diff options
Diffstat (limited to '27435.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 27435.txt | 14965 |
1 files changed, 14965 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/27435.txt b/27435.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d564f94 --- /dev/null +++ b/27435.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14965 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Faith of Our Fathers by James Cardinal +Gibbons + + + +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 included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Faith of Our Fathers + +Author: James Cardinal Gibbons + +Release Date: December 7, 2008 [Ebook #27435] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS*** + + + + + + The Faith of Our Fathers + + Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the + + Church Founded by Our Lord + + Jesus Christ + + By + + James Cardinal Gibbons + + Archbishop of Baltimore + + Ninety-third Carefully Revised and Enlarged Edition + + John Murphy Company + + Publishers + + Baltimore, MD. New York + + R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd. + + 10 Paternoster Row, London, and at Manchester. + + Birmingham and Glasgow + + 1917 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface To The Eleventh Edition. +Preface To The Forty-Seventh Edition. +Preface. +Preface To Eighty-Third Revised Edition. +Introduction. +Chapter I. The Blessed Trinity, The Incarnation, Etc. +Chapter II. The Unity Of The Church. +Chapter III. The Holiness Of The Church. +Chapter IV. Catholicity. +Chapter V. Apostolicity. +Chapter VI. Perpetuity Of The Church. +Chapter VII. Infallible Authority Of The Church. +Chapter VIII. The Church And The Bible. +Chapter IX. The Primacy Of Peter. +Chapter X. The Supremacy Of The Popes. +Chapter XI. Infallibility Of The Popes. +Chapter XII. Temporal Power Of The Popes. + I. How The Popes Acquired Temporal Power. + II. The Validity And Justice Of Their Title. + III. What The Popes Have Done For Rome. +Chapter XIII. The Invocation Of Saints. +Chapter XIV. The Blessed Virgin Mary. + I. Is It Lawful To Honor Her? + II. Is It Lawful To Invoke Her? + III. Is It Lawful To Imitate Her As A Model? +Chapter XV. Sacred Images. +Chapter XVI. Purgatory And Prayers For The Dead. +Chapter XVII. Civil And Religious Liberty. +Chapter XVIII. Charges of Religious Persecution. + I. The Spanish Inquisition. + II. What About The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew? + III. Mary, Queen of England. +Chapter XIX. Grace--The Sacraments--Original Sin--Baptism--Its Necessity--Its +Effects--Manner Of Baptizing. +Chapter XX. The Sacrament Of Confirmation. +Chapter XXI. The Holy Eucharist. +Chapter XXII. Communion Under One Kind. +Chapter XXIII. The Sacrifice Of The Mass. +Chapter XXIV. The Use Of Religious Ceremonies Dictated By Right Reason. +Chapter XXV. Ceremonials Of The Mass. +Chapter XXVI. The Sacrament Of Penance. + I. The Divine Institution Of The Sacrament Of Penance. + II. On The Relative Morality Of Catholic And Protestant Countries. +Chapter XXVII. Indulgences. +Chapter XXVIII. Extreme Unction. +Chapter XXIX. The Priesthood. +Chapter XXX. Celibacy Of The Clergy. +Chapter XXXI. Matrimony. +Index. +Footnotes + + + + + + +DEDICATION. + + + _Affectionately Dedicated_ + To The + Clergy and Laity + Of The + Archdiocese And Province Of Baltimore. + + + + + +PREFACE TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION. + + +The first edition of "The Faith of Our Fathers" 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. + +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. + +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. + +He is also happy to announce that German editions have been published both +in this country and in Germany. + +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. + +BALTIMORE, +_Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas_, 1879. + + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FORTY-SEVENTH EDITION. + + +It is very gratifying to the author to note the large increase in the sale +of "The Faith of Our Fathers." 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. + +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. + +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. + +In the hope that they will add to the usefulness of the book, several +passages upon doctrinal subjects have been inserted. + +With these few remarks, the forty-seventh edition of "The Faith of Our +Fathers" is presented to the sincere and earnest seeker after religious +truth by + +THE AUTHOR +_Feast of St. Anselm_, 1895. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 be +accepted even by those who call in question their personal authority. + +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. + +RICHMOND, _November_ 21st, 1876. + + + + + +PREFACE TO EIGHTY-THIRD REVISED EDITION. + + +The new edition of "The Faith of Our Fathers" has been carefully revised, +and enriched with several pages of important matter. + +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. + +The work has also been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe. + +BALTIMORE, +_May_ 1st, 1917. + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +MY DEAR READER:--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. + +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. + +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. + +They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for + + + "Truth has such a face and such a mien, + As to be loved needs only to be seen."(1) + + +It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the following to take place between +a Protestant Minister and a convert to the Catholic Church: + +MINISTER.--You cannot deny that the Roman Catholic Church teaches gross +errors--the worship of images, for instance. + +CONVERT.--I admit no such charge, for I have been taught no such doctrines. + +MINISTER.--But the Priest who instructed you did not teach you all. He held +back some points which he knew would be objectionable to you. + +CONVERT.--He withheld nothing; for I am in possession of books treating +fully of all Catholic doctrines. + +MINISTER.--Deluded soul! Don't you know that in Europe they are taught +differently? + +CONVERT.--That cannot be, for the Church teaches the same creed all over +the world, and most of the doctrinal books which I read, were originally +published in Europe. + +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. + +We cannot exaggerate the offense of those who thus wilfully malign the +Church. There is a commandment which says: "Thou shalt not bear false +witness against thy neighbor." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Should not I be better qualified to present to you the Church's creed than +the unfriendly witnesses whom I have mentioned? + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, "Bright as the sun, fair as the moon;" with the beauty of +Heaven stamped upon her brow, glorious "as an army in battle array." You +would love her, you would cling to her and embrace her. With her children, +you would rise up in reverence "and call her blessed." + +Consider what you lose and what you gain in embracing the Catholic +religion. + +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 upon you is the restraint of the Gospel, and to this you +will not reasonably object. + +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: "I have loved O +Lord, the beauty of Thy house and the place where Thy glory dwelleth." +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 "tossed about by every wind of doctrine," 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. + +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 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: "Too late have I known thee, +O Beauty, ever ancient and ever new, too late have I loved thee." Should +the perusal of this book bring one soul to the knowledge of the Church, my +labor will be amply rewarded. + +Remember that nothing is so essential as the salvation of your immortal +soul, "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?"(2) 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. "For our present tribulation, which is momentary and light, +worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory."(3) + +May God give you light to see the truth, and, having seen it, may He give +you courage and strength to follow it! + + + + + + Chapter I. + + +THE BLESSED TRINITY, THE INCARNATION, ETC. + + +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. + +In this one God there are three distinct Persons,--the Father, the Son, and +the Holy Ghost, who are perfectly equal to each other. + +We believe that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, is +perfect God and perfect Man. He is God, for He "is over all things, God +blessed forever."(4) "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."(5) 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. + +After having led a life of obscurity for about thirty years, chiefly at +Nazareth, He commenced 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. + +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.(6) + +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 +_Savior_ and _Redeemer_, because "there is no other name under heaven +given to men whereby we must be saved."(7) "He was wounded for our +iniquities; He was bruised for our sins, ... and by His bruises we are +healed."(8) + +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. "If +anyone," He says, "will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up +his cross daily and follow Me."(9) + +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, "to bear about in our body the mortification +of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our +bodies."(10) + +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. +"Far be it from me," says the Apostle, "to glory save in the cross of our +Lord Jesus Christ."(11) 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. + +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: "In the name +of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Tertullian, who +lived in the second century of the Christian era, says: "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."(12) 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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +Our Redeemer gave the most ample authority to the Apostles to teach in His +name; commanding them to "preach the Gospel to every creature,"(13) and +directing all, under the most severe penalties, to hear and obey them: "He +that heareth you, heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me. And +He that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me."(14) + +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,(15) to which may be added the Infallibility +of her teaching and the Perpetuity of her existence. + +I shall treat successively of these marks. + + + + + + Chapter II. + + +THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. + + +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: "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,"(16) 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. + +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 of +God.(17) 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: "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."(18) 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. + +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 _Church_. He does not say: "Upon this rock I will build my Churches," +but "upon this rock I will build My Church,"(19) 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. + +The Church is called a kingdom: "He shall reign over the house of Jacob +forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end."(20) Now in every +well-regulated kingdom there is but _one king, one form of government, one +uniform body of laws_, 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, "every +kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate."(21) + +Our Savior calls His Church a sheepfold. "And there shall be made one fold +and one shepherd."(22) 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. + +His Church is compared to a human body. "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."(23) 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. + +The Church is compared to a vine. "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."(24) 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. + +The Church, in fine, is called in Scripture by the beautiful title of +bride or spouse of Christ,(25) and the Christian law admits only of one +wife. + +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. "God is not the God of dissension, +but of peace."(26) + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +Where, then, shall we find this essential unity of faith and government? I +answer, confidently, nowhere save in the Catholic Church. + +The number of Catholics in the world is computed at three hundred +millions. They have all "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," 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. Doellinger, though the prestige of his +name threatened to engender a schism in Germany. She says to her children: +"You may espouse any political party you choose; with this I have no +concern." But as soon as they trench on matters of faith she cries out: +"Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no farther; and here thou shalt +break thy swelling waves"(27) of discord. The temple of faith is the +asylum of peace, concord and unity. + +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 +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. + +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--"Jesus Christ yesterday, and today, and +the same forever."(28) + +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. + +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, 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: "When He shall come, the Spirit of +truth, He shall teach you all truth." 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. + +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 _new +revelation_ 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. + +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, +_in itself_; but our relations towards truth may change, for that which is +hidden from us today may become known to us tomorrow. "It often happens," +says St. Augustine, "that when it becomes necessary to defend certain +points of Catholic doctrine against the insidious attacks of heretics they +are more carefully studied, they become _more clearly understood_, they +are _more earnestly inculcated_; and so the very questions raised by +heretics give occasion to a more thorough knowledge of the subject in +question."(29) + +Let us illustrate this. In the Apostolic revelation and preaching some +truths might have been contained _implicitly_, _e.g._, 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 +_explicit_ declarations of what was formerly _implicitly_ believed. In the +doctrine of the supreme power of Peter, as the visible foundation of the +Church, we have the _implied_ 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. + +So, too, in the beginning many truths might have been proposed somewhat +_obscurely_ or _less clearly_; they might have been _less urgently +insisted upon_, because there was no heresy, no contrary teaching to +render a more explicit declaration necessary. Now, a doctrine which is +_implicitly, less clearly, not so earnestly_ 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. "Those who err in belief do but serve to bring out more +clearly the soundness of those who believe rightly. For there are many +things which _lay hidden in the Scriptures_, and when heretics were cut +off they vexed the Church of God with disputes; then the hidden things +were _brought to light_, and the will of God was made known." (St. +Augustine on the 54th Psalm, No. 22.) + +This kind of _progress in faith_ we can and do admit; but the truth is not +changed thereby. As Albertus Magnus says: "It would be more correct to +style this the progress of the believer in the faith than of the faith in +the believer." + +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 _implicitly, less clearly explained, less urgently +pressed_. 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, _declare, explain, urge_. 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 +"search the Scriptures," 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, 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: "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." + + + + + + Chapter III. + + +THE HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. + + +Holiness is also a mark of the true Church; for in the Creed we say, "I +believe in the _holy_ Catholic Church." + +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 "a chosen generation, a royal +priesthood, _a holy nation_, a purchased people."(30) + +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. + +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 archangel, but Jesus +Christ, the Son of God, "who is the brightness of His glory, and the +figure of His substance."(31) The Church places His image over our altars, +admonishing us to "look and do according to the pattern shown on the +Mount."(32) And from that height He seems to say to us: "Be ye holy, for I +the Lord your God am holy."(33) "Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly +Father is perfect."(34) "Be ye followers of God as most dear +children."(35) + +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 _Christians_. 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 _Christian_; 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. + +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 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. "God," says St. Paul, "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."(36) + +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. + +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 "Christ, and Him crucified." + +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: "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 house, and +walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising."(37) + +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 "wretched, and miserable, and poor, +and blind, and naked."(38) "For, what doth it profit a man, if he gain the +whole world and lose his own soul?"(39) 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. + +The Church quickens the zeal of her children for holiness of life by +impressing on their minds the rigor of God's judgments, who "will bring to +light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the +hearts," by reminding them of the terrors of Hell and of the sweet joys of +Heaven. + +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. + +Our books of piety are adapted to every want of the human soul, and are a +fruitful source of sanctification. Who can read without spiritual profit +such works as the almost inspired _Following of Christ_ by Thomas a +Kempis; the _Christian Perfection_ of Rodriguez; the _Spiritual Combat_ of +Scupoli; the writings of St. Francis de Sales, and a countless host of +other ascetical authors? + +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, _Kempis_ with _Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress_, or _Butler's Lives +of the Saints_ with _Foxe's Book of Martyrs_. You lay down _Butler_ with a +sweet and tranquil devotion, and with a profound admiration for the +Christian heroes whose lives he records; while you put aside _Foxe_ with a +troubled mind and a sense of vindictive bitterness. I do not speak of the +_Book of Common Prayer_, because the best part of it is a translation from +our Missal. Protestants also publish _Kempis_, though sometimes in a +mutilated form; every passage in the original being carefully omitted +which alludes to Catholic doctrines and practices. + +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. + +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 for a considerable time the practice of morning and evening +prayer. + +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 "new creatures." We are then +and there incorporated with Christ, becoming "bone of His bone and flesh +of His flesh;" "for as many of you," says the Apostle, "as have been +baptized in Christ have put on Christ."(40) 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. "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."(41) + +In Confirmation we receive new graces and new strength to battle against +the temptations of life. + +In the Eucharist we are fed with the living Bread which cometh down from +Heaven. + +In Penance are washed away the stains we have contracted after Baptism. + +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. + +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. + +In a word, the Church, like a watchful mother, accompanies us from the +cradle to the grave, supplying us at each step with the medicine of life +and immortality. + +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 "were stoned, and cut asunder, and put to death by the +sword;"(42) 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. + +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. + +If we seek for _Apostles_, 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. + +Every year records the tortures of Catholic missioners who die _Martyrs_ +to the Faith in China, Corea, and other Pagan countries. + +Among her _confessors_ 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. + +And who is a stranger to her consecrated _virgins_, 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. + +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 _Annas_, _the Aquilas_ and the +_Priscillas_ of the New Testament. They attract not indeed the admiration +of the public, because true piety is unostentatious and seeks a "life +hidden with Christ in God."(43) + +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. "It must be that scandals come, but woe to him by whom the +scandal cometh." 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. + +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: "Behold I +set before you the way of life and the way of death." (Jer. xxi. 8.) The +choice rests with yourselves. + +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 "came into this +world to save sinners."(44) He "came not to call the just but sinners to +repentance." 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. + +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. + +Mindful also of the words of our Lord: "The poor have the Gospel preached +to them,"(45) 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. + +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 poor person enter an Episcopal +Church which was contiguous to his residence. + +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;(46) it is like a net which encloses good +fish and bad until the hour of separation comes.(47) So, too, the Church +is that great house(48) in which there are not only vessels of gold and +silver, but also of wood and clay. + +The Fathers repeat the teaching of Scripture. St. Jerome says: "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."(49) + +St. Gregory the Great writes: "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."(50) + +Listen to St. Augustine: "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 now until the judgment day _contains not +only sheep and oxen_--that is, saintly laymen and holy ministers--_but also +the beasts of the field_.... For the beasts of the field are men who take +delight in carnal pleasures, _the field being that broad way which leads +to perdition_."(51) + +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 "who cometh forth as the morning star, fair as +the moon, bright as the sun."(52) 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,(53) +though he reproves some scandalous members among them.(54) + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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.(55) They sanctioned +rebellion by undermining the principle of authority. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter IV. + + +CATHOLICITY. + + +That Catholicity is a prominent note of the Church is evident from the +Apostles' Creed, which says: "I believe in the Holy _Catholic_ Church." +The word _Catholic_, 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. + +This glorious Church is foreshadowed by the Psalmist, when he sings: "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."(56) The Prophet Malachy saw +in the distant future this world-wide Church, when he wrote: "From the +rising of the sun, 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."(57) + +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, 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: "Go ye, therefore, and teach +_all nations_."(58) "Go ye into the _whole world_, and preach the Gospel +to every creature."(59) "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and +in all Judea, and Samaria, and even _to the uttermost part of the +earth_."(60) + +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. + +The prophecies were fulfilled. The Apostles scattered themselves over the +surface of the earth, preaching the Gospel of Christ. "Their sound," says +St. Paul, "went over all the earth and their words unto the ends of the +whole world."(61) Within thirty years after our Savior's Crucifixion the +Apostle of the Gentiles was able to say to the Romans: "I give thanks to +my God through Jesus Christ because your faith is spoken of in the entire +world"(62)--spoken of assuredly by those who were in sympathy and communion +with the faith of the Romans. + +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. + +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 "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."(63) + +"We are but of yesterday," says Tertullian, "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."(64) + +Clement of Alexandria, at the end of the second century, writes: "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." + +And Origen, in the early part of the next century, observes: "In all +Greece, and in all barbarous races within our world, there are tens of +thousands who 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." + +This Catholicity, or universality, is not to be found in any, or in all, +of the combined communions separated from the Roman Catholic Church. + +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. + +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 "I believe in the Holy +Catholic Church." + +That the Roman Catholic Church alone deserves the name of _Catholic_ 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 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. + +Passion and prejudice and bad manners may affix to us the epithets of +_Romish_ and _Papist_ and _Ultramontane_, but the calm, dispassionate +mind, of whatever faith, all the world, over, knows us only by the name of +_Catholic_. 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. + +So great is the charm attached to the name of Catholic that a portion of +the Episcopal body sometimes usurp the title of _Catholic_, though in +their official books they are named _Protestant Episcopalians_. If they +think that they have any just claim to the name of _Catholic_, 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. + +Should a stranger ask them to direct him to the Catholic Church they would +instinctively point out to him the Roman Catholic Church. + +The sectarians of the fourth and fifth centuries, as St. Augustine tells +us, used to attempt the same pious fraud, but signally failed: + +"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. 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."(65) + +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 _Catholic_. 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. + +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. + +Those Bishops belonged to every form of government, from the republic to +the most absolute monarchy.(66) 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: "Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, to God in Thy blood, out of +every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation."(67) + +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. + +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. + +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 "clean oblation"(68) is daily +offered up to the Most High. + +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 symbol of salvation--side by side with the banner of St. George. + +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, "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."(69) 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 "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." + +Everywhere a Catholic is at home. Secret societies, of whatever name, form +but a weak and counterfeit bond of union compared with the genuine +fellowship created by Catholic faith, hope and charity. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The Patriarch Abraham was dearer to Jehovah than all the inhabitants of +the corrupt city of Sodom. + +Elias was of greater worth before the Almighty than the four hundred +prophets of Baal who ate at the table of Jezabel. + +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. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter V. + + +APOSTOLICITY. + + +The true Church must be Apostolical. Hence in the Creed framed in the +first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, in the year 325, we find these words: +"I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic and _Apostolic_ Church." + +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. + +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. + +The Church, says St. Paul, is "built upon the foundation of the +Apostles,"(70) so that the doctrine which it propagates must be based on +Apostolic teachings. Hence St. Paul says to the Galatians: "Though an +angel from heaven preach a Gospel to you beside that which we have +preached to you, let him be anathema."(71) The same Apostle gives this +admonition to Timothy: "The things which thou hast heard from me before +many witnesses the _same_ commend to faithful men who shall be fit to +teach others also."(72) Timothy must transmit to his disciples only such +doctrines as he heard from the lips of his Master. + +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. "Neither doth any man," says the Apostle, "take the honor to +himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was."(73) This text +evidently condemns all self-constituted preachers and reformers; for, "how +shall they preach, unless they be sent?"(74) _Sent_, 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 "had ordained for them +priests in every church."(75) And the Apostle says to Titus: "For this +cause I left thee in Crete, ... that thou shouldst ordain Priests in every +city, as I also appointed thee."(76) Even St. Paul himself, though +miraculously called and instructed by God, had hands imposed on him,(77) +lest others should be tempted by his example to preach without Apostolic +warrant. + +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, in an unbroken line, their missionary powers to the +Apostles. + +The Catholic Church _alone_ teaches doctrines which are _in all respects_ +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. + +Apostolic Church. Catholic Church. Protestant Churches. + +1. Our Savior gives The Catholic Church All other Christian +pre-eminence to Peter gives the primacy of communions practically +over the other honor and jurisdiction deny Peter's supremacy +Apostles: "I will give to Peter and to his over the other +to thee the keys of the successors. Apostles. +kingdom of heaven."(78) +"Confirm thy +brethren."(79) "Feed My +lambs; feed My +sheep."(80) + +2. The Apostolic Church The Catholic Church All the Protestant +claimed to be alone, of all the churches repudiate the +infallible in her Christian communions, claim of infallibility. +teachings. Hence the claims to exercise the They deny that such a +Apostles spoke with prerogative of gift is possessed by +unerring authority, and infallibility in her any teachers of +their words were teaching. Her ministers religion. The ministers +received not as human always speak from the pronounce no +opinions, but as Divine pulpit as having authoritative +truths. "When you have authority, and the doctrines, but advance +received from us the faithful receive with opinions as embodying +word of God, you implicit confidence their private +received it not as the what the Church interpretation of the +word of men, but (as it teaches, without once Scripture. And their +is indeed) the word of questioning her hearers are never +God."(81) "It hath veracity. required to believe +seemed good to the Holy them, but are expected +Ghost and to us," say to draw their own +the assembled Apostles, conclusions from the +"to lay no further Bible. +burden upon you than +these necessary +things."(82) "Though an +angel from heaven +preach a gospel to you +besides that which we +have preached to you, +let him be +anathema."(83) + +3. Our Savior enjoins The Church prescribes Protestants have no law +and prescribes rules fasting to the faithful prescribing fasts, +for fasting: "When thou at stated seasons, though some may fast +fastest, anoint thy particularly during from private devotion. +head and wash thy face, Lent. A Catholic priest They even try to cast +that thou appear not to is always fasting when ridicule on fasting as +men to fast ... and thy he officiates at the a work of +Father, who seeth in altar. He breaks his supererogation, +secret, will repay fast only after he says detracting from the +thee."(84) The Apostles Mass. When Bishops merits of Christ. +fasted before engaging ordain Priests they are Neither candidates for +in sacred functions: always fasting, as well ordination, nor the +"They ministered to the as the candidates for ministers who ordain +Lord, and fasted."(85) ordination. them, ever fast on such +"And when they ordained occasions. +Priests in every city, +they prayed with +fasting."(86) + +4. "Let women," says The Catholic Church Women, especially in +the Apostle, "keep never permits women to this country, publicly +silence in the preach in the house of preach in Methodist and +churches. For, it is God. other churches with the +not permitted them to sanction of the church +speak ... It is a shame elders. +for a woman to speak in +the church."(87) + +5. St. Peter and St. Every Catholic Bishop, No denomination +John confirmed the as a successor of the performs the ceremony +newly baptized in Apostles, likewise of imposing hands in +Samaria: "They laid imposes hands on this country except +hands on them and they baptized persons in the Episcopalians, and even +received the Holy Sacrament of they do not recognize +Ghost."(88) Confirmation, by which Confirmation as a + they receive the Holy Sacrament. + Ghost. + +6. Our Savior and His The Catholic Church The Protestant churches +Apostles taught that teaches, with our Lord (except, perhaps, a few +the Eucharist contains and His Apostles, that Ritualists) condemn the +the Body and Blood of the Eucharist contains doctrine of the Real +Christ: "Take ye, and really and indeed the Presence as idolatrous, +eat; this is My Body and Blood of Jesus and say that, in +Body.... Drink ye all Christ under the partaking of the +of this, for this is my appearance of bread and communion, we receive a +Blood."(89) "The wine. memorial of Christ. +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?"(90) + +7. The Apostles were The Bishops and Priests Protestants affirm, on +empowered by our Savior of the Catholic Church, the contrary, that God +to forgive sins:--"Whose as the inheritors of delegates to no man the +sins ye shall forgive, Apostolic prerogatives, power of pardoning sin. +they are forgiven."(91) profess to exercise the +"God," says St. Paul, ministry of +"hath given to us the reconciliation, and to +ministry of forgive sins in the +reconciliation."(92) name of Christ. + +8. Regarding the sick, One of the most No such ceremony as +St. James gives this ordinary duties of a that of anointing the +instruction: "Is any Catholic Priest is to sick is practised by +man sick among you, let anoint the sick in the any Protestant +him bring in the Sacrament of Extreme denomination, +priests of the Church, Unction. If a man is notwithstanding the +and let them pray over sick among us he is Apostle's injunction. +him, anointing him with careful to call in the +oil in the name of the Priest of the Church, +Lord."(93) that he may anoint him + with oil in the name of + the Lord. + +9. Of marriage our Literally following the The Protestant +Savior says: "Whoever Apostle's injunction, churches, as is well +shall put away his wife the Catholic Church known, have so far +and marry another forbids the husband and relaxed this rigorous +committeth adultery wife to separate from law of the Gospel as to +against her. And if the one another; or, if allow divorced persons +wife shall put away her they separate, neither to remarry. And divorce +husband and be married of them can marry again _a vinculo_ is granted +to another she during the life of the on various and even +committeth other. trifling pretenses. +adultery."(94) And +again St. Paul says: +"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."(95) + +10. Our Lord recommends Like the Apostle and All the ministers of +not only by word, but his Master, the other denominations, +by His example, to Catholic clergy bind with very rare +souls aiming at themselves to a life of exceptions, marry. And +perfection, the state perpetual chastity. The far from inculcating +of perpetual virginity. inmates of our convents the Apostolic counsel +St. Paul also exhorts of men and women of celibacy to any of +the Corinthians by voluntarily consecrate their flock, they more +counsel and his own their virginity to God. than insinuate that the +example to the same virtue of perpetual +angelic virtue: "He chastity, though +that giveth his virgin recommended by St. +in marriage," he says, Paul, is impracticable. +"doeth well. And he +that giveth her not +doeth better."(96) + +We now leave the reader to judge for himself which Church enforces the +doctrines of the Apostles in all their pristine vigor. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +"There is a close relationship," says D'Aubigne, "between these two +divorces," meaning Henry's divorce from his wife and England's divorce +from the Church. Yes, there is the relationship of cause and effect. + +Bishop Short, an Anglican historian, candidly admits that "the existence +of the Church of England as a distinct body, and her final separation from +Rome, may _be dated_ from the period of the divorce."(97) + +The Book of Homilies, in the language of fulsome praise, calls Henry "the +true and faithful minister," and gives him the credit for having abolished +in England the Papal supremacy and established the new order of +things.(98) + +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 _Methodists_. The Methodist +Church in this country is the offspring of a colony sent hither from +England. + +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 +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. + +Name of Place Founder. Year. Authority +Sect. of Quoted. + Origin. +Anabaptists Germany Nicolas 1521 Vincent + Stork L. + Milner, + "Religious + Denominations." +Baptists Rhode Roger 1639 "The Book of + Island Williams Religions" by + John Hayward. +Free-Will New Benj. 1780 Ibid. +Baptists Hampshire Randall +Free New York Benijah Close Rev. A. D. +Communion Corp of Williams in +Baptists 18th "History of all + century Denominations." +Seventh-Day United General 1833 W. B. Gillett, +Baptists States Conference Ibid. +Campbellites, Virginia Alex. 1813 "Book of +or Campbell Religions." +Christians +Methodist England John 1739 Rev. Nathan +Episcopal Wesley Bangs in + "History of all + Denominations." +Reformed Vermont Branch of 1814 Ibid. +Methodist the Meth. + Episcopal + Church +Methodist New York Do. 1820 Rev. W. M. +Society Stilwell, Ibid. +Methodist Baltimore Do. 1830 James R. +Protestant Williams, Ibid. +True Wesleyan New York Delegates 1843 J. Timberman, +Methodist from Ibid. + Methodist + denominations +Presbyterian Scotland General 1560 John M. Krebs, +(Old School) Assembly Ibid. +Presbyterian Philadelphia General 1840 Joel Parker, D. +(New School) Assembly D., Ibid. +Episcopalian England Henry VIII 1534 Macaulay and + other English + Historians. +Lutheran Germany Martin Luther 1524 S. S. Schmucker + in "History of + all + Denominations." +Unitarian Germany Celatius About Alvan Lamson, +Congrega- 1540 Ibid. +tionalists +Congrega- England Robert Browne 1583 E. W. Andrews, +tionalists Ibid. +Quakers England George Fox 1647 English + Historians. +Do America William Penn 1681 American + Historians. +Catholic Jerusalem Jesus 33 New Testament. +Church + +From this brief historical tableau we find that all the Christian _sects_ +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. + +But I may be told: "Though our public history as Protestants dates from +the Reformation, we can trace our origin back to the Apostles." 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: "We existed +in every age as an invisible church." 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. + +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 _decency_ and morality. + +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. + +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. + +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. Irenaeus, Tertullian and St. +Augustine give catalogues of the Bishops of Rome who flourished up to +their respective times, with whom it was their happiness to be in +communion, and then they challenged their opponents to trace their lineage +to the Apostolic See. "Let them," says Tertullian, in the second century, +"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 _Apostle, or by an apostolic man who was in communion with the +Apostles_."(99) + +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: "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."(100) + + + + + + Chapter VI. + + +PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. + + +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 _integrity_, clothed with _all_ 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. + +The unceasing duration of the Church of Christ is frequently foretold in +Sacred Scripture. The Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that Christ "shall +reign over the house of Jacob _forever_, and of his kingdom _there shall +be no end_."(101) Our Savior said to Peter: "Thou art Peter, and upon this +rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail +against it."(102) Our blessed Lord clearly intimates here that the Church +is destined to be assailed always, but to be overcome, never. + +In the last words recorded of our Redeemer in the Gospel of St. Matthew +the same prediction is strongly repeated, and the reason of the Church's +indefectibility is fully expressed: "Go ye, teach all nations, ... and +behold I am with you _all days_, even _to the consummation_ of the +world."(103) This sentence contains three important declarations: +First--The presence of Christ with His Church--"Behold, I am with you." +Second--His constant presence, without an interval of one day's absence--"I +am with you all days." Third--His perpetual presence to the end of the +world, and consequently the perpetual duration of the Church--"Even to the +consummation of the world." + +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. + +None of the Christian Communions outside the Catholic Church can have any +reasonable claim to _Perpetuity_, since, as we have seen in the preceding +chapter, they are all(104) of recent origin. + +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. + +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. + +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. +_"__Christianos ad leones,__"__ the Christians to the lions_, was the +popular war-cry. + +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. + +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. + +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 Caesars had promulgated their edicts against Christianity! + +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 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, "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."(105) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +In this connection a remark of De Maistre is worth quoting: "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."(106) + +But similar causes will produce similar results. As both revolutions were +the offspring of rebellion; 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 "renewing her strength, like the eagle's."(107) 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? + +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? + +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. + +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! + +But far be it from us to ascribe to any human cause this marvelous +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. "Not to us, +O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory." + +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? + +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 Caesars to those of +the former Chancellor of Germany. + +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: "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."(108) + +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? + +It is easier to preserve what is created, than to create anew. + +III. But we have been told: "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." + +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. This loss, however, does not bring a wrinkle on the fair +brow of the Church, nor does it retard one inch her onward march. + +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. + +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? + +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: "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."(109) + +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. + +V. But may not the light of the Church grow pale and be extinguished +before the intellectual 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 "The nineteenth century strikes its roots into the centuries gone by +and draws nutriment from them."(110) + +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. + +Children of the Church, fear nothing, happen what will to her. Christ is +with her and therefore she cannot sink. Caesar, in crossing the Adriatic, +said to the troubled oarsman: "Quid times? Caesarem vehis." What Caesar 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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: +"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."(111) 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. + +In the brightest days of the Republic of Pagan Rome the Roman said with +pride: "I am a Roman citizen." 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 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. "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."(112) 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: "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the +world."(113) + + + + + + Chapter VII. + + +INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH. + + +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. + +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. + +That the Church was infallible in the Apostolic age is denied by no +Christian. We never question the truth of the Apostles' declarations;(114) +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, etc., they must also have handed down to +them the no less essential gift of infallibility. + +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. + +It will not suffice to tell me: "We have an infallible Scripture as a +substitute for an infallible apostolate of the first century," for an +infallible book is of no use to me without an infallible interpreter, as +the history of Protestantism too clearly demonstrates. + +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: "Thou art +Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell +shall not prevail against it."(115) 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. + +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 "lay buried in +damnable idolatry for eight hundred years or more." 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? + +If the prediction of our Savior about the preservation of His Church from +error be false, then 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. + +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, +"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."(116) + +Jesus sends forth the Apostles with plenipotentiary powers to preach the +Gospel. "As the Father," He says, "hath sent Me, I also send you."(117) +"Going therefore, teach all nations, teaching them to observe all things +whatsoever I have commanded you."(118) "Preach the Gospel to every +creature."(119) "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all +Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth."(120) + +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. + +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 preach +to listen and obey. "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."(121) "If he will not +hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican."(122) +"He that believeth shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be +condemned."(123) "He that heareth you heareth Me; he that despiseth you +despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me."(124) + +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? + +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. + +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 word. Shortly before His death Jesus consoles His +disciples by this promise: "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you +another Paraclete, _that He may abide with you forever_.... But when He, +the Spirit of truth, shall come, _He will teach you all truth_."(125) + +The following text of the same import forms the concluding words recorded +of our Savior in St. Matthew's Gospel: "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."(126) + +He begins by asserting His own Divine authority and mission. "All power is +given," etc. That power He then delegates to His Apostles and to their +successors: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations," etc. He does not +instruct them to scatter Bibles broadcast over the earth, but to teach by +word of mouth. "And behold!" Our Savior never arrests the attention of His +hearers by using the interjection, _behold_, unless when He has something +unusually solemn and extraordinary to communicate. An important +announcement is sure to follow this word. "Behold, I am with you." These +words, "_I am with you_," 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.(127) They +convey the same meaning in the present instance. Christ says equivalently +I who "am the way, the truth and the life," will protect you from error +and will guide you in your speech. I will be with you, not merely during +_your_ natural lives, not for a century only, but all days, at all times, +without intermission, even to the end of the world. + +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. + +And this is also the sentiment of the Apostle of the Gentiles writing to +the Ephesians: God "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."(128) + +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. + +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 "without faith it is impossible to please +God."(129) Faith and infallibility must go 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. + +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: +"Thus saith the Lord?" + +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. + +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. + +If you were to confront those figures, and to ask them, one by one, to +give an account of the faith 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. + +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. + +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 "ever learning +and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth."(130) You are not, like +others, drifting helplessly over the ocean of uncertainty and "carried +about by every wind of doctrine." You are not as "blind men led by blind +guides." 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 "straight a +way that fools shall not err therein."(131) You are a part of that +universal Communion which has no "High Church" and "Low Church;" no "New +School" and "Old School," for you all belong to that School which is "ever +ancient and ever new." You enjoy that profound peace and tranquillity +which springs from the conscious possession of the whole truth. Well may +you exclaim: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell +together in unity."(132) + +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. + +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 "this treasure (of +innocence) in earthen vessels." + +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 and a thousand lesser lights to be offering their amendments to +the Constitution of the Church, as if it were a human Institution? + +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. + +A Protestant gentleman of very liberal education remarked to me, before +the opening of the late Ecumenical Council: "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." 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. + +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. + +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: "He that +heareth you heareth Me; he that despiseth you despiseth Me." 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. + +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! + +"For twenty years," observed a recently converted Minister of the +Protestant Church, "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." 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 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. "Unless ye become," says our Lord, "as little +children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."(133) "As +new-born babes, desire the rational milk without guile; that thereby you +may grow unto salvation."(134) In her nourishment there is no poison; in +her doctrines there is no guile. + + + + + + Chapter VIII. + + +THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. + + +The Church, as we have just seen, is the only Divinely constituted teacher +of Revelation. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +death. "If thou perceive," says the Book of Deuteronomy, "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."(135) + +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. + +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. "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."(136) + +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 _Priests_ and the _Levites_ 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 to read certain portions of the Scripture till they had +reached the age of thirty years. + +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. "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."(137) + +It is true our Lord said on one occasion "Search the Scriptures, for you +_think_ in them to have life everlasting, and the same are they that give +testimony to Me."(138) 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: "Ye search the Scriptures." 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. "You have," He says, "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?" 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. + +Besides, He did not rest the proof of His Divinity upon the _sole_ +testimony of Scripture. For He showed it First--By the testimony of John +the Baptist (v. 33), who had said, "Behold the Lamb of God; behold Him who +taketh away the sins of the world." See also John i. 34. + +Second--By the miracles which He wrought (v. 36). + +Third--By the testimony of the Father (v. 37), when He said: "This is my +beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." Matt. iii. 16; Luke +ix. 35. + +Fourth--By the Scriptures of the Old Testament; as if He were to say, "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." + +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. + +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. + +Jesus Himself never wrote a line of Scripture. He never once commanded His +Apostles to write a word,(139) or even to circulate the Scriptures already +existing. When He sends them on their Apostolic errand, He says: "Go +_teach_ all nations."(140) "_Preach_ the Gospel to every creature."(141) +"He that heareth you heareth Me."(142) And we find the Apostles acting in +strict accordance with these instructions. + +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 "they going forth, _preached_ everywhere, the Lord +co-operating with them."(143) + +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. + +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. + +Now what the civil code is to the citizen, the Scripture is to the +Christian. The Word of God, as well as the civil law, must have an +interpreter, by whose decision we are obliged to abide. + +We often hear the shibboleth: "The Bible, and the Bible only, must be your +guide." 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. + +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. + +A copy of the sacred volume is handed to you by your minister, who says: +"Take this book; you will find it all-sufficient for your salvation." 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 +_inspired_ 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 was also +the Gospel of St. James and of St. Matthias. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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 +and intelligible; it must be able to satisfy us on all questions relating +to faith and morals. + +First--A complete guide of salvation must be within the reach of every +inquirer after truth; for, God "wishes all men to be saved, and to come to +the knowledge of the truth;"(144) 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. + +They could not have been accessible _to the primitive Christians_, 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? + +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 _from the fourth to the fifteenth century_! 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. "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."(145) + +And even _at the present day_, 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. + +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. + +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 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 "certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned +and the unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own +destruction."(146) And consequently he tells us elsewhere "that no +prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation."(147) + +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: "How can I +understand unless some man show me?"(148) admitting, by these modest +words, that he did not pretend of himself to interpret the Scriptures. + +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. +"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." + +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, 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, "This is My Body," 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. + +No one will deny that in our days there exists a vast multitude of sects, +which are daily multiplying. No one will deny(149) 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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? + +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 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 _all is +well_. + +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. + +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.(150) For instance, most Christians pray to the Holy +Ghost, a practice which is nowhere found in the Bible. + +We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures _alone_ 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 they do not contain all the truths necessary for salvation. + +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. + +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? + +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 "the Book of the days of the kings of Israel."(151) + +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. + +Let me give you a few plain facts to show the pains which the Church has +taken to perpetuate the Scriptures. + +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. + +If the Popes were afraid that the Bible should see the light, this was a +singular way of manifesting their fear. + +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 _Vulgate_, or popular edition. + +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 then the language of England. He died while dictating the last +verses of St. John's Gospel. + +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. + +Sir Thomas More affirms that, before the days of Wycliffe, there was an +English version of the Scriptures, "by good and godly people with devotion +and soberness well and reverently read."(152) + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter IX. + + +THE PRIMACY OF PETER. + + +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. + +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. "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 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."(153) + +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. + +Now the Jewish synagogue, as St. Paul testifies, was the type and figure +of the Christian Church; for "all these things happened to them (the Jews) +in figure."(154) 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. + +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. + +Even in every well-ordered family, domestic peace requires that someone +preside. + +Now, the Church of Christ is a visible society--that 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? + +But someone will tell me: "We do not deny that the Church has a head. God +himself is its Ruler." This is evading the real question. Is not God the +Ruler of all governments? "By Me," He says, "kings reign, and lawgivers +decree just things."(155) 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +_Promise of the Primacy._ Our Saviour, on a certain occasion, asked His +disciples, saying: "Whom do men say that the Son of Man is? And they 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?" Peter, as usual, is the leader and spokesman. "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."(156) Here we find Peter +confessing the Divinity of Christ, and in reward for that confession he is +honored with the promise of the Primacy. + +Our Savior, by the words "thou art Peter," 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. + +The word _Peter_, in the Syro-Chaldaic tongue, which our Savior spoke, +means _a rock_. The sentence runs thus in that language: _"__Thou art a +rock, and on this rock I will build My Church.__"_ Indeed, all respectable +Protestant commentators have now abandoned, and even ridicule, the +absurdity of applying the word _rock_ 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. + +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. + +He continues: "And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven," +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 "the keys +of death and of hell,"(157) 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: "Here are the +keys of my house," would not this simple declaration, without a word of +explanation, convey the idea, "I give you full control of my house; you +may admit or exclude whom you please; you represent me in my absence?" Let +us now apply this interpretation to our Redeemer's words. When He says to +Peter: "I will give to thee the keys," 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 end of time. And be it remembered that to Peter +alone, and to no other Apostle, were these solemn words addressed. + +_Fulfillment of the Promise._ The promise which our Redeemer made of +creating Peter the supreme ruler of His Church is fulfilled in the +following passage: "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."(158) + +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, _i.e._, 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. + +Candid reader, do you not profess to be a member of Christ's flock? Yes, +you answer. Do you 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. + +_Exercise of the Primacy._ 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. + +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. + +Peter's name always stands first in the list of the Apostles, while Judas +Iscariot is invariably mentioned last.(159) Peter is even called by St. +Matthew _the first Apostle_. 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. + +Peter is the first Apostle who performed a miracle.(160) 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.(161) + +Peter is the first to make converts from the Gentile world in the persons +of Cornelius and his friends.(162) + +When there is question of electing a successor to Judas Peter _alone +speaks_. 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.(163) + +In the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem Peter is the first whose sentiments +are recorded. Before his discourse "there was much disputing." But when he +had ceased to speak "all the multitude held their peace."(164) + +St. James and the other Apostles concur in the sentiments of Peter without +a single dissenting voice. + +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. + +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.(165) + +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 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. + +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.(166) Third--That the supremacy of Peter conflicts +with the supreme dominion of Christ. + +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? + +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? + +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 _withstood Peter to his face_. 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. + +In the very same Epistle to the Galatians St. Paul plainly insinuates St. +Peter's superior rank. "I went," he says, "to Jerusalem to see Peter, and +I tarried with him fifteen days."(167) 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 "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, _but to show honor to the first +Apostle_." + +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 Christ +as the "chief cornerstone," as well as the Divine Architect of the +building. + +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: +"Governor, I honor you personally, but your official's order I shall +disregard." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Babylon," 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 Caesars. + +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; Irenaeus, +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. + +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. + +Indeed, no historical fact will escape the shafts of incredulity, if St. +Peter's residence and glorious martyrdom in Rome are called in question. + + + + + + Chapter X. + + +THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. + + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +First--Take the question of _appeals_. 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. + +Let me give you a few illustrations: + +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 +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. + +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. + +St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, was martyred in 258. + +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. + +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. + +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(168) reverses the sentence of the +Eastern Council. + +St. Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea, in the same century has recourse in his +afflictions to the protection of Pope Damasus. + +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. + +St. Cyril appeals to Pope Celestine against Nestorius; Nestorius, also, +appeals to the same Pontiff, who takes the side of Cyril. + +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. + +The same Pontiff also rebuked Hilary for having irregularly deposed +Projectus from his See. + +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 _happy memory_. + +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: "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 _the See_ which has condemned me, +suspect that perhaps I really am a heretic, being incapable themselves of +distinguishing accuracy of doctrine."(169) Leo declared the deposition +invalid and Theodoret was restored to his See. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Second--Christians of every denomination admit the orthodoxy of _the +Fathers_ 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 "of the faith once +delivered to the Saints." 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? + +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, "Faith of Catholics," where he will find, in an English +translation, copious extracts from their writings vindicating the Primacy +of the Popes. + +Third--_Ecumenical Councils_ afford another eloquent vindication of Papal +supremacy. An Ecumenical 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. + +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. + +I shall speak briefly of the important influence which the Holy See +exercised in the eight Oriental Councils. + +The first General Council was held in Nicaea, 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 Nicaea, in 787, and the eighth, in +Constantinople, in 869. + +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. + +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 for confirming its Acts has surely a higher +authority than the other members. + +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 +_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_. This historical fact admits of +no exception. Let me particularize. + +Ireland's Apostle is St. Patrick. Who commissioned him? Pope St. +Celestine, in the fifth century. + +St. Palladius is the Apostle of Scotland. Who sent him? The same Pontiff, +Celestine. + +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. + +St. Remigius established the faith in France, at the close of the fifth +century. He was in active communion with the See of Peter. + +Flanders received the Gospel in the seventh century from St. Eligius, who +acknowledged the supremacy of the reigning Pope. + +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. + +In the ninth century two saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, +evangelized Russia, Sclavonia, Moravia and other parts of Northern Europe. +They recognized the supreme authority of Pope Nicholas I. and of his +successors, Adrian II. and John VIII. + +In the eleventh century Norway was converted by missionaries introduced +from England by the Norwegian King, St. Olave. + +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.(170) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The white races of North America are descended from England, Ireland, +Scotland and the nations 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. + +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? + +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. + +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 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? + +But you will tell me: "The supremacy of the Pope has been disputed in many +ages." So has the authority of God been called in question--nay, His very +existence has been denied; for, "the fool hath said in his heart there is +no God."(171) 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? + +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. + +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. "He that is not with Me is against Me," +says our Lord, "and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth." How can you +be with Christ if you are against His Vicar? + +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. + +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: "Let us make our name famous before"(172) our +dust is scattered to the wind. + +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: +"Thus saith the Lord." + +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: "How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O +Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel!"(173) + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XI. + + +INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. + + +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. + +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. + +No Catholic, on the contrary, claims that the Pope is inspired or endowed +with Divine revelation properly so called. + +"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."(174) + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, "a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men," and no man can +point out a stain upon his moral character. + +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, +"I confess to Almighty God, and to His Saints, that I have sinned +exceedingly in thought, word and deed." And at the Offertory of the Mass +he says: "Receive, O Holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, this oblation +which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer for my innumerable sins, offences and +negligences." + +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, 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. + +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. + +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.(175) 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. + +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. + +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. + +The Pope, therefore, be it known, is not the 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. + +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. + +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. + +The revealed Word of God is the constitution of the Church. This is the +_Magna Charta_ of our Christian liberties. The Pope is the official +guardian of our religious constitution, as the Chief Justice is the +guardian of our civil constitution. + +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. + +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. + +These explanations being premised, let us now briefly consider the grounds +of the doctrine itself. + +The following passages of the Gospel, spoken at different times, were +addressed exclusively to Peter: "Thou art Peter; and on this rock I will +build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."(176) +"I, the Supreme Architect of the universe," says our Savior, "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 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." 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. + +"And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven."(177) Thou +shalt hold the keys of truth with which to open to the faithful the +treasures of heavenly science. "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall +be bound also in Heaven."(178) 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. + +"Behold, Satan hath desired to have you (My Apostles), that he may sift +_you_ as wheat. But I have prayed for _thee_ (Peter) that thy faith fail +not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren."(179) 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, "in order," as St. Leo says, "that the strength given by Christ +to Peter should descend on the Apostles." + +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 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. + +"Feed My lambs; feed My sheep."(180) 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. + +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 them the Oriental and the +Western Bishops met for the purpose of reunion. + +The Eighth General Council, held in Constantinople in 869, contains the +following solemn profession of faith: "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, 'Thou art Peter, and on this rock I +will build My Church,' 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." + +This Council clearly declares that _immaculate doctrine_ has always _been +preserved and preached in the Roman See_. 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? + +In the Second General Council of Lyons (1274), the Greek Bishops made the +following profession of faith: "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, _if any questions on faith arise, they ought to be defined by +her judgment_." + +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. + +"We define," says the Council of Florence (1439), at which also were +present the Bishops of the Greek and the Latin Church, "we define that the +Roman Pontiff is the successor of the Blessed Peter, Prince of the +Apostles, and _the true Vicar of Christ, the Head_ 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." + +The Pope is here called the _true Vicar_ 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 _Head_ 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, "without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." 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? + +He is declared by the same Council to be the _Father_ and _Doctor_ of all +Christians. How can you expect an unerring family under an erring 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. + +In fine, the Pope is also styled the _Chief Pilot_ 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? + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Nicaea 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? + +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. + +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. + +Pope St. Innocent I., in the fifth century, condemns the Pelagian heresy, +in reference to which St. Augustine wrote this memorable sentence: "The +acts of two councils were sent to the Apostolic See, whence an answer was +returned. The _question is ended_. Would to God that the error also had +ceased." + +In the fourteenth century Gregory XI. condemns the heresy of Wycliffe. + +Pope Leo X., in the sixteenth, anathematizes Luther. + +Innocent X., in the seventeenth, at the solicitation of the French +Episcopate, condemns the subtle errors of the Jansenists, and in the +nineteenth century Pius IX. promulgates the doctrine of the Immaculate +Conception. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +A Protestant Bishop, in the course of a sermon against Papal +Infallibility, recently used the following language: "For my part, I have +an infallible Bible, and this is the only infallibility that I require." +This assertion, though plausible at first sight, cannot for a moment stand +the test of sound criticism. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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? + +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? + +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: "An +infallible Bible is enough for me," and does it not proclaim the absolute +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? + +How satisfactory, on the contrary, and how reasonable is the Catholic +teaching on this subject! + +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. + +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. + +Here is the written Constitution of My Church. But I have appointed over +it a Supreme Tribunal, in the person of one "to whom I have given the keys +of the Kingdom of Heaven," 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. + + + + + + Chapter XII. + + +TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. + + + + +I. How The Popes Acquired Temporal Power. + + +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. + +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. + +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: "The foxes +have holes and the birds of the air nests, but the Son of Man hath not +whereon to lay his head."(181) The Apostle died as he had lived, a poor +man, having nothing at his death save the affections of a grateful people. + +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 "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."(182) 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 "the Scourge of God," 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. + +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 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 "dogmas of faith are to be interpreted by the Pontiffs of the Church +and not by emperors," 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. + +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. + +In 754 Astolphus, King of the Lombards, invaded Italy, captured some +Italian cities and threatened to advance on Rome. + +Pope Stephen III.,(183) 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. + +In this emergency Stephen, who sees that no time is to be lost, crosses +the Alps in person, approaches 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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +II. The Validity And Justice Of Their Title. + + +There are three titles which render the tenure of a Prince honest and +incontestable, viz., _long possession, legitimate acquisition_ and _a just +use of the original grant confided to him_. The Bishop of Rome possessed +his temporality by all these titles. + +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. + +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: "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." + +Third--What is the use or advantage of the temporal power? This is well +worth considering, as many have erroneous notions on the subject. + +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 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. + +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. + +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: +"The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of +my fathers."(184) + +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: "Why, therefore, hast thou +despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in 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."(185) + +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.(186) + +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 "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." 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 present illustrious Pontiff is at this moment. + +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. + +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.(187) + +But we are told that the Roman people, by a _plebiscitum_, or popular +vote, expressed their desire to be annexed to the Piedmontese Government. +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 _plebiscitum_ 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. + +In the second place, the Roman people, even had they so desired, had no +right to transfer, by _their_ 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. + +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, +"Thou shalt not steal." + +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. + +We protest against it as an unjustifiable violation of solemn treaties. + +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. + + + + +III. What The Popes Have Done For Rome. + + +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. + +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. + +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, "_The Eternal +City_." + +Let the Popes leave Rome forever, and in five years grass will be growing +on its streets. + +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(188) +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. + +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. + +Let the Popes withdraw from Rome, and it may become almost as desolate as +Jerusalem and Antioch are today. + +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. + +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. + +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 "The +Eternal City." + +Our present(189) 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. + +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. + +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. + +I envy neither the heart nor the head of those men who are now gloating +with fiendish joy over the calamities of the Pope; who are heaping insults +and calumnies on his venerable head, while he is in the hands of his +enemies,(190) 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. "The Papacy," they say, "is +gone. Its glory is vanished. Its sun is set. It is sunk below the horizon, +never to rise again." 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. + +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. + +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 of their prerogatives, "Thou art Peter, +and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not +prevail against it,"(191) will ever shine forth as brightly as the sun, +and it is as far as the sun above the reach of human aggression. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XIII. + + +THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS. + + +Christians of most denominations are accustomed to recite the following +article contained in the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the communion of +Saints." There are many, I fear, who have these words frequently on their +lips, without an adequate knowledge of the precious meaning which they +convey. + +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. + +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 "useful and salutary" 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: +"Through our Lord Jesus Christ," sufficiently 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. + +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. + +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 _hear_ +your prayers, and that they have the _power_ and the _will_ to assist you. +Now the Scriptures amply demonstrate the knowledge, the influence and the +love of the Saints in our regard. + +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 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. "We +now," says the Apostle, "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."(192) +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. + +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. + +Nay more, we can distinctly recognize one another by the sound of our +voice. + +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. + +Let us not be unwise in measuring Divine power by our finite reason. + +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? + +"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in +your philosophy." + +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, prayed thus for his two +grandchildren: "May the angel that delivereth me from all evils bless +these boys!"(193) 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. + +The angel Raphael, after having disclosed himself to Tobias, said to him: +"When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave +thy dinner, I offered thy prayer to the Lord."(194) How could the angel, +if he were ignorant of these petitions, have presented to God the prayers +of Tobias? + +To pass from the Old to the New Testament, our Savior declares that "there +shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance."(195) +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. + +And when St. Paul says that "we are made a spectacle to the world, to +angels, and to men,"(196) what does he mean, unless that as our actions +are seen by men even so they are visible to the angels in heaven? + +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.(197) + +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? + +These few instances are sufficient to convince you that the spirits in +heaven hear our prayers. + +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.(198) + +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.(199) + +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: "Pray ye for us to the Lord our God, for we +have sinned against the Lord our God."(200) + +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: "Go," He says, "to My servant Job and offer for yourselves a +holocaust, and My servant Job will pray for you and his face will I +accept."(201) Nor did they appeal to Job in vain; for, "the Lord was +turned at the penance of Job when he prayed for his friends."(202) In this +instance we not only see the value of intercessory prayer, but we find God +sanctioning it by His own authority. + +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. + +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: "Remember me in your prayers." + +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? + +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: "My eyes shall be +open and My ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this +place."(203) 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? + +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 +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. + +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: "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."(204) 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. + +St. John in his Revelation describes the Saints before the throne of God +praying for their earthly brethren: "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."(205) + +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: "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."(206) + +Nor can we be surprised to learn that the angels labor for our salvation, +since we are told by St. Peter that "the devil goeth about like a roaring +lion, seeking whom he may devour;" 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? + +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 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. + +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, "You dishonor +God, sir, in praying to the saints. You make void the mediatorship of +Jesus Christ. You put the creature above the Creator." 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 +_independently_ 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 _influence_ 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, "the Sun of Justice, the +one Mediator (of redemption) of God and men."(207) 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. + +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? + +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 "good and useful to invoke +the saints."(208) 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 "the Lord will hear the prayers +of the just."(209) 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. + + + + + + Chapter XIV. + + +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. + + + + +I. Is It Lawful To Honor Her? + + +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. + +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 _there_ was born the Savior of the world. With what religious +demeanor we would tread the streets of Nazareth when we remembered that +_there_ 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. + +But if the _lifeless_ soil claims so much reverence, how much more +veneration would be enkindled in our hearts for the _living_ 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. "All the multitude sought to touch Him, for virtue went out +from Him and healed all,"(210) as happened to the woman who had been +troubled with an issue of blood.(211) + +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. + +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 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: "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee +and the paps that gave Thee suck." + +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. + +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 "impediment and +slowness of tongue." But Jehovah reassured him by promising to qualify him +for the sublime functions assigned to him: "I will be in thy mouth, and I +will teach thee what thou shalt speak."(212) + +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: "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."(213) + +"Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost,"(214) that she might be worthy +to be the hostess of our Lord during the three months that Mary dwelt +under her roof. + +John the Baptist was "filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's +womb."(215) "He was a burning and a shining light"(216) because he was +chosen to prepare the way of the Lord. + +The Apostles received the plenitude of grace; they were endowed with the +gift of tongue and other privileges(217) before they commenced the work of +the ministry. Hence St. Paul says: "Our sufficiency is from God, who hath +made us _fit_ ministers of the New Testament."(218) + +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 _needed_ so high a degree of holiness as she did. + +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 "Author of life."(219) 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: "Be ye clean, you +that carry the vessels of the Lord;"(220) 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. + +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 _mother_. Second--That He is true God, else she were not the _Mother +of God_. 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 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. + +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. + +I shall answer this objection by putting a question. Did the mother who +bore us have any part in the production of our _soul_? Was not this nobler +part of our being the work of God alone? And yet who would for a moment +dream of saying "the mother of my body," and not "_my_ mother?" + +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: "The mother of my _body_," "the mother of +my _soul_;" but in all propriety "my mother," the mother of me who live +and breathe, think and act, _one_ 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. + +It is in this sense that the title of _Mother of God_, 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. + +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. + +Mary, as Wordsworth beautifully expressed it, united in her person "a +mother's love with maiden purity." 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. "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."(221) + +That she remained a Virgin till after the birth of Jesus is expressly +stated in the Gospel.(222) 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. + +The Canon of the Mass, which is very probably of Apostolic antiquity, +speaks of her as the "glorious _ever Virgin_," and in this sentiment all +Catholic tradition concurs. + +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, "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." The learned Grotius, Calvin and other eminent Protestant +writers hold the same view. + +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: + +First--The Evangelist says that "Joseph took unto him his wife, and he knew +her not _till_ she brought forth her first-born son."(223) This sentence +suggests to dissenters that other children besides Jesus were born to +Mary. But the qualifying word _till_ 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 "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."(224) 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. + +The Scripture says that the raven went forth from the ark, "and did not +return _till_ the waters were dried up upon the earth"(225)--that is, it +never returned. "Samuel saw Saul no more _till_ the day of his +death."(226) He did not, of course, see him after death. "The Lord said to +my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand _until_ I make thy enemies thy +footstool."(227) These words apply to our Savior, who did not cease to sit +at the right of God after His enemies were subdued. + +Second--But Jesus is called Mary's _first-born_ 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.(228) + +Third--But is not mention frequently made of the brethren of Jesus?(229) +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;(230) 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.(231) 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.(232) +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 or near relations. Abraham, for +instance, was the uncle of Lot, yet he calls him brother.(233) + +Mary is exalted above all other women, not only because she united "a +mother's love with maiden purity," but also because she was conceived +without original sin. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is thus +expressed by the Church: "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."(234) + +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 "redeemed, but in a more sublime manner."(235) Mary +is as much indebted to the precious blood of Jesus for having been +_preserved_ as we are for having been _cleansed_ from original sin. + +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. + +In Genesis we read: "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and +thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head."(236) All Catholic +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. + +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;(237) 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. + +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. + +In the liturgy ascribed to St. James, Mary is commemorated as "our most +holy, immaculate and most glorious Lady, Mother of God and ever Virgin +Mary."(238) + +In the Maronite Ritual she is invoked as "our holy, praiseworthy and +immaculate Lady."(239) + +In the Alexandrian liturgy of St. Basil, she is addressed as "most holy, +most glorious, immaculate."(240) + +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. + +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. + +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 part of the seventeenth century was dedicated to God under +the invocation of Mary Immaculate. + +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. + +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. + +"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."(241) 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. + +_"__Hail full of grace!__"_ Gabriel does not congratulate her on her +personal charms, though she is the fairest daughter of Israel. He does not +praise her 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, + + + "Our tainted nature's solitary boast," + + +one that alone escaped the taint of Adam's disobedience. + +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 "Sun +of Justice" shone upon her, exhibit every grace that was prompted by the +occasion. + +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. "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;"(242) 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. + +_"__The Lord is with thee.__"_ "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 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."(243) + +_"__Blessed art Thou among women.__"_ 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,(244) and the latter +after she had slain Holofernes,(245) 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! + +The Evangelist proceeds: "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."(246) + +There is joy in Mary's heart in being chosen to become the mother of the +world's Redeemer. She 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. + +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. + +Then Mary breaks out into that sublime canticle, the Magnificat: "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."(247) On these words I +shall pause to make one reflection. + +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. + +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, 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 _Magnificat_ has +daily resounded. + +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. + +Therefore, it is only Catholics that earn the approval of Heaven by +fulfilling the prediction of the Holy Ghost. + +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. + +On the other hand, they are careful to exclude themselves from the +"generations" that were destined to call her blessed, for, in speaking of +her, they almost invariably withhold from her the title of _blessed_, +prefering to call her _the Virgin_, or _Mary the Virgin_, or _the Mother +of Jesus_. 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. + +The piety of a mother usually sheds additional lustre on the son, and the +halo that encircles her 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. + +Such defamers might learn a lesson from one who made little profession of +Christianity. + + + "Is thy name Mary, maiden fair? + Such should, methinks, its music be. + The sweetest name that mortals bear, + Were best befitting thee. + And she to whom it once was given + _Was half of earth and half of heaven_."(248) + + +Once more the title of _blessed_, is given to Mary. On one occasion a +certain woman, lifting up her voice, said to Jesus: "Blessed is the womb +that bore thee and the paps that gave thee suck."(249) It is true that our +Lord replied: "Yea, rather (or yea, likewise), blessed are they who hear +the word of God and keep it." 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 privilege +of her maternity, they can participate with her in the blessed reward of +them who hear My word and keep it. + +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. + +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: + + + "Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrossed + With the least shade of thought to sin allied; + Woman! above all women glorified, + Our tainted nature's solitary boast; + Purer than foam on central ocean tost, + Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn + With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon + Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast, + Thy image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, + Not unforgiven, the suppliant knee might bend + As to a visible power, in which did blend + All that was mixed and reconciled in thee + Of mother's love with maiden purity, + Of high with low, celestial with serene." + + +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. + +"Honor he is worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to honor."(250) The King +of kings hath honored Mary; His divine Son did not disdain to be subject +to her, therefore should we honor her, 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: "To me Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly +honorable."(251) Now the dearest friends of God are they who most +faithfully keep His precepts: "You are My friends, if you do the things +that I command you."(252) Who fulfilled the divine precepts better than +Mary, who kept all the words of her Son, pondering them in her heart? "If +any man minister to me," says our Savior, "him will My Father honor."(253) +Who ministered more constantly to Jesus than Mary, who discharged towards +Him all the offices of a tender mother? + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _their_ safety involves _its_ +security. + +Jesus Christ is the citadel of our faith, the stronghold of our soul's +affections. Mary is called the "Tower of David," and the gate of Sion +which the Lord loveth more than all the tabernacles of Jacob,(254) and +which He entered at His Incarnation. + +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. + +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 "the +love of Christ" 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. + +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 +_Blessed be Jesus and Mary_? 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? + +Those who make this objection should remember that the praises of the Lord +and of His Saints are frequently combined in Holy Scripture itself. + +Witness Judith. On returning from the tent of Holofernes, she sang: +"_Praise ye the Lord, our God_, who hath not forsaken them that hope in +Him, _and by me His handmaid_, 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: _Blessed art thou, O daughter_, by the Lord the Most +High God, above all women upon the earth, _Blessed be the Lord_ 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."(255) + +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.(256) + +Elizabeth, in the same breath, exclaims: "Blessed art thou among women, +and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."(257) + +And Mary herself, under the inspiration of Heaven, cries out: "My soul +_doth magnify the Lord_, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.... +For, behold from henceforth all generations _shall call me blessed_."(258) + +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. + +God jealous of the honor paid to Mary! Will a father be jealous of the +honor paid to his child, 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: "Thy hands (O Lord) have made me and formed me." 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: "He that is +mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name!"(259) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +We are imitating Elizabeth, who exclaimed in one breath: "Blessed art thou +(Mary) among women and blessed is (Jesus) the fruit of thy womb." + +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. "What God hath joined together, +let not man put asunder." + + + + +II. Is It Lawful To Invoke Her? + + +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.(260) 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. + +If Stephen, while his soul was still in the prison of the body, "_saw_ the +glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God;"(261) if Paul +"_heard_ secret words"(262) spoken in paradise, is it surprising that Mary +hears and sees us, now that she is elevated to heaven and stands "face to +face" 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. + +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. + +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. "Jesus," says the Gospel, "was subject to +them"(263)--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: "They have no wine." He +instantly obeys her by changing water into wine, though the time for +exercising His public ministry and for working wonders had not yet +arrived. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + "And even as children who have much offended + A too indulgent father, in great shame, + Penitent, and yet not daring unattended + To go into his presence, at the gate + Speak to their sister and confiding wait + Till she goes in before and intercedes; + So men, repenting of their evil deeds, + And yet not venturing rashly to draw near + With their requests, an angry Father's ear, + Offer to her their prayers and their confession, + And she in heaven for them makes intercession."(264) + + +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? "Can a woman forget her infant +so as not to have pity on the fruit of her womb?"(265) Even so Mary will +not forget us. + +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.(266) 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. + +If the angels, though of a different nature from ours, have so much +sympathy for us as to rejoice in our conversion,(267) 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! + +Though not of the household of the faith, Edgar A. Poe did not disdain to +invoke Our Lady's intercession, and to acknowledge the influence of her +patronage in heaven. + + + "At morn--at noon--at twilight dim-- + Maria! thou hast heard my hymn; + In joy and woe--in good and ill-- + Mother of God, be with me still! + When the hours flew brightly by, + And not a cloud obscured the sky, + My soul, lest it should truant be, + Thy grace did guide to thine and thee; + Now, when storms of fate o'ercast + Darkly my present and my past, + Let my future radiant shine, + With sweet hopes of thee and thine." + + +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. + +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. + +When we address our prayers to her we say: _Pray for us sinners_, implying +by these words that she herself is a petitioner at the throne of Divine +mercy. To God we say: _Give us our daily bread_, thereby acknowledging Him +to be the source of all bounty. + +This principle being kept in view, how can we be justly accused of +slighting God's majesty by invoking the intercession of His handmaid? + +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. + +Our Lord says to His Apostles: "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."(268) And St. Paul says: "Know you not that +we shall judge angels, how much more things of this world?"(269) 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. + + + + +III. Is It Lawful To Imitate Her As A Model? + + +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. + +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. + +The Mother of Jesus exercises throughout the Christian commonwealth that +hallowing influence which a good mother wields over the Christian family. + +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? + +The priest and the layman, the scholar and the illiterate, the prince and +the peasant, the mother and the maid, acknowledge her benign sway. + +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. + +The poet Longfellow pays the following tribute to Mary's sanctifying +influence: + + + "This is indeed the blessed Mary's land, + Virgin and mother of our dear Redeemer! + All hearts are touched and softened at her name + Alike the bandit with the bloody hand, + The priest, the prince, the scholar and the peasant + The man of deeds, the visionary dreamer + Pay homage to her as one ever present! + + And if our faith had given us nothing more + Than this example of all womanhood, + So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good, + So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure, + This were enough to prove it higher and truer + Than all the creeds the world had known before."(270) + + +St. Ambrose gives us the following beautiful picture of Mary's life before +her espousals: "Let the life," he says, "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." + +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 "was subject to them"(271)--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 a prudent mother. +These relations continued from His childhood to His public life, nor did +they cease even then. + +Now Jesus being the Son of God, "the brightness of His glory and the +figure of His substance,"(272) 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. + +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 "conformable to the image of His Son,"(273) +of whom Mary is the most perfect mirror. + + + + + + Chapter XV. + + +SACRED IMAGES. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: "Sire, whose image is this?" "It is +mine," 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. "Alas!" cried the holy man to the +Emperor, "if I am punished for dishonoring the image of a mortal monarch, +what punishment do they deserve who burn the image of Jesus Christ?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: "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 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."(274) + +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 _image worshipers_. 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. + +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 _Systema +Theologicum_, p. 142: "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, no sane man thinks, under such +circumstances, of praying in this wise: 'Give me, O image, what I ask; to +thee, O marble or wood, I give thanks;' but 'Thee, O Lord, I adore; to +Thee I give thanks and sing songs of praise.' 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." + +In the Book of Exodus we read: "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."(275) 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. + +The text cannot mean the absolute prohibition of making images; for in +that case God would 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 "whosoever being struck by the +fiery serpents shall look upon it, shall live." 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. + +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? + +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: "Tom, don't you pray to images?" "We pray before them," +replied Tom; "but we have no intention of praying to them." "Who cares for +your intention," retorted the parson. "Don't you pray at night?" observed +Tom. "Yes," said the parson; "I pray at my bed." "Yes; you pray to the +bed-post." "Oh, no!" said the reverend gentleman; "I have no intention of +doing that." "Who cares," replied Tom, "for your intention." + +The moral rectitude or depravity of our actions cannot be determined +without taking into account the intention. + +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. + +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 +_Encyclopedie_ (Edit. d'Yverdun, tom. 1, art. _Adorer_): + +"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, 'had worshiped, bowing down to the +ground,' 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 +_adore_, sometimes by _worship_ or _prostration_--it 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." + +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. "Why do you +take off your hat?" playfully remarked my friend to an acquaintance who +stood by. "In honor, of course, of Henry Clay," he replied. "But Henry is +not there in the flesh. You see nothing but _clay_." "But my intention, +sir," he continued, "is to do honor to the original." 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 making of the image, but its worship, that is +condemned by the Decalogue. + +Having seen the lawfulness of sacred images, let us now consider the +advantages to be derived from their use. + +First--_Religious paintings embellish the house of God._ What is more +becoming than to adorn the church, which is the shadow of the heavenly +Jerusalem, so beautifully described by St. John?(276) Solomon decorated +the temple of God with images of cherubim and other representations. "And +he overlaid the cherubim with gold. And all the walls of the temple round +about he carved with divers figures and carvings."(277) 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. + +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. "Consider the lilies of the field.... I say to you +that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these." If +the temple of nature is so richly adorned, should not our temples made +with hands bear some resemblance to it? + +How many professing Christians must, like David, reproach themselves for +"dwelling in a house of cedar, while the ark of God is lodged with +skins."(278) How many are there whose private 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?(279) 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? + +Second--_Religious paintings are the catechism of the ignorant_. 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. + +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. + +By means of religious emblems St. Francis 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. + +Third--By exhibiting religious paintings in our rooms _we make a silent, +though eloquent, profession of our faith_. 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. +"Behold!" he said to me, pointing to the pictures, "my religious creed and +my political creed." If I see a crucifix in a man's room I am convinced at +once that he is not an infidel. + +Fourth--By the aid of sacred pictures _our devotion and love for the +original are intensified, because we can concentrate our thoughts more +intently on the object of our affections_. 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. + +Fifth--The portraits of the Saints stimulate us to the _imitation of their +virtues_; 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 "look +and do according to the pattern shown us on the mount."(280) Nor do I know +a better means for promoting piety than by example. + +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: "Who +are those men?" And when you tell him: "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," 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +I am happy to acknowledge that the outcry formerly raised against images +has almost subsided of late. The epithet of _idolaters_ 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. + +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. + +May the day soon come when all Christians will join with us not only in +venerating the sacred symbol of salvation, but in worshiping at the same +altar. + + + + + + Chapter XVI. + + +PURGATORY AND PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. + + +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. + +The doctrine of an intermediate state is thus succinctly asserted by the +Council of Trent: "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."(281) + +It is to be noted that the Council studiously abstains from specifying the +nature of the expiating sufferings endured therein. + +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? + +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. "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."(282) + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Our Savior says: "Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man it +shall be forgiven him. But he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost it +shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to +come."(283) 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. + +St. Paul tells us that "every man's work shall be manifest" on the Lord's +day. "The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's +work abide," that is, if his works are holy, "he shall receive a reward. +If any man's work burn," that is, if his works are faulty and imperfect, +"he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by +fire."(284) His soul will be ultimately saved, but he shall suffer, for a +temporary duration, in the purifying flames of Purgatory. + +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 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. + +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. + +Tertullian, who lived in the second century, says that "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."(285) + +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.(286) + +St. Cyril of Jerusalem, fourth century, writes: "We commemorate the Holy +Fathers, and Bishops, 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." He answers by an illustration those that might be disposed to +doubt the efficacy of prayers for the dead: "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."(287) + +St. Ephrem, in the same century, says: "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."(288) + +St. Ambrose (same century), on the death of the Emperors Gratian and +Valentinian, says: "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." On the death of the Emperor Theodosius +he offers the following prayer: "Give perfect rest to Thy servant +Theodosius, that rest which Thou hast prepared for Thy Saints. May 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."(289) + +St. Jerome, in the same century, in a letter of condolence to Pammachius, +on the death of his wife Paulina, writes: "Other husbands strew violets +and roses on the graves of their wives. Our Pammachius bedews the hallowed +dust of Paulina with balsams of alms."(290) + +St. Chrysostom writes: "It was not without good reason _ordained by the +Apostles_ that mention should be made of the dead in the tremendous +mysteries, because they knew well that they would receive great benefit +from it."(291) + +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: "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." + +And that pious son prays for his mother's soul in the most impassioned +language: "I therefore," he says, "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 words may remember at +Thy altar, Monica, Thy servant...."(292) + +These are but a few specimens of the unanimous voice of the Fathers +regarding the salutary practice of praying for the dead. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +Fourth--That the practice of praying for the dead has descended from +Apostolic times is evident also from the _Liturgies_ of the Church. A +Liturgy is the established formulary of public 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +But in leaving the Catholic Church these Eastern sects retained the old +Liturgies, which they use to this day, as I shall presently demonstrate. + +During my sojourn in Rome at the Ecumenical 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: +"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." + +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. + +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 intercession for the dead has its root in the +Apostolic tree of knowledge planted by our Savior. + +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. + +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. + +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: "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."(293) + +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: + + + "I am thy father's spirit, + Doom'd for a certain time to walk the night; + And for the day confin'd too fast in fires, + Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature + Are burnt and purg'd away."(294) + + +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.(295) + +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. + +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 _De +profundis_ 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? + +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 "lives and moves and has its being." It continues after +death, as before, to think, to 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: "Thus far Thou shalt go and no farther?" Two thousand years after +Abraham's death our Lord said: "I _am_ the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and +of Jacob. He _is_ not the God of the dead, but of the living."(296) + +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. + +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 "nothing defiled shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven."(297) 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. + +God "will render to every man according to his works,"--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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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: +_Lord, have mercy on his soul_. It was the voice of nature and of +religion. + +Oh, far from us a religion which would decree an eternal divorce between +the living and the 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 "fell asleep in the Lord," +that you can still speak to them and pray for them! + +Tennyson grasps the Catholic feeling when he makes his hero, whose course +is run, thus address his surviving comrade, Sir Bedivere: + + + "I have lived my life, and that which I have done + May He within Himself make pure; but thou, + If thou shouldst never see my face again, + Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer + Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice + Rise like a fountain for me night and day. + For what are men better than sheep or goats + That nourish a blind life within the brain, + If knowing God they lift not hands of prayer + Both for themselves and those who call them friend? + For so the whole round earth is every way + Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."(298) + + +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: "Cast thy bread upon the running waters; for, after a long +time, thou shalt find it again."(299) + + + + + + Chapter XVII. + + +CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. + + +A man enjoys _religious_ 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. + +A man enjoys _civil_ 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. + +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. + +Her doctrine is, that as man by his _own free will_ fell from grace, so of +his _own free will_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +Pope Nicholas I. also warned Michael, king of the Bulgarians, against +employing force or constraint in the conversion of idolaters. + +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 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. + +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. + +Pope Innocent III. in the Thirteenth Century promulgated the following +Decree in behalf of the Hebrews: "Let no Jew be _constrained_ 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." + +Other succeeding Pontiffs, notably Gregory IX. and Innocent IV., issued +similar instructions. + +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. "Above all," he writes, "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. 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."(300) + +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. + +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 "the Sword of the Spirit, +which is the Word of God." 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. + +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 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. + +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.(301) 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 here? +Their apprehensions are the result of vain fears, which no honest mind +ought any longer to harbor. + +The Church has not only respected the conscience of the people in +embracing the religion of their choice, but she has also defended their +_civil_ 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. + +The truth is, the most unrelenting enemies of the Church have been the +princes of this world, and so-called Christians princes, too. + +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(302) 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: +"Thus far you shall go, and no farther, and here you shall break your +swelling waves" of passion; a Power that could say to them what John said +to Herod: "This thing is not lawful for thee;" a Power that pointed the +finger of reproof to them, even when the sword was pointed to her own +neck, and that said to them what Nathan said to David: "Thou art the man." +She told princes that if the people have their obligations they have their +rights, too; that if the subject must render to Caesar the things that are +Caesar's, Caesar must render to God the things that art God's. + +Yes; the Church, while pursuing her Divine mission of leading souls to +God, has ever been the defender of the people's rights. + +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. + +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. + +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 severe? It was a +salutary punishment and the only one that could bring rulers to a sense of +duty. + +The greatest bulwark of civil liberty is the famous _Magna Charta_. 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 _Habeas Corpus_, and provides that there +shall be no taxation without representation. + +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. + +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 "land of the sanctuary." 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. + +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. + + + NOTE--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. + + +Leonard Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore and the leader of the +Catholic colony, having sailed from England in the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, +reached his destination on the Potomac in March, 1634. + +"The Catholics took quiet possession of the little place, and religious +liberty obtained a home, _its only home_ in the wide world, at the humble +village which bore the name of St. Mary."(303) + +"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 _too, Protestants +were sheltered against Protestant intolerance_. Such were the beautiful +auspices under which Maryland started into being.... Its history is the +history of benevolence, gratitude and toleration." + +"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, 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."(304) + +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. + +"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."(305) + +Upon this noble statute Bancroft makes the following candid and judicious +comment: "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 +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."(306) + +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 +"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 'Popery,' 'Prelacy,' or 'licentiousness of opinion.' "(307) + +I shall also quote from "Maryland, the History of a Palatinate," by +William Hand Browne.(308) 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. + +Speaking of Calvert, the Proprietary of the Maryland Colony, the author +remarks that "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. + +The _Ark_ and the _Dove_ 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."(309) + +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: +"An Act concerning Religion," 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. + +For Protestants it provided that no one professing faith in Christ was to +be restrained from the exercise of his religion, "provided that this +liberty be not extended to Popery, or Prelacy, nor to such as under the +profession of Christ, hold forth and 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."(310) + +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. + +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: "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 'Papists,' it is +needless to say that there was no exemption nor license for them."(311) + +The author then sets before us the three kinds of toleration, like three +portraits, so that their distinctive features appear in bold relief. + +"We may now," he says, "place side by side the three tolerations of +Maryland." + +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. + +The Puritan toleration lasted six years, and included all but Papists, +Prelatists and those who held objectional doctrines. + +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. + +In fact, an additional turn was given to the screw in this year; the oath +of "abhorrency," 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.(312) + +When the members of the Constitutional Convention declared in 1787, that +"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or +prohibiting the free exercise thereof," 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 "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." + +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. + +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. + +I will close this subject in the words of a distinguished member of the +Maryland Historical Society: "Higher than all titles and badges of honor, +and more exalted than royal nobility is the imperishable 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."(313) + +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. + +The Father of his Country was not unmindful of these services. Shortly +after his election to the Presidency, replying(314) to an address of his +Catholic fellow-citizens, he uses the following language: "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." + +And the Catholics of our generation have nobly emulated the patriotism and +the spirit of toleration exhibited by their ancestors. They can 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! + +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, "the kings of the earth rose up, and the princes +assembled together against the Lord and against His Christ."(315) 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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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: "I have loved justice and hated +iniquity, and therefore I die in exile." + +For the same cause Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain at +the altar by the hired assassins of Henry II., of England. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The loyalty of the Prussian clergy is above reproach. The Bishops are +imprisoned because they insist on the right of educating students for the +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. + +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. + +But, thank God, we live in a country where liberty of conscience is +respected, and where the civil constitution holds over us the aegis 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. + +For my part, I much prefer the system which prevails in this country, +where the temporal needs 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. + +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. + +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.(316) + +And moreover, in proportion as State patronage would increase, the +sympathy and aid of the faithful would diminish. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XVIII. + + +CHARGES OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. + + + + +I. The Spanish Inquisition. + + +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. + +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. + +When I denounce the cruelties of the Inquisition I am not standing aloof +from the Church, 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: "Preach the word; be instant in +season, out of season; reprove, entreat; rebuke with all patience and +doctrine."(317) + +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. + +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, 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 "they who live in +glass houses should not throw stones;" and that it is not honest to make +Spain the scapegoat, bearing alone on her shoulders the odium of religious +intolerance. + +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. + +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. + +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 "not +a whit less despotic and scarcely less sanguinary than"(318) that of +Isabella. The clergy of 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. + +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. + +Observe, also, that in all these instances the persecutions were inflicted +by the express authority of the _founders_ and _heads_ of Protestant +churches. + +The Puritans of New England inflicted summary vengeance on those who were +rash enough to differ from them in religion. In Massachusetts "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."(319) + +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! + +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 houses were obliged to mark +on their doors these words, _This house belongs to Protestants_, 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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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 _in all +Spain during the entire administration of Torquemada, which embraced a +period of fifteen years_. + +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.(320) + +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. + +But there still remained elements of discord in 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +Catholicism as a crime against the state, just as Islamism and Judaism +were proscribed in Spain. + +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. + +In confirmation of these assertions I shall quote from Ranke, a German +Protestant historian, who cannot be suspected of partiality to the +Catholic Church. "In the first place," says this author, "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. 'Do you not know,' said the King (to +Ximenes), 'that if this tribunal possesses jurisdiction, it is from the +King it derives it?' + +"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 _fueros_ (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 after the wealth it confiscated than by motives of piety. + +"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 _Communidades_ (or communes who were struggling for +their rights and liberties), he chose to have them judged by the +Inquisition.... + +"It was in spirit and tendency a political institution. _The Pope had an +interest in thwarting it, and he did so_; but the King had an interest in +constantly upholding it."(321) + +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. + +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 "he rebuked their intemperate zeal and even +threatened them with deprivation." He wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella that +"mercy towards the guilty was more pleasing to God than the severity which +they were using." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 and labored hard to abolish its sanguinary +features. + +And yet Rome has to bear all the odium of the Inquisition! + +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. + + + + +II. What About The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew? + + +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: + +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 other +cities of France by an incendiary populace, who are easily aroused but not +easily appeased. + +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. + +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 "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." + +Pope Gregory XIII., to whom also an envoy was sent, acting on this garbled +information, ordered a "Te Deum" 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. + +Sismondi, a Protestant historian, tells us that the Pope's nuncio in Paris +was purposely kept in ignorance of the designs of Charles; and Ranke, in +his _History of the Civil Wars_, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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: "Peace be still." + + + + +III. Mary, Queen of England. + + +I am asked: _Must you not admit that Mary, Queen of England, persecuted +the Protestants of the British realm_? I ask this question in reply: _How +is it that Catholics are persistently reproached __ 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?_ 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? + +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. + +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 "the rack +seldom stood idle in the tower for all the latter part of Elizabeth's +reign;"(322) and its very first month was stained by an intolerant +statute.(323) + +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. Elizabeth put to death her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after a +long imprisonment, on the unsustained charge of aspiring to the English +throne. + +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. + +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. + +Mary, therefore, insisted on perpetuating the established order of things; +Elizabeth on subverting it. + +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. + +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. + +Sixth--Hence as Macaulay says, Mary was sincere in her religion; Elizabeth +was not. "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 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?"(324) + +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 +_mild_ woman persecuting for conscience' sake. I was amazed at his words, +until he acknowledged that his historical library was comprised in one +work--_D' Aubigne's History of the Reformation_. That _veracious_ 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 _Smithfield_, but who never once heard of _Tyburn_! + + + + + + Chapter XIX. + + +GRACE--THE SACRAMENTS--ORIGINAL SIN--BAPTISM--ITS NECESSITY--ITS EFFECTS--MANNER +OF BAPTIZING. + + +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 +_supernatural_, because no one by his own natural ability can acquire it. + +Without Divine grace we can neither conceive nor accomplish anything for +the sanctification of our souls. "Not that we are sufficient," says the +Apostle, "to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves; but our +sufficiency is from God."(325) "For it is God who worketh in you, both to +will and to accomplish"(326) anything conducive to your salvation. +"Without Me," says our Lord, "you can do nothing."(327) But in order that +Divine grace may effectually aid us we must co-operate with it, or at +least we must not resist it. + +The grace of God is obtained chiefly by prayer and the Sacraments. + +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. + +Thus, in the Sacrament of Baptism, there is 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: "Be baptized, ... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy +Ghost;"(328) and the ordinance of Jesus Christ, who said: "Teach all +nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of +the Holy Ghost."(329) + +Our Savior instituted seven Sacraments, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, +Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders and Matrimony, which I shall +explain separately. + +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.(330) 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. + +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 _original_ sin because it is derived from our original progenitor. +"Wherefore," says St. Paul, "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."(331) And elsewhere he tells us that "we were by nature children +of wrath."(332) + +"Who," says Job, "can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed," +or, as the Septuagint version expresses it: "There is no one free from +stain, not even though his life be of one day."(333) As an infant one day +old cannot commit an actual sin, the _stain_ must come from the original +offense of Adam. "Behold," says David, "I was conceived in iniquities, and +in sins did my mother conceive me."(334) 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +This is what is meant by the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. + +But God, in passing sentence of condemnation on Adam, consoled him by the +promise of a Redeemer to come. "I will put enmities," saith the Lord, +"between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush +thy head."(335) Jesus, the seed of Mary, is the chosen one who was +destined to crush the head of the infernal serpent. And "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."(336) + +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. + +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. + +The Church teaches that Baptism is necessary for all, for infants as well +as adults, and her doctrine rests on the following grounds: + +Our Lord says to Nicodemus: "Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be +born again of water and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdom of +God."(337) These words embrace the whole human family, without regard to +age or sex, as is evident from the original Greek text, for {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, which is +rendered _man_ in our English translation, means any one--mankind in its +broadest acceptation. + +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 "was baptized, and her household,"(338) +by St. Paul; and that the jailer "was baptized, and all his family."(339) +The same Apostle baptized also "the household of Stephanas."(340) 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. + +St. Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of St. John the +Evangelist, says: "Christ came to save all through Himself; all, I say, +_who are born anew_ (or baptized) through Him--infants and little ones, +boys and youths, and aged persons."(341) + +Origen, who lived a few years later, writes: "The Church received the +tradition from the Apostles, to give baptism even to infants."(342) + +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: +"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."(343) 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. + +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 conclude that the judgment of the +African Council represented the faith of several thousand Priests and +several millions of Catholics. + +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. + +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? + +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.(344) 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. + +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 _baptism of __ desire_, as happened to the Emperor +Valentinian who died a Catechuman: "I lost him whom I was about to +regenerate," says St. Ambrose, "but he did not lose that grace he sought +for." 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. _He is baptized in his own +blood._ + +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: "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?"(345) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Now, between the supreme bliss of heaven and the torments of the +reprobate, there is a very wide margin. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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? + +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! + +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: "Divide the living child in two, and give +half to the one and half to the other." The pretended mother consented, +saying: Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. "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." While the Baptist church is willing that the child should die a +spiritual death, the true mother, the Catholic Church, cries out: 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. + +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. + +Baptism washes away _original sin, and also actual sins_ from the adult +who may have contracted them. The cleansing efficacy of Baptism was +clearly foreshadowed by the prophet Ezechiel in these words: "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."(346) + +When the Jews asked St. Peter what they should do to be saved the Apostle +replied: "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus +Christ for the remission of your sins."(347) + +And Ananias said to Saul, after his conversion: "Rise up and be baptized, +and wash away thy sins."(348) + +"We were by nature," says St. Paul, "children of wrath," but by our +regeneration, or new birth in Baptism, we become _Christians and children +of God_. "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."(349) We are adopted into the same family 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. + +Baptism also clothes us with the _garment of sanctity_, 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: +"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."(350) + +Baptism, in fine, makes us _heirs of heaven_ and co-heirs with Jesus +Christ. "We ourselves also," says St. Paul, "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."(351) + +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 to the pool of Bethsaida the power of healing the body.(352) + +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 +_regeneration_ we are not to understand _a moral change_. 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. + +Is it no change to pass from sin to virtue, from a "child of wrath" to be +a "child of God;" 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. + +_Modes of baptizing._ 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 _immersion_, or by plunging the candidate +into the water; by _infusion_, or by pouring the water; and by +_aspersion_, or sprinkling. + +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. + +For several centuries after the establishment of Christianity Baptism was +_usually_ 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. + +To prove that Baptism by infusion or by sprinkling 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. + +After St. Peter's first discourse three thousand persons were +baptized.(353) 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. + +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. + +Early ecclesiastical history records a great many instances in which +Baptism was administered to _sick persons_ in their beds, to _prisoners_ +in their cells, and to persons on _shipboard_. 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. + +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. + +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 impose His ordinances upon us under such a +penalty. + +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? + + + + + + Chapter XX. + + +THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. + + +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. + +This Sacrament is called _Confirmation_, because it _confirms_ or +strengthens the soul by Divine grace. Sometimes it is named _the laying on +of hands_, because the Bishop imposes his hands on those whom he confirms. +It is also known by the name of _Chrism_, because the forehead of the +person confirmed is anointed with chrism in the form of a cross. + +Frequent mention is made of this Sacrament in the Holy Scripture. In the +Acts it is written that "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."(354) + +It is also related that the disciples at Ephesus "were baptized in the +name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had imposed his hands upon them the +Holy Ghost came upon them and they spoke tongues and prophesied."(355) + +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.(356) + +To the Corinthians he writes: "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."(357) God _confirmeth_ us in faith; He +hath _anointed_ us by spiritual unction, typified by the sacred chrism +which is marked on our foreheads. He hath _sealed_ 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 _pledge_ 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, "who worketh all +in all," sanctifies the soul by His secret operation. + +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. + +Those who were confirmed by the Apostles 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. + +St. Augustine writes also on the same subject: "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 Spirit? Let +him ask his own heart; if he loves his brother, the Spirit of God abides +in him."(358) + +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. + +"The flesh," says Tertullian, "is _anointed_, that the soul may be +consecrated; the flesh is marked, that the soul may be fortified; the +flesh is overshadowed _by the imposition of hands_, that the soul may be +enlightened with the Spirit."(359) + +St. Cyprian, speaking of the Christians baptized in Samaria, says: +"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. +_Which now also is done amongst us_, 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."(360) + +St. Cyril of Jerusalem compares the sacred Chrism in Confirmation to the +Eucharist: "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 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: 'I can do all things in Christ, who +strengtheneth me.' "(361) + +St. Ambrose, commenting on these words of the Apostle, "God ... hath given +us the pledge of the Spirit," (II. Cor. i. 22) expressly applies the text +to the seal of Confirmation. "Remember," he says, "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 +_confirmed_ you, and hath given the pledge of the Spirit in your hearts, +_as you have learned from the lesson read from the Apostle_."(362) + +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. + +"Do you know," writes St. Jerome against the sect of Luciferians of his +time, "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."(363) + +"You willingly understand," says St. Augustine, "by this ointment the +Sacrament of Chrism, which, indeed, in the class of visible seals is as +sacred as Baptism itself."(364) + +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. + +Protestantism, which made such havoc of the other Sacraments, did not fail +to abolish Confirmation in its sweeping revolution. + +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. + +In violation of the practice of all antiquity it mutilates the rite by +omitting the sacred unction. It retains the shadow without the substance. + +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: "Whatsoever thou shalt bless, let it be blessed; whatsoever thou +shalt sanctify, let it be sanctified."(365) Their hands were lifted up +with authority and clothed with supernatural power; but the hands of the +Episcopal Bishops are spiritually paralyzed by the suicidal act of the +Reformers, and they expressly disclaim any sacramental efficacy in the +rite which they administer. + + + + + + Chapter XXI. + + +THE HOLY EUCHARIST. + + +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. + +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. + +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 down our +"understanding unto the obedience of Christ,"(366) 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. "I am," He says to +His hearers, "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: 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."(367) + +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. + +When our Savior says to the Jews: "Your fathers did eat manna and died, +... but he that eateth this (Eucharistic) bread shall live forever," 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. + +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. + +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 "disputed among +themselves, saying: How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" Even His +disciples, though avoiding the disrespectful language of the multitude, +gave expression to their doubt in this milder form: "This saying is hard, +and who can hear it?"(368) So much were they shocked at our Savior's +promise that "after this many of His disciples went back and walked no +more with Him."(369) 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. + +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: "Unless a man be born again of water +and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."(370) 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.(371) + +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 +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: "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." + +When our Savior beheld the Jews and many of His disciples abandoning Him, +turning to the chosen twelve, He said feelingly to them: "Will ye also go +away? And Simon Peter answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast +the words of eternal life."(372) 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: "How can +this man give us His flesh to eat?" Let others say with the unfaithful +disciples: "This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?" But do you say with +Peter: "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." + +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: "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."(373) + +I beg you to recall to mind the former text relative to the Promise and to +compare it with this. 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? + +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. + +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? + +Has not God created the heavens and the earth _out of nothing_ 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? + +You tell me it is a mystery above your comprehension. A mystery, indeed. A +religion that rejects 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. + +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. + +But do those who reject the Catholic interpretation explain this text to +their own satisfaction: "This is My body, etc?" 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: "This is My body." It is far easier to destroy than +to rebuild. + +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 obliges us to +interpret them in their plain and literal acceptation. + +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? + +These words: "This is My body; this is My blood," 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? + +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. + +We now arrive at the third class of Scripture texts which have reference +to the use or reception of the Sacrament among the faithful. + +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 "for a commemoration of Me."(374) + +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. + +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: "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, _shall be guilty of the body and of __ the blood of +the Lord_. 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, _not discerning the body of the +Lord_."(375) + +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 "shall be guilty of +the body and blood of the Lord." 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. + +Study also these words: "He who eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and +drinketh condemnation to himself, _not discerning the body of the Lord_." +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 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. + +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. + +St. Ignatius, a disciple of St. Peter, speaking of a sect called Gnostics, +says: "They abstain from the Eucharist and prayer, because they confess +not that the Eucharist and prayer is the flesh of our Savior Jesus +Christ." + +St. Justin Martyr, in an apology to the Emperor Antoninus, writes in the +second century: "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 _both the flesh and the blood of +the same incarnate Jesus_." + +Origen (third century) writes: "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." + +St. Cyril, of Jerusalem (fourth century), instructing the Catechumens, +observes: "He Himself having declared, _This is My body_, who shall dare +to doubt henceforward? And He having said, _This is My blood_, 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?" He seems to be arguing with modern unbelief. + +St. John Chrysostom, who died in the beginning of the fifth century, +preaching on the Eucharist, says: "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: 'Would that they could look upon His +(Jesus') form, His figure, His raiment, His shoes. Lo! thou seest Him, +touchest Him, eatest Him.' " + +St. Augustine (fifth century), addressing the newly-baptized, says: "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."(376) + +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. + +The Nestorians and Eutychians, who separated from the Catholic Church in +the fifth century, admit the corporeal presence of our Lord in the +Eucharist. 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. + + + + + + Chapter XXII. + + +COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. + + +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. + +The Church teaches that Christ is contained whole and entire under each +species; so that whoever communicates under the form of bread _or_ 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. + +Our Lord says: "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."(377) + +From this passage it is evident that whoever partakes of the form of bread +partakes of the living flesh of Jesus Christ, which is inseparable from +His blood, and which, being now in a glorious state, cannot be divided; +for, "Christ rising from the dead, dieth now no more."(378) 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. + +St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: "Whosoever shall eat this +bread, _or_ drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of +the body _and_ of the blood of the Lord."(379) 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: "Whosoever shall eat this bread _and_ drink the chalice," +substituting _and_ for _or_, in contradiction to the Greek original, of +which the Catholic version is an exact translation. + +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 "each one receives Christ the Lord _entire_ under each +particle."(380) + +Luther himself, even after his revolt, was so clearly convinced of this +truth that he was an uncompromising advocate of communion under one kind. +"If any Council," he says, "should decree or permit both species, we would +by no means acquiesce; but, in spite of the Council and its statute, we +would use one form, or neither, and never both."(381) + +Leibnitz, the eminent Protestant divine, observes: "_It cannot be denied_ +that Christ is received entire by _virtue_ of concomitance, under each +species; nor is His flesh separated from His blood."(382) + +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. + +Our Redeemer, it is true, has said: "Drink ye all of this." 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. + +It is true also that our Lord said to the people: "Unless ye eat the flesh +of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you." +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 His integrity. Hence, if our Savior has said: "Whoso eateth My flesh, +and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life," He has also said: "The +bread which I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world." + +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 _substance_, while they under two forms confessedly give only the +_shadow_. + +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. + +First--St. Luke tells us that the converts of Jerusalem "were persevering +in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of bread (as the +Eucharist was sometimes familiarly called), and in prayer."(383) Again he +speaks of the Christian disciples assembled at Troas on the Lord's day, +"to break bread."(384) 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. + +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 _Life_ of St. Ambrose we are told that in +his last illness the consecrated Host alone was given to Him. + +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. + +Moreover, the Mass of the _Presanctified_, 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.(385) + +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. + +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.(386) + +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: + +The Manichean sect abstained from the cup on 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. + +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. + +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, 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.(387) + +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. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XXIII. + + +THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. + + +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. + +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.(388) + +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 Lord, in thanksgiving for +his preservation.(389) Abraham, the great father of the Jewish race, +offered victims to the Almighty at His express command.(390) 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.(391) + +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,(392) and in doing this +they were prefiguring the great sacrifice of the New Law, in which we +daily offer up on the altar "the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of +the world." + +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.(393) + +We find sacrifices existing not only among the Jews, who worshiped the +true God, but also among Pagan and idolatrous nations. 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: "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." + +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 "it is impossible," says St. Paul, "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."(394) 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. + +The Prophet Isaiah declared that the Jewish sacrifices had become +displeasing to God and would be abolished. "To what purpose," says the +Lord by His prophet, "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."(395) + +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: "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."(396) 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? + +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 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 "clean oblation" of the body and blood of Christ. + +This oblation of the New Law is commonly called _Mass_. The word Mass is +derived by some from the Hebrew term _Missach_ (Deut. xvi.), which means a +free offering. Others derive it from the word _Missa_, 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 _Candlemas_, +_Michaelmas_, _Martin-mas_ and _Christmas_. + +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. + +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 souls. +Hence, all the efficacy of the Mass is derived from the sacrifice of +Calvary. + +It was on the night before He suffered that our Lord Jesus Christ +instituted the Sacrifice of the New Law. "Jesus," says St. Paul, "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."(397) + +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. + +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 Savior +till the present time, and will be perpetuated till time shall be no more. + +In the Acts it is said that while Saul and others were ministering (or, as +the Greek text expresses it, _sacrificing_) to the Lord, and fasting, the +Holy Spirit said to them: "Set apart for Me Saul and Barnabas." St. Paul, +in his Epistle to the Hebrews, frequently alludes to the Sacrifice of the +Mass. "We have an altar," he says, ""whereof they cannot eat who serve the +tabernacle."(398) 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.(399) Now, the principal office of Priests has +always been to offer sacrifice. Priest and sacrifice are as closely +identified as judge and court. + +St. Paul, after David, calls Jesus "a Priest forever, according to the +order of Melchisedech."(400) He is named a _Priest_ because He offers +sacrifice; a Priest _forever_ because His sacrifice is perpetual; +_according to the order of Melchisedech_ because He offers up consecrated +bread and wine, which were prefigured by the bread and wine offered by +"Melchisedech, the Priest of the Most High God."(401) + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +The following passages from St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews are +sometimes urged as an argument against the sacrifice of the Mass: "Christ, +... neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by His own blood, +entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption." "Nor +yet that He should offer Himself often, as the High Priest entereth into +the Holies every year."(402) Again: "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."(403) + +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 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. + +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 "we show the death of the Lord until He +come," 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? + +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 "_Following +of Christ_," says: "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." 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. + +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 "is always heard on account of +His reverence." + +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 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: "The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever." + +Second--The Mass is also a sacrifice of propitiation. Jesus daily pleads +our cause in this Divine oblation before our Heavenly Father. "If any man +sin," says St. John, "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."(404) Hence the Priest, whenever he +offers up the holy sacrifice, recites this prayer at the offertory: +"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." + +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: "Spare, O Lord, spare +Thy people." Or let us repeat with the publican this heartfelt prayer: "O +God, be merciful to me a sinner." 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? + +Third--The Sacrifice of the Mass is, in fine, a sacrifice of supplication: +"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?"(405) 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 "Lamb of God who taketh +away the sins of the world." + +"Let us go, therefore, with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may +obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid."(406) + + + + + + Chapter XXIV. + + +THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES DICTATED BY RIGHT REASON. + + +By religious ceremonies we mean certain expressive signs and actions which +the Church has ordained for the worthy celebration of the Divine service. + +True devotion must be interior and come from the heart, for "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."(407) 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. + +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: "Sun and moon bless the +Lord, ... stars of heaven bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all +forever."(408) "The heavens show forth the glory of God, the firmament +announces the work of His hands."(409) 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. + +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 "from the fulness of the heart the +mouth speaketh;" and as fuel is necessary to keep fire alive, even so the +flame of piety is nourished by the outward forms of religion. + +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. "I beseech you," says the Apostle, "by the mercy of God, that +you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy pleasing unto God, your +reasonable service."(410) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +In the garden of Gethsemani "He fell upon His face"(411) in humble +supplication. + +He went in procession to Jerusalem, accompanied by a great multitude, who +sang Hosanna to the Son of David.(412) + +At the Last Supper He invoked a blessing on the bread and wine, and +afterward chanted a hymn with His disciples.(413) + +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, "and, +looking up to heaven, He groaned and said: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou +opened."(414) + +When He imparted the Holy Ghost to His disciples, He breathed on them(415) +and the same Apostles afterward communicated the Holy Ghost to others by +laying hands on them.(416) + +The Apostle St. James directs that if any man is sick he shall call in the +Priest, who will anoint him with oil.(417) + +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 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? + +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. + +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.(418) + +How glorious the pageant! How elaborate in detail! + +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. + +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. "For," as St. Paul says, "if the ministry of condemnation +is glory, much more the ministry of justice aboundeth in glory."(419) + +It is true that God uttered this complaint against the children of Israel: +"This people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, +but their heart is far from Me."(420) It is also true that He was +displeased with their sacrifices and religious festivals.(421) 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. + +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: "Praise ye the Lord," He says, "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."(422) + +If He says in one place: "Rend your hearts and not your garments,"(423) +immediately after He adds: "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!"(424) 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 forehead marked with ashes on Ash Wednesday, and when +you observe the fast and abstinence of Lent. + +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,(425) +he points out the necessity of interior worship. And when he says +elsewhere that "in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those that +are in heaven, on earth and under the earth,"(426) he shows us the duty of +exterior or ceremonial worship. + +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. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XXV. + + +CEREMONIALS OF THE MASS. + + +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. + +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. + +The Church, through her ministers, blesses everything used in her service; +for, St. Paul says, that "Every creature of God is good, ... that is +received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and by +prayer."(427) + +Before Mass begins the Priest sprinkles the assembled congregation with +holy water, reciting at the same time these words of the fiftieth Psalm: +"Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt +wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow." + +The practice of using blessed water dates back to a very remote antiquity, +and is alluded to by several Fathers of the primitive Church. + +As we advance up the aisle you observe lying open on the altar a large +book, which is called a _Missal_, 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 "the persuasive words of human wisdom," unlike so +many modern prayer-composers whose rounded periods are directed rather to +tickle the ears of men than to pierce the clouds. + +You are probably familiar with the Episcopal _Book of Common Prayer_, 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. + +Let us now reverently follow the officiating Priest through the service of +the Mass. + +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 _Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison_. He intones the sublime doxology, +_Gloria in Excelsis Deo_, 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: "I will wash my hands +among the innocent and will encompass Thy altar, O Lord." 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 _Our Father_, +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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: + +First--The Catholic Church has always _one and the same faith_, 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 +himself _the villain of Jesus Christ_. The word _villain_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +You also observe _lighted tapers_ on the altar, and you desire to know for +what purpose they are used. + +In the Old Law the Almighty Himself ordained that lighted chandeliers +should adorn the tabernacle.(428) Assuredly, that cannot be improper in +the New Dispensation which God sanctioned in the Old. + +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 in open day. In commemoration of +the event the Church has retained the use of lights on her altars. + +Lighted candles have also a symbolical meaning. They represent our Savior, +who is "the light of the world," "who enlighteneth every man that cometh +into the world," without whom we should be wandering in darkness and in +the shadow of death. + +They also serve to remind us to "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." + +Lights are used, too, as a sign of spiritual joy. St. Jerome, who lived in +the fourth century, remarks: "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." + +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. "Let my prayer," +says the Royal Prophet, "ascend like incense in Thy sight."(429) God +enjoined in the Old Law the use of incense: "Aaron shall burn +sweet-smelling incense upon the altar in the morning."(430) Hence we see +the Priest Zachariah "offer incense on going into the temple of the Lord. +And all the multitude were praying without at the hour of incense."(431) + +You perceive that the altar is decorated today with _vases and flowers_ +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, 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. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness +thereof." 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(432)) 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? + +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. + +The _sacred vestments_ which you saw worn by the officiating Priest must +have struck you as very 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. + +In the Old Law God prescribed to the Priests the vestments which they +should wear while engaged in their sacred office: "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."(433) 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. + +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. + +The chasuble, stole and maniple vary in color according to the occasion. +Thus, _white_ vestments are used at Christmas, Easter and other festivals +of joy, also on feasts of Confessors and Virgins; _red_ are used at +Pentecost and on festivals of Apostles and Martyrs; _green_ from Trinity +Sunday to Advent, on days having no special feast; _purple_ during Lent +and Advent, and _black_ in Masses for the dead. + +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. + +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: "The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the +hands of Esau." I feel the garment of the Priest, but I hear the voice of +the parson. + +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 "standing before the throne, and in +sight of the Lamb, with white stoles and palms in their hands, ... saying: +'Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the +Lamb.' "(434) + + + + + + Chapter XXVI. + + +THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. + + + + +I. The Divine Institution Of The Sacrament Of Penance. + + +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. + +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. + +But, while Jesus occupied Himself in bringing relief to corporal +infirmities, _the principal object of His mission was to release the soul +from the bonds of sin_. The very name of Jesus indicates this important +truth: "Thou shalt call His name Jesus," says the angel, "for He shall +save His people from their sins."(435) + +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. + +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. + +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, "Thy sins are +forgiven."(436) 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, "Sin no more, lest some worst +thing may happen to thee."(437) + +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 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. + +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. + +But the important question here presents itself: How was man to obtain +forgiveness in the Church after our Lord's ascension? + +Was Jesus Christ to appear in person to every sinful soul and say to each +penitent, as He said to Magdalen, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," or did He +intend to delegate this power of forgiving sins to ministers appointed for +that purpose? + +We know well that our Savior never promised to present Himself visibly to +each sinner, nor has He done so. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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: "God," he says, "hath reconciled us to Himself +through Christ, _and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation_.... +For Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors; God, as it were, exhorting +through us."(438) That is to say, God sends Christ to reconcile sinners; +Christ sends us. We are His ambassadors, reconciling sinners in His name. + +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. "We bear this +treasure in earthen vessels." 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. + +But have we Gospel authority to show that our Savior did confer on the +Apostles and their successors the power to forgive sins? + +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: "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.... 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."(439) + +And to all the Apostles assembled together on another occasion He uses the +same forcible language: "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."(440) 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. + +In the Gospel of St. John we have a still more striking declaration of the +absolving power given by our Savior to His Apostles. + +Jesus, after His resurrection, thus addresses His disciples: "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."(441) + +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. "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."(442) 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. + +From these words of St. John I draw three important conclusions: + +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? + +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 +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. + +I have said that forgiveness of sins is _ordinarily_ 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. + +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 "Many of them +who believed came confessing and declaring their deeds"(443) to the +Apostles. Why did they confess their sins unless they were bound to do so? +Hence, also, we understand why St. John says: "If we confess our sins, He +is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all +iniquity."(444) + +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 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. "_Ab uno disce omnes._" + +St. Basil writes: "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."(445) Later on he tells +us who those persons are. "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."(446) Two conclusions obviously follow +from these passages of St. Basil: First, the necessity of confession. +Second, the obligation of declaring our sins to a Priest to whom in the +New Law is committed "the dispensation of the mysteries of God." + +St. Ambrose, of Milan, writes: "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."(447) + +The following passage clearly shows that the great Light of the Church of +Milan is speaking of confession to Priests: "There are some," continues +St. Ambrose, "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."(448) + +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. + +St. Augustine writes: "Our merciful God wills us to confess in this world +that we may not be confounded in the other."(449) And again: "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, 'Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth +shall be loosed in heaven?' Is it in vain that the keys have been given to +the Church? Do we make void the Gospel, void the words of Christ?"(450) + +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! + +St. Chrysostom, in his thirtieth Homily, says: "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 _full_ and _accurate +confession of our sins_, ... 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 _shown_ our wounds to the +_physician_ we attain to an abundant cure, he in an especial manner +opposes us." + +Again he says: "Do not _confess to me_ 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."(451) + +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. + +The same Father, in an eloquent treatise on the power of the sacred +ministry, uses the following words: "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, 'Whose sins you shall retain, they are +retained.' + +"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. + +"To cleanse the leprosy of the body, or rather to 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."(452) + +And again: "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; _for the +confession of sins is the absolution of crimes_."(453) + +St. Jerome writes: "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."(454) + +Elsewhere he says: "With us the Bishop or Priest binds or looses--not them +who are merely innocent or guilty--but _having heard, as his duty requires, +the various qualities of sin_ he understands who should be bound and who +loosed."(455) + +Could the Catholic doctrine regarding the power of the Priests and the +obligation of confession be expressed in stronger language than this? + +And yet these are the very Fathers who are represented to be opposed to +Sacramental Confession! With a reckless disregard of the unanimous 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. + +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. + +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. + +It had not its origin in the present century, as everybody will admit. + +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 "auricular Confession, as now in vogue, +is useful, nay, necessary; nor would I," he adds, "have it abolished, +since it is the remedy of afflicted consciences."(456) Even Henry VIII., +before he founded a new sect, wrote a treatise in defence of the +Sacraments, including Penance and Confession. + +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. + +Some Protestant writers fall into a common error in interpreting the +decree of the Lateran Council by saying "Sacramental Confession was never +required in the Church of Rome until the thirteenth century." The Council +simply prescribed a limit beyond which the faithful should not defer their +confession. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +In fine, no human agency could succeed in instituting 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. + +These remarks suffice to convince us that Sacramental Confession _was not +instituted since the time of the Apostles_. I shall now endeavor to prove +to your satisfaction _that its introduction into the Church, since the +Apostolic age, was absolutely impossible_. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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 influential portion of the +Protestant Episcopal Church of England. + +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: + +_Question._ What do you mean by absolution? + +_Answer._ The pardon or forgiveness of sin. + +_Q._ By what special ordinance of Christ are sins committed after Baptism +to be pardoned? + +_A._ By the sacrament of absolution. + +_Q._ Who is the minister of absolution? + +_A._ A Priest. + +_Q._ Do you mean that a Priest can really absolve? + +_A._ Yes. + +_Q._ In what place of the Holy Scripture is it recorded that Christ gave +this power to the priesthood? + +_A._ In John xx. 23; see also Matt. xviii. 18. + +_Q._ What does the prayer-book (or Book of Common Prayer) say? + +_A._ In the office for the ordaining of Priests the Bishop is directed to +say, "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." In the +office for the visitation of the sick it is said, "Our Lord Jesus Christ +hath left in His Church power to absolve all sinners that truly repent and +believe in Him." In the order for morning and evening prayer we say again, +"Almighty God hath given power and commandment to his ministers to declare +and pronounce to His people, being penitent, the absolution and remission +of their sins." + +_Q._ For what purpose hath Christ given this power to Priests to pronounce +absolution in His name? + +_A._ _For the consolation of the penitent; the quieting of his +conscience._ + +_Q._ What must precede the absolution of the penitent? + +_A._ _Confession...._ Before absolution privately given, confession must +be made to a Priest privately. + +_Q._ In what case does the Church of England order her ministers to move +people to private, or, as it is called, to auricular confession? + +_A._ When they feel their conscience troubled with any weighty matter. + +_Q._ What is weighty matter? + +_A._ 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. + +_Q._ At what times in particular does the Church so order? + +_A._ In the time of sickness, _and before coming to the Holy Communion_. + +_Q._ Is there any other class of persons to whom confession is profitable? + +_A._ Yes; to those _who desire to lead a saintly life. These, indeed, are +the persons who most frequently resort to it._ + +_Q._ Is there any other object in confession, besides the seeking +absolution for past sin and the quieting of the penitent's conscience? + +_A._ Yes; the practice of confessing each single sin is a great check upon +the commission of sin and a preservative of purity of life.(457) + +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. + +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. + +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(458) 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 "check upon the commission of sin," is stigmatized by the +latter as an incentive to sin. "Behold how good and pleasant it is for +brethren to dwell together in unity."(459) + +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. + +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 _did teach_? + +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. + +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. + +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: "Receive the Holy Ghost for 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."(460) 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. + +Just imagine that prelate addressing a candidate for Holy Orders, in the +morning, with the words: "Whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiven;" +and after Divine service saying to the young minister: "Remember, sir, you +have no power to forgive sins. The words of ordination are a mere figure +of speech." + +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. + +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 _Book of Common Prayer_, which have not been +enervated by being subjected 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. + +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: "He +blasphemeth! who can forgive sins but God only?"(461) 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: "I +absolve thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost." 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. + +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 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? + +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 "glorify God, who hath given such power to men."(462) + +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. + +St. Augustine, who lived fourteen hundred years ago, will answer the +objection for me: "Let no one," remarks this illustrious Doctor, "say to +himself, I do penance to God in private; I do it before God. Is it, then, +in vain that Christ has said: 'Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be +loosed in heaven'? Is it in vain that the keys have been given to the +Church?" The question for us is not what God is able to do, but what _He +has willed to do_. God _might_ 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 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.(463) + +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: "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?"(464) 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: "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?" I answer, because Jesus Christ, a prophet, and more than a prophet, +has commanded you to do so. + +The last charge that I will notice is the most serious and the most +offensive. We are told that private confession is lawless; that the +conscience soon becomes "enfeebled and chained and starved" 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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? + +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.(465) + +Voltaire, certainly no friend of Christianity, avows "that there is not +perhaps a more useful institution than confession."(466) + +Rousseau, not less hostile to the Church, exclaims: "How many restitutions +and reparations does not confession cause among Catholics!"(467) + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? "By their fruits ye shall know them," says our Redeemer. + +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 to approach the confessional. If they did +their lives would be very different from what they are. + +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. + +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. + +I allude to the charge that a price has to be paid for remitting sins. +"You have only (say these slanderers) to pay a certain toll at the +confessional gate, and you can pass the biggest load of sin." + +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. + +But we are told that confession is an intolerable yoke, that it makes its +votaries the slaves of the Priests. + +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 a smooth road to heaven. In one +sentence they style it a bed of roses; in the next a bed of thorns. + +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. + +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 _ipse dixit_ of any minister, but by the unchangeable +teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ. + +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. + +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. + +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, "_Honi soit +qui mal y pense._" + +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, + + + "One bred apart from worldly noise, + To study souls, their cures, and their diseases." + + +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 "system." 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 "who can have +compassion on the ignorant and erring, because he himself is also +encompassed with infirmity."(468) + +I have seen the man whose conscience was weighed down by the accumulated +sins of twenty 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. + +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, "like a mighty wind from heaven," +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: "Because I was lost, and am found. Having been dead, +I am come to life again."(469) + + + + +II. On The Relative Morality Of Catholic And Protestant Countries. + + +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 births are largely in excess +in countries under Catholic influence, and that this prevalence of +wickedness is the _result of confession and easy absolution_. + +If our system of absolving those only who both repent and _confess_ 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. + +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 "Nights Among Romanists" and similar absolutely unreliable +compilations, the false statements of which have been again and again +refuted. + +Rev. Mr. Seymour gives the following list of the number of murders in +England, France and Ireland: + +Ireland: 19 homicides to the million of inhabitants +France: 31 +England: 4 + +The reader of the above might well draw back in astonishment and exclaim, +"Truly moral atmosphere of England!" But how do these statements compare +with the official records which I submit to the unprejudiced reader? +Recent returns from the "Hand-Book" for France, and "Thom's Official +Directory for England and Ireland, 1869," are as follows: + + Convictions (and Executions. + sentences to + death). +1864.--France 9 5 +1867.--England and 27 10 +Wales +Ireland 3 0 + +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 that the Church is responsible for their +disorders. + +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. + +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. _Catholic World_, Vol. XI., +p. 112.) + +Percentage Of Illegitimacy In Protestant And Catholic Countries Of Europe. + +Protestant. Per cent. +Holland 4.0 +Switzerland 5.5 +Prussia (Protestant) 10.0 +England and Wales 6.5 +Sweden and Norway 9.6 +Scotland 10.1 +Denmark 11.0 +German States 14.8 +Wurtemburg 16.4 + +Catholic. +Italy 5.1 +Spain 5.5 +France 7.2 +Prussia (Catholic) 6.5 +Belgium 7.2 +Austria 11.1 +Ireland 3.0 + +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. + +The _Scotman_, whose statements are based on the report of the British +Registrar-General, publishes the following statistics: + +"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 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." + +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. + +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: "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."--_A Tour in Sweden in_ 1838. + +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 _Catholic World_: "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." + + + + + + Chapter XXVII. + + +INDULGENCES. + + +There are few tenets of the Catholic Church so little understood, or so +grossly misrepresented by her adversaries, as her doctrine regarding +Indulgences. + +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 _favor, remission or +forgiveness_. 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. + +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. + +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. Nevertheless, God inflicted on her the penalty of +leprosy and of seven days' separation from the people.(470) + +Nathan, the prophet, announced to David that his crimes were forgiven, but +that he should suffer many chastisements from the hand of God.(471) + +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: "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."(472) And to all the Apostles assembled together He made the same +solemn declaration.(473) 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. + +The prerogative of granting Indulgence has been exercised by the teachers +of the Church from the beginning of her existence. + +St. Paul exercised it in behalf of the incestuous Corinthian whom he had +condemned to a severe penance proportioned to his guilt, "that his spirit +might be saved in the day of the Lord."(474) And having learned afterwards +of the Corinthian's fervent contrition the Apostle absolves him from the +penance which he had imposed: "To him, that 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."(475) + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.(476) + +From what I have said you may judge for yourself 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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +But, do what we will, we cannot please our opponents. 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 _mitigating_ the austerities of penance, since +their own fundamental principle rests on _faith alone without good works_? + +But have not Indulgences been the occasion of many abuses at various +times, particularly in the sixteenth century? + +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 "in the Pope's Bull something +was said of the repentance of the heart and the confession of the +lips."(477) 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. + +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, "the hand that delivered the +Indulgence," as D'Aubigne testifies, "could not receive the money: that +was forbidden under the severest penalties."(478) + +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! + + + "But thou of temples old, or altars new, + Standest alone, with nothing like to thee; + Worthiest of God, the holy and the true, + Since Sion's desolation, when that He + Forsook His former city, what could be + Of earthly structures, in His honor piled, + Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty, + Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled + In this eternal ark of worship undefiled."(479) + + +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? + +Nor did the Pope exceed his legitimate powers in promising to the pious +donors spiritual favors in exchange for their donations. For if our sins +can be redeemed by alms to the poor,(480) 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: "Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thy alms are had in +remembrance in the sight of God."(481) The minister is more _indulgent_ +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 "repentance of the heart and +confession of the lips" before the donor's offering could avail him to +salvation. + +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: "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, that all wicked traffic for obtaining them, which has been +the fruitful source of many abuses among the Christian people, should be +wholly abolished."(482) + + + + + + Chapter XXVIII. + + +EXTREME UNCTION. + + +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 _Extreme_, because it is usually the last of the holy unctions +administered by the Church. + +The Apostle St. James clearly refers to this Sacrament and points out its +efficacy in the following words: "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."(483) + +Several of the ancient Fathers allude to this Sacrament. Origen (third +century) writes: "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: '_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_.' "(484) + +St. Chrysostom (fourth century) says: "Not only when they (the Priests) +regenerate us, but they have also power to forgive sins committed +afterward; for he says: '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.' "(485) + +Pope Innocent I. (fifth century), in a letter to a Bishop named Decentius, +after quoting the words of St. James, proceeds: "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."(486) + +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. + +The venerable Bede of England, who lived in the eighth century, referring +to the words of St. James, writes: "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."(487) + +The Greek Church, which separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the +ninth century, says in its profession of faith: "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: 'Is any man sick among you,'_ etc._ The +fruits proper to this Sacrament, 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." 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. + +Such identity of doctrine proclaimed during so many ages by churches so +wide apart can have no other than an Apostolic origin. + +The eminent Protestant Leibnitz makes this candid admission: "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."(488) + +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 "a letter of straw."(489) + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XXIX. + + +THE PRIESTHOOD. + + +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. + +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. + +The Priest is the _ambassador of God_, appointed to vindicate His honor +and to proclaim His glory. "We are ambassadors for Christ," says the +Apostle; "God, as it were, exhorting by us."(490) 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! "As the Father hath sent Me," says our Lord to His Apostles, "I +also send you."(491) "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 of the world."(492) The +jurisdiction of earthly representatives is limited, but the authority of +the ministers of God extends over the whole earth. "Go ye into the whole +world and preach the Gospel," says Christ, "to every creature."(493) + +Not only does Jesus empower His ministers to preach in His name, but he +commands their hearers to listen and obey. "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."(494) "He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you +despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me."(495) + +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. "Touch not My anointed, +and do no evil to My prophets."(496) 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. + +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 +private instructions. So does Jesus honor His ambassadors with His +friendship and communicate to them the secrets of heaven: "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."(497) + +What a privilege to be the herald of God's law to the nations of the +earth! "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."(498) +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! + +I have often reflected on a remark made to me by Senator Bayard of +Delaware: "You of the clergy," he said, "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." + +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, "This man is set for +the fall and the resurrection of many in Israel." + +Not only are Priests the ambassadors of God, but they are also the +_dispensers of His graces_ and the almoners of His mercy. "Let a man so +regard us," says the Apostle, "as ministers of Christ and dispensers of +the mysteries of God."(499) + +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. + +As St. John Chrysostom observes, it was not to angels or archangels, but +to the Priests of the New Law that Christ said: "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." To them alone He gave the power to +forgive sins, saying: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven." +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: "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."(500) + +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; 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. + +To sum up in a few brief sentences the titles of a Catholic Priest: + +He is a _king_, reigning not over unwilling subjects, but over the hearts +and affections of his people. + +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. + +He is a _shepherd_, 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. + +He is a _father_, because he breaks the bread of life to his spiritual +children, whom he has begotten in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.(501) + +He is a _judge_, whose office it is to pass sentence of pardon on +self-accusing criminals. + +He is a _physician_, because he heals their souls from the loathsome +distempers of sin. + +St. John, in his Apocalypse, represents the Church under the figure of a +city. "I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, +from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."(502) 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 charge. "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,"(503) which is His +Church. What an honor is this to the Priest of the New Law! Surely God +"hath not done alike to every nation, and His judgments He hath not made +manifest to them."(504) + +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: "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?" + +Our Savior affectionately puts this question three times to Peter: "Simon, +lovest thou Me?" And three times Peter answers Him, "Lord, Thou knowest +that I love Thee." 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 "feed My +lambs," "feed My sheep." This was to be the closest bond of Peter's +devotion to his Master, and of the Master's affection for His disciple. + +And our Lord declares that the reward of His disciples would be +commensurate with the dignity of their ministry: "Behold," says Peter, "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 sit on the +seat of His majesty, you shall also sit on twelve seats, judging the +twelve tribes of Israel." And immediately after He adds that the worthy +successors of the Apostles shall share in their felicity: "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."(505) + +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. + +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, +"even to the consummation of the world," strengthening them to repeat +those miracles of mercy that were wrought by His first disciples? 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? + +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: "Lord, even the devils are subject to us in Thy name." But Jesus +checked their vain-glory, saying: "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."(506) The Priest does not forget that "the most severe +judgment shall be for them that bear rule,"(507) and that "judgment should +begin at the house of God."(508) The words of the Apostle are present to +his mind: "What hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast +received, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?"(509) 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 reprobate, like those +unhappy Priests of Jerusalem who directed the Magi to Jesus in Bethlehem, +but did not go thither themselves. + +"I have planted," says the Apostle, "Apollo watered, but God gave the +increase. Therefore, neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that +watereth, but God that giveth the increase."(510) We perform the outward +ceremony; God alone supplies the grace. + +The obligations of the minister of God are, therefore commensurate with +his exalted dignity. + +The Priest is required to be a man of profound learning and of solid +piety. "The lips of the Priest shall keep knowledge, and they (the people) +shall seek the law at his mouth."(511) The Lord denounces the Priests of +the Old Law because they neglected to study the Sacred Sciences: "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."(512) + +"To you," says our Lord to His Apostles, "it is given to know the mystery +of the Kingdom of God, to the rest, in parables." The Priests of the New +Law, like the Apostles, are the custodians of the mysteries of religion. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, +"Spare, O Lord, spare Thy people, and give not Thy inheritance to +reproach;" 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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +If the Priest should be eminent for his learning, 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: "Be sanctified, ye that carry the vessels of the Lord,"(513) +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? + +"Purer," says St. Chrysostom, "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." + +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. + +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. + + + + + + Chapter XXX. + + +CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. + + +The Church requires her Priests to be pure in body as well as in soul, and +to "present their bodies a living victim, holy, well-pleasing unto +God."(514) + +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. "There are +eunuchs who have made themselves such for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. He +who can take it, let him take it."(515) Our Lord evidently recommends here +the state of celibacy to such as feel themselves called to embrace it, in +order to attain greater perfection. + +St. Paul gives the reason why our Savior declares continency to be a more +suitable state for His ministers than that of matrimony: "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."(516) + +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 the Evangelist, because, as St. Augustine +testifies, that Apostle was chosen a virgin and such he always remained. + +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.) + +The Apostle of the Gentiles assures us that he led a single life, and he +commends that state to others: "I say to the unmarried, and to the widows +it is good for them if they so continue, even as I."(517) + +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: "Behold, we have left all things, and +followed Thee."(518) Among "all things" 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.(519) + +St. Paul declares that "a Bishop must be sober, just, holy, +continent."(520) And writing to Timothy, whom he had consecrated Bishop, +he says: "Be thou an example to the faithful ... in charity, in faith, in +_chastity_."(521) In another place, he enumerates chastity among the +virtues that should adorn the Christian minister: "In all things let us +exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, ... in +chastity."(522) + +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. + +The discipline of the Church has been exerted from the beginning in +prohibiting Priests to marry _after_ their ordination. St. Jerome observes +that "Bishops, Priests and Deacons are chosen from virgins or widowers, +or, at least, they remain perpetually chaste after being elevated to the +priesthood."(523) To Jovinian he writes: "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."(524) Again he says: "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."(525) + +St. Epiphanius declares that "he who leads a married life is not admitted +by the Church to the order of Deacon, Priest, Bishop or sub-Deacon."(526) + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +Let me now call your attention to the propriety and advantages of clerical +celibacy. + +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? + +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? + +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,(527) how pure in body and soul should be the Priest +who daily partakes of that 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,(528) should not +they whose office it is to preach the Law at all times abstain altogether? + +Thorndyke, an eminent Protestant Divine, in his work entitled, _Just +Weights and Measures_, makes the following observation: "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."(529) + +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. "A single life," says Bacon, "doth well +with churchmen; for, charity will hardly water the ground where it must +first fill a pool."(530) + +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 "becomes as +sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal;" with it, the humblest missioner +gains the hearts of multitudes. + +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: "Are you followers of the +great Father in Rome? Do you honor Mary, the Blessed Virgin? Have you +wives?" 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 "Thanks, thanks! they are +virgins and true disciples of our Apostle Francis."(531) + +A contemporary writer has wittily remarked that "perhaps the most ardent +admirer of hymeneal rites would cheerfully admit that he could not +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?"(532) + +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. + +But does not St. Paul authorize the marriage of the clergy when he says: +"Have we not power to carry about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest +of the Apostles?"(533) The Protestant text mis-translates this passage by +substituting the word _wife_ for _woman_. 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. + +It is also objected that the Apostle seems to require that a Bishop be +"the husband of one wife."(534) The context certainly cannot mean that a +Bishop must be a married man, for the reason 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. + +Others adduce against clerical celibacy these words of St. Paul: "In the +last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of +error, ... forbidding to marry."(535) 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. + +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 who shall +dare to accuse such a multitude of incontinency? + +Nor should any one complain of the severity of the law of clerical +celibacy, since the candidate voluntarily accepts the obligations after +mature consideration. + +Finally, it cannot be urged against celibacy that it violates the Divine +precept to "increase and multiply;" 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. + + + + + + Chapter XXXI. + + +MATRIMONY. + + +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: "Husbands," says the Apostle, "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."(536) + +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. + +The Fathers, Councils and Liturgies of the 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. + +Hence the Council of Trent, speaking of Matrimony, says: "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: 'Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved +the Church, and delivered Himself for it;' adding shortly after: 'This is +a great sacrament, but I speak in Christ and in the Church.' (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."(537) + +The Gospel forbids a man to have more than one wife, and a wife to have +more than one husband. "Have you not read," says our Savior, "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 _his +wife, and they two shall be in one flesh_. Wherefore they are no more two, +but one flesh."(538) 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 to Adam. He would have created more, if +His design had been to establish polygamy. The Scripture says that "man +shall adhere to his _wife_,"--not _his wives_. It does not declare that +they shall be three or more, but that "they shall be two in one flesh." + +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. + +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, "what God +hath joined together, let no man put asunder." + +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, scarcely a moral precept more strongly enforced +in the Gospel than the indissoluble character of marriage validly +contracted. + +"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."(539) 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. + +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 _permitted_ 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 refused. +But our Savior reminded them that in the primitive times no such license +was granted. + +He then plainly affirms that such a privilege would not be conceded in the +New Dispensation, for He adds: "I say to you: whosoever shall put away his +wife and shall marry another committeth adultery." 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 _a vinculo matrimonii_, so as to have the +privilege of marrying another. + +This interpretation is confirmed by the concurrent testimony of the +Evangelists Mark and Luke and by St. Paul, all of whom prohibit divorce _a +vinculo_ without any qualification whatever. + +In St. Mark we read: "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."(540) + +The same unqualified declaration is made by St. Luke: "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."(541) 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. + +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: "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."(542) 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 that he did not even consult the Holy Father on the +subject. + +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: "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." + +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. + +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. + +Henry VIII. was divorced from his wife, Catherine, by Cranmer, the first +Reformed Primate of England. + +Luther and his colleagues, Melanchthon and Bucer, permitted Philip, +Landgrave of Hesse, to have two wives at the same time.(543) Karlstadt, +another German Reformer, justified polygamy.(544) + +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. + +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 "it was not wise to +prohibit the divorced adulterer from marrying again,"(545) 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. + +Persons are divorced by the courts not only for infidelity, but also +without even the shadow of Scripture authority--for alleged cruelty, +intemperance, desertion, prolonged absence, mental incapacity, sentence to +the penitentiary, incompatibility of temper and _such other causes as the +court, in its discretion, may deem sufficient_. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The law, how rigorous soever, is mercy itself, when compared with the +cruel consequences which follow from the easy concession of divorce. + +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 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. + +There is but one remedy to this social distemper, and that is an absolute +prohibition of divorce _a vinculo_, 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. + + + + + +INDEX. + + +Abraham, dear to Jehovah, 37. + +Abstinence on Friday explained, 2. + +Adoration and reverence compared, 202. + +A'Kempis compared with Bunyan, 20. + +A'Kempis' "Following of Christ" recommended, 20; + Protestant edition mutilated, 20. + +Albertus Magnus on Faith quoted, 15. + +American Independence and Catholic Church, 240. + +Angel Raphael and young Tobias, 155. + +Angels labor for man's salvation, 160. + +Anglican Church began with Henry VIII., 44. + +Anne, Queen, praised by Thomas Arundel, 92. + +Apostolate of Sisterhoods--Consecrated Virgins, 23. + +Appeals, a proof of Papal Supremacy, 109. + +Apostles commissioned to teach, 29; + transmit infallibility to successors, 65; + not commanded to write, 80; + ordered to teach and to preach, 81; + received power to forgive sins, 342. + +Apostolic teaching was infallible, 65; + weapons, 26; + missionaries sent by Popes, 115. + +Apostolicity defined, 38; + a note of the true Church, 39; + claims of tested, 40, et seq. + +Articles of Faith--consequences of denial of, 10. + +Arian heresy and the Church, 53, et seq. + +Arianism and Protestantism paralleled, 55, et seq. + +Astolphus, King, threatens Rome, 140. + +Attila and Pope Leo the Great, 139. + +Attributes of Christ--objects of Church's teaching, 16. + +Attributes or Notes of the Church imply infallibility, 65. + +Authority of the Church derived from God, 65; + absence of, causes dissensions, 97; + authorized versus private interpretation, 81; + of the Book of Machabees, 214. + +Barbarians attack Rome, 139. + +Bancroft's History cited, 233. + +Baptism essential for remission of original sin, 268; + necessary for all, 268; + must not be delayed, 273; + effects, 21; + remits all sin, 275; + makes us heirs of heaven, 276. + +Baptism of desire or martyrdom substitutes for Baptism, 272. + +Baptizing, modes of, 277. + +Bartholomew, Archbishop of Braga, directs crusade, 27. + +Becanus teaches value of religious liberty, 230. + +Bede, Venerable, translated Bible into Saxon, 91. + +Bible, venerated by the Jews, 77; + requires the living authority of the Church, 77; + interpreted by the Sanhedrim, 77; + expounded by the priests, 78; + a babel among reformers, 86; + itself unchanging, it causes ever-changing tenets, 87; + guardian and depository of, is the Catholic Church, 90; + translated into Saxon by Venerable Bede, 91; + in English, Sir Thomas More on, 92; + editions prior to Luther, 92; + early editions in English, 92; + use of, recommended by Pope Pius VI, 93; + in seminary, 93, et seq.; + basis of Papal Infallibility, 125, et seq.; + infallible, not sufficient, 133, et seq.; + not ordered to be multiplied, 78. + +Biblical interpretation on + Deuteronomy, quoted, 78; + associations never converted nation, 80; + authorization claimed by Mormons, 88; + restrictions as to garbled versions, 92. + +Bishops, priests and deacons among Protestants, 10; + first bishop of Rome, was St. Peter, 106; + of Rome, heirs to St. Peter's supremacy, 108; + convoked councils, 114; + presided at councils, 114. + +Bishop Short on Anglicanism, 44. + +Bond of Union--Catholic, compared to that of secret orders, 36. + +Bond--Nuptial, ratified by God, 411. + +Books of Piety adapted to wants, 19; + of Machabees, same authority as other Scriptures, 214. + +Bride or Spouse of Christ, applied to the Church, 8. + +Brownson, Dr., appreciates stand of Church on civil liberty, 231. + +Bunyan compared with A'Kempis, 20. + +Butler's "Lives of the Saints" and Foxe's "Book of Martyrs" compared, 20. + +Byron, Lord, lauds St. Peter's Church in Rome, 381. + +Caranza Bartholomew arrested by the Inquisition, 257. + +Carroll, Charles, in American Independence, 240. + +Carroll, Rev. John, in American Independence, 240. + +Catacombs abound in sacred images, 196; + earliest churches, 137. + +Catechism, Episcopal, treats of Absolution, 354, et seq. + +Catholic bond of union and that of the secret orders compared, 36; + barons and Archbishop Langton, 233; + idea of infallibility reasonable and satisfactory, 135; + priest obliged to read Scriptures, 94; + priest preaches Christ and Him crucified, 18; + literature favored by Episcopal clergyman, 20; + missionaries wherever English is spoken, 35; + churches burned by Protestants, 251. + +Catholics number three hundred millions, 10; + exhorted to study the Word of God in their homes, 19; + not all holy, 23; + sometimes are sources of scandal, 23; + and free will, 23; + consciences not forced, 23; + Washington addresses, 241; + persecuted by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, 250, + by the Puritans, 251. + +Catholicity--prominent attribute of the Church, 29; + evidences of, in Apostles' Creed, 29; + defined, 29; + foreshadowed by the Psalmist, 29; + foreseen by Prophet Malachy, 29; + not found in the separate sects, 32. + +Ceremonial of the Mass, 328, et seq. + +Ceremonies--religious, defined, 320; + described, 327; + prescribed by God, 332; + necessary, 322. + +Christ's life portrayed, 17, et seq.; + teachings versus Book of Homilies, 67, et seq; + words and private interpretation, 79; + divinity not proved solely by Scripture, 79, et seq.; + honored virgins in a special manner, 400; + instituted matrimony, 409; + contained entire under each form, 300. + +Christian--a title of nobility, 17; + obligations it imposes, 17; + defined as another Christ, 17; + communions claim perpetuity, 51; + unity endorsed, 119. + +Church teaches one God, 1; + unity of, 5; + government requires unity, 6; + needs visible head, 6; + a kingdom, 6; + Christ founded only one, 6; + Christ's spiritual kingdom, 7; + government compared to that of state, 7; + of Christ, a sheepfold, 7; + likened to the sheepfold, 7; + one chief pastor, one chief shepherd, 7; + likened to human body, 7; + compared to a vine, 8; + bride or spouse of Christ, 8; + unity as taught by common sense, 8; + harmony, 8; + needs common doctrine, 9; + uniform government, 9; + of England ruled by sovereign, 9; + alone possesses unity, 10; + temple of faith, 10; + her creed identical with past ages, 11; + faith and government similar, 11; + does not meddle with political tenets, 10; + teaches one faith everywhere, 10; + explains and declares truths implicitly believed, 15; + authority to decide disputes, 15; + holiness an attribute of, 16; + a society, 16; + established for man's sanctification, 16; + only one founded by Christ, 6; + inculcates valuable lessons of divine perfection, 16; + invites to a holy life, 17; + enforces the inculcation of divine precepts, 18; + affords motives and means of sanctification, 20; + encourages communion with God, 20; + a watchful mother--supplies us at each step, 21; + fruitful in saints, 22; + still produces saints and apostles, 22; + has her martyrs in our day, 22; + still numbers confessors in her ranks, 22; + saves sinners, 24; + refuge of the poor, 24; + her inheritance--the afflicted, 25; + possesses means of reform, 27; + cosmopolitan, 30; + Catholic in name and reality, 34; + gaining numerically at present, 35; + apostolical, 38; + built upon foundation of the Apostles, 38; + derives her origin from the Apostles, 48; + indestructible, 51; + and the barbarous hordes, 53; + and Mohammedanism, 53; + and the Arian heresy, 53, et seq.; + and the Irish people, 54; + and state, 57; + her relation to other religious bodies, 58; + does not need temporal power for preservation, 58; + and modern progress, 59; + benefited by scientific appliances and inventions, 59; + fosters intellectual progress, 60; + encourages scientific investigation, 60; + science indebted to her--has no fear from human liberty, 61; + outlasts all other governments, 61, et seq.; + authority comes from God, 65; + her teaching directed by the Holy Ghost, 65; + her infallibility proved from Scripture, 66, et seq.; + Christ's promise in favor of the, 70, 73; + her doctrines incapable of reform, 73; + her doctrinal decrees irrevocable, 76; + divinely appointed teacher of revelation, 76, 77; + guardian and depository of the Bible, 90; + requires a head, 97; + unity maintained by supreme head, 77; + only one founded by Christ, 100; + built on Peter, 100; + revealed Word of God her Magna Charta, 124; + exhorts all to honor Mary, 187; + her practice proves existence of purgatory, 214, et seq.; + Fathers of the--unanimous in praying for the dead, 217; + has always promoted civil liberty, 226; + defends civil rights and liberties, 231; + conflict with state, 231; + and American Independence, 240; + desires no governmental aid, 246; + does not sanction persecution or bloodshed, 249; + disavows the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, 258; + her practice and the procedure of the Supreme Court compared, 130; + organization--American system of, 246; + her doctrine on unbaptized infants, 273; + perpetuates Christ's work, 341; + grants indulgences, 376. + +Churches--earliest Christian were Catacombs, 137; + fallible--consequences, 70. + +Clement of Alexandria bears witness to spread of Christianity, 31. + +Clerical celibacy--necessity, 399; + propriety and advantages of, 402. + +Clement VII, Pope, refused to sanction divorce of Henry VIII, 414. + +Communion with God encouraged by Church, 20. + +Communion under both forms given by Christ, 300. + +Communion under form of bread, 303, et seq. + +Communion of Saints--a comforting thought, 160. + +Confession of sins obligatory, 345; + various views, 366; + sacramental, of divine institution, 346, et seq. + +Confirmation--graces of, 21; + defined, 280; + signs that follow, 282; + described by St. Augustine, 282; + abolished by the Protestants, 285. + +Constantine gives peace to the Church, 137. + +Continence--voluntary, superior to matrimony, 399. + +Cross--held in reverence, 3; + instrument of the crucifixion, 3; + adorns our sanctuaries, 3; + surmounts our Churches, 3; + emblem of salvation, 3. + +Cross--sign of the, ancient and pious practice, 3; + how made, 3; + taught by tradition, 3; + profession of faith, 3; + salutary act of religion, 3. + +D'Aubigne on Protestant Reformation, 264--comments on divorce of Henry + VIII. + +David and Nathan, 376. + +Deacons, priests and bishops in Protestant sects, 10. + +Death does not dissever love among friends, 161. + +Decrees in doctrinal matters irrevocable, 77. + +De Maistre quoted on name Protestant, 55. + +Deuteronomy quoted on Biblical interpretation, 78. + +Devotion--true, is interior, 320; + manuals of, criticised, 366. + +Divine perfections sources of valuable lessons, 16. + +Divine power manifested on Easter Sunday, 3. + +Divinity of Christ not proved solely by Scripture, 79, et seq. + +Divorce never allowed--separation sometimes, 412. + +Divorce prohibited by St. Paul, 413. + +Divorced man may not marry during wife's lifetime, 414. + +Divorce--legal, causes, 416; + cruel consequences of, 417. + +Doctrinal decrees of the Church are irrevocable, 76. + +Doctrines of the Church cannot be reformed, 73; + the same everywhere, 10; + new definitions do not impair unity of faith, 11, et seq. + +Dogma of the Immaculate Conception formulated, 171. + +Doellinger, Dr., anathematized, 10. + +Duties to God--first lessons taught us, 18. + +Eastern churches allow a married clergy, 402. + +Ecumenical councils vindicate papal supremacy, 113; + defined, 114. + +Elias dear to Jehovah, 37. + +Elizabeth, Queen, and Henry VIII. persecuted Catholics, 250. + +Elizabethan and Marian persecutions compared, 262, et seq. + +Episcopal clergyman favors Catholic books, 20. + +Evangelical Alliance failed--had no common platform, 119. + +Exodus, Book of, and sacred images, 200. + +Extreme Unction defined, 384; + effects, 21; + supported by ancient authority, 386. + +Faith, hope and charity necessary for Catholics, 37. + +Faith, temple of, the Church, 10; + Albertus Magnus quoted, 15. + +Faith, unity of, required, 5; + progress in, does not change truth, 15. + +Fathers of the Church on Confirmation, 283; + echo the words of St. Paul on the Eucharist, 297; + they are unanimous on praying for the dead, 217. + +Fenelon favors liberty of conscience, 228. + +Founders of various religious denominations, 46. + +Foxe's Book of Martyrs and the Lives of the Saints contrasted, 20. + +Free-will--Catholics enjoy, 23. + +Garbled versions of the Bible restricted, 92. + +Gibbon quoted on triumphs of the Church, 53. + +God--infinite in knowledge, power and goodness, 1; + governs by His Providence, 1; + created all things by His Omnipotence, 1; + three persons in One, 1; + persons equal, 1. + +God commands the making of images, 301. + +God requires that His ministers be respected, 388. + +God works through his representatives, 341, et seq. + +God's judgment impressed on the child mind, 19. + +Gospel ministers are ordained and commissioned, 39. + +Government--state and church compared, 7. + +Governmental aid not desired for Church, 246. + +Grace defined, 265; + necessary for sanctification, 265. + +Graces imparted by Holy Orders and Matrimony, 21. + +Graces needed by married couple, special, 408. + +Great Spirit worshiped by American Indians, 309. + +Gregory II, Pope, writes about images, 140. + +Habeas Corpus, 223. + +Hail Mary explained, 174, et seq. + +Hamlet, Shakespeare's, advised by the dead, 221. + +Hebrews believed in intercessory prayer, 159. + +Henry VIII. excommunicated, 10; + divorce refused, 44. + +Henry VIII and Elizabeth persecuted Catholics, 250. + +Heresy and schism opposed to unity, 5; + likened to murder and idolatry, 5; + heresy defined, 5; + and the Church, 54; + a crime against church and state, 255. + +Holy Eucharist--St. Paul's testimony on, 295. + +Holiness a mark of the Church, 16. + +Holmes, Oliver Wendell, praises Mary, 179. + +Holy Ghost sent by Christ, 3; + on Pentecost, 3; + guides the Church's teaching, 65. + +Holy Scripture--depository of God's Word, 77. + +Holy Orders and Matrimony--graces of, 21. + +Image--Making commanded by God, 201. + +Images, Sacred--advantages of, 204, et seq.; + and the Reformers, 198; + and the Council of Trent, 198, et seq.; + and the Book of Exodus, 200; + veneration of, 196; + Catacombs abound in, 196. + +Immaculate Conception implied in Scripture, 171; + in our earliest history, 173; + dogma formulated in 1854, 171. + +Indestructibility of the Church due to finger of God, 57. + +Infallible Bible not sufficient 133, et seq. + +Infallibility a special guidance of the Holy Ghost, 65; + implied in the attributes of the Church, 65; + of Apostolic teaching, 65; + proved from Scripture, 66, et seq.; + transmitted by Apostles to successors, 65; + blessings attendant on--for the faithful, 72; + Catholic idea of, reasonable and satisfactory, 135; + misapprehended, 121; + what it does not mean, 121, et seq.; + what it is, 123; + founded on Bible, 125, et seq.; + not a new doctrine, 130. + +Incense, its use, 334. + +Indians, American--worshiped the Great Spirit, 309. + +Indulgence defined, 375; + granted by the Church, 376; + elements required, 377; + classes, 378; + does not exempt from doing penance, 379; + abused, 380. + +Infant Baptism proved from early Doctors, 270; + and the Council of Carthage, 270; + not to be delayed, 273. + +Inquisition, Spanish--cruelties, 248; + its true character, 254; + explained, 254; + excesses disavowed by the Church, 258. + +Inventions and scientific appliances beneficial to Church, 59. + +Invocation of the Saints defined, 152. + +Ireland and the Ancient Church, 54. + +Irish clergy persecuted by Cromwell, 250. + +Jeremiah, after death, prays for Jewish people, 159. + +Jesus Christ, second person of Blessed Trinity, 1; + perfect God and perfect man, 1; + assumes human nature, 1; + born on Christmas Day, 1; + led a life of obscurity at Nazareth, 1; + commences public career, 1; + associates with his Apostles, 2; + doing good, 2; + preaches new gospel, 2; + crucified on Mount Calvary, 2; + purchases our redemption, 2; + is our Saviour and Redeemer, 2; + example to be imitated, 2; + manifested Divine power on Easter Sunday, 3; + raised Himself to life, 3; + ascended into heaven, 3; + spends forty days on earth, 3; + sends Holy Ghost, 3; + requires unity of faith, 5; + prays for unity, 5; + mission evidenced in unity of Church, 5; + speaks of His Church, not churches, 6; + our model, 17; + wrote no line of Scripture, 80; + established supreme head of the Church, 98, et seq.; + founded but one Church, 100; + the one Mediator, 161; + came on earth to wash away sins, 268; + our Victim in the Mass, 317; + a Physician and Savior, 340. + +Jesus' prayer is always heard, 126; + name implies His mission, 339; + example a means of sanctification, 16; + moral lessons tend to sanctification, 16. + +Jews ordered by Christ to obey constituted teachers, 79; + pray for their dead, 220; + venerate the Bible, 77; + were released from religious persecution by St. Bernard, 228; + appealed to the Sanhedrim for the settlement of disputes, 77; + their priests expounded Bible, 78; + their High Priest and the Roman Pontiff compared, 95. + +Job intercedes for his friends, 157. + +John, Abbot of Constantinople, appeals to Pope Gregory I, 112. + +Judea a hallowed soil, 164. + +Jurisdiction of God's ministers unlimited, 388. + +Laity contain many Saints, 23. + +Langton, Archbishop, and Catholic barons, 233. + +Leibnitz taught that Christ is entire under each species, 302. + +Leo the Great, Pope, and Attila, 139. + +Leo the Isaurian desires spiritual jurisdiction, 139; + destroys paintings, 140; + wars on images, 197. + +Lepanto--victory of 1571, 53. + +Liberty, religious, explained, 226; + ever promoted by the Catholic Church, 226; + taught by Becanus, 230; + favored by Fenelon, 228; + and civil rights defended by the Church, 231; + human not feared, 61. + +Lights on the altar--meaning, 333. + +Literature, Catholic, favored by Episcopal clergyman, 20. + +Llorente, historian of Spanish Inquisition, 253; + who he was, 253, et seq. + +Longfellow refers to Mary's influence and intercession, 189. + +Loyalty to Christ implies veneration of His representative, 106. + +Luther advocated Communion under one form, 301; + accused John Tetzel, 382. + +Lutheranism founded by Luther, 44; + rise and progress of, 54. + +Magna Charta--great bulwark of liberty, 233. + +Magna Charta, the Church's--the revealed Word of God, 124. + +Marriage law violated by Henry VIII, 10; + indissoluble, 410; + contract--most inviolable and irrevocable, 410; + forbidden to priests after ordination, 400. + +Married couple need special graces, 408. + +Mary singularly honored by Jesus Christ, 165; + Mother of God--meaning, 166; + not mother of divinity--Mother of God, 167; + truly and really Mother of God, 167; + of surpassing dignity and excellence, 168; + always a virgin, 168; + loves men, 190; + exempted from original sin, 267. + +Mary's soul never subject to sin, 171; + her soul needed a redeemer, 171; + prerogatives, 174; + honor redounds to God, 181; + honor founded on Scriptural sanction, 186; + honor encouraged by the Church, 187; + intercession superior to that of the Angels and the Saints, 188; + influence and intercession referred to by Longfellow, 189-193; + invoked by Edgar Allan Poe, 191. + +Mary Magdalen experienced the mercy of Jesus, 340. + +Maryland--cradle of civil and religious liberty, 233; + land of the Sanctuary, 233; + religious toleration explained, 234, et seq.; + changes effected by Puritans, 237; + tolerations--three, 238, et seq. + +Mass is identical with the Sacrifice of the Cross, 311; + instituted, 312; + a perpetual oblation, 313, et seq.; + of Apostolic origin, 314; + its ceremonial, 328, et seq.; + why said in Latin, 329, et seq. + +Matrimony defined, 408; + instituted by Christ, 409; + imparts ample and suitable graces, 21. + +Missionaries, Catholic, wherever English is spoken, 35; + Apostolic--sent by Popes, 115. + +Mohammedanism, rise and conquests, 53; + and the Church, 53. + +Monica, St., requests prayers for the repose of her soul, 216. + +Morality of Catholic and Protestant countries contrasted, 369; + lax among Catholics--accusation answered, 364; + Christ's lessons tend to sanctification, 16; + inculcated by the Church, 18; + moral law standard of perfection, 18. + +More, Sir Thomas, quoted on Bible in English, 92. + +Mormons claim Biblical authorization for polygamy, 88. + +Mormonism at variance with Gospel, 410. + +Mysteries, principal, incentive to holiness, 17; + proposed by the Church, 17; + surround us everywhere, 293. + +Naaman the Syrian cured, 361. + +Napoleon's demands on Pope Pius VII, 242, et seq. + +Nathan and David, 376. + +Nuptial bond ratified by God, 411. + +Onias, after death, prays for the people of God, 159. + +Oracles, rashness of following discordant, 72. + +Origen bears witness to the spread of Christianity, 31. + +Original sin, all men born in, 267; + Blessed Virgin alone exempted, 267; + universal, 272. + +Pagans retained primitive traditions about sacrifices, 309. + +Papal Jurisdiction--examples, 109, et seq. + +Papal states a convenience for the Holy Father, 145. + +Paul, St. on heresy and schism, 5, et seq.; + asks intercession, 158. + +Penance--effects of Sacrament, 21. + +Pentecost--Christ sends Holy Ghost, 3. + +Perpetuity of the Church, 50; + defined, 50; + foretold in the Scriptures, 50. + +Persecutions lasted 280 years, 52. + +Persecution and bloodshed not sanctioned by the Church, 249. + +Persecutions by Queen Mary of England, 261; + compared with those under Elizabeth, 262, et seq. + +Pepin, King of the Franks, defeats Lombards, 141. + +Peter, St., primacy of, 95; + foundation of the Church, 100; + first Bishop of Rome, 106; + supremacy handed down, 108; + and Washington compared, 108; + oracle of the Apostles, 126, et seq. + +Photius appeals to Pope Nicholas I to confirm his election to the + Patriarchate of Constantinople, 112. + +Plebescitum, Roman, explained, 146. + +Plutarch declares: "No nations without priests and altars," 309. + +Poe, Edgar Allan, invokes Mary, 191. + +Pontiff, Supreme, is commander-in-chief of the Church, 117. + +Pope is Vicar of Christ, 129; + father and doctor of Christians, chief pastor of the Church, 130; + confirms or rejects decrees of councils, 131; + a prisoner in his own house, 145. + +Popes succeed to Peter's supremacy, 108; + send Apostolic missionaries, 115; + go to confession regularly, 122; + oracles of the early Church, 128, et seq., + recognized in all ages as infallible teachers, 132. + +Prayer for unity, 5; + and Sacraments--means of sanctification, 20; + a duty binding in conscience 20; + of Jesus Christ, always heard 126; + for the dead, consoling, 225. + +Priest, Catholic obliged to read word of God, 94; + ambassador of God, 387; + dispenser of God's graces, 390; + titles, 391; + physician of souls, 396; + must be man of prayer, 398. + +Priestly obligations, 395; + stands before God, intercessor for his people, 396; + experience in sacred ministry, 367, et seq. + +Primacy of St. Peter, 95; + promised, 98, et seq.; + and supremacy similarly demonstrated, 109. + +Progress, Modern, and the Church, 59; + intellectual fostered by the Church, 60; + cannot destroy the Church, 59. + +Prophecies of Christ fulfilled by spread of Christianity, 30. + +Protestant sects make no claim to Catholicity, 32; + Episcopalians sometimes usurp the title of Catholic, 33; + inconsistency between teaching and practice, 82, et seq. + +Protestantism not traceable to Apostolic times, 47; + and Arianism paralleled, 55, et seq. + +Protestants differ in belief among themselves, 9; + sects do not possess unity, 9; + combat the perpetual virginity of Mary, 169, et seq.; + their objections answered, 169, et seq.; + burned Catholic churches, 251; + abolished confirmation, 285. + +Puritans effected changes in Maryland, 237; + persecuted others for conscience's sake, 251. + +Ranke quoted on Spanish Inquisition, 256. + +Raphael Archangel and young Tobias, 155. + +Real presence founded on scripture, 288; + proved from the New Testament, 288, et seq. + +Reformation of morals effected, 26. + +Reformers made a babel of the Bible, 86; + and sacred images, 198; + guilty of violence towards others, 250. + +Regeneration, necessary to all, 272. + +Religious denominations and their founders, 46. + +Repentance--Catholic and Protestant systems contrasted, 362. + +Revelation--church divinely appointed teacher of, 76. + +Reverence for the Cross, 3; + and adoration compared, 202. + +Rites and ceremonies prescribed by God, 322. + +Ritual described in Revelation, 324. + +Rodriguez, "Christian Perfection" recommended, 20. + +Roman Pontiff and Jewish High Priest, compared, 95. + +Roman Plebescitum explained, 146. + +Rome, St. Peter, first Bishop of, 106. + +Rome, St. Peter's residence in, proved, 107; + testified by eminent writers, 107. + +Sacramental confession of divine institution, 346, et seq. + +Sacraments and prayers are means of grace, 265; + defined, 265; + constituent elements, 265; + seven, instituted by Christ, 266. + +Sacred images--advantages, 204, et seq.; + and the Reformers, 198; + and the council of Trent, 198, et seq. + +Sacrifices, defined, 307; + offered by all peoples, 307; + early, 307, et seq.; + various, in Old Law, 317. + +St. Alphonsus, a distinguished reformer, 27. + +St. Ambrose describes Mary's life, 194; + confronts the Emperor Theodosius, the Great, 232; + on the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Ghost, 284. + +St. Athanasius appeals to Pope Julius I against a Decree of the Eastern + Bishops, 111. + +St. Augustine quoted about truth, 12; + on false claims to Catholicity, 33; + on Apostolicity, 49, 56; + describes confirmation, 282; + on Chrism ointment, 285; + on secret confession, 360. + +St. Basil of Caeserea has recourse to Pope Damasus, 111. + +St. Bartholomew's Day--massacre, 259; + church not interested in, 259; + facts stated, 259, et seq. + +St. Bernard released Jews from religious persecution, 228. + +St. Charles Borromeo, the reformer, 27. + +St. Cyril appeals to Pope Celestine, 111. + +St. Francis de Sales' writings recommended, 20. + +St. Hilary of Arles and papal supremacy, 111. + +St. Ignatius Loyola, conspicuous reformer, 27. + +St. Irenaeus bears witness to the spread of Christianity, 31. + +St. Jerome's edition of the Scriptures, 91; + edits the vulgate, 91. + +St. John Chrysostom appeals to Pope Innocent I, 111. + +St. Justin, martyr, witness of Catholicity in second century, 31. + +St. Paul invokes intercession of the Ephesians, 158; + testimony on the Holy Eucharist, 295; + granted indulgences, 376; + prohibited divorce, 413. + +St. Peter's primacy, 95; + first bishop of Rome, 106; + residence in Rome proved, 107; + supremacy handed down, 108; + Oracle of the Apostles, 126, et seq. + +St. Philip Neri, apostle of modern Rome, 27. + +St. Vincent of Lerins on doctrine and practice, 15. + +Saints--many among laity, 23. + +Sanctity--examples witnessed, 23. + +Sanhedrim settled disputes for the Jews, 77; + explained Bible, 77. + +Scandals do not invalidate Church's claims to sanctify, 26. + +Schism and heresy oppose unity, 5; + schism defined, 5. + +Schismatic Churches have no claims to Catholicity, 32. + +Scripture, Holy, depository of, God's Word, 77; + no line of, written by Christ, 80; + does not contain all truth, 89; + alone, not sufficient guide and rule of faith, 89; + perpetuated by the Church, 91, et seq.; + St. Jerome translates, 91. + +Sects--conflicting in North Carolina, 9; + Protestant do not possess unity, 9. + +Sign of the Cross--ancient and pious practice, 3; + how made, 3; + Tertullian quoted on, 3; + taught by tradition, 3; + profession of faith, 3; + salutary act of religion, 3. + +Signs following confirmation, 17. + +Sin includes guilt and punishment, 375; + original--all men born in, 267; + Most Blessed Virgin alone excepted, 267. + +Smithfield and Tyburn compared, 264. + +Socrates quoted on papal supremacy, 111. + +Solomon and Judas as warnings, 19. + +Spain--condition of, during the Inquisition, 255. + +Spanish Inquisition--cruelties, 248; + Llorente, historian, 253; + excesses disavowed by the Church, 258. + +"Spiritual Combat" recommended, 20. + +Supremacy of St. Peter--Popes succeed to, 108; + Socrates quoted on, 111; + and Primacy similarly demonstrated, 109. + +Supreme Court procedure and Church practice compared, 130. + +Supreme Head of the Church maintains unity, 98; + established by Christ, 98; + is commander-in-chief of the Church, 117. + +Teachers--constituted, to be obeyed, 79. + +Teaching of Christ versus Book of Homilies, 67, et seq. + +Teaching of Apostles infallible, 65. + +Teaching of the Church guided by the Holy Ghost, 65. + +Temporal power--end and aim, 144; + not necessary to Church's preservation, 58. + +Tennyson's Sir Belvidere asks prayers for his soul, 225. + +Testament, Old--teaches existence of Purgatory, 211, et seq. + +Testimony of St. Paul on the Holy Eucharist, 295. + +Tertullian bears witness to the spread of Christianity, 31; + treats of the Apostolicity of the Church, 49. + +Tetzel, John, accused by Luther, 382. + +Theodoret appeals to St. Leo, Pope, 112. + +Theodosius the Great confronted by St. Ambrose, 232. + +Thomas Arundel praised Queen Anne, 92. + +Titles of the Catholic priest, 391. + +Tobias, Young, and the Archangel Raphael, 155. + +Toleration, Religious, in Maryland, 234, et seq. + +Transubstantiation a mystery, 292. + +Triumphs of the Church according to Gibbon, 53. + +Trent, Council of--great reformatory tribunal, 27; + on sacred images, 198, et seq.; + asserts doctrine of Purgatory, 210. + +Truth unchangeable, 12. + +Tyburn and Smithfield compared, 264. + +Tyndall on debt of science to the Church, 60. + +Unity of the Church, 5; + heresy and schism opposed to, 5; + required by Jesus Christ, 5; + of faith required, 5; + Jesus Christ prays for it, 5; + prayer of Christ for, 5; + an evidence of Christ's mission, 5; + in government it is essential, 6; + not found in Protestant sects, 9; + found in Catholic Church alone, 10; + Catholic, in what it consists, 10; + of government and faith, 11; + safeguard of government, 11; + of faith not impaired by new doctrinal definitions, 11; + of the Church maintained by supreme head, 98; + Christian, endorsed, 119; + implies recognition of pope's headship, 119. + +Unbaptized Infants--Church's teaching regarding, 273. + +Validity of the Pope's title to the papal states, 141. + +Variation in Biblical interpretation, 87. + +Vatican Council assembled from all nations, 332; + Ecumenical, 34; + all countries represented, 34; + all systems represented, 34. + +Veneration of images, 196. + +Vestments--their meaning, 335; + their colors symbolical, 337. + +Vicar of Christ is the Pope, 129. + +Victim in the Mass is Jesus Christ, 317. + +Victor Emmanuel, the modern Achab, 144. + +Virgins, Consecrated--Apostolate of Sisterhoods, 23. + +Virgins especially honored by Christ, 400. + +Virginity, Perpetual--of Mary, combated by Protestants, 169, et seq. + +Voltaire bears testimony to the good use of Church temporalities, 138. + +Vulgate--edited by St. Jerome, 91. + +Warfare on Church--foreign and domestic, 51. + +Washington and St. Peter compared, 108. + +Washington's Address to the Catholics, 241. + +Wesley, John, founds Methodist Church, 44. + +Westminster Abbey has many statues of heroes, 201. + +Wordsworth on "Mother's Love and Maiden Purity," 168, 180; + tribute to Mary, 175. + + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + + 1 Dryden, _Hind and Panther_. + + 2 Matt. xvi. 26. + + 3 II. Cor. iv. 17. + + 4 Rom. ix. 5. + + 5 Athanasian Creed. + + 6 Matt. xi. + + 7 Acts iv. 12. + + 8 Isaiah liii. 5. + + 9 Luke ix. 23. + + 10 II. Cor. iv. 10. + + 11 Gal. vi. 14. + + 12 De Corona, C. iii. + + 13 Mark xvi. 15. + + 14 Luke x. 16. + + 15 Symb. Constantinop. + + 16 John xvii. 20, 21. + + 17 Gal. v. 20, 21. + + 18 Ephes. iv. 3-6. + + 19 Matt. xvi. 18. + + 20 Luke i. 32, 33. + + 21 Matt. xii. 25. + + 22 John x. 16. + + 23 Rom. xii. 4, 5. + + 24 John xv. 5. + + 25 Apoc. xxi. 9. + + 26 I. Cor. xiv. 33. + + 27 Job xxxviii. 11. + + 28 Heb. xiii. 8. + + 29 De Civitate Dei, Lib. 16, Cap. ii., No. 1. + + 30 I. Pet. ii. 9. + + 31 Heb. i. 3. + + 32 Exod. xxv. 40. + + 33 Lev. xix. 2. + + 34 Matt. v. 48. + + 35 Eph. v. 1. + + 36 Ephes. iv. 11, 13. + + 37 Deut. vi. 6, 7. + + 38 Apoc. iii. 7. + + 39 Matt. xvi. 26. + + 40 Gal. iii. 27. + + 41 Eph. v. 25-27. + + 42 Heb. xi. 37. + + 43 Coloss. iii. 3. + + 44 I. Tim. i. 15. + + 45 Matt. xi. 5. + + 46 Matt. xiii. 24-37. + + 47 Ibid. xiii. 47. + + 48 II. Tim. ii. 20. + + 49 Dial. contra Lucif. + + 50 Hom. 12, in Evang. + + 51 In Ps. viii., ii. 13. + + 52 Cant. vi. 9. + + 53 I. Cor. i. + + 54 I. Cor. v. + + 55 Luther, Zuinglius, and Knox had been ordained priests. Calvin had + studied for the priesthood, but did not receive Orders. + + 56 Ps. xii. + + 57 Mal. i. 11. + + 58 Matt. xxviii. 19. + + 59 Mark xvi. 15. + + 60 Acts i. 8. + + 61 Rom. x. 18. + + 62 Rom. i. 18. + + 63 Adv. Haer., i. 1. + + 64 Apologet. c. 37. + + 65 St. Aug. de Ver. Rel., c. 7. n. 12. + + 66 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? + + 67 Apoc. v. 9. + + 68 Malachy i. 11. + + 69 Ps. lxxxiii. + + 70 Eph. ii. 20. + + 71 Gal. i. 8. + + 72 II. Tim. ii. 2. + + 73 Heb. v. 4. + + 74 Rom. x. 15. + + 75 Acts xiv. 22. + + 76 Tit. i. 5. + + 77 Acts xiii. 2, 3. + + 78 Matt. xvi. 18. + + 79 Luke xxii. 32. + + 80 John xxi. 15. + + 81 Thess. ii. 13. + + 82 Acts xv. 28. + + 83 Gal. i. 8. + + 84 Matt. vi. 17. + + 85 Acts xiii. 2. + + 86 Acts xiv. 22. + + 87 I. Cor. xiv. 34, 35. + + 88 Acts viii. 17. + + 89 Matt. xxvi. 26-28. + + 90 I. Cor. x. 16. + + 91 John xx. 28. + + 92 II. Cor. v. 18. + + 93 James v. 14. + + 94 Mark x. 11, 12. + + 95 I. Cor. vii, 10, 11. + + 96 I. Cor. vii. + + 97 History of the Church of England, by Thomas. V. Short, Bishop of St. + Asaph's, p. 44. + + 98 Book of Homilies. + + 99 Lib. de Praescrip., c. 32. + + 100 Psal. contra part Donati. + + 101 Luke i. 32, 33. + + 102 Matt. xvi. 18. + + 103 Matt. xxviii. 20. + + 104 Except some Oriental sects dating back to the fifth and ninth + centuries. + + 105 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xxxvii, p. 450. + + 106 Du Pape, 1, 2, c. 5. + + 107 Psalm cii. 5. + + 108 Psalm ii. 1-4. + + 109 Daniel, iii. + + 110 Tyndall, Study of Physics. + + 111 Psalm ci. 27-29. + + 112 Eph. ii. 19, 20. + + 113 Matt. xxviii. 20. + + 114 See Gal. iv. 14; 1 Thess. ii. 13. + + 115 Matt. xvi. 18. + + 116 Matt. vii. 24, et seq. + + 117 John xx. 21. + + 118 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. + + 119 Mark xvi. 15. + + 120 Acts i. 8. + + 121 Matt. x. 14, 15. + + 122 Matt. xviii. 17. + + 123 Mark xvi. 16. + + 124 Luke x. 16. + + 125 John xiv. 16; xvi. 13. + + 126 Matt. xxviii. 18-20. + + 127 Ex. iii. 12; Jer. xv. 20, etc. + + 128 Eph. iv. 11-14. + + 129 Heb. xi. 6. + + 130 Tim. iii. 7. + + 131 Isaiah xxxv. 8. + + 132 Ps. cxxxii. + + 133 Matt. xviii. 3. + + 134 Pet. ii. 2. + + 135 Deut. xvii. 8, et seq. + + 136 Mal. ii. 7. + + 137 Matt. xxiii. 2, 3. + + 138 John v. 39. + + 139 Except when He directed St. John to write the Apocalypse, i. 11. + + 140 Matt. xxviii. 19. + + 141 Mark xvi. 15. + + 142 Luke x. 16. + + 143 Mark xvi. 20. + + 144 I. Tim., ii. 4. + + 145 Martinet, Religion in Society, Vol. II., c. 10. + + 146 II. Pet., iii. 16. + + 147 Ibid., i. 20. + + 148 Acts, viii. 31. + + 149 Except, perhaps, Rev. H. W. Beecher. who thinks that God is + glorified by the variety of sects. + + 150 See John xxi. 25; II. Thess. ii. 14. + + 151 III. Kings xiv. 19. + + 152 Dialog. 3, 14. + + 153 Deut. xvii. + + 154 I. Cor. x. 11. + + 155 Prov. viii. 15. + + 156 Matt. xvi. 13-19. + + 157 Rev. i. 18. + + 158 John xxi. 15-17. + + 159 Matt. x. 2; Mark iii. 16; Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 14. + + 160 Acts iii. + + 161 Acts ii. + + 162 Acts x. + + 163 Acts i. + + 164 Acts xv. + + 165 Acts xii. + + 166 Gal. ii. 11. + + 167 Gal. i. 18. + + 168 Socrates' Ecclesiastical History, B. II., c. xv. + + 169 Epist. 113. + + 170 See Butler's Lives of the Saints--St. Olave, July 29th. + + 171 Ps. lii. + + 172 Gen. xi. 4. + + 173 Numb. xxiv. 5. + + 174 Conc. Vat. Const. _Pastor AEternus_, c. 4. + + 175 Conc. Vat. Const. _Dei Filius_, cap. 4; Coloss. ii. 8. + + 176 Matt. xvi. + + 177 Matt. xvi. + + 178 Ibid. + + 179 Luke xxii. 31, 32. + + 180 John xxi. 16, 17. + + 181 Matt. viii. 20. + + 182 Acts iv. 34, 35. + + 183 Sometimes called Stephen II., as Stephen, his predecessor, died + three days after his election, whose name is omitted in some + calendars. + + 184 III. Kings xxi. 3. + + 185 II. Kings xii. + + 186 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: "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." + + 187 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. + + 188 Memoir of Pope Sixtus V., by Baron Huebner, Vol. II., ch. 1. + + 189 When these lines were written, Pius IX. was the reigning Pontiff. He + died February 7, 1878. + + 190 Some time ago, my attention was called to a certain excommunication + or "curse," then widely circulated by the press of North Carolina. + The "curse" is attributed to the Holy Father, and is fulminated + against Victor Emmanuel. In this anathema, _cursing_ and _damning_ + 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. + + 191 Matt. xvi. 18. + + 192 I. Cor. xiii. 12. + + 193 Gen. xlviii. 16. + + 194 Tobias xii. 12. + + 195 Luke xv. 10. + + 196 I. Cor. iv. 9. + + 197 Matt. xxii. 30. + + 198 Gen. xxviii. + + 199 Exod. xvii. + + 200 Baruch i. 13. + + 201 Job xlii. + + 202 Ibid. + + 203 II. Paralip. vii. 15. + + 204 II. Mac. xv. 14. + + 205 Revel. v. 8. + + 206 Zach. i. 12, 13. + + 207 I. Tim. ii. 5. + + 208 Council of Trent, Sess. xxv. + + 209 Prov. xv. 20. + + 210 Luke vi. 19. + + 211 Matt. ix. 20. + + 212 Exod. iv. 12. + + 213 Jer. i. 5. + + 214 Luke i. 41. + + 215 Ibid. i. 15. + + 216 John v. 35. + + 217 Acts ii. + + 218 II Cor. iii. 6. + + 219 Acts iii. 15. + + 220 Isaiah iii. 11. + + 221 Luke i. 26, 27. + + 222 Matt. i. 25. + + 223 Matt. i. 25. + + 224 Book V., ch. xlv. + + 225 Gen. viii. 7. + + 226 Kings xv. 35. + + 227 Ps. cix. + + 228 Josue xvii. 1. + + 229 Matt. xii. 46; xiii. 55, 56. + + 230 Ibid. + + 231 Matt xxvii.; Mark xv. + + 232 John xix. 25. + + 233 Gen. xiii. 8. + + 234 Bulla Dogmat. Pii Papae IX. + + 235 Ibid. + + 236 Gen. iii. 15. + + 237 I. Cor. xv. 45. + + 238 Bibliotheca Max. Patrum, t. 2, p. 3. + + 239 De sac. ordinat., p. 313. + + 240 Renaudot. Lit. Orient. + + 241 Luke i. 26-35. + + 242 I. Cor. xv. 41. + + 243 St. Bernard. + + 244 Judges, v. + + 245 Judith, xiii. + + 246 Luke i. 39-45. + + 247 Luke i. 46-48. + + 248 Oliver W. Holmes. + + 249 Luke xi. 27. + + 250 Esther vi. 11. + + 251 Ps. cxxxviii. (In Protestant version, Ps. cxxxix.) + + 252 John xv. 14. + + 253 John xii. 26. + + 254 Ps. lxxxvi. + + 255 Judith xiii. + + 256 Eccles. xliii. _et seq._ + + 257 Luke i. + + 258 Ibid. + + 259 Luke i. 49. + + 260 Gen. xlviii. 16; Tobias xii. 12; Luke xv. 10; Zach. i. 12, 13. + + 261 Acts vii. 55. + + 262 II. Cor. xii. 4. + + 263 Luke ii. 51. + + 264 Longfellow's "Golden Legend." + + 265 Isaiah xlix. 15. + + 266 Heb. ii 11. + + 267 Luke xv. 7. + + 268 Luke xxii. 29, 30. + + 269 I. Cor. vi. + + 270 Longfellow's "Golden Legend." + + 271 Luke ii. 51. + + 272 Heb. i. 3. + + 273 Rom. viii. 29. + + 274 Sess. xxv. + + 275 Chap. xx. + + 276 Apoc. xxi. + + 277 III. Kings vi. + + 278 II. Kings vii. 2. + + 279 At the Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in the + _sanctuary of the chapel_, the portrait of an opulent benefactor + holds a conspicuous place. + + 280 Exod. xxv. 40. + + 281 Sess. xxv. + + 282 II. Mach. xii. 43-46. + + 283 Matt. xii. 32. + + 284 I. Cor. iii. 13-15. + + 285 De Monogam., n. x. + + 286 Euseb., B. iv., c. 71. + + 287 Catech., n. 9, 10, p. 328. + + 288 Apud Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 162 and seq. + + 289 See Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 176. + + 290 Ibid., p. 177. + + 291 Ibid., Vol. II. + + 292 Confessions, Book ix. + + 293 Jewish Prayer Book. Edited by Isaac Leeser, published by Slote & + Mooney, Philadelphia. + + 294 Act. I. + + 295 See Path of Holiness, Rivington's, London. Treasury of Devotion, + Ibid. Catechism of Theology, Masten, London. + + 296 Mark xii. 26, 27. + + 297 Apoc. xxi. 27. + + 298 Morte D'Arthur. + + 299 Eccles. xi. 1. + + 300 Vie de Fenelon. + + 301 Becanus, de Virtutibus Theologicis, c. 16, quaest. 4, No. 2. + + 302 Dr. Brownson, who was then a Protestant. + + 303 Bancroft's "History of the United States," Vol. I., ch. vii. 20th + Edition, 1864. + + 304 Bancroft's "History of the United States," Vol. I., ch. vii. + + 305 Bancroft's "History of the United States," Vol. I., ch. vii. Vide + Bacon's Laws. + + 306 Ibid. + + 307 Bancroft's "History of the United States," Vol. I., ch. vii. Vide + Bacon's Laws. + + 308 Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884. + + 309 Ibid., Chapter iii. + + 310 Ibid., Chap. v. + + 311 Ibid., Chap. xi. + + 312 Ibid. Chap. xi. + + 313 James Walter Thomas. + + 314 The original of Washington's reply is still preserved in the + Archives of the Baltimore Cathedral. + + 315 Ps. ii. + + 316 II. Tim. ii. 9. + + 317 II. Tim. iv. 2. + + 318 "Ferdinand and Isabella," Vol. III., p. 202. + + 319 Blue Laws. + + 320 For an impartial account of the Inquisition, the reader is referred + to the "Letters on the Spanish Inquisition," by the Count de + Maistre. + + 321 "The Ottoman and Spanish Empires," by Leopold Ranke. + + 322 Constitutional History; Elizabeth, Chap. III. + + 323 See Lingard, Vol. VII., pp. 244-5. + + 324 Macaulay's Essays, "Review of Nares' Memoirs of Lord Burleigh." + + 325 II. Cor. iii. 5. + + 326 Phil. ii. 13. + + 327 John xv. 5. + + 328 Acts ii. 38. + + 329 Matt. xxviii. 19. + + 330 See Wisdom ii. 23. + + 331 Rom. v. 12. + + 332 Eph. ii. 3. + + 333 Job xiv. 4. + + 334 Ps. l. 7. + + 335 Gen. iii. 15. + + 336 Gal. iv. 4, 5. + + 337 John iii. 5. + + 338 Acts xvi. 15. + + 339 Ibid. xvi. 33. + + 340 I. Cor. i. 16. + + 341 Lib. II. adr. Haer. + + 342 In Ep. ad Rom. + + 343 Epis. ad Fidum. + + 344 Apoc. xxi. 27. + + 345 Rom. xi. 33, 34. + + 346 Ezech. xxxvi. 25, 26. + + 347 Acts ii. 38. + + 348 Ibid. xxii. 16. + + 349 Gal. iii. 26, 27. + + 350 I. Cor. vi. 11. + + 351 Tit. iii. 3-7. + + 352 John v. + + 353 Acts ii. 41. + + 354 Acts viii. 14-17. + + 355 Acts xix. 5, 6. + + 356 Heb. vi. 1, 2. + + 357 II. Cor. i. 21. + + 358 Tract VI. in Ep. Joan. + + 359 De Resur. car. + + 360 Epist. lxxiii. + + 361 Cat. xxi. Mys. iii. De S. Chrism. + + 362 De Myst. cvii. n. 42. + + 363 Dial. adv. Lucifer. + + 364 L. II., contra lit. Petil. + + 365 Roman Pontifical. + + 366 II. Cor. x. 5. + + 367 John vi. 48-56. + + 368 John vi. 61. + + 369 Ibid. vi. 67. + + 370 John iii. + + 371 Matt. xvi. + + 372 John vi. 68, 69. + + 373 Matt. xxvi. 26-28. + + 374 Luke xxii. 19. + + 375 I. Cor. x. 16, and xi. 23-29. + + 376 See "Faith of Catholics." Vol. II. + + 377 John vi. 51, and seq. + + 378 Rom. vi. 9. + + 379 I. Cor. xi. 27. + + 380 Aug. De consec. dist. + + 381 De formula Missae. + + 382 Systema Theol., p. 250. + + 383 Acts ii. 42. + + 384 Ibid. xx. 7. + + 385 Alzog's Hist., Vol. I., p. 721. + + 386 Denziger, Rit. Orientales. + + 387 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 + _Independent_, of September 21, 1876, relates the following + incident: "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." + + 388 Gen. iv. + + 389 Gen. viii. + + 390 Ibid. xv. + + 391 Job. i. + + 392 Numb. xxviii. + + 393 II. Mac. xii. 43-46. + + 394 Heb. x. 4, 7. + + 395 Isaiah i. 11-13. + + 396 Mal. i. 10, 11. + + 397 I. Cor. xi. 23-26. + + 398 Heb. xiii. 10. + + 399 Ibid. vii. 12. + + 400 Ps. cix. 4; Heb. v. 6. + + 401 Gen. xiv. 18. + + 402 Heb. ix. 25. + + 403 Ibid. x. 11, 12. + + 404 I. John ii. 1, 2. + + 405 Heb. ix. 13, 14. + + 406 Heb. iv. 16. + + 407 John iv. 23, 24. + + 408 Dan. iii. 62, 63. Though this passage is omitted in the Protestant + Bible, it is retained in the Book of Common Prayer. + + 409 Psalm. xviii. 1. + + 410 Rom. xii. 1. + + 411 Matt. xxvi. + + 412 Ibid. xxi. + + 413 Ibid. xxvi. + + 414 Mark vii. + + 415 John xx. + + 416 Acts viii. + + 417 James v. + + 418 Apocalypse, passim. + + 419 II. Cor. iii. 9. + + 420 Isaiah xxix. 13. + + 421 Ibid. i. 72. + + 422 Ps. cl. + + 423 Joel ii. 13. + + 424 Ibid. ii. 15-17. + + 425 I. Cor. xiii. + + 426 Phil. ii. 10. + + 427 I. Tim. iv. 4. + + 428 Exod. xxv. 31, and seq. + + 429 Ps. cxl. + + 430 Exod. xxx. 7. + + 431 Luke i. 9, 10. + + 432 John xii. 6. + + 433 Exod. xxviii. 4. + + 434 Apoc. vii. 9, 10. + + 435 Matt. i. 21. + + 436 Matt. ix. 2. + + 437 John v. 14. + + 438 II. Cor. v. 18-20. + + 439 Matt. xvi. 18, 19. + + 440 Matt. xviii. 18. + + 441 John xx. 21-23. + + 442 Isaiah i. 18. + + 443 Acts xix. 18. + + 444 I. John i. 9. + + 445 In Reg. Brev., quaest, ccxxix., T. II., p. 492. + + 446 Ibid., cclxxxviii., p. 516. + + 447 See Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 74 and seq. + + 448 Apud Wiseman's Doctrines of the Church. + + 449 Hom. xx. + + 450 Sermo cccxcii. + + 451 Tom. vii. Comm. in Matt. + + 452 Lib. iii., De Sacerdotio. + + 453 Ibid., Hom. xx. + + 454 Comment in Eccles. + + 455 Comm. in Matt. + + 456 Lib. de Capt. Babyl. cap de Poenit. + + 457 See "A Catechism on the Church." By the Rev. C. S. Grueber, + Hambridge, Diocese of Bath and Wells. London: Palmer, 1870. + + 458 The Protestant Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina. + + 459 Ps. cxxxii. + + 460 The Ordering of Priests. + + 461 Mark ii. 7. + + 462 Matt. ix. 8. + + 463 John xx. + + 464 IV. Kings v. + + 465 Systema Theol. + + 466 Remarques sur l'Olympe. + + 467 Emile. + + 468 Heb. v. 2. + + 469 Luke xv. 32. + + 470 Num. xii. + + 471 II. Kings xii. + + 472 Matt. xvi. 19. + + 473 Ibid., xviii. 18. + + 474 I. Cor. v. 5. + + 475 II. Cor. ii. 6-10. + + 476 Articuli pro Clero, A.D. 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. + + 477 Vol. I. p. 214. + + 478 Ibid. + + 479 Byron. + + 480 Daniel iv. 24. + + 481 Acts x. 31. + + 482 Sess. xxv. Dec. de Indulgentia. + + 483 James v. 14, 15. + + 484 Homil. ii. in Levit. + + 485 Lib. iii. de Sacred. + + 486 Epist. xxv. ad Decentum. + + 487 Comment in locum. + + 488 Systema Theol., p. 280. + + 489 Lib. de Captiv. Babyl. + + 490 II. Cor. v. 20. + + 491 John xx. 21. + + 492 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. + + 493 Mark xvi. 15. + + 494 Matt. x. 14, 15. + + 495 Luke x. 16. + + 496 Paralip, xvi. 22. + + 497 John xv. 15. + + 498 Isaiah lii. 7. + + 499 I. Cor. iv. 1. + + 500 James v. 14. + + 501 I. Cor. iv. 15. + + 502 Apoc. xxi. 2. + + 503 Eph. iv. 11, 12. + + 504 Ps. cxlvii. 20. + + 505 Matt. xix. 27-29. + + 506 Luke x. 18, 20. + + 507 Wisd. vi. 6. + + 508 I. Pet. iv. 17. + + 509 I. Cor. iv. 7. + + 510 Cor. iii. 6, 7. + + 511 Malach. ii. 7. + + 512 Osee. iv. 6. + + 513 Isaiah lii. 11. + + 514 Rom. xii. 1. + + 515 Matt. xix. 12. + + 516 I. Cor. vii. 32, 33. + + 517 I. Cor. vii. 8. + + 518 Matt. xix. 27. + + 519 Ibid., xix. 29. + + 520 Tit. i. 8. + + 521 I. Tim. iv. 12. + + 522 II. Cor. vi. 46. + + 523 Ep. ad Pammach. + + 524 Adv. Jovin., lib. 1. + + 525 Adv. Vigilantium. + + 526 Haeres. 59, c. 4. + + 527 I. Kings xxi. + + 528 Exod. xix. + + 529 Page 239. + + 530 Essays, p. 17. + + 531 Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, March, 1868. + + 532 Marshall, Comedy of Convocation. + + 533 I. Cor. ix. 5. + + 534 I. Tim. iii. 2. + + 535 I. Tim. iv. 1-3. + + 536 Ephes. v. 25-32. + + 537 Sess. xxiv. + + 538 Matt. xix. 4-6. + + 539 Matt. xix. 3-9. + + 540 Mark x. 11, 12. + + 541 Luke xvi. 18. + + 542 I. Cor. vii. 10, 11. + + 543 Bossuet, Variations, Vol. 1. + + 544 Audin, p. 339. + + 545 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 "the + foolishness of God is wiser than men." And Wisdom has said: "I will + destroy the wisdom of the wise." (I. Cor. i.) + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS*** + + + +CREDITS + + +December 12, 2008 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Geoff Horton, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 27435.txt or 27435.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/4/3/27435/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works to protect the Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered +trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you +receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of +this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away +-- you may do practically _anything_ with public domain eBooks. +Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Gutenberg"), +you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. + + +General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works + + +1.A. + + +By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work, +you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the +terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) +agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this +agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee +for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work +and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may +obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set +forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + + +1.B. + + +"Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or +associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be +bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can +do with most Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works even without complying +with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are +a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works if you +follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + + +1.C. + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" or +PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual +work is in the public domain in the United States and you are located in +the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, +distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on +the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of +course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} mission of +promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for +keeping the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} name associated with the work. You can +easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License when you +share it without charge with others. + + +1.D. + + +The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you +can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant +state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of +your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before +downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating +derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work. +The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of +any work in any country outside the United States. + + +1.E. + + +Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + + +1.E.1. + + +The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access +to, the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License must appear prominently whenever +any copy of a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work (any work on which the phrase +"Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" +is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or +distributed: + + + 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 + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + + +1.E.2. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work is derived from the +public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with +permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and +distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or +charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you +must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 +or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + +1.E.3. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work is posted with the +permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply +with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed +by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License for all works posted with the permission of the +copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + + +1.E.4. + + +Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License +terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any +other work associated with Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~}. + + +1.E.5. + + +Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic +work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying +the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate +access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License. + + +1.E.6. + + +You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, +marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word +processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version posted +on the official Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} web site (http://www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form. +Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License as +specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + + +1.E.7. + + +Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, +copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works unless you comply +with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + +1.E.8. + + +You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or +distributing Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works provided that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation." + + You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works. + + You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works. + + +1.E.9. + + +If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic +work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this +agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the owner of the +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in +Section 3 below. + + +1.F. + + +1.F.1. + + +Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to +identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread public domain +works in creating the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} collection. Despite these +efforts, Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works, and the medium on which they +may be stored, may contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, +incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright +or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk +or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot +be read by your equipment. + + +1.F.2. + + +LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES -- Except for the "Right of +Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for +damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE +NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH +OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE +FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT +WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, +PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY +OF SUCH DAMAGE. + + +1.F.3. + + +LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND -- If you discover a defect in this +electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund +of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to +the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a +physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. +The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect +to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the +work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose +to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in +lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a +refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. + + +1.F.4. + + +Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in +paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + + +1.F.5. + + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the +exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or +limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state +applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make +the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state +law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement +shall not void the remaining provisions. + + +1.F.6. + + +INDEMNITY -- You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark +owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and +any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution +of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs +and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from +any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of +this or any Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work, and (c) any Defect +you cause. + + +Section 2. + + + Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} + + +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic +works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including +obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the +efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks +of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance +they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~}'s goals and ensuring +that the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} collection will remain freely available for +generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} and future generations. To learn more about the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations +can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation web page at +http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. + + + Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of +Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. +The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. +Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. Contributions to the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full +extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 North +1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact information +can be found at the Foundation's web site and official page at +http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. + + + Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive + Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment +including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are +particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. +Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable +effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these +requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not +received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or +determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have +not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against +accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us +with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the +United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation methods +and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including +checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please +visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. + + + General Information About Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with +anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} eBooks are often created from several printed editions, +all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright +notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance +with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, compressed +(zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over the +old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org + + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~}, including how +to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email +newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + + + + + +***FINIS*** +
\ No newline at end of file |