Edited by DANIEL A. LORD, S. J . , I A Dk l ,,_a. IS - ~~-:t~~~~ Otlte't titles in tltis se'ties THE 'HAll MARY AND THE ANGELUS by Daniel A. lord; S. J. THE lORD'S PRAYER AND THE BEATITUDES by Daniel A. lord, S. J. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS by Daniel A. lord, S. J. THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS by Daniel A. lord, . S. J. GOD'S WONDERFUL WORLD . by Daniel A. lord, S. J. GOD'S BEAUTIFUL TEN COMMANDMENTS by Daniel A. lord, S. J. I' THE STORY Or THE MASS - by Gerald Ellard, S; J. & Aloysius Heeg, S. J. HERE IS WHY I PRAY by Daniel A. lord, S. J. THE STORIES OF THE ANGElS by Daniel A. lord, S. J. STORIES OF THE APOSTlES by Daniel A. lord, S. J. THE STORY OF ST. JOSEPH by Daniel A. lord, S. J. Copyright 1 944 Daniel A. Lord, S.J. Printed in U.S.A. Nihil Obstat, John M . Fearns, S.T.D. Imprimatur + Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop, New York Cum permlSSU superiorum ~_'Jo"r"'" 1 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF YOUR SOUL by DANIEL A. LORD, S.]. ILLUSTRATED BY KATHERINE WIREMAN NEW YORK., NY. THE LIFE OF YOUR BODY Where did you get your life? You know that very well. You got it from God and your Mother and Father. How happy they were the day you were born. Father and Mother proudly said, "This is our little baby." They were both happy because they had given you your life. What keeps your body healthy and strong? You eat the right food and lots of it. Sometimes you are ill. . You get hurt while you are playing. Then Mother calls for the doctor. In no time at all, he makes you well again. "Keep well and healthy," the doctor says. "Grow strong and big, and you will be able to play and work." So you know that the life of your body is very precious. You take care of it. You want to live long and live happily. LET'S LOOK AHEAD Let's see some of the things that are gOll1g happen to you. You will go to school. You will study and learn a lot of things. All through your life, you will eat and drink the food you need. Some day when you are grown up , you will start your life's work. Probably you will marry. You will build a home. You will have your own children. Or you may become a priest .... or a doctor .... or a nun .. . . or a nurse .... or a soldier ... or a teacher. There will be times when you will be sick. You will have friends and you will love to with them. And then , a long time from now, you will grow old. In the end, you will die. Your body will be placed in the grave. But your soul will go on living forever and for- ever. And some day, your body 'Wi ll rise from the grave. And forever and forever, your body and soul will be living in eternity. How happy your parents were when you were born. "You will go to school." YOUR BODY AND YOUR SOUL You eat so that you will grow strong. You call for a doctor when you are ill. You go to school to learn how to be a success in life. Sometime in the future, you will pick your life work. . Sometime in the future, you may marry. In the end , your bod y will die. Our dear Lord is interested in all that you ever do. He is with you, helping you all the time. But He says, " Remember that you'r soul wi lllive forever. Take care of your body carefully. But take even more care of your soul." And He says, "I want to help you all through life. I \vant your soul to be strong and beautiful. I will help your soul as long as you live. "Here," He says, "are the helps you need all through life." What are those helps? They are the Sacraments, THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS God gavc us Seven Sacraments. They arc our scvcn great helps to make us happy and strong. The first is Baptism. We receive Baptism when we are little babies. The second is Confirmation. \Vc recci vc Con- firmation during school days. The third is Penance or Confession. We receive this ,,·hen we arc old enough to sin. Thc fottrth is the Holy Eucharist or Holy Com- munion. This is the food of our souls. The fifth is Holy Orders. This is the wonderful Sacrament that makes a man become a priest. The si:\th is :\Iatrimony. A man and woman recei,·c this when they get married. The seventh is E:\treme Unction. This is givcn to us before wc die. So from the timc we arc bo rn until we dic, the dcar Lord givcs us powerful helps. He wants our bodies to be strong and healthy. But He wants our precious souls to bc stronger still and to live with Him forcver in Heaven. You eat to grow strong. God gave us Seven Sacraments. BAPTISM You look like your Mother and Father. Through them God gave your body its life. But when you were a little baby, you were carried to Church. Water was poured over your head. The priest said, "I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Then something wonderful happened. God the Father leaned down and took you in His arms. He said, "Now this is My little baby." Your soul had been dead. Then, into your soul, God the Father poured His own life. Your soul became alive. We call that Sanctifying Grace. Your soul looked like God. It could do the things which God can do. It will live forever with God in heaven. And God said, "If My child is faithful good, some day I will bring him to heaven make him happy forever and forever." You were made a child of God by Baptism. God promised you a place in heaven forever. You are a little Christian child. For a long time you were a baby. You did not ink. You could not help yourself. You could not ommit sin. Then one day you knew you were growing up. Mother said, " How big you are getting!" Suddenly, you knew that it '\'as bad to disobey and sinful to be mean and nasty. You knew that you ought to be good and sweet and kind. Y ou ,nre going to school. You wanted to grow up and be strong. You " 'anted to knmy ,,-hat to do and ho,,' to do it. God sa id , "Come to Church once more." So you " Tnt and the Bishop met you there. He placed his hands upon your head. He rubbed your I forche3d ,,-i th ho l~' oil. What happened? God the Holy Ghost came upon you. He took up His place in yo ur soul. He is the Spirit of Wisdom and Love and Strength. He said, "I ,,-ill teach you what is right and help you 'to do it.~' He said~ "I will make you strong to resist evil rind rcmain good." He said. "I will help you to grow up to be a strong Christian. a soldier of Jesu s Christ, a wise person ,,-ith the COllrrlge to lead a good and success- fullife .n That ,,-as the Sacramcnt of Confirmation. - "I baptize you-" "He took up His place in your soul." PENANCE One day, yo u knew yo u ha d committed a sin. You had done something that hurt yo ur M other and Father, or perhap s yo u had been mean to yo ur playmates. But m os t of all , yo u knew that. yo u had hurt God . Y our precious soul w as sick. If th e sin was very bi g and very serious, your preci ous soul was dead. " ' hat could yo u do? Our dear L ord sa id to you, "Go to Confession." So you hu rried off to Confession. You examined your conscience to see wh at you had done that was si n f ul. You to ld God yo u were so rry. Y ou did not want to go to hell or to purgatory. You did not w ant to be ke pt out of heaven. Y ou did not want to nail Jesus Christ to the Cross. Then you told the priest exactly what yo u had done. He said , " I abso lve yo u fro m yo ur sins in the name of th e Father and of the Son and of the H oly G host. Amen. " Y ou came ou t from C onfession and said the penance which he gave you. And the si n was gone from your so ul. Your soul wa s we ll and st rong again. God had fo rgiven yo u yo u r si ns. He said , " Once mo re, you ;1.re My dear child ." That was the Sac rament of Penance. \Ve have to eat in order to live. If we do not eat, our bodies grow weak and sick and die. Our souls need food too. So ou r dcar Lord at the Last Supper took bread in His hands and said, "Take ye and eat, for this is My body." And the bread became His body. Now the time comes for our first Holy Communion. \Ve go up to the Communion rail. The priest says Mass. as our dear Lord commanded him to do. -Then he brings liS the small Host. It looks like bread . But it is our dear Lord Himself. For Christ said. "This is My body, this is My blood." \Ve recei\'c Holy Communion. We swallow the Host. And Jesus Christ is in our hearts. He gives us His strength . He makes us pure as He was pure. He hel ps us to grow strong and sweet and able to do our work and to resist sin. The word Eucharist means "The Good Gift." This is the Good Gift, because Christ gives Him- self to us. He is the food of our souls. He is our strength in danger and our joy sorro\\'. This is the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. "Go to confession." "And Jesus Christ is in our hearts." HOLY ORDERS God says, "I want fine young men to help My dear Son, Jesus Christ, say Mass. "I want strong young men to give the Sacraments to My people. "I want wise young men to preach and teach lVIy children." When our dear Lord was on earth, He chose young men like these. He called them His Apostles and Disciples. At the ,Last Supper, He said the First Mass and gave the First Communion. And then He made these young men His first priests. Today and always, other fine, strong, wise young men ask Christ to let them be priests too. They study long and hard. They try to be very good. They leave their homes in order to work for souls. Then one day, the Bishop comes. He lays his hands upon their heads. He gives them the power to say Mass. He gives them the power to forgive sins in Confession. He orders them to preach and teach and do good to everyone. He makes them priests of Jesus Christ. This is the Sacrament of Holy Orders. MATRIl\10NY When your Mother and Father "",ere yo ung, they grew to love each other very much. They wanted to be together as long as they lived. They wanted to have a lovely family. So they came to the altar. The priest met and blessed them. Your Father said that he wanted your Mother to be his wife. Your Mother said that she wanted your Father to be her husband . And they joined their hands and were married. Later on, you were born .. And perhaps you had - brothers and sisters too. Your Mother and Father became your parents. With God to help them, they brought children into the world. God loved them. God helped them. God was with them to make their life happy. For God wants little child ren born into the world. They are His children too and He loves them. So He blesses Fathers and .\lothers and their children . He gives them help to make thei r homes happy, to love each other all their days, to build a happy home and have a happy family. This is the Sacrament of :Matrimony. The Bishop lays his hands upon his head. "And they joined their hands and were married ." EXTREME UNCTION Extremc is the '\'ord that means last. Cnction is the \Yord that means rubbing with oil. Some day ,ye shall grow very sick. We shall knmy that soon ,yc must die. That may come at the end of a long life. That may happen very soon. At once ,yc send for the priest. He rubs our hands and feet with oil. He prays over us. He