he requires of us is, that love and obedience
which he himself has given us ; and yet, in
return of that little which we hold purely of
his ' liberality, he offers us inestimable riches
for this life as well as for the next. Of all which
the chiefest is, the fatherly love and providence
wherewith he assists those he looks on as his
children, and this is infinitely beyond whatever
aflFection the most tender father in the world
can show ; for never was there any one yet who
laid up such riches for his children as God
does, which is no less than the participation
of his eternal glory. Never did any man
undergo so much for his children as God has
done, having for their sakes shed the very last
drop of his blood ; nor will ever any father
take so much care of them as God does, since
he always has them in his sight, and assists them
in all their necessities. This holy David ac-
knowledges, when he says, "Thou hast upheld me
by reason of my innocence ; and has established
me in thy sight forever" (Ps. xi. 13), which
is to say, you have always watched so carefully
over all my actions as to keep your eyes
continually fixed on me. And in another psalm
he says, " The eyes of the Lord are upon the
just : and his ears unto their prayers. But the
countenance of the Lord is against them that
do evil things : to cut off the remembrance of
them from the earth." Ps. xxxiii. 16, 17.
But because this divine providence is the
greatest treasure a Christian has, and on
his hopes and assurance of being protected
by it depends the increase of his holy con-
fidence and joy; it will be to our purpose
here to make use of some passages of the Scrip-
ture, in proof of those immense riches where-
with God blesses the just. In Ecclesiasticus
(ch. xxxiv. 19, 20) it is said, " The eyes of
the Lord are upon them that fear him, he is
their powerful protector, and strong stay, a
defence from the heat, and a cover from the
sun at noon. A preservation from stumbling,
and a help from falling, he raiseth up the soul,
and enlighteneth the eyes, and giveth health,
and life and blessing." The royal prophet says,
" With the Lord shall the steps of a man be
directed, and he shall like well his way. When
he shall fall, he shall not be bruised, for the
Lord putteth his hand under him." Ps. xxxvi.
23, 24. What harm can he come to who falls
so soft, and is supported by the hand of God ?
He says again, in another place, " Many are
the afilictions of the just : but out of them
all will the Lord deliver them. The Lord
keepeth all their bones, not one of them shall
be broken;" Ps. xxxiii. 20, 21. This provi-
dence is yet much more magnified in the Gospel;
for our Saviour himself there not only tells us,
that he takes care of all their bones, but of
their very hairs, that not one of them may be
lost; (Luke xxi. 18); thus, to express in how
extraordinary a manner he protects them ; for
what is there he will not look after, who does
not neglect the very hair of our heads ? If
this be a declaration of his great concern for
us, what the prophet Zachary (ch. ii. 8) tells
us expresses it no less : " Whosoever," says he,
" shall touch you, touches the apple of my eye."
It were much had he said, " Whosoever shall
touch you, touches me;" but "Whosoever shall
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touch you, touches the apple of my eye," is
still much more.
Nor does he only look after us himself, but has
also committed us to the care of his augels : and,
therefore, David says, " He hath given his augels
charge over thee ; to keep thee in all thy ways.
In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone;" Ps. xc. ii, 12.
Thus, our good angels, like elder brothers, carry
the just men in their arms ; for not knowing how
to walk by themselves, they have need of another
to lead them. Nor are the angels content to
serve them thus in this life only, but even at their
death too, as appears by the poor man in the
Gospel, who, after he was dead, " was carried by
angels into Abraham's bosom ; " Luke xvi. 22.
We are told also in another psalm, " The angel
of the Lord shall encamp round about them that
fear him : and shall deliver them ; " Ps. xxxiii.
8. Or, as St. Jerome renders it more expres-
sive, " The angel of the Lord has pitched his
camp about those that live in his fear, to pre-
serve them;" B, 4, c. 6, v. 15, 16, 17. What
king has such a guard about his person as this ?
We see it plainly in a passage of the Book of
Kings, where we read, that as the king of Syria's
army was marching toward Samaria, with a de-
sign to take the prophet Elisha, the holy man
took notice of the concern his servant was in at
the sight of so formidable an army, and prayed
to God that he would be pleased to open the
young man's eyes, and let him see that there
was a much greater army ready to defend them
than that of their enemies. God heard the
prophet's prayer ; whereon the young man saw
the whole mountain covered with horse and fiery
chariots, and Elisha in the midst of them. We
read of such another guard in the Canticles
(ch. vii. i), in these words: "What will you
see in the Sulamite," which is the figure
of the Church, and of a soul in a state of
grace, " but the companies of an army," which
is composed of angels ? The same thing is
signified by the spouse, under another figure,
in the same book (ch. iii. 7, 8), where it
is said, " Behold threescore valiant ones of
the most valiant of Israel, surround the bed of
Solomon : all holding swords, and most expert
in war: every man's sword upon his thigh,
because of fears in the night." What is all
this, but a lively representation made by the
Holy Ghost, under these figures, of that care
the divine providence has over the souls of the
just? For how can a man, who is conceived
in sin, who lives in a body so naturally in-
clined to evil, and who is surrounded with so
many dangers, preserve himself for several
years from committing any mortal crime, did
not the divine providence secure and keep him
from it?
This providence is so powerful, that it not
only delivers us from evil and leads us to
good, but what is more, very often, by a
wonderful effect, draws even good out of
evil, which sometimes God permits the just
themselves to fall in. This happens when,
repenting for their sins, they thence take occa-
siou to become more circumspect, more humble,
and more grateful to God, for the mercies he
has shown them, in freeing them from the
danger they were in, and in pardoning them
all their faults. It is in this sense the Apostle
sa3's, " that all things work together unto good
to them that love God ; " Rom. viii, 28.
If, therefore, these favors so highly deserve
our admiration, how much cause have we to
wonder at God's being so careful of their
children, of their whole posterity, and of all that
belongs to them ? As himself has assured us,
when he said, "I am the Lord thy God, mighty,
jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children, upon the third and fourth genera-
tion of them that hate me : and showing mercy
unto thousands to them that love me, and keep
my commandments ; " Bxod. xx. 5, 6. We find
him as good as his word to David, whose race
he would not destroy after a great many years,
though several of them had deserved it for their
sins ; Kings viii. 19. Another example of his
care we have in Abraham, whose posterity he
pardoned so often for their father's sake. This
care of his went so far as to promise Abraham
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327
that he would bless his son Ismael, though he
were born a slave, " that he would make him
increase, and multiply him exceedingly ; and
that he should grow into a great nation ; "
Gen. xvii. 20. And all this only because he
was Abraham's son. We have yet a further
proof hereof, in God's conducting Abraham's
servant through the whole journey, and instruct-
ing him in his duty when he went to seek a
wife for Isaac ; ch. xxiv. Nor has he only been
merciful to a servant for the sake of a good
master, but even to wicked masters for their
pious servant's sake; ch. xxxiii. 22, 23. Thus
we see he bestowed great favors on Joseph's mas-
ter, though a heathen, in consideration of the vir-
tuous young man who lived with him. What
mercy can exceed this ? Who will not serve
such a master, who is so liberal, even so thank-
ful to those that do him any service, and so
careful of everything which belongs to them ?
§ I. Of the Titles given to Almighty God
in Holy IVrit^ on Account of his Providence. —
This divine providence producing so many
different and wonderful effects, God has, there-
fore, a great many different names given him
in the Holy Scripture; but the most usual
and most remarkable is that of Father^ as his
beloved Son calls him in the Gospel, and he
has been pleased it should be given him in
several places of the Old Testament. And,
therefore, David says, " As a father hath com-
passion on his children; so hath the Lord
compassion on them that fear him, for he
knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we
are dust;" Ps. cii. 13. Another prophet, not
content to call God Father, because his care is
infinitely greater than that of a father, speaks
thus to him : " Thou, O Lord, art our Father;
Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath
been ignorant of us" (Isa. Ixiii. 16), to give
us to understand, that these, being our carnal
fathers, deserved not that name in comparison
of God.
But because a mother's affection is, generally
■speaking, more affectionate and tender than a
father's, God is pleased to call himself 2^ Mother.,
nay, and more than a mother too. " Can a
woman," says he, in Isaias (ch. xlix. 15, 16),
" forget her infant, so as not to have pity on
the son of her womb ? and if she should for-
get, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have
graven thee in my hands : thy walls are always
before my eyes." Can any thing be more
tender than this ? or can any man be blind to
such proofs of love as these are ?
Did we but consider it is God who speaks,
he, whose truth cannot deceive, whose riches
are inexhaustible, and whose power has no
limits, what joy would such pleasing words as
these bring us ? But such is the excess of
God's mercy, that, not content to compare his
affection with that of common mothers, he
amongst all others chooses the eagle, a creature
the most remarkable for this love, and com-
pares his tenderness to hers; saying, by Moses,
" As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and
hovering over them, he spread his wings, and
hath taken them and carried them on his
shoulders ; " Deut. xxxii. 11. The same prophet
expressed this yet more lively to the people
of Israel, when, on their arrival at the land of
promise, he told them, " You have seen how the
Lord your God has carried you through the
wilderness all the way you went, as a man
doth his little son, until you came to this
place; " Deut. i. 31. As he does not disdain to
call himself our Father, he does us the honor
to call us his children; as a proof of which, we
have in the prophet Jeremy (ch. xxxi. 20),
"Ephraim is an honorable son to me, surely
he is a tender child : for since I spoke of him,
I will still remember him. Therefore are my
bowels troubled for him : pitying I will pity
him." Every word here should be weighed
with attention, as coming from God, and should
force from us a tender affection for him, in
return of his tender love to us.
It is on account of the same providence ttiat
he gives himself the name of a Shepherd, as
well as that of a Father. And to let us see
that how great his pastoral care is, he says,
" I am the good Shepherd ; and I know mine,
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and mine know me;" John x. 14, 15. How is
it, O Lord, that thou knowest them ? How doest
thou look after them ? " As the Father know-
eth me, and I know the Father." O blessed
care I O sovereign providence ! What greater
happiness can a man enjoy than to be taken
care of by the Son of God, just as his Fathei
takes care of him ? The comparison, it is true,
will not hold in all respects, because a begotten
son deserves much more than one that is only
adopted ; but to be in any manner whatever
compared with him, is a very great honor.
God acquaints us with the wonderful effects of
this his providence, fully and elegantly, by the
mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, saying, " Behold,
I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit
\hem. As the shepherd visiteth his flock, in
the day when he shall be in the midst of his
sheep that were scattered : so will I visit my
sheep, and will deliver them out of all the
places where they have been scattered in the
cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them
out from the peoples, and will gather them out
of the countries, and \vill bring them to their
own land ; and I will feed them in the moun-
tains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the
habitations of the land : I will feed them in
the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures
shall be in the high mountains of Israel : there
shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed
in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel.
I will feed my sheep : and I will cause them
to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek
that which was lost: and that which was driven
away, I will bring again : and I will bind up
that which was broken, and I will strengthen
that which was weak, and that which was fat
and strong I will preserve: and I will feed
them in judgment" (Ez. xxxiv. 11, 12, 13, 14,
15, 16); that is, with great care, and with a
particular providence. A little lower he adds:
" I will make a covenant of peace with them,
and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of
the land : and they that dwell in the wilderness
shall sleep secure in the forests. And I will
make them a blessing round about my hill :
and I will send down the rain in its season,
there shall be showers of blessing " (ver. 25,
26); that is to say, wholesome showers, and
such as shall do no hurt to the places which
my flock feeds in. What greater promises can
God make us, or what more tender expressions
can he give us of his love ? For it is certain,
that he does not speak here of a material but
of a spiritual flock, composed of men, as the
text itself plainly shows. It is no less certain
that he does not mean fat lands, or an abun-
dance of temporal goods, which are common
to the bad as well as the good, but, like
a good shepherd, he promises to assist
those that are his with particular graces,
on all occasions. It is what he him-
self has explained by Isaias (ch. xl. 11),
where he says, " He shall feed his flock like a
shepherd : he shall gather together the lambs
with his arm, and shall take them up in his
bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are
with young." Is there any tenderness like this?
The divine psalm that begins thus, " The Lord
is my shepherd " (Ps. xxii.) , is full of these
rharitable ofiices of a shepherd, which God per-
forms to man.
As we call God our shepherd, because he
guides us, so we may call him our King, because
he protects us ; our Master, because he instructs
us ; our Physician, because he heals us ; our
Foster-father, because he carries in his arms ;
and our Guard, because he watches so carefully
over all our actions. The holy Scripture is full
of such names as these. But yet there is none
expresses a more tender love, or discovers his
providence more than that of spouse, a title he
often gives himself in the Canticles, and in other
places of the Bible. It is by this he invites the
sinner to call on him : " Thou art my Father,
the guide of my virginity " (Jer. iii. 4) ;
which name the Apostle highly extols ; for after
those words which Adam spoke to Eve, "Where-
fore a man shall leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two
in one flesh," he goes on saying, " This is a
great sacrament ; but I speak in Christ and in
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339
the Church," which is his spouse (Gen. ii. 24;
Bph. V. 31, 32), and we may in some respect
say the same of every one in the state of grace.
What, then, may we not hope from him who
goes by such a name, and that with so much
reason ?
But what need is there of recourse to the
Bible to seek for names, since there is not one
that promises us any good, but may be applied
to God ? For whosoever loves and seeks him,
shall in him find whatever he can wish. For
this reason St. Ambrose says, " We have all
things in Christ, and Christ is all to us. If
you want 'a cure for your wounds, he is a
physician ; if you are in a burning fever, he
is a fountain ; if you are tired with the burden
of your sins, he is justice ; if you are afraid
of death, he is life in you ; if you hate dark-
ness, he is light ; if you would go to heaven,
he is the way; if you are hungry, he is your
food." L. 3, de Virg. See here how many
names God has, who in himself is but one ;
for though he is but one in himself, yet he is
all things for us, that he may relieve all our
necessities, which are infinite.
It would be tedious to count all the authori-
ties of this kind in the Holy Scriptures.
These I have taken notice of, for the comfort
and encouragement of all that serve God ; and
for the gaining of such as do not ; for it is certain
there is no greater treasure under heaven than
this. As, therefore, those persons who have served
their prince upon some extraordinary occasions,
and received certificates under his hand, and
promises of considerable rewards for their ser-
vices, are very careful to secure those authen-
tic papers, comforting themselves, in the midst
of dangers, with the hopes of obtaining the
reward of their labors ; so God's servants lay
up in their hearts, all these divine promises,
which are much more securely to be relied on
than any that are made b}' mortal kings. In
these they place their hope, these are their
support in all their toils, their trust in all
their dangers, and their comfort in all their
miseries. To these they have recourse in all
their necessities ; they inflame them with the
love of so good a master and oblige theia
wholly to his service ; for, as he assures them,
he will give himself entirely up to the prcv-
curing of their good, for he is their all.
Thus we see that the main foundation of a
Christian life is the practical knowledge of
this truth.
Can there be any thing in the world more
precious or valuable, or that better deserves
our esteem and love? Or what greater happi-
ness can a man enjoy in this life than to have
God for his father, his mother, his shepherd,
his physician, his tutor, his master, his medi-
ator, his will, his defence, and, what is yet
more, for his spouse, in short, for his all ?
Has the world any thing comparable to this to
give to its admirers ? How much reason, then,
have those who enjoy such a benefit, to rejoice,
to comfort, to encourage themselves, and to
glory in him above all things I "Be glad in the
Lord," says the prophet, "and rejoice, ye just;
and glory, all ye right of heart;" Ps. xxxi. 11.
As if he said more clearly, Let others rejoice
in their worldly riches and honor, others again
in their birth and qualit}', others in their favor
and esteem of their prince, others in their great
employments and dignities ; but as for you,
who lay claim to God for your share, do you
more truly rejoice in this inheritance, which as
far exceeds all other inheritances as God him-
self does all other things. This we may leani
from the royal psalmist, when he says,
" Deliver me, and rescue me out of the hand
of strange children ; whose mouth hath spoken
vanity ; and their right hand is the right hand
of iniquity. Whose sons are as new plants in
their youth ; their daughters decked out,
adorned round about after the similitude of a
temple : their storehouses full, flowing out of
this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young,
abounding in their goings forth : they have
called the people happy, that hath these things:
but happy is thait people whose God is the
Lord." Ps. cxliii. 11, 12, 13, 15. The reason
why David delivers himself thus is evident.
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because in God alone we possess every good
thing that is to be desired. Let others value
themselves as much as they please on riches,
but as for me, though I am a rich and powerful
king, in God alone shall be all my glory. Thus
another holy prophet glorified, saying, " but I
will rejoice in the Lord ; and I will joy in God
my Jesus. The Lord God is my strength ; and
he will make my feet like the feet of harts ; and
the conqueror will lead me upon my high-
places, singing psalms : " Habac. iii. i8, 19.
This is the treasure, this the glory, which he
has prepared even here for those that serve
him. This is a great reason why all men
should desire to serve him, and on this will
he ground the greatest complaint he can make
against those who serve him not. Thus it
was he complained, by the prophet Jeremy
(ii. 5), of his people: "What iniquity," says
he, " have your fathers found in me, that they
are gone far from me, and have walked after
vanity, and are become vain ? " and a little
lower : " Am I become a wilderness to Israel,
or a lateward springing land?" (ver. 31) as
if he said, It is plain, it is not so, since by
my means they have been so successful and
victorious. "Why then have my people said:
We are revolted, we will come to thee no
more ? Will a virgin forget her ornament, or
a bride her stomacher? but my people hath
forgotten my days without number" (ver. 32),
who am all their ornament, their glory and
their beauty. If God complained thus in the
time of the old law, when his favors were so
great, how much more reason has he to com-
plain now when they are so much greater, as
they are more spiritual and divine?
§ n. What providence God uses towards
the wicked in punishrnent of their sins. —
If the mercy of this blessed providence
which the good enjoy, has no influence on
us, let us at least be moved with the fear
of that providence, if I may so call it, which
God uses against the wicked, and which meas-
ures sinners by their own measure, and deals
with them according to their forgetfulness and
contempt of the divine Majesty, forgetting those
who forget him, and despising those by whom
he is despised. God, to make this the plainer
to us, commanded the prophet Osee (ch. i. 2)
to marry an adulteress, to signify to his people
the spiritual fornication they had committed,
in leaving their true spouse and Lord, and
ordered the child he had by his wife to be called
Lo-ammi, a Hebrew word, which means " not
my people," to show them that since they would
not acknowledge or serve him as God, he
would not own or deal with them as his people.
And that they might know him to be in ear-
nest, he says to them, "Judge your mother,
judge her: because she is not my wife, and I
am not her husband " (ch. ii. 2) ; giving them
to understand, that since she had not observed
the respect and duty of a good wife, neither
would he show her the love and kindness of a
true husband. Thus plainly God tells us he
will deal with us just as we deal with him.
They, therefore, who live as if they took no
notice at all of God, are abandoned by him,
and left as a school without a master, a ship
without a rudder, as goods without an owner,
or as a flock that goes astray for want of
a shepherd, which never misses falling
among the wolves. And, therefore, he tells
them by the prophet Zacharias (ch. xi.
q), "I will not feed you; that which
dieth, let it die, and that which is cut off, let
it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one
the flesh of his neighbor." What he says by
Moses, in his canticle, is to the same purpose :
" I will hide my face from them, and will con-
sider what their last end shall be ;" Deuter.
xxxii. 20.
He acquaints us more at large with this
kind of providence, by the prophet Isaias speak-
ing to his people under the figure of a vine,
against which, for not yielding the fruit that
was expected from it, after having been so
carefully dressed and pruned, he pronounces
this sentence : "I will show you what I will
do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge
thereof, and it shall be wasted : I will break
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down the wall thereof: and it shall be trodden
down. And I will make it desolate ; it shall
not be pruned, and it shall not be digged ; but
briars and thorns shall come up : and I will
command the clouds to rain no rain upon it"
(Isaias v. 5, 6); that is to say I will take away
all those efficacious helps and succors I had
given it before, and then must necessarily fol-
low its utter ruin and destruction.
Do not you think this sort of providence is much
to be dreaded ? what greater misery can a man
fall into than to be deprived of the providen-
tial care of God, to be exposed to all the acci-
dents of the world, and to all the injuries and
calamities this life lies open to? For since,
on the one hand, this world is like a tempestuous
sea, a desert of so many wild beasts and thieves,
since there are such numbers of misfortunes
and accidents, so many and such powerful
enemies to encounter with, so many snares laid
for us, and so many dangers surrounding us;
and since man, on the one hand, is a creature
so frail, so helpless, so blind, so impotent, so
destitute of strength, and so much in need of
advice, what can he do against so many strong
ones, if he wants the help and assistance of
God ? What can he, who is a mere dwarf, do
against so many giants ? How can he, who is
so blind, avoid so many snares ? Or, alone and
unarmed, how can he deal with so many
enemies ?
Nor does their punishment end here. For
God not only turns his eyes from the wicked,
whence it follows that they fall into such sins
and miseries, but does himself produce and
send them these afflictions ; so that the eyes
which watched for their advantage before, are
now open to their ruin : as the prophet Amos
(ch. ix. 4) testifies, saying, I will set my eyes
upon them for evil, and not for good ; that is,
I, who before looked on them, in order to
secure them, will do it now to punish them,
according to what their sins deserve. And the
prophet Osee (ch. v. 12) tells us plainly, that
God says, " I will be like a moth to Ephraim,
and like rottenness to the house of Juda."
And because this seemed too easy a punishment,
and too lingering, he immediately threatens them
with another more speedy and more severe: " I
will be like a lioness to Ephraim, and like a
lion's whelp to the house of Juda : I, even I,
will catch, and go away, and there is none that
can rescue ;" ver. 14. Can any thing be more
terrible than this?
We have as a clear proof of this kind of provi-
dence in the prophet Amos, who, after telling
us, that God would put all the wicked to the
sword, for their sins of covetousness, goes on
and says, " They shall flee, and he that shall
flee of them shall not be delivered. Though
they go down even to hell, thence shall my
hand bring them out : and though they clitub
up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
And though they be hid in the top of Carmel,
I will search and take them away from thence :
and though they hide themselves from my eyes
in the depth of the sea, there will I command
the serpent, and he shall bite them. And if they
go into captivity before their enemies, there will
I command the sword and it shall kill them.
And I will set my eyes upon them for evil,
and not for good;" Amos ix. i, 2, 3, 4. These
are the words of the prophet. And what man,
on reading them, if he but considers, that they
were spoken by God himself, and does but
observe what kind of providence he exercises
against sinners, can without trembling see how
powerful an enemy he has against him, and
how closely he pursues him, having secured
all the avenues, and lying continually in
wait to destroy him ? What rest can a man
take that reflects on this ? What stomach can he
have for his food, who has the eyes of God,
red with indignation and fury, fixed on him ? '
Who has such a persecutor and such an arm
stretched out against him? For if it be so
great a misfortune to be deprived of God's
favor and providence, what must it be to have
armed this same providence against you, and
to make him turn that sword on you, which
was drawn in your defence? What an un-
happiness must it be to have those eyes open
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to your destruction, which before watched for
your security ; to have that arm, which was
before stretched out to hold you up, extended
now to cast you down ; to have that heart,
which thought of nothing for you once but of
peace and love, have no other thoughts for
you now but of affliction and sorrow ? What
misery is it, that he who ought to shade, shield
'and protect you, should be changed into a
moth to consume you, and into a lion to tear
you in pieces ? How can that man sleep securely,
who knows that God all the while stands over
him, like Jeremy's rod, to punish and torment
him ? What means can he use to frustrate
the designs of God ? What arm can withstand
his arm ? Or what other providence can resist
his providence ? Did any man, says Job (ch.
ix. 4), ever resist him and prosper?
This evil, in fine, is of such a nature, that
the withdrawing of his fatherly providence from
sinners is one of the severest punishments he
either inflicts on, or threatens them with, in
this life, as he himself has declared in several
places of the Holy Scripture. In one of which,
he says, " My people heard not my voice : and
Israel hearkened not to me" (Ps. Ixxx. 12, 13);
for which reason I will not take any notice of
them, as I have done before ; " So I let them
go according to the desires of their heart : they
shall walk in their own inventions." Their condi-
tion must, therefore, grow each day worse and
worse. He says also, by the prophet Osee
(ch. iv. 6), since "thou hast forgotten the law
of thy God, I also will forget thy children."
As there is no greater misfortune can befall a
woman than to be divorced from her husband,
nor a vine than to lie neglected and unpruned,
so the greatest loss a soul can undergo is, to
have God withdraw his hand from her. For
what is a soul without God, but a vine without
its pruner, a garden without a gardener, a ship
without a pilot, an army without a general, a
commonwealth without a ruler, and, in short, a
body without life ? See here how God encom-
passes you on all sides, that the fear at least
of being forsaken by him may work on you,
though his providential love and concern do
not move you ; for fear and apprehension often
influence those whom favors and benefits can
do no good with.
CHAPTER XIII.
OF THE SECOND PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, THAT IS, THE GRACE OF THE HOLY GHOST BESTOWED
UPON VIRTUOUS MEN.
|ROM this fatherly providence, as from
a fountain, flow all the favors God
bestows on those who serve him.
For it belongs to this providence
to supply them with all necessaries for
the obtaining of their end, which is their
last perfection and happiness, by assisting
them in all their wants, and infusing into their
souls such virtues and habits as are requisite
for this end. Of all which the chief is the
grace of the Holy Ghost, because next to this
divine providence, it is the beginning of all
other heavenly gifts and privileges. It is the
garment which was first given to the prodigal
son, on his return to his father's house. And
should you ask me what this grace is, I an-
swer, that grace, as divines define it, is a par-
ticipation of the divine nature, that is, of
God's sanctity, purity and greatness ; by virtue
of which a man rises from the baseness and
filth he received from Adam, and partakes of the
divine sanctity and beauty, divesting himself
of himself, and putting on Christ Jesus. Holy
writers explain this to lis by this familiar
example : When we take a piece of iron out
of the fire, it sparkles and looks red like fire
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333
itself, but continues still to be iron, retaining
the same name and substance it had before,
though the brightness, Seat and other accidents
■belong to fire : so grace, which is a heavenly-
quality, infused by God into the soul, trans-
forms man into God in such a manner as to
make him in some measure partake of the vir-
tues and purity of God, without ceasing to be
man. Thus was he transformed who said, " I
. live, now not I ; but Christ liveth in me ; "
Gal. ii. 20.
Grace is also a divine and supernatural form,
by means whereof man lives suitably to the
origin and source he proceeds from, which is
supernatural and divine. And here it is the
providence of God so gloriously exerts itself.
For it being his will that man should have
two lives, the one natural and the other super-
natural, he has to this end given him two
forms, which are, as it were, two souls, for each
life one. Hence it follows, that as all the
powers and sensations of the natural life spring
from the soul, the natural form ; so from grace,
the supernatural form, flow all those virtues
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, that go to the
support of the supernatural life. As if one
man should furnish another, that understands
two trades, with two sets of tools to work at
them both.
Grace is moreover a spiritual dress and
ornament for the soul made up by the hands
of the Holy Ghost, which renders her so
acceptable to God that he adopts her for his
daughter, and takes her for his bride. It was
in this dress the prophet gloried, when he said,
" I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my
soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation ; and
with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as
a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a
bride adorned with her jewels " (Is. Ixi. 10);
which are the several gifts of the Holy Ghost,
wherewith the soul of a just man is adorned
and beautified by the hand of God. This is the
garment of divers colors with which the king's
daughter, seated at the right hand of her bride-
groom, was gloriously arrayed; Ps. xliv. For
from grace come the colors of the different
virtues and divine habits wherein their beauty
consists.
By what has been said, we may judge what
effects grace works on the soul it resides in.
One of the greatest is, to make it look so
lovely and fair to the eyes of God, that he
chooses her, as has been said, for his daughter,
his spouse, his temple and his habitation, where
he takes his pleasure with the children of men.
Another effect is, to strengthen the soul by
means of those virtues it brings with it, which,
like Samson's hair, at the same time confer both
force and beauty. She is commended for both
these qualities in the book of Canticles (ch. vi.
9) , where the angels, admiring her beauty, say,
" Who is she that cometh forth as the morn-
ing rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
terrible as an army set in array ?" Grace
then, as we see, is like a complete suit of
armor which secures a man from head to foot.
It both beautifies and strengthens him in such
a manner, that, as St. Thomas says, the least
degree of grace suffices to overcome all the
devils and all sorts of sin.
A third effect of it is, to make man so pleas-
ing to God, and to give him such power with
him, that every action deliberately performed,
saving those that are sinful, is acceptable to
the meriting eternal life. So that not only
acts of virtue, but even those actions that are
done in submission to the necessities of nature,
as eating, drinking, sleeping and the like, are
grateful to God, and merit such a favor. For
when the object itself is so agreeable and mer-
itorious, whatever it does that is not sin must be •
so too. '
Besides all this, grace makes man the adopted
son of God and heir to his kingdom. It causes
his name to be written in the book of life, and
gives him a claim to the inheritance of heaven.
This is the privilege our Saviour so highly com-
mended to his disciples, when observing how
pleased they were that the devils had obeyed them
in his name, he said to them, " Rejoice not in
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this, that spirits are subject unto you ; but re-
joice in this, that your names are written in
heaven ;" Luke x. 20. This, therefore, is the
greatest treasure a man can wish for in this
life.
It is grace, to conclude, that qualifies man
for all kind of good, that makes the way to
heaven smooth and easj', and the yoke of
Christ light and pleasant ; it is this makes men
run in the paths of virtue; it is this that cures
the infirmities of nature, and makes that easy
and light which, whilst she was weak, weighed
her down; it is this that, by means of those
virtues which proceed from it, reforms and
strengthens all the faculties of the soul,
enlightening the understanding, inflaming the
mind, refreshing the memory, fortifying the free-
will, moderating the coucupiscible appetite, that
it may not give way to evil, and animating the
heart, that it may not be too backward in the
pursuit of good. And because all the passions
of nature which reside in these two inferior
parts are like so many hills that overlook and
command the fortress of virtue, or as sally
ports, through which the devils enter into our
souls, to remedy this, grace sets a sentinel at
these places to secure the passage ; and this
is some infused virtue sent down from heaven,
and placed there to deliver us from those
dangers which the heat of our passions may
expose us to. Thus temperance, for example,
secures us against gluttony, chastity against
impurity, humility against pride, and so with
the rest.
But what is yet above all, grace brings down
God himself into our souls, that he by his
presence may govern, defend and conduct them
to heaven. There he is like a king on his
throne, like a general in his array, like a house-
keeper in his family, like a master in his
school, and like a shepherd amidst his flock,
exercising in a spiritual manner all their sev-
eral oflBces. If, therefore, so precious a pearl
as this is, which brings in such vast treasures,
be the inseparable portion of virtue, can any
man refuse to imitate the direction of the wise
merchant in the gospel, who gave all he had
for the purchase of this jewel ? Matt. xiii. 46.
CHAPTER XIV.
OF THE THIRD PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, VIZ.: SUPERNATURAL LIGHT AND KNOWLEDGE.
|HE third privilege of virtue is a par-
ticular light and wisdom God grants
the just, which, like all the rest,
comes from that grace we have spoken
of. For as it is [the business of grace to
cure nature, and to heal the infirmities occa-
sioned by sin in the appetite and will, so
it enlightens the understanding, which was
no less obscured by sin ; to the end that
man, through the one, may know his duty,
and by the help of the other may put it in
execution. It is on this account St. Gregory says,
in his Morals, " That as man's not knowing his
duty is a punishment for his sins, so is his not
being able to perform it when he does know
it ;" L. 25, c. 9. For the same reason the psalm-
ist so often repeats. The Lord is mj light against
ignorance ; The Lord is my sahaiion against the
want of power. By the one we are taught what
we are to desire, and we are enabled by the other
to bring our desires about ; but they both de-
pend on grace. And, therefore, besides the hab-
its of faith and of infused wisdom, which instruct
us in what we are to believe, and what we are to
do, there are added, the gifts of the Holy Ghost ;
whereof four belong to the understanding ; which
are, that of wisdom, to give us the knowledge
of the sublimest things ; that of knowledge, for
those things that are lower; that of understand-
ing, to dive into the divine mysteries, and see
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335
how beautiful they are, and how consonant to
one another; and that of counsel, to direct us
how to conduct ourselves amidst the difiBculties
so frequent to be met with in this life.
All these rays of the divine light are reflected
on us by grace, which, in the Holy Scripture
is called an unction or anointing : " And this
anointing," says St. John, " instructeth you in
all things;" i John ii. 20. For as oil, above all
other liquid things, is good both for the nourish-
ing of light and for the curing of wounds, so this
divine unction performs both, curing the wounds
of our will, and enlightening the darkness of our
understanding. This is the oil more precious
than any balsam, which David gloried in, when
he said, " Thou, O Lord, hast anointed my head
with oil;" Ps. xxii. 5. It is plain he speaks
not here of a corporeal head, or of material oil,
but of a spiritual head, which is the noblest
part of our souls ; and, according to Didymus,
on this text, the seat of the understanding, and
of the spiritual oil, which is the light of the
Holy Ghost, that feeds this lamp and keeps it
in. This holy king was sensible of the light
this oil gave, as he himself confesses in these
words : " The uncertain and hidden things of
thy wisdom thou hast manifested to me ; "
Ps. 1. 6.
Another reason is, that since it is grace
makes a man virtuous, and since it cannot do
this without disposing him to a sorrow for his
past life, to a horror of sin, to a love of God,
to a desire of heavenly things, and to a con-
tempt of the earthly, the will can never be
excited to such affections unless the under-
standing receive a sufficient light and knowl-
edge to produce them. For the will is a blind
faculty, altogether unfit to act, unless the
understanding go before, and inform it what
is good or bad, that so it may, accordingly,
fix or withdraw its affection. St. Thomas,
to this purpose, says, " That the knowl-
edge of God's goodness and beauty increases
in the souls of the just proportionably to
the love they have for him. So that, if the one
advance a hundred degrees, the other will ad-
vance as many ; because he that loves much
must know a great many qualities in the thing
he loves which make it deserve his love ; and so
on the contrary;" S. Th. 2, 2, qu. 2, ar. 4.
What we say of the love of God is also to be un-
derstood of fear, of hope, and of the horror of
sin, which he can never have above all things,
if he does not know that it is so great an evil*
as to deserve such hatred. For as the Holy
Ghost requires all these affections to be in the
soul of a just man, he expects there should be
cause to occasion and produce them ; even as
when he designed to work different effects on
the earth, he appointed there should be differ-
ent causes and influences in the heavens.
Moreover, since, as we have said before, grace
makes God dwell in the soul of a just man, and
God, according to St. John (i. 9), " is a light en-
lightening every man that cometh into this
world," it is certain, the purer and cleaner he
finds this habitation, the rays of his divine light
will shine the brighter on it ; as a glass, the
clearer it is, the brighter and the stronger it re-
flects the sun. St. Augustine, therefore, calls
God " the wisdom of a purified soul " (Lib. 2, de
Lib. Arbit.), for enlightening the soul, which is in
such a state, with the raj'S of his light, and in-
structing it in what is necessary to its salvation.
And what wonder that God should do this for
man, since it is, in some manner, what he
dees for other creatures ? For they, by
a certain natural in.stinct, know all those
things that are necessary for the preserva-
tion of their being. Who has taught the
sheep, among so many different plants, to avoid
those which are hurtful to them, and to browse
on those which are not ? From whom has it
learned what creature is its enemy, and what
its friend ; and by this means to run from the
wolf, and to follow the mastiff ? Is it not from
God ? Now, if God thus instructs the brutes,
for the preserving of their natural life, how
much more reason have we to think he will
enlighten the just with such a knowledge as
shall be necessary to the maintaining 0/ their
spiritual life, considering that man stands iv
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no less need of those things that are above his
nature, than brutes do of such as are suitable
•to theirs? And if the divine providence has
been so careful in providing what regards nature
only, how much more solicitous will it be in
furnishing us with such things as regard grace,
•which are infinitely more excellent, but, at the
same time, far above the reach and power of man !
This example teaches us, not only that
there is such a knowledge, but what a kind
of knowledge it is, which consists not so
much in the speculation as in the practice ;
since it is given us more for the direction
of our actions than for the improvement of our
understanding, and is rather to instruct us
how to perform all we do virtuously than how
to discourse learnedl}-. For this reason, it stops
not at the understanding, as that knowledge we
acquire in the schools does, but communicates
itself to the will, and makes it ready in the
performance of whatever this knowledge inclines
it to. This is the property of the inspirations
of the Holy Ghost, who, like an accomplished
master, perfectly instructs those under his care,
in all that is requisite for them to know. And,
therefore, the Spouse, in the Canticles (ch. v.
6), says, "My soul melted away when my
laeloved spake." Thus we may see what dif-
ference there is between this and human learn-
ing. For, whereas the one does nothing else
but increase the understanding, the other, more-
over, governs and excites the will, and, by its
virtue, searches unto all the recesses of our souls,
doing all that is necessary for the reformation
of each in particular. Whereon the apostle says,
"The word of God is quick and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword " (Heb. iv.
12) ; because it separates the sensual part of
man from the spiritual, cutting asunder those
unhappy knots which generally tie the flesh and
the spirit together, when the spirit, closely
contracting with the wicked flesh, becomes one
with it. It ic the force and eflScacy of the word
of God that breaks this knot, and makes man
follow, not the dictates of the flesh, but of the
spirit.
This is one of the chief effects of grace, and
a particular privilege of virtuous men in this
life. But, because carnal and sensual men, per-
haps, can neither understand, nor will so read-
ily believe this truth, I will make it plainly
appear to them, by several passages both of
the Old and New Testament. In the New, our
Saviour says : " The Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remem-
brance, whatsoever I have said imto you ; "
John xiv. 26. He tells us in another place
(ch. vi. 45), "It is written in the prophets,
And they shall be all taught by God. Every
man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned
of the Father cometh unto me;" Isa. liv. 13.
He has told us, in like manner, by his prophet
Jeremy, " I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts. And they
shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, know the
Lord ; for they shall all know me ; " Isa, xxxi.
33, 34. In the prophet Isaias (ch. liv. 11, 12,
13), the Lord, speaking of the prosperity of his
Church, uses these words : " Oh, thou afflicted,
tossed with tempests, and not comforted ! Be-
hold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and
lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will
make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant
stones. And all thy children shall be taught
of the Lord." He repeats the same again,
elsewhere, by the same prophet : " I am the
Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit,
which leadeth thee by the way that thou
shouldst go ; " ch. xlviii. 16. By these
words are understood two sorts of knowledge,
that of saints, and that of wise men. It is
that of the saints which Solomon speaks of,
when he says, " The knowledge of the holy is
understanding;" Prov. ix. 10. For bare knowl-
edge does but teach us how to know, but
prudence instructs us how to act by what we
know ; and this is the knowledge of holy men.
Besides, how often shall we find this very
same wisdom promised to the just, in David's
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337
Psalms. In one of them, lie says, " The month
of the righteous shall be exercised in wisdom,
and his tongue will be talking of judgment;"
Ps. xxxvi. 30. God, in another, makes the good
man this promise : " I will instruct thee and
teach thee in the way which thou shalt go ;" Ps.
xxxi. 8. In another, as if it were a business of
the greatest consequence, the prophet puts the
question, saying, " What man is he that feareth
the Lord ? him shall he teach in the way he
shall choose ;" Ps. xxiv. 12. And in the same
psalm we have these words : "The salvation of
the just is of the Lord;" which St. Jerome ren-
ders thus : " The Lord discovers his secrets to
those that fear him, and he will show them
his covenant ;" that is, his holy laws are
made known to them. This knowledge is
a great light to the understanding, a de-
licious food to the will, and the greatest pleas-
ure man can enjoy. The same prophet calls it
a pasture in which God fed him ; a water with
which he refreshed his soul ; and a table upon
which were placed such meats as might
strengthen him against all the power of his
enemies ; Ps. xxii. 2, 5. For which reason, the
same prophet so frequently begs for this inward
light, and for their inward instructions, in that
divine psalm, which begins, " Blessed are the
undefiled ; " Ps. cxviii. To this end, he says,
in one place, " O Lord, I am thy servant ; give
me understanding, that I may know thy testi-
monies ; " ver. 12. In another place, "Open
thou my eyes, O Lord, that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law;" ver. 18.
And again, " Give me understanding, and I
shall search into thy law, and I shall observe
it with my whole heart ; " ver. 34. This is, in
fine, the petition he so often makes in this
psalm. Nor would he have done it with such
earnestness, had he not been very well acquainted
with its efficacy, and with the manner of God's
communicating the same.
All this being undeniably true, what greatei
honor can man receive, than to have such a
master and such a school to go to, where the
Lord himself teaches his elect this heavenly
wisdom ? If, as St. Jerome says', men in former
times went as far as Rome, from the remotest
parts of France and Spain, to see Livy, a man
so renowned for his eloquence (Ep. 120, ad
Paulin) ; and if Apollonius, who had the false
reputation of one of the wise men of his age,
went to Mount Caucasus, and traversed the
greatest part of the world, to see Hiarchas sit-
ting among a few scholars, on a golden throne,
disputing with them on the motions of the
heavens and of the planets ; what should men
do to hear God, seated on the throne of their
hearts, not to teach them how the heavens
move, but how they themselves may move
thither ?
And, that you may not look on this doctrine
as contemptible, hear the royal prophet's com-
mendations of it : "I have more understanding
than all my teachers, because thy testimonies
are my meditation ; I understand more than the
aged, because I have soiight after thy command-
ments ; " Ps. cxviii. 99, 100. Nay, the Lord
promises more than all this, by his prophet
Isaias, to those that serve him. " The Lord,"
says he, " shall give thee rest, and shall fill thy
soul with brightness, and shall set thy bones at
liberty ; and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters should
not fail;" Isa. Iviii. 11. What brightness is
this, wherewith God fills the souls of his ser-
vants, but the knowledge he gives them of things
necessary to their salvation ? For it is he that
shows them how beautiful virtue is, and how
deformed vice : he it is that tells them how vain
a thing the world is, that informs them of the
worth of grace, the greatness of eternal glory,
the sweetness of those consolations which the
Holy Ghost bestows, the goodness of God, the
malice of the devil, the shortness of life, and the
general mistake of most men. God, as the same
prophet observes, by virtue of this knowledge,
makes his servants dwell on high, " that they
may behold the king in his beauty, and look
down upon the earth that is very far off;" Isa.
xxxiii. 17. Therefore, the things of this world
are of so little value with them, because, besides
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HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
their being generally so, they see them only at
a distance ; but as to the riches of the other
world, they prize them at what they are worth,
as having a very near view of them. The wicked,
on the contrary, having a distant prospect of
heavenly things, and standing so close by the
earthly, undervalue those, and overrate these.
This is what preserves such persons as partake of
this heavenly gift from being either puffed up
with prosperity, or cast down by adversity ; for
they, by the help of this light, see how little
what the world can give them is in comparison
of what they have from God. And, therefore,
Solomon sa3's, "The goodly man remaineth in
wisdom like the sun, but the fool is changed like
the moon;" Ecclus. xxvii. 12. Upon which
words St. Ambrose says, " That, as for the
\vise man, neither can fear move him, nor power
change him ; amidst his prosperity he is never
proud (Epist. L. 2), nor melancholy in the midst
of troubles (Ep. 7); because virtue, strength and
courage are the perpetual attendants on wisdom."
Such a man's soul is always in an even temper ;
no change makes him either greater or less ; nor
is he to be carried away by the \vinds of a new doc-
trine, but remains steady in Jesus Christ, immov-
able in his charity, unshaken in his faith.
Nor are we to wonder at the force of this
wisdom, since it is not earthly, but heavenly ;
which does not puff up, but edify ; which does not
enlighten the understanding by its speculation,
but inflames the will with its heat. Thus won-
derfully was St. Augustine touched and moved,
that, as is written of him, he never heard the
psalms and hymns of the Church sung but he
wept. The words, entering in at his ears, sunk
down to the very bottom of his heart, whilst the
warmth of his devotion spread the truth of them
throughout his whole soul. This made him
break out into tears, and, according to his own
confession, gave him a great deal of joy and com-
fort. O blessed tears ! O divine school ! O happy
wisdom, that bears such fruit as this I Conf. L.
9, V. 24. Is there any in the world we can com-
pare with this wisdom ? Job says, " It cannot be
gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed
for the price thereof It cannot be valued with ttr-
gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the
sapphire. No mention shall be made of coral or
of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies,"
etc. Job xxviii. 15, 16, etc. After all these
commendations, the holy man concludes : " Be-
hold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to
depart from evil is understanding ; " ver. 28.
This is one of the greatest rewards that can be
offered to excite you to follow virtue. And
Solomon makes this proposal to encourage men
to a good life : '' My son, if thou wilt receive my
words, and hide my commandments with thee,
then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord
giveth wisdom ; out of his mouth cometh knowl-
edge and understanding ; " Prov. i. 5, 6. This
wisdom does not always continue in the same
degree, but receives a daily increase of light and
knowledge, as the same wise man has hinted to us
" The part of the just," says he, " is as the shin-
ing light, that shineth more and more unto the
perfect day" (Prov. iv. 18); the day of this
blessed eternity, wherein we shall receive the
divine inspirations, I will not say, with Job's
friends, by stealth, but shall have a full sight
and knowledge of God himself; Job iv. 12,
Of this true wisdom the children of light par-
take, whilst the wicked, on the contrary, live in
such ignorance, that like the Egyptian darkness,
they may feel it with their hands. We have a
lively figure of the one in the land of Jessen,
where the Israelites lived, which always enjoyed
the light : and of the other in the land of Egypt
(Ex. X. 22, 23), which was quite covered over
with darkness, a true emblem of that horrible
blindness in which the wicked live, as they them-
selves acknowledge in Isaias, when they say
" We looked for light, but behold obscurity ; for
brightness, and we have walked in the dark. We
have groped for the wall, and like the blind, we
have groped as if we had no eyes ; we have
stumbled at noon-day as in the dark ; we are
in dark places as dead men ; " Isa. lix. 9,
10. What greater blindness than what the
wicked fall into every step they take ? What
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
339
greater blindness than for a man to sell the solid
joys of heaven for the vanities of the world?
What greater blindness than for a man not to be
afraid of hell, not to seek after heaven, not to
have a horror for sin, not to think of the last
judgment, not to regard the threats or promises
which God has made, not to be afraid of death
which may every moment surprise him, not to
prepare himself for the making up of his accounts,
not to see how short and momentary his delights
are, whilst the torments that shall follow them
are to last forever ? " They will not be learned
nor understand," says the royal prophet, " but
walk on in darkness " (Ps. Ixxxi. 5) ; from an
inward darkness to an outward one, from the
darkness of this life to that of the next.
I shall conclude this chapter with a word or
two of advice, which is, that, notwithstanding
the truth of all I have said upon this matter, a
man, how just soever he is, should not on this
account withdraw himself from the humble sub-
mission he owes to the opinion and counsel of
those above him, especially of such as are looked
upon as the doctors of the Church. For was ever
man more enlightened than St. Paul or Moses,
who talked with God face to face ? And yet one
of them goes to Jerusalem to confer with the
Apostles on the gospel he had learned in the
third heaven (Gal. ii. i, 2); and the other
refuses not the advice of Jethro his father-in-law,
though a heathen ; Ex. xviii. The reason is,
because the inward helps of grace exclude the
outward assistance of the Church, since the
Divine Providence has been pleased to allow
them both to supply our weakness, which stands
much in need of them. As, therefore, the out-
ward heat of the air maintains the inward natural
heat, and as nature, after all its care to procure
the health of every particular, is assisted with
such medicines as have been created for this end,
so is the light and doctrine of the Church a help
to the inward lights and assistance of grace, and
whosoever refuses with humility to submit to
the authority of the one, is to be judged
unworthy to receive the favors and helps of the
other.
CHAPTER XV.
OF THE FOURTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, THAT IS, THE CONSOLATIONS WHICH GOOD MEN
RECEIVE FROM THE HOLY GHOST.
MIGHT here very well, after having
spoke of the light of the Holy Ghost,
which enlightens the darkness of our
understandings, count charity and the
love of God, with which our wills are inflamed,
as the fourth privilege of virtue, especially since
the Apostle accounts it the first fruit of the Holy
Ghost. But our design at present being not so
much to treat of virtue itself, as of the favors
granted to it, and charity being not only a virtue,
but of all virtues the noblest, we shall forbear to
treat of it here ; not but that we might speak of
it in this place, though not as of a virtue, yet as
of a gift which God bestows on the virtuous,
inflaming their wills in an unspeakable manner,
and making them love God above all things.
The more perfect this virtue grows, the pleas-
anter it becomes, so that we may therefore look on
it as the fruit and reward, not onl}?- of the virtues,
but of itself too. But not to be thought ambi-
tious of speaking too much in commendation of
this virtue, which gives us so many other occa-
sions of speaking in its favor, I will assign the
fourth place to the joy and comfort of the Holy
Ghost, it being the natural property of charity
itself, and one of the chief fruits of this same
spirit, as St. Paul tells us ; Gal. v. 22.
This privilege is a branch of the former ;
because, as we said before, this light, with which
God enlightens his servants, does not stop at the
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understanding, but descends into the will, and
there darts out the rays of its brightness, with
which it entertains them, and gives them a won-
derful delight in God. So that from this spirit-
ual light comes the spiritual joy we speak of, as
the material light produces the heat we perceive
by our senses. This gave the royal prophet
occasion to say, " Light is risen to the just, and
joy to the right of heart ;" Ps. xcvi. ii. We
have treated on this subject elsewhere, yet we
may venture to speak of it again, -without any
fear of repeating what we said before.
For the better pursuing the design of this
book, we must first explain the greatness of this
joy, because the knowing of this will go a
great way towards making men in love with vir-
tue. We all know, that as all kinds of miseries
are included in vice, so are all kinds of delight
in virtue, those excepted which the wicked com-
plain they have not. For which reason, man being
naturally a friend to pleasure, these persons tell
us, by their actions at least, if not by word of
mouth, that they had rather enjoy what pleases
them, though at the expense of their salvation,
than not to satisfj' their sensual desires, though
hell follows the consenting to them. Lactantius,
writing on this subject, says, " that men are
frightened into a flight from virtue, and charmed
into a pursuit of vice, because vice has a sensible
pleasure attending it ;" L. 2, de Falsa Relig. c.
2. This being the rise of so many misfortunes,
he that shall disabuse men of this mistake, and
show them plainly that the way of virtue is much
more pleasant than that of vice, must certainly
be very serviceable to mankind in general. My
design, therefore, is, to prove this to them by
unquestionable authorities, drawn particularly
from the Holy Scripture, the best proof we can
bring for matters of this nature, since " heaven
and earth shall pass away, but the words of God
shall not ;" Mark xiii. 31.
Tell me, then, blind, deluded man ! if the way
to heaven be so rough and so unpleasant as you
imagine it is, what means the prophet David,
when he says, " O how plentiful is thy sweetness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee !"
Ps. xxx. 20. Here he lets us see what delights
the virtuous enjoy, and why they are unknown
to the wicked, because God hides them from such.
What, likewise, do these words of the same
prophet signify: " My soul shall rejoice in the
Lord, and shall be delighted in his salvation.
All my bones," that is, all the powers of my soul,
" shall say. Lord, who is like to thee ?" Ps, xxxiv.
9, 10. This is to teach us, that the comfort the
just have is so great, that, notwithstanding it is
immediately received by the spirit, it rebounds in
such a manner on the flesh, that though its chief
delight is in carnal things, yet, by the communi-
cation of the spirit, it is pleased with the spirit-
ual, and places its satisfaction in God, and that
with such transports of joy, that all the bones of
the body being ravished with this sweetness, men
are forced to cry out, "Who is like unto thee, O
Lord ?" What pleasures are to be compared with
those we enjoy in thee? What content, what
love, what peace, what delight can any creature
g^ve, like what we receive from thee ? What is
it again the same prophet means by his saying,
" The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the
tabernacles of the just?" (Ps. cxvii. 15) but to
tell us, that true peace and pleasure are nowhere
to be met with, but in the dwellings of the just.
He says again, " Let the just feast and rejoice
before God ; and be delighted with gladness ;"
Ps. Ixvii. 3. And this to show us, what spiritual
feasts God often makes for the entertainment of
his elect, by giving them a taste of heavenly
things for the refreshment of their souls.
It is at these divine banquets they drink, that
delicious wine, the same prophet so highly com-
mends : " They shall be inebriated," says he,
" O Lord, with the plenty of thy house, and thou
shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy
pleasure ;" Ps. xxxv. 9. Could the prophet have
used more expressive words to show how these
delights even force men to a hearty love of God ?
For as one, that has drank a deal of wine, loses
the use of his senses, and is, in that point, like
a dead man ; so he, that has once drank of this
celestial banquet, dies to the world, and to the
irregular desires of what is in it.
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
341
We read again, " Happy is the people, that
know what jubilation isl" Ps. Ixxxviii. 16.
Others would perhaps have said, Happy they
who roll in riches, who are enclosed with strong
walls, and have their soldiers to defend them I
But holy David, who had a good share of these
things, terms only him happy^ who, by experi-
ence, knows what it is to rejoice in God, and that
not with an ordinary joy, but with such a one as
deserves the name of jubilation ; which, accord-
ing to St. Gregory, is a joy of spirit, we can
neither express by words, nor discover by out-
ward signs and actions ; L. 24, Moral, c. 3. Hap-
py they, who have made such an advance in the
love of God as to have experience of this jubila-
tion I It is a knowledge, which neither Plato,
with all his wisdom, nor Demosthenes, with all
his eloquence, could arrive to. For God resides
in none, but in the pure and humble of heart.
If, then, God be the Author of this joy, how
great must it be of course, since the comforts,
that come from him, are as equally proportioned
to himself, as are the punishments he inflicts ?
If, then, he punishes with so much rigor, with
what sweet delights must he fill the souls of those
that love him ? If his arm is so heavy, when he
holds it out to chastise, how light must it be
when stretched out to caress ? For he is more
wonderful in his works of mercy than in those of
justice.
What cellar of rich wine is that, which the
Spouse in the Canticles (ch. i. 3) boasts of her
being carried into by her beloved, and of being
filled there with charity and love ? What noble
banquet is that, which the same Spouse invites
us to ? " Eat, O friends, and drink, and be in-
ebriated, my dearly beloved;" Cant. v. i. We look
on that man to be drunk, when, having had more
wine than his natural heat can digest, the vapors
fly up into his head, and rendering him incapable
of governing himself, force him to follow the
impressions they make on his imagination. If
this be so, what condition must a soul be in, that
has drank so much of this heavenly wine, and is
so full of God and of his love, as to be over-
charged with an excess of delight and pleasure,
and to be made unable, with all its force, to bear
up under such a weight of happiness ? So it is
written of St. Ephrem, that he was so often over-
powered with the strength of the wine of this
divine sweetness, that his body not being able to
support these delights, he was forced to cry out,
" Retire from me a little, O Lord ! because
my body is too weak to endure the force of
thy sweetness any longer ;" St. John Clim.
deg. 19.
O unspeakable goodness ! O immense sweet-
ness of this sovereign Lord I who communicates
himself with such profusion to his creatures, that
their bodies are too weak, and their hearts to nar-
row, to endure and contain the strength and ful-
ness of such charms I It is by this celestial wine
the powers of the soul are lulled to rest ; it is
this, that gives them a gentle slumber of peace
and life ; it is this, that raises the soul above her-
self ; it is by virtue of this she knows, and loves,
and enjoys such pleasures, as are far above the
strength of her natural faculties. Hence it fol-
lows, that as water over a fire, when it has arrived
to a certain degree of heat, forgetful, as it were,
of its own quality, which is to be heavy, and con-
sequently to tend downward, mounts upwards,
borrowing the natural lightness of fire, which
gives it this extraordinary motion ; so the soul,
warmed with this heavenly fire, lifts herself up
above herself, and, endeavoring to fly from earth
to heaven, from whence this flame was darted, is
transported with the desire of enjoying God;
runs after him, with all the speed she can, and
stretches out her hands to embrace him, whom
she so passionately loves. But if she can neither
overtake him, nor cool the heat of her flames,
she pines and languishes under the loss of her
wish, and all the comfort she has is to send up
her amorous sighs to heaven, crying out with the
Spouse, in the Canticles (v. 8), " Tell my
beloved that I languish with love." Holy writers
inform us, that these languishings proceed from
the opposition the soul meets with, in the effect-
ing of her desires. Whereon, one of them says,
" Be not discouraged, O amorous soul, for thy
sickness is not to death ; it is for God's glory,
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HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
and that the Son of God may be glorified there-
by ;" St. John xi. 4. But what tongue can
express the charms and pleasures these happy
lovers enjoy, on Solomon's stately bride-bed,
" which was made of the wood of Libanus, the
pillars thereof were of silver, and the bottom of
gold I" Cant. iii. 9, 10. Here it is the spiritual
marriage-feast is kept. It is called a bed^ for its
being a place of rest and love, and where they
enjoy such pleasures that, as St. John says in his
Revelation, no man can conceive how great they
are, but he that has experienced them. Though
the knowledge of these things be hid from us,
we may nevertheless frame to ourselves some
idea of them. For if a man does but consider
what an excess of love the Son of God had for
him, in suflFering such unheard-of injuries and
torments for his sake, he cannot wonder at what
we now say, since it is but little when compared
to this. What will he not do for the just, who
has undergone so much for sinners ? How will
he caress and make much of his friends, who has
endured such pains, as well for his enemies as
for them ! We have a token of this in the book
of Canticles, where the heavenly bridegroom
shows such a passionate tenderness to his bride,
which is the Church, and every particular person
in the state of grace. Such amorous discourses
pass there between them, that no other eloquence
or love can express.
We may also conceive it from the just them-
selves, God's true friends ; for if you look into
the hearts of those persons, you will find their
greatest concern and desire, and the perpetual
employment of their thoughts, is the service of
God, and the putting themselves in a condition
of doing something for him, who has done, and
who continues every day to do so much for them,
treating them with such sweetness and love. If,
therefore, man, of himself so unfaithful, and so
unable to dr^||Kiy good, can nevertheless be so
faithful to God, what is there that God will not
do for him ? — God, who is infinite in his fidelity
and love. If it is the property of God, as the
Psalmist says, " to be holy with the holy, and
good with the good " (Ps. xvii. 26), and if man
can arrive to such a degree of goodness, as we
have said he can, how far will the goodness of
God reach ? If God should vie with just men
on this point, how much will he outdo them in
this glorious strife ? If, therefore, a good man
is -willing to do so much to make himself pleas-
ing to God, what will not God do in return to
comfort and please him ? He will do more than
we can express or conceive. For this reason the
prophet Isaias says, " The ear hath not heard,
neither hath the eye seen what thou, O God, hast
prepared for them that wait for thee ;" ch. Ixiv.
4. This is to be understood, not of the goods of
glory only, but, according to St. Paul (i Cor. ii.),
of those of grace too.
This surely may suffice to show how pleasant
the way of virtue is, and that the delights of this
world are not to be compared with what the just
enjoy. For what comparison is there between
light and darkness, Christ and Belial, between
the pleasures of earth and those of heaven, the
satisfactions of the flesh, and those of the spirit,
the thoughts which come from the creature, and
those from the Creator ? It is certain the more
excellent it is, the more capable it is of content-
ing us. What did the prophet mean else, when
he said, " Better a little to the just, than the
great riches of the wicked I" Ps. xxxvi. 10. And
in another place : " I had rather be the abject
person in the house of my God, than dwell in the
tabernacles of sinners ;" Ps. Ixxxiii. 11. These
words of the Spouse, in the Canticles, teach us
the same lesson : " Thy breasts are better than
wine." And a little lower : " We will be glad
and rejoice in thee, remember my breasts more
than wine" (Cant. i. i, 3) ; that is to say, we will
think of the most delicious milk of comforts, and
caresses more sweet than wine, with which you
feed your spiritual children at your breasts. It
is certain, that neither material wine nor mate-
rial milk is meant here; for by these are under-
stood the pleasures of the world, which the lewd
woman in the Apocalypse (xvii.), seated over
many waters, clothed in scarlet and holding a
golden cup in her hand, made the inhabitants of
Babylon drunk with ; thus drowning their
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
343
senses, that they might be heedless of their
ruin.
§ I. It is partiailarly in Prayer that the Vir-
tuous enjoy these divine Co7isolations. — If, on fur-
ther inquiry into this matter, you should ask me,
where it is particularly the virtuous enjoy these
comforts, God himself will answer the question,
by the prophet Isaias (ch. Ivi. 6, 7) : " The chil-
dren of the stranger," says he, " that adhere to
the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name,
to be his servant : every one that keepeth the
sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast
my covenant : I will bring them into my holy
mount, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer." So that it is in this holy employment
particularly, that the Lord comforts his elect in
such a manner. It was on this occasion, St. Lau-
rence Justinian said (Tract, de Ord. Lig. Vitae),
"The hearts of the just are inflamed with this
love of their Creator, whilst they are at prayer.
It is then they are at times raised above them-
selves, and imagine they are amidst the choirs of
angels, singing with them in the presence of
their God ; it is then they love and sigh ; it is
then they praise, weep and rejoice; it is then
they eat, and are still hungry, they drink with-
out being satisfied, and endeavor, with all the
force that love can give them, to transform them-
selves into their Lord, whom they contemplate
by faith, whom they adore with humility, whom
they desire with passion, and enjoy with the
utmost heat of love. It is then they, by their
own experience, find these words of his to be true :
' My joy shall be fulfilled in you ;' " John iii. 29.
This joy, like a gentle stream, spreads itself over
all the faculties of the soul ; it enlightens the
understanding, it pleases the will, it refreshes
the memory, and makes them think of nothing
but God, and they lovingly embrace what they
are unacquainted with, and which yet they have
such a passion for, that they had rather die than
lose it. Thus the heart wrestles with this divine
sweetness, lest it should get away, being the only
object of its wishes, as the patriarch Jacob did
with the angel ; Gen. xxxii. 26. And thus, like
St. Peter on the mountain, it cries out, " O Lord,
it is good for us to be here ;" Matt. xvii. 4. It is
here the soul has all that amorous discourse,
which is in the Canticles addressed to her, whilst
she, on her part, sings these charming airs of
love : " His left hand is under my head, and his
right hand doth embrace me. Support me with
flowers, and comfort me with apples, for I lan-
guish with love ;" Cant. ii. 5, 6. Then it is,
the soul, inflamed with these divine heats, desires
nothing more than to break out of the prison of
her body, whilst her tears are her food both day
and night, because the time of her enlargement
is not yet come. Life is the trial of her patience,
but the object of her desire is death, and, there-
fore, she is continually using these words of the
spouse : " Who will tell me where thou art, my
brother, who suckest the breast of my mother ?
When I shall find thee without I would kiss
thee;" Cant. viii. i. It is then she is astonished
at herself, and wonders how such treasures could
be hid from her so long ; but finding it is a hap-
piness which every man is capable of enjoying,
she longs to run up and down in the streets and
public places, and to cry out, Fools and mad-
men ! whither do you run ? what is it you are in
search of? why do you not run to the possession
of such a treasure as this is ? " Taste and see
how sweet the Lord is ; happy is the man that
puts his trust in him ;" Ps. xxxiii. 9. When the
soul has once tasted these spiritual pleasures,
none carnal will please her. Company is then a
restraint on her, whilst she looks on solitude as
a paradise ; for all her desire and comfort is, to
be alone with her God whom she loves. Honors
and preferments are but a burden to her, and an
estate and family a torment. She would not for
all the world, no not for heaven itself, be deprived .
of her comforts ; and, for this reason, all her
endeavors are to disengage herself from the
world. She has but one love, and one desire ; so
that, whatsoever she loves, it is for the sake of
one alone, and this one she loves i» all things ;
she knows how to cry out, with the royal prophet,
" What have I, O Lord, in heaven, or what is
there upon the earth that I desire besides thee ?
My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the
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strength of my heart, God is my portion forever;"
Ps. xxii. 25, 26.
The knowledge of holy things seems no
longer obscure to a soul in this state ; she sees
them now with other eyes, and feels such motions
and changes within, as are strong proofs of every
article of faith. She thinks the day long and
tedious, and the management of her temporal
concerns is troublesome to her, longing till the
night comes, that she may spend it in the com-
pany of her God. She never looks on the night
as too long ; the longest, on the contrary, are
those she desires most. If they happen to be
clear, with their eyes cast up to heaven, she
admires its beauty and the brightness of the
moon and stars, considering them quite differ-
ently from what she used to do, and much more
cheerfully ; she looks on them as so many marks
of her Creator's beauty, and so many mirrors of
his glory, as so many messengers that come to
bring her news of him, as so many lively drafts
of his grace and perfections, and as so many
presents which the bridegroom sends his bride,
to endear and make her constant to him, till he
himself shall come and lead her by the hand to
this happy marriage, for an eternity in heaven ;
she looks on the whole world as a book that
treats of nothing else but of God ; she regards
it as a letter from her beloved, and a token of
his love. These are the pleasures and delights
they who love God pass the nights in ; these the
quiet sleeps they enjoy. For the regular mo-
tions all creatures observe, are like a harmonious
concert to the soul, that makes her slumber a
little, and lulls her into the gentle and soft sleep,
of which it is said, " I sleep, and my heart
watcheth;" Cant. v. 2. And when her dearest
spouse perceives her thus at rest within his
arms, he takes care not to disturb her, and gives
orders that no one presumes to wake her, saying,
"I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,by the
roes and harts of the field, that you stir not up,
nor make the beloved awake, till she please;"
Cant. ii. 7.
What do you think now of such nights as
these ? which do you imagine to be the pleasanter.
these, or those of worldlings, who spend their
time, lying in wait to defile innocent virgins, to
rob them of their chastity, and make them lose
their honor and their souls ? Thus they miser-
ably expose themselves to the hazard of their
own lives, heaping up for themselves a treasure
of vengeance against that day, wherein God will
punish them according to the heinousness of
their crimes ; Rom. ii. 5.
§ II. Of Ihe Comforts they enjoy ^ who begin to
serve God. — Perhaps you will tell me such ex-
traordinary favors as these are for none but
those who have already advanced in perfection
and virtue. It is true they are for them, but
yet God presents even thosje who are but just
entered into his service, with all the blessings
of his consolation. He feeds them at first like
children with milk, and brings them by degrees
to eat more solid meats. You see how the
prodigal son was entertained at his return, and
welcomed home with music and feasting. This
is but a representation of the spiritual joy which
the soul conceives, wheu she sees herself escaped
out of Egypt, and freed from the captivity of
Pharao, from the slavery of the devil ; Luke
XV. For how can a slave, when he has got his
liberty, choose but to be glad of such a bene-
fit ? What can he do less than invite all crea-
tures to thank his deliverer with him? "Let
us sing to the Lord, for he has gloriously mag-
nified, the horse and the rider he hath thrown
into the sea;" Ex. xv. i.
If this were not so, where would be that provi-
dence which supplies every creature so fully,
according to its nature, strength, age and capa-
city ? For it is certain, carnal men could never
be able to enter into this new road, and trample
the world under foot, unless God showed them
such favors. To this end, his divine providence
takes care, as soon as ever it has determined to
disengage them from the world, so to smooth and
plain the way, that they meet with no rubs to
make them stumble. This is admirably repre-
sented to us by God's leading the children of
Israel into the land of promise, whereof Moses
gives us this relation : " When Pharao had sent
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345
out tlie people, the Lord led them not by way of
the land of the Philistines, which is near, think-
ing lest perhaps they would repent, if they
should see wars rise against them, and would
return into Egypt;" Ex. xiii. 17. The same
Lord who took such care to conduct the Israel-
ites into the land of promise, after he had
brought them out of Egypt, takes no less at
present to bring those to heaven, whom he is
pleased to call to this happiness, after having
made them quit the world.
But I would have you to conceive, that
though such as have arrived to perfection in
virtue are caressed after a particular manner, yet,
God is so good to beginners, that, considering
their poverty, he helps them forward in the new
way they have undertaken, and perceiving they
are still exposed to temptations of sin, and have
passions to overcome, he gives them, imperfect
as they are, so much comfort, that their joy
does not fall short of what they possess, who
are advanced much further. This he does for
no other end, but to give them an entire vic-
tory over all their inordinate appetites, to make
them break off with their own flesh, to wean
them from the milk, that is, from the weak
delights of this world, and to tie them to him
with such strong bonds of love, that they may
never be able to break loose. If this does not
convince you, consider what God has been
pleased to signify to us by the feasts of the
Old Testament, where he commanded the first
and last day to be observed with an equal
solemnity. As for the six days which were
between them, they were no more than the
ordinary days of the week, but these two they
always kept with much greater veneration.
What can this be but a figure of what we are
now treating ? He ordered the first day to be
kept solemnly, as well as the last, to give us
to understand that he makes much of those who
serve him in the beginning of their conversion,
as well as those who have attained the utmost
perfection. This he does in consideration of
what these have deserved, and of what those
stand in need of, dealing with the one accord-
ing to the rules of his justice, by giving them
what their virtue has deserved, and treating the
other according to the dictates of his grace and
mercy, by bestowing on them much more than
they have deserved, on account of their neces-
sities.
We are never more taken with the sight of
trees, than when they are in their flourishing
condition, and their fruit is ripe. The day of
betrothing and the wedding-day are always
devoted to mirth and festivity. Almighty God,
on the return of a soul to him, betroths her to
himself; and when he marries her, he is at all
the charges of the wedding feast, which he
makes according to his estate and ability, not
according to the deserts and quality of his
spouse ; and, to that purpose he says, " Our
sister is little, and hath no breasts " (Cant. viii.
8), and, therefore, she must live on another's
milk. The bride, speaking to her bridegroom,
tells him, " The young maidens have loved
thee ; " Cant. i. 2. She does not say ^ke
maz'dens, which are those souls that have made
a considerable progress in virtue, but those who
are not of so ripe an age, that is, such as have
but just opened their eyes to this new light.
These, says she, have an ardent love for thee.
For young lovers do usually express their pas-
sion with the greatest force and heat. This is
what St. Thomas tells us, when, among several
other reasons, he alleges this, that the newness
of the state, of the love, of the light, and of the
knowledge of divine things, discovers those
beauties to them, which they never perceived
before; filling them with admiration, giving
them at the same time a particular delight, and
teaching them what returns they are to make
him who has so kindly restored them their
sight, after they had been so long blindfolded
and in the dark. When a man first comes into
any great town or noble place, he walks up and
down for some time, and is pleased with what
he sees ; but having satisfied his curiosity with
the frequent sight, he is less taken with it than
he was before, nor does he admire it so much.
Thus stands the case with those who first came
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into this new country of grace, for they are sur-
prised to find such wonderful things. So that it
is not to be admired, that beginners in devotion
should feel more fervor in their souls, than old
practitioners ; for the newness of the light and
of their understanding divine mysteries, causes
greater sensations in them. This, as St. Ber-
nard remarks (Serm. 14, in Cant.) is the rea-
son why the prodigal son's elder brother was not
in the wrong, when he complained to his father,
and told him, that for his so many years' ser-
vice, without ever disobej'ing the least of his
commands, he had never shown him so much
favor, as he had done this extravagant, lewd
son at his return home. This new love, like
new wine, ferments at first, and as water over
a fire, boils up as soon as it feels the heat it
never felt before ; the flame, after these first
sallies, grows more strong and equal, though in
the beginning it is more violent and im-
petuous.
God entertains those, who enter anew into
his house, with a deal of kindness and love ;
he bears all their charges at first, and makes
every thing seem light and easy; he deals
with them as traders do with their customers,
who give samples of their wares gratis, but
will have their full price for what the}' sell.
The affection we show little children is usually
more tender, though perhaps not greater, than
what we show those who are of riper years.
We can-}- those up and down in our arms, but
let these go by themselves ; and whilst these
are laboring and toiling, we lay those to sleep,
and let them take their rest ; without giving
them the trouble of asking for their meat, we
feed them ourselves, and put their victuals
into their mouths.
It is this kind reception new beginners find
with God, and the manifest favors he shows
them, which occasions that spiritual joy and
comfort the roj^al prophet speaks of : " The
young plant shall flourish with thy dops ; " Ps.
Ixiv. II. Now, what is this plant, and what
these drops, but the dew of the divine grace
with which God waters these spiritual young
plants, which he has lately dug up from
amongst the wild brambles of the world, and
set in his own garden? These are the plants
which the prophet means, when he says, " They
shall rejoice in drops;" Ibid. This shows how
great the joy of such persons is at their first
receiving this new visit. Nor are you to think
that, because these favors are called but drops^
they have no more in them than their name
seems to promise : " For (as St. Augustine
says) he that drinks of the river of paradise,
one drop of which is more than all the ocean,
is sure, though he drink but one single drop,
it will quench his thirst forever."
If, when you think of God. you are sensible
of these comforts, it is no argument against
what has been said. For if the palate, when
it is out of taste by any bad humor, cannot
distinguish what is bitter from what is sweet,
but judges what is sweet to be bitter; what
wouder is it if your soul, corrupted with so many
vices and irregular affections, and which longs
so earnestly after the flesh-pots and onions of
Egypt, should not relish the manna of heaven
and the bread of angels? Wash your mouth
first clean with tears of penance, and then
you will be able " to taste and see how sweet
the Lord is ; " Ps. xxxiii. 9.
What I have said being so undeniably true,
is there any pleasure in the world to compare
with these? Holy writers tell us there are
two sorts of happiness ; the one, a happiness
that is but begun ; the other, complete and
perfect; the latter the blessed above enjoy,
and just men here on earth the former. What,
therefore, can you desire better than from this
very moment to begin to be happy, and even
in this life, to receive the pledges of that
divine marriage, which is to be solemnized in
heaven, though it be proposed here but at a
distance ? O mortal man ! whosoever you are,
since it is in your own power to live in para-
dise, and to enjoy such treasure, go and sell
your all, to purchase so great an estate for so
small a sum. It is Jesus Christ will sell it,
and he will let you have it, in a manner for
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
347
nothing. Do not defer the opportunity any
longer, for every moment lost is of more con-
cern than all the riches of the world. And
though you may perhaps meet with an occa-
sion of purchasing it hereafter, assure yourself
yet the time you shall have lost will be a
trouble to you, and will force you to cry out
with tears, as did St. Augustine, " O ancient
goodness ! it is too late I have known thee ; "
Solil. c. 31. The lateness of this glorious
saint's conversion, though he failed not of his
crown, was the perpetual subject of his com-
plaints and tears. Have a care, therefore, lest
it should be your misfortune to deplore the
loss of both, if you should be deprived of the
benefits of glory, the inheritance of the saints
in the next life, and of those of grace, the
reward of the just in this.
CHAPTER XVI.
OF THE FIFTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, VIZ., THE PEACE OF CONSCIENCE, WHICH THE JUST ENJOY
AND OF THE INWARD REMORSE THAT TORMENTS THE WICKED.
ESIDES the joy proceeding from the
consolations of the Holy Ghost, there
is another attends the just, which is
the testimony of a good conscience.
For the understanding of the nature and value
of this privilege, you are to conceive that the
Divine Providence, which has furnished all
creatures with as much as is necessary for
their preservation and perfection, being willing
that the rational creature should be most per-
fect, has supplied it with all that was requisite
for this purpose. And because the perfection
of this creature consists in the perfection of
its will and understanding, which are the two
principal powers of the soul, the one made
perfect by knowledge, and the other by virtue ;
therefore, he created the principles of all
sciences, whence the conclusions flow, and the
seed of all virtues in the soul, endowing it
with a propensity to good, and aversion to evil,
which inclination is so natural and prevalent,
that though a long habit of ill life may weaken,
yet it can never totally destroy it. Thus we
read, that, amidst all holy Jacob's misfortunes,
there was always a servant escaped to bring
him the news ; even so he that sins is never
forsaken by that faithful servant, conscience,
who still escapes alive and safe, to show the
wicked man what he lost by sin, and the mis-
erable estate he is reduced to.
This plainly demonstrates how vigilant Divine
Providence is, and its love for virtue, since it
has furnished us with a monitor, that never
sleeps, a continual preacher, that is never silent,
and a master and tutor, that never ceases guid-
ing and directing us. Epictetus, the Stoic, was
very sensible hereof, when he said, " that as
fathers are wont to commit their young chil-
dren to some careful tutor, who will diligently
divert them from vice, and lead them to virtue,
so God, as our Father, after creating, put us
into the hands of this natural virtue, called
conscience, as it were of a tutor, that it might
still put us forward in the way of goodness,
and check us in wickedness."
Now this conscience, as it is a master and
tutor to the good, so it is an executioner and
scourge to the wicked, inwardly punishing and
accusing them ot the ills they do, and mixing
such bitterness among their delights, that they
have no sooner tasted the Egyptian onion, but
their eyes presently begin to water. This is
one of the punishments wherewith God threat-
ens the wicked by the mouth of Isaias, saying,
" He will deliver Babylon into the power of the
hedgehog." For God's justice delivers the
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heart of a wicked man, signified by Babjdon,
to the hedgehogs, that is, the devils, and to the
pricks of conscience that attend sin, which, like
sharp thorns, pierce the heart. If you would
know what these thorns are, one is the defor-
mity and hideousness of sin, which is so abom-
inable of itself, that a philosopher was wont to
say, " If I knew the gods would forgive me,
I and men should know nothing of it, yet I could
not dare commit sin, because of its own defor-
mity." Another thorn is, when the sin is pre-
judicial to another, for then it appears like that
blood of Abel spilt, which cried to God and
craved revenge. Thus it is written, in the first
book of Maccahabees, that king Antiochus had
a full view of the mischiefs he had done in
Jerusalem, which so afflicted him that it has-
tened his death, and being ready to expire, he
said, " I remember the evils that I did in Jerusa-
lem, from whence also I took away all the spoils
of gold and silver that were in it, and I sent
to destroy the inhabitants of Judea without
cause, I know, therefore, that for this cause
these evils found me ; and behold I perish with
great grief in a strange land." Another thorn
is, the shame that attends sin, which the sinner
cannot be ignorant or insensible of, because it
is natural for man to desire to be beloved, and
to be troubled at being hated : for, as a wise
man said, " There is no greater torment in the
world than public hatred." Another thorn is
the inevitable fear of death, the continual uncer-
tainty of life, the apprehension of the strict
account that must be given of every action, and
the dreadful horror of eternal torments ; for each
of these things pricks and gores the sinner's heart
in such a manner, that he can never think of
this death, so certain on one hand, so uncertain
on the other, without being extremely concerned,
as the book of Ecclesiasticus says, because he is
sensible that day will take vengeance of
all his crimes, and put an end to all his
sinful pleasures, it is impossible for any man
to put this thought out of his mind, because
there is nothing more natural to man than
death is, and, therefore, the least indisposition
fills him with a thousand fears and doubts
whether he shall die or no ; for the excess of
self-love, added to so violent a ^passion as fear
is, makes him afraid of every shadow, and puts
him into a concern and apprehension where
there is not the least ground for it ; so that if
any mortality should happen, any earthquakes,
or thunder and lightning, the sinner is imme-
diately disturbed by his conscience, and fancies
that God sends all this to punish his iniqui-
ties.
All these thorns gore the wicked at once,
as one of holy Job's friends declare at large,
whose words I will add, as a clearer proof of
what I have asserted : " The wicked man,"
says he, " spends his whole life in pride, not-
withstanding that he is uncertain how soon his
tyranny may be put to an end. The noises
of fear and terror are continually rattling in
his ears" (Job xv. 20, 21, 22), which are noth-
ing but the cries of his guilty conscience, accus-
ing and reproaching him every moment ; and
in the very midst of peace, he is afraid of the
snares and treacheries of his enemies : because
let him live ever so quiet, his wicked con-
science never fails of putting him into continual
apprehensions. He cannot persuade himself
that he can possibly return from darkness to
the light ; that is to say, he does not believe
there is any possibility of his getting out of
dreadful darkness he lives in, to enjoy the tran-
quillity of a good conscience, which, like a comfort-
able and clear light, rejoices and enlightens the
most secret parts of the soul ; for which way
soever he turns himself, he fancies he sees a
naked sword pointed at him ; so that, even
whilst he is at table, which is, generally
speaking, a place of mirth and joy, he is
racked with all kinds of fears, distrusts and jeal-
ousies, "and imagines he is just beginning the
day of darkness" (ver. 23), that is, the day
of death and judgment, and on which his last
sentence is to be passed on him. " He shall be
frightened with tribulation, and surrounded on
all sides with misery, as a king is with his
guards, when he is going into the field of
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349
battle;" ver. 24. This is the description which
Job's friend gives of the dreadful torments
those unhappy wretches sufiFer within ; for to
make use of. the saying of a philosopher,
" God, by his eternal law, has ordained that
fear should be the constant companion of the
wicked ;" which agrees very well with a sen-
tence of Solomon, who says, " that the wicked
man fleeth, when no man pursueth ; but the
just, bold as a lion, shall be without dread;"
Prov. xxviii. i. St. Augustine has the same
thing, in short, when he says, " Thou, O Lord I
hast commanded, that every soul that is irreg-
ular should be its own executioner, and we
find that it is so;" St. Aug. L,. i, Conf. c. 12.
There is nothing in nature that does not con-
vince us of this truth ; for can you tell me of
any thing in the world which is not disturbed
when out of its order? what sensible pain a
man feels if he has but a bone out of joint ?
what violence does the element suffer which
is out of its centre ? and what sickness does
not follow when the humors of our bodies are
out of their due proportion and temperament ?
Since, therefore, it is so natural to a rational
creature to live a a regular, orderly life, how
can its nature choose, but suffer and be uneasy
when life is irreg^ilar and contrary to reason ?
Job had a deal of reason to sa}', "Was there
ever any man that resisted God, and yet lived in
peace?" Job ix. 4. Upon which words, St.
Gregory says " that the order in which God
has disposed of all things for the continuing
and preserving of them in their being, is no
less the matter of our admiration than the
power with which he has created them ;" St.
Greg. Moral. L. 9, c. 12. Whence it follows
that no one can disturb the order of the Crea-
tor, without breaking that peace which he has
intended should be the effect of this order;
because it is impossible for any thing to be at
rest when it is out of the place where God had
put it. And thus we see, that those things
which were undisturbed, whilst they submitted
to the order of God, no sooner break oflf from
this subjection than they lose the peace they
enjoyed before. We have an example hereof
in our first parents and the fallen angels, who,
as soon as ever they disobeyed the will of
God, to follow their own, and went out of the
order he had put them in, were deprived of
their former happiness, and lost that content
they had before. And man, who, whilst he
continued obedient, was absolute over himself,
when he cast oflf that obedience, found a war
and rebellion within himself.
This is the torment the wicked, by
God's just judgment are perpetually racked
with, and of the greatest miseries they
can suflfer in this life, according to the opin-
ions of all the saints, amongst whom St. Am-
brose, in his Book of Offices, asks, " Is there
any greater torment in the world than the in-
ward remorse of a man's own conscience? Is
it not a misery we ought to fly more than
death itself, or the loss of our estates, our
health, or our liberty ?" L. iii. c. 4. And St.
Isidore tells us, " There is nothing in nature
which man cannot fly from but himself; for
let him run where he will, he will still carry
the sting of his own wicked conscience along
with him;" St. Isid. in St. L. ii. c. 36. The
same saint says in another place, " The greatest
punishment that can be inflicted is that of an
evil conscience ; if, therefore, you desire to live
in peace, follow virtue and piety ;" Idem, L. ii.
Sinom. c. 36. This is so undeniable a truth,
that the very heathen philosophers themselves
acknowledged it, though they neither knew nor
believed any thing of those pains, which our
faith teaches us the wicked are to suffer ; and
therefore, Seneca asks, "What avails it to fly
from the conversation of others ? A good con-
science calls all the world to witness for it,
whilst a bad one is always tormented, though
in the midst of a desert. If what you do be
good, you need not be ashamed to let the
whole world know it ; but if, on the contrary,
it be bad, what matter is it whether any body
knows it or not, as long as you know it yourself ?
Your condition will be miserable if you take
no notice of such an evidence, since every
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man's own conscience is as good as a thousand
witnesses;" Sen. Epist. 97. The same author
tells us, in another place, "That the severest
punishment which can be inflicted for any
crime is, the very committing of it ;" Epist. 98.
And he repeats the same elsewhere, saying,
" If you have been guilty of any crime, you
ought not to fear any witness that can come
against you so much as 3'our own self, because
you may find out some means or other to fly
from every body else, but you will never be
able to fly from 3'ourself, for every wicked
action you do is its own executioner;" Epist.
45. Cicero has something to the same pur-
pose, in one of his orations, where he says,
" There is nobody so able as a man's own con-
science is, either to cast or to acquit him ; and,
therefore, an innocent man is never afraid,
whilst the guilty lives always in apprehen-
sions;" St. Isid. in St. L. ii. c 36. This, there-
fore, is one of those torments which the wicked
are never free from : it begins in this life, and
will remain for all eternity in the next: it is
the never-dying worm, as Isaias (Ixvi. 24) calls
it, that shall never cease to gnaw the con-
sciences of the wicked. And it is in this sense
St. Isidore interprets those words of the psalm-
ist (Ps. xli. 8): "One abyss calls upon another;
that is," says he, " the wicked shall be carried
from the sentence which their own consciences
pass against them, to that of eternal damna-
tion;" St. Isid. in Sent. L. ii. c. 26.
§ I. Of the Peace of Conscience which Ihe Vir-
tuous enjoy. — Virtuous men are free from this
plague, because they are never tormented with
the stings of a bad conscience, but, on the con-
trary, enjoy the comforts they receive from the
sweet fruits of virtue, which the Holy Ghost has
planted in their souls, as in an earthly paradise
and a private garden in which he delights. So
St. Augustine terms it in his book on Genesis,
where he says, " The joy a good conscience gplves
a virtuous man is a true paradise " (Tom. iii.
Lib. 12, de Gen. ad lit. c. 34); and this is the
reason why the Church is called a paradise full
of all kinds of graces and innocent pleasures for
those who live justly, piously and temperately.
And the same saint, in his Method of instructing
the Ignorant, has these words : '' You who seek
after that true peace which is promised to Chris-
tians after death, assure yourself that it is to be
found amongst the bitter troubles and pains of
this life, if you will but love him that has made
you this promise, and will keep his command-
ments ; for you will soon find, by your own
experience, that the fruits of justice are much
sweeter than those of iniquity ; and you will
meet with a much more solid satisfaction from a
good conscience, amidst all your afflictions and
tribulations, than a bad conscience would ever
let you take, though in the very midst of delights
and pleasures ; " Lib. de Catech. rud. Hitherto
the words of the saint, which gives us to under-
stand that this comfort is of the nature of honey,
which is not only sweet itself, but makes those
things so, though of themselves unsavory, that
it is mixed with ; so a good conscience brings so
much peace along with it, that it makes the most
painful life sweet and easy. And as we have said
that the foulness and enormity of sin are*of them-
selves a torment to the wicked, so, on the con-
trary, the beauty and worth of virtue, without
any thing else, are comforts to the good : it is
what the holy prophet David expressly teaches
us, when he says, " The judgments of the Lord "
(that is, his holy commandments) " are true, justi-
fied in themselves. They are more to be desired
than gold and many precious stones, and are
sweeter than honey and the honey-comb ; "
Ps. xviii. 10, II. This holy prophet, who had
tasted how sweet they were, took no greater
pleasure in any thing than in the observance of
them, as he tells us himself in another psalm,
where he says, " I have taken pleasure in the way
of your commandments, as if they had been the
greatest riches in the world ; " Ps. cxviii. 14.
His son Solomon, in his book of Proverbs, is of
the same opinion ; for he says, " It is a pleasure
to a just man to do justice" (Prov. xxi. 15) ; that
is, to act virtuously, and to do his duty. Though
there are several causes for this joy, yet it pro-
ceeds chiefly from the bare splendor and bright-
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
351
ness of virtue, which, according to Plato, is most
incomparably fair and beautiful. In fine, the
advantages and delights which a good conscience
brings are such, that St. Ambrose, in his Book
of Offices, makes the happiness of the just in this
life depend on it ; and, therefore, he says, " The
brightness of virtue is so great, that the peace of
conscience and the assurance of our own inno-
cence are enough to make our lives pleasant and
happy ; " St. Amb. L. ii. de Off. c. i.
The ancient philosophers were no less ac-
quainted, by the bare light of nature, with the
comfort that proceeds from a good conscience,
than they were with the disturbances which
attended a bad one ; as we may see by Cicero,
who, in his Tusculan Questions, says thus :
" The life which is spent in actions of honor and
virtue is accompanied with so much satisfaction
and pleasure, that they who pass away their time
thus, either never feel any trouble at all, or, if
they do, it is very light and insignificant;'' L.
8, Tuscus. He repeats almost the same thing
in another place, and says, " That virtue can
find no theatre, either more public or more
honorable, than the testimony of a good con-
science ; " Id. Ibid. Socrates, being asked who
could live free from passion, immediately made
answer, " A virtuous man." And Bias, another
famous philosopher, being asked who, in this
world, was free from fears and apprehensions,
answered, " A good conscience." Seneca, in one
of his Epistles, writes thus : " A wise man is
always cheerful, and his cheerfulness comes
from a good conscience ; " Epist. 23. So that
you .see how these philosophers were of the same
opinion in this matter with Solomon, who says,
" All the days of the poor man are evil ; " that is
to say, tedious and troublesome; "but a secure
mind is a perpetual feast ; " Prov. xv. 14. It is
impossible for man to say more in a few words :
by which we are to understand that, as he who
is invited to a feast is pleased with a variety of
dishes, and with the company of his friends that
are invited, so the just man is delighted with the
testimony of a good conscience, and with the
sweetness of the divine presence, having such
good ground to believe that God is in his soul.
But yet there is this difference between these
delights, that the pleasure a man has in a feast
is but earthly, and transitory ; whereas this other
is heavenly, eternal and noble. The one begins
with hunger, and ends with distaste and loathing;
but the other begins with a virtuous life, is pre-
served and continued by perseverance, and ends '
with eternal honor and glory. Now, if the philos-
opher, who had no hopes of any reward after his
life, had such an esteem for the pleasure which a
good conscience gives, at what rate ought a Chris-
tian to value it, who knows very well what re-
wards God has prepared for him in tbe next life,
and with what favors he honors him even in this ?
And though this assurance ought not to be quite
void of a holy and religious fear, j^etthis is such
a fear as does not dismay, but rather strengthens
him that has it, after a wonderful manner ;
because it tells him inwardly, that his confidence
is then more secure and profitable, when it is
tempered with, and kept in awe by, this whole-
some fear, and that, if he had no fear at all, it
would no longer be a confidence, but false secu-
rity and presumption.
You see here another privilege which the virtu-
ous enjoy, and which the Apostle speaks of, when
he says. Our glory is the teslimony 0/ our con-
science, that we have lived in simplicity of heart,
and in true sincerity, not according to the wis-
dom of the world; 2 Cor. i. 12.
This is almost all that is to be said of the great-
ness of this privilege ; but neither what I have
said, nor what I am able to say, can discover its
excellence to him that has never had any experi-
ence of it ; for how can any one explain the de-
liciousness of a meat to any one who has never
tasted it? This joy is,, in effect, so great, that
often, when a virtuous man is afflicted, and can
find no ease which way soever he casts his eyes,
yet, if he but reflect on himself, he is immedi-
ately comforted with the consideration of the
peace and quiet he finds in his own conscience.
For he knows, that as for the rest, let it go which
way it will, it is no matter to him ; this is the
only thing he has to look after. And though,
352
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
as I have said already, he cannot have au evident
knowledge of his innocence, nevertheless, as the
sun, in a morning, enlightens the world before
we see it, by its advance toward us, so the testi-
mony which a good conscience gives a just man,
is a comfort to his soul, though this knowledge
is not sufficiently clear and evident. This is so
true, that St. Chrysostom, speaking of the same
thing, says, " Let a man be ever so melancholy,
if he have but a good conscience, all his trouble
vanishes like a spark of fire that is extinguished
when it falls into a great river;" Horn. lo, in <?,
ad Corinth, c. 3, and Hon. 54, in Matt. c. 16.
CHAPTER XVII.
OF THE SIXTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE. VIZ., THE HOPES THE JUST HAVE IN GOD'S MERCY. AND
OF THE VAIN CONFIDENCE OF THE V/ICKED.
HEcomfortof a good conscience is always
accompanied with that particular hope
virtuous men live in : of which the
Apostle saj'S, " That they comfort them-
selves up with hopes, and are patient in their
tribulations" (Rom. xii. 12); advising us to
make our hope the subject of our joy, and, in
virtue of the same, to sufiFer with patience what-
ever crosses may happen, assuring us that God
himself is our assistance, and the reward of our
sufferings. This one of the greatest treasures
of a Christian life : these are the riches, this the
inheritance of the children of God ; it is the com-
mon haven against all the storms of this life, and
the best remedy we have against all our miseries.
But not to deceive ourselves, we must observe
here, that, as there are two sorts of faith, the one,
a dead faith, which performs no actions of life,
and is that which bad Christians have ; the other,
a lively one, the effect of charity, by which the
just perform the actions of life ; so there are two
sorts of hope, the one a dead hope, which neither
enlivens the soul, nor assists her in her operations,
nor comforts her in her troubles ; such a hope
as the wicked have ; the other is a lively hope^ as
St. Peter calls it (i Pet. i. 3); because it pro-
duces the effects of life, as those things do which
have life in them ; that is, because it encourages,
enlivens and strengthens us, in our way to
heaven, and gives us breath and confidence amidst
all the dangers and troubles of this world. Such
a hope as this the chaste Susanna had, of whom
we read (Dan. xiii. 42, 43); that after she was
condemned to die, and as they were leading her
through the streets, to be stoned to death, yet
her heart trusted and confided in God. David
had such a confidence, when he said, " Be mind-
ful, O Lord, of thy word to thy servant, in which
thou hast given me hope. This hath comforted
me in my humiliation ; because thy word hath
enlivened me;" Ps. cxviii. 49, 50.
This hope works many and very wonderful
effects in the souls of those who are filled with
it ; and that in a greater measure, by how much
the more it partakes of charity and the love of
God, which gives it life. The first of these effects
is to encourage man to continue in the way of
virtue ; in hopes of the reward he is to receive ;
for as all the saints testify, the surer man is of
his reward, the more willing he is to run through
all the miseries of this world. St. Gregory says,
" Hope is so strong as to be able to lift up our
hearts to the joys of heaven, and to make us
quite insensible to the miseries of this mortal
life;" Moral, i. xvi. c. 13. Origen says, "The
hope of future glory gives those persons much
ease, who are toiling in this life for obtaining it :
as we see the hopes of victory, and of reward, miti-
gate the pains of the wounds the soldier receives
in war." St. Ambrose says, "An assured hope of
reward makes toil seem less, and lessens the appre-
hensions of dangers ; " St. Ambr. in Ps. xii. St
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HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
353
Jerome says, "Any labor seems light and easy when
we put a value on the reward ; because the hopes
of what we are to receive make us think there is
no trouble in what we have undertaken;" Epist.
ad Demet. c. 9. St. Chrysostom is much fuller
on this matter : " If," says he, " a tempestuous sea
is not able to frighten seamen, if the hard frosts
and violent rains of winter are no discouragements
to the husbandman, if neither wounds nor death
itself can daunt the soldier, and if neither falls
nor blows can dishearten the wrestler, whilst
they think of the deceitful hopes of what they
propose to themselves for the reward of their
toils and labors ; how much less ought they, who
aspire to the kingdom of heaven, to take any
notice of the difficulties they may meet with in
their journey thither! Therefore, O Christian,
consider not that the way of virtue is rugged and
uneven, but reflect on what it will lead you to;
and do not, on the contrary, falsely persuade
yourself, that the path of vice is smooth and
pleasant, but think of the precipice it will bring
you to ; " St. Chrys. Hom. 18, in Genes. O, how
true is every word this great saint speaks ! for
will any man be so mad, as willingly to follow a
path that is strewed with flowers, if he is to die
when he comes to the end of it ? And who is
there that will refuse to take another that is
rugged and uneasy, if it leads to life and happi-
ness ?
Nor does this hope serve only for attaining so
happy an end, but assists us in the means that
that tend to it, and in bearing with all the mise-
ries and necessities of this life. For it is this
that supports a man in tribulation, that defends
him in danger, that comforts him in afflictions,
that assists him in sickness, and supplies all his
necessities and wants, because it is by means of
this virtue that he obtains mercy from God, who
helps us on all occasions. We have evident
proofs of this throughout the Holy Scripture, but
particularly in the Psalms ; so that there is scarce
any one of them wherein the royal prophet does
not highly commend this virtue, and speak of its
wonderful effects and advantages, as being, with-
out doubt, one of the greatest treasures and
»3
comforts the virtuous can possibly enjoy in this
life. To prove this, I will make use of a few
passages of the Scriptures, but shall be forced to
pass by many more than I can be able to quote.
The prophet Hanani tells king Asa, " The eyes ,
of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength
to them that with a pure heart trust in him ; " 2 ,
Paral. xvi. 9. The prophet Jeremias says, " The
Lord is good to those that hope in him, and to
the soul that seeks after him." And in another
place it is said, that " the Lord is good, he
strengthens his servants in the day of tribulation,
and knows all those that hope in him " (Nahum
i. 7); that is, he takes care to relieve and assist
them. Isaias says, " If you will return to me,
and rest in me, you shall be safe ; your strength
shall be in silence and hope ; " Isa. xxx. 15. By
silence is to be understood here, the inward rest
which the soul enjoys amidst all her troubles :
now this rest is nothing else but the particular
effect of this hope, which banishes all kind of
solicitude and immoderate trouble by the favor it
expects from the mercy of God. The book of
Ecclesiasticus says (ii. 8, 9, 11), "You who fear
the Lord, put your trust in him, and you shall
not lose your reward. You who fear the Lord,
hope in him, and his mercy will be your delight
and comfort. Consider, O ye children, all the
nations of the world, and know that nobody ever
yet hoped in the Lord and has been confounded."
Solomon's advice to us, in his Proverbs, is this :
" In all your ways think of the Lord, and he will
direct all your steps ; " Prov. iii. 6. The prophet
David says, in one of his psalms, " Let those who
know thy name, O Lord, hope in thee, because
thou hast never forsaken those that seek thee ; "
Ps. ix. II. And in another psalm, he says, "I.
have put my hope, O Lord, in thee, and there- '
fore I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy ; " Ps.
xxx. 7, 8. And in another place he says,
" Mercy shall surround him that puts his trust
in the Lord; " Ps. xxxi. 10. He has much rea-
son to say, shall surround, to let us know that he
shall be surrounded on all sides with this mercy
as a king is with his guards, for the security of
his person. He treats this subject more at large
354
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
in another psalm, where he says, " With expec-
tation I have waited for the Lord, and he was
attentive to me. And he heard my prayers and
brought me out of the pit of misery, and out of
the mud which I stuck in. And he set my feet
upon a rock, and directed my steps. And has
put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our
God. Many shall see this, and shall fear, and
they shall hope in the Lord. Blessed is the man
whose trust is in the name of the Lord ; and who
has turned his eyes from vanities and deceitful
follies." Ps. xxxix. 1-7. From these words we
may learn another extraordinary effect of this
virtue, which is to open a man's mouth and eyes,
that he may be sensible, by his own experience,
of the fatherly tenderness of God, and may sing
a new song with a new delight, for the new favor
he has received, to wit, the assistance he
hoped for. If we were to cite all the verses in
the Psalms, nay, and all the entire psalms that
treat on the subject, we should never have done;
for the whole psalm which begins, " They who
trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion," is to this
purpose ; Ps. cxxiv. Heb. cxxv. And so is the
psalm which begins, " He who dwells in the
secret place of the Most High ; " Ps. xc. Heb.
xci. They neither of them speak of any thing
else but the extraordinary advantages of those
who put their trust in God, and live under his
protection. For this reason, St. Bernard, writing
on these words of the psalm, " O Lord, thou art
my refuge," speaks thus : " Whatever I am to
do, or whatever I am to omit, whatever I am to
suffer, or whatever I am to desire, you, O Lord,
are my hope. It is this hope that makes you
perform every thing you have promised, and it is
you that are the chief cause of this hope of mine.
lyCt another allege the good works he has done,
and please himself with having undergone all the
heat and burden of the day ; let him say, with
the Pharisee, that he has fasted twice a week,
and that he is not as other men ; I, for my part,
will cry out with the prophet, "It is good for me to
cleave to the Lord, and to put my trust in God ;"
Ps. Ixxii. 28. If any one promises me a reward,
it is by your mercy alone that I shall hope to
obtain it ; if any one should make war against me,
my hopes of overcoming shall be in you. Should
the world set on me, should the devil roar at me,
should the flesh rebel against the spirit, I will
hope in none but you. Since, therefore, the
Lord is alone able to assist us, why do we not
banish immediately out of our hearts all these
vain and deceitful hopes ? And why do not we,
with fervor and devotion, stick to so secure a
hope as this is ? The saint, immediately after,
has these words : " Faith says, God has laid up
inestimable benefits for those that serve him
faithfully; but Hope says, it is for me that keeps
them; and as if this were not enough, Charity
cries out, I will hasten and take possession of
them;" St. Bern. Serm. 9. Ps. xc. 2.
Behold how advantageous this virtue is, and
how necessary on several occasions. It is like a
secure haven which the just put in at in bad
weather ; it is like a strong shield to keep off
the attempts of the world ; it is like a magazine
of corn in time of famine, whither the poor resort
to relieve their wants ; it is the tent and shade
which God promises his elect, by the prophet
Isaias, to shelter them from the burning heats of
summer, and from the storms and tempests of
winter; that is, from the prosperity and ad-
versity of this world. To conclude, it is
a universal remedy for all our evil, be-
cause it is certain that whatsoever we hope
with justice, faith and prudence to receive from
God, we shall not fail of obtaining it, provided it
is for our good. For which reason, St. Cyprian
says, " that God's mercy is a fountain of healing
waters, that hope is a vessel to receive them, and
that the cure will be proportioned to the large-
ness of the vessel ; for if we consider the foun-
tain, it is impossible it should be ever dried iip."
So that as God himself told the children of Israel
(Josu. i. 3), that whatever place they did but so
much as set their foot on, it should be theirs ; so,
as much mercy as man shall put his confidence
in, shall be his own. So that, according to this,
he who, inspired by God, shall hope for all things,
shall accordingly obtain all things. Thus, this
hope seems to be a resemblance of the divine
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
355
virtue and power which redounds to the honor of
God. For, as St. Bernard very well observes,
" nothing so much discovers the omnipotence of
God, as that we see he is not only almighty him-
self, but that he in some manner makes all those
so who hope in him;" Serm, 85, in Cant. Did
not Josue partake of that omnipotence, who from
the earth commanded the sun to stand still in
the firmament? Josu. x. 13. Nor was his power
less, who bid king Ezechias choose which he
would, either to have the sun go back or advance
so many degrees ; 4 Kings xx. 9, 11 ; Isa. xxxviii.
8. It is his giving his servant such power as this,
that promotes the greatness of his glory in a
particular manner; for if Nebuchodonosor, the
great king of the Assyrians, valued himself on
having so many princes to obey and serve him,
that were kings as well as he, how much more
reason has Almighty God to glorify himself, and
say that those who serve him are in some meas-
ure gods, inasmuch as he communicates so much
of his power to them.
§ I. Of the vain Hopes of the Wicked. — You
see here what a vast treasure the virtuous enjoy,
whilst the wicked have no share of it ; because,
though they have not entirely lost all hope, yet
what they have is only a dead one ; because it is
deprived of its life, so that it cannot work any of
those effects on them which we have spoken of.
For as nothing enlivens hope so much as a good
conscience, so nothing ruins it more than a bad
one, because it generally walks in dread and fear,
as being sensible how unworthy it is of the
Almighty's grace. So that distrust and fear are
the inseparable companions of a bad conscience,
as the shadow is of the body. By which it
appears, that such as man's happiness is, such is
his confidence ; for as he places his happiness in
worldly treasures, so his trust is in them, because
all his glory is in them, and it is to them he has
recourse in time of affliction. The book of Wis-
dom takes notice of this kind of hope ; where it is
said, that " the hope of the wicked is like a flock
of wool, which is blown away by the wind, and
like a light foam which is scattered by the waves,
and like a cloud of smoke which vanishes in the
air ;" ch. v. 15. Judge by this how vain such a
hope must be.
Nor is this all ; for it is not only an unprofit-
able but a prejudicial and deceitful hope, as God
himself has declared to us by the prophet Isaias,
saying, " Woe to you, children, that have for-
saken your Father, who have taken counsel, but
not of me, who have begun a web, but not in my
spirit, that you might add sin to sin. You have
sent into Egypt for help without consulting me,
expecting help from Pharao's forces, and putting
your trust in the protection of Egypt. But Pha-
rao's strength shall turn to your confusion, and
the trust which you placed in Egypt's protection
shall be to your disgrace. All those that have
trusted in the prople have been confounded,
because they could neither help them nor do
them any good ; on the contrary, they have put
them to greater shame and confusion ;" Isa. xxxi.
I, 3. These are the prophet's own words, who,
not thinking that he has said enough, yet con-
tinues in the next chapter to make the same
reproach to them, saying, " Woe to those that go
down for help into Egypt, placing their trust in
their horses, and confiding in their chariots,
because they are many, and in their horses,
because they are very strong, who have not their
hope in the Holy of Israel, nor sought after the
Lord. For the Egyptian is a man and no God,
and their horses are flesh and not spirit ; and the
Lord will stretch out his hand; and both he that
assists and he that assisted shall fall, and they
shall be all destroyed together;" Isa. xxxi. i, 3.
See here the difference there is between the
hope of the just and that of the wicked; for
the hope the wicked have is that of the flesh;
but the spirit, that of the just. Or, if this
does not thoroughly express it, man is the
hope of the wicked, whilst the hope of the just
is God; by which it appears that there is the
same difference between these two hopes, that
there is between God and man. It is on
this account the psalmist, with a deal of reason,
advises us to beware of the one, and invites
us to the other, with these words : " Put not
your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men,
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HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
in whom there is no salvation. Their life
shall have no end, and they shall return to
the earth out of which they have been created,
and then all their designs shall perish. Happy
is the man who has the God of Jacob for to
help him, and whose hope is in the Lord his
God, who created heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that is in them." Ps. clxv. 3, 4, 5.
Here we plainly see how different these two
hopes are. The same prophet expresses it
again in another psalm, where he says, " Our
enemies have relied upon their chariots and
their horses ; but as for us, we will call upon
the name of the Lord our God. They have
been taken and are fallen, but we have risen
and stand upright ; " Ps. xix. 8, 9. Consider
now how the effects of their hopes are propor-
tioned, to what they are founded on, since ruin
and destruction are the consequences of the
one, and victory and honor of the other.
For this reason, they who rely on the first
of these hopes are rightly compared to the
man in the gospel, who built his house on
the sand, which was beat down by the first
storm that arose ; but they who rely on the
other, are like him that built his house on a
firm rock, so that neither winds nor waves,
nor any tempests whatever, were able to shake
it; Matt. vii. 24, 25, 26, 27. The prophet
Jeremy explains this same difference by a
very proper comparison: "Cursed be the man
that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his
arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
For he shall be like tamarick in the desert,
and he shall not see when good shall come;
but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert,
in a salt land and not inhabited ;" Jer. xlii.
5, 6. But speaking immediately after of the
just, he says, " Blessed be the man that trust-
eth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his
confidence. And he shall be as a tree that
is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out
its root towards moisture; and it shall not
fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf
thereof shall be green, and in the time of
drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall
it cease at any time to bring forth fruit;"
Ibid. ver. 7, 8. Now what more need be
said, were men in their right senses, to show
how different the condition of the virtuous is
from that of the wicked, and how much more
happy they are than these, on the bare
account of hope itself. Is it possible for a
tree to flourish better in any place, than
in such a one as the prophet has here
represented? it fares exactly after the same
manner with a virtuous man, for there is
nothing imaginable but what goes well with
him, because he is planted near the streams of
the waters of divine grace. But, on the other
hand, it is impossible for a tree to be in a
worse condition, than to branch all out into
wood, and to bear no fruit, because of its being
set in a bad ground, and in a place where no
one can come to prune it. This may convince
the wicked, that it is their greatest misery to
turn away their eyes and hearts from God, who
is the fountain of living waters, to fix them
on creatures, and to rely on their assistance,
who are themselves so weak, and so deceitful,
and may be truly called, " a dry, barren and
uninhabitable land." By this we may see how
much the world deserves our tears, being
planted in so bad a soil, as having placed its
hope in things that are so unable to assist it,
if that may be called a hope, which is in itself
so far from being so, that it is, on the contrary,
nothing but confusion and deceit.
What misery is to be compared with this ?
Can there be any greater poverty, than to live
without this hope ? For if sin has reduced man
to such a low condition, that he can find no
relief, but from the hope he has in God's mercy,
what will become of him, if this anchor, which
is the only support left him, should fail ? We
see all other creatures are in their way perfect
at their birth, and provided with all things
necessary for the preservation of their being.
Man, on the contrary, by reason of sin, comes
in such an imperfect manner into the world,
that he has scarce any thing in himself that
he stands in need of. but requires that e^ery
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357
thing should be brought to him, and lives on
the alms which Almighty God's mercy dis-
tributes. If, therefore, he were destitute of
this means, what kind of life would his be,
but an imperfect and defective one, subject to
a thousand miseries and wants ? What is it
else, but to live without hope, to live without
God ? What, therefore, has man left of his
ancient patrimony to live on, if this support
be taken from him ? Is there any nation in
the world so barbarous as not to have some
knowledge of a God, as not to pay some
kind of honor and worship to him, or to hope
for some favor from his providential care?
When Moses had been absent but for a little
while from the children of Israel, they
imagined they were without their God ; and
being as yet very raw and ignorant, they imme-
diately cried out to Aaron to make them a
God, because they were afraid to go on any
farther without one. By which it appears,
that man is taught by nature that there must
of necessity be a God, though he is not always
so happy as to know the true, and that he is sen-
sible of his own weakness, though he is at the
same time ignorant of the cause of it, and, there-
fore, runs naturally to God for a remedy
against it. So that, as the ivy seeks some
tree to support it, that so it may creep upward,
not being able to support itself, and as woman nat-
urally has recourse to the assistance and protec-
tion of man, her own imperfection telling her she
wants his help, so human nature, being reduced
to the utmost extremity, seeks after God to
defend and protect her. And since nothing is
more evident than this, what kind of life must
those men live, who are unhappily neglected
and forsaken by God ?
I would willingly know of those who are in
such a condition, who it is that comforts them in
their afflictions ; to whom they have recourse in
dangers ; who looks after them when they are
sick ; to whom they can discover their ailments ;
whom they consult in their difficult affairs ; with
whom they hold a correspondence, with whom
they converse, and whom they desire to assist
in all their necessities ; with whom they dis-
course, lie down and rise. In short, how can
they, who are deprived of this help, get out of
the confusion and disturbances of this life ? If
a body cannot live without a soul, how is it
possible for a soul to live without God, who is
as absolutely necessary for preserving the life
of a soul, as the soul is for preserving that of
the body ? And if, as we have said before, a
lively hope is the anchor of life, what man
will be so rash as to venture out into the
stormy sea of this world, without carrying
this anchor along with him ? If hope is
the shield with which we are to defend our-
selves against our enemies, how can men
dare to go without that shield into the very
midst of so many foes? If hope is the staff
that has supported human nature ever since
the general distemper wherewith our first par-
ents infected it, where will feeble and impotent
man be, if he has not this staff to keep him up?
We have here sufficiently explained the
difference there is between the hope of the good
and that of the bad, and consequently between
the condition of the one and the other? for the
one has God to protect and defend him, whilst
the other puts his trust in the staff of Egypt^
which, if he venture to lean on, will break and
run into his hand; because the very sin man
commits, in placing his confidence there, is
enough to make God let him know, by his own
fall, how foolishly he has deceived himself : as
he has declared by the prophet Jeremy, who^
foretelling the destruction of the kingdom of
Moab, and the occasion of it, uses these words r
" Because you have put your trust in fortifi-
cations and in your riches, you yourself shall
be taken; and Chamos," which is the god in
which you have trusted, " shall be carried into
captivity, with his priests, and with his princes ;'*
Jer. xliv. 7. Consider now, what a kind of
succor this must be, since the very seeking
and trusting in it is certain ruin and destruc-
tion.
This shall suffice to show how great a privi-
lege this of hope is ; and though it may seem.
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to be the same with the particular providence we
have treated of already, which God extends
towards those that serve and love him, there is
yet as much difference between them as is
between the effect and its cause. For though
there are several causes and beginnings of this
hope, as the goodness and truth of God, the
merits of our Saviour, and the rest ; however,
his paternal providence, from which this confi-
dence proceeds, is one of the chief, because the
knowledge that God has such particular care
over him is the cause of this confidence in
man.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OF THE SEVENTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, VIZ., THE TRUE LIBERTY WHICH THE VIRTUOUS ENJOY,
AND OF THE MISERABLE AND UNACCOUNTABLE SLAVERY THE WICKED LIVE iN.
ROM all the above-mentioned privi-
leges, but particularly from the second
and fourth, which are the grace of the
Holy Ghost, and the divine consolation,
there arises another extraordinary one, which
virtuous men enjoy, and is the true liberty of the
soul; it is what the Son of God brought into
the world with him; and it is on this account
that he is called the Redeemer of ?nan kind ^ for
having delivered it out of that real and miser-
able bondage it had so long lived under, and
having set it in perfect liberty. This is one of
the greatest favors our Saviour has bestowed
on us, one of the most remarkable advantages
of the Gospel, and one of the chief effects of
the Holy Ghost. " For," as the Apostle says,
"wheresoever the spirit of the Lord resides,
there liberty is to be found;" i Cor. iii. 17. It
is, in fine, one of the noblest rewards God
promises those who serve him in this life.
And it was this our Saviour himself promises
to some persons who had a mind to begin to
enter into his service, when he said to them,
" If you continue in my word, you shall be my
disciples indeed. And you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free;" that
is to say, shall give you a true liberty. To
which they answered: "We are the seed of
Abraham, and we have never been slaves to
any man ; how sayest thou. You shall be free ?
Jesus answered them, Amen, amen, I say unto
you, that whosoever committeth sin is the ser-
vant of sin. Now the servant abideth not in
the house forever: but the son abideth for
ever. If, therefore, the son shall make you free,
you shall be free indeed;" John viii. 31, 32, 33,
34, 35, 36.
Our Saviour by these words gives us plainly
to understand, that there are two sorts of
liberty; the one false, which, though it looks
like liberty, is not so ; the other true, which is
what it appears to be. As for the false one,
it belongs to those persons who, though their
bodies are free, have put their souls under the
arbitrary government of every passion ; like
Alexander the Great, who, after having made
himself master of the whole world, was a slave
to his own vices. But the true liberty is
enjoyed by them alone, whose souls are free
from the yoke of such tyrants, though their
bodies may sometimes perhaps be prisoners, and
sometimes at large, as was St. Paul's, who,
notwithstanding his imprisonment, soared up
to heaven in spirit, and by his preaching and
doctrine set the whole world free.
The reason why we v/ith so much freedom
call this liberty, and not the other, is, because,
since of those two principal parts which com-
pose a man, to wit, the body and soul, the soul
is beyond all comparison the most noble, and,
as it were, man's all ; whereas the body is
nothing but the matter and subject, or the case
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359
the soul is shut up in ; it necessarily follows,
that he who has the best part of him at lib-
erty, may be said to be truly free, whilst he
whose better part is under confinement, enjoys
but a false liberty, though he has the free dis-
posal of his body, and may carry it where he
pleases.
§ I. Of the Slavery of the Wicked. — Should
you ask me. Whose slave is he, who is under
such confinement ? I answer, he is a slave to
the most hideous tyrant we can possibly rep-
resent to ourselves ; I mean, to sin. For hell's
torments being the most abominable thing, sin
must of necessity be yet more abominable, in-
asmuch as these torments are but the efiect
of it. It is to this the wicked pay their slav-
ish homage, as appears plainly from the words
of our Saviour so lately cited : " Whosoever is
guilty of sin is a slave to sin ;" John viii. 34.
And can a man possibly be oppressed with a
more deplorable slavery than this is ?
Nor is he a slave to sin only, but, what is
still worse, to those who incite him to it, that
is, to the world, the devil, and his own flesh,
depraved by sin, and to every disorderly appe-
tite the flesh is the occasion of ; for he who is
a slave to the son must be a slave to his
parents. Now there is none of us but knows,
that these three are the parents of sin, and on
this account they are styled "the enemies of
the soul," because they are so prejudicial to it,
as to take it prisoner, and to put it under the
power of such a cruel tyrant as sin is.
But though these three ^gree in this point,
yet there is some kind of a difierence in their
manner of proceeding; for the two first make use
•of the third, which is the flesh, like another Eve,
for the deceiving of Adam, or like a spur to
drive him on to all manner of mischief. For this
reason the Apostle calls it sin, as it were by excel-
lence, giving the name of the effect to the cause,
because there is no manner of sin whatever,
which it does not tempt us to. The divines,
on the same account, term it fomes peccati, that
is, the bait and the nourishment of sin, because it
serves, instead of wood and oil, to keep in and
increase the fire of sin. But the name we gen-
erally call it by is sensuality, flesh or concupis-
cence, which, to speak more plainly, is nothing
else, but our sensual appetite, the cause of all
our passions, as it is spoiled and corrupted by
sin, it being the incentive and provocative, nay,
and the very source of all manner of vices.
This it is, particularly, that makes our other;
two enemies ernploy our sensual appetite as
their instrument for the carrying on of the war
against us. It was this that gave St. Basil
occasion to say, " that our own desires are the
chief arms with which the devil fights against
us ; because the immoderate afiiection we have
for whatever we desire, makes us endeavor to
possess it right or wrong, and break through
all that lies in our way, though forbid by the
law of God ; and from hence all sins take their
rise and origin; " St. Bas. Hom. 23, de non
adher. reb. ssecularibus.
This appetite is one of the greatest tyrants
the wicked are subject to, and by which, the
Apostle says, they are made slaves ; and, though
he calls them slaves, he does not mean that they
have lost that free-will with which they were
created ; because this never was nor ever will
be lost, as to its essence, though man commit
ever so many sins ; but that 'sin, on the one side,
has so weakened this free-will, and on the other
lent such forces to the appetite, that the stronger,
generally speaking, prevails over the weaker.
Besides, what greater subject of grief can we
have than to see man, whose soul is created
according to God's own image, who is enlight-
ened from heaven, and has an understanding
so subtile as to fly above all created beings,
and to contemplate God himself; it is, I say,
a deplorable thing to consider that this soul
should take no notice of all these noble quali-
ties, but let herself be governed by the blind
impulse of her beastly appetite, which has
been corrupted by sin, and hurried on by the
devil ? What must a man expect from such
a government, and from such directions, but
dangers, calamities, and all kinds of unparal-
leled misfortunes?
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I will give you a clear prospect of the de-
formity of this slavery, by an example which
comes home to our present business. Repre-
sent to yourself a man married to a woman
that is as noble, as beautiful and as prudent
as possibly woman can be ; and that this for-
tunate man should, at the same time, have a
servant, a most deformed creature, and a mere
sorceress, who, envying her master's happiness,
should give him a potion, so to pervert all his
senses, that, despising his wife, and shutting her
tip in some corner of the house, he should give
himself over to this lewd servant of his, make her
the companion of his bed, and of all his pleas-
ures ; should consult her on the management of
his aflfairs and family, and follow her advice in
all things : nay, to please her, should, at her
command, squander away his whole estate in
entertainments, feasting, revelling and such kind
of delights ; and should, besides all this, come
to such a pitch of madness as to oblige
his wife to wait on this wicked woman, and to
obey all her commands. Can any one persuade
himself a man should ever be guilty of such
folly ? Who would not be astonished at such
madness ? What indignation would he be in
against this wicked woman, what pity would
he take on this poor injured lady, and how
would he cry out against this blind and senseless
husband ? We should look on this action as
base and infamous, and yet it is nothing in
comparison of what we are now treating of; for
you are to understand that we ourselves have
these two different women, to wit, the spirit and
the flesh, within our own souls, which the
divines, in other terms, call the " superior " and
the "inferior" part; the superior part of our
soul is that in which reside the will and reason,
which is that natural light God bestowed on
us at our creation. This reason is so beautiful
and noble that it makes man like God, capable
of enjoying him, and unites him by a brotherly
love to the very angels. It is the noble
woman to whom God has married man,
that they may live together, and that he may
follow its counsel and actions in all things ; that
is to say, that he may let himself be guided by
that celestial light, which is reason. But as
for the inferior part of the soul, it is taken up
by the sensual appetite, which we have already
spoken of, and which has been given us for no
other end but the desiring of things necessary
for the support of our lives, and for the pre-
servation of mankind. But this is to be done
according to the rule which reason prescribes,
as a ^ood steward would do, who makes no
provision at all but what his master bids him.
This appetite, therefore, is the slave we have
all this while been treating ; nor is it fit to be
a guide, because it wants the light of reason,
and on that account must itself be directed by
another. But man, on the contrary, has been
so unhappy as to place such an immoderate
affection on, and to give himself over entirely
to, the satisfying of this wicked woman's lusts,
that he has taken no notice of the suggestions
of reason, by which he should have guided
himself, but has in all things followed the
directions of his appetite, and made it his whole
business to satisfy every irregular desire. For
we see there are some men so sensual, so unruly,
and so abandoned to the desires of their own
hearts, that there is scarce any thing they pro-
pose but immediately they, like beasts, pursue
it, without any respect either to the laws of
justice or of reason. And what is this but
giving themselves up to the flesh, which is the
deformed, loathsome slave, and following all
those sensual pleasures she has an inclination
to, and despising the advice of that noble and
lawful wife, which is our reason !
But, what is still more intolerable, they are not
satisfied with using this lady so basely, but will
force her to serve this wretched slave, and to
make it her whole business, day and night, to
think of, and to procure whatever may serve
for the satisfying of her base desires. For when
a man employs all his wit and senses about
nothing in the world but inventing new fash-
ions in his dress, in his buildings, and in his
table and diet, for the pleasing of his palate, in
the furniture of his house, and in continually
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361
thinking of new means and devices for raising
up money to compass these things ; what does
he else but take the soul off from those spirit-
ual exercises which are more suitable to the
excellence of her nature, and make her a mere
drudge to that creature who ought to have
done the same offices for her? When a man
that is passionately in love with a woman,
uses all the wit he has in writing love-letters,
and in composing songs and poems, and such
other practices as are usual in those cases ;
what does he in all this but make the mistress
wait on the maid, by employing this divine light
in contriving means to satisfy the impure desires
of the flesh ? When king David used so many
slights to cover the sin he had committec
in secret with Bathsheba; sending for her
husband out of the camp, inviting him to
supper, making him drunk, and afterwards
giving him letters to the camp, with pri-
vate orders to Joab to put him in the very heat
of the engagement, that so the innocent man
might be taken out of the way (2 Kings xi.);
who was contriver of this chain of wickedness
but reason and the understanding? And who
was it that tempted them to it but the wicked
flesh, to cloak her fault, and to enjoy her
delights with more security? Seneca, though
a heathen and a philosopher, too, blushed at
these things ; and, therefore, used to say, " It
is beneath me, who have been bom to some-
thing that is great, to be a slave to my own
flesh ; " Sen. Epist. 65. If we should be aston-
ished at the stupidity of that man so bewitched,
how much more reason have we to be concerned
at this disorder, which is the occasion pf our
being deprived of much greater benefits, and
of our falling into more deplorable misfortunes ?
Now, though this be so frequent and so
monstrous a disorder, we take little notice of
it, and no one is surprised at it, because the
world is so disorderly. " For," as St. Bernard
says, " we are not sensible of the stench of our
crimes, because the number of them is too
great ; " Bern. Ep. ad Fratres de Monte Dei.
For, as no one is affronted to be called a
Moor in those countries where every one is
as black as himself; and as no one thinks it a
disgrace to be drunk, notwithstanding the filthi-
ness of the sin, where drunkenness is in fashion ;
so, this disorder being general, there is scarce
any one that looks on it as he ought to do.
From what has been said, we may see how
unhappy a slavery this is ; and not only that, !
but what dreadful torments man must expect
in punishment of his sins, which have delivered
up so noble a creature into the hands of so
cruel a tyrant. The author of Ecclesiasticus
looked on it as such, when he prayed to God
" that he would deliver him from the inordi-
nate desires of sensuality, and from the con-
cupiscence of the flesh ; and that he would not
give him over to a shameless and unbridled
soul " (Eccl. xxiii. 6); as if he begged not to
be delivered up into the hands of some cruel
tyrant or executioner, looking on his irregular
appetite as such.
§ II. — If you would now be acquainted with
the power of this tyrant, you may easily gather
it, by observing what effects he has wrought
in the world in all ages. I will not, to this
purpose, represent to you the fictions of the
poets, or set before you the example of their
famous Hercules, who, after having killed or
tamed all the monsters in the world, was him-
self at last so subdued by the unchaste love of
a woman as to lay down his club for a distaff,
and to leave his adventures to sit and spin
amongst a company of maids, in compliance to
his haughty mistress' commands. It is a
pretty invention of the poets, to show what
arbitrary power this passion exercises
over us. Nor will I allege the authority
of the Holy Scripture in proof of this
truth; nor bring the example of Solomon,
a man of such extraordinary wisdom apd
sanctity at one time, whilst at another he
was prostrating himself before his idols, and
building temples to them, in complaisance to
his concubines; 3 Kings xi. It is an exam-
ple, indeed, that comes very home to our pres-
ent purpose, but we will only take notice of
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those instances that occur to us daily. Con-
sider, therefore, what dangers an adulteress
exposes herself to, for the satisfying of an
inordinate appetite. I choose this passion be-
fore any of the rest, that by this you may
discover the force of the other. She knows
that, should her husband surprise her in the
crime, she is a dead woman, and that she
shall in one moment lose her life, her honor,
her riches and her soul, nay, and whatever
else she is capable of losing, either in this
world or in the next, which is the greatest
loss can be sustained. She knows that, be-
sides all this, she shall disgrace her children
and her whole family, and that she shall her-
self find subject of eternal sorrow; and yet,
such is the force of this passion, or rather
such is the tyrant, that it makes her break
through all these difficulties, and swallow down
so many bitter draughts so easily, for the
executing all it commands her. Was there ever
any master so cruel as .to expose even his
slave to so much danger, for the performance
of his orders ? Can you think of any slavery
more hard and miserable than this?
This is the state the wicked generally live
in, according to the royal prophet's remark,
when he says, " They are seated in darkness
and in the shadow of death ; they suffer
hunger, and are bound down with chains of
iron ; " Ps. cvi. 10. What can the prophet
mean by this darkness, but the dark blindness
the wicked live in, who neither know them-
selves nor God as they ought to do, nor under-
stand what it is they live for, or what is the
end of their creation. They are unacquainted
with the vanity of what they love, and are not
sensible of the slavery with which they are
oppressed. And what are the chains that bind
them down but the force of those irregular
aflFections, by which their hearts are so close
linked to all things they have such an unlaw-
ful love for? And what can this hunger sig-
nify but the insatiable desire they have of many
things which there is no possibility of obtain-
ing ? Is there any slavery so troublesome as this ?
Let us take another example yet of this
same passion. Cast your eyes on David's
eldest son Ammon, who, as soon as ever he
beheld his sister Thamar with a wanton eye,
was so blinded, so fettered, and so tormented
with this hunger, that he could neither eat,
drink nor take any rest ; and this passion cast
him into such a dangerous sickness, that he
had like to have lost his life. Judge now, how
strong those chains of love and fear, with which
his heart was tied down, must needs have been,
since they made so great an impression on all the
parts of his body, as to throw him into so violent
a distemper; and that you may not imagine
him to be cured by the enjoyment of his de-
sire, consider that he had no sooner satisfied
his wish, but his distemper grew more violent,
" so that," as the Scripture says, " he hated
his sister much worse than he had ever loved
her before;" 2 Kings xiii. 15. Thus the ac-
complishing of his wicked desire could not
free him from his passion, but only turned
one into another much worse. Now what ty-
rant in the world has so many ways of treat-
ing his slaves as sin has?
Such is the condition of all those, who are
under the tyrannical government of this vice ;
for we can scarcely say they are their own
masters, since they neither can eat nor drink
but when it pleases ; they discourse and think
of nothing else; it is the subject of their
dreams, whilst, at the same time, neither the
fear of God, nor the interest of their own
souls, nor heaven, hell, death or judgment,
nay, very often, neither life itself, nor their
honor, Vhich they have such a tender concern
for, are able to turn them out of the road,
or to break the chain. What shall I say of
the jealousies, suspicions, fears and sudden
passions these unhappy wretches are perpetu-
ally racked with ? What dangers do they
expose themselves to ! And what continual
hazards do they run of losing both their
lives and souls, for the enjoying of their
filthy pleasures! Can any tyrant exercise so
much cruelty on the bodies of his slaves, as
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363
this vice does on the very hearts of those
that give themselves over to it ? For no slave
is so much taken up with his master's business,
but he has some time, either in day or night, to
take a little ease or rest. But such is the nature
of this vice, and others like it, that, as soon
as ever they take possession of a heart, they
g^ow so sovereign and arbitrary, that man has
scarce either power, means, time or wit to do
any thing else. So that Ecclesiasticus had a
great deal of reason to say, "That wine and
women make even wise men fools ; " Eccl. xix.
2. Because, let a man be ever so wise, he is
as much besotted with this vice as he is with
wine, and is as little his own master, so that
he can do nothing that becomes a rational
creature. The prince of poets, to convince us
of this truth, gives us a character of the
famous queen Dido, who, at the very moment
that she fell in love with ^neas, laid aside all
her public employments, and went no further
in the building of her city; the walls and
fortifications were carried up no higher; there
was no training up youth in military discipline,
no care about securing the haven, or furnishing
the arsenal for the defence of their country;
Virg. ^u. Lib. 4. And the reason the poet
gives for it is because this tyrant had seized
on all the thoughts of this woman, so as to
leave her unfit for any thing else but the
indulging of this passion, a passion so uncon-
trollable, and so arbitrary, that when it has once
possession of a heart, it takes the power of doing
any thing else away from it. O cruel and
barbarous vice ! the very disturber and de-
stroyer of whole states and kingdoms, the ruin
of all that is good and honorable, the plague
of virtue, the cloud that hangs over and dark-
ens the wits of ingenious men, the enchantress
of the soul, that makes fools of wise men, and
makes sots and dotards of old men, that inflames
and excites the boiling passions of youth, and
that, in fine, is the common bane and destruc-
tion of mankind !
Nor is it this vice alone that is so tyranni-
cal; all the rest are, in their different ways, as
cruel and as arbitrary. Consider but the proud
and ambitious man, who aims at nothing but
respect, and walks blindly and darkly in the
smoke of honors. See how this passion tyran-
nizes over him ; with what greediness he catches
at glory, what pains he takes to acquire it,
directing every action of his life to this end:
his servants, his retinue, his dress, his table,
his chamber, his furniture, his attendants, his
posture, his gait, his mien, his discourse, his
looks, in fine, all he does, tends this way,
because it is done so as it may gain him most
esteem, and procure him the empty puS" and
blast of honor; so that, if you look narrowly
into him, you will find, that what he does or
says is a bait for popular applause and com-
mendation. If we wonder at the folly of Domi-
tian the emperor, for hunting after flies with a
bodkin in his hand, when he had nothing else
to do, how much more should we admire the
folly of the wretched ambitious man, who not
only spends some spare time, but runs out his
whole life in hunting after the smoke of
worldly vanity? It is this makes the un-
happy man do nothing he has a mind to
do : he neither dresses himself according to his
own fancy, nor goes where he himself would
go ; since he very often neglects even going to
church, and does not care to converse with
virtuous persons, for fear the world, whose
slave he is, should reflect upon him. And
what is yet worse, this vice makes him live
above what he has, and by that means reduces
him to a thousand necessities, which ruin his
soul, and are very often the eternal destruction
of his posterity, who have no other inheritance
left them by him, but his debts to discharge,
and his follies to imitate. Can such persons <
as these deserve any easier punishment than
that, they say, a certain king used to inflict
on an ambitious man, which was, to stifle him
with smoke, saying, it was no more than justice
that he should be condemned to die by smoke,
for having spent all his life in seeking after
smoke and wind ? What misery can be greater
than this?
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What shall I say of the greedy covetous
man, who is not only a slave to, but even an
idolater of, his money ? While he serves, adores
and obeys in every thing it commands him ;
for this he fasts so rigorously, as scarce to
allow himself a morsel of bread ; this treasure,
in fine, he loves more than he loves God,
whom he makes no scruple to offend for the
least profit. This is his comfort, his glory,
his hope, the continual subject of all his
thoughts, and the object of his love ; with it he
goes to sleep, with it he rises, employs his
whole life about it, and is continually finding
out new ways to improve it, neglecting at the
same time and forgetting himself and every
thing else. Can we call such a man the mas-
ter of his money, to dispose of it as he has a
mind; or ought we not rather to say, that,
instead of his money being a slave to him, he
becomes a slave to his money, considering him-
self, as it were, made for his money, and not
his money for him ? Neglecting his belly and
his very soul, to give himself entirely to it ?
Can there be a harder slavery than this ?
For if we call that man a prisoner who is
clapped up into a dungeon, or loaded with chains
and irons, what better name can we give him
who has his soul oppressed and charged with
the disorderly affection of what he loves ? For
when a man is once come to this degree, he has
not any one power of his soul that enjoys a
perfect liberty ; he is not his own master, but
his slave, whom he has so passionate a love
for. For wheresoever his love is, there his
heart will be, though still he does not lose his
free-will. Nor does it signify any thing what
chains you are tied down with, if the nobler
part of you is made a prisoner; nor does your
consenting to your imprisonment make your
confinement less, nay, on the contrary, if it be
a true prison, the more voluntary it is, the
more dangerous it will be, as we see in poison,
which, if pure, is no less hurtful, because it
is sweet ; certainly there can be no straiter
prison than that you are thus confined to,
which makes you turn your eyes away from
God, truth, honesty, and the laws of justice,
and lords it over you at such a rate, that, as
a drunken man is not his own master, but a
slave to his liquor, so he that is oppressed
with this slavery is no longer in his own
power, but at the command of his passion,
though his free-will is yet remaining. Now, if
imprisonment be a torment, what greater tor-
ment can there be, than that which one of
these miserable men endures, by continually
desiring what he knows he can never obtain,
and yet he cannot forbear or curb his desires,
so that he is reduced to such circumstances,
that he knows not which way to turn himself.
And, being in this perplexity and trouble, he is
forced to make use of the words of a certain
poet to an ill natured lewd woman : "I love
you and I hate you at the same time ; and if
you ask me the reason of it, it is because I
can neither live with you nor without you."
But if at any time he endeavors to break these
chains, and to overcome his passions, he imme-
diately finds such resistance, that he very often
despairs of obtaining the victory, and returns
to his chains and slavery again. Do not you
think, after all this, that we may very well be
allowed to call this state a torment and cap-
tivity?
If these prisoners had but one chain to hold
them, their misery would be much less, for there
were some hope of breaking a single bond, or
overcoming one enemy alone. But how mis-
erable must we imagine their condition to be,
when we consider what a great number of
passions, like so many fetters, keep down these
unhappy creatures ? For man's life lying open
to so many necessities, and every necessity
exciting some new desire, and adding, as it
were, another link to the chain, it follows, that
he who has a great many passions must have
but very little command of his own heart ; but
still this is more in some persons than in
others ; for some men's apprehension is naturally
so tenacious that they can scarce ever put from
them any thing that has once taken possession ,
of their imagination ; others are of a melancholy
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temper, which makes them strong and violent
in their desires ; and others are mean-spirited,
who look on all things, though ever so incon-
siderable, as great and worthy to be coveted,
for every little thing seems great to a poor
soul ; others are naturally violent in whatever
they desire, as generally women are; "who,"
as a philosopher observes, " passionately love
or hate, because there is no medium in their
affections." All these passions exercise con-
tinual cruelties on those that are subject to
them : and now, if the misery of being bound
with but one chain, and of serving only one
master, be so great, how miserable must that
man's condition be, who is held by so many
chains, and has such a great number of
masters to command him as the wicked
man has 1 for every passion and vice he is sub-
ject to, is a distinct master, and requires his
obedience and submission.
Can there be any greater misery than this ?
For if the dignity of man, as man, depends on
two things, viz. : Reason and free-will, what can
be more opposite, either to the one or the
other, than passion is, which, at the same time,
blinds the reason and drags away the free-will
along with it ? By which you may perceive
what prejudice we are apt to receive from the
least irregular affection, since it turns a man
out of the throne of his majesty, obscures his
reason, and perverts his free-will, without which
too, man is no longer a reasonable creature,
but a mere brute. See, here, the unhappy
slavery the wicked are reduced to, as men that
will neither take notice of the laws or inspira-
tions of God, nor the dictates of their own
reason, but are hurried away by the impulse of
their own passions and appetites.
§ III. Of the Liberty virtuous Men enjoy. —
This is the cruel slavery the Son of God
came down from heaven to deliver us from;
and it is this liberty and victory Isaias so
highly commends, when he says, " Those
whom thou hast redeemed shall rejoice
in thee, O Lord, as the husbandmen do
in time of harvest, and as conquerors do
after they have taken a prey, and are
dividing the spoils. For thou hast taken away
the yoke which oppressed them, and the rod
which struck them, and delivered them from the
sceptre of this tyrant, who has laid very
heavy taxes upon them ;" Isa. ix. 3, 4. All
these names of " yoke," of " rod," and "sceptre,"
agree very well with the tyrannical power of
our passions and appetites, because the devil,
who is the prince of this world, makes use of
them as very proper instruments to work us
into an allegiance to his tyranny, and into a
subjection to sin. From this tyranny and sub-
jection the Son of God has delivered us by the
superabundance of his grace, which the sacrifice
he made of himself on the cross has purchased
for us. For which reason the Apostle says,
" that our old man has been crucified with
him ;" (Rom. vi. 6); meaning here, by " the old
man" our sensual appetite, which became dis-
orderly by the sin of our first parents. And
the reason why our old man has been crucified
with him is, because he, by the merit of his
passion, has obtained grace for us, whereby we
may subdue this tyrant, and make him suffer
the same punishment he has made us to suf-
fer, thus crucifying him who before crucified us,
and bringing him into slavery, under whose
slavery we have been so long groaning. Thus,
what the prophet Isaias foretold in another place,
has come to pass : " They shall take those who
took them before, and shall bring those that
have oppressed them under their subjection ; "
Isa. xiv. 2. For our sensual appetite, before
the reign of grace, tyrannized over our under-
standing, and made it a slave to all its unlawful
desires ; but as soon as ever grace came in to its
succor, it grew so strong as to prevail against
this tyrant, and make it submit to what reason
prescribed.
This subduing of the appetite to reason has
been, in a particular manner, represented to us,
by the death of Adonibezech, king of Jerusalem,
who was put to death by the children of Israel,
after they had first cut off his fingers and toes.
This unhappy prince, seeing himself in this
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condition, and calling to mind the cruelties he
had before exercised on others, was heard to
say, " Threescore and ten kings, whose fingers
and toes I have cut oflF, have picked up the
scraps that have fallen under my table ; and
now I see that God deals with me just as I have
dealt with them ; " Jud. i. 7. After which the
Scripture adds, that he was carried in this con-
dition to Jerusalem, and died there. This cruel
tyrant is the figure of this world, which, before
the Son of God came do^vn from heaven, cut
off" the hands and feet of almost all men in
general, by this means maiming and putting
them out of the capacity of serving God, cutting
off" their hands to hinder them from doing any
good, and their feet to prevent them from so
much as desiring it ; and, besides all this, reduc-
ing them to the necessity of living on the poor
scraps that fell under his table, that is, the
sensual pleasures of the world, wherewith this
wicked prince maintains his servants. There is
much reason for calling them scraps, and not
pieces of bread, because this tj'rant is so nig-
gardly in distributing these crumbs and frag-
ments, that he never g^ves enough to satisfy
their appetite. But after our Saviour came into
the world, he made this tyrant undergo the
same torments he had put others to before, cut-
ting off" his hands and feet, that is, defeating
all his forces. The Scripture expressly declares,
that Adonibezech died in Jerusalem, because
this was the place where our Saviour, by death,
destroyed the prince of this world, and where,
dying on ♦■he cross, he crucified this t3'rant,
binding him hand and foot, and taking all his
power from him. And, therefore, immediately
after his most sacred passion, men began to
I triumph and insult over this tyrant, and so to
Lord it over the world, the devil and the flesh,
with all its concupiscences, that neither all the
tortures they could be threatened with on the
one side, nor all the pleasures that could be
proposed to them on the other, were able to
make them commit a mortal sin.
§ IV. Of the Causes whence this Liberty pro-
ceeds. — You will ask, perhaps, whence this great
victory and liberty proceeds ; to which I answer,
that next to God, it proceeds immediately, as
I have said already, from his grace, which, by
the means of those virtues it inspires, so mod-
erates the heat of our passions, as not to let
them get the better of reason. So that as sor-
cerers can, by certain spells, enchant snakes, that
they should do no hurt, without killing them or
taking away their venom, so the grace of God
charms all the venomous serpents of our pas-
sions ; and though it still leaves them their
natural being in perfect vigor, yet they can do
us no hurt with their poison, because they are
not capable, as they were before, to infect our
lives. This was meant by the prophet Isaias,
when he said, "The sucking child shall sport
himself over the hole of an asp, and he that
is weaned shall put his hand into the basilisk's
den. They shall not hurt nor kill any body in
all my holy mountain, because the earth shall
be as full of knowledge of the Lord as the sea
is of the waters that cover it;" Isa. xi. 8, 9. It
is plain the prophet does not speak here of
visible but of invisible serpents, which are
nothing but ourown passions and bad inclinations,
which, when once they break out, are euough
to corrupt the whole world ; nor does he speak of
corporal children, but of the spiritual ; and those
he calls "sucking children" are such as are
but just beginning to serve God, and, there-
fore, must be fed with milk; but those that
are weaned are such as have made a greater
progress, and can go alone, and eat bread
and stronger meats. The prophet, therefore,
speaking of both of them, says of the former,
that they shall be glad to see, notwithstanding
they are perpetually in the very midst of
these invisible serpents, that the grace of God
will secure them from receiving any consider-
able hurt, by not permitting them to con-
sent in any manner to sin. As for the latter,
those I mean that are already weaned, and have
advanced further in the way of God, he says
they shall put their hands into the very dens
of basilisks, which is as much as to say, that
God will preserve them even in their greatest
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367
dangers ; so that we see these words of the
psalmist verified in them : " You shall walk over
the asp and the basilisk, and you shall tread
upon the lion and the dragon ;" Ps. xc. 13.
These are they who shall receive no harm at
all, though they put their hands into a basil-
isk's den, because these serpents shall be so
charmed by the abundance of God's grace,
spreading itself over the whole face of the earth,
that they should not do any hurt to the children
of God.
St. Paul explains this much more clearly,
and without any kind of metaphor ; for after
having discoursed very fully of the tyranny our
irregular aifections and our flesh exercise over
us, he cries out at last, " Unhappy man that
I am, who will deliver me from the body of
this death ? " Rom. vii. 24. But he himself
immediately answers his own question briefly,
and says, " The grace of God, which is given us
by Jesus Christ our Lord ; " ver. 25. What he
means here, by " the body of death," is not
this body of ours, that is subject to a natural
death, which we all of us look for, but what he
himself, in another place, calls " the body of
sin " (Rom. vi. 6), that is, our depraved appe-
tite, from which proceed all inordinate affections,
which are continually enticing to sin, just as the
members do from the body ; and this is the
body the Apostle says, the grace that is given
us through Jesus Christ delivers us from, as
from a cruel tyrant.
The second, and that a main cause of this lib-
erty, is the greatness of that joy, and of those
spiritual consolations, which the virtuous enjoy,
as we have approved already. By these all their
desires are so fully satisfied, that they easily
overcome and dismiss all their irregular appe-
tites ; and having found out this source of all
that is good and pleasant, they covet no other
happiness, as our Saviour himself declared to
the Samaritan woman, when he told her, "Who-
soever shall drink of the water which I shall give
him," which is the grace of God, " shall never
thirst again ;" John iv. 13. St. Gregory assures
us of the same thing, in one of his Homilies, in
these words : " He who is once thoroughly
acquainted with the sweetness of a heavenly life,
immediately bids adieu to all those things he had
a sensual love for before. He forsakes all he
is in possession of, he distributes liberally all
his treasures, his heart is inflamed with the
desire of heaven, there is nothing on earth can
please him, and whatever he before thought beauti-
ful and lovely, he now accounts deformed and hid-
eous, because this precious jewel is the only
thing that shines and glitters to the eyes
of his soul." For when the vessel of our heat
is full of this liquor, and the thirst of our soul is
quenched, with the same, it has no occasion to
run after the fleeting and vain pleasures of
this life, but lives free from the slavery of all
those affections, which base earthly pleasures
excited in her ; because where there is no love,
there can be no slavery : and thus the heart
that has found him, who is the Lord of all
things, finds itself to be, in some measure. Lord
of all things, there being no other solid good,
which it does not meet with in this one
good.
Add to these two divine favors, which assist
us so much in the regaining of our liberty,
the pains virtuous men take to subdue the
flesh to the spirit, and to make the passions
submit to reason. By this means they gradually
mortify their passions, obtain a habit of virtue,
and lay aside that hate and violence which
used to disturb them before. " For if, " as St.
Chrysostom says, "the wildest beasts that are,
by living amongst men, come, in time, to lose
their natural fierceness, and to grow tame and
gentle, by observing the same qualities in men ;"
which gave a poet occasion to say, that time
and custom bring lions under obedience ; what
wonder is it, that our passions, if we but
accustom them to submit to reason, should, by
degrees, become tame and rational, that is,
should, in some manner, partake of the quality
of the spirit and of reason, and love nothing
more than to do as they do ? Now, if this
may be done only by use and custom, how
much sooner and more efficaciously must it of
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necessity be effected, when use and custom are
backed by grace ?
Hence it is, that those who serve God feel very
often a more sensible pleasure and satisfaction,
if I may so term it, in their recollection, silence,
reading, prayers, meditations, and in such other
exercises, than they could find in hunting, gam-
ing and conversation, or in any other worldly
recreations and diversion, which they look on as
mere torments, insomuch that the flesh itself
begins now to hate what it loved before, and to
be pleased with what it formerly loathed. All
this is so true, " that the inferior part of our
souls," as St. Bonaventure observes, in the pre-
face of his Incentive to the Tx)ve of God, " is
very often so delighted in prayer, and in convers-
ing with God, that it is no small torment to it,
when there is any, though ever so just a cause,
that it obliges it to break off these exercises."
And this is what the royal prophet meant, when
he said, " I will praise the Lord, because he has
gfiven me understanding, and also because my
reins have reproved me" (Ps. xv. 7); or, as an-
other translation has it, " have instructed me all
the night long." This is, without doubt, a
particular favor of the Almighty's grace, be-
cause the expositors of the Holy Scriptures
understand in this place, by the retns^ all
the inward affections and motions of man ;
which, as we have said already, are the gen-
eral incentives to sin. But yet, by virtue of this
grace, thej' are very often so far from stirring us
up to sin, as they used to do, or from fighting
for the devil, whose service they were engaged
in before, that, on the contrary, they forward
us in virtue, and, aspiring to Jesus Christ,
turn their arms against the common enemy :
though this may be seen in all the exercises
of a spiritual life, it appears much more plainly
in our sorrow and contrition for our sins,
wherein the inferior part of the soul has its
share, afflicting itself and shedding tears for
them. This is the reason of David's saying,
"that his reins reproved him in the night-time ;"
because then, the day being ended, the just
are used to examine their consciences, and to
bewail whatever they have offended in ; and
then it was that he himself, as he says in
another place, swept his spirit by this exercise ;
Ps. Ixxxi. 7. It was in the night, I say, that
his reins reproved him, because the sorrow which
he felt in this part of his soul, for having
offended God, was a continual correction, to
keep him from falling into those sins again,
which had troubled him so much. On which
account he, with a great deal of justice, thanks
God, because not only the superior part of his
soul, which is the seat of reason, invited him
to good, but even the inferior part too, which
is used, for the most part, to encourage us to
evil : though all this be really true, and one
of the greatest benefits we receive from Christ's
redemption, who redeemed us most fully and
gave us perfect liberty, yet we ought not to
take occasion from hence to be negligent, nor
trust too much to our flesh, be it ever so
mortified, during the course of this mortal life.
These, therefore, are the chief causes of this
extraordinary liberty. And, amongst several
other effects it produces, one is the new knowl-
edge we have of God, and the confirming us
in the faith and religion we profess ; and, as
God himself openly declares to us, by the pro-
phet Ezekiel (ch. xxxiv. 27), saying, " All men
shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall
break the chains of their yokes, and shall de-
liver them from the hands of those that tyran-
nize over them." We have said already that
this yoke was our sensuality, or our inordinate
affection for sin, which dwells within our flesh,
and which oppresses us and makes us subject
to sin. The chains of this yoke are all those
bad inclinations by which the devil catches
hold of us and draws us after him ; now these
bad inclinations are so much the more effica-
cious, as they have been fortified by a longer
habit. St Augustine, in his own confessions,
had sufficient experience of this ; for he says,
" I was bound not with another's fetters, but
those of my own hard will and iron, which the
enemy had in his power, and of which he made
a chain for me, and tied me down with the
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369
same. For my perverse will has been the cause
of my vicious desires ; I contracted a vicious
habit, which, for want of being resisted, grew
into a necessity; with all which, as with so
many links that have gone towards the making
up of the chain, I have been tied down, and
reduced to the utmost hardship." Conf L. 8, c.
5. When a man finds himself, as this saint
did, to have been groaning for some time under
slavery, and after having made several attempts to
get out of it, perceives his escape so difficult,
yet, when he addresses himself to God, sees
all his chains broken, his passions mortified,
himself at liberty and master of his own appetites,
with the yoke that he pressed so heavily on
his shoulders lying now under his feet, who
but God can he imagine has broken his fet-
ters, and eased him of the weight that had so
long galled his neck ? What has he to do
but to praise God with the royal prophet, and
to cry out with him, " O Lord, thou hast
broken my chains ; I will offer up a sacrifice
of praise to thee, and will call upon thy holy
name ; " Fs. cxv. 8.
CHAPTER XIX.
OF THE EIGHTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE VIZ., THE INWARD PEACE AND CALM THE VIRTUOUS
ENJOY, AND OF THE MISERABLE RESTLESSNESS AND DISTURBANCE THE WICKED
FEEL WITHIN THEMSELVES.
l^^gSlROM this privilege just mentioned,
1 ^Sk which is the liberty of the sons of
li ^ P n l God, flows another, nothing inferior
to it, which is the inward peace and
tranquillity they enjoy. For the better un-
derstanding whereof, it is to be observed, there
are three sorts of peace, one with our neighbor,
another with God, and the third with ourselves.
Peace with our neighbors consists in such a
friendly and civil correspondence with them,
as banishes all design or desire of doing any
man a prejudice. This peace David had when
he says, " I was peaceable with those that hated
peace, and when I spoke to them with meekness,
they, without any reason, rose up against me ; "
Ps. cxix. 7. St. Paul recommends this same peace
to us, when he advises us to " use our utmost
endeavors, as far as is possible, to live in peace
with all men;" Rom. xii. 18. The second peace,
which is that with God consists in the friend-
ship and favor of God : it is to be obtained by the
means of justification, which reconciles man to
God, and makes them both love one another
without any disturbance or contradiction on
24
either side. The Apostle, speaking of this peace,
says, " Since we are already justified by faith
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who has pro-
cured us this grace, let us live in peace with
God;" Rom. v. i. The last peace is that which
a man has with himself; nor ought any one to
wonder at this kind of peace, since we know
very well, that there are in the very self-same
man, two men so opposite to one another, as
are the outward and the inward, the flesh and
the spirit, the passions and reason. For the
flesh and the passions are not only always at
variance with the spirit, but besides disturb the
whole man with their irregular appetites, and
trouble his inward peace, which consists in
tranquillity of mind.
§ I. 0/ the inward Restlessness and Disquiet
of the Wicked. — Wicked men, and such as
hearken to the persuasions of the flesh, are
never free from such disturbances as these.
For being, on the one hand, deprived of God's
grace, which is the curb to keep their passions
in awe, and on the other, their desires being
so active and unruly, that they are scarce able
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to resist them in the least thing imaginable,
it necessarily follows, that they must be car-
ried away by an infinite number of opposite
desires, some by that of honor, others of great
employments, others of conversation and friend-
ship, others of great and honorable titles,
others of riches, others, again, of success in
marriage, and others of recreations and pleasures.
For this appetite is like a devouring fire that
consumes whatever it catches hold of, or like a
ravenous beast that is never satisfied, or like
the leech that is perpetually thirsting after
blood ; and which, as Solomon says, " has two
daughters that are always crying out. More yet,
more yet ;" Prov. xxx. 15. This leech is nothing
but the insatiable desire of the heart, and her two
children are necessity and concupisceiice. The
first of them seems to be a true thirst, but the
last is only a false one, though they are both of
them equally troublesome, notwithstanding our
supposing one to be a real, the other but a pretended
necessit}'. This is the reason why no wicked
man, whether he be rich or poor, can never
enjoy content : for if he be poor, when want is
continually disturbing his heart, and crying
out, " More yet, more yet ; " whilst concupis-
cence never ceases to break the rich man's
rest with the same noise. How then can man
enjoy any ease that has two such importunate
beggars always making a noise at his door, and
craving many things he is not able to give
them ? What trouble must a poor mother be
in, who has ten or a dozen of children around
her, continually crying for bread, if she has not
a morsel to give them ? This is one of the
greatest miseries the wicked endure : " They
perish," says the psalmist, " with hunger and
thirst, and their souls fail within them;" Ps.
xxxvi. 5. For self-love, the cause of all these
desires, having got so much power over them,
and they placing all their happiness in earthly
riches and pleasures, it is impossible they should
not, with greediness, hunger and thirst after
those things on which they imagine all their
happiness depends. And because they cannot
always obtain what they long for, being pre-
vented by others more covetous and powerful,
they disturb themselves like a forward child
that longs for every thing it sees, and grows
sullen if denied it. For as the obtaining of our
wish is, according to the wise man, " the tree of
life" (Ps. xiii. 12); so there is nothing in the
world torments us worse, than to be disappointed
of what we have a mind for. It is just like
being ready to die for hunger, and having noth-
ing to eat. But what is worst of all, the more
they are hindered from obtaining their desires,
the more they increase, and as they find they
have less hopes left, they are more vexed and
troubled ; so they are continually turned about
like a wheel that is in perpetual motion.
This is the miserable condition our Saviour
expresses so much to the life, by the parable
of the prodigal son (Luke xv.), of whom he
says, that, leaving his father's house, he trav-
eled into a far country, and there squandered
away his estate in riot and debauchery ; and
when he had spent all, there happened to be a
great famine in those parts, during which he
was reduced to that extremity as to be obliged
to look after swine; and, what is still more,
he was put to such straits as to desire to fill
his belly with what the hogs themselves lived
on, and yet nobody would give him even that.
Could any one lay out the whole course of a
wicked man's life, with all the miseries that
attend it, in more lively colors than these?
Who can this prodigal son be, that leaves his
father's house, but the unhappy sinner, who
separates himself from Almighty God, gives
himself over to all sorts of vices and abuses
all God's favors and mercies ? What is this
country, where there is so great a famine, but
this miserable world, where worldly men are so
insatiable in their desires as never to be satis-
fied with what they have, but are perpetually
running up and down like ravenous wolves,
still seeking after more? And what can you
imagine is the employment of their whole lives,
but feeding of hogs, that is, laboring how to
content their own swinish appetites? If you
are not convinced of this truth, observe a very^
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371
young man, who is wholly intent on the world
from morning till night, and you will see that
all his business is, beast-like, to find out new
ways to please and delight some one or more
of his senses, as the sight, the taste, the hearing,
or the rest, as if he were one of Epicurus' fol-
lowers, and not a disciple of Jesus Christ, as
if he had nothing else to look after but a body
like a beast, and as if he believed that sensual
pleasures were his only end. Thus his whole
entertainment is to run from place to place,
here to-day, and there to-morrow, in pursuit of
fresh delights for the indulging of his senses.
What other end can he have in his gallantry,
in his feasting and banqueting, in his soft beds,
in his music, in his conversations, in his visits,
in his walks, but to look after meat for this
sort of swine? You may give all this what
name you please, call it grandeur or good
breeding, if you will, but know that, in the
language of God and of the gospel, it is nothing
but feeding of swine; because, as hogs love to
be wallowing in the dirt and mire, so the
hearts of such men love nothing but the filth
of carnal pleasures.
But the greatest misery is, to see that the son
of such a noble father, born to be fed with the
bread of angels at God's own table, cannot satisfy
his hunger with such vile food, so great is the
scarcity of it ; because there being so many
buyers of this commodity, they hinder one
another, and so they all go away unsatisfied.
My meaning is, that whilst so many are catch-
ing at it, there must need be much strife, as it
is impossible for swine to feed under an oak
without grunting and biting one another to get
the better share of the acorns that fall.
This is the dreadful hunger holy David
describes, where he says, " They have wandered
up and down in the wilderness in a dry place,
hungering and thirsting, till they were just
ready to drop down ; " Ps. cvi. 45. What can
this extreme hunger and thirst be, but the
inordinate desire of the things of this world
the wicked are inflamed with ? This appetite
of theirs is such, that the more they give it,
the greedier it gprows, the more it drinks, the
drier it is, and the more wood they lay on, the
more violent it burns. O unhappy creatures,
what can be the cause of your being parched
up with such a burning thirst as this, " but
your having forsaken the fountain of living
water, and running to drink out of broken
cisterns, which can hold none ?" Jer. ii. 13.
You have mistaken the stream of true happi-
ness, and for this reason you run up and
down, till you lose yourselves, through wild
and desert places, in search of the muddy
pond and lakes of the perishable goods
of this world, in hopes they will quench your
thirst. This was cruel Holofernes' policy, when
he besieged Bethulia ; for as soon as ever he sat
down before the city, he commanded his men to
cut off all the pipes and channels that conveyed
water to the town, so that the poor besieged had
but a few little springs left, just by the walls,
where they used to drink now and then by
stealth, rather wetting their lips than quenching
their thirst. Is not this your case, you, who are
always seeking after pleasures, you, who are per-
petually in pursuit of honor, and who are such
friends to every thing that pleases the appetite,
for having missed of the fountain of living waters?
What else do you but run to the little springs of
creatures, that come in your way, and rather
serve to wet your lips and increase your thirst
than to quench it ? O unfortunate man ! " Why
will you go into Egypt to drink troubled water? "
Jer. ii. 18, What water can be more troubled
than sensual pleasure, which is not to be drank
without perceiving an ungrateful taste and smell ?
For what worse smell than the stench of sin, and
what more unpalatable than the remorse of con-
science occasioned by it, which, as we are told,
even by a philosopher, are both the inseparable
companions of carnal pleasures ?
Besides, this appetite being blind, and unable
to distinguish between what it can obtain and
what it cannot, and the eagerness of desire mak-
ing that appear very easy which is in itself most
difficult, those things are often coveted that can-
not be obtained ; for there is nothing worth covet*
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ing, but what is much sought after and defended
by many lovers. Now the appetite being de-
prived of what it longs for, being hungry and
wanting whereon to feed, often stretching out its
arms, and yet grasping nothing but the air, and
using all endeavors without any success, there-
fore, it frets inwardly, wastes and consumes to see
itself so far from what it desires. For those two
chief faculties of our souls, the irascible and con-
cupiscible, being so closely united together as
never to be wanting to one another, it is certain
that whatever the concupiscible is frustrated of
its desire, the irascible comes in immediately to
relieve it, raging and exposing itself to all acci-
dents and dangers, that it may give the other
satisfaction. From this confusion of desires pro-
ceeds the inward disturbance we are now speak-
ing of, which St. James calls a war when he says,
"From whence come wars and diflferences among
you ? Come they not hence even of your lusts,
that war in your members ? Ye lust and have
not." Jam. iv. i, 2. The natural contradiction
that is between the flesh and spirit, and between
the desires of each, has given the Apostle a great
deal of reason to call it a war.
There is still another thing of this nature
much to be lamented, which is, that very
often men obtain all that seemed to sufiBce
to put them into the state of satisfaction
they aimed at, and when they are in such a con-
dition that, if they pleased, they might live
happy, they then conceit they ought to aspire to
some other honor, preferment, dignity, or the
like, which if they fail of, they are more perplexed
for the miss of that nothing they want, than
pleased with the enjoyment of all they possess.
Thus they pass their lives with this thorn per-
petually pricking, or rather with this scourge
continually chastising them, which palls all their
happiness, and turns their pleasure into smoke
and vapor. This is what I call nailing up the
cannon^ as enemies do in time of war ; for a little
nail driven into the biggest piece of artillery is
enough to make it unfit for service. The cannon
is still as big and as sound as it was before, and
yet such a little thing makes it lose all its force.
God deals after the same manner with the wicked.
They might see plainly, if they would but open
their eyes, that joy of heart is a free gift of
Almighty God, who bestows it on whom he
pleases and when he pleases, without making
any preparation beforehand as we do, and that he
can take it away again whenever he thinks fit,
only by nailing up the cannon, that is, by per-
mitting some unhappy turn or change of their
prosperity and fortune. And then this single
misfortune, though unknown to any one, is suffi-
cient to make them as uneasy and melancholy as
if they had nothing in this world to live on,
though, at the same time, they may be very rich
and happy in all appearance. God himself tells
us as much, when, speaking by the prophet
Isaias, against the pride and power of the king
of Assyria, he says, " That he will weaken his
greatest force, and put fire under his glory, for
to burn it up" (Isa. x. 6), to show us that God
can sink a vessel when it sails with the fairest
wind, can weaken the greatest strength, and
make a man miserable in the midst of his pros-
perity. The same is signified to us again in the
book of Job (xxvi. 5), where it is said, "The
giants groan under the waters," to let us know
that God has his deep places and his punish-
ments for the great as well as for the little ones,
though these seem to lie more open to the misfor-
tunes and injuries of the world. But Solomon
has expressed the same thing much plainer;
when counting up all the notable miseries in the
world, he reckons this one of the greatest of
them: "There is another evil also," says he,
" which I have seen under the sun, and which is
common amongst men : a man to whom God has
given wealth, riches and honor, so that he wanted
nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet
God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a
stranger eateth it;" Eccl. vi. i, 2. What does
he mean by these words, " God giveth him not
power to eat thereof," but that he shall not enjoy
even what is his own, nor take the satisfaction
and pleasure which his possessions might give
him, because God has ordained that his hap-
piness shall be disturbed and ruined? And
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373
here we are given to understand, that as true wis-
dom is not to be learned by dead letters, but that
it is God who teaches it, so neither does true
content depend on the goods of this world, but
on God alone.
But to come home to our subject, how unhappy
must those poor creatures be who have nothing,
if even those who enjoy all they can wish are so
uneasy, because they do not enjoy God ! For
the want of every one of these things is a par-
ticular hunger and thirst, that torments them,
and a thorn that is perpetually pricking their
hearts : what peace, what quiet is it possible for
a soul to have, when all its thoughts and desires
are continually so importunate and rebellious ?
The prophet says very well of such sort of peo-
ple, *' That the heart of the wicked is like a tem-
pestuous sea, which is not to be calmed ;" Isa.
Ivii. 20. And, indeed, what sea, what waves, or
what winds can be more boisterous and stormy
than the passions and desires of the wicked,
which very often disturb not only the sea, but all
the world? But there often start up contrary
winds in this sea, which is another most violent
sort of storm. For the same desires, like oppo-
site winds, frequently resist one another, so that
what pleases the flesh does not please honor, what
honor loves, riches do not care for ; reputati-rn
does not covet that which is agp-eeable to wealth,
tor does sloth or luxury desire what reputation
does. So that by this means it often happens, that
the wicked, whilst they desire all things, do not
know what they would have, and so are ignorant
what to take and what to leave, because their
desires contradict one another; just as bad
humors do in distempers which proceed from
different causes, where the physicians are puz-
zled what remedy to prescribe, because that
which is good for the expelling of one humor
may be apt to nourish another. Such was the
confusion of languages at Babel, and such was
that, for the preventing of which the royal
prophet prayed to God, saying, " Destroy, O
Lord, and divide their tongues, because I have
beheld iniquity and contradiction in the city ; "
Ps. liv. 10. What, therefore, can this division of
tongues^ this iniquity and this contradiction be,
but the disturbance which diflferent passions
make in the hearts of worldly-minded men when
they oppose one another, and one desires that
which is against the inclination and desire of
another ?
§ II. Of the inward Peace and Satisfaction
good Men enjoy. — Thus you see what the condi-
tion of the wicked is, whilst the just, on the con-
trary, because they know how with prudence to
moderate their desires, how to mortify their
passions, how to make God, and not the perish-
able goods of this life, the only object of their
happiness, and the centre of their repose ; how
to aim at nothing but the acquiring of those
eternal goods, which no one can deprive
them of, how to be in perpetual war with
self-love, with their own flesh, and with the
whole train of their irregular appetites ; and
because, in fine, they know how to resign their
will to God's, to conform theirs to his, and throw
themselves entirely into his arms, are never mo-
lested by any such cares, so as to have their
inward peace lost, or so much as interrupted.
This, amongst several others, is one of the
chief rewards Almighty God promises to those
who love him, as we may see almost every where
in the Holy Scriptures. Holy David says,
" Those that love thy law, O Lord, enjoy a per-
fect peace, and there is nothing that can make
them fall ;" Ps. cxviii. 165. God himself says
by the prophet Isaias, " I wish you had observed
my commandments, your peace should have been
like a river, and your justice like the waters of the
sea ;" Isa. xlviii. 18. The reason of his calling
this peace a river.^ is, because it is able to extin-
guish the flames of our desires, to appease the
burning heat of our lusts, to water the dry and
barren veins of our hearts, and to comfort and '
refresh our souls. Solomon assures us of the
same truth in a divine manner, though in a few
words, saying, " When the ways of man are ac-
ceptable to God, he will force even his enemies to
make peace with him ;" Prov. xvi. 7. What ene-
mies are these, that are at war with man, but his
own passions, and the evil inclinations of his flesh,
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which are perpetually fighting with the spirit ?
The Almighty, therefore, says, that he will make
the flesh and the spirit live peaceably together,
when, by virtue of this grace and of good habits,
the flesh, with all its desires, shall accustom
itself to the works of the spirit, and by that
means live quietly with it, whereas before it was
in continual opposition. For though virtue, at
the beginning, meets with a great deal of opposi-
tion from the passions, yet when it comes to its
perfection, it acts with a deal of sweetness and
ease, and with much less contradiction. It is
this peace, in fine, which holy David, by another
name, calls the enlarging of the heart, when he
says, " Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
O Lord, and my feet have not failed me ; "
Ps. xvii. 37. The prophet by these words
intends to show, how different the way of the
virtuous is from that of the •wncked, because
whilst the one walk with their hearts oppressed
and straitened by continual fears, solicitudes and
apprehensions, like a traveler that is going
through a narrow path, with steep rocks and
precipices on both sides of him, the others, on
the contrary, walk with a deal of security and
joy, like a man in a plain and open way, that is
in no apprehension of falling. The just under-
stand this better by the practice than by theory,
as being sensible, by their own experience, and
the alteration they find in their own hearts, of the
vast difference there is between the time they em-
ployed in the service of the world, and what they
spend now in the service of God ; for whilst they
served in the world, they were on all occasions
full of troubles, solicitudes, jealousies, fears, and
narrowness of heart ; but now they have forsaken
the world, and fixed their affections on eternal
goods, and placed all their happiness and confi-
dence in God, they are out of the reach of all these
things, with hearts so open, so free, and so re-
signed to the will of God, that they are so often
astonished at the change, and cannot think them-
selves the same they were before, or at least they
imagine they have new hearts, because they find
such changes in them. And we may with truth
afl&rm, that they are, and are not, the same per-
sons, for, though they be the same in nature,
they are not the same as to grace, which works
this change, though no man can be assured of it.
This is what God himself promised by his
prophet Isaias, when he said, " When you shall go
through the waters I will be with you, to save you
from being drowned ; and if you walk in the very
midst of fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall
the flame so much as scorch you ;" Isa. xliii, 2.
Now what are these waters but the rivers of tribu-
lations we suffer in this life, and the deluge of
innumerable miseries we meet with here every
day ? And what is this fire but the heat of our
flesh, which is the fiery furnace of Babylon,
heated by Nabuchodonosor's servants, that is, by
the devils, from whence the flames of inordinate
passions and appetites are continually breaking
out ? How can any man live in the midst of
this fire and water, which the whole world is per-
petually in danger of, without receiving hurt, and
not be sensible, at the same time, that it was the
presence of the Holy Ghost, and the assistance
of God's grace, that preserved him ? This is the
peace which, as the Apostle says, exceeds all imagi-
nation (Philip, iv. 6) , because it is so noble and
so supernatural a g^ft of God, that it is impossible
for man's weak understanding to conceive of
it'^elf, by what means a heart of flesh should
come to enjoy such content, such quiet and such
a calm, amidst the storms and tepipests of the
world.
But he who enjoys this favor acknowledges
and praises the author of these wonders, crying
out with the prophet, " Come and see the works
of the Lord, and the miracles he has wrought
upon the earth, making war cease to the very
remotest parts of the earth. He has snapped the
bow and broken the arms, and thrown the shield
in the fire, saying, " Throw down your arms, and
live in peace and quiet, that so you may know,
that I am the Lord, and will be exalted in heaven
and in earth ; " Ps. xlv. 9, 10, 11. This being so,
what can there be in the world more rich, more
delightful, and more desirable, than this rest,
this repose, this effusion and extension of heart,
and this most happy peace ?
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375
But if you will go a little further, and would
know from what cause this heavenly gift pro-
ceeds, I answer, it proceeds from all those other
privileges and advantages of virtue we have
before mentioned ; for as, in the chain of vice,
the links are all one within another, so in the
ladder of virtue they have all a dependence on,
and connection with, one another, in such a
manner, that the highest, as it produces most
fruit, so it has most roots to spring from. And
thus this happy peace, which is one of the twelve
fruits of the Holy Ghost, takes its rise from
those other privileges we have before spoken of,
but particularly from virtue itself, whose insepar-
able companion it is. For as an outward rever-
ence is naturally due to virtue, so is an inward
tranquillity, being at the same time its effect and
its reward. For since inward war, according to
what we have already said, is begun by the pride
and disturbance of the passions ; as soon as ever
they are weakened by those virtues, whose duty
it is to subdue them, the very occasions of these
tumults and seditions are removed. And this is
one of the three things, by means whereof we
partake of the happiness of the kingdom of
heaven, even here on earth. The Apostle, speak-
ing of them, says, " The kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but justice, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost;" (Rom. xiv, 17); where, by
justice, according to the Hebrew way of speaking,
is to be understood the very same virtue we are
talking of ; in which, together with these two admi-
rable fruits, peace and joy in the Holy Ghosi,
consists the felicity which virtuous men enjoy,
by anticipation, in this life. And to prove that
this peace is an effect of virtue, the Almighty
himself says expressly, by Isaias, " Peace shall
be the work of justice and silence, and everlast-
ing security the fruit of it ; my people shall sit in
the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of
confidence, and in a plentiful rest ; " Isa. xxxii.
17, 18. What he calls here silence, is nothing
else but this same inward peace ; that is, the re-
pose of the passions, which disturb the silence
of the soul, by the perpetual clamors of their
irregular lusts.
The second cause this peace proceeds from is,
the liberty of the soul, and the dominion it has
over the passions above spoken of. For just as
when any country is brought under a foreign
subjection, as soon as ever the inhabitants sur-
render themselves, there is a general peace
immediately, and every one sits under his own
fig-tree and under his own vine, without any
fear of the enemy ; so after the passions of the
soul, which are the causes of all its disquiets, are
subjected to reason, there immediately follows in
the soul an inward silence and peace, which
makes it live free from all disturbances imagina-
ble. So that man being now free from their
tyranny, and, what is more, keeping them in
subjection to him, there is nothing left to disturb
the peace he enjoys, though, on the contrary,
whilst the passions had the rule and power, every
thing was tossed up and down, and the whole
man in general confusion and disorder.
The third cause of this peace is the greatness
of these spiritual consolations, that lull asleep
all the affections of our appetites, which, during
that time, are content with what the superior
part of the soul is pleased to give them, because
the concupiscible appetite, after having tasted
how sovereignly sweet and delightful God is,
makes him the object of all its wishes, and the
irascible is quiet, because its companion is satis-
fied ; and the whole man enjoys an entire peace
and happiness, on account of his tasting the
sovereign good.
In the fourth place, this peace proceeds from
the testimony and inward joy of a good con-
science, which makes the soul of a just man
easy and quiet, though it does not give him any
perfect assurance, for fear of making him negli-
gent, and putting him in danger of losing that
holy fear which puts him forward.
Lastly, this peace proceeds from the confidence
just men have in Almighty God. It is this par-
ticularly, that gives them the greatest joy and
comfort imaginable, even amidst the miseries of
this life, because it is the very anchor they
trust to, that is to say, because they as-
sure themselves, that they have God for
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their Father, their Deliverer, their Defender,
and their Shield, under whose protection they
live in peace and happiness, and have all
the reason that can be to sing with the pro-
phet, " I will lay me down and sleep in peace,
because thou, O Lord, hast secured me in a
particular manner, by the hope which I have in
thy mercy ;" Ps. iv. It is from this hope, that
the peace of the just springs, and in this they
find a remedy for all their evils. How then can
any man be troubled, who has so powerful a
protector as his God?
CHAPTER XX.
OF THE NINTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, VIZ., THAT GOD HEARS THE PRAYERS OF THE JUST,
AND REJECTS THOSE OF THE WICKED.
NOTHER extraordinary privilege vir-
tuous men enjoy is, that God hears
their prayers, which is a sovereign
remedy against all the necessities and
miseries of this life. To make this the plainer,
we are to understand, that there have been two
universal deluges in the world, the one mate-
rial, the other spiritual, but both of them caused
by sin. The material deluge, which happened
in Noe's time, destroyed every thing in the
world but the ark and what was within it, for
every thing else was consumed by the waters,
so that all the labors and riches of mankind,
together with the whole earth itself, was swal-
lowed up by the sea. But the other deluge,
which was before this, and which arose from
the first sin that was committed, was much
more terrible and much greater than this
was, because it was the ruin not only
of those persons who were alive at that
time, but even of all ages past, present and
to come. Nor is the hurt it does to the body
to be compared with what it does to the soul,
which it strips and robs of those graces that
were bestowed on the whole world in the per-
son of our first parent, as we may see in an
infant newly born, who comes into the world
as bare of all these goods as it is of clothes
to cover it.
From this first deluge flowed all those mis-
eries and wants this mortal life is exposed to,
which are so many and so great, that they
have furnished a famous pope and doctor with
matter to compose a book solely on this sub-
ject: Innocentius de Vilitate conditionis humance.
And several eminent philosophers, considering
on one side the excellence of man above all
other creatures, and on the other the infinite
number of miseries and vices he is subject to,
could not but wonder to see so much disorder
in the world, though they were not capable of
finding out the cause of all these miseries,
which is nothing else but sin. For they saw
that man was the only creature in the world
that had such an infinite variety of carnal
delights and pleasures ; that none but he was
oppressed with avarice, with ambition, an in-
satiable desire of life, care and solicitude about
a funeral, but most of all, with a concern for
that which must follow. They observed, that no
other creature had a more frail and uncertain
life than man has ; that none had a more in-
flamed lust, none more subject to fear, and
that without any ground, nor any more cruelly
angry or enraged than he. They took notice,
that other creatures spent the greatest part
of their lives without sicknesses, or without being
troubled with the physicians and medicines.
They saw them provided with all the neces-
saries, without taking any pains or care. But
as for unhappy, miserable man, they saw him
exposed to a thousand sorts of infirmities, ac-
cidents, necessities, misfortunes and pains, not
only of the body, but of the soul, and as much
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377
disturbed at the miseries of his friends as at his
own. They saw him sorry for what was past,
afflicted with the present, and painfully solicit-
ous about what was to come; nay, very often
toiling and sweating all his life-time for the
poor sustenance of a little bread and water.
If we were to count all the miseries of human
life, we should never have done. Holy Job says,
** The life of man is a perpetual warfare upon
earth, and his days are like the days of a hired
servant, that labors from sunrising to sunset ;"
Job vii. I, 2. Several of the old philosophers
had such a lively sense of this truth, that some
of them said, they could not tell whether to
call nature a mother or a step-mother, because
she has subjected us to so many miseries.
Others, again, used to say, it were better
never to be born, or at least to die as soon
as we are born : nay, some of them have gone
so far as to say, there are but few persons
that would accept of life after having made an
experiment of it, that is, if it were possible to
make a trial of it beforehand.
Since, therefore, life has been reduced to this
miserable condition by sin, and since we have
lost our whole stock and substance in this first
deluge, what remedy can we expect he has left
us, who has punished us so severely ? If a
man that is sick and wounded were to be at
sea in a great storm, and there lose all he is
worth, what could he look for afterwards, hav-
ing lost both his goods and his health, but
beggary and want? Every man must make
this case his own ; for since there is no one
but has lost all he is worth in this universal
deluge, and is left so poor and naked, how can
he help himself, but by crying like a poor beg-
gar at the gates of God for relief and assist-
ance ? The holy king Josaphat taught us this
resource when he said, " Since we do not know
wkat we ought to do, we have one remedy left
us at least, which is to lift up our eyes, O
L«rd, towards thee ; " 2 Paral. xx. 12. The
good king Ezechias has instructed us fully on
the same point, when he said, " In one day
thou wilt put an end to my life, O Lord ; but
as for me, I will cry like the young swallow,
and moan like the dove; " Isa. xxxviii. 14. As
if he said, I am so poor, O Lord, and have such
a dependence on your mercy and providence, that
I cannot give myself any assurance of one day's
life, and, therefore, all I have to trust in is, to be
always moaning before you like a dove, and to cry
out to you as the young swallow does to its dam.
Thus said this holy man, though he was a great
king ; and David, though much greater, made
use of this same remedy in all his necessities;
and, therefore, inspired by the same spirit, and
enlightened by the same knowledge, says, " I
have called upon thee with my voice, O Lord,
and with my voice I have addressed my prayer
to thee, O my God; I have sought after God
in the day of my tribulation, and I have
stretched out my hand toward him in the night,
when my soul refused to be comforted, and when
my spirit failed me" (Ps. Ixxvii. i, 2, 3) ; that
is to say, when I look round about me, and see
all the passages of hope shut up, when nothing
on earth can give me any ease, I immediately
seek for a remedy from heaven by the help of
prayer, which is the sovereign cure God has
given me for all my ills.
You will ask me, perhaps, whether this is
a certain and universal cure for all the neces-
sities of life or not ? This being a secret which
depends entirely on the will of God, there is no
one can answer it but those whom he has made
choice of to discover his will, which are the
Apostles and prophets : one of them says,
" There is no nation in the world so great,
which have their gods so near them, as our
God is near us, when we pray to him ; "
Dent. iv. 7. They are the words of God
himself, though delivered by the mouth of a
man, and they assure us, with all the certainty
imaginable, that as often as we pray, though
we see no one, and though no one answers us,
that we do not speak to the walls or talk to
the air, but that God is present with us and
hears all we say, that he assists us in our
prayers, that he pities our miseries, and pre-
pares the remedy we ask for, in case it be proper
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HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
for us. What greater comfort can a man have
when he is at his prayers than such a certain
pledge of Almighty God's assistance ? And if
this alone is sufficient to encourage and com-
fort us, how much more will the words of our
Saviour, and those assurances he has given us
in his gospel, when he says, " Ask, and you
shall receive ; seek, and you shall find ; knock,
and it shall be opened to you;" Matt. vi. 7.
Can we have a richer token than this ? Can any
man doubt of the truth of these words ? Who
is there that, as often as he goes to his
prayers, is not comforted with the hope of this
sacred promise ?
This, therefore, is one of the greatest privi-
leges the virtuous enjoy in this life, to know
that these promises are made particularly for
them. For one of the greatest favors God
bestows on them, in reward of their obedience
and piety, is, that he will be near them and
hear the prayers they address to him. David
assures us of it, when he says, " The eyes of the
Lord are upon the just, and his ears are open to
their prayers ; " Ps. xxxvi. 16. And God himself
promises us the same by Isaias, saying, "Then,"
that is to say, when you shall have kept my
commandments, " you shall call upon the Lord,
and he will hear you ; you shall call out to
him, and he will say, behold I am here" (Isa.
Iviii. 9) ; that is, I am ready to grant what-
ever you shall desire. Nay, more than this,
he promises them by the same prophet to hear
them, not only when they call on him, but
even long before. And yet, after all, none of
these promises come any thing near that which
we read in St. John, where our Saviour says,
" If you shall remain in me and let my words
remain in you, you shall ask whatever you
shall have a mind for, and it shall be granted
you ; " John xv. 7. But for fear this promise,
as being so great, should be more than any man
could believe, he repeats it a second time, and
affirms it more positively, saying, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you
shall desire of my Father in my name he shall
give it you ; " xvi. 24. Can there be any
greater favor, any greater riches, or any more
sovereign command than this is? You shall ask
me, says he, for whatever you please, and it
shall be granted you. Could any expression
better become the person that promises than
this does ? Who but God could ever have
made such a promise? Is there any one
besides God, that is able to do such great
things as these are? Or is there any one
but him, who has so much goodness as to
oblige himself to grant such favors? What
else is this but to make man in some measure
lord of all things, and to intrust him with the
keys of the divine treasuries ? All the other favors
of God have their bounds set them, but this,
above all the rest, as being the royal gift of
an infinite Lord, carries some degree of infinity
along with it. For our Saviour does not
determine either this or that, or any particular
thing, but whatever you shall desire (provided
it be for your eternal good) shall be granted
you. Could men but set a just value on
things, and give them their true estimate, how
great a rate would they esteem this at ? How
happy would a man think himself to have so
gpreat an interest with his king as to obtain
his grant for every thing he should desire?
Now if a man would look on it as so great a
happiness to be so much in favor with an
earthly king, what must he think it is to have
so much interest with the King of heaven?
And that you may not think these are only
bare promises without performance, do but look
into the lives of the saints, and consider what
great things they have done by the virtue of
prayer. What did Moses in Egypt, and during
all the time of his travels through the wilder-
ness? What did not Elias and Eliseus his
disciple ? What miracles were not wrought by
the Apostles, and all hy prayer? This was
the weapon the saints fought with; with this
they overcome the devil, with this they tri-
umphed over the world, with this they sub-
dued nature, with this they turned the most
violent flames into a gentle dew, with this,
in fine, they appeased and quieted the wrath
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
379
of God,- and obtained of him whatever they
asked. It is written of the holy father St.
Dominick, that he told a certain friend of his
he was never in his life denied any thing he
had begged of the Almighty ; his friend de-
sired him to pray that one Doctor Reginald,
a man famous at that time, might become a
religious man of his order: the holy man
spent the next night in prayer for him, and
the next day early in the morning, as he was
beginning the hymn of the first hour. Jam
lucis orto sidere^ this new morning-star came
into the choir, and there prostrating himself
at the saint's feet, desired, with a deal of
humilit}'-, that he would give him the habit
of his order. This, therefore, is the reward
that is promised to the obedience of the just,
and it is their faithful observing the voice of
God, that makes him in some manner obedient
to their prayers ; and because they answer to
the call of God, he pays them again, according
to the proverb, in the same coin, by answering
them whenever they call on him. And for
this reason Solomon says, " That the obedient
man shall talk of victories ; " Prov. xxi. 28.
For it is but just, that God complies with the
will of man, when man complies with the
will of God.
But it happens quite otherwise in the pray-
ers of the wicked : for the Almighty tells
them by Isaias, *' When you shall stretch
out your hands, I will turn my eyes away
from you ; and when you shall multiply your
prayers, I will not hear them ; " Isa. i. 15.
He threatens them in like manner by his
prophet Jeremy, saying, " In the time of their
affliction they shall say, Arise, O Lord, and
deliver us." And he will ask them, " Where
are your gods, which you made for yourselves ?
Let them arise and deliver you in the time of
your affliction." Jer. ii. 27. In the book of
Job we read these words : " What hopes can
the wicked man have, if he unjustly takes
away his neighbor's goods ? Can he hope that
God will hear his prayer when he shall be in
distress ? " Job xxvii. 8, 9. And St. John, in
his Epistle, says, " My beloved brethren, if our
own conscience do not reprove us, we have a
confidence in God, that whatsoever we shallf
ask we shall obtain of him, because we keep
his commandments, and do those things which
are pleasing to his sight;" John iii. 21, 22.
What the holy psalmist says is to the same
effect : "If I have beheld iniquity, the Lord
will not hear me ; but because I have not done
wickedly, therefore he has heard my prayer ; "
Ps. Ixxv. 18, 19.
There are numberless examples of this sort,
in holy writ, to show what vast difference
there is between the prayers of the just and
those of the wicked, and consequently the
extraordinary advantages which the one have
over the other; because the just are heard
and dealt with as true children of God, whilst
the wicked are treated as enemies. And what
wonder is it that their prayers should not be
heard, since there are no good works, no
devotion, no fervor of spirit, no humility to ac-
company them ? For, according to St. Cyprian,
" It is impossible that a petition should be effica-
cious when prayer is barren ; " St. Cypr. Orat.
Dominica. Though this is generally true, the
Almighty's goodness is yet so great, that he
sometimes vouchsafes to hear the prayers of
the wicked, which, notwithstanding their want
of merit, do not cease to obtain their end ;
because, as St. Thomas says, " Merit proceeds
from charity, but the grant of the petition
comes from the infinite goodness and mercy
of God, who sometimes hears the prayers of
such persons ; " St. Tho. 2, 2, q. 83, art. 15,
16.
38o
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
CHAPTER XXI.
OF THE TENTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE ASSISTANCE GOOD MEN RECEIVE FROM
GOD IN THEIR AFFLICTIONS ; AND OF THE IMPATIENCE, ON THE CONTRARY, WITH
WHICH THE WICKED SUFFER THEIRS.
iJNOTHER extraordinary privilege grant-
ed to virtue is, its encouraging its
followers to bear up against the
tribulations they cannot but meet
with in this life. For we know there is no
sea so tempestuous and inconstant as this life
is. Because a man is never so secure of the
felicity he enjoys as not to be exposed
to an infinite number of such accidents and
misfortunes as he never thought of, and
which he is, nevertheless, every moment in
danger of falling into. It is, therefore a mat-
ter of g^eat consequence to observe with what
difference the wicked and the good conduct them-
selves in all these changes ; for the good, con-
sidering they have God for their father, that
it is he who sends them this cup as a potion
prescribed them by a most experienced physi-
cian for their cure, that tribulation is like a file
which takes off the rust of sin the cleaner,
and polishes it the brighter the rougher it is;
they consider it is this affliction that makes
man more humble in thoughts, more devout in
his prayers, and gives him a purer conscience.
These considerations make them bow down
their heads and humble themselves with cheer-
fulness, in the time of their tribulation ; they
put water in the chalice of the cross, or, to
speak plainer, the Almighty himself puts it in ;
" For he," as the holy psalmist says, " gives
them tears to drink by measure ; " Ps. xcvii. 6.
And there is no physician so careful in the
mixture of his drugs, according to the consti-
tution of his patient, as this heavenly Physi-
cian is, in the tempering of tribulations, which
be sends the just, according to the strength
every one has to bear them : and if at any
time the burden should be increased, he
increases the assistance he gives them for bear-
ing it, that so the tribulation any man lies
under may make him so much the richer,
as it is the more painful and troublesome ;
nay, when his afflictions are tempered thus,
he is so far from endeavoring to get rid of
them as things prejudicial, that he, on the con-
trary, longs for them as advantageous and
profitable. So that, by the help of all these
considerations, good men often bear their neces-
sities, not only with patience, but with pleasure,
because they look on the reward, and not the
labor, on the crown, and not the suffering, on
the health their physic will restore them to,
and not on the potion itself, not on the smart
of the stroke, but on the love of him that lays*
it on, who has already said, " that he loves those
that he chastises; " Heb. iii. 19.
To all these considerations must be added
the Almighty's grace, which, as we have shown
already, is never wanting to a just man in' the
time of his tribulation. For God being so true
a friend to those who love him, he is never
nearer to them than when they are in affliction,
though he seems then to be furthest from
them. If you doubt of the truth hereof, do but
look into the Holy Scriptures, and you will
see nothing so frequently repeated or so often
promised. Who does the royal prophet mean
but God, when he says, " that he is their helper
in their necessities and tribulation?" Ps. ix,
lo. Has not he himself commanded all per-
sons to call on him during the time of their
affliction, saying, " Call upon me in the day
of tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you
shall glorify me?" Ps. xlix. 15. Has not the
prophet testified this on his own experience,
when he says, "When I called, the God of
my justice heard me, he has enlarged my
heart in the day of tribulation ? " Ps. iv. i. Is
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
381
not this the Lord in whom the prophet placed
all his trust, saying, " I expected him who has
preserved me from weakness of spirit and from
the storm ? " Ps. liv. 9. It is certain, that he
•does not speak here of any storm at sea, but of
that storm, which the heart of a negligent and
weak man that is in tribulation is tossed with ;
and the more a man's heart is confined, the more
boisterously this storm rages, which the prophet
often repeats, for the greater confirmation of this
truth, and for the strengthening of our weak-
ness. "The salvation of the just," says he,
" comes from the Lord, and he is their protector
in the time of their tribulation : and he will
assist them and deliver them, and rescue
them, from sinners, and save them, because
they have put their trust in him ; " Ps. xxxvi.
39, 40.
In another place the same prophet speaks yet
plainer, thus : "How great, O Lord, and how
many are the joys thou hast laid up for those
that fear thee, and put their trust in thee in the
presence of the children of men? Thou wilt
hide them in the secret of thy face from the per-
secution of men : thou wilt protect them in the
tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord, who has showed his
mercy towards me in so wonderful a man-
ner, by defending and securing me as if
I had been in a fortified town. But the
afflictions, which I have been overwhelmed
with, have made me cry out, O Lord, I am
turned out of thy sight;" Ps. xxx. 20, 21, 22,
23. See here how plainly this holy prophet
has taught us how God assists the just in
their most pressing necessities. But you must
here take particular notice of these words,
" Thou wilt hide them in the secret of thy
face : " for by this, according to a certain inter-
preter, we are given to understand, that as the
kings of the earth, when they have a mind to
protect any person with a more than ordinary
care, keep him within their own palaces, that
so not only the royal walls may secure him
from his enemies, but that the king's continual
presence, and the watchful eye he has over him,
may be his security, than which none oan be
greater: in like manner, this sovereign King
uses the same care for the security of those he
loves. In confirmation of this, we both see
and read, that holy men, even in the midst of
the greatest dangers and temptations, still keep
the same calmness and evenness of spirit as
they had before, without showing the least con-
cern of trouble in their looks, because they
knew for certain, that he who protected them
would be so faithful as not to forsake them,
nay, on the contrary, that he would stand the
nearer to them if he should see them in any
great danger. Just as he did to the three
young men whom Nabuchodonosor commanded
to be flung into the fiery furnace of Babylon;
Dan. iii. For the angel of the Lord was seen
walking in the midst of them, and changed the
violent flames into a cool, refreshing air. At which
the tyrant, being astonished, began to say,
" Were they not three men that we bound and
flung into the middle of the fire? Behold, I
see four untied and walking together without
having received any hurt, and the fourth of
them is as beautiful as the Son of God;"
Ibid. 24, 25. Do you not see now by this how
certain it is that Almighty God is with the
just, whenever they are in any tribulation?
Nor is the care he took of young Joseph after
his brethren had sold him, a less argument of
this truth. For as we may read in the book
of Wisdom, " He went down with him into the
prison, and never left him when he was in his
fetters, till he gave him the sceptre of Egypt,
and power over those persons who had oppressed
him: and he proved those to be liars that
defamed him, and he gave him eternal glory;"
Sap. X. 13, 14. These examples evince the
truth of God's promises made to us by the
psalmist, when he says, " I am with him when
he is in affliction ; I will deliver him and glorify
him ; " Ps. xc. 15. O how truly happy must
affliction be that makes us worthy of the com-
pany of our God ! Let us all cry out, with St.
Bernard, " If these are the effects of tribulations,
grant, O God, that I may never be free from
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HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
them, that so you may be always with me ; "
Serm. 17, in Ps. xc.
Add to this, the relief and assistance of
all virtues which, upon such occasions, come in
ready armed to succor the afflicted heart. For
whenever the soul is straitened, or in any kind of
danger from tribulation, all the virtues imme-
diately run into her, and with what forces
they can make, just as the blood does towards
the heart whenever it is oppressed. In the
first place comes faith, with a certain knowl-
edge of the happiness and miseries of the next
life, compared to which, all we can possibly
suffer is but a mere trifle. Next comes hope,
which makes man bear all his troubles with
patience, in expectation of the reward that is to
follow. After her comes charity, which makes
them even desire to be afflicted in this world, that
they may thereby express their affection for
God. Then follows obedience and conformity
to the divine will, which helps them to receive
whatever God sends them with cheerfulness
and without grumbling. Patience repairs
thither, and it is her business to keep their
shoulders up, lest they should bend beneath
the weight. Then humility bows down their
hearts, like young trees, by the stormy wind
of affliction, teaching them to humble themselves
under the powerful hand of God, and to ac-
knowledge that what they suffer is infinitely
less than their sins deserve. Another virtue
that assists them is, the consideration of what
Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, and of what
all the saints have endured, which is far more
severe and painful than what they sustain.
Thus all virtues officiously assist us in such
dangerous encounters ; nor do they assist us in
their service only, but with their words, if I may
be allowed to term it so. For, first of all. Faith
tells us," That the sufferings of this world are
not worthy of the glory which will be revealed
to us in the next ; " Rom. viii. 18. Charity
comforts us, saying. It is but reasonable we
should suffer something for his sake who had
so much love for us. Gratitude tells us, with
holy Job, "If we have received good things
from the hand of God, why should we not
receive bad ones too ? " Job ii. 10. Penance says,
It is no more than justice that he who has done
so much against God's will should undergo
something now against his own. Loyalty says,
that it is requisite we should, once at least in
our life, give some token of our fidelity to him,
who has been bestowing his favors on us ever
since we were born. Patience tells us, " That
tribulation produces patience, patience the proof
of our faith, faith produces hope, and that hope
will not leave a man in confusion ; " Rom. v.
3, 4, 5. Obedience says, The highest degree
of sanctity a man can arrive to, and the most
pleasing sacrifice he can offer to God, is to
conform in all his sufferings to his will.
But that which of all these virtues helps
us most on such occasions, and which makes
us most resolute in the very midst of tribula-
tion is a lively hope. It is what St. Paul
himself teaches us, for he had no sooner
said, " rejoicing in hope,'' than he adds,
" being patient in tribulation." He knew
very well that one is the consequence of
the other, that is to say, that the strength we
get by patience proceeds from the joy hope
gives us. For which reason the Apostle very
elegantly calls this hope "an anchor" (Heb.
vi. 19), because this lively hope being fastened
strongly to the promises of heaven, it keeps the
soul of the just man firm and constant in the
midst of the waves and storms of this world, and
makes it slight the violence of its winds and
tempests, just as an anchor, when it is stuck
into the ground, makes the ship ride securely
on the water, and keeps it steady, though the
winds and waves are continually beating against
it. This, they say, was the practice of a cer-
tain saint, who, whenever he was in any kind
of affliction, used to say, " The happiness I
hope for is so great, that all I can suffer is
delightful to me."
Thus it is that all virtues meet and agree
together for fortif3nng a just man's heart,
whenever he is in any tribulation. And if at
any time he should lose courage, they come
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
383
Tip to him again with mucli more vigor, and
upbraid him after this manner : How now ?
what is become of that lively faith and confi-
dence you ought to have in Almighty God, if
you begin to shrink at the very time he is
going to make a trial of you, and to see what
you are ? Where is your charity, your courage,
your obedience, your patience, your loyalty, and
the fervor of your hope? Is it for this you
have so often prepared yourself, and made so
many resolutions ? Is this all you have desired
so earnestly of God, and prayed so often to him
for? Consider a little, that the duty and perfec-
tion of a good Christian does not consist in
saying a few prayers, in fasting, in hearing of
mass ; it is necessary, besides all this, that
God should find you as faithful as another
Job, or Abraham, in the time of tribulation.
Such considerations as these, and the virtues a
just man is endowed with, together with the
Almighty God's never-failing gfrace, make him
strong enough to bear those burdens not only
with patience, but oftentimes with thankfulness
and pleasure. Holy Tobias' example will
sufBce at present to prove this : we read of
him, that God having permitted that he should
lose his sight, after having suffered many
other afflictions, for an example of patience
to men in after ages, he was not troubled at
all, nor did he lose the least part of that fidelity
and obedience he paid to God before these misfor-
tunes happened to him. Whereupon the
Scripture immediately gives the reason of it,
saying, " Having had the fear of God before his
eyes from his very infancy, and having kept
his commandments, he did not murmur against
him, because he had struck him with blindness,
but remained immovable in the fear of God,
giving him thanks all the days of his life ;"
Tob. ii. 13, 14. You see now by this, how
plainly the Holy Ghost attributes the patience,
with which a man suffers afflictions, to virtue
and the fear of God, which, as the Scripture has
declared, this holy man was so renowned for. I
could bring several remarkable instances of
holy men and women, even in our days, who
have undergone all the troubles God has sent
them with a deal of cheerfulness and love,
who have found out honey even in gall, who in a
storm had a calm, and have been refreshed and
cooled in the very midst of the flames of Babylon.
§ I. Of the Impatience and Rage of the Wick-
ed in their Afflictions. — But, on the contrary,
how dreadful a thing it is to see the wicked in
any trouble I to see them without charity, pa-
tience, courage, hope or any such virtue ! to see
how all their miseries come on them, unarmed
and unprepared ! to see how blind they are, and
unable to behold that which the just see by a
steady faith I to consider they have no lively hope
to embrace what God sends them, nor have ever
had any experience of his fatherly providence
towards those who serve him ! It is a lament-
able thing to see how they are swallowed up in
this gulf, without finding an)^ place to rest on
or to lay hold of What better hopes can a
man have of them, than that they should per-
ish in the storm, or be killed in the battle,
since they have no kind of assistance to trust
to ; because they sail without a rudder, and
fight without weapons ? What can a man ex-
pect, but that the fury of the winds, and the
tempest of their afflictions, should dash them
against the rocks of anger, pride, dejection, im-
patience, blasphemy and despair ?
Some there are who, through the excess of their
miseries, have lost either their senses, their
health, or their life, or at least their sight, by
their continual tears. So that the just remain
sound and entire in the fire of adversity, like
fine silver, whilst the wicked, like lead, melt
and are dissolved as soon as they feel the heat.
Thus, whilst the one cry, the others sing ;
whilst the one are sinking, the others pass
over dry-shod ; the one, like frail earthen
vessels, crack in the fire, whilst the others, like
pure gold, are the more refined. So that " the
voice of salvation and of joy is continually
sounding in the tabernacles of the just " (Ps.
cxvii. 15), whilst there is nothing to be heard,
in the habitations of the wicked, but the cries
of sorrow and confusion.
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If you would more fully compreliend what
I say, do but observe what extravagances several
females commit on the death of their children
or husbands, and you will find some of them,
out of madness, and rage, and the horror they
have of their life, precipitate their death :
others, that soon end their days with impa-
:tience and fury, caused by their grief; and
thus a family is ruined and destroyed in a
moment. And, what is worst of all, they are
not only in a passion with, and cruel to them-
selves, but pour out horrible execrations against
Almighty God, accusing his providence, con-
demning his justice, blaspheming his mercy,
and opening their sacrilegious mouths against
heaven, nay, against God himself, till, at length,
all their curses fall on their own heads, with many
other calamities much more dreadful, wherewith
Almighty God punishes them for such horrible
blasphemies. This is the reward he deserves,
who is so impudent as to spit at heaven itself,
and to kick against the spur. Sometimes this
proves a complete cure, wrought by the hand
of God, who thus diverts their hearts from some
extraordinary afflictions, by sending them others
that are greater.
Thus, these miserable creatures, wanting the
rudder of virtue to steer their vessels, are cast
away in the storm ; for blaspheming and curs-
ing him, they ought to praise and bless, for be-
ing pufied up with pride when they ought to
humble themselves, for being stubborn when
thej' are chastised, and growing worse on those
remedies which were applied to make them bet-
ter, which seems to be a beginning of their hell,
and a resemblance of what they are to endure in
*he next world. For if hell be nothing but a
place of sin and punishment, why should we
not look on this state as a hell, since it has so
great a share of both ?
But what a pity that still these troubles must
be endured, and that, if they were borne with
patience, they would become more tolerable,
and at the same time more meritorious ; and yet,
in spite of all this, wretched man is resolved
to deprive himself of the inestimable fruit of
patience, and to increase the weight of his
burden, by adding the burden of impatience,
which alone is much heavier than all the rest
of the load. It is a great trouble to labor and
toil, to receive no reward, nor know whose ac-
count to place it to ; but it is much worse to
lose all that is got, and, after traveling all
night, to be further from the journey's end in
the morning.
By what has been said, we may perceive the
difference there is between the use the good
and the bad make of their afflictions. With
what peace, what joy, and what courage do the
good bear theirs, whilst the wicked are quite
overwhelmed with grief and trouble? This was
represented to the life, by the great lamenta-
tions and complaints which were heard through-
out the land of Egypt, when God destroyed
all their first-born in one night (Ex. xii.), for
there was not a house free from grief and
sorrow; and yet there was no cry heard in the
land of Jessen, where the children of Israel
lived.
Besides this peace, what shall I say of the
advantages the just make of tribulations which
are so prejudicial to the wicked? St. Chrysos-
tom says, " that as gold is refined by the saine
fire which consumes wood, so the just man, like
gold, becomes more pure in the fire of tribula-
tion, whilst the wicked, like dry wood, is burned
to ashes;" St. Chrysostom, 14, in Matt. i. St.
Cyprian has something to the same purpose : he
saj's, " that as the wind in harvest time blows
away the light chaff, but cleanses the corn, so the
wind of tribulation blows away the wicked like
light straw, but purges the just, and gathers them
together like good wheat;" Cypr. de unitate
Ecclesiae. The same is represented to us by the
waters of the Red Sea, which were so far from
drowning the children of Israel, as they passed
through them, that, on the contrary, they served
them for a wall on the right hand and on the
left : whereas they broke down on and drowned
the Egyptians' chariots and all Pharao's army.
The waters of tribulation, after the same man-
ner, are a greater security to virtuous men,
'''T)^^
^fM'
^
%
«
L'^^t
«t
h, 'V
THE HOLY WAY OF THK CROSS.
First station; Christ is sentenced to death by Pilate. Second station, Christ takes the Cross on his shoulder. Third station, Jesus
falls the first time under the Cross. Fourth station, Jesus, carrying the Cross, meets his afflicted mother. Fifth station, Christ is assisted
by Sitnon to carry the Cross. Sixth station, Veronica presents a handkerchief to Chri,st. Seventh station, Jesus falls under the Cross a
second time. Eighth station, Christ consoles the women of Jerusalem who wept over Him. Ninth station, Jesus falls under the Cross the
third time. Tenth station, Jesus is stripped of his garments and offered vinegar and gall. Eleventh station, Christ is nailed to the Cross.
Twtlftii station, Christ is exalted on the Cross and dies. Thirteenth station, Christ 18 taken down from the Cross. Fourteenth station,
Cbiiat is laid in the Holy Sepoicbre.
THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
" I am the good shepherd ; ihe good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep, but the hireling and he that is not the shepherd, whose
own sheep they are not, seetb the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and flieth, and the wolf snatcbeth and scatteretb the sheep."
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
385
and serve as the preservatives and trial of their
humility and patience ; but are like a tempest-
ous sea to the wicked, which drowns and buries
them iu the abyss of impatience, blasphemy
and despair.
This therefore, is another very considerable
advantage virtue has over vice ; and it was on
this account that the philosophers extolled phil-
osophy so much, imagining that the making
of a man constant and resolute in all kind of
adversities belonged to it. But they deceived
themselves in this point, as they did in many
others, for neither true virtue, nor true reso-
lution and constancy, are to be found among
the philosophers, but in the school of that
Master, who, being nailed to a cross, comforted
us by his example, and reigning now in
heaven strengthens us by his Spirit, and en-
courages us with the hopes of the glory he has
promised us; of all which, human philosophy
is incapable.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE ELEVENTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, WHICH CONSISTS IN THE CARE GOD TAKES TO SUPPLY
THE TEMPORAL NECESSITIES OF THE JUST.
vL we have hitherto treated of are the
spiritual favors which are bestowed on
the followers of virtue in this life,
besides the everlasting glory which is
laid up for them in the next. These benefits
were all promised them at our Saviour's coming
into the world, as all the prophecies in the
Holy Scriptures testify ; for which reason he is
justly styled the Saviour of the world, because
it is by him we obtain true salvation, which is,
grace, wisdom, peace, victory, and dominion over
our passions, the consolations of the Holy Ghost,
the riches of hope, and, in fine, all other bene-
fits requisite for obtaining this salvation, of
which the prophet has said, "Israel has been
saved by the Lord with an eternal salvation;"
Isa. xiv. 17.
But, if there be any person so carnal as to
have a greater love for the goods of the flesh,
than for those of the spirit, as the Jews had,
we will not differ on this account, for he shall
herein find more satisfaction, as to this part,
than he can possibly wish. For what else
could the wise man mean, when, speaking
of true wisdom, in which the perfection of
virtue consists, he says, " Length of days is
at her right hand, and riches and glory at
25
her left?" Prov. iii. 16. So that she holds
these two sorts of goods in her hands, inviting
men with one of them to the enjoyment of
eternal blessings, and with the other to search
after temporal. Do not imagine that God starves'
those who serve him, or that he is so careless
as to feed the very ant and worms of the earth,
and sufifer them to want. If you will not be-
lieve me, read the sixth chapter of St. Matthew,
and there you will see what earnest and secu-
rity he has given you. " Behold the fowls of
the air," says our Saviour, " for they sow not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into their
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Of how much more value are you than
they ? " Matt. vi. 26. A little after he concludes
thus : " Do not, therefore, be solicitous, saying.
What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or
what clothes shall we put on ? for the heathens
trouble themselves about all these things. Do
you, therefore, seek first the kingdom of God,
and these things shall be given to you;" ver.
31? 32» 33- It is for this reason particularly
that the holy psalmist, observing that this
alone was a sufl&cient motive to make men
submit to one another, invites us to serve God,
saying, "Fear the Lord, all you his saints ; because
386
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
those that fear him want for nothing. The
rich have been in want, and have suflfered hunger;
but those that seek the Lord shall not be de-
prived of any thing that is good;" Ps.xxxiii. lo, II.
This is so certain, that the same prophet adds
in another psalm, " I have been young, but
now I am old ; yet I never saw the just man
I forsaken, nor his seed begging bread ; " Ps.
xxxvi. 25.
If you would be better informed of the share
the just have in this promise, hear what God him-
self says, in the book of Deuteronomy (ch. xxviii.
1-12), to those that keep his commandments :
" If you will hear the voice of the Lord thy
God, to do and keep all his commandments,
which I command thee this day, the Lord thy
God will make thee higher than all the nations
that are on the earth. And all these blessings
shall come upon thee and overtake thee ; yet
so if thou hear his precepts. Blessed shalt
thou be in the city, and blessed in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and
the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy
cattle, the droves of thy herd, and the folds of
thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy bams, and
blessed thy stores. Blessed shalt thou be com-
ing in and going out. The Lord shall cause
thy enemies that rise up against thee to fall
down before thy face : one way shall they come
out against thee, and seven ways shall they
flee before thee. The Lord will send forth a
blessing upon thy storehouses, and upon all
the works of thy hands : and will bless thee
in the land that thou shalt receive. The
Lord will raise thee up to be a holy peo-
ple to himself, as he swore to thee : if thou
keep the commandments of the Lord thy God,
and walk in his ways. And all the people of
the earth shall see that the name of the Lord
is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear
thee. The Lord will make thee abound with
all goods, with the fruit of thy womb, and the
fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land,
which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he
would give thee. The Lord will open his
excellent treasure, the heaven, that it may
give rain in due season: and he will. bless all
the works of thy hands." These are the words
of God himself, delivered by his prophet. Tell
me now, after all this, are the treasures of
both the Indies to be compared with such
infinite blessings as these are ?
But supposing the promise of temporal bless-
ings was made to the Jews, rather than
Christians, because the Almighty, by Ezekiel
(ch. xxxiv., xxxvi.), promises to enrich these
with other kind of goods of greater value, to
wit, those of grace and glory ; yet as God, in
the carnal law, did not cease to give spiritual
goods to those Jews that were virtuous, so
neither will he refuse to give temporal bless-
ings to good Christians in the spiritual law,
and that with the addition of two extraordinary
advantages, of which the wicked have not the
least knowledge. The one is, that he gives
them these sort of blessings like an experienced
physician, according to their several necessities,
that they may serve to support and not to puff
them up. The wicked know nothing at all of
this, for they heap up all they can, without
considering that superfluity of temporal goods
is no less prejudicial to the welfare of our
soul, than superfluity of meats is to the health
of the body. For, though a man cannot natur-
ally live without eating, yet to eat too much
impairs the health, and though man's life is
in his blood, yet too much of it quite chokes
him up. The other advantage is, that with less
noise he gives them much more content and
satisfaction, which is the end of men's seeking
after temporal riches, than the others can pur-
cha.se with all their labor ; because whatsoever
God can do by the means of second causes, he
can do by himself much more perfectly. It is
what he has done to all the saints, in whose
name St. Paul spoke, when he said, " As hav-
ing nothing, and yet possessing all things ''
(2 Cor. vi. 10) ; because we are as content with
the little we have, as if we were lords of all
the world. Travelers endeavor to carry what
money they have in gold, because they can
carry much more, and with less burden ; so the
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
3^7
Almighty provides for those who love him, by
giving them a lighter burden, but much more
of joy, ease and satisfaction. Thus the just
travel in this life naked and contented, poor
and rich, whilst the wicked wallow in their
riches, and yet die for hunger. And though,
like Tantalus, they are up to their very chin
in water, yet they cannot quench their thirst.
For this and such like reasons, Moses so
earnestly recommended the keeping of the law
of God, desiring it should be our whole study
and care, as well knowing that all happiness
consists in the fulfilling thereof. " Lay up
these words of mine," says he, " in thy heart ;
teach them to thy children, and meditate upon
them as thou sittest in thy house, and as thou
art upon journeys, when thou goest to bed,
and when thou risest again. And thou shalt
bind them as a sign on thy hand, and keep
them always before thy eyes, and write them
over thy porch and over the doors of thy
house, that by this means thy days may be
multiplied, and those of thy posterity, in the
laud- which God shall give thee ; " vi. 6, 7, 8,
etc. What was it, O holy prophet, that you
saw, what did you find in the keeping of God's
commandments, that should make you recom-
mend them so earnestly to others ? You, with-
out doubt, understood the inestimable value of
this good, as being so great a prophet, and
privy to the divine counsels : you knew that
all kinds of goods whatever, present and to
come, temporal and eternal, spiritual and
corporal, were contained in and depended on
this, and that if we complied with this obliga-
tion, we should satisfy all the rest : you knew
very well that he who made it his business to
do the will of God, should never lose his
labor, because the doing of this was pruning
his vine, watering his garden, increasing his
estate, and looking after all his aflfairs, much
better than he could do it himself, because it
laid an obligation on God to do it for
him. For the condition of the treaty, which
God has made with man is, that whilst man is
busy about keeping of God's law, God should be
busy about looking after man's concerns. And
there is no fear of the contract being broken on
God's side. On the contrary, if man prove a
faithful servant, God will still show himself a
better master. This is that one thing which our
Saviour said was necessary, to wit, the knowing
and the loving of God. For he that knows how
to please God, is secure of all the rest. " Piety,"
says St. Paul, " is profitable for all things, be-
cause all the promises, both of this life and the
life to come, are for it;" i Tim. iv. 8. You see
here how plainly the Apostle promises to piety,
which is the worship of God, not only the goods
of the next, but those of this life too, as far as
they contribute to the gaining of eternal happi-
ness, and yet man is not excused on this account
from labor, or from complying with the obliga-
tions of his state or calling as far as he is able.
§ I. Of the Poverty of the Wicked. — If any one
desires to know what poverty, what afflictions
and calamities are laid up for the wicked, let him
but read the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuter-
onomy, and he will there see such things as will
astonish and aflfright him : where, amongst many
other dreadful threats, Moses delivers these most
terrifying words from the mouth of God : "If
thoix wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God,
to keep, and to do all his commandments and
ceremonies, which I have commanded thee this
day, all these curses shall come upon thee and
overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city,
cursed in the field. Cursed shall be thy bam,
and cursed thy stores. Cursed shall be the fruit
of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the
herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Cursed shalt thou be in coming in, and cursed
going out. The Lord shall send upon thee famine
and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works
which thou shalt do; until he consume and
destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inven-
tions, by which thou hast forsaken me. May
the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he
consume thee out of the land which thou shalt
go in to possess. May the Lord afflict thee with
miserable want, with the fever and with the cold,
with burning and with heat, and with corrupted
388
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
air, and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou
perish. Be the heaven that is over thee of brass ;
and the ground thou treadest on of iron. The
Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and
let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till
thou be consumed. The Lord make thee to fall
down before thy enemies ; one way mayst thou
go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be
scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the
earth. And be thy carcass meat for all the
fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and
be there none to drive them away. The Lord
strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part
of thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with
the scab and with the itch ; so that thou canst
not be healed. The Lord strike thee with mad-
ness and blindness, and fury of mind, and mayst
thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to
grope in the dark, and not make straight thy
ways. And mayst thou at all time sufiFer wrong,
and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou
have no one to deliver thee. Mayst thou take a
wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou
build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayst thou
plant a vineyard, and not gather the vintage
thereof. May thy ox be slain before thee, and
thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away
in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy
sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be
none to help thee. Maj' thy sons and thy daugh-
ters be given to another people, thy eyes looking
on and languishing at the sight of them all the
day, and maj' there be no strength in thy hand.
May a people, which thou knowest not, eat the
fruit of thy land, and all thy labors ; and mayst
thou always suffer oppression, and be crushed at
all times. And be astonished at the terror of
those things which thy eyes shall see. May the
Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the
knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable
from the sole of the foot to the top of thy head.
The Lord shall bring thee and thy king, whom
thou shalt have appointed over thee, into a nation
which thou and thy fathers know not ; and there
thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.
And thou shalt be lost as a proverb and a by-
word to all people among whom the Lord shall
bring thee in ;" Deut. xxviii. 15-38. In fine,
after a great many other curses, and those very
dreadful ones, he adds further : " All these curses
shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and over-
take thee till thou perish: because thou heardst
not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst
not keep his commandments and ceremonies
which he commanded thee. And they shall be
as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed
forever. Because thou didst not serve the Lord
thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the
abundance of all things. Thou shalt serve thy
enemy, whom the Lord shall send upon thee, in
hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want
of all things ; and he shall put an iron yoke
upon thy neck, till he consume thee. The Lord
will bring tipon thee a nation from afar, and from
the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle
that flieth swiftly ; whose tongue thou canst not
understand : a most insolent nation, that will
show no regard to the ancient, nor have pity on
the infant, and will devour the fruit of thy land,
until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no
wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen,
nor flocks of sheep : until he destroy thee,
and consume thee in all thy cities, and thy
strong and high walls be brought down, where-
in thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou
shalt be besieged within thy gates, in all thy
land, which the Lord thy God will give thee ;
and thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the
flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which
the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress
and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall op-
press thee ; " Ibid. ver. 45-54. These threats
and curses are all taken out of the Holy Scrip-
tures, where you may find many more which I
here omit to relate ; but whoever reads them with
attention, will meet with such dreadful things as
cannot but astonish him. Then, perhaps, he
will open his eyes, and begin to have some
knowledge of the rigor of God's justice and of
the malice of sin, together with the extreme
hatred he bears it, as appears by the terrible
punishments he inflicts on it in this life, by which
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
3«9
men may conjecture what a sinner is to expect
in the next. Besides he will pity the insensi-
bility and misery of the wicked, who are so blind
as not to see the dreadful punishments that are
reserved for them.
Do not persuade yourself, that these threats
are only empty words, but consider that they are
rather a prophecy of those misfortunes which
have since happened to that people : for during
the reign of Acham, king of Israel, the king of
Syria's army having besieged them in Samaria,
we read that men were forced to eat pigeon's
dung, which was sold at a great price. Nay, they
were reduced at last to such extremities, that
mothers devoured their own children; 4 Kings
vi. And Josephus tells us they were brought to
the same misery again in the siege of Jerusalem ;
Jos. L. 7. There is scarce any body but has
heard of the captivity of this people, with the
utter subversion of the whole kingdom ; for ten
tribes of them were carried away into perpetual
captivity by the king of Assyria, and never re-
turned home again ; and the two which remained
were quite destroyed a great while after, by the
Roman army, who took many of them prisoners ;
but the number of these that were slain or died
during the siege was far greater, according to
the relation of the same historian.
Let no man deceive himself by imagining, that
all these calamities concerned none but this peo-
ple ; for they belonged to all those in general,
who, professing to serve God, nevertheless con-
temn and violate his law : it is what he himself
assures us of by his prophet Amos, saying, " Was
it not I that brought the children of Israel out
of the land of Egypt, and the Palestines out of
Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene ? Be-
hold the eyes of the Lord are over the kingdoms,
which commit sin, for to destroy and blot them out
of the face of the earth." Amos ix. 7, 8. By this
he gives us to understand, that all these changes
of the kingdoms and states, as the destroying of
some and the establishing of others, are the
eflfects of sin. And if any one doubts whether
this concerns us or no, let him search into the
histories of past ages, and he will find that God
Almighty deals after the same manner with all
the wicked, but particularly with those who have
known the true law and yet have not observed it.
He will there see that a great part of Europe, Africa
and Asia, which was formerly full of Christian
Churches, is now in the hands of heathens and
barbarians; he will see what calamities the
church has suffered from the Goths, the Huns
and the Vandals, who, in St. Augustine's time,
laid all the countries of Africa waste, sparing
neither man, woman, nor child, old or young.
And at the same time, all the country of Dal-
matia and the neighboring towns were so ruined
by those barbarians, that, as St. Jerome, who was
himself of that country, says, '' Whosoever passed
through it could see nothing but heaven and
earth, so universal was the desolation ;" S. Hier.
in c. I., Soph on. All this serves to inform us,
that virtue and true devotion not only assist us,
in order to obtain the eternal goods, but also to
settle us in the possession of the temporal.
Wherefore, let the consideration of this, and all
those other advantages virtue has, serve to make
an impression on our hearts, and excite them to
the love of that which delivers us from so great
evils, and procures us such mighty benefits.
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CHAPTER XXIU.
THE TWELFTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE, WHICH IS, THE QUIET AND HAPPY DEATH OF THE VIRTUOUS J
AND, ON THE CONTRARY, THE DEPLORABLE END OF THE WICKED.
jDD to these privileges, the glorious
death of good men, to which all the
others are directed. For if, as we com-
monly say, it is the end that crowns the
work, what can better deserve a crown, or what
can be more glorious than the end of good men,
and what more miserable than that of the
wicked ? " The death of the saints," says the
psalmist, " is precious in the sight of the Lord,
but the death of sinners is the worst" (Ps. cxv.
15; xxxiii. 22); because it is the greatest of all
miseries either of the body or soul. And, there-
fore, St. Bernard, writing upon these words," The
death of sinners is the worst," says, " That first
of all it is bad, because it takes them away
from the world : worse yet, because it separates
the soul from the body ; but worst of all, because
of those two eternal torments, fire everlasting,
and the worm that never dies, which immedi-
ately follow it ; " S. Bern. Serm. inter parvos.
It cannot but be a great affliction to such
persons to leave the world, a much greater to
forsake their own flesh, but the greatest of all,
will be hell torments, which they are to be
forever condemned to. These, therefcfre, and
several other miseries put together, will disturb
the wicked at this time ; because then they will
first be sensible of the symptoms and ac-
cidents of their distemper, the racking pains
they endure all over their bodies, the frights and
terrors of their souls, the anguish their present
condition causes, their apprehensions of what
must follow, the remembrance of what is past,
the reflection on the accounts they are going
to give in, the dread they have of the sentence
to be passed against them, the horror of the
grave, their being separated from all they had
an inordinate affection for, that is, from their
riches, their friends, their wives, their children,
nay, from the very light and common air.
which they enjoy, and even from life itself.
The greater love they have had for any of
these things, the more unwilling will they be
to leave it: for, according to the great St.
Augustine, " What we possess with love, we
can never lose without grief;" De Civit. Dei.
Conformable to which was this saying of a
philosopher : " The fewer pleasures a man has
enjoyed, the less he is afraid of death."
But the greatest torment they suffer at this
time, is that of an evil conscience, with the
consideration and dread of those pains which
are prepared for them ; because man, being
then alarmed at the approach of death, begins
to open his eyes, and to consider what he
never thought of in all his life before. Euse-
bius Emissenus gives us a very good reason
for this in one of his Homilies, where he
says, " Because at this time man lays aside
all the solicitude with which he used to seek
for and procure all that is necessary for life,
and does not trouble his head any more, either
about working or fighting, or any other employ
whatever ; it follows from hence, that the soul,
being free from every thing else, thinks of
nothing but the account she must make, and
all her powers are overcharged with the weight
of the divine justice and of God Almighty's
judgments. Man, therefore, lying in this mis-
erable condition, with life behind his back
and death before his eyes, he easily forgets
the present, which he is going to leave, and
begins to think of the future, which he is
in continual expectation of. There he sees
that his pleasures and delights are now at an
end, and that he has nothing left him but
his sins to appear against him, before the
tribunal of God ; " S. Euseb. Homil. i, 2d
Monachos. The same doctor, discoursing
again upon this subject in another homily,
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
391
says, " Let us consider what complaints a negli-
gent soul will make at its departure out of
this life ; what tribulation and anguish will she
be filled with ! V/hat clouds and darkness will
she lie under, when among those enemies that
surround her, she shall see her own conscience,
attended by a multitude of sins, the forwardest
to appear against her! For she alone, without
any other witness, will appear before us, to
convince us by her evidence, and confound us
by her knowledge. It will be impossible to
hide any thing from her, or to deny any thing
she shall charge us with, since there will be no
need of going any further than ourselves for a
witness."
Peter Damianus handles this matter much
better and more at large (Pet. Damian. c. 6,
in Institut. Moniol. ad Blancam Commitissan):
" Let us consider," says he, " with attention,
what dreadful fears and apprehensions the soul
of a sinner will be oppressed with, when she
is on the point of leaving the prison of the
flesh, and how the stings of a guilty conscience
will prick and torment her. Then she calls to
mind the sins she has committed, and sees how
she has despised and broken the commandments
of God ; then she is troubled to have lost so
much time, in which she might have done
penance, and with affliction sees that the ac-
counts she must unavoidably give, and the time
of divine vengeance, is just at hand. She would
willingly stay, but is forced to go ; she would fain
recover what she has lost, but cannot obtain leave
to do it. If she casts her eyes behind her, and
considers the whole course of her life, it seems
no more to her than a short moment : if she
looks forward, she sees there the space of an
infinite eternity, that expects her. She weeps
when she considers the everlasting happiness
she has lost, which she might have gained in
the short time of this life ; and to be deprived
of this unspeakable sweetness of eternal delight
for a fleeting carnal satisfaction, is a great
affliction to her. She is filled with confusion
to consider, that, for the pleasing of this mis-
erable body, which must be the food of worms,
she has neglected herself, who ought to have
taken her place amongst the choirs of angels.
When she reflects upon the brightness and
glory of immortal riches, she is ashamed to
see herself deprived of them, for having sought
after such as were base and perishable. But
when she has done looking upward, and cast
her eyes down upon the dark and frightful
valley of this world, and at the same time
sees the glory of the eternal light above her,
she is fully convinced, that all she loved in
this world was nothing but night and dark-
ness. O ! if she could but then obtain a little
time to do penance in, what austerities and
mortifications would she not undergo ? What
is it she would not do? What vows would
she not make, and what prayers would she
not be continually ofiering up ? But whilst
man is revolving these things in his mind,
behold the messenger and forerunners of death
are just at hand, his eyes become dark and
hollow, his breast heaves, his voice grows
hoarse, he rattles in his throat, his limbs
wax cold, his teeth turn black, he foams at
the mouth, and his face grows wan and pale;
whilst these things, which serve as so many
preparatives to approaching death, orderly fall
out, the miserable soul sees before her all the
works, words and thoughts of her late wicked
life, which give a lamentable testimony against
her, as being the author of them all : and
though she would willingly iurn her eyes away
from them, she cannot, but is forced to see
them. Let us add to all this, the horrible pres-
ence of the devils on one side, and that of
virtue and of the blessed angels on the other:
and we may soon guess which of the two
parties this prey is like to fall to; because,
if the dying man carries any works of piety
and virtue with him, he is immediately com-
forted by the invitations and caresses of the
angels ; but if the foulness of his sins, and of
his wicked life past, require that he should be
treated in another manner, immediately he
trembles every joint of him; from fear he falls
into despair; — and in this condition is snatched.
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rent and torn away from his miserable flesh,
and thrown headlong into everlasting torments."
Thus far Peter Damianus.
If all this be true, and must happen accord-
ingly, what need any more, if a man has
not lost his senses, to make him see how
miserable the condition of the wicked is, and
how carefully to be avoided, since their end is
like to be so wretched and deplorable?
If the goods of this world could do any ser-
vice at that time, as they do all the other part
of life, their misery would be much easier, but
there is none of them that give the least assist-
ance. For neither can honors profit a man, nor
friends help him ; he can have no servants to
attend him ; he must expect no favor, because of
his quality, no succor from his estate, nor any
service from any thing whatever, but from virtue
and innocence of life. For, as the wise man
says, " Riches cannot profit us in the day of
vengeance, but justice alone," that is virtue will
deliver from death; Prov. xi. How, therefore,
can the wicked man, finding himself so poor and
destitute of all kind of help, forbear trembling
to see himself thus forsaken and neglected at
the judgment-seat of Almighty God?
^ 1. Of the Death of the Just. — But, on the
contrary, how secure are the just against all
these miseries when they come to die ! For as
the wicked at this time receive the punishment of
their sins, the just receive the reward of their
deserts, according to Ecclesiasticus, who says,
" He that fears the Lord shall be happy in the
last daj'^s, and in the day of his death he shall
be blessed " (Ecclus. i. 19) ; that is, he shall
have the rich reward of his labors. St. John, in
his Revelation, declares the same thing to us
more expressly, when he tells us, " That he
heard a voice from heaven which commanded
him to write, and the words which it dictated were
these : Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord,
because the Holy Ghost tells them the time is come
that they shall rest from their labors, for their
works follow them;" Apoc. xiv. 13. How is it
possible then for a just man, that has received
such a promise as this from Almighty God
himself, to be frightened at the hour of his
death, when he sees himself just on the point
of receiving what he has been laboring for all
his life-time ? For this reason, one of holy
Job's pretended friends tells him, " That if
there be no iniquity nor injustice found in him,
he shall be as bright in the evening as the
sun at noon-day, and when he shall imagine
himself to be quite spent, he shall arise like
the morning star;" Job xi. 14, 17. St. Gregory,
writing upon these words, says, that " The
reason why this morning brightness shines
upon the just in the evening is, because he
perceives some glimmerings, at the hour of his
death, of that glory which God has prepared
for him ; and, therefore, when others are the
most dejected, he is then most cheerful ; " St.
Greg. 10, Moral, c. i. Solomon, in his Proverbs,
testifies the same, when he says, " The wicked
man shall be rejected because of his sins, but
the just is in hopes at the hour of his death; "
Prov. xiv. 32.
To prove this by an example; could any
man have better hopes or more courage
than the glorious St. Martin had on
his death-bed, who, seeing the devil by
him, asked him, " What dost thou do here,
cruel beast? thou shalt find no mortal sin in
me to glut thyself with, and therefore I shall
be received into Abraham's bosom in peace."
Again, what greater confidence can be, than that
St. Dominick had, when he was in the same cir-
cumstances ? for seeing the religious brothers
all about him, bemoaning themselves for his
departure, and the want they should find in the
loss of him, he comforted them with these
words : " Let nothing trouble or afflict you, chil-
dren, for I shall do you much more service
where I am going, than I should be able to do
you here." How can a man lose courage in
this combat, or be afraid of death, who looked
on eternal glory to be so much his own, as to be
in hopes of obtaining it, not only for himself, but
for his children too ?
It is on this account the just have so little rea-
son to be afraid of death, that they praise God
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393
when they are dying, and thank him for having
brought them to their end, looking on death as
a cessation from their labors, and the beginning
of their happiness and glory. Whereon St.
Augustine, on St. John's Epistle, says, " It is
not to be said of him that dies in peace, but of
him that lives in peace, and dies with joy, that
he desires to be dissolved and be with Christ ; "
St. Aug. 9, in Ep. Joan. Thus we see the
just man has no reason to be troubled at
death ; but we may with justice say of him, that
like the swan, he goes singing out of the
world, praising and glorifying God for calling
him to himself. He is not afraid of death,
because he has feared God, and whosoever
has done that, has nothing else to be afraid of.
He is not afraid of death, because he has been
afraid of life ; the fear a man has of death,
being only the eflfects of a bad life. He is not
afraid of death, because he has spent all his
life in learning how to die, and in preparing
himself against death ; and he that stands
always on his guard has no need to fear his
enemies. He is not afraid of death, because
the whole employment of his life has been to
seek after those that might assist and stand
by him at this hour, that is, virtue and good
works. He is not afraid of death, because the
many services he has done his Judge will make
him kind and favorable at that time. He is not,
in iine, afraid of death, because death is no
death, but only a slumber to a just man ; it
is no death, it is but a change; it is no death,
it is but the last day of his toils and labors ;
it is no death, but only the way that leads to
life, and the step by which he must mount to
immortality ; for he knows that when death
has passed through the veins of life, it loses
the bitterness it had before, and takes up the
sweetness of life.
Nor can any other of those accidents which
usually happen at this time terrify him ; for
he knows they are nothing but child-bed pangs,
which gave him birth to that eternity, that
love of which has made him continually long
for death, and suffer life with patience. He is
not frightened with the remembrance of his sins,
because he has Jesus Christ for his Redeemer,
whom he has always been acceptable to ; nor
does the rigor of God's judgments dishearten
him, because his Redeemer is his advocate ;
neither does he shrink at the sight of the
devils, because Jesus Christ is his Captain ; nor
can the hprror of the grave make any impres-
sion upon him, because he knows " that he
must sow a fleshly and corruptible body in the
earth, that it may afterwards spring up incor-
ruptible and spiritual ;" I Cor. xiii. 44. If it be
true that the end crowns the work ; and if, as
Seneca says, " we must judge of all the rest
by the last day, and, accordingly, pass sen-
tence on the whole life past, because all that
is past is condemned or justified by it" (Senec.
Ep. 12); and if the death of good men be so
peaceable and quiet, and that of the wicked, on
the contrary, so disturbed and painful, what
need have we of any other motive, than barely
this difference, which is between the death of
the one and of the other, make us resolve
against a bad life, and to commence a good
one ?
Where is the benefit of all these pleasures,
all this prosperity, and all these riches, all the
titles and honors in the world, if, after all, I
should be plunged headlong, into hell-fire ? And,
on the other side, what hurt can all the miseries
of this life do me, if, by means of them, I can make
a happy end, and bring with me the pledges
of eternal glory ? Let the wicked man manage
his point in the world with as much cunning
as he pleases, what will he p -t by all his craft,
but just to know how to a |uire such things
as will serve to make him more proud, more
vain, more sensual, more able to sin, more
unable to do good, and to make death so much
the more bitter and unwelcome, as life was the
more pleasant and delightful ? If there is any
sense and wit in the world, certainly there is
none greater than to know how to order life
well against this last hour, since a wise man's
chief business is to understand what means are
th« most proper for him to use, in order to
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arrive at his end. If, therefore, we look on
him as a skilful physician, who knows what
remedies to prescribe for the recovery of health,
which is the end of his science, we must
of necessity think him truly wise who knows
how to govern his life, in order to death ; that is,
in order to the making up of his accounts well,
when death, to which he is to direct .all his life,
shall come.
§ II. The foregoing Section proved by some
Examples. — For the better explaining and con-
firming of what I have said, and to give the
reader a little spiritual recreation, I think fit
to add here a few famous examples of the
glorious deaths of some saints, taken out of
the holy pope Gregory's Book of Dialogues,
(Greg. L. 4. Dial. c. 13), by which we may
plainly perceive how pleasant and how happy
a thing death is to the just. If I enlarge a
little on this point, I shall not think my time
ill spent, because the saint, at the same time
that he relates these passages, gives a great
deal of wholesome advice and instruction.
" He tells us, that, during the time the Goths
were in Italy, there was a certain lady called
Gala, of very considerable quality, in Rome,
daughter of one Symmachus, a consul. She
was married very young, and became both wife
and widow in one year. She had all the in-
vitations imaginable from the world, her youth,
and her fortune, to the taking of a second
husband, but she chose to be the spouse of
Christ, and to celebrate a marriage with him,
that begins with sorrow, but ends with joy,
rather than with the world, where it begins
with joy, but end with sorrow, because one of
the two must una oidably see the death of the
other. This lady \vas of a warm constitution,
and, therefore, the physicians told her chat if
she did not marry again, she would certainly
have a beard like a man, which accordingly
happened. Yet the holy woman, charmed with
the inward beauty of her new bridegroom, was
not troubled at her outward deformity, well know-
ing it would not be oflFensive to her heavenly
spouse. Therefore, laying aside her worldly dress,
she gave herself entirely up to the service of God,
and entered into a monastery near St. Peter's
Church, where she lived for several years in
great simplicity of heart, and in the frequent
exercise of prayer and charity to the poor. The
Almighty being resolved, at length, to reward
the labors of his servant with eternal glory,
she was troubled with a cancer in the breast,
which grew to such a height that she was
forced to keep her bed, where, as she lay, she had
always two lamps burning by her, being so great
a lover of light, as to have a horror, not only of
spiritual but also corporal darkness. Finding
herself one night very much out of order, she
saw the blessed Apostle St. Peter standing
between the two lamps ; not at all disturbed at
the vision, nay, her love on the contrary
emboldening and encouraging her, she, with a
deal of cheerfulness and joy, asked him, — Great
Apostle, are my sins pardoned me yet ? To
which he answered, with a smiling counten-
ance, bowing down his head. Yes, they are par-
doned you — come along with me. But the
holy woman, having contracted a strict tie of
friendship with another religious woman of
the same monastciy, called Benedicta, replied
immediately, I beg that sister Benedicta may
go along with me ; the Apostle told her she
was not to come yet, but that another sister,
whom he named, should bear her company, and
that sister Benedicta should follow her within
thirty days. After which he vanished, and
the sick lady, sending for the prioress, gave
her an account of all that happened, and
both she and the other, whom St. Peter
named, died within three days after, and
at the end of thirty days, the other she had
asked for. The memory of this passage is still
preserved in that monastery, and the younger
religious women, who received it from their
mothers, recount it with as much fervor and
devotion as if they themselves had been eye-
witness to it." This is St. Gregory's own
relation ; the reader may observe how glorious
an end this was.
After this the saint g^ves us an account
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395
of another example, no less wonderful (chap.
14) : " There was a certain man, says he, at
Rome, called Servulus, very poor as to the
world, but very rich in merits. His usual sta-
tion was under a porch before St. Clement's
Church, where he begged, being so crippled by
the palsy that he could not rise, nor sit in his
bed, nor so much as lift his hand to his
mouth, or turn from one side to the other.
His mother and brother always kept him com-
pany and assisted him, and all the alms he
could conveniently spare he desired his mother
or his brother to distribute among the poor.
He could not read, yet he bought some books
of Scripture, and when any devout persons came
to see him, would desire them to read to him;
by this means he got some insight into holy
writ. Besides, he always used to bless
God in the midst of his torments, and to
employ himself day and night in sing-
ing of hymns. But the time drawing
nigh when the Lord intended to reward his
great patience, the holy man fell extreme sick,
and when he perceived he was just going out
of the world, he called together all the strang-
ers thereabout, desiring them to join with him
in praising God for the hopes he had given
him of his being at the end of his labors.
" But as he was singing amongst the rest,
he interrupted them on a sudden, crying out
with a loud voice. Silence ! do you not hear
the songs and hymns of praises and thanks-
giving which fill the heavens ? And listening
thus with the ear of his heart to the voices
he heard within himself, he died. As soon as
he had given up the ghost, such an extra-
ordinary fragrancy was smelt all over the place,
that all those present were delighted with its
sweetness, by which they understood he really
heard the songs of praise and joy with which
he was received into heaven. A religious man
of our convent, who is still living, and who
was present when this happened, often, with
tears, tells me, that those who were there when
he died never lost the sweet smell till the
body was buried."
I will add another memorable example out
of the same saint, where he gives a faithful
testimony, as being himself nearly concerned
in it (chap. 16): "My father (says he) had
three sisters, who all consecrated their vir-
ginity to God; the eldest was called Tar-
silla, the second Gordiana, the youngest
Emiliana. The}?- all three offered themselves
to God at the same time, with an equal fervor,
devotion and resignation, living together in
their own house under the religious observance
of a very rigorous rule. After they had lived
thus for a very considerable time, Tarsilla and
Emiliana began to increase every day more and
more in the love of their Creator, and arrived
to such a degree, that, though their bodies
remained on earth, their souls were continually
conversant in heaven. But Gordiana, on the
contrary, growing every day more and more
cold in her affection for God, was proportion-
ably inflamed with the love of the world. All
this while Tarsilla used frequently to tell her
sister Emiliana, with a deal of sorrow, I see
that our sister Gordiana is not well pleased
with our way of living ; I perceive she is wholly
bent upon outward things, and that she observes
not in her heart her religious vows. Where-
upon the other two sisters made it their whole
business to advise her, with all the sweetness
and tenderness they could, to lay aside her
light behavior, and be modest and grave as
became her habit. She received this admoni-
tion with a very serious countenance, but as
soon as it was over, laid aside that counterfeit
gravity. Thus she spent her time in idle dis-
course, delighting in the company of worldly
women, nor could she endure to converse
with any other. One night, my great grand- 1
father, Felix, who had been pope, ap-
peared to Tarsilla, who had made a much
greater progress than her sisters in continual
prayer, corporal austerities, and fasting, in
modesty, in gravity, and in all kinds of piety,
and, showing her a habitation of eternal bright-
ness, said to her, * Come hither to me, for I
am to receive you into this habitation of light.'
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Within a few days after, Tarsilla fell sick of a
burning fever, and was past all recovery ; and
as it is customary for much company to visit a
person of quality that lies a dying, to comfort
the kindred of the party that is expiring, so
that several persons of note were there, and
amongst the rest my mother. Then the sick
lady, lifting up her eyes towards heaven, saw
her Saviour coming to her; and, struck with
admiration, began to cry out, 'Stand aside, for
Jesus Christ is coming.' And having fixed her
eyes steadfastly on her Saviour, whom she saw,
she soon after breathed out her blessed soul ;
and immediately such a fragrancy was smelt by
all there present, as sufficiently evinced that
the Author of all sweetness had really been
among them. When they uncovered her to
wash her body, as is usually done with the
dead, they found her knees and elbows as hard
as a camel's, with continual prostrating at her
prayers ; so her dead flesh gave a testi-
mony of the employment of her spirit dur-
ing life. All this happened before Christ-
mas, and as soon as Christmas-day was over,
Tarsilla appeared to her sister Emiliana in the
night-time, and said to her, ' Come, my dear
sister, let us keep the feast of the Epiphany
together, since I have kept that of Christmas
without you.' But Emiliana, being concerned
at the danger her sister Gordiana would be
exposed to if she were left alone, answered,
'If I go along w4th you, to whose care shall
I recommend our sister Gordiana ? ' Tarsilla,
with a heavy countenance, replied, ' Do you
come with me ; as for Gordiana, she is reckoned
amongst the people of the world.' Immediatel}^
after this vision, Emiliana fell sick, and grow-
ing every hour worse and worse, died before
the day her sister had named. Gordiana seeing
herself now left alone, became more and more
wicked every day, and by degrees quite losing
the fear of God, and neglecting her modesty,
her devotion, and the vows by which she had
consecrated herself to God, went and married a
man that had farmed her estate of her." This
is all taken out of St. Gregory, who, by the
examples of those of his own family and blood,,
shows us how happy and prosperous the end
of virtue is, and how sorrowful and mean that
of light and inconstant persons. I will conclude
with one example more on this subject, out of
the same saint, which happened in his time,
and which he delivers in this manner : —
" About the time when I entered into a
monastery, there was an ancient woman at Rome,
called Redempta, who wore a religious habit,
and lived just by our blessed Lady's. She had
been formerly under the care of a certain holy
virgin called Hirundina, who, they say, was in
great esteem for her virtue, having led a soli-
tary life on the Prenestin mountains. This
same Redempta had two other young virgins,
that came to her to be her disciples ; the name
of one of them was Romula ; as for the other,
who is still living, I know her by sight, but
cannot tell her name. These three virgins lived
a very poor but holy life, all in the same house
But Romula outstripped her other companion
in all kinds of virtues and graces, as being a
woman of wonderful patience, of most perfect
obedience, of an extraordinary recollection, a
very strict observer of silence, and very much
given to prayer and contemplation. But some-
times those who appear perfect in the eyes of
men are not without some imperfections before-
God, as we often see unskilful persons commend
a statue, before it is finished, as a complete work,.
and yet the master, who knows there is much
more to be done to it, does not lay it aside,
because of their extolling it, nor neglect to fin-
ish it, because of their commendation. Almighty
God dealt after the same manner with Romula,
whom he thought fit to refine and perfect, by
afflicting her severely with the palsy, which
obliged her to keep her bed for several years with-
out any use of her limbs. All her pains and suffer-
ings could never move her to the least impatience
nay, on the contrary, the want of the use of her
limbs made her increase more and more in
virtue ; so that, the less able she was to do-
any thing else, the more she exercised herself
in her devotions and prayers. At length she
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397
called her mother Redempta to her, who had
brought up these two disciples of hers as if they
had been her own children, and said to her,
' Come hither, my dear mother, come hither.'
Redempta immediately went to her with her
other disciple, according to the relation, which
they have both of them since made to several
persons, so that the thing is now become public,
and I myself had an account of it at the time
it happened. As they were sitting, about mid-
night, by her bedside, there appeared a light
from heaven on a sudden, which filled the
whole chamber. The brightness of it was so
^reat, that they were astonished at it. After-
wards they heard a noise, as if a great many
persons were coming into the cell, so that the
door cracked as if it was pressed by the throng.
Then they heard many come in, but, through
fear and the extraordinary brightness, could
see nothing, for their hearts were no less damped
with fear than their eyes were dazzled by the
light. After this there followed a sweet smell,
which comforted and refreshed them as much
as the light had frightened them before. They
being no longer able to bear with the extraordi-
nary brightness of that light, the sick woman
began to comfort her mistress, who sat there
trembling and shaking, and said, * Be not
afraid, my dear mother, for I am not dying
yet.' And as she often repeated these words,
the light lessened by degrees, till it was
■quite gone ; but the sweet smell continued
still for the space of three days as fresh
as when they first smelled it. The third day
being over, she called her mistress again, and
desired the viaticum, that is, the blessed sacra-
ment ; which, after she had received, Redempta
and her other companion were no sooner gone
from her bed-side, than they began to hear two
choirs of musicians at the entrance of the door,
■which, as near as they could judge by their
voices, consisted of men and women. The men
sung psalms, and the women answered them.
And whilst they were thus performing the rites
of this celestial funeral, this holy soul, leaving
the prison of her body, began her journey
heavenward, the divine music and fragrancy
going away with her, so that the higher she
mounted, the less they were perceived here below,
till such time as they were both quite lost."
Hitherto the words of St. Gregory.
Many more examples might be brought to
this purpose, but these will suffice to show us
how quiet, how sweet, and how easy the!
death of the just generally is. For though
such evident tokens as these are do not
always appear, yet, inasmuch as they are all
the children of God, and since death is the end
of all their miseries, and the beginning of that
happiness they expect to be rewarded with^
they are always, in this extremity, strengthened
and encouraged by the help of the Almighty's
grace, and by the evidence their own good
consciences give in favor of them. Thus the
glorious St. Ambrose comforted himself on his
deathbed, saying, " I have not lived so as to
have any reason to be sorry that I was ever born ;
nor am I afraid to die, because I know I have
a favorable Master ;" In vita D. Ambrosi. But
if any man imagines these favors and graces are
incredible, let him reflect on the incomprehen-
sible immensity of God's goodness, the effect of
which is to love, honor and favor the good,
and he will acknowledge, that all I have here
asserted is but little in comparison with what
the thing itself is. For if the infinite good-
ness has stooped so low as to take our flesh,
and to die on a cross for the salvation of man ;
what great matter is it to comfort and honor
the good when they are dying, since their
redemption has cost him so dear ? And what
wonder is it, that he should bestow such graces
on those persons when they are dying, whom
he is to receive into his own house, and to make
partakers of his glory when they are dead.
§ III. The Conclusion of the Second Part. —
Those we have mentioned are the twelve
privileges granted to virtue in this life, and
and are like the twelve fruits of that most
beautiful tree St. John, in his Apocalypse,
s?w planted by a river-side, which brought forth
twelve fruits every year, according to the number
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of the months. For, next to the Son of God,
what other tree could bear such fruit but virtue,
which is the tree that brings forth fruits of
life and holiness ? And what fruits can be
more precious than those we have here given
an account of? What more delicious fruit
than the fatherly care and providence which
God has over those who serve him ? What
more pleasant than his divine grace, than the
light of wisdom, the consolation of the Holy
Ghost, the joy of a good conscience, the help
of a secure confidence in him, the true liberty
of the soul, the inward peace of the heart, the
being heard by him in our prayers, the being
consoled by him in our tribulations, the having
of our temporal necessities supplied, and, in
fine, the comfort of a sweet and quiet death at
last ? Any one of these privileges is doubtless
so great in itself, that, were a man but thoroughly
acquainted with it, he would need no other motive
to embrace virtue and make a change of life.
This alone would sufl&ciently convince him of
the truth of that saying of our Saviour, " That
whosoever should leave the world for the
love of him, should receive even in this life
a hundred fold, and hereafter life everlasting "
(Mark x. 29), as has been shown above.
Consider what good this is we invite you to.
Think whether you would have any cause to
repent, should you quit all the things of the
world for it. The only reason why it is not
valued by the wicked is because they know not
its value. Therefore, the Saviour of the world
said, " That the kingdom of heaven was like
a hidden treasure " (Matt. xiii. 44); for it is a
real treasure, but hidden from others, not from
the owner. The prophet understood the value
of this treasure, when he said, " My secret is
for myself, my secret is for myself; " Isa.
xxiv. He did not much care whether
others knew of his happiness. For this is
not like other goods, which are not goods
unless they are known ; because, being in
themselves no longer goods than whilst the
opinion of the world makes them such, it is
requisite the world should knov/ them, oir else
they will never have so much as the name of
goods. But this good, on the contrary, makes
him good and happy that possesses it ; and
though none but himself know of it, yet he has
as much true comfort and satisfaction with it,
as if all the world knew it.
But neither my tongue, nor all that has
hitherto been said, is suflScient to unfold this
secret ; because all that the tongue of man is
able to express falls far short of what it truly is.
The only key, therefore, to explain it, is the
divine light, and the long experience and use
of virtue. Beg this light of our Lord, and you
will soon find this treasure and God himself, in
whom you will find all things ; and you will see
with how much reason the prophet said, " Blessed
is the people that have God for their Lord "
(Ps. cxliii.); for what can he want, that is in
possession of this good ? We read in the first
book of Kings, that Halcanah, Samuel's father,
seeing his v/ife Anne troubled, because she had
no children, said to her, " Anne, what makes
you weep ? Why is your heart troubled ? Am I
not worth more to you than ten children ?"
I Kings i. Now if a loving husband, who to-
day is, and to-morrow is not, be worth more to his
wife than ten children, how much more must
God be worth, do you think, to the soul that
really possesses him ? Blind and senseless
men ! what is it you do ? What is it you are
about? What is it you seek after? Why do
you leave the fountain of paradise for the muddy
lakes of this world ? Why do you not take
the advice of the prophet along with you, when
he says, " Taste and see how sweet the Lord
is? " Ps. xxxiii. 8. Why will you not once at
least try this food ? Why will you not taste
this meat? Do but believe what God has said,
do but once begin, and you will find yourselves
undeceived of all your errors as soon as ever
you enter into this path, as soon as ever you
take this business in hand. The serpent,.
Moses' rod was turned into, looked frightful at
a distance, but as soon as he touched it with his
hand, became a harmless rod again ; Ex.
vii. It was not without reason, that Solomon.
HOW TO SHUN EVIIv; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
399
said, "It is dear, it is dear, says the buyer;
but when he has got the goods into his own
hands, he is glad of the bargain;" Prov. xx.
This happens every day to men in this sort of
purchase, for they, through their want of skill
in spiritual affairs, are at first ignorant of the
value of this commodity, and, therefore, think
it is set at too great a price, because they are
carnal. But when once they have tasted how
sweet the Lord is, they are immediately pleased
with their purchase, and confess a man can never
give too much for so great a treasure. How
glad was the man in the gospel, that he sold
all his estate to purchase that piece of ground
in which he found a treasure! Matt. xiii. 24.
Can the Christian, then, who has heard of the
name of this good, not so much as try what it
is? It is strange, that if a merry companion
should affirm to you, that a great treasure was
hid in some part of your house, you would not
fail to dig there to discover the truth, and yet,
when you are assured by the infallible word of
Almighty God himself, that you may find an
inestimable treasure within your own breast,
you have not the courage or will not take the
pains to look for it. O that you did but know
how much truer this news is, and how much
greater this treasure I O that you did but know
with how little trouble you might find it! O
that you did but see, " How near the Lord is to
those that call upon him, if they call upon him
in truth!" Ps. cxliv. 19. How many men have
there been in the world, who, by a true sorrow
for their sins and begging pardon for them, have,
in less than a week's time, discovered land, or
rather have found out a new heaven and a new
earth, and have begun to perceive the kingdom
of God within themselves ! And what wonder is
it, that the Lord, who has said, " In whatsoever
hour the sinner shall be sorry for his sin, I will
remember it no longer" (Luke xv.), should
work such an effect as this is ? What wonder is
it to see him do this, who scarce gave the prodigal
son leave to make an end of the short prayer he
had studied, before he fell about his neck, em-
braced, and received him with so much joy and
welcome return? Return, therefore, to this tender
father : rise a little in the morning, and continue
for some days to beg and cry at the gates of his
mercy, and assure yourself, that if you persevere
with humility, he will answer you at last, and
discover the hidden treasure of his love to you ;
and after having had some proof of it, you will
immediately cry out, with the spouse in the
Canticles, " If a man should give all that he is
worth for love alone, he would think what he
has g^ven as worth nothing ;" Cant. viii.
CHAPTER XXIV.
AGAINST THE FIRST EXCUSE OF THOSE WHO DEFER CHANGING THEIR LIVES, AND
ADVANCING IN VIRTUE, TILL ANOTHER TIME.
HERE is no doubt, that what we have
hitherto said should be more than
enough for the obtaining the chief end
we have proposed to ourselves, which is
to excite men to a sincere love of virtue, Almighty
God's assisting grace cooperating; but though all
this be true, yet the malice of man is not without
its excuses and apparent reasons, either to defend
or comfort itself when it does amiss. As Ecclesi-
asticus affirms in these words : " The sinner will
avoid correction, and will find out some excuse,
according to his own will ;" Eccl. xxxii. 21. And
Solomon says to the same purpose, " That he
who has a mind to forsake his friend, is seeking
out for occasions to do it " (Prov. xviii. i) ; so
the wicked that desire to separate themselves
from God have always some excuse or other
ready. For some there are we see, that defer
400
HOW TO SHUN EVIL; OR, THE SINNER'S GUIDE.
this business of salvation to another time ; others,
again, defer it till their death ; others say they
are afraid of setting on an undertaking so hard
and laborious ; some again there are, that comfort
themselves with the hope of God's mercy, whilst
they persuade themselves, that without charity
they may be saved by faith and hope ; and
others, in fine, enamored with the world, cannot
'quit the happiness they have in it, even for
obtaining of that which God has promised them.
These are the most frequent deceits and amuse-
ments the enemy of mankind makes use of to
infatuate men, that he may keep them all their
life-time under the slavery of sin, that death may
surprise them in that miserable state. We shall
now expose those frauds in this last part of the
book, and first answer those who put off this
grand concern till another time, which is their
most frequent practice.
Some, therefore, there are, who own all that
has been said to be true, and that there is no way
so secure as that of virtue, which they design to
follow, though they cannot do it at present, but
they shall have time enough hereafter, to do it
better, and with more ease. St. Augustine tells
us, it was thus he answered God before his con-
version : " Stay but a little longer, O Lord ; just
now, just now, I will leave the world ;" St. Aug.
L. 8, Conf c. 5. Thus the wicked deal contin-
ually with God, first appointing one day, and then
another, still shifting the time of their conver-
sion.
It will be no hard matter to prove, that this is
a manifest artifice of the old serpent, who has
been very well used to lying and deceiving of
men ; and this once made out and granted, all
the controversy ceases. For we are already con-
vinced there is nothing in this world which every
Christian ought to desire more than his salva-
tion, and that for the obtaining it, a sincere con-
version and a perfect amendment of life is abso-
lutely necessary ; for without these there is not
salvation to be expected. What we have, there-
fore, to do is, to see when this conversion ought
to be. All the business at present is the appoint-
ing of the time ; as to the rest, it is what every
body is agreed on. You say you will begin your
conversion very shortly ; I saj?- you are to begin
it at this very moment. You say it will be easier
to do it hereafter ; I say, it will be easier to do it
now. Let us see which of the two is in the
right.
But before we speak of the easiness of conver-
sion, I desire you will tell me, who is it that has
given you security for an after conversion? How
many do you think have been deceived by this
hope ? St. Gregory tells us, " that God who has
promised to pardon a sinner if he does penance,
has not promised that he shall live till to-mor-
row;" Homil. 12, in Evang. St. Caesarius has
something to the same purpose : " Somebody
perhaps will saj', When I come to be old, then I
will make use of the physic of penance. How
can human weakness have the impudence to pre-
sume so far of itself, when it has not so much as
the promise of one day?" St. Caesar. Homil. 13.
Tom. 2. Biblioth. Patr. As for my part, I can-
not but think that the number of those souls that
have been lost by this means is infinite. It was
thus the rich man in the gospel was damned for-
ever. St. Luke says of him, that seeing he had
as good a crop one year as he could have
desired, he began to consider with hiihself, and
to say, " What shall I do because I have no
room where to bestow my fruits ? And he said,
this will I do ; I will pull down my barns, and
will build greater: and into them I will gather
all things that are grown to me, and my goods.
And I will say to my soul : Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years, take thy rest, eat,
drink, make good cheer;" Luke xii, 17, 18, 19,
20.
THE HOLY FAMILY.
The holy family of Nazareth should be the model of every Christiau home. In that family we behold the Saviour of the world obedient
ta Hit ■nrgin mother and St Joseph, thus setting an example to aU children to love, honor and ebey their parsnts.
POPE LEO xin.
Pope Leo XIII, the grandest luminary that has occupied the Chair of Peter during the past nineteen hundred years, he who has dazzled
the world by the force and brilliancy of his encyclical letters, will soon pass to his heavenly reward, but the Church which he represents,
bnilt on Peter, will endure till death is swallowed up in victory. .
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IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
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inPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
••••••^•••••*
OPE LEO XIII. was
born iu Carpineto, a
town in the diocese
of Anagni in the
Papal States ; and
the date of his en-
trance into the
world in which he
has achieved such
honors was the
second day of
March in the year
1810. His parents
were noble, his
father being Count Louis Pecci, and his mother
Anna Prosperi, the daughter of a nobleman
whose seat is at Cori, in the near neighborhood
of Carpineto. His baptismal name was Vincent
Joachim. He was the youngest of four brothers,
two of whom are laymen, the other a cardinal
priest, modest with all his learning, which was
conspicuously displayed in the preparatory com-
missions of the Vatican Council, at which he was
one of the theologians of the Holy Father, and
also at the Seminary of Perugia, where he taught
the doctrine of St. Thomas. The Pope has two
sisters, both of whom are happily married, and
are the mothers of large families, noted for their
(403)
piety. The Pecci family is one of the oldest and
most respectable of the Sienna nobility, and traces
its origin back through centuries. The room in
which the Pope was born is on the second floor
of the Pecci palace ; and, while it is furnished in a
manner becoming the apartments of a noble fam-
ily, it does not savor of extravagance, and there
is very little of what Americans would consider
necessary to comfort. The floor is of stone and
uncarpeted ; the bedstead is of iron, surrounded
with plainest drapery ; and a silver crucifix, apart
from the family portraits, is about the only orna-
mentation of the room. The room itself leads
into the family chapel, at the altar of which the
Holy Father and his priestly brother have often
officiated. The palace itself is far from being a
grand one ; and, in fact, the whole town of Car-
pineto has little to boast of, aside from being the
birthplace of the Pope, as it is composed mainly
of miserable houses, all of which are built of
stone, and appear to be hanging to the rocks-
which serve them as foundations.
Young Pecci's childhood was spent in a home
not less pious and happy than noble and refined..
Sweetness of temper, readiness to oblige, and,
withal, a quiet and serious temperament, marked,
his early and later life. When sufficiently old,,
he was sent to the Roman College, conducted by
404
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
the Jesuits, who had recentl}' been brought back
to Rome and the world, to the joy of all sincere
Catholics.
From the Jesuit College he proceeded to the
Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, where he studied
law and diplomacy. While here his brilliant
talents won him the recognition he received later
on from Gregory XVI., who, recognizing in
young Pecci a student of remarkable abilities, as
well as an ecclesiastic of great piety, modesty
and true priestly spirit, attached him to himself,
and appointed him a household prelate on March
14, 1837, at the same time appointing him Ref-
erendary of the Segnatura, at a period when he
was scarcely' twenty-six 3'ears of age, a time when
-very few ecclesiastics have ever succeeded in
reaching such distinction. In the beginning of
the same year, 1837, ^^ ^^^^ ordained to the snb-
diaconate and diaconate by Charles, Cardinal
Odescalchi, in the Chapel of S. Stanislaus, in the
Church of Sant' Andrea, which stands on the
Quirinal. At the ember daN's of December, the
same year, the same cardinal conferred upon
him the order of the priesthood ; and his first
Mass was celebrated in the same Chapel of S.
Stanislaus, being assisted at it by his eldest
brother Joseph, who had previously joined the
Jesuits and been ordained a priest. It was thus
that young Pecci entered into the sacred ministry
in which he has won so many and such re-
nowned honors ; and, in selecting hira to be one
of his own household, Gregory XVI. probablj'
had little idea that the 3'outhful monsignor would
one day rise to the eminence he himself then so
worthily occupied. Such, however, was young
Pecci's destiny.
At Benevento and Perugia.
Monsignor Pecci, however, did not remain long
a member of Pope Gregory's household. On the
15th of February, 1838, that Pontiff appointed
him his delegate to the province of Benevento,
■where, owing to the prevalence of brigandage, it
■was necessary for some firm hand to take the
reins of government and restore order. This
was the first step that young Pecci made on that
ladder of eminence, the topmost round of which
he now holds : and the Pope assigned him no
light task when he sent him to Benevento as his
delegate. Brigands and smugglers had occupied
the province to such an extent that the authorities
were rendered powerless, and even the noble
families were obliged to ingratiate themselves
with them in order to save their lives and proper-
ties. The common people were completely over-
whelmed with terror, and the authorities found it
impossible to execute the laws. Monsignor Pecci,
not to be discouraged, however, set himself reso-
lutely at work to accomplish the difficult task be-
fore him. He first secured the hearty co-opera-
tion of the King of Naples, whom he induced to
reorganize the public forces, reforming the cus-
tom officers, several of whom were suspected of
being in league with the smugglers, and enlarg-
ing the powers of the authorities. These pre-
liminarj' matters having been satisfactorily ad-
justed, he went to work determinedly, and attacked
the brigands and robbers so vigorously, assailing
them in their very strongholds, and arresting all
who were known to harbor or aid them, that he
succeeded, in a fairly brief time, in ridding the
province of their presence. Within fourteen
months from the date of his arrival in Benevento,
vested with Pope Gregory's authority to restore
order, he had rid the district of its many male-
factors, restored peace to its inhabitants, and ob-
tained for the law and authorities that respect and
confidence which before had been missing.
Such decision and prompt action won for young
Pecci the admiration of the people of Benevento,
who had suffered so long from the works of the
brigands ; and it also obtained for him the thanks
and good-will of Pope Gregory, who lost no time
in congratulating his representative on the good
work he had accomplished, as well as the esteem
of the King of Naples, Ferdinand 11., who pub-
licly extolled him on the excellent results of his
labors. Benevento held him in great love and
gratitude, and at a later date, when the monsig-
nor was stricken with fever, which threatened to
end fatally, the people of the place marched in
public procession to the church to implore Heaven.
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
405
to spare his life ; going bareheaded and barefooted
through the streets to ask this favor for the ecclesi-
astic whom they all considered their deliverer.
The outcome of his first mission naturally in-
clined Pope Gregory to bestow additional honors
on young Pecci ; and wlieu, three years later, in
1 84 1, there was need of sending a Papal delegate
to Spoleto, he was selected for the post. Some-
thing delayed his commission, however, and be-
fore he could start from Rome a still more im-
portant trust was given to him. Perugia, a place
of some twenty thousand inhabitants, presented
some difl&cult questions of government; and, not
forgetting the skilful way in which he had put
an end to brigandage at Beneveuto, the Pope ap-
pointed Mgr. Pecci to the place, intrusting him
with full power to execute whatever designs he
might see fit to undertake. The story of Bene-
veuto was repeated. Going intelligently and
resolutely to work, the monsignor succeeded in
restoring perfect peace, brought back into respect
the law, and emptied the prisons, which, on his
arrival, were filled with criminals, either compell-
ing these to enter into an honest way of living,
or to quit the place altogether. It goes without
saying, that Pope Gregory was prouder than ever
of his young delegate, of whose abilities and
piety he formed even a higher opinion than he
had previously held, though what regard he had
for him was abundantly proven by his honoring
him with the trusts he had already conferred
upon him.
Pope Gregory was so impressed with the ad-
mirable qualities of young Pecci that he decided
to honor him still more than he had yet done ;
and although the monsignor was only in his
thirty-third year, after he had spent eighteen
months at Perugia he preconized him Archbishop
of Damietta in partibus infidelium, and sent him,
in the quality of apostolic nuncio, to the court at
Brussels, over which Leopold I. then presided.
The monsignor was consecrated in the Church of
St. Lawrence, Rome, by Cardinal Lambruschini,
assisted by Bishops Asquini and Castellani, on
Sunday, Feb. 10, 1843; and immediately after his
consecration he proceeded to Belgium to take
upon himself the duties which the Pope had as-
signed him.
When the nunico departed from Brussels he
proceeded to Liege to visit his old college-mate,
Mgr. Montpellier, the archbishop of that place ;
and, after spending a short time with him, he
went to see some of the famous cathedral towns
of the Continent, returning to Brussels for a
brief period of rest. Later on, he paid a visit to
England, spending a few days at London, and
from there he again returned to Brussels for the
final leave-taking. Just as he was leaving that
city for the last time the King handed him a des-
patch for the Pope, in which he probably recom-
mended his elevation to the cardiualate ; but, as
the death of Gregory XVI. occurred before the
nunico reached Rome, the contents of the des-
patch were not learned, though the Pope, before
his death, in appointing him to the vacant arch-
bishopric of Perugia, at the request of the people
of that place, had also preconized him a cardinal,
reserving his nomination in petto — a nomination
which his death afterwards delayed from receiving
confirmation for some time.
Archbishop Pecci at Perugia.
It was on Sunday, the 20th of July, 1846, that
Archbishop Pecci took formal possession of his
see of Perugia. His entrance into the city, as
may readily be imagined, was a grand triumph.
The people remembered him as the civil governor
who, a few years previously, had given them such
an excellent administration ; and now they were
overjoyed to welcome him as their spiritual guide
and father. The whole populace turned out to
greet him, and the town arrayed itself in holiday
attire to welcome him again to its precincts. The
archbishop found that the good works which he
had inaugurated three years beforehand were
still bearing fruit; but he lost no time in plan-
ning and executing other tasks for the ameliora-
tion of his people. He began by instituting, for
the benefit of the clergy, the Academy of St.
Thomas, in which he took especial delight in at-
tending all the meetings; giving these, by his
presence, an additional charm that did not fail to
4o6
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
attract to the man increased attendance on the part
of the clergy, who were only too glad to enjoy
the familiar intercourse with their archbishop
whicli these reunions afforded.
Archbishop Pecci led a very simple life at
Perugia, and to-day, when he reigns over the en-
tire Church, his habits are almost the same. He
was alwaj's an early riser and a hard worker.
Though not robust, he performed more actual la-
bor than stronger men are capable of doing, and
fatigue seemed unknown to him. He invariably
rose at daybreak and prepared for the holy sacri-
fice of the Mass. When he celebrated this, he
commenced work in his study, occupying him-
self with history and literature, for which
branches, after the studies of his sacred calling,
he always had a great fondness. He composed
poetry himself, and some of his verses have won
him high praise; while a collection of them,
which has been translated into different tongues
from the original Latin and Italian, has recently
been published.
His meals were verj' plain. As is customary
with Italians, the archbishop at Perugia took but
one meal a day, and that of the simplest sort.
He continues the same habit in the Vatican. In
personal appearance the archbishop is spoken of
by those who remember him at Perugia as of
majestic mien. His stature is tall, his coun-
tenance mobile and amiable; while his eyes,
though kindly in their glances, have a way of
looking at you in a penetrating manner, as if
their owner were capable of reading your inner-
most thoughts. He is gifted in the art of conver-
sation, and speaks both the German and French
tongues with ease. At the Vatican Council of
1870 he impressed all who met him with his wis-
dom, piety and amiabilitj'. During the thirty-two
years he was in Perugia he proved himself at all
times the model prelate and the affectionate father.
He exercised excellent judgment in austerity
and benevolence — when to be firm and when
to yield — and he gave evidence even then of
those remarkable qualities which have won for
liim such great renown since he became the
Sovereign Pontiff of the Universal Church.
Archbishop PeccI Becomes Cardinal Camerllngo.
Pope Pius IX., too, evinced great interest
in the great piety and remarkable accomplish-
ments of the Archbishop of Perugia, and in
the consistory of Sept. 21, 1877, summoned
him to Rome, and made him successor of the
Camerlingo Cardinal de Angelis, who had died
the preceding July. Cardinal Pecci was then
obliged to take up his residence in Rome, near
the Pope ; and he accordingly occupied the
palace of Falconieri. His duties were numerous
and trying. He was a member of a number of
the sacred congregations, at all of whose meet-
ings and conferences he was an assiduous attend-
ant ; and he had many other calls upon his
time and attention, besides. Pope Pius did not,
however, enjoy long the aid and assistance of
his new Cardinal Camerlingo. He called Cardi-
nal Pecci to Rome in July, 1877 ; and on the
following February the latter, by virtue of his
post as head aud president of the apostolic cham-
ber, found himself charged with the funeral ser-
vices of the Pope, who died on the 7th of that
month. The Cardinal Camerlingo has great
jurisdiction. He has charge, in a certain sense,
of all the temporalities of the Papacy, and may
almost be said to be intrusted with the Papal
authority itself during a vacancy in the Holy
See. Hence he is naturally regarded as a pos-
sible successor; and in Cardinal Pecci's case
this was the order of things. When he had closed
the eyes of the great Pius IX., verified his death
in accordance with the duties of his office, and
received from the cardinal dean the Fisherman's
ring to be handed over to the newly elected Pope,
he little thought he would be that individual
himself. We will not here go into detail regard-
ing the events of Pope Pius' funeral, which was
conducted with all the pomp and ceremony the
Church employs on such occasions ; the Cardi-
nal Camerlingo taking pains to see that the
highest honors were paid to the great Pontiff
who had decreed the dogmas of the immaculate
conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the
infallibility of the Pope. When the last sad rites
had been performed, and the body of Pope Pius
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
407
had been consigned to the tomb, it was incum-
bent on Cardinal Pecci to get things in readiness
for the election of his successor ; and he at once
set about making arrangements, little imagining,
doubtless, that he would be selected by the sa-
cred college for the dignity of Vicar of Christ
upon earth.
Cardinal PeccI Is Elected Pope.
The conclave convened on the morning of
Feb. 18, 1878. The cardinals went first to the
Pauline Chapel in the Vatican, where the Mass
of the Holy Ghost was said b}' Cardinal Schwarz-
enberg, the Archbishop of Prague. The full
diplomatic corps, in rich uniform, and the repre-
sentatives of all the Roman nobility, were present.
An address explanatory of the manner in which
the conclave would proceed to the task before it,
of electing a new Pope, was made by an eminent
ecclesiastic, who declared that the canons of the
Church regarding the matter would be scrupu-
lously regarded, so that there would be no reason
to doubt the validity of the conclave's choice.
After the services were over, and the cardinals
had rested a while, the conclave was called to
meet at four in the afternoon in the Sistine
Chapel. Their Eminences repaired first to the
chapel in which Mass had been sung in the
morning ; whence they proceeded, between lines
of the Noble and Palatine Guards, to the Sistine
Chapel, where, after the hymn " Veni Creator "
had been sung, each cardinal took the oath re-
quired of him by the canons, after which cere-
mony the marshal of the conclave, who was
Prince Chigi of the Roman nobility, bound him-
self by oath to see that the regulations of the
Church in reference to the holding of the con-
clave were faithfully executed, each cardinal also
taking the same pledge.
These were but the preliminaries, however, to
the holding of the conclave. When they were
over, each cardinal, accompanied by a noble
guard, retired to the cell assigned to him in the
Cortile di San Damasco, a part of the Vatican,
where he passed the night. At eight o'clock of
that evening all who did not have a right to
enter the conclave were excluded from that part
of the Vatican, the keys to the outer door of
which were handed to the marshal, all the other
entrances having been closed up ; while, of the
two doors that barred the one remaining entrance,
the marshal held the key of one, and the Car-
dinal Camerlingo that of the other. At nine
o'clock the closing-in of the conclave had been
• completed, and all was in readiness for the
sessions of the morrow.
On the morning of Feb. 19th, the cardinals
repaired at nine o'clock to the Sistine Chapel,
where Mass was said by the dean of the college,
his Eminence Cardinal Luigi Amat, who gave
communion to all of his colleagues. Mass ended,
the cardinals retired to their cells for breakfast ;
and the first balloting did not take place until
noon, when it proceeded with sealed ballots.
The first ballot was void, because one of the
voters, contrary to the regulations, had affixed
to his paper his cardinalitial mark of dignity.
Towards evening of the second day, the second
ballot was taken ; and out of sixty-one votes cast.
Cardinal Pecci received thirty-eight, or seven
more than a majority. A two-thirds vote, how-
ever, is necessary to elect, so another ballot was
taken. After which, the number of cardinals in
the conclave was increased by the arrival of Car-
dinal Cardoso, Patriarch of Lisbon, and next day,
Feb. 20th, the third and last ballot was taken ; and
Cardinal Pecci was elected by a vote of more
than two-thirds. The dean of the Sacred Col-
lege at once asked the choice of the conclave if
he would accept the supreme pontificate ; and
Cardinal Pecci replied, that he was all unworthy
of the honor, but as the conclave had selected
him, depending on God's help, and submitting
to His will, he would do so. He decided that he
would take the name of Leo XHI., in memory of
Leo XH., whom he had always held in great
veneration. After his acceptance and election
had been duly drawn up and certified, the newly
elected Pontiff retired immediately to the sacristy,
vested himself in the Papal robes, and, returning,
gave his Pontifical blessing to the assembled
cardinals, who congratulated him on his eleva-
4o8
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
tion to the Fisherman's throne. After some
little delay, the dean of the Sacred College, Car-
dinal Caterini, announced to the people below
the election of the Pope by saying, " I announce
to you great joy ! We have as Pope his Emi-
nence the most reverend lord Joachim Pecci, who
takes the name of Leo XIII." As soon as the
announcement was made, there rose loud shouts
of joy and thanksgiving; the bells of St. Peter's
rang out their most joyous chimes, and all over
the city were heard shouts of "Viva Papa Pecci,
Leone XIIL!" Later on still, the gates of the
loggia were again thrown open, and the newly
chosen Pope made his appearance. The crowds
below had been swelled by the accession of thou-
sands who were not there when the cardinal
dean announced the election ; and their cheers
rolled up like thundering waves to the loggia
where the new Pope stood, ready to impart to
them his first apostolic blessing. When the
excitement had somewhat subsided, the Pope,
turning to the high altar, intoned the adjuto-
rium ; and, after a choir of myriad voices had
answered with the antiphon, he raised his hand, —
now decked with the Fisherman's ring — and
blessed the multitudes below him, in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen.
The Holy Father then retired amid the ac-
clamations of the populace ; and, after the mar-
shal had thrown open the closed doors of the
conclave, he proceeded through the Sistine
Chapel to the Hall of the Paramenti, where he
received the persons who had been engaged in
the exterior service of the conclave. Afterwards,
vested in his pontifical robes, and accompanied
by the officers of the conclave, he went to the
Sistine Chapel to receive the homage of the car-
dinals. Then, the apostolic blessing having
been again given, he retired to the Hall of the
Paramenti, was disrobed of his vestments, and
retired to his apartments. In the evening his
election was officially announced.
The Coronation.
Cardinal Pecci was elected Pope on the 20th of
February, 1878 ; and the date of his coronation
occurred the 3d of March. His Holiness spent
the intervening time, as much as he possibly
could, in prayer and retirement, in order to pre-
pare himself for the great event of his life. The
Pope spent the brief time given him in silence
and meditation. The coronation was naturally
to take place in the grand Basilica of St. Peter ;
but Leo XIII. decided to have it elsewhere, and
accordingly the Sistine Chapel was the site
chosen. The change of location, however, de-
tracted nothing from the pomp and magnificence
of the coronation, which was carried out with all
that solemnity with which the Catholic Church
invests an event of such grfeat importance.
On the morning of the 3d, the Pope, sur-
rounded by all the cardinals and accompanied
by the entire pontifical court, left his apartments,
entered the sedes gestatoria^ and, followed by a
numerous cortege of Swiss Guards, Noble Guards,
and Roman nobility, proceeded to the Hall of
Tapestries, where he was vested by the first two
cardinal deacons, who placed on his head a golden
mitre. These preliminaries over, preceded by
the penitentiaries of the Vatican Basilica and a
numerous body of other ecclesiastical dignities,
he went to the Ducal Hall, which had been fitted
up as a chapel. After a brief prayer, he took his
seat on the throne at the gospel side of the altar;
and to him in order then came the cardinals, who
tendered him their obedience. They approached
the throne one by one, kissed the right hand of
the Pope, and retired. Then came the arch-
bishops and bishops, who kissed his foot ; and
then, chanting the apostolic benediction, the Holy
Father intoned the office of tierce, which the
pontifical choir continued to its end. Afterwards
the Sovereign Pontiff was robed in the pontifical
vestments, the ring was placed on his finger, and
the route of the procession was again taken up ;
the Pope, as before, being borne in the sedes ges-
tatoria^ covered with a canopy of gold, and car-
ried by eight dignitaries. Into the Sistine
Chapel, where a throne was raised on a marble
dais on the gospel side of the altar, the proces-
sion moved ; but as it was on the point of start-
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
409
ing, an oflBcial brouglit the Pope a handful of flax
attached to a gilded rod, which was lit in his
presence and consumed, while a clerk said in
Latin, " Holy Father, thus passes away the glory
of the world," as a reminder that, despite his high
position, and the honors which were being shown
him, death was in store for him as for the rest of
mortals, and the accounting after death would be
all the more rigorous for him who had received
such signal favors from Heaven.
We will not attempt to describe the scenes in
the Sistine Chapel during Leo XHI.'s corona-
tion. One had to see that sight to realize its
magnificence. The cardinals in their rich attire ;
the archbishops and bishops iu the showy copes
and mitres ; the various garbs of the clergy, reg-
ular and secular ; the gleaming helmets and
jewels of the Papal Guard ; the long rows of
ambassadors, nobles, and other lay dignitaries ;
the immense concourse of the people, filling
every available space ; the impressive ceremonies,
inspiring music, and the seraphic singing of un-
seen choirs — all those things form a picture
which cannot be justly described by words. The
Pope, arriving before the grand altar, descended
from the sedile chair, and began the introit of
the Mass ; during which the pallium, indicative
of the fulness of the Papal ofl&ce, was given him,
and immediately he received the obedience of all
the cardinals, archbishops and bishops who were
present. At the conclusion of the Mass, he again
ascended tlie throne ; and, after the prescribed
prayers had been said, the tiara, or triple crown,
was placed upon his head. The choirs saluted
him with joyful acclamations ; and rising, with
the tiara on his brow, he pronounced the triple
benediction, announced the accorded indulgences,
and entering the chair, still wearing the triple
crown, was borne back to the Hall of Tapestries
to be disrobed.
One of the earliest acts of Pope Leo was the
restoration of the Scotch hierarchy, a task that
had been commenced by Pope Pius IX., and
which Pope Leo, knowing how dear the object
was to the heart of his beloved predecessor, re-
solved to complete without delay.
Conferring the red hat on the first American
cardinal, the late lamented John, Cardinal Mc-
Closkey, the learned and pious Archbishop of
New York, who had been created a cardinal by
Pius IX. on March 15, 1875, but who now came
to Rome for the first time since that date, was a
ceremony in which Americans were greatly inter-
ested. As the cardinal's hat can only be given
by the Pope himself in person, the final ceremony
had never yet been performed. Cardinal McClos-
key was not in Rome in time to participate in
Pope Leo's election ; but he hurried thither, and
paid homage to Leo XIII. The ceremony of
conferring the cardinal's hat is a very impressive
one. The new cardinal is led into the Pope's
presence by two of the cardinal deacons ; and he
immediately makes a triple profound reverence to
the Head of the Church — one at the threshold
of the hall, one in the middle, and still another
at the feet of the throne. The Pope then bestows
upon him the kiss of peace, and he is embraced
by all his cardinalitial colleagues in turn. The
Te Deum is chanted ; and, after encircling the
altar with his colleagues, the new cardinal pros-
trates himself, and remains in that position while
the canticle is being finished, and the proper
prayers said by the cardinal dean. Arising, his
hood is thrown back ; the cardinal dean receives
his oath of ofl&ce, and leads him before the Pope,
who confers upon him the red hat, with due pray-
ers. After the Pope retires, the new cardinal re-
ceives the congratulations of his brethren. The
cardinalitial ring and title are not conferred until
the second consistory ; only the hat is given at
the first.
The cardinal's hat is of red cloth, with a very
small crown and broad brim. Two ties, each
ending in five rows of red silk acorns or tassels,
three in each row, are fastened to the crown, and
faltl on either side, being long enough to meet
under the wearer's chin. Originally, instead of
this fringe, each tie had but a single tassel, be-
cause the hat was then used on all solemn occa-
sions. At present the hat is not worn, and
therefore the fringing may be more elaborate.
Indeed, after the hat has been conferred, it is not
4IO
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
again seen till the cardinal's death, when it is
placed upon his bier, and, as a rule, suspended in
the church above his tomb. The red hat of the
cardinals is of felt, of the same shape as those
of simple ecclesiastics. On ordinary occasions
they wear a black hat with a red ribbon gold-
embroidered. The cardinal's ring is a sapphire
set in gold.
Encyclical on Socialism and CommunUm.
In the first year of his pontificate, Leo XIII.
issued an enc3'clical of more than ordinar}' im-
portance and interest, owing to the subjects which
it treats, and which, unhappily, have attained a
special prominence in our own day and in our
own country, though not, of course, to such an
extent as in European countries at the time that
the Holy Father denounced them.
Here is the full text of this all-important en-
cyclical letter of the Holy Father :
" From the commencement of our pontificate,
and in fulfilment of the duty of our office, we ad-
dressed 3'ou in an enc3'^clical letter to point out
that deadly poison which is creeping into human
society, and is leading it to ruin. We then also
indicated the efficacious remedies b}' means of
which societ}^ may be restored, and escape the
serious dangers that threaten it. But the evils
we then deplored have increased so rapidly that
we are compelled once more to address you, as
though the words of the prophet were ringing in
our ear : ' Cry, cease not ; lift up th}' voice like a
trumpet'
"You understand, venerable brethren, that we
allude to that sect of men who call themselves
by various and almost barbarous titles — Social-
ists, Communists and Nihilists ; and who, scat-
tered all over the world, closely bound together
in an unholy league, are no longer satisfied with
lurking in secret, but boldly come forth into the
light with the determination to uproot the foun-
dation of society. It is surely these men that are
signified by the words of Holy Writ, ' who defile
the flesh, and despise authority, and blaspheme
majesty.' They will not leave any thing intact
that has been wisely decreed by divine and hu-
man laws for the security and honor of life.
They refuse obedience to the higher powers,
who hold from God the right to command, and
to whom, according to the apostle, every soul
ought to be subject ; and they preach the perfect
equality of all men in every thing that con-
cerns their rights and duties. They dishonor
the natural union of man and woman, sa-
cred even among barbarians, and endeavor to
relax or even to break asunder that bond
which chiefly cements domestic society. Se-
duced by the lust of earthly goods, which is
' the root of all evil,' and through the coveting of
which ' many have erred from the faith,' they
assail the right of property sanctioned by the
natural law ; and under the pretence of supplying
the wants of men, and satisfying their lawful
desires, thej' aim at making a common spoil of
whatever has been legitimately acquired by in-
heritance, by skill, industry, or economy. They
publish these monstrous doctrines at their meet-
ings ; the}- urge them in pamphlets, and spread
them far and wide bj' means of the press. The
result of this is, that, within a short time, the
majesty and authority of kings, which should be
revered b}'^ all, has been rendered so odious to a
seditious rabble, that traitors, breaking loose from
all restraint, have more than once lifted their
hands against the rulers of kingdoms.
" These attempts of perfidious men, who
threaten to undermine civil life, and fill all think-
ing minds with alarm, had their origin in the
poisoned doctrines . broached long ago, like seeds
of corruption, which are now producing their
destructive fruit. You are aware, venerable breth-
ren, that the warfare raised against the Church
b}^ the reformers in the sixteenth century still
continues, and tends to this end, that, by the de-
nial of all revelation and the suppression of the
supernatural order, the reason of man may run
riot in its own conceits. This error, which un-
justly derives its name from reason, flatters the
pride of man, loosens the reins to all his passions,
and thus it has deceived many minds, whilst it
has made deep ravages on civil society. Hence
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
411
it comes that, by a new sort of impiety, un-
known to the pagans, states constitute them-
selves independently of God, or of the order
which He has established. Public authority is
declared to derive neither its principle nor its
power from God, but from the multitude, which,
believing itself free from all Divine sanction,
obeys no laws but such as its own caprice has
dictated. Supernatural truth being rejected as
contrary to reason, the Creator and Redeemer of
the human race is ignored, and banished from
the universities, the lyceums and schools, as also
from the whole economj' of human life. The re-
wards and punishments of a future and eternal
life are forgotten in the pursuit of present pleas-
ure. With these doctrines widely spread, and
this extreme license of thought and action ex-
tended everywhere, it is not surprising that men
of the lowest order, weary of the poverty of their
home or of their little workshop, should yearn to
seize upon the dwellings and possessions of the
rich ; that there remains neither peace nor tran-
quillity in private or public life, and that society
is brought to the brink of destruction.
" The Supreme Pastors of the Church, on
whom the duty rests of preserving the flock of
the Lord from the snares of their enemies, have
not neglected to point out the danger, and to pro-
vide for the safety of the faithful. Indeed, from
the moment that secret societies began to be
formed, and to cause the evils of which we have
just spoken, the Roman Pontiffs, Clement XII.
and Benedict XIV., unveiled the iniquitous de-
signs of these sects, and warned the faithful of
the whole world of the serious evils which would
result from them. When men who gloried in
the name of philosophers had asserted for man
an unlimited independence, and had devised what
they called a new code of right in opposition to
the natural and the Divine law. Pope Pius VI.
immediately raised his voice against these false
and wicked doctrines, and with apostolic fore-
sight predicted the calamities which would flow
from them. And when, in spite of this warning,
these principles were still maintained, and even
made the basis of public legislation, Pius VII.
and Leo XII. solemnly condemned secret socie-
ties, and again gave warning of the perils that
menaced the nations. Lastly, every one remem-
bers with what authority and firmness our glo-
rious predecessor, Pius IX., in his allocutions and
encyclicals, combated the projects of these asso-
ciations, especially of the socialists, who were
just then beginning to appear.
" But, to our great grief, those who are charged
with the care of the public welfare have allowed
themselves to be blinded by the arts of the
wicked, or intimidated by their threats, whilst
they have always treated the Church with sus-
picion and injustice, forgetting that the efforts of
the sects would have been powerless if the teach-
ing of the Catholic Church and the authority of
the Roman Pontiffs had always been duly re-
spected by princes and people ; for it is ' the
Church of the living God, the pillar and ground
of truth,' which teaches the doctrines and princi-
ples on which society can rest secure, without
fear of the fatal effects of socialism. For although
the socialists pervert the gospel to deceive the
unwary, and wrest it to their own sense, yet in
truth there cannot be two things more at variance
with one another than their depraved ideas and
the beautiful teachings of Christ. ' For what
participation hath justice with injustice, or what
fellowship hath light with darkness ? ' They
never cease proclaiming that all men are equal
in all things, and hence kings have no right to
command them, nor laws any power to bind un-
less made by themselves and according to their
own inclinations. But, on the other hand, the
gospel teaches that all men are indeed equal, in-
asmuch as all have the same nature ; all are
called to the sublime dignity of children of God,
are destined to the same end, and will be judged
by the same law which will decree the punish-
ment or the reward deserved by each one. But
an inequality of rights and powers emanates from
the Author of nature Himself, ' of whom all pa-
ternity is named in heaven and on earth.' Ac-
cording to the Catholic doctrine, princes and peo-
ple are bound together by a mutual relation of
rights and duties in such a manner that a check
412
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
is laid on the excess of power, and obedience is
rendered easy, constant and noble. To the sub-
jects the Church constantly repeats the apostle's
precept : ' There is no power but from God ; and
the powers that are, are ordained of God. There-
fore he who resisteth the power resisteth the or-
dinance of God ; and they that resist purchase to
themselves damnation.' And, again, she bids
them ' be subject of necessity, not only for wrath,
but also for conscience' sake ; ' and to render ' to
all men their dues : to whom tribute, tribute ; to
whom custom, custom ; to whom fear, fear ; to
whom honor, honor.' For He who has created
and who governs all things has wisely ordained
that the lowest should depend on the middle, and
the middle on the highest, that all may reach
their end. And as even in heaven He has de-
creed a distinction among the angels, so that
some are inferior to others, and as in the Church
He has instituted a diversity of degrees and
oflSces, so that not all are apostles, not all are doc-
tors, nor all pastors ; so, too. He has established
in civil society different orders in dignity, in right
and power, so that the State, like the Church,
might form one body composed of many mem-
bers, some more noble than others, but all neces-
sary to one another, and all laboring for the com-
mon good.
" But that princes may use the power vested in
them ' unto edification and not unto destruction,'
the Church appropriately warns them that they,
too, are responsible to the Supreme Judge ; and
she addresses to them the words of Divine wis-
dom : ' Give ear, ye that rule the people, and that
please yourselves in multitudes of nations ; for
power is given you by the Lord, and strength by
the Most High, who will examine your works
and search out your thoughts ; for a most severe
judgment shall be for them that bear rule. For
God will not accept any man's person, neither
will He stand in awe of any man's greatness ;
for He hath made the little and the great, and
He hath equally care of all. But a greater pun-
ishment is ready for the more mighty.' If, how-
ever, at times it happens that public power is
exercised by princes rashly and beyond bound,
the Catholic doctrine does not allow subjects to
rebel against a ruler by private authority, lest
the peaceful order be more and more disturbed,
and society suffer greater detriment. And when
things have come to such a pass that no other
hope of safety appears, it teaches that a speedy
remedy is to be sought from God by the merit
of Christian forbearance and by fervent supplica-
tions. But if the ordinances of legislators and
princes sanction or command what is contrary to
the Divine or the natural law, theu the dignity
of the Christian name, our duty, and the apos-
tolic precept, proclaim that ' we must obey God
rather than men.'
" This salutary influence which the Church
exercises over civil society for the maintenance
of order in it, and for its preservation, is felt also
in domestic society, which is the foundation of
the State. You know, venerable brethren, that
the constitution of this society has, by virtue of
the natural law, its foundation in the indissoluble
union of the husband and wife, and its comple-
ment in the mutual rights and duties of parents
and children, of masters and servants. You
know also that this society is totally annihilated
by the theories of socialism ; for when the firm
bond is broken which the religious marriage
throws around it, the authority of the parent
over his offspring, and the duties of children
towards their parents, must necessarily be re-
laxed. On the contrary, the marriage ' honor-
able in all,' which God Himself instituted from
the beginning for the propagation and perpetuity
of the race, and which he made indissoluble, has
become, in the teaching of the Church, more firm
and more holy through Christ, who conferred on
it the dignity of a sacrament — an image of His
own union with the Church. Hence, according
to the apostle, ' the husband is the head of the
wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church ; ' and
as the Church is subject to Christ, who honors
her with a chaste and perpetual love, so wives
should be subject to their husbands, who in re-
turn are bound to love their wives with a faithful
and constant affection.
" The Church likewise regulates the powers
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
413
of the parent and master in such a way as to
keep children and servants in their duty, and
yet not allow those powers to be abused : for,
according to Catholic teaching, the authority of
parents and masters comes to them from the au-
thority of our heavenly Father and Master ; and
therefore it not only derives from Him its origin
and its force, but it should also be imbued with
the nature and character of that Divine author-
ity. Hence the apostle exhorts children ' to obey
their parents in the Lord,' and ' to honor their
father and their mother, which precept is the
first that hath a promise.' And to parents he
rsays, 'And j^ou, fathers, provoke not your chil-
•dren to anger, but bring them up in the disci-
pline and correction of the Lord.' In like man-
ner, the Divine commandment is given by the
rapostle to servants and masters : the former being
told ' to be obedient to their masters according to
the flesh, as to Christ ; serving with a good will,
.as to the Lord;' whilst the latter are 'to forbear
threatenings, knowing that the Lord of all is in
heaven, and that there is no respect of persons with
Him.' Now, if all these precepts were observed
hy each of those whom they concern, according
to the disposition of God's will, surely each fam-
ily would be an image of heaven ; and the bene-
fits arising from this would not be confined within
the family circle, but would spread abroad over
the nations themselves.
" But Catholic wisdom, resting on the princi-
ples of natural and Divine law, has provided for
public and private tranquillity bj' those doctrines
also which it maintains in regard to the owner-
ship and distribution of property held for the
necessities and conveniences of life. The social-
ists denounce the right of property as a human
invention, repugnant to the natural equality of
men. They claim a community of goods ; and
preach that poverty is not to be endured with
patience, and that the possessions and rights of
the rich can be lawfully disregarded. But the
Church more wisely recognizes an inequality
among men of different degrees in strength of
body and of mind, also in the possession of
^oods ; and ordains that the right of proprietor-
ship and of dominion, which comes from nature
itself, is to remain intact and inviolable to each
one. For she knows that God, the author and
asserter of all right, has forbidden theft and
rapine in such a manner, that it is not allowed
even to covet another's goods ; and that thieves
and robbers, as well as adulterers and idolaters,
are excluded from the kingdom of heaven. But
the Church, like a good mother, does not there-
fore neglect the care of the poor, or the relief of
their wants. On the contrary, embracing them
with maternal tenderness, and remembering that
they bear the person of Christ Himself, who
esteems as done to Himself whatever is done to
one of His little ones, she holds them in high
honor ; comforts them in every way ; raises up
for them, protects and defends, asylums and
hospitals to receive them, to nourish and heal
them. She urges the rich, by the most pressing
commandment, to distribute their superfluity
among the poor ; and threatens them with the
judgment of God, by which they shall be
doomed to eternal punishment, if they refuse
to relieve their afflicted brethren. Finally, she
consoles and rejoices the hearts of the poor —
now by presenting to them the example of Jesus
Christ, 'who, being rich, became poor for our
sakes ; ' and again by recalling His words by
which He declares the poor blessed, and bids
them hope for the happiness of eternal life.
Who does not see that this is the best means
of appeasing the long quarrel between the poor
and the rich ? For the very evidence of circum-
stances and facts shows that, if this means is
rejected, one of two alternatives must follow :
either the greatest portion of mankind will be
reduced to the ignominious condition of slaves,
as they were long ago among the pagans ; or
human society will be agitated by continual
troubles, and desolated by robbery and pillage,
as we have seen even in our own days.
" This being the case, venerable brethren, we
on whom the government of the Church has
now devolved, after having shown, from the first
days of our pontificate, to princes and peoples
tossed about by the violence of the tempest, the
414
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
only harbor where they can find a safe refuge,
moved to-day by the extreme peril which threat-
ens, we again raise our apostolic voice, and we
conj ure them, by their desire for their own secur-
ity and that of the common weal, that the}' would
listen to the teaching of the Church, which has
done so much for the welfare of States, and
would remember that the interests of the State
and of religion are so united, that every loss
inflicted on the latter diminishes by so much the
submission of subjects and the majesty of the
ruler. And since they know that for the repres-
sion of socialism the Church possesses a power
which is not to be found either in human laws
or in the restraints of magistrates or the arms
of soldiery, let them restore to the Church that
freedom which will enable her to wield her power
for the common good of human society.
" And do you, venerable brethren, who know
the origin and the nature of the threateniug
evils, labor with all the energy of your souls to
impress the Catholic doctrine deeply on the
minds of all. Let it be 3'our endeavor, that all
may accustom themselves, even from their ten-
derest years, to cherish a filial love for God and
reverence for His name ; to yield obedience to
the majesty of princes and of the laws; to curb
their passions, and to observe the order which
God has established in civil and domestic so-
ciety. Do all that you can to prevent the chil-
dren of the Church from uniting themselves
with that abominable sect, or favoring it in any
manner. I^et them, on the contrary, by noble
deeds and by their honorable conduct in all
things, show to the world how happy society
would be if it were entirely composed of members
like them. Lastly, as socialism seeks its dis-
ciples chiefly in that class of men who follow
trades or hire their labor, and whose weariness
of work more easily tempts them with the desire
of wealth and the hope of possessing it, it will
be of great use to encourage those associations
of artisans and laborers which, founded under
the patronage of religion, teach their members
to be content with their lot, to endure their toils,
and to lead a calm and tranquil life.
" May our endeavors and yours, venerable
brethreu, be prospered by Him to whom we are
in duty bound to refer the beginning and the
end of every good undertaking ! The hope of a
speedy help is raised within us by these very
days in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord,
who gives us also the hope of that salutary
restoration which he, at his birth, brought to a
world grown old in evils and fallen almost to the,
abyss of misfortune, and promises us the peace
which he then announced to men by the voice of
his angels. The arm of the Lord is not short-
ened so as not to be able to save us, nor is his
ear become heavy so as not to hear. In these
sacred days, therefore, we wish you, venerable
brethren, and the faithful of your churches, all
happiness and joy ; and we fervently implore of
Him who gives all good gifts to men, that there
may appear anew to us the goodness and hu-
manity of God our Saviour, who snatches us from
the power of our enemy, and lifts us up to the
dignity of his children. And that we may more
speedily and more fully enjoy these blessings,
join your prayers to ours, and add to them the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, im-
maculate in her origin, of St. Joseph her spouse,
and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paiil, in
whose assistance we confidently trust. Mean-
while, as a pledge of the Divine gifts, we impart
from the depths of our heart the apostolic bene-
diction to you, venerable brethren, to your clergy,
and to all the faithful people.
"Given at St. Peter's, Rome, 28th December,
1878, the first year of our pontificate.
"Leo PP. XIH."
On the 7th of February, 1879, in commemora-
tion of the death of Pius IX., anniversary
requiems were celebrated in the Sistine Chapel,
the Basilicas of St. Peter, St. John Lateran, and
St. Mary Major. These services were attended
by immense throngs of the faithful, a number
of the cardinals, and other dignitaries of the
Church and State, all of whom testified by their
deep devotion the esteem in which the gentle
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
415
Pius was held. On the 15th of February, 1879,
the Pope proclaimed a general jubilee.
Pope Leo's Homage to St. Thomas.
An important act of Leo XIII. was his issu-
ance, on Aug. 4, 1879, of a bull beginning ^terni
Pain's Filius^ in which he declared that in all
Catholic schools the study of philosophy and
theology should be based on the system adopted
by St. Thomas. American prelates favored this
utterance of the Holy Father, and on the 20th of
February, 1880, Cardinal McClosky, of New
York, Archbishops Williams, of Boston, Wood, of
Philadelphia, together with their fourteen suflfra-
gan bishops, united in writing Pope Leo a letter,
in which they expressed their joy, and promised
to second his desires to the best of their power.
Encyclical on Marriage and Divorce.
"Venerable brethren, that these teachings and
precepts concerning Christian marriage, which
we have thought it our duty to communicate to
you by the present letter, apply as much to the
preservation of civil society as to the eternal sal-
vation of men. God grant that, the more valu-
able these teachings are, the greater may be the
docility with which they are received, and the
more prompt the submission they will meet with
in the minds of men! To this end let all ar-
dently and humbly pray for the aid of the Blessed
and Immaculate Virgin, in order that, having
inspired submission to the faith, she may aid
mankind as mother and guide. And let us with
the same fervor beseech Peter and Paul, the
princes of the Apostles, the conquerors of super-
stition, the sowers of truth, that the human race
may be saved by their protection from the out-
burst of human errors.
"Marriage," continues His Holiness, "at least
in all that concerns the substance and sanctity of
the conjugal tie, is an essentially sacred and re-
ligious act which naturally ought to be regulated
by the spiritual power, which holds this power
not as delegated to it by the State or by the con-
sent of princes, but in the order established by
the Divine Founder of Christianity and the
Author of the Sacraments." Modern progress
wishes to separate the contract from the Sacra-
ment, subjecting the contract to the authority of
the State, and leaving the part of the Church to
be nothing but a simple rite, a ceremony external
to it. Here there is a doctrine which overturns
the essential idea of Christian marriage, in which
the conjugal tie, sanctified by religion, identifies
itself with the Sacrameut, and these two things
unite inseparably to constitute only one act, one
single reality. ... In vain they may cite the ex-
ample of those Catholic nations which, after hav-
ing deeply suffered from revolutionary struggles
and social perturbations, have found themselves
constrained to submit to a like reform, which was
either inspired by heterodox influences and doc-
trines, or established by the strength of those in
power. For the rest, while for these peoples it
was fruitful in bitterness, this reform has never
possessed a pacific sway, being always disap-
proved by the conscience of sincere Catholics
and by the legitimate authority of the Church."
His Success with European Qovernments.
Pope Leo was especially fortunate in dealing
with European governments. Already the Ger-
man Emperor and chancellor showed a disposition
to soften the rigors of the Kulturkampf, and to
treat the German Catholics with more fairness
and justice ; Russia evinced more friendly rela-
tions with the Holy See than formerly ; China
and Japan were courteous, and even England
showed a disposition to secure the influence of
the Papacy in settling the disputes into which
she had been dragged by her refusal to treat the
Irish people fairly.
His Appointments In America.
During the third year of his pontificate, the
Holy Father made some notable appointments in
the American hierarchy. The first of these
were, the nomination of Right Rev. Bishop
Heiss, of La Crosse, to the co-adj utorship of the
archdiocese of Milwaukee ; of Rev. John A.
Watterson to the vacant see of Columbus, and
of Rev. Patrick Manogue to the diocese of Grass
Valley, since altered to that of Sacramento.
4i6
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
At a later date His Holiness appointed Right
Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, then bishop of the
diocese of Newark, co-adjutor, with the right of
succession, to Cardinal McCloskey of New York.
Dr. Corrigan was born at Newark, N. J., on Aug.
13, 1839.
At the same consistory at which Archbishop
Corrigan was made co-adjutor of the late Cardi-
nal McCloskey, the Pope transferred Bishop P. A.
Feehan from Nashville to Chicago ; making the
latter see, at the same time an archdiocese.
On the 19th of February, Pope Leo XHI. ap-
pointed Vicar-General F. Janssens of the Diocese
of Richmond to the vacant see of Natchez, from
which Bishop Elder was transferred to the Cin-
cinati archdiocese. Bishop Janssens is a Hol-
lander by birth, having first seen the light in
the old town of Tilburg, in Nord, Brabant, Oct.
17. 1843-
While on the subject of American appoint-
ments, it may be stated that the Pope, by a brief
dated June 16, 1880, appointed Rev. Kilian C.
Flasch, then president of the Seminary of St.
Francis de Sales, Milwaukee, to the vacant see
of La Crosse, Wis., from which Bishop Heiss
had been transferred to Milwaukee. Bishop
Flasch was born at Retzstadt, diocese of Wurz-
burg, Bavaria, July 9, 183 1.
On the same day that his Holiness named Dr.
Flasch for the Natchez diocese, he appointed
Rev. Dr. John McMullen, since deceased, to
the newly created see of Davenport, Iowa. Dr.
McMullen was born March 8, 1833, in the town
of Ballynahinch, in the county of Down, in the
North of Ireland.
Still later on, his Holiness named Dr. Winand
M. Wigger, parish priest of Madison, N. J., to
the see of Newark, N. J., and appointed Rev.
Michael J. O'Farrell, pastor of St. Peter's Church,
Barclay street. New York, to that of Trenton in
the same state. Bishop Wigger was bom in
New York, Dec. 12, 1841.
Letters of Condolence.
On June 29, the Holy Father issued an en-
cyclical on the duty of subjection to constituted
authorities. This letter came at a most oppor-
tune time, and it produced excellent results ; for
society was scarcely recovering from the shock
of the assassination of Alexander II., when with
startling eflfect came the information that Presi-
dent Garfield was the victim of a dastardly as-
sault, which, unfortunately, ended fatally. As
soon as the news reached Rome, the Holy Father
hastened to send the following cablegram to
Washington : —
Rome, Aug, 15, 1881.
Hon. James G. Blaine, Secretary of State,
IVashingtoti.
As the Holy Father learned with painful sur-
prise and profound sorrow of the horrid attempt
of which the President of the Republic was the
victim, so now he is happy to felicitate His Ex-
cellency upon the news that his precious life is
now out of danger, and will ever pray that God
may grant him speedy and complete recovery of
his health, and long spare him to the benefit of
the United States. The undersigned has the
honor to join in these sentiments of sincere con-
gratulations, wishes for complete recovery.
L. CARDINAL JACOBINL
To which Secretary Blaine sent the following
answer : —
Washington, Aug. 22.
To His Eminence L. Cardinal J acobini, Rome.
Please convey to His Holiness the sincere
thanks with which this Government receives the
kind expression of his prayerful interest in be-
half of our stricken President. Since your mes-
sage was sent, the President's condition has been
changed, and we are now filled with anxiety,
but not without hope. The President has been
very deeply touched by the pious interest for
his recovery shown by all churches, but by none
more widely or more devoutly than by those of
the Roman Catholic communion.
JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State.
When, later on, it became known in Rome
that President Garfield had died, the following
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
417
correspondence passed between Rome and Wash-
ington :
Rome, Sept. 22, 1881.
To His Excellency the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Washington.
The loss of the illustrious President of the
United States, James A. Garfield, caused deep
sorrow to the Holy Father. His Holiness di-
rects me to present his condolence to your Ex-
cellency and to the Government, and his best
wishes for the prosperity of the Republic.
E. CARDINAL JACOBINI.
Department of State, Washington,
Sept. 22, 1S81.
To His Eminence Cardinal Jacobini, Rome.
The considerate and comprehensive expres-
sion of sympathy from His Holiness is very
grateful to the bereaved family of the late Presi-
dent ; and in their name and in behalf of this
Government I return profound thanks.
m^^rn^, Secretary of State.
And here it may be mentioned, that the ink
was scarcely dry on the letter the Pope wrote
earlier in the year, exhorting the faithful to do
penance for the crimes of the world, and ask
Divine forgiveness, when the whole universe was
startled by the news of the assassination of
Alexander II., Emperor of Russia. Truly
prophetic were the utterances of the Holy
Father, that " human authority has no checks
left sufl&cient to restrain the untamed spirits of
the rebellious." Immediately on hearing of the
assassination, His Holiness sent the Cardinal
Secretary of State to the two Russian princes
then in Rome to assure them of his unfeigned
regret at the sad occurrence. He also despatched
a telegram to the Emperor Alexander III., ex-
pressing his sorrow, and manifesting his good
wishes for the prosperity and happiness of the
new occupant of the throne of Russia. An
answer was shortly afterwards received, con-
veying the grateful acknowledgment of Alex-
ander III. for the solicitude of His Holiness.
The Holy Father's Love for Ireland.
The Holy Father had several audiences with
the Irish prelates during their stay in Rome.
He expressed to them his kindly feeling and good
wishes toward his children of the Emerald Isle,
and gave assurance of his appreciation of their
fidelity to their faith and the Apostolic See. Later
on the Pope addressed the following letter to the
Archbishop of Dublin:
" To our Vetterable Brother, Edward McCabe,
Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland.
" Venerable Brother: — Health and apostolic
benediction. We read with pleasure your letter re-
recently addressed to the clergy and people of the
diocese of Dublin, and presented to us by you
when you were in Rome ; for in it we recognized
your prudence and moderation, since, while Ire-
land is now deeply moved, partly by a desire of
better things, partly by a fear of an uncertain
future, you offer counsel admirably suited to the
occasion.
The unhappy condition of Catholics in Ireland
disquiets and afflicts us ; and we highly esteem
their virtue, sorely tried by adversity, not for a
brief period only, but for many centuries. For,
with the greatest fortitude and constancy, they
preferred to endure every misfortune rather than
forsake the religion of their fathers, or deviate in
the slightest degree from their ancient fidelity to
the Apostolic See. Moreover, it is their singular
glory, extending down to the present time, that
most noble proofs of all the other virtues were
never wanting amongst them. These reasons
force us to love them with paternal benevolence,
and fervently to wish that the evils by which
they are afflicted may quickly be brought to an
end.
" At the same time we unhesitatingly declare
that it is their duty to be carefully on their guard
not to allow the fame of their sterling and hered-
itary probity to be lessened, and not to commit
any rash act whereby they may seem to have
cast aside the obedience due to their lawful rulers ;
and for this reason, whenever Ireland was greatly
excited in guarding and defending her own inter-
ests, the Roman Pontiffs constantly endeavored,
by admonition and exhortation, to allay the ex-
4i8
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
cited feelings, lest, by a disregard of moderation,
justice might be violated, or the cause, however
right in itself, might be forced by the influ-
ence of passions into the flame of sedition.
These counsels were also directed to the end that
the Catholics of Ireland should in all things fol-
low the Church as a guide and teacher; and,-
thoroughly conforming themselves to her pre-
cepts, they should reject the allurements of per-
nicious doctrines. Thus the Supreme Pontiff,
Gregory XVI., on the 12th of March, 1839,
and on the 15th of October, 1844, through the
Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda, admon-
ished the Archbishop of Armagh to do nothing
except with justice and moderation. And we,
following the example of our predecessors, took
care on the ist of June last year, as you are
aware, to give to all the bishops of Ireland the
salutary admonitions which the occasion de-
manded ; namely, that the Irish people should
obey the bishops, and in no particular deviate
from the sacredness of duty. And a little later,
in the month of November, we testified to some
Irish bishops who had come to visit the tombs of
the Apostles, that we ardently desired every good
gift for the people of Ireland ; but we also added
that order should not be disturbed.
"This manner of thinking and acting is en-
tirely conformable to the ordinances and laws of
the Catholic Church, and we have no doubt that
it will conduce to the interests of Ireland. For we
have confidence in the justice of the men who are
placed at the head of the state, and who certainly,
for the most part, have great practical experience,
combined with prudence, in civil affairs. Ireland
may obtain what she wants much more safely and
readily if only she adopts a course which the
laws allow, and avoids giving causes of offence.
"Therefore, venerable brother, let you and
your colleagues in the episcopate direct your
efforts to the end that the people of Ireland, in
this anxious condition of affairs, do not trans-
gress the bounds of equity and justice. We have
assuredly received from the bishops, the clergy
and the people of Ireland many proofs of rever-
ence and affection ; and if now, in a willing spirit,
they obey these counsels and our authority, as
we are certain they will, they may feel assured
that they have fulfilled their own duty and have
completely satisfied us.
" Finally, from our heart we implore God to
look down propitiously on Ireland; and in the
meantime, as a pledge of heavenly gifts, we affec-
tionately impart in the Lord the apostolic bene-
diction to you, venerable brother, to the other
bishops of Ireland and to the entire clergy and
people.
" Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the 3d day of
January, 1881, in the third year of our Pontifi-
cate.
"LEO PP. XIIL"
At a meeting of the clergy of the archdiocese
of Boston, held January 25th, at which His Grace
Archbishop Williams presided, a committee was
appointed to convey to the clergy and people of
Ireland an expression of their brotherly love and
sympathy, and an assurance of more support and
all possible assistance in their present movement
to obtain redress of their grievances.
In fulfilment of this intention, the committee
sent the following address : —
To THE Clergy and People of Ireland:
Many causes combine to make it becoming in
us to address you words of fraternal sympathy
at the present time.
We behold you ardently engaged in the pur-
suit of a noble end, the attainment of which will
release a whole people from a host of evils ; and
regard you, therefore, as eminently worthy of our
warmest sympathy and most outspoken encour-
agement.
That sympathy for suffering and indignation
at injustice which are natural to the human
beart are in this case intensified by feelings that
spring from community of race and nationality.
You are our kindred in blood, and, for the most
part, of the same household of the faith ; and
thus natural affection and divine charity, as well
as the claims of justice, engage us in your
cause.
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
419
Citizens as we are of a flourishing republic,
living among a self-governing people, and wit-
nessing and enjoying the blessings of civil
liberty and legislative independence, we cannot
withhold our enthusiastic approval of your well-
conceived and well-conducted eflforts to secure the
same blessings for yourselves and future genera-
tions of Irishmen on their own soil.
The truths of religion and the dictates of
patriotism being in perfect accord, it is the ofl&ce
of the priest to bless the labors of the statesmen
who seek to frame laws for the benefit of their
country.
Ireland, after centuries of suffering from the
effects of unjust conquest, ruthless spoliation, and
an almost total alienation of the soil and its
consequent evil of an intruded and rapacious
landlord class, is now making a supreme effort
to rid herself of these crying evils ; and we
joyfully seize the occasion to tender to her our
deep concern for her welfare, our best wishes for
her success, and all the solace and help in our
power.
Your efforts to eradicate from your native land
the evil effects of alien domination and usurpa-
tion of the soil, twin relics of conquest and
feudalism, deserve the full approval and hearty
supp'ort of all friends of human happiness in
every land.
The worthiness of the end proposed, the prac-
tical and thorough character of the reforms
demanded, and the wisdom of the methods
adopted, amply justify this declaration.
The gravity of the crisis through which
Ireland is now passing, the magnitude of the
interest involved, and the probable results of this
great social and political movement, have arrested
the attention of the civilized world, and engaged
the serious consideration of statesmen at home
and abroad.
Moreover, the system of land tenure which
impoverishes Ireland affects us injuriously here
in iVmerica, inasmuch as it creates an additional
object of charity, whose pressing claims have
often to be met to the detriment of the poor at
our own doors and the orphans of our diocese.
We, therefore, feel it our duty to aid aud
encourage any movement that by legitimate
means seeks to rescue Ireland from the slough
of misery and enforced poverty in which she
has so long lain, and make her self-supporting,
so that famine shall no more stalk over the land,
nor the tale of Ireland's woe continue to wring
our hearts with grief for our suffering brethren.
While we applaud your efforts to shake off the
evils that oppress you, we admire your patience
in times of sore aflB.iction, your splendid con-
stancy in the faith, your self-control in the pres-
ence of great provocation, and your persistent
pursuit of your rights in spite of unreasoning
and brutal opposition, repeated failure, or only
partial success.
We are filled with wonder at the efficacy you
have known how to infuse into an orderly, peace-
ful and constiti:tional agitation for the revision
of the iniquitous land laws imposed upon your
country by an alien legislature ; and we hope
and pray that no resort to arbitrary power, or
the substitution of the methods of tyrants for
the peaceful process of civil law, will be able to
stifle your voice, or paralyze your action.
We are friendly to any movement that is
founded on correct principles, tending to redress
the grievances of the people of Ireland ; and
feeling, in this crisis in the history of land-law
reform, that the principles laid down in the plat-
form of the Land League Convention at Buffalo,
N. Y., are justified by religion and morality, we
extend our earnest and heartfelt sympathy and
co-operation to all those who are laboring in such
a just and righteous cause, as long as they are
guided by these principles.
We solemnly declare that if the British Parlia-
ment is unwilling or unable to apply an eflBcient
remedy " to the cancer that is eating away the
life of the nation," it is the duty of England to
remit the cure of the evil to the people of Ireland
themselves.
Nor, on the other hand, do we hesitate to de-
nounce as pernicious and infamous the conduct
of certain supposed emissaries of secret societies,
who seek to infuse into this movement a spirit of
420
UFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
injustice, and a disregard for the laws of morality
as expounded by the Catholic Church.
Following in the footsteps of our Holy Father,
Pope Leo XIIL, who has recently manifested his
defep concern for the temporal as well as the eter-
nal welfare of the faithful people of Ireland, by
addressing them words of paternal sympathy and
apostolic counsel, we declare that we are advo-
cates of peace and civic order, and hold with St.
Thomas and other Catholic doctors that the only
laudable and stable order is that which is founded
on justice to all men, effective redress of wrong,
and an equitable adjustment of conflicting in-
terest.
All civilized governments are more or less
influenced by the public opinion of the world;
and we will rejoice with you, should this declara-
tion of ours serve, even in the slightest degree,
to give more force and eflScacy to the desire of the
nations, that the condition of Ireland should cease
to be the reproach of modern statesmanship, a
blot upon the civilization of the age, and a de-
plorable and needless exception to the general
prosperity of the people of Europe.
Our confidence in ultimate success is much
increased when we see the clergy and people of
Ireland, without regard to differences of creed or
party affiliations, tending to unite in the work of
redressing the wrongs under which she has so
long groaned ; and we hope that the bonds of this
growing union may be drawn closer day by day,
till the united voice of the children of Ireland, at
home and abroad, demanding justice, not alms,
shall at length be heard and heeded.
We pray the Giver of all good gifts that he may
reward Ireland's centuries of suffering, and fidel-
ity to religion, with the fullest civil liberty, peace
and prosperity, so that she may be once again the
home of learning and science, and a source of
blessings to other nations.
tJOHN J. WILLIAMS,
^■■- Archbishop of Boston.
WILLIAM BYRNE, V. G.
W. A. BLENKINSOP, Chairman,
Pastor SS. Peter and Paul 's Church, Boston.
M. J. FLATLEY, Secretary,
Pastor St. Joseph's, Wakefield.
THOMAS H. SHAHAN,
Pastor St. yames's Church.^ Boston
THOMAS MAGENNIS,
Pastor St. Thomas s Churchy Boston.
MICHAEL J. MASTERSON,
Pastor St. Johns Churchy Peabody^ Mass.
Pope Leo's Private Hass.
We reproduce an account which an American
priest, the Rev. Dr. Bernard O'Reilly, recently
gave of a visit to the Vatican, where he was per-
mitted to attend the private Mass of His Holi-
ness :
" It is in one sense," wrote Dr. O'Reilly, " for-
tunate that Leo XIIL is debarred, by the present
political circumstances of the Holy See, from per-
forming the splendid functions in St. Peter's and
some of the other great churches of Rome, which
fell to the lot of his predecessors. The unceasing
energy required by the writing of his encyclicals
and other important official documents — and he
writes and corrects them all himself — together
with the extraordinary and difficult diplomatic
affairs which he has to deal with, and the vast
extension he has given to missions everywhere,
would absorb the time, and tax to the utmost the
strength of young, experienced and robust man-
hood. But Leo XIIL, in his seventy-seventh
year, is manifestly unequal to the long and fa-
tiguing ceremonies of the solemn Pontifical offices
in St. Peter's. At least, so I thought, after hav-
ing carefully observed him this morning in the
Vatican. I shall relate my experience, and allow
your readers to j udge of the wonderful power of
endurance of one apparently so weak, and whose
every day, from early morning till late into the
night, is one unbroken round of most wearying
occupations.
" During the Lenten season, and especially in
Holy Week and Easter Week, the number of
Catholic visitors from all countries is very great
in Rome; and great, too, is the eagerness to ob-
tain an audience of the Holy Father. Very, very
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
421
many, however, have to leave Rome without
seeing him. It is still more diflB.cult to obtain
the privilege of assisting at the Pope's private
Mass, and receiving Holy Communion from his
hand. An exception, nevertheless, is made on a
very few days during the two weeks I have men-
tioned. From what I am going to relate, it will
be seen what fatigue it must be for one so old,
feeble and overworked, to give Communion to a
large number of persons.
" Well, we were in the private chapel precisely
at the hour appointed this morning, half-past
seven. When I say private chapel, I must ex-
plain. The chapel proper is a small oratory,
with folding doors opening out directly in front
of the altar, into an apartment hung in crimson
damask, and capable of seating about a hundred
persons. We found it nearly filled. The folding
doors were open, the candles were lighted on the
altar; most of the distinguished persons present
were seated, a few kneeling, all apparently ab-
sorbed in their devotions. As the folding doors
were narrow, you could see only the altar, with
its fronting of cloth of gold, and its lights. The
priestly vestments were laid upon it in front of
the tabernacle. One of the chaplains was ar-
ranging the signets in the missal.
" Suddenly there was a commotion. All pres-
ent had dropped on their knees ; and a slender
form, wearing a white cassock and cape, with a
pectoral cross of gold, stood for a moment like
an apparition in front of the altar, and turned
towards us. He sprinkled the worshippers with
holy water, uttering in low tones the words of
the benediction, and then, turning towards the
altar, genuflected and retired to ^prie-dieu at the
Gospel side to recite the psalms and prayers pre-
scribed before the Mass.
"To those who had never until then set eyes
on Leo Xin. this sudden apparition must have
been startling. The pure white cassock, the face,
itself of almost transparent whiteness, the hair
and skull-cap of the same color, the radiant coun-
tenance and the benediction waved over our
heads, seemed like a vision.
"We heard the deep tones of the Pope reciting
alternately with his two chaplains the verses of
the preparatory psalms, and there was silence.
Then the slender white form of His Holiness re-
appeared at the foot of the altar, and his two
chaplains robed him in the sacred vestments. He
seemed utterly unconscious of everything but
the Presence in which he stood and the rite for
which he was preparing. At length he is fully
vested, and, genuflecting, begins Mass.
" As he stood there, slightly stooping, I could
not help being much impressed. It was the great
high priest of my faith, bending before the
tabernacle of the New Law, in which was the re-
ality prefigured by the manna ; and Leo XIII.
seemed to pierce the veil, to see and to address
Him who sat throned invisibly there.
" I have never heard the divine words of the
liturgy uttered with so fervent and solemn a sig-
nificance as Christ's Vicar on earth gives to them.
When he bent down to recite the confession you
could see his whole frame moved by the deep
feeling with which every word was pronounced :
mea ailpa^ mea adpa^ mea maxima culpa — ' Be-
cause I have sinned exceedingly, through my
fault, through my fault, through my exceeding
great fault.'
"All through the introit, the prayers, Kyrie^
Gloria in Excelsts, Epistle and Gospel, every
word, without being loud, was distinctly audible.
The words of the Gloria especially seemed to
move that white, feeble frame with unwonted
emotion. At every sentence one would fancy
there was some force lifting tip that bent head
and shoulders. There was unspeakable pathos
in the tone with which he uttered the last por-
tions of this angelic hymn : ' We give Thee
thanks. For Thou alone art holy. Thou alone
art Lord. Thou alone art most high, O Christ
Jesus ! '
" I cannot describe the succeeding parts of the
Mass after the offertory. Deeply as I felt, I believe
every one present felt more than I did. A layman
— a young man, too — who knelt by my side, could
scarcely contain himself. At the elevation, and
afterward in the interval before the communion,
I could not help thinking, as if I saw it, that it
422
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
was as if Moses on the mount stood face to face
with God and pleaded with all the people.
"What a burden of care and sorrow and har-
rowing anxiety has Leo XIII. to bring daily into
that Presence, and lay there at the foot of the
mercy-seat ! The troubles of Germany are now
well-nigh ended ; but how, since the 20th of
Februar}', 1878, till this day, Leo XIII. must
have prayed there for the end of that fearful
persecution ! And it is far worse in France than
it ever was in Germany. This very day Arch-
bishop Richard, co-adjutor to Cardinal Guibert,
of Paris, is in Rome, devising with the Holy
Father some means of preventing the rupture
now daily expected between France and the
Vatican. And in Russia they are still crushing,
butchering, exiling the Catholic populations;
while in Tonquin and Cochin China they are
massacring them. There is not one spot, far or
near, in the Christian world, with which yonder
venerable man is not acquainted ; not a want or
a danger of all these churches and missions of
which he is not informed — wonderfully well in-
formed — and which he does not bring to that
altar daily in his fatherly heart, there to plead
for it with the Father of all. Do we wonder that
these shoulders are bent far more with all these
cares than with the weight of seventy-seven
years of earthly labors ?
" To look at the priestly form at the altar, as
it swayed to and fro with some strong emotion,
you would think that the two assistants were
only by its side to prevent it "from suddenly fall-
ing by sheer weakness. But is the Pope going
to give Holy Communion to that chapel-full ? I
waited and watched with wonder, fearful lest his
strength should utterly fail him. But the seventy
or eighty persons there, ladies and gentlemen, all
approached and knelt in their turn, receiving the
Divine gift from what might be deemed a hand
unsteady and uncertain, but which was under the
control of an iron will.
" It was for me a sight never to be forgotten,
to behold the unaffected and concentrated piety
of all these persons, as if they were in the upper
chamber with Christ, and received from His
hand the sacramental bread. One white-haired
man wore stars and orders ; but it was only to
do honor to the King of kings, whom he had
come to receive. Another, a venerable Pole,
was quite blind.
" At length the Mass was over ; the last bless-
ing had been given, oh, so solemnly ! and the
Holy Father stood there in front of the altar
while they disrobed him. Everything was done
so quietly, so gently, so silently ; and you could
hear almost the beating of your own pulse in
that chapel, where all these worshippers were
kneeling, wrapped in the Divine Presence, and
praying for the dear ones at home, in every
quarter of the globe, for they had come from
every land.
" The Pope knelt in thanksgiving a little to
the left of the altar, while one of his chaplains
celebrated Mass after him. This is always the
rule. The second Mass over, an arm-chair was
brought to the Epistle side, below the platform ;
and the Holy Father seated himself, in order
that each of those present should come in turn
and get his blessing, and have a kind word from
the common parent of Christendom.
" I watched with a keen attention all these
families and groups of persons as they ap-
proached in succession, and were presented by
Mousignor Macchi. How the sweet face — so
unearthly in its spiritualized pallor and trans-
parency — beamed with the light of true fatherly
affection on these representatives of the great
Catholic family ! Every one was questioned,
consoled, blessed, and sent away with kind mes-
sages and blessings to the absent ones. There
was a whole family in a circle around the Pope's
chair, among them a little girl to whom he had
just given her first communion. Then two
ladies, one of whom was in deep affliction, for she
sobbed bitterly ; and the fatherly heart went out
to her in sweet words of comfort. And so group
after group knelt, uttered their petitions, which
were kindly answered ; and the saintly face
beamed on all, as one might fancy that of the
Saviour did in some sylvan spot in Galilee, when
He had taught the multitude and fed them, and
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
423
allowed them to come to Him, to kiss His feet,
His hands, the very hem of His garments. And
is not that venerable figure the Vicar of Christ
to us ?
" Our turn came. We were not strangers to
Leo XIII. He had much to say, many blessings
to give to my companion. I was questioned
about the progress of my work. Again and
again I kissed that dear hand, which is never
raised but to bless. And we went away feeling
as if we had been near the Lake of Gennesaret
in the time of our Lord.
" Such is Leo XIII., a parent to whom all come,
as of old children came to Christ, to be blessed
and prayed for. It is something, in these days
of doubt, to have on earth one who is the repre-
sentative of God's authority and the living image
of His fatherly kindness.
The Holy Father's Faith in Ireland.
During Pope Leo's fourth year he addressed
another enclyclical letter to Cardinal McCabe, as
the head of the Irish episcopate. The Holy
Father evidently was deeply concerned over the
Irish question ; and he seems to have feared that,
as the agitation grew intenser in Ireland, there
might be some grounds for dread lest harm should
come to his faithful Irish Catholics. His faith
in them never for an instant wavered, neither did
his good will towards them and the patriotic
hopes which he knew they entertained for their
country. He afterwards proved the sincerity of
his sympathy in a striking manner, by appoint-
ing Archbishop Walsh to the see of Dublin, after
the death of Cardinal McCabe. Prior to the con-
vocation of the Irish prelates in Rome in 1883,
His Holiness appears to have been somewhat agi-
tated over the Irish situation, as the following
letter, sent to Cardinal McCabe on the 5th of
August, 1882, would seem to indicate:
" Beloved Son, Venerable Brethren : —
Health and apostolic benediction. The loving
good will with which we embrace the Irish peo-
ple, and of which the intensity seems only to
increase with the present difl&culties, leads us to
follow with singular care and paternal feeling the
course of events occurring among you. But this
consideration gives us more of anxiety than of
comfort, because we do not yet see the public
affairs of your country in that condition of peace
and prosperity which we desire. On the one
hand, the pressure is still felt of grievous hard-
ships : on the other, perplexing agitation hurries
many into turbulent courses ; and men have not
been wanting who stained themselves with atro-
cious murders, as if it were possible to find hope
for national happiness in public disgrace and
crime.
" We already knew, and have again recently
seen from what you decreed in your last meeting
in Dublin, that, from the same causes, you, be-
loved son, venerable brethren, are no less anxious
than ourselves. Trembling for the common wel-
fare, you very properly laid down what every one
must avoid in so difficult a crisis and in the
midst of conflict. So doing, you certainly acted
both according to your duty as bishops and for
the public interest. For men need the advice of
their bishops most of all when, under the impulse
of some violent craving, they mistake their true
interests by false judgments ; and if ever they
are impetuously driven, as it were, to relinquish
the right course, it is the duty of the bishops to
moderate the excited feeling of the people, and,
by timely exhortations, to bring them back to the
justice and moderation necessary in all things.
You seasonably recalled the Divine precept, to
seek first the kingdom of God and His justice^ by
which Christians are commanded in every action
of life, and consequently in their actions also as
citizens, to keep in view their eternal salvation,
and place religious fidelity to duty before every
temporal consideration. So long as these rules
are observed, it is lawful for the Irish to seek re-
lief in their misfortunes ; it is lawful for them to
contend for their rights : for it cannot be thought
that what is permitted to every other country is
forbidden to Ireland. Nevertheless, interest must
be directed by justice; and it must be seriously
considered, that it is base to defend by unjust
means any cause, however just. And justice is
4«4
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
not to be found in violence, and especially not in
those secret societies which, under pretext of vin-
dicating a right, generally end in violent disturb-
ance of the public peace. As our predecessors
more than once, and we ourselves have done, so
you, in your Dublin meeting, have now given a
timely warning with how much caution every
good man should keep aloof from such societies.
Still, so long as the danger lasts, it is for you, in
your watchfulness, often to repeat authoritatively
the warning, exhorting all Irishmen, by the holi-
ness of the Catholic name, and by the very love
of their country, to have nothing to do with so-
cieties of this sort, which are powerless to obtain
what the people rightfully ask, and which too
often impel to crime those who have been fired
by their allurements. Since the Irish are proud,
and deservedly, to be called Catholics — which is,
as St. Augustine explains, guardians of integrity^
and followers of wJiat is right — let them bear out
to the full their name ; and, even when they are
asserting their rights, let them strive to be what
they are called. Let them remember that the
first of all liberties is to be free from crime; and
let them so conduct themselves through life, that
none of them may suffer the penalties of the law
as a murderer^ or a thief or a railer^ or a coveter
of other metis things.
" But it is fitting that your episcopal solicitude
in governing the people should be assisted by
the virtue, the labor, and the industry of all the
clergy. With reference to this subject, all that
you thought proper to decree concerning priests, '
especially the younger clergy, we judge right,
and suited to the circumstances. For priests,
if at any time, certainly in these popular storms,
must be watchful and laborious co-operators in
the preservation of order. And as in proportion
to the high estimation in which one is held is his
influence on the minds of others, they must en-
deavor to gain the approbation of the people by
their gravity, constancy and moderation in word
and deed, and never take any step that may appear
wanting in prudence or in the spirit of concilia-
tion. It is easily understood that the clergy
will be such as the circumstances require, if
early trained by wise discipline and sound
direction. For, as the Fathers of Trent admon-
ished, the age of youth^ unless it be formed
from its tender years unto piety and religion^ will
never perfectly^ and without the greatest^ and well-
nigh special^ help of Almighty God, persevere in
ecclesiastical discipline.
" In this way and by these means we believe
that Ireland will, without any violence, attain
that prosperity which she desires. For, as we
signified to you on another occasion, we are
confident that the statesmen who preside over
the adminstration of public affairs will give
satisfaction to the Irish when they demand what
is just. This not only reason advises, but also
their well-known political prudence ; since it
cannot be doubted that the well-being of Ireland
is connected with the tranquillity of the whole
empire.
"We, meanwhile, with this hope, do not cease
to help the Irish people with the authority of
our advice, and to offer to God our prayers, in-
spired by solicitude and love, that He would graci-
ously look down upon a people so distinguished
by many noble virtues, and, calming the storm,
bless it with the longed-for peace and prosperity.
In pledge of these heavenly blessings, and in
token of our great affection, we lovingly impart
in our Lord to you, beloved son, and venerable
brethren, to the clergy, and to the whole people,,
the apostolic benediction."
The Plenary Council at Baltimore (1884).
We now refer to the Baltimore Council, which
was held in the year 1884, and which, of course,
forms a part of the history of Pope Leo's Pontifi-
cate, inasmuch as he was the one who especially
ordered its convocation. Every American is
familiar with the calling of the American pre-
lates to Rome by the Pope, who wished to advise
with them on the condition of the American
Church. The American dignitaries remained
in Rome for months, during which time they
held many interviews with the cardinals of the
Propaganda, and the Holy Father himself, who
showed a great desire to inform himself about.
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
425
the minutice of the Catholic Church in this coun-
try. He evinced the same interest when the
Irish prelates were in Rome. As a result of the
conferences of the Propaganda and the American
hierarchs, a plenary council of the Catholic
Church of the United States was ordered ; and
as the Baltimore Council, whose acts have since
been approved by the Holy See, and are now
being enforced in the various dioceses of this
country, is of utmost importance to American
Catholics, hence we give here a short account of
its session.
With all the pomp and circumstance, the form
and ceremony, which have been associated with
the Catholic Church for centuries, its third
plenary council in the United States opened on
the 9th of November, in the Baltimore Cathe-
dral. The minor clergy and the laity, who were
to participate in the procession, assembled at
St. Alphonsus' Hall, about two squares distant,
and then marched to the archbishop's residence.
The streets through which the pageant was to
pass to the cathedral were crowded. As the
cross-bearer, carrying the processional cross,
came leading the procession, the faithful un-
covered, or made a genuflection. Then came
the secular and regular clergy, seminarians,
theologians, mitred abbots, bishops, and arch-
bishops — all in the full panoply of their sacred
office. Slowly swinging his censer, and spread-
ing around an odor of frankincense, came the
censer-bearer; and then, bringing up the rear,
the apostolic delegate. Archbishop Gibbons. Pre-
ceding him, walked with feeble steps the vener-
able vicar-general of the diocese. Father McCol-
gan ; and then came the archbishop, attended by
his deacons of honor, the Rev. Fathers Curtis
and Devine, with thousands of devotees bowing
their heads. The church was reached, and up
the long aisles came the steady movement. On
reaching the sanctuary, the archbishops took
seats to the right of the altar, and the abbots and
provincials to the left. The bishops occupied the
recess of the altar of the Blessed Virgin ; while
the seminarians occupied the recess of the altar
of St. Joseph. The priests occupied chairs in
the aisles and in front of the sanctuary. Arch-
bishop Gibbons occupied the throne ; and near
him was the Very Rev. Edward McColgan, vicar-
general of the archiepiscopal see. The main
altar was beautifully decorated with evergreens
and white flowers. The Most Rev. Archbishop
Kenrick, of St. Louis, then celebrated the grand
high Mass, assisted by the Rev. Dwight Lyman
as deacon, and the Rev. J. A. McCallen, S.S., as
master of ceremonies. The music was of
highest order. The choir, composed of over fifty
voices, was directed by the Rev. Father Graf.
Besides the choir, the seminarians acted as choris-
ters, and, with the reverend clergy and higher
dignitaries, chanted the litanies. After the Mass
the Most Rev. Archbishop Ryan, of Philadelphia,
preached on " The Church and her Councils."
He selected for his text St. Matt, xxviii. 18, 19,
20. He said that it was not without emotion
and some embarrassment that he attempted to
make an address on this august occasion. He
was to speak of the Church which Christ had es-
tablished on the earth and of its head. The
Church recognized its head because God had
placed him at the head of his flock on earth.
The Church had been exposed to rains and wind,
but it fell not, because it was founded on a rock,
and Christ said it should continue to the con-
summation of the world. It was not deputed
with ordinary power, but the Holy Ghost had en-
dowed it with extraordinary power. Addressing
himself to the priesthood, who were brought more
into contact with the people, he said they were
present at the council to aid its acts by their ex-
perience and counsel. He said he was present
eighteen years ago at the second plenary council^
when there were forty-six bishops, and now there
are over seventy. Of the forty-six then, forty
had passed to the Bishop of their souls, and their
nearness to God makes them more zealous for
the glory of God and the salvation of the people.
The Church was fighting the battle for the right
against the wrong. There are men of different
religious denominations, and men of no religion
at all, who depend upon this council to lay the
basis of a sounder morality ; and the Church
426
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
knows it is fatal to trust to human honor and
honesty without supernatural aid. Men say they
admire the Preacher of the sermon on the mount,
but do not connect themselves with an institution
founded by that Preacher. He said, " I will
build my Church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Who hears you, hears me ;
who despises you, despises me, and despises the
Father who sent me." He promised to send the
Holy Ghost to abide with His people forever.
Saul persecuted not Christ personally, but His
Church, when the voice said to him, " Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me ? " The Divine law
endowed the Church with a mission of verification
and sanctification, and it has come down through
all the centuries wthout a break, or we should
not know that it was the true Church of Christ.
He spoke of the life of Christ and of His cruci-
fixion and ascension, and the Church can say
that it stood with Mary and John at the foot of
the cross and for nearly nineteen hundred years
it has sung His praise. Where was the magnifi-
cent Church of God of which the prophets spoke?
Behold it in its representative in this young re-
public, beautiful with the beauty of God.
CBcumenical councils had resulted in a stronger
adherence to the faith. Without the Church the
world would be in chaos. The Church passes
such salutary laws as will protect the consciences
of the people. All the people in the Church
might not be good, for there was a Judas and a
Peter ; but abuses have been corrected, and will
be, for Christ said : "I am with you alwaj'^s, even
to the consummation of the world." The arch-
bishop spoke against modern errors, and said the
teaching of the Church should be accepted.
Among the disciples there was one reprobate, and
he went out and sold Jesus Christ for thirt}''
pieces of silver. Without the Church the world
would go back to worse than pagan darkness.
She has brought back the most abandoned, and
in this young Republic she will bring back the
people by instruction, teaching submission to the
will of God, by her love for the pure, by her or-
ders who prefer poverty that they may the better
serve God. She will call all the people into her
embrace. She, in 8i6, abolished slaverjj^ in Eng-
land, and in 1 103 liberated all the English slaves
in Ireland. Because Christ was the great re-
generator of humanity, the Church has followed
him in aiding the poor, and aiding humanity.
When Archbishop Ryan left the sanctuary
Archbishop Gibbons descended from his throne,
and, with Fathers Devine and Curtis, his aids,
knelt at the foot of the altar, while the antiphon
and psalm were sung by the choir. All of the pre-
lates also knelt, and the scene attending this
ceremony was very impressive. The apostolic
delegate then recited a short prayer, after which
the Litany of the Saints was chanted. Escorted
by his two aids Archbishop Gibbons then took
the seat elevated before the altar, and assumed
the duties of his office. The ceremony attending
the opening of the council was then formally
proceeded with. Father Lyman repeated the
Gospel of the day and the choir sang the " Veiii
Creator!''' The apostolic delegate then addressed
the prelates and theologians in Latin, in which
he declared the synod opened.
■ All of the business was transacted in the Latin
tongue. The officers who were elected at the se-
cret session held on Saturday were then installed.
Bishops J. J. Kain, D.D., of Wheeling, and
Francis Janssens, D.D., of Natchez, Miss., took
their seats on either side of the apostolic delegate.
The other officers were as follows : Chancellors,
Rev. George Devine, Rev. John S. Foley, D.D.,
Baltimore. Secretaries, Right Rev. James Cor-
coran, D.D., Philadelphia ; Rev. Henry Gabriels,
D.D., Troy, N. Y.; Rev. Sebastian Messmer,
Newark, N. J.; Rev. Dennis J. O'Connell, D.D.,
Richmond. Prothonotary apostolic. Right Rev.
Robert Seton, D.D., LL.D., Newark, N. J. No-
taries, Very Rev. John Sullivan, V.G. ; Rev. John
M. Fariey, Rev. P. A. Stanton, O.S.A.; Rev.
Frederick Wayrich, C, SS. R.; Rev. P. L. Chap-
pelle, D.D.; Rev. J. L. Andreis, Rev. Sebastian
B. Smith, D.D. ; Rev. Matthew Harkins, Rev. P.
M. Abbelen, Rev. Henry Moeller, D.D. Masters
of ceremonies. Revs. James McCallan, SS., Mi-
chael Kelly, Thomas Broderick. Monsignor Cor-
coran read the preliminary decrees with regard
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
427
to the rules to be observed in the council, which
was followed by the calling of the roll by Dr.
D. J. O'Connell. This lasted some time, the list
being very long. The most interesting ceremony
of all, however, was the profession of faith made
in turn by each of the prelates. The archbish-
ops came first. Archbishops Alemany, of San
Francisco, and Kenrick, of St. Louis, the two
oldest of the assembled prelates, came first, closely
followed by the others according to seniority.
Then came the bishops, and after them the heads
of seminaries and orders. Among the dignitaries
were several of the various orders, who differed
in appearance from their colleagues in that they
wore beards.
The opening ceremonies were very impressive ;
there being Pontifical high Mass in the morning,
and Pontifical vespers in the evening, with a ser-
mon on " The Unity of the Church," by Bishop
Shanahan, of Harrisburg, Pa. The sessions of
the council were necessarily secret. On Tuesday
evening. Bishop Becker, of Wilmington then,
now of Savannah, delivered a public discourse on
"The Church and Science." On the 13th there
was no legislative session ; but the Fathers of the
Council attended a Pontifical Mass of requiem
sung by the venerable Archbishop Alemany, then
of San Francisco, since resigned and living in a
convent of the Dominicans, of which order he is
a member, in Spain. On the i4tli, after the
legislative session, Archbishop Seghers, then of
Oregon, now of Vancouver's Island, preached on
the great work the Church had accomplished on
the Indian missions. A large temperance meet-
ing was also held in St. Alphonsus Hall, at
which addresses were made by several well-
known advocates of the temperance cause. On
the 15th, nothing besides holding a legislative
session was done. On the i6th, Sunday, the
second open session was held in the Cathedral,
the Pontifical Mass being sung by Archbishop
Williams, of Boston. Archbishop Elder, of Cin-
cinnati, was the preacher, and his subject was
" The Priesthood." After the singing of the
Litany of the Saints, the council was opened by
the Rev. Dr. Foley. Upon permission of the
apostolic delegate, he put to the assembled high
clergy the preliminary question whether they
were prepared to give their final opinion on the
decrees, the formulation of which had been
completed through the grace of God and their
own chastity in discussion. The answer given
from each side of the sanctuary was afi&rmative.
Dr. O'Connell, a secretary of the council, and
now Rector of the American College, Rome, then
called the roll. Mgr. Corcoran, then rising, asked
again whether the clergy were pleased to delib-
erate ; and, receiving an aflBrmative answer, read
the decrees as formulated as follows :
" Decree No. i. — Concerning the Catholic
faith. A solemn and detailed profession of faith
will hereafter be required of all who enter upon
the sacred ministration of the Church.
" Decree No. 2. — Concerning Christian mis-
sionaries. They are to be subordinate, in a
greater degree than has hitherto been the case,
to their natural superiors, the members of the
episcopacy.
" Decree No. 3. — Concerning our apostolic
vicars. The decree embraced the conduct of these
functionaries in whatsoever relates to the spread
of the faith as their chief office. "
These decrees were all unanimously adopted.
A further chapter of resolutions specified the
requirements that are henceforward to be made
of those intending to enter the ministry of the
Church. The title of this chapter is " Concern-
ing the Examination of the Clergy." Greater
age, longer time of theological study, and greater
actual learning, will be necessary for admission
to the priesthood.
Certain restrictions not hitherto strictly ob-
served in relation to the celebration of the Mass
will be enforced, full force being given the coun-
cil's decision under a pertinent statute of Pope
Innocent III. These resolutions were also unani-
mously adopted. The services ended with the
papal benediction.
In the evening Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, 111.,
preached an eloquent sermon on " The Higher
Education of the Priesthood."
428
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
On the 17th, after the legislative sessiou, a
sermon on " Faith and Reason " was delivered by
Bishop Watterson, of Columbus ; and in the
evening many of the fathers attended a meeting
of the directors of the Catholic Colonization As-
sociation, and expressed their pleasure at the
good work accomplished by it. On the iSth,
after the legislative session, Bishop O'Farrell, of
Trenton, N. J., delivered a public sermon on
" Christian Marriage." The Fathers of the Coun-
cil were this day photographed in a group, and
one of the pictures was forwarded to the Pope.
The next day, the evening public discourses were
two in number — one in English by Bishop Ryan,
of BuflFalo, on " The Observation of Feasts," and
one in German by Bishop Krautbauer, of Green
Baj^, since deceased, who took for his subject
" The Church in America." On the 20th, public
services were held in the cathedral ; Archbishop
Heiss, of Milwaukee, being the celebrant of the
Mass, and a sermon in Latin, on " The Priest-
hood," being delivered by Archbishop Aleman3\
In the evening the Fathers of the Council at-
tended a reception given them by the Catholics
of Baltimore, at which were present a large num-
ber of distinguished laymen. Judge Merrick
made an eloquent address of welcome, to which
Archbishop Williams made a suitable repl}'. At
the banquet which followed, fully five hundred
persons sat at the tables. On the 2 2d, a private
sessiou was held at St. Mary's Seminar}', and in
the evening Bishop Hennessy, of Dubuque, de-
livered a magnificent address on " The Sanctity
of the Church." The 23d, Sunday, witnessed
the third public session of the council ; the cele-
brant of the Mass being Archbishop Feehan, of
Chicago, and the preacher. Bishop Fitzgerald, of
Little Rock, whose theme was " The Sacrifice
of the Mass." On the 24th, at the private ses-
sion, the erection of several new sees was advo-
cated ; and in the evening the Catholic Total Ab-
stinence Union of Maryland gave the Fathers of
the Council a brilliant reception at Ford's Opera
House. The next session was held on the 26th ;
and, the following day being Thanksgiving, a
solemn public session was held in the cathedral.
Archbishop Lamy, of Santa Fe, was the celebrant
of the Pontifical Mass ; and an appropriate sermon
was delivered by the eloquent bishop of Peoria,
Right Rev. John Lancaster Spalding. In the
evening the Catholic Benevolent Union gave the
Fathers a reception. At the session of the 28th,
Archbishop Seghers tendered his resignation as
Archbishop of Oregon, to return to the see of
Vancouver's Island. In the evening he preached
at St. Joseph's Church on " The Alaskan Mis-
sions." On Sunda}?^, the 30th, Bishop Loughliu,
of Brooklyn, was the celebrant of the high Mass,
and Bishop Hennessy, of Dubuque, the preacher.
In the afternoon Bishop Ireland, of St. Paul, the
Father Mathew of the Northwest, preached an
interesting sermon before a large audience, com-
posed chiefly of members of the various temper-
ance societies of Baltimore and vicinity.
The closing session of the council was held in
the cathedral on Sunday ; when Bishop Spalding,
of Peoria, for the benefit of the people who were
in attendance at the high Mass, thus reviewed
its work :
" The questions which were discussed by the
council had a direct bearitig on the social, moral,
religious and intellectual welfare of the people
and of the country at large. It was through the
Church in Europe that woman was raised up,
that childhood was cared for and the poor aided ;
and here in this country, where womanhood is
honored, where childhood is watched over and
where the poor are aided, the prelates of the
Church sought to remove all difiiculties which
might prevent the spread of the truth, and have
come in a spirit of universal charity and world-
wide benevolence to frame decrees which shall
inspire greater reverence for the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus. They have been consecrated,
chosen, ordained and set apart for the work, and
have bound the members of the Church in a
sweet and loving charity. The priest as well as
the people, they believe, should be raised up to
the highest ideal ; and they have sought to direct
the steps of the priesthood, that in it may be seen
the sweetness, the meekness and the gentleness
of Christ. They have begun by advocating more
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
429
advanced studies, and have laid the foundations
of what will be a great American Catholic Col-
lege, thus inspiring all with a love for intellectual
progress. They have treated of education in
general, of k system which will combine in it the
rights of religion and of government. They
have dealt also with questions affecting the family,
which is the basis of the Church. They want
to inspire a holier reverence for the sacrament of
marriage. Marriage must be a perpetual union,
lasting as long as life lasts, and with no cause for
divorce but death. They have pleaded for the
cause of sobriety and temperance. They ap-
prove good laws and customs, and wish to make
the world so that men may be truly free and
grow in moral purity and intellectual worth.
They have tried to stimulate the Catholic press
and Catholic literature, so that men may be led
to take greater interest in matters aflfecting them
as Catholic and American citizens. They have
laid down laws for the guidance of societies which
co-operate with the Church, and have sought to
know what is for good and what for harm in the
Church. Their deliberations have been con-
ducted with dignity, and the full thought has
been spoken without restriction. It is not possi-
ble to realize what has been done for the Church
in this country during the last one hundred years ;
but a thousand years from now men can look back
on the triumphs which have been achieved,
through all eclipses and shadows and doubts and
storms and uncertainties and inimical tradition
and unfavorable public opinion. They have laid
low all disorder, rebellion and schism ; they have
gathered together many forces and many tongues,
and while banishing their defects have preserved
their virtues ; and throughout all the Church has
shown that her forces, like those of Nature, are
indestructible and bring life from death, and
beauty and harmony from chaos."
After the sermon the vestments of the prelates
and priests were changed from white to those of
a red color, being symbolical of the tongues of fire
which descended on the apostles on Pentecost
Sunday. The apostolic delegate, attended by his
deacons of honor, took a seat at the entrance of
the sanctuary when the change was made, and a
number of hymns and psalms were sung and
prayers intoned.
At the conclusion of these the apostolic dele-
gate took his seat at the altar steps, with Bishop
Kane, of Wheeling, at his right and Bishop
Jaussens, of Natchez, at his left, and the last ses-
sion of the council was opened. Monsignor Cor-
coran read the chapters of the decrees passed
during the past week, and they were formally
adopted. When this was over the pens and ink
with which the bishops and ofl&cers were to sign
their names in testimony of the genuineness of
the decrees were placed on the altar. The apos-
tolic delegate was the first to sign his name, fol-
lowed by Archbishops Kenrick and Alemany and
all the other archbishops except Archbishop
Riordan, who was absent. Then came the bishops
and abbots, and lastly the officers of the council,
the Rev. George W. Devine being the last to
sign. After all the prelates were again seated
Archbishop Kenrick went up to the apostolic
delegate, and they exchanged the kiss of peace.
The archbishop then stood to one side, and Arch-
bishop Alemany similarly saluted the apostolic
delegate, and, after exchanging the kiss with
Archbishop Kenrick, took his place at his side.
Thus each prelate saluted the apostolic delegate,
and, passing along the line, saluted each of the
prelates as he passed, and then took his place at
the end of the line, which extended through the
sanctuary, down a part of the centre aisle, and
back again into the sanctuary before the cere-
mony was completed. The kiss of peace is
given simply by the two prelates placing their
heads close together, and whispering the Latin
words Pax tecum to each other. When the
parties had all been seated at the end of this cere-
mony, Archbishop Kenrick, of St. lyouis, ad-
vanced to the front of the altar, and, in a broken
voice, said : " It has fallen to my lot to be the oldest
bishop in this council, the arrangements and pre-
parations for which, it is needless to say, caused
great anxiety, care and labor for the apostolic dele-
gate who presided over its deliberations. Therefore
I return him thanks on behalf of its members. It
430
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
is many years since I stood in tliis edifice as a
spectator at the opening of the first plenary
council. What impressed me most then was,
that, in the comparatively small number of
ecclesiastics present thirteen different nationali-
ties were represented, all united together for one
purpose." He then, in contrasting that council
with the one just closed, spoke at length of the
progress of the Church in the past, and her
bright prospects for the future. Then turning
to the apostolic delegate he said : " At the next
plenary council, should God prolong your days,
you will miss many of those who are with you now ;
and you will think of them as we now think of those
who have passed away since the second plenary
council." The feeble old man was obliged to
stop frequently in the delivery of his short ad-
dress, through the infirmities of age, and at its
close went with uncertain steps back to his seat
among the archbishops. The Te Deum was sung
by the choir, closing prayer recited, the papal bene-
diction pronounced by the most reverend apostolic
delegate, and the third plenary council ended.
The work of the Baltimore council reflects the
greatest credit on Pope Leo's Pontificate, under
whose auspices it was begun and happily con-
cluded, and who bestowed his apostolic benedic-
tion on the prelates who participated in it, and on
the labors which they so successfully accom-
plished. The decrees of the council are now be-
ing enforced with excellent results throughout
the whole country, the several dioceses holding
synods to adopt them and to comply with the
regulations which they exact from the bishops
and priests of every see. The archbishop, who
so worthily presided over the council, has since
been raised to the cardinalitial dignity, and there
is no question but what higher honors are in store
for more than one of the prelates who took part in
its deliberations.
Important Events.
The year 1885 opened with the conferring of
the pallium, January 4th, on Archbishop Ryan,
and January 25th, on Archbishop Leary, the for-
mer of Philadelphia and the latter of New Or-
leans. On the nth of February, the death of
Edward Cardinal McCabe, Archbishop of Dublin,
occurred, and gave rise to that period of uncer-
tainty which ended by the appointment of Rev.
Dr. William Walsh, of IMaynooth, as his succes-
sor — an act which, all circumstances surround-
ing it considered, proved more than anything
else how warmly Pope Leo sympathized with the
national aspirations of the Irish people.
The most memorable event of this year for
American Catholics was the death, on Oct. loth,
of John Cardinal McCloskey, the beloved Arch-
bishop of New York, and the first American car-
dinal. His funeral, which took place in St.
Patrick's Cathedral, New York, was the grandest
event of its kind ever witnessed in this country.
From all parts of the country, prelates and
priests, together with distinguished laymen,,
flocked to attend the ceremonies ; and the civic
authorities vied with each other to do honor to
the dead prelate. President Cleveland sent his
regrets, as also did the Governor of New York
State ; while Leo XIII. cabled his apostolic bene-
diction to the dying cardinal, and that grace was
imparted to him before his demise. Requiem
Masses for the prelate's repose were sung all over
the country ; in Rome, particularly in his titular
Church of Sancta Maria Supra Minervam ; and
one was also sung on the 30th of October in the
Church of the Madeleine at Paris. By virtue of
his appointment, which carried with it the right
of succession, Archbishop Corrigan succeeded to
the achdiocese over which the cardinal had so
ably presided so many years.
Pope Leo XIII. Hediates Between Qermany and Spain.
Germany had taken possession of certain of
tne Caroline Islands in the South Pacific which
Spain claimed as her possession. This action on
the part of Germany caused great indignation in
Spain and promised to become dangerous. To
the surprise of the whole world, Berlin's Cabinet
sueeested that the matter of arbitrament be re-
ferred to Pope Leo XIIL, and accordingly the
Emperor addressed a letter to His Holiness and
offered him the position of arbitrator. The Pope,
however, declined to arbitrate, but expressed his
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
431
willingness to act as mediator between Germany
and Spain. He was accepted as mediator by both
countries, and after grave deliberation Pope Leo
XIII. submitted a course of settlement. By liis
proposed agreement the prior right of Spain was
recosfnized, at the same time there was secured
to the German subjects certain commercial con-
cessions which they claimed. The act of agree-
ment was signed on December 13, 1885, in the
Vatican.
Immediately following the signature of the
protocol concerning the question of the Caroline
Islands, the Emperor of Germany, through the
intermediary of M. Schloezer, Prussian Minister
to the Holy See, conveyed to the Sovereign Pontiff
the expression of his gratitude. The Prussian
Minister said in effect that his Sovereign pre-
sented his thanks to the Holy Father for the
benevolent promptitude and for the impartiality
with which His Holiness had brought the media-
tion to a conclusion. He added, furthermore,
that thanks to this mediation the Holy Father
knew how to re-establish and fortify between
Germany and Spain the good relations which
misunderstandings had for the moment disturbed.
A like message from the Queen Regent of
Spain was also received at the Vatican. In com-
menting on the mediation the Moniteur de Rome
observes : " Pope Leo XIII. has avoided a war,
unravelled the most complicated skein of diplo-
macy, pacified two nations, saved a throne in the
indescribable confusion of a sudden death, and
surrounded the Papacy and the name of Leo
XIII. with unequalled prestige. This act re-
places at one stroke the' Papacy in the heart of
the political and moral civilization of the modern
world. What imagination would have been capa-
ble of such boldness as to unite, in this startling
visioii of the unrivalled grandeur of the Holy
See, the names of the Holy See and Bismarck !
What renders this work still more important is
that the cause was submitted by the chief Protest-
ant nation in Europe, to the impartiality of a re-
ligious adversary.
Pope Leo and Italy.
On March 2, 1886, Pope Leo XIII. celebrated
the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth and the
eighth anniversary of his coronation, which fell
on March 3d, by an address to the members of
the Sacred College. In this address His Holi-
ness eulogized the union existing between the
Cardinals and urged concord among Catholics
against those seeking to corrupt and weaken the
authority of the Church. He deplored the op-
pressed condition of the Holy See as unworthy
the head of the Church and incompatible with his
independence.
His Holiness spoke with much severity con-
cerning the attempt to connect the ecclesiastical
authority with the crime of furnishing foreign
enemies of Italy secret information about its
military defences, as had been done a short time
back, in the case of a man on trial at Rome on
the charge of having sold such information to a
foreign power. During this trial the prosecution
read what purported to be a letter from Vienna,
in which the writer, whose name was withheld,
imputed the prisoner's act to inspiration received
from the Vatican, which was accused of having
a purpose to undermine and destroy the present
kingdom of Italy by obtaining for foreign powers
secret information concerning Italy's coast de-
fences. His Holiness repelled this imputation
with indignation, and condemned the impunity
with which vulgar malignity of this kind had been
employed to excite the multitude against him.
The touching address -which the Pope delivered
at the reception of the Italian pilgrimage pro-
duced a marked impression on those who listened
to it, all being deeply moved. His Holiness re-
futed the stupid charges of Signor Crispi against
the Papacy, and showed that the Holy See was
and had always been the best friend of Italy.
On Nov. 10, 1888, the following address from
the English Bishops was sent to Rome, expressing
their sorrow and indignation that new laws had
been proposed and carried in the Italian Parlia-
ment against the Bishops, the clergy and the|
faithful of Italy under the pretext of repressing"
attacks against authority, whether by word or by
writing. The English Bishops deplored the fact
that the venerable and sovereign person of His
432
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
J •
Holiness, whose absolute liberty in the exercise
of his Primacy over the Catholic world was said
to be guaranteed, was not exempted from those
penal laws. In concluding their address the Bish-
ops added their protest to that of the civilized
world, declaring, together with all Catholics, their
detestation of so great an injustice.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the occupation
of Rome by the troops of King Victor Emanuel
was celebrated in the early autumn of 1895, with
immense display of national exultation. The
display was made especially manifest in Rome
itself It was a military pageant, and undoubt-
edly, to a great extent, a national pageant as well.
No one can question the fact that a great majority
of the Italian people are in favor of Italian unity
and of an Italian State, with Rome for its capital.
It is not to be wondered at that the Pope should
have issued something in the nature of a protest
against the commemoration. It was the celebra-
tion of the deposition of the Pope as a Sovereign
Prince, and it could not quite reasonably be ex-
pected Pope Leo should take a pride in the
rejoicings over his own fall from temporal power.
The question in Italy does not admit of argu-
ment. Either a man is in favor of the Pope's
temporal rule, or he is against it. So far as the
countries outside Italy are concerned, the question
is determined just as easily. The Catholic popu-
lations, speaking generally, are for the temporal
rule of the Pope, the Protestant populations are
against it. There is something that might appeal
to any mind in one of the opening passages of
what may be called the Pope's manifesto, concern-
ing those demonstrations of the 20th September :
*' The sentiment of humanity," he says, "which
is preserved even in minds dominated by passion,
seemed to permit of the hope that some considera-
tion would be shown for Our old age ; but this
sentiment has been brutally ignored. We have
been reduced to becoming almost the immediate
witness of the apotheosis of the Italian Revolu-
tion, and the spoliation of the Holy See. What
pained Us most of all was the intention to per-
petuate rather than terminate a conflict whose
disastrous results none can measure. Moreover,
an essentially anti-religious ideal has been pur-
sued, for the ultimate aim of the occupation of
Rome, if not in the miuds of those who took part
in it, at least in the minds of the sectaries who
promoted it, was not to complete political unity,
but by battering down the walls of the Papal
metropolis to secure a better position for attack-
ing the spiritual power of the Popes. The aim
was to change the destinies of Rome, to transform
her, to make her once again Pagan, and to give
birth to a third Rome — to a third era of civiliza-
tion. This is what was recently celebrated by the
sanction of a new law, by noisy demonstrations
led by a sect who are the enemies of God. The
nation suffers, for not only has the promise given
to her that her material welfare would be assured,
not been kept, but Italy is morally divided, and
the parties of subversion, who menace all civil
and social institutions, are increasing in numbers
and in strength. Nothing can ever confer true
independence on the Papacy so long as it has no
temporal jurisdiction. That condition, -which it
is affirmed has been guaranteed to us, is subor-
dinated to the caprice of others, and latterly we
have been confronted with a veiled threat to abro-
gate existing Papal guarantees."
The man who can find in himself no sympathy
whatever with the Pope's protest must carry
religious or political partizanship to its utterest
extreme. The protest itself has much dignity in
it, and will thrill the hearts of some men as long
as the world lasts.
Fiftieth Anniversary of His Priesthood.
In December, 1887, and overshadowing the
Christmas and New Year solemnities, the Golden
Jubilee celebration of Pope Leo's ordination to
the priesthood engaged the attention of the whole
world. Upon this occasion the Pope was the
recipient of magnificent gifts from all nations,
and among the features of the celebration was an
exhibition of these gifts.
It is worthy of mention here, too, that the stole
used by the Holy Father in celebrating his
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
433
Jubilee Mass was the gift of the Sisters of St.
Joseph of the United States. The gift of Presi-
dent Cleveland was a magnificently bound volume
of the Constitution of the United States.
No pilgrims to the Vatican to congratulate His
Holiness on his Jubilee were so welcomed or re-
ceived so much attention as the peasant group
from Carpineto. The Holy Father loves with
the strongest aflfection that humble district amid
the Lepini Mountains, where he was born.
The ceremonies of the Jubilee were held in the
large hall over the entrance to St. Peter's. It
was in this same hall that the Washing of the
Feet formerly took place in Holy Week.
The aolden Rose.
For the second time the Golden Rose, which
the Pope annually blesses on " Laetare" Sunday,
came to America, and its recipient was Miss Mary
Gwendolen Caldwell, whose munificent benefac-
tion of $300,000 toward the Catholic University
at Washington won for her this special mark of
Pontifical favor. The only other American upon
whom the Golden Rose has ever been bestowed
was Mrs. Ellen E. Sherman, the worthy wife of
Gen. W. T. Sherman, whose staunch Catholicity
and zeal was manifested in promoting the inter-
ests of the Catholic Indian Missions. The Vati-
can recognized this by conferring upon her the
gift of the Golden Rose, which had never before
been sent across the Atlantic.
Pope Leo and the French Republic.
The situation in France brought up a question
as grave as any that had arisen during the Ponti-
ficate of Leo XIII. Once again the Pope dis-
played his great wisdom.
Great numbers of French Catholics, especially
those of rank, persisted in identifying monarchy
with religion ; their argument being that there
could be nothing to protect the Catholic faith in
France without monarchy. They would consider
no relation with the Republic, and decided, if nec-
essary, to refrain from voting on either side of
any question in politics arising from the Republic.
We can thus readily perceive that Pope Leo found
himself in a trying position. After long and grave
deliberation he came to the conclusion that the
Republican form of government should be recog-
nized in France, but he did not express his ap-
proval thereof. In acting thus. His Holiness acted
precisely as the head of any civilized state would
have done ; for while we all know that the Em-
peror of Germany, for instance, has no great
admiration for Republican institutions, yet he
recognizes the Republic of the United States.
The same applies to the recognition of the Im-
perial system of England by the President of the
United States.
About this time Cardinal Lavigerie issued a cir-
cular in which he said that it was the plain duty
of all Catholics to defend their faith by taking a
firm stand on the ground of public right, justice
and liberty of souls. He continued, saying, " For
the present moment it is above all things of im-
portance that the Catholics should not make a
mistake by sowing amongst themselves the germs
of discord, or by allowing themselves to be drawn
into actions which might have even in their mere
form alone the appearance of useless and profit-
less provocations like to rouse up against them
new attacks from their enemies."
In November, 1890, Cardinal Lavigerie made a
speech in Algiers, at which the officers of the
French squadron were present. He dwelt upon
the necessity of union amongst French soldiers,
and said :
"Such union is the first wish of the Church,
and of all its pastors in all the degrees of its
hierarchy. Of course, it does not ask us to re-
nounce either the memories of the glories of the
past, or of the sentiments of fidelity and of grati-
tude which do honor to all men. But when the
will of a people is clearly affirmed, when the form
of a government has nothing in itself in contra-
diction, as Leo the Thirteenth lately proclaimed,
to the principles which alone can keep life in na-
tions, Christian and civilized, when, in order to
rescue it from the abyss which threatens it, ad-
hesion without concealed thought is necessary
for that form of government, the moment has
come to declare at last that the trial has been
434
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
made, and, in order to put an end to our divisions,
to sacrifice all that conscience and honor permit
and ordain that each of us shall sacrifice for the
welfare of his country. Without such a resigna-
tion and such an acceptance nothing is possible,
in fact, either to preserve order and peace, or to
save the world from social peril, or even to save
the very religion of which we are the ministers.
It would be madness to hope to sustain the pillars
of an edifice without entering into the edifice
itself, were it only to prevent those who destroy
everything from accomplishing their insane work.
" It belongs to the duty and the honor of Cath-
olics not to allow the present situation of the
Church in France to be prolonged, and for that
they have but one practical means — that which
the Sovereign PontifiF has lately explicitly ad-
vised them to employ ; that is, to take a resolute
part in public affairs, not as adversaries of the
established form of government, but, on the con-
trary, by claiming their rights of citizenship in
the Republic which governs us. That adhesion
ought to be a work of resignation, of reason, and
for us Catholics, after the formal words which I
have just quoted, a work of conscience."
Pope Leo gave to the world the expression of
his feelings toward the condition of France in an
interview with the correspondent of the Petit
Journal^ of Paris, in which he said :
"My desire is that France should be happy
and prosperous, and, for that reason, that divisions
should cease as far as possible, and that there no
longer be amongst Frenchmen the merely sterile
quarrels which tend but to weaken France. My
conviction is that all French citizens ought to
re-unite on constitutional grounds. Each one,
of course, can keep up his personal preferences,
but when it comes to political action there is only
the government which France has given to her-
self. The republic is a form of government as
legitimate as any other. I have just received
the President of the Committee of Organization
for the Chicago Exhibition, who has come to ask
of the Holy See its sympathy and its participa-
tion in that great American enterprise. The
United States, in their republican form of govern-
ment, despite the possible dangers of a liberty
almost boundless, grow greater and greater every
day, and the Catholic Church has developed itself
there without having any struggles to sustain
against the State. The two powers agree there
perfectly well, as they ought to agree everywhere,
on the condition that the one does not infringe
the rights of the other. That which is suitable
to the United States is suitable also, and even
more so, to Republican France. I hold to all
Frenchmen, who come to see me, the same lan-
guage, I wish that it may be known of all. It
is by a constitution solid in the interior that
France, in spite of whatever enemies, can recover
herself completely. I am happy to learn that
France is resolute in her wish for peace, despite
the abundance of her military resources and the
bravery of her sons. If she keeps without fail
that wisdom and that patience ; if she knows how
to avoid those divisions which check her develop-
ment and paralyze her influence; if she is deter-
mined to abstain from vain enterprises and from
persecutions, she will soon regain the important
rank and the glorious place which belonged to her
in the world."
By all this it will be seen that His Holiness
was thoroughly acquainted with the situation in
France and the feeling of the French people ; he
could readily discern the consequences should
the policy of the French Catholics be conducted
on principles opposing to Republican form of
government. He therefore gave recognition to
the French Republic as the established form of
government in France.
Death of Cardinal Peccl.
In the early days of 1890, the Pope had to bear
a heavy loss in the death of his brother, Cardinal
Pecci. After the entrance of the Italian troops
into Rome, Joseph Pecci refused to take the oath
of allegiance exacted by the Royal Government
from men holding such a position as his, and he
quietly gave in his resignation of the post he held.
The Cardinal was the elder of the two brothers,
having been born some three years previous to
the Pope. Joachim, by virtue of his position,
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
435
stood at the head of the house, and Joseph looked
up to him with veneration as well as with aflfec-
tion.
Encyclical on Labor.
On May 15, 1 891, the Pope issued his famous
Encyclical on the condition of the working classes,
in which he says:
"It is not easy to define the relative rights and
the mutual duties of the wealthy and of the poor,
of capital and of labor. And the danger lies in
this, that crafty agitators constantly make use of
these disputes to pervert men's judgments and to
stir up the people to sedition.
But all agree, and there can be no question
whatever, that some remedy must be found, and
quickly found, for the misery and wretchedness
which press so heavily at this moment on the
large majority of the very poor The
custom of working by contract, and the concen-
tration of so many branches of trade in the hands
of a few individuals, so that a small number of
very rich men have been able to lay upon the
masses of the poor a yoke little better than
slavery itself. .... When a man engages
in remunerative labor, the very reason and motive
of his work is to obtain property, and to hold it
as his own private possession. If one man hires
out to another his strength or his industry, he
does this for the purpose of receiving in return
what is necessary for food and living; he thereby
expressly proposes to acquire a full and real
right, not only to the remuneration, but also
to the disposal of that remuneration as he pleases.
Thus, if he lives sparingly, saves money, and in-
vests his savings, for greater security, in land,
the land in such a case is only his wages in
another form ; and, consequently, a workingman's
little estate thus purchased should be as com-
pletely at his own disposal as the wages he
receives for his labor When man
spends the industry of his mind and the strength
of his body in procuring the fruits of nature, by
that act he makes his own that portion of nature's
field which he cultivates — that portion on which
he leaves, as it were, the impress of his own per-
sonality ; and it cannot but be just that he should
possess that portion as his own, and should have
a right to keep it without molestation
For the soil which is tilled and cultivated with
toil and skill utterly changes its condition ; it was
wild before, it is now fruitful ; it was barren, and
now it brings forth in abundance. That wliick
has thus altered and improved it becomes so truly
part of itself as to be in great measure indistin-
guishable and inseparable from it. Is it just that
the fruit of a man's sweat and labor should be
enjoyed by another? As effects follow their
cause, so it is just and right that the results of
labor should belong to him who has labored. . . .
When work-people have recourse to a strike, it
is frequently because the hours of labor are too
long, or the work too hard, or because they con-
sider their wages insufi&cient. The grave incon-
venience of this not uncommon occurrence should
be obviated by public remedial measures ; for
such paralysis of labor not only affects the mas-
ters and their work-people, but is extremely in-
jurious to trade, and to the general interests of
the public; moreover, on such occasions, violence
and disorder are generally not far off", and thus it
frequently happens that the public peace is threat-
ened. The laws should be beforehand, and pre-
vent these troubles from arising; they should lend
their influence and authority to the removal in
good time of the causes which lead to conflicts
between masters and those whom they employ.
. . . We now approach a subject of very great
importance, and one on which, if extremes are to
be avoided, right ideas are absolutely necessary.
Wages, we are told, are fixed by free consent; and
therefore the employer, when he pays what was
agreed upon, has done his part, and is not called
upon for anything further. The only way, it is
said, in which injustice could happen would be if
the master refused to pay the whole of the wages^
or the workman would not complete the work:
undertaken ; when this happens the State should
intervene, to see that each obtains his own — but
not under any other circumstances.
This mode of reasoning is by no means con-
vincing to a fair-minded man, for there are impor-
tant considerations which it leaves out of view
435
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII.
altogetlier. To labor is to exert one's self for the
sake of procuring what is necessary for the pur-
poses of life, and most of all for self-preservation.
In the siveat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread*
Therefore a man's labor has two notes or char-
acters. First of all, it is persona/; for the exer-
tion of individual power belongs to the individual
who puts it forth, emplo\'ing this power for that
personal profit for which it was given. Secondly,
man's labor is necessary ; for without the results
of labor a man cannot live ; and self-conservation
is a law of Nature, which it is wrong to disobey.
Now, if we were to consider labor merely so far
as it \s personal, doubtless it would be within the
workman's right to accept any rate of wages
whatever ; for in the same wav as he is free to
work or not, so he is free to accept a small re-
muueratiou, or even none at all. But this is a
mere abstract supposition ; the labor of the work-
ingman is not only his personal attribute, but it
is necessary ; and tliis makes all the difference.
The preservation of life is the bonnden duty of
each and all, and to fail therein is a crime. It
follows that each one has a right to procure what
is required in order to live ; and the poor can pro-
cure it in no other waj'^ than by work and wages.
Let it be granted, then, that, as a rule, work-
man and employer should make free agpreements,
and in particular should freely agree as to wages ;
nevertheless, there is a dictate of nature more
imperious and more ancient than any bargain
between man and man, that the remuneration
must be enough to support the wage earner in
reasonable and frugal comfort. If through ne-
cessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accepts
harder conditions because an employer or a con-
tractor will give him no better, he is the victim
of force and injustice If a workman's
wages be suflScient to enable him to maintain
himself, his wife and his children in reasonable
comfort, he will not find it difficult, if he is a sen-
sible man, to study economy ; and he will not
fail, by cutting down expenses, to put by a little
property : nature and reason would urge him to
do this. . . .
Those Catholics are worthj' of all praise — and
there are not a few — who, understanding what the
times require, have, by various enterprises and
experiments, endeavored to better the condition
of the working people without any sacrifice of
principle. They have taken up the cause of the
workingman, and have striven to make both fami-
lies and individuals better off; to infuse the spirit
of justice iuto the mutual relations of em-
ployer and employed ; to keep before the eyes of
both classes the precepts of duty and the laws of the
Gospel — that Gospel which, by inculcating self-
restraint, keeps men within the bounds of modera-
tion, and tends to establish harmony among the
divergent interests and various classes which
compose the State And there are not
wanting Catholics possessed of affluence who
have, as it were, cast in their lot with the wage-
earners, and who have spent large sums in found-
ing and widely spreading Benefit and Insurance
Societies, \iy means of which the workingman
may without difficiilty acquire by his labor not
only many present advantages, but also the cer-
tainty of honorable support in time to come."
The Pope's Qolden Jubilee— Sixty Thousand Persons Crowd
the Great Cathedral.
In the middle of February, 1893, Leo XIII.
celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his episco-
pate. Thousands of pilgrims, travelers and citi-
zens crowded before the door of St. Peter's on
Sunday morning long before daybreak, and when
the bells rang out the announcement of the formal
opening of the ceremonies, there was cheering
and manifestations of the greatest joy.
At six o'clock the Cathedral doors were thrown
open and the foremost of the crowd swept in.
Within half an hour the great building was
packed to the steps. Thirty thousand pilgrims
and twenty-five or thirty thousand Catholics
gained admission, and not less than forty thou-
sand were turned away by the military, who
cleared the spaces around the building so as to
prevent disorder when the service concluded.
The Pope entered the Cathedral at 9.45, pale
but smiling, and apparently in better health than
usual. The Cathedral rang with tumultuous
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
437
cheering as tlie Pope was borne toward the altar.
He ofl&ciated at the special Jubilee Mass, intoning
the opening words of Te Deum, and giving his
blessing in a clear and penetrating voice. The
mass lasted until 10.45, ^^^ ^^ apparently did not
fatigue the Pope. He remained in the Cathedral
forty-five minutes after the celebration, and then
proceeded to his apartments. The crowd dis-
persed slowly, and by noon most of them had
gone.
Ireland's Congratulations.
Cardinal Logue on Tuesday introduced the
Irish Pilgrims to His Holiness, who received
them graciously. An address from the Irish
Catholics to the Pope, congratulating His Holi-
ness on having attained a venerable age and ex-
pressing a wish that he might be spared for many
years to rule over the Church was read.
The Pope's reply expressed the pleasure which
he felt at seeing the faithful sons of St. Patrick,
and he thanked them in gracious terms. He said
that Irish faith, piety and devotion were always
the same in good or evil days. He extended his
benediction to the pilgrims and to all other Cath-
olics.
England's Congratulations.
The Queen of England sent the following tele-
gram to the Holy Father : "I congratulate you
upon the completion of fifty years of your episco-
pate, and sincerely wish you health and happiness."
America to the Pope.
At the Cathedral in Balimore, His Eminence
Cardinal Gibbons preached in honor of the Pope's
Jubilee. The Te Deum was sung in all the
churches in the different cities on Sunday at the
late Mass.
The Catholic Club of New York City assem-
bled to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holi-
ness, and forwarded a lengthy message of con-
gratulation, concluding with a request for the
Apostolic Benediction, to which was received the
following cable message from Rome : "His Holi-
ness is delighted with the kind expressions and
congratulations of the Catholic Club and grants
his Apostolic Benediction.
" CARDINAL RAMPOLLO."
Pope Leo on " Americanism."
Subjoined is the full letter of the Holy Father
on " Americanism," which has been forwarded
by His Eminence Cardinal Rampolla.
Pope Leo's letter is as follows :
To Our Beloved Son^ James^ Cardinal Gibbons.^
Cardinal Priest of the Title Sancta Maria,
Beyond the Tiber, Archbishop of Baltimore:
LEO XIII., Pope— Beloved Son, Health and
Apostolic Blessing. — We send to you by this
letter a renewed expression of that good will
which we have not failed during the course of
our pontificate to manifest frequently to you
and to your colleagues in the episcopate and
to the whole American people, availing our-
selves of every opportunity offered us by the
progress of your Church or whatever you have
done for safeguarding and promoting Catholic
interests. Moreover, we have often considered
and admired the noble gifts of your nation
which enable the American people to be alive
to every good work which promotes the good of
humanity and the splendor of civilization.
Although this letter be not intended, as pre-
ceding ones, to repeat the words of praise so
often spoken, but rather to call attention to
some things to be avoided and corrected ; still
because it is conceived in that same spirit of
apostolic charity which has inspired all our
letters, we shall expect that you will take it as
another proof of our love ; the more so because
it is intended to suppress certain contentions
which have arisen lately among you to the det-
riment of the peace of many souls.
It is known to you, beloved son, that the
life of Isaac Thomas Hecker, especially as
interpreted and translated in a foreign lan-
guage, has excited not a little controversy,
because therein have been voiced certain opin-
ions concerning the way of leading Christian
life.
We, therefore, on account of our apostolic
office, having to guard the integrity of the
438
POPE LEO ON "AMERICANISM."
faith and the security of the faithful, are desir-
ous of writing to you more at length concern-
ing the whole matter.
"The Underlying Principle."
The underlying principle of these new opin-
ions is that, in order to more easily attract
those who differ from her, the Church should
shape her teachings more in accord with the
spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient
severity and make some concessions to new
opinions. Many think that these concessions
should be made not only in regard to ways of
living, but even in regard to doctrines which
belong to the deposit of the faith. They con-
tend that it would be opportune, in order to
gain those who differ from us, to omit certain
points of her teaching which are of lesser
importance, and to tone down the meaning
which the Church has always attached to
them. It does not need many words, beloved
son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the
nature and origin of the doctrine which the
Church proposes are recalled to mind. The
Vatican Council says concerning this point ;
*' For the doctrine of faith which God has
revealed has not been proposed, like a philo-
sophical invention, to be perfected by human
ingenuity, but has been delivered as a divine
deposit to the Spouse of Christ to be faithfully
kept and infallibly declared. Hence that mean-
ing of the sacred dogmas is perpetuall}' to be
retained which our Holy Mother, the Church,
has once declared, nor is that meaning ever to
he departed from under the pretence or pretext
of a deeper comprehension of them ; "Consti-
tutio de Fide Catholica, chapter iv.
All Things to AH Men."
We cannot consider as altogether blameless
the silence which purposely leads to the omis-
sion or neglect of some of the principles of
Christian doctrine, for all the principles come
from the same Author and Master, "the Only
Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the
Father;" John i. i8. They are adapted to all
times and all nations, as is clearly seen from
the words of our Lord to his Apostles :
" Going, therefore, teach all nations ; teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you, and behold, I am with you all
days, even to the end of the world ; " Matt.
xxviii. 19. Concerning this point the Vatican
Council says : " All those things are to be
believed with divine and Catholic faith which
are contained in the Word of God, written or
handed down, and which the Church, either by
a solemn judgment or by her ordinary and
universal magisterium, proposes for belief as
having been divinely revealed;" Const, de Fide,
chapter iii.
Let it be far from any one's mind to sup-
press for any reason any doctrine that has
been handed down. Such a policy would tend
rather to separate Catholics from the Church
than to bring in those who differ. There is
nothing closer to our heart than to have those
who are separated from the fold of Christ re-
turn to it, but in no other way than the way
pointed out by Christ.
The rule of life laid down for Catholics is
not of such a nature that it cannot accommo-
date itself to the exigencies of various times
and places. The Church has, guided by her
Divine Master, a kind and merciful spirit, for
which reason from the very beginning she has
been what St. Paul said of himself: " I became
all things to all men that I might save all."
" Teaching and Governing."
History proves clearly that the Apostolic
See, to which has been intrusted the mission
not only of teaching, but of governing the
whole Church, has continued " in one and the
same doctrine, one and the same sense, and
one and the same judgment ; " Const, de Fide,
chapter iv.
But in regard to ways of living she has been
accustomed to so yield that the divine principle
of morals being kept intact, she has never
POPE LEO ON "AMERICANISM.
439
neglected to accommodate herself to the char-
acter and genius of the nations which she
embraces.
Who can doubt that she will act in this
same spirit again if the salvation of souls re-
quires it ? In this matter the Church must
be the judge, not private men who are often
deceived by the appearance of right. In this,
all who wish to escape the blame of our pre-
decessor, Pius the Sixth, must concur. He
condemned as injurious to the Church and the
spirit of God who guides her the doctrine con-
tained in proposition Ixxviii. of the Synod of
Pistoia, " that the discipline made and approved
by the Church should be submitted to exami-
nation, as if the Church could frame a code of
laws useless or heavier than human liberty can
bear."
Differences Pointed Out.
But, beloved son, in this present matter of
which we are speaking, there is even a greater
danger and a more manifest opposition to
Catholic doctrine and discipline in that opinion
of the lovers of novelty, according to which
they hold such liberty should be allowed in
the Church, that her supervision and watch-
fulness being in some sense lessened, allow-
ance be granted the faithful, each one to follow
out more freely the leading of his own mind
and the trend of his own proper activit)'. They
are of opinion that such liberty has its coun-
terpart in the newly given civil freedom which
is now the right and the foundation of almost
every secular state.
In the apostolic letters concerning the con-
stitution of states, addressed by us to the bishops
of the whole Church, we discussed this point
at length ; and there set forth the diflference ex-
isting between the Church, which is a divine
society, and all other social human organizations
which depend simply on the free will and choice
of men.
It is well, then, to particlularly direct attention
to the opinion which serves as the argument in
behalf of this greater liberty sought for and
recommended to Catholics.
Liberty Not License.
It is alleged that now the Vatican decree
concerning the infallible teaching authority of
the Roman PontiflF having been proclaimed that
nothing further on that score can give any
solicitude, and accordingly, since that has been
safeguarded, and put beyond question, a wider
and freer field both for thought and action lies
open to each one. But such reasoning is evi-
dently faulty, since if we are to come to any
conclusion from the infallible teaching authority
of the Church, it should rather be that no one
should wish to depart from it, and moreover
that the minds of all being leavened and di-
rected thereby, greater security from private
error would be enjoyed by all. And further,
those who avail themselves of such a way of
reasoning seem to depart seriously from the
overruling wisdom of the Most High — which
wisdom, since it was pleased to set forth by most
solemn decision the authority and supreme
teaching rights of this Apostolic See — willed
that decision precisely in order to safeguard
the minds of the Church's children from the
dangers of these present times.
These dangers, viz., the confounding of license
with liberty, the passion for discussing and pour-
ing contempt upon any possible subject, the as-
sumed right to hold whatever opinions one
pleases upon any subject and to set them forth
in print to the world, have so wrapped minds
in darkness that there is now a greater need
of the Church's teaching office than ever be-
fore, lest people become unmindful both of
conscience and of duty.
We, indeed, have no thought of rejecting
everything that modern industry and study
has produced ; so far from it that we welcome
to the patrimony of truth and to an ever-
widening scope of public well-being whatsoever
helps toward the progress of learning and vir-
tue. Yet all this, to be of any solid benefit,
440
POPE LEO ON "AMERICANISM."
nay, to have a real existence and growth, can
only be on the condition of recognizing the
wisdom and authority of the Church.
••No Thought of Wrong or Quile."
Coming now to speak of the conclusions which
have been deduced from the above opinions, and
for them, we readily believe there was no thought
of wrong or guile, yet the things themselves
certainly merit some degree of suspicion. First,
all external guidance is set aside for those souls,
who are striving after Christian perfection as
being superfluous, or, indeed, not useful in any
sense — the contention being that the Holy Spirit
pours richer and more abundant graces than
formerly upon the souls of the faithful, so that,
without human intervention, he teaches and
guides them by some hidden instinct of his own.
Yet it is the sign of no small over-confidence to
desire to measure and determine the mode of the
divine communication to mankind, since it wholly
depends upon his own good pleasure, and he is
a most generous dispenser of his own gifts.
"The Spirit breatheth whereso he listeth;"
John iii. 8.
" And to each one of us grace is given accord-
ing to the measure of the giving of Christ;"
Eph. iv. 7.
Law of Qod's Providence.
And shall any one who recalls the history
of the Apostles, the faith of the nascent Church,
the trials and deaths of the martyrs — and, above
all, those olden times, so fruitful in saints —
dare to measure our age with these, or affirm
that the}^ received less of the divine outpouring
from the Spirit of Holiness? Not to dwell upon
this point, there is no one who calls in question
the truth that the Holy Spirit does work by a
secret descent into the souls of the just, and
that he stirs them alike by warnings and im-
pulses, since, unless this were the case, all out-
ward defence and authority would be unavail-
ing. " For if any persuades himself that he can
give assent to saving, that is, to Gospel truth
when proclaimed, without any illumination of
the Holy Spirit, who gives unto all sweetness
both to assent and to hold, such an one is de-
ceived by a heretical spirit;" from the Second
Council of Orange, Canon 7.
Moreover, as experience shows, these moni-
tions and impulses of the Holy Spirit are for
the most part felt through the medium of the
aid and light of an external teaching authority.
To quote St. Augustine : " He (the Holy Spirit)
co-operates to the fruit gathered from the good
trees, since he externally waters and cultivates
them by the outward ministry of men, and yet
of himself bestows the inward increase;" De
Gratia Christi, chapter xix. This, indeed, be-
longs to the ordinary law of God's loving provi-
dence that as he has decreed that men, for the
most part, shall be saved by the ministry also
of men, so has he wished that those whom he
calls to the higher planes of holiness should be "
led thereto by men ; hence, St. Chrysostom de-
clares we are taught of God through the instru-
mentality of men; Homily I. in Inscrib. Altar,
Of this a striking example is given us in the
very first days of the Church.
For though Saul, intent upon blood and
slaughter, had heard the voice of our Lord
himself and had asked, " What dost thou wish
me to do ?" yet was he bidden to enter Damas-
cus and search for Ananias ; Acts ix.: " Enter
the city and it shall be there told to thee
what thou must do."
Those Liable to Stray.
Nor can we leave out of consideration the
truth that those who are striving after perfec-
tion, since by that fact they walk in no beaten
or well-known path, are the most liable to
stray, and hence have greater need than others
of a teacher and guide. Such guidance has
ever obtained in the Church ; it has been the
universal teaching of those who throughout
the ages have been eminent for wisdom and
sanctity — and hence to reject it would be to
POPE LEO ON "AMERICANISM."
441
commit one's self to a belief at once rash and
dangerous.
A thorough consideration of this point, in
the supposition that no exterior guide is granted
such souls, will make us see the difl&culty of
locating or determining the direction and appli-
cation of that more abundant influx of the
Holy Spirit so greatly extolled by innovators.
To practice virtue there is absolute need of
the assistance 'of the Holy Spirit, yet we find
those who are fond of novelty giving an un-
warranted importance to the natural virtues, as
though they better responded to the customs
and necessities of the times, and that having
these as his outfit, man becomes both more ready
to act and more strenuous in action. It is not
easy to understand how persons possessed of
Christian wisdom can either prefer natural to
supernatural virtues or attribute to them a
greater efficacy and fruitfulness. Can it be
that nature conjoined with grace is weaker
than when left to herself?
Virtue, Nature and Grace.
Can it be that those men illustrious for
sanctity, whom the Church distinguishes and
openly pays homage to, were deficient, came
short in the order of nature and its endow-
ments, because they excelled in Christian
strength ? And although it be allowed at
times to wonder at acts worthy of admiration
which are the outcome of natural virtue — is
there any one at all endowed simply with an
outfit of natural virtue ? Is there any one not
tried by mental anxiety, and this in no light
degree ? Yet ever to master such, as also to
preserve in its entirety the law of the natural
order, requires an assistance from on high.
These single notable acts to which we have
alluded will frequently, upon a closer investi-
gation, be found to exhibit the appearance
rather than the reality of virtue. Grant that
it is virtue, unless we would " run in vain "
and are unmindful of that eternal bliss which
a good God in his mercy has destined for us,
of what avail are natural virtues unless sec-
onded by the gift of divine grace ? Hence St.
Augustine well says, "Wonderful is the strength,
and swift the course, but outside the true
path." For as the nature of man, owing to the
primal fault, is inclined to evil and dishonor,
yet by the help of grace is raised up, is borne
along with a new greatness and strength, so,
too, virtue, which is not the product of nature
alone, not of grace also, is made fruitful unto
everlasting life, and takes on a more strong
and abiding character.
" No rierely Passive Virtue."
This overesteem of natural virtue finds a
method of expression in assuming to divide all
virtues in active and passive, and it is alleged
that whereas passive virtues found better place in
past times, our age is to be characterized by the
active. That such a division and distinction
cannot be maintained is patent — for there is
not, nor can there be, merely passive virtue.
" Virtue," says St. Thomas Aquinas, " designates
the perfection of some faculty, but the end of
such faculty is an act, and an act of virtue is
naught else than the good use of free will,"
acting, that is to say, under the grace of God if
the act be one of supernatural virtue.
He alone could wish that some Christian vir-
tues be adapted to certain times and different
ones for other times who is unmindful of the
Apostle's words : '' That those who he foreknew,
he predestined to be made comformable to the
image of his Son.;" Rom. viii. 29. Christ
is the teacher and examplar of all sanctity, and
to his standard must all those conform who wish
for eternal life. Nor does Christ know any
change as the ages pass, " for he is yesterday
and to-day and the same forever ; " — Heb.
xiii. 8. To the men of all ages was the precept
given : " Learn of me, because I am meek and
humble of heart. ; " Matt. xi. 29.
To every age has he been made manifest to us
as obedient even unto death ; in every age the
Apostle's dictum has its force : " Those who are
443
POPE LEO ON "AMERICANISM."
Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices
and concupiscences." Would to God that more
nowadays practised these virtues in the degree of
the saints of past times, who in humility, obedi-
ence and self-restraint were powerful in word and
in deed — to the great advantage not only of
religion but of the state and the public welfare.
" Contempt of Religious Life."
From this disregard of the evangelical virtues,
erroneously styled passive, the step was a short
one to a contempt of the religious life which has
in some degree taken hold of minds. That such
a value is generally held by the upholders of
new views we infer from certain statements
concerning the vows which religious orders take.
They say vows are alien to the spirit of our
times, in that they limit the bounds of human
liberty ; that they are more suitable to weak than
to strong minds ; that so far from making for
human perfection and the good of human organi-
zation, the}'^ are hurtful to both, but that this is
as false as possible from the practice and the
doctrine of the Church is clear, since she has
always given the very highest approval to the
religious method of life ; nor without good
cause ; for those who under the Divine call have
freely embraced that state of life did not content
themselves with the observance of precepts, but,
going forward to the evangelical counsels,
showed themselves ready and valiant soldiers
of Christ. Shall we judge this to be a char-
acteristic of weak minds, or shall we say that it is
useless or hurtful to a more perfect state of life ?
" A Fuller and Freer Liberty."
Those who so bind themselves by the vows
of religion, far from having suffered a loss of
libertj', enjoy that fuller and freer kind, that
liberty, namely, by which Christ hath made us
free. And this further view of theirs, namely,
that the religious life is either entirely useless
or of little service to the Church, besides being
injurious to the religious orders, cannot be the
opinion of any one who has read the annals of
the Church. Did not your country, the United
States, derive the beginnings both of faith and
of culture from the children of these religious
families, to one of whom but very lately, a thing
very greatly to your praise, you have decreed
that a statue be publicly erected ? And even at
the present time wherever the religious families
are found, how speedy and yet how fruitful a
harvest of good works do they not bring forth I
How very many leave home, and seek strange
lands to impart the truth of the gospel and to
widen the bounds of civilization ; and this they
do with the greatest cheerfulness amid mani-
fold dangers ! Out of their number not less,
indeed, than from the rest of the clergy, the
Christian world finds the preachers of God's
word, the directors of consciences, the teachers
of youth and the Church itself the examples of
all sanctity.
•• No Difference of Praise."
Nor should any difference of praise be made
between those who follow the active state of
life from those others who, charmed with soli-
tude, give themselves to prayer and bodily mor-
tification. And how much, indeed, of good re-
port these have merited, and do merit, is known
surely to all who do not forget that the " con-
tinual prayer of the just man " avails to placate
and to bring down the blessings of heaven when
to such prayers bodily mortification is added.
But if there be those who prefer to form one
body without the obligation of the vows, let
them pursue such a course. It is not new in
the Church nor in any wise censurable. Let
them be careful, however, not to set forth such
a state above that of religious orders. But
rather, since mankind are more disposed at the
present time to indulge themselves in pleasures,
let those be held in greater esteem " who having
left all things have followed Christ."
•• Let Those Be Set Apart."
Finally, not to delay too long, it is stated
that the way and method hitherto in use among
Catholics for bringing back those who have
fallen away from the Church should be left
POPE LEO ON "AMERICANISM,"
443
aside and another one chosen, in which matter
it will suffice to note that it is not the part of
prudence to neglect that which antiquity, in its
long experience, has approved, and which is also
taught by apostolic authority. The Scriptures
teach us that it is the duty of all to be solicit-
ous for the salvation of one's neighbor, accord-
ing to the power and position of each. The
faithful do this by religiously discharging the
■duties of their state of life, by the uprightness
of their conduct, by their work of Christian
charity, and by earnest and continuous prayer
to God. On the other hand, those who belong
to the clergy should do this by an enlightened
fulfillment of their preaching ministry, by the
pomp and splendor of ceremonies especially, by
setting forth that sound form of doctrine which
St. Paul inculcated upon Titus and Timothy.
But if, among the different ways of preaching
the word of God that one sometimes seems to
be preferable which is directed to non-Catholics,
not in Churches, but in some suitable place, in
such wise that controversy is not sought, but
friendly conference, such a method is certainly
without fault. But let those who undertake such
ministry be set apart by the authority of the
bishops, and let them be men whose learning
and virtue have been previously ascertained.
For we think that there are many in your coun-
try who are separated from Catholic truth more
by ignorance than by ill-will, who might per-
chance more easily be drawn to the one fold of
Christ if this truth be set forth to them in a
friendly and familiar way.
•' The Question of Americanism."
From the foregoing it is manifest, beloved
son, that we are not able to give approval
to those views which, in their collective
sense, are called by some " Americanism."
But if by this name are to be understood cer-
tain endowments of mind which belong to the
American people, just as other characteristics
belong to various other nations, and if, more-
over, by it is designated your political condition,
and the laws and customs by which you are
governed, there is no reason to take exception
to the name. But if this is to be so understood
that the doctrines which have been adverted to
above are not only indicated, but exalted, there
can be no manner of doubt that our venerable
brethren, the bishops of America, would be the
first to repudiate and condemn it as being most
injurious to themselves and to their country.
For it would give rise to the suspicion that there
are among you some who conceive, and would
have the Church in America to be different from
what it is in the rest of the world.
But the true Church is one, as by unity of
doctrine, so by unity of government, and she
is Catholic also. Since God has placed the
centre and foundation of unity in the chair of
Blessed Peter, she is rightly called the Roman
Church, for "where Peter is, there is the
Church." Wherefore, if anybody wishes to be
considered a real Catholic, he ought to be
able to say from his heart the self-same words
which Jerome addressed to Pope Damasus : "I,
acknowledging no other leader than Christ,
am bound in fellowship with Your Holiness ;
that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that
the Church was built upon him as its rock,
and that whosoever gathereth not with you,
scattereth."
Copies to the Bishops.
We have thought it fitting, beloved son, in
view of your high office, that this letter should
be addressed specially to you. It will also be
our care to see that copies are sent to the
bishops of the United States, testifying again
that love by which we embrace your whole
country, a country which in past times has
done so much for the cause of religion, and
which will by the Divine assistance continue
to do still greater things. To you, and to all
the faithful of America, we grant most lov-
ingly, as a pledge of Divine assistance, our
apostolic benediction.
Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, the twenty-
second day of January, 1899, and the thirty-
first of our pontificate. Leo XII.
444
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
Pope Leo and the Spanish-American Difficulty.
The l^ope was exceedingly distressed by the
development in the Spanish- American situation,
fearing that war would result despite his eflforts
to maintain peace. Upon one occasion, after
saying Mass in the Sistine Chapel, His Holiness
turned to his entourage and said : " I have prayed
to God with the whole force of my being to avert
war and not to allow my Pontificate to end amid
the smoke of battle ; otherwise I have implored
the Almighty to take me to himself that I may
not behold such a sight."
The eflforts of the Holy Father for peace were
used more directly with Spain, which, being a
nation of Catholics, would naturally be expected
to listen more heartily to him ; aud, without en-
tering into acts or facts preceding those eflforts,
we say in all truth, that, at the request of the
Holy Father, the Spanish nation, through her
Queen and Ministry, consented that arms be laid
. down by the soldiers of Spain in the Island of
Cuba, and that moral means should at once be
resorted to, to strive to secure that which here-
tofore battles had not secured.
This concession of Spain came too late, and war
was declared by the supreme authority of the
Republic of America. But the thoughtful, wise
and sensible in America cannot but applaud the
good will and action of the Pontiflf of Rome in
speaking words of peace and in doing what he
could within the limits of his moral power to
secure peace. It is to the honor of fair-minded
Americans that his eflforts were duly understood
and appreciated, even by those who did not be-
lieve that war could be avoided.
While the war waged the Holy Father re-
mained aloof from the conflict, showing no favor
to one nation or the other, but praying to God to
soon send peace and social happiness.
Rome In the Holy Year, 1900.
For the first time in sevent3^-five years the im-
pressive ceremony of opening the holy door in
the great Basilica of St. Peter's at Rome was per-
formed by the Pope, Leo XIII., on Sunday,
December 24, 1899. This was done in prepara-
tion for the approaching twenty-second jubilee of
the Church in 1900.
In 1875 the disturbed condition of affairs owing
to the abrogation of the temporal power of the
Pope and the want of harmony between the civil
and the ecclesiastical powers still continued to sucii
an extent that Pius IX., although he anuounced
the usual jubilee, declared at the same time a
means by which the whole Catholic world could
gain the accompanying indulgence at home, so
that but few pilgrims repaired to Rome aud the
ceremonies attendant upon the jubilee, among
them that of opening the holy door, were not ob-
served. So, as has been said, for the first time in
seventy-five years that this door was opened was
on the day before Christmas in the year 1899.
Almost from the beginning of the year pilgrims
began to arrive in Rome, and by Holy Week the
Eternal City was a marvelous sight to behold.
The streets fairly swarmed with people, and every
few blocks a pilgrimage was encountered on its
way to one or other of the four great basilicas, St.
Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Alajor and St.
Paul's, outside the walls, which it was necessary
to visit a number of times in order to gain the
plenary indulgence of the jubilee. All classes
joined together in these pilgrimages, and all con-
ditions were represented, from the nobilit}' to the
simplest peasant. The costumes of the peasantry,
with the bright-colored dresses of the women,
added much to the picturesqueness of these pro-
cessions. A particularly striking dress was that
of the Hungarian women, consisting of a woollen
corsage covered b}' a gay shawl or handkerchief,
a short, full skirt reaching a little below the knees
and underneath high leather boots, suggesting the
idea of a masquerade attire, in which the female
half of creation had appropriated the boots be-
longing to the other half Nor was it only the
pilgrimages which lent beauty and variety to the
scene. The priests and nuns that were met with
at every turn did their share towards adding to
the interest of the occasion, for the latter were by
no means always in black, but sometimes in
blue and sometimes in gray, while the priests,
who appeared to have come from all parts of the
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
445
world, wore the picturesque hats of the Italian
clerg}', occasionally with either red or blue sashes,
and, to crown all and aid in furnishing a wealth
of color, the German clerics and students ap-
peared with long scarlet gowns and coats reach-
ing almost to the ground. Over all this motley-
show the bright Roman sun poured its enlivening
beams, making a coup d'oeil such as could be
witnessed nowhere else in the world.
It was the custom of the Holy Father to receive
and bless all these pilgrims, who for that purpose
were assembled in St. Peter's, together with all
the other visitors to Rome who desired an oppor-
tunity to see His Holiness and receive his bene-
diction. The great basilica, which holds about forty
thousand people, was almost filled, mostly with
pilgrims, but also with visitors to Rome from dif-
ferent parts of the world. All appeared quiet,
decorous and good-natured, awaiting with patience
the arrival of the Pope. At a quarter past twelve
he entered from the side door communicating with
the Vatican palace, borne aloft in the " sedia ges-
tatoria " by four stalwart men. The enthusiasm
with which he was received was tremendous, and
the tumult that greeted his entrance and con-
tinued while he was borne along in a railed in
space up to the body of the Church to near the
high altar was almost deafening. Cheers, calls of
various kinds, shouts of " Viva il Papa " and clap-
ping of hands were indulged in to quite an un-
limited extent. The venerable Pontiff, in his
ninety-first year, looking very frail and delicate,
but his face beaming with a sweet and benevolent
expression, kept raising himself up in his chair in
order to be better seen by the people, waving his
hand in benediction first to the right and then to
the left as he was slowly carried along the line.
When arrived at the high altar he was set down
and a simple service ensued, followed by some
music from the choir, after which he made a short
address to the pilgrims, and was then borne back
to his own apartments. The ardent enthusiasm
which greeted his appearance both in his entrance
and his exit was by no means confined to the
members of his own Church, but was warmly
rshared by Protestants, whose shouts and vivas
rang through the Church as tumultuously as
those of their Catholic brethren. All seemed to
consider it an occasion to be eagerly desired and
to rejoice that they had been permitted to be
present. The same scene was repeated at inter-
vals of a few days throughout the winter and
spring and again in the autumn, and the wonder
of all seemed to be that the Pope should be able
to bear the fatigue and excitement attendant
upon so many receptions without breaking down
under the long-continued strain.
Pope Leo Deplores President ricKlnley's Assassination.
The Holy Father, upon receiving news of the
attempted assassination of President McKinley,
in September, 1901, is said to have displayed deep
emotion, exclaiming: "Oh, how earnestly I pray
that he may escape with his life. These violent
crimes are the curse of our days. I can only
offer the afflicted victim and his poor wife my
humble prayers." At the same time he sent a
cablegram through Cardinal Rampollo to Cardi-
nal Martinelli, which read as follows :
" The Holy Father has learned with great sor-
row the attempt to assassinate the President of
the United States. Your Eminence will convey
to Mr. McKinley the expression of His Holiness'
sympathy and regard for his person, assuring him
that His Holiness execrates with all the power
of his soul the horrible crime, and with equal
energy prays for the President's speedy recovery.
"CARDINAL RAMPOLLO."
By cable it was announced that, on receipt of
the sad news of President McKinley's death, the
venerable occupant of the Chair of St. Peter,
Leo XIII. , wept in uncontrollable emotion, and
prayed for an hour for the soul of the distin-
guished dead.
How the Pontiff Spends the Day.
The Pope's day begins at 7 o'clock, alike in
summer and winter. At that hour Centra, his
faithful body servant, unlocks the outer door lead-
ing to his master's bedroom. It is the valet's
duty to fasten this door at night after His Holiness
446
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
has retired. Thus the Pope during his sleeping
hours is practically a prisoner. The key of his
bedroom door, however, Leo XIIL never trusts
to any one; it is locked at night by himself, and
the key never leaves him.
As soon as the Pope is dressed in his white
woollen cassock and wadded silk gown he recites
the prayers before Mass at a priedieu in his bed-
room, passing directly afterward into an adjoin-
ing apartment, which has been arranged as an
oratory. Here he is robed in the necessary vest-
ments by his two private chamberlains. Mass is
then celebrated.
The service usually lasts about three-quarters
of an hour, after which the Pope returns to his
bedroom, where Centra brings him a cup of coffee
and a roll, which constitutes his master's break-
fast.
The Pope's Body Servant.
A word about Centra. He is a person of the
greatest influence at the Vatican. The Pontiff
relies on him implicitly, and his trust is well
placed. They say in Rome that Centra is more
powerful than the whole Sacred College. For
years he has been a most faithful servant ; so
necessary is he to the Pope that the whole palace
quickly becomes aware of Centra's absence or in-
disposition, since things begin to go wrong.
Some years ago this faithful attendant had a
sharp attack of Roman fever, and was ordered a
change of air by the Pope's physician. The
Pontiff gave his permission only on condition
that Centra should return to Rome ever}' fifth
day, in order that he should shave him — a task
which His Holiness would not trust to the best
barber in Rome.
When the Pope intends to give public audi-
ences — there are scores of pilgrims in Rome every
day in the year — he receives them in the library,
after his frugal breakfast. The private apart-
ments of the Pope are situated on the first floor
of the Vatican, near the grand hall of Clement
VIII. The approach to these apartments is cal-
culated to impress even the most indefatigable
globe-trotter. The famous Swiss guards stand
or sit about the immense vestibule in picturesque
groups, while the scarlet-clad bussolanti and
violet-clad chamberlains cross and recross the
Salle de Susses on their way hither and thither
from the adjacent Salle des Bussolanti. The
effect of the whole presents a most magnificent
color scene. Those who have an audience with
the Pope being duly assembled in the library, the
Pontiff enters, supporting himself by a long table
in the middle of the room.
The Pope's Personality.
His frame is bent and meagre. His personality
is spirit-like. In a wonderfully musical voice —
the Italian voice — the Pope talks for some min-
utes to each guest, asking his name, his country
and the history of his family. His memory is-
marvelous. He has been known to recall the
faces and names of ordinary visitors who have
had audiences with him years before. He is
much attached to Americans, and talks to them
of the great men of their country and its histori-
cal events. After receiving the Pope's blessing
the visitors withdraw, aud he then retires to his
study, where the greater part of his work is done
at a small writing table, beneath a canopy.
Here he writes busily all the morning, using
both hands — the left grasping the right to still its-
nervous trembling ; in this way sheet after sheet is
covered with a peculiar, pointed but entirely legi-
ble chirography. His way of working is very
methodical. He makes notes for his enc3'^clicals
every day on small slips of paper, which he puts
into a drawer ; these notes are afterwards revised,
cut and elaborated in accordance with later re-
flection. These manuscrpts are always written in
Latin, a language in which Leo XIIL is as
thoroughly at home as he is in Italian.
During the morning Cardinal Rampolla, the
Pope's Secretary of State, brings His Holiness
the political news of the day, and this is duly dis-
cussed and arranged. Twice a week, on Tuesday
and Friday, the household accounts are gone over
and paid from a coffer.
The household expenses at the Vatican are
enormous, one authority estimating them at $5,-
ocx) a day. But when the immense number of
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING HIS PONTIFICATE.
447
Cardinals, chamberlains, servants and retainers
who live within the walls of the palace is con-
sidered, the sum does not seem unusually large.
At midday audiences are given to crowned
heads or other distinguished personages. If the
visitor is a sovereign, the Pope receives him in the
throne room, surrounded by Cardinals, who retire
as soon as the potentate has been presented. The
etiquette of the Vatican is very elaborate and
formal — in fact, far more rigid than that of many
of the smaller courts of Europe.
A luncheon of the simplest fare is served at
I o'clock, the menu consisting chiefly of eggs.
After this repast the Pope takes the air in the
gardens of the Vatican in a carriage. Escorted
by two gendarmes and preceded by an ofl&cer, the
equipage slowly makes its way through the long
oak-bordered walks till it reaches a cascade over-
looking St. Angelo. Here the Pope alights and,
leaning on the arm of his chamberlain, inspects
a vine planted by himself at the foot of the Citta
Leonina tower He gathers the fruit with his own
hands, and last year it yielded a fair quantity of
wine. Next to this vine the Pope loves his roses.
Where He Seeks Solitude.
The Pontiff spends the greater part of his day
in the Citta Leonina tower, reserving the upper
story for himself No one is allowed to enter
this room. Here at least the Pope can work and
think undisturbed. This rule has been relaxed
in favor of but one person, Ugolini, the painter,
whom the Pope holds in high regard. It is
said that the artist won the Pontiff's favor by dis-
creetly avoiding the Pope's great resemblance to
Voltaire in painting the famous "Ugolini por-
trait." This resemblance is His Holiness' special
aversion.
Despite his advanced age, Leo XIII. works in-
dustriously at all times. The hot afternoons of
the Roman summer find him working in the up-
per room of the Leonina tower, unmindful of ma-
laria or other plagues of the summer season in
Rome.
With sunset Leo returns to the palace. As
the day is fading the chair-bearers, in their scarlet
liveries, appear at the door of the tower and carry
him back to his carriage, and thence through the
Raphael chambers to his private apartments.
After reciting the rosary with one of his prelates,
the Pope again resumes work at his writing table,
and writes till Centra attends him to bed.
Our Holy Father's Qreat Endurance.
The present year of our Holy Father's Pon-
tificate will compare favorably with any gone
before. We hear rumors occasionally that the
Pope's health is failing him, yet he manages to
show himself the same indefatigable Pontiff that
he has been since he first ascended the Papal
throne. Without doubt the long confinement to
which he has been subjected in the Vatican,
together with the tremendous amount of labor
which he accomplishes, has told on His Holiness'
strength ; for, since the insult to the remians of
the saintly Pius IX., the Holy Father has re-
mained in closer confinement in the Vatican than
he probably would have done if this outrage had
not convinced him that neither his person nor the
dignity of his office was secure from insult.
Indeed, there is something phenomenal in what
we are now beholding with regard to this most
illustrious of modern Pontiffs. In longevity
almost patriarchal, in faith and in wisdom greater
than any of the patriarchs of old, he seems des-
tined by an all-wise God to play yet a still more
memorable part in the mighty drama of the
Church's development, and the great problems of
the world's government.
The Church may well be proud of its present
Pontiff, who is not inaptly styled Leo the Great ;
for though it has not fallen to his lot, during the
few years of his Pontificate, to decree, like his
saintly predecessor, any new dogma of faith, he has
achieved many brilliant successes ; he has glori-
fied the Papal chair ; and he has prepared, as far
as in him lies, the Church to meet that more dan-
gerous foe which she has to encounter in these
modern days, that false science which makes the
perverted mind and will to revolt against the teach-
ings of the true Church and the unchangeable
doctrines of the Catholic religion. All over the
448
LIFE OF POPE LEO XIIL
Christian worid, in both hemispheres, wherever
the Catholic faith is known and taught — and few
are the places on the world where it is not known
and taught — Leo XIII. is hailed as the worthy
successor of the sainted Pius IX., and proclaimed
one of the greatest Pontiffs who ever occupied
the Papal throne, while daily fervent prayers are
oflFered up in his behalf, that his years ma}^ be
many upon earth, and that the Church may long
profit by his prudence, his piety, and his great
abilities.
A more feeling ending to these pages cannot
be found than the reproduction here of the fol-
lowing tribute to Leo XIIL from the pastoral let-
ter of the Fathers of the last Baltimore Council :
"While enduring with the heroism of a martyr
the trials which beset him, and trustfully await-
ing the Almighty's day of deliverance, the energy
and wisdom of Leo XIII. are felt to the ends of
the earth. He is carrying on with the govern-
ernments of Europe the negotiations which prom-
ise soon to bring peace to the Church. In the
East he is preparing the way for the return to
Catholic unity of the millions whom the Greek
schism has so long deprived of communion with
the See of Peter, and is following the progress
of exploration in lands hitherto unknown or inac-
cessible, with corresponding advances of Catholic
missions. To the whole world his voice has
again and again been lifted up in counsels of
eloquence and wisdom, pointing out the path to
the acquisition of truth in the important domain
of philosophy and history; the best means for
the improvement of human life in all its phases,
individual, domestic and social; the ways in
which the children of God should walk — ' that
all flesh may see the salvation of God.' "
GUARDIAN ANGEL.
The Son of God in His mercy furnishes every human being with an Angel Guardian, to aid and protect him or her in time of temp-
tation : this messenger of Christ accompanies the creature from the cradle to the grave, and will be the accuser as well as the defender
•t the iMt judgment
THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN.
Mary considered that her mission on earth was accomplished, began to sigh after the cool shade of the tree of life which grows near
the throne of God, and for the living waters which flow beneath its branches ; this thought being known to her Son, He sent His
angel to infonn the future Queen of Heaven that her wish would be granted.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.
T might be well to explain to the ordinaty reader, who is not a member of the
Church of Rome, what the doctrine of Papal infallibility really is. The most
erroneous ideas prevail upon that subject, sometimes even among perfectly
intelligent and impartial men, who are willing and eager to know the truth.
To begin with, the Roman Church would have no claim to existence, aud no
, motive for existing, if it had not as its fundamental principle the faith that,
in the teaching of the nations where belief and morals are concerned, it has
the direct inspiration of heaven. That inspiration is understood to be given
through the Church, of which the Pope is the visible head. The faith of
Rome is that when the Pope and his Council have to define some question of
creed or morals, that inspiration will guide them right. It is furthermore the
faith of Rome that if, on any occasion, at any crisis, the Pope should find it
impossible to convene his Council, and because of some new-risen doubt on a
question of creed or morals a definition should be necessary, the Holy Spirit would then be with the
Pope, and would metaphorically touch his lips with sacred fire. The Pope has no power to start new
dogmas. He only interprets revelation. He defines and declares doctrines, extracting them, as one
writer puts it, out of that deposit of faith originally entrusted to the Apostles, and proposing them to
be received by all the faithful. The Pope is infallible only when he expounds a question of faith or
morals ex cathedra^ and on behalf of the Church. His private opinion, even on a question of faith or
morals, is but as the opinion of any other learned ecclesiastic. Outside the question of faith and morals
the Pope has no claim whatever to infallibility. The most itnlettered Irish peasant understands the
distinction perfectly well. When the Pope declares the doctrine of the Church on a question of faith
or morals, the Irish peasant accepts the definition without question, and believes that the Divine Spirit
speaks through the lips of the PontiflF. But were the Pope to pronounce an opinion on any political
question, the Irish peasant would perfectly well understand that he was not bound to accept the opinion
as a judgment. There is no man in the world more devoted to his Church than the Irish peasant; but he
knows that divine inspiration was not given to the Church to teach politics. It would be as easy to
make him believe that the opinion of the Pope was infallible as to the time and method of harvest
operations.
A yet more erroneous misconception of the doctrine of Papal infallibility than that which we have
just been considering is the idea that the Pope claims to be impeccable as well as infallible. No such
claim was ever made by any Catholic; no such claim could possibly be made. The Popes, on the whole,
have been virtuous and noble men, but a Pope is liable to sin and to have need of repentance like
other men. The inspiration given to him at the time when some solemn and sacred declaration has to
be made in the name of the Church on a question of faith or morals does not depend on his personal
sinlessness. It is not given to him for his own sake, or as any reward for his conduct; it is given that
he may rightly instruct his people. I am not asking my readers to accept the doctrine of Papal infalli-
bility ; I am only asking them to understand what it is and what it is not. In our days there are large
numbers of men and women who refuse to believe in any guidance of man from a higher world, or, in-
deed, in any higher world from which he could be guided. I do not, of course, expect such men and
women to accept the principle of Papal infallibility. But I should certainly expect even them to try
to understand what the principle actually is. I have read and listened to scores and scores of argu-
ments against Papal infallibility, which were complacently founded on the belief that the Pope professed
to be infallible in every word he spoke on any subject whatever.
(449)
LIST OF ROMAN PONTIFFS
ACCORDING TO THE "GERARCHIA CATTOLICA."
St. Peter, of Bethsaida in Galilee, Prince of the Apostles, who received from Jesus Christ the Supreme Pontifical Power to be transniiilcd to his Sue
cessors; resided first at Antiocli, then at Rome, where he was martyred June 29, in the year 67, having governed the Church from iliat city 25 years,
2 months and 7 days.
»3
>5
36.
»7
28.
»9-
3P-
3'-
32.
3i-
34-
35
3«
37-
38.
39-
¥>■
4"
♦»■
43.
M-
45.
46.
47
48.
49-
50
5>.
5J.
S3-
54.
55-
56
57.
58,
§:
61.
65
66
67.
68
69
70.
71
72.
73
74.
75
/76.
7;
Elected.
St Linus, M » 67
St. Cletus, M .,» 78
St. Clement I., M « 90
St. Anacletus, M » *^ 100
St. Evaristus, M na
St. Alexander I., M » lai
St. Sixms I.. M „ « *i3a
St. Telesphorus, M « i4»
St. Hyginus, M ~ «.— X54
St. Pius I..M «.. 158
St. Anicetus, M_ « "..« 167
St. Soterus, M «« 175
St. Elcutherius. M «• 18a
St. Victor I.. M 193
St. Zcphyrinus, M « ».. fl03
St. Callistus I.. M « « 281
St. Urban I., M « - aa?
Sl Pontian, M ». «, au
St. Antenis, M 338
St. Fabian, M » ». 840
St. Cornelius, M 254
St. Lucius I., M- »«.....» 855
St. Stephanus L. M ... ..^ ». 257
St. Sixius n.. M «.. 260
St. Dionysiiis „ » »., 261
St. Felix I.. M « 278
St. Eutychian, M « 275
St. Caius. M „ 283
St. Marcellinus, M » 296
St. Manrcllus L, M « - 304
St. Eusebius » 309
St. Metchiades , -^ii
St. Sylvester I „ 314
St. Mark „« v 337
St. Julius I ». 341
St. Libcrius „ , H 358
St. FelixlL.M*
St. Damascu.s 1 « 366
St. Siricius « „ 384
St. Anastasius 1 399
St. Innocent I ».. 40a
St. Zozimus „ „ 417
St. Boniface I 415
St. Celestine 1 433
St. Sixtus III » 43a
St. Leo I. (the Great) 440
t. Hilary .■., „ 461
St. Simpticius »» 468
St. Felix III ™. 483
St. Gelasius I « „. „ 492
St. Anastasius II ....„ 496
St. Symmachus 498
St. Hormisdas .,„ „ 514
St. John I.. M „ „ 523
St. Felix IV 586
Boniface 11 ««... ..,._« ....«„ 530
ohn II „.. ..„. 5J2
t, Agapitu* „ „ 535
St. Silverius, M _ 536
V'g'iius-" - - 537
Pclagius I -.— .. .« 555
John III „ 560
Benedict I —«. 574
- Pelagius II 578
St. Gr^ory I (th= Great) - 590
Sabintan 604
Boni&ce III .,.„ 607
St. Boniface IV «. 608
St. A'icodatus I „ « 615
Boniface V„ „,, 619
Honorius I .„ „ 625
Scverinus « 640
John IV..,.. 640
•Theodore I » 642
St. Martin I., M 649
St. Eugene I 655
St. Vitatian - 657
Adeodatus II „ « 672
Donus I » 676
St. Agaiho....- - 678
St. Leo II ««....,«. 682
St. Benedict II 684
John v.. « 685
Conon 686
St. Sergius I „ » 687
John Vl »M 701
John VII „ « 705
* Pope during exfle of Liberius.
I. Si
Died.
78
89-
90
90
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St. Gregory III 731
St. Zachary 741
St. Stephen II '. 75a
Stephen III 753
St. Paul I « ..„ 757
Stephen IV 768
Adrian I ,. « 771
St. Leo III 705
St. Stephen V 816
St. Paschal I 817
Eugene U 884
Va^ntine 887
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St. Leo IV 847
Benedict HI 855
St. Nicol.is I (the Great) » 858
Adrian II - 867
. John VIII 878
Marinus I » 888
St. Adrian III - 884
Stephen VI « 885
Formosus 891
Boniface VI „ „ 896
Stephen VII 897
Romanus 898
Theodore II 898
John IX „ 898
Benedict IV 900
Leo V 903
Christopher 903
Sergius III „ 904
Anastasius III 911
Landus », 913
John X 915
Leo VI „ ., 928
Stephen VIII 929
, John XI , „ 931
, Leo VII 936
Stephen IX „ 939
Marinus II » 943
AgapituR II , 946
John XII „ „ 956
Benedict V 964
John XIII 965
Benedict VI 972
Donus II 973
Benedict VJI „ 975
John XIV 984
Boniface VU - 985
John XV 985
John XVI i 996
Gregory V « 996
John XVn 996
Sylvester II 999
John XVIII „ 1003
John XIX 1003
Sergius IV ...„« 1009
Benedict Vllt »iota
John XX... 1024
Benedict IX 1033
Gregory VI T044
Clement II S046
Damascus II 1048
St Leo IX « 1049
Victor II » 1055
Stephen X 1057
Benedict X « 1058
Nicholas II 1059
Alexander 11 1061
St. Gregory VII « 1073
B. Victor III 1087
B. Urban II 1088
Paschal II » 1099
Gelasius II 11 18
Callistus II JI19
Honorius II 1124
Innocent II 1130
Celestine II. 1 143
Lucius II M 1144
B. Eugene III '. 1145
Anastasius IV ii53
Adrian IV „ 1154
Alexander III 11 59
Lucius III„ X181
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Elected.
Urban III 1185
Gregory VllI 11 87
9. Clement 111 1187
o. Celestine 111 , .1191
Innocent 111 , 119S
Honoriu.i III 1216
Gregory IX 1227
Celestine IV 1241
5. Innocent IV 1243
6. Alexander IV 1254
7. Urbanus IV 1261
8. Clement IV .265
9. B. Gregory X 127.
0. Innocent V 1376
1. Adrian V 1376
^ohn XXI .276
Nichol.is III 1277
Martin IV .281
Honorius IV 1285
Nichoh.s IV 1288
7. Pt. Celestine V .294
" Boniface VIII 1394
B. Benedict XI '3<^3
.Clement V 1305
. John XXII *. J316
. Benedict XII 1334
. Clement VI .342
. Innocent VI 135a
. B Urban V .363
. Gregory XI .370
Urban Vl 1378
. Boniface IX '389
. Innocent VII 1404
. Gregory XII .406
. Alexander V 1^09
iohn XXlll 1410
lartin V 1417
Eugene IV 1431
Nicholas V ^....447
Callistus 111 1455
Pius II .458
Paul II 1464
Sixtus IV .471
Innocent VIII 1484
Alexander VI 1493
Pius 111 1503
Julius U 1503
Leo X 1513
Adrian VI 1522
Clement VII 1523
Paul III .534
Julius III 1550
Marcellus II 1555
Paul IV .555
Pius IV .559
St. Pius V 1566
Gregory XIII .1573
Sixtus V 1585
Urban VII 1590
Gregory XIV .590
Innocent IX 1591
Clement VIII 1593
Uo XI 1605
Paul V .605
Gregory XV 1621
Urban Vlll 1623
Innocent X 1644
Alexander VII .^ 1655
Clement IX .....1667
Clement X .670
Innocent XI 1676
Alexander VIII 1689
Innocent XII 1691
Clement IX 1700
Innocent' XIII 1721
Benedict XIII .734
Clement XII .73c
Benedict XIV 1740
Clement XI 11 .758
Clement XIV 1769
Pius VI 1775
Pius VII 1800
Leo XII 1823
Pius VIII 1829
Gregory XVI 1831
Pius IX 1846
Leo XIII 1878
I Resigned.
Died.
.187
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1216
.227
.241
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1700
1721
1724
1730
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1829
1810
1846
1878
(450)
Copyrighted, March, 1903, by Century Art Co., Phila.
A IS) A (Kl Ctd JU l9^ Cli CCr Cia i33
w ^ TO w rj^ ^p rj^ tis w w BB
The Catholic Peligion Defined.
By the
PEV. STEPHEN KEENAN.
da cia a cti ^!^ tSu d^ lOi a a est
KW US nt rj^ rj^ ^j^ tis w tu ?»
(451)
n
4
|e GflTpowc {(EidGioji Defied.
By the Rev. STEPHEN pEHflH.
AAA d^ C[d AAA
QU Ct? 03 fl^ rj^ Oj W tiS
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.
General Idea of Religion.
Question. What is the most important busi-
ness of men in this world?
Answer. To know God and Jesus Christ, and
to know themselves ; that is, to know what they
are ; for what end they exist ; what they will
become after this life, and what they must do to
secure true happiness.
Q. Give us some general idea of the truths
of religion.
A. These may be reduced to the following
— there is one God, infinitely perfect, subsist-
ing in three persons ; this God is the Creator
of heaven and earth. Angels and men are the
most perfect of God's creatures ; he created them to
render them happy in the enjoyment of him-
self. Some of the angels remained attached to
God, others abandoned him ; the first are and
will be happy with him eternall}', and God
employs them for the execution of his orders;
the second have rendered themselves miserable
for eternity, and form what we may call the
society of devils.
God created man and woman to make them
happy as angels, without subjecting them to
death ; he created them in a state of holiness
and justice, and engraved his law on their
hearts, so that they knew well what they ought
to do, and had great facility in the accomplish-
ment of their duty. They were placed in an
r.bode of delight, called the terrestrial paradise.
But instead of following the light of their
understandings, and the inclination of theii
hearts. Eve, the first woman, permitted herself
to be seduced by the devil, into an act of dis-
obedience to God ; Adam, the first man, followed
her example, and fell with her. By this dis-
obedience they rendered miserable, not only them-
selves, but their posterity, to whom they trans-
mitted their sin, as well as its consequences,
ignorance — a tendency to evil — the enmity of
God — the inconveniences of life, and the neces-
sity of dying. They were banished from the
terrestrial paradise, and would have been lost,
had not God shown them mercy, and had not
they themselves done penance. The first of
God's mercies to them was the promise of a
Redeemer, for whose coming the world longed
during at least four thousand years.
Meantime men, corrupted by the sin of their
first parents, rushed blindly into all kinds of
sins and excesses, to punish which, God de-
stroyed, by a universal deluge, all men, except
Noah and his family. The descendants of
these, having again peopled the earth, became
gradually as corrupt as the antediluvians, and.
God abandoned almost all to their corruption,,
and chose Abraham and his posterity alone, as
a people to be consecrated peculiarly to hisi
service.
This people, descended from one man, com-
posed as it were of one family, and called first
the Hebrew people, and afterwards the Jews,
(453)
454
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
■were the depositaries of God's law, his worship,
his promises, his prophecies, and God wrought
in their favor a multitude of miracles. These
prodigies were wrought chiefly by the ministry
of Moses ; through him did God give his law,
engraven on tables of stone, and through him
were God's people taught the rites and ceremo-
nies of the worship due to the Almighty.
All these favors and wonders did not prevent
the Jewish people from sometimes forgetting
Ood ; he punished them often, sometimes in
one way, sometimes in another ; j'et, notwith-
standing all, they remained generally disorderly
subjects to heaven.
At length, the Redeemer of men arrived at
the time foretold b}' the prophets; this Redeemer
is the Son of God, made man in the womb of a
virgin ; this God-man is called Jesus Christ ;
who, after having taught men, bj' his examples
and instructions, what thej^ ought to do to attain
happiness — after having proved his mission and
his Divinity by miracles, and reconciled fallen
man with God by his death on the cross, — and
after having been placed dead in the sepulchre,
rose triumphantly on the third day, remained
on earth forty days instructing his disciples,
and then before their eyes ascended to heaven.
Ten days after this, he sent his Holy Spirit
tipon his disciples assembled for this, bj' his order,
in the city of Jerusalem. Moses had engraven
the law of God only on stone, but this Holy
Spirit engraves it now on the living tablet of
the heart. From this moment the disciples of
Christ, the chief of whom were the twelve Apos-
tles, announced to the Jews, and when they re-
jected it, to all the people of the earth, the
Gospel which Christ had taught them, of the
truth of which they were witnesses. Their
preaching, supported by innumerable miracles,
and sealed with the blood of millions of mart3frs,
rendered also efficacious by the Holy Spirit of God,
converted the greater part of the world, in spite
of all earthl}' opposition, animated b}' that of the
devil. Nay, even the very powers that, humanly
considered, should have been most opposed to
Christianity, became subject to its influence.
This society of persons, converted to the faith
of Christ by his Apostles and disciples', and
guided, or directed, by the lawful successors of
the Apostles, is called the Catholic Church. It
is a visible society, which has ever, and will ever
subsist under the guidance of Christ, as its in-
visible head ; and under the direction of the
Pope, who is its visible head, the vicar of Christ,
and the lawful successor of St. Peter, who is
aided by the bishops and other ministers, for the
edification of the body of Christ.
The Catholic Church has ever been, and ever
will be distinguished from all other societies
calling themselves churches, by four marks,
which are its peculiar properties. These marks
are unity, sanctity, catholicity, and aposiolicity.
These we shall explain afterwards in detail.
From the first moment of her existence to the
present, the Church has ever been engaged in
spiritual warfare, and this combat will be her lot
until the end of time. But she has ever, and
shall forever triumph over her enemies; the
gates of hell shall never prevail against her;
she shall be ever animated by the Holy Spirit,
aided and fortified by Christ her chief, who
promised to guide her securely through the
stormy assaults of this world, until the consum-
mation of time.
This holy society, which commenced on earth,
shall not be consummated or perfected, until at
the end of the world, it take possession of
heaven. Previous to that general consumma-
tion, each individual who dies, appears before
God to be judged, and, according to his spiritual
condition, has heaven, or purgator}', or hell ap-
pointed for his abode ; but when the number of
the elect shall be completed, all men shall rise
from the dead, and Christ shall come again to
judge them; after this general judgment there
will be no purgator}', the good body and soul
shall be with God forever in heaven, and the wicked
body and soul shall be forever inmates of hell.
We call the good, those Christians who lead
upon earth lives conformable to the law of God ;
and we call the wicked those whose lives are
opposed to his law and will. To be good, we
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
455
must be detached in heart from sin, and attached
in affection to God ; to be detached from sin, we
must labor to suppress our tendency to pride,
sensualit}^, and criminal curiosity, because these
are the sources of all sin ; to be attached to God,
we must believe in him, hope in him, and love
him. Charity is the soul of all the other Chris-
tian virtues; without this virtue we are noth-
ing: no matter what we do otherwise, we can
never merit heaven. We may know whether
we have charity by this mark : We have it, if
we practice exactly all the commandments of
God, the observance of which has been ever
necessary. We must also observe the com-
mandments of the Church, which has no other
view in what she prescribes for her children, than
to determine, according to necessity , time and place,
the best manner of keeping God's commandments.
If our lives are guided in practice by these general
principles, we shall infallibly arrive at that in-
finite good for which we were created.
But this end we cannot attain by our own
exertions ; we must be aided by God's grace.
This grace is the pure effect of God's mercy to
us; he owes it to no one, — no one by his own
virtue can merit it ; God gives it to whom he
pleases, and in what measure he pleases. Christ
has, by his death, merited this succor for us ; and
all the graces men have received since the fall
are the application of the merits of Christ to
our souls, — the price of his precious blood. It
is only by virtue of this grace of God, granted
to us through the merits of Christ, that we are
reconciled to heaven, and become his friends
and children, after having been the slaves of
the devil, and the enemies of God, by sin.
God has established two ordinary channels of
grace: the sacraments and prayer. The sacra-
ments are sensible signs, by which God com-
municates to men all graces necessary, either
for individuals, or society in general. They are
seven in number : Baptism gives us spiritual
life ; Confirmation gives us that life in greater
perfection ; the Eucharist nourishes that life ;
Penance restores it, when lost ; Extreme Unction
strengthens the sick, and effaces the relics of
sin ; Orders supply ministers for the public
functions of God's worship, and Marriage sup-
plies the Church with children, whose end is
eternal happiness. Prayer has ever accom-
panied the solemn administration of the sacra-
ments, and is, as it were, the soul of the Church ;
it is by and through prayer that we elevate our
minds to God, and draw from his inexhaustible
fountain the help we require. All that we can
lawfully ask of God is included in the Lord's
Prayer, of which Christ is the author. Consider-
ing prayer in general as including all the actions
by which we elevate our minds to God, the most
excellent of all prayers is the sacrifice. In the
old law, God himself appointed both the sacri-
fices and accompanying ceremonies. These
ancient sacrifices were, however, only the types
and figure of the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
once offered on the cross, and continued, in a
mystical manner, on our altars.
This sacrifice of the altar is what we call the
holy Mass ; it has been ever offered in all the
churches of the world, since the time of Christ,
for the living and the dead. Nothing can be
more dignified or more holy than the prayers
used in this august sacrifice, — nothing more
worthy of respect than the ceremonies which
accompany these prayers. The same may be
said of all the other prayers, ceremonies, and
usages of the Church, such as its exorcisms,
benedictions, processions ; all these are vener-
able by their antiquity, worthy of respect for
their sanctity, and those only will dare to blame
them, who do not understand them.
We have here given you a brief summary
of all the great truths of religion; we shall
now expound all these in detail. In the first
place, we shall explain the origin, the prin-
ciples, and the progress of religion, from the
creation of the world down to the enjoyment of
eternal life, for which men were created. In
the second part, what sort of life men should
lead upon earth, in order to arrive at that
happiness for which they were created ; and, in
the third and last part, we shall point out the
means, by the use of which man may reach his
his high and holy destination.
456
THE CATHOUC RELrlGION DEFINED.
CHAPTER I.
On God.
SECTION 1.— ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
Q. Are we certain that there is a God?
A. That God exists, is a truth so undeniably
clear and evident, that a man must be foolish
or mad, either to deny it, or call it in doubt.
"The fool hath said in his heart: There is no
God," Ps. xiii. I. These words of the Psalmist
are very remarkable ; they tell us, that when
a man arrives at such a pitch of folly as to
deny God, his mind has less share in the folly
than his heart, that is, that he wishes there
were no God, that he may, without remorse,
satisfy his criminal passions with more liberty.
It is the depravity of his heart, and not the
light of his intellect, which declares there is no
God. But he cannot shut his mind to this
great truth — it is so impressed on the mind
of man, that to erase it completely is impossi-
ble. — St. Aug., Tract i66, n. 4, on St. John.
That God exists, we are convinced by all sorts
of reasons, — reasons founded on our own in-
ternal feeling, our experience, our faith, and on,
as it were, the very elements of reason itself,
Q. What do you mean by reasons founded
on internal feeling?
A. I mean reasons drawn from the impres-
sions of the divinity, made by God himself on
the heart of each man. — St. Aug. as above.
This impression of a deity has existed in all
the people of the earth. There is no nation
which does not recognize some deity ; no man,
who, in sudden danger of an imminent kind,
does not address himself to and invoke a god,
and this from mere natural impulse. This is
what Tertullian calls the testimony of a soul
naturally Christian. — Apologet. ch. 17, ad finem.
To this truth the Royal Prophet alludes — Ps.
iv. 7 — " The light of thy countenance, O Lord,
is signed upon us."
Q. What do you mean by reasons founded
upon experience ?
A. Those arguments which we may draw
every day from the providence of God in our
regard ; his goodness in hearing our prayers ;
his visible punishments of the wicked ; and a
multitude]of proofs we have of his omnipotence,
on striking and important occasions. And in
addition to this, the arguments we must draw
from the order and arrangement of his crea-
tures. — Rom. i. 20. Sap. xiii. 5. You have
only to look at a beautiful building, picture,
or book, to come to the conclusion, that an able
architect, painter, or writer exists somewhere ;
and you would consider him a fool who would
attribute the harmony, arrangement, and order
of these works to chance. Now, the order of
the world is, without comparison, more beauti-
ful, more noble, more magnificent and regular
than that of any work of art. The very con-
struction of a human body points to a divine
hand as the maker. A man capable of saying
that hazard has produced a thing so admirable,
uniform, regular, with all its minute parts so
wonderfully adapted to the action of the whole,
is a being beneath the notice of thinking and
reasoning humanity. In a word, he is a fool
who does not see the finger of God in all the
wonders of nature. — Ps. xviii. 2.
Q. What do you understand by reasons found-
ed on faith ?
A. Reasons founded on what God has certainly
and indubitably revealed to mankind. All that
goes to prove the truth of the Christian religion,
proves by a necessary consequence the existence
of God, — for religion supposes that truth as the
foundation of all others ; now the arguments for
the truth of religion are so convincing, that the
man must be blind or mad who does not yield to
their force. — St. Aug. lib. 22, de Civ. Dei, chid. 7.
Q. What do you mean by arguments founded
on the elements or first principles of reasoning ?
THE CATHOUC RELIGION DEFINED.
457
A. I mean the metaphysical reasons, brought
forward by philosophers, to prove the existence
of God. I shall not, although these are invin-
cible, give them here, because all are not able
to comprehend them ; and those who can under-
stand their force have abundant opportunities of
seeing them in multitudes of works on this
subject.
SECTION II.— ON THE NATURE OF GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS.
Q. What is God?
A. God is. He who is, — / am who am,
said God himself to Moses. — Exod. iii. 14.
These words give us the best idea of God and
his nature we can have in this world, where
our knowledge of God is very imperfect.
Q. What is the meaning of these words, "/
ant who am,? "
A. That God is an independent being, who
lives and subsists in and by himself, whilst
all other beings are created and dependent,
and have only a very imperfect participation
in life and subsistence. — St. Aug. Tract 3, in
Joan. n. 8, 10, 11. I have said that these
words give us the most comprehensive idea of
God, because they teach us that God possesses
in himself, in a sovereign manner, all im-
aginable perfections. From the truth that God
exists of himself, independently of all other
beings, it follows that he is infinite, for we call
that infinite which is not bounded or limited.
Now, a being which subsists independently of
any other, is not bounded or limited by any other
being ; we cannot conceive a being not limited,
without conceiving that he possesses all im-
aginable perfections in a sovereign degree.
For if he were deficient in any perfection, or
if he did not possess all perfections in a
sovereign degree, his perfections would be
limited, and consequently would not be infinite.
In a word, to be infinite, and to possess all
perfections in a sovereign degree, is one and
the same thing; and to subsist independently
of every other being, and to be infinite, are
one and the same thing. Consequently, as
God is an independent being, subsisting of and
by himself, and depending on no other, so he
evidently posseses all perfections in a sovereign
degree.
Q. What are the perfections of God ?
A. He posseses all perfections in a sovereign
degree; hence, ist, he is simple ; 2d, he is a
pure spirit ; 3d, he is eternal ; 4th, he is im,-
mense ; 5th, he is immutable ; 6th, he knows all
things ; 7th, he can do all things ; 8th, all
things are dependent upon him. If any of
these, or any other imaginable perfection,
were wanting to him, he would not be sovereignly
perfect, and consequently, would not be God. —
St. Aug. Confess, lib. 1. c. 4.
Q. What mean you by saying God is simple?
A. That he is not composed of parts ; that
he excludes by his very nature all mixture or
composition.
Q. What mean you when you say God is a
spirit ?
A. That he has no body, nor figure, nor
color, and that he cannot be seen or felt by
our senses. — St. John iv. 24. When the
Scripture speaks of his arms, his hands, or his
feet, its language is figurative or metaphorical,
that we may understand God's operations or
works. — St. Aug. contra Ademant. c. 13, n.
2, 3, and lib. 16 de Civ. Dei, c. 5.
Q. What do you mean by saying God is
eternal ?
A. That he had no beginning, and will have
no end ; he is, or exists, has existed, and will
exist forever. — Ps. ci. 13, Tert. contra Hermog.
c. 4.
Q. What mean you when you say God is
immense ?
A. That he is every where, that he fills all,
that he is not confined by place or space. — Ps.
458
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
cxxxviii. 7, 8 ; Job xi. 8, 9 ; Isaiah Ixvi. i ;
Jerem. xxiii. 24 ; Acts xvii. 27, 28.
Q. What means God's attribute of immu-
tability ?
A. That he is subject to no change or vicis-
situde. When in Scripture God is said to be
in wrath, the expression is a mere figure, to
signify to men the exterior effects of God's
justice, but it implies not in God any passion
or change ; his works are changed without any
change in his eternal designs. Always the
same himself, he makes in his creatures what
changes he pleases ; when the Scripture says
he repented^ it merely accommodates itself to
our language and understanding. — James i. 17;
Malach. iii. 6; St. Aug. lib. i, Confess, c. 4, n.
4, and lib. 12 de. Civ. Dei, c. 17.
Q. When you say God knows all things,
what mean you ?
A. That nothing can be hid from him ; that
he sees the past, the present, and the future,
and penetrates the most secret thoughts of our
hearts. — Ps. cxxxviii. i ; Eccles. xxiii. 27 ;
Rom. xi. 33.
Q. What do you mean by saying God can
do all things ?
A. That he is all-powerful, and that nothing
is impossible to him. — Gen. xviii. 14 ; Job xlii.
2 ; Matt. xix. 26 ; Luke i. 37. God cannot lie,
or deceive, or sin, or die, or be ignorant, or do
an absurdity. These are marks not of power
but weakness. To attribute such to God is a
crime of the deepest dye. — Heb. iv. 13, vi. 18;
1 Tim. i. 17; 2 Tim. ii. 13.
Q. What mean you by saying that all things
depend upon God ?
A. That he created all, preserves all, governs
all, and disposes of all things as he pleases.
He drew all things out of nothing. — Sap. ii.;
2 Mach. vii. 28; Isaiah xli. 24. All existing
things exist only because God preserves and
maintains them in being; if he withdrew his
hand, they would cease to be. — Sap. xi. 26 ; Ps.
ciii. 28. God disposes all the events in the
world, his providence enters into every action
of his creatures, he regulates all and orders
all for his glory. The good that is done is
done by his disposal ; the evil that is done he
permits, to draw from it greater good. He
afflicts the good, and reduces them sometimes
to the extreme of misery, but he never abandons
them ; he sometimes permits prosperity to the
wicked for a time, and uses their malice to
exercise either his justice or his mercy towards
them ; in a word, the execution of his absolute
decrees always contributes to display his grand-
eur and omnipotence. — St. Chrys. de Providen.
Dei, lib. tres ; St. Amb. lib. 5, 6, de oper. sex.
dier.; St. Aug. in Ps. xxxvi. The texts of
Scripture are innumerable on this subject. I
give only a few of them, — Ps. cxiii. 3-13 ;
Prov. XX. 24; Jerem. x. 23; Tob. vii. 12;
Matt. vi. 33; xi. 26; John v. 17; Rom. ix.
15; 2 Cor. iii. 5; Philip, ii. 13; Heb. xiii. 21.
SECTION III.— ON THE UNITY OF GOD.
Q. Is there only one God ?
A. There is only one God ; it is impossible
there should be more than one. To multiply
deities is to destroy the Deity, says Tertullian. —
Lib. I, contra Marc. c. 3 ; Deut. vi. 4, xxxii.
39 ; Eph. iv. 5 ; St. Cyp. de Vanit. Idol. I say
that two or more Gods are impossible, because
it is impossible to conceive two beings sov-
ereignly perfect. For a being to be sov-
ereignly perfect it is required he should have
no equal, for to be without an equal is a
perfection ; and he who is without this per-
fection is deficient in something, — if he be
deficient in any one thing, he is not infinitely
or sovereignly perfect, and consequently not
God. We cannot suppose two supreme beings,
for the one destroys the other ; either the}' are
supposed equal in perfections, or unequal ; if
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
459
the latter, then the most perfect is God, — if
the former, as neither is all-powerful, because
each has an equal, over whom he has no
power, so the very idea of a God having all
perfection is destroyed.
Q. If this be the case, how is it that men
spread over the whole earth have adored many
diflferent gods ?
A. This was the effect of the blindness of
reason and obduracy of heart caused by sin, —
a terrible example to all men ; confirming the
great truth delivered by St. Paul (Rom. i. 23,
etc.) that when men once abandon God, he
delivers them over to a reprobate sense ; and
when once thus abandoned, even the most wise
and enlightened are capable of any or every
excess and folly.
SECTION IV.— ON THE TRINITY OF PERSONS IN GOD.
Q. Does not the trinity of persons believed
by Christians admit more than one God?
A. No ; for Christians believe that these
Three Persons are only one God ; and nothing
can be more reasonable than the belief of this
truth. Whether we can or cannot comprehend
it, God has spoken this truth ; we are, then,
bound to submit and believe. To act other-
wise is to refuse to recognize God as the
sovereign Truth — to outrage reason as well as
religion. Our reason is limited ; there are a
thousand things which we believe, that we do
not comprehend ; but when God speaks to us
through his infallible Church, we believe, be-
cause we know he cannot deceive us. We see
things now in an imperfect and obscure man-
ner, but we shall arrive one day at the pleni-
tude of perfect age, when the clouds which
darken our minds shall be dissipated, and we
shall see clearly, what now we can neither
penetrate nor comprehend. — i Cor. xiii. 12 ;
Eph. iv. 13 ; I John iii. 2. That God has
revealed the mystery of the Trinity of persons
subsisting in one divine nature, is a truth
evident from Scripture, tradition, and many
express decisions of God's hoi}' Church.
Q. What is the faith of the Church on the
mystery of the Holy Trinity ?
A. She believes that the nature of God sub-
sists in Three Persons — the Father the first;
the Son the second ; and the Holy Ghost the
third. — I John v, 7 ; Matt, xxviii. 19.
Q. Are these Three Persons distinct each from
the other ?
A. Yes: the Father is not the Son, nor the
Son the Father ; nor are the Father and the
Son, the Holy Ghost. — John viii. 16, xv. 26.
Q. Is each of these Persons God ?
A. Yes : the Father is God — the Son is God —
and the Holy Ghost is God ; but yet these Three
Persons are only one God. They have only one
nature, and are one divinity. — ^John i. i, ii. 25 ;
Acts V. 3, 4 ; I Cor. xii. 4, 5, 6; i John v. 7.
Q. Are they all equal ?
Yes — equal in eternity, majesty, perfec-
they are one and the same God. — i John
A.
tion :
V. 7.
Q-
A.
Why is the first person called Father ?
Because from all eternity he begets a Son,
who is consubstantial to and with himself; who
is God as he is ; and who is called the Word^
the Wisdom of God. — Ps. ii. 7 ; Heb. i. 5 ; i John
i. I, 2, 3 ; Prov. viii. 22 ; Con. Nicen. de Symbol.
Q. Do the Father and the Son mutually love
each other ?
A. From all eternity they love each other
with an infinite love ; and in thus loving each
other, they produced from all eternity the third
person of the adorable Trinitjf, who is called the
Holy Ghost. — John xiv, 31, xvii. 24; St. Aug.
Tract. 105, in Joan., n. 3, — lib. 6. De Trinitate,
cap. 5, n. 7.
Q. Does the Holy Ghost proceed from the
Father alone?
460
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. No ; he proceeds from both the Father and
the Son. — John xv. 26, xvi. 14, 15 ; St Aug.
Tract. 99, in Joan., n. 4, 6.
Q. Does the Father proceed from any one ?
A. No. He is, as it were, the first principle
of the Son and the Holy Ghost, yet he was
not prior in time to them. The production of
the Son is coeval with the Father's being ; and
the same is true as to the procession of the
Holy Ghost from both the Father and the Son.
The Father could not exist one moment without
knowing himself, and in knowing himself he
produced the Son — the eternal Word. The
Father and Son could not exist one moment
without loving each other, and in loviug each
other they produced the Holy Ghost. — St. Aug.
Serm. 117, 118; St. Amb. lib. 2, in S. Lucam.
n. 13. This great truth may be illustrated by
the following imperfect comparison : Light is
produced by the sun, and the sun is the source
and principle of the light ; yet the light is as
old as the sun, for the sun cannot exist one
moment without shining, and its lustre produces
light and heat.
CHAPTER II.
On the Works of God.
SECTION 1.— ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD,
Q. How has God made himself known ?
A. Principally by his works, which are the
heavens and the earth, and all that they con-
tain ; all these are the work of God — the work
of the adorable Trinity. — John v. 19, 20 ; Ps.
xxxii. 6; St. Aug. Serm. 71 or 11. When you
observe in the Creed that the creation is at-
tributed to the Father, you must not understand
this as excluding the co-operation of the Son
and the Holy Ghos*^ We attribute to the diflfer-
ent persons of the Trinity different works; we
attribute to the Father the works of omnipo-
tence, because he is the source or principle of
the Son and the Holy Ghost: we attribute to
the Son the works of the wisdom of God, because
he is the eternal wisdom of the Father; we
attribute to the Holy Ghost the works of God's
goodness and love, because he is the love of the
Father and the Son.
Q. Why did God make the heavens and the
earth?
A. For his glory — that his infinite being,
bounty, wisdom, justice, power, and other per-
fections might be known, loved, adored, served,
and glorified. — Prov. xvi. 4; Rom. i, 20, 21.
Q. How did God create the heaven and the
earth?
A. " He spoke," says the Scripture, " and
they were made ; he commanded, and they were
created." — Ps. cxlviii. 5, 6. The Scripture uses
this form, " He spoke," etc., to accommodate
itself to our weakness, and to make us under-
stand that the moment God wished or willed
the heavens and the earth made, they were
made, — his will alone produced them. — Ps. cxiii.
3 ; cxxxiv. 6 ; St. Aug. lib. ii. de Civ. Dei.
Q. How long is it since the creation ?
A. According to the ordinary Scriptural com-
putation, nearly six thousand years.
Q. In what time was the world created?
A. According to Scripture, God employed six
days in this work ; the seventh day he rested,
that is, ceased to create any thing. — Gen. ii. 2.
The first day he created the heaven and the
earth ; he also made the light, and separated
the light from the darkness. — Gen. i. 2, 3, 4, 5.
The second day he made the firmament or
heaven, and divided the waters that were under
the firmament from those that were above. —
Gen. i. 6; 7, 8. The third day he separated
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
461
the water from the earth, and made the latter
produce herbs and trees bearing fruit. — Gen. i.
9, II, 12, 13. The fourth day he made the
sun, the moon, the other planets and stars. —
Gen. i. 14, 15, etc. The fifth da)'- he made
the fowls of the air, and the living creatures of
the deep. — Gen. i. 20, 21, etc. The sixth day-
he created all the beasts of the earth, and
cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the
earth ; and on this day also he made man and
woman to preside over all the living creatures
he had created. — Gen. i. 24, 25, etc.
SECTION II.— ON THE CREATION OF ANGELS.
Q. Did God also create the angels ?
A. The holy Scripture frequently attests this
truth, although it is not expressly mentioned
in the above chapter of Genesis. — Ps. cxlviii. 2,
5 ; Dan. iii. 58 ; Col. i. 16.
Q. Who are the angels ?
A. Spiritual and intelligent beings, not cre-
ated to be united to bodies. They have no
bodies, nor figure, nor color : nor can they, in
their own proper nature, be seen or felt by our
sense's ; yet they are intellectual beings, with
understandings more perfect than those of men.
Our souls are spiritual, intelligent beings, but
made to be united to bodies, and by this union
to form, what we call, men. It is not so with
angels ; the}' have appeared, as men, and they
can move bodies, but there is no natural union
between them and matter, as is the case with
man. The number of the angels is very great,
Dan. vii. 10 ; Apoc. v. 11; and they are of dif-
ferent orders : seraphim, cherubim, thrones,
dominations, principalities, powers, virtues, arch-
angels, and angels. — Isa. vi. 2, 3 ; Heb. ix. 5 ;
Col. i. 16; Eph. i. 21; I Thess. iv. 15; St. Jude 9.
Q. Why did God create the angels ?
A. To render them happy ; and for this pur-
pose he gave them all the means necessary to
arrive at eternal life, which consists in know-
ing God, and in the eternal possession of him.
— John xvii. 3.
Q. What did God give them to enable them
to arrive at eternal life ?
A. He made them pure and intelligent beings,
that they might know what was good, and
gave them a will, disposed to love good, with
all graces necessary to enable them to perse-
vere to the end in the faithful fulfillment of
his holy will. — St. Aug. lib. 12, de Civ. Dei,
ix. n. 2.
Q. Did all the angels secure eternal life ?
A. Many amongst them fell, whilst the
others persevered in obedience, and secured the
crown. The latter are called the good angels;
the former are called the wicked angels, the
powers of hell, devils, etc. — Dan. xii. i ; Apoc.
xii. 7, 9 ; Eph. vi. 12 ; Isa. xiv. 12 ; Ps. Ixxvii.
49. The good angels were faithful to God,
humble, and obedient, and thus deserved the
crown of glory. The wicked yielded to pride,
were puffed up with their own importance,
wished to be equal to God, and rejected
their dependence upon him, and hence they
were precipitated into the gulf of misery. — Isa.
xiv. 12, 13, 14, etc.
Q. Why had pride such a dreadful effect?
A. Because it is a sovereign injustice for the
creature to attempt to withdraw itself from
subjection to the Creator ; and hence it is sove-
reignly just in God to resist the proud, and
make them feel his indignation. — 2 Pet. ii. 4 ;
Jude 5. These evil spirits suffer now all the
pains of hell, and this, too, although, as St. Paul
tells us, some are in this world, some in the
air, and, as the Scripture frequently states,
some have the possession of unhappy men. —
Eph. ii. I, 2 ; vi. 12 ; Matt. xii. 22 ; Luke ix.
I ; St. Basil, Horn. 9 ; St. Aug. ad. Laurent, c.
28 ; et Civ. Dei, lib. xi. c. 33.
Q. Why are the wicked angels left thus at
large amongst us ?
462
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. God has permitted them to go about thus
till the day of judgment, seeking whom they
may devour. They are permitted to tempt
men, that we may be kept ever on our guard
— watching, praying, strengthening ourselves
with God's word, and living constantly by
faith. — Matt. viii. 28 ; 2 Pet. ii. 4 ; Luke viii.
27, 28 ; xxii. 31 ; Acts v. 3 ; Eph. ii. i, 2 ; vi.
12.
Q. Have the wicked angels great power over
men for their ruin ?
A. They had great power of this kind before
Christ, because men were the slaves of sin,
and they almost every where adored devils. —
Ps. xcv. 5; I Cor. X. 20, 21. Since Christ,
these demons are bound ; they can enslave only
those who voluntarily become their victims.
Christ triumphed over them by his death and
resurrection, — he banished from the kingdom
of his Church these enemies of the human race ;
but they have still power to tempt Christians,
and to lay a thousand snares, that they may
entangle us in sin. — Col. ii 15 ; Luke xi. 14 ;
Eph. vi. II. At the end of the world, during
the persecution of Antichrist, the malice of
men will give these devils a more extended
empire, which, however, shall last only a short
time ; Christ will scatter their forces and hurl
them into hell, whilst he will lead his saints
in triumph to heaven, where they will reign
with him for eternity. — Apoc. xx. i, 2, 3, 9;
xxi. 9, 10, 12; 2 Thess. ii. 8, 9, 10.
Q. Where are the good angels, and what is
their occupation ?
A. They are in heaven, — always in the pres-
ence of God, they see, adore, and bless him^
and are inseparably attached to him for eternity.
— Tob. xii. 15; Dan. vii. 10; Apoc. v. 11; Isa,
vi. 2, 3. They are the ministers or messengers
of God, ever ready to obey him; they execute
his orders as regards all his creatures, espe-
cially men. — Ps. cii. 20, 21; Heb. i. 14.
Q. What do the holy angels do for men ?
A. They present our prayers to God. — Tob.
xii. 12; Apoc. viii. 3, 4. God makes use of
angels to manifest his will to us, and to per-
form miracles in our favor on extraordinary
occasions. — Gen. xvi. 7, 8, 9 ; xix. i, et seq. 29 ^
xxi. 17; xxiv. 7 ; xxxi. 11; Ex. xii. 23; xiv. 19;
Num. xxii. 21, 23, 24; Jos. v. 13, 14; Matt. i. 20^
21; ii. 13, 19; xxiv. 31; xxvi. 53; Luke i. 11,.
26; John V. 4, etc.; Actsi., v., x., xii., xxvii. God
has also appointed the angels as the guardians
of his Church, and of its individual members. —
Ps. xxxiii. 8; xc. 11, 12; Dan. xii. i; Matt,
xviii. 10; Acts xii. 15; St. Basil, lib. iii. contra
Eunom.
SECTION III.— ON THE CREATION OF MAN.
Q. After the angels, which is the most perfect
creature ?
A. Man, who is a reasonable creature, made to
the image and likeness of God. — Gen. i. 26, 27.
Q. Why do you say man is a reasonable
creature ?
A. Because he can act with knowledge and
freedom, or choice; he knows what he does,
and why he does it.
Q. Why do you say that man is made to
the image of God ?
A. Because man's soul is a spirit, endowed
with will, memory, understanding, and liberty.
These faculties of man are not given to any
other creature except the angels. These facul-
ties liken man to God, who is a spirit, and
whose understanding, will, and liberty, are the
resplendent perfections of his divine nature. —
John iv. 24 ; St. Aug. lib. i. contra Manich.
Q. Why are the angels more perfect creatures
than man ?
A. Because the angels resemble God more
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
463
perfectly, — they are spirits without bodies ;
whilst man, having a body, is like God only in
a part of his nature, namely, in the soul.
Q. How is it that God formed man ?
A. He formed the body from earth, and gave
life to the body, by uniting with it a living and
reasonable soul, for this soul is to the body the
source of life ; Gen. ii. 7 ; St. Aug. lib. xiii. de
Civ. Dei. c. 24, n. i, 2.
Q. What mean you by a reasonable soul ?
A. An immortal spirit, created by God to be
united to a humcn body.
Q. How do we know that our soul is spiritual
and immortal ?
A. Both faith and reason teach us these truths.
The former teaches them; for evidently the
whole economy of religion rests upon these two
great fundamental truths. Reason teaches
them in many ways ; we shall here give only
one of many arguments : If the soul is spiritual,
it is immortal ; for what is mortal is corruptible,
— what is corruptible is separable into parts;
what is spiritual has no parts, — it is indivisible,
and consequently incorruptible. Now, the soul
is spiritual ; for what thinks, and reflects on its
thoughts, is spiritual ; mere matter is incapable
of thinking or reasoning. In whatever light
you view it, you can only conceive its material
qualities, length, shape, local motion; we cannot
conceive thought to be a body or matter, nor
can we conceive matter to be thought. Now,
we have no doubt that we thinks know, wish,
and reflect, etc. The very doubt whether we
think is itself a thought. There is there-
fore within us a spiritual principle which
thinks, and this principle we call a reasonable
soul.
Q. Did God create the soul of the first man?
A. Yes, and thus he creates each soul to be
united to its body. We do not enter here into
any theological dispute; the above is the general
opinion of theologians, supported by reason, and
most conformable to Scripture; Ps. xxxii. 15;
Zach. xii. i ; Eccl. xii. 7 ; Heb. xii. 9 ; St. Jerom.
ad. Pamach. 61 ; St. Amb. lib. in Noe, cap. 4, u.
8 ; St. Greg, of Nyssa, lib. de Anima, etc. The
soul of Eve was created like that of Adam, but
Eve's body was formed of one of Adam's ribs.
Gen. ii. 21, 22. This formation of Eve gives us
to understand the strict union which ought to
subsist between man and wife. When Eve was
thus formed, Adam declared " that she was
bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh ; " Gen.
ii. 23, 24 ; St. Aug. lib. xii. de Civ. Dei, cap. 27.
Q. What sort of sleep was that into which
God cast Adam, while the rib was taken from his
side, to form Eve ?
A. A kind of ecstasy, which represented a great
mystery ; as the woman was not united to man
by marriage until after having been formed
from the side of the man whilst asleep, so the
Church was not united to Jesus Christ until
after she was, as it were, formed from the blood
which flowed from his side, pierced upon the
cross during his sleep of death. Hence, St.
Paul's words, " We are the members of the
body of Christ, flesh of his flesh, and bone of
his bone;" Eph. v. 30, 32; St. Aug. lib. xii.
contra Faust. Hence, also, marriage represents
the union of Christ and his Church.
SECTION IV.— ON THE TERRESTRIAL PARADISE AND THE STATE OF INNOCENCE.
Q. Where did God place Adam, after having
created him ?
A. In the terrestrial Paradise, that he might
occupy and take care of it. This was a delicious
garden, which God had planted with beautiful
trees, bearing agreeable fruits, amongst which
were the tree of life, and the tree of the knowl-
edge of good and evil ; Gen. ii. 8, 9.
Q. What were these trees ?
A. The tree of life, according to St. Aug. de
Civ. Dei, lib. ::iv. c. 19, prevented men from
growing old or dying. The other is so called
464
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
from the effects of its fruit. Except the fruit of
this tree of knowledge, God permitted man to
eat of all the others ; if man had obeyed God, in
abstaining from the fruit of this tree, he would
have had a knowledge of good and truth, and
lived ; but unfortunately, he became cognizant of
evil, by eating the forbidden fruit of this tree ;
St. Aug. lib. xiv. de Civ. Dei.
> Q. Was the fruit of this tree bad in itself?
A. No, it was as good as the other fruits ; but
it was forbidden by God, to prove man's obedi-
ence, and hence, to eat it was evil ; St. Aug. Civ.
Dei, lib. xiv. c. 17.
Q. Why did God create man ?
A. To render man happy as the angels, by com-
municating himself to him for eternity ; neither
angels nor men can be happy without having all
their hearts can desire, and nothing to fear. Now,
in the possession of God they have this ; every
other but the sovereign good is imperfect and
passing, it can never satisfy the heart of man ;
St. Aug. Conf lib. i. c. 1.
Q. What had Adam and Eve to do, in order to
secure this infinite good, for which they were
created ?
A. To live in obedience to, and dependent on,
God ; to love him with their whole hearts ; to do
him homage, as their sovereign ; to live them-
selves in peace, and to abstain from the forbidden
fruit. God himself had impressed on their hearts
the knowledge of these great and indispensable
duties, and had expressly forbidden the fruit of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil ; Gen. ii.
17. Besides, God, in creating them, had given
them every corporal and spiritual advantage which
tended to make the observance of their duties
easy; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xiv. c. 15.
Q. What were these advantages they received
from God ?
A. They enjoyed in their bodies perfect health,
without subjection to infirmities or death ; Wis-
dom ii. 23 ; and their souls were created in a
state of righteousness, light, and justice ; Eccles.
vii. 30; Eph. iv. 24. These souls were adorned
with all the natural knowledge of which man is
capable ; no dangerous ignorance, or defect in
judgment or reason, tarnished the beauty of
their minds ; they had perfect liberty to do what
they willed, and their wills were upright and
tended to good, without inclination to evil. They
were masters of all their bodily movements, with
an equal temperament, always tranquil, without
any tendency to excess. God had given them all
the graces necessary, if they chose to use them,
for the attainment of eternal life ; in fine, they
possessed not these blessings for themselves
alone, they were given to be transmitted to all
their posterity ; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xiv. c. 10.
CHAPTER III.
On the Sin of Man, and Its Consequences.
SECTION I.— ON THE SIN OF OUR FIRST PARENTS.
Q. Did our first parents preserve the advant-
ages of the state of innocence for any consider-
able time ?
A. No ; by their sin of disobedience, they very
soon lost all these blessings. They partook of
the forbidden fruit ; Eve allowed herself to be
seduced by the devil ; and after eating of this
fruit presented it to Adam, who ate also of it ;
Gen. iii. 6, 12, 13 ; i Tim. ii. 14.
Q. How did the devil seduce Eve ?
A. Represented in Scripture as a serpent, he
told Eve to eat of the fruit ; that she should not
die ; but that she should then be like God, in
having a perfect knowledge of good and evil ;
Gen. iii. 4; the devil did this from envy and jeal-
ousy, that he might render man miserable, as he
was himself, by making him lose the eternal good
for which he was created; Sap. ii. 24; John viii. 44.
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
465
Q. What were the sources of man's fall ?
A. Pride, curiosity, and sensuality ; he wished
to be equal to God, and hence he revolted against
his Creator ; he wished to prove if, in reality, he
knew good and evil, and thus he yielded to a
criminal curiosity in disobeying God. The fruit
was agreeable to the eye, and out of sensuality
he yielded to the gratification of his appetite ;
Gen. iii. 5, 6 ; St. Chry. Hom. 16. St. Augus-
tine says, that in Adam pride was the source of
crime ; that curiosity, sensuality, and a criminal
complaisance towards his wife, were the eflfects of
pride. The other Fathers of the Church were of
the same opinion, which is confirmed by the
Holy Scripture; Gen. iii.; Prov. xvi. 18;
Eccles. X. 14, 15 ; Tob. iv. 14 ; St. Aug. ad Lau-
rent, c. 45.
Q. Was the sin of Adam very great ?
A. We may judge of its magnitude by the
majesty of the God who is offended ; by the nat-
ural tendency which God gave Adam, not to evil,
but to good ; and, in fine, by the dreadful conse-
quence of this sin.
SECTION II.— ON THE PUNISHMENT OF THE FIRST SIN OF MAN, AND ON ORIGINAL SIN.
Q. What happened to our first parents imme-
diately after their first sin ?
A. They felt ashamed of their nakedness, and
covered themselves with fig leaves ; Gen. iii. 7.
This shame was caused by their knowledge, that
now, for the first time, they felt the flesh revolt-
ing against the spirit ; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib.
xiv. c. 17.
Q. Did God leave the sin of Adam and Eve
unpunished ?
A. No; he punished it in their own persons,
and in their descendants ; their bodies became
subject to all sorts of diseases, and to death ;
their souls became subject to ignorance and con-
cupiscence, and their liberty was weakened ; they
lost their empire over all other creatures ; they
revolted against God, and all creatures revolted
against them ; God declared that the earth would
produce of itself only briers and thorns, and that
man should eat his bread in the sweat of his
brow ; to Eve God also said, " I will multiply
thy sorrows in thy conceptions ; in sorrow shalt
thou bring forth thy children, and thou shalt be
under thy husband's power, and he shall have
dominion over thee ;" Gen. iii. 17. Both Adam
and Eve were banished from the terrestrial para-
dise, without the hope of ever returning ; the gate
of heaven was shut against them ; and they be-
came deserving of eternal death ; Gen. iii.
Q. What mean you by the concupiscence to
which man became subjected ?
A. That inclination to evil, which we feel we
have, without our own consent. This concupis-
cence is threefold : the concupiscence of the
flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride
of life ; I John ii. 16. Subjection to these three
passions is the punishment of Adam's sin, be-
cause in disobeying God he yielded to these same
passions.
Q. How was the liberty of man weakened by
sin ?
A. After the commission of sin, his faculty or
tendency to good became less than it had previ-
ously been ; Trid. Sess. 5 de Peccat. Orig.
Q. What was the punishment of the sin of our
first parents in their descendants ?
A. The same as that to which our first par-
ents themselves were subjected ; hence we are
born subjects to all sorts of infirmities — to death,
ignorance, triple concupiscence — slaves of sin
and the devil, enemies of God, children of wrath,
unworthy of grace or glory ; Job xiv. i ; Acts
xvii. 30; Rom. v. 10, 12, 16; vi. 17, 20; vii. 14,
23, 24 ; Eph. ii. 3 ; Col. i. 13.
?"
4«56
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
Q. Ought their descendants to be punished for
a sin they did not actually commit ?
A. The judgments of God are incomprehensi-
ble, while they are infinitely just. All are guilty
of that sin ; we are all born with it, and we are
justly doomed to bear its punishment ; Rom. v.
12. In a wonderful manner,we were all, as it were,
included in our first parents, as in our source ;
the stream of human life was by them polluted
in its source, and in them have we all sinned and
become polluted; Rom. v. 12. Still, original sin
is an incomprehensible mystery, but one clearly
revealed — one which the Church has ever taught
— one which is the foundation of the whole econ-
omy of religion ; Job xiv. 4 ; Ps. i. 7 ; Rom. v.
12. I say that on this dogma is established the
whole economy of religion, because the necessity
of the incarnation, the death, resurrection, and
ascension of Christ, the baptism of infants,
prayer, penance, and Christian vigilance, are
grounded on this great fundamental truth.
SECTION III.— ON THE NECESSITY AND THE PROMISE OF A REDEEMER.
Q. What would have become of men, if God
had treated them as they deserved ?
A. They would have been abandoned by him,
like the fallen angels, and forever deprived of
their celestial inheritance.
Q. Could they not have done penance ; im-
plored and obtained pardon from God ?
A. The corruption into which all human
nature was plunged was such, that, so far from
weeping over their sins, they would have loved
them more ; nor would they ever have known
their real misery, had not the grace of God
opened their eyes and touched their hearts.
But even could they have known and wept over
their misery, all would have been unavailing
for the expiation of the infinite offence offered
to God, and utterly useless in the way of satis-
fying his justice, which demanded a satisfac-
tion proportioned to the offence. Man's only
resource was God's free bounty, which might
still grant him mercy.
Q. In what consists the mercy shown by God
to men ?
A. His mercy is ineffable. He has so loved
the world, as to give his only Son to redeem
sinners. The Word is made flesh in the womb
of a virgin ; he reconciles us with God by his
death ; he opens heaven by his resurrection
and ascension ; he instructs us by his doctrine ;
astonishes and converts us by his miracles ;
renews us by his Spirit ; reanimates, fortifies,
and nourishes us by his sacraments; conse-
crates, offers us, and renders us worthy of God,
by his sacrifice ; he is our intercessor, our pro-
tector, our chief. He conquered the devil on
the cross ; and in our daily temptations, when
we are faithful to his graces, he conquers him
still, and will continue to triumph over him,
until he bears us with him in triumph to
heaven.
Q. Did God show this mercy actually as soon
as man fell ?
A. No ; he only promised it then ; four thou-
sand years elapsed between the fall of man
and the coming of the Messiah.
Q. What were the terms of the promise
which God made to men?
A. He cursed the serpent, which was the
instrument of the devil in the fall of man ;
and, in doing so, he said he would put eternal
enmity between the serpent and man ; and that
the woman should crush the serpent's head ;
Gen. iii. 15. The meaning of which promise
is, that men would ever have a natural aversion
to the serpent ; that the enmity between man
and the devil, figured by the serpent, should
be irreconcilable ; and that, of a virgin, a
Saviour should be born, who would destroy the
empire of the devil. This Saviour is called by
the prophets the Redeemer, the Messiah, and
Christ, etc. ; Job xix. 25 ; Isa. lix. 20 ; John i.
41 ; Dan. ix. 26, etc.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
467
CHAPTER IV.
Abridged History of Religion from the Fall of Man till the Coming of the Messiah,
SECTION I.— IN WHAT WAY MEN WERE TO BE SANCTIFIED BEFORE THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH.
Q. Why did God not send the Messiah imme-
diately after the fall of man ?
A. First. — That, during long trial, men might
feel their weakness, and the need they had of
a Redeemer. Second. — That, sensible of their
wants and weakness, they might sigh, like the
just of the Old Testament, for his coming ;
Rom. viii. 3 ; xi. 32 ; Gen. xlix. 18 ; Ex. iv.
13; Isa. xvi. I. Third. — That the strongest
anticipatory proofs of the greatness of the Mes-
siah might be given ; by previous prophecies
as to his birth, life, death, sepulture, resurrec-
tion, and the astonishing change he was to pro-
duce in the world ; Acts x. 43 ; St. Aug. Tract.
31, in Joan n. 7. Fourth. — In fine, that when
the Messiah really came, his followers and the
world might see, that the religion he actually
taught, and all the events which accompanied
it, were shadowed out in the history of past
times, and that the events of former ages were
all such types of Christ, and his doctrines, and
his institutions, as might contribute to make
religion venerable, and attach men to the Mes-
siah ; I Cor. X. 6, 11; Gal. iv. 24; Col. ii. 17;
Heb. viii. 5 ; x. i ; St. Aug. De Catech. Rudibus,
c. 20, n. 34, 36.
Q. What became of those men who lived
during the four thousand years before Christ,
seeing they had no means of salvation, as the
Redeemer had not yet died ?
A. Christ died for all men, as well for those
who lived before, as those who have existed
since his death ; his infinite merits and satis-
factions were applied during these four thou-
sand years, for the sanctification of men,
through faith in him as the future Messiah ;
but none were permitted to enter heaven, its
gates were shut till his coming — he was to be
the first to enter. The saints of the old law
were to receive their recompense along with
him ; Heb. xi. 39, 40 ; St. Aug. in Gal. c. 3^,
n. 23.
Q. What were men obliged to do, in order to
sanctify themselves before the coming of the
Messiah ?
A. To believe in one God ; to adore and serve
him; to love him above all things; to await
with longing the coming of the Redeemer, ancB
to hope in him; to love their neighbors; to
abstain from every injustice; and to live accord-
ing to the voice of conscience, and the dictates
of right reason. Such were the general obli-
gations of all the human race. But the Jewish
people, in addition to these duties, were obliged
to observe faithfully all the precepts of the law
of Moses, and to believe all that God had
revealed to them.
Q. Did men live according to these laws, as
to faith and morality ?
A. Those who sanctified themselves, by thus
obeying God's commands, were few, even amongst
the Jews, compared with those who ruined them-
selves by disobedience; St. Aug. in Gal. cap. iii,
ver 20. Those who were lost were lost by their
own fault ; they had the same means of salvation
that the saints possessed, but they refused to
employ those means for the ends for which God
bestowed them, and hence their perdition was the
work of their own hands. " Many are called,"
says Christ, "but few are chosen;" Matt. xx. 16.
Sf
468
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
SECTION II— THE LIVES OF ADAM, EVE, AND THEIR CHILDREN, AFTER THE FALL.
Q. How did Adam and Eve conduct them-
selves after their expulsion from Paradise?
A. God showed them mercy, and they sanc-
tified themselves b}' penance ; Sap. x. i ; St.
Iren. lib. iii. contra. Heres. c. 31, 33, 34. They
had no children before their fall, and hence all
their descendants bear the stain of original sin:
Gen. iv. i; Rom. v. 12. All the human race
have descended from Adam and Eve; the latter
is called the "mother of all the living;" Gen.
ii. 20. From this it is evident that, being
members of one great family, springing origi-
nally from the same parents, we should love
one another as brethren ; as Jesus Christ has
taught tis; Luke x. 27.
Q. Had Adam and Eve a great number of
children ?
A. Their children were very numerous, because
they were instruments in the hand of God for
peopling the world. God made them fruitful,
and they lived more than nine hundred years.
As, however, the Scripture relates of the history
of man only what contributes to our knowledge
of religion, only three of Adam's children are
mentioned — Cain, Abel, and Seth.
Q. What does the Scripture teach us as to
Cain?
A. That he was the first child of Adam —
that he was a laborer — that he ofiFered to God
the first fruits of the earth, in sacrifice — and
that neither he nor his offerings were accept-
able; that out of envy or jealousy, he killed his
brother Abel, because the sacrifices of the latter
were agreeable to God; that he was cursed by
God, and, as a punishment for his crime, he was
made a fugitive over the face of the earth —
that God marked him, that he might not be
murdered — that he built a city, and gave it the
name of his son, Enoch; Gen. iv. i, etc.
Q. What does the Scripture say of Abel?
A. That he was Adam's second son — that he
was a shepherd — that he offered to God the first-
born of his flock — that they were the largest
and the fattest — that God regarded his offerings
and himself favorably — that he was murdered
by his brother, and that his blood cried to
heaven for vengeance; Gen. iv. i, etc.; Matt.
xxiii. 35; Heb. xi. 4.
Q. What does the Scripture say regarding
Seth?
A. That he was born after the death of Abel,
and lived a holy life; that piety was preserved
much longer in his family than in that of Cain,
and that he was one of the ancestors of Jesus
Christ; Gen. iv. 25, 26; v. 9; Eccles. xlix. 19;
Lukeiii. 38.
Q. What does the history of Cain and Abel
teach us, as regards religion?
A. We see in these two the image of two
cities, or societies of men, who were to live
together in the world until the end of time;
besides, they represent very expressly, Abel,
Jesus Christ; and Cain, the Jews.
Q. What mean you by these two societies?
A. The society of the good, and the society of
the wicked. The one is called by St. Augustine
the city of God, and the other the city or society
of the earth ; Civ. Dei, lib. ii, c. i. He entitles
them thus; because the one is a stranger here,
detached from all perishable things, lives for God
alone, and regards heaven as its true country.
The other is attached to this world, lives for
the riches, honors, and pleasures of the earth;
and labors against every thing that can separate
the heart and affections from worldly goods,
making these the great object of their life;
Ps. xlv. 5, 6; xlvii. 2, 3; Ixxxvi. 3; St. Aug.
Civ. Dei, lib. ii. c. i ; and lib. xiv. c. 28.
Q. In what did Cain represent the city of
the earth?
A. He was the first-bom. We all belong first
to the city of the earth, and it is only by regenera-
tion we belong to the city of God. What is carnal
and merely animal, begins in us before what is
spiritual; i Cor. xv. 46. Cain was attached to
this world, which appears from this that he was
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
469
the first to build a city, and to look upon it as
the place of his abode and repose. He was
corrupted in heart — he attended to the externals
of religion, but true religion had no place in
his heart, he offered not to God his richest
first fruits ; he was full of pride and envy — he
hated, persecuted, and murdered his brother,
because his brother was more just than he.
Such is the character of all who belong to the
city of the earth; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xv. c.
2, 3, 6, 7, n. I.
Q. How was Abel an image of the city of
God?
A. He was detached from this world : he
regarded himself as a stranger here ; he built
no city or home in it; he lived for God —
religion was his glory — heaven his true country.
In his death he was a figure of Christ, and of
all the just who, in after ages, suffered at the
hands of the wicked for justice' sake.
Q. In what did Abel represent Christ, and
Cain the Jews ?
A. Cain was the first born — Abel followed ;
and the Jews preceded in time the temporal
birth of Jesus Christ. The occupation of Cain
was an image of the Jews, who were attached
to the fruits and goods of the earth. The
occupation of Abel — a shepherd — was an image
of Christ, who is called the Pastor and Prince
of Pastors, the Good Shepherd, etc. ; Ezek.
xxxvii. 24; Jerem. xxxi. 10; John x. 11, 14;
I Peter ii. 25, v. 4. Cain honored God with
his lips, but his heart was far from God;
and with this crime God reproached the Jews;
Is. xxix. 13 ; Matt. xv. 8. Abel was just, —
his exterior offering was the expression of a
heart offered to God, as Christ offered himself
to God by the Holy Spirit; Heb. xi. 14.
Cain and his sacrifice were rejected; Abel and
his were received; Gen. iv. 4, 5. God rejected
the Jews and their sacrifice, whilst with Christ
and his sacrifice God was well pleased ; Dan.
ix. 26, 27; Matt. iii. 17; Heb. viii. 8, 9. It
was through envy and jealousy that Cain slew
Abel ; and it was through the same nefarious
passions that the Jews put Jesus Christ, their
brother of the race of David, to death ; John
iii. 12; Gen. iv. 5; Matt, xxvii. 18. The
blood of Abel cried for vengeance on Cain ;
the blood of Christ, which spoke mercy for the
just, drew down the vengeance of heaven on
the Jews; Heb. xii. 24, 25. Cain, in punish-
ment of his crime, led the life of a wanderer,
and he was marked, that none should kill him ;
Gen. iv. 15, 16; — the Jews, in punishment of
their crime, were banished their country, and
dispersed over the face of the earth. They are
distinguished, and to the end will be distin-
guished, by the sign of circumcision ; St. Aug.
lib. xii. contra Faust.
•Q. Why does the Scripture speak of Seth
oftener than of the other children of Adam ?
A. Because his family distinguished itself
above all the others for its piety, and of them
did the Messiah come ; lyuke iii. 38.
SECTION 111.— OiN THE CORRUPTION OF THE HUMAN RACE, AND THE GENERAL DELUGE.
Q. How did the children of Cain and the
other children of Adam live?
A. They almost all forgot God, and lived in
wickedness ; as they advanced in age, so did
impiety increase ; Gen. vi. The children of
Seth were an exception ; they copied after the
piety of their father for a long time ; but in
the end, like others, they also fell into corrup-
tion, by associating with the wicked, and form-
ing family alliances with them ; Gen. v., vi.
Indeed, vice became so general, that scarcely
one remained on the face of the earth who was
just or innocent; Gen. vi. 5, 8, 9.
Q. Did God leave these universal corruptions
unpunished ?
A. No; he destroyed men by the universal
470
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
deluge. He drowned all men and all the
animals, except Noah, his wife, his three sons,
and their wives, — in all, eight individuals ;
animals of each species were also preserved ;
Gen. vii. 7, 8, ii; 2 Pet, ii. 5. Noah was a
just man, and one of the descendants of Seth ;
Gen. vi. 9.
Q. How were Noah and his family pre-
served ?
A. In the ark ; a structure large enough to
contain them, with the necessary provisions,
and the animals to be preserved. Noah was
employed a hundred years in building the ark.
God ordered this, that all men might be aware
of the approaching deluge, — might enter into
themselves, and do penance. But instead of
this, they despised Noah, and his advices and
his menaces, they ate and drank, and married,
and pursued their amusement. They were
surprised by the deluge, and lost in its waters;
Matt. xxiv. 37.
Q. What impression should such an example
make upon our minds ?
A. It should teach us to profit by the warn-
ings God gives us, and never to put oflF our
conversion until the anger of God comes like
lightning upon us, but to watch and pray
incessantly.
Q. Were all those who perished in the del-
uge lost for eternity ?
A. We have reason to believe that those who,
in the beginning, were incredulous to Noah's
warnings, but who afterwards believed, and
were in reality converted before the deluge was
consummated, were not lost ; i Pet. iii. 20.
Q. What did the ark typify?
A. The Catholic Church, which is the ark
of salvation ; and it represented also the sacra-
ment of baptism. We can be saved only in
the Church, and all who were out of the ark
perished ; all men were drowned in the deluge,
and all our sins, as it were, are drowned — that
is to say, effaced — by the waters of baptism ;
I Peter iii. 21; St. Aug. lib. xii. contra
Faust. ; St. Amb. in Noah et Arcam, c. vi. n.
15-
Q. What did Noah do after the deluge ?
A. He offered thanksgiving sacrifice to God.
God blessed him and his children ; and promised
that he would not again send a deluge on the
earth, and he gave the rainbow as a sign of
this promise.
SECTION IV.— ON THE STATE OF THE WORLD, FROM THE DELUGE TO THE VOCATION OF
ABRAHAM.
Q. How was the world repeopled after the
deluge ?
A. By the three children of Noah ; Sem,
Cham, and Japhet, and their descendants ; Gen.
ix. 19. The Scripture tells us that Noah
blessed Sem and Japhet, on account of their
piety; and cursed Cham, and his son Chanaan,
because they showed him not the respect due
to him. — That men, being multiplied, in their
pride, wished to acquire a celebrated name
before they separated, by some wonderful work.
— That they began to build a tower which they
wished to raise to the clouds. — That that tower
was called Babel, which means confusion^
because God, to punish them, confounded their
tongues, so that they could not understand one
another; and that thus were they compelled to
desist from their enterprise, and disperse them-
selves over the country ; and that by this dis-
persion was the earth peopled ; St. Aug. Civ.
Dei, lib. xvi. c. i. n. i, 2, c. iv. n. 4.
Q. Were the knowledge and worship of God
long preserved amongst them ?
A. As they advanced in age, they became
more grossly ignorant; the knowledge of God
was effaced from their minds ; they became
idolaters. Piety was preserved during a longer
time amongst the descendants of Sem; but
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
471
even here it ultimately died out, so that there
was scarcely one upon the earth who adored
or worshiped God; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xvi.
Q. How did God now treat mankind ?
A. He abandoned them to corruption and
blindness ; thus, left to the corruption of their
own hearts, they plunged into every abomina-
tion; he reserved the punishment of their
crimes for the next life, and chose one man,
as a father, to the people who were to be
peculiarly consecrated to his service ; Rom. i.
24 ; Gen. xii. 1 ; Wisd. v. 5.
Q. Who was the man chosen thus by God ?
A. Abraham, son of Thare, of the family of
Sem; Gen. xi. 26, 27. The choice was the pure
effect of God's goodness and mercy. He com-
manded Abraham to quit his country, his
family, his home ; and promised to make him
the father of a great people, upon whom he
would confer many graces; Gen. xii. i.
Q. Why did God wish Abraham to quit his
country ?
A. That he might not be exposed to the society
of the wicked; to induce him to consider the'
earth as a place of exile, and heaven, his true
home ; to make him the father of a people,
who were to be different in manners and
religion from all the other people of the earth.
Abraham believed and obeyed God, who
rewarded him for his submission; Gen. xii. 4,
7,8.
SECTION v.— ON THE PROMISES OF GOD TO ABRAHAM, AND ON THE POSTERITY OF
THAT HOLY MAN.
Q. How did God reward the faith and obedi-
ence of Abraham ?
A. By a solemn alliance, which he made with
him, God promised to take him and his pos-
terity under his protection — to make him the
father of a great people — to give him a laud
that was rich and abundant, called Chanaan,
for himself and his posterity — and he also
declared, that the Messiah should descend from
his race; Gen. xxii. 18. God swore by him-
self, to the accomplishment of these promises ;
and appointed circumcision, as a mark to dis-
tinguish Abraham and his posterity from all
the other people of the earth ; Gen. xvii. 14,
xxii. 16; Heb. vi. 13, 16, 17.
Q. Who were the children of Abraham ?
A. None were born to him of his wife Sarah
till her ninetieth year; and it was on this
account, that Sarah wished him to marry his
servant Agar, of whom he had a son called
Ismael; Gen. xvi. i, 2, 15. In this connection,
there was nothing immoral, as God allowed
plurality of wives, that the earth might be
peopled; St. Aug. contra Faust, lib. xxii. It
was not, however, through Ismael that God ful-
filled the promises made to Abraham ; although
the latter believed that such would be the case,
seeing his wife barren and beyond the age of
childbearing; Gen. xvii. 18. God foretold that
Sarah would have a son; and that, through
him, the promises would be accomplished; —
Abraham believed God, though the event
seemed beyond hope — and the year after, Sarah
had a son, who was called Isaac; Gen. xxi. i, 2.
Q. How did Agar and Ismael live with Sarah
and Isaac ?
A. Agar despised Sarah, on account of her
sterility, and was punished. Ismael persecuted
Isaac; and was, by the order of God, banished,
with his mother, from the house of Abraham;
Gen. xvi. 4, 5, 6; xxi. 9, 10; Gal. iv. 29, 30.
After the death of Sarah, Abraham married ;
Cethura, by whom he had six children ; Gen.
XXV. 1,2. Isaac, however, was the sole heir of
Abraham ; he gave presents to his other
children, but allowed them not to dwell, even
472
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
during his own life, with Isaac; Gen. xxv. 5, 6.
Q. What did the alliance, which God made
with Abraham, represent ?
A. The eternal alliance which Jesus Christ
was one day to make with Christians ; of which
baptism was the p]edge or seal; as circum-
cision, a figure of baptism, was the pledge or
I token of that made by God with Abraham.
Q. In what was circumcision a figure of bap-
tism ?
A. As circumcision was a sign that showed
men to be participators in the alliance with
Abraham, so baptism makes us partakers of
the alliance of Christ with mankind. Besides,
in baptism we profess to be circumcised in
heart, that is, we renounce the concupiscence
of this world, of which the circumcision of the
body was only a figure ; Rom. ii. 28, 29 ; Philip,
iii. 3.
Q. What was signified by the possessions
promised to Abraham and his posterity ?
A. Heaven, which is promised to all Christians,
whose spiritual Father Abraham was ; Heb.
xi. I, 14, 15, 16.
Q. Of what were Agar and Sarah the figure ?
A. Agar, the servant or bondwoman, was
the figure of the Synagogue, or Judaism ; Sarah,
the wife, or freewoman, was a figure of the
Christian Church ; Gal. iv. 22; Ismael was a
figure of the Jewish ; and Isaac of the Christian
people. The Jews were the bond children of
the law, we are the freed children of Christ ;
and as Ismael persecuted Isaac, so did the Jews
persecute Christ and his followers.
Q. Who are prefigured by the children of
Abraham, born of Cethura?
A. Those Christians who do not live by faith,
but who live according to the flesh ; such may
receive a temporal reward like the children
of Cethura, but God will not grant them an
eternal inheritance ; and those who live by
faith should avoid them ; i Cor. v. 1 1 ; St. Aug.
Civ. Dei, lib. xvi. c. 34.
SECTION VI.— ON ISAAC AND JACOB, FROM WHOM ALL THE JEWS HAVE DESCENDED.
Q. Why is Abraham called the father of all
the faithful ?
A. Because he is the father of both Chris-
tians and Jews. The Jews descended from him,
by his son Isaac ; the Christians have sprung,
by faith, from Jesus Christ, who descended from
Abraham, and of whom Isaac was a striking
figure ; Rom. iv.
Q. In what was Isaac a figure of Christ ?
A. His life of innocence and sanctity, was an
image of that of Christ. The sacrifice of Isaac
was an expressive figure of the death and resur-
rection of Christ. Isaac, after his sacrifice, was the
Father of all the Jews ; Jesus, after his resur-
rection, was the Father of all Christians.
Q. What was the sacrifice of Isaac ?
A. God, to try the faith of Abraham, ordered
him to sacrifice his son Isaac, aged then about
thirty-seven years ; St. Jerom. de Trad. Judaeor.
in Gen. xxii. 2. Abraham hesitated not one
moment, though Isaac was his beloved son ;
he hoped against all hope ; and persuaded that
God could again raise Isaac from the dead, he
prepared for the sacrifice, according to St. Jerom,
on Mount Moria, which is near Calvary. Isaac's
faith was equal to that of his father ; he sub-
mitted to God's command ; he carried on his
shoulders the wood upon which he was to be
offered in sacrifice ; and allowing himself to be
tied, he submitted to his fate. But God was
satisfied with the faith and obedience of both.
The father's hand was already raised to immo-
late that innocent victim. God arrested it, and
restored the son as, it were, from the tomb to
his father, that after having been a very ex-
pressive figure of Christ, suffering and dying
on the cross, Isaac might also be a figure of
Jesus arisen from the tomb; Heb. xi. 17,
18, 19; St, Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xvi. c. 32.
Abraham, after this found a ram entangled in
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
473
a thicket, and he offered it in sacrifice, instead
of his son. Even this was emblematic of Christ,
the Lamb of God, who was laden with the sins
of the world, and offered in the place of men
a sacrifice to his Father.
- Q. Who were the children of Isaac ?
A. Esau and Jacob, twin brothers, bom of
his wife Rebecca. Esau was the first bom, and
was rejected of God, even before birth. Jacob
came second, and was beloved of God ; Rom.
ix. 13; Mai. i. 2, 3. I say Esau was rejected,
because God did not choose him as the father
of his people — the heir of the land promised
to Abraham — or as one in the line of the
Messiah's ancestry. To Jacob, as the pure ef-
fect of his goodness, did God accord these
blessings. Esau was a figure of the Jews and
the reprobates ; Jacob prefigured the Christians
and the elect ; Rom. ix. "6, 7, 8 ; St. Aug. Civ.
Dei, lib. xvi. c. 35.
Q. How many children had Jacob ?
A. Twelve sons and a daughter, born of the four
wives he espoused; and from these twelve sons,
known by the names of the twelve patriarchs,
have descended all the Jews. Jacob wished to
marry only Rachel, but he was surprised into
a previous marriage with Lia, her elder sister.
Lia had six children. Rachel, after being barren
for a long time, had two. Jacob married after-
wards two others : Bala, at the request of Rachel ;
and Zelpha, by the advice of Lia.; Gen. xxix.
23; XXX. 3,'9 ; XXXV. 23, 24 ; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib.
xvi.c. 38, n. 5. The children of Jacob were, Ruben,
Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Zabulon, Dan,
Nephtali, Gad, Aser, Joseph, and Benjamin,
and one daughter, called Dina. These were
called patriarchs, because they were the heads
of the twelve Jewish families, from whom all the
Jews have descended. The word Patriarch means
head of a family. These were called the twelve
tribes of the Jews. The family of Joseph,
however, composed two tribes, because Ephraim
and Manasses, the two children of Joseph, were
adopted by Jacob, and were the heads of tribes
called after them, so that there appears to have
been thirteen tribes. But this in reality was
not the case, because the tribe of Levi was
consecrated to the service of God in the
religious ministry, and was thus lost amongst
the other twelve tribes ; God intended this, that
this tribe, by their example and instruction,
might keep the others in his service ; Num. i.
48 ; XXXV. 2, 3 ; Josue xxi. 2, etc.
Q. What is the most celebrated of the twelve
tribes ?
A. That of Juda, which in all ages, was most
favored by God — was that from which the
Messiah sprang, and that which, at last, after
the Babylonish captivity, gave its name to the
whole Jewish people. The children of Jacob
were called Israelites, because Jacob their father
was named Israel ; Gen. xxxii. 28.
Q. Did the descent of the Jewish people from
one man prefigure any thing, and what did
the twelve Patriarchs represent ?
A. Yes ; the spiritual birth of all Christians
in Jesus Christ ; and the Patriarchs represented
the twelve apostles, who were the spiritual
Fathers of all Christians. Hence, St. Paul
says, "We are built upon the apostles ;" Eph.
ii. 2a
SECTION VII.— THE SERVITUDE OF THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT, AND ITS CAUSE.
Q. Were the Israelites always in possession
of the promised land?
A. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt there
as strangers, nor were their descendants put in
possession of it, till four hundred years after
the promise; Gen. xv. 13 ; Acts vii. 6 ; Heb. xi.
9, 10. They were a long time slaves to the
Egyptians, and they were not delivered from
that slavery till the expiry of four centuries;
Ibid.
474
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
Q. What was the occasion of this Egyptian
servitude ?
A. A famine compelled Jacob, with his family,
amounting to seventy persons, to retire to Egypt.
These multiplied, and were ultimately persecuted
and reduced to a state of slavery by Pharaoh,
king of Egypt; Acts vii. ii. Jacob's reason for
flying to Egypt was, that he understood the
famine would endure seven years ; that Joseph,
one of his family, had all power in Egypt; and
that through Joseph's foresight, there would be
no distress in that kingdom ; Acts vii. ii.
Q. Why did Joseph go to Egypt ?
A. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other
children ; — the latter became jealous of him, and
wished to kill him, but Ruben, the eldest, pre-
vented it ; and Juda determined them to sell him
to Ismaelite merchants ; who again sold him to
an Egyptian, called Potiphar. God employed
this, their crime, to raise Joseph, and make him
the support of his family ; Gen. xxvii., xiv.;
Acts vii. 9. Joseph was a long time a slave to
Potiphar. The wife of the latter accused him
of an attempt at violation ; he was cast into
prison ; and this very imprisonment caused him
to be loaded with honors and power ; Gen. xxxix.
Pharaoh was troubled with a dream ; he wished
it explained ; he was informed that the prisoner,
Joseph, knew the future ; he called him — was
satisfied with his answers — and made him his
first minister; Gen. xl., xli. 8.
Q. How did Jacob know that his son was a
ruler in Egypt ?
A. The famine compelled Jacob to send his
children to Egypt for corn ; — they were presented
to Joseph, who had all authority there — he made
himself known to them, forgave their treachery,
and induced Jacob and all his family to come to
Egypt ; Gen. xlii., xliii., etc.
Q. Where did Jacob die ?
A. He died in Egypt, after having foretold
the precise time the Messiah would come. It
was then he made Joseph's sons, Ephraim and
Manasses, chiefs of tribes, and adopted them as
his own. His body was carried b}' Joseph to
the land of Canaan, to be laid with Abraham
and Isaac; Gen. xlviii., etc. Joseph himself
died in Egypt, where he preserved his authority
till his death, — he had ordered his bones to be
carried to Canaan, to the tomb of his fathers.
So long as Joseph lived, the Israelites were well
treated by the Egyptians, but, after his death,
the next king forgot the services of Joseph,
maltreated his family, and reduced them to a
state of servitude ; Gen. 1.; Ex. i. 7 ; v. 4.
Q. What was prefigured by the crime of
Joseph's brethren, who sold him as a slave ?
A. The crime of Judas, who betrayed and
sold Jesus, and of the princes and priests who
delivered him to the Romans. The imprison-
ment and exaltation of Joseph were figures of
the sufferings and resurrection of Jesus, who
procured salvation for the Jews, by whom he
was delivered to his enemies, and to the Gentiles,
prefigured in the Egyptians.
SECTION Vm.— THE DELIVERANCE OF THE ISRAELITES BY MOSES, THE PASCHAL LAMB
AND PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA.
Q. How long did the Israelites remain in
Egypt?
A. About two hundred years, after which
God raised up Moses to deliver them from that
tyrannical servitude.
Q. Who was Moses ?
A. One of the descendants of Levi, son of
Jacob. Three months after his birth, his
mother exposed him on the Nile, and abandoned
him to Providence, because Pharaoh had ordered
all the male children of the Hebrews to be
put to death. The daughter of Pharaoh, about
to bathe in that river, found the infant — nursed
him tenderly^had him instructed in all the
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
475
learning of the Egyptians, and finally adopted
him, as her sou. But Moses loved better to be
a suflFerer with the Israelites, than in prosperity
and criminal enjoyment with the Egyptians.
At the age of fortj', he visited his brethren,
but he dwelt with them only a short time, for,
having killed an Egyptian, and dreading the
wrath of Pharaoh, who sought his life, he was
obliged to fly. He retired into the land of the
Madianites, married there, and was occupied in
feeding the flocks of Jethro his father-in-law,
when God appeared to him and commanded
him to deliver his people from the servitude
of Pharaoh. He was then forty-five years of
age.
Q. How did Moses deliver the Israelites from
Egypt ?
A. He wrought so many miracles, and struck
Egypt with so many plagues, that the king was
compelled to allow them to leave his territories.
The Scripture speaks of ten plagues, viz. :
The waters changed into blood, the frogs, the
gnats, the flies, the murrain in all cattle and
beasts, the ulcers, the hail mixed with fire, the
locusts, darkness, and the death of all the first
bom ; Ex. vii., viii., ix., x., xii. ; Ps. Ixxvii. 43 ;
Wisd. xvi. 9, etc.
Q. What determined the Egyptians to send
the Israelites out of Egypt ?
A. The death of the first bom, which took
place in the following manner : Moses, on the
part of God, commanded the Israelites to kill a
lamb each, in his family ; to roast and eat such
lamb, and to sprinkle the door posts with its
blood. An angel then came, and exterminated
the first born in every house in Egypt, except in
the houses of the Israelites, which were sprinkled
with blood.
Q. Tell us a little more in detail, what God
through Moses, ordered the Israelites to do on
this occasion.
. A. Moses ordered them to borrow from their
Egyptian neighbors all that they could in the
shape of movables and silver ; they did so, and
the Egyptians, moved by God, refused them
nothing. Again, Moses ordered them to kill a
lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month,
in the evening ; to eat of Its flesh roasted at the
fire ; to eat the head with the feet and intes-
tines ; to eat them with unleavened bread and
wild lettuce; and to make this repast in haste,
standing in the habit of wayfarers, with a
stafi" in their hands. He forbade them to admit
to this meal any stranger, or to bruise the
bones of the lamb ; and ordered that all that
remained of the lamb should be consumed by
fire. Moses also ordained that each year, on
the same day, the Israelites should eat a lamb
with the same ceremonies, in memory of the
miracle which God was about to work in their
favor ; that the next day they should celebrate
a solemn feast, as a memorial of these de-
liverances ; that this lamb should be called the
Paschal lamb, or lamb of passage, and the feast
itself, the Pasch ; Ex. xii. 3, etc.
Q. Why did Moses order the eating of the
Paschal lamb with so much ceremony ?
A. The first time it was eaten, the hurry
and precipitation of their departure required
haste ; it was God's will that afterwards the
same ceremonies should be used, in memory
of the first Pasch ; but the real cause was, that
God wished all these circumstances and cere-
monies to represent and prefigure great mys-
teries ; Ex. xii.
Q. Did God appoint any ordinance to remind
the Israelites forever of the death of the first
born of the Egyptians ?
A. Yes ; he desired that the first born, as
well of men as of beasts, should be forever con-
secrated to him ; Ex. xiii. 2.
Q. Why did God wish the Israelites to carry
away with them the riches of the Egyptians ?
A. To punish that infidel nation for their
persecution of the Israelites, and to recompense
the latter for their labors in Egypt.
Q. What did the Egyptians do after the
death of their first born ?
A. They pressed the Israelites to depart;
but they soon repented of this, and pursued
them, to make them return. At this time
happened the famous miracle of the passage at
476
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
the Red Sea ; Ex. xii. Moses struck the waters
of the sea, they separated, and aflforded to the
Israelites a dry passage. The blind and obsti-
nate Egyptians pursued them in that miracu-
lous passage, but the waters which allowed
the Israelites to pass, closed upon the Egyptians,
and swallowed them up ; Ex. xiv.
Q. What were the number of the Hebrews at
this time ?
A. About six hundred thousand men, besides
women and children under twenty years ; so
much had they multiplied during two hundred
years, even under continued persecution. God
had promised this extraordinary multiplication
to Abraham; Gen. xvi. lo; Ex. i. 12. This
extraordinary propagation of the children of
Abraham was a figure of the propagation of the
Christian people, who, in spite of every opposi-
tion and persecution, filled the world.
Q. What did the deliverance of the Israelites,
by Moses, signify?
A. The deliverance of Christians from the
bondage of the devil, by Jesus Christ.
Q. What did the Paschal lamb signify ?
A. Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, whose
death delivered us from eternal death, and
opened heaven, the true land of promise, to us.
The Jews were forbidden to break the bones of
the lamb, and this was a figure of what hap-
pened to Christ, after his death ; his limbs
were not broken, as were those of the two
thieves who were crucified with him ; John xix.
33-
Q. What was signified by the feast of the
Pasch ?
A. The Holy Eucharist, in which we eat the
true flesh of Jesus Christ, who has saved us' by
his blood, as the Jews ate, in their first Pasch,
the flesh of the same lamb, whose blood had
preserved them from death ; i Cor. v. 7, 8.
Q. What did the ceremonies which accom-
panied the eating of the Paschal lamb signify ?
A. The dispositions of a worthy communi-
cant at the Christian altar. To eat of the Pas-
chal lamb, it was necessary to be a Jew, to be
in the habit of a traveler, to eat with celerity,
and to eat it along with unleavened bread and
wild lettuce. To eat of the Eucharist, it is
necessary to be a Christian ; to be a traveler to
heaven ; to be, as it were, in haste to meet Jesus,
and be united with him by love and fervor ; to
be mortified, by using what is unsavory to our
palate, and a check to our passions, and to have
simple and upright hearts, without the leaven
of malice or hypocrisy ; St. Greg. Mag. Horn,
xxii, in Evang.
Q. What did the passage of the Red Sea
signify ?
A. It was a figure of baptism ; for, to enter
into heaven. Christians must pass through the
waters of baptism ; as the Jews, to enter the
land of promise, had to pass through the Red
Sea ; i Cor. x. i. The Egyptians, who were
drowned in the passage, were, according to St.
Augustine, a figure of our sins, which are effaced
by baptism. [In Ps. Ixxii. n. 5.]
SECTION IX.— THE JOURNEY OF THE ISRAELITES TO MOUNT SINAI ; THE BITTER
WATERS ; THE MANNA, ETC.
Q. Whither did Moses conduct the Israelites,
after they passed the Red Sea ?
A. Through a desert, to Mount Sinai, where
they arrived the forty-seventh day after their de-
parture from Egypt; Ex. xix. i. God was
their guide in this journey : a cloud preceded
them during the day, and a column of fire
during the night ; when the cloud or the pillar
of fire advanced, they advanced, and when it
stopped, so did the Israelites ; Ex. xiii. 22 ;
Ps. Ixxvii. 14.
Q. How were the Israelites fed in the desert ?
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
477
A. God sent them food from heaven, called
manna ; and whilst on their journey, three re-
markable things happened ; the Israelites mur-
mured ; they gained a victory over the Amalec-
ites ; and Jethro, father-in-law to Moses, visited
him.
Q. How often, and why did the Israelites mur-
mur ?
A. They murmured three times ; once, be-
cause they found the waters bitter ; again, because
they had no bread ; and the third time, because
they could not obtain water. Moses on each of
these occasions praj'ed, and obtained mercy. By
the order of God, he threw a piece of wood into
the bitter waters, and they became sweet ; Ex.
XV. 22. On the second occasion, God directed
to their camp a number of quails, and sent
manna from heaven, which fell every day, except
Sabbath, until the time they left the desert ; on
this manna they lived during forty years ; Ex.
xvi. 13, etc. On the third occasion, Moses struck
a rock with his staff, and it produced abundance
of water; Ex. xvii. 6.
Q. On what occasion did the Israelites con-
quer the Amalecites, and what was there remark-
able in that victory ?
A. The Amalecites attacked them, to oppose
their march. Moses sent Josue to meet them,
with a choice body of troops, and, during the
contest, retired to a mountain to pray. When
Moses raised his hands to heaven, the Amalec-
ites were overcome ; and when he lowered his
hands, through lassitude, they became victorious;
but Moses persevered in keeping his hands erect
till evening, and then the Israelites gained a com-
plete victory ; Ex. xvii. 8.
Q. What was there remarkable in the visit of
Jethro to Moses, his son-in-law ?
A. Jethro came to deliver to Moses his wife
and his children, who had been placed in his
hands before the deliverance of the Israelites
from Egypt. Jethro counseled Moses to appoint
inferior magistrates, in order that they might
relieve him of part of his cares. He appointed
to that office men of courage and fearing God,
lovers of justice and truth — and such should all
magistrates be.
Q. What did the sojourn of the Israelites in
the desert signify?
A. It was a figure of the pilgrimage of bap-
tised Christians in this world before they enter
heaven. The pillar of fire was a figure of Christ,
by following whose light and footsteps, we shall
enter his kingdom. The fatigues and sufferings
of the Jews, in the desert, were figures of our
sufferings and miseries in this life, which ought
to make us long after our true countr}' ; St.
Aug. in Ps. Ixxii. n. 5. The wood which, cast into
the bitter waters, rendered them sweet, repre-
sented the cross, by which our labors and toils,
in the observance of God's commandments, are
sweetened and rendered light ; St. Aug. Quasst.
57, in Exodus.
Q. What did the manna signify?
A. Jesus Christ, who is the living bread, de-
scended from heaven to nourish us in the desert
of this life, not only by his grace, but also by
his own flesh and blood. The rock from which
the miraculous waters proceeded, was an image
of Christ, the source of all grace, who is styled
in Scripture the Spiritual Rock, from which
spring the living waters of life eternal ; John
i. 16; iv. 14; I Cor. X. 4. The Amalecites were
a figure of the devil and his angels, who strug-
gle to prevent Christians from entering heaven,
the true land of promise; and the struggle of
Josue and his army represented the efforts of
the Church militant to conquer the enemies of
their salvation ; Origen, Horn. ii. in Exodus.
Q. What did Moses, with his arms elevated,
praying on the mount, represent?
A. Jesus Christ, who, with arms extended on
the cross, conquered the devil, and made us vic-
torious and free. In all our trials we must
pray, like Moses, with arms and hearts lifted
to God; Matt. xxvi. 41; Luke xxi. 36; i Pet.
iv. 7.
4/8
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
SECTION X.— THE LAW GIVEN TO THE ISRAELITES, AND THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT.
Q. What did the Israelites do when they
arrived at Mount Sinai?
A. Moses ordered them to purify themselves,
during ten days, as a preparation to receive the
law of God. He marked out, at the foot of the
mountain, bounds beyond which he forbade
them to pass, under pain of death. On the third
da}'^, being the fiftieth after they left Egj'pt, the
mountain appeared on fire ; they heard terrible
trumpet sounds, and God spoke to them in the
midst of thunder and lightning; Ex. xix. t6.
Q. Why did God deliver the law to the
Israelites, amidst such terrible circumstances?
A. Because they were an obstinate and carnal
people, whom he wished to restrain by severity
and terror. The time for the law of love had
not yet come.
Q. What was the law here delivered?
A. The ten commandments, of which we shall
speak elsewhere. These commandments had
been, in general, engraven on the hearts of
men, but they were here again distinctly given,
because few observed them. Sin and corruption
had almost effaced them from the hearts of all
men. See Gen. xxxi. 34, etc., xxxv. 2 ; Gen.
xxi. 23 ; xxiv. 3 ; Gen. ii. 3 ; Ex. xvi. 23 ;
Gen. ix. 25, 26; iv. 10; ix. 6; xx. 9; xxxiv.
31 ; xxxviii. 24; etc.
Q. Did God give any other law but what is
contained in the commandments?
A. Through Moses, he gave many other pre-
cepts, regarding the administration of justice,
and the exterior ceremonies of religion ; of these
precepts and ceremonies, only those founded
on the natural laws are obligatory on Chris-
tians ; from the yoke of the rest we have been
liberated by Jesus Christ ; Rom. vii. 6 ; Gal. iv.
31 ; V. I ; St. Aug. contra Faust, lib. x. c. 2, 3.
Q. Why did God charge the Israelites with
so many ceremonies, which were to be abolished
by Jesus Christ?
A. Because the nature of that people required
the yoke, as they were gross and carnal, with
very limited intelligence, and because all these
ceremonies and usages were figures of events
under the new law to come; i Cor. x. 11.
Q. Did the Jews receive these ordinances with
submission ?
A. They promised solemnly to observe them ;
and God, in return, promised to regard them as
his own people, to establish amongst them his
kingdom and priesthood, to protect them against
their enemies, and grant them abundant tem-
poral blessings ; Ex. xix. 8 ; xix. 5, 6 ; xxiii.
22, 25, 26, 27 ; Deut. xxviii. i, 2, 15.
Q. After these muttial promises, what did
Moses do?
A. He wrote in a book the ordinances of
the Lord; he fitted up an altar at the foot
of the mountain, to offer sacrifice to God;
he sprinkled on the altar the half of the blood
of the animals sacrificed, and reserved the rest;
he took the book of the covenant and read it
before the people, who renewed their promise to
obey; he then sprinkled the rest of the blood
upon the book and the people, saying, "This is
the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath
made with you, concerning all these words ; "
Ex. xxiv. 4, etc. Moses then ascended the
mountain to receive the tables of the command-
ments, and to learn from God himself all that
the Jews should observe in their religion ; Ex.
xxiv. 12.
Q. The law was given to the Jews fifty days
after they left Egypt : was this a figure of
any thing?
A. Yes ; a striking figure of the descent of
the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, fifty days
after Christ had delivered them and us from
the slavery of the devil, by his death and
resurrection. God gave the law to Moses,
amidst thunder and lightning, and the Holy
Spirit descends on the Apostles, to enable
them to preach the new law, amidst miracu-
lous sounds as of the rushing of mighty winds ;
Acts ii. ; Jerem. xxxi. 33. ; Heb. x. 16. The
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
479
stone on which the law was written, was a
figure of the hard Jewish heart, which in
Scripture is called a stone ; Ezech. xxxvi. 26.
Q. What did the blood of the covenant,
which Moses sprinkled upon the altar and on
the people, signify ?
A. The blood of Jesus, which purifies us,
and which is the seal of the new covenant
which God has made with man, and which
will subsist for eternity ; Heb. x. 4, etc. The
promises made by God to the Jews were a
figure of the spiritual promises made to Chris-
tians ; I Peter ii. 9, 10.
SECTION XI.— MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI.
Q. What was Moses doing on Mount Sinai ?
A. He received God's orders as to the taber-
nacle, the ark of the covenant, the propitia-
tory, the table of the bread of proposition,
the candlestick, the altar of incense, the altar
of holocausts, the brazen laver, and the vest-
ments of the chief priests, and other sacri-
ficers. He received from God the two tables
of stone on which the law was written. St.
Paul informs us that the tabernacle, the ark,
and all the rest of the above, were figures of
the religion and worship of the new law ;
Heb. viii. 5.
Q. What was the tabernacle ?
A. A portable temple, used by the Jews
whilst they waited for the erection of the
temple of Jerusalem. It had two divisions :
one was called the holy place \ the other the
holy of holies ; Ex. xxvi. i ; xxxvi. 8.
The urst was a figure of the Church, where
the holy are in a state of pilgrimage ; the
second represented heaven, the true home of
the blessed; Heb. ix. 8, 11.
Q. What was the ark of the covenant ?
A. A kind of chest, made of incorruptible
wood, and covered, inside and out, with plates
of pure gold. It was to contain the tables of
the law, and hence was called the ark of the
covenant, of which the observance of the law
was the condition ; it was ordered to be placed
in the holy of holies. This ark was a figure
of the humanity of Jesus Christ ; St. Greg.
Horn, in Ezech. lib. ii.
Q. What was the propitiatory ?
A. The cover of the ark, which was of mas-
sive gold. From this did God speak to men.
The name signifies the place from which God
shows himself favorable and propitious to men ;
Ex. XXV. 17, 18, 22; xxxvii. 6; Num. vii.
89 ; Ps. Ixxix., xcviii. ; Isa. xxxvii. 16. The
propitiatory represented the divinity of Christ,
which enshrouded his humanity, by his union
with which, he was the propitiation for the
sins of men, and made them acceptable to
God ; Col. ii. 9 ; i John ii. 2 ; Rom. v. 2 ;
Eph. ii. 18 ; Heb. iv. 16. The two cherubim
of the propitiatory represented the two Testa-
ments, the Old and the New ; St. Aug. Quaest
105, in Exodus.
Q. What was the table of the bread of
proposition ?
A. It was made of incorruptible wood, cov-
ered with plates of gold, and was used solely
for the bread of proposition ; Ex. xxv. 23.
The bread of proposition was the name of
twelve loaves, which were ever exposed before
the altar of incense. These were changed
every week; Ex. xxv. 30; xxxv. 13. The
table and the bread were a figure of the
Christian altar, upon which Christ offers him-
self continually to God his Father for our
sins, by the ministry of his priests, under the
appearances of bread and wine. The loaves
were twelve, representing the twelve tribes of
Israel, and these again represented all the
nations of which the Church is composed ; St.
Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. x. c. 20.
Q. What was the candlestick ?
48o
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. It was one of pure gold ; had seven
branches, with a light in each branch, and it
was of the finest workmanship. It burnt be-
fore the altar of incense, opposite to the table
of the bread of proposition; Ex. xxv. 31.
It was a figure of Christ and the pastors of
his Church; John viii. 12; Matt. v. 14, 15,
16 ; Apoc. i. 20. The altar of incense was
made of incorruptible wood, overlaid with
plates of gold ; it was put in the holy place
opposite to the ark of the covenant, on the
outside of the screen which separated the holy
of holies from the holy place. It received the
incense which the priests offered morning and
evening to the Lord ; Ex. xxx. ; Luke i. 9, 10.
Q. What did this altar and that incense
signify ?
A. The altar represented Jesus Christ, and
the incense was a figure' of his prayers, and
of the prayers which, through him, the Church
daily offers up to God as a sweet incense,
agreeable to him ; Ps. cxl. 2.
Q. What was the altar of holocausts?
A. An altar of incorruptible wood, overlaid
with brass, which was placed opposite to the
entrance of the tabernacle, but without. On
this altar was offered to God the holocaust, and
all the other sacrifices; Ex. xxvii. It rep-
resented the cross on which Christ, prefigured
by all the ancient sacrifices, was immolated.
This altar was placed outside the tabernacle,
as Christ was crucified outside of Jerusalem.
Q. What was the brazen laver ?
A. A large brazen vase filled with wate-,
and placed in the vestibule, in which the
priests were to wash their feet and their hands
before all their religious functions. This rep-
resented the purity of conscience required from
all ; and after this model is the holy water
placed at the vestibule of every Christian
Church ; St. Greg. Hom. xvii. in Evang.
Q. What were the vestments of the high
priest ?
A. The rational, the ephod, tunic, strait
linen garment, mitre, and girdle. The prin-
cipal vestments of the other priests were : the
tunic, girdle, and mitre. All these vestments
signified the various virtues that should adorn
the sacerdotal character ; Ex. xxviii ; St. Aug.
Quaest. 119, in Exodus.
SECTION XII.— THE GOLDEN CALF, THE PUNISHMENT WHICH FOLLOWED ; THE VEIL ;
THE CHOICE OF AARON AND THE LEVITES.
Q. During the forty days which Moses spent
on the mountain, how were the Israelites oc-
cupied ?
A. Seeing that Moses returned not, they
believed him lost. They pressed Aaron to give
them idols, that they might adore them ;
Aaron was weak enough to yield ; he made a
golden calf, which the people adored, after the
example of the Egyptians. When Moses saw
this abomination, he broke the tables of the
law ; he reduced the golden calf to powder ;
and having cast this into water, he forced the
Israelites to drink it. He reprimanded Aaron
severely, and ordered the tribe of Levi to ex-
terminate, without mercy, all the guilty —
twenty-three thousand men, according to the
Vulgate, were slain — and by this dreadful but
just zeal were the hands of the Levites con-
secrated to God ; Ex. xxxii. 28.
Q. What did Moses do after this punish-
ment ?
A. He showed the Israelites the magnitude
of their crime, and, having appeased the wrath
of God by prayer, he again ascended the moun-
tain, and remained there forty days and nights
without eating or drinking; he then returned
with two new tables of the law. Whilst Moses
was on the mountain, God favored him with a
partial sight of his glory ; and when he de-
scended, his countenance emitted ra3'S of light,
THE APPARITION OF OUR LADY OP LOURDES.
On the eleventh of February, 1858, a poor peasant girl, Bernadette Sobuirous, aged fourteen, went to gather dry branches near a cliff,
and whilst thus engaged she suddenly beheld a lady of supreme loveliness, clad in white, having a white mantle over her head, and
drooping down to her feet, on each of which glittered a golden cross
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN.
Infancy is the age of simplidty, of candor and of innocence— those amiable qualities which every true Christian should strive to
have at every age ; the possession will ever render him more beloved by God and man. The Saviour of the world assures
woros:
in these
' Amen, I say to you. unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kinadom ot neaven.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
481
so that the Israelites could not bear its lustre,
and he was obliged to cover his face with a
veil, when he addressed them ; Ex. xxxiv. 29.
This veil was, according to St. Paul, a figure
of the blindness of the Jews, which prevented
them from recognizing Jesus Christ in the
prophecies of the Old Testament ; 2 Cor. iii.
7, 8, II, 13, etc.
Q. Who were here chosen for the office of
the ministry ?
A. Moses consecrated Aaron as High Priest.
Aaron's sons were consecrated to God for the
priesthood. The whole tribe of Levi were set
aside for the inferior functions of the ministry
iu the tabernacle; Ex. xxviii., xxix. God
prompted Moses to this choice ; had he followed
human nature he would have chosen his own
children. An extraordinary miracle proves that
God called his ministers ; for when Core, Da-
than, and Abiron rose against Moses and Aaron,
pretending that they had as good a right to
the priesthood as the latter, the earth opened
and swallowed these chiefs alive, and fire from
heaven exterminated their followers, to the
number of two hundred and fifty ; Num. xvi.
I, 31. Moses afterwards ordered each tribe to
deliver to him a rod, with the name of the
tribe inscribed. He placed these rods in the
tabernacle ; and the rod of Aaron was the only
one which in one night flowered, and bore
leaves and fruit. Thus, by a miracle, did God
prove that he chose Aaron and his descendants
for the functions of the priesthood ; Num. xvii.
I. All the ministers of God must therefore
be called by God as Aaron was, and dreadful,
like the fate of Core, Dathan, and Abiron, will
be the fate of those who enter not by the door,
but over the wall.
SECTION XIII.— THE SPIES ; MURMUR AND SEDITION OF THE ISRAELITES ; THEIR PUNISH-
MENT ; REWARD OF CALEB AND JOSUE.
Q. How did Moses proceed after he had ar-
ranged in the desert all that regarded the
worship of God ?
A. He sent twelve spies, one from each tribe,
to examine the land of Canaan, the land of
promise, and to bring back samples of its
fruits ; Num. xiii. 3. These reported well of
the land, and brought back with them, as
a sample, a vine branch so laden with grapes
that it required two men with a lever to
carry it. Ten, however, of the spies discour-
aged the people from entering it, declaring
that it was inhabited by an invincible people ;
Num. xiii. 3. The Jews now murmured against
Moses, and wished to choose a chief to lead
them back to Egypt. But Caleb and Josue
endeavored to encourage them, and appease
their murmurings, by assurances of help from
God. Their efforts, however, were vain, and
they would have been stoned, had not God
interposed by the lustre of his glory on the
tabernacle; Num. xiii. 31; xiv. 10.
51
Q. Did God punish this revolt?
A. He struck with a sudden death the ten
spies. He swore that those who had mur-
mured should never enter the laud of promise;
that they should die in the desert ; that Caleb
and Josue were the only individuals who would
enter the promised land ; and had not Moses
appeased God by prayer, all the Israelites would
have instantly perished; Num. xiv. 23; Ps.
xciv. II ; Heb. iii. 10; iv. i, 2, 3, etc.
Q. What did this revolt of the Israelites
represent ?
A. It was a figure of the disposition of those
Christians who despair of. being able to over-
come the enemies of their salvation, and
through this despair, revolt against Jesus
Christ, and abandon themselves to their pas-
sions; St. Aug. in Ps. viii. Caleb and Josue
were figures of those faithful pastors who
excite the people to put their trust in God
alone, and reckon for succor upon Jesus Christ.
The persecution which these holy men
482
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
suflFered was figurative of the sufFerings to be
endured from the wicked by all the true fol-
lowers of Jesus Christ ; and the chastisement
of the Israelites, in this instance, was a figure
of the just judgments of God, which sometimes
visibly, and always invisibly, overtake the per-
secutors of his ministers and people.
Q. Only Caleb and Josue entered the prom-
ised land, out of six hundred thousand men :
what did this prefigure ?
A. The small number of the elect who shall
enter heaven, — a terrible truth, which we could
not believe, did not St. Paul himself so explain
it; I Cor. X. 5, 13.
SECTION XIV.— THE WATERS OF CONTRADICTION ; THE BRAZEN SERPENT ; PREDICTION
OF BAALAM ; AND DEATH OF MOSES.
Q. What did the Israelites do during their
forty years' sojourn in the desert ?
A. God kept them traveling ; sometimes to
one side, sometimes to the other. By a con-
stant miracle, their shoes and clothes lasted
during the whole period; and they were fed
with manna, which fell each daj' except Sab-
bath; Deut. viii. 2 ; xxix. 5. They were still,
however, obdurate. They murmured often
against God and against Moses. They once
excited a sedition for want of water; and at
another time they publicly testified their dis-
gust for the manna; in short, they remained
constantl}' rebellious ; Num. xx., xxi. ; Deut.
xxxi. 27.
Q. How did Moses quash the sedition caused
by want of water ?
A. He struck a rock twice with his rod or
staff, and it gave forth water in abundance. It
was on this occasion that Moses showed dis-
trust in God, and seemed to doubt whether he
could work the miracle. The waters were
called, on account of the murmurs of the peo-
ple, the waters of contradiction; Num. xx. ri.
As a punishment for the want of faith shown
by Moses, God told him he should see the land
of promise, but he should never enter it. God
permitted this error on the part of Moses,
to humble him, — to let the people see that he
was still man, like the rest of men; and that
the punishment of his crime might prefigure a
great future mystery, which we shall explain
afterwards. God punished the crime of Moses
in this world, that he might not be chastised
in the next, for temporal punishments are the
effects of God's paternal goodness ; Prov. iii.
II, 12 ; Heb. xii. 5, 6.
Q. Did God punish the people who showed
disgust for the manna ?
A. He sent serpents amongst them, whose
bite burnt them as fire, and many were
wounded or killed ; Num. xxi. 6. Moses, how-
ever, made a serpent of brass, by the order of
God, and, having set it up as a sign, all the
woixnded who looked on it were healed ; Num.
xxi. 9. This brazen serpent, having all the
appearance of a serpent, without its venom, was
a figure of Christ raised on the cross, having
the likeness of sinful man, yet without sin ;
nay, the very salvation of all sinners ; John iii.
14, 15-
Q. Did the Israelites again provoke God ?
A. Yes ; Balac, king of the Moabites, engaged
Baalam to curse the people of Israel ; but God
influenced the tongue of that prophet to bless
them instead; and he foretold the Messiah.
Dreading, however, the loss of the promised
reward, Baalam advised Balac to send to the
camp of Israel Madianitic women, that the
Israelites, corrupted by these, might provoke
God, become corrupted, and be easily van-
quished. The advice was followed : the Israel-
ites fell into impurity, and then into the most!
infamous idolatry ; Num. xxii., xxiii., xxiv.,
etc.; 2 Peter ii. 14, 15; Apoc. ii. 14; Jude,
verse 11.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
483
Q. Did God punish these crimes ?
A. By the order of God, the leaders were
hanged, and twenty-four thousand were
slain. On this occasion, Phinees, the son of
Aaron, slew an Israelite in the act of com-
mitting the impure outrage ; and by this act
of zeal the anger of God was appeased ; Num.
XXV. 6 ; Ps. cv. 28, etc. ; i Machab. ii. 54.
Phinees, at the head of twelve thousand men,
made war against the Moabites and Madianites,
— Balac and Baalara were killed ; none were
spared, except virgins, who had not known man ;
Num. xxxi. 2, etc.
Q. How did Moses proceed after this expe-
dition ?
A. On the part of God, he ordered Josue to
govern and conduct the people into the land of
promise. He declared the law, anew; he pre-
dicted the reprobation of the Jews, and the voca-
tion of the Gentiles ; he gave his benediction to
each tribe; and, having written all these things
in a book, which was put into the ark with the
law, he ascended a mountain, from which God
showed him the land of promise, which he was
doomed never to enter. On this mountain he
died; his sepulchre was never known, and his
body was never discovered; Deut. iii. 28; iv.
xxxi., xxxii.
Q. What did Josue, leading the people into
the land of promise, represent?
A. Jesus Christ, conducting the Church unto
eternal life, the true and everlasting promised
land; Gal. iii. 11; Heb. vii. 19; Theod. Quasst.
43, in Deut.
SECTION XV.— CONQUEST AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND OF PROMISE, UNDER THE
GUIDANCE OF JOSUE, AND STATE OF THE ISRAELITES UNDER THE JUDGES.
Q. How did the Israelites act after the death
of Moses?
A. they promised to obey Josue in all things,
and he put them in possession of the promised
land; Jos. i. 17. In this they had many difficul-
ties; but, under the guidance of Josue, they over-
came and exterminated the people of that coun-
try. This people, by God's order, were not
destroyed all at once, but by degrees, that the
people of Israel might have time to multiply;
and, by having still enemies, might be con-
stantly exercised, and on their guard; Ex.
xxiii. 29, 30; Deut. vii. 22; Jos. xxiii. 4; Judg.
iii. I, 2.
Q. How did Josue divide the land of Canaan ?
A. The tribes cast lots for it, and each tribe
took that for its abode which Providence assigned
to it; Num. xxvi. 55 ; Jos. xxiii. 4; Ps. Ixxvii. 54.
We speak here only of those tribes who remained
on this side of the Jordan ; for the tribe of Ruben,
and Gad, as well as part of that of Manasses,
established themselves beyond the Jordan.
Q. What is represented by the difficulties and
enemies the Israelites had to contend with, in
taking possession of the promised land?
A. The difficulties the Church and her chil-
dren have to contend with in making their wa}?- to
the land of the living — the true land of promise,
heaven. These difficulties are overcome grad-
ually ; and God always leaves some trial to exer-
cise our virtue, to teach us to cherish a holy fear,
and prevent us from perishing through pride or
self-confidence; Jerom. lit. 129, ad Dardan.
Q. Why did God wish the promised land to
be distributed by lot to the Israelites?
A. To prevent murmurs and disputes; to
teach them that it is God, and not man, who
gives our inheritance ; to teach them, that,
though they made conquest of that land, still,
their possession of it was the pure effect of
God's mercy; and to make s Christians sensi-
ble, that even when we obtain heaven as the
reward of our obedience, still, we owe this pos-
session to the gratuitous goodness of God, who
484
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
gave us grace to obey; Rom. vi. 23; Eph. i.
11; Col. i. 12; Aug. lit. 194, ad Sixtum, c. 3,
n. 14.
Q. How did the Israelites conduct themselves
after they were put in possession of the land
of promise ?
A. They served God during the lives of Josue
and the Ancients ; but after their death, the
people abandoned themselves frequently to dis-
order and idolatry; Jud. ii. 7, 8, etc. These
excesses were caused by the communication of
the people of Israel with the infidel race who
still dwelt in Canaan ; for God had forbidden
every intercourse with that unbelieving people;
Jud. ii. 2 ; iii. 6. God, however, punished them
severely; he delivered them into the hands of
their enemies ; and they fell into extreme misery,
as Moses and Josue had foretold ; Jud. ii. 14,
15; Deut. xxviii. 15; Josue xxiv. 20. Their
punishments continued until they again re-
pented, when God raised up judges to deliver
them from their misery. Still, that ungrateful
people fell again and again, and were again and
again delivered into the hands of their enemies ;
Jud. ii. 16; St. Aug*. Civ. Dei, lib. 16, c- 43, n. 2.
Q. Why were these liberators, whom God
raised up, called judges?
A. Because they did justice to the people on
the part of God, and governed them in his
name. They assumed not the title of kings,
because it was God himself who governed the
people through these men, as he tells the Israel-
ites through Samuel; i Kings viii. 7. These
judges were only the interpreters of God, who
regarded the Israelites as his, in a peculiar
manner, by the covenant he had made with
Abraham and renewed with Moses. Some of
these judges were appointed by the Almighty,
others were chosen by the people. The history
of each may be seen in the Scripture.
SECTION XVI.— ON THE STATE OF THE ISRAELITES UNDER THE KINGS, AND ON SAUL AND DAVID.
Q. Who was the last of the judges?
A. Samuel, a holy man and a great prophet.
Before his death the Israelites wished, contrary
to the first order of God, to have a king to
govern them ; i Kings viii. 4, 5, 6.
Q. Who was the first king of the Jews?
A. Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin; i Kings
X. I, 20. God chose him ; he was anointed by
Samuel, by the order of God. God made his
will known to the people by lot ; all the tribes
cast lots for a king ; the lot fell on the tribe
of Benjamin. Of all the families in that tribe
the lot fell upon that of Cis, son of Abiel, and
father of Saul. In fine, amongst all the heads
of that family, the lot, guided by Providence,
fell upon Saul, who had already been privately
anointed by Samiiel ; i Kings x. i, 20 : Saul's
kingdom was to d sceud by hereditar}^ right to
his heirs ; but he disobeyed the order of God,
and his kingdom was transferred to another
family and another tribe.
Q. Who was Saul's successor?
A. David, the son of Jesse, of the tribe of
Juda ; he was feeding the flocks of his father
when God chose him to be anointed king, by
Samuel ; i Kings xvi. 1,13. He was a prince
after God's own heart, a great king and a great
prophet. Persecuted by Saul, and in constant
danger, he gave great proofs of his courage
and Arirtue. W^hen, however, he was in the
quiet possession of all Saul's dominions, he
committed two dreadful crimes, adultery and
murder ; but he humbled himself, did penance,
and God showed him mercy. God forgave him
the sins, but inflicted severe temporal punish-
ments upon him. After this, David persevered,
to the last, in the fear of God, and died in a
holy manner, leaving his son Solomon in the
quiet possession of his kingdom ; see i, 2, 3
Kings, I Paral. xi., etc.
Q. What were the principal favors that David
received from God ?
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
485
A. God gave him an upright and sincere
heart. God chose him to be king, although he
was the last of his brethren — he preserved him
from the persecutions of Saul, made him always
victorious over his enemies — he gave him a
contrite heart after he had sinned, and purified
him with temporal afflictions — he promised that
the Messiah would descend from his race, pre-
served the royal power in his family, gave him
the gift of prophecy, and inspired him with
those divine canticles which shall ever form
the instruction and consolation of the Church.
It does not appear that the Israelites fell into
idolatry during the reigns of Saul or David.
SECTION XVII.— ON SOLOMON AND THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM.
Q. How did Solomon live ?
A. Having begged wisdom of God, his request
was granted. God made him the wisest, the
most opulent, the most powerful, and the most
admired of men and kings ; but he became
puffed up with prosperity, fell into impurity,
and hence into idolatry ; 3 Kings ; Eccl. xlvii.
14. We know not well whether he was con-
verted before death. There are reasons for and
against his conversion.
Q. What was the most remarkable action of
Solomon's life ?
A. The erection of the temple, the most
superb edifice ever known, and the first ever
consecrated to the honor of God. The stones
of which it was built were all hewn and dressed
outside of Jerusalem, no sound of hammer was
heard in the city, all were carried in, polished
and ready for their place ; and when the temple
was finished, it was dedicated to God amidst
the most pompous ceremonies; 3 Kings v. 17;
vi. 7, 14 ; viii. 13.
Q. Upon what model was the temple built ?
A. Upon the model of the tabernacle of
Moses ; hence it had a sanctuary which con-
tained the ark of the covenant — a hol}^ place
which contained the altar of incense — a vesti-
bule for the priests — an altar of holocausts, of
unpolished stone, placed without the range of
the sanctuary and vestibule ; and finally, it had
vast galleries for the people.
Q. Was Solomon a figure of any one ?
A. Yes; Solomon in his glory was an imper-
fect figure of Jesus Christ. Much is said of
Solomon in the Scripture which can in reality
apply only to Christ, and Solomon's temple was
figurative of the grand spiritual edifice which
Christ came to construct for heaven. We are
the spiritual stones of that edifice ; our sins
require the chisel and knife of the architect
before we can enter into the building. The
sound of the hammer was not heard in Jeru-
salem ; all the stones were polished without ;
so must we be spiritually polished ere we enter
the heavenly temple, for there, says St. John,
there are neither tears, nor sorrows, nor
groans; Apoc. xxi. 4. Before we can take
our place in the building, we must be puri-
fied and receive our spiritual form by the
sacraments, afflictions, mortifications, and pen-
ance. Those who are not purified in this
manner will be rejected by the heavenly
Architect; and those who are will take their
place according to order and rank in the build-
ing. They will be perfectly cemented and
•joined together by charity, which com-
mences here, and will be perfected in heaven,
where is the true sanctuary of God, prefigured
by the ark of the covenant. The veil which,
in the temple of Solomon, separated the sanctu-
ary from the holy place, indicated, according to
St. Paul, that heaven should be shut to man,
until opened by the death of Jesus Christ ;
that then, and not till then, should the veil of
separation be rent in twain. The golden altar
of incense was figurative of Christ in heaven,
where he receives continually the sacrifice of the
incense of the prayers and praises of the Saints.
486
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
The altar of unpolished stoue, upon which
victims were oflFered without the sanctuary,
represented Jesus Christ in his mortal flesh
offering himself to his Father on the altar of
the Cross, the first stone of that holy temple ;
he received no polish, because he was without
sin ; and thus is Jesus at once the divine architect,
the altar, the priest, the sacrifice, and the corner
stone of that temple of the heavenly Jerusalem
which will subsist for eternity ; Villalpand,
de Templo Salom.
Q. Was there only one temple in Judea ?
A. The temple of Solomon was the only
one in which God wished to be adored, and
in this temple there was, as we have already
said, only one altar for the offering of sac-
rifice. This unity of temple and altar was a
figure of the unity of the Church, priest-
hood, and sacrifice of the new law ; see Villal-
pand, ibid.
SECTION XVIII.— DIVISION OF THE TRIBES UNDER JEROBOAM, AND STATE OF THE PEOPLE
OF GOD UNDER THE KINGS OF JUDA AND ISRAEL.
Q. Who was king of the Israelites after
Solomon, and what happened under his reign ?
A. Roboam, the son of Solomon, was king ;
his kingdom was divided as a punishment for
the sins of his father, as God foretold that
prince even during his own life ; 3 Kings xi.
43. 31-
Q. How did this division take place ?
A. Roboam irritated his people by his impru-
dence ; and b}'' the permission of God, ten
tribes revolted against him, and recognized
Jeroboam as king. Only the tribes of Juda
and Benjamin remained faithful to Roboam,
and thus were two kingdoms formed ; 3 Kings
xii. 13, 14, etc. Roboam wished to make war
upon Jeroboam, but God forbade him. This
peace, however, endured only three years, after
which continual war existed between these two
princes ; 3 Kings xii. 2 1 ; xiv. 30. The king-
dom of Roboam was called the kingdom of
Juda, that of Jeroboam the kingdom of Ephraim,
or Israel; 3 Kings xv. 17; Isai. vii. 17.
Q. What were the capital cities of these
kingdoms ?
A. Jerusalem was always the capital of Juda,
and Samaria became the capital of Israel ; Isai.
X. 10.
Q. How did the Jews live under Roboam ?
A. That prince was faithful to God during
three years of his reign, and the people imitated
his example ; but after that, he and his people
fell into impiety, and to punish them, God sub-
jected them for a time to the Egyptians ; 3
Kings xiv. 22 ; 2 Paral. xi. 17 ; xii. i, 2, 3, etc.
Q. How did Jeroboam live ?
A. He was a wicked and impious man. He
dreaded the return of his subjects to the rule of
Roboam ; and hence, that they might have no
commerce with the Jews under Roboam at the
temple in Jerusalem, he made two golden calves,
and induced his subjects to adore them, that he
might keep up a separation, and render their
differences more irreconcilable ; 3 Kings xii. 26.
Unfortunately, the Jews under him imitated his
example, and the majority of them became
impious ; 3 Kings xii. 30 ; 2 Paralip. xi. 16 ; Tob.
i. 5, 6.
Q. What did this division in religion pre-
figure ?
A. The heresies and schisms that were after-
wards to spring up amongst the children of the
Christian Church ; and as some of these heresies
have lasted for a long time, so did the mutual
aversion and disunion, which existed between the
Jews and the Samaritans, continue down to the
time of Christ ; John iv. 9, 20.
Q. What was the number of the kings of Juda ?
A. Twenty : Roboam, Abias, Asa, Josaphat,
THE CATHOLIC REI.IGION DEFINED.
487
Jorara, Ochosias, Athalia, (a queen,) Joas,
Amasias, Osias, Joathan, Achaz, Ezecliias,
Manasses, Anion, Joas, Joachas, Joachim,
Jechonias, Sedecias ; see 3 and 4 Kings, and 2
Paralip.
Q. How many were the kings of Israel ?
A. Nineteen : Jeroboam, Nadab, Basa, Ela,
Zambri,(a usurper,) Amri, Achab, Ochosias,
Joram, Jehu, Joachas, Joas, Jeroboam II.,
Zacharias, Sellum, Manahem, Phacee son of
Manahem, Phacee son of Romelia, and Osee ;
Ibid.
Q. How did the kings of Juda live?
A. Ezechias and Joas were holy kings, and
Josaphat had much piety ; many of the others
were guilty of great crimes, and Manasses was
converted, and died a holy death. The kings of
Israel all lived in impiety. They adored the
golden calf of Jeroboam, and fomented schism
and idolatry amongst their tribes.
Q. How did the Jews themselves live during
these times ?
A. They followed the example of their kings ;
but God reserved a few faithful children in both
kingdoms, who remained inviolably attached to
his law, notwithstanding the crimes of their
rulers; 3 Kings xix. 18; Rom. xi. 4. God
preserved religion amongst the people of Juda,
through his priests and his prophets, who were
the depositaries of his truth; and even the
people of Israel had, as guardians of their
worship and true religion, the two great pro-
phets Elias and Eliseus; see 3 and 4 Kings;
St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xvii. c. 22.
SECTION XIX.— ON THE PROPHETS AND THEIR PROPHECIES.
Q. Who were the prophets ?
A. Holy men, raised by God for the salva-
tion of his people; men who, by the inspira-
tion of the Lord, spoke with power, knew
secret things, foretold the future, and often
wrought great miracles. The most celebrated
of these, under the kings, were Elias, Eliseus,
and Isaiah.
Q. What were the most remarkable actions of
Elias ?
A. He prevented rain for three years ; he
did this to detach the Israelites from the idol-
atry of Baal. He exterminated four hundred
and fifty priests of that false divinity; he was
fed by a raven and by an angel : he raised to
life the son of a widow ; he foretold that
Jesabel, an idolatrous queen, would be de-
voured by dogs ; he confronted kings ; he made
fire descend from heaven ; he divided the river
Jordan with his mantle, and passed on dry
land; he was carried in a chariot of fire to
heaven; and he will return to the earth at the
rnd of the world, to labor for the conversion
of the Jews ; 3 Kings xvii. etc. ; 4 Kings i.
etc. ; Eccles. xlviii. ; Mai. iv. 5 ; Matt. xi. 14 ;
xvii. 10; James v. 17.
Q. What were the most remarkable of the
actions of Eliseus ?
A. Like Elias, he made a dry path through
the waters of the Jordan ; he healed the waters
of Jericho ; bears came and devoured forty-two
children, who were making him an object of
raillery , he foretold the victory of the kings
of Juda, Israel, and Idumea, over the Moabites ;
he multiplied oil for a widow ; he foretold
that a rich woman of Sunam should bear a
son, and it happened according to his word;
that child died, and he raised him to life
again ; he cured Naaman of leprosy, and
punished his own servant Giezi with that
disease, for taking presents from Naaman for
the cure ; he made an iron axe swim upon
water ; he discovered to the king of Israel what ^
passed in the secret councils of the king of
Syria ; he foretold the miraculous victories of
the Israelites over the Syrians ; and, lastly, by
488
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
the touch of his body, he raised a dead man
to life; 4 Kings xvii. etc.; Eccles. xlviii. 13;
Luke iv. 27.
Q. What was there extraordinary in the
actions of Isaiah ?
A. He wrote a book, which contains, on
Jesus Christ, and his Church, prophecies so
clear and numerous, that we might consider
him rather as an evangelist than a prophet ;
St. Jerome, lit. 117; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib.
xviii. c. 29.
Q. What sort of lives did the prophets lead ?
A. Very holy lives, generally retired from
the world, in povert}'^ and hardship. They left
their retreats only by the order of God, and
to perform the duties of their ministry ; they
showed no complaisance to kings or princes; they
denounced all evil-doers, regardless of their smiles
or frowns ; they sought only God and truth ;
Luke i. 70; xi. 47; Heb. xi. 2-33; St. Peter i.
21; iii. 2; see examples, i Kings xv. 17; 2 Kings
xii. 7; xxiv. 13; I Paral. xxi. 11; 3 Kings
xiv. 7; etc. Good kings honored the prophets,
as men of God; the wicked persecuted them,
and sometimes put them to death, as the
bearers of evil news, and promoters of trouble
and consternation amongst their people ; 3
Kings xiii. 4, 6, 21; 2 Paral. xvi. 10; 3 Kings
xviii. 13; xix., xxii. 8; 4 Kings vi. 31; Matt,
xxiii. 35, etc. These wicked kings persecuted
the men of God, because the latter, with a
holy liberty, opposed their passions, and
reproached them with their crimes. False
prophets also flattered the passions of these
corrupt rulers, and made them suspicious of
the true prophets of God. Wicked princes
love falsehood more than truth, and persecute
not those who flatter them to their ruin, but
those who wish to save them; 3 Kings xxii.
22; Jerem. xiv. 13; xxiii. i; xxvii. 15; xxix.
8; Lament, ii. 14; etc.
Q. What did the prophets foretell ?
A. The3' foretold what should happen to the
Jews; and, in connection with them, what
should happen to other nations; but they
especiall}' foretold the Messiah, whom the Jews
expected, and by whom all nations were to be
saved. As regards the Jews, the prophets
foretold the general ruin of the kingdom
of Israel — that the city and temple would be
destroyed, and restored for a time ; that the
Jews would be captive in Babylon, and that
they would again return; that they would
reject the Messiah, and put him to death; that
God would abandon them, and disperse them
over the whole earth; that he would make
with another people an eternal covenant; and
that the Jews would be converted at the end
of the world. The prophets also foretold the
conversion of all the other nations of the earth,
and that God would be known and adored by
all peoples and all tongues.
Q. What did the prophets foretell regarding
Christ ?
A. The precise time of his coming; his
preaching; all the circumstances of his life;
his passion ; his death and resurrection ; and all
that should, in consequence of these, take place
in the world. They also foretold the general
judgment and the eternal separation, by the
just Judge, of the just from the wicked.
Q. Why did God wish the prophets to foretell
portions of Jewish history, as well as what re-
garded the religion to be at a future time estab-
lished ?
A. That the Jews, seeing, in their own
immediate history, these prophecies verified by
the event, might find in them a proof of the
prophecies which regarded the Messiah and his
religion. In the same way, as we find in the
prophecies of Christ, his prophets, and Apostles,
regarding the conversion of the gentiles, the
destruction of the temple, and the dispersion of
the Jews, which have been all really verified, the
strongest proof that what has been foretold, as to
the ultimate reconversion of the Jews, the perse-
cution of antichrist, the resurrection of our
bodies, and the second coming of Christ, will be
all verified by the events ; St. Aug. Civ. Dei,
lib. vii. c. 32. Scripta lege^ impleta cerne^ im-
plenda collige.
THE CATHOIvIC RELIGION DEFINED.
489
SECTION XX.— DISPERSION OF THE TEN TRIBES— BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY-
RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JEWS.
-RETURN AND
Q. How long did the govemmeut of kings
subsist in Judea ?
A. Saul, David and Solomon reigned succes-
sively during 100 years ; the kings of
Israel reigned 255 years ; and those of Juda
387 years ; hence Juda was under kings during
487 years. The idolatrous and schismatical
people of the kingdom of Israel provoked God,
who showered down his wrath upon them, and
destroyed their kingdom. The ten tribes were
led captive by the Assyrians, scattered over all
the north of Asia, and never again united as a
body. The people of Juda became more and
more wicked, and the king of Babylon, according
to the predictions of the prophets, made himself
master of Judea, took and burnt Jerusalem,
levelled its walls, razed the temple to its founda-
tion, and led off the Jews with their king, Jec-
honias, captives to Babylon; 4 Kings xv. 17; 4
Kings sub fine m ; Jer. liii. 3, 10.
Q. How long did this captivity last ?
A. Seventy years ; as was foretold by Jeremias ;
2 Paral. xxxvi. 21 ; Jer. xxv. 12 ; Dan. ix. 2.
During this captivity, the Jews served God under
the spiritual guidance of the prophets, Ezechiel,
Daniel and others, whom God raised to support
and direct them. Cyrus, king of Persia, having
become master of the East, permitted the Jews
to return to rebuild their city and temple ; he
restored to them their sacred vases, and gave
them many presents ; 2 Paral. xxxvi. 22 ; Esdras
i. I. Cyrus acted in this manner, because it
was made clear to him, that Isaias, who lived two
hundred years before him, had by name foretold
that he would reign over the East, and that the
city and temple would be rebuilt by his order; Isa.
xliv. 28 ; xlv. I ; Joseph. Hist, of the Jews, lib.
xi. c. I, n. 436.
Q. Under whose guidance, and in what num-
bers, did the Jews return ?
A. Their numbers were 42,360 ; they were
guided by Jesus the son of Josedec, the high
priest, and Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, chief
of the tribe of Juda ; i Esd. ii. 2, 64, 65.
Besides the tribes of Juda and Benjamin, some
belonging to the other ten tribes may have
returned ; but the latter lost their distinction
as a nation, and from this time all were called
Jews ; Esd. iv. 4 ; Luke ii. 36 ; Acts xxvi. 7.
Q. Were the city and temple rebuilt ?
A. After much opposition from the Samari-
tans, and an interruption of sixty j'ears, they
were at length, after seventy years from the
date of the first edict of Cyrus, allowed to
rebuild the walls, under the direction of
Nehemias ; and even here they had much to
contend with ; they were compelled to have one
hand on the sword, whilst the other was
employed on the wall; i Esd. iv. 4, 21; v. 3 ;
vi. 12; 2 Esd. ii. 19; iv. i; Dan. x. ii.
Q. Was the second temple as magnificent
as the first ?
A. Its external magnificence was much
inferior; still, it surpassed in greatness that of
Solomon, for it was sanctified by the corporal
presence of the Messiah.
Q. Of whom were Jesus and Zorobabel a
figure ?
A. Of Jesus Christ, who was both priest and
king, and who delivers us from the bondage of
the devil ; as Jesus the high priest, and
Zorobabel the chief of the Jews, delivered them
from the bondage of Babylon ; St. Aug. cont.
Faust, c. 36.
Q. What was represented by the opposition
the Jews met with in rebuilding the city and
the temple ?
A. The persecutions suffered by the disciples
of Christ, and especially those which will be
raised before the last day, to prevent the
children of God from taking possession of the
heavenly Jerusalem, where the living and
eternal temple of God is to be consecrated.
Q. What did the second temple, built after
the return of the Jews from captivity, repre-
sent ?
49°
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. It was a figure of the Christian Church
and the New Testament, the glory of which,
being principally spiritual and interior, infinitely
surpassed the glory of that of Solomon,
which was all material and exterior ; St. Aug.
Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 48. The Jews, with one
hand on the work of the temple, and the other
upon the sword, were a figure of the Christian
laboring to build up the heavenly edifice on
Christ as his foundation, and combating at the
same time, with his spiritual sword, the devil,
who labors to turn him from this heavenly
duty.
SECTION XXI.— STATE OF THE JEWS, FROM THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY TILL THEIR
TOTAL RUIN BY THE ROMANS.
Q, By whom were the Jews governed, after
their return from the Babylonish captivity ?
A. They were governed by the Persians ; and
afterwards, by Alexander the Great, who made
himself master of the East, after having con-
quered Darius, the last king of the Persians.
On the death of Alexander, his empire was di-
vided : Ptolemy became king of Egypt ; Seleu-
cus reigned in Babylon and Sj'ria. Ptolemy
made himself master of Judea, and led many
Jews captive to Egypt. He was succeeded by
Ptolemy Philadelphus, who treated the Jews
well, and permitted all who wished to return
to their own country. It was during the reign
of Philadelphus, according to the common opin-
ion, that the Holy Books were translated into
Greek, by seventy-two Jewish interpreters. The
successors of the latter were Ptolemy Evergetes,
Ptolemy Philopater, and Ptolemy Epiphanes.
Under the two latter the Jews were much per-
secuted, that they might be forced to change
their religion. Antiochus, king of Syria, united
his forces with those of Philip, king of Macedon,
to dethrone Ptolemy Epiphanes, king of Egypt ;
and diiring these struggles, Judea was unceas-
ingly harassed. Antiochus was succeeded by
Seleucus Philopater, who, touched with the piety
of the high priest, Onias, furnished him with
the expenses of the sacrifices. To the latter
succeeded Antiochus Epiphanes, who was cele-
brated for his impieties. He banished Onias,
the high priest, and sacrilegiously transferred
the office of sovereign sacrificer to any one he
pleased. He pillaged the temple of Jeru-
salem, and forced the Jews to change their re-
ligion. He put to death for his religion the
holy man Eleazar; he afflicted with dreadful
sufferings the seven Machabees and their
mother; he butchered all that were assembled
on a Sabbath for sacrifice ; and died in the
end a miserable death, by a just judgment of
God.
During this persecution Mathathias withdrew
to the desert, and lived upon herbs rather
than feast on forbidden meats. In the end,
however, he took up arms, along with his son,
the celebrated Judas Machabeus, for the defence
of his country and his religion. This revolt
was not a rebellion against the lawful ruler,
for God ordered it ; he declared himself, by
miracles, for the Machabees, and in quality of
Sovereign Ruler, positively ordered Judas
Machabeus to take up arms ; i Machab. ii. 26,
27; 2 Machab. x. 29, 30; xv. 12, 15, 16. Be-
sides, Antiochus was a usurper ; the kingdom
properly belonged to Demetrius, son of king
Seleucus ; i Machab. vii. 4. The Machabees,
therefore, had a right to deliver themselves
from the tyranny of a usurper ; as the Israel-
ites were justified in shaking off, under Gideon
and the other judges, the yoke of the Madian-
ites. Ammonites, and Philistines, etc.; see Judges,
especially i Machab. xv. 33, 34.
Q. Of what tribe and race was Mathathias?
A. Of the tribe of Levi, and the race of Aaron,
for Judas, his son, was sacrificed in the temple ;
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
491
and Jonathan, another son, became high priest —
offices which belonged to the descendants
of Aaron only ; i Mach. iv. 42 ; x. 20 ; 2 Mach,
X. I, 3, 26, etc. Judas Machabeus gained victories
over Antiochus, the other kings of Syria, and
the neighboring nations ; he took Jerusalem,
purified the temple, dedicated it, and established
a perpetual feast in honor of its dedication —
a feast which was celebrated by Jesus Christ ;
John X. 22. He trusted in God, was most in-
trepid, and by his victories became celebrated
every where. In fine he was killed in an un
equal contest, having only eight hundred men
against a large and formidable army ; but, even
here, he gave astonishing proofs of his faith
and his valor.
Q. Who were the successors of Judas Ma-
chabeus in the government of the Jewish army
and people ?
A. Jonathan succeeded him and became both
temporal and spiritual ruler ; i Mach. x. 20,
65. To him Simon, his brother, succeeded ; he
was the first, since the Babylonish captivity,
who ruled Judea in peace : he was treasonably
killed at a feast, and left his double authority
to his son John, surnamed Hircanus ; i Mach.
xiii. 3; xiv. 4; XV. 6, 21 ; xvi. 2, etc. ; 21, etc.
Judas, surnamed Aristobulus, next succeeded,
and was the first after the Babylonish captivity
who took the title of King of the Jews. To
the latter succeeded Alexander Janneus, who
had, by his wife Alexandra, two sons, Hircanus
and Aristobulus. Alexandra reigned as queen
after the death of her husband, and committed
to Hircanus both the high priesthood and the
crown ; but Aristobulus made war at his mother's
death upon his brother, and stripped him of
his crown.
During the reign of Aristobulus, the Roman
army, under the command of Pompey the
Great, made Judea tributary ; Pompey restored
Hircanus, but without the title of king, and
led Aristobulus to Rome, to grace his triumph.
After this Pacorus, king of the Parthians,
deposed Hircanus, and set up in his place
Antigonus, son of Aristobulus. Soon after this,
Herod, an Idumean by birth, obtained from the
Romans leave to take the title of King of the
Jews ; he overcame Antigonus, and ruled Judea
in peace. It was toward the end of this king's
reign that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men,
appeared in the world. After the death of
Herod, which took place a little after the birth
of Christ, his states were divided amongst his
children, by Augustus the Roman Emperor.
One-half was given to Archelaus, and the rest
divided into two tetrarchates, and given to Herod
Antipas and Philip. About nine years after,
Augustus banished Archelaus to Gaul, where
he died ; and his states were reduced to the
condition of a Roman province. When Christ
commenced his public ministry, the Holy Land
was divided into four portions : Judea proper,
which had been under Archelaus, but now gov-
erned by Pilate, for the Romans, contained
Idumea and Samaria ; Galilee, which was under
the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who is mentioned
in the history of the passion of Christ ; Iturea
and Trachonitis, of which Philip, the brother of
Antipas, was tetrarch ; and lastly, Abilina,
which was the tetrarchate of Lysanias. This
latter country belonged rather to Syria than to
Judea; Luke iii. i, 2. Thus, at this time,
were the Romans masters of Jerusalem, and
half of the Holy Land. Indeed, they might
be said to have been masters of it all, as they
treated the above rulers nearly as subjects,
though they were permitted to be addressed as
kings; Mark vi. 14, etc.
Besides the three sons above mentioned,
Herod the Great had three others, Antipater,
Alexander, and Aristobulus, all of whom he
put to death. Agrippa, the eldest son of the
latter, was cast into prison by Tiberius, but
liberated afterwards by Caligula, from whom
he received the dominions of his grandfather.
Antipas having heard what Caligula was doing
for Agrippa, set out for Rome, that he might
obtain the title of king; but he was banished
by the Emperor to Lyons, from which he fled
to Spain, where he perished miserably with his
wife Herodias, who had been the cause of the
492
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
murder of St. John the Baptist. Agrippa was
confirmed king by the Emperor Claudius, the
successor of Caligula, who even increased his
territories. This was the Herod Agrippa who
put St. James the Greater to death ; who cast
St. Peter into prison ; and who, struck by an
angel, died at Caesarea, devoured by worms, as
we have in Acts xii. 23. Agrippa the Younger
succeeded his father, as king; but his royalty
was only a shadow — the Roman governors
were in reality the kings of Judea. It was
before this Agrippa that St. Paul pronounced
the discourse which we find reported in Acts
xxvi.
The Jews wished at length, sixty-six years
after the death of Christ, and in the seven-
teenth year of the reign of Agrippa, to shake
off the yoke of the Romans. They sustained
a cruel war, which lasted four years ; at the
end of which, Jerusalem was taken and ruined,
the temple destroyed, and the Jews themselves
banished from their country, and dispersed
over the whole earth. Of this sad fate —
the destruction of a people — we shall after-
wards see the cause. Meantime we have shown
how. and by whom, the Jewish nation was
governed, from the Babylonish captivity down
to the period of its utter ruin.
SECTION XXII.— THE MORALITY AND RELIGION OF THE JEWS, FROM THE BABYLONISH
CAPTIVITY TILL THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH.
Q. Had the Jews any prophets, after the
Babylonish captivity, as they had before ?
A. Malachy, who prophesied about the time
the second temple was finished, was the last
of the prophets. Until the time of St. John the
Baptist no other appeared ; Ps. Ixxiii. 9 ; Ma-
chab. iv. 46; ix. 27; xiv. 41. So that, during
450 years, the time between Malachy and St.
John the Baptist, there was no prophet. Dur-
ing all this period, the Jews lived as wickedly as
during the time of the prophets. Still there
were some holy personages amongst them ; such
were Onias, the sovereign pontiff; Simon his
son ; the seven Machabee martyrs, with their
mother, Mathathias ; the illustrious family of
the Machabees ; with others, whose names and
history may be seen in the books of the Macha-
bees, and in Eccles i. 4, 5, 7, 9.
Q. Did the Jews fall again into idolatry, after
their return from the Babylonish captivity ?
A. They were forced into it, in g^eat num-
*bers, by the persecutions they suffered under
the Ptolemies — kings of Egypt — and under the
impious Antiochus, king of Syria ; but we do
not find that they fell voluntarily into that
dreadful crime. St. Jerome, and many other in-
terpreters, say that the persecution they suffered
under Antiochus was a figure of the persecutions
the Christian Church must endure, before the
end of the world, from antichrist ; St. Jerom. on
vii., vaii., xi., xii. of Daniel.
Q. What was the state of religion amongst the
Jews, during the above period, when they had
no prophets ?
A. After the death of Judas Machabeus and
his brethren, various sects appeared. The Phari-
sees added to the law of God a great number of
human interpretations, of which some were indif-
ferent, some superstitious, and some directly
opposed to that holy law. The most celebrated
of these sects were the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
and the Essenians.
Q. What was there peculiar in these sects ?
A. The Pharisees were Jews who affected great
external regularity of life, whilst in their hearts
they were very corrupt, and in many things
actually adulterated the sanctity of the law ; see
their dogmas; Josephus, lib. xiii. c. 9, n. 520;
Matt. XV. 3 ; xxiii.; Luke xviii. 11, 12 ; St. Epiph.
lib. i., contra Haeres. The Sadducees were impi-
ous libertines, who denied the immortality of the
soul, the existence of spirits, the resurrection of
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
493
the body, and the pains of a future life. This sect
was composed of the great and the lich amongst
the Jews ; Josephus, lib. xiii. c. 9, n. 530 ; Matt.
xxii. 23 ; Acts xxiii. 8. The Essenians lived in
common ; led edifying lives ; there was nothing
in their faith or morals reprehensible ; some did
not marry at all, and others married, but under
very strict regulations ; and all were very much
detached from voluptuousness; Josephus, ibid.;
Euseb. de Prepar. Evang. lib. viii. c. 11, 12.
Some think that what Josephus has written of
the Essenians is to be understood only of the
Jews who were converted by the Apostles, whom
we find mentioned in Acts ii.
Q. Were there any other sects amongst the
Jews?
A. Yes ; the Samaritans, the Hemero-baptists,
and the Herodians. The Samaritans were schis-
matical Jews ; they had a separate temple and
altar, and priests who did not recognize the
authority of the high priest. They adored golden
calves, and introduced many pagan ceremo-
nies. The Samaritan schism commenced under
Jeroboam, and lasted till the time of Christ ;
thej?^ recognized as Holy Scripture only the five
books of Moses ; denied that Jerusalem was the
only place in which God was pleased to be wor-
shiped. In other matters they agreed with the
rest of the Jews, who attributed to them many
errors which they did not teach ; " see i and 2
Esdras ; Josephus, lib. xi.,xii., xiii., Hist. Judaeor,;
John iv. 20.
Q. Who were the Hemero-baptists and Hero-
dians ?
A. The Hemero-baptists were Jews who, as
their Greek name informs us, washed themselves
every day ; and in this consisted all their
sanctity ; they denied the resurrection of the
body ; and in every other thing followed the
Pharisees. The Herodians were so called,
because they pretended that Herod the Great was
the Messiah Some interpreters say, that the
Herodians, mentioned in Scripture, were of this
sect, whilst others maintain that these were only
so called, because they were oflScers of Herod,
appointed to collect the tribute to be paid to the
Romans ; Matt. xxii. 16 ; Mark xii. 13. It is
worthy of remark here, that the very fact of the
Herodians believing Herod to be the Messiah,
proves clearly that the Jews were persuaded that
the time foretold for the coming of the Messiah
was at hand ; St. Jerome, contra Lucifer, page
625.
SECTION XXIll.— ON THE STATE OF THE GENTILE PEOPLE, FROM THE VOCATION OF
ABRAHAM TO THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH
Q. How did the Gentiles live, before the Mes-
siah came ?
A. God has never failed to give to men the
means of salvation ; but the Gentiles, having
been unfaithful to his graces, he abandoned them
to their corruption, from the time he chose Abra-
ham to be the father of the Jewish people. After
that period, and down to the establishment of
the Christian Church, the Gentiles lived in dis-
order and idolatry. The picture St. Paul gives
of them is frightful : nor can it be said that, God
having abandoned them, they were excusable, for
the fault was theirs ; their crimes forced him to
deliver them over to a reprobate sense. They
still had, in all nature, the means of knowing
him ; and, in their own hearts, incentives to
serve him. They were justly abandoned, because
they neglected to use the means of salvation
which God had put in their power; Acts xiv. 15,
16; Romans i. 20, 21. There were, however,
still even amongst these Gentiles, some chosen
children of God, who belonged to the society of
the saints ; St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 47.
Q. What were these Gentiles bound to de, in
order to sanctification ?
A. Exactly what men were bound to do before
494
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
the vocation of Abraham, viz.: to believe in one
God, to adore him alone, to obey him, to live
according to the law of conscience and right rea-
son, and to believe and hope in a future Messiah ;
St. Aug. Ibid.
Q. Do we know any Gentiles who lived in the
above manner?
A. Yes, Job and Melchisedech were celebrated
for their piety, and were express figures of Jesus
Christ. The Ninevites, also, who did penance
at the preaching of Jonas, served the true God.
We have reason to believe, that the dispersion of
the Jews, under the Assyrians, with the aid of
the holy books which they carried with them,
had the effect of leading many Gentiles to the
knowledge of, and hope in, the Messiah.
Q. Who was Job?
A. He was an eastern prince of the land of
Hus, who believed in God, and feared him ; his
virtue was subjected to every possible trial, yet
he remained a perfect model of patience, purity,
and fidelity. God rewarded him by doubling his
possessions, and he died loaded with merit. He
was a figure of Christ, in his innocence, his temp-
tations, his sufferings, his patience, and in the
glory with which that patience was crowned.
which was a figure of the resurrection aud ascen-
sion of Christ.
Q. Who was Melchisedech ?
A. We know neither his genealogy, nor his
birth, nor his death ; all we know of him is, that
he was priest of the Most High, aud king of
Salem ; that when the patriarch, Abraham, con-
quered the five kings, Melchisedech offered in
sacrifice bread and wine, by way of thanksgiving
to God for that victory ; that he blessed Abra-
ham ; and that the latter gave him the tithe of
all he possessed; Gen. xiv. i8, etc. ; Heb. vii. i,
2, 3, etc., 17. Melchisedech was a figure of
Christ in this, that all that is said of him has a
distinct relation to Jesus Christ, and his priest-
hood, as St. Paul admirably shows in Heb. vii.,
and hence Christ is called a high priest accord-
ing to the order of Melchisedech ; Ps. cix. 4.
Q. Why did God permit such general corrup-
tion amongst the Gentiles and the Jews ?
A. That he might exercise his mercy towards
both ; that he might confound the pride of men,
and lead them to desire, and to obej' the Messiah,
by feeling the necessity of him, who alone could
cure their otherwise irremediable evils ; Rom. iii.
9 ; viii. 3.
CHAPTER V.
On the State of Religion After the Coming of the Messiah.
SECTION 1.— ON JESUS CHRIST, PROOFS OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, BY THE ACCOM-
PLISHMENT OF THE PROPHECIES IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
Q. Do we certainly know that the Messiah has
come, and that the Jews, who still expect him,
are in error ?
A. Yes ; for the time, marked out by the
prophets for his coming, has already passed ; and
all the prophecies have been accomplished in the
person of Christ.
Q. What are the prophecies which mark out
the time of the coming of the Messiah ?
A. The prophecies of Jacob, Daniel, and Ag-
geus, are the most precise on this point.
Q. What was the prophecy of Jacob?
A. Being on the point of death, he foretold
many things regarding each of his children and
their posterity ; and when he came to Juda he
said, "The sceptre shall not be taken
AWAY FROM JUDA, NOR A RULER FROM HIS THIGH,
TILL HE COME THAT IS TO BE SENT, and
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
495
HE SHALL BE THE EXPECTATION OF NA-
TIONS ;" Gen. xlix. lo.
Q. How does this prove that the Messiah has
already come ?
A. More than 1800 years have elapsed since
the Jews have had either a king or a chief, and
more than 1700 years have passed since they
were banished from their native land, and so dis-
persed, that they have never since been able to
return. Therefore, either the above prophecy is
false, or the Messiah is already come.
Q. Did the Messiah in reality come as soon as
the Jews ceased to have a sovereign of their own
nation ?
A. Yes ; for when Christ, whom we shall
prove to be the Messiah, came to the world,
Herod, who was not a Jew by birth, but an Idu-
mean, had the title of king of the Jews. The Ro-
mans were so absolutely masters of Judea, that
they had governors there, and during the life of
Christ, they took from the Jews the power of life
and death. Even the Jews themselves acknowl-
edged that they had no king but Csesar ; John
xix. 15.
Up to the time of the Roman subjection, the
Jews had always retained their authority, either
"wholly or in part, and if they lost it, it was only
for a time ; their longest captivity was that of
Babylon, which lasted only seventy years, during
which they had the power of life and death, as
appears by the history of Susanna. Afterwards,
when they were tributary to the Medes, Persians,
Greeks, Syrians, or the kings of Egypt, they
were governed by their high priests, who had
almost absolute authority, and who, in course of
time, effected their entire independence, and took
the title of kings. This authority of the last of
the really Jewish kings, endured precisely until
the coming of Christ, in whom the prophecy of
Jacob was exactly verified; see Euseb. Demon-
strat. Evangel, lib. viii. c. i. ; St. Cyril Alex,
contra Julian, lib. viii.
Q. What was the prophecy of Daniel as to the
coming of the Messiah ?
A. During the time that the Jews were captives
in Babylon, God sent his angel Gabriel to the
prophet Daniel to inform him, that the city and
the temple of Jerusalem would be rebuilt, and
that, reckoning from the term of the edict for its
reconstruction, seventy weeks should elapse,
until the coming of Christ ; that in the middle
of the seventieth week the Messiah should be put
to death ; that he would be rejected by his own
people, and consequently would cease to regard
them as his; that the city and temple of Jeru-
salem would, after this, be entirely destroyed;
and that, before the demolition of the temple,
the abomination of desolation would be seen in
that holy place, and that, immediately after, the
Jews would suffer a desolation which would en-
dure to the end of time; Dan. ix. 24, 25, 27.
Q. Does this prophecy prove that the Messiah
has already come ?
A. Yes ; for if we take these seventy weeks for
weeks of days, they only make 490 days ; and if
we reckon them weeks of years, as we are author-
ized by other scriptural authorities, (Lev. xxiii.
15, 16; XXV. 8,) they make 490 years. Now, it
is more than 1700 years since Jerusalem and its
temple were destroyed, and the Jews dispersed
over the whole earth, bearing with, and upon
them, visible marks of the reprobation foretold
by this and other prophecies ; Osee i. 9 ; iii. 4 ;
ix. 17 ; Isa. vi. 9.
Q. The Messiah then has long since come ?
A. So it appeared to all antiquity. When
Pompey made himself master of Jerusalem, it
was the opinion of all the Jews that the time,
marked by the prophets for the coming of the
Messiah, had arrived. A report was spread abroad
that a sovereign would come from the East, who
would subject the world ; it was published in
Rome that nature was about to give a king to the
Romans; with this the predictions of the Sibyls,
so much venerated by the Romans, agreed; and
it was this same general impression which gave
rise to the sect of the Herodians, of whom we
have spoken; Joseph. Wars of the Jews, lib. vi.
c. 31, n. 476; Sueton. de Vita August. Lucan. lib.
viii. ; Cicero de Divinatione.
Q. Does this prophecy prove that Jesus Christ
is the Messiah ?
496
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. Yes ; for all that is here foretold of the
Messiah agrees exactly with Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ was put to death exactly in the middle of
the seventieth week of years, reckoning from the
edict of king Artaxerxes Longimanus, in the
twentieth year of his reign, to rebuild Jerusalem.
The Jews abandoned and denied Jesus ; they
were rejected by him as reprobates, and conse-
quently the Romans attacked and destroyed their
city and temple. Joseph us shows us by how
many abominations the temple was polluted. It
is notorious, that since that time the Jews have
been dispersed over the whole earth ; and that,
aided even in their attempts to rebuild that city, by
idolatrous emperors who hated Christianity, they
failed in every effort ; see Ammian. Marcel, lib.
xxiii. c. I ; St. Greg. Naz. Orat. iv., in Jul.
Apost. ; St. Chrys. Horn. 4, in Matth. ; Tille-
mont. Hist. Eccl. torn. ii.
Q. Is there any other prophecy of Daniel re-
garding the coming of the Messiah ?
A. Yes ; God discovered to this prophet the
succession of empires, from Nabuchodonosor to
the coming of the Messiah. These were the
empires of the Babylonians, the Persians, the
Greeks, and the Romans ; the Romans are rep-
resented under the figure of iron, which subdues
and crushes all other substances, as the Romans
were, in effect, to render themselves masters of
the world. The prophet adds, that in the time
of these empires, God would raise another em-
pire, which is compared to a little stone descended
from heaven ; that this empire should subdue all
the others, without any violence ; that this stone,
so small in the beginning, should become a great
mountain which would fill the whole earth, — that
is, a great new empire, which should be extended
every where, and should subsist eternally ; Dan.
ii- 37- _
Q. What is the meaning of this prophecy ?
A. That God would send to the world the
^Messiah, who is designated often in Scripture as
a stone or rock ; that this Messiah would estab-
lish on the ruins of the Roman empire the spir-
itual empire of his Church ; that this empire
should be small in the beginning, like the mus-
tard seed to which it is compared in Scripture,
but which, in Palestine, becomes a great tree,
where are lodged the fowls of the air. We know
that the Church, in the Scripture, is compared to
a high mountain, to which all nations will flow,
and this is the mountain which Daniel foresaw,
formed from a small detached stone, without the
aid of the hand of man; Isa. ii. 2 ; Mich. iv. i.
Q. Is this prophecy verified ?
A. Yes; to the very letter. Jesus appeared
under the reign of Augustus, the first of the
Roman emperors. The empire of Jesus was
almost nothing at first, but it grew up gradu-
ally, without human aid. It subjected great
nations, and subdued idolatrous empires, and has
now for ages been extended over the entire uni-
verse. No other kingdom or empire has existed,
or does now exist, in which this prophecy could
or can be verified ; see Bossuet, in Dan. ii.
Q. What is the prophecy of Aggeus, which
relates to the coming of the Messiah ?
A. The Jews were sad that the second temple,
built by Zorobabel, was not equal in glory to that
of Solomon. To console them, God, by his
prophet Aggeus, addressed them in these words :
" Yet, one little while, and I will move the
heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry
land, and I will move all nations and the desired
of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house
with glory ; great shall be the glory of this last
house, more than of the first, and in this place I
will give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts ;" Agg.,
ii. 7, 8, 10.
Q. How does this text prove that the Messiah
is come ?
A. It tells us that he should come in a short
time, that he should give this second temple more
glory by honoring it with his presence than
attended that of Solomon with all its grandeur.
Now, it is more than . seventeen hundred years
since this temple was destroyed, and the Messiah
must have appeared before that event.
Q. Does this prophecy prove that Christ is the
Messiah ?
A. Yes ; for it can be applied to him, and to no
other. He appeared in the world about five
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
497
"hundred years after this prophecy, which is a
short time compared with the age of the world.
He was the desired of nations, for he brought all
to the knowledge of the true God, as so many
prophets had foretold. The need we had of him
may be called desire, as we say the parched earth
desires and seeks water. He moved the universe,
because, as St. Paul says, he renewed all things
in heaven, and on earth ; Eph. i. lo. He ren-
dered the second temple more glorious than the
first, literally, by his actual presence, and spirit-
nally by his Church, which the temple prefigured.
Finally, he gave peace in this place ., because the
real second temple prefigured still exists in the
Christian Church, where God is adored, man in-
structed and reconciled to Heaven, and the way
to everlasting peace and happiness opened. This
prophecy, then, applies admirably to Christ, and
to no other ; St. Jerom. St. Cyril Alex. n. 14.
Q. What is there remarkable in the prophecies,
as regards Christ ?
A. There is not a circumstance of his birth,
his life, or his death, which was not foretold, as
we shall see in the abridged history of his life ;
see also St. Aug. lib. xiii. contra Faust, c. 6, 15.
Q. May not these prophecies have been forged
by the Christians ?
A. They are so clear, that the pagans have
been tempted to make this same objection ; but
their truth is so certain that no man of good
sense will call them in question ; and this incon-
testable certainty has ever been the bulwark of
the Christian religion ; 2 Peter i. 19, 20, 21.
Q. How is the truth and certainty of these
prophecies demonstrated ?
A. The Jews, the irreconcilable enemies of
Christians, were the depositaries of these prophe-
cies ; from the Jews did both Christians and
Gentiles receive them. In spite of the humili-
ating reproaches with which these prophecies are
filled against the Jews, they have ever reverenced
them as divine ; they had them translated into
Greek before the time of Christ, and spread
abroad in that language wherever it was known.
The smallest change made by the Christians
would have been seen at once, not only by the
Jews, but by the Gentiles. The Jews, so much
attached to their law and their holy writings, and
such envenomed enemies of the Christians, would
have exclaimed loudly against any corruption of
their writings. We have, on the one hand, the
testimony of the pagans, who saw these prophe-
cies so clear, that they were tempted to believe
that they were forged after the events; and we
have on the other, the testimony of the Jews,
whose interest it was to obscure the lustre of
these prophecies, declaring loudly that they were
authentic and uncorrupted ; so that we have, in
the opposition of the Jews to the Gentiles, and of
the Gentiles to the Jews, an invincible proof of
the authenticity of these prophecies, and, conse-
quently, of the truth of the Christian religion ;
St. Aug. Serm. 174 ; Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 46.
Q. Since these prophecies are so clear, why are
the Jews, otherwise sensible men, so obstinate in
rejecting them ?
A. This is a just judgment of God, who aban-
dons them to blindness as a punishment of their
crimes. The very fact that they are the enemies
of the Christian Church is the strongest proof
of the truth and purity of those Scriptures which
the Church has received from them ; this fact
shows at once to the unbeliever that no collusion
could exist between the Jews and the Christians,
as to these prophecies. Besides, this very obsti-
nacy of the Jews is itself a proof of the truth of
the prophecies, for it was clearly foretold that
they would remain obstinate and blind to the
end, that they should have eyes without seeing,
and ears without hearing, and that even their
own writings should be for them a sealed book ;
Dent, xxviii. 28 ; Ps. Ixviii. 24 ; Isa. i. 3 ; vi. 9 ;
xxix. 10 ; xlii. 18, 19 ; lix. 9, 10,
3»
498
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
SECTION II.— ON JESUS CHRIST, OR THE MESSIAH.
Q. Who is the Messiah whom God has sent
to men ?
A. Jesus Christ the Son of God, the eternal
Word, made man, to deliver men from sin, and
from the power of the devil, to reconcile them
to God, to restore their right to eternal life,
and put them in possession of that life ; in a
word, to be the Redeemer, so long expected by
fallen man.
Q. Jesus Christ is, then, both God and man ?
A. Yes, and this the prophets have foretold
of the Messiah. They call him, on account of
his dimne nature^ the Son of God, or, simply,
God ; and, on account of his human nature^
they call him the son of David ; they call him
Emmanuel, that is, God with us, which ex-
presses the union of these two natures in one
person ; Paral. xvii. 13, 14 ; Ps. ii. 7, 8, 9 ;
Ixxxviii. 27, etc. ; Isa. ix. 6; viii. 13 ; xxxv. 4 ;
liv. 5 ; xi. I ; vi. 5.
Q. What do you mean by saying Christ is
both God and man ?
•A. That there are two natures in Christ, the
divine and the human. The divine nature is
consubstantial with the Father, and with the
Father and the Holy Ghost is one God ; John i.,
X. 7, etc. ; see SS. Athanasius, Hilary, Basil,
Austin against the Arians. The human nature
has a body and soul like ours, and the eternal
Word, in taking this body and soul, clothed him-
self with all our infirmities, excepting sin, igno-
rance, and the inclination to evil ; Phil. ii. ; Heb.
iv. 14, 15, 16 ; St. Athan. Lit. ad Epict. ; St.
Greg. Naz. Serm. iv. contra Julian ; St. Amb,
ie Incarn. c. iii. n. 16.
Q. What mean you by saying that in Christ
the divine and human natures are united in
one person?
A. That they are united in him without
confusion, so that there is only one person,
which is the Son of God, something like the
union of the soul and body, which are so
united that they make only one man. From
this difference of natures we easily understand
his words, when he says, " I and the Father
are one " ; and in another place, the "Father is
greater than I." In the former he speaks of
his divine nature^ and in the latter of his
human nature ; Symb. S. Athan. ; John x.
30; xiv. 28; St. Aug. lib. 2 de Trinit. It
follows, also, from the above principle, that we
can attribute to God in Jesus Christ, what can
only agree properly to man, and the reverse,
because the same person is both God and
man ; thus, it is true that God has suffered,
died, and risen from the dead, and thus is it
true that man is the Son of God — that he is
God ; St. Hilar, de Trin. lib. 9 ; St. Leo. Lit.
134 ad Imperat. Leon. We cannot, however,
say of the Father or the Holy Ghost, that
they became incarnate, suffered, or died, because
they have the same nature with the Son; for,
to the person of the Son alone, is human na-
ture united ; he alone, and not the Father or
the Holy Ghost, became man; St. Aug. lit. 11,
or 218 ad Nebrid. n. 4 ; St. Leo. ibid.
Q. How can the divine and human natures
be united in the same person of Jesus Christ,
without the participation of the Father and the
Holy Ghost, who are of the same divine nature
with the Son ?
A. All this infinitely surpasses our under-
standing ; we believe all firmly, because God
has revealed all, and the Church has ever re-
puted those heretics who have rejected these
divine mysteries ; Serm. S. Leon, de Incar.
Q. Has Jesus Christ two distinct wills, as
he has two distinct natures?
A. Yes ; for the will is an essential part of
intelligent nature, but the two wills of Christ
are subordinate the one to the other ; the hu-
man is perfectly subject to the divine will ;
see 6 Gener. Con. contra Monothel. ; St. Leo.
Serm. 5.
Q. Did the Son of God leave heaven when
he became man ?
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
499
A. No ; he is every where ; when we say he
descended from heaven to this earth, we merely
mean that he united to himself human nature,
and became, by his humanity, sensible to us
mortals ; whilst in an ineffable manner, he, in
reality, fills heaven and earth ; St. Aug. Serm.
187 de Nativ.
Q. What is the union of the divine with the
human nature termed ?
A. A Hypostatical, that is, personal union,
for the original Greek word signifies a person.
The person of the Son of God is the term
of this union, for the human nature is
not united to the three persons of the
Trinity; see Cone. Ephes. Chalced., etc.,
Cyril Alex. P. Petav., and other dogmatic
theologians.
SECTION III.— HISTORY OF THE INCARNATION.
Q. In what way did the Son of God become
man ?
A. God sent the angel Gabriel to the city
of Nazareth, in Galilee, to a virgin named
Mary, who had espoused a man called Joseph,
of • the race of David. The angel said to her,
" Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."
She was troubled at these words. The angel
said to her, "Fear not, Mary, thou shalt con-
ceive, and shalt bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Jesus ; he shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Most High ;
the Lord God shall give him the throne of
his father David ; he shall reign in the house
of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there
shall be no end."
The holy Virgin asked the angel how this
could be, seeing she knew not man : which
shows, according to the holy Fathers, that she
had determined to remain forever a virgin. The
angel replied, "The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Most High
shall overshadow thee, and, therefore, the holy
One which shall be born of thee, shall be called
the Son of God." This prediction is confirmed
by the miracle which God was working at the
time, in favor of Elizabeth, who, though before
barren, was now in her sixth month of preg-
nancy, "For nothing (concludes the an gel), is
impossible to God." The holy Virgin believed
the words of the angel, and gave her consent,
saying, " Behold tlie handmaid of the Lord, be
it unto me according to thy word." And in
this moment the mystery of the Incarnation is
accomplished by the operation of the Holy
Spirit, in the chaste womb of that holy Virgin,
and the eternal Word is made man to dwell
amongst us ; Luke ii.
Q. Of what family was the Blessed Virgin,
and was she married, or only afi&anced to
Joseph ?
A. Of the family of David, of which also
sprang her spouse Joseph. St. Augustine and
several other Fathers think that she was really
married, and the original word, used by St.
Matthew, seems to favor this opinion. Other
Fathers, however, have taught that she was only
afiianced; see Tillemont and all the inter-
preters ; St. Aug. lib. 23, contra P'aust. ; St.
Jerom. in i. Matt. ; Tillemont, n. 7, in Sane.
Virg.
Q. If the Blessed Virgin was married to St.
Joseph, why was she surprised when told by the
angel that she should have a son?
A. Because, as all the Fathers teach, she had
made a vow of virginity.
Q. Why then did she marry, after having
made this vow?
A. By the especial order of God, and for
great ends. First — That the incarnation might
remain unknown, so long as might be required
by the impenetrable designs of God's mercy and
justice; Tillem. in S. Virg. Art. 2. Second —
That the reputation of the Blessed Virgin might
500
THE CATHOIJC RELIGION DEFINED.
be protected by the honorable veil of marriage,
against the maligTiant calumnies and violence
of the Jews, who would have stoned her ; St.
Jerora. in i Matt.; St. Amb. in i Luc. lib. 2, c. 27.
Third — That the Blessed Virgin might have
the solace of an affectionate friend, in the trials
to which God was about to subject her; St.
Jerom. ibid.
Q. What do you mean, when you say that
Jesus Christ was conceived by the operation of
the Holy Ghost ?
A. That as man, he had no father, but that his
body was formed miraculously in the chaste
womb of the Blessed Virgin, by the Holy Ghost.
Although this great miracle was performed
by the operation of the Trinity, still, it is
attributed to the Holy Ghost only, because
it was the effect of God's ineffable love to
men, that the Son became incarnate ; John iii.
16. Now, we attribute the effects of love to
the Holy Ghost, as we attribute the effects of
power to the Father, and wisdom to the Son.
Q. The Blessed Virgin then conceived, and
gave birth to Jesus Christ, without losing her
virginity ?
A. She was a virgin before the birth, a
virgin in the birth, and remained a virgin all
her life. Such has ever been the belief of the
whole Church. Isaias had foretold that the
Messiah should be born of a virgin, vii. 15;
Matt. i. 23. The Church has always regarded
as heretics, those who denied the perpetual
virginity of the Blessed Virgin ; St. Jerom.
contra Jovin. lib. i.
Q. Is the Blessed Virgin truly the mother of
God?
A. Yes ; because she gave birth to a Son,
who is God ; and the flesh of the God man
was formed from her flesh ; Gal. iv. 4, 5 ; Cone.
Bphes. contra Nestor.
Q. What was the profession of St. Joseph ?
A. Although of the ro37al race of David, he
■was poor, and obliged to earn his bread by the
work of his hands. He was an artisan, but of
what kind the Scripture does not say ; Matt.
xxiii. 55 ; Tillem. torn. i. 2, note on St. Joseph.
SECTION IV.— HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST, FROM HIS TEMPORAL BIRTH TILL HIS
RETIREMENT INTO EGYPT.
Q. When was Jesus Christ bom, and in what
place?
A. Precisely at the time foretold by the proph-
ets, about 4,000 years after the creation. He
was bom in the city of Bethlehem, where the
prophets foretold the Messiah should be born, as
even the Jews themselves declared to the Magi,
in the presence of Herod ; Micheas v. 2 ; Matt.
ii. 5, 6.
Q. Since the Blessed Virgin was of Nazareth,
a city of Galilee, how does it happen that Jesus
Christ is bom at Bethlehem?
A. The Emperor Augustus had ordered a cen-
sus of all the subjects of the Roman empire; this
order compelled all the Jews to return to their
original family home. On this account, St.
Joseph and the Blessed Virgin returned to
Bethlehem, the city of David; as they arrived
there, the full time of the Blessed Virgin had
arrived. There was no room for her in the inn,
on account of the crowds which the census had
forced to repair thither; so she, with Joseph,
were compelled to retire to a cavern, which
served as a stable to the inn, and in this mis-
erably poor place did the Saviour of the World
choose to be bom; Luke ii. i, 4, etc.
Q. Why did Augustus make this census ?
A. He was to give peace to all the earth ;
and from reasons of state, or from pride, he
desired to know the numbers subject to his
empire. God, however, made use of this dis-
position of the emperor, to give to the Gentiles,
as well as to the Jews, a proof, so authentic as
to be beyond suspicion, of the accomplishment
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
501
of the prophecies, that the Messiah should be
bom in Bethlehem, of the family of David; for
the registry of this census was carried to Rome,
and preserved in the archives of the empire,
where it still was in the time of Tertullian ;
St. Chrys. Hom. 8 and 33, in Matt. ; Tertul.
lib. iv. contra Marcion. c. 7.
Q. Had the prophets foretold that there
would be universal peace, when the Messiah
should come ?
A. Yes. " And they shall turn their swords
into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles;
— nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they be exercised any more to
war; " Isaias ii. 4; St. Jerom. in ii. Isai.
Q. Why did Jesus choose to be born in a
stable ?
A. He came to cure the corruption of the
world ; to teach men what were true goods ;
and in what their real happiness consisted. He
gave them a complete and solemn antidote for
the concupiscence of the flesh, of the eyes, and
for the pride of life — the sources of all sin, in
his being bom of parents fallen from the most
illustrious to the most obscure state, reduced
to the extreme of poverty, compelled even to
leave the inn where worldlings rioted, and take
tip their abode in a stable; Titus ii. 11, 12;
St. Chrys. Hom. 8, in Matt.
Q. Did the prophets foretell that the Messiah
would come in a state of poverty and obscurity ?
A. Yes. " Verily thou art a hidden God, the
God of Israel, the Saviour; Isaias xlv. 15. And
again, " Despised and the most abject of men ;
and his look was as it were hidden and despised ;
liii. 3. " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion :
behold, thy King will come to thee, the just and
Saviour ; he is poor and riding upon an ass ; "
Zach. ix. 9.
Q. On what day, and at what hour, was Christ
bom ?
A. About the middle of the night of the twenty-
fifth day of December, according to the most an-
cient tradition of the most celebrated churches.
Q. Did the prophets foretell the hour of the
birth of the Messiah ?
A. The Book of Wisdom speaking of the
arrival of the angel in Egypt, to deliver the
Israelites, and exterminate the first bom of the
Egyptians, uses an expression which the Church
has applied to the birth of Christ : " While all
things were in quiet silence, and the night was
in the midst of her course^ Thy almighty word
leapt down from heaven, from thy royal throne ; "
Wisd. xviii. 14, 15.
Q. Did Christ make his birth knov/n to men?
A. Yes ; angels announced him to the neigh-
boring shepherds, who were Jews ; and a new
star, along with a revelation from God, made
him known to the wise men of the east, who were
Gentiles. Both came immediately to adore the
Saviour of mankind ; Luke ii. 8 ; Matt. ii.
Q. Was Jesus circumcised on the eighth
day, according to the custom of the Jews ?
A. Yes; he desired to submit himself to the
law, that he might redeem those who were
under the law; Luke ii. 21; Phil. ii. 9; Gal.
iv. 4. Christ remained at Bethlehem forty
days, to give the Jews time to inform them-
selves of the great event of his birth, after
which the Blessed Virgin carried Jesus to the
temple, to off'er him to God as her first bom,
and to comply, although she reqiiired it not,
with the legal purification of the Jews ; St.
Chrys. Hom. 7, in Matt.
Q. When did the Magi come to adore Christ?
A. The common opinion is that they came
on the twelfth day after his birth, the day upon
which the Latin Church celebrates the feast
of the Epiphany. This visit of the wise men
is foretold by Isaias : " And the Gentiles shall
walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness
of thy rising. . . . All they from Saba
shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and
showing forth praise to the Lord;" Isaias
Ix. 3,6. " The kings of Tharsis and the
Islands shall offer presents ; the kings of the
Arabians, and of Saba, shall bring gifts ; '*
Ps. Ixxi. 10. That the above passage
was not applied to Solomon, is evident
from the same chapter, verse 5. " He shall
continue with the sun, and before the moon
502
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
throughout all generations; and he shall rule
from sea to sea, and from the river to the end
of the earth." These are words which cannot
by any means be applied to Solomon. Even
the apparition of the star had been foretold :
" A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a sceptre
shall spring up from Israel ;" Num. xxiv. 17.
Q. Whither did the Blessed Virgin and St.
Joseph direct their steps, after the presentation
of Christ in the temple ?
A. Thej'^ fled to Eg3'pt, to avoid the persecu-
tion of Herod, who sought the life of Jesus
Christ; Matt. ii. 13. Herod dreaded that Christ,
who was called King of the Jews, by the wise
men, would one day dethrone him, and hence
he sought to put him to death ; and in order
to entrap him, he ordered all children under
two years to be slain.
Q. Was this massacre of the innocents fore-
told ?
A. It was prefigured by Pharaoh's slaughter
of the male children of the Hebrews ; and the
flight of Christ to Egypt was prefigured by the
care which the daughter of the Egyptian king
took of Moses, who was the type of Christ ;
but, besides these figures, the words of Isaias
are applied to the innocents by St. Matthew ;
Jer. xxxi. 15; Matt. ii. 18.
SECTION v.— LIFE OF CHRIST TILL HIS BAPTISM, AND THE LIFE OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
Q. Was the retreat of Christ into Egypt
foretold by the prophets ?
A. The retreat of the family of Jacob into
Egypt was a figure of it, and Isaias expressly
foretold it : " Behold, the Lord will ascend on
a swift cloud, and will enter Egypt, and the
idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence ; "
xix. I. This prophecj'^ was verified ; as the idol
of the temple of Dagon was overturned by the
presence of the ark, so, by the presence of
Christ, were the idols of Egypt overturned, for
Egypt became soon a flourishing province of
the Church ; Tillem. Art. 4, sur. I. C.
Q. How long did Christ remain in Egypt ?
A. We only know that he returned from
thence shortly after the death of Herod, in the
reign of Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judea; Matt,
ii. 19. He dwelt at Nazareth, a city of Galilee,
which was the ordinary abode of Joseph, after
the birth of Christ ; Luke i. 26 ; ii. 4, 39, 51;
Matt. ii. 23. Here he remained until he was
jabout thirty years of age ; Luke ii. 51.
Q- What do we know of the infancy of Jesus
Christ ?
A. Besides what we have related above, we
know only that when he was about twelve years
of age, he was conducted to the temple by St.
Joseph and his Blessed Mother; that, without
their knowledge, he remained there behind
them ; that, after they had sought him three
days, they found him in the midst of the doc-
tors, hearing and asking questions, so as to
excite great admiration; Luke ii. 41. We know
also, that he went down with his Blessed
Mother and Sc. Joseph to Nazareth, and was sub-
ject to them, until he had attained his thirtieth
year; by which he gave an admirable lesson
of obedience to children, and to all who are
subjects ; John vii. 15 ; Luke ii. 41.
At the age of thirty years, Christ sought St.
John the Baptist in the desert, and received
baptism from that holy man; Matt. iii. 13, etc.;
Luke iii. 21, etc.
Q. Who was the Baptist, and what sort of
life did he lead ?
A. He was a man sent by God to prepare
the way for the Messiah, as his precursor, ac-
cording to the predictions of Isaias and Mal-
achias; Isaias xl. 3, 4; Malach. iii. i. The
angel Gabriel announced his birth to his
father Zacharias, who was a holy priest; and
the Baptist was miraculously conceived by St.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
503
Elizabeth in her old age. Jesus Christ, yet in
the womb of the Blessed Virgin, visited his
precursor, to sanctify him for his high ofBce,
even before his birth ; Luke i. 13. St. John re-
tired at an earl}" age into the desert ; he ate
the coarsest food, and was clothed in the rudest
manner ; at the age of thirty years, he appeared
on the Jordan. The Jews admired him, and
took him for the Messiah, but he proclaimed
loudly that he was only a voice to prepare the
way for the Messiah. He urged them to do
penance, and baptized those who were penitent.
His baptism did not forgive sins, but it pre-
pared men for their remission, by the baptism
of Christ. St. John preached, that the Messiah
had come. Herod Antipas greatly esteemed
him ; but the holy liberty which the Baptist
took in reproaching that prince with his public
crimes, occasioned his own imprisonment and
decapitation ; Matt. iii. 3, 4 ; Luke vii. 24 ; John
i. 19, etc. ; Matt. iii. ; Luke iii. ; Acts xix, 3, 4 ;
John i. 31, 33; Matt. xiv. 2; and Markvi. 14.
Q. Why did Christ submit to the baptism
of St. John, seeing he was pure and innocent?
A. To give authority to the preaching and
baptism of that holy man ; to sanctify the
waters of baptism, and imbue them with that
spiritual fecundity which they were ever after
to possess ; to give to the people, who sought
St. John, an authentic proof of his own
mission and his divinity, by the testimony
which God his Father rendered on that
occasion when the Holy Ghost descended
upon him, under the form of a dove, and a
voice was heard to say, " This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased;" Matt. iii.
17; Luke iii. 21, 22. In this declaration of
heaven, the Jews had a strong proof that the
Messiah was really come. St. John wrought no
miracles ; John x. 41. By this, God wished the
Jews to understand that he was not the Mes-
siah, as, according to the prophets, the Messiah
was to perform a multitude of miracles ; Isaias
XXXV. 4, 5, etc.
SECTION VI.— CONTINUATION OF THH LIFE OF CHRIST TILL THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR
OF HIS PREACHING.
Q. What did Christ do immediatel}' after he
was baptized ?
A. The spirit of God conducted him into a
■desert, where, without eating, he spent forty days
and forty nights in prayer ; Matt, iv.; Mark i.;
Luke iv. This he did to teach us that it is by
retirement, fasting, and piayer, that we should
prepare ourselves for the ministry of the gos-
pel; and that, when men, regenerated by the
waters of baptism, or by penance, engage with
the world, without the aid of these spiritual
arms, they are sure to be defeated. This fast
of Christ was the model of the fast of Lent,
instituted by the. Apostles. After this fast,
Jesus hungered, and permitted the devil to
tempt him. The tempter was repelled by the
word of God ; he retired in confusion ; and
atig^ls came to minister to Christ ; Matt. iv. i.
Q. Why did Christ permit the devil to
tempt him ?
A. That we might see that he was truly
man, clothed in all man's infirmities, except
sin; Heb. iv. 15. To merit for us, by his
victory, the grace and strength to conquer the
devil, our enemy ; Heb. ii. 18. To show us,
by his own example, the efiicacy of fasting,
prayer, and the word of God, in overcoming
the destroyer ; and, lastly, to teach us that
the devil tempts all, even the most virtuous :
and, hence, that all should watch and be ever
armed with the proper spiritual arms, to repel
the foe ; Matt. xvii. 20 ; Eph. vi. 13.
Q. What did Christ do when he left the
desert ?
A. He commenced the duties of his public
life; he sought St. John the Baptist, who cried
504
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
out to those present, when he saw Jesus ap-
proaching, " Behold the Lamb of God ; behold
him who taketh away the sins of the world."
Thus he made them understand that Christ
was the Messiah. He gave the same testi-
mony, the next day, when Andrew, one of his
disciples, attached himself to Jesus, and the
• next day brought his brother Simon to his
Saviour, who gave him the name of Peter;
John i. 29.
Q. What time did Jesus employ in preaching
the gospel, and what was his life during that
time ?
A. The common opinion is, that he spent
three years and three months in that duty.
As to his life, he showed by his conduct, as
well as by his instructions, the greatest con-
tempt for riches, and a most perfect detachment
from sensuality, pride, and curiosity. He had
not whereon to repose his head ; he suffered
hunger and thirst ; he ate only from necessity,
and what was given him ; he lodged wherever
he was received ; the poor and rich were equal
in his eyes ; he disdained not to associate with
sinners, because he wished to instruct them.
Herod anxiously desired to see him, on account
of his wonderful miracles, but Christ refused,
because he knew that that prince was actuated
only by curiosity. Even at the time of his
passion, he wrought no wonder ; nay, he spoke
not a word, in the presence of that king ; for
he came to cure, not to gratify, the criminal
curiosity of men.
Q. "What was there remarkable in our
Saviour's life, during the first year of his
mission ?
A. He went to Galilee and chose St,
Philip, who brought Nathanael to him. He
attended the marriage of Cana, where, at
the request of his Blessed Mother, he changed
water into wine, which was his first miracle.
He afterwards spent some '^^vs at Caphar-
naum, from whence he returnea ., Jerusalem
to celebrate the Pasch. In this city he
wrought many miracles ; he banished from the
temple the merchants who profaned it; he in-
structed the people, and amongst others Nico-
demus; John i. 45, etc.; ii. 13, etc. He then
traversed Judea, baptized the people by the
ministry of his disciples ; crowds followed him ;
the disciples of the Baptist became jealous of
him, but they were reprehended by their mas-
ter, who thence took occasion to exalt Christ
and to humble himself; John iii. 22, etc.
About this time Herod cast St. John the Bap-
tist into prison ; and Christ, to avoid the
jealousy of the Pharisees, withdrew into Gali-
lee. In passing through Samaria, he con-
verted the Samaritan, and employed two days
in instructing the people ; he was received
with honor in Galilee, where he cured of fever,
in the town of Cana, the son of one of Herod's
oflftcers ; John iv. 6. Some time after he called,
for the second or third time, Peter and An-
drew; and he called, about the same time,
James the son of Zebedee, and John his
brother, who quitted all to follow him ; Matt,
iv. 13, 18; Mark i. 14, 16; Luke v. i.
SECTION VII.— THE SECOND YEAR OF CHRIST'S MISSION.
Q. What was there remarkable in the second
year of Christ's preaching?
A. He dwelt some time at Caphamaum,
he cured the mother-in-law of St. Peter, and
wrought many miracles; yet the inhabitants
remained incredulous, which induced Jesus to
pronounce a terrible malediction against them ;
Matt. iv. 23. Christ then traversed Galilee,
and every where performed many miracles. In
passing to the other side of the Jordan, he
crossed the lake of Genesareth, and, by his
word, calmed a mighty tempest ; amongst the
Gerasens, he cured two demoniacs. He then
returned to Capharnaum, where he cured the
paralytic, and, from a tax-gatherer, made St.
Matthew a disciple. He cured the woman
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
505
troubled with an issue of blood, and raised to
life the daughter of Jairus. At Jerusalem, he
healed one who had been a paralytic during
twenty years ; and, on the same day, a man who
had a withered hand. The Pharisees, offended
because he did these wonders on the Sabbath, re-
solved to put him to death ; but, as his time was
not yet come, he withdrew to Galilee to avoid
their anger ; a great crowd followed him ; he
was compelled to retire to a mountain, where he
chose his twelve apostles. Before choosing them,
he passed the night in prayer, to teach us how
their successors should be chosen. Their names
were Peter, who was the first, Andrew, James,
John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James the son of Alpheus, Jude, Simon, and
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his Master. These
were all rude and unlettered men, so that to
them or their mere efforts, the propagation of
religion could not be attributed. After this
choice, Christ preached the celebrated sermon
on the mountain, of which the following is a
brief summary.
He begins by giving a different idea of hap-
piness from that which was generally received
by men. Blessed, says he, are the poor, the
meek, the afflicted, the just, the merciful, the
pure, the peacemakers, and those who are per-
secuted for justice' sake. He then tells his
disciples that they are to be the lights of the
world, the salt of the earth ; that our justice
must be more perfect than that of the Phari-
sees, which sprang merely from their external
acts, instead of springing from the heart ; for
it is not enough to pray with the lips ; our
prayers must spring from the heart, otherwise
they are only hypocrisy. He teaches how we
ought to be reconciled to our neighbors, and
commands us to love them. He informs us
that we may sin in thought, and hence, that
whatever is an obstacle or a temptation, even
were it a member so dear to us as the eye
or the hand, we must part with, rather
than fall. He establishes the indissolubility of
marriage, and denounces oaths, passion and vio-
lence, whilst he orders us to avoid ostentation, in
our alms, fasting, and prayer. He gives us that
divine formula, which we call the Lord's prayer.
He instructs us, that we must despise riches, and
act uprightly, as we cannot serve God and mam-
mon ; that we must not be over anxious as to food
and raiment, but trust in a kind Providence,
whilst we seek first the kingdom of God and his
justice. He forbids us to judge any one, or to
expose what is holy to the profane. He orders
us to enter the narrow way, as the only one
which conducts to heaven. In fine, he concludes
his admirable discourse by declaring that it is by
our works we shall be known and judged, and
that our instructions will avail us little, unless
we practice what we know ; Matt, v., vi., vii.
After this time, Jesus cured the leper, and
the servant of the centurion. He convinced
the disciples of the Baptist that he was the Mes-
siah, by performing the miracles which Isaias fore-
told should be performed by the Messiah. About
this time took place the celebrated conversion
of the sinful woman, whom some have believed
to be Magdalene. Jesus continued daily instruct-
ing and confirming the truth of his instruction,
by multitudes of wonderful miracles. He after-
wards returned to Nazareth ; but that being his
native place, the people would not believe ; and
this gave him occasion to say, that no one is a
prophet in his own country.
SECTION VIII.— CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
Q. In the third year of the mission of Christ,
what was there remarkable ?
A. He sent his disciples, two and two, into
Judea, to preach penance and the kingdom of
God, whilst he himself traveled through all
the towns of Galilee. On their return, he con-
ducted them to the desert of Bethsaida, on the
other side of the sea of Galilee, where he in-
5o6
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
structed five thousand and fed them b}' the mirac-
ulous loaves and fishes. When the disciples were
returning by sea, he came to them walking on
the waters, calmed a mighty tempest, and made
Peter walk also on the surface of the deep.
The next day he delivered to the people of
Capharnaum that celebrated discourse, in which
he promises to give his people his sacred flesh
and blood as the food of their souls. He re-
mained in Galilee during the festival of the
Pasch ; and some time after appeared in Tyre and
Sidon, where the faith, the humility, and the per-
severance of the Cananean woman obtained from
him the cure of her daughter. On his return to
Galilee, he fed four thousand with seven loaves
and a few fishes. It was about this time, that
he asked his Apostles whom they took him to
be; and when Peter answered, "Thou art Christ,
the Son of the living God," Christ told him,
that this faith was revealed to him by the Father
who is in heaven, and then added, " Thou art
Peter, and upon, this rock I will build my
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. I will give to thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever then shalt
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what-
soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven." After these words, he foretold his
passion, death, and resurrection openly to his
disciples, and reprimanded Peter severely for
wishing that such should not take place; and,
after telling all his disciples that they should carry
their cross, if they wished to be his disciples
in reality, he announced that he would come
one day to judge all men, according to their
works ; and concluded by foretelling his trans-
figuration, which happened eight days after ;
Matt, xvi, 28; xvii. i, 2.
SECTION IX.— TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
Q. What do 3'ou mean bj^ the transfigura-
tion?
A. That the face of Jesus appeared bright
as the sun, and his garments white as snow ;
this was only a feeble ray of his glory ; still,
it dazzled the eyes of the Apostles, and filled
them with ecstasy. This transfiguration was
less a miracle than the cessation of a great
miracle, for the Godhead must naturally have
given to his humanity this heavenly lustre,
had he not habitually prevented it ; that appear-
ing as a mere man to the eyes of the Jews, he
might be put to death ; St. Thorn, part 3,
quaest. 45, art. 2, in corpore. Moses and Elias
appeared with Jesus, during his transfiguration ;
and when they disappeared, a voice was heard
from heaven, saying, " This is my beloved Son,
hear ye him." Jesus then toiiched the Apostles,
who were prostrate, and raising them, descended
from the mountain, and ordered them not
to disclose what they saw or heard, until
after he had arisen from the dead ; Matt.
xxvii. Jesus was thus transfigured, that
the Apostles, as well as all his followers,
might believe in his divinity, obey his
moral precepts, and labor earnestly to eujoy
one day that glory, with a faint ray of which
the Apostles Peter, James, and John were cast
into such ecstatic delight. The great, who
loved pomp and riches, who despised the hum-
ble birth and low estate of Jesus, as well as
the obstinate, who would not be convinced by
his other many miracles, were unworthy of this
manifestation of his divinity; and hence he
confined it to three of his Apostles, a number
quite sufficient to attest its truth and reality
to all sincere inquirers.
Q. Why did Moses and Elias appear with
Christ, conversing as to what Christ should suf-
fer at Jerusalem ?
A. That his Apostles and we might know
that he was above Moses and Elias, who ap-
peared as servants to contribute to his triumph ;
again, that the law, represented by Moses, and
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
507
the prophets^ represented by Elias, might testif}'
to Jesus Christ that his passion was prefigured
and foretold by them ; and lastly, that it might
appear that the Jews were calumniators, when
they accused Jesus of violating the law, seeing
that Moses, the minister of that law, and
Elias, the most illustrious defender of that
law, gave their most unequivocal testimony to
Jesus ; St. Chrys. Horn. Ivii. in Matt, xvii, ; St.
Amb. in Luke ix. lib. vii. n. 9 ; St. Hilar, in
Matt. xvii. ; St. Leo. de Transfig. Serm. 94.
SECTION X.— LIFE OF CHRIST
CONTINUED TILL THE END OF THE THIRD YEAR
OF HIS MISSION.
Q. What did Christ do after the transfigura-
tion?
A. He continued instructing the people, and
confirming his doctrine by miracles, his course
through Galilee being marked by the good
■which he did, and the sick he healed, on his
way. He passed from Galilee to Jerusalem to
celebrate the feast of tabernacles, in September,
when the Jews lived seven days under tents,
in commemoration of the tents of the desert.
On his way to Jerusalem, he cured ten lepers;
he arrived at Jerusalem about the middle of
the feast ; he repaired to the temple, where his
admirable doctrine, full of mercy and wisdom,
regarding the adulterous woman, confounded
the malignant Pharisees ; — continuing to in-
struct the people, he gave authentic proofs of
liis divinity, from the testimony of the prophets,
and by frequent miracles. He left the temple,
as the people seemed desirous to stone him ;
and finding on his way one blind from his
birth, he restored this man's sight, a miracle
•which only increased the jealousy and indig-
nation of the Pharisees; John vii., viii., ix.
He, after this, chose seventy-two disciples,
•whom he sent two and two before him to
preach, telling them to beseech the Father to
send workmen into his vineyard, because the
harvest was abundant, but the laborers few ;
Tie told these to consider themselves as lambs
amongst wolves ; to submit themselves en-
tirely to the will of Providence ; that they
should do good, wherever they should be re-
ceived ; should cure the sick, and be messen-
gers of peace; adding, that those who rejected
them should be more severely punished than
Sodom. " For," says he, " he that heareth you,
heareth me ; and he that despiseth you, despi-
seth me ; and he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me." When these disciples re-
turned from their mission, Christ told them
not to be vain of their power to work miracles,
but rather to rejoice that their names were
written in the Book of Life; for to the hum-
ble alone did God grant his favors ; Luke
X. 16.
Christ afterwards, when visiting Martha and
Mary, preferred the contemplative life of the
latter to the active life of the former. He
then repaired to the temple, to celebrate the
feast of the Dedication, which had been insti-
tuted by Judas Machabeus. Whilst in the
temple, he addressed the Jews with severity,
and gave them again proofs of his divine mis-
sion. They, in return conceived greater hatred
towards him, and desired to seize his person,
which he did not permit. Whilst near the
Jordan, Christ continued his instructions
and miracles, he there gave the para-
bles of the rich man and Lazarus, and
of the Pharisee and the Publican ; whilst
in the person of a young rich man,
he showed the difficulty of reconciling riches
with salvation. Returning near to Jerusalem,
he raised Lazarus to life, a miracle which
induced many to believe in him, whilst it excited
in the priests and Pharisees bitter envy and
hatred against him. He then retired from
Bethania to Ephrem, a city near the desert j
John xi. II, 14, etc.
5o8
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
SECTION XI.— LIFE OF CHRIST CONTINUED TILL AFTER THE INSTITUTION OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST.
Q. What was there remarkable in the life of
Christ after the third year of his mission ?
A. The feast of the Pasch approached ; and,
having resolved to die at that time, he directed
his steps towards Jerusalem. He told his dis-
ciples that he was about to accomplish all that
had been foretold by the prophets ; he spoke
of his passion, his death, and resurrection. On
his way, he rested at Jericho, with Zacheus,
whom he converted ; leaving Jericho, he healed
two who were blind, and went to Bethania six
days before the Pasch. Two days after, he ate
at Simon the Leper's house, with Lazarus;
Martha served the table, and Mary poured pre-
cious ointment on his feet. Judas was scan-
dalized, but Christ praised the devotion of
Mary, The next day, which was Sunday, he set
out as if in triumph, riding on an ass, a cir-
cumstance foretold by the prophet ; Zach. ix.
9. The people in crowds strewed his way with
their garments, and with branches, exclaiming,
" Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord ; Hosanna to the son of David :" (the
word Hosanna, according to some, means save
me, if thou pleasest ; and, according to others,
salvation and glory) .
Amid these acclamations, Jesus entered Jeru-
salem, but before entering, the moment he per-
ceived that city, he burst into tears, in foretelling
its approaching ruin. He then entered the
temple, and banished those who profaned it ; he
cured many who were blind and lame, and
silenced the Pharisees who seemed scandalized.
After showing himself to some Gentiles, and
giving them to understand that after he should
die on the Cross, he would draw all the Gen-
tiles to himself, he in the evening left Jerusalem
for Bethania ; he returned the next day, and, on
his way, cursed a barren fig tree, which withered
immediately. The whole of this day he spent
instructing in Jerusalem, and at night, returned
again to Bethania. He returned on Tuesday
to Jerusalem, and foretold to the Jews their rep-
robation, and the vocation of the Gentiles ; he
taught them to render to Cassar what belonged ta
Csesar, and to God what belonged to God ; be
gave them instructions regarding the state of
the saints, the love of God, and the prophecies
which declared that the Messiah should be the
son of David. He ordered obedience to the
Pharisees and Doctors, because they sat in the
chair of Moses; he denounced the hypocrites,
and showed the value of the small alms of the
poor widow.
In the evening, he left the temple, and seat-
ing himself opposite to it on the Mount of
Olives, he foretold with the most precise details
the destruction of Jerusalem, and alluded to
the signs of his second coming, of which the
ruin of Jerusalem was a figure. On Wednes-
day morning he foretold to his disciples his
death upon a cross. On this same day Judas
promised to deliver Jesus to the chief priests
for thirty pieces of silver. This exact sum was
foretold by the prophet Zachary, xi. 12 ; Matt,
xxvi., xxvii. The next day, Christ ordered two-
of his Apostles to prepare the repast of the
Paschal Lamb, and testified his ardor to eat
with them this Pasch, the last before his death.
After the repast, he washed the feet of his
Apostles, and, having sat down again at the
table, he instituted the Sacrifice and Sacrament
of his body and blood, under the appearances
of bread and wine. Of these we shall speak
afterwards, when we come to treat of the Mass,
and the Eucharist.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
509
SECTION XII.— ON THE DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY JESUS AFTER HIS LAST SUPPER.
Q. What did Christ do after the institution
of the Eucharist ?
A. He foretold that Judas would betray him ;
and, by pointing out the traitor, gave him an
opportunity of repenting, of which Judas did
not take advantage, but proceeded without delay
to betray his Master. Christ then recited a
canticle with his Apostles, foretold Peter's fall,
repentance, and final perseverance; and, by a dis-
course full of tenderness, comforted his Apostles,
who were much depressed at the near approach
of his passion and death. In this, he told
them he was going to prepare a place for them,
that he would send his Holy Spirit to be their
guide, and to dwell with them forever; that
liis Father would love them, and all who kept
his commandments ; that his Holy Spirit would
teach them what to say; that he imparted his
peace to them ; that so long as they were
united to him, they would, like the branch
attached to the vine, produce fruit. He exhorted
them to love him and to keep his commandments;
to love one another, as he, who was about to die
for their sakes, loved them. He informed them
that they should ever hate the world, which
hated and was opposed to them; and that they
should, in all times, be persecuted. Seeing his
Apostles sad, he told them it was necessary he
should die, that the Holy Ghost might come
upon them; that he should be separated from
them only for a short time ; that they should be
sad during that time; but that their sorrow would
be turned into joy. In fine, he concluded by
informing them that, whatever they should ask
in his name, they should receive ; that his Father
loved them, because they loved him, and because
they believed that he came from the Father.
Q. Did this discourse regard only the Apos-
tles?
A. No ; Jesus Christ addressed it, through the
Apostles, to all his followers. Having finished
his discourse, he addressed to his Father that
beautiful prayer, for himself, for his Apostles,
and for the whole world, which is found in St.
John xvii.
SECTION XIII.— JESUS IN THE GARDEN OF OLIVES.
Q. What did Christ do after this prayer?
A. He passed, with his disciples, to the tor-
rent Cedron, which David, who was a figure of
Christ, passed on foot, in profound sorrow, when
he was flying from his son Absalom, who re-
volted against him ; he ascended the Mount of
Olives, and retired into the garden of Geth-
semani, where he knew Judas would come to
betray him ; John xvii. He then counselled
his Apostles to watch and pray, and retired to
pray alone. The thought of his passion pro-
duced an agony, in which he sweated blood
from every pore of his sacred body. God sent
an angel to comfort him; Matt. xxvi. 36, etc.;
Mark xiv. 32, etc.
Q. Why did Jesus, who desired so ardently
to die for us, fall into this agony ?
A. Charged with our sins, he desired to bear
all the humiliations and pains due to sin, and
to show us that our depression, sorrow, and
agonies, are not sins, if we bear them for his
sake ; St. Aug. in Ps. 87. He desired, also,
to show us, by these sorrows, that he was
really man, and thus serve us with an argu-
ment against heretics who denied this, such as
the Manicheans and Apollinarists.
Q. What did Jesus do after his agony and
prayer ?
A. He awakened his disciples, and told them
that Judas approached; when the latter came
5IO
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
near, Jesus, by the mild address of Friend^
gave Judas an opportunity of repenting, but
lie would not; he traitorously kissed Jesus,
and thus gave the signal for his apprehen-
sion. When Jesus said to the Jews, who
came to apprehend him, / am Jesus of Nazar-
eth^ they fell upon the earth, thus proving
':hat no man could violate the person of
the Saviour, mthout his own permission. He
then delivered himself up.
Q. What became of his Apostles?
A. They fled. Peter, having more courage
than the others, cut oS" the ear of a servant;
Jesus cured the wound, and checked Peter. He
reproached the Jews for seizing, as a robber,
him whom they had every day an opportunity
of taking in the temple, whilst teaching. But
he added it was the time of the powers of dark-
ness, and that all this was the accomplishment
of the prophecies. He was made prisoner late
at night, as is clear from the use of lanterns
and torches ; John xviii. 3.
Q. Was the treachery of Judas foretold by the
prophets ?
A. It was prefigured by the treason of Achi-
tophel, David's counsellor, as St. Peter tells us
in the Acts; see Ps. liv. 13 ; Ps. cviii. 8; Zach. xi.
12; Matt, xxvii. 9. That Christ should be made
prisoner, was also foretold ; Jer. iv. 20. Jere-
miah himself was a living prophecy of the suf-
ferings of Jesus ; Jer. xx. xxxviii. Joseph, who
was sold by his own brothers to the Egyptians,
was another figure of our suffering Saviour. The
flight of the Apostles was also foretold by Zach-
arias : " I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered ; " Zach. xiii. 7; Matt. xxvi. 31.
SECTION XIV.— JESUS BEFORE CAIPHAS.
Q. Whither was Christ conducted, after being
made prisoner?
A. First to Annas, and then to Caiphas. The
latter, aided by the chief priests, interrogated
him as a criminal, produced witnesses, who
contradicted one another, against him, and, at
length, asked him directly if he were the
Christ. He replied at once that he was, al-
though he knew that this alone would condemn
him to death. An insolent servant struck him ;
Peter denied him thrice ; when condemned, they
spit upon him, buffeted him, and loaded him
with a thousand similar insults.
Q. How did Christ act towards Peter, who
had fallen ?
A. He cast upon him a look of compassion,
and Peter wept and repented. He was per-
mitted to fall, that he might from his own
weakness learn mercy, when he should become
chief of the Church ; and that his fall might
teach us never to presume on our own strength,
to avoid temptation, to shun wicked company,
and to imitate Peter's tears, and prompt repen-
tance, when we do fall.
Q. How did Christ act with regard to the
Jews ?
A. He bore all their insolence with the
meekness of a lamb, as Isaias foretold ;
liii. 7. All that Christ suffered before
Caiphas was foretold ; Lament, iii. 30 ; Isaias 1.
6 ; Ps. Ixviii. 8. Judas repented of his crimes,
but he despaired, and hanged himself, thus
teaching all posterity to avoid cupidity ; Matt.
xxvii. 3.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
5"
SECTION XV.— JESUS CONDEMNED TO DEATH BY PILATE.
Q. What was the next step taken by the
Jews?
A. They led Jesus bound to Pilate, and there
accused him of disturbing the peace, of pre-
venting the payment of the tribute to the
emperor, and of calling himself king. Christ
declared to Pilate that he was king of the
Jews, but that his kingdom was not of this
world. Pilate evidently saw that Christ was
innocent, and, to rid himself of the responsi-
bility, sent him to Herod. Jesus would not
satisfy Herod's curiosity, by answering any of
his questions, and Herod, incensed, clothed him in
a robe of derision, and sent him back to Pilate.
Q. What did Pilate now do to save Jesus ?
A. He alleged that Herod, like himself, could
see no guilt in Jesus; he proposed that, as the
Jews had the power to save one criminal at the
solemn festival of the Pasch, he would give
them their choice between Christ and Bar-
abbas, hoping they would save Christ. He
was disappointed ; they liberated the robber
and murderer, and demanded the crucifixion
of Jesus. Pilate, then, to excite their
compassion, ordered Jesus to be scourged.
The Jews then stripped him, scourged him,
crowned him with thorns, clothed him in a
purple garment, insulted and mocked him.
Jesus suffered all in silence. Pilate presented
him in this sad condition to the Jews, hoping
his very appearance would melt them into ten-
derness ; but no ; that merciless people cried
out, "Let him be crucified;" and this unjust
and pusillanimous judge delivered him up :
"Take," said he, "and crucify him yourselves,
I find no cause of death in him." The Jews
cried out, " His blood be upon us and upon our
children ; " and the eflfects of that terrible male-
diction have been visible, from that day to this,
amongst this unhappy people ; Dan. ix. 27.
Thus did the wretched Pilate deliver up Jesus
to death, washing his hands of the guilt. He
was, however, punished even in this life for his
crime. He was disgraced in the ej'es of the
emperor, was banished into Gaul, and became
his own executioner ; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. 2.
Q. When the sentence of death was pro-
nounced, what followed ?
A. Jesus was loaded with a heavy cross, and
led to Calvary, like Isaac bearing on his
shoulders the wood on which he was to be immo-
lated. Of the crowds who followed, there were
many women weeping ; Jesus told them not to
weep for him, but for themselves and their
children. Two thieves were led after him, to
die with him.
Q. What was done with Jesus when he
arrived at Calvary ?
A. They gave him not wine and myrrh,
which was customary, but wine and gall; such
was their refinement in cruelty. They stripped
him, nailed him to the cross, and raised that
cross in the air, between two thieves ; all this
took place on Friday, about noon, at which
time universal darkness shrouded the earth in
a most miraculous manner. Jesus was insulted
by the people ; one thief blasphemed, the other
repented. The sword of sorrow pierced the
soul of the Blessed Virgin, who clung to the
cross. St. John and the pious women were
drowned in a sea of sorrows. Jesus, bleeding,
dying, prays for those who shed his blood ; he
offers himself a victim, for the sins of an
ungrateful world ; even on the cross he acts as
a jxidge ; he permits the thief on the left to
die in his sins; he rewards the penitential tears
of the other; he forgets not his blessed mother,
he commends her and St. John mutually to
each other; — after about three hours' torture,
he cries aloud, " My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me ? " — he commends his soul to
God ; he declares, " It is consummated ; " his
head droops, and he gives up the ghost. Thus,
according to the prophecy of Daniel, the Mes-
siah, the desired of nations, the Son of God,
laid down his life on the altar of the cross for
mankind, urged by his ineffable love for his
ungrateful children.
5"
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
SECTION XVI.— ON THE PROPHECIES WHICH REGARD THE DEATH OF JESUS.
Q. Have the prophets foretold the circum-
stances of the passion of Jesus ?
A. In Psalm xxi., the passion is exactly de-
scribed. His being mocked, surrounded by the
wicked Jews, the piei'cing of his hands and
feet, the counting of his bones, the division of
his garments, his prayer to the Father, his
triumph, the establishment of his Church, her
extension to all nations, are all foretold with
the utmost precision ; see Ps. Ixviii. 5, 8, 9, etc.
Q. What says Isaias on the passion of
Christ ?
A. There is scarcely one chapter in that
prophet which does not refer to Christ and his
Church. We select especially chapter liii. for the
inspection of the reader ; it seems more like the
history of a past event than a prediction. It
might be called the Passion of Jesus Christ
according to Isaias. Read it — meditate upon it.
Q. What says Daniel ?
A. He foretells the time of the coming and
death of Christ ; that his people would renounce
him, and cease to be his ; that an enemy would
come and destroy their city, their temple, their
sanctuary, and scatter themselves to the four
winds of heaven ; Dan. ix. 24, etc.
Q. What says Zacharias ?
A. He foretells the spirit of grace and prayer
that should descend on the house of David, that
the people should cast their eyes on him whom
they pierced, that they should sigh and weep for
him whom they wounded. By this prophet di-
rect reference is made to the wounds in the
Saviour's hands, — wounds inflicted by his own
children ; Zach. xii. ; xiii. The treacherous seiz-
ure of Christ, and the crimes with which he up-
braided the Jews, his holy life, his title, his being
the Son of God, his hatred of sin, his deliverance
into the hands of his enemies, his torments, his
death — are all clearly foretold; Wisd. ii. 10.
How criminal the blindness of that man, who
will not see truth so clearly demonstrated by the
perfect accordance of the prophecies of the Old
Testament with the events of the New !
Q. Did Christ give other proofs of his divinity
about the time of his death ?
A He terrified the Jews who came to take
him ; he healed miraculously Malchus, who was
wounded by Peter. Whilst on the cross, the sun
suffered an eclipse, contrary to the laws of nature*
during three hours, — I say, contrary to the laws
of nature, for this eclipse happened during the
full moon, as the Jews always kept the Pasch at
the full moon of the first month. Now, all the
world knows that an eclipse of the sun cannot
take place according to the laws of nature, except
at the time of the new moon. This eclipse is
foretold, and beautifully, by the prophet Amos
viii., and even more decidedly by Zacharias xiv.
7. Tertullian, in his defence of Christianity be-
fore the Roman Emperors, tells us that Plegon
and Thallus speak of this eclipse in clear terms ;
Tertul. Apol. c. xxi.
Q. What happened after the death of Christ ?
A. The veil of the temple was rent ; the earth
trembled ; the rocks were rent ; the tombs were
opened ; the dead arose, and were seen in Jeru-
salem, as if to show the real life the Messiah was
to give to the world ; the commander of the
guard was converted ; many beat their breasts ;
but the Jews, and especially the priests, remained
more obstinate than the rocks, which were rent
at the death of their Creator.
THE MADONNA OF THE SCAPULAR.
The festival of the Scapular or the feest in cotmnetnoration of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. This devotion was Mtahlished
bv Simon Stock (in the beginning of the thirteenth century), to whom the Blessed Virgin imparted th? devotion
OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY.
Without taking into consideration that the greatest saints said this prayer daily, it is a confession of our Holy Roman Catholic faith, a
repeated adoration of the most Holy Trinity, and an authorized veneration of the Blessed Virgin, whom the Holy Ghost has pronounced
blessed.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
513
SECTION XVII.— WHY AND FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE, AND HOW DID HE SATISFY FOR
SIN— THE DESCENT INTO HELL.
Q. Why did Christ die so ignominiously ?
A. He chose that sort of death, to make us feel
the enormity of our sins, and to cure our pride,
sensuality, and criminal curiosity. He died for
the sins of Adam and Eve, and for those of all
their descendants ; he offered his blood as a sat-
isfaction to his Father, for all, and hence he is
called the Saviour of all men ; i Cor. v. 14; i
Tim. ii. 4 ; iv. 10 ; I John ii. 2.
Q. If Jesus Christ satisfied for all sin, why
should man be punished for it ?
A. Jesus satisfied for all ; all, however, do not
receive the fruit of his death, but only those to
whom the merits of his passion are communi-
cated, and to whom his blood is really applied.
This application requires the co-operation of our
free will. Christ, like a prince who wishes to
liberate his subjects from bondage, wishes to
liberate those only who co-operate with him in
bursting their chains. The light of liberty,
which Jesus sheds, is not shed for those who
shut their eyes against it. He gives us grace,
to enable us to do his will ; if we neglect to
co-operate, the fault is ours, not his ; Cone. Trid.
Sess. vi. c. 3, de Justif.
Q. Was the satisfaction of Jesus absolutely
necessary ?
A. Yes; if a God-man had not satisfied for us,
our sins would not have been effaced. An offence
offered to an tnfimte being could be satisfied for
only by a being of infinite dignity. God could, we
believe, have forgiven ; but he chose that his jus
tice should be satisfied ; that justice which re-
quired that every sin should be punished. Jesus,
who satisfied, made both the mercy and justice
of God his Father shine forth to the world ; Heb.
X. I ; John ii. 2.
Q. Was it the divine nature that suffered ?
A. No ; it was the human nature united to the
Word. The Divine could not suffer or die ;
Jesus suffered, as man, all the torments, and that
death which sin deserved, and gave, as God, an
.^3
infinite value to his sufferings. He washed away
our sins, he delivered us from the slavery of the
devil, and from the pains of hell ; he opened
heaven to us ; he made himself the model of all
necessary virtues ; he merited for us all neces-
sary graces; Rom. iii. 25 ; Col. i. 14, 20; ii. 13 ;
Apoc. i. 5 ; John xii. 31 ; Heb. v. 9 ; ix. 8 ; x. 19.
The places of refuge in which involuntary homi-
cides dwelt, as in exile, till the death of the high
priest, when they were set at liberty, were a fig-
ure of the state of the just of the old law, who,
by the death of Christ, the true Pontiff were
liberated. The blood of the paschal lamb which
delivered the Hebrews from death, prefigured the
effect of the death of Christ, the true Lamb who
delivered us from death, by taking away the sins
of the world ; Num. xxxv. The graces that
Jesus, by his death, procured for us are foretold ;
Isa. liii., and Dan. ix.
Q. What do you mean, when you say Jesus
Christ died ?
A. That what happens to all men in death,
happened to him ; his soul was separated from his
body, but the divine nature remained with both
the body and soul.
Q. Whither did the soul of Jesus go, when
separated from the body ?
A. It descended to a place called hell, or accord-
ing to St. Paul,to the lower parts of the earth; Eph.
iv. 9, 10. This word hell may mean either the
hell of the damned ; Luke xvi. 22, or what we
call purgatory, in which sense the Church takes
it, when, in Mass for the dead, she praj^s God to
deliver the souls of the faithful dead from the
pains of hell ; or, in fine, it may mean a place
where reposed the just of the Old Testament,
waiting the coming of the Redeemer. It is to
this latter place that the soul of Jesus descended;
see Ps. XV., explained by St. Peter, Acts ii. 31 ;
and by St. Paul, Eph. iv. 19. See also St. Hil-
ary on Psalm cxxxviii.
Q. Why did Christ descend into this place ?
514
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. To lead forth from it all the just, in tri-
umph, with himself to heaven, which he had
opened by his death. I mean by they«^^, all to
whom God had granted mercy through the then
prospective merits of Christ, but to whom the full
effect of that mercy could not be applied, until
after the death of the Redeemer ; St. Aug. de Civ.
Dei, lib. xx.
Q. Was any thing done to the body of Jesus,
after his death ?
A. As he was found dead, they did not break
his limbs, as they did to the two thieves ; and in
this is verified the figure wherein, by the order
of Moses, the bones of the paschal lamb were
forbidden to be broken ; Ex. xii. 46 : John xix.
33. A soldier, however, to insure the death of
Jesus, opened his side with a spear, from which
flowed blood and water, a figure of the Sacra-
ments of the Church, which draw all their virtue
from the blood poured forth upon the cross ; St.
Aug. Tract, 120, in Joan. Jesus also wished to
have his side pierced, that all might know that
he really died, and that this might show the
reality of his Resurrection.
Q. After this, what was done to the body of
Jesus ?
A. Joseph of Arimathea, aided by Nicodemus,
laid the body in a tomb cut out of a solid
rock, and an immense stone was rolled to the
mouth of the tomb. The Jews were permitted by
Pilate to seal the mouth of the sepulchre, and to
place a guard upon it, lest the disciples of Jesus
should come and steal the body, and then say
Christ had arisen, as he had foretold ; circum-
stances which afterwards served as invincible
proofs of his Resurrection.
SECTION XVIIl.— THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, HIS APPEARANCES AFTERWARDS, AND
HIS LIFE TILL HIS ASCENSION.
Q. Did Jesus Christ rise again ?
A. He rose from the dead on the third day, as
he himself and the prophets had foretold ; his
soul was reunited to his body, and he came forth
from the tomb, glorious and immortal. His Res-
urrection was prefigured by the prosperity of
Job after his sufierings ; by the life of Isaac,
after being laid on the pile for sacrifice ; by
Joseph's glory after his imprisonment ; and, more
clearly still, by the miraculous deliverance of
Jonas, after being three days entombed in the
belly of a marine monster; Jonas ii., iii.; Matt.
xii. 40. The prophet David foretold the Resur-
rection ; Ps. XV. 10 ; and St. Peter applies this
passage of David to the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ; Acts ii. 22 ; xiii. 29 ; Ps. iii. 6; ix., xxi.,
xl. ; Osee vi. 3 ; Isaias liii. 10; Zach. vi. 12.
Q. How did the body of Jesus escape from the
tomb, seeing its door was secured by a huge
stone ?
A. Christ arose by his own divine power.
After he had arisen, an Angel descended, caused
an earthquake, rolled away the stone, and so ter-
rified the guards, that they fell, as dead, to the
earth ; Matt, xxviii. The Jews, instead of being
converted by these prodigies, bribed the soldiers
to say, that when they were asleep, the disciples
stole the body of Jesus- — as if the evidence of
sleeping witnesses could be of any weight.
Q. How do we know that Christ arose truly. ?
A. By the incontestable evidence of those who
saw him often, and conversed with him after his
Resurrection, who touched his wounds, ate with
him, and sealed the truth of their testimony with
their blood. He appeared first to Magdalene, to
recompense her faith and love for him ; then, to
the pious women who came to embalm his body ;
after this, to St. Peter, chief of the Apostles ; to
the two disciples on their way to Emmaus ; and
to the eleven Apostles who were assembled, the
doors being shut. He showed them the wounds
in his hands, his feet, and his side ; he ate with
them, and gave them power to forgive sin ; all
these apparitions took place on the very
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
515
day of the Resurrection ; Luke xxiv. ; Mark
xvi. ; John xx. To St. Thomas, who was not
present on the last occasion, he appeared eight
days after ; he made him touch his wounds ; and
St. Thomas believed. Christ appeared again to
St. Peter and others in Galilee, and ate with them.
It was here that St. Peter made the triple profes-
sion of his love, as a compensation for his three
denials ; here Christ gave him the charge of his
lambs and his sheep ; and here Christ foretold
the death Peter should die ; John xxi. He ap-
peared afterwards on a mountain in Galilee to
the five hundred witnesses, as he had promised ;
Matt, xxviii ; i Cor. xv. 6. He appeared to St.
James ; i Cor. xv. 7 ; and lastly, he appeared to
his Apostles immediatel)'^ before his Ascension.
The Scripture expressly mentions these ten appa-
ritions ; but it says, in general, that Christ
appeared often to instruct his followers, and to
speak to them of the kingdom of God ; Acts i. 3.
Q. Can we rest with entire confidence on the
testimony of those who declared that Christ had
arisen ?
A. That these witnesses were deceived, or de-
ceivers, was utterly impossible. There were five
hundred of them ; all, without the exception of
even one, declared that they saw him after his
Resurrection ; and nearly all laid down their
lives for this great truth. If there had been any
fraud, surely some one would have divulged it ;
that all should combine to act- against their con-
sciences, and to die for what they knew to be
false, is impossible. These witnesses were sim-
ple men, untutored in the art of deception ; men
very unlikely to attempt the propagation of
error, at their own peril and in the face of malig-
nant and powerful enemies. These witnesses
proved the truth which they attested, by the
prophecies which foretold it, and by miracles, of
themselves sufficient to prove what they attested
as true; Acts ii. 24; xiii. 35; Mark xvi. 17.
The Apostles, in preaching the Resurrection,
declared that, according to the prophecies, Christ
arisen from the dead, would convert all nations,
and this at a time when such an event seemed
impossible. They declared also, that the time
was at hand for the ruin and dispersion of the
Jews ; and the ruin of Jerusalem, and the dis-
persion of the Jews, and the conversion of the
world, which immediately followed, proved at
once the truth of their predictions, and the doc-
trine which they taught ; Rom. xv. 9 ; xi. 13.
Q. Why do you say that the Resurrection is
the foundation of religion ?
A. Because if Christ has arisen, then the wit-
nesses must be believed ; the truths which they
taught and delivered must be received. The
prophecies which foretold the Resurrection, with
all the other truths contained in the inspired
writings, must be acknowledged as truth ; and
these admitted, Christianity is beyond all doubt
the work of God.
Q. Why did Christ, after his Resurrection, not
live with his Apostles in the world, as he had
done before his death ?
A. To conceal himself from the Jews and the
impious, who were unworthy of his presence.
To show the difference between his mortal and
glorious life, and to make his Resurrection a
model for our spiritual resurrection from sin ; to
show us that, when we rise from the grave of
sin, we must truly, as he did, shun this world,
and live for a better ; i Cor. xv. 3 ; Rom. vi. 4 ;
Colos. iii.; St. Thom. T[ 3, quaest. 55, art. 3, in
Corpore.
SECTION XIX.— THE ASCENSION— A GENERAL NOTION OF THE QUALITIES OF CHRIST IN HEAVEN.
Q. How long did Christ remain on earth, after
his Resurrection ?
A. He remained forty days, to prove the truth
of his Resurrection, to calm the minds of his
Apostles, to cure their incredulity, to give them
all necessary power and instruction in their all-
important mission ; on the fortieth day, he armed
them with all power to teach and baptize ; prom-
ised them the gift of miracles, and declared he
would be with them all days, even to the consum
5i6
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
mation of the world ; he opened their eyes that
they might understand the Scripture, and prom-
ised the gift of the Holy Spirit, who should teach
them all truth. After this he blessed them, and
before their eyes ascended to heaven. Two
angels appeared, and declared that Jesus would
come again, just as they had seen him depart;
Mark xvi.; Luke xxiv.
Q. Is Christ any more on earth ?
A. Not visibly. He is, however, on earth in
two ways, invisibly ; on the Altar and by his
grace ; Matt, xxviii. In heaven, he sits at the
right hand of God ; Ps. cix ; Rom. viii. 34 ; Col.
iii. When we say the right hand, we do not
mean that God has any bodj', but that Christ, as
God, is equal to his Father ; and as man, he is
exalted above all creatures ; Eph. i. 19. In
heaven, he is seated on the throne of his empire,
enjoying eternal repose after his labors ; ibid.
His ascension is the triumph of human nature —
the solid foundation of our hope — the consumma-
tion of his sacrifice.
Q. Why the above replies ?
A. Because by the Ascension, human nature,
united to the Divinity, is placed in possession of
eternal glory ; and because Jesus entered heaven
as our precursor, to present, without ceasing, to
his Father the blood which he shed for us.
The triumph of Jesus, in his Ascension, is
clearly foretold by the prophets; Ps. xxiii.,
Ivi., xxxiii., Ivii.; Zach. xiv. 3. See also
Ps. XV., which St. Peter and St. Paul apply
to Jesus Christ ; see also Ps. cix., which Christ
applies to himself; Matt. xxii. 41. The Ascen-
sion was prefigured by the entrance of the
high priest once every year into the holy of
holies, carrying in his hand the blood of the
victims immolated ; Heb. ix. 7.
Q. What should be our dispositions towards
Jesus, seated at the right hand of God ?
A. We should subject ourselves wholly to
him ; we should adore, love, and thank him ;
we should sigh after him, and long to be
united with him ; Heb. iv. 14, 16. Jesus is
the image of his Father, the eternal Word,
the power and the wisdom of God. He is
the First born ; the restorer and support of
all creatures ; all things subsist in him. He
is our Mediator, Redeemer, Advocate, PontiflF,
our Victim, Temple, Altar; our Father,
Brother, Light ; the way in which we should
walk, and the light to guide our footsteps ;
the' tree, of which we are the branches. He
is our bread, our pastor, our doctor, our king,
our judge ; in fine, he will be one day the
very essence of our eternal happiness. That,
however, this may be the case, we must take
him as our model. To study these qualities
of Jesus is the most important of all con-
cerns ; Phil. iii. 8, etc.
SECTION XX.— THE QUALITIES OF JESUS WITH RELATION TO HIS FATHER AND WITH
RELATION TO HIS CREATURES.
Q. Why do you say that Jesus is the image
of God his Father ?
A. St. Paul says so, to make us understand
that Jesus, as God, is a perfect resemblance of
his Father, as by nature he is the Son of God,
and is God, equal to his Father ; 2 Cor. iv. 4 ;
Col. i. 15. Nor is Jesus a mere superficial image.
He is the figure of the substance of God the
Father, the living expression of his nature, both
being but one God ; Heb. i. 3. Jesus is said
to be the splendor and glory of his Father,
because, as the light streams from the sun, so
the glory of Jesus expresses perfectly the glory
of the Father ; for the divine nature, which is
the source of that splendor, is one and the sam«
in both; Heb. i. 3.
Q. Why do you say that Jesus is the etejual
Word of God the Father?
A. Because he is the expression of the
interior thought and knowledge of God, his
THE CATHOUC RELIGION DEFINED.
517
Father ; John i. i ; Titus i. 3. Jesus is the
power and wisdom of God, because, as the Word,
he is the ever-subsisting, living, expression of
God's knowledge, and because it was through
him that the omnipotence and wisdom of God
the Father were manifested to his creatures ;
I Cor. i. 24. Jesus is the first born,
because he was not created, but begotten
by the Father from all eternity ; Col. i. 15.
God, equal to his Father ; he has created all
by his power, and for his glory ; John i. 3 ;
Col. i. 16. And, in the same light, he pre-
serves all, as it is in him we live, move,
and have our being ; Acts xvii. 28 ; Col. i.
17. These, and a thousand other qualities
of Jesus, clearly laid down in Scripture,
prove his Divinity beyond the possibility of
doubt.
Q. Why is it said that Jesus is the restorer
of all things ?
A. Because he has replaced, or will replace,
all things in their natural order. This he
has already so far done, by reconciling man
with God, delivering him from the power the
devil had once over him ; but this restoration
will not be completed till the end of the
world ; Rom. viii. 20. Jesus is the heir of
all things, because, as man, he is the master
of all ; and has absolute dominion, as an heri-
tage due to his quality as Son of God ; Heb.
i. 2 ; John xiii. 3. Jesus is just by excellence,
because he is the source and ' origin of all
sanctity and all justice. Angels and men are
only just or holy, in so far as they partici-
pate in his holiness and justice; Wisd. ii. 12;
Isa. xli. 2 ; Acts iii. 14 ; vii. 52 ; John ii. i.
SECTION XXI.— THE QUALITIES OF JESUS WITH RELATION TO MEN.
Q. Why is Jesus called our Mediator, Re-
deemer, Saviour ?
A. Because he has made our peace with God,
changed the sentence of eternal death which
stood against us, and sealed, by his blood, our
reconciliation with his Father; 1 Tim. ii. 5;
Rom. V. 10 ; Eph. ii. 14 ; Col. ii. 14. He is
our Redeemer, because he has rescued us from
the slavery of sin, the tyranny of the devil, and
the pains of hell, and has opened heaven for us ;
Job xix. 25; Isa. xli. 14; Luke ii. 11; John
iv. 42; Acts V. 31 ; Rom. v. i; Eph. v. 23;
I Tim. iv. 10. He is our Advocate, and his
wounds plead for us; Heb. vii. 25 ; i John ii. i.
He is our Father and Pontiff. He offered, in one
sacrifice, the reality of all the sacrifices in the
old law. His sacrifice, could alone appease the
anger of his Father; Heb. ii. 17; iii., iv., etc.
Q. Why do you say that Jesus is our head,
our brother, o^r light ?
A. Because the Church is one body, with
Jesus Christ as its head, and the faithful its
members; Col. i. 18; Eph. i. 22. Jesus calls
us his brethren ; he is the first born of God
by nature: we are born of God by his
grace and adoption ; Matt, xxviii. 10 ; John iii.
I . The prophets call him our light : he is the star of
Jacob, the rising sun, the light of nations, the light
which enlighteneth all men; see Num. xxiv.
17; Zach. iii. 8; vi. 12; Luke i. 78; Mai. iv.
2; Luke ii. 32; Isa. xlii. 6; John viii. 12; ix.
5; xii. 46 ; Matt. iv. 16; Acts xiii. 47.
Q. Are there other titles given to Jesus in the
Scripture?
A. Yes ; he is a prophet by excellence, be-
cause he is the great master and teacher of men.
He was the subject and the inspirer of all other
prophecies and prophets. He himself prophesied,
and his prophecies were fulfilled to the letter;
Dent, xviii. 15. He is the Angel of the Testa-
ment, because he was sent by God to form a new
alliance with men ; Heb. iii. i ; John 1. 41 ; xvii.
3 5 XX. 21 ; Mai, iii. i ; Matt. xi. 10; Mark i. 2 ;
Luke vii. 27. Jesus is called the Way, because
5^8
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
we can approach the Father ouly through him,
and can enter heaven only by walking in his
footsteps ; John xiv. 5 ; Matt. xvi. 24 ; Luke ix_
23 ; John X. 27. He is called the Corner Stone,
because, to all, he is the foundation of hope ;
Matt. xxi. 42 ; Luke xx. 17 ; Acts. iv. 11 ; Eph.
ii. 20 ; Isa. xxviii.i6 ; i Peter ii. 6. Jesus is the
true Vine, and we are the branches, because our
life depends on our intimate connection with him ;
John XV. I. He is the Truth : we follow truth
when we follow him ; and error, when we stray
from him ; John xiv. 6. He is our Life,
because we live spiritually only by his grace ;
' I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in
me ; " John xiv. 6 ; Col. iii. 4 ; John xi.
25 ; Rom. viii. 9 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; 2 Cor. iv. 10. He
is our bread : " I am," says he, " the living
bread ; he that eateth this bread, shall live for-
ever. My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood
is drink indeed ; '' John vi. 35. He is also our
bread, by his word and his grace. By thus feed-
ing us, watching over us, defending us, and
gathering us into the fold of his Church, he
has acquired also the title of Pastor. He is our
Doctor, ever ready to soothe and heal all our
spiritual diseases; Matt. ix. 15; Mark ii. 19;
Luke V. 34 ; Osee ii. 19. He is our King, raised
above all creatures, and having power over all ;
Ps. xxiii. 7 ; John xviii. 37 ; Heb. viii. 2 ; i Tim.
vi. 15; Matt, xxviii. 18. He is our Judge: he
shall come, in all his glory, to judge the living
and the dead; John v. 11 ; Acts x. 41 ; 2 Tim.
iv. I. He is the author and preserver of our
faith ; to him we owe it, and to him we are
indebted for our perseverance in it to the end ;
Heb. xii. 2. He will one day be our glory and
eternal felicity in heaven, because eternal life
consists in knowing the true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom he has sent. Eternal bliss con-
sists in seeing, loving, and possessing Jesus
forever; John xvii. 3; Apoc. xxii. 4; Col. iii. 11.
Q. Is Jesus Christ our model ?
A. Yes ; he has declared that, if any one
•would come after him, he must deny him-
self, take up his cross, and follow him ;
Matt. xvi. 24 ; and again, he says the disciples
ought to resemble his master; that his followers
would be persecuted, as he was persecuted ; Matt
X. 24. We ought, therefore, to renounce this
world, and attach ourselves to Jesus. We
ought to live according to his maxims, and follow
his example; Titus ii. 12 ; Phil. ii. 5; Heb. xii.
2 ; John ii. 6; xiii. 15.
Q. What are the traits of our Saviour's char-
acter which all Christians should imitate ?
A. All should imitate his detachment of heart
from this world, with all its seductions, and his at-
tachment to God , for whose glory he labored dur-
ing his whole life. St. Paul comprehends these
two grand principles of all religion in few words :
"Jesus Christ," he says, "came to teach us to
renounce impiety and worldly desires, and to
live temperately, justly, and piously, hoping for
eternal happiness;" Titus ii. 12.
Q. What the are traits which each individual,
according to his position in life, should imitate ?
A. To detail these, is to detail the whole
morality of Religion, which we have attempted
in the course of this catechism ; we can only
touch a few of the leading heads : Jesus has taught
kings, and all in authority, that they should use
their power only for the glory of God and the
good of their subjects; pastors to sacrifice them-
selves for their flock, to love them tenderly, to in-
struct them, to unite prayer and mortification
with the labors of the ministry — to labor in
God and for God, and to despise the smiles as
well as the frowns of this world. Thus has
each condition in life its own duties to per-
form, in imitation of Christ — masters, servants,
parents, children, the rich, the poor, the afflicted,
tempted, humbled, persecuted, ought all to cher-
ish the same sentiments — to form the same
judgments, as Jesus did ; to pray as he did —
to act as he did — to sufiier as he did ; in a
word, to be, as far as we miserable beings can,
what he was ; so that we may be able to say
with St. Paul, " I live now, not I, but Christ
liveth in me;" Phil. ii. 5; Eph. iv. 24; Gal.
ii. 19.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
519
SECTION XXII.— DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST.
Q. When Christ ascended to heaven, what
became of his Apostles and disciples ?
A. They retired into Jerusalem, according to
his order, and remained there till the descent
of the Holy Ghost ; Acts i. 4. They lived there
in retirement and prayer, preparing themselves
to receive the promised Holy Spirit.
Q. When did the Holy Ghost descend upon
them ?
A. On the tenth day after the Ascension, about
the ninth hour ; a day on which the Jews cele-
brated the feast of Pentecost ; Acts ii. i. This
day was chosen to make the relation of the reality
with the figure more striking. The Jews had re-
ceived the law from God, engraven on stone,
fifty days after they were brought out of
Egypt; and God desired that his Holy Spirit
should engrave his new law upon the hearts
of men, fifty days after Jesus had, by his
Resurrection, delivered us from the slavery of
our enemies, prefigured by the Egyptians ; St.
Aug. de Spirit, et lit. c. 16, n. 28.
Q. How did the Holy Ghost descend upon
the Apostles ?
A. In the midst of a noise, as if of mighty
winds, which filled the house ; cloven tongues
of fire appeared on each, and they were filled
with the Holy Ghost; Acts ii. Thus the
third person of the blessed Trinity descended
upon them, animated them, and made them
his dwelling; John xiv. 16, 17. He made them
new men; he filled them with lively light,
with the love of God, with zeal, virtue, power ;
Luke xxiv. 49 ; Rom. v. 4. He opened the
eyes of their minds, that they might under-
stand the most abstruse truths of religion ;
John xvi. 13. They had been uneducated and
powerless ; he enabled them to speak strange
tongues, and work miracles ; Acts ii. 4.
Q. Did the Apostles receive the Holy Ghost
only for themselves?
A. They received him to communicate him,
with all his gifts and graces, by themselves
and their successors, to all faithful followers
of Jesus; Acts viii. 15 ; Rom. v. 5 ; viii. 9. The
faithful received the Holy Spirit by the minis-
try of the Apostles or their successors, both in
Baptism and Confirmation.
Q. What effects does the Holy Spirit pro-
duce in the hearts of those who receive him?
A. The love of God, zeal, power and virtue ;
Rom. V. 5 ; viii. 9, etc. Extraordinary gifts,
such as miracles, are not now necessary, as
they were, before religion was proved and estab-
lished ; I Cor. xiv. 22.
Q. Had the prophets foretold the descent of
the Holy Spirit ?
A. St. Peter, in his first sermon to the Jews,
shows them that Joel foretold this event ; Acts
ii. 16 ; Joel ii. 28. It was foretold by Isaiah
xliv. 3 ; by Jeremiah, xxxi. 33 ; Heb. x. 16 ; and
most strikingly by Ezechial, xxxvi. 26, 27. Ac-
cording to all these, the Holy Spirit was to
renovate man, to shed the love of God on
every heart ; and this has been the effect pro-
duced in all ages on the Christian body ; Rom.
V. 5 ; viii. 9, 26, etc.
Q. How did the Apostles act, after receiving
the Holy Spirit ?
A. They preached the Gospel first to the
Jews, then to the Samaritans, and then to the
Gentiles scattered over the whole earth. They
announced redemption, reconciliation, the won-
ders of the life, death. Resurrection and Ascen-
sion of Jesus, to all men.
Q. Why was the Gospel first announced to
the Jews ?
A. Because they were the people of God,
with whom he had made an alliance, and to
whom the Messiah had been promised, — the
people who were the depositaries of the law,
the prophecies, and the true religion. Eight
thousand were converted by two sermons of
St. Peter. The other Apostles were similarly
engaged. Great numbers were converted ; but
multitudes of the Jews, as had been foretold,
5ao
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
remained obstinate and incredulous; Acts ii. 41 ;
iv. 4 ; V. 14 ; Rom. xi. The converted Jews
led exemplary and holy lives. They had one
heart and one soul ; they gave all to the poor ;
they were fervent in their attachment to, and
rejoiced when they suffered for Christ ;
they passed their days and nights in prayer;
Acts iv. 32. The • obstinate Jews became cruel
persecutors of the Apostles and their followers ;
Acts iv., vi., viii., etc.
Q. Were the Jews punished for their ob-
stinacy ?
A. God subjected them to all the scourges
■ the prophets had foretold. He abandoned them
to their blindness. They ceased to be the
people of God, and the Gentiles took their
place. Their city was taken, sacked, burnt,
their temple destroyed, their country ruined,
multitudes were put to the sword, and the
rest were scattered, as Osee had foretold, over
the whole earth, where they still remain, with-
out king, temple, altar, or sacrifice ; Osee i., ii. ;
Rom. ix. 25 ; Matt. viii. 11 ; Dan. ix. 26 ; Matt,
xxiv. 2 ; Mark xiii. 2 ; Luke xxi. 5 ; Osee iii. 4 ;
Dent, xxviii. 28, 29.
Q. When did these events take place?
A. Under the Emperor Vespasian, thirty-
eight years after the death of Christ. Their
own historian, Josephus, one of their most en-
lightened priests, has recorded the circum-
stances of their ruin, which he himself wit-
nessed ; Joseph. Hist, de Bello Jud. God did
not destroy them all, but dispersed them ; be-
cause, by this, they carried the sacred writings
over the whole earth. Thus they bore with
them the prophecies and their accomplishment.
Conversions were the consequence ; so much so,
that the Emperor Antoninus forbade, under
dreadful penalties, the reading of the sacred
books. Besides, the blindness and obstinacy of
the Jews is an everlasting proof of the truth
of religion, and the divinitj^ of the prophecies.
The Jews will yet, however, return to God ;
Rom. X. xL
SECTION XXIII.— THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL TO THE SAMARITANS AND THE GENTILES.
Q. When was the Gospel preached to the
Samaritans ?
A. When the Jews excited the first persecu-
tion against the Apostles and their followers ;
Acts viii. 5 ; xiii. 46 ; Matt. x. 5.
Q. How did the Samaritans receive the
Gospel ?
A. A great number received it with joy ;
Acts viii. 5. Those who rejected it were in-
volved, with the other Jews, in their common
ruin ; Josephus, Bel. Jud. lib. 3, c. 22, n. 264.
Q. At what time did the Apostles preach the
Gospel to the Gentiles?
A. The moment the Jews rejected it. When
the Jews had imprisoned some of the Apostles,
stoned Stephen, the first martyr, and suflEciently
declared their obstinacy, by persecuting the
faithful, God signified to Peter that he should
preach to the Gentiles, and Cornelius was the
first to receive the light of truth ; Acts x., xiii.
46 ; Rom. X. 19. The Apostles converted first
the Gentiles who were amongst the Jews, and
then dispersed over the whole earth, to instruct
and baptize all nations ; Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Mark
xvi. 15. St. Paul was especially the Apostle
of the Gentiles. He had persecuted the Church ;
God miraculously converted him — he preached
the Gospel with signal success ; he was remark-
able for his zeal, his writings, his labors, and his
sufferings; Rom. xi. 13; xv. 16; Gal. i. 16; i
Tim. ii. 7 ; Acts ix, ; 2 Cor. x., xi., xii.
Q. Were the Apostles very successful in
preaching to the Gentiles ?
A. So successful, that they destroyed idolatry
over the earth, and established the knowledge
and worship of the true God. These fruits they
produced by the power of the Holy Spirit, mani-
fested in their preaching, miracles, virtues,
THE CA'J^HOUC RELIGION DEFINED.
52r
sufferings, and death ; like torches of heavenly
light, they appeared every where, and filled the
earth with the light and charity of the Holy
Spirit ; St. Aug. in Ps. xxx. 22. The disciples
and successors of these Apostles continued the
work which they had commenced, until every
corner of the world was blessed with the
announcement of a redeeming Saviour ; Aug. in
Ps. Ixxxviii. Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 50.
Q. Was the Christian religion received in the
world without any opposition ?
A. No ; it was every where persecuted, yet it
triumphed over every opposition ; earth and hell
were leagued against it, still it was crowned with
success ; a fact which proves beyond doubt
that it was the work of God. This triumph of
truth over error and idolatry was clearly fore-
told ; Dan. ii. 44, 45 ; Ps. ii.
Q. How did the Apostles and their disciples
behave in the midst of these persecutions ?
A. They murmured not ; they merely showed,
by their words and writings, their own innocence,
and the truth of the religion which they taught.
They suffered for truth, with invincible and
heroic courage, the most cruel tortures, and
most frightful deaths ; Apol. S. Justin, Tertul.
pro Christ. Relig.
Q. Who raised these persecutions ?
A. The devil, who desired to maintain his
empire over man, in opposition to Jesus Christ;
Luke xi. 21. The instruments used by the
devil, were unbelievers, Jews, and Gentiles, the
kings, emperors, and powers of the earth.
These opposed Christianity, because it warred
against their prejudices and passions; men did
not wish to be disturbed by the alarming truths
of Christianity, in the quiet enjoyment of their
vices ; and kings were alarmed lest Christianity
might disturb their states ; Bossuet in cap. 3,
Apoc. All were, however, defeated ; truth
triumphed ; persecution served only to multiply
Christians, by the number of martyrs it made,
and by the effect of these martyrdoms on the
spectators. This was so much the case that
Tertullian calls the blood of the martyrs the
seed of Christianity.
Q. How long did these first persecutions con-
tinue ?
A. During 300 years, till the reign of Con-
stantine, who embraced Christianity. Since
then, most princes of the earth, following his
example, have placed their hope in the Cross,,
and gloried in following Jesus.
SECTION XXIV.— LIST OF THE FIRST PERSECUTIONS.
Q. Did every emperor, from the time of
Christ till the reign of Constantine, persecute
the Church?
A. No ; it was only at intervals. God calmed
the tempest sometimes, that the faithful might
rally during a temporary peace, and form and
establish their discipline. There were at most
only twelve great persecutions during the 300
years ; still, there was scarcely any time in
which persecution was not carried on in some
corner, in consequence of the Roman law, which
forbade the introduction of any new religion.
Q. Who were the emperors who carried ou
these persecutions, and how long did each per-
secution last ?
A. Nero was the first who, by edict, per-
secuted the Christians; his persecution
lasted from the year 64. till the year of
the tragical end of this impious tyrant, 68.
SS. Peter and Paul, at Rome; St. Mark, at
Alexandria ; SS. Gervase and Protase, at Milan,
and SS. Nazarius and Celseus, were put to
death by this persecutor.
Domitian commenced being a persecutor in
91 or 93, and continued till 96, when he died.
During this time Antipas was martyred, and
522
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
St. John was cast into boiling oil, from which
escaping, he was banished to Patmos, where
he wrote the Apocalypse. Trajan was the
third persecutor ; he began in the year lOO ;
he forbade all meetings, and his underlings
took advantage of this order to put to death
many Christians, who only met to pray. The
emperor, being made aware that he required
more executioners, such being the numbers of
Christians ready to die for the faith, stopped
the persecution. It was at this time that the
younger Pliny wrote to the emperor, describ-
ing the admirable lives of the Christians, to
which letter the emperor answered that Pliny
should not seek them, but merely punish those
against whom he received informations. It was
during this reign that St. Ignatius was de-
voured at Rome by wild beasts, and that St.
Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, was there crucified.
Adrian, in 125, forbade all new religfions,
and many Christians were put to death. This
emperor was, however, prevailed upon by
Quadratus and Aristides, as well as by Serenus
Granius, in the year 126, to cease persecuting
the Christians. During this persecution at
Rome, St. Eustachius and companions ; St.
Simphorosa and her seven children ; and, at
Brescia, St. Faustinus and Jovites, were put to
death. Under Antoninus Pius there were many
local persecutions, caused rather by the malice
of local governors or popular commotions, than
by the desire of that prince; at Rome, Pope
Telesphorus and St. Felicitas, with her seven
children, were put to death about the year 152.
The sixth persecution began under Marcus
Aurelius, in 161, and ended in 174; under
him suffered Justin, Polycarp, and many others.
The seventh commenced, under the emperor
Severus, in 202, and continued till the death
of that tyrant, which took place at York, in
England, in 211. During this reign, St.
Ireneus, and a multitude of others, were
martyred for Christ's sake. The eighth perse-
cution took place under Maximinus, and lasted
from 235 till 238, in which year the tyrant
was killed; he ordered all bishops to be put
to death ; but his magistrates extended this
punishment to all ecclesiastics ind many of
the laity suffered; Pope Pontian died in exile
during this reign, and multitudes suffered.
The emperors Decius, Callus, and Volusianus
persecuted the Church from 249 till 253.
The first of these tyrants was killed in 251,
and the other two in 253. Pope Fabian, Ab-
dou, and Sennon, St. Agatha, Popes Cornelius
and Lucius, and St. Hyppolitus, were among
the victims of this persecution.
Valerian was at first favorable to the Chris-
tians ; but, at the solicitation of Marcian, he
commenced the tenth persecution, in the year
257. Under him were martyred Popes Stephen
and Xistus, SS. Lawrence, Satuminus, Cyprian,
and a host of others. The eleventh persecu-
tion commenced under Aurelian in 273, and
ended in 275, by the violent death of the per-
secutor. During this period, Pope Felix and
others suffered martyrdom.
The twelfth ' persecution, under Dioclesian
and Maximian, was the longest and most vio-
lent of all. It commenced in 286. St. Maurice,
with the Theban legion, St. Mark, St. Mar-
cellinus, St. Sebastian, St. Denis, and whole
myriads of others, were slaughtered for the
faith. This cruel persecution lasted under
various emperors till 312, when Constantine,
who declared himself for Christianity, stopped
its progress. Licinius, however, renewed it in
320, but being overcome by Constantine, he was
ordered to be strangled ; and in 323 perse-
cution ceased. It would be vain to attempt a list
of those who suffered for Christ during these
dreadful persecutions ; the earth M'as deluged with
Christian blood, and, as if God would prove
the truth of Christianity from the signal
punishments he inflicted on the persecutors,
we have it recorded by Lactantius, that God
punished all these persecutors with the most
miserable deaths ; Lactan. de Mort. Persecu-
torum; St. Aug. de Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. Hi.
n. I, 2.
Q. Was the Church persecuted at all after
this ?
IriE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
52^
A. The impious prince, Julian the Apostate,
nephew of Constantine, commenced a persecu-
tion in 361, which continued till a just judg-
ment of God put an end to his wickedness in
363. SS. John and Paul, Gordianus, Basil,
and Theodoritus, were some of the martyrs of
this period.
Sapor, king of the Persians, at the instiga.
tion of the Magi and Jews, commenced one of
the most dreadful of all the persecutions in
343. It continued till the death of that prince
in 380, and produced an infinite number of
martyrs. Since that time, local persecutions
have never ceased, caused by the enmity of
infidels, Jews, or heretics; witness the sufier-
ings of France under infidelity, and the cruel-
ties practised on Catholic Ireland by heretical
England. Such persecutions will continue more
or less violent, until the dreadful list be closed
by the general persecution of Antichrist, im-
mediately before the end of the world ; St. Aug.
Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 52.
CHAPTER VL
On the Church.
SECTION I.— THE CHURCH OF CHRIST; HER VISIBILITY: GENERAL IDEA OF HER
DISTINGUISHING MARKS.
Q. What do you call that society, which has
embraced the religion of Jesus Christ ?
A. The Christian, the Catholic, or simply
the Church. The faithful were called Chris-
tians for the first time at Antioch, to which
place the Apostles, persecuted by the Jews, went
to preach the Gospel. St. Peter established
that as the seat of his apostleship for a time,
but afterwards transferred it to Rome ; Acts xi.
26 ; St. Aug. lib. ii. contra Petil. The word
Christian sigfuifies disciple of Christ. We call
by this name all who are baptized, who pro-
fess to believe and obey Jesus Christ. The
word Church signifies a congregation or society,
which word is also used for the place where
they assemble.
Q. What is the Church?
A. In its general signification, it is the so-
ciety of the faithful and their pastors, who,
united with Jesus Christ as their chief, form
only one body. In this sense, the happy in
heaven, the just in purgatory, and the faithful
on earth, belong to the Church.
Q. What do you mean precisely by the
Christian Church ?
A. The society of the faithful, who profess
the same Faith, and participate in the same
Sacraments, under the authority of lawful pastors,
whose visible head is the Bishop of Rome, the
successsor of St. Peter, and Vicar, on earth,
of Jesus Christ; St. Aug. lib. xix. contra
Faust. We are the faithful^ by believing in
Jesus Christ, and obeying him. The Church
does not recognize as her children those who
alter or dismember her Faith. By the Sacra-
ments, we are united to one another and to
Jesus, and thus make one body ; without acting
under legitimate pastors, we cannot be united,
either to Christ, or amongst ourselves ; and the
Vicar of Christ, who is the Bishop of Rome, is
the keystone, under Christ, of the whole fabric.
He is the source and bond of union amongst
the pastors of the Church. Of all these things
we have much to say afterwards.
Q. Is this society visible ?
A. Yes. It is compared to a gjeat mountain,
— to a city on the top of a mountain, to which
all nations will run ; and Christ commands all
to obey this society. Now, we cannot do these
things, unless the Church be visible ; Isa. ii. 2 ;
524
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
Dan. ii. 35; Mich. iv. i; Matt, xviii. 17. St.
Paul says, the Holy Spirit has appointed Bishops
to govern the Church, and that it belongs to
the Church to preach, to administer Sacraments,
to judge, to punish ; evidently, then, it must
be visible; i Tim. iii. 15; Acts xx. 28; Matt,
xxviii. 19, xviii. 17.
Q. Is not the Church a society merely of
the elect, who are known only to God ?
A. It is true that the elect are in the Church,
and the chief portion of it ; but it is not com-
posed of those alone ; for the Scripture tells
us it contains both chaff and good grain — the
good and the bad ; and that it will not be
purified from the wicked, until the end of the
world.
Q. If the Church be visible, why say " I
believe in the Church;" we need not profess to
believe in what we see ?
A. We see one thing and believe another ;
we see the visible society, and believe that so-
ciety to be the Church of God.
Q. By what marks can we distinguish the
true Church of Christ from everj'' other sect ?
A. By the four Scriptural marks: Unity,
Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity. The
Church which has these marks is true ; every
other is a conventicle of error.
SECTION II.— THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.
Q. Why do you say the Church is one ?
A. Because the faithful who compose it are
one body, having the same Head, the same
Spirit which animates the body, and each
member of it ; the same faith, same hope, and
same blessings in the Sacraments. We have
already shown that Jesus is the invisible Chief,
and we shall yet see that his Vicar, the successor
of St. Peter, is the visible head. The Spirit
which animates the body of the Church, is the
Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of truth, which
guides the members and unites them together,
that Spirit which Christ declared would abide
with his Church till the consummation of the
world ; Eph. iv. 4 ; John xiv. 16. St. Paul has
declared, that the Church has, in her children,
only one Faith ; Eph. iv. 5 ; and, in the same
place, that all have only one hope. In fine, all
the members of the Church have a right to
participate in her treasures, which are, graces,
the Sacraments, prayers, and good works ; see
Controv. Catech. on Unity.
Q. Whom do you call the faithful reigning
with Christ?
A. The Church triumphant, which is com-
posed of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the
Angels, and the Saints.
Q. What do you call the society of souls
who suffer in purgatory ?
A. The Church suffering, so called from the
pains she endures to satisfy the justice of God.
This portion of the Church comprises those
who have died in a state of grace, but who are
not so pure yet, as to be fit for admission into
the presence of God. The existence of this
middle state we shall afterwards prove.
Q. What name do you give to the Church
which exists still on earth ?
A. The Church militant, because she must
war constantly against the world, the devil, and
the flesh.
Q. Who compose the society of the Church
militant ?
A. Had Adam not fallen, all men were to be
members of the Church, because all were created
for eternal happiness, and sin only could deprive
them of it ; but Adam fell, and involved all in
his misfortunes. God, however, still merciful
promised a Redeemer; all, therefore, who believed
and hoped in that Redeemer, and lived holy
lives according to the natural law, belonged to
the Church militant.
But, after the vocation of Abraham, God
required circumcision in all Abraham's male
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
525
■desceu»?a.nts ; and, after Moses, the Israelites
were obliged to practice what was prescribed
in the law. There were Gentiles who were
circumcised, and they were bound to ob-
serve the ivhole law ; and others who
were not circumcised, who were still truly
faithful, provided they believed in one God, and
hoped in a coming Redeemer. It was on this
account, that there was a place for the Jews
and a place for the Gentiles in the temple of
Jerusalem. Now, before Christ, all these
belonged to the Church militant.
Since tbv'^ coming of Christ, the wall of sepa-
ration has been taken away ; Jews and Gen-
tiles are united into one people under Christ,
and to this body all must belong. To this
end two things \re necessary ; we must be
baptized, as, withi.\'v this, we cannot receive the
remission of sin, or enter heaven ; and we must
not be separated from the Church by disobedi-
ence, since Christ declares those who disobey
her, as heathens or publicans. Thus, the
Church militant is composed of all the faithful
who are baptized, and not excommunicated.
Hence, it follows, that heathens and Jews are
not members of the Church, as they are not
baptized ; that heretics, schismatics, and apos-
tates, are not of the Church, because they have
separated themselves from her ; that the excom-
municated are not her members, as the Church
has cut them off from her body ; that baptized
infants, no matter by whom baptized, are mem-
bers of the Church ; and that all baptized
Christians, the good as well as the wicked, pro-
vided they be not excommunicated, belong to
the militant Church of Christ,
SECTION III.— THE UNION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH ; THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
Q. Are all these different members of the
•Church united amongst themselves ?
A. They are all only one body, of which
Christ is chief ; so that it is true to say that they
are all the members of the mystical body of
Jesus Christ. The bonds of union are, a partici-
pation of the same spirit, a dependence on the
same hand, the reception of the same graces, the
profession of the same faith, the same hope, the
use of the same Sacraments, obedience to the
same pastors, and the same visible head.
What we have here said is applicable only to
the Christian Church, as existing since the time
of Christ. The members of the Jewish Church,
for example, were united by their dependence
on the same head, Jesus Christ, and their hope
in the promises, which we have seen fulfilled ;
and all the faithful of every age had the same
means to attain their end, that is, the applica-
tion of the merits of Jesus Christ ; for no one
has been, or . ever will be saved, bxtt through
Christ Jesus; St. Aug. Epist. 157 or 89.
Q. What do you call the union which exists
between the members of the Church ?
A. We call it the Communion of Saints. All
the members of the Church have been sancti-
fied by Baptism, and are holy, so long as they
preserve that grace, or, having fallen, recover it
by penance ; hence St. Paul calls the faithful
of his time. Saints ; Rom. i. 7 ; Cor. i. 2.
Q. In what does the Communion of Saints
consist ?
A. In the union, as well interior as exterior,
which exists between all the members of the
Church, and in the communication to each
other of spiritual goods which are their prop-
erty, such as their mutual participation in
prayers, good works, graces, and Sacraments.
Q. Do the Saints in heaven and the souls in
purgatory participate in this Communion ?
A. Yes ; all are but one body, and so all
partake of the same blessings, in so far as per-
mitted by their respective states or conditions.
The Saints hold communion with the faithful
526
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
on earth, by procuring for us blessings, and
presenting our prayers to God; and our com-
munion is kept up with the souls in purgatorj?^,
by the good works, the prayers, and especially
by the holy Sacrifice, which we offer to God in
their behalf. We shall prove these two points
in detail afterwards.
Q. How is this communion kept up amongst
the faithful on earth ?
A. All are partakers in the prayers, good
works, graces and sacrifices of all ; and the
graces and good works of each profit all the
members of the Church ; St. Aug. de Baptis.
lib. iii c. 17, and Tract. 32 in St. Joan. n. 7, 8.
Q. What is the principle of tbis mutual
communication of spiritual goods or blessings ?
A. The Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus
Christ, which, as the soul enlivens the various
members of the body, sheds the divine and life-
giving influence of his graces on all the mem-
bers of his mystical body, the Church ; Eph.
iv. 15 ; Rom. xii. 4 ; i Cor. vi. 15 ; xii. 4, etc.
Q. Do Christians in mortal sin share in the
advantages derived from the Communion of
Saints ?
A. A Christian in mortal sin is spiritually
dead in the eyes of God ; like a paralyzed mem-
ber, he is no longer enlivened from the head,
who is Jesus Christ ; still, he is united to the
Church externally, as we have already ex-
plained ; and, internally, by faith and hope.
He is not entirely separated like an apostate.
Hence, he still receives help, both interior and
exterior, for his conversion, especially by way of
prayer. An excommunicated person has lost
his right to share in the goods and blessings of
the Church ; but, as he is baptized, both Jesus
Christ and his Church still retain their right
over such rebel and disinherited child. Infi-
dels, Jews, heretics, schismatics, apostates, and
the excommunicated, have no part in the inte-
rior or exterior communion of the faithful.
Q. What do you mean by such persons?
A. A heretic is one who obstinately holds a
doctrine condemned by the Church, or who
refuses to believe, as an article of faith, what
the Church has defined ; St. Aug. lib. iv. de
Baptis. A schismatic is one who separates
himself from the Church, by refusing to hear
or obey its lawful pastors ; St. Aug. de 17
quaest. in Matt, quaest. xi. n. i. An apostate
is one who externally renounces the Catholic
faith, after having made profession of it.
Q. Why have the above three classes no part
in the communion of the faithful ?
A. Because they attempt to destroy the unity
of the Church, either by refusing to obey its
pastors, or by creating a division in the one
faith, which Christ's true Church must hold
violate. They thus exclude themselves from
the Church; St. Aug de Symb. ch. x. n. 21.
SECTION IV.— THE SANCTITY OF THE CHURCH.
Q. Is the Church holy?
A. The Scripture says so very expressly,
" Christ loved the Church, and gave himself
for her, that she might be without spot or
wrinkle, holy and without blemish ; " Eph. v.
25, 26, 27. And St. Peter confirms this ; i
Peter ii. 9. This holiness applies to the Church,
both on earth and in heaven. The Church is
purified and sanctified here by Jesus Chnst,
and this sanctitj' is perfected in heaven ; Bossuet,
Confer, with Claude.
Q. In what is the Church holy ?
A. In Jesus Christ, who is her head, and the
source of all sanctity ; in her doctrine, which
is holy ; in her holy laws, worship, ceremonies,
Sacraments, Sacrifice, Saints, and public acts of
everv descrintion.
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
527
Q. Why do you say she is holy in her doc-
trines ?
A. Because she teaches, as of faith, only
what she has learnt from Christ by his Apostles,
and this teaching sanctifies those who follow
and obey it.
Q. How do we know that the Church teaches
only what she learnt from Christ and the
Apostles ?
A. We have two means of conviction on this
point, the one available only to the learned,
the other open to all.
Q. What is the first?
A. To compare each dogma of the Church
with the holy Scripture and the traditions of
the Church, for these are the only two chan-
nels by which doctrines have reached us. We
shall afterwards establish the divine authority
of these two sources of religious truth. To
effect this comparison, it must be quite clear to
all, that the learned only are qualified, the
simple and unlettered being utterly incapable
of such an undertaking, as we shall see when
we come to establish the authority of the
Church.
Q. What is the second means open to all ?
A. To consider the simple and precise prom-
ises made by Christ to his Church, that his
Holy Spirit would be with her and teach her all
truth forever ; that the gates of hell should not
prevail against her ; that he himself would abide
with her forever ; John xiv. 16; xvi. 13; Matt,
xvi. 18 ; xxviii. 18, 19, 20. From these, it is
quite evident that the Church which has the
Spirit of God to teach her all truth diXiA forever,
cannot teach error. Hence, the truths taught by
Christ and his Apostles shall be forever taught
by the Church, which St. Paul says is the pillar
and ground of truth ; i Tim. iii. 15.
Q. Why do you say that all have it in their
power to be convinced that the doctrine of the
Church is pure and holy, by merely consider-
ing the above promises made by Christ?
A. Because these promises are so simple, and
plain, that all can easily understand them. The
holiness, the perpetuity, the infallibility of the
body, and doctrine of the Church, are the neces-
sary and inevitable cousequence of these prom-
ises; gainsayers on this point must be amongst
those who are condemned by their own judg-
ment; Titus iii. 10, II.
Q. Why have you said that the doctrine of
the Church renders holy all who follow it?
A. Because it is the doctrine of Christ, which
is ever true and holy, which sanctifies all in
truth, which enlightens and converts souls ;
John xviii. 17; Ps. xviii. 8, 9. Those who are
out of the Church cannot be sanctified ; because
either they are not baptized, and hence incapa-
ble of receiving grace ; or they have voluntarily
fallen from the grace of baptism, and, by sin,
are actually enemies of God, and unworthy of
the grace which sanctifies ; John iii. 3,5; Titus
iii. 10, II. To the latter class belong infidels,
heretics, schismatics, and apostates, who, accord-
ing to St. Jude, by separating themselves from
God's Church, are to be considered as judged,
and condemned ; Jude, 19, 22.
Q. Are all who are in the Church holy?
A. All are called to sanctity. " Many," says
our Saviour, "are called, but few are chosen; "
Matt. XX. 16. Many dishonor the sanctity of
their vocation, by the corruption of their lives.
In the Church there are living and dead mem-
bers. In this world the chaff and good grain
will always be found commingled ; Matt. iii.
12; xiii. 25; xxii. 10. Sinners in the Church
do not render the Church unholy ; their sins
are their own. The Church teaches holiness
and condemns vice; St. Aug. Lit. 55 or 119, ad
Januar. n. 35.
-S28
THE CATHOLIC REUGION DEFINED.
SECTION v.— THE CATHOLICITY OF THE CHURCH.
Q. What means the word Catholic ?
A. It means universal, and is applied to the
Church, because she exists in all times and all
places, which is not the case with any other
religious society.
Q. Why do you say that she is the Church
of all times ?
A. Because there ever has been, and ever will
be, a society of the truly faithful children of
God, united in the same faith, and animated by
the same spirit, under the direction of the same
head, Jesus Christ ; and this society we call the
Church. Since the fall of man, all who have
been saved, have been saved in this society,
through Jesus ; for there is no other name under
heaven through which we can be saved ; Acts
iv. 12 ; and this Church, now guided by the-
same Christ Jesus, will subsist until the end of
the world. " I will be with you," says the
Sa\'iour, " all days, even to the consummation
of the world."
Q. Why have you said that the Church ex-
tends itself to all places ?
A. Because the doctrine of the Church either
has been, or will be, announced in every part
of the universe ; every where there are, or there
have been, or will be. Catholics; Ps. ii. 8; xxi.
28; Ivi. 6, 12; Ixxi. 8; St. Aug. Lit. 199, or
80 ad Hesich. From these texts, it is clear that
the prophet foretold the universal diffusion of
Catholic truth. The Catholic Church has ever
been the most extended Christian body ; in every
corner of the globe there have been Catholics
united together by the profession of the same
faith, a participation of the same sacraments,
and a complete subjection to the same head;
all heretical societies have been confined to time
and place ; we know the commencement of each,
the date of their birth, and the time they di.s-
appeared from the world. No heresy lasted
more than four hundred years ; the ancient her-
esies have long since been forgotten, and the
modern are hurrying fast to the same oblivion.
The Catholic Church alone has existed in all
times and all places.
SECTION VI.— ON THE TITLE OF APOSTOLICITY GIVEN TO THE CHURCH.
Q. Why do you call the Church Apostolical ?
A. Because she believes and teaches what the
Apostles believed and taught ; because she was
founded by the Apostles, and governed ever since
by their lawful successors ; and in fine, because
she has received her authority and mission from
Christ through the Apostles.
Q. Why do you say that the Church believes
and teaches what the Apostles taught ?
A. Because in every age, back to the apos-
tolic times, we find the Church teaching what
she does at present. When we say the Church
was founded by the Apostles, we speak of the
Church since the time of Christ, which, though
founded on Christ as the corner stone — Eph.
ii. 20 — was nevertheless formed into a body by
the preaching of his Apostolic ministers, a body
which has subsisted ever since, and will subsist
to the end of the world, according to the express
words of Christ : " I will be with you all days,
even to the consummation of the world; " Matt,
xxviii. 18, 19, 20; see St. Aug. Serm, 2, in Ps.
ci. n. 8, 9, 10.
Q. Why do you say that the Church is gov-
erned by the successors of the Apostles ?
A. St. Paul tells us, that the Holy Ghost has
given bishops to rule the Church of God ; Acts
XX. 28. Now, the Church is governed by these
bishops, canonically appointed, and succeeding
one another, since the time of the Apostles, the
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
529
first of this succession being the Apostles them-
selves. This succession was foretold by St. Paul ;
Eph. iv. II, 12, 13, 14. St. Paul ordained Titus,
and left him in Crete to appoint other Bishops
and Priests, and thus were all the other Apostles
succeeded. This continued succession of the
Episcopacy, which connects the present Bishops
of the Church with the Apostles, is one of the
most powerful proofs of the true Church ; wher-
ever it is found, there is truth ; wherever it is
wanting, there is error ; St. Iren. contra Heres.
c. 3 ; Tertul. Prescrip. contra Heres. c. 32.
Q. Why do you say that the Church has re.
ceived her orders and mission through the Apos-
tles from Christ ?
A. The Church cannot subsist without minis-
ters for the Word and the Sacraments. Now, no
one can assume this ministerial power of himself;
he must be sent by God. St. Paul says so ex.
pressly : " How can they preach unless they be
sent." To the priesthood, all must be called as
Aaron was ; Heb. v. 4, 5. This necessary mis-
sion and power was therefore given by Christ to
his Apostles, the latter transmitted them to the
next generation of pastors, and so on down to
'■he present day. " As my Father sent me, eveu
so I send you ; whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven ;" John xx. 21, 22.
Q. But might not God send extraordinary mis-
sionaries, such as Luther, etc., giving them, not
the ordinary mission derived from the existing
pastors, but an extraordinary mission directly
from himself, such as he gave to St. Paul, or to '
the prophets of old?
A. If Luther, or any other, had received such
mission, they should have wrought miracles, or
prophesied truthfully, like St. Paul and the
prophets. This, however, they did not do. But,
besides this, any such mission would have falsi-
fied the words of Christ, for Luther and his
brother heretics, ver}'^ unlike St. Paul or the
prophets, preached doctrines contrary to those of
the Church, which Christ had declared should
never fall into error. If, therefore, Luther
preached truth, then Christ spoke falsehood.
Besides, an Apostle tells us, that even if an angel
from heaven were to announce another doctrine,
we should not believe it ; Gal. i. 8, 9. Hence it
is quite evident that God did not, and could not,
send any extraordinary missionary to undo what
was done by his only-begotten Son.
SECTION VII.— THE CHURCH, CALLED ROMAN AND CATHOLIC, IS THE ONLY TRUE
CHURCH OF CHRIST.
Q. To what Church do the four above marks
of truth properly belong ?
A. These marks of truth are to be found only
in the Church called Roman and Catholic. She
alone is Ojte, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolical.
Q. What do you mean by the Roman Church ?
A. I understand that society of Christians who
acknowledge the Bishop of Rome as their visible
head, and who obey him in that capacity. The
Bishop of Rome is called Pope, which signifies
Father. This title was at one time given to every
bishop, but has for centuries been reserved to the
chief bishop, because, as the head of these bishops,
he is in a manner the father, as St. Augustin says,
of all Christians ; Epist. 43 or 162, ad Glorium
n. 16.
Q. Why is the Pope chief or head, more than
any other bishop ?
A. Because he is successor to the see of Peter,
who was head of the Apostles by the institution
of Christ ; St. Aug. Ep. 52 or 165, ad Gener. n. 2.
Q. Is it an incontestable truth that St. Peter
was appointed by Christ chief of the Apostles ?
A. As often as the Evangelists give a cata-
logue of the Apostles, they place Peter at the
head, and sometimes call him the first. Christ
said to Peter only, " Thou art Peter, and on this
rock I will build my Church ;" Matt. x. 2 ; xvL
53°
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
i8, 19. To Peter only is g^ven the power to feed
both the lambs and sheep of Christ ; John xxi.
15, 16, 17. Peter alone is ordered to confirm his
brethren ; and Christ expressly prays for him in
a special manner, " that his faith fail not ;" Luke
xxii. 32.
Q. Is it certain that St. Peter was at Rome,
established his see there, and died in that city ?
A. As certain as that Caesar lived in that capi-
tal. The whole world attests these facts. No
wise man has ever doubted their truth. Even
Blondel, a Protestant, admits them as incontest-
able facts of history. The successors, therefore,
of St. Peter in the see of Rome, have succeeded
to his authority, or primatial jurisdiction ; for all
ages have admitted Rome to be the head of all
the Churches, and its bishop the head of all the
bishops, because he succeeded to Peter, the Prince
of the Apostles; Cyp. Ep. 52, 55; Iren. lib. 3,
cap. 3 ; Jerome, Ep. 67, ad Damas.; St. Aug. Ep.
53 or 165, ad Gener.
Q. Are Protestants and Greeks of the Greek
schism really schismatics, by withdrawing them-
selves from the jurisdiction of the Pope ?
A. Most certainly. All those are schismatics,
who withdraw themselves from the jurisdiction
of the pastors of the true Church. But the Prot-
estants and Greeks did so ; for at the time each
of these separated, the Catholic Church had all
the spiritual marks of truth, which she had at
the time of the Council of Constantinople. She
was One^ Holy^ Catholic, and Apostolical ; and
there was no other Christian body in the world
which could lay the slightest claim to these in-
contestable marks of truth.
Q. What if Protestants deny that those marks
of truth belonged to the Roman Church at the
time of their separation from her ?
A. Either these marks were to be found then
in the Roman Church, or in some other Church
then existing, for the Church of Christ was to
exist always. To say it fell, or did not exist any
where, is to make Christ a false prophet, for he
declared that he would be with his Church all
DAYS, and that his Holy Spirit would teach her
ALL TRUTH forever. Now, if the above marks
were in the Roman Church, then she was the
true Church, and those were schismatics who
separated themselves from her. But if the marks
of truth were to be found in any other Church,
then point out that other, for we know not where
to find it. History is silent on the subject.
Surely no one will be fool enough to say that
Luther, and his handful of wrangling and dis-
united followers, were the One^ Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. Either,
therefore, the Roman Church was, at the time of
the separation, the Church of Christ, having all
the marks of truth, or Christ had no Church on
earth ; but the latter assertion is blasphemy ;
therefore, the former must be admitted. There-
fore, all who separated themselves from the
Roman Church were schismatics ; men to whom
St. Jude alludes, when he says, " In the last time
there should come mockers, walking according to
their own desires in ungodliness ; these are they
who separate themselves, sensual men, having
not the Spirit ;" Jude, ver. 18, 19.
Q. Show us now, briefly, that the Protestant
Church is not One ?
A. Protestants admit, and Protestants deny,
the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the necessity
of Baptism, the Real Presence, the existence of
free will, the necessity of good works, the neces-
sity of having bishops as rulers. Indeed whether
you take all Protestants as one body, or take
each congregation separately, you will scarcely
find two nations, two ministers, or two laics, who
hold the same creed in every point ; therefore,
they are not one.
Q. Is the Catholic Church One ?
A. She is one in her faith. The same articles of
faith, the same principles of morality, are every
where taught and believed ; the same Sacrifice
every where offered, the same seven sacraments
every where administered, the same great feasts
and fasts every where observed. She is one in
her government. The laity obey the priest, the
priest obeys his bishop, and the bishop is subject
to the Pope. In the Catholic Church we have
no schisms, no divisions ; we live in perfect unity
of sentiment and affection.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
531
Q. Is the Protestant Church Holy ?
A. She has taught that God is the author of
sin, that man must sin, that good works are use-
less or hurtful. Her founders were models of
immorality ; therefore she is not holy.
Q. Is the Catholic Church Holy ?
A. She is. She teaches her children to be-
lieve all that God has revealed ; to look to Jesus
alone for mercy, grace, and salvation ; to practice
the virtues commanded and recommended in the
Gospel ; to receive the Sacraments there insti-
tuted ; to believe firmly, to hope confidently, and
to love, with fervor, God, and every fellow-crea-
ture. Her pure doctrines, and heavenly means,
have, in every age, produced Saints so incontest-
ably holy, that even enemies have admitted their
sanctity.
Q. Is the Protestant Church Catholic or Uni-
versal ?
A. She has never been able to filch even the
title. Fifteen hundred years of Christianity had
elapsed before even her name or herdoctrines were
known in the world, therefore she is not Catholic
as to time. As a Church, she is not spread over
all nations ; she is not exclusively the Church
of one nation, or even one parish, under heaven;
therefore she is not Catholic as to place. Her
doctrines, and discipline, and liturgy, are differ-
ent in every different country ; therefore she is
not universal as to the truth of her doctrine,
which, were it truth, would be every where the
the same.
Q. Is the Roman Church Catholic or Univer-
sal ?
A. Even the name of Catholic has ever been
hers in spite of every enemy. By this name she
is now known, as in the days of Pacian and Ter-
tullian. She bears not the name of any man, or
any country. Because she is the Church of
every man, and every coiintry, her doctrine has
been taught every where. Jerome, Augustin,
Gregory, taught exactly what she teaches at
present. She has been attacked by the most
powerful enemies ; doctrines have arisen, and
died ; nations have changed their names, their
religion, and their governments ; her doctrine
has remained the same, because the truth of the
Lord remaineth forever. She has been universal
as to time. Even enemies admit that she has
existed, without any interruption, since time of
Christ. Every nation under heaven attests her
universality as to place. Every where her altars
rise ; every where her pastors disseminate God's
holy word. She converted the world from
Paganism to Christianity. Where is the na-
tion that is not under the patronage of some
Catholic saint? Where the city that is not
adorned by some Catholic cathedral ? Where
the humble parish which is not enriched with
some actual proof, or some hallowed memorial,
to testify that it was once Catholic ?
Q. Is the Protestant Church Apostolical ?
A. To be so, she should have a perpetual
succession of her doctrines, orders, and mission
from the Apostles. Now, she made her first
appearance in 15 17. She existed nowhere be-
fore that time. Before that her doctrines could
not exist, for there were none to profess them.
As she had no existence, she had no pastors,
hence she could have neither orders nor mis-
sion. She came, therefore, 1500 years too late
to have any connection with Christ or his
Apostles.
Q. Is the Catholic Church Apostolical ?
A. Her society we can trace back, as a re-
ligious body, with congregations, pastors, lit-
urgy, through every age, to that blessed society
which was formed by Christ and his Apostles.
Her doctrine we can trace to the same, and
no other source. We trace her orders and
mission through an unbroken line of bishops
and Popes, to the time of Christ, who com-
missioned the first pastors of the Church.
Q. What inference would you draw from all
you have said as to the marks of the true
Church ?
A. Jesus Christ declares that his Church is
one; one fold, and one shepherd, one faith,
one Lord, and one baptism. That she is holy :
the spouse of Christ, a purchased people, holy,
and without blemish. That she is universal;
that she shall have the ends of the earth for
538
THE CATHOUC RELIGION DEFINED.
her inheritance, and that the gospel is to be
preached to all nations. That she is apostoli-
cal: Christ was to be with her all days, even
to the consummation of the world. These,
then, are the undoubted marks of the true
Church of Christ. But the Protestant Church,
as we have seen, is neither One, nor Holy,
nor Catholic, nor Apostolical ; therefore she
evidently is not the true Church of Christ.
On the contrary, the Catholic Church is clearly
One in her faith, her government, her liturgy ;
Holy in her head, her doctrines, and her
saints ; Catholic, as to time, place, and doc-
trine; Apostolical, as to her society,' doctrine,
orders, and mission; therefore, either she is
the true, infallible Church of Christ, or God
is a deceiver, the Scripture is not his word,
reason is a fancy, and religion a solemn mock-
ery. See the above questions treated in Con-
troversial Catechism more at length, and with
the necessary authorities from Scripture.
SECTION VIH.— ON THE COMBATS AND STRUGGLES OF THE CHURCH AGAINST HER ENEMIES.
Q. Has the Church been so favored by Christ
that she has no enemy to encounter ?
A. Her existence is, and has been, and will
be, one continued combat ; but she has ever,
and shall ever triumph. She is founded on a
rock. Torrents of persecution may threaten ;
enemies in myriads may assail her; she shall
ever laugh to scorn their impotent assaults ;
Matt. vii. 25 ; xvi. 18.
Q. Who are the enemies against whom she
must thus continually combat?
A. The powers of hell, iufidels, Jews, here-
tics, schismatics, excommunicated, and other
wicked persons ; and, besides these general ene-
mies, each Catholic has his own peculiar ene-
mies, which are called temptations ; St. Aug.
Serm. 3, in Ps. xxx.
Q. How do devils assault the Church ?
A. By exciting the above enemies against
her, and by laboring to destroy as many
Christians as they can. St. Augustin says the
Church has never been without some persecu-
tion, general or particular, according to that
promise of Christ, that all who wish to live
piously shall suffer persecution ; 2 Tim. iii.
12, 13.
Q. How does the Church defend herself
against these persecutions ?
A. By patience, confidence in God, and
prayer; and with these spiritual arms, aided
by the truth and justice of her cause, she is
always victorious. She may seem clouded for
a time, but it is only that she may afterwards
shine with greater lustre.
Q. In what way do the devils attempt to
destroy Christians ?
A. By engaging them in error and corrup-
tion, and keeping them involved in these ;
and by using every artifice to detach their
hearts from God, and attach them to the
world, its vices and delusions ; St. Aug. Serm.
2, in Ps. xxx. Multitudes fall into the snares
laid for them by the devils, and are lost. To
be saved, we must watch, and pray unceasingly,
live, by faith, mortify ourselves, — in a word,
live for God, and walk in the narrow path,
that leads to life eternal. There are, however,
many who will not lead a life so much opposed
to the corruption and perversity of their nature ;
who prefer present to future enjoyment ; who
are ever promising, without ever laboring, to
do well ; who put off conversion from day to
day, until they are at last surprised by death,
and perish eternally. The Church laments
the ruin of so many souls. She prays unceas-
ingly for the conversion of the wicked, and
the perseverance of the just. She instructs,
exhorts, reprehends, corrects, and punishes ;
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
in short, she labors strenuously for the salva-
tion of her children ; and thus, through Jesus
Christ, secures the happiness of all whose
533
Rom.
names are written in the book of life ;
ix. 2; 2 Tim. iv. 2; Gal. iv. 19; 2 Thess.
iii. 14, 15-
SECTION IX.— COMBATS OF THE CHURCH AGAINST INFIDELS, JEWS, HERETICS, ETC.
Q. How do infidels, Jews, etc., assault the
Church ?
A. By combating the truth of Christianity.
Q. How does the Church confound them ?
A. By pointing out the accomplishment of
all the prophecies, the miracles of Jesus Christ,
the sanctity of his doctrine, the miraculous
establishment of Christianity, and the incontes-
table miracles wrought in every age to establish
the truth of the religion of Jesus.
Q. How do heretics and schismatics attack
the Church?
A. By denying her doctrines and rejecting
her authority, by perverting the Holy Scrip-
tures to support their errors, by asserting that
the Church, which has Christ forever with her,
had fallen into error, an assertion which has
been in the mouth of all heretics, and which
induced Tertullian to call them murderers of
truth ; Lib. de Crane Jes. Chr. c. 5.
Q. Have heresies and schisms been very
numerous ?
A. Every age has produced them, and we
shall have them to the end. St. Paul tells us
that they are a necessary evil; i Cor. xi. 19.
There is scarcely one article of faith which
has not been denied by some heretic or other.
Q. Why does God permit the Church to be
thus persecuted by heretics and schismatics ?
A. For many reasons, viz.: to exercise his
justice against those who abandon truth,
and his mercy towards those who remain
attached to him, for all his ways are mercy
and justice; Ps. xxiv. 10; to prove by trials
those who are firm in their faith, and to dis-
tinguish them from those who love error ; i
Cor. xi. 19 ; to exercise the patience and charity'
of the Church, and to sanctify the elect ; St.
Aug. de Catechiz. rudib. c. 24 ; to give occasion
for the illustration of religious truth, and the
Holy Scripture ; St. Aug. lib. i. in Gen. c. i ;
to make pastors more vigilant, and value more
the sacred deposit of faith ; St. Aug. de Vera
Relig. c. 8, n. 15 ; in fine to render the authority
of tradition more clear and incontestable.
Q. Why this last reason ?
A. Because heretics are heretics only on
some points ; and hence, when we find
them in any age believing a true dogma, it
must be clear that that dogma existed in the
Church before the birth of the heresy profess-
ing it. Thus the Church uses the testimony
of the Jews, to prove the truth of the Scrip-
tures and prophecies ; of the Samaritans, who
separated from the Jews before the Babylonish
captivity, to prove that the Scriptures are more
ancient than the division of the ten tribes.
Thus, also, she uses the testimony of the Nes-
torians, Eutychians, etc., to establish the holy
sacrifice of the Mass, prayers for the dead, etc.
Q. In what way does the Church confound
heretics and schismatics ?
A. By proving each assailed dogma from
Scripture and divine tradition, and by showing
from the promises of Christ that the Church
is infallible, and that novelty, in religion, is
error. By these arms the Church has ever
triumphed, and will ever triumph, because she
is the pillar of truth ; she subdued all the
ancient heresies, and the more modern will, ere
long, share the same fate; i Tim. iii. 15.
534
TPE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
SECTION X.— THE PRINCIPAL SECTS, THE FATHERS WHO REFUTED THEIR ERRORS, AND THE
COUNCILS WHICH CONDEMNED THEM.
Q. What were the principal heretics of the
first century ?
A. Even in the time of the Apostles, there
arose Simon the magician, Menander, the
Nicolaites, the Cerinthians, and Ebionites.
Simon imagined, that he could buy the power
to give the Holy Ghost ; he wished to be con-
sidered a god ; rejected the Old Testament,
denying that God was its author ; he also
denied the Resurrection. He was confounded
and destroyed by St. Peter ; Arnobius, lib. 2 ,
contra Gent. p. 50. Menander wished to pass
for the Sa\'iour ; he pretended by his false
baptism to preserve from old age and death ; S.
Just. Apol. n. 72. The Nicolaites were like
Menander, the disciples of the impious Simon;
and Cerinthus and the Ebionites, amongst other
errors, were the first to deny the divinity of
Christ ; against these, according to St. Jerome,
St. John wrote his Gospel ; Jerom. Epist. ad
Heliodor.
Q. Who were the heretics of the second
century ?
A. Saturninus, who condemned marriage, and
Basilides, who pretended that Christ had not a
real but an imaginary body, and that he did not
really die. These two heretics were refuted by
St. Ireneus, Clement of Alexandria, and others.
The Gnostics followed, adding to the above
errors others equally shocking. They said Christ
was only a mere man ; and practised abominable
rites, which were by the Pagans, attributed to the
whole body of the Christians, and used as a pretext,
to excite persecutions ; see Minucius Felix, in
his Octavius.
The Valentinians, the Cerdonians, and Mar-
cionites, were offshoots of the above, and taught
the same errors with some peculiar variations ;
they had numerous followers, and were opposed
and refuted by Tertullian, Ireneus, Justin,
Epiphanius, and Clement of Alexandria. Mon-
tanus pretended he was the Holy Spirit, and
endeavored to pass off for prophetesses two in-
famous women, whom he carried about with
him. He forbade marriage, ordered three Lents
to be observed, and pretended, that there were
a great number of sins from which the Church
had no power to absolve. Tertullian, one of the
ablest writers of the Church, became the victim
of this heresy — a terrible example of pride, to
all the children of God. Tatian condemned mar-
riage, forbade animal food and wine, and used
water for the sacrifice of the Mass. His errors
were refuted by Clement of Alexandria, Ireneus,
Origen, Epiphanius, and many others.
Q. What were the sects of the third century ?
A. The Novatians began by schism ; Novatian
having wished to have himself elected Pope in
place of Cornelius, who was lawfully elected.
It was on this occasion that St. Cyprian
distinguished himself by various letters ad-
dressed to Pope Cornelius, and by his admir-
able work on the unity of the Church. The
Novatians became heretics, by maintaining that
the Church had not power to absolve from
great crimes committed after Baptism. St.
Cyprian, St. Pacian, St. Ambrose, St. Basil,
and others, wrote against this heresy, which
was finally condemned by the general Council
of Nice.
The Sabellians held that there were not three
persons in the godhead; that the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost were only three names for the
same person. Paul of Samosata, Bishop of
Antioch, through vanity and pride fell into the
same error. He was condemned in the two
celebrated Councils of Antioch. This heresy
was opposed by St. Dionysius of Alexandria,
by St. Athanasius, and St. Basil, and was con-
demned by the first Council of Nice.
The Manicheans held that there were two
first principles, one good, the other bad; that
each man had a good and a bad soul. They
forbade marriage, they denied human liberty,
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
535
original sin, the necessity of Baptism or faith,
the authority of the Old Testament. St. Au-
gustin, who knew them well, because he had
been one of their sect before his baptism, ex-
posed their errors in a most powerful manner.
These errors had long before been foretold and
condemned by St. Paul ; i Tim. iv. i ; St. Leo,
serm. 15.
The Origenists held that the soul of Christ
had been united to the eternal Word before the
Incarnation ; that the soul of each man subsisted
before his body, and was infused into the body
as into a prison, in punishment of former sins ;
that Jesus died not only for men, but for the
devils, and that the pains of hell would not be
eternal. Many deep theologians believe that
Origen did not teach these errors, but that his
disciples pretended they derived them from him ;
thus attempting to give importance to their
sect, by claiming as its founder, a man who,
for learning, was the wonder of his age. These
errors of the Origenists were opposed by St.
Jerome, Epiphanius, and others, and were con-
demned in various general Councils, especially
in the fifth general Council, held at Constanti-
nople, under Pope Vigilius, in 552.
Q. What were the sects of the fourth cen-
tury ?
A. The Donatists were first schismatics, then
heretics. Donatus was so rash as to consecrate
Majorin, to the prejudice of Cecilian, the law-
ful bishop of Carthage, and thus raised altar
against altar, cai:sing a -schism. His followers
soon added heresy to the schism of their mas-
ter. They declared Baptism, and other Sacra-
ments, administered out of the Church, null —
that the Church existed only with them. They
ordained priests and bishops for themselves, de-
claring that Catholic ordinations were null and
void. They profaned Churches, and the Holy
Eucharist; they broke down the altars, trampled
the holy oils under foot ; they split up, like every
other heresy into various sects, yet remained united
against Catholicism. They were condemned at
Rome in 313; at Aries in 314. The emperor
Honorius ordered a conference of Catholic and
Donatist bishops in 411. There met 280
Catholics and 159 Donatists. The Catholic
bishops offered to divide their sees, or to cede
them altogether to the Donatists, if they would
quit their schism ; but nearly all refused, and
persisted in their rebellion. Their followers,
however, diminished after this; and in less
than a century, the heresy died out. St.
Optatus and St. Augustin wrote powerfully
against this sect; and it would be well if Pro-
testants would read these writings; for if they
did, the honest amongst them would abandon
their errors.
Arius, a priest of Alexandria, followed Paul
of Samosata in his errors on the Trinity. He
pretended that Jesus Christ was not truly God,
because, as he said, he was neither coeternal
nor consubstantial with the Father. This
heresy is much the same as the modern modi-
fications of it, Socinianism and Unitarianism.
The Arians, though much divided amongst
themselves, were, like all heretics, united
against the Church. They gained over to
their party many powerful adherents, and
raised horrible persecutions against the Church.
The errors of Arius were refuted by St. Atha-
nasius, St. Hilary, St. Gregory Nazianzen,
St. Basil, and a host of others. They were
condemned in many Councils, but especially in
the Council of Nice, anno 325. Macedonius
denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, and was
refuted by St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St.
Epiphanius, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and
many others. His errors were condemned by
the first Council of Constantinople, in 381.
Eunomius added to the errors of Arius other
blasphemies. He pretended that God was not
incomprehensible ; that he knew God as well
as God knew himself; that relics were to be
despised, and the miracles, wrought at the
tombs of the martyrs, laughed at. He refused
to baptize in the name -of the Trinity, rejected
the authority of the prophets and Apostles ;
and held many other absurdities and immoral
doctrines. He was opposed in his wicked
career by St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St.
536
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
John Chrysostom, St. Epiphanius, St. Augustine
and Theodoret. The Emperor Theodosius made
severe laws against this sect.
Aerius held that priests were equal to bishops.
He condemned prayers for the dead, and the
fasts and abstinences of the Church ; he for-
bade Easter as a feast. St. Epiphanius and
St. Augustine assailed this heresy, which
has been condemned by almost every
Council held in the Church. Photinus held
like Arius, that Jesus Christ was not God ;
but he added that he was a mere man, having
no existence whatever before his temporal birth.
This heretic was refuted and anathematized by
the same Fathers and Councils which con-
demned Arius. The Messalians or Euchites
were a sort of enthusiasts who maintained that
baptism was useless, that prayer alone was
useful. They prayed or slept all day ; they
pretended to revelations from heaven, and lived
horrible libertines. St. Epiphanius and Theo-
doret refuted their errors, which were con-
demned by the Council of Ephesus, Act 7.
Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, refused to receive
repenting Arian bishops back into the Church,
and thus with his followers became schismatics.
St. Jerome, who refutes them, says, they wished
also to rebaptize all converted Arians; and St.
Augustine adds, that they were accused of
teaching that the soul is material and begotten
as the body. Apollinaris held that Christ had
no human soul, that the Word of God became
one and the same substance with his body, and
animated it. That both died on the cross ;
that the body of Jesus was not formed from
the Blessed Virgin, but came from heaven ;
that the Holy Ghost was inferior to the Son,
and the Son to the Father. SS. Jerome, Atha-
nasius, and others opposed this heresy, which
was condemned at Alexandria in 362, at Rome
in 373, at Antioch in 378, and at Constanti-
nople in 381.
The Priscillianists taught a compound of the
errors of the Gnostics, Manicheans, and Sabel-
lians. They labored to conceal their opinions,
and permitted lies and perjury for that pur-
pose. Sulpicius Severus wrote strongly against
them, and St. Augustine composed, against
them, his book on lies. They were condemned
at Saragossa in 380, at Toledo in 400, and at
Braga in 569. The Jovinianists believed mar-
riage more holy than virginity, and declared
man after baptism impeccable. They believed
all sins equal, and that Jesus Christ was not
born of a virgin. St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and
St. Augustine, combated their errors, and they
were condemned at Rome in 390, and after-
wards in the Council of Trent, in the persons
of Protestants. The Collyridians were a set of
Arabian women who adored the Blessed Virgin
as a deity. They were confuted by St. Epiph-
anius.
Q. What were the heretics of the fifth cen-
tury ?
A. Vigilantius rejected the invocation of
Saints and the veneration of relics. He de-
spised miracles wrought at the tombs of the
martyrs ; he declared virginity nothing better
than marriage. His errors were condemned in
those of Jovinian, and refuted by St. Jerome.
Pelagius and Celestiiis were the leaders
in the Pelagian heresy. They held that
Adam was created to die, whether he sinned
or not; that his sin injured only him-
self; that infants are born without original sin;
that consequently baptism was useless ; that
concupiscence was no evil ; that ignorance or
forgetfulness were in no case sins ; that death
and the miseries of life were not the punish-
ment of sin ; that infants who die without bap-
tism, enjoy eternal life, but not in heaven ;
that man's liberty is as strong now as before
the fall ; that if man wished, he had it in his
OWN power to control all passions ; that virtue
was not the gift of God. Such are some of
the gross errors of Pelagianism. St. Germa-
nus and St. Augustine labored successfully to
destroy this heresy, which was condemned at
Carthage in 412, at Diospolis in 415, and by
Innocent I., in 417. Pope Celestine I. con-
firmed the decisions of all his predecessors
against this heresy, and in the Council of
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
537
Ephesus, anno 431, two express canons are
directed against it.
The Semipelagian sprang from the ruins of
the Pelagian heresy. It held that man, by his
own power, could merit the first grace neces-
sary to salvation, whilst the Church holds that
such grace must come from God. St. Augus-
tine died whilst engaged in refuting these
heretics. St. Prosper, St. Fulgentius, Popes
Celestine, Zozimus, and Gelasius, condemned
this heresy between 423 and 494. It was con-
demned also by various Councils, whose deci-
sions were confirmed by Boniface II.
Nestorius held, that there were two persons
in Jesus Christ. That the Son of God was not
united hypostatically, but accidentally, to the
Son of Man, so that Jesus Christ was the
Son of God only by adoption. He held also as
a necessary consequence that the Blessed Virgin
was not the mother of God, as her Son was not
in his. own person, God. This blasphemer was
opposed by SS. Proclus, Cyril, and Pope Celes-
tine, whose condemnation of Nestorius was re-
ceived by acclamation, and ratified by the Coun-
cil of Ephesus, 431.
Eutiches maintained that there was only one
nature in Christ, as there was only one Person,
whilst the Church has always taught two dis-
tinct natures, the nature of God, and the nature
of man. This heresy gained credit from Dios-
corus of Alexandria, who declared himself its
protector. St. Flavian, Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, had it condemned in a Council held in
that city, anno 449. In the Council of Chal-
cedon, Eutiches and his heresy were condemned,
and the impious Dioscorus was deposed.
Q. What were the heresies of the sixth cen-
tury ?
A. The Agnoetes were the followers of
Themistius, who was infected by the Euty-
chian heresy. They attributed ignorance in
many things to Christ. They were re-
futed by Eulogus, Patriarch of Alexandria,
whose writings were approved of by St.
Gregory the Great. The heresy of the Trithe-
ists consisted in the admission of three distinct
natures in God. This heresy was refuted by
the Eutychians themselves, and very soon dis-
appeared. The Acemetes, which means those
who never sleep, denied the Incarnation, the
birth of Jesus of a virgin, and his death. They
were condemned as Nestorians by Pope John
II. We shall pass over the condemnation of
the heresy and schism of the Three Chapters^
the history of which is too complicated for a
work of this description. These Three Chap-
ters were the writings of Theodorus, Bishop of
Mopsuestus, a letter of Ibas, Bishop of Edessa,
and the writings of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyr.
These three writings were solemnly condemned
in the second general Council of Constanti-
nople.
Q. What were the errors of the seventh cen-
tury ?
A. The Monothelites maintained, that though
there were two natures in Christ, he had only
one will, which was the divine, and not the
human will. This heresy was supported by
Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyrus,
Patriarch of Alexandria, and others. It was
refuted by John of Alexandria, Sophronius of
Jerusalem, Arcadius, Bishop of Cyprus, St.
Maximus, Martyr, the Popes, Severinus, John
IV., and Agatho, by whom it was con-
demned in the Council of Constantinople,
anno 680. The Paulicians were a sect
of Manicheans under a new name. Their
leader was a certain Paul, an Armenian. They
were guilty of every abomination ; see Bos. Hist.
Variat. lib. xi. n. 13.
It was in this age that Mahomet, a Cyrenean,
aided as it is supposed by Sergius, a Nestorian
monk, formed the Mahometan sect, whose
doctrines are a monstrous compound of
Judaism, Christianity, and the ancient
heresies. God, according to Mahomet, is
the author of evil as well as good ;
man has no free will ; there is only one person
in God ; Jesus was only crucified in appear-
ance : the devils will be saved. He maintained
that paradise consists in carnal pleasures ; that
these are not sins; that man may have many
538
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
wives ; that circumcision is necessary, and bap-
tism useless ; that the Eucharist is idolatry,
and that wine is forbidden. God has permitted
this monstrous evil to over-spread all the East, as
a punishment for the crimes of Christians.
Q. What heretics appeared during the eighth
century ?
A. The Iconoclasts, so called because they
destroyed or broke images, protested against
the honor which the Church had ever given to
the images of Christ and his Saints. The Em-
peror Leo the Isaurian, a Bishop named Con-
stantine, Constantine Copronymus, and his son
Leo, were the chief support of this heresy, which
made great havoc in the Church. This heresy
was opposed by Gregory II., St. Germanus,
Patriarch of Constantinople, and others ; and
was condemned in the second Council of Nice,
anno 787. Felix, Bishop of Urgel, in Spain,
and Elipandus, Bishop of Toledo, taught, that
Christ was the Son of God only by adoption ;
a whole host of Fathers opposed this blasphemy,
which was condemned at Ratisbon in 792, at
Frankfort 794, and at Rome, under Leo III.,
799-
Q. Who were the heretics of the ninth cen-
tury ?
A. Sergius and Baanes renewed the Paulician
heresy, to which they added some new errors.
Claude, Bishop of Turin, renewed that of Vig^l-
antius and Aerius. These were successfully
opposed by Jonas, Bishop of Orleans, and Dun-
gale, a monk of Paris. Gotescalk, a monk of
Soissons, was accused of teaching the errors of
the Predestinarians ; he was severely punished
by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, and con-
demned in 848 at Mayence; and at Querci in
849, 853.
Photius, the nephew of St. Tarasius, Patriarch
of Constantinople, was intruded, though a laic,
into the See of Constantinople, in place of St.
Ignatius, the lawful Bishop, who was driven
from his See by the impious Bardas, nephew
of the Emperor Michael III., to whom St. Igna-
tius refused communion, because he was living
in open incest. Photius in six days received
all the orders up to Patriarch, from Gregory
of Syracuse, an excommunicated and de-
posed bishop. Photius was excommunicated
by Nicholas I. He then commenced to teach
that the Holy Ghost did not proceed from the
Son, an error opposed to the uniform and per-
petual doctrine of the Church. In 869 St.
Ignatius was restored to his See, and Photius
was, by the eighth general Council, deposed and
excommunicated. On the death of St. Ignatius,
Photius, by address, got himself made lawful
Patriarch of Constantinople. He now again
began to teach error, and was deposed by John
VIII., Adrian HI., and Stephen V. Still he
persisted in his error, until he was driven from
his See by the Emperor Leo the Wise, and
confined to a monastery, where he died. His
heresy and schism did not die with him ; they
exist amongst the Greeks to this day. John Scotus
taught various errors on Predestination and the
Holy Eucharist during this century, but as he
had no followers, we shall say nothing more
about him.
During the tenth century, no heresy of note
made its appearance. In Italy, the Anthropo-
morphites, who gave God a body, showed them-
selves for a time, and expired ; and Walafrid, in
Languedoc, denied the immortality of the soul,
and was ably refuted by Durandus, afterwards
made Bishop of Castres, by John XXII.
Q. Who were the heretics of the eleventh
century ?
A. The new Manicheans appeared in the
city of Orleans, led by two canons, who, on be-
ing discovered, were condemned and degraded,
in a Council held for that purpose.
Berengarius, Archdeacon of Angers, dared to
teach that the body of Jesus Christ was only
figuratively contained in the Sacrament. The
whole Church rose against him. He was con-
demned in a Council at Rome, in 1050 ; in
that of Paris the same year; and in that of
Florence, 1055, iinder Victor II. He was con-
demned successively in 1059, 1063, TO75, 1078,
and 1079. He retracted his error, and died
penitent in the bosom of the Church.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
539
Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, in 1043, wrote against the Latin Church,
accusing her of the following crimes, viz. :
Consecrating in unleavened bread, eating stran-
gled meats, shaving the beard, fasting on Satur-
day, eating meat during Quinquagesima week,
adding the word Filioque to the Symbol of
Nice, allowing two brothers to marry two sis-
ters, giving the kiss of peace in Mass before
the Communion, not singing the Alleluia in
Lent, not honoring images and the relics of
the Saints, with many other false or frivolous
charges. Such were the pretexts for the Greek
schism. Leo IX. sent three legates, who were
honorably received by the Emperor, Constan-
tine Monomachus. These conferred often
with Michael the Patriarch, but without ef-
fect. They at last excommunicated him in the
Church of St. Sophia. The Emperor banished
Michael, but the schism was not destroyed. Many
of the Greeks are still out of the Church, either
through Nestorianism, or Eutychianism, or
Monothelism, or Cerularianism.
Q. What were the errors of the twelfth cen-
tury?
A. Tanchelin taught that Christ did not insti-
tute the ministry of Bishops and Priests; that
the reception of the Holy Eucharist was useless
to salvation. The life of this monster was full
of infamy. The mob followed him as a prophet,
until God by the ministry of St. Norbert, Bishop
of Madgeburg, destroyed this heresy. Peter of
Bruis renewed the heresy of the Manicheans at
Nimes; his followers were called Petrobusians.
Peter was burnt by order of the magistrates;
and his followers, from whom the Albigenses
sprung, were refuted by St. Bernard and others,
and condemned in the Council of Lateran, under
Innocent II., in 1039. These heretics were also
called Henricians, from an apostate monk
Henry, who led them after the death of Peter.
Arnaud of Brescia taught the errors of the
Petrobusians, with other errors on the Euchar-
ist, Baptism, and the religious state. He
was opposed by the same Fathers, and con-
demned in the same Council. St. Bernard also
refuted the errors of Peter Abailard on the
Trinity and other questions ; and Peter was
condemned at Soissons, in 11 20; at Sens, in
1 140; which condemnations were confirmed by
Innocent II. Abailard retracted his errors.
Gilbert, Bishop of Poictiers, taught some errors
on the Trinity, which were refuted by St. Ber-
nard, and condemned in the Council of Rheims ■
in 1 148, where he retracted. Eon de I'Etoile,
an ignorant fanatic, fancied that it was he who
was to come and judge the living and the
dead ; he had followers. He and they were
condemned at Rheims in 1148. He was con-
demned to perpetual imprisonment.
The Waldenses were the followers of a mer-
chant of Lyons, called Waldo ; they were called
the poor men of Lyons, as they made a boast
of poverty. They attempted to preach without
a mission, or orders ; they held some doctrines,
afterward adopted by Protestants, but most of
their creed was Catholic ; see Bossuet, Hist.
Var. lib. xi. Reinerus, who had been one of
themselves, refutes their errors, which were
condemned in 1163 at Lombez, in 11 78 at
Toulouse, in the third Council of Lateran,
under Alexander III., and the fourth Council
of Lateran, under Innocent III. in 12 15.
Q. Inform us as to the errors of the
thirteenth century ?
A. The Albigenses, so called because
they inhabited Albi, and High Languedoc,
professed the errors of the Manicheans,
and a compound of Petrobusianism and
Waldensism. They plunged into every in-
famy ; yet Protestants own them as their
Fathers, and glory in their shame. Peter of
Castelnau, and St. Dominic, labored with great
zeal to convert these madmen. They were con-f
demned at Avignon in 1210, at Lavaur in 1213,
at Montpellier in 12 14, in the fourth Council of
Lateran in 1215, and by several others, up to
the year 1246.
Amalric, or Aimeri, taught several errors simi-
lar to the Calvinistic errors. Besides these, he
denied the resurrection of the body ; he declared
heaven and hell mere chimeras ; that our heaven
540
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
was our virtues, and our hell was a state of mor-
tal sin; that the word of God was not to be
found in the writings of the Fathers, more than
in the poets. This heretic was condemned at
Paris in 1209, and in the fourth Lateran Coun-
cil in 1215. Joachim of Calabria erred on the
subject of the Trinity, and was condemned in
the above Council, in 1215. He had fanatical
followers, who substituted his book in place of
the New Testament, which they rejected. They
and their fancies were condemned at Aries, in
1260.
The Circumcellions, who appeared in Ger-
many, were a kind of Donatists. They main-
tained that Bishops and Priests forfeited all
spiritual power, by mortal sin ; they then
declared the Pope, Bishops, and Priests, all in
a state of mortal sin ; and most modestly
claimed all power to themselves, as the only
people free from sin. This insolent folly had
been long before condemned in the persons
of the Donatists. The Flagellantes were an
assemblage of people, who, naked to the middle,
used the discipline most unmercifully. In the
beginning, they broached no error ; but iu
course of time they declared, that no one could
receive the forgiveness of his sins, unless he
entered their confraternity ; and although lay-
men, they confessed and absolved one another.
They passed from Italy to Germany, and from
that to Hungary. They were condemned at
Paris, 1349. The Beguards and Beguines led
horrible lives, and believed a compound of the
Manicheism and the Albigensism ; something
like the Quietists of more modern times. They
■syere condemned in the general Council of
Vienne, under Clement V., in 131 1.
Q. What heretics appeared in the fourteenth
century ?
A. The Turlupins, an abominable sect, who
appeared in Dauphine and Savoy. They adop-
ted the errors of the Beguards, and maintained
that mental prayer alone was good and useful.
They went naked in public, and gloried in the
most shameful actions. This infamous sect
was put down by the civil law. Raymond
LuUe, of Majorca, published a work, full of
errors, on the Trinity, the Attributes of God, etc.
Gregory XI. condemned his works, to which con-
demnation he submitted. There was also a second
Raymond Lulle, who, after being a Jew, became a
Christian; he wrote several works on magic,
crammed with nonsense, both ancient and mod-
ern.
John Wickliflfe, a priest of the diocese of
Lincoln, taught many errors against Jesus
Christ, the Sacraments, and the Church; he
was partly Donatist, partly the precursor of
Calvin; still he did not reject either confirma-
tion, penance, or extreme unction ; he h^ld the
Mass, the invocation of Saints, and tht venera-
tion of relics and images; he was condemned
in several councils, and especially in the general
Council of Constance, 1414.
During the fifteenth century, John Hus,^
rector of the University of Prague, renewed
the heresy of WicklifiFe, and added other novel-
ties. Protestants boast of him as their cham-
pion, and this too, whilst they admit that he
held the real presence, transubstantiation, pur-
gatory, the invocation of Saints, and the seven
Sacraments. He was condemned in the Council
of Constance ; and, by the secular power, was
burnt alive, as an obstinate heresiarch. Jerome
of Prague was the disciple of Hus, and had the
same fate.
With the heresies of the sixteenth century,.
Christians of all classes, in these countries,
ought to be well acquainted. Commencing with
one man, they multiplied with such celerity
that, in less than a century, they became almost
innumerable, all difiiering from one another —
each opposed to its neighbor — yet, like every
heresy, all united against truth, and waging war
with God's Church. We shall take no special
notice of these Protestant heresies here, as the
whole object of this and every other work on
Faith and Morality, written by Catholics, is by
establishing truth, to refute modern Protestant
error. Protestantism was condemned by several
Popes, and finally proscribed in the General
Council of Trent, held from 1545 till 1563.
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
541
"Neither shall we take any notice here of the
errors of Jansenius, Quesnell, or their adhei^
€nts, first, because they are nearly forgotten ;
and, secondly, because they were of so subtile a
description, that only theologians could well
understand them ; and these have abundant
opportunities of making themselves acquainted
with them in their own theological works.
SECTION XI.— THE STRUGGLES OF THE CHURCH AGAINST BAD CHRISTIANS.
Q. Has the Church other enemies besides
those already mentioned ?
A. Yes; she has to contend with bad Chris-
tians, who dishonor her, by the depravity of their
morals, and cause God to be blasphemed by here-
tics and infidels; Isa. Hi. 5; Rom. ii. 24. Chris-
tians who are so only in name, and who corrupt
others by their bad examples and scandals.
The heretic and the unbeliever attribute the dis-
orders of bad Christians to the Church, of
which these are only nominal members, and
thus thousands are kept from embracing truth
and practising virtue; St. Aug. Serm. 2, in Ps.
XXV., n. 14.
Q. How does the Church struggle against bad
Christians ?
A, By prayer, good example, instruction, and
chastisements, and here her labors are great ; for
many enter the wide gate of crime and disorder,
which leads to destruction ; Matt. vii. 13, 14; Isa.
ix. 3. If we labor not to enter by the narrow
gate, by lives of restraint and virtue, we shall
assuredly share the fate of the multitude, and
fail, on the great accounting day, to be amongst
the few that are chosen; John xv. 19; John i
ii. 15, 16; Rom. xii. 2.
Q. Who supports the Church in the midst
of so many trials?
A. Jesus Christ, who is ever with his spouse,
who governs and animates her by his Holy
Spirit; who has merited for her all she enjoys,
and all that she hopes for.
SECTION XII.— ON THE ADVANTAGES WE DERIVE FROM THE CHURCH.
Q. What are these advantages ?
A. Those which regard the Church in gen-
eral, are Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apos-
tolicity; those which regard each individual
are, both for this life and the next. The
former may be reduced to the communion of
Saints and the forgiveness of sins ; the latter
are a glorious resurrection and eternal life.
Q. By what means do we begin to partici-
pate in the blessings of the Church?
A. By the remission of our sins. We are
all born children of wrath, enemies of God,
and slaves of the devil ; Eph. ii. 3 ; iv. 18 ;
Rom. V. 10; Heb. ii. 14, 15. We become mem-
bers of the Church and children of God, by
the reception of the Sacrament, which remits
this guilt. All who believe in God require
this remission ; Acts x. 43. It is by a Bap-
tism of water that God ordinarily remits our
original guilt. Jesus sanctified his Church by
the washing of water and the Word of Life ;
Eph, V. 25, 26, 27. God can and does sometimes
remit this sin, by martyrdom, or when Baptism is
ardently desired, and cannot be had. But Baptism,
in one of these ways, is always necessary ; Titus ii.
14. In the blessings of the Church we can have no
share until we become members, by the reception
of this Sacrament, which is the door to all her
treasures.
Q. Why have /ou said that this remission
of sin is a great advantage derived from the
Church?
548
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DEFINED.
A. Because the Church has this power from
Jesus Christ, and it ordinarily and properly
belongs to her alone. We know this from the
express words of Christ, " Whose sins you shall
forgave, they are forgiven;" Matt, xviii. i8 ;
John XX. 23. By these words, Christ gives
power to his Church to remit sins, without any
distinction, and, consequently, by Baptism as
well as by Penance.
Q. How do we know that this power is the
peculiar property of the Church ?
A. It can belong only to those to whom God
has given it, for it is not derived from our-
selves ; but Christ gave it only to the Apostles
in the person of Peter, "To thee I will give the
keys of the kingdom of heaven;" so that heaven
is opened only to the ministry of Christ's
Church ; no such power ever having been g^ven
to any one out of the Church ; St. Aug. Manuel,
ad Laurent, c. 64, n. 14.
Q. But is it not written that God alone can
forgive sin?
A. When the Church forgives it, it is God
who forgives. The Church acts in God's name,
and by his power; 2. Cor. v. 20; Eph. vi. 20.
This power is committed, not to all the mem-
bers of the Church, but to the Apostles and
their lawful successors, and to canonically-
ordained priests deputed by these.
Q. Is there auy exception to the above ?
A. On account of the indispensable necessity
of Baptism, where a priest cannot be had, any
one who intends to do what the Church does
on such occasions, can baptize. In every other
case, for the remission of sins, two conditions
are necessary in the minister : canonical ordi-
nation and lawful mission ; hence, Lutherans,
jCalvinists, heretics of all kinds, the schismatic,
the excommunicated, interdicted, or not approved
priests or bishops, are all without the power to
forgive sins. In the hour of death, however,
if an approved minister cannot be found, any
ordained bishop or priest can absolve from sin ;
the Church, for the greater safety of her chil-
dren, granting jurisdiction to all, in such an
extremity.
Q. When do the ministers of the Church
forgive sins?
A. As often as they administer any Sacra-
ment, to which the forgiveness of sin is attached.
When Baptism is administered by a heretic or
an infidel, it is Jesus Christ who acts — it is with
his permission, and in his name, the Sacrament
is conferred. When children are baptized before
the use of reason, all their sins are forgiven ;
without any act on their part ; but, in the case
of adults, proper and previous dispositions are
required, which we shall afterwards explain.
Q. Is it necessary to have recourse to the ex-
terior ministry of the Church for the remission
of every kind of sin ?
A. This ministry is necessary for the remis-
sion of original and all mortal sin, except in a
case of absolute necessity. It is not so, however,
as regards venial sins, which are remitted by
prayer, the Sacrifice, fasting, contrition, and good
works ; see Sacrament of Penance.
Q. What do you mean when you say sins are
remitted ?
A. That they are pardoned, effaced, and cease
to exist against us. Calvin dared to teach, that
when God remits sin, he does not destroy it, he
merely does not impute it to us. Now, St. Paul
tells us, that there is no participation between
justice and injustice — no concord between Christ
and Belial. We are the temples of God, and
when our sins are forgiven, God dwells in us ; 2
Cor. vi. 14, 15, 16; I Cor. iii. 17. Christ could
not then dwell in our hearts if sin dwelt there ;
and, hence, our sins are not merely hidden, or
not imputed, they are effaced. We have turned
to God, and are become white as snow ; St.
Aug. Serm. 2, in Ps. xxxi.
Q. Are our sins remitted by our own
merits ?
A. We can merit nothing of our.selves ; we
owe all to Jesus Christ.
Q. What is the effect of the remission of
our sins ?
A. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our
hearts ; we become the friends and heirs of
God and coheirs of Christ ; Rom. viii. 9-17,
ST. DE LA SALLE, r
Jean Bapttste De La Salle was bom in the city of Rheinis, April 30, 1651. He was founder of the Brothers of the Christian
Schools. After a long life of great activity and no little suffering, he departed this life, in profound peace, on April 7, 1719. At liis
death the Institute comprised twenty-seven houses, two hundred and seventy-four brothers, and nine thousand eight hundred and
eighty-five scholars. How grand, how magnificent a success, was suob a life work! He was canonized May 24, 1900, by Pope Leo XIIL
|he Colonization of the pounder
of the Brothers of the
Christian Schools ^ e^
May 24, 1900
Published with the Sanction of La Salle College, Philadelphia, Pa., June, 1900
One Hundred Thousand Persons witness the Impressive Ceremonies ^ ^ Pope. Leo XIIL Presides over
the Important Function, assisted by Three Hundred Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops, and
Four Cardinals ^ jf- jf- j- jf- ,^ ^
His Holiness, Pope Leo, attired in his state
robes, was borne on the Sedia Gestatoria at the
head of a procession composed of the entire
Papal Court, three hundred Patriarchs, Arch-
bishops and Bishops and four Cardinals. Cheers
arose from the xnultitude at the Pope's appear-
ance, but the applause was quickly hushed by
the guards. The Pope took his seat on the
pontifical throne, and the cardinals and other
ecclesiastics massed around him, and the solemn
ceremony of canonization was then proceeded
with. The Holy Father, after the usual prayers,
pronounced the canonization and intoned the
Te Deum. At that moment the bells in all
the churches in Rome rang out, and the Pope
solemnly blessed the congregation and returned
to the Vatican amid the prolonged cheering of
the very large audience assembled, which then
left the cathedral and dispersed. And now we
find that, after a lapse of one hundred and
eighty-one years, Jean Baptiste De La Salle
is enrolled in the Calendar of Saints.
Life and Labors of De La Salle.
It was in the city of Rheims, April 30, 165 1,
that De La Salle first saw the light of the sun.
Before entering into the life of John Baptist it
will be well to treat briefly of how a Catholic
regards a Saint, as to his power and functions
in heaven as mediator and intercessor between
God and man.
Catholics have a profound veneration for those
who have the traces of Heaven upon them, for
such traces indicate the Saint. It may be asked,
What is a Saint ? By what evidences are we
to know him? These questions are of great
importance and should concern us. His Emi-
nence, Cardinal Newman, assures us that none
but Catholics can fully conceive of such a char-
acter, and even among Catholics there must be
a degree of familiarity with the workings of God
in His Saints to enable us to point them out
here below. It is only the initiated few who
can point out and say: behold one in whom
God dwells and delights to make himself known
to mortals. Saints are of a growth hidden to
ordinary eyes, and yet the Church is never
without those whose lives are such as Saints
lead. The Church always has a large number
who, walking in the way of the commandments,
go to make up the number saved in the redeem-
ing blood of Christ, and who, by their lives in
(543)
544
THE CANONIZATION OF DE LA SALLE.
the midst of the world and its temptations,
attest that the grace of God is all powerful;
that those who choose to take up their cross
and follow the Redeemer, will find strength in
their weakness, light in darkness, courage
amidst tribulations. To the truly Catholic
heart, the term Saint, as used by the Church
when applied to her canonized children, implies
a height of virtue, a depth of religious convic-
tion, an extent of charity before which ordinarily
good lives pale.
The Saints should always be our standards of
right and good; they are raised up as monu-
ments and lessons to us; they remind us of
God; they introduce us into the unseen world;
they point out for us the way which leads heaven-
ward, hence they should always be objects of
our veneration and homage. A Saint, in what-
ever sphere he becomes such, is a hero. This
demonstrates that nobility of character must be
the basis, and that sublimity of purpose must
actuate his every motive. A Saint is a soldier
of the cross, whose first victories, and often not
bloodless ones, have been over self, which he
has conquered. A Saint is a hero who proves
his claim to the title by faithfull)' fulfilling
the promises made in baptism, by renouncing
the world with all its charms, ijts allurements and
its dangers. Yet, while thus heroic, self-con-
trolled, there is in the Saint a meekness learned
by divine imitation of Him who was meek and
humble of heart; there is a gentleness which
must be the outgrowth of love, a tenderhearted-
ness which makes him regard the whole world
as his family, her most wayward sons as his
chosen children. In the life of the Saint we
find unbroken cheerfulness, the standing rule,
" Trials that would render others sombre and
dejected, have no other effect than to send the
Saint into the arms of God through prayer.
Monks and Saints are spoken of by a certain
class the world over as being idlers. Was
St. Paul an idler? Did St. Francis De Sales
squander any time? Look at St. Francis Xavier
and the thousands who followed him to preach
the Gospel, were those idle? Certainly not;
so far from this they persevered in vast labors,
preaching, writing, exhorting; strengthening
their words by mighty works and shedding the
last drop of their blood, giving up to the very
last every effort of their strength in defence
and maintenance of the standard of truth and
charity which they established. Such is the
true character of the Saint, such the picture fur-
nished in after years by the child which
Divine Providence gave the world in the
person of De La Salle. The Sacred Scrip-
tures tell us that " a wise son maketh the
father glad, but a foolish son is the sorrow of
his mother." Taking this as the measure of
happiness bestowed on the parents of the child,
Jean Baptiste De La Salle, their measure of
blessedness was overflowing. On his birthday
John Baptist was regenerated in the waters of
baptism. Mme. De La Salle loved to pray
near his cradle. While still a babe the Chris-
tian mother used to give her first born the
crucifix to kiss, and long before the little one
had learned' the meaning he experienced the
soothing power of our redemption. The pious
mother had read and learned what SS. Jerome
and Augustine tell us of the passion as de-
veloped in earliest years. She realized that it
was her duty as a Christian mother to begin
from the most tender years to train her child
in the way of the Cross. Divine Providence
saw fit to afford little De La Salle a fair share
of the cup of suffering, as from his birth he
was delicate. As soon as reason dawned and the
child could walk with ease, his pious mother
led him to the Church. At once his heart
was charmed. His eyes were drawn to the con-
templation of the altar, its flowers and orna-
ments, the ascending incense, the priests in
prayer ; and while his senses were thus absorbed
in the external beauties of religion, his soul
felt an undefined charm leading him to learn
that God alone is truly good; that religion alone
can delight the mind and ennoble the heart.
Young De La Salle went home after his first
visit to the church firmly convinced that he, a
little child, was in God's Holy Temple, and that
THE CANONIZATION OF DE LA SALLE.
545
while praying there he was conversing with
God. On reaching home his only conversation
was the sights he had beheld. After several
visits to the church, young De La Salle was
anxious to know the meaning of the ceremo-
nies and what they represented. The clergy
used to make frequent visits to his father's
house, and the young boy, anxious for enlighten-
ment in the sacred mysteries he witnessed in
church, astonished them by the depth and wis-
dom of his questions, and they took great
delight in instructing him as they saw a super-
natural depth in his j'oung mind that astonished
them. It was after such visits to the church,
and after such conversations with the Reverend
Clergy, that young De La Salle was accustomed
to retire to his room, where, with the greatest
piety, he repeated such ceremonies of the Church
as he could well remember. He used to gather
flowers and decorate his little altar. While
pious to an extreme degree he loved to be in
the midst of interesting and innocent games.
Even in his old age >his delight was to see
children at play; he loved their shouts of laughter,
and declared that " where there was plenty of
noise there were few sins."
Youth, when worthy of its years, loves fresh-
ness and openness of heart and soul; generosity
of sentiment, valor in juvenile struggles, sweet
gayety, kindly manners, pure emotions, are all
the portion of the truly Christian youth. Such
were the traits which all admired in young De
La Salle. In this way he acquired, even as a boy,
that wonderful influence over youth, for which
in all his after years he was so distinguished.
And all this beautiful combination of traits
and virtues, which in others could be but the
result of long years of struggle, De La Salle
possessed while yet under seven years old !
Even before he had learned to read, the lives
of the Saints were his daily food. Among his
relatives and acquaintances it was well known
that the shortest way to reach his affection was
by reading to him some narrative of the lives
of the Saints. Thus we see that even in
his early days, the future character shone forth,
the future mission was indicated. The mother
took the largest share in this Holy work. Herein
was a piety whose perfume filled the whole
house. Under such influences, Jean Baptiste
grew up, inhaling a blessed atmosphere as he
waxed stronger. Thus the young mother
though so mild and gentle, exercised a wonder-
ful influence by the wisdom of her words, the
energy of her acts, and the soul-stirring prin-
ciple of her piety gave to both acts and words
a meaning and power they could not otherwise
possess. Thus under the benign influence of
prayer, example and his own good disposition,
John Baptist grew to be a boy of seven years.
He had already made a chapel of his own little
room; his ambition was soon to be satisfied when
he would be allowed to enter the sanctuary as
an altar boy. For a whole year he had been
studying the responses and watching his more
favored companions already in service, and ask-
ing such questions as would enable him to best
fulfill such holy functions. Finally he was
allowed to enter the holy place to act the part
of altar boy to the Ministers of the Most High.
He appeared rather an angel than a child; he
was pointed out as the model of the sanctuary,
the child who was to realize great things, since
God was visibly with him, guiding his actions
and giving a heavenly cast to his whole ex-
terior. Even in early years his countenance was
inflamed with love divine and moved all hearts.
His piety was not satisfied with the important
duties incumbent on the true altar boy. His de-
votion asked for more, in his spare moments,
kneeling at the feet of Mary's favored statue.
We have thus far seen De La Salle among
his own parents and friends, showing by his
conduct what the future man was to be; let us now
follow him outside the paternal mansion to the
University of Rheims, where his virtue will be
put to the test, his talents fairly measured by
comparison, his worth proved by the keen test
of exposure. The University was at that time
under the Presidency of Rev. M. Dozet, a rela-
tive of the family. Thus guided, under the eye
of a watchful relative, John Baptist soon became
546
THE CANONIZATION OF DE IvA SALLE.
the favorite with all his professors. They used
to ask one another, " What think you will this
child be, for the Lord is surely with him ? " To
his new professors he appeared in the same
light as he had formerly done to his parents
and relatives: frank and sincere in word and
conduct; neither disguise nor evasion, wonder-
fully obedient, while manifesting the utmost
firmness of character in carrying out the orders
he received. At prayer he resembled an angel,
of whom it was hard to say whether he was
more amiable than pious. We can easily con-
ceive that he excelled in both since he copied
each from the same divine model. A partial
revelation of John Baptist's course was shown in
the manner in which he acted when urged by
his worthy father to study profane music. When
the proposal was made that young De La Salle
should take up the study of profane music, he
at once complied with his father's wishes and
strove to gratify his desire. But Providence
wished otherwise, and despite all his eflforts it
soon became evident that his tastes were strictly
to religious music. This was an evidence of the
higher vocation to which he was called. In
the course which M. De La Salle wished his
son to pursue, the youth soon perceived that
while religion was in honor, she was not to have
the first place. What was he to do ? Obedience
required him to comply, and yet an inner voice
told him that he was not to be of this world. He
resolved to place the matter in the hands of her
whose Son called him to His service. He
asks her to petition her divine Son to make
known to him His will. This prayer is heard.
The hour comes when the father apprises him
of his wishes, then in words which he speaks
from the fullness of a truly filial heart, John
Baptist gives his father to understand that
such hopes may not be cherished. Parents are
often pained that God may be pleased. In this
case, De La Salle's childlike eloquence won his
cause. M. De La Salle renounced all worldly
prospects for his son, while the latter hastened
to thank God for giving so easy a solution to
what had threatened to be serious in its conse-
quences. The first step which young De La
Salle took toward embracing the ecclesiastical
state to which he and his parents had now de-
cided he should devote himself, was his recep-
tion of the tonsure. This he received on the
eleventh of March, 1662. Young De La Salle's
tongue only spoke what his heart felt when
he declared that he took God for his portion
and desired no other inheritance. Once a cleric,
his piety, his modesty, the innocence of his
morals, all shone with greater lustre. Among
the young aspirants to holy orders he was a
shining light. From that moment he devoted
himself with redoubled energy to his studies.
John Baptist was now at an age when the
treasure of innocence can only be preserved at
the price of sacrifice, hence -he became extremely
watchful over the movements of his own heart;
he never allowed his temper to ruffle his usual
serenity, and his victory over himself was com-
plete because he never made sacrifices by halves.
When he found that vigilance, prayer and
struggle were to be but a (part of his duty when
holy purity was to be preserved, he never for
a moment hesitated to join to these such other
means as religion suggested, and our divine
Lord Himself has declared to be necessary.
Hence at this early period of life, he employed
those severe measures against his own body
which we admire in the Saints. Cruel scourg-
ing kept his flesh in subjection, while he de-
clared that " the only safeguards against the
pitfalls of sensuality are the salutary thorns of
penance and mortification." This constant at-
tachment to holy virtue, and his success in pre-
serving it, he attributed to the Blessed Virgin,
to whom he had great devotion. His purity of
body gave untold brilliancy to his mind, ena-
bling him to seize upon and to appreciate the
nicest distinctions in disputed points, the choicest
thoughts in literary gems. Thus gifted he was
prepared to admire great men. He was, more-
over, ready and gratified to take his place
among those to whom the Christian world by
which he was surrounded, looked up for spirit-
ual guidance. At this time the University of
THE CANONIZATION OF DE LA SALIvE.
547
Rheims had for chancellor, Pierre Dozet. He
was a man of great information and of profound
piety. Finding that death was liable to surprise
him at any moment, the venerable chancellor,
who had been Canon over fifty years, resolved
to put the youth in his place. Jean Baptiste,
although wishing to decline the office, felt
constrained through obedience, to accept. He
assumed charge on January 17, 1667, being
but sixteen years old. In 1670, being then
nineteen years old, De La Salle went to Paris
to pursue his theological studies under the best
masters. These he found in the Seminary of
St. Sulpice, where he remained till called home
by the death of father and mother, within a
short lapse of time. At death M. De La Salle
conferred his children to the care of Jean Bap-
tiste, who could not refuse this legacy of love
and confidence. Scarcely had he undertaken the
difficult duty when the trial of life was upon
him. His brother's and sisters' fortunes were
in his keeping; they were young and required
to be educated and watched over; the large
estate required judicious management. Under
these trying circumstances, nature pleading with
all the earnest eloquence of truth, he had re-
course to God and the Blessed Mother in prayer.
The divine will was made known to him, and
thus all his perplexities ended. While devoting
himself unreservedly to the welfare of his youth-
ful wards, he resumed his studies, and at the
close of two months after making his final
resolve he received sub-deaconship, on the eve
of Trinity Sunday, 1672. In 1677 he received
deaconship, after which he spent a year in pre-
paring for the dread ceremony which was to
make him a priest forever. During these six
years of preparation De La Salle had been under
the constant direction of Rev. M. Roland as a
spiritual director. This worthy priest's work
was accomplished. He had led De La Salle into
the temple and placed him at the altar. Eigh-
teen years after his ordination, Jean Baptiste
De La Salle closed M. Roland's eyes in death.
Their last glance of gratitude was given when
the Founder of the Christian Brothers promised
to be a friend to the orphaned daughters of the
Holy Child Jesus. Such was the name of Rev.
M. Roland's Institute.
No sooner had the worthy priest breathed
his last than De La Salle took charge of the
community. By his zeal and prudence the In-
stitute prospered, but he ceased not to labor in
their behalf until the Daughters of the Holy
Child Jesus were solidly established where they
justly considered their new protector a second
founder. So much interest in their welfare
naturally required many visits to the convent.
One day, as he approached the convent, he was
met by two travelers, careworn and fatigued.
One was of mature years, the other young,
apparently the elder's servant. In them, with-
out knowing it, De La Salle was greeting the
first laborers in a vineyard over which he was
soon to preside. Primary education began with
the Church. Christ was Himself a teacher of
divine truth which He came to make known
to men. His apostles were the earliest Chris-
tian educators. The Church and School have
always been inseparable for the people. As
time rolled on and revolution followed revolu-
tion, the Church clung to her divine mission
" Go and teach!" Her sons went forth, formed
colonies and exchanged the comforts of home
for the miasma of the marsh and the terrors
of the forest. Wherever the Church arose there
were found men laboring for the betterment of
mankind by elevating the standard of intelligence
among the youth. In the schools of Alexandria
the Christian system absorbed every branch of
learning. The Roman schools were on an humbler
scale. From Rome pass over to Ireland. There
the school preserved the whole world from fall-
ing into barbarism. Columba was the first to
lead the way in whatever labors the monks
engaged. Ireland was regarded as the chief
seat of learning in the entire western world.
The Church has accomplished her mission in
every part of the world, whenever and wher-
ever she was at liberty to do good, her first
attention was devoted to the children. So
prospered affairs until the dark cloud of the
548
THE CANONIZATION OF DE LA SALLE.
miscalled Reformation came to break up long
established monastic schools and to banish the
teachers. Gutenberg's invention of printing
and Columbus' discover}' of America, both
Catholic achievements, opened a new field for
the poorer classes to receive an education which
was denied them under the Reformation. It
was the mission of De La Salle to supply
the want first to France, after which he would
furnish a large portion of the teachers to the
world. When De La Salle undertook to form
his first disciples, primary education was at a
low ebb in his native country. Before study-
ing their own language, French boys were
required to read Latin. This the Saint changed,
although in doing so he was opposed by all
past experience, and by many of his chief
helpers and friends. But De La Salle possessed
an educational genius, so that in this he quietly
pursued his own course, allowing the world to
talk. Under his gentle sway the children of
the poor were to be his favorites. As beauti-
fully expressed in his rule, he required that
the Brothers should " have an equal affection for
all the children under their care, but especially
for the poor." The year 1684 may justly be
termed the sad year in the history of France.
Several seasons of insufficient crops had ren-
dered provisions scarce and dear. From all the
surrounding cities vast crowds gathered into
the cities, and Rheims had the appearance of
one vast pauper house. Most of the middle
and lower classes were reduced to penury, as
all work had ceased. Even many rich people
were brought to a state of misery. Religious
communities, to whom want had hitherto been un-
known, were compelled to part with their furni-
ture in exchange for bread. De La Salle see-
ing misery and want on all sides resolved to
alleviate it as far as was in his power. He
determined to divide his large fortune which
he inherited from his father, into four parts:
the first to purchase food for his poor scholars
and to assist the Sisters of the Child Jesus;
the second was given to the outside poor; the
third part was given to females in distress;
the fourth was distributed among the bashful
poor. Not content with having become as poor or
even poorer than his children, De La Salle
gave repeated evidence that he did not con-
sider himself greater than the disciple. On
the contrary by his every act he proved that
his aim was to become the servant of all. When-
ever a Brother fell ill he hastened to take his
place in the classroom, where he was distin-
g^iished from all others by the gentle gravity
of his looks and words, the zeal which shone
forth as characteristic of his every movement.
De La Salle was the special friend of childhood,
such his whole life demonstrates.
Here is the summary made by the Inspector
General of Education in France, who says : "The
illustrious founder of the Brothers of the Chris-
tian Schools was the pioneer of popular educa-
tion not only in France but in all Europe.
With one master-stroke he founded seminaries
for country teachers, normal institutes for city
masters, boarding schools, in which everything
relating to commerce, finance, military engineer-
ing, architecture and mathematics was taught
and in which trades could be learned. Finally,
an institution in which agriculture was taught
as a science. The work inaugurated by De
La Salle and the devotion which he manifested
for the poor who flocked to his classes, suffi-
ciently attest his charity. Indeed, his whole
life may be classed as one continued practice of
this sublime virtue. His life was one continu-
ous act of union with God. When he left St.
Sulpice he was already noted for his love of
mental prayer, his after years saw him con-
stantly increasing in the earnestness with which
he devoted himself to this holy exercise. His
conversation was not with men, but as far as
duty would allow, with God and the angels.
His prayer was unremitting, and often when it
was thought he had retired, some of his dis-
ciples would find him wrapped in the delights
of contemplation, and again lying prostrate on
the floor; tired nature sank to rest.
The entire designs, conduct and proceed-
ings of the servant of God in establishing the
THE CANONIZATION OF DE LA SALLE.
549
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian
Schools called forth unstinted criticism. To
mere worldly men it was incomprehensible that
teachers should live in comparative silence and
retreat ; the spectacle of a distinguished canon
or a doctor of divinity dressed in the modest
garb of a Brother, was more than even many
otherwise religiously inclined, could under-
stand. The extraordinary zeal shown by both
founder and followers was adjudged of that
class which the apostle describes as not being
within bounds. While praising his extraor-
dinary piety there was left the sting of reproach,
inasmuch as De La Salle was accused of wishing
to appear more devoted to his mission than
those who were willing to admit the excellence
of the work without assuming the duties of a
worker. While admitting his zeal they denied
his prudence, while endorsing his mission they
found fault with the missionaries. Fortunately
the Holy Founder was of material out of which
Saints are made. As already remarked, he
allowed the world to talk while he pursued his
career. As in the case of all those who had
undertaken great works for God before him, he
was not surprised at the censures cast upon his
motives. He was spoken of as a person with
exaggerated views of life, headstrong in his way
of effecting the good he sought to accomplish.
But here their opposition exhausted itself It
could not go beyond for the life of the holy
servant of God was such as disarmed all criti-
cism. His most pronounced enemies were forced
to admit that he was a Saint, yet they ceased not
to say that he was a most independent one. His
whole life was one series of concessions where-
by he sought to procure God's glory by preserv-
ing the virtue dearest to his heart. Where he
could not without failing in his duty to the
mission he had undertaken, give way to the
wishes of others, he presented his own views
with such a gentleness of manner and such total
absence of self interest, that he drew his oppo-
nents to his way of thinking. Where bishops
sought to change articles of the rule or other
members of the clergy sought to interfere in
the internal administration of the community, he
submitted so far as he was personally concerned.
When as a matter of duty he opposed innova-
tions which his own experience and the spiritual
light with which he was favored convinced him
that he was in the right, then he advanced his
reason with such singleness of purpose, showing
that no other motive than God's glory held
sway in his mind. When on two other occa-
sions, rather than create any trouble, he al-
lowed his opponents to have their way, after a
short experiment developments soon proved the
wisdom of his opposition. Thus when a certain
pastor urged the retention of a certain Brother,
contrary to the wish of the holy founder, many
of the faithless religious left the community, so
in a short time the pastor saw the imprudence
of his course and willingly yielded to De La
Salle, thus serving the best interests of the com-
munity and of its members in particular. An-
other mark of religious wisdom, is that he who
possesses it takes everything in good part and
is a declared enemy of criticism and fault-find-
ing. In no other particular has the servant of
God more fully proved his claim to this virtue.
In his rule, he forbids his Brothers to speak of
anyone, unless it be to say something to his ad-
vantage ; other communities are never to be
criticised and the entire drift of his legislation
in the chapter on silence, recreation and kindred
subjects attests his wish to live at peace with all
men and to inculcate those salutary lessons in
the minds of his pupils. The apostle indicates
" simplicity " as the crowning mark of the truly
wise man. Let the reader recall the instance
in which this mark has been seen in the life of
this truly wise man ; no other proof will be
necessary to convince him that the holy De La
Salle possessed heavenly wisdom. His sim-
plicity as a youth manifests itself in the gentle
manner in which his piety shone in his own
family ; later, simplicity in his tastes was shown
when he regulated his own house as though it
was a convent. His modesty was not less re-
markable. It was this virtue which betrayed
him in spite of his desite to remain unknown.
550
THE CANONIZATION OF DE LA SALLE.
Wherever he went this virtue was manifest to
everybody, who on seeing him declared that
surely the Lord was nigh !
The Holy Ghost assures us the countenance
is the mirror of the soul, and so it was with the
Holy Founder; the serenity of his look, the
mildness of expression, the unassuming candor
which was shown in his whole exterior, declared
how fully he practiced the virtue of modesty.
His language added to the edification furnished
by his looks, while the modesty of his dress, his
manner of walking, his suavity of expression,
were all so many voices which proclaimed aloud
his worth and elicited universal admiration.
He was the first to practice what he commanded
others, as prescribed in his Rules; and thus, as
expressed bj' one of the Holy Fathers, the holy
De La Salle was, in his external conduct, a
reflex of the ways of God. His looks caused
sinners to be confused and filled them with a
horror of the vicious career they were pursuing,
which feeling is often the key to conversion.
Such was the modesty that shone upon his
countenance, that he was at once distinguish-
able from all who surrounded him. There was
something so tempered with sweetness in his
gravity, that his face was as that of an angel.
He made it a rule never to leave the house
without praying for a quarter of an hour, and
examining before God whether it was absolutely
necessary. In making unavoidable visits he
would only say what was absolutely incumbent
on him; he would never speak of worldly mat-
ters, and would not spend more than half an
hour in such visits. He prayed twenty times
a day, and in order that he would not overlook
this self-imposed devotion, he used a slip of
paper and after each prayer, he would puncture
the paper; but should he at any time fail to
perform this duty he would recite an addi-
tional prayer and prostrate himself and kiss
the floor for each failure before retiring to rest.
What a profound impression De La Salle made
on the minds of all with whom he came in
contact, yet it was not by any adornment of
dress, for his spirit of poverty led him to choose
all that was of least value. His dress was of
the plainest and his undergarments of the most
inferior kind, but while thus given to poverty
he was the declared enemy of uncleanliness.
So particular was he in this respect that he
made it a rule that while his Brothers should
be clad like poor people, he enjoined that their
clothing should be neither soiled nor torn.
What shall we say of his obedience? Of
this crowning virtue we may truly say that
after the example of our divine Lord, he was
obedient unto death. All through life his study
was to escape dignit}' and to seek the last
place. Repeatedly he asked his Brothers to
choose another superfor, and when at length
his request was granted, he became more sub-
missive than the humblest novice, striving to
outshine all his companions in the practice of
every virtue, but especially obedience. In his
constant struggle after a more perfect life he
was animated by the fixed hope that being an
obedient religious, he the more closely resem-
bled his Lord and Master whose servant he
was.
In 1717 the Saint laid down the reins of gov-
ernment and Brother Bartholomew was elected
Superior. The remainder of his days he spent
at St. Yon's, living in prayer and retirement
and enduring great physical suffering, revising
the Rule, writing text-books for the schools,
and drawing up that priceless heirloom now
known as " Management of Christian Schools,"
which embodies the ripest experiences of himself
and his Brothers, and which more than everything
else reveals his genius as an educator. He died
the seventh of April, 17 19 (on Good Friday), in
the sixty-eighth year of his age. His last words
when asked if he was resigned to his suffering
were: "Yes, I adore in all things the designs
of God upon me." These words epitomize his
life and reveal the spirit by which his whole
career was actuated.
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EING an exposition of the Agony, Death and Passion of our
Divine Lord from Holy Thursday night until forty days
after His resurrection, when He gave the final command
to the Apostles to go forth and preach the Gospel to the
world.
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1. The priest going to the altar represents Christ going to Mount Olivet.
2. The priest commencing mass represents Christ beginning to pray.
3. The priest saying the Confiteor represents Christ falling down and sweating blood.
4. The priest going up and kissing the altar represents Christ being betrayed by Judas with
a kiss.
5. The priest going to the Epistle side represents Christ being captured^ bound and taken to
Annas.
6. The priest reading the Introit represents Christ being falsely accused by Annas and
blasphemed.
7. The priest going to the middle of the altar and saying the Kyrie Eleison represents Christ
being brought to Caiphas and there three times denied by Peter.
8. The priest saying the Dominus Vobiscum represents Christ looking at Peter and converting him.
9. The priest reading the Epistle represents Christ being brought to Pilate.
10. The priest saying the Munda cor meum represents Christ being taken to -Herod and mocked.
11. The priest reading the Gospel represents Christ being taken to Pilate and again mocked.
12. The priest uncovering the chalice represents Christ being shamefully exposed.
13. The priest offering bread and wine represents Christ being cruelly scourged.
14. The priest covering the chalice represents Christ being crowned with thorns.
15. The priest washing his hands represents Christ being declared innocent by Pilate.
16. The priest saying the Orate Fratres represents Christ being shown by Pilate to the people
with the words Ecce Homo.
17. The priest praj'ing in a low voice represents Christ being mocked and spit upon.
18. The priest saying the Preface and the Sanctus represents Christ being preferred instead of
Barabbas and condemned to crucifixion.
1551)
552
MEANING OF THE CEREMONIES AT MASS.
19. The priest making the memento for the living represents Christ carrying the cross to
Mount Calvary.
20. The priest continuing to pray in a low voice represents Christ meeting his mother.
ai. The priest blessing the bread and wine represents Christ being nailed to the cross.
22. The priest elevating the host represents Christ being raised on the cross.
23. The priest elevating the chalice represents Christ shedding blood from the five wounds.
24. The priest praying in a low voice represents Christ seeing his afflicted mother at the cross.
25. The priest saying aloud Nobis quoquo peccatoribus represents Christ praying on the cross
for men.
26. The priest saying aloud the Pater Noster represents Christ saying the seven words on the
cross.
27. The priest breaking and separating the host represents Christ giving up his spirit.
28. The priest letting a portion of the host fall into the chalice represents his soul going to
Limbo.
29. The priest saying the Agnus Dei represents Christ being acknowledged on the cross as the
Son of God by many bystanders.
30. The priest administering Holy Communion represents Christ being laid in the sepulchre.
31. The priest cleansing the chalice represents Christ being anointed by pure women.
32. The priest preparing the chalice again represents Christ arising from the dead.
33. The priest sa3dng the Dominus Vobiscum represents Christ appearing to his mother and the
disciples.
34. The priest saying the last prayers represents Christ teaching for forty days.
35. The priest saying the last Dominus Vosculum represents Christ taking leave of his disciples
and ascending to heaven.
36. The priest giving the Benediction to the people represents Christ sending down the Holy
Ghost.
37. The priest saying the Ita Missa est represents Christ sending the Apostles into all parts
of the world to preach the Gospel.
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ROTESTANTISM
UP TO DATE.
By
REV. FATHER VAUGHAN, S.J.
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All knowledge, to be practical, must be defi-
nite and certain. What, for instance, would
happen if merchants on 'Change should lose
all definite knowledge of the laws of number ;
or should captains of the vessels which carried
their goods lose all definite knowledge of the
charts by which the}' sailed ? Shipwreck at
sea, ruin at home, must inevitably be the result.
By the same laws must the Church be governed.
There is a church in this country, the church
by law established, the Protestant church. So
Protestants know their religion ? Is their
knowledge of their religion definite ? And
are they certain about the truth of it? I
take the same subjects to test them by as in
the case of the Catholics previously considered —
Confession, the Holy Eucharist, the Mass, the
Invocation of the Blessed Virgin and the
Saints. The laity are at sixes and sevens in
the Established Church about all these matters.
The clergy are at loggerheads with one
another, and the Bishops are in a hopeless
muddle. They seem to say : " For goodness'
sake, leave me alone."
A Divine Institution, or a Dial>oIical Institution ?
Am I exaggerating? If you think so it
shows that you do not know what is going
on. For six months the pages of the leading
journal in England, the London Times,
were flooded with letters about the doc-
trines I had taken, and after six months they
had not determined what was the teaching of
their church upon any single one of those sub-
jects. There was an article by a very learned
man, who was not a Catholic, and who entitled
his article, " Does the Church of England
Teach Anything ? " I need not tell you
what his answer was. About confession,
some members of the Established Church
said it was a Divine institution, others that it
was a diabolical institution. It could not be
both. Some said it was a good thing to go to
confession if they went to an old man, but if
they went to a young man it was an immoral
thing. Some said confession was an invention
of the priests to extract money out of old
ladies, and others said, on the contrary, all
their children went to confession regularly and
took to it like ducks to water. Some said the
Blessed Eucharist was a mere wafer, others that
it was the true Body and Blood of Our Lord —
both members of the same Church — and if the
person who believed it to be a wafer were to
adore it it would be idolatry ; and if the other
did not he would be guilty of impiety. What
was the Mass ? It was a " blasphemous fable
and a dangerous deceit," it was said, and yet
they have High Mass, and Low Mass, and
(555)
556
PROTESTANTISM UP TO DATE.
Requiem Masses for the poor souls offered up
in Protestant churches.
No Definite Knowledge about the Doctrines of this
Church.
Why do not the Bishops do something in
this case ? Because they say : " These men
in the High Church are so zealous, so good."
Sir William Harcourt says that if a publican
were to make excuse that he had served a
man on Sunday at a forbidden time, because
he had been twice to church that day, the law
would prevent him. They have, then, no defi-
nite knowledge upon any single one of these
subjects. Individuals might think they have
definite knowledge, but other members of the
Church, having exactly opposite views, say that
they have definite knowledge, too. But let them
make the impossible supposition that the entire
body of the great Establishment has definite
knowledge about all the doctrines of the Estab-
lished Church — " to what purpose this waste ? "
What v/ould be the use unless they were cer-
tain they were the doctrines of Jesus Christ ?
Can they be certain that their doctrines are
those taught by Jesus Christ ? They can
not; they are in His Church. How are
they to find out for certain ?
A Parliament-Created Church.
• What is the Established Church? For
the last six months you had had it dinned
into your ears, especially by its great cham-
pions, that it is a department of the State, of
government, that in spite of the Bishops the
laity in Parliament created this Church, that it
is a Church bound hand and foot by acts of
Parliament, that it lives upon the breath of
acts of Parliament, that its bishops owe their
appointment to the Prime Minister of Parlia-
ment, that its prayer-book is an act of Parlia-
ment, that as Parliament created it, so Parlia-
ment might mend it or end it. It all depends
upon the majority of votes as to whether this
Church should be or not be. It gets its doc-
trine from Parliament
Prayer-Book an Act of Parliament.
But someone might say to me : *' Not so
fast. Father, not so fast. It is the prayer-
book to which we look for our doctrine." But,
as I said before, is not their prayer-book an
act of Parliament, and how are they to know
what even Parliament meant when it issued
that book when the High Church party
twisted it into one sense, the Low Church
party in another, and the Broad Church party
in another. It is like an accordeon — they
can pull it as they like and play on it
what they wish. Appeal to the Bishops ?
Yes, but there is a party declaring that they
would not be satisfied with the decision of the
Bishops. The Lords, the judges, had to
declare what the law was. The Archbishops ?
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York
(whose names, by the by, at a great Protes-
tant demonstration held at the Albert Hall the
other day, were received with groans and
hisses by their devout worshipers ) declare
that every one has an indisputable right to
appeal against them to the Crown in questions
where they feel that justice is not done.
Not the" Church of Christ.
From start to finish the Established Church
is the creation of Parliament. Now, that
being the case, the only thing they can be
certain of with respect to the State Church
is that it is not the Church of Jesus
Christ, and it could not have been and never
could be, because it was the creation of man —
of Protestants and Jews, and all that manner
and condition and sorts of men gathered
together in Parliament. What is the use of
having definite knowledge about this religion
if the only thing certain about it is that it
is not the Church of Jesus Christ? It seems
hard to say so, but logically I can see nothing
else for it. Can you ?
A Church That Has Declared That It Does Not
Want Unity.
The arguments of Protestants themselves
about their Church — I refer you to Sir William
PROTESTANTISM UP TO DATE.
557
Harcourt, Mr. Samuel Smith and others — were
that it was a Parliamentary Church, governed
by Parliamentary bishops, having acts of Par-
liament to live upon. I say, then, that it is
not the Church of Jesus Christ. And to prove
it to you I would ask you what did our Lord
say was to be the chief mark of his Church?
It was to be one. It was to have unity in
doctrine, unity in worship, unity in government.
Has the Protestant Church this unity? No.
Therefore, it has not the lineaments of the
Spouse of Christ, the spotless bride, into
whose face He breathed life, and whose " spirit
should not depart, nor out of her seed, nor
out of her seed's seed, for henceforth forever,
saith the Lord." Unity — why, the Established
Church has set its face against unity. It
declares that it does not want unity.
Its " Gift of Comprehensiveness."
In that most respectable and temperate paper,
the Spectator^ I read that week that it was the
gift of comprehensiveness which made the
Established Church so much loved and have so
much loyalty shown it by the people of England,
and it went on to say that it was the business
of the bishops to remember that their most
sacred duty was fo see to the comprehensiveness
of this Church. Imagine St. Paul writing such
trash ! As if a Church is to be proclaimed true
by the measure of the standing room it can find
for all sorts and conditions of notions, views
and beliefs. The Established Church has no
idea of or wish for, no want of or feeling for the
want of unity in faith, worship or government.
Well, I say that this Church may be a great
national institution, it may be highly endowed,
it may be the home of cultivated men. It
may be true that many of them are in earnest
and are pious, and it may be a thing of which
Englishmen are proud, but it is not the
Church of Christ.
Church of England Playing to the Galleries.
One more proof to show that my country-
men have altogether shifted their centre of
gravity from the true Church to the House of
Parliament. During the past months, as
bishop and clergy and laity have felt it prudent
not to refer to the chaotic state of their
Church, they have all been appealing to the
national spirit and have been declaring at
public meetings, in pulpits and on platforms
that the Church of England is the true Church,
must be the true Church, because, forsooth,
England owns the biggest empire and the
biggest navy and the biggest purse. A more
offensive, vulgar or ghastly argument for
coarseness I do not think I ever heard
uttered. And yet this is the argument that
is used, and they say : " Look at poor
Spain and look at rich England ! " And I
might say: "Look at poor Lazarus and look
at rich Dives." England is rich, and when
she dies will be carried by angels to heaven ; but
Catholic Spain, because she is poor and
broken, when dead must be buried in hell.
This is their argument. Do you ( my hearers)
not call it an unworthy argument for bishops
to hand to the gallery, for parsons to tickle
their congregations with ?
Not the Church of the Poor.
It is worthy only of a mob orator. I am
ashamed of my countrymen when I see them
put their foot upon the supernatural in order to
cram into the mouths of babes and sucklings the
idea that theirs is the true Church, because
their mothers have a heavy purse and because
England sweeps the sea. I suppose, then, that
the Jews are despised by God because the
Egyptians triumphed over them. I suppose
that the early Christians who were flung into the
jaws of lions were doomed to hell, and Nero and(
his crew were carried in their chariots to heaven,
because they had wealth on their side and the
waters of the Mediterranean sweeping around
their thrones. When our Divine Lord came
upon earth did he come clothed in purple and
fine linen ? Did he say to the poor : " Blessed
are the rich, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven ? " " It is easier for a camel to crush
55«
PROTESTANTISM UP TO DATE.
through the eye of a needle than for a poor man
to enter the Kingdom of Heaven ? " Did he
say: "And the rich shall have the Gospel
preached to them ? " Show me where the
Church of the poor is. That is the Church
of the poor man who had no place whereon to
lay his head. He was stripped of his clothes
and his flesh was laid open so that his bones
were numbered. The poor man who was lifted
up in the vigor of his youth and beauty and
done to death, a failure before his country, the
son of the poor woman for whom he had worked
hard, so that the sweat rolled down from his
sacred brow that he might keep a roof over
her head. You Christians, you vulgar fellow
countrymen who trample like this on the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to tickle the ears, who make the
Gospel a parody and a fable, and who turn our
Lord into a ridicule — bishops and clergy and
laity of the Established Church, you are not
the Church of Christ. If you were you would
despise an argument from filthy lucre.
BADLBSS CHURCHBS.
Disrrial Failure of the Feeble Religion of Private Judgnaent
By tlie
REV. B. R. DE COSTA
mmm>^}i^m^m
There being only one God and one religion,
the Church must be the teacher of that one
religion, having ample authority because Christ
is her head. The Body takes this right from
the Head. What was a headless human body ?
Simply a thing for the undertaker to bury. A
headless Church also was a corpse, and the land
is full of these cadavers to-day. Christless, head-
less religion abounds. It runs the gamut from
Calvinism to Socinianism, and thence on to
spiritualism and pantheism. Any thing will do
duty with most sects for Christianity, except
Christianity. Men who do not even believe in
God ask us to consider them Christians. Scep-
tical ingenuity is taxed to the utmost to find
substitutes, not only for the Head of the Church,
but for the Church herself. They tell us, with
Dean Farrar, that the Bible, through the aid of
the Spirit, will give all essential truth; yet, by
this process, men, with the distinguished Dean,
find that nothing is essential, or that what is
essential with one is non-essential with another.
The Bible Cannot Be a Oefiner.
The Bible alone, though a priceless treasure,
can never serve the individual as a definer. It
is the office of the Church to define and teach
the meaning of the Bible. Through the general
councils we have the Church interpretations,
chiefly expressed in the ancient creeds. Yet
zealots would force upon us in place of the
Church Catholic the headless Church. They
ask us to take our instruction from any and
every corpse. The land is full of these dead
bodies, which, in all decency, should be buried
from sight Private judgment furnishes as
many judgments as there are men and women
in the world; it is puerile for those who deify
individual opinion to pretend to believe in any
Church. God and mammon, ego and the Church,
cannot exist together. The Church must be
everything or nothing, and with sectarian bodies
in our country it is nothing except the butt of
ridicule. The sooner these religionists stop
pretending to believe in any Church and retire
from the whole Church business, the better it
will be for the world.
Absolute Necessity for a Church that Speaks
with Authority.
The Bible, then, cannot be a definer. We read
it reverently for the confirmation of what has al-
ready been defined, and to establish ourselves in
the faith once delivered to the saints. What the
'559)
56o
HEADLESS CHURCHES.
world needs to-day is the Church that speaks with
authority, the Church that knows the truth and
does not fear to tell it; the Church that, under
no infidel plea illustrated by Matthew Arnold's
"Sweet Reasonableness," will tolerate untruth,
attempting to fill the world with her own empti-
ness. If a religious organization does not know
what the truth is, it, of course, cannot condemn
untruth ; but in that case, if there is no prospect
of improvement — and there certainly is none —
had it not better retire from the Church busi-
ness ? On this principle, at a conservative esti-
mate, nearly one hundred and forty American
denominations would pass. The Church must
have her true place in the world, or no place at
all. There can be no compromise between the
Church and the world. The infallible Christ
must speak through the Church. The Head
must control the Body. The great general
councils must be recognized, the ancient creeds
honored, and all Christians must rally to their
support in one universal body. Otherwise dis-
integration will do its work upon every organ-
ization that refuses allegiance to the central
thought.
Uncertainty the Prevailing Characteristic of
Protestantism.
Scoffers may mock, but only at last to show
the fate of scoffers. To say that uncertainty
must be the prevailing characteristic of Chris-
tianit)' is to say that Christ organized his Church
and sent it forth into the world like some ship
sent to sea without ballast, rudder or compass.
As a matter of fact, too, there is hardly a single
private judgment religion that pretends to have
commander or helmsman. Everybody on board
is helmsman, and we all know how they steer.
People do not seem to know the place of the
Bible in religion.
The Church Gave Us the Bible ; the Bible did not
Give U5 the Church.
After giving the Bible the Church did not
abandon her authority, but was more and more
emphatic in her claims, as was the Government
of the United States after writing the Constitu-
tion. Church authority is the thing we need to
recognize in this day ; Christ speaking through
his Church. The same Holy Ghost that helped
the Church write the New Testament presided
in the great councils, and is ready to inspire
the Church councils to-day. To say that a
divided Christianity is inevitable, similar to a
gulf as broad as that between Gehenna and
Paradise, is to deny the power of Christ, thus
rendering his Body headless. This is that prac-
tical atheism, in the foul slough of which sec-
tarianism is wallowing to-day. The real situa-
tion is being recognized by men of the best
intelligence all over the land, who are asking
for authoritative religion, and are rapidly coming
to believe that they can have what they want.
An Unanswerable Illustration.
The failure of feeble religion of private judg-
ment now has an illustration that is simply
unanswerable. I refer to the case of a single
denomination whose Year Book shows that in
seven of the greatest cities in the United States,
having over 500,000 inhabitants each and con-
taining 485 of its churches, supported at the
cost of several millions annually, during the
past year instead of a gain there has been a
loss of 693 members. All this following a
special effort to " evangelize " cities by a
national society organized for the purpose. In
another group of seven cities and eighty
" churches," after holding on to vast quanti-
ties of dead wood, as in the previous case, there
is a loss of 387. Take the same fourteen cities
and inquire what has been the result of teach-
ing on the basis of authority and you will find
that vast gains have been made. Does not this
form a judgment of the intelligence of this coun-
try on the whole subject ?
An Inspired Church Wanted.
It is idle to say that understanding men ob-
ject to authority in religion. What they really
do not want is a thousand conflicting authorities.
HEADLESS CHURCHES.
561
Men are as anxious for authority in religion as
in science, in government or finance. When
we come to know them we shall find that au-
thority is what they hunger for and thankfully
accept when they find it. The demand of the
day is for the inspired Church, the Church
whose heart is in touch with God. This is the
only Church that will be able to command the
respect and obedience of America in the days
to come.
" Broad Church " Faltering is Doomed.
The " Broad Church " faltering in a double
sense is doomed. The headless Church will
go down to the grave. The Church that hesi-
tates is lost. The Church of Christ alone can
endure and conquer through a conquering faith.
Still, in the presence of crumbling sects and
falling denominations one asks if there is really
a future in store for Christianity. I answer,
yes. First, however, pseudo-Christianity, al-
ready in the toils of an inexorable revolution,
must accomplish its end. Then true Chris-
tianity will stand forth in majestic power, re-
vealing her real character. Then men will see
how badly the sectarian duped them, as well
as himself, and discover that there is no mid-
dle place for the foot of man between atheism
and the faith once delivered to the saints. Then
the}' will recall the ancient words, " Arise and
shine, for thy light is come," and as they con-
template the vision they will ask in the oft
quoted lines :
Who is this that rises with wounds so splendid,
All her brow and breast made beautiful with scars ;
In her eyes a light and fire as of long pain ended,
In her mouth a song of the morning stars ?
The answer will be : " This is the Catholic
Apostolic Church. This is the Church of the
living God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth."
36
HE First Prihst of America.
Among the twenty-five hundred settlers who
came to San Domingo with the Governor Ovando
in 1502 was a young man of twenty-eight years,
whose father had sailed with Columbus on his
first voyage across the Atlantic, and who had
himself seen the sailing of the famous Caravels
from Palos. Bartholome Casas, or Las Casas, had
made his studies in the University of Salamanca
before seeking his fortune in America. His father
had grown wealthy as a ship builder, and a bril-
liant career seemed to promise itself to him in
San Domingo. He was a trained business man
as well as a scholar, a good speaker and of a con-
stitution, which seemed to defy alike fatigue and
illness. Whatever work came to his hand he
threw himself into with untiring energy, and at
the same time he had the art of making devoted
friends among every class of the colonists, from
the Governor to the ticket-of leave man. It was
a surprise, then, when, after eight years of active
business, Las Casas, at the age of thirty-six, asked
for admission to the priesthood.
His wish was readily fulfilled. San Domingo
had been made a diocese soon after its first settle-
ment, and the Bishop accepted the gifted candi-
date and ordained him with much solemnity in
1 5 10. Las Casas was the first man to receive
Holy Orders on American soil, and it was made
the occasion of an enthusiastic celebration by the
whole Catholic population of San Domingo.
It was not to shirk labor or danger that Las
Casas had become a priest, and his energies found
plenty of employment in his new career. After
(562)
eighteen years' experience of colonial life in San
Domingo, the Spanish people were about to spread
over the great continent which Columbus had
given to Castile and Leon. A few months before
the ordination of Las Casas, Ojeda had sailed to
found Darien, the first permanent settlement on
the American continent. A few months later
Velasquez was sent by Diego Columbus to occupy
Cuba. There was some fighting with the Indians
of that island at first, but it was soon ended by
the swords and horses of the civilized invaders,,
and the exploration of the country went on
rapidly. Las Casas was sent as chaplain to the
little army of Velasquez in Cuba, and shared in
its toilsome work. In company with the captain,
Naervaez, and a hundred soldiers, he made the
first expedition to what is now Havana, and took
an active part in its foundation.
Four towns were laid out by Velasquez at the
end of his explorations, Havana and Santiaga
being among the number. A large part of the
Indians were given to different Spanish settlers
in " encomienda," a kind of feudal system copied
from European practice in the middle ages. An
Indian village was assigned, during the good
pleasure of the Royal Government, to a private
individual to govern, protect and develop, and
incidentally to collect rent and service from the
Indians. The system was quite distinct from
personal slavery, which also existed both of Ne-
groes and Indians at that time. The Governor
granted an Indian village near the site of the
actual city of Cienfuegos to Las Casas in part-
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
563
nership with a friend, Pedro de la Reuteria. They
started a plantation there like other colonists, with
their Indian vassals as laborers. The duties of
Las Casas as a priest among the scattered and
scanty population left him a good deal of leisure,
and active occupation was a necessity for his na-
ture. The Indians in his encomienda were
treated with kinduess, but the scrupulous Las
Casas confesses that he devoted himself too much
to mere worldly business during this period.
While Las Casas was thus engaged in Cuba a
movement in behalf of the Indians under Spanish
rule had been begun in San Domingo. The first
American convent of the Dominican order was
founded in the last island a few months after the
ordination of Las Casas, and its rule and practice
were highly 'austere. Besides abstaining from
meat, the friars in San Domingo excluded the
ordinary Spanish provisions, wine, oil andwheaten
bread — from their refectory, and lived in the
greatest poverty. There were several excellent
preachers among them, and the thatched chapel
of their convent attracted large audiences and fer-
vent penitents. The Dominicans were shocked at
the treatment of the natives from their first
arrival. The community consulted together, and
Father Montesinos, as the result, astonished the
public of San Domingo by a vigorous condemna-
tion of their treatment of the Indians. A depu-
tation at once went to the convent, and complained
of the preacher as crazy to the Prior. They told
him that if his community held the same senti-
ments they had better return to Spain. The
Prior promised an answer on the next Sunday,
when Father Montesinos again mounted the pul-
pit, and not only repeated his former discourse,
but added that no Dominican priest would absolve
any man who made incursions on the Indians.
The colonial authorities took up the matter, and
sent an agent to Spain to report the Inquisitor to
the^ount as a stirrer up of Sedition. Pedro de
Cordova sent Father Montesinos to Spain to plead
the cause of the natives, and afterwards went him-
self on the same mission.
Las Casas, with all his sympathies for the
Indians, had not at first seen the injustice of
the vassalage imposed on them. He had held
Indian vassals himself in San Domingo, and was
once refused absolution by a priest of some order
on that ground, but he considered it a mere scruple
on the confessor's part. When settled in Cuba
on his plantation, the thought that after all the
friar's doctrine might be the simple truth came
strongly upon him. He had to prepare a sermon
for Whitsunday in 15 14, and was then alone, his
friend Releria being away in Jamaica on business.
Certain texts in Ecclesiasticus struck him forci-
bly, and after some days' reflection he decided that
the whole system of vassalage and slavery of the
Indians was tyranny and injustice. His mind
once made up he waited on Velasquez, and told
him his conclusion, adding that he believed it
was one which affected the salvation of Velasquez
and the other colonists as well as his own. He
declared that he felt bound in conscience to
give up his Indian vassals, and only asked the
Governor not to publish it before the return of
Renteria.
On the Feast of the Assumption he published
it from the pulpit, and warned his hearers of the
danger to their souls if they retained the natives
in slavery. Some were as much surprised as if
he had told them it was sinful to work their oxen
or horses, but others were sincerely affected by
his discourse. The great majority treated him as
a well-meaning crank.
Renteria, the partner of Las Casas, was of a
very different opinion when he returned. He had
made a retreat in a Franciscan community, and
the decision he had then come to in Jamaica was
the same as that formed by Las Casas on his
Cuban ranches. On the night of his return he
astonished his partner by the announcement that
he intended to go to Spain and get a royal license
to establish schools for the Indian children, where
they might be saved from the destruction which
seemed hanging over their race. Las Casas, in
reply, told his own projects, which were also to
go to Spain and seek efficient legal protection for .
the abused natives. Renteria begged him to dO'
so, and offered his whole property to carry out
the plan. The Indians were given up, the stock
564
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
and farm sold, and with the money Las Casas
started for Spain to beg^n a lifelong struggle for
justice to the Indian race.
He found active allies in the Dominicans of San
Domingo, where Pedro de Cordova had returned
after the publication of the Laws of Burgos.
Father de Cordova was preparing to establish
another mission, and he cordially approved the
project of Las Casas. He warned him, however,
from his own experience, to expect little from
the oflScials then in charge of American affairs,
especially Bishop Fonseca, the President of the
Council of the Indies. He also sent Father
Montesinos with him as one not unfamiliar with
the waj'S of politics in Spain, of which the Ameri-
can priest had no experience. They sailed from
Ban Domingo in 15 15, and got safely to Seville.
Father Montesino introduced Las Casas to the
" Archbishop of that city, who had been a Domin-
ican. The Archbishop gave him letters of intro-
duction to some of the courtiers and to Ferdinand
himself. The chaplain from the jungles of Cuba
had to figure in the highest political circles of
Europe.
Las Casas, with Archbishop Beza's letter, got
an audience with Ferdinand in person, and laid
a statement of the wrongs of the Indians and
colonial misgovernment before him about Christ-
mas of 1515. The king heard him attentively,
and promised a longer hearing at a later day ; but
he was old and ill, and never had the chance to
jive it. His death within a month threw back
my consideration of the Indian problem for the
oresent. Bishop Fonseca, the President of the
Council of Colonial Administration, was much
nore of a politician than a priest, and took little
nterest in humanitarian projects. At an inter-
7iew with Las Casas, when the latter told how
;even thousand Indians had perished in three
aionths in consequence of some Spanish expedi-
don, Fonseca rudely said : " What is that to me
or the king, you queer fool ?" " If it is nothing
to you or to the king that all these souls should
perish, to whom is it, then ? O great and eternal
God," was the answer, and with that Las Casas
left, feeling convinced that the cause of right had
little chance in the Council of the Indies while
Bishop Fonseca ruled.
Fonseca's influence, however, was waning. On
the death of Ferdinand the heir to the crown of
Castile was his grandson, afterwai'ds the famous
Charles V., then but a boy of sixteeu, living in
his native Flanders. Pending his coming of age,
a Regent, with royal powers, had to take the
government of Castile. For this post Ferdinand
named the Primate, Cardinal Ximenes, unques-
tionably the ablest public man of Europe.
Ximenes was soon convinced of the ability of
the priest from the colonies, and he empowered
him and a member of the Council of the Indies,
a skilled lawyer, to draw up a new code of Indian
administration. At the request of Las Casas
Father Montesinos, the fearless preacher of San
Domingo, was made a third member of the com-
mittee. With all his fervid enthusiasm Las Casas
was eminently practical in business and Ximenes
likewise. Las Casas, as best acquainted with the
actual state of things in America, drafted the
heads of the needed reforms. Father Montesinos
added suggestions drawn from his own experience
in the Indies, and Dr. Rubio, the lawyer member,
contributed others from his knowledge of Indian
administration at home, he having been a mem-
ber of the Council of the Indies.
On the point of the right of the Indians to
freedom the Regent was thoroughly decided.
Las Casas, who feared at first to assert broadly his
own judgment, asked at a meeting once: " With
what justice can these things be done, whether
the natives are freemen or not ? " " Who doubts
they are free ? Of course they are," was the em-
phatic answer of the Cardinal Regent.
The work to be done and quickly was of its
own nature enough to try the ablest minds. The
first settlement of the West Indies had been un-
dertaken with the best intentions for the welfare
and conversion of the Indians. To give the native
Americans knowledge of the Christian faith, and
to raise them to the level of Europeans in Chris-
tian colonization, had been the object of Isabella
and Columbus as it was of Las Casas. He might
well ask if it were likely that where they had
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
565
failed he, a simple priest, without wealth, rank
or political experience, could succeed. He fully
appreciated the difficulties before him, but he felt
that duty called, and through fifty years he con-
tinued his self-appointed task.
The details of administration determined,
it remained to find competent administrators.
Ximenes desired Las Casas to select them, but
he declined on the ground of his little acquaint-
ance with European public life. He gave, how-
ever, a statement of the qualifications required,
and Ximenes read it and decided to select a gov-
erning commission from the Jeronymite friars.
The Jeronymite commissioners and Las Casas,
who was appointed to the new office of Protector
of the Indians, sailed from Spain with full powers
and reached San Domingo before the end of the
year in which Ferdinand died. The commis-
sioners got to work at once, but their progress
was somewhat slow for the zeal of Las Casas.
Las Casas, with his more thorough knowledge of
the country, felt that vigorous and immediate
action was needed to save the Indian population.
While the officials in San Domingo professed
obedience to the new laws, kidnapping of Indians
was going on in Trinidad and other outlying
points with their connivance. As " Protector of
the Indians," Las Casas brought charges of
specific acts of tyranny against the members of
the Colonial Council. The commissioners
thought his action hasty, and did not support him.
Las Casas consulted with Father de Cordova, the
Provincial of the Dominicans, and also with the
Supreme Judge, Zuazo, both men who shared his
own views, and by their advice he determined to
return to Spain five months after his arrival in
San Domingo. It was at the court that the work
must be done, while Ximenes yet ruled. The
system of grants of Indians had, he felt, to be
entirely abolished, and imperative laws to that
effect could only be got in Spain. The commis-
sioners went on with the work of gathering the
natives into settlements to some extent, but Las
Casas sailed for Europe and got to Seville by July,
1517-
He found Ximenes dying, but still at work
like a young man. He saw Las Casas, but before
any new measures could be prepared the end
came, and the great cardinal passed awaj^ froir
tlie work of American legislation just as the
young King Charles landed in Corunna on hij
first visit to Spain. The death of Ximenes was
a sore blow to Las Casas, still he did not give up
With a firm confidence in the justice of the cause
he had taken up, he continued to bring it before
the Council of the Indies and his friends around
the court. The plan of sending out a peaceful
colony of Spanish farmers was what he now de-
voted himself to. Bishop Fonseca declared it
impracticable, and Las Casas offered to get three
thousand settlers of good character if the govern-
ment would guarantee them free passage, land
and a year's support after landing in San Do-
mingo. The Bishop declared it would cost as
much as to raise an army, and hot words passed
in the council between him and Las Casas.
Finding it impossible to get his emigration plan
carried out under the management of the govern-
ment, the unwearied Las Casas devised a new
project. He applied for a grant of land on the
South American continent, to be settled entirely
under his own authority. Las Casas offered to
raise a revenue of fifteen thousand dollars at the
end of three years, to be increased to seventy-five
thousand in ten, and to further build three forts
in that time, keep the Indians in peace, and estab-
lish the rule of Spain through the province which
corresponded nearly with the actual Republic oi
Venezuela. It was then wholly unsettled b}-
white men, though there was a station of Spanish
pearl fishers on the Island of Cubaqua, neai
Trinidad. For himself Las Casas asked nothing
in the way of either compensation or dignity.
As it was, he met with opposition on every hand.
Some of his clerical friends were shocked at the
worldly details of the project, which tliey thought
hardly consistent with a true missionary spirit,
The king's confessor, Father Aguirre, who had
always supported Las Casas in his work, was one
of these friendly critics. Las Casas answered
him characteristically: "Tell me. Father," said
he, "were you to see our Lord in captivity and
566
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
abused, would you ask his liberty from his cap-
tors urgently?" "Certainly," replied Father
Aguirre. " Then," continued Las Casas, " if they
would only release him for a price, would you pay
it, if in your power?" " By all means," said
Aguirre. " Well, then, that is what I am doing
aow," was the final argument. " I see our Lord
daily maltreated and scourged in the persons of
His Indian human creatures. I have asked those
in power to grant them to me for the sake of the
Holy Gospel, but they have refused unless I would
pay a price in gold. So now I am raising that price
for the end of freeing our Lord in his creatures."
Las Casas was left to begin his colony with what
resources he could raise on his own account. He
borrowed from friends, bought a vessel, collected a
aumber of prospective settlers, and sailed a few
months after the signing of his grant. But if he
had conquered the obstacles before him in Spain,
new and more dangerous ones awaited him in
.\merica. The Dominicans and Franciscans had
established missions near Cumana the year be-
fore, and were living unprotected among the In-
dians. They had succeeded in learning the lan-
guage and gaining the confidence of the tribes
around them, when a Spanish vessel from Cubagua
made a raid to seize Indian laborers for the pearl
fisheries. The Indians broke out, destro3^ed the
two convents, killed the two Dominicans and a
Franciscan, and then attacked Cubagua and drove
out the Spanish settlers. When Las Casas and
his colonists reached Puerto Rico he received news
of this outbreak in the land where he was about
to try his plan of peaceful colonization. He then
had to leave his colonists in Puerto Rico while he
went to San Domingo to demand the suspension
of hostilities from the governing body there. The
Audience did not openly refuse ; they delaA^ed
sending the necessary orders, and they further de-
clared the vessel belonging to Las Casas unsea-
worthy, and so prevented him going on to Ven-
ezuela. Finally, they proposed to give him two
vessels, and put the soldiers then on the continent
under his authority on his giving them a share
in the profits to be drawn from the trading con-
cession within his province. He had to agree,
very reluctantly, but when he got to Puerto Rico
he found his colonists all scattered. The expe-
dition sent to Venezuela did its part to make his
peaceful colonization project impossible. The
soldiers ravaged the country and sent six hundred
Indian prisoners as slaves to San Domingo in de-
fiance of the royal orders. When finally Las
Casas reached Cumana he had only forty or fifty
hired men to aid in the settlement of a territory
as large as Germany and France combined. The
Franciscans had restored their convent, but it was
the only settlement on the main land. The pearl
fishers of Cubagua did everything to add to the
already enormous difiiculties of the task of
Christianizing the Indians. They brought liquor
to the Indians and kidnapped them for work in
the island. Las Casas went to Cubagua, showed
the Royal Order, and demanded that these in-
cursions should be stopped, but the officials paid
no heed to him. He decided to go to San Do-
mingo for redress, and sailed in a merchant vessel,
which was wrecked on the way, and it was only
after a journey of many days through the swamps
that he reached the capital. Meantime a tribe of
Indians attacked his new settlement, killed his
manager and one of the Franciscans, and de-
stroyed the whole of the stores provided with so
much labor. When Las Casas reached San Do-
mingo it was only to find his colonists there before
him and all hope of peaceful intercourse with the
natives destroyed for the time.
The blow was terrible even to his indomitable
nature. He knew that his own purpose was right,
but he doubted whether God willed its success or
whether he was the instrument chosen to carry it
out. He took up his quarters in the Dominican
Convent, where he was sure of sympathy, though
his former ally. Father De Cordova, had passed to
his reward while Las. Casas was away. A young
priest of remarkable character. Father Betanzos,
afterwards the Provincial of Mexico and one of
the most notable men of that country, had lately
come to San Domingo. He urged Las Casas to
enter the Dominican Order, and after long reflec-
tion he took the solemn vows of obedience and
absolute poverty. After prominence in Courts
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
567
and favor won with the greatest men of the world,
with the Emperor Charles V. and the then Pope
Adrian, he found no more suitable course than to
place himself under absolute obedience to the will
of a community as strict in its mode of life as
La Trappe. Not only was abstinence from meat
perpetual, but also from oil, wine and wheaten
bread in the community of San Domingo. Las
Casas was nearly fifty wheu he entered it, and
many years later, when a Bishop in Central
America, he continued to observe all the austeri-
ties of the rule.
For five years he remained almost unnoticed in
his convent after the terrible energetic work of
former days. The Dominican authorities con-
tinued their efforts to obtain just treatment for the
Indians in the meanwhile, and after some years
they called Las Casas to Spain and sent him again
to the Court of Charles V. on his old mission.
Pizarro was then conquering Peru, and Las Casas
obtained a decree forbidding the enslavement of
the natives. He was sent out shortly afterwards
to Peru to notify Pizarro and Almagro of this law.
On the way he passed through Mexico and took
part in a Chapter of the Dominicans there to set-
tle some disputes over the jurisdiction of the Su-
perior in San Domingo. From Mexico, with two
companions, he traveled on foot to Realejo, in
Nicarauga, found a ship there and sailed to Peru.
Having warned the Spanish officials there of the
decrees against Indian slavery, he returned to
Nicaragua, where he founded a convent and de-
voted himself to missionary work among both
Indians and Spaniards for the next four years.
He was sent again to Peru during that time, but
driven back by storms, and he was called to San
Domingo, where he found a congenial work.
Charles V. sympathized fully in the work of
Indian emancipation. He confirmed by public
edict the agreement for the perpetual freedom of
the Guatemalan converts, and sent titles and pres-
ents to their chiefs, somewhat to the disgust of
the settlers there. The Spanish Government
called a special Assembly in 1542, to provide
suitable legislation for the colonies, which now
included Peru and Mexico, instead of being con-
fined to a few islands as at the death of Ximenes.
A body of laws known as the *' New Laws " was
enacted and received the signature of Charles in
1542. Las Casas had sixteen measures before
this body, and had a great, possibly the greatest,
share in shaping its decisions.
An iinexpected burden was laid on Las Casas
as soon as the New Laws were passed. He was
nominated Bishop of Cuzco, in Peru, and though
he declined that dignity he was finally obliged by
the entreaties of the Dominican Superiors to ac-
cept the diocese of Chiapa, in Central America.
Again, this time in his seventieth year, he crossed
the Atlantic in 1544. Forty Dominican mis-
sioners accompanied him to extend the work he
had begun of conversion and civilization. The
Episcopal dignity made no change in the austerity
which had marked his life as a Dominican. He
wore the plainest dress, touched no meat, had no
personal furniture except the plainest kind, plate
being rigorously excluded from his table. A
library was his chief possession, but unfortu-
nately it was lost by shipwreck on the voyage to
Guatemala.
His reception in his diocese is graphically told
by Remesal, the historian of Guatemala and
almost a contemporary. The wealthy colonists
regarded Las Casas as the main agent in the
hated emancipation laws. They called him a
half trained student ; made abusive verses on him,
and had their children sing them around his
house, and even fired guns at his windows to scare
him. To his demand for the liberation of the
slaves, colonists and officials turned a deaf ear.
He had to go to Guatemala and appeal to the
Judges of the Audience there for the enforcement
of the laws. The president of that body roundly
abused the fearless bishop, and told him he was a
scoundrel without shame, a bad man, bad friar,
bad bishop, and one that ought to be hanged. " I
deserve all your lorship says," was the half sar-
castic answer of Las Casas, who, however, still
insisted that a judge should be sent to Chiapa to
enforce the law. The Audience was cowed by his
courage, and promised to send one.
The citizens of Ciudad Real, his see, deter-
S68
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
mined to prevent the bishop's return by force
when they learned of this last measure. When
they heard the judge was coming to take
their Indians from them, the prominent citizens
held a meeting, and resolved that they had no
assurance that Las Casas was really their bishop,
as he had never shown them his Bulls. It was
further resolved that if he were their bishop he
should act like other bishops, and if not they
would not pay him any temporalities. The final
resolution was that they would not let him enter
the city unless he would let them be absolved like
Christians (Las Casas had forbidden his priests
to admit slaveholders to the sacraments), and not
try to take away their slaves or fix their rents.
The Bishop was making his way from Guate-
mala on foot, accompanied by a Dominican, Father
Vicente, and a couple of Spaniards, besides a
negro servant. In this fashion he reached a
monastery some miles from Ciudad Real, where
he heard news of the proceedings. The monks
begged him not to go on, as he might be killed.
The Bishop would not stop. " If I don't go to
Ciudad Real," he said, " I banish myself from my
Church. Men's minds change every hour, and
is it possible that God will be so hard with the
men of Ciudad Real as to let them commit such
a crime as murdering me. In fine Reverend
Fathers, I am going to my diocese trusting in the
mercy of God and the help of your prayers."
With that he gathered up his cassock and took
the road again, though it was late in the evening.
He traveled all night and caught the Indian
sentinels asleep. They naturally did not share
in their master's feelings, and when awakened
they begged his blessing and excused their work.
He reached Ciudad Real at dawn, and went
straight to the Church, where he called the town
councillors to meet him. They came with the
whole white population in very bad' humor.
There had been a smart shock of earthquake
during the night, and some declared it was a
sign of the ruin that was coming on them with
the Bishop's arrival. They got to the Church,
however, but when the Bishop came out of the
sacristy no one saluted him, and a notary got up
and read the resolutions lately adopted. The
Bishop answered with firmness, but gently and
with his usual eloquence. All this was before
nine in the tropical morning, but by midday a
change had come over the public mind either from
the Bishops' eloquence or the weight of the lay
brother's hands. The Alcaldes came in a body to
apologize, and the populace at large accompanied
them to beg pardon. They went further, and car-
ried him off to one of the principal houses, regaled
him there in the evening, and next day held a
tournament in honor of his return.
This sudden popularity was not, however, of
long duration. When the judge arrived shortly
afterwards from Guatemala, he told Las Casas
respectfully that the unpopularity of the New
Laws was enhanced by the fact that he was re-
garded as their chief author. He begged him to
leave his diocese for a while on that account dur-
ing the prevailing excitement and urged him to
go to the Synod then convened at Mexico. Las
Casas yielded, went on to Mexico, where his ar-
rival nearly caused a tumult, and attended the
Synod there. It laid down some very emphatic
principles on the question of Indian slavery.
One was that unbelievers of every class had, in
spite of their unbelief, absolute right over their
persons and property, and could not be deprived
of this right b}^ Christians without grievous sin.
Another was that the Spanish sovereigns had
been granted jurisdiction in America by the Holy
See solely in order that the Indians might be
made Christians by lawful means, not to increase
the power or revenues of Spain. A third point
was that this grant of supreme national authority
did not authorize the taking from the Indian
chiefs of any class their properties or the au-
thority which they possessed already. These
principles are in striking contrast to the acts of
Edward the Sixth's English Parliament, at the
same time touching the rights of Catholics who
refused to accept the Loyal Supremacy as the rule
of belief
From Mexico Las Casas returned to Spain,
where he resigned his bishopric. His episcopal
career was only four years' active duration.
THE FIRST PRIEST OF AMERICA.
569
Having resigned his diocese, Las Casas took up
his residence in the Dominican Convent at Valla-
dolid, but not to rest there in quiet. He was of-
ficially recognized as " Protector of the Indians,"
and no important measure of colonial administra-
tion escaped his energetic attention. When
Philip II. succeeded his father on the Spanish
throne a measure of vital importance to the native
race was proposed b}' an agent of the American
grantholders. These grants were revoked by
Charles V. in 1542, but the revocation had been
suspended in consequence of the rebellions in
Peru. The policy of the government was to
abolish the whole system as soon as possible, and
the wealthy proprietors were anxious to have the
grants made perpetual. For this they offered a
sum of many millions, apparently about three
years' revenue of Spain, to Philip, who, at the
time, was confronted with an empty treasury and
a formidable war with France. The temptation
to establish a system of Russian serfdom in
America was very great, and Las Casas used all
his energies to prevent it. Philip was in England
at the time, and Las Casas wrote directly to his
confessor there, asking that his letter shouldbelaid
before the king himself. It was a document such
as very few rulers ever have addressed to them,
and a strange contrast to the servile addresses of
the English Parliament to its sovereigns at the
same time. Las Casas told Philip that it would
be in the highest degree rash for him to make
any decision on American policy in England,
where he had no means of learning the truth
about the Spanish colonies from reliable sources.
" What right," he asks, " have our kings to wring
taxes from the toil of the Indians to pay their
debts ? " " What an atrocity to seek to forward
the interests of the king in defiance of God's
law." A few sentences in the same letter are
remarkable as showing how strict a rule Las Casas
applied to his own actions. "A few days since,"
he wrote, " a member of the Council, hearing this
proposition, threatened me with God's justice, and
charged me with not half doing my duty if I did
not goand protest effectually against those tyrants,
even if I had to beg my way to England with a
stick in my hand and a beggar's sack on my back.
What would he have said had he seen all I have
during the last sixty years?" This was strong
language for a bishop of over fourscore j-ears to
use of himself, and it may serve to explain the
severity of his denunciations in his " Destruction
of the Indies."
Philip received this bold letter well, and wrote
in reply asking further information. Charles V.,
who had retired to a monastery, shared the opin-
ion of Las Casas, and his last interference in
political affairs was to warn his son against sacri-
ficing the liberty of his subjects. The proposal
of the colonial magnates was definitely rejected,
despite the deficit in the treasury. Spanish honor,
after all, has not been an empty word.
The other tasks of Las Casas during the last
years of his life are too numerous to tell here.
He published his famous "Destruction of the
Indies " in 1550, and dedicated it to Philip himself,
in spite of the freedom with which it treated royal
and feudal rights. Like the present Sovereign
Pontiff, Las Casas retained his capacity for work,
especially literary work, to the age of over ninety.
He wrote the last chapters of his great history of
the Indies in 1561 at eighty-seven, and three
years later he published a monograph on Peru,
which shows all the energy and indefatigable in-
vestigation of his works written forty years ear-
lier. His correspondence with every part of
Spanish-America was enormous all through this
time. The Supreme Court of Central America
had been suppressed for motives of economy, and
the bishop informed Las Casas that in conse-
quence the poor, especially the Indians, found it
impossible to get legal redress for the wrongs in-
flicted by the wealthy. Las Casas at ninety-two
journeyed to Madrid, laid the case before the
ministry, and pleaded it so efiectually that the
court was restored. On his return to his convent
he contracted a burning fever, and passed away
among his Dominican brethren in 1564.
There were many notable men among the first
conquerors and settlers of America, but none
more remarkable in every way than America's
first Catholic priest, Bartolome de Las Casas.
LEDGES ANt> PERFOR\AANCES.
The evils of a mis-spent life upon Society and Individuals.
(B CD CD CCd iSu mumi
rtfnins rj^ rj^ re m v
By REV. THOMAS N. BURKE, O. P.
sn ^ ^ tXd tSU susum
W OS W ^JJ ^J^ OS OtS CB
The faith that worketh great things is admira-
bly illustrated by the example recorded in St.
John iv. 46-53: ■ "There was a certain ruler
whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having
heard that Jesus was come from Judea into
Galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come
down and heal his son, for he was at the point
of death. Jesus therefore said to him: Unless
you see signs and wonders you believe not.
The ruler saith to him : Lord, come down before
that my son die. Jesus saith to him : Go thy
way, thy son liveth. The man believed the
word which Jesus said to him, and went his
way. And as he was going down, his servants
met him : and they brought word, saying that
his sou lived. He asked therefore of them the
hour wherein he grew better. And they said
to him : Yesterday at the seventh hour the
fever left him. The father therefore knew that
it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him :
Thy son liveth : and himself believed and his
whole house."
The anxiety of the ruler of Capharnaum con-
cerning the life of his son reminds me of the
anxiety justly felt by many a parent concern-
ing the welfare of one or more children addicted
to the fearful vice of intemperance in drinking,
which leads so many persons to an untimely
and fearful death. On the other hand we read
in the epistle : "Be not drunk with wine,
wherein there is luxury." I will therefore
speak about drunkenness, praying to our
Saviour in the Holy Eucharist to open our
eyes, that we may understand the enormity cf
this sin, and be inspired with a great zeal for
banishing it from amongst us.
Drunkenness is the worst species of gluttony.
Let us look at its dreadful consequences.
I. Drunkenness brutalizes a man. When one
drinks to excess, or gets drunk, he is no longer
a man, but a beast ; for he sinks himself to the
level of the brutes around him. Look at the
drunkard : he knows not what he says or does ;
he cannot think or reason like a man ; he is
even lower than the animals that serve him, for
they never drink to excess, but keep their
appetites within the bounds of nature. He
cannot even stand as the beast can. See him
staggering on his way, his body shaken with
the excess of drink, his head swaying heavily
on his shoulders, falling first to one side, then
to another ; his eyes wild ; his looks unmeaning ;
his tongue babbling, yet scarcely able to articu-
late a word.
Now he falls, and rolls in the mire with the
swine, which are not so degraded as he ; for
(570)
PLEDGES AND PERFORMANCES.
571
they have the use of their limbs, but the drunk-
ard has not. See him assisted to his home
by some charitable friend, staggering and fall-
ing on his way ; foaming, rolling his disgusting
eyes, and exhaling the fetid fumes of spirits
and beer. Children point him out to one
another ; they follow him, mocking and laugh-
ing at him, as at some strange being. His
acquaintances look after him as he totters
home, and they are indignant at the scene ; his
enemies look at him and point to him with ridi-
cule ; his friends run away as he approaches,
for they feel ashamed of him ; and his children
are in tears and his wife in agony when they
look upon him.
And what a scene when the drunkard enters
his house ! His wife is on the threshold to
meet him, her form bowed, her face haggard,
her body shrunken by want. There she stands,
with an aflflicted mind and a broken heart.
Though unable to stand, the drunkard wishes
to return to the public-house ; but the wife
supports him, and with a gentle pressure draws
him inside the door. Then he grows wild and
infuriate ; he curses, he blasphemes ; from his
lips pour forth filth and obscenity ; he strikes
at everything in his way — wife, children and
servants: he has no fear either of God or of
man.
" Who hath woe ? asks Solomon, " whose father
hath woe ? who hath contentions ? who falls
into pits ? who hath wounds without cause ?
who hath redness of eyes ? Surely they that
pass their time in wine, and study to drink
ofif their cups ; " Prov. xxiii. 29, 30. Yes,
the woes of heaven fall thick and fast upon
the drunkard. They are written on his face,
they are seen in all his acts. The drunkard
dishonors himself like a fool, impoverishes his
family like a robber, degrades his relatives
like the heartless, disgraces his friends like the
ungrateful, brings reproach on his religion like
the profane, destroys his body like the murderer,
and his soul like an infidel. It is told of the
ancient Spartans, that in order that their children
should conceive a loathing for drunkenness they
were in the habit of making some of their slaves
drunk. And to have a horror of this beastly
vice you have only to look at the drunkard
tottering to his house supported by his wife on
one side and his neglected and squalid child
on the other.
2. Drunkenness, too, entails on its victim many
other sorrows — injuries, quarrels, and alterca-
tions. To what are we to attribute the quar-
reling, the injuries, the insults, the inhuman
fights, we so often witness ? To drunkenness.
Where do disputes, dissensions, bickering and
riots originate ? In the public-house. See the
drunkard. Begin and watch him till he ends
his career of intoxication. He has sat at the
table, he has filled his glass and drained it.
Again he fills his glass, and challenges his
boon companions to do the same ; they accept,
and drink them off ; they become mirthful ; a
third glass is taken, and the mirth maddens
into riot : anger springs up, and those who
shook hands across the table after the second
glass now assail one another with the most
opprobrious language, consign one another to
damnation, and blaspheme the name of the
living God ! Next they proceed to blows : a
deadly strife takes place, and the frightful con-
sequence is the spilling of blood, and, but too
often, the loss of life.
Drunkenness leads to riotousness, quarreling,
insults, inhuman fights, sudden death. Drunken-
ness leads to evil companions, thefts, robberies,
plots, murders, to prison, to the gallows. Drunk-
enness points to weakness, wretchedness, melan-
choly, wild fancies, black horror, madness.
Follow the drunkard into the bosom of his
family, look at him carrying distress and desola-
tion into his home : he cries and screams like
an enraged animal ; he destroys everything that
he can lay his hand on. The sobs and lamen-
tations of his wife, the tears and cries of his
children, so far from moving him to mercy and
pity, only fire him the more with madness.
Like a fury he flies at them, armed with a
poker or whatever else comes in his way, and
deals round on wife and children murderous
572
PIvEDGES AND PERFORMANCES.
blows. In vain the broken-hearted wife holds
before her husband their innocent child: nothing
can check his madness, nothing can stop the
savage father ; both wife and child become
the victims of his brutality ; for through a
refinement of brutality he drags the wife by
the hair, throws her and her child with violence
out of doors, and forces her to seek outside
some place to shelter herself and her infant
from the cold and severity of the night. O
Drunkenness, such is thy savage work !
3. Impurity is another consequence of drunk-
enness. The wise man said long ago in the
Book of Proverbs, that " wine is a luxurious
thing, and drunkenness riotous " (Prov. xxi. i) ;
and St. Paul in the fifth chapter of his Epistle
to the Ephesians warns us against "being
drunk with wine, in which there is luxury."
Spirituous liquors inflame the already unruly
passion of lust, and when our reason is dis-
turbed by drinking to excess, what can keep us
from rushing headlong into every kind of
impurity ? Is it not from drunkenness that
flow the immodest songs, the fearful obscene
words that strike our ears from morning till
night ? The holiness of the marriage state,
the fidelity of wife to husband, and of husband
to wife, are entirely lost sight of by the
drunkard.
Look at a woman who drinks to excess, and
see to what a miserable state she is reduced.
She was once fondly attached to her husband ;
dear to her friends, beloved by her relations,
and esteemed by all her acquaintances. But
look at her now, as she frequents the
whisky-shop. See the face, once meek
and lovely with the pure beams of inno-
cence, now convulsed by all the pas-
sions which issue from the infernal pit.
Listen to the tongue which once gave expres-
sion only to what was chaste and pure and
good, but which now pours forth impurity,
obscenity, and ungodliness in torrents. See
her coming from the house of drunkenness and
hastening to the den of infamy ; or, like some
unnatural monster, going home to her family
to suckle her children with her vices. Yet a
few years ago she was a stranger to almost
every house, except her own home and the
church ! Must we not then say with St.
Jerome that drunkenness feeds and stirs up
the flames of impurity, and also feeds and ex-
cites the flames of fire when cast upon it ? I
can never believe, says a Father of the Church,
that an intemperate man can be a chaste man.
Was it not this vice of drinking to excess that
rendered Sodom so impure as to call for its
destruction by fire and brimstone ? Lot was
not guilty of incest until he had taken the
wine presented him by his daughters ; and the
Israelites sinned not with the Moabites until
they had first drank intoxicating liquors with
them.
4. " Destruction of property and ruin of fam-
ily," are also the inevitable consequences of
drunkenness. Go to the drunkard's house and
see the havoc that there meets your eyes.
Look for a moment into that dwelling, the abode
of misery and want, aye, and too often of guilt.
Its walls are black and broken from neglect and
decay, filth and ruin fill up the measure of its
wretchedness, and not a piece of furniture is
there to relieve its dilapidated appearance. In
a corner of that filthy, dingy apartment the
embers of a scanty fire are dying out, and hang-
ing over those embers you see an emaciated
figure : there is no mistaking that bowed-down,
broken-hearted creature. Her wrinkled brow,
her pallid cheek, her bloodless lips, her trem-
bling hands, her look of deep, unutterable agony
and despair, too clearly point out the wretched
wife of the drunkard. Once, before the altar
of God, he swore to love, cherish, and defend
her; but her present condition shows how that'
vow has been fulfilled. Her, thoughts turn back
to by-gone days, when she was happy and joy-
ous under her father's roof. She is contrasting
those days of peace arid plenty with the misery
and destitution of the present time, and she shud-
ders at her husband's guilt. Notwithstanding
the cruel treatment she receives at his hands,
despite the kicks and blows his brutal
PLEDGES AND PERFORMANCES.
573
temper inflicts on her, she still clings to
him, and with anxious care tries every resource
to bring him back from his desperate courses,
to lead him away from those companions who
are luring him on to sure destruction. For
the sake of the father of her famished chil-
dren, she bears up against his cruel treatment.
To bring her husband from the public-house,
she every night exposes herself to insult and
indignity ; and for her pains she receives from
the brutal man curses and blows.
Visit that abode again, ascend the broken
staircase to the garret dark and gloomy. The
rain is pouring through the broken roof, and
is pattering on the craz}'- loft. There is a
damp, unwholesome air around. A flickering
light shows some dark object in the comer.
Go near : it is a poor creature lying on the
remains of a straw bed, with scarcely a rag to
protect her from the inclemency of the night ; and
oh, what a face ! On every lineament of it, want,
misery, wrong, injustice, crueltj^, are fearfully
written. Her dying eyes are looking for the
last time on the shivering skeletons huddled
aear her that they may communicate a little
warmth to each other; and then, after a look up
to heaven, and a prayer breathed forth to the
Father of the orphan, that he may protect her
wretched offspring, those eyes close forever in
this world, and the children are alone in the
world, with no one to care for or tend them,
for their mother is dead and their father is a
drunkard. O drunkards, what woe and misery
and wretchedness and g^ilt do you not entail
on yourselves and your families!
5. "Loss of life," too, follows from drunken-
ness. St. Chrysostom thus describes the effects
of intemperance : " paleness, weakness, laziness,
folly." The drunkard ruins his health, short-
ens his days, and brings himself to an early
grave. Look at the man who frequents the
rum-shop, and is seen there at all hours, who
knows no pleasure greater than drinking. See
the appearance he presents — pale, hanging
cheeks ; red, bleared eyes ; livid lips, trembling
hands, a body swaying to and fro, and legs
weak and bending! See his tottering gait, his
faltering steps, as he passes you by. Death
has already marked him for its own ; his days
are numbered, for not one but many disorders
prey on him, and will soon put an end to
his existence. And how can it be otherwise ?
What constitution can bear up against the inroads
of drunkenness ? The most eminent medical met
tell us that the drinking of spirituous liquors has
killed as many thousands as there are stars in
the sky, and that more have died by this slow,
sure poison than by any other kind of poison, and
on that account they say that the following
inscription might be justly written on the tomb
of every drunkard : " Here lies a suicide."
6. The final and most alarming result of drunk-
enness is " an unhappy and wretched death,"
followed by " the everlasting damnation of the
soul." The drunkard during life has indulged
in every excess, has violated almost every com-
mand of God, has been guilty of blasphemy,
of impurity, quarreling, fighting, wasting his
means, ruining his family, making outcasts of
his wife and children. After such a career of
vice, now behold his closing days. There he
lies on the bed of sickness and death, the victim
of his own folly and crime. What are his
thoughts ? What are those thoughts that cause
the frightful convulsions of his frame, that
spread over his face that fearful livid hue ?
What are the thoughts that shake his with-
ered body ? What but the recollection of the
past and the dread of the future ! Behind is
horror, before is despair !
His misspent life, his ruined name, his wasted
energies, his folly, his crime, his guilt, all rush
on his mind in a terrible array, and cannot be
shut out. At that awful moment the power of
conscience swells its voice to the mightiest of
thunder, and it is that which convulses him.
With cruel distinctness he counts over the
many acts of cruelty he has been guilty of
towards his wife and unoff"ending family. In
every item that he counts up he reads his own
condemnation. Where now are his wife and
children? Why are they not now around his
574
PLEDGES AND PERFORMANCES.
bed ? Neither wife nor children has he now.
The wife died of a broken heart ; and the son,
having the father's wicked example before him,
grew up a perfect savage, uncurbed by one
salutary precept, bidding defiance equally to
the laws of God and man, every day sinking
deeper and deeper into crime, until he was
jent to a prison, or perhaps expiated his guilt
on a scaffold. And his daughter, whose pres-
ence would now be a blessing to him, where
is she ? Lost ! forever sunk in shame beyond
redemption. That dying father was the agent
of her ruin, for b}-- his brutality and savage
treatment he forced her from her home, drove
her an outcast on the world, and she soon be-
came a prey to the lust and depravity of her
seducer. Neither wife nor child now surrounds
his bed, but their forms seem to hover round
him in dreadful shapes. They seem to mock
and laugh at his mortal agony, and grasp at
him with their long skinny fingers.
He is now writhing under the effects of de-
lirium tremens^ and, like many of his compan-
ions who have gone before him, he cannot avail
himself of the last moments of life to turn to
God. He is incapable of sorrow and repent-
ance, for his mind is wandering and his intel-
lect is a perfect ruin. He sees in imagination
swarms of horrid creatures circling round his
body, and threatening to devour him. So dis-
tempered is his brain that legions of devils
appear in the room. Demons of hideous shape
dance round his bed and hold him in dreadful
tortures. He shouts in frightful accents to
those about him to save him from those infer-
nal fiends, who want to take his soul to hell.
He rivets his eyes on a comer of the room, and
imagines that he sees his ill-treated wife and
neglected children, now many years dead, mock-
ing at him in his agony, and reproaching him
with his former neglect and inhuman treatment,
and he shouts to have them removed. " The
finger of God is here." His justice has
at last overtaken the drunkard. The hour
has come, and the tempest of God bursts ; whilst
the drunkard crawled along the path of vice un-
concerned about his soul, God was silent ; but
God was not indifferent. Though silent, he
saw all, and took a note of all ; and whilst the
drunkard was heaping up crime, God heaped
vengeance. Hear him speaking by the mouth
of Isaias : " I have been silent, I have held my
peace, I was patient, my words shall break forth
as one in labor, I will scatter them, I will wrap
them up together in a whirlpool." The drunk-
ard abandoned God during life ; God abandons
him at death. During life the drunkard lived
regardless of God's law, and in his last hour
God is regardless of him. For, says St. Paul,
" neither idolaters nor drunkards shall possess
the kingdom of God."
The priest of God is sent to prepare the
drunkard for his long journey. He approaches
his bed ; he endeavors to infuse some religious
comfort into his guilty heart ; he speaks words
of consolation to him ; he desires him to rely on
the mercies of Christ, who shed his blood for
him. But the wretched creature is stupefied ; he
cannot pray ; he knows not how to pray ; he
never through life thought of, much less prac-
tised, that sweet and holy duty. He is now rav-
ing in his agony ; devils surround his bed ; the
father and mother whose heart he broke ; the
wife and children whom he abused, and left to
starve — all the evils of his life start up before
him in terrible array, and pierce his brain with
madness. He shrinks back in fright.
The tide of life is now fast ebbing from his
heart ; the sweat of death is on his brow ; his
brain reels, darkness comes over his sight, the
last sigh is quivering on his lips ; and in a
desperate struggle the soul separates from the
body, and the drunkard stands alone and un-
protected before the judgment-seat of God, to
answer for the crimes of an ill-spent life.
\\t i{oI|; (at[|oIic (T[(irc[|.
She Is the Mother and the Inspiration of Art.
By Rev. THOMAS N. BURI^C, O. P.
(c cia is tSu <^^ (u en c&
tu tjj w r]^ F]^ OS w ro
The Holy Catholic Church is the spouse of
the Lord Jesus Christ, which is described to
us in Scripture as being endowed with a two-
fold beauty, namely, interior, of which the
Psalmist says, " All the beauty of the king's
daughters is from within," and exterior, of which
he spoke when he said," The queen stood at his
right hand, in golden garb, surrounded with vari-
ety." We cannot fail to be impressed that the
interior beauty and ineffable loveliness of the
Church consists, above all, in this, that she
holds enshrined in her tabernacles the Lord,
the Redeemer of the world, as the Blessed
Virgin Mary, his mother, held him in her
arms in Bethlehem, as the cross supported him
on Mount Calvary ; that she possesses his
everlasting truth which he left as her inherit-
ance, and which it is her destiny not only to
hold, but to proclaim and propagate to all the
nations ; and, finally,' that she holds in her
hands the sacramental power and agencies by
which souls are sanctified, purified, and saved.
In these three features we observe the beauty
of the Church of God ; in these three we
behold how the mystery of the Incarnation is
perpetuated in her ; for Christ our Lord did
not forever depart from earth, but, according
to his own word, came back and remained.
" I will not leave you orphans," he said, " but
I will come to you again, and I will remain
with you all days, even to the consummation
of the world." We see in these three won-
derful features of the Church's interior beauty
how she is truly " The city of the Living
God," " The abode of grace and holiness ; "
and, therefore, that all the majesty, all the
beauty, all the material grandeur which is in
our power to invest her with, it becomes our
duty to give to her, that she may thus appear
before the eyes of men a fitting tabernacle
for our Divine Lord himself. We have seen,
moreover, how the Church of God, acting
upon the instincts of her divinely infused life
and perpetual charity,' has always endeavored
to attest and to proclaim her faith by sur-
rounding the object of that faith, her God,
with all that earth holds as most precious
and most dear. I then told you (if
you remember) that the subject for our
consideration would be the exterior beauty
of the Holy Church of God — some other
features that belong to her, distinct from,
though not independent of, the three great
singular graces of God's abiding presence, of
God's infallible truth, and of the unceasing
stream of sacramental grace that, through her,
(575)
576
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
flows onward ; those features of divine external
beauty which we recognize upon the face of
our Holy Mother, the Church. Therefore,
dearly beloved, the things that are indicated
by the exterior garb with which the prophet
invested the spouse of Christ : " The queen
stood on thy right hand in golden garb,
surrounded with variety " — every choicest gem,
every celestial form of beauty embroidered
upon the heavenly clothing of Heaven's
Queen, every rarest jewel let into the setting
of that golden garment, every brightest color
shining forth upon her — what is this exterior
beauty of the Church ? I answer, that it
consists in many things — in many influences
— in the many ways in which she has acted
upon societ}'. Ever faithful to the cause of
God and to the cause of humanity ; ever
faithful to the heavenly trust, after more than
eighteen hundred years of busy life, she
stands to-day, before the world ; and no man
can fix upon her virgin brow the shame of
deception, the shame of cruelty, the shame of
the denial of the food of man's real life, the
Word of Truth. No man can put upon her
the taint of dishonor, of a compromise with
hell or with error, or with any power that is
hostile to the sovereignty of God or to the
interests of man. Many indeed, are the ways
in which the Church of God has operated
upon society. Of these many ways I
have selected as the subject for our illustra-
tion, the power existing in the Catholic
Church, and attested by undoubted his-
torical evidence — the power which she exercised
as the Mother and inspirer of the fine arts.
And here let me first of all say, that, besides
the useful and necessary arts which occupy men
in their daily life — the arts that consist in
maintaining the essential necessaries and in pro-
viding the comforts of life — the arts that result
in smoothing away all the difliculties that meet
us in our path in life, as far as the hand of
man can materially efiect this — besides these
useful and necessary arts, — there are others
which are not necessary for our existence, nor,
perhaps, even for our comfort, but are necessary
to meet the spiritual cravings and aspirations
of the human soul, and that fling a grace
around ourselves. There are arts and sciences
which elevate the mind, soothe the heart, and cap-
tivate the understanding and the imagination of
man. These are called " the Fine Arts." For
instance, it is not necessary for your life or
mine, that our eyes should rest with pleasure
upon some beautiful painting. Without that
we could live. Without that we could have all
that is necessary for our existence, for our daily
comfort. Yet, how refining, how invigorating,
how pleasing to the eye, and to the soul to
which that eye speaks, is the language that
speaks to us silently, yet eloquently, as from
the lips of a friend, from works of architecture,
or sculpture, or painting. It is not necessary
for our lives, nor for the comfort of our lives,
if you will, that our ears should be charmed
with the sweet notes of melodious music ; but is
there one amongst us that has not, at some time
or other, felt his soul within him soothed, and
the burden of his sorrow lightened, the pleasure
he enjo3'^ed increased and enhanced, when music,
with its magic spell, fell upon his ear? It is
not necessary for our lives that our eyes should
be charmed with the sight of some grand, ma-
jestic building; but who amongst us is there
who has not felt the emotion of sadness swell
within him as he looked upon the green, ivy-
clad ruin of some ancient Church? Who is
there amongst us that has not, at some time or
other, felt the softening, refining, though sad-
dened influences that creep over him when,
entering within some time-honored ruin of an
abbey, he beheld the old lance-shaped windows,
through which came streams of sunshine like
the "light of other days," and beheld the ancient
tracery on that which stood behind the high
altar, and had once been filled with legends of
angels and saints, but now open to every breeze
of heaven; when he looked upon the place as
that in which his imagination pictured to him
holy bishops and mitred abbots oflSciating there,
and oflferihg up the unbloody sacrifice, while the
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
577
vaulted arches and long drawn aisles resounded
with the loud hosannas of the long-lost monastic
song? Who is there amongst us who has not
felt, at times, elevated, impressed, aye, filled
with strong feelings of delight, as his eye roamed
steadily and gradually up to the apex of some
grand cathedral, resting upon niches of saints
and angels, and gliding from beauty to beauty,
until, at length, straining his vision, he beheld,
high amongst the clouds of heaven, the saving
sign of the Cross of Jesus Christ, upheld in
triumph, and flinging its sacred shadow over the
silent graves ? It is thus these arts called the
liberal, or the Fine Arts, fill a great place, and
accomplish a great work in the designs of God,
and in the history of God's Holy Church.
My friends, the theme which I have pro-
pounded to you contains two grave truths. The
first of these is this: I claim for the Catholic
Church that she is the mother of the arts ; sec-
ondly, I claim for her the glory that she has
been and is their highest inspiration. What is
it that forms the peculiar attraction, that creates
the peculiar influence of art upon the soul of
man, through his senses? What is it that
captivates the eye? It is the ideal that speaks
to him through art. In nature there are many
beautiful things, and we contemplate them with
joy, with delight. The faint blushes of the
morning, as the rising sun climbs slowly over
the eastern hills, filling the valleys with rosy
light, and gladdening the face of nature — all
this is grand, all this is beautiful. But in
nature, because it is nature, the perfectlj?- beau-
tiful is rarely or never found. Some one thing
or other is wanting that would lend an addi-
tional feature of loveliness to the scene which
we contemplate, or to the theme, the hearing
of which delights us. Now, the aim of the
Catholic soul of art is to take the beautiful
wherever it is found, to abstract it from all
that might deform it, or to add all that might
be wanting to its perfect beauty — to add it every
feature and every element that can fulfill the
human idea of perfect loveliness, and to fling
over all the still higher loveliness which is
37
caught from heaven. This is called "the Ideal "
in art. We rarely find it in nature. We seek it
in highest art. We look upon a picture, and there
we behold portrayed with supreme power all the
glory of the light that the sun can lend from
heaven; all theglory of material beauty chastened,
refined, and idealized by the artist's inspiration,
breathing purest soul, enforcing some high
lesson, and persuading by the spiritual influence
which pervades the whole work. Amongst the
ancient nations — the great fountains of the
ancient civilization — Egypt, Assyria, Greece,
and finally, Rome — during the four thousand
years that went before the coming of the
Redeemer, these arts and sciences flourished.
We have still the remains of the Coliseum for
instance, in Rome, combining vastness of pro-
portion with perfect symmetry, and the mind is
oppressed at the immensity of size, whilst the eye
is charmed with the beauty of proportion.
But in the fourth and fifth centuries — after
the foundation of the Church had been firmly
laid, after the promulgation of the Christian
religion — when the Roman Empire had bowed
down her imperial head before the glory of the
Cross of Christ, it was in the designs of God
that all that ancient civilization, all these ancient
arts and sciences, should be broken up and perish.
From Egypt, Syria, and the far East they came,
and their glory concentrated itself in Greece —
later, and most of all, in Rome. All the wealth
of the world was gathered into Rome. All the
glory of earth was centralized in Rome. What-
ever the world knew of painting, of sculpture, of
architecture, of music, was found in Rome, in
the highest perfection to which the ancient civili-
zation had brought it. Then came the moment
when the Church was to enter upon her second
mission — that of creating a new world and a new
civilization. Then came the moment when Rome
and its ancient empire gravitated to a climax
by its three hundred years of religious persecu-
tion of the Church of God and her crimes were
about to be expiated. Then came the time when
God's designs became apparent. Even as the
storm-cloud bursts forth and sweeps the earth
578
THE HOLY CATHOUC CHURCH.
in its resistless force, so, my dear friends, in
these centuries of whicli I speak, from the fast-
nesses of the North came forth dreadful hordes
of barbarians — men without civilization, men
without religion, men without mercy, men with-
out a written language, men without a history,
men without a single refining element of faith
amongst them ; — and down they came, Goths and
Visigoths, Huns and Vandals, onward sweeping
in their resistless and almost countless thousands
of warriors, carrying slavery and destruction in
their hands; and thus they swept over the
Western world. Rome went down before them.
All her glory departed ; and so the civilization of
Greece and Rome was completely destroyed.
Society was overthrown, and reduced to the first
chaotic elements of its being. Every art, every
science, every most splendid monument of the
ancient world was destroyed ; and, at the close
of the fifth century, the work of the four thou-
sand preceding years had to be done over again.
Mankind was reduced to its primal elements
of barbarism. Languages never before heard,
barbaric voices, were lifted up in the halls of
the ancient palaces of Italy and in the forum
of Rome. All the splendors of the Roman
Empire disappeared, and, with them, almost
every vestige of the ancient arts and civiliza-
tion of the preceding times. No power of earth
was able to withstand the hordes of Attila. No
army was able to make front against them.
All went down before them, save and except
one — one organization, one power in the world — one
power founded by Christ and compacted by the
very hand of God — founded upon an immovable
foundation of knowledge and of truth — one
power which, for divine purposes, was allowed
a respite from persecution for a few years, in
order that she might be able to present to the
flood of barbarism that swept away the ancient
civilization, a compact and well-formed body,
able to react upon them, — and that power
was the Holy Church of God. She boldly met
the assault ; she stemmed the tide ; she embraced
and absorbed in herself nation after nation,
million after million of those rude children of
the Northern shores and forests. She took
them, rough and barbarous as they were, to her
bosom ; and, at the end of the fifth century,
the Church of God began her exterior, heroic
mission of civilizing the world, aiid laying the
foundations of modem civilization and of modern
society. So it went on until the day when the
capitol of Rome was shrouded in flames, and
the ancient monuments of her pride, of her
glory, and of civilization, were ruined and fell,
and almost every vestige of the ancient arts
disappeared. The Church, on the one hand,
addressed herself, first and most immediately,
to the Christianizing of these Northern nations.
Therein lay her divine mission, therein lay the
purpose for which she was created — to teach
them the truths of God. Whilst she did this
she carefully gathered together all that
remained of the traditions of ancient Pagan
science and art. Whilst all over Europe the
greater part of the nations were engaged in the
war between Northern barbarism and civiliza-
tion, and the land was one great battle-field,
overflowing with blood, the Church gathered
into her arms all that she could lay her hands
on, of ancient literature, of ancient science and
art, and retired with them into her cloisters.
Everywhere, over the whole face of Europe,
and in Africa and Asia — everywhere the monk
was the one man of learning — the one man
who brought with him, into his cloister, the
devotion to God that involved the sacrifice of
his life — the devotion to man that considers a
neighbor's good, and makes civilization and
refinement the purpose and study of his life I
Where, to-day, would be the literature of ancient
Greece and Rome, if • the Church of God, the
Catholic Church, had not gathered their rem-
nants into her cloisters ? Where, to-day, would
be (humanly speaking) the very Scriptures
themselves, if these monks of old had not taken
them, and made the transcribing of them, and
the multiplying copies of them, the business of
their lives ? And so, all that the world has of
science, of art — all that the world has of tradi-
tion, of mtisic, of painting, of architecture — all
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
579
that the world has of the arts of Greece and
Rome, was treasured up for a thousand years
in the cloisters of the Catholic Church 1
And now, her twofold mission began. Whilst
her preachers evangelized — whilst they followed
the armies of the Vandal and the Goth, from
field to field, and back to their fastnesses of
the North — whilst they converted those rude
and terrible sons of the forest into meek, pure-
minded Christians, upon the one hand, on the
other, the Church took and applied all the
arts, all the sciences, all the human agencies
that she had — and they were powerful — to the
civilizing and refining of these barbarous men.
Then it was that in the cloisters there sprang
up, created and fostered by the Church of God,
the fair and beautiful arts of painting, music,
and architecture. I say " created " in the
Church. There are manj?- amongst you as well
informed as I am in the history of our civiliza-
tion, and I ask you to consider that amongst
the debris of the ruin of ancient Rome and of
ancient Greece, although we possess noble
monuments of the ancient architecture, we have
but the faintest tradition of their music or their
paintings, scarcely anything. I have visited the
ruined cities of Italy, I have stood within the
walls of Ostium, at the mouth of the Tiber,
when, after hundreds of years, for the first time
the earth was removed, and the ancient temples
were revealed again. The painting is gone,
and nothing but the faintest outline remains.
Still less of the music of the ancients have we.
We do not know what the music of ancient
Greece or of ancient Rome was. All we know
is, that among the ancient Greeks there was a
dull monotone, or chorus, struck into an alter-
nating strain. Of their sculpture we have
abundant remains ; and, indeed, on this it may
be said, that there has not been any modern
art which has equaled, scarcely approached, the
perfection of the ancient Grecian model. But
the three sciences of architecture, painting, and
music have all sprung from the cloisters of
the Church. What is the source of all great
modern song? When the voice of the singer
was hushed every vvnere else, it resounded in
the Gregorian chant that pealed in loud hosan-
nas through the long-drawn aisles of the
ancient Catholic mediaeval churches. It first
came from the mind — it came from out the
loving heart of the holy pope, Gregory, himself
a religious, and consecrated to God as a monk
Whence came the organ, the prince, the king
of all instruments, the faithful type of Chris-
tianity — of the Christian congregation — so
varied, yet so harmonious ; made up of a mul-
titude of pipes and stops, each one differing
from the other, yet all blending together into
one solemn harmony of praise, just as yoU;
who come in here before this altar, each one
full of his own motives and desires — the young,
the old — the grave, the gay — rich and poor-
each with his own desire and experience of
joy, of sorrow, or of hope — yet, before this altar,
and within these walls, do you blend into one
united and harmonious act of faith, of homage,
and of praise before God. Whence came the
king of instruments to you — so majestic in
form, so grand in its volume — so S3'^mbolicaI
of the worship which it bears aloft upon the
wings of song? In the cloisters of the Bene
dictine monks do we hear it for the first time
When the tired Crusader came home from his
Eastern wars, there did he sit down to refresh
his soul with sacred song. There, during the
solemn Mass of midnight, or at the Church's
office at matins, whilst he heard the solemn,,
plaintive chant of the Church, whilst he
heard the low-blended notes of the accom-
panying organ, skillfully touched by the Bene-
dictine's hand — would his rugged heart be
melted into sorrow, and the humility of Chris-
tian forgiveness. And thus it is the most
spiritualizing and highest of all the arts and
sciences — this heaven-born art of music. Thus
did the Church of God make her divine and
civilizing appeal, and thus her holy influence
was brought out during those stormy and ter-
rible times when she undertook the almost
impossible task of humbling the proud, of
purifying the unchaste, of civilizing the terrible,
<8o
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
he fierce, and the blood-stained horde of bar-
)arians that sv/ept, in their resistless millions,
)ver the Roman empire.
The next great art which the Church culti-
'ated in her cloisters, and which, in truth,
vas created by her as it exists to-day, was the
trt of painting. Recall the circumstances of
he time. Printing was not yet invented. Yet
he people had to be instructed — and not only
o be instructed but influenced; for mere
nstmction is not sufficient. The mere appeal
o the power of faith, or to the intellect of
nan, is not sufficient. Therefore did the
'IJhurch call in the beautiful art of painting;
ind the holy, consecrated monk in his cloister
ieveloped all the originality of his genius and
)f his mind to reproduce in captivating form
—in silent but eloquent words, the mysteries
)f the Church — the mysteries which the Church
las taught from her birth. Then did the
uystery of the Redemption, the Incarnation
>f the Son of God, the angels coming down
rom heaven to salute Mary — then did all
hese greet the eye of the rude, unlettered
nan, and tell him, in language more eloquent
han words, how much Almighty God in heaven
oved him. But it was necessary for this that
he art of painting should be idealized to its
ery highest form. It was necessary to the
)ainter's hand to fling around [Mary's head a
x»mbined halo of virginity and of heavenly mater-
lity. It was necessary that the angelic form
iiat saluted her should have the transparency
)f heaven and of its own spiritual nature,
bating, as it were, through him, in material
olor. It was necessar}?^ that the atmosphere
hat surrounded her should be as that cloudless
atmosphere which is breathed before the throne
)f the Most High. It was necessary that the
nan who looked upon this should be lifted up
"rom the thoughts of earth and eugaged wholly
n the contemplation of objects of heaven.
Therefore, glimpses of beauty the most tran-
jcendent, aspirations of heaven, lifting up the
3oul from all earthliness — from worldliness —
▼ere necessary. To obtain this the monk was
obliged to fast and pray while he painted.
The monk was obliged to lift up his own
thoughts, his own imagination, his own soul,
in contemplation, and view, as it were, the
scene which he was about to illustrate, with
no earthly eye. The Church alone could do
this, and the Church did it. She created the
art of painting. There was no tradition in the
pagan world to aid him ; no beauty — the beauty
of no fair forms in all the fullness of their
majestic symmetry before his eye to inspire
him. He must look altogether to heaven for
his inspiration. And so faithfully did he look
up to heaven's glories, and so clear was the
vision that the painter-monk received of the
beauties he depicted on earth, that in the
thirteenth century there arose in Florence a
Dominican Monk, a member of owt order,
beatified by his virtues, and called by the
single title of "The Angelic Painter." He
illustrated the Holy Trinity. He put before
the eyes of the people all the great mysteries
of our faith. And now, after so many ages —
after six hundred years have passed away,
whenever a painter, or lover of art stands before
one of those wonderful angels and saints,
painted by the hand of the ancient monk, now
in heaven, it seems to him as if the very
angels of God had descended from on high and
stood before the painter, while he fixed their
glory in colored form, as they appear to the
eye of the beholder. It seems as if we gazed
upon the blessed angelic hosts, and as if
Gabriel, standing before Mary, mingled the joy
of the meeting with the solemnity of the mes-
sage which the painter represents him as
announcing. It seems as if Mary is seen
receiving the message of man's redemption from
the angel, not as a woman of earth, but as if
she was the very personification of the woman that
the inspired Evangelist at Patmos saw, " clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and
on her head a crown of twelve stars." Michael
Angelo, the greatest of painters, gazed in won-
der at the angels and saints that the Domini-
can monk had painted. Astonished, he knelt
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
581
down, gave thanks to God and said, " The
man that could have painted these must have
seen them in heaven !"
The architecture of the ancient world, of Greece
and of Rome, remained. It was inspired by a
pagan idea, and it never rose above the idea that
inspired it. The temples of Athens and of Rome
remain in all their shattered glory, and in all the
chaste beauty of their proportions. Very re-
markable are they as architectural studies for
this : that they spread themselves out, and
covered as much of the earth's space as possi-
ble ; that the pillars were low and the arches
low ; and everything seemed to cling to and
tend towards earth. For this was the idea,
and the highest idea, of architecture, that ever
entered into the mind of the greatest of the
men of ancient civilization. The monk in his
cloister, designing to build a temple and a
house for the living God, looking upon the
models of ancient Greece and Rome, saw in
them a grovelling and an earthly architecture.
His mind was heavenward in aspiration. His
thoughts, his affections, were all purified by the
life which he led. Out of that upward tendency
of mind and heart sprang the creation of a new
style of Christian architecture, which is called
the Gothic ; as little in it of earth as may be —
just sufficient to serve the purpose of a super-
structure. The idea was to raise it as high
towards heaven as possible — to raise a monu-
ment to Almighty God — a monument revealing
in every detail of its architecture the divine
idea, and the upward tendency of the regen-
erated heart of the Christian man. Now, there-
fore, let every arch be pointed ; now, therefore,
let every pillar spring up as loftily as a spire ;
now, let every niche be filled with angels and
saints — some who were tried in love — others
who maintained the faith — teaching the lesson
of their sanctity — now pronouncing judgment,
now proclaiming mercy. Now, therefore, let
the high tower be uplifted on which swings
the bell, consecrated by the blessing of the
Church, to fling out upon the air around, which
trembles as it receives its message, the notes of
Christian joy and of Christian sorrow! And
high above that tower, let the slender, pointed
spire seek the clouds, and rear up, as near to
heaven as man can go, the symbol of the Crosf
on which Christ redeemed mankind ! The peo
pie require instruction ; put sermons in stones
Let the material edifice be an epic of faith anc
of praise to God. Let everything that the eyt
sees be symbolical of the divine.
' ' Shut then in the petals of the flowers,
Round the stems of all the lilies twine,
Hide beneath each bird's or angel's pinion,
Some wise meaning or some thought divine.
Place in stony hands that pray forever,
Tender words of peace, and strive to wind
Round the leafj' scrolls and fretted niches
Some true loving message to your kind. ' '
Such is the Church's idea ; and such is the arch)
tecture of which she is the mother ! Thus wt
behold the glorious churches of the middle age£
Thus we behold them in those ancient and quainv
towns of Belgium and of France, We behold 01
their transepts, for instance, a tracery as fine at
if it were wrought and embroidered by a woman't
hands, with a strength that has been able to defj
the shocks of war and the action of ages. If tht
traveler seeks the sunny plains of Itaty, ht
climbs the snow-crowned, solitary Alps, anc
there, after his steep and rugged ascent, ht
beholds on one side the vallej^s of Switzerland
and he turns to the land of the noonday sun
and sees before him the fair and widespread
plains of Lombardy. The great rivers flov
through these plains and look as if they wert
of molten silver. The air is pure, and the skj
is the sky of Italy. Majestic cities dot tht
plains at his feet. But amongst them all, at
the sun flings his Italian light upon the scene—
amongst them all, he beholds one thing thaS
dazzles his eyes with its splendor. There, far
away in the plains, within the gates of the
vast city of Milan, he sees a palace of white
marble rising up from the earth ; ten thousand
statues of saints around it ; with countless
turrets, and a spire with a pinnacle rising
582
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
towards heaven, as if in a riot of Christian
jo3\ The sun sparkles upon it as if it were
covered with the rime of a hoar-frost, or as if
it were made of molten silver. Possibly his
steps are drawn thither, and it pleases him to
enter the city. Never before — never, even with
the eye of the mind — had the traveler seen so
gfrand an idea of the sacred humanity of Jesus
Christ ! Here he reigns ! Who can deny the
historical facts which I have narrated ? Who
can deny that if, to-day, our ear is charmed
with the sound of music — our eye delighted
with the contemplation of paintings— our hearts
within us lifted up at the sight of some noble
monument of architecture — who can deny, with
such facts before him, that it was the Church
that created these — that she is the mother of
these — and that she brought them forth from
out the chaos and the ruin that followed the
destruction of the pag^n civilization ? But whilst
she was their mother, she was also their highest
inspiration. For, remember, that the zeal in art
may be taken from earth, or drawn from heaven.
Art may aspire to neither more nor less than " to
hold the mirror up to nature." The painter, for
instance, may aspire to nothing more than to ren-
der faithfully, as it is in nature, a herd of cattle, or
a busy scene in the town. The musician may
aspire to nothing more than the pleasure which
his music will give to the sense of the volup-
tuous in man. The architect may aspire to
nothing more than the creation, in a certain
space, of a certain symmetry of proportion, and
a certain usefulness in the work of his hands.
They may " hold the mirror up to nature ; " but
this is not a perfect idealization of art. The
true ideal holds the mirror of its representation
not only up to nature, to copy that nature faith-
fully, but — higher still — to God, to catch one ray
of divine inspiration, one ray of divine light,
one ray of heavenly instruction, and to fling that
pure, heavenly light over the earthly productions
of his art. This pious inspiration is only to be
found in the Catholic Church. It is found in
her music — those strains of hers which we call
the " Gregorian chant," — which, without pro-
ducing any very great excitement or pleasure, yet
fall upon the ear, and through the ear, upon the
soul, with a calming, solemn influence, and seem
to speak to the afiections in the very highest lan-
guage of worship. Plaintively do . they fall —
yes, plaintively — because the Church of God has
not yet shown over the earth in the fullness of
her glory — plaintively, because the object of her
worship is mainly to make reparation to an of-
fended God for the negligence of the sinner —
plaintively, because the words which this music
breathes are the words of the penitent and the
contrite of heart — plaintively, because, perhaps,
my brethren, the highest privilege of the Chris-
tian here is a holy sadness, according to the
words of Him who said : " Blessed are they who
mourn and weep, for they shall be comforted."
In the lapse of years, the Church again
brought forth another method and gave us an-
other school, which expresses to-day the pious
exultation, the riot of joy, with which, on Christ-
mas da};^, Palaestrina sang before Pope Marcellus,
in Rome. Who can say — who is there with
trained, sympathetic ear who hears them, who
cannot say — that the inspiration which is in them
is altogether of heaven — heavenly ; and that it
lifts up the soul to the contemplation of heavenly
themes, and to the triumph of Jesus Christ.
The highest inspiration came through faith.
Let us turn to the art of painting. So long
as this noble art was in the hands of the monk
— the man of God — so long had we masterpieces
of painting, such as have never been equaled
by any that since came forth — masterpieces by
men who fasted and prayed, and looked upon
their task as painters, to be a heavenly and a
holy one. We read of the blessed Angelico, the
Dominican painter, whose works are the glory
of the world to-day — we read of him, that he
never laid his brush to a painting of the Mother
of God, or of our Lord, except on the day when
he had been at Holy Communion. We read of
him that he never painted the infant Jesus, or the
Crucifixion, except on his knees. We read of
him that whilst he brought out the divine sor-
row in the Virgin Mother, for the Saviour on the
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
583
cross — whilst he brought out the God-like tribu-
lation of him who suffered there — he was
obliged to dash the tears from his eyes — the
tears of love — the tears of compassion — which
produced the high inspiration of his genius.
Nay, the history of this art of painting teaches
us that all the great masters were eminent as
religious men, and that when they separated from
the Church, as we see, their inspiration left them.
The finest works that Raphael ever painted were
those which he painted in his youth, whilst his
heart was yet pure, and before the admiration of
the world had made him stain the integrity of
his soul by sin. The rugged, the almost omnipo-
tent genius of Michael Angelo, was that of a
man deeply impressed with faith, and most earn-
estly devoted to the practice of his religion.
When, over the high altar of the Sistine Chapel,
he brings out all the terrors of the Divine Judg-
ment, which he puts there in a manner that
makes the beholder tremble to-day — the Lord,
in the attitude, not of blessing, but of sweeping
denunciation over the heads of the wicked — he
took good care, by prayer, by frequenting the
sacraments, by frequent confession and com-
munion, and by the purity of his life, to avert
the judgments that he painted from falling on his
own head. The most glorious epoch in the his-
tory of architecture was precisely that in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when there
arose the ministers of York ; of Westminster ;
of Notre Dame, in Paris ; of Rouen ; and all the
wonderful old churches that, to-day, are the as-
tonishment of the world, for the grandeur and
majesty of their proportions, and the beauty of
design they reveal. These Churches sprung up
at the very time that the Church alone held un-
disputed sway ; when all the arts were in her
hands, and when the architects who built them
were nearly all consecrated sons of the cloister.
It is worthy of remark, that we do not know
the name of the architect that built St. Patrick's,
or Christ Church, in Dublin. We do not know
the name of the architect that built West-
minster Abbey, nor anj^ one of these great and
mighty mediaeval churches throughout Europe.
We know, indeed, the name of the architect
who built St. Paul's, in London, and of him
who built St. Peter's, in Rome. They were
laymen. The men who built the marvelous
mediseval churches were monks, and are now
in the dust ; and, in their humility, they brought
the secret of their genius to the grave, and no
names of theirs are emblazoned on the annals
of the world's fame.
Thus we see the highest inspiration of the
arts — music, painting, and architecture — came
from the Catholic Church, and that the most
attractive of them all were created in her clois-
ters. The greatest painters that ever lived had
come forth from her bosom, animated by her
spirit. The greatest churches that ever were
built were built and designed by her consecrated
children. The grand strains of ecclesiastical
music, expressing the highest ideas, resounded
in her cathedral churches. The world had grown
under her fostering care. Young republics had
sprung up under the Church's hand and guid-
ance. The Italian republics — the republics of
Florence, of Pisa, of Venice, of Genoa — all
gained their municipal rights and rights of
citizenship (rights that were established for pro-
tection, and to insure equality of the law) under
the Church's protection. Nay,, more. The
Church was ever willing and ready, both by
legislation and by action, to curb the petty
tyrants that oppressed the people ; to oblige the
rugged castellan to emancipate his slaves. The
Church was ever ready to send her highest rep-
resentatives, archbishops and cardinals, into the
presence of kings, to demand the people's rights ;
and the very man who wrung the first principles
of the British Constitution from an unwilling
and tyrannical king, was the Catholic Archbishop
of Canterbury — the only man who would dare
to do it, for (and well the tyrant knew it) he
could not touch the archbishop, because the arm
of the Church was outstretched for his protection.
Society was formed under her eyes and under
her care. Her work now seemed to be nearly
completed, when the Almighty God, in His
wisdom, let fall a calamity upon the world. And
584
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
I think you will agree with me — even such
amongst you (if there be any) who are not
Catholics — that a calamity it was. A calamity
fell upon the world in the sixteenth century,
which not only divided the Church in faith, and
separated nations from her, but which introduced
new principles, new influences, new and hostile
agencies, which were destructive of the most
sacred rights. I am speaking to you rather
as an historian than as a priest ; and I ask
you to consider this : We are accustomed
to hear on every side that Protestantism was the
emancipation of the human intellect from the
slavery of the pope. To that I have only to
answer this one word : Protestantism substituted
the uncertainty of opinion instead of the certainty
of faith which is in the Catholic Church. Prot-
estantism declared that there was no voice on
earth authorized or empowered to proclaim the
truth of God ; that the voice that had proclaimed
it for fifteen hundred years had told a lie ; that
the people were not to accept the teaching of the
Catholic Church as an authoritative and time-
honored law, but that they were to go out and
look for the faith for themselves — and in the
worst way of all. Every man was to find a faith
for himself; and when he had found it he had
no satisfactory guarantee, no certainty, that he
had the true interpretation of the truth. If this
be emancipating the intellect — if this changing
of certainty into uncertaint}', dogma into
opinion, faith into a search after faith, be
emancipation of the intellect — then Christ must
have told a lie when he said : " You shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free 1"
The knowledge of the truth he declared to be
the highest freedom ; and, therefore, I hold,
not as a priest, but simply as philosopher, that
the assertion is false which says that the work
of Protestantism was the emancipation of the
intellect. All the results of modem progress —
all the scientific success and researches that
have been made — in a word, all the great things
that have been done, are all laid down quietly
at the feet of Protestantism as the efi"ects of
this change of religion. In England nothing
is more common than for good Protestants to
say, that the reason why we are now in so
civilized a condition is because Martin Luther
set up the Protestant religion. Protestantism
claims the electric telegraph. The Atlantic
cable does not lie so much in a bed of sand
as on a holy bed of Protestantism that
stretches from shore to shore ! They forget
that there is a philosophical axiom which says :
"One thing may come after another, and yet it
may not be caused by the thing that went
before." If one thing comes after another it
does not follow that it is the effect of the other.
It is true that all these things have sprung up
in the world since Protestanism appeared. It is
perfectly true that the many have learned to
read since Protestantism gained ground. But
why? Is it because the Catholic Church kept
the people in ignorance ? No ; it was because of
a single want. It was about the time Protestant-
ism sprung up that the art of printing was in-
vented. Of course the many were not able to
read when they had no books. The Catholic
Church, as history proved, was even far more
zealous than the Protestant new-born sect in
multiplying copies of the Scripture, and in
multiplying books for the people. One of the
reproaches that is made to us to-day is, that
we are too busy in the cause of education.
Surely, if the Catholic Church is the mother
of ignorance, that reproach cannot be truly
made. Now, Protestants are making a noise,
and saying that the Church, in every country
and on every side, is planning and claiming to
educate ! But all this is outside of my question.
My question deals with the fine arts.
Now, mark the change that took place!
Protestantism, undoubtedly, weakened the
Church's influence upon society. Undoubtedly,
it took out of the Church's hands a great deal
of that power which we have seen the Catholic
Church exercise, for more than a thousand
years, upon the fine arts. They claim, or they
set up a rival claim, to foster the arts of music,
of architecture, and of painting, so that these
may no longer claim to receive their special
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
585
inspiration from the Church, which was their
mother and their creator, and through which
they drew their heavenly genius. Well, the
arts were thus divided in their allegiance, and
thus deprived of their inspiration, by the insti-
tution of this new religion. I ask you to con-
sider, historically, whether that inspiration of
art, that high and glorious inspiration, that
magnificent ideal, was not destroyed the moment
it was taken from under the guidance and inspi-
ration of the Catholic Church? I say that it was
destroyed; and I can prove it. Since the day
that Protestantism was founded, architecture has
decayed and fallen away. No great cathedral
has been built. No g^eat original has appeared.
No new idea has been expressed from the day
that Luther declared schism in the Church, and
warred against legitimate authority. No Protest-
ant has ever originated a noble model in modern
architecture. It has sunk down into a servile
imitation of the ancient grovelling forms of
Greece and Rome. Nay, whenever the ancient
Gothic piles — majestic and inspiring Christian
churches — fell into their hands, what did they
do? They pulled them down, in order to build
up some vile Grecian imitation, or else they
debased the ancient grandeur and purity of the
Gothic cathedral, by mixing in a wretched imita-
tion of some ancient heathen or pagan temple.
As to the art of painting: the painter no
longer looked up to heaven for his subject. The
painter no longer considered that his pious idea
was to instruct and elevate his fellow-man.
The painter no longer selected for his subjects
the Mother of God, or the sacred humanity of
our Lord, or the angels and saints of heaven.
The halo of light that was shed upon the
brush of the blessed Angelico; the halo of
divine light that surrounded the virgin's face
as it grew under the creative hand of the young
Christian painter of Urbino, disappeared. The
highest ambition of the painter now is to
sketch a landscape true to nature. The high-
est excellence of art seems now to be to catch
the colors that approach most faithfully to the
flesh-tints of the human body. And it is a
remarkable fact, my friends, that the art of
animal painting — painting cows and horses
and all these things — began with Protestant-
ism. One of the very first animal painters was
Roos, a German Protestant, who came to Rome,
and the reproach of his fellow-painters was,
" There is the man that paints the cows
and horses." Even sacred subjects were dealt
with in this debased form — in this low and
empty inspiration. Look, for instance, at the
Magdalens, at the Madonnas of Rubens. Ru-
bens, himself, was a pious Catholic ; yet his
paintings displayed the very genius of Protest-
antism. If he wanted to paint the Blessed
Virgin, he selected some corpulent and gross-
looking woman, in whom he found some ray
of mere sensual beauty that struck his eye, and
he put her on the canvas, and held her up
before men as the Virgin, whose prayer was to
save, and whose power was above that of the
angels. The artist who would truly represent
her on canvas must have his pencils touched
with the purity and grandeur of heaven.
Music. Music lost its inspiration when it
fell from under the guidance of the Church.
No longer were its strains the echoes of heaven.
No longer is the burden of the hymn the
heavenly aspiration of the human soul, tending
towards its last and final beatitude. Oh, no!
but every development that this high and
heavenly science receives, is a simple degrada-
tion into the celebration of human passion ;
into the magnifying of human pride ; into the
illustration of all that is worst and vilest in
man ; and the highest theme of the musician
to-day is not the "Dies Irse;" it is not the
" Stabat Mater," the wailing voice of the Vir-
gin's sorrow ; it is not the " Alleluia," to pro-
claim to the world the glories of the risen God;
no, the highest theme of the musician, to-day,
is to take up some story of sensual, and merely
human, love ; to set that forth with all the
charms and all the meretricious embellishments
of art. Thus do we behold in our own experi-
ence of to-day, how the arts went down, and
lost their inspiration, as soon as there were
586
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
taken from them the g'enius and the inspiring
influence of the Church that created them, and,
through them, civilized the world, and brought
to us whatever we have of civilization and re-
finement in this nineteenth century. Thank
God, the reign of evil cannot last long upon
this earth. It is one of the mysterious circum-
stances that the coming of our Lord developed.
Before the Incarnation of the Son of God, an
evil idea seemed to be in the nature of man.
It propagated itself, it found a home and an
abiding dwelling amongst the children of men.
But, since the Incarnation of the Son of God,
since the Eternal Word of God vouchsafed to
take a human soul, a human body, human sen-
sibilities, and, I will add, human genius — since
that time, the base, and the vile, and the
ephemeral, and the degraded, may come ; may
debase art and artists ; may spoil the spirit of
art for a time — but it cannot last very long.
There is a native force, a nobleness in the soul
of man that rises in revolt against it. And to-
day, even to-day, the hour of revival seems to
be coming — almost arrived — is already come.
The three arts of painting, of music, and archi-
tecture, seem to be rising with their former
inspiration, and seem to catch again a little of
the departed light that was shed on them and
flowed through them, from religion. Archi-
tecture revives, and the glories of the thirteenth
century, though certainly they may not be
eclipsed, are almost equaled by the glories of
the nineteenth. But a short distance from here,
you see, in the city of New York, rising in its
wonderful beauty, that which promises to be,
and is to be, of all the glories of this country,
the most glorious — the great cathedral, and
again in the neighboring city of Brooklyn, the
fair and magnificent proportions of that which
will be, in a few years, the glory of that adja-
cent shore, when on this side and on that, each
tower, and spire, and pinnacle upholding an
angel or saint, the highest of all will uphold the
Cross of Jesus Christ.
Music is reviving again — catching again the
pure spirit of the past. A taste for the serene,
the pure, the most spiritual songs of the Church,
is every day gaining ground, and taking hold
of the imagination. Painting, thank God, is
reviving again ; and of this you have here
abundant proof. Look around you. No gross,
earthly figure stands out in the bare propor-
tions of flesh and blood. No vile exposure of
the mere flesh invites the eye of the voluptu-
ous to feast itself upon the sight. The purity
of God is here. The purity of the
Church of God overhangs it, and the story
of these scenes will go home to your hearts and
to the hearts of your children, as the story that
the blessed Angelico told in Florence six hun-
dred years ago. Thanks be to God it is so !
Thanks be to God that when I lift up my eyes
I may see so much of the purity of the face
down which flow the last tears of blood ! When
I lift up mine eyes here it seems to me as if
I stood bodily in the holy society of these men.
It seems to me that I see in the face of John
the expression of the highest manly sympathy
that comforted and consoled the dying eyes of
the Saviour. It seems to me that I behold the
Blessed Virgin, whose maternal heart consented
in that hour of agony to be broken for the sins
of men. It seems to me that I behold the
Magdalen, as she clings to the Cross, and re-
ceives upon that hair with which she wiped
his feet, the drops of his blood. It seems to
me that I behold that heart, humbled in pen-
ance and inflamed with love — the heart of the
woman who had loved much, and for whom he
had prayed. It seems to me that I travel step
by step to Calvary, and learn, as they unite in
him, every lesson of suffering, of peace, of
hope, of joy, and of divine love I
Thank God, it is fitting in a Dominican
Church that this should be so ! It is fitting
in a temple of my order that, when I look
upon the image of my Holy Father over that
entrance, in imagination, and without an effort,
I travel back to the spot where I had the
happiness to live my student's days, and where,
in the very cell in which I dwelt, I beheld
from Angelico's own hand a glorious specimen
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
587
of his art. These are the gladness of our
eyes, the joy of our hearts. They give us
reason to rejoice with him who said: "I have
loved, oh Lord, the beauty of thy house, and
the place where thy glory dwelleth." They
give us reason to rejoice, because they are not
only fair and beautiful in themselves, but they
are also the guarantee and the promise that
the traditions of ecclesiastical painting, sculp-
ture, architecture, and music, in this new coun-
tr}^, will yet come out and rival all the glories
of the nations that for centuries and centuries
have upheld the Cross. They are a cause of
gladness to us, for, when we shall have passed
away, our children and our children's children
shall come here, and, in reviewing these pic-
tures, will learn to feel the love of Jesus
Christ. Amongst the traditions of one of the
old cities of Belgium, there is one of a little
boy who grew up, visiting every day the cathe-
dral of the city. One day he stood with won-
dering and child-like eyes before a beautiful
painting of the Infant Jesus. According as
time went on, and reason grew upon him, his
love for the picture became greater and greater ;
and when he became a man, his love for it
was so great that he spent his days in the
cathedral as organist, pealing forth the praises
of the Son of God. His manhood went down
into the vale of years, but his love for the
picture was still the one child-love — the youngj
love and passion of his heart. And so he
lived, a child of art, and died in the odor of
sanctity of God. And that art had fulfilled
its highest mission, for it had sanctified the
soul of a man. Oh, may these pictures that
we look upon with so much pleasure— may
they teach to you, and to your children after
you, the lesson they are intended to teach, of
the love, of the charity, of the mercy of
Jesus ; that, loving him and loving the beauty
of his house, and catching every gleam that
faith reveals of her higher beauty, and every-
thing that speaks of him forever, you may
come to behold him as he shines in the un-
created light and majesty of his glory 1
he Groupings of Calvarg.
The resst of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
Bg Rev. THOMAS N. BURKE, O. P.
There were many classes of men surround-
ing our Blessed Lord on that fearful and
terrible journey, when, starting from the court
of his condemnation, he turned his face
toward Calvary, and set out upon the dolorous
" Way of the Cross." The men who condemned
him, sitting in that tribunal, were not satisfied
with that sentence ; but, in the eagerness of their
revenge, they would fain \vitness his execution —
following out the expressed word of the Evan-
gelist, that the Scribes and Pharisees followed
our Lord, and fed their revengeful eyes upon
the contemplation of his three hours of agony
on the Cross. The immediate agents of this
terrible act of execution were the Roman
soldiers of the cohort, who had scourged him,
who had crowned him with thorns, and who
accompanied him with stolid indifference
to the place of his execution. They were
pagans. They were men who had never heard
the name of God. They were men who, had
they heard it, must have heard it in a language
which they scarcely understood, and which was
the medium of the common record of what
were called " the wonders " — that is, of the
miracles of Christ. But it scarcely stirred up
in them even a natural curiosity ; and, there-
fore, they brought him to execution, as they
would have dragged an}' other criminal, with
this one exception, that, by a strange, diabolical
possession, they looked upon this man of whom
they knew nothing — upon this man who had
never injured them in word or in deed — with
intense abhorrence, and hated him with an
inexplicable hatred. They thus typified the
nations who know not the Lord of Truth. In
paganism, in the darkness and wickedness of
their infidelity, they know not the name of God.
When that name is pronounced in their pres-
ence, it falls upon their ears rather as the
name of an enemy than that of a friend. They
cannot explain why they hate him. No more
can we explain the hatred of the Roman
soldiers. The missionary goes forth to-day in
all the power of the priesthood of Christ. He
stands in the presence of the people of China,
or of Japan. As long as he speaks to them
of the civilization, of the immense military
power, of the riches and of the glory of the
country from which he comes, they hear him
willingly and with interested ears. As long as
he reveals to them any secret of human science,
they make use of him, they are glad to receive
him. Thus it is, we know, that some of the
Jesuit missionaries held the very highest places
at the court of the Emperor of China. But as
(588)
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
589
soon as ever the missionary mentions the name
of Christ, they not only refuse to hear him, but
they are stirred up, on the instant, with dia-
bolical rage ; hate and anger flash from their
eyes ; and they lay hold of the messenger who
bringeth them the message of peace, and love,
and of eternal life, and they imagine they have
not fulfilled their duty until they have shed his
heart's blood upon the spot. Oh, how vast the
crowd of those who, for centuries, have thus
greeted the Son of God and every man who
speaks in his name ! Think of the outlying
millions, to whom, for eighteen hundred years
and more, the Church — the messenger of God —
has preached and appealed, but in vain ! Behold
the class that was represented round the Cross,
lifting up indifferent, stolid, or, if anything,
scowling faces, amid the woes of him who, in
that hour of his agony and of his humilia-
tion, mingled his prayers for forgiveness with
the last drop of blood that flowed through his
wounds from his dying heart !
There is another class there. It is made up
of those who knew him well, or who ought to
have known him. They had seen his mira-
cles ; they had witnessed his sanctity ; they
had disputed with him upon the laws, until
he had convinced them that his was the wis-
dom that could not belong to man, but to God.
He had silenced them. He had answered every
argument that foolhardy and audacious men
made to him. He had reduced them to such
shame that no man ever dared to question him
again. But he interfered with their interests
and their pride. That pride revolted against
submitting to him. That self-love and self-
interest prompted the thought that if he lived,
his light would outshine theirs, and their influ-
ence with the people would be gone. These
were the Scribes and the Pharisees. They
were the leaders of the people. They were the
magistrates of Jerusalem. They were the men
whose loud voice and authoritative tones were
heard in the Temple. They were the men who
walked into that house as if it was not the
house of God, but their house. They were the
men who walked fearlessly up to the altar, to
speak words of blasphemous pride, and call
them prayers. They were the men who despised
the humble Publican making his act of contri-
tion. They were the men who lifted their vir-
tuous hands and hypocritical eyes to heaven
to lament over the weakness of human nature.
They were the men who hated Christ, because
they could not argue with him — because they
could not uphold their errors against his truth —
because they could not hold their own, but were
struck dumb at the sight of his sanctity and the
sound of his powerful voice. What did they do ?
They began to tell lies to the people They
began to tell the people how he was an impostor
and a blasphemer. They began to mislead the
people — to destroy the estimate that people
might make of Jesus Christ. They endeavored
to find false witnesses to bring them to swear
away first his character and then his life. Ah !
need I say whom they represent ? Need I tell
a people in whose memories is fresh to-day the
ever-recurring lie that is flung in the face of
the Catholic Church — the ever-recurring false
testimony that is brought against her — the
burning of her churches, the defiling of her
alters, the outrages on her priests, the insults
heaped upon her holy nuns, the people inflamed
against the very name of Catholicity itself, so
that the word might be fulfilled of him who
said : "They shall cast out your very name as
evil for my sake ;" the men who made the very
name of a monk, or a friar, or a Jesuit mean
something awfully gross, or sensual, or material !
These men were naturally worldly and deceitful. I
need not point out to you that, in the midst
of you, and every day ; from their pulpits, from
their conventicles, through their daily press ;
every day we are made familiar with the old
lie, shifted and changed, tortured, distorted,
and twisted, and the false testimony brought
out in a thousand forms of falsehood. And
there were others believed in Christ; who knew
him; who had enjoyed his conversation and his
friendship, and who were afraid to be seen in
his company in that dark hour, and upon that
590
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
hill of shame. Where were the Apostles ?
Where were the Disciples ? They had fled
from their Master because it was dangerous to
be seen with him. Judas, the representative of
the man who sells his religion and his God for
this world ; who sells his conscience in order
to fill his purse ; who sells everything that is
most sacred when that demand is made upon
him for temporal profit and pelf; who sells his
iniquity by a bad communion in order to save
appearances ; and, whilst with one hand he was
taking money from the Pharisees, with the
other hand he was taking Christ to his breast ;
the man who played a double part ; the man
who did not wish to break utterly with his
Lord, nor to sacrifice the good opinion of his
fellow-apostles ; and, therefore, he received dam- .
nation to himself in a bad communion — he does
not dare to climb the rugged steep of Calvary;
but he stands afar off, and beholds a terrible
sight ; he sees passing before his eyes his Lord,
his Master, in whose innocence he believes,
though he has betrayed him ; his Lord, his
Master, torn with scourges from head to foot,
crowned with thorns, covered with blood ; his
Lord and his Master, who had so often spoken to
him words of friendship and of love, passed
before the eyes of the renegade and traitor. As
he looked, and his eyes caught, for an instant,
the countenance of that figure, tottering along
in weakness and in pain — the sight brought
back remembrance of the days that were gone,
with no glimmering of hope, no light of con-
solation to his soul, but only the feeling that
he had betrayed his God, and that he held
then in his infamous purse the money for
which he had sold his soul and his conscience.
He stood aghast and pale. He tore his hair,
and uplifted his despairing hands. He found
that he could not live to see the consummation
of his iniquity ; and before the Saviour had
sent forth the last cry for a redeemed world,
the soul of the suicide Judas had gone down
to. hell I "It were better for him had he never
been bom !" Does he represent any class ?
Are there not in this world men who are almost
glad to have something to barter with the
world, when they give up their holy faith and
religion in order to clutch this world's posses-
sions ? Have we not read in the history of the
nations — in the history of the land from which
most of us sprang — have we never read of men
selling their faith for this world's riches and
this world's honors ? Have we never read, in
the history of the world, of men who, in order
to save appearances, approached the holy altar
and received the holy communion? Ofmonarchs
who, in order to stand well with their Catholic
subjects, made a show of going to holy com-
munion? And of sycophants and courtiers who,
in order to please a king, in a fit of piety or
a fit of repentance, went to holy communion ?
But time will not permit me to linger in the
contemplation of the many classes of the worldly-
minded; the false friend, the bitter, though
conscious, enemy, the heartless executioners ;
the men who surrounded him then, exact
counterparts of those whom we meet to-day.
But there was one there, — and it is to that
one that my thoughts and my heart turn this
night. There was one there who was
destined to be, through all ages, and
unto all nations, a type of what the
true Christian man — the friend of Christ,
must be ; a true representative of the part that
he must play, in the sacrifice that from time
to time he must make, to test the strength and
tenderness of his love. There was one there,
young and beautiful, who did not flinch from
his Master and Lord in that hour ; who walked
by his side ; who shared in the reproaches that
were showered upon the head of the Son of God,
and took his share of the grief and the shame
of that terrible morning of Good Friday. There
was one there whom the Master permitted to
be there, that he might, as it were, lean upon
the strength of his manhood and the fearless-
ness of his love. That one was John the
Evangelist. Behold him, as, with the virginal
eyes, he looks up as a man to his fellow-man
on the Cross ! Behold him as he seems to say:
" Oh, Master, Oh, Lover of my soul and heart i
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
591
can I relieve you of a single sorrow by taking
it up and making it my own ?" This was Jolin.
Consider who he was, and what. Three graces
surrounded him as he stood at the foot of the
Cross. Three divine gifts form a halo of heavenl}^
light around his head. They were the grace
of Christian purity, the grace of divine love,
and the manliness of the bravery that despises
the world, when it is a question of giving tes-
timony of love and of fidelity to his God and
his Saviour — three noble gifts, with which the
world is so ill-supplied to-day ! Oh, my breth-
ren, need I tell you that of all the evils in
this our day, there is one which has arrived
at such enormous proportions that it has
received the name of " The Social Evil !" — the
evil which finds its way into every rank and
every grade of society ; the evil which, raising
its miscreated head, now and again frightens
us, and terrifies the very world by the evidence
of its widespread pestilence; the evil that,
to-day, pollutes the heart, destroys the soul of
the young, and shakes our nature and our
manliness to its very foundations, and brings down
the indignant and the sweeping curse of God
upon whole nations I Need I tell you that the
evil is the terrible evil of impurity — the unre-
strained passion, the foul imagination, the debased
and degraded cravings of this material flesh and
blood of ours, rising up in rebellion, and declar-
ing, in its inflamed desires, that nothing of
God's law, nothing of God's redemption shall
move it ; that all, all may perish, but it must
be satiated and gorged with that food of lust,
of which, the Scripture says, " the taste is
death?" Of this I have already spoken to you,
and also of the opposite virtue, the " index "
virtue, as it is called — the virtue of virtues ;
of that I have also spoken to you ; that by
which lost man is raised up to the very per-
fection of his spiritual nature ; by which the
Divine eflFulgence of the highest resemblance to
Christ is impressed upon the soul ; by which
the fragrance and brightness of the Virgin,
and of the Virgin's Son, seems to shine even
in the body of man as well as in the spirit.
" filling the whole being," says St. Ephrem,
" with the odor of its sweetness." Such virtue
of angelic purity did Christ, our Lord, come
to establish upon earth. Such virtue did he lay
as the foundation of his Church, in a chaste and a
virginal priesthood; in the foundations of society,
in a chaste and pure manhood ; preserving the
integrity of the soul in the purity of the body.
Such virtue belonged to John, " the disciple of
love ;" and it belonged to him in its highest
phase ; for, as the Holy Fathers, and the inter-
preters of the Church's traditions from the very
beginning, and notably, St. Peter Damascus, tell
us, — John the Evangelist was a virgin from the
cradle to the grave. No thought of human love
ever flashed through his mind. No angry
uprising of human passion ever disturbed the
equable nature of his heavenly tempered soul
and body. He was the youngest of all the
Apostles ; and he was little more than a youth
when the virgin-creating eyes of Christ fell upon
him. Christ looked upon him, and saw a vir-
ginal body, fair and beautiful in its translucent
purity of innocence. He, the Creator and Re-
deemer, saw a soul pure, and bright, and
unstained ; a soul just opening into manhood,
and in the full possession of all its powers ; and
a tender, yet a most pure heart, unfolding itself
even as the lily bursts forth and unfolds its
white leaves to gather in its cup the dews of
heaven, like diamond drops, in its heart of purest
whiteness. So did our Lord behold the fair soul
of John. Jesus Christ spoke in that virgin ear
the words of invitation ; and into that virgin soul
he dropped those graces of Apostleship, and of
love, and of tenderness, and of strength, that
lying there amongst those petals of glory,
brought forth in the soul of the young man all
that was radiant of most Christ-like virtue. A
virgin — that is to say, one who never let a
thought of his mind nor an affection of his
heart, stray from the highest form of Divine
love ; thus was he before he had beheld the
face of his Redeemer. But when to that
virginal purity, which naturally seeks the love
of God in its highest form, that God made him-
592
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
self visible in the shape of the sacred humanity
of our Lord; when the Virgin's King, the
Prince, and the leader of the Virgin's choir in
heaven, presented himself to the eyes of the
young Apostle, oh, then, with the instinct of
purity, his heart seemed to go forth from him
and to seek the heart of Christ. And so it was
for three years, under the purifying eyes of our
Lord. He lived for three years in the most
^ intimate communion of love with his Master;
distinguished from all the other Apostles, of
whom we do not know that ever one of them was
a virgin, but only John ; distinguished from
them by being admitted, through his privileged
virginal purity, into the inner chambers of the
heart of Christ. Thus, when our Lord appeared
to the Apostles upon the waters, all the others
shrank from him, terrified ; and they said to each
other, "It is a ghost! It is an appearance!"
John looked, and instantly recognized his Mas-
ter, and said to Peter, "Don't be afraid! It is
the Lord ! " Whereupon St. Jerome says : " What
eyes were those of John, that could see that
which others could not see? Oh, it was the eye
of a virgin recognizing a virgin ! " So/us virgo
virginem agnoscit. So it was that a certain tacit
privilege was granted to John, as is seen in the
conduct of the Apostles themselves. Peter, cer-
tainly, was honored above all the others by
getting precedence and supremacy; by being
appointed the Vicar and representative of his
Master; in other words, "the Head of the
Apostles." Nay, more, the heart of Peter was
sounded to the verj'^ depths of its capacity and
of its love, before Christ our Lord appointed
him as his representative. Three times did he
ask him, "Lovest thou me?" Again, in the
presence of John, "Lovest thou me, Peter, more
than these?" More than these, more than the
men who are present before me, and of whom
I speak to you. And Peter was confirmed in
that hour, and rose, by Divine grace, to a
height in the sight of his Divine Master,
greater than any ever attained by man. It is
not the heart of the man loving the Lord, but
it is the heart of the Lord loving the man.
So Peter was called upon to love his Lord more
than the others. But the tenderest love of his
Divine Master was the privilege of John. He
was the disciple "whom Jesus loved." And
well did his fellow- Apostles know it. What a
privilege was not that which was given to
John at the Last Supper because of his virginal
purit}'-? There was the Master, and there were
the disciples around him. There was the man
whom he had destined to be the first pope —
the representative of his power, and head of his
followers. Did Peter get the first place? No!
The first place of love, the place next to the
left side, nearest the dear heart side, was the
privilege of John. And — oh ! ineffable dignity
vouchsafed by our Saviour to his virgin friend !
— the head of the disciple was laid upon the
breast of the Master, and the human ear of
John heard the pulsations of the virginal heart
of Christ, the Lord of earth and heaven! Be-
tween those two, in life, you may easily see
in this and other such traits recorded in the
Gospel ; between these two — the Master and the
disciple whom he loved; there was a silent
intercommunion — an intensity of tender love
of which the other Apostles seem not to have
known. Out of this veiy purity of John sprang
the love of his Divine Lord and Master. It
was after his resurrection that our Lord asked
Peter, " Dost thou love me more than these ? "
Before the suffering and death of the Son of
God, Peter, not yet confirmed in love, wavered
in his allegiance and denied his Master; John's
love knew no change. Peter's love had first to
be humbled, and then purified by tears, and
the heart broken by contrition before he was
able to assert: "Lord, thou knowest all things:
thou knowest that I love thee!" But in the
love of St. John we find an undoubting, an
unchanging love. What his Master was to
him in the hour of his glory, the same was
he in the hour of his shame. He beheld his
Lord, shining on the summit of Tabor on the
day of his transfiguration ; yet he loved him as
dearly when he beheld him covered with shame
and confusion on the Cross! What was the
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
593
nature of. that love? Oh, my friends, think
what was the nature of that love! It had
taken possession of a mighty but an empty
heart. Mighty in its capacity of love is the
heart of man — the heart of the young man —
the heart of the ingenious, talented, and en-
lightened youth. Would you know of how
much love this heart is capable? Behold it
in the saints of the Catholic Church. Behold
it in every man who gives his heart to
God wholly and entirely. Behold it even in
the sacrifices that 3'oung hearts make when
they are filled with merely human love.
Behold it in the sacrifice of life, of health, of
everything which a man has, which is made
upon the altar of his love, even when that hu-
man love has taken the base, revolting form of
impurity. But measure, if you can, the ardor
of pure love for Jesus Christ. I address the
heart of the young man, and he cannot see it 1
The truth lies here, that the most licentious
and self-indulgent sinner on the face of the
earth, has never yet known, in the indulgence
of his wildest excesses, the full contentment,
the complete enjoyment, the mighty facult}- of
love which is in the heart of man, and which
God alone can satisfy.
Such was the heart which our Lord called
to him. Such was the heart of John. It was
a capacious heart. It was the heart of a young
man. It was empty. No human love was
there. No previous afifectiou came in to cross
or counteract the designs of God in the least
degree, or to take possession of the remotest
corner, even, of that heart. Then, finding it
thus empty in its purity, thus capacious in its
nature, the Son of God filled the heart of the
young Apostle with his love. Oh, it was the
rarest, the grandest friendship that ever ex-
isted on this earth ; the friendship that bouud
together two virgin hearts — the heart of the
beloved disciple, John ; the grand virgin love
which absorbed John's afiections, filling his
young heart and intellect with the beauty and
the highest appreciation of his Lord and Mas-
ter, filling his senses with the charms inef-
38
fable produced by the sight of the face of the
Holy One. He looked upon the beauty of that
sacred and Divine humanity ; and he saw with
the penetrating eyes of the intellect the full-
ness of the Divinity that flashed upon him.
He had listened to the words of the Divine
Master, and sweeter were they than the music
which he heard in heaven, and which he de-
scribes in the Apocalypse, where he says : " I
heard the sound of many voices, and of harp-
ers harping upon many harps." Far sweeter
than the echoes of heaven that descended into
his soul on the Isle of Patmos, was the noble,
manly voice of his Lord and Master — now
pouring forth blessings upon the poor — now
telling those who weep that they shall one day
be comforted— now whispering to the widow of
Naim, "Weep no more ; " now telling the peni-
tent Magdalen, " Thy sins are forgiven thee
because thou hast loved much I " now thunder-
ing in at the temple of Jeruselem, until the
very walls resounded to the God-like voice of
him who said : " It is written that my house
is a house of prayer, but you have made it a
den of thieves ; " it was still the loftiest music
and melody — the harmonious roll of the voice
of God — as it fell upon the charmed ears of
the enraptured Evangelist — the young man who
followed his Master and fed his soul upon that
Divine love. Out of this love sprang that in-
separable fellowship that bound him to Christ.
Not for an instant was he voluntarily absent
from his Master's side. Not for an instant did
he separate himself from the immediate society
of his Lord. And herein lay the secret of his
love; for love, be it human or Divine, craves
for union, and lives in the sight and in the
conversation of the object of its affection. Con-
sequently, of all the Apostles, John was the one
who was always clinging around his Master —
always trying to be near him — always trying
to catch the loving eyes of Christ in every
glance. This was the light of his brightness
— the Divine wisdom that animated him !
How distinct is the action of John, in the
hour of the Passion, from that of Peter I Our
594
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
Divine Lord gave warning to Peter ; " Peter,"
he says, "before the cock crows j^ou will deny
me thrice." No wonder the Master's voice
struck terror into the heart of the Apostle.
And yet, strange to say, it did not make him
cautious or prudent. When our Lord was taken
prisoner, the Evangelist expressly tells us that
Peter followed him. Followed him ? Indeed,
he followed him ; but he followed him afar oflf.
" Petrus autem sequebatiir eum a longeP He
waited on the outskirts of the crowd. He
tried to hide himself in the darkness of the
night. He tried to conceal his features, lest
any man might lay hold of him, and make him
a prisoner, as the friend of the Redeemer. He
began to be afraid of the danger of acknowl-
edging himself to be the servant of such a
Master. He began to think of himself, when
every thought of his mind and every energy of
his heart should have been concentrated upon his
Lord. He followed him ; but at some distance.
Ah ! at a good distance. John, on the other
hand, rushed to the front. John wanted to be
seen with his Master. John wanted to take the
Master's hand, even when bound by the thongs,
that he might receive the vivifying touch of
contact with Christ. John wanted to hear
every word that might be said, whether it were
for or against him. John wanted to feast
his eyes upon every object which engaged the
attention of his Lord, and by whose look it was
irradiated — a type, indeed, of a class of Chris-
tian men, seeking the society and presence of
their Master, and strengthened by that seeking
and that presence. He is the type of the man
who goes frequently to holy communion, pre-
paring himself by a good confession, and so
laying the basis of a sacramental union with
God, that becomes a large element of his life —
the man who goes to the altar every month —
the man who is familiar with Christ, and who
enters somewhat into the inner chambers of
that sacred heart of infinite love ; the man who
knows what those few minutes of rapture are
which are reserved for the pure ; for those who
not only endeavor to serve God, but to serve
him lovingly and well. Those are the men
who walk in the footsteps of John ; those are
his representatives. Peter is represented by the
man who goes to holy communion once or
twice in the year — going, perhaps, once at
Easter or Christmas, and then returning to the
world again. God grant that neither the world,
nor the flesh, nor the devil will take possession
of the days, or weeks, or years of the rest of
his life! he who gives — twice in the year, per-
haps — an hour or two to earnest communion
with God, and for all the rest only a passing
consideration, flashing momentarily across the
current of his life. And what was the conse-
quence ? John went up to Calvary, and took the
proudest place that ever was given to man.
Peter met, in the outer hall, a little servant-
maid, and she said to him, " Thou also wast
with Jesus of Nazareth." The moment that
the child's voice fell upon his ear, he denied
his Master, and he swore an oath that he did
not know him.
Now we come to the third grand attribute of
John ; and it is to this, my friends, that I
would call your attention especially. Tender
as the love of this man was for his Master —
his friend — mark how strong and how manly
it was, at the same time. He does not stand
aside. He will allow no soldier, or guard, or
executioner, to thrust him aside, or put him
away from his Master. He stands by that Mas-
ter's side, when he stood before his accusers in
the Praetorium of Pilate. He comes out. John
receives him into his arms, when, fainting with
loss of blood, he returns, surrounded by soldiers,
from the terrific scene of his scourging ; and,
when the Cross is laid upon the shoulders of
the Redeemer, with the crowd of citizens around
him — at his right hand, so close that he might
lean upon him, if he would, is the manly form
of St. John the Evangelist. Oh, think of the
love that was in his heart, and the depth of
his sorrow, when he saw his Lord, his Master,
his friend, his only love, reduced to so terrible
a state of woe, of misery, and of weakness !
This was the condition of our Divine Lord,
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
595
wlien they laid the heavy cross upon his
shoulder. How the Apostle of Love would have
taken that painful and terrible crown, with its
thorns, from oflF the brows to which they ad-
hered, and set the thorns upon his own head,
if they had only been satisfied to let him bear
the pains and the sufferings of his Master and
his God ! Oh, how anxious must he have been
to take the load that was placed upon the un-
willing shoulders of Simon of Cyrene! Oh,
how he must have envied the man who lifted
the cross from off the bleeding shoulders of the
Divine Victim, and set it on his own strong
shoulders, and bore it along up the steep side
of Calvary! With what gratitude must the
Apostle have looked upon the face of Veronica,
who, with eyes streaming with tears, and on
bended knees, upheld the cloth on which the
Saviour imprinted the marks of his Divine coun-
tenance ! Yet, who was this man ? who was
this man who received the blow as the crimi-
nal who was about to be executed ? Who is
this man who takes the place of shame ? Who
is this man who is willing to assume all the
opprobrium and all the penalty that follows
upon it ? He is the only one of the Twelve
Apostles that is publicly known. We read in
the gospels that the Apostles were all poor men,
taken out of the crowd by our Lord. The only
one amongst them who had made some mark,
who was noted, who was remembered for some-
thing or another, was St. John. And by whom
was he known ? He was known, says the
Evangelist — to the high-priest. He was so well
known to him, and to his guards, and to his
officers, and to his fellow-priests, that when
our Lord was in the house of Annas, John en-
tered as a matter of course ; and when Peter,
with the rest, was shut out, all that John had
to do was to speak a word to the doorkeeper
and bring in Peter. He was well known to
the chief magistrates — well known to the men
in power — well known to the chief senators.
"Oh, John I John ! be prudent ! Remember that
you are a noted man, so that you will be set
down by the men in power, for shame perhaps,
or indignity, or even death, if you are seen
with Jesus Christ in this hour. Consult your
own interests. Don't be rash. There is no
knowing what may happen you." Oh, this is
the language of the world. This is the lan-
guage which we hear day after day. " Pru-
dence and caution !" " No necessity to parade
our religion!" "No necessity to be thrusting
our Catholicity before the world ! " " No neces-
sity to be constantly unfurling the banner on
which the Cross of Christ is depicted — the
Cross on which he died to save the souls of
men." " No necessity for all this. Let us go
peacefully with the world! Let us worship in
secret. Let us go on Sunday to Mass quietly ;
and let the world know nothing about it ! "
Oh, how noble the answer of him whom all
the world knew ! How noble the soul of him
who stood by the Lord, when he knew he
was a noted man, and that, sooner or later,
his fidelity on that Good Friday morning
would bring him into trouble! Ah, how glori-
ous the action of the man who knew he was
compromising himself! that he was placing
his character, his liberty, his very life in
jeopardy ! That he was suffering, perhaps, in
the tenderest intimacy and friendship ! That
he was losing himself, perhaps, in the esteem
of those worldly men who thought they were
doing a wise, a proper, and a prudent thing
when they sent the Lord to be crucified. He
stands by his Master. He says, in the face
of this whole world, " Whoever is his enemy,
I am his friend. Whatever is his position
to-day, I am his creature ; and I recognize
him as my God!" And so he trod, step by
step, with the fainting Redeemer, up the rug-
ged sides of Calvary. We know not what
words of love and of strong manly sympathy
he may have poured into the afflicted ear of
Christ. We know not how much the drooping
humanity of our Lord may have been strength-
ened and cheered in that sad hour by the
presence of the faithful and loving John I
Have you ever been in great affliction, my
friends ? Has sorrow ever come upon you
596
THE GROUPINGS OF CALVARY.
with a crushing aud an overwhelming weight ?
Have you ever lacked heart and power in great
difficulty, and seen no escape from the crush-
ing weight of anxiety that was breaking your
heart ? Do you not know what it is to have
even one friend — one friend on whom you can
rely with perfect and implicit confidence — one
friend who, you know, believes in you and
loves you, and whose love is as strong as his
life ? One friend who, you know, will uphold
you even though the whole world be against
you ? Such was the comfort, such the conso-
lation that it was the Evangelist's privilege
to pay to our Lord on Calvary. No human
prudence of argument dissuaded him. He
thought it — and he thought rightly — the su-
preme of wisdom to defy, to despise, and to
trample upon the world, when that world was
crucifying his Lord and Master. Highest type
of the man, saying from out the depths of his
own conscience, "I am above the world!" Let
every man ask himself this night, and answer
the question to his own soul : " Do I imitate
the purity, do I imitate the love, do I imitate
the courage or the bravery of this man, of
whom it is said that he was ' the disciple whom
Jesus loved ? ' " He got this reward. He got
this reward exceeding great. Ah, how little
did he know — great as his love was — how little
did he know the gift that was in store for
him — and that should be given him by his
dying Lord ! Little did he know of the crown-
ing glory that was reserved to him at the foot
of the Cross. How his heart must have throbbed
within him with the liveliest emotions of de-
light, mingled in a stormy confusion with the
greatness of his sorrow, when, from the lips
of his dj'ing Alaster, he received the command :
"Son, behold thy Mother!" — and with eyes
dimmed with the tears of anguish and of love,
did he cast his most pure, most loving, and
most reverential glance upon the forlorn Mother
of the d5nng Son ! What was his ecstasy
when he heard the voice of the dying Master
say to Mary: "Oh, mother, look to John, my
brother, my lover, my friend ! Take him for
thy son ! " To John he says : " Son, I am
going away, I am leaving this woman the most
desolate of all creatures that ever walked the
earth. True, she is to me the dearest object
in heaven or on earth. Friend, I have nothing
that I love so much ! Friend, there is no one
for whom I have so much love as I have for
her ! And to you do I leave her ! Take her
as your mother. Oh, dearly beloved ! " John
advanced one step — the type and the prototype
of the new man redeemed by our Lord — the
man whose glory it was to be — that he was
Mary's Son ! He advances a step until he
comes right in front of his dying Lord,
and he approaches Mary the Mother, in
the midst of her sorrow, and flings him-
self into her loving arms. And the newly-
fond son embraces his heavenly mother, whilst
from the crucified Lord the drops of blood fall
down upon them and cement the union be-
tween his Church and his Holy Mother, in
which the mystery of the Incarnation is made
perfect by completest adoption and brotherhood
with the Son of God.
The scene at Calvary I will not touch upon,
or describe. The slowly passing minutes of
pain, of anguish, and of agony that stretched
out these three terrible hours of incessant suf-
fering — of these I will not speak. But, when
the scene was over ; when the Lord of Glory
and of Love sent forth his last cry, when the
terrified heart of the Virgin throbbed with
alarm as she saw the centurion draw back his
terrible lance and thrust it through the side of
her Divine Son ; when all this was over and
when our Lord was taken down from the Cross,
and his body placed in Mary's arms — after she
had washed away the blood-stains with her
tears — after she had taken ofiF the crown of
thorns from his brow, and when they had laid
him in the tomb — the desolate mother put
her hands into those of her newly-found child,
St. John, and with him returned to Jerusalem.
The glorious title of " The Child of Mary "
was now his : and with this precious gift of
the dying Redeemer he rejoiced in Mary's
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597
society and in Mary's love. The Virgin was
then, according to tradition, in her forty-ninth
year. During the twelve years that she survived
with John, she was mostly in Jerusalem, whilst
he preached in Ephesus, one of the cities of
Asia Minor, and founded there a church, and
held the chair as its first Apostle and Bishop.
He founded a church at Philippi, and a church
at Thessalonica, and many of the churches in
Asia Minor. His whole life, for seventy years
after the death of his Divine Lord, was spent
in the propagation of the Gospel and in the
establishing of the Church. But for twelve
years more the Virgin Mother was with him,
in his house, tenderly surrounding him with
every comfort that her care could supply. Oh,
think of the raptures of this household 1 Every
glance of her virginal eyes upon him reminded
her of him who was gone — for John was like
his Divine Master. It was that wonderful resem-
blance to Christ which the highest form of
grace brings out in the man. Picture to your-
selves, if you can, that life at Ephesus, when
the Apostle, worn down by his apostolic preach-
ing, fatigued and wearied from his constantly
proclaiming the victory and the love of the
Redeemer, returned to the house and sat down,
whilst Mary with her tender hand wiped the
sweat from his brow, and these two, sitting to-
gether, spoke of the Lord, and of the mysteries
of the life in Nazareth ; and from Mary's lips
he heard of the mysteries of the thirty years
of love in the lowly house of Nazareth, and of
how Joseph had died and Jesus had labored
for her in his stead. From Mary's lips he heard
the secrets — the wonderful secrets of her Divine
Son, until, filled with inspiration, and rising
to the grandest and most glorious heights of
divinely inspired thought, he proclaimed the
Gospel that begins with the wonderful words,
" In the beginning was the Word," denoting
and pointing back to the eternity of the Son
of God. Picture to yourselves, if you can,
how Mary poured out to John, years after the
death of our Lord, her words of gratitude for
the care with which he surrounded her, and of
all her gratitude to him for all that he had done
in consoling and upholding her Divine Child in
the hour of his sorrow ! Oh, this surpasses all
contemplation. Next to that mystery of Divine
Love, the life in Nazareth with her own Child,
comes the life she lives in Ephesus with her
second, her adopted son, St. John the Evangelist.
He passed to heaven, first amongst the virgins,
says St. Peter Damen, — first in glory as first in
love, enshrined to-day in the brightest light that
surrounds the virgin choirs of heaven ! Now,
now he sings the songs of angelic joy and
angelic love ; and he leaves to you and to me —
as he stands, and as we contemplate him upon
the Hill of Calvary — the grand and the instruc-
tive lesson of how the Christian man is to behave
toward his Lord and his God ; living in Christian
purity — in the Christ-given strength of Divine
love — and in the glorious world-despising as-
sertion of the divinity and of the love of Jesus
Christ ; which, trampling under foot all mere
human respect, lives and glories in the friend-
ship of God, and in the possession of his holy
faith and the practice of his holy religion — not
blushing for him before man ; and thus gaining
the reward of him who says : " And he that
confesses me before men, the same will I con-
fess before my Father in heaven."
HRIST ON CALVARY.
Significance of the Dag o? Atonemerpt, aipd of
our Saviour's Sorrow.
Bg Rev. THOMAS N- BUJ^K;E, O. P.
8El*8B^lJ(S8B*
" All you that pass this way, come and see, if there be any sor-
row like unto iny sorrow."
These words are found in the Lamentations
of the prophet Jeremiah. There was a festival,
dearh'^ beloved brethren, ordained by the
Almighty God, for the tenth day of the seventh
month of the Jewish year; and this festival
was called the " Day of Atonement." Now,
amongst the commandments that the Almighty
God gave concerning the " Day of Atonement,"
there was this remarkable one : " Every soul,"
said the Lord, " that shall not be afflicted on
that day, shall perish from out the land." The
commandment that he gave them was a com-
mandment of sorrow, because it was the day of
the atonement. The day of the Christian atone-
ment is come — the day of the mighty sacrifice
b}' which the world was redeemed. And if, at
other seasons, we are told to rejoice, in the
words of the Scripture, " rejoice in the L)rd ;
I say to you again, rejoice," to-day, Avith our
holy mother, the Church, we must put oflF the
garments of joy, and clothe ourselves in the
robes of sorrow. And now, before we enter
upon the consideration of the terrible sufferings
of our Lord Jesus Christ — all that he endured
for our salvation — it is uecessarj', my dearly
beloved brethren, that we should turn our
thoughts to the victim whom we contemplate
this night, dying for our sins. That victim
was our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. When the Almighty God, after
the first two thousand years of the world's his-
tory, resolved to destroy the whole race of man-
kind, on account of their sins, he flooded the
earth ; and, in that universal ruin, he wiped
out the sin by destroying the sinners. Now,
in that early hour of God's first terrible visi-
tation, the water that overwhelmed the whole
world, and destroyed all mankind, came from
three sources. First of all, we are told, that
God, with his own hand, drew back the bolts
of heaven, and rained down water from heaven
upon the earth. Secondly, we are told, that all
the secret springs and fountains that were in
the bosom of the earth itself, burst and came
forth — " the fountains of the great abyss burst
forth," says Holy Writ. Thirdly, we are told,
that the great ocean itself overflowed its shores
and its banks, and the sea uprose until the
waters covered the mountain-tops. In like
manner, dearl}?^ beloved brethren, in the inunda-
tion, the deluge of suffering and sorrow that
came upon the Son of God, made man, we find
that the flood burst forth from three distinct
sources. First of all, from heaven, the Eternal
Father sending down the merciless hand of
justice, to strike his own Divine Son. Secondly,
from Christ our Lord himself As from the
hidden fountains of the earth, sending forth
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CHRIST ON CALVARY.
599
their springs, so, from amid the very heart and
soul of Jesus Christ — from the very nature of
his being — do we gather the greatness of his
suflFering. Thirdly, from the sea rising — that
is to say, from the malice and wickedness of
man. Behold, then, the three several sources
of all the sufferings that we are about to con-
template. A just and angry God in heaven;
a most pure and holy and loving Man-God
upon earth, having to endure all that hell
could produce of most wicked and most demo-
niac rage against him. God's justice rose up —
for, remember, God was angry on this Good
Frida}'^ — the Eternal Father rose up in heaven,
in all his power — he rose up in all his justice.
Before him was a victim for all the sins that
ever had been committed ; before him was the
victim of a fallen race ; before him, in the very
person of Jesus Christ himself, were represented
the accumulated sins of all the race of man-
kind. Hitherto, we read in the Gospel, that,
when the Father from heaven looked down
upon his own Divine Child upon the earth,
he was accustomed to send forth his voice in
such language as this : " This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased." Hitherto, no
sin, no deformity, no vileness was there, but
the beauty of heaven itself in that fairest form
of human body — in that beautiful soul, and in
the fullness of the divinity that dwelt in Jesus
Christ. Well might the Father exclaim : " This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased I"
But, to-day — oh, to-day ! the sight of the
beloved Son excites no pleasure in the Father's
eyes, brings forth no word of consolation or of
love from the Father's lips. And why ? Because
the all-holy and all-beloved Son of God, on
this Good Friday, took upon him the garment
of our sins — of all that his Father detested
upon this earth ; all that ever raised the quick
anger of the Eternal God ; all that ever made
him put forth his arm, strong in judgment and
in vengeance — all this is concentrated upon the
sacred person of him who became the victim
for the sins of men. How fair he seems to us,
when we look up to that beautiful figure of
Jesus — how fair he seemed to his Virgin Mother,
even when no beauty or comeliness was left
in him — how fair he seemed to the Magdalen,
again, who saw him robed in his own crimson
blood. The Father in heaven saw no beauty,
no fairness in his Divine Son, in that hour;
he only saw in him and on him all the sins
of mankind, which he took upon himself that
he might become for us a Saviour. Picture to
yourselves, therefore, first, this mighty fountain
of Divine wrath that was poured out upon the
Lord ! It was the Father's hand — the hand of
the Father's justice — outstretched to assert his
rights, to restore to himself the honor and the
glory of which the sins of all men, in all ages,
in all climes, had deprived him. Picture to
yourselves that terrible hand of God drawing
back the bolts of heaven, and letting out on his
own Divine Son the fury of this wrath that
was pent up for four thousand years ! We
stand stricken with fear in the contemplation
of the anger of God, in the first great punish-
ment of sin, the universal deluge. All the
sins that in every age roused the Father's
anger were actually visible to the Father's eyes
on the person of his Divine Son. We stand
astonished and frightened when we see, with
the eyes of faith and of revelation, the living
fire descending from heaven upon Sodom and
Gomorrha ; the balls of fire floating in the air,
thick as the descending flakes in the snowstorm ;
the hissing of the flames as they came rushing
down from heaven, like the hail that comes
down in the hailstorm ; the roaring of these
flames, as they filled the atmosphere ; the
terrible, lurid light of them ; the shrieks of
the people, who are being burned up alive ; the
lowing of the tortured beasts in the fields ; the
birds of the air falling, and sending forth their
plaintive voices, as they fall to earth, their
plumage scorched and burned. All the sins
that Almighty God, in heaven, saw in that
hour of his wrath, when he rained down fire —
all these did he see, on this Good Friday morn-
ing, upon his own Divine and adorable Son.
All the sins that ever man committed were
6oo
CHRIST ON CALVARY.
upon him, in the hour of his humiliation and
. of his agonj', because he was trul}' man ;
because he was a voluntar}' victim for
our sins ; because he stepped in between our
nature, that was to be destroyed, and the
avenging hand of the Father, lifted for our
destruction ; and these sins upon him became
an argument to make the Almighty God in
heaven forget, in that hour, every attribute of
his mercy, and put forth against his Son all the
omnipotence of his justice. Consider it well ; let
it enter into your minds, the strokes of the
Divine vengeance that would have ruined you
and me, and sunk us into hell for all eternity,
were rained by the unsparing hand of omnipo-
tence, in that hour, upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
The second fountain and source from which
came forth the deluge of his sorrow and his suf-
fering, was his own Divine heart, and his own
immaculate nature. For, i-emember, he was as
truly man as he was God. From the moment
Mary received the Eternal Word into her womb,
from that moment Christ, the Second Person of
the Blessed Trinity, was as truly man as he was
God ; and in that hour of his Incarnation, a
human body and a human soul were created
for him. Now, first of all, that human soul
that he took was the purest and most per-
fect that God could make — perfect in every
natural perfection — in the quickness and compre-
hensiveness of its intelligence — in the large
capacity for love in its human heart — in the
g^eat depth of its generosity and exalted
human spirit. Nay, more, the very body in
which that blessed soul was enshrined was so
formed that it was the most perfect body that
was ever given to man. Now, the perfection
of the body in man lies in a delicate
organization — in the extreme delicacy of
fabric, muscle, and nerve ; because they
make it a fitting instrument in order that
the soul within may inspire it. The more
perfect, therefore, the human being is, the more
sensitive is he to shame, the more deeply does
he feel degradation, the more quickly do dis-
honor and humiliation, like a two-edged sword,
pierce the spirit. Nay, the more sensitive he
is to pain, the more does he shrink away
naturally from that which causes pain ; and
that which would be pain to a grosser organi-
zation is actual agony, is actual torment, to
the perfect man, formed with such a soul that
at the very touch of his body the sensitive
soul is made cognizant of pleasure and of pain,
of joy and of sorrow. What follows from this ?
St. Bouaventure, in his " lyife of Christ," tells
us that so delicate was the sacred and most perfect
body of our Lord, that even the palm of his
hand or the sole of his foot was more sensi-
tive than the inner pupil of the eye of any
ordinary man ; that even the least touch caused
him pain ; that every ruder air that visited that
Divine face brought to him a sense of exqui-
site pain that ordinary men could scarcely
experience. Add to this that in him was the
fullness of the Godhead, realizing all that was
beautiful on earth ; realizing, with infinite ca-
pacity, the enormity of sin ; realizing every evil
that ever fell upon nature in making it acces-
sible to sin ; and, above all, taking in, to the
full extent of its eternal duration, the curse,
the reprobation, and damnation that falls upon
the wicked — oh, how many sources of sorrow
are here? Here is the heart of the man —
Jesus Christ — here is the fullness of the infi-
nite sanctity of God — here, the infinite horror
that God has for sin. For this man is God !
Here, therefore, is at once the indignation, the
infinite repugnance, the actual sense of horror
and detestation which, amounting to an infinite,
passionate repugnance, absorbed the whole
nature of Jesus Christ in one act of violence
against that which is come upon him. Now,
every single sin committed in this world comes
and actually effects, as it were, its lodgment in
the soul and spirit of Jesus. At other times,
he may rest, as he did rest, in the Virgin's
arms — for she was sinless ; at other times he
may allow sin and the sinner to come to his
feet and touch him ; but by that very touch,
she was made as pure as an angel of God.
But to-day, this infinitely holy heart — this
CHRIST ON CALVARY.
6oi
infinitely tender heart, must open itself to re-
ceive — no longer simply to purify, but to as-
sume and atone for all the sins of the world.
The third great source of his suffering was
the rage and the malice of men. They tore
that sacred body ; they forgot every instinct of
humanity; they forgot every dictate, every
ordinance of the old law, to lend to their out-
rages all the fury of hell, when they fell upon
him, as 'ftie Scripture says, " like hungry dogs
of chase upon their prey." He is now approach-
ing the last sad day of his existence ; he is
now about to close his life in sufferings which
I shall endeavor to put before you. But,
remember, that this Good Friday, with all its
terrors, is but the end of a life of thirty-three
years of agony and of suffering! From the
moment when the Word was made flesh in
Mary's womb, from the moment when the
Eternal God became man, even before he was
born, the cross, the thorny crown, and all the
horrors that were accomplished on Calvary were
steadily before the eyes of Jesus. The Infant
in Bethlehem saw them ; the Child in Nazareth
saw them; the Young Man, toiling to support
his mother, saw them; the Preacher on the
mountain-side beheld them. Never, for a single
instant, were the horrors that were fulfilled on
Good Friday morning absent from the mind
or the contemplation of Jesus Christ. Oh,
dearly beloved brethren, well did the Psalmist
say of him, " My grief and my sorrow is always
before me ;" well the Psalmist said, " I have,
during my whole life, walked in sorrow; I
was scourged the whole day !" That day was
the thirty-three years of his mortal life. Pic-
ture to yourselves what that life of grief must
have been. There was the Almighty God in
the midst of men, hearing their blasphemies,
beholding their infamous actions, fixing his
all-pure and all-holy eyes on their licentious-
ness, their ambition, their avarice, their dis-
honesty, their impurity. And so the very
presence of those he came to redeem was a
constant source of grief to Jesus Christ. More-
over, he knew well that he came into the
world to suffer, and only to suffer. Every
other being created into this world was created
for some joy or other. There is not, even in
hell, a creature whom Almighty God intended,
in creating, for a life and an eternity of misery ;
if they are there, they are there by their own
act, not by the act of God. Not so with Christ.
His sacred body was formed for the express
and sole purpose that it might be the victim
for the sins of man, and the sacrifice for
the world's redemption. " Sacrifice and obla-
tion," he said, "thou wouldst not, O God:
but thou hast prepared a body for me."
"Coming into the world," says St. Paul, "he
proclaimed, ' for this I am come, that I may do
thy will, O Father.' " The Father's will was
that he should suffer; and for this was he cre-
ated. Therefore, as he was made for suffering,
as that body was given to him for no purpose
of joy, but only of suffering, expiation, and of
sorrow, therefore, it was that God made him
capable of a sorrow equal to the remission he
was about to grant. That was infinite sorrow.
And now, dearly beloved, having considered
these things, we come to contemplate that which
was always before the mind of Christ — that
from which he knew there was no escape — that
which was before him really, not as the future
is before us, when we anticipate it and fear it,
but it comes indistinctly and confusedly before
the mind ; not so with Christ : every single
detail of his Passion, every sorrow that was to
fall upon him, every indignity that was to be
put upon his body — all, in the full clearness
of their details, were before the eyes of the
Lord Jesus Christ for the thirty-three years of
his life.
As the sun was sloping down towards the
western horizon on the evening of the vigil of
the Pasch, behold our Divine Lord with his
Apostles around him; and there, seated in the
midst of them, he fulfilled the last precept of
the law, in eating the Paschal lamb ; and (as we
saw last evening) he then changed the bread
and wine into his own body and blood, and fed
his Apostles with that of which the Paschal
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lamb was but a figure and a pi'omise. Now, tbey
are about to separate in this world. Now, tbe
greatest act of the charity of God has been
performed. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is liv-
ing and palpitating in the heart of each and
every one of these twelve. Now — horror of
horrors! — he is gone into the heart of Judas!
Arising from the table, our Lord took with him
Peter, and James, and John, and he turned
calmly and deliberately to enter the Red Sea
of his Passion, and to wade through his own
blood, until he landed upon the opposite shore
of pardon and mercy and g^ace, and brought
with him, in his own sacred humanity, the
whole human race. Calmly, deliberately, tak-
ing his three friends with him, he went out
from the supper-hall, as the shades of evening
were deepening into night, and he walked out-
side the walls of Jerusalem, where there was a
garden full of olive trees, that was called Geth-
semane. The Lord Jesus was accustomed to
go there to pray. Many an evening had he
knelt within those groves ; many a night had
he spent under the shade of these trees, filling
the silent place with the voice of his cries and
prayer, before the Lord, his Father, to obtain
pardon and mercy for mankind. Now, he goes
there, now, for the last time ; and as he is
approaching — as soon as ever he catches sight
of the garden — as soon as the familiar olives
present themselves to his eyes, he sees — what
Peter, and James, and John did not see — he
sees there, in that dark garden, the mighty
array, the mighty, tremendous array of all the
sins that ever were committed in this world, as
rf they had taken the bodily form of demons
of hell. There they were now, waiting silently,
fearfully, with eyes glaring with infernal rage ;
and he saw them. And amongst them was he,
the Lord God, to go? Amongst them must he
go? No wonder that the moment he caught
sight of that garden, he started back, and turn-
ing to the three Apostles, he said: "Stand by
me now, for my soul is sorrowful unto death."
And, leaning upon the virgin bosom of John, who
was astonished at this sudden and awful trial of
ng them,
mmouing
his Master, he murmured unto him, "My soul
is sorrowful unto death! Stand by me," he -says,
"and watch with me, and pray! The man — the
man, proving his humanity, which belonged to
him as truly as his divinity ; the man, turning
to and clinging to his friends, gathering them
around him at that terrible moni«|t when he
was about to face his enemies, h^^Ks, "Stand
by me! stand by me! and support iH^nd watch
and pray with me!" And then, W
alone he enters the gloomy place,
all the courage of God, summoning to his aid all
the infinite resources of his love, summoning the
great thought that if he was about to be destroyed,
mankind was to be saved, he dashes fearlessly
into the depths of Gethsemane; and when he
was as far from his Apostles as a man could
throw a stone, there, in the dark depths of the
forest, the Lord Jesus knelt down and prayed.
What was his prayer? Oh, that army of sins
was closing around him 1 Oh, the breath of hell
was on his face! There did he see the busy
demons marshaling their forces — drawing closer
and closer to him all the iniquities of men.
"Oh, Father!" he cries— "Oh, Father, if it be
possible, let this chalice pass away from me!"
But he immediately added, " Not my will but
Thine be done ! " Then turning — for the
Father's will was indicated to him in the voice
from heaven, with the first tone of anger upon
it, the first word of anger that Jesus ever heard
from his Father's lips, saying: "It is my will
to strike thee! Go!" He turned; he bared
his innocent bosom ; he put out his sinless
hands, and, turning to all. the powers of hell,
allowed the ocean- wave of sin to flow in upon
him and overwhelm him. The lusts and wick-
edness of men before the flood, the impurities
of Sodom and Gomorrha, the idolatries of the
nations, the ingratitude of Israel — all the sins
that ever appeared under the eyes of God's
anger — all — all ! — like the waves of the ocean,
coming in and falling upon a solitary man
who kneels alone on the shore — all fell upon
Jesus Christ. He looks upon himself, and he
scarcely recognizes himself now. Are these the
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605
hands of the Son of God, scarcely daring to
uplift themselves in prayer, for they are red
with ten thousand deeds of blood ? Is this the
heart of Jesus, frozen up with unbelief, as if
he felt what he could not feel — that he was
the personal enemy of God ? Is this the sacred
soul of Jesus Christ, darkened for the moment
with the*eriprs and the adulteries of the whole
world ? ^»*lhe halls of his memory nothing
but the«^ideous figures of sin ! — desolation,
broken hearts, weeping eyes, cries of despair,
dire blasphemies ; — these are the things he sees
within himself ; that he hears in his ears ! It
is a world of sin around him. It is a raging
of demons about him. It is as if sin entered
into his blood. Oh, God ! he bears it as long
as a suffering man can bear. But, at length,
from out the depths of his most sacred heart —
from out the very divinity that was in him — the
fountains of the great deep were moved, and
forth came a rush of blood from every pore.
His eyes can no longer dwell on the terrible
vision. He can no longer look upon these red
scenes of blood and impurit3^ A weakness
comes mercifully to his relief. He gazes upon
the fate that God has put upon him ; and then
he falls to the earth, writhing in his agony ;
and forth from every pore of his sacred frame
streams the blood ! Behold him ! Behold the
blood as it oozes out through his garments,
making them red as those of a man who has
trodden in the wine-press ! Behold him, as his
agonizing face lies prone upon the earth ! Be-
hold him, as, in the hour of that terrible agony,
his blood reddens • the soil of Gethsemane I
Behold him, as he writhes on the ground — one
mass of streaming blood — sweating blood from
head to foot — crying out in his agony for the
sins of the whole world ! A mountain of the
anger of God is upon him. Behold him in
Gethsemane, O Christian man ! Kneel down
by his side I Lie down on that blood-stained
earth, and for the love of Jesus Christ, whisper
one word of consolation to him ! For, remem-
ber that you and I were there — were there,
and he saw us — even as he sees us in this
hour, gathered under the roof of this church.
He saw us there in our quality of sinners, with
every sin that ever we committed — as if it were
a stone in our uplifted hand flung down upon
his defenceless form ! When Acan was con-
victed of a crime, Joshua gave word that every
man of the Jewish nation should take a stone
in his hand, and fling it at him ; and all the
people of Israel came and flung them upon
him, and put him to death. So every son of man
from Adam down to the last that was born on
this earth — every son of man — every human
being that breathed the breath of God's crea-
tion in this world, was there, in that hour, to
fling his sins, and let them fall down upon Jesus
Christ. All, all — save one. There was one
whose hand was not lifted against him. There
was one who, if she had been there, could be
only there to help him and to console him. But
no help, no consolation in that hour ! There-
fore, Mary, the only sinless one, was absent. He
rises after an hour. No scourge has been yet
laid upon that sacred body. No executioner's
hand has profaned him as yet. No nail had
been driven through his hands. And yet the
blood covered his body — for his Passion began
from that source to which I have alluded — his
own Divine spirit ! His Passion — his pain —
began from within.* He rises from the earth.
What is this which we hear? There is a sound,,
as of the voices of a rabble. There are hoarse
voices filling the night. There are men with
clubs in their hands, and lanterns lighted. They
come with fire and fury in their eyes, and the
universal voice is, "Where is he? Where is
he ? " Ah, there is one at the head of them ! You
hearhis voice. " Come cautiously ! I see him. I
will point him out to yovi I There are four of
them. There He is, with three of his friends.
When you see me take a man in my arms and
kiss him, he is the man I Lay hold of him at
once, and drag him away with you, and do what
you please!" Who is he that says this? Who
are they that come like hell-hounds, thirsting
* Vide Nnvman, " Mental Sufferings of Our Lord in His Paa-
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for the blood of Jesus Christ ? That come with
the rage of hell in their blood, and in their
mouths? They are come to take him and to
tear him to pieces! Who is this that leads
them on ? Oh, friends I Oh, friends and men !
it is Judas, the Apostle ! Judas, who spent three
years in the society of Jesus Christ! Judas, that
was taught by him every lesson of piety and vir-
tue, by word and by example. Judas, who
received the priesthood. Judas, upon whose lips,
even now, blushes the sacred blood received in
Holy Communion! Oh, it is Judas! And he
has come to give up his Master, whom he has
sold for thirty pieces of silver. He went, after his
unworthy communion, to the Pharisees, and he
said: "What will you give me, and I will sell,
betray to you? — give him up?" He put no
price upon Jesus. He thought so little of his
Master that he was prepared to take anything
they would offer. They offered him thirty small
pieces of silver ; and he clutched at the money.
He thought it was a g^eat deal, and more than
Jesus Christ was worth ! Now he comes to
fulfill his portion of the contract, and he points
the Lord out by going up to him, putting his
traitor lips upon the face of Jesus Christ, and
stamping upon that face the kiss of a false-
hearted, a wicked and a traitorous follower.
Behold him now. The Son of God sees him
approach. He opens his arms to him. Judas
flings himself in his Master's arms, and he hears
the gentle reproach — Oh, last proof of love ! — Oh,
last opportunity to him to repent — even in this
hour! — "Judas, is it with a kiss thou betrayest
the Son of Man ? "
Now, the multitude rushes in upon him and
seizes him. We have a supplement to the Gos-
pel narrative in the revelations of many of the
Saints and of holy souls, who, in reward for their
extraordinary devotion to the Passion of our
Lord, were favored with a closer sight of his suf-
ferings. Now, we are told by one of these,
whose revelations, though not yet approved, are
tolerated by the Church, that when our Divine
Lord gave himself into the hands of his enemies,
they bound his sacred arms with a rope, and
rushed toward the city, dragging along with
them, forcibly and violently, the exhausted
Redeemer. Exhausted, I say, for his soul had
just passed through the agony of his prayer,
and his body was still dripping with the sweat
of blood. Between that spot and Jerusalem
flowed the little stream called the Brook of
Kedron. When they came to that little stream
our Saviour stumbled, and fell over a stone.
They, without waiting to give hi^ time to
rise, pulled and dragged him on with all their
might. They literally dragged him through
the water, wounding and bruising his body by
contact with the rocks that were in the river's
bed. It was night when they brought him
into Jerusalem. That night a cohort of Roman
soldiers formed the body-guard of Pilate. They
were called archers ; men of the most corrupt
and terrible vices ; men without faith in God
or man; men whose every word was either a
blasphemy or an impirrity. These men, who
were only anxious for amusement, when they
found the prisoner dragged into Jerusalem at
that hour, took possession of him for the night,
and they brought him to their quarters ; and
there the Redeemer was put, sitting in the midst
of them. During the whole of that long night,
between Holy Thursday and Good Friday morn-
ing, the soldiers remained sleepless, employed in
loud revel, in their derision and torture of
the Son of God. They struck him on the head.
They spat upon him. They hustled him with
scorn from one to another. They bruised him.
They wounded him in every conceivable form.
Here, silent as a lamb before the shearer, was
the Eternal Son of God, looking out, with eyes
of infinite knowledge and purity, upon the very
vilest of men that all the iniquity of this earth
could bring around him.
He was brought before the high-priest. He
was asked to answer. The moment the Son of
of God opened his lips to speak, the moment he
attempted to testify, a brawny soldier came out
of the ranks, stepped before our Divine Lord,
and saying to him, " Answerest thou the high-
priest thus?" drew back his clenched, mailed
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605
hand, with the full force of a strong man, fling-
ing himself forward, struck Almighty God
in the face! The Saviour reeled, stunned by
the blow. The morning came. Now he is
led before Pilate, the Roman governor, who
alone has power to sentence him to death,
if he be guilty ; and who has the obligation
to protect him and to set him at liberty, if he
be innocent. The Scribes and the Pharisees
were there, the leaders of the people ; and the
rabble of Jerusalem was with them ; and in the
midst of them was the silent, innocent victim,
who knew that the sad and terrible hour of
his crucifixion was upon him. Brought before
Pilate, he is accused of this crime and that.
Witnesses are called; and the moment they
come — the moment they look upon the face of
God — they are unable to give testimony against
him. They could say nothing that proved him
guilty of any crime : and Pilate, enraged,
turned to the Pharisees, and said : " What do
you bring this man here for? Why is he
bound ? Why is he bruised and maltreated ?
What has he done ? I find no crime, or
shadow of a crime in him." He is not only
innocent, but the judge declares before all the
people, that the man has done nothing what-
ever to deserve any punishment, much less
death. How is this sentence received? The
Pharisees are busy amongst the people, whis-
pering their calumnies, and prompting them
to cry out, and say : " Crucify him 1 Crucify
him! We want to have Jesus of Nazareth
crucified I We want to do it early, because
the evening will come and bring the Sabbath
with it ! We want to have his blood shed !
Quick ! Quick ! Tell Pilate he must condemn
Jesus of Nazareth, or else he is no friend to
Caesar ! " The people cry out : " Let him be
crucified! If you let him go you are no
friend of Caesar ! " What says Pilate ?
" Crucify your King I He calls himself ' King
of the Jews.' You, yourselves, wished to make
him your King, and you honored him. Am I
to crucify him whom you would have for
King ? Am I to crucify your King ? " And
then — then, in an awful moment, Israel declared
solemnly that God was no longer her King;
for the people cried out : *' He is not our
King ! We have no King but Caesar ! " We
have no King but Csesar ! The old cry of
the man who, committing sin, says: "I have
no King but my own passions ; I have no
King but this world ; I have no King but the
thoughts of money, or of honors, or of indul-
gence ! " So the Jews cried : " He is no King
of ours ; we have no King but Caesar I " Pilate,
no doubt in a spirit of compromise, said to
himself, " I see this man cannot escape. I see
murder in these people's eyes ! They are de-
termined upon the crucifixion of this man,
and, therefore, I must try to find out some
way or another of appealing to their mercy."
Then he thought to himself, " I will make an
example of him. I will tear the flesh off his
bones. I will cover him with blood. I will
make him such a pitiable object that not one
in all that crowd will have the heart to
demand further punishment, or another blow
for him." So he called his oflScers, and said :
" Take this man, and scourge him so as to
make him frightful to behold ; let him be so
mangled that when I show him to the people
they may be moved to pity and spare his life,
for he is an innocent man." In the cold,
early morning, the Lord is led forth into" the
court-yard of the Prastorium, and there sixty
of the strongest men of the guard are picked
out, — chosen for their strength ; and they are
told off into thirty pairs, and every man of
the sixty has a new scourge in his hand.
Some have chains of iron ; some, cords knotted,
with steel spurs at the end of them ; others,
the green, supple twig, plucked from the
hedge in the early morning, — long, and supple,
and terrible, armed with thorns. Now, these
men come and close around our Lord. They
strip him of his garments ; they leave him per-
fectly naked, blushing in his infinite modesty
and purity, so that he longs for them to be-
gin in order that they may robe him in his
blood. They tie his hands to a pillar ; they
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CHRIST ON CALVARY.
tie him so that he cannot move, nor shrink from
a blow, nor turn aside. And then the two first
advance ; they raise their brawny arms in the
air; and then, with a hiss, down come the
scourges upon the sacred body of the Lord I
Quicker again and quicker these arms rise in
the air with these terrible scourges. Each
stroke leaves its livid mark. The flesh rises
into welts. The blood is congealed, and pur-
ple beneath the skin. Presently, the scourge
comes down again, and it is followed by a quick
spurt of blood from the sacred body of our
Lord — the blows quickening, and without pause,
and without mercy ; the blood flowing after
every additional blow, — till these two strong
men are fatigued and tired out, — until their
scourges are soddened, and saturated, and drip-
ping with his blood, do they strike him, — and
then retire, exhausted, from their terrible
labor ; — in comes another pair — fresh, vigorous,
fresh arms and new men — come to rain blows
upon the defenceless body of the Lord, upon his
sacred limbs — upon his sacred shoulders. Every
portion of his sacred body is torn: every blow
brings the flesh from the bones, and opens a new
wound and a new stream of blood. Now he stands
&nkle deep in his own blood, hanging out
from that pillar, exhausted, with head droop-
ing, almost insensible. He is still beaten, even
when the very men who strike him think, or
suspect, that they may have killed him. It was
written in the Old Law, "If a man be found
guilty," says the Lord in Deuteronomy, "let
him be beaten, and let the measure of his sin
be the measure of his punishment ; yet, so that
no criminal receive more than forty stripes,
lest thy brother go away shamefully torn from
before thy face!" These were the words of
the law. Well the Pharisees knew it ! And
there they stood around in the outer circle,
with hate in their eyes, fury upon their lips;
and even when the very men who were dealing
out their revenge thought they had killed the
victim they were scourging, still came forth
from these hardened hearts the words of encourage-
ment :" Strike him still ! Strike him still ! " And
there they continued their cruel task until sixty
men retired, fatigued, and worn out with the
work of the scourging of our Lord.
Now, behold him, as senseless he hangs
from that pillar, one mass of bruised and torn
flesh ! — one open wound, from the crown of his
head to the soles of his feet! — all bathed in
the crimson of his own blood, and terrible to behold!
If you saw him here, as he stood there ; if you
saw him now, standing upon that altar, — there
is not a man or woman amongst you that
could bear to look upon the terrible sight.
They cut the cords that bound him to the
pillar ; and the Redeemer fell down, bathed in
his own blood, and senseless upon the ground.
Behold him again, as at Gethsemane ; now, no
longer the pain from within, but the pain from
the terrible hand of man — the instrument
of God's vengeance. Oh, behold him! Mary
heard those stripes and yet she could not save
her Son. Mary's heart went down with him
to the ground, as he fell from that pillar of his
scourging! Oh, behold him, you mothers ! You
fathers, behold the Virgin's Child, your God —
Jesus Christ ! The soldiers amused themselves
at the sight of his sufferings, and scoffed at him
as he lay prostrate. Recovering somewhat,
after a time he opened his languid eyes and rose
from that ground, — rose all torn and bleeding.
They throw an old purple rag around his
shoulders, and they set him upon a stone. One
of them has been, in the meantime, busily
engaged in twisting and twining a crown made
of some of those thorns which they had pre-
pared for the scourging, — a crown in which
seventy-two long thorns were put, so that they
entered into the sacred head of our Lord. This
crown was set upou his brow. Then a man
came with a reed in his hand and struck those
thorns deep into the tender forehead. They
are fastened deeply in the most sensitive organ,
where pain becomes maddening in its agony.
He strikes the thorns in till even the sacred
humanity of our Lord forces from him the cry of
agony ! He strikes them in still deeper ! —
deeper ! Oh., my God ! Oh, Father of Mercy I
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607
And all this opens up new streams of blood !
— new fountains of love ! The blood streams
down, and the face of the Most High is hidden
under its crimson veil. Now, now, indeed, Oh
Pilate, — Oh wise and compromising Pilate, —
now, indeed, you have gained your end ! You
have proved yourself the friend of Csesar. Now,
there is no fear but that the Jews, when they
see him, will be moved by compassion! They
bring him back and they put him standing
before the Roman governor. His rugged pagan
heart is moved within him with horror when
he sees the fearful example they have made of
him. Frightened when he beheld him, he
turned away his eyes ; the spectacle was too
terrible. He called for water and washed his
hands. *' I declare before God," he says, " I
am innocent of this man's blood!" He leads
him out on the balcony of his house. There
was the raging multitude, swaying to and fro.
Some are exciting the crowd, urging them to
cry out to crucify him ; some are preparing the
Cross, others getting ready the hammer and
nails, some thinking of the spot where they
would crucify him ! There they were, arguing
with diabolical rage. Pilate came forth in his
robes of ofi&ce. Soldiers stand on either side of
him. Two soldiers bring in our Lord. His
hands are tied. A reed is put in his hand in
derision. Thorns are on his brow. Blood is
flowing from every member of his sacred body.
An old, tattered purple rag is flung over him.
Pilate brings him out, and, looking round on
the multitude, says : " Ecco Jiomo ! Behold the
man ! You said I was no friend to Csesar.
You said I was afraid to punish him ! Behold
him now! Is there a man amongst you who
would have the heart to demand more punish-
ment?" Oh, heaven and earth! Oh, heaven
and earth ! The cry from out every lip, from
out every heart, is : " We are not yet satisfied !
Give him to us ! Give him to us ! We
will crucify him ! " " But," says Pilate, " I am
innocent of his blood ! " And then came a
word — and this word has brought a curse upon
the Jews from that day to this. Then came
the word that brought the consequences of their
crime on their hard hearts and blinded intel-
lects. They cried out, " His blood be upon us
and upon our children ! Crucify him!" "But,"
says Pilate, " here is a man in prison ; he is a
robber and a murderer! And here is Jesus of
Nazareth whom I declare to be innocent ! One
of these I must release. Which will you have —
Jesus or Barabbas ? " And they cried out
" Barabbas ! give us Barabbas ! But let Jesus
be crucified ! " Here is compared the Son of
God to the robber and the murderer. And
the robber and murderer is declared fit to live,
and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is declared
fit only to die ! The vilest man in Jerusalem
declared in that hour that he would not asso-
ciate with our Ivord, and that the Son of God
was not worthy to breathe the air polluted by
this man! So Barabbas came forth, rejoicing
in his escape ; and, as he mingled in the crowd,
he, too, threw up his hands and cried out,
" Oh, let him be crucified ! Let him be cruci-
fied ! " He is led forth from the tribunal of
Pilate. And, now, just outside of the Prefect's
door, there are men holding up a long, weighty,
rude cross, that they had made rapidly ; for
they took two large beams, put one across the
other, fastened them with great nails, and made
it strong enough to uphold a full-grown man.
There is the cross ! There is the man with
the nails ! And there are all the accompani-
ments of the execution. And he who is
scarcely able to stand — he, bruised and afllicted —
the Man of Sorrows, fainting with infirmity, is
told to take that cross upon his bleeding,
wounded shoulders, and to go forward to the
mountain of Calvary. Taking to him that
cross, holding it to his wounded breast, putting
to it in tender kisses the lips that were distil-
ling blood, the Son of God, with the cross upon
his shoulders, turns his faint and tottering
footsteps toward the steep and painful way that
led to Calvary. Behold him as he goes forth !
That cross is a weight almost more than a
man can carry; and it is upon the shoulders
of one from whom all strength and manliness
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are gone. Behold the Redeemer, as he toils
painfully along, amid the shouts and shrieks
of the enraged people. Behold him as he toils
along the flinty way, the soldiers driving him
on, the people inciting them, every one rushing
and hastening to Calvary, to witness the execu-
tion. John, the beloved, follows him. A few
of his faithful followers toil along. But there
is one who traces each of his blood-stained
footsteps ; there is one who follows him with a
breaking heart ; there is one whose very soul
within her is pierced and torn with the sword
of sorrow. Oh, need I name the Mother, the
Queen of Martyrs ! In that hour of his mar-
tyrdom, Mary, the mother of Jesus, followed
immediately in his footsteps, and her whole
soul went forth in prayer for an opportunity
to approach him, to wipe the blood from his
sacred face. Oh, if they would only let her
come to him, and say, " My child, I am with
you ! " If they would only let her take in her
womanly arms, from off the shoulders of her
dear Son, that heavy cross that he cannot bearl
But, no I She must witness his misery ; she
must witness his pain. He toils along; he
takes the first few steps up the rugged side
of Calvary. Suddenly his heart ceases to beat ;
the light leaves his eyes; he sways, for a
moment, to and fro ; the weakness and the sor-
row of death are upon him ; he totters, falls to
the earth ; and down, with a heavy crash, comes
the weighty cross upon the prostrate form of
Jesus Christ ! Oh, behold him, as for the third
time, he embraces that earth which is sanctified
and redeemed by his love ! Mary rushes for-
ward ; Mary thinks her child is dead ; she
thinks that terrible cross must have crushed
him into the earth. She rushes forward ; but
with rude and barbarous words the woman is
flung aside. The cross is lifted up and placed
on the shoulders of Simon of Cyrene ; and
with blows and blasphemies, the Saviour of the
world is obliged to rise from that earth, and,
worn with the sorrows and afflictions of death,
faces the rugged steep on the summit of
which is the place destined for his crucifixion.
Arrived at the place, they tear off" his gar-
ments ; they take from him the seamless gar-
ment which his mother's loving hands had
woven for him ; they take the humble clothing
in which the Son of God had robed himself —
saturated, steeped as it is in his blood ; and in
removing them they open afresh every wound,
and once again the saving blood of Christ is
poured out upon the ground. With rude,
blasphemous words, the God-man is told to lie
down upon that cross. Of his own free will he
stretches his tender limbs, puts forth his hands
and stretches out his feet at their order. The ex-
ecutioners take the nails and the hammer,
and they kneel upon his sacred bosom ; they
press out his hands till they bring the
palms to where they made the holes to fit the
nails. They stretch him out upon that cross,
even as the Paschal Lamb was stretched out
upon the altar ; they kneel upon the cross ; they
lay the nails upon the palms of his hands.
The first blow drives the nail deep into his
hands, the next blow sends it into the cross.
Blow follows blow. They are inflamed with the
rage of hell. Earnestly thejr work — and hell
delights in the scene — tearing the muscles and
the sinews of his hands and feet. Rude, terrible
blows fall on these nails, and re-echo in the
heart of the Virgin, until that heart seems to
be broken at the foot of the cross. And now,
when they have driven these nails to the heads,
fastening him to the wood, the cross is lifted
up from the ground. Slowly, solemnl}^, the
figure of Jesus Christ, all red with blood, all
torn and disfigured, rises into the air, until the
cross, attaining its full height, is fixed into its
socket in the earth. The banner of salvation
is flung out over the world ; and Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, and the Redeemer of mankind,
appears in mid-air, and looks out over the crowd
and over Jerusalem, over hill and valley, far
away towards the sea of Galilee, and all around
the horizon ; and the dying eyes of the Saviour
are turned over the land and the people for
whom he is shedding his blood. Uplifted in
mid-air — the eternal sacrifice of the Redeemer
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609
for everlasting — hanging from these three ter-
rible nails on the Cross — for three hours he
remained. Every man took up his position.
Mary, his mother, approaches, for this is the
hour of her agony ; she must suffer in soul
what he suffers in body. John, the disciple of
love, approaches, and takes his stand under his
Master's outstretched hands. Mary Magdalen
rushes through the guards, to the feet of her
Lord and Master; they are now bathed with
other tears — with the tears of blood that save
the world; the feet which it was her joy to
weep over ! And now she clasps the cross, and
pours out her tears, until they mingle with the
blood which flows down his feet. There are the
Pharisees and the Scribes, who had gained
their point ; they come and stand before the cross ;
they look upon that figure of awful pain and
misery ; thej' see those thorns sunk deeply into
that drooping head with no love in their hearts ;
they see the agony expressed in the eyes of
the victim who is dying ; and then, looking up
exultingly, they rejoice and say to him : " You
said you could destroy the Temple, and build
it up in three days ; now, come down from the
cross, and we will believe in and worship you."
The Roman soldier stood there, admiring the
courage with which the man died. The third
hour is approaching. The penitent thief on his
right hand had received his pardon. A sudden
gloom gathers round the scene. Before we come
to the last moment, I ask you to consider Jesus
Christ as your God. I ask you to consider the
sacrifice that he made, and to consider the circum-
stances under which he approached that last
moment of his life. All he had in the world
was some little money ; it was kept to give to the
poor ; Judas had that, and he had stolen it.
Christ had literally nothing but the simple
garments with which he had been clothed ; these
the soldiers took, and they raffled for them under
his dying eyes. What remained for him ? The
love of his mother; the sympathy of John ? But
he, uplifted on the cross, said to Mary, "Woman,
behold thy son !" And to John he said, " Son,
behold thy mother !" " Thus I give one to the
39
other; let that love suffice ; and leave me all alone
and abandoned to die." What remained to him ?
His reputation for sanctity, for wisdom, and for
power ? His reputation for sanctity was so great,
that the people said : "This man never could do
such things if he had not come from God." And
as to his wisdom, his reputation for wisdom was
such that we read, not one of the Pharisees or
doctors of the law had the courage to argue with
him. His reputation for power was such that
the people all said : " This man speaks and
preaches, not as the Pharisees, but as one having
power." Christ had sacrificed and given up his
reputation for sanctity, for he was crucified as a
blasphemer and a teacher of evil. His reputa-
tion for wisdom was sacrificed in the course of
his Passion, when Herod declared that he was a
fool. Clothed in a white garment in derision,
he was marched through the streets of Jeru-
salem, from Herod's palace to Pilate's house,
dressed as a fool ; and men came to their doors
to point the finger of scorn and laugh at him,
and reproached each other for having listened
to his doctrine. His reputation for power was
gone. They came to the foot of the cross
and said : " Now, if you have the power,
come down from that cross and we will believe
you." Now, all the man's earthly possessions
are gone ; his few garments are gone ; Mary's
love and her sustaining compassion are gone;
his reputation is gone ; he is one wound, from
head to foot ; the anger of man has vented
itself upon him. What remains for him ?
The ineffable consolations of his divinity ; the
infinite peace of the God-head, the Father !
Oh, Man of Sorrow I Oh, Lord Jesus Christ,
cling to that ! Whatever else may be taken
from you, that cannot be taken away. Oh,
Master, lean upon thy God-head I Oh, cruci-
fied, bleeding, dying Lord, do not give up that
which is thy peace and thy comfort — thy joy
in the midst of all this suffering! But what
do I see ! The dying head is lifted up ; the
drooping eyes are cast heavenwards ; an expres-
sion of agony absorbing all others comes over
the dying face, and a voice breaks forth from
6io
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the quivering, agonized lips : " My God ! My
God ! why hast thou forsaken me ! " The all-
sufficient comfort of the divinity and the
sustaining power of the Father's love are put
away from him in that hour! A cloud came
between Jesus Christ upon the cross, the
victim of our sins, and the Father's face in
heaven ; and that cloud was the concentrated
anger of God which came upon his Divine Son,
because of our sins and our transgressions.
Not that his divinity quitted him. No ; he
was still God ; but by his own act and free
will, he put away the comfort and the sustaining
power of the divinity for a time, in order that
every element of sorrow, every grief, ever}'
misery of which the greatest victim of this
earth was capable, should be all concentrated
upon him at the hour of his death. And
then, having used these solemn words, he
awaited the moment when the Father's will
should separate the soul from the body. Now,
Mary and John have embraced ; Judas is strug-
gling in the last throes of his self-imposed
death ; Peter has wept his tears. The devil for
a moment triumphs ; and the man-God upon
the cross awaits the hour and the moment of the
world's redemption. The sun in the heavens is
withdrawn behind mysterious clouds ; and though
it was but three o'clock in the day, a darkness
like that of midnight came upon the land. Men
looked upon each other in horror and in terror.
Presently a rumbling noise was heard ; and they
looked around and saw the hills and the moun-
tains tremble on their bases; the very ground
seemed to rock beneath them ; it groans as
though the earth were breaking up from its
centre ; the rocks are splitting up, and round
them strange figures are flitting here and there;
the graves are opened, and the dead entombed
there are walking in the dark ways before them.
What is this ? Who is this terrible man that
we have put up on that cross ? The earth
quakes ; darkness is still upon it ; perfect silence
reigns over Calvary, unbroken by the cry of the
dying Redeemer — unbroken by the voice of the
scoffers — unbroken by the sobs of the Magdalen.
Every heart seems to stand still. Then, over
that silence, in the midst of that darkness, is
heard the loud cry, " Oh, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit ! " The head of the Lord
Jesus Christ droops : the Man upon the Cross is
dead ; and the world is saved and redeemed !
The moment the cry came forth from the dying
lips of Jesus Christ, the devil, who stood there,
knew that it was the Son of God who was cruci-
fied, and that his d^y was gone. Howling in
in despair he fled from the Redeemer's presence
into the lowest depths of hell. The world is
saved. The world is redeemed. Man's sin is
wiped out. The blood that washed away the
iniquity of our race has ceased to flow from the
dead and pulseless heart of Jesus. Wrapt in
prayer, Mary bowed down her head under the
weight of her sorrows. The Magdalen looked
up and beheld the dead face of her Redeemer.
John stretched out his hands and looked upon
that face. The Roman soldier lays hold of his
lance, under some strange impulse. Word
comes that the body was to be taken down ; they
did not know whether our Lord was dead ; there
might yet some remnant of life remain in him ;
the question was to prove that he was dead, and
this man approaches. As a warrior, he puts his
lance in rest, rushes forward with all the strength
of his arm, and drives the lance right into the
heart of the Lord ! The heavy cross sways ; it
seems as if it was about to fall ; the lance quivers
for an instant in the wound ; the man draws it
forth again ; and forth from the heart of the
dead Christ streamed the waters of life and the
blood of redemption. The soldier drew back his
lance, and the next moment, on his knees, before
the Crucified, with the lance dripping with the
blood of the Lord still in his hand, he cried
out, " Truly, this man was the Son of God !"
Then the earthquake began again ; the dead
were seen passing in. fearful array, turning
the eyes of the tomb upon the faces of those
Pharisees who had crucified the Lord. And
the people, frightened, became conscious that
they had committed a terrible crime, when they
heard Longinus, the Roman soldier, cry out,
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6ii
" This Man is truly the Son of God, whom
you have crucified." Then came down from
Calvary the crowds, exclaiming, "Yes, truly,
this is the Son of God." And they went down
the hillside, weeping and beating their breasts.
Oh, how much we cost ! Oh, how great was
the price that he paid for us ! Oh, how gen-
erously he gave all he had — and he was God
— for your salvation and mine ! It is well to
rejoice and be here ; it is well to come and
contemplate the blessings which that blessed,
gracious Lord has conferred on us. It is, also,
well to consider what he paid and how much
it cost him. And if we consider this, then,
with Mary, the mother, and Mary, the Mag-
dalen, and John, the Evangelist and friend —
then will our hearts be afSicted. For the soul
that is not afflicted on this day, shall be wiped
out from the pages of the Book of Life.
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