diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:34:56 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:34:56 -0700 |
| commit | 66af5ad4c9a10bb01572e403b8557ce5f725ac8b (patch) | |
| tree | 88b18ae000e0782007fffec7b714dcb8209a5070 /27435-tei | |
Diffstat (limited to '27435-tei')
| -rw-r--r-- | 27435-tei/27435-tei.tei | 22279 |
1 files changed, 22279 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/27435-tei/27435-tei.tei b/27435-tei/27435-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b930cb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/27435-tei/27435-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,22279 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Faith of Our Fathers</title> + <author><name reg="Gibbons, James Cardinal">James Cardinal Gibbons</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="93">Edition 93</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>December 7, 2008</date> + <idno type="etext-no">27435</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and + with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it + away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg + License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2008-12-07">December 12, 2008</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Geoff Horton, David King, + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + .gesperrt { font-style: italic } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">The Faith of Our Fathers</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Church Founded by Our Lord</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Jesus Christ</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">James Cardinal Gibbons</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Archbishop of Baltimore</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Ninety-third Carefully Revised and Enlarged Edition</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">John Murphy Company</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Publishers</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Baltimore, MD. New York</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">10 Paternoster Row, London, and at Manchester.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Birmingham and Glasgow</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1917</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + </front> +<body> + +<pb n="iv"/><anchor id="Pgiv"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<head>Dedication.</head> + +<p rend='text-align: center'> +<hi rend='italic'>Affectionately Dedicated</hi><lb/> +To The<lb/> +Clergy and Laity<lb/> +Of The<lb/> +Archdiocese And Province Of Baltimore. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="v"/><anchor id="Pgv"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>Preface To The Eleventh Edition.</head> + +<p> +The first edition of <q>The Faith of Our Fathers</q> +was issued in December, 1876. From that time to +the present fifty thousand copies of the work have +been disposed of in the United States, Canada, +Great Britain and Ireland, and in the British +Colonies of Oceanica. +</p> + +<p> +This gratifying result has surpassed the author's +most sanguine expectations, and is a consoling +evidence that the investigation of religious +truths is not wholly neglected even in this iron +age, so engrossed by material considerations. +</p> + +<p> +Besides carefully revising the book, the author +has profited by the kind suggestion of some +friends, and inserted a chapter on the prerogatives +and sanctity of the Blessed Virgin, which, it is +hoped, will be not less acceptable to his readers +than the other portions of the work. +</p> + +<p> +He is also happy to announce that German editions +have been published both in this country and +in Germany. +</p> + +<p> +He takes this occasion to return his hearty +thanks to the editors of the Catholic periodicals, as +well as of the secular press, for their favorable +notices, which have no doubt contributed much to +the large circulation of the book. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Baltimore</hi>,<lb/> +<hi rend='italic'>Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas</hi>, 1879. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="vi"/><anchor id="Pgvi"/> + +<div> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>Preface To The Forty-Seventh Edition.</head> + +<p> +It is very gratifying to the author to note the +large increase in the sale of <q>The Faith of Our +Fathers.</q> Apart from personal considerations, +it is pleasing to know that the popular interest in +the Catholic Church and whatever pertains to her +doctrines and discipline, is growing more widespread +and earnest. +</p> + +<p> +Since 1879, when the eleventh revised edition +was given to the public, there have been thirty-five +editions, and the number of copies sold reaches +nearly a quarter of a million. +</p> + +<p> +This desire to understand the teachings of the +Church of our Fathers is not confined to our own +country. It is manifest in other lands, as shown +by the translations that have been made of this +exposition of Catholic belief into French, German, +Spanish, Italian, Norwegian and Swedish. +</p> + +<p> +In the hope that they will add to the usefulness +of the book, several passages upon doctrinal subjects +have been inserted. +</p> + +<p> +With these few remarks, the forty-seventh edition +of <q>The Faith of Our Fathers</q> is presented +to the sincere and earnest seeker after religious +truth by +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Author</hi><lb/> +<hi rend='italic'>Feast of St. Anselm</hi>, 1895. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="vii"/><anchor id="Pgvii"/> + +<div> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>Preface.</head> + +<p> +The object of this little volume is to present in a +plain and practical form an exposition and vindication +of the principal tenets of the Catholic +Church. It was thought sufficient to devote but a +brief space to such Catholic doctrines and practices +as are happily admitted by Protestants, while +those that are controverted by them are more elaborately +elucidated. +</p> + +<p> +The work was compiled by the author during the +uncertain hours which he could spare from the +more active duties of the ministry. It substantially +embodies the instructions and discourses delivered +by him before mixed congregations in Virginia +and North Carolina. +</p> + +<p> +He has often felt that the salutary influence of +such instructions, especially on the occasion of a +mission in the rural districts, would be much augmented +if they were supplemented by books or +tracts circulated among the people, and which +could be read and pondered at leisure. +</p> + +<p> +As his chief aim has been to bring home the +truths of the Catholic faith to our separated +brethren, who generally accept the Scripture as +the only source of authority in religious matters, +he has endeavored to fortify his statements by +abundant reference to the sacred text. He has +thought proper, however, to add frequent quotations +from the early Fathers, whose testimony, at +least as witnesses of the faith of their times, must +<pb n="viii"/><anchor id="Pgviii"/> +be accepted even by those who call in question +their personal authority. +</p> + +<p> +Though the writer has sought to be exact in all +his assertions, an occasional inaccuracy may have +inadvertently crept in. Any emendations which +the venerated Prelates or Clergy may deign to +propose will be gratefully attended to in a subsequent +edition. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Richmond</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>November</hi> 21st, 1876. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>Preface To Eighty-Third Revised Edition.</head> + +<p> +The new edition of <q>The Faith of Our Fathers</q> +has been carefully revised, and enriched with several +pages of important matter. +</p> + +<p> +It is gratifying to note that since the first edition +appeared, in 1876, up to the present time, fourteen +hundred thousand copies have been published, and +the circulation of the book is constantly increasing. +</p> + +<p> +The work has also been translated into nearly +all the languages of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Baltimore</hi>,<lb/> +<hi rend='italic'>May</hi> 1st, 1917. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="xi"/><anchor id="Pgxi"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index="toc"/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>Introduction.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>My Dear Reader</hi>:—Perhaps this is the first time +in your life that you have handled a book in which +the doctrines of the Catholic Church are expounded +by one of her own sons. You have, no +doubt, heard and read many things regarding our +Church; but has not your information come from +teachers justly liable to suspicion? You asked for +bread, and they gave you a stone. You asked for +fish, and they reached you a serpent. Instead of the +bread of truth, they extended to you the serpent of +falsehood. Hence, without intending to be unjust, +is not your mind biased against us because +you listened to false witnesses? This, at least, is +the case with thousands of my countrymen whom +I have met in the brief course of my missionary +career. The Catholic Church is persistently misrepresented +by the most powerful vehicles of information. +</p> + +<p> +She is assailed in romances of the stamp of Maria +Monk, and in pictorial papers. It is true that the +falsehood of those illustrated periodicals has been +fully exposed. But the antidote often comes too +late to counteract the poison. I have seen a picture +representing Columbus trying to demonstrate the +practicability of his design to discover a new Continent +before certain monks who are shaking their +fists and gnashing their teeth at him. It matters +not to the artist that Columbus could probably +never have undertaken his voyage and discovery, +as the explorer himself avows, were it not for the +benevolent zeal of the monks, Antonio de Marchena +and Juan Perez, and other ecclesiastics, as +well as for the munificence of Queen Isabella and +the Spanish Court. +</p> + +<pb n="xii"/><anchor id="Pgxii"/> + +<p> +The Church is misrepresented in so-called Histories +like Foxe's Book of Martyrs. It is true that +he has been successfully refuted by Lingard and +Gairdner. But, how many have read the fictitious +narratives of Foxe, who have never perused a page +of Lingard or Gairdner? In a large portion of +the press, and in pamphlets, and especially in the +pulpit, which should be consecrated to truth and +charity, she is the victim of the foulest slanders. +Upon her fair and heavenly brow her enemies put +a hideous mask, and in that guise they exhibit her +to the insults and mockery of the public; just as +Jesus, her Spouse, was treated when, clothed with +a scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, He was +mocked by a thoughtless rabble. +</p> + +<p> +They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>Truth has such a face and such a mien,</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>As to be loved needs only to be seen.</q><note place='foot'>Dryden, +<hi rend='italic'>Hind and Panther</hi>.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the following +to take place between a Protestant Minister +and a convert to the Catholic Church: +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Minister</hi>.—You cannot deny that the Roman +Catholic Church teaches gross errors—the worship +of images, for instance. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Convert</hi>.—I admit no such charge, for I have +been taught no such doctrines. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Minister</hi>.—But the Priest who instructed you +did not teach you all. He held back some points +which he knew would be objectionable to you. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Convert</hi>.—He withheld nothing; for I am in +possession of books treating fully of all Catholic +doctrines. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Minister</hi>.—Deluded soul! Don't you know that +in Europe they are taught differently? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Convert</hi>.—That cannot be, for the Church +teaches the same creed all over the world, and +<pb n="xiii"/><anchor id="Pgxiii"/> +most of the doctrinal books which I read, were +originally published in Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Yet ministers who make these slanderous statements +are surprised if we feel indignant, and accuse +us of being too sensitive. We have been vilified +so long, that they think we have no right to +complain. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot exaggerate the offense of those who +thus wilfully malign the Church. There is a commandment +which says: <q>Thou shalt not bear +false witness against thy neighbor.</q> +</p> + +<p> +If it is a sin to bear false testimony against one +individual, how can we characterize the crime of +those who calumniate three hundred millions of +human beings, by attributing to them doctrines +and practices which they repudiate and abhor. I +do not wonder that the Church is hated by those +who learn what she is from her enemies. It is +natural for an honest man to loathe an institution +whose history he believes to be marked by bloodshed, +crime and fraud. +</p> + +<p> +Had I been educated as they were, and surrounded +by an atmosphere hostile to the Church, +perhaps I should be unfortunate enough to be +breathing vengeance against her today, instead of +consecrating my life to her defence. +</p> + +<p> +It is not of their hostility that I complain, but +because the judgment they have formed of her is +based upon the reckless assertions of her enemies, +and not upon those of impartial witnesses. +</p> + +<p> +Suppose that I wanted to obtain a correct estimate +of the Southern people, would it be fair in me +to select, as my only sources of information, certain +Northern and Eastern periodicals which, +during our Civil War, were bitterly opposed to +the race and institutions of the South? Those +papers have represented you as men who always +<pb n="xiv"/><anchor id="Pgxiv"/> +appeal to the sword and pistol, instead of the law, +to vindicate your private grievances. They heaped +accusations against you which I will not here repeat. +Instead of taking these publications as the +basis of my information, it was my duty to come +among you; to live with you; to read your life by +studying your public and private character. This +I have done, and I here cheerfully bear witness to +your many excellent traits of mind and heart. +</p> + +<p> +Now I ask you to give to the Catholic Church +the same measure of fairness which you reasonably +demand of me when judging of Southern +character. Ask not her enemies what she is, for +they are blinded by passion; ask not her ungrateful, +renegade children, for you never heard a son +speaking well of the mother whom he had abandoned +and despised. +</p> + +<p> +Study her history in the pages of truth. Examine +her creed. Read her authorized catechisms +and doctrinal books. You will find them everywhere +on the shelves of booksellers, in the libraries +of her clergy, on the tables of Catholic families. +</p> + +<p> +There is no Freemasonry in the Catholic +Church; she has no secrets to keep back. She has +not one set of doctrines for Bishops and Priests, +and another for the laity. She has not one creed +for the initiated and another for outsiders. Everything +in the Catholic Church is open and above +board. She has the same doctrines for all—for +the Pope and the peasant. +</p> + +<p> +Should not I be better qualified to present to you +the Church's creed than the unfriendly witnesses +whom I have mentioned? +</p> + +<p> +I have imbibed her doctrine with my mother's +milk. I have made her history and theology the +study of my life. What motive can I have in misleading +you? Not temporal reward, since I seek +<pb n="xv"/><anchor id="Pgxv"/> +not your money, but your soul, for which Jesus +Christ died. I could not hope for an eternal reward +by deceiving you, for I would thereby purchase +for myself eternal condemnation by gaining +proselytes at the expense of truth. +</p> + +<p> +This, friendly reader, is my only motive. I feel +in the depth of my heart that, in possessing Catholic +faith, I hold a treasure compared with which all +things earthly are but dross. Instead of wishing +to bury this treasure in my breast, I long to share +it with you, especially as I lose no part of my +spiritual riches by communicating them to others. +</p> + +<p> +It is to me a duty and a labor of love to speak +the truth concerning my venerable Mother, so +much maligned in our days. Were a tithe of the +accusations which are brought against her true, I +would not be attached to her ministry, nor even to +her communion, for a single day. I know these +charges to be false. The longer I know her, the +more I admire and venerate her. Every day she +develops before me new spiritual charms. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! my dear friend, if you saw her as her children +see her, she would no longer appear to you as +typified by the woman of Babylon. She would be +revealed to you, <q>Bright as the sun, fair as the +moon;</q> with the beauty of Heaven stamped upon +her brow, glorious <q>as an army in battle array.</q> +You would love her, you would cling to her and +embrace her. With her children, you would rise +up in reverence <q>and call her blessed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Consider what you lose and what you gain in +embracing the Catholic religion. +</p> + +<p> +Your loss is nothing in comparison with your +gain. You do not surrender your manhood or +your dignity or independence or reasoning powers. +You give up none of those revealed truths which +you may possess already. The only restraint imposed +<pb n="xvi"/><anchor id="Pgxvi"/> +upon you is the restraint of the Gospel, and +to this you will not reasonably object. +</p> + +<p> +You gain everything that is worth having. You +acquire a full and connected knowledge of God's +revelation. You get possession of the whole truth +as it is in Jesus. You no longer see it in fragments, +but reflected before you in all its beauty, as +in a polished mirror. While others are outside +criticising the architecture of the temple, you are +inside worshiping the divine Architect and saying +devoutly with the Psalmist: <q>I have loved O Lord, +the beauty of Thy house and the place where Thy +glory dwelleth.</q> While others from without find +in the stained-glass windows only blurred and confused +figures without symmetry or attraction or +meaning, you from within, are gazing with silent +rapture on God's glorified saints, with their outlines +clearly defined on the windows, and all illuminated +with the sunlight of heaven. Your knowledge +of the truth is not only complete and harmonious, +but it becomes fixed and steady. You +exchange opinion for certainty. You are no longer +<q>tossed about by every wind of doctrine,</q> but you +are firmly grounded on the rock of truth. Then +you enjoy that profound peace which springs from +the conscious possession of the truth. +</p> + +<p> +In coming to the Church, you are not entering a +strange place, but you are returning to your +Father's home. The house and furniture may +look odd to you, but it is just the same as your +forefathers left it three hundred years ago. In +coming back to the Church, you worship where +your fathers worshiped before you, you kneel before +the altar at which they knelt, you receive the +Sacraments which they received, and respect the +authority of the clergy whom they venerated. You +come back like the Prodigal Son to the home of +<pb n="xvii"/><anchor id="Pgxvii"/> +your father and mother. The garment of joy is +placed upon you, the banquet of love is set before +you, and you receive the kiss of peace as a pledge +of your filiation and adoption. One hearty embrace +of your tender Mother will compensate you +for all the sacrifices you may have made, and you +will exclaim with the penitent Augustine: <q>Too +late have I known thee, O Beauty, ever ancient and +ever new, too late have I loved thee.</q> Should the +perusal of this book bring one soul to the knowledge +of the Church, my labor will be amply rewarded. +</p> + +<p> +Remember that nothing is so essential as the salvation +of your immortal soul, <q>for what doth it +profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose +his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange +for his soul?</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. 26.</note> Let not, therefore, the +fear of offending friends and relatives, the persecution +of men, the loss of earthly possessions, nor +any other temporal calamity, deter you from investigating +and embracing the true religion. <q>For +our present tribulation, which is momentary and +light, worketh for us above measure exceedingly +an eternal weight of glory.</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. iv. 17.</note> +</p> + +<p> +May God give you light to see the truth, and, +having seen it, may He give you courage and +strength to follow it! +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="001"/><anchor id="Pg001"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter I. The Blessed Trinity, The Incarnation, Etc.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter I.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter I.</head> +<head>The Blessed Trinity, The Incarnation, Etc.</head> + +<p> +The Catholic Church teaches that there is but +one God, who is infinite in knowledge, in +power, in goodness, and in every other perfection; +who created all things by His omnipotence, +and governs them by His Providence. +</p> + +<p> +In this one God there are three distinct Persons,—the +Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who +are perfectly equal to each other. +</p> + +<p> +We believe that Jesus Christ, the Second Person +of the Blessed Trinity, is perfect God and perfect +Man. He is God, for He <q>is over all things, +God blessed forever.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. ix. 5.</note> +<q>He is God of the substance +of the Father, begotten before time; and +He is Man of the substance of His Mother, born in +time.</q><note place='foot'>Athanasian +Creed.</note> Out of love for us, and in order to rescue +us from the miseries entailed upon us by the disobedience +of our first parents, the Divine Word +descended from heaven, and became Man in the +womb of the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the +Holy Ghost. He was born on Christmas day, in +a stable at Bethlehem. +</p> + +<p> +After having led a life of obscurity for about +thirty years, chiefly at Nazareth, He commenced +<pb n="002"/><anchor id="Pg002"/> +His public career. He associated with Him a +number of men who are named Apostles, whom +He instructed in the doctrines of the religion which +He established. +</p> + +<p> +For three years He went about doing good, +giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healing +all kinds of diseases, raising the dead to life, +and preaching throughout Judea the new Gospel +of peace.<note place='foot'>Matt. xi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +On Good Friday He was crucified on Mount Calvary, +and thus purchased for us redemption by +His death. Hence Jesus exclusively bears the +titles of <hi rend='italic'>Savior</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Redeemer</hi>, +because <q>there is +no other name under heaven given to men whereby +we must be saved.</q><note place='foot'>Acts iv. 12.</note> +<q>He was wounded for our +iniquities; He was bruised for our sins, ... and +by His bruises we are healed.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah liii. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We are commanded by Jesus, suffering and dying +for us, to imitate Him by the crucifixion of our +flesh, and by acts of daily mortification. <q>If anyone,</q> +He says, <q>will come after Me, let him deny +himself, and take up his cross daily and follow +Me.</q><note place='foot'>Luke ix. 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Hence we abstain from the use of flesh meat on +Friday—the day consecrated to our Savior's sufferings—not +because the eating of flesh meat is +sinful in itself, but as an act of salutary mortification. +Loving children would be prompted by filial +tenderness to commemorate the anniversary of +their father's death rather by prayer and fasting +than by feasting. Even so we abstain on Fridays +from flesh meat that we may in a small measure +testify our practical sympathy for our dear Lord +by the mortification of our body, endeavoring, like +St. Paul, <q>to bear about in our body the mortification +<pb n="003"/><anchor id="Pg003"/> +of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be +made manifest in our bodies.</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. iv. 10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Cross is held in the highest reverence by +Catholics, because it was the instrument of our +Savior's crucifixion. It surmounts our churches +and adorns our sanctuaries. We venerate it as +the emblem of our salvation. <q>Far be it from +me,</q> says the Apostle, <q>to glory save in the cross +of our Lord Jesus Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. +vi. 14.</note> We do not, of +course, attach any intrinsic virtue to the Cross; +this would be sinful and idolatrous. Our veneration +is referred to Him who died upon it. +</p> + +<p> +It is also a very ancient and pious practice for +the faithful to make on their person the sign of the +Cross, saying at the same time: <q>In the name of +the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost.</q> Tertullian, who lived in the second century +of the Christian era, says: <q>In all our actions, +when we come in or go out, when we dress, +when we wash, at our meals, before retiring to +sleep, ... we form on our foreheads the sign of +the cross. These practices are not commanded by +a formal law of Scripture; but tradition teaches +them, custom confirms them, faith observes +them.</q><note place='foot'>De Corona, C. +iii.</note> By the sign of the cross we make a profession +of our faith in the Trinity and the Incarnation, +and perform a most salutary act of religion. +</p> + +<p> +We believe that on Easter Sunday Jesus Christ +manifested His divine power by raising Himself to +life, and that having spent forty days on earth, +after His resurrection, instructing His disciples, +He ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. +</p> + +<p> +On the Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsunday, ten +days after His Ascension, our Savior sent, as He +had promised, His Holy Spirit to His disciples, +while they were assembled together in prayer. +<pb n="004"/><anchor id="Pg004"/> +The Holy Ghost purified their hearts from sin, and +imparted to them a full knowledge of those doctrines +of salvation which they were instructed to +preach. On the same Feast of Pentecost the +Apostles commenced their sublime mission, from +which day, accordingly, we date the active life of +the Catholic Church. +</p> + +<p> +Our Redeemer gave the most ample authority +to the Apostles to teach in His name; commanding +them to <q>preach the Gospel to every creature,</q><note place='foot'>Mark +xvi. 15.</note> +and directing all, under the most severe penalties, +to hear and obey them: <q>He that heareth you, +heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth +Me. And He that despiseth Me, despiseth Him +that sent Me.</q><note place='foot'>Luke x. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And lest we should be mistaken in distinguishing +between the true Church and false sects, which +our Lord predicted would arise, He was pleased +to stamp upon His Church certain shining marks, +by which every sincere inquirer could easily +recognize her as His only Spouse. The principal +marks or characteristics of the true Church are, +her Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity,<note place='foot'>Symb. +Constantinop.</note> +to which may be added the Infallibility of her +teaching and the Perpetuity of her existence. +</p> + +<p> +I shall treat successively of these marks. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="005"/><anchor id="Pg005"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter II. The Unity Of The Church.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter II.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter II.</head> +<head>The Unity Of The Church.</head> + +<p> +By unity is meant that the members of the true +Church must be united in the belief of the +same doctrines of revelation, and in the acknowledgment +of the authority of the same pastors. +Heresy and schism are opposed to Christian +unity. By heresy, a man rejects one or more articles +of the Christian faith. By schism, he spurns +the authority of his spiritual superiors. That our +Savior requires this unity of faith and government +in His members is evident from various +passages of Holy Writ. In His admirable prayer +immediately before His passion He says: <q>I pray +for them also who through their word shall believe +in Me; that they all may be one, as Thou, +Father, in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be +one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou +hast sent Me,</q><note place='foot'>John xvii. +20, 21.</note> because the unity of the Church +is the most luminous evidence of the Divine mission +of Christ. Jesus prayed that His followers +may be united in the bond of a common faith, as +He and His Father are united in essence, and certainly +the prayer of Jesus is always heard. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul ranks schism and heresy with the +crimes of murder and idolatry, and he declares +that the authors of sects shall not possess the Kingdom +<pb n="006"/><anchor id="Pg006"/> +of God.<note place='foot'>Gal. v. 20, +21.</note> He also addresses a letter to the +Ephesians from his prison in Rome, and if the +words of the Apostle should always command our +homage, with how much reverence are they to be +received when he writes in chains from the Imperial +City! In this Epistle he insists upon unity of +faith in the following emphatic language: <q>Be +careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the +bond of peace; one body and one Spirit, as you +are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, +one faith, one baptism, one God and Father +of all, who is above all, and through all, and +in us all.</q><note place='foot'>Ephes. iv. +3-6.</note> As you all, he says, worship one +God, and not many gods; as you acknowledge the +same Divine Mediator of redemption, and not +many mediators; as you are sanctified by the same +Divine Spirit, and not by many spirits; as you all +hope for the same heaven, and not different +heavens, so must you all profess the same faith. +</p> + +<p> +Unity of government is not less essential to the +Church of Christ than unity of doctrine. Our +Divine Saviour never speaks of His Churches, but +of His <emph>Church</emph>. He does not say: <q>Upon this rock +I will build my Churches,</q> but <q>upon this rock I +will build My Church,</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. +18.</note> from which words we +must conclude that it never was His intention to +establish or to sanction various conflicting denominations, +but one corporate body, with all the members +united under one visible Head; for as the +Church is a visible body, it must have a visible +head. +</p> + +<p> +The Church is called a kingdom: <q>He shall +reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His +kingdom there shall be no end.</q><note place='foot'>Luke +i. 32, 33.</note> Now in every +well-regulated kingdom there is but <hi rend='italic'>one king, one +form of government, one uniform body of laws</hi>, +<pb n="007"/><anchor id="Pg007"/> +which all are obliged to observe. In like manner, +in Christ's spiritual kingdom, there must be one +Chief to whom all owe spiritual allegiance; one +form of ecclesiastical government; one uniform +body of laws which all Christians are bound to observe; +for, <q>every kingdom divided against itself +shall be made desolate.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xii. 25.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior calls His Church a sheepfold. <q>And +there shall be made one fold and one shepherd.</q><note place='foot'>John x. 16.</note> +What more beautiful or fitting illustration +of unity can we have than that which is suggested +by a sheepfold? All the sheep of a flock +cling together. If they are momentarily separated, +they are impatient till reunited. They follow in +the same path. They feed on the same pastures. +They obey the same shepherd, and fly from the +voice of strangers. So did our Lord intend that +all the sheep of His fold should be nourished by +the same sacraments and the same bread of life; +that they should follow the same rule of faith as +their guide to heaven; that they should listen to +the voice of one Chief Pastor, and that they should +carefully shun false teachers. +</p> + +<p> +His Church is compared to a human body. <q>As +in one body we have many members, but all the +members have not the same office; so we, being +many, are one body in Christ, and every one members +one of the other.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. xii. 4, +5.</note> In one body there are +many members, all inseparably connected with the +head. The head commands and the foot instantly +moves, the hand is raised and the lips open. Even +so our Lord ordained that His Church, composed +of many members, should be all united to one +supreme visible Head, whom they are bound to +obey. +</p> + +<pb n="008"/><anchor id="Pg008"/> + +<p> +The Church is compared to a vine. <q>I am the +Vine, ye the branches; he that abideth in Me and I +in him, the same beareth much fruit, for without +Me ye can do nothing.</q><note place='foot'>John xv. +5.</note> All the branches of a +vine, though spreading far and wide, are necessarily +connected with the main stem, and from its +sap they are nourished. In like manner, our +Saviour will have all the saplings of His Vineyard +connected with the main stem, and all draw their +nourishment from the parent stock. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, in fine, is called in Scripture by the +beautiful title of bride or spouse of Christ,<note place='foot'>Apoc. +xxi. 9.</note> and +the Christian law admits only of one wife. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, our common sense alone, apart from +revelation, is sufficient to convince us that God +could not be the author of various opposing systems +of religion. God is essentially one. He is +Truth itself. How could the God of truth affirm, +for instance, to one body of Christians that there +are three persons in God, and to another there is +only one person in God? How could He say to +one individual that Jesus Christ is God, and to +another that He is only man? How can He tell me +that the punishments of the wicked are eternal, +and tell another that they are not eternal? One of +these contradictory statements must be false. +<q>God is not the God of dissension, but of peace.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. xiv. 33.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I see perfect harmony in the laws which govern +the physical world that we inhabit. I see a marvelous +unity in our planetary system. Each +planet moves in its own sphere, and all are controlled +by the central Sun. +</p> + +<p> +Why should there not be also harmony and concord +in that spiritual world, the Church of God, +the grandest conception of His omnipotence, and +the most bounteous manifestation of His goodness +and love for mankind! +</p> + +<pb n="009"/><anchor id="Pg009"/> + +<p> +Hence, it is clear that Jesus Christ intended that +His Church should have one common doctrine +which all Christians are bound to believe, and one +uniform government to which all should be loyally +attached. +</p> + +<p> +With all due respect for my dissenting brethren, +truth compels me to say that this unity of doctrine +and government is not to be found in the Protestant +sects, taken collectively or separately. That +the various Protestant denominations differ from +one another not only in minor details, but in most +essential principles of faith, is evident to every one +conversant with the doctrines of the different +Creeds. The multiplicity of sects in this country, +with their mutual recriminations, is the scandal of +Christianity, and the greatest obstacle to the conversion +of the heathen. Not only does sect differ +from sect, but each particular denomination is +divided into two or more independent or conflicting +branches. +</p> + +<p> +In the State of North Carolina we have several +Baptist denominations, each having its own distinctive +appellation. There is also the Methodist +Church North and the Methodist Church South. +There was the Old and the New School Presbyterian +Church. And even in the Episcopal Communion, +which is the most conservative body outside +the Catholic Church, there is the ritualistic, +or high church, and the low church. Nay, if you +question closely the individual members composing +any one fraction of these denominations, you +will not rarely find them giving a contradictory +view of their tenets of religion. +</p> + +<p> +Protestants differ from one another not only in +doctrine, but in the form of ecclesiastical government +and discipline. The church of England acknowledges +the reigning Sovereign as its Spiritual +<pb n="010"/><anchor id="Pg010"/> +Head. Some denominations recognize Deacons, +Priests, and Bishops as an essential part of their +hierarchy; while the great majority of Protestants +reject such titles altogether. +</p> + +<p> +Where, then, shall we find this essential unity of +faith and government? I answer, confidently, nowhere +save in the Catholic Church. +</p> + +<p> +The number of Catholics in the world is computed +at three hundred millions. They have +all <q>one Lord, one faith, one baptism,</q> one +creed. They receive the same sacraments, they +worship at the same altar, and pay spiritual allegiance +to one common Head. Should a Catholic +be so unfortunate as contumaciously to deny a +single article of faith, or withdraw from the communion +of his legitimate pastors, he ceases to be a +member of the Church, and is cut off like a +withered branch. The Church had rather sever +her right hand than allow any member to corrode +her vitals. It was thus she excommunicated Henry +VIII. because he persisted in violating the sacred +law of marriage, although she foresaw that the +lustful monarch would involve a nation in his +spiritual ruin. She anathematized, more recently, +Dr. Döllinger, though the prestige of his name +threatened to engender a schism in Germany. She +says to her children: <q>You may espouse any +political party you choose; with this I have no concern.</q> +But as soon as they trench on matters of +faith she cries out: <q>Hitherto thou shalt come, +and shalt go no farther; and here thou shalt break +thy swelling waves</q><note place='foot'>Job xxxviii. +11.</note> of discord. The temple of +faith is the asylum of peace, concord and unity. +</p> + +<p> +How sublime and consoling is the thought that +whithersoever a Catholic goes over the broad +world, whether he enters his Church in Pekin or in +<pb n="011"/><anchor id="Pg011"/> +Melbourne, in London, or Dublin, or Paris, or +Rome, or New York, or San Francisco, he is sure +to hear the self-same doctrine preached, to assist +at the same sacrifice, and to partake of the same +sacraments. +</p> + +<p> +This is not all. Her Creed is now identical with +what it was in past ages. The same Gospel of +peace that Jesus Christ preached on the Mount; +the same doctrine that St. Peter preached at Antioch +and Rome; St. Paul at Ephesus; St. John +Chrysostom at Constantinople; St. Augustine in +Hippo; St. Ambrose in Milan; St. Remigius in +France; St. Boniface in Germany; St. Athanasius +in Alexandria; the same doctrine that St. Patrick +introduced into Ireland; that St. Augustine +brought into England, and St. Pelagius into Scotland, +and that Columbus brought to this American +Continent, and this is the doctrine that is ever +preached in the Catholic Church throughout the +globe, from January till December—<q>Jesus Christ +yesterday, and today, and the same forever.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. xiii. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The same admirable unity that exists in matters +of faith is also established in the government of +the Church. All the members of the vast body of +Catholic Christians are as intimately united to one +visible Chief as the members of the human body +are joined to the head. The faithful of each Parish +are subject to their immediate Pastor. Each Pastor +is subordinate to his Bishop, and each Bishop +of Christendom acknowledges the jurisdiction of +the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, +and Head of the Catholic Church. +</p> + +<p> +But it may be asked, is not this unity of faith +impaired by those doctrinal definitions which the +Church has promulgated from time to time? We +answer: No new dogma, unknown to the Apostles, +<pb n="012"/><anchor id="Pg012"/> +not contained in the primitive Christian revelation, +can be admitted. (John xiv. 26; xv. 15; xvi. 13.) +For the Apostles received the whole deposit of +God's word, according to the promise of our Lord: +<q>When He shall come, the Spirit of truth, He +shall teach you all truth.</q> And so the Church +proposes the doctrines of faith, such as came +from the lips of Christ, and as the Holy Spirit +taught them to the Apostles at the birth of the +Christian law—doctrines which know neither +variation nor decay. +</p> + +<p> +Hence, whenever it has been defined that any +point of doctrine pertained to the Catholic faith, it +was always understood that this was equivalent to +the declaration that the doctrine in question had +been revealed to the Apostles, and had come down +to us from them, either by Scripture or tradition. +And as the acts of all the Councils, and the history +of every definition of faith evidently show, it was +never contended that a <emph>new revelation</emph> had been +made, but every inquiry was directed to this one +point—whether the doctrine in question was contained +in the Sacred Scriptures or in the Apostolic +traditions. +</p> + +<p> +A revealed truth frequently has a very extensive +scope, and is directed against error under its many +changing forms. Nor is it necessary that those +who receive this revelation in the first instance +should be explicitly acquainted with its full import, +or cognizant of all its bearings. Truth never +changes; it is the same now, yesterday, and forever, +<emph>in itself</emph>; but our relations towards truth may +change, for that which is hidden from us today +may become known to us tomorrow. <q>It often +happens,</q> says St. Augustine, <q>that when it becomes +necessary to defend certain points of Catholic +doctrine against the insidious attacks of +<pb n="013"/><anchor id="Pg013"/> +heretics they are more carefully studied, they become +<emph>more clearly understood</emph>, they are <emph>more +earnestly inculcated</emph>; and so the very questions +raised by heretics give occasion to a more thorough +knowledge of the subject in question.</q><note place='foot'>De +Civitate Dei, Lib. 16, Cap. ii., No. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Let us illustrate this. In the Apostolic revelation +and preaching some truths might have been +contained <emph>implicitly</emph>, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in the doctrine that +grace is necessary for every salutary work, it is +implicitly asserted that the assistance of grace is +required for the inception of every good and salutary +work. This was denied by the semi-Pelagians, +and their error was condemned by an explicit +definition. And so in other matters, as the rising +controversies or new errors gave occasion for it, +there were more <emph>explicit</emph> declarations of what was +formerly <emph>implicitly</emph> believed. In the doctrine of +the supreme power of Peter, as the visible foundation +of the Church, we have the <emph>implied</emph> assertion +of many rights and duties which belong to the +centre of unity. In the revelation of the super-eminent +dignity and purity of the Blessed Virgin +there is implied her exemption from original sin, +etc., etc. +</p> + +<p> +So, too, in the beginning many truths might have +been proposed somewhat <emph>obscurely</emph> or <emph>less clearly</emph>; +they might have been <emph>less urgently insisted upon</emph>, +because there was no heresy, no contrary teaching +to render a more explicit declaration necessary. +Now, a doctrine which is <emph>implicitly, less clearly, +not so earnestly</emph> proposed, may be overlooked, misunderstood, +called in question; consequently, it +may happen that some articles are now universally +believed in the Church, in regard to which doubts +and controversies existed in former ages, even +within the bosom of the Church. <q>Those who err +<pb n="014"/><anchor id="Pg014"/> +in belief do but serve to bring out more clearly the +soundness of those who believe rightly. For there +are many things which <emph>lay hidden in the Scriptures</emph>, +and when heretics were cut off they vexed +the Church of God with disputes; then the hidden +things were <emph>brought to light</emph>, and the will of God +was made known.</q> (St. Augustine on the 54th +Psalm, No. 22.) +</p> + +<p> +This kind of <emph>progress in faith</emph> we can and do +admit; but the truth is not changed thereby. As +Albertus Magnus says: <q>It would be more correct +to style this the progress of the believer in the +faith than of the faith in the believer.</q> +</p> + +<p> +To show that this kind of progress is to be admitted +only two things are to be proved: 1: That +some divinely revealed truths should be contained +in the Apostolic teaching <emph>implicitly, less clearly +explained, less urgently pressed</emph>. And this can be +denied only by those who hold that the Bible is the +only rule of Faith, that it is clear in every part, +and could be readily understood by all from the +beginning. This point I shall consider farther on +in this work. 2. That the Church can, in process +of time, as occasions arise, <emph>declare, explain, urge</emph>. +This is proved not only from the Scriptures and +the Fathers, but even from the conduct of Protestants +themselves, who often boast of the care +and assiduity with which they <q>search the Scriptures,</q> +and study out their meaning, even now +that so many Commentaries on the sacred Text +have been published. And why? To obtain more +light; to understand better what is revealed. It +would appear from this that the only question +which could arise on this point is, not about the +possibility of arriving by degrees at a clearer understanding +of the true sense of revelation, as circumstances +may call for successive developments, +<pb n="015"/><anchor id="Pg015"/> +but about the authority of the Church to propose +and to determine that sense. So that, after all, +we are always brought back to the only real point +of division and dispute between those who are not +Catholics and ourselves, namely, to the authority +of the Church, of which I shall have more to say +hereafter. I cannot conclude better than by quoting +the words of St. Vincent of Lerins: <q>Let us +take care that it be with us in matters of religion, +which affect our souls, as it is with material bodies, +which, as time goes on, pass through successive +phases of growth and development and multiply +their years, but yet remain always the same individual +bodies as they were in the beginning.... +It very properly follows from the nature of things +that, with a perfect agreement and consistency between +the beginnings and the final results, when +we reap the harvest of dogmatic truth which has +sprung from the seeds of doctrine sown in the +spring-time of the Church's existence, we should +find no substantial difference between the grain +which was first planted and that which we now +gather. For though the germs of the early faith +have in some respects been evolved in the course +of time, and still receive nourishment and culture, +yet nothing in them that is substantial can ever +suffer change. The Church of Christ is a faithful +and ever watchful guardian of the dogmas which +have been committed to her charge. In this sacred +deposit she changes nothing, she takes nothing +from it, she adds nothing to it.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="016"/><anchor id="Pg016"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter III. The Holiness Of The Church.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter III.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter III.</head> +<head>The Holiness Of The Church.</head> + +<p> +Holiness is also a mark of the true Church; +for in the Creed we say, <q>I believe in the +<emph>holy</emph> Catholic Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Every society is founded for a special object. +One society is formed with the view of cultivating +social intercourse among its members; a second is +organized to advance their temporal interests; and +a third for the purpose of promoting literary pursuits. +The Catholic Church is a society founded +by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sanctification of +its members; hence, St. Peter calls the Christians +of his time <q>a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +<emph>a holy nation</emph>, a purchased people.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Pet. ii. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The example of our Divine Founder, Jesus +Christ, the sublime moral lessons He has taught +us, the Sacraments He has instituted—all tend to +our sanctification. They all concentre themselves +in our soul, like so many heavenly rays, to enlighten +and inflame it with the fire of devotion. +</p> + +<p> +When the Church speaks to us of the attributes +of our Lord, of His justice and mercy and sanctity +and truth, her object is not merely to extol the +Divine perfections, but also to exhort us to imitate +them, and to be like Him, just and merciful, holy +and truthful. Behold the sublime Model that is +placed before us! It is not man, nor angel, nor +<pb n="017"/><anchor id="Pg017"/> +archangel, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, <q>who +is the brightness of His glory, and the figure of +His substance.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. i. +3.</note> The Church places His image +over our altars, admonishing us to <q>look and do +according to the pattern shown on the Mount.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. +xxv. 40.</note> And from that height He seems to say to us: <q>Be +ye holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.</q><note place='foot'>Lev. +xix. 2.</note> <q>Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is +perfect.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. v. 48.</note> +<q>Be ye followers of God as most dear +children.</q><note place='foot'>Eph. v. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We are invited to lead holy lives, not only because +our Divine Founder, Jesus Christ, was holy, +but also because we bear His sweet and venerable +name. We are called <hi rend='italic'>Christians</hi>. That is a name +we would not exchange for all the high-sounding +titles of Prince or Emperor. We are justly proud +of this appellation of <hi rend='italic'>Christian</hi>; but we are reminded +that it has annexed to it a corresponding +obligation. It is not an idle name, but one full of +solemn significance; for a Christian, as the very +name implies, is a follower or disciple of Christ—one +who walks in the footsteps of his Master by +observing His precepts; who reproduces in his +own life the character and virtues of his Divine +Model. In a word, a Christian is another Christ. +It would, therefore, be a contradiction in terms, if +a Christian had nothing in common with his Lord +except the name. The disciple should imitate his +Master, the soldier should imitate his Commander, +and the members should be like the Head. +</p> + +<p> +The Church constantly allures her children to +holiness by placing before their minds the Incarnation, +life and death of our Savior. What appeals +more forcibly to a life of piety than the contemplation +of Jesus born in a stable, living an humble life +<pb n="018"/><anchor id="Pg018"/> +in Nazareth, dying on a cross, that His blood might +purify us? If He sent forth Apostles to preach +the Gospel to the whole world; if in His name +temples are built in every nation, and missionaries +are sent to the extremities of the globe, all +this is done that we may be Saints. <q>God,</q> says +St. Paul, <q>gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, +and others Evangelists, and others Pastors and +Doctors, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the +work of the ministry, for the building up of the +body of Christ, until we all meet unto the unity of +faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto +a perfect man.</q><note place='foot'>Ephes. iv. 11, 13.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The moral law which the Catholic Church inculcates +on her children is the highest and holiest +standard of perfection ever presented to any people, +and furnishes the strongest incentives to +virtue. +</p> + +<p> +The same Divine precepts delivered through +Moses to the Jews, on Mount Sinai, the same +salutary warnings which the Prophets uttered +throughout Judea, the same sublime and consoling +lessons of morality which Jesus gave on the +Mount—these are the lessons which the Church +teaches from January till December. The Catholic +preacher does not amuse his audience with +speculative topics or political harangues, or any +other subjects of a transitory nature. He preaches +only <q>Christ, and Him crucified.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This code of Divine precepts is enforced with as +much zeal by the Church as was the Decalogue +of old by Moses, when he said: <q>These words, +which I command thee this day, shall be in thy +heart; and thou shalt tell them to thy children; +and thou shalt meditate upon them, sitting in thy +<pb n="019"/><anchor id="Pg019"/> +house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and +rising.</q><note place='foot'>Deut. vi. 6, 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The first lesson taught to children in our Sunday-schools +is their duty to know, love and serve +God, and thus to be Saints; for if they know, love +and serve God aright they shall be Saints indeed. +Their tender minds are instructed in this great +truth that though they had the riches of Dives, and +the glory and pleasures of Solomon, and yet fail to +be righteous, they have missed their vocation, and +are <q>wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, +and naked.</q><note place='foot'>Apoc. iii. +7.</note> <q>For, what doth it profit a man, if +he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xvi. 26.</note> +On the contrary though they are as poor as Lazarus, +and as miserable as Job in the days of his adversity, +they are assured that their condition is a +happy one in the sight of God, if they live up to +the maxims of the Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +The Church quickens the zeal of her children for +holiness of life by impressing on their minds the +rigor of God's judgments, who <q>will bring to light +the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest +the counsels of the hearts,</q> by reminding them of +the terrors of Hell and of the sweet joys of +Heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Not only are Catholics instructed in church on +Sundays but they are exhorted to peruse the Word +of God, and manuals of devotion, at home. The +saints whose lives are there recorded serve like +bright stars to guide them over the stormy ocean +of life to the shores of eternity; while the history +of those who have fallen from grace stands like a +beacon light, warning them to shun the rocks +against which a Solomon and a Judas made shipwreck +of their souls. +</p> + +<p> +Our books of piety are adapted to every want +<pb n="020"/><anchor id="Pg020"/> +of the human soul, and are a fruitful source of +sanctification. Who can read without spiritual +profit such works as the almost inspired <hi rend='italic'>Following +of Christ</hi> by Thomas à Kempis; the <hi rend='italic'>Christian Perfection</hi> +of Rodriguez; the <hi rend='italic'>Spiritual Combat</hi> of +Scupoli; the writings of St. Francis de Sales, and +a countless host of other ascetical authors? +</p> + +<p> +You will search in vain outside the Catholic +Church for writers comparable in unction and +healthy piety to such as I have mentioned. Compare, +for instance, <hi rend='italic'>Kempis</hi> with <hi rend='italic'>Bunyan's Pilgrim's +Progress</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Butler's Lives of the Saints</hi> +with <hi rend='italic'>Foxe's Book of Martyrs</hi>. You lay down +<hi rend='italic'>Butler</hi> with a sweet and tranquil devotion, and with a +profound admiration for the Christian heroes +whose lives he records; while you put aside <hi rend='italic'>Foxe</hi> +with a troubled mind and a sense of vindictive bitterness. +I do not speak of the <hi rend='italic'>Book of Common +Prayer</hi>, because the best part of it is a translation +from our Missal. Protestants also publish <hi rend='italic'>Kempis</hi>, +though sometimes in a mutilated form; every +passage in the original being carefully omitted +which alludes to Catholic doctrines and practices. +</p> + +<p> +A distinguished Episcopal clergyman of Baltimore +once avowed to me that his favorite books of +devotion were our standard works of piety. In +saying this, he paid a merited and graceful tribute +to the superiority of Catholic spiritual literature. +</p> + +<p> +The Church gives us not only the most pressing +motives, but also the most potent means for our +sanctification. These means are furnished by +prayer and the Sacraments. She exhorts us to +frequent communion with God by prayer and +meditation, and so imperative is this obligation in +our eyes that we would justly hold ourselves +guilty of grave dereliction of duty if we neglected +<pb n="021"/><anchor id="Pg021"/> +for a considerable time the practice of morning +and evening prayer. +</p> + +<p> +The most abundant source of graces is also +found in the seven Sacraments of the Church. Our +soul is bathed in the Precious Blood of Jesus +Christ at the font of Baptism, from which we come +forth <q>new creatures.</q> We are then and there +incorporated with Christ, becoming <q>bone of His +bone and flesh of His flesh;</q> <q>for as many of +you,</q> says the Apostle, <q>as have been baptized in +Christ have put on Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. +iii. 27.</note> And as the Holy +Ghost is inseparable from Christ, our bodies are +made the temples of the Spirit of God and our +souls His Sanctuary. <q>Christ loved the Church +and delivered Himself up for it, that He might +sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water, in +the word of life; that He might present it to Himself +a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, +or any such thing, but that it should be holy and +without blemish.</q><note place='foot'>Eph. v. 25-27.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In Confirmation we receive new graces and new +strength to battle against the temptations of life. +</p> + +<p> +In the Eucharist we are fed with the living +Bread which cometh down from Heaven. +</p> + +<p> +In Penance are washed away the stains we have +contracted after Baptism. +</p> + +<p> +Are we called to the Sacred Ministry, or to the +married state, we find in the Sacraments of Orders +and Matrimony ample graces corresponding with +the condition of life which we have embraced. +</p> + +<p> +And our last illness is consoled by Extreme Unction, +wherein we receive the Divine succor necessary +to fortify and purify us before departing +from this world. +</p> + +<p> +In a word, the Church, like a watchful mother, +<pb n="022"/><anchor id="Pg022"/> +accompanies us from the cradle to the grave, supplying +us at each step with the medicine of life and +immortality. +</p> + +<p> +As the Church offers to her children the strongest +motives and the most powerful means for attaining +to sanctity of life, so does she reap among +them the most abundant fruits of holiness. In +every age and country she is the fruitful mother of +saints. Our Ecclesiastical calendar is not confined +to the names of the twelve Apostles. It is emblazoned +with the lists of heroic Martyrs who +<q>were stoned, and cut asunder, and put to death +by the sword;</q><note place='foot'>Heb. xi. +37.</note> of innumerable Confessors and +Hermits who left all things and followed Christ; of +spotless virgins who preserved their chastity for +the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. Every day in the +year is consecrated in our Martyrology to a large +number of Saints. +</p> + +<p> +And in our own times, in every quarter of the +globe and in every department of life, the Church +continues to raise up Saints worthy of the primitive +days of Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +If we seek for <emph>Apostles</emph>, we find them conspicuously +among the Bishops of Germany, who are +now displaying in prison and in exile a serene +heroism worthy of Peter and Paul. +</p> + +<p> +Every year records the tortures of Catholic +missioners who die <emph>Martyrs</emph> to the Faith in China, +Corea, and other Pagan countries. +</p> + +<p> +Among her <emph>confessors</emph> are numbered those devoted +priests who, abandoning home and family +ties, annually go forth to preach the Gospel in +foreign lands. Their worldly possessions are +often confined to a few books of devotion and their +modest apparel. +</p> + +<p> +And who is a stranger to her consecrated +<pb n="023"/><anchor id="Pg023"/> +<emph>virgins</emph>, those sisters of various Orders who in +every large city of Christendom are daily reclaiming +degraded women from a life of shame, and +bringing them back to the sweet influences of religion; +who snatch the abandoned offspring of sin +from temporal and spiritual death, and make them +pious and useful members of society, becoming +more than mothers to them; who rescue children +from ignorance, and instill into their minds the +knowledge and love of God. +</p> + +<p> +We can point to numberless saints also among +the laity. I dare assert that in almost every congregation +in the Catholic world, men and women +are to be found who exhibit a fervent piety and a +zeal for religion which render them worthy of being +named after the <hi rend='italic'>Annas</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>the Aquilas</hi> and the +<hi rend='italic'>Priscillas</hi> of the New Testament. They attract +not indeed the admiration of the public, because +true piety is unostentatious and seeks a <q>life hidden +with Christ in God.</q><note place='foot'>Coloss. iii. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It must not be imagined that, in proclaiming the +sanctity of the Church, I am attempting to prove +that all Catholics are holy. I am sorry to confess +that corruption of morals is too often found among +professing Catholics. We cannot close our eyes to +the painful fact that too many of them, far from +living up to the teachings of their Church, are +sources of melancholy scandal. <q>It must be that +scandals come, but woe to him by whom the scandal +cometh.</q> I also admit that the sin of Catholics +is more heinous in the sight of God than that of +their separated brethren, because they abuse more +grace. +</p> + +<p> +But it should be borne in mind that neither God +nor His Church forces any man's conscience. To +all He says by the mouth of His Prophet: <q>Behold +<pb n="024"/><anchor id="Pg024"/> +I set before you the way of life and the way +of death.</q> (Jer. xxi. 8.) The choice rests with +yourselves. +</p> + +<p> +It is easy to explain why so many disedifying +members are always found clinging to the robes of +the Church, their spiritual Mother, and why she +never shakes them off nor disowns them as her +children. The Church is animated by the spirit of +her Founder, Jesus Christ. He <q>came into this +world to save sinners.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Tim. i. 15.</note> He <q>came not to call +the just but sinners to repentance.</q> He was the +Friend of Publicans and Sinners that He might +make them the friends of God. And they clung to +Him, knowing His compassion for them. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, walking in the footsteps of her +Divine Spouse, never repudiates sinners nor cuts +them off from her fold, no matter how grievous or +notorious may be their moral delinquencies; not +because she connives at their sin, but because she +wishes to reclaim them. She bids them never to +despair, and tries, at least, to weaken their passions, +if she cannot altogether reform their lives. +</p> + +<p> +Mindful also of the words of our Lord: <q>The +poor have the Gospel preached to them,</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xi. 5.</note> the Church has a tender compassion for the victims of +poverty, which has its train of peculiar temptations +and infirmities. Hence, the poor and the +sinners cling to the Church, as they clung to our +Lord during His mortal life. +</p> + +<p> +We know, on the other hand, that sinners who +are guilty of gross crimes which shock public +decency are virtually excommunicated from Protestant +Communions. And as for the poor, the +public press often complains that little or no provision +is made for them in Protestant Churches. +A gentleman informed me that he never saw a +<pb n="025"/><anchor id="Pg025"/> +poor person enter an Episcopal Church which was +contiguous to his residence. +</p> + +<p> +These excluded sinners and victims of penury +either abandon Christianity altogether, or find +refuge in the bosom of their true Mother, the +Catholic Church, who, like her Divine Spouse, +claims the afflicted as her most cherished inheritance. +The parables descriptive of this Church +which our Lord employed also clearly teach us +that the good and bad shall be joined together in +the Church as long as her earthly mission lasts. +The kingdom of God is like a field in which the +cockle is allowed to grow up with the good seed +until the harvest-time;<note place='foot'>Matt. +xiii. 24-37.</note> it is like a net which encloses +good fish and bad until the hour of separation +comes.<note place='foot'>Ibid. xiii. +47.</note> So, too, the Church is that great +house<note place='foot'>II. Tim. ii. +20.</note> in which there are not only vessels of gold +and silver, but also of wood and clay. +</p> + +<p> +The Fathers repeat the teaching of Scripture. +St. Jerome says: <q>The ark of Noah was a type of +the Church. As every kind of animal was in that, +so in this there are men of every race and character. +As in that were the leopard and the kids, the +wolf and the lambs, so in this there are to be found +the just and the sinful—that is, vessels of gold and +silver along with those of wood and clay.</q><note place='foot'>Dial. +contra Lucif.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Gregory the Great writes: <q>Because in it +(the Church) the good are mingled with the bad, +the reprobate with the elect, it is rightly declared +to be similar to the wise and the foolish virgins.</q><note place='foot'>Hom. +12, in Evang.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Listen to St. Augustine: <q>Let the mind recall +the threshing-floor containing straw and wheat; +the nets in which are inclosed good and bad fish; +the ark of Noah in which were clean and unclean +animals, and you will see that the Church from +<pb n="026"/><anchor id="Pg026"/> +now until the judgment day <emph>contains not only +sheep and oxen</emph>—that is, saintly laymen and holy +ministers—<emph>but also the beasts of the field</emph>.... +For the beasts of the field are men who take delight +in carnal pleasures, <emph>the field being that broad +way which leads to perdition</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>In +Ps. viii., ii. 13.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The occasional scandals existing among members +of the Church do not invalidate or impair her +claim to the title of sanctity. The spots on the sun +do not mar his brightness. Neither do the moral +stains of some members sully the brilliancy of +her <q>who cometh forth as the morning star, fair as +the moon, bright as the sun.</q><note place='foot'>Cant. +vi. 9.</note> The cockle that +grows amidst the wheat does not destroy the +beauty of the ripened harvest. The sanctity of +Jesus was not sullied by the presence of Judas in +the Apostolic College. Neither can the moral corruption +of a few disciples tarnish the holiness of +the Church. St. Paul calls the Church of Corinth +a congregation of Saints,<note place='foot'>I. +Cor. i.</note> though he reproves +some scandalous members among them.<note place='foot'>I. Cor. v.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It cannot be denied that corruption of morals +prevailed in the sixteenth century to such an extent +as to call for a sweeping reformation, and that +laxity of discipline invaded even the sanctuary. +</p> + +<p> +But how was this reformation of morals to be +effected? Was it to be accomplished by a force +operating inside the Church, or outside? I answer +that the proper way of carrying out this reformation +was by battling against iniquity within +the Church; for there was not a single weapon +which men could use in waging war with vice outside +the Church, which they could not wield with +more effective power when fighting under the authority +of the Church. The true weapons of an +<pb n="027"/><anchor id="Pg027"/> +Apostle, at all times, have been personal virtue, +prayer, preaching, and the Sacraments. Every +genuine reformer had those weapons at his disposal +within the Church. +</p> + +<p> +She possesses, at all times, not only the principle +of undying vitality, but, besides, all the elements +of reformation, and all the means of sanctification. +With the weapons I have named she purified +morals in the first century, and with the same +weapons she went to work with a right good will, +and effected a moral reformation in the sixteenth +century. She was the only effectual spiritual reformer +of that age. +</p> + +<p> +What was the Council of Trent but a great reforming +tribunal? Most of its decrees are directed +to the reformation of abuses among the clergy and +the laity, and the salutary fruits of its legislation +are reaped even to this day. +</p> + +<p> +St. Charles Borromeo, the nephew of a reigning +Pope, was the greatest reformer of his time. His +whole Episcopal career was spent in elevating the +morals of his clergy and people. Bartholomew, +Archbishop of Braga, in Portugal, preached an +incessant crusade against iniquity in high and low +places. St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Alphonsus, +with their companions, were conspicuous and successful +reformers throughout Europe. St. Philip +Neri was called the modern Apostle of Rome because +of his happy efforts in dethroning vice in +that city. All these Catholic Apostles preach by +example as well as by word. +</p> + +<p> +How do Luther and Calvin, and Zuinglius and +Knox, and Henry VIII. compare with these +genuine and saintly reformers, both as to their +moral character and the fruit or their labors? +The private lives of these pseudo-reformers were +stained by cruelty, rapine, and licentiousness; and +<pb n="028"/><anchor id="Pg028"/> +as the result of their propagandism, history +records civil wars, and bloodshed, and bitter religious +strife, and the dismemberment of Christianity +into a thousand sects. +</p> + +<p> +Instead of co-operating with the lawful authorities +in extinguishing the flames which the passions +of men had enkindled in the city of God, these +faithless citizens fly from the citadel which they +had vowed to defend; then joining the enemy, they +hasten back to fan the conflagration, and to increase +the commotion. And they overturn the +very altars before which they previously sacrificed +as consecrated priests.<note place='foot'>Luther, Zuinglius, +and Knox had been ordained priests. +Calvin had studied for the priesthood, but did not receive +Orders.</note> They sanctioned rebellion +by undermining the principle of authority. +</p> + +<p> +What a noble opportunity they lost of earning +for themselves immortal honors from God and +man! If, instead of raising the standard of revolt, +they had waged war upon their own passions, +and fought with the Catholic reformers against +impiety, they would be hailed as true soldiers of +the cross. They would be welcomed by the Pope, +the Bishops and clergy, and by all good men. They +might be honored today on our altars, and might +have a niche in our temples, side by side with +those of Charles Borromeo and Ignatius Loyola; +and instead of a divided army of Christians, we +should behold today a united Christendom, spreading +itself irresistibly from nation to nation, and +bringing all kingdoms to the knowledge of Jesus +Christ. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="029"/><anchor id="Pg029"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter IV. Catholicity.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter IV.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter IV.</head> +<head>Catholicity.</head> + +<p> +That Catholicity is a prominent note of the +Church is evident from the Apostles' Creed, +which says: <q>I believe in the Holy <emph>Catholic</emph> +Church.</q> The word <hi rend='italic'>Catholic</hi>, or Universal, signifies +that the true Church is not circumscribed in +its extent, like human empires, nor confined to one +race of people, like the Jewish Church, but that she +is diffused over every nation of the globe, and +counts her children among all tribes and peoples +and tongues of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +This glorious Church is foreshadowed by the +Psalmist, when he sings: <q>All the ends of the +earth shall be converted to the Lord, and all the +kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in His sight; +for the kingdom is the Lord's, and He shall have +dominion over the nations.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. xii.</note> The Prophet +Malachy saw in the distant future this world-wide +Church, when he wrote: <q>From the rising of the +sun, to the going down, My name is great among +the Gentiles; and in <emph>every place</emph> there is sacrifice, +and there is offered to My name a clean oblation; +for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the +Lord of Hosts.</q><note place='foot'>Mal. i. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When our Savior gave commission to his Apostles +He assigned to them the whole world as the +theatre of their labors, and the entire human race, +without regard to language, color, or nationality, +<pb n="030"/><anchor id="Pg030"/> +as the audience to whom they were to preach. +Unlike the religion of the Jewish people, which +was national, or that of the Mohammedans, which +is local, the Catholic religion was to be cosmopolitan, +embracing all nations and all countries. This +is evident from the following passages: <q>Go ye, +therefore, and teach <emph>all nations</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xxviii. 19.</note> <q>Go ye into +the <emph>whole world</emph>, and preach the Gospel to every +creature.</q><note place='foot'>Mark xvi. 15.</note> <q>Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in +Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and +even <emph>to the uttermost part of the earth</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>Acts +i. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These prophecies declaring that the Church was +to be world-wide and to embrace even the Gentile +nations may not strike us today as especially remarkable, +accustomed as we are now to meet with +Christian civilization everywhere, and to see the +nations of the world bound so closely together by +social and commercial relations. But we must remember +that when they were uttered the true God +was known and adored only in an obscure, almost +isolated, corner of the earth, while triumphant +idolatry was the otherwise universal religion of +the world. +</p> + +<p> +The prophecies were fulfilled. The Apostles +scattered themselves over the surface of the earth, +preaching the Gospel of Christ. <q>Their sound,</q> +says St. Paul, <q>went over all the earth and their +words unto the ends of the whole world.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. x. 18.</note> Within +thirty years after our Savior's Crucifixion the +Apostle of the Gentiles was able to say to the +Romans: <q>I give thanks to my God through Jesus +Christ because your faith is spoken of in the entire +world</q><note place='foot'>Rom. i. 18.</note>—spoken of assuredly by those who +were in sympathy and communion with the faith +of the Romans. +</p> + +<pb n="031"/><anchor id="Pg031"/> + +<p> +St. Justin, Martyr, was able to say, about one +hundred years after Christ, that there was no race +of men, whether Barbarians or Greeks, or any +other people of what name soever, among whom +the name of Jesus Christ was not invoked. +</p> + +<p> +St. Irenaeus, writing at the end of the second +century, tells us that the religion so marvelously +propagated throughout the whole world was not a +vague, ever-changing form of Christianity, but +that <q>this faith and doctrine and tradition +preached throughout the globe is as uniform as if +the Church consisted of one family, possessing one +soul, one heart, and as if she had but one mouth. +For, though the languages of the world are dissimilar, +her doctrine is the same. The churches founded +in Germany, in the Celtic nations, in the East +in Egypt, in Lybia, and in the centres of civilization, +do not differ from each other; but as the sun +gives the same light throughout the world, so does +the light of faith shine everywhere the same and +enlighten all men who wish to come to the knowledge +of the truth.</q><note place='foot'>Adv. Hær., i. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>We are but of yesterday,</q> says Tertullian, +<q>and already have we filled your cities, towns, islands, +your council halls and camps ... the palace, +senate, forum; we have left you only the temples.</q><note place='foot'>Apologet. +c. 37.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Clement of Alexandria, at the end of the second +century, writes: <q>The word of our Master did not +remain in Judea, as philosophy remained in Greece, +but has been poured out over the whole world, persuading +Greeks and Barbarians alike, race by race, +village by village, every city, whole houses and +hearers one by one—nay, not a few of the philosophers +themselves.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And Origen, in the early part of the next century, +observes: <q>In all Greece, and in all barbarous races +within our world, there are tens of thousands who +<pb n="032"/><anchor id="Pg032"/> +have left their national law and customary gods +for the law of Moses and the Word of Jesus +Christ, though to adhere to that law is to incur the +hatred of idolaters and the risk of death besides +to have embraced that Word; and considering how, +in so few years, in spite of the attack made on us, +even to the loss of life or property, and with no +great store of teachers, the preaching of that Word +has found its way into every part of the world, so +that Greek and Barbarian, wise and unwise, adhere +to the religion of Jesus, doubtless it is a work +greater than any work of man.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This Catholicity, or universality, is not to be +found in any, or in all, of the combined communions +separated from the Roman Catholic Church. +</p> + +<p> +The Schismatic churches of the East have no +claim to this title because they are confined within +the Turkish and Russian dominions, and number +not more than sixty million souls. +</p> + +<p> +The Protestant churches, even taken collectively, +(as separate communions they are a mere handful) +are too insignificant in point of numbers, and +too circumscribed in their territorial extent, to +have any pretensions to the title of Catholic. All +the Protestant denominations are estimated at +sixty-five million, or less than one-fifth of those +who bear the Christian name. They repudiate, +moreover, and protest against the name of Catholic, +though they continue to say in the Apostles' +Creed <q>I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +That the Roman Catholic Church alone deserves +the name of <hi rend='italic'>Catholic</hi> is so evident that it is ridiculous +to deny it. Ours is the only Church which +adopts this name as her official title. We have possession, +which is nine-tenths of the law. We have +exclusively borne this glorious appellation in troubled +<pb n="033"/><anchor id="Pg033"/> +times, when the assumption of this venerable +title exposed us to insult, persecution and death; +and to attempt to deprive us of it at this late hour, +would be as fruitless as the efforts of the French +Revolutionists who sought to uproot all traces of +the old civilization by assigning new names to the +days and seasons of the year. +</p> + +<p> +Passion and prejudice and bad manners may +affix to us the epithets of <hi rend='italic'>Romish</hi> and +<hi rend='italic'>Papist</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Ultramontane</hi>, but the calm, +dispassionate mind, of whatever faith, all the world, over, knows us +only by the name of <hi rend='italic'>Catholic</hi>. There is a power in +this name and an enthusiasm aroused by it akin +to the patriotism awakened by the flag of one's +country. +</p> + +<p> +So great is the charm attached to the name of +Catholic that a portion of the Episcopal body +sometimes usurp the title of <hi rend='italic'>Catholic</hi>, though in +their official books they are named <hi rend='italic'>Protestant +Episcopalians</hi>. If they think that they have any +just claim to the name of <hi rend='italic'>Catholic</hi>, why not come +out openly and write it on the title-pages of their +Bibles and Prayer-Books? Afraid of going so far, +they gratify their vanity by privately calling +themselves Catholic. But the delusion is so transparent +that the attempt must provoke a smile even +among themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Should a stranger ask them to direct him to the +Catholic Church they would instinctively point out +to him the Roman Catholic Church. +</p> + +<p> +The sectarians of the fourth and fifth centuries, +as St. Augustine tells us, used to attempt the same +pious fraud, but signally failed: +</p> + +<p> +<q>We must hold fast to the Christian religion +and to the communion of that Church which is +Catholic, and which is called Catholic not only by +those who belong to her, but also by all her enemies. +<pb n="034"/><anchor id="Pg034"/> +Whether they will it or not the very heretics +themselves and followers of schism, when they +converse, not with their own but with outsiders, +call that only Catholic which is really Catholic. +For they cannot be understood unless they distinguish +her by that name, by which she is known +throughout the whole earth.</q><note place='foot'>St. +Aug. de Ver. Rel., c. 7. n. 12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We possess not only the name, but also the +reality. A single illustration will suffice to exhibit +in a strong light the widespread dominion of the +Catholic Church and her just claims to the title of +<hi rend='italic'>Catholic</hi>. Take the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, +opened in 1869 and presided over by Pope +Pius IX. Of the thousand Bishops and upwards +now comprising the hierarchy of the Catholic +Church, nearly eight hundred attended the opening +session, the rest being unavoidably absent. All +parts of the habitable globe were represented at +the Council. +</p> + +<p> +The Bishops assembled from Great Britain, Ireland, +France, Germany, Switzerland and from almost +every nation and principality in Europe. +They met from Canada, the United States, Mexico +and South America, and from the islands of the +Atlantic and the Pacific. They were gathered together +from different parts of Africa and Oceanica. +They went from the banks of the Tigris and +Euphrates, the cradle of the human race, and from +the banks of the Jordan, the cradle of Christianity. +They traveled to Rome from Mossul, built near +ancient Nineveh, and from Bagdad, founded on +the ruins of Babylon. They flocked from Damascus +and Mount Libanus and from the Holy Land, +sanctified by the footprints of our blessed Redeemer. +</p> + +<p> +Those Bishops belonged to every form of government, +<pb n="035"/><anchor id="Pg035"/> +from the republic to the most absolute +monarchy.<note place='foot'>Does not this fact conclusively demonstrate the truth that +the Catholic Church can subsist under every form of government? +And is it not an eloquent refutation of the oft repeated +calumny that a republic is not a favorable soil for her +development?</note> Their faces were marked by almost +every shade and color that distinguished the human +family. They spoke every civilized language +under the sun. Kneeling together in the same +great Council-Hall, truly could those Prelates exclaim, +in the language of the Apocalypse: <q>Thou +hast redeemed us, O Lord, to God in Thy blood, +out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and +nation.</q><note place='foot'>Apoc. v. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What the Catholic Church lost by the religious +revolution of the sixteenth century in the old +world she has more than regained by the immense +accessions to her ranks in the East and West +Indies, in North and South America. +</p> + +<p> +Never, in her long history, was she numerically +so strong as she is at the present moment, when her +children amount to about three hundred millions, +or double the number of those who bear the name +of Christians outside of her communion. +</p> + +<p> +In her alone is literally fulfilled the magnificent +prophecy of Malachy; for in every clime, and in +every nation under the sun, are erected thousands +of Catholic altars upon which the <q>clean oblation</q><note place='foot'>Malachy +i. 11.</note> is daily offered up to the Most High. +</p> + +<p> +It is said, with truth, that the sun never sets on +British dominions. It may also be affirmed, with +equal assurance, that wherever the British drum-beat +sounds, aye, and wherever the English language +is spoken, there you will find the English-speaking +Catholic Missionary planting the cross—the +<pb n="036"/><anchor id="Pg036"/> +symbol of salvation—side by side with the +banner of St. George. +</p> + +<p> +Quite recently a number of European emigrants +arrived in Richmond. They were strangers to our +country, to our customs and to our language. +Every object that met their eye sadly reminded +them that they were far from their own sunny +Italy. But when they saw the cross surmounting +our Cathedral they hastened to it with a joyful +step. I saw and heard a group of them giving +earnest expression to their deep emotions. Entering +this sacred temple, they felt that they had +found an oasis in the desert. Once more they were +at home. They found one familiar spot in a +strange land. They stood in the church of their +fathers, in the home of their childhood; and they +seemed to say in their hearts, as a tear trickled +down their sun-burnt cheeks, <q>How lovely are +thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth +and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My +heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living +God.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. +lxxxiii.</note> They saw around them the paintings of +familiar Saints whom they had been accustomed +to reverence from their youth. They saw the +baptismal font and the confessionals. They beheld +the altar and the altar-rails where they received +their Maker. They observed the Priest +at the altar in his sacred vestments. They saw +a multitude of worshipers kneeling around them, +and they felt in their heart of hearts that they +were once more among brothers and sisters, with +whom they had <q>one Lord, one faith, one baptism, +one God and Father of all.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Everywhere a Catholic is at home. Secret societies, +of whatever name, form but a weak and +counterfeit bond of union compared with the +<pb n="037"/><anchor id="Pg037"/> +genuine fellowship created by Catholic faith, hope +and charity. +</p> + +<p> +The Roman Catholic Church, then, exclusively +merits the title of Catholic, because her children +abound in every part of the globe and comprise +the vast majority of the Christian family. +</p> + +<p> +God forbid that I should write these lines, or +that my Catholic readers should peruse them in a +boasting and vaunting spirit. God estimates men +not by their numbers, but by their intrinsic worth. +It is no credit to us to belong to the body of the +Church Catholic if we are not united to the soul of +the Church by a life of faith, hope and charity. It +will avail us nothing to be citizens of that Kingdom +of Christ which encircles the globe, unless the +Kingdom of God is within us by the reign of the +Holy Spirit in our hearts. +</p> + +<p> +One righteous soul that reflects the beauty and +perfections of the Lord, is more precious in His +sight than the mass of humanity that has no spiritual +life, and is dead to the inspirations of grace. +</p> + +<p> +The Patriarch Abraham was dearer to Jehovah +than all the inhabitants of the corrupt city of +Sodom. +</p> + +<p> +Elias was of greater worth before the Almighty +than the four hundred prophets of Baal who ate at +the table of Jezabel. +</p> + +<p> +The Apostles with the little band of disciples +that were assembled in Jerusalem after our Lord's +ascension, were more esteemed by Him than the +great Roman Empire, which was seated in darkness +and the shadow of death. +</p> + +<p> +While we rejoice, then, in the inestimable blessing +of being incorporated in the visible body of +the Catholic Church, whose spiritual treasures are +inexhaustible, let us rejoice still more that we have +not received that blessing in vain. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="038"/><anchor id="Pg038"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter V. Apostolicity.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter V.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter V.</head> +<head>Apostolicity.</head> + +<p> +The true Church must be Apostolical. Hence +in the Creed framed in the first Ecumenical +Council of Nicæa, in the year 325, we find +these words: <q>I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic +and <hi rend='italic'>Apostolic</hi> Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This attribute or note of the Church implies +that the true Church must always teach the identical +doctrines once delivered by the Apostles, and +that her ministers must derive their powers from +the Apostles by an uninterrupted succession. +</p> + +<p> +Consequently, no church can claim to be the true +one whose doctrines differ from those of the Apostles, +or whose ministers are unable to trace, by an +unbroken chain, their authority to an Apostolic +source; just as our Minister to England can exercise +no authority in that country unless he is duly +commissioned by our Government and represents +its views. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, says St. Paul, is <q>built upon the +foundation of the Apostles,</q><note place='foot'>Eph. +ii. 20.</note> so that the doctrine +which it propagates must be based on Apostolic +teachings. Hence St. Paul says to the Galatians: +<q>Though an angel from heaven preach a +Gospel to you beside that which we have preached +to you, let him be anathema.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. +i. 8.</note> The same Apostle +gives this admonition to Timothy: <q>The things +<pb n="039"/><anchor id="Pg039"/> +which thou hast heard from me before many witnesses +the <emph>same</emph> commend to faithful men who +shall be fit to teach others also.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Tim. ii. 2.</note> Timothy must +transmit to his disciples only such doctrines as +he heard from the lips of his Master. +</p> + +<p> +Not only is it required that ministers of the +Gospel should conform their teaching to the doctrine +of the Apostles, but also that these ministers +should be ordained and commissioned by the +Apostles or their legitimate successors. <q>Neither +doth any man,</q> says the Apostle, <q>take the honor +to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron +was.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. v. +4.</note> This text evidently condemns all self-constituted +preachers and reformers; for, <q>how +shall they preach, unless they be sent?</q><note place='foot'>Rom. +x. 15.</note> <hi rend='italic'>Sent</hi>, +of course, by legitimate authority, and not directed +by their own caprice. Hence, we find that +those who succeeded the Apostles were ordained +and commissioned by them to preach, and that no +others were permitted to exercise this function. +Thus we are told that Paul and Barnabas <q>had +ordained for them priests in every church.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xiv. 22.</note> +And the Apostle says to Titus: <q>For this cause +I left thee in Crete, ... that thou shouldst ordain +Priests in every city, as I also appointed +thee.</q><note place='foot'>Tit. i. +5.</note> Even St. Paul himself, though miraculously +called and instructed by God, had hands +imposed on him,<note place='foot'>Acts xiii. +2, 3.</note> lest others should be tempted +by his example to preach without Apostolic warrant. +</p> + +<p> +To discover, therefore, the Church of Christ +among the various conflicting claimants we have +to inquire, first, which church teaches whole and +entire those doctrines that were taught by the +Apostles; second, what ministers can trace back, +<pb n="040"/><anchor id="Pg040"/> +in an unbroken line, their missionary powers to +the Apostles. +</p> + +<p> +The Catholic Church <emph>alone</emph> teaches doctrines +which are <emph>in all respects</emph> identical with those of +the first teachers of the Gospel. The following +parallel lines exhibit some examples of the departure +of the Protestant bodies from the primitive +teachings of Christianity, and the faithful adhesion +of the Catholic Church to them. +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3cm} p{3cm} p{3cm}'; + tblcolumns: 'lw(23) lw(23) lw(23)'"> +<row><cell>Apostolic Church.</cell><cell>Catholic Church.</cell> + <cell>Protestant Churches.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>1. Our Savior gives pre-eminence to Peter over the other Apostles: + <q>I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of + heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. 18.</note> <q>Confirm + thy brethren.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xxii. 32.</note> <q>Feed + My lambs; feed My sheep.</q><note place='foot'>John xxi. 15.</note></cell> + <cell>The Catholic Church gives the primacy of honor and jurisdiction + to Peter and to his successors.</cell> + <cell>All other Christian communions practically deny Peter's supremacy + over the other Apostles.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>2. The Apostolic Church claimed to be infallible in her teachings. Hence the + Apostles spoke with unerring authority, and their words were received not as + human opinions, but as Divine truths. <q>When you have received from us the + word of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the + word of God.</q><note place='foot'>Thess. ii. 13.</note> <q>It hath seemed good + to the Holy Ghost and to us,</q> say the assembled Apostles, <q>to lay no further + burden upon you than these necessary things.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xv. + 28.</note> <q>Though an angel from heaven preach a gospel to you besides that + which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. + i. 8.</note></cell> + <cell>The Catholic Church alone, of all the Christian communions, claims to + exercise the prerogative of infallibility in her teaching. Her ministers always + speak from the pulpit as having authority, and the faithful receive with implicit + confidence what the Church teaches, without once questioning her veracity.</cell> + <cell>All the Protestant churches repudiate the claim of infallibility. They deny + that such a gift is possessed by any teachers of religion. The ministers pronounce + no authoritative doctrines, but advance opinions as embodying their private + interpretation of the Scripture. And their hearers are never required to believe + them, but are expected to draw their own conclusions from the Bible.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>3. Our Savior enjoins and prescribes rules for fasting: <q>When thou fastest, + anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast ... and + thy Father, who seeth in secret, will repay thee.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. vi. + 17.</note> The Apostles fasted before engaging in sacred functions: <q>They + ministered to the Lord, and fasted.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xiii. 2.</note> + <q>And when they ordained Priests in every city, they prayed with + fasting.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xiv. 22.</note></cell> + <cell>The Church prescribes fasting to the faithful at stated seasons, particularly + during Lent. A Catholic priest is always fasting when he officiates at the altar. + He breaks his fast only after he says Mass. When Bishops ordain Priests they are + always fasting, as well as the candidates for ordination.</cell> + <cell>Protestants have no law prescribing fasts, though some may fast from private + devotion. They even try to cast ridicule on fasting as a work of supererogation, + detracting from the merits of Christ. Neither candidates for ordination, nor the + ministers who ordain them, ever fast on such occasions.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>4. <q>Let women,</q> says the Apostle, <q>keep silence in the churches. For, + it is not permitted them to speak ... It is a shame for a woman to speak in the + church.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. xiv. 34, 35.</note></cell> + <cell>The Catholic Church never permits women to preach in the house of God.</cell> + <cell>Women, especially in this country, publicly preach in Methodist and other + churches with the sanction of the church elders.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>5. St. Peter and St. John confirmed the newly baptized in Samaria: <q>They + laid hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost.</q><note place='foot'>Acts + viii. 17.</note></cell> + <cell>Every Catholic Bishop, as a successor of the Apostles, likewise imposes hands + on baptized persons in the Sacrament of Confirmation, by which they receive the + Holy Ghost.</cell> + <cell>No denomination performs the ceremony of imposing hands in this country except + Episcopalians, and even they do not recognize Confirmation as a + Sacrament.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>6. Our Savior and His Apostles taught that the Eucharist contains the Body + and Blood of Christ: <q>Take ye, and eat; this is My Body.... Drink ye all of + this, for this is my Blood.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxvi. 26-28.</note> + <q>The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the + Blood of Christ; and the bread which we break, is it not the participation of the + Body of the Lord?</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. x. 16.</note></cell> + <cell>The Catholic Church teaches, with our Lord and His Apostles, that the + Eucharist contains really and indeed the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ under the + appearance of bread and wine.</cell> + <cell>The Protestant churches (except, perhaps, a few Ritualists) condemn the + doctrine of the Real Presence as idolatrous, and say that, in partaking of the + communion, we receive a memorial of Christ.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>7. The Apostles were empowered by our Savior to forgive sins:—<q>Whose + sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven.</q><note place='foot'>John xx. + 28.</note> <q>God,</q> says St. Paul, <q>hath given to us the ministry of + reconciliation.</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. v. 18.</note></cell> + <cell>The Bishops and Priests of the Catholic Church, as the inheritors of + Apostolic prerogatives, profess to exercise the ministry of reconciliation, and + to forgive sins in the name of Christ.</cell> + <cell>Protestants affirm, on the contrary, that God delegates to no man + the power of pardoning sin.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>8. Regarding the sick, St. James gives this instruction: <q>Is any man sick + among you, let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, + anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>James v. + 14.</note></cell> + <cell>One of the most ordinary duties of a Catholic Priest is to anoint the sick in + the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. If a man is sick among us he is careful to call + in the Priest of the Church, that he may anoint him with oil in the name of the + Lord.</cell> + <cell>No such ceremony as that of anointing the sick is practised by any Protestant + denomination, notwithstanding the Apostle's injunction.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>9. Of marriage our Savior says: <q>Whoever shall put away his wife and marry + another committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her + husband and be married to another she committeth + adultery.</q><note place='foot'>Mark x. 11, 12.</note> And again St. Paul says: + <q>To them that are married ... the Lord commandeth that the wife depart not from + her husband, and if she depart that she remain unmarried.... And let not the + husband put away his wife.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. vii, 10, + 11.</note></cell> + <cell>Literally following the Apostle's injunction, the Catholic Church forbids the + husband and wife to separate from one another; or, if they separate, neither of + them can marry again during the life of the other.</cell> + <cell>The Protestant churches, as is well known, have so far relaxed this rigorous + law of the Gospel as to allow divorced persons to remarry. And divorce + <hi rend='italic'>a vinculo</hi> is granted on various and even trifling + pretenses.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>10. Our Lord recommends not only by word, but by His example, to souls aiming + at perfection, the state of perpetual virginity. St. Paul also exhorts the + Corinthians by counsel and his own example to the same angelic virtue: <q>He + that giveth his virgin in marriage,</q> he says, <q>doeth well. And he that + giveth her not doeth better.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. vii.</note></cell> + <cell>Like the Apostle and his Master, the Catholic clergy bind themselves to a + life of perpetual chastity. The inmates of our convents of men and women + voluntarily consecrate their virginity to God.</cell> + <cell>All the ministers of other denominations, with very rare exceptions, marry. + And far from inculcating the Apostolic counsel of celibacy to any of their + flock, they more than insinuate that the virtue of perpetual chastity, though + recommended by St. Paul, is impracticable.</cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +We now leave the reader to judge for himself +which Church enforces the doctrines of the Apostles +in all their pristine vigor. +</p> + +<p> +To show that the Catholic Church is the only +lineal descendant of the Apostles it is sufficient to +demonstrate that she alone can trace her pedigree, +generation after generation, to the Apostles, +while the origin of all other Christian communities +can be referred to a comparatively modern +date. +</p> + +<p> +The most influential Christian sects existing in +this country at the present time are the Lutherans, +Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians and +Baptists. The other Protestant denominations +are comparatively insignificant in point of numbers, +and are for the most part offshoots from the +Christian communities just named. +</p> + +<p> +Martin Luther, a Saxon monk, was the founder +of the church which bears his name. He was +born at Eisleben, in Saxony, in 1483, and died +in 1546. +</p> + +<p> +The Anglican or Episcopal Church owes its +origin to Henry VIII. of England. The immediate +cause of his renunciation of the Roman +Church was the refusal of Pope Clement to +grant him a divorce from his lawful wife, Catharine +<pb n="044"/><anchor id="Pg044"/> +of Aragon, that he might be free to be joined +in wedlock to Anne Boleyn. In order to legalize +his divorce from his virtuous queen the licentious +monarch divorced himself and his kingdom from +the spiritual supremacy of the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +<q>There is a close relationship,</q> says D'Aubigné, +<q>between these two divorces,</q> meaning +Henry's divorce from his wife and England's divorce +from the Church. Yes, there is the relationship +of cause and effect. +</p> + +<p> +Bishop Short, an Anglican historian, candidly +admits that <q>the existence of the Church of England +as a distinct body, and her final separation +from Rome, may <emph>be dated</emph> from the period of the +divorce.</q><note place='foot'>History of the Church of +England, by Thomas. V. Short, Bishop of St. Asaph's, p. 44.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Book of Homilies, in the language of fulsome +praise, calls Henry <q>the true and faithful +minister,</q> and gives him the credit for having +abolished in England the Papal supremacy and +established the new order of things.<note place='foot'>Book of Homilies.</note> +</p> + +<p> +John Wesley is the acknowledged founder of the +Methodist Church. Methodism dates from the +year 1729, and its cradle was the Oxford University +in England. John and Charles Wesley were +students at Oxford. They gathered around them +a number of young men who devoted themselves +to the frequent reading of the Holy Scriptures +and to prayer. Their methodical and exact mode +of life obtained for them the name of <hi rend='italic'>Methodists</hi>. +The Methodist Church in this country is the offspring +of a colony sent hither from England. +</p> + +<p> +As it would be tedious to give even a succinct +history of each sect, I shall content myself with +presenting a tabular statement exhibiting the +<pb n="045"/><anchor id="Pg045"/> +name and founder of each denomination, the place +and date of its origin, and the names of the authors +from whom I quote. My authorities in every +instance are Protestants. +</p> + +<pb n="046"/><anchor id="Pg046"/> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{1.5cm} p{1.5cm} p{1.8cm} p{1.3cm} p{1.9cm}'; + tblcolumns: 'lw(7) lw(7) lw(7) lw(6) lw(8)'"> +<row><cell>Name of Sect.</cell><cell>Place of Origin.</cell><cell>Founder.</cell> + <cell>Year.</cell><cell>Authority Quoted.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Anabaptists</cell><cell>Germany</cell><cell>Nicolas Stork</cell> + <cell>1521</cell><cell>Vincent L. Milner, <q>Religious + Denominations.</q></cell></row> +<row><cell>Baptists</cell><cell>Rhode Island</cell><cell>Roger Williams</cell> + <cell>1639</cell><cell><q>The Book of Religions</q> by John Hayward.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Free-Will Baptists</cell><cell>New Hampshire</cell><cell>Benj. Randall</cell> + <cell>1780</cell><cell>Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Free Communion Baptists</cell><cell>New York</cell><cell>Benijah Corp</cell> + <cell>Close of 18th century</cell> + <cell>Rev. A. D. Williams in <q>History of all Denominations.</q></cell></row> +<row><cell>Seventh-Day Baptists</cell><cell>United States</cell> + <cell>General Conference</cell><cell>1833</cell> + <cell>W. B. Gillett, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Campbellites, or Christians</cell><cell>Virginia</cell> + <cell>Alex. Campbell</cell><cell>1813</cell> + <cell><q>Book of Religions.</q></cell></row> +<row><cell>Methodist Episcopal</cell><cell>England</cell><cell>John Wesley</cell> + <cell>1739</cell> + <cell>Rev. Nathan Bangs in <q>History of all Denominations.</q></cell></row> +<row><cell>Reformed Methodist</cell><cell>Vermont</cell> + <cell>Branch of the Meth. Episcopal Church</cell><cell>1814</cell> + <cell>Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Methodist Society</cell><cell>New York</cell><cell>Do.</cell><cell>1820</cell> + <cell>Rev. W. M. Stilwell, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Methodist Protestant</cell><cell>Baltimore</cell><cell>Do.</cell> + <cell>1830</cell><cell>James R. Williams, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>True Wesleyan Methodist</cell><cell>New York</cell> + <cell>Delegates from Methodist denominations</cell><cell>1843</cell> + <cell>J. Timberman, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Presbyterian (Old School)</cell><cell>Scotland</cell> + <cell>General Assembly</cell><cell>1560</cell> + <cell>John M. Krebs, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Presbyterian (New School)</cell><cell>Philadelphia</cell> + <cell>General Assembly</cell><cell>1840</cell> + <cell>Joel Parker, D. D., Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Episcopalian</cell><cell>England</cell><cell>Henry VIII</cell> + <cell>1534</cell><cell>Macaulay and other English Historians.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Lutheran</cell><cell>Germany</cell><cell>Martin Luther</cell><cell>1524</cell> + <cell>S. S. Schmucker in <q>History of all Denominations.</q></cell></row> +<row><cell>Unitarian Congrega- tionalists</cell><cell>Germany</cell><cell>Celatius</cell> + <cell>About 1540</cell><cell>Alvan Lamson, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Congrega- tionalists</cell><cell>England</cell><cell>Robert Browne</cell> + <cell>1583</cell><cell>E. W. Andrews, Ibid.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Quakers</cell><cell>England</cell><cell>George Fox</cell><cell>1647</cell> + <cell>English Historians.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Do</cell><cell>America</cell><cell>William Penn</cell><cell>1681</cell> + <cell>American Historians.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Catholic Church</cell><cell>Jerusalem</cell><cell>Jesus</cell><cell>33</cell> + <cell>New Testament.</cell></row> +</table> + +<pb n="047"/><anchor id="Pg047"/> + +<p> +From this brief historical tableau we find that +all the Christian <hi rend='italic'>sects</hi> now existing in the United +States had their origin since the year 1500. Consequently, +the oldest body of Christians among us, +outside the Catholic Church, is not yet four centuries +old. They all, therefore, come fifteen centuries +too late to have any pretensions to be called +the Apostolic Church. +</p> + +<p> +But I may be told: <q>Though our public history +as Protestants dates from the Reformation, we +can trace our origin back to the Apostles.</q> This +I say is impossible. First of all, the very name +you bear betrays your recent birth; for who ever +heard of a Baptist or an Episcopal, or any other +Protestant church, prior to the Reformation? +Nor can you say: <q>We existed in every age as +an invisible church.</q> Your concealment, indeed, +was so complete that no man can tell, to this +day, where you lay hid for sixteen centuries. But +even if you did exist you could not claim to be +the Church of Christ; for our Lord predicted that +His Church should ever be as a city placed upon +the mountain top, that all might see it, and that +its ministers should preach the truths of salvation +from the watch-towers thereof, that all might +hear them. +</p> + +<p> +It is equally in vain to tell me that you were +allied in faith to the various Christian sects that +went out from the Catholic Church from age to +age; for these sects proclaimed doctrines diametrically +opposed to one another, and the true +Church must be one in faith. And besides, the +less relationship you claim with many of these +seceders the better for you, as they all advocated +errors against Christian truth, and some of them +disseminated principles at variance with <hi rend='italic'>decency</hi> +and morality. +</p> + +<pb n="048"/><anchor id="Pg048"/> + +<p> +The Catholic Church, on the contrary, can easily +vindicate the title of Apostolic, because she derives +her origin from the Apostles. Every Priest +and Bishop can trace his genealogy to the first disciples +of Christ with as much facility as the most +remote branch of a vine can be traced to the main +stem. +</p> + +<p> +All the Catholic Clergy in the United States, +for instance, were ordained only by Bishops who +are in active communion with the See of Rome. +These Bishops themselves received their commissions +from the Bishop of Rome. The present +Bishop of Rome, Pius IX., is the successor of +Gregory XVI., who succeeded Pius VIII., who +was the successor of Leo XII. And thus we go +back from century to century till we come to Peter, +the first Bishop of Rome, Prince of the Apostles +and Vicar of Christ. Like the Evangelist Luke, +who traces the genealogy of our Savior back to +Adam and to God, we can trace the pedigree of +Pius IX. to Peter and to Christ. There is not a +link wanting in the chain which binds the humblest +Priest in the land to the Prince of the Apostles. +And although on a few occasions there happened +to be two or even three claimants for the chair +of Peter, these counter-claims could no more affect +the validity of the legitimate Pope than the +struggle of two contestants for the Presidency +could invalidate the title of the recognized Chief +Magistrate. +</p> + +<p> +It was by pursuing this line of argument that +the early Fathers demonstrated the Apostolicity +of the Catholic Church, and refuted the pretensions +of contemporary sectaries. St. Irenæus, +Tertullian and St. Augustine give catalogues of +the Bishops of Rome who flourished up to their +respective times, with whom it was their happiness +<pb n="049"/><anchor id="Pg049"/> +to be in communion, and then they challenged +their opponents to trace their lineage to the Apostolic +See. <q>Let them,</q> says Tertullian, in the +second century, <q>produce the origin of their +church. Let them exhibit the succession of their +Bishops, so that the first of them may appear to +have been ordained by an <hi rend='italic'>Apostle, or by an apostolic +man who was in communion with the Apostles</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Lib. +de Præscrip., c. 32.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And if the Fathers of the fifth century considered +it a powerful argument in their favor that +they could refer to an uninterrupted line of fifty +Bishops who occupied the See of Rome, how much +stronger is the argument to us who can now exhibit +five times that number of Roman Pontiffs +who have sat in the chair of Peter! I would affectionately +repeat to my separated brethren what +Augustine said to the Donatists of his time: +<q>Come to us, brethren if you wish to be engrafted +in the vine. We are afflicted in beholding you +lying cut off from it. Count over the Bishops +from the very See of St. Peter, and mark, in this +list of Fathers, how one succeeded the other. +This is the rock against which the proud gates of +hell do not prevail.</q><note place='foot'>Psal. contra part Donati.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="050"/><anchor id="Pg050"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter VI. Perpetuity Of The Church.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter VI.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter VI.</head> +<head>Perpetuity Of The Church.</head> + +<p> +Perpetuity, or duration till the end of +time, is one of the most striking marks of +the Church. By perpetuity is not meant +merely that Christianity in one form or another +was always to exist, but that the Church was to +remain forever in its <emph>integrity</emph>, clothed with <emph>all</emph> +those attributes which God gave it in the beginning. +For, if the Church lost any of her essential +characteristics, such as her unity and sanctity, +which our Lord imparted to her at the commencement +of her existence, she could not be said +to be perpetual because she would not be the same +Institution. +</p> + +<p> +The unceasing duration of the Church of Christ +is frequently foretold in Sacred Scripture. The +Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that Christ +<q>shall reign over the house of Jacob <emph>forever</emph>, +and of his kingdom <emph>there shall be no end</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>Luke +i. 32, 33.</note> Our +Savior said to Peter: <q>Thou art Peter, and upon +this rock I will build My Church, and the gates +of hell shall not prevail against it.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. +18.</note> Our blessed +Lord clearly intimates here that the Church is +destined to be assailed always, but to be overcome, +never. +</p> + +<p> +In the last words recorded of our Redeemer in +the Gospel of St. Matthew the same prediction is +<pb n="051"/><anchor id="Pg051"/> +strongly repeated, and the reason of the Church's +indefectibility is fully expressed: <q>Go ye, teach +all nations, ... and behold I am with you <emph>all +days</emph>, even <emph>to the consummation</emph> of the +world.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 20.</note> +This sentence contains three important declarations: +First—The presence of Christ with His +Church—<q>Behold, I am with you.</q> Second—His +constant presence, without an interval of one +day's absence—<q>I am with you all days.</q> Third—His +perpetual presence to the end of the world, +and consequently the perpetual duration of the +Church—<q>Even to the consummation of the +world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Hence it follows that the true Church must +have existed from the beginning; it must have +had not one day's interval of suspended animation, +or separation from Christ, and must live +to the end of time. +</p> + +<p> +None of the Christian Communions outside the +Catholic Church can have any reasonable claim +to <emph>Perpetuity</emph>, since, as we have seen in the preceding +chapter, they are all<note place='foot'>Except some +Oriental sects dating back to the fifth and +ninth centuries.</note> of recent origin. +</p> + +<p> +The indestructibility of the Catholic Church is +truly marvellous and well calculated to excite the +admiration of every reflecting mind, when we consider +the number and variety, and the formidable +power of the enemies with whom she had to contend +from her very birth to the present time; this +fact alone stamps divinity on her brow. +</p> + +<p> +The Church has been constantly engaged in a +double warfare, one foreign, the other domestic—in +foreign war against Paganism and infidelity; +in civil strife against heresy and schism fomented +by her own rebellious children. +</p> + +<pb n="052"/><anchor id="Pg052"/> + +<p> +From the day of Pentecost till the victory of +Constantine the Great over Maxentius, embracing +a period of about two hundred and eighty years, +the Church underwent a series of ten persecutions +unparalleled for atrocity in the annals of +history. Every torture that malice could invent +was resorted to, that every vestige of Christianity +might be eradicated. <hi rend='italic'><q>Christianos ad leones,</q> +the Christians to the lions</hi>, was the popular war-cry. +</p> + +<p> +They were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, +and thus exposed to be devoured by dogs. They +were covered with pitch and set on fire to serve +as lamp-posts to the streets of Rome. To justify +such atrocities, and to smother all sentiments of +compassion, these persecutors accused their innocent +victims of the most appalling crimes. +</p> + +<p> +For three centuries the Christians were obliged +to worship God in the secrecy of their chambers, +or in the Roman catacombs, which are still preserved +to attest the undying fortitude of the martyrs +and the enormity of their sufferings. +</p> + +<p> +And yet Pagan Rome, before whose standard +the mightiest nations quailed, was unable to crush +the infant Church or arrest her progress. In a +short time we find this colossal Empire going to +pieces, and the Head of the Catholic Church dispensing +laws to Christendom in the very city +from which the imperial Cæsars had promulgated +their edicts against Christianity! +</p> + +<p> +During the fifth and sixth centuries the Goths +and Vandals, the Huns, Visigoths, Lombards and +other immense tribes of Barbarians came down +like a torrent from the North, invading the fairest +portions of Southern Europe. They dismembered +the Roman Empire and swept away nearly +every trace of the old Roman civilization. They +<pb n="053"/><anchor id="Pg053"/> +plundered cities, leveled churches and left ruin +and desolation after them. Yet, though conquering +for awhile, they were conquered in turn by +submitting to the sweet yoke of the Gospel. And +thus, as even the infidel Gibbon observes, <q>The +progress of Christianity has been marked by two +glorious and decisive victories over the learned +and luxurious citizens of the Roman Empire and +over the warlike Barbarians of Scythia and Germany, +who subverted the empire and embraced +the religion of the Romans.</q><note place='foot'>Decline +and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xxxvii, p. 450.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Mohamedanism took its rise in the seventh +century in Arabia, and made rapid conquests in +Asia. In the fifteenth century Constantinople was +captured by the followers of the false prophet, who +even threatened to subject all Europe to their +sway. For nine centuries Mohamedanism continued +to be a standing menace to christendom, till +the final issue came when it was to be decided once +for all whether Christianity and civilization on the +one hand, or Mohamedanism and infidelity on the +other, should rule the destinies of Europe and the +world. +</p> + +<p> +At the earnest solicitation of the Pope, the kingdom +of Spain and the republic of Venice formed +an offensive league against the Turks, who were +signally defeated in the battle of Lepanto, in 1571. +And if the Cross, instead of the Crescent, surmounts +the cities of Europe today, it is indebted +for this priceless blessing to the vigilance of the +Roman Pontiffs. +</p> + +<p> +Another adversary more formidable and dangerous +than those I have mentioned threatened the +overthrow of the Church in the fourth and fifth +centuries. I speak of the great heresy of Arius, +which was followed by those of Nestorius and +Eutyches. +</p> + +<pb n="054"/><anchor id="Pg054"/> + +<p> +The Arian schism, soon after its rise, spread +rapidly through Europe, Northern Africa and +portions of Asia. It received the support of immense +multitudes, and flourished for awhile under +the fostering care of several successive emperors. +Catholic Bishops were banished from +their sees, and their places were filled by Arian +intruders. The Church which survived the sword +of Paganism seemed for awhile to yield to the +poison of Arianism. But after a short career of +prosperity this gigantic sect became weakened by +intestine divisions, and was finally swept away +by other errors which came following in its footsteps. +</p> + +<p> +You are already familiar with the great religious +revolution of the sixteenth century, which +spread like a tornado over Northern Europe and +threatened, if that were possible, to engulf the +bark of Peter. More than half of Germany followed +the new Gospel of Martin Luther. Switzerland +submitted to the doctrines of Zuinglius. The +faith was lost in Sweden through the influence of +its king, Gustavus Vasa. Denmark conformed to +the new creed through the intrigues of King +Christian II. Catholicity was also crushed out +in Norway, England and Scotland. Calvinism in +the sixteenth century and Voltaireism in the eighteenth +had gained such a foothold in France that +the faith of that glorious Catholic nation twice +trembled in the balance. Ireland alone, of all the +nations of Northern Europe, remained faithful to +the ancient Church. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now calmly survey the field after the din +and smoke of battle have passed away. Let us +examine the condition of the old Church after +having passed through those deadly conflicts. We +see her numerically stronger today than at any +<pb n="055"/><anchor id="Pg055"/> +previous period of her history. The losses she +sustained in the old world are more than compensated +by her acquisitions in the new. She has already +recovered a good portion of the ground +wrested from her in the sixteenth century. She +numbers now about three hundred million adherents. +She exists today not an effete institution, +but in all the integrity and fulness of life, with +her organism unimpaired, more united, more +compact and more vigorous than ever she was +before. +</p> + +<p> +The so-called Reformation of the sixteenth century +bears many points of resemblance to the great +Arian heresy. Both schisms originated with +Priests impatient of the yoke of the Gospel, fond +of novelty and ambitious for notoriety. Both were +nursed and sustained by the reigning Powers, and +were augmented by large accessions of proselytes. +Both spread for awhile with the irresistible force +of a violent hurricane, till its fury was spent. +Both subsequently became subdivided into various +bodies. The extinction of Protestantism +would complete the parallel. +</p> + +<p> +In this connection a remark of De Maistre is +worth quoting: <q>If Protestantism bears always +the same name, though its belief has been perpetually +shifting, it is because its name is purely +negative and means only the denial of Catholicity, +so that the less it believes, and the more it protests, +the more consistently Protestant it will be. +Since, then, its name becomes continually truer, +it must subsist until it perishes, just as an ulcer +disappears with the last atom of the flesh which +it has been eating away.</q><note place='foot'>Du Pape, 1, 2, c. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But similar causes will produce similar results. +As both revolutions were the offspring of rebellion; +<pb n="056"/><anchor id="Pg056"/> +as both have been marked by the same vigorous +youth, the same precocious manhood, the same +premature decay and dismemberment of parts; so +we are not rash in predicting that the dissolution +which long since visited the former is destined, +sooner or later, to overtake the latter. But the +Catholic Church, because she is the work of God, +is always <q>renewing her strength, like the eagle's.</q><note place='foot'>Psalm +cii. 5.</note> +You ask for a miracle, as the Jews asked our Saviour +for a sign. You ask the Church to prove her +divine mission by a miraculous agency. Is not her +very survival the greatest of prodigies? If you +beheld some fair bride with all the weakness of +humanity upon her, cast into a prison and starved +and trampled upon, hacked and tortured, her blood +sprinkled upon her dungeon walls, and if you saw +her again emerging from her prison, in all the +bloom and freshness of youth, and surviving for +years and centuries beyond the span of human life, +continuing to be the joyful mother of children, +would you not call that scene a miracle? +</p> + +<p> +And is not this a picture of our Mother, the +Church? Has she not passed through all these +vicissitudes? Has she not tasted the bitterness of +prison in every age? Has not her blood been shed +in every clime? +</p> + +<p> +And yet in her latter days, she is as fair as ever, +and the nursing mother of children. Are not civil +governments and institutions mortal as well as +men? Why should the Republic of the Church be +an exception to the law of decay and death? If +this is not a miracle, I know not what a miracle is. +</p> + +<p> +If Augustin, that profound Christian philosopher, +could employ this argument in the fifth century, +with how much more force may it be used +today, fifteen hundred years after his time! +</p> + +<pb n="057"/><anchor id="Pg057"/> + +<p> +But far be it from us to ascribe to any human +cause this marvelous survival of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +Her indestructibility is not due, as some suppose, +to her wonderful organization, or to the far-reaching +policy of her Pontiffs, or to the learning and +wisdom of her teachers. If she has survived, it is +not because of human wisdom, but often in spite of +human folly. Her permanence is due not to the +arm of the flesh, but to the finger of God. <q>Not to +us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I would now ask this question of all that are +hostile to the Catholic Church and that are plotting +her destruction: How can you hope to overturn +an institution which for more than nineteen +centuries has successfully resisted all the combined +assaults of the world, of men, and of the +powers of darkness? What means will you employ +to encompass her ruin? +</p> + +<p> +I. Is it the power of Kings, and Emperors, +and Prime Ministers? They have tried in vain +to crush her, from the days of the Roman Cæsars +to those of the former Chancellor of Germany. +</p> + +<p> +Many persons labor under the erroneous impression +that the crowned heads of Europe have +been the unvarying supporters of the Church, and +that if their protection were withdrawn she would +soon collapse. So far from the Church being +sheltered behind earthly thrones, her worst enemies +have been, with some honorable exceptions, +so-called Christian Princes who were nominal children +of the Church. They chafed under her salutary +discipline; they wished to be rid of her yoke, +because she alone, in time of oppression, had the +power and the courage to stand by the rights of +the people, and place her breast as a wall of +brass against the encroachments of their rulers. +With calm confidence we can say with the Psalmist: +<pb n="058"/><anchor id="Pg058"/> +<q>Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people +devised vain things? The kings of the earth +stood up, and the princes met together, against +the Lord, and against his Christ. Let us break +their bonds asunder, and let us cast away their +yoke from us. +He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them +and the Lord shall deride them.</q><note place='foot'>Psalm ii. 1-4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +II. Can the immense resources and organized +power of rival religious bodies succeed in absorbing +her and in bringing her to naught? I am not +disposed to undervalue this power. Against any +human force it would be irresistible. But if the +colossal strength, and incomparable machinery of +the Roman Empire could not prevent the establishment +of the Church; if Arianism, Nestorianism, +Eutychianism could not check her development, +how can modern organizations stop her +progress now, when in the fulness of her +strength? +</p> + +<p> +It is easier to preserve what is created, than +to create anew. +</p> + +<p> +III. But we have been told: <q>Take from the +Pope his Temporal power and the Church is +doomed to destruction. This is the secret of her +strength; strip her of this, and, like Samson shorn +of his hair, she will betray all the weakness of +a poor mortal. Then this brilliant luminary will +wax pale and she will sink below the horizon, +never more to rise again.</q> +</p> + +<p> +For more than seven centuries after the establishment +of the Church the Popes had no sovereign +territorial jurisdiction. How could she +have outlived that period, if the temporal power +were essential to her perpetuity? And even since +1870 the Pope has been deprived of his temporalities. +<pb n="059"/><anchor id="Pg059"/> +This loss, however, does not bring a wrinkle +on the fair brow of the Church, nor does it retard +one inch her onward march. +</p> + +<p> +IV. Is she unable to cope with modern inventions +and the mechanical progress of the nineteenth +century? We are often told so; but far +from hiding our head, like the ostrich in the +sand, at the approach of these inventions we hail +them as messengers of God, and will use them as +Providential instruments for the further propagation +of the faith. +</p> + +<p> +If we succeeded so well before, when we had no +ships but frail canoes, no compass but our eyes; +when we had no roads but eternal snows, virgin +forests and trackless deserts; when we had no +guide save faith, and hope, and God—if even then +we succeeded so well in carrying the Gospel to +the confines of the earth, how much more can we +do now by the aid of telegraph, steamships and +railroads? +</p> + +<p> +Yes, O men of genius, we bless your inventions; +we bless you, ye modern discoveries; and we will +impress you into the service of the Church and +say: <q>Fire and heat bless the Lord. Lightnings +and clouds bless the Lord; all ye works of the +Lord bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above +all forever.</q><note place='foot'>Daniel, iii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The utility of modern inventions to the Church +has lately been manifested in a conspicuous manner. +The Pope called a council of all the Bishops +of the world. Without the aid of steam it would +have been almost impossible for them to assemble; +by its aid they were able to meet from the +uttermost bounds of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +V. But may not the light of the Church grow +pale and be extinguished before the intellectual +<pb n="060"/><anchor id="Pg060"/> +blaze of the nineteenth century? Has she not +much to fear from literature, the arts and +sciences? She has always been the Patroness +of literature, and the fostering Mother of the +arts and sciences. She founded and endowed +nearly all the great universities of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Not to mention those of the continent, a bare +catalogue of which would cover a large space, I +may allude to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, +the two most famous seats of learning in +England, which were established under Catholic +auspices centuries before the Reformation. +</p> + +<p> +The Church also founded three of the four universities +now existing in Scotland, viz: St. Andrew's +in 1411, Glasgow in 1450 and Aberdeen in +1494. +</p> + +<p> +Without her we should be deprived to-day of +the priceless treasures of ancient literature; for, +in preserving the languages of Greece and Rome +from destruction, she rescued classical writers of +those countries from oblivion. Hallam justly observes +that, were it not for the diligent labors +of the monks in the Middle Ages, our knowledge +of the history of ancient Greece and Rome would +be as vague today as our information regarding +the Pyramids of Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +And as for works of art, there are more valuable +monuments of art contained in the single +museum of the Vatican than are to be found in +all our country. Artists are obliged to go to +Rome to consult their best models. Our churches +are not only temples of worship, but depositories +of sacred art. For our intellectual progress we +are in no small measure indebted to the much-abused +Middle Ages. Tyndall has the candor to +observe that <q>The nineteenth century strikes its +roots into the centuries gone by and draws nutriment +from them.</q><note place='foot'>Tyndall, Study of Physics.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="061"/><anchor id="Pg061"/> + +<p> +VI. Is it liberty that will destroy the Church? +The Church breathes freely and expands with +giant growth, where true liberty is found. She is +always cramped in her operations wherever despotism +casts its dark shadow. Nowhere does she +enjoy more independence than here; nowhere is +she more vigorous and more prosperous. +</p> + +<p> +Children of the Church, fear nothing, happen +what will to her. Christ is with her and therefore +she cannot sink. Cæsar, in crossing the Adriatic, +said to the troubled oarsman: <q>Quid times? +Cæsarem vehis.</q> What Cæsar said in presumption +Jesus says with truth: What fearest thou? +Christ is in the ship. Are we not positive that +the sun will rise tomorrow and next day, and so +on to the end of the world? Why? Because God +so ordained when He established it in the heavens; +and because it has never failed to run its +course from the beginning. Has not Christ promised +that the Church should always enlighten the +world? Has He not, so far, fulfilled His promise +concerning His Church? Has she not gone steadily +on her course amid storm and sunshine? The +fulfilment of the past is the best security for the +future. +</p> + +<p> +Amid the continual changes in human institutions +she is the one Institution that never changes. +Amid the universal ruins of earthly monuments +she is the one monument that stands proudly pre-eminent. +Not a stone in this building falls to the +ground. Amid the general destruction of kingdoms +her kingdom is never destroyed. Ever ancient +and ever new, time writes no wrinkles on +her Divine brow. +</p> + +<p> +The Church has seen the birth of every government +of Europe, and it is not at all improbable +that she shall also witness the death of them all +<pb n="062"/><anchor id="Pg062"/> +and chant their requiem. She was more than fourteen +hundred years old when Columbus discovered +our continent, and the foundation of our Republic +is but as yesterday to her. +</p> + +<p> +She calmly looked on while the Goths and the +Visigoths, the Huns and the Saxons swept like a +torrent over Europe, subverting dynasties. She +has seen monarchies changed into republics, and +republics consolidated into empires—all this has +she witnessed, while her own Divine Constitution +has remained unaltered. Of Her we can truly +say in the words of the Psalmist: <q>They shall +perish, but thou remainest; and all of them shall +grow old as a garment. And as a vesture Thou +shalt change them, and they shall be changed. But +thou art always the self-same, and thy years shalt +not fail. The children of thy servants shall continue, +and their seed shall be directed forever.</q><note place='foot'>Psalm ci. 27-29.</note> +God forbid that we should ascribe to any human +cause this marvellous survival of the Church. +Her indestructibility is not due, as some suppose, +to her wonderful organization, or to the far-reaching +policy of her Pontiffs, or to the learning and +wisdom of her teachers. If she has survived, it +is not because of human wisdom, but often in +spite of human folly. Her permanence is due not +to the arm of the flesh, but to the finger of God. +</p> + +<p> +In the brightest days of the Republic of Pagan +Rome the Roman said with pride: <q>I am a +Roman citizen.</q> This was his noblest title. He +was proud of the Republic, because it was venerable +in years, powerful in the number of its citizens, +and distinguished for the wisdom of its +statesmen. What a subject of greater glory to be +a citizen of the Republic of the Church which has +lasted for nineteen centuries, and will continue +<pb n="063"/><anchor id="Pg063"/> +till time shall be no more; which counts her millions +of children in every clime; which numbers +her heroes and her martyrs by the thousand; +which associates you with the Apostles and +Saints. <q>You are no more strangers and foreigners, +but you are fellow-citizens with the Saints +and the domestics of God, built upon the foundation +of the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ +Himself being the chief cornerstone.</q><note place='foot'>Eph. ii. 19, 20.</note> +Though separated from earthly relatives and parents, +you need never be separated from her. She is +ever with us to comfort us. She says to us what +her Divine Spouse said to His Apostles: <q>Behold, +I am with you all days, even to the consummation +of the world.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 20.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="065"/><anchor id="Pg065"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter VII. Infallible Authority Of The Church.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter VII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter VII.</head> +<head>Infallible Authority Of The Church.</head> + +<p> +The Church has authority from God to teach +regarding faith and morals, and in her teaching +she is preserved from error by the special +guidance of the Holy Ghost. +</p> + +<p> +The prerogative of infallibility is clearly deduced +from the attributes of the Church already +mentioned. The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, +and Apostolic. Preaching the same creed everywhere +and at all times; teaching holiness and +truth, she is, of course, essentially unerring in +her doctrine; for what is one, holy or unchangeable +must be infallibly true. +</p> + +<p> +That the Church was infallible in the Apostolic +age is denied by no Christian. We never question +the truth of the Apostles' declarations;<note place='foot'>See Gal. +iv. 14; 1 Thess. ii. 13.</note> they +were, in fact, the only authority in the Church +for the first century. The New Testament was +not completed till the close of the first century. +There is no just ground for denying to the Apostolic +teachers of the nineteenth century in which +we live a prerogative clearly possessed by those +of the first, especially as the Divine Word nowhere +intimates that this unerring guidance was +to die with the Apostles. On the contrary, as +the Apostles transmitted to their successors their +power to preach, to baptize, to ordain, to confirm, +<pb n="066"/><anchor id="Pg066"/> +etc., they must also have handed down to them +the no less essential gift of infallibility. +</p> + +<p> +God loves us as much as He loved the primitive +Christians; Christ died for us as well as for them +and we have as much need of unerring teachers +as they had. +</p> + +<p> +It will not suffice to tell me: <q>We have an infallible +Scripture as a substitute for an infallible +apostolate of the first century,</q> for an infallible +book is of no use to me without an infallible interpreter, +as the history of Protestantism too +clearly demonstrates. +</p> + +<p> +But besides these presumptive arguments, we +have positive evidence from Scripture that the +Church cannot err in her teachings. Our blessed +Lord, in constituting St. Peter Prince of His +Apostles, says to him: <q>Thou art Peter, and upon +this rock I will build My Church, and the gates +of hell shall not prevail against it.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. 18.</note> +Christ makes here a solemn prediction that no error +shall ever invade His Church, and if she fell into +error the gates of hell have certainly prevailed +against her. +</p> + +<p> +The Reformers of the sixteenth century affirm +that the Church did fall into error; that the gates +of hell did prevail against her; that from the +sixth to the sixteenth century she was a sink of +iniquity. The Book of Homilies of the Church of +England says that the Church <q>lay buried in +damnable idolatry for eight hundred years or +more.</q> The personal veracity of our Savior and +of the Reformers is here at issue, for our Lord +makes a statement which they contradict. Who +is to be believed, Jesus or the Reformers? +</p> + +<p> +If the prediction of our Savior about the preservation +of His Church from error be false, then +<pb n="067"/><anchor id="Pg067"/> +Jesus Christ is not God, since God cannot lie. +He is not even a prophet, since He predicted +falsehood. Nay, He is an impostor, and all Christianity +is a miserable failure and a huge deception, +since it rests on a false Prophet. +</p> + +<p> +But if Jesus predicted the truth when He declared +that the gates of hell should not prevail +against His Church—and who dare deny it?—then +the Church never has and never could have +fallen from the truth; then the Catholic Church +is infallible, for she alone claims that prerogative, +and she is the only Church that is acknowledged +to have existed from the beginning. Truly is +Jesus that wise Architect mentioned in the Gospel, +<q>who built his house upon a rock; and the +rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, +and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, +for it was founded upon a rock.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. vii. 24, et seq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Jesus sends forth the Apostles with plenipotentiary +powers to preach the Gospel. <q>As the +Father,</q> He says, <q>hath sent Me, I also send +you.</q><note place='foot'>John xx. 21.</note> <q>Going therefore, teach all nations, +teaching them to observe all things whatsoever +I have commanded you.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.</note> +<q>Preach the Gospel to every creature.</q><note place='foot'>Mark xvi. 15.</note> +<q>Ye shall be witnesses unto +Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, +and even to the uttermost part of the earth.</q><note place='foot'>Acts i. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This commission evidently applies not to the +Apostles only, but also to their successors, to +the end of time, since it was utterly impossible +for the Apostles personally to preach to the whole +world. +</p> + +<p> +Not only does our Lord empower His Apostles +to preach the Gospel, but He commands, and under +the most severe penalties, those to whom they +<pb n="068"/><anchor id="Pg068"/> +preach to listen and obey. <q>Whosoever will not +receive you, nor hear your words, going forth +from that house or city, shake the dust from your +feet. Amen, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable +for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the +day of judgment than for that city.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +x. 14, 15.</note> <q>If he +will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the +heathen and the publican.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xviii. 17.</note> <q>He that believeth +shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be condemned.</q><note place='foot'>Mark +xvi. 16.</note> +<q>He that heareth you heareth Me; +he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that +despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me.</q><note place='foot'>Luke x. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From these passages we see, on the one hand, +that the Apostles and their successors have received +full powers to announce the Gospel; and +on the other, that their hearers are obliged to +listen with docility and to obey not merely by +an external compliance, but also by an internal +assent of the intellect. If, therefore, the Catholic +Church could preach error, would not God Himself +be responsible for the error? And could not +the faithful soul say to God with all reverence +and truth: Thou hast commanded me, O Lord, +to hear Thy Church; if I am deceived by obeying +her, Thou art the cause of my error? +</p> + +<p> +But we may rest assured that an all-wise Providence +who commands His Church to speak in +His name will so guide her in the path of truth +that she shall never lead into error those that +follow her teachings. +</p> + +<p> +But as this privilege of Infallibility was a very +extraordinary favor, our Savior confers it on the +rulers of His Church in language which removes +all doubt from the sincere inquirer, and under +circumstances which add to the majesty of His +<pb n="069"/><anchor id="Pg069"/> +word. Shortly before His death Jesus consoles +His disciples by this promise: <q>I will ask the +Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, +<emph>that He may abide with you forever</emph>.... But +when He, the Spirit of truth, shall come, <emph>He will +teach you all truth</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>John xiv. 16; xvi. 13.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The following text of the same import forms the +concluding words recorded of our Savior in St. +Matthew's Gospel: <q>All power is given to Me in +heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and 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 consummation +of the world.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 18-20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He begins by asserting His own Divine authority +and mission. <q>All power is given,</q> etc. That +power He then delegates to His Apostles and to +their successors: <q>Go ye, therefore, and teach all +nations,</q> etc. He does not instruct them to scatter +Bibles broadcast over the earth, but to teach +by word of mouth. <q>And behold!</q> Our Savior +never arrests the attention of His hearers by +using the interjection, <hi rend='italic'>behold</hi>, unless when He has +something unusually solemn and extraordinary +to communicate. An important announcement is +sure to follow this word. <q>Behold, I am with +you.</q> These words, <q><hi rend='italic'>I am with you</hi>,</q> are frequently +addressed in Sacred Scripture by the Almighty +to His Prophets and Patriarchs, and they +always imply a special presence and a particular +supervision of the Deity.<note place='foot'>Ex. iii. +12; Jer. xv. 20, etc.</note> They convey the same +meaning in the present instance. Christ says +equivalently I who <q>am the way, the truth and +the life,</q> will protect you from error and will +guide you in your speech. I will be with you, +<pb n="070"/><anchor id="Pg070"/> +not merely during <emph>your</emph> natural lives, not for a +century only, but all days, at all times, without +intermission, even to the end of the world. +</p> + +<p> +These words of Jesus Christ establish two important +facts: First—A promise to guard His +Church from error. Second—A promise that His +presence with the Church will be continuous, without +any interval of absence, to the consummation +of the world. +</p> + +<p> +And this is also the sentiment of the Apostle of +the Gentiles writing to the Ephesians: God <q>gave +some indeed Apostles, and some Prophets, and +some Evangelists, and others Pastors and Teachers, +for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work +of the ministry, for the building up of the body +of Christ, until we all meet in the unity of faith, ... +that we may no more be children, tossed to +and fro, and carried about with every wind of +doctrine, by the wickedness of men, in craft, by +which they lie in wait to deceive.</q><note place='foot'>Eph. iv. 11-14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding these plain declarations of +Scripture, some persons think it an unwarrantable +assumption for the Church to claim infallibility. +But mark the consequences that follow +from denying it. +</p> + +<p> +If your church is not infallible it is liable to +err, for there is no medium between infallibility +and liability to error. If your church and her +ministers are fallible in their doctrinal teachings, +as they admit, they may be preaching falsehood +to you, instead of truth. If so, you are in doubt +whether you are listening to truth or falsehood. +If you are in doubt you can have no faith, for +faith excludes doubt, and in that state you displease +God, for <q>without faith it is impossible +to please God.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. xi. 6.</note> +Faith and infallibility must go +<pb n="071"/><anchor id="Pg071"/> +hand in hand. The one cannot exist without the +other. There can be no faith in the hearer unless +there is unerring authority in the speaker—an authority +founded upon such certain knowledge as +precludes the possibility of falling into error on his +part, and including such unquestioned veracity as +to prevent his deceiving him who accepts his word. +</p> + +<p> +You admit infallible certainty in the physical +sciences; why should you deny it in the science of +salvation? The astronomer can predict with accuracy +a hundred years beforehand an eclipse of the +sun or moon. He can tell what point in the heavens +a planet will reach on a given day. The mariner, +guided by his compass, knows, amid the raging +storm and the darkness of the night, that he is +steering his course directly to the city of his destination; +and is not an infallible guide as necessary +to conduct you to the city of God in heaven? Is it +not, moreover, a blessing and a consolation that, +amid the ever-changing views of men, amid the +conflict of human opinion and the tumultuous +waves of human passion, there is one voice heard +above the din and uproar, crying in clear, unerring +tones: <q>Thus saith the Lord?</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is very strange that the Catholic Church must +apologize to the world for simply declaring that +she speaks the truth, the whole truth, and nothing +but the truth. +</p> + +<p> +The Roman Pantheon was dedicated to all the +gods of the Empire, and their name was legion. +Formidable also in numbers are the Founders of +the religious sects existing in our country. A +Pantheon as vast as Westminster Abbey would +hardly be spacious enough to contain life-sized +statues for their accommodation. +</p> + +<p> +If you were to confront those figures, and to ask +them, one by one, to give an account of the faith +<pb n="072"/><anchor id="Pg072"/> +they had professed, and if they were endowed with +the gift of speech, you would find that no two of +them were in entire accord, but that they all differed +among themselves on some fundamental principle +of revelation. +</p> + +<p> +Would you not be acting very unwisely and be +hazarding your soul's salvation in submitting to +the teachings of so many discordant and conflicting +oracles. +</p> + +<p> +Children of the Catholic Church, give thanks to +God that you are members of that Communion, +which proclaims year after year the one same and +unalterable message of truth, peace and love, and +that you are preserved from all errors in faith, +and from all illusion in the practice of virtue. You +are happily strangers to those interior conflicts, to +those perplexing doubts and to that frightful uncertainty +which distracts the souls of those whose +private judgment is their only guide, who are +<q>ever learning and never attaining to the knowledge +of the truth.</q><note place='foot'>Tim. iii. +7.</note> You are not, like others, +drifting helplessly over the ocean of uncertainty +and <q>carried about by every wind of doctrine.</q> +You are not as <q>blind men led by blind guides.</q> +You are not like those who are in the midst of a +spiritual desert intersected by various by-paths, +not knowing which to pursue; but you are on that +high road spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, which is +so <q>straight a way that fools shall not err therein.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah +xxxv. 8.</note> +You are a part of that universal Communion +which has no <q>High Church</q> and <q>Low +Church;</q> no <q>New School</q> and <q>Old School,</q> +for you all belong to that School which is <q>ever +ancient and ever new.</q> You enjoy that profound +peace and tranquillity which springs from the conscious +<pb n="073"/><anchor id="Pg073"/> +possession of the whole truth. Well may +you exclaim: <q>Behold how good and how pleasant +it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. cxxxii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Give thanks, moreover, to God that you belong +to a Church which has also a keen sense to detect +and expose those moral shams, those pious frauds, +those socialistic schemes which are so often undertaken +in this country ostensibly in the name of religion +and morality, but which, in reality, are subversive +of morality and order, which are the offspring +of fanaticism, and serve as a mask to hide +the most debasing passions. Neither Mormons +nor Millerites, nor the advocates of free love or of +women's rights, so called, find any recruits in the +Catholic Church. She will never suffer her children +to be ensnared by these impostures, how specious +soever they may be. +</p> + +<p> +From what has been said in the preceding pages, +it follows that the Catholic Church cannot be reformed. +I do not mean, of course, that the Pastors +of the Church are personally impeccable or +not subject to sin. Every teacher in the Church, +from the Pope down to the humblest Priest, is liable +at any moment, like any of the faithful, to +fall from grace and to stand in need of moral +reformation. We all carry <q>this treasure (of innocence) +in earthen vessels.</q> +</p> + +<p> +My meaning is that the Church is not susceptible +of being reformed in her doctrines. The +Church is the work of an Incarnate God. Like all +God's works, it is perfect. It is, therefore, incapable +of reform. Is it not the height of presumption +for men to attempt to improve upon the +work of God? Is it not ridiculous for the Luthers, +the Calvins, the Knoxes and the Henries +<pb n="074"/><anchor id="Pg074"/> +and a thousand lesser lights to be offering their +amendments to the Constitution of the Church, as +if it were a human Institution? +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord Himself has never ceased to rule personally +over His Church. It is time enough for +little men to take charge of the Ship when the +great Captain abandons the helm. +</p> + +<p> +A Protestant gentleman of very liberal education +remarked to me, before the opening of the +late Ecumenical Council: <q>I am assured, sir, +by a friend, in confidence, that, at a secret Conclave +of Bishops recently held in Rome it was +resolved that the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception +would be reconsidered and abolished at +the approaching General Council; in fact, that +the definition was a mistake, and that the blunder +of 1854 would be repaired in 1869.</q> I told him, +of course, that no such question could be entertained +in the Council; that the doctrinal decrees +of the Church were irrevocable, and that the +dogma of the Immaculate Conception was defined +once and forever. +</p> + +<p> +If only one instance could be given in which +the Church ceased to teach a doctrine of faith +which had been previously held, that single instance +would be the death blow of her claim to infallibility. +But it is a marvelous fact worthy +of record that in the whole history of the Church, +from the nineteenth century to the first, no solitary +example can be adduced to show that any +Pope or General Council ever revoked a decree +of faith or morals enacted by any preceding Pontiff +or Council. Her record in the past ought to +be a sufficient warrant that she will tolerate no +doctrinal variations in the future. +</p> + +<pb n="075"/><anchor id="Pg075"/> + +<p> +If, as we have seen, the Church has authority +from God to teach, and if she teaches nothing +but the truth, is it not the duty of all Christians +to hear her voice and obey her commands? She +is the organ of the Holy Ghost. She is the Representative +of Jesus Christ, who has said to her: +<q>He that heareth you heareth Me; he that despiseth +you despiseth Me.</q> She is the Mistress +of truth. It is the property of the human mind +to embrace truth wherever it finds it. It would, +therefore, be not only an act of irreverence, but +of sheer folly, to disobey the voice of this ever-truthful +Mother. +</p> + +<p> +If a citizen is bound to obey the laws of his +country, though these laws may not in all respects +be conformable to strict justice; if a child +is bound by natural and divine law to obey his +mother, though she may sometimes err in her +judgments, how much more strictly are not we +obliged to be docile to the teachings of the Catholic +Church, our Mother, whose admonitions are +always just, whose precepts are immutable! +</p> + +<p> +<q>For twenty years,</q> observed a recently converted +Minister of the Protestant Church, <q>I +fought and struggled against the Church with +all the energy of my will. But when I became +a Catholic all my doubts ended, my inquiries +ceased. I became as a little child, and rushed +like a lisping babe into the arms of my mother.</q> +By Baptism Christians become children of the +Church, no matter who pours upon them the regenerating +waters. If she is our Mother, where +is our love and obedience? When the infant seeks +nourishment at its mother's breast it does not +analyze its food. When it receives instructions +from its mother's lips it never doubts, but instinctively +believes. When the mother stretches +<pb n="076"/><anchor id="Pg076"/> +forth her hand the child follows unhesitatingly. +The Christian should have for his spiritual +Mother all the simplicity, all the credulity, I +might say, of a child, guided by the instincts of +faith. <q>Unless ye become,</q> says our Lord, <q>as +little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom +of Heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xviii. 3.</note> +<q>As new-born babes, desire +the rational milk without guile; that thereby you +may grow unto salvation.</q><note place='foot'>Pet. ii. +2.</note> In her nourishment +there is no poison; in her doctrines there is no +guile. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="077"/><anchor id="Pg077"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter VIII. The Church And The Bible.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter VIII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter VIII.</head> +<head>The Church And The Bible.</head> + +<p> +The Church, as we have just seen, is the +only Divinely constituted teacher of Revelation. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the Scripture is the great depository of +the Word of God. Therefore, the Church is the +divinely appointed Custodian and Interpreter of +the Bible. For, her office of infallible Guide were +superfluous if each individual could interpret the +Bible for himself. +</p> + +<p> +That God never intended the Bible to be the +Christian's rule of faith, independently of the +living authority of the Church, will be the subject +of this chapter. +</p> + +<p> +No nation ever had a greater veneration for +the Bible than the Jewish people. The Holy +Scripture was their pride and their glory. It +was their national song in time of peace; it was +their meditation and solace in time of tribulation +and exile. And yet the Jews never dreamed of +settling their religious controversies by a private +appeal to the Word of God. +</p> + +<p> +Whenever any religious dispute arose among +the people it was decided by the High Priest and +the Sanhedrim, which was a council consisting +of seventy-two civil and ecclesiastical judges. +The sentence of the High Priest and of his associate +judges was to be obeyed under penalty of +<pb n="078"/><anchor id="Pg078"/> +death. <q>If thou perceive,</q> says the Book of +Deuteronomy, <q>that there be among you a hard +and doubtful matter in judgment, ... thou shalt +come to the Priests of the Levitical race and to +the judge, ... and they shall show thee the truth +of the judgment.... And thou shalt follow their +sentence; neither shalt thou decline to the right +hand, nor to the left.... But he that will ... +refuse to obey the commandment of the Priest, ... +that man shall die, and thou shalt take away +the evil from Israel.</q><note place='foot'>Deut. xvii. 8, et seq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From this clear sentence you perceive that God +does not refer the Jews for the settlement of their +controversies to the letter of the law, but to the +living authority of the ecclesiastical tribunal +which He had expressly established for that purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Hence, the Priests were required to be intimately +acquainted with the Sacred Scripture, because +they were the depositaries of God's law, +and were its expounders to the people. <q>The +lips of the Priest shall keep knowledge, and they +(the people) shall seek the law at his mouth, because +he is the angel (or messenger) of the Lord +of hosts.</q><note place='foot'>Mal. ii. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And, in fact, very few of the children of Israel, +except the Priests, were in possession of the Divine +Books. The holy manuscript was rare and +precious. And what provision did God make that +all the people might have an opportunity of hearing +the Scriptures? Did He command the sacred +volume to be multiplied? No; but He ordered +the <emph>Priests</emph> and the <emph>Levites</emph> to be distributed +through the different tribes, that they might always +be at hand to instruct the people in the +knowledge of the law. The Jews were even forbidden +<pb n="079"/><anchor id="Pg079"/> +to read certain portions of the Scripture +till they had reached the age of thirty years. +</p> + +<p> +Does our Savior reverse this state of things +when He comes on earth? Does He tell the Jews +to be their own guides in the study of the Scriptures? +By no means; but He commands them to +obey their constituted teachers, no matter how +disedifying might be their private lives. <q>Then +said Jesus to the multitudes and to His disciples: +The Scribes and Pharisees sit upon the chair of +Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they +shall say to you, observe and do.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxiii. 2, 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is true our Lord said on one occasion +<q>Search the Scriptures, for you <emph>think</emph> in them to +have life everlasting, and the same are they that +give testimony to Me.</q><note place='foot'>John v. +39.</note> This passage is triumphantly +quoted as an argument in favor of private +interpretation. But it proves nothing of the kind. +Many learned commentators, ancient and modern, +express the verb in the indicative mood: <q>Ye +search the Scriptures.</q> At all events, our Savior +speaks here only of the Old Testament because +the New Testament was not yet written. +He addresses not the multitude, but the Pharisees, +who were the teachers of the law, and reproaches +them for not admitting His Divinity. <q>You +have,</q> He says, <q>the Scriptures in your hands; +why then do you not recognize Me as the Messiah, +since they give testimony that I am the Son of +God?</q> He refers them to the Scriptures for a +proof of His Divinity, not as to a source from +which they were to derive all knowledge in regard +to the truths of revelation. +</p> + +<p> +Besides, He did not rest the proof of His Divinity +upon the <emph>sole</emph> testimony of Scripture. For +He showed it +<pb n="080"/><anchor id="Pg080"/> +First—By the testimony of John the Baptist +(v. 33), who had said, <q>Behold the Lamb of God; +behold Him who taketh away the sins of the +world.</q> See also John i. 34. +</p> + +<p> +Second—By the miracles which He wrought +(v. 36). +</p> + +<p> +Third—By the testimony of the Father (v. 37), +when He said: <q>This is my beloved Son, in whom +I am well pleased; hear ye Him.</q> Matt. iii. 16; +Luke ix. 35. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—By the Scriptures of the Old Testament; +as if He were to say, <q>If you are unwilling +to receive these three proofs, though they are +most cogent, at least you cannot reject the testimony +of the Scriptures, of which you boast so +much.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Finally, in this very passage our Lord is explaining +the sense of Holy Writ; therefore, its +true meaning is not left to the private interpretation +of every chance reader. It is, therefore, a +grave perversion of the sacred text to adduce +these words in vindication of private interpretation +of the Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +But when our Redeemer abolished the Old Law +and established His Church, did He intend that +His Gospel should be disseminated by the circulation +of the Bible, or by the living voice of His +disciples? This is a vital question. I answer +most emphatically, that it was by preaching alone +that He intended to convert the nations, and by +preaching alone they were converted. No nation +has ever yet been converted by the agency of +Bible Associations. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus Himself never wrote a line of Scripture. +He never once commanded His Apostles to write +a word,<note place='foot'>Except when He directed St. John to write the +Apocalypse, i. 11.</note> or even to circulate the Scriptures already +<pb n="081"/><anchor id="Pg081"/> +existing. When He sends them on their +Apostolic errand, He says: <q>Go <emph>teach</emph> all +nations.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 19.</note> +<q><emph>Preach</emph> the Gospel to every creature.</q><note place='foot'>Mark +xvi. 15.</note> +<q>He that heareth you heareth Me.</q><note place='foot'>Luke x. 16.</note> +And we find the Apostles acting in strict accordance +with these instructions. +</p> + +<p> +Of the twelve Apostles, the seventy-two disciples, +and early followers of our Lord only eight +have left us any of their sacred writings. And the +Gospels and Epistles were addressed to particular +persons or particular churches. They were written +on the occasion of some emergency, just as +Bishops issue Pastoral letters to correct abuses +which may spring up in the Church, or to lay +down some rules of conduct for the faithful. The +Apostles are never reported to have circulated a +single volume of the Holy Scripture, but <q>they +going forth, <emph>preached</emph> everywhere, the Lord co-operating +with them.</q><note place='foot'>Mark xvi. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Thus we see that in the Old and the New Dispensation +the people were to be guided by a living +authority, and not by their private interpretation +of the Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, until the religious revolution of the +sixteenth century, it was a thing unheard of from +the beginning of the world, that people should be +governed by the dead letter of the law either in +civil or ecclesiastical affairs. How are your civil +affairs regulated in this State, for instance? Certainly +not in accordance with your personal interpretation +of the laws of Virginia, but in accordance +with decisions which are rendered by +the constituted judges of the State. +</p> + +<p> +Now what the civil code is to the citizen, the +Scripture is to the Christian. The Word of God, +<pb n="082"/><anchor id="Pg082"/> +as well as the civil law, must have an interpreter, +by whose decision we are obliged to abide. +</p> + +<p> +We often hear the shibboleth: <q>The Bible, and +the Bible only, must be your guide.</q> Why, then, +do you go to the useless expense of building fine +churches and Sabbath-schools? What is the use +of your preaching sermons and catechizing the +young, if the Bible at home is a sufficient guide +for your people? The fact is, you reverend gentlemen +contradict in practice what you so vehemently +advance in theory. Do not tell me that the +Bible is all-sufficient; or, if you believe it is self-sufficient, +cease your instructions. Stand not between +the people and the Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +I will address myself now in a friendly spirit +to a non-Catholic, and will proceed to show him +that he cannot consistently accept the silent Book +of Scripture as his sufficient guide. +</p> + +<p> +A copy of the sacred volume is handed to you +by your minister, who says: <q>Take this book; +you will find it all-sufficient for your salvation.</q> +But here a serious difficulty awaits you at the very +threshold of your investigations. What assurance +have you that the book he hands you is the +<emph>inspired</emph> Word of God; for every part of the Bible +is far from possessing intrinsic evidences of inspiration? +It may, for ought you know, contain +more than the Word of God, or it may not contain +all the Word of God. We must not suppose +that the Bible was always, as it is now, a compact +book, bound in a neat form. It was for several +centuries in scattered fragments, spread over different +parts of Christendom. Meanwhile, many +spurious books, under the name of Scripture, were +circulated among the faithful. There was, for instance, +the spurious Gospel of St. Peter; there +<pb n="083"/><anchor id="Pg083"/> +was also the Gospel of St. James and of St. +Matthias. +</p> + +<p> +The Catholic Church, in the plenitude of her +authority, in the third Council of Carthage, (A. D. +397,) separated the chaff from the wheat, and +declared what Books were Canonical, and what +were apocryphal. Even to this day the Christian +sects do not agree among themselves as to what +books are to be accepted as genuine. Some Christians +of continental Europe do not recognize the +Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke because these +Evangelists were not among the Apostles. Luther +used to call the Epistle of St. James a letter of +straw. +</p> + +<p> +But even when you are assured that the Bible +contains the Word of God, and nothing but the +Word of God, how do you know that the translation +is faithful? The Books of Scripture were +originally written in Hebrew and Greek, and you +have only the translation. Before you are certain +that the translation is faithful you must +study the Hebrew and Greek languages, and then +compare the translation with the original. How +few are capable of this gigantic undertaking! +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, when you accept the Bible as the Word +of God, you are obliged to receive it on the authority +of the Catholic Church, who was the sole +Guardian of the Scriptures for fifteen hundred +years. +</p> + +<p> +But after having ascertained to your satisfaction +that the translation is faithful, still the Scriptures +can never serve as a complete Rule of Faith +and a complete guide to heaven independently of +an authorized, living interpreter. +</p> + +<p> +A competent guide, such as our Lord intended +for us, must have three characteristics. It must +be within the reach of everyone; it must be clear +<pb n="084"/><anchor id="Pg084"/> +and intelligible; it must be able to satisfy us on +all questions relating to faith and morals. +</p> + +<p> +First—A complete guide of salvation must be +within the reach of every inquirer after truth; +for, God <q>wishes all men to be saved, and to +come to the knowledge of the truth;</q><note place='foot'>I. +Tim., ii. 4.</note> and therefore +He must have placed within the reach of +everyone the means of arriving at the truth. Now, +it is clear that the Scriptures could not at any +period have been accessible to everyone. +</p> + +<p> +They could not have been accessible <emph>to the +primitive Christians</emph>, because they were not all +written for a long time after the establishment +of Christianity. The Christian religion was +founded in the year 33. St. Matthew's Gospel, +the first part of the New Testament ever written, +did not appear till eight years after. The Church +was established about twenty years when St. Luke +wrote his Gospel. And St. John's Gospel did not +come to light till toward the end of the first century. +For many years after the Gospels and +Epistles were written the knowledge of them was +confined to the churches to which they were addressed. +It was not till the close of the fourth +century that the Church framed her Canon of +Scripture and declared the Bible, as we now possess +it, to be the genuine Word of God. And this +was the golden age of Christianity! The most +perfect Christians lived and died and went to +heaven before the most important parts of the +Scriptures were written. And what would have +become of them if the Bible alone had been their +guide? +</p> + +<p> +The art of printing was not invented till the +fifteenth century (1440). How utterly impossible it +was to supply everyone with a copy of the Scriptures +<pb n="085"/><anchor id="Pg085"/> +<emph>from the fourth to the fifteenth century</emph>! +During that long period Bibles had to be copied +with the pen. There were but a few hundred of them +in the Christian world, and these were in the hands +of the clergy and the learned. <q>According to the +Protestant system, the art of printing would have +been much more necessary to the Apostles than +the gift of tongues. It was well for Luther that +he did not come into the world until a century +after the immortal invention of Guttenberg. A +hundred years earlier his idea of directing two +hundred and fifty million men to read the +Bible would have been received with shouts of +laughter, and would inevitably have caused his +removal from the pulpit of Wittenberg to a hospital +for the insane.</q><note place='foot'>Martinet, +Religion in Society, Vol. II., c. 10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And even <emph>at the present day</emph>, with all the aid of +steam printing presses, with all the Bible Associations +extending through this country and England, +and supported at enormous expense, it taxes +all their energies to supply every missionary country +with Bibles printed in the languages of the +tribes and peoples for whom they are intended. +</p> + +<p> +But even if the Bible were at all times accessible +to everyone, how many millions exist in every +age and country, not excepting our own age of +boasted enlightenment, who are not accessible to +the Bible because they are incapable of reading +the Word of God! Hence, the doctrine of private +interpretation would render many men's salvation +not only difficult, but impossible. +</p> + +<p> +Second—A competent religious guide must be +clear and intelligible to all, so that everyone may +fully understand the true meaning of the instructions +it contains. Is the Bible a book intelligible +to all? Far from it; it is full of obscurities and +<pb n="086"/><anchor id="Pg086"/> +difficulties not only for the illiterate, but even for +the learned. St. Peter himself informs us that +in the Epistles of St. Paul there are <q>certain +things hard to be understood, which the unlearned +and the unstable wrest, as they do also the other +Scriptures, to their own destruction.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Pet., iii. 16.</note> And +consequently he tells us elsewhere <q>that no +prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., +i. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We read in the Acts of the Apostles that a certain +man was riding in his chariot, reading the +Book of Isaiah, and being asked by St. Philip +whether he understood the meaning of the prophecy +he replied: <q>How can I understand unless +some man show me?</q><note place='foot'>Acts, viii. +31.</note> admitting, by these modest +words, that he did not pretend of himself to +interpret the Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +The Fathers of the Church, though many of +them spent their whole lives in the study of the +Scriptures, are unanimous in pronouncing the +Bible a book full of knotty difficulties. And yet +we find in our days pedants, with a mere smattering +of Biblical knowledge, who see no obscurity +at all in the Word of God, and who presume to +expound it from Genesis to Revelation. <q>Fools +rush in where angels fear to tread.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Does not the conduct of the Reformers conclusively +show the utter folly of interpreting the +Scriptures by private judgment? As soon as they +rejected the oracle of the Church, and set up their +own private judgment as the highest standard of +authority, they could hardly agree among themselves +on the meaning of a single important text. +The Bible became in their hands a complete Babel. +The sons of Noe attempted in their pride to ascend +to heaven by building the tower of Babel, +<pb n="087"/><anchor id="Pg087"/> +and their scheme ended in the confusion and multiplication +of tongues. The children of the Reformation +endeavored in their conceit to lead men +to heaven by the private interpretation of the +Bible, and their efforts led to the confusion and +the multiplication of religions. Let me give you +one example out of a thousand. These words of +the Gospel, <q>This is My Body,</q> were understood +only in one sense before the Reformation. The +new lights of the sixteenth century gave no fewer +than eighty different meanings to these four simple +words, and since their time the number of interpretations +has increased to over a hundred. +</p> + +<p> +No one will deny that in our days there exists +a vast multitude of sects, which are daily multiplying. +No one will deny<note place='foot'>Except, perhaps, +Rev. H. W. Beecher. who thinks that God +is glorified by the variety of sects.</note> that this multiplying +of creeds is a crying scandal, and a great stumbling-block +in the way of the conversion of heathen +nations. No one can deny that these divisions +in the Christian family are traceable to the assumption +of the right of private judgment. Every +new-fledged divine, with a superficial education, +imagines that he has received a call from heaven +to inaugurate a new religion, and he is ambitious +of handing down his fame to posterity by stamping +his name on a new sect. And every one of +these champions of modern creeds appeals to the +unchanging Bible in support of his ever-changing +doctrines. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, one body of Christians will prove from +the Bible that there is but one Person in God, +while the rest will prove from the same source +that a Trinity of Persons is a clear article of +Divine Revelation. One will prove from the Holy +Book that Jesus Christ is not God. Others will +<pb n="088"/><anchor id="Pg088"/> +appeal to the same text to attest His Divinity. +One denomination will assert on the authority of +Scripture that infant baptism is not necessary +for salvation, while others will hold that it is. +Some Christians, with Bible in hand, will teach +that there are no sacraments. Others will say +that there are only two. Some will declare that +the inspired Word does not preach the eternity +of punishments. Others will say that the Bible +distinctly vindicates that dogma. Do not clergymen +appear every day in the pulpit, and on the +authority of the Book of Revelation point out to +us with painful accuracy the year and the day on +which this world is to come to an end? And when +their prophecy fails of execution they coolly put +off our destruction to another time. +</p> + +<p> +Very recently several hundred Mormon women +presented a petition to the government at Washington +protesting against any interference with +their abominable polygamy and they insist that +their cherished system is sustained by the Word +of God. +</p> + +<p> +Such is the legitimate fruit of private interpretation! +Our civil government is run not by private +judgment, but by the constituted authorities. No +one in his senses would allow our laws to be interpreted, +and war to be declared by sensational journals, +or by any private individuals. Why not apply +the same principle to the interpretation of the +Bible and the government of the Church? +</p> + +<p> +Would it not be extremely hazardous to make a +long voyage in a ship in which the officers and crew +are fiercely contending among themselves about +the manner of explaining the compass and of steering +their course? How much more dangerous is +it to trust to contending captains in the journey to +heaven! Nothing short of an infallible authority +<pb n="089"/><anchor id="Pg089"/> +should satisfy you when it is a question of steering +your course to eternity. On this vital point there +should be no conflict of opinion among those that +guide you. There should be no conjecture. But +there must be always someone at the helm whose +voice gives assurance amid the fiercest storms that +<hi rend='italic'>all is well</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Third—A rule of faith, or a competent guide +to heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths +necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures +alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian +is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly +enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice. +Not to mention other examples, is not every +Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain +on that day from unnecessary servile work? +Is not the observance of this law among the most +prominent of our sacred duties? But you may +read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and +you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification +of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the +religious observance of Saturday, a day which +we never sanctify. +</p> + +<p> +The Catholic Church correctly teaches that our +Lord and His Apostles inculcated certain important +duties of religion which are not recorded by +the inspired writers.<note place='foot'>See John +xxi. 25; II. Thess. ii. 14.</note> For instance, most Christians +pray to the Holy Ghost, a practice which is +nowhere found in the Bible. +</p> + +<p> +We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures +<emph>alone</emph> cannot be a sufficient guide and rule +of faith because they cannot, at any time, be +within the reach of every inquirer; because they +are not of themselves clear and intelligible even +in matters of the highest importance, and because +<pb n="090"/><anchor id="Pg090"/> +they do not contain all the truths necessary for +salvation. +</p> + +<p> +God forbid that any of my readers should be +tempted to conclude from what I have said that +the Catholic Church is opposed to the reading of +the Scriptures, or that she is the enemy of the +Bible. The Catholic Church the enemy of the +Bible! Good God! What monstrous ingratitude! +What base calumny is contained in that assertion! +As well might you accuse the Virgin Mother of +trying to crush the Infant Savior at her breast +as to accuse the Church, our Mother, of attempting +to crush out of existence the Word of God. +As well might you charge the patriotic statesman +with attempting to destroy the constitution of his +country, while he strove to protect it from being +mutilated by unprincipled demagogues. +</p> + +<p> +For fifteen centuries the Church was the sole +guardian and depository of the Bible, and if she +really feared that sacred Book, who was to prevent +her, during that long period, from tearing it +in shreds and scattering it to the winds? She +could have thrown it into the sea, as the unnatural +mother would have thrown away her off-spring, +and who would have been the wiser? +</p> + +<p> +What has become of those millions of once +famous books written in past ages? They have +nearly all perished. But amid this wreck of ancient +literature, the Bible stands almost a solitary +monument like the Pyramids of Egypt amid +the surrounding wastes. That venerable Volume +has survived the wars and revolutions and the +barbaric invasions of fifteen centuries. Who rescued +it from destruction? The Catholic Church. +Without her fostering care the New Testament +would probably be as little known today as <q>the +Book of the days of the kings of Israel.</q><note place='foot'>III. +Kings xiv. 19.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="091"/><anchor id="Pg091"/> + +<p> +Little do we imagine, in our age of steam printing, +how much labor it cost the Church to preserve +and perpetuate the Sacred Scriptures. Learned +monks, who are now abused in their graves by +thoughtless men, were constantly employed in +copying with the pen the Holy Bible. When one +monk died at his post another took his place, +watching like a faithful sentinel over the treasure +of God's Word. +</p> + +<p> +Let me give you a few plain facts to show the +pains which the Church has taken to perpetuate +the Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +The Canon of the Bible, as we have seen, was +framed in the fourth century. In that same century +Pope Damasus commanded a new and complete +translation of the Scriptures to be made into +the Latin language, which was then the living +tongue not only of Rome and Italy, but of the +civilized world. +</p> + +<p> +If the Popes were afraid that the Bible should +see the light, this was a singular way of manifesting +their fear. +</p> + +<p> +The task of preparing a new edition of the +Scriptures was assigned to St. Jerome, the most +learned Hebrew scholar of his time. This new +translation was disseminated throughout Christendom, +and on that account was called the <hi rend='italic'>Vulgate</hi>, +or popular edition. +</p> + +<p> +In the sixth and seventh centuries the modern +languages of Europe began to spring up like so +many shoots from the parent Latin stock. The +Scriptures, also, soon found their way into these +languages. The Venerable Bede, who lived in +England in the eighth century, and whose name +is profoundly reverenced in that country, translated +the Sacred Scriptures into Saxon, which was +<pb n="092"/><anchor id="Pg092"/> +then the language of England. He died while dictating +the last verses of St. John's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, in +a funeral discourse on Queen Anne, consort of +Richard II., pronounced in 1394, praises her for +her diligence in reading the four Gospels. The +Head of the Church of England could not condemn +in others what he commended in the queen. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Thomas More affirms that, before the days +of Wycliffe, there was an English version of the +Scriptures, <q>by good and godly people with devotion +and soberness well and reverently read.</q><note place='foot'>Dialog. +3, 14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If partial restrictions began to be placed on the +circulation of the Bible in England in the fifteenth +century, these restrictions were occasioned by the +conduct of Wycliffe and his followers, who not +only issued a new translation, on which they engrafted +their novelties of doctrine, but also sought +to explain the sacred text in a sense foreign to the +received interpretation of tradition. +</p> + +<p> +While laboring to diffuse the Word of God it +is the duty, as well as the right of the Church, +as the guardian of faith, to see that the faithful +are not misled by unsound editions. +</p> + +<p> +Printing was invented in the fifteenth century, +and almost a hundred years later came the Reformation. +It is often triumphantly said, and +I suppose there are some who, even at the present +day, are ignorant enough to believe the assertion, +that the first edition of the Bible ever published +after the invention of printing was the edition of +Martin Luther. The fact is, that before Luther +put his pen to paper, no fewer than fifty-six editions +of the Scriptures had appeared on the continent +of Europe, not to speak of those printed in +<pb n="093"/><anchor id="Pg093"/> +Great Britain. Of those editions, twenty-one were +published in German, one in Spanish, four in +French, twenty-one in Italian, five in Flemish and +four in Bohemian. +</p> + +<p> +Coming down to our own times, if you open an +English Catholic Bible you will find in the preface +a letter of Pope Pius VI., in which he strongly +recommends the pious reading of the Holy Scriptures. +A Pope's letter is the most weighty authority +in the Church. You will also find in Haydock's +Bible the letters of the Bishops of the +United States, in which they express the hope +that this splendid edition would have a wide circulation +among their flocks. +</p> + +<p> +These facts ought, I think, to convince every +candid mind that the Church, far from being opposed +to the reading of the Scriptures, does all +she can to encourage their perusal. +</p> + +<p> +A gentleman of North Carolina lately informed +me that the first time he entered a Catholic bookstore +he was surprised at witnessing on the +shelves an imposing array of Bibles for sale. Up +to that moment he had believed the unfounded +charge that Catholics were forbidden to read the +Scriptures. He has since embraced the Catholic +faith. +</p> + +<p> +And perhaps I may be permitted here to record +my personal experiences during a long course of +study. I speak of myself, not because my case +is exceptional, but, on the contrary, because my +example will serve to illustrate the system pursued +toward ecclesiastical students in all colleges +throughout the Catholic world in reference to the +Holy Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +In our course of Humanities we listened every +day to the reading of the Bible. When we were +advanced to the higher branches of Philosophy +<pb n="094"/><anchor id="Pg094"/> +and Theology the study of the Sacred Scriptures +formed an important part of our education. We +read, besides, every day a chapter of the New +Testament, not standing or sitting, but on our +knees, and then reverently kissed the inspired +page. We listened at our meals each day to selections +from the Bible, and we always carried about +with us a copy of the New Testament. +</p> + +<p> +So familiar, indeed, were the students with the +sacred Volume that many of them, on listening to +a few verses, could tell from what portion of the +Scriptures you were reading. The only dread we +were taught to have of the Scriptures was that +of reading them without fear and reverence. +</p> + +<p> +And after his ordination every Priest is obliged +in conscience to devote upwards of an hour each +day to the perusal of the Word of God. I am not +aware that clergymen of other denominations are +bound by the same duty. +</p> + +<p> +What is good for the clergy must be good, also, +for the laity. Be assured that if you become a +Catholic you will never be forbidden to read the +Bible. It is our earnest wish that every word of +the Gospel may be imprinted on your memory and +on your heart. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="095"/><anchor id="Pg095"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter IX. The Primacy Of Peter.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter IX.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter IX.</head> +<head>The Primacy Of Peter.</head> + +<p> +The Catholic Church teaches also, that our +Lord conferred on St. Peter the first place +of honor and jurisdiction in the government +of His whole Church, and that the same spiritual +supremacy has always resided in the Popes, or +Bishops of Rome, as being the successors of St. +Peter. Consequently, to be true followers of +Christ all Christians, both among the clergy and +the laity, must be in communion with the See +of Rome, where Peter rules in the person of his +successor. +</p> + +<p> +Before coming to any direct proofs on this subject +I may state that, in the Old Law, the High +Priest appointed by Almighty God filled an office +analogous to that of Pope in the New Law. In +the Jewish Church there were Priests and Levites +ordained to minister at the altar; and there was, +also, a supreme ecclesiastical tribunal, with the +High Priest at its head. All matters of religious +controversy were referred to this tribunal and in +the last resort to the High Priest, whose decision +was enforced under pain of death. <q>If there be +a hard matter in judgment between blood and +blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, ... +thou shalt come to the Priests of the Levitical +race and to the judge, ... and they shall show +thee true judgment. And thou shalt do whatever +<pb n="096"/><anchor id="Pg096"/> +they say who preside in the place which the Lord +shall choose, and thou shalt follow their sentence. +And thou shalt not decline to the right hand, or +to the left.... But he that ... will refuse to +obey the commandment of the Priest, who ministereth +at the time, ... that man shall die, and +thou shalt take away the evil from Israel.</q><note place='foot'>Deut. xvii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From this passage it is evident that in the Hebrew +Church the High Priest had the highest +jurisdiction in religious matters. By this means +unity of faith and worship was preserved among +the people of God. +</p> + +<p> +Now the Jewish synagogue, as St. Paul testifies, +was the type and figure of the Christian +Church; for <q>all these things happened to them (the +Jews) in figure.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. x. +11.</note> We must, therefore, find in +the Church of Christ a spiritual judge, exercising +the same supreme authority as the High Priest +wielded in the Old Law. For if a supreme Pontiff +was necessary, in the Mosaic dispensation, to +maintain purity and uniformity of worship, the +same dignitary is equally necessary now to preserve +unity of faith. +</p> + +<p> +Every well-regulated civil government has an +acknowledged head. The President is the head +of the United States Government. Queen Victoria +is the ruler of Great Britain. The Sultan +sways the Turkish Empire. If these nations had +no authorized leader to govern them they would +be reduced to the condition of a mere mob, and +anarchy, confusion and civil war would inevitably +follow, as recently happened to France after the +fall of Napoleon III. +</p> + +<p> +Even in every well-ordered family, domestic +peace requires that someone preside. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the Church of Christ is a visible society—that +<pb n="097"/><anchor id="Pg097"/> +is, a society composed of human beings. She +has, it is true, a spiritual end in view; but having +to deal with men, she must have a government +as well as every other organized society. This +government, at least in its essential elements, our +Lord must have established for His Church. For +was He not as wise as human legislators? And +shall we suppose that, of all lawgivers, the Wisdom +Incarnate alone left His Kingdom on earth +to be governed without a head? +</p> + +<p> +But someone will tell me: <q>We do not deny +that the Church has a head. God himself is its +Ruler.</q> This is evading the real question. Is +not God the Ruler of all governments? <q>By Me,</q> +He says, <q>kings reign, and lawgivers decree just +things.</q><note place='foot'>Prov. viii. +15.</note> He is the recognized Head of our Republic, +and of every Christian family in the land; +but, nevertheless, there is always presiding over +the country a visible chief, who represents God +on earth. +</p> + +<p> +In like manner the Church, besides an invisible +Head in heaven, must have a visible head on +earth. The body and members of the Church are +visible; why not also the Head? The Church without +a supreme Ruler would be like an army without +a general, a navy without an admiral, a sheep-fold +without a shepherd, or like a human body +without a head. +</p> + +<p> +The Christian communities separated from the +Catholic Church deny that Peter received any authority +over the other Apostles, and hence they +reject the supremacy of the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +The absence from the Protestant communions +of a Divinely appointed, visible Head is to them +an endless source of weakness and dissension. It +is an insuperable barrier against any hope of a +<pb n="098"/><anchor id="Pg098"/> +permanent reunion among themselves, because +they are left without a common rallying centre or +basis of union and are placed in an unhappy state +of schism. +</p> + +<p> +The existence, on the contrary, of a supreme +judge of controversy in the Catholic Church is +the secret of her admirable unity. This is the keystone +that binds together and strengthens the imperishable +arch of faith. +</p> + +<p> +From the very fact, then, of the existence of a +supreme Head in the Jewish Church; from the +fact that a Head is always necessary for civil government, +for families and corporations; from the +fact, especially, that a visible Head is essential to +the maintenance of unity in the Church, while the +absence of a Head necessarily leads to anarchy, +we are forced to conclude, even though positive +evidence were wanting, that, in the establishment +of His Church, it must have entered into the mind +of the Divine Lawgiver to place over it a primate +invested with superior judicial powers. +</p> + +<p> +But have we any positive proof that Christ did +appoint a supreme Ruler over His Church? To +those, indeed, who read the Scriptures with the +single eye of pure intention the most abundant +evidence of this fact is furnished. To my mind +the New Testament establishes no doctrine, unless +it satisfies every candid reader that our Lord +gave plenipotentiary powers to Peter to govern +the whole Church. In this chapter I shall speak +of the Promise, the Institution, and the exercise +of Peter's Primacy, as recorded in the New Testament. +The next chapter shall be devoted to its +perpetuity in the Popes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Promise of the Primacy.</hi> Our Saviour, on a certain +occasion, asked His disciples, saying: <q>Whom +do men say that the Son of Man is? And they +<pb n="099"/><anchor id="Pg099"/> +said: Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; +and others, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one +of the Prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom +do ye say that I am?</q> Peter, as usual, is the +leader and spokesman. <q>Simon Peter answering, +said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. +And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art +thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood +hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who +is in heaven. And I say to thee: that thou art +Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, +and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. +And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom +of Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on +earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever +thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also +heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. +13-19.</note> Here we find Peter confessing the +Divinity of Christ, and in reward for that confession +he is honored with the promise of the +Primacy. +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior, by the words <q>thou art Peter,</q> +clearly alludes to the new name which He Himself +had conferred upon Simon, when He received him +into the number of His followers (John i. 42); +and He now reveals the reason for the change of +name, which was to insinuate the honor He was to +confer on him, by appointing him President of +the Christian Republic; just as God, in the Old +Law, changed Abram's name to Abraham, when +He chose him to be the father of a mighty nation. +</p> + +<p> +The word <hi rend='italic'>Peter</hi>, in the Syro-Chaldaic tongue, +which our Savior spoke, means <hi rend='italic'>a rock</hi>. The sentence +runs thus in that language: <hi rend='italic'><q>Thou art a rock, +and on this rock I will build My Church.</q></hi> +Indeed, all respectable Protestant commentators +have now abandoned, and even ridicule, the absurdity +<pb n="100"/><anchor id="Pg100"/> +of applying the word <hi rend='italic'>rock</hi> to anyone but +to Peter; as the sentence can bear no other construction, +unless our Lord's good grammar and +common sense are called in question. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus, our Lord, founded but one Church, which +He was pleased to build on Peter. Therefore, any +church that does not recognize Peter as its foundation +stone is not the Church of Christ, and therefore +cannot stand, for it is not the work of God. +This is plain. Would to God that all would see it +aright and with eyes free from prejudice. +</p> + +<p> +He continues: <q>And I will give to thee the +keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,</q> etc. In ancient +times, and particularly among the Hebrew people, +keys were an emblem of jurisdiction. To affirm +that a man had received the keys of a city was +equivalent to the assertion that he had been appointed +its governor. In the Book of Revelation +our Savior says that He has <q>the keys of death +and of hell,</q><note place='foot'>Rev. i. +18.</note> which means that He is endowed +with power over death and hell. In fact, even to +this day does not the presentation of keys convey +among ourselves the idea of authority? If the +proprietor of a house, on leaving it for the summer, +says to any friend: <q>Here are the keys of +my house,</q> would not this simple declaration, +without a word of explanation, convey the idea, +<q>I give you full control of my house; you may +admit or exclude whom you please; you represent +me in my absence?</q> Let us now apply this interpretation +to our Redeemer's words. When He +says to Peter: <q>I will give to thee the keys,</q> etc., +He evidently means: I will give the supreme authority +over My Church, which is the citadel of +faith, My earthly Jerusalem. Thou and thy successors +shall be My visible representatives to the +<pb n="101"/><anchor id="Pg101"/> +end of time. And be it remembered that to Peter +alone, and to no other Apostle, were these solemn +words addressed. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Fulfillment of the Promise.</hi> The promise which +our Redeemer made of creating Peter the supreme +ruler of His Church is fulfilled in the following +passage: <q>Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon, +son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He +saith to Him: Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I +love Thee. He saith to him: Feed My lambs. +He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest +thou Me? He saith to Him: Yea, Lord, Thou +knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him: Feed +My lambs. He saith to him the third time: Simon, +son of John, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved +because He had said to him the third time: Lovest +thou Me? And he said to Him: Lord, Thou +knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love +Thee. He said to him: Feed My sheep.</q><note place='foot'>John +xxi. 15-17.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These words were addressed by our Lord to +Peter after His resurrection. The whole sheep-fold +of Christ is confided to him, without any exception +or limitation. Peter has jurisdiction not +only over the lambs—the weak and tender portion +of the flock—by which are understood the faithful; +but also over the sheep, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Pastors +themselves, who hold the same relations to their +congregations that the sheep hold to the lambs, +because they bring forth unto Jesus Christ, and +nourish the spiritual lambs of the fold. To other +Pastors a certain portion of the flock is assigned; +to Peter the entire fold; for, never did Jesus say +to any other Apostle or Bishop what He said to +Peter: Feed My whole flock. +</p> + +<p> +Candid reader, do you not profess to be a member +of Christ's flock? Yes, you answer. Do you +<pb n="102"/><anchor id="Pg102"/> +take your spiritual food from Peter and his successor, +and do you hear the voice of Peter, or +have you wandered into the fold of strangers who +spurn Peter's voice? Ponder well this momentous +question. For if Peter is authorized to feed the +lambs of Christ's flock, the lambs should hear +Peter's voice. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Exercise of the Primacy.</hi> In the Acts of the +Apostles, which contain almost the only Scripture +narrative that exists of the Apostles subsequent +to our Lord's ascension, St. Peter appears before +us, like Saul among the tribes, standing head and +shoulders over his brethren by the prominent part +he takes in every ministerial duty. +</p> + +<p> +The first twelve chapters of the Acts are devoted +to Peter and to some of the other Apostles, +the remaining chapters being chiefly occupied with +the labors of the Apostles of the Gentiles. In +that brief historical fragment, as well as in the +Gospels, the name of Peter is everywhere pre-eminent. +</p> + +<p> +Peter's name always stands first in the list of +the Apostles, while Judas Iscariot is invariably +mentioned last.<note place='foot'>Matt. x. 2; Mark +iii. 16; Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 14.</note> Peter is even called by St. +Matthew <hi rend='italic'>the first Apostle</hi>. Now Peter was first +neither in age nor in priority of election, his elder +brother Andrew having been chosen before him. +The meaning, therefore, of the expression must +be that Peter was first not only in rank and honor, +but also in authority. +</p> + +<p> +Peter is the first Apostle who performed a miracle.<note place='foot'>Acts iii.</note> +He is the first to address the Jews in Jerusalem +while his Apostolic brethren stand respectfully +around him, upon which occasion he converts +three thousand souls.<note place='foot'>Acts ii.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="103"/><anchor id="Pg103"/> + +<p> +Peter is the first to make converts from the +Gentile world in the persons of Cornelius and his +friends.<note place='foot'>Acts x.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When there is question of electing a successor +to Judas Peter <emph>alone speaks</emph>. He points out to +the Apostles and disciples the duty of choosing +another to succeed the traitor. The Apostles silently +acquiesce in the instructions of their leader.<note place='foot'>Acts i.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem Peter is +the first whose sentiments are recorded. Before +his discourse <q>there was much disputing.</q> But +when he had ceased to speak <q>all the multitude +held their peace.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. James and the other Apostles concur in the +sentiments of Peter without a single dissenting +voice. +</p> + +<p> +St. James is cast into prison by Herod and afterward +beheaded. He was one of the three most +favored Apostles. He was the cousin of our Lord +and brother of St. John. He was most dear to +the faithful. Yet no extraordinary efforts are +made by the faithful to rescue him from death. +</p> + +<p> +Peter is imprisoned about the same time. The +whole Church is aroused. Prayers for his deliverance +ascend to heaven, not only from Jerusalem +but also from every Christian family in the +land.<note place='foot'>Acts xii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The army of the Lord can afford to lose a chieftain +in the person of James, but it cannot yet +spare the commander-in-chief. The enemies of the +Church had hoped that the destruction of the chief +shepherd would involve the dispersion of the +whole flock; therefore they redoubled their fury +against the Prince of the Apostles, just as her +modern enemies concentrate their shafts against +<pb n="104"/><anchor id="Pg104"/> +the Pope, his successor. Does not this incident +eloquently proclaim Peter's superior authority? +In fact Peter figures so conspicuously in every +page that his Primacy is not only admissible, but +is forced on the judgment of the impartial reader. +</p> + +<p> +What are the principal objections advanced +against the Primacy of Peter? They are chiefly, +I may say exclusively, confined to the three following: +First—That our Lord rebuked Peter. +Second—That St. Paul criticised his conduct on +a point not affecting doctrine, but discipline. The +Apostle of the Gentiles blames St. Peter because +he withdrew for a time from the society of the +Gentile converts, for fear of scandalizing the +newly-converted Jews.<note place='foot'>Gal. ii. +11.</note> Third—That the supremacy +of Peter conflicts with the supreme dominion +of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +For my part I cannot see how these objections +can invalidate the claims of Peter. Was not Jesus +Peter's superior? May not a superior rebuke his +servant without infringing on the servant's prerogatives? +</p> + +<p> +And why could not St. Paul censure the conduct +of St. Peter without questioning that superior's +authority? It is not a very uncommon thing for +ecclesiastics occupying an inferior position in the +Church to admonish even the Pope. St. Bernard, +though only a monk, wrote a work in which, with +Apostolic freedom, he administers counsel to Pope +Eugenius III., and cautions him against the dangers +to which his eminent position exposes him. +Yet no man had more reverence for any Pope than +Bernard had for this great Pontiff. Cannot our +Governor animadvert upon the President's conduct +without impairing the President's jurisdiction? +</p> + +<pb n="105"/><anchor id="Pg105"/> + +<p> +Nay, from this very circumstance, I draw a +confirming evidence of Peter's supremacy. St. +Paul mentions it as a fact worthy of record that +he actually <emph>withstood Peter to his face</emph>. Do you +think it would be worth recording if Paul had rebuked +James or John or Barnabas? By no means. +If one brother rebukes another, the matter excites +no special attention. But if a son rebukes +his father, or if a Priest rebukes his Bishop to his +face, we understand why he would consider it a +fact worth relating. Hence, when St. Paul goes +to the trouble of telling us that he took exception +to Peter's conduct, he mentions it as an extraordinary +exercise of Apostolic freedom, and +leaves on our mind the obvious inference that +Peter was his superior. +</p> + +<p> +In the very same Epistle to the Galatians St. +Paul plainly insinuates St. Peter's superior rank. +<q>I went,</q> he says, <q>to Jerusalem to see Peter, +and I tarried with him fifteen days.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. +i. 18.</note> Saints +Chrysostom and Ambrose tell us that this was not +an idle visit of ceremony, but that the object of St. +Paul in making the journey was to testify his respect +and honor for the chief of the Apostles. St. +Jerome observes in a humorous vein that <q>Paul +went not to behold Peter's eyes, his cheeks or his +countenance, whether he was thin or stout, with +nose straight or twisted, covered with hair or bald, +not to observe the outward man, <emph>but to show honor +to the first Apostle</emph>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +There are others who pretend, in spite of our +Lord's declaration to the contrary, that loyalty +to Peter is disloyalty to Christ, and that, by acknowledging +Peter as the rock on which the +Church is built, we set our Savior aside. So far +from this being the case, we acknowledge Jesus +<pb n="106"/><anchor id="Pg106"/> +Christ as the <q>chief cornerstone,</q> as well as the +Divine Architect of the building. +</p> + +<p> +The true test of loyalty to Jesus is not only +to worship Him, but to venerate even the representatives +whom He has chosen. Will anyone +pretend to say that my obedience to the Governor's +appointee is a mark of disrespect to the Governor +himself? I think our State Executive would +have little faith in the allegiance of any citizen +who would say to him: <q>Governor, I honor you +personally, but your official's order I shall disregard.</q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Peter is called the first Bishop of Rome +because he transferred his see from Antioch to +Rome, where he suffered martyrdom with St. Paul. +</p> + +<p> +We are not surprised that modern skepticism, +which rejects the Divinity of Christ and denies +even the existence of God, should call in question +the fact that St. Peter lived and died in Rome. +</p> + +<p> +The reason commonly alleged for disputing this +well-attested event is that the Acts of the Apostles +make no mention of Peter's labors and martyrdom +in Rome. For the same reason we might deny +that St. Paul was beheaded in Rome; that St. John +died in Ephesus, and that St. Andrew was crucified. +The Scripture is silent regarding these historical +records, and yet they are denied by no one. +</p> + +<p> +The intrinsic evidence of St. Peter's first Epistle, +the testimony of his immediate successors in +the ministry, as well as the avowal of eminent +Protestant commentators, all concur in fixing the +See of Peter in Rome. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Babylon,</q> from which Peter addresses his +first Epistle, is understood by learned annotators, +Protestant and Catholic, to refer to Rome—the +word Babylon being symbolical of the corruption +then prevailing in the city of the Cæsars. +</p> + +<pb n="107"/><anchor id="Pg107"/> + +<p> +Clement, the fourth Bishop of Rome, who is +mentioned in terms of praise by St. Paul; St. Ignatius, +Bishop of Antioch, who died in 105; Irenæus, +Origen, St. Jerome, Eusebius, the great historian, +and other eminent writers testify to St. Peter's +residence in Rome, while no ancient ecclesiastical +writer has ever contradicted the statement. +</p> + +<p> +John Calvin, a witness above suspicion; Cave, +an able Anglican critic; Grotius and other distinguished +Protestant writers, do not hesitate to re-echo +the unanimous voice of Catholic tradition. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, no historical fact will escape the shafts +of incredulity, if St. Peter's residence and glorious +martyrdom in Rome are called in question. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="108"/><anchor id="Pg108"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter X. The Supremacy Of The Popes.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter X.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter X.</head> +<head>The Supremacy Of The Popes.</head> + +<p> +The Church did not die with Peter. It was +destined to continue till the end of time; consequently, +whatever official prerogatives were +conferred on Peter were not to cease at his death, +but were to be handed down to his successors from +generation to generation. The Church is in all +ages as much in need of a Supreme Ruler as it +was in the days of the Apostles. Nay, more; as +the Church is now more widely diffused than it +was then, and is ruled by frailer men, it is more +than ever in need of a central power to preserve +its unity of faith and uniformity of discipline. +</p> + +<p> +Whatever privileges, therefore, were conferred +on Peter which may be considered essential to the +government of the Church are inherited by the +Bishops of Rome, as successors of the Prince of +the Apostles; just as the constitutional powers +given to George Washington have devolved on +the present incumbent of the Presidential chair. +</p> + +<p> +Peter, it is true, besides the prerogatives inherent +in his office, possessed also the gift of inspiration +and the power of working miracles. These +two latter gifts are not claimed by the Pope, as +they were personal to Peter and by no means essential +to the government of the Church. God +acts toward His Church as we deal with a tender +sapling. When we first plant it we water it and +<pb n="109"/><anchor id="Pg109"/> +soften the clay about its roots. But when it takes +deep root we leave it to the care of Nature's laws. +In like manner, when Christ first planted His +Church He nourished its infancy by miraculous +agency; but when it grew to be a tree of fair proportions +He left it to be governed by the general +laws of His Providence. +</p> + +<p> +From what I have said you can easily infer +that the arguments in favor of Peter's Primacy +have equal weight in demonstrating the supremacy +of the Popes. +</p> + +<p> +As the present question, however, is a subject of +vast importance, I shall endeavor to show, from +incontestable historical evidence, that the Popes +have always, from the days of the Apostles, continued +to exercise supreme jurisdiction not only in +the Western Church till the Reformation, but also +throughout the Eastern Church till the great +schism of the ninth century. +</p> + +<p> +First—Take the question of <hi rend='italic'>appeals</hi>. An appeal +is never made from a superior to an inferior court, +nor even from one court to another of co-ordinate +jurisdiction. We do not appeal from Washington +to Richmond, but from Richmond to Washington. +Now, if we find the See of Rome from the +foundation of Christianity entertaining and deciding +cases of appeal from the Oriental churches; +if we find that her decision was final and irrevocable, +we must conclude that the supremacy of Rome +over all the churches is an undeniable fact. +</p> + +<p> +Let me give you a few illustrations: +</p> + +<p> +To begin with Pope St. Clement, who was the +third successor of St. Peter, and who is laudably +mentioned by St. Paul in one of his Epistles. Some +dissension and scandal having occurred in the +church of Corinth, the matter is brought to the +notice of Pope Clement. He at once exercises his +<pb n="110"/><anchor id="Pg110"/> +supreme authority by writing letters of remonstrance +and admonition to the Corinthians. And +so great was the reverence entertained for these +Epistles by the faithful of Corinth that, for a +century later, it was customary to have them publicly +read in their churches. Why did the Corinthians +appeal to Rome, far away in the West, +and not to Ephesus, so near home in the East, +where the Apostle St. John still lived? Evidently +because the jurisdiction of Ephesus was local, +while that of Rome was universal. +</p> + +<p> +About the year 190 the question regarding the +proper day for celebrating Easter was agitated in +the East, and referred to Pope St. Victor I. The +Eastern Church generally celebrated Easter on +the day on which the Jews kept the Passover, +while in the West it was observed then, as it is +now, on the first Sunday after the full moon of +the vernal equinox. St. Victor directs the Eastern +churches, for the sake of uniformity, to conform +to the practice of the West, and his instructions +are universally followed. +</p> + +<p> +St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, was martyred +in 258. +</p> + +<p> +From his appeals to Pope St. Cornelius and to +Pope St. Stephen, especially on the subject of baptism, +from his writings and correspondence, as well +as from the whole tenor of his administration, it is +quite evident that Cyprian, as well as the African +Episcopate, upheld the supremacy of the Bishop of +Rome. +</p> + +<p> +Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, about the middle of +the third century, having heard that the Patriarch +of Alexandria erred on some points of faith, demands +an explanation of the suspected Prelate, +who, in obedience to his superior, promptly vindicates +his own orthodoxy. +</p> + +<pb n="111"/><anchor id="Pg111"/> + +<p> +St. Athanasius, the great patriarch of Alexandria, +appeals in the fourth century to Pope Julius +I. from an unjust decision rendered against him +by the Oriental Bishops, and the Pope<note place='foot'>Socrates' +Ecclesiastical History, B. II., c. xv.</note> reverses the +sentence of the Eastern Council. +</p> + +<p> +St. Basil, Archbishop of Cæsarea, in the same +century has recourse in his afflictions to the protection +of Pope Damasus. +</p> + +<p> +St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, +appeals in the beginning of the fifth century +to Pope Innocent I. for a redress of grievances inflicted +on him by several Eastern Prelates, and by +the Empress Eudoxia of Constantinople. +</p> + +<p> +St. Cyril appeals to Pope Celestine against Nestorius; +Nestorius, also, appeals to the same Pontiff, +who takes the side of Cyril. +</p> + +<p> +In a Synod held in 444, St. Hilary, Archbishop of +Arles, in Gaul, deposed Celidonius, Bishop of Besancon, +on the ground of an alleged canonical impediment +to his consecration. The Bishop appealed +to the Holy See, and both he and the Metropolitan +personally repaired to Rome, to submit +their cause to the judgment of Pope Leo the Great. +After a careful investigation, the Pontiff declared +the sentence of the Synod invalid, revoked the censure, +and restored the deposed Prelate to his See. +</p> + +<p> +The same Pontiff also rebuked Hilary for having +irregularly deposed Projectus from his See. +</p> + +<p> +The judicial authority of the Pope is emphasized +from the circumstance that Hilary was not an arrogant +or a rebellious churchman, but an edifying +and a zealous Prelate. He is revered by the whole +Church as a canonized Saint, and after his death, +Leo refers to him as Hilary of <emph>happy memory</emph>. +</p> + +<pb n="112"/><anchor id="Pg112"/> + +<p> +Theodoret, the illustrious historian and Bishop +of Cyrrhus, is condemned by the pseudo-council of +Ephesus in 449, and appeals to Pope Leo in the following +touching language: <q>I await the decision +of your Apostolic See, and I supplicate your Holiness +to succor me, who invoke your righteous and +just tribunal; and to order me to hasten to you, +and to explain to you my teaching, which follows +the steps of the Apostles.... I beseech you not +to scorn my application. Do not slight my gray +hairs.... Above all, I entreat you to teach me +whether to put up with this unjust deposition or +not; for I await your sentence. If you bid me +rest in what has been determined against me, I +will rest, and will trouble no man more. I will +look for the righteous judgment of our God and +Savior. To me, as Almighty God is my Judge, +honor and glory are no object, but only the scandal +that has been caused; for many of the simpler +sort, especially those whom I have rescued from +diverse heresies, considering <emph>the See</emph> which has +condemned me, suspect that perhaps I really am a +heretic, being incapable themselves of distinguishing +accuracy of doctrine.</q><note place='foot'>Epist. +113.</note> Leo declared the +deposition invalid and Theodoret was restored to +his See. +</p> + +<p> +John, Abbot of Constantinople, appeals from +the decision of the Patriarch of that city to Pope +St. Gregory I., who reverses the sentence of the +Patriarch. +</p> + +<p> +In 859 Photius addressed a letter to Pope +Nicholas I., asking the Pontiff to confirm his election +to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In +consequence of the Pope's conscientious refusal +Photius broke off from the communion of the +Catholic Church and became the author of the +Greek schism. +</p> + +<pb n="113"/><anchor id="Pg113"/> + +<p> +Here are a few examples taken at random from +Church History. We see Prelates most eminent +for their sanctity and learning occupying the highest +position in the Eastern Church, and consequently +far removed from the local influences of +Rome, appealing in every period of the early +Church from the decisions of their own Bishops +and their Councils to the supreme arbitration of +the Holy See. If this does not constitute superior +jurisdiction, I have yet to learn what superior authority +means. +</p> + +<p> +Second—Christians of every denomination admit +the orthodoxy of <emph>the Fathers</emph> of the first five +centuries of the Church. No one has ever called +in question the faith of such men as Basil, Chrysostom, +Cyprian, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose and +Leo. They were the acknowledged guardians of +pure doctrine, and the living representatives <q>of +the faith once delivered to the Saints.</q> They were +to the Church in their generation what Peter and +Paul and James were to the Church in its infancy. +We instinctively consult them about the faith of +those times; for, to whom shall we go for the +Words of eternal life, if not to them? +</p> + +<p> +Now, the Fathers of the Church, with one voice, +pay homage to the Bishops of Rome as their superiors. +The limited space I have allowed myself +in this little volume will not permit me to give +any extracts from their writings. The reader who +may be unacquainted with the original language +of the Fathers, or who has not their writings at +hand, is referred to a work entitled, <q>Faith of +Catholics,</q> where he will find, in an English translation, +copious extracts from their writings vindicating +the Primacy of the Popes. +</p> + +<p> +Third—<emph>Ecumenical Councils</emph> afford another eloquent +vindication of Papal supremacy. An Ecumenical +<pb n="114"/><anchor id="Pg114"/> +or General Council is an assemblage of +Prelates representing the whole Catholic Church. +A General Council is to the Church what the Executive +and Legislative bodies in Washington are +to the United States. +</p> + +<p> +Up to the present time nineteen Ecumenical +Councils have been convened, including the Council +of the Vatican. The last eleven were held in +the West, and the first eight in the East. I shall +pass over the Western Councils, as no one denies +that they were subject to the authority of the +Pope. +</p> + +<p> +I shall speak briefly of the important influence +which the Holy See exercised in the eight Oriental +Councils. +</p> + +<p> +The first General Council was held in Nicæa, +in 325; the second, in Constantinople, 381; the +third, in Ephesus, in 431; the fourth, in Chalcedon, +in 451; the fifth, in Constantinople, in 553; +the sixth in the same city, in 680; the seventh, in +Nicæa, in 787, and the eighth, in Constantinople, +in 869. +</p> + +<p> +The Bishops of Rome convoked these assemblages, +or at least consented to their convocation; +they presided by their legates over all of them, +except the first and second Councils of Constantinople, +and they confirmed all these eight by their +authority. Before becoming a law the Acts of the +Councils required the Pope's signature, just as +our Congressional proceedings require the President's +signature before they acquire the force of +law. +</p> + +<p> +Is not this a striking illustration of the Primacy? +The Pope convenes, rules and sanctions the +Synods, not by courtesy, but by right. A dignitary +who calls an assembly together, who presides +over its deliberations, whose signature is essential +<pb n="115"/><anchor id="Pg115"/> +for confirming its Acts has surely a higher +authority than the other members. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—I shall refer to one more historical +point in support of the Pope's jurisdiction over +the whole Church. It is a most remarkable fact +that <emph>every nation hitherto converted from Paganism +to Christianity since the days of the Apostles, +has received the light of faith from missionaries +who were either especially commissioned by the +See of Rome, or sent by Bishops in open communion +with that See</emph>. This historical fact admits of +no exception. Let me particularize. +</p> + +<p> +Ireland's Apostle is St. Patrick. Who commissioned +him? Pope St. Celestine, in the fifth century. +</p> + +<p> +St. Palladius is the Apostle of Scotland. Who +sent him? The same Pontiff, Celestine. +</p> + +<p> +The Anglo-Saxons received the faith from St. +Augustine, a Benedictine monk, as all historians, +Catholic and non-Catholic, testify. Who empowered +Augustine to preach? Pope Gregory I., at +the end of the sixth century. +</p> + +<p> +St. Remigius established the faith in France, at +the close of the fifth century. He was in active +communion with the See of Peter. +</p> + +<p> +Flanders received the Gospel in the seventh century +from St. Eligius, who acknowledged the supremacy +of the reigning Pope. +</p> + +<p> +Germany and Bavaria venerate as their Apostle +St. Boniface, who is popularly known in his native +England by his baptismal name of Winfrid. He +was commissioned by Pope Gregory II., in the beginning +of the eighth century, and was consecrated +Bishop by the same Pontiff. +</p> + +<p> +In the ninth century two saintly brothers, Cyril +and Methodius, evangelized Russia, Sclavonia, +Moravia and other parts of Northern Europe. +<pb n="116"/><anchor id="Pg116"/> +They recognized the supreme authority of Pope +Nicholas I. and of his successors, Adrian II. and +John VIII. +</p> + +<p> +In the eleventh century Norway was converted +by missionaries introduced from England by the +Norwegian King, St. Olave. +</p> + +<p> +The conversion of Sweden was consummated in +the same century by the British Apostles Saints +Ulfrid and Eskill. Both of these nations immediately +after their conversion commenced to pay +Romescot, or a small annual tribute to the Holy +See—a clear evidence that they were in communion +with the Chair of Peter.<note place='foot'>See Butler's +Lives of the Saints—St. Olave, July 29th.</note> +</p> + +<p> +All the other nations of Europe, having been +converted before the Reformation, received likewise +the light of faith from Roman Catholic Missionaries, +because Europe then recognized only +one Christian Chief. +</p> + +<p> +Passing from Europe to Asia and America, it +is undeniable that St. Francis Xavier and the other +Evangelists who, in the sixteenth century, extended +the Kingdom of Jesus Christ through +India and Japan, were in communion with the +Holy See; and that those Apostles who, in the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, converted the +aboriginal tribes of South America and Mexico received +their commission from the Chair of Peter. +</p> + +<p> +But you will say: The people of the United +States profess to be a Christian nation. Do you +also claim them? Most certainly; for, even those +American Christians who are unhappily severed +from the Catholic Church are primarily indebted +for their knowledge of the Gospel to missionaries +in communion with the Holy See. +</p> + +<p> +The white races of North America are descended +from England, Ireland, Scotland and the nations +<pb n="117"/><anchor id="Pg117"/> +of Continental Europe. Those European nations +having been converted by missionaries in subjection +to the Holy See, it follows that, from whatever +part of Europe you are descended, whatever +may be your particular creed, you are indebted +to the Church of Rome for your knowledge of +Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +Do not these facts demonstrate the Primacy of +the Pope? The Apostles of Europe and of other +countries received their authority from Rome. Is +not the power that sends an ambassador greater +than he who is sent? +</p> + +<p> +Thus we see that the name of the Pope is indelibly +marked on every page of ecclesiastical history. +The Sovereign Pontiff ever stands before +us as commander-in-chief in the grand army of +the Church. Do the bishops of the East feel themselves +aggrieved at home by their Patriarchs or +civil Rulers? They look for redress to Rome, as +to the star of their hope. Are the Fathers and +Doctors of the early Church consulted? With +one voice they all pay homage to the Bishop of +Rome as to their spiritual Prince. Is an Ecumenical +Council to be convened in the East or West? +The Pope is its leading spirit. Are new nations +to be converted to the faith? There is the Holy +Father clothing the missionaries with authority, +and giving his blessing to the work. Are new errors +to be condemned in any part of the globe? +All eyes turn toward the oracle of Rome to await +his anathema, and his solemn judgment reverberates +throughout the length and breath of the Christian +world. +</p> + +<p> +You might as well shut out the light of day +and the air of heaven from your daily walks as +exclude the Pope from his legitimate sphere in the +hierarchy of the Church. The history of the +<pb n="118"/><anchor id="Pg118"/> +United States with the Presidents left out would +be more intelligible than the history of the Church +to the exclusion of the Vicar of Christ. How, I +ask, could such authority endure so long if it were +a usurpation? +</p> + +<p> +But you will tell me: <q>The supremacy of the +Pope has been disputed in many ages.</q> So has +the authority of God been called in question—nay, +His very existence has been denied; for, <q>the fool +hath said in his heart there is no God.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. lii.</note> Does +this denial destroy the existence and dominion of +God? Has not parental authority been impugned +from the beginning? But by whom? By unruly +children. Was David no longer king because Absalom +said so? +</p> + +<p> +It is thus also with the Popes. Their parental +sway has been opposed only by their undutiful +sons who grew impatient of the Gospel yoke. +Photius, the leader of the Greek schism, was an +obedient son of the Pope until Nicholas refused +to recognize his usurped authority. Henry VIII. +was a stout defender of the Pope's supremacy until +Clement VII. refused to legalize his adultery. +Luther professed a most abject submission to the +Pope till Leo X. condemned him. +</p> + +<p> +You cannot, my dear reader, be a loyal citizen +of the United States while you deny the constitutional +authority of the President. You have seen +that the Bishop of Rome is appointed not by man, +but by Jesus Christ, President of the Christian +commonwealth. You cannot, therefore, be a true +citizen of the Republic of the Church so long as +you spurn the legitimate supremacy of its Divinely +constituted Chief. <q>He that is not with +Me is against Me,</q> says our Lord, <q>and he that +gathereth not with Me scattereth.</q> How can you +<pb n="119"/><anchor id="Pg119"/> +be with Christ if you are against His Vicar? +</p> + +<p> +The great evil of our times is the unhappy division +existing among the professors of Christianity, +and from thousands of hearts a yearning cry +goes forth for unity of faith and union of churches. +</p> + +<p> +It was, no doubt, with this laudable view that +the Evangelical Alliance assembled in New York +in the fall of 1873. The representatives of the +different religious communions hoped to effect a +reunion. But they signally and lamentably failed. +Indeed, the only result which followed from the +alliance was the creation of a new sect under the +auspices of Dr. Cummins. That reverend gentleman, +with the characteristic modesty of all religious +reformers, was determined to have a hand +in improving the work of Jesus Christ; and, like +the other reformers, he said, with those who built +the tower of Babel: <q>Let us make our name +famous before</q><note place='foot'>Gen. xi. +4.</note> our dust is scattered to the wind. +</p> + +<p> +The Alliance failed, because its members had no +common platform to stand on. There was no voice +in that assembly that could say with authority: +<q>Thus saith the Lord.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I heartily join in this prayer for Christian unity, +and gladly would surrender my life for such a +consummation. But I tell you that Jesus Christ +has pointed out the only means by which this unity +can be maintained, viz: the recognition of Peter +and his successors as the Head of the Church. +Build upon this foundation and you will not erect +a tower of Babel, nor build upon sand. If all +Christian sects were united with the centre of +unity, then the scattered hosts of Christendom +would form an army which atheism and infidelity +could not long withstand. Then, indeed, all could +exclaim with Balaam: <q>How beautiful are thy +<pb n="120"/><anchor id="Pg120"/> +tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel!</q><note place='foot'>Numb. +xxiv. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Let us pray that the day may be hastened when +religious dissensions will cease; when all Christians +will advance with united front, under one +common leader, to plant the cross in every region +and win new kingdoms to Jesus Christ. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="121"/><anchor id="Pg121"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XI. Infallibility Of The Popes.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XI.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XI.</head> +<head>Infallibility Of The Popes.</head> + +<p> +As the doctrine of Papal Infallibility is +strangely misapprehended by our separated +brethren, because it is grievously +misrepresented by those who profess to be enlightened +ministers of the Gospel, I shall begin +by stating what Infallibility does not mean, and +shall then explain what it really is. +</p> + +<p> +First—The infallibility of the Popes does not +signify that they are inspired. The Apostles were +endowed with the gift of inspiration, and we accept +their writings as the revealed Word of God. +</p> + +<p> +No Catholic, on the contrary, claims that the +Pope is inspired or endowed with Divine revelation +properly so called. +</p> + +<p> +<q>For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the +successors of Peter in order that they might +spread abroad new doctrine which He reveals, but +that, under His assistance, they might guard inviolably, +and with fidelity explain, the revelation +or deposit of faith handed down by the Apostles.</q><note place='foot'>Conc. +Vat. Const. <hi rend='italic'>Pastor Æternus</hi>, c. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Second—Infallibility does not mean that the +Pope is impeccable or specially exempt from liability +to sin. The Popes have been, indeed, with +few exceptions, men of virtuous lives. Many of +them are honored as martyrs. Seventy-nine out +<pb n="122"/><anchor id="Pg122"/> +of the two hundred and fifty-nine that sat on the +chair of Peter are invoked upon our altars as +saints eminent for their holiness. +</p> + +<p> +The avowed enemies of the Church charge only +five or six Popes with immorality. Thus, even +admitting the truth of the accusations brought +against them, we have forty-three virtuous to one +bad Pope, while there was a Judas Iscariot among +the twelve Apostles. +</p> + +<p> +But although a vast majority of the Sovereign +Pontiffs should have been so unfortunate as to +lead vicious lives, this circumstance would not of +itself impair the validity of their prerogatives, +which are given not for the preservation of their +morals, but for the guidance of their judgment; +for, there was a Balaam among the Prophets, and +a Caiphas among the High Priests of the Old +Law. +</p> + +<p> +The present illustrious Pontiff is a man of no +ordinary sanctity. He has already filled the highest +position in the Church for upwards of thirty +years, <q>a spectacle to the world, to angels and +to men,</q> and no man can point out a stain upon +his moral character. +</p> + +<p> +And yet Pius IX., like his predecessors, confesses +his sins every week. Each morning, at the +beginning of Mass, he says at the foot of the altar, +<q>I confess to Almighty God, and to His Saints, +that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word +and deed.</q> And at the Offertory of the Mass +he says: <q>Receive, O Holy Father, almighty, +everlasting God, this oblation which I, Thy unworthy +servant, offer for my innumerable sins, +offences and negligences.</q> +</p> + +<p> +With these facts before their eyes, I cannot +comprehend how ministers of the Gospel betray +so much ignorance, or are guilty of so much malice, +<pb n="123"/><anchor id="Pg123"/> +as to proclaim from their pulpits, which ought to +be consecrated to truth, that Infallibility means +exemption from sin. I do not see how they can +benefit their cause by so flagrant perversions of +truth. +</p> + +<p> +Third—Bear in mind, also, that this Divine assistance +is guaranteed to the Pope not in his capacity +as private teacher, but only in his official +capacity, when he judges of faith and morals as +Head of the Church. If a Pope, for instance, like +Benedict XIV. were to write a treatise on Canon +Law his book would be as much open to criticism +as that of any Doctor of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—Finally, the inerrability of the Popes, +being restricted to questions of faith and morals, +does not extend to the natural sciences, such as +astronomy or geology, unless where error is presented +under the false name of science, and arrays +itself against revealed truth.<note place='foot'>Conc. +Vat. Const. <hi rend='italic'>Dei Filius</hi>, cap. 4; +Coloss. ii. 8.</note> It does not, +therefore, concern itself about the nature and motions +of the planets. Nor does it regard purely +political questions, such as the form of government +a nation ought to adopt, or for what candidates +we ought to vote. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope's Infallibility, therefore, does not in +any way trespass on civil authority; for the +Pope's jurisdiction belongs to spiritual matters, +while the duty of the State is to provide for the +temporal welfare of its subjects. +</p> + +<p> +What, then, is the real doctrine of Infallibility? +It simply means that the Pope, as successor of +St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, by virtue of +the promises of Jesus Christ, is preserved from +error of judgment when he promulgates to the +Church a decision on faith or morals. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope, therefore, be it known, is not the +<pb n="124"/><anchor id="Pg124"/> +maker of the Divine law; he is only its expounder. +He is not the author of revelation, but only its interpreter. +All revelation came from God alone +through His inspired ministers, and it was complete +in the beginning of the Church. The Holy +Father has no more authority than you or I to +break one iota of the Scripture, and he is equally +with us the servant of the Divine law. +</p> + +<p> +In a word, the Sovereign Pontiff is to the +Church, though in a more eminent degree, what +the Supreme Court is to the United States. We +have an instrument called the Constitution of the +United States, which is the charter of our civil +rights and liberties. If a controversy arise regarding +a constitutional clause, the question is referred +in the last resort, to the Supreme Court at Washington. +The Chief Justice, with his associate +judges, examines into the case and then pronounces +judgment upon it; and this decision is final, irrevocable +and practically infallible. +</p> + +<p> +If there were no such court to settle constitutional +questions, the Constitution itself would soon +become a dead letter. Every litigant would conscientiously +decide the dispute in his own favor +and anarchy, separation and civil war would soon +follow. But by means of this Supreme Court disputes +are ended, and the political union of the +States is perpetuated. There would have been no +civil war in 1861 had our domestic quarrel been +submitted to the legitimate action of our highest +court of judicature, instead of being left to the +arbitrament of the sword. +</p> + +<p> +The revealed Word of God is the constitution +of the Church. This is the <hi rend='italic'>Magna Charta</hi> of our +Christian liberties. The Pope is the official guardian +<pb n="125"/><anchor id="Pg125"/> +of our religious constitution, as the Chief +Justice is the guardian of our civil constitution. +</p> + +<p> +When a dispute arises in the Church regarding +the sense of Scripture the subject is referred to +the Pope for final adjudication. The Sovereign +Pontiff, before deciding the case, gathers around +him his venerable colleagues, the Cardinals of the +Church; or he calls a council of his associate +judges of faith, the Bishops of Christendom; or he +has recourse to other lights which the Holy Ghost +may suggest to him. Then, after mature and +prayerful deliberation, he pronounces judgment +and his sentence is final, irrevocable and infallible. +</p> + +<p> +If the Catholic Church were not fortified by this +Divinely-established supreme tribunal, she would +be broken up, like the sects around her, into a +thousand fragments and religious anarchy would +soon follow. But by means of this infallible court +her marvellous unity is preserved throughout the +world. This doctrine is the keystone in the arch +of Catholic faith, and, far from arousing opposition, +it ought to command the unqualified admiration +of every reflecting mind. +</p> + +<p> +These explanations being premised, let us now +briefly consider the grounds of the doctrine itself. +</p> + +<p> +The following passages of the Gospel, spoken +at different times, were addressed exclusively to +Peter: <q>Thou art Peter; and on this rock I will +build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not +prevail against it.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xvi.</note> <q>I, the Supreme Architect +of the universe,</q> says our Savior, <q>will establish +a Church which is to last till the end of time. I +will lay the foundation of this Church so deep +and strong on the rock of truth that the winds +and storms of error shall not prevail against it. +Thou, O Peter, shalt be the foundation of this +<pb n="126"/><anchor id="Pg126"/> +Church. It shall never fall, because thou shalt +never be shaken; and thou shalt never be shaken, +because thou shalt rest on Me, the rock of truth.</q> +The Church, of which Peter is the foundation, is +declared to be impregnable—that is, proof against +error. How can you suppose an immovable edifice +built on a tottering foundation? For it is not +the building that sustains the foundation, but it is +the foundation that supports the building. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom +of Heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xvi.</note> Thou shalt hold the keys of +truth with which to open to the faithful the treasures +of heavenly science. <q>Whatsoever thou shalt +bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +The judgment which thou shalt pronounce on earth +I will ratify in heaven. Surely the God of Truth +is incapable of sanctioning an untruthful judgment. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Behold, Satan hath desired to have you (My +Apostles), that he may sift <emph>you</emph> as wheat. But +I have prayed for <emph>thee</emph> (Peter) that thy faith fail +not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy +brethren.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xxii. +31, 32.</note> It is worthy of note that Jesus +prays only for Peter. And why for Peter in particular? +Because on his shoulders was to rest +the burden of the Church. Our Lord prays for +two things: First—That the faith of Peter and +of his successors might not fail. Second—That +Peter would confirm his brethren in the faith, <q>in +order,</q> as St. Leo says, <q>that the strength given +by Christ to Peter should descend on the Apostles.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We know that the prayer of Jesus is always +heard. Therefore the faith of Peter will always +be firm. He was destined to be the oracle which +all were to consult. Hence we always find him the +<pb n="127"/><anchor id="Pg127"/> +prominent figure among the Apostles, the first to +speak, the first to act on every occasion. He was +to be the guiding star that was to lead the rest +of the faithful in the path of truth. He was to +be in the hierarchy of the Church what the sun +is in the planetary system—the centre around +which all would revolve. And is it not a beautiful +spectacle, in harmony with our ideas of God's +providence, to behold in His Church a counterpart +of the starry system above us? There every +planet moves in obedience to a uniform law, all +are regulated by one great luminary. So, in the +spiritual order, we see every member of the +Church governed by one law, controlled by one +voice, and that voice subject to God. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Feed My lambs; feed My sheep.</q><note place='foot'>John +xxi. 16, 17.</note> Peter is +appointed by our Lord the universal shepherd of +His flock—of the sheep and of the lambs—that +is, shepherd of the Bishops and Priests as well +as of the people. The Bishops are shepherds, in +reference to their flocks; they are sheep, in reference +to the Pope, who is the shepherd of shepherds. +The Pope, as shepherd, must feed the flock +not with the poison of error, but with the healthy +food of sound doctrine; for he is not a shepherd, +but a hireling, who administers pernicious food +to his flock. +</p> + +<p> +Among the General Councils of the Church already +held I shall mention only three, as the acts +of these Councils are amply sufficient to vindicate +the unerring character of the See of Rome and +the Roman Pontiffs. I wish also to call your +attention to three facts: First—That none of +these Councils were held in Rome; Second—That +one of them assembled in the East, viz: in Constantinople; +and, Third—That in every one of +<pb n="128"/><anchor id="Pg128"/> +them the Oriental and the Western Bishops met +for the purpose of reunion. +</p> + +<p> +The Eighth General Council, held in Constantinople +in 869, contains the following solemn profession +of faith: <q>Salvation primarily depends +upon guarding the rule of right faith. And since +we cannot pass over the words of our Lord Jesus +Christ, who says, <q>Thou art Peter, and on this +rock I will build My Church,</q> what was said is +confirmed by facts, because in the Apostolic See +the Catholic religion has always been preserved +immaculate, and holy doctrine has been proclaimed. +Not wishing, then, to be separated from +this faith and doctrine, we hope to merit to be in +the one communion which the Apostolic See +preaches, in which See is the full and true solidity +of the Christian religion.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This Council clearly declares that <emph>immaculate +doctrine</emph> has always <emph>been preserved and preached +in the Roman See</emph>. But how could this be said of +her, if the Roman See ever fell into error, and how +could that See be preserved from error, if the +Roman Pontiffs presiding over it ever erred in +faith? +</p> + +<p> +In the Second General Council of Lyons (1274), +the Greek Bishops made the following profession +of faith: <q>The holy Roman Church possesses full +primacy and principality over the universal Catholic +Church, which primacy, with the plenitude of +power, she truly and humbly acknowledges to +have received from our Lord Himself, in the person +of Blessed Peter, Prince or Head of the Apostles, +whose successor the Roman Pontiff is; and +as the Roman See, above all others, is bound to +defend the truth of faith, so, also, <emph>if any questions +on faith arise, they ought to be defined by +her judgment</emph>.</q> +</p> + +<pb n="129"/><anchor id="Pg129"/> + +<p> +Here the Council of Lyons avows that the Roman +Pontiffs have the power to determine definitely, +and without appeal, any questions of faith +which may arise in the Church; in other words, +the Council acknowledges them to be the supreme +and infallible arbiters of faith. +</p> + +<p> +<q>We define,</q> says the Council of Florence +(1439), at which also were present the Bishops +of the Greek and the Latin Church, <q>we define +that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of the +Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and <emph>the +true Vicar of Christ, the Head</emph> of the whole +Church, the Father and Doctor of all Christians, +and we declare that to him, in the person of +Blessed Peter, was given, by Jesus Christ our +Savior, full power to feed, rule and govern the +universal Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Pope is here called the <hi rend='italic'>true Vicar</hi> or representative +of Christ in this lower kingdom of His +Church militant—that is, the Pope is the organ of +our Savior, and speaks His sentiments in faith +and morals. But if the Pope erred in faith and +morals he would no longer be Christ's Vicar and +true representative. Our minister in England, for +instance, would not truly represent our Government +if he was not the organ of its sentiments. +The Roman Pontiff is called the <hi rend='italic'>Head</hi> of the whole +Church—that is, the visible Head. Now the +Church, which is the Body of Christ, is infallible. +It is, as St. Paul says, <q>without spot or wrinkle, +or any such thing.</q> But how can you suppose +an infallible body with a fallible head? How can +an erring head conduct a body in the unerring +ways of truth and justice? +</p> + +<p> +He is declared by the same Council to be the +<hi rend='italic'>Father</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Doctor</hi> of all Christians. +How can you expect an unerring family under an erring +<pb n="130"/><anchor id="Pg130"/> +Father? The Pope is called the universal teacher +or doctor. Teacher of what? Of truth, not of +error. Error is to the mind what poison is to the +body. You do not call poison food; neither can +you call error doctrine. The Pope, as universal +teacher, must always give to the faithful not the +poisonous food of error, but the sound aliment of +pure doctrine. +</p> + +<p> +In fine, the Pope is also styled the <hi rend='italic'>Chief Pilot</hi> +of the Church. It was not without a mysterious +significance that our Lord entered Peter's bark +instead of that of any of the other Apostles. This +bark, our Lord has pledged Himself, shall never +sink nor depart from her true course. How can +you imagine a stormproof, never-varying bark under +the charge of a fallible Pilot? +</p> + +<p> +But did not the Vatican Council in promulgating +the definition of Papal Infallibility in 1870, create a +new doctrine of revelation? And did not the +Church thereby forfeit her glorious distinction of +being always unchangeable in her teaching? +</p> + +<p> +The Council did not create a new creed, but +rather confirmed the old one. It formulated into +an article of faith a truth which in every age had +been accepted by the Catholic world because it had +been implicitly contained in the deposit of revelation. +</p> + +<p> +I may illustrate this point by referring again to +our Supreme Court. When the Chief Justice, with +his colleagues, decides a constitutional question, +his decision, though presented in a new shape, cannot +be called a new doctrine, because it is based on +the letter and spirit of the Constitution. +</p> + +<p> +In like manner, when the Church issues a new +dogma of faith, that decree is nothing more than +a new form of expressing an old doctrine, because +the decision must be drawn from the revealed +Word of God. +</p> + +<pb n="131"/><anchor id="Pg131"/> + +<p> +The course pursued by the Church, regarding +the infallibility of the Pope was practiced by her +in reference to the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Our +Savior was acknowledged to be God from the beginning +of the Church. Yet His Divinity was not +formally defined till the Council of Nicæa in the +fourth century, and it would not have been defined +even then had it not been denied by Arius. And +who will have the presumption to say that the belief +in the Divinity of our Lord had its origin in +the fourth century? +</p> + +<p> +The following has always been the practice prevailing +in the Church of God from the beginning +of her history. Whenever Bishops or National +Councils promulgated doctrines or condemned errors +they always transmitted their decrees to +Rome for confirmation or rejection. What Rome +approved, the universal Church approved; what +Rome condemned, the Church condemned. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, in the third century, Pope St. Stephen +reverses the decision of St. Cyprian, of Carthage, +and of a council of African bishops regarding a +question of baptism. +</p> + +<p> +Pope St. Innocent I., in the fifth century, condemns +the Pelagian heresy, in reference to which +St. Augustine wrote this memorable sentence: +<q>The acts of two councils were sent to the Apostolic +See, whence an answer was returned. The +<emph>question is ended</emph>. Would to God that the error +also had ceased.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In the fourteenth century Gregory XI. condemns +the heresy of Wycliffe. +</p> + +<p> +Pope Leo X., in the sixteenth, anathematizes +Luther. +</p> + +<p> +Innocent X., in the seventeenth, at the solicitation +of the French Episcopate, condemns the subtle +errors of the Jansenists, and in the nineteenth +<pb n="132"/><anchor id="Pg132"/> +century Pius IX. promulgates the doctrine of the +Immaculate Conception. +</p> + +<p> +Here we find the Popes in various ages condemning +heresies and proclaiming doctrines of +faith; and they could not in a stronger manner +assert their infallibility than by so defining doctrines +of faith and condemning errors. We also +behold the Church of Christendom ever saying +Amen to the decisions of the Bishops of Rome. +Hence it is evident that, in every age, the Church +recognized the Popes as infallible teachers. +</p> + +<p> +Every independent government must have a supreme +tribunal regularly sitting to interpret its +laws, and to decide cases of controversy likely to +arise. Thus we have in Washington the Supreme +Court of the United States. +</p> + +<p> +Now the Catholic Church is a complete and independent +organization, as complete in its spiritual +sphere as the United States Government is in +the temporal order. The Church has its own laws, +its own autonomy and government. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, therefore, like civil powers, must +have a permanent and stationary supreme tribunal +to interpret its laws and to determine cases of +religious controversy. +</p> + +<p> +What constitutes this permanent supreme court +of the Church? Does it consist of the Bishops +assembled in General Council? No; because this +is not an ordinary but an extraordinary tribunal +which meets, on an average, only once in a hundred +years. +</p> + +<p> +Is it composed of the Bishops scattered throughout +the world? By no means, because it would be +impracticable to consult all the Bishops of Christendom +upon every issue that might arise in the +Church. The poison of error would easily spread +through the body of the Church before a decision +<pb n="133"/><anchor id="Pg133"/> +could be rendered by the Prelates dispersed +throughout the globe. The Pope, then, as Head +of the Catholic Church, constitutes, with just reason, +this supreme tribunal. +</p> + +<p> +And as the office of the Church is to guide men +into all truth, and to preserve them from all error, +it follows that he who is appointed to watch over +the constitution of the Church must be infallible, +or exempt from error in his official capacity as +judge of faith and morals. The prerogatives of +the Pope must be commensurate with the nature +of the constitution which he has to uphold. The +constitution is Divine and must have a Divinely +protected interpreter. +</p> + +<p> +But you will tell me that infallibility is too +great a prerogative to be conferred on man. I +answer: Has not God, in former times, clothed +His Apostles with powers far more exalted? They +were endowed with the gifts of working miracles, +of prophecy and inspiration; they were the mouth-piece +communicating God's revelation, of which +the Popes are merely the custodians. If God could +make man the organ of His revealed Word, is it +impossible for Him to make man its infallible guardian +and interpreter? For, surely, greater is the +Apostle who gives us the inspired Word than the +Pope who preserves it from error. +</p> + +<p> +If, indeed, our Saviour had visibly remained +among us, no interpreter would be needed, since +He would explain His Gospel to us; but as He withdrew +His visible presence from us, it was eminently +reasonable that He should designate someone to +expound for us the meaning of His Word. +</p> + +<p> +A Protestant Bishop, in the course of a sermon +against Papal Infallibility, recently used the following +language: <q>For my part, I have an infallible +<pb n="134"/><anchor id="Pg134"/> +Bible, and this is the only infallibility that +I require.</q> This assertion, though plausible at +first sight, cannot for a moment stand the test of +sound criticism. +</p> + +<p> +Let us see, sir, whether an infallible Bible is +sufficient for you. Either you are infallibly certain +that your interpretation of the Bible is correct +or you are not. +</p> + +<p> +If you are infallibly certain, then you assert +for yourself, and of course for every reader of the +Scripture, a personal infallibility which you deny +to the Pope, and which we claim only for him. +You make every man his own Pope. +</p> + +<p> +If you are not infallibly certain that you understand +the true meaning of the whole Bible—and +this is a privilege you do not claim—then, I ask, +of what use to you is the objective infallibility of +the Bible without an infallible interpreter? +</p> + +<p> +If God, as you assert, has left no infallible interpreter +of His Word, do you not virtually accuse +Him of acting unreasonably? for would it not be +most unreasonable in Him to have revealed His +truth to man without leaving him a means of ascertaining +its precise import? +</p> + +<p> +Do you not reduce God's word to a bundle of +contradictions, like the leaves of the Sybil, which +gave forth answers suited to the wishes of every +inquirer? +</p> + +<p> +Of the hundred and more Christian sects now +existing in this country, does not each take the +Bible as its standard of authority, and does not +each member draw from it a meaning different +from that of his neighbor? Now, in the mind of +God the Scriptures can have but one meaning. Is +not this variety of interpretations the bitter fruit +of your principle: <q>An infallible Bible is enough +for me,</q> and does it not proclaim the absolute +<pb n="135"/><anchor id="Pg135"/> +necessity of some authorized and unerring interpreter? +You tell me to drink of the water of life; +but of what use is this water to my parched lips, +since you acknowledge that it may be poisoned in +passing through the medium of your interpretation? +</p> + +<p> +How satisfactory, on the contrary, and how reasonable +is the Catholic teaching on this subject! +</p> + +<p> +According to that system, Christ says to every +Christian: Here, my child, is the Word of God, +and with it I leave you an infallible interpreter, +who will expound for you its hidden meaning and +make clear all its difficulties. +</p> + +<p> +Here are the waters of eternal life, but I have +created a channel that will communicate these +waters to you in all their sweetness without sediment +of error. +</p> + +<p> +Here is the written Constitution of My Church. +But I have appointed over it a Supreme Tribunal, +in the person of one <q>to whom I have given the +keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,</q> who will preserve +that Constitution inviolate, and will not permit +it to be torn into shreds by the conflicting +opinions of men. And thus my children will be +one, as I and the Father are one. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="136"/><anchor id="Pg136"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XII. Temporal Power Of The Popes.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XII.</head> +<head>Temporal Power Of The Popes.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>I. How The Popes Acquired Temporal Power.</head> + +<p> +For the clearer understanding of the origin and +the gradual growth of the Temporal Power of +the Popes, we may divide the history of the +Church into three great epochs. +</p> + +<p> +The first embraces the period which elapsed +from the establishment of the Church to the days +of Constantine the Great, in the fourth century; +the second, from Constantine to Charlemagne, +who was crowned Emperor in the year 800; the +third, from Charlemagne to the present time. +</p> + +<p> +When St. Peter, the first Pope in the long, unbroken +line of Sovereign Pontiffs, entered Italy +and Rome he did not possess a foot of ground +which he could call his own. He could say with +his Divine Master: <q>The foxes have holes and +the birds of the air nests, but the Son of Man +hath not whereon to lay his head.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +viii. 20.</note> The Apostle +died as he had lived, a poor man, having nothing +at his death save the affections of a grateful +people. +</p> + +<pb n="137"/><anchor id="Pg137"/> + +<p> +But, although the Prince of the Apostles owned +nothing that he could call his personal property, +he received from the faithful large donations to +be distributed among the needy. For in the Acts +of the Apostles we are told that <q>neither was anyone +among them (the faithful) needy; for as many +as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and +brought the prices of the things which they sold +and laid them before the feet of the Apostles, and +distribution was made to everyone according as +he had need.</q><note place='foot'>Acts iv. +34, 35.</note> Such was the filial attachment of +the early Christians towards the Pontiffs of the +Church; such was the confidence reposed in their +personal integrity, and in their discretion in dispensing +the charity of the faithful. +</p> + +<p> +During the first three hundred years the Pastors +of the Church were generally incapable of +holding real estate in Rome; for Christianity was +yet a proscribed religion, and the faithful were +exposed to the most violent and unrelenting persecutions +that have ever darkened the annals of +history. +</p> + +<p> +The Christians of Rome worshiped for the +most part in the catacombs. These catacombs are +subterranean chambers and passages under the +city of Rome. They extend for miles in different +directions, and are visited to this day by thousands +of strangers. Here the primitive Christians +prayed together, here they encouraged one another +to martyrdom, here they died and were +buried; so that these caverns served at the same +time as temples of worship for the living and as +tombs for the dead. +</p> + +<p> +At last Constantine the Great brought peace to +the Church. The long night of Pagan persecution +was succeeded by the bright dawn of religious liberty, +<pb n="138"/><anchor id="Pg138"/> +and as our Blessed Savior rose triumphant +from the grave, after having lain there for three +days, so did our early brethren in the faith emerge +from the tombs of the catacombs, after having been +buried, as it were, in the bowels of the earth for +three centuries. +</p> + +<p> +Constantine gave to the Roman Church munificent +donations of money and real estate, which +were augmented by additional grants contributed +by subsequent emperors. Hence the patrimony of +the Roman Pontiffs soon became very considerable. +Voltaire himself tells us that the wealth +which the Popes acquired was spent not in satisfying +their own avarice and ambition, but in the +most laudable works of charity and religion. They +expended their patrimony, he says, in sending missionaries +to evangelize Pagan Europe, in giving +hospitality to exiled Bishops at Rome and in feeding +the poor. And I may here add that succeeding +Popes have generously imitated the munificence +of the early Pontiffs. +</p> + +<p> +An event occurred in the reign of Constantine +which paved the way for the partial jurisdiction +which the Roman Pontiffs commenced to enjoy +over Rome, and which they continued to exercise +till they obtained full sovereignty in the days of +King Pepin of France. +</p> + +<p> +In the year 327 the Emperor Constantine transferred +the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople, +the present capital of Turkey. The city +was named after Constantine, who founded it. A +subsequent emperor appointed a governor, or +exarch, to rule Italy, who resided in the city of +Ravenna. This new system, as is manifest, did +not work well. The Emperor of Constantinople +referred all matters to his deputy in Ravenna, and +the deputy was more anxious to conciliate the +<pb n="139"/><anchor id="Pg139"/> +Emperor than to satisfy the people of Rome. +Italy and Rome were then in a political condition +analogous to that in which the Irish were placed +for several centuries. +</p> + +<p> +Abandoned to itself, Rome became a tempting +prey to those numerous hordes of Barbarians from +the North that then devastated Italy. The city +was successively attacked by the Goths under +Alaric, and by the Vandals under Genseric, and +was threatened by the Huns under Attila. Unable +to obtain assistance from the Emperor in the +East, or the Governor at Ravenna, the citizens of +Rome looked up to the Popes as their only Governors +and protectors, and their only salvation in +the dangers which threatened them. The confidence +which they reposed in the Pontiffs was not +misplaced. The Popes were not only devoted +spiritual Fathers, but firm and valiant civil Governors. +When Attila, who was surnamed <q>the +Scourge of God,</q> approached the city with an +army of 500,000 men, Pope Leo the Great went out +to meet him unattended by troops. His mild eloquence +disarmed the indomitable chieftain and induced +him to retrace his steps. Thus he saved +the city from pillage and the people from destruction. +The same Pope Leo also confronted Genseric, +the leader of the Vandals; and although he +could not this time protect Rome from the plunder +of the soldiers he saved the lives of the citizens +from slaughter. Such acts as these were naturally +calculated to bind the Roman people more strongly +to the Popes and to alienate them from their +nominal rulers. +</p> + +<p> +In the early part of the eighth century Leo +Isauricus, one of the successors of Constantine on +the imperial throne, not content with his civil authority, +endeavored, like Henry VIII., to usurp +<pb n="140"/><anchor id="Pg140"/> +spiritual jurisdiction, and, like the same English +monarch, sought to rob the people of their time-honored +sacred traditions. A civil ruler dabbling +in religion is as reprehensible as a clergyman dabbling +in politics. Both render themselves odious +as well as ridiculous. The Emperor commanded +all paintings of our Savior and His saints to be removed +from the churches on the assumption that +such an exhibition was an act of idolatry. Pope +Gregory II. wrote to the Emperor an energetic +remonstrance, reminding him that <q>dogmas of +faith are to be interpreted by the Pontiffs of the +Church and not by emperors,</q> and begging him +to spare the sacred paintings. But the Pope's +remonstrance and entreaties were in vain. This +conduct of the Emperor tended to widen still more +the breach between himself and the Roman people. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after an event occurred which abolished +forever the authority of the Byzantine Emperors +in Italy, and established on a sure and lasting +basis the temporal sovereignty of the Popes. +</p> + +<p> +In 754 Astolphus, King of the Lombards, invaded +Italy, captured some Italian cities and +threatened to advance on Rome. +</p> + +<p> +Pope Stephen III.,<note place='foot'>Sometimes +called Stephen II., as Stephen, his predecessor, +died three days after his election, whose name is omitted in +some calendars.</note> who then ruled the Church, +sent an urgent appeal to the Emperor Constantine +Copronymus, successor of Leo the Isaurian, imploring +him to come to the relief of Rome and his +Italian provinces. The Emperor manifested his +usual apathy and indifference and received the +message with coldness and neglect. +</p> + +<p> +In this emergency Stephen, who sees that no +time is to be lost, crosses the Alps in person, approaches +<pb n="141"/><anchor id="Pg141"/> +Pepin, King of France, and begs that +powerful monarch to protect the Italian people, +who were utterly abandoned by those that ought +to be their defenders. The pious King, after paying +his homage to the Pope, sets out for Italy with +his army, defeats the invading Lombards and +places the Pope at the head of the conquered +provinces. +</p> + +<p> +Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin, not only +confirms the grant of his father, but increases the +temporal domain of the Pope by donating him +some additional provinces. +</p> + +<p> +This small piece of territory the Roman Pontiffs +continued to govern from that time till 1870, with +the exception of brief intervals of foreign usurpation. +And certainly, if ever any Prince merited +the appellation of legitimate sovereign, that title +is eminently deserved by the Bishops of Rome. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>II. The Validity And Justice Of Their Title.</head> + +<p> +There are three titles which render the tenure of +a Prince honest and incontestable, viz., <emph>long possession, +legitimate acquisition</emph> and <emph>a just use of the +original grant confided to him</emph>. The Bishop of +Rome possessed his temporality by all these titles. +</p> + +<p> +First—The temporal dominion of the Pope is +most ancient in point of time. He commenced, as +we have seen, to enjoy full sovereignty about the +middle of the eighth century. The Pope was, consequently, +a temporal ruler for upwards of 1,100 +years. The Papal dynasty is, therefore, the oldest +in Europe, and probably in the world. The Pope +was the temporal ruler of Rome four hundred +years before England subjugated Ireland, and +seven hundred before the first European pressed +his foot on the American continent. +</p> + +<pb n="142"/><anchor id="Pg142"/> + +<p> +Second—His civil authority was established not +by the sword of conquest, nor the violence of usurpation. +He did not mount the throne upon the +ruins of outraged liberties or violated treaties; but +he was called to rule by the unanimous voice of a +grateful people. Always the devoted spiritual +Father of Rome, he providentially became its civil +defender; and the temporal power he had possessed +already by popular suffrage was ratified +and sanctioned by the sovereign act of the Frankish +monarch. In a word, the ship of state was in +danger of being engulfed beneath the fierce waves +of foreign invasion. The captain, meantime, folded +his arms and abandoned the ship to her fate. The +Pope was called to the helm in the emergency, and +he saved the vessel from shipwreck and the people +from destruction. Hence, even Gibbon, the English +historian, who cannot be suspected of partiality, +has the candor to use the following language in discussing +this subject: <q>Their (the Pope's) temporal +dominion is now confirmed by the reverence of a +thousand years, and their noblest title is the free +choice of a people whom they had redeemed from +slavery.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Third—What is the use or advantage of the temporal +power? This is well worth considering, as +many have erroneous notions on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +The object is not to aggrandize or enrich the +Pope. He ascends the Papal chair generally an +old man, when human passion and human ambition, +if any did exist, are on the wane. His personal +expenses do not exceed a few dollars a day. +He eats alone and very abstemiously. He has no +wife, no children to enrich with the spoils of office, +as he is an unmarried man. The Popedom is not +<pb n="143"/><anchor id="Pg143"/> +hereditary, like the sovereignty of England, but +elective, like the office of our President, and the +Holy Father is succeeded by a Pontiff to whom he +was bound by no family ties. What personal motive, +therefore, can he have in desiring temporal +sovereignty? I am sure, indeed, that if the Holy +Father were to consult his own taste and feelings, +he would much rather be free from the trammels +of civil government. But he has higher interests +to subserve. He must vindicate the eternal laws +of justice which have been violated in his own +person. +</p> + +<p> +As the Popes were not actuated by a love of +gain in possessing temporal dominion, neither had +they any desire to enlarge their territory, small as +it was. The temporalities of the Pope were not +much larger than the State of Maryland before he +was deprived of them by Victor Emmanuel a few +years ago. +</p> + +<p> +And this is the little slice of land which Victor +Emmanuel wrested from the Holy Father. This +is the vineyard which the modern King Achab +wrung from the unoffending Naboth. But the +Pontiff answers, like Naboth of old: <q>The Lord be +merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance +of my fathers.</q><note place='foot'>III. Kings xxi. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This is the little ewe-lamb which the modern +David has snatched from Uriah, its legitimate +owner. The royal shepherd of Piedmont had already +seized all the other lambs and sheep of his +neighbors; but he was not satisfied till he added to +his fold the solitary, tender lamb of the Pope. Let +him take care, however, that the prophecy denounced +by Nathan against David fall not upon +himself and his posterity: <q>Why, therefore, hast +thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in +<pb n="144"/><anchor id="Pg144"/> +My sight? Therefore the sword shall never depart +from thy house, because thou hast despised +Me. Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out +of thy own house.</q><note place='foot'>II. Kings xii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +While the patrimony of the Pope was large +enough to secure his independence, it was too small +to provoke the fear and jealousy of foreign powers. +The authority of the Roman Pontiffs in the +Middle Ages was almost unbounded. Had they +wished then, they could easily have increased their +territory; yet they were content with what Providence +placed originally in their hands.<note place='foot'>I +dare say you could have found, a few years since, some +persons in the United States who entertained a holy fear lest +the Pope should one morning land upon our shores, and take +forcible possession of our country. A venerable clergyman once +informed me that when he went to pay his respects to President +Pierce, who then occupied the White House, his Excellency remarked +to him: <q>I had a visit from a nervous gentleman, who +asked me whether I was making any preparations to resist the +approach of the Pope. I replied that so far I had taken no +steps, but that no doubt I would be prepared to meet the enemy +when he arrived. The man retired more composed, though not +fully satisfied.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +The sole end of the temporal power has been to +secure for the Pope independence and freedom in +the government of the Church. The Holy Father +must be either a sovereign or a subject. There is +no medium. If a subject, he might become either +the pliant creature, if God would so permit, of his +royal master, like the schismatic Patriarch of Constantinople, +who, as Gibbon observed, was <q>a domestic +slave under the eye of his master, at whose +nod he passed from the convent to the throne, and +from the throne to the convent.</q> And, indeed, +the Oriental schismatic Bishops are as subservient +now as they were then to their temporal rulers. +Or, what is far more probable, the Pope might become +a virtual prisoner in his own house, as the +<pb n="145"/><anchor id="Pg145"/> +present illustrious Pontiff is at this moment. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope is the representative of Christ on +earth. His office requires him to be in constant +communication with prelates in every country in +the world. Should the kingdom of Italy be embroiled +in a war with any European Power—with +Germany, for instance—it would be difficult, if not +impossible, for the Holy Father and the German +Bishops to confer with each other, and religion +would suffer from the interruption of intercourse +between the Head and the members. +</p> + +<p> +The interests of Christianity demand that the +Vicar of the Prince of Peace should possess one +spot of territory which would be held inviolable, +so that all nations and peoples could at all times, +in war, as well as in peace, freely correspond with +him. Nothing can be more revolting to our feelings +than that the spiritual government of the +Church should be constantly hampered by the +hostile aggressions of ambitious rulers, an +eventuality always likely to occur so long as the +Pope remains the subject of any earthly potentate.<note place='foot'>Some +of the evils that were predicted to follow from the +occupation of Rome by a foreign power have been too speedily +realized. Already several convents and other ecclesiastical +institutions have been seized and sold, and their inmates sent +adrift. A number of colleges founded and endowed by the +piety of foreign Catholics have been confiscated. Public religious +processions through the streets of Rome have been prohibited. +These and other outrages are perpetrated by a +government which solemnly pledged itself to maintain inviolate +the sovereign rights of the Holy Father when it took +forcible possession of his city in 1870. From the events that +have already transpired, we shall not be surprised to see the +Pope still more seriously hampered by a monarch who has unscrupulously +violated his former guarantees.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But we are told that the Roman people, by a +<hi rend='italic'>plebiscitum</hi>, or popular vote, expressed their desire +to be annexed to the Piedmontese Government. +<pb n="146"/><anchor id="Pg146"/> +To this I answer, in the first place, that we +ought to know what importance to attach to elections +held under the shadow of the bayonet. It is +well known that the Roman <hi rend='italic'>plebiscitum</hi> was undertaken +by the authority and guided by the inspiration +of the Italian troops. It is equally notorious +that the numerous stragglers who accompanied +the Italian army to Rome legalized the +gigantic fraud of their master, as well as their own +petty thefts, by voting in favor of annexation. +</p> + +<p> +In the second place, the Roman people, even had +they so desired, had no right to transfer, by <emph>their</emph> +suffrage, the Patrimony of St. Peter to Victor Emmanuel. +They could not give what did not belong +to them. The Papal territory was granted to the +Popes in trust, for the use and benefit of the +Church—that is, for the use and benefit of the +Catholics of Christendom. The Catholic world, +therefore, and not merely a handful of Roman subjects, +must give its consent before such a transfer +can be declared legitimate. Rome is to Catholic +Christendom what Washington is to the United +States. As the citizens of Washington have no +power, without the concurrence of the United +States, to annex their city to Maryland or Virginia, +neither can the citizens of Rome hand over +their city to the Kingdom of Piedmont without the +acquiescence of the faithful dispersed throughout +the world. +</p> + +<p> +We protest, therefore, against the occupation of +Rome by foreign troops as a high-handed act of +injustice, and a gross violation of the Commandment, +<q>Thou shalt not steal.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We protest against it as a royal outrage, calculated +to shock the public sense of honesty, and to +weaken the sacred right of public and private +property. +</p> + +<pb n="147"/><anchor id="Pg147"/> + +<p> +We protest against it as an unjustifiable violation +of solemn treaties. +</p> + +<p> +We protest, in fine, against the spoliation as an +impious sacrilege, because it is an unholy seizure +of ecclesiastical property, and an attempt, as far +as human agencies can accomplish it, to trammel +and embarrass the free action of the Head of the +Church. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>III. What The Popes Have Done For Rome.</head> + +<p> +Although the temporal power of the Pope is a +subject which concerns the universal Church, no +nation has more reason to lament the loss of the +Holy Father's temporalities than the Italians +themselves, and particularly the inhabitants of +Rome. +</p> + +<p> +It is the residence of the Popes in Rome that +has contributed to her material and religious +grandeur. The Pontiffs have made her the Centre +of Christendom, the Queen of religion, the Mistress +of arts and sciences, the Depository of sacred +learning. +</p> + +<p> +By their creative and conservative spirit they +have saved the illustrious monuments of the past, +and, side by side with these, they have raised up +Christian temples which surpass those of Pagan +antiquity. In looking today at these old Roman +monuments we know not which to admire more—the +genius of those who designed and erected them, +or the fostering care of the Popes who have preserved +from destruction the venerable ruins. The +residence of the Popes in Rome has made her +what she is truly called, <q><hi rend='italic'>The Eternal City</hi>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let the Popes leave Rome forever, and in five +years grass will be growing on its streets. +</p> + +<pb n="148"/><anchor id="Pg148"/> + +<p> +Such was the case at the return of the Pope, in +1418, from Avignon, which had been the seat of +the Sovereign Pontiffs during the preceding century. +On the Pope's return the city of Rome had +a population of only 17,000<note place='foot'>Memoir of Pope +Sixtus V., by Baron Hübner, Vol. II., ch. 1.</note> and Avignon, which, +during the residence of the Popes in the fourteenth +century contained a population of 100,000, +has now a population of only 36,407 inhabitants. +Such, also, was the case in the beginning of the +present century, when Pius VII. was an exile for +four years from Rome, and a prisoner of the first +Napoleon, in Grenoble, Savona and Fontainebleau. +Grass then grew on the streets of Rome, and the +city lost one-half of its population. +</p> + +<p> +Rome has naturally no commercial attractions. +It is only the presence of the Pope that keeps up +her trade. Let the Popes abandon Rome, and her +churches will soon be without worshipers; her +artists without employment. Her glorious monuments +will perish. Science and art and sacred +literature will take their flight and perch upon +some more favored spot. The hundred thousand +and more strangers who annually flock to Rome +from different parts of the world will shake off the +dust from their feet and seek more congenial cities. +</p> + +<p> +Let the Popes withdraw from Rome, and it may +become almost as desolate as Jerusalem and Antioch +are today. +</p> + +<p> +Peter preached his first sermons in Jerusalem, +but he did not select it as his See; and Jerusalem +is today a Mahometan city, with its sacred places +profaned by the foot of the Mussulman. +</p> + +<p> +Peter occupied for a time the city of Antioch as +his first See. But, in the mysterious providence of +God, he abandoned Antioch and repaired to Rome; +and now, little remains of the ancient Antioch of +Peter's day except colossal ruins. +</p> + +<pb n="149"/><anchor id="Pg149"/> + +<p> +Had the Popes remained in Antioch, Syria would +now very probably be, instead of Europe, the centre +of Christianity and civilization. The immortal +Dome of St. Peter's would, doubtless, overshadow +the banks of the Orontes instead of the Tiber; and +Antioch, not Rome, would be the focus of art, +science, and sacred literature, and would be called +today <q>The Eternal City.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Our present<note place='foot'>When these lines +were written, Pius IX. was the reigning Pontiff. +He died February 7, 1878.</note> beloved Pontiff, Pius IX., I need +not inform you, is now treated with indignity in +his own city. In his declining years, as well as in +the early days of his Pontificate, he is made to +drink deep of the chalice of affliction. His name is +dear to us all. To many of us it is a name familiar +from our youth; for thirty-one years have now +elapsed since he first assumed the reins of government; +and it is a noteworthy fact that, since +the days of Peter, no Pope has ever reigned so +long as Pius IX. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope in every age, like his Divine Master, +has his period of persecution and his period of +peace. Like Him, he has his days of sorrow and +his days of joy, his days of humiliation and death, +his days of exaltation and glory. Like Jesus +Christ, he is one day greeted with acclamations as +king, and another day crucified by his enemies. +</p> + +<p> +But never does the Holy Father exhibit his title +as Vicar of Christ more strikingly than in the +midst of tribulations. If he did not suffer, he +would bear no resemblance to his Divine Model +and Master; and never does he more worthily deserve +the filial homage of his children than when +he is heavily laden with the cross. +</p> + +<p> +I envy neither the heart nor the head of those +men who are now gloating with fiendish joy over +<pb n="150"/><anchor id="Pg150"/> +the calamities of the Pope; who are heaping insults +and calumnies on his venerable head, while +he is in the hands of his enemies,<note place='foot'>Some +time ago, my attention was called to a certain excommunication +or <q>curse,</q> then widely circulated by the press of +North Carolina. The <q>curse</q> is attributed to the Holy Father, +and is fulminated against Victor Emmanuel. In this anathema, +<emph>cursing</emph> and <emph>damning</emph> are heaped up in wild confusion. When +this base forgery appeared, an article exposing the falsehood +of the production was published. We fear, however, that many +who read the slanderous charge did not read its refutation.</note> and who are +confidently predicting the downfall of the Papacy, +from the present situation of the Head of the +Church, as if the temporary privation of his +dominions involved their irrevocable loss; or, as if +even the perpetual destruction of the temporal +power involved the destruction of the spiritual supremacy +itself. <q>The Papacy,</q> they say, <q>is +gone. Its glory is vanished. Its sun is set. It is +sunk below the horizon, never to rise again.</q> Ill-boding +prophets, will you never profit by the lessons +of history? Have not numbers of Popes before +Pius IX. been forcibly ejected from their +See, and have they not been reinstated in their +temporal authority? What has happened so often +before may and will happen again. +</p> + +<p> +For our part we have every confidence that ere +long the clouds which now overshadow the civil +throne of the Pope will be removed by the breath +of a righteous God, and that his temporal power +will be re-established on a more permanent basis +than ever. +</p> + +<p> +But whatever be the fate of the Pope's temporalities, +we have no fears for the spiritual +throne of the Papacy. The Pontiffs have received +their earthly dominion from man, and what man +gives man may take away. But the spiritual supremacy +the Bishops of Rome have from God, +and no man can destroy it. That Divine charter +<pb n="151"/><anchor id="Pg151"/> +of their prerogatives, <q>Thou art Peter, and on +this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of +hell shall not prevail against it,</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xvi. 18.</note> will ever shine +forth as brightly as the sun, and it is as far as the +sun above the reach of human aggression. +</p> + +<p> +The Holy Father may live and die in the catacombs, +as the early Pontiffs did for the first three +centuries. He may be dragged from his See and +perish in exile, like the Martins, the Gregories and +the Piuses. He may wander a penniless pilgrim, +like Peter himself. Rome itself may sink beneath +the Mediterranean; but the chair of Peter will +stand, and Peter will live in his successors. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="152"/><anchor id="Pg152"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XIII. The Invocation Of Saints.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XIII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XIII.</head> +<head>The Invocation Of Saints.</head> + +<p> +Christians of most denominations are accustomed +to recite the following article contained +in the Apostles' Creed: <q>I believe in +the communion of Saints.</q> There are many, I +fear, who have these words frequently on their +lips, without an adequate knowledge of the precious +meaning which they convey. +</p> + +<p> +The true and obvious sense of the words quoted +from the Creed is, that between the children of +God, whether reigning in heaven or sojourning on +earth, there exists an intercommunion, or spiritual +communication by prayer; and, consequently, that +our friends who have entered into their rest are +mindful of us in their petitions to God. +</p> + +<p> +In the exposition of her Creed the Catholic +Church weighs her words in the scales of the +sanctuary with as much precision as a banker +weighs his gold. With regard to the Invocation of +Saints the Church simply declares that it is <q>useful +and salutary</q> to ask their prayers. There +are expressions addressed to the Saints in some +popular books of devotion which, to critical readers, +may seem extravagant. But they are only +the warm language of affection and poetry, to be +regulated by our standard of faith; and notice that +all the prayers of the Church end with the +formula: <q>Through our Lord Jesus Christ,</q> sufficiently +<pb n="153"/><anchor id="Pg153"/> +indicating her belief that Christ is the +Mediator of salvation. A heart tenderly attached +to the Saints will give vent to its feelings in the +language of hyperbole, just as an enthusiastic +lover will call his future bride his adorable queen, +without any intention of worshiping her as a goddess. +This reflection should be borne in mind +while reading such passages. +</p> + +<p> +I might easily show, by voluminous quotations +from ecclesiastical writers of the first ages of the +Church, how conformable to the teaching of antiquity +is the Catholic practice of invoking the +intercession of the Saints. But as you, dear +reader, may not be disposed to attach adequate +importance to the writings of the Fathers, I shall +confine myself to the testimony of Holy Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +You will readily admit that it is a salutary +custom to ask the prayers of the blessed in heaven, +provided you have no doubt that they can <emph>hear</emph> +your prayers, and that they have the <emph>power</emph> and +the <emph>will</emph> to assist you. Now the Scriptures amply +demonstrate the knowledge, the influence and the +love of the Saints in our regard. +</p> + +<p> +First—It would be a great mistake to suppose +that the Angels and Saints reigning with God see +and hear in the same manner that we see and hear +on earth, or that knowledge is communicated to +them as it is communicated to us. While we are +confined in the prison of the body, we see only with +our eyes and hear with our ears; hence our +faculties of vision and hearing are very limited. +Compared with the heavenly inhabitants, we are +like a man in a darksome cell through which a dim +ray of light penetrates. He observes but few objects, +and these very obscurely. But as soon as +our soul is freed from the body, soaring heavenward +like a bird released from its cage, its vision +<pb n="154"/><anchor id="Pg154"/> +is at once marvelously enlarged. It requires +neither eyes to see nor ears to hear, but beholds +all things in God as in a mirror. <q>We now,</q> says +the Apostle, <q>see through a glass darkly; but then +face to face. Now, I know in part; but then I shall +know even as I am known.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. xiii. 12.</note> In our day we know +what wonderful facility we have in communicating +with our friends at a distance. A message to Berlin +or Rome with the answer, which a century ago +would require sixty days in transmission, can now +be accomplished in sixty minutes. +</p> + +<p> +I can hold a conversation with an acquaintance +in San Francisco, three thousand miles away, and +can talk to him as easily and expeditiously as if he +were closeted with me here in Baltimore. +</p> + +<p> +Nay more, we can distinctly recognize one another +by the sound of our voice. +</p> + +<p> +If a scientist had predicted such events, a hundred +years past, he would be regarded as demented. +And yet he would not be a visionary, but a prophet. +</p> + +<p> +Let us not be unwise in measuring Divine power +by our finite reason. +</p> + +<p> +If such revelations are made in the natural order, +what may we not expect in the supernatural +world? If science gives us such rapid and easy +means of corresponding with our fellow beings on +foreign shores, what methods may not the God of +Sciences employ to enable us to communicate with +our brethren on the shores of eternity? +</p> + +<p> +<q>There are more things in heaven and earth, +Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +That the spirits of the just in heaven are clearly +conversant with our affairs on earth is manifest +from the following passages of Holy Writ. The +venerable Patriarch Jacob, when on his deathbed, +<pb n="155"/><anchor id="Pg155"/> +prayed thus for his two grandchildren: <q>May +the angel that delivereth me from all evils bless +these boys!</q><note place='foot'>Gen. xlviii. +16.</note> Here we see a holy Patriarch—one +singularly favored by Almighty God, and enlightened +by many supernatural visions, the father +of Jehovah's chosen people—asking the angel in +heaven to obtain a blessing for his grandchildren. +And surely we cannot suppose that he would be so +ignorant as to pray to one that could not hear him. +</p> + +<p> +The angel Raphael, after having disclosed himself +to Tobias, said to him: <q>When thou didst +pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst +leave thy dinner, I offered thy prayer to the +Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Tobias xii. +12.</note> How could the angel, if he were ignorant +of these petitions, have presented to God the prayers +of Tobias? +</p> + +<p> +To pass from the Old to the New Testament, our +Savior declares that <q>there shall be joy before the +angels of God upon one sinner doing +penance.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xv. 10.</note> +Then the angels are glad whenever you repent of +your sins. Now, what is repentance? It is a change +of heart. It is an interior operation of the will. +The saints, therefore, are acquainted—we know +not how—not only with your actions and words, +but even with your very thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +And when St. Paul says that <q>we are made a +spectacle to the world, to angels, and to +men,</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. iv. 9.</note> +what does he mean, unless that as our actions are +seen by men even so they are visible to the angels +in heaven? +</p> + +<p> +The examples I have quoted refer, it is true, to +the angels. But our Lord declares that the saints +in heaven shall be like the angelic spirits, by possessing +the same knowledge, enjoying the same +happiness.<note place='foot'>Matt. xxii. 30.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="156"/><anchor id="Pg156"/> + +<p> +We read in the Gospel that Dives, while suffering +in the place of the reprobates, earnestly besought +Abraham to cool his burning thirst. And +Abraham, in his abode of rest after death, was +able to listen and reply to him. Now, if communication +could exist between the souls of the just and +of the reprobate, how much easier is it to suppose +that interchange of thought can exist between the +saints in heaven and their brethren on earth? +</p> + +<p> +These few instances are sufficient to convince +you that the spirits in heaven hear our prayers. +</p> + +<p> +Second—We have, also, abundant testimony +from Scripture to show that the saints assist us +by their prayers. Almighty God threatened the +inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha with utter destruction +on account of their crimes and abominations. +Abraham interposes in their behalf and, in +response to his prayer, God consents to spare those +cities if only ten just men are found therein. Here +the avenging hand of God is suspended and the fire +of His wrath withheld, through the efficacy of the +prayers of a single man.<note place='foot'>Gen. xxviii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We read in the Book of Exodus that when the +Amalekites were about to wage war on the children +of Israel Moses, the great servant and Prophet +of the Lord, went upon a mountain to pray for the +success of his people; and the Scriptures inform +us that whenever Moses raised his hands in prayer +the Israelites were victorious, but when he ceased +to pray Amalek conquered. Could the power of +intercessory prayer be manifested in a more striking +manner? The silent prayer of Moses on the +mountain was more formidable to the Amalekites +than the sword of Josue and his armed hosts fighting +in the valley.<note place='foot'>Exod. xvii.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="157"/><anchor id="Pg157"/> + +<p> +When the same Hebrew people were banished +from their native country and carried into exile in +Babylon, so great was their confidence in the prayers +of their brethren in Jerusalem that they sent +them the following message, together with a sum +of money, that sacrifice might be offered up for +them in the holy city: <q>Pray ye for us to the Lord +our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our +God.</q><note place='foot'>Baruch i. 13.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When the friends of Job had excited the indignation +of the Almighty in consequence of their +vain speech, God, instead of directly granting them +the pardon which they sought, commanded them to +invoke the intercession of Job: <q>Go,</q> He says, +<q>to My servant Job and offer for yourselves a +holocaust, and My servant Job will pray for you +and his face will I accept.</q><note place='foot'>Job +xlii.</note> Nor did they appeal +to Job in vain; for, <q>the Lord was turned at the +penance of Job when he prayed for his friends.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +In this instance we not only see the value of intercessory +prayer, but we find God sanctioning it by +His own authority. +</p> + +<p> +But of all the sacred writers there is none that +reposes greater confidence in the prayers of his +brethren than St. Paul, although no one had a better +knowledge than he of the infinite merits of our +Savior's Passion, and no one could have more endeared +himself to God by his personal labors. In +his Epistles St. Paul repeatedly asks for himself +the prayers of his disciples. If he wishes to be +delivered from the hands of the unbelievers of +Judea, and his ministry to be successful in Jerusalem, +he asks the Romans to obtain these favors for +him. If he desires the grace of preaching with +profit the Gospel to the Gentiles, he invokes the +intercession of the Ephesians. +</p> + +<pb n="158"/><anchor id="Pg158"/> + +<p> +Nay, is it not a common practice among ourselves, +and even among our dissenting brethren, to +ask the prayers of one another? When a father +is about to leave his house on a long journey the +instinct of piety prompts him to say to his wife +and children: <q>Remember me in your prayers.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Now I ask you, if our friends, though sinners, +can aid us by their prayers, why cannot our +friends, the saints of God, be able to assist us +also? If Abraham and Moses and Job exercised +so much influence with the Almighty while they +lived in the flesh, is their power with God diminished +now that they reign with Him in heaven? +</p> + +<p> +We are moved by the children of Israel sending +their pious petitions to their brethren in Jerusalem. +They recalled to mind, no doubt, what the +Lord said to Solomon after he had completed the +temple: <q>My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive +to the prayer of him that shall pray in this +place.</q><note place='foot'>II. Paralip. vii. +15.</note> If the supplications of those that prayed +in the earthly Jerusalem were so efficacious, what +will God refuse to those who pray to Him face to +face in the heavenly Jerusalem? +</p> + +<p> +Third—But you will ask, are the saints in heaven +so interested in our welfare as to be mindful of us +in their prayers? Or, are they so much absorbed +in the contemplation of God, and in the enjoyment +of celestial bliss, as to be altogether regardless of +their friends on earth? Far from us the suspicion +that the saints reigning with God ever forget us. +In heaven, charity is triumphant. And how can +the saints have love, and yet be unmindful of their +brethren on earth? If they have one desire greater +than another, it is to see us one day wearing the +crowns that await us in heaven. If they were capable +of experiencing sorrow, their grief would +<pb n="159"/><anchor id="Pg159"/> +spring from the consideration that we do not always +walk in their footsteps here, so as to make +sure our election to eternal glory hereafter. +</p> + +<p> +The Hebrew people believed, like us, that the +saints after death were occupied in praying for us. +We read in the Book of Maccabees that Judas +Maccabeus, the night before he engaged in battle +with the army of the impious Nicanor, had a +supernatural dream, or vision, in which he beheld +Onias, the High-Priest, and the prophet Jeremiah, +both of whom had been long dead. Onias appeared +to him with outstretched arms, praying for +the people of God. Pointing to Jeremiah, he said +to Judas Maccabeus: <q>This is a lover of his +brethren and the people of Israel. This is he that +prayeth much for the people and for all the holy +city, Jeremiah, the Prophet of +God.</q><note place='foot'>II. Mac. xv. 14.</note> Then +Jeremiah, as is related in the sequel of the vision, +handed a sword to Judas, with which the prophet +predicted that Judas would conquer his enemies. +The soldiers, animated by the relation of Judas, +fought with invincible courage and overcame the +enemy. The Book of Maccabees, though not admitted +by our dissenting brethren to be inspired, +must, at least, be acknowledged by them to be a +faithful historical record. It is manifest, therefore, +from this narrative that the Hebrew people +believed that the saints in heaven pray for their +brethren on earth. +</p> + +<p> +St. John in his Revelation describes the Saints +before the throne of God praying for their earthly +brethren: <q>The four and twenty ancients fell down +before the Lamb, having every one of them harps +and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers +of the saints.</q><note place='foot'>Revel. v. 8.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="160"/><anchor id="Pg160"/> + +<p> +The prophet Zachariah records a prayer that +was offered by the angel for the people of God, +and the favorable answer which came from heaven: +<q>How long, O Lord, wilt Thou not have mercy on +Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda, with which +Thou hast been angry?... And the Lord answered +the angel ... good words, comfortable +words.</q><note place='foot'>Zach. i. 12, 13.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Nor can we be surprised to learn that the angels +labor for our salvation, since we are told by St. +Peter that <q>the devil goeth about like a roaring +lion, seeking whom he may devour;</q> for, if hate +impels the demons to ruin us, surely love must +inspire the angels to help us in securing the crown +of glory. And if the angels, though of a different +nature from ours, are so mindful of us, how much +more interest do the saints manifest in our welfare, +who are bone of our bone and flesh of our +flesh? +</p> + +<p> +To ask the prayers of our brethren in heaven is +not only conformable to Holy Scripture, but is +prompted by the instincts of our nature. The +Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints robs +death of its terrors, while the Reformers of the +sixteenth century, in denying the Communion of +Saints, not only inflicted a deadly wound on the +Creed, but also severed the tenderest chords of +the human heart. They broke asunder the holy +ties that unite earth with heaven—the soul in the +flesh with the soul released from the flesh. If my +brother leaves me to cross the seas I believe that +he continues to pray for me. And when he crosses +the narrow sea of death and lands on the shores +of eternity, why should he not pray for me still? +What does death destroy? The body. The soul +still lives and moves and has its being. It thinks +<pb n="161"/><anchor id="Pg161"/> +and wills and remembers and loves. The dross of +sin and selfishness and hatred are burned by the +salutary fires of contrition, and nothing remains +but the pure gold of charity. +</p> + +<p> +O far be from us the dreary thought that death +cuts off our friends entirely from us! Far be from +us the heartless creed which declares a perpetual +divorce between us and the just in heaven! Do not +imagine when you lose a father or mother, a tender +sister or brother, who die in the peace of Christ, +that they are forgetful of you. The love they bore +you on earth is purified and intensified in heaven. +Or if your innocent child, regenerated in the waters +of baptism, is snatched from you by death, be assured +that, though separated from you in body, that +child is with you in spirit and is repaying you a +thousand-fold for the natural life it received from +you. Be convinced that the golden link of prayer +binds you to that angelic infant, and that it is continually +offering its fervent petitions at the throne +of God for you, that you may both be reunited in +heaven. But I hear men cry out with Pharisaical +assurance, <q>You dishonor God, sir, in praying to +the saints. You make void the mediatorship of +Jesus Christ. You put the creature above the Creator.</q> +How utterly groundless is this objection! We +do not dishonor God in praying to the saints. We +should, indeed, dishonor Him if we consulted the +saints <emph>independently</emph> of God. But such is not our +practice. The Catholic Church teaches, on the contrary, +that God alone is the Giver of all good gifts; +that He is the Source of all blessings, the Fountain +of all goodness. She teaches that whatever happiness +or glory or <emph>influence</emph> the saints possess, all +comes from God. As the moon borrows her light +from the sun, so do the blessed borrow their light +from Jesus, <q>the Sun of Justice, the one Mediator +<pb n="162"/><anchor id="Pg162"/> +(of redemption) of God and +men.</q><note place='foot'>I. Tim. ii. 5.</note> Hence, +when we address the saints, we beg them to pray +for us through the merits of Jesus Christ, while we +ask Jesus to help up through His own merits. +</p> + +<p> +But what is the use of praying to the saints, since +God can hear us. If it is vain and useless to pray +to the saints because God can hear us, then Jacob +was wrong in praying to the angel; the friends of +Job were wrong in asking him to pray for them, +though God commanded them to invoke Job's intercession; +the Jews exiled in Babylon were wrong +in asking their brethren in Jerusalem to pray for +them; St. Paul was wrong in beseeching his friends +to pray for him; then we are all wrong in praying +for each other. You deem it useful and pious to ask +your pastor to pray for you. Is it not, at least, +equally useful for me to invoke the prayers of St. +Paul, since I am convinced that he can hear me? +</p> + +<p> +God forbid that our supplications to our Father +in heaven should diminish in proportion as our +prayers to the Saints increase; for, after all, we +must remember that, while the Church declares it +necessary for salvation to pray to God, she merely +asserts that it is <q>good and useful to invoke the +saints.</q><note place='foot'>Council of Trent, +Sess. xxv.</note> To ask the prayers of the saints, far from +being useless, is most profitable. By invoking their +intercession, instead of one we have many praying +for us. To our own tepid petitions we unite the fervent +supplications of the blessed and <q>the Lord +will hear the prayers of the just.</q><note place='foot'>Prov. +xv. 20.</note> To the petitions +of us, poor pilgrims in this vale of tears, are +united those of the citizens of heaven. We ask +them to pray to their God and to our God, to their +Father and to our Father, that we may one day +share their delights in that blessed country in company +with our common Redeemer, Jesus Christ, +with whom to live is to reign. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="163"/><anchor id="Pg163"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XIV. The Blessed Virgin Mary.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XIV.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XIV.</head> +<head>Is It Lawful To Honor The Blessed Virgin Mary As A Saint, +To Invoke Her As An Intercessor, And To Imitate Her As A Model.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>I. Is It Lawful To Honor Her?</head> + +<p> +The sincere adorers and lovers of our Lord +Jesus Christ look with reverence on every +object with which He was associated, and +they conceive an affection for every person that +was near and dear to Him on earth. The closer +the intimacy of those persons with our Savior, +the holier do they appear in our estimation, just +as those planets which revolve the nearest around +the sun partake most of its light and heat. +</p> + +<p> +There is something hallowed to the eye of the +Christian in the very soil of Judea, because it was +pressed by the footprints of our Blessed Redeemer. +With what reverent steps we would enter +the cave of Bethlehem because <emph>there</emph> was born +the Savior of the world. With what religious demeanor +we would tread the streets of Nazareth +when we remembered that <emph>there</emph> were spent the +days of His boyhood. What profound religious +awe would fill our hearts on ascending Mount +Calvary, where He paid by his blood the ransom +of our souls. +</p> + +<p> +But if the <emph>lifeless</emph> soil claims so much reverence, +<pb n="164"/><anchor id="Pg164"/> +how much more veneration would be enkindled in +our hearts for the <emph>living</emph> persons who were the +friends and associates of our Savior on earth! +We know that He exercised a certain salutary and +magnetic influence on those whom He approached. +<q>All the multitude sought to touch Him, for virtue +went out from Him and healed all,</q><note place='foot'>Luke +vi. 19.</note> as happened +to the woman who had been troubled with an issue +of blood.<note place='foot'>Matt. ix. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We would seem, indeed, to draw near to Jesus, +if we had the happiness of only conversing with +the Samaritan woman, or of eating at the table of +Zaccheus, or of being entertained by Nicodemus. +But if we were admitted into the inner circle of +His friends—of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, for +instance—the Baptist or the Apostles, we would +be conscious that in their company we were drawing +still nearer to Jesus and imbibing somewhat +of that spirit which they must have largely received +from their familiar relations with Him. +</p> + +<p> +Now, if the land of Judea is looked upon as +hallowed ground because Jesus dwelt there; if +the Apostles were considered as models of holiness +because they were the chosen companions and +pupils of our Lord in His latter years, how peerless +must have been the sanctity of Mary, who +gave Him birth, whose breast was His pillow, who +nursed and clothed Him in infancy, who guided +His early steps, who accompanied Him in His +exile to Egypt and back, who abode with Him +from infancy to boyhood, from boyhood to manhood, +who during all that time listened to the +words of wisdom which fell from His lips, who +was the first to embrace Him at His birth, +and the last to receive His dying breath on Calvary. +This sentiment is so natural to us that +<pb n="165"/><anchor id="Pg165"/> +we find it bursting forth spontaneously from the +lips of the woman of the Gospel, who, hearing the +words of Jesus full of wisdom and sanctity, lifted +up her voice and said to Him: <q>Blessed is the +womb that bore Thee and the paps that gave +Thee suck.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is in accordance with the economy of Divine +Providence that, whenever God designs any person +for some important work, He bestows on that +person the graces and dispositions necessary for +faithfully discharging it. +</p> + +<p> +When Moses was called by heaven to be the +leader of the Hebrew people he hesitated to assume +the formidable office on the plea of <q>impediment +and slowness of tongue.</q> But Jehovah reassured +him by promising to qualify him for the +sublime functions assigned to him: <q>I will be +in thy mouth, and I will teach thee what thou +shalt speak.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. iv. 12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Prophet Jeremiah was sanctified from his +very birth because he was destined to be the herald +of God's law to the children of Israel: <q>Before +I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother I knew +thee, and before thou camest forth out of the +womb I sanctified thee.</q><note place='foot'>Jer. i. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Elizabeth was filled with the Holy +Ghost,</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 41.</note> +that she might be worthy to be the hostess of our +Lord during the three months that Mary dwelt +under her roof. +</p> + +<p> +John the Baptist was <q>filled with the Holy +Ghost even from his mother's womb.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. +i. 15.</note> <q>He was +a burning and a shining light</q><note place='foot'>John +v. 35.</note> because he was +chosen to prepare the way of the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +The Apostles received the plenitude of grace; +they were endowed with the gift of tongue and +<pb n="166"/><anchor id="Pg166"/> +other privileges<note place='foot'>Acts +ii.</note> before they commenced the +work of the ministry. Hence St. Paul says: <q>Our +sufficiency is from God, who hath made us <emph>fit</emph> ministers +of the New Testament.</q><note place='foot'>II Cor. iii. 6.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Now of all who have participated in the ministry +of the Redemption there is none who filled +any position so exalted, so sacred, as is the incommunicable +office of Mother of Jesus; and there +is no one, consequently, that <emph>needed</emph> so high a degree +of holiness as she did. +</p> + +<p> +For, if God thus sanctified His Prophets and +Apostles as being destined to be the bearers of +the Word of life, how much more sanctified must +Mary have been, who was to bear the Lord and +<q>Author of life.</q><note place='foot'>Acts +iii. 15.</note> If John was so holy because +he was chosen as the pioneer to prepare the way +of the Lord, how much more holy was she who +ushered Him into the world. If holiness became +John's mother, surely a greater holiness became +the mother of John's Master. If God said to His +Priests of old: <q>Be ye clean, you that carry the +vessels of the Lord;</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah +iii. 11.</note> nay, if the vessels themselves +used in the divine service and churches are +set apart by special consecration, we cannot conceive +Mary to have been ever profaned by sin, who +was the chosen vessel of election, even the Mother +of God. +</p> + +<p> +When we call the Blessed Virgin the Mother of +God, we assert our belief in two things: First—That +her Son, Jesus Christ, is true man, else she +were not a <emph>mother</emph>. Second—That He is true God, +else she were not the <emph>Mother of God</emph>. In other +words, we affirm that the Second Person of the +Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, who in His +divine nature is from all eternity begotten of the +<pb n="167"/><anchor id="Pg167"/> +Father, consubstantial with Him, was in the fulness +of time again begotten, by being born of the +Virgin, thus taking to Himself, from her maternal +womb, a human nature of the same substance with +hers. +</p> + +<p> +But it may be said the Blessed Virgin is not +the Mother of the Divinity. She had not, and she +could not have, any part in the generation of the +Word of God, for that generation is eternal; her +maternity is temporal. He is her Creator; she +is His creature. Style her, if you will, the Mother +of the man Jesus or even of the human nature of +the Son of God, but not the Mother of God. +</p> + +<p> +I shall answer this objection by putting a question. +Did the mother who bore us have any part +in the production of our <emph>soul</emph>? Was not this +nobler part of our being the work of God alone? +And yet who would for a moment dream of saying +<q>the mother of my body,</q> and not <q><emph>my</emph> +mother?</q> +</p> + +<p> +The comparison teaches us that the terms parent +and child, mother and son, refer to the persons +and not to the parts or elements of which the persons +are composed. Hence no one says: <q>The +mother of my <emph>body</emph>,</q> <q>the mother of my <emph>soul</emph>;</q> +but in all propriety <q>my mother,</q> the mother of +me who live and breathe, think and act, <emph>one</emph> in my +personality, though uniting in it a soul directly +created by God, and a material body directly derived +from the maternal womb. In like manner, +as far as the sublime mystery of the Incarnation +can be reflected in the natural order, the Blessed +Virgin, under the overshadowing of the Holy +Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of +the Adorable Trinity, as mothers do, a true +human nature of the same substance with her +own, is thereby really and truly His Mother. +</p> + +<pb n="168"/><anchor id="Pg168"/> + +<p> +It is in this sense that the title of <hi rend='italic'>Mother of +God</hi>, denied by Nestorius, was vindicated to her +by the General Council of Ephesus, in 431; in +this sense, and in no other, has the Church called +her by that title. +</p> + +<p> +Hence, by immediate and necessary consequence, +follow her surpassing dignity and excellence, and +her special relationship and affinity, not only with +her Divine Son, but also with the Father and +the Holy Ghost. +</p> + +<p> +Mary, as Wordsworth beautifully expressed it, +united in her person <q>a mother's love with maiden +purity.</q> The Church teaches us that she was always +a Virgin—a Virgin before her espousals, +during her married life and after her spouse's +death. <q>The Angel Gabriel was sent from God ... +to a Virgin espoused to a man whose name +was Joseph, ... and the Virgin's name was +Mary.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 26, 27.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That she remained a Virgin till after the birth +of Jesus is expressly stated in the Gospel.<note place='foot'>Matt. i. 25.</note> It +is not less certain that she continued in the same +state during the remainder of her days; for in +the Apostles' and the Nicene Creed she is called +a Virgin, and that epithet cannot be restricted to +the time of our Saviour's birth. It must be referred +to her whole life, inasmuch as both creeds +were compiled long after she had passed away. +</p> + +<p> +The Canon of the Mass, which is very probably +of Apostolic antiquity, speaks of her as the <q>glorious +<emph>ever Virgin</emph>,</q> and in this sentiment all Catholic +tradition concurs. +</p> + +<p> +There is a propriety which suggests itself to +every Christian in Mary's remaining a Virgin +after the birth of Jesus, for, as Bishop Bull of +the Protestant Episcopal Church of England remarks, +<pb n="169"/><anchor id="Pg169"/> +<q>It cannot with decency be imagined that +the most holy vessel which was once consecrated +to be a receptacle of the Deity should be afterwards +desecrated and profaned by human use.</q> +The learned Grotius, Calvin and other eminent +Protestant writers hold the same view. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary +is now combated by Protestants, as it was in the +early days of the Church by Helvidius and Jovinian, +on the following grounds: +</p> + +<p> +First—The Evangelist says that <q>Joseph took +unto him his wife, and he knew her not <emph>till</emph> she +brought forth her first-born son.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +i. 25.</note> This sentence +suggests to dissenters that other children +besides Jesus were born to Mary. But the qualifying +word <emph>till</emph> by no means implies that the chaste +union which had subsisted between Mary and +Joseph up to the birth of our Lord was subsequently +altered. The Protestant Hooker justly +complains of the early heretics as having <q>abused +greatly these words of Matthew, gathering against +the honor of the Blessed Virgin, that a thing denied +with special circumstance doth import an opposite +affirmation when once that circumstance is +expired.</q><note place='foot'>Book V., ch. +xlv.</note> To express Hooker's idea in plainer +words, when a thing is said not to have occurred +until another event had happened, it does not +necessarily follow that it did occur after that +event took place. +</p> + +<p> +The Scripture says that the raven went forth +from the ark, <q>and did not return <emph>till</emph> the waters +were dried up upon the earth</q><note place='foot'>Gen. +viii. 7.</note>—that is, it never +returned. <q>Samuel saw Saul no more <emph>till</emph> the +day of his death.</q><note place='foot'>Kings xv. +35.</note> He did not, of course, see +him after death. <q>The Lord said to my Lord: +<pb n="170"/><anchor id="Pg170"/> +Sit thou at my right hand <emph>until</emph> I make thy enemies +thy footstool.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. +cix.</note> These words apply to our Savior, +who did not cease to sit at the right of God +after His enemies were subdued. +</p> + +<p> +Second—But Jesus is called Mary's <emph>first-born</emph> +Son, and does not a first-born always imply the +subsequent birth of other children to the same +mother? By no means; for the name of first-born +was given to the first son of every Jewish mother, +whether other children followed or not. We find +this epithet applied to Machir, for instance, who +was the only son of Manasses.<note place='foot'>Josue xvii. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Third—But is not mention frequently made of +the brethren of Jesus?<note place='foot'>Matt. xii. +46; xiii. 55, 56.</note> Fortunately the Gospels +themselves will enable us to trace the maternity +of those who are called His brothers, not to the +Blessed Virgin, but to another Mary. St. Matthew +mentions, by name, James and Joseph among +the brethren of Jesus;<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +and the same Evangelist +and also St. Mark tell us that among those who +were present at the Crucifixion were Mary Magdalen +and Mary the mother of James and Joseph.<note place='foot'>Matt xxvii.; Mark xv.</note> +And St. John, who narrates with more detail the +circumstances of the Crucifixion, informs us who +this second Mary was, for he says that there +stood by the cross of Jesus His mother and His +Mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary +Magdalen.<note place='foot'>John xix. +25.</note> There is no doubt that Mary of Cleophas +is identical with Mary, who is called by Matthew +and Mark the mother of James and Joseph. +And as Mary of Cleophas was the kinswoman of +the Blessed Virgin, James and Joseph are called +the brothers of Jesus, in conformity with the Hebrew +practice of giving that appellation to cousins +<pb n="171"/><anchor id="Pg171"/> +or near relations. Abraham, for instance, was +the uncle of Lot, yet he calls him brother.<note place='foot'>Gen. xiii. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Mary is exalted above all other women, not only +because she united <q>a mother's love with maiden +purity,</q> but also because she was conceived without +original sin. The dogma of the Immaculate +Conception is thus expressed by the Church: <q>We +define that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first +moment of her conception, by the singular grace +and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the +merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human +race, was preserved free from every stain of +original sin.</q><note place='foot'>Bulla Dogmat. Pii Papæ IX.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soul +of Mary was never subject to sin, even in the first +moment of its infusion into the body. She alone +was exempt from the original taint. This immunity +of Mary from original sin is exclusively +due to the merits of Christ, as the Church expressly +declares. She needed a Redeemer as well +as the rest of the human race and therefore was +<q>redeemed, but in a more sublime manner.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +Mary is as much indebted to the precious blood +of Jesus for having been <emph>preserved</emph> as we are for +having been <emph>cleansed</emph> from original sin. +</p> + +<p> +Although the Immaculate Conception was not +formulated into a dogma of faith till 1854, it is +at least implied in Holy Scripture. It is in strict +harmony with the place which Mary holds in the +economy of Redemption, and has virtually received +the pious assent of the faithful from the +earliest days of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +In Genesis we read: <q>I will put enmities between +thee and the woman, and thy seed and her +seed; she shall crush thy head.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. +iii. 15.</note> All Catholic +<pb n="172"/><anchor id="Pg172"/> +commentators, ancient and modern, recognize in +the Seed, the Woman and the serpent types of our +Savior, of Mary and the devil. God here declares +that the enmity of the Seed and that of the Woman +toward the tempter were to be identical. Now the +enmity of Christ, or the Seed, toward the evil one +was absolute and perpetual. Therefore the enmity +of Mary, or the Woman, toward the devil +never admitted of any momentary reconciliation +which would have existed if she were ever subject +to original sin. +</p> + +<p> +It is worthy of note that as three characters +appear on the scene of our fall—Adam, Eve and +the rebellious Angel—so three corresponding personages +figure in our redemption—Jesus Christ, +who is the second Adam;<note place='foot'>I. Cor. +xv. 45.</note> Mary, the second Eve, +and the Archangel Gabriel. The second Adam was +immeasurably superior to the first, Gabriel was +superior to the fallen Angel, and hence we are +warranted by analogy to conclude that Mary was +superior to Eve. But if she had been created in +original sin, instead of being superior, she would +be inferior to Eve, who was certainly created immaculate. +We cannot conceive that the mother of +Cain was created superior to the mother of Jesus. +It would have been unworthy of a God of infinite +purity to have been born of a woman that was +even for an instant under the dominion of Satan. +</p> + +<p> +The liturgies of the Church, being the established +formularies of her public worship, are +among the most authoritative documents that can +be adduced in favor of any religious practice. +</p> + +<p> +In the liturgy ascribed to St. James, Mary is +commemorated as <q>our most holy, immaculate and +most glorious Lady, Mother of God and ever Virgin +Mary.</q><note place='foot'>Bibliotheca Max. Patrum, t. 2, p. 3.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="173"/><anchor id="Pg173"/> + +<p> +In the Maronite Ritual she is invoked as <q>our +holy, praiseworthy and immaculate Lady.</q><note place='foot'>De +sac. ordinat., p. 313.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the Alexandrian liturgy of St. Basil, she is +addressed as <q>most holy, most glorious, immaculate.</q><note place='foot'>Renaudot. +Lit. Orient.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Feast of Mary's Conception commenced to +be celebrated in the East in the fifth, and in the +West in the seventh centuries. It was not introduced +into Rome till probably towards the end +of the fourteenth century. Though Rome is always +the first that is called on to sanction a new +festival, she is often the last to take part in it. +She is the first that is expected to give the key-note, +but frequently the last to join in the festive +song. While she is silent, the notes are faint and +uncertain; when her voice joins in the chant, the +song of praise becomes constant and universal. +</p> + +<p> +It is scarcely necessary for me to add that the +introduction of the festival of the Conception after +the lapse of so many centuries from the foundation +of Christianity no more implies a novelty of +doctrine than the erection of a monument in 1875 +to Arminius, the German hero who flourished in +the first century, would be an evidence of his recent +exploits. The Feast of the Blessed Trinity +was not introduced till the fifth century, though +it commemorates a fundamental mystery of the +Christian religion. +</p> + +<p> +It is interesting to us to know that the Immaculate +Conception of Mary has been interwoven in +the earliest history of our own country. The ship +that first bore Columbus to America was named +Mary of the Conception. This celebrated navigator +gave the same name to the second island +which he discovered. The first chapel erected in +Quebec, when that city was founded in the early +<pb n="174"/><anchor id="Pg174"/> +part of the seventeenth century was dedicated to +God under the invocation of Mary Immaculate. +</p> + +<p> +In view of these three great prerogatives of +Mary—her divine maternity, her perpetual virginity +and her Immaculate Conception—we are +prepared to find her blessedness often and expressly +declared in Holy Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +The Archangel Gabriel is sent to her from +heaven to announce to her the happy tidings that +she was destined to be the mother of the world's +Redeemer. No greater favor was ever before or +since conferred on woman, whether we consider the +dignity of the messenger, or the momentous character +of the message, or the terms of respect in +which it is conveyed. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a +city of Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin ... and +the virgin's name was Mary. And the Angel being +come in said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord +is with thee; blessed art thou among women. Who, +having heard, was troubled at his saying and +thought with herself what manner of salutation +this should be. And the Angel said to her: Fear +not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. +Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt +bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name +Jesus.... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, +and the power of the most high shall overshadow +thee, and therefore, also, the Holy which shall be +born of thee shall be called the Son of +God.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 26-35.</note> The +Almighty does not send to Mary, a prophet or +priest, or any other earthly ambassador, nor even +one of the lower choirs of angels, but He commissions +an Archangel to confer with her. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'><q>Hail full of grace!</q></hi> Gabriel does not congratulate +her on her personal charms, though she is the +fairest daughter of Israel. He does not praise her +<pb n="175"/><anchor id="Pg175"/> +for her exalted ancestry, though she is descended +from the Kings of Juda. But he commends her +because she is the chosen child of benediction. He +admires the hidden virtues of her soul, brighter +than the sun, fairer than the moon, purer than +angels, he sees before him, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>Our tainted nature's solitary boast,</q> +</quote> + +<p> +one that alone escaped the taint of Adam's disobedience. +</p> + +<p> +As the precious diamond reflects various colors +according as it is exposed to the sun's rays, so did +the soul of Mary, from the moment that the <q>Sun +of Justice</q> shone upon her, exhibit every grace +that was prompted by the occasion. +</p> + +<p> +St. Stephen and the Apostles were also said to +be full of the Spirit of God. By this, however, we +are not to understand that the same measure of +grace was imparted to them which was given to +Mary. On each one it is bestowed according to his +merits and needs. <q>One is the glory of the sun, +another the glory of the moon, and another the +glory of the stars, for star differeth from star in +glory;</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. xv. +41.</note> and as Mary's office of Mother of God +immeasurably surpassed in dignity that of the +proto-martyr and of the Apostles, so did her grace +superabound over theirs. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'><q>The Lord is with thee.</q></hi> <q>He exists in His +creatures in different ways; in those that are endowed +with reason in one way, in irrational creatures +in another. His irrational creatures have no +means of apprehending or possessing Him. All +rational creatures may indeed apprehend Him +by knowledge, but only the good by love. Only +in the good does He so exist as to be with them +as well as in them; with them by a certain harmony +and agreement of will, and in this way God +<pb n="176"/><anchor id="Pg176"/> +is with all His Saints. But He is with Mary in +a yet more special manner, for in her there was so +great an agreement and union with God that not +her will only, but her very flesh was to be united to +him.</q><note place='foot'>St. Bernard.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'><q>Blessed art Thou among women.</q></hi> The same +expression is applied to two other women in the +Holy Scripture—viz., to Jahel and Judith. The +former was called blessed after she had slain +Sisara,<note place='foot'>Judges, v.</note> +and the latter after she had slain Holofernes,<note place='foot'>Judith, xiii.</note> +both of whom had been enemies of God's +people. In this respect these two women are true +types of Mary, who was chosen by God to crush +the head of the serpent, the infernal enemy of mankind. +And if they deserved the title of blessed for +being the instruments of God in rescuing Israel +from temporal calamities, how much more does +Mary merit that appellation, who co-operated so +actively in the salvation of the human race! +</p> + +<p> +The Evangelist proceeds: <q>And Mary, rising +up in those days, went ... into a city of Juda; +and she entered into the house of Zachary and +saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when +Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary the infant +leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled +with the Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud +voice and said: Blessed art thou among women, +and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence +is this to me that the mother of my Lord should +come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of +thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my +womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that +hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished +that were spoken to thee by the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 39-45.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There is joy in Mary's heart in being chosen to +become the mother of the world's Redeemer. She +<pb n="177"/><anchor id="Pg177"/> +wishes by her visit to communicate that joy to her +cousin. The Sun of Justice is shining within her. +She desires to diffuse His rays through Elizabeth's +household. She is laden with spiritual treasures. +She must share them with her kinswoman, especially +as she is none the poorer in making others +richer. +</p> + +<p> +The usual order of salutation is here reversed. +Age pays reverence to youth. A lady who is revered +by the whole community honors a lowly +maiden. An inspired matron expresses her astonishment +that her young kinswoman should deign +to visit her. She extols Mary's faith and calls her +blessed. She blends the praise of Mary with the +praise of Mary's Son, and even the infant John +testifies his reverential joy by leaping in his mother's +womb. And we are informed that during this +interview Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, +to remind us that the veneration she paid to her +cousin was not prompted by her own feelings, but +was dictated by the Spirit of God. +</p> + +<p> +Then Mary breaks out into that sublime canticle, +the Magnificat: <q>My soul doth magnify the +Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my +Savior, because He hath regarded the humility of +his handmaid, for behold from henceforth all generations +shall call me blessed.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. +46-48.</note> On these words +I shall pause to make one reflection. +</p> + +<p> +The Holy Ghost, through the organ of Mary's +chaste lips, prophesies that all generations shall +call her blessed, with evident approval of the +praise she should receive. +</p> + +<p> +What a daring prophecy is this! Among the +wonderful predictions recorded in Holy Scripture, +I can recall none that more strongly commands my +admiration. Here is a modest, retiring maiden, +<pb n="178"/><anchor id="Pg178"/> +living in an obscure village in a remote quarter of +the civilized world, openly announcing that every +age till the end of time, should pronounce her hallowed. +We have no reason to question this prophecy, +for it is recorded in the inspired pages of the +Gospel. And we know also without the shadow +of a doubt that the prophecy has been literally +fulfilled. For, in every epoch, and in every Christian +land from the rising to the setting sun, her +<hi rend='italic'>Magnificat</hi> has daily resounded. +</p> + +<p> +Now the Catholic is the only Church whose children, +generation after generation, from the first to +the present century, have pronounced her blessed; +of all Christians in this land, they alone contribute +to the fulfilment of the prophecy. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, it is only Catholics that earn the approval +of Heaven by fulfilling the prediction of +the Holy Ghost. +</p> + +<p> +Protestants not only concede that we bless the +name of Mary, but they even reproach us with being +too lavish in our praises of her. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand, they are careful to exclude +themselves from the <q>generations</q> that were destined +to call her blessed, for, in speaking of her, +they almost invariably withhold from her the title +of <emph>blessed</emph>, prefering to call her <hi rend='italic'>the Virgin</hi>, or +<hi rend='italic'>Mary the Virgin</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>the Mother of Jesus</hi>. +And while Protestant churches will resound with the +praises of Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel, of +Miriam and Ruth, of Esther and Judith of the Old +Testament, and of Elizabeth and Anna, of Magdalen +and Martha of the New, the name of Mary +the Mother of Jesus is uttered with bated breath, +lest the sound of her name should make the +preacher liable to the charge of superstition. +</p> + +<p> +The piety of a mother usually sheds additional +lustre on the son, and the halo that encircles her +<pb n="179"/><anchor id="Pg179"/> +brow is reflected upon his. The more the mother +is extolled, the greater honor redounds to the +son. And if this is true of all men who do not +choose their mothers, how much more strictly may +it be affirmed of Him who chose His own Mother, +and made her Himself such as He would have her, +so that all the glories of His Mother are essentially +His own. And yet we daily see ministers +of the Gospel ignoring Mary's exalted virtues +and unexampled privileges and parading her alleged +imperfections; nay, sinfulness, as if her Son +were dishonored by the piety, and took delight +in the defamation of His Mother. +</p> + +<p> +Such defamers might learn a lesson from one +who made little profession of Christianity. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>Is thy name Mary, maiden fair?</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Such should, methinks, its music be.</l> +<l>The sweetest name that mortals bear,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Were best befitting thee.</l> +<l>And she to whom it once was given</l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Was half of earth and half of +heaven</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Oliver W. Holmes.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Once more the title of <hi rend='italic'>blessed</hi>, is given to Mary. +On one occasion a certain woman, lifting up her +voice, said to Jesus: <q>Blessed is the womb that +bore thee and the paps that gave thee suck.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xi. 27.</note> It +is true that our Lord replied: <q>Yea, rather (or +yea, likewise), blessed are they who hear the word +of God and keep it.</q> It would be an unwarrantable +perversion of the sacred text to infer from +this reply that Jesus intended to detract from +the praise bestowed on His Mother. His words +may be thus correctly paraphrased: She is +blessed indeed in being the chosen instrument of +My incarnation, but more blessed in keeping My +word. Let others be comforted in knowing that +though they cannot share with My Mother in the +<pb n="180"/><anchor id="Pg180"/> +privilege of her maternity, they can participate +with her in the blessed reward of them who hear +My word and keep it. +</p> + +<p> +In the preceding passages we have seen Mary +declared blessed on four different occasions, and +hence, in proclaiming her blessedness, far from +paying her unmerited honor, we are but re-echoing +the Gospel verdict of saint and angel and of the +Spirit of God Himself. +</p> + +<p> +Wordsworth, though not nurtured within the +bosom of the Catholic Church, conceives a true +appreciation of Mary's incomparable holiness in +the following beautiful lines: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrossed</q></l> +<l>With the least shade of thought to sin allied;</l> +<l>Woman! above all women glorified,</l> +<l>Our tainted nature's solitary boast;</l> +<l>Purer than foam on central ocean tost,</l> +<l>Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn</l> +<l>With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon</l> +<l>Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast,</l> +<l>Thy image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,</l> +<l>Not unforgiven, the suppliant knee might bend</l> +<l>As to a visible power, in which did blend</l> +<l>All that was mixed and reconciled in thee</l> +<l>Of mother's love with maiden purity,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Of high with low, celestial with serene.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +To honor one who has been the subject of divine, +angelic and saintly panegyric is to use a privilege, +and the privilege is heightened into a sacred duty +when we remember that the spirit of prophecy +foretold that she should ever be the unceasing +theme of Christian eulogy as long as Christianity +itself would exist. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Honor he is worthy of, whom the king hath a +mind to honor.</q><note place='foot'>Esther +vi. 11.</note> The King of kings hath honored +Mary; His divine Son did not disdain to be +subject to her, therefore should we honor her, +<pb n="181"/><anchor id="Pg181"/> +especially as the honor we pay to her redounds +to God, the source of all glory. The Royal +Prophet, than whom no man paid higher praise +to God, esteemed the friends of God worthy of +all honor: <q>To me Thy friends, O God, are +made exceedingly honorable.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. +cxxxviii. (In Protestant version, Ps. cxxxix.)</note> Now the dearest +friends of God are they who most faithfully keep +His precepts: <q>You are My friends, if you do +the things that I command you.</q><note place='foot'>John +xv. 14.</note> Who fulfilled +the divine precepts better than Mary, who kept +all the words of her Son, pondering them in her +heart? <q>If any man minister to me,</q> says our +Savior, <q>him will My Father honor.</q><note place='foot'>John +xii. 26.</note> Who ministered +more constantly to Jesus than Mary, who +discharged towards Him all the offices of a tender +mother? +</p> + +<p> +Heroes and statesmen may receive the highest +military and civic honors which a nation can bestow +without being suspected of invading the domain +of the glory which is due to God. Now is +not heroic sanctity more worthy of admiration +than civil service and military exploits, inasmuch +as religion ranks higher than patriotism and +valor? And yet the admirers of Mary's exalted +virtues can scarcely celebrate her praises without +being accused in certain quarters of Mariolatry. +</p> + +<p> +When a nation wishes to celebrate the memory +of its distinguished men its admiration is not +confined to words, but vents itself in a thousand +different shapes. See in how many ways we honor +the memory of Washington. Monuments on which +his good deeds are recorded are erected to his +name. The grounds in which his remains repose +on the banks of the Potomac are kept in order by +a volunteer band of devoted ladies, who adorn +<pb n="182"/><anchor id="Pg182"/> +the place with flowers. And this cherished spot +is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims from +the most remote sections of the country. These +visitors will eagerly snatch a flower or a leaf +from a shrub growing near Washington's tomb, +or will strive even to clip off a little shred from +one of his garments, still preserved in the old +mansion, to bear home with them as precious +relics. +</p> + +<p> +I have always observed when traveling on the +missions up and down the Potomac, that whenever +the steamer came to the point opposite Mount +Vernon the bell was tolled, and every eye was +directed toward Washington's grave. +</p> + +<p> +The 22nd of February, Washington's birthday, +is kept as a national holiday, at least in certain +portions of the country. I well remember that +formerly military and fire companies paraded the +streets, and that patriotic speeches recounting the +heroic deeds of the first President were delivered, +the festivities of the day closing with a social +banquet. +</p> + +<p> +As the citizens of the United States manifest in +divers ways their admiration for Washington, so +do the citizens of the republic of the Church love +to exhibit in corresponding forms their veneration +for the Mother of Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +Monuments and statues are erected to her. +Thrice each day—at morn, noon and even—the +Angelus bells are rung, to recall to our mind the +Incarnation of our Lord, and the participation of +Mary in this great mystery of love. +</p> + +<p> +Her shrines are tastefully adorned by pious +hands and visited by devoted children, who wear +her relics or any object which bears her image, +or which is associated with her name. +</p> + +<pb n="183"/><anchor id="Pg183"/> + +<p> +Her natal day and other days of the year, sacred +to her memory, are appropriately commemorated +by processions, by participation in the banquet of +the Eucharist, and by sermons enlarging on her +virtues and prerogatives. +</p> + +<p> +As no one was ever suspected of loving his country +and her institutions less because of his revering +Washington, so no one can reasonably suppose +that our homage to God is diminished by our fostering +reverence for Mary. As our object in eulogizing +Washington is not so much to honor the man +as to vindicate those principles of which he was the +champion and exponent, and to express our gratitude +to God for the blessings bestowed on our country +through him, even so our motive in commemorating +Mary's name is not merely to praise her, +but still more to keep us in perpetual remembrance +of our Lord's Incarnation, and to show our +thankfulness to Him for the blessings wrought +through that great mystery in which she was so +prominent a figure. There is not a grain of incense +offered to Mary which does not ascend to the +throne of God Himself. +</p> + +<p> +Experience sufficiently demonstrates that the +better we understand the part which Mary has +taken in the work of redemption, the more enlightened +becomes our knowledge of our Redeemer +Himself, and that the greater our love for her, the +deeper and broader is our devotion to Him; while +experience also testifies that our Savior's attributes +become more confused and warped in the +minds of a people in proportion as they ignore +Mary's relations to Him. +</p> + +<p> +The defender of a beleaguered citadel concentrates +his forces on the outer fortifications and +towers, knowing well that the capture of these +outworks would endanger the citadel itself, and +that <emph>their</emph> safety involves <emph>its</emph> security. +</p> + +<pb n="184"/><anchor id="Pg184"/> + +<p> +Jesus Christ is the citadel of our faith, the +stronghold of our soul's affections. Mary is called +the <q>Tower of David,</q> and the gate of Sion which +the Lord loveth more than all the tabernacles of +Jacob,<note place='foot'>Ps. lxxxvi.</note> +and which He entered at His Incarnation. +</p> + +<p> +So intimately is this living gate of Sion connected +with Jesus, the Temple of our faith, that +no one has ever assailed the former without invading +the latter. The Nestorian would have +Mary to be only an ordinary mother because he +would have Christ to be a mere man. +</p> + +<p> +Hence, if we rush to the defence of the gate of +Sion, it is because we are more zealous for the +city of God. If we stand as sentinels around the +tower of David, it is because we are more earnest +in protecting Jerusalem from invasion. If we +forbid profane hands to touch the ark of the covenant, +it is because we are anxious to guard from +profanation the Lord of the ark. If we are so solicitous +about Mary's honor, it is because <q>the +love of Christ</q> presseth us. If we will not permit +a single wreath to be snatched from her fair +brow, it is because we are unwilling that a single +feature of Christ's sacred humanity should be +obscured, and because we wish that He should +ever shine forth in all the splendor of His glory, +and clothed in all the panoply of His perfections. +</p> + +<p> +But you will ask: Why do you so often blend +together the worship of God and the veneration +of the Blessed Virgin? Why such exclamations +as <hi rend='italic'>Blessed be Jesus and Mary</hi>? Why do you +so often repeat in succession the Lord's prayer +and the Angelical salutation? Is not this practice +calculated to level all distinctions between the +Creator and His creature, and to excite the displeasure +of a God ever jealous of His glory? +</p> + +<pb n="185"/><anchor id="Pg185"/> + +<p> +Those who make this objection should remember +that the praises of the Lord and of His Saints +are frequently combined in Holy Scripture itself. +</p> + +<p> +Witness Judith. On returning from the tent +of Holofernes, she sang: <q><emph>Praise ye the Lord, our +God</emph>, who hath not forsaken them that hope in +Him, <emph>and by me His handmaid</emph>, He hath fulfilled +His mercy which He promised to the house of +Israel.... And Ozias, the prince of the people +of Israel, said to her: <emph>Blessed art thou, O daughter</emph>, +by the Lord the Most High God, above all +women upon the earth, <emph>Blessed be the Lord</emph> who +made heaven and earth ... because He hath so +magnified thy name this day, that thy praise +shall not depart out of the mouth of men.</q><note place='foot'>Judith xiii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Witness Ecclesiasticus. After glorifying God +for His mighty works, he immediately sounds the +praises of Enoch and Noe, of Abraham, Isaac and +Jacob, of Moses and Aaron, of Samuel and +Nathan, of David and Josias, of Isaiah and Jeremiah, +and other kings and prophets of Israel.<note place='foot'>Eccles. +xliii. <hi rend='italic'>et seq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +Elizabeth, in the same breath, exclaims: +<q>Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is +the fruit of thy womb.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And Mary herself, under the inspiration of +Heaven, cries out: <q>My soul <emph>doth magnify the +Lord</emph>, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my +Savior.... For, behold from henceforth all generations +<emph>shall call me blessed</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Here are the names of Creator and creature interwoven +like threads of gold and silver in the +same woof, without provoking the jealousy of +God. +</p> + +<p> +God jealous of the honor paid to Mary! Will a +father be jealous of the honor paid to his child, +<pb n="186"/><anchor id="Pg186"/> +especially of a child who reflects his own image +and likeness, and exhibits those virtues which he +had inculcated on her tender mind? And is not +Mary God's child of predilection? Will an architect +be envious of the praise bestowed on a magnificent +temple which his genius planned and reared? +Is not the living temple of Mary's heart the work +of the Supreme Architect? Must she not say with +all of God's creatures: <q>Thy hands (O Lord) have +made me and formed me.</q> Is it not He who has +adorned that living temple with those rare beauties +which we so much admire? Has she not declared +so when she exclaimed: <q>He that is mighty hath +done great things to me, and holy is His +name!</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 49.</note> +</p> + +<p> +God jealous of the honor paid to Mary! As well +might we imagine that the sun, if endowed with +intelligence, would be jealous of the mellow, golden +cloud which encircles him, which reflects his +brightness and presents in bolder light his inaccessible +splendor. As well imagine that the same +luminary would be jealous of our admiration for +the beautiful rose, whose opening petals and rich +color and delicious fragrance are the fruit of his +beneficent rays. +</p> + +<p> +Hence in uniting Mary's praise with that of +Jesus we are strictly imitating the sacred Text. +We are imitating Joachim, the High Priest, and +the people of God in Bethulia, who unite the praises +of Judith with the praises of Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +We are imitating the sacred writer of Ecclesiasticus +who, after extolling God for His mighty +works, sounds the praises of Enoch and Noe, of +Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of David and Josiah, of +Isaiah and Jeremiah, and other Kings and Prophets +of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +We are imitating Elizabeth, who exclaimed in +one breath: <q>Blessed art thou (Mary) among women +and blessed is (Jesus) the fruit of thy womb.</q> +</p> + +<pb n="187"/><anchor id="Pg187"/> + +<p> +And as no one ever suspected that the encomiums +pronounced on Judith and the virtuous Kings and +Prophets of Israel detracted from God's honor, +so neither do we lessen His glory in exalting the +Blessed Virgin. I find Jesus and Mary together +at the manger, together in Egypt, together in +Nazareth, together in the temple, together at the +cross. I find their names side by side in the Apostles' +and the Nicene Creed. It is fitting that both +should find a place in my heart, and that both +names should often flow successively from my +lips. Inseparable in life and in death, they should +not be divorced in my prayer. <q>What God hath +joined together, let not man put asunder.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>II. Is It Lawful To Invoke Her?</head> + +<p> +The Church exhorts her children not only to +honor the Blessed Virgin, but also to invoke her +intercession. It is evident from Scripture that +the Angels and Saints in heaven can hear our +prayers and that they have the power and the +will to help us.<note place='foot'>Gen. xlviii. +16; Tobias xii. 12; Luke xv. 10; Zach. i. 12, +13.</note> Now, if the angels are conversant +with what happens on earth; if the Prophets, even +while clothed in the flesh, had a clear vision of +things which were transpiring at a great distance +from them; if they could penetrate into the future +and fortell events which were then hidden in the +womb of time, shall we believe that God withholds +a knowledge of our prayers from Mary, who is +justly styled the Queen of Angels and Saints? +For, as Mary's sanctity surpasses that of all other +mortals, her knowledge must be proportionately +greater than theirs, since knowledge constitutes +one of the sources of celestial bliss. +</p> + +<p> +If Stephen, while his soul was still in the prison +of the body, <q><emph>saw</emph> the glory of God, and Jesus +<pb n="188"/><anchor id="Pg188"/> +standing on the right hand of +God;</q><note place='foot'>Acts vii. 55.</note> if Paul +<q><emph>heard</emph> secret words</q><note place='foot'>II. +Cor. xii. 4.</note> spoken in paradise, is it +surprising that Mary hears and sees us, now that +she is elevated to heaven and stands <q>face to +face</q> before God, the perfect Mirror of all knowledge? +It is as easy for God to enable His Saints +to see things terrestrial from heaven as things +celestial from earth. +</p> + +<p> +The influence of Mary's intercession exceeds +that of the angels, patriarchs and prophets in the +same degree that her sanctity surpasses theirs. +If our heavenly Father listens so propitiously to +the voice of His servants, what will He refuse to +her who is His chosen daughter of predilection, +chosen among thousands to be the Mother of His +beloved Son? If we ourselves, though sinners, +can help one another by our prayers, how irresistible +must be the intercession of Mary, who +never grieved Almighty God by sin, who never +tarnished her white robe of innocence by the least +defilement, from the first moment of her existence +till she was received by triumphant angels +into heaven. +</p> + +<p> +In speaking of the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, +we must never lose sight of her title of Mother +of our Redeemer nor of the great privileges which +that prerogative implies. Mary was the Mother +of Jesus. She exercised toward Him all the influence +that a prudent mother has over an affectionate +child. <q>Jesus,</q> says the Gospel, <q>was +subject to them</q><note place='foot'>Luke +ii. 51.</note>—that is, to Mary and Joseph. +We find this obedience of our Lord toward His +Mother forcibly exemplified at the marriage feast +of Cana. Her wishes are delicately expressed in +these words: <q>They have no wine.</q> He instantly +obeys her by changing water into wine, though the +<pb n="189"/><anchor id="Pg189"/> +time for exercising His public ministry and for +working wonders had not yet arrived. +</p> + +<p> +Now, Mary has never forfeited in heaven the +title of Mother of Jesus. She is still His Mother, +and while adoring Him as her God she still retains +her maternal relations, and He exercises toward +her that loving willingness to grant her request +which the best of sons entertains for the +best of mothers. +</p> + +<p> +Never does Jesus appear to us so amiable and +endearing as when we see Him nestled in the arms +of His Mother. We love to contemplate Him, and +artists love to represent Him, in that situation. +It appears to me that had we lived in Jerusalem +in His day and recognized, like Simeon, the Lord +of majesty in the form of an Infant, and had we +a favor to ask Him, we would present it through +Mary's hands while the Divine eyes of the Babe +were gazing on her sweet countenance. And even +so now. Never will our prayers find a readier +acceptance than when offered through her. +</p> + +<p> +In invoking Our Lady's patronage we are actuated +by a triple sense of the majesty of God, our +own unworthiness and of Mary's incomparable +influence with her Heavenly Father. Conscious +of our natural lowliness and sins, we have frequent +recourse to her intercession in the assured +hope of being more favorably heard. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>And even as children who have much offended</q></l> +<l>A too indulgent father, in great shame,</l> +<l>Penitent, and yet not daring unattended</l> +<l>To go into his presence, at the gate</l> +<l>Speak to their sister and confiding wait</l> +<l>Till she goes in before and intercedes;</l> +<l>So men, repenting of their evil deeds,</l> +<l>And yet not venturing rashly to draw near</l> +<l>With their requests, an angry Father's ear,</l> +<l>Offer to her their prayers and their confession,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>And she in heaven for them makes +intercession.</q><note place='foot'>Longfellow's <q>Golden Legend.</q></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n="190"/><anchor id="Pg190"/> + +<p> +Do you ask me, is Mary willing to assist you? +Does she really take an interest in your welfare? +Or is she so much absorbed by the fruition of God +as to be indifferent to our miseries? <q>Can a woman +forget her infant so as not to have pity on the fruit +of her womb?</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah xlix. +15.</note> Even so Mary will not forget us. +</p> + +<p> +The love she bears us, her children by adoption, +can be estimated only by her love for her +Son by nature. It was Mary that nursed the Infant +Savior. It was her hands that clothed Him. +It was her breast that sheltered Him from the +rude storm and from the persecution of Herod. +She it was that wiped the stains from His brow +when taken down from the cross. Now we are the +brothers of Jesus. He is not ashamed, says the +Apostle, to call us His brethren.<note place='foot'>Heb. +ii 11.</note> Neither is Mary +ashamed to call us her children by adoption. At +the foot of the cross she adopted us in the person +of St. John. She is anxious to minister to +our souls as she ministered to the corporal wants +of her Son. She would be the instrument of God +in feeding us with Divine grace, in clothing us +with the garments of innocence, in sheltering us +from the storms of temptations, in wiping away +the stains of sin from our soul. +</p> + +<p> +If the angels, though of a different nature from +ours, have so much sympathy for us as to rejoice +in our conversion,<note place='foot'>Luke xv. +7.</note> how great must be the interest +manifested toward us by Mary, who is of a +common nature with us, descended from the same +primitive parents, being bone of our bone, and +flesh of our flesh, and who once trod the thorny +path of life that we now tread! +</p> + +<p> +Though not of the household of the faith, Edgar +A. Poe did not disdain to invoke Our Lady's intercession, +<pb n="191"/><anchor id="Pg191"/> +and to acknowledge the influence of +her patronage in heaven. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>At morn—at noon—at twilight dim—</q></l> +<l>Maria! thou hast heard my hymn;</l> +<l>In joy and woe—in good and ill—</l> +<l>Mother of God, be with me still!</l> +<l>When the hours flew brightly by,</l> +<l>And not a cloud obscured the sky,</l> +<l>My soul, lest it should truant be,</l> +<l>Thy grace did guide to thine and thee;</l> +<l>Now, when storms of fate o'ercast</l> +<l>Darkly my present and my past,</l> +<l>Let my future radiant shine,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>With sweet hopes of thee and thine.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Some persons not only object to the invocation +of Mary as being unprofitable, but they even affect +to be scandalized at the confidence we repose +in her intercession, on the groundless assumption +that by praying to her we ignore and +dishonor God, and that we put the creature on a +level with the Creator. +</p> + +<p> +Every Catholic child knows from the catechism +that to give to any creature the supreme honor +due to God alone is idolatry. How can we be said +to dishonor God, or bring Him down to a level +with His creature by invoking Mary, since we acknowledge +her to be a pure creature indebted +like ourselves to Him for every gift and influence +that she possesses? This is implied in the very +form of our petitions. +</p> + +<p> +When we address our prayers to her we say: +<hi rend='italic'>Pray for us sinners</hi>, implying by these words that +she herself is a petitioner at the throne of Divine +mercy. To God we say: <hi rend='italic'>Give us our daily bread</hi>, +thereby acknowledging Him to be the source of all +bounty. +</p> + +<p> +This principle being kept in view, how can we +be justly accused of slighting God's majesty by +invoking the intercession of His handmaid? +</p> + +<pb n="192"/><anchor id="Pg192"/> + +<p> +If a beggar asks and receives alms from me +through my servant, should I be offended at the +blessings which he invokes upon her? Far from +it. I accept them as intended for myself, because +she bestowed what was mine, and with my consent. +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord says to His Apostles: <q>I dispose to +you a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My +table in My kingdom and may sit upon thrones, +judging the twelve tribes of Israel.</q><note place='foot'>Luke +xxii. 29, 30.</note> And St. +Paul says: <q>Know you not that we shall judge +angels, how much more things of this world?</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. vi.</note> +If the Apostles may sit at the table of the Lord +in heaven without prejudice to His majesty, surely +Our Lady can stand as an advocate before Him +without infringing on His rights. If they can +exercise the dread prerogative of judges of angels +and of men without trespassing on the Divine +judgeship of Jesus, surely Mary can fulfill the +more modest function of intercessor with her Son +without intruding on His supreme mediatorship, +for higher is the office of judge than that of advocate. +And yet, while no one is ever startled +at the power given to the Apostles, many are impatient +of the lesser privilege claimed for Mary. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>III. Is It Lawful To Imitate Her As A Model?</head> + +<p> +But while the exalted privileges of Mary render +her worthy of our veneration, while her saintly +influence renders her worthy of our invocation, +her personal life is constantly held up to us as +a pattern worthy of our imitation. If she occupies +so prominent a place in our pulpits, this +prominence is less due to her prerogatives as a +mother, or to her intercession as a patroness, than +to her example as a Saint. +</p> + +<pb n="193"/><anchor id="Pg193"/> + +<p> +After our Lord Jesus Christ, no one has ever +exercised so salutary and so dominant an influence +as the Blessed Virgin on society, on the +family and on the individual. +</p> + +<p> +The Mother of Jesus exercises throughout the +Christian commonwealth that hallowing influence +which a good mother wields over the Christian +family. +</p> + +<p> +What temple or chapel, how rude soever it may +be, is not adorned with a painting or a statue of +the Madonna? What house is not embellished +with an image of Mary? What Catholic child is +a stranger to her familiar face? +</p> + +<p> +The priest and the layman, the scholar and the +illiterate, the prince and the peasant, the mother +and the maid, acknowledge her benign sway. +</p> + +<p> +And if Christianity is so fruitful in comparison +with Paganism, in conjugal fidelity, in female purity +and in the respect paid to womanhood, these +blessings are in no small measure due to the force +of Mary's all-pervading influence and example. +Ever since the Son of God chose a woman to be +His mother man looks up to woman with a homage +akin to veneration. +</p> + +<p> +The poet Longfellow pays the following tribute +to Mary's sanctifying influence: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>This is indeed the blessed Mary's land,</q></l> +<l>Virgin and mother of our dear Redeemer!</l> +<l>All hearts are touched and softened at her name</l> +<l>Alike the bandit with the bloody hand,</l> +<l>The priest, the prince, the scholar and the peasant</l> +<l>The man of deeds, the visionary dreamer</l> +<l>Pay homage to her as one ever present!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>And if our faith had given us nothing more</l> +<l>Than this example of all womanhood,</l> +<l>So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,</l> +<l>So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure,</l> +<l>This were enough to prove it higher and truer</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Than all the creeds the world had known +before.</q><note place='foot'>Longfellow's <q>Golden Legend.</q></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n="194"/><anchor id="Pg194"/> + +<p> +St. Ambrose gives us the following beautiful +picture of Mary's life before her espousals: <q>Let +the life,</q> he says, <q>of the Blessed Mary be ever +present to you in which, as in a mirror, the beauty +of chastity and the form of virtue shine forth. +She was a virgin not only in body, but in mind, +who never sullied the pure affection of her heart +by unworthy feelings. She was humble of heart, +serious in her conversation, fonder of reading +than of speaking. She placed her confidence +rather in the prayer of the poor than in the uncertain +riches of this world. She was ever intent +on her occupation, ... and accustomed to +make God rather than man the witness of her +thoughts. She injured no one, wished well to +all, reverenced age, yielded not to envy, avoided +all boasting, followed the dictates of reason and +loved virtue. When did she sadden her parents +even by a look?... There was nothing forward +in her looks, bold in her words or unbecoming +in her actions. Her carriage was not abrupt, her +gait not indolent, her voice not petulant, so that +her very appearance was the picture of her mind +and the figure of piety.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Her life as a spouse and as a mother was a +counterpart of her earlier years. The Gospel relates +one little circumstance which amply suffices +to demonstrate Mary's super-eminent holiness of +life, and to exhibit her as a beautiful pattern to +those who are called to rule a household. The +Evangelist tells us that Jesus <q>was subject to +them</q><note place='foot'>Luke ii. +51.</note>—that is, to Mary and Joseph. He +obeyed all her commands, fulfilled her behests, +complied with her smallest injunctions; in a +word, He discharged toward her all the filial observances +which a dutiful son exercises toward +<pb n="195"/><anchor id="Pg195"/> +a prudent mother. These relations continued +from His childhood to His public life, nor did +they cease even then. +</p> + +<p> +Now Jesus being the Son of God, <q>the brightness +of His glory and the figure of His substance,</q><note place='foot'>Heb. i. 3.</note> +could not sin. He was incapable of fulfilling +an unrighteous precept. The obvious conclusion +to be drawn from these facts is, that Mary +never sinned by commanding, as Jesus could not +sin by obeying; that all her precepts and counsels +were stamped with the seal of Divine approbation, +and that the Son never fulfilled any injunction +of His earthly Mother which was not +ratified by His Eternal Father in heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Such is the beautiful portrait which the Church +holds up to the contemplation of her children, +that studying it they may admire the original, +admiring they may love, loving they may imitate, +and thus become more dear to God by being made +<q>conformable to the image of His Son,</q><note place='foot'>Rom. viii. 29.</note> of +whom Mary is the most perfect mirror. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="196"/><anchor id="Pg196"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XV. Sacred Images.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XV.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XV.</head> +<head>Sacred Images.</head> + +<p> +The veneration of the images of Christ and +His Saints is a cherished devotion in the +Catholic Church, and this practice will be +vindicated in the following lines. +</p> + +<p> +It is true, indeed, that the making of holy images +was not so general among the Jews as it is +among us, because the Hebrews themselves were +prone to idolatry, and because they were surrounded +by idolatrous people, who might misconstrue +the purpose for which the images were intended. +For the same prudential reasons the +primitive Christians were very cautious in making +images, and very circumspect in exposing +them to the gaze of the heathen among whom +they lived, lest Christian images should be confounded +with Pagan idols. +</p> + +<p> +The catacombs of Rome, to which the faithful +alone were admitted, abounded, however, in sacred +emblems and pious representations, which are +preserved even to this day and attest the practice +of the early Christian Church. We see there +painted on the walls or on vases of glass the +Dove, the emblem of the Holy Ghost, Christ carrying +His cross, or bearing on His shoulders the +lost sheep. We meet also the Lamb, an anchor +and a ship—appropriate types of our Lord, of +hope and of the Church. +</p> + +<pb n="197"/><anchor id="Pg197"/> + +<p> +The first crusade against images was waged in +the eighth century by Leo the Isaurian, Emperor +of Constantinople. He commanded the paintings +of our Lord and His Saints to be torn down from +the church walls and burned. He even invaded +the sanctuary of home, and snatched thence the +sacred emblems which adorned private residences. +He caused statues of bronze, silver and gold to +be melted down and conveniently converted them +into coins, upon which his own image was +stamped. Like Henry VIII. and Cromwell, this +royal Iconoclast affected to be moved by a zeal +for purity of worship, while avarice was the real +motive of his action. +</p> + +<p> +The Emperor commanded the learned librarians +of his imperial library to give public approbation +to his decrees against images, and when +those conscientious men refused to endorse his +course they were all confined in the imperial library, +the building was set on fire and thirty +thousand volumes, the splendid basilica which +contained them, innumerable paintings and the +librarians themselves were involved in one common +destruction. +</p> + +<p> +Constantine Copronymus prosecuted the vandalism +of Leo, his predecessor. Stephen, an intrepid +monk, presented to the Emperor a coin +bearing that tyrant's effigy, with these words: +<q>Sire, whose image is this?</q> <q>It is mine,</q> replied +the Emperor. The monk then threw down +the piece of money and trampled it. He was instantly +seized by the imperial attendants and soon +after put to a painful death. <q>Alas!</q> cried the +holy man to the Emperor, <q>if I am punished for +dishonoring the image of a mortal monarch, what +punishment do they deserve who burn the image +of Jesus Christ?</q> +</p> + +<pb n="198"/><anchor id="Pg198"/> + +<p> +The demolition of images was revived by the +Reformers of the sixteenth century. Paintings +and statues were ruthlessly destroyed, chiefly in +the British Isles, Germany and Holland, under +the pretext that the making of them was idolatrous. +But as the Iconoclasts of the eighth century +had no scruple about appropriating to their +own use the gold and silver of the statues which +they melted, neither had the Iconoclasts of the +sixteenth century any hesitation in confiscating +and worshiping in the idolatrous churches whose +statues and paintings they broke and disfigured. +</p> + +<p> +A stranger who visits some of the desecrated +Catholic churches of Great Britain and the Continent +which are now used as Protestant temples +cannot fail to notice the mutilated statues of +the Saints still standing in their niches. +</p> + +<p> +This barbaric warfare against religious memorials +was not only a grievous sacrilege, but an outrage +against the fine arts; and had the destroying +angels extended their ravages over Europe the +immortal works of Michael Angelo and Raphael +would be lost to us today. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine of the Catholic Church regarding +the use of sacred images is clearly and fully expressed +by the General Council of Trent in the +following words: <q>The images of Christ, and of +His Virgin Mother, and of other Saints, are to +be had and retained, especially in churches; and +a due honor and veneration is to be given to them; +not that any divinity or virtue is believed to be +in them for which they are to be honored, or that +any prayer is to be made to them, or that any +confidence is to be placed in them, as was formerly +done by the heathens, who placed their +hopes in idols; but because the honor which is +given them is referred to the originals which they +<pb n="199"/><anchor id="Pg199"/> +represent, so that by the images which we kiss, +and before which we uncover our heads or kneel, +we adore Christ and venerate His Saints, whose +likeness they represent.</q><note place='foot'>Sess. xxv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Every Catholic child clearly comprehends the +essential difference which exists between a Pagan +idol and a Christian image. The Pagans looked +upon an idol as a god endowed with intelligence +and the other attributes of the Deity. They were +therefore idolaters, or <hi rend='italic'>image worshipers</hi>. Catholic +Christians know that a holy image has no +intelligence or power to hear and help them. They +pay it a relative respect—that is, their reverence +for the copy is proportioned to the veneration +which they entertain for the heavenly original +to which it is also referred. +</p> + +<p> +For the sake of my Protestant readers I may +here quote their own great Leibnitz on the reverence +paid to sacred images. He says, in his <hi rend='italic'>Systema +Theologicum</hi>, p. 142: <q>Though we speak of +the honor paid to images, yet this is only a manner +of speaking, which really means that we +honor not the senseless thing which is incapable +of understanding such honor, but the prototype, +which receives honor through its representation, +according to the teaching of the Council of Trent. +It is in this sense, I take it, that scholastic writers +have spoken of the same worship being paid to +images of Christ as to Christ our Lord Himself; +for the act which is called the worship of an +image is really the worship of Christ Himself, +through and in the presence of the image and by +occasion of it; by the inclination of the body toward +it as to Christ Himself, as rendering Him +more manifestly present, and raising the mind +more actively to the contemplation of Him. Certainly, +<pb n="200"/><anchor id="Pg200"/> +no sane man thinks, under such circumstances, +of praying in this wise: <q>Give me, O image, +what I ask; to thee, O marble or wood, I give +thanks;</q> but <q>Thee, O Lord, I adore; to Thee I give +thanks and sing songs of praise.</q> Given, then, that +there is no other veneration of images than that +which means veneration of their prototype, there is +surely no more idolatry in it than there is in the +respect shown in the utterance of the Most Holy +Names of God and Christ; for, after all, names +are but signs or symbols, and even as such inferior +to images, for they represent much less +vividly. So that when there is question of honoring +images, this is to be understood in the same +way as when it is said that at the name of Jesus +every knee shall bend, or that the name of the +Lord is blessed, or that glory be given to His +Name. Thus, the bowing before an image outside +of us is no more to be reprehended than the +worshiping before an external image in our own +minds; for the external image does but serve the +purpose of expressing visibly that which is internal.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In the Book of Exodus we read: <q>Thou shalt +not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness +of anything that is in heaven above, or in +the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in +the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore +them nor serve them.</q><note place='foot'>Chap. xx.</note> Protestants contend +that these words contain an absolute prohibition +against the making of images, while the Catholic +Church insists that the commandment referred +to merely prohibits us from worshiping them as +gods. +</p> + +<p> +The text cannot mean the absolute prohibition +of making images; for in that case God would +<pb n="201"/><anchor id="Pg201"/> +contradict Himself by commanding in one part +of Scripture what He condemns in another. In +Exodus (xxv. 18), for instance, He commands +two cherubim of beaten gold to be made and +placed on each side of the oracle; and in Numbers +(xxi. 8) He commands Moses to make a +brazen serpent, and to set it up for a sign, that +<q>whosoever being struck by the fiery serpents +shall look upon it, shall live.</q> Are not cherubim +and serpents the likenesses of creatures in +heaven above, in the earth beneath and in the +waters under the earth? for cherubim dwell in +heaven and serpents are found on land and sea. +</p> + +<p> +We should all, without exception, break the commandment +were we to take it in the Protestant +sense. Have you not at home the portraits of +living and departed relatives? And are not these +the likenesses of persons in heaven above and +on the earth beneath? +</p> + +<p> +Westminster Abbey, though once a Catholic +Cathedral, is now a Protestant house of worship. +It is filled with the statues of illustrious men; +yet no one will accuse the English church of idolatry +in allowing those statues to remain there. +But you will say: The worshipers in Westminster +have no intention of adoring these statues. +Neither have we any intention of worshiping the +statues of the Saints. An English parson once +remarked to a Catholic friend: <q>Tom, don't you +pray to images?</q> <q>We pray before them,</q> replied +Tom; <q>but we have no intention of praying +to them.</q> <q>Who cares for your intention,</q> +retorted the parson. <q>Don't you pray at night?</q> +observed Tom. <q>Yes,</q> said the parson; <q>I pray +at my bed.</q> <q>Yes; you pray to the bed-post.</q> +<q>Oh, no!</q> said the reverend gentleman; <q>I have +<pb n="202"/><anchor id="Pg202"/> +no intention of doing that.</q> <q>Who cares,</q> replied +Tom, <q>for your intention.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The moral rectitude or depravity of our actions +cannot be determined without taking into +account the intention. +</p> + +<p> +There are many persons who have been taught +in the nursery tales, that Catholics worship idols. +These persons, if they visit Europe and see an +old man praying before an image of our Lord +or a Madonna which is placed along the wayside, +are at once confirmed in their prejudices. Their +zeal against idols takes fire and they write home, +adding one more proof of idolatry against the benighted +Romanists. If these superficial travelers +had only the patience to question the old man he +would tell them, with simplicity of faith, that +the statue had no life to hear or help him, but +that its contemplation inspired him with greater +reverence for the original. +</p> + +<p> +As I am writing for the information of Protestants, +I quote with pleasure the following passage, +written by one of their own theologians, in the +<hi rend='italic'>Encyclopédie</hi> (Edit. d'Yverdun, tom. 1, art. +<hi rend='italic'>Adorer</hi>): +</p> + +<p> +<q>When Lot prostrates himself before the two +angels it is an act of courtesy towards honored +guests; when Jacob bows down before Esau it is +an act of deference from a younger to an elder +brother; when Solomon bows low before Bethsabee +it is the honor which a son pays to his +mother; when Nathan, coming in before David, +<q>had worshiped, bowing down to the ground,</q> it +is the homage of a subject to his prince. But +when a man prostrates himself in prayer to God +it is the creature adoring the Creator. And if +these various actions are expressed—sometimes +by the word <hi rend='italic'>adore</hi>, sometimes +by <hi rend='italic'>worship</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>prostration</hi>—it +<pb n="203"/><anchor id="Pg203"/> +is not the bare meaning of the word +which has guided interpreters in rendering it, +but the nature of the case. When an Israelite +prostrated himself before the king no one thought +of charging him with idolatry. If he had done +the same thing in the presence of an idol, the very +same bodily act would have been called idolatry. +And why? Because all men would have judged +by his action that he regarded the idol as a real +Divinity and that he would express, in respect to +it, the sentiments manifested by adoration in the +limited sense which we give to the word. What +shall we think, then, of what Catholics do to +show honor to Saints, to relics, to the wood of +the cross? They will not deny that their acts of +reverence, in such cases, are very much like those +by which they pay outward honor to God. But +have they the same ideas about the Saints, the +relics and the cross as they have about God? I +believe that we cannot fairly accuse them of it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A gentleman who was present at the unveiling +of Clay's statue in the city of Richmond informed +me that as soon as the curtain was uplifted, and +the noble form of the Kentucky statesman appeared +in full view, the immense concourse of +spectators instinctively uncovered their heads. +<q>Why do you take off your hat?</q> playfully remarked +my friend to an acquaintance who stood +by. <q>In honor, of course, of Henry Clay,</q> he +replied. <q>But Henry is not there in the flesh. +You see nothing but <emph>clay</emph>.</q> <q>But my intention, +sir,</q> he continued, <q>is to do honor to the original.</q> +He answered correctly. And yet how +many of the same people would be shocked if +they saw a man take off his hat in the presence of +a statue of St. Peter! It is not, therefore, the +<pb n="204"/><anchor id="Pg204"/> +making of the image, but its worship, that is condemned +by the Decalogue. +</p> + +<p> +Having seen the lawfulness of sacred images, +let us now consider the advantages to be derived +from their use. +</p> + +<p> +First—<hi rend='italic'>Religious paintings embellish the house +of God.</hi> What is more becoming than to adorn +the church, which is the shadow of the heavenly +Jerusalem, so beautifully described by St. John?<note place='foot'>Apoc. xxi.</note> +Solomon decorated the temple of God with +images of cherubim and other representations. +<q>And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. And +all the walls of the temple round about he carved +with divers figures and carvings.</q><note place='foot'>III. Kings vi.</note> If it was +meet and proper to adorn Solomon's temple, +which contained only the Ark of the Lord, how +much more fitting is it to decorate our churches, +which contain the Lord of the Ark? When I see +a church tastefully ornamented it is a sure sign +that the Master is at home, and that His devoted +subjects pay homage to Him in His court. +</p> + +<p> +What beauty, what variety, what charming pictures +are presented to our view in this temple of +nature which we inhabit! Look at the canopy of +heaven. Look at the exquisite pictures painted +by the Hand of the Divine Artist on this earth. +<q>Consider the lilies of the field.... I say to you +that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed +as one of these.</q> If the temple of nature +is so richly adorned, should not our temples made +with hands bear some resemblance to it? +</p> + +<p> +How many professing Christians must, like +David, reproach themselves for <q>dwelling in a +house of cedar, while the ark of God is lodged +with skins.</q><note place='foot'>II. Kings vii. +2.</note> How many are there whose private +<pb n="205"/><anchor id="Pg205"/> +apartments are adorned with exquisite paintings, +who affect to be scandalized at the sight of +a single pious emblem in their house of worship? +On the occasion of the celebration of Henry W. +Beecher's silver wedding several wealthy members +of his congregation adorned the walls of Plymouth +church with their private paintings. Their +object, of course, in doing so was not to honor +God, but their pastor. But if the portraits of +men were no desecration to that church, how can +the portraits of Saints desecrate ours?<note place='foot'>At +the Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in +the <emph>sanctuary of the chapel</emph>, the portrait of an opulent benefactor +holds a conspicuous place.</note> And +what can be more appropriate than to surround +the Sanctuary of Jesus Christ with the portraits +of the Saints, especially of Mary and of the Apostles, +who, in their life, ministered to His sacred +person? And is it not natural for children to +adorn their homes with the likenesses of their +Fathers in the faith? +</p> + +<p> +Second—<hi rend='italic'>Religious paintings are the catechism +of the ignorant</hi>. In spite of all the efforts of +Church and State in the cause of education a +great proportion of the human race will be found +illiterate. Descriptive pictures will teach those +what books make known to the learned. +</p> + +<p> +How many thousands would have died ignorant +of the Christian faith if they had not been enlightened +by paintings! When Augustine, the +Apostle of England, first appeared before King +Ethelbert to announce to him the Gospel, a silver +crucifix and a painting of our Savior were +borne before the preacher, and these images spoke +more tenderly to the eyes than his words to the +ears of his audience. +</p> + +<p> +By means of religious emblems St. Francis +<pb n="206"/><anchor id="Pg206"/> +Xavier effected many conversions in India; and +by the same means Father De Smet made known +the Gospel to the savages of the Rocky Mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Third—By exhibiting religious paintings in our +rooms <hi rend='italic'>we make a silent, though eloquent, profession +of our faith</hi>. I once called on a gentleman +in a distant city, some time during our late war, +and, on entering his library, I noticed two portraits, +one of a distinguished General, the other +of an Archbishop. These portraits at once proclaimed +to me the religious and patriotic sentiments +of the proprietor of the house. <q>Behold!</q> +he said to me, pointing to the pictures, <q>my religious +creed and my political creed.</q> If I see +a crucifix in a man's room I am convinced at +once that he is not an infidel. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—By the aid of sacred pictures <hi rend='italic'>our devotion +and love for the original are intensified, +because we can concentrate our thoughts more intently +on the object of our affections</hi>. Mark how +the eye of a tender child glistens on confronting +the painting of an affectionate mother. What +Christian can stand unmoved when contemplating +a picture of the Mother of Sorrows? How +much devotion has been fostered by the Stations +of the Cross? Observe the intense sympathy depicted +on the face of the humble Christian woman +as she silently passes from one station to another. +She follows her Savior step by step from the +Garden to Mount Calvary. The whole scene, like +a panoramic view, is imprinted on her mind, her +memory and her affections. Never did the most +pathetic sermon on the Passion enkindle such +heartfelt love, or evoke such salutary resolutions, +as have been produced by the silent spectacle of +our Savior hanging on the cross. +</p> + +<p> +Fifth—The portraits of the Saints stimulate us +<pb n="207"/><anchor id="Pg207"/> +to the <hi rend='italic'>imitation of their virtues</hi>; and this is the +principal aim which the Church has in view in encouraging +the use of pious representations. One +object, it is true, is to honor the Saints; another +is to invoke them; but the principal end is to incite +us to an imitation of their holy lives. We +are exhorted to <q>look and do according to the +pattern shown us on the mount.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. xxv. 40.</note> Nor do I +know a better means for promoting piety than by +example. +</p> + +<p> +If you keep at home the likenesses of George +Washington, of Patrick Henry, of Chief Justice +Taney, or of other distinguished men, the copies +of such eminent originals cannot fail to exercise +a salutary though silent influence on the mind and +heart of your child. Your son will ask you: <q>Who +are those men?</q> And when you tell him: <q>This +is Washington, the Father of his Country; this +is Patrick Henry, the ardent lover of civil liberty; +and this is Taney, the incorruptible Judge,</q> your +boy will imperceptibly imbibe not only a veneration +for those men, but a relish for the civic virtues +for which they were conspicuous. And in like +manner, when our children have constantly before +their eyes the purest and most exalted models of +sanctity, they cannot fail to draw from such contemplation +a taste for the virtues that marked +the lives of the originals. +</p> + +<p> +Is not our country flooded with obscene pictures +and immodest representations which corrupt our +youths? If the agents of Satan employ means so +vile for a bad end; if they are cunning enough +to pour through the senses into the hearts of the +unwary the insidious poison of sin, by placing before +them lascivious portraits, in God's name, why +should not we sanctify the souls of our children +<pb n="208"/><anchor id="Pg208"/> +by means of pious emblems? Why should not we +make the eye the instrument of edification as the +enemy makes it the organ of destruction? Shall +the pen of the artist, the pencil of the painter and +the chisel of the sculptor be prostituted to the +basest purposes? God forbid! The arts were intended +to be the handmaids of religion. +</p> + +<p> +Almost every moment of the day the eye is receiving +impressions from outward objects and +instantly communicating these impressions to the +soul. Thus the soul receives every day thousands +of impressions, good or bad, according to the +character of the objects presented to its gaze. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot, therefore, over-estimate the salutary +effect produced upon us in a church or room +adorned with sacred paintings. We feel, while +in their presence, that we are in the company of +the just. The contemplation of these pious portraits +chastens our affections, elevates our +thoughts, checks our levity and diffuses around +us a healthy atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +I am happy to acknowledge that the outcry formerly +raised against images has almost subsided +of late. The epithet of <hi rend='italic'>idolaters</hi> is seldom applied +to us now. Even some of our dissenting +brethren are beginning to recognize the utility of +religious symbols and to regret that we have been +permitted, by the intemperate zeal of the Reformers, +to have so long the monopoly of them. +Crosses already surmount some of our Protestant +churches and replace the weather-cock. +</p> + +<p> +A gentleman of Richmond recently informed +me that during the preceding Holy Week he +adorned with twelve crosses an Episcopal church +in which, eleven years before, the sight of a single +one was viewed with horror by the minister. +</p> + +<p> +May the day soon come when all Christians +<pb n="209"/><anchor id="Pg209"/> +will join with us not only in venerating the sacred +symbol of salvation, but in worshiping at the same +altar. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="210"/><anchor id="Pg210"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XVI. Purgatory And Prayers For The Dead.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XVI.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XVI.</head> +<head>Purgatory And Prayers For The Dead.</head> + +<p> +The Catholic Church teaches that, besides a +place of eternal torments for the wicked and +of everlasting rest for the righteous, there +exists in the next life a middle state of temporary +punishment, allotted for those who have died +in venial sin, or who have not satisfied the justice +of God for sins already forgiven. She also +teaches us that, although the souls consigned to +this intermediate state, commonly called purgatory, +cannot help themselves, they may be aided +by the suffrages of the faithful on earth. The +existence of purgatory naturally implies the correlative +dogma—the utility of praying for the +dead—for the souls consigned to this middle state +have not reached the term of their journey. They +are still exiles from heaven and fit subjects for +Divine clemency. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine of an intermediate state is thus +succinctly asserted by the Council of Trent: <q>There +is a Purgatory, and souls there detained, are helped +by the prayers of the faithful, and especially by the +acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar.</q><note place='foot'>Sess. xxv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is to be noted that the Council studiously abstains +from specifying the nature of the expiating +sufferings endured therein. +</p> + +<pb n="211"/><anchor id="Pg211"/> + +<p> +Is it not strange that this cherished doctrine +should also be called in question by the leveling +innovators of the sixteenth century, when we consider +that it is clearly taught in the Old Testament; +that it is, at least, insinuated in the New Testament; +that it is unanimously proclaimed by the +Fathers of the Church; that it is embodied in all +the ancient liturgies of the Oriental and the Western +church, and that it is a doctrine alike consonant +with our reason and eminently consoling to +the human heart? +</p> + +<p> +First—It is a doctrine plainly contained in the +Old Testament and piously practiced by the Hebrew +people. At the close of an engagement which +Judas Machabeus had with the enemy he ordered +prayers and sacrifices to be offered up for his slain +comrades. <q>And making a gathering, he sent +twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem +for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, +thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection. +For, if he had not hoped that they that +were slain should rise again, it would have seemed +superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.... It +is, therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray +for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Mach. xii. 43-46.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These words are so forcible that no comment of +mine could render them clearer. The passage +proved a great stumbling-block to the Reformers. +Finding that they could not by any evasion weaken +the force of the text, they impiously threw overboard +the Books of Machabees, like a man who +assassinates a hostile witness, or like the Jews +who sought to kill Lazarus, lest his resurrection +should be a testimony in favor of Christ, and pretended +that the two books of Machabees were +<pb n="212"/><anchor id="Pg212"/> +apocryphal. And yet they have precisely the same +authority as the Gospel of St. Matthew or any other +portion of the Bible, for the canonicity of the Holy +Scriptures rests solely on the authority of the +Catholic Church, which proclaimed them inspired. +</p> + +<p> +But even admitting, for the sake of argument, +that the Books of Machabees were not entitled to +be ranked among the canonical Books of Holy +Scripture, no one, at least, has ever denied that +they are truthful historical monuments, and as +such that they serve to demonstrate that it was a +prevailing practice among the Hebrew people, as +it is with us, to offer up prayers and sacrifices for +the dead. +</p> + +<p> +Second—When our Savior, the Founder of the +New Law, appeared on earth, He came to lop off +those excrescences which had grown on the body +of the Jewish ecclesiastical code, and to purify +the Jewish Church from those human traditions +which, in the course of time, became like tares +mixed with the wheat of sound doctrine. For instance, +He condemns the Pharisees for prohibiting +the performance of works of charity on the +Sabbath day, and in the twenty-third chapter of +St. Matthew He cites against them a long catalogue +of innovations in doctrine and discipline. +</p> + +<p> +But did our Lord, at any time, reprove the +Jews for their belief in a middle state, or for +praying for the dead, a practice which, to His +knowledge, prevailed among the people? Never. +On the contrary, more than once both He and the +Apostle of the Gentiles insinuate the doctrine of +purgatory. +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior says: <q>Whosoever shall speak a +word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven +him. But he that shall speak against the Holy +<pb n="213"/><anchor id="Pg213"/> +Ghost it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this +world nor in the world to come.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xii. 32.</note> When our +Savior declares that a sin against the Holy Ghost +shall not be forgiven in the next life, He evidently +leaves us to infer that there are some sins which +will be pardoned in the life to come. Now in the +next life, sins cannot be forgiven in heaven, for, +nothing defiled can enter there; nor can they be +forgiven in hell, for, out of hell there is no redemption. +They must, therefore, be pardoned in the +intermediate state of Purgatory. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul tells us that <q>every man's work shall +be manifest</q> on the Lord's day. <q>The fire shall +try every man's work of what sort it is. If any +man's work abide,</q> that is, if his works are holy, +<q>he shall receive a reward. If any man's work +burn,</q> that is, if his works are faulty and imperfect, +<q>he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall +be saved, yet so as by fire.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. iii. 13-15.</note> His soul will be +ultimately saved, but he shall suffer, for a temporary +duration, in the purifying flames of Purgatory. +</p> + +<p> +This interpretation is not mine. It is the unanimous +voice of the Fathers of Christendom. And +who are they that have removed the time-honored +landmarks of Christian faith by rejecting the +doctrine of purgatory? They are discontented +churchmen impatient of the religious yoke, men +who appeared on the stage sixteen hundred years +after the foundation of Christianity. Judge you, +reader, whom you ought to follow. If you want +to know the true import of a vital question in +the Constitution, would you not follow the decision +of a Story, a Jefferson, a Marshall, a +Taney, jurists and statesmen, who were the recognized +expounders of the Constitution? Would +<pb n="214"/><anchor id="Pg214"/> +you not prefer their opinion to that of political +demagogues, who have neither learning, nor authority, +nor history to support them, but some +selfish end to further? Now, the same motive +which you have for rejecting the opinion of an +ignorant politician and embracing that of eminent +jurists, on a constitutional question, impels you +to cast aside the novelties of religious innovators +and to follow the unanimous sentiments of the +Fathers in reference to the subject of purgatory. +</p> + +<p> +Third—I would wish to place before you extended +extracts from the writings of the early +Fathers of the Church bearing upon this subject; +but I must content myself with quoting a few of +the most prominent lights of primitive Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +Tertullian, who lived in the second century, says +that <q>the faithful wife will pray for the soul of +her deceased husband, particularly on the anniversary +day of his falling asleep (death). And +if she fail to do so she hath repudiated her husband +as far as in her lies.</q><note place='foot'>De Monogam., n. x.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Eusebius, the historian (fourth century), describing +the funeral of Constantine the Great, +says that the body of the blessed prince was +placed on a lofty bier, and the ministers of God +and the multitude of the people, with tears and +much lamentation, offered up prayers and sacrifice +for the repose of his soul. He adds that this +was done in accordance with the desires of that +religious monarch, who had erected in Constantinople +the great church in honor of the Apostles, +so that after his death the faithful might there +remember him.<note place='foot'>Euseb., B. iv., c. 71.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Cyril of Jerusalem, fourth century, writes: +<q>We commemorate the Holy Fathers, and Bishops, +<pb n="215"/><anchor id="Pg215"/> +and all who have fallen asleep from amongst +us, believing that the supplications which we present +will be of great assistance to their souls, while +the holy and tremendous Sacrifice is offered up.</q> +He answers by an illustration those that might +be disposed to doubt the efficacy of prayers for +the dead: <q>If a king had banished certain persons +who had offended him, and their relations, +having woven a crown, should offer it to him +in behalf of those under his vengeance, would he +not grant a respite to their punishments? So +we, in offering up a crown of prayers in behalf +of those who have fallen asleep, will obtain for +them forgiveness through the merits of Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Catech., +n. 9, 10, p. 328.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ephrem, in the same century, says: <q>I conjure +you, my brethren and friends, in the name +of that God who commands me to leave you, to +remember me when you assemble to pray. Do +not bury me with perfumes. Give them not to +me, but to God. Me, conceived in sorrows, bury +with lamentations, and instead of perfumes assist +me with your prayers; for the dead are benefited +by the prayers of living Saints.</q><note place='foot'>Apud +Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 162 and seq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ambrose (same century), on the death of +the Emperors Gratian and Valentinian, says: +<q>Blessed shall both of you be (Gratian and Valentinian), +if my prayers can avail anything. No +day shall pass you over in silence. No prayer +of mine shall omit to honor you. No night shall +hurry by without bestowing on you a mention in +my prayers. In every one of the oblations will +I remember you.</q> On the death of the Emperor +Theodosius he offers the following prayer: <q>Give +perfect rest to Thy servant Theodosius, that rest +which Thou hast prepared for Thy Saints. May +<pb n="216"/><anchor id="Pg216"/> +his soul return thither whence it descended, where +it cannot feel the sting of death.... I loved him +and therefore will I follow him, even unto the land +of the living. Nor will I leave him until, by tears +and prayers, I shall lead him ... unto the holy +mountain of the Lord, where is life undying, where +corruption is not, nor sighing nor mourning.</q><note place='foot'>See +Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 176.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome, in the same century, in a letter of +condolence to Pammachius, on the death of his +wife Paulina, writes: <q>Other husbands strew violets +and roses on the graves of their wives. Our +Pammachius bedews the hallowed dust of Paulina +with balsams of alms.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., p. 177.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Chrysostom writes: <q>It was not without +good reason <emph>ordained by the Apostles</emph> that mention +should be made of the dead in the tremendous +mysteries, because they knew well that they +would receive great benefit from it.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., Vol. II.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine, who lived in the beginning of +the fifth century, relates that when his mother +was at the point of death she made this last request +of him: <q>Lay this body anywhere; let not +the care of it in anyway disturb you. This only +I request of you, that you would remember me +at the altar of the Lord, wherever you be.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And that pious son prays for his mother's soul +in the most impassioned language: <q>I therefore,</q> +he says, <q>O God of my heart, do now beseech +Thee for the sins of my mother. Hear me through +the medicine of the wounds that hung upon the +wood.... May she, then, be in peace with her +husband.... And inspire, my Lord, ... Thy +servants, my brethren, whom with voice and heart +and pen I serve, that as many as shall read these +<pb n="217"/><anchor id="Pg217"/> +words may remember at Thy altar, Monica, Thy +servant....</q><note place='foot'>Confessions, Book ix.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These are but a few specimens of the unanimous +voice of the Fathers regarding the salutary +practice of praying for the dead. +</p> + +<p> +You now perceive that this devotion is not an +invention of modern times, but a doctrine universally +enforced in the first and purest ages of +the Church. +</p> + +<p> +You see that praying for the dead was not a +devotion cautiously recommended by some obscure +or visionary writer, but an act of religion +preached and inculcated by all the great Doctors +and Fathers of the Church, who are the recognized +expounders of the Christian religion. +</p> + +<p> +You see them, too, inculcating this doctrine not +as a cold and abstract principle, but as an imperative +act of daily piety, and embodying it in their +ordinary exercises of devotion. +</p> + +<p> +They prayed for the dead in their morning and +evening devotions. They prayed for them in their +daily office, and in the Sacrifice of the Mass. They +asked the prayers of the congregation for the +souls of the deceased in the public services of +Sunday. On the monuments which were erected +to the dead, some of which are preserved even to +this day, epitaphs were inscribed, earnestly invoking +for their souls the prayers of the living. +How gratifying it is to our Catholic hearts that +a devotion so soothing to afflicted spirits is at +the same time so firmly grounded on the tradition +of ages! +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—That the practice of praying for the +dead has descended from Apostolic times is evident +also from the <hi rend='italic'>Liturgies</hi> of the Church. A +Liturgy is the established formulary of public +<pb n="218"/><anchor id="Pg218"/> +worship, containing the authorized prayers of the +Church. The Missal, or Mass-book, for instance, +which you see on our altars, contains a portion +of the Liturgy of the Catholic Church. The principal +Liturgies are the Liturgy of St. James the +Apostle, who founded the Church of Jerusalem; +the Liturgy of St. Mark the Evangelist, founder +of the Church of Alexandria, and the Liturgy of +St. Peter, who established the Church in Rome. +These Liturgies are called after the Apostles who +compiled them. There are, besides, the Liturgies +of St. Chrysostom and St. Basil, which are chiefly +based on the model of that of St. James. +</p> + +<p> +Now, all these Liturgies, without exception, +have prayers for the dead, and their providential +preservation serves as another triumphant vindication +of the venerable antiquity of this Catholic +doctrine. +</p> + +<p> +The Eastern and the Western churches were +happily united until the fourth and fifth centuries, +when the heresiarchs Arius, Nestorius and Eutyches +withdrew millions of souls from the centre +of unity. The followers of these sects were called, +after their founders, Arians, Nestorians and Eutychians, +and from that day to the present the two +latter bodies have formed distinct communions, +being separated from the Catholic Church in the +East, just as the Protestant churches are separated +from her in the West. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek schismatic church, of which the present +Russo-Greek church is the offspring, severed +her connection with the See of Rome in the ninth +century. +</p> + +<p> +But in leaving the Catholic Church these Eastern +sects retained the old Liturgies, which they +use to this day, as I shall presently demonstrate. +</p> + +<p> +During my sojourn in Rome at the Ecumenical +<pb n="219"/><anchor id="Pg219"/> +Council I devoted a great deal of my leisure time +to the examination of the various Liturgies of the +schismatic churches of the East. I found in all +of them formulas of prayers for the dead almost +identical with that of the Roman Missal: <q>Remember, +O Lord, Thy servants who are gone before +us with the sign of faith, and sleep in peace. +To these, O Lord, and to all who rest in Christ +grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, +light and peace, through the same Jesus Christ +our Lord.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Not content with studying their books, I called +upon the Oriental Patriarchs and Bishops in communion +with the See of Rome, who belong to the +Armenian, the Chaldean, the Coptic, the Maronite +and Syriac rites. They all assured me that the +schismatic Christians of the East among whom +they live have, without exception, prayers and +sacrifices for the dead. +</p> + +<p> +Now, I ask, when could those Eastern sects have +commenced to adopt the Catholic practice of praying +for the dead? They could not have received +it from us since the ninth century, because the +Greek church separated from us then and has +had no communion with us since that time, except +at intervals, up to the twelfth century. Nor +could they have adopted the practice since the +fourth or fifth century, inasmuch as the Arians, +Nestorians and Eutychians have had no religious +communication with us since that period. Therefore, +in common with us, they received this doctrine +from the Apostles. If men living in different +countries drink wine having the same flavor +and taste and color, the inference is that the wine +was made from the same species of grape. So +must we conclude that this refreshing doctrine of +<pb n="220"/><anchor id="Pg220"/> +intercession for the dead has its root in the Apostolic +tree of knowledge planted by our Savior. +</p> + +<p> +Fifth—I have already spoken of the devotion +of the ancient Jewish church to the souls of the +departed. But perhaps you are not aware that +the Jews retain to this day, in their Liturgy, the +pious practice of praying for the dead. Yet such +in reality is the case. +</p> + +<p> +Amid all the wanderings and vicissitudes of +life, though dismembered and dispersed like sheep +without a shepherd over the face of the globe, the +children of Israel have never forgotten or neglected +the sacred duty of praying for their deceased +brethren. +</p> + +<p> +Unwilling to make this assertion without the +strongest evidence, I procured from a Jewish convert +an authorized Prayer-Book of the Hebrew +church, from which I extract the following +formula of prayers which are prescribed for +funerals: <q>Departed brother! mayest thou find +open the gates of heaven, and see the city of +peace and the dwellings of safety, and meet the +ministering angels hastening joyfully toward thee. +And may the High Priest stand to receive thee, +and go thou to the end, rest in peace, and rise +again into life. May the repose established in +the celestial abode ... be the lot, dwelling and +the resting-place of the soul of our deceased +brother (whom the Spirit of the Lord may guide +into Paradise), who departed from this world, according +to the will of God, the Lord of heaven and +earth. May the supreme King of kings, through +His infinite mercy, hide him under the shadow of +His wing. May He raise him at the end of his +days and cause him to drink of the stream of +His delights.</q><note place='foot'>Jewish Prayer Book. +Edited by Isaac Leeser, published by +Slote & Mooney, Philadelphia.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="221"/><anchor id="Pg221"/> + +<p> +Among the many-sided merits of Shakespeare +may be mentioned his happy faculty of portraying +to life the manners and customs and traditional +faith of the times which he describes. How deep-rooted +in the Christian heart in pre-Reformation +times, was the belief in Purgatory, may be inferred +from a passage in Hamlet who probably lived in +the early part of the eighth century. Thus speaks +to Hamlet the spirit of his murdered father: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend='pre'>I am thy father's spirit,</q></l> +<l>Doom'd for a certain time to walk the night;</l> +<l>And for the day confin'd too fast in fires,</l> +<l>Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Are burnt and purg'd away.</q><note place='foot'>Act. I.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I am happy to say that the more advanced and +enlightened members of the Episcopalian church +are steadily returning to the faith of their fore-fathers +regarding prayers for the dead. An acquaintance +of mine, once a distinguished clergyman +of the Episcopal communion, but now a convert, +informed me that hundreds of Protestant +clergymen in this country, and particularly in +England, have a firm belief in the efficacy of prayers +for the dead, but for well-known reasons they +are reserved in the expression of their faith. He +easily convinced me of the truth of his assertion, +particularly as far as the Church of England is +concerned, by sending me six different works published +in London, all bearing on the subject of +Purgatory. These books are printed under the auspices +of the Protestant Episcopal church; they all +contain prayers for the dead and prove, from Catholic +grounds, the existence of a middle state after +death and the duty of praying for our deceased +brethren.<note place='foot'>See Path of Holiness, +Rivington's, London. Treasury of Devotion, Ibid. +Catechism of Theology, Masten, London.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="222"/><anchor id="Pg222"/> + +<p> +To sum up, we see the practice of praying for +the dead enforced in the ancient Hebrew church +and in the Jewish synagogue of today. We see it +proclaimed age after age by all the Fathers of +Christendom. We see it incorporated in every +one of the ancient Liturgies of the East and of the +West. We see it zealously taught by the Russian +church of today, and by that immense family of +schismatic Christians scattered over the East. We +behold it, in fine, a cherished devotion of three hundred +millions of Catholics, as well as of a respectable +portion of the Episcopal church. +</p> + +<p> +Would it not, my friend, be the height of rashness +and presumption in you to prefer your private +opinion to this immense weight of learning, +sanctity and authority? Would it not be impiety +in you to stand aside with sealed lips while the +Christian world is sending up an unceasing <hi rend='italic'>De +profundis</hi> for departed brethren? Would it not +be cold and heartless in you not to pray for your +deceased friends, on account of prejudices which +have no grounds in Scripture, tradition or reason +itself? +</p> + +<p> +If a brother leaves you to cross the broad Atlantic, +religion and affection prompt you to pray +for him during his absence. And if the same +brother crosses the narrow sea of death to pass +to the shores of eternity, why not pray for him +then also? When he crosses the Atlantic his soul, +imprisoned in the flesh, is absent from you; when +he passes the sea of death his soul, released from +the flesh, has gone from you. What difference +does this make with regard to the duty of your +intercession? For what is death? A mere separation +of body and soul. The body, indeed, dies, +but the soul <q>lives and moves and has its being.</q> +It continues after death, as before, to think, to +<pb n="223"/><anchor id="Pg223"/> +remember, to love. And do not God's dominion +and mercy extend over that soul beyond the grave +as well as as this side of it? Who shall place +the limits to God's empire and say to Him: +<q>Thus far Thou shalt go and no farther?</q> Two +thousand years after Abraham's death our Lord +said: <q>I <emph>am</emph> the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and +of Jacob. He <emph>is</emph> not the God of the dead, but of +the living.</q><note place='foot'>Mark xii. 26, 27.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If, then, it is profitable for you to pray for +your brother in the flesh, why should it be useless +for you to pray for him out of the flesh? For +while he was living you prayed not for his body, +but for his soul. +</p> + +<p> +If this brother of yours dies with some slight +stains upon his soul, a sin of impatience, for instance, +or an idle word, is he fit to enter heaven +with these blemishes upon his soul? No; the sanctity +of God forbids it, for <q>nothing defiled shall +enter the Kingdom of Heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Apoc. +xxi. 27.</note> Will you consign +him, for these minor transgressions, to eternal +torments with adulterers and murderers? No; +the justice and mercy of God forbid it. Therefore, +your common sense demands a middle place +of expiation for the purgation of the soul before +it is worthy of enjoying the companionship of God +and His Saints. +</p> + +<p> +God <q>will render to every man according to his +works,</q>—to the pure and unsullied everlasting +bliss; to the reprobate eternal damnation; to souls +stained with minor faults a place of temporary +purgation. I cannot recall any doctrine of the +Christian religion more consoling to the human +heart than the article of faith which teaches the +<pb n="224"/><anchor id="Pg224"/> +efficacy of prayers for the faithful departed. It +robs death of its sting. It encircles the chamber +of mourning with a rainbow of hope. It assuages +the bitterness of our sorrow, and reconciles us to +our loss. It keeps us in touch with the departed +dead as correspondence keeps us in touch with the +absent living. It preserves their memory fresh and +green in our hearts. +</p> + +<p> +It gives us that keen satisfaction which springs +from the consciousness that we can aid those loved +ones who are gone before us by alleviating their +pains, shortening their exile, and hastening their +entrance into their true country. +</p> + +<p> +It familiarizes us with the existence of a life beyond +the grave, and with the hope of being reunited +with those whom we cherished on earth, and +of dwelling with them in that home where there is +no separation, or sorrow, or death, but eternal joy +and peace and rest. +</p> + +<p> +I have seen a devoted daughter minister with +tender solicitude at the sick-bed of a fond parent. +Many an anxious day and sleepless night did she +watch at his bedside. She moistened the parched +lips, and cooled the fevered brow, and raised the +drooping head on its pillow. Every change in +her patient for better or worse brought a corresponding +sunshine or gloom to her heart. It was +filial love that prompted all this. Her father +died and she followed his remains to the grave. +Though not a Catholic, standing by the bier she +burst those chains which a cruel religious prejudice +had wrought around her heart, and, rising +superior to her sect, she cried out: <hi rend='italic'>Lord, have +mercy on his soul</hi>. It was the voice of nature and +of religion. +</p> + +<p> +Oh, far from us a religion which would decree +an eternal divorce between the living and the +<pb n="225"/><anchor id="Pg225"/> +dead. How consoling is it to the Catholic to think +that, in praying thus for his departed friend, his +prayers are not in violation of, but in accordance +with, the voice of the Church; and that as, like +Augustine, he watches at the pillow of a dying +mother, so like Augustine, he can continue the +same office of piety for her soul after she is dead +by praying for her! How cheering the reflection +that the golden link of prayer unites you still to +those who <q>fell asleep in the Lord,</q> that you +can still speak to them and pray for them! +</p> + +<p> +Tennyson grasps the Catholic feeling when he +makes his hero, whose course is run, thus address +his surviving comrade, Sir Bedivere: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>I have lived my life, and that which I have done</q></l> +<l>May He within Himself make pure; but thou,</l> +<l>If thou shouldst never see my face again,</l> +<l>Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer</l> +<l>Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice</l> +<l>Rise like a fountain for me night and day.</l> +<l>For what are men better than sheep or goats</l> +<l>That nourish a blind life within the brain,</l> +<l>If knowing God they lift not hands of prayer</l> +<l>Both for themselves and those who call them friend?</l> +<l>For so the whole round earth is every way</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Bound by gold chains about the feet of +God.</q><note place='foot'>Morte D'Arthur.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Oh! it is this thought that robs death of its +sting and makes the separation of friends endurable. +If your departed friend needs not your +prayers, they are not lost, but, like the rain absorbed +by the sun, and descending again in fruitful +showers on our fields, they will be gathered +by the Sun of justice, and will fall in refreshing +showers of grace upon your head: <q>Cast thy +bread upon the running waters; for, after a long +time, thou shalt find it again.</q><note place='foot'>Eccles. xi. 1.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="226"/><anchor id="Pg226"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XVII. Civil And Religious Liberty.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XVII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XVII.</head> +<head>Civil And Religious Liberty.</head> + +<p> +A man enjoys <emph>religious</emph> liberty when he possesses +the free right of worshiping God according +to the dictates of a right conscience, +and of practicing a form of religion most in accordance +with his duties to God. Every act infringing +on his freedom of conscience is justly +styled religious intolerance. This religious liberty +is the true right of every man because it corresponds +with a most certain duty which God has +put upon him. +</p> + +<p> +A man enjoys <emph>civil</emph> liberty when he is exempt +from the arbitrary will of others, and when he is +governed by equitable laws established for the +general welfare of society. So long as, in common +with his fellow-citizens, he observes the laws +of the state, any exceptional restraint imposed +upon him, in the exercise of his rights as a citizen, +is so far an infringement on his civil liberty. +</p> + +<p> +I here assert the proposition, which I hope to +confirm by historical evidence, that the Catholic +Church has always been the zealous promoter of +religious and civil liberty; and that whenever any +encroachments on these sacred privileges of man +were perpetrated by professing members of the +Catholic faith, these wrongs, far from being sanctioned +by the Church, were committed in palpable +violation of her authority. +</p> + +<pb n="227"/><anchor id="Pg227"/> + +<p> +Her doctrine is, that as man by his <emph>own free will</emph> +fell from grace, so of his <emph>own free will</emph> must he +return to grace. Conversion and coercion are two +terms that can never be reconciled. It has ever +been a cardinal maxim, inculcated by sovereign +Pontiffs and other Prelates, that no violence or undue +influence should be exercised by Christian +princes or missionaries in their efforts to convert +souls to the faith of Jesus Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Pope Gregory I. in the latter part of the Sixth +Century, compelled the Bishop of Terracina to restore +to the Jews, the synagogue which he had +seized, declaring that they should not be coerced +into the Church, but should be treated with meekness +and charity. The great Pontiff issued the +same orders to the Prelates of Sardinia and Sicily +in behalf of the persecuted Jews. +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine and his companions, who were +sent by Pope Gregory I. to England for the conversion +of that nation, had the happiness of baptizing +in the true faith King Ethelbert and many +of his subjects. That monarch, in the fervor of his +zeal, was most anxious that all his subjects should +immediately follow his example; but the missionaries +admonished him that he should scrupulously +abstain from violence in the conversion of his people, +for the Christian religion should be voluntarily +embraced. +</p> + +<p> +Pope Nicholas I. also warned Michael, king of +the Bulgarians, against employing force or constraint +in the conversion of idolaters. +</p> + +<p> +The fourth Council of Toledo, held in 633, a +synod of great authority in the Church, ordained +that no one should be compelled against his will to +make a profession of the Christian faith. Be it remembered +that this Council was composed of all +the Bishops of Spain, that it was assembled in a +<pb n="228"/><anchor id="Pg228"/> +country and at a time in which the Church held almost +unlimited sway, and among a people who +have been represented as the most fanatical and +intolerant of all Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps no man can be considered a fairer representative +of the age in which he lived than St. +Bernard, the illustrious Abbot of Clairvaux. He +was the embodiment of the spirit of the Middle +Ages. His life is the key that discloses to us what +degree of toleration prevailed in those days. Having +heard that a fanatical preacher was stimulating +the people to deeds of violence against the Jews +as the enemies of Christianity, St. Bernard raised +his eloquent voice against him, and rescued those +persecuted people from the danger to which they +were exposed. +</p> + +<p> +Pope Innocent III. in the Thirteenth Century +promulgated the following Decree in behalf of the +Hebrews: <q>Let no Jew be <emph>constrained</emph> to receive +baptism, and he that will not consent to be baptized, +let him not be molested. Let no one unjustly +seize their property, disturb their feasts, or lay +waste their cemeteries.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Other succeeding Pontiffs, notably Gregory IX. +and Innocent IV., issued similar instructions. +</p> + +<p> +Not to cite too many examples, let me quote +for you only the beautiful letter addressed by +Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, to the son of +King James II. of England. This letter not only +reflects the sentiments of his own heart, but +formularizes in this particular the decrees of the +Church, of which he was a distinguished ornament. +<q>Above all,</q> he writes, <q>never force your +subjects to change their religion. No human +power can reach the impenetrable recess of the +free will of the heart. Violence can never persuade +men; it serves only to make hypocrites. +<pb n="229"/><anchor id="Pg229"/> +Grant civil liberty to all, not in approving everything +as indifferent, but in tolerating with patience +whatever Almighty God tolerates, and endeavoring +to convert men by mild persuasion.</q><note place='foot'>Vie de Fenelon.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is true, indeed, that the Catholic Church +spares no pains and stops at no sacrifice in order +to induce mankind to embrace her faith. Otherwise +she would be recreant to her sacred mission. +But she scorns to exercise any undue influence in +her efforts to convert souls. +</p> + +<p> +The only argument she would use, is the argument +of reason and persuasion; the only tribunal +to which she would summon you, is the tribunal of +conscience; the only weapon she would wield, is +<q>the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of +God.</q> It is well known that the superior advantages +of our female academies throughout the country +lead many of our dissenting brethren to send +their daughters to these institutions. It is also +well known that so warm is the affection which +these young ladies entertain for their religious +teachers, so hallowed is the atmosphere they +breathe within these seats of learning, that they +often beg to embrace a religion which fosters so +much piety and which produces lilies so fragrant +and so pure. Do the sisters take advantage of +this influence in the cause of proselytism? By no +means. So delicate is their regard for the religious +conscience of their pupils, that they rarely +consent to have these young ladies baptized till, +after being thoroughly instructed in all the doctrines +of the Church, they have obtained the free +permission of their parents or guardians. +</p> + +<p> +The Church is, indeed, intolerant in this sense, +that she can never confound truth with error; nor +can she admit that any man is conscientiously +<pb n="230"/><anchor id="Pg230"/> +free to reject the truth when its claims are convincingly +brought home to the mind. Many Protestants +seem to be very much disturbed by some +such argument as this: Catholics are very ready +now to proclaim freedom of conscience, because +they are in the minority. When they once succeed +in getting the upper hand in numbers and +power they will destroy this freedom, because +their faith teaches them to tolerate no doctrine +other than the Catholic. It is, then, a matter of +absolute necessity for us that they should never +be allowed to get this advantage. +</p> + +<p> +Now, in all this, there is a great mistake, which +comes from not knowing the Catholic doctrine in +its fulness. I shall not lay it down myself, lest +it seem to have been gotten up for the occasion. +I shall quote the great theologian Becanus, who +taught the doctrine of the schools of Catholic +Theology at the time when the struggle was hottest +between Catholicity and Protestantism. He +says that religious liberty may be tolerated by a +ruler when it would do more harm to the state +or to the community to repress it. The ruler +may even enter into a compact in order to secure +to his subjects this freedom in religious matters; +and when once a compact is made it must be +observed absolutely in every point, just as every +other lawful and honest contract.<note place='foot'>Becanus, +de Virtutibus Theologicis, c. 16, quæst. 4, No. 2.</note> This is the +true Catholic teaching on this point, according +to Becanus and all Catholic theologians. So that +if Catholics should gain the majority in a community +where freedom of conscience is already +secured to all by law, their very religion obliges +them to respect the rights thus acquired by their +fellow-citizens. What danger can there be, then, +for Protestants, if Catholics should be in the majority +<pb n="231"/><anchor id="Pg231"/> +here? Their apprehensions are the result +of vain fears, which no honest mind ought any +longer to harbor. +</p> + +<p> +The Church has not only respected the conscience +of the people in embracing the religion +of their choice, but she has also defended their +<emph>civil</emph> rights and liberties against the encroachments +of temporal sovereigns. One of the popular +errors that have taken possession of some +minds in our times is that in former days the +Church was leagued with princes for the oppression +of the people. This is a base calumny, which +a slight acquaintance with ecclesiastical history +would soon dispel. +</p> + +<p> +The truth is, the most unrelenting enemies of +the Church have been the princes of this world, +and so-called Christians princes, too. +</p> + +<p> +The conflict between Church and State has +never died out, because the Church has felt it to +be her duty, in every age, to raise her voice +against the despotic and arbitrary measures of +princes. Many of them chafed under the salutary +discipline of the Church. They wished to be rid of +her yoke. They desired to be governed by no law +except the law of their licentious passions and +boundless ambitions. And as a Protestant American +reviewer<note place='foot'>Dr. Brownson, who was +then a Protestant.</note> well said about forty years ago, it was +a blessing of Providence that there was a spiritual +Power on earth that could stand like a wall of brass +against the tyranny of earthly sovereigns and say +to them: <q>Thus far you shall go, and no farther, +and here you shall break your swelling waves</q> of +passion; a Power that could say to them what +John said to Herod: <q>This thing is not lawful +for thee;</q> a Power that pointed the finger of +reproof to them, even when the sword was pointed +<pb n="232"/><anchor id="Pg232"/> +to her own neck, and that said to them what +Nathan said to David: <q>Thou art the man.</q> She +told princes that if the people have their obligations +they have their rights, too; that if the subject +must render to Cæsar the things that are +Cæsar's, Cæsar must render to God the things that +art God's. +</p> + +<p> +Yes; the Church, while pursuing her Divine mission +of leading souls to God, has ever been the +defender of the people's rights. +</p> + +<p> +St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, affords us a +striking instance of the strenuous efforts made by +the Catholic Church in vindicating the interests +of the citizen against the oppression of rulers. +</p> + +<p> +A portion of the people of Thessalonica had +committed an outrage against the just authority +of the Emperor Theodosius. The offence of those +citizens was indeed most reprehensible; but the +Emperor requited the insult offered to him by a +shocking and disproportioned act of retribution, +which has left an indelible stain upon his otherwise +excellent character. The inhabitants were +assembled together for the ostensible purpose of +witnessing a chariot race, and at a given signal +the soldiery fell upon the people and involved +men, women and children in an indiscriminate +massacre, to the number of about seven thousand. +Some time after the Emperor presented himself +at the Cathedral of Milan; but the intrepid Prelate +told him that his hands were dripping with the +blood of his subjects, and forbade him entrance +to the church till he had made all the reparation +in his power to the afflicted people of Thessalonica. +</p> + +<p> +People affect to be shocked at the sentence of +ex-communication occasionally inflicted by the +Church on evil-doers. Here is an instance of this +penalty. Who can complain of it as being too +<pb n="233"/><anchor id="Pg233"/> +severe? It was a salutary punishment and the +only one that could bring rulers to a sense of duty. +</p> + +<p> +The greatest bulwark of civil liberty is the +famous <hi rend='italic'>Magna Charta</hi>. It is the foundation not +only of British, but also of American constitutional +freedom. Among other blessings contained +in this instrument it establishes trial by jury and +the right of <hi rend='italic'>Habeas Corpus</hi>, and provides that +there shall be no taxation without representation. +</p> + +<p> +Who were the framers of this memorable charter? +Archbishop Langton, of Canterbury, and +the Catholic Barons of England. On the plains of +Runnymede, in 1215, they compelled King John +to sign that paper which was the death-blow to his +arbitrary power and the cornerstone of constitutional +government. +</p> + +<p> +Turning to our own country, it is with no small +degree of satisfaction that I point to the State of +Maryland as the cradle of civil and religious +liberty and the <q>land of the sanctuary.</q> Of the +thirteen original American Colonies, Maryland +was the only one settled by Catholics. She was, +also, the only one that raised aloft over her fair +lands the banner of liberty of conscience, and that +invited the oppressed of other colonies to seek an +asylum beneath its shadow. +</p> + +<p> +Lest I should be suspected of being too partial +in my praise of Maryland toleration, I shall take +most of my historical facts from Bancroft, a New +England Protestant clergyman. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Note</hi>—The first edition of Bancroft's History was +published in 1834. From that date till nearly half a century afterward +upwards of twenty editions were issued, all of which retain +the passages I have cited on Maryland toleration. Early in +the 80s a new edition was given out, which omits or abridges +some of the passages quoted in this chapter. I may add that +all of Bancroft's eulogies of Lord Baltimore's benevolent administration +are borne out by the original documents, and by +McMahon, Bozman and McSherry, and other historians of +Maryland. +</quote> + +<pb n="234"/><anchor id="Pg234"/> + +<p> +Leonard Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore +and the leader of the Catholic colony, having +sailed from England in the <hi rend='italic'>Ark</hi> and the +<hi rend='italic'>Dove</hi>, +reached his destination on the Potomac in March, +1634. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Catholics took quiet possession of the +little place, and religious liberty obtained a home, +<emph>its only home</emph> in the wide world, at the humble +village which bore the name of St. Mary.</q><note place='foot'>Bancroft's +<q>History of the United States,</q> Vol. I., ch. vii. +20th Edition, 1864.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The foundation of the colony of Maryland +was peacefully and happily laid. Within six +months it had advanced more than Virginia had +done in as many years.... But far more memorable +was the character of the Maryland institutions. +Every other country in the world had persecuting +laws; but through the benign administration +of the government of that province, no person +professing to believe in Jesus Christ was permitted +to be molested on account of religion. Under the +munificence and superintending mildness of Lord +Baltimore, a dreary wilderness was soon quickened +with the swarming life and activity of prosperous +settlements; the Roman Catholics who were oppressed +by the laws of England were sure to find +a peaceful asylum in the quiet harbors of the +Chesapeake; and there <emph>too, Protestants were +sheltered against Protestant intolerance</emph>. Such +were the beautiful auspices under which Maryland +started into being.... Its history is the history +of benevolence, gratitude and toleration.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Maryland was the abode of happiness and +liberty. Conscience was without restraint. A +mild and liberal proprietary conceded every +measure which the welfare of the colony required; +domestic union, a happy concert between all the +branches of government, an increasing emigration, +<pb n="235"/><anchor id="Pg235"/> +a productive commerce, a fertile soil, which heaven +had richly favored with rivers and deep bays, +united to perfect the scene of colonial felicity. +Ever intent on advancing the interests of his +colony, Lord Baltimore invited the Puritans of +Massachusetts to emigrate to Maryland, offering +them lands and privileges and free liberty of religion; +but Gibbons, to whom he had forwarded the +commission, was so wholly tutored in the New +England discipline, that he would not advance the +wishes of the Irish Peer, and so the invitation was +declined.</q><note place='foot'>Bancroft's <q>History +of the United States,</q> Vol. I., ch. vii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +On the 2d of April, 1649, the General Assembly +of Maryland passed the following Act, which will +reflect unfading glory on that State as long as +liberty is cherished in the hearts of men. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Whereas, the enforcing of conscience in matters +of religion hath frequently fallen out to be of +dangerous consequence in those commonwealths +where it has been practiced, and for the more quiet +and peaceable government of this province, and the +better to preserve mutual love and unity amongst +the inhabitants, no person whatsoever within this +province professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall +from henceforth be anyways troubled or molested +for his or her religion, nor in the free exercise +thereof, nor anyway compelled to the belief or exercise +of any other religion against his or her consent.</q><note place='foot'>Bancroft's +<q>History of the United States,</q> Vol. I., ch. vii. +Vide Bacon's Laws.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Upon this noble statute Bancroft makes the following +candid and judicious comment: <q>The design +of the law of Maryland was to protect freedom +of conscience; and some years after it had +been confirmed the apologist of Lord Baltimore +could assert that his government had never given +<pb n="236"/><anchor id="Pg236"/> +disturbance to any person in Maryland for matter +of religion; that the colonists enjoyed freedom +of conscience, not less than freedom of person and +estate, as amply as ever any people in any place +of the world. The disfranchised friends of Prelacy +from Massachusetts and the Puritans from +Virginia were welcomed to equal liberty of conscience +and political rights in the Roman Catholic +province of Maryland.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Five years later, when the Puritans gained the +ascendency in Maryland, they were guilty of the +infamous ingratitude of disfranchising the very +Catholic settlers by whom they had been so hospitably +entertained. They <q>had neither the gratitude +to respect the rights of the government by +which they had been received and fostered, nor +magnanimity to continue the toleration to which +alone they were indebted for their residence in the +colony. An act concerning religion forbade liberty +of conscience to be extended to <q>Popery,</q> +<q>Prelacy,</q> or <q>licentiousness of opinion.</q></q><note place='foot'>Bancroft's +<q>History of the United States,</q> Vol. I., ch. vii. +Vide Bacon's Laws.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I shall also quote from <q>Maryland, the History +of a Palatinate,</q> by William Hand Browne.<note place='foot'>Boston, +Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884.</note> Mr. +Browne was a graduate of the University of Maryland. +For several years he was editor of the Maryland +Archives, and of the Maryland Historical Society. +He became afterward Professor of English +Literature in the Johns Hopkins University. He +devoted his long life to the Colonial history of +Maryland, and is justly recognized as a standard +authority on that subject. I may add that he cannot +be suspected of undue partiality, as he was not +a member of the Catholic Church. +</p> + +<pb n="237"/><anchor id="Pg237"/> + +<p> +Speaking of Calvert, the Proprietary of the +Maryland Colony, the author remarks that <q rend='pre'>while +as yet there was no spot in Christendom where religious +belief was free, and when even the Commons +of England had openly declared against toleration, +Calvert founded a community wherein no +man was to be molested for his faith. At a time +when absolutism had struck down representative +government in England and it was doubtful if a +Parliament of freemen would ever meet again, he +founded a community in which no laws were to be +made without the consent of the freemen.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='post'>The <hi rend='italic'>Ark</hi> and the +<hi rend='italic'>Dove</hi> were names of happy +omen. The one saved from the general wreck the +germs of political liberty; and the other bore the +olive branch of religious peace.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., Chapter iii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When the rule of the Catholic Proprietary was +overthrown and the Puritans had gained the ascendency +in the Province, the new Commissioners +issued writs of election to a general assembly—writs +of a tenor hitherto unknown in Maryland. +No man of the Roman Catholic faith could be +elected as a burgess, or even cast a vote. The Assembly +obtained by this process of selection, justified +its choice. It at once repealed the Toleration +Act of 1649 and created a new one, more to its +mind, which also bore the title: <q>An Act concerning +Religion,</q> but it was toleration with a difference. +It provided that none who professed the Popish +religion should be protected in the Province, +but were to be restrained from the exercise thereof. +</p> + +<p> +For Protestants it provided that no one professing +faith in Christ was to be restrained from the +exercise of his religion, <q>provided that this liberty +be not extended to Popery, or Prelacy, nor to such +as under the profession of Christ, hold forth and +<pb n="238"/><anchor id="Pg238"/> +practice licentiousness. That is, with the exception +of the Roman Catholics and churchmen, together +with the Brownists, Quakers, Anabaptists, and +other miscellaneous Protestant sects, all others +might profess their faith without molestation.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., +Chap. v.</note> +</p> + +<p> +After the overthrow of the Puritan authority, +and the advent to power of the members of the +Church of England, the second act of the Assembly +was to make the Protestant Episcopal Church the +established church of the Province. +</p> + +<p> +The Act imposed an annual tax of forty pounds +of tobacco per poll on all taxables for the purpose +of building churches, and maintaining the clergy. +In 1702 it was re-enacted with a toleration clause: +<q>Protestant Dissenters and Quakers were exempted +from the penalties and disabilities, and might +have separate meeting-houses, provided that they +paid their forty pounds per poll to support the Established +Church. As for the <q>Papists,</q> it is needless +to say that there was no exemption nor license +for them.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., Chap. xi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The author then sets before us the three kinds of +toleration, like three portraits, so that their distinctive +features appear in bold relief. +</p> + +<p> +<q>We may now,</q> he says, <q>place side by side the +three tolerations of Maryland.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The toleration of the (Catholic) Proprietaries +lasted fifty years, and under it all believers in +Christ were equal before the law, and all support +to churches or ministers was voluntary. +</p> + +<p> +The Puritan toleration lasted six years, and included +all but Papists, Prelatists and those who +held objectional doctrines. +</p> + +<p> +The Anglican toleration lasted eighty years, and +had glebes and churches for the Establishment, +connivance for Dissenters, the penal laws for Catholics, +and for all, the forty per poll. +</p> + +<pb n="239"/><anchor id="Pg239"/> + +<p> +In fact, an additional turn was given to the +screw in this year; the oath of <q>abhorrency,</q> a +more offensive form of the oath of supremacy, being +required, beside the oath of allegiance, and for +one thing, no Catholic attorney was allowed to +practise in the Province.<note place='foot'>Ibid. Chap. xi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When the members of the Constitutional Convention +declared in 1787, that <q>Congress shall +make no law respecting an establishment of religion, +or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,</q> it is +worthy of note that they were echoing the sentiments, +and even repeating the language of the +Maryland Assembly of 1649, which declared that +<q>No person whatsoever within this Province, professing +to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth +be any ways molested for his or her religion, +nor in the free exercise thereof.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We may therefore affirm that Lord Baltimore's +Toleration Act of 1649 was the bright dawn that +ushered in the noon-day sun of freedom in 1787. +And we have every reason to believe that the Proprietary's +charter of liberty with its attendant +blessings, served as an example, an incentive, and +an inspiration to some at least of the framers of +the Constitution, to extend over the new Republic, +the precious boon of civil and religious liberty. +</p> + +<p> +It is proper to also observe that the Act of 1649 +was not a new declaration of religious freedom on +the part of Lord Baltimore's administration, but +was a solemn affirmation of the toleration granted +by the Catholic Proprietary from the beginning of +the Settlement in 1634. +</p> + +<p> +I will close this subject in the words of a distinguished +member of the Maryland Historical Society: +<q>Higher than all titles and badges of honor, and +more exalted than royal nobility is the imperishable +<pb n="240"/><anchor id="Pg240"/> +distinction which the passage of this broad +and liberal Act won for Maryland, and for the +members of that never-to-be-forgotten session, and +sacred forever be the hallowed spot which gave it +birth.</q><note place='foot'>James Walter Thomas.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What shall I say of the prominent part that was +taken by distinguished representatives of the Catholic +Church in the cause of our American Independence? +What shall I say of Charles Carroll of +Carrollton, who, at the risk of sacrificing his rich +estates, signed the Declaration of Independence; +of Rev. John Carroll, afterward the first Archbishop +of Baltimore, who, with his cousin Charles +Carroll and Benjamin Franklin, was sent by Congress +to Canada to secure the co-operation of the +people of that province in the struggle for liberty; +of Kosciusko, Lafayette, Pulaski, Barry and a host +of other Catholic heroes who labored so effectually +in the same glorious cause? American patriots +without number the Church has nursed in her +bosom; a traitor, never. +</p> + +<p> +The Father of his Country was not unmindful of +these services. Shortly after his election to the +Presidency, replying<note place='foot'>The original +of Washington's reply is still preserved in the +Archives of the Baltimore Cathedral.</note> to an address of his Catholic +fellow-citizens, he uses the following language: <q>I +presume that your fellow-citizens will not forget +the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment +of their revolution, and the establishment +of their government; or the important assistance +they received from a nation in which the Roman +Catholic faith is professed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And the Catholics of our generation have nobly +emulated the patriotism and the spirit of toleration +exhibited by their ancestors. They can +<pb n="241"/><anchor id="Pg241"/> +neither be accused of disloyalty nor of intolerance +to their dissenting brethren. In more than one +instance of our nation's history our churches +have been desecrated and burned to the ground; +our convents have been invaded and destroyed; +our clergy have been exposed to insult and +violence. These injuries have been inflicted on +us by incendiary mobs animated by hatred of +Catholicism. Yet, in spite of these provocations, +our Catholic citizens, though wielding an immense +numerical influence in the localities where they +suffered, have never retaliated. It is in a spirit +of just pride that we can affirm that hitherto in +the United States no Protestant house of worship +or educational institution has been destroyed, nor +violence offered to a Protestant minister by those +who profess the Catholic faith. God grant that +such may always be our record! +</p> + +<p> +It is just because the Church has ever resisted +the tyranny of kings, in their encroachments on +the sacred rights of conscience, that she has always +been the victim of royal persecution. In +every age, in the language of the Psalmist, <q>the +kings of the earth rose up, and the princes assembled +together against the Lord and against +His Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. +ii.</note> The brightest and most thrilling +pages of ecclesiastical history are those which +record the sufferings of Popes and Prelates at +the hands of temporal sovereigns for conscience' +and for justice' sake. +</p> + +<p> +Take, for instance, St. John Chrysostom, the +great Archbishop of Constantinople in the fifth +century, and the idol of the people. He had the +courage, like John the Baptist, to raise his eloquent +voice against the lasciviousness of the +court, and particularly against the Empress Eudoxia, +<pb n="242"/><anchor id="Pg242"/> +who ruled like another Jezabel. He was +banished from his See, treated with the utmost +indignity by the soldiers, and died in exile from +sheer exhaustion and ill-treatment. +</p> + +<p> +Witness Pope Gregory VII., the fearless Hildebrand, +in his life-long struggle with the German +Emperor, Henry IV. Gregory directed all the +energies of his great mind towards reforming the +abuses which had crept into the church of France +and Germany in the eleventh century. In those +days the Emperor of Germany assumed the right +of naming or appointing Bishops throughout his +Empire. This sacred office was commonly bestowed +on very unworthy candidates, and very +often put up at auction, to be sold to the highest +bidder, as is now the case with the schismatic +Greek church in Turkey. +</p> + +<p> +These Bishops too often repaid their imperial +benefactor by pandering to his passions and by +the most servile flattery. The intrepid Pope partially +succeeded in uprooting the evil, though the +effort cost him his life. The Emperor invaded +Rome and drove Gregory from his See, who died +uttering these words with his last breath: <q>I have +loved justice and hated iniquity, and therefore +I die in exile.</q> +</p> + +<p> +For the same cause Thomas à Becket, Archbishop +of Canterbury, was slain at the altar by +the hired assassins of Henry II., of England. +</p> + +<p> +Observe how Pius VII. was treated by the first +Napoleon in the beginning of the present century. +The day-dream of Napoleon was to be master of +Europe, and to place his brothers and friends +on the thrones of the continent, that they might +revolve, like so many satellites, around his throne +in France. Napoleon makes two demands on the +venerable Pontiff: First—That he dissolve the +<pb n="243"/><anchor id="Pg243"/> +marriage which had been contracted between the +Emperor's brother, Jerome, and Miss Patterson, +of Baltimore. His ostensible reason for having +the marriage dissolved was because Miss Patterson +was a Protestant, but his real motive was +to secure a royal bride for his brother instead +of an American lady. Second—That he close his +ports against the commerce of England, with +which nation Napoleon was then at war, and make +common cause with the Emperor against his +enemies. The Pope rejected both demands. He +told the Emperor that the Church held all marriages +performed by her as indissoluble, even +when one of the parties was not a Catholic; and +that, as the common father of Christendom, he +could close his port against no Christian power. +For refusing to comply with this second demand +the Pope was arrested and sent into exile, where +he lingered for years. +</p> + +<p> +At this very moment the old conflict between +the Church and despotic governments is raging +fiercely throughout Europe. The scene enacted by +John and Herod is today reproduced in almost +every kingdom of the old world. It is the old +fight between brute force and the God-given rights +of conscience. +</p> + +<p> +In Russia we see the Bishop of Plock exiled for +life from his See to Siberia. His only offence is +his refusal to acknowledge that the Emperor Alexander +is the head of the Christian Church. +</p> + +<p> +If we pass over into Italy we see religious men +and women driven from their homes; their houses +and libraries confiscated—libraries which pious +and learned men had been collecting and consulting +for ages. The only crime of those religious +is that they have not the power to resist brute +force. +</p> + +<pb n="244"/><anchor id="Pg244"/> + +<p> +Cross the Alps into France and there you will see +that many-headed monster, the Commune, assassinating +the Archbishop of Paris and his clergy, +solely because he and they were the representatives +of law and order. +</p> + +<p> +In the Republic of Switzerland Bishop Mermillod +is expelled from Geneva without the slightest +charge adduced against his character as a citizen +and a Christian Prelate. Faithful clergymen are +deprived by the government of their parochial +rights and renegade Priests are intruded in their +place. The shepherd is driven away and wolves +lay waste the fold. +</p> + +<p> +Go to Prussia; what do you behold there? A +Prime Minister flushed with his recent victories +over France. He is not content with seeing his +master wear the imperial crown of Germany; he +wants him to wear also the tiara of the Pope. +Bismarck, like Aman, the minister of King Assuerus, +is not satisfied with being second in the +kingdom so long as Mardochai, that is the Church, +refuses to bow down and worship him. +</p> + +<p> +He fines the venerable Archbishop of Gnesen-Posen +and other Prussian Prelates again and +again, sells their furniture and finally sends them +to prison for a protracted period. St. John Chrysostom +beautifully remarks that St. Paul, elevated +to the third heaven, was glorious to contemplate; +but that far more glorious is Paul buried in the +dungeons of Rome. I can say in like manner, of +Archbishop Ledochowski of Posen, that he was +conspicuous in the Vatican Council among his +peers; but he was still more conspicuous sitting +solitary in his Prussian prison. +</p> + +<p> +The loyalty of the Prussian clergy is above reproach. +The Bishops are imprisoned because they +insist on the right of educating students for the +<pb n="245"/><anchor id="Pg245"/> +ministry, ordaining and appointing clergy, without +consulting the government. They are denied +a right which in this country is possessed by Free +Masons and every other human organization in +the land. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps a simple illustration will present to +you in a clearer light the odious character of the +penal laws to which I have alluded. Suppose the +government of the United States were to issue a +general order requiring the clergy of the various +Christian denominations to be educated in government +establishments, forcing them to take an +oath before entering on the duties of the ministry, +and forbidding the ecclesiastical authorities to appoint +or remove any clergyman without permission +of the civil power at Washington. Would not +the American people rise up in their might before +they would submit to have fetters so galling +forged on their conscience? And yet this is precisely +the odious legislation which the Prussian +government is enacting against the Church. And +the Catholic Church, in resisting these laws, is +not only fighting her own battles, but she is contending +for the principle of freedom of conscience +everywhere. +</p> + +<p> +But, thank God, we live in a country where liberty +of conscience is respected, and where the civil +constitution holds over us the ægis of her protection, +without intermeddling with ecclesiastical +affairs. From my heart, I say: America, with all +thy faults, I love thee still. Perhaps at this moment +there is no nation on the face of the earth +where the Church is less trammelled, and where +she has more liberty to carry out her sublime +destiny than in these United States. +</p> + +<p> +For my part, I much prefer the system which +prevails in this country, where the temporal needs +<pb n="246"/><anchor id="Pg246"/> +of the Church are supplied by voluntary contributions +of the faithful, to the system which obtains +in some Catholic countries of Europe, where +the Church is supported by the government, thereby +making feeble reparation for the gross injustice +it has done to the Church by its former wholesale +confiscation of ecclesiastical property. And +the Church pays dearly for this indemnity, for +she has to bear the perpetual attempts at interference +and the vexatious enactments of the civil +power, which aims at making her wholly dependent +upon itself. +</p> + +<p> +Some years ago, on my return from Rome, in +company with the late Archbishop Spalding I +paid a visit to the Bishop of Annecy, in Savoy. +I was struck by the splendor of his palace and +saw a sentinel at the door, placed there by the +French government as a guard of honor. But +the venerable Bishop soon disabused me of my +favorable impressions. He told me that he was +in a state of gilded slavery. I cannot, said he, +build as much as a sacristy without obtaining +permission of the government. +</p> + +<p> +I do not wish to see the day when the Church +will invoke or receive any government aid to build +our churches, or to pay the salary of our clergy, +for the government may then begin to dictate to +us what doctrines we ought to preach. If it is a +great wrong to muzzle the press, it is a greater +wrong to muzzle the pulpit. No amount of State +subsidy would compensate for the evils resulting +from the Government censorship of the Gospel, and +the suppression of Apostolic freedom in proclaiming +it. St. Paul exults in the declaration that, +though he is personally in chains, the word of God +is not enchained.<note place='foot'>II. Tim. ii. 9.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="247"/><anchor id="Pg247"/> + +<p> +And moreover, in proportion as State patronage +would increase, the sympathy and aid of the faithful +would diminish. +</p> + +<p> +May the happy condition of things now existing +among us always continue, in which the relations +between the clergy and the people will be +direct and immediate, in which Bishops and +Priests will bestow upon their spiritual children +their voluntary labors, their tender solicitude, +their paternal affection, and pour out like water +their hearts' blood, if necessary; and in which +they will receive in return the free-will offerings—the +devotion and gratitude of a filial people. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="248"/><anchor id="Pg248"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XVIII. Charges of Religious Persecution.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XVIII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XVIII.</head> +<head>Charges of Religious Persecution.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>I. The Spanish Inquisition.</head> + +<p> +But did not the Spanish Inquisition exercise +enormous cruelties against heretics and +Jews? I am not the apologist of the Spanish +Inquisition, and I have no desire to palliate +or excuse the excesses into which that tribunal +may at times have fallen. From my heart I abhor +and denounce every species of violence, and +injustice, and persecution of which the Spanish +Inquisition may have been guilty. And in raising +my voice against coercion for conscience' sake I +am expressing not only my own sentiments, but +those of every Catholic Priest and layman in +the land. +</p> + +<p> +Our Catholic ancestors, for the last three hundred +years, have suffered so much for freedom +of conscience that they would rise up in judgment +against us were we to become the advocates and +defenders of religious persecution. We would be +a disgrace to our sires were we to trample on +the principle of liberty which they held dearer +than life. +</p> + +<p> +When I denounce the cruelties of the Inquisition +I am not standing aloof from the Church, +<pb n="249"/><anchor id="Pg249"/> +but I am treading in her footprints. Bloodshed +and persecution form no part of the creed of the +Catholic Church. So much does she abhor the +shedding of blood that a man becomes disqualified +to serve as a minister at her altars who, by +act or counsel, voluntarily sheds the blood of another. +Before you can convict the Church of intolerance +you must first bring forward some authentic +act of her Popes or Councils sanctioning +the policy of vengeance. In all my readings I +have yet to find one decree of hers advocating +torture or death for conscience' sake. She is indeed +intolerant of error; but her only weapons +against error are those pointed out by St. Paul +to Timothy: <q>Preach the word; be instant in +season, out of season; reprove, entreat; rebuke +with all patience and doctrine.</q><note place='foot'>II. Tim. iv. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But you will tell me: Were not the authors of +the Inquisition children of the Church, and did +they not exercise their enormities in her name? +Granted. But I ask you: Is it just or fair to +hold the Church responsible for those acts of her +children which she disowns? You do not denounce +liberty as mockery because many crimes are committed +in her name; neither do you hold a father +accountable for the sins of his disobedient children. +</p> + +<p> +We should also bear in mind that the Spaniards +were not the only people who have proscribed +men for the exercise of their religious belief. If +we calmly study the history of other nations our +enmity towards Spain will considerably relax, +and we shall have to reserve for her neighbors a +portion of our indignation. No impartial student +of history will deny that the leaders of the reformed +religions, whenever they gained the ascendency, +<pb n="250"/><anchor id="Pg250"/> +exercised violence toward those who +differed from them in faith. I mention this not +by way of recrimination, nor in palliation of the +proscriptions of the Spanish government; for one +offence is not justified by another. My object is +merely to show that <q>they who live in glass houses +should not throw stones;</q> and that it is not honest +to make Spain the scapegoat, bearing alone +on her shoulders the odium of religious intolerance. +</p> + +<p> +It should not be forgotten that John Calvin +burned Michael Servetus at the stake for heresy; +that the arch-reformer not only avowed but also +justified the deed in his writings; and that he +established in Geneva an Inquisition for the punishment +of refractory Christians. +</p> + +<p> +It should also be remembered that Luther advocated +the most merciless doctrine towards the +Jews. According to his apologist Seckendorf, the +German Reformer said that their synagogues +ought to be destroyed, their houses pulled down, +their prayer-books, and even the books of the Old +Testament, to be taken from them. Their rabbis +ought to be forbidden to teach and be compelled +to gain their livelihood by hard labor. +</p> + +<p> +It should also be borne in mind that Henry +VIII. and his successors for many generations inflicted +fines, imprisonment and death on thousands +of their subjects for denying the spiritual supremacy +of the temporal sovereign. This galling Inquisition +lasted for nearly three hundred years, +and the severity of its decrees scarcely finds a +parallel in the Spanish Inquisition. Prescott +avows that the administration of Elizabeth was +<q>not a whit less despotic and scarcely less sanguinary +than</q><note place='foot'><q>Ferdinand and Isabella,</q> +Vol. III., p. 202.</note> that of Isabella. The clergy of +<pb n="251"/><anchor id="Pg251"/> +Ireland, under Cromwell, were ordered, under +pain of death, to quit their country, and theological +students were obliged to pursue their studies +in foreign seminaries. Any Priest who dared to +return to his native country forfeited his life. +Whoever harbored a Priest suffered death, and +they who knew his hiding-place and did not reveal +it to the Inquisitors had both their ears cut +off. +</p> + +<p> +At this very moment not only in England, but +in Ireland, Scotland and Holland, Protestants are +worshiping in some of the churches erected by +the piety of our Catholic forefathers and wrested +from them by violence. +</p> + +<p> +Observe, also, that in all these instances the +persecutions were inflicted by the express authority +of the <emph>founders</emph> and <emph>heads</emph> of Protestant +churches. +</p> + +<p> +The Puritans of New England inflicted summary +vengeance on those who were rash enough +to differ from them in religion. In Massachusetts +<q>the Quakers were whipped, branded, had +their ears cut off, their tongues bored with hot +irons, and were banished upon pain of death in +case of their return and actually executed upon +the gallows.</q><note place='foot'>Blue Laws.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Who is ignorant of the number of innocent creatures +that suffered death in the same State on +the ridiculous charge of witchcraft toward the +end of the seventeenth century? Well does it become +their descendants to taunt Catholics with +the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition! +</p> + +<p> +In the religious riots of Philadelphia in 1844 +Catholic churches were burned down in the name +of Protestantism and private houses were sacked. +I was informed by an eyewitness that owners of +<pb n="252"/><anchor id="Pg252"/> +houses were obliged to mark on their doors these +words, <hi rend='italic'>This house belongs to Protestants</hi>, in order +to save their property from the infuriated incendiaries. +For these acts I never heard of any retaliation +on the part of Catholics, and I hope I +never shall, no matter how formidable may be +their numbers and tempting the provocation. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of the boasted toleration of our times, +it cannot be denied that there still lurks a spirit +of inquisition, which does not, indeed, vent itself +in physical violence, but is, nevertheless, most +galling to its victims. How many persons have +I met in the course of my ministry who were ostracized +by their kindred and friends, driven from +home, nay, disinherited by their parents, for the +sole crime of carrying out the very shibboleth of +Protestantism—the exercise of private judgment, +and of obeying the dictates of their conscience, by +embracing the Catholic faith! Is not this the most +exquisite torture that can be inflicted on refined +natures? +</p> + +<p> +Ah! there is an imprisonment more lonely than +the dungeon; it is the imprisonment of our most +cherished thoughts in our own hearts, without a +member of the family with whom to communicate. +</p> + +<p> +There is a sword more keen than the executioner's +knife; it is the envenomed tongue of obloquy +and abuse. There is a banishment less tolerable +than exile from one's country; it is the excommunication +from the parental roof and from the +affections of those we love. +</p> + +<p> +Have I a right to hold the members of the +Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Congregationalist +churches responsible for these proscriptive +measures to which I have referred, most of +which have been authorized by their respective +<pb n="253"/><anchor id="Pg253"/> +founders and leaders? God forbid! I know full +well that these acts of cruelty form no part of +the creed of the Protestant churches. I have been +acquainted with Protestants from my youth. They +have been among my most intimate and cherished +friends, and, from my knowledge of them, I am +convinced that they would discountenance any +physical violence which would be inflicted on their +fellow-citizens on account of their religious convictions. +They would justly tell me that the persecutions +of former years of which I have spoken +should be ascribed to the peculiar and unhappy +state of society in which their ancestors lived, +rather than to the inherent principles of their religion. +</p> + +<p> +For precisely the same reasons, and for reasons +still more forcible, Protestants should not reproach +the Catholic Church for the atrocities of +the Spanish Inquisition. The persecutions to +which I have alluded were for the most part perpetrated +by the founders and heads of the Protestant +churches, while the rigors of the Spanish +tribunal were inflicted by laymen and subordinate +ecclesiastics, either without the knowledge or in +spite of the protests of the Bishops of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now present the Inquisition in its true +light. In the first place, the number of its victims +has been wildly exaggerated, as even Prescott +is forced to admit. The popular historian +of the Inquisition is Llorente, from whom our +American authors generally derive their information +on this subject. Now who was Llorente? He +was a degraded Priest, who was dismissed from +the Board of Inquisitors, of which he had been +Secretary. Actuated by interest and revenge, he +wrote his history at the instance of Joseph Bonaparte, +the new King of Spain, and, to please his +<pb n="254"/><anchor id="Pg254"/> +royal master he did all he could to blacken the +character of that institution. His testimony, +therefore, should be received with great reserve. +To give you one instance of his unreliability, he +quotes the historian Mariana as his authority for +saying that two thousand persons were put to +death in one year in the dioceses of Seville and +Cadiz alone. By referring to the pages of Mariana +we find that author saying that two thousand +were put to death <emph>in all Spain during the entire +administration of Torquemada, which embraced a +period of fifteen years</emph>. +</p> + +<p> +Before beginning to examine the character of +this tribunal it must be clearly understood that +the Spanish Inquisition was not a purely ecclesiastical +institution, but a mixed tribunal. It was +conceived, systematized, regulated in all its procedures +and judgments, equipped with officers and +powers, and its executions, fines and confiscations +were carried out by the royal authority alone, +and not by the Church.<note place='foot'>For an impartial +account of the Inquisition, the reader is +referred to the <q>Letters on the Spanish Inquisition,</q> by the +Count de Maistre.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To understand the true character of the Spanish +Inquisition, and the motives which prompted +King Ferdinand in establishing that tribunal, we +must take a glance at the internal condition of +Spain at the close of the fifteenth century. After +a struggle of eight centuries the Spanish nation +succeeded in overthrowing the Moors, and in +planting the national flag over the entire country. +At last the Cross conquered the Crescent, +and Christianity triumphed over Mahometanism. +The empire was consolidated under the joint reign +of Ferdinand and Isabella. +</p> + +<p> +But there still remained elements of discord in +<pb n="255"/><anchor id="Pg255"/> +the nation. The population was composed of three +conflicting races—the Spaniards, Moors and Jews. +Perhaps the difficulties which beset our own Government +in its efforts to harmonize the white, the +Indian and the colored population, will give us +some idea of the formidable obstacles with which +the Spanish court had to contend in its efforts to +cement into one compact nation a conquering and +a conquered people of different race and religion. +</p> + +<p> +The Jews and the Moors were disaffected toward +the Spanish government not only on political, +but also on religious grounds. They were suspected, +and not unjustly, of desiring to transfer +their allegiance from the King of Spain to the +King of Barbary or to the Grand Turk. +</p> + +<p> +The Spanish Inquisition was accordingly +erected by King Ferdinand, less from motives +of religious zeal than from those of human +policy. It was established, not so much with the +view of preserving the Catholic faith, as of perpetuating +the integrity of his kingdom. The +Moors and Jews were looked upon not only as +enemies of the altar, but chiefly as enemies of +the throne. Catholics were upheld not for their +faith alone, but because they united faith to loyalty. +The baptized Moors and Israelites were oppressed +for their heresy because their heresy was +allied to sedition. +</p> + +<p> +It must be remembered that in those days heresy, +especially if outspoken, was regarded not only +as an offence against religion, but also as a crime +against the state, and was punished accordingly. +This condition of things was not confined to Catholic +Spain, but prevailed across the sea in Protestant +England. We find Henry VIII. and his +successors pursuing the same policy in Great +Britain toward their Catholic subjects and punishing +<pb n="256"/><anchor id="Pg256"/> +Catholicism as a crime against the state, +just as Islamism and Judaism were proscribed +in Spain. +</p> + +<p> +It was, therefore, rather a royal and political +than an ecclesiastical institution. The King nominated +the Inquisitors, who were equally composed +of lay and clerical officials. He dismissed +them at will. From the King, and not from the +Pope, they derived their jurisdiction, and into the +King's coffers, and not into the Pope's, went all +the emoluments accruing from fines and confiscations. +In a word, the authority of the Inquisition +began and ended with the crown. +</p> + +<p> +In confirmation of these assertions I shall quote +from Ranke, a German Protestant historian, who +cannot be suspected of partiality to the Catholic +Church. <q>In the first place,</q> says this author, +<q rend='pre'>the Inquisitors were royal officers. The Kings +had the right of appointing and dismissing them.... +The courts of the Inquisition were subject, +like other magistracies, to royal visitors. <q>Do you +not know,</q> said the King (to Ximenes), <q>that if +this tribunal possesses jurisdiction, it is from the +King it derives it?</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>In the second place, all the profit of the confiscations +by this court accrued to the King. These +were carried out in a very unsparing manner. +Though the <hi rend='italic'>fueros</hi> (privileges) of Aragon forbade +the King to confiscate the property of his convicted +subjects, he deemed himself exalted above +the law in matters pertaining to this court.... +The proceeds of these confiscations formed a sort +of regular income for the royal exchequer. It +was even believed, and asserted from the beginning, +that the Kings had been moved to establish +and countenance this tribunal more by their hankering +<pb n="257"/><anchor id="Pg257"/> +after the wealth it confiscated than by +motives of piety.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>In the third place, it was the Inquisition, and +the Inquisition alone, that completely shut out +all extraneous interference with the state. The +sovereign had now at his disposal a tribunal from +which no grandee, no Archbishop, could withdraw +himself. As Charles knew no other means of +bringing certain punishment on the Bishops who +had taken part in the insurrection of the <hi rend='italic'>Communidades</hi> +(or communes who were struggling for +their rights and liberties), he chose to have them +judged by the Inquisition....</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>It was in spirit and tendency a political institution. +<emph>The Pope had an interest in thwarting it, +and he did so</emph>; but the King had an interest in +constantly upholding it.</q><note place='foot'><q>The +Ottoman and Spanish Empires,</q> by Leopold Ranke.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That the Inquisition acted independently of the +Holy See, and that even the Catholic hierarchy +fell under the ban of this royal tribunal, is also +apparent from the following fact: After the convening +of the Council of Trent, Bartholomew Caranza, +Archbishop of Toledo, was arrested by the +Inquisition on a charge of heresy, and his release +from prison could not be obtained either by the +interposition of Pius IV. or the remonstrance of +the Council. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that Sixtus IV., yielding to the importunities +of Queen Isabella, consented to its establishment, +being advised that it was necessary +for the preservation of order in the kingdom; but +in 1481, the year following its introduction, when +the Jews complained to him of its severity, the +same Pontiff issued a Bull against the Inquisitors, +as Prescott informs us, in which <q>he rebuked +their intemperate zeal and even threatened them +<pb n="258"/><anchor id="Pg258"/> +with deprivation.</q> He wrote to Ferdinand and +Isabella that <q>mercy towards the guilty was more +pleasing to God than the severity which they were +using.</q> +</p> + +<p> +When the Pope could not eradicate the evil he +encouraged the sufferers to flee to Rome, where +they found an asylum, and where he took the fugitives +under his protection. In two years he received +four hundred and fifty refugees from +Spain. Did the Pontiff send them back, or did +he inflict vengeance on them at home? Far from +it; they were restored to all the rights of citizens. +How can we imagine that the Pope would encourage +in Spain the legalized murder of men +whom he protected from violence in his own city, +where he might have crushed them with impunity? +I can find no authenticated instance of any Pope +putting to death, in his own dominions, a single +individual for his religious belief. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, sometimes the Pope, when he could +not reach the victims, censured and excommunicated +the Inquisitor, and protected the children +of those whose property was confiscated to the +crown. +</p> + +<p> +After a struggle he succeeded in preventing +the Spanish government from establishing its Inquisition +in Naples or Milan, which then belonged +to Spain, so great was his abhorence of its cruelties. +</p> + +<p> +To sum up: I have endeavored to show that +the Church disavows all responsibility for the +excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, because oppression +forms no part of her creed; that these +atrocities have been grossly exaggerated; that the +Inquisition was a political tribunal; that Catholic +Prelates were amenable to its sentence as well as +Moors and Jews, and that the Popes denounced +<pb n="259"/><anchor id="Pg259"/> +and labored hard to abolish its sanguinary features. +</p> + +<p> +And yet Rome has to bear all the odium of +the Inquisition! +</p> + +<p> +I heartily pray that religious intolerance may +never take root in our favored land. May the +only king to force our conscience be the King of +kings; may the only prison erected among us for +the sin of unbelief or misbelief be the prison of a +troubled conscience; and may our only motive for +embracing truth be not the fear of man, but the +love of truth and of God. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>II. What About The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew?</head> + +<p> +I have no words strong enough to express my +detestation of that inhuman slaughter. It is true +that the number of its victims has been grossly +exaggerated by partisan writers, but that is no +extenuation of the crime itself. I most emphatically +assert that the Church had no act or part in +this atrocious butchery, except to deplore the event +and weep over its unhappy victims. Here are the +facts briefly presented: +</p> + +<p> +First—In the reign of Charles IX. of France +the Huguenots were a formidable power and a +seditious element in that country. They were +under the leadership of Admiral Coligny, who was +plotting the overthrow of the ruling monarch. +The French King, instigated by his mother, Catherine +de Medicis, and fearing the influence of +Coligny, whom he regarded as an aspirant to the +throne, compassed his assassination, as well as +that of his followers in Paris, August 24th, 1572. +This deed of violence was followed by an indiscriminate +massacre in the French capital and +<pb n="260"/><anchor id="Pg260"/> +other cities of France by an incendiary populace, +who are easily aroused but not easily appeased. +</p> + +<p> +Second—Religion had nothing to do with the +massacre. Coligny and his fellow Huguenots +were slain not on account of their creed, but exclusively +on account of their alleged treasonable +designs. If they had nothing but their Protestant +faith to render them odious to King Charles, they +would never have been molested; for, neither did +Charles nor his mother ever manifest any special +zeal for the Catholic Church nor any special aversion +to Protestantism, unless when it threatened +the throne. +</p> + +<p> +Third—Immediately after the massacre Charles +despatched an envoy extraordinary to each of the +courts of Europe, conveying the startling intelligence +that the King and royal family had narrowly +escaped from a horrible conspiracy, and +that its authors had been detected and summarily +punished. The envoys, in their narration, carefully +suppressed any allusion to the indiscriminate +massacre which had taken place, but announced +the event in the following words: On +that <q>memorable night, by the destruction of a +few seditious men, the King had been delivered +from immediate danger of death, and the realm +from the perpetual terror of civil war.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Pope Gregory XIII., to whom also an envoy +was sent, acting on this garbled information, ordered +a <q>Te Deum</q> to be sung, and a commemorative +medal to be struck in thanksgiving to God, +not for the massacre, of which he was utterly +ignorant, but for the preservation of the French +King from an untimely and violent death, and of +the French nation from the horrors of a civil +war. +</p> + +<p> +Sismondi, a Protestant historian, tells us that +<pb n="261"/><anchor id="Pg261"/> +the Pope's nuncio in Paris was purposely kept in +ignorance of the designs of Charles; and Ranke, +in his <hi rend='italic'>History of the Civil Wars</hi>, informs us that +Charles and his mother suddenly left Paris in +order to avoid an interview with the Pope's legate, +who arrived soon after the massacre; their guilty +conscience fearing, no doubt, a rebuke from the +messenger of the Vicar of Christ, from whom +the real facts were not long concealed. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—It is scarcely necessary to vindicate +the innocence of the Bishops and clergy of France +in this transaction, as no author, how hostile soever +to the Church, has ever, to my knowledge, +accused them of any complicity in the heinous +massacre. +</p> + +<p> +On the contrary, they used their best efforts +to arrest the progress of the assailants, to prevent +further bloodshed and to protect the lives of +the fugitives. More than three hundred Calvinists +were sheltered from the assassins by taking +refuge in the house of the Archbishop of Lyons. +The Bishops of Lisieux, Bordeaux, Toulouse and +of other cities offered similar protection to those +who sought safety in their homes. +</p> + +<p> +Thus we see that the Church slept in tranquil +ignorance of the stormy scene until she was +aroused to a knowledge of the tempest by the +sudden uproar it created. Like her Divine Spouse +on the troubled waters, she presents herself only +to say to them: <q>Peace be still.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>III. Mary, Queen of England.</head> + +<p> +I am asked: <hi rend='italic'>Must you not admit that Mary, +Queen of England, persecuted the Protestants of +the British realm</hi>? I ask this question in reply: +<hi rend='italic'>How is it that Catholics are persistently reproached +<pb n="262"/><anchor id="Pg262"/> +for the persecutions under Mary's reign, +while scarcely a voice is raised in condemnation +of the legalized fines, confiscations and deaths inflicted +on the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland +for three hundred years—from the establishment +of the church of England, in 1534, to the +time of the Catholic emancipation?</hi> Elizabeth's +hands were steeped in the blood of Catholics, +Puritans and Anabaptists. Why are these cruelties +suppressed or glossed over, while those of +Mary form the burden of every nursery tale? Is +it because persecution becomes justice when Catholics +happen to be the victims, or is it because they +are expected, from long usage, to be insensible to +torture? +</p> + +<p> +If we weigh in the scales of impartial justice +the reigns of both sisters, we shall be compelled +to bring a far more severe verdict against Elizabeth. +</p> + +<p> +First—Mary reigned only five years and four +months. Elizabeth's reign lasted forty-four years +and four months. The younger sister, therefore, +swayed the sceptre of authority nearly nine times +longer than the elder; and the number of Catholics +who suffered for their faith during the long +administration of Elizabeth may be safely said to +exceed in the same proportion the victims of +Mary's reign. Hallam asserts that <q>the rack seldom +stood idle in the tower for all the latter part +of Elizabeth's reign;</q><note place='foot'>Constitutional +History; Elizabeth, Chap. III.</note> and its very first month +was stained by an intolerant statute.<note place='foot'>See +Lingard, Vol. VII., pp. 244-5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Second—The most unpardonable act of Mary's +life, in the judgment of her critics, was the execution +of Lady Jane Grey. But Lady Jane was +guilty of high treason, having usurped the throne +of England, which she occupied for nine days. +<pb n="263"/><anchor id="Pg263"/> +Elizabeth put to death her cousin Mary, Queen +of Scots, after a long imprisonment, on the unsustained +charge of aspiring to the English throne. +</p> + +<p> +Third—Mary's zeal was exercised in behalf of +the religion of her forefathers, and of the faith +established in England for nearly a thousand +years. +</p> + +<p> +Elizabeth's zeal was employed in extending the +new creed introduced by her father in a moment +of passion, and modified by herself. Surely, the +coercive enforcement of a new creed is more +odious than the rigorous maintenance of the time-honored +faith of a nation. +</p> + +<p> +Mary, therefore, insisted on perpetuating the established +order of things; Elizabeth on subverting +it. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth—The elder sister was propagating what +she believed to be the unchangeable and infallible +doctrines of Jesus Christ; the younger sister was +propagating her own and her father's novel and +more or less uncertain opinions. +</p> + +<p> +Fifth—While Mary had no private or personal +motives in oppressing Protestants, Elizabeth's +hostility to the Catholic Church was intensified, +if not instigated, by her hatred of the Pope, who +had declared her illegitimate. Her legitimacy before +the world depended on the success of the new +religion, which had legalized her father's divorce +from Catherine. +</p> + +<p> +Sixth—Hence as Macaulay says, Mary was sincere +in her religion; Elizabeth was not. <q>Having +no scruple about conforming to the Romish Church +when conformity was necessary to her own safety, +retaining to the last moment of her life a fondness +for much of the doctrine and much of the +ceremonial of that Church, she yet subjected that +Church to a persecution even more odious than +<pb n="264"/><anchor id="Pg264"/> +the persecution with which her sister had harassed +the Protestants. Mary ... did nothing for her +religion which she was not prepared to suffer for +it. She had held it firmly under persecution. She +fully believed it to be essential to salvation. +Elizabeth, in opinion, was little more than half a +Protestant. She had professed, when it suited +her, to be wholly a Catholic.... What can be +said in defence of a ruler who is at once indifferent +and intolerant?</q><note place='foot'>Macaulay's Essays, +<q>Review of Nares' Memoirs of Lord +Burleigh.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +An intelligent gentleman in North Carolina once +said to me tauntingly, What do you think of +bloody Mary? Did you ever hear, I replied, of +her sister's cruelties to Catholics? He answered +that he never read of that <emph>mild</emph> woman persecuting +for conscience' sake. I was amazed at his +words, until he acknowledged that his historical +library was comprised in one work—<hi rend='italic'>D' Aubigné's +History of the Reformation</hi>. That <emph>veracious</emph> author +has prudently suppressed, or delicately +touched, Elizabeth's peccadilloes as not coming +within the scope of his plan. How many are +found, like our North Carolina gentleman, who +are familiar from their childhood with the name +of <emph>Smithfield</emph>, but who never once heard of +<emph>Tyburn</emph>! +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="265"/><anchor id="Pg265"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XIX. Grace—The Sacraments—Original +Sin—Baptism—Its Necessity—Its Effects—Manner Of Baptizing.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XIX.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XIX.</head> +<head>Grace—The Sacraments—Original Sin—Baptism—Its +Necessity—Its Effects—Manner Of Baptizing.</head> + +<p> +The grace of God is that supernatural assistance +which He imparts to us, through the +merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation. It +is called <hi rend='italic'>supernatural</hi>, because no one by his own +natural ability can acquire it. +</p> + +<p> +Without Divine grace we can neither conceive +nor accomplish anything for the sanctification of +our souls. <q>Not that we are sufficient,</q> says +the Apostle, <q>to think anything of ourselves, as +of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Cor. iii. 5.</note> <q>For it is God who worketh in you, both to will +and to accomplish</q><note place='foot'>Phil. ii. +13.</note> anything conducive to your +salvation. <q>Without Me,</q> says our Lord, <q>you +can do nothing.</q><note place='foot'>John xv. +5.</note> But in order that Divine grace +may effectually aid us we must co-operate with +it, or at least we must not resist it. +</p> + +<p> +The grace of God is obtained chiefly by prayer +and the Sacraments. +</p> + +<p> +A Sacrament is a visible sign instituted by +Christ by which grace is conveyed to our souls. +Three things are necessary to constitute a Sacrament, +viz.—a visible sign, invisible grace and the +institution by our Lord Jesus Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, in the Sacrament of Baptism, there is +<pb n="266"/><anchor id="Pg266"/> +the outward sign, which consists in the pouring +of water and in the formula of words which are +then pronounced; the interior grace or sanctification +which is imparted to the soul: <q>Be baptized, ... +and you shall receive the gift of the +Holy Ghost;</q><note place='foot'>Acts ii. +38.</note> and the ordinance of Jesus Christ, +who said: <q>Teach all nations, baptizing them in +the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of +the Holy Ghost.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior instituted seven Sacraments, namely, +Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, +Extreme Unction, Orders and Matrimony, which +I shall explain separately. +</p> + +<p> +According to the teachings of Holy Writ, man +was created in a state of innocence and holiness, +and after having spent on this earth his allotted +terms of years he was destined, without tasting +death, to be translated to the perpetual society +of God in heaven.<note place='foot'>See Wisdom ii. +23.</note> But in consequence of his disobedience +he fell from his high estate of righteousness; +his soul was defiled by sin; he became +subject to death and to various ills of body and +soul and forfeited his heavenly inheritance. +</p> + +<p> +Adam's transgression was not confined to himself, +but was transmitted, with its long train of +dire consequences, to all his posterity. It is called +<emph>original</emph> sin because it is derived from our original +progenitor. <q>Wherefore,</q> says St. Paul, <q>as by +one man sin entered into this world, and by sin +death, and so death passed unto all men, in whom +all have sinned.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. v. +12.</note> And elsewhere he tells us +that <q>we were by nature children of wrath.</q><note place='foot'>Eph. ii. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Who,</q> says Job, <q>can make him clean that is +conceived of unclean seed,</q> or, as the Septuagint +version expresses it: <q>There is no one free from +<pb n="267"/><anchor id="Pg267"/> +stain, not even though his life be of one day.</q><note place='foot'>Job xiv. 4.</note> +As an infant one day old cannot commit an actual +sin, the <emph>stain</emph> must come from the original offense +of Adam. <q>Behold,</q> says David, <q>I was conceived +in iniquities, and in sins did my mother +conceive me.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. l. +7.</note> The Scripture also tells us that +Jeremiah and John the Baptist were sanctified +before their birth, or purified from sin, and, of +course, at that period of their existence they +were incapable of actual sin. They were cleansed, +therefore, from the original taint. +</p> + +<p> +These passages clearly show that we have all +inherited the transgression of our first parents, +and that we are born enemies of God. And it is +equally plain that these texts apply to every member +of the human family—to the infant of a day +old as well as to the adult. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, even without the light of Holy Scripture, +we have only to look into ourselves to be +convinced that our nature has undergone a rude +shock. How else can we account for the miseries +and infirmities of our bodies, the blindness of our +understanding, the perversity of our will—inclined +always to evil rather than to good—the violence +of our passions, which are constantly waging war +in our hearts? How well does the Catholic doctrine +explain this abnormal state. Hence, Paschal +truly says that man is a greater mystery +to himself without original sin than is the mystery +itself. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, however, declares that the Blessed +Virgin Mary was exempted from the stain of +original sin by the merits of our Savior Jesus +Christ; and that, consequently, she was never +for an instant subject to the dominion of Satan. +</p> + +<pb n="268"/><anchor id="Pg268"/> + +<p> +This is what is meant by the doctrine of the Immaculate +Conception. +</p> + +<p> +But God, in passing sentence of condemnation +on Adam, consoled him by the promise of a Redeemer +to come. <q>I will put enmities,</q> saith the +Lord, <q>between thee and the woman, and thy +seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. iii. 15.</note> +Jesus, the seed of Mary, is the chosen one who +was destined to crush the head of the infernal +serpent. And <q>when the fulness of time was +come God sent His Son, made of a woman, ... +that He might redeem them that were under the +law, that we might receive the adoption of +sons.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. iv. 4, 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, came to wash away +the defilement from our souls and to restore us +to that Divine friendship which we had lost by +the sin of Adam. He is the second Adam, who +came to repair the iniquity of the first. It was +our Savior's privilege to prescribe the conditions +on which our reconciliation with God was to be +effected. +</p> + +<p> +Now He tells us in His Gospel that Baptism is +the essential means established for washing away +the stain of original sin and the door by which +we find admittance into His Church, which may +be called the second Eden. We must all submit +to a new birth, or regeneration, before we can +enter the kingdom of heaven. Water is the appropriate +instrument of this new birth, as it indicates +the interior cleansing of the soul; and the +Holy Ghost, the Giver of spiritual life, is its Author. +</p> + +<p> +The Church teaches that Baptism is necessary +for all, for infants as well as adults, and her doctrine +rests on the following grounds: +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord says to Nicodemus: <q>Amen, amen, +<pb n="269"/><anchor id="Pg269"/> +I say to thee, unless a man be born again of +water and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the +kingdom of God.</q><note place='foot'>John iii. +5.</note> These words embrace the +whole human family, without regard to age or +sex, as is evident from the original Greek text, +for τις, which is rendered <hi rend='italic'>man</hi> in our English +translation, means any one—mankind in its broadest +acceptation. +</p> + +<p> +The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of +St. Paul, although containing only a fragmentary +account of the ministry of the Apostles, plainly +insinuate that the Apostles baptized children as +well as grown persons. We are told, for instance, +that Lydia <q>was baptized, and her +household,</q><note place='foot'>Acts xvi. 15.</note> +by St. Paul; and that the jailer <q>was baptized, and +all his family.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. xvi. +33.</note> The same Apostle baptized also +<q>the household of Stephanas.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. i. 16.</note> Although it is +not expressly stated that there were children +among these baptized families, the presumption +is strongly in favor of the supposition that there +were. But if any doubt exists regarding the +Apostolic practice of baptizing infants it is easily +removed by referring to the writings of the primitive +Fathers of the Church, who, as they were +the immediate successors of the Apostles, ought +to be the best interpreters of their doctrines and +practice. +</p> + +<p> +St. Irenæus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a +disciple of St. John the Evangelist, says: <q>Christ +came to save all through Himself; all, I say, <emph>who +are born anew</emph> (or baptized) through Him—infants +and little ones, boys and youths, and aged +persons.</q><note place='foot'>Lib. II. adr. Hær.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Origen, who lived a few years later, writes: +<pb n="270"/><anchor id="Pg270"/> +<q>The Church received the tradition from the +Apostles, to give baptism even to infants.</q><note place='foot'>In Ep. ad Rom.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The early church of Africa bears triumphant +testimony in vindication of infant baptism. St. +Cyprian and sixty-six suffragan Prelates held a +council in the metropolitan city of Carthage, in the +year 253. While the Council is in session a Prelate +named Fidus writes to the Fathers, asking +them whether infants ought to be baptized before +the eighth day succeeding their birth, or on the +eighth day, in accordance with the practice of +circumcision. The Bishops unanimously subscribe +to the following reply: <q>As to what regards +the baptism of infants, ... we all judged +that the mercy and grace of God should be denied +to no human being from the moment of his +birth. If even to the greatest delinquents the remission +of sins is granted, how much less should +the infant be repelled, who, being recently born +according to Adam, has contracted at his first +birth the contagion of the ancient death.</q><note place='foot'>Epis. +ad Fidum.</note> The +African Council asserts here two prominent facts—the +universal contagion of the human race +through Adam's fall, and the universal necessity +of Baptism without distinction of age. +</p> + +<p> +Upon this decision, I will make two observations: +First—Fidus did not inquire about the +necessity of infant baptism, which he already admitted, +but about the propriety of conferring it +on the eighth day, in imitation of the Jewish law +of circumcision. Second—The Bishops assembled +in that Council were as numerous as the whole +Episcopate of the United States, which contains +about five thousand Priests and upwards of six +millions of Catholics. We may therefore reasonably +<pb n="271"/><anchor id="Pg271"/> +conclude that the judgment of the African +Council represented the faith of several thousand +Priests and several millions of Catholics. +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine, commenting on this decision, +justly observes that St. Cyprian and his colleagues +made no new decree, but maintained most +firmly the faith of the Church. And this is the +unanimous sentiment of tradition from the days +of the Apostles to our own times. +</p> + +<p> +Is it not ludicrous as well as impious to see a +few German fanatics, in the sixteenth century, +raising their feeble voice against the thunder +tones of all Christendom, by decrying a practice +which was universally held as sacred and essential? +In judging between the teachings of Apostolical +antiquity on the one hand and of the Anabaptists +on the other, it is not hard to determine +on which side lies the truth; for, what becomes +of the Christian Church, if it has erred on so vital +a point as that of Baptism during the entire +period of its existence? +</p> + +<p> +Original sin, as St. Paul has told us, is universal. +Every child is, therefore, defiled at its +birth with the taint of Adam's disobedience. Now, +the Scripture says that nothing defiled can enter +the kingdom of heaven.<note place='foot'>Apoc. +xxi. 27.</note> Hence Baptism, which +washes away original sin, is as essential for the +infant as for the full grown man, in order to attain +the kingdom of heaven. +</p> + +<p> +I said that regeneration is necessary for all. +But it is important to observe that if a man is +heartily sorry for his sins, if he loves God with +his whole heart, if he desires to comply with all +the Divine ordinances, including Baptism, but has +no opportunity of receiving it, or is not sufficiently +instructed as to its necessity, God, in this case, +accepts the will for the deed. Should this man die +in these dispositions, he is saved by the <emph>baptism of +<pb n="272"/><anchor id="Pg272"/> +desire</emph>, as happened to the Emperor Valentinian +who died a Catechuman: <q>I lost him whom I was +about to regenerate,</q> says St. Ambrose, <q>but he +did not lose that grace he sought for.</q> Or, if an unbaptized +person lays down his life for Christ, his +death is accepted as more than an equivalent for +baptism; for he dies not only sanctified, but he will +wear a martyr's crown. <emph>He is baptized in his own +blood.</emph> +</p> + +<p> +But is not that a cruel and heartless doctrine +which excludes from heaven so many harmless +babes that have never committed any actual fault? +To this I reply: Has not God declared that Baptism +is necessary for all? And is not God the +supreme Wisdom and Justice and Mercy? I am +sure, then, that there can be nothing cruel or unjust +in God's decrees. The province of reason +consists in ascertaining that God has spoken. +When we know that He has spoken, then our investigation +ceases, and faith and obedience begin. +Instead of impiously criticising the Divine +decree, we should exclaim with the Apostle: <q>O! +the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge +of God! how incomprehensible are His judgments, +and how unsearchable His ways! For, who +hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath +been His counsellor?</q><note place='foot'>Rom. xi. 33, 34.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Let us remember that heaven is a place to which +none of us has any inherent right or natural claim, +but that it is promised to us by the pure favor +of God. He can reject and adopt whom He +pleases, and can, without injustice, prescribe His +own conditions for accepting His proffered boon. +If your child is deprived of heaven by being deprived +of Baptism, God does it no wrong because +He infringes no right to which your child had +any inalienable title. If your child obtains the +grace of Baptism be thankful for the gift. +</p> + +<pb n="273"/><anchor id="Pg273"/> + +<p> +It is proper here to state briefly what the +Church actually teaches regarding the future state +of unbaptized infants. Though the Church, in +obedience to God's Word, declares that unbaptized +infants are excluded from the kingdom of +heaven, it should not hence be concluded that they +are consigned to the place of the reprobate. None +are condemned to the torments of the damned +but such as merit Divine vengeance by their personal +sins. +</p> + +<p> +All that the Church holds on this point is that +unregenerate children are deprived of the beatific +vision, or the possession of God, which constitutes +the essential happiness of the blessed. +</p> + +<p> +Now, between the supreme bliss of heaven and +the torments of the reprobate, there is a very +wide margin. +</p> + +<p> +All admit that the condition of unbaptized infants +is better than non-existence. There are +some Catholic writers of distinction who even assert +that unbaptized infants enjoy a certain degree +of natural beatitude—that is, a happiness +which is based on the natural knowledge and love +of God. +</p> + +<p> +From what has been said you may well judge +how reprehensible is the conduct of Catholic parents +who neglect to have their children baptized +at the earliest possible moment, thereby risking +their own souls, as well as the souls of their innocent +offspring. How different was the practice +of the early Christians, who, as St. Augustine +testifies, hastened with their new-born babes to +the baptismal font that they might not be deprived +of the grace of regeneration. +</p> + +<p> +If an infant is sick, no expense is spared that +its life may be preserved. The physician is called +in, medicine is given to it, and the mother will +<pb n="274"/><anchor id="Pg274"/> +spend sleepless nights watching every movement +of the infant; she will sacrifice her repose, her +health; nay, she will expose even her own life +that the life of her offspring may be saved. And +yet the supernatural happiness of the child is +too often imperiled without remorse by the criminal +postponement of Baptism. +</p> + +<p> +But if they are to be censured who are slow +in having their children baptized, what are we +to think of that large body of professing Christians +who, on principle, deny Baptism to little +ones till they come to the age of discretion? What +are we to think of those who set their private +opinions above Scripture, the early Fathers of +the Church and the universal practice of Christendom? +</p> + +<p> +We may smile indeed at a theological opinion, +no matter how novel or erroneous it may be, so +long as it does not involve any dangerous consequences. +But when it is given in a case of life +and death, how terrible is the responsibility of +those who propagate doctrines so erroneous! +</p> + +<p> +The opposite practice of the Catholic and the +Baptist churches, in their treatment of the newborn +infant, may be well compared to the conduct +of the true and the false mother who both claimed +the child at the tribunal of Solomon. The king +exclaimed: <q>Divide the living child in two, and +give half to the one and half to the other.</q> The +pretended mother consented, saying: Let it be +neither mine nor thine, but divide it. <q>But the +woman whose child was alive, said to the king +(for her bowels were moved upon her child): I +beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, +and do not kill it.</q> While the Baptist church is +willing that the child should die a spiritual death, +the true mother, the Catholic Church, cries out: +<pb n="275"/><anchor id="Pg275"/> +Keep the child, provided its spiritual life is saved, +even at your hands. Let it be clothed with the +robe of innocence even by a stranger. Let it be +nursed at the breasts even of a step-mother. Better +it should live without me than perish before +my face. I will still be its mother, though it +know me not. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! my Baptist friend, you think that Baptism +is not necessary for your child's salvation. The +old Church teaches the contrary. You admit that +you may be wrong, and it is a question of life and +death. Take the safe side. Give your child the +benefit of the doubt. Let it be baptized. +</p> + +<p> +Baptism washes away <emph>original sin, and also +actual sins</emph> from the adult who may have contracted +them. The cleansing efficacy of Baptism +was clearly foreshadowed by the prophet Ezechiel +in these words: <q>I will pour upon you clean +water, and you shall be cleansed from all your +filthiness. And I will give you a new heart and +will put a new spirit within you.</q><note place='foot'>Ezech. xxxvi. 25, 26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When the Jews asked St. Peter what they +should do to be saved the Apostle replied: <q>Repent, +and let everyone of you be baptized in the +name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your +sins.</q><note place='foot'>Acts ii. 38.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And Ananias said to Saul, after his conversion: +<q>Rise up and be baptized, and wash away +thy sins.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. xxii. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>We were by nature,</q> says St. Paul, <q>children +of wrath,</q> but by our regeneration, or new +birth in Baptism, we become <emph>Christians and children +of God</emph>. <q>For, ye are all the children of +God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of +you as have been baptized in Christ have put on +Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. iii. 26, +27.</note> We are adopted into the same family +<pb n="276"/><anchor id="Pg276"/> +with Jesus Christ. What He is by nature we are +by grace—children of God, and consequently +brethren of Christ. Nay, our union with Jesus is +still more close. We become true members of His +mystical body, which is His Church, and His Divine +image is stamped upon our soul. +</p> + +<p> +Baptism also clothes us with the <emph>garment of +sanctity</emph>, so that our soul becomes a fit dwelling-place +for the Holy Ghost. The Apostle, after giving +a fearful catalogue of the vices of the Pagans, +says to the Corinthians: <q>And such some of you +were; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, +but ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus +Christ, and in the Spirit of God.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. vi. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Baptism, in fine, makes us <emph>heirs of heaven</emph> and +co-heirs with Jesus Christ. <q>We ourselves also,</q> +says St. Paul, <q>were sometimes unwise, incredulous, +erring, slaves to divers desires and pleasures, +living in malice and envy, hateful, and +hating one another. But when the goodness and +kindness of God our Savior appeared, ... He +saved us by the laver of regeneration and renovation +of the Holy Ghost, whom He hath poured +forth abundantly upon us, through Jesus Christ +our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we +may be heirs, according to the hope of life everlasting.</q><note place='foot'>Tit. +iii. 3-7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Here we plainly see that the forgiveness of sin, +the adoption into the family of God, the sanctification +of the soul and the pledge of eternal life +are ascribed to the due reception of Baptism—not, +indeed, that water or the words of the minister +have any intrinsic virtue to heal the soul, but +because Jesus Christ, whose word is creative +power, is pleased to attach to this rite its wonderful +efficacy of healing the soul, as He imparted +<pb n="277"/><anchor id="Pg277"/> +to the pool of Bethsaida the power of healing the +body.<note place='foot'>John v.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From what has been said, I ask you candidly +what are you to think of the decision rendered in +1872 by the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal +Church, who, in their convention in Baltimore, declared +that by the word <hi rend='italic'>regeneration</hi> we are not to +understand <hi rend='italic'>a moral change</hi>. If no moral change +is effected by Baptism, then there is no change at +all; for certainly Baptism produces no physical +change in the soul. +</p> + +<p> +Is it no change to pass from sin to virtue, from +a <q>child of wrath</q> to be a <q>child of God;</q> from +corruption to sanctification; from the condition of +heirs of death to the inheritance of heaven? If all +this implies no moral change, then these words +have lost their meaning. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Modes of baptizing.</hi> The Baptists err in asserting +that Baptism by immersion is the only valid +mode. Baptism may be validly administered in +either of three ways, viz: by <emph>immersion</emph>, or by +plunging the candidate into the water; by <emph>infusion</emph>, +or by pouring the water; and by <emph>aspersion</emph>, or +sprinkling. +</p> + +<p> +As our Lord nowhere prescribes any special +form of administering the Sacrament, the Church +exercises her discretion in adopting the most convenient +mode, according to the circumstances of +time and place. +</p> + +<p> +For several centuries after the establishment of +Christianity Baptism was <emph>usually</emph> conferred by +immersion; but since the twelfth century the practice +of baptising by infusion has prevailed in the +Catholic Church, as this manner is attended with +less inconvenience than Baptism by immersion. +</p> + +<p> +To prove that Baptism by infusion or by sprinkling +<pb n="278"/><anchor id="Pg278"/> +is as legitimate as by immersion, it is only +necessary to observe that, though immersion was +the more common practice in the Primitive +Church, the Sacrament was frequently administered +even then by infusion and aspersion. +</p> + +<p> +After St. Peter's first discourse three thousand +persons were baptized.<note place='foot'>Acts +ii. 41.</note> It is not likely that so +many could have been immersed in one day, +especially when we consider the time occupied in +instructing the candidates. +</p> + +<p> +On reading the account of the Baptism of St. +Paul and the jailer the context leaves a strong impression +on the mind that both received the Sacrament +by aspersion or by infusion. +</p> + +<p> +Early ecclesiastical history records a great +many instances in which Baptism was administered +to <emph>sick persons</emph> in their beds, to <emph>prisoners</emph> in +their cells, and to persons on <emph>shipboard</emph>. The +Fathers of the Church never called in question the +validity or the legitimacy of such Baptisms. Now, +it is almost impossible to believe that candidates +in such situations could receive the rite by immersion. +</p> + +<p> +We have seen, moreover, that Baptism has always +been declared necessary for salvation. It is +reasonable, hence, to believe that our Lord would +have afforded the greatest facility for the reception +of so essential a Sacrament. +</p> + +<p> +But if Baptism by immersion only is valid, how +many sick and delicate persons, how many prisoners +and seafaring people, how many thousands +living in the frigid zone, or even in the temperate +zone, in the depth of an inclement winter, though +craving the grace of regeneration, would be deprived +of God's seal, or would receive it at the risk +of their lives! Surely God does not ordinarily +<pb n="279"/><anchor id="Pg279"/> +impose His ordinances upon us under such a +penalty. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, if immersion is the only valid form +of Baptism, what has become of the millions of +souls who, in every age and country, have been +regenerated by the infusion or the aspersion of +water in the Christian Church? +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="280"/><anchor id="Pg280"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XX. The Sacrament Of Confirmation.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XX.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XX.</head> +<head>The Sacrament Of Confirmation.</head> + +<p> +Confirmation is a Sacrament in which, +through the imposition of the Bishop's +hands, unction and prayer, baptized persons +receive the Holy Ghost, that they may steadfastly +profess their faith and lead upright lives. +</p> + +<p> +This Sacrament is called <hi rend='italic'>Confirmation</hi>, because +it <emph>confirms</emph> or strengthens the soul by Divine grace. +Sometimes it is named <hi rend='italic'>the laying on of hands</hi>, because +the Bishop imposes his hands on those +whom he confirms. It is also known by the name +of <hi rend='italic'>Chrism</hi>, because the forehead of the person confirmed +is anointed with chrism in the form of a +cross. +</p> + +<p> +Frequent mention is made of this Sacrament in +the Holy Scripture. In the Acts it is written that +<q>When the Apostles who were in Jerusalem had +heard that Samaria had received the Word of God +they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when +they were come, prayed for them that they might +receive the Holy Ghost; for He was not yet come +upon any of them, but they were only baptized +in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid +their hands on them, and they received the Holy +Ghost.</q><note place='foot'>Acts viii. 14-17.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is also related that the disciples at Ephesus +<q>were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, +<pb n="281"/><anchor id="Pg281"/> +and when Paul had imposed his hands upon them +the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spoke +tongues and prophesied.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xix. 5, 6.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In his Epistle to the Hebrews St. Paul enumerates +Confirmation, or the laying on of hands, +together with Baptism and Penance, among the +fundamental truths of Christianity.<note place='foot'>Heb. vi. 1, 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To the Corinthians he writes: <q>He that confirmeth +us with you in Christ, and that hath +anointed us, is God; who also hath sealed us and +given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Cor. i. 21.</note> God <emph>confirmeth</emph> us in faith; He hath +<emph>anointed</emph> us by spiritual unction, typified by the sacred chrism +which is marked on our foreheads. He hath <emph>sealed</emph> +us by the indelible character stamped on our souls, +which is indicated by the sign of the cross impressed +on us. He hath given the <emph>pledge</emph> of the +Holy Ghost in our hearts, by the testimony of a +good conscience, as an earnest of future glory. +The Bishop performs the external unction, but +God, <q>who worketh all in all,</q> sanctifies the soul +by His secret operation. +</p> + +<p> +It cannot be asserted that the laying on of hands +and the graces which followed from it, as recorded +in the Acts, were not intended to be continued +after the Apostles' times, for there is no warrant +for such an assumption. This function of imposing +hands formed as regular and imperative a part +of the Apostolic ministry as the duties which they +exercised in preaching, baptizing, ordaining, etc. +Hence the successors of the Apostles in the nineteenth +century have precisely the same authority +and obligation to confirm as they have to preach, +to baptize or to ordain. +</p> + +<p> +Those who were confirmed by the Apostles +<pb n="282"/><anchor id="Pg282"/> +usually gave evidence of the grace which they received +by prophecy, the gift of tongues and the +manifestation of other miraculous powers. It may +be asked: Why do not these gifts accompany now +the imposition of hands? I answer: Because they +are no longer needed. The grace which the Apostolic +disciples received was for their personal +sanctification. The gift of tongues which they +exercised was intended by Almighty God to edify +and enlighten the spectators, and to give Divine +sanction to the Apostolic ministry. But now that +the Church is firmly established, and the Divine +authority of her ministry is clearly recognized, +these miracles are no longer necessary. St. Gregory +illustrates this point by a happy comparison: +As the sapling, he says, when it is first planted +is regularly watered by the gardener, who softens +the earth around it, that the sun and the moisture +may nourish its roots until it takes deep root and +it no longer requires any special care, so the +Church in her infancy had to be nourished by the +miraculous power of God. But after it had taken +root in the hearts of the people and spread its +branches over the earth it was left to the ordinary +agencies of Providence. +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine writes also on the same subject: +<q>In the first days (of the Church) the Holy Ghost +came down on believers, and they spoke in tongues +which they had not learned.... These were +miracles suited to the times.... Is it now expected +that they upon whom hands are laid should +speak with tongues? Or, when we imposed hands +on these children, did each of you wait to see +whether they would speak with tongues?... If, +then, there be not now a testimony to the presence +of the Holy Spirit by means of these miracles, +whence is it proved that he has received the Holy +<pb n="283"/><anchor id="Pg283"/> +Spirit? Let him ask his own heart; if he loves his +brother, the Spirit of God abides in him.</q><note place='foot'>Tract +VI. in Ep. Joan.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Following in the footsteps of the Apostles we +find the Fathers of the Church, from the earliest +age, recognizing Confirmation as a Divine and +sacramental institution and proclaiming its salutary +effects. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The flesh,</q> says Tertullian, <q>is <emph>anointed</emph>, that +the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is marked, +that the soul may be fortified; the flesh is overshadowed +<emph>by the imposition of hands</emph>, that the soul +may be enlightened with the Spirit.</q><note place='foot'>De Resur. car.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Cyprian, speaking of the Christians baptized +in Samaria, says: <q>Because they had received the +legitimate baptism, ... what was wanting, that +was done by Peter and John, that prayer being +made for them and hands imposed, the Holy Ghost +should be invoked and poured forth upon them. +<emph>Which now also is done amongst us</emph>, so that they +who are baptized in the Church are presented to +the Bishops of the Church, and by our prayer and +imposition of hands they receive the Holy Ghost +and are perfected with the seal of the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Epist. lxxiii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Cyril of Jerusalem compares the sacred +Chrism in Confirmation to the Eucharist: <q>You +were anointed with oil, being made sharers and +partners of Christ. And see well that you regard +it not as mere ointment; for, as the bread of the +Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, +is no longer mere bread but the body of Christ, so +likewise this holy ointment is no longer common +ointment after the invocation, but the gift of +Christ and of the Holy Ghost, being rendered +efficient by His Divinity. You were anointed on +the forehead, that you might be delivered from the +<pb n="284"/><anchor id="Pg284"/> +shame which the first transgressor always experienced, +and that you might contemplate the glory +of God with an unveiled countenance.... As +Christ, after His baptism and the descent of the +Holy Ghost upon Him, going forth overcame the +adversary, so you likewise, after holy baptism and +the mysterious unction, clothed with the panoply +of the Holy Ghost, stand against the adverse +power and subdue it, saying: <q>I can do all things +in Christ, who strengtheneth me.</q></q><note place='foot'>Cat. +xxi. Mys. iii. De S. Chrism.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ambrose, commenting on these words of the +Apostle, <q>God ... hath given us the pledge of +the Spirit,</q> (II. Cor. i. 22) expressly applies the +text to the seal of Confirmation. <q>Remember,</q> +he says, <q>that you have received the spiritual seal, +the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit +of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge +and piety, the spirit of holy fear. God the Father +hath sealed you; Christ the Lord hath <emph>confirmed</emph> +you, and hath given the pledge of the Spirit in +your hearts, <emph>as you have learned from the lesson +read from the Apostle</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>De Myst. cvii. n. 42.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ambrose here speaks of the sevenfold gifts +of the Holy Ghost which are received in Confirmation, +and every Bishop in our day invokes these +same gifts on those whom he is about to confirm. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Do you know,</q> writes St. Jerome against the +sect of Luciferians of his time, <q>that it is the practice +of the churches that the imposition of hands +should be performed over baptized persons and +the Holy Ghost thus invoked? Do you ask where +it is written? In the Acts of the Apostles; but +were there no Scriptural authority at hand the +consent of the whole world in this regard would +have the force of law.</q><note place='foot'>Dial. adv. Lucifer.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="285"/><anchor id="Pg285"/> + +<p> +<q>You willingly understand,</q> says St. Augustine, +<q>by this ointment the Sacrament of Chrism, +which, indeed, in the class of visible seals is as +sacred as Baptism itself.</q><note place='foot'>L. II., contra lit. Petil.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Oriental schismatic churches recognize Confirmation +as a Sacrament, and administer the rite +as we do, by the imposition of hands and the application +of chrism. Now, some of these churches +have been separated from the Catholic Church +since the fourth and fifth centuries. This fact is +an eloquent vindication of the Apostolic antiquity +of Confirmation, and is an ample refutation of +those who would ascribe to it a more recent origin. +</p> + +<p> +Protestantism, which made such havoc of the +other Sacraments, did not fail to abolish Confirmation +in its sweeping revolution. +</p> + +<p> +The Episcopal church retains, indeed, the name +of Confirmation in its ritual, and even borrows a +portion of our prayers and ceremonial. But, in +opposition to the uniform teaching of the Catholic, +as well as of all the Oriental churches, both orthodox +and schismatic, it declares Confirmation to +be a mere rite and not a Sacrament. +</p> + +<p> +In violation of the practice of all antiquity it +mutilates the rite by omitting the sacred unction. +It retains the shadow without the substance. +</p> + +<p> +It raises, indeed, its hands over the candidates; +but they are not the anointed hands of Peter or +John, or Cyprian or Augustine, to whom it is said: +<q>Whatsoever thou shalt bless, let it be blessed; +whatsoever thou shalt sanctify, let it be +sanctified.</q><note place='foot'>Roman Pontifical.</note> +Their hands were lifted up with authority +and clothed with supernatural power; but the +hands of the Episcopal Bishops are spiritually +<pb n="286"/><anchor id="Pg286"/> +paralyzed by the suicidal act of the Reformers, +and they expressly disclaim any sacramental efficacy +in the rite which they administer. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="287"/><anchor id="Pg287"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXI. The Holy Eucharist.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXI.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXI.</head> +<head>The Holy Eucharist.</head> + +<p> +Among the various dogmas of the Catholic +Church there is none which rests on stronger +Scriptural authority than the doctrine of +the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy +Eucharist. So copious, indeed, and so clear are +the passages of the New Testament which treat +of this subject that I am at a loss to determine +which to select, and find it difficult to compress +them all within the compass of this short chapter. +</p> + +<p> +The Evangelists do not always dwell upon the +same mysteries of religion. Their practice is +rather to supplement each other, so that one of +them will mention what the others have omitted +or have touched in a cursory way. But in regard +to the Blessed Eucharist the sacred writers exhibit +a marked deviation from this rule. We find +that the four Evangelists, together with St. Paul, +have written so explicitly and abundantly on this +subject that one of them alone would be amply +sufficient to prove the dogma without taking them +collectively. +</p> + +<p> +These five inspired writers gave the weight of +their individual testimony to the doctrine of the +Eucharist because they foresaw—or rather the +Holy Ghost, speaking through them, foresaw—that +this great mystery, which exacts so strong +an exercise of our faith, and which bids us bow +<pb n="288"/><anchor id="Pg288"/> +down our <q>understanding unto the obedience of +Christ,</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. x. +5.</note> would meet with opposition in the +course of time from those who would measure the +infallible Word of God by the erring standard of +their own judgment. +</p> + +<p> +I shall select three classes of arguments from +the New Testament which satisfactorily demonstrate +the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed +Sacrament. The first of these texts speaks of the +promise of the Eucharist, the second of its institution +and the third of its use among the faithful. +</p> + +<p> +To begin with the words of the promise. While +Jesus was once preaching near the coast of the +Sea of Galilee He was followed, as usual, by an +immense multitude of persons, who were attracted +to Him by the miracles which He wrought and the +words of salvation which he spoke. Seeing that +the people had no food, He multiplied five loaves +and two fishes to such an extent as to supply the +wants of five thousand men, besides women and +children. +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord considered the present a favorable +occasion for speaking of the Sacrament of His +body and blood, which was to be distributed, not +to a few thousands, but to millions of souls; not +in one place, but everywhere; not at one time, but +for all days, to the end of the world. <q>I am,</q> He +says to His hearers, <q>the bread of life. Your +fathers did eat manna in the desert and died.... +I am the living bread which came down +from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he +shall live forever, and the bread which I will give +is My flesh for the life of the world. The Jews, +therefore, disputed among themselves, saying: +How can this man give us His flesh to eat? Then +Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you: +<pb n="289"/><anchor id="Pg289"/> +Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and +drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you. He +that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath +everlasting life, and I will raise him up on the last +day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood +drink indeed.</q><note place='foot'>John vi. 48-56.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If these words had fallen on your ears for the +first time, and if you had been among the number +of our Savior's hearers on that occasion, would +you not have been irresistibly led, by the noble simplicity +of His words, to understand Him as speaking +truly of His body and blood? For His language +is not susceptible of any other interpretation. +</p> + +<p> +When our Savior says to the Jews: <q>Your +fathers did eat manna and died, ... but he that +eateth this (Eucharistic) bread shall live forever,</q> +He evidently wishes to affirm the superiority +of the food which He would give, over the +manna by which the children of Israel were +nourished. +</p> + +<p> +Now, if the Eucharist were merely commemorative +bread and wine, instead of being superior, it +would be really inferior to the manna; for the +manna was supernatural, heavenly, miraculous +food, while bread and wine are a natural, earthly +food. +</p> + +<p> +But the best and the most reliable interpreters +of our Savior's words are certainly the multitude +and the disciples who are listening to Him. They +all understood the import of His language precisely +as it is explained by the Catholic Church. They +believed that our Lord spoke literally of His body +and blood. The Evangelist tells us that the Jews +<q>disputed among themselves, saying: How can +this man give us His flesh to eat?</q> Even His disciples, +though avoiding the disrespectful language +of the multitude, gave expression to their doubt in +<pb n="290"/><anchor id="Pg290"/> +this milder form: <q>This saying is hard, and who +can hear it?</q><note place='foot'>John vi. +61.</note> So much were they shocked at our +Savior's promise that <q>after this many of His disciples +went back and walked no more with Him.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. vi. 67.</note> +They evidently implied, by their words and conduct, +that they understood Jesus to have spoken +literally of His flesh; for, had they interpreted His +words in a figurative sense, it would not have been +a hard saying, nor have led them to abandon their +Master. +</p> + +<p> +But, perhaps, I shall be told that the disciples +and the Jews who heard our Savior may have misinterpreted +His meaning by taking His words in +the literal acceptation, while He may have spoken +in a figurative sense. This objection is easily disposed +of. It sometimes happened, indeed, that +our Savior was misunderstood by His hearers. On +such occasions He always took care to remove +from their mind the wrong impression they had +formed by stating His meaning in simpler language. +Thus, for instance, having told Nicodemus +that unless a man be born again he cannot +enter the kingdom of heaven, and having observed +that His meaning was not correctly apprehended +by this disciple our Savior added: <q>Unless a man +be born again of water and the Holy Ghost he cannot +enter the kingdom of heaven.</q><note place='foot'>John iii.</note> And again, +when he warned His disciples against the leaven +of the Pharisees, and finding that they had taken +an erroneous meaning from His word, He immediately +subjoined that they should beware of the +doctrine of the Pharisees.<note place='foot'>Matt. xvi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But in the present instance does our Savior alter +His language when He finds His words taken in +the literal sense? Does He tell His hearers that +<pb n="291"/><anchor id="Pg291"/> +He has spoken figuratively? Does He soften the +tone of His expression? Far from weakening the +force of His words He repeats what He said before, +and in language more emphatic: <q>Amen, +amen, I say unto you, Unless ye eat the flesh of +the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not +have life in you.</q> +</p> + +<p> +When our Savior beheld the Jews and many of +His disciples abandoning Him, turning to the +chosen twelve, He said feelingly to them: <q>Will +ye also go away? And Simon Peter answered +Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the +words of eternal life.</q><note place='foot'>John +vi. 68, 69.</note> You, my dear reader, +must also take your choice. Will you reply with +the Jews, or with the disciples of little faith, or +with Peter? Ah! let some say with the unbelieving +Jews: <q>How can this man give us His flesh to +eat?</q> Let others say with the unfaithful disciples: +<q>This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?</q> +But do you say with Peter: <q>Lord, to whom shall +we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.</q> +</p> + +<p> +So far I have dwelt on the words of the Promise. +I shall now proceed to the words of the Institution, +which are given in almost the same expressions by +St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke. In the Gospel +according to St. Matthew we read the following +narrative: <q>And while they were at supper, +Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke and gave +to His disciples and said: Take ye and eat. This +is My body. And taking the chalice, He gave +thanks and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of +this; for this is My blood of the New Testament, +which shall be shed for many unto remission of +sins.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxvi. 26-28.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I beg you to recall to mind the former text relative +to the Promise and to compare it with this. +<pb n="292"/><anchor id="Pg292"/> +How admirably they fit together, like two links in +a chain! How faithfully has Jesus fulfilled the +Promise which He made! Could any idea be expressed +in clearer terms than these: This is My +body; this is My blood? +</p> + +<p> +Why is the Catholic interpretation of these +words rejected by Protestants? Is it because the +text is in itself obscure and ambiguous? By no +means; but simply because they do not comprehend +how God could perform so stupendous a +miracle as to give His body and blood for our +spiritual nourishment. +</p> + +<p> +Is, then, the power or the mercy of God to be +measured by the narrow rule of the human understanding? +Is the Almighty not permitted to do +anything except what we can sanction by our reason? +Is a thing to be declared impossible because +we cannot see its possibility? +</p> + +<p> +Has not God created the heavens and the earth +<emph>out of nothing</emph> by the fiat of His word? What a +mystery is this! Does He not hold this world in +the midst of space? Does He not transform the +tiny blade into nutritious grain? Did He not feed +upwards of five thousand persons with five loaves +and two fishes? What a mystery! Did He not +rain down manna from heaven for forty years to +feed the children of Israel in the desert? Did He +not change rivers into blood in Egypt, and water +into wine at the wedding of Cana? Does he not +daily make devout souls the tabernacles of the +Holy Ghost? And shall we have the hardihood to +deny, in spite of our Lord's plain declaration, that +God, who works these wonders, is able to change +bread and wine into His body and blood for the +food of our souls? +</p> + +<p> +You tell me it is a mystery above your comprehension. +A mystery, indeed. A religion that rejects +<pb n="293"/><anchor id="Pg293"/> +a revealed truth because it is incomprehensible +contains in itself the seeds of dissolution and +will end in rationalism. Is not everything around +us a mystery? Are we not a mystery to ourselves? +Explain to me how the blood circulates in your +veins, how the soul animates and permeates the +whole body, how the hand moves at the will of the +soul. Explain to me the mystery of life and +death. +</p> + +<p> +Is not the Scripture full of incomprehensible +mysteries? Do you not believe in the Trinity—a +mystery not only above, but apparently contrary +to, reason? Do you not admit the Incarnation—that +the helpless infant in Bethlehem was God? I +understand why Rationalists, who admit nothing +above their reason, reject the Real Presence; but +that Bible Christians should reject it is to me incomprehensible. +</p> + +<p> +But do those who reject the Catholic interpretation +explain this text to their own satisfaction: +<q>This is My body, etc?</q> Alas! here their burden +begins. Only a few years after the early Reformers +had rejected the Catholic doctrine of the +Eucharist no fewer than one hundred meanings +were given to these words: <q>This is My body.</q> +It is far easier to destroy than to rebuild. +</p> + +<p> +Let me now offer you some additional reasons +in favor of the Catholic or literal sense. According +to a common rule observed in the interpretation +of the Holy Scripture, we must always take +the words in their literal signification, unless we +have some special reason which obliges us to accept +them in a figurative meaning. Now, in the +present instance, far from being forced to employ +the words above quoted in a figurative sense, every +circumstance connected with the delivery of them +<pb n="294"/><anchor id="Pg294"/> +obliges us to interpret them in their plain and +literal acceptation. +</p> + +<p> +To whom did our Savior address these words? +At what time and under what circumstances did +He speak? He was addressing His few chosen disciples, +to whom He promised to speak in future, +not in parables nor in obscure language, but +in the words of simple truth. He uttered these +words the night before His Passion. And when +will a person use plainer speech than at the point +of death? +</p> + +<p> +These words: <q>This is My body; this is My +blood,</q> embodied a new dogma of faith which all +were obliged to believe, and a new law which all +were obliged to practice. They were the last will +and testament of our blessed Savior. What language +should be plainer than that which contains +an article of faith? What words should be more +free from tropes and figures than those which enforce +a Divine law? But, above all, where will you +find any words more plain and unvarnished than +those contained in a last will? +</p> + +<p> +Now, if we understand these words in their +plain and obvious; that is, in their Catholic, sense, +no language can be more simple and intelligible. +But if we depart from the Catholic interpretation, +then it is impossible to attach to them any reasonable +meaning. +</p> + +<p> +We now arrive at the third class of Scripture +texts which have reference to the use or reception +of the Sacrament among the faithful. +</p> + +<p> +When Jesus, as you remember, instituted the +Eucharist at His last Supper He commanded His +disciples and their successors to renew, till the +end of time, in remembrance of Him, the ceremony +which He performed. What I have done, +do ye also <q>for a commemoration of Me.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xxii. 19.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="295"/><anchor id="Pg295"/> + +<p> +We have a very satisfactory means of ascertaining +the Apostolic belief in the doctrine of the +Eucharist by examining what the Apostles did in +commemoration of our Lord. Did they bless and +distribute mere bread and wine to the faithful, or +did they consecrate, as they believed, the body and +blood of Jesus Christ? If they professed to give +only bread and wine in memory of our Lord's +Supper, then the Catholic interpretation falls to +the ground. If, on the contrary, we find the +Apostles and their successors, from the first to the +nineteenth century, professing to consecrate and +dispense the body and blood of Christ, and doing +so by virtue of the command of their Savior, then +the Catholic interpretation alone is admissible. +</p> + +<p> +Let St. Paul be our first witness. Represent yourself +as a member of the primitive Christian congregation +assembled in Corinth. About eighteen +years after St. Matthew wrote his Gospel, a letter +is read from the Apostle Paul, in which the following +words occur: <q>The chalice of benediction +which we bless, is it not the communion of the +blood of Christ? and the bread which we break, +is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?... +For, I have received of the Lord that which +also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the +night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and +giving thanks, brake it, and said: Take and eat: +this is My body which shall be delivered for you. +This do for the commemoration of Me. In like +manner also the chalice, after the supper, saying: +This cup is the New Covenant in My blood. This +do ye, as often as ye shall drink, for the commemoration +of Me. For, as often as ye shall eat this +bread, and drink the cup, ye shall show the death +of the Lord until He come. Therefore, whoever +shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the +Lord unworthily, <emph>shall be guilty of the body and of +<pb n="296"/><anchor id="Pg296"/> +the blood of the Lord</emph>. But let a man prove himself; +and so let him eat of that bread and drink of +the chalice. For, he who eateth and drinketh unworthily, +eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, +<emph>not discerning the body of the Lord</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. x. 16, and xi. 23-29.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Could St. Paul express more clearly his belief +in the Real Presence than he has done here? The +Apostle distinctly affirms that the chalice and +bread which he and his fellow Apostles bless is a +participation of the body and blood of Christ. And +surely no one could be said to partake of that divine +food by eating ordinary bread. Mark these +words of the Apostle: Whosoever shall take the +Sacrament unworthily <q>shall be guilty of the body +and blood of the Lord.</q> What a heinous crime! +For these words signify that he who receives the +Sacrament unworthily shall be guilty of the sin of +high treason, and of shedding the blood of his +Lord in vain. But how could he be guilty of a +crime so enormous, if he had taken in the Eucharist +only a particle of bread and wine. Would a +man be accused of homicide, in this commonwealth, +if he were to offer violence to the statue or painting +of the governor? Certainly not. In like manner, +St. Paul would not be so unreasonable as to +declare a man guilty of trampling on the blood of +his Savior by drinking in an unworthy manner a +little wine in memory of Him. +</p> + +<p> +Study also these words: <q>He who eateth and +drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh condemnation +to himself, <emph>not discerning the body of the +Lord</emph>.</q> The unworthy receiver is condemned for +not recognizing or discerning in the Eucharist the +body of the Lord. How could he be blamed for +not discerning the body of the Lord, if there were +only bread and wine before him? Hence, if the +<pb n="297"/><anchor id="Pg297"/> +words of St. Paul are figuratively understood, they +are distorted, forced and exaggerated terms, without +meaning or truth. But, if they are taken literally, +they are full of sense and of awful significance, +and an eloquent commentary on the words +I have quoted from the Evangelist. +</p> + +<p> +The Fathers of the Church, without an exception, +re-echo the language of the Apostle of the +Gentiles by proclaiming the Real Presence of our +Lord in the Eucharist. I have counted the names +of sixty-three Fathers and eminent Ecclesiastical +writers flourishing between the first and sixth century +all of whom proclaim the Real Presence—some +by explaining the mystery, others by thanking +God for his inestimable gift, and others by exhorting +the faithful to its worthy reception. From +such a host of witnesses I can select here only a +few at random. +</p> + +<p> +St. Ignatius, a disciple of St. Peter, speaking of +a sect called Gnostics, says: <q>They abstain from +the Eucharist and prayer, because they confess +not that the Eucharist and prayer is the flesh of +our Savior Jesus Christ.</q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Justin Martyr, in an apology to the Emperor +Antoninus, writes in the second century: +<q>We do not receive these things as common bread +and drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior was +made flesh by the word of God, even so we have +been taught that the Eucharist is <emph>both the flesh and +the blood of the same incarnate Jesus</emph>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Origen (third century) writes: <q>If thou wilt go +up with Christ to celebrate the Passover, He will +give to thee that bread of benediction, His own +body, and will vouchsafe to thee His own blood.</q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Cyril, of Jerusalem (fourth century), instructing +the Catechumens, observes: <q>He Himself +having declared, <emph>This is My body</emph>, who shall +<pb n="298"/><anchor id="Pg298"/> +dare to doubt henceforward? And He having +said, <emph>This is My blood</emph>, who shall ever doubt, saying: +This is not His blood? He once at Cana +turned water into wine, which is akin to blood; +and is He undeserving of belief when He turned +wine into blood?</q> He seems to be arguing with +modern unbelief. +</p> + +<p> +St. John Chrysostom, who died in the beginning +of the fifth century, preaching on the Eucharist, +says: <q>If thou wert indeed incorporeal, He would +have delivered to thee those same incorporeal gifts +without covering. But since the soul is united to +the body, He delivers to thee in things perceptible +to the senses the things to be apprehended by the +understanding. How many nowadays say: <q>Would +that they could look upon His (Jesus') form, His +figure, His raiment, His shoes. Lo! thou seest +Him, touchest Him, eatest Him.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine (fifth century), addressing the +newly-baptized, says: <q>I promised you a discourse +wherein I would explain the sacrament of +the Lord's table, which sacrament you even now +behold, and of which you were last night made partakers. +You ought to know what you have received. +The bread which you see on the altar, +after being sanctified by the word of God, is the +body of Christ. That chalice, after being sanctified +by the word of God, is the blood of Christ.</q><note place='foot'>See +<q>Faith of Catholics.</q> Vol. II.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But why multiply authorities? At the present +day every Christian communion throughout the +world, with the sole exception of Protestants, proclaim +its belief in the Real Presence of Christ in +the Sacrament. +</p> + +<p> +The Nestorians and Eutychians, who separated +from the Catholic Church in the fifth century, admit +the corporeal presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. +<pb n="299"/><anchor id="Pg299"/> +Such also is the faith of the Greek church, +which seceded from us a thousand years ago, of +the Present Russian church, of the schismatic +Copts, the Syrians, Chaldeans, Armenians, and, in +short, of all the Oriental sects no longer in communion +with the See of Rome. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="300"/><anchor id="Pg300"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXII. Communion Under One Kind.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXII.</head> +<head>Communion Under One Kind.</head> + +<p> +Our Savior gave communion under both +forms of bread and wine to His Apostles +at the last Supper. Officiating Bishops and +Priests are always required, except on Good Friday, +to communicate under both kinds. But even +the clergy of every rank, including the Pope, receive +only of the consecrated bread unless when +they celebrate Mass. +</p> + +<p> +The Church teaches that Christ is contained +whole and entire under each species; so that whoever +communicates under the form of bread <emph>or</emph> of +wine receives not a mutilated Sacrament or a +divided Savior, but shares in the whole Sacrament +as fully as if he participated in both forms. +Hence, the layman who receives the consecrated +Bread partakes as copiously of the body and blood +of Christ as the officiating Priest who receives +both consecrated elements. +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord says: <q>I am the living bread which +came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this +bread, he shall live forever; and the bread which I +will give is My flesh, for the life of the world.... +He that eateth Me the same also shall live by Me. +He that eateth this bread shall live forever.</q><note place='foot'>John +vi. 51, and seq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From this passage it is evident that whoever +partakes of the form of bread partakes of the living +<pb n="301"/><anchor id="Pg301"/> +flesh of Jesus Christ, which is inseparable from +His blood, and which, being now in a glorious +state, cannot be divided; for, <q>Christ rising from +the dead, dieth now no more.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. +vi. 9.</note> Our Lord, in His +words quoted, makes no reference to the sacramental +cup, but only to the Eucharistic bread, to +which He ascribes all the efficacy which is attached +to communion under both kinds, viz., union with +Him, spiritual life, eternal salvation. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: +<q>Whosoever shall eat this bread, <emph>or</emph> drink the +chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of +the body <emph>and</emph> of the blood of the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. xi. 27.</note> The +Apostle here plainly declares that, by an unworthy +participation in the Lord's Supper, under the +form of either bread or wine, we profane both the +body and the blood of Christ. How could this be +so, unless Christ is entirely contained under each +species? So forcibly, indeed, did the Apostle assert +the Catholic doctrine that the Protestant +translators have perverted the text by rendering +it: <q>Whosoever shall eat this bread <emph>and</emph> drink the +chalice,</q> substituting <emph>and</emph> for <emph>or</emph>, in contradiction +to the Greek original, of which the Catholic version +is an exact translation. +</p> + +<p> +It is also the received doctrine of the Fathers +that the Eucharist is contained in all its integrity +either in the consecrated bread or in the chalice. +St. Augustine, who may be taken as a sample of +the rest, says that <q>each one receives Christ the +Lord <emph>entire</emph> under each particle.</q><note place='foot'>Aug. +De consec. dist.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Luther himself, even after his revolt, was so +clearly convinced of this truth that he was an uncompromising +advocate of communion under one +kind. <q>If any Council,</q> he says, <q>should decree +or permit both species, we would by no means +<pb n="302"/><anchor id="Pg302"/> +acquiesce; but, in spite of the Council and its statute, +we would use one form, or neither, and never +both.</q><note place='foot'>De formula Missæ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Leibnitz, the eminent Protestant divine, observes: +<q><emph>It cannot be denied</emph> that Christ is received +entire by <emph>virtue</emph> of concomitance, under each +species; nor is His flesh separated from His +blood.</q><note place='foot'>Systema Theol., p. 250.</note> +</p> + +<p> +As the same virtue is contained in the Sacrament, +whether administered in one or both forms, +the faithful gain nothing by receiving under both +kinds, and lose nothing by receiving under one +form. Consequently, we nowhere find our Savior +requiring the communion to be administered to the +faithful under both forms; but He has left this +matter to be regulated by the wisdom and discretion +of the Church, as He has done with regard to +the manner of administering Baptism. +</p> + +<p> +Our Redeemer, it is true, has said: <q>Drink ye +all of this.</q> But it should be remembered that +these words were addressed not to the people at +large, but only to the Apostles, who alone were +also commanded, on the same occasion, to consecrate +His body and blood in remembrance of Him. +Now we have no more right to infer that the faithful +are obliged to drink of the cup, because the +Apostles were commanded to drink of it, than we +have to suppose that the laity are required or allowed +to consecrate the bread and wine, because +the power of doing so was at the last Supper conferred +on the Apostles. +</p> + +<p> +It is true also that our Lord said to the people: +<q>Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and +drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you.</q> +But this command is literally fulfilled by the laity +when they partake of the consecrated bread, which, +as we have seen, contains Christ the Lord in all +<pb n="303"/><anchor id="Pg303"/> +His integrity. Hence, if our Savior has said: +<q>Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, +hath everlasting life,</q> He has also said: <q>The +bread which I will give is My flesh, for the life of +the world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It seems to me that the charge of withholding +the cup comes with very bad grace from Protestant +teachers, who destroy the whole intrinsic virtue +of the Sacrament by giving to their followers +nothing but bread and wine. The difference between +them and us lies in this—that under one +form we give the <emph>substance</emph>, while they under two +forms confessedly give only the <emph>shadow</emph>. +</p> + +<p> +In examining the history of the Church on the +subject we find that up to the twelfth century communion +was sometimes distributed in one form, +sometimes in another, commonly in both. +</p> + +<p> +First—St. Luke tells us that the converts of +Jerusalem <q>were persevering in the doctrine of +the Apostles, and in the communion of bread (as +the Eucharist was sometimes familiarly called), +and in prayer.</q><note place='foot'>Acts ii. +42.</note> Again he speaks of the Christian +disciples assembled at Troas on the Lord's day, +<q>to break bread.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. xx. +7.</note> We are led to conclude from +these passages that the Apostles sometimes distributed +the communion in the form of bread +alone, as no reference is made to the cup. +</p> + +<p> +It was certainly the custom to carry to the sick +only the consecrated Host. Surely if there is any +period of life when nothing should be neglected +which conduces to salvation it is the time of approaching +death. Eusebius tells us that the aged +Serapion received only the Sacred Bread at the +hands of the Priest. In the <hi rend='italic'>Life</hi> of St. Ambrose +we are told that in his last illness the consecrated +Host alone was given to Him. +</p> + +<pb n="304"/><anchor id="Pg304"/> + +<p> +The Christians in time of persecution, confessors +of the faith confined in prison, travellers on +their journey, soldiers before engaging in battle +and hermits living in the desert were permitted to +keep with them and to fortify themselves with the +consecrated Bread—as Tertullian, Cyprian, Basil, +Ambrose and other Fathers of the Church testify. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the Mass of the <hi rend='italic'>Presanctified</hi>, celebrated +in the Latin church on Good Friday only, +and in the Greek church on every day in Lent, except +Saturdays and Sundays, the officiating Priest +receives the consecrated Bread alone.<note place='foot'>Alzog's +Hist., Vol. I., p. 721.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In all these instances the communicants never +doubted that they received the Lord's Supper in +its integrity. Surely the conscientious guides of +the faith would sooner withhold altogether the +Sacred Host from their flocks than permit them +to partake of a mutilated Sacrament. +</p> + +<p> +Second—In the primitive days of the Church +the Holy Communion used to be imparted to infants, +but only in the form of wine. The Priest +dipped his finger in the consecrated chalice and +gave it to be sucked by the infant. This custom +prevails to this day among the schismatic Christians +of all Oriental rites. In some instances the +Sacred Host, saturated in the cup, is given to the +child.<note place='foot'>Denziger, Rit. Orientales.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Third—Public Communion was, indeed, usually +administered in the first ages under both forms. +The faithful, however, had the privilege of dispensing +with the cup and of partaking only of the +bread until the time of Pope Gelasius, in the fifth +century, when this general, but hitherto optional, +practice of receiving under both kinds was enforced +as a law for the following reason: +</p> + +<p> +The Manichean sect abstained from the cup on +<pb n="305"/><anchor id="Pg305"/> +the erroneous assumption that the use of wine was +sinful. Pope Gelasius, in order to detect and condemn +the error of those sectaries, left it no longer +optional with the faithful to receive under one or +both forms, but ordained that all should communicate +under both kinds. +</p> + +<p> +This law continued in force for several ages, but +towards the thirteenth century, for various causes, +it had gradually grown into disuse, with the tacit +approval of the Church. The Council of Constance, +which convened in 1414, established a law +requiring the faithful to communicate under the +form of bread only; and in taking this step, the +Council was actuated both by reasons of propriety +and of religion. +</p> + +<p> +The wide-spread diffusion of Christianity +throughout the world had rendered it very difficult +to supply all the faithful with the consecrated +wine. Such inconvenience is scarcely felt by Protestant +communicants, whose numbers are limited +and who ordinarily communicate only on certain +Sundays of each month. The Catholics of the +world, on the contrary, number about three hundred +millions; and as communion is administered +to some of the faithful almost every day +in most of our churches and chapels, and as the +annual communions in every parish church are +generally at least twice as numerous as its aggregate +Catholic population, the sum total of annual +communions throughout the globe may be estimated +in round numbers at not less than five hundred +millions. What effort would be required to +procure altar-wine for such a multitude? In my +missionary journeys through North Carolina I +have often found it no easy task to provide for the +celebration of Mass a sufficiency of pure wine, +<pb n="306"/><anchor id="Pg306"/> +which is essential for the validity of the sacrifice. +This embarrassment would be increased beyond +measure if the cup had to be extended to the laity, +and still more in the coal regions, where the cultivation +of the grape is unknown and where imported +wine is exclusively used.<note place='foot'>While Protestants +consider the cup as an indispensable +part of the communion service, they do not seem, in many instances, +to be very particular as to what the cup will contain. +And the New York <hi rend='italic'>Independent</hi>, of September 21, 1876, relates +the following incident: <q>A late English traveler found a Baptist +mission church, in far-off Burmah, using for the communion +service Bass's pale ale instead of wine. The opening +of the frothing bottle on the communion table seemed +not quite decorous to the visitor, who presented the pastor +with a half-dozen bottles of claret for sacramental use.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +It would be very distasteful, besides, for so +many communicants to drink successively out of +the same chalice, which would be unavoidable if the +Sacrament were administered in both forms. In +our larger churches, where communion is distributed +every Sunday to hundreds, there would be +great danger of spilling a portion of the consecrated +chalice and of thus exposing it to profanation. +</p> + +<p> +But above all, as the Church in the fifth century, +through her chief Pastor, Gelasius, enforced the +use of the cup to expose and reprobate the error +of the Manichees, who imagined that the use of +wine was sinful; so in the fifteenth century she +withdrew the cup to condemn the novelties of the +Calixtines, who taught that the consecrated wine +was necessary for a valid communion. Should circumstances +ever justify or demand a change from +the present discipline the Church will not hesitate +to restore the cup to the laity. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="307"/><anchor id="Pg307"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXIII. The Sacrifice Of The Mass.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXIII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXIII.</head> +<head>The Sacrifice Of The Mass.</head> + +<p> +Sacrifice is the oblation or offering made +to God of some sensible object, with the destruction +or change of the object, to denote +that God is the Author of life and death. Thus, +in the Old Law, before the coming of Christ, when +the Hebrew people wished to offer sacrifice to God +they took a lamb or some other animal, which they +slew and burned its flesh, acknowledging by this +act that the Lord was the supreme Master of life +and death. The ancients offered to God two kinds +of sacrifices, viz., living creatures, such as bulls, +lambs and birds; and inanimate objects, such as +wheat and barley, and, in general, the first fruits +of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +All nations—whether Jews, idolaters or Christians, +except Mahometans and modern Protestants—have +made sacrifice their principal act of +worship. If you go back to the very dawn of creation, +you will find the children of Adam offering +sacrifices to God. Abel offered to the Lord the +firstlings of his flock, and Cain offered of the fruits +of the earth.<note place='foot'>Gen. iv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When Noe and his family are rescued from the +deluge which had spread over the face of the earth +his first act on issuing from the ark, when the +waters disappear, is to offer holocausts to the +<pb n="308"/><anchor id="Pg308"/> +Lord, in thanksgiving for his preservation.<note place='foot'>Gen. viii.</note> Abraham, +the great father of the Jewish race, offered +victims to the Almighty at His express command.<note place='foot'>Ibid. xv.</note> +We read that Job was accustomed to offer holocausts +to the Lord, to propitiate His favor in behalf +of his children, and to obtain forgiveness for +the sins they might have committed.<note place='foot'>Job. i.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When Jehovah delivered to Moses the written +law on Mount Sinai He gave His servant the most +minute details with regard to all the ceremonies to +be observed in the sacrifices which were to be offered +to Him. He prescribed the kind of victims +to be immolated, the qualifications of the Priests +who were to minister at the altar, and the place +and manner in which the victims were to be +offered. Hence, it was the custom of the Jewish +Priests to slay every day two lambs as a sacrifice +to God,<note place='foot'>Numb. xxviii.</note> +and in doing this they were prefiguring +the great sacrifice of the New Law, in which we +daily offer up on the altar <q>the Lamb of God, who +taketh away the sins of the world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In a word, in all their public calamities—whenever +they were threatened by their enemies; whenever +they were about to engage in war; whenever +they were visited by any plague or pestilence—the +Jews had recourse to God by solemn sacrifices. +Like the Catholic Church of the present day, they +had sacrifices not only for the living, but also for +the dead; for we read in Sacred Scripture that +Judas Machabeus ordered sacrifice to be offered +up for the souls of his men who were slain in +battle.<note place='foot'>II. Mac. xii. 43-46.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We find sacrifices existing not only among the +Jews, who worshiped the true God, but also +among Pagan and idolatrous nations. +<pb n="309"/><anchor id="Pg309"/> +No matter how confused, imperfect or erroneous +was their knowledge of the Deity, the Pagan nations +retained sufficient vestiges of primitive tradition +to admonish them of their obligation of appeasing +the anger and invoking the blessings of the +Divinity by victims and sacrifices. Plutarch, an +ancient writer of the second century, says of these +heathen people: <q>You may find cities without +walls, without literature and without the arts and +sciences of civilized life; but you will never find a +city without Priests and altars, or which has not +sacrifices offered to the gods.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Indians of our own country were accustomed +to offer sacrifice to the Great Spirit, as +Father Jogues and other pioneer missionaries inform +us. But all those ancient sacrifices were only +the types and figures of the great Sacrifice of the +New Law, from which they derived all their efficacy, +just as the Old Law itself was the type of the +New Law of grace. Since the ancient sacrifices +were but figures and shadows, they were imperfect +and insufficient; for <q>it is impossible,</q> says St. +Paul, <q>that by the blood of oxen and of goats sins +should be taken away. Wherefore, when He +(Jesus) cometh into the world, He saith: Sacrifice +and oblation Thou wouldst not, but a body Thou +hast fitted to me. Holocausts for sin did not please +Thee. Then said I: Behold, I come.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. +x. 4, 7.</note> As if He +should say: The blood of oxen and of goats is not +sufficient to appease Thy vengeance, and to cleanse +Thy people from their sins; therefore I come, that +I may offer Myself an acceptable sacrifice for the +sins of the world. +</p> + +<p> +The Prophet Isaiah declared that the Jewish +sacrifices had become displeasing to God and +would be abolished. <q>To what purpose,</q> says the +<pb n="310"/><anchor id="Pg310"/> +Lord by His prophet, <q>do you offer Me the multitude +of your victims?... I desire not holocausts +of rams, ... and blood of calves and lambs and +buck-goats ... Offer sacrifice no more in vain.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah +i. 11-13.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But did God, in rejecting the Jewish oblations, +intend to abolish sacrifices altogether? By no +means. On the contrary, He clearly predicts, by +the mouth of the Prophet Malachias, that the immolations +of the Jews would be succeeded by a +clean victim, which would be offered up not on a +single altar, as was the case in Jerusalem, but in +every part of the known world. Listen to the significant +words addressed to the Jews by this +prophet: <q>I have no pleasure in you, saith the +Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your +hand. For, from the rising of the sun, even to the +going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, +and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is +offered to My name a clean oblation; for My Name +is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of +hosts.</q><note place='foot'>Mal. i. 10, +11.</note> The prophet here clearly foretells that +an acceptable oblation would be offered to God not +by Jews, but by Gentiles; not merely in Jerusalem, +but in every place from the rising to the +setting of the sun. These prophetic words must +have been fulfilled. Where shall we find the fulfilment +of the prophecy? +</p> + +<p> +We may divide the inhabitants of the world into +five different classes of people, professing different +forms of religion—Pagans, Jews, Mohammedans, +Protestants and Catholics. Among which of +these shall we find the clean oblation of which the +prophet speaks? Not among the Pagan nations; +for they worship false gods, and consequently cannot +have any sacrifice pleasing to the Almighty. +Not among the Jews; for they have ceased to sacrifice +<pb n="311"/><anchor id="Pg311"/> +altogether, and the words of the prophet +apply not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. Not +among the Mohammedans; for they also reject sacrifices. +Not among any of the Protestant sects; for +they all distinctly repudiate sacrifices. Therefore, +it is only in the Catholic Church that is fulfilled +this glorious prophecy; for whithersoever you go, +you will find the clean oblation offered on Catholic +altars. If you travel from America to Europe, to +Oceanica, to Africa, or Asia, you will see our +altars erected, and our Priests daily fulfilling the +words of the prophets by offering the <q>clean +oblation</q> of the body and blood of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +This oblation of the New Law is commonly +called <hi rend='italic'>Mass</hi>. The word Mass is derived by some +from the Hebrew term <hi rend='italic'>Missach</hi> (Deut. xvi.), which +means a free offering. Others derive it from the +word <hi rend='italic'>Missa</hi>, which the Priest uses when he announces +to the congregation that Divine Service is +over. It is an expression indelibly marked on our +English tongue from the origin of our language, +and we find it embodied in such words as <hi rend='italic'>Candlemas</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Michaelmas</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Martin-mas</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Christmas</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The sacrifice of the Mass is the consecration of +the bread and wine into the body and blood of +Christ, and the oblation of this body and blood to +God, by the ministry of the Priest, for a perpetual +memorial of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. The +Sacrifice of the Mass is identical with that of the +cross, both having the same victim and High +Priest—Jesus Christ. +</p> + +<p> +The only difference consists in the manner of +the oblation. Christ was offered up on the cross +in a bloody manner, and in the Mass He is offered +up in an unbloody manner. On the cross He purchased +our ransom, and in the Eucharistic Sacrifice +the price of that ransom is applied to our +<pb n="312"/><anchor id="Pg312"/> +souls. Hence, all the efficacy of the Mass is derived +from the sacrifice of Calvary. +</p> + +<p> +It was on the night before He suffered that our +Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrifice of the +New Law. <q>Jesus,</q> says St. Paul, <q>the night in +which He was betrayed took bread, and, giving +thanks, broke and said: Take ye and eat; this is +My body which shall be delivered for you. This +do for the commemoration of Me. In like manner +also the chalice, after He had supped, saying: +This chalice is the new testament in My blood. +This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration +of Me; for as often as ye shall eat this +bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall show the +death of the Lord until He come.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. xi. 23-26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From these words we learn that the principal +motive which our Savior had in view in instituting +the Sacrifice of the Altar was to keep us in perpetual +remembrance of His sufferings and death. +He wished that the scene of Calvary should ever appear +in panoramic view before our eyes, and that +our heart, memory and intellect should be filled +with the thoughts of His Passion. He knew well +that this would be the best means of winning our +love and exciting sorrow for sin in our soul; +therefore, He designed that in every church +throughout the world an altar should be erected, +to serve as a monument of His mercies to His +people, as the children of Israel erected a monument, +on crossing the Jordan, to commemorate +His mercies to His chosen people. The Mass is +truly the memorial service of Christ's Passion. +</p> + +<p> +In compliance with the command of our Lord +the adorable Sacrifice of the Altar has been daily +renewed in the Church, from the death of our +<pb n="313"/><anchor id="Pg313"/> +Savior till the present time, and will be perpetuated +till time shall be no more. +</p> + +<p> +In the Acts it is said that while Saul and others +were ministering (or, as the Greek text expresses +it, <emph>sacrificing</emph>) to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy +Spirit said to them: <q>Set apart for Me Saul and +Barnabas.</q> St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, +frequently alludes to the Sacrifice of the +Mass. <q>We have an altar,</q> he says, <q>"whereof +they cannot eat who serve the tabernacle.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. +xiii. 10.</note> The +Apostle here plainly declares that the Christian +church has its altars as well as the Jewish synagogue. +An altar necessarily supposes a sacrifice, +without which it has no meaning. The Apostle +also observes that the priesthood of the New Law +was substituted for that of the Old Law.<note place='foot'>Ibid. vii. 12.</note> +Now, the principal office of Priests has always been to +offer sacrifice. Priest and sacrifice are as closely +identified as judge and court. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul, after David, calls Jesus <q>a Priest forever, +according to the order of Melchisedech.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. +cix. 4; Heb. v. 6.</note> +He is named a <emph>Priest</emph> because He offers sacrifice; +a Priest <emph>forever</emph> because His sacrifice is perpetual; +<emph>according to the order of Melchisedech</emph> because +He offers up consecrated bread and wine, +which were prefigured by the bread and wine offered +by <q>Melchisedech, the Priest of the Most +High God.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. xiv. 18.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Tradition, with its hundred tongues, proclaims +the perpetual oblation of the Sacrifice of the Mass, +from the time of the Apostles to our own days. If +we consult the Fathers of the Church, who have +stood like faithful sentinels on the watch-towers of +Israel, guarding with a jealous eye the deposit of +faith, and who have been the faithful witnesses of +<pb n="314"/><anchor id="Pg314"/> +their own times and the recorders of the past; if +we consult the General Councils, at which were assembled +the venerable hierarchy of Christendom, +they will all tell us, with one voice, that the Sacrifice +of the Mass is the centre of their religion and +the acknowledged institution of Jesus Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Another remarkable evidence in favor of the +Divine institution of the Mass is furnished by the +Nestorians and Eutychians, who separated from +the Catholic Church in the fifth century, and who +still exist in Persia and in other parts of the East, +as well as by the Greek schismatics, who severed +their connection with the Church in the ninth century. +All these sects, as well as the numerous +others scattered over the East, retain to this day +the oblation of the Mass in their daily service. As +these Christian communities have had no communication +with the Catholic Church since the +period of their separation from her, they could +not, of course, have borrowed from her the doctrine +of the Eucharistic Sacrifice; consequently +they must have received it from the same source +from which the Church derived it, viz., from the +Apostles themselves. +</p> + +<p> +But of all proofs in favor of the Apostolic origin +of the Sacrifice of the Mass, the most striking and +the most convincing is found in the Liturgies of +the Church. The Liturgy is the established Ritual +of the Church. It is the collection of the authorized +prayers of divine worship. These prayers +are fixed and immovable. Among others we have +the Liturgy of Jerusalem, ascribed to the Apostle +St. James; the Liturgy of Alexandria, attributed +to St. Mark the Evangelist, and the Liturgy of +Rome, referred to St. Peter. There are various +other Liturgies accredited to the Apostles or to +their immediate successors. Now I wish to call +<pb n="315"/><anchor id="Pg315"/> +your attention to this remarkable fact, that all +these Liturgies, though compiled by different persons, +at different times, in various places, and in +divers languages, contain, without exception, in +clear and precise language, the prayers to be said +at the celebration of Mass; prayers in substance +the same as those found in our prayer books at the +Canon of the Mass. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot account for this wonderful uniformity +except by supposing that the doctrine respecting +the Mass was received by the Apostles from +the common fountain of Christianity—Jesus +Christ Himself. +</p> + +<p> +It was such facts as these that opened the eyes +of those eminent English divines who, during the +present century, have abandoned heresy and +schism and rich preferments and who have embraced +the Catholic faith, though, by taking such a +step, they had to sacrifice all that was dear to +them on earth. +</p> + +<p> +The following passages from St. Paul's Epistle +to the Hebrews are sometimes urged as an argument +against the sacrifice of the Mass: <q>Christ, ... +neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, +but by His own blood, entered once into the Holies, +having obtained eternal redemption.</q> <q>Nor yet +that He should offer Himself often, as the High +Priest entereth into the Holies every year.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. ix. 25.</note> +Again: <q>Every Priest standeth, indeed, daily +ministering, and often offering the same sacrifices, +which can never take away sins, but this Man, offering +one sacrifice for sin, forever sitteth at the +right hand of God.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. x. 11, 12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul says that Jesus was offered once. How, +then, can we offer Him daily? I answer, that +Jesus was offered once in a bloody manner, and it +<pb n="316"/><anchor id="Pg316"/> +is of this sacrifice that the Apostle speaks. But +in the Sacrifice of the Mass He is offered up in an +unbloody manner. Though He is daily offered on +ten thousand altars, the Sacrifice is the same as +that of Calvary, having the same High Priest and +victim—Jesus Christ. The object of St. Paul is +to contrast the Sacrifice of the New Law, which +has only one victim, with the sacrifices of the Old +Law, where the victims were many; and to show +the insufficiency of the ancient sacrifices and the +all-sufficiency of the Sacrifice of the new dispensation. +</p> + +<p> +But if the sacrifice of the cross is all-sufficient +what need then, you will say, is there of a commemorative +Sacrifice of the Mass? I would ask a +Protestant in return, Why do you pray, and go to +church, and why were you baptized, and receive +Communion, and the rite of Confirmation? What +is the use of all these exercises, if the sacrifice of +the cross is all-sufficient? You will tell me that in +all these acts you apply to yourself the merits of +Christ's Passion. I will tell you, in like manner, +that in the Sacrifice of the Mass I apply to myself +the merits of the sacrifice of the cross, from which +the Mass derives all its efficacy. Christ, indeed, by +His death made full atonement for our sins, but He +has not released us from the obligation of co-operating +with Him by applying His merits to our +souls. What better or more efficacious way can we +have of participating in His merits than by assisting +at the Sacrifice of the Altar, where we +vividly recall to mind His sufferings, where Calvary +is represented before us, where <q>we show +the death of the Lord until He come,</q> and where +we draw abundantly to our souls the fruit of His +Passion by drinking of the same blood that was +shed on the cross? +</p> + +<pb n="317"/><anchor id="Pg317"/> + +<p> +In the Old Law there were different kinds of +sacrifices offered up for different purposes. There +were sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God +for His benefits, sacrifices of propitiation to implore +His forgiveness for the sins of the people, +and sacrifices of supplication to ask His blessing +and protection. The Sacrifice of the Mass fulfils +all these ends. It is a sacrifice of praise and +thanksgiving, a sacrifice of propitiation and of +supplication; hence that valued book, the <q><hi rend='italic'>Following +of Christ</hi>,</q> says: <q>When a Priest celebrates +Mass he honors God, he rejoices the angels, he +edifies the church, he helps the living, he obtains +rest for the dead, and makes himself a partaker +of all that is good.</q> To form an adequate +idea of the efficiency of the Divine Sacrifice of the +Mass we have only to bear in mind the Victim that +is offered—Jesus Christ, the Son of the living +God. +</p> + +<p> +First—The Mass is a sacrifice of praise and +thanksgiving. If all human beings in this world, +and all living creatures, and all inanimate objects +were collected and burned as a holocaust to the +Lord, they would not confer as much praise on the +Almighty as a single Eucharistic sacrifice. These +earthly creatures—how numerous and excellent +soever—are finite and imperfect; while the offering +made in the Mass is of infinite value, for it is +our Lord Jesus, the acceptable Lamb without +blemish, the beloved Son in whom the Father is +well pleased, and who <q>is always heard on account +of His reverence.</q> +</p> + +<p> +With what awe and grateful love should we +assist at this Sacrifice! The angels were present +at Calvary. Angels are present also at the Mass. +If we cannot assist with the seraphic love and rapt +attention of the angelic spirits, let us worship, at +<pb n="318"/><anchor id="Pg318"/> +least, with the simple devotion of the shepherds +of Bethlehem and the unswerving faith of the +Magi. Let us offer to our God the golden gift of +a heart full of love and the incense of our praise +and adoration, repeating often during the holy +oblation the words of the Psalmist: <q>The mercies +of the Lord I will sing forever.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Second—The Mass is also a sacrifice of propitiation. +Jesus daily pleads our cause in this +Divine oblation before our Heavenly Father. <q>If +any man sin,</q> says St. John, <q>we have an Advocate +with the Father, Jesus Christ the just; and +He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for +ours only, but also for those of the whole world.</q><note place='foot'>I. +John ii. 1, 2.</note> +Hence the Priest, whenever he offers up the holy +sacrifice, recites this prayer at the offertory: +<q>Receive, O holy Father, almighty, eternal God, +this immaculate victim which I, Thy unworthy +servant, offer to Thee, my living and true God, for +my innumerable sins, offences and negligences, for +all here present, and for all the faithful living and +dead, that it may avail me and them to life everlasting.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Whenever, therefore, we assist at Mass let us +unite with Jesus Christ in imploring the mercy +of God for our sins. Let us represent to ourselves +the Mass as another Calvary, which it is in +reality. Like Mary, let us stand in spirit beneath +the cross, and let our souls be pierced with grief +for our transgressions. Let us acknowledge that +our sins were the cause of that agony and of the +shedding of that precious blood. Let us follow in +mind and heart that crowd of weeping penitents +who accompanied our Savior to Calvary, striking +their breasts, and let us say: <q>Spare, O Lord, +spare Thy people.</q> Or let us repeat with the publican +<pb n="319"/><anchor id="Pg319"/> +this heartfelt prayer: <q>O God, be merciful +to me a sinner.</q> At the death of Jesus the sun +was darkened, the earth trembled, the very rocks +were rent, as if to show that even inanimate +nature sympathized with the sufferings of its God. +And should not we tremble for our sins? Should +not our hearts, though cold and hard as rocks, be +softened at the spectacle of our God suffering for +love of us, and in expiation for our offences? +</p> + +<p> +Third—The Sacrifice of the Mass is, in fine, a +sacrifice of supplication: <q>For, if the blood of +goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being +sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled to the +cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall +the blood of Christ, who, through the Holy Ghost, +offered himself without spot to God, cleanse our +conscience from dead works to serve the living +God?</q><note place='foot'>Heb. ix. 13, +14.</note> If the prayers of Moses and David and +the Patriarchs were so powerful in behalf of +God's servants, what must be the influence of +Jesus' intercession? If the wounds of the Martyrs +plead so eloquently for us, how much more eloquent +is the blood of Jesus shed daily upon our +altars? His blood cries louder for mercy than +the blood of Abel cried for vengeance. If God +inclines His ear to us miserable sinners, how can +He resist the pleadings in our behalf of the <q>Lamb +of God who taketh away the sins of the world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Let us go, therefore, with confidence to the +throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and +find grace in seasonable aid.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. iv. 16.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="320"/><anchor id="Pg320"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXIV. The Use Of Religious Ceremonies +Dictated By Right Reason.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXIV.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXIV.</head> +<head>The Use Of Religious Ceremonies Dictated By Right Reason.</head> + +<p> +By religious ceremonies we mean certain +expressive signs and actions which the +Church has ordained for the worthy celebration +of the Divine service. +</p> + +<p> +True devotion must be interior and come from +the heart, for <q>the true adorers shall adore the +Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father +indeed seeketh such to worship Him. God is a +spirit; and they who worship Him must worship +Him in spirit and in truth.</q><note place='foot'>John +iv. 23, 24.</note> But we are not to +infer from this that exterior worship is to be contemned +because interior worship is prescribed as +essential. On the contrary, the rites and ceremonies +enjoined in the worship of God and the +administration of the Sacraments are dictated by +right reason, are sanctioned by Almighty God in +the Old Law, and by Christ and His Apostles in +the New. +</p> + +<p> +The angels, being pure spirits without a body, +render to God a purely spiritual worship. The +sun, moon and stars of the firmament pay Him a +kind of external homage. In the Prophet Daniel +we read: <q>Sun and moon bless the Lord, ... +<pb n="321"/><anchor id="Pg321"/> +stars of heaven bless the Lord, praise and exalt +Him above all forever.</q><note place='foot'>Dan. +iii. 62, 63. Though this passage is omitted in the +Protestant Bible, it is retained in the Book of Common +Prayer.</note> <q>The heavens show +forth the glory of God, the firmament announces +the work of His hands.</q><note place='foot'>Psalm. +xviii. 1.</note> Man, by possessing a soul +of spiritual substance, partakes of the nature of +angels, and by possessing a body partakes of the +nature of the heavenly bodies. It is therefore, his +privilege, as well as his duty, to offer to God the +twofold homage of body and soul; in other words, +to honor Him by internal and external worship. +</p> + +<p> +Genuine piety cannot long be concealed in the +heart without manifesting itself by exterior practices +of religion; hence, though interior and exterior +worship are distinct, they cannot be separated +in the present life. Fire cannot burn without sending +forth flame and heat. Neither can the fire of +devotion burn in the soul without being reflected +on the countenance and even in speech. It is natural +for man to express his sentiments by signs and +ceremonies, for <q>from the fulness of the heart the +mouth speaketh;</q> and as fuel is necessary to keep +fire alive, even so the flame of piety is nourished +by the outward forms of religion. +</p> + + +<p> +A devoted child will not be content with loving +his father in his heart, but will manifest that love +by affectionate language, and by the service of his +body, if necessary. So will the child of God show +his affection for his heavenly Father not only by +interior devotion, but also by the homage of his +body. <q>I beseech you,</q> says the Apostle, <q>by the +mercy of God, that you present your bodies, a living +sacrifice, holy pleasing unto God, your reasonable +service.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. xii. 1.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="322"/><anchor id="Pg322"/> + +<p> +The fruit of a tree does not consist in its bark, +its leaves and its branches. Nevertheless, you +never saw a tree bearing fruit unless when clothed +with bark, adorned with branches and covered +with leaves. These are necessary for the protection +of the fruit. In like manner, though the fruit +of piety does not consist in exterior forms, it must, +however, be fostered by some outward observances +or it will soon decay. There is as close a +relation between devotion and ceremonial as exists +between the bark and the fruit of a tree. +</p> + +<p> +The man who daily bends his knee to the Maker, +who recites or sings His praises, who devoutly +makes the sign of the cross, who assists without +constraint at the public services of the Church, +who observes an exterior decorum in the house of +God, who gives to the needy according to his means +and duly attends to the other practices and ceremonies +of religion, will generally be one whose +heart is united to God, and who yields to Him a +ready obedience. Show me, on the contrary, a man +who habitually neglects these outward observances +of religion and charity, and I will show you one in +whose soul the fire of devotion, if not quite extinguished, +at least burns very faintly. +</p> + +<p> +The ceremonies of the Church not only render +divine service more solemn, but also rivet our attention +and lift it up to God. Our mind is so +active, so volatile, so full of distractions, our imagination +so fickle, that we have need of some +external objects on which to fix our thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +Almighty God considered ceremonial so indispensable +to interior worship that we find Him +in the Old Law prescribing in minute detail the +various rites, ceremonies and ordinances to be +observed by the Jewish Priests and people in +their public worship. What is the entire book +<pb n="323"/><anchor id="Pg323"/> +of Leviticus but an elaborate ritual of the Jewish +church. Not, indeed, that external rites are to be +compared in merit with interior worship, but because +they are as necessary for nourishing internal +devotion as food is necessary for our animal life. +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior, though He came to establish a more +spiritual religion than that of the Hebrew people, +did not discard the outward forms of worship. He +was accustomed to accompany His religious acts +by appropriate ceremonies. +</p> + +<p> +In the garden of Gethsemani <q>He fell upon His +face</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxvi.</note> in humble supplication. +</p> + +<p> +He went in procession to Jerusalem, accompanied +by a great multitude, who sang Hosanna to the +Son of David.<note place='foot'>Ibid. xxi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +At the Last Supper He invoked a blessing on the +bread and wine, and afterward chanted a hymn +with His disciples.<note place='foot'>Ibid. xxvi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When the deaf and dumb man was brought to +Him, before healing Him, He put His fingers into +his ears and touched his tongue with spittle, <q>and, +looking up to heaven, He groaned and said: +Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened.</q><note place='foot'>Mark vii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When He imparted the Holy Ghost to His disciples, +He breathed on them<note place='foot'>John xx.</note> and the same Apostles +afterward communicated the Holy Ghost to +others by laying hands on them.<note place='foot'>Acts viii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Apostle St. James directs that if any man +is sick he shall call in the Priest, who will anoint +him with oil.<note place='foot'>James v.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Now, are not all these acts which I have just +recorded—the prostration and procession, the +prayerful invocation, the chanting of a hymn, the +touching of the ears, the lifting up of the eyes to +<pb n="324"/><anchor id="Pg324"/> +heaven, the breathing on the Apostles, the laying +on of hands and the unction of the sick—are not +all these acts so many ceremonies serving as models +to those which the Catholic Church employs in +her public worship, and in the administration of +her Sacraments? +</p> + +<p> +The ceremonies now accompanying our public +worship are, indeed, usually more impressive and +elaborate than those recorded of our Savior; but +it is quite natural that the majesty of ceremonial +should keep pace with the growth and development +of Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +But where shall we find a ritual so gorgeous as +that presented to us in the Book of Revelation, +which is descriptive of the worship of God in the +heavenly Jerusalem? Angels with golden censers +stand before the throne, while elders cast their +crowns of gold before the Lamb once slain. Then +that unnumbered multitude of all nations, tongues +and people, clothed in white raiment, bearing palms +of victory. Virgins, too, with harp and canticle, +follow near the Lamb, singing the new song which +they alone can utter.<note place='foot'>Apocalypse, passim.</note> +</p> + +<p> +How glorious the pageant! How elaborate in +detail! +</p> + +<p> +Surely there ought to be some analogy and resemblance, +some proportion and harmony between +the public worship which is paid to God in the +Church militant on earth, and that which is offered +to Him in the Church triumphant in heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Strange would it be if God, who, in the dispensation +past and that to come, is seen delighting in +external majesty, should have deprived the Christian +Church (the living link between the past and +the future) of all external glory. <q>For,</q> as St. +Paul says, <q>if the ministry of condemnation is +<pb n="325"/><anchor id="Pg325"/> +glory, much more the ministry of justice aboundeth +in glory.</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. iii. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is true that God uttered this complaint against +the children of Israel: <q>This people draw near Me +with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, +but their heart is far from Me.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah +xxix. 13.</note> It is also true +that He was displeased with their sacrifices and +religious festivals.<note place='foot'>Ibid. i. +72.</note> But He blamed them not because +they praised Him with their voice, but because +their hearts felt not what their lips uttered. +He rejected their sacrifices because they were not +accompanied by the more precious sacrifice of a +penitent spirit. +</p> + +<p> +The same Lord who declares that the true adorer +shall adore the Father in spirit commands also that +public praise be given to Him in His holy temple: +<q>Praise ye the Lord,</q> He says, <q>in His holy +places.... Praise Him with sound of trumpet. +Praise Him with psaltery and harp. Praise Him +with timbrel and choir. Praise Him with strings +and organs.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. cl.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If He says in one place: <q>Rend your hearts and +not your garments,</q><note place='foot'>Joel ii. +13.</note> immediately after He adds: +<q>Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a +solemn assembly. Gather together the people, +sanctify the Church.... Between the porch and +the altar the Priests, the Lord's ministers, shall +weep and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare Thy +people!</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. ii. +15-17.</note> The Prophet first points out the absolute +necessity of interior sorrow and contrition +of heart, and then he insists on the duty of +performing some acts of expiation, penance +and humiliation, as you do when you have your +<pb n="326"/><anchor id="Pg326"/> +forehead marked with ashes on Ash Wednesday, +and when you observe the fast and abstinence of +Lent. +</p> + +<p> +When St. Paul says that though he speak with +the tongues of angels and of men, and distribute +all his goods to feed the poor, and deliver his body +to be burned, and have not the love of God, it +profiteth him nothing,<note place='foot'>I. +Cor. xiii.</note> he points out the necessity +of interior worship. And when he says elsewhere +that <q>in the name of Jesus every knee should bend +of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the +earth,</q><note place='foot'>Phil. ii. +10.</note> he shows us the duty of exterior or ceremonial +worship. +</p> + +<p> +When political leaders desire to influence the +masses in their favor they are not content with addressing +themselves to the intellect. They appeal +also to the feelings and imagination. They have +torchlight processions, accompanied by soul-stirring +music discoursing popular airs. They have +flags and banners floating in the breeze. They have +public meetings, at which they deliver patriotic +speeches to arouse the enthusiasm of the people. +</p> + +<p> +What these men do for political reasons the +Church performs from the higher motives of religion. +Therefore, she has her solemn processions. +She has her heavenly music to soften the heart and +raise it to God. She consecrates her sacred banners, +especially the cross, the banner of salvation. +She preaches with a hundred tongues, speaking +not only to our head and heart by the Word of God, +but to our feelings and imagination by her grand +and imposing ceremonial. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="327"/><anchor id="Pg327"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXV. Ceremonials Of The Mass.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXV.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXV.</head> +<head>Ceremonials Of The Mass.</head> + +<p> +Let us now, dear reader, walk together into a +Catholic Church in time to assist at the late +Mass, which is the most solemn service of +the Catholic Liturgy. Meantime, I shall endeavor +to explain to you the principal objects which attract +your attention. +</p> + +<p> +As we enter I dip my fingers into a vase placed +at the church door, and filled with holy water, and +I make the sign of the cross, praying at the same +time to be purified from all defilement, so that with +a clean heart I may worship in God's holy temple. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, through her ministers, blesses +everything used in her service; for, St. Paul says, +that <q>Every creature of God is good, ... that is +received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by +the word of God and by prayer.</q><note place='foot'>I. Tim. iv. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Before Mass begins the Priest sprinkles the assembled +congregation with holy water, reciting +at the same time these words of the fiftieth +Psalm: <q>Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and +I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I +shall be made whiter than snow.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The practice of using blessed water dates back +<pb n="328"/><anchor id="Pg328"/> +to a very remote antiquity, and is alluded to by +several Fathers of the primitive Church. +</p> + +<p> +As we advance up the aisle you observe +lying open on the altar a large book, which is +called a <hi rend='italic'>Missal</hi>, or Mass-book, because it contains +the prayers said at Mass. The office of the Mass +consists of selections from the Old and the New +Testament, the Canon and other appropriate +prayers. The Canon of the Mass never varies +throughout the year, and descends to us from the +first ages of the Church with scarcely the addition +of a word. Nearly all the collects are also very +old, many of them dating back to a period prior +to the seventh century. I am acquainted with no +prayers that can compare with the collects of the +Missal in earnestness and vigor of language, in +conciseness of style and unction of piety. It is +evident that their authors were men who felt what +they said and were filled with the spirit of God, +despising <q>the persuasive words of human wisdom,</q> +unlike so many modern prayer-composers +whose rounded periods are directed rather to +tickle the ears of men than to pierce the clouds. +</p> + +<p> +You are probably familiar with the Episcopal +<hi rend='italic'>Book of Common Prayer</hi>, and have no doubt admired +its beautiful simplicity of diction. But +perhaps you will be surprised when I inform you +that this Prayer-Book is for the most part a +translation from our Missal. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now reverently follow the officiating +Priest through the service of the Mass. +</p> + +<p> +You see him advance from the sacristy and +stand at the foot of the altar, where he makes an +humble confession of his sins to God and His +saints. He then ascends the altar, and nine times +the Divine clemency is invoked in the <hi rend='italic'>Kyrie Eleison, +Christe Eleison</hi>. He intones the sublime doxology, +<pb n="329"/><anchor id="Pg329"/> +<hi rend='italic'>Gloria in Excelsis Deo</hi>, sings the collects of +the day, reads the Lesson or Epistle and chants +the Gospel, after which the sermon is usually +preached. Next he recites the Nicene Creed, +which for upwards of fifteen centuries has been +resounding in the churches of Christendom. Then +you perceive him making the oblation of the bread +and wine. He washes the tips of his fingers, reciting +the words of the Psalmist: <q>I will wash my +hands among the innocent and will encompass +Thy altar, O Lord.</q> He is admonished, by this +ceremony, to be free from the least stain, in view +of the sacred act he is going to perform. The +Preface and Canon follow, including the solemn +words of consecration, during which the bread +and wine are changed by the power of Jesus +Christ into His body and blood. He proceeds with +other prayers, including the best of all, the <hi rend='italic'>Our +Father</hi>, as far as the Communion, when he partakes +of the consecrated Bread and chalice, giving +the Holy Communion afterward to such as are +prepared to receive it. He continues the Mass, +gives his blessing to the kneeling congregation, +and concludes with the opening words of the sublime +Gospel of St. John. +</p> + +<p> +Here you have not merely a number of prayers +strung together, but you witness a scene which +rivets pious attention and warms the heart into +fervent devotion. You participate in an act of +worship worthy of God, to whom it is offered. +</p> + +<p> +But you are anxious that I should explain to +you the reason why the Mass is said in Latin. +When Christianity was first established the +Roman Empire ruled the destinies of the world. +Pagan Rome had dominion over nearly all Europe +and large portions of Asia and Africa. The +Latin was the language of the Empire. Wherever +<pb n="330"/><anchor id="Pg330"/> +the Roman standard was planted, there also +was spread the Latin tongue; just as at the present +time the English language is spoken wherever +the authority of Great Britain or of the United +States is established. +</p> + +<p> +The Church naturally adopted in her Liturgy, +or public worship, the language which she then +found prevailing among the people. The Fathers +of the early Church generally wrote in the Latin +tongue, which thus became the depository of the +treasures of sacred literature in the Church. +</p> + +<p> +In the fifth century came the disruption of the +Roman Empire. New kingdoms began to be +formed in Europe out of the ruins of the old empire. +The Latin gradually ceased to be a living +tongue among the people, and new languages commenced +to spring up like so many shoots from the +parent stock. The Church, however, retained in +her Liturgy, and in the administration of the +Sacraments, the Latin language for very wise reasons, +some of which I shall briefly mention: +</p> + +<p> +First—The Catholic Church has always <emph>one and +the same faith</emph>, the same form of public worship, +the same spiritual government. As her doctrine +and liturgy are unchangeable, she wishes that the +language of her Liturgy should be fixed and uniform. +Faith may be called the jewel, and language +is the casket which contains it. So careful is +the Church of preserving the jewel intact that she +will not disturb even the casket in which it is set. +Living tongues, unlike a dead language, are continually +changing in words and meaning. The +English language as written four centuries ago +would be now almost as unintelligible to an English +reader as the Latin tongue. In an old Bible +published in the fourteenth century St. Paul calls +<pb n="331"/><anchor id="Pg331"/> +himself <hi rend='italic'>the villain of Jesus Christ</hi>. The word +<hi rend='italic'>villain</hi> in those days meant a servant, but the term +would not be complimentary now to one even less +holy than the Apostle. This is but one instance, +out of many which I might adduce, to show the +mutations which our language has undergone. But +the Latin, being a dead language, is not liable to +these changes. +</p> + +<p> +Second—The Catholic Church is spread over the +whole world, embracing in its fold children of all +climes and nations, and peoples and tongues under +the sun. How, I ask, could the Bishops of these +various countries communicate with one another +in council if they had not one language to serve as +a common medium of communication? It would +be simply impossible. A church that is universal +must have a universal tongue; whilst a national +church, or a church whose members speak one and +the same language, and whose doctrines conveniently +change to suit the times, can safely adopt +the vernacular tongue in its liturgy. +</p> + +<p> +A few years ago a Convocation was held in England, +composed of British and American Episcopal +Bishops. They had no difficulty in communicating +with one another because all spoke their mother +tongue. But suppose they had representatives +from Spain, France and Germany. The lips of +those Continental Bishops would be sealed because +they could not speak to their English brothers; +their ears also would be sealed because they could +not comprehend what was said to them. +</p> + +<p> +In 1869, at the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, +were assembled Bishops from all parts of the +world speaking all the civilized languages of +Christendom. Had those Bishops no uniform +language to express their thoughts, public debates +and familiar conversation among them would have +<pb n="332"/><anchor id="Pg332"/> +been impracticable. The Council Chamber would +have been a confused Babel of tongues. But, +thanks to the Latin language, which they all spoke +(except a few Orientals), their speeches were as +plainly understood as if each had spoken in his +native dialect. +</p> + +<p> +Third—Moreover, the Bishops and Clergy of +the Catholic Church are in frequent correspondence +with the Holy See. This requires that they +should communicate in one uniform language, +otherwise the Pope would be compelled to employ +secretaries speaking every language in Christendom. +</p> + +<p> +But if the Priest says Mass in an unknown +tongue, are not the people thereby kept in ignorance +of what he says, and is not their time wasted +in Church? We are forced to smile at such +charges, which are flippantly repeated from year +to year. These assertions arise from a total ignorance +of the Mass. Many Protestants imagine that +the essence of public worship consists in a sermon. +Hence, to their minds, the primary duty of a congregation +is to listen to a discourse from the +pulpit. Prayer, on the contrary, according to +Catholic teaching, is the most essential duty of a +congregation, though they are also regularly instructed +by sermons. Now, what is the Mass? It +is not a sermon, but it is a sacrifice of prayer +which the Priest offers up to God for himself and +the people. When the Priest says Mass he is +speaking not to the people, but to God, to whom all +languages are equally intelligible. +</p> + +<p> +The congregation, indeed, could not be expected +to hear the Priest, even if he spoke in English, +since his face is turned from them, and the greater +part of what he says is pronounced in an undertone. +And this was the system of worship God +<pb n="333"/><anchor id="Pg333"/> +ordained in the ancient dispensation, as we learn +from the Old Testament and from the first chapter +of St. Luke. The Priest offered sacrifice and +prayed for the people in the sanctuary, while they +prayed at a distance in the court. In all the +schismatic churches of the East the Priest in the +public service prays not in the vulgar, but in a +dead language. Such, also, is the practice in the +Jewish synagogues at this day. The Rabbi reads +the prayers in Hebrew, a language with which +many of the congregation are not familiar. +</p> + +<p> +But is it true that the people do not understand +what the Priest says at Mass? Not at all. For, +by the aid of an English Missal, or any other +Manual, they are able to follow the officiating +clergyman from the beginning to the end of the +service. +</p> + +<p> +You also observe <emph>lighted tapers</emph> on the altar, and +you desire to know for what purpose they are +used. +</p> + +<p> +In the Old Law the Almighty Himself ordained +that lighted chandeliers should adorn the tabernacle.<note place='foot'>Exod. +xxv. 31, and seq.</note> +Assuredly, that cannot be improper in +the New Dispensation which God sanctioned in the +Old. +</p> + +<p> +The lights upon our altars have both a historical +and a symbolical meaning. In the primitive +days of the Church Christianity was not tolerated +by the Pagan world. The Christians were, +consequently, obliged to assemble for public worship +in the Catacombs of Rome and other secret +places. These Catacombs, or subterranean rooms, +still exist, and are objects of deep interest to the +pious stranger visiting the Eternal City. As these +hidden apartments did not admit the light of the +sun, the faithful were obliged to have lights even +<pb n="334"/><anchor id="Pg334"/> +in open day. In commemoration of the event the +Church has retained the use of lights on her altars. +</p> + +<p> +Lighted candles have also a symbolical meaning. +They represent our Savior, who is <q>the light of +the world,</q> <q>who enlighteneth every man that +cometh into the world,</q> without whom we should +be wandering in darkness and in the shadow of +death. +</p> + +<p> +They also serve to remind us to <q>let our light +so shine before men (by our good example) that +they may see our good works and glorify our +Father who is in heaven.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Lights are used, too, as a sign of spiritual joy. +St. Jerome, who lived in the fourth century, remarks: +<q>Throughout all the Churches of the East, +before the reading of the Gospel, candles are +lighted at mid-day, not to dispel darkness, but as +a sign of joy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +You also noticed the Priest incensing the altar. +Incense is a striking emblem of prayer, which +should ascend to heaven from hearts burning with +love, just as the fragrant smoke ascends from the +censer. <q>Let my prayer,</q> says the Royal +Prophet, <q>ascend like incense in Thy sight.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. cxl.</note> +God enjoined in the Old Law the use of incense: +<q>Aaron shall burn sweet-smelling incense upon the +altar in the morning.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. +xxx. 7.</note> Hence we see the Priest +Zachariah <q>offer incense on going into the temple +of the Lord. And all the multitude were praying +without at the hour of incense.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 9, 10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +You perceive that the altar is decorated today +with <emph>vases and flowers</emph> because this is a festival of +the Church. There is one spot on earth which +can never be too richly adorned, and that is the +sanctuary in which our Lord vouchsafes to dwell +among us. Nothing is too good, nothing too beautiful, +<pb n="335"/><anchor id="Pg335"/> +nothing too precious for God. He gives us +all we possess, and the least we can do in return +is to ornament that spot which He has chosen for +His abode upon earth. The Almighty, it is true, +has no need of our gifts. He is rich without them. +<q>The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof.</q> +Nevertheless, He is pleased to accept our offerings +when they are bestowed upon Him as a mark of +our affection, just as a father joyfully receives +from his child a present bought with his own +means. Our Savior gratefully accepted the +treasures of the Magi, though he could have done +without such gifts. Some persons, when they see +our sanctuary sumptuously decorated, will exclaim: +Would it not have been better to give to +the poor the money spent in purchasing these +things? So complained Judas (though caring not +for the poor<note place='foot'>John xii. +6.</note>) when Mary poured from an alabaster +vase the precious ointment on the feet of an +approving Savior. Why should not we imitate +Mary by placing at His feet, around His sanctuary, +our vases with their chaste and fragrant +flowers, that the Church may be filled with their +perfume, as Simon's house was filled with the odor +of the ointment? +</p> + +<p> +Does not the Almighty at certain seasons adorn +with lilies and flowers of every hue this earth, +which is the great temple of nature? And what +is more appropriate than that we should on special +occasions embellish our sanctuary, the place which +He has chosen for His habitation among us? It +is sweet to snatch from the field its fairest treasures +wherewith to beautify the temple made with +hands. +</p> + +<p> +The <emph>sacred vestments</emph> which you saw worn by +the officiating Priest must have struck you as very +<pb n="336"/><anchor id="Pg336"/> +antique and out of fashion. Nor is this surprising, +for if you saw a lady enter church today with +a head-dress such as worn in the days of Queen +Elizabeth, her appearance would look to you very +singular. Now, our priestly vestments are far +older in style than the days of Queen Elizabeth; +much older even than the British Empire. Eusebius +and other writers of the fourth century speak +of them as already existing in their times. It is +no wonder, therefore, that these vestments look +odd to the unfamiliar eye. +</p> + +<p> +In the Old Law God prescribed to the Priests +the vestments which they should wear while engaged +in their sacred office: <q>And these shall be +the vestments which they shall make (for the +Priest): a rational and an ephod, a tunic and a +straight linen garment, a mitre and a girdle. They +shall make the holy vestments for thy brother +Aaron and his sons, that they may do the office of +priesthood unto Me.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. +xxviii. 4.</note> Guided by Heaven, the +Church also prescribes sacred garments for her +ministering Priests; for it is eminently proper and +becoming that the minister of God, while engaged +in the sacred mysteries, should be arrayed in garments +which would constantly impress upon him +his sacred character and remind him, as well as +the congregation, of the sublime functions he is +performing. +</p> + +<p> +The vestments worn by the Priest while celebrating +Mass are an amict, or white cloth around +the neck; an alb, or white garment reaching to his +ankles, and bound around his waist by a cincture; +a maniple suspended from his left arm; a stole, +which is placed over his shoulders and crossed at +the breast; and a chasuble, or large outer garment. +</p> + +<p> +The chasuble, stole and maniple vary in color +<pb n="337"/><anchor id="Pg337"/> +according to the occasion. Thus, <emph>white</emph> vestments +are used at Christmas, Easter and other festivals +of joy, also on feasts of Confessors and Virgins; +<emph>red</emph> are used at Pentecost and on festivals of Apostles +and Martyrs; <emph>green</emph> from Trinity Sunday to +Advent, on days having no special feast; <emph>purple</emph> +during Lent and Advent, and <emph>black</emph> in Masses for +the dead. +</p> + +<p> +One more word on this subject. Only a few +years ago the whole Protestant world was united +in denouncing the use of floral decorations on our +altars, incense, sacred vestments, and even the +altar itself, as abominations of Popery. But of +late a better spirit has taken possession of a respectable +portion of the Protestant Episcopal +church. After having exhausted their wrath +against our vestments, and vilified them as the +rags of the wicked woman of Babylon, the members +of the Ritualistic church have, with remarkable +dexterity, passed from one extreme to the +other. They don our vestments, they swing our +censer, erect altars in their churches and adorn +them with flowers and candle-sticks. +</p> + +<p> +These Ritualists are, however, easily discerned +from the true Priest. Should one of them ever +appear before the Father of the faithful in these +ill-fitting robes the venerable Pontiff would exclaim, +with the Patriarch of old: <q>The voice indeed +is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the +hands of Esau.</q> I feel the garment of the Priest, +but I hear the voice of the parson. +</p> + +<p> +God grant that, as our misguided brothers have +assumed our sacerdotal garments, they may adopt +our faith, that their speech may conform to their +dress. Then, having laid aside their earthly +stoles, may they deserve, like all faithful Priests, +to be seen <q>standing before the throne, and in +<pb n="338"/><anchor id="Pg338"/> +sight of the Lamb, with white stoles and palms in +their hands, ... saying: <q>Salvation to our God, +who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb.</q></q><note place='foot'>Apoc. +vii. 9, 10.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="339"/><anchor id="Pg339"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXVI. The Sacrament Of Penance.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXVI.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXVI.</head> +<head>The Sacrament Of Penance.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>I. The Divine Institution Of The Sacrament Of Penance.</head> + +<p> +The whole history of Jesus Christ is marked +by mercy and compassion for suffering humanity. +From the moment of His incarnation +till the hour of His death every thought and +word and act of His Divine life was directed toward +the alleviation of the ills and miseries of +fallen man. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as He enters on His public career He +goes about doing good to all men. He gives sight +to the blind, hearing to the deaf, vigor to paralyzed +limbs; He applies the salve of comfort to the +bleeding heart and raises the dead to life. +</p> + +<p> +But, while Jesus occupied Himself in bringing +relief to corporal infirmities, <emph>the principal object +of His mission was to release the soul from the +bonds of sin</emph>. The very name of Jesus indicates +this important truth: <q>Thou shalt call His name +Jesus,</q> says the angel, <q>for He shall save His +people from their sins.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. i. 21.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="340"/><anchor id="Pg340"/> + +<p> +For, if Jesus had contented Himself with healing +the maladies of our body without attending to +those of our soul, He would deserve, indeed, to be +called our Physician, but would not merit the more +endearing titles of Savior and Redeemer. But as +sin was the greatest evil of man, and as Jesus +came to remove from us our greatest evils, He +came into the world chiefly as the great Absolver +from sin. +</p> + +<p> +Magdalen seems to have a consciousness of this. +She casts herself at His feet, which she washes +with her tears and wipes with her hair, while +Jesus pronounces over her the saving words of +absolution. The very demons recognized Jesus +as the enemy of sin, for they dreaded His approach, +knowing that He would drive them out of +the bodies of men. +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord makes the healing of the body secondary +to that of the soul. When He delivers the +body from its distempers His object is to win the +confidence of the spectators by compelling them +to recognize Him as the soul's Physician. He +says, for instance, to the palsied man, <q>Thy sins +are forgiven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. ix. +2.</note> The scribes are offended at our +Savior for presuming to forgive sins. He replies, +in substance: If you do not believe My words, believe +My acts; and He at once heals the man of +his disease. After he had cured the man that had +been languishing for thirty-eight years He whispered +to him this gentle admonition, <q>Sin no more, +lest some worst thing may happen to thee.</q><note place='foot'>John +v. 14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +As much as our spiritual substance excels the +flesh that surrounds it, so much more did our +Savior value the resurrection of a soul from the +grave of sin than the resurrection of the body from +that of death. Hence St. Augustine pointedly remarks +<pb n="341"/><anchor id="Pg341"/> +that, while the Gospel relates only three +resurrections of the body, our Lord, during His +mortal life, raised thousands of souls to the life +of grace. +</p> + +<p> +As the Church was established by Jesus Christ +to perpetuate the work which he had begun, it follows +that the reconciliation of sinners to God was +to be the principal office of sacred ministers. +</p> + +<p> +But the important question here presents itself: +How was man to obtain forgiveness in the Church +after our Lord's ascension? +</p> + +<p> +Was Jesus Christ to appear in person to every +sinful soul and say to each penitent, as He said to +Magdalen, <q>Thy sins are forgiven thee,</q> or did +He intend to delegate this power of forgiving sins +to ministers appointed for that purpose? +</p> + +<p> +We know well that our Savior never promised +to present Himself visibly to each sinner, nor has +He done so. +</p> + +<p> +His plan, therefore, must have been to appoint +ministers of reconciliation to act in His name. It +has always, indeed, been the practice of Almighty +God, both in the Old and the New Law, to empower +human agents to execute His merciful designs. +</p> + +<p> +When Jehovah resolved to deliver the children +of Israel from the captivity of Egypt He appointed +Moses their deliverer. When God wished +them to escape from the pursuit of Pharaoh across +the Red Sea, did He intervene directly? No; but, +by His instructions, Moses raised his hand over +the waters and they were instantly divided. +</p> + +<p> +When the people were dying from thirst in the +desert, did God come visibly to their rescue? No; +but Moses struck the rock, from which the water +instantly issued. When Paul, breathing vengeance +against the Christians, was going to Damascus, +<pb n="342"/><anchor id="Pg342"/> +did our Savior personally restore his sight, +convert and baptize him? No; He sent Paul to +His servant Ananias, who restored his sight and +baptized him. +</p> + +<p> +The same Apostle beautifully describes to us in +one sentence of his Epistle to the Corinthians the +arrangement of Divine Providence in the reconciliation +of sinners: <q>God,</q> he says, <q>hath reconciled +us to Himself through Christ, <emph>and hath given +to us the ministry of reconciliation</emph>.... For +Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors; God, as it +were, exhorting through us.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Cor. v. 18-20.</note> That is to say, +God sends Christ to reconcile sinners; Christ +sends us. We are His ambassadors, reconciling +sinners in His name. +</p> + +<p> +When I think of this tremendous power that we +possess I congratulate the members of the Church, +for whose benefit it is conferred; I tremble for myself +and my fellow-ministers, for terrible is our +responsibility, while we have nothing to glory in. +Christ is the living Fountain of grace: we are but +the channels through which it is conveyed to your +souls. Christ is the treasure; we are but the pack-horses +that carry it. <q>We bear this treasure in +earthen vessels.</q> Christ is the shepherd; we are +the pipe He uses to call His sheep. Our words +sounding in the confessional are but the feeble echo +of the voice of the Spirit of God that purified the +Apostles in the cenacle of Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +But have we Gospel authority to show that our +Savior did confer on the Apostles and their successors +the power to forgive sins? +</p> + +<p> +We have the most positive testimony, and our +Savior's words conferring this power are expressed +in the plainest language which admits of +no misconception. In the Gospel of St. Matthew +our Savior thus addresses Peter: <q>Thou art +Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.... +<pb n="343"/><anchor id="Pg343"/> +And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom +of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind +on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever +thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed +also in heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. 18, 19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And to all the Apostles assembled together on +another occasion He uses the same forcible +language: <q>Whatsoever you shall bind on earth +shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you +shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in +heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xviii. +18.</note> The soul is enchained by sin. I give +you power, says our Lord, to release the penitent +soul from its galling fetters, and to restore it to +the liberty of a child of God. +</p> + +<p> +In the Gospel of St. John we have a still more +striking declaration of the absolving power given +by our Savior to His Apostles. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus, after His resurrection, thus addresses +His disciples: <q>Peace be to you. As the Father +hath sent Me, I also send you.... Receive ye +the Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they +are forgiven them, and whose sins ye shall retain, +they are retained.</q><note place='foot'>John xx. 21-23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That peace which I give to you you will impart +to repentant souls as a pledge of their reconciliation +with God. The absolving power I have from +My Father, the same I communicate to you. Receive +the Holy Ghost, that you may impart this +Holy Spirit to souls possessed by the spirit of evil. +<q>If their sins are as scarlet, they shall be made as +white as snow; and if they be red as crimson, they +shall be white as wool.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah +i. 18.</note> If they are as numerous +as the sands on the seashore, they shall be +blotted out, provided they come to you with contrite +hearts. The sentence of mercy which you +shall pronounce on earth I will ratify in heaven. +</p> + +<pb n="344"/><anchor id="Pg344"/> + +<p> +From these words of St. John I draw three important +conclusions: +</p> + +<p> +It follows, first, that the forgiving power was +not restricted to the Apostles, but extended to +their successors in the ministry unto all times and +places. The forgiveness of sin was to continue +while sin lasted in the world; and as sin, alas! will +always be in the world, so will the remedy for sin +be always in the Church. The medicine will co-exist +with the disease. The power which our Lord +gave the Apostles to preach, to baptize, to confirm, +to ordain, etc., was transmitted by them to their +successors. Why not also the power which they +had received to forgive sins, since man's greatest +need is his reconciliation with God by the forgiveness +of his offences? +</p> + +<p> +It follows, secondly that forgiveness of sin was +ordinarily to be obtained only through the ministry +of the Apostles and their successors, just as +it was from them that the people were to receive +the word of God and the grace of Baptism. The +pardoning power was a great prerogative conferred +on the Apostles. But what kind of prerogative +would it be if people could always obtain +forgiveness by confessing to God secretly in their +rooms? How few would have recourse to the +Apostles if they could obtain forgiveness on easier +terms! God says to His chosen ministers: I give +you the keys of My kingdom, that you may dispense +the treasures of mercy to repenting sinners. +But of what use would it be to give the Apostles +the keys of God's treasures for the ransom of +sinners, if every sinner could obtain his ransom +without applying to the Apostles? If I gave you, +dear reader, the keys of my house, authorizing you +to admit whom you please, that they might partake +of the good things contained in it, you would +<pb n="345"/><anchor id="Pg345"/> +conclude that I had done you a small favor if you +discovered that every one was possessed of a private +key, and could enter when he pleased without consulting +you. +</p> + +<p> +I have said that forgiveness of sins is <emph>ordinarily</emph> +to be obtained through the ministry of the Apostles +and of their successors, because it may sometimes +happen that the services of God's minister +cannot be obtained. A merciful Lord will not require +in this conjuncture more than a hearty sorrow +for sin joined with a desire of having recourse +as soon as practicable, to the tribunal of Penance; +for God's ordinances bind only such as are able to +fulfil them. +</p> + +<p> +It follows, in the third place, that the power of +forgiving sins, on the part of God's minister, involves +the obligation of confessing them on the +part of the sinner. The Priest is not empowered +to give absolution to every one indiscriminately. +He must exercise the power with judgment and +discretion. He must reject the impenitent and +absolve the penitent. But how will he judge of +the disposition of the sinner unless he knows his +sins, and how will the Priest know his sins unless +they are confessed? Hence, we are not surprised +when we read in the Acts that <q>Many of them who +believed came confessing and declaring their +deeds</q><note place='foot'>Acts xix. +18.</note> to the Apostles. Why did they confess +their sins unless they were bound to do so? Hence, +also, we understand why St. John says: <q>If we +confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive +us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.</q><note place='foot'>I. +John i. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The strength of these texts of Scripture will appear +to you much more forcible when you are told +that all the Fathers of the Church, from the first +to the last, insist upon the necessity of Sacramental +<pb n="346"/><anchor id="Pg346"/> +Confession as a Divine institution. We +are not unfrequently told by those who are little +acquainted with the doctrine and history of +the Church, that Sacramental Confession was not +introduced into the Church until 1,200 years after +the time of our Savior. In vindication of their +bold assertion they even introduce quotations from +SS. Basil, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and +Chrysostom. These quotations are utterly irrelevant; +but, if seen in the context, they will tend +to prove, instead of disproving, the Catholic doctrine +of Confession. For the sake of brevity I +shall cite only a few passages from the Fathers +referred to. These citations I take, almost at +random, from the copious writings of these +Fathers on Confession. From these extracts you +can judge of the sentiments of all the Fathers on +the subject of Confession. <q><hi rend='italic'>Ab uno disce omnes.</hi></q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Basil writes: <q>In the confession of sins the +same method must be observed as in laying open +the infirmities of the body; for as these are not +rashly communicated to every one, but to those +only who understand by what method they may be +cured, so the confession of sins must be made to +such persons as have the power to apply a +remedy.</q><note place='foot'>In Reg. Brev., +quæst, ccxxix., T. II., p. 492.</note> +Later on he tells us who those persons +are. <q>Necessarily, our sins must be confessed +to those to whom has been committed the +dispensation of the mysteries of God. Thus, also, +are they found to have acted who did penance of +old in regard of the saints. It is written in the +Acts, they confessed to the Apostles, by whom also +they were baptized.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., +cclxxxviii., p. 516.</note> Two conclusions obviously +follow from these passages of St. Basil: +First, the necessity of confession. Second, the +<pb n="347"/><anchor id="Pg347"/> +obligation of declaring our sins to a Priest to +whom in the New Law is committed <q>the dispensation +of the mysteries of God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ambrose, of Milan, writes: <q>The poison is +sin; the remedy, the accusation of one's crime: the +poison is iniquity; confession is the remedy of the +relapse. And, therefore, it is truly a remedy +against poison, if thou declare thine iniquities, that +thou mayest be justified. Art thou ashamed? +This shame will avail thee little at the judgment +seat of God.</q><note place='foot'>See Faith +of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 74 and seq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The following passage clearly shows that the +great Light of the Church of Milan is speaking of +confession to Priests: <q>There are some,</q> continues +St. Ambrose, <q>who ask for penance that +they may at once be restored to Communion. +These do not so much desire to be loosed as to +bind the Priest; for they do not unburden their +conscience, but they burden his, who is commanded +not to give holy things unto dogs—that is, not +easily to admit impure souls to the Holy Communion.</q><note place='foot'>Apud +Wiseman's Doctrines of the Church.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Paulinus, the secretary of St. Ambrose, in his +life of that great Bishop relates that he used to +weep over the penitents whose confessions he +heard. +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine writes: <q>Our merciful God wills +us to confess in this world that we may not be confounded +in the other.</q><note place='foot'>Hom. +xx.</note> And again: <q>Let no one +say to himself, I do penance to God in private, I do +it before God. Is it then in vain that Christ hath +said, <q>Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall +be loosed in heaven?</q> Is it in vain that the keys +have been given to the Church? Do we make void +the Gospel, void the words of Christ?</q><note place='foot'>Sermo cccxcii.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="348"/><anchor id="Pg348"/> + +<p> +In this extract how well doth the great Doctor +meet the sophistry of those who, in our times, say +that it is sufficient to confess to God! +</p> + +<p> +St. Chrysostom, in his thirtieth Homily, says: +<q>Lo! we have now, at length, reached the close of +Holy Lent; now especially we must press forward +in the career of fasting, ... and exhibit a <emph>full</emph> and +<emph>accurate confession of our sins</emph>, ... that with +these good works, having come to the day of Easter, +we may enjoy the bounty of the Lord.... +For, as the enemy knows that having confessed our +sins and <emph>shown</emph> our wounds to the <emph>physician</emph> we +attain to an abundant cure, he in an especial manner +opposes us.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Again he says: <q>Do not <emph>confess to me</emph> only +of fornication, nor of those things that are manifest +among all men, but bring together also thy +secret calumnies and evil speakings, ... and all +such things.</q><note place='foot'>Tom. vii. Comm. in Matt.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The great Doctor plainly enjoins here a detailed +and specific confession of our sins not to God, but +to His minister, as the whole context evidently +shows. +</p> + +<p> +The same Father, in an eloquent treatise on the +power of the sacred ministry, uses the following +words: <q rend='pre'>To the Priests is given a power which +God would not grant either to angels or archangels; +inasmuch that what the Priests do below +God ratifies above, and the Master confirms the +sentence of His servants. For, He says, <q>Whose +sins you shall retain, they are retained.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>What power, I ask, can be greater than this? +The Father hath given all power to the Son; and I +see all this same power delivered to them by God +the Son.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>To cleanse the leprosy of the body, or rather to +<pb n="349"/><anchor id="Pg349"/> +pronounce it cleansed, was given to the Jewish +Priests alone. But to our Priests is granted the +power not of declaring healed the leprosy of the +body, but of absolutely cleansing the defilements +of the soul.</q><note place='foot'>Lib. iii., De Sacerdotio.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And again: <q>If a sinner, as becomes him; would +use the aid of his conscience, and hasten to confess +his crimes and disclose his ulcer to his physician, +who may heal and not reproach, and receive +remedies from him; if he would speak to him alone, +without the knowledge of any one, and with care +lay all before him, easily would he amend his +failings; <emph>for the confession of sins is the absolution +of crimes</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid., Hom. xx.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome writes: <q>If the serpent, the devil, +secretly bite a man and thus infect him with the +poison of sin, and this man shall remain silent, +and do not penance, nor be willing to make known +his wound to his brother and master; the master, +who has a tongue that can heal, cannot easily serve +him. For if the ailing man be ashamed to open +his case to the physician no cure can be expected; +for medicine does not cure that of which it knows +nothing.</q><note place='foot'>Comment in Eccles.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Elsewhere he says: <q>With us the Bishop or +Priest binds or looses—not them who are merely +innocent or guilty—but <emph>having heard, as his duty +requires, the various qualities of sin</emph> he understands +who should be bound and who loosed.</q><note place='foot'>Comm. in Matt.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Could the Catholic doctrine regarding the power +of the Priests and the obligation of confession be +expressed in stronger language than this? +</p> + +<p> +And yet these are the very Fathers who are +represented to be opposed to Sacramental Confession! +With a reckless disregard of the unanimous +<pb n="350"/><anchor id="Pg350"/> +voice of antiquity our adversaries have the hardihood +to assert that private or Sacramental Confession +was introduced at a period subsequent to +the twelfth century. They do not, however, vouchsafe +to inform us by what Pope or Bishop or +Father of the Church, or by what Council, or in +what country, this monstrous innovation was +foisted on the Christian Republic. Surely, an institution +which, in their estimation, has been +fraught with such dire calamity to Christendom, +ought to have its origin marked with more precision. +It is sometimes prudent, however, not to +be too particular in fixing dates. +</p> + +<p> +I shall now, I trust, show to the satisfaction of +the reader: First—That Sacramental Confession +was not introduced. Second—That it could not +have been introduced into the Church since the +days of the Apostles, and consequently that it is +Apostolic in its origin. +</p> + +<p> +That Confession was not invented since the days +of the Apostles is manifest as soon as we attempt +to fix the period of its first establishment. Let us +go back, step, by step, from the nineteenth to the +first century. +</p> + +<p> +It had not its origin in the present century, as +everybody will admit. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did it arise in the sixteenth century, since +the General Council of Trent, held in that age, +speaks of it as an established and venerable institution +and Luther says that <q>auricular Confession, +as now in vogue, is useful, nay, necessary; +nor would I,</q> he adds, <q>have it abolished, since it +is the remedy of afflicted consciences.</q><note place='foot'>Lib. +de Capt. Babyl. cap de Pœnit.</note> Even +Henry VIII., before he founded a new sect, wrote +a treatise in defence of the Sacraments, including +Penance and Confession. +</p> + +<pb n="351"/><anchor id="Pg351"/> + +<p> +It was not introduced in the thirteenth century, +for the Fourth Council of Lateran passed a decree +in 1215 obliging the faithful to confess their sins +at least once a year. This decree, of course, supposes +Confession to be already an established fact. +</p> + +<p> +Some Protestant writers fall into a common +error in interpreting the decree of the Lateran +Council by saying <q>Sacramental Confession was +never required in the Church of Rome until the +thirteenth century.</q> The Council simply prescribed +a limit beyond which the faithful should +not defer their confession. +</p> + +<p> +These writers seem incapable of distinguishing +between a law obliging us to a certain duty and a +statute fixing the time for fulfilling it. They might +as well suppose that the revenue officer creates the +law regarding the payment of taxes when he issues +a notice requiring the revenue to be paid within a +given time. +</p> + +<p> +Going back to the ninth century we find that +Confession could not have had its rise then. It +was at that period that the Greek schism took its +rise, under the leadership of Photius. The Greek +schismatic church has remained since then a communion +separate from the Catholic Church, having +no spiritual relations with us. Now, the Greek +church is as tenaciously attached to private Confession +as we are. +</p> + +<p> +For the same reasons Confession could not date +its origin from the fifth or fourth century. The +Arians revolted from the Church in the fourth +century, and the Nestorians and Eutychians in the +fifth. The two last-named sects still exist in large +numbers in Persia, Abyssinia and along the coast +of Malabar, and retain Confession as one of their +most sacred and cherished practices. +</p> + +<p> +In fine, no human agency could succeed in instituting +<pb n="352"/><anchor id="Pg352"/> +Confession between the first and fourth century, +for the teachings of our Divine Redeemer +and of His disciples had made too vivid an impression +on the Christian community to be easily effaced; +and the worst enemies of the Church admit +that no spot or wrinkle had yet deformed her fair +visage in this, the golden age of her existence. +</p> + +<p> +These remarks suffice to convince us that Sacramental +Confession <emph>was not instituted since the +time of the Apostles</emph>. I shall now endeavor to +prove to your satisfaction <emph>that its introduction +into the Church, since the Apostolic age, was absolutely +impossible</emph>. +</p> + +<p> +There are two ways in which we may suppose +that error might insinuate itself into the Church, +viz.: suddenly, or by slow process. Now, the introduction +of Confession in either of those ways +was simply impossible. +</p> + +<p> +First, nothing can be more absurd than to suppose +that Confession was immediately forced upon +the Christian world. For experience demonstrates +with what slowness and difficulty men are divested +of their religious impressions, whether true or +false. If such is the case with individuals, how +ridiculous would it seem for whole nations to +adopt in a single day some article of belief which +they had never admitted before. Hence, we cannot +imagine, without doing violence to our good +sense, that all the good people of Christendom +went to rest one night ignorant of the Sacrament +of Penance, and rose next morning firm believers +in the Catholic doctrine of auricular Confession. +As well might we suppose that the citizens of the +United States would retire to rest believing they +were living under a Republic, and awake impressed +with the conviction that they were under +the rule of Queen Victoria. +</p> + +<pb n="353"/><anchor id="Pg353"/> + +<p> +Nor is it less absurd to suppose that the practice +of Confession was introduced by degrees. How +can we imagine that the Fathers of the Church—the +Clements, the Leos, the Gregories, the Chrysostoms, +the Jeromes, the Basils and Augustines, +those intrepid High Priests of the Lord, who, in +every age, at the risk of persecution, exile and +death have stood like faithful sentinels on the +watch-towers of Israel, defending with sleepless +eyes the outskirts of the city of God from the +slightest attack—how can we imagine, I say, that +they would suffer the enemy of truth to invade the +very sanctuary of God's temple? If they were +so vigilant in cutting off the least withered branch +of error, how would they tamely submit to see so +monstrous an exotic engrafted on the fruitful tree +of the Church? +</p> + +<p> +What gives additional weight to these remarks +is the reflection that Confession is not a speculative +doctrine, but a doctrine of the most practical +kind, influencing our daily actions, words and +thoughts—a Sacrament to which thousands of +Christians have constant recourse in every part +of the world. It is a doctrine, moreover, hard to +flesh and blood, and which no human power, even +if it had the will, could impose on the human race. +It is only a God that, in such a case, could exact +the homage of our assent. +</p> + +<p> +In whatever light, therefore, we view the present +question—whether we consider the circumstances +of time, place, manner of its introduction—the +same inevitable conclusion stares us in the +face: that Sacramental confession is not the invention +of man, but the institution of Jesus Christ. +</p> + +<p> +But the doctrine of priestly absolution and the +private confession of sins is not confined to the +Roman Catholic and Oriental schismatic churches. +The same doctrine is also taught by a large and +<pb n="354"/><anchor id="Pg354"/> +influential portion of the Protestant Episcopal +Church of England. +</p> + +<p> +The Rev. C. S. Grueber, a clergyman of the +Church of England, has recently published a catechism +in which the absolving power of the minister +of God, and the necessity and advantage of +confession, are plainly set forth. I will quote +from the Rev. gentleman's book his identical +words: +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Question.</hi> What do you mean by absolution? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Answer.</hi> The pardon or forgiveness of sin. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> By what special ordinance of Christ are +sins committed after Baptism to be pardoned? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> By the sacrament of absolution. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> Who is the minister of absolution? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> A Priest. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> Do you mean that a Priest can really absolve? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> Yes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> In what place of the Holy Scripture is it recorded +that Christ gave this power to the priesthood? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> In John xx. 23; see also Matt. xviii. 18. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> What does the prayer-book (or Book of +Common Prayer) say? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> In the office for the ordaining of Priests the +Bishop is directed to say, <q>Receive the Holy +Ghost for the office and work of a Priest in the +Church of God. Whose sins thou dost forgive, +they are forgiven.</q> In the office for the visitation +of the sick it is said, <q>Our Lord Jesus Christ +hath left in His Church power to absolve all sinners +that truly repent and believe in Him.</q> In +the order for morning and evening prayer we say +again, <q>Almighty God hath given power and commandment +to his ministers to declare and pronounce +<pb n="355"/><anchor id="Pg355"/> +to His people, being penitent, the absolution +and remission of their sins.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> For what purpose hath Christ given this +power to Priests to pronounce absolution in His +name? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>For the consolation of the penitent; the +quieting of his conscience.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> What must precede the absolution of the +penitent? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Confession....</hi> Before absolution +privately given, confession must be made to a Priest +privately. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> In what case does the Church of England +order her ministers to move people to private, or, +as it is called, to auricular confession? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> When they feel their conscience troubled +with any weighty matter. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> What is weighty matter? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> Mortal sin certainly is weighty; sins of +omission or commission of any kind that press +upon the mind are so, too. Anything may be +weighty that causes scruple or doubtfulness. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> At what times in particular does the Church +so order? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> In the time of sickness, <hi rend='italic'>and before coming +to the Holy Communion</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> Is there any other class of persons to whom +confession is profitable? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> Yes; to those <hi rend='italic'>who desire to lead a saintly +life. These, indeed, are the persons who most frequently +resort to it.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> Is there any other object in confession, besides +the seeking absolution for past sin and the +quieting of the penitent's conscience? +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> Yes; the practice of confessing each single +<pb n="356"/><anchor id="Pg356"/> +sin is a great check upon the commission of sin +and a preservative of purity of life.<note place='foot'>See +<q>A Catechism on the Church.</q> By the Rev. C. S. +Grueber, Hambridge, Diocese of Bath and Wells. London: +Palmer, 1870.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Here we have the Divine institution of priestly +absolution and the necessity and advantage of +Sacramental confession plainly taught, not in a +speculative treatise, but in a practical catechism, +by a distinguished minister of the Church of England; +taught by a minister who draws his salary +from the funds of the Protestant Episcopal +church; who preaches and administers in a church +edifice recognized as a Protestant Episcopal +church, and who is in strict communion with a +Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of +England. +</p> + +<p> +And these doctrines are upheld, not by one eminent +Divine only, but by hundreds of clergymen, as +well as by thousands of the Protestant Episcopalians +of England. +</p> + +<p> +What a strange spectacle to behold the same +church teaching diametrically opposite doctrines! +What is orthodox in the diocese of Bath and Wells +is decidedly heterodox in the diocese of North Carolina. +An ordinance which Rev. Mr. Grueber proclaims +to be of Divine faith is characterized by Rt. +Rev. Bishop Atkinson<note place='foot'>The Protestant +Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina.</note> as the invention of men. +What Dr. Grueber inculcates as a most salutary +practice Dr. Atkinson anathematizes as pernicious +to religion. Confession, which, in the judgment of +the former, is a great <q>check upon the commission +of sin,</q> is stigmatized by the latter as an incentive +to sin. <q>Behold how good and pleasant it is for +brethren to dwell together in unity.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. cxxxii.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="357"/><anchor id="Pg357"/> + +<p> +Suppose that the venerable Protestant Episcopal +Bishop of North Carolina, in passing through +England, were invited by the Rev. Mr. Grueber to +preach in his church in the morning, and that the +Rt. Rev. Prelate chose for his subject a sermon +on confession; and suppose that the Rev. Mr. Grueber +selected in the evening, as the subject of his +discourse, the doctrine advanced by him in his +catechism. +</p> + +<p> +Let us imagine some benighted dissenter attending +Mr. Grueber's church at the morning and evening +service, with the view to being enlightened in +the teachings of the Protestant church. Would +not our dissenter be sorely perplexed, on returning +home at night, as to what the Protestant Episcopal +church really <emph>did teach</emph>? +</p> + +<p> +Some Episcopalians are pleased to admit that +confession may be resorted to with spiritual profit +in certain abnormal cases—for instance, in time of +sickness. So that, in their judgment, a religious +observance which is salutary to a sick man is +pernicious to him in good health. For the life of +me, I cannot see how the circumstances of bodily +health can affect the moral character of a religious +act. +</p> + +<p> +That a minister of the Baptist or the Methodist +church should deny the power of priestly absolution +I readily understand, since these churches disclaim, +in their confessions of faith, any such prerogative +for their clergy. But I cannot well conceive +why a Protestant Episcopalian should repudiate +the pardoning power, which is plainly asserted +in his standard prayer-book. +</p> + +<p> +Whenever an Episcopalian Bishop imposes +hands on candidates for the ministry he employs +the following words, which are found in the Book +of Common Prayer: <q>Receive the Holy Ghost for +<pb n="358"/><anchor id="Pg358"/> +the office and work of a Priest in the Church of +God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of +our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they +are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they +are retained.</q><note place='foot'>The Ordering +of Priests.</note> If these words do not mean that +the minister receives by the imposition of the +Bishop's hands the power of forgiving sin, they +mean nothing at all. When the Bishop pronounces +this sentence, either he intends to convey this +power of absolution, or he does not. If he intended +to confer this power, he could not employ +more clear and precise language to express his +idea; if he did not intend to confer this power, +then his language is calculated to mislead. +</p> + +<p> +Just imagine that prelate addressing a candidate +for Holy Orders, in the morning, with the +words: <q>Whose sins thou dost forgive they are +forgiven;</q> and after Divine service saying to the +young minister: <q>Remember, sir, you have no +power to forgive sins. The words of ordination +are a mere figure of speech.</q> +</p> + +<p> +When a Catholic Bishop ordains Priests he uses +the precise words which I have quoted, because +the Book of Common Prayer borrows them from +our Pontifical. But he means exactly what he +says, viz: That the Priest receives through the +ministration of the Bishop the power of forgiving +sins. +</p> + +<p> +To sum up: We have seen that the Sacrament +of Penance and absolution by the Priest is taught +in Scripture, proclaimed by the Fathers, upheld +not only by Roman Catholics throughout the +world, but also by all the schismatic Christians of +the East. It is inculcated in those old and +genuine editions of the <hi rend='italic'>Book of Common Prayer</hi>, +which have not been enervated by being subjected +<pb n="359"/><anchor id="Pg359"/> +to the pruning-knife in this country, and the same +practice is encouraged by an influential portion of +the Protestant Episcopal church in England, and +I will add, also, in the United States. +</p> + +<p> +Again, some object to priestly absolution on the +assumption that the exercise of such a function +would be a usurpation of an incommunicable prerogative +of God, who alone can forgive sins. This +was precisely the language addressed by the +Scribes to our Savior. They exclaimed: <q>He +blasphemeth! who can forgive sins but God +only?</q><note place='foot'>Mark ii. +7.</note> My answer, therefore, will be equally +applicable to old and modern objectors. It is not +blasphemy for a Priest to claim the power of forgiving +sins, since he acts as the delegate of the +Most High. It would, indeed, be blasphemous if a +Priest pretended to absolve in his own name and +by virtue of his own authority. But when the +Priest absolves the penitent sinner he acts in the +name, and by the express authority, of Jesus +Christ; for he says: <q>I absolve thee in the name +of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost.</q> Let it be understood once for all that +the Priest arrogates to himself no Divine powers. +He is but a feeble voice. It is the Holy Spirit that +operates sanctity in the soul of the penitent. +</p> + +<p> +Not a few Protestant Episcopalians, I believe, +still admit that original sin is washed away in the +Sacrament of Baptism. If the minister is not +guilty of blasphemy in being the instrument of +God's mercy, in forgiving sins by Baptism, how +can a Priest blaspheme in being the instrument of +Divine mercy, in absolving sinners in the Sacrament +of Penance? The same Lord who instituted +Baptism for the remission of original sin established +Penance for the forgiveness of sins committed +<pb n="360"/><anchor id="Pg360"/> +after Baptism. Did not the Apostles exercise +Divine power in raising dead bodies to life, +and in raising souls that were dead to the life of +grace? And yet no one but Scribes and Pharisees +accused them of usurping God's powers. Cannot +the Almighty, without derogating from His own +glory, give to men in the nineteenth century privileges +which He accorded to them in the first age +of the Church? +</p> + +<p> +Far, then, from dishonoring, we honor God by +having recourse to the earthly physician whom +He has appointed for us, and, like the multitude +in the Gospel, we <q>glorify God, who hath given +such power to men.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. ix. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Others object thus: Why confess to a Priest, when +you may confess to God in secret. I will retort by +asking, why do you build fine temples when you can +worship God in the great temple of nature? Why +pray in church when you can pray in your chamber? +Why listen to a minister expounding the +Word of God when you can read the Gospel at your +leisure at home. You answer that the Lord authorizes +these things. So does He authorize priestly +absolution. This objection is not new. It is very old. +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine, who lived fourteen hundred years +ago, will answer the objection for me: <q>Let no one,</q> +remarks this illustrious Doctor, <q>say to himself, +I do penance to God in private; I do it before God. +Is it, then, in vain that Christ has said: <q>Whatsoever +ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in +heaven</q>? Is it in vain that the keys have been +given to the Church?</q> The question for us is not +what God is able to do, but what <emph>He has willed to +do</emph>. God <emph>might</emph> have adopted other means for the +justification of the sinner, as He might have +created a world different from the present one. +But it is our business to take our Father at His +word, and to have recourse with gratitude to the +<pb n="361"/><anchor id="Pg361"/> +system He has actually established for our justification. +Now, we are assured by His infallible +word that it is by having recourse to His consecrated +ministers that our sins will be forgiven us.<note place='foot'>John xx.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is related in the Book of Kings that Naaman, +the Syrian, was afflicted with a grievous +leprosy, which baffled the skill of the physicians of +his country. He had in his household a Jewish +maid-servant. She spoke to her master of the +great prophet Eliseus, who lived in her native +country, to whom the Lord had given the power of +performing miracles. She besought her master to +consult the prophet. Naaman, accordingly, set +out for the country of Israel and begged Eliseus to +heal him. The prophet told him to go and wash +seven times in the Jordan; but Naaman, instead of +doing as he was directed, became very angry, and +said: <q>I thought he would have come out to me, ... +and touched with his hand the place of the +leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abana and +the Pharfar rivers of Damascus, better than all +the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and +be made clean?</q><note place='foot'>IV. Kings +v.</note> But the servants of Naaman +remonstrated with him, and besought him to comply +with the prophet's injunction, telling him that +the conditions were easy and the Jordan was at +hand. Naaman went and washed and was +cleansed. Our opponents, like Naaman, cry out: +<q>Why should you go to a Priest, a sinner like yourself, +when secretly, in your own room, you can approach +God, the pure fountain of grace, to be +washed from your sins?</q> I answer, because +Jesus Christ, a prophet, and more than a prophet, +has commanded you to do so. +</p> + +<p> +The last charge that I will notice is the most +serious and the most offensive. We are told that +<pb n="362"/><anchor id="Pg362"/> +private confession is lawless; that the conscience +soon becomes <q>enfeebled and chained and starved</q> +by it, and, worse and worse, that sins are more +readily committed, if followed by an absolution +conveying pardon—in other words, that the more +attached Catholics are to the practice of their holy +religion the more depraved and corrupt they become. +Or, if they remain faithful to God, this +is not by reason of, but in spite of, their religious +exercises. +</p> + +<p> +Surely, this was not the sentiment of the late +Dr. Ives, once Protestant Bishop of North Carolina, +and of many other illustrious converts, who, +from the day of their conversion to the hour of +their death never failed to receive consolation and +strength from the sacred tribunal. +</p> + +<p> +Nor is it the sentiment of Rev. Father Lyman, +a Catholic Priest, of Baltimore, and brother of the +assistant Protestant Bishop of North Carolina, +nor of the present Archbishops of Baltimore and +Philadelphia, of the Bishops of Wilmington, Cleveland, +Columbus and Ogdensburg, and a host of +others, both of the Protestant clergy and laity, who +within the last fifty years have entered the Catholic +Church. +</p> + +<p> +If we compare the Protestant and Catholic systems +for the forgiveness of sins, the Catholic system +will not suffer by the comparison. According +to the Protestant system, repentance is necessary +and sufficient for justification. The Catholic +system also requires repentance on the part of the +sinner as an indispensable prerequisite for the forgiveness +of sin. But it requires much more than +this. Before the penitent receives absolution he +must carefully examine his conscience and confess +his sins, according to their number and kind. He +is obliged to have a firm purpose of amendment, to +<pb n="363"/><anchor id="Pg363"/> +promise restitution, if he has defrauded his neighbor, +to repair any injury done his neighbor's +character, to be reconciled with his enemies and to +avoid the occasions of sin. Do not these obligations +afford a better safeguard against a relapse +into sin than a simple internal act of contrition? +</p> + +<p> +Many most eminent Protestant, and even infidel +writers, who were conversant with the practical +workings of the confessional in the countries in +which they lived, bear testimony to the moral +reformation produced by it. The famous German +philosopher, Leibnitz, admits that it is a great +benefit conferred on men by God that He left in +His Church the power of forgiving sins.<note place='foot'>Systema Theol.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Voltaire, certainly no friend of Christianity, +avows <q>that there is not perhaps a more useful +institution than confession.</q><note place='foot'>Remarques sur l'Olympe.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Rousseau, not less hostile to the Church, exclaims: +<q>How many restitutions and reparations +does not confession cause among Catholics!</q><note place='foot'>Emile.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Protestant authorities of Nuremberg, in +Germany, shortly after the establishment of the +reformed doctrines in that city, were so much +alarmed at the laxity of morals which succeeded +after the abolition of confession that they petitioned +their Emperor, Charles V., to have it restored. +</p> + +<p> +It is a favorite custom for the adversaries of +the Catholic Church to refer to the alleged loose +morals prevailing in France and in other Catholic +countries as a proof of the inferior standard of +Catholic morality. This is a safe, and at the same +time not the most honorable, mode of attack, as +the people of those nations are too far off to defend +themselves. For my part, I have spent +<pb n="364"/><anchor id="Pg364"/> +a considerable time in various portions of France, +and more edifying Christians I have never witnessed +than those I met in that country. For six +years I had for my professors French Priests, +whose exemplary lives were a daily sermon to all +around them. +</p> + +<p> +I submit that the cosmopolitan city of Paris +(waiving, for the present, the enormities of which +it is accused), is not to be adduced as a fair criterion +of French morality. Let us stay at home +and judge of Catholic morals by the examples +furnished under our eyes. +</p> + +<p> +The influence of the confessional has been fairly +tested in this country since the foundation of our +Republic. Are practical Catholics enfeebled in +conscience? Is their conscience chained and +starved? Has the absolution they received whetted +their appetites for more sin? Are they monsters +of immorality? I think that an enlightened +Protestant public will pronounce a contrary verdict. +</p> + +<p> +I feel that I can say, with truth, that Catholics +who frequent the confessional are generally +virtuous in their private lives, just and honorable +in their dealings with others, and that they cultivate +charity and good-will toward their fellow-citizens. +</p> + +<p> +It will not do to reply that it is the system, not +the individual, that is attacked. How can we +judge of a system unless by its practical working +in the individual? <q>By their fruits ye shall know +them,</q> says our Redeemer. +</p> + +<p> +Vices, indeed, we have to deplore among certain +classes of our people, which are often superinduced +by their migratory habits and irregular +mode of life. But they are commonly sins of +frailty, and these are not the persons that are accustomed +<pb n="365"/><anchor id="Pg365"/> +to approach the confessional. If they +did their lives would be very different from what +they are. +</p> + +<p> +The best of us, alas! are not what we ought to +be, considering the graces we receive. But if you +seek for canting hypocrites, or colossal defaulters, +or perpetrators of well-laid schemes of forgery, or +of systematic licentiousness, or of premeditated +violence, you will seek for such in vain among +those who frequent the confessional. +</p> + +<p> +There is another objection which it is difficult to +kill. It dies hard and, like Banquo's ghost, it will +not down. If you drive it from the city, it will fly +to the town. If you expel it from the town, it will +take refuge in the village. If you eject it from the +village, it will hide itself like some noxious animal, +in some desert place until it makes its rounds again. +</p> + +<p> +I allude to the charge that a price has to be paid +for remitting sins. <q>You have only (say these +slanderers) to pay a certain toll at the confessional +gate, and you can pass the biggest load of sin.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is hard to treat these objections seriously. I +have been hearing confessions for fifty years, and +of all who have come to me, not one has had the +sense of duty to offer me any compensation for absolving +them, and this is true of every Priest with +whom I have been acquainted. The truth is, the +Priest who would solicit a fee for absolution knows +that he would be guilty of simony, and would be +liable to suspension. +</p> + +<p> +But we are told that confession is an intolerable +yoke, that it makes its votaries the slaves of the +Priests. +</p> + +<p> +Before answering this objection, let me call your +attention to the inconsistency of our adversaries, +who blow hot and cold in the same breath. They +denounce confession as being too hard a remedy +for sin and condemn it, at the same time, as being +<pb n="366"/><anchor id="Pg366"/> +a smooth road to heaven. In one sentence they +style it a bed of roses; in the next a bed of thorns. +</p> + +<p> +In a preceding objection it was charged that the +votaries of confession had no moral constraint at +all. Now it is said that their conscience is bound +in chains of slavery. Surely, confession cannot be +hard and easy at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +I have already refuted, I trust, the former +charge. I shall now answer the second. I am not +aware in what sense our people are less independent +than those of any other class of the community. +The only restraint, as far as I know, imposed +on Catholics by their Priests is the yoke of +the Gospel, and to this restraint no Christian +ought to object. In my estimation, no body of +Christians enjoys more Apostolic freedom than +those of the Catholic communion, because they are +guided in their conduct, not by the ever-changing +<hi rend='italic'>ipse dixit</hi> of any minister, but by the unchangeable +teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ. +</p> + +<p> +But if to love their Priest, to reverence his +sacred character, to obey his voice as the voice of +God; if to be willing to make any sacrifice for their +spiritual father; if, I say, you call this slavery, +then our Catholic people are slaves, indeed, and, +what is more, they are content with their chains. +</p> + +<p> +Even our Manuals of Devotion have not escaped +the lash of wanton criticism. They have excited +the pious horror of some modern Pharisees because +they contain a table of sins for the use of +those preparing for confession. The same flower +that furnishes honey to the bee supplies poison to +the wasp; and, in like manner, the same book that +gives only the honey of consolation to the devout +reader has nothing but moral poison for those that +search its pages for nothing else. +</p> + +<pb n="367"/><anchor id="Pg367"/> + +<p> +How can anyone object to the table of sins in +our prayer-books and consistently advocate the +circulation of the Bible, which contains incomparably +plainer and more palpable allusions to +gross crimes than are found in our books of devotion? +Let us not forget the adage, <q><hi rend='italic'>Honi soit +qui mal y pense.</hi></q> +</p> + +<p> +I may be permitted, in concluding this subject, +to add the testimony of my own experience on the +beneficent influence of the confessional; for, like +my brethren in the ministry, I am, in the language +of Dryden, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>One bred apart from worldly noise,</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>To study souls, their cures, and their diseases.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Since the time of my ordination up to the present +hour I have been accustomed to hear confessions +almost every day. I have, therefore, had a +fair opportunity of ascertaining the value of the +<q>system.</q> The impressions forced upon my +mind, far from being peculiar to myself, are shared +by every Catholic Priest throughout the world +charged with the care of souls. The testimony of +ten experienced confessors ought, in my estimation, +to have more weight in enabling men to +judge of the moral tendencies of the confessional +than the gratuitous assertions of a thousand individuals +who have no personal experience of it, +but who draw on their heated imaginations or on +the pages of sensational novels for the statements +they offer. +</p> + +<p> +My experience is that the confessional is the +most powerful lever ever erected by a merciful +God for raising men from the mire of sin. It has +more weight in withdrawing people from vice than +even the pulpit. In public sermons we scatter the +<pb n="368"/><anchor id="Pg368"/> +seed of the Word of God; in the confessional we +reap the harvest. In sermons, to use a military +phrase, the fire is at random, but in confession it +is a dead shot. The words of the Priest go home +to the heart of the penitent. In a public discourse +the Priest addresses all in general, and his words +of admonition may be applicable to very few of +his hearers. But his words spoken in the confessional +are directed exclusively to the penitent, +whose heart is open to receive the Word of God. +The confessor exhorts the penitent according to his +spiritual wants. He cautions him against the frequentation +of dangerous company and other occasions +of sin, or he recommends special practices of +piety suited to the penitent's wants. +</p> + +<p> +Hence missionaries are accustomed to estimate +the fruit of a mission more by the number of penitents +who have approached the sacred tribunal +than by the number of persons who have listened +to their sermons. +</p> + +<p> +Of all the labors that our sacred ministry imposes +on us, there is none more arduous or more +irksome than that of hearing confessions. If I may +make a revelation of my own life, I deferred receiving +Holy Orders for two years, from a sense of +the dread responsibility connected with the confessional. +It is no trifling task to sit for six or eight +consecutive hours on a hot summer day, listening +to stories of sin and sorrow and misery. It is only +the consciousness of the immense good he is doing +that sustains the confessor in the sacred tribunal. +He is one <q>who can have compassion on the ignorant +and erring, because he himself is also encompassed +with infirmity.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. v. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I have seen the man whose conscience was +weighed down by the accumulated sins of twenty +<pb n="369"/><anchor id="Pg369"/> +winters. Upon his face were branded guilt and +shame, remorse and confusion. There he stood by +the confessional, with downcast countenance, +ashamed, like the Publican, to look up to heaven. +He glided into the little mercy-seat. No human +ear will ever learn what there transpired. The +revelations of the confessional are a sealed book. +</p> + +<p> +But during the brief time spent in the confessional +a resurrection occurred more miraculous +than the raising of Lazarus from the tomb—it was +the resurrection from the grave of sin of a soul +that had long lain worm-eaten. During those +precious moments a ray from heaven dispelled the +darkness and gloom from that self-accuser's mind. +The genial warmth of the Holy Spirit melted his +frozen heart, and the purifying influence of the +same Spirit that came on the Apostles, <q>like a +mighty wind from heaven,</q> scattered the poisonous +atmosphere in which he lived and filled his soul +with Divine grace. When he came out there was +quickness in his step, joy on his countenance, a +new light in his eye. Had you asked him why, he +would have answered: <q>Because I was lost, and +am found. Having been dead, I am come to life +again.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xv. 32.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<head>II. On The Relative Morality Of Catholic And Protestant +Countries.</head> + +<p> +It has been gravely asserted that the confession +of sin and the doctrine of absolution tend to the +spread of crime and immorality. Statistics are +produced to show that murder and illegitimate +<pb n="370"/><anchor id="Pg370"/> +births are largely in excess in countries under +Catholic influence, and that this prevalence of +wickedness is the <emph>result of confession and easy +absolution</emph>. +</p> + +<p> +If our system of absolving those only who both +repent and <emph>confess</emph> leads to laxity of morals, how +much more must the Protestant system, which +omits that which is most humiliating and admits +the sinner to reconciliation on condition of mere +interior dispositions? As all our catechisms teach, +and as every Catholic knows, there is no pardon +of sin without sorrow of heart and purpose of +amendment. It is a great mistake to suppose that +the most ignorant Catholic believes he can procure +the pardon of his sins by simply confessing them +without being truly sorry for them. The estimate +which so many Protestants set on the virtue of +even the lower classes of Roman Catholics is +clearly enough evinced in the preference which +they constantly manifest in their employment of +Catholics—practical Catholics—Catholics who go +to confession. I maintain, therefore, that confession, +far from being an incentive to sin, as our adversaries +have the hardihood to affirm, is a most +powerful check on the depravity of men and a +most effectual preventive of their criminal excesses. +</p> + +<p> +But is it true that crimes, especially murder and +illegitimacy, are more prevalent in Catholic than +in Protestant countries? I utterly deny the assertion, +and also appeal to statistics in support of the +denial. Whence do our opponents derive their information? +Forsooth, from Rev. M. Hobart Seymour's +<q>Nights Among Romanists</q> and similar +absolutely unreliable compilations, the false statements +of which have been again and again refuted. +</p> + +<pb n="371"/><anchor id="Pg371"/> + +<p> +Rev. Mr. Seymour gives the following list of the +number of murders in England, France and Ireland: +</p> + +<p> +Ireland: 19 homicides to the million of inhabitants<lb/> +France: 31<lb/> +England: 4 +</p> + +<p> +The reader of the above might well draw back in +astonishment and exclaim, <q>Truly moral atmosphere +of England!</q> But how do these statements +compare with the official records which I submit to +the unprejudiced reader? Recent returns from +the <q>Hand-Book</q> for France, and <q>Thom's Official +Directory for England and Ireland, 1869,</q> are +as follows: +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{2cm} p{2cm} p{2cm}'; tblcolumns: 'l r r'"> +<row><cell></cell><cell>Convictions (and sentences to death).</cell> + <cell>Executions.</cell></row> +<row><cell>1864.--France</cell><cell>9</cell><cell>5</cell></row> +<row><cell>1867.--England and Wales</cell><cell>27</cell><cell>10</cell></row> +<row><cell>Ireland</cell><cell>3</cell><cell>0</cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +These figures, which are from authenticated +sources, do not bear out our accusers in their assertion +that murders are more prevalent in Catholic +than in Protestant countries. The statistics of +this crime are limited, or they are not in very general +circulation. But we have more extensive information +in reference to the other great crime +which, it is charged, prevails to a much more +alarming extent in countries under Catholic influence, +viz., illegitimacy. Here again we shall +meet statistics with counter-statistics to refute unjust +declarations. We do not wish to be understood +as advocating the immaculateness of Catholic +communities. We frankly admit and heartily +deplore the disorders which Catholics commit, but +we deny that they are worse than their Protestant +neighbors; and still more emphatically do we deny +<pb n="372"/><anchor id="Pg372"/> +that the Church is responsible for their disorders. +</p> + +<p> +The Journal of the Statistical Society of London, +of the years 1860, '62, '65, '67, gives the number +of illegitimate births in England and Wales as +6-1/2 in every hundred, whilst in the Catholic kingdom +of Sardinia the number is slightly over two in +the hundred, and in Ireland three in every hundred. +If the test of illegitimacy is a correct index +of the morality of a country, how refreshing to +pass from Protestant England across to Catholic +Ireland or to the Continent and visit Sardinia! +The moral atmosphere of these countries, compared +with England, must be as a healthful breeze +to a pestilential marsh. +</p> + +<p> +That we may see at a glance the real condition +of European countries in reference to this species +of crime, I will here insert as correct a table as can +be made from the latest reports. (Vid. <hi rend='italic'>Catholic +World</hi>, Vol. XI., p. 112.) +</p> + +<p> +Percentage Of Illegitimacy In Protestant And +Catholic Countries Of Europe. +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{2cm} p{2cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(40) r'"> +<row><cell>Protestant.</cell><cell>Per cent.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Holland</cell><cell>4.0</cell></row> +<row><cell>Switzerland</cell><cell>5.5</cell></row> +<row><cell>Prussia (Protestant)</cell><cell>10.0</cell></row> +<row><cell>England and Wales</cell><cell>6.5</cell></row> +<row><cell>Sweden and Norway</cell><cell>9.6</cell></row> +<row><cell>Scotland</cell><cell>10.1</cell></row> +<row><cell>Denmark</cell><cell>11.0</cell></row> +<row><cell>German States</cell><cell>14.8</cell></row> +<row><cell>Wurtemburg</cell><cell>16.4</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>Catholic.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>Italy</cell><cell>5.1</cell></row> +<row><cell>Spain</cell><cell>5.5</cell></row> +<row><cell>France</cell><cell>7.2</cell></row> +<row><cell>Prussia (Catholic)</cell><cell>6.5</cell></row> +<row><cell>Belgium</cell><cell>7.2</cell></row> +<row><cell>Austria</cell><cell>11.1</cell></row> +<row><cell>Ireland</cell><cell>3.0</cell></row> +</table> + +<pb n="373"/><anchor id="Pg373"/> + +<p> +We have divided Prussia into Protestant and +Catholic because statistics are kept according to +the religious creed of the people; and we discover +that, whilst among the Catholic portion of the empire +there is but a percentage of six and a half of +illegitimate births, among the Protestants it runs +up to ten per cent. And the same remark is applicable +to Ireland. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Scotman</hi>, whose statements are based on the +report of the British Registrar-General, publishes +the following statistics: +</p> + +<p> +<q>The proportion of illegitimate births to the +total number of births is in Ireland 3.8 per cent.; +in England the proportion is 6.4; in Scotland 9.9; +in other words, England is nearly twice, and Scotland +nearly thrice worse, than Ireland. Something +worse has to be added, from which no consolation +can be derived. The proportion of illegitimacy +is very unequally distributed over Ireland, +and the inequality rather humbling to us as Protestants, +and still more as Presbyterians and +Scotchmen. Taking Ireland according to the +registration divisions, the proportion of illegitimate +births varies from 6.2 to 1.3. The division +showing this lowest figure is the western, being +substantially the Province of Connaught, where +about nineteen-twentieths of the population are +Celtic and Roman Catholic. The division showing +the highest proportion of illegitimacy is the north-eastern, +which comprises, or almost consists of, +the Province of Ulster, where the population is almost +equally divided between Protestants and Roman +Catholics, and where the great majority of +Protestants are of Scotch blood and of the Presbyterian +church. The sum of the whole matter is, +that semi-Presbyterian and semi-Scotch Ulster is +fully three times more immoral than wholly Popish +<pb n="374"/><anchor id="Pg374"/> +and wholly Irish Connaught—which corresponds +with wonderful accuracy to the more general +fact that Scotland, as a whole, is three times +more immoral than Ireland as a whole.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is worthy, too, of notice, that in the tabular +statement above presented the percentage of illegitimacy +in Holland and Switzerland, where +there are large Catholic minorities, is lower than +in any other Protestant country. +</p> + +<p> +We have at hand evidences, furnished by Protestant +writers, of the hideous immoralities of certain +European nations that are more thoroughly +Protestantized than England itself. Thus, Mr. +Laing writes: <q>Of the 2,714 children born in +Stockholm, 1,577 were legitimate, 1,137 illegitimate; +making only a balance of 440 chaste mothers +out of 2,714; and the proportion of illegitimate to +legitimate children not as one to two and three-tenths, +but as one to one and a half.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>A Tour in +Sweden in</hi> 1838. +</p> + +<p> +But we are not disposed to parade these monstrous +vices, no matter by whom committed. We +allude to them with feelings of shame, not of pleasure; +and give them a passing notice merely in +self-defence against the gratuitous assertions of +our adversaries. We certainly do not wish to excuse +or palliate the evil deeds of Catholics, who, +with all the blessed aids which their religion affords, +ought to be much better than they are. Yet +we will add, quoting the words of the <hi rend='italic'>Catholic +World</hi>: <q>If we are not very much better than our +neighbors, we are not any worse; and are not to be +hounded down with the cry of vice and immorality +by a set of Pharisees who are constantly lauding +their own superiority and thanking God they are +so much better than we poor Catholics.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n="375"/><anchor id="Pg375"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXVII. Indulgences.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXVII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXVII.</head> +<head>Indulgences.</head> + +<p> +There are few tenets of the Catholic Church +so little understood, or so grossly misrepresented +by her adversaries, as her doctrine +regarding Indulgences. +</p> + +<p> +One of the reasons of the popular misapprehension +of an Indulgence may be ascribed to the +change which the meaning of that term has gradually +undergone. The word Indulgence originally +signified <hi rend='italic'>favor, remission or forgiveness</hi>. Now, +it is commonly used in the sense of unlawful gratification, +and of free scope to the passions. Hence, +when some ignorant or prejudiced persons hear of +the Church granting an Indulgence the idea of +license to sin is at once presented to their minds. +</p> + +<p> +An Indulgence is simply a remission in whole or +in part, through the superabundant merits of +Jesus Christ and His saints, of the temporal +punishment due to God on account of sin after the +guilt and eternal punishment have been remitted. +</p> + +<p> +It should be borne in mind that, even after our +guilt is removed, there often remains some temporal +punishment to be undergone, either in this +life or the next, as an expiation to Divine sanctity +and justice. The Holy Scripture furnishes us +with many examples of this truth. Mary, the sister +of Moses, was pardoned the sin which she had +committed by murmuring against her brother. +<pb n="376"/><anchor id="Pg376"/> +Nevertheless, God inflicted on her the penalty of +leprosy and of seven days' separation from the +people.<note place='foot'>Num. xii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Nathan, the prophet, announced to David that +his crimes were forgiven, but that he should suffer +many chastisements from the hand of God.<note place='foot'>II. Kings xii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That our Lord has given to the Church the +power of granting Indulgences is clearly deduced +from the Sacred Text. To the Prince of the Apostles +He said: <q>Whatsoever thou shalt bind on +earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever +thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also +in heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. +19.</note> And to all the Apostles assembled +together He made the same solemn declaration.<note place='foot'>Ibid., xviii. 18.</note> +By these words our Savior empowered His +Church to deliver her children (if properly disposed) +from every obstacle that might retard them +from the Kingdom of Heaven. Now there are two +impediments that withhold a man from the +heavenly kingdom—sin and the temporal punishment +incurred by it. And the Church having +power to remit the greater obstacle, which is sin, +has power also to remove the smaller obstacle, +which is the temporal punishment due on account +of it. +</p> + +<p> +The prerogative of granting Indulgence has +been exercised by the teachers of the Church from +the beginning of her existence. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul exercised it in behalf of the incestuous +Corinthian whom he had condemned to a severe +penance proportioned to his guilt, <q>that his spirit +might be saved in the day of the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. v. 5.</note> And +having learned afterwards of the Corinthian's +fervent contrition the Apostle absolves him from +the penance which he had imposed: <q>To him, that +<pb n="377"/><anchor id="Pg377"/> +is such a one, this rebuke is sufficient, which is +given by many. So that contrariwise you should +rather pardon and comfort him, lest, perhaps, such +a one be swallowed up with over-much sorrow.... +And to whom you have pardoned anything, +I also. For, what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned +anything, for your sakes I have done it in +the person of Christ.</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. ii. 6-10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Here we have all the elements that constitute an +Indulgence. First—A penance, or temporal +punishment proportioned to the gravity of the offence, +is imposed on the transgressor. Second—The +penitent is truly contrite for his crime. Third—This +determines the Apostle to remit the +penalty. Fourth—The Apostle considers the +relaxation of the penance ratified by Jesus Christ, +in whose name it is imparted. +</p> + +<p> +We find the Bishops of the Church, after the +Apostle, wielding this same power. No one disputes +the right, which they claimed from the very +first ages, of inflicting canonical penances on +grievous criminals, who were subjected to long +fasts, severe abstinences and other mortifications +for a period extending from a few days to five or +ten years and even to a lifetime, according to the +gravity of the offence. These penalties were, in +several instances, mitigated or cancelled by the +Church, according to her discretion; for a society +that can inflict a punishment can also remit it. +Our Lord gave His Church power not only to bind, +but also to loose. This discretionary prerogative +was often exercised by the Church at the intercession +of those who were condemned to martyrdom, +when the penitents themselves gave strong marks +of fervent sorrow, as we learn from the writings +of Tertullian and Cyprian. +</p> + +<pb n="378"/><anchor id="Pg378"/> + +<p> +The General Council of Nice and other Synods +authorize Bishops to mitigate, or even to remit +altogether, public penances, whenever, in their +judgment, the penitent manifested special marks +of repentance. Now, in relaxing the canonical penances, +or in substituting for them a milder satisfaction, +the Bishops granted what we call an Indulgence. +This sentence of remission on the part +of the Bishops was valid not only in the sight of +the Church, but also in the sight of God. Although +the Church imposes canonical penances no +longer, God has never ceased to inflict temporal +punishment for sin. Hence Indulgences continue +to be necessary now, if not as substitute for canonical +penances, at least as a mild and merciful +payment of the temporal debt due to God. +</p> + +<p> +An Indulgence is called plenary or partial, according +as it remits the whole or a part of the +temporal punishment due to sin. An Indulgence, +for instance, of forty days remits, before God, so +much of the temporal punishment as would have +been expiated in the primitive Church by a canonical +penance of forty days. +</p> + +<p> +Although the very name of Indulgence is now +so repugnant to our dissenting brethren, there was +a time when the Protestant Church professed to +grant them. In the canons of the Church of England +reference is made to Indulgences, and to the +disposition to be made of the money paid for +them.<note place='foot'>Articuli pro Clero, <hi rend='smallcaps'>A.D.</hi> +1584. Sparrow, 194. I admit, indeed, +that Protestant canons have but a fleeting and ephemeral +authority even among themselves, and that the canons must +yield to the spirit of the times, not the times to the canons. I +dare say that even few Protestant theologians are familiar with +the canons to which I have referred. Some people have a convenient +faculty of forgetting unpleasant traditions.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From what I have said you may judge for yourself +<pb n="379"/><anchor id="Pg379"/> +what to think of those who say that an Indulgence +is the remission of past sins, or a license +to commit sin granted by the Pope as a spiritual +compensation to the faithful for pecuniary offerings +made him. I need not inform you that an +Indulgence is neither the one nor the other. It is +not a remission of sin, since no one can gain an +Indulgence until he is already free from sin. It +is still less a license to commit sin; for every +Catholic child knows that neither Priest nor +Bishop nor Pope nor even God Himself—with all +reverence be it said—can give license to commit +the smallest fault. +</p> + +<p> +But are not Indulgences at variance with the +spirit of the Gospel, since they appear to be a mild +and feeble substitute for alms-giving, fasts, +abstinences and other penitential austerities, +which Jesus Christ inculcated and practised, and +which the primitive Church enforced? +</p> + +<p> +The Church, as every one must know who is acquainted +with her history, never exempts her children +from the obligation of doing works of penance. +</p> + +<p> +No one can deny that the practices of mortification +are more frequent among Catholics than +among Protestants. Where will you find the +evangelical duty of fasting enforced, if not from +the Catholic pulpit? It is well known that, among +the members of the Catholic Church, those who +avail themselves of the boon of Indulgences are +usually her most practical, edifying and fervent +children. Their spiritual growth far from being +retarded, is quickened by the aid of Indulgences, +which are usually accompanied by acts of contrition, +devotion, self-denial and the reception of the +Sacraments. +</p> + +<p> +But, do what we will, we cannot please our opponents. +<pb n="380"/><anchor id="Pg380"/> +If we fast and give alms; if we crucify +our flesh, and make pilgrimages and perform other +works of penance, we are accused of clinging to the +rags of dead works, instead of "holding on to +Jesus" by faith. If, on the other hand, we enrich +our souls with the treasures of Indulgences we are +charged with relying on the vicarious merits of +others and of lightening too much the salutary +burden of the cross. But how can Protestants +consistently find fault with the Church for <emph>mitigating</emph> +the austerities of penance, since their own +fundamental principle rests on <emph>faith alone without +good works</emph>? +</p> + +<p> +But have not Indulgences been the occasion of +many abuses at various times, particularly in the +sixteenth century? +</p> + +<p> +I will not deny that Indulgences have been +abused; but are not the most sacred things liable +to be perverted? This is a proper place to refer +briefly to the Bull of Pope Leo X. proclaiming the +Indulgence which afforded Luther a pretext for +his apostasy. Leo determined to bring to completion +the magnificent Church of St. Peter, commenced +by his predecessor, Julius II. With that +view he issued a Bull promulgating an Indulgence +to such as would contribute some voluntary offering +toward the erection of the grand cathedral. +Those, however, who contributed nothing shared +equally in the treasury of the Church, provided +they complied with the essential conditions for +gaining the Indulgence. The only indispensable +conditions enjoined by the Papal Bull were sincere +repentance and confession of sins. D'Aubigne +admits this truth, though in a faltering manner, +when he observes that <q>in the Pope's Bull +something was said of the repentance of the heart +<pb n="381"/><anchor id="Pg381"/> +and the confession of the lips.</q><note place='foot'>Vol. +I. p. 214.</note> The applicants +for the Indulgence knew well that, no matter how +munificent were their offerings, these would avail +them nothing without true contrition of heart. +</p> + +<p> +No traffic or sale of Indulgences was, consequently, +authorized or countenanced by the Head +of the Church, since the contributions were understood +to be voluntary. In order to check any +sordid love of gain in those charged with preaching +the Indulgence, <q>the hand that delivered the +Indulgence,</q> as D'Aubigne testifies, <q>could not +receive the money: that was forbidden under the +severest penalties.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Wherein, then, was the conduct of the Pope reprehensible? +Certainly not in soliciting the donations +of the faithful for the purpose of erecting a +temple of worship, a temple which today stands +unrivalled in majesty and beauty! +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>But thou of temples old, or altars new,</q></l> +<l>Standest alone, with nothing like to thee;</l> +<l>Worthiest of God, the holy and the true,</l> +<l>Since Sion's desolation, when that He</l> +<l>Forsook His former city, what could be</l> +<l>Of earthly structures, in His honor piled,</l> +<l>Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty,</l> +<l>Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled</l> +<l><q rend='post'>In this eternal ark of worship +undefiled.</q><note place='foot'>Byron.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +If Moses was justified in appealing to the +Hebrew people, in the Old Law, for offerings to +adorn the tabernacle, why should not the Pope be +equally justified in appealing for similar offerings +to the Christian people, among whom he exercises +supreme authority, as Moses did among the Israelites? +</p> + +<p> +Nor did the Pope exceed his legitimate powers +in promising to the pious donors spiritual favors +<pb n="382"/><anchor id="Pg382"/> +in exchange for their donations. For if our sins +can be redeemed by alms to the poor,<note place='foot'>Daniel +iv. 24.</note> as the Scripture +tells us, why not as well by offerings in the +cause of religion? When Protestant ministers appeal +to their congregations in behalf of themselves +and their children, or in support of a church, they +do not fail to hold out to their hearers spiritual +blessings in reward for their gifts. It is not long +since a Methodist parson of New York addressed +these sacred words to Cornelius Vanderbilt, the +millionaire, who had endowed a Methodist college: +<q>Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thy +alms are had in remembrance in the sight of +God.</q><note place='foot'>Acts x. +31.</note> The minister is more <emph>indulgent</emph> than even +the Pope, to whom were given the keys of the +Kingdom of Heaven; for the minister declares +Cornelius absolved without the preliminary of +confession or contrition, while even, according to +D'Aubigne, the inflexible Pope insisted on the +necessity of <q>repentance of the heart and confession +of the lips</q> before the donor's offering could +avail him to salvation. +</p> + +<p> +John Tetzel, a Dominican monk, who had been +appointed the chief preacher to announce the Indulgence +in Germany, was accused by Luther of +exceeding his powers by making them subservient +to his own private ends. Tetzel's conduct was +disavowed and condemned by the representative of +the Holy See. The Council of Trent, held some +time after, took effectual measures to put a stop +to all irregularities regarding Indulgences and issued +the following decree: <q>Wishing to correct +and amend the abuses which have crept into them, +and on occasion of which this signal name of Indulgences +is blasphemed by heretics, the Holy +Synod enjoins in general, by the present decree, +<pb n="383"/><anchor id="Pg383"/> +that all wicked traffic for obtaining them, which +has been the fruitful source of many abuses among +the Christian people, should be wholly abolished.</q><note place='foot'>Sess. +xxv. Dec. de Indulgentia.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="384"/><anchor id="Pg384"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXVIII. Extreme Unction.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXVIII.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXVIII.</head> +<head>Extreme Unction.</head> + +<p> +Extreme Unction is a Sacrament in which +the sick, by the anointing with holy oil and +the prayers of the Priests, receive spiritual +succor and even corporal strength when such is +conducive to their salvation. This unction is +called <hi rend='italic'>Extreme</hi>, because it is usually the last of +the holy unctions administered by the Church. +</p> + +<p> +The Apostle St. James clearly refers to this +Sacrament and points out its efficacy in the following +words: <q>Is any man sick among you; let +him bring in 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 raise him +up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven +him.</q><note place='foot'>James v. 14, 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Several of the ancient Fathers allude to this +Sacrament. Origen (third century) writes: +<q>There is also a remission of sins through penitence, +when the sinner ... is not ashamed to declare +his sin to the Priest of the Lord, and to seek +a remedy ... wherein that also is fulfilled which +the Apostle James saith: <q><emph>But if any be sick +among you, let him call in the Priests of the +Church, and let them impose hands on him, anointing +him with oil in the name of the Lord</emph>.</q></q><note place='foot'>Homil. +ii. in Levit.</note> +</p> + +<pb n="385"/><anchor id="Pg385"/> + +<p> +St. Chrysostom (fourth century) says: <q>Not +only when they (the Priests) regenerate us, but +they have also power to forgive sins committed +afterward; for he says: <q>Is any man sick among +you; let him call in the Priests of the Church, and +let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in +the name of the Lord.</q></q><note place='foot'>Lib. iii. de Sacred.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Pope Innocent I. (fifth century), in a letter to a +Bishop named Decentius, after quoting the words +of St. James, proceeds: <q>These words, there is no +doubt, ought to be understood of the faithful who +are sick, who can be anointed with the holy oil, +which, having been prepared by a Bishop, may be +used, not only for Priests, but for all Christians.</q><note place='foot'>Epist. +xxv. ad Decentum.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Sacramentary, or ancient Roman Ritual, revised +by Pope St. Gregory in the sixth century, +prescribes the blessing of oil by the Bishop, and +the prayers to be recited in the anointing of the +sick. +</p> + +<p> +The venerable Bede of England, who lived in +the eighth century, referring to the words of St. +James, writes: <q>The custom of the Church requires +that the sick be anointed by the Priests with +consecrated oil and be sanctified by the prayer +which accompanies it.</q><note place='foot'>Comment in locum.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Greek Church, which separated from the +Roman Catholic Church in the ninth century, says +in its profession of faith: <q>The seventh Sacrament +is Extreme Unction, prescribed by Christ; +for, after He had begun to send His disciples two +and two (Mark vi. 7-13), they anointed and healed +many, which unction the Church has since maintained +by pious usage, as we learn from the +Epistle of St. James: <emph><q>Is any man sick among +you,</q> etc.</emph> The fruits proper to this Sacrament, +<pb n="386"/><anchor id="Pg386"/> +as St. James declares, are the remission of sins, +health of soul, strength—in fine, of body. But +though it does not always produce this last result, +it always, at least, restores the soul to a better +state by the forgiveness of sins.</q> This is precisely +the Catholic teaching on this subject. All +the other Oriental churches, some of which separated +from Rome in the fifth century, likewise enumerate +Extreme Unction among their Sacraments. +</p> + +<p> +Such identity of doctrine proclaimed during so +many ages by churches so wide apart can have no +other than an Apostolic origin. +</p> + +<p> +The eminent Protestant Leibnitz makes this +candid admission: <q>There is no room for much +discussion regarding the unction of the sick. It +is supported by the words of Scripture, the interpretation +of the Church, in which pious and Catholic +men safely confide. Nor do I see what any +one can find reprehensible in that practice which +the Church accepts.</q><note place='foot'>Systema Theol., p. 280.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Protestants, though professing to be guided by +the Holy Scripture, entirely disregard the admonition +of St. James. Luther acted with more consistency. +Finding that the injunction of the Apostle +was too plain to be explained away by subtlety +of words, he boldly rejected the entire Epistle, +which he contemptuously styled <q>a letter of +straw.</q><note place='foot'>Lib. de Captiv. Babyl.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is sad to think that our separated brethren +discard this consoling instrument of grace, though +pressed upon them by an Apostle of Jesus Christ; +for, surely, a spiritual medicine which diminishes +the terrors of death, comforts the dying Christian, +fortifies the soul in its final struggle, and purifies +it for its passage from time to eternity, should be +gratefully and eagerly made use of, especially +when prescribed by an inspired Physician. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="387"/><anchor id="Pg387"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXIX. The Priesthood.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXIX.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXIX.</head> +<head>The Priesthood.</head> + +<p> +The Apostles were clothed with the powers of +Jesus Christ. The Priest, as the successor +of the Apostles, is clothed with their power. +This fact reveals to us the eminent dignity of the +priestly character. +</p> + +<p> +The exalted dignity of the Priest is derived not +from the personal merits for which he may be conspicuous, +but from the sublime functions which he +is charged to perform. To the carnal eye the +Priest looks like other men, but to the eye of faith +he is exalted above the angels, because he exercises +powers not given even to angels. +</p> + +<p> +The Priest is the <hi rend='italic'>ambassador of God</hi>, appointed +to vindicate His honor and to proclaim His glory. +<q>We are ambassadors for Christ,</q> says the Apostle; +<q>God, as it were, exhorting by us.</q><note place='foot'>II. +Cor. v. 20.</note> If it is +esteemed a great privilege for a citizen of the +United States to represent our country in any of +the courts of Europe, how much greater is the +prerogative to represent the court of heaven +among the nations of the earth! <q>As the Father +hath sent Me,</q> says our Lord to His Apostles, <q>I +also send you.</q><note place='foot'>John xx. +21.</note> <q>Going, therefore, teach ye all +nations, ... teaching them to observe all things, +whatsoever I have commanded you. And, behold, +I am with you all days, even to the consummation +<pb n="388"/><anchor id="Pg388"/> +of the world.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxviii. 19, +20.</note> The jurisdiction of earthly representatives +is limited, but the authority of the +ministers of God extends over the whole earth. +<q>Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel,</q> +says Christ, <q>to every creature.</q><note place='foot'>Mark xvi. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Not only does Jesus empower His ministers to +preach in His name, but he commands their +hearers to listen and obey. <q>Whosoever will not +receive you, nor hear your words, going forth +from that house or city, shake off the dust from +your feet. Amen, I say to you, it shall be more +tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in +the day of judgment than for that city.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +x. 14, 15.</note> <q>He +that heareth you heareth Me; and he that +despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth +Me despiseth Him that sent Me.</q><note place='foot'>Luke x. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +God requires not only that His Gospel should +be heard with reverence, but that the persons of +His Apostles should be honored. As no greater +insult can be offered to a nation than to insult its +representative at a foreign court, so no greater +injury can be offered to our Lord than to do violence +to His representatives, the Priests of His +Church. <q>Touch not My anointed, and do no evil +to My prophets.</q><note place='foot'>Paralip, xvi. +22.</note> God avenged the crime of two +and forty boys who mocked the prophet Eliseus +by sending wild beasts to tear them in pieces. +The frightful death of Maria Monk, the caluminator +of consecrated Priests and Virgins, who ended +her life a drunken maniac on Blackwell's Island, +proves that our religious institutions are not to be +mocked with impunity. +</p> + +<p> +When an ambassador is accredited from this +country to a foreign court, he is honored with the +confidence of the President, from whom he receives +<pb n="389"/><anchor id="Pg389"/> +private instructions. So does Jesus honor His +ambassadors with His friendship and communicate +to them the secrets of heaven: <q>I will not +now call you servants; for, the servant knoweth +not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you +friends, because all things whatsoever I have +heard of My Father I have made known to you.</q><note place='foot'>John xv. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What a privilege to be the herald of God's law +to the nations of the earth! <q>How beautiful on the +mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good +tidings and that preacheth peace: of him that +showeth forth good, that preacheth salvation, that +saith to Sion: Thy God shall reign.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah +lii. 7.</note> How cherished +a favor to be the bearer of the olive branch +of peace to a world deluged by sin; to be appointed +by Heaven to proclaim a Gospel which brings +glory to God, and peace to men; that Gospel which +strengthens the weak, converts the sinner, reconciles +enemies, consoles the afflicted heart and holds +out to all the hope of eternal salvation! +</p> + +<p> +I have often reflected on a remark made to me by +Senator Bayard of Delaware: <q>You of the clergy,</q> +he said, <q>have a great advantage as public speakers +over us political men. You enjoy the confidence +of your hearers. You can speak as long as +you please, you can admonish and rebuke as much +as you please, without any fear of contradiction; +while we are constantly liable to interruption.</q> +</p> + +<p> +O! what a tremendous power is wielded by the +Catholic preacher! Hundreds of souls are hanging +on his words; hundreds are sustained by him in +spiritual life, and leave the Church depending on +him whether they go forth fortified with the Bread +of life, or famished and disappointed. I can say of +every Priest what Simeon said of our Lord, <q>This +man is set for the fall and the resurrection of many +in Israel.</q> +</p> + +<pb n="390"/><anchor id="Pg390"/> + +<p> +Not only are Priests the ambassadors of God, +but they are also the <hi rend='italic'>dispensers of His graces</hi> and +the almoners of His mercy. <q>Let a man so regard +us,</q> says the Apostle, <q>as ministers of +Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. iv. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +How can he be called a dispenser of God's mysteries +whose labors are confined to preaching? +But he is truly a dispenser of Divine mysteries +who distributes to the faithful the Sacraments, the +mysterious symbols and efficient causes of grace. +</p> + +<p> +As St. John Chrysostom observes, it was not to +angels or archangels, but to the Priests of the New +Law that Christ said: <q>Whatsoever you shall bind +on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever +you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also +in heaven.</q> To them alone He gave the power to +forgive sins, saying: <q>Whose sins you shall forgive, +they are forgiven.</q> To them alone He gave +the power of consecrating His Body and Blood and +dispensing the same to the faithful. He has empowered +the Priests of the New Law to impart the +grace of regeneration in Baptism. He has assigned +to them the solemn duty of preparing the +dying Christian for his final journey to eternity: +<q>Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in +the priests of the Church, and let them pray over +him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the +Lord.</q><note place='foot'>James v. 14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +As far as heaven is above earth, as eternity is +above time, and the soul is above the body, so far +are the prerogatives vested in God's ministers +higher than those of any earthly potentate. An +earthly prince can cast into prison or release +therefrom. But his power is over the body. He +cannot penetrate into the sanctuary of the soul; +<pb n="391"/><anchor id="Pg391"/> +whereas the minister of God can release the soul +from the prison of sin, and restore it to the liberty +of a child of God. +</p> + +<p> +To sum up in a few brief sentences the titles of +a Catholic Priest: +</p> + +<p> +He is a <emph>king</emph>, reigning not over unwilling subjects, +but over the hearts and affections of his +people. +</p> + +<p> +His spiritual children pay him not only the tribute +of their money, but also the tribute of their +love which royalty can neither purchase nor exact. +</p> + +<p> +He is a <emph>shepherd</emph>, because he leads his flock into +the delicious pastures of the Sacraments and shelters +them from the wolves that lie in wait for their +souls. +</p> + +<p> +He is a <emph>father</emph>, because he breaks the bread of +life to his spiritual children, whom he has begotten +in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.<note place='foot'>I. Cor. iv. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He is a <emph>judge</emph>, whose office it is to pass sentence +of pardon on self-accusing criminals. +</p> + +<p> +He is a <emph>physician</emph>, because he heals their souls +from the loathsome distempers of sin. +</p> + +<p> +St. John, in his Apocalypse, represents the +Church under the figure of a city. <q>I saw the +holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from +heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned for +her husband.</q><note place='foot'>Apoc. xxi. +2.</note> Our Savior is the Architect and +Founder of this celestial city. The Apostles are +its foundation. The faithful are the living stones +of the edifice. The anointed ministers of the Lord +are the workmen chosen to adjust and polish these +stones, that they may reflect the beauty and glory +of the sun of justice that perpetually illumines +this city. The Priests are engaged in adorning the +interior of the heavenly Jerusalem by enriching, +with virtue, the precious souls entrusted to their +<pb n="392"/><anchor id="Pg392"/> +charge. <q>God gave some, indeed, Apostles, and +some Prophets, and others Evangelists, and others +Pastors and Doctors, for the perfecting of the +saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building +up of the body of Christ,</q><note place='foot'>Eph. +iv. 11, 12.</note> which is His +Church. What an honor is this to the Priest of +the New Law! Surely God <q>hath not done alike +to every nation, and His judgments He hath not +made manifest to them.</q><note place='foot'>Ps. cxlvii. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +With how much more force may we apply to the +successors of the Apostles the words which God +spoke to the Priests of the Old Law: <q>Hear, ye +sons of Levi. Is it a small thing unto you, that +the God of Israel hath separated you from all the +people and joined you to Himself, that ye should +serve Him in the service of the tabernacle, and +should stand before the congregation of the people +and minister unto Him?</q> +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior affectionately puts this question +three times to Peter: <q>Simon, lovest thou Me?</q> +And three times Peter answers Him, <q>Lord, Thou +knowest that I love Thee.</q> What proof of love, +then, does Jesus exact of Peter? Does He say: If +thou lovest Me, chastise thy body by fasting and +stripes, prophesy, work miracles, lay down thy +life for Me? No, but <q>feed My lambs,</q> <q>feed +My sheep.</q> This was to be the closest bond of +Peter's devotion to his Master, and of the Master's +affection for His disciple. +</p> + +<p> +And our Lord declares that the reward of His +disciples would be commensurate with the dignity +of their ministry: <q>Behold,</q> says Peter, <q>we +have left all things and have followed Thee. What, +therefore, shall we have? And Jesus said to them, +Amen, I say to you that you who have followed +Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall +<pb n="393"/><anchor id="Pg393"/> +sit on the seat of His majesty, you shall also sit +on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of +Israel.</q> And immediately after He adds that +the worthy successors of the Apostles shall share +in their felicity: <q>And every one that hath left +house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, +or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake +shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess life +everlasting.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xix. 27-29.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I know that there are many in our days who +deny that Priests possess any spiritual power—as +if God could not communicate such power to +men. I understand why atheists and rationalists, +who reject all revelation, should deny all supernatural +authority to the ministers of God. But +that professing Christians who accept the testimony +of Scripture should share in this unbelief +passes my comprehension. +</p> + +<p> +Has not the Almighty, in numberless instances +recorded in Holy Writ, made man the instrument +of His power? Did not Moses convert the rivers +of Egypt into blood? Did he not cause water to +issue from the barren rock? Did not the prophets +predict future events? Did not the sun stand still +in the heavens at the command of Josue? Did not +Eliseus, the prophet, raise the dead to life? Why +do we believe all these prodigies? Because the +Scriptures record them. Does not the same Word +of God declare that the Apostles received power +to confer the Holy Ghost by the imposition of +hands, to forgive sins, to consecrate the Body and +Blood of Christ, etc. Is not the New Testament as +worthy of belief as the Old? Has not Jesus Christ +solemnly promised to be always with the ministers +of His Church, <q>even to the consummation of the +world,</q> strengthening them to repeat those miracles +of mercy that were wrought by His first disciples? +<pb n="394"/><anchor id="Pg394"/> +Can the God of truth be unfaithful to +His promises? Is He not as strong and merciful +now as He was in days of the Prophets and Apostles, +and are not we as much in need of the Holy +Ghost as the primitive Christians were? If God +could make feeble men the ministers of His mercy +then, why not now? +</p> + +<p> +But should a Priest consider himself greater +than other men because he exercises such authority? +Far from it. He ought to humble himself +beneath others when he reflects to what weak +hands God assigns power so tremendous. He +should remember what our Savior said to the seventy-two +disciples, who, returning with joy from +their first mission, cried out to Him: <q>Lord, even +the devils are subject to us in Thy name.</q> But +Jesus checked their vain-glory, saying: <q>I saw +Satan like lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I +have given you power ... but rejoice not in this, +that spirits are subject to you; but rejoice in this, +that your names are written in heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Luke x. 18, 20.</note> The +Priest does not forget that <q>the most severe +judgment shall be for them that bear rule,</q><note place='foot'>Wisd. vi. 6.</note> and +that <q>judgment should begin at the house of God.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Pet. iv. 17.</note> +The words of the Apostle are present to his mind: +<q>What hast thou that thou hast not received? +And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory as +if thou hadst not received it?</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. iv. 7.</note> As well might +the vessel that is filled with precious liquor boast +of being superior to the vessel that is filled with +water. The Priest knows full well that the powers +he has received from God are given to him not to +feed his own vanity, but to enrich the hearts of the +faithful; and that, though instrumental in pointing +out to others the way to heaven, he himself, unless +adorned with personal virtues, will become a +<pb n="395"/><anchor id="Pg395"/> +reprobate, like those unhappy Priests of Jerusalem +who directed the Magi to Jesus in Bethlehem, +but did not go thither themselves. +</p> + +<p> +<q>I have planted,</q> says the Apostle, <q>Apollo +watered, but God gave the increase. Therefore, +neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that +watereth, but God that giveth the increase.</q><note place='foot'>Cor. +iii. 6, 7.</note> We +perform the outward ceremony; God alone supplies +the grace. +</p> + +<p> +The obligations of the minister of God are, therefore +commensurate with his exalted dignity. +</p> + +<p> +The Priest is required to be a man of profound +learning and of solid piety. <q>The lips of the +Priest shall keep knowledge, and they (the people) +shall seek the law at his mouth.</q><note place='foot'>Malach. +ii. 7.</note> The Lord denounces +the Priests of the Old Law because they +neglected to study the Sacred Sciences: <q>Because +thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, +that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood for +Me, and thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I +will also forget thy children.</q><note place='foot'>Osee. iv. 6.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>To you,</q> says our Lord to His Apostles, <q>it is +given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God, +to the rest, in parables.</q> The Priests of the New +Law, like the Apostles, are the custodians of the +mysteries of religion. +</p> + +<p> +Now we know that the knowledge of God's Kingdom +is not imparted to us by inspiration or revelation. +Christ does not personally teach us as He +taught His Apostles. It is by hard study that the +knowledge of His law is acquired by us. He does +not lift us up on Angels' wings to the spiritual +Parnassus. It is only by the royal road of earnest +labor that we can attain those heights which will +enable us to contemplate the Kingdom of heaven +and describe it to others. +</p> + +<pb n="396"/><anchor id="Pg396"/> + +<p> +As physician of the soul, he must be conversant +with its various distempers and must know what +remedy is to be applied in each particular case. If +society justly holds the unskilful physician responsible +for the fatal consequences of his malpractice, +surely God will call to a strict account the spiritual +physician who, through criminal ignorance, prescribes +injudicious remedies to the souls of the +patients committed to his charge. +</p> + +<p> +As judge of souls, he must know when to bind +and when to loose, when to defer and when to pronounce +sentence of absolution. If nothing is so +disastrous to the Republic as an incompetent +judge, whose decisions, though involving life and +death, are rendered at hap-hazard and not in accordance +with the merits of the case, so nothing is +more detrimental to the Christian commonwealth +than an ignorant priesthood, whose decisions injuriously +affect the salvation of souls. +</p> + +<p> +The advocate in our courts of justice feels bound +in conscience and in honor to study the case of his +client with the utmost diligence, and to defend him +before the jury with all the eloquence he can master. +And yet the suit may not involve more than +a brief imprisonment or even a limited fine. +</p> + +<p> +But the Priest, like Moses, stands before God +to intercede for His people, and before the people +to advocate the cause of God. He not only ascends +daily the altar to plead for the people and to cry +out with the prophet, <q>Spare, O Lord, spare Thy +people, and give not Thy inheritance to reproach;</q> +but every Sunday he mounts the pulpit +to vindicate the claims which God has on His +subjects. Certainly, if an attorney is bound to +study his client's cause before he defends it, no +matter how trifling the issue, how much more imperative +is the obligation of the Priest to study +<pb n="397"/><anchor id="Pg397"/> +well his case, when he reflects that an immortal +soul is on trial, and before men who are often the +worst enemies of their own soul. He has to convince +the people that the narrow road, which their +inclinations abhor, is to be followed; and that the +broad road, which their self-love and their passions +tend to pursue, is to be abandoned. Conviction +in this case requires rare tact as well as eloquence +and learning. +</p> + +<p> +But the minister of religion has to defend the +soul not only against the corruptions of the heart, +but also against those doctrinal errors that are +daily springing up in every direction, and which +are plausibly preached by false teachers, who +bring to their support the most specious arguments, +couched in the most attractive language. +To refute these errors often requires the most +consummate skill and a profound knowledge of +history and the Holy Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +It is no wonder, then, that the Church insists +that her clergy be educated men. Hence our ecclesiastical +students are usually obliged to devote +from ten to fourteen years to the diligent study of +the modern and ancient languages, of history and +philosophy, of the great science of theology and +Holy Scripture, before they are elevated to the +sacred ministry. +</p> + +<p> +It is true, indeed, that, owing to the rapidly-increasing +demand for clergy in the United States, +our Bishops have hitherto been sometimes compelled +to abridge the course of studies of the candidates +for the ministry; but now that the Church +is more thoroughly organized, and that seminaries +are multiplied among us, they are happily enabled +to extend to their young levites the advantages of +a full term of literary and theological training. +</p> + +<p> +If the Priest should be eminent for his learning, +<pb n="398"/><anchor id="Pg398"/> +he should be still more conspicuous for his virtues, +for he is expected to preach more by example than +by precept. If in the Old Law God charged His +Priests with the admonition: <q>Be sanctified, ye +that carry the vessels of the Lord,</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah lii. 11.</note> how much +more strictly is holiness of life enjoined on the +Priests of the New Dispensation, who not only +touch the sacred vessels, but drink from them the +Precious Blood of the Lord? +</p> + +<p> +<q>Purer,</q> says St. Chrysostom, <q>than any solar +ray should that hand be which divides that flesh, +that mouth which is filled with spiritual fire, that +tongue which is purpled with that most awful +blood.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In order to foster in us the spirit of personal +piety, we are constantly admonished by the Church +to be men of prayer. The Priest should be like +those angels whom Jacob saw in a vision, ascending +to heaven and descending therefrom on the +mystical ladder. He is expected to ascend by +prayer and to descend by preaching. He ascends +to heaven to receive light from God; he descends +to communicate that light to his hearers. He +ascends to draw at the Fountain of Divine grace, +he descends to diffuse those living waters among +the faithful, that their hearts may be refreshed. +He ascends to light his torch at the ever-burning +furnace of Divine love; he descends to communicate +the flame to the souls of his people. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, indeed, considers prayer so indispensable +to her clergy that, besides the voluntary +exercises of piety which their private devotion +may suggest, she requires them to devote at least +an hour each day to the recitation of the Divine +Office, which chiefly consists of the Psalms and other +portions of Holy Scripture, the Homilies of the early +Fathers and prayers of marvelous force and unction. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="399"/><anchor id="Pg399"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXX. Celibacy Of The Clergy.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXX.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXX.</head> +<head>Celibacy Of The Clergy.</head> + +<p> +The Church requires her Priests to be pure in +body as well as in soul, and to <q>present their +bodies a living victim, holy, well-pleasing +unto God.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. xii. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Our Savior and His Apostles, though recognizing +matrimony as a holy state, have proclaimed the +superior merits of voluntary continency, particularly +for those who consecrate their lives to +the sacred ministry. <q>There are eunuchs who +have made themselves such for the Kingdom of +Heaven's sake. He who can take it, let him take +it.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xix. 12.</note> Our Lord evidently recommends here the +state of celibacy to such as feel themselves called +to embrace it, in order to attain greater perfection. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul gives the reason why our Savior declares +continency to be a more suitable state for +His ministers than that of matrimony: <q>He who +is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord—how +he may please God. But he who is married +is solicitous about the things of the world—how +he may please his wife—and he is divided.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. vii. 32, 33.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Jesus Christ manifestly showed His predilection +for virginity, not only by always remaining a virgin, +but by selecting a Virgin-Mother and a virgin-precursor +in the person of St. John the Baptist, +and by exhibiting a special effection for John +<pb n="400"/><anchor id="Pg400"/> +the Evangelist, because, as St. Augustine testifies, +that Apostle was chosen a virgin and such he always +remained. +</p> + +<p> +Not only did our Lord thus manifest while on +earth a marked predilection for virgins, but He +exhibits the same preference for them in heaven; +for the hundred and forty-four thousand who are +chosen to sing the New Canticle and who follow +the Lamb whithersoever He goeth are all virgins, +as St. John testifies. (Apoc. xiv.) +</p> + +<p> +The Apostle of the Gentiles assures us that he +led a single life, and he commends that state to +others: <q>I say to the unmarried, and to the +widows it is good for them if they so continue, even +as I.</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. vii. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There is no evidence from Scripture that any of +the Apostles were married except St. Peter. St. +Jerome says that if any were married they certainly +separated from their wives after they were +called to the Apostolate. Even St. Peter, after his +vocation, did not continue with his wife, as may +be inferred from his own words: <q>Behold, we +have left all things, and followed Thee.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xix. 27.</note> Among +<q>all things</q> must be reckoned the fellowship of +his wife, for he could hardly say with truth that +he had left all things if he had not left his wife. +Our Savior immediately after enumerates the wife +among those cherished objects, the renunciation of +which, for His sake, will have its reward.<note place='foot'>Ibid., xix. 29.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul declares that <q>a Bishop must be sober, +just, holy, continent.</q><note place='foot'>Tit. i. 8.</note> And writing to Timothy, +whom he had consecrated Bishop, he says: <q>Be +thou an example to the faithful ... in charity, in +faith, in <emph>chastity</emph>.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Tim. iv. 12.</note> In another place, he enumerates +chastity among the virtues that should +<pb n="401"/><anchor id="Pg401"/> +adorn the Christian minister: <q>In all things let us +exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God in much +patience, ... in chastity.</q><note place='foot'>II. Cor. vi. 46.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Although celibacy is not expressly enforced by +our Savior, it is, however, commended so strongly +by Himself and His Apostles, both by word and +example, that the Church felt it her duty to lay it +down as a law. +</p> + +<p> +The discipline of the Church has been exerted +from the beginning in prohibiting Priests to marry +<emph>after</emph> their ordination. St. Jerome observes that +<q>Bishops, Priests and Deacons are chosen from +virgins or widowers, or, at least, they remain perpetually +chaste after being elevated to the priesthood.</q><note place='foot'>Ep. +ad Pammach.</note> +To Jovinian he writes: <q>You certainly +admit that he cannot remain a Bishop who begets +children in the episcopacy; for, if convicted, he will +not be esteemed as a husband, but condemned as +an adulterer.</q><note place='foot'>Adv. Jovin., lib. +1.</note> Again he says: <q>What will the +churches of the East, of Egypt and of the Apostolic +See do, which adopt their clergy from among +virgins, or if they have wives, they cease to live as +married men.</q><note place='foot'>Adv. Vigilantium.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius declares that <q>he who leads a +married life is not admitted by the Church to the +order of Deacon, Priest, Bishop or sub-Deacon.</q><note place='foot'>Hæres. +59, c. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the primitive days of the Church, owing to the +scarcity of vocations among the unmarried, married +men were admitted to sacred orders, but they +were enjoined, as we learn from various canons, +to live separated from their wives after their +ordination. +</p> + +<p> +This discipline, it is true, was relaxed to some +extent in favor of a portion of the clergy of the +Oriental Church, who were permitted to live with +<pb n="402"/><anchor id="Pg402"/> +their wives if they happened to espouse them before +ordination; but, like the Priests of the Western +Church, the Eastern clergy were forbidden to +contract marriage after their ordination. It is +important also to observe that the unmarried +clergy of the East are held in much higher esteem +by the people than the married Priests. +</p> + +<p> +It cannot, indeed, be denied that at certain +epochs of the Church's history, especially in +periods of disordered society, there were too many +instances of the violation of clerical celibacy. But +the repeated violations of a law are no evidence of +its non-existence. Whenever the voice of the +Church could be heard it always spoke in vindication +of the law of priestly chastity. +</p> + +<p> +Let me now call your attention to the propriety +and advantages of clerical celibacy. +</p> + +<p> +First—The Priest is the representative of Jesus +Christ. He continues the work begun by his +Divine Master. It is his duty to preach the word, +to administer the Sacraments, and, above all, to +consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ and to +distribute the same to the faithful. Is it not becoming +that a chaste Lord should be served by +chaste ministers? +</p> + +<p> +If the Jewish Priests, while engaged in their +turn in offering the sacrifice of animals in the +Temple, were obliged to keep apart from their +wives, should not the Priests of the New Law, who +offer daily the sacrifice of the Immaculate Lamb, +practise continual chastity? +</p> + +<p> +If David and his friends were not permitted to +eat the bread of Proposition till he had avowed +that for the three preceding days they had refrained +from women,<note place='foot'>I. Kings xxi.</note> how pure in body and soul +should be the Priest who daily partakes of that +<pb n="403"/><anchor id="Pg403"/> +living Bread of which the bread of Proposition +was but the type; and if the people at Mount Sinai +were forbidden to come near their wives for three +days before receiving the Law,<note place='foot'>Exod. xix.</note> should not they +whose office it is to preach the Law at all times +abstain altogether? +</p> + +<p> +Thorndyke, an eminent Protestant Divine, in +his work entitled, <hi rend='italic'>Just Weights and Measures</hi>, +makes the following observation: <q>The reason for +single life for the clergy is firmly grounded, by the +Fathers and canons of the Church, upon the precept +of St. Paul, forbidding man and wife to depart +unless for a time, to attend unto prayer (I. +Cor. vii. 5). For, Priests and Deacons being continually +to attend upon occasions of celebrating +the Eucharist, which ought continually to be frequented; +if others be to abstain from the use of +marriage for a time, then they always.</q><note place='foot'>Page 239.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Second—Writers frequently discuss the secret +cause of the marvelous success which marks the +growth of the Catholic Church everywhere in spite +of the most formidable opposition. Some ascribe +this progress to her thorough organization; others +to the far-seeing wisdom of her chief pastors. +Without undervaluing these and other auxiliaries, +I incline to the belief that, under God, the Church +has no tower of strength more potent than the +celibacy of her clergy. The unmarried Priest, as +St. Paul observes (1 Cor. vii.), is free to give his +whole time undivided to the Lord, and can devote +his attention not to one or two children, but to the +entire flock whom he has begotten in Christ Jesus, +through the Gospel; while the married minister is +divided between the cares of his family and his +duties to the congregation. <q>A single life,</q> says +Bacon, <q>doth well with churchmen; for, charity +<pb n="404"/><anchor id="Pg404"/> +will hardly water the ground where it must first +fill a pool.</q><note place='foot'>Essays, p. 17.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Third—The world has hitherto been converted +by unmarried clergymen, and only by them will it +continue to be converted. St. Francis Xavier and +St. Francis de Sales could not have planted the +faith in so many thousands of souls if they were +accompanied on their journeys by their wives and +children. Of all the gems that adorn the priestly +diadem, none is so precious and indispensable in +the eyes of the people as the peerless jewel of +chastity. Without this pearl the voice of a Hyacinthe +<q>becomes as sounding brass and a tinkling +cymbal;</q> with it, the humblest missioner gains +the hearts of multitudes. +</p> + +<p> +Everybody is aware of the numerous conversions +to Christianity effected by St. Francis +Xavier in Japan in the sixteenth century. After +the lapse of many years from the death of St. +Francis, when a French squadron was permitted +to enter the Japanese ports, a native Christian, +named Peter, having learned that French Priests +were on board, put their faith to the test by proposing +to them these three questions: <q>Are you +followers of the great Father in Rome? Do you +honor Mary, the Blessed Virgin? Have you +wives?</q> The French priests having satisfied +their interrogator on these points, and especially +on the last, Peter and his companions fell at the +missioners' feet, exclaiming with delight +<q>Thanks, thanks! they are virgins and true disciples +of our Apostle Francis.</q><note place='foot'>Annals +of the Propagation of the Faith, March, 1868.</note> +</p> + +<p> +A contemporary writer has wittily remarked +that <q>perhaps the most ardent admirer of hymeneal +rites would cheerfully admit that he could not +<pb n="405"/><anchor id="Pg405"/> +conceive St. Paul or St. John starting on a nuptial +tour, accompanied by the latest fashions from +Athens or Ephesus, and the graceful brides whom +they were destined to adorn. They would feel +that Christianity itself could not survive such a +vision as that. Nor could the imagination, in its +wildest moods, picture the majestic adversary of +the Arian Emperor attended in his flight up the +Nile by Mistress Athanasius, nor St. John Chrysostom +escorted in his wanderings through Phrygia +by the wife of his bosom arrayed in a wreath +of orange-blossoms. Would Ethelbert have become +a Christian if St. Augustine had introduced +to him his lady and her bridesmaids?</q><note place='foot'>Marshall, +Comedy of Convocation.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We frequently hear of unmarried Bishops and +Priests laying down their lives for the faith in +China and Corea and imprisoned in Germany. +Heroic sacrifices such as these are, however, too +much to be expected from men enjoying the domestic +luxury and engrossed by the responsibility +of a wife and children. +</p> + +<p> +But does not St. Paul authorize the marriage of +the clergy when he says: <q>Have we not power to +carry about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest +of the Apostles?</q><note place='foot'>I. Cor. ix. 5.</note> +The Protestant text mis-translates +this passage by substituting the word +<emph>wife</emph> for <emph>woman</emph>. It is evident that St. Paul does +not speak here of his wife, since he had none; but +he alludes to those pious women who voluntarily +waited on the Apostles, and ministered to them in +their missionary journeys. +</p> + +<p> +It is also objected that the Apostle seems to require +that a Bishop be <q>the husband of one +wife.</q><note place='foot'>I. Tim. iii. 2.</note> +The context certainly cannot mean that +a Bishop must be a married man, for the reason +<pb n="406"/><anchor id="Pg406"/> +already given, that St. Paul himself was never +married. The sense of the text, as all tradition +testifies, is that no candidate should be elected to +the office of Bishop who had been married more +than once. It was not possible in those days always +to select single men for the Episcopal office. +Hence the Church was often compelled to choose +married persons, but always with this restriction, +that they had never contracted nuptials a second +time. They were obliged, moreover, if not widowers, +to live separated from their wives. +</p> + +<p> +Others adduce against clerical celibacy these +words of St. Paul: <q>In the last times some shall +depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of +error, ... forbidding to marry.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Tim. iv. 1-3.</note> This passage, +however, alludes to the Ebionites, Gnostics and +Manicheans, who positively taught that marriage +is sinful. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, +holds that matrimony is not only a lawful state, +for those who are called to embrace it, but that it +is also a Sacrament, and that the highest degree +of holiness is attainable in conjugal life. +</p> + +<p> +Some go so far as to declare continency impracticable. +Our dissenting brethren in the ministry +are so uxoriously inclined that, perhaps, for this +reason they dispute the possibility, as well as the +privilege, of Priests to remain single. But in +making this assertion they impugn the wisdom +of Jesus Christ and His Apostle, who lived in this +state and recommended it to others; they slander +consecrated Priests and nuns, and they unwittingly +question the purity of their own unmarried +sisters, daughters and sons. How many men and +women are there in the world who spend years, +nay, their whole lives, in the single state? And +<pb n="407"/><anchor id="Pg407"/> +who shall dare to accuse such a multitude of incontinency? +</p> + +<p> +Nor should any one complain of the severity of +the law of clerical celibacy, since the candidate voluntarily +accepts the obligations after mature consideration. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, it cannot be urged against celibacy that +it violates the Divine precept to <q>increase and +multiply;</q> for this command surely cannot require +all marriageable persons to be united in wedlock. +Otherwise, bachelors and spinsters would +also be guilty of violating the law. The number +of men and women consecrated to God by vows of +chastity forms but an imperceptible fraction of the +human family, their proportion in the United +States, for instance, being only one individual to +about every four thousand. Moreover, it is an +incontrovertible fact that the population increases +most in those countries in which the Catholic +clergy exercise the strongest influence; for there +married people are impressed with the idea that +marriage was instituted not for the gratification of +the flesh, but for the procreation and Christian +education of children. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="408"/><anchor id="Pg408"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter XXXI. Matrimony.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter XXXI.'/> +<head type='sub'>Chapter XXXI.</head> +<head>Matrimony.</head> + +<p> +Matrimony is not only a natural contract +between husband and wife, but it has been +elevated for Christians, by Jesus Christ, +to the dignity of a Sacrament: <q>Husbands,</q> says +the Apostle, <q>love your wives, as Christ also +loved the Church and delivered Himself up for it, ... +so also ought men to love their wives as their +own bodies.... For this cause shall a man leave +his father and mother, and shall adhere to his +wife and they shall be one flesh. This is a great +sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the +Church.</q><note place='foot'>Ephes. v. 25-32.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In these words the Apostle declares that the +union of Christ with His Church is the type or +model of the bond subsisting between man and +wife. Now the union between Christ and His +Church is supernatural and sealed by Divine +grace. Hence, also, is the fellowship of a Christian +husband and wife cemented by the grace of +God. The wedded couple are bound to love one +another during their whole lives, as Christ has +loved His Church, and to discharge the virtues +proper to the married state. In order to fulfil +these duties special graces of our Savior are required. +</p> + +<p> +The Fathers, Councils and Liturgies of the +<pb n="409"/><anchor id="Pg409"/> +Western and the Oriental Churches, including the +Coptic, Jacobite, Syriac, Nestorian and other schismatic +bodies, which for upwards of fourteen centuries +have been separated from the Catholic communion, +all agree in recognizing Christian marriage +as a Sacrament. +</p> + +<p> +Hence the Council of Trent, speaking of Matrimony, +says: <q>Christ Himself, the Institutor and +Perfector of the venerable sacraments, merited +for us by His passion the grace which might perfect +that natural love, and confirm that indissoluble +union, and sanctify the married; as the +Apostle Paul intimates, saying: <q>Husbands, love +your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and +delivered Himself for it;</q> adding shortly after: +<q>This is a great sacrament, but I speak in Christ +and in the Church.</q> (Ephes. v.) Whereas, therefore +matrimony, in the evangelical law, excels in +grace, through Christ, the ancient marriages; with +reason have our holy Fathers and Councils and +the tradition of the universal Church always +taught that it is to be numbered among the sacraments +of the new law.</q><note place='foot'>Sess. xxiv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel forbids a man to have more than +one wife, and a wife to have more than one husband. +<q>Have you not read,</q> says our Savior, +<q>that He who made man in the beginning made +them male and female? And He said, for this +cause shall a man leave father and mother, and +shall cleave unto <emph>his wife, and they two shall be +in one flesh</emph>. Wherefore they are no more two, +but one flesh.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xix. +4-6.</note> Our Lord recalls marriage to +its primitive institution as it was ordained by +Almighty God. (Gen. ii.) Now, marriage in its +primitive ordinance was the union of one man +with one woman, for Jehovah created but one helpmate +<pb n="410"/><anchor id="Pg410"/> +to Adam. He would have created more, if His +design had been to establish polygamy. The Scripture +says that <q>man shall adhere to his <emph>wife</emph>,</q>—not +<emph>his wives</emph>. It does not declare that they shall +be three or more, but that <q>they shall be two in +one flesh.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Hence Mormonism, unhappily so prevalent in +the United States, is at variance with the plain +teachings of the Gospel, and is consequently condemned +by the Catholic Church. Polygamy, wherever +it exists, cannot fail to be a perpetual source +of family discord and feuds. It fosters deadly +jealousy and hate among the wives of the same +household; it deranges the laws of succession and +primogeniture and breeds rivalry among the children, +each endeavoring to supplant the other in +the affections and the inheritance of their common +father. +</p> + +<p> +Marriage is the most inviolable and irrevocable +of all contracts that were ever formed. Every +human compact may be lawfully dissolved but +this. Nations may be justified in abrogating +treaties with each other; merchants may dissolve +partnerships; brothers will eventually leave the +paternal roof, and, like Jacob and Esau, separate +from one another. Friends, like Abraham and +Lot, may be obliged to part company. But by the +law of God the bond uniting husband and wife +can be dissolved only by death. No earthly sword +can sever the nuptial knot which the Lord has +tied; for, <q>what God hath joined together, let no +man put asunder.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is worthy of remark that three of the Evangelists, +as well as the Apostle of the Gentiles, proclaim +the indissolubility of marriage and forbid +a wedded person to engage in second wedlock +during the life of his spouse. There is, indeed, +<pb n="411"/><anchor id="Pg411"/> +scarcely a moral precept more strongly enforced +in the Gospel than the indissoluble character of +marriage validly contracted. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Pharisees came to Jesus, tempting Him +and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put +away his wife for every cause? Who, answering, +said to them: Have ye not read that He who +made man from the beginning made them male +and female? And He said: For this cause shall +a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave +to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. +Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. +What, therefore, God hath joined together let no +man put asunder. They say to Him: Why, then, +did Moses command to give a bill of divorce and +to put away? He said to them: Because Moses, +by reason of the hardness of your heart, permitted +you to put away your wives; but from the +beginning it was not so. And I say to you, that +whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for +fornication, and shall marry another committeth +adultery: and he that shall marry her that is +put away committeth adultery.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. +xix. 3-9.</note> Our Savior here +emphatically declares that the nuptial bond is +ratified by God Himself, and hence that no man, +nor any legislation framed by men, can validly +dissolve the contract. +</p> + +<p> +To the Pharisees interposing this objection, if +marriage is not to be dissolved, why then did +Moses command to give a divorce, our Lord replies +that Moses did not command, but simply +<emph>permitted</emph> the separation, and that in tolerating +this indulgence the great lawgiver had regard to +the violent passion of the Jewish people, who +would fall into a greater excess if their desire +to be divorced and to form a new alliance were +<pb n="412"/><anchor id="Pg412"/> +refused. But our Savior reminded them that in +the primitive times no such license was granted. +</p> + +<p> +He then plainly affirms that such a privilege +would not be conceded in the New Dispensation, +for He adds: <q>I say to you: whosoever shall +put away his wife and shall marry another committeth +adultery.</q> Protestant commentators erroneously +assert that the text justifies an injured +husband in separating from his adulterous wife +and in marrying again. But the Catholic Church +explains the Gospel in the sense that, while the +offended consort may obtain a divorce from bed +and board from his unfaithful wife, he is not allowed +a divorce <hi rend='italic'>a vinculo matrimonii</hi>, so as to +have the privilege of marrying another. +</p> + +<p> +This interpretation is confirmed by the concurrent +testimony of the Evangelists Mark and Luke +and by St. Paul, all of whom prohibit divorce <hi rend='italic'>a +vinculo</hi> without any qualification whatever. +</p> + +<p> +In St. Mark we read: <q>Whosoever shall put +away his wife and marry another committeth +adultery against her. And if the wife shall put +away her husband and be married to another she +committeth adultery.</q><note place='foot'>Mark x. 11, 12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The same unqualified declaration is made by +St. Luke: <q>Every one that putteth away his wife +and marrieth another committeth adultery; and +he that marrieth her that is put away from her +husband committeth adultery.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xvi. 18.</note> Both of these +Evangelists forbid either husband or wife to enter +into second wedlock, how aggravating soever +may be the cause of their separation. And surely, +if the case of adultery authorized the aggrieved +husband to marry another wife, those inspired +penmen would not have failed to mention that +qualifying circumstance. +</p> + +<pb n="413"/><anchor id="Pg413"/> + +<p> +Passing from the Gospels to the Epistle of St. +Paul to the Corinthians, we find there also an +absolute prohibition of divorce. The Apostle +is writing to a city newly converted to the Christian +religion. Among other topics he inculcates +the doctrine of the Church respecting Matrimony. +We must suppose that as an inspired writer and +a faithful minister of the Word he discharges his +duty conscientiously, without suppressing or extenuating +one iota of the law. He addresses the +Corinthians as follows: <q>To them that are married +not I, but the Lord, commandeth that the +wife depart not from her husband. And if she +depart that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled +to her husband. And let not the husband +put away his wife.</q><note place='foot'>I. +Cor. vii. 10, 11.</note> Here we find the Apostle, +in his Master's name, commanding the separated +couple to remain unmarried, without any reference +to the case of adultery. If so important an +exception existed, St. Paul would not have omitted +to mention it; otherwise he would have rendered +the Gospel yoke more grievous than its +Founder intended. +</p> + +<p> +We must, therefore, admit that, according to +the religion of Jesus Christ, conjugal infidelity +does not warrant either party to marry again, +or we are forced to the conclusion that the vast +number of Christians whose knowledge of Christianity +was derived solely from the teachings of +Saints Mark, Luke and Paul were imperfectly +instructed in their faith. +</p> + +<p> +Nor can we suppose that St. Matthew gave to +the married Christians of Palestine a privilege +which St. Paul withheld from the Corinthians; +for then the early Christian Church might have +witnessed the disedifying spectacle of aggrieved +<pb n="414"/><anchor id="Pg414"/> +husbands seeking in Judea for a divorce from +their adulterous wives which they could not obtain +in Corinth, just as discontented spouses, in +our times, sue in a neighboring State for a legal +separation which is denied them in their own. +Christ is not divided, nor do the Apostles contradict +one another. +</p> + +<p> +The Catholic Church, following the light of the +Gospel, forbids a divorced man to enter into second +espousals during the life of his former partner. +This is the inflexible law she first proclaimed +in the face of Pagan Emperors and people +and which she has ever upheld, in spite of +the passions and voluptuousness of her own rebellious +children. +</p> + +<p> +Henry VIII., once an obedient son and defender +of the Church, conceived in an evil hour, a criminal +attachment for Anne Boleyn, a lady of the +queen's household, whom he desired to marry +after being divorced from his lawful consort, +Catherine of Arragon. But Pope Clement VII., +whose sanction he solicited, sternly refused to +ratify the separation, though the Pontiff could +have easily forseen that his determined action +would involve the Church in persecution, and a +whole nation in the unhappy schism of its ruler. +Had the Pope acquiesced in the repudiation of +Catherine, and in the marriage of Anne Boleyn, +England would, indeed, have been spared to the +Church, but the Church herself would have surrendered +her peerless title of Mistress of Truth. +</p> + +<p> +When Napoleon I. repudiated his devoted wife, +Josephine, and married Marie Louise, of Austria, +so well assured was he of the fruitlessness +of his attempt to obtain from the Holy See the +sanction of his divorce and subsequent marriage +<pb n="415"/><anchor id="Pg415"/> +that he did not even consult the Holy Father on +the subject. +</p> + +<p> +A few years previously Napoleon appealed to +Pius VII. to annul the marriage which his +brother Jerome had contracted with Miss Patterson +of Baltimore. The Pope sent the following +reply to the Emperor: <q>Your majesty will +understand that upon the information thus far +received by us it is not in our power to pronounce +a sentence of nullity. We cannot utter a +judgment in opposition to the rules of the Church, +and we could not, without laying aside those rules, +decree the invalidity of a union which, according +to the Word of God, no human power can sunder.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Christian wives and mothers, what gratitude +you owe to the Catholic Church for the honorable +position you now hold in society! If you are no +longer regarded as the slave, but the equal of +your husband; if you are no longer the toy of his +caprice and liable to be discarded at any moment, +like the women of Turkey and the Mormon wives +of Utah; but if you are recognized as the mistress +and queen of your household, you owe your +emancipation to the Church. You are especially +indebted for your liberty to the Popes who rose +up in all the majesty of their spiritual power to +vindicate the rights of injured wives against the +lustful tyranny of their husbands. +</p> + +<p> +How opposite is the conduct of the fathers of +the so-called Reformation, who, with the cry of +religious reform on their lips, deformed religion +and society by sanctioning divorce. +</p> + +<p> +Henry VIII. was divorced from his wife, Catherine, +by Cranmer, the first Reformed Primate of +England. +</p> + +<p> +Luther and his colleagues, Melanchthon and +Bucer, permitted Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, +<pb n="416"/><anchor id="Pg416"/> +to have two wives at the same time.<note place='foot'>Bossuet, +Variations, Vol. 1.</note> Karlstadt, +another German Reformer, justified polygamy.<note place='foot'>Audin, p. 339.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Modern Prussia is now reaping the bitter fruits +of the seeds that were then sown within its borders. +Seventy-five per cent. of the marriages +now contracted outside of the Catholic Church +in Berlin are performed without any religious +ceremony whatever. A union not bound by the +strong ties of religion is easily dissolved. +</p> + +<p> +This subject excites a painful interest in our +own country, in consequence of the facility with +which divorce from the marriage bond is obtained +in many of our States. We have here another +exemplification of the dangerous consequences attending +a private interpretation of the sacred +text. When Luther and Calvin proclaimed to +the world that <q>it was not wise to prohibit the +divorced adulterer from marrying again,</q><note place='foot'>American +Cyclop., art Divorce. Our Savior declares that +he who marrieth an adulteress committeth adultery. Yet +Luther and Calvin declare that it is unwise to oppose such a +marriage. But <q>the foolishness of God is wiser than men.</q> +And Wisdom has said: <q>I will destroy the wisdom of the +wise.</q> (I. Cor. i.)</note> they +little dreamed of the fruitful progeny which was +destined before long to spring from this isolated +monster of their creation. There are already +about thirty causes which allow the conjugal tie +to be broken, some of which are of so trifling a +nature as to provoke merriment were it not for +the gravity of the subject, which is well calculated +to excite alarm for the moral and social welfare +of our country. +</p> + +<p> +Persons are divorced by the courts not only for +infidelity, but also without even the shadow of +Scripture authority—for alleged cruelty, intemperance, +<pb n="417"/><anchor id="Pg417"/> +desertion, prolonged absence, mental incapacity, +sentence to the penitentiary, incompatibility +of temper and <emph>such other causes as the +court, in its discretion, may deem sufficient</emph>. +</p> + +<p> +For the year ending June, 1874, seventeen hundred +and forty-two applications for divorce were +presented in the State of Ohio. If such is Ohio's +record, what must be the matrimonial condition +of Indiana, which is called the paradise of discontented +spouses. +</p> + +<p> +In Connecticut there were, in 1875, four thousand +three hundred and eighty-five marriages, and +four hundred and sixty-six divorces from the marriage +bond. The number of divorces obtained in +the same State during the last fifteen years has +reached five thousand three hundred and ninety-one. +This is the record of a State whose public +school system is considered the most thorough +and perfect in the country. The statistics given +of Ohio and Connecticut will enable us to form +some idea of the fearful catalogue of divorces +annually obtained in the United States. +</p> + +<p> +There are some who regard the Catholic Church +as too severe in proclaiming the absolute indissolubility +of marriage. But it should be borne +in mind that it is not the Church, but the Divine +Founder of the Christian religion, that has given +us the law. She merely enforces its observance. +</p> + +<p> +The law, how rigorous soever, is mercy itself, +when compared with the cruel consequences +which follow from the easy concession of divorce. +</p> + +<p> +The facility with which marriage is annulled +is most injurious to the morals of individuals, of +the family and of society. It leads to ill-assorted +and hasty marriages, because persons are less circumspect +in making a compact which may be afterwards +dissolved almost at will. It stimulates a +<pb n="418"/><anchor id="Pg418"/> +discontented and unprincipled husband or wife +to lawlessness, quarrels and even adultery, well +knowing that the very crime will afford a pretext +and legal grounds for a separation. It engenders +between husband and wife fierce litigations +about the custody of their offspring. It +deprives the children of the protecting arm of a +father, or of the gentle care of a mother, and +too frequently consigns them to the cold charity +of the world; for the married couple who are +wanting in conjugal love for one another are +too often destitute also of parental affection. In +a word, it brings into the household a blight and +desolation which neither wealth nor luxury can +repair. +</p> + +<p> +There is but one remedy to this social distemper, +and that is an absolute prohibition of divorce +<hi rend='italic'>a vinculo</hi>, in accordance with the inflexible +rule of the Gospel and of the ancient Church. In +Catholic countries divorces are exceedingly rare, +and are obtained only by such as have thrown +off the yoke of the Church. If the sacred laws +of Matrimony are still happily observed by so +large a portion of the Protestant community, the +purity of morals is in no small measure due to +the presence among them of the Catholic religion, +which exercises a beneficial influence even over +those who are outside the pale of her communion, +like the sun, whose benignant light and heat are +felt even in those secluded spots which his rays +can but obliquely and dimly penetrate. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n="419"/><anchor id="Pg419"/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Index.</head> + +<lg> +<l>Abraham, dear to Jehovah, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abstinence on Friday explained, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Adoration and reverence compared, <ref target="Pg202">202</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>A'Kempis compared with Bunyan, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>A'Kempis' <q>Following of Christ</q> recommended, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Protestant edition mutilated, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Albertus Magnus on Faith quoted, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>American Independence and Catholic Church, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angel Raphael and young Tobias, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angels labor for man's salvation, <ref target="Pg160">160</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Anglican Church began with Henry VIII., <ref target="Pg044">44</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Anne, Queen, praised by Thomas Arundel, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Apostolate of Sisterhoods—Consecrated Virgins, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Appeals, a proof of Papal Supremacy, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Apostles commissioned to teach, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>transmit infallibility to successors, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not commanded to write, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>ordered to teach and to preach, <ref target="Pg081">81</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>received power to forgive sins, <ref target="Pg342">342</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Apostolic teaching was infallible, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>weapons, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>missionaries sent by Popes, <ref target="Pg115">115</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Apostolicity defined, <ref target="Pg038">38</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a note of the true Church, <ref target="Pg039">39</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>claims of tested, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Articles of Faith—consequences of denial of, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Arian heresy and the Church, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Arianism and Protestantism paralleled, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Astolphus, King, threatens Rome, <ref target="Pg140">140</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Attila and Pope Leo the Great, <ref target="Pg139">139</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Attributes of Christ—objects of Church's teaching, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Attributes or Notes of the Church imply infallibility, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Authority of the Church derived from God, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>absence of, causes dissensions, <ref target="Pg097">97</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>authorized versus private interpretation, <ref target="Pg081">81</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the Book of Machabees, <ref target="Pg214">214</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Barbarians attack Rome, <ref target="Pg139">139</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bancroft's History cited, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Baptism essential for remission of original sin, <ref target="Pg268">268</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>necessary for all, <ref target="Pg268">268</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>must not be delayed, <ref target="Pg273">273</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>effects, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>remits all sin, <ref target="Pg275">275</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>makes us heirs of heaven, <ref target="Pg276">276</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Baptism of desire or martyrdom substitutes for Baptism, <ref target="Pg272">272</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Baptizing, modes of, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bartholomew, Archbishop of Braga, directs crusade, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Becanus teaches value of religious liberty, <ref target="Pg230">230</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bede, Venerable, translated Bible into Saxon, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bible, venerated by the Jews, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>requires the living authority of the Church, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>interpreted by the Sanhedrim, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>expounded by the priests, <ref target="Pg078">78</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a babel among reformers, <ref target="Pg086">86</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>itself unchanging, it causes ever-changing tenets, <ref target="Pg087">87</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>guardian and depository of, is the Catholic Church, <ref target="Pg090">90</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>translated into Saxon by Venerable Bede, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in English, Sir Thomas More on, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>editions prior to Luther, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>early editions in English, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>use of, recommended by Pope Pius VI, <ref target="Pg093">93</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in seminary, <ref target="Pg093">93</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>basis of Papal Infallibility, <ref target="Pg125">125</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>infallible, not sufficient, <ref target="Pg133">133</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not ordered to be multiplied, <ref target="Pg078">78</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Biblical interpretation on</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Deuteronomy, quoted, <ref target="Pg078">78</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>associations never converted nation, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>authorization claimed by Mormons, <ref target="Pg088">88</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>restrictions as to garbled versions, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>.</l> +<!-- poem --> +</lg> + +<pb n="420"/><anchor id="Pg420"/> + +<lg> +<l>Bishops, priests and deacons among Protestants, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>first bishop of Rome, was St. Peter, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Rome, heirs to St. Peter's supremacy, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>convoked councils, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>presided at councils, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bishop Short on Anglicanism, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bond of Union—Catholic, compared to that of secret orders, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bond—Nuptial, ratified by God, <ref target="Pg411">411</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Books of Piety adapted to wants, <ref target="Pg019">19</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Machabees, same authority as other Scriptures, <ref target="Pg214">214</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bride or Spouse of Christ, applied to the Church, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brownson, Dr., appreciates stand of Church on civil liberty, <ref target="Pg231">231</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bunyan compared with A'Kempis, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Butler's <q>Lives of the Saints</q> and Foxe's <q>Book of Martyrs</q> compared, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Byron, Lord, lauds St. Peter's Church in Rome, <ref target="Pg381">381</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Caranza Bartholomew arrested by the Inquisition, <ref target="Pg257">257</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carroll, Charles, in American Independence, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carroll, Rev. John, in American Independence, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catacombs abound in sacred images, <ref target="Pg196">196</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>earliest churches, <ref target="Pg137">137</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catechism, Episcopal, treats of Absolution, <ref target="Pg354">354</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catholic bond of union and that of the secret orders compared, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>barons and Archbishop Langton, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>idea of infallibility reasonable and satisfactory, <ref target="Pg135">135</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>priest obliged to read Scriptures, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>priest preaches Christ and Him crucified, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>literature favored by Episcopal clergyman, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>missionaries wherever English is spoken, <ref target="Pg035">35</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>churches burned by Protestants, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catholics number three hundred millions, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>exhorted to study the Word of God in their homes, <ref target="Pg019">19</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not all holy, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sometimes are sources of scandal, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and free will, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>consciences not forced, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Washington addresses, <ref target="Pg241">241</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>persecuted by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, <ref target="Pg250">250</ref>,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>by the Puritans, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catholicity—prominent attribute of the Church, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>evidences of, in Apostles' Creed, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defined, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>foreshadowed by the Psalmist, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>foreseen by Prophet Malachy, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not found in the separate sects, <ref target="Pg032">32</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ceremonial of the Mass, <ref target="Pg328">328</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ceremonies—religious, defined, <ref target="Pg320">320</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>described, <ref target="Pg327">327</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prescribed by God, <ref target="Pg332">332</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>necessary, <ref target="Pg322">322</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Christ's life portrayed, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>teachings versus Book of Homilies, <ref target="Pg067">67</ref>, et seq;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>words and private interpretation, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>divinity not proved solely by Scripture, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>honored virgins in a special manner, <ref target="Pg400">400</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>instituted matrimony, <ref target="Pg409">409</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>contained entire under each form, <ref target="Pg300">300</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Christian—a title of nobility, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>obligations it imposes, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defined as another Christ, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>communions claim perpetuity, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>unity endorsed, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Church teaches one God, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>unity of, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>government requires unity, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>needs visible head, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a kingdom, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Christ founded only one, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Christ's spiritual kingdom, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>government compared to that of state, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Christ, a sheepfold, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>likened to the sheepfold, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>one chief pastor, one chief shepherd, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>likened to human body, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>compared to a vine, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>bride or spouse of Christ, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>unity as taught by common sense, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>harmony, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>needs common doctrine, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>uniform government, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of England ruled by sovereign, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>alone possesses unity, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>temple of faith, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her creed identical with past ages, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>faith and government similar, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>does not meddle with political tenets, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>teaches one faith everywhere, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>explains and declares truths implicitly believed, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>authority to decide disputes, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>holiness an attribute of, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a society, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>established for man's sanctification, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>only one founded by Christ, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>inculcates valuable lessons of divine perfection, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>;</l> +<pb n="421"/><anchor id="Pg421"/> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>invites to a holy life, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>enforces the inculcation of divine precepts, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>affords motives and means of sanctification, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>encourages communion with God, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a watchful mother—supplies us at each step, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>fruitful in saints, <ref target="Pg022">22</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>still produces saints and apostles, <ref target="Pg022">22</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>has her martyrs in our day, <ref target="Pg022">22</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>still numbers confessors in her ranks, <ref target="Pg022">22</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>saves sinners, <ref target="Pg024">24</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>refuge of the poor, <ref target="Pg024">24</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her inheritance—the afflicted, <ref target="Pg025">25</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>possesses means of reform, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>cosmopolitan, <ref target="Pg030">30</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Catholic in name and reality, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>gaining numerically at present, <ref target="Pg035">35</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>apostolical, <ref target="Pg038">38</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>built upon foundation of the Apostles, <ref target="Pg038">38</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>derives her origin from the Apostles, <ref target="Pg048">48</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>indestructible, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the barbarous hordes, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Mohammedanism, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Arian heresy, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Irish people, <ref target="Pg054">54</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and state, <ref target="Pg057">57</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her relation to other religious bodies, <ref target="Pg058">58</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>does not need temporal power for preservation, <ref target="Pg058">58</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and modern progress, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>benefited by scientific appliances and inventions, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>fosters intellectual progress, <ref target="Pg060">60</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>encourages scientific investigation, <ref target="Pg060">60</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>science indebted to her—has no fear from human liberty, <ref target="Pg061">61</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>outlasts all other governments, <ref target="Pg061">61</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>authority comes from God, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her teaching directed by the Holy Ghost, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her infallibility proved from Scripture, <ref target="Pg066">66</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Christ's promise in favor of the, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref>, <ref target="Pg073">73</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her doctrines incapable of reform, <ref target="Pg073">73</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her doctrinal decrees irrevocable, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>divinely appointed teacher of revelation, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref>, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>guardian and depository of the Bible, <ref target="Pg090">90</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>requires a head, <ref target="Pg097">97</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>unity maintained by supreme head, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>only one founded by Christ, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>built on Peter, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>revealed Word of God her Magna Charta, <ref target="Pg124">124</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>exhorts all to honor Mary, <ref target="Pg187">187</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her practice proves existence of purgatory, <ref target="Pg214">214</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Fathers of the—unanimous in praying for the dead, <ref target="Pg217">217</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>has always promoted civil liberty, <ref target="Pg226">226</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defends civil rights and liberties, <ref target="Pg231">231</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>conflict with state, <ref target="Pg231">231</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and American Independence, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>desires no governmental aid, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>does not sanction persecution or bloodshed, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>disavows the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, <ref target="Pg258">258</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her practice and the procedure of the Supreme Court compared, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>organization—American system of, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her doctrine on unbaptized infants, <ref target="Pg273">273</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>perpetuates Christ's work, <ref target="Pg341">341</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>grants indulgences, <ref target="Pg376">376</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Churches—earliest Christian were Catacombs, <ref target="Pg137">137</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>fallible—consequences, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Clement of Alexandria bears witness to spread of Christianity, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Clerical celibacy—necessity, <ref target="Pg399">399</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>propriety and advantages of, <ref target="Pg402">402</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Clement VII, Pope, refused to sanction divorce of Henry VIII, <ref target="Pg414">414</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Communion with God encouraged by Church, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Communion under both forms given by Christ, <ref target="Pg300">300</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Communion under form of bread, <ref target="Pg303">303</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Communion of Saints—a comforting thought, <ref target="Pg160">160</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Confession of sins obligatory, <ref target="Pg345">345</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>various views, <ref target="Pg366">366</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacramental, of divine institution, <ref target="Pg346">346</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Confirmation—graces of, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defined, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>signs that follow, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>described by St. Augustine, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>abolished by the Protestants, <ref target="Pg285">285</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Constantine gives peace to the Church, <ref target="Pg137">137</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Continence—voluntary, superior to matrimony, <ref target="Pg399">399</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cross—held in reverence, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>instrument of the crucifixion, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>adorns our sanctuaries, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>surmounts our Churches, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>emblem of salvation, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cross—sign of the, ancient and pious practice, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>how made, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>taught by tradition, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>profession of faith, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>salutary act of religion, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>D'Aubigne on Protestant Reformation, <ref target="Pg264">264</ref>—comments on divorce of Henry VIII.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n="422"/><anchor id="Pg422"/> + +<lg> +<l>David and Nathan, <ref target="Pg376">376</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Deacons, priests and bishops in Protestant sects, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Death does not dissever love among friends, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Decrees in doctrinal matters irrevocable, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>De Maistre quoted on name Protestant, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Deuteronomy quoted on Biblical interpretation, <ref target="Pg078">78</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Devotion—true, is interior, <ref target="Pg320">320</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>manuals of, criticised, <ref target="Pg366">366</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divine perfections sources of valuable lessons, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divine power manifested on Easter Sunday, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divinity of Christ not proved solely by Scripture, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divorce never allowed—separation sometimes, <ref target="Pg412">412</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divorce prohibited by St. Paul, <ref target="Pg413">413</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divorced man may not marry during wife's lifetime, <ref target="Pg414">414</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divorce—legal, causes, <ref target="Pg416">416</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>cruel consequences of, <ref target="Pg417">417</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Doctrinal decrees of the Church are irrevocable, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Doctrines of the Church cannot be reformed, <ref target="Pg073">73</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the same everywhere, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>new definitions do not impair unity of faith, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dogma of the Immaculate Conception formulated, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Döllinger, Dr., anathematized, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Duties to God—first lessons taught us, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eastern churches allow a married clergy, <ref target="Pg402">402</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ecumenical councils vindicate papal supremacy, <ref target="Pg113">113</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defined, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Elias dear to Jehovah, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Elizabeth, Queen, and Henry VIII. persecuted Catholics, <ref target="Pg250">250</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Elizabethan and Marian persecutions compared, <ref target="Pg262">262</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Episcopal clergyman favors Catholic books, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Evangelical Alliance failed—had no common platform, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Exodus, Book of, and sacred images, <ref target="Pg200">200</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Extreme Unction defined, <ref target="Pg384">384</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>effects, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>supported by ancient authority, <ref target="Pg386">386</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Faith, hope and charity necessary for Catholics, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Faith, temple of, the Church, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Albertus Magnus quoted, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Faith, unity of, required, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>progress in, does not change truth, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fathers of the Church on Confirmation, <ref target="Pg283">283</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>echo the words of St. Paul on the Eucharist, <ref target="Pg297">297</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>they are unanimous on praying for the dead, <ref target="Pg217">217</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fenelon favors liberty of conscience, <ref target="Pg228">228</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Founders of various religious denominations, <ref target="Pg046">46</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Foxe's Book of Martyrs and the Lives of the Saints contrasted, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Free-will—Catholics enjoy, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Garbled versions of the Bible restricted, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gibbon quoted on triumphs of the Church, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>God—infinite in knowledge, power and goodness, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>governs by His Providence, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>created all things by His Omnipotence, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>three persons in One, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>persons equal, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>God commands the making of images, <ref target="Pg301">301</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>God requires that His ministers be respected, <ref target="Pg388">388</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>God works through his representatives, <ref target="Pg341">341</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>God's judgment impressed on the child mind, <ref target="Pg019">19</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gospel ministers are ordained and commissioned, <ref target="Pg039">39</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Government—state and church compared, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Governmental aid not desired for Church, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Grace defined, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>necessary for sanctification, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n="423"/><anchor id="Pg423"/> + +<lg> +<l>Graces imparted by Holy Orders and Matrimony, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Graces needed by married couple, special, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Great Spirit worshiped by American Indians, <ref target="Pg309">309</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gregory II, Pope, writes about images, <ref target="Pg140">140</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Habeas Corpus, <ref target="Pg223">223</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hail Mary explained, <ref target="Pg174">174</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hamlet, Shakespeare's, advised by the dead, <ref target="Pg221">221</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hebrews believed in intercessory prayer, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Henry VIII. excommunicated, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>divorce refused, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Henry VIII and Elizabeth persecuted Catholics, <ref target="Pg250">250</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heresy and schism opposed to unity, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>likened to murder and idolatry, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>heresy defined, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Church, <ref target="Pg054">54</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a crime against church and state, <ref target="Pg255">255</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holy Eucharist—St. Paul's testimony on, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holiness a mark of the Church, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holmes, Oliver Wendell, praises Mary, <ref target="Pg179">179</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holy Ghost sent by Christ, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on Pentecost, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>guides the Church's teaching, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holy Scripture—depository of God's Word, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holy Orders and Matrimony—graces of, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Image—Making commanded by God, <ref target="Pg201">201</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Images, Sacred—advantages of, <ref target="Pg204">204</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Reformers, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Council of Trent, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Book of Exodus, <ref target="Pg200">200</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>veneration of, <ref target="Pg196">196</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Catacombs abound in, <ref target="Pg196">196</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Immaculate Conception implied in Scripture, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in our earliest history, <ref target="Pg173">173</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>dogma formulated in 1854, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Indestructibility of the Church due to finger of God, <ref target="Pg057">57</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Infallible Bible not sufficient <ref target="Pg133">133</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Infallibility a special guidance of the Holy Ghost, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>implied in the attributes of the Church, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Apostolic teaching, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>proved from Scripture, <ref target="Pg066">66</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>transmitted by Apostles to successors, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>blessings attendant on—for the faithful, <ref target="Pg072">72</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Catholic idea of, reasonable and satisfactory, <ref target="Pg135">135</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>misapprehended, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>what it does not mean, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>what it is, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>founded on Bible, <ref target="Pg125">125</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not a new doctrine, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Incense, its use, <ref target="Pg334">334</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Indians, American—worshiped the Great Spirit, <ref target="Pg309">309</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Indulgence defined, <ref target="Pg375">375</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>granted by the Church, <ref target="Pg376">376</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>elements required, <ref target="Pg377">377</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>classes, <ref target="Pg378">378</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>does not exempt from doing penance, <ref target="Pg379">379</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>abused, <ref target="Pg380">380</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Infant Baptism proved from early Doctors, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Council of Carthage, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not to be delayed, <ref target="Pg273">273</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Inquisition, Spanish—cruelties, <ref target="Pg248">248</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>its true character, <ref target="Pg254">254</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>explained, <ref target="Pg254">254</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>excesses disavowed by the Church, <ref target="Pg258">258</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Inventions and scientific appliances beneficial to Church, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Invocation of the Saints defined, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ireland and the Ancient Church, <ref target="Pg054">54</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Irish clergy persecuted by Cromwell, <ref target="Pg250">250</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jeremiah, after death, prays for Jewish people, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jesus Christ, second person of Blessed Trinity, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>perfect God and perfect man, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>assumes human nature, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>born on Christmas Day, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>led a life of obscurity at Nazareth, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>commences public career, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>associates with his Apostles, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>doing good, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>preaches new gospel, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>crucified on Mount Calvary, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>purchases our redemption, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>is our Saviour and Redeemer, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>example to be imitated, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>manifested Divine power on Easter Sunday, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>raised Himself to life, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>ascended into heaven, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>spends forty days on earth, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sends Holy Ghost, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<pb n="424"/><anchor id="Pg424"/> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>requires unity of faith, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prays for unity, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mission evidenced in unity of Church, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>speaks of His Church, not churches, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>our model, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>wrote no line of Scripture, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>established supreme head of the Church, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>founded but one Church, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the one Mediator, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>came on earth to wash away sins, <ref target="Pg268">268</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>our Victim in the Mass, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a Physician and Savior, <ref target="Pg340">340</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jesus' prayer is always heard, <ref target="Pg126">126</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>name implies His mission, <ref target="Pg339">339</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>example a means of sanctification, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>moral lessons tend to sanctification, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jews ordered by Christ to obey constituted teachers, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>pray for their dead, <ref target="Pg220">220</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>venerate the Bible, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>were released from religious persecution by St. Bernard, <ref target="Pg228">228</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>appealed to the Sanhedrim for the settlement of disputes, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their priests expounded Bible, <ref target="Pg078">78</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their High Priest and the Roman Pontiff compared, <ref target="Pg095">95</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Job intercedes for his friends, <ref target="Pg157">157</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>John, Abbot of Constantinople, appeals to Pope Gregory I, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Judea a hallowed soil, <ref target="Pg164">164</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jurisdiction of God's ministers unlimited, <ref target="Pg388">388</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laity contain many Saints, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Langton, Archbishop, and Catholic barons, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leibnitz taught that Christ is entire under each species, <ref target="Pg302">302</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leo the Great, Pope, and Attila, <ref target="Pg139">139</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leo the Isaurian desires spiritual jurisdiction, <ref target="Pg139">139</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>destroys paintings, <ref target="Pg140">140</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>wars on images, <ref target="Pg197">197</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lepanto—victory of 1571, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Liberty, religious, explained, <ref target="Pg226">226</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>ever promoted by the Catholic Church, <ref target="Pg226">226</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>taught by Becanus, <ref target="Pg230">230</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>favored by Fenelon, <ref target="Pg228">228</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and civil rights defended by the Church, <ref target="Pg231">231</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human not feared, <ref target="Pg061">61</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lights on the altar—meaning, <ref target="Pg333">333</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Literature, Catholic, favored by Episcopal clergyman, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Llorente, historian of Spanish Inquisition, <ref target="Pg253">253</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>who he was, <ref target="Pg253">253</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Longfellow refers to Mary's influence and intercession, <ref target="Pg189">189</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Loyalty to Christ implies veneration of His representative, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Luther advocated Communion under one form, <ref target="Pg301">301</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>accused John Tetzel, <ref target="Pg382">382</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lutheranism founded by Luther, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>rise and progress of, <ref target="Pg054">54</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Magna Charta—great bulwark of liberty, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Magna Charta, the Church's—the revealed Word of God, <ref target="Pg124">124</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marriage law violated by Henry VIII, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>indissoluble, <ref target="Pg410">410</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>contract—most inviolable and irrevocable, <ref target="Pg410">410</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>forbidden to priests after ordination, <ref target="Pg400">400</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Married couple need special graces, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mary singularly honored by Jesus Christ, <ref target="Pg165">165</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Mother of God—meaning, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not mother of divinity—Mother of God, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>truly and really Mother of God, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of surpassing dignity and excellence, <ref target="Pg168">168</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>always a virgin, <ref target="Pg168">168</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>loves men, <ref target="Pg190">190</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>exempted from original sin, <ref target="Pg267">267</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mary's soul never subject to sin, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>her soul needed a redeemer, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prerogatives, <ref target="Pg174">174</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>honor redounds to God, <ref target="Pg181">181</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>honor founded on Scriptural sanction, <ref target="Pg186">186</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>honor encouraged by the Church, <ref target="Pg187">187</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>intercession superior to that of the Angels and the Saints, <ref target="Pg188">188</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>influence and intercession referred to by Longfellow, <ref target="Pg189">189-193</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>invoked by Edgar Allan Poe, <ref target="Pg191">191</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mary Magdalen experienced the mercy of Jesus, <ref target="Pg340">340</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Maryland—cradle of civil and religious liberty, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>land of the Sanctuary, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>religious toleration explained, <ref target="Pg234">234</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>changes effected by Puritans, <ref target="Pg237">237</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>tolerations—three, <ref target="Pg238">238</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mass is identical with the Sacrifice of the Cross, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>instituted, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref>;</l> +<pb n="425"/><anchor id="Pg425"/> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a perpetual oblation, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Apostolic origin, <ref target="Pg314">314</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>its ceremonial, <ref target="Pg328">328</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>why said in Latin, <ref target="Pg329">329</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Matrimony defined, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>instituted by Christ, <ref target="Pg409">409</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>imparts ample and suitable graces, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Missionaries, Catholic, wherever English is spoken, <ref target="Pg035">35</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Apostolic—sent by Popes, <ref target="Pg115">115</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mohammedanism, rise and conquests, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Church, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Monica, St., requests prayers for the repose of her soul, <ref target="Pg216">216</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Morality of Catholic and Protestant countries contrasted, <ref target="Pg369">369</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>lax among Catholics—accusation answered, <ref target="Pg364">364</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Christ's lessons tend to sanctification, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>inculcated by the Church, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>moral law standard of perfection, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>More, Sir Thomas, quoted on Bible in English, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mormons claim Biblical authorization for polygamy, <ref target="Pg088">88</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mormonism at variance with Gospel, <ref target="Pg410">410</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mysteries, principal, incentive to holiness, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>proposed by the Church, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>surround us everywhere, <ref target="Pg293">293</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Naaman the Syrian cured, <ref target="Pg361">361</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Napoleon's demands on Pope Pius VII, <ref target="Pg242">242</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nathan and David, <ref target="Pg376">376</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nuptial bond ratified by God, <ref target="Pg411">411</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Onias, after death, prays for the people of God, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oracles, rashness of following discordant, <ref target="Pg072">72</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Origen bears witness to the spread of Christianity, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Original sin, all men born in, <ref target="Pg267">267</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Blessed Virgin alone exempted, <ref target="Pg267">267</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>universal, <ref target="Pg272">272</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pagans retained primitive traditions about sacrifices, <ref target="Pg309">309</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Papal Jurisdiction—examples, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Papal states a convenience for the Holy Father, <ref target="Pg145">145</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Paul, St. on heresy and schism, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>asks intercession, <ref target="Pg158">158</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Penance—effects of Sacrament, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pentecost—Christ sends Holy Ghost, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Perpetuity of the Church, <ref target="Pg050">50</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defined, <ref target="Pg050">50</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>foretold in the Scriptures, <ref target="Pg050">50</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Persecutions lasted 280 years, <ref target="Pg052">52</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Persecution and bloodshed not sanctioned by the Church, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Persecutions by Queen Mary of England, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>compared with those under Elizabeth, <ref target="Pg262">262</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pepin, King of the Franks, defeats Lombards, <ref target="Pg141">141</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Peter, St., primacy of, <ref target="Pg095">95</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>foundation of the Church, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>first Bishop of Rome, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>supremacy handed down, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Washington compared, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>oracle of the Apostles, <ref target="Pg126">126</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Photius appeals to Pope Nicholas I to confirm his election to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Plebescitum, Roman, explained, <ref target="Pg146">146</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Plutarch declares: <q>No nations without priests and altars,</q> <ref target="Pg309">309</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Poe, Edgar Allan, invokes Mary, <ref target="Pg191">191</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pontiff, Supreme, is commander-in-chief of the Church, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pope is Vicar of Christ, <ref target="Pg129">129</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>father and doctor of Christians, chief pastor of the Church, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>confirms or rejects decrees of councils, <ref target="Pg131">131</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a prisoner in his own house, <ref target="Pg145">145</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Popes succeed to Peter's supremacy, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>send Apostolic missionaries, <ref target="Pg115">115</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>go to confession regularly, <ref target="Pg122">122</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>oracles of the early Church, <ref target="Pg128">128</ref>, et seq.,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>recognized in all ages as infallible teachers, <ref target="Pg132">132</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Prayer for unity, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Sacraments—means of sanctification, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a duty binding in conscience <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Jesus Christ, always heard <ref target="Pg126">126</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>for the dead, consoling, <ref target="Pg225">225</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n="426"/><anchor id="Pg426"/> + +<lg> +<l>Priest, Catholic obliged to read word of God, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>ambassador of God, <ref target="Pg387">387</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>dispenser of God's graces, <ref target="Pg390">390</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>titles, <ref target="Pg391">391</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>physician of souls, <ref target="Pg396">396</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>must be man of prayer, <ref target="Pg398">398</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Priestly obligations, <ref target="Pg395">395</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>stands before God, intercessor for his people, <ref target="Pg396">396</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>experience in sacred ministry, <ref target="Pg367">367</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Primacy of St. Peter, <ref target="Pg095">95</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>promised, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and supremacy similarly demonstrated, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Progress, Modern, and the Church, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>intellectual fostered by the Church, <ref target="Pg060">60</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>cannot destroy the Church, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Prophecies of Christ fulfilled by spread of Christianity, <ref target="Pg030">30</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Protestant sects make no claim to Catholicity, <ref target="Pg032">32</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Episcopalians sometimes usurp the title of Catholic, <ref target="Pg033">33</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>inconsistency between teaching and practice, <ref target="Pg082">82</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Protestantism not traceable to Apostolic times, <ref target="Pg047">47</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Arianism paralleled, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Protestants differ in belief among themselves, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sects do not possess unity, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>combat the perpetual virginity of Mary, <ref target="Pg169">169</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their objections answered, <ref target="Pg169">169</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>burned Catholic churches, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>abolished confirmation, <ref target="Pg285">285</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Puritans effected changes in Maryland, <ref target="Pg237">237</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>persecuted others for conscience's sake, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ranke quoted on Spanish Inquisition, <ref target="Pg256">256</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Raphael Archangel and young Tobias, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Real presence founded on scripture, <ref target="Pg288">288</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>proved from the New Testament, <ref target="Pg288">288</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Reformation of morals effected, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Reformers made a babel of the Bible, <ref target="Pg086">86</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and sacred images, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>guilty of violence towards others, <ref target="Pg250">250</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Regeneration, necessary to all, <ref target="Pg272">272</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Religious denominations and their founders, <ref target="Pg046">46</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Repentance—Catholic and Protestant systems contrasted, <ref target="Pg362">362</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Revelation—church divinely appointed teacher of, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Reverence for the Cross, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and adoration compared, <ref target="Pg202">202</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rites and ceremonies prescribed by God, <ref target="Pg322">322</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ritual described in Revelation, <ref target="Pg324">324</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rodriguez, <q>Christian Perfection</q> recommended, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Roman Pontiff and Jewish High Priest, compared, <ref target="Pg095">95</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Roman Plebescitum explained, <ref target="Pg146">146</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rome, St. Peter, first Bishop of, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rome, St. Peter's residence in, proved, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>testified by eminent writers, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacramental confession of divine institution, <ref target="Pg346">346</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacraments and prayers are means of grace, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>defined, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>constituent elements, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>seven, instituted by Christ, <ref target="Pg266">266</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacred images—advantages, <ref target="Pg204">204</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the Reformers, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the council of Trent, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacrifices, defined, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>offered by all peoples, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>early, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>various, in Old Law, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Alphonsus, a distinguished reformer, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Ambrose describes Mary's life, <ref target="Pg194">194</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>confronts the Emperor Theodosius, the Great, <ref target="Pg232">232</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Ghost, <ref target="Pg284">284</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Athanasius appeals to Pope Julius I against a Decree of the Eastern Bishops, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Augustine quoted about truth, <ref target="Pg012">12</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on false claims to Catholicity, <ref target="Pg033">33</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on Apostolicity, <ref target="Pg049">49</ref>, <ref target="Pg056">56</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>describes confirmation, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on Chrism ointment, <ref target="Pg285">285</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on secret confession, <ref target="Pg360">360</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Basil of Cæserea has recourse to Pope Damasus, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n="427"/><anchor id="Pg427"/> + +<lg> +<l>St. Bartholomew's Day—massacre, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>church not interested in, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>facts stated, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Bernard released Jews from religious persecution, <ref target="Pg228">228</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Charles Borromeo, the reformer, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Cyril appeals to Pope Celestine, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Francis de Sales' writings recommended, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Hilary of Arles and papal supremacy, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Ignatius Loyola, conspicuous reformer, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Irenæus bears witness to the spread of Christianity, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Jerome's edition of the Scriptures, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>edits the vulgate, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. John Chrysostom appeals to Pope Innocent I, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Justin, martyr, witness of Catholicity in second century, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Paul invokes intercession of the Ephesians, <ref target="Pg158">158</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>testimony on the Holy Eucharist, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>granted indulgences, <ref target="Pg376">376</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prohibited divorce, <ref target="Pg413">413</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Peter's primacy, <ref target="Pg095">95</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>first bishop of Rome, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>residence in Rome proved, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>supremacy handed down, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Oracle of the Apostles, <ref target="Pg126">126</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Philip Neri, apostle of modern Rome, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Vincent of Lerins on doctrine and practice, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saints—many among laity, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sanctity—examples witnessed, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sanhedrim settled disputes for the Jews, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>explained Bible, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Scandals do not invalidate Church's claims to sanctify, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schism and heresy oppose unity, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>schism defined, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schismatic Churches have no claims to Catholicity, <ref target="Pg032">32</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Scripture, Holy, depository of, God's Word, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>no line of, written by Christ, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>does not contain all truth, <ref target="Pg089">89</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>alone, not sufficient guide and rule of faith, <ref target="Pg089">89</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>perpetuated by the Church, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>St. Jerome translates, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sects—conflicting in North Carolina, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Protestant do not possess unity, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sign of the Cross—ancient and pious practice, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>how made, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Tertullian quoted on, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>taught by tradition, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>profession of faith, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>salutary act of religion, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Signs following confirmation, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sin includes guilt and punishment, <ref target="Pg375">375</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>original—all men born in, <ref target="Pg267">267</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Most Blessed Virgin alone excepted, <ref target="Pg267">267</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Smithfield and Tyburn compared, <ref target="Pg264">264</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Socrates quoted on papal supremacy, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Solomon and Judas as warnings, <ref target="Pg019">19</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spain—condition of, during the Inquisition, <ref target="Pg255">255</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spanish Inquisition—cruelties, <ref target="Pg248">248</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Llorente, historian, <ref target="Pg253">253</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>excesses disavowed by the Church, <ref target="Pg258">258</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>"Spiritual Combat" recommended, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Supremacy of St. Peter—Popes succeed to, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Socrates quoted on, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Primacy similarly demonstrated, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Supreme Court procedure and Church practice compared, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Supreme Head of the Church maintains unity, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>established by Christ, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>is commander-in-chief of the Church, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Teachers—constituted, to be obeyed, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Teaching of Christ versus Book of Homilies, <ref target="Pg067">67</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Teaching of Apostles infallible, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Teaching of the Church guided by the Holy Ghost, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Temporal power—end and aim, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not necessary to Church's preservation, <ref target="Pg058">58</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tennyson's Sir Belvidere asks prayers for his soul, <ref target="Pg225">225</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Testament, Old—teaches existence of Purgatory, <ref target="Pg211">211</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Testimony of St. Paul on the Holy Eucharist, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n="428"/><anchor id="Pg428"/> + +<lg> +<l>Tertullian bears witness to the spread of Christianity, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>treats of the Apostolicity of the Church, <ref target="Pg049">49</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tetzel, John, accused by Luther, <ref target="Pg382">382</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Theodoret appeals to St. Leo, Pope, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Theodosius the Great confronted by St. Ambrose, <ref target="Pg232">232</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Thomas Arundel praised Queen Anne, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Titles of the Catholic priest, <ref target="Pg391">391</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tobias, Young, and the Archangel Raphael, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Toleration, Religious, in Maryland, <ref target="Pg234">234</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Transubstantiation a mystery, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Triumphs of the Church according to Gibbon, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trent, Council of—great reformatory tribunal, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on sacred images, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>, et seq.;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>asserts doctrine of Purgatory, <ref target="Pg210">210</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Truth unchangeable, <ref target="Pg012">12</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tyburn and Smithfield compared, <ref target="Pg264">264</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tyndall on debt of science to the Church, <ref target="Pg060">60</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Unity of the Church, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>heresy and schism opposed to, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>required by Jesus Christ, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of faith required, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Jesus Christ prays for it, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prayer of Christ for, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>an evidence of Christ's mission, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in government it is essential, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>not found in Protestant sects, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>found in Catholic Church alone, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Catholic, in what it consists, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of government and faith, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>safeguard of government, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of faith not impaired by new doctrinal definitions, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the Church maintained by supreme head, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Christian, endorsed, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>implies recognition of pope's headship, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Unbaptized Infants—Church's teaching regarding, <ref target="Pg273">273</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Validity of the Pope's title to the papal states, <ref target="Pg141">141</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Variation in Biblical interpretation, <ref target="Pg087">87</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vatican Council assembled from all nations, <ref target="Pg332">332</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Ecumenical, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>all countries represented, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>all systems represented, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Veneration of images, <ref target="Pg196">196</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vestments—their meaning, <ref target="Pg335">335</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their colors symbolical, <ref target="Pg337">337</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vicar of Christ is the Pope, <ref target="Pg129">129</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Victim in the Mass is Jesus Christ, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Victor Emmanuel, the modern Achab, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Virgins, Consecrated—Apostolate of Sisterhoods, <ref target="Pg023">23</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Virgins especially honored by Christ, <ref target="Pg400">400</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Virginity, Perpetual—of Mary, combated by Protestants, <ref target="Pg169">169</ref>, et seq.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Voltaire bears testimony to the good use of Church temporalities, <ref target="Pg138">138</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vulgate—edited by St. Jerome, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Warfare on Church—foreign and domestic, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Washington and St. Peter compared, <ref target="Pg108">108</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Washington's Address to the Catholics, <ref target="Pg241">241</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wesley, John, founds Methodist Church, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Westminster Abbey has many statues of heroes, <ref target="Pg201">201</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wordsworth on <q>Mother's Love and Maiden Purity,</q> <ref target="Pg168">168</ref>, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>tribute to Mary, <ref target="Pg175">175</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +</div> +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> |