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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, 
 Washincton, D. C, January lo, 1893. 
 Rev. Jas. L. Mea<;iikr: 
 
 Rev. and Dkak Father — I am requested by Mgr. Satolli, the Apos- 
 tolic Delegate, to thank you both for the letter and for the book, (Christ's 
 Kingdom), you have kindly addressed to him. He read with great 
 pleasure the sentiments expressed in your letter. He wants me also 
 to congratulate you as the author of the Work, which you have presented 
 to him. He said to me that he had already read part of it, and that what 
 he had read pleased him greatly, and made him think favorably of the 
 whole. 
 
 I am very glad. Rev. Dear Father, to convey you these congratu- 
 lations. Coming from such an authority, they will, I hope, encourage you 
 to compose many other works in the interest of religion and of the Church. 
 I hope also that you will accomplish the promise that you have made 
 to Dr. Bouquillon and to me at Montreal, to gratify us with a visit. 
 Wishing you a happy new year, I remain with respect, 
 
 Yours in Christ, 
 
 A. ORBAN. 
 
CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR OF THE READER'S HEART. 
 
St. Joseph's Provincial Seminaky. 
 
 Perlegi opus cui titulus : Christ's Kingdom on Earth, or, The Church and 
 Her Divine Constitution, Organization andFramework, Explained for the People, 
 by the Rev. J. L. Meagher, et nihil in eo reperi quod obstai, quoad Fidem et 
 Mores, quominus typis evulgetur, 
 
 Trcgae^ 9a JDecembi-is, 1891. 
 
 H. GABRIELS, Censor Deputatus. 
 
 Bishop of Ogdetisburg. 
 
 Imprimatur, 
 
 ■ii p. A. LUDDEN, 
 
 Bishop of Syracuse. 
 
 Imprimatur, ^^^^ Stack 
 
 ^ M. A. CORRIGAN, 
 
 Archbishop of New York. 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1891. 
 BY REV. JAMES L. MEAGHER 
 
 ALL BIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 Competent parties wishing to translate this and other books by the same 
 author into other languages are invited to write him at Cazenovia, N. Y., from 
 whom they may receive full authority and duplicates of the engravings. 
 
 Other "Works by the same Author : 
 Teaching Truth by Signs and Ceremonies, . . . 29th Edition. 
 
 The Festal Year, ...... 5th " 
 
 The Great Cathedrals and Churches, .... 2d " 
 
 The Seven Gates of Heaven on the Sacraments, 7th " 
 
 Man the Mirror of the Universe or the Agreement of Science and Religion. 
 

 Te^cL&e^ 
 
 ^tr^HERE never was and there never 
 r^^ will be on earth an institution, so 
 (^ wonderful and so wortliy of our 
 study as the Catholic Church. 
 She comes down from God the Son, as 
 he came from his eternal Fatlier, and: 
 coming to earth, she continues his work, 
 of redemption. She is the extension: 
 and the continuation of the atonement 
 of Christ. The Holy Spirit, coming 
 from Father and Son, comes down to 
 earth to form the church out of the scattered children of Adam^ 
 binding all christians into the Mystic Body of Christ. The Son, 
 her Head, the Holy Ghost, her Soul, the church penetrates to all 
 nations, teaching with the authority of God, redeeming every 
 member of the fallen race, raising up men weighted with sin, heal- 
 ing the diseases of society, preparing her members for the glories 
 of heaven. Happy the peoples who sit at her feet, listening to her 
 teachings, feeding on. her sacraments, dwelling in peace under her 
 laws. Bride of the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of his 
 members, the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God, formed of the 
 chosen people, she fills the world with the glories of her Founder, 
 In the following pages will be found complete explanations of 
 her divine constitution and her organization, which enabled her 
 to survive the numerous revolutions, which overturned every hu- 
 man institution of the ancient world, showing how she flows down 
 from the divine nature of " The Word of God." A careful study 
 of the following pages will show the reader that the divine con- 
 
 iii 
 
 127 
 
iv PEEFACE. 
 
 stitution of the church is a worthy work of God's only Begotten 
 Son. 
 
 In going through tliese years of research into the great writers, 
 we did not always give their names, lest it might load the book 
 with references, therefore we thought it better to cite only a 
 part of the chief authors in diverse languages, lest it niiglit re- 
 pel the reader. But we tried to make every tiling so plain that 
 the reader can read without an effort, and profit by the book. 
 
 After leaving no branch of learning untouched which might 
 throw light on the subject, we conclude that the See of Peter is 
 the "Rock" on which Christ built the whole church, that if it 
 were not for the Bishops of Rome, not a man on earth to-day 
 would believe in Christ or even in God. The Vatican council 
 gave the finishing touches to that wonderous organization, the 
 cljurch of God. Then all hail to Him who sits on Peter's 'J'lnone. 
 We but reflect the brightness of eternal Truth which shines forth 
 from our Jesus' Vicar, and the first step away from Him leads 
 farther and farther from God, till it ends in the destruction of the 
 whole framework of revelation in the mind of man. 
 
 Jas. L. Meagher. 
 
 Caaenovia, N. Y., Christmas, 1891. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Wonders of the church — "We are born of Christ — The church ever 
 the same — Why God created — Fall of the ano^els — Creation and 
 fall of man — How sin disturbed God's works — Why God had 
 mercy on us — The Incarnation — Adam's lost empire — Christ now 
 takes the place of Adam — The church Christ's empire — How we 
 are born of Christ — Politics and Reliifion — The Trinity the mod- 
 el of the church — The mission of Christ and of the Holy Ghost — 
 The live hierarchies of heaven and of the earth, &c.. 13-25 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 GOD IS THE HEAD OF CHRIST. 
 
 How Christ became the new Head of the human race — Why the 
 Father sent the Son — How Christ sent the apostles — Christ's 
 prayer for unity of his church — The wonders of the Incarnation — 
 Christ wishes all men to partake in his glories — The church one 
 
 1 
 
5J CONTENTS. 
 
 with Christ and by him one with the Persons of the Holy Trinity 
 — The Holy Ghost the Soul of the church — God rules Christ and 
 Christ rules the church — The mystery of the God-man explained 
 — The atonement of Christ — The grace of Christ flowing down on 
 the church — The church the mystic body of Christ — Christ as 
 head of the church — Christ the only Redeemer of mankind, &c. 26-40 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THE CHDRCH. 
 
 The Father generates the Son —The Father and Son give rise to the 
 Holy Ghost and the latter forms the church — Christ feeds and 
 the Spirit animates the church — Christ lays down the constitution 
 of the church — All Christ received from his Father he gave the 
 church — The parish and diocese coming from the universal church 
 as she comes from Christ, as the latter comes from his Father — 
 The glories ot the church— Union of the members of the church 
 through Christ — The clergy sending the Holy Ghost into the 
 souls of her members — The church reproducing the processions 
 of the Persons of God — Union of the church members — Union 
 of the episcopacy and of the clergy — Creation of new parishes 
 and dioceses— How clergy and laity are born of the church — 
 The clergy espoused to their churches — The sufferings of the 
 martyrs — The authority of the church, «&c 4l-5J> 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ETERNAL PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 
 
 Figures of Christ's Priesthood in the Old Testament — The eternal 
 High Priest of the human race — Ordination of the apostles — Sub- 
 stance and acts in creatures — Orders and jurisdiction in the church 
 — Christ offering his sacrifice to his Father — Christ giving his 
 priesthood to his clergy — Diverse ranks in hoh' orders — Christ ex- 
 ercising the order of porter, exorcist, reader, subdeacon, deacon, 
 priest and bishop — Christ gives his clergy the same powers — The 
 priesthood of Christ ever in act — In men holy ordeis is limited by 
 jurisdiction — The clergymen's titles to their churches — First was 
 the universal church, then the diocese, then the parish — Clergymen 
 first belong to the church universal, then to the diocese, then to 
 the parish — This is the foundation of their titles— The spouse 
 partakes in the dignity of her husband — The church has the au- 
 thority of Christ her spouse — Clergymen are the agents of Christ 
 and bind the latter by their ministry — Neither faith or morals 
 required in the minister — Christ and his clergy are one — Reasons 
 for addressing clergymen as Rev., Most Rev., «!cc. — The clergy 
 preach, sanctify and rule for Christ — Appointing delegates — Vic- 
 ars apostolic — The church governed by law — The nature of juris- 
 diction — The Priesthood of Christ will last forever— Ordination 
 of the clergy sent by Christ to do his work till he comes 
 ajiain, &c 60-78 
 
CONTENTS. 6 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHURCH TEACHING, SANCTIFYING AND GOVEKNING. 
 
 Jesus Christ the JProphet, Priest and King sends his clergymen as 
 teachers, sanctifiers and rulers — Civil governments compared to the 
 church— Christ's Priesthood given by holy orders — Clergymen as 
 teachers of the nations — What is truth ? — The constitution of the 
 church given by Christ — The church cannot change her doctrines 
 — The church is infallible — All truth'Christ received from the Fath- 
 er he gave the church to teach for him — She cannot teacli error — 
 The teaching Chair of the church — The church sanctifying souls 
 — What is holiness ? — The Sunday services — The wondrous works 
 of the sacraments — How the church differs from schools and col- 
 leges-How the clergy dispense the redemption of • Christ — The 
 nations first taught, then sanctified and governed— The church 
 governing her members — The church above all earthly powers su- 
 preme in spiritual things — The Bishop of Rome the Vicar of 
 Christ and Teacher of the church— The church has legislative, 
 judicial and executive powers over her own members — Effects of 
 rebellion against the church — The glories of the church foretold 
 by the prophets — How she teaches, sanctities, rules and civilizes 
 the nations of the earth, &c 79-98 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CHURCH IS ONE AND IIOI>Y. 
 
 The oneness of the Godhead revealed — One church of the Jews be- 
 fore the coming of Christ — One himian race — The church the 
 mystic body of Christ — His kingdom oft foretold — His spiritual 
 monarchy ruling the souls of men — All other chiu'ches are nation- 
 al — Origin of the Protestant churches — The divisions of Christi- 
 anity — The church the image of the Divinity — Necessity of union 
 in examples of other denominations — The Holy Spirit the bond 
 of union— The one church foretold in holy Writ — The judge of 
 faith and morals — We believe what the church teaches — The church 
 mentioned in the Old and New Testaments — How the diocese and 
 parish come forth from and live in the universal church — Politics 
 and religion — How the Holy Ghost unites the members of the 
 church — The church as the one living body of Christ — The church 
 bringing forth and nourishing her children — The unity of faith — 
 One God one church — The Spirit of Christ embracing the church 
 — Holiness of the church, &c 99-1 18 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 I'lIE CHUKCH IS UNIVERSAL AND APOSTOLIC. 
 
 Meaning of the word catholic — Universal regarding time and extent 
 — No change in the teachings of the church— She was the origin 
 of all constitutional governments — The church and civilization — 
 Extent of the church — She comes down from the apostles — Works 
 of the apostles — Meanings of the apostles' names— History of Sts. 
 Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, John, «fec. — Figures of the Evangel- 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 ists — Meaning of the word apostle — History of Sts. Andrew, 
 James, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Jude, Simon, Mathias 
 and Judas the Traitor, «&c 119-12ft 
 
 The Universal Chureh. 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 Christ's vicar on earth. 
 
 Christ founds his church in the persons of his apostles, ministers 
 and converts — As a wise statesman he appoints his prime minister 
 — The apostles in holy orders were equal and required a head — 
 The nature of a vicar — The vicar-geueral in the diocese and in the 
 universal church — -Christ did not lower the bishops by appointing 
 one over them — Christ founding the Papacy in Peter — Simon's 
 name changed to Peter — " The Rock " — Peter receives the Keys 
 — Christ made Peter one with him in the government of the 
 church — Peter is commissioned to " confirm " his brethren — Ex- 
 planation of the Greek text — The apostles went fishing — Peter 
 three times told to " Feed " the members of his church — The word 
 " Phileo " — The words St. John wrote in Greek explained — In 
 no other place did God repeat three times his words — The words 
 "Feed my lambs, Feed my sheep" — In giving the care of his 
 church to Peter Christ used not the same expression twice — The 
 first '* Feed my Lamb-folds " — The next "Govern my Sheepfolds " 
 the last " Feed my Sheep-folds" — The Greek words in which St. 
 John wrote his Gospel — Christ foretells the crucifixion of St. Peter 
 at Rome — His eternal See where the Papacy remains till our day 
 — Peter ever a])pears as the first among the apostles — The power 
 and the Primacy of Peter overshadowing the other dioceses — 
 Spiritual and civil powers — The human and divine elements in the 
 church — The private and public lives of the clergy — The other 
 apostles were the heads of holy orders, having authority over the 
 sacraments and the true body of Christ— To Peter Chri.stalso gave 
 jurisdiction over his mystic body his holy church — Christ and his 
 Vicar are one authority — Christ the head of each diocese — Nature 
 of the supremacy given to Peter — The Papacy founded on Peter 
 must last till the end — The apostles as universal bishops with Peter 
 as their head — The Papacy keeps the church united — Wife and 
 husband are one flesh and authority — Peter and the Roman church 
 one — The universal dominion of Rome foretold in the Roman em- 
 pire before Christ — Christ, heir of David and Solomon by his Vic- 
 ar now rules his universal church — Foundation of the Roman 
 empire as a preparation for the J'apacy — Peter at Antioch where 
 he founded the Maronite Rite — Peter established the patriarchal 
 sees of Alexandria and of Antioch — Peter over the other sees in 
 the apostolic age, &c 129-150 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Peter's throne. 
 
 The constitutions of nations— How Christ founded the constitution 
 of the church — A congress ir.aking laws — A congress of bishops 
 could not rule the church — Why the apostles wrote but little — 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 The works of the great fathers of the church — The oishops ia 
 council — Peter comes to Home — Sts. John, Paul andJames ruling 
 churches — Supremacy of Peter's See — Hennas' book — Testimony 
 of Sts. Ignatius, Polycarp, Ireneus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, 
 Athanasius and the bishops of Egypt — What the apostolic fathers 
 say al)out Peter — St. Augustin on the Papacy — The community 
 he founded at Hippo — The Cyrils, Theodoret and the early coun- 
 cils—Remarkable proofs of Peter's authority — The African 
 churches — The testimony of the Eastern churches — Jerusalem 
 sends for help to Uome — The errors of Phyrus — St. Boniface first 
 apostle of Germany — The English church — In the time of Charle- 
 magne — The church in France — Hincmar, Raban Maur, and oth- 
 ers — The first council of the apostles at Jerusalem — The first coun- 
 cil at Nice in 325 — The first council at Constantinople — The 
 council at Ephesus in 431 — Eutyches the heretic condemned in 
 451 — The second council at Constantinople — The next council at 
 the same city — The Iraagebreakers — The fourth council at Constan- 
 tinople against Photius — The "Libellus" of Pope Adrian — Sts. 
 Leo and Chrystom on Rome, &c 151-176 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE TEACHER ANP KULER OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The teacher of faith and morals — Dogmatic and moral theology — 
 The Bible a book of faith and morals — The Son enlightens the 
 mind, the Holy Spirit rules the will — The bishops are the teachers 
 of faith and morals — The Bishop of Rome is their teacher— The 
 Pope in his public and private life — In what the Pope is not 
 infallible — Meaning of infallibility — Private interpretation of the 
 Scriptures — The Church teaches through her head animated by 
 the Holy Spirit — Bishops and priests reflect his teachings — Peter 
 still teaching, sanctifying and ruling Christ's mystic body — How 
 doctrines are examined — The Pa])acy defines the constitution of 
 the church — What are morals? — The Pope as heir of Peter teaches 
 the whole church — What is faith? — The supernatural virtues of 
 faith, hope and charity — How we believe what the church 
 teaches — The clergy teach only the doctrines of the church — 
 Each Protestant preacher teaches his private opinions — What is 
 the Mass? — The church is Christ's empire of redeemed souls- 
 Ancient empires were images of her — Civil government rules only 
 exterior actions — The church rules the souls of men — The bish- 
 ops at Nice, at Florence, Trent and at the Vatican — The 
 church like a monarchy — A republicof which Jesus is the king — 
 Meaning of the words Roman Catholic — The capital of Christ's 
 Kingdom — Could the Papacy be removed from Rome? — The 
 Bishops of Rome before the council of Nice — Words of the early 
 fathers — Acts of a Roman emperor in the third century — The 
 great bishop of Milan— The bishops at Aquilia, Antioch, &c. — 
 The Arian heresy denies the Divinity of Christ — St. Jerome at 
 Bethlehem — Pope Zozimus teaches the bishops of Africa — The 
 learned bishop of Hippo — The bishops at Melevit — The Ephesian 
 council — The monarch of religion — What the schismatics hold — 
 Constantine moves his empire to Byzantium and founds Contanti- 
 
6 CONTEXTS. 
 
 nople — The council of Chalcedon — The Popes ruling the East — 
 How they deposed the bishops of the most famous sees —Early 
 appeals to Home — The Popes teaching the other bisho])s of the 
 early Church — Popes dispensing in her universal laws and pun- 
 ishing the disobedient — The Pope is over the laws of the 
 church, but he too must obey her constitution, founded or re- 
 vealed by Christ, &c 177-208 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FIKST BrSHOPS OF ROME. 
 
 The first Bishops of Rome were the intellectual lights of the whole 
 church — All important measures which spread to the whole 
 church came from them — They first founded the parishes in 
 Rome and the nuptial Mass — They beautified the Sunday services, 
 — Condemned errors which led to the denial of the Divinity of 
 Christ,— Ordered Advent and Lent to be kept each year,— Con- 
 demned Cerdo — Incorporated strange clergymen into the Roman 
 diocese, — Sent missionaries to Brittany and other nations, — Com- 
 manded tho clergy to shave, — Laid down regulations for nuns, — 
 Marked the times for the ordination of the clergy, — Reserved ap- 
 peals to the Roman courts, — Established the Quarter Tenses, — 
 Regulated the oiTerings of the people, — Nominated seven deacons 
 for the seven regions of Rome, — Forbade vestments worn except 
 during the services, — Decided against the bishops of Africa that 
 lay-baptism was valid, — Defined the doctrine relating to the 
 Trinity, — That Mass should be said only over the martyr's re- 
 mains, — Re organized the 25 parishes of the city of which the 
 pastors were called cardinals, — Condemned the Donatists, — For- 
 bade fasting oq Sundays and Thursdays, — Excommunicated Arius, 
 who denied Christ's Divinity, — Upheld Athanasius of Alexandria 
 against the Arians, — Deposed Arian bishops and appointed cath- 
 olic bishops to their sees, — Called the bishops to councils and 
 presided by themselves or by their legates, — Ruled the whole 
 church from the days of Peter to the X century, &c 209-267 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS, THE SENATE OF 
 THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. 
 
 Peter came to Rome and made her his spouse to aid him in liis uni- 
 versal government of the church — When he was crucified Rome 
 became his heir — The Bishop of Rome the heir of Peter's author- 
 ity — The cardinals are the advisers, the councillors of the Pope — 
 Origin of the cardinals — Meaning of the word cardinal —The 
 Presbytery of the Roman church— The six cardinal bishops 
 — The 50 cardinal priests — The seven cardinal deacons — The 
 cardinals are the pastors of the Roman diocese — The six cardi- 
 nal bishops — The corporate body of cardinals — The venerable 
 senate of cardinals helping the Pope in his government of the 
 church — The election of cardinals — The reception of new mem- 
 bers—Who are made cardinals ?— The senate advises the Vope, 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 administers the church during a vacancy, and elects his successor 
 — The cardinals at the death of the Pope — Ceremonies when the 
 Pope dies — Preparing for the election— Arranging for the conclave 
 -The senate enclosed — Preparing to vote for a Pope — Manner of 
 casting the ballots — Rules relating to the election — The ballots- 
 How the ballots are cast and counted — Asking the consent of the 
 candidate— The nevF Pope at his election — The caronation cere- 
 monies—Taking possession of the church of St. John Latern 
 &c 267- 288 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 THE ROMAN CONGUKGATIONS, GOVERNMENT BUREAUS, EMBASSADORS, 
 LEGATES, VICARS APOSTOLIC, NOTARIES, &C. 
 
 Antiquity and dignity of the Roman congregations — The ancient 
 presbytery of the Roman church aiding the Pope — A consistory 
 — The business before the Roman courts — Prelates and curials — 
 The congregations of the holy office of the index — Of the council 
 of Trent — The congregation of rites — Of bishops and regulars — 
 The congregation of Propaganda — Of indulgences and relics — The 
 penetentiary and the rota — Tiie Apostolic chancery office — The 
 secretary of state— Apostolic legates — Ablegates, Nuncies, Embas- 
 sadors, Vicars Apostlolic, &c 289-300 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES AND ARCHBISHOPS. 
 
 Complete jurisdiction given to Peter — Archbishops, primates 
 and patriarchs, branches of the Papacy — Their origin — The two 
 Archbishops established by Peter — Antioch and Alexandria next 
 after Rome — In the early church — Constantinople jealous of Alex- 
 andria — Bishops over bishops in the early church — History of the 
 patriarchal sees of antiquity — Metropolitans — The chief churches 
 after Rome — The patriarchal sees of the present time — Meaning of 
 the word jiatriarch — "The forms of Peter impressed on the 
 whole church " — The nature of dioceses over others — How they 
 elected and consecrated bishops — The clergy of metropolitan sees 
 over the other clergy of the province — Branches of the Papacy 
 partaking in the Primacy of Peter — ^Papal delegations in the 
 early church — Primates in the middle ages — The patriarchs of the 
 oriental rites at the present time — The first bishops of America 
 — Meaning of the patriarchate — The acient councils on the patri- 
 archs — Primates and archbishops — Their powers regulated by 
 canon law — Cases on appeal before them — The primate — Nature 
 of the office of primate — The archbishop's powers now more re- 
 stricted — His duties defined by canon law — The pallium, archie- 
 piscopal cross, &c 301 -322 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BISHOPS AS PASTORS OP THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. 
 
 The universal church as the diocese of Christ of which the other 
 bishops are pastors— The bishops as pastors of the universal 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 church — The Roman diocese only immortal — How the apostles 
 founded dioceses — The Papacy sending missionaries to all pagan 
 nations — Missionary countries subject direct to Rome — How 
 dioceses are established — Bishops have a radical jurisdiction over 
 the whole church but subject to Peter — Dignity of bishops — 
 Why one bishop is over others — Ancient episcopal deans — Senior 
 bishops — The image of the Trinity — The bishop's mission — Epis- 
 copal jurisdiction — The fulness of jurisdiction only in the Bishop 
 of Rome— Who elects bishops? — Appointment of bishops in the 
 early church — The bishop a complete priest can consecrate 
 another bishop — Only Rome can give jurisdiction — Consecra- 
 tion of bishops in the early church — Jurisdiction of bis- 
 hops in the first ages — The schism of the Greek church — The 
 bishops of Rome gave jurisdiction to all bishops in all ages of 
 the christian religion 323-345 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BISHOPS GATHERED IN COUNCIL. 
 
 The Son the Council of the Father in heaven — The council of the 
 Jewish church — A council a congress of the whole church — 
 Object of councils — They cannot define new doctrines — Only 
 bishops are members of the congress — Ecumenical councils— The 
 Pope alone can call, preside over and ratify the proceedings of 
 councils — Every bishop in union with Rome has a right to take 
 part — They are the pastors of the universal church — All bishops 
 are equal in the councils — As teachers of faith and morals all vote 
 - Bishops of old sees are the witnesses of the traditions of their 
 churches — The Pope alone personally or by his legates confirms 
 the decrees — A papal confirmation may extend decrees of any 
 partial council to the whole church — General, national and pro- 
 vincial councils — In what they differ— Decisions of all councils 
 must be reviewed by Rome — A diocesan synod — The celebrated 
 council held in Africa — Episcopal deans and prothonotaries 
 in the early church — Patriarchs, primates and archbishops pre- 
 siding over plenary and provincial councils— When councils 
 should be held, «fec 346-361 
 
 The Particular Church or Diocese. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HISTOUY OK THE DIOCESE. 
 
 St John the Apostle established the church services — The diocese 
 in the apostolic age— Formation of the Liturgies — Charity of the 
 apostolic converts- The bishop and the presbytery formed a court - 
 Description of a church in the days of the apostles — Piety of the 
 early christians — Prominence of the Bishop of Rome — The con- 
 version of Europe — The selection of the clergy — The establish- 
 
CONTENTS. ' 9 
 
 ment of schools — The incursions of the barbarians — They des- 
 troyed the Roman empire — The church converts Europe the 
 second time— The clergy the saviours of society — The Popes 
 taught the world civilization— Rise of the temporal power of the 
 church — Famous churchmen — Founding the great Universities — 
 The constitution of the diocese defined in canon law — The origin 
 of the aristocrats and nobles from robber captains — The church 
 protects the poor — The feudal system — The formation of chris- 
 tian nations — The governments claimed the right of ajjpointing 
 the clergy— Gregory VII. and ITenery IV. of Germany — The 
 golden epoch of Christianity — Building the great cathedrals — 
 Converting the nobility — Establishing the parishes — Rome teach- 
 ing the world — The epoch of the great writers of the church — 
 The conquests of the Turks— Relaxing of discipline— Officials 
 of the diocese — Adopting strange clergymen — Causes of tne ref- 
 ormation — Establishing the religious orders — The reforms of the 
 council of Trent — Wonderful religious activity of modern 
 times, &c 362-387 
 
 CHAPTER XVm. 
 
 THE DIOCESE OF ROME. 
 
 Rome the eternal city becomes the seat of the Papacy — Other dio- 
 ceses liable to fall — The Mother of churches — Christ's Vicar- 
 General on earth — Meaning of the Pope's tiara — How Christ 
 established the church universal — The Pope the model bishop — 
 The Pope above the church but cannot claange her constitution 
 given by Christ — Peter was the " Rock," one with Christ the 
 " Rock of Ages " — Pilate's letter about the death of Christ — Peter 
 comes to Rome — Converts Pudens and his family — Simon Magus 
 and his errors — Nero the emperor — Corruption of the Roman 
 Court — Simon the Magician persecutes Peter and Paul —Many 
 converts — The great disputes between Sts. Peter, Paul and 
 Simon Magus, who claims to be the Son of God — Death of 
 Simon — Sts. Peter and Paul put to death at Rome — Visits to 
 their tombs — The common law of the church coming from the 
 Bishops of Rome — The Popes gave laws to Europe — The clergy 
 from Rome teaching the nations — The official books of the Rom- 
 an diocese — Church architecture, &c 890-405 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE ELECTION OP BISHOPS. 
 
 Election of the apostles — Laymen taking part in the early church 
 — How the apostles elected bishops — St. Cyprian says by apos- 
 tolic tradition the clergy elect their bishop, and the bishops 
 consecrate him — The Popes and councils on the election of bish- 
 ops — Role of the archbishops and bishops— A vacancy of a 
 diocese — The visitor bishop — Manner of voting— Examination of 
 the candidate — The way the great fathers of the church were 
 elected — Interference of governments — Princes abuse their veto 
 
10 CO]S^TENTS. 
 
 power — Election of bishops in the middle ages — The election of 
 archbishops — Kings selling episcopal sees stopped by Gregory 
 VII — Rulers usurp concessions given the laity — Abuses con- 
 demned — The cathedral chapter — Confirmation of bishops re- 
 served to the Pope — The oath the bishop lakes at consecration — 
 Patriarchs, primates and archbishops as ])apal delegates— Con- 
 firming the election of the bishops of tlie East — Elections in 
 Europe reserved to the Pope — The first archepiscopal sees of 
 Europe — Establishing the hierarchy in England — Archbishops 
 and primates act and consecrate in the name of the Bishop of 
 Rome— Election and consecration of archbishops at the present 
 time — The Bishops of liome ever reserved the right of rejecting 
 unworthy candidates— Historic facts — Rome first .appointed all 
 the episcopal sees of Europe — St. Augustine in England, St. 
 Patricli in Ireland — The archbishops of Thessalonica and others 
 became the apostolic delegates — The Bishops of Rome confirmed 
 or rejected the candidates for the historic sees — Bishops when 
 elected by the laity and clergy of the diocese — A bishop elected by 
 the clergy and laity forbidden to be consecrated in the early 
 church — From the apostolic aoe the laity proposed the candidate, 
 the clergy of the diocese voted for him, the archbishop or patri- 
 arch with the bishops of the province confirmed and consecrated 
 him acting as the delegates of the Roman See — Manner of selecting 
 bishops at the present time — Proceedings at Rome for the confir- 
 mation of bishops, &c 405-429 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE BISHOP AND THE DIOCESE. 
 
 The bishop coming down from the universal church into his dio- 
 cese — How the bishop was named in the early church — Bishops 
 are superior to priests — Bishops have both external and internal 
 jurisdiction — Only a bishop can ordain priests and confirm — The 
 bishops are the successors of the apostles — Each diocese ruled 
 by a bishop— The bishop is a complete high-priest — Is the epis- 
 copacy a sacrament? — Regular bishops of their diocese and vicars 
 apostolic— The jurisdiction of bishops in their dioceses — Christ 
 the head of the diocese— How one bishop is over others — Tlie 
 perfections of the diocese in the bisho|) — The bishop brings the 
 perfections of the universal church into his diocese — The bishop 
 married to the diocese— Christ as head of the diocese — The bish- 
 op should be a saint — The diocese surrounding the bishop--The 
 government of the diocese compared to civil governments — Fal- 
 len dioceses still live in the persons of their titular bishops — The 
 church universal represented by the diocese — The bishop bring- 
 ing forth his sons, his clergymen of the diocese — The mission of 
 the bishop — The bishop as the teacher of the diocese — The bish- 
 op as the sanctifier of the diocese— The bishop pontificating at 
 the altar — The beauties of the liturgy — The diocese an image of 
 heaven — The Latin rite— The bishop sending the Holy Ghost— 
 The bishop the ruler of the whole diocese according to the com- 
 mon law of the church, «&c 429-455 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 THE bishop's duties AND OBLIGATIONS. 
 
 Members of the hierarchies corning down to rule their churches — 
 The relations of the bishop to the cathedral parish — The Papacy, 
 the episcopacy, the priesthood — Custom makes law — What bish- 
 op defines matters of faith and morals ? — Papal laws in the dio- 
 cese — What is a dispensation ? — In what laws the bishop can 
 dispense— Fasting, abstinence, work on Sundays — The bishop's 
 powers relating to church services — Interference of civil govern- 
 ments — The bishop's powers regarding liturgical books, church 
 music, chapels, oratories, &c. — The sacrament of marriage — Im- 
 pediments of marriage — The bishop and the clergy of the diocese 
 — Dimissoral letters — The support of the clergy- — The education 
 of the clergy — Ordination and confirmation — Papal and episco- 
 pal reservations — The faculties of the diocese— The religious 
 orders in the diocese— The dispensations from vows — The 
 ordination titles — Strange priests coming into the diocese — 
 Indulgences— Offerings for the sacraments — Ap])oint.ing assistants 
 — Clerical dress, vestments, &c 457-477 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHAPTEK, THE SENATE OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 « 
 
 The apostles established the presbytery of the diocese — The ancient 
 fathers of the presbytery — The presbytery of the apostolic age 
 formed of ])riests and deacons — Twelve priests and seven deacons 
 — The bishop administered the whole diocese — How the apostles 
 founded churches — The cathedral, the mother church of ttie 
 whole diocese — The bishops of the early church did nothing 
 without consulting their presbytery — The senate of the diocese 
 in the early ages — Divisions between the bishops and chapters — 
 The cathedral chapter — Rome regulates their duties — The cathe- 
 dral chapter a corporate body of clergymen — The rural dean and 
 his office — Origin of the archdeacon and his duties — Head of the 
 deacons, he was often the bishop's vicar — The archpriest — The 
 teacher of the Bible — The penitentiary — The bishop's court — 
 The duties of each member of the chapter — The celebrated chap- 
 ter of Lincoln cathedral, England — The first chapter of Montreal 
 — The chapter as a senate aids the bishop in his administration 
 of the dioceses, and attends him on ceremonies — Singing the 
 divine office — The place where they meet — The chapter as a sen- 
 ate — The chairman of the senate — The duties of the senate — The 
 bishop must get the advice of the senate and follow their advice 
 in important matters — Separate from the bishop they have not 
 authority in the diocese— They have over their own members 
 — Enactments of the senate must be signed by the bishop — The 
 chapter gets their powers from the common law — Bishop and sen- 
 ate together administer the diocese — The chapter admonishes 
 the bishop of his faults — The administration of seminaries — Can- 
 onical vestments — The chapter during a vacancy of the see — The 
 chapter appoints an administrator of the diocese — The bishop's 
 council in the U. S., &c 477-502 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE PARISH PRIEST. 
 
 The diocese was first called a parish — Before the IV. century the 
 bishop administered the whole diocese as a large parish — Parish- 
 es began first in Rome and then in Alexandria — Country purishes 
 established in the IV. century — City parishes founded in the X. 
 century — Before this the archpriest as vicar of the bishop admin- 
 istered the country parts of the diocese — Were the seventy-two 
 disciples priests? — Errors of the University of the Sorbonne — 
 The ancient presbytery of the diocese aided the bishop — 
 They administered the sacraments in the name of the bishop — 
 The errors of Aerius — The parish is an imperfect church — The 
 Jansenist's errors regarding parish priests and bishops — Parish 
 priests have only internal jurisdiction — They cannot excommuni- 
 cate like bishops — Meaning of the word parish — Parish priests 
 have the care of souls iu their own name — A parish must have 
 but one rector — The common law gives the rectors their rights — 
 The trial of rectors in this country — Who appoints pastors ? — 
 The clergy are first missionaries, then they become pastors — The 
 Pope can suppress all dioceses and parishes in any country — 
 Tl)e appointment of all oflacers in the church — The selection of 
 rectors for vacant parishes — Monsignors, apostolic, Lotaries, etc. 
 — TJie removal of pastors only for cause given in the law — 
 Assistant pastors — Pastoral rights regarding the sacraments — 
 Marriage laws — The offerings of the people — Financial reports — 
 Baptismal and marriage records — Duties of the pastor relating to 
 his people, &c 503-520 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 
 
 The religious orders not essential to the church — The precepts and 
 counsels of the Gospel — The whole church follows the commands 
 of Christ, while the religious orders follow also his advices — 
 The religious state the perfection of the christian — The religious 
 orders strive for perfection — The three chief passions of the soul 
 — The three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience— The 
 property of the religious orders — Their mode of living — They 
 die to the world and live for God — The religious orders founded 
 on the holiness of the church — Our Lord gave them the example 
 — The hermits and religious of the early church — The great 
 fathers of the church were the religious of that epoch — TTie 
 dioceses and the monasteries of the early church — The secular 
 and the resrular clergy — The religious orders belong to the 
 diocese of Home — The approval of religious orders — The novi- 
 tiate — Breaking their vows and rules — Leaving the community — 
 A reliifious vocation — Solemn and simple vows — The three vows 
 of religious — They ciin administer the sacraments to their own 
 members in every diocese, but not to the clergy or laity without 
 the consent of the bishop — The religious men of ancient Egypt — 
 
CONTENTS. . 13 
 
 St. Antony the father of monks — Where they built the great 
 monasteries — The hiy brothers — The monk's title at ordination — 
 The Mohammedans drove the monks to Europe — The monks 
 unite into associations for mutual protection — St. Augustine es- 
 tablishes a house of monks at Hippo-^The community founded 
 by St. Benedict — St. Francis and his followers — The Jesuits, 
 Dominicans, Lazarists, Christian Brothers, and other religious 
 orders, &c 551-564 
 

^- .■^■^■ 
 
 OAii: ^Mtll me gentle reader and 
 I A\ill show you the Church 
 of God, the Mother of Christ's 
 chiklren, the bone of his bone and 
 flesh of liis flesh,' she was born of 
 him in the waters of baptism and 
 blood of redemption, when Christ 
 slept the sleep of death upon the 
 cross. ° Let ns see the spouse of 
 Christ, who brings us forth, as the 
 " sons of God." ^ " Come and I will 
 show thee the bride, the wife of the 
 Lamb." " 
 
 Together we will study her di- 
 vine constitution, her structure, her 
 organization, her framework, her 
 head, her different officials, her 
 rulers and her way of bringing forth her children to Christ her 
 husband. We will see that wonderful structure built by the 
 Son of God, that '' House of God,"' that ''Kingdom without 
 end," " that universal empire of God founded by Christ to unite and 
 to regenerate the human race. 
 
 Sutter fopjusKce salte. 
 
 18 'to imitate J.C> on. earth, aad to mentto 
 
 reio-a-wdlh Min.in.1ieaveiL. 
 
 ] Gen. 11., 23. 
 Apoc. xxi., 9. 
 
 2 John xlx., 34. 
 6 Matt, xii., 4. 
 
 3 John t., 12. 
 « Luke 1., 33. 
 
THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 
 
THE BEIDE OF CHRIST. 15 
 
 Other writers seemed to have stood as it were on the outside, ap- 
 pearing reluctant to enter that holy ground, and they described 
 her from afar. We will go inside, and penetrating into the Holy of 
 Holies within her, we will describe her wonderous beauties and 
 perfections, so that the simplest child may see and love its Mother 
 espoused to our Father, Jesus Christ, our blessed Redeemer.' 
 
 " The holy Catholic Church is the beginning and the end of all 
 things." ^ Her history fills the ages with the glory of her works. 
 From the dawn of creation to the day of Christ, the Old Testament 
 was a preparation for her coming, till the end of time all men born 
 upon this earth will be hallowed by her presence. She alone will 
 pass through all future ages, nations, peoples, arts, sciences, homes, 
 hearts. She wall stand by, blessing, refining and giving to each in- 
 dividual, family, discovery, tribe, and nation her supernatural life 
 and her providential blessing. But that is not all. After the last 
 day, the Grod of eternity awaits her to reward her with his everlast- 
 ing rest. Upheld by Christ, her head, the Church floats over the 
 ever changing ocean of human events, tossed by the storms of error, 
 persecuted by the frenzy floods of human passion, or impious men, 
 attacked on every side, she still remains the guardian of true re- 
 ligion, and still " she keeps the deposit of faith/' which Christ 
 gave to the apostles.^ 
 
 True ark of Noe,* she floats for a time over the waters of false 
 teaching, till revolutions roused by human passions sweep by, whea 
 the individuals saved in the Church come forth and people the- 
 earth with her truths of salvation. Ark of the covenant,^ she heals, 
 the spiritual diseases of men, and raises up everywhere our fallen 
 human nature bent by sin. Lucifer and his angels still rise against, 
 her and always try to destroy her, but like her head she is im- 
 mortal, for of her Jesus said; " The gates of hell shall not prevail' 
 against her."® 
 
 Of human organizations she alone remains unchanged. Govern- 
 ments, politics, customs, manners, laws, languages change from 
 age to age, while she remains eternal as the everlasting truths she 
 preaches, living on earth an image of the changeless God, who made 
 her like unto himself, differing from all worldly institutions, she 
 alone cannot change, for she is an image of the Holy Trinity. 
 Not a human institution on the face of the globe but which is 
 young compared to the Church. No society, royal family, govern- 
 ment, organized body of men but began yesterday compared to the 
 Church. She lived to see the rise and fall of all the governments 
 and institutions, which rose and lived since the time of Christ, and 
 she will stand by at the death and burial of every government 
 and human institution of to-day. We live amid the ever-changing 
 world around us. The Church alone stands aloft still young, 
 and looks down on the crumbling ruins of systems, teachings, states, 
 institutions buried in the past, her feet on earth, Christ her 
 head in heaven, eternal years are hers, smiling with the face of 
 
 1 Ephes., V. 23-33. 2 gj. Epiph. Adv. Haer. L. I. C. ^ i_ Tim., vl., 20. 
 
 * Gen., vil. 6 Exod., xxv. « Matt., xvi., 18. 
 
16 THE BRIDE OF CHRIST. 
 
 everlasting youth, she is to-day stronger than ever before, and still 
 she wears the diadem of truth, holiness, peace, beauty and divinity. 
 
 What is the Catholic Church? The Church is Christ himself. 
 She is his " mystic body,^' * his spouse," " his fulness," ' his *'com- 
 pleteness.* 
 
 The Church is Christ. The Church and Christ form one being. 
 •"And these three are one."* With him .she is "the beginning 
 and the end of all." " " In him all things were made and without 
 him was nothing created in heaven and on earth. ... all things 
 were created by him and in him." ' Christ is the * Church and 
 the Church is Christ. " He is the head of the body, the Church." 
 She is his body. " He is the head of the body, the Church. . . . 
 that in all things he may hold the primacy." 
 
 Let us explain. Three times God came forth from the dwel- 
 ling of his eternity and acted in time, — at the creation of the 
 angels at the creation of man and at the Incarnation. 
 
 In eternity, the three adorable Persons of the Trinity dwelled 
 alone, clothed with all the infathomable perfections of the Godhead 
 — but they wished to show their glories and their perfections to in- 
 tellectual and reasonable creatures made like unto themselves; for 
 that they created the angels, one above another, forming nine 
 heavenly choirs, each a complete race or species in himself,'" each 
 individual angel having lights and graces according to his wants 
 and nature. While two-thirds of the angelic hosts remained faithful, 
 the others rebelled, and with a mighty crash they fell away from God 
 and plunged themselves into the bottomless pit of that intellectual 
 darkness and the endless horrors of the loss of God. Thus the first 
 sin of the angels disturbed the wonderous works of the Creator. 
 
 But God will not be frustrated in his works. For the second time 
 coming forth from his eternity, he made this material world of 
 suns, and stars, and planets; he clothed the earth with lowest 
 vegetable life, living beings, the weakest likeness of his own eter- 
 nal life. He then created the animals to represent in a higher 
 manner him, the ever-living God. When all was ready he made 
 *'man to his own image and likeness." " As he continually gener- 
 ates the divine Son and the Holy Spirit, so man was to generate 
 others, images of himself, " Male and female made he them, and 
 then he blessed them saying; increase and multiply." " Man was 
 a far more wonderful being thaii the angel, and in this respect 
 at least a more perfect image of his Maker than the others, for man 
 only generates another person like himself. With a body of clay, a 
 pure spiritual soul, in him the visible and the invisible, the mater- 
 ial and the immaterial were united. Increasing by good works 
 while on this earth, he was made to take the place of the fallen 
 angels." While God made countless angels, differing one from the 
 other, each angel a complete species in himself; he made only one 
 
 > C0I08.. 1. 24. ' Apoc., xxl. 2. * Ephes., 1. 38. ■• Gal., Iv. 4. 
 
 • John. V, 7. • Apoc. xll. 36. ' Col.. 1. 18. » Col., i. 18. 
 
 • Col., 1. 76. "> St. Thomas Sum. Theo. >' Gen., i. 86. »» Gen., 1, 28. 
 " St. Thomas Sum. Theo. Q. zlil. a. 6 ad i, St. AURUstin, Each. C. 29. 
 
GOD REDEEMED MAN BUT NOT DEMONS. 17 
 
 human race upon the earth ' ' for God hath, of one, all mankind 
 to dwell upon the whole face of the earth." ' From that one race of 
 Adam was to be born a great multitude, each differing in merits 
 and in graces, as they differ in natural talents, and as the individual 
 angel differs in species. What the angels got by nature and by 
 the free gifts of God's grace, the children of Adam were to get 
 by their merits founded on grace, through their good works while 
 on this earth. Man was not to die. He was to be carried up 
 to heaven after his time of probation here upon this earth, and thus 
 fill the vacant seats or mansions of the fallen angels, that the ex- 
 ternal glory of the Godhead might be completed by the praises of 
 his reasonable creatures. 
 
 Deceived by the wiles of the serpent, man sinned in his turn, and 
 again the harmony of the universe was disturbed. For the third 
 time the Lord came forth from His own eternal being, and repaired 
 the sin of Adam by the Incarnation of his Son. 
 
 In the creation of the angels, God began that series of beings, 
 which exist outside of and differ from himself. In the creation of 
 man, he united the material and the reasonable, the physical and 
 the spiritual beings of the world. But in the Incarnation he 
 United the creator and the creature. Then he bridged the infinite 
 distance which separates the finite from the Infinite. Such was the 
 union of the divine Word with the nature of man in Christ. * 
 
 Up to that time, the works of God praised him by the symbols, 
 types and figures of himself. He saw in them the creatures he had 
 made to his linage. Then he united them all in the Incarnation say- 
 ing: " For I myself that spoke, behold I am here.''' In the Incar- 
 nation, all the works of God were completed; creation received its 
 crown and the Deity obtains his highest praise. 
 
 Twice sin disturbed the harmonies and the beauties of the works 
 of God. Creation was upset by the sin of the angels and by the sin 
 of Adam. He damned the angels and redeemed mankind. Why? 
 We find the reason of that in the very nature of angels and of men. 
 There can be no sin without knowledge and free will. It is the 
 very nature of every mind to seek the truth and of the will to seek 
 the good, the possession of both giving rise to knowledge and to 
 happiness. But while on this earth men freely seek trruth and hap- 
 piness and they afterwards change and seek something else. It is 
 not so in the other life. For there, where all should rest in God, 
 the created minds fixedly adhere to what they think is right, and 
 the wills hold fast and unchangeable what they consider good and 
 happiness. This is founded in the very nature of a reasonable 
 being, because the minds of men and of angels were made to see 
 the Truth of the Father, who is the divine Son, and their wills 
 were created to rest in the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of the 
 Father and of the Son. 
 
 Leaving the fallen angels without his grace, he had mercy on 
 us and he sends salvation to the human race, because our first 
 
 » Acts xvU. 26. 2 St. Aug. Epist. 137, n. ii. ^ Isaias, lit. 6. 
 
18 THE WONDERS OF THE INCARNATION. 
 
 parents were more deceived than sinning. For that reason he " took 
 compassion on them and poured forth his mercy upon them," ' and 
 ''The mercy of God is upon all flesh."'' While he treated the 
 fallen and rebellious angels with the rigors of his justice, all is 
 mercy in his treatment of mankind, " For thy mercy is great 
 above the heavens."" "For the mercy of God is upon all his 
 works." That mercy shines forth through all his creation. But 
 only dimly did they see it there, till the coming of his Son, the 
 chosen arrow of his mercy, before whom all the nations were to fall. 
 Then in the salvation of sinners, there we see the mercy of our God. 
 
 Therefore the greatest of God's works, the deepest showing forth 
 of his mercy, the complete brilliancy of his attributes are seen in 
 the Incarnation in the God-man Jesus Christ. " The coming of 
 the Word of the Father, finished the works of creation. ' * He is 
 therefore the first-born of every creature, '' the Word of the Father 
 from whom all hang, the Model and divine Plan of every creature. 
 *'A11 things were made by him and without him was nothing 
 made that was made." ' All things were created by him and in 
 him. " He is the principal,' the Head of the Body, the Church." ' 
 
 He took pity on us, and moved by his infinite mercy, he came 
 to save us coming " through the bowels of the mercy of our God, 
 in which the Orient, from on high hath visited us."* For seeing 
 that in the *' pride of paganism that the world by wisdom hath 
 not known God, it pleased him, by the foolishness of preaching, to 
 save them that believed." '" The mercy of God is founded in his 
 Love, and the Holy spirit is the Love of God. Thus the same 
 Spirit who moved him to become man, who formed the body of 
 Christ, who animated him during his life, now the same Holy 
 Spirit animates the Church, *' the mystical body of Christ."" 
 
 The works of God are perfect and therefore he does not repeat. 
 " He works without repentance," " He does not destroy his works 
 and make them over again. He destroyed not the bad angels or 
 wicked men, nor does he take away our liberty and free will. 
 He leaves demons and wicked men to themselves, till the last great 
 day of his justice. So he became man and died only once to save 
 the human race from everlasting perdition. " For by one oblation 
 he hath perfected for them that are sanctified." " From that one 
 atonement of Christ upon the cross, flow all the blessings and 
 the graces, Avhich are showered down on the souls of men. The 
 channels of these graces are the sacraments. The Mass is the 
 mystery of Calvary and of the last supper, repeated over again, unto 
 the uttermost ends of the earth. ** For from the rising of the sun 
 to the going down thereof, my name is great among the Gentlies, 
 and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my 
 name a clean oblation." 
 
 The wonders of the Incarnation are around us. The redemp- 
 
 > Bccl. xvlll, 9. 2 Ibidem xvlli, 18. » Psal. cvlli, 64. 
 
 * St. Atbanasius Orat. 1. contra Arian. n. fse. * Col., i. 15. • John 1, 3. 
 
 1 John vll. 25. « Gal. 1, 18. • Luke 1, 78. "• I Cor. 1. 21. 
 
 >> Colos i, 18. >> Psalm ciz. ** Heb. x, 14. >« Malachl. i. 
 
Adam's fatherhood. 19 
 
 tion in ceaseless unseen streams of graces flow out from him and 
 fill the world. The Church spreads every where, being one with 
 Christ, being his body, brings down the streams of graces from 
 him, her head, and scatters them into every heart and soul 
 redeemed. " The Church, which was founded in the name of Christ 
 partakes in his name." ' ' ' The Church being the communication of 
 Christ, "^ all the members of the church are one with Christ, for 
 she is one with him, and with him they partake in the divine na- 
 ture. As we were first born of the race of Adam by natural birth, 
 so all Christians must be born of the race of Christ, by baptism, 
 and then fed by his sacraments. 
 
 As all men are born of the race of Adam at their birth, so all 
 should be born of the race of Christ by spiritual birth. As Adam is 
 the father of worldly men, so Christ is the father of all Christian 
 peoples. Christ is the second Adam. Let us understand it. 
 In the beginning by these words " Iiicrease and multiply, " ' God 
 made Adam and Eve the ministers of the generation of others, im- 
 ages of themselves. In this they are images of the Holy Trinity 
 generated one from another. In that primeval order, man would 
 have been born in a state of grace and perfection. Not only each 
 individual person, but also society was to be raised to the super- 
 natural, because of the indwelling of God in each man and in 
 nature. Adam was to live forever and govern his children, be- 
 cause he was their father, and had fatherly authority over all the hu- 
 man race his children. Or he might have been translated to heaven, 
 while his children lived on earth where they could have remained. 
 Authority comes from the Author, the Creator, Maker or Generator. 
 
 The rule or authority of Adam was therefore founded on his 
 fatherhood, and it was like unto the fatherhood of God the Father, 
 over the other two Persons of the Trinity. As the Persons of the 
 Trinity come from, and are ever coming forth from the Father or 
 from the Father and the Son together, so from Adam came Eve 
 and from Adam and Eve were born the children of men. Adam and 
 Eve, with their children, images of the Holy Trinity, were to form 
 one race, one country, one Government. Adam the father of them 
 all was to rule them all by the most venerable authority, of his father- 
 hood. That was to be a paternal government. In the original de- 
 signs of God, he was to be the emperor over the whole world, as 
 his sons were to be the kings and rulers under him. Then they 
 would not have to choose their rulers, for they would be ruled by their 
 fathers. That was to be an image of the Trinity, where the Per- 
 sons of God are ruled by the strictest laws of their own eternal origin. 
 
 But sin came, upset and destroyed the authority of Adam. God 
 cursed the earth. He pronounced the decree of death on Adam and 
 on his children. By Adam's death the human race lost their natural 
 head and ruler, then they scattered over the face of the earth and 
 formed the nations by increasing and multiplying. Whence the 
 word nation comes from the Latin, natus, born. For the early races 
 
 ' St. Justin Dial, coin Tryphn. 63. ^ st. Ireneas Con. Hser. ). ili. c. xxv. ii. n. 1. ' Gen. i. 38. 
 
20 CHILDREN OF ADAM AND OF CHRIST. 
 
 came from one head and were related. That is why the members of 
 a nation resemble each other even to our day. By a special provi- 
 dence, Adam and his sons lived long upon the earth, till the nations 
 were well established and ruled with stable governments. Till his 
 death he ruled his children with his fatherly authority. When he 
 died, his sons took his place and therefore the fatherly, or patriarch- 
 al form of government was the first established. 
 
 With the curse of God on Adam for his sin, came also the promise 
 of the Redeemer, that from his seed would arise another who would 
 crush the serpent's head. 
 
 At that moment by eternal decree was established another head 
 for the human race in the place of Adam. He the promised Ee- 
 deemer was to found a kingdom more wonderful than the universal 
 empire which Adam lost. The serpent had overcome the first Adam, 
 but there was to come another Adam , who would crush the serpent's 
 head. That was Christ, His kingdom is the church. Well then, 
 St. Augustine exclaims: " happy guilt which merited such and so 
 great a Redeemer. " ' 
 
 In the beginning God saw that Adam alone was not perfect. He 
 could not generate his race alone. For that reason God putting a 
 deep sleep upon him, took a rib from his side, and from it formed a 
 woman, his wife. By and through that wife he generated his race, 
 and without her he could not bring forth his children, images of 
 himself. What did that mean? 
 
 Adam was but the image of Christ. As he was the natural head 
 of the human race, so Christ is the supernatural head of the christ- 
 ians. The creation of Eve was but a figure of the formation of the 
 church. When Christ died upon the cross, impelled by the Holy 
 Spirit, the soldier Longinus opened his side with a spear, and 
 there came forth a great flood of water and blood. * Behold the 
 waters of baptism and the blood of redemption. That moment the 
 church, the spouse was formed. As Eve was one with Adam, one 
 bone, one flesh, so the church is one with Christ, her husband. As 
 Christ is one, with his Father in heaven, so through the church 
 we are one with him and in him and by him, one with God. " Who 
 is he that overcometh the world . . . .This is he that came by water 
 
 and blood And there are three that give testimony in heaven, 
 
 the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost .... and these three are 
 one. And there are three that give testimony on earth, the Spirit, 
 the water and the blood and these three are one.'' Thus St. John says 
 that as the Persons of the Trinity are one with Christ, so Christ with 
 them and with the church are also one. * Therefore the Holy Trinity 
 and Christ and the church all form but one, for through the church 
 we all partake in the divine nature. * As Adam was one in nature 
 with Eve and with his children, as through her he brought forth his 
 children, so through the church the Saviour brings forth his chil- 
 dren his ** sons of God. " * 
 
 ' Cerem. Bless. Pascbal Candle Holy Saturday. » John xlx, 34. 
 
 » I John V. 5, 6. 7, 8. * II Peter i. 4. » John 1. 12. 
 
KELIGION AND POLITICS. 21 
 
 At creation the Imman race received from God the right of rul- 
 ing themselves, but at tJie death of Adam that authority descend- 
 ed to his children taken altogether. The sons of Adam have 
 therefore the right of choosing their rulers, the presidents, gov- 
 ernments, kings or royal houses. They have the right of regu- 
 lating their temporal matters. That is politics, and by divine 
 right it belongs to the people of every nation. When they have no 
 government the authority of Adam descended to the chiefs of 
 families. But they have not the right of choosing their religion, or 
 of changing their form of belief; for religion, being the duties of 
 man to his God, to his neighbor, and himself, no one but God 
 can lay down the way he is to be worshipped, or the service he 
 will receive. God will receive only that homage and that worship 
 which comes to him through his Son, who by the Incarnation 
 united the Godhead with all creatures. He alone is the bond of 
 unity between God and man. 
 
 For that reason, in states, in governments, and in politics, all 
 power may come from the people up to the ruling members of the 
 government, and they elect their rulers. But it is the direct opposite 
 in religious aifairs. In the Church all power comes down from its 
 head, Jesus Christ, through the Papacy, through the bishops and 
 through the pastors to the people. Whence the people do not 
 choose their pastors, as they did not choose their Redeemer, nor 
 their fathers, for these were given them by God. The children of 
 Adam did not choose liim for their father, for the Son and Holy 
 Ghost in their eternal processions are founded in the divine de- 
 crees, and in the very nature of the Godhead. 
 
 There is no power but from God, whether it comes direct from 
 him as in the Church, or indirectly through the people to the 
 rulers, as in politics. It is still the authority of God, and they that 
 resist it resist God and " and purchase to themselves damnation." ' 
 All other Churches, modeling their organizations after the civil 
 powers, the forms of governments under which they live, the 
 people exercise authority in the Church, they put the laity over 
 the ministers, — the lower over the higher, which is wrong. 
 
 The mission of the church therefore upon this earth is to seek 
 out the scattered children of Adam bending under the heavy bur- 
 den of sin, sorrow, and death, and to infuse into them the graces 
 and the infinite merits of her head, Jesus Christ. Sickness, sorrow, 
 death, and every misery finds its remedy in the Church. There, 
 in her, all men find saving grace flowing from the wounds of the 
 crucified Lord. "As we all sinned in Adam so we are all re- 
 deemed in Christ." "' That as sin hath reigned to death, so also 
 grace might reign by justice unto life everlasting through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord."'' 
 
 To redeem ns, he took upon himself our fallen nature, he 
 placed his second Person of the Trinity in the place of the human 
 person natural to us all. Thus he defied us. By that he became 
 
 > Rom. xili. 2. 2 jjQQ^ y -20. 
 
22 CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE RACE. 
 
 the great high Priest of the whole human race, the eternal Pontiff 
 of the universe. He offered himself, his life, his death and pas- 
 sion, his whole being as a sacrifice for all our sins. Whence he 
 was dead, from his opened side was born che Church which was to 
 replace the fallen empire of the faithless sinning Adam. 
 
 The fatherly authority of Adam was to continue perhaps over 
 all his children, and last through all ages, for he was not to die. 
 His was to be a universal, civil, political, and worldly government. 
 The promised Saviour, came to take the place of the dead Adam 
 and by the church to rule all nations. The Jews had preserved 
 the memory of that promise, for they looked for a Messiah who 
 would make them rulers over all the earth. They expected a 
 political and worldly power. They could not see in the lowly 
 Jesus, a king, with all the grandeur they had expected. They 
 would not believe that he came to establish a spiritual kingdom, 
 his holy Church, which was to unite the nations in an organization 
 greater and more perfect than the lost kingdom of Adam. 
 
 Cursed by God for the sin of their father, the children of Adam 
 are blessed by the holiness of their second father, Jesus Christ. 
 By natural generation they still ** increase and multiply " ' for the 
 blessings of wedlock were not taken away by original sin, nor 
 wiped out by the waters of the flood. " The Church, the body of 
 Christ, meets on ev6ry side the scattered and broken remains of 
 Adam's children, and she gathers them into her bosom. Through 
 her Christ brings forth again to life everlaSting those who before 
 had been born to death. She leads them into the boAvels of the 
 mercy of our God, who rising from on high comes to us as the 
 giant of eternity to save from damnation the children of his own 
 race. 
 
 The plans and the model according to which the Church was 
 built, will not be found on earth, cursed by sin, nor among the in- 
 stitutions of fallen men. We must look higher for it. In heaven 
 the Father is the principle who generates the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost proceeds from both Father and Son, both together sent the 
 Holy Ghost into the Church. The Son, sent into the world is 
 Christ the Redeemer, who in his turn sent the apostles. As God 
 is the head of Christ, so God sent Christ. As Christ is the head 
 of the Church, so he sent the Apostles. " As the Father hath 
 sent me so I also send you." ' He sent them as he himself was 
 sent with the very same power he received from his Father. " He 
 that receiveth you receiveth me, he that receiveth me receiveth 
 him that sent me."* 
 
 The church then comes down from the glorious throne of God, 
 bearing in its bosom and in its structure the very nature of the 
 deity, being one with God because of her head Jesus Christ, who is 
 God eternal. The bride of the lamb " she is one bone and one flesh" 
 with her husband Jesus Christ. Because he is her head, as heat! 
 and body are one, she is one with Christ. With him she comes 
 
 > Geo. i. 28. * Men.. Rom.. Benedictlo Spon. et Spoosse. ' John ix. 21. * Luke xU. 28. 
 
THE FATHER SENT THE SON. 23 
 
 down from the Father of lights. ' " And I, John, saw the holy city, 
 the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared 
 as a bride adorned for her husband." ^ 
 
 The Church is rooted in the very nature of the Deity. It is a 
 copy of the Trinity. The Son was born of the Father before all 
 ages. " In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with 
 God. And the word was God." '^ The Father sent the Word, the 
 Son, into this Avorld that the world might be redeemed by him. 
 
 *' And the Word was made flesh and dwelled amongst us." * * ' And 
 we saw His glory as it were of the only begotten Son of God" " full 
 of grace and truth. " " Twice born therefore, was the Son of 
 God — once from his Father in eternity, and that is called His eter- 
 nal generation — again from his Mother in time, and that is called 
 his mission. But he never left the bosom of his Father, for he 
 ever remained the Son of God, even when he became the ''Son 
 of man."** He still continues his relations with the other Persons 
 of the Trinity. 
 
 The eternal Father sent him into the world, because he is ever 
 generated by the Father. He with the Father sends the Holy 
 Ghost into the world, because the latter proceeds from both Father 
 and Son. The Father sending his Son into the world, invests him 
 with the sacred character of the Supreme High-Priest of the hu- 
 man race, to which he united to. and assumed at his second birth. 
 He anoints him with the Holy Ghost, and gives him " all power 
 in heaven and on earth." ' He sent him as a priest forever ac- 
 cording to the order of Melchisedech/' * to take our fallen nature 
 and redeem it — to offer it as the Victim of the Cross. 
 
 But that is not all. As the Father gives rise and origin to the 
 Son and Holy Spirit, as the latter proceeds from both Father and 
 Son together, so the Holy Spirit gives rise to no other person in 
 the Trinity. He, as it were, stands between God and man. To 
 him was given to form the holy body and soul of Christ. For 
 Mary, " conceived of the Holy Ghost." " He not only made the 
 body of Christ, but he dwelled in Him from the beginning, and 
 during all His life, for, " he was full of grace and truth," " and 
 the spirit of God ever rested upon him. As the Church is but an 
 extension of the body and soul of Christ, ''the first born among 
 many brethren," " so the Holy Ghost animates the whole Church. 
 He came upon her in fiery tongues the day of Pentecost," Unseen 
 because he is a spirit, he fills the bride of the Lamb, with the glories 
 of his indwelling. '^ 
 
 Sent by his Father, Christ comes down from the eternal heights 
 of heaven and comes into the earth. He in his turn sends his 
 apostles, "As the father sent me, so I also sent you." '^ From his 
 Father he received all the powers of his eternal Priesthood this he 
 gives to his apostles. " All power is given me in heaven and on 
 
 ^ I John i. 5. " Apoc. xxl. 2. ^ jo^n 1. 1. « John 1. 14. 
 
 * John i. 14. « Matt, xxvili, 18. 7 Ps. clx. 4. « Luke 1. 31. 
 
 « John 1.14. 10 Rom. vlii, 29. »i Acts 11. 3. 
 
 " Cardinal Manning Internal Mis. Holy Ghost. " jqJjq ^x. 21. 
 
24 THE FINE HIERARCHIES. 
 
 earth, going forth therefore teach ye all nations." ' He sends them 
 in his very own personality, bearing his own sacred character and 
 the same with the Godhead of his Father. " As the Father hath 
 sent me so I also send you.'' * " He that receiveth whomsoever I 
 send, receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent 
 me." • 
 
 Let us go deeper. A hierarchy is a relation of persons one above 
 another, bound together by the laws of their nature. In God is 
 the hierarchy of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
 proceeding one from the other, according to the eternal and un- 
 changeable laws of their eternal nature. There is another hier- 
 archy, that of Christ generated from the Father, coming to the 
 earth and assuming our nature. There is another hierarchy, 
 that of Christ sending His apostles with His power and 
 priesthood into the whole world, to preach the tidings of redemp- 
 tion, that is the hierarchy of Christ and the Church universal. 
 There is another hierarchy, that of the bishops and dioceses pro- 
 ceeding from the universal church, and founding other churches, 
 the parishes, the images of the catholic church from which they 
 proceed. There is an image of a hierarchy the parish proceeding 
 from the diocese, but a type of the diocese from which it was born. 
 In each of these hierarchies we find an image more or less perfect 
 of the blessed Trinity, after which they were all formed. 
 
 God is ever with His Church and living in each of these hierarch- 
 ies which he made to the image and likeness of God in the Trinity 
 '• Behold I am with vou all days even to the consumation of the 
 world." * God is the Head of Christ. ' " Christ is the Head of the 
 church." * As God sent Christ that is the Messiah, which means 
 the Sent, so Christ sent his apostles, his Church. " Going forth, 
 therefore teach ye all nations. ' To save the race he was first born 
 of a woman like unto other men. " When the fulness of time was 
 come, God sent his Son made of a woman." * He in his turn sent 
 his church universal. '' As the Father sent me so I also send you."* 
 As a wise builder he founded his church in the bond of unity. 
 " Careful to keep the unity of the spirit, .... in bond of peace 
 one body, one Spirit, . . . .one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God 
 the Father of all," *" To keep His church Catholic together, so that 
 nations would not establish, national or branch churches, he found- 
 ed the Papacy in the person of Peter, giving him supreme authority 
 over the other dioceses and churches, mothers of the lambs and 
 sheep of Christ. " Feed my lambs Feed my sheep." " Until we 
 all meet in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 
 God .... unto the measure of the fulness of Christ. . . . but doing all 
 truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the 
 head Christ." " 
 
 Thus there are five hierarchies flowing from each other down to 
 
 > Matt, xxvlil. 18. 19. » John xx. 21. * John xiU. 30. 
 
 « Matt, xxvlil. 20. » I Cor. xl. 14. • Eph. v. 28. ' Matt, xxvlll. 19. 
 
 « Gal. Iv. 4 » John. xvll. 8. "Eph. Iv. 8. 4. 5. 6. " John. xxU 17. 
 >- Ibidem. 13. 14. 15. 
 
THE VV^ONDERS OF THE HOUSE OF GOD. 25 
 
 earth. One is the hierarchy of the blessed Persons of the Trinity, 
 of whom the Father is the head; the second of Christ as Man, of 
 whom God is the head; the third of Christ and the Church universal 
 of which Christ is the Head; the fourth of the diocese and the uni- 
 versal Church, of which the Pope is the head; the fifth of the parish 
 and the diocese, of which the bishop is the head. Such are the 
 foundations of the Church, the last work of God on earth, the snj)- 
 ernatural acting in the mind of man, the Trinity living on earth. 
 With awe and holy reverence let us enter and see the wonders of 
 the House of God, that temple not made with hands. 
 
mM}^ 
 
 m^ 
 
 creatures with their Great Crea- 
 tor. That Incarnation is the 
 loving embrace of the finite with 
 the Infinite. That union of 
 God and man was to bridge the 
 chasm of infinity, across which 
 the fallen children of Adam 
 were to pass to heaven. In the 
 Incarnation of Christ the crea- 
 tion of God was defied. But 
 the founding of the church was 
 to be the extension and the na- 
 tural consequence of the incar- 
 nation. For the church is the 
 organization created by Christ 
 which brings forth, nourishes, 
 and saves the children of Adam. 
 
CHRIST AND THE CHURCH ARE ONE. 37 
 
 As God, Christ is not only the Creator of all things, but by the 
 incarnation he became also the head of every creature. " All things 
 were made by him, and without him was made nothing which was 
 made." ' " He is the head of the whole city Jerusalem, with all the 
 faithful, from the beginning even unto the end, to which are united 
 the legions of angels, that there may be one city under one king." ' 
 Creatures were made to the image and to the likeness of God. In 
 the Holy Trinity, in' the mighty Three in One, in the Family of 
 heaven ; there we find the plan, the model of the church. The Son 
 ever coming forth from the Father by intellectual generation, the 
 Holy Ghost always coming from the Father and from the Son, there 
 is the pattern of the church. Eve was made from the flesh and blood 
 of Adam ; their child was born of both and these three were of one 
 human nature, as the three Persons of the Trinity form one God- 
 head. There, in the Trinity, we find the type according to which 
 Christ built his church. 
 
 The only begotten Son, sent by his Father into this world, be- 
 cause he is generated by the Father, that divine Son comes into this 
 world to seek the scattered members of his race, the children of men 
 bent and broken by the sin of his father Adam, he seeks his child- 
 ren, still born of man and woman everywhere coming into the world 
 bearing the remains of that original sin. The new Adam, Jesus 
 Christ, forms from his side his bride, his spouse his holy church. 
 By her he brings them forth, again born of him and of her by bap- 
 tism his children unto everlasting life. Born of him, he feeds them 
 on his body and blood, and he nourishes them by his graces given by 
 the other sacraments. By and in the church, the Son of God as- 
 sumes them, embraces them, assimilates them and incorporates 
 them into mystic body, making of them his new body, his own flesh 
 and blood, building his church of them the sinful scattered children 
 of Adam. By his church he raises them up to the infinite height of 
 the championship and society of the Holy Trinity, of which he is 
 the Second Person equal to the others. " 1'hat you may have fellow- 
 ship with us, and our fellowship maybe with the Father, and with 
 his Son Jesus Christ." ^ 
 
 All perfections of the body are in the head. For tlie head and 
 the body make only one organism — one living being. As God is 
 the head of Christ, Christ is one and equal to the Father. As Christ 
 is the head of the church, so she may be called the one being with 
 Christ, and by him one being with the Most Holy Trinity. The Son, 
 the Father and the Holy Ghost are one. " And these three are 
 one." * The church and Christ are morally one, and these three, 
 God, Christ and the church are one in this sense. 
 
 The eternal Father opens his mind and gives rise to the Son: the 
 Word of God. " And the Word was with God, and the Word was 
 God." ^ The side of the Son was opened by Longinus on Calvary 
 and then the church was born of the waters of baptism and the 
 blood of Kedemption. ' ' And there are three who give testimony in 
 
 1 John i. 3. 2 St. Aug. Innar. In Ps. xxxv. « I. John 1, 3. * I. John ■". 7. 
 
 ' John. i. 
 
28 WHY THE SON BECAME MA.K. 
 
 heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost. And these three 
 are one. And there are three that give testimony on earth, the 
 Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one." ' That 
 mystery was before prefigured in the creation of the first man 
 Adam, on whom God cast a deep sleep, and from his side took a 
 wife, a spouse, by whom he was to bring fortli his children, an im- 
 age of the church of God, by whom Christ brings forth his children 
 unto everlasting life. " 
 
 The divine Word, the image of the Father became man for us 
 sinners and for our salvation, that he might become the father of the 
 faithful, and bring forth a new race, the christians. The Church 
 he founded to become the mother of his children. From the 
 head all perfections flow down into the body, which, with the head 
 make one living organism. So all members of the church form 
 with him one mystic body, from him receiving all benefits, graces, 
 blessings, and salvation, for "^ of his fulness we have all received."' 
 By the ministry of his priests he brings into his mystic body the 
 church all souls saved by him. By that he forms them to his own 
 image, and likeness. " Whom he foreknew, he also predestined to 
 be made comformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the 
 first-born among many brothers." * '* God will ever after call them 
 sons and we will call him Father, because by him, his Son. we be- 
 come his sons." " Behold what manner of charity the Father hath 
 bestowed on us that we should be called and should be the sons 
 of God." * He came for love of us. He died by love, sent by the 
 Father to die for us. " For God so loved the world as to give his 
 only begotten Son."' But that was not enough. 
 
 To the uttermost ends of the earth, the glad tidings of the re- 
 demption was to be preached by Christ and him crucified, told to 
 every tribe and tongue and race and nation, that all mankind might 
 benefit in the death of Christ. Heaven was opened not only for the 
 generations or for the people living in the time of Christ, but for all 
 peoples born into this world unto the end of time. For that great 
 work he founded and organized his universal Church that in his 
 place and by his power and authority, she might lead them all up 
 to himself in heaven. 
 
 Christ as God is the Second Person of the Trinity, co-equal with 
 the others in eternity. In becoming man he united the natures of 
 God and man in that one Person of the divine Son. In him our 
 nature was raised to the heights of the infinite Deity. By him 
 alone are we raised up to be the partakers of the divine nature liv- 
 ing in the very life of God and in the delights of heaven, " sous of 
 God by adoption."' ** For there is no other name under heaven 
 given to men whereby we may be saved." * He is then the only 
 Saviour. 
 
 When the dark shadows of death were closing around the Son 
 of God, when after the last supper, praying for his whole Church 
 he said : " Holy Father keep them in my name that they may 
 
 » I. John V. 7, 8. » Gen. xl. 21. 22. » John 1, 16. * Rom. vlU. 29. » I. John HI. 1. 
 * John Ul. 16. "> Epb. 5. " Acts iv, 12. 
 
HOW GOD AND THE CHUKCH ARE ONE. 29 
 
 be one as we also are. " ' He prayed not only for the apostles 
 around him, but also for all the members of the Church till the end 
 of time, that they might be one with him, and through Him one 
 with the other members of the Holy Trinity. " And not for them 
 only do I pray, but for them also, who through their word shall 
 believe in me. " ' He prayed for the members of his whole Church, 
 that not only might they be one in doctrine and one in faith, but 
 that they might be one Church organization Avith him united and 
 in him, one with the Holy Trinity. "That they may be one as 
 thou Father in Me and I in thee, that they may be also one in us. " ' 
 
 From him, then the Church receives the glories of heaven, in 
 him and by him and from him comes the delights of the divinity^ 
 because by and in him the Church universal is absorbed and raised 
 up into the divine nature. " And the glories which thou hast given 
 to me, I have given them, that they may be one as we also are 
 one. " * God is the head of Christ, by and through the union of God 
 and man, in the incarnation, God raises up to himself in heaven 
 all the members of the church. From the state of fallen nature 
 He elevates them to the unthinkable state of the divine nature, to 
 their union with the blessed Trinity, to the happiness of heaven, 
 to the beatific vision of God, to live God's own life, to become the 
 partakers of the infinite happiness of the Persons of the Trinity, " I 
 m them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." * 
 Thus the Church is one with Christ, and through Him one with the 
 holy Trinity. Not only that but God loves the Church as he 
 loves His only Son. "And the world may know that thou hast 
 sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. '"' * The Church 
 being the body of Christ, he prays for his body, that all the 
 faithful members of the Church visible on earth may be with him; 
 partakers of his divine nature, partners in his glory, united by 
 liim to his Father in heaven. "Father, I will that where lam, 
 they also whom thou hast given me may be with me. " ' 
 
 The Son of God, the Word or Idea of the Father, the Eeason, the 
 Plan according to which all things were made was God before the 
 incarnation, the equal of the other Persons of the Trinity. The 
 height of God above creation is infinite, and no created mind can 
 conceive the distance separating creature and Creator. The gift 
 of grace freely given to Adam and his race was lost by sin. There 
 sin stood an impassible gulf between God and man. For sin is an 
 offence against an infinite God; in that it is infinite and required an 
 infinite price, an infinite and measureless merit to wipe it out. Then 
 the Son became man. He placed the Person of the Son in the place 
 of the human person, which individualizes each member of our race. 
 Thus Christ as God and man was one person, one being, one indi- 
 vidual with the double nature of God and man. By that ineffable 
 union, the closest which could exist, man became one with God, 
 our human nature was raised to the throne of the Infinite, the bond 
 of creature and Creator was finished, God became our brother, the 
 
 » John X. 7, 3. * Johnxvli. 20. ^ jobn xvil, 21. * John xvil, 23. ■» John xvll. S3. 
 * John xvii, 23. ' John xvii, 21. 34. 
 
30 CHRIST THE SOUBCE OF LIGHT AND GRACE. 
 
 chasm of infinity was bridged, the link binding heaven and earth 
 was made, then the High Priest of eternity was consecrated by his 
 Father with these words: " From the womb before the day-star I 
 begot thee . . . .Thou art a priest forever according to the order of 
 Melchisedech. " ' 
 
 An honor to one is an honor to all. In the incarnation the human 
 race received its crown. By his eternal Priesthood Christ offered 
 his human nature, his body and soul, his life and sufferings as a sac- 
 rifice to his Father, for the sins of the membei-s of the fallen human 
 race. God the Son is the grace and light which flow down on 
 angels. As man all graces and benefits of redemption come from 
 him by the Holy Ghost, ever coming from him into man. With- 
 out him, the Word of the intellect of God, no created mind can 
 reason or think. Being by the incarnation the bond of union, be- 
 tween God and man, by him, in him, and through him'alone is salva- 
 tion, as he says '* No one man cometh to the Father but by me." " 
 
 The divine Word is the head of Christ. In him the Deity rules 
 the humanity. God is the head of man in Christ. But it was meet 
 and just that he might lead the other members of his race up to the 
 height of his divine nature, that he might make them also partakers 
 of his eternal happiness and glory, give them the priceless, measure- 
 less gift of heaven, and lead them into the society and companion- 
 sliip of his Father and Holy Ghost; *' Father" he says " I will that 
 where I am they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me, 
 that they may see my glory which thou hast given me, because 
 thou hast loved me before the creation of the world. " * As the 
 human nature of Christ united to God partakes in the ineffable 
 and infinite joys of the divine nature in union with the Word in 
 heaven, so men redeemed become in heaven partakers in the very 
 life of God, living his infinitely happy life, filled with the super- 
 natural outpouring of God. 
 
 The church composed of men redeemed by Christ, extending to 
 every tribe and tongue, formed of the brethren of Jesus Christ the 
 divine Son who became man, she partakes of His human and divine 
 natures. The Holy Spirit ever coming forth from the Son and 
 from the Father, he is ever coming from the divine nature of the 
 Father and of Christ, he proceeds into the world, forming the church, 
 animating that whole organization of which Christ is the head. By 
 grace he dwells within us, making us one with him and with Clirist 
 our head. * The Holy Spirit animates that church, the body of 
 Christ, somewhat as the human soul animates the body. Christ and 
 the Holy Spirit are ever in the church. " In that day you shall 
 know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. " ' That 
 is the consolation of a christian in trials and troubles of this world. 
 " These things have I spoken to you that my joy may be in you, 
 and your joy may be filled. " ' 
 
 God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the church, and 
 these three are one. Such is the burden of our story. We are 
 
 » Psalm cix. 8. 4. ■' John xlv. 6. ' John xvll, 84. •• Ephes. t. 5. Rom. xl. 4. 
 
 *Johnxlv. 20. • Johnl.lv. 
 
THE PERSONS OF THE TEINITY. 31 
 
 one with the church, one with Christ and by him we will be at our 
 death raised up to the supernatural state of living the divine life 
 of the most Holy Trinity. That comes through Christ our Saviour. 
 ''Our peace is a sacrifice worthy of God, and the redeemed are 
 united in the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
 Ghost." ' 
 
 Let us understand it better. The Father ever looking on his 
 eternal glories, brings forth his Son, the product of his mind, the 
 Idea, the Thought, the Word of God." The Word or Son of God 
 is equal to the Father m all things, for in God all must be infinitely 
 perfect. For in him can be nothing imperfect. The Son then 
 <3aunot be less than the other Persons divine. For that reason the 
 Son is a divine eternal Person. The Father loves the Son. For 
 the Son is perfect and perfection ever inspires love. The Son loves 
 the Father, for the latter is also perfect. There comes forth then 
 from both Father and Son, Love. This Love also must be perfect 
 for nothing imperfect can be in God, who in every way is infinitely 
 perfecD. Then coming forth from both the Father and the Son we 
 find Love, an infinitely perfect Love, and that is the Holy Spirit, 
 who comes forth equally from both Father and Son. Such is the 
 ■eternal and everliving life of God. His life is the society of the 
 Persons of the Trinity. From the first the two others have ever been 
 coming. They are still being brought forth and they will unto 
 eternity. 
 
 To the image and likeness of the Trinity God made each being 
 and all creatures. The life and the generation of creatures are but 
 imperfect images of the production of Persons in God. "Shall 
 not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth 
 saith the Lord?" ^ To the image and likeness of the Trinity, God 
 formed his church. The Son being the Thought of the Father, in 
 him are all sciences, all learning, all perfections which can be. For 
 that reason all things were made according to him as their model. 
 *'A11 things were made by him and without him was nothing made 
 that was made. " * " The first born among many brethren," ^ every 
 man is but an image of the Man-God Jesus Christ. 
 
 But the last work of God's Son is the Church. He founded the 
 •Church on the model of the Holy Trinity. As we read this book we 
 will see more clearly how the Church resembles the august Trinity. 
 In the creation of this world the Son was the counsellor of the Father. 
 * ' 1 Wisdom dwelled in Council and am present in learned thoughts, 
 and my delights were to be with the children of men." ^ As math- 
 ematics are the natural revelations of the Son, so we find all na- 
 ture ruled by mathematiss. The Holy Ghost was there at creation 
 as the Mover of matter. " For the Spirit of God moved over the 
 waters.'" He appeared to Moses in the burning bush, he gave 
 the ten commandments to Moses on the mount, his glory filled the 
 temple built by Solomon, he inspired prophets; he came on Christ; 
 in fiery tongues, he descended on the apostles and that " Spirit of 
 
 1 St. Cyprian de Orat. Dom. n. 23. « John 1. 1. 2. » jgaias M. 9. * John. i. 3. 
 
 * Rom. viil. 29. « Prov. xxx. 12. ' Gen. 1. 2. 
 
32 THE SON AND SPIRIT OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 truth which the world cannot receive. . . . but you shall know him, 
 because he shall abide with you and shall be in you/' * that 
 Spirit of Christ proceeding from the Word now vivifies and ani- 
 mates the Church. " Behold 1 am with 3'ou all days, even to the 
 consummation of the world." " Then Christ and the Holy Spirit are, 
 in the Church. One is-the head and the spouse of the Church 
 the other is her Spirit. The Church is the organization animated 
 by the Holy Ghost, the Church is the body of which Christ is the 
 head. 
 
 It was not enough for Three Persons of the Holy Trinity ta 
 dwell alone in their eternal beatitude. Forming th£ heavenly 
 Family, ever producing and produced they lived in glory. The 
 Son and Spirit of God left their sacred sanctuary of heaven, sent 
 by the Father from whom they proceed. " For the Son of man is 
 come to save that which was lost." ' From the members of the 
 fallen race, they formed the Church, one with themselves, Christ 
 as the head, the Spirit as the soul its supernatural life. " And the 
 word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we saw his glory, 
 as it were of the only begotten of the Father."* " I will ask of the 
 Father and he shall give you another Paraclete, who will teach 
 you all things and will abide M'ith you forever." * The Son and 
 Spirit of God embrace the Church. They reside in the souls of her 
 members. They raise men up to the incomprehensible height of 
 the Trinity. They give us to live their own very life, and in heaven 
 where alone that union with God is complete, they give to saints 
 and angels to live the supernatural life and happiness of God. 
 "In him was life and life was the light of men." ' The Son came 
 into this world to give the life of God to the children of Adam, 
 dead by their father's sin. " I came that they may have life and 
 have it more abundantly."^ 
 
 Christ is God and man. Inhimthehumanand the divine natures 
 united in the second Person of the Godhead. By that incarna- 
 tion, human nature received all the rights, privileges and merits of 
 God, for in him God and man form only one jierson. As man is 
 the compendium of the universe, as we are the mineral, the vege- 
 table, the animal and the angel all united in one person, it follows 
 that the universe of God's creation was divinized or completed in 
 Christ. When he became man, he crowned creation by his in« 
 carnation. In him the natural and the supernatural unite. He is 
 the fountain spring from wliich all the supernatural work begins in 
 God his head and flows down on all creatures of an intellectual 
 nature, streaming down on both angels and men. In him are all 
 perfections, holiness, truth, grace. Thus the world cursed by sin, 
 18 blessed by him. In him the human and tlie divine natures united 
 in and through his divine person.* 
 
 It follows that the divinity rules the liuman in him. The di- 
 vine nature being infinite, and in him being united to our human 
 nature, by such a union in one Person of the divine Son, it follows 
 
 • > John xtv. 17. ' Math, xxvlll. 20 » Math. x\rliJ. 11. * John 1. 14. » John xlv. 16. 
 • John I, 4. ' John x. 1<». " St. Thotna.<« Snni. Theolog. 
 
THE EXTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL, SIENNA, ITALY. 
 
34 THE CHURCH ELEVATES MANKIND. 
 
 that this htiman nature of ours now sits on the eternal throne, one 
 with God. From the boundless abundance of the perfections of 
 the Deity, that human nature of Christ showers down his graces 
 and blessings on manicind by and through the Church, of which 
 he is the head. He is our head and we are his members. We 
 form his body which is the church. By baptism we are born 
 again into the Church his body. From the head the members of 
 the body receive all life, nerve force, and animation. Cut off a 
 member from the body and it dies, for it receives no more life 
 from the head. While united to the Church, we ever receive su- 
 pernatural life and grace from Christ Her head. When we cut our- 
 selves away from the Church by infidelity, we are no more in 
 union with Christ, and if we die in that state, we remain separated 
 from him in eternity. The soul separated from God forever in the 
 other life is in hell, for heaven is the union of the soul with God and 
 hell is the separation of the soul from God in the otlier life. Being 
 Son of God by nature, Christ gives us to be the Sons of God by 
 adoption,^ that is partakers of God by the indwelling of the Holy 
 Spirit. When we are united to the Church he animates us in this 
 world, then he gives us to see him with the light of glory in the otlier 
 world which is heaven. " As many as received him he gave them 
 power to be made the sons of God."' From Christ, the Son of 
 God and of man, comes to us through the Church, redemption, 
 salvation, civilization, culture, wisdom, refinement, progress, grace, 
 peace, all which elevate mankind. From him as God, they flow 
 down into his human nature by the Holy Spirit, who comes fron> 
 him and the Father an:3 these benefits are spread by the Church 
 into all lands and climes. AVhere the Church has spread, there 
 you find true progress, true civilization, true religion. Where she 
 has not passed ; men who have forgotten primitive religion, are cruel, 
 barbarous, uncivilized. For the Church being the body of Christ, 
 from him her head as God, all members partake in the divine na- 
 ture, from him receiving grace in this life, and the union and the 
 vision of God in the other life, of which grace in this life is but the 
 means and the preparation. 
 
 Death came upon us by sin. " For the wages of sin is death.*' * 
 But Christ was free from sin. In him the divine nature ruled the 
 human nature, and he could not sin. " Which of you will convince 
 me of sin?"* His human nature was the most perfect creature 
 God ever created. He took human nature to redeem the race of 
 men to whom he belonged. For that was he born. ** For this 
 was I born" to do the will of God.* " In the head of the book 
 it is written of me that I do thy will God." ' By his passion he 
 redeemed human nature from the sin of Adam as well as the sins 
 of all his children. He merited for us and for himself the glory 
 of heaven. " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and 
 80 enter into his glory? " ^ 
 
 Not for himself died he, but for all the children of Adam, that 
 
 > III John V. 4. « John 1. 12. * Rom. vl. 2. 3. ♦ John vlll. 26, » John xxvlll. 37. 
 
 • PHam zxix. 9. ^ Luke xxiv. 26. 
 
HOW CHRIST REDEEMED US. 35 
 
 he might satisfy the eternal justice of his outraged Father, God. 
 " For it becamie him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all 
 things, who had brought many children unto glory, to perfect the 
 author of their salvation by his passion.^" Not for himself he 
 died but for us, " He sanctified himself for them. " * From the 
 moment of his birth he wished his death. "I have a baptism 
 wherewith I am to be baptized, and how am I straitened until 
 it be accomplished ? " ' If he died not, he alone Avould have been 
 sanctified and entered into his glory, while we would have been 
 damned. He was the grain of wheat, which falling into the 
 ground, sprouted forth, grew up and gave rise to many like him- 
 self, sons of God. * That through the grace of God he might 
 taste death for all. "' In his death the justice of God was satis- 
 fied for sin, and the race of Adam was redeemed. 
 
 Christ being the Word of the Father, and equally God with him, * 
 the divine nature of Christ could not suffer. But the divine and 
 the human natures being in him united in the divine Word, the 
 second Person of the Trinity, our human nature alone suffered and 
 died. That human nature had not a human person, but the Person 
 of the Word of God took its place. The acts and the merits of a 
 nature belong not to the nature but to the person. In Christ was 
 the second Person of the Divinity, which individualized that^human 
 nature common to us all. The merits of Christ followed the 
 Person upholding his human nature. Then the merits of Christ 
 followed his Person, and partook of the dignity of that divine and 
 infinite incarnate Person of the Word of God. Hissufferings and his 
 merits must then be measured according to the dignity of his 
 Person. The Person of Christ being infinite, so his merits were in- 
 finite in value, imiversal in extent and measureless as the divine Son. 
 One drop of his blood, one moment of pain would have redeemed a 
 million worlds and races of men. Infinite then are his graces, his 
 merits and his redemption. 
 
 As head of the church, from his merits and from his measure- 
 less ocean of graces, he showers down salvation on the children of 
 men. But like all other works of God, the benefits of redemption 
 come according to regular order. He works salvation only in his 
 body, the church, that is in the souls which at least by desire and 
 love belong to his church. His Spirit, who comes forth from him, 
 saves only in the church, as the soul works only in the body, and 
 does not animate things outside the body of man. Things not 
 belonging to a man's body are not animated by his soul, so people 
 not belonging at least to the soul of the church, the body of 
 Christ, are not animated by the Spirit of Christ. They are outside 
 of the pale of salvation. For he saves only his church, for only 
 those who are united to his Spirit are redeemed, only his body be- 
 longs to the head. 
 
 Such is the teaching of the fathers, those great writers who 
 gathered up the teachings of the apostles, St. Cyprian says. " The 
 
 » Heb. il. 10. ' John xvii. 19. » Luj^g jji, 50. * john xii. 24. 25. » Heb. II. 9. 
 • John 1. 2. 
 
36 CHRIST BORN THREE TIMES. 
 
 Lord said. " I and the father are one," ' and again it is written of 
 the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.^ " And those three are one " and 
 who believes that this unity coming from the divine firmness, and 
 adhering to the heavenly mysteries can be cut away from the 
 church.^ In another place, he says: " Who so foolisly looks for 
 discord, as to believe the church can be divided, or dares to divide 
 the unity of God, . . . the church of Christ ? " ' The writings of 
 the fathers of the church are filled with such teachings. 
 
 He died. Yet death did not have dominion over him.* He 
 rose from the grave, as from a new birth.* As he died for us, so 
 he rose for us all, and his resurrection is the pledge and the seal 
 of our glorious and immortal resurrection from the grave on the last 
 day. That will be the day, when not only our soul, but also the 
 body will be immortal like unto his body, now immortal and spirit- 
 ualized in the everlasting glories of the skies. Thus born of the 
 Father before all ages, he was also born of his Father the day of his 
 resurrection. Of that the Father says: " This day I have begotten 
 thee." By the first birth he is the Son of God ; by the second 
 birth he is the son of Mary; by the third birth he became " the 
 first born among many brethren." ' Birth is the origin of a being 
 in which he receives his nature. In the first birth Christ is the 
 Son of God, the Word of the Father, in the second birth he be- 
 came the Son of man by his birth from Mary, but in his third birth 
 he became the head of the church, the source of redemption for 
 all the members of his mystic body, his kingdom on earth. "By 
 that he entered into glory he had with the Father before the world 
 was."* 
 
 His death was for us all. By that death we were all buried 
 with him in the waters of baptism, by which we become bone of 
 his bone and flesh of his flesh. For we form the church his spouse, 
 all we who come forth from him by the waters of baptism and the 
 blood of redemption. When dead on the cross, his side was opened 
 by Longinus. Then was the church his chosen people born, as 
 long before Eve was formed from the side of Adam, to be his 
 wife and to become the mother of his children. Adam, Eve, and 
 their children are one fleah and blood, forming one human race. 
 So Christ and the church are one race, one body, one organization. 
 At his death he became the father and the head of a new race, of 
 the christians, who came forth generated by him through the 
 church his spouse, as before Adam and Eve generated their child- 
 ren. "Know ye not that all wlio are baptized in Christ Jesus, are 
 baptized in hisdeath ? " For we are all buried with him by baptism 
 unto death, that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of 
 the Father, so we may also walk in the newness of life.* 
 
 The body of Christ was not made of earth like that of Adam. 
 But he was born of a woman of our race, that from her he might 
 take our nature, and by sufferings of that body and soul redeem 
 our nature lost to God by the sin of Adam. Thus Adam who was 
 
 > I. John X. 80. » John v. 7. * St. Cyp- de Unit. Ewl. n. 6. * IWd n. 8. » Rom. v. lH. 
 • Acts xlli. 82. 83. ' Psalmctx. 7. » Rom. vill. 29. » John. xvli. 5. '"> Rom. vl..3. 4. 
 
HOW THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHKIST. 37 
 
 our representative fell for us, and dragged us down, so Christ who 
 represented us raised us up. We were first born of Adam and we 
 were next in baptism born of Christ and of the church. " In him 
 we were born christians. The birth of Christ was the origin of the 
 christian people, for when the head is born the body is born."' ' In 
 ascending to the throne of God, at his ascension, he raised us also 
 up, raised us up who are the body he assumed. He raised us all 
 up to the same height with himself, and leads us into the compan- 
 ionship and the society of the adorable Trinity, of which he is the 
 second Person.'* As the body and the head form one being, so 
 Christ and church are one. The members of the church with Christ 
 form one and the same moral being, the same identical organization. 
 As the head of Christ is God, as the head of the churcli is Christ, 
 so God, Christ and the church are one. "And these three are 
 one." ' 
 
 Christ is the Truth of the Father, while the Holy Spirit is the 
 Good of the Father and of the Son. The mind of man lives on 
 truth, for truth is the object of the mind, while the will seeks the 
 good in creatures. In heaven the mind rests in the divine Son, 
 and the will rests in the Good, the Holy Spirit. By and through 
 the Son and Spirit this union begins in this world, and it is com- 
 pleted in heaven by the Son wlio alone has taken on himself our 
 nature, and he alone is the bond of union between the creature 
 and the Creator. 
 
 In Christ is the whole church his mystic body. As God loves 
 his Son with an everlasting Love, which is the Holy Spirit, so he 
 loves the church this body of Christ with the same love. Therefore 
 he sends the Holy spirit, the love of Father and Son into the 
 church, the body of his Son. That church, the Avork of the Holy 
 Spirit and his union Avith man, began from the beginning of the 
 race, for the race was made to unite with the Son the "first born 
 of creatures." The work of the spirit of God in all its fulness 
 began only at the Incarnation. For that reason he filled Christ 
 with all graces, for he "was full of grace and truth." As God 
 loVes his Son, so he embraces his mystic body the church, with his 
 Holy Spirit, who ever works in the church his creation, according 
 to the Avords of Christ. " That the love Avherewith thou hast loved 
 me may be in them and I in them." * That love in us is the Love 
 of the Father for the Son, it is the Holy Ghost. God loves us be- 
 cause he made us to the image of his only begotten Son. Made 
 to his image and likeness, Ave form the church generated from him 
 in the blood and Avater from his side. Then from him from his 
 human nature comes the church, Avhile from his divine nature comes 
 the Holy Spirit, the soul of the church. Then from him comes not 
 only the visible organism of the church, but also the Holy Spirit, 
 which animates the Avhole church organism. Then by every right 
 and way, Christ is the head of the church, her Father, her hus- 
 band her redeemer, her Lord. 
 
 1 St. Leo Sermo. xxvi. n. 2. « St Ignatius Epist. ad Philad. n. 9, » I, John v. 7. 
 
 * John. xvii. 2(5. 
 
38 THE WONDERS OF THE INCABNATION. 
 
 Up to the incarnation, the Son and Spirit of God lay hidden in 
 the bosom of the Deity. All things were made by God who wrought 
 them to his image and likeness. For having in him all perfect- 
 ions, God could not create what would not be like him. Only dim- 
 ly did the creatures of this world show forth the wonders of the 
 Almighty. Slowly prepared the Lord for the founding of his 
 church. The creation of the angels, the formation of the material 
 world, the living plants and animals told but dimly of his wonders, 
 till man, the last of his creatures came the last of his work, man 
 whom he made to his image and his likeness. 
 
 Then began the supernatural creation in man, by the dwelling 
 of his Holy Spirit. When man fell he promised the coming of his 
 Son. Brighter and clearer the Son and Spirit appeared in the law 
 of Moses and in the tabernacle of the Jews. The face of the 
 Spirit was seen in the ceremonies of the temple; the image of the 
 incarnate Son was pictured in the priests and in the prophets. 
 For 4,000 years God prepared the world for the coming of his Son. 
 Only at the Incarnation did God draw back the veil before his 
 face and show to man the wonders of his love and of his mercy. 
 Now both Son and Spirit dwell, not only in the church, but also 
 in the soul and the bodies of the good members of the church, 
 the same as the Holy Spirit dwelled in the soul and the body of 
 Christ. Thus God bends down to earth to lift us up to himself 
 by the wonders of the Incarnation. 
 
 The word Christ in the Greek means the "anointed." For 
 he was anointed by the Holy Spirit in an invisible way to be the 
 Saviour of mankind. Because of the Son, the Holy Spirit now 
 lives in our hearts, that he may anoint them to the image of the 
 Son from whom he proceeds. *'And because you are sons, God, 
 hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba, 
 Father;" ' The body of Christ at the resurrection was glorified, 
 spiritualized and became as near a spirit as it is in the power of God 
 to change it without ceasing to be a material body. His body passed 
 through the rock and an angel came and rolled away the stone. 
 He came through the walls when he appeared to the apostles after 
 his resurrection. His body being now glorified and spiritualized, 
 it partakes in the quality of a spirit, and it exists freed from the 
 imperfections of time and place which belong' to bodies. It is here 
 and there and in many places at the same time. The Church be- 
 ing everywhere spread through the world, the church everywhere 
 finds Christ her head as God, united to the glorified body of the 
 Lord, vivifying her members and giving grace and supernatural 
 life to all her children. Christ then is first, the head of the 
 church universal, and then he is the head of each diocese and of 
 each parish. He stands, preaches, offers sacrifice, sanctifies 
 and rules in each church. Complete in each, he showers down 
 salvation on the members of the whole church on both clergy and 
 people. 
 
 The reader now begins to see our meaning " God is the head of 
 
 ' Gall. V. 6. 
 
CIIKIST HEAD OF THE HUMAN RACE. 39 
 
 Christ/' * ''Christ is the head of the church." * The church and 
 Christ her head cannot be separated, without destroying the whole 
 life and being of the church and of Christ. For when the head 
 separates from the body, both head and body die. For the body 
 nourishes the head. " But Christ rising from the dead dieth no 
 more, and death shall no more have dominion over him." ' To 
 him the Father gave all the nations of the earth. " Ask of me 
 and I will give thee the Gentiles as thy inheritance." * From the 
 scattered race of Adam, the church then takes them in, and as it 
 Avere nourishes them and repairs by them the loss of death; then 
 by those converted and baptised she makes up the loss. Christ 
 buried them with him in baptism. He carried them even to the 
 rigors of his death and passion, but now he lifts them up to the 
 glories of the divine nature. " But God .... even when we were 
 dead in sin hath quickened us together in Christ, and hath raised 
 us up together in heavenly places through Christ Jesus."* He 
 drank to the dregs, the cup of all human sorrows, to hallow and 
 sanctify with heavenly merits all the sufferings of the members of 
 the church. ''All the children of the church are distinct by lapse 
 of time, but tiiere is one band of the faithful, crucified with Christ 
 in his passion, reawakened in his resurrection, in his ascension 
 placed at the right hand of the Father. '' ° 
 
 Behold therefore Jesus Christ the great High priest of the whole 
 human race, of whom the Father said : " Thou art a priest forever 
 according to the order of Melchisedech; " ^ behold him anointed 
 by the Father with the Holy Ghost, he comes into this world to oifer 
 his life, his body and his whole being for a sacrifice of peace and 
 reconciliation to his Father for the sins of the whole race of Adam; 
 a race Avhich he assumed and took to himself at his incarnation. 
 He, the last chosen gift of the love of God to man, he said the 
 offerings of the Old Testament became unpleasing to thee my 
 Father then " Behold I come." ® He comes to become the head of 
 the whole race in the place of Adam, who by his sin had lost his 
 headship. He came to unite the children of Adam in anew organ- 
 ization, the church his kingdom, different from the union of nations 
 in which we were born. He came to become the head and the 
 father of a new race born of him, by the waters of baptism and by 
 the blood of redemption ever flowing from his side. Innocent and 
 beautiful above the sons of men, alone born of a virgin, he took 
 upon himself our sins, our iniquities, and he was stricken by his 
 Father " and bruised for our sins." ' " God spared not his own di- 
 vine Son, but delivered him up for us all." '" God and man, head 
 of the church, he gives the glories of his Godhead to the members 
 of the church united to him by innocence. " And the glory which 
 thou hast given to me, I have given to them, that they may be one, 
 as we also are one." " 
 
 Then the Church is the kingdom of Christ. He takes the place 
 
 1 Cor. vl. 3. 2 Ephis. v. 23 ' Rom. vi. 9. « Psalm JIJ. 8. 
 
 * Epis. il. 4, 5, 6. " St. Leo Sermo 26. n. ' Psalm civ. 4. s Psalm xxlx. 8. 
 
 ' Isaias. '" Romans vlil. 32. n John xvli. 22. 
 
40 CHRIST THE ONLY KEDEEMEE. 
 
 o£ Adam as our new father. As God, he reigns supreme in heaven 
 over angels and saints, us man lie is the head of the church. The 
 ministers of the church teach, sanctify, and rule in his name and 
 by his power. " And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed 
 to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my 
 kingdom, and may sit upon the thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel." ' Thus Christ established the episcopal thrones through- 
 out the world wherever his kingdom has spread. One with him, 
 and in him, one with God, the church has the same authoi'ity with 
 him and with God. In spiritual teachings, in matters of religion, 
 the church teaches the doctrines of Christ. People listening to 
 her, receive the words of truth coming forth from Christ. " lie 
 that heareth you heareth me, he that despiseth you despise th me." ' 
 The baptized members of the church born of Christ, form the 
 Church united to Christ. When they commit a mortal sin they cut 
 themselves off from Christ. No mqre are they parts fully alive of 
 his mystic body. Outside the church there is no ordinary way of 
 salvation. Only through Christ do souls go to heaven, for there is 
 but one kingdom of God, one house of the Lord, one fold and 
 one Shepherd, and one only Redeemer, Jesus Christ, by and 
 through whom only are the souls of men redeemed and saved; and 
 to him; "To the king of ages immortal, invisible to the only God 
 be honor and glory forever more." ' 
 
 1 Math. xlx. 28. " Luke x, 16. ' I. Tim. i, 17, 
 
OD the etei-nal Father is 
 head of the Son. From 
 eternity the Son is gen- 
 erated by him. All 
 the Father has he gives the 
 Son. The Son partakes with 
 him in his divine nature, and 
 with him the Son is equally 
 God Almighty. "In the be- 
 ginning was the Word and the 
 Word was with God and the 
 Word was God.'" The Son 
 is God because he receives 
 his divinity from the Father. 
 From him he comes and the 
 Father is his head. As the 
 Father is the head of Christ 
 the Son or Word of God. so Christ is the head of the church. The 
 church comes forth from Christ, as Christ comes forth from his 
 Father. As the Son and Father are one, so Christ and the church 
 are one, nature and divinity. All the Father has he gives his only 
 begotten Son, all that Christ has he gives his church. As the Fa- 
 ther and the Son are one, so Christ and the Church are one. As the 
 
 ' Johnl. 1. 
 
 it 
 
 Eternal fclicily is th.e lasf metcjrwlicli. shaU 
 rid us of all evils, and oivc us all ricKes, 
 
tuuisi tfcfcUlMi Mis i't.uj-Lt. ii.N iiiK. SACRAMENTS. 
 
THE CHUECH COMES FKOM HIM. 43 
 
 Son is equal in power and might and nature to the Father, so the 
 church has the very same nature and power with Christ over the 
 souls of men, over the ways of preaching, over the spiritual ruling 
 of mankind, over the means of salvation. To disobey the church 
 is to disobey Christ, who is God the Son, the Word of God. " He 
 that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth 
 me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." ' 
 
 When Christ became incarnate, he espoused our fallen nature, 
 then he was united to that soul and body formed in the 
 Virgin, and from that moment God and man united never to sepa- 
 rate. From the moment of his death, when his side was opened, 
 when he generated the church, from that time he and the church 
 cannot be divided. As the Father is his head so he is the head of 
 the church, and now he presides in the glories of the skies, as head 
 of that part of the church made of the saints and angels ever bask- 
 ing in the beatific vision of the Deity. Their souls are now filled 
 with the Truth of God, the divine Son, their wills are now filled 
 with the Good of God, the Holy Ghost. On earth Christ is the 
 head of church, composed of the saints not yet made perfect, 
 awaiting their delivery from this body of death, dwelling amid the 
 miseries and the troubles of this life. He is also the head of all 
 the souls in that other place now held by little sins awaiting the 
 day of their delivery. Then he is head over all the church. 
 " God hath made him head over all the church, which is his body, 
 and the fulness of him." ^ By him we partake in the divine nature, 
 by grace in this life and by glory in heaven, "For we are all 
 made partakers of Christ." ' As partakers in his nature we live in 
 him and he lives in us. 
 
 The action of the Son and of the Father are to produce the Holy 
 Spirit. The action of Christ in us is to give the Holy Ghost into 
 our hearts. As the Family of Heaven, the Holy Trinity, dwell in 
 everlasting peace subordinate to each other, in as far as one comes 
 from the other, according to the laws of their own eternal proces- 
 sion, as Christ is subject to the Father, who sends him into the 
 world, then the church is obedient to Christ from whom she is 
 ever coming forth by the water and the blood. * ^Nothing irregular 
 can be in the Trinity. All is also harmony and order in the 
 church. The side of Christ ever opened, the waters of baptism, the 
 blood of redemption continually flow down upon the church, wash- 
 ing men from sin, sanctifying the heart, lifting souls up to God 
 raising them up to heaven through Christ his only Begotten. That 
 vast organization the church born of him, and an image of Trinity 
 ever coming forth from him her generator, that church spread 
 through the world is regulated by the laws made by the Holy Spirit. ^ 
 
 The Holy Spirit gives rise to no person of God. But he forms 
 another organization from the members of the fallen human race. 
 It is the Church which now he rules as the Father governs the Son 
 made man, as the Son presides over the Church, he brings forth 
 from the sufferings of his passion. 
 
 1 Luke X. 10. - Ei)h. i. 22, 23. ^ Heb. ii. 14. * John xii. 34. " I. John v. 7. 
 
44 CHRIST THE HEALER OF NATIONS. 
 
 Behold then the wonders of God. In nature "we see liim as the 
 autlior of nature, as the one God represented by every act of crea- 
 ture, made to the image of the divine Son. But there we see him 
 only in the unchanging laws of nature. But the Son comes down 
 to earth, he becomes man by a miracle of birth, and by that he re- 
 veals the three Persons of the Trinity, the hidden supernatural 
 life of God, which no created reason unaided could have found 
 unless it had been revealed. Then he founds the Church, 
 wherein he continues the Avonders of the supernatural, the sublime 
 life of the Trinity. Grace bought by his death becomes from the 
 beginning of the world the medicine for the healing of nations, 
 the salvation of mankind, sitting in the darkness of death, the soul 
 is raised to a supernatural state by grace, peoples are taught, sanc- 
 tified, they are baptized and civilized by the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel, heaven is open to fallen man, and God becomes so familiar with 
 us, and raises us to the wonders of his own divine nature in the 
 heavens. 
 
 Christ did not come himself alone. He was sent by his Father 
 who now and ever generates him. Sent by him he comes to be- 
 come tlie great high Priest of eternity to offer sacrifice for the 
 whole human race. " For Christ also did not glorify himself that 
 he might be made a high priest.*' * 
 
 He was sent by his Father the head of the Trinity from whom 
 he ever proceeds in eternity. The Holy Ghost did not come into 
 the world of himself. He was sent by the Father and by the Son 
 by one of the eternal principles from whom he proceeds. ' Christ as 
 the head of tiie Church, sent his apostles into the world to found 
 the Church. "As the Father hath sent me so I also send you.*' * 
 Coming forth from him, their Father Christ, by baptism and by 
 Holy Orders, bearing his eternal priesthood, they went forth in- 
 to the whole world, to build the Church in every land formed 
 out of the scattered children of Adam. "Going forth therefore 
 teach ye all nations." * '"' All power is given me in heaven and on 
 earth.'' " He that believethnot shall be condemned." " They were 
 the twelve foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church of 
 God— his " kingdom on the earth." " 'He brought them forth up- 
 on the cro.ss by the waters of baptism and the blood of his redemp- 
 tion ' " And these three are one." " They were the first born of 
 the Church, they were one with him and through him one with his 
 Father. " He that heareth you hearetli me. He that despiseth 
 you despiseth me and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent 
 me."' 
 
 But that was not enough. The members of the Church, his 
 children were to be nourished not by a mother's milk but by their 
 Father's flesh and blood. " I am ,"" he says, "the living bread, 
 which came down from heaven." "* The Church not only comes 
 forth from liim, as he does from his Father, but it is also nourished 
 by his flesh and blood, that from him, her head, she may receive 
 
 ' Heb. V. 5. 2 L„ke xxlv. 49. ' John xx. 31. * Mnth. xx. vltl. 19. » Mark xvl. 16. 
 • Lukexxli.29. ' Johu x. 11. » John v. 7. » Luke x. 10. '" John vl. .'>!. 
 
HOW CHRIST FED HIS CHILDREIST. 45 
 
 eternal life. " This is the bread which cometh down from hea- 
 ven, that if any man eat of it he may not die." ' Those who are 
 born of the race of Adam, are supernaturally dead. They have 
 no supernatural life in them. " Your fathers did eat manna in the 
 desert and are dead." "^ From the head the members of the body 
 receive all their life. " I am," he says " the living bread, which 
 came down from heaven. If any one eat of this bread, he shall 
 live forever."^ "And the bread that I shall give is my flesh for 
 the life of the world."* From him comes all vitality in the Church. 
 Those who eat him not, die the death of sin, as without him they 
 cannot resist the temptations of this life. " Except you eat the 
 flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you shall not have life 
 in you." ^ Without food to nourish it the body dies. Without 
 Communion the soul soon dies by falling into sin. " Not as your 
 fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread 
 shall live forever." ° As the head is the source of life for the body, 
 so Christ is the head of the Church. He is the source and the foun- 
 tain of all supernatural life for the Church his body, for all her 
 members who form the Church his mystic body. 
 
 The head and body are one, Christ and the church are one. 
 ''He that eateth my flesh and driuketh my blood abideth in me 
 and 1 in him."' As he receives his divine life from the Father, 
 as he lives by and in his Father, so he gives that divine life to his 
 church, which proceeds from him. "As the living Father hath 
 sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me the same 
 also shall live by me."* Being head of the church, where the' 
 head is, the body there is also, there shall the body be glorifying, 
 in the everlasting life of the head, Christ. " He that eateth mj 
 flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life and I will raise 
 him up on the last day."* When we eat, by digestion the food is 
 changed into us. But it is the opposite in eating and drinking 
 the body and the blood of Christ. " For we do not change him into 
 us, but he changes us into himself." Head and body being one 
 in nature and in being, he wishes to make us all perfect like him- 
 self. For that he gives himself to us in Communion, that he may 
 change us into himself, and make us perfect and glorious like unto 
 himself, that the church his body may be in all things like unto 
 him her head. He is the head of all, the '' Prince of Peace," the 
 "Lion of the Tribe of Judah." By his strength the martyrs suf- 
 fered, the pastors rule, the virgins remained chaste, the persecuted 
 got strength, the saints triumphed. From him come ceaseless 
 streams of unseen vivifying grace, his redemption into men; from 
 him the head flowing down upon all men, they penetrate into every 
 cell, fibre, soul, member, family, race and nation, conveying to all 
 the supernatural divine life of God, attracting them to him, mak- 
 ing them ready for the eternal joy and bliss he now enjoys with 
 his Father in the splendors of the skies that he may have " a glori- 
 ous church without spot or stain or anything of this kind." '" 
 
 iJohnvi. 50. 2 John vi. 49. » John vi. 49. « John vi. 57. * lb. 54. • lb. 59. 
 T lb. 57. Mb. sa » U). 55. ■<> Ephes. v. 27. 
 
46 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 God and man became one person in two natures in the wonders 
 of the incarnation, being united in the one heavenly divine 
 Word of God. Christ as man is now one with God. As head of 
 the church, the church is one and the same with God, and takes 
 her place high in heaven with the members of the Trinity. By 
 and in the church then, we rise to that ineffable union with the 
 Father Son and Holy Spirit. By and through Christ we enter 
 heaven, we rise to the companionship of these heights of the divin- 
 ity, we partake of happiness which not a man on earth can now 
 conceive. What wonders see we now before us. Who will give us 
 light to penetrate the mysteries of the incarnation and of the 
 church he founded for the saving of souls? 
 
 Centuries ago, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, might be seen 
 a little band of fishermen. They are the followers of Jesus. 
 Not from the proud families of imperial Eome, nor from the 
 aristocratic nobles of Jerusalem, but among the rough men of 
 Galilee he chose his apostles, to show that he and not man did the 
 work of establishing the church. He chose these twelve apostles as 
 the foundations of his heavenly Sion. Under them he placed the 
 priests and ministers when he chose his seventy-two disciples. 
 But the crown the completion was the Papacy in the person of Peter. 
 *' There were laid the house of eternity built by Wisdom." * " Its 
 foundations are in holy mountains, for God hath loved Sion the 
 church more than the tabernacles of Jacob." " As a wise builder, 
 he raised his structure not on the moving sands of time but on the 
 immortal primacy of Peter. " Thou art Peter and upon this rock 
 I will build my church." ' 
 
 The people united to their pastors, the pastors united to their 
 bishops, the bishops in union with the Papacy, the Pope one with 
 Christ heir of Peter the foundation stone * — there is the church — 
 there is the body in union with her head. These are one according 
 to the prayer of the Saviour before his passion, " Holy Father keep 
 them in thy name whom thou hast given me, that they may be 
 one as we also are " ' They were one with him and with the 
 Father. We his followers, the members of the body of which he 
 is head, we are all one with him and with his Father. *'And not 
 for them only do I pray but for them also who by their word shall 
 believe in me."* By Adam's sin the world was cui-sed and the 
 race doomed to eternal perdition in hell. Christ prays not for the 
 world which was damned by sin, but only for the members of his 
 church. ** I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast 
 given me." ' All he had, he received from his Father from whom 
 he proceeds. From his Father he received his personality and 
 the saving words of truth. All he received from his Father he 
 gave to his church, for what the head has it gives to the body. 
 " The words which thou hast given to me I have given to them 
 and they have received them."' What he gave them, the tidings 
 of salvation, he told them to preach to the ends of the earth; "Go 
 
 • ProT. U. 1. « Psalm IxxxyL 1. » Math. xvl. 18. * Math. vll. 25. » John xvU. 8. 
 
 * Jotan ZTlL SO. 1 John xvil. 9. • John xrii. 9. 
 
THE PRIMAEY TRUTHS OF RELIGION. 47 
 
 ing forth therefore teach ye all nations, teaching them to observe 
 all things whatsoever I have commanded you/'' They spread his 
 Gospel into every land and clime. Their words were heard in 
 every tongue as the Psalmist says of them. "There are no speeches 
 nor languages where their voices are not heard. Their sound 
 hath gone forth into all the earth."' ' 
 
 He is eternal Truth. From the Father he receives all he has and 
 he gives it all unto his church. He received the truth from the 
 Father, and he gave it to the apostles and by them to his church. 
 From the world he chose the'm as his friends and gave to them his 
 truth, which he received from his Father. " I have called you 
 friends, because all thingo whatsoever I have heard of my Father 
 I have made known to you. " ' He taught them the truth of the 
 Father. " The things therefore that I speak, even as the Father 
 said unto me so do I speak." ' All the truths are eternal and im- 
 mortal like to the Son of God, of which they are so many mighty 
 images. That which is eternal cannot be destroyed. So it is with 
 the teachings of our Lord. They will last till the end of time and 
 unto eternity. 
 
 Take the truths of the multiplication table, or the sciences of 
 mathemetics. They can never be destroyed, nor can they be changed 
 by man; for they are so many natural relations of the divine Son, 
 the Truth of the eternal Father. No matter how bad be the 
 lives of men, they cannot corrupt these immortal and eternal 
 truths. So with the truths the Son of God revealed to the 
 •church through the apostles. Like himself they are immortal un- 
 changeable,because eternal. Therefore we see how foolishly some 
 speak, who think that the church could or did change during all 
 the centuries of its existence since the time of Christ, for he said 
 *' Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the 
 world. " * The church is composed of all the immortal truths re- 
 lating to God, his nature, his works, the way man was redeemed. 
 The United States is the constitution or the frame-work upon 
 whose laws all the states are built. The people for a hundred years 
 might be bad, still they could not corrupt that constitution of the 
 country, for their lives would have nothing to do with these writ- 
 ten laws. So it is with the church. It was formed by the Lord, 
 its head. He built her upon these revelations given to the race by 
 the prophets, till at length he finished all by his coming, and all the 
 Popes, bishops, and priests in the world could not change one iota 
 of the truths revealed to the human race by the Son of God. They 
 are the immortal unchangeable treasures of the church. To her in 
 the persons of the apostles he said. " 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." " The 
 church therefore, like her founder and her head, ever lives unchange- 
 able and immortal like unto the eternal truths upon which he 
 founded her. Things which change soon decay. Thus the pass- 
 
 > Psalm xviil. 4, 5. « John xv. 15, 16. 3 John xii. 50. * Math, xxviil. 80. 
 
 « Math, xxvili, 20. 
 
48 THE CHURCH IS A QUEEN^. 
 
 ing things of this visible world cease to exist, because they 
 change and pass away. But not so with the church. For no one 
 can change the revelation made by God to her. He as ever lives in 
 her guiding and directing. " Behold I am with you all days even 
 to the consummation of the world.'" 
 
 In God there is no change, for he is the immutable and un- 
 changeable Deity, " Christ the same to-day and forever." ' We re- 
 ceive eternal life and nourishment from him. But as in the human 
 body takes place a continual change by assimilation, nutrition, and 
 waste, parts are being thrown out and new materials are taken in 
 by digestion, so in the church. The old members die, new ones 
 are born to take their place, while they too in their turn will pass 
 away to give their places to the coming generations. But the 
 church our Mother, who brought us forth to Christ, she dies not 
 like her members, for she partakes in the immortality of her 
 husband, head, and founder Jesus Christ. 
 
 Christ is the head of the church that is the burden of our storv. 
 He is a king and she is his kingdom. For that he was born of 
 the kingly tribe of Juda and of the royal house of David, for he 
 came to be " The Prince of the house of David " ' to reign forever 
 in the splendors of heaven. The church therefore is the Queen of 
 his kingdom, which is to last to the end of time. " Of his king- 
 dom there shall be no end.'"" His father gave him that kingly 
 authority that he might give it to his church. " I dispose to you 
 as my father hath disposed to me 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." * 
 
 In various parts of the Holy Scriptures we find mention of 
 the kingdom of God, of which the Son of God is the king. That 
 was not a worldly kingdom as he said **' My kingdom is not of this 
 world."' The Jews expected that when the Messiah came he 
 would found for them a world wide kingdom, extending to the 
 uttermost ends of tlie earth. That kingdom so often mentioned 
 in the Bible, is the church of God, the spiritual rule and govern- 
 ment of Christianity, at whose head is Jesus Christ himself. Was 
 it not providential that he was crucified as the "' King of the 
 Jews?" ' for was he not the King of kings and the Lord of lords ? ' 
 The church being therefore the Kingdom of God, it follows that 
 she has the same power as Christ. The church our mother rules 
 as the spouse, as the body and as the kingdom of Christ. For 
 that reason he said, "He that heareth you heareth me, and he 
 that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despis- 
 eth him that sent me."* A rebel against the government is 
 driven out from the protection of the laws, and if lie continues in 
 his insurrection, he is justly put to death. So it is with those wha 
 rebel against the church. They end in infidelity and in damnation, 
 because Christ still reigns in the pereon of his ministers. " There 
 is no power but from God, . . . and he that resisteth, resisteth to 
 
 » Math, xxvlll. 80. « Heb, xHl. 8. » Luke I. «. * Luke 1. 38. » Luke xxll. 29, 30. 
 
 • John xvUl. 36. ' John xlx. 19. » Apoc. xxll. U. » Luke x. 16. 
 
THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. 49 
 
 himself damnation" ' Being one in very life being and aifthority 
 with Christ, he reigns in and through his church. She has all his 
 power and authority, *'A11 power is given me in heaven and on 
 earth. Going forth therefore teach ye all nations" ' "He that hear- 
 eth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me." ' 
 
 Only to Peter and to his disciples did he say "Going forth therefore 
 teach ye all nations." * The clergy therefore are the teaching church, 
 while the people are the listening and the believing church. Christ 
 has gone to heaven; He cannot now be seen by bodily eyes, but be- 
 fore he went he founded his church on the apostles and on their 
 successors, and gave to them that divine commission to " teach all 
 the nations" of the earth. Christ is the head of the universal 
 church. Unseen, immortal and eternal like him its founder and its 
 head, the universal church fills the world. 
 
 While Christ is the head of the universal church, and he alone 
 presides over it, at the same time he rules and presides over the dio- 
 ceses and over the parishes in the persons of the pastors, who rule in 
 his name and by his authority. Thus in the bishop of Rome, the 
 chief and central diocese of the whole church, there especially Christ 
 rules his church in the person of Peter his vicar, to whom he said 
 "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." The 
 Lord Jesus is the head of each diocese, and he rules it in the person 
 of the bishop, who in a lower and a feebler way than the Eoman 
 Pontiff represent to clergy and people Christ, the head of the uni- 
 versal church. Again he is the head of each parish and the people 
 see him in the person of their pastor. In his voice and in his per- 
 son they see the form of the Son of God the shepherd of our 
 souls. 
 
 The universal church is like to God. In God, the Father 
 generates the Son, who comes forth from the Father to the earth, 
 bearing in his person all the perfection of the Father. In the 
 church the diocese comes forth from the universal church, with 
 some of the necessary perfections of the whole church. Again 
 from the Father and the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit, with all 
 the perfections of the other two Persons of the Trinity. So from 
 the universal church and from the diocese come the parish with 
 the riches and perfections and graces and the sacraments of the 
 whole cliurch and of the diocese. But we must not expect to find 
 any perfect image of the Trinity in creatures. As from the 
 Father only comes the Son, so from the universal church alone can 
 come the particular church the diocese. As from Father and the 
 Son proceeds the Holy Spirit, so from the whole church and 
 from the diocese comes the establishing of parishes. The Persons 
 of the Trinity proceed from one another in a regular manner, 
 in conformity with the eternal laws of their common divinity. So 
 the ruling of churches, the erecting of diocese, the establishing 
 of parishes must take place according to the laws laid down by 
 the canons. 
 
 Christ is the head of the universal church. He rules her bv 
 
 » Rom. xlll. 2. ^ Matt, xxxiii. 18, 19. ^ Lm^g, ^ 16. * Matt, xxxlll. 19. 
 
50 THE CHURCH THE CITY OF GOD. 
 
 the Pof>e his Vicar. He speaks to the world by him. In him the 
 universal church is centralized and undividualized, Christ is the 
 head of the particular church the diocese. He rules it by the 
 bishop, who stands at the head of the hierarchy of holy orders. 
 The bishop is one of the successors of the twelve apostles. The 
 diocese lives, moves, and has its being in the universal church, of 
 which it is only a great parish or member. Christ is also the head 
 of the single church the diocese and the parish. The pastor is one 
 of the successors of the priest, and ministers ordained by Christ. * 
 
 The parish came from and was born of the diocese, as the latter 
 was in its turn, born or came from universal church. Clirist is 
 the head of the parish? To him each soul in the parish is as dear 
 as the apple of his eye. He died for that particular soul as well 
 as he died for the whole human race. Thus we see the wonders 
 of the mysteries of the headship of Christ over all the church. 
 Here shines forth the greatness of the church of God " the Spouse 
 of Christ, our spotless Virgin Mother/' who every day brings forth 
 her countless children, sons and daughters of our father God. Mother 
 of all living, bearing the same relation to Christ as Eve did to 
 •Adam, she the church is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. 
 As the husband is the head of the wife, so Christ is the head of 
 our holy Mother the Church. As he is the spiritual King of the 
 human race in the place of Adam, so the church is the Queen 
 over all the races and nations of men. 
 
 How glorious is that city of God sitting on the mountains of 
 eternity, founded on the unchangable truths of God,- built on the 
 apostles whose sun and temple is the Lamb without spot. It 
 comes down from the Father of lights through Christ the Son 
 of God, streaming down from the eternal heights of glory, it comes 
 into this M'orld to seek suffering souls, which were being lost. 
 From Jesus Christ her head she receives all truth holiness good- 
 ness, power and authority. Her glories are only for him her 
 spouse, that he might freely give his glories to us. "' I John saw 
 the holy city tlie new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from 
 God prepared for her husband." " By and through her all the lost 
 children are restored to our inheritance we lost in Adam. " And 
 I heard a great voice from the throne saying. Behold the taber- 
 nacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be his people and God himself shall be their God."' ' 
 
 But not every one who belongs to the visible church will be 
 saved. Only those, who free from sin united to Christ and who 
 persevere in that state, only these shall be saved. " He that shall 
 overcome shall possess these things, and I will be his God and he 
 shall be my son. " * Thus that, holy church is formed of the 
 saints made' perfect, "built only of those sanctified and washed in 
 the blood of the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world. " ' 
 She rises from the earth, and penetrating the very skies, she en- 
 ters the secret sanctuary of the Holy Trinity, she takes her place 
 
 > Council Trld. Sera, xxlll. Can. vi. * Apoc. xxl. 1. ' Apoc xxl. 8. 
 
 * Apoc. xxl. 7. • Apoc. xUl. 8. 
 
k 
 
52 THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS SALVATION. 
 
 as a member of, and in co-partmentship and in equality with the 
 Persons of the Trinity. " Blessed are they that wash their robes 
 in the blood of the Lamb . . and may enter in by the gates of the 
 city. " * Outside the soul of the church are the remains of the fallen 
 race of Adam, bending still beneath the curse of the original sin, in 
 which all were born. No salvation comes to them , for they do 
 not belong to the body of Christ, '' Without are dogs and sor- 
 cerers, and unchaste and murderers and servers of idols, and every 
 one that maketh a lie." " That is outside the church there is no 
 salvation for fallen man. For the church being the bride, or spouse 
 of Christ, by her he brings forth his children. Being his body, his 
 Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit does not work salvation outside his 
 body, no more than the soul of man works outside his body. For 
 that reason, those who do not belong at least to the soul of the 
 church, or bodyof Christ they do not belong to him, and they cannot 
 be saved. For salvation is the taking up, the raising up into the 
 Divinity of the fallen members of the race of Adam. 
 
 Christ is the fruitful source of all grace and redemption for men. 
 He works the salvation of mankind through the sacraments by the 
 indwelling of the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from him into the 
 souls of men. ^ While Christ, from whom the Holy Ghost proceeds 
 died for all men, it is the same Holy Ghost who sanctifies men. 
 He carries out the work of redemption in the world by the 
 church, which he inhabits. " Because the Word is in the Father 
 and the Spirit is given by the Word, therefore he wished that we 
 would receive the Spirit: then having the Spirit of the Word ex- 
 isting in the Father, we would seem through the Spirit to become 
 one with the Word and through him one with the Father. " * 
 What a wonder for the mind of man to contemplate us one with 
 the members of the Holy Trinity. To live the very life of God! 
 To ascend to the heights of the incomprehensible Godhead! Men 
 are all ambitious, proud. They ever strive for something higher. 
 Here they can satisfy that natural longing for the betterand for the 
 higher. The Holy Ghost as St. Basil says *' is the character of 
 the Son " stamped on us. * 
 
 That redemption of Christ began on the*cros8 the Holy Ghost 
 
 still works in us by the church his organ. Through the clergy 
 
 he speaks to the world, and teaches men the way of salvation. 
 
 He placed the pastors over the people. To rule the Church of God 
 
 which he hath purchased with his own blood. "' '* Through Christ 
 
 its head, by and in the Holy Ghost her soul the church is united to 
 
 the Trinity and the members ofthechiirch partake while on earth 
 
 in that fellowship of the two Persons of the Trinity, and they are 
 
 sanctified by the Holy Ghost. '' ** The Spirit completes all that God 
 
 did through the Son .... nor can the Trinity receive any separation. 
 
 As the Son receives from the Father to be one with nim, and to 
 
 be with him the one of the principle from whom proceeds the 
 
 Holy Ghost, so in his mission to the earth to save mankind he 
 
 also retains that quality or power of sending the Holy Ghost! " 
 
 > Apoc. xxii. 14. * Apoc. xxli. IS. > John xx. 23. * St. Atbanas. Orat. iU. contra Arianos. 
 * St. Basil adv. Eunoin L. V. * AcU xx 28. 
 
SENDING THE HOLY GHOST. 53 
 
 As he sent his apostles, he also gave to them and their succes- 
 sors to send the same Holy Ghost into the hearts and souls of men. 
 Thus the clergy partaking in the Priesthood of Christ, like him 
 they send the Holy Ghost. Thus as Christ said to his apostles 
 when sending them with the powers of the priesthood: ''Receive 
 ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven, 
 and whose sins you shall retain they are retained; " ' in the same 
 way the clergy sends the same Holy Ghost into the hearts and the 
 souls of men. At the consecration of a bishop the consecrator and 
 the assisting bishops impose their hands on the newly consecrated 
 bishop saying. " Receive the Holy Ghost. ^"* At the ordination 
 of a priest, the bishop imposes his hands on the head of the young 
 priest saying the exact words of Christ when sending his apostles 
 into the whole world. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose sins 
 etc.^' '' At the ordination of a deacon the bishop imposes his hands 
 on the head of the young cleric saying: "Receive thou the Holy 
 Ghost for strength to resist the devil and his temptations, in the 
 name of the Lord.^' * At the ordination of the subdeacon the bish- 
 op prays that the Holy Ghost may come down on them: "May 
 the Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge rest upon them, the Spirit 
 of council and of strength, the Spirit of science and of piety, and 
 fill them with the S^sirit of thy love." ^ All who are raised to the 
 dignity of the minor order receive " the Holy Ghost, that by the 
 words of the exorcism the unclean spirits may be driven out of the 
 possessed." * The clergy send the Holy Ghost into the hearts of 
 men, because they partake in the eternal Priesthood of Jesus 
 Christ from whom in eternity comes forth the same Holy Ghost. 
 
 They send that Spirit of God into the hearts and souls of men to 
 sanctify them and make them like unto the Son of God, our 
 brother, from whom he the Holy Spirit ever proceeds. In the 
 confirmation of the people the bishop, who is the perfect priest, 
 and who in a more perfect manner represents the Lord Jesus, he 
 sends the Holy Ghost into the newly confirmed saying: " May 
 the Holy Spirit come upon you and the strength of the Most High 
 guard you from sin."' Extending his hands over them he says: 
 "send forth from heaven upon them the septiformal Paraclete 
 Spirit."' Seven times at every Mass the priest sends the Holy 
 Ghost into the hearts of the people when he says the "Dominus 
 vobiscum" "the Lord be with you," that is the Holy Ghost. 
 Every time a priest baptizes a person, he drives out the demons 
 and sends into that soul the Holy Ghost to sanctify it with his 
 presence. 
 
 Thus let us better understand the wonders of the hierarchies of 
 the Trinity and of the church. From God the Father, and from 
 his only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, comes forth the Holy Spirit 
 now as it was from the beginning and always will be. That is 
 taking place now and always will be, for it is the procession of the 
 
 1 John. XX, 22, 23. - Pontif. Rom. De Consecr. Epis. ' Pontif. Rom. De Ordinal. Presbyt. 
 
 ^ Pontif. Roman De Ordinal. Diac. * Ponlif. Roman De Ordinal. Subdiaiiac. 
 
 ' Pontif. Roman De Ordinal. Exorcist. ' Pontif. Rom. de Conflrmatione. * De Confirm. lb. 
 
54 THE COMING OF THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 Persons of the Trinity. The Son is ever being born of the Fath- 
 er. From him the head of the church, the church is 'ever coming 
 forth now and forever, as it did from his side on Calvary. From 
 both Father and Son comes even now as from eternity the Holy 
 Ghost. There is the internal the hidden life of God, which no 
 created mind can understand. These processions of the Persons 
 of the Trinity are taking place now in the church, inasmuch aa 
 the nature of weak created things can bear the image of the Trin- 
 ity. As Christ comes forth from his Father, so the church univer- 
 sal comes forth from him, the diocese from the universal church, 
 and the parish from the diocese. As the Father sends the Son, 
 his Image into the world, so the Pope the Father of all christians 
 sends the bishop, the image of the Pope himself, into the diocese 
 he created as an image of the universal church, which he rules in 
 the name of Christ, whose Vicar he is. In the same way the 
 bishop sends the pastor, the image of himself, into the parish the 
 image of the diocese. The Father in heaven is the Father of the 
 other Persons of the Trinity, so they call us priests fathers. For 
 we send the Son and Holy Spirit in the souls of men to sanctify 
 them by his holy presence, as the Eternal Father sent his Son and 
 Spirit into the world. In the administration of the sacraments, in 
 the Masses we offer up to God, by the " Dominus vobiscum,^' in the 
 ministry of the Word of God, in every office and priestly function, 
 there we stand ministers of God, we are ever sending into the 
 world the Holy Ghost, the spirit of the Son and of the Father, to 
 purify the hearts of men from sins. 
 
 In the days of the apostles, when in fear and trembling they 
 gathered in the upper chamber belonging to the mother of St. 
 Mark, on that Pentecost Sunday, the Promise of the Father, the 
 Holy Ghost came down on them in the form of tongues of fire and 
 sat on every one of them.^' ' 
 
 That was his first coming into the universal church assembled 
 there. From the universal church, he, the Holy Ghost, comes into 
 the particular church the diocese. From the diocese he descends 
 to the parish, and from the pastor into the hearts and the souls of 
 the people to heal them from sin and to fill them with the glories 
 of his holiness. The clergy are born of God by priestly ordina- 
 tion. By that we partake in the eteraal priesthood of Christ. As 
 the Holy Ghost proceeds from Christ, so we receive his priestly 
 powers by ordination. In our turn we send him into the souls of 
 the people by our ministry. Thus we stop aghast, astonished at 
 the wonders of the church of God, wherein are reproduced on a 
 small scale the life itself of the Trinity, the processions of the Per- 
 sons of God. 
 
 Such therefore are some of the wonders and beauties of our 
 hierarchies. We are united together in the church by the very 
 bonds which unite the Persons of the Trinity. All members 
 within the church live in the most holy bonds of peace, bound to- 
 
 > Acts. u. 
 
THE SOUL OF THE CHURCH. 55 
 
 gether with the bonds of the Trinity. In ancient times the word 
 " peace" meant the union of churches, and the union of the dif- 
 ferent members of the church with it and with each other. For 
 that reason from apostolic times the bishops when pontificating 
 said: '' Peace be with you." That meant, let you be always un- 
 ited with each other and with me, and through me with the uni- 
 versal church, and by that be ye all united to the Holy Trinity. 
 Then you will have the holiness of God and of his Holy Spirit. 
 For ^*In the unity of the Church the Trinity appears in the 
 unity of the Father, as the principle in which we unite the Son, as 
 the means by which we unite the Holy Ghost, as the Love which 
 unites us and all in one." ' The church is holy because it is an- 
 imated and vivified by the Holy Spirit of God, who lives in it and 
 animates it. The Holy Ghost is the soul of the church. The holy 
 church is as it were his body. As Christ united to man in the 
 Incarnation, so the Holy Ghost in a certain way took a body to 
 himself. That is the church. As the body and soul in man 
 make one individual man, not two beings, one the soul and the 
 other the body, so the church and the Holy Ghost may be said 
 make one Person. As the human soul gives life to the body 
 which it animates, so the Holy Ghost gives supernatural life or 
 holiness to the church his body. " The holy church is the body 
 of Christ living by one Spirit, all making one body, because of 
 one Spirit." ** 
 
 The church lives chiefly in the bishops the episcopacy, the chief 
 members of the hierarchy, the successors of the apostles. Christ 
 taught the apostles, and through them he taught the clergy, while 
 the people but dimly the mysteries of faith. " To you it is given 
 to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it is 
 not given.'' ^ The Apostles and the bishops received the fulness 
 of the eternal priesthood of Christ. By them chiefly Christ brings 
 forth his spiritual children of whom his church is formed. 
 They compose the different members of his mystic body on this 
 earth. The episcopacy is not divided. The episcopacy of Christ 
 is whole and complete in each bishop. " We especially, bishops, 
 who preside in the church, we must strongly hold and define its 
 unity, that we pro\e the episcopacy one and undivided. The epis- 
 copacy is one, of which each bishop holds the completeness."* 
 Each bishop therefore is a complete high jiriest, for in his consecra- 
 tion he received complete sacerdotal power from the exhaustless 
 fountains of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. But there is but one 
 Priesthood, that of the Son of God, the great High Priest of 
 eternity. Therefore the priest, the bishop, all who partake in the 
 Priesthood of Christ, all are one with him. Being one with him, 
 they give to others the sanctifying Holy Ghost, who proceeds from 
 him the Son of God. Therefore Christ through the Holy Ghost 
 is the source and the fountain head of the holiness of the church 
 of God. From the clergy the ministers of Christ, who are " other 
 
 ' Bosuet Let. iv. a une Dam. de Metz, n. 7. ' Hug. de St. Victor de Sacr, L. II p. il. c. 1. 2 
 ^ Matt. xill. 3. * St. Cyprian, de Unit. Eccles. n. 5, 
 
66 THE HOLY GHOST SANCTIFIES. 
 
 Christs " like unto himself from them comes forth the Holy Ghost, 
 who, sent by them tlie clergy comes into the hearts and the souls of 
 the people to sanctify and make them holy, pure, good, filling 
 them with grace drawn from the exhaustless fountains of the 
 Crucified.' 
 
 Hence as Christ is espoused to the whole church, the Pope is his 
 highest representative on this earth, while the bishop in his turn 
 is espoused to a part of the church of Christ, to the diocese, 
 over which the Holy Ghost has placed him " to rule the souls com- 
 mitted to his care."" Whence St. Paul says **I have espoused 
 you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to 
 Christ." ' The wonders of the universal church penetrate into 
 every part of the diocese and to the parish. The Holy Ghost the 
 Sanctifier is the Soul of the church. He is there and everywhere, 
 in the whole church, in the diocese, in the parish, in the souls of 
 men sanctifying. In him the whole church, the diocese, the parish, 
 and each individual christian live move and exist, and have their 
 supernatural life and being. What honor therefore should the 
 people give their clergy! From them conies the Holy Ghost into 
 their souls, to there take up his residence in man, the greatest tem- 
 ple built by the mighty hand of God. Above all should they re- 
 spect their bishop! For from him comes the chief mystery of 
 our religion. "Through the bishop comes all orders, all myster- 
 ies, every Sacrament." * 
 
 From the moment the Pontiff erects a new diocese, the epis- 
 copal city becomes a centre of spiritual forces, and varied en- 
 ergies of clergy spring up on every side. The universal church 
 living m the very bosom of the Holy Trinity, opens her fruitful 
 womb, and brings forth a daughter to God, a diocese, the image 
 of herself. The moment a new parish is erected by the voice of 
 the bishop, spiritual life, which before perhaps languished, spring 
 forth in all its strength, and priests and people rise to new and 
 more energetic endeavors for their salvation. The moment one 
 receives a sacrament, he feels an interior strength, a drawing 
 nearer to God, and a more lively sentiment of the things of heaven. 
 What is all this? where does this come from? It is the work of the 
 Holy Ghost given them by the ministry of the priesthood of 
 Jesus Christ, poured out upon a dying world. It is the Holy Ghost 
 healing suffering souls from the wounds of sin. 
 
 The Holy Ghost is therefore *' the author and finisher of our 
 
 faith." ' He lives in us completing our sanctification. He is the 
 
 source of all holiness, for to him we owe our spiritual life. He 
 
 and Christ from whom he proceeds, live in us. ** And I live, 
 
 now not 1, but Christ liveth in me."* Christ lives in the Father 
 
 who sent him; " As the living Father hath sent me and I live by 
 
 the Father." ' So by him and by his Spirit, we spiritually live here 
 
 on this earth the life of the Holy Trinity, a divine life, which will 
 
 be completed only when we see them face to face in splendors of 
 
 « I. Tim. 1. 17. » Acts XX. 28. » II. Cor. xl. 2. * Simeon Thess. de Sac Ord. C. I. 
 
 » Heb. xll. a. • Gal. 11. 20. » Johaxl. M. 
 
THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, THE DIOCESE A.ND PARISH. 57 
 
 heaven, Christ, head of the church, lives in the persons of the 
 clergy, whom he sent forth with all his powers and sanctifying 
 sacraments. " As the living Father hath sent me and I live by 
 the Father." ' So by the clergy, the people are unite to and enter 
 into the most intimate relations with the Trinity. In the clergy 
 the people see the images of the persons of the Trinity. " He that 
 receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him 
 that sent me." ^ 
 
 Not only that, but in an other way we see in the wonders of the 
 church, the image of the Trinity. The Pope is the head of the 
 whole church, as well as the head of the particular diocese of 
 Eome. He is the Father of the people of God. For that he is 
 called Pope, — Papa, the Greek for father. As the Son is born of 
 the Father before all ages,' so the bishops and the dioceses are 
 born of him. The bishops are the spiritual sons of the Pope, as the 
 dioceses are the spiritual daughters of the universal church. They 
 are spiritually begotten by the Pope and by the universal church, 
 as the Son is generated by the Father. The parish and priest 
 proceed from the bishop and the diocese, as his son and daugh- 
 ter, as the Son and Spirit come forth from the Father in the 
 Trinity. From the priest and parish, the laity are born sons and 
 daughters of Christ, for all who receive him in the persons of his 
 clergy, to them he gave the power to be the sons of God." * " For 
 unless a man be born of water and of the Holy Ghost he cannot 
 enter the kingdom of God." * " And if sons, heirs also, heirs in- 
 deed of God, and Joint heirs with Christ." * In the coronation of 
 the Pope, in the consecration of the bishop, in the ordination of 
 the clergy, in every sacrament and service, we find the image of 
 the Son and Spirit, now and from eternity being generated and 
 proceeding from the Father, or from the Father and the Son. 
 Such are the wonders of the supernatural life of God ever acting 
 in his church. 
 
 Proceeding from the Father and the Son, the head of the 
 church, the Holy Spirit comes down into the world, comes 
 into the souls of men by the ministry of the eternal priesthood 
 of Christ, by the preaching of the Gospel, by the prayers of the 
 good, and there he works the wonders of salvation and of civil- 
 ization amongst men, raising them up into himself, that with 
 Christ they may be one with God. As the pastor is the bridegroom 
 of his parish, as the bishop^s bride is his diocese, as the whole church 
 is the Spouse of Christ, he is the spouse of the universal 
 church. "As the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is 
 the head of the church, he is the savior of his body. Therefore 
 as the church is subject to Christ .... 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." ' Thus as the church universal is the spouse of the Son of 
 
 ' John xl. 58. "' Math. x. 40. ^ Athanas. Creed. * John 1. 17. » John iil. 5. 
 
 « Rom. vili. 17. ' Ephes. v, 23, 24, 26, 27. 
 
58 THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 God, as the wife has all the perfections and the very nature and 
 flesh and blood with her husband, so the church like Christ is 
 holy. Being the mother of his children, as the mother brings forth 
 children of the same nature with herself, as the church is the 
 mother of all the saints, who ever appeared upon this earth, so 
 she in her turn must be holy, or she could not be their mother, 
 the spouse of such a holy man Christ. 
 
 We can only for a moment draw the mind of the reader to the 
 spectacle of the countless saints and martyrs and virgins and holy 
 men and women who belonged to the church. They became saints 
 because they belonged to her. It was her sanctity which filled 
 them. History tells us of the sufferings of the martyrs, of the 
 constancy they showed in their torments, of what they endured 
 before they overcame the world, and flesh and blood to gain the 
 immortal crown of martyrdom. No work of history, no page of 
 romance, no imagination of the greatest novelist, can fancy 
 greater heroism than that of the saints and martyrs of the church. 
 '* He that overcometh himself is greater than he that overcometh 
 a city. " But the saints and martyrs not only overcame them- 
 selves, that is mastered their passions, but they also overcame the 
 world, the devil and the flesh by their heroic virtues and their 
 constancy. Following in the footsteps of the greatest martyr 
 of them all, Jesus Christ, they made up by their lives, what was 
 wanting in his passion. " For the servant is not greater than 
 the master. "^ If he the head of the church suffered so, why not 
 they who come after him? As they walk in his footsteps, so they 
 must all enter the dark shadows of Calvary. All this he foretold. 
 "If any man will follow me let him deny himself and take up his 
 cross and follow me. " ' It is a surprising thing yet it is true, 
 that there was never a minister of Christ who did great good in 
 the world, but who was misunderstood, belied, slandered, perse- 
 cuted, and that in proportion to the amount of good he did to his 
 fellow men. 
 
 The church being one with Christ, she partakes in his spiritual 
 dignity and in his authority over men. " He that heareth you 
 heareth me, and he that heareth me heareth him that sent me."* 
 Therefore the church is Christ and Christ is the church. To her 
 is given to bring forth his and her children, sons of God, that they 
 may in all things be like to her head and founder Jesus Christ. 
 Not that they can be the sons of God by nature, for that alone 
 belongs to the divine Word, his only begotten Son. But by grace 
 the sons of man become like unto and conformable to the Son of 
 God her spouse, for whom she brought them forth the day of 
 their baptism, when they were born ''again of water and of the 
 Holy Ghost, " that they might enter into the church, the kingdom 
 of God, his Father. From the church alone we all received from 
 God the blessing of salvation and the "power to be made the sons 
 
 > John, xill 16. * Mark, rtll, S4. * Mark (x. 36. 
 
THE CHURCH TEACHING, SANCTIFYING AND KULING. 59 
 
 of God, to them that believe in his name." ' For the church is 
 "the fulness of the only begotten Son of God." * 
 
 The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with the church are therefore 
 one. Through Christ the second Person of the Holy Trinity, she 
 is united to and made one with the Trinity. In the Trinity the 
 church lives, moves, and has her being. By the grace of redemp- 
 tion and the merits of Christ poured out so abundantly on the 
 members of the church, they begin on earth that life, which ends 
 only in eternity, in the splendors of the beatific vision of God, 
 where they live on and Avith his eternal life. "The tunic of 
 Christ that is the church gets its unity coming from above, that 
 is coming down from heaven and from the Father." ^ 
 
 Christ did not choose to remain ever on this earth. It was de- 
 creed in the councils of the Eternal that he was to be born man, 
 to die, to rise from the dead, and to enter into the glories of his 
 Father, which he had with him before the world was. He then 
 went back to heaven to prepare a place for us, and he will come 
 again at our death to take us to himself. " I will come again and 
 will take you to myself, that where I am, you also may be." * 
 » John i. 12. 2 Eph. 1. 23. ' Cyprian de Unit. Eccl. n. 7. * John xlv. 3. 
 

 ^Aapi( 
 
 ;3? ■(< 
 
 for the V 
 
 QrcL.'ikO^^ 
 
 The Eternal Priest- 
 hood of Christ. 
 
 fESUS Christ at the mcar-^ 
 nation was consecrated by 
 His Father the eternal 
 Priest of the human race:" 
 Sending him the Father said: 
 From the womb before the day 
 star I begot thee. Thou art 
 a priest forever according to 
 the order of Melchisedech.*" He 
 was not made a priest of the 
 old law according to the order of 
 Aaron, for the bloody sacrifices of 
 the law of Moses were not to last 
 forever. They only prepared for 
 the sacrifice of Calvary which they 
 typified; they ceased at the cruci- 
 fixion, when the veil of the tem- 
 ple was rent, and torn aside hy 
 angel hands at the death of 
 Christ. ' He was made a priest 
 according to the order of Melchis- 
 edech king of Jerusalem * who of- 
 fered bread and wine to God * because his sacrifice in the Mass is to 
 go on forever, for the atonement on the cross is ever before the eyes 
 of God, his humanity which was crucified and his blood which was 
 shed for us men and for our salvation, lasts unto eternity and he 
 will ever offer his passion before the throne of his eternal Father, 
 asking for forgiveness of sin. 
 
 Melchisedecli king of Salem, as Jerusalem was then called, offer- 
 ing bread and wine to God was but a figure of our Lord ' who at 
 Luke xzili. 45. * DuU«pon concord Scrip. * Gen. xIt. 18. 
 
 ":'''^. 
 
 Pmlm clxlll. 4. 
 Heb. V. 6, 10 ; vl. 30. 
 
 60 
 
THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE NEW LAW. 61 
 
 the last supper took bread and wine and changed them into his 
 body and his blood. There he instituted the new priesthood of 
 the New Testament. There he ordained his apostles priests by the 
 words: " Do this for a commemoration of me.'' * Such was the 
 origin of the Mass, wherein we see the mystic or the typical repre- 
 sentation of his coming and his death, which is to be offered on 
 every altar as a memorial of him, till he comes again, as St. Paul 
 says: "For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink this 
 chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until he comes." * 
 
 Each good person, every incident and historic event of the Old 
 Testament pointed to the commg of the Messiah, the Redeemer, 
 or to the founding of the church. All prophecy prepared the. 
 world for his advent. The vast ceremonial of the Jewish taber- 
 nacle and temple pointed to his life and death. When he came 
 and died he accomplished all they foretold. At his sacrifice on the 
 cross, the sacrifices of the Jewish law ended, God the Father re- 
 ceived in their place the atonement of his Son, which they pre- 
 figured and from that moment God rejected the rites of the Old 
 Testament and cursed the Jews who like Cain had put their 
 brother Jesus to death. To this day they are wanderers on the 
 earth, like Cain without a country or a nation, while the abomina- 
 tion of desolation predicted by the prophets still stands in the holy 
 places, and will remain there until the end. ^ > 
 
 God having rejected the nation the ceremonial and the Jewish 
 priesthood, Christ, called the gentiles and instituted another priest- 
 hood to take their place to teach the world his Gospel and 
 his truths. The old priesthood of Moses and of Aaron was to last 
 but till the coming of him the desired of all nations. But his 
 new priesthood was institued so as to partake in his eternal priest- 
 hood and it must last unto the end of ages, even unto eternity. As 
 Christ came down from the eternal Father who generates him 
 bearing that everlasting Priesthood, so the new priesthood of the 
 New Testament comes from Christ, who receives from his Father God 
 all power and might and authority over men. To the priesthood of 
 the church then he gave his triple power of teaching, sanctifying 
 and of ruling the people of God. " All power is given me in 
 heaven and on earth.* Going forth therefore teach ye all nations" 
 behold the teaching power. ''^Baptising them in the name of the 
 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. " * Here we see 
 the sanctifying power of the priesthood. "Teaching them to 
 observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold 
 I am with you all days even unto the consummation of tlie world. "* 
 And here we find the governing power of Christ. " 
 
 Christ raised his apostles and disciples up into his priesthood, 
 for he made them one in power with himself. " If you ask any- 
 thing in my name, that I will do. " ' Here he solemnly promises 
 that he will do anything the apostles ask him. He and his clergy 
 are one, and they have but one and the same eternal Priesthood. 
 
 » Luke xxii. 19, " I. Cor. xi. 26. * Daniel Ix. 27. 
 
 " Math, xxxili. 19. « Matb xxxUi. 20. ' Johaxlv. 14. < Math, xxviil, 18. 19. 
 
62 SUBSTANCE AND ACT. 
 
 As he is one with his Father, so they are one with him. " In 
 that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me and 
 I in you. " ' The Father, Christ, the apostles and*^ clergy of the 
 church are one. Such are the teachings of the church enlightened 
 by the Holy Ghost. ' ' But the Paraclete the Holy Ghost, whom 
 the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and 
 bring to your mind whatsoever I have said to 3'ou."' Let us 
 study the workings of the eternal Priesthood of Christ. 
 
 Each creature has not only its substance, but also certain 
 powers or faculties, by which it acts. But its faculties differ from 
 its substance. Thus man has not only a body and a soul but also 
 twelve different faculties or powers by which the soul acts. These 
 faculties or powers of creatures differ from their acting substance. 
 Because of his eternal simplicity the substance, the essence and 
 the acts of God are one. His acts and his nature are the same. 
 He has not faculties by which he acts, for he is the eternal simple 
 and most infinitely perfect Act. Being ever living and in act, 
 his internal act is to produce the Son and Holy Spirit from his 
 mind and will. But mind and will in him are not faculties as in 
 created man and angel, for his mind and will are his intellectual 
 nature thinking and willing, and giving rise to his only begotten 
 Son and Holy Spirit, each a perfect and eternal Person like unto 
 the Father. ''And these three are one, " ' God the Father, Son 
 and Holy Ghost. For the Father generates the Son without 
 division or separation of Godhead, while the Son and Father 
 produced from eternity and still continue bringing forth the Holy 
 Spirit their mutual Love. 
 
 The Son is equal to the Father in nature and in eternal and 
 measureless power. Sending his Son to be the Redeemer of the 
 world, the Father crowns him with the diadem of the eternal 
 Priesthood. Father and Son giving rise to their Holy Spirit, they 
 send him into the world to form and shape and animate the church 
 born of the Son in the rigors of his death. That Pareclete comes 
 in fiery tongues upon the infant church assembled in the upper 
 chamber belonging to St. Mark^s mother. He then appeared on 
 that Pentecost Sunday and since his coming he remains ever with the 
 church teaching, inspiring, directing and keeping her from error, 
 that she may teach, sanctify and rule God's people bought by the 
 blood of the Son. 
 
 Behold the mystery of the Priesthood of the Son of God coming 
 from the Father yet ever standing before the eternal throne " the 
 Angel of the New testament * always interceding for us." * On 
 the throne of God high, above all creatures there is Jesus Christ 
 the man-God with his eternal Priesthood ever in act ever coming 
 forth from his Father, always offering the fruits of our priesthood 
 our good works in union with his sacrifice of calvary for the sup- 
 ernatural life of the dead race of Adam. Substance and act being 
 one and the same in the Son of God his priesthood never ceases, for 
 he is " A priest forever according to tlie order of Melchisedech." * 
 
 « John xU. 2. ' John xlv. 20. » John x. 7 ♦ Canon Missae. • Heb. xll. 25. • Psalm clx. 4. 
 
DIFFERENT RANKS OF CLERGYMEN". C3 
 
 Christ could not give his divine nature to his clergy, for that 
 would make them sons of God by nature as so many Gods. But 
 he gave them his supernatural power, that is his Priesthood, his 
 complete power over his mystic body the church. But the powers or 
 faculties and the acts of creatures are not the same, for they can- 
 not be infinitely perfect like unto God, who is the infinite Act, 
 because of his infinity simplicity God cannot be divided. In the 
 Priesthood given to men the power of holy orders is the substance 
 while jurisdiction is the reguhition of the acts, or the exercise of 
 these holy orders. By ordination or by holy orders we come forth 
 from Christ, Then we are born into his eternal Priesthood. As 
 Adam is the father of the race according to the fiesh, so Christ is 
 the father of christians according to the Spirit. By natural birth 
 we come forth from Adam while by -supernatural generation we 
 come forth from Christ. Each person baptised is born again of 
 "Water and of the Holy Ghost."' By comfirmation we are 
 strengthened by his Holy Spirit. But by holy orders we receive 
 in a higher way the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Christ, for by that 
 we enter into his eternal Priesthood. 
 
 By holy orders therefore the clergy partake in the power of the 
 Priesthood of Christ, while jurisdiction regulates the exercise of 
 that power. The clergy are in higher or lower orders inasmuch 
 as they partake in a higher or lower degree in the eternal Priest- 
 hood of Christ. At his consecration the bishop receives the ful- 
 ness of that Priesthood. For that reason he stands at the head 
 of the ranks of holy orders. Under him are the priests, who have 
 all his sacerdotal powers, except the power of ordaining other 
 clergymen. Deacons can preach, baptise, wait on the priests and 
 tend to the temporal wants of the church. The subdeacons wait 
 on the deacons and on the priest. The acolyte prepares the water 
 and wine for the Mass, the exorcist drives out the demons, the 
 readers read the Bible in the church while the porter stands at 
 the church door to keep unworthy persons from entering the house 
 of God. 
 
 In the various ranks of beings, the higher contains the perfec- 
 tions of the lower, and therefore clergymen in superior orders have 
 all the spiritual power of the lower ministers. Clergymen cannot 
 exercise the functions of orders they have not received, even 
 the attempt is forbidden under severe punishment. But when 
 clergymen exercise the duties of orders below their rank, they 
 add to the function all the dignity of their superior order, Thus 
 we read that our blessed Lord deigned to exercise the duties of 
 every order. As a porter he drove out the buyers and sellers from 
 the temple ;* as an exorcist he expelled demons from the possessed," 
 as a reader he rose in the synagogue and read the prophet Isaias, * 
 as a deacon and a subdeacon he waited on his priests the apostles, 
 as priest he said the first Mass at the last supper, and offered 
 himself on the cross, as a bishop he consecrated his apostles bishops, 
 and sent the Holy Ghost into the church. Being God he added 
 > John HI. 57. " LLke x. 1. » Math. iv. xxlv. viil. 16. etc. * Luke iv. xvi. to 27. 
 
64 THE FULNESS OP THE PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 to these religious rites a dignity belonging only to the eternal Son. 
 But he could not go into every congregation to every nation and 
 church to preach, sanctify and govern all men, for he was only 
 one man, who could not be present in a visible form among all 
 peoples and tribes of the world. He must then provide a way by 
 which his redemption was to be preached to the uttermost ends 
 of the earth, so that not only all nations but also every future 
 generation might benefit by his redemption. He appointed clergy- 
 men to do that for him. *' Going forth therefore teach ye all 
 nations." ' " Behold I am with you all days even to the consumma- 
 tion of the world."* He died that sin might be wiped out. He 
 gave power to his apostles to forgive sins in his name. " Receive 
 ye the Holy Ghost whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven 
 them, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained." ' As his 
 almighty Father crowned him the eternal Priest, so he ordained 
 other priests to continue his work. *^ As the Father hath sent me, 
 so I also send you."* " Do this for a commemoration of me." ' 
 
 Each apostle received from him the fulness of his eternal Priest- 
 hood. They became universal bishops of his universal church. 
 The bishops then are all equal in holy orders — even the Pope, is 
 but a bishop, not higher in holy orders than other bishops. Each 
 bishop and apostle received the fulness of the priesthood of Christ. 
 The apostles and the bishops of the early church were no higher 
 than the bishops of our time. For the bishop at his consecration 
 receives the fulness of the priesthood of Christ, and more than the 
 fulness cannot be received. Christ is to-day with the church, and 
 with all his eternal power with the clergy, as he was during his 
 life on earth. " Behold I am with you all days even to the con- 
 summation of the world."* 
 
 At Baptism the child of Adam, dead in original sin becomes the 
 child of God, living his supernatural life. By holy orders he be- 
 comes a priest of God, a member of the association of Christ, a 
 partner of the firm of which Christ is the head, whose business is 
 the saving of souls. Holy orders once received impresses a char- 
 acter in the soul, which like the seal of Baptism and confirmation 
 remains for eternity. Once a priest, a priest he will remain for- 
 ever even unto the future life. The clergy then can ever validly 
 although not always lawful, exercise the functions of their order, 
 and no power can ever take it away, for by holy orders they become 
 the images of the eternal Priest, Jesus Christ, whose priesthood 
 ever remains in action before the throne of his eternal Father. 
 
 In Christ as God his essence, power, nature and acts are the 
 same. His eternal priesthood ever acts, for he continually offers 
 his sacrifice on Calvary before the eyes of his eternal Father. In 
 God there is no past or future, for he dwells in eternity, where 
 all is present. Time then is one of the qualities of matter. All 
 being present to God, the sacrifice of the cross, that supreme act 
 of the eternal priesthood of Christ, he ever offers before the throne 
 
 » Mflth. xxxlll. Ifl. « Math. xxxlM. 30. » John xx. 22. * John xx. 21. 
 
 e Luke xxxl. 19. * Matt, xxxlli. 30. 
 
HOLY ORDEKS AND JUKISDICTION". 65 
 
 of the Eternal pleading for mercy for sin. In Christ then the 
 Priesthood, his death and the offerings of that priesthood aijp the 
 same, for he offered himself and his offering and his sacerdotal act 
 cannot be divided. 
 
 But this is not so in imperfect men. The power of holy orders, 
 and the exercise of these powers are not the same. The priest- 
 hood received in holy orders, and the exercise of these sacerdotal 
 powers are not the same, for in creatures who by nature are im- 
 perfect the essence and the act are not identical as in God. Man 
 can abuse his sacerdotal powers and become unworthy of his office. 
 While the character of holy orders ever remain imprinted in the 
 soul, the exercise of holy orders must be regulated by jurisdiction, 
 which is the authority of our superiors over us, in the exercise of 
 our holy orders and sacerdotal powers. In Christ orders and juris- 
 diction are the same, while in men they differ. For while orders 
 remain imprinted in the soul, jurisdiction belongs to our superiors 
 and it can be restricted or taken away. 
 
 In ancient times jurisdiction was called hierarchial union or 
 communion. By baptism the laity are received into the commun- 
 ion of the church. By ordination the clergy are received into the 
 communion of their order. By sin a person may lose these bene- 
 fits. A lay person by sin may lose his faith. 
 
 A clergyman may disgrace himself and be degraded from ex- 
 ercising the functions of the office or from the church. A man in 
 the lower orders may be degraded to the ranks of the laity. A 
 priest may be suspended, a bishop reduced to the ranks of the 
 priesthood. But all this relates to jurisdiction, not to the power 
 of orders, but only to the exercise of these powers. For the char- 
 acter of baptism, of confirmation and of holy orders remain forever 
 imprinted in the soul. Taking away the exercise or the acts 
 of these spiritual powers is called suspension for clergymen. 
 
 The priest in union with his bishop takes part in the govern- 
 ment of the diocese, while the bishop in union with the Pope takes 
 part in the government of the universal church. The eternal 
 priesthood belongs not only to the whole church but also to each 
 particular church, or to the diocese and to the parish, for each 
 diocese and parish has in the bishop and priest the powers of teach- 
 ing, of sanctifying and of ruling souls bought by the blood of the 
 immaculate "Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the 
 world. ^' ' 
 
 Bishops, priests, and ministers first belong to the whole or to the 
 universal church. In this respect they are all equal according to the 
 ranks of the orders they received. Thus in the universal church the 
 bishops are all equal, in the diocese the priests are all equal, in the 
 parish the laity are all equal before the church. 
 
 Let us better understand it. The bishops priests and clergy first 
 belong to the universal church. They are all under the guidance 
 and the leadership of the head of the universal church, the Pope. 
 
 » John 1. 29. 
 
66 THE ETERNAL PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 The priests and lower clergy next belong to the diocese, and they 
 are al> under their bishop. In power of orders, all in the same 
 ranks are equal, but not in the exercise of these powers. Thus no 
 bishop can exercise religious functions in any other diocese but his 
 own, without the permission of the bishop of that diocese or the 
 orders of the Pope, who has direct jurisdiction over every soul 
 redeemed by Christ, because he is the vicar of the Redeemer of all 
 men. No pastor can come into another parish to exercise paroch- 
 ial duties without the expressed or implied consent of the pas- 
 tor, or of the bishop who is the pastor of the whole diocese. No 
 assistant priest can assume to perform any priestly duty against 
 the consent of the pastor, because they are not his people, for the 
 pastor is their shepherd. Thus the powers of orders are most beau- 
 tifully regulated by jurisdiction, centering in the visible head of the 
 church the Pope, the vicar of Christ, who is the source and the head 
 of all orders and jurisdiction. Every act being regulated by the 
 canon law of the church there can be no tyranny nor oppression. 
 
 Hence no bishop can rule a diocese in opposition to the Roman 
 Pontiil, no priest can be pastor without the appointment of the bish- 
 op, no assistant can administer the sacraments without the given 
 or tacit consent of the pastor or of the bishop. Without the con- 
 sent of the superiors given in a regular way, the clergy are forbid- 
 den to fulfil priestly functions for the people. But such functions 
 are valid but forbidden and sinful. But the sacrament of penance 
 alone is null and void without jurisdiction, so as to prevent un- 
 known clergymen from wandering around from place to place and 
 doing harm. But the otherfunctions of holy ordersare valid without 
 the consent of the bishop even when the clergyman is suspended 
 from exercising the powers of his orders. Thus we see th^t Christ 
 is so careful of his mystic body his people, that he takes more care 
 of them than of the sacraments he instituted for their redemption. 
 But for serious reasons, the functions of holy orders may be sus- 
 pended for a time or forever. The clergy being images of the 
 eternal Priest Jesus Christ, whose divine nature and the acts are 
 the same, who is ever in act fulfilling his office as High Priest of 
 God, because of the intimate relation of the clergy to him, only 
 the exercise of the sacrament of penance can be completely taken 
 away, suspended and rendered null and void by our superiors. 
 For penance, being a judicial act, it must be exercised on subjects 
 given the priest by nis superiors, while the other functions of 
 orders are valid even when forbidden for cause, but sinful on the 
 part of the clergyman. 
 
 Each clergyman after ordination is usually assigned by his 
 bishop to a certain church, that he may there exercise the func- 
 tions of his orders within defined limits, and not encroach on the 
 limits of other parishes. In former times no bishop was consecra- 
 ted, or clergyman ordained, without first being assigned a church. 
 From that church he took his title that is his office or dignity. ' 
 That differs from the title of ordination to the title of mission, if 
 
A CLERGYMAIS^S TITLE. 67 
 
 in a missionary country, of poverty if he belongs to a mendicant 
 order, or of famularity if he belongs to the bishop's household. 
 The title of which we speak then is the appointment of a clergy- 
 man to a particular church, with communion and jurisdiction com- 
 ing from the universal church and the diocese, by which he par- 
 takes in all the honors and privileges attached to the position. Be- 
 cause of the high episcopal dignity, no bishop is now consecrated 
 without a title. By his title the bishop becomes the head of the 
 diocese, to which he was assigned by the Pope. In his turn the 
 bishop appoints the pastor at the head of the parish, and nominates 
 the priest, who acts as assistant to the pastor. 
 
 The title of the supreme Pastor is Jesus Christ. In Hebrew 
 Jesus means Saviour. " For he shall save his people from their 
 sins." ' Christ in Greek signifies the anointed. Messiah also is 
 the Hebrew for the anointed. His titles are numberless in the 
 Bible. The title of the Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the successor 
 of Peter, the head of all churches, for to Peter Christ said : " Feed 
 my lambs feed my sheep." ' Each clergyman in holy orders is the 
 equal of all others in the same order. The Bishop of Rome is not 
 in holy orders above or superior to other bishops. But because of 
 his title as Bishop of Rome, and heir of Peter, he has jurisdiction 
 over all the other bishops and churches of the world, for Rome is 
 the mother church, having authority over all christians, because 
 to Peter her first bishop, Christ left the power of ruling his lambs 
 and sheep. 
 
 The church title therefore completes and crowns the work of 
 the clergyman. By ordination he enters into communion and 
 equality with all the others in the same orders in the church uni- 
 versal. Then he receives jurisdiction in the diocese and becomes 
 later a pastor, the equal of the pastors with the same orders and 
 jurisdiction in the diocese. After ordination the bishop may ap- 
 point a new priest to a particular church as assistant to the pastor. 
 First the clergy receive orders, then jurisdiction then their title. 
 For Christ first founded the church universal. From her came 
 the diocese and from the diocese the parish was born. The hier- 
 archy of orders begins with the bishop and ends with the porter, 
 while the hierarchy of jurisdiction begins with the Pope and ends 
 with the bishops of various degrees. The bishop is the head of 
 holy orders, as the Pope is the head of jurisdiction. To the Pope 
 in the person of Peter his predecessor Christ said: ^^ Thou art 
 Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it." * " Whatever thou shalt bind upon 
 earth it shall be bound in heaven and whatever thou shalt loose 
 upon earth it shall be loosed in heaven."^ 
 
 Holy orders comes therefore before jurisdiction, as the univer- 
 sal church was before any particular diocese, while jurisdiction 
 precedes the title, for the diocese existed before the parish was 
 formed out of it. A bishop without title belongs to the universal 
 church, as a priest without a parish belongs to the diocese, while 
 
 ■ Matt. I. 21. ^ John xxi. 15, 16, 17. ^ Matt. xi. 18. < Math. xxi. 19. 
 
68 THE CLEEGYMAN ESPOUSED TO HIS CHFKCH. 
 
 a clergyman without a diocese belongs to the universal church. 
 His union with the universal church goes before and is the foun- 
 dation of his union with the diocese. His union with the church 
 universal and the diocese are the foundations on which rests the 
 bishop's or priest's title to his diocese or parish. Therefore no 
 bishop priest or clergyman can become the head of a diocese or 
 parisn, or be attached to any church unless first he belongs to the 
 church universal. Each clergyman must first be received into the 
 church, be ordained by her and remain obedient to her laws and 
 discipline. While obedient to her, no bishop can be deprived of 
 his diocese, no good priest can be driven from his diocese or par- 
 ish, nor can his church title be taken away without a just cause, 
 neither can a priest leave his diocese till he has first been received 
 Into another diocese. 
 
 The Church universal, in whose bosom dwell all Christians, is 
 the spouse, the wife of Christ. She was born of him and wedded 
 to him m his sleep of death, on the cross prefigured by the crea- 
 tion of Eve.' Bearing his eternal Priesthood, the bishop and the 
 pastor is the husband of his diocese and of his Church. From 
 Christ, her husband, the Church universal receives her power, her 
 honors and her glories. The honors of the husband belongs to his 
 wife, and the dignities of the wife belong to her spouse for they 
 form one moral being, one family, one flesh, blood, and one body. 
 As Christ and his church are one so the bishop and the diocese 
 are one. Christ left to Peter power to feed his lambs and sheep, 
 and he came and chose Eome as his church, his diocese. When 
 Peter died Eome became the heir of him to whom the Lord left all 
 power and jurisdiction in the church. When the clergy of Rome 
 elects the successor of Peter over the Roman diocesQ, God gives direct 
 to him all the power of Peter. Thus the new Bishop of Rome re- 
 ceives direct from God the power given the Prince of the apostles. 
 When Evodius was put to death, St. Ignatius his successor in the see 
 of Antioch became the Archbishop of the churches of Asia. At the 
 election of Simeon the successor of St. James, the new bishop of 
 Jerusalem became the overseer of the churches of the holy city. 
 When the Pope erects an archdiocese it receives a part of the 
 power of Peter over the other churches in the province and the 
 bishops of that see become archbishops. 
 
 Now we begin to understand the nature of the church titles. 
 The title of Jesus Christ is The Anointed Saviour of mankind, 
 because he was anointed in an invisible manner by the Holy 
 Ghost and the Father sent him into the world to save all men. 
 He appointed his apostles and their successors to the work of the 
 ministry of teaching, sanctifying and ruling souls. He consecrated 
 the apostles bishops, he ordained priests and ministers to do that 
 work for him, ana then he gave the supreme government of that 
 whole organism, his mystic body into the hands of Peter and his 
 successors, that all might be carried out regularly and without 
 confusion. 
 
 > Gen. xi. 32. 
 
70 ALL BISHOPS AEE EQUAL. 
 
 Christ will never die or cease to be the head of the church. But 
 all clergymen will die, and their titles will then pass to their suc- 
 cessors in office. A clergymen's title then is the actuality by which 
 in a certain church and over the people worshipping there he ful- 
 fills the functions of powers received in holy orders. First comes 
 holy orders, by which that power comes direct from Christ, then 
 the clergy receive jurisdiction by which they legitimately exercise 
 these powers of the Priesthood of Christ over the laity given them 
 as their spiritual subjects. Their titles come from the churches 
 in which they exercise these spiritual functions. Their titles are 
 taken from the churches to which they are wedded. The clergy 
 in the universal church are all equal, according to the orders they 
 received. They may be higher or lower in the ranks of jurisdiction 
 according to the rank of the churches they rule. Not only are 
 they equal with regard to place but also regarding times. For the 
 bishops and priests are the same as in the days of the apostles. 
 For they have the very same power which the" Lord gave to the 
 apostles disciples and ministers. The bishops are the successors 
 of the apostles as St. Leo says: " With us the bishops take the 
 place of the apostles." ' " Wherever the bishop is either at Rome, 
 Constantinople, or Alexandria, he has the same priesthood.*'" 
 " They are all the successors of the apostles." ' for they all bear 
 the eternal Priesthood of Jesus Christ who is the same to-day and 
 forever. It follows therefore that one clergymen in the same or- 
 ders is the same administrator of the sacraments as another. For 
 they are all the ministers of Christ and Christ gives salvation by 
 them coming direct from the Lord through t\\e sacraments. 
 
 For we must remember that to Peter Christ gave all power in 
 spiritual things. " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
 build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 it." " I will give to thee the gates of the kingdom of heaven, and 
 whatever thou shalt bind on earth it shall be bound also in heaven 
 and whatever thou shalt loose upon earth it shall be loosed also in 
 heaven."* *' Feed my lambs Feed my sheep." With these 
 words he gave Peter complete jurisdiction over all the members of 
 his church. The Pope, the heir and the successor of Peter, is the 
 head of the hierarchy of jurisdiction, as the bishop is the head of 
 the hierarchy of orders. Under the bishop are priests, deacons and 
 the lower clergy, the creations of his priesthood. Under the Pope 
 are patriarchs, primates, archbishops as so many images of the 
 Papacy. 
 
 They are the delegates of Christ who gave them the power of 
 ruling souls under the authority and direction of the Pontiff. Only 
 through his spouse does man bring forth his child, another like 
 himself. By and through Eve did Adam bring forth his children. 
 Only through the church hisspiritual spouse Christ brings forth his 
 sons and daughters. For in baptism when mc are born of water 
 and of the Holy Spirit are we made " comformable to the like- 
 
 > Epiat. 84. * St. Jerome Epist. 146 ad Evang. n. I. * Ibidem. * MaUi. ul. 19. 
 
THE VALUE OF OUR MINISTRY. 71 
 
 ness of the son of God/' ' But after the child is born it is nour- 
 ished by the mother. So after our spiritual birth in baptism, 
 we are nourished by the church. But not only on the substance 
 of mother church do we live, but on the flesh and blood and on 
 the graces of our Father Jesus, live we our supernatural life. 
 Therefore those outside the pale of the church receive no nourish- 
 ment from our Father Christ. 
 
 Now let us draw near and see more clearly these wonders of the 
 supernatural. Let us better understand how those exhaustless 
 streams of grace flow down from the head, the finisher of our faith, 
 Jesus, penetrating even to the poorest and humblest soul living in 
 and dwelling in the house of God, safe in the bosom of the church 
 the spouse of Christ and the mother of his children. 
 
 Man works not only with his hands but he also uses tools. It 
 is impossible to do with his bare hands what he can do with tools. 
 Men work not only themselves, but they can also work by others. 
 We say a man built such a house, a priest erected a church, where 
 he may never have laid a hand to the buildings. We say they built 
 them because they got other men to do the work for them and 
 under their direction. Business men appoint others to do busi- 
 ness for them, and they are the agents of those for whom they 
 work. Men in the legislature and in congress represent us and 
 make laws in our name because they are our representatives. 
 Each government has at the seat of other governments their minis- 
 ters, who represent the sovereign government, and their official 
 acts bind the government which sent them. Thus when we use 
 a thing without reason to do our work it is called a tool, when we 
 use another man to do business for us he is an agent, a man who 
 makes laws for us is a representative or a congressman, while one 
 who represent a supreme government atthe seat of another supreme 
 government is called a minister. By holy orders men receive from 
 Christ supreme spiritual power in holy things for the salvation 
 of the whole race. For that reason the clergy are the ministers of 
 Christ, his agents, his representatives, his tools for the saving of 
 mankind. By virtue of the supreme Priesthood of Christ, which 
 they received at their ordination, their official acts bind Christ. 
 In their official functions and acts it is not a man but Christ who 
 acts in and by them for he chose other men to act for him they 
 do that work for him. They are the reasonable living tools he uses 
 to do his work in saving souls. They are his agents, his ministers. 
 They are the clergy of the church, the ministers of God. They 
 did not choose him but he chose them. " You did not choose me 
 but I chose you.'' * He took them from the world and gave them 
 full spiritual power to go and tell the tidings of his redemption 
 unto all the children of earth. He sent them with all the power 
 and authority which he received from his Father. " As the 
 Father hath sent me, so I also send you. Going forth therefore 
 teach ye all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, 
 
 ' Rom. vlli. 29. ' John xv. 16. 
 
72 THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 
 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." ' " In the name" that is 
 by the power of the holy Trinity. For the grace of salvation does 
 not come from the one who administers the sacraments, but all 
 grace comes from the Son of God, who dies that all might live. 
 
 It matters not whether he be a sinner or a saint who administers 
 the sacraments. He only says the words. He goes through the 
 ceremony, but Jesus Christ himself gives the grace and pours the 
 saving healing graces into that soul. Hence it matters not to the 
 christian what may be the personal sanctity of his priest or 
 bishop. The great High Priest and Bishop of our souls Jesus is 
 the Saviour himself, and no one can stand between us and salvation. 
 Here again we see the goodness of Christ, Avho lets not the salva- 
 tion or the damnation of his people depend on the good or bad 
 lives of the ministers of his church. The public ceremonies of 
 the ministers of his church, their administration of the sacra- 
 ments and their official acts are the acts of Christ himself. Their 
 private lives belong to themselves, for their good or bad actions 
 their sins belong to confession and they will have to give an ac- 
 count on the day of death and judgment just the same as the 
 laity. 
 
 Thus let us understand the eternal Priesthood of Christ. As 
 the Father sent his Son into the world to redeem mankind, so the 
 Son sent his apostles disciples and minister whom he brought forth 
 as the Father brought him forth saying: " Going forth therefore 
 teach ye all nations. "' " He that heareth you heareth me, and he 
 that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, de- 
 spiseth him that sent me. " * 
 
 As the Father and he are one, so his clergy and he are one. Be- 
 cause it was not meet that he would remain in this world of misery 
 and of suffering unto the end of time, for he suffered once enough 
 for the salvation of all men. It was in the designs of his Father 
 that he would return to him, and take his place at the right hand 
 of the glory of the Deity there to always make intercession for 
 us. * Thus he came died and founded his church and appointed his 
 bishops and priests to administer his sacraments "that wo might 
 have life and have it more abundantly. " ' 
 
 The perfections of the head belong to the body. The head and 
 body are one for the whole man partakes in the learning, culture 
 power and eminence of the head Avherein the soul directs every 
 member of his body. From the head all vital force flows do\vn 
 into the body. The head of the church being Christ from him 
 the authority, learning, light, holiness of his eternal Priesthood flow 
 down into every member of the clergy. The clergymen rule be- 
 cause of the authority they receive from the head, Christ in holy 
 orders. Inasmuch as they partake in his authority, and learn- 
 ing, 80 they should be like unto him in holiness and sancity. For 
 the spirit of the church has always been to promote to her highest 
 offices only men of learning, sanctity, bearing the spiritual perfec- 
 
 > Matb. zzzUl. 19. * Matb. xxviii. 10. * Luke z. 16. * Heb. TlL SS. • Jobn z. 10. 
 
THE HEAD OF ORDERS AND OF JURISDICTION. 73 
 
 tions of the Lord. This we see in the manner of addressing the 
 higher officials of the church. The Pope is called His Holiness, 
 or Most Blessed Father, for he reflects the boundless holiness of 
 God the Son, whose place he holds as visible head of his visible 
 church. A cardinal is addressed as Your Eminence, for he is a 
 member of the august and venerable Senate of the universal 
 church. We call an archbishop. Most Kev., because he should 
 be more holy than his suffragan bishops, who are entitled Rt. Rev. 
 bishops. Their holy office bearing the power of jurisdiction re- 
 quires more sancity than a simple priest with episcopal authority 
 as a vicar general a rector of a seminary or a dean before whose 
 name we prefix Very Rev., for they are over simple priests, dea- 
 cons and subdeacons, who are simply Rev., because they should 
 be more holy than the laity. Holiness thus is reverenced, for 
 sanctity is but the grace of Christ the Holy Ghost working in the 
 souls of men. 
 
 As the bishop is the head and source of holy orders in the diocese, 
 so the Pope is the head and fountain of jurisdiction in the whole 
 church. For to Peter the first Bishop of Rome, Christ gave the 
 care of his whole flock. As Christ could not preach the Gospel 
 in every land, he appointed his apostles and their successors to go 
 forth and preach that Gospel unto every intellectual creature on 
 the face of the earth. The Pope cannot preach rule and govern 
 in every church of the world. He appoints other bishops equals 
 of himself in holy orders, as Christ is equal in divinity to the 
 Father, who sent him to the world. The Bishop of Rome ap- 
 points other bishops with jurisdiction over bishops. Such was 
 the origin of the patriarchs, primates and archbishops, whose 
 honor are attached to their dioceses, and their successors will al- 
 ways be of the same rank as long as the see retains its jurisdiction 
 over the other bishops of the provinces. But Rome can erect, 
 disestablish, change or modify the power of the metroplitans as the 
 changed circumstances of the churches require. As long as the 
 diocese remains the seat of a patriarch, primate or archbishop, 
 so long will the bishops be patriarchs, primates or archbishops, 
 for the spiritual wife gives her honors to her husband, for husband 
 and wife are one moral person. 
 
 But the Pope can appoint another to represent him in such a 
 way, that the appointment belongs to the clergymen and not to 
 the place. Such is the origin of the legates, nuncios, ablegate and 
 representatives of the Holy see. They are personal and not local 
 like the metroplitans. The office being generally personal, it 
 ceases when revoked or dies at the death of the person, and descends 
 not to his successor. The Bishop of Rome will always be the Pope, 
 for the title is attached to the place or city. If the Pope would 
 resign the diocese of Rome, his successor would be the Pope in his 
 place. Because of the nearness of the Pope to Christ and by 
 reason of his peculiar relation to the whole church, as Vicar of the 
 Redeemer, he remains Pope till his relations be broken by his death. 
 
74 APPOINTING DELEGATES. 
 
 or by resignation. Bishops of other sees besides Rome are bishops, 
 archbishops or patriarchs, according to the ranks of the episcopal 
 sees they govern. Their church is called the cathedral, for in 
 each bishop's church stands his episcopal chair, or cathedra in 
 Greek, from which throne as a judge he rules that part of the 
 flock of Christ placed under his care by the Roman Pontiff. 
 Whence the seat of the Bishop of Rome is called the Holy See, 
 as from that throne of the, fisherman Peter, he rules all the other 
 churches of the world, while the other bishops rule dioceses or 
 spiritual states under and subject to him, as our blessed Lord said 
 to the apostles, his first bishops. "I will give to you to sit on 
 twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."' 
 
 Appointing delegates, the superior can extend or limit their 
 power, reserve certain cases to himself, or at any time recall their 
 appointment. When the Holy See appoints a delegate, the latter 
 receives his instructions, the limits of his authority are marked 
 out for him, and at any time his mission may be recalled. For 
 cause the Bishop of Rome may ask a bishop to resign, suspend 
 him revoke his jurisdiction or lower him to the exercise of only 
 priestly power. But never can the episcopal or priestly character 
 be taken away, for that is impressed by God, on the soul in holy 
 orders. 
 
 A bishop may not be able to exercise any of his episcopal or 
 priestly functions, even in his own diocese, as when a bishop con- 
 secrated to the title of a diocese which flourished in former times, 
 but is now overrun by infidels, and under the jurisdiction of a 
 missionary bishop, the titular bishop of that see when travelling in 
 that infidel county, so as not to have any conflict of authority, the 
 bishop bearing the title of that see he cannot exercise any epis- 
 copal functions in that diocese. Such bishops with the titles of 
 these old sees act as coadjutors of disabled bishops, as missionary 
 bishops, or as Vicar apostolics. They often belong to the Roman 
 courts, or they may live as retired bishops. For a clergyman may 
 become incapable of ruling a diocese or of administering a parish 
 and still retain his title. In that case a coadjutor bishop or assis- 
 tant pastor will be appointed to his aid, and he Avill be the admin- 
 istrator. As in the early ages no bishop or clergyman was conse- 
 crated without first being appointed to some church, following 
 that custom no bishop to-day is consecrated without the title of 
 some diocese. 
 
 In God every act takes place with regularity and according to 
 the eternal laws of his divine Being; and in the church, the image 
 of God, everything should work with harmony and regularity, and 
 according to the laws and canons which regulate the movements 
 of that vast organization. The Popes and councils enacted wise 
 laws and rules according to which each movement takes place. 
 Xo superior can be arbitrary, headstrong or oppressive on his sub- 
 jects. Nothing the church so abhors as tyranny. Jesus Christ, 
 
 > Luke xxil. 30. 
 
THE OFFICE OF VICAR. 75 
 
 the head and source of both hol}^ orders and of Jurisdiction rules in 
 the person of his prime minister the Poj^e, his Vicar. The Pope 
 being one in government with Christ, the Papacy is not an order 
 between Clirist and the bishops; it follows that all the perfections, 
 of orders and of jurisdiction centre in Christ's Vicar, the Pastor 
 of the universal and visible church. In the particular church or 
 diocese, the head of orders and of jurisdiction is the bishop. As 
 the diocese is an image of the universal church, so the bishop, who 
 represents Christ, takes a priest, raises him up from the ranks of 
 the other priests, and makes him the vicar general, making him 
 -one in authority with himself, as the Pope is one in authority with 
 Christ over the church universal. In a still more imperfect way, 
 the pastor in the parish gives his authority to the assistant, his 
 vicar, who is one with him in authority. Thus the wonders of the 
 universal church reproduce themselves throughout the whole vast 
 organization. 
 
 Jurisdiction is the power of ruling and of governing the faith- 
 ful in the name of Christ flowing down from Christ's Vicar on all 
 spiritual rulers in the church. In a certain way, all the bishops 
 of the church aid the Pope in a general council in making laws 
 and ruling the whole church. In a diocesan synod, the priests of 
 the diocese aid the bishop in making rules and regulating discipline 
 for the whole diocese. In this country priests have jurisdiction 
 in all parts of the diocese, while in parts of Europe, the pastors 
 have not that power except in their own jjarishes. It follows then 
 that the priest can exercise faculties outside his own church and 
 parish with the consent of the bishop and in another diocese with 
 the permission of the authorities of the diocese. Without juris- 
 diction the sacrament of penance would be totally null and void, 
 while the other sacraments and functions would be valid, but sinful. 
 
 Jusus Christ, being God, the purest Act, his essence, power and 
 acts are one and the same; in him eternal Priesthood, jurisdiction 
 and divinity are one and undivided. But in creatures we find no 
 such perfections. For their power, faculties and acts are not the 
 same. They cannot ever be in action, but they must rest and sleep. 
 Holy orders, is the foundation of communion, of jurisdiction and 
 of priestly power, while the title completes orders. Therefore the 
 laity are incapable of any church authority, for they lack the 
 foundation or holy orders, although the Pope could delegate 
 a layman to transact church business. But a man elected to a 
 church can take possession in hope of receiving orders. A bishop 
 has jurisdiction in his diocese the moment of his appointment, 
 before his consecration, for the benefits of the Priesthood of Christ 
 was poured out on the holy ones of the Old Testament before he 
 came, for they were redeemed by the foreknowledge of his atone- 
 ment on the cross, for Christ is the same " to-day, yesterday and 
 forever. '^ " A bishop elect takes possession of his diocese before 
 his consecration, and his consecration completes his title to the 
 
 > Heb. xiii. 8. 
 
76 THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 diocese. The same may be said regarding priests appointed to 
 parishes before their ordination. Such appointments frequently 
 took place in former times but rarely at present. 
 
 An act once done is a truth, a fact, and it is ever true that it was 
 done. " The gifts of God are without repentance," ^ the mission 
 of Christ is for eternity, * For that reason the Priesthood of Christ 
 is for eternity. " The Lord has sworn and he shall not repent. "* 
 He does not work in vain. He said to his Son " Thou art a priest 
 forever according to the order of Melchisedech."* When baptism 
 confirmation and holy orders has been once received, they remain 
 forever, for they imprint a sacred character on the soul, which can- , 
 not be wiped out either in this life nor in eternity, for they make 
 the soul more like unto the Son of God. Therefore a priest once 
 is a priest forever. The power of orders still. remain. But the acts 
 or the exercise of these orders are regulated by the will of the su- 
 perior or by jurisdiction. A clergyman deprived of jurisdiction 
 because of sin is said to be suspended. He cannot exercise his or- 
 ders. But no one can be deprived of the communion of his orders. 
 For holy orders imj)resses a character everlasting on the soul. But 
 the clergyman for sufficient reason may be deprived of the exercise 
 of his orders, his care of souls may be taken from him if he be- 
 comes unworthy. But no one can resign his charge unless into the 
 hands of his superior, only his own bishop or Rome can punish him, 
 for other bishops have no authority over him. 
 
 In Jesus Christ, his eternal Priesthood takes its rise in the eter- 
 nal decree of his Father sending him to earth to be the Saviour of 
 men. Dying on the cross he espoused the universal church then 
 born of him. All priests, bishops and clergyman are born of him 
 by holy orders, and they are married to their churches when ap- 
 pointed to their pastorate. The Lord Jesus is the spouse of the 
 whole church, the Pope is the husband of the Roman diocese, the 
 bishop married his diocese the day of his consecration, while the 
 priest espoused his parish the day he took charge of his church. 
 Their union with their churches is but a type and a figure of that 
 ineffable marriage of Christ to the church universal. Christ is not 
 only the husband of the church universal, but he is also the spouse 
 of the soul of every christian washed from sin in his blood, because 
 he redeemed all men. The Bishop of Rome being the Vicar of 
 Christ, his chief agent, his vicar general for the whole world the 
 diocese of Christ, the Pope is one with Christ, as the vicar general 
 is one with the bishop in each diocese. It follows that the Pope 
 has complete jurisdiction and authority over every soul, both pas- 
 tors, bishops and people in every diocese. * 
 
 The Jewish priesthood, formed without an oath, * was only for 
 the Jewish nation. It was imperfect and it passed away. It was 
 established that it might prepare the way for the coming of Christ 
 and for the clergy of the church. The clergy of the Old Testa- 
 ment were of the tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron. But 
 
 ' Rom. xi, 17. » Heb. vl 29. » Psalm clx. « Ibid. 
 
 * Council Vatican Const. Pastor .fiternus- * Heb. vil, 20. 
 
THE UNIVERSAL AND TAETICULAR CHUECH. 77 
 
 the clergy of tlie New Testament are of Christ born of him by holy 
 orders. Each priest, bishop and Pope are his spiritual sons, " made 
 to his image and likeness/' " conformable to the image of his 
 Son" ' we offer bread and wine ''according to the order of Mel- 
 chisedech." * But as Christ is married to the universal church and 
 can never be divorced from her, like him we are married to our 
 churches, and only death sliould separate us from our people; — the 
 pastor is seldom changed, the bishop hardly ever, the Pope ceases 
 to be Bishop of liome at his death or resignation, only Christ is the 
 eternal and everlasting Priest and husband of the universal church. 
 
 Jesus Christ, husband of the whole church and spouse of every 
 christian member, receives his divinity, power and Priesthood 
 from his eternal Father, the head of the three Persons in God. 
 Keceiving all he has from his Father, from Avhom he comes forth, 
 he sends his Priesthood down to us by the sacrament of holy 
 orders, while he gives us jurisdiction, or the exercise of holy orders 
 through Peter and his successor in the See of Kome. He works 
 these wonders of the supernatural in the church, that the internal 
 and unseen life of the Trinity may be eeen on eaVth, and that we 
 may at death by him be raised up to the mystery of the internal 
 
 the life of God. ''For in Christ life was manifested, and 
 
 life eternal which was with the Father, hath appeared to us,, 
 that you may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship, 
 may be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." ^ The- 
 clergy, raised up by the direct act of God in holy orders, partake^ 
 in the eternal Priesthood of the divine Son, bearing all the super- 
 natural powers of Christ himself, born of him by orders, as he is born 
 of his Father in eternity. The clergy come down from the universal 
 to the particular church to fertilize the souls of men with the seed 
 of eternal life, flowing down from the Father of Lights through 
 his Son Jesus Christ. As the Son came into the world from his 
 Father, the clergy come into the church from him, and from the 
 universal church, his spouse. They came into their dioceses and 
 parishes, bearing with them all the power of the eternal Priesthood 
 of Christ, which he received from his Father. He came as the 
 Saviour of men, so the Pope, the bishop, the priest come into 
 their churches as the saviours of their people, bearing with them 
 life everlasting to dying souls. " I came that they may have life 
 and have it more abundantly."* 
 
 God works the supernatural only by his divine Son, who comes 
 from him, and by his Holy Spirit who proceeds from both Father 
 and Son. The Father alone gives rise to the Son. Father and 
 Son open their divine will and give rise to the Holy Spirit. Being 
 the last production of the act of the divine nature, his special 
 work is with God's creation. He moved over the waters. * He 
 inspired the prophets; he covered the mount of Sinai; he showed 
 his face in the ceremonies of the temple; he made the Virgin con- 
 ceive; he filled Christ with the glories of his indwelling, and he 
 
 1 Rom. Till. 29. ' Psalm cix. 4. * I. John 1. 2. 3. * John x. 10. » Gen. 1. 2. 
 
78 THE SPIRITUAL RICHES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 now animates the clergy, the last and most wonderful work of 
 God. He speaks to mankind by the mouths of the priesthood, as 
 before he spoke by the mouth of prophet. He ever works salva- 
 tion in the souls of men. He is in the priesthood of Christ, dwell- 
 ing with power in the clergy. The three Persons of God form 
 one undivided Godhead. What one does in nature all do, for 
 creation was the work of all three acting as one creative principle.' 
 
 The Father is the Head of the divinity, as the Pope is the head 
 of the church. From the Father comes the Son. From the Pope 
 and the universal church comes the diocese. The Son has all the 
 riches and the perfections of the Divinity. The diocese has the 
 riches and the perfections of the universal church, " a temple not 
 made with hands," " Conformable to the image of the divine 
 Son." '* The same essence which is in the Father is Fatherhood 
 in the Son it is his Sonship. " But christians cannot become sons 
 of God by nature, as that alone belongs to the divine Son. But 
 they are made like unto his perfections by his grace and merits. 
 That grace is not natural to us, nor does it belong to our human 
 nature, for it is a free gift of God. The calling of men then to 
 the priesthood is a supernatural act of God. " Let no one take 
 to himself the honor, but who was called as Aaron was." * 
 
 Christ as God is equal to the Father, but as man he is less than 
 the Father, as he says. " The Father is greater than I." There- 
 fore as the Son in his divinity is equal to the Father, he is not the 
 eame in Fatherhood, so the Pope by holy orders is not higher than 
 the other bishops, but he is higher in jurisdiction. 
 
 The Son ever coming forth from his eternal Father, all power he 
 has he gives to the clergy ever coming forth from him, as he 
 comes from the Father. Being thus generated by the Father, he 
 does not lower himself below the Father, so the bisliops do not 
 lower themselves in receiving their spiritual jurisdiction and author- 
 ity from the Papacy their head. The Holy Ghost receives all he 
 has from the Father and the Son, from whom he ever proceeds. 
 In this he does not degrade himself. He still retains all the per- 
 fections of the Divinity, and gives it to the church he animates with 
 his indwelling. So the diocese coming forth from the universal 
 church, the diocese has all the graces and the riches of the whole 
 church. 
 
 In the councils of the Divine Persons the Father presides. In the 
 councils of the whole church the Pope presides. In a plenary coun- 
 cil of all the bishops of a nation, the primate or bishop of the first see 
 by his office is the chairman of the meeting. But as to the Pope in 
 the person of Peter was given to " feed the lambs and sheep " of 
 Christ, and to *' guard the deposit of faith," the acts of every coun- 
 cil must be reviewed by the Pope, for they may have matters relating 
 to faith and morals, while the decrees of a diocesan synod only re- 
 late to matters of discipline and church government in the diocese.* 
 
 » Condi. Lat. Cap. Firmlter. • St. Tbomas Sum. Theol. I. Pars Quest. 42 Art. tL adS. 
 * Heb. T. 4. * St. Itrnatlus Epist. ad Epbis. n, ilL 
 
^ 
 
 jESUS Christ the eternal Son of 
 God, coming into this world re- 
 ceived from his Father his com- 
 mission to become the Prophet, 
 Priest and King of the human race. 
 As a prophet he was the greatest of the 
 prophets; as a priest he was the great 
 High Priest of the New Testament; as 
 a king he is the spiritual King of all 
 the earth. 
 
 As a prophet he taught true religion 
 to the world. As a Priest he offered 
 up his body and soul, his life and suf- 
 ferings to the Almighty Father, as a 
 sacrifice for the sins of men. As a 
 King he came the heir of the kingly 
 throne of David and of Solomon, he 
 was crucified " King of the Jews/^ He 
 is the teacher of mankind, the true light 
 which enlighteneth every man who 
 Cometh into the world. " ^ 
 
 As Priest he sanctifies souls, making them like unto himself. 
 *' For them I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified in 
 truth. " * As king he is the ''King of kings and the Lord of 
 Lords. " ' 
 
 The church being one with him, to her his spiritual spouse, the 
 virgin mother of all his children, to her he gave his triple power of 
 teaching of sanctifying and of ruling all the spiritual sons and 
 daughters she brings forth to him. 
 
 Before going from earth he chose and ordained his followers, 
 his ministers. In them he formed the infant church. He sent 
 them forth as the Father had sent him into the world, with the 
 very same. spiritual power and authority which he had received 
 from the Father, from whom he ever proceeds, as they proceed 
 
 » John 1. 9. 
 
 » John xvll. 19. 
 
 Apoc. xrU. H 
 
THE CHUECH TEACHING, SANCTIFYING AND RULING ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS FIGURED 
 BY THE FOUR ANIMALS, TYPES OF THE EVANGELISTS. 
 
LEGISLATIVE, JUDICIAL AND EXECUTIVE POWEES. 81 
 
 from liim, as lie did from the Father, saying, '' as the Father had 
 sent me so I also send you ' going forth therefore teach ye all 
 nations.'' Behold the teaching power. Continuing he said: "Bap- 
 tising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
 Holy Ghost. " " Behold the sanctifying power of the priesthood. 
 " Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you, and behold I am with you all days even unto the 
 consummation of the world. " ^ In that you see the kingly or the 
 ruling power given the church. From the Father from whom he 
 comes forth, he receives all the Divinity, and the Father has noth- 
 ing which he does not give to the Son. In the same way the church 
 proceeds from Christ and all spiritual power which he receives 
 from the Father, he gives it all to his church saying: " All pow- 
 er is given me in heaven and on earth going forth therefore teach 
 je all nations. " 
 
 From him the church comes forth, in him she lives moves and 
 has her being, and to her he gives all his teaching, sanctifying 
 and kingly powers. He is with her in all the ages and through all 
 the generations of men. " Behold I am with you all days even 
 unto the consummation of the world. " ^ Let us better under- 
 stand the nature of this triple power left by Christ to his church. 
 
 Each civil government in every nation has the three powers of 
 making, of interpreting and of excuting laws. They are the legisla- 
 tive, the judiciary and the executive branches of the government. 
 In this country the legislatures of the different states and congress 
 for the United States form the legislative branches. The courts, 
 both state and national make the judicial branch, while for the 
 United States the president or governors of the different states 
 form the executive branches. These three officers of these branch- 
 es were elected to these offices by the votes of the people, who have 
 received from God the power of governing themselves. But it is 
 not so in the church of God. For in the church all power comes 
 not from below — from the people up to the clergy, but from 
 above down, from Jesus Christ to the clergy, who by holy orders 
 partake in his Eternal Priesthood. 
 
 The church formed especially of the clergy, who are the teach- 
 ing church, they are the ministers of Christ ; in them is found the 
 power of the priesthood of Christ. Each clergyman is at the same 
 time a prophet a priest and a king, because he partakes in the 
 everlasting priesthood of Christ, which he received in holy orders, 
 and he renews in the church the divine life of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 The Divinity is the head of Christ and Christ is the head of the 
 church. Sitting now at the right hand of his eternal Father as 
 man and God, Christ reigns supreme as head of the glorious church 
 of angels and saints in the splendors of the skies. As head of the 
 church on earth, he appoints other men with his spiritual teaching 
 sanctifying and ruling authority to preside over churches in his 
 
 » John XX 21. ' Matth. xxvlli. 19. ' Mattb. xxviii. 20. •< Matth. xxvlll. 18. 1. 
 
 * Matth. xxvlll. 20. 
 
82 THE PROPHETS, PRIESTS AND KINGS. 
 
 name. By holy orders they receive his priesthood. His Yicar 
 the Pope is the visible head of his visible universal church on 
 earth. The bishop is the head of the particular church, the dio- 
 cese. The pastor is the head of the imperfect church the parish. 
 Each Pope and bishop is a spiritual prophet priest and king, receiv- 
 ing from Christ power to teach sanctify and rule the people of 
 God in his name. Before going back to heaven Christ appoint- 
 ed them to teach sanctify and rule all the children of Adam, say- 
 ing: " Going forth therefore teach ye all nations, baptising them 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, 
 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
 you. He that heareth you heareth me and he that heareth me 
 heareth him that sent me. " " And behold I am with you all 
 days even to the consummation of the world;" words falling from 
 divine lips filled with power and authority, not only for the apostles 
 but for their successors "even unto the consummation of the 
 world." ' 
 
 A prophet is a teacher. Thus the prophets of the Old Testa- 
 ment came as images of the last and the greatest teacher, Jesus 
 Christ, the teacher of the whole race, " the light of every man 
 who Cometh into the world."". Being God the Son, the Image, the 
 Word of the Father, the product of the eternal mind of God, in 
 him is intellectual light "and light was the life of men." The 
 beauties of all creatures are but so many natural revelations of his 
 perfections, for every thing God made he made it to the image of 
 the divine Word, his only begotten Sou. The Son being eternal 
 Truth, it was just and right that he reveal the truths of God to- 
 mankind sitting in the shadows and the darkness of spiritual death. 
 The Church being his mystic body, he being her head, in him and 
 by him she teaches his truths to mankind. By his Spirit the 
 prophets spoke to the Jews of his coming, of his redemption they 
 foretold. Every incident and person, or historic fact in the Old 
 Testament pointed to his coming. Every Pope and bishop and 
 priest and clergyman of the Church, preach his doctrines and tell 
 of him crucified. To bind them together, he appointed Peter th& 
 head of the Church universal, and he nominated the other apostles 
 to be the teachers of the churches. Each of these in a higher or 
 lower degree partakes in the teaching sanctifying and governing 
 powers of Christ. 
 
 The Church is the teacher of mankind, for to her was given the 
 sublime commission: *' Going forth therefore teach ye all nations. " * 
 Christ was the teacher of his disciples and his followers. The 
 three years of his public life were devoted to that work of teaching. 
 The Church devotes all her energies to that saving work, for sh& 
 finds that her greatest enemy in the ignorance of men. Each bish- 
 op and priest being a follower of Christ, having received his spirit, 
 bearing a part of his eternal Priesthood, each bishop and priest is a 
 teacher of his people. He ever enlightens their minds with heavenly 
 
 ' Mattb. xirlli. 28. * 3<Am i. 9. * Matt. xzTtll. 19. 
 
WHAT IS A COISrSTITUTIOl^. ' 83 
 
 truth, drawing them nearer to God by showing them the way of 
 salvation. Now Christ as the Son of God is the Truth of the Fath- 
 er. He is the Truth of the Father ever coming forth from the al- 
 mighty mind of the Eternal. Each truth or idea coming forth 
 from the human mind, is but a weak image of the Son of God pro- 
 ceeding from the Father now and in eternity. '' I am" he says, 
 " the way, the Truth and the life. " Now and ever during eter- 
 nity, he as the Truth, he is coming from the Father. From the 
 Father he received all truth and he preached that truth to men. 
 " Because the words which thou hast given me I have given to 
 them." * Being the eternal Truth of God in him all other truths 
 are found. During his earthly life, he taught his followers all 
 supernatural truth received from his Father which was necessary 
 for their salvation. Then he finished his work. " I have finished 
 the work which thou gavest me to do." * By his preaching he 
 founded his kingdom on the earth, his Church which he had built 
 up and which he had formed out of the broken remains of the fal- 
 len children of Adam, that Adam whom the demon had conquered. 
 Up to his coming the demon was then the prince of this world and 
 he always filled the minds of men with the hatred of the followers 
 of Christ. " I have given them thy word and the world hath hated 
 them, because they are not of the world." * 
 
 The laws given by Christ to the apostles are the constitution of 
 the Church. A constitution is the framework, the general prin- 
 ciples on which an organization is founded. The constitution of 
 the Church was laid down by its founder Christ. It is found in 
 the Bible and in the traditions of Christianity. These are the two 
 sources of the truths preached to the apostles and by them spread 
 to the whole Avorld. Truth, being a revelation of the divine Son, 
 truth is that Avhich is. Therefore every truth is immortal, eter- 
 nal, unchangable and indestructible, like unto the Son of God of 
 which it is the image. Truth first lived and dwelled in the bosom 
 of God from eternity. Truth was with God as his divine Son, as 
 the word of God, "and the Word was God." " In the second place 
 that same Word came down from heaven " and was made man 
 and dwelled among us, and we saw his glory, as it were of the only 
 begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth." ' 
 
 Thus the constitution of the Church came forth from the Son 
 of God as he comes forth from his Father, as the truth of the 
 Father so the constitution of the Church comes forth from him 
 the Truth of the Father. Such were the truths he taught to his 
 apostles. Truth being immortal and unchangeable, the constitu- 
 tion of the Church must remain ever the same, unchangeable as it 
 was when it was first proclaimed to the world from the lips of 
 Christ. The constitution of the Church depends on the free will 
 of God and he could have made it liable to change. 
 
 Thus we begin to see that the Church cannot change. For no 
 
 > .lolin xiv. 6. « John xvU. 8. * John xvil. 4 * John xvl. 14. ^ John i. 1. 
 
 e John i. 14. 
 
84 THE CHURCH CHANGES NOT. 
 
 one can change truth. Thus the truths of the multiplication ta- 
 ble, the truths of mathematics are as eternal, and as unchangeable 
 as the Son of God, of which they are so many natural revelations 
 through the reason of mankind. Whence it follows that tlie morals 
 of men have no bearing on the Church of God. For let us sup- 
 pose that all the men of all the ages from now back to the time of 
 Christ were all without a single exception corrupt and bad. That 
 would not corrupt the constitution of the Church, for it is com- 
 posed of the immortal truths revealed by Christ to man contained 
 in the Bible and in tradition, and these truths being unchangeable 
 and immortal, they cannot be corrupted. Thus the Holy Bible is 
 the same as it was in the days of the apostles. We see therefore 
 how foolishly those argne, who think that they can find an excuse 
 for not coming into the Church, because they think that the 
 Church has changed by the badness of men. In the same way if 
 all the citizens in the United States for a whole generation were 
 bad and corrupted in their public and private lives that would 
 not corrupt the constitution of the United States, because it con- 
 sists of a written instrument, a series of laws immortal and above 
 the lives of men. 
 
 We know that the collection of laws, which form the cousti- 
 tution of the church, which were revealed and left to us by our 
 Lord that to-day they are the very same as they were wlien the 
 apostles received them from Christ. They are the same unchanged 
 as he in his turn received them from his Father from whom he re- 
 ceives his divinity, *' The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom 
 of the Father he hath declared him."' 
 
 Christ is a King. He said to Pilate: " I am King for this I 
 was born, and for this I came into the world, that I should give 
 testimony to the truth. Every one who is of the truth heareth 
 my voice." * Having Jesus as our Teacher, having him the Truth 
 of the Father, he reveals to us all truth which we require for our 
 salvation, and we know that we are safe when we follow his voice. 
 But how are we to know that the voice of Christ calls to us amid 
 the ceaseless voices of all the churches around us? we are to look 
 for the church, which our Lord founded. There are certain marks 
 by which the true church of Christ may be known from all the 
 other organizations claiming to be his churches, and which are 
 but stumbling blocks to the Christians of every country and to 
 every age. 
 
 The Church of Christ is infallible in her head, that is it cannot 
 teach error to the children of men. All the perfections of the 
 creature centre in the head. For that reason all the holiness, 
 and the sanctity, and the teaching power of the church are in the 
 head Jesus Christ. He is our High Priest. Having therefore a 
 High Priest Jesus the Son of God, in him the teaching powers of 
 the church centres. But he lives not now in a visible form in the 
 midst of men, as he was before he returned to his Father. He has 
 
 'John 1.18. » John XTlIl. 8T. 
 
'IT IS FINISHED." " FATHER INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT."— LUKE XXIII, 46. 
 
86 THE CHURCH CANNOT ERK. 
 
 another his vicar, the Pope, who takes the place of the Saviour wha 
 has gone away to heaven. The Pope then takes his place as the 
 teacher of the world. To him the Lord said in the person of 
 Peter *'I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and 
 whatever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also in 
 heaven and whatever thou shalt loose on earth it shall be loosed 
 also and in heaven." Here we see the most astounding powers ever 
 given to men, the power of opening and of closing the gates of 
 heaven to the races of men. Again he said to Peter ''Feed my 
 lambs feed my sheep." ' Our Lord at the last supper said to Peter 
 that the Demon had desired to grind him as wheat but that he 
 prayed for him that his faith fail not and that he being converted 
 that he might confirm his brethren. * Thus we see that the Lord 
 did not leave his church to the mercy of every wind of doctrines on 
 a shoreless sea of human frailty without a guide or a rudder. Peter 
 was the captain of the ship of Christ. Such is the infallibility of the 
 Pope, when speaking to the whole human race in matters of faith 
 and morals as the successor of Peter the first Pope. 
 
 Here appears in all its beauty the teaching power of the church 
 of God, a power which comes forth from God, as the Son from 
 his Father. " I do nothing of myself but as the Father hath 
 taught me these things I speak. " ' As Christ can teach only 
 what he received from his Father, his head, so the church teaches 
 only what she received from Christ her head, from whom she pro- 
 ceeds as he said, " Going forth 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."* The church therefore because of the infallibility 
 of her head, she is kept from error by a direct act of the Holy 
 Spirit, who animates and vivifies the ^hole church. In the ere- • 
 ations of God all the perfections of every animal are in the head. 
 For that reason all the perfections of the visible church are at the 
 same time in the head of the visible church the Pope. *' Where 
 Peter is there is the church" says St. Ambrose. The Pope there- 
 fore as the visible head of the church, the vicar of Christ on this 
 earth, he takes the place of Christ the great Bishop of our souls, 
 who has entered into his rest in the bosom of his Father, where he is 
 now glorified with the " glory which he had before the world was." " 
 He did not desert us abandoned to every wind of doctrine during 
 his absence. Before going he appointed Peter as his Vicar Gen- 
 eral over all the world, his universal church, his vast diocese, that 
 by his infallible doctrines he might keep the other churches from 
 falling into error in the faith. Whence to understand the mystery 
 of the headship of Christ over the church and his way of teaching 
 through the Pope, we must refer to the following chapters of this 
 work. 
 Not only through the church ha teaches the world, but at the 
 
 > John xxi. 15, 16. 17. * Luke zzii. 88. * John rlli. 88. * Matt. xxTtU. 80. 
 
 * Jobn xvli. 5. 
 
THE NATURE OF HOLINESS. 87 
 
 same time Christ sanctifies the soul of men through the church 
 his spouse. There we see the sanctifying powers of the church. 
 
 The church sanctifies the souls of men. But let us understand 
 the deep meaning of the word sanctifying. The word sanctifying 
 and saint come from a Latin word which signified blood. Thus 
 among the pagans, all things which were dedicated to the use of 
 religion were dipped and sprinkled with blood, and by that they 
 were dedicated to the services of the gods. Sanctity and religion 
 mean very nearly the same thing, and Cicero and Virgil seem to 
 confound them as having one meaning. ' In the old Law every 
 altar and the utensils dedicated to the use of the Lord in the tem- 
 ple were sprinkled with the blood of the victims sacrificed to the 
 Lord. So in the church all objects, every person dedicated to the 
 services of the Lord are sanctified, not with the blood of the vic- 
 tims of the Old Law, but by the blood of the Victim of the world, 
 the Lord Jesus. Thus we dedicate churches persons and things to 
 the services of religion by special ceremonies, by which in an in- 
 visible manner we sprinkle the blood of our Lord on them. By 
 him they partake in his infinite holiness. 
 
 Holiness is freedom from moral defects or sacredness. Sanctity 
 means devoted to the work of God, and the more one is devoted to 
 God's work the holier is he. The salvation of souls is the highest 
 and the holiest work one can do, for the more saved the greater 
 glory will they give to God. Christ came into this world and 
 died for men that he might save them. The clergy having re- 
 ceived from him in their ordination his zeal and his desire for 
 the salvation of souls for the greater glory of God, the more they 
 devote themselves to that work the holier they become. For the 
 holy Spirit ever lives in them, inspiring them to work more for 
 the glory of God in the work of the ministry. Whence the people 
 are inspired to work out their salvation by the works and words of 
 their pastors and their priests. That work of the ministry of the 
 clergy is the work of the sanctification of souls. But human 
 nature inspires them not to that work, but the Spirit of Jesus, 
 whose Priesthood they received at the time of their ordination. 
 Salvation then is not the work of men but of Christ. For he is- 
 the great High Priest of our fallen race, now sitting at the right 
 hand of his Father, ever offering up our works to God. The clergy 
 are called by ordination, to a higher state of holiness than the 
 laity. For they are dedicated to the work of the salvation of souls. 
 Soul and body they belong to the Lord. From the Lord they received 
 the sacrament of holy orders, by which they obtain a part of hi» 
 eternal priesthood, all coming from his blood, from his merits on 
 the cross. Christ ever lives in the persons of his clergy. They 
 did not choose him, but he chose them and makes them the best 
 and the most perfect of men. 
 
 The clergy of the church are the ministers of Christ, the dispen- 
 sers of his mysteries, the saviour of his people, the fathers of hi» 
 
 » Cicero De OfHc. Lib. I. Virpril ^neid. Lib. xil. 
 
88 THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. 
 
 children, the shepherds of his flock. The Pope is the chief minis- 
 ter of Christ. Rather he is Christ himself. For as the agent and 
 the one for whom he acts form one moral person, so Christ and 
 his Vicar form one moral person the person of Christ himself. 
 Thus the bishop the chief minister of Christ in the diocese is one 
 with Christ. Each priest in his public ministry is Christ himself, 
 and he binds Christ by his official acts. By and in the ministry 
 of the clergy, the people become the children of God the heirs 
 of everlasting life, ' and partakers of the divine nature. 
 
 Among the Romans before the time of Christ who touched the 
 blood of the victims sacrificed to the false gods were supposed by 
 that to have been sanctified and cleansed from their sins. That 
 ceremony was commanded by the law. Thus ancient nations felt 
 by instinct that man had been called to a higher state which by sin 
 they had lost. True holiness consists in tending toward that state, 
 to that supernatural end . "^ The victim of the world is the Lord 
 Jesus, who died for man and bought holiness for the wliole race. 
 From him, the head of the church his body, in ceaseless unseen 
 streams flow down that blood of holiness on men. But it comes 
 through the channels of the sacraments, the external means he 
 founded for the sanctification of souls. To the church he left 
 these sacraments and holy rites, that by them the church might 
 redeem all the generations of the children of Adam, as they are 
 born into this world. As in the Old Testament, the altars, the 
 tabernacles, the vestments, the utensils and all things used in the 
 divine worship were sprinkled with the blood of the victims, so 
 the blood of Christ fills the Church, washing souls, purifying 
 hearts, healing passions, and purifying all her members. "The 
 whole world is red with the blood of the Lamb slain from the 
 foundations of the world." 
 
 Each Sunday and holiday the people gather at the church where 
 the clergy oiler the Mass to God. We see the tragedies of Shakes- 
 pere or the representation of historic facts acted by artists, who re- 
 present as taking place some great tragedy of the past. We are • 
 entertained and delighted by the vivid manner in which they make 
 believe in the play, that they are the real personages of the striking 
 scene. But nothing on any stage ever equalled the ]\[ass. There 
 the Old and the New Testaments, the prophets and patriarchs, the 
 kings and priests of the old law, the prophets and disciples of the 
 new law, the coming and the life of Christ, the last supper and the 
 crucifixion, the death and resurrection of our blessed Lord are all 
 brought before us in the Mass, and there he comes into the world 
 and dies again in mystic ceremonies for man. There the priest 
 typifies him, and in virtue of his eternal priesthood, he offers again to 
 the eternal father, the life and the death of Christ for the salvation 
 of mankind. Thus in the Mass, the greatest event, the most won- 
 derful tragedy of earth again takes place on our altars, and over 
 and over again Christ dies for us men and for our salvation. 
 
 ' John 1. 12. * St. Thomas Sum. Tbeol. 1 1, Queat. Ixxx. A. rilL 
 
■ WHILE THEY LOOKED ON, HE WAS RAISED UP AND A CLOUD RECEIVFD HIM OUT OF 
 THEIR SIGHT." -ACTS I, 9. 
 
90 THE HOLY SPIRIT WOHKING IX THE SOUL. 
 
 In him, by him, and through him the services of the church are 
 offered to the eternal Father as a sweet oblation in his sight. 
 Standing at the right hand of the awful throne of God, as the An- 
 gel of or messenger between God and man, as the mediator between 
 a sinful world, and an outraged God, he receives our prayers and 
 offers them in union with his atonement to his Father for the sins 
 of his brethren. The High Priest of the heavens, the Aaron of 
 the tabernacle, the David according to the heart of God, the great- 
 est of the prophets, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of 
 the world, the Bishop of our souls, the real Pope, the spiritual 
 ruler of mankind, he now stands the only Christ and Redeemer. 
 Popes, Bishops, priests, ministers, every churchman, all they who 
 labor in his vineyard are but feeble images of him. We are his 
 spiritual agents. "What we do for the salvation of souls he does 
 through us. They are his people, for he created and redeemed them, 
 and to them we give his sacraments. " So let a man so account 
 of us, as the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries 
 of God.'' ' 
 
 The sacred blood of Christ, streaming down on suffering souls, 
 heals all spiritual diseases of mankind. No state or condition of 
 life but feels the influence of that grace and redemption. The 
 father generates the child and the mother feeds it on her own sub- 
 stance. Christ is our father and the church our mother. They 
 generate us, feed and nourish us after our spiritual birth, doing that 
 in a more wonderful manner than our natural parents. First we 
 are born of the race of Adam, but dead to grace and to 
 heaven, the curse of his sin still pressing on us. When the child 
 is baptized, it is born of water and of the Holy Ghost. By that 
 ceremony it becomes the child of Christ and of the church. Then 
 the first supernatural life of God is implanted in the soul by the 
 faith, hope and Charity, with the other divine gifts, which the Holy 
 Ghost implants in that person. Then begins the first dawn of the 
 supernatural life of God, without which the person belongs not to 
 God, and has no part with him or in the benefits of redemption. 
 
 But the first workings of grace given by baptism is weak. Like 
 a new born child it is liable to die. Twenty or more years are re- 
 quired to obtain the full natural growth of man. By confirmation 
 full spiritual growth and strength are given. Such is the sacra- 
 ment which makes us strong and perfect Christians, soldiers of 
 Jesus Christ, and full members of his church. 
 
 When the child comes into the world it must live for a time on 
 its mother's milk. So in the Church from Christ her head, we 
 receive his body and his Blood the food of all christians, which they 
 receive in Holy Communion. No father feeds his children on his 
 own flesh and blood. No mother opens her side and pours her 
 blood into the mouth of her child, so that the little one may live. 
 Only our blessed Lord so loves his children as to feed them on his 
 flesh and blood, his bones and sinews. 
 
 « I. Cor. Iv. 1. 
 
REDEEMING BY THE SACEAMENTS. 91 
 
 Children get sick, and unless tended they die. So the children 
 of the church, forgetting the benefits they receive fall into mor- 
 tal sin. Left to die in this state they would be damned. But Our 
 Lord has provided a way, by which these sins may be forgiven. 
 It is the sacrament of penance, by which the sins committed after 
 baptism are forgiven, a wonderful means of grace by which again 
 and again we wash our souls bright and clean from the stains of 
 sin. 
 
 Penance is the applying of the merits of Christ to our souls. He 
 took upon himself our sins and wiped them all out with the ruddy 
 gore of his blood. 
 
 But sin makes a wound in the soul. Sin dims the brightness 
 of the mind, even when wiped out it leaves a stain and a scar in 
 the spiritual substance of the souls. So there is another sacra- 
 ment which takes away the remains and the scars of sin. That is 
 Extreme Unction or the last putting on of oil. Christ instituted 
 this sacrament so that the soul at death may stand bright and 
 pure before its Maker. 
 
 By holy orders certain men, the chosen of the Lord, become in- 
 corporated into the eternal Priesthood of Christ. By it they be- 
 come his agents to carry out his work for the salvation of their 
 brethren. From him their Model, their Master, and their Head 
 they receive the powers of teaching, sanctifying and of ruling the 
 members of his mystic body the church '' which he purchased by his 
 blood." ' 
 
 In christian marriage the image of the union of Christ with his 
 church husband and wife receive love and tender affection for each 
 other, with the grace to bring up well their children so that from 
 their union may spring peace, joy, pleasure, and mutual help, that 
 they may bring forth children to the race of Adam their father. 
 
 These holy rites pour healing graces into our souls. These are 
 the seven Gates of Heaven, the channels of salvation drawing their 
 healing powers from the fountains of the Crucified. While our 
 prayers and other good works give us grace, because of the good dis- 
 positions we have and the work we perform, these sacraments by 
 themselves do their work, if Ave put nothing in the way of the grace 
 of God. Thus the sleeping child or the unconscious man, if before 
 he had tliB intention to receive it may be baptized or ordained a 
 priest, for these sacraments draw their powers directly from the 
 wounds of the suffering Lord on the cross. 
 
 The church sanctifies as well as teaches. In that she differs 
 from other teachers. For she is more than a simple school or a 
 government. Her teachings and her government are for the sanc- 
 tification of souls, for their salvation through Christ. Schools were 
 founded to enlighten the mind, while governments are for the tem- 
 poral and worldly good and happiness of the people in this world. 
 The holy church, our mother, acts not altogether on the mind as a 
 teacher, or on the will alone as a ruler, but on the whole human 
 
 > Acts IX. 28. 
 
92 HOLINESS KOT REQUIRED IX A MINISTER. 
 
 being as a saiictifier. She teaches, sanctifies and rules, to soften 
 the flinty hearts of men, to bring them back to God, to civilize 
 them in this world, that they may be prepared for the other world, 
 where they will reign with God their Head their Saviour and their 
 Lord. 
 
 The passion and death of Christ, the sanctity of the Virgin 
 Mother, the holiness of the saints, the sufferings of the martyrs, 
 the good works of all those who went before and sleep the sleep of 
 the just, all these form a vast and unfathomable ocean of merits 
 and of graces, the treasures of the church. These the church day 
 by clay pours out upon the world. Christ as the head has given 
 these benefits and merits into the hands of holy church for the heal- 
 ing of the nations. 
 
 As his agents, the clergy have the fulness of this sanctifying 
 power. The bishop being the chief minister, to him belongs 
 to preach the Gospel to dispense the ministry of the word and to 
 oversee the work of the salvation of souls. '' It belongs to the 
 bishop to judge, to interpret, to consecrate, to offer sacrifice, to 
 baptize and to confirm. "" ' The bishop, in whom dwells the 
 fulness of the eternal priesthood of Christ, by the ceremony of the 
 imposition of his hands on the young levite, he sends down on him 
 the Holy Spirit and propagates his priesthood. 
 
 As Christ chose his apostles and disciples from the laity, and 
 made them partakers with him in the work of saving souls, so the 
 bishop chooses certain men in the diocese, he ordains them to the 
 work of the ministry of Christ, he gives them power to preach 
 sanctify and to govern. For ** it belongs to the priest to offer 
 sacrifice, to bless to preach, to preside and to baptize." * But 
 from Jesus Christ himself direct, and not from the bishop, priest, 
 or minister comes the powers and the graces of the sacraments. 
 For the sacraments belong to Christ and not to the priest. Al- 
 though the priestly character ever rests in the priest even during 
 eternity, yet, because of the government of the church, he cannot 
 exercise that sacerdotal power without the authority of the bishop, 
 otherwise there would be no regularity in the church of God. 
 " The high priest, who is the bishop has the power of baptizing, 
 and after him the presbyter, but not without the authority of the 
 bishop," says one of the oldest of the fathers.' 
 
 No matter how good or how saintly may be the minister of the 
 sacraments, or how bad may be his life and, morals, that makes no 
 difference in the sacraments. Whether administered by saint or 
 sinner, they are all the sacraments of Jesus Christ, who alone the 
 supreme High Priest gives them through his agents his consecrated 
 mmisters. He, not men is the fountain head, the real source of all 
 the graces and the blessings of salvation for mankind, for he alone 
 redeemed men on the cross. 
 
 The Christiana are not therefore independent of the pastor, nor 
 is fhe priest exempt from the power of the bishop, nor can the 
 
 ' Pontlf. Roman De con Episc ' PontlX. Roman De Ord. presbyterli. 
 
 » Turtul. de Bap. C. 17. 
 
THE G0VERN3IENT OF THE C'HUKCH. 93 
 
 bishop be free from the authority of the Vicar of Christ, as the 
 latter depends on his Father from whom lie proceeds. Thus he 
 said: ''In the head of the book it is written of me that I do thy 
 will God." ' 
 
 As the Father is tlie head of Christ, the Pope is the head of the 
 Bishop, the bishop is the head of the diocese, the pastor is the head 
 of the parish. Pope, bishop and priest have certain priestly acts, 
 common to them all, as to say Mass, to administer each of the sacra- 
 ments except Holy Orders, which belongs to the bishops alone. 
 This is but an image of the workings of the Trinity. For the 
 Father is not subject to any one. For he is not generated like the 
 other Persons. The Son is subject to the Father, from whom he 
 comes forth, and the Holy Ghost is obedient to both Father and 
 Son, for he proceeds from both. In all things the August Persons 
 of the Trinity are obedient to the one from whom they proceed. 
 They ever and ceaselessly obey the changeless laws of their nature, 
 while they have in common the Divinitv, which belongs to the 
 Three. 
 
 But creatures cannot fully imitate the eternal and internal life 
 of God; nor can we look for a perfect model of the Trinity in the 
 church formed of imperfect members. Therefore, except penance 
 aad confirmation by a priest, the sacraments may be given by any 
 priest or bishop, even without jurisdiction, for they depend on holy 
 orders, which no power on earth can take away from the soul. 
 •The bishop may make certain regulations for the internal admin- 
 istration of the diocese, the pastor may do certain things for the 
 good of his parish. Thus matters of small importance are left to. 
 the home rule of superiors in the diocese and in the parish. 
 
 Now the reader begins to understand the wonders of the church^ 
 By the preaching of the Gospel, the children of Adam are tanghfc- 
 the way of salvation. They are called to partake of the bene- 
 fits and the riches of redemption. When they come into her bosom, 
 they are then sanctified by the Sacraments. The wounds of the 
 Crucified pour his blood into their souls; then invisible graces sof- 
 ten them and prepare them for the glory of the skies. Then they are 
 governed as one flock of the sheep of Christ, they are ruled by 
 their pastors who speak in the power of God. 
 
 The Son of God born of the Father before all ages " True God 
 of True God, begotten not made, one in divine substance with the 
 Father by whom all things were made,"^ at the command of his 
 Father, he came down from the heights of heaven, and became man 
 for us sinners and for our salvation. As God the Son, he is always 
 subject to the Father, obedient to the eternal decrees of his mys- 
 terious generation now and always taking place. No discord, rebel- 
 lion or irregularity can ever disturb the harmonious relations of the 
 processions of the Persons of the Deity, As man he was subject to 
 his Mother and supposed father '' And he went down to Nazareth 
 with them . . . and he was subject to them." ^ 
 
 ^ Psalm xxxix. 8. ^ Nicene creed. ■" Luke ii. 51. 
 
04 CHRIST SPIRITUAL RULER OF NATIONS. 
 
 As God he was subject to and obedient to his Father, Son of man 
 he became subject to his Mother, to give us all an example of obe- 
 dience. As the Son is obedient to the Father, so the church obeys 
 Clirist, so the people should obey the clergy, the parishioners then- 
 pastor, the priests their bishop, and the bishops the Pope. Subject 
 to the Father, the Father gave him all power, '* All power is given 
 me in heaven and on earth. " * He gives all power in heaven and 
 on earth to his church "As the Father hath sent me so I also send 
 you. " * His Father from whom he comes forth gave him all au- 
 thority over all the nations of the earth; " Ask of me and I will 
 give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance and the uttermost parts 
 of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod 
 of iron."' To the church his body, one with him he said: 
 " He that heareth you heareth me, he that despiseth you 
 despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."* 
 At the moment of his death he purchased salvation for all the na- 
 tions of the earth, and at that moment they were given him to teach 
 them, sanctify them and rule them, and by that to save them from 
 death and hell. 
 
 He raises up his clergymen to a partnership with him in his 
 priesthood. To them he gave the power of preaching his 
 doctrines, of administering his sacraments, and of ruling his peo- 
 plein his name and by his authority. The church being the spouse 
 of Christ, she brings forth his children to him. As the wife and 
 husband have the same authority over the children, so the church * 
 has the authority of a mother over all the children she brings forth 
 to Christ, Like a mother she feeds them with his truths and 
 sacraments. For to Peter he said "Feed my lambs feed my sheep" * 
 As the Pope is the chief shepherd of the sheepfold of Christ, so to 
 Peter the first Pope the Lord said these words. By and with the 
 authority of Christ, the clergy are the regal rulers of the people 
 of God. 
 
 The Pope, heir and successor of Peter, is the visible head and 
 ruler of all peoples here below. He is the spiritual ruling mon- 
 arch of the "City of God," the " New Jerusalem" the "Kingdom 
 of Christ." Through her and in her, we are all united to Christ. 
 In her Christ still sits upon the spiritual throne of David, " and 
 of his kingdom there shall be no end, " * for the church is to last 
 till the end of time, to save all generations of men, as they are 
 born of the fallen race of Adam. 
 
 The church therefore is a perfect form of a spirituaT government, 
 a complete society, rising above and independent of all earthly 
 governments. She alojie is subject to Christ, who rules her 
 through his vicar the Pope, while dioceses and parishes are ruled 
 by the bishops and pastors under him. The church is ruled by 
 God and not by men. All power comes down from God and not 
 from below up, as in civil and in politicaf affairs and governments. 
 From this it follows that the influence of civil governments, or the 
 
 > Mark zxvUl. 10. *Jobnxx. 21. * Psalm. 1. 8. « Luke x. 16. * John. zxl. 15, 17. 
 • Luke i. 38. 
 
HOW CHRIST GOVERNS THE CHURCH. 95 
 
 interferences of the laity in the spiritual affairs of the church is 
 wrong, and contrary to its constitution and contrary to common 
 sense. As well might we expect the body to rule the soul, the ma- 
 terial to rule the spiritual, as to allow the laity to rule in the spirit- 
 ual matters of the church. But church rules and regulations ex- 
 tend only to matters of faith and morals, to spiritual things, and 
 but indirectly to world interests. As the spiritual rules the material, 
 as the soul rules the body, so the church rules the spiritual order 
 through the world. It is not an earthly or a temperal government, 
 nor does it interfere with the civil government of the world. It 
 deals only with matters of faith and morals, for Christ said "My 
 Kingdom is not of this world." ' 
 
 Christ rules his church through his Vicar, the Pope, who fol- 
 lows the constitution partly laid down for him in the Bible, in holy 
 scriptures and in the constitutions of his predecessors. He cannot 
 do as he wishes, for his authority is not his own, over things revealed 
 by God. He is the Vicar of Christ whom he represents. United 
 with him, all the pastors and bishops make but one- government. 
 The rules and regulations according to which the church shall be 
 administered are made either in general councils or by the Popes 
 themselves. But no living man can change either the laws given 
 by God nor the natural laws of human reason, for they are the 
 dictates of the reason of God, and like himself they are eternal 
 and unchangeable. The church then cannot change any revealed 
 truths, for truth is eternal and cannot change. That is one of the 
 greatest marks of the true church, that it cannot change, but 
 must ever remain the same as it was when Christ founded it. 
 
 The authority Christ left the church is legislative or the power 
 of making laws, judicial or the power interpreting her own laws, 
 and of interpreting the holy Scripture, and executive or the poAver 
 of enforcing laws. All power of Christ has he gave the universal 
 church and from the universal church, this mighty spiritual power 
 comes down to the bishop, who by that power of Christ rules his 
 <3iocese. Christ being the real head, not only of the universal 
 but also of the particular, and of the imperfect church the parish. 
 He governs all his members in the persons of the pastors who rule 
 peoples in his name. AVhence Christ being the real head and ruler 
 of each and every church, both universal and particular and imper- 
 fect churches, it follows that no other authority in this world can 
 in any way be likened to the church, neither can any earthly 
 power control or command her.'' Will the City of Babylon, con- 
 ceived in sin, control the City of Sion born of Christ ? Thus we 
 see that the clergy, representatives and bearers of the fulness of 
 the power and Priesthood of Christ, rule the church which he 
 purchased with his blood. 
 
 Multitudes of souls are lost because of rebellions against the ruling 
 authority of the church. Whole nations fall away by rebellion 
 against the church, the soul of the world. For as the body without 
 
 « John xvili. 36. * Concil. Vat. Const. Eccl. I. CI. 
 
96 THE GLORIES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 the soul is dead, so Christendom and society cannot live without the 
 church. Withouther civilizingand vivifying influence peoples and 
 nations soon die. ' Jesus Christ is not only the ruler and head of 
 the church but also the ruler of every creature made to his image and 
 likeness. ' His spouse, the church, one with him received from him 
 power over all the creatures of God. ' From him and through him 
 flowsdownuponthechurch, all civilization, all learning, aliadvance- 
 ment. The learning and spiritual authority of her ministers direct 
 all in human affairs to the greater glory of God. Every citizen she 
 commands to obey, foster and uphold government, law and order. 
 
 Woe to the people or the nation which will not serve her: "For the 
 kingdom and the nation that shall not serve thee shall perish '*'* 
 
 Born of God, a stranger on the earth, she blesses the inhabitants 
 of the world, who come in through her holy gates. The great and 
 powerful rulers of the earth have come and knelt at her altars, and 
 learned wisdom from the lips of her humblest priests, '' For the 
 lips of the priest shall guard wisdom, and they shall seek the law 
 at his mouth." 
 
 Through her from Christ descends the blessings of heaven. She 
 spoke by the prophet saying: " Behold I will lift up my hand to the 
 Gentiles, and I will set my standard to the people. And they shall 
 bring their sons in their arms, and carr}' their daughters upon their 
 shoulders, and kings shall be their nursing fathers, and queens 
 their nursers, they shall worship thee (the church) with their faces 
 to the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy feet. * 
 
 The church then one with Christ, is a spiritual government abova 
 and independent of the governments of this world. Civil govern- 
 ments are but so many aids and props to uphold her, and in her 
 turn she blesses them. Of her Isaias foretold: " In the last days 
 the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the 
 top of mountains, and it shall be exalted on the top of hills and all 
 nations shall flow into it " * She is the guide of nations as well as^ 
 of individuals, and nations and governments should serve her as 
 well as the individuals. By her we are all placed in battle array, ^ 
 fighting against the darkness of hell, conquering ignorance in the 
 minds of men poisoned by error " For the weapons of our warfare 
 are not carnal but mighty to God. . . .and bring into captivity every 
 understanding unto the obedience of Christ." * 
 
 Every one can serve the church in some way: " For he that is 
 not for me is against me"* says Christ. The world, to-day is af- 
 flicted by the rebellion of nations and peoples against the church. 
 We see the sad example of ancient Egypt, of Syria, of Arabia, of 
 Asia Minor, of peoples of the north of Africa. Once they were 
 highly civilized and flourishing nations, till they fell away into re- 
 bellion and sciiism, which cut them off from the fountain of grace 
 and holiness, the church. 
 
 So with the individual or family in the parish when they rebel 
 
 * Syllabus Prop. 56, 28. 7!, 78, etc. « I. Cor. x?. 86. 88; Philip. II. », M. » I. Cor. xxlU. 
 
 * Lsaiu Ix. 18. * Isaias xxii. S, 8. * Isaias 11. 2. 
 
 * Cant. vl. 3. " II. Cor. x. 3, 4, 5. • Matt. xll. 30. 
 
THE GLORIES OF THE CHURCH. 97 
 
 against their pastor sooner or later they go to ruin and lose the 
 faith. Sad examples are seen in every parish. The punishment 
 of such rebellion is loss of faith and eternal damnation, the most 
 terrible spiritual chastisement. " He that will not hear the church 
 let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican."' The 
 church cannot bend to the ideas of any men. She let all England 
 fall away before she could give a divorce to Henry VIII. because 
 it was beyond her power to give a divorce. Either her children 
 must remain obedient to her laws and discipline, or go out from 
 her to perdition. 
 
 Such then are the three primeval elements of the church, her 
 teaching, sanctifying and ruling powers. There are not in the 
 church an order of teachers, another of sanctifiers and a third 
 of rulers. For the priesthood of Christ is not divided — but one. 
 Lifted to a union with Ciirist, animated with the Holy Spirit, 
 all priests, each bishop, has these three powers undivided. " To 
 one indeed by the spirit is given the word of wisdom, to another the 
 word of knowledge to another faith in the same spirit, to an- 
 other the working of miracles, to another the interpretation of 
 speeches. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all 
 the members of the same body, whereas they are many, yet are 
 one body, so also is Christ. * 
 
 Vie must remember that the Father rules Christ because he gen- 
 erates him. Christ rules the church because she comes fi-oni him, 
 the Pope rules the bishops because they are appointed by him, the 
 bishop rules the pastors because he ordains and sends them, the 
 pastor rules the people because he brings them forth in baptism 
 and feeds them on the sacraments. As the mother rules her chil- 
 dren, wdiom she generates according to the law of Nature, so Christ 
 givesthis his power to the church, his wife, his spouse, because by and 
 in and through her, he brings forth his spiritual children. She is 
 their mother and they are the sons of God and the children of 
 Christ. First comes into play the i^reaching power of the Church. 
 For how can they believe unless they hear. First the nations must 
 be taught. Then they are sanctified by the holiness of Christ, by 
 the sacraments of the Church, The Church calls the nations, not 
 from the nothingness of dark night and chaos as God bid the world 
 come forth at Creation, but she seeks them in the darkness of error, 
 in infidelity and the blindness of the sin of Adam, — she calls them 
 into the Avonderful light of the Gospel of the Son of God. 
 
 When the fallen children of Adam hear her voice, she pours in- 
 to their souls the saving graces of salvation, coming from the foun- 
 tain of all graces Christ. Sanctified and through her made new 
 creatures, children of God, heirs of heaven, then she rules them 
 unto Christ making them •' conformable to the image of his glory." 
 At death she sends these redeemed souls to God the Son, her 
 Spouse. Thus ever harvesting the souls of men, she is carrying out 
 the great work of redemption begun by Christ. 
 
 1 Math, xvlli. ir. 2 I. Cor. xll. 8-10, 12. 
 
CARDINAL NEWMAN. 
 
(^^IMLY in the Old Testament 
 4]^)) but clear and distinct in 
 (;U^ the New, God revealed to 
 the human race that he is 
 one in nature and Three in Divine 
 Persons. The Father com i ng from 
 none, — the Son ever generated 
 from the eternal Mind of the Fath- 
 er, — the Holy Spirit ever proceed- 
 ing from the will of both Father 
 and Son. These three form the 
 mighty hierarchy of the blessed 
 Trinity, they are one and the same 
 Deity, the Eternal, the Incompre- 
 hensible who created the whole uni- 
 verse both material and spiritual. 
 Each created being is an image of 
 God subject to the laws which direct its movements. A law to them- 
 selves, the persons of the Trinity proceed one from the other, they 
 made the laws governing the movements of creatures representing 
 the eternal laws which the divine persons are unto themselves. 
 The Son organized the church, as the last creation of God, with 
 her hierarchies of laity, of priests of bishops, with the Pope at their 
 head as the Father is the head of the Trinity. 
 
 Having all perfections in themselves, the Son is the Reason of 
 God, and no perfection can be, but which is the Son, infinitely Per- 
 fect containing all perfections for any imperfection cannot be in 
 the God. When God made the world he made man to the image 
 of himself — to the likeness of the divine Son, for he could not make 
 it like to anything not in him, for he being infinitely perfect has 
 all perfections. 
 
 The mind conceives truth and every right idea in the mind 
 is a truth. The image or Idea in the mind of God is the 
 Son. But when Adam sinned, God revealed still farther the 
 
100 ONE GOD, ONE CHCBCH. 
 
 wonders of his Word his Son. He then decreed the incarnation, 
 by which he restored man again to the supernatural state, which 
 Adam lost. The Son being the truth of God revealed to man, 
 that revelation of Truth in the Son is one. Being a revelation 
 of the Son, religion is one and undivided. The Father has his 
 only begotten Son. That Son has his only church, which he 
 alone founded. Only the religion established by God among the 
 Jews of old was the religion of God. The sacrifice of Moses, 
 the ceremonies of the temple, the priesthood of Aaron, these only 
 pleased the Lord of hosts in the days of yore, while all the false 
 religions of the pagan nations were abominable in the eyes of God. 
 Only in the church of Christ, in the church established by him are 
 prayers and sacrifices received in heaven. AVhere are the countless 
 millions of the pagan nations who lived before the time of Christ? 
 They were lost. Tiiey had not the true religion. So it is to-day. 
 There is but one only church of God, where in his Truth is preached, 
 wherein his sacraments wash souls, there his government exists, 
 there his people are redeemed. All other churches are unpleasing 
 before his eyes, he receives not their services for they drag people 
 from his church. " He that is not with me is against me." 
 
 Who can suppose that Adam had more than one spouse or wife? 
 Only by Eve, taken from his side, did he bring forth his children. 
 So our dear Lord has but one spouse, born of him in the tor- 
 ments of the cross shown visibly in the water and with the 
 blood flowing from his side. The man who marries more than one 
 woman, who has at the same time many wives, all living and co- 
 habiting with him, he and they commit a crime. Can any one 
 think that Christ has a lot of spouses and concubines, numerous 
 churches all married to him? Could he be a Mohammedan, a pagan, 
 a Mormon with all the churches united to him in that spiritual 
 wedlock by each bringing forth spiritual children? Can a people 
 found a church and marry her to Christ without his consent? 
 And where in the Bible do we read that he was married to all 
 these churches? • 
 
 Man and wife are one bone, flesh and nature. Yet all these 
 different churches in the world are not one and the same, for each 
 one is of a different nature, having each its own peculiar teaching, 
 doctrines and discipline. Each church being different, thev can- 
 not be all at the same time the churches of Christ. A man and 
 woman must both give their consent, or the marriage will be null 
 and void. For a union of a church with Christ, both the latter 
 and the church must give a mutual consent. Yet where do we 
 hear of such a union of Christ with churches founded 1,500 years 
 after he went^ack to heaven. 
 
 As the Scriptures says, as the prophets foretold, Christ is the 
 head of the church. Her members are bone of his bone and flesh 
 of his flesh. Tliat union with Christ, which begins in the church 
 on earth, becomes completed in heaven, where dwell the perfect 
 church formed by the saints and the good who have passed away. 
 
CHUECH GOVERNMENT. 101 
 
 'Kow they reign with him in glory. Unless that union with Christ 
 begins on this earth before death, in the other life the soul will be 
 separated from God, and that is hell, — the loss of God in the spirit 
 world Avhere minds and wills cling unchangeably and fixedly to prin- 
 ciples true or false, for that is the nature of beings in the world of 
 spirits. 
 
 The church is the mystic body of Christ. He is her head. 
 What head has a lot of bodies all united to it, all receiving power and 
 life from that single head. God does not create in that monstrous 
 manner. Every head has but one body. The visible is but an 
 image of the spirit world. Christ is the spiritual head of the 
 church, and he has but one church, one body, the image of the 
 body he assumed, when he was born of Mary. The other churches 
 which were rose centuries after Christ and formed from the catholic 
 church, of which he is the head, these churches could not become 
 other bodies attached to him as their head. They may claim him 
 as their head, but they are like headless bodies, seeking to be at- 
 tached to the head of a great man, because they have no head of 
 their own. 
 
 The church is a kingdom. Such was she foretold to be by the pro- 
 phets. A kingdom has but one king, one government, one auth- 
 ority, one code of laws, one form of administration. AVhen a part 
 of the nation throws off the authority of the kingdom, the citi- 
 zens of that section belong no more to that kingdom. They are 
 no longer subjects of that king, for they have rejected his author- 
 ity. So it is with the churches. When a people reject the catho- 
 lic church, the kingdom of Christ, that kingdom he established 
 before he left the earth, they no longer belong to him, for while 
 on earth he founded his kingdom, the church he established in the 
 persons of his apostles, disciples and followers, akingdomjstill ruled 
 by his Vicar, his prime minister, Peter, and his successors in the 
 See of Rome. 
 
 The church is a society, a spiritual government, a constitutional 
 monarchy with Christ at the head. It is a visible government, 
 extending over all the earth, ruling the souls and the consciences 
 of men. Other governments rule the whole man in his tempor- 
 al civil welfare, taking into account the external actions of citi- 
 zens, but unable to penetrate into the hidden secrets of the heart. 
 But the church, being a spiritual society, she rules the souls of men. 
 She teaches them to hear her, she penetrates into the conscience 
 of her subjects in the confessional, she comes into direct contact 
 with the m'ind and will, and regulates the highest and noblest part 
 of man, his immortal soul. In this all civil laws are imperfect. 
 For they can see only the external act, while the church passes 
 judgment on the most secret sins and shortcomings of man revealed 
 in the secrets of confession. By her dogmatic teachings, she 
 tells men to believe the truths God revealed to the human race. 
 By this she enlightens mens' minds. By her moral principles she 
 tells people what to do, what is siu, the difference between good 
 
102 PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 
 
 and bad actions. By this she regulates the will of all peoples and 
 nations. Bnt she has but one and tlie same doctrines for all 
 men. In tliis she is one and the same. Her priests and bishops 
 reflect the light which shines on them from the Roman Pontiff 
 to whom was given to confirm his brethren. 
 
 All other churches are more or less national. They bear more or 
 less the peculiar marks of race characteristics and prejudices. The 
 Episcopal church, formed of the catholic teachings, which for a 
 thousand years had penetrated all the ranks of that people, the 
 church of England partakes of the wealth culture and customs of 
 the English race. The Lutheran church, founded by the bad priest 
 Luther holds to the German character. The Presbyterian church 
 founded by John Knox in Scotland on the remains of the catholic 
 church driven out, still preaches the singular doctrines of Calvin. 
 The Methodist church depends mostly on physical excitement and 
 on the feelings, as taught by her founders John and Charles Wesley. 
 The Congregational churches founded first in England but intro- 
 duced into the country by the first colonists of New England, when 
 they organized *' a state without a king, and a church without a 
 bishop" is a purely American church, each church and congregation 
 being free and independant from all other congregations. The Bap- 
 tists hold to the necessity of immersing the whole person in the 
 waters, without which they say the baptismal rite is not valid. So 
 all modern churches are infected with peculiar doctrines to which 
 they hold, to which they give prominence, to the forgetfulness of 
 the other teachings of the Gospel. They were founded on a bad 
 interpretation of the Scriptures, which does not give the true mean- 
 ing of the word of God, which a writer says has 25,000 false 
 doctrines and more than 200,000 mistakes. ' A new version was 
 made in late years, but the work of the King James' Bible had 
 gone on for 300 years, still leading men from the true fold of 
 Christ. 
 
 The church is a sheepfold. Around Jerusalem and in the Holy 
 Land may still be seen the sheep pens, where the shepherds shut up 
 their flocks at night safe from the wild beasts. They guarded 
 them during the day while they fed. There our Lord found the 
 figure of the sheepfold. He is the shepherd, "I am the good shep- 
 herd I know my sheep and my sheep know me.'" The shepherd or 
 pastor guards his sheep from the wolves and the wild beasts of every 
 bad doctrine. The Lord still feeds his sheep by the shepherds or 
 pastors he has placed over them. There is but one visible shepherd 
 in the world, the Vicar of the Good Shepherd, and all others rule his 
 flocks and feed his sheep by delegated power, coming down from the 
 successor of Peter, to whom the Lord said '' Feed my lambs Feed 
 my Sheep." * 
 
 'These other churches are not the sheepfolds of Christ, "And 
 other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring, 
 
 • Ward's ErraU of the Protestant Bible. ' John x. 11. * Jotao zz. 16. 
 
THE TKOTESTANT SERVICES. 103 
 
 and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one 
 shepherd/" 
 
 Nothing so startles a thinking man as the failure of the other 
 churches to hold the people. Not one in ten among them go to 
 churcli each Sunday in the year to worship God. The larger 
 part of the population in Protestant countries are practically white- 
 washed pagans. Religion is something second to their business. 
 They are attracted by the show or the society of the congregations, 
 or they take the occasion of showing their wealth, but the majority 
 go not for the reason of '' worshipping God in spirit and in truth''. * 
 When they do go each church is a stage whereon the minister comes 
 to preach what he believes is the word of God, and what will please 
 them as they hire him for that; the choir sings nice hymns in 
 English, which pleases the hearers; the people see each other and 
 meet socially; the minister dismisses them with his benediction, 
 and they go home thinking they belong to the church of Christ 
 and that they have worshipped God. They practically worship the 
 good sermon and the music. If they do not come each Sunday, 
 the minister goes to their houses to ''drum them up." The men 
 women and children believe what they wish, and reject what they 
 do not like. Each is his own pope, and there are as many churches 
 as members, for no two believe alike. Thus outside the catholic 
 church there is no true religion, no sacrifice of the divine Son, no 
 worship received by God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 Each generation outside the church drifts farther from the doc- 
 trines given their forefathers. They are gradually losing the 
 sublime teachings given by the catholic church, which they admire, 
 when they find it in their churches. There is then but one church, 
 one faith, one baptism, one God the father of all, who rejects all 
 worship, but that coming up to the eternal throne from the church 
 and spouse of his Son through the Eedeemer, ''who always makes 
 intercession for us.'' ^ 
 
 The church is the image of the Trinity. In heaven the Son is 
 in the Father, the Holy Ghost is in the Father and in the Son, 
 and the Father is in both. *'I am in the Father and the Father 
 is in me." "He that seeth me seeth the Father." * By the mystery 
 of the incircumsession, the Persons of the Trinity are one and un- 
 divided. So in the church. The diocese is in the universal 
 church, and the parish is in the diocese, and both diocese and 
 parish are in the church universal. The diocese is not to be 
 taken as a part of the church universal, but one with it; the 
 parish is not be considei'ed as a part of the diocese, but one with 
 it, and one with the church universal. All the churches of a na- 
 tion must not be taken as a part or branch of the church, but one 
 with it. They are all one of which the Holy Ghost is the Soul. 
 
 God cannot be divided. For division belongs not to spirits but to 
 material things. Christ has not many mystical bodies nor parts of 
 bodies, but one body the church. Thus it is impossible for the 
 
 > John X. 16. 2 John iv. 2^, ^ Heb. vll. 25. * John xlv. 
 
104 THE VINE AND BRANCHES. 
 
 church to be divided, nor can dioceses, or parishes, or pastors, or 
 peoples divide from her and form other churches. If they divide 
 and separate from her. they cut themselves from the body of 
 Christ. Then being dead they receive no nourishment from 
 her head, Christ, and soon they begin to disintegrate and fall to 
 pieces for want of the one Spirit of God. They become like 
 ,these parts of the human body cut off which dies. It is not a 
 church but the withered image of what was once a church, which 
 before the division was united to Christ through and by the uni- 
 versal church, his mystic body. "I am the true vine, and my Fa- 
 ther is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not 
 fruit, he will take away.'^ ' Where are the great churches of Asia^ 
 of Egypt, of the cradle lands of the faith? They bore not fruit. 
 They separated from the central trunk, the Koman Pontiff, and 
 they died, and these once fair regions are now cursed with every 
 heresy. 
 
 " I am the vine you are the branches, as the branch cannot 
 bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you 
 unless you abide in me."* Look at a grape vine, notice a spruce 
 or pine tree. Every branch shoots from the main trunk, an image 
 of the central stem, a perfect copy, each limb having other 
 branches shooting forth from it. So every diocese in the world 
 springs forth from the central trunk, Rome, bringing forth othei- 
 churclies and parishes, the images of itself. It is the im- 
 age of the Roman church, of which Christ is the head, 
 giving it spiritual jurisdiction, life, grace, supernatural sap and 
 heavenly nourishment, from whence it flows down into all the 
 other churches of the world. Let one of the churches or a dio- 
 cese, or a member either of the clergy or laity divide from Rome 
 and they witlier and die, for they receive, no sap or supernatural life, 
 for the channels of grace, the arteries, carry no more to it the life- 
 giving blood of redemption, flowing from the head, the Crucified. 
 " If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch 
 and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into 
 the fire."' The head nourishes the body with life and vital 
 force, flowing down into it through the great central nerve trunk 
 the spinal cord. Cut that spinal cord and the body dies in an in- 
 stant, for it is then separated from the head, Christ teaches and 
 nourishes the church with his teachings coming down through 
 the central trunk the Bishop of the diocese of Rome. The 
 church, the people, the nation dies when they separate from that 
 marrow of religion. They may for a time continue in the eyes of 
 men as a church, they will seem on the outside to the eyes of men 
 as a church, but they are a body spiritually dead. For a time 
 they will keep the shape and the appearance of a living ciiurch, but 
 like all these churches separated from Rome, they instatitly die. 
 They have no supernatural life. They did not abide in him the 
 head of the churcli. 'J'hey will keep for years the form and ap- 
 
 • John XV. 1,8. » John xv. 5. * John xv. 6. 
 
HOW MANY CHURCHES BELONG TO CHRIST ? 105 
 
 pearance of a church, they will attract people by the teachings of 
 Christ, they received from the catholic church before their sep- 
 aration, but little by little, they will lose the forms, the customs, 
 the teachings of the true church, they will fall away from gener- 
 ation to generation, into infidelity. The younger generation become 
 infidels in sjjite of the attractions of society, the continual " drum- 
 ming up^' of the minister. This we see takes place what the 
 prophet says: '' The nation and the kingdom that will not serve 
 thee shall perish." ' 
 
 It is evident then that other ciiurches do not belong to Christ. 
 They were formed at the reformation from the remains of the 
 teachings and the doctrines, they received from the catholic 
 church. They were founded for the most part on some peculiar 
 doctrines, which became prominent at that time of religious and 
 political excitement. Every doctrine, every custom, every church 
 form of government they have kept as parts of the catholic church. 
 Whatever people admire in other churches, what speaks to human 
 reason, religious teachings and things men love and venerate in 
 other church denominations, they will find them in the catholic 
 church, but perhaps under another name, or more or less hidden 
 in our vast ceremonial. Then persons coming from another 
 church into the catholic church, must not give up anything 
 they admire in their own, or throw off these things which speak 
 to reason. Let them keep all these, believe a little more get 
 cleared up their ideas about God, Christ, the Eedemption, and 
 the way of saving souls. Let them keep what they learned at 
 their mother's knee, come into the bosom of their true mother 
 the spouse of Christ, let them break off from that church founded 
 by men, and come back to the church of their fathers, and there 
 draw from the fountains of the Saviour grace, peace, rest, redemp- 
 tion, salvation. 
 
 No people can form by themselves a congregation or church, 
 claiming that they follow the teachings of Christ. For number- 
 less are the false churches thus organized. They must be born of 
 the parish and of the diocese, who in their turn come from the 
 Roman Pontiff. St. Augustine truly says: "Heretics think false 
 things about God, and call it their faith. Schismatics, by bad dis- 
 putes, cut themselves off from brotherly charity, although they 
 believe what we believe." " "^ No heretics who separate from the 
 church but believe that they still hold the right doctrine," says 
 St. Jerome. No people yet separated from the church, but who 
 supposed that they were doing right. They lost their faith 
 planted in them by the Holy Spirit at their baptism, and by some 
 continued sin, by their neglect of the sacraments, or by some 
 allurement of the world, the devil or the flesh, they lost that 
 faith and left the church. 
 
 The unity of the church comes from the one Holy Spirit, the 
 hearts of the people, united to Christ, as St. Paul says: " Who hath 
 
 * Isalas Ix. 12. ^ pg pj^jg gj Syrab. 
 
106 UNIOX ox FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us 
 into the kingdom of the Son of his love. . . . who is the image of 
 
 the invisible God, the first born of every creature, And he 
 
 is the head of the body the church. . . Yet now he hath in the 
 body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blame- 
 less before him." ' How false it is to say that all christians may 
 be united on fundamental principles, and divided on non-essential 
 doctrines Will appear in the following pages. No nation can 
 allow citizens to judge the laws they will keep, and break or 
 allow them to reject the laws they do not like. Where can you 
 find a body of men in business, in an army, in a nation, in a 
 company, even a few men working on a railroad without a head 
 or a man over them Avho binds them together by his authority? 
 How insane in religion must be the people, who try to found a 
 church, without a head. There is an element of insanity in re- 
 ligious matter, or there would not be so many churches, all 
 claiming to be the church of Christ. 
 
 Human reason relates to the things of this earth, while re- 
 ligion is the bond of union between God and man. As religion is 
 the supernatural in man, the supernatural is above reason and 
 above nature which guides man on earth and is incapable of the 
 things of God. From this it follows that only God can tell men 
 the way he will be worshipped, the service he will receive. No 
 worship will God regard but that which comes to him through 
 Christ, his Son, who in the incarnation united man and God and 
 opened heaven to his brethren. As the Bible is the word of God 
 given to man, to the church belongs the power of defining its 
 meaning. If God wished that every one would understand the 
 Bible he would have written it as easy and as plain as the sun- 
 light. But it is so difficult, that the most learned men cannot 
 understand it. Even the greatest and most learned saints 
 admitted they could not understand its meaning. The division 
 of churches, all following the Bible, show they differ as to its 
 meanings. There must then be some court, some tribunal 
 established by God, to teach mankind the meaning of his re- 
 vealed word, — That is the church which through her visible head, 
 officially proclaims the meaning of the Scriptures. 
 
 How often find we the kingdom of God mentioned in the Bible? ' 
 The prophets foretold so often the coming of his kingdom, that the 
 Jews supposed the Messiah would come and make of them rulers 
 over all the earth. That error had been so ingrafted into them, that 
 they refused to receive our blessed Lord because he came so poor 
 and lowly. Everywhere the Old Testament tells us of the *' house 
 of God ■' " the kingdom without end " '* the house of David the line 
 of Judah. " On almost every page the New Testament proclaims 
 the beauties of the church, the founding of his kingdom, the 
 members of his members, the beauties of his religion. No pas- 
 
 I C0I088. 1. 13, 15, 22. * Matt. xli. ». 
 
INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO.— THE LARGEST CHURCH IN AMERICA. 
 
108 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 sage of Holy Writ speaks of many churches or of more than one 
 church. Search the Scriptures for the purposes and perfections 
 of his only church. Read the 1st and 5th Epist. of St. Paul to 
 the Ephesians: the 12th to the Corinthians; the 5th to the Rom- 
 ans ; the 1st to the Colossians ; the 3rd to Titus ; the 5tli to the 
 Galatians, and the revelations given to St. John in the last book 
 of the Bible. Study the Apostles Creed, the Creed of the 
 Councils of Nice and of Constantinople. Study the writings of 
 the fathers, and you will find that there is but one only church 
 of Christ, and there can be but that one form of religion found- 
 ed by Christ, for the teaching of the nations, for the saving of 
 souls. That church lived and survived the storms of all ages from 
 now back to the time when the Saviour walked the earth. 
 
 Each person, who recites the creed says "1 believe in one holy 
 catholic and apostolic church. " Such is the burden of the service 
 which ascends from every church which believes in God the 
 Saviour. The church one holy catholic and universal, presided 
 over by the Vicar of Christ, overshadows all the dioceses. They 
 live in her bosom. The diocese extends over all the parishes and 
 churches within her limits. They receive their life from her, and 
 she gets her existence, her teaching, her redemption from theuniver- 
 sal church. The diocese comes from the universal church as the 
 Son comes from the Father. The parish comes from the church 
 universal and from the diocese, as the Holy Spirit comes from 
 both the Father and the Son. All the Son has he gets from the 
 Father, all the Holy Ghost has he receives from both the Father 
 and the Son. All power and life and doctrines in the diocese come 
 down from the church universal, from the Vicar of Christ, who 
 officially proclaims Avhat Christ has revealed in the Bible and in 
 the traditions of Christianity. From the church universal, and 
 from the bishop of the diocese, the parish receives its sacraments, 
 its teachings, its regulations, its power, which bind it back into 
 that one whole organization, the universal church, Christ's king- 
 dom on tiie earth. 
 
 «From Christ who came to fulfil all prophecy, the church univer- 
 sal received her teachings and her doctrines. Her head the Vicar 
 of Christ finds in the Bible, in the traditions of the apostles, in the 
 works of the fathers, in the traditions of all nations and churches 
 the true teachings of the Lord. In his official capacity, as head 
 of the church, as the confirmer of his brethren,' he teaches all 
 men the truths revealed to the churches. 1'he bishop comes down 
 from him and from the church universal, from which he received 
 episcopal consecration, down he comes to the diocese, and thus he 
 comes bearing with him all the riches of the universal church. He 
 comes to his diocese, to whom the Pope sends him as the father sent 
 the Son into the world to teach the world the way of salvation. 
 From the universal church and the diocese the priest comes down 
 into the parish, bringing with him the Bible, the sacraments and 
 
 • Luke xxil. 32. 
 
DEAD SBPAEATED BRANCHES. 109 
 
 the means of redemption and salvation to the members of his parish. 
 All he receives from the Father the Son brought to the earth. All 
 spiritual riches the bishop receives from the church universal, 
 he brings to the diocese. All power the priest gets from the diocese 
 and the universal church, he carries with him to the parish and 
 deals out these mysteries of redemption to the souls under his care. 
 Who can suppose the Son separated from his Father ? What 
 bishop can separate from his father the Pope ? what priest can be 
 divided from his father the bishop of the diocese ? what congre- 
 gation can separate from their pastor ? what nation can be in- 
 dependent in Spiritual things of the Vicar of Christ who died 
 to redeem the nations ? The church then cannot be separated 
 into branches. The branch cut off from the trunk of a tree at 
 once dies ; the member cut from the human body withers ; the 
 church which separates from the Soman Pontiff separates from 
 Christ of whom he is the Vicar. 
 
 There must be some judge to decide the questions of religion, 
 these vital issues which rise every year and everywhere among 
 men. The judges of the civil courts cannot decide matters of 
 religion, for they pass only on civil and criminal disputes between 
 men. " Going forth therefore teach ye all nations. " The church 
 is the teacher of every man in every nation. The civil judges, 
 of nations cannot teach her. There must be then a supernatural? 
 tribunal, like the tribunal established by Moses for the ending of 
 disputes about religion. He must be a judge, before whom alii 
 men will bow and who receive his words his final sentence, to 
 end the controversy. In the churches outside the catholic church 
 there is no end of disputes, of misunderstandings, of the divisions 
 of churches, of the founding of different beliefs. In the church 
 of God, there is but one belief, one faith one form of religion. The 
 moment that the Bishop of Rome proclaims that such a doctrine 
 has been revealed by God and that it is contained in the deposit 
 of faith, the dispute ends. Peter has spoken by the words of his 
 successor, and all minds in the church bend before his official de- 
 cree. The living teaching power of the highest court of the 
 church ends all dispute, and thus the church is one. Outside the 
 church, these who reject this teaching power, try to set themselves 
 up their own teacher, they claim that they can interpret the 
 Bible by the light of the Holy Spirit. In this way they deny the 
 teaching power of the Pope, and make themselves their own pope 
 and teacher of God's word. 
 
 Therefore the teaching power of the church is clear to all minds. 
 They believe what the church teaches, whether they understand 
 it or not. The wise and the ignorant, the simple and the learned, 
 the women and the children, all feel that they are safe within 
 her fold, as the prophet foretold of the church. " And a path 
 and a way shall be there ; and it shall be called the holy way, the 
 unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be to you a straight 
 way, so that fools shall not err therein. " 
 
 ' Isalas XV. 8. 
 
110 THE CHURCH IK THE BIBLE. 
 
 Many times in the Gospel the Lord uses the word church; but 
 he means one church and he speaks not of many churches. Thus 
 He says " He that will not hear the church let him be to tJiee as 
 the heathen and the publican. '^ ' He speaks of the church in 
 numerous figures. Thus he tells us of the " city on the moun- 
 tain which cannot be hid.'"' He frequently mentions his "King- 
 dom '' ''the house of God'' " the kingdom of heaven." Speak- 
 ing to Peter, Christ says "Upon this rock I will build my church'" 
 not churches, for he came not to build many but only one church 
 in union with him through Peter and his successors. 
 
 Forty-seven times the word church is found in the Old Testament 
 and in each passage it means but one church, one way of worship- 
 ping the Lord before the coming of Christ. That was the 
 Jewish church, tlie religion and the law of Moses established by 
 God. From no other altars did God receive the sacrifice of 
 prayer. They were all abominations to him. The law of Moses 
 and the religion of the Jews were but preparations and figures of 
 the church of God. 
 
 The church being one with Christ, and through him one with 
 the Persons of the Trinity, it follows that she has the same author- 
 ity as God. Thus Christ says " Amen I say to you whatsoever 
 you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven and 
 whatsoever you shall loose upon earth it shall be loosed also in 
 heaven."* Twenty-four times the church is mentioned in the 
 Acts of the Apostles, and you find but one church mentioned. 
 Sixty-eight times St. Paul speaks of the church in his Epistles, 
 everywhere meaning but the one church of God. Fifteen times 
 St. John mentions the church in his revelations in the Book of 
 the Apocalypse, and in every text where he uses the word, he 
 tells us of one church. Nowhere do we find even the faintest hint 
 of the many churches into which to-day the world is divided. 
 On the contrary we are warned in many passages against divisions. 
 Sometimes it is tru'e St. John speaks of the church at Ephesus, at 
 Smyrna, at Philadelphia, etc., but these were the different dioceses 
 into which the church was divided at that early date. They all 
 belonged to the universal church under Peter. 
 
 For according to the constitution of the church laid down by 
 our Lord, the universal church centers in the Primacy of Peter, to 
 whom Christ gave the charge of feeding his lambs and sheep. 
 The universal church built on the Papacy, the Eock of Peter, takes 
 in, embraces, absorbs, holds in its fruitful bosom all the particu- 
 lar churches or dioceses of the world, as each diocese in its turn 
 holds, embraces all the different parishes into which the diocese 
 in its turn is divided which it brought forth. But these particu- 
 lar churches the dioceses live, have their being, derive their life 
 from the universal church, of which they are so many images and 
 daughters, whom the universal church brought forth to Christ 
 for the universal church is his spouse. The parishes and dioceses 
 
 > Matt, xvlll. 17. » Matt. v. 14. » Matt. xvl. 18. * Matt. xvUl. 18. 
 
HOW CHRIST ORGANIZED THE CHURCH. Hi 
 
 depending from, coming forth from, deriving all their being, 
 life and very existence, from the universal church, through her 
 they are united to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Christ prefigured the ministers and priest by the seventy-two dis- 
 ciples, and he organized the episcopacy in the persons of twelve 
 apostles. That was but the frame work of the universal church, and 
 he left to the apostles the labor of carrying out the details of that 
 wonderful organization. We see the same thing in the organiza- 
 tion of the United States. The wise founders of the republic 
 first only laid down the general plan of the Constitution, 
 while they left the carrying out of the details to their successors. 
 In the same way Christ only laid down the general plan or out- 
 line of the constitution of the church, while he left to the supreme 
 Pontiffs, the successors of Peter, the authority of carrying out the 
 numerous details, by these words to Peter and in him to all his 
 successors: "I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven, and Avhatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be 
 bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth 
 it shall be loosed also in heaven." ' 
 
 The one cliurch coming forth from God, as the universal 
 kingdom of Christ, liolds in its fruitful breast all the churches of 
 the world, the dioceses, the parishes the congregations, the peoples 
 of the earth. 'JMi rough their pastors, their bishops and the Pope, 
 through these they all unite into one church, one kingdom of 
 Christ, nil animated by one Spirit of Christ the Holy Ghost, who 
 comes forth from Christ as the Son comes from his Father God, 
 " itself being a mystery of unity. " ^ "Although the church 
 appears to be many, still it is single. Even if it seems by its lo- 
 cation to be divided, nevertheless in its completeness, the mystery 
 of its internal union cannot be corrupted." ^ 
 
 The race of Adam, having lost their head by sin, having lost 
 the bond which united them, after the sin of Adam they scattered 
 over the face of the whole earth, and gradually thus they gave 
 rise to the various races of men. Having lost their natural ruler 
 and their i^aterntil king Adam, they replace him as best they can 
 by electing rulers in his place. The government of Adam being 
 the first established by God's natural providence and that having 
 been overturned by sin they replace it by choosing their rulers by 
 election. For that reason no civil government can be perfect. 
 Civil governments all bear the impress of the weakness of human 
 nature. Hence the discords of rulers, the divisions of politics, 
 the wars of nations, the disputes between politicians, the divisions 
 between diverse peoples, the peculiar customs and manners of na- 
 tions, the different tribes tongues and nations of the earth. These 
 divisions are results of the sin of Adam and of his death the natural 
 father of the race. 
 
 Christ came to repair the sin of Adam, to unite again the divid- 
 ed human race. Being the second Adam he takes his place, the 
 
 » Matt. xvi. 19. 2 St. Peter Dam. L. Dom. Verb. n. 6. » Ibid. c. 5, 6. 
 
112 HOW CHRIST ORGAXIZED THE CHURCH. 
 
 new Adam as the head of the whole race. He founded the 
 church to replace the lost kingdom of Adam. Therefore the 
 church is one not many, as the race is one not many. The church 
 '' The Bride of the Lamb, " she who came forth from him in death 
 on the cross as Eve from the side of Adam, she brings forth her 
 children to Christ. She seeks out the scattered races of Adam's 
 lost kingdom and she absorbs them into her bosom. She incor- 
 porates them into the mystic body of Christ, and by that she 
 leads them up and into the society of the adorable Trinity in 
 membership with the eternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost who comes forth from 
 Christ as the Son from the eternal Father, that same Spirit of God 
 is the soul of the church. As the soul of man animates and makes 
 one body out of the different materials of which the human body 
 is composed, so the Holy Spirit animates, vivifies, binds together 
 and forms one church out of all the members of the race of Adam. 
 Both Christ and the Holy Ghost are whole and complete in the 
 church, one is the head, the other is the soul of that church, the 
 mystic body of Christ, which is " his fullness." While Christ is 
 her head, the Holy Spirit is in each and every part, whole and com- 
 plete, as the human soul is whole and complete in each and every 
 part of the human body. From the human head comes through 
 the nerves all the vital activity in the human body. The head of 
 the church being Christ, from him comes forth the Holy Ghost 
 into the church his body. As the vitality of the soul comes down 
 into the living body from the brain the head of the nervous sys- 
 tem, thus all supernatural life in the church comes down into her 
 his body, from Christ her head. But the human body even united 
 with the head could not live without the soul. So the church 
 could not live an instant separate from the Holy Spirit. The soul 
 of that body is the Holy Spirit who comes forth from Christ the 
 Son of God. As the soul animates the head as well as the body, 
 80 the Holy Spirit animates the whole church, the head Christ as 
 well as his body, his church. 
 
 Each spirit is one complete and whole, complete in each and 
 every part. Thus the Holy Ghost, who is the soul of the church 
 is whole and complete in each and every member and part of the 
 church, as the human soul is whole and complete in each and every 
 part of the body. Thus the diocese, the parish, the particular 
 church, each member or individual belonging to the parish has all 
 the privileges and the benefits of the universal church, whole and 
 complete in as far as they are useful or necessary for salvation. 
 Thus, each diocese, each parish each congregation has Christ as 
 its head, Christ lives in and through the bishop, the pastor or 
 clergyman at their head, as well as the universal church has him 
 at its head in the person of the Pope his Vicar overall the churches. 
 Living in and by the universal church, these particular 
 churches partake in all her riches, as they come forth as her 
 children and her heirs. For she brings them forth to Christ. 
 
EOME THE HEAET OF THE CHURCH. 113 
 
 ^' The gift of God belongs to each as much as it belongs to the 
 whole. " ' Each church can say : '' For a child is born to us, a son 
 is given to us and the government is upon his shoulder .... the 
 
 Prince of Peace his empire shall be multiplied .... he 
 
 shall sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom " * He, 
 the heir of the kingdom of David, he is the head and of all churches 
 and kingdoms, not only of the universal church but also of each 
 particular church or congregation throughout the world. 
 
 As in the human body the head and the heart are the chief cen- 
 tres of vital actions, so Christ the head of the universal church 
 has his chief place of activity the heart and the centre of the uni- 
 versal church. That is Rome the heart and the head of the christ- 
 ian world, there the Vicar of the Lord, one with Christ, sits and rules 
 the church his body, by his power and in his name. From the hu- 
 man heart the life-blood sweeps in crimson streams through the 
 arteries to nourish every member, and it is driven even to 
 the smallest cells which it penetrates to vivify and nourish. So it 
 is with the church of God. From Rome its heart the powers and 
 impulses of Christ come forth through regular channels, through 
 patriarchs, primates, archbishops and bishops, till it comes into 
 hearts and souls of the poorest and most humble members of the 
 church of God. Cut away a member from the body from heart's 
 blood and it dies. All in union with the centre of authority at 
 Rome, all feel the life-blood of the Son of God penetrating, healing, 
 binding up the wounds made in them by sin. Those churches, peo- 
 ples and congregations who are not in union with the heart and 
 with the centre Rome, and with the Vicar of Christ, those do not 
 belong to the mystic body of Christ. They are not in union 
 with him. They receive not his graces, his redemption. For they 
 can no more receive salvation without belonging to the body of 
 Christ, than a stick or a stone can receive the life-blood from the 
 human heart, when they do not belong to the body of the man. 
 
 The reader then will understand that the members of the fallen 
 race of Adam, the congregations, the parishes, the dioceses, the nat- 
 ions, the races of men, all together when baptized, all form the 
 whole church of God the body of Christ. All these compose the 
 one and only universal church. The congregations, the parishes 
 the dioceses, the national churches, all came forth from the uni- 
 versal church, as she in her turn came forth from Christ on calvary 
 as he in eternity came forth and is now, and always will be 
 coming forth from his eternal Father, as the Second Person of the 
 Trinity. 
 
 Thus on every side we begin to see the wonderful works of God 
 in his church. The Son born of the Father before all ages, "Light 
 of Light, true God of true God " comes forth into this world for us 
 men and for our salvation. Arising from on high, he comes and 
 takes upon himself our nature, and becomes a man. Sent into 
 
 1 John Iv. 10. St. Cyprian de Unltate Eccl. n. 5, « Isaias ix. 6, 7. 
 
114 THE CHURCH GIVING ALL LIFE. 
 
 the world for that by his Father, from whom he came and is ever 
 coming forth, here he founds the universal church his body, by 
 which he embraces all the children of Adam. He the Word of the 
 Father, he founds the church in the persons of his apostles, whom 
 he sent to preach his word. 
 
 Wonderful is the mystery of the church of God, because it is the 
 most wonderful image of the Trinity we have as, it were the last 
 work of God upon this earth, a continuation of the Incarnation. 
 
 The faithful people live in and by the parish — the parish par- 
 takes of spiritual life in and by the diocese, — the diocese lives and 
 has its being in and by the universal church, the universal church 
 is the body, the bride the wife of Christ, in and by Christ she lives 
 in and by the Father from whom he is ever generated. "As the 
 living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that 
 eateth me the same also shall live by me, " ' says Christ, As he 
 lives by the Father so the church lives by him. " So do you also 
 reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord.''* The diocese lives in the universal church. "For 
 whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die we die 
 unto the Lord. Therefore whether we live or whether we die we 
 are the Lord's. " * Each member of the church lives the superna- 
 tural life of Christ and of God. " And I live now not I but Christ 
 liveth in me. And that I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith 
 of the Son of God, who loved me and delivered himself for me. " * 
 
 The church of God therefore is one, indivisible, indestructible, 
 unchangeable, eternal as the world and as tlie human race she was 
 sent to save. The spouse of the Lamb, the Mother of his children, 
 the Virgin who conceives and brings forth, while remaining still a 
 Virgin, as the Father brings forth the Son in heaven, so the univer- 
 sal church brings forth the dioccvse, these bring forth the parishes, 
 and these parishes in their turn bring forth and give birth to the 
 people of God without division or change, for she still remains the 
 Mother Virgin wife of Christ. The propagation of the species in 
 nature takes place by division of substance. But it is not so in 
 the church for there can be no division in her, for she is spirit- 
 ual like God and has no parts and therefore she cannot be 
 divided. She multiplies her children over the whole face of the 
 earth, and nourishes them with the body and blood and graces of 
 her head, Jesus Christ. She feeds them on his Body, and his 
 Blood. " For we being many are one bread, one body, all that par- 
 take of one bread. " * " In him and by him and througli him we 
 are one church all united through him to the Father, Son and Holy 
 Ghost,"ashe said. "And I in them and thou in me, that they 
 may be perfect in one. " * 
 
 This surprising oneness and unity of the church is what separates 
 and distinguishes her from all false and counterfeit churches, which 
 were established by men. The oneness and unity of the church 
 
 » John Tl. 88. » Kom. rl. 11. » Rom. xlv. 8. * Qalat. 11. ». 
 
 • I. Cor. X. 17. • John xvll. 23. 
 
THE SOUL OF THE CHURCH. 115 
 
 extends beyond this world and takes in all the saints who now 
 rejoice in heaven. It stretches to the suffering souls of purgatory 
 and soothes those who are waiting for the coining of their salva- 
 tion, the day of their delivery. The church therefore extends 
 to heaven to purgatory and is spread through the earth. 
 
 It is a living body or organism animated by his Spirit, the Holy 
 Ghost, for it is his body. As head and body cannot be divided, so 
 the church or any part of it never be separated from Christ its 
 head. Each organism has a spirit, a soul, which holds it together. 
 The soul of the church is the Holy Ghost the Spirit of the Son 
 of God. Pie promised that the Holy Spirit would teach and speak 
 in the church. '•' For " he says '' it is not you that speaketh but 
 the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.^' ' No one could 
 enter that church unless he was born of that Spirit by the waters 
 of baptism. ''Unless a man be born again of water and of the 
 Holy Ghost he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."" Life in 
 a living body comes from the animating soul within. So in the 
 church "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." ' Christ promised to 
 send the Holy Ghost to his church to remain in her forever, " I will 
 ask of the Father and he will give you another Paraclete, that he 
 may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world 
 cannot receive."* 
 
 That Spirit of Christ is to teach man all things necessary 
 for salvation. " But when he the Spirit of truth is come, he 
 will teach you all things." ^ He calls him the Spirit of truth 
 because he comes forth from himself who is the Truth of the 
 Father. Proceeding from him in eternity, to show that divine 
 procession "■ He breathed on them and he said to them: Receive 
 ye the Holy Ghost."" Fifty times the Holy Ghost is mentioned 
 in the Acts of the Apostles, everywhere guiding directing and 
 sustaining the infant church. Ninety times the same Holy 
 Spirit is found in the rest of the New Testament. The church 
 therefore having only one Spirit must be one, for one Spirit 
 or soul always animates only one organism or body. 
 
 St.' Paul writing from his prison house to the Ephesians says: 
 " Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,, 
 one body, one Spirit as you are all called in the hope of your 
 calling, one Lord, one faith one baptism, one God the Father of 
 all, who is above all and through all and in us all. Until we 
 meet in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 
 God."^ Who will say that there can be more than one true 
 church wherein " he gave some to be apostles and some prophets 
 and some others evangelists and other some pastors and doctors 
 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,^ 
 for the edifying of the body of Christ." * 
 
 The church is one and undivided, because it is the most perfect 
 mage of the oneness of the undivided Trinity. From eternity the 
 
 > Matt. X. 30. 2 John Hi. 5, ^ John vi. ft4. •• John xlv. 16, 17. 
 
 s John xvl. 13. « John xx. 22. ' Eph. iv. 3, 4, 5, 6. "^ Eph. iv. 11, 13. 
 
116 THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES DOWN TO US. 
 
 Pather and the Son dwell together, but their union is completed 
 and perfected by the Holy Spirit, who comes forth as the mutual 
 love of both. The Son, the Second Person of the Trinity comes 
 forth from "the bosom of his Father." * Coming forth from 
 the sanctuary of eternity he comes into the world on his mission 
 of salvation. ^ He becomes man *' and dwelled amongst us, " * 
 to redeem us. He comes to become the head of the church, the 
 head of the regenerated children of Adam. "Full of grace and 
 truth we have all received from his superabundance."* From 
 eternity the Father loved him and, because of him he also loves us, 
 made to the image and likeness of the divine Son. He is in us and 
 we in him, " I in them and they in me that they may be perfect in 
 one, and the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved 
 me." " " Thou hast loved me before the creation of the world."* 
 *' That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and 
 I in them." ^ But the Love spoken of here is the Holy Ghost, the 
 Love of the Father and of the Son. 
 
 Contemplate for a moment the Love of the Father and of the 
 Son coming down from the highest heavens, from the adorable 
 Trinity into the church which is one with the Trinity. Through 
 Jesus Christ the Second Person of the Trinity that Spirit em- 
 braces the whole church animates it, gives life to it, fills us 
 with charity, for " the charity of God is poured forth in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given us," * he comes into the 
 church because he comes from the head Christ the Son of the 
 Father. As he is the head of the church, as head he sends the 
 Holy Ghost into the whole church his body that he may give 
 life to the whole organism. That Spirit of Christ broods over 
 the whole church, covering it, sanctifying it, blessing it, penetrat- 
 ing it, animating it, binding it together, uniting all its members 
 into one body which belongs to Christ its head. Coming into the 
 church from Christ its head, from whom he proceeds in eternity, 
 he animates the lowest member and sanctifies him, and continually 
 works to make him more and more like unto Christ the head. 
 He calls the clergy to their vocation, he sanctifies souls by the 
 sacraments, he inspires men with good thoughts, he entices them 
 to do good, he calls sinners to repentance, he goes after the stray 
 sheep, he pours out the graces of Christ on dying souls. All the 
 wonders of the supernatural life are worked by the Holy Ghost. 
 *' No man can say the Lord Jesus but by the Holy Ghost."* 
 
 " But in all these things one and the same Spirit worketh. For 
 as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of 
 the body, whereas they are many yet one body, so also is Christ. 
 For as in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body. For the 
 body is also not one member, but many, that there might be no 
 schism in the body. Now you are the body of Christ and mem- 
 bers of member, and God indeed hath set some in the church first 
 
 > John 1. 18. » John vlU. 42. » John 1. 14 « Rom. t. 17. 
 
 • John xvll. 28. • Ibidem 24. » lb 26. • Rom. t. 6 • 1. Cor. xl. 8. 
 
WHA.T IS HOLIifESS? 11? 
 
 apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doctors, after that miracles 
 then the graces of healings " etc. ' The Holy Ghost then is the 
 *'Sign of Salvation, " ' the " Seal of redemption" " 
 
 The church is holy. Her holiness comes from Christ as St. 
 Paul says " Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself 
 up for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it in the laver of water 
 in the word of life." * Holiness is freedom from sin and firmness 
 in keeping the laws of God. Sanctity comes from the Latin, and 
 means washed in blood, — that is purified from every sin, by the 
 blood of Christ, * The tabernacle and all things used in the ser- 
 vices of the temple were sprinkled with blood, ' typifying that 
 every member of the church is washed in the blood of the Lamb 
 of God. For no one in sin is clean before the Lord. Then cleaned 
 from the filth of wickedness, from the passions which drag it 
 down, the soul of the christian stands firm in the law, in every 
 virtue of the christian. " He that loveth me keepeth my com- 
 mandments." ' 
 
 Holiness comes into man by the infusing of the Holy Spirit, 
 who comes from Christ as the Son of God, whose blood washed the 
 soul from sin. Then the church is holy in her members, because 
 her head Christ is holy. For he was filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 *'full of grace and truth."* She is holy because she too is filled 
 with the Holy Spirit, who on pentecost Sunday, came down in the 
 form of firey tongues, and sat on every one of the apostles and 
 disciples. " 
 
 Coming down from the Father and from the Son from whom 
 he proceeds in eternity, the Holy Ghost comes into the church, 
 and takes up his abode in the purified hearts of the redeemed. 
 Ever coming forth from the Father and the Son, he ever proceeds 
 into the souls of men, and there he works in them his holiness, 
 giving rise to every virtue, coming into generations and gener- 
 ation of countless saints who live in every age. 
 
 Who can tell the hidden virtues of the saints of the church? 
 The constancy of the persecuted, the chastity of the virgins, the 
 heroism of the clergy, the firmness of those martyrs who died? 
 Who could describe sufferings of the church? the torn limbs, the 
 ghastly wounds, the flowing blood, the cold and hunger, the mental 
 anguish, the fierce hate of men, the rage of hell poured out from 
 the days of the crucifixion to the present time? The history of 
 the church is a tale of blood known only to God. We admire the 
 hero, but the world never saw a heroism which could in any way 
 €qual or approach the wonders of the saints and martyrs of the 
 church, who suffered and died from the time of Christ the first 
 and greatest martyr. 
 
 The nations have profited by her holiness. From the day when 
 Christ first sent his apostles forth to teach the nations, she has 
 
 » I. Cor. xii. ' Eph. 1. 13 ' Ibidem Iv. 30. * Ephes. v. 25, 36. 
 
 » See St. Thomas, Quest. Ixxxi. Art. 8. « Heb. Ix. 21, 23. •? John xlv. 15. 
 
 « John i. 14. » Acts. 11. 3. 
 
118 WHAT IS A MTKACLE? 
 
 never ceased to raise them up from paganism and sin to a higher 
 life, a better form of civilization a more virtuous mode of life. All 
 great movements for the bettering of man took rise in her and 
 from her spread to the uttermost ends of tlie earth. Everywhere 
 her missionaries scattered, " preaching Christ and him crucified " * 
 almost without an exception the first missionaries were martyred 
 by the people they came to save. Thus Christ and his holiness, 
 living in his church is still crucified in his members. 
 
 The chief marks of holiness are miracles in Avhich God inter- 
 feres with the course of nature and the laws of the universe given 
 at the creation. A miracle is a wonder, worked by God to attract 
 the eyes of men to reward the faith of the good, and to draw men 
 to the church. In the early church many wonders were worked 
 so as to attract men to the church and to show the world her 
 divinity. The saints in every age performed miracles for their 
 holiness was such that God with all his power was Avith them. 
 
 After thQ ascension of the blessed Lord, the apostles went forth 
 and "preached every where, the Lord working with all and con- 
 firming the word with signs that followed."'' Many were the 
 wonders the apostles and their disciples wrought, by which the 
 ancient world was drawn to their teachings. St. Augustine says. 
 " The consent of peoples and of nations holds me in her bosom. 
 Her authority begun by miracles keeps me." " At many confirma- 
 tions in the early church the Holy Spirit worked the most stu- 
 pendous miracles. All these signs and wonders showed that the 
 holiness, the wisdom and the supernatural power of God was with 
 the church. God is the author of nature, and he can change 
 nature's laws and physical workings, when he wishes. This he did 
 that the human mind might be drawn to the church founded by 
 his Son for the salvation of mankind. No one but a stupid fool 
 would say God cannot suspend or change the laws he made for 
 the government of the universe he created. 
 
 ' 1. Cor. 11. 2. » Mark xvl. 20. » St. Aur. Con. Epist. Fund. C. 4. 
 
is catholic, that is 
 for universal. That 
 name was given her in the very 
 days of the apostles, who often 
 preached in that cultured language. 
 The church is catholic or universal 
 both with regard to time and place. 
 She is the very same now as in the time 
 ,of the apostles, going back to the very 
 days of the apostles^ and she spread 
 among all nations where there are souls 
 to save. The church is called Roman 
 catholic, for her visible head the vicar 
 of Christ is the Bishop of Korae. 
 Without the Papacy there would not be to-day a man believing or 
 teaching the religion of Christ, for on this Rock the Lord built his 
 church " and the gates of hell did not prevail against her." ' 
 
 The Church is universal Avith regard to time. We trace the 
 venerable line of the Roman Pontiffs from Leo XIII. back through 
 long reigns of spiritual rulers, to the day when Peter was cruci- 
 fied. Not a link of that golden chain was ever broken. We read , 
 the histories of the bishops of Palestine, of Asia, of Egypt, of 
 France, of Spain, of England and of every country where 
 the Gospel was preached, and we find that many of the first bish- 
 ops of these countries were sent by Peter or by his successors to 
 preach the faith. They were all the spiritual sons of the Prince 
 of the apostles. We find no change of faith in the church. In 
 the church to-day we read the writings of the apostolic men and of 
 the converts of the apostles, when we study the Augustins, the 
 Gregories, the Chrysostoms, the Basils, the Jeromes, the Leos, 
 the Cyrils but we find no change. The chief ideas of this 
 book, the sublime principles of the Church universal;, the diocese, 
 the bishop, the presbyteries, the form of church government 
 may be found in the writings of St. Ignatius, the disciple of St. 
 Peter, the second after him to sit on the archiepiscopal throne of 
 Antioch. The ideas of the hierarchies of heaven and of the 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 119 
 
TUE HEAD 
 
 OK THE CHURCH. 
 
A BOOK ON THE CHURCH. 121 
 
 Church may be found in the writings of St. Dionysius, the 
 Greek, who at Athens cried out when he saw the sun darkened at 
 the crucitixion, " Either the God of the universe is dying or the 
 machinery of nature is dissolving.'^ ' When St. Paul later came 
 to Athens there preaching Christ crucified, Dionysius remem- 
 bered the darkening of the sun, he became a convert, and first 
 preached to the people of Letitia, ancient Paris. 
 
 The writer spent the early years of his priesthood reading the 
 great fathers of the church, the men taught by the apostles, and 
 there, in the cradle of the faith, he finds his ideas of the Church. 
 The man who writes a book on the Church ever lives in history, 
 and all ages to the end of time will profit by his work. The 
 Church cannot preach new doctrines. He who explains her 
 teachings gives her old dogmas in a new dress, adapted to our 
 age. When new doctrines arise and spread among men, we 
 search the Bible, the traditions of churches, the histories of na- 
 tions, the writings of the apostles, the traditions of Christianity 
 to see if they have been revealed by God. That tends to clear up 
 the truths held in "the deposit of faith."" If such truths are 
 found in the Scriptures and in the traditions of Christianity, the 
 head of the Church, he to whom was given to "Feed his lambs 
 and sheep," he who was commissioned to confirm his brothers, he 
 the heir of Peter, he officially pronounces that they were re- 
 vealed and then they become dogmas of faith for all mankind. 
 If these doctrines are not found in the Bible and in tradition they 
 are condemned as error, for revelation was ended and completed 
 by the coming of Christ, who while on earth taught all things re- 
 quired for salvation. 
 
 The Church is catholic, that is it spreads everywhere. For as 
 the Saviour died for all the children of Adam, she was founded 
 for them all. She has no peculiar mark or character of any na- 
 tion or people. She is as universal as the race. They partake in 
 her doctrines, her graces, her beauties, her perfections. To all 
 men the Church comes preaching salvation, peace, redemption, 
 charity, brotherly love. In every man she sees the image of God, 
 the likeness of the divine Son made man. To every man she 
 teaches the rights of men, the laws of God, the rights of proper- 
 ty, of life, of justice. In every nation she taught the sacredness of 
 life, the horror of war, the value of souls, the laws and principles 
 of the Gospel. From her the kings and governments learned the 
 misfortunes of slavery the rights of subjects, the way of government. 
 
 From her constitution of the papacy, the episcopacy, the dio- 
 cese and parish, men in former ages learned the constitutional 
 form of civil christian governments. Parliaments and Sen- 
 ates were founded by the teachings of her clergy in England, 
 France and other European nations. From them came our form 
 of government, where the rights of the people are respected, a form 
 of government spreading over all the earth. She is the living force 
 
 » Brev. Rom. 9 Oct. 2 i, xim. vl. 20. 
 
122 CATHOLIC MEANS UNIVERSAL. 
 
 which brought forth our present civilization from the chaos of 
 paganism, and established the Christianity of our day. Every 
 good comes down tlirough her from God the Father of lights to 
 man, raising him up towards heaven through his Son Jesus Christ. 
 She is now spread over the world, teaching, refining, convert- 
 ing and softening the hard and stony hearts of men, left in 
 S2)iritual death by the sin of Adam. 
 
 To the king upon his throne she teaches the way of salvation 
 the same as to those who dwell in cabins. To the rich and poor, 
 to the holy and the sinner, to the wise and ignorant, to the na- 
 tions and to individuals, to the weak and strong, to sick and 
 well, to every creature of the human race she preaches the very 
 same doctrines, to all she says this is the way of eternal life, do 
 this and thou shalt live, come into my bosom and be saved; hear 
 me not and thou shalt be damned. He that heareth you heareth 
 me. " '■' He that believeth not shall be condemned." ' 
 
 With her striking ceremonial, her ancient dead Latin lan- 
 guage, her Mass and sacraments, her ritual and Gospel, her un- 
 changing truth she comes to all men, seeking them out every- 
 where they have wandered, and to them all she tells the glad 
 story of salvation and redemption. 
 
 The church is catholic that is universal. The sun never goes 
 down upon her spiritual empire over the souls of men. In the 
 forests of the south, amid the snows of the frozen north, on the fiery 
 sands of Africa, amid the ancient religions of Asia, in the halls of 
 ^statesmen, in the courts of kings, on vessels plowing the oceans, 
 in the professor's chair of great schools, in the laboratories of 
 of the learned, in the busy marts of commerce, in the family, 
 everywhere you find the doctrines of Church penetrating deep into 
 every heart. 
 
 No other church ever claimed to be catholic. The other 
 churches were ever national, and did not extend beyond the na- 
 tion or the race where first they took their rise. The religion of 
 the Jews was only for the people of Israel, they were chosen that 
 the Lord might be born of them, that they might prepare for the 
 coming of his Son. Born of Abraham they guarded the revela- 
 tion first given to Adam till Christ came to found his universal 
 church for all men. 
 
 The Church is apostolic that is, it comes down to us un- 
 broken from the time of the Apostles, her clergymen descend in 
 an unbroken line from the Apostles, who ordained them, and who 
 in turn were ordained by Christ. She preaches the very same 
 doctrines and truths which the Apostles preached in the days of 
 the early Church. "The Apostles" says Tertulian "founded 
 churches in every city, whence all the other churches received the 
 doctrines of faith, by this they became churches and children of 
 the apostolic churches, whence although there are many, there is 
 but one the first Church, from which all others come. 
 
 » Mark. xvl. 16. 
 
THE MEANING OF MATTHEW AND MARK, 133 
 
 After the Ascension the Apostles made Jerusalem their home. 
 From the holy city they went forth to convert the Jews, who were 
 first called to the faith. But after Peters vision at Joppa, they 
 preached to the Gentiles. Among the jDagan nations they founded 
 many churches. St. James the first bishop of Jerusalem was put 
 to death by Herod. Simeon was consecrated the second bishop 
 of the holy city. ' 
 
 St. Matthew, in Hebrew, gift of Jehovah jireached first in Judea. 
 He wrote his Gospel in Hebrew for the Jews of Palestine. Then 
 he went to the East and converted many of the Persians, Parth- 
 ians and Ethiopians, performing numerous miracles among them. 
 At one time he raised the king's daughter from the dead, when 
 the royal family and the whole province came into the church. 
 When this king was succeeded by Hirtacus, the latter wished to 
 marry Iphigenia, daughter of the dead king, Avhom St. Matthew 
 had raised from the grave and whom he had induced to take a 
 vow of virginity. When the king could not force her to become 
 his queen, he commanded his servants to put St. Matthew to death, 
 which they did as he was saying Mass at the altar. ^ 
 
 St. Mark, in Hebrew, a sign, or from the Greek for hammer, a 
 Jew, the disciple of St. Peter, he was converted by him after the as- 
 cension. Some think he only translated into Greek the Gospel 
 St. Peter had written. He wrote the Gospel at the request of the 
 Romans, recalling to them what he heard from St. Peter, Avhom 
 he accompanied many years in his travels, visiting with him all 
 the churches. St. Peter revised his Gospel and commanded that 
 it to be read in all the churches. St. Peter sent him to found 
 churches in Aquilia and Egypt, where he became the first bishop 
 of Alexandria, after Rome then the second city of the world and 
 noted for its wealth, learning and culture. It was in the year 60, 
 the seventh of the reign of Nero, that Mark came to Egppt to be- 
 come the archbishop of Alexandria, the second see of the world. 
 Evodius at that time had been appointed by Peter at Antioch to 
 report to him at Rome the state of the churches of Asia. 
 
 St. Mark landed first at Cyrene, in Pentopolis, bordering on 
 Egypt, where he performed numerous miracles. In this ancient 
 land, where the gigantic works of a former civilization still stood, 
 there he first preached the religion of Christ. For twelve years he 
 traveled up and down the Nile valley before he took his seat as 
 first bishop of the great city, founded by Alexander and called 
 after his name. He converted many of the Jews, whose fore- 
 fathers had come to Egypt in the days of the Ptolemies and en- 
 gaged in trade. But his success roused a persecution against him, 
 and consecrating his disciple Anianus bishop, he retired to Pento- 
 polis. When after two years again he returned to Alexandria the 
 pagans called him a magician because of his wonderful works. On 
 the feast of the god Serapis, they found him saying Mass. They 
 tied him with ropes, dragged him during the whole day over the 
 
 1 Brev. Roman Off. * Brev. Roman, of St. Math. Sept. 21. 
 
124 STS. LUKE AND JOHN. 
 
 ground and stones. At night they threw him into prison, and the 
 next day Monday April 25 in the year 68 put him to death. 
 
 St. Luke a native of the great city of Antioch the metropolis 
 of Syria, educated in her celebrated schools early became the dis- 
 ciple of St. Paul in his wanderings. He was a physician and a 
 painter. As many fables and peculiar histories of our Lord were 
 written about this time, which tended to bring ridicule on relig- 
 ion, which are probably contained to-day in the Apocryphal Gos- 
 pels, St. Luke wrote his Gospel to refute them. St. Paul is 
 generally believed to have corrected, and some say took part in 
 the actual composition of the Gospel of St. Luke. 
 
 In the year 56, St. Paul, the Latin for little, sent him with Titus 
 to Corinth. Latter he went with St. Paul to Rome, whither in 
 61 the latter was sent as a prisoner from Jerusalem. For two years 
 St, Paul with Luke lived in a hired house in Eome, where now 
 stands the church of St. Mary. There St. Luke wrote the Acts 
 of the Apostles. Later St. Luke preached in Italy, France, Del- 
 matia, and Macedon. He died by crucifixion. 
 
 The apostle St. John, in Hebrew the gracious gift of God, called 
 by the Greeks the Divine, was the most beloved of all the apostles 
 and dearest to the heart of our Lord. He lived 70 years after the 
 ascension, the last member of the apostolic college. He never 
 married because he loved the Lord. Into his care, Christ gave 
 his holy Mother, who lived with him as his adopted mother till 
 her death. He attended Peter in his ministry at Jerusalem. He 
 was with the other apostles when they met so often in the upper 
 chamber belonging to the mother of St. Mark, where the last 
 supper was celebrated, and where the Holy Spirit came down on 
 the apostles, St. Jerome and the breviary say he lived till 
 old age. When in 51 the first general council of the church was 
 called at Jerusalem, John was there with all the other apostles 
 and disciples of our Lord.' He made Jerusalem his residence for 
 a long time after the ascension, going on missions into many 
 places, especially to Parthia, preaching and converting many of 
 the people of this province. Even in our day, some of the cities 
 at the mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates say their forefathers 
 were converted by St. John. In 62 he returned to Jerusalem, 
 where all the other apostles had gathered, where they elected Simeon 
 bishop of Jerusalem after the martyrdom of St. James. ' Diony- 
 sius, converted by St. Paul at Athens came to see St. John, and 
 there he met the mother of our Lord. He says that her appear- 
 ence was so striking, that if he did not know that there was a 
 God he would have fell prostrate before her and worshipped her as 
 a goddess. 
 
 St. John ever appears as a missionary bishop, taking possession of 
 no particular see. He preached especially in Lesser Asia, making 
 Ephesus his home, of which St. Timothv the disciple of St, Paul 
 was the first bishop. In all histories the authority of St. John 
 
 > St. aementof Alexandria. * Euseblus L. iif. c. it, p. 105. 
 
 * Dyooes. De Dlvln. Nomia. 
 
TYPES OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS. 135 
 
 appears as that of an archbishop, with metropolitan jurisdiction 
 over the churches of Asia Minor, which he founded and governed 
 till he died. He consecrated bishops and appointed them to the 
 different cities and towns.' As each of the apostles received apos- 
 tolic power in the universal church, he appears to have established 
 all the first bishops of Asia Minor. To his last day he continued 
 to visit the bishops and the churches he established. He deposed 
 a priest who wrote a false account of the voyages of St. Paul and 
 Thecla. 
 
 Soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Ronians under 
 Titus in 73, Ebion taught that Christ was not the Son of God, but 
 a created angel, conceived and born like other men, but that he 
 became the Son of God when the Holy Spirit came down on him. 
 Cerinthus also preached that the Jewish ceremonies of circumcis- 
 ion, etc., bound christians, that the world was not created by God, 
 that God was only an angel, as \Yell as other errors in matter of 
 faith. To refute these errors St. John composed his Gospel. 
 He wrote especially to defend the divinity of our Lord. It is said 
 he asked all the churches to pray for him before he began his sub- 
 lime description of the birth of the Son from the Father. ^ In 95. 
 he was arrested, sent to Eome, thrown into a vat of boiling oil,, 
 saved by a miracle, banished to the Isle of Patmos by the emperor- 
 Domitian, where he wrote the Apocalypse or Revelations,, 
 which close the Bible. In 97 he returned to Ephesus, where: 
 Timothy had been put to death a short time before, and he took 
 on himself the government of that vast diocese which he held till; 
 the reign of Trajan. His disciple St. Polycarp tells us that ha- 
 wore on his forehead a plate of gold when saying Mass. 
 
 The evangelists were seen in vision by the prophet Ezechial 
 under the form of mysterious animals, which commentators say 
 represented the four authors of the Gospels. St. John because of 
 his sublimity of thought is the eagle. St. Luke, because he begins 
 by the history of the sacrifices in the temple is typfied by the ox, 
 one of the chief victims of the sacrifice of the temple. St. Mark 
 begins by the preaching of St. John the Baptist like a lion roar- 
 ing in the desert and calling men to his baptism of penance for 
 the coming of the Lord, while St. Matthew begins his Gospel by 
 the geneology of Christ as a man, and for that reason he is repre- 
 sented as a man. Such are the types of the four Evangelists. The 
 word evangel comes from the Greek and means good tidings of 
 redemption. Gospel is an Anglo-saxon word and signifies a good 
 word, a joyful history, or God's word to mankind. 
 
 Apostle is a Greek word which means a messenger, one sent, 
 for the apostles were sent by our Lord to preach his doctrines to 
 the whole world. '' As the Father hath sent me so I also send 
 you. " ^ Going forth therefore preach the Gospel to every creature. * 
 
 The apostle Andrew, the Greek for manly, was a native of Beth- 
 saida on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. He was first a disciple 
 
 ' Tertullian L. 4. Contra Marcion. ^ John i. 1. * John vi. 29. * Luke x?j. 15. 
 
126 HISTORY OF ST. JAMES. 
 
 of St. John the Baptist, but when he heard our blessed Lord, 
 he was attracted to him b}' his grace and brought his brother Simon 
 called later Peter to the Lord. After the descent of the Hoi}' 
 Ohost, Andrew preached the Gospel in Scythia, Sogdiana, to the 
 Colchis and the Greeks, where he silenced the learned philosophers 
 of Athens. Authors say he travelled into Kussia, even to the bor- 
 ders of Poland. He was crucified on a cross made like an X in 
 the city of Patrae. 
 
 St. James from Jacob, the supplanter, called the Great, the 
 brother of John the Evangelist was the son of Salome the cousin 
 of our Lord's Mother. He was 12 years older than Christ. Li 
 the year 30, the persecution in which St. Stephen perished raged 
 jigainst the church in Judea and the apostle fled preaching even to 
 Spain. Herod Agrippa, son of Herod the Great, gained the confi- 
 dence of the lioman emperor Caligula, who gave him a part of his 
 father's dominions, and later the emperor Claudius added to them 
 Judea, Samaria and the surrounding country. Li the year 43, to 
 please the Jews at the ceremonies of the Passover, he began to 
 persecute the Christians, arrested St. James and condemned him 
 to be beheaded, a martyrdom which he suffered with great courage. 
 
 St. James the Less, the son of Alpheus and Mary, the sister of 
 the blessed Virgin, was the first cousin of our Lord. Some au- 
 thors say our Lord gave charge of the church of Jerusalem to St. 
 James, and he became its first bishop. In this case it appears that 
 here we first find the appointment of bishops, to a particular 
 See, made in the person of St. James. All the apostolic churches, 
 Eome alone excepted, lost their lines of bishops at some time dur- 
 ing the years of persecution, and this brings still brighter before 
 lis thelineof the Eoman Pontiffs, going backunbroken to St. Peter. 
 Saying Mass St. James wore on his forehead a plate of gold, the 
 first mitre of the bishop. It was a lamina of pure gold worn at 
 the same time by Sts. John at Ephesus and Mark at Alexandria. 
 It was copied after the mitre of the high-priest in the ceremonies 
 of the Jewish temple. The first bishop of Jerusalem was noted 
 for his singular piety and self-denial. He worked so many miracles 
 that even the Jews held him in great veneration. Kneeling often 
 in prayer, his knees became hardened like a camel's knees. He com- 
 posed an Epistle, which he sent to all the churches, showing them 
 that faith alone without good works will not save souls, lie ar- 
 ranged a liturgy or form of saying Mass and administering the 
 eacraments, which first learned by heart was later written by the 
 saints and reformed by St. Chrystom. It gave rise to the Greek 
 and other Eastern rites. 
 
 The Jews, maddened by the appeal of St. Paul to Caesar, called a 
 meeting of the Sanhedrim, a council of the chief authorities of 
 the temple under the high-priest Ananus, son of Annas, who put 
 our liord to death. They called St. James for trial before them, 
 accused him of breaking the laws, condemned him to be stoned to 
 death. First they took him to the top of the temple, and asked 
 
A LETTER FROM OUR LORD, 127 
 
 t 
 
 him to renounce Jesus. Eefusing, he preached from the battle- 
 ments to a great assembly, who had come to celebrate the Pass- 
 over. They then threw him down. Nearly killed, he had barely 
 strength to rise to pray for liis murderers, when the rabble smashed 
 him with stones, and one hit him on the head with a club which 
 broke his skull. His death took place April 10 in the year 62, the 
 7th. year of the reign of Nero. * 
 
 St. Philip, the Greek for a lover of horses, born at. Bethsaida in Gal- 
 ilee was a married man who became a great saint. After the sep- 
 aration of the apostles, he preached in the two Phrygias. St. Poly- 
 carp the disciple of St. John the second bishop of Ephesus after 
 St. Timothy, lived for a time with Philip. St. Polycretes, the 
 successor of Polycarp at Epliesus, says that after his martyrdom, 
 St. Philip was buried at Hierapolis in Phyrgia. 
 
 Bartholomew, meaning Son of Tholomew or of a warrior, was 
 first named Nathaniel.^ He was a doctor or teacher of the Jewish 
 law, and at first one of the 72 disciples.^ He penetrated to the In- 
 dies, converting numberless persons. He usually preached from 
 the Gospel of St. Matthew, which he carried with him. Eeturn- 
 ing he went into Lacaonia, the people of which country he brought 
 into the church. From there he penetrated into greater Armenia, 
 where attacking the worship of idols, he was arrested and put 
 to death. Some say he died by crucifixion, others that he was 
 flayed alive. 
 
 St. Thomas, in Hebrew and Chaldaic a twin, after the descent 
 of the Holy Ghost, appointed Thaddeus to instruct and baptise 
 Abgar king of Edessa, who had before written a letter to Christ, 
 asking him to come and heal him of a disease with which he was 
 afflicted. * 
 
 Our Lord replied to his letter, that he must fulfil the things for 
 which he came, and return to his Father, who sent him, but that 
 after his ascension, he would send one of his disciples, who would 
 heal him and bring health to all his family. This promise was 
 fulfilled by Thaddeus, after the ascension who came cured the king, 
 baptised all his family and planted the faith in that country. When 
 the apostles divided the world and assigned a part to each, Parthia 
 a part of Persia fell to the lot of our apostle. He labored among 
 the Medes, Persians and other nations in these parts, penetrating 
 even to the Indias and Ethiopia, as the south-east of Arabia was 
 then called. He suffered martyrdom at Meliapor on the west 
 bank of the Ganges, where he was pierced with lances till he died, 
 because he had converted some members of the royal family. The 
 remains of christian doctrines are found in Thibet, Tartary and 
 in the East said to have been taught them by this apostle. 
 
 St. Jude, praised, called also Thaddeus that is the wise, first 
 labored in the kingdom of Edessa, where he converted the royal 
 family and members of the court, although some say this Jude 
 
 > Butler's Lives of the Saints. * Am. Cyclopedea Bartholomew. 
 
 ' Butler's Lives of the Saints. ♦ Euseblus. Hist. L. L C. 13 p. 36. 
 
128 STS. SIMOX, MATTHIAS AND JUDAS. 
 
 • 
 
 wasanotlier person one of the 73 disciples. He preached in Judea. 
 Samaria, Edumia, Mesopotamia, L^bia and neighboring coun- 
 tries. After the death of his brother, St. James, he returned to 
 Jerusalem in G2, where he assisted at the election of his other 
 brother, St. Simeon, as the second bishop of the hol}^ city after the 
 martyrdom of St. James. He then wrote an Epistle to all the 
 churches, which became a part of the New Testament. He com- 
 posed it especially against the heretical Simonians, Nicholites and 
 Gnostics. Then he travelled into Persia, where at Ararat, in 
 Armenia, he was shot to death by arrows, or as others say he was 
 crucified. 
 
 St. Simon, in Hebrew hearing with acceptance, for his zeal called 
 the Zealot went first to Mauritania. Some writers say he also 
 preached in Britain. He spent some time in Egypt and other 
 parts of Africa. He was martyred at Suanar in Persia, being put 
 to death by the pagan priests. 
 
 St. Matthias, in Hebrew gift of Jehovah, one of the 72 disciples 
 of our Lord was elected an apostle in the place of the traitor Ju- 
 das. * After the coming of the Holy Ghost, he preached es- 
 pecially the obligation of self-denial and the mortification of 
 our passions. The traditions of the Greek church say that he 
 planted the faith in Cappadocia and along the shores of the 
 Caspian Sea, fixing his see at the little city of Issus. He was mar- 
 tyred at Colchis. 
 
 All know the history of Judas who sold his divine Master for 
 about 118. Getting sorry he brought the money back to the Jew- 
 ish priests. When they would not take it he threw it to them, 
 saying he had betrayed an innocent man. Falling into despair he 
 took a rope and hanged himself to a fig-tree on the side of Cal- 
 vary. The next morning the rope broke and the body burst, and 
 when the crowds accompanying our blessed Lord to the crucifixion 
 passed by the wild dogs of Jerusalem were feeditig on his flesh. 
 
 > Acts. 
 
Christ, "true 
 
 *' The Lord of 
 the " King of 
 
 true God," 
 lords'' and 
 
 kings," the last heir of the 
 throne of David comes down from 
 the ** Father of lights" to become 
 the supreme spiritual ruler of the 
 Church. By right of creation and 
 of redemption he governs his Uni- 
 versal Church, each diocese, each 
 parish and each soul baptized, who by that becomes his child sub- 
 ject to the laws of the Church his empire. 
 
 Before he left the earth he gave his ministers, his priests and 
 bishops supreme authoritv over his people and sent them forth 
 with all his power. On them he built his church which he organ- 
 ized according to the eternal decrees and truths, which he receives 
 with his nature from his eternal Father. His last forty days be- 
 tween the resurrection and the ascension, he spent with his fol- 
 lowers explaining to the apostles the wonderful organization of his 
 
PETER STILL TEACHING THE ONI VERSA L CHURCH. 
 
CHRIST'S PRIME MINISTER. 131 
 
 church his kingdom on the earth. St. John says that if all he 
 told them were written, the world would not hold all the books.' 
 We find these teachings in the Acts, in the Epistles of the New 
 Testament, in the church organization and in the writings of thf> 
 early fathers who gathered up the teachings of the apostles. We 
 must now see how Christ now rules and governs this spiritual em- 
 pire of souls purchased by his blood. Kings and emperors rule 
 not by themselves but by others to whom they delegate their au- 
 thority. Emperors, Kings and Queens, the President of the 
 United States cannot personally oversee all the details of their 
 governments. They delegate departments of the government to 
 their ministers. They often appoint a prime minister to take charge 
 of the universal external department of the scate, while inter- 
 nal affairs are in the hands of other heads of the departments or 
 bureaus. 
 
 Christ was a wise and farseeing statesman. He appointed and 
 ordained his apostles bishops over the priests and ministers he 
 ordained. In the apostles the priests and ministers he founded the 
 universal church." Then to bind them all into one universal 
 sheepfold, he raised up one of the apostles to be his prime minister, 
 his ruler, one with him, bearing his delegated authority, ruling 
 his constitutional empire of religion, that his church might re- 
 main one and indestructible, till the end of time. That visible 
 head of the church was Peter. His office was to descend to Peter's 
 successors in the See of Rome. He chose Peter one of the apos- 
 tles, so that the church might be ruled by an apostle, a bishop, 
 and not by one of the inferior ministers, the higher by the lower. 
 As the government of Christ was to last as long as the church, so 
 the heir of Peter was to ever be the visible head of the church. 
 Then he returned to the glory of the Father, which he had with 
 him before the world was, for he was not to ever live in the suffer- 
 ings of this world, for he suffered once and that was enough to 
 redeem us. 
 
 In holy orders the bishops are equal. ''Wherever the bishop 
 is, either at Rome or at Eugubius, he has the same merit and 
 the same priesthood."^ "The other apostles were the same as Peter — 
 all equal with the same power and honor."' "For Peter and 
 John were equal in honor and dignity, and the bishop of Rome is 
 no greater in orders than the bishop of any small city." " How 
 many reading such texts go astray, not thinking that all this re- 
 lates to holy orders and not to jurisdiction. In holy orders 
 bishops are all equal, for all receive the fulness of the Priesthood 
 of Christ. But in jurisdiction, or in the power of ruling spiritual 
 subjects, they are not equal, for to Peter, Christ gave full power 
 of binding and of loosing, of feeding his lambs and sheep. The 
 Bishop of Rome the successor of Peter is at the head of the universal 
 visible church, while the bishop is at the head of his diocese. 
 
 1 John xxl. 2, 5. 2 concil. Trident. s st. Jerome Epist. 140 ad Evang. n. I. 
 
 * St. Cyprian De Unitate Eccl. n. 4. * St. Cyril Alexandria. 
 
132 THE OFFICE OF VICAR. 
 
 Then the Pope, as the heir of Peter, has a power and an authority 
 over the church not fou^nd in holy orders, which comes from 
 his position as bisliop and head of the diocese of Peter, whom 
 Christ made the rock, the corner-stone of the whole church 
 the one foundation with him. 
 
 For Christ and Peter became one authority and government. For 
 'the agent, the prime minister, the vicar form but one government 
 with the ruling power who appoints him. "Thus there are not 
 many but one government, and not one body like a monster 
 with two heads, namely Christ and Peter, the Vicar of Christ, and 
 the successor of Peter, the Lord himself saying to Peter, **' Feed 
 my sheep" he said generally not singularly these or those." ' 
 
 The church universal being the diocese of Christ, and each 
 diocese proceeding from the universal church, in each diocese we 
 find an image of the universal church her mother. Each bishop 
 chooses from the ranks of the priests his vicar -general, who be- 
 comes one in authority with the bishop, for they form one govern- 
 ment over the diocese. The vicar-general does not get his power 
 from the election of the priests, for they have no episcopal juris- 
 diction. The vicar of the bishop has jurisdiction and power over 
 them, which he receives from the bishop. Not from his priest- 
 hood or from holy orders does the power of the vicar-general of 
 the diocese come, but from the jurisdiction of the bishop. What 
 the vicar-general does in his office as vicar of the bishop, binds 
 the bishop and no one can appeal from the vicar to the bishop, but 
 to the archbishop for they are one and the same authority. The par- 
 ish is an image of the diocese and of the universal church, and the 
 vicar of the pastor is one authority with the pastor. The vicar or 
 assistant of the pastor does not get his authority from the people, 
 whom he rules, but from the bishop and the pastor. Thus we see 
 that the office of vicar runs all through the church from the Pope 
 down to the bishop of the diocese. The vicar has the fulness of 
 the power of him he represents, as the prime minister of a king, the 
 cabinet minister of the president, the congressman the agent have 
 the fulness of the power of the persons for whom they act. Thus the 
 vicar-general in a diocese, forms one governing power with the 
 bishop, the Pope is one with Christ in the whole church. Christ 
 and the Pope are one and the same governing power and authority 
 over the universal church. 
 
 The governing power and jurisdiction over the whole church 
 then is one not double but one, as the episcopal authority in the 
 diocese is one. Thus Christ rules his church through and by his 
 vicar, the Bishop of Rome. In order not to lower the episcopacy, 
 Christ did not make the Papacy an order over the bishops, stand- 
 ing as it were between him and the bishops, who have received 
 the fulness of his spiritual power in holy orders, for there can be 
 no order higher than that of the bishop, for each bishop is a per- 
 
 * Boniface viii. Unam Sanctam. 
 
THE FOUNDATION ROCK OF THE CHURCH. 133 
 
 feet priest, and nothing can be more than perfect. But .he made 
 Peter one with him in jurisdiction. There is the rock, the founda- 
 tion on which he built the church, Christ still being the head of 
 each diocese and the head of the universal church, individualized in 
 the Bishop and diocese of Rome. He is then the everlasting 
 source of power and of jurisdiction of the whole church. For to 
 the other apostles he conferred only holy orders. Then to these 
 spiritual powers he added in the case of Peter full jurisdiction 
 saying, " Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep." ' 
 
 Thus Peter is the key-stone of that wonderful arch, the church 
 build of every diocese and parish and congregation throughout 
 the world. The Pope then is not like a chairman elected by the 
 bishops to preside over their deliberations. His authority does 
 not come from the votes of the other bishops. For they have not 
 authority over the church universal, they rule only in their own 
 dioceses, and what they have not they cannot give. The authority 
 of the Pope over the universal church comes to the Bishop of 
 Rome through Peter, who received it from Christ, whom he 
 made one with him. For the church has only one head, one 
 government, one teacher, one sanctifier, one king and supreme 
 ruler Jesus Christ ever visible in his Vicar. This the council of 
 Florence defined " The Roman Pontiff is the true Vicar of Christ, 
 {ind the head of the whole church."* 
 
 While on earth Christ organized his church. To guide her 
 till the end of time, he gave his apostles her constitution, her rules 
 and laws which were to direct her movements, for ''of his king- 
 dom there shall be no end."^ That constitution must not be 
 changed. For things which change perish by change. The presi- 
 dent of the United States cannot change our constitutiou. The 
 same power which gives a constitution is required to change it. 
 Only Christ himself could change the constitution of the church. 
 No one now is equal to Christ in the church. We are only his 
 ministers, his administrators. The vicar-general in the diocese, the 
 Vicar of Christ, the Pope cannot change the laws made by their 
 superiors. They only administer them. Thus the Pope cannot 
 make any new doctrine. He must keep the "deposit of faith " 
 revealed by Christ when he was on this earth, which is contained 
 in the Bible and in holy tradition. This the Vatican Council pro- 
 claimed: " For the Holy Spirit did not give to Peter and to his 
 successors, that he revealing they might teach new doctrines, but 
 that by his aid they might guard the revelation given by the 
 apostles and faithfully teach it." ' 
 
 At the beginning of his public life, our Lord unfolded to his 
 apostles his grand design of establishing the Papacy, that one au- 
 thority to rule the others in order to keep his church one and un- 
 divided. At Cesarea Philipi he tested the faith of his apostles. 
 
 1 John xxl. 18. 2 concil. Florent. Apiid. Lab. T. xii. col. 515. 
 
 ^ Luke i. .33. ■• Concil. Vatican, held in 1870. Pastor ^ternus. 
 
134 MEANING OF PETER AND THE KEYS. 
 
 **Jesus said to them: But whom do you say I am?" While the 
 others gave different answers Simon replied: " Thou art Christ the 
 Son of the living God." * As a reward for his lively faith, our Lord 
 said to him: " 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 whatso- 
 ever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also in heaven, 
 and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also 
 in heaven/" 
 
 The word for " keys " here means in Greek a key, a bolt, any- 
 thing which fastens a door or trunk," Although in ancient times 
 they had no locks, yet they had many things to fasten with were called 
 keys. The one who had the key could open or close the door to 
 any other. To give the keys of a city to a man is to honor him 
 with the freedom of the city. Thus Christ gave the opening or 
 the shutting -of heaven to Peter. The word for the kingdom of 
 heaven means in Greek, not only a kingdom, but also power of a 
 hereditary monarchy.* It means the keys of the kingdom of the 
 heavens, for in Greek and Latin heaven is in the plural. By these 
 words the Lord makes Peter his agent to bind or loosed in heaven 
 by his official acts, and to rule men as the minister of Christ, for 
 his official acts bind Christ who sent him. 
 
 Later Christ gave the power of loosing and of binding to Peter 
 and all the apostles together. For the Pope and bishops assem- 
 bled in council have the power of binding and of loosing, by the 
 laws and enactments they make for the discipline and government 
 •of the whole church. 
 
 He then and there changed his name to Peter that is, " The 
 Rock " on which the church was built. Before that his name 
 was Simon Bar-Jona. When God before gave any man a re- 
 markable work to do, he changed his name. Thus, the first man 
 he called Adam that is of the earth, the first woman Eve, the 
 mother of all the living. Abram, " the father of light," he changed 
 to Abraham, " the father of a multitude," and Jacob, "the sup- 
 planter," he changed to Israel, '^ ruling with God," In our 
 day Popes change their names on ascending the throne of Peter, 
 
 Following these customs our Lord changed Simon^s name to 
 Peter,* meaning in Hebrew, Syro-Chaldaic, Greek, Latin, French, 
 etc., • The Rock. Christ is the " Rock of Ages " struck by 
 Moses in the desert, from which flowed the waters of life to heal 
 the hearts and souls of men wounded by sin.' He is the "corner 
 stone" of the universal church, * rejected by the bad and wicked 
 Jews, which became the head of the corner. He is the foundation 
 of the universal church. For that reason each church has a corner- 
 stone, laid with great ceremony, representing Christ the rock on 
 which the universal church rests. 
 
 > Math. xvl. 15, 16. * Math. xvl. 18, 19. * Homer's Od. 21. 6. 
 
 •• Thuo. 1. la ; Arist. Pol. ill. 14. » See Greek Testament. 
 
 • The Syro-Chaldftic has not genders as In other lanfoiages. ' Num. xx. 10. 
 
 • Mark xil. 10. 
 
THE ROCK OF AGES. 135 
 
 He made Simon Bar-Jona one with him, the corner-stone of 
 the whole church, and in the Popes that corner-stone will last till 
 the end of time. 
 
 The prophet Daniel saw that stone of the Papacy '' cut out of 
 the mountain not made with hands " that is the divinity of our 
 Lord, and he looked till " it struck all the empires of idolatry and 
 of paganism and filled the whole earth.' Isaias saw that stone in 
 the shape of a mountain. *'In the last days the mountain of the 
 house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it 
 shall be exalted on the above the hills, and all the nations shall 
 flow into it."' 
 
 Thus did the inspired prophets see the glories of the house of 
 Peter, centuries before the coming of our Lord. But it is only the 
 glories of Christ himself. For as the agent, the minister is one 
 with he who sends him, so the Vicar of Christ and Christ are one, 
 as St. Leo says: "He united him with himself in an undivided 
 unity, and wished him to be called by the same name, saying 
 '' Thou art Peter," etc. ' "As to say I am the Rock— the inde- 
 structible stone on which the church is built, I will make thee Sim- 
 on The Peter, that is The Rock on which I will build my church, 
 that the foundations may rest unshaken for eternity, and not be 
 laid on the changing and shifting sands of worldly teachings." * 
 For the church was to be built so that "the gates of hell should not 
 prevail against it." * 
 
 Thus numerous other diocese fell away from the church, they 
 went down because of the infidelity of the people, because of the 
 sins of christians, because of the infidelity of pastors, because of 
 the misfortunes of politics, because of the horrors of war and of 
 conquest, as seen in the destruction of the great historic churches 
 of the East. The lamp of faith which once burned in them was 
 taken away as, St. John prophesies in his Revelations. The Roman 
 diocese ever stood because of the faith of Peter. And still she 
 stands like a vast pillar of light to the nations, her feet on earth 
 her head in heaven, tossed by storms of error still she stands, her 
 head upheld in heaven by the Son of God, who said that " The 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against her." ' Christ gave to Peter 
 the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. AVhat a wonderful power 
 to open or lock the doors of heaven, where God dwells with saints 
 and angels, that no man of the fallen race of Adam can enter 
 there unless Peter opens to souls suppliant at the feet of Peter 
 and his successors in the See of Rome! Who does not wish to 
 go to heaven? That is written in the very nature of men. For 
 all seek joy *nd happiness. But to go back to heaven and 
 leave the key of the door to one man, that is v/onderful: but 
 that Christ did, that we might know the power he left to Peter, 
 so that no one might doubt Peter's authority as one with that of 
 Christ. 
 
 > Dan. 11. "M, 3.5. - Isaias 11. 2. ' Eplst. x. n. 4. * St. Leo Sermo 83 n. I. 
 
 5 Matt. xxl. 18. « Malt. xvl. 18. 
 
136 PETER AVENT FISHIKG. 
 
 When our Lord was at the last supper, when all the apostles 
 were at the table, at that solemn moment, before his death he 
 said to Peter, " Simon, Simon, behold satan hath desired to have 
 you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee 
 that thy faith fail not, and thou being once converted confirm 
 thy brethren." * 
 
 In the Vulgate and other Latin versions of the Gospel, the word 
 which is translated: 'Miatli desired to have you," means to reach, 
 seek after, desire or wish to get you, that is not Peter alone, but 
 all tiie apostles — you being the plural of thee. The Greek word 
 used by St. Luke means to examine into you, to belong to or re- 
 view you, to join you. To sift you all as wheat, that is to separate 
 the good wheat from the chaff the bad, alluding to Judas and 
 those who fall away from the church. Tlie word translated " thy 
 faith" in the Greek is, thy faith thy trust, belief, faithfulness, or 
 means of persuasion and argument over others. Such are the 
 meanings of the word when used by Plato, Sophocles, Aristotle, &c. 
 St. Luke uses the word "pote," meaning "and when thou art con- 
 verted later confirm your brothers." He gives the Greek 
 *'sterizon," which means to confirm to firmly fix like the fixed 
 stars,* to make the other apostles immovable in the faith. What 
 remarkable words to show that Peter is to be the converter, the 
 power and the strength of the apostles against the wiles of the devil. 
 
 After the resurrection and before the ascension, when all the 
 apostles gathered at the Sea of Galilee, Peter said he was going 
 fishing. The other apostles said they would go with him. All 
 night they fished and caught nothing. When in the morning 
 the Lord Jesus came he told Peter to cast his net on the right 
 hand side of his boat. 
 
 "And now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of 
 fishes. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to the land full 
 
 of great fishes And although there were so many, the net was 
 
 not broken. When therefore they had dined, Jesus said to Simon 
 Peter, Simon son of John lovest thou me more than these? He said 
 to him: Yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee. He said: 
 Feed my lambs. He said to him again. Simon son of John 
 lovest thou me? He said to him: Yea Lord, thou knowest that 
 I love thee. He said to him: Feed my lambs. He said to him 
 the third time, Simon son of John lovest thou me? Peter was 
 grieved because he said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? 
 And he said to him: Lord thou knowest all things, thou know- 
 est that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep." 
 
 Such was the triple commission given by St. Jehn an eye-wit- 
 ness. Nowhere in the Scriptures did God repeat three times his 
 orders. But this Christ did, so that there would be no mistake, 
 that the apostles and all men might know that Peter was 
 appointed the head of the apostolic college, the ruler of the sheep- 
 
 > Luke zxil. 81. 82. * Arat. 280, 274. 
 
THE BEAUTIES OF THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 137 
 
 fold of Christ. Twice he told him to " feed his lambs," the laity, 
 and the third time he gave him power to feed his sheep, the other 
 dioceses and churches, the motliers of his laity his lambs. Some 
 Latin versions of the Testament say that the first time, Christ 
 said, "Feed my lambs" and the two last times he said ''Feed my 
 sheep." ' 
 
 But the full beauties of Christ's words come out in the rich 
 Greek in which St. John wrote. The first and second times 
 that Christ asked Peter if he loved him, St. John uses the Greek 
 "agaj^as" which means to treat with regard and affection. In 
 such a sense Homer and the other Greek writers use it. " Xeno- 
 phon and later writers use the word to mean sexual love or affec- 
 tion. ° Xenophon used it in the sense of being satisfied or grati- 
 fied with any one. * 
 
 In the three replies of Peter to Christ, the Greek Testament says 
 Peter used the word "Phileo." The Greek authors employ this 
 word to signify the love of the gods for men, or to express the 
 higest kind of love. * As the ancients knew nothing of the virtue 
 of charity, which is the love of God above all, they had no word 
 to express so sublime a virtue, whence charity comes from earns, 
 dear. When they wished to express the highest kind of love the 
 Greeks used the verb "phileo." In the first two questions Christ 
 used the word "agapas," expressing friendship. In the last inter- 
 rogation he used the word ''phileo" expressing the highest and most 
 sublime love. Thus the early christians used to gather at a feast 
 and invite their friends to the banquet, and they called these 
 meetings, their love feasts, their ''agapas." Because of the abuses 
 at these feasts at which they celebrated the last supper or the 
 Mass, St. Paul reproves them. ® But when they wished to express 
 a higher and more sublime love, they used the word ''phileo." 
 From this comes philanthropy, the love of mankind, philosophy 
 the love of learning and numerous words expressing high and 
 pure love. 
 
 Each time Peter replied he used the word "phileo." Now we 
 begin to see the beauties of the Greek Gospel written in that 
 language by the beloved apostle. The two first times our blessed 
 Lord asked Peter, doest thou love me with the love of friendship. 
 Peter replied I do and more I love thee with charity, the highest 
 kind of love, higher than that of friendship. The last time Jesus 
 said to him, doest thou love me with the love of charity? Peter 
 saddened because his Master seems to doubt him replies, I love 
 thee with the love of charity. ' 
 
 But there are other beauties in the Greek which neither the 
 Latin nor the English translations show. When Our blessed 
 Lord said to Peter the first time, "Feed my lambs," St. John 
 
 1 Novum Testamentum Ariae Mont. Vulg. Vei-s. Douay Bible.&c. ^ Od. L. C. 2. 224. 
 
 ^ Luc. Jup. Trap. 2. ■• Xen. Mem. I. 5, 4. 
 
 « lb. 2. 197 Od. & 11. 146 & 15, 245 Soph. Ant. .54.3, &c, &c. « I.Cor. 11. 
 
 ' See the Greek Testament of St. John by J. Leusden, published by Llpplncott, Philadelphia, 
 the Greek for city of brotherly love. 
 
138 "FEED MY LAMBS FEED MY SHEEP." 
 
 uses a Greek word for lambs which has no nominative case. ' 
 The Greek word for " feed " means to nourish, uphold, support. ' 
 The next time Christ said 'Teed my lambs, " St John uses the 
 Greek word Poimaino, signifying to herd, cherish, guide, govern, 
 conduct. In Hebrew it is Rahah, that is to govern, or rule as a 
 prince, with external jurisdiction and authority. In Isaias, Cyrus. 
 King of Babj'lon, is called by the name rahah, the pastor of God. 
 " Who say to Cyrus : Thou art my shepherd. " ' In the same 
 word the Acts say the apostles are placed by the Holy Ghost to 
 rule the church of God. * Homer in the same way calls Aga- 
 memnon the ruler of men. The Greek Gospel gives each time 
 the plural case for sheepfold in the second and third orders to Pe- 
 ter, so that Peter received the power to feed, rule and govern the 
 sheepfolds, that is the churches of Christ. Besides this Christ 
 used three distinct words for lambs and sheep. 
 
 But that is not all. With prophetic eye our divine Master sees 
 that Peter will go to Eome, there establish his eternal See as head 
 and ruler of his everlasting sheepfold, that there he will stretch 
 out his hands like him upon the cross, his head down, thus will 
 he die at Rome, his body will be buried on the Vatican hill, that 
 Rome, his diocese, may receive all these spiritual powers over the 
 universal church just given him, and that his successors will be the 
 rulers of the people of God. The Son of God continuing says to 
 him. 
 
 *' Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst 
 gird thyself and did walk Avhere thou woiildst. But when thou 
 shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall 
 gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this he 
 said signifying by what death he should glorify God. And. when 
 he had said this he said to him: Follow me." ' 
 
 Such was the appointment three times given to Peter, by which 
 he became the supreme Shepherd of souls, the Vicar of Christ. 
 *' There is certainly but one Shepherd, and one sheepfold, the 
 church of Christ, of whom Christ is the supreme Pastor ruling in 
 heaven, and he left one supreme Vicar on earth, in whose voice 
 the sheep heard the words of Christ."' 
 
 From the time that our Lord changed his name from Simon to 
 Peter, the latter always appeared as the head of the apostolic 
 college. In the Syro-Chaldaic there is no distinction of mascu- 
 line and feminine words as in the Greek and Latin, and the words 
 of Christ were "thou art no more Simon but The Rock, and on 
 thou the Rock, I will build my church, " etc. From that time 
 whenever the apostles were named together, Peter was always 
 named first. He alone walked upon the waters with the Lord. 
 To him the Father revealed the divinity of the Son. ' To him 
 alone the Saviour said " On this Rock I will build mv church and 
 the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, " ' while he says noth- 
 
 > Boske ta arnia. * See Homer Od. 11. 865. * Isaias zllT. 2& * Acts xx. 28 
 
 * Jobn xxl. 18, 19. • Plus vl. Bref. Super Solid. ^ Matt. xvl. 16. « Matt. xvl. 18. 
 
PETERS FIRST WORKS. 139 
 
 ing about the other churches or dioceses represented by the apos- 
 tles. As St. Augustine says, " He is the Rock and the proud 
 gates of hell shall not conquer him." 
 
 To Peter alone our Redeemer said that whatever he should bind 
 upon earth it would be bound in heaven. When he said the same 
 to all the apostles, he meant that when the apostles and bishops of 
 the world met in council with Peter and his successors at their 
 head, that the laws they would make for the church universal, 
 would bind the consciences of men before God in heaven. The 
 blessed Lord went into Peter's boat and told him to put down his 
 net, when he caught a miraculous lot of fish. Christ prayed alone 
 for Peter at the last supper, that his faith might be fixed so he 
 might confirm the others. To Peter he first appeared after his 
 ascension, before he showed himself to any of the other apostles. 
 As St. Augustine says he first washed the feet of Peter. To him 
 alone he first revealed his death and resurrection. ' 
 
 Peter called the apostles together that they might elect a suc- 
 cessor to Judas. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter 
 first spoke in defence of the others. At his first sermon 3,000 
 <!onverts joined the church. He worked the first miracle by heal- 
 ing the lame man at the gate Beautiful. St. Chrysostom says that 
 after the resurrection, Peter passed from church to church visit- 
 ing all as their universal bishop. He exposed the hypocrisy and 
 lying of Ananias and Saphira who at his word fell dead. * To 
 him at Joppa God revealed that the Gentiles had been called 
 to the faith. ^ When he was thrown into prison, the whole 
 church prayed for him, as they recognized in him their supreme 
 Pastor, * which was not done when James or Stephen were arrested. 
 At the first council of Jerusalem j the voice of Peter decided 
 points of dispute. To him St. Paul came to give an account of 
 his labors. ° The traditions of the church carry out the teach- 
 ings of the Scriptures regarding the supreme apostolate of Peter. 
 
 Having raised Peter from the ranks of the. other apostles up to 
 the same supreme spiritual power with himself, after having 
 made him his Vicar or the principal minister of his eternal 
 jurisdiction with authority over the universal church, there is but 
 one ruling power in the church, that is the government of Christ 
 himself, who bore to earth all the power and might he received 
 from his Father with his divine nature. "All power is given me 
 in heaven and on earth. Going forth therefore teach ye all na- 
 tions. He that heareth you heareth me. As the Father hath 
 sent me so I also send you, he that heareth me heareth him that 
 sent me. " That was his commission to the whole church given 
 the persons of the apostles. They were the first bishops and rul- 
 ers of the different dioceses or spiritual states, of which these 
 apostles were to become the first governors and rulers. Later 
 in the church, the bishops had under them the priests and min- 
 
 > John xxi. 2 Acts v. ' Acts x. ■• Acts xii. « Gal. 1. 
 
140 A CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT. 
 
 isters attached to the parishes or counties, into which the dioceses 
 are now divided. 
 
 But a centralized and overshadowing power was required to 
 bind all these apostles or bishops, with their dioceses or spiritual 
 states into one kingdom and empire. For if there were no su- 
 preme ruling government, to which the other diocese would belong 
 and from which they would be born, there would not be one 
 church, but as many churches as dioceses. Christ saw the mis- 
 fortunes of divided churches. To unite them he takes Peter from 
 the ranks of the apostles, he raises him up to himself in the gov- 
 ernment of his church, he gives him his authority over the other 
 churches and pastors. But he does not leave Peter or his suc- 
 cessors to rule by arbitrary power. They must follow the con- 
 stitution of the church given in the Bible and in tradition, as the 
 president must follow the laws. Peter then and his successors ar- 
 under the law, which Christ gave to his church, as Christ him- 
 self follows the eternal principles relating to his Personality and 
 his nature received from his Father. 
 
 The agent has full power from the one who appoints him to do 
 business for him. The prime minister, the chief minister of the 
 congress or parliaments of kingly governments, the cabinet min- 
 isters at Washington have full power with their chief to bind the 
 subjects of the king, or the people of the whole nation. In the 
 same way Peter, and his heirs in his See of Rome, received from 
 Christ full power to bind Christ in their official acts. The official 
 acts of the Pope are the acts of Christ. What he binds or loosens, 
 Christ ratifies, binds and loosens in heaven. For in the nation, 
 in the kingdom, in the church, there are not many but one gov- 
 ernment. There is but one authority in the church, the author- 
 ity of Christ. But worldly governments are built on the moving 
 sands of politics. T'hey rise and fall, they come and go and change, 
 according to the changed condition of those nations, whom God 
 gives the power of electing their rulers. But the church of God 
 is as perpetual, while the human race lasts as the nature of the Deity 
 from whom it comes through Christ to Peter, and by him to his 
 successors in his everlasting See, built on the Rock of eternity, 
 Christ our Redeemer and our blessed Lord. " As Christ received 
 the fulness of power from his Father, all this he gave to Peter 
 and to liis successors " says St. Cyril. ' 
 
 The ruler both in religion and in politics governs, not for him- 
 self but for the good and for the prosperity of his subjects. Christ 
 died not for himself but for us. He founded the church for our 
 salvation. He consecrated bishops, he ordained priests, he sent 
 them forth for the salvation of souls. He appointed Peter liead 
 of the Church for the union and the welfare of the church. Su- 
 periors in the church rule in and by the name of Christ, ever seek- 
 ing the salvation of immortal souls purchased by his blood. Kings 
 
 > Bib. Tbesur. quoted by St. Thomas, Opus. I. C xxxll. Suarez L. 111. de prim. Rom. PonUff 
 0.175. 
 
142 THE HUMAX AND DIVINE ELEMENTS. 
 
 and presidents rule by the authority of God, for there is no au- 
 thority but from God, coming from him as the Creator to the peo- 
 ple, who elect their civil rulers, or coming from him as the Kedeem- 
 er into the church. But civil power rests in the people to 
 whom God gave the power of ruling and they delegate it to the 
 civil authorities, but church authority comes down direct from 
 God the Son to the clergy, and it does not pass through the peo- 
 ple. The church is the supernatual act of God working the won- 
 ders of the Holy Trinity in men. Therefore while politics are sub- 
 ject to the changes of opinions, while thrones tremble and fall, 
 while people throw off forms of government and establish others, 
 the church is eternal as God who created it, as the last and most 
 wonderful of his creations. From this it follows that the See of 
 Peter has stood the test of time. No royal house, no government 
 on earth can be compared to the Papacy, which stood by and saw 
 the birth of all the governments and nations, which goes back to 
 days of the apostles, and the Popes will be here at the death and 
 burial of every government of the earth, for it is the Rock of ages, 
 the Eternal See. 
 
 Christ came as God and man, his two natures being united in 
 the one Personality of the divine Son, the Word of God. He 
 founded his church having the very same double nature, compos- 
 ed of both human and divine elements. Christ came as the Truth 
 of the Father. All truth he received of the Father he gave to the 
 church. The truths God revealed to the human race are in the 
 Bible and in the traditions of Christianity and they form the ever- 
 lasting unchangeable constitution of the church. The Holy Spirit 
 ever proceeding from Christ and from the Father, ever speaks by 
 the mouth of Peter in the See of Rome. — There are the divine ele- 
 ments of the church. The human elements are the members of 
 the human race, the baptized laity, the ordained priesthood, the 
 consecrated bishops, the sublime Papac}'. But while the divine 
 elements of the church, the Holy Spirit and the eternal truths re- 
 vealed to man, remain the same, for they are either God or his 
 eternal truth, the human elements being formed of men, they bear 
 the imperfections of the creature. Men are sinful, liable to fall 
 away from the light which comes down from God through Jesus 
 Christ. We must not then be surprised to find that sometimes 
 the clergy fall from the church or give scandal, for "it must be 
 that scandal cometh " ' owing to the weakness of men. Only in 
 their official function do the clergy bind Christ. Every official 
 act of any clergyman binds Christ, for whom they act as his agents, 
 his ministers. In their private life their acts belong, not to Christ, 
 but to themselves, and if they sin they sin as private men. But 
 the Pope being so closely united to Christ, his faith fails not 
 because our Redeemer prayed for Peter, that his faith fail not. 
 Hence nothing so disturbs the church as an attack on the Papacy. 
 
 ■ Matt, zrlli. 7. 
 
CHRIST HAS TWO BODIES. 143 
 
 *'If the See of Peter is shaken the whole episcopacy is disturbed '* 
 say the ancient bishops of France." ' 
 
 Such then is that supreme authority, that wonderful power of 
 ruling and administrating the whole constitution, which our bles- 
 sed Kedeemer gave to Peter, and through him to the Popes and to 
 the church. From the da^'s of the apostles, the whole church 
 obeyed him as the supreme ruler of the people of God. 
 
 By holy orders Christ ordained ministers, priests and bishops. 
 By that he gave tliem power over his real body. He made them 
 the ministers of the sacraments, for the healing of the nations, 
 for the salvation of souls, for the remission of sins, for the exer- 
 cise of his eternal Priesthood. There is the substance of a holy 
 power, which acts in the souls of men, spreading and scattering ta 
 the ends of the earth, the salvation bought by Christ upon the 
 cross. But each substance, each thing acts according to the laws 
 of its being. So the powers of holy orders, which Christ left in the 
 world, must act in saving men according to the church laws. The 
 right of administering the powers received by holy orders belongs 
 to jurisdiction. Then jurisdiction gives the right to exercise the 
 powers of holy orders over the people of God, who compose the 
 body of Christ his holy church. 
 
 For Christ has not only his natural body, born of his mother 
 Mai'y, but he has another body, born of him in death, his mystic 
 body, his church, formed of living stones and timbers, his christian 
 people, born of him by the waters of baptism and of the Holy 
 Ghost. The power of ruling souls is called jurisdiction. Thus 
 each government has supreme jurisdiction, that is the power of 
 making laws, of interpreting its laws and of enforcing its laws- 
 They are the legislative, the judicial and the executive powers or 
 branches of the government. Congress makes laws, the supreme 
 court interprets law, and the president puts them in force. Christ 
 gave these three elements of jurisdiction to Peter, from whom 
 they descended to his successors in the See of Kome. The Pope 
 then is the source of jurisdiction for the whole church, as the 
 bishop is the source of holy orders for the diocese. In him cen- 
 ters the legislative, the judicial, and the executive departments of 
 the government of the church. 
 
 The foundation of all spiritual authority in the church is the 
 commission given her by Christ, given direct by God by the laying 
 on of the hands of tlie bishop. Any bishop can ordain or conse- 
 crate a bishop, for one of the perfections of living beings is to 
 bring forth another like himself. For Christ is the'head of every 
 diocese, as well as he is the head of the church universal. Each 
 diocese then is incomplete church a spiritual state living within the 
 bosom of the universal church her mother. But while the source 
 of universal jurisdiction is the universal church, as the bishop is 
 the source of holy orders, the Bishop of Eome, the visible head of 
 the universal church, becomes the Vicar of Christ. Christ is the 
 
 > Sr. Arvit. Epis. Lab. T. IV. col. 1363. 
 
144 PETER THE HEAD OF JURISDICTION. 
 
 head and fountain of both holy orders and of jurisdiction, the 
 exercise of holy orders. Therefore no bishop or pastor can exer- 
 cise his orders without the consent of the Pope, whom Christ ap- 
 pointed in the person of Peter to feed his lambs and sheep belong- 
 ing to his whole flock. 
 
 The agent, the Vicar, the prime minister, being one and the 
 same moral person with the one who appoints him, it follows that 
 the Pope is one and the same power with Christ. He rules the 
 bishops of the whole church, as the bishop governs the pastors and 
 priests of the diocese. Christ is the head of the diocese, and the 
 bishop is but the image of him, the bishop of our souls. But to 
 keep the church one, with one the same jurisdiction over all 
 the churches of the world, he chose Peter as the rock, the founda- 
 tion-stone on which to build that structure of eternity, that the 
 gates of error might not prevail against her, that he might rule 
 and govern her by the laws and the constitution, which at her founda- 
 tion he laid down. In raising a bishop, the head of holy orders, 
 up to be one in spiritual and supreme power with himself, Christ 
 crowned the episcopal order with the authority of jurisdiction over 
 the church, giving her the same power and authority he had received 
 from his Father. The Pope then is the Vicar of Christ his chief 
 minister. In him the church receives her crown. This is why 
 we give such honors to the Pope, for he is the Vicar of the Re- 
 deemer, and to Christ all honors belong and go back to our Eedeemer 
 when offered to his Vicar. 
 
 The constitution of the church is the work of Christ. For he 
 came not only to die for men, but also to organize his church, that 
 she might shower the benefits of his redemption to every son and 
 daughter of Adam, so that his saving graces and the benefits of his 
 death might save all coming generations to the end of time. The 
 church then takes the place of Christ, who at the resurrection finished 
 his work. *'Ihave finished the work which thou hast given 
 me to do.*' * That work he ended was the redemption of the 
 race, and the founding of the church. He was first the teacher 
 of the human race, and the church is the teacher of mankind. 
 
 As the Pope is one with Christ, so he is first the teacher of the 
 world in the place of our Lord, for Christ teaches by and through 
 him, his Vicar. Christ cannot teach error, for God can neither 
 deceive nor be deceived. If the Pope would teach error in his 
 office, as Vicar of Christ, Christ himself who would teach falsity 
 through his Vicar, and God would deceive the human race in the 
 most important things of life, the salvation of immortal souls. 
 Then the Lord by his Holy Spirit in the church speaks to the world 
 by the mouth of the chief minister of the church the Pope. That 
 is the infallibility of the Pope. 
 
 The Pope being the Vicar of Christ and his chief minister, it 
 follows that he has all the power of Christ over all the children of 
 God born to Christ by the waters of baptism. ** All power is given 
 
 * Jobn ZTil. 4. 
 
PETEE IS ONE WITH CHRIST. 145 
 
 me both in heaven and on earth.'' ' '^ As the Father hath sent me so I 
 also send you. Going forth therefore teach ye all nations/' "com- 
 manding 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." " 
 
 The Pope then, the Vicar of Christ has the very same power as 
 Christ. For the agent has the same power as the one who appoints 
 him. Christ having redemeed all men, it follows that he has direct 
 and complete authority over all christians. For this reason the 
 Vatican Council defined: "If any one says that the Roman Pon- 
 tiff has only an office of inspection, or direction, but not a full and 
 supreme jurisdiction over the church universal, not only in things 
 which belong to faith and morals, but also in things relating to 
 discipline, and which belong to the church scattered over all the 
 earth, or that he has only the larger part, but not the fulness 
 of this supreme power, or that this his power is not ordinary or 
 direct in each and every church, and over each and all the pastors 
 and faithful, let him be an anathema."' 
 
 It is evident that the Papacy was to last till the end of time. For 
 without the supremacy of the bishop of Rome over all the other 
 bishops and churches of the earth, the whole church would in a 
 few years divide and split up into many sects and churches. This 
 we see among those religious sects, who at different times fell 
 away from the church universal. For the Papacy, being one with 
 Christ, speaking, teaching and ruling in his name, it follows that 
 by and through the Bishop of Rome, the whole church derives its 
 whole unity power life and strength. Then all jurisdiction over 
 the fountains of grace and salvation comes down from him "the 
 Father of lights," into his Son Jesus Christ, and into his Vicar 
 into all the members of his mystic body the church, scattered over 
 all the earth. As without the head^ the body dies, so the church 
 visible cannot be separated from her visible head the Bishop of the 
 Roman diocese. 
 
 Christ first founded the church universal in the persons of 
 Peter, the apostles, the priests and the ministers he ordained. 
 To the apostles as the first bishops he gave the constitution of the 
 church, the fundamental principles of faith, the primary truths 
 of the christian religion. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
 these fundamental doctrines have developed into the vast organi- 
 zation of the church, which astonishes all men who study her 
 constitution. Christ consecrated the apostles universal bishops of 
 the universal church, appointing them to no particular cities. 
 To St. James, first bishop of Jerusalem, the apostles fix the title 
 of his see, when they gave him the care of the church at Jerusa- 
 lem." Then the apostles were at first missionary bishops. Peter 
 chose Rome as his See, the seat of his labors. When the other 
 apostles died, their universal apostolate died with them, as St. 
 
 » Matt, xxviii. 18. 2 jjatt. xxviil. 19,20. » Vatican Council, Sess. Iv. Caput. 111. 
 
 * Butler's lives of the Saints, St James. 
 
146 THK POPE THE HEIR OF PETER. 
 
 James excepted, they had no titular episcopal sees. But the su- 
 preme apostolate of Peter remained in the Roman diocese. It 
 devolved on his successor, and lives in him to this day. That it 
 why it is called the Apostolic See. Then Peter and' James ex- 
 cepted, the apostles had no fixed sees or episcopal cities and titles. 
 When a bishop without a title dies at the present time, his authority 
 falls back into the universal church to which he belonged, while 
 when a bishop dies, who has the title to an episcopal see, his suc- 
 cessor in that see becomes his heir to all the spiritual authority he 
 
 As the family honors and the wealth of the husband at death 
 belong to his wife and family, so the spiritual riches of the bishop 
 remain in his church his diocese, of he has the title, or when he 
 has no diocese, they go back from whence they came to the church 
 universal, to which Avhile living he belonged. The successor then 
 of the bishop consecrated to a see, acquires all the honors, digni- 
 ties, jurisdiction and power attached to the see over which he pre- 
 sides, unless the Holy See otherwise disposes, for they are local, 
 attached to the see, and not personal, belonging only to and dy- 
 ing with the bishop. Thus the bishop consecrated to an archi- 
 episcopal see, by that becomes an archbishop, with authority over 
 the bishops and churches in the province, over which the jurisdic- 
 tion of the archidiocese extends. From this it follows that the 
 clergyman elected to the See of Rome, at that moment receives 
 direct from God universal authority and jurisdiction over all the 
 churches of the earth. For he is the heir and the successor of 
 Peter, whom Christ made his Vicar to " feed his lambs." to '* feed 
 his sheep." By his union with the Roman diocese Peter made 
 her one with himself. There he labored and there he died, that 
 there might be no dispute about his heir and successor. These 
 principles were so well known by the apostolic men, that there was 
 no disputes in the early church about the successor of Peter the 
 Fisherman. They all looked to the Roman Bishops as the suc- 
 cessors of Peter. 
 
 Here we see the deep designs of God, who reigns in history. 
 The guiding Providence of the Almighty is with the great move- 
 ments of the human race, but his designs do not at first appear to 
 the eyes of men. He chose Abraham to be the father of those 
 who believed, that the first revelation given to Adam might not 
 be lost to the world, but that it might be preserved by the Jews. 
 He selected Moses, that the Israelites might not be lost among the 
 pagan nations. The functions of the priesthood he gave to the 
 tribe of Levi, and the government of his people to the family of 
 David for 300 years, while the members of the family of Aaron 
 were the high priests of the Old Law. Jesus Christ was born of 
 these. The blood of Abraham, of Moses, of I^evi, of Aaron and of 
 David flowed in his veins, for he was to be the Prophet Priest and 
 King over all the members of his church, the Kingdom of God. 
 In the same manner the light of ancient civilization first rose over 
 
ROME MISTEESS OF PAGANISM. 147 
 
 Egypt, because of the children of Israel, who dwelled within its 
 confines. The empire of Babylon lived to preserve the records of 
 the captive Jews. The empire of Alexander spread over 
 Greece, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia, to scatter the 
 Greek language and spread the Bible into pagan nations, for the 
 preaching of the apostles who preached and wrote in Greek. 
 
 Following the same providential designs, with a mighty hand 
 the Lord God had beforehand prepared the foundations of the 
 •city, which was to be the seat of the Papacy. When the finger 
 of God shaped the shores of the continents, he dug the deep 
 channel of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa, 
 so as to give free access to the very heart of the old continent, 
 while by an upheaval of a geological era, the Italian continent rose 
 from the bosom of the deep giving free access on every side. 
 
 '•Between the Tyrehenean Sea and the dark summits of the Ap- 
 pennine mountains, a handful of brigands had built their cabins 
 around the hills. In digging the first foundations for their ram- 
 parts, they found a bloody head, and the oracle declared that the 
 city would become the head of the world.'" Such was the begin- 
 ning of the foundations of Eome, a city which, with the glories of 
 her sons, fills history, and attains the highest eminence in the 
 christian civilization. Eome the city of the seven hills grew 
 and conquered all her enemies. She sent her valiant soldiers to 
 every clime, and victory after victory crowned their wonderful 
 discipline. At first a republic, it was later changed into an em- 
 pire. At the time of Christ, tlie Roman empire had spread from 
 the frozen regions of the north, to the burning sands of Africa, 
 and from the Straits of Gibralter to the rivers of India. The 
 Eoman soldiers had overrun the world and brought nearly every 
 nation of the earth, bowed and suppliant to the feet of the Cassars. 
 The worship of every false god, the peculiar religious ceremonial 
 of every pagan nation came with conquered kings and peoples, 
 chained to the chariot of the victorious Eoman generals, till 
 Eome became the seat of the worship of every superstitious race. 
 The wealth of empires, the learning of Greece, the civilization of 
 Egypt, the traditions of India, the pagan might and power of the 
 «arth came to Eome with her victorious armies. -At the preach- 
 ing of the apostles, Eome was the heart of the universe, pulsating 
 with the very life of the ancient world. 
 
 But the Providence of God had prepared her for a still higher 
 and a nobler destiny, and the city of the seven hills, the mistress 
 of the world, was to receive a power, of which her former great- 
 ness was but the shadow. Christ took Peter, a poor ignorant and 
 uncultured fisherman of Galilee, made him his Vicar on earth, 
 gave him his power, the Keys of his mighty spiritual kingdom, 
 and sent him forth as the Father in heaven had sent him. Fear 
 not Peter the Lord is with thee. Thou and thy heirs shall save 
 Eome from the fate of Babylon and of the mighty empires, which 
 
 1 Lacordalre, Conferences on the Church, 4. con. 8. 
 
148 AV AS PETER BISHOP OF ANTIOCH? 
 
 have fallen. By you Rome will become the eternal city. Why did 
 not Peter set up his imperial Chair at Jerusalem, the capital of 
 Judea? From the words of Christ, from the prophecies of the 
 Old Testament, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Peter knew 
 that the Jews were rejected for crucifying their God, and that 
 like Cain they were to wander over the earth till the end of time 
 with the blood of their brother Christ upon them. Knowing the 
 calling of the gentiles, Peter turned towards Rome, that in the 
 city of idolatry he might destroy the pagan religions there 
 enthroned. Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he came 
 to the imperial city and there he fixed his See. Because of the 
 Jewish religion, and because of the life and death of Christ, Jer- 
 usalem is called the " Mother of Churches." It was the first 
 diocese erected in the world. Like a wise and careful general grad- 
 ually advancing on the breastworks of the enemy, St. Peter ad- 
 vanced carefully on Rome the Mistress of the world. He stopped for 
 seven years at Antioch, to survey from afar the seat of his empire, 
 the See of Rome, the mother diocese of the christian world. Yearly 
 the Church celebrates the Feast of " The Chair of Peter at Antioch." 
 
 But was Peter ever the real titular bishop of Antioch, as he 
 was of Rome. We think not. An old tradition of the Greeks of 
 Asia Minor says, that the Lord appeared to Peter in the night and 
 said: "Arise Peter and take possession of the West. It wants 
 thee. Show them the light of thy face, and I will be with thee."' 
 St. Gregory says he never sat as bishop of Antioch, but that he 
 stopped at the latter city only for a time, on his famous journey to 
 Rome. * Pope Innocent holds that he only lived there tempor- 
 arily, that it was only his residence, that he never assumed the 
 episcopal title of that city, no more than he took the title of Jeru- 
 salem, where he also lived for some years during his first apos- 
 tolate, and that his title was only completed at Rome.' 
 
 For some years before their final separation, the apostles made 
 Jerusalem their home. According to St. Leo, when they began 
 their labors, they divided the whole known world, giving each one 
 his part. Some authors say our Lord gave the church at Jerusa- 
 lem into the care of St. James. His was the first episcopal title 
 and the model of all the others. Then the episcopal titles were 
 established by the Redeemer himself. 
 
 Peter lived for seven years at Antioch, overseeing all the other 
 churches of Asia. There he established the first Archiepiscopal 
 See. Before he left for Rome he consecrated his beloved disciple 
 Evodius bishop of Antioch giving him charge of the churches of 
 Asia. But Peter, so say the best writers, was never the titular 
 bishop of Antioch. He was still a missionary bishop, waiting till 
 Providence prepared the way for him to take possession of his own 
 See of Rome. We must understand that the Pope can be at the 
 same time the Bishop of Rome, and rule other dioceses, for he is 
 
 ■ Apud Boland T. xxvii. p. 877. * L. vii. Epi«t. xl. ad EulOR. 
 
 ^ I. Epist xxiv. ad Alex. Antiocb. 
 
STS. PETER AND PAUL. 149 
 
 the Vicar of Christ, with universal jurisdiction. Thus Pope Leo 
 IX. was Bishop of Rome, and at the same time ruled the diocese of 
 Toul, and for seventy years the Popes lived at Avignon as bishops 
 of the latter place yet being at the same time Bishops of Eome. 
 
 To better understand the nature of the Papacy, we must remem- 
 ber that Christ has supreme and direct authority over all the mem- 
 bers of the church. The Pope being his Vicar, he has the same 
 authority as Christ himself. Therefore the Pope is the supreme 
 Bishop over the whole world as the Vatican Council declares. * 
 Peter exercised direct episcopal functions at Jerusalem, at Antioch 
 at Joppa and at other places, as seen in the Acts. He presided 
 at the council of Jerusalem. He chose an apostle in the place of 
 Judas. He ordained the deacons. He condemned Ananias and 
 Saphira. He did all that without trampling on the rights of 
 James, the bishop of Jerusalem. '' After the ascension of our 
 Lord, he held the priestly chair for four years, then he came to 
 Antioch after having overcome Simon Magus at Samaria, then at 
 Antioch he erected his pontifical Chair, which he held for seven 
 years, at the end of which time he came to Rome, and worthily he 
 presided over the Roman church for twenty-five years, seven 
 months and eight days." "* 
 
 It was customary in these times to write on the dyptics, or 
 official Records, the names of those who founded the church, besides 
 the names of the different pastors or bishops of the see. In that 
 way St. Peter was called bishop on the dyptics of the church he 
 founded at Antioch, although St. Evodius was its first titular bishop. 
 In our day we say that both Sts. Peter and Paul were the 
 founders of the church of Rome, although only Peter was the first 
 bishop of Rome, while St. Paul was only a missionary bishop of the 
 Jews and Gentiles, and he never had an episcopal title. Yet by 
 his preaching, he founded many churches. No diocese or church 
 can have more than one bishop or pastor, for no body can have 
 more than one head. Although Sts. Peter and Paul are said to 
 have founded the Church at Rome, yet only Peter was the Bishop 
 of that great city. Like the other apostles, at their consecration 
 by Christ, the whole world was the diocese of St. Paul the apostle 
 of the Gentiles. 
 
 Although St. James the less, became the first bishop of Jerusa- 
 lem, yet for fourteen years the other apostles made the holy city 
 their home, when resting from their labors on the missions among 
 the Gentiles. Thus St. John lived at Ephesus, but he was not the 
 bishop of that city. St. Paul consecrated Timothy bishop of Ephe- 
 sus, and Titus bishop of Crete. When St. Paul was arrested at 
 Jerusalem, because he was a Roman citizen he appealed to 
 Caesar ''Whose faith is spoken of in the whole world"' because 
 of St. Peter the Roman church was the mistress of all churches. 
 St. Paul expressly says, that he was not sent to administer the 
 
 1 Const. Pastor ^ternus. ' Acta S. Gudillse Bolland. ad diem 22 Feb. * I. Rom. vlU. 
 
150 ST. MARK AND EXODIUS, FIRST ARCHBISHOPS. 
 
 sacraments to the people of any particular diocese, but to be a 
 missionary bishop, "For Christ sent me not to baptize but to 
 preach the Gospel," ' because one bishop cannot be the bishop of 
 a diocese belonging to another. Therefore St. Paul says " I have 
 so preached this Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should 
 build on another man's foundation, .... but now having no more 
 place in these countries."" 
 
 The foundations of the Roman diocese had already been laid by 
 St. Peter, and St. Paul could not sit on the episcopal throne of 
 another bishop, *'on another man's foundation."' But the 
 apostle of the Gentiles came to Rome to sanctify it with his pres- 
 ence, to consecrate the Roman church with his martyrdom and 
 with his tomb. He was the greatest missionary bishop of the 
 churches, he brought the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of his 
 vast labors to Rome, and there with the Pnmacy of Peter, there they 
 rest with his hallowed bones under the great St. Peter's church. 
 Eusepius, the most ancient church historian says that Christ him- 
 self told Sts. Peter and Paul to remain twelve years in Judea, to 
 give the Jews a chance of embracing Christianity and after that he 
 told them to preach to the whole world.* 
 
 Peter then with the other apostles established the diocese of 
 Jerusalem, with James at its head. He did that for the conver- 
 sion of the Jews to whom the Kingdom of God was first to be 
 preached. Then he left for Antioch the chief city of Asia, where 
 he founded the first seat of an archbishop. He also sent St. Mark 
 his beloved disciple to Alexandria the chief or metropolitan see of 
 Africa. When that was done he started for Rome. ''The Mis- 
 tress of the Gentiles," that in her thecentre of the pagan world, he 
 might establish the centre and seat of his spiritual empire, "Thus 
 St. Peter brought to Rome, the prerogative of his faith and the au- 
 thority of his discipline."* To Rome therefore Peter brought all 
 the machinery of the central government of the church universal. 
 He made the Roman church his spiritual spouse. There under 
 that monster of cruelty Nero, he died. The central government re- 
 mains to this day with his successor the Father of bishops. "The 
 bishop therefore is called in worthy subordination to him, the 
 Prelate, who is the heir of the place and of the teachings of Peter, 
 and is worthily the origin and foundations of unity, ... .no one is 
 allowed to raise a teaching chair against him."' 
 
 The new Pontiff receives direct from Christ his authority as 
 Pope. But we must see in the next chapter the workings of the 
 authority given by Christ to Peter and his successors. 
 
 « I. Cor. I. 17. « Rom. xw. 20, 2S. » Rom. xv. 30. 
 
 * Eusep Htst. V. 18. * Bossuet Lit It. a une Dam. de Metz. 
 
 * III. CouDcIl of Baltimore Cap. I. do. II. 
 
tHE fundamental constitu- 
 tion of a nation is not so 
 much the written instru- 
 ment, as their customs, 
 their manners, their education, 
 and their forms of social every- 
 day life. If their constitution 
 and their government be the ex- 
 pression of the genius and man- 
 ners of the whole people, they 
 will be happy, prosperous and 
 contented, for it fits them, 
 whereas if the government comes 
 not from them, as the expression 
 of their deep-seated customs and 
 manners, but forced on them by 
 conquest, they will be rebellious, 
 restless and unhappy. 
 
 Like the constitutions of most 
 of the European nations, the 
 divine constitution of the church is not a written instrument like 
 that of the United States. For our dear Lord wrote it not. He 
 taught it to his followers from whom it comes down to us for he 
 wished to show all men that the church he founded to take his 
 place was to be a living teacher of the human race, and not a 
 dead book, like the Bible, for all men to take any meaning 
 they liked from its sacred pages. The apostles went forth as 
 the teachers and spiritual rulers of the nations they converted. 
 They impressed the constitution of the universal church on every 
 church they founded, and each convert they taught the fundamental 
 doctrines they had heard from their divine Master. Hence we find 
 that every one of the churches founded by the apostles, had the 
 very same fundamental doctrines although they differed in litur- 
 gies and modes of discipline. 
 
 Jesus Christ founded his church therefore as a most perfect 
 
 151 
 
"*^^ 
 
 
 A PUBLIC RECEPTION AT THE VATICAN IN THE PAULINE (HA PEL. 
 
LEGISLATIVE, JUDICIAL AND EXECUTIVE POWERS. 153 
 
 spiritual government over the souls of men. Living in the world 
 till the end of time, saving all the generations of mankind, a per- 
 fect government with the three functions of making, of interpret- 
 ing and of executing its own laws and statutes, the church must 
 have a visible head to enforce and execute her spiritual laws. In 
 our own beloved country, congress makes laws, the supreme court 
 interprets tliem, and the j^resident puts them in force for the 
 whole nation, while different states into which this nation is divi- 
 ded has also these three functions in their legislatures, their 
 courts, and their governors. 
 
 But Christ, the wisest statesman who ever walked this earth 
 knew, that the bishops of the whole world, scattered throughout 
 all nations and countries governing their dioceses, he knew they 
 could not gather each year in congress or council to make laws 
 for the whole church, because they would be taken up with the 
 internal administration of their own dioceses. Yet he did not 
 appoint a few learned bishops to form a supreme court to pass 
 judgment on disputed points, for the church has one not many 
 heads and that one head is the Pope his Vicar. He did not 
 found the constitution of the church so the Pope would be elected 
 by the people, for that would have been impracticable. We know 
 how popular elections excite the people, dividing them into hostile 
 parties, and in our day few nations are so trained and educated as 
 to carry out an election without great disturbances. 
 
 The foundations of the church were laid deep on principles of 
 wonderful wisdom by the Divine Wisdom himself, who established 
 another way to frame her laws, to interpret her constitution and 
 to execute her discipline. As a wise statesman, our blessed Lord 
 united these triple functions of government in one man, Peter 
 and his successors in the See of Kome. For the church to remain 
 one and undivided, it was necessary to unite all functions of the spir- 
 itual government of the church in one ruler, the Vicar of Christ, 
 whose decisions are the same as those of Christ, for he and 
 Christ make one and the same government of the whole church. 
 
 A congress or a parliament meets each year to change the laws 
 which do not suit, or to make others to take their place, for rul- 
 ers, politicians and statesman are only trying to find a way of 
 governing mankind who lost their first ruler Adam, and the 
 mind and will of man still remain weakened by his sin. Civil govern- 
 ments then change, for they are only trying to take the place of Ad- 
 am and rule his children fallen from the supernatural state. But a 
 congress of the bishops of the whole church meets but seldom. It is 
 called an ecumenical council.' It is a congress of the whole 
 church, which meets, not for the changing of the constitution of 
 the church, which made by Christ no power on earth can change, 
 but to receive from the successor of St. Peter the rules he makes, 
 and the laws he enacts for the better government of the universal 
 church. Then while the council under its head may legislate for 
 
 1 The Greek for the whole earth. 
 
154 WHY ALL THE APOSTLES DID NOT WKIIE. 
 
 tlie cliurch, yet they cannot cliange the fundamental principles of 
 her divine constitution, which God revealed. Even the congress 
 of this country cannot change the constitution, for that was made 
 by the wliole people, and they the sovereign nation alone can 
 change it. 
 
 When the supreme court of this country defines an article of 
 the constitution, or interprets one of its principles, all take it as an 
 oracle of human wisdom. When the highest court of the queen's 
 bench of judges defines an article of the British constitution, al- 
 though their constitution is not a written instrument, but written 
 in the customs and manners of the English people, all take it as 
 a truth. So we must look for the constitution of the church in 
 the teachings of God, in the Holy Bible, in the writings of the 
 early fathers, in the great councils of the church. By them the Holy 
 Ghost spoke, as before he spoke to the Jews by the prophets. 
 Let us see what the Fathers and the councils say about Peter and 
 his successors the Roman Pontiffs. 
 
 The apostles being the universal bishops of the universal church, 
 travelling into various nations, founding churches, arguing with 
 the pagans, combatting errors, instructing the people, they found 
 no time to write. Their apostolic labors for the spread of the 
 faith left took up all their time. They left that duty of writing 
 to their followers. Sts. Matthew and John only wrote Gospels, 
 and they did it for peculiar reasons, while Sts. Mark and Luke 
 disciples of Sts. Peter and Paul, wrote the other two Gospels. 
 But the converts of the apostles, especially those educated in the 
 famous schools of Judea, of Egypt, of Gre.ece, of Rome etc., were 
 educated men, and they wrote the teachings of Christ, which they 
 received from the hallowed lips of the apostles. These holy men 
 gathered up the traditions and the teachings of the apostles. 
 They wrote the doctrines of the church. To them we must look 
 for the belief of the early church regarding its fundamental con- 
 stitution. Their writings have ever been received as the teach- 
 ings of the Christ. In every age they received the honor due 
 to the word of God. No christian church refused to bow before 
 them, as the exponents of the early church. In their writings we 
 will find the constitution of the church. They are called the 
 fathers of the church. Let us see what these apostolic men say 
 about the apostolic Chair of Peter. 
 
 Before leaving the earth Christ promised to send upon the apos- 
 tles the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, who would to teach them 
 all things and to abide with them forever. ' The Holy Spirit 
 speaks through and by the councils of the bishops. The entire 
 episcopacy and great churchmen of the world meet in these coun- 
 cils, and they aie free to vote as they wish. If at any time they 
 believe that the bishop of Rome were not the teacher of the 
 world, or that the whole body of the bishops is infallible, they 
 would have declared it in one of the councils. But that they 
 
 > John x\1. 18. 
 
PETER LEAVING ANTIOCH. 155 
 
 never did. They ever proclaimed that the Roman Pontiff alone 
 was the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit. Not only that, but by 
 their oath of office, they were obliged in conscience and under 
 pain of a great sin to resist any encroachments of any bishop or of 
 the bishop of Rome over them. This encroachment of the Pope 
 is not found in the records of the councils or in the writings of any 
 age. 
 
 Men cling to power. No body of men are so jealous of their 
 power as a branch of government. No bishop ever obtained 
 power over another bishop, which did not come from his office, for 
 the bishop is always bound to guard his rights of office. The 
 Bishop of Rome could never have got power over other bishops un- 
 less it were given by Christ. In the early ages no council was ever 
 held as valid unless called by the Bishop of Rome. The Acts of 
 these councils were never binding till confirmed by the Holy See. 
 
 Leaving Antioch in the year 42 where during his seven years 
 residence he had established a flourishing church, where the fol- 
 lowers of Christ were first called Christians, St. Peter started on 
 his journey to take possession of the eternal See of Rome. During 
 the years he lived at Antioch, his most devoted disciples were Sts. 
 Evodius and Ignatius, one a Jew the other a gentile, and to Evo- 
 dius he gave charge of Jewish converts, while he placed Ignatius 
 over the gentiles.' Some authors say that Evodius succeeded him, 
 and that the great martyr Ignatius sat the second after Peter on 
 the patriarchal see of Antioch. But history is dim relating to the 
 details of Peter's administration of the church at Antioch, as his 
 long administration of the church at Rome overshadows his short- 
 er reign at the Asiatic city of culture. Of the exact time when 
 he appointed his beloved disciple and Evangelist St. Mark, as su- 
 pervising bishop of the churches of Egypt, with his see at Alexan- 
 dria, history is silent. We only know that St. Mark came there, that 
 he converted many of the Egyptians, that he bore with him the 
 authority of Peter, and that there he died a glorious death for the 
 faith.' 
 
 At the time of which we write, St. John the Evangelist 
 lived at Ephesus, with jurisdiction over the churches of Asia 
 Minor. To Ephesus St. Paul had sent his disciple Timothy, the 
 first titular bishop of that famous city. St. John never became the 
 titular bishop of any particular city, because Christ had established 
 the apostles as universal bishops of his universal church, not 
 giving them titles of any particular city or diocese, if we except 
 St. James, whom some writers say our beloved Lord told the day 
 of the ascension to look after the christians of Jerusalem.* Then 
 only Sts. Peter and James became titular bishops of particular 
 churches, for being teachers of the infant church already in their 
 lives spread to all the ends of the earth, the other apostles had to 
 travel from place to place, superintending and overseeing the 
 
 • Eusebius Hist. L. 3 C. 22, 36 Am. Cyclopedia St. Ignatius Baronlu? Butler's lives of the 
 Saints Feb. Isl Note&c. 
 ^ Butler's Lives of the Saints. &c. ' Butler's Lives of the Saints. St. James. 
 
156 THE BOOK HERMAS WROTE. 
 
 other bishops, everywhere preaching, regulating discipline, found- 
 ing liturgies and modes of worship, correcting abuses and seeing 
 that the sacraments were administered to the people. 
 
 No fact of history stands out so powerfully or can be so brilliant- 
 ly proved as the supremacy of the See of Peter in the early 
 church. Every church looked to Eome for light and government, 
 knowing that to her first bishop, Peter, the Lord said : ''Feed my 
 lambs Feed my sheep ." Numberless facts of history, countless 
 passages of the early writers show us that supreme and universal 
 Pastorate or Primacy of Peter extending over the whole church, 
 and no church, diocese or congregation was free or independent of 
 the See of Rome. No fact of history stands, nor can we prove so well, 
 as that Peter came to Rome, that there fixed his See, and that 
 there he died. If we deny that Peter ever came to Rome, we must 
 reject all history, all facts which come to us by the testimony of 
 the generations who have gone before us, we must believe only 
 what we see ourselves, and the human race has no knowledge of 
 the past. Let us see what history tells us of the Primacy of the 
 See of Rome in the early church. 
 
 When Hernias a disciple of St. Paul wrote a book which he called 
 "The Pastor," he tells us himself that he was obliged to send it for 
 examination to Clement Bishop of Rome, as the writer must send 
 this book to Very Rev. Father Gabriels, whom the bishop of 
 Syracuse had appointed to examine it, to see that there be nothing 
 in it contrary to the teachings of the church. St. Clement Bishop 
 of Rome had succeeded St. Cletus, who had succeeded St. Linus, 
 who had followed St. Peter as Bishop of the eternal city. Hernias 
 had written that book in the year 90 or 91, when St. John still lived 
 the last of the apostles taught by our blessed Lord himself, whose 
 learning had given him the title of the Theologian, whose sublime 
 Gospel was then read in nearly every church. St John was then 
 living at Ephesus the last of the apostolic college. Why was not 
 Hermas obliged to send his book to St. John, who had heard the 
 doctrines of God from the lips of our blessed Lord himself, in place 
 of sending his composition to Clement, the third after St. Peter, 
 if the whole Christian church did not look, not to St. John, but 
 to the heir of Peter as the teacher of the faith and the morals of 
 the early church? 
 
 St. Ignatius, converted by Peter himself, taught by St. John the 
 Evangelist, says: "The teachings of the Sucessorsof Peter are au- 
 thoritative: " ' Born in the year 82 at Smyrna, of which city he later 
 became bishop, St. Polycarp was long the disciple of St. John 
 the Evangelist. In the year 167, he went to Rome, to ask Pope 
 Anacletus what he would do regarding the celebration of Easter 
 for while living at Ephesus, St. John had given the christian 
 converts leave to celebrate Easter on the same day the Jews cele- 
 brated their Passover, while the Romans, taught by St. Peter, 
 held the feast of the resurrection on the first Sunday, following the 
 
 ^ St. Ignatius Martyr " Quae decendo pnecipistfs " &c. 
 
IRENEUS, TERTULLIAN, OEIGIK, &C. 157 
 
 full moon after the vernal equinox. According to the teachings 
 of St. John, the christians of Palestine, of Syria, of Egypt, of 
 Africa and of parts of Europe, held the festival on the same day 
 as the Jews, and there was a division in the early church. Why 
 did one of the oldest bishops of the church, one who was for long 
 years a disciple of St. John, why did he undertake such a danger- 
 ous and difficult journey to the throne of Peter, to sit at the feet 
 of Peter's heir and there to learn wisdom at its fountain head, if 
 it was not well known that all the bishops and churches of that 
 time know that they must be taught by the successor of Peter? 
 
 St. Ireneus born, in the year 135, a disciple of St. Polycarp writes 
 at least according to the sense of his words: ''All the churches 
 must depend on the church of Kome as their source and head .... 
 The higher Principality of the Eoman church exists because of the 
 supremacy of Peter, which is of apostolic tradition. By it we eas- 
 ily beat the malice of those, who either by pride or bad faith, preach 
 new doctrine."' This father came from the East to France and be- 
 came the Bishop of Lyons. In the year 177 he was sent by the 
 churches of Lyons and Vienna to Rome to consult Pope Eleuther- 
 ius on church doctrines. 
 
 Tertullian born at Carthage in 150 calls the church of Rome : 
 ''The blessed church, which the Princes of the apostles Peter and 
 Paul, sealed with their blood, from which all authority comes 
 forth."* He says about an edict in another place: " I learn that 
 a very peremptory decree has been issued. The Sovereign PontifE,^ 
 the Bishop of bishops declares," &c. ' 
 
 In the beginning of this century St. Hippolytus, offering his 
 head to the executioner said: " We are bound to profess that faith 
 which is guarded by the Chair of Peter."* 
 
 Origin the great writer of the early church, born at Alexandria 
 in the year 185, and who with Tertullian was one of the mightiest 
 genius of the early christian ages says: "Consider what must be 
 the power and authority of Peter, the living rock upon which the 
 church was built, and whose decisions have as much force and va- 
 lidity as oracles coming from the very mouth of Christ himself."* 
 
 St. Cyprian, the great bishop of Carthage in 254 writing to Pope 
 Cornelius says: "All heresies and schisms have sprung from a 
 disregard for the one Priest and Judge, to whom Christ delegated 
 his power. For, if according to the intention of our Lord, every 
 one would obey in the church, no one could divide the church."* 
 " They dare come to the Chair of Peter, not thinking that they 
 are Romans among whom no errors can come." ' " One God one 
 Christ and one church founded by our Lord on Peter." * " You 
 wish me to send your letter to Cornelius " he writes to Anthoney 
 ' ' because you want to satisfy his Holiness that you are one with him 
 and with the Catholic Church." * 
 
 St. Athanatius in 373 writes to Pope Felix II: "You are the 
 
 > Irea5us Lib. IH. Advers. Haeres. ^ ^rsss. C. 27. » Lib. De Pud. 
 
 * Martyr. Romau. ' Orijr. Oaten. » Epist. Iv. ad Corn. Ponst. 
 
 ^ On Novatians &c. * Epist. xlylii. xlix. ' Epist. xliii. 
 
158 BAZIL, JEROME, AUGUSTINE AND OTHERS. 
 
 nprooter of heresies, which destroy the church, you are the teacher 
 and prince of sound doctrine and unspotted faith." ' 
 
 When the bishops of Egypt assembled in council, they sent a 
 letter of felicitation to Pope Felix II. They acknowledged that 
 he was the immovable foundation placed by Christ, upon which 
 the whole church rested. When the terrible Arian heresy broke 
 out in the IV. century denying the divinity of Christ, all the church- 
 es looked to the Chair of Peter for assistance. Against th'at Rock 
 of Peter was directed all the hatred of these heresiarchs, who de- 
 nied the divinity of Christ. 
 
 When the great St. Bazil wrote to Pope Damasus in 378 he said : 
 ** To your Holiness is given to tell the spurious and adulterated 
 from the pure and orthodox belief, and to teach without adulter- 
 ation the faith of our forefathers There is no one but your 
 
 Holiness to whom we can turn for help."' 
 
 Optatus bishop of Melevi in 390 wrote: " Thou knowest, and 
 thou darest not den}^ that at Rome, Peter established the epis- 
 copal Chair, Avhicli he was the first to occupy."' 
 
 The great bishop of Milan St. Ambrose writing to Pope Siric- 
 ius in 397 says: " In the pastorals of your Holiness, we see the 
 ■care of the Shepherd, who watches the entrance of the sheep-fold," 
 •etc. In one of his sermons he says: " Where Peter is there is 
 the church." * *' Peter is the immovable Rock, which supports the 
 whole superstructure of Christianity."' Again he says that the 
 *' Roman church may be sometimes tempted but never changed. " 
 
 The forcible words of St. Epiphaniusat the end of the fourth 
 century and of St. Chrystom, archbishop of Constantinople at the 
 beginning of the fifth century, acknowledging the supremacy of 
 the Papacy, form some of the most eloquent expressions of these two 
 famous doctors of the early church. * St. Jerome called the great- 
 est expounder of the Bible wrote to Pope Damasus: " I hold fast 
 to the Chair of Peter, upon whom the church is built. Decide as 
 you please. If you order, I shall not hesitate in my belief in three 
 hypostaces." ' " If any one is firm in his allegiance to the Chair of 
 Peter,he is of my mind, for I hold with the successor of the fish- 
 erman."* '* The Roman Church cannot hold error, even if an 
 angel should come to teach it." * 
 
 St. Augustine teaches in the strongest terms the supremacy of 
 the Chair of Peter. We can find space for only a few of the most 
 striking of the passages in his works. Writing against the Dona- 
 tists, he says: ^' Count all the High Priests who followed each other 
 in that holy line, every one of them is that Rock against which the 
 gates of hell shall not prevail."" He answers the Pelagians by 
 telling them that two councils had referred a certain matter to the 
 Holy See, which decided the dispute. "Rome " he says "has spoken, 
 the case is settled." " Again he said: " By the letters of Inno- 
 
 ' Eplst. Syn. ad Felecem II. * Eplst. 71, 74, 77. » Coutra Parnem. 
 
 • Sermon xlvll. • Lib U de Fide ad Gratlan. 
 
 • Hoiii. 11. in Acta Anost. Horn, a* In Math. xl. &c. ' Three Persons In God. 
 
 • St. Jerome In year 420. » Conra RuQnus. •* In Ps Contra DonaUsts. 
 " In Sermo de Verb. Apost 
 
WRITEKS OF THE EA.RLY CHURCH. 159. 
 
 cent all doubt on this question has been removed."' Writing 
 against Julian he says: "Why do you ask for an examination, 
 since it has already been made by the Apostolic See?"* In a let- 
 ter he says: "The old catholic faith gets so much strength and 
 support from the words of the Apostolic See, that it is sinful to 
 have any doubts about it." ' " In the Catholic church I adhere to 
 the Chair of Peter, because the Lord gave him the care of the 
 faithful, and because his authority has come down through an un- 
 interrupted line of successors to our time. Again the divine 
 Shepherd said: " My sheep hear my voice and follow me." This 
 voice speaks to me in the clearest manner from Rome. Whoever 
 does not wish to stray from the true fold, must follow this voice."* 
 No man ever born of the human race uninspired was endowed with 
 greater natural talents and abilities than St. Augustine. Up to 
 his time, he was the most learned man the world produced, yet 
 when the Pope spoke he humbly bent his gigantic genius before 
 that divine oracle. 
 
 Two members of the religious community, which he established 
 at Hippo, were Prosper and Fulgentius, whom for many years he 
 had taught and instructed in the true faith while members of his 
 household. The former writes: " Rome the See of Peter was made 
 the head of the world in pastoral honor, whatever she does not 
 capture by war she holds by religion. " * Prosper writes to Pope 
 Zosimus saying: " to add force to your decision and with the right 
 hand of Peter strike to the detruncation of the wicked for he 
 strengthens all bishops." ' In another place he says: "Let not 
 your courage fail, have recourse to Rome, the Mother of the true 
 faith. What Rome believes, all Christianity believes." ' 
 
 Maximian, Patriarch of Constantinople in the same age writes: 
 " From the fartherest ends of the world, the confessors of the 
 true faith look up to Peter as to the sun. God has raised him to 
 the teacher's chair, with the right of holding it forever; who 
 wishes to know anything deep must run to this oracle of doc- 
 trine." ' 
 
 In 444 St Cyril bishop of Jerusalem writing to Pope Celestine 
 about his relations with the impious Nestorius says: " As 
 members of the mystical body of the church, it behooves us to 
 follow our head, the Roman Pontiff, who holds in trust the 
 deposit of the apostolic faith. From him we are to learn, what 
 we are bound to believe think and hold."' "We venerate and 
 consult the Bishop of Rome before all others, because he alone is 
 to reprimand, to correct, to command, to dispense, to bind and 
 loose in the place of Him who made him, and no others have full 
 power but he (Christ) gave it to him alone, to whom by divine 
 right all bend the head, and the prelates of the earth obey him 
 as Jesus Christ."'" 
 
 1 Lit li. C. 3. Con 2 Ep. Pelag. * Lib. 11. Adv. Julian. " Letter 157. 
 
 * De Unltate Eccl. C. xil. * Carmen de Ingrat. • Contra Collatorem. 
 
 ^ Fulgentius C. I. X. xli. * Eplst. ad Orieutales. * Hard vlU. 
 *" Lib. Thausurus. 
 
160 TESTIMONY OF THE ELDERS. 
 
 In the year 450 St. Peter Chrysologus wrote to the heretic Euty- 
 ches who denied that Christ has two natures which error he taught 
 the 300 monks under him; " We ask you to hear especially the 
 decision of the Pope at Rome^ with all readiness in his final sen- 
 tence, because the Blessed Peter, who lives and governs in his 
 own See, gives to those who consult him the truth of faith/^' 
 
 About the same time Socrates, a Greek, wrote: " Without the 
 Bishop of Rome nothing of importance can be done in the church 
 of God."' About the same age another Greek Father wrote: 
 " Whatever is done without the approval of the Roman Bishop is 
 null and void.''' 
 
 When the great writer Theodoret in 460 as bishop of Cyprus 
 was deposed by the local Synod at Ephesus, he appealed to the 
 Holy See against the unjust decision of the prelate who assembled 
 and condemned him at the Command of the emperor. At once he 
 wrote to the Pope, in these words: " If Paul a preacher of truth ran 
 to the great Peter, regarding those who were fighting at Antioch, 
 that he might solve the difficulty, how much more do we appeal 
 to your apostolic See? " While his case was under consideration 
 at Rome, he asked Cardinal Renatus to urge the Pope to decide 
 the trouble and restore him to his See, of which he had been 
 so unjustly deprived. He says: 'Tor the See of Rome has the 
 headship and the direction of all the churches throughout the 
 world, and that for many reasons, but especially because she has 
 been ever free from heretical wounds, nor has any one ever taught 
 contrary to the faith of him who sat in her Chair." 
 
 This doctrine was so perfectly engrafted into the early 
 christians, that it is found in the mass books of the early ages. 
 When the bishops of Spain met in a plenary council at Tarragon 
 in the year 465 they wrote to Pope Hilary: " We rely on that 
 faith, whose praise was in the mouth of the apostle, we are seek- 
 ing for an answer from that See, where there is no error because 
 presided over by Pontifical thought." 
 
 About the same year St. Avitus writing in the name of all the 
 bishops of France to the Roman clergy in relation to the election 
 of Pope Symraach says: "When any doubt occurs about a Papal 
 election, not one bishop but the whole hierarchy appears to be 
 wavering." In another letter he says: " When any differences 
 arise in church matters, it is our duty to abide by the decisions 
 of the Sovereign Pontiff, as members following our head." " The 
 truth is known to me inasmuch as the Pontiff of the Roman 
 City, by the privilege of his authority is pleased to reply to those 
 who ask him." * We have given but a small part of the writings 
 of the early Fathers from the days of the apostles to the end of 
 the fifth century. According to the testimony of all christians, 
 the pure doctrines of Christ flourished in all their vigor during 
 the first five centuries. 
 
 > Eplst. af Eutyh. Inter. Ecta Concll Ephes. » Socrat. II. 15 17 & Iv. 87. 
 
 * Sozomenus ill. 8, 0, &c. vl. 89. < See Gall. zi. p. 746. 
 
IN THE SIXTH CENTURY. 161 
 
 In the beginning of the sixth century St. Pocessor a bishop of 
 Africa thus addressed the bishop of Rome: " Whom can we ask with 
 greater stability of faith, than the one who presides in his See, 
 whose first Rector heard from Christ: " Thou art Peter and upon 
 this rock I will build my church." 
 
 About this time Ferandus, the learned archdeacon of Carthage 
 in 505 wrote to a clergyman of Constantinople: "We are ready 
 to learn and not to teach. If you are anxious to know the truth 
 you must address the head of the Apostolic See. Rome is the head 
 of the world." 
 
 Stephen archbishop of Larissa was badly treated and imprisoned 
 by Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople, and sent Theodosius, 
 one of his suffragan bishops with a letter appealing to the Pope say- 
 ing i " No ecclesiastical rank can exceed the authority given you by 
 the Saviour and first Pastor of all." Still unmoved by the popular 
 cry, Stephen who wrote the above, faced all opposition, because he 
 appealed to the Pope saying: " In the confession of whose church 
 all the churches of the world rest." 
 
 Such was also the faith of the catholics of the early African church 
 as shown by the writings of Facundus Hermi.* The belief of the 
 British Isles appears by the writings of Gildas in 570 and the 
 other early Saxon writers." In the year 515 the celebrated St. Co- 
 lurabanus asked the Pope to settle the disputed question about the 
 time of celebrating Easter. After referring to the traditions of 
 the Scotch and Irish churches relating to the matter he added: 
 "It is not our place, nor does it belong to our rank to question 
 your great authority, which would be ridiculous, for you legiti- 
 mately sit in the chair of Peter, who holds the keys. My western 
 friends ask about the Easter" &c.^ At another time, when a dif- 
 ficulty arose relating to the Three Chapters, he wrote: " I told 
 the Irish that the Roman See would never give its support to any 
 one who held heretical doctrines. For to Thee belongs the danger 
 of the whole army of the Lord. Thee only they except because you 
 have the power of regulating all." . . ."We have no hope except in 
 the power you have inherited from St. Peter.". . . "Though Rome 
 is great and well known, by this Chair alone it is great and cele- 
 brated among us.". . ."Never did the Caesars place their imperial 
 standards on the shores of Ireland, but your Holiness reigns over the 
 islands of the sea, as well as in your capital. W^e are a province 
 of the new Rome, which the Vicar of Christ, if we are allowed to 
 so speak, has made almost heavenly." Historians tell us that at this 
 time the whole christian world stood astonished at the crowds of 
 pilgrims from the British Isles, who flocked to Rome to show their 
 respect and devotion to the Holy See.* 
 
 The churches of the East showed no less devotedness to the 
 
 Papacy. Soon after Sophronius ascended the chair of St. James 
 
 in the'patriarchate of Jerusalem, he declared that the mandate of 
 
 Pope Leo in 636 was to be his rule of faith. He also said that all the 
 
 * Hermianensis in 553. ^ increpatio in Clerum. ' Galland xU. 345. ■•Berc. vl. 274. 
 
162 JERUSALEM APPEALS TO ROME. 
 
 papal bulls, briefs and constitutions emanating from the Popes up 
 to the time of Christ, the same should be received in Jerusalem as 
 though they came from St. Peter himself. These respectful senti- 
 ments of devotion were fully indorsed by all the bishops belong- 
 ing to the regions around Jerusalem. The bishops of Palestine 
 appointed Stephen the bishop of Dora to undertake a journey to 
 Rome to see the Pope to ask his assistance against the false doctrine 
 of the Monothelites, who claimed that Christ had only one will. 
 They gave him a letter to hand the Pope, containing among other 
 sentiments of obedience the following: "Peter, from whom you 
 hold the plenitude of Apostolic authority, was not only commis- 
 sioned to keep the Keys of Heaven and to feed the lambs of the 
 Lord, but he was moreover endowed with infallible faith, and 
 commanded to confirm his faltering brethren." 
 
 Then says Stephen, Sophornius the bishop of Jerusalem, led me 
 to Calvary, and on the spot sanctified by the awful mystery of our 
 redemption, he gave me this solemn pledge : "Hurry in all haste to the 
 Apostolic See, where the foundations of the orthodox faith exist. 
 Urge the "Vicar of Christ to pronounce his judgment, with that 
 apostolic prudence, which is fi-om God, that we may root out of 
 the church the novelties, which have of late sprung up among 
 us.'' For this, he says to the Pope, coming here I have approached 
 your Apostolic footstool, expecting and praying that you would hold 
 out your hand to the tottering faith of Christians. Grant then 
 this request. Holy Father, which I present in the name of all the 
 Orientals. You hold as a lamp the word of life for the whole world, 
 which when you introduce, you extinguish the darkness of 
 heresy." 
 
 About the same time 37 Archimandrites, Priests, Deacons and 
 clergymen of the Eastern church drew up a petition regarding these 
 matters presented by Stephen, concluding with: "We pray, we 
 appeal, and we conjure the Apostolic See to pronounce on this mat- 
 ter. " On the same occasion Sergius bishop of the island of Cyprus 
 wrote the Pope: "As the Divine Word has truly pronounced, you 
 are Peter and upon you the fundamental faith, the columns of the 
 church are founded. . .You keep the Keys of the Kingdom of 
 heaven, you have the power of binding and of loosing botli in hea- 
 ven and on earth, you are the Censor of hurtful errors, thou art the 
 prince and the teacher of unspotted faith." 
 
 The same hurtful errors having spread into Africa, the bishops 
 of Numidia, of Mauritania and of Byzantium presented an address 
 to the Pope saying: " There can be no doubt, that like a pure and 
 exhaustless spring, the Apostolic See pours its waters in constant 
 streams over the whole christian world. Whence no matter in 
 what regions, soever remote, nothing shall be done or received, un- 
 less it is first sent to your nourishing motherly See, that it may be 
 strengthened by a sentence of your just authority. " Farther on they 
 declare:. "From the See of Rome the other churches of the world 
 derive all their strength and authority. " In looking over the works 
 
THE FIRST MISSIONARIES OF EUROPE. 163 
 
 of this early age we are struck with the simil?irity of the language 
 used by all bishops nations and sections of the church in Europe 
 Asia and in Africa. With one voice they all recognized the doctrin- 
 al authority of the Roman Pontiffs in matters of faith and of morals. 
 
 St. Maximus, master of the great Anastasius, from his secluded 
 retreat near Chalcedon wrote about the errors of Phyrrus: "If 
 Phyrrus wants to clear himself of the charge of heresy, let him 
 publicly justify his conduct. Let him prove his innocence to 
 the Pope of the Roman church, that is to the Apostolic See, which 
 to the fullest extent, has the power of binding and of loosing. 
 Because it is the Eternal Word Himself, who from the highest 
 heavens binds and loosens in the person of the Roman Bishop his 
 Vicar upon earth. If then Phyrrus justifies himself before 
 prelates of an inferior rank in the church, in place of before the 
 Sovereign Pontiff himself, he is like a man who when arraigned for 
 murder or other crime, tries to evade the law by establishing his 
 innocence before unauthorized persons, and not before the Judge, 
 who has the right of aquitting or of condemning him." 
 
 In the early ages of the Christian religion, the missionaries went 
 from Rome to christianize the different nations, and from the Holy 
 See they received their commissions. Whence we read that Pope 
 Celestine sent St. Patrick into Ireland; Gregory sent St. Augus- 
 tine to England; another Pope sent St. Dennis to convert the people 
 ancient of Paris; Pope Grregory commissioned St. Boniface to carry 
 the tidings of the Gospel to the Germans. So we could go on 
 and tell how all civilization in the world came from the Holy See. 
 
 When consecrated a bishop, St. Boniface the first aspostle of 
 Germany, as customary swore to guard inviolate the rights of the 
 Papacy saying: " Because the Blessed Peter, the Apostle, is the 
 head of the Apostolate and of the Episcopate." He used to ask the 
 advice of the Pope on many points of doctrine. One time the Pope 
 replied to his question: " We answer not of ourselves, as of our- 
 selves, but by power of our Apostolic authority." Boniface writing 
 of the christian Germans of his time: " They look for the doctrine 
 of primitive Christianity in the living Oracles of Christ's Represen- 
 tative, rather than in the holy pages or the traditions of our 
 ancestors." 
 
 In England, that great light of the early church Venerable 
 Bede, thus speaks the Pope and of the early English belief in 
 the primacy of Peter's successors: " Together with full judicial 
 power on all disputed points of doctrine, Peter received the keys 
 of heaven, as a sign to all the children of the church, that if they 
 separate from the one faith which he teaches, they give up all 
 hope of being acquitted of their guilt and of entering the eternal 
 portals." ' Writing about king Oswio, the same author says: 
 "^ This Saxon recognized the Roman Church as the catholic and 
 apostolic church, because her sovereign Pontiffs have succeeded 
 each other in an unbroken line from St. Peter down." The stat- 
 
 1 Horn, de Sts. Peter and Paul. 
 
164 THE FOUR GREAT CHURCHES. 
 
 utesof the Synod held at Calchut, signed by all the bishops and 
 the chief clergymen of England living at that time, and which 
 were sent to Rome for approval, contains the most hearty obedi- 
 ence of the English church to the Pope. 
 
 There was no greater champion of the faith in that time than the 
 great St. John Damascene. Writing against the heretics of his age 
 he says: " Hear ye people and nations of every tongue. Hear 
 ye young and old. Depart not from the doctrine of the Apostolic 
 church, even though an angel should teach you otherwise." ' 
 
 When the Abbot Stephen was confined in prison by the emper- 
 or, the latter called a council to further his evil designs, calling 
 it the Seventh General Council. The bishops who sat in it came 
 to announce its proceedings to Stephen, who at once exclaimed: 
 '^ How can a council meet and legislate without the authority and 
 consent of the Apostolic See?'"" Callistus reporting his answer to 
 the emperor said: "AVe are' conquered, it is impossible to resist 
 the learning and the reasoning of that man.'" 
 
 At that time the four gi*eatest churches after Rome were Con- 
 stantinople, Antiocli, Alexandria and Jerusalem, The patri- 
 archs of these ancient sees, together wrote to the emperor say- 
 ing, that because of the conquests of the Mahomedans in their 
 countries, they could not attend the council, stating at the same 
 time that their absence would not invalidate the proceedings, pro- 
 vided the decrees were confirmed by the Pope, at the same time 
 citing the Sixth General Council, the decrees of which had been 
 accepted all over the world, although the same three provinces 
 mentioned above were not represented in that council, saying that 
 the decrees had the very same authority as a General Council over 
 the whole church, because they were confirmed by the Pope. 
 
 At this time the great emperor Charlemagne associated with him 
 the celebrated and learned Alcuin, in the restoration of the litera- 
 ture of Europe, after it had been nearly destroyed by the incursions 
 of the Barbarians from the north, when they destroyed the Roman 
 Empire. To the newly elected Pope Adrian he wrote: ** As I ac- 
 knowledge you for the Successor of St. Peter, so I also recognize you 
 as the heir of his wonderful authority. I therefore surrender my- 
 self entirely to you. Blessed be the tongue of your mouth, which 
 speaks the saving words of life, at whose bidding the portals of 
 Heaven are opened to the believer." In his celebrated book On 
 the Divine Offices, he speaks in splendid language of the Pope. In 
 another letter to Pope Leo III he says: " In you, faith is resplendent. 
 Under your pastoral care the flock of the Lord increases. You are 
 the consolation of the afflicted, the help of the oppressed, the hope of 
 them that call on you, the light of life, the ornament of religion." * 
 
 In the same age Agilram bishop of Metz writing to Charlemagne 
 says: "Everyone knows that the Pope, wielding the power of 
 St. Peter, is authorized to pass sentence on all, the churches, and 
 that he is not subjected to the judgment of any other," 
 
 » Sermo de Transfis:. ' Butler xvll. p. 368. * Baron, ad an, 772. 
 
to rfi 
 O H 
 
 O M 
 
166 LETTERS TO THE POPE. 
 
 The Caroline Books show us the faith of ancient France and 
 Germany in that early age. They state that: "the Holy See ad- 
 ministers the chalice of her preachings to all the churches of the 
 world."' ''From her after Christ they might get aid for the 
 nourishing of their faith, because the Holy See has neither spot 
 or stain, for she always crushes the proud heads of heretics, and 
 strengthens the hearts of the faithful in the faith." ** Wlience 
 it always receives the unction of faith." The same sentiments 
 are given by Agabond in his Letter to king Lewis the Pius. ' 
 
 The religious teachings of the early French church may be 
 found in the Synods held at Soissons, " all teaching the infalli- 
 bility of the Pope, and his supremacy over all the churches of the 
 world, ^neas of Paris wrote a book about this time to show that 
 the Pope received his power, not from any council, or from other 
 authority, but from Christ by and through Peter. For proofs 
 he cites numerous historical documents, from the time of Ignatius 
 the martyred archbishop of Antioch, to the days of Photius the 
 author of the Greek schism. * 
 
 Theodore Studitain a letter to Leo IIL calls the Bishop of Rome 
 "The Head of all heads." Condemning the Greeks, then about 
 to fall into schism, he says: " Whenever those who err from truth 
 try to change anything in the catholic church, it is necessary to 
 refer it to Peter or to his successor." To Leo L he wrote these 
 words: " Imitate, we pray thee, the Pontiffs who bore your name, 
 and who sprang up like lions when the Eutychian heresy rose." 
 " Besides it belongs to him, led by the Holy Ghost, to make known 
 the wishes of God by whom other churches as well as this is ruled 
 and governed." " Again he says: ' ' I declare before God and man, 
 that in separating themselves from tliat chief See, in which Christ 
 has placed the keys of faith, against which the gates of hell have 
 never prevailed, nor will prevail as he promised, who does not lie 
 in separating from it," " they have separated from the body of 
 Christ."* In his letter to Pope Paschal he says: "For you are 
 Peter crowning and governing the See of Peter." ** Confirm then 
 your brethren. This is the proper time. Come from the West 
 and stretch out your saving hand to the East." 
 
 The Greeks and the national church of Russia on the 1 1th of 
 Nov. each year read the following, all relating to the Pope: "Stretch 
 out your hand to help the Church of Constantinople, and prove 
 thyself the successor of the first Leo. Listen favorably to our peti- 
 tion because thou art Peter to whom Christ said: "Confirm thy 
 brethren. " ' 
 
 Again in the West rose the great Hincmar of Rheims. In 
 852 making his profession of faitli before the Council of Douzi he 
 said: "The Roman See is the Mistress of all the Churches 
 throughout the whole world." He continually declared that all dis- 
 
 * Lib Carol. » Delnstltutlon Retria. 
 
 ' rt<!7. DonzlRTl. Pontlgny 876. Troyefl878. Tribur 895. < Speoll D'ArcheryHS, 148. 
 » Bar an 80». Berc vlll. 142. • Hard. Ix. 005. 
 
 ' De Malstre Du Pap. page 90. 
 
THE WRITERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 167 
 
 puted points once brought before that Holy See were ended 
 for all time, by the sentence of the Roman Pontiff. In a letter 
 to his nephew he said, that "it is the source of religion, from 
 which flows all discipline and canonical jurisdiction. " ' 
 
 Eatramnus of Corby and Paulinus of Aquileia, both contempor- 
 ary with Hincmar, tell us, that such was the faith and the contin- 
 ual teachings of the church in their days. The former says: '' All 
 ecclesiastical decisions must be submitted to the judgment of the 
 Pope, that what is proper may remain and what is wrong may be 
 corrected. " ^ The latter writing of the continual troubles, 
 which disturbed the East, and contrasting it with the peace and 
 tranquility of the church in the West, or in Europe says: " We 
 strongly stand within the limits of the Apostolic doctrine and of 
 the Holy Roman Church, adhering to her most approved author- 
 ity and following its most holy doctrines." 
 
 The celebrated Raban Maur in the year 856 wrote the following 
 to Pope Gregory IV. : "Thou the golden light of the Apostolic See 
 of Rome, thou the teacher of the peoples, the nourishing love and 
 the ornament, .... Your tongue closes or opens heaven. For all 
 ages you are united to the Apostolic prince Peter. On earth 
 you carry his power. " 
 
 Lupus the friend and contemporary of Raban and of Hincmar in 
 the year 863 wrote of the See of Rome: " She neither deceived her- 
 self, nor was she ever deceived by another. " About the end of 
 the same century Hatto archbishop of Mayence, with the bishops 
 of Germany and of Bavaria, sent written communications to Pope 
 John IX. concluding: " That whatever may be wrong it may be 
 corrected by your authority. " Such are but a few proofs taken 
 from the writings of the early fathers and writers of the church. 
 We could give more but we hurry to other matters. 
 
 When councils meet, the bishops come, not because they can 
 define matters of faith and of practice, but that with and under 
 their head, they may examine the doctrines attacked, that by them 
 the definitions may receive more weight, be given more formality, 
 be defined by the Pope with more solemnity, and that they may be 
 carried back by the bishops to their dioceses in every part of the 
 world, and there taught to both clergy and laity, as coming from 
 the heir of him to whom Christ gave the feeding of his lambs and 
 sheep. No greater defenders of the supremacy and authority of 
 the Bishops of Rome can be found than the bishops themselves in 
 the early councils. Let us now see what the councils of the early 
 church say regarding the headship of the Bishops of Rome. 
 
 The first council of the church was held in the days of the 
 apostles, under the chairmanship of Peter at Jerusalem. ' In 
 that assembly, they deliberated relating to the keeping of the 
 Jewish ceremonials and customs. For while the Jewish con- 
 verts kept the law of Moses, the gentiles, who had entered the- 
 church, refused to follow the regulations of the Israelites. 
 
 1 Hist. Rem. 111. 13. ^ Nat Alexander, xli. * Acts vi. vil. 
 
168 THE COUNCIL OF NICE. 
 
 The dispute waxed warm, till Peter rising in the midst of the 
 council; " The multitude held their peace,"' for the first Pope 
 was about to pronounce sentence, and Peter's decision settled the 
 matter. St. James, first bishop of Jerusalem, rose to introduce a 
 point of discipline, but in matters of faith he submitted to the 
 judgment of Peter. 
 
 The next general council of the church was held at Nice, in 325, 
 under the patronage of the emperor (/onstantine. It was called 
 by Pope Sylvester, who was not himself present, but he delegated 
 Osius bishop of Cardova and two priests as his companions to pre- 
 side in his name. Bishop Osius, with the two priests, occupied the 
 highest place in the assembly, over the great patriarchs and arch- 
 bishops of the other famous historic Sees, because they represented 
 the Papacy. ' Here we see in a year 325, bishojDS coming from all 
 parts of the world, still bearing the marks of suffering in that age 
 of faith. They assemble in council, and two simple priests take po- 
 sitions above all the ranks of the hierarchy of bishops and of arch- 
 bishops, because they reflected the rays of the authority of the Pope. 
 There two simple priests sit on the throne of the absent Pope, yet 
 not one word of protest rose from the patriarchs and archbishops of 
 the great apostolic chairs of Jerusalem, of Alexandria, of Antioch, 
 of Ephesus, of Caesarea, for they all acknowledged the Primacy 
 of Rome even at that early day. Not only that, but before the 
 meeting of the council, the three Legates of the Pope condemned 
 beforehand the heresy of Arius, who denied the divinity of Christ. 
 Before sending them as his delegates. Pope Sylvester drew up the 
 articles of faith relating to the Divinity of our Lord, and the 
 rules of procedure and of discipline, which he desired to be followed. 
 Not one found a word of fault, because they all recognized the 
 power of Peter in his successor St. Sylvester. At that, the first great 
 meeting for the first time of all the bishops of the whole world 
 gathered at Nice, because they could not meet at Rome before, on ac- 
 count of the persecutions of the pagan world. At one end of the great 
 hall of the assembly sat the three legates of the absent Pope, vested 
 in cope and mitre, and at the other in all the splenders of royalty sat 
 Constantine glittering in purple and gold, the first christian ruler 
 of the vast Roman Empire. At the close of the council, the Acts 
 were sent to Rome for the confirmation of the Pope. Before this 
 confirmation they were not held as having weight. 
 
 To this afterwards referred Pope Felix IIL in the year 483 when 
 he said to the clergy of the East *'The three hundred and eighteen 
 Fathers meet at Nice, remembering the words of the Lord **Thou 
 art Peter " ** transmitted all the decrees of the Council to the 
 Roman Church for confirmation. " Pope Gelesius, his successor 
 elected in the year 402, a hundred years before the conversion of 
 England, remmded the bishop of Darania that the Acts of no 
 Council bind till confirmed by the Pope, saying ** As that which, 
 the Roman See did not sanction could not stand, thus what she 
 
 ' Acts zl. * Sozom. L. I. C. xtI. Concil Cbal. Act. i. and Act. xrtU. Condi ConsUnt 111. 
 
THE FIRST COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 169 
 
 judges right, the whole church receives. The whole thing is placed 
 under the power of the Apostolic See. What the Apostolic See 
 confirms from her it receives strength, what she rejects cannot 
 have any strength." 
 
 We must remember that the Council of Nice assembled in the 
 year 325. It was the first council of any importance, and the 
 only one in which all the bishops of the world assembled since 
 the days of the apostles. The 39th Canon, very probably authentic 
 reads: " The incumbent of the Eoman See acting as the Vicar of 
 Christ over the whole church is the head of the patriarchs as 
 Peter was. " ' This canon is not positively authentic. 
 
 Pope Boniface I., elected in the year 418, said to the bishops of 
 Thessalonica: "The Fathers of the council did not legislate any- 
 thing for the Eoman See, because they saw that they could not 
 impose anything upon her, for they knew from the words of the 
 Lord that he had given all power to her." 
 
 The next General Council was held at Constantinople in the year 
 381. At first it was but a simple provincial Synod of the bishops 
 subject to the archbishop of that imperial city. They assembled 
 by command of Pope Damasus, who called them against the her- 
 etical doctrines of the Appolarians, Macedonians, &c. According 
 to the testimony of Sozomenus, they believed that these disputes 
 had already been ended by the decision of Pope Damasus. The 
 words of Sozomenus are ''Whence it happens that by the judgment 
 of the Eoman Church, the dispute is finished, they are at rest, and 
 it appears that an end has come." But as the false teachers did not 
 stay quiet, the Pope determined to comdemn them in a more 
 solemn and public manner, the emperor Theodosius the great 
 called the council.'* The bishops of the Eastern or Asiatic churches, 
 headed by Bazel, the primate of the province of Cappadocia, 
 addressed a letter to Pope Damasus, asking that the Papal Eescript 
 condemning the heretics be also published in the East, as well as 
 in the West, saying: " We ask that it be published and promul- 
 gated in all the churches of the East." The Pope replying 
 reminds them, that they must render him reverence and 
 obedience, concluding with " Let above all your charity render 
 the required obedience and reverence to this Apostolic See." 
 When the council met, the same Pope rejected their disciplinary 
 canons.^ 
 
 For nearly a thousand years these disciplinary canons re- 
 mained without force, till they were at last confirmed by a re- 
 script of Pope Innocent III. in the thirteenth century. But those 
 parts of the council not confirmed by the Holy See, were never 
 considered as of any binding force in the church. The Pope saw 
 no necessity for issuing a bull condemning Timothy the heretic, 
 after the council met, because he had already given a formal con- 
 demnation of him before the assembling of the bishops. AVhence 
 
 » Acta Concll. Nicaena Can. 39. ^ Baronius ad Aa 381 N. 19. 
 
 * Gregor. Mag. ad Patriarch. Alexan. and to Cyriacus Constantinople. 
 
170 THE COUNCIL AT EPHESUS. 
 
 he wrote to the assembled bishops: " For we have ah-eady given 
 the formula, that those who confess themselves as christians that 
 they hold it. Why then do you ask me a second time to condemn 
 Timothy 'i" 
 
 When in the year 431 the council of Ephesus was called at that 
 city, by the invitation of the emperor Theodosius in order to con- 
 demn the errors of Nestorius, who taught that Christ had two 
 Persons, one of God the other of man, before the meeting of the 
 bishops. Pope Celestin issued a bull to take effect ten days after 
 being received, in which he excommunicated Nestorius, if he did not 
 retract his errors within that time. The conditions laid down 
 by the Pope were, that he should be deposed from the See of Con- 
 stantinople. The Pope authorized Cyril patriarch of Alexandria 
 to proceed against him according to the following words of the 
 
 Pope to Nestorius: " You know our sentence, that unless 
 
 within ten days you openly and in writing condemn your errors, 
 you are deposed from the communion of the Catholic and univer- 
 sal Church."' Besides this letter to Nestorius, the Pope sent an- 
 other mandate to the bishops of the East declaring himself above 
 and independent of them, or of all the Bishops of the world even 
 when assembled in a General Council: '* We command you "he 
 wrote to his Legates, " to maintain the dignity of the Apostolic 
 See. When, therefore, any discussion arises, you shall pass sen- 
 tence on the opinions advanced, but you must not enter the lists as 
 
 disputants But what we have already decided, you shall 
 
 not interfere with." When the Papal Legates read these instruc- 
 tions to the assembled bishops, the latter replied: "From the 
 earliest ages of the church, it has always been held as indisput- 
 able, that the Prince of the apostles, the pillar of truth, the 
 foundation stone of the Catholic Church, is Peter, who received 
 the Keys of the kingdom of heaven. He always lives in his succes- 
 sors, and pronounces his judgment by their lips." 
 
 In the most solemn manner the bishops at the council condemned 
 Nestorius and his errors. But when the council officially notified 
 the emporer of their condemnation, they said that they acted thus 
 according to the instructions of the Pope, whose previous con- 
 demnation directed them to do so, while the Pope rested his 
 authority entirely on the authority of Peter. AVhile the sessions of 
 the council were being held, Theodore bishop of Ancyra rose and 
 said: '*The Lord of the universe, hath showed by the letter of 
 Celestin, that the sentence of condemnation promulgated by the 
 Synod is just." In a letter they wrote to the Pope, asking him 
 to confirm the decrees of the council, they stated that they had 
 followed his instruction in all things. Afterwards Celestin's suc- 
 cessor, Sixtus, writing to John, patriarch of Constantinople about 
 the matter says: " You may judge from the transactions of the 
 Council at Ephesus what is meant by conforming to the judgments 
 of the holy See. St. Peter has transmitted to his successors the 
 
 > Hard. 1. 1299. 
 
THE FOURTH GENERAL COUNCIL. 171 
 
 power received from Christ." Even to-day, the Liturgical books 
 of the Russian church say that the errors of Nestorius were de- 
 stroyed by Pope Celestin, and not by the council at Ephesus. * 
 
 In 440, Leo the G reat sat on the throne of Peter. Eutyches in the 
 cloisters of Constantinople had more than 300 monks under him. 
 While combatting the errors of Nestorius who claimed that Christ 
 had two persons, Eutyches went to the other extreme, and taught 
 that Christ had but one nature. His doctrines soon became popu- 
 lar in tlie schools of Arabia and of Alexandria. The emporer Mar- 
 xian wrote to Pope Leo the Great, asking him to call a council of 
 the bishops of the universal Church, that the error might be con- 
 demned, ''as it were," he says, "by the Blessed Peter himself." 
 Yielding also to the empress Pulcheria, the bishops of the world 
 were called with a letter concluding with the words "that the 
 rights and the honors of the Apostolic See of Peter may be saved." 
 More than 630 bishops came to this council from all parts of the 
 christian world. Paschasius was the Legate of the Pope. 
 
 Opening the assembly in 451, he declared in the name of the 
 Pope, that Dioscorus, having held a council without the author- 
 ity of the Holy See, that therefore he had forfeited his seat in this 
 council of the universal church. Acting on the orders of the 
 Pope's legate, he was excluded from the assembly. The council 
 then entered on the deliberations, acting on the instructions of 
 the Pope. They all drew up a form of belief or articles of faith, 
 to Avhich each gave his assent, except the Papal legate, who re- 
 fused to receive his faith except from the Pope himself. Having 
 by this reversed the decisions of the fathers of the former council, 
 they all exclaimed: "What Leo believes we all believe. Anath- 
 ema be he who believes otherwise. Peter has spoken thiough Leo." 
 Then Acropius spoke up: " His Holiness the Pope sent us a form- 
 ula of faith. We are bound to follow it, and to subscribe to its 
 requirements." Then the members of the council cried out: 
 " That is what we wanted, no better exposition of faith can be 
 had." When the council adjourned this session, as had been cus- 
 tomary from the apostolic age, they sent the decrees of the coun- 
 cil to the Pope for confirmation, saying in the letter they for- 
 warded him: "We have a rock of refuge in Peter, who alone has 
 the absolute right of deciding in the place of God, because he alone 
 has the keys of heaven. All his definitions therefore bind as 
 coming from the Vicegerent of Christ." The council then de- 
 posed the bad bishop Dioscorus with the words: "He that is the 
 foundation stone of the faith, has divested him of the episcopal 
 dignity, Leo the Bishop of Eome, but re-echoes the sentence of 
 blessed Peter. Whosoever shall not abide by the instructions of 
 his Holiness is a heretic."'' In memory of this contest the Rus- 
 sian Church still says in its liturgy: "How shall I extol thee 
 Leo, heir of the invincible rock?" 
 
 1 Hard. 1. 1299 Nicephorus xiv. 34 Hard. 1. 1503 Condi. T. ill. p. 136 Malstre Du Pape 1. 91. 
 
 2 Acta Concil. Iv. Sess. 
 
172 THE FIFTH AND SIXTH GENERAL COUNCIL. 
 
 We now come to the fifth General Couueil, which was the second 
 held at Constantinople. It opened in the year 553. The emperor 
 Justinian had before invited Pope Vigilius to visit him at the 
 imperial city of Constantinople. But the Pope could not agree to 
 the usurpations of the emperor, who wanted to interfere in the 
 church government, and who had confiscated church property and 
 encroached on the rights of the Holy See. The emperor got mad and 
 put the Pope his guest in prison. In going to prison the Pope said 
 to the emperor: *' Remember that although you have enchained 
 Vigilius, you cannot imprison Peter.'' The emperor then resorted 
 to violence. Soon afterwards, getting out of prison, the Pope took 
 refuge in the church of St. Sophia at Chalcedon. From tliere he 
 issued an anathema against all who dare to teach the condemned er- 
 rors, while beforehand he pronounced void and null all acts or 
 statutes enacted by a council which the . emperor had called. 
 When the emperor called the bishops of the Roman Empire to 
 the council, he invited also the Pope, who refused to attend, 
 to show that the Pope alone had authority to call and preside 
 over a council of the universal church. When the bishops assem- 
 bled, they followed to the most minute detail the instructions of 
 the Pontiff, stating in the letters they sent him: "We profess 
 that we receive the letters of the Roman Pontiff with the same 
 faith as we do the four Gospels."' After all this, such sus- 
 picions hung around this council, that it was many centuries be- 
 fore it was received as authentic in the church, until it was 
 known certainly that the decrees were confirmed bv the Holy 
 See. 
 
 In the year 680 Pope Agathon, at the request of the emperor 
 Constantine the Bearded, called a council of the whole episcopacy 
 at Constantinople, to condemn the teachings of those who held 
 that our Lord had only one will, the Divine will. The heretics 
 taught at that time that he had no human will. 
 
 The Legates of the Pope, presided over them. The Pope sent 
 them these Avords: "They shall not presume to increase, dimin- 
 ish or change, but keep the traditions of this Apostolic See, as 
 given and instituted by the Apostolic Pontiffs." In his letter to the 
 emperor, the Pontiff reminds him of the faith of the See of Rome: 
 " This Apostolic church never turned from the way of truth, or 
 held any kind of error This is the true rule of faith. All bish- 
 ops, priests and laics, who wish to please the God of truth, must 
 study to conform to the Apostolic rule of the primitive faith, 
 founded on the rock Peter, and kept by him from error." 
 
 In his letter to the council, the Pope tells the bishops that they 
 must not dare to debate the questions, but to embrace in a com- 
 pendious manner the articles he before had sent them, and then to 
 promulgate them his doctrines all over the world. Before the 
 council met, the Pontiff had already pronounced on the disputed 
 questions, and no one was allowed even to debate in the cQuncil, 
 
 > GreR. Mag. Ub. Ul. Ep. 27. Facand. Ub. U. 
 
THE IMAGE BREAKERS. 173 
 
 the questions he had already settled by his infallible decision. Even 
 the bishops at the council exclaimed at one of the sessions: ''It 
 seemed to us paper and ink, but Peter has spoken through 
 Agathon." Demetrius, bishop of Persias, remarked at the council: 
 " I received the instructions of Agathon, as dictated under the in- 
 spiration of the Holy Ghost by the blessed Peter, the prince of the 
 Apostles." In their letter to the emperor, the bishops said that 
 they received the letters of the Pope as coming from heaven. 
 Even the same sentiments were re-echoed by the emperor himself. 
 Soon after he wrote to the Pope these words: ''We all received 
 your dogmatic words with open arms, and thought that we had, 
 when receiving them, the pleasure of embracing Peter himself, 
 when he confessed the Divinity of Christ." When the emperor 
 sent these decrees of the council around into every city of the 
 Greek empire, of which he was the head, he sent them not in the 
 name of the bishops of the whole world in council, but in the 
 name of the Pope himself. 
 
 The errors of the Imagebreakers rose some time later in the 
 East. In the year 787 Pope Adrian I. condemned them by two 
 letters, one to the emperor, the other to the empress and required' 
 that these letters be received as matters of faith from him, because 
 he sat on the chair of Peter. He said of the Popes his predeces- 
 sors: " To whom in Peter the Lord gave the power of authority, 
 and he also transmitted it by divine right to the Pontiffs his suc- 
 cessors." "From her" the Roman Church, " the other churches; 
 receive the documents of faith." , 
 
 We must remember that the seat of the Roman Empire had been 
 removed from Rome to Constantinople by Constantine about the 
 year 312, and that from that date, Rome the City of the Popes, 
 was but a small city compared to Constantinople, the seat of the 
 great Empire of Rome. From that time, Rome and her Pontiffs 
 gave the faith to the whole world. The power of the Papacy rose 
 over other churches therefore, not from the importance of 
 its position, but it rested its authority in the successor of St. Peter 
 himself. At the opening of the II. council of Nice, the legates of 
 Pope Adrian I. presided over all the bishops, and they first read 
 the dogmatic letters of his Holiness, defining from the Chair of 
 Peter the doctrines in dispute. Then the presiding legate asked 
 in a most solemn manner of the archbishop of Cpnstantinople: 
 " Let the Patriarch tell us, let the council tell us, do they agree 
 to the letters of the most holy Pope, the senior of Rome or not ? 
 because as his Judgment is irreformable, neither reason nor faith 
 will allow us to change it. " All the Fathers of the council without 
 a single exception replied: " We follow him. We admit the let- 
 ters. We agree with him. " In signing the acts every bishop 
 added before his name: " With the grace of Christ our Lord, 
 the true God, I believe and profess whatever is contained in the 
 letters of his Holiness the Pope of Rome. My faith is that of 
 Pope Adrian. " Tarasius patriarch of Constantinople, writing 
 
174 THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 afterwards to the Pope, made liis profession of faith in these words: 
 *' Your Holiness has attained the Chair of Peter the Apostle" 
 and speaking of the official definition of the Pope sent to the coun- 
 cil, before the meeting of the bishops, he says: "These are the Di- 
 vine Oracles. " 
 
 About the middle of the ninth century, by the treachery of 
 Photius, again the religious peace of Europe was threatened. In 
 the year 870 the VIII. General Council was called at Constantinople, 
 it being known as the IV. of Constantinople under Adrian II. 
 He was aided by the emperor Bazel, who took a great deal of pains 
 to gather together the bishops at Constantinople, the capital of the 
 "Greek empire. Before the first session of the council, the Pope 
 had sent a letter to the emperor, commanding the bishops of the 
 universal church under the most severe censures, to burn the acts 
 and decrees of the former meeting of the few bishops under Photius, 
 who claimed independence of the Holy See, and who was even then 
 beginning the division, which later resulted in separating the Greek 
 church from the seat of unity at Rome. This division exists to 
 our day in the Russian church and the separated schismatics of the 
 East or Asiatic churches. The Pope wrote: " Let not one iota, or 
 tittle remain of these decrees, for the clergymen who do so, will 
 be deprived, not only of their right as clergymen, but also of 
 the dignity of the whole christian name. " Having carefully ex- 
 •ecuted the commands of the Pope, the Fathers of the council ex- 
 claimed with one voice: " Blessed be the Lord, who has deigned 
 to accept some satisfaction for your Holiness. " 
 
 Before this Pope Adrian had sent to the council a rule of faith 
 called " The Libellus. " It contained all the chief articles of the 
 catholic faith. In it the Pope stated that unless the bishops sub- 
 scribed to it, they could not hope to be reconciled with the church 
 and with the Holy See. The first article of this statement says: 
 " Our Lord said to Simon ; * Thou art Peter and upon this rock 
 I will build my church. ' " He then decreed that history proves 
 that this promise of the Saviour has been kept. Then he con- 
 tinues: " What has been said proves the effect of these things, 
 because the holy catholic religion, and its famous teaching has 
 been kept and guarded unspotted by the Apostolic See. " 
 
 After the council had passed the decree as commanded by Pope 
 Adrian, the bishops signed the Acts of the council, every bishop 
 signing his na\ne with the formula: " In the presence of the un- 
 dersigned witnesses I (name of bishop) have affixed my signature 
 to the profession of my faith, drawn up by the most blessed Adrian, 
 the supreme Pontiff and universal Pope. " At the second session 
 of the council, all the bishops who had fallen into the schism by 
 following Photius, were separately asked if they still persisted in 
 their course. 
 
 After they had heard the " Libellus" of Pope Adrian read, they 
 replied to the legate: " We accept your judgment as that of the 
 person of the Son of God. " In the third session the legates read 
 
KICHOLAS I. AGAINST THE COUNCIL. 175 
 
 still another letter from Pope Adrian to the patriarch Ignatius, 
 archbisliop of Constantinople, in which the bishop of Rome de- 
 clared, that the decisions of the Papacy are irrevocable. In Igna- 
 titus' reply to Nicholas I. the predecessor of Adrian, which was 
 read in the third session of this council, he says: " For the 
 trouble of the body there are many physicians, but for the wounds 
 of the soul there is but one the bishop of the soul. " " l^hey, the 
 Popes, are the rooters-oat of heresies, and the destroyers of the 
 tares and weeds of heresies. " " Whence we consider the blessed 
 Pope Nicholas and his most holy successor Adrian as being the 
 organ of the Holy Ghost. " All, including the emperor, wrote, 
 asking the Pope to recognize as valid the holy orders administer- 
 ed by the intruder Photius, who was related to the emperor, but 
 who ordained clergymen, who still required jurisdiction for some 
 of the sacraments. This was the request of a general council, 
 strengthened by the whole force of the empire, a powerful proof 
 of the belief of the whole world at that day. They requested in 
 vain. The Bishop of Rome refused to recognize the orders admin- 
 istered by the man, who had intruded himself into the See of St. 
 Ignatius. The Pope replied '• It is not in us. It is and it is 
 not. We cannot contradict ourselves. '' He replied thus, because 
 before the council had met, he stated that he would not consider 
 as legitimate the holy orders administei'ed by the bad usurping 
 bishop Photius, even with the whole power of the Roman empire 
 behind him. 
 
 Such is a brief history of the VIII. first important councils held 
 in the East, which show in striking manner the Bishops of Rome 
 independent of and above all councils of the church. During 
 these centuries numerous other councils, no less famous, had been 
 held in the West, that is in Europe, and they also show the Roman 
 Pontiffs in the same light as the Supreme Shepherds of souls. But 
 we have given the story of the Eastern councils, for the East was 
 «oon to fall into the Greek schism, inte which they still remain 
 plunged. 
 
 Thus in her great writers and in her councils, we find the divine 
 •constitution of the church so clearly proved, that any unbiased 
 mind must see, that Peter in his successors still feeds the sheep 
 and lambs of Christ. 
 
 Such therefore is Rome, the city of Peter and of Paul, the head 
 and the capital of the christian world. Let us end this chapter 
 by the words of two great christian fathers, regretting that no trans- 
 lation can give their original beauties. St. Leo says preaching to 
 the Romans long ago on the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul:' " For 
 these are the men by whom the Gospel of Christ was preached at 
 Rome, which city was first the Mistress of error, but which later 
 became the disciple of truth. These were your fathers and your 
 true pastors. They built another empire for you, and led you into 
 a more heavenly kingdom, much greater than the kingdom con- 
 
 1 29th June. 
 
176 STS. LEO AND CHRTSTOM. 
 
 quered by your fathers, better than the one Avhom your founder 
 soiled by a brother's death.' These apostles led you into this glory, 
 that you might be a holy nation, a people elect, a priestly and & 
 royal city. By the holy See of blessed Peter, you became the head 
 of the whole world, that by a divine religion you might rule wider 
 and by a power greater than by any earthly dominion. . . .For it 
 better agreed with divine providence, that many kingdoms might 
 unite in your one empire, so that later to many people the same 
 preaching might extend, which the power of one city held. But 
 this city, knowing not the destiny of providence over her, when she 
 had conquered nearly all nations she served and believed in the 
 errors of all. Then she received a religion which had no error, 
 whence inasmuch as she was held by the strength of the devil, 
 she was delivered more wonderfully by Christ.* " Whence these 
 two wonderful seeds of the divine Word sprouted and brought 
 forth their harvest, the thousands of Martyrs, emulating the tri- 
 umphant death of the apostles reddened our City with their 
 
 blood, and shone forth far and wide to other peoples But in 
 
 the superiority of these Fathers we give greater glory, for the 
 grace of God raised them to the highest pinnacle among all the 
 members of the saints, among those who form one body, of which 
 
 Christ is the head.' 
 
 ''Yes, if we were there we would see him (Peter) although we 
 stand not near, we will see near by him, a royal throne shining 
 forth, where the Cherubim worship God, where the Seraphim fly; 
 there Ave will see Paul, with Peter the chief and the prince of the 
 
 choir of saints, and we will rejoice in their double charity And 
 
 therefore I love Rome, and for other reasons I look to her than for 
 her size, her ancient glories, her beauties, her numerous popula- 
 tion, her power, her riches and for the wonderful things done iu 
 her. But all these thrown aside, I call her blessed, because Paul, 
 while he lived was kind to her citizens, and therefore he loved 
 them, he preached to them, and later among them he ended his 
 life, they have his holy body, and therefore this city has become 
 great, greater than all other human things, and as the full-grown 
 body has two sparkling eyes, thus she has the bodies of these 
 
 two Here Paul was carried, here Peter. Think and be 
 
 frightened at the scene Rome is to see, — Paul with Peter rising 
 above to meet the coming of the Lord. What kind of a rose will 
 Rome send to Christ ? By what kind of a double crown will this 
 City bedecked? * 
 
 > He alludes to the Roman empire founded bv Romulus who killed his brother soon after 
 Rome was founded. ' St. Leo Sermo I In Nat. SS Ap. Petri et PauU. 
 
 > Ibidem in Fine. * St. Cbrystom Sermo 9i In moral. E. host. 
 
:g?!p(itpSp^^^|l^^P^i^!!?!?^^ 
 
 fHE Father opens his divine 
 intelligence and gives rise 
 ^viiz/' to his Thought, his mental 
 Word, who "In the begin- 
 ning was the Word and the Word 
 was with God and the Word was 
 God.'" The Word is the Son re- 
 vealed to man from the time his 
 human nature was created. He 
 came down from heaven to earth, 
 that he might teach mankind the 
 way to heaven, that he might govern 
 his Kingdom on this earth, thus 
 preparing us for the Glories he had 
 with his Father before the world was. 
 All revelation then may be re- 
 duced to two kinds of supreme prin- 
 ciples or series of truths. — one relat- 
 ing to what we must believe — the 
 
 I John i. 1. 
 
 1;7 
 

 
 1 
 
 fli^^lrn ' 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
THE CHURCH TEACHES FAITH AND MORALS. 179 
 
 other to what we must do in order to be saved. This agrees with 
 the nature of man,' whose mind sees truth and whose will rules 
 his moral actions. Mind and free will in action make our reason, 
 making us differ from beasts, who are ruled by instinct and by 
 passion. By reason then man rises to the serene sphere of an in- 
 tellectual being, like the angel and like unto God, whose divine 
 Intelligence, the Son, by his laws rules all creation. 
 
 The Intelligence or Truth of God is his only begotten Son, ever 
 generated from the Father, whose images are the thoughts of 
 every created mind, bringing forth faint reflections of his infinite 
 perfections. The Good of God is the Holy Spirit to whose like- 
 ness we foi-m each good thought and action. In creation God 
 made each creature to the image and the likeness of his divine 
 Son, and the Holy Spirit who "moved over the waters" on the 
 morning of creation now rules his church, the last and most won- 
 derful of created things. In the revelation of God to man, the 
 divine Son acts in the mind by the truths revealed of him, and la 
 the will the Holy Ghost acts by his grace. Dogmatic theology 
 treats of the truths of revelation proposed to the human mind, 
 and moral theology tells the will what to do, that the minds of 
 men may be enlightened by his truths and that the actions of 
 men may be right and according to the Will of God. Thus 
 while the Son enlightens the intelligence of the race, the Holy 
 Ghost strengthens the wills of men by his indwelling in the soul. 
 Thus the Son and Spirit of God poured out upon the world, act 
 on the noblest faculties of mankind, raising them up to a super- 
 natural state, and preparing them for the coming glories of heaven. 
 
 The church being the organ of God, she acts in the mind by teach- 
 ing truth, and on the will by pouring grace into the soul. Thus 
 the Son and Spirit of God teaches and sanctifies mankind. The 
 church alone has received from God the right and the power of 
 saying what God has revealed, and telling which actions are good 
 and which are bad. She is then the teacher of faith and of mor- 
 als, she is the spiritual government of mankind. But the church 
 is composed of a great many persons. The laity sit at her feet and 
 listen to her teaching. They are not the teachers but the listen- 
 ers. The bishops are the teaching officers of the church while 
 the priests under them are their aids and helpers. But the mem- 
 bers of the mystic body of Christ do not speak for themselves. 
 For the head speaks by and through the mouth. The head alone 
 directs the body. The head of the church teaches and directs the 
 members of the body. Thus in nature the head directs the body. 
 The Bishop of Rome is the head of the church. He is the teach- 
 er of faith and morals. To him in the person of Peter, Christ 
 gave the supernatural power of feeding his lambs and sheep, and 
 of confirming his brethren in the episcopacy. Every priest and 
 bishop in the church but reflects the intellectual light which flows 
 out from him the Bishop of Rome whom the Holy Spirit keeps 
 from error. 
 
180 IX WHAT THE POPE IS NOT INFALLIBLE. 
 
 The Pope is not the teacher of the church in his private life, 
 but in his public and official life. Heir of Peter sitting on 
 the eternal throne of the Fisherman he teaches the universal 
 church what God has revealed, what we are to believe, and what 
 we must do in order to be saved. His teaching power has noth- 
 ing to do with his private life. It is attached to his office as the 
 visible head of the visible church. Because he is the Vicar of our 
 Eedeemer, the Holy Spirit keeps him from error, so that he 
 may not deceive the people of God. He cannot manufacture any 
 new doctrines; he cannot increase or weaken what God has re- 
 vealed as found in the holy Bible or in the traditions of the 
 christian church; his office as teacher is to " keep the deposit of 
 truth " revealed in the Bible and in tradition to the world, a rev- 
 elation finished and ended by the coming of our blessed Lord. 
 
 He is not infallible in appointing bishops, in forming rules for 
 particular dioceses or provinces of the church, in arranging treat- 
 ies and concordances with nations, in passing judgments in par- 
 ticular cases of discipline, in teaching a part of the church, but 
 leaving out some of the clergy or people, in correcting abuses in 
 certain dioceses, in appointing men to offices in the church, or in 
 writing private letters. He is infallible only when as Head of the 
 whole church ,he defines matters of faith and morals revealed by God 
 in the Bible and in tradition, and in teaching the whole world what 
 God has taught in the Bible and in all truths necessarily connected 
 with the preservation of religion. Many authors say that by the 
 words of Christ to Peter " I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy 
 faith fail not, and that thou being once converted confirm thy 
 brethren," ' means that the catholic faith is secured to the 
 Bishop of Eome as heir of Peter's power, and that he will never 
 fall into even private error acting as a private man. In fact his- 
 tory does not give us the example of any Pontiff falling from the 
 faith of Christ. Even in their private lives they were all men of 
 the soundest faith and purest morals, and this seems reasonable. 
 For it would be difficult to suppose a Pope proclaiming to the 
 whole church as a truth revealed by God, what he did not in his 
 heart firmly believe. 
 
 All writers both within and without the church agree that the 
 Pontiff, even after advising with his cabinet could err in a dis- 
 puted point regarding any particular fact except a dogmatic fact, 
 proved by the testimony of men. All catholics say that he may 
 err as a private man in his private opinions regarding faith and 
 morals, the same as any other man. They also agree in saying 
 that the Pontiff presiding over a general council cannot err in 
 decrees of faith and morals. We cannot suppose a general coun- 
 cil of all the bishops of the world meeting without their natural 
 and only head and chairman, the Bishop of Rome, personally or 
 by his legate presiding over them. The bishops in such a univer- 
 sal council taken separately are not the infallible teachers of 
 
 > Luke xxli. 82. 
 
MEANING OF THE WORD INFALLIBLE. 181 
 
 faith and morals, and when they assemble in a council they do 
 not change their nature and become infallible teachers. Taken 
 separately from their natural head, the Pontiff, either scattered 
 in their dioceses, or united in council they, are not infallible. For 
 not to the apostles did Christ say " Feed my lambs Feed my 
 sheep", but to Peter alone said the Lord these words. The un- 
 failing teacher of the church then is the heir and the successor of 
 Peter, lighting up the whole church by the teachings of his super- 
 naturally enlightened mind. The Pope is the head of the gener- 
 al council, and the head speaks but not the members of the body. 
 Thus the council of the whole church cannot reform the decrees 
 of the Pope as the Vatican council defined.' 
 
 Each organism comes into the world more or less imperfect, 
 but by the lapse of time it develops into a perfect animal or man. 
 God revealed to the human race all things wanted for the salva- 
 tion of mankind. But these truths were not given so clearly that 
 all men might see them at once. By lapse of time they became 
 more and more clear to the human mind, as the organism of the 
 church developed from age to age.* 
 
 The word infallible comes from the Latin and means not liable 
 to err. Thus any one who teaches truths coming from human 
 reason isiilfallible. But the Pope is infallible only when he teaches 
 the supernatural truths, that is what God revealed in the Bible 
 and in holy tradition. The constitution of the church is found in 
 the Bible and in tradition. But the Holy Spirit does not give 
 every one the power of interpreting the Bible. That belongs to 
 Peter and to his successors in the See of Rome, in office as confirmers. 
 of their brothers the other bishops. The Pope is infallible only 
 when he speaks from the chair of Peter as the teacher of the whole 
 world teaching matters belonging to faith and morals. If he were 
 to leave any one out, or teach only a section of the world, or pro- 
 claim a thing not pertaining to revelation, then he would not be in- 
 fallible. From this the reader will see that the Pope only claims 
 what all members of the Protestant churches claim for themselves, 
 the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the interpretation of religion. 
 Therefore what Protestants call — the private interpretation of the 
 Scriptures, — and which they think belongs to all persons, the church 
 holds as belonging only to the head of the church, to the Pope 
 the successor of St. Peter. The infallibility of the Pope consists 
 in this, that he is the divinely appointed Interpreter of revelation, 
 the Guardian of the ''Deposit of Faith, the Teacher of the chil- 
 dren of God, and the Vicar of Christ." 
 
 The church is infallible in her teachings because of the infalli- 
 bility of her head. The head and body cannot be divided, for 
 that would be the death of the body. To the church Christ said : 
 " Going forth therefore teach ye all nations." " Behold I am with 
 you all days even to the consummation of the world." * The Holy 
 
 * CoDcil. Vat. Cap. iv. ^ See Card. Newman, Development of Chrtstlan Doctrine. 
 
 8 Matt, xxvill. 20. 
 
182 BISHOPS ARE NOT INFALLIBLE. 
 
 Spirit animates the whole body of the church, as the soul of man 
 animates his body. The soul of man speaks through and by his 
 mouth in the head. So the Holy Ghost speaks through and by 
 the head of the church. Whence the Pope is infallible by the as- 
 sistance of the Holy Spirit. In former days the same Holy Ghost 
 spoke by and through the prophets of the Old Testament. In the 
 same way he now speaks in and by the Pope but in a different 
 manner. For the inspiration of the prophets was a direct and a 
 positive act of the Spirit of God. But in the Pope the action of 
 the indwelling Spirit of God is not so prominent as in the prophets. 
 For the Holy Ghost only keeps the Pope from teaching error to- 
 the world, when sitting on the Chair of Peter. 
 
 Whence that infallibility given to the church through and by 
 Peter is a special and direct act of the supernatural, so that the 
 Vicar General, the prime Minister of Christ may not deceive the 
 human race, and in the name of Christ teach what is false; that 
 the church might keep bright and unspotted the series of truths 
 revealed to mankind. Thus the church is a ''path and a way, 
 there shall be, and it shall be called the holy way, the unclean 
 shall not pass ovc* it, and this shall be unto you a straight way so- 
 that fools shall not err therein ?" ' Therefore whosoever follows the 
 teachings of the infallible church, shall be sure of their salvation, 
 even if they are unlearned, because they shall be taught by Jesus 
 Christ himself, who speaks to them by the mouth of his Vicar the 
 Pope. 
 
 The Pope therefore is infallible because he is the teacher of the 
 universal church. The bishop and clergy are also infallible be- 
 cause they teach what the Pope teaches and reflect the rays of his 
 infallibility, like the planets which shine not by their own light 
 but by the light of the sun around which they revolve. " In 
 Peter therefore the firmness of all is strengthened, and the aid of 
 divine grace is so ordained, that the strength, which was given by 
 Christ to Peter, through Peter it was confirmed on the apostles." * 
 The infallibility of the Pope comes not from his union with the 
 bishop but from his union with Christ, while the infallibility of 
 the other bishops and the priests of the whole church comes from 
 him, and it is but the reflection of his individual infallibility. 
 
 The Pope being the Vicar and the prime minister of Ciirist. 
 what he does in his office as Pope binds Christ. For to him in 
 the person of Peter Christ said: " I will give to thee the keys of 
 the kingdom of heaven, and whatever thoushalt bind on earth it 
 shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose up- 
 on earth it shall be loosed also in heaven."' In the Pope there- 
 fore the three powers of teaching, sanctifying and of ruling the 
 people of God exist in the highest and most eminent degree. As 
 the teacher of the church Christ said to him: "Confirm thy 
 brethren."* As the chief minister of the Lord he said: " Feed my 
 
 ' Isalas XXV. S. » St. Leo Sermo. Iv. 8. * Matt. xvl. 19. 
 
 * Luke xxll. 32. 
 
THE HEAD RULES THE BODY. 183 
 
 lambs Feed my sheep."' As the head and ruler of the whole 
 church he said to him: ''Whatever thou shalt bind upon earth 
 it shall be bound also in heaven " &C.'' 
 
 It is false then to suppose that the church is infallible and that 
 the Pope is only the mouthpiece of the infallible church, and that 
 he is not infallible in his own person. For each of the bishops 
 are not infallible when considered separately, and when they meet 
 in council they cannot give an infallibility which they have not. 
 For in the councils of the church, they derive their infallibility 
 from their head the Eoman Pontiff, who in his turn obtains his 
 infallibility from his remarkable union with Christ. It is the in- 
 fallibility of the Spirit of Christ who dwells in him. 
 
 The Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost, the " Spirit of Truth," the 
 Soul of the church, he teaches the world through the Pope, and 
 that Spirit of Christ keeps him from teaching, erring and deceiving 
 the world in the name of Christ. For Christ " gave to Peter, 
 and gave to him alone, all the fulness of what belonged to him- 
 self." ^ ''The Roman Pontiff has been always called the head of 
 the church."- "The bishop of the catholic church."' "The 
 source and the origin of the episcopacy." * "The chief of bish- 
 ops."^ To sum all up we say with St. Ambrose: "Where Peter 
 is there is the church." * 
 
 The diocese of Rome has stood. The Papacy is eternal. For Christ 
 is the Son of God, infinite and he is all powerful to save from 
 falling the corner stone of the universal church he founded. For 
 that reason the Popes live forever in an atmosphere of the super- 
 natural. For they are the Vicars of Christ, the mouthpiece and 
 the organ of the Holy Ghost. That grace given to Peter was not 
 for him alone, not for him personally, but also for his successors 
 in the See of Rome. That commission was given him personally 
 for the universal church. That grace was to govern, confirm, and to 
 strengthen all his brethern in the episcopacy, in the work of the 
 apostolate, to uphold the other diocese by the strength Christ 
 gave to Peter, and by him to the Popes. 
 
 For if the head is strong and enlightened, the whole body par- 
 takes in its wisdom, and the organism advances sure on the 
 road to perfection. For that reason the Lord gave power to Peter 
 to direct the whole church confided to his care. Being the one 
 Rock with Christ, Peter and his successors form with him one 
 authority, one government. But lest they might direct the world 
 wrong, lest they might compromise the teachings left to the world 
 and deceive the human race, to avoid these terrible evils, the Lord 
 gave to Peter and in him to the Popes infallibility in teaching mat- 
 ters of faith and morals, when sitting on the episcopal throne of 
 Peter. 
 
 The Vicar of Christ then is the religious teacher of mankind. 
 
 1 John xxi. 19. ■ Matt. xvl. 19. ' St. Leo L. Cit. p. 140, 2. 
 
 ■• St. Chrystom Hom. 80, ad prop. ^ Concil. Chal. et Constantinople In Epit Synod. 
 
 « St. Cvp'ren Eplst. 45, ad Cornel. 
 
 ^ Synod Afric. ad Tbeod. St. Jerome Cont. Jovin Tertul. de Pudlc. cl. " In Psl. 40. n. 30. 
 
184 HOW DOCTRINES ARK DEFINED. 
 
 By divine right it belongs to Peter to define what God has taught 
 in the holy Bible, what Christ left to the apostles, and what may 
 be found in the traditions of the church. Being head of the vis- 
 ible church, he is the mouthpiece of the whole mystic body of 
 Christ. For the body speaks by the head in any organization, 
 because the mouth is always in the head. But the head receives 
 nourishment and completeness from the body. So the Pope is 
 aided by the body of the whole episcopacy of the church, but above 
 all he finds his help in the body of the cardinals, the chief clergy 
 of the Eoman diocese, who have especially preserved the teachings 
 of Peter their first bishop. 
 
 When heretics attack any doctrine of the church, the Pope ap- 
 points the most learned men of Eome to examine the teachings of 
 God in the Bible, the traditions of the church, the writings of 
 the holy fathers and all the traditions of Christianity in the fathers 
 who wrote the teachings of the apostles. The matter passes 
 through the college of cardinals, and when it is found in the 
 Bible and in the deposit of faith, then the Pope as vicar of Christ 
 publicly proclaims that it was taught by God, and that it is a 
 part of the constitutions of the church. He does not then man- 
 ufacture any new doctrines, but he proclaims the old held from 
 the foundations of the christian religion. Then Rome and the 
 whole world shine with a brighter lustre by the truths of God 
 revealed to the human race. 
 
 The judge, the president, the king may sin in their private lives, 
 and still be good rulers, or give correct decisions. For one is an 
 act of private life and the other a public act, and each is independ- 
 ent of the other. Yet when it happens, no one appears to say the 
 whole nation or the courts have gone to ruin nor the church fallen 
 into error when any clergyman falls away from the sanctity of his 
 state. The Pope therefore in his private life is like any other man, 
 liable to sin. For only Christ and his Mother lived free from sin. 
 But we suppose, that being surrounded by so many safeguards, the 
 Pope does not sin as much as others. But if he does, he has to 
 go to the sacraments like other men. 
 
 The office of the Papacy is then to define what God has re- 
 vealed to man as contained in the Bible and in traditions, and to 
 pronounce what actions are good and what actions are bad. Faith 
 dwells in the mind of man, and morals in the free will. The doc- 
 trines of faith revealed by God to the human race are proposed to 
 our belief by the church, as contained in the Bible, explained by 
 the traditions of the church, and in every historic monument of 
 the past. The Papacy, as head of the church, solemnly defines 
 that these principles of truths have been revealed by God to the 
 human race, and that they are contained in *'the deposit of faith." ' 
 To be saved all men must believe these truths, and " He that bliev- 
 eth not shall be condemned. " ' The Pope then is the teacher of 
 faith and morals. But let us understand morals. 
 
 ' 1 Tltn. vl. 30. « Luke xvl. 16. 
 
WHAT IS A HUMAN ACT ? 185 
 
 Man, by nature a mineral, a vegetable, and an animal and an 
 intellectual being, he has many acts, which belong to these four 
 great divisions of creation, actions ruled by varied laws which God 
 made to rule this forefold orders of creatures. When man acts 
 unconsciously, not knowing what he does, his acts belong to the 
 rank of the creatures below him, who are not capable of sin, for. 
 they know not what they do. But when he acts deliberately, 
 knowing what he does, his acts are good, bad or indifferent. If 
 they are good, they have their reward, if they are bad, they carry 
 with them a punishment. When therefore a man acts, not know- 
 ing what he does, because of want of knowledge, from forgetful- 
 ness or want of thought, his act is like that of any animal, having 
 neither punishment nor reward. But when a man acts with in- 
 tention and attention, it is not an animal but a human act, for in 
 that case the mind and will, which are man's reasonable and an- 
 gelic faculties, take part in it, and it is good, bad or indifferent, 
 according to the intention and attention. A human act then is 
 good or bad according as it agrees or disagrees with the rules of 
 morals, that is with the laws which regulate mens' free actions. 
 
 We must first take into account the laws of natural right and 
 wrong, which the God of nature has written in our hearts, next 
 the laws which God revealed in the Bible and in holy tradition, 
 thus the laws which the church makes, and the laws which 
 the state, makes' for our guidance and for the temporal 
 welfare of mankind. These laws are universal and external 
 to us. Knowing these laws, we say to ourselves this action is ac- 
 cording to or contrary to reason, or to the law of God in revelation, 
 or to the church, or to the state. Then we conclude that we can 
 or cannot do it without breaking a law. Such are the reasonings 
 of the mind in every human act. That is a conclusion of con- 
 science. Thus conscience concludes and judges in all our human 
 acts relating to good and bad acts. 
 
 To the head of the church belongs the power and authority of 
 defining what are the good and bad actions of men. For while 
 good acts lead man to heaven, bad actions lead him to hell. 
 Therefore as the shepherd of souls redeemed by Christ the Church 
 through her head tells men the good and the bad actions. He is not 
 infallible in politics, in the natural sciences, in disputes among 
 men about historic facts, for his infallibility extends only to the 
 truths revealed by God to mankind, and to dogmatic facts con- 
 tained in the Bible and in holy tradition. 
 
 In making Peter and his successors head and teacher of the 
 whole church, Christ did not lower but rather crowned the whole 
 episcopal order, and placed as a light to mankind the great 
 See of Peter. The bishops who especially form the teach- 
 ing church, are not to receive their teachings from the priests 
 under them, but from their father over them, from that Bish- 
 op who has not only complete orders like themselves, but also 
 who made them by his ofiBcial appointment and who has the com- 
 
186 WHAT IS A VIRTUE ? 
 
 plete jurisdiction over all the souls of Christ, to whom Christ said: 
 "Feed my lambs/' "Feed my sheep," " Confirm thy brethren." 
 
 The words of our Lord to Peter were: "Thou art Peter and up- 
 on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against it, and 1 will give to thee the keys of the king- 
 dom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall 
 be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon 
 earth it shall be loosed also in heaven."' *'I have prayed for 
 thee Peter, that thy faith fail not, and that thou being once con- 
 verted confirm thy brethren." " Feed my lambs Feed my sheep," 
 etc. By these words Christ made Peter the teacher of the faith 
 and of the morals of the christian church. He has the power of 
 opening and of closing heaven, of binding and loosening the con- 
 sciences of men, and of feeding Christ's sheepf olds and lambs in 
 all the dioceses and churches of the world. If the Pope, whom 
 in the person of Peter, Christ made the head of the church, would 
 teach error, then he would do so in the name of the Christ. 
 
 The Pope then is the teacher of the human race in the place of 
 Christ. He is the official interpreter of the Bible, the guardian 
 of the truths God revealed to the human race. These truths 
 are of two kinds, the revelations of faith and of morals. Faith be- 
 ing in the mind and morals in the free will the Pope enlightens 
 and strengthens these two angelic faculties, by which man rises 
 above, and is superior to animals, and by which he is like unto 
 the angels and like unto God. The Pope then is the divine- 
 ly appointed custodian of the faith and the morals of man- 
 kind. 
 
 But let us see what is faith. Faith is a virtue infused into our 
 souls by the Holy Spirit, inclining us to believe what he has re- 
 vealed as taught by the church. A virtue in a habit of acting 
 rightly. By often doing right we get so accustomed to doing so, 
 that it becomes easy to us. By doing wrong often, we soon get so 
 used to it that wickedness comes easy to us. Then a good habit 
 is a virtue, and a bad habit is a vice. We see then by experience 
 how we should ahva\"s do right and shun badness. 
 
 A virtue being an acquired habit of acting rightly, it is called a 
 natural virtue. But a virtue, which we did not acquire ourselves, 
 but which comes by the grace of God, is an infused virtue, be- 
 cause it com"es not from us or from nature but from God. Vir- 
 tues are again called moral or theological according to the object 
 towards which they tend. There are four primary cardinal na- 
 tural virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, natural 
 to the heart of every man, and by which he controls his passions 
 and the beastly tendency of his nature to drag him down. But there 
 are three chief supernatural virtues implanted in the soul by the Holy 
 Ghost at baptism, which may be compared to three eyes or powers 
 given to man in addition to what he has from nature. They 
 tend to elevate him and to raise him to God. These can never be 
 
 > Matt. zn. 19. 
 
NATUKAL AND SUPERNATUEAL FAITH. 187 
 
 acquired without the grace of God, as they have for their object 
 Ood the Supernatural, working above nature, although every man 
 has besides a natural faith, hope and love. Fallen man cannot 
 rise to God unless by and through his Son Jesus Christ, the Auth- 
 or and the source of grace, lifting mankind from earth towards 
 heaven. 
 
 Faith is the assent of the mind, because of the authority of the 
 teacher. It is of two kinds, natural and supernatural, inasmuch 
 as it comes from nature or from grace. If you set a dog to hunt 
 for a rat, he will hunt because he imagines that there is an animal 
 to be hunted even before he finds the animal to be killed. AVe be- 
 lieve that Alexander conquered an empire, altliough we never saw 
 him, because we believe what historians tell us. The dog will hunt 
 for the rat because his hunting instincts tell him to find him. We 
 labor each day because we hope to get our pay for our labor. The 
 animals love each other and their young, as the mother loves her 
 •childre!!. But these are only natural virtues implanted in nature 
 by the Creator for the good of his creation. 
 
 But tliere is another kind of faith, hope and love, which comes 
 from God the Holy Ghost, which still farther complete man, and 
 directs him on his way to heaven. They are found only in the chris- 
 tian. Their object is not the natural but the supernatual in the 
 other life. The object of faith is God and his words, truths re- 
 vealed to man. The object of hope is God and his rewards in 
 heaven. The object of charity is God himself and our neighbor 
 for the love of God. We believe what God has revealed because 
 Ood can neither deceive nor be deceived. We hope because of 
 God's goodness to us. We love him because of his goodness 
 and perfections in himself. We believe his truths, we hope in his 
 goodness and we love himself. Such are the virtues God implants 
 in us by his grace, the first fruits of our redemption. Thus God 
 bends down to us, making of our souls and bodies the temples of 
 his Holy Spirit, that by these supernatural virtues, he may lift us 
 up to himself. But faith, being the belief of things we see not 
 now, in heaven where we will see God and his truths face to face, 
 there will be no faith. Hope looks for the rewards of God in 
 heaven, and when we go there we will have no more hope, for then 
 we will have God himself, and live his own supernatural life. But 
 in heaven, charity will increase, because the goodness and the per- 
 fections of things inspire love, for we love not the deformed — there 
 in heaven, where our minds will bask in the streams of intellectual 
 light flowing forth from the face of the Eternal Son, where the Lord 
 the Holy Spirit will fill them with charity, the love of God above 
 will last during all the endless ages of eternity. 
 
 Faith then is a supernatural virtue, supernaturally implanted in 
 the soul, by which the mind fixedly believes all the truths which 
 the church proclaims that God has revealed to the human race. 
 We believe because of the authority of God speaking. Two 
 things force us to believe — first the authority of God — second the 
 
188 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 authority of the church, he founded to teach what he has re- 
 vealed. God spoke first by the prophets, and his revelations are 
 found in the Bible and in the traditions of Christianity. At last 
 in the fulness of time, his Son came, the greatest of the prophets, 
 resuming in his sacred Person, and fulfilling in his life, all prepa- 
 rations for his coming. Then he founded his church to teach all men 
 his revelations, to live till the end of time, so as to preserve clear, 
 uudefiled and unbroken, all the revelations and teachings of God. 
 
 The object then of faith is the truth of God revealed. Our 
 faith therefore is founded on the infinite wisdom of God, who can- 
 not be deceived, and on the truthfulness of God who cannot 
 tell a lie or deceive anyone. By the true faith then God is known 
 from all false gods, from paganism, which is the worship of de- 
 mons, from Mohammedanism, which rejects Christ and puts Mo- 
 hammed in his place as the last of the prophets, and from heretical 
 churches, which hold but a part of our holy religion, and which 
 reject other articles of God's revelation. Faith therefore is 
 founded on the wisdom of God, who knowing all things cannot be 
 deceived — and on the goodness of God, who wishes all men to be 
 saved, and to partake in his everlasting happiness in heaven. 
 
 By faith we believe in God and in the truths he has revealed. 
 But God can be known by two ways, naturally and supernaturally. 
 God is known naturally by the study of the world and its wonders, 
 its laws, its movements, its mathematical foundations and its laws, 
 which guide the movements of its varied non-living and living 
 beings. As the traditions of the Babylonians say, thus Abra- 
 ham first studying the stars, rose to a natural knowledge of the 
 Creator. Then God gave him a supernatural faith in him. First 
 he concluded that the universe was not made by the gods his 
 father made to sell to idolaters, but by some great Creator. But 
 this was only a natural faith, while the supernatural faith given 
 him later, and of which we write has for its object not only God in 
 nature, but a faith which comes from the grace of God infused into 
 the soul, inclining us to believe what God has revealed, because the 
 church proclaims his revelation to the human race. Therefore 
 all men, who have not been baptized, or who have not a supernatural 
 faith, and have only natural faith in what they know and have 
 learned, without this supernatural faith which God sometimes gives 
 as he did to Abraham, they do not believe what the church teaches, 
 for they have not the supernatural faith or grace of believing. 
 They are spiritually blind, they have not that eye of the soul, 
 faith, they are of the earth earthly, they cannot rise of themselves 
 above their nature, and they do not believe, for they cannot see. 
 The church is the teacher of the things God has revealed. She 
 is the organization founded by God to teach the world his revela- 
 tion, to guard his sacred truths, to proclaim his doctrines. We 
 believe because she tells us that God has revealed these things, 
 that these are found in the "deposit of faith, " and that they are 
 a part of the revelation of God to man. The Son of God founded 
 
THE ACTS OF FAITH. 18& 
 
 the church before there was a Bible. Only at the III. council of 
 Carthage was the canon of the Holy Scriptures proclaimed, 
 and by a decree of the Bishop of Kome, the Bible was given to the 
 world as the inspired Book written by the Holy Ghost. The books 
 were then separated from the Holy books, which up to that time 
 had been held by the Jews and christians as the historical writings 
 both of the Old and of the New Testaments, then they were 
 separated from the authentic inspired books, and they are known 
 to-day as the Apocrypha, curious specimens of ancient literature. 
 
 The learned in religion may believe in one article of faith after 
 another, or the unlearned may say : I do not understand all the 
 church teaches, but I believe all she asks me to believe, although 
 I do not understand the reasons why. The clergy believe each 
 article of faith they study while the laity believe what the church 
 teaches. It is not then necessary for the laity to spend long 
 years in the study of the revelation of God. They have only to 
 believe what the church teaches in order to be saved. But as 
 the clergy must teach the laity, as they are the officials of the 
 church, they must know the doctrines of the church, that they may 
 teach others. But they do not teach their private ideas of the 
 Bible and of religion they only reflect the teachings of the church. 
 The body speaks by the head, the Bishop of Rome. He is the 
 Teacher of the church and the clergy teach what they know from 
 the Bible and tradition, under the supervision of the Pope. 
 
 In the catholic church then no priest or bishop preaches hi& 
 own private belief, or inflicts on the people his own peculiar notions. 
 The priest preaching, governing his parish, administering the 
 sacraments, and fulfilling his duties, follows the line of action laid 
 down for him by the church. He acts as the official of the church 
 bound by her laws, acting as her minister, as the religious agent of 
 the Redeemer. His doctrines, his decisions in confession, his 
 mode of administering his parish, his daily ministerial acts 
 were regulated for him by the church. From the church univer- 
 sal and from the diocese he gets these spiritual riches, and he 
 gives these holy things to the people, who belong not to him but 
 to Christ. Therefore the man is absorbed up into the priest, and 
 he preaches not himself but Christ and him crucified, the way of 
 salvation such as the Bishops of Rome have officially proclaimed as 
 revealed by God in the Bible, and in tradition. 
 
 We have said that the Pope is the teacher of faith and morals. 
 Morals are the doctrines relating to the free actions of men. 
 Religion dwells in the mind and will of man. Faith enlightens 
 the mind and lights up the intellect of man, with the truths 
 which God revealed to the human race. But morals are the doc- 
 trines which regulate the free will of man. 
 
 In Adam first made to the image and the likenes of his creator, 
 all his movements were subject to the light of reason. But in fallen 
 man passion rebels against reason, and when the will consents it 
 is sin. But the good of man required that certain laws be given 
 
190 PfiOTESTANT SERVICES. 
 
 him to rule his acts, telling him what actions are good and what 
 are bad. God gave the primary principles of man's action in the 
 Ten Commandments and in many other parts of the Bible. It 
 then belongs to the Pope to define, what is good and what is bad 
 in the actions of man, to say what is and what is not sin, accord- 
 ing to the laws of God and the principles of virtues and of sins. 
 
 The reader then can see that the Bible was not written as a book 
 •of history, of science or of literature, but as a book of faith and 
 ■of morals for the hu man race. The Lord appointed the head of his 
 church as the official expounder and explainer of that wonderful 
 book written by his inspired prophets and apostles* 
 
 Then when the people attend a Protestant church the minister 
 monies forth, gives out the hymn, which the choir sings, the min- 
 ister then preaches his private opinions of the meaning of the 
 Bible, again the choir sings and he dismisses them with liis bene- 
 diction. The members of the congregation go home with the idea 
 that they have worshipped God, when they have only listened to 
 the music, and to a private man giving them his private ideas of 
 what he thinks the text of the Bible means. But in the catholic 
 church, the priest is the minister of Christ. He renews in mystic 
 rites, in vast ceremonial the whole history of the human race, the 
 preparations for the coming of the Redeemer, the life and preach- 
 ings of Christ, the last supper, the crucifixion, the ascension, and 
 the preaching of the Gospel into the whole world. To the Eternal 
 J'ather the sacrifice of the cross is offered up on every altar, 
 and the atonement is renewed before the eyes of God and man. 
 Thus we worship the Godhead by and through his Son, immolat- 
 ed for the supernatural life of man. The priest preaches, not his 
 thoughts or his ideas of the Bible, but he proclaims the teachings 
 of the universal church. From the altar and from the jiulpit, you 
 hear the infallible doctrines, Miiich God revealed to man, as de- 
 fined by the heirs of Peter on the eternal throne of the Fisherman. 
 
 Then the Mass each Sunday is the sacrifice of God's Son, offered 
 up again to the eternal Father, that sublime mystery where all the 
 people gather, that prayer of the whole parish ascending up before 
 the everlasting throne of God, asking blessings on us all, giving 
 thanks unto almighty God, for his blessings in the past and seek- 
 ing for his benefits in the future. Well then among the oriental 
 rites the Mass is called the " Mystery," for it is filled with all the 
 wonderful mysteries of the prophecies, the life the coming and 
 the death of our blessed Saviour. The traditions of Rome tell us 
 that the services of the mass were substantially comj)osed by St. 
 Peter in the Latin tongue, while the other apostles composed like 
 services in the languages of the people to whom they went to preach, 
 and therefore even to our day, the holy mysteries are offered up in 
 various rites and languages, while we follow the Latin rite, establish- 
 ed by St. Peter, and beautified by his successors in the See of 
 Rome. 
 
 The Pope, then, the successor of Peter, the head of the church 
 

192 THE CHURCH IS AN EMPIRE. 
 
 universal, is the interpreter of the bible, the guardian of the tradi- 
 tions, the definer of morals, the supreme court of the church, the 
 tribunal of last resort. To him alone belongs to say what God 
 has revealed to the human race, what actions are morally good and 
 bad, what is virtue, what is vice, what are sins and what are good 
 actions. The Bishop of Rome then is the teacher of faith and of 
 morals. 
 
 Jesus Christ is not only the teacher of mankind but he is also the 
 Lord of lords and the King of kings. He came to found a king- 
 dom, iiis cliurch, a spiritual empire extending to the uttermost 
 ends of the earth, embracing the whole human race for which he 
 died. In this the church differs from othei" governments. For 
 while governments rule, they do not teach their subjects, nor do 
 they feed them on the body and the blood of the ruler. 
 
 This kingdom of Christ was so clearly foretold by the prophets 
 of the Old Testament, that the Jews looked for a Prince of the 
 house of David, whom they thought would come and make them 
 political rulers overall the earth. They expected a civil temporal 
 kingdom, but not a spiritual empire of religion like the church. 
 Their minds, distorted by worldly wisdom, they refused to receive 
 the Son of God, born of the royal house of David and heir of Sol- 
 omon; they would have no king but Caesar, whose successors later 
 scattered them from their country and their home when they des- 
 troyed Jerusalem. 
 
 An empire is a perfect government of men, ruled by an emperor 
 with kings under him, partaking in this authority. In the ancient 
 world, we find striking images of the church, the spiritual empire 
 of Chri§t. The ancient empire of Babylon extended over the 
 plains of Mesopotamia, from which came Abraham called by God 
 to be the father of the Hebrews. But it was a kingdom of con- 
 quest and not of love and learning like the church. Alexander, 
 with the disciples of Aristotle, in the fourth century before Christ 
 went forth as a conquerer from Greece, spreading Grecian civiliza- 
 tion over the East of Europe, the North of Africa, the East of Asia, 
 preparing the nations for the spread of the Gospel later written in 
 Greek. The Romans began their conquests in the ninth century 
 before Christ, and they spread the Latin language wherever their 
 armies had penetrated. But these were empires of blood and of 
 carnage. Tliey were foiced on conquered peoples by the sword. 
 They subdued the bodies, but they left the minds of men still slaves 
 of error, bowing down before pagan idols. They were but feeble 
 imjiges of the church the empire of religion, founded by the Son 
 of God, not for the enslavement of men but for their delivery from 
 the chains of demons. 
 
 Thus while civil empires and Governments rule men, they con- 
 trol only their external actions. They ciinnot penetrate into the 
 minds of men, judge their motives, i)urify the heart, elevate the 
 mitid, deliver men from sin and sorrow or lead them up to heaven. 
 While earthly governments rule the civil actions of men, the churcb 
 
THE COUNCIL OF NICE. 193 
 
 rules the souls of men. Man is composed of a visible body and of 
 iin invisible soul. Civil governments rule the civil actions of men 
 while the church rules the souls. These are the only two kinds of 
 authority in the world now ruling the human race. There is no 
 power but from God. The civil authority comes from God through 
 the people, while the spiritual government of the church comes 
 direct from Jesus Christ in jurisdiction given to Peter. The ex- 
 ercise of jurisdiction belongs to the Vicar of Christ, the heir of 
 Peter, to whom Christ gave the power of binding and of loosing 
 and of feeding his lambs and sheep. AVhence the traditions of 
 Christianity call the successor of Peter ** The Prince of the 
 Church;" " The Bishop of Bishops;" "the Supreme Pastor;"' 
 The Foundation Eock ;" "The Leader of christians ;" "The eternal 
 Monarch," of that vast empire of souls, washed in the blood of 
 the spotless "Lamb of God slain from the foundations of the world." 
 Let us see what apostolic tradition and the councils say of him. 
 
 In the year 325 met the bishops of the world in the memorable 
 council of Nice, the first meeting of the bishops since the days of 
 the apostles. The Arabic decrees, perhaps not authentic, but giving 
 the spirit of this famous council preserved in a remarkable manner 
 tell us that there the clmi'ch decreed: "He who holds the See 
 of Pome is the Head and the prince of all the patriarchs. Indeed 
 he is the first, like Peter, to whom was given power in all christian 
 princes, and over their peoples, so that he is the Vicar of Christ 
 our Lord overall peoples, and over the universal christian church, 
 and he who would contradict him will be excommunicated by the 
 council."' Here at the very first meeting of the whole church 
 which took place since the apostolic days, the church decrees the 
 supreme empire of the church over all princes and peoples with the 
 successor of Peter at the head. The first christian emperor Con- 
 stantine, clothed in the red vestments of the Roman emperors, 
 crowned with the diadem of the Caesars rulers of the world, there 
 at the further end of the hall, he sits opposite the legates of the 
 Pope. The first christian ruler of the whole civilized world takes 
 part in that first meeting of the whole church, where he hears and 
 agrees to a decree proclaiming the spiritual supremacy of the Heir 
 of Peter over the whole world over the nations, over the rulers and 
 over the clergy. 
 
 The other councils of the church proclaimed the same teachings 
 as the doctrine of Christ. The council of Florence decreed: "We 
 define that the holy apostolic See holds the primacy over the whole 
 earth, that the Roman Pontiffs are the successors of blessed Peter, 
 the Head of the apostles. He is the true Vicar of Christ, the head of 
 the whole church, the Father and the teacher of all christians. 
 To him in blessed Peter, our Lord Jesus Christ gave the full power 
 ■of ruling and of governing the universal church."" Again the 
 council of Trent proclaimed: "Because of the supreme authority 
 
 • Mansi Arabic Decrees of Nice Tom. 11. col. 935. 2 concll. Flor. 
 
194 THE CHURCH LIKE A MOAAJfCHY. 
 
 given them over tlie universal churcli, above all the Pontiffs have 
 reserved cases of great crimes to their own judgment.'" 
 
 In our day the V'atican council proclaimed" in striking words the 
 supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over the whole church: "11 
 any one should say the Roman Pontiff has only the office of in- 
 spection and of direction, and not the full and supreme power of 
 jurisdiction in the universal church, not only in things which be- 
 long to faith and morals, but also in these matters which relate to 
 discipline, and to the government of the church scattered through- 
 out tlie whole world, but that he has only the larger parts, but not 
 the fulness of this supreme authority, or that this his power is not 
 ordinary or direct in each and every church, or over all pastors 
 and faithful, let him be anathema."' The documents of every age 
 proclaim that the whole christian world held the doctrine of the 
 supremacy of the Roman church from the very days of the apostles. 
 
 Christ gave the form of a monarchy to the church constitution.* 
 To deny that would be contrary to the teachings of the church, for 
 it belongs to faith. Christ did not found the church, so as to ad- 
 minister it as a republic, where bishops and pastoi-s would be elect- 
 ed by the laity. For all power in the church comes down from 
 Christ the King to his clergy, and thus the authority of the clergy 
 comes not from the people up to them. But the church partakes 
 in the perfections of both the democratic, of the aristocratic and 
 of the kingly forms of governments. For the Popes and bishops de- 
 scend not from ruling families, the clergy have no children like the 
 priesthood of the old law, but they are elected to their offices by 
 ways which will be described farther on.* 
 
 The doctrine of the unity and the supremacy of the Roman See, 
 from the days of the apostles, was so impressed on the world from 
 apostolic days, that we have ever been called Roman Catholics. 
 That is Rome is the city and the See of the visible head of the 
 church, while catholic is the Greek for universal. We are one be- 
 cause of the one headship of the Bishop of Rome, and we are 
 catholic or universal, because the one universal church extends 
 to all parts of the world, and holds within her bosom every church 
 which teaches the faith of Christ. But the scattered churches are 
 all one, because they all come forth from and bow down before 
 the supremacy and power of the Roman church, the Mother of 
 them all. 
 
 In the holy Scriptures the church was foretold by the prophets, 
 and described by our Lord as the sheepfold, the kingdom and the 
 body of Christ. Peter became the shepherd of the lambs and 
 sheep of Christ, the confirmerof his brothers, the guardian of the 
 keys of heaven, the holder of the power of binding and of loosing, 
 the foundation on which the other churches rest. "Because of it» 
 higher principality, to this church every church must come, where- 
 ever are the faithful."* 
 
 ' Concil. Trid. Sob. xIx. Cap. vll. * Concll. Vat. Sosw. Iv. Caput. Hi. ad flnem. 
 
 » Brev. PU vi. Super solid. * Bellarmln De Bom. Pontlf. L. I. et 111. 
 
 * St. Irenlus CoQtra Uaeras. L. 111. 
 
COULD THE PAPACY BE TAKEN" FROM ROME ? 195 
 
 Each king and ruler has some central city, his capital, from 
 which he rules his kingdom. The cliurch being the Kingdom of 
 Christ on the earth it has its capital, the eternal city Kome where 
 dwells her earthly head. From her flow out all power and author- 
 ity of Jurisdiction into all the churches of Christendom. In a 
 kingdom the ruler appoints men under him, to rule distant prov- 
 inces and parts of his dominions. With him they rule. If the con- 
 stitution of the kingdom allow, he can at once take away that an-- 
 thority from those he appointed to partake with him in it. But 
 while the bishops have their jurisdiction from the PontifE, the}'^ 
 govern their dioceses in their own name, for they are the titular 
 bishops of their sees, while the Pope is the titular Bishop not of 
 their sees, but of the See of Peter, of the eternal city Rome. 
 
 We ask the question. Could the primacy over the whole church 
 be taken away from the city of Rome and attached to any other 
 city? "As Peter fixed his See at Rome and there he died, crowned 
 with a glorious martyrdom, if he did that by an express revelation 
 of God given especially to Peter, although depending on the will of 
 Peter, it happened that the supreme Pontificate remains adherent 
 to the Roman See, so that he who succeeds Peter, must also suc- 
 ceed in the primacy of Peter in tlie whole church.^" The whole 
 church without the Pope could not take' that primacy from Rome 
 and give it to any other see. But could the Pope himself do so? 
 "That cannot be easily decided,'" It is a disputed point among 
 authors. Few authors say, that if while living, the Pope should 
 move the See from Rome to another city, that there the Primacy 
 of Peter would rest. They claim that as Christ did not choose 
 Rome, but Peter, that not to Rome but to Peter he said: "Feed 
 my lambs Feed my sheep", therefore what Peter did in choosing a 
 see, his successors can later do. 
 
 But nearly all writers say that Peter chose Rome, that there he 
 died, and that from Rome must the Roman Pontiff take his title. 
 For if the Popes could change their See from Rome, civil govern- 
 ments would try to change the supreme Pontificate from Rome, 
 moved by political reasons, and the church would be disturbed. 
 All Popes ruled as Bishops of Rome. If they should change their 
 titles, doubts would arise regarding the successors of Peter, there 
 would be schisms and divisions in the church, for many would 
 claim that such a translation of the Roman See was contrary to 
 the very constitution of the church, which even the Pope cannot 
 change. The councils have often declared that the Bishop of 
 Rome holds the primacy in the whole church. The whole voice 
 of tradition tells us that. Whence we conclude that the Pope 
 cannot change his title as Bishop of Rome, and become the titular 
 bishop of any other city. That is why we are called Roman Cath- 
 olics. While the Popes may be driven from Rome for a time by 
 political or other causes, and history tells us that they were driven 
 
 • Benedict xiv. De Synod. Dieo L. ii. Cap. I. n. 1. 
 2 Idem De Primat. See. I. p. 19 p. m. 
 
196 THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES. 
 
 many times from the eternal city, yet when the storm passes by, 
 they return again to the city of Peter. 
 
 History tells us that for the first three centuries, before a gen- 
 eral council of all the bishops could meet, the Bishops of Rome 
 ruled the universal church, and condemned false doctrines in 
 every part of the christian world. They oflBcially condemned Cel- 
 cius and Ebion, Avho in Asia Minor while St. John lived, taught 
 that Christ was not the Son of God but a man born of Mary. Why 
 did not St. John the beloved apostle condemn these heretics, in 
 place of leaving them to the judgment of the Bishop of Rome liv- 
 ing so far away, if he did not well know, that it belongs to the 
 heir of Peter to keep the faith? 
 
 Born in the East in the year 157 St. Ireneus came to Lyons, 
 France, of which city he became the first bishop. From there he 
 wrote: ''Because of its more principality, every church must come 
 to this church, all those who are of the faith, because in it the 
 traditions of the apostles is guarded." ' Then, giving the names 
 of the Bishops of Rome from St. Peter up to his time, he contiu- 
 ues: ''This is the ordination and the succession by which the 
 preaching of the apostles have come down to us." 
 
 St. Cyprian, who became bishop of Carthage in the year 248, 
 says regarding the heretics who went to Rome to deceive the Pope: 
 "They dare to undertake a voyage to the episcopal chair of Peter, 
 from whence the unity of the priesthood rises, bringing letters 
 from impius heretics, not thinking that they are the Romans, 
 whose praiseworthy faith was preached to them by the apostles." ' 
 Again he writes: 
 
 " Who would leave the chair of Peter, upon which the church 
 was built?* "In his XLV. Letter he calls the Roman church 
 *' The mother and the root of all churches." In another place 
 he says that " Christ the Lord founded one church on Peter, which 
 in the reason and the origin of unity."* The unity of its origin 
 from the beginning, he disposed coming from this authority." 
 " Although from the resurrection, he gave an equal authority to 
 the apostles, that their unity might be evident, he so disposed 
 that the origin of that unity might come from one authority. 
 Really the other apostles were like Peter, equal partakers of power 
 and authority, but the begining comes from unity, that the 
 church of Christ might be shown as one." Thus from his words 
 tile Roman church is the bond of unity between all the churcliea 
 of the world. 
 
 In the Third century Aurelianus, the Roman emperor was at 
 Antioch, .where Paul, the former bishop of that city had been de- 
 posed because of his heresy by a synod of 70 bishops over which pre- 
 sided the patriarch of Alexandria. Domnus was elected in his 
 place. The former would not agree, and the bishops appealed to 
 the emperor. The emperor, knowing that no bishop could rule a 
 
 ' Contra Haer. L, 111, Cap. Ill, * Epist. Iv. ad Cor. Papaio. 
 
 » De. Unit. Eccl. p. liM. Ed. Pam. ♦ EpIst. UxlU. 
 
OLD TESTIMONIES. 197 
 
 ohurch unless he was in union with the Bishop of Eome, decided 
 that the bishops should write to the Pope. Thus the Bishop of 
 Rome was so well known in that age, that even the pagan emper- 
 or of Eome knew that he alone could decide the dispute. 
 
 St. Optatus who died in 384 says of the Donatist hereitcs: 
 " You cannot deny that you know Peter first placed the epis- 
 copal chair, on which sat Peter the first head of all the apostles, 
 whence he was called Cephas, by which one chair the unity of 
 all is preserved by all, lest the other apostles might each claim 
 supremacy, and now he would be a schismatic and a sinner, who 
 would raise another chair against it. Therefore there is but one 
 only chair, which is the first church with the notes (of the church) 
 in which first sat Peter, then Linus succeeded him, to Linus succeed- 
 ed Clement". . .here giving the names of the Popes to St. Siricius, 
 he continues: " who is our comrade, with whom we with the 
 whole world agree and form one communion." ' The same an- 
 cient writer says in another book: '•' Because of unity, the blessed 
 Peter merited to be preferred to the other apostles. ... A. chair 
 by which Peter belongs to us." "^ 
 
 To Eusebius bishop of Versellens Pope Liborius wrote in 373: 
 " Most beloved brother, for the consolation of the present life, 
 let thy strong faith rise, by which thou followest the commands 
 of the Gospel, in no way differ from the union of the apostolic 
 See. " 
 
 St. Ambrose the great bishop of Milan, who died in 397, in- 
 vited a bishop to come and baptize his brother Satyrus, rescued 
 from a shipwreck. But fearing that the bishop might be a heretic 
 he wrote to him: " Are you in union with the catholic bishops, 
 that is with the Eoman church ?" In explaining the Psalms St. 
 Ambrose says " He is Peter to whom He said : ' Thou art Peter 
 and upon this rock I will build my church.' Therefore where 
 Peter is there is the church. Where is the church there is not 
 death but everlasting life." ' Preaching against the Novatians, 
 the same great father of the early church says : " Those who have 
 not the Seat of Peter have no inheritance of Peter, which by an 
 impius division, they tear assunder."* 
 
 The bishops assembled at Aquilia in 381 thus wrot* to Gratian 
 the emperor: " Beseeching thy clemency, lest the most holy faith 
 of the apostles might be disturbed, that is the Eoman church, the 
 head of the whole city of Eome. From him flows all rights of 
 that venerable communion."^ 
 
 Before his death in 384 Pope Damasus wrote to Paulinus pa- 
 triarch of Antioch enclosing in his letter for him the chief articles 
 •of faith saying : " Let not scruples disturb thee, .... We have 
 «entour faith not only to thee, for thou art united with us in the 
 same belief, but to these whose names are written in it, that they 
 may be united to thee and to us through thee." ^ Damasus wrote 
 
 1 Lib. 11. con. Parmen. Cap. il. ^ Lib. vU. Cap. ill. ^ In Psalm, xl. n. .30. 
 
 * Operum St. Am. T. 11. col. 399. Benedict. * Lab. T. 11. col. 999 ed. Par. 1671. 
 
 < Eplst. V. 
 
198 EARLY TROUBLES A.T ANTIOCH. 
 
 to the bishops of the East as given by Sozominus, these words: 
 *' As these disputes were agitated and the controversy increased, 
 the Bishop of the city of Rome wrote to the Oriental churches, 
 that they should consider the Persons of the Trinity as of one 
 nature, and honor them with equal glory, as do the bishops of the 
 West. That being done, the dispute ended by the judgment of 
 of the Roman church, and the question received its end." ' 
 
 When in the IV. century many Arian bishops denied the divinity 
 of Christ, by the aid of the civil powers they took possession of 
 the churches of the Roman empire forcibly holding them, after hav- 
 ing driven out the bishops in union with Rome. On his election to 
 the throne, the Emperor Gratianus wished to restore these churches 
 in his vast empire to the catholic bishops, saying in his decree: "Let 
 the holy places be given to those who are in union with Pope Damas- 
 ns."^ Three bishops, Meletius, Paulinus and Apollinaris strove 
 for the episcopal see of Antioch. The priest Flavius, espousing the 
 cause ofhis bishop Meletius wrote to him saying: "Friend, if you hold 
 communion with Damasus, show us the likeness of his teaching." * 
 Paulinus had received letters of union from Pope Damasus, but as 
 he did not believe in the three Persons of the Trinity, Flavius 
 would not receive him saying: " Show us then your agreement in 
 his doctrine, and take the churches as the law lays down."* To 
 Apollinaris he said: " I am surprised at you, my friend, to see you 
 so impudently resist the truth , when you know that Damasus teaches 
 that he (Christ) was a perfect man, assumed by God. . . .Now at least 
 renounce the novelty, which 3'ou imagined. Receive the doctrine 
 of Damasus, and then you can receive the churches." * Prudentius 
 composed in the IV. century a latin hyrnn s. lowering down curses 
 on the Donatists, calling them schismatics and calling on them to- 
 hold only the faith of Peter's chair. 
 
 St Jerome, the great teacher of the early church born in the year 
 331, wrote about the apostles: "whence among the twelve, one was 
 selected as the head, so that the danger of any division might be 
 taken away." ' Writing to Pope Damasus he says: " Therefore I be- 
 lieve that it is well for me to praise the Chair and the faith of Peter 
 
 the precious pearl, where the body is there gather the eagles, 
 
 .... with yau alone remains uncorrupted the inheritance of the 
 Fathers, ... .1 follow no one but Christ, the first, and I unite witii 
 your holiness that is with the chair of Peter. Whoever outside this 
 house eats a Iamb is profane, who is not in this arch of Noe will 
 
 perish in tiie flood, I follow your colleagues of Egypt, .... I do 
 
 not know Vitalis, I spurn Meletius, I ignore Paulinus. Who does 
 not gather with thee scatters, that is he who is not of Christ is 
 
 anti-Christ the teachers of the Arians ask of me, a Roman, to 
 
 believe in three hypostases, Give your decision. If you please 
 
 I will not bear to say there are three Persons, .. Let me Know 
 with whom I am to communicate at Antioch," &c. Here we see the 
 
 > Lib. v1. Hist. Cap. JUdl. » Thodoretus Hist. L. V. II. » Theodor. Hist. L. 7 c 111. 
 * Ibidem. • Ibidem ' Adv. Jovlnn. 26. 
 
TESTIMONY OF ST. JEROME. 199 
 
 most learned man in the early church, a man whom the great St. 
 Augustine wished to come and teach him the meaning of the dif- 
 ficult parts of the Bible, this great saint and doctor writes to Pope 
 Damasus for his infallible decree about the errors of the Arians, 
 and the disputes in the church at Antioch. While he lived in Syria, 
 preparing by a study of the Hebrew and of tlie holy places for his 
 great translation of the Bible into Latin, he wrote to Damasus: 
 " The church here is divided into three parts, each trying to draw 
 me into their faction. But I recognize only the ancient authority 
 of the monks. In the meantime I cry out. He who belongs to the 
 chair of Peter is mine, Meletius, Vitalis and Paulinus say they 
 adhere to you. If only one said so, I could believe him, but 
 I believe they are all lying. Therefore I beseech your Holiness 
 write to me, and tell me to whom I shall unite while I am in 
 Syria."' 
 
 St. Jerome lived at Bethlehem within the jurisdiction of the bish- 
 op of Jerusalem , who got into a controversy with Theophilus, patri- 
 arch of Alexandria. To the latter Jerome wrote in reply to a letter 
 he had received about these troubles: "I am much obliged for the 
 ecclesiastical cannons you draw my attention to. Nothing is dearer 
 to us than to keep the rights of Christ, nor do we go outside the 
 limits of the fathers. We always keep the Eoman faith, praised by 
 apostolic lips, and we glory in partaking in the church of Alexan- 
 dria."'* St. Jerome had translated some of the books of origin 
 from Greek into Latin, and Rufin wrote that the Latin reader would 
 find nothing in them against his faith. Jerome says: "The Latin 
 reader will find nothing in them, which differs from our faith. What 
 faith does he mean? Is it that belief which is found in Origin^s 
 books? Or rather that faith which the Roman church holds ? If 
 it is the Roman faith, then we are catholics, because we did not 
 give any error in translating Origin." ^ 
 
 In the year 418 Pope Zozimus, writing to the bishops of Africa, 
 who were"then holding a council at Carthage. says: "The tradition 
 of the fathers gives such authority to tlie apostolic See, that no one 
 dares to dispute its judgment, for by the judgments of all, canon- 
 ical antiquity gives such power to this Apostle, so that by the 
 promise of Clirist, he could untie the bound and tie the free. The 
 same power is given to those who are the heirs of this See, for he 
 saying, they merited it. For because of where he sits, he has the 
 care of all the churches, nor does he allow any privilege to disturb 
 his golden sentence .... Whence therefore Peter is the head of 
 such power, which the study of our elders strengthens, that both hu- 
 man and divine laws and disciplines strengthen the Roman church. 
 It is not hidden from you that we have come into the power of rul- 
 ing in his name, for you know it, most dear brethren, as all priests 
 should know, nevertheless as such authority has come down to us 
 so that no one can dispute our sentence."* .... Here we see a 
 
 1 Editio. Benedict. Epist.xvl. T. 4 col. S2. ^ Ibidem 58 col. 597. 
 
 3 Apol. Adv. Ruf . L. I. * Lab. T. ii. col. 1572. 
 
^00 ST. AUGUSTIN. 
 
 Pope in the V. century teaching all the bishops of the province of 
 Africa assembled in a solemn council. 
 
 The greatest doctor of tliat age Avas St. Augustin, the bishop 
 of Hippo, the greatest intellect which ever appeared on this earth. 
 Born in the year 354, his works have ilkmiined the world. Explain- 
 ing the Psalms against tlie Donatist heretics, he says: "Come, 
 brethren, if you wish to be grafted on the vine. We feel bad to 
 see you cut off and thrown away. Number the priests who have 
 sat on Peter's Seat and in their order you will see who succeed- 
 ed these fathers. She is the Rock against which the proud gates of 
 hell have not prevailed." ' In one of his letters against Generosus 
 he says: 'Tor if you consider the order of bishops succeeding each 
 other, how much more safely and certainly we number them from 
 Peter, to whom in the figure of the whole chuj-ch the Lord said: 
 "On this Hock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall 
 not conquer her. " " For to Peter succeeded Linus Clement to Linus" 
 then giving a list of all the Bishops of Rome to Siricius he con- 
 tinues: "Anastasius succeeded Siricius. In tliis order of succes- 
 sion no Donatist bishop is found." "^ When the bishops of that 
 part of Africa met at Carthage in 416 to condemn the Pelagians, 
 St. Augustin, who took an active part, wrote to Pope Innocent I. 
 in the name of the bishops: "This was done brother Lord, which we 
 have shown to your holy charity, that the statutes of our poor 
 abilities may have also the authority of your Apostolic See, in 
 order to guard the faith of many, and also to correct the evil of 
 others." ' 
 
 The same year met the fathers of the council of Milevit, who 
 wrote to the same Pope: " Because the Lord in liis grace placed 
 the chief duty on the Apostolic See, . . .we beseech thee to deign to 
 take greater care of the weak members troubled with many dan- 
 gers." Then St. Augustin wrote to bishop Hilary to tell him 
 iibout the Pelagian heresy, and of the two councils already held in 
 Africa, saying: "A new heresy has risen against the grace of 
 Christ, and the church of Christ. But they are evidently not yet 
 separated from the. church. Now.while I am writing these things, 
 we know that an episcopal council in the church of Carthage has 
 issued a decree against them, by a letter directed to the venerable 
 Pope Innocent, and by direction of the council in Xumidia, we 
 have likewise written to the Apostolic See."* Innocent I. gave his 
 reply in the year 417. But as the letter is long we will give only a 
 few words from it: "Knowing what belongs to this Apostolic See, 
 when all know that those in this place wish to follow the apostles 
 from whom the whole episcopacy and the whole authority of this 
 name arises,.... that whatever shall arise or is done, in no matter 
 how far distant or remote the province, it should not be finally 
 defined, till the notice of it has first came to the knowledge of 
 this See, that the sentence may be pronounced with the strength 
 of this authority, whence other churches get theirs, from which all 
 
 1 In Psalm Con. Donat. 2 Eplst. 111. 8 EpLst. 175. 4 Eplst. 178. 
 
THE MONAIiCH OF EELIGIOK. 201 
 
 other churches are born in different parts of the world, that they 
 may remain pure united to their head" &c. 
 
 ' The early writers are filled with the proofs of the Primacy of the 
 Apostolic See over the other churches, but we cannot find space 
 for the texts. There sits in Rome the head of the universal church. 
 According to the constitution of the church her form of govern- 
 ment differs from other governments. For while other rulers 
 govern only in matters of public welfare, the church teaches both 
 matters of faith and morals. Whence the Roman Pontiff is both 
 the centre of faith and of government. All christians must believe 
 what God has revealed. The Pope is the teacher of the doctrines 
 of Christ the supreme court of the church the definer of her con- 
 stitution. The clergy and laity must obey the laws of the church 
 made for their good, because they compose the body of Christ, 
 which like all other organizations must be governed by law. The 
 bishop of Rome rules the whole church, because he is the visible 
 head of the visible organism. Such has been the ever living voice- 
 of tradition as seen in the writings of the fathers of the early ages. 
 
 The council of Ephesus, held in 431, says: "There is no doubt,. 
 yes, and it was known to all ages, that the holy and most blessed 
 Peter, the prince and the head of the apostles, the column and 
 the foundation of truth, from our Lord Jesus Christ received 
 the keys of heaven ....He lives and exercises judgment even to 
 our time in his successors." * The council of Chalcedon, held in 
 the year 451, decreed: "The holy and blessed Peter is the head of 
 the universal church .... Leo is endowed with the dignity of the , 
 apostle Peter, who is the foundation and the rock of heavenly faith, 
 and he is called the janitor of the heavenly kingdom." ^ 
 
 The principality of the Roman Pontiff over the whole church is 
 like that of a monarch of religion. Now every government mon- 
 arch or ruler has supreme power over the subjects. The nature of 
 this authority given to Peter was to guard the unity of faith, to 
 govern the whole church, that this supreme government in his 
 successors might be visible to all men. It was given to one man, 
 to one bishop to one who was to ever remain visible in his suc- 
 cessors sitting on that one supreme See. No other bishop or 
 meeting of bishops ever claimed that supreme power. The Bishops 
 of Rome have ever claimed that they received it from Christ, 
 through their predecessor Peter. The bishops of the universal 
 church never met till the beginning of the IV. century, yet we 
 find that far beyond that time, the Popes claimed universal do- 
 minion in religious matters over the churches and bishops of the 
 whole world, and the one who questioned their universal jurisdic- 
 tion Avas at once condemned by all as a heretic. 
 
 The supreme power in a nation not only makes but also ex- 
 ecutes laws and enforces them by punishments. The Bishop of 
 Rome then can not only make, but also enforce the laws of thfr 
 church. He does all things required for the unity of the church^ 
 
 1 Apud Lab. T. Hi. col. 626 Pails 1671. 2 Lab, T. iil. Col. 1419 ed. 1671. 
 
202 DID THE PAPACY COME FROM THE CJESARS'? 
 
 He defines what all must believe as revealed in the holy Scriptures 
 and in tradition and what laws shall be enforced. He can abrogate 
 all laws of the church, suspend them for some or enforce them for 
 others, punish with censures and with suspensions or excommuni- 
 cate those who disobey. To him belongs the power of taking 
 away the exercise of the powers of holy orders or of jurisdiction, 
 both in the case of cardinals, patriarchs, primates, archbishops, 
 bishops, priests and ministers. As the Vatican council declares, 
 he is the direct and immediate pastor of every soul redeemed by 
 Christ, for he is our Redeemer's Vicar. At all times during the 
 past ages they exercised this power of binding and of loosing the 
 €onsciences of men, by the laws they made or abrogated, when the 
 requirements of the times demanded a change in the policy of the 
 church. 
 
 The Bishop of Rome then has the supreme monarchial power 
 received from Christ, and he rules the whole church /is the Vicar 
 of Christ. The schismatic Greeks hold nearly all the doctrines 
 of the church, but they deny the supremacy of the Roman Pon- 
 tiff, giving him only a kind of honor or dignity among the other 
 bishops. Other schismatics hold that he has only an honorary 
 office, but no jurisdiction over the church universal, or tbat he sits 
 only as chairman in a council of the universal church. Accord- 
 ing to some he has certain powers over the church taken apart at 
 a time, but not over the church taken all together, so that at a 
 meeting of the bishops of the whole church, he is appointed by 
 them their chairman, but that when he is considered separately 
 from the bishops in council, he has no power which they did not 
 give him. Others say that he has no right to interfere in the reg- 
 ulations of the civil laws regulating divine worship, or that he 
 must follow the canons of the church made by his predecessors. 
 From these erronious doctrines many evils in modern times have 
 fallen on the cnurch, especially in Europe. 
 
 Members of other churches, not knowing history, try to make 
 out that the Popes got their power over other bishops and church- 
 es from the Roman empire. But they should remember that for 
 300 years, from the days of Sts. Peter and Paul, the pagan 
 empire of Rome persecuted the church and the pagans hated the very 
 name Christ, and put nearly all the early Bishops of Rome to death. 
 Up to the time of the conversion of Constantine in 310, two pow- 
 ers in Rome disputed universal jurisdiction. They were the civil 
 government, represented by the emperors, and the church, repres- 
 ented by the popes. The gates of hell rose up against the Bishops 
 of Rome, and fo'* centuries rivers of the blood of martyrs filled 
 the eternal city. The church at last washed paganism from the 
 face of the civilized world. When Constantine was converted, he 
 moved his Roman empire to the new city he founded on the site 
 of Bizantium, and called it Constantinople. There his Greeko- 
 Roman empire found a capital, till it was destroyed t>y the Turks 
 in the XV. century. But as history shows, the emperors of Con- 
 
ALL BISHOPS LOOKED TO EOME. 203 
 
 stantinople were nearly always unfriendly to the Pope. It was then 
 impossible for the Bishops of Rome to derive their universal power 
 from an hostile and unfriendly power. No one can give what he 
 has not. and how could the civil power give supreme spiritual 
 authority to the Popes, when they never claimed that they had 
 that spiritual dominion themselves? 
 
 History proves this. When in the year 382 Nectarius was con- 
 secrated archbishop of Constantinople, the emperor Theodosius, 
 knowing that his jurisdiction would not be valid without the con- 
 sent of the Pope, sent his legates to Pope St. Damasus, asking 
 him to confirm the election.' AVhen in 449 Anatolius was elected 
 to the same see of Constantiople, Leo the Great refused to receive 
 him into the communion of the church, until he had made his 
 profession of faith before the legate of the Holy See, sent to Con- 
 stantinople for that purpose.'' When Maximns, contrary to the 
 canons, ascended the patriarchial see of Constantinople, both 
 clergy and laity refused to obey him, because his election was not 
 regular. And when the council of Chalcedon met, the bishops 
 asked the legates of the Holy See to confirm his election, which 
 they did. In the tenth session of that council, they decreed that 
 the acts of the council would be valid only relating to the bishop 
 of Antioch, before the Pope had received it, because Pope Leo had 
 judged him worthy, and had received him into the communion of 
 the church.^ In the year 48^, when John had been consecrated 
 archbishop of Alexandria, he asked the confirmation of Pope Sim- 
 plicius, who replied to Acacius, that as it had been related to him 
 that Timothy, archbishop of Alexandria was dead, and that John 
 had been elected by the votes of the clergy and laity, he would 
 therefore confirm his election and consecration, although the 
 emperor had falsely accused him of the crime of perjury. When 
 at the death of Acacius Flavitas was elected to his see, he re- 
 fused to ascend his patriarcheal throne of Constantinople, till he 
 had received the consent of the Bishop of Eome. That was not the 
 custom at that time, for the Popes had before conceded, that as 
 soon as any one was elected to an episcopal throne, he should at 
 once take possession of his cathedral, and then send to Rome for 
 the confirmation of the Pope. Felix at once confirmed his election. 
 When in 490 Enphemiuse, became archbishop of Constantinople, 
 Pope Felix refusing to confirm his election. Even when a syond 
 of bishops was called on the matter, the letter of the Pope was 
 read to the bishops refusing to receive him into the communion of 
 the church. 
 
 The Popes exercised their powers as rulers of the church in va- 
 rious parts of the East. Thus Pope Gelasius wrote in 492 that 
 the Holy See ''had deposed Timothy of Alexandria, Peter of 
 Antioch, Peter, Paul and others", not only once but often when 
 they presumed to exercise their sacerdotal power without the 
 
 ' Epist. Rom. Pont. Col. 1043. ' Opera Leonis Mag. T. I. col. 1149. 
 
 ^ Ses. 10 Concll. Calched. 
 
204 EARLY APPEALS TO ROME. 
 
 authority alone of the apostlic See. So says the letter of St, 
 Gelasius. Damasus likewise deposed Flaviauus, patriarch of 
 Antioch. Pope St. Agapitus deposed Anthimus of Constanti- 
 nople, and in his place he ordained Massilles.' He djd this against 
 the vehement protests of the emperor, and of many powerful 
 princes, because the former had obtained the episcopal see by 
 gifts, being therefore guilty of the crime of simony. Sixtus III. 
 deposed Polychronins, bishop of Jerusalem, while Pope Nicholas^ 
 1. enumerates oight patriarchs and archbishops of Constantinople 
 deposed by the Roman Pontiffs. In 254 Basilides appealed ta 
 the Bishop of Rome against a provincial council of the bishops of 
 Baetica, which had deposed him, and Pope Stephen restored 
 him to his see. St. Julius 1. restored St. Athanasius to the 
 see of Alexandria, Paul to Constantinople, and Marcellus to 
 Ancyranus; when they had been deposed by Oriental councils. 
 St. Leo restored Theodoret to his see whom the second 
 council of Ephesus had deposed. When the ecumenical council of 
 Calchedon met, the first act of all the assembled bishops of the 
 world was to call: *' The most Rev. Bishop Theodoret to take 
 part in the council, because he had been restored to his epis- 
 copacy by the holy Archbishop Leo '' then Bishop of Rome. 
 
 From the days of the apostles members of the church 
 aggrieved by the acts of pastors or of bishops appealed to 
 Rome, the highest court in the church, to restore them to their 
 rights. Thus in 142 Marcion, excommunicated by his bishop in 
 Pontus, appealed to Rome to be restored and absolved, a& 
 Epiphanius says." In 205 Montanus, Florianus and others con- 
 demned by the courts of their dioceses, appealed to Pope Zephirin 
 to be restored to their churches.* Towards the year 251, bishop 
 Privatus, condemned by a council at Carthage, appealed to the 
 Holy See against the action of the council. In 252 Fortunatus 
 and Felix of Africa, condemned by St.Cyprian, crossed the Medit- 
 erranian sea to lay the matter before Pope Cornelius. In 254 
 bishops Basilid and Martial, deposed by the provincial synod of 
 Baetica appealed to Pope Stephen, who restored them to their 
 churches. In 342 St. Athanasius and otlier bishops deposed by 
 two synods held at Ephesus appealed to Julius I, who called 
 them and their accusers to Rome, that the cases might be settled 
 by the Holy See. The Arianian bishops, who had condemned 
 them, refused to come to Rome, and Pope Julius restored them 
 to their dioceses, calling the Arianian bishops sycopliants. To- 
 wards the year 350, a presbyter Pistus, condemned by the council 
 of Nice appealed to Pope Julius. In 401 the great St. Chrystora, 
 patriarch of Constantinople, was deposed by Theophilus of Alexan- 
 dria, whom the bad empress Eudoxia had turned against him. 
 He appealed to Innocent who commanded both to come to Rome 
 to be there judged.* In 417 Patroclus bishop of Orleans ap- 
 
 » Llberatus Brer. C. xxl. p . 147. * Haeresl. xlU. 
 
 * Cbrbt Lup. de Rom. Ap. T. L p. 882. * Am. Cyclopedia Cbrystom, 
 
THE POPES REPLIED TO APPEALS. 205 
 
 pealed to Pope Zozimus against the sentence of Proclus bishop 
 of Marseilles and against the sentence of a council of bishops held 
 in that city. In 418 Briccius, bishop of Tours deposed from his 
 diocese by a provincial council, apppealed to Pope Zozimus. 
 In the same year Coelestius, a presbyter excommunicated by a 
 council of Carthage, appealed to Zozimus. Marius an intimate 
 friend of St. Augustin tells us that he " believed that he appealed 
 to the examination of the Roman Bishop." To the same Pope 
 appealed Tuentius a presbyter of Gaul. In 427 many bishops 
 and clergymen whom Nestorius condemned in a synod appealed 
 to Rome.' About the year 449 Theodoret bishop of Cyren, 
 Eusebius of Dorelen, and Flavins bishop of Constantinople ap- 
 pealed to Pope Leo the Great, against the sentence of the illegal 
 council of Ephesus deposing them saying : ''We wait the sen- 
 tence of your apostolic See. For that most holy See has the 
 principality over all the churches of the world. "^ In 450 Eutyches 
 appealed to St. Leo.^ To the same Pope appealed the archdeacon 
 Aetius of Constantinople.* To the same Pope appealed bishop 
 Lupicin, deprived of his diocese by a synod of bishops in Maurit- 
 ania. Replying to the bishops who deposed him, the Pope says : 
 '' We command you to hear the case of bishop Lupicin, and we 
 restore him, asking so many times to be restored to communion^ 
 Because he brought the case before us, we do not think it right, 
 to suspend him from communion while the case is being tried.*' 
 Chilidonius, deposed from his diocese by Hilarius of Aries, ap- 
 pealed to St. Leo, who restored him to his rights in the church. 
 To the same Leo appealed Sabianus and Leo, priests of the dio- 
 cese of Narbon suspended by Rusticus, bishop of that diocese. But 
 they did not prosecute their appeal, because in Leo's letter to Rus- 
 ticus, the Pope said that they did not act in good faith, and the 
 Pope left them to their bishop to deal with them as he saw fit.* 
 In 526 Acasius patriarch of Constantinople, suspended and de- 
 posed Salomen a presbyter of that city, who at once appealed to 
 Pope Felix III. who restored him to his rights, sending a letter to 
 the clergy of the diocese. Towards the year 535 a council of 
 bishops deposed Contumeliosus and condemned him to a mon- 
 astery. He appealed to the apostolic See, and Pope Agapitus 
 replied to the bishop: '' Having appealed to the apostolic See, 
 he wished an examination." Towards the year 558 a number of 
 priests of the diocese of Aries appeared against their bishop to 
 Pelagius I. When Katalis deposed Honoratus, an archdeacon, 
 Gregory the Great, elected in 590, restored him to his office, and 
 in the two letters which the Pope wrote to Natalis, he threatens 
 him with the punishment of being deprived of the pallium and 
 with excommunication.'' So many appeals were heard coming 
 from all parts of the church after the time of Gregory the Great, 
 that we have not the time to give them. They all show 
 
 1 St. Coelest. Epist. xlx. ^ Epist. Coelest. cxvi. ^ Lab. Concll. T. Iv. col. 10. 
 
 * Ibiden T. Hi. col. 1.341. s Concll. Lab, T. lii. col. 1.594. 
 
 ' Concll. Lab. T. ill. col. 1404. ' Epist. ad Joannem Just. 
 
206 VICARS OF THE POPE. 
 
 the authority and supremacy of the Popes, over the bishops 
 and councils of the church, so that from that time there rests 
 not a doubt of the power of the Popes over the whole church. 
 
 The Popes in the early ages appointed certain clergymen as 
 their vicars in all parts of the church. Leo the Great appointed 
 Anastasins, bishop of Thessalonica, his vicar overall the churches 
 •of the East. And because he M-as the vicar of the Pope numer- 
 ous clergymen remained at Thessalonica, till the council of 
 •Sardonica made a law that strange clergymen, who came from 
 :all parts of Greece should not be received from other dioceses.' 
 lieo also appointed Pontentius his vicar over the churches of Af- 
 rica. ' When the case of the heretic Nestorius, patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople came up. Pope Celestin appointed Syril of 
 Alexandria as his vicar to govern the diocese of Constantinople 
 while the case was being heard; Nes^orius being in the mean- 
 time deposed by the Pope. When Pope Gelasius suspended tlie 
 Archbishop of Alexandria, he appointed Acacius, patriarch of 
 Constantinople to rule the vacant church of Alexandria. He then 
 wrote to the bishops of Dardania: " Why did not Acacius refer the 
 matter to the apostolic See, from which he received the care of 
 these regions? " Pope Hormistas appointed bishop Sallustius his 
 vicar over the churches of Spain and of Portugal. Gehisius nomi- 
 nated Vergilius, bishop of Aries, as his vicar over the churches of 
 France reserving to himself the most important cases.' 
 
 Being the supreme legislator of the universal church the Pope 
 can make laws for the whole church, and dispense in all laws and 
 enactments made either by himself or by his predecessors. In the 
 year 443 Leo the Great wrote to all the bishops of the world re- 
 garding discipline and the laws of the church. * • The same Pope 
 wrote to Julius, archbishop of Aquilia, directing him to quickly 
 and carefully put in force all things required for the good of re- 
 ligion. He also wrote to Dorus bishop of Benevent, accusiug him 
 of not keeping the church laws, but of wilfully trampling on them. 
 He wrote to the bishops of Sicely forbidding tliem to give, sell or 
 alienate the properties of the churches, without the consent of all 
 the clergy, " because," he says, ** it is not for the prosperity of the 
 church." ^ He made two laws for the church at Alexandria, which 
 he sent to Dioscorus, patriarch of that city, saying: "This also 
 we wish you to follow."* In the year 405 Pope Hilary decreed 
 in the council of Rome: ** No one can stand without danger 
 unless he keep the divine constitutions, or the decrees of the 
 a,postolic See." ^ When Gregory the Great conceded certain priv- 
 ileges to the monastery of St. Medard, he added to the decree: 
 " If kings or bishops violate the decrees of this, our apostolic au- 
 thority, they will be deprived of their honors.'*' 
 
 The Popes in every age used their power of dispensing in the laws 
 of the church. Gelasius I. wrote to the bishops of Lucania: " We 
 
 • St. Leo Eplst. Ixxxlv. " Leo Eplst. Ixxxvll. ' Mb. Iv. Eplst. 111. 
 
 « Condi. \ja\>. T. 111. col. ISM. » Lab. T. 111. rol. 143Rand 1440. * Eplst. Lelnls L Ixxxl. 
 
 » Lab. T. Iv.col. 1060. • L»b. T. v. col. 15»4. 
 
THE EARLY POPES INFLICTING CENSURES. 207 
 
 are forced by the times to give dispensations, we unite in the 
 moderation of the apostolic See to annul the decrees and canons 
 of our fathers, and to mitigate the decrees of our predecessors " &c. 
 Gregory wrote to Felix Bishop of Sicily, that he had dispensed 
 the Eiiglish from the impediments relating to marriage within the 
 forbidden degrees, saying that he did the same regarding the peo- 
 ple of Sicily. These impediments had been enacted and formulated 
 by the first general council of the whole church held at Nice in 
 the year 325. ' 
 
 The Popes inflicted the punishment of censures on the guilty 
 members of the church in all ages. Pope St. Victor, who was 
 elected in the year 192, threatened to excommunicate all the 
 bishops of Asia unless they celebrated the feast of Easter on Sunday 
 according to the custonis of the Roman Church, '^ although 
 St. John the Evangelist had established the custom of holding it 
 on a week day, the same as ihe Jew?. At the earnest request of 
 St. Irenius, St. Victor did not put the punishment into execu- 
 tion. St. Innocent I. excommunicated the Emperor Arcadius and 
 his empress Eudoxia for their sins, using these words: " Therefore 
 I the least and a sinner, to whom the throne of the great apostle 
 was given, 1 separate thee and her from partaking of the mysteries 
 of Christ our God. And the bishop or clergyman who will dare 
 to administer them to you, from the hour when they will be bound 
 by these my letters, I will degrade from his dignity." ^ Pope In- 
 nocent excommunicated the emperor of Constantinople, and for- 
 bade any clergyman to administer to him the sacraments. Gregory 
 III. excommunicated the emperor Leo. Nicholas I. excommunicated 
 Lotahrius the king, and Waldrada the bad woman with whom he was 
 living in sin, as well as the archbishops of Cologne and of Treviren. 
 
 The Popes exercised their supreme powers over the whole church 
 in thecases of public sinners, when their crimes disturbed the church 
 and they did that regardless of the positions they held. No rank 
 in church or state was independent of their powers as Vicars of 
 Christ. 
 
 The Pope being the rnler of the kingdom of God, he can dis- 
 pense in all laws and exactment made by the church by his prede- 
 cessors, for the equal in power can take away what his equal did. 
 But no Pope can ever dispense, abrogate, nullify or interfere with 
 the divine constitution of the church. That comes from God, and 
 only God can change it and not the Pope, or all the bishops or 
 powers of the world, for they too must obey the laws made by God 
 in the Bible. The people of a nation can change their laws, annul 
 and modify their statutes, and that they do every year in legisla- 
 tures and in parliaments. They can even change their constitutions 
 or change from one form of government to any other. But by these 
 continual changes of politics, nations fall, and from their ruins rise 
 other nations and other people, for they are built on the moviiig 
 sands of human policy and of politics. But the divine elements ia 
 
 1 Lib. xil. Eplst. xxxi. ^ Eusebius Hist. L. V. c. xxiv. 'Epist. ad Arcadius. 
 
208 UKDER CHRIST BUT OVER THE CHURCH. 
 
 the church, her constitution coming down from God to us are 
 found in the words of God in the Bible and in tradition, and no 
 power on earth can change them. The Pope is bound to follow 
 the divine constitution of the Church, for in it he finds the laws 
 and the enactments determining his lines of action. They come 
 from God, his Superior, and in the acts of his Master Jesus 
 Christ he cannot interfere. He stands under these divine enact- 
 ments as the whole church lives under the laws he or his 
 predecessors made for the guidance of the whole church. 
 The Pope then is under the laws of Christ, the bishops are un- 
 der the laws of Christ and of the Popes, the clergy and laity are 
 bound by the laws of God of the Popes and of the bishops. Thus 
 God governs his kingdom by laws which Christ the Popes and the 
 bishops enact for the spiritual welfare of the church the empire 
 of religion. 
 
 DIVINITY BUILDING OF THE CATHOUC UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON D. C. 
 
The First Bishops of Rome 
 
 OME has ever been the cen- 
 tral sun around wliich 
 circled all other dioceses, 
 churches, parishes and 
 clergymen, all receiving from her 
 Pontiff spiritual light, power 
 and strength. Every civilized 
 nation on the face of the earth 
 traces back its culture and free- 
 dom to Kome and to her bishops. 
 Like pillars of fire, burning 
 with the light of the Holy Ghost, 
 the Popes have stood the teach- 
 ers of Christendom, From them 
 the clergy, the bishops, the 
 kings, the rulers, the statesmen 
 received their spiritual light and guidance, for the Lord^s Vicar 
 stands as a light-house guiding all mankind, for like him they are 
 the '• light of every man who cometh into the world." ' We will 
 give the chief historic facts of the Popes for the first six centuries 
 of the early church, showing in a surprising manner, the suprem- 
 acy and authority of the Bishops of Rome over the churches of 
 the world at that early date. We regret that we cannot give the 
 complete history of the Pontiffs for that would require an entire 
 book. 
 
 J John i. 9. 
 
MASS IN THE CATACOMBS DURING THE PERSECUTIONS. 
 
LINUS, CLETUS AND CLEMENT. 211 
 
 The Popes have been the teachers of mankind, of peoples and 
 of nations, not only in a spiritual, but also in a worldly point of 
 view, because from them the whole civilized world derived the 
 fundamental knowledge of the rights of man, freedom from 
 oppression and modern civilization. At Caesarea Peter met and 
 converted a young man named Clement, who waited continually 
 on Sts. Peter and Paul. Coming with the former to Eome, he- 
 became his vicar general and ruled the church in his absence. ' 
 Tertulian tells us that Peter consecrated him a bishop, so that in 
 the very days of the apostles, the Roman diocese had bishops be- 
 longing to her clergy. On the death of the two great apostles,, 
 Clement was elected to the See by the votes of the clergy and peo- 
 ple, " but he declined the honors, and Linus was selected in his- 
 place. 
 
 Born in Etruria, Linus had written a history of the reign of 
 Peter. In G6 or 67 he was elected in his place. He ordered that 
 women should enter the church with their heads covered, a cus- 
 tom which prevails to our day. Having great power over de- 
 mons, he delivered the daughter of Saturninus from their vexa- 
 tions, and converted her to the faith. For this Saturninus put 
 him to death. He had reigned over eleven years. He was buried 
 near the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul on the Vatican hill. 
 
 In the year 78 Cletus son of Faustinus on the Celian hill of a 
 noble family became Bishop of Eome. He reigned during the 
 government of Vaspasius and Titus, who had destroyed Jerusa- 
 lem and captured the Jews and carried them to Rome in chains. 
 During Peter's life he was a great Avorker and divided the city 
 into seven districts. lie was one of the chief officials of the Ro- 
 man diocese. By Peter's direction during the life of the Prince 
 of the apostles, he divided Rome into twenty-five districts with a 
 priest attached to each. This was the origin of parishes, first 
 founded by St. Peter himself. The pastors of these parishes are 
 the chief officials of the Roman church. In later ages the parish- 
 es of Rome were divided and augmented, so that there are now 
 many more parishes with titular pastors. Cletus first used the 
 words '' Health and Apostolic Benediction." After reigning 
 twelve years he was put to death by the impious Nero and buried 
 near the body of St. Peter. 
 
 Clement who before had declined the Chair of Peter although 
 consecrated a bishop by St. Peter after his conversion from Ju- 
 daism, now became bishop of Rome. He is called by many an 
 apostle.* St. Paul says that his name is in the book of life." 
 He was held in great esteem by the apostles and christians of 
 Rome while acting as the vicar general of St. Peter in his absence.* 
 In this early day a trouble arose, which has more than any other 
 disturbed the discipline of the church, the desire of changing pas- 
 tors. At Corinth the people rose up against their priests and de- 
 
 ' Epiphaniiis HaB. 27. C 6. ^ Tertul. Prescr. C. 32. 
 
 =* Butler's Lives of the Saints. Nov. 23d. "• Phil. Iv. 3. 
 
 ^ Epiphanlus User. 27 C. 
 
212 ANACLETUS, EVABISTUS AXD ALEXANDER. 
 
 sired to change them although they were good priests. From 
 Rome, Clement addressed them an epistle, among other things 
 stating that the laity could not either appoint or change their 
 pastors. He wrote many epistles, which became famous in the 
 early church, ranking next to those of St. Paul in the New Tes- 
 tament. He wrote them in the name of the Roman Church, and 
 as some think in the days while the apostles Peter and Paul lived. 
 This shows what the authority of the Roman Church was in the 
 very days of the great apostles. Fortunatus, mentioned by St. 
 Paul, had come from the unfortunate church of Corinth to Rome 
 to seek from the head of the church at Rome spiritual doctrine and 
 medicine, to heal the divided factions of that Greek city. Pope 
 dement dispatched at once four messengers to the Corinthians 
 with his first letter. ' In his third and fourth letters, he extols 
 virginity above married life. He was put to death in the year 100 
 in the third of the reign of the emperor Trajan. 
 
 In the year 100 Pope Anacletus ascended the throne and 
 ruled the universal church, while Trajan ruled the Roman Em- 
 pire. He was born at Athens, then famous for learning. He 
 ruled with great wisdom. He decreed that every bishop should 
 be consecrated by not less than three bishops, that the clergy 
 should be publicly ordained in the church by their own bishop, 
 and that after the consecration of the Mass all present should re- 
 ceive Holy Communion. He built a tomb over the body of St. 
 Peter on the Vatican hill, and set apart a cemetery for the burial 
 of bishops. When martyred his body was buried on the Vatican, 
 near the tomb of St. Peter. 
 
 St. Evaristus followed him as the successor of St. Peter. He 
 was born in Greece, of a Jewish father, but he was educated in the 
 best schools of Athens. He gave the titles to the chief churches 
 of Rome, and appointed the chief priests of the Roman clergy as 
 pastors of these churches, and the pastors of these churches ever 
 afterwards bear the titles of the churches over which they presided. 
 He is the author of the titles of the lower clergy all over the 
 world, by which they are appointed to work in a particular church 
 or diocese in place of being wandering missionaries. He also or- 
 dained, that when the bishop went to preach, he should be at- 
 tended by seven deacons, in memory of the seven deacons ap- 
 pointed by the apostles. " He commanded, that from a])ostolic 
 tradition, marriage should be entered into not secretly, but pub- 
 licly contracted before the church unless for some grave reason, 
 and that the contracting parties should receive the blessing of the 
 pastor. This was the origin of the Nuptial Mass. He too died a 
 martyr's death and was entombed near the Prince of the apostles on 
 the Vatican in the year 112. 
 
 The clergy and Roman people then elected Alexander. In re- 
 membrance of the passion of our Lord, he commanded that at 
 Mass these words should be said: '* Who the day before he suf- 
 
 > Butler's Lives St. Clement Nor. 23. ' AcU. vi. 
 
8IXTUS A.ND TELESPHOKE. 213 
 
 fered, took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and raising his 
 eyes to thee, God, his almighty Father, giving thee thanks, he 
 blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying: 'Keceive 
 ye all of this. ' " He regulated the amount of bread and wine 
 which should be used in celebrating Mass, so as to prevent abuses; 
 he directed that at mass water should be added to the wine in mem- 
 ory of the water which flowed from the side of our Lord; he ordained 
 that when the clergy blessed holy water that they should use salt, 
 and that this holy water could be used with prayer in all places 
 against the power of the spirits of darkness. A great preacher 
 and orator, under his eloquence many noble Romans became 
 members of the church. Many of his converts were the senators 
 or belonged to the first families of Rome. For this reason a per- 
 secution rose against him, and he was arrested, accused of being a 
 christian and put to death with the most horrible sufferings. 
 
 Sixtus I. took his place. He was a Roman born in the Wide 
 Way, one of the seven regions of the eternal city well knowing 
 the people and clergy of Rome. In his reign paganism, purified 
 from the gross forms of mythology took the form of agnosticism 
 which divided into many branches. The materialists claimed that 
 matter is eternal; the pantheists that matter is God; the dualists 
 that good and evil are eternal principles, while many held that 
 matter emanates by the work of inferior creators from one infin- 
 ite principle. These errors rose first in the schools of Alexandria, 
 which from the times of the Ptolemies had become the centre of 
 ancient learning. These false teachings modified in many ways, 
 led to a persecution of the christians, and paved the way for the 
 errors of Arius, who in the fourth century denied the divinity of 
 Christ. One of the last victims of this persecution under the 
 emperor Adrian was Pope Sixtus, who was put to death in 128, 
 after reigning 10 years. Before his death he decreed that only 
 the clergy should teach holy things; he added to the Mass the 
 " Sanctus ", and ordained that bishops who had been called to 
 Rome, should not return to their sees, till they had received let- 
 ters from the Holy See in form of greetings to their people. 
 
 Telesphore, a monk ascended the Throne of Peter in 128. 
 About this time this Pope ordained that they alone should pre- 
 side over the meetings of the christians in the catecombs; tliat 
 the clergy should be ordained about Christmas and Trinity and be 
 consecrated bishops to take the place of the martyred pastors. 
 He regulated the forms of divine worship; he appointed bish- 
 ops all over the chief cities of the world, and divided the ecclesi- 
 astical year into the seasons of Advent, Lent, &c., according to the 
 customs of the apostles. St. Telesphore commanded the seven 
 weeks of Lent to be held each year before Easter, that Mass should 
 be celebrated at nine in the "morning, and ordered the angelic 
 hymn " Gloria " to be said at Mass. 
 
 The holy city of Jerusalem, laid waste by Titus and Vaspasian 
 was rebuilt by orders of Adrian. The stones of the ruined tern- 
 
314 HYQINUS, PIUS, AND ANICETUS. 
 
 pie were used to build a theatre; over one of her ruined gates was 
 erected a marble hog, an animal detested by the Jews as un- 
 clean; a statue of Jupiter Avas set on the site of the holy sepulchre 
 of our Lord, and another of Venus on Calvary, and the Jews pur- 
 chased with money the privilege of weeping over the destruction 
 of their city on the anniversary of its capture. Only gentiles 
 were allowed to live in the restored city. To weaken the proph- 
 esies of the Lord in tiie Old Testament, the Jews then began the 
 composition of the Thalmud, a compilation of foolish oral tradi- 
 tions, a book which has blinded them to our day. After ten years 
 of a glorious reign St, Telesphore died a martyr's death in 142. ' 
 
 After the martyrdom of Telesphore in the year 142, Hyginus 
 was placed in the Chair of Peter. Lender his reign, Cerdo came 
 from Syria to Rome, and began to preach that there were two 
 Gods, one rigorous and severe, the anchor of the Old Testament, 
 the other good and merciful, the author of the New Testament 
 and the Father of Christ, who sent Christ to redeem mankind 
 from the punishments of the first god. According to him Christ 
 was not really born of the Virgin Mary, neither was he a true 
 man, being such only in appearance. Hyginus at once condemned 
 him, cut him off from the church, and condemned his teachings. 
 The heretic imposed on Hyginus with signs of conversion. He was 
 afterwards received into the church, but continuing to preach his 
 errors secretly, he was again excommunicated. Another, Valin- 
 tine, jealous, because he was not elected a bishop in Egypt, came 
 to Rome and revived the errors of Simon Magus. He too was con- 
 demned for his errors by the mild Pope Hyginus, who died in 142. 
 
 In 158 Pius I. was selected in his place. He belonged to 
 Aquilia, and had been made a presbyter of the Roman church be- 
 fore his election. This was the first time that any clergyman 
 from another diocese had been incorporated into the diocese of 
 Rome. Before his time many of the christians celebrated Easter 
 during week days as the Jews, but this Pope ordered that for all 
 future time the feasit of the resurrection of our Lord should be 
 held only on Sundays, reversing the discipline established by St. 
 John the Evangelist. He changed the house of tlie convert Pra-K- 
 edis into a church, in which he used to celebrate Mass and gave it 
 the title of a pastoral church. 
 
 Anicetus succeeded him. Soon after his accession he com- 
 manded that the clergy should shave their beards, and forbade 
 them to wear their hair long. Having been a native of Syria, he 
 brought many of the customs of Palestine to Rome and introduced 
 them to the clergy and laity of the imperial city. 
 
 Soterus began his reign in 175. He ordained that virgins, nuns 
 and deaconesses should not touch the holy vessels or vestments 
 of the church, that incense should be used in the services of the 
 church, and that all present at the Mass should receive Holy Com- 
 munion on Holy Thursday unless guilty of mortal sin. 
 
 » Dairas Hist, of the Church, Vol. I. p. 108 &c. 
 
ELEUTHERIUS, ZEPHYRINU8, CALIXTUS AC. 215 
 
 Eleiitherius his immediate successor ascended the throne in 182. 
 A native of Greece, Pope Anicetus had ordained him a deacon of 
 the Roman church before his death. He ruled the church uni- 
 versal during the reign of emperor Comodus. In the beginning 
 of his pontificate he sent letters to Lucius king of the Brittany ( a 
 part of France) humbly asking that he would treat well the 
 christians in his kingdom. Afterwards he sent the pious and holy 
 men Fugatius and Damianus into Brittany, where they converted 
 both the king and nearly the whole kingdom. During his time the 
 great Ireneus bishop of Lyons, France, came to Eome and was be- 
 nignly received by this Pope. The church then enjoyed great 
 tranquility and the faith spread with great rapidity all over the 
 world, lie was succeeded by St. Victor, of whom we find little 
 relating to the universal church. 
 
 St. Zephyrinus who reigned in his stead began the government 
 of the church in 203. He ordered that those who were to be 
 raised to holy orders should be ordained only at the quarter tenses 
 or the four seasons, and that the imposition of the bishop's hands 
 should take place publicly before the whole clergy and people of 
 the church; that only men noted for their piety and learning 
 should elect the candidates for holy orders. He directed that 
 when the bishop pontificated, all the clergy should be present. He 
 commanded that no patriarch, primate, or achbishop should pro- 
 nounce any sentence against a bishop, till they had received the 
 authority of the Papal See. He was put to death under Antoninus 
 and buried on the Appianian Way, in the cemetery of St. Calix- 
 tus, who was elected in his place. 
 
 Pope Calixtus enacted a statute, that according to the Jewish cus- 
 tom, the four seasons of the year should be officially consecrated by 
 prayer and fasting in the churches. They are called the ember-days 
 or the quarter tenses. He beautified and enlarged the old ceme- 
 tery on the Appianian Way, which bears his name, and he buried in 
 it the remains of numerous martyrs. He built the historic church 
 across the Tiber and dedicated it to the Mother of Christ. He 
 was put to death in the year 217 under the reign of the emperor 
 Alexander. 
 
 In 223 Urban succeeded Calixtus. It was the third year of the 
 reign of the emperor Alexander. Then the church enjoyed peace 
 in the Roman Empire. In his letter toValerianus and Tiburtius, 
 he laid down the principle which the whole christian world has 
 since accepted: " The gifts of the people which are offered to tlie 
 Lord cannot be used for any other purpose than for the church, 
 or for the use of the poor or the orphans, for they are the gifts of 
 the people, the price of sins and the inheritance of the poor. '"' 
 He died in 227. 
 
 Pontian was the choice of the clergy and people of Rome. The 
 church enjo5'ed peace. But in a short time Maximus the emper- 
 or banished him to the isle of Sardinia, where he died after ruling 
 the church but five years. 
 
216 AXTERUS, CORNELIUS, STEPHEN AND DENNIS. 
 
 Anterus reigned only a month, when he too was put to death. 
 When tlie clergy and people of Rome met in a large room to vote for 
 the Pontiff to the surprise of all, a dove appeared and settled on 
 the head of a layman named Fabian, a stranger to them all. They 
 took it as a sign from heaven, and elected him to the Chair of 
 Peter. He appointed a deacon in each of the seven regions of 
 Rome to look after the widows and tl)e orphans. About the same 
 time he ordained seven subdeacons and appointed them to churches 
 as notaries, to gather the remains of those put to death for the 
 faith and write the lives and acts of the saints and martyrs. This 
 was the origin of attaching the lower clergy to particular churches 
 and these were the first notaries ever appointed by any authority. 
 He commanded that on Holy Thursday, the old oils should be 
 burned, and new oils consecrated by the bishops, as given in the 
 ceremonies of Holy Week. 
 
 Cornelius began his reign in the year 250. He moved the bodies 
 of Sts. Peter and Paul buried by Lucina in her garden to the 
 more honorable church of St. Peter's on the Vatican. As he con- 
 verted many Romans to the faith, he was banished into exile, 
 where he was consoled by the letters of St. Cyprian the great 
 archbishop of Carthage. When recalled to Rome, he refused to 
 sacrifice to the statue of the god Mars and was put to death. 
 
 AVhen Stephen came to the throne in the year 253, he ordained 
 that priests and deacons should wear their sacred vestments only 
 in the church. Before this time the vestments had been copied 
 more or less after the vestments of the priests of the Jewish temple, 
 and the costumes of the nobility of that age. W'hen the cele- 
 brated question of the re-baptism of heretics rose in the African 
 church, they sent the dispute to the Roman Pontiff to be decided. 
 Pope Stephen in his reply to St. Cyprian archbishop of Carthage 
 wrote these celebrated words: "Let nothing be changed, hold only 
 what is given in tradition." ' When persecutions rose againsi the 
 church, he retired to the Catecombs, and there he held a synod of the 
 Roman clergy. Wliile saying Mass in the cemetery of St. Lucina, he 
 was surrounded by the officers of the government, and while on 
 his pontifical throne they cut off his head. Sixtus IL his successor 
 did not reign long before he too was captured and led to tiie place 
 of execution. St. Lawrence the deacon used to assist him in say- 
 ing Mass. When the latter asked him if he was going to offer 
 sacrifice, without a minister, the Pope predicted that he too would 
 soon lollow him to the martyr's crown. 
 
 Pope Dennis was a monk when he was selected to the chair 
 made vacant by the martyrdom of St. Sixtus. He wrote against 
 the Sabellians, who taught that there was only one Person in God, 
 that the eternal Father suffered in Christ and against those who 
 denied the divinity of Christ. Dennis the saintly archbishop of 
 Alexandria was accused of a heresy before Pope Dennis. The 
 Pope called at once a synod of the clergy of Rome to examine the 
 
 > Brev. Rom. 
 
FELIX, MARCELINUS AND MAKCELLUS. 217 
 
 case. Bui; as the archbishop of Alexandria repeatedly wrote to 
 Rome that the accusations were false, and the Pope absolved him. 
 He appointed pastors to all the chief churches of Rome, erected new 
 parishes in the eternal city, and formed new dioceses in many 
 parts of the world. lie impressed his personality on the 
 whole church before his death. 
 
 In 269 Felix began to reign. He commanded that Mass should be 
 said only over the remains of the martyrs. Whence from him 
 arose the discipline of enclosing the relics of the martyrs in the 
 altar stones. This was evidently suggested by the custom of say- 
 ing Mass on the tombs of the martyrs in the Catecombs during 
 the persecutions of the preceding years. 
 
 St. Eutychianus took the chair in 275. He ordered that the fruits 
 of the earth and the things brought by the people to the church 
 should be blessed at the altar, that the clergy should wear the dal- 
 matics and purple vestments when burying the bodies of the mar- 
 tyrs. 
 
 In the year 283 the clergy and Roman people elevated Oaius to 
 the throne. He came from Dalmatia. One of his first acts was 
 to ordain that no one should be consecrated a bishop, till he had 
 received in their proper order the office of porter, reader, exorcist, 
 acolyte, subdeacon, deacon and priest. 
 
 When Marcelinus was elected in 296, the terrible persecution of 
 Dioclesian raged against the christians of Rome and tliroughout the 
 empire. It is said, but still disputed by the learned, that Marcel- 
 inus, frightened by the fear of a terrible death by martyrdom, of- 
 fered incense to the false gods of Rome so as to save his life, think- 
 ing that his external act was harmless while in his heart he still re- 
 mained a christian. But soon, recognizing his error, he called a 
 council of bishops to Rome, where clothed in sackcloth and ashes, 
 he entered the council. Publicly and before them all he confessed 
 what he had done with tears streaming down his face. But not 
 a bishop rose to condemn him. With one voice they all cried out: 
 "You are judged by your own mouth. For no one can judge the 
 first See. For Peter also fell into the same weakness of mind, 
 and he asked God's forgiveness with the same tears." Returning 
 to Rome, he publicly and boldly went before the emperor and 
 accused him of tempting him to sacrifice to idols. At once he 
 was arrested and put to death in the year 296. 
 
 Marcellus his successor was a Roman citizen, well knowing the 
 clergy and people of Rome. He reorganized the 2/> divisions of 
 the city into which it had been divided by his predecessor St. 
 Cletus, appointing pastors to each, and giving them the titles of the 
 churches to which they were thus attached. Many years later the 
 clergy belonging to these churches began to be called cardinals, 
 while at this time they were called the titulars of the churches of 
 Rome. These divisions were called regions or dioceses. This Pope 
 directed that the people living in these quasi parishes should go to 
 their own pastor for baptism, confession and for the arrangements 
 
218 EUSEPIUS AND MELCHIADES. 
 
 of the funerals of the martyrs, who belonged to these parishes. 
 These regulations were later extended to the whole church, and 
 they are the rules of every diocese of the world to-day. 
 
 When Pope Marcellus was imprisoned for the faith, he sent letters 
 to be read in the various churches which he founded in various 
 parts of the world. Through the patriarch of Antioch, he wrote 
 to tiie bishops and archbishops of that part of the East, defending 
 the supremacy and authority of the Roman See over all the bishops 
 of the world. 
 
 In the year 309 Eusepius became the head of the universal church. 
 He instructed and baptized Eusepius, son of Restitutaanoblelady 
 of Sardiuia and called him after his own name. This young man 
 became the great and celebrated bishop and writer, who sustained 
 the waning faith of the church in the East. 
 
 Melchiades began his reign in 311, a native of Africa, he had 
 been incorporated into the diocese of Rome. While a priest, he sent 
 letters to the Emperor Maxentius, asking him to mitigate the per- 
 secutions of the christians. Soon after this Maxentius was con- 
 quered by Constantino in battle, and the latter being couverted, 
 declared the freedom of worship. At that time the Donatist her- 
 esy began to make trouble. They believed that the true church 
 only remained then in Africa, that all the rest of the world was 
 heretical and that no baptism except given by them was valid. They 
 re-baptized catholics who joined them; taught that those who com- 
 mitted suicide were martyrs, and asked others to kill them as well 
 as practising other fanatical errors. A deputation from them came 
 to Constantino asking him to condemn Ca?cilianus archbishop of 
 Carthage. Constantine replied : "You ask of me a judge of worldly 
 things to give my sentence, when I am awaiting for the sentence of 
 Christ himself. Nevertlieless three bishops as judges have been 
 sent to Rome, to Melchiades the Pontiff, that for the unity and the 
 peace of the brethren a bvnod may be called. " When these three bish- 
 ops from Africa came to Rome accompanied by fifteen others, un- 
 der Pope Melchiades they held a council at the house of Faustus 
 at the Lateran Palace, where they all pronounced Cjecilianus inno- 
 cent of the accusations of the Donatists. Thei* sentence was at 
 once confirmed by Pope Melchiades. lie ordained that when a 
 dispute rose between bishops regarding a diocese, the oldest in 
 episcopal orders should be preferred, and that the defeated bishops 
 should be appointed to some other sees. He commanded that no 
 one should fast on Sunday or on Thursday, because on tlu^se days 
 the Pagans celebrated their superstitious rites: that the offerings 
 of the people blessed by the bishop phould be divided among the 
 churches of the diocese, and that while governing a parish or 
 celebrating the services of the church no pastor could be separated 
 from the authority of the bishop. During his reign, the church 
 began to enjoy peace from persecutions, as the emperor Constan- 
 tine had already began to study the church, and had become more 
 and more attracted to the teachings of Christ. 
 
SYLVESTER AND COKSTANTINE. 319 
 
 When the foregoing Pontiff died in the year 314 Sylvester be- 
 came his successor. From his youth he was educated in the chris- 
 tian doctrines by Cyriuus whom his father Rnfinus selected as his 
 tutor. When he was 30 years old. Pope Marcellinus made him a 
 presbyter or cardinal of the Eoman church. During this time he 
 excelled all the other clergy in piety and learning. It is said that 
 Constantine the emperor had been at this time afflicted by an in- 
 curable leprosy, and baths of blood were recommended by his phy- 
 sicians. At niglit it is said the holy apostles Peter and Paul ap- 
 peai-ed to him, and told him that if he wislied to be cured from that 
 loathsome, incurable disease, he must go to Pope Sylvester. The 
 latter instructed and baptized him, when at once he was healed 
 of the fatal disease. In all parts of the Eoman empire Constan- 
 tine gave liberty to the christians. He erected and restored the 
 churches, gave Pope Sylvester the Lateran palace, the residence 
 of the Roman emperors from the time of Nero. Up to this time 
 St. Helena the pious mother of Constantine, had quietly pre- 
 pared a chamber in the palace where Sylvester used to secretly say 
 Mass. Under the advice of this holy and learned Pope, Constan- 
 tine did much for the church. Before going into his battle against 
 Maxeutins, lie prayed for light, when suddenly there appeared to 
 him and to the whole army a cross of light in the sky, while over it 
 sparkled the words in Latin: "In this Sign you will conquer.'' 
 From that time the cross of Christ became the sign of the Roman 
 armies. He rebuilt the old church of St. Peter's, tlie tomb of St. 
 Peter on the Vatican. He laid the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul in 
 -a metallic casket, on the lid of which he placed a cross of solid gold 
 weighing 150 lbs. and deposited the casket to rest forever under the 
 altar of the great St. Peter's church. There it remains even to our 
 time. Tiiere all the bishops of the world must come at regular 
 times to give an account of the state of religion in their dioceses 
 to the Successor of Peter the Father of souls. 
 
 At this time Arins a priest of Alexandria began to revive the 
 errors of Celsius ; teaching that Jesus Christ was not the Son of 
 God, but the most perfect creature that God could make. When 
 his errors began to disturb the whole church, an ecumenical 
 council, the first of nineteen or twenty ever held was called at 
 Nice, where the legates of Sylvester presided in his name, the 
 emperor being present. There were assembled 318 bishops from 
 all parts of the world, many of them bearing the marks of the 
 persecutions, which they had suffered for the faith. When the 
 acts of the council condemning Arius and defining the divinity of 
 Christ were laid before him, Sylvester confirmed them and en- 
 acted most important matters relating to the celebration of Easter 
 and other disciplinary measures, which we practice even in our 
 day. Like all teachers of error, Arius would not submit. An- 
 other council was called by Sylvester at Rome, where 84 bishops 
 again condemned his errors relating to the divinity of Christ. 
 He promulgated wise laws for the good of the church, decreeing that 
 
220 PEACE GIVEN BY CONSTANTINE. 
 
 holy chrism could be blessed by only one bishop, that a priest should 
 anoint the top of the head of the baptized when baptizing ; that 
 deacons should wear the dalmatics in the church; that the clergy 
 should wear the maniple on the left hand ; that Mass should be 
 said with linens ; that the clergy should be ordained at stated 
 times ; that they should exercise each order before ascending to 
 a higher grade of orders ; that the laity should not accuse the 
 clergy of crimes, and that no clergyman should be tried before any 
 civil judge, but before the ecclesiastical tribunals. As the pagans 
 had dedicated the days of the week to their false gods, from which 
 custom came the names of the week days he decreed that Sunday 
 should be called the Lord's day, that Saturday should be called the 
 Sabbath day as was customary among the christians from the days 
 of the apostles, and that the other days should be named ferials, 
 because the clergy, freed from worldly work and cares, could de- 
 vote their entire time to the work of the ministry during the 
 week as on Sundays. He directed that poor clergymen should live 
 with wealthy pastors so as to partake in their livings ; that the 
 church should support nuns and virgins consecrated to God, be- 
 sides other measures for the whole church. 
 
 When the emperor Constantine now converted to Christ had 
 studied the constitution of the church, he saw that her visible 
 head was the Bishop of Rome, with universal jurisdiction over all 
 the bishops of the world. He learned that Christ had founded an 
 immortal spiritual empire, and that her primal See was the city 
 of Rome, It was evident that the two great empires, the civil, of 
 which he was head, and the spiritual, of which the Bishop of 
 Rome was head, could not live in peace in one city Rome. Ho 
 looked over the world for a new seat for his civil government. On 
 the shores of the Bosphorus separating Europe from Asia, stood a 
 little city Byzantium, whose bishop was subject to the archbishop of 
 Heraclea. From that site the emperor saw he could easily govern 
 Europe, Asia and Africa, over which his vast empire ruled. There 
 he laid the foundations of the great historic city of Constantinople, 
 called after himself, and which has since so figured in history as 
 the seat of the Greek or Byzantium empire, of which it remained 
 the capital, till captured by the Turks in 1453. Leaving Rome 
 to the Popes, Constantine moved the seat of his vast empire to 
 the new capital. It was a stroke of statesmanship which all gener- 
 ations have admired. From that time the Bishops of Rome were 
 free from the blighting influence of a pagan empire dwelling in 
 their city and, which had persecuted them from the days of St. 
 Peter. 
 
 When Sylvester died in 336 Mark succeeded him. During the 
 reign of Constantine, he directed that the bishop of Ostia, who 
 always consecrates and crowns the Pope, should wear the pallium 
 of an archbishop. He built two beautiful churches in Rome which 
 Constantine enriched. 
 
 St. Julius, son of Rusticusa Roman, came to the Chair of Peter» 
 
222 JULIUS AND LIBORIUS. 
 
 after the death of St. Mark. The Arian heresy denying the di- 
 vinity of Christ had made great progress in tlie East, many of the 
 bishops of Arabia, of Egypt and of Asia Minor being driven from 
 their episcopal sees, by tiie Arians. Athanasius a deacon of Alex- 
 andria, and later the successor of Alexander in the archiepiscopal 
 see of St. Mark, was the greatest opponent of Arius at the council 
 of Nice, called m 325 to examine the new doctrine. The greai 
 historic churches of the apostles in the East were now disturbed 
 by the errors of Arius and his followers. Arianism became the 
 greatest foe of the christian religion. The whole fury of hell ap- 
 peared to concentrate now on the devoted head of Athanasius. 
 When they could not ruin him by getting a woman to swear against 
 him, they drove him into exile from his episcopal city of Alexan- 
 dria. He came to Rome to lay his troubles before the Pope, the 
 Father of the whole church. Pope Julius received him with the 
 greatest kindness,- and defended him with the whole weight of his 
 Pontifical authority. The Arian bishops then held a council at 
 Tyre. There they proclaimed that the doctrine of the Divinity of 
 Christ defined at Nice was not correct, and that Christ was not 
 the son of God but a creature. Pope Julius at once condemned all 
 the bishops present at this council. Again be proclaimed the Di- 
 vinity of Christ. 
 
 Then the Arian bishops held another council at Antioch, where 
 they went through the same process and again they were condemned 
 by the Bishop of Rome. The latter then called two councils at 
 Rome, where the exiled bishops were ordered to give an account 
 of their exile. The Pope then restored the right bishops to their 
 sees, and deposed and drove the Arian bishops out of the 
 episcopal sees they had usurped. Under the influence of Constan- 
 tius the emperor, Pope Julius restored St, Athanasius to his see 
 of Alexandria. He rejected the formula of faith composed by the 
 Arian bishops, in the second synod of Antioch. He called a coun- 
 cil of the bishops of both the East and of the West to Sardica, 
 where he sent his legates to preside, there he restored the ancient 
 discipline of the church. Again he defined the catholic faith re- 
 lating to the Divinity of Christ, and enacted many useful measures 
 of discipline for the church universal, which are in force even in 
 our day. He commanded that the clergy should bring their dis- 
 putes only before an ecclesiastical judge, and that all documents 
 relating to church affairs should be sworn to before church notaries. 
 
 When Liborius took upon himself the government of the uni- 
 versal church, John a wealthy Roman belonging to the highest 
 nobility with his wife of equal rank. They were both pious people 
 of Rome, but they had no children. They prayed to our Lord for 
 light to know what to do with their great riches. On the night 
 of the 5th of August, when all Rome is usually oppressed with the 
 heat, snow in the morning covered the top of the Esquilian hill, 
 the Virgin appeared to these good persons, telling them to build a 
 church in her honor, or the spot where they would find the snow. 
 
THE WORKS OF DAMASUS. 223 
 
 When John went to the Pope in the morning, he found that the 
 Pontiff had seen the same vision during the night. The fame of 
 the prodigy quickly spread all over Kome, and in a little while the 
 clergy and people of the city, with the Pope at their head came to 
 the top of the hill, where they found it all white covered with snow. 
 They began at once the building of the great church, dedicated 
 to the Virgin Mother of God. They called it Mary at the Snows, 
 the Basilica of St. Liborius, or St. Mary at the Manger. But as 
 many churches from almost the apostolic age had been dedicated 
 to the Mother of God in Rome, as this was most magnificent of 
 them all they called it St. Mary Major. That was the origin of 
 the great and famous church of that name. Liborius died in 366. 
 
 When Constantius had banished Liborius to Beroea and tried 
 to put up Felix as an anti-pope, Damasus, who had lived for 
 many years as a presbyter of the Eoman church, with the title of 
 the church of St. Lawrence, had become the archdeacon of the 
 Roman church. He followed the Pope into his exile, but soon 
 returned. Liborius then condemned the decrees of the council of 
 Rimini, wherein the bishops upheld the errors of the Arians. He 
 lived for some time in the catecombs, and then he appointed 
 Damasus to oversee the government of the whole church. On 
 the death of Liborius, Damasus when 60 years of age became Pope. 
 Ursinus got mad because he had not been elected in his place^ 
 gathered a crowd of people in the church of St. Mary Major, and 
 got Paul of Tivoli to consecrate him bishop of Rome, all of whichi 
 was contrary to the ancient discipline. In 381 the matter irt 
 dispute was settled by a great council held at Aquileia, where the 
 regular election of Damasus was confirmed. 
 
 The Eunomians held all the errors of the Arians. But they 
 differed from the latter by teaching more explicitly than the 
 others, then called Semiarians, that the three Persons of the Trin- 
 ity differed in ns.ture, thus making out three Gods. They bap- 
 tized with the words: " In the name of the uncreated Father, in 
 the name of the created Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit 
 the Sanctifier, created by the Son. " ' They re-baptized the 
 catholics who joined them, teaching that they could understand 
 the nature of God as well as he understood himself ; that the Son 
 did not take a human soul, but that the Divinity animated his 
 body; that the saints were to be despised; that the miracles per- 
 formed by them were the work of the demons, and that if we be- 
 lieve, no matter what sins we commit, we will be saved. These 
 were also the errors of the Macedonians, Semiarians and Arians, 
 who likewise believed that the Holy Spirit was created as the em- 
 bassador of God to man. The Apollonarians taught that Christ 
 had not a reasonable but an animal soul ; that the Persons of the 
 Trinity were not equal to each other, and that after the last resur- 
 rection we will have to keep the law of Moses in the other life. 
 
 Pope Damasus was a wise and learned Pontiff. He condemned 
 
 ' Gautler De Haeres Sec. 14. 
 
224 ORIGIN OF THE VULGATE VERSION. 
 
 nil these errors. He called a council at Constantinople, where 
 lie confirmed the decrees of the council of Nice. He enacted that 
 those who falsely accused others should suffer the same punish- 
 ment as they wished to inflict on the innocent ; that the Psalms 
 of David should be sung in the churches by alternate choirs, as 
 was customary among the Jews, and that the *' Glory be to the 
 Father " &c. be said at the end of each psalm. 
 
 The Septuagint version of the Bible, used so much by our Lord, 
 in the days of the apostles had been translated into Latin, and 
 used in every church. But by the mistakes of those who copied 
 it, there were many various readings. The most celebrated 
 translation was tlie Vulgate, that is common Italian Version 
 used mostly in Italy. The most learned man of the age was 
 St. Jerome, who later became the private secretary of this Pope, 
 and some writers say he became a cardiual. By command of Pope 
 Damasus, St. Jerome translated nearly all the Old Testament 
 into Latin, and revised the New Testament, thus giving a very 
 perfect rendering of the original Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. 
 Por years he had lived in and travelled over the Holy Land, study- 
 ing Hebrew and the traditions of Christ and of the Jews relating 
 to the holy Books, so that of all men he was the best prepared for 
 this great work in the church of God, Damasus at once confirmed 
 his rendition of the Bible, and it was read so often in the churches 
 that it was called even at that time the Vulgate, that is the Com- 
 mon Version. From that date the Vulgate of St, Jerome has been 
 the official Version of the Scriptures in the church. 
 
 To reform abuses. Pope Damasus forbade the clergy to frequent 
 the homes of widows and orphans, or to receive from them personal 
 gifts. 'I'll is decree of the Pope was read in all the churches of 
 Pome, and later it became a law of the Koman Empire. He took 
 vigorous measures against the Arians, who denied the Divin- 
 ity of Christ, and condemned the Apollinarian followers of bishop 
 Apollinarius*, who taught that Christ had not assumed a mind or 
 soul, but only a body and an animal soul, that the Divine Person of 
 the Son was to him the same as the mind in man, and that there- 
 fore Christ was not a complete man. Damasus also condemned 
 many famous Arian bishops so as to root out the terrible heresy. 
 
 At that time Greece and all the surrounding countries, even to the 
 shores of the Danube were called Illyricum. Over the churches of 
 these countries the Popes of this age had before appointed bishops 
 and archbishops as their Vicars or legates, while the patriarchs of 
 Constantinople now claimed jurisdiction over them* and the right 
 of appointing all the bishops of these countries. This Pope 
 Damasus resisted, as being anew thing in the church, for the 
 Bishops of Rome had reserved the appointment of bishops in 
 in these regions to themselves. Damasus appointed St. Ascholius 
 bishop of Theesalonica his vicar over this vast country, telling him 
 in letters still extant, to watch lest nothing be done in Constanii- 
 nople against the faith, or against the canons, thus showing that this 
 
SIRICIUS AND ANASTASIUS. 225 
 
 great Pope was even then suspicious of the Greeks at such an early- 
 age, even then the patriarchs of Constantinople claiming jurisdic- 
 tion over the Illyricum viciariate.' 
 
 When Nectarius was elected archbishop of Constantinople, then 
 the seat of the vast Roman empire, the emperor Theodosius 
 sent a deputation to Rome asking Damasus to confirm the election. 
 The delegation was composed of Sts. Epiphanius and Paulinus with 
 St. Jerome as their secretary. The Pope retained St. Jerome till his 
 death in Rome and incorporated him into the Roman diocese ap- 
 pointing him his secretary. In 431 the bishops of the East official- 
 ly proclaimed that they would follow the example of Damasus. 
 Ambrose, Athanasius, &c., who in the early church were eminent for 
 their learning. He drained the Vatican, rebuilt and ornamented 
 his titular church of St. Lawrence, and did many things for the 
 good of the church. He died in 384. 
 
 Pope Siricius was next elected by the universal acclamation of the 
 clergy and people of Rome. He was a Roman well known to them 
 all. His first act was to issue to the bishops of Spain a decree relat- 
 ing to the reformation of the morals of the clergy. He then ordered 
 the bishops of Africa to hold a council. At once they met 
 to the number of 80, and put the commands of the Pope into ex- 
 ecution. He condemned Jovinian, who attacked the practice of 
 virginity, as well as Bonosus, bishop of Sardicensem, who denied the 
 divinity of Christ, and the virginity of Mary after the birth of our 
 Lord, and the Manichians, who held that the universe was ruled by 
 two Gods one good the other bad as well as the errors of the Euno- 
 mians, Appolarians, Arians, &c. He commanded that they should 
 be denied Communion till on their death-bed, and that they should 
 do penance in a monastery when they belonged to the clergy. He 
 induced emperor Theodosius to forbid idolatry in all parts of 
 the Roman empire. During his reign the church rapidly spread in 
 all parts of the world. 
 
 Anastasius, the son of Maxim us became Pontiff on the death of 
 Siricius. He was consecrated by the bishop of Ostia as customary 
 from the apostolic age. He at once turned his attention to healing 
 the wounds of the church universal, by condemning or reconciling 
 those who held the false doctrine of the Arianians, the Originists 
 and the other heretics of the East. He condemned those who 
 persecuted the christians of the Orient in union with the apostolic 
 See of Rome. When the bishops of Africa held a council, they 
 sent as a legate to him, Venerius archbishop of Milan, asking that 
 he would help them in their difficulties, as they had not sufficient 
 clergymen for the needs of the church in Africa. Pope Anastasius 
 sent them a kind and paternal letter, warning them not to be mis- 
 lead by the errors of the Donatists, who at that time afflicted the 
 African church with their false doctrines. By his authority as 
 Bishop of Rome, the Donatist bishops and clergy of that country 
 were received back into the catholic church, after they had abjured 
 
 ' Butler's Lives St. Damasus Dec. 11. 
 
226 lifNOCElSTT I. AND ZOSIMUS. 
 
 their heresy, and adhered to the teachings of tlie Roman church. 
 He ordained that no one from a distance, or from across the sea 
 should be elevated to the ranks of the clergy without the testi- 
 mony of at least five bishops. He commanded that when the 
 Gospel was recited or sung, that all the priests should stand with 
 their heads bowed. He died in the year 399. 
 
 When Innocent I. came to tlie throne, a controversy had arisen. 
 Some claimed that children born of catholic parents were members 
 of the church and would go to heaven without baptism. At once 
 Innocent decreed that the teachings of Pelagius and Ccelestin were 
 false, that children, even when born of christian parents should be 
 baptized, that they may be born again in Christ, and that the origi- 
 nal sin in Avhich they were conceived and born might be wiped out. 
 He commanded Saturday to be kept holy as a fast day in memory 
 of Christ's burial. A native of Albano he lived in the time of the 
 great Sts. Augustine and Jerome, whom he much admired. Of this 
 Pope St. Jerome wrote to Demetriades the Virgin: *'You must 
 hold the faith of holy Innocent, who has been elected to the Apos- 
 tolic Chair of Anastasius of blessed memory.'^' 
 
 In 417 Zosimus took the reins of government. He was a Greek, 
 reared in all the polite learning of the famous schools of Athens. 
 His first important pontifical act was to confirm the decrees of 
 the African councils against the Pelagians, who denied original 
 sin, saying that man can himself merit grace. This he did so 
 as to strengtlien the hands of the bishops all over the world 
 against these impius heretics. He issued apostolic letters to the 
 whole cHurch condemning Pelagius and Coelestius. He tlien 
 took active measures to reform the discipline of the church, with 
 that object sending briefs and letters to all the churches of the 
 world. He enacted a law that when boys were studying for the 
 church, they should remain readers till their twentieth year as was 
 customary from the earliest times, that if they were old when con- 
 verted and baptized, they were to remain in minor orders for fif- 
 teen years, and acolytes or subdeacons for four years, before being 
 promoted to deaconship, which order they were to exercise for five 
 years before they could be promoted to the priesthood, which 
 they could only attain by tlie votes of the other priests. He 
 directed tliat deacons should bless the paschal candle on Holy 
 Saturday in all parish churches, that deacons should wear the 
 stole on their right side, that the clergy should not use wine or 
 intoxicating drink in public houses, but rather they might in the 
 iiouses of the members of the church, especially in the homes of 
 the clergy, but that they must do so with moderation. 
 
 AVhen Zosimus went to his reward in the year 417, Boniface, a 
 sou of the Roman Jucundus, a presbyter of the Roman church, 
 by the unanimous votes of the clergy and people of Rome ascended 
 to the Pontificate. The cardinals and all the clergy of Rome 
 with the bishops of nine provinces took part in his election. 
 
 ^ Brev. Boman Sup. 28 Jan. 
 
BONIFACE AND C(ELESTIN I. 227 
 
 Although he was unwilling, they persuaded him to take upon 
 himself the care of the universal government of the church. I3ut 
 troubles at once arose. Eulalius, an archdeacon, called some of 
 the deacons and people together, and in the meeting got himself 
 ordained in Constantine's I3asilica and consecrated as the Bishop 
 of Kome. This usurper, being a wily politican, caused much 
 trouble in the church, till at last the matter was settled by the 
 bishops and people of Home proclaiming that Boniface was the 
 real successor of St. Peter. The latter at once reformed the 
 manner of electing the Pope, so that in future after his death such 
 a dispute about the Papacy could not take place again. He had 
 the full confidence of the Emperor of the Koman empii'e, who 
 while he lived used all his efforts to promote religion in all parts 
 of the world. Although he was a very learned man, Pope Zosi- 
 mus asked the advice of St. Augustine in his answer to the 
 attacks of the Pelagians. In his reply the great St. Augustine 
 tells the Pope that he sends his works to him, not to teach him, 
 but rather that the Pope may examine and correct his writings. 
 Tiiat was a remarkable declaration or profession of the supremacy 
 of the Bishop of Rome by St. Augustine, the greatest mind of 
 the early church. The Pope corrected Patroclus, Bishop of 
 Aries, who tried to force himself into the archiepiscopal see of 
 another archbishop. He sent letters to Hilary, Bishop of Narbon, 
 commanding him to do nothing except according to the rights of 
 his own metropolitan and of the apostolic See. He forbade nuns 
 or Avomen to wash the paliums of the archbishop. To reform 
 abuses, he ordained that no one should offer incense in the church 
 except the minister celebrating at the altar. He forbade clergy- 
 men to become slaves, as slavery was quite common in Europe at 
 that time, till it was gradually and quietly abolished by the church 
 in after ages. 
 
 Coelestin I. who had been created a cardinal deacon by Pope 
 Innocent I., now came to the Eoman See, without any contest or 
 division of the people. Knowing that it was no use to try to con- 
 vert (ycelestius, he ordered him out of Italy, as the only way of 
 having peace in the church, because he was the first and chief 
 disciple of Pelagius, and he was continually preaching his false 
 doctrines and disturbing the people. Celesius then became the 
 leader of the Pelagians. He retired to the East where he con- 
 tinued to preach his false doctrines as did his disciple Agricola 
 one of his disciples, who retired into England where he poisoned the 
 people with his false teachings. To counteract the errors Pope 
 Celestinus sent missionaries into England, Avho met with such 
 success, that they converted many of the people. Having become 
 acquainted with the people of the British Isles, he sent to them 
 Germanus as his legate to Ireland. Soon after he consecrated 
 Palladius a deacon of the Roman church, and sent him as the 
 apostle of Ireland. At this time St.* Patrick was a slave among 
 the Irish. When he was liberated he came to Rome where he made 
 
228 SIXTHS III. AND LEO THE GREAT. 
 
 his studies and there he received episcopal consecration and Pope 
 Celestine sent him as the apostle of Ireland. 
 
 In the imperial city of Constantinople now arose another diflB- 
 culty. Nestoriiis its archbishop began to preach that Christ was 
 only a man, born of the Virgin, but not the natural Son of God, 
 the divinity having been united to him only for his merits. Pope 
 Celestine at once condemned him and his teachings. He appoint- 
 ed St. Cyril of Alexandria as his delegate to Constantinople to 
 represent him and examine Nestorius, stating that he would give 
 Nestorius ten days in which to retract liis errors, otherwise he 
 would condemn him. When Nestorius would not retract, the Pope 
 called the third ecumenical council of the church at Ephesus, over 
 which Celestine presided by his Legates. In that great council of 
 the church, the Pope condemned Nestorius, his false doctrines, 
 the Pelagians and the other heretics. He commanded that at the 
 time of death, no one should be denied absolution; that criminals or 
 any one from the ranks of the laity should not be directly pro- 
 moted to the episcopacy, that archbishops, should not exercise epis- 
 copal functions in the province of another archbishop, that one of 
 another diocese could not be elected to a vacant episcopal see, that 
 the 150 Psalms should be sung. 
 
 When he died in the year 432 Sixtus III. came to preside over 
 the church universal. Wonderful peace and harmony then 
 reigned in the church. While he was a cardinal presbyter of the 
 Roman church, the great St. Augustin highly praised him for his 
 writings and his works against the Pelagians then afflicting the 
 church in Africa. One of his first acts in the chair of Peter was 
 to confirm the acts of the council of Ephesus, held a short time be- 
 fore his election. With his confirmation he sent the decrees of this 
 council to all the churches both of the East and of the West, de- 
 fining against Nestorius that Christ had two perfect natures, one 
 of God the other of man united in the Person of God the Son. He 
 sent his definitions with the decrees of the council to Nestorius 
 himself, and to all the bishops of the East. To the archbishop of 
 Antioch, he wrote: "Nothing new is allowed, for nothing can be 
 added to the old. Look for the faith of the elders, and let not our 
 faith be disturbed by a mixture of new doctrines." When he could 
 not be induced or forced to alienate the property of the church, he 
 was accused of crimes by the ex-consuls Anicius Bassus and the 
 patrician Marinianus. But a council of 56 bishops, the emperor 
 and senate and the whole clergy of Rome being called by him at 
 Rome, after examining the case they declared him innocent, and 
 condemned his calumniators. 
 
 In the year 440 Leo I. began his reign. He was an Etuscan. At 
 that time the Roman empire was falling before the inroads of the 
 barbarians from the North. Attila the king of the Huns, called 
 ''the Scourge of God," after laying the rest of southern Europe in 
 ruins, with fire and sword hcinvaded Italy. Tiie northern barbar- 
 ians were haters of learning, of arts, of the science. They had 
 
LEO I. MEETING ''THE SCOURGE OF GOD. " 229 
 
 destroyed all before them. Having captured Aquilia with great 
 carnage they burned and levelled it. Then they advanced with an 
 irresistible army on Eome, the centre of religion and of civilization. 
 The treasures of books, of bibles, of sculpture, of the fine arts, 
 of architecture, from which the whole world copied, were then 
 within the walls of Rome, and Rome was to meet the fate of Troy, 
 of Babylon, of Jerusalem. The work of the human race was to 
 be blotted from the face of the earth by the legions of Attila. 
 Under an inspiration. Pope Leo put on his pontifical robes, accom- 
 panied by all his clergy, he went out and met Attila near the river 
 Po on his march to the doomed city, and there with an inspired 
 eloquence he asked Attila to spare Rome. At the sight of the fear- 
 less Pontiff, Attila appeared struck powerless. He turned his army 
 aside at the voice of the weak but brave Pope, and thus he spared 
 Rome. When his generals and his army grumbled at the loss of 
 the spoils of the greatest city of the world, Attila told them that 
 the night before God Almighty appeared to him in sleep, clothed 
 in the same priestly robes worn by Leo, and threatened him with 
 instant death unless he listened to the Pope. As the Nestorians 
 and Eutychians still troubled the church, St. Leo called a coun- 
 cil at Chalcedon, which condemned them and there he confirmed 
 the decrees of that celebrated council. He built a monastery near 
 St. Peter's tomb on the Vatican; he rebuilt and beautified many 
 churches of the city. He ordered that to the canon of the Mass 
 should be added these words: "The holy sacrifice the spotless 
 host." He ordained that no nun receive the veil till she had 
 lived in virginity for forty years. While living, Leo had ap- 
 pointed Hilary, then a deacon of the Roman church, as his legate to 
 preside as chairman over the council of Ephesus, called the "robber 
 council.'' Persecuted by the violence and the fear of Dioscorus, 
 archbishop of Alexandria, Hilary fled from the council and came 
 b*'5k to report to Ijco. At once Leo issued an encyclical letter to all 
 the churches of the world, condemning the errors of Nestorius and 
 Eutyches. 
 
 Li 461 Hilary was elected to succeed Leo. At his request Vic- 
 torinus of Aquitain reformed the calendar which the whole chris- 
 tian world used for many centuries. He forbade bishops to nominate 
 their successors, or be consecrated without the consent of their 
 archbishop, to move from one diocese to another, or to do any- 
 thing forbidden by the canons. He forbade men twice married to 
 receive holy orders. He confirmed the four first councils of the 
 church. He appointed Leontius archbishop of Orleans his vicar 
 in all France, whom he commanded to call the bishops each four 
 years together in council. He commanded that lands belonging 
 to the church should be sold only by order of a council. He ap- 
 pointed places in the eternal city, where stations could be held and 
 forbade the clergy to mix in worldly things. He died in 461. 
 
 Simplicius Tiburtinus was the son of Castorius. It was a time of 
 great difficulties for the church, as most of the rulers of the world 
 
230 SIMPLICIUS TIBURTINUS AND FELIX III. 
 
 were followers of the Arians, the Nestorians, the Eutychians and of 
 other false teachers. These conspired and asked of Leo, the 
 emperor of the Greek empire, that the archbishop of Constanti- 
 nople might have certain privileges detrimental to the See of Rome. 
 Certain concessions had been apparently conceded to the see of 
 Constantinople by the bishops of the Orient assembled in the 
 council of Chalcedon. But they had been vetoed by former Popes. 
 Simplicius sent his legate to the imperal city of Constantinople, 
 to settle the difficnlty. After his report, the Pope decreed that 
 Timothy ^Elurus, had wrongly invaded the see of Alexandria, that 
 aided by the power of the central government at Constantinople 
 he had driven out the right bishop. He did this under the plea 
 or pretention that the rightful bishop of the see was propagating 
 false doctrines. But Pope Simplicius condemned him. Then he re- 
 sisted calling a new council for the settlement of the diflflculties of 
 the church. Again Peter Mogg invaded the episcopal chair of Alex- 
 andria, but Pope Simplicus condemned him, and ordered him from 
 the city, so he could not cause an insurrection. Through his 
 legates, he restored Timothy the legitimate archbishop of Alexan- 
 dria. Simplicius absolved Solofaciolus after he had asked forgive- 
 ness of the Roman See, for having nominated Dioscorus to holy or- 
 ders, which was contrary to the canons of thechnrch then in force. 
 
 He confirmed the election of the archbishop of Antioch, which 
 took place contrary to the rules of the council of Nice, and de- 
 creed that for the future, the election of the archbishop of Antioch 
 should be reserved to the bishops of the East subjects of the patri- 
 archate of Antioch. He commanded that the revenues of the church 
 should be divided into four parts, one for the bishop, another for the 
 clergy, and the others for the building of churches and the sup- 
 port of the widows and the orphans. He appointed Zeno, one of 
 the bishops of Spain, his legate for that whole country, and gave 
 him orders how to keep the other bishops of Spain within the 
 canons of the church. He marked out the limits of the regions 
 of Rome, into which the city had been divided by his predecessors, 
 directing where the people were to go for the reception of the 
 sacraments. 
 
 Felix III., son of the noble house of the Anicians, the great- 
 great grandfather of Gregory the Great, ascended the throne of 
 Peter in 483 on the death of Simplicius. A man of great firmness 
 of mind, when Rome was captured by the Arian heretics, he alone 
 and almost single handed, would not cede the right of the Papacy, 
 although urged to do so by Zeno the emperor. He issued an edict 
 condemning the invasion; deposed Peter FuUo, archbiehop of Anti- 
 och; called Acasui us archbishop of Constantinople to Rome to give 
 an account of his false teachings and bad life, and commanded 
 him under pain of excommunication to obey the Roman Pontiff. 
 He ordained that no church could be consecrated except by a 
 bishop; that when a person was once baptized he must not be bap- 
 tized again under severe punishment. 
 
GEI.ASIUS AND ANASTASIUS. 231 
 
 "When Felix died in 492, Gelasius of Africa rose lo the Roman 
 See. He was a man of great and ardent faith, well versed in all 
 learning of his day. He defended his See from her enemies. 
 He reformed the Massbook. Under his short reign of four years 
 the clergy rapidly increased all over the world. In his day the 
 emperor Anastasius was a heretic, and king Theodoricns an 
 Arian. But such was the eminence of the Roman See all over 
 the world, that these two powerful rulers both of the East and of 
 the West respected the power and the authority of St. Gelasius. 
 He delivered Rome from famine, forbade pagan theatricals, which 
 had remained as the debaucheries and deviltries of the pagan ages of 
 Rome and thus blotted out the last vestiges of idolatry in Rome. 
 He ordained many things relating to the beauty and dignity of di- 
 vine worship; condemned Euphemius of Constantinople; wrote 
 many beautiful letters and documents to the churches in all parts 
 of the world; enlightened them regarding the true doctrines of the 
 church; confounded the Manichians and Pelagians of Africa; 
 condemned their writings to the flames; composed many of the Lat- 
 in hymns of the breviary and missal; issued decrees relating to 
 canon law and wrote fine articles against Arius, Pelagius, Nestorius 
 and others of his time. He separated the canonical books of the 
 Bible from the aprocryphal writings, and gave us the canon of 
 Scriptures as we have them at the present day. He called a synod 
 of seventy bishops to Rome, and in that council, he there officially 
 decreed that such would be forever the authentic and canonical 
 books of the Holy Scriptures. The great works he did for the 
 church universal are too numerous to mention. 
 
 When Anastasius took upon himself the government of the 
 universal church in 496, his ttrst attention was turned to the church 
 of the East, then greatly afflicted with the false doctrines of the 
 Eutychians, and the j)eculiar teachings of the disciples of Origin. 
 Using his apostolic authority, with zeal and prudence, he rooted 
 out these heresies in many parts of the Orient. He sent many apos- 
 tolic letters and mandates to the bishops of Europe. He taught 
 the whole church by his many briefs, encyclicals and apostolic man- 
 dates, while at the same time he carefully guarded the discipline of 
 the clergy and people of Rome. When the bishops of the African 
 church met in plenary council, they sent to this Pope their legate 
 Anastasius Venerius, a priest of Mileri, asking the Bishop of Rome * 
 to send them missionary priests, which the church in Africa, 
 afflicted by the Arians, the Donatists and Pelagians so much want- 
 ed at that time. By the hand of Anastasius, he sent them a reply 
 full of fatherly charity and apostolic zeal for the church in Africa, 
 warning them not to be deceived by the wiles of the Donatists. By 
 the authority of this Pope, the bishops of Africa made a law, that 
 no bishop or clergyman of the Donatist church could exercise their 
 orders, when converted, if it would be an occasion of scandal to 
 the catholics. He made laws that no stranger could be received 
 into the ranks of the clergy, unless he had the recommendations of 
 
232 SYMACHUS AND HORMISDAS. 
 
 at least five bishops, that when reciting the Holy Gospel at Mass 
 the celebrant must not sit but stand with bended head, out of 
 reverence to the word of God. 
 
 Pope Anastasius died in the year 498 and in 498, St. Symachus 
 was elected on the fourth day after the death of his predecessor. 
 His father was Fortunatus. At the time he was only a deacon. 
 The conclave met in the basilica of Constantine. The larger part 
 of the Roman clergy were present with the Roman senators. But 
 many of the laity , under the bad advice of Festus, the chairman of 
 the Roman senate, gave their votes for Lawrence, the arch-priest of 
 the Roman diocese. There arose then a division and a schism. 
 But the zeal and prudence of Symachus who called four synods of 
 the Roman clergy, at last put an end to the division. When peace 
 was restored, he laid down laws for the election of the future 
 Popes and the selection of bishops all over the world, so that such 
 divisions and contests could not arise again. He made laws relat- 
 ing to the alienation of church property and for the reforming of 
 abuses. Following his advice the bishops of Orleans and of Agatho 
 held synods, in which wise statutes were formed for the govern- 
 ment of the dioceses and churches under their care. He issued 
 letters to all the churches of the christian world relating to the 
 preaching of the Gospel in that age of war, bloodshed and of 
 plunder. He gave both money and clothes to the captives of the 
 Vandals, Huns and Visigoths, as well as beautified many of the 
 churches of Rome then held captive under Arianian and other 
 barbarous kings. 
 
 When St. Symachus died, the clergy and laity of Rome met, 
 and on the seventh day the deacon Hormisdas received their UTian- 
 imous votes. The election was providential. For at that time 
 the church wanted a man of strong will and a saint to cope with 
 barbarian infidels and heretical knigs. In the eight years of his 
 reign he changed the whole face of the christian world. For eighty 
 years the churches of the Orient had been separated from the Ro- 
 man See. He sent them apostolic letters borne by his legates, by 
 which he brought them back again into the unity of the universal 
 church. He restored to their Sees the orthodox bishops of Africa, 
 whom the Vandals had banished to Sardinia. Remi. archbishop 
 of Rheims, had Clovis the king of France a short time before con- 
 verted and baptized at Rheims and with great ceremony he crowned 
 him king of the Franks. Hormisdas condemned the Maniciiians 
 and publicly burned their false books before the Constantinian 
 basilica. He taught the whole church by his numerous letters which 
 he sent to all parts of the world. His every act breathed zeal for 
 souls. His writings possess a singular beauty of style. He became 
 the most famous literary man of his age. Full of glory and honor, 
 esteemed among both pagans and christians, he died after nine 
 years of a glorious pontificate. 
 
 During the pontificate of the good Hormisdas, John of Con- 
 stantine was the cardinal priest or pastor of the church of 
 
FELIX IV. AND BONIFACE II. 
 
 23^ 
 
 Pammachins. He was elected Bishop of the universal church by 
 the unanimous votes of the Roman clergy. He ruled in the times 
 of Justinus the emperor. As Theodoric the heretical king had in- 
 vaded and conquered Italy, the Pope went to Constantinople to ask 
 aid from the Roman emperor. When entering the Golden gate 
 of the great city of Constantinople, before the whole people he 
 restored sight to a blind man. At once the Roman emperor before 
 the whole population prostrated himself at his feet. Having ar- 
 ranged to his satisfaction matters with the emperor, he returned 
 to Rome, and there issued letters to all the bishops of Italy com- 
 manding tliem to consecrate the churches of the Arianians accord- 
 ing to the catholic rite, and receive them into the fold, adding to his 
 letters these words: "Because when we were at Constantinople, 
 both for the catholic religion and for tlie cause of Theodoric, 
 wherever we could find sucli churches, we consecrated them."* 
 Soon after he Avas seized by the sameimpius Theodoric and prison- 
 ed at Ravenna where he died. 
 
 In 526 Felix IV^. was elevated to the Throne of the Fisherman. 
 He was the son of Castor and noted for his luimility and learning. 
 When Athalaric, the successor of Tiieodoric, began his reign as 
 emperor of Rome, although an Arian and denying the divinity of 
 Christ, for the honor of the Roman church, he made a law for the 
 members of his vast empire, that according to the apostolic custom, 
 the clergy should not be sued or cited before civil courts; that 
 tliey should first bring their case or dispute before the Roman 
 Pontiff; and that any one who would not do so would be considered 
 as in contempt of the Papal authority, and would have to pay a 
 large fine into the hands of their own bishop. This Pope con- 
 demned the error of those who held that a man ordained a priest 
 could return to worldly business. When he died on the 30th of 
 January, 530, Justinian the emperor and Athalaric the king of 
 Italy came to his funeral to do him honor. 
 
 Boniface II. was the first of the Popes up to this time, who does 
 not rank as a saint. He was elected to the headship of the church 
 universal in the year 530 by the votes of the clergy and people of 
 Rome. He was the son of Sigisvult the Goth. When the emper- 
 ors of the Byzantian empire had become masters of Rome, they 
 tried to control the election of the Popes, or at least they claimed 
 the right of vetoing or of confirming such election. Followingthis, 
 at the election of Boniface II., Athalaric, king of Italy presumed 
 to elect a pope. He tried to put his tool, Dioscorus. on the spiritual 
 throne of Peter. But the death of the latter, 29 days after the 
 election of Boniface, put an end to the threatened division in the 
 church. The latter then took measures to prevent such inter- 
 meddling political intrigues for the future and appointed his succes- 
 sor in the person of Vigilius the Deacon. But seeing that it was 
 contrary to the constitution of the church for a Pope to name his 
 successor he assembled a council of bishops in Rome, and then 
 * "Brev. Roman" May 17th. 
 
•534 
 
 OFFICIAL DECISIONS. 
 
 publicly before them, he revoked and burned his own mandate. 
 Each year of his pontificate, he assembled a council of bishops 
 in Rome to legislate for the universal church. 
 
 One council of 531 bishops heard the appeal of Stephen of Lar- 
 issa, archbishop of Thessaly, whose election Epiphanius archbishop 
 of Constantinople contested. The latter then appealed to the 
 Roman See, because as the patriarch of Constantinople he claimed 
 the right of suspending Stephen from his episcopal functions. Pope 
 Boniface restored Stephen to his see reversing the sentence of the 
 patriarch of Constantinople; the same year he confirmed the de- 
 crees of the council of Orange, which had been laid before him 
 by St. Cesarius of Aries. He also condemned the teachings of 
 some of those bishops of France, who claimed that the first act of 
 religion comes from nature and not from the grace of Christ. He 
 regulated the education of students for the clergy; he ordained 
 the mode of electing bishops and regulated the sale of church 
 property. In his day rose that patriarch of the monastic life St. 
 Benedict. Although before his time religious houses had been 
 established in the Westby Sts. Augustin, Ambrose, Jerome, Martin 
 of Tours and Cassian, yet Benedict in the West first united them 
 all under one fixed and detailed rule which was soon almost every- 
 where adopted."' 
 
 John II. was consecrated Jan. 22, 532. His first act was to 
 confirm the decree of his predecessor against the sin of simony 
 that is selling spiritual things for money. His decree was con- 
 firmed by the emperor Athalaric, who had it engraved on a marble 
 tablet and set up before the entrance to St. Peter's church Rome. 
 At that time the prime minister of the king of Italy, wrote to the 
 
 Pope these words: " I have become the judge of the palace 
 
 The See of Peter, the admiration of the world, should grant a 
 special protection to those who are most closely bound to it, as 
 rulers of Italy we feel privileged to claim from it a larger share 
 of benevolence."' 
 
 Justinian the emperor sent to Pope John at Rome, Hypatius, 
 archbishop of Ephesus, and Demetrius, bishop of Philippi, asking 
 that certain concessions be allowed the Eutychians so they could 
 enter the church. Some claimed at this time that the Virgin 
 was not the mother of God, and that it could not be said that one 
 of the Persons of the Trinity suffered for us. The Pope at 
 once declared this to be heresy, citing the decision given before 
 by Pope Hormisdas deciding that all who held tliis doctrine were 
 without the food of the universal church. He wrote his decision 
 to the emperor Justinian, and announced it to the Roman senators 
 saying: "The emperor lias made known to us that three questions 
 have lately arisen in the East, viz. 'Can Jesus Christ be called one 
 of the Trinity?' Did he really suffer in the flesh the Divinity re- 
 maining impassible? Can the blessed Virgin be properly called 
 the Mother of God? We have given an affirmative answer to 
 > Darras Hist, of tbe Cburcb Vol. II. S. ir. * Darras Hist, of tbe Churcb Vol. II- p. iSt. 
 
THE CUAIH IN WJIICH SI. VEiiJ-iv bAi' as UloxxUi" uF ROME. 
 
236 INTRODUCING THE CALENDAR. 
 
 these questions *".... Justinian placed the reply of the Pope among 
 the laws of the empire, in the second edition of his Code of laws 
 published in the year 534. During the last year of his life, the 
 church of France was disturbed, by the scandalous life of Contu- 
 meliosus, bishop of Eeez. St. Cesar, bishop of Aries, and the other 
 prelates of the province examined the charges and sent a report of 
 the testimony to Pope John II. This was in 534. He at once 
 pronounced sentence against the bad bishop, deposing him from 
 the see he had so disgraced. He sent him to a monastery to do 
 penance for his sins, and at the same time he commanded St. Ce- 
 sar to appoint an administrator of the vacant See of Reez, till the 
 death of the deposed bishop. The latter appealed, but John II. 
 died and his successor St. Agapitus confirmed the sentence of his 
 predecessor. 
 
 St. Agapitus, son of Gordianus, was an archdeacon of the Eoman 
 church. Because of his remarkable learning and his holiness, he 
 was the elect of the whole Roman clergy at the death of John II. 
 Before his time they used to date the years from the appointment 
 of the consuls, and the dates of the chief historic events become so 
 mixed, that it was getting almost impossible to tell when they 
 took place. The Roman empire, swept away by the arms of the 
 barbarians from the North, had so complicated the reckoning of 
 the years, that events could not be accurately computed. Dennis 
 the Little was appointed by the Pope to carry out the cycle of St. 
 Cyril, which ended in the year 531. Agapitus conceived the idea 
 of reckoning events the from birth of our Lord. Dennis spent liis 
 wholelifein this great work. Under Pope Agapitns the •whole world 
 received the calendar of the Roman church. To him the human 
 race is indebted for the christian era or mode of counting the years 
 from the birth of Christ. On learning of his consecration, the 
 empei'or Justinian sent him his profession of his faith, and asked 
 that the converted Arians might be allowed to keep their ciiurches; 
 that Achilles, bishop of Larissa, be received in place of Epiphanius 
 of Constantinople, and that the vicariate of lllyria be changed to 
 Justiniana, a city which Justinian was then building in Dardania. 
 In his reply the Pope refused to recognize the holy orders of the 
 Arians as valid quoting an ancient canon against it. He appointed 
 legates to examine the matter of bishop Achilles, and deferred the 
 other questions. With the emperor's letter came to the Pope came 
 also the acts of a council of the 200 bishops of Africa Jissem bled 
 at Carthage, under the presidency of their metropolitan archbishop 
 Reparatus. Before deciding the question of admitting converts 
 from Arianism into the church, and whether they should be bap- 
 tized over again at their conversion, the bishops of that council 
 wished to submit the question to the decision of the Bishop of 
 Rome. 
 
 Agapitus decided that tlie converted Arian bishops could not be 
 given jurisdiction, but directed that they live as laymen and be 
 
 > Ibidem p. IZT. 
 
THE POPE IN EXILE. 237 
 
 supported from the revenues of their churches, because their orders 
 were invalid, also deciding that the Arian converts could not be 
 ordained to the ministry. He went to Constantinople to ask aid 
 of the emperor against the persecutions of Theodatus then ravag- 
 ing Italy. There he deposed the Anthimus, the Entychian bishiop 
 of Constantinople, who had been uTilawfully raised to that see by the 
 empress Theodora. While in Constantinople, the churches of the 
 East asked his aid against the Eutychians, who continued to 
 teach their false doctrines. The death of the Pope in the imper- 
 ial city soon after put a stop to the good work for the quieting of 
 the East. He had the greatest funeral ever seen up to that time. 
 His remains were brought to Kome, and laid beside those of his 
 predecessors in the crypt of St. Peter's church. 
 
 Having heard of the death of Agapitus at Constantinople 
 King Theodatus brought about the consecration of the deacon 
 Sylverius, not allowing the clergy of Rome to vote. But seeing 
 that they would be forced into submission the Eoman clergy 
 ratified the choice in June 536. The new Pope proved himself 
 no tool in the handa of a bad king. He was a worthy successor 
 of the noble Pontiffs who preceded him. Theodora, empress of 
 Justinian, wished to place on the Chair of Peter, a Pope who- 
 would admit the Eutychians to the communion of the church, re- 
 store Anthemus to the see of Constantinople and reject the coun- 
 cil of Chalcedon. For that reason she sent as delegate to Vigilius 
 a deacon, who when he arrived at Rome found that Sylvei-ius had 
 been elected to the Pontificate, and the project fell to the ground. 
 When Sylverius would not yield to Theodora's wishes and re- 
 store Anthimus to the see of Constantinople, Theodore notified 
 Belisarius, Justinian's general commander in Italy, who invaded 
 the country near Rome and persecuted the Pope. Then the 
 bishop of Patrata started for Constantinople to boldly upbraid 
 and condemn Justinian, for the way he had allowed his forces 
 in Italy to treat Sylverius the head of the church. The em- 
 peror thep ordered that the Pontiff be at once sent back to 
 Rome, but the Pope was seized on his way back by Belisarius 
 and died in exile on the Island of Palmaria. 
 
 After having been stripped of his pontifical robes by Belisarius, 
 the emperor's general in Italy, who was moved to this by the lies 
 and calumnies heaped on him by his enemies and thus driven 
 into exile, the deacon Vigilius called a meeting of the clergy of 
 Rome to elect a Pope in the place of the exiled Pontiff. Fright- 
 ened by threats, or rather bribed by diverse influences, they 
 elected Vigilius himself on Nov. 22 in 537. When the deposed 
 Sylverius was on his way back to Rome, Vigilius was considered 
 as a usurper, but on the death of the real Pope Sylverius, the elec- 
 tion of Vigilius was made valid by the action of the Roman clergy. 
 Thus his accession at first, while the Pope lived, was irregular and 
 invalid, but it became valid and regular at his death by the ac- 
 tion of the electors. Although the ruler of Italy, Belisarius, 
 
238 SETTLING DISPUTES. 
 
 thought he had a willing tool in Vigilins, he soon found he was 
 mistaken, for the Popes from the very beginning of the church 
 are animated with a different spirit when sitting on the everlast- 
 ing throne of Peter, than they were before being raised to that 
 highest office of earth. The Holy Spirit fills them with wisdom 
 for the government of the universal church. 
 
 Vigilius as Pope soon repaired his failings as a deacon. He 
 wrote two letters, one to' the emperor Justinian, the other to 
 Mennas, patriarch of Constantinople, declaring his faith and 
 policy to be the same as that of Sts. Celestin, Leo, John, and his 
 other great predecess^^ors. He again confirmed the four general 
 coun-cils of the church and condemned the Eutychians, Arians 
 and especially Anthemus, who persisted in holding the see of Con- 
 stantinople against the wishes of the Holy See. Both the empress 
 and Justinian wished to retain this bishop iheir tool at the seat 
 of their great government. In 547 Vigilius came to Constanti- 
 nople, at the earnest request of Justinian, to settle the dispute 
 among the bishops of the Orient relating to the matter contained 
 in the Three Chapters. His first act was to condemn the patri- 
 arch Mennas, and excommunicate the Eutychians. Calling a 
 council of 70 bishops he then examined and coudemned the 
 Tiiree Chapters. He wrote to Aurelius bisiiop of Aries, his legate, 
 asking him to warn all the bishops not to give heed to any of the 
 reports, which they hear, as lie held to the faith of his predecessors 
 in the Roman See. 
 
 'During the Pontificate of Vigilius Pelagius was a deacon of the 
 Roman church. He took part in the condemnation of the Three 
 Chapters, and this brought on him the most atrocious slanders, 
 which alienated from him the clergy and people of Rome, so that 
 John of Perugia and Bunus only took part in his consecration. 
 He rooted out simony then prevalent in many parts of the 
 church. Wiien some of the bishops of Italy, with blind zeal ex- 
 communicated Narces, the lieutenant of the emperor Justinian, 
 Pope Pelagius revoked it and commended and praised Narces. He 
 wrote and corrected the false opinions of the bishops Of Tuscany. 
 Pelagius dyijig on March 26, 559, while building the church of 
 the Twelve Apostles, John III. came to the chair His first act was 
 to ratify what his predecessors had done. He condemned the 
 errors of the emperor Justinian and his followers. The latter 
 claimed that Christ's body could not suffer, and that his passion 
 was not real. The emperor himself banished St. Eutychius patri- 
 arch of Constantinople, and issued a decree forcing all the bi>»ho])8 
 of the empire to subscribe to this peculiar faith. When Justinian 
 the emperor died Nov. 14th, 5GG, his niece Sophia took the reins 
 of government. She insulted Nares her lieutenant in Italy who, 
 at once invited Alboin, king of the Lombards, to invade Italy, 
 which he at once conquered. With his whole army he was an 
 Arian, not believing in the divinity of Christ. From this fatal 
 error the Popes again delivered Italy. 
 
THE ENGLISH AS SLAVES. 239 
 
 When John III. died July 13, 572 the throne of the Fisherman 
 remained vacant ten months, because the Lombards, besieging 
 Eome, prevented the meeting of the Roman clergy. Chosroes 
 was devastating Syria; the Arian king of the Visigoths were per- 
 secuting the catholics of Spain; France was the seat of civil wars. 
 St. Leander the fearless bishop of Seville Spain, after living 
 in banishment, established churches and monasteries. The cath- 
 olic faith was then prescribed in many countries. 
 
 Such was the condition of the christian world when on May 
 16th, 573, Benedict was selected by the Roman clergy. He at 
 once chose the deacon Gregory to the office of archdeacon of the 
 Roman church. Tlie latter belonging to a senatorial family was 
 of the highest nobility of Rome. Feeling himself called to the 
 church, he resigned his pretorian dignity to enter tlie religious 
 life. The house of his uncle, where for generations his family had 
 lived on the Celian hill shaded by the lofty pine trees, tliis 
 palace he turned into the monastery of St. Andrew for the pious 
 disciples whom he gathered around him. Taking a walk in Rome 
 one day, he saw among the slaves for sale in the slave market a 
 number of men and women of light fair complexion. Struck with 
 their intelligent looks and their great beauty, he asked where 
 tliey were from. Tiiey told him they were from pagail England 
 in Latin Angles. "Not Angles '' lie said "but they are like Angels." 
 With a sigh that such a noble looking people should be buried in 
 paganism, he begged of Pope Benedict to send him to England 
 foi'tlie conversion of that nation. Touched with his great zeal 
 the Pope gave liis consent, and Gregory with thirty followers set out 
 at once. When he had gone as far as the foot of the Alps on his 
 mission for the conversion of England, a messenger came with or- 
 ders to return for the Romans had rebelled at the departure of 
 one so great and famous a churchman from their midst. The 
 great archdeacon returned, and for years looked after the affairs of 
 the Roman church. 
 
 When Benedict died July 31st, 577 the choice of a Pontiff fell on 
 a monk who took the name of Pelagius IL Having come to an 
 arrangement with the Lombards, who at that time had conquered 
 Italy, Pelagius recalled his legate the deacon Gregory from the 
 seat^f the empire at Constantinople, and directed him to write in 
 his name to the bishops of the province of Istria, who refused to 
 abide by the decisions of the Roman Pontiffs, and of the fifth gen- 
 eral council. When they would not submit they were called to 
 Ravenna where arguments convinced them. 
 
 At this time what is now France was composed of many little 
 nations, often hostile to their neighbors, and many councils were 
 held by which the framework of the present nation was laid down. 
 St. Gregory of Tours was then the master spirit of all these coun- 
 cils and reforms. When Sagetarius and Salonius, bishops of Gap 
 and Embrun, gave up their see to take part in bloody wars, 
 they were deposed by the council of Lyons held in 5C7, but Pope 
 
240 GREGORY AS DEACON. 
 
 Paul III. restored them. But not reforming, again they were de- 
 graded from the episcopacy. When the troubles of the East cul- 
 minated in the council held at Antioch, June 589, against Greg- 
 ory, patriarch of Antioch, John the Faster sat chairman of the 
 council. This John had usurped the title of Ecumenical bishop, 
 that is universal bishop. At once Pelagius II. wrote to Constanti- 
 nople, and annulled the whole council. He then reviewed all that 
 Popes Julius, Celestine, Innocent and Leo, had proclaimed to the 
 christian world regarding the authority of the Bishop of Rome 
 over the whole church, and he forbade his legate St. Gregory to 
 have anything to do with John the Faster patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople. This Pope died Feb. 8th, 590. 
 
 Gregory the deacon was the directing mind of Peter's bark in 
 the time of tiie utmost dangers and difliculties. The patriarch of 
 Constantinople claimed to be the chief of the East. The Lombards 
 had invaded Italy, England was pagan, France was torn by civil 
 wars, Europe lay bleeding from the fire of the sword of the bar- 
 barians of the north. Gregory's house turned into a monastery 
 stood on the Celian hill. Hisfamily had given her greatest son to 
 Rome. His fame as a preaclier had filled all Rome, and his homi- 
 lies or explanations of the Bible had attracted all minds. The 
 clergy, the senators and the people of Rome were unanimous in 
 their choice. On Sept. 3d Gregory ascended the spiritual 
 throne of Christ, although he tried to escape the great and 
 heavy burden. In the words of Bossuet, " the great Pope ap- 
 peases the age with his prayers, he teaches kings and emperors, he 
 consoles Africa, encourages Spain, converts the Arians, sends mis- 
 sionaries to England, restores discipline in France, conciliates the 
 Lombards, saves Italy and Rome from being conquered, crushes 
 the growing pride of the patriarchs of Constantinople, teaches the 
 whole church by his learning, rules both the East and the West by 
 vigorous hands, and before his death he brings back the whole 
 christian world to the customs of the apostolic age." Even to our 
 day we feel the power of the wise and vigorous measures he enact- 
 ed for the discipline of the church. He reformed and collected 
 into one book the prayers said at Mass, he codified the rites of ad- 
 ministering the sacraments, he reformed the music of the church, 
 and founded schools all over the world. He took the most remark- 
 able care of the thirty missionaries, whom he sent to England to 
 convert her from paganism. They came from the monastery of St. 
 Andrew which he had ruled on the Celian hill in the home of his- 
 forefathers. Gregory the Great died March 12th 604 in his 64th 
 year. 
 
 At the pontificate of Gregory I. began a new epoch in the history 
 of the church. At this time the most deadly principles afflicted 
 society. The great Roman empire was tottering ready to fall, 
 the primal principles of morality had been undermined, paganism 
 was dying out, and festering corruption had everywhere sapped the 
 foundations of law, order, peace and prosperity. 
 
APOSTOLIC MAKTYKS AND LEGISLATORS. 341 
 
 But the world began to feel a new power, the supernatural, 
 above and superior to any they had ever felt before. It was the 
 Papacy. The gates of hell had not prevailed. That universal 
 authority of the Bishops of Rome from the days of the apostles, 
 rising above all other authorities, extending to every part of the 
 known world, bound peoples, nations, tribes and tongues into one 
 solid body the church catholic. From the days of Peter to those 
 of Melchiades, the Popes had resisted the gates of hell even unto 
 most cruel deaths, for without a single exception they all died as 
 martyrs, offering their sufferings, their blood and their lives, as 
 witnesses of the realities of the truths they taught the world. 
 From Melchiades to Gregory the Great, they laid down the 
 written laws of the church, which became the foundations of 
 christian society. " The first were apostolic martyrs, the latter 
 apostolic lawgivers." ' The first epoch saw sowed the seeds of the 
 ruin. 
 
 In France the archbishops of Aries had it seems been appointed 
 of the Roman empire while the second epoch saw laid the founda- 
 tions of modern christian society, whichrose totake the place of 
 paganism. Up to this time the Popes were teachers and lawgivers 
 now they appear as real sovereigns, that is as Bishop of Rome, as 
 bishop of the universal church, as temporal ruler, Gregory first 
 put on the tiara, the triple crown representing this triple power. 
 
 When in 604 Gregory went down to the tomb of his fathers, for 
 five months the Roman See remained vacant, ruled by the clergy 
 of Rome. Sept. 1st they elected Sabenian, the apostolic nuncio at 
 Constantinople. He first commanded that bells be rung to call 
 the people to the canonical hours. His pontificate lasted only six 
 months as he died Feb. 22, 605. 
 
 Boniface III. was nuncio at the court of Constantinople, when 
 on Feb. 25, 605 he was selected in the place of Sabenian. He had 
 before his election sent to represent Gregory at the imperial court 
 because he was of the highest merit. The encroachments of the 
 proud Constantinople, and of the Greek empire had given rise to 
 numerous difficulties. Before the time of Constantine, the little 
 city of Byzantium, nestled on the banks of the strait leading to 
 the Black Sea. There Constantine built the great city which 
 still bears his name. Till it became the seat of his empire, the 
 bishop of Byzantium was only a suffragan bishop, subject to the 
 archbishop of Heraclea. Now a new trouble arose for the Roman 
 Pontiff. In 606 the archbishop of Constantinople claimed to be 
 universal bishop. Eighty years before the great Justinian, emperor 
 of Constantinople and of the Greek empire, had declared that only 
 the Bishop of Rome was "the Head of all the holy Churches, the 
 first of all the bishops." The emperor Phocas again ratified the 
 decree proclaimed to the world by his predecessor Justinian. 
 Boniface foresfieing the difficulties raised in the proud city, on the 
 Bosphorus, religious trouble which afterwards culminated in the 
 
 ' Darras Hist, of the Church Vol. II. p. 195. 
 
242 THE TRUE CROSS. 
 
 Greek schism, called a council at Rome, where he regulati-d the 
 manner of electing his successors. 
 
 After his death the Roman See was vacant 10 months, when 
 on Sept. 18th, 614 Boniface IV. was elected. He was connected 
 with the imperial court at Constantinople, and to him Phocas 
 gave the Pantheon at Rome, which he dedicated to the Virgin and 
 to all the saints. From that time the feast of All Saints has been 
 held on the 1st of Nov. each year. Miletus, first bishop of London, 
 England, seeing the English church divided on the question as to 
 the time to celebrate Easter, he set out to visit Pope Boniface, 
 who called a council on the matter. On his return to England 
 St. Miletus brought back to England the decision of the Pope re- 
 garding Easter and matters relating to monastic life, besides let- 
 ters to Lawrence archbishop of Canterbury, to king Ethelbert, 
 and to the clergy and people of the whole English nation. On 
 his return in England in 610 he laid the foundations of West- 
 minster Abbey, on a marsh on the west banks of the Thames, 
 hence the name, — minster being the old Saxon for monastery, lie 
 dedicated it to St. Peter, in memory of the great church at Rome 
 built by Constantine on the Vatican, while he dedicated his cathe- 
 dral to St. Paul, whose body rests with that of St. Peter under 
 the great church in Rome, where St. Miletus was born and reared. 
 Under the pontificate of Boniface two important councils were 
 held, one at Paris and the other at Toledo, enacting laws relating 
 to important matters of discipline. 
 
 In May 614 Boniface IV. died and Deusdedit ascended the throne. 
 A storm now arose in the English church. When in 616 king 
 Ethelbert died, Eadbald his son, a pagan of bad morals, refused 
 the religion of Christ, and the people, led by his bad example fell 
 back again to heathenism. Saberet the first christian king of 
 Essex banished St. Miletus first bishop of London, but the death 
 of Saberet and the conversion of Eadbald paved the way for the 
 return of Miletus. Deusdedit died in 617 and was succeeded by 
 Boniface V. 
 
 Chosroes II. king of Persia, carried away the cross on which 
 Christ was crucified, but it was reconquered by emperor Ileraclius 
 and restored to Jerusalem. As a remembrance of this event, 
 each year the church celebrates the restoration of the true cross 
 on the 14th of Sept. At this time rose Mohammedanism the great- 
 est enemy of the christian religion. The teachings of Zoroaster, 
 the religion of the Jews, the paganism of the gentiles, the Gospel 
 of Christ, these four religions had been for centuries preached 
 side by side in the East, when Mohammed the father of fanaticism 
 began to bind them into one form of belief, teaching with fire 
 and sword that " there is but one God and Mohammed is his 
 Prophet. " The eloquence and the genius of this wonderful man 
 carried all before him. From the fragments of the four religions 
 mentioned, he formed a new religion the greatest foe of the 
 church. Brought down from heaven by the archangel Ga- 
 
THE ENGLISH CHURCH APPEALS TO ROME. 243 
 
 brlel the Koran he claimed was the revealed repository of 
 his teachings. It was received by them as an inspired book, and to 
 this day among them it takes the place of the Bible. In ten years 
 Mohammed had spread his teachings from the Persian gnlf to the 
 Red Sea. and from the Euphrates to the Nile. In after ages his fol- 
 lowers spread over the cradle lands of the faith, and Rome alone 
 excepted, they destroyed every episcopal see established by the 
 apostles. Under the influence of the Koran, industry was des- 
 troyed, women degraded, the fields lay untilled, commerce was 
 smothered and all progress of the race uprooted. 
 
 During this time the English church called on the Roman 
 Pontiff for his protection.' St. Justus and king Ethelbold wrote 
 the Pope about the difficulty of keeping the English people in 
 the faith. To him Boniface replied in a kind letter, congratulat- 
 ing him on his apostolic labors, and he sent him the pallium the 
 insignia of an archbishop, and gave him power to consecrate bish- 
 ops. Edwin V. king of Northumbria, wishing to wed Edilburga, 
 daughter of Ethelbald, promised to allow her to practice the 
 catholic faith, as we require now in mixed marriages. To him 
 Boniface V. wrote consenting, besides sending him presents for 
 himself and for his intended queen. 
 
 Under his pontificate was held the council of Rheims, where 
 the last remains of paganism was rooted out of France. Under 
 him flourished St. Anastasius of Mount Sinai, who first wrote a 
 book of controversy in that concise mode of argument called the 
 scholastic method, which has since become the form both of di- 
 vinity and of philosophy in all the schools of the church. Then 
 flourished the great St. Isidore of Seville in Spain, John Mos- 
 chus of Rome author of the Spiritual Meddow, and a host of 
 Avonderful men, who illustrated this epoch with their writings. 
 Their devotion to the Bishop of Rome was wonderful. But we 
 have only space for the words of St. Isidore of Seville in his pref- 
 ace to his collection of the old canons of the church. "To the 
 canons of the councils, we add the decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, 
 because their authority, standing upon the supremacy of the Apos- 
 tolic See, is unquestionable. ""^ Boniface V. died in 625. 
 
 When Honorius succeeded Boniface, Mohammed ism, before 
 .confined to Arabia, had reached Jerusalem and threatened the 
 ruin of the holy city. The new Pope was called to settle the dis- 
 putes relatina: to the Three Chapters, which he accomplished by 
 deposing Fortunatus, archbishop of Gradi, because he led a re- 
 bellious faction against the republic of Venice, which had been 
 established by the fishermen, who had generations before fled 
 from the horrors of Attila: "The scourge of God." The republic, 
 weak because of its small extent and population, turned to the 
 Pope their father for protection. To them the Pope wrote: "This 
 is a crime hateful to both God and man. We therefore beg that 
 as soon as you have restored Adaloald to the throne of his fathers, 
 
 » Darras Vol. II. p. 210. =* Darras Hist, of the Church. Vol. II. p. 213. 
 
244 TRIED TO DECEIVE THE POPE. 
 
 you will send those bishops to Eome, that we may treat their case 
 in due form of law. " ' 
 
 The reign of Honorius was distributed by the intrigues of Ser- 
 gius, archbishop and patriarch of Constantinople. ** The New 
 Rome "as they liked to call it, Constantinople the seat of the 
 Roman empire, the chief city of the world, filled with wealth and 
 power, was ever jealous of old Rome, the seat of the Pontiffs. 
 Constantinople was the mother of heresy, as Rome was the mother 
 of Christianity. Macedonius, its bishop, gave rise to a heresy, 
 holding that the Holy Ghost was a creature. Nestorius bishop 
 of the same city claimed that Christ had two persons. Euty- 
 ches, one of her archabbots taught that Christ had only one na- 
 ture. Now Sergius held that Christ had only one will. The 
 emperor favored and protected the heresy. To all the bishops of 
 the East, Sergius sent forged letters purporting to have been 
 written by Pope Vigilius favoring the error. He secured as his 
 followers the archbishops of the two great sees of Antioch and of 
 Alexandria, and they spread the heresy among the churches both 
 of Asia and Africa. Sophronius bishop of Jerusalem alone op- 
 posed the error. Sergius sent a guileful letter to Pope Honorius, 
 stating that the emperor had asked him if any of the fathers had 
 taught that Christ had only one will: " I answered him yes. and 
 sent him a letter written by Mennas patriarch of Constantinople 
 to your predecessor Vigilius," «&c. He complains to the Pope 
 about the monk Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, who teaches 
 that there are two wills in Christ, that the dispute is of little in- 
 terest, and does not hurt the faith. Yet it threatened to divide 
 he East into two hostile camps. 
 
 The Pontiff, not seeing the crafty design of Sergius, and believing 
 that the error would soon die out wrote him a nice reply, commend- 
 ing his zeal. He did so wishing to leave the question to the dis- 
 putes of grammarians, rather than disturb the church by a formal 
 discussion. He little saw that it was to become one of the most dan- 
 gerous heresies of the early church. But St. Sophronius called a 
 council at Jerusalem, which defined that Christ had two wills, the 
 will of God and the will of man. Pope Honorius looked on this meet- 
 ing at Jerusalem as tending to stir up discord. He at once wrote to 
 all the bishops of the world warning them not to create disputes and 
 divisions saying: " We acknowledge that the two natures in Jesus 
 Christ act and operate, each with the participation of the- other, 
 the divine nature operates what is of God, the human what is of 
 man, without division, without confusion, without a change of 
 the divine nature into man, or of the human nature into God. " 
 
 St. Sophronius, archbishop of Jerusalem, sent his chief suffra- 
 gan, Stephen bishop of Dora, to Rome to warn the Pontiff, and 
 to explain to him the disturbed state of the Eastern churclies. 
 But Stephen reached Rome only to find Honorius dead," while 
 St. Sophronius who sent him died before Stephen returned to 
 
 » In 637. Darras p. 216. » 658. 
 
HAS CHRIST ONE OR TWO WILLS ? 246 
 
 Jerusalem. Stephen lived to see Jerusalem captured by Omar, 
 the leader of the fanatical Mohammedans, the crescent, the emblem 
 of the false prophet, planted on the top of Calvary, the name and 
 worship of Christ driven from the holy city, while Stephen only 
 had time to carry the cross on which Christ had been crucified lo 
 Rome, there to lay it before the feet of Pope Honorius. With the 
 exception of about one century from 1099 to 1187 Jerusalem has 
 since been under the yoke of the Mohammedans. About this time 
 Honorius sent Birinus to convert the warlike inhabitants of Wes- 
 sex, England, and he fixed his see at Dorchester, of which he was 
 the first bishop. Honorius died in 638. 
 
 A vacancy of 18 months now elapsed before Severinus was 
 elected in his place. During this interregnum, the emperor, wish- 
 ing to end the disputes about the wills in Christ, issued a royal 
 decree to his whole empire, saying he did not countenance one or 
 two operations in Christ, but that in him all operations were 
 ruled by the same divine Word incarnate, thus favoring the Mon- 
 othelites. A council of the Asiatic bishops met at Constantinople, 
 where they favored the decree of the emperor, thus crowning the 
 intrigues of the patriarch Sergius, who died in the same year 639. 
 Tlie imperial troops then sacked the Lateran palace of the Popes, 
 and robbed the papal Treasury, sending a part of the spoils to 
 Constantinople. The emperor hearing that Severinus had been 
 elected, refused to confirm him till he had signed the new decree 
 about the operations in Christ. The emperor sent deputies to 
 Rome for that purpose. They said to the Pontiff? " The church 
 of Rome has received the prerogative of settling questions of faith, 
 she cannot then receive her faith from any other." The Pope re- 
 mained firm and the emperor gave in. His first pontifical act 
 was to call a council at Rome and condemn the Monothelites and 
 the emperor's decree. He died in 640 and John IV. took his place. 
 
 The question whether Christ had one or two wills still agitated 
 the world, and John called a council, wherein the one will error 
 was again condemned. Pope John made this decree known to 
 Phyrus patriarch of Constantinople, and he condemned the ob- 
 stinacy of those who upheld the cause of error. Heraclius, re- 
 gretting the stand he had taken in the controversy, wrote the Pope 
 retracting and laying the blame on the dead patriarch Sergius. 
 While these were taking place, the Mohammedans were overrunning 
 Egypt and burning the great Library of Alexandi'ia, for months 
 using the greatest works of human genius to warm the 4000 baths 
 used there at that time. The loss of the human race of these 
 great works can never be repaired, as numberless books were 
 then lost. Among them was destroyed the original Septuagint 
 copy of the Bible, quoted so often by our Lord himself in the 
 Gospels. At this time Constantinople seemed the seat of every 
 error, and her patriarchs in pride and power often fought the 
 Bishops of Rome, while the latter gave a wonderful firmness in 
 resisting errors so prolific in the Greek mind. 
 
246 TROUBLES IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 In 642 John IV. died and Theodore I. ascended in his place. Hi? 
 first act was to define that Christ had two wills. He demanded 
 that the edict of the emperor be revoked. He condemned the 
 teachings of the Monotiielites. But a new champion of the truth 
 appeared at Constantinople in the person of the monk Maximus, 
 whose lofty conceptions and masterly eloquence in the cause of 
 Christ, and his explanations of his two natures bore everything be- 
 fore him as he preached in fiery words to the cultured citizens of 
 the capitol. He writes against the heresy. He defends the 
 Popes and their dogmatic decisions. He publicly discusses the 
 agitated questions with Phyrus, the banished patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople. Even the heretics admitted that the decisions of the 
 Popes ended every disputed question, but they tried to prove that 
 the Popes taught their own false doctrines. When couvinced of 
 the meanings of the Pope's letters, Phyrus archbishop of Con- 
 stantinople candidly replied: "My predecessor misunderstood 
 the Pontiff's words, I ask pardon for him and for myself. Ignor- 
 ance was the cause of our error .... I shall prove my sincerity at 
 the tomb of the holy apostles, at the feet of the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiffs." * Asking Maximus to go with him, Phyrus the exiled pa- 
 triarch of the first see after Rome, went to Rome and there at 
 the feet of the Pontiff Theodorus I. he made his profession of faith. 
 The Pope had hoped to restore him to his see, but his profession 
 of faith did not last long. He again fell into the same errors and 
 was deposed by the Pope in a council held in Rome in 648. 
 
 The emperor now forbade any further discussion of the question 
 of one or two wills in Christ. The bishops of Asia wrote ta 
 Pope Theodorus relating to Paul patriarch of Constantinople, suc- 
 cessor of Phyrus saying: " If Paul continues to dissemble, it be- 
 longs to your Apostolic See by its authority to cut him off from 
 the body of the church. " The Pope then deposed him, as he 
 would not submit, but the emperor sustained him in the see of 
 Constantinople. Theodorus died in 649, and Martin I. rose in his 
 place. 
 
 Martin had been a legate of the Holy See at the emperor^s court 
 at Constantinople, and now the latter claimed the right of con- 
 firming or of rejecting the choice of the clergy of Rome to the 
 Chair of Peter. The first act of the Pontiff was to call a council 
 in the Lateran palace, where 105 bishops assembled from nearly all 
 parts of the world. 
 
 St. Martin I, opened the council with a statement giving his 
 reasons why he called the council. Speaking from the "ambo, " 
 he told them of the controversy about the one or two wills of 
 Christ; how it still disturbed the world; how the emperor upheld 
 the error; that Phyrus and Paul for teaching it had been by his 
 predecessors in the Roman See deposed from the patriarchate of 
 Constantinople; that letters had poured in from all parts of the 
 world to the Holy See about the error, and yet Constantinople 
 
 'Darraa Hist. Church Vol. IL p. 228. 
 
THE POPE CONDEMNS THE EMPEROR. 347 
 
 upheld the false doctrines that Christ had only one will. Original 
 documents were then read; five sessions were held, and Pope 
 Martin set forth the catholic doctrine in 20 canons, clearly defin- 
 ing the two natures of Christ united in one Person of the Word of 
 God. — He clearly defined the two wills in Christ, and condemned 
 all contradicting doctrines. The Bishop of Rome signed the de- 
 crees in these words: " I Martin, by the grace of God, Bishop of 
 the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the city of Rome, 
 have signed as Judge, this definition, which confirms the orthodox 
 faith" &c. The bishops who could not come to the council also sent 
 their signatures and assent. 
 
 As the decree condemned not only the bishop of Constantinople, 
 but also the emperor and the government, it was translated into 
 Greek, and sent to both the Eastern and Western churches. Know- 
 ing the difficulty of treating with the Greeks of the imperial city, 
 St. Martin sought the aid of Clovis II. king of the Franks, ask- 
 ing him for bishops of his realm to be sent as legates of the Holy 
 See to Constantinople, as they would be more independent in 
 treating with the acute Greek minds, whom he had learned to 
 know so well during his residence at Constantinople as legate of 
 the Apostolic See. But the French king's ministers were at that 
 time bishops and clergymen, and they neglected the duty, and the 
 Pope sent the decrees direct to Constantinople. He nominated 
 John bishop of Philadelphia as his Vicar, directing him to appoint 
 only true believers to the Episcopal sees of the East, then torn by 
 heresy. He wrote fatherly letters to the bishops of the old apostolic 
 sees of Antioch and of Jerusalem, exhorting them to bear up against 
 the inroads of the Mohammedans. Paul bishop of Thessalonica 
 sent to Rome his profession of faith, but St. Martin found it taint- 
 ed with the error of the only one will heresy. Paul would not re- 
 tract, and Pope St. Martin deposed him from the episcopal office. 
 
 Constans the new emperor of Constantinople -believed in the 
 one will error. Finding himself incapable of preventing the 
 voice of the Bishop of Rome reaching to the uttermost ends of 
 the earth, defining that Christ had two wills, the will of God and 
 the will of man, the emperor sent his chamberlain, Olympius to 
 murder the Pontiff, who attempted to doit when the Pope was 
 giving Holy Communion. But he could not find courage, or as 
 writers say, divine Providence shielded his Vicar, who later forgave 
 the crime. To carry out his bad design, the emperor accused the 
 Pope of not honoring the Virgin, of favoring the Mohammedans, 
 and of treachery to the empire, and he sent Calliopis with a band 
 of soldiers, who carried the Pope forcibly to Constantinople, where 
 he was imprisoned 13 months. Both on the journey and in the 
 city he loaded him with insults. '^IMie Pope was banished to the 
 Thauric, Chersonese, where in 655, he died a martyr to the doc- 
 trine, he ever taught, that Christ had not one, but two wills. "We 
 have given these details to show that the Popes were not upheld by 
 any authority of the Roman empire, but that the emperor, the people 
 
248 THE EMPEROR PERSECUTES THE CHURCH. 
 
 and even the bishops of Constantinople nearly always opposed the 
 Bishops of Rome. 
 
 While St. Martin was in exile, Eugenius as his vicar ruled the 
 church of Rome. On the death of the former, the latter was 
 elected to the supreme ^Pontificate. Archbishop -Peter, who suc- 
 ceeded Phyrus in the see of Constantinople, sent the new Pope 
 the usual letter of communion with the Roman See. It was full 
 of the one Avill error, and the Pope rejected it. The emperor con- 
 tinued to persecute the church. He banished the monk Maximus 
 and his two companions to Thrace, because they would not change 
 their doctrine, Avhich they assumed up in these words of the dis- 
 ciple of Anastasius: " We do not yield our firm belief, that 
 according to the promise made to Peter, the seed of faith will 
 remain at least in the Roman Church. " Such has ever been the 
 way the laity have tried to control t.'ie church and persecuted the 
 clergy, when they could not. 
 
 After t\vo years of a pontificate, Eugenius died and St. Vitalian 
 filled his place. The day of Justice had come for Constans II., 
 who had persecuted the Papacy. He murdered his brother 
 Theodsius then a priest, from whose hand he had but a few days 
 before received Holy Communion. The crime aroused all Con- 
 stantinople, and the emperor was forced to fly. He then cap- 
 tured some of the cities of Italy, entered Rome, plundered her 
 churches, set out for Sicily and entered Syracuse. There he per- 
 suaded Maurus archbishop of Ravenna to declare himself inde- 
 pendent of the Pope, depending only on the emperor. St. 
 Vitalian summoned him to Rome, and not obeying the Pope ex- 
 communicated him, and he died in that state. Repar.itus his 
 successor hastened to return to the church. An officer murdered 
 the emperor in 668. His son Constantine IV. succeeding him. 
 He professed the catholic faith and gave peace to tiie church at 
 least in the Greek empire. 
 
 During this time the English church gave great promise. Her first 
 bishops, who came from Rome were most devoted to her Pontiffs. 
 The priests of Ireland had spread the faith into nearly every part 
 of Europe, wbich before had been overrun by the baibarians of 
 central Asia, but who had spared Ireland from their depreciations. 
 Some of the early bishops of Europe came from the East, and 
 they introduced the Jewish customs, especially about Easter, taught 
 them by St. John the Evangelist into England. In 664 a notable 
 meeting was held in the monastery of Streaneshalch which was 
 attended by the three bishops Colman, Cedde, Agilbert and king 
 Oswiu. There they decreed to follow the Roman custom of cele- 
 brating Easter on the first Sunday following the fourteenth moon of 
 March, as St. Peter had commanded at Rome, and concluded to give 
 up the Jewish custom taught by St. John the Evangelist to the 
 churches in Asia minor. To bind still better the English people to 
 the Roman See, king Oswiu sent Vigard bishop elect of the pri- 
 mal English see of Canterbury to Rome, to be consecrated by the 
 
A GREAT BISHOP IN ENGLAND. 249 
 
 Pope, but he dying on the way, the Pope wrote a beautiful letter 
 to the English king, thanking him for his gifts, praising him 
 for his zeal and devotion to the Eoman See, and presented him 
 with across made of a part of the iron which had bound St. Peter 
 in prison. ' He also sent St. Theodore^^once a philosopher of 
 Athens, as archbishop of Canterbury. Wonderful were the works 
 of religion and of civilization undertaken by St. Theodore, and the 
 monks who came with him from Rome to England. In the year 
 673, he called a council of the English church at Canterbury, 
 where they introduced salutary measures for the government of 
 the church. He founded a famous school at Canterbury, where 
 the sons of England at that time were educated, and the 
 English nation soon saw that the words of the Pope were realized 
 in his letter to the king, when he promised to send a " learned and 
 pious man, a bishop adorned with every virtue. " 
 
 In a council held at Eome in 667 the Pope reinstated John 
 bishop of Lappa in Crete, unjustly deposed by his archbishop 
 Paul, and the Pope declared null and void the decrees of a coun- 
 cil held by the bishops of Crete. St. Vitalian died in 072, and 
 Adeodatus, a benedictine monk of St. Erasmus Rome, was selected 
 in his place. He confirmed to the republic of Venice the right 
 to elect their presidents, who were called doges; he ratified the 
 privilege given by Crotpert bishop of Tours to the monastery of 
 St. Martin, by which the monks became free from the jurisdic- 
 tion of the bishop, and he first used these words: " Health and apos- 
 tolic blessing." He died in 676. 
 
 St. Domnus, a citizen of Eome, was the choice of the Roman cler- 
 gy. He received into the church archbishop Raparatus, successor 
 of the heretical Maurus in the see of Ravenna, and that gave the 
 death blow to the schism raised by the emperor Constans II. At 
 this time came into prominence the Maronites. Taking their 
 name from St. Maro of St. Chrystom's time, they guarded their 
 faith and their devotion to the Roman See, living in the caves and 
 fastnesses of the Libanan Mountains during the storms of the Mo- 
 hammedan persecutions. They live even to our day, still holding 
 the pure faith of the church as taught them by their first bishop 
 John Maro sent to them by St. Martin I., vicar of the Holy 
 See and bishop of Philadelphia. 
 
 Some of the patriarch archbishops of Constantinople were good 
 catholics, while others believed in the one will error. Such dis- 
 tractions forced the emperor Constantine Pogonatus in 666 to ask 
 the Pope to call the VI. general council at Constantinople. But 
 before Constantine's letter reached Rome, Domnus had died and 
 the letter was handed to St. Agatho, a benedictine monk selected 
 June 26th, 679. 
 
 When the embassadors of the emperor Constantine arrived at 
 Rome with the letters to the Pope, th«y found that a council had 
 been called by the Bishop of Rome to inquire into the unjust de- 
 
 > Acts. 
 
250 THE SIXTH GENERAL COUNCIL. 
 
 position of St. "Wilfred archbisliop of York, England, who had ap- 
 pealed to Rome against the proposed division of his archdiocese 
 by Egfrid the Saxon king. Directed by the Bishop of Rome, the 
 council annulled all which had been done against him, and the 
 holy bishop returning to England, presented the judgment of the 
 Pope to king Egfrid, wno refused to submit. He first imprisoned 
 St. Egfrid, then banished him from the kingdom, and it was 
 only at the death of the king in G80 that he could return to his dio- 
 cese. 
 
 The Pope now took up the case of the emperor Constantino 
 Pogonatus. For that he summoned 100 bishops, who condemned 
 again the error claiming only one will in Christ. Then he se- 
 lected the legates of the Holy See at the court of Constantinople 
 during the VI. general coui'cil, which the Pope had called to meet 
 the rising errors of that time. In the letter to the emperor, the 
 Pope says among other things: *' The catholic world looks upon 
 this Church as the Mother and Mistress of all the other churches 
 &c." On the arrival of the priests Theodore and George, with the 
 deacon Joim, legates of the Bishop of Rome, the VI. general 
 council of the church was called at Constantinople Nov. Tth, 680. 
 
 When the council met the bishops of the universal church as- 
 sembled in the hall of the palace, with the emperor Constantine 
 present in person, the legates of the Pope at his^ right, the patri- 
 arch of Constantinople on his left, with the book of the Gospels 
 in the middle of the hall. The legates speaking first reminded 
 the emperor of the errors regarding the one will and one opera- 
 tion in Christ, how it had spread, how the Bishop of Rome had 
 so often condemned it, how other bishops of the empire and of 
 the East had upheld it; then they ask the emperor to have- the 
 teachers of this #alse doctrine show their authorities for it. The 
 emperor then ordered Macarius, patriarch of Antioch, to explain 
 the new belief. The latter rose and said that their doctrine of 
 the one will in Christ had been held and taught by the Popes, by 
 the councils, by the patriarchs of Alexandria, of Constantinople 
 and by others. The discussion thus opened before the most dis- 
 tinguished assembly of the world, took up 18 sessions of the 
 council. They searched the Scriptures, the Fathers, the tradi- 
 tions of all churches, the histories of the apostolic converts, every 
 tradition which could throw light on a subject, which was then 
 agitating the whole christian world. The imperial library, one 
 of the greatest of the world, gave them all documents they 
 wanted. The letter of Pope Agatho condemning the one will 
 theory was at last read. 
 
 No sooner did the bishops hear the clear doctrinal decision of 
 the Bishop of Rome, than they cried out with one voice: " Peter 
 has spoken by the mouth of Agatho. We believe with him, that 
 there are two wills in Jesus Christ. Anathema to him who up- 
 holds the contrary opinion." All the bishops of the world ac- 
 knowledged the teachings of the Pope excepting Macarius, patri- 
 
THE ONE WILL ERROK CONDEMNED. 251 
 
 iircli of Aiitioch, who remained obstinate in spite of the tears of 
 his friends and suffragan bishops. He vas then deposed from 
 his episcopal office. His intimate friend, the monk Stephen, 
 tried to defend him, but it only aroused the ire of the bisiiops, 
 who cried out: " The question is cleared up, drive out the heretic." 
 We must remember that this was in the year 680, and that he 
 was the bishop of Antioch, where the followers of Christ were 
 first called christians, and that St. Peter himself had established 
 that see. All this shows the supreminent power of the Bishop 
 of Rome before the whole christian world, and before the emper- 
 or. The bishops closed their labors of many weeks by these 
 words: " By the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, in agreement 
 with the dogmatic letter of our Holy Father, the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff Agatho, we acknowledge in Jesus Christ two natures, with 
 two respective wills and acts AVe have followed the teach- 
 ings of the Pope, as he has followed the traditions of the apostles 
 and of the fathers. If we have worsted the enemy, the great chief 
 of the apostles fouglit with us by his imitator and heir, the suc- 
 cessor to his throne, the Holy Pontiff, whose learning is the glory 
 of Catholic truth. Prince, thou art the new Constantine arisen 
 to meet a new Arius, ancient Rome holds out to you a profession 
 of faith, coming from God himself. A letter from the West has 
 brought back the light of truth. Peter has spoken by the voice 
 of Agatho." The bishops of the world then signed the decrees, 
 and they were sent to Rome for the signature of Agatho. But 
 the latter died before his legates had returned to Rome and he 
 was followed by St. Leo II. of Naples. 
 
 St. Leo II. examined the decrees of the VI. general council 
 just ended, which Constantine had sent him with the words: 
 ** To the holy and blessed Leo, Pontiff of Old Rome and ecumen- 
 ical Pope." St. Leo II. published them to the world, and ratified 
 them, " with the authority of Peter, " thus giving them the same 
 authority as the five former general councils. He regulated the 
 ceremony of the kiss of peace at Mass, and the sprinkling of the 
 people with holy water. He died in 683. 
 
 St. Benedict II., brought up in poverty, Avas elected, and the em- 
 peror Constantine IV. decreed that the election of the Pope should 
 not need the confirmation either of the emperor, or of the exarch 
 of Ravenna. But it was again revived by his son Justinian II. 
 Benedict II. did all he could to convert Macarius deposed by the 
 council, so as to restore him to his see of Constantinople, and daily 
 he sent a learned man to confer with him in Rome. Not yielding, 
 he was forced to condemn him for his obstinacy in holding that 
 Christ had only one will. Amid the crumbling and decaying hu- 
 man institutions of that time, the emperor saw that only the 
 Papacy and the church would last, and he placed his two sons un- 
 der the protection of the Pope, who adopted them as his sons. 
 But Justinian II. showed himself unworthy of his foster father. 
 St. Benedict II. died in 685. 
 
■«> 
 
 252 THE POPE REJECTS AN IRREGULAR COUNCIL. 
 
 John, one of the legates of the Pope at the late council of Con- 
 stantinople was raised to the spiritual throne of Home in the reg- 
 ular way and independent of politics. But he lived scarcely a 
 year, being succeeded by Conon, who had to seek the approbation 
 of Justinian. But he lived only a year and St. Sergius followed 
 him. 
 
 A new division rose in the Roman church— one party tried to elect 
 Theodore another Paschal, while the clergy, the judges, and the 
 larger part of the people chose Sergius. Theodore yielded but 
 Paschal would not. The churches of Spain, of France and of all 
 Europe subscribed to decrees of the late council of Constanti- 
 nople. But the latter city, ever liking change, began to show dis- 
 content under the intrigues of Justinian 11. who wished to rule in 
 spiritual as well as in political matters. He called a council at 
 Carthage, which drew up canons suitable to his wishes. This ir- 
 regular council allowed the ordination of married priests, subjected 
 the election of Popes to emperor's whims, and passed other disciplin- 
 ary measures opposed to the whole traditions of the church. When 
 the canons were sent to Pope Sergius for his approval, he refused 
 to receive them. That angered the emperor, who sent his officer 
 Zachary to seize the Pope and bring him to Constantinople. But 
 the Roman people, remembering the fate of their former Pontiff, 
 St. Martin, rose and defended their Bishop, and Zachary was 
 forced to beg the protection of the holy Pontiff. An anti-pope 
 set up by the lieutenant of the eniperor at Ravenna, forced the 
 Pope to fly from Rome, and for seven years he lived in exile. On 
 his return, he took measures for the conversion of Germany and 
 the people of the north of Europe. He died in 701. 
 
 John VI. was the next Bishop of Rome. The new emperor Ti- 
 berius sent his lieutenant at Ravenna to exact under threats unlaw- 
 ful measures from John, but the people of Rome again rose to de- 
 fend him, and Italy ready to throw off the rule of the emperors of 
 Constantinople, defended the Roman Pontiff. This was the prepa- 
 ration for the temporal power of the Popes, later given them by 
 Pepin and increased by Charlemagne, by which they were elevated 
 above the blighting changes and misfortunes of politics. 
 
 In 703 Alcfrid king of Northumberland called the English 
 bishops to a council at Nesterfield, and before them summoned 
 St. Wilfred, whom he had banished from his see. St. Wilfred 
 came and showed them the letters of Pope Agatho, dated 23 years be- 
 fore, restoring him to his episcopal see of York. But the king de- 
 manded that he resign. St. Wilfred refused, appealed to the 
 Holy See, and started for Rome with the embassadors of the bad 
 king following him. John VI. called a council to examine the 
 case, and the innocence of St. Wilfred being established, the Pope 
 sent him back with letters to the king to restore him to York. 
 John died in 705. 
 
 John VII. then took the government of the church universal. 
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254 THE POPE VISITS CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 Pope to approve the illegal council held at Constantinople. But 
 John VII. sent back the decrees without reading them saying : 
 " The council was not lawfully held in the presence of the leg- 
 ates of the Holy See." John VII. died in 707, and was followed 
 by Sisinnius, who lived only 20 days, and they elected Constan- 
 tine of Syria. Justinian II,, seeing that he could not get the Pope's 
 approval by force, tried trickery, and invited the Pope to Con- 
 stantinople on the plea of having many things to regulate with 
 him regarding religion in his vast empire. Accompanied by Ti- 
 berius the emperor's son, and a great assembly of cardinals and 
 prelates, the Pope set out for Constantinople, resolved to en- 
 danger his life for the peace of the church. At their first meet- 
 ing, crowned as he was with the diadem of the Csesars, the emperor 
 threw himself before the Pontiff and kissed his feet. They had a 
 private conversation regarding the rejected council of Constanti- 
 nople, and the Pope appointed bis deacon Gregory, later his suc- 
 cessor, to enlighten the emperor regarding the objections against 
 the illegal council. Gregory soon convinced the emperor of the 
 faults and errors in the decrees. The emperor thus instructed 
 was converted, and showered every favor on the Pope, who re- 
 turned a year later and re-entered Eome his episcopal city. 
 
 When in 711 Justinian died, he was succeeded by Bardanes 
 Philippicus, the leader of a revolution. He believed that Christ 
 had only one will. He drove every orthodox bishop from his em- 
 pire, and filled their places by heretical bishops, who believed as he. 
 Nearly all the Greeks of the East became followei*s of the one will 
 error. The bad emperor was dethroned, and Anastasius II. suc- 
 ceeded him. He was a catholic. At his coronation in the historic 
 church of St. Sophia, the people cried out with one voice: ** We 
 embrace the faith of the sixth council," He wrote to the Bishop 
 of Rome his profession of the faith, and the patriarch arclibishop 
 of Constantinople fallowed his example. Thus the trreek christians 
 were ever ready for any kind of a change in religion. The Moors 
 now invaded Spain at the request of Julian of Cent, whose 
 daughter Roderic, a slave to his passion for her, he had carried 
 off. For 700 years the Moors held Spain. Constantine died in 
 715. Up to this time 89 Bishops had sat on Peter's throne, 40 
 had been chosen from among the Roman clergy or laymen, and 
 49 came from various other parts of the christian world. 
 
 Gregory II. took the helm in times of difficulties. He began by 
 restoring monastic discipline in Italy; he sent the Sts. George and 
 Dorotheus to preach to the Bavarians, and he appointed Winfrid 
 or as he is better known Boniface to convert the Germans, Three 
 times this Englishman, reared in the monasteries of England, re- 
 ceived power from the Popes, on his mission of peace to the Ger- 
 mans. First he came to the Pope with his letters from Daniel his 
 English bishop to the saintly Gregory, who sent him to convert 
 the German nation. Again, when he succeeded, he came to the 
 feet of the Pope, who called him Boniface, that is doing good, and 
 
RELIGIOUS TROUBLES IN THE EAST. 256 
 
 consecrated him as the missionary bishop of the Germans. For 
 the third time he went to Rome to receive the archiepiscopal 
 pallium of metropolitan of Mayence. To Rome and to her Pontiffs 
 therefore must the Germans look for their christian faith. 
 
 But while the Gospel was spreading over the West, the East was 
 the seat of internal disturbances, as well as threatened by the fire 
 and sword of the Mohammedans. Leo III. , son of a poor peasant sat 
 on the imperial throne of the Cfesars. He raised a storm by claim- 
 ing that christians worshipped images of Christ and of the saints. 
 By royal edict, he banished all the images and pictures from the 
 churches. He banished the bishops who would not obey. He con- 
 fiscated the gold and silver ornaments of the churches. He burned 
 even the libraries. The fanaticism of the image breakers was spread- 
 ing destruction into all the churches of the East, when alone and 
 unsupported the eloquence of St. John Damascene rose against the 
 royal decree. He proves by Bible examples the use and custom of 
 images and pictures. He reproves the emperor for intruding into 
 religious matters. The emperor then calumniated him and the 
 Mohammedan Caliph ordered his right hand cut off. The people of 
 the East looked to Rome for a settlement of the discussions, which 
 divided the churches of the empire. Gregory II. wrote the emperor 
 a clear difinition of the use of images in the churches. The emperor 
 would not he convinced. He sent Marinus to Rome to raise a con- 
 spiracy against the Pope. The lieutenant of the emperor, seeing- 
 that the conspiracy did not succeed, that the assassins were arrestedt 
 and put to death, took up arms against the Pope and advanced on: 
 Rome. But the Romans flew to arms and defeated the imperial^ 
 forces. 
 
 These continual interferences in religious matters, which belong 
 only to the church and not to the empire, hastened an event of 
 the greatest importance to the church — the establishment of the 
 temporal dominions of the Popes, by which they became indepen- 
 dent of worldly rulers. The people of Rome and of the surrounding 
 country, seeing Marinus still trying to assassinate the Pope, asked 
 the latter to take upon himself a temporal dominion, to be their 
 ruler, so they could raise an army to defend him and the eternal 
 city from such continual onslaughts. Leo and the king of the 
 Lombards joined forces and laid siege to Rome. Pope Greg- 
 ory with his clergy went forth outside the walls, like another St. 
 Leo confronting Attila, and persuaded the Lombard king that the 
 capture and the sacking of the eternal city would be 
 a misfortune for the whole world, that they ought to .unite 
 against the Mohammedans, then threatening Christendom. Luit- 
 prand moved to tears, threw himself at the feet of the Pontiff. 
 Laying aside the vestments of a king, with the Pope he enters St. 
 Peter's, together they kneel at the tombs of the apostles Sts. Peter 
 and Paul and there they swear eternal friendship to the church, 
 and there the king asked pardon, which was then and there 
 granted. Gregory II. died in 731. 
 
256 THE MOHAMMEDANS THBEATEN CHRISTENDOM. 
 
 Five days later Gregory III. was elected, and waiting till they got 
 the confirmation of the emperor's exarch at Ravenna, he was 
 crowned. But the emperor still carried on his persecution against 
 the images and religious pictures in the churches. Under the 
 guidance of Gregory, the people of Rome, ever given to the fine 
 arts, adorned the interior of St. Peter's on one side with images of 
 Ohrist and the apostles, on the other with those of the Virgin and 
 saints. He wrote an indignant reply to the emperor's threat 
 to destroy the statue of St. Peter at Rome, and seize the person of 
 tlie Pontiff. In a second letter the Pope told him he liad no au- 
 thority in the government of the church, showed him the line divid- 
 ing the church from tlie state and the priesthood from the empire. 
 Laying his hand on the keys adorning St. Peter's tomb Charles 
 Martel, emperor of the French, swore to protect the Holy See and 
 to allow no one to desecrate the tomb of the great apostle. Greg- 
 ory gave him a title of Most Christian Prince, a title ever after- 
 wards born by the kings of France. 
 
 At this time the Arabs and Moors, with their Koran, teaching 
 that all comes to pass by fate, taking away human liberty, degrading 
 women, blighting industry, stifling advancement, these Mohamme- 
 ■dans overran Europe, and poured in countless hosts into the plains of 
 Poitiers. There Europe and Asia, the Koran and the Gospel, the 
 followers of Mohammed and of Christ met, and whether the world 
 was to be Mohammedan or Christian depended on the result of the 
 battle. Charles, king of the Franks smote the Sarasans, drove 
 them back to their arid plains and Christendom was saved. From 
 that he was called Martel, the Hammer. A messenger loaded 
 with gifts carried the good news to Gregory III. and told him that 
 his victorious son Charles would never allow the infidels or the Greek 
 emperors to insult the Father of the christians. The emperors 
 of the empire of the East now saw in the powerful Charles, a pro- 
 tector of the Papacy they had so long persecuted. 
 
 The image breakers still went on in the East. The Pope called 
 a meeting of bishops at Rome, and formally condemned the error, 
 depriving of Communion and cutting off from the church all 
 followers of the sect. The emperor Leo would not receive the letters 
 of the Pope, threw his legate into prison, treated another embassy 
 the same way, raised a fleet to attack Italy, but it perished in a storm 
 at sea, and his army was defeated at Ravenna. He stillpersecuted 
 the church with great vigor both in Italy and in the East. The 
 Pope now wrote Charles Martel asking him to protect the Holy 
 See. Tiie French king wrote Luitprand to abstain from hostili- 
 ties against the Pope. But in 741 died Gregory III., Charles his 
 defender, and Leo his persecutor. 
 
 Now mounts the steps of Peter's throne Zachary, who consulted 
 no power on earth before his consecration, for the persecutions of 
 the former rulers had freed the church, from State interference. 
 He held a friendly meeting with Liutprand, the Lombard king, 
 who gave back to him many unjustly held cities of Italy. Zacli- 
 
BONIFACE IN GEKMANY. 257 
 
 ary restored the discipline of the church in France, disturbed by 
 the invasion of the Mohammedans. He ordered a council in Ger- 
 many under St. Boniface, which forbade clergymen to take up 
 arms; he allowed armies to take with them chaplains; he command- 
 ed clergy to wear the long gown or cassock; he forbade noisy hunt- 
 ing by the clergy; he rooted out the remains of pagan worship of 
 Wodden, Thor, Friga &c., after whom the days of the week are 
 named; he also stopped the worship of ghosts, incantations, dreams, 
 charms &c., pagan customs. When Zachary received the decrees 
 of this German council held by St. Boniface, he was pleased with 
 the church in Germany, and wrote a letter to all the clergy. St. 
 Boniface asked this Pope many questions relating to faith, morals 
 and discipline, which shows that the Bishop of Rome was the 
 only tribunal for the settling of such matters. Zachary settled 
 his doubts, told him to excommunicate a Scotch priest, who taught 
 that baptism was a useless formality, as well as another clergyman,, 
 who taught that there were men under the earth, not redeemed 
 by Christ. 
 
 The religious zeal of Pepin son of Charles Martel was not less 
 than that of his father. The decrees of the councils he called at 
 Soissqns in 745 were approved the year following by Zachary. The 
 English bishops under St. Cuthbert of Canterbury gathered at 
 Cliff, and decreed, besides other things, that ''the rules of the 
 Eoman Church, which we have in writing shall be followed in all 
 the liturgy.'' St Egbert archbishop of York, and brother of king 
 Egbert, composed the first form of anointing the Saxon kings, 
 and the faith fostered by the Popes, was spreading in every part 
 of the British Isles, in the Spanish peninsula and in the North of 
 Europe. 
 
 But the East was still troubled by bad rulers. The patriarch 
 Anastasius from the very pulpit of St. Sophia, the historic cathe- 
 dral of Constantinople, swore by the Cross of Christ that he had 
 heard Copronmus the emperor deny the divinity of Christ, and 
 that the bad emporor said he desired to immortalize his name by 
 destroying the church in his dominions. 
 
 By the retirement of his brother to the monastery of Monte 
 Casino, Pepin son of Charles Martel, by the advice of Zachary and 
 by election became king of Franks, and was consecrated by St. Bon- 
 iface at Soissons. The Pope liberated numerous slaves, which the 
 Venicians were about to sell to the African infidels. He died in 752, 
 and the priest Stephen, whom they elected lived but a day in the 
 Lateran palace. Stephen III. was elected in his place by the 
 clergy and people of Rome in the church of St. Mary Major. He 
 was carried on the shoulders of the multitude to his cathedral and 
 palace of St. John Lateran. That was the origin of the ceremony 
 of carrying the Pope on his pontifical chair by twelve of the noble 
 guards, a splendor and pomp never seen in the coronation of any 
 temporal ruler. 
 
 Now rose a new danger for the Papacy. Astolphus, king of the 
 
258 PEPIN THE DEFENDER OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Lombards, desiring to rule all Italy, with his army, invaded the 
 Koman territory, signed a treaty of a 40 years of peace, broke it 
 and laid siege to Rome. The Pope sent word to Constantinople, 
 but the Greek emperor would do nothing. Then Stephen III. 
 sent word to Pepin for help. The French armies had recently 
 driven the Mohammedans from the south of France and Spain. 
 Pepin now placed tlie armies of France at the disposal of the Pope, 
 who, pressed by the Lombard king, fled to France for safety. Pepin, 
 victorious on every battlefield, met the Pope and prostrated him- 
 self with his family and all his court before him the Successor of 
 Peter. When the Pope rode, Pepin held the bridle of his horse 
 before his army. Thus in triumph all entered the royal palace at 
 Pontyon, Jan. 6th, 754. The next day, in sackcloth and ashes, 
 Stephen III. prostrates himself before king Pepin in the presence 
 of both the royal and the pontifical courts, thus he humbly asks 
 him to rescue the Holy See and the Eoman people from the tyran- 
 ny of the Lombards. There prostrated he remained till tlie great 
 Pepin gives him his hand, and the nobles swore never to sheathe 
 the sv/ord, till the Lombards had been punished for their unjust 
 invasion of the temporal dominions of the Popes. 
 
 The bishops of France took occasion of the Pontiff's residence 
 among them to settle many disputed points on marriage, baptism, 
 and the discipline relating to the clergy. He solemnly crowned 
 Pepin at St. Dennis July 28, 754, his queen and his two sons, one 
 of them being the great Charlemagne, his successor. Pepin with 
 his army started for Italy to restore Rome to the Popes. Astol- 
 phus king of the Lombards sent Carloman, Pepin's brother to treat 
 with him. He was then a humble monk at Monte Casino. 
 But Pepin replied that he had sworn to defend the Papacy. The 
 Lombards were put to flight, the French army conquered on every 
 field, and besieged the Lombard king in Pavoa. The Pope be- 
 seeched Pepin to spare christian blood, a treaty was drawn up, and 
 Stephen III. the deliverer of Italy returned to the City of the Popes. 
 Escorted by Jerome brother of Pepin and the Roman court, he was 
 met on the field of Nero by the Roman clergy and people with the 
 cry: " Our Father has come back to us." 
 
 But Astholphus soon forgot his agreement and laid siege to 
 Rome. The Pope again called on Pepin. His army crossed the 
 Alps, defeated the Lombards, who cede all the territory belonging 
 to the church, which by solemn deed was given by Pepin, to the 
 Holy See. The keys of 22 cities of Italy, with the deed, signed 
 by Pepin, were laid on the confessional of St. Peter. Snch was 
 the beginning of the temporal dominions of the Popes which play- 
 ed such an important role in the fnture histories of tlie Bisliops 
 of Rome. 
 
 When Stephen III. died in 757, Paul was elected heir not only 
 of the Papacy, but of the temporal rule for which centuries the 
 events in Italy had been preparing. For the people of Rome and 
 of the surrounding country had for generations looked on the 
 
DO CATHOLICS WORSHIP IMAGES? 259 
 
 Soveriegn Pontiffs as their natural protectors, even since Constan- 
 tine moved the seat of the empire to Constantinople. Many of 
 the first bishops of France had come from the East, and they tol- 
 erated different rites up to the time of Pepin. To the latter Paul 
 sent tlie liturgical books of tlie Koman diocese, and the christian 
 king ordered that the customs of the Holy See should be intro- 
 duced into his vast kingdom . Paul now wrote to the emperor Con- 
 stantine to forsake the errors regarding images, then spreading over 
 the East, But the Greek emperor would not listen to the voice 
 of the Father of the faithful. Then rose that other error, that the 
 Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, and not from both 
 Father and Son together. That heresy afflicts the Greek church 
 even to this day. In 767, Paul as well as Pepin his protector pass- 
 ed from earth, followed in 708 by his protector Pepin, the founder 
 of the carlovingians kings of France. 
 
 Stephen IV. rose to the Roman purple, while Charles the Great 
 ascended the civil throne of his father Pepin. A layman had been 
 irregularly elected, and he disputed the Chair of Peter. Stephen 
 IV. sent to the French king for bishops to attend the council he 
 had called at Rome to settle the disputes. The council declared 
 the election of Stephen regular, and to prevent disputes of that 
 kind in future, it was decreed that only clergymen would be can- 
 dijdates for the Papacy, that under pain of excommunication the 
 laity were excluded from taking part in the election of any of the 
 Popes. Thus disputes tend to regulate the discipline of the church. 
 The council also condemned the iconoclast error relating to the 
 use of pictures and images in the churches. Even to this day 
 catholics are accused of adoring images, as they were at that time. 
 The Lombard king, wishing to take the temporal power from the 
 Pope, proposed the marriage of his daughter to one of the sons of 
 Pepin, and of their sister to his son although they Avere already 
 married. The Pope at once proclaimed that legitimate marriage 
 could not be dissolved, and that the church never allowed such 
 divorces. Laying his letter on the tomb of Sts. Peter and Paul, 
 he said Mass and laid it in the Confession, then he sent them to 
 the French kings, threatening with excommunication any one who 
 would oppose the decrees. 
 
 Stephen died in 772, and Adrian I. came to the Chair, while 
 Charlemagne took the sceptre of his brother Carloman, carried off by 
 death in the beginning of his reign. Charlemagne was a great 
 christian king, the friend of religion, the protector of the Holy 
 See. The Lombard king now invades the States of the Church, 
 the Pope calls on Charlemagne, and the latter marches to Italy to 
 restore "the domain of St. Peter to the Sovereign Pontiffs," and 
 he wipes out the Lombard kingdom, which has existed for 200 
 years, ever threatening the independence of the Holy See. Charle- 
 magne now confirmed the gifts of the temporal dominions given by 
 his father to the Sovereign Pontiffs. One copy of the deed was 
 left on Peter's tomb, the other was carried to France, and placed 
 
260 ORIGIN OF THE "FILIOQUE" DISPUTE. 
 
 in the royal arcliives. The Greek emperors, successors of the great 
 Coiistantiiie, far from being like him, the protectors of the Pope, 
 became their persecutors. But in their place rose another power- 
 ful emperor monarch of the West, Charlemagne. Adrian became 
 the mediator of a dispute between Charlemagne and the duke of 
 Bavaria. That was the first time the Sovereign Pontiff acted a 
 supreme judge between nations and rulers, a court of arbitration 
 they fulfilled so often in the following ages, thus acting as Vicar 
 of the Prince of Peace and preventing so often the horrors of war. 
 
 Europe now presented the magnificent spectacle of a religious 
 union under the Pope as ruler of the church, and under Charle- 
 magne as ruler of the state. But a heresy arose in the church of 
 Spain. Some words of the Mozarbic liturgy, then used in that 
 country, gave rise to the error that Christ is only the Son of God 
 by adoption, supposing that there were two Persons in Christ. 
 Adrian I., often consul ted by the Spanish bishops, wrote to all the 
 bishops of Spain explaining to them the real doctrine of the two 
 natures in Christ with only one Person, that of the divine Word, 
 proceeding from the Father, and which had been approved by 
 many councils held to define the catholic doctrine. 
 
 Irene, empress and regent ot the Greek empire, wishing to re- 
 pair the evils caused by three centuries of the persecution of the 
 church in the East, wrote Adrian asking him to call a universal 
 council to put a final end to the errors and the excesses of the 
 image breakers. In his reply, Adrian reproves her for calling 
 Tarasius the patriarch of Constantinople a Ecumenical or universal 
 bishop, telling her that the presidency or government of all the 
 churches was given to Peter by Christ and in him to the Roman 
 Pontiffs. The Pope then called the VII. general council, which 
 met in 787 at Nice under the chairmanship of Adrian's legates. 
 There the matters relating to pictures and to images were settled. 
 The council defined that they siiould not be worshipped witii divine 
 worship, which belongs to God alone, but that they should be 
 honored because of our Lord, his Mother and the saints they rep- 
 resent. The decrees of this council, signed by all the 377 bishops 
 present, by Irene, by her son Constantino VI. were then sent to 
 Pope Adrian, who had them translated from Greek into Latin, 
 and sent a copy of them to Charlemagne, with the joyful news 
 that the troubles of the Eastern churcii had found an end. ' But 
 unfortunately the translator used the word adore in the sense of 
 the worship due to God alone, in place of the Greek word meaning 
 to honor J to bow, to prostrate before. The bishops of Germany and 
 France supposed the Greeks at Nice had decreed to adore images 
 as we would adore God. Thus the world has ever been afflicted 
 by misunderstandings. The bishops of the West condemned the 
 bishops of the East, and the church was on the point of being 
 divided into two hostile parties when Adrian wrote to the French 
 explaining the meaning of the council of Nice. After 23 years 
 of a glorious pontificate Adrian died in 795. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER, 261 
 
 A new epoch now opened in the world's history. The Empire of 
 the East, forgetting the dangers of the Mohammedans threaten- 
 ing them from the South, spent their time interfering with the 
 spiritual authority of the church, fritted away their time disputing 
 about the dogmas of religion, while the followers of the false prophet 
 had gathered almost at the walls of Constantinople. But a new 
 protector of the Holy See arose in the persons of the sons of 
 Charlemagne. Martel, united Europeinto the new AVest, which 
 became the seat of religion and of civilization driven from 
 the East by the curse of Mohammedanism. The See of Peter, 
 strengthened by the temporal power given it by Pepm and 
 Charlemagne, now rose above the floods of the errors of the East, 
 the barbarism of the West, the continual wars and carnage on all 
 sides, she towered aloft as the beacon of light, of truth and of 
 peace to the young nations rising from the ruins of paganism and 
 from the ruined Roman empire. 
 
 In 795 Leo HI. was crowned on the steps of the Vatican basilica. 
 As a temporal king, as Bishop of Rome, and as Bishop of the uni- 
 versal church he wore the triple crown. When Charlemagne re- 
 ceived the Pope's letter announcing his election, he sent to 
 Rome with his reply the vast treasures stolen from the churches 
 and hoarded by the Huns, since Attila plundered Italy. To his 
 father Pepin and to himself the Popes had given the title of 
 Roman Patrician, a figure of the Popes in later times giving the 
 titles of honor to eminent christian laymen of each christian nation. 
 Olla, king of the Mercians, increased the tax levied by Ina for the 
 support of an English college at Rome, built for the training of 
 the English clergy. His successor Kenilf asked the new Pope to 
 unite the bishopric of Litchfield to Canterbury, which was granted, 
 Alphonso of Spain asked the Pope's prayers for the success of his 
 army against the Moors, then overrunning his country. The East, 
 delivered from heresy, offered its congratulations by the empress 
 Irene, But a new persecution rose against Leo, led by two bad 
 clergymen, who drove him from the city, and he was obliged to 
 take up his residence in France, where he was received by 
 Charlemagne with the highest honors. When he came, the em- 
 peror, the bishops, the clergy and the whole army prostrated 
 themselves three times before the feet of the exiled Pontiff, 
 thanksgiving sevices were held, and soon Leo retui'ned again in 
 triumph to Rome his capital. The Pope had thought it well to 
 answer the foul slanders brought against him by his enemies, 
 but the bishops assembled in a council cried out with one voice: 
 "It belongs us not to judge the Apostolic See, the head of all the 
 churches. That See and its Pastors are our judges rather. " 
 Nearly all the bishops of the world, Charlemagne and his army, 
 with multitudes from all nations were present. 
 
 At that time Charlemagne ruled that part of Europe conquered 
 by the Romans, which thus embraced the West of Europe, On 
 that Christmas night in 800, in the great church of St. Peter's, 
 
262 HOW CHALEMAGNE FOSTERED RELIGION. 
 
 Leo crowned Charlemagne emperor of the West. Great heroes 
 of the past were wise enough to learn from scholars. Thus 
 Alexander the great was taught by Aristotle. Constantiue the Great 
 was the humble pupil of Pope Sylvester, while Charlemagne 
 profited by the learning of an Englishman, Alcuin who lived 
 at the court. This priest monk directed the great ruler in his 
 restoration of literature, arts, and sciences, ruined by the fall of 
 the Eoman empire. The Bible was corrected, the valuable works 
 of the Greek and Roman poets and writers w-ere rescued from 
 destruction. The Roman alphabet took the place of the confused 
 letters of diverse peoples, and under this learned English priest, 
 the foundations of modern literature were laid. In Charlemagne's 
 time were established the historic schools, which later became the 
 great universities. Alcuin himself presided over the palace school 
 at court, where he taught Charlemagne himself, his sons and the 
 nobles of the empire. Broken down by labors and old age, Alcuin 
 returned to the monastery of St. Martin of Tours, given him by 
 Charlemagne, which he enriched by copies of the valuable manu- 
 scripts at York, where he the learned disciple of Yen. Bede, died 
 in 804. Under the impulse of the Pope, Rome sent to the em- 
 peror of the West the greatest scholars, the best books and all 
 the sciences and the learning of that time. Thus from Rome its 
 source, as Charlemagne said, came the civilization of Europe. 
 With such scholars, under the bishops, the emperor drew up his 
 celebrated Capitularies, the foundations of the laws of modern 
 Europe, which he founded on the Roman and Canon laws. 
 
 Both in the East and in the West, rulers had for some time 
 claimed the rightof electing the bishops and the pastors of the va- 
 cant churches. Charlemagne restored the election of bishops to 
 the clergy .ind the laity of tlie dioceses, according to the customs of 
 the early church. lie consulted Leo IIL regarding ordinations 
 and church administrations made by chorebishops, who had re- 
 ceived only the simple order of the priesthood. The Pope replied 
 that the holy orders conferred by simple priests were invalid. He 
 referred all important cases to the Holy See, and the decisions 
 of the latter became the laws of his vast empire. Tiie bishops of 
 Spain in the IIL council of Toledo had added the word "Fili- 
 oque" to the Creed of Constantinople, showing that procession of 
 the Holy Spirit from the Son as well as from the father, and the 
 phrase had been some time before introduced into the churches of 
 France, and the Greeks of the East found fault with it. The em- 
 peror called a council at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he lived, and the 
 council sent envoys to Leo asking a formal decision from Peter 
 on the question, which then began to divide the East and the West. 
 The Pope said that the Spirit came from both Father and Son, but 
 he prudently advised the churches of the West to omit singing the 
 Creed at Mass which was then the custom at Rome. But Leo had 
 the Creed engraved on silver escutcheons, each weighing 100 lbs. 
 one in Latin, the other in Greek, and he placed one on each side of 
 
SEEDS OF THE GREEK SCHISM. 263 
 
 the Confessional of St. Peter. After a reign of 47 years, fortified 
 by the sacraments of the church from the hands of the archbishop 
 of Cologne Charlemagne died in 814. 
 
 The seeds of division were fast maturing which at last divided 
 the East from the Papacy. The emperor Nicephorus led an 
 adulterous life. When two priests reproved him he drove them into 
 exile, and- they appealed to Leo. With the most touching words 
 the latter made all efforts to release them. Then his son contracted 
 an adulterous union. When the Pope would not give his consent 
 to this scandalous union, the emperor joined the Manichians, this 
 being the first indication of the woeful heresy, which later plunged 
 the whole East into the Greek schism. To Leo IH. Sts. Plato and 
 Theodore wrote from their exile, forced on them by the wicked 
 emperor: " Save us supreme pastor of the church Save us we per- 
 ish Holy Father denounce this new heresy," &c. ' Then the bad 
 
 emperor Michael I. ascended the throne. But when Leo the Ar- 
 menian raised a civil revolution against him, disregarding the re- 
 quests of the nobles, the senate and the people of Constantinople, 
 he resigned the throne, and sent the imperial insignia to Pope Leo 
 III., as signs of the latter's spiritual supremacy. Pope Leo died -a 
 year after the death of Charlemagne. 
 
 Stephen V. came to the throne of Peter in 816, when Louis sat 
 on the throne of Charlemagne, and Leo V. was emperor of the East. 
 Pope Stephen went to Kheims to crown the new manarch. The 
 bishops and clergy of the empire with the emperor Avent forth to 
 meet the Pope one mile from the monastery of St. Remigius, where 
 the emperor Louis dismounted from his horse, helped the Pope to 
 dismount, and with his whole court, he prostrated himself at the feet 
 of the Pontitf . Then they embraced. On the following Sunday the 
 Pope placed on his head a costly royal diadem, which he had brought 
 from Rome. He likewise crowned the empress, to whom he gave the 
 name of Augusta. Under the advice and directions of the Pope, 
 many measures for the reform of discipline were enacted by the 
 councils held in the empire of Louis the Mild. The latter sent 
 the regulations of the councils to all the archbishops of the em- 
 pire, ordering that they be sent to the bishops and the churches, 
 stating that they should be put in practice within one year. The 
 same year at Celchyt, England, met a council, which ordered that 
 the ceremonies of the Roman Ritual should be carried out in ad- 
 ministering the sacraments, and that baptism by pouring the water 
 should be used in cold countries. Stephen died after a pontificate 
 of only 5 months. He was succeeded by St. Paschal I., a priest of 
 the Roman church. He officially informed Louis the Mild of 
 his election, and the latter sent him letters confirming to him the 
 States of the church, given him by his forefathers as emperors of 
 the West, Louis the Mild restored to the clergy and people of each 
 diocese the right of electing their bishops according to the decrees 
 «f the ancient canons of the church. 
 » Darras Hist. Vol. II. p. 433 
 
264 THE MOHAMMEDANS THREATEN EUROPE. 
 
 While these things were going on in Europe, the church in the 
 East was persecuted by the bad emperor Leo the Armenian. He 
 sent his soldiers to destroy all the images, paintings and works of 
 art in the churches. He banished every catholic bishop and abbot 
 from the empire. Theodore the Studite, from his exile wrote to 
 all the bishops of the church, asking their aid against the emperor. 
 To Pascal he wrote: ""You who are clothed with Divine power, in- 
 trusted with the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, appointed by 
 God over the whole flock of Christ, the rock upon which was found- 
 ed the Catholic Church, for you are Peter since you fill iiis chair, 
 come to the assistance of his children, never more cruelly ex- 
 posed to the rage of the ravenous wolves of heresy," &c. This let- 
 ter, signed by the abbots of nearly all the monasteries of Constan- 
 tinople, was answered by the Pontiff, who sent his legates to Con- 
 stantinople. That action of the Pope inspired the faithful to re- 
 newed fervor. Leo fell under the swords of conspirators. Michael 
 reigned in his place and recalled the exiled bishops. Pope Leo 
 died in 824. 
 
 Eugenius II. began his reign in 824. The first year of his reign 
 was disturbed by a schism of an anti-pope called Zizimus. Michael 
 emperor of Constantinople tried to restore the Jewish law, denied 
 Jesus Christ as the Messiah, placed Judas among the saints, con- 
 demned Sunday worships, renewed the heresy of the imagebreakers,^ 
 destroyed all books he could find on catholic teachings, and con- 
 tinually persecuted the church. Eugenius died in 827 and his 
 successor Valintin lived only 40 days after his consecration and the 
 Apostolic chair was filled by Gregory IV. 
 
 The Mohammedans, victorious in Asia Minor and in Spain, threat- 
 ened Europe, captured the islands of the Mediterranean, and threat- 
 ened Constantinople. Gregory opposed them Avith all the power 
 of the church. The sons of Louis the Mild rebelled against their 
 father, and Gregory came to their camp to make peace between 
 the armies. But the father's warriors fled to the camps of his sons, 
 and the Pope returned to Rome. The king did public penance 
 before a council. But unforeseen events restored him again to the 
 French throne. Bishop Ebbe resigned according to the desire of 
 Gregory IV. The latter ordered the feast of All Saints celebrated 
 in France. In a council at Aix-la-Chapelle, the bishops were re- 
 strained from intermeddling in temporal affairs, and the clnirch 
 property taken by Pepin, king of Aquitaine was restored. After the 
 death of Louis the Mild, his sons fought each other, and Gregory 
 tried to make peace between them. But they would not listen, 
 and the empire of Charlemagne disappeared in cruel wars, in 
 blood on the battle field of Fontenay, in spite of every effort of the 
 Holy See to prevent bloodshed. 
 
 In the East the empire of the Greeks, ruled by Theophilus was 
 rapidly falling before the inroads of the Mohammedans. He was the 
 last of the church persecuting emperors of Constantinople. Ha 
 filled the prisons of the empire with bishops, priests, christians^ 
 
THE LAST CHRISTIAN EMPEROR OF THE EAST. 265 
 
 painters, sculptors and artists, who dared to make an image of 
 Christ or of his saints. Christian blood deluged the land. The 
 <3lergyraan who preached catholic doctrine, the artist who sketched 
 a religious picture, or carved an image of our Lord was burned at 
 the stake. He forced on the episcopal throne of Constantinople 
 a bad man, John Lecanomantis, so called from his habit of giving 
 oracles from God by a metal dish. Alone the empress Theodora' 
 remained faithful to the church of her fathers. She was no less 
 celebrated for her beauty, than for her piety. When her bad hus- 
 band died, and she became the regent for her son Michael III., she 
 banished the bad bishop John from Constantinople, called a coun- 
 cil of bishops in the church of St. Sophia, where the errors regard- 
 ing the images were again condemned, the bad patriarch deposed 
 from his see, and MethodiuSj who had defended the faith, elected 
 in his place. 
 
 These things filled the heart of Gregory with gladness. But the 
 Northmen began their depredations along the coasts of France, 
 England and Ireland, while the Mohammedans overran the south of 
 Europe, threatened Rome and sacked St. Peter's not yet enclosed 
 by the walls of the city. To save the eternal city Gregory began 
 to fortify it, but death carried him off in 844. 
 
 When Sergius II, came to the Chair, a deacon named John 
 gathered a faction to oppose him and gain the triple crown. But 
 the people of Rome rose to the defense of their Pontiff. Avho was 
 crowned, before the embassadors of the emperor of the West could 
 come to take part in the ceremonies. The new Pope met the 
 emperor's son and suite at the closed doors of St. Peter's, saying 
 that if they came for the good of the church, the doors would be 
 opened for him, if not they would remain closed. The king pro- 
 tested that his coming was peaceable, and together Pope and king 
 entered and prostrated themselves at the tomb of St. Peter. The 
 Pope crowned the king and girded him with the royal sword. 
 Under the impulse of this Pontiff many councils to reform abuses 
 were held in France. 
 
 The good bishops St. Methodius and Ignatius successively sat 
 on the throne of Constantinople, and with the help of the pious em- 
 press Theodora, they kept the people in union with Kome. They 
 sent Sts. Cyril and Methodius to convert the people of the Crimea, 
 of the Slaves, and the Moravians. The great writers Hinc- 
 mar and Rabanus were bishops in the West, and by their learning 
 they revived learning in these parts of the church. Again the 
 Mohammedans sacked Rome and all the surrounding country in 
 spite of the able defence made by Sergius. 
 
 Sergius II. was scarcely in his grave in 847, when the unan- 
 imous voice of the clergy and people of Rome raised a priest to 
 the tiara who took the name of Leo IV. The Mohammedans then 
 threatened Rome, but a tempest dispersed them and the waves 
 washed back to shore some of the spoils of St. Peter's which were 
 again returned to the church. Leo IV. resolved to enclose the 
 
266 
 
 THE LEONINE CITY. 
 
 Vatican with a wall and unite it to the eternal city; hence that 
 part with the Vatican is called the Leonine City. The Moham- 
 medans landed at Ostia, attacked Rome but they were repulsed by 
 Leo IV. , and never again did the crescent of the Turk appear be- 
 fore the eternal city. 
 
 Thus far we have given but a rapid sketch of the chief acts of 
 the Bishops of Rome for the first nine centuries of their glorious 
 reigns, showing what they did for the peace and prosperity of 
 the human race. No line of kings or human rulers can be in any 
 way compared to them, they have been the fountain head and the 
 source of all progress upon this earth. Through them God speaks 
 to the world. 
 
 But we must now speak of the Roman clergy, these noble men 
 of the diocese of Rome, who ever guard the traditions of Peter their 
 first bishop. For that reason we tell in the next chapter of the 
 College of Cardinals the chief clergy of the Roman diocese. 
 
 BRINGING FOOD TO THE CARDINAI-S IN CONCLAVE. 
 
tHE Holy Persons looking down upon the earth saw no living 
 plant or animal with reason and free will like unto them- 
 selves. Then they said: '^' Let us make man to our own 
 image and likeness." * Then "male and female he created 
 them. ''* First he created Adam, that means in the Babylonian 
 language first spoken by man "red earth," to show him that he 
 came from the earth by the mighty hand of God. Then from 
 his rib, the nearest bone to his heart, he created Eve. That was 
 
 » Gen. 1. 2 Ibidem, i. 
 
 267 
 
TllK CAIJDINAL lUHiil' i <] o- | | .\ ( KoWMNd IIIK VnVK. 
 
 THE TRIPLE CKOWN SIGNIFIES HIS POWER AS UNIVERSAL BISHOP. 
 
 BISHOP OF ROME AND TEMPORAL RULER. 
 
THE SPIRITUAL SPOUSE OF PETER. 269 
 
 the first marriage, to show that man and wife are one bone and 
 flesh, that she is the nearest to the husband's heart, and that 
 she was to be the same in human nature with him, partaking in 
 his authority and government over their children. All was a fig- 
 ure and a preparation for that other and more Avonderful wedlock 
 of Christ with his church, born from his side the day of his cruci- 
 fixion, a mysterious union still continued in the diocese of Eome, 
 and in every diocese throughout the world. Let us first consider 
 the diocese of Rome before we descend to the other dioceses. 
 
 Bearing all the power Christ gave him, Peter came to Rome and 
 chose that church as his spiritual spouse, of which he became the 
 first titular bishop. By that holy union the Roman church re- 
 ceived from him a part of his power, and a partnership in his 
 government over all the other churches scattered throughout the 
 whole world. To Peter our Blessed Lord gave the power of feed- 
 ing his sheep and lambs, an authority which opens and closes the 
 gates of heaven to mankind, the authority of a father over the 
 children of God. But the wife has the very same power as her 
 husband in the household, for she too generates the children of 
 her husband. From the moment Peter chose Rome as his church, 
 the Roman church became his spouse, with authority over all his 
 lambs and sheep, the other churches and dioceses of the universal 
 church, of which Peter was the first shepherd. 
 
 The Bishop of Rome is the heir of Peter, the inheritoi* of all the 
 spiritual power and authority the latter received from Christ. At 
 his election God in heaven gives him direct all the authority, 
 which at first he gave to Peter. But the wife is the helpmate of 
 her husband in the generation of others like themselves. So the 
 Roman church aids the Pope in the government of all the other 
 dioceses, their spiritual children, whom they bring forth images of 
 themselves. 
 
 The honors, the perfections, the wealth of husband and wife 
 belong to both. The church universal is great because of her 
 head Jesus Christ. The holiness and the learning of St. Augus- 
 tine still sheds a halo over the little diocese of Hippo, which 'he 
 ruled for so many years, the greatness of Sts. Ambrose and of 
 Charles Borromeo still linger around Milan, the fortitude of St. 
 Thomas A Becket adds glory to the diocese of Canterbury, and 
 the transcendent works of the Gregories, of the Benedicts, of the 
 Leos still illumine the world from the Chair of Peter on which 
 they sat. Following these simple rules the power of the Bishop 
 of Rome flows down on the Roman clergy. Therefore because of 
 greatness their Bishop, the clergy of Rome are over all the other 
 clergy and churches of the world. 
 
 When Peter oame to Rome, he brought with him the whole ma- 
 chinery of the church, knowing that first God chose the Jews as 
 the repository of his revelation to man. But when Peter had un- 
 derstood that God had rejected the Jewish nation because of their 
 sins, filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter chose Rome the mistress 
 
270 THE ANCIENT PRESBYTERY OF ROME. 
 
 of the Gentile world the city of destiny which had conquered the 
 world long before the daj's of Christ. To the clergy and people 
 of Rome Peter preached for 35 years, and Roman clergy became 
 the depository of his teachings, which they have kept unspotted 
 even to our day. No error or heresy ever rose among the Romans, 
 for the heresies which disturbed the world came from strangers. 
 
 While Rome was the city of power at the time of the apostles, 
 Athens was the city of learning and of culture. Rome was the 
 Latin and Athens the Greek centre of learning and of literature. 
 When in the VI. century the barbarians swept down from north- 
 eastern Euroj^e and from Asia, they wiped out the language and 
 literature of Rome, and Latin became a dead language, from 
 which sprung the modern tongues of southern Europe. But they 
 never penetrated as far as Greece, whence Greek is still spoken 
 and written as in the days of Aristotle. 
 
 The Eternal Father in heaven does nothing without the councils 
 of his Son, and this rule of acting was from the beginning con- 
 ferred on the Roman church. Before acting the Popes first con- 
 sulted tlieir councilors the clergy of Rome. We find then that 
 the clergy of Rome from the very beginning had three functions, 
 to advise their Bishop, to aid him in the government of the uni- 
 versal church, when he died they administered the whole church 
 during the vacancy, and they elected his successor. Such are the 
 tliree chief duties of the venerable College of Cardinals the most 
 august and venerable legislative and consultive body of men which 
 ever existed. 
 
 The word cardinal comes from the Latin "cardo,"a hinge or 
 pivot around which anything turns or circles. It means the 
 chief, the highest, the principal, the one to whom others adhere. 
 The word was first used by Pope Anacletus in the year 84, when 
 he said that the Roman church was the cardinal or chief church 
 of the world.' It is found in the monuments of the council held 
 at Rome in 324 under Sylvester, although some think that these 
 documents are not authentic. Numerous historic facts show us 
 that the chief clergy of Rome were always afterwards called car- 
 dinals. 
 
 Each Bishop of the early church had under liim his aid.s and 
 helpers in the work of the ministry of the Gospel. They were 
 called the presbytery or senate of the diocese in the early ages, 
 and the chapters or canons of the cathedral in more modern times. 
 Wliile living they helped the bishop, when he died they adminis- 
 tered the diocese and then with the clergy and people of the 
 diocese they elected his successor. But as the Roman church 
 ruled the whole christian world, the presbytery of the Roman church 
 took part with their Bisliop in his supreme authority. This Pope 
 Eugenius decreed, ' and all monuments of that early age show. 
 
 Writers say that the senate of cardinals and the presbytery of 
 the diocese were established by God himself. For when the people 
 
 > Gratianus C&n. Sacrosancta Dlst. 22. * Bull. Rom. T. III. p. 3. 
 
MEANING OF THE WORD CARDINAL. 271 
 
 of Israel murmured for the flesh-pots of Egypt, God commanded 
 Moses to gather a council of seventy ancients, to help him in the 
 government of the people of God. * Christ not only consecrated 
 the apostles bishops of the universal church, but he also ordained 
 priests and ministers to aid them, and they ordained deacons to 
 look after the temporal business of the churches. ^ Innocent III. 
 says: ''The priests are of the levitical order of our brothers, who 
 exist and are our aids in the fulfilment of our priestly duties."* 
 EugeniusIV. confirms the same, and John VIII. ''says that as Moses 
 had seventy elders to aid him, so the Pontiff has the same number 
 of helpers. The emperor Frederick II. writing to the cardinals in 
 1239 says: '' As Christ is the head of the church, and by the name 
 Peter he founded the church on that Rock, thus he ordained that 
 you are the successors of the apostles." * One of the Galican coun- 
 cils proclaimed that the Papal dignity was established in Peter, 
 the cardinals and in the other apostles. * The university of Prague 
 declared in 1413 the same doctrine. '' But some authors deny that 
 the apostles were the first cardinals, saying that they could be sup- 
 pressed by the Pope, which he could not do if they had been founded 
 by God, as what God did only he can undo. But these are idle 
 questions, for the college of cardinals always was and always will be 
 in the church of God, and it seems probable according to some 
 writers, that they are of divine institution. 
 
 Gregory the Great calls some of the bishops of his time cardinals, 
 and the chief priests and ministers of many dioceses were at that 
 time called cardinals, that is the advisers of their bishops. He 
 wrote to the bishop of Syracuse to call Cosmaa pastor in the coun- 
 try to the cathedral, and make him a cardinal of that church that is 
 a canon, because he was so homesick in the country that he was 
 going to run away. He wrote to another bishop of the same city to 
 incardinate Felix a deacon into the cathedral clergy. Many monu- 
 ments of the early church show us that the clergy of other dioceses 
 even in the lower orders were sometimes called cardinals. The 
 word incardinate meant the same as incorporate into a strange 
 diocese, for the clergy of the cathedrals were especially called cardi- 
 nals, because above all they aided the bishops in administering the 
 diocese. From the eighth century, these clergymen of other dioceses 
 formed the presbytery of the cathedral and the senate of the 
 diocese. 
 
 After the eight century only the clergy of Eome were called car- 
 dinals. In 769 under Stephen IV. a Roman synod decreed that 
 no one except a cardinal should be elected to the honor of the Roman 
 Pontificate. After this time only clergymen belonging to the Ro- 
 man See were called cardinals, and the cathedral of the Popes, the 
 churcji of St. John Laceran was called the "hing" or "cardo" of 
 the city of Rome, because of the Pontiff who sat in it as the heir of 
 Peter. Following the Roman custom, the chief clergymen of the 
 
 ' Num xi. Deut. xvii. ^ Acts vi. ^ Cap. per venerab. 13. Tit. 17. L. 4. Decret. 
 
 * Bouix De Curea Romana Fia, » St. Thomas. Sum. p. I. L. 2, C. 114. 
 
 « Concll Constant. T. vi. p. 18. ' T. I. p. 188. 
 
272 THE "VARIOUS RANKS OF CARDINALS. 
 
 other cathedrals of the world were also called cardos or hinges, 
 around which the laity and clergy of the diocese swung or united. 
 But the special clergymen or cardinals of all the dioceses of the 
 early church formed the cathedral chapters, the venerable presby- 
 teries of the ancient churches of the apostles. At the present time 
 only the chief clergy of the Koman church are called cardinals. 
 
 The cardinals are divided into cardinal bishops, cardinal priests 
 and cardinal deacons,— because of the eminence of the Eoman 
 church over the otlier churches of the world, all orders and perfec- 
 tions of the whole body of the church are found in her head, the 
 diocese of Rome. But these three grades were not in the early 
 church, for before the year 769 there were no cardinal bishops in 
 Rome, while there were always cardinals, priests, aud deacons from 
 the time of the apostle Peter. 
 
 Pope St. Cletus, elected in the year 75, and who lived with Pe- 
 ter, divided the city of Rome into twenty-five parish-sections, and 
 appointed a body of clergymen to each church, saying St. Peter had 
 ordered him to do so during his life.' Such was the beginning and 
 origin of all the parishes in the world. Evaristus elected in 108 
 confirmed the erection of these parishes.* These parishes and 
 churches of Rome were cardinalates. As it was customary in the 
 old law to give a name to the altar where they offered the sacrifice 
 to God, so in the early church they gave names to the houses or 
 places where they offered the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and that 
 was the origin of the titles of these early tituhir churches in Rome 
 from which to-day the cardinals take their titles. 
 ^ In the time of Pope Dennis in 259, there were twenty-five such 
 titular churches in the eternal city. Later they became more 
 numerous as the wants of the people required. ' In the days of 
 John XXII. five patriarchs, seven titular bishops of sees near Rome, 
 and then thirty-one cardinal priests and fourteen deacons assisted 
 the Pope in ruling the whole church They then formed the vener- 
 able senate of the universal church. The number of cardinals 
 varied in the different orders or ranks. The council of Constance 
 ordered that there should be only twenty-four cardinal priests. 
 Paul IV. decreed that there should not be more than forty cardinal 
 priests, while Gregory XIH. increased the number to seventy-six, 
 Sixtus V. restricted them to seventy and assigned fifty of the titu- 
 lar churches of Rome to them. 
 
 The ajwstles ordained seven deacons ' and from the days of Peter, 
 there were seven deacons in the church at Rome. According to 
 Pope Fabianus, who sat in 136, they were to look after the widows, 
 the orphans, the sick, and take care of the fourteen parishes into 
 which tlie city had been divided long before his time. In tlie days 
 of Pope Symmachus each deacon had a certain territory to look 
 after. When the needs of the church increased the number of car- 
 dinal deacons was doubled. They took their titles from the par- 
 ishes or regions which they governed. Gregory III. added four 
 
 • Lib. Pont. * TamffDa Orifrin de Card. P. 4. cap. 4. art. I. n. 64. > Acts vl. 
 
BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND DEACONS MAY BE CARDINALS. 273 
 
 more deacons, whom he attached to the cathedral of St. John Lat- 
 eran, that they might assist the Pope on important ceremonies. 
 They were called cardinals of the palace, that is the Latei'an palace 
 of tiie Roman emperors given by Constantino to Pope Sylvester in 
 312, where the Popes lived for a 1000 years, before they moved 
 to the Vatican. In 141 there were nineteen cardinal deacons, but 
 Sixtus V. restricted the number to fourteen. 
 
 In 1057 Victor II. ordained Fredrick as a cardinal subdeacon. 
 After that we find many cardinal subdeacons. But for many cen- 
 turies there have been no cardinal subdeacons in the Roman church, 
 because it is not certain that subdeaconship is a holy order 
 instituted by Christ, for it began to be considered as a holy order 
 only from the middle ages. 
 
 Before the middle of the eighth century we find no records of 
 cardinal bishops among the Roman clergy. They are first mention- 
 ed by a synod of Rome, held in the year 769 under Stephen III., 
 which forbids bishops, presbyters and deacons to become cardinals 
 of Rome, without the consent of the Pope. From this it seems 
 that before this date clergymen in episcopal orders had become car- 
 dinals. Stephen IV. states that the seven cardinal bishops must 
 celebrate Mass each Sunday at St. Peter's altar in the Lateran 
 church and recite the " Gloria. " From documents dating from 
 1410 we find that seven cardinal bishops having no titles but ruling 
 the seven neighboring dioceses near Rome in the Lateran church 
 waited on the Bishop of Rome'. The cities from which they took 
 their titles were Ostia, now united with Velletri, Porto, Albano, 
 Palestrina, Sabina, and Frascati. The bishop of Ostia is the dean 
 of the sacred college, wears the pallium of an archbishop, and 
 crowns the Pope. 
 
 At the present time there are only six cardinal bishops, fifty 
 cardinal priests and fourteen cardinal deacons, making seventy 
 in all. Such this august senate has been since the time of Sixtus V. 
 Paul II. commanded that they must not wear purple or any other 
 than red church garments. Those cardinals who belong to the 
 religious orders can wear the habit of their order, except the red 
 biretta and skull cap. An archbishop or patriarch niay be only a 
 cardinal priest in the Roman church. Thus Cardinal Newman was 
 only a cardinal deacon although in priest's orders. Archbishop 
 Manning is a cardinal priest in the Roman church, although he is 
 the archbishop of Westminster. 
 
 The very essence of the cai'dinalate requires that it be a college 
 or senate forming a special body of clergymen to aid the Pope in his 
 universal government. In this they differ from all other bodies of 
 clergymen, who aid the bishops in governing their dioceses. The 
 chief office of this holy senate of the universal church is to aid the 
 Pontiff while living, when he dies to administer the church till 
 the new Pope takes his place, and elect the Pope. The election of 
 the Bishop of Rome is not such an essential office as the two former, 
 for in the early church both the clergy and laity of Rome took 
 
274 THE SENATE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 part in the election, till so many political abuses rose, that the 
 election was confined alone to the college of cardinals. Whence 
 although the chief priests of a diocese always aid the bishop and ad- 
 minister the diocese at his death, still the canons of the cathe- 
 dral chapter do not always elect their bishop, for the election of » 
 bishop is not essential to their office. 
 
 The senate of cardinals then is a body of clergymen elected to 
 help the Pope in his government of the church and to administer 
 it during a vacancy of the See. From this it will appear, that 
 they exceed in dignity all other men in the church, being over all 
 patriarchs, primates, bishops or prelates. The Pope alone is their 
 superior. This has always been the custom of the church from 
 the very beginning, as Pope Eugenius says when writing to the 
 archbishop of Canterbury in 1438.' In all meetings of the bishops 
 of the church, the cardinals, even those only in priest's and deacon's 
 orders take their place after the Pope, and ahead of all the patri- 
 archs, primates, archbishops, &c., because as Innocent III. says a 
 cardinal is not only for the Roman, but for all the churches of the 
 world." Their preeminence over all other churchmen was confirmed 
 by many councils, especially these held at Lyons and at Florence 
 and at Trent. 
 
 The college of cardinals then forms the senate of the universal 
 church. We must remember that to Peter, and not to the college 
 of cardinals or to any other person did Christ say: "Feed my lambs 
 Feed my sheep." " Therefore the Pope as successor of Peter rules 
 the church. Even without consulting the cardinals, he can do 
 what he thinks right. It is a matter of faith that he alone is the 
 supreme visible ruler of the church. Many acts of the president 
 of this country would be invalid without the consent of the senate. 
 But the president does not get his authority from one man as the 
 Pope does from Christ, but from God by and through the election 
 of the people, while the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, and gets his 
 authority direct from Christ, and his acts are valid without the 
 consent of the senate of cardinals. Nor can we say that the bish- 
 op is obliged to get the consent of the chapter of the diocese be- 
 fore he can do certain things in the diocese, * because the bish- 
 op is bound by the laws of the church, while the Pope, being over 
 all the church laws, having only the laws of God over him, he is 
 free. But although such acts would be valid, yet it would be 
 unusual for the Pope to take such measures, which no Pope ever 
 did, for they always first took council with their senate before 
 taking any important measures in the church. That has ever 
 been the custom of the church. The Pope follows the constitu- 
 tions of his predecessors, unless the changed circumstances of the 
 times require that he act differently. He asks the opinions of the 
 cardinals in all matters relating to the government of the church. 
 But as God is above all and does as he sees fit, acting as lie wishes, 
 80 the Pope having no superior but God, he is above the church, 
 
 > Const. Non medlocrl. » 8 de Postul. Proel. * John xxl. * Condi. BalUm. 
 
HOW CARDINALS ARE ELECTED. 276 
 
 and he may act according to the lights given him by the Holy 
 Ghost, although in practice, he always seeks the advice of his sen- 
 ate, the sacred college of the cardinals. 
 
 The cardinals are elected by the Pope. For it is not a sacred 
 order, like the priesthood or the episcopacy instituted by Christ. 
 Eugene IV. decreed that no one elected a cardinal can fulfil that 
 office, till he has been received by the Pope according to the 
 usual ceremony of reception. When first nominated the Pope closes 
 the mouth of the cardinal elect, a ceremony by which he is given to 
 understand, how useful it is to be prudent in revealing the secrets of 
 the church, or the line of action of the papal court before the time 
 comes. But as Pius V. says, the election of the Bishop of Rome is the 
 chief duty of the cardinal, even before the ceremony allowing him to 
 open his mouth and vote, before the ceremony of opening his 
 mouth a cardinal can vote for the election of a Pope when the 
 Eoman See becomes vacant. At his election the new Pope takes, 
 an oath, that he will not elect any cardinal without first consulting 
 the cardinals. 
 
 Most of the cardinals are aged men, a number die each year, and 
 their vacancies must be filled. When the Pope wisiies to create 
 others in their place, he calls a meeting of the sacred college, re- 
 veals to them the new men he selects, and says: "What do you 
 think about it?" If they are willing, each cardinal uncovers his 
 head by taking off his biretta and makes a bow. If all agree a 
 decree is drawn up relating to the matter. If the newly nominated 
 candidates are in Rome, they at once wait on the Pope, and one of 
 the cardinals presents them to his holiness, who places on their 
 heads the red biretta of the cardinal until the public consistory, 
 when all the insignia of their holy office will be given them. They 
 are not allowed to visit or receive visits. If the new candidate 
 does not live in Rome, the Pope sends one of his household to 
 bring him the red biretta. According to the constitution of 
 Pope Sixtus V. the new cardinal must swear that he will go to 
 Rome within a year then to receive the full insigna of his high 
 office. 
 
 When the proper time comes for the reception of the new car- 
 dinals, the sacred college assembles in a public consistory, presided 
 over by the Pope vested in full pontificals, sitting on the throne 
 of the fisherman. The candidates come before the Pope, who in- 
 structs them in the duties of their office. Then they kneel before 
 him and kiss his feet and hands, while he receives them with a 
 kiss on the lips. From the other cardinals they then receive the 
 kiss of peace. The Pope then invests them in their red vestment 
 with the words; '-'Unto the praise of the omnipotent God, and 
 the adorning of the Holy See, receive thou the red vestment, the 
 sign of the wonderful dignity of the cardinalate, which means even 
 unto the shedding of blood and unto death, thou must bravely 
 work for the spread of holy faith, for the peace and prosperity of 
 the christian people, and for the increase and the augmentation 
 
276 WHO SHOULD BE MADE CAKDIITALS. 
 
 of the most holy Roman church, in the name of the Father and 
 of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 
 
 At a later meeting of the consistory, the Pope asks the other 
 cardinals if the ceremony of opening their mouths should now 
 take place. All having agreed, the Pontiff says: "We open your 
 mouth for you, that you may give advice both in councilsand 
 in the election of the supreme Pontiff, and in every official act, 
 Tphich relates to the cardinalate, both in consistories, as well as 
 outside, which belong to the cardinals, in the name of the Fath- 
 . er and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'' 
 
 From the very days of the apostles the clergy of the Roman 
 church have been noted for great learning, experience, diplomacy 
 and faith. Only the most eminent men, says Paul II. should be 
 elected to the office of cardinal. The council of Trent decreed that 
 the most learned men in the church should be selected to aid the 
 Pontiff in his universal government. One having an uncle or neph- 
 ew in the sacred college, the illegitimate one having the defects pre- 
 venting him beinga bishop, or other obstacles cannot be a cardinal. 
 
 The council of Trent says: "When the most holy Roman Pontiff 
 finds them worthy he will elect the cardinals from all the christian 
 nations."' Sixtus V. decreed that the cardinals should be most 
 learned in church matters, and that at least four should belong to the 
 religious and mendicant orders. ' From the time of the Pope's 
 exile at Avignon, the cardinals have been selected from various 
 christian nations, but the larger number are from Italy, because 
 as God chose the Jewish nation to be the mother of Christianity, 
 so Peter chose the Roman church as his spouse, and the Romans 
 above all have preserved his teachings. 
 
 The Cardinals who are besides bishops of other dioceses must 
 live in their dioceses. They are asked for their advice when the 
 Pope is about to legislate regarding the nation to which they be- 
 long. Thus when the question of dealing with the Knights of La- 
 bor in this country came up, Leo XIII. counciled with cardinal 
 archbishop Gibbons of Baltimore, who advised that the question 
 be dropped. The six cardinal bishops of the neighboring dioceses 
 live in Rome, for they are so near their dioceses that they can ad- 
 minister their sees from the eternal city. All the other cardinals, 
 without the express permission of the Pope, must live at Rome, so 
 as to help the latter in Ins universal government. 
 
 The six cardinals bishops of the cities near Rome mentioned 
 above, have the titles of the dioceses of which they are the titular 
 bishops. The cardinal priests have the titles of the fifty chief 
 churches of Rome, while the cardinal deacons have no regular 
 titles, being attached to the deaconates of Rome. 
 
 In former times the cardinals had quasi-episcopal jurisdiction 
 over the regions into which the eternal city was divided, and they 
 ruled their flocks as pastors. We may then consider the cardinal 
 priests as pastors of the Roman diocese. 
 
 * See. xxtv. C. i. * Const. Postquam. Art. 1. n. 2S. 
 
WHO CAN VOTE FOK A POPE ? 277 
 
 As the Pope is tlie emperor of religion, tlie cardinals rank as 
 kings ruling under an emperor. Hence, Pius II. when creating 
 cardinals used to say: ^' You are like kings.'' According to the 
 Roman ceremonial, when catholic kings take part in the Roman 
 ceremonials the Pope ranks first, then the first cardinal bishop, 
 then the kings. When there is a dispute about an election of 
 the Pope, the cardinals call a council of the whole church to set- 
 tle the dispute. 
 
 The cardinal bishop of Ostia is the dean of the holy senate, 
 ranking next the Pope himself. If the Pope elect be not a 
 bishop, he must be consecrated by the cardinal bishop of Ostia. 
 At the coronation of a Roman emperor, before the ceremony he 
 sits after the bishop of Ostia. But after he is crowned, the em- 
 peror sits between the Pope and the cardinal dean of Ostia^ while 
 a king ranks above the cardinals and next to the dean of the sa- 
 cred college the bishop of Ostia, but never before him, which be- 
 longs only to an emperor of the Romans. The cardinal bishop of 
 Ostia wearing the pallium of an archbishop, fills the office of pre- 
 fect of tlie Congregation of Rites, and secretary of the congrega- 
 tion of the Holy Office. The secretary, or clerk of the senate of 
 cardinals, is an Italian. He takes care of the books, documents, 
 and papers of the senate. He had before the reformation four 
 clerks, which according to the constitution of Urban VIII.' he se- 
 lected from the German, the Spanish, French and English na- 
 tions. In their turn they helped him as clerk of the senate. 
 When the whole college of cardinals meets, the Pope is their 
 chairman. 
 
 Nowhere in the Bible do we find that God ordained the way of 
 electing the successors of St. Peter. Then the matter of electing 
 a Pope Christ left to the church. But as to Peter he gave full 
 power of ruling the church, then to the Pope his heir it belongs to 
 appoint the manner of the election of his successors. From the 
 very beginning the Roman clergy and people selected their Pon- 
 tiff, and to their Bishop alone belongs the power of defining the 
 mode of election. During the first four centuries the clergy alone, 
 that is the priests and deacons of Rome elected their Bishop. From 
 the time of Pope Sylvester the laity of Rome took part Avith the 
 clergy in the election, but they only confirmed the election. Many 
 rules were made regarding the way of voting. For the last four 
 centuries only the cardinals can vote. * During the middle ages 
 kings and emperors took an active part. But their action like 
 that of the laity of Rome Avas a usurpation, and became later an in- 
 tolerable abuse, Avhich the church found great trouble in rooting 
 out. The election of the Bishop of Rome belongs by right to the 
 Roman clergy, for only the wife can select her husband. The 
 cardinals are the heads and the chief pastors of Rome and they rep- 
 resent the whole Roman clergy. The clergy of Rome received 
 the power of election from the apostles as all writers say, and the 
 
 1 Admonet nos. ^ Card. Petra. T. Iv. ad Const. Clem. vi. n. 18. 
 
278 THE CARDINALS WHEN THE POPE DIES. 
 
 laity had only a confirming but never a deciding voice in the se- 
 lection. In later ages the clergy of Rome were called cardinals, 
 so that the election of a Pope by the college of cardinals is of 
 apostolic origin. 
 
 In the times of the persecution of the Roman empire, before 
 Constantine gave liberty to the church by his famous edict of the 
 freedom of worship, the christian Romans with their Bishop, 
 lived mostly in the underground catacombs, although it is true 
 that for some time before this, Sylvester had privately lived in the 
 Lateran palace, the home of the Csesars, and that Helena, Con- 
 stantine's mother, had fitted up a little chapel for him in the 
 palace. Yet the first Popes were elected in the catacombs. 
 
 The Pope is the administrator of the churcii universal, and the 
 cardinals are his senators. As the Pope is not elected for a term 
 of years but for life, his office becomes vacant only by deatii or 
 resignation. Then the administration of the whole church be- 
 longs to the supreme senate, the college of cardinals. But they 
 have not the power of the Pope, neither while he lives nor when 
 he dies. They can undertake no important measures during a 
 vacancy of the Roman See, unless urgent causes force them to act. 
 This was decreed by Gregory X. in the council of Lyons in 127'^. 
 They cannot create new cardinals, receive those cardinals nom- 
 inated but not received by the dead Pope, appoint bishops, nor 
 confirm those elected but not confirmed by tlie Pope before his 
 death, neither can they exercise any act of jurisdiction belonging 
 to the Pope. Thus as a senate of the universal church, in the early 
 ages they exercised much more authority during a vacancy of the 
 Roman See than at present, somewhat as the chapters of the 
 cathedrals administered the vacant sees at the death of the bish- 
 ops. But the Roman congregations have ordinary jurisdiction, 
 and they can exercise that authority during a vacancy, because 
 cases of great and urgent importance come up before them every 
 day, and they could not be interrupted during a vacancy of the Holy 
 See without detriment to souls. That authority was given them 
 by Sixtus V. ' 
 
 In case of great danger to the church, in matters of universal 
 importance, the senate of cardinals has universal jurisdiction over 
 the whole church during a vacancy, and they can administer and 
 pass judgment on these urgent cases. When a dispute arises 
 about the legality or validity of the election of a Pope, as wheti 
 two are contending, each claiming to be the legitimate successor 
 of Peter, and a council of the whole church cannot meet, the sen- 
 ate of the cardinals can pass judgment, impeach the usurper and 
 drive him out. * 
 
 When the Pope dies the chief chamberlain, aided by the bishop 
 of Ostia the dean or chief of the cardinal bisiiops, the dean of the 
 cardinal priests and the dean of the cardinal deacons, form a board 
 for the administration of the universal church during the vacancy. 
 
 > Const. " Immensa." ' 81 quls 9. dist. 79. 
 
TOMB OF THE POPE OVER THE DOOB LEADING INTO THE VESTRY OF ST. PETER'S. 
 
PREPARING TO VOTE FOR A POPE. 281 
 
 Before 24 hours have elapsed since tlie death of the Pope was offi- 
 cially announced, the chief chamberlain summons every cardinal 
 in the world without an exception, to take part in the election of 
 the new Pontiff. Even if one cardinal were not allowed to cast 
 his vote, the election would be invalid. The chamberlain then 
 sees that the body of the deceased Pope is inclosed in three coffins 
 and buried with great pomp. The body of the Pontiff was for- 
 merly placed over the door of the choir leading into the vestry- 
 room of the papal court, as shown in the engraving, where it 
 remained for a year, a continual remembrance to the new Pope, 
 and to the whole papal court of the end of all men, death. 
 
 The wife always selects her husband and if she does not give 
 her consent the marriage is invalid — no one can force her to mar- 
 ry a man she does not want. So the Koman clergy elected their 
 Bishop from the days of the apostles. Representing the Roman 
 church the spiritual spouse of the .Pope, they elect the ghostly 
 husband of the Roman church. We have not space to give the 
 complete history of the elections of the Popes from the times of 
 the apostles. From time to time the laity and governments in- 
 terfered, so regulations had to be made preventing abuses and po- 
 litical intrigues. But the chief clergy of Rome, which in our day 
 are called cardinals nearly always voted, and their votes alone de- 
 cided the elections. 
 
 At the first meeting of the college of cardinals, they read the 
 Bulls of Alexander III., Gregory X., Clement V., Clement VI., 
 Julius II., Pius IV., Gregory XV., Urban VIII . and of Clement 
 XII., regulating the way of casting the ballots &c. The election 
 must begin on the tenth day after the Pope's death. No power 
 on earth can deprive a cardinal of his vote if he be present. Bat 
 the senate will not wait longer than ten days ai'ter the death of 
 the Pope for the cardinals living at a distance. When the absent 
 cardinals come, they have a right to enter the senate now formed 
 into a solemn conclave for the election of Peter's successor. 
 
 The cardinals first take a solemn oath on the holy Gospels, to 
 caretnlly observe the rules of the conclave. The Fisherman's 
 ring, worn by the deceased Pontiff, is first broken by the master of 
 ceremonies, by order of the cardinal chamberlain. The funeral 
 oration over the dead is preached, and the session of the fii'st day 
 comes to a close. The next day only political matters are dis- 
 cussed; they confirm the officers of the Pontifical states, who come 
 forward and offer their obedience to the sacred senate; then the 
 following three days are devoted to electing the officers of the 
 conclave. On the sixth day they allot the ceils wherein each 
 cardinal will live during the meeting; on the seventh day they 
 choose other attendants in addition to the two already selected by 
 the chamberlain; they enter the names of all the officers of the 
 senate on the books; on the last day they choose three cardinals to 
 preside over the meeting. 
 
 In the meantime the usual business of this great senate has 
 
282 TBE CAK DINARS WALLED IN. 
 
 been carried on; audiences have been granted; the embassadors 
 of foreign governments the ministers of nations come before them 
 and bend the knee, as the}' stand before the senate with uncovered 
 heads, as before the Pope himself, for the cardinals now have su- 
 preme power in the church. The dean of the sacred senate as 
 chairman replies to all matters proposed by any governments in 
 the name of all. The sermon before the election delivered in 
 Latin relates to the importance of the duty they are about to per- 
 form, at the close of which they march in solemn procession to 
 the place where the conclave is to sit, the papal choir singing at 
 the same time the beautiful words of the hymn: •' Come Creator 
 Spirit." The conclave for the election of the Pope usually meets 
 at the Vatican, but for sufficient reasons they can assemble at the 
 palace of the Quirinal. When they come to "the chapel, the Bulls 
 and constitutions of the Popes regulating papal elections are again 
 read, again they take the solemn oath to do their duty conscien- 
 tiously, and the cardinal dean addresses them on the importance 
 and the solemnity of the occasion. Up to this time the cardinals 
 can receive visitors, &c. But at the stroke of midnight, the mas- 
 ter of ceremonies rings a bell, and all not belonging to the con- 
 clave retire. Then the marshal in the presence of the three 
 cardinals solemnly closes the doors, and from that time no one is 
 allowed to go in or out, except the absent cardinals, who may be 
 late in coming from distant countries. 
 
 The word conclave comes from the Latin, and means a key, be- 
 cause the building is entirely closed, and the cardinals as it were 
 are locked in from all earthly influences, so as to be free in elect- 
 ing the most worthy, for such a high office in the church. No 
 other assembly of cardinals is called conclaves, but congregations, 
 as they are not inclosed when occupied with other business of the 
 church. 
 
 By orders of Nicholas IL and Clement IV. the cardinals must 
 meet at Rome for the election of the Pope. But for good reasons 
 the election can be held at any other place. But the Vatican 
 palace is the favorite place, because of its nearness to St. Peter's, 
 although Pius IX. was chosen at the Quirinal. 
 
 Each cardinal hasa cell twenty feet square and the same in height 
 built of light frames and covered Avith violet tapestry, if elected by 
 the deceased Pope, otherwise they are covered with green or red. 
 It is divided into two rooms one for himself the other for his at- 
 tendants, or conclavists. 
 
 When all have entered, the entrances to the conclave, the doors, 
 windows &c. are walled in, only one entrance being allowed, and 
 this is guarded with the greatest care. This sole entrance has two 
 locks, one on the inside the other on the outside. The governor 
 of the conclave has the key of one, the master of ceremonies the 
 other key. The gate has four openings through which the cardi- 
 nals receive their meals, aiul whatever else is absolutely required. 
 But great care is shown that no communication with the outside 
 
HOW THE CONCLAVE IS ARRANGED. 283 
 
 world can take place, or that the cardinals could be influenced in 
 their votes. Even the halls next to the conclave are locked with 
 two locks, the keys of which are in the hands of the cardinal cam- 
 erlango, the marshal of the conclave a prince of the house of Chigi 
 has the otlier key. Under him are drawn up the papal troops, 
 surrounding the conclave and guarding the city. 
 
 These precautions are taken to prevent political intrigues or out- 
 side influences, and to stop any pressure brought by European 
 governments on the election, so that the cardinals may be free to 
 select the man whom they in conscience judge the best to rule the 
 Kiugdom of Christ. Even the food is carefully examined to see that 
 it contains no letters. 
 
 When they are enclosed, all cardinals, attendants &c. without ex- 
 ception take the oath of fidelity and of secrecy and to observe the 
 rules of procedure. They then carefully examine the whole en- 
 closure to see that no unauthorized person is there, and that the 
 walls and passages are closed. This they do twice a day after- 
 . wards. 
 
 The next day the election begins without waiting for absent 
 cardinals, who when they come after the conclave has been closed, 
 have the right to enter in a solemn procession. Nothing can pre- 
 vent a cardinal from taking part in the election. The cardinals 
 are entirely free to choose any one, even a layman. From the time 
 of Urban VI. it has been customary to elect one of the cardinals, 
 and in modern times, because of the temporal power of the Pope, 
 he has usually been an Italian. The celebrated canonist Phillips 
 says that even a married layman can be elected, who would have to 
 separate from his wife. Any member of the catholic church 
 is a candidate, only pagans and heretics are excluded. An elec- 
 tion brought about by money or by influences of that kind is in- 
 valid, null and void. 
 
 The voting takes twice a day morning and evening in the chapel, 
 where each cardinal takes his allotted seat, the first cardinal 
 bishop of Osti sitting in the highest seat at the left of the entrance, 
 while tlie first cardinal priest is opposite on the right. The seats 
 and floor are draped in green, before each seat is a desk for writing 
 and praying, decorated with the cardinal's coat of arms. 
 
 Before the election begins, the sacristian of the conclave, an 
 Angustian monk says the Mass of the Holy Ghost for the light 
 and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Mass over, all the at- 
 tendants leave the chapel, except the cardinals, who prepare to 
 cast their votes. 
 
 The Pope may be elected in three ways — by quasi-inspiration, 
 by compromise, or by ballot. The first takes place when without 
 any delay, all at once would agree to the election of a certain man, 
 all being convinced that he is the most worthy. If they could 
 not agree, but would select two cardinals to vote in the name of 
 all the others, but on condition that they would not vote for them- 
 selves, it would be a compromise. The election would be by bal- 
 
284 THE KIND OF BALLOTS USED. 
 
 lot, were all to cast their votes after deliberation, two-thirds being 
 necessary for a choice, no one voting for himself. This is the 
 usual way the Popes are elected. When no candidate has receiv- 
 ed the necessary two-thirds votes, the ballots are burned, the smoke 
 telling the Romans that no choice has yet been made. Then the 
 cardinals retire again to their cells to wait for the following day. 
 This is done each day till the election takes place. 
 
 Before they vote, by lot they appoint three inspectors of the 
 election, three cardinals to take the vores of the sick members 
 who may be confined to their cells, and three to revise the election 
 and officially certify to its regularity. The ballots are printed 
 on 6x5 pieces of paper, divided into eight sections. The first is 
 for the name of the voter, the second is a blank, the third for the 
 cardinal's seal, the fourth has the name of the candidate he votes 
 for, the fifth a blank, the sixth for the second seals, the seventh for 
 any motto or verse of the Bible, and the eighth a blank. The oth- 
 er side of the ballot is so tilled up with ornamental work, that the 
 name of the candidate written cannot be seen nor what is on the 
 other side of the paper. Each cardinal writes the name of his 
 candidate on these ballots at the centre table, and in the presence 
 of all casts his vote. The ballots are so folded that no one can 
 tell for whom they vote, and they must not use their customary 
 seals, but have other seals made for this occasion. These meas- 
 ures are taken to insure secrecy. At the beginning, they place 
 a large chalice and paten on the altar, near where the cardinal 
 inspectors take their seats. Then the voting begins. The bish- 
 op of Ostia Dean of the sacred college rising first, takes his bal- 
 lot, approaches the altar kneels, prays, then rises and says: '* I take 
 Christ our Lord to witness, that 1 vote for the one whom in the 
 sight of God I judge worthy, and I will do the same in case the 
 accessus is used." He then places his sealed ballot on the paten, 
 and allows it to drop from the paten into the chalice. In the or- 
 der of their rank, all the cardinals now do the same. The three 
 cardinals above mentioned collect the ballots of sick cardinals 
 with great ceremony, just after the vote of the dean of the college 
 has been deposited. All votes being deposited in the chalice, the 
 first cardinal inspector covers the chalice with the paten and 
 shakes it. The third cardinal inspector in the presence of all 
 counts the ballots from one chalice into another. If the number of 
 ballots does not agree with the number of cardinal electors, they 
 are burned and another election takes place. Besides other pro- 
 ceedings are taken to insure secrecy in the voting. 
 
 As only the name of the candidates, and the seal appears on 
 the outside af the folded ballot, the first inspector of the election 
 takes one ballot after the other, reads the candidate's names but 
 low to himself, the second does the same, and ])asses it to the 
 third, who reads the names of the candidate aloud, so all the other 
 cardinals can hear him. Each cardinal writes the name, so 
 read, and thus keeps the accounts of the number of votes cast for 
 
HOW THE POPE IS ELECTED. ^85 
 
 the candidates. The third inspector after reading the names of 
 the candidate, strings all the ballots on a string and after knotting 
 the string puts them back into the chalice. 
 
 All the cardinals now look to see if the necessary two-thirds 
 votes have been given to any candidate, who by that becomes the 
 Pope. In case they cannot agree on any candidate, they may del- 
 egate certain members of the conclave to vote by proxy for the 
 whole assembly. In this case, there are wise rules laid down, 
 which we will not speak of now, as the rules are about the same 
 as given above with certain measures for exactness &c. 
 
 The ballots having been examined, and it has been found that 
 one of the candidates has received the required two-thirds votes, 
 he is the declared head of the church, the votes are burned and 
 the conclave is at an end. The youngest cardinal at the door of the 
 chapel rings a bell, which calls the atteiidant secretary of the con- 
 clave, with the master of ceremonies, who go to the cardinal-dean, 
 then with him all go to the Pope-elect, and standing before him, 
 the cardinal-dean asks: " Doest thou accept the canonical election 
 made of thee as Supreme Pontiff ? " If he replies " I Accept, " 
 at that moment he becomes the Bishop of Home, the head of the 
 church, the Vicar of Christ. If he were to refuse, the Chair of 
 Peter would be still vacant, and they would begin another election. 
 If he does not reply at once, the question is asked three times. 
 When he agrees or consents to accept the office, the master of cere- 
 monies claps his hands, the cardinal-dean genuflects before him; 
 all rise and remain standing, while the dean asks; "By what 
 name wilt thou be called ? " He then tells them the name by 
 which he will be known ever after. A record of all these cere- 
 monies is taken down and signed by the master of ceremonies. 
 The new Pope is thus taken by the oldest cardinal to the altars, 
 where after prayer, he is clothed in the white robes of the Supreme 
 Pontiff. Having seated himself at the altar, there he receives the 
 ''obedience" of the cardinals. When the cardinal chamberlain 
 pays his homage to him he places on his finger the "Fisherman's 
 Ring." In the meantime the masons have removed the wall, and 
 all go in procession to the balcony over the main entrance to the 
 Vatican, ( If the election took place at the Vatican ), and the car- 
 dinal-deacon proclaims the election to the city and the people 
 waiting outside. 
 
 From the moment of his election, the elect of the cardinals is 
 the Pope, and he governs the whole church. Even Clement V. 
 threatens with excommunication those who would claim that his 
 orders are not to be obeyed before he is crowned. If the new Pope 
 is a layman, or in orders below a bishop, he must at once be or- 
 dained and consecrated a bishop. The ordaining and consecrat- 
 ing bishop in that case is the cardinal bishop of Ostia, the dean of 
 the holy senate of the cardinals. This ceremony of his episcopal 
 consecration must take place before he is crowned. In later 
 time it takes place in private. 
 
286 THE COEONATION CEREMONIRS. 
 
 The coronation ceremonies usually take place on the following 
 Sunday, or on the next great feast after the election. Headed by 
 the papal cross, preceded by all the great dignitaries of the church, 
 marching in grand procession, the new Pope seated on his sedan 
 chair carried by the highest nobility of the eterual city, sur- 
 rounded by the ministers and embassadors of foreign nations, 
 guarded by the pontifical army, whose officers are nobles, enclosed 
 by the Swiss guard, they enter the great basilica of St. Peter's, 
 where he mounts the everlasting throne of the P'isherman of Gal- 
 ilee. First they come to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, 
 where they adore Christ there present and thank him for the suc- 
 cess of the election. Then they enter the Clementine chapel, 
 gorgeous with the works of the great masters of art. When the 
 Holy Father comes to the altar, he ascends the throne, and there 
 sitting he receives the homage of all the great cardinals, bishops, 
 clergy and laity of the church. He gives them his apostolic bless- 
 ing and intones the divine office of Tierce, which the papal choir 
 sings while he vests himself. 
 
 No man can attain a higher office than to be the bishop of Rome, 
 whose predecessors made and unmade nations and empires. From 
 the throne of Peter, he now looks down on all the peoples and 
 races of earth with benignity and fatherly kindness. Only death 
 or resignation can deprive him of his office. When again the pro- 
 cession forms, lest he might be carried away by his exalted 
 station, one of the masters of ceremonies draws near the Pope, and 
 three times he burns before him a little flax on a silver salver, say- 
 ing each time: " Holy Father thus passeth away the glory of 
 this world." 
 
 The Mass begins. The Pope recites the "Confiteor," two car- 
 dinals read the collects at the altar. The Pope now receives the 
 pallium from the cardinal dean which was once the garment of 
 the Jewish high priest saying: "Receive the holy pallium, the 
 fullness of Pontificial authority, in honor of God Almighty " &c. 
 He then incenses the high altar as a sign of prayer ascending to 
 the Most High. He again receives the homage of the cardinals, 
 patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, abbots and officers of 
 the Roman Courts, as a sign of the complete power of Peter over the 
 whole church. The high Mass continues to the " Collect, " when 
 he again retires to the throne. Now the cardinal deacon with the 
 subdeacons, auditors, secretaries of the Roman church &c. go down 
 to the "Confession" of St. Peter, where respose the bodies of Sts. 
 Peter and Paul, where he repeats three times the words over the 
 tombs of their most illustrious apostles: "Life to our Lord, N-(call- 
 ing out the name of the new Pope) whom God has given us as Bish- 
 op, and Vicar of Christ" to which all reply: " God help him O 
 Mary aid him." Then returning the high Mass is continued with- 
 out interruption to the end. 
 
 With great pomp after Mass the Pope goes to the balcony of 
 St. Peter's, where seated on a throne, the second in rank of the 
 
THE POPE TAKING POSSESSION OF HIS CATHEDRA.L. 287 
 
 cardinal deacons, removes the bishop's mitre which he has worn, 
 and the dean of the college of cardinals places the tiara on his 
 head saying: " Receive the tiara adorned with the triple crown 
 and know that thou art the father of princes and kings, the ruler 
 of the earth, the Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ." The Pope 
 then solemnly gives his blessing to the people and receives the 
 congratulations of the cardinals. 
 
 The last act of the coronation ceremonies consists in the Pope 
 taking possession of his cathedral the Ba^licaof St. John Lateran, 
 the Cathedral of tlie Popes, the Mother Church of all the churches 
 of the world. For more than a thousand years, from the days of 
 Sts. Sylvester and of Constantine, the Popes lived in the Lateran 
 Palace, adjoining the Church of St. John Lateran, but since the 
 Popes took up their abode at St. Peter's at the Vatican, they 
 solemnly take charge of St. John Lateran. Informer times after 
 a light breakfast the Pope started for his cathedral on horseback, 
 followed by all the ofticials of church and state, all riding with 
 him a most striking procession. 
 
 In our day in his sedan chair the Pope is carried in this pro- 
 cession. At the bridge of St Angelo, under a triumphal arch — 
 one of the senators of Rome, who in the' times of the Republic 
 were compared to kings, with his ivory staff the image of the 
 •departed Roman empire addresses the Pope, and swears to him the 
 fidelity of the Roman people. The procession passes under the tri- 
 umphal arcli of Titus, built in remembrance of the sacking and of the 
 capture of Jerusalem according to the prophecy of our Lord, they 
 approach the vast ruins of the Coliseum built by the captive Jews, 
 where the chief rabbi of the exile Jews still living in Rome hands 
 the Pope the five books of Moses, (a copy of Genesis, Exodus, 
 Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), asking his protection for his 
 people, which the Pope at once promises, a rebuke to the persecu- 
 tors of the Jews. At the portals of the historic St. John Lateran 
 the cardinal archpriest of tlie Lateran Basilica offers him a golden 
 cross, which he kisses. There he receives the homage of all the 
 clergy of his cathedral. Now the archpriest presents him with 
 the keys of the church, one of gold the other of silver, and then 
 he reads him an address. The vast procession then enters the 
 church and proceeds to the council hall, made famous by the 
 long residence of the great historic Popes, and by the audiences 
 given there to the most famous emperors, kings, men of letters 
 and historic personages of the past ages. The Pope then gives 
 to each a medal struck in memory of the event. From the bal- 
 cony of the church he blesses all the people, money is scattered 
 among them, and then he returns again to his great palace at the 
 Vatican. 
 
 We see that at the beginning of the foundation of the United 
 States, the states of Maryland and of Virginia gave a small part 
 of their territory to form the District of Columbia, so as to leave 
 •Congress free from state authority, and influence. That was a 
 
288 
 
 THE pope's temporal DOMINION. 
 
 wise foresight. In the same way the Popes liave had from the 
 most remote times a small territory around Rome, which they 
 governed as kings in temporal authority so that they might be 
 free from any influence on the part of the governments of Europe. 
 This is absolutely wanted for the freedom of the Pope in his 
 government of the universal church. In him then the spiritual 
 and temporal governments of the world centres. In his person 
 the spiritual blesses tlje temporal authority of the earth. But 
 his power in the world is spiritual not temporal, for Christ whom 
 he represents said: " My kingdom is not of this world. " 
 
 If in former times, if he has taken part or settled disputes among 
 nations, it was because he was asked to do so, and because as the 
 Father of the faithful, he wanted to have peace and good will 
 among men. 
 
 The cardinals living in Rome meet once or twice a week with 
 the Pope as their chairman, to discuss the religious matters of the 
 whole world, the political and social movements taking place in all 
 nations. There they 'shape the policy of the Holy See. These 
 meetings had been held from the time of the apostles. With their 
 chairman the Pope, heir of that long and glorious line of Pontiffs all 
 the reigning royal and elective rulers are of yesterday compared 
 to the senate of cardinals, all the congresses, parliaments and leg- 
 islative assemblies are young, and no legislative body of men 
 can be likened to that august and venerable senate of the univer- 
 sal church. The councils and the histories of the Roman Church 
 are filled with the accounts of these meetings, wherein measures 
 were undertaken for all the christian nations of the world. 
 
 EXAMINING THE FOOD FOR LETTERS TO THE CARDINALS IN CONCLAVB. 
 
agates, ADiegs 
 Vicars Apostolic, Notaries, &e. 
 
 tHE cardinals, senators of the universal church, aid the Pope 
 in his universal church government, when he dies they ad- 
 ,^_^ minister the whole church, and then they elect his successor. 
 Stop for a moment to study this venerable senate with the 
 Pontiff their head. There on the chair of Peter the apostle, sits 
 a spiritual ruler head of a visible and universal spiritual govern- 
 ment, before which the empires of Cyrus, of Babylon, of Alexan- 
 der, of the Cesars seem dwarfed. No ruler of earth ever governed 
 men with such a title. Jesus Christ was the founder, God is the 
 upholder, the Holy Ghost makes the laws and men bow before him, 
 knowing that rebellion brings a curse on earth and damnation at 
 death. No royal house ever exercised such a sway over the souls 
 and bodies of men. Civil rulers govern, but their authority rests 
 on the changing principles of politics. Thrones tremble, govern- 
 ments rise and fall, nations change their rulei's, kingdoms become 
 republics or empires, peoples increase or diminish their territories 
 by wars or by conquests, their restless subjects chafing under the 
 sorrows of original sin seek relief hy changes of constitutions, by 
 throwing off the yokes of kings, while the sacred House of Peter 
 still lives rising aloft above them, yet still surviving, ruling the 
 universal church with all the power Christ left Peter. Thus, the 
 heirs of Peter the Roman Pontiffs stand in spite of the numberless 
 revolutions against them. They were witnesses of the birth of all 
 royal houses of to-day, and they will stand by and see the ruin and 
 
B 
 
THE CHURCH THE MOST ANCIENT. 291 
 
 the death of all modern governments, for they are the heirs of 
 Peter to whom Christ said: ''On this Rock I will build my church, 
 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." 
 
 The royal houses of the world to-day are as children compared 
 to that long line of noble Pontiffs, wno sat on the chair of the 
 humble Fisherman of Galilee. In ages past, the Bourbons of 
 France alone could be likened to them. But they died out with 
 Louis Philip of France and the Papacy withstood the revolutions 
 which unseated them. The llapsburgs of Austria go back but 
 a few hundred years, and in our day it totters; often were the royal 
 houses of England changed, and in our time the English govern- 
 ment rapidly changes to the form of a republic; the German empire 
 dates from 1701, when the elector of Brandburg became king in 
 the days of Luther; the house of Napoleon fell from the throne of 
 France; the autocratic Tzars of Russia whose histories are written 
 in blood took their rise with Ivan the Terrible; the Irish monarchs 
 have vanished from the earth; the house of Italy is of yesterday; 
 the United States, the gem of the earth go back but about a 
 hundred years, but compared to these the Roman Pontiffs stand 
 alone, linking the old world with the new, going back to the time 
 beyond the fall of the Roman empire, when all Europe was pagan, 
 when the smoke of the sacrifices ascended from the altars of the 
 false gods of Greece and of Rome.' 
 
 Stop for a moment and look at that sacred college of cardinals. 
 In their veins flows the noblest blood of earth. They are the sons 
 of the Romans, the children of these wonderful men who ten cen- 
 turies before Christ began the conquest of the world. They are 
 the heirs of the senators of Rome, the descendants of the Cesars, be- 
 fore whose sceptres empires crumbled, powerful emperors who made 
 and unmade nations, whose authority extended from the frozen 
 North to the burning sands of Africa, and from the Atlantic to the 
 rivers of India. Pagan Rome was but a figure and an image of 
 christian Rome, with her greater and more wonderful empire of 
 God and of his holy church. As the Roman senate in the days of 
 the pagan empire aided the Cesars in their empire of conquest, 
 spreading an infidel civilization, the Latin language and literature, 
 the sciences and arts which come down to us to this very day, so 
 the Pontiff with his sacred senate still spreads religion, peace and 
 the laws of christian prosperity over a much greater empire of 
 cbristendom, ruling and swaying souls even to the uttermost ends 
 of the earth. 
 
 From the very days of the apostles each bishop had his senate, or 
 body of priests, his advisers, which in the early church was called 
 the presbytery of the diocese. They met at stated times to advise 
 and help the bishop in his spiritual government. It is said and is 
 probable that each of the apostles had a senate of clergymen, copied 
 after the twelve apostles, with seven deacons images of the seven 
 deacons established at Jerusalem.^ 
 
 * See Macauly Essay Ranke's Hist, of the Last Four Popes. ^ Acts. vl. 
 
292 HOW THE SENATE MEETS. 
 
 Because of its universal government, the senate of the Roman 
 church was formed of a much larger number of priests and deacons. 
 The Koman Ceremonial says: '*But the senate of the Roman 
 church was instituted by St. Peter under the inspiration of God, as 
 it passes on all difficult business of the church."' St. Ignatius the 
 successor of Peter at Antioch calls them: "The holy meeting" "The 
 council" "The Assembly of the bishop." St. Jerome says: "The 
 church has a senate, a heavenly presbytery," and St. Cyprian 
 says that according to the apostolic custom, the bishop did 
 nothing without a consultation with his council. All authors say 
 that the senate of the Roman church was introduced by St. Peter 
 himself. Pope Siricius, elected in 384, called a meeting of the 
 Roman clergy, which was called the presbytery of the church, and 
 with their advice he condemned Jovinian, convicted of heresy. 
 In 483 Felix III. asked the advice of the presbytery of the Roman 
 priests and deacons, when he condemned and deposed the bad 
 Cuapheus who had intruded himself onto the episcopal throne of 
 Antioch. From numerous examples of the early church, we may 
 understand the dignity of the Roman clergy united as a senate or 
 legislative body with their Bishop as chairman. 
 
 When the cardinals meet in this senatorial form it is now called 
 a consistory, but in the early church they named it the senate or 
 presbytery of the Roman church. In our day the senate or con- 
 sistory of cardinals have private, semi-private and public sessions, 
 according as the business is private or public. The senate now 
 meets twice a month, but the Pope may call a special session at 
 any time. The Pope is the president of the senate or consistory 
 of cardinals. Each cardinal may speak privately with the Pope 
 before the session opens. The cardinals vote for or against the 
 measures proposed to the senate, but the Pope has always a vetoing 
 power, because he is the supreme legislative, judicial and executive 
 authority in the church. 
 
 In the consistory as described above, they discuss the most im- 
 portant business of the church, such as the selection of new cardi- 
 nals, the erection of archiepiscopalsees, the appointment of church 
 officers and other important church dignitaries, the changes of 
 discipline, the election or confirmation of bishops, the appointment 
 of coadjutor bishops, the creation of new dioceses, the unions or the 
 divisions of old dioceses, the giving of the pallium to an archbishop, 
 and generally matters of great importance, such as dealings with 
 kings, governments and such important matters. In the meetings 
 of the cardinals the Pope often preaches in Latin, on the state of 
 religion, the spread of the faith, the difficulties the church finds 
 on the part of governments, rulers &c. 
 
 The other Roman courts are composed not only of cardinals, but 
 also of special persons appointed by the Pope to aid him in the 
 government of the church. They are divided into prelates and 
 curials. The prelates are not only bishops living in Rome, with. 
 
 » L. I. Tit. I. 8. ft. 
 
HOW BAD BOOKS ARE EXAMINED. 293 
 
 titles of dioceses now overrun by infidels, but also monsignors, who 
 wear the purple. A monsignor is a clergyman, not in episcopal 
 orders but attached to the Roman diocese, a member of the papal 
 household and of the Roman ecclesiastical courts. The honor is 
 -often conferred on distinguished priests in various parts of the 
 world. Attached to the Roman church courts, are many magis- 
 trates not in orders, besides lawyers, solicitors, notaries, &c., who 
 practice before the different ecclesiastical courts. As much busi- 
 ness coming from all parts of the world accumulated before the 
 Holy See, which one court alone could not look after, the Popes 
 appointed different courts, committees, congregations &c., to take 
 charge of the business. They are somewhat like the committees, 
 or bureaus at Washington for simplifying of the business accumu- 
 lating before the central government. We will give but a rapid 
 sketch of each. 
 
 The congregation of the holy office was formed to look after 
 matters of faith. The members of this committee were first chosen 
 from the most learned members of the famous orders of Sts. Dom- 
 inic and Francis. In the XIII. century Innocent III. gave thetn 
 their constitution according to which they act. The Pope him- 
 self is the prefect or president of the congregation of the inquisi- 
 tion, and the dean of the sacred congregation of cardinals is the 
 secretary. The number of cardinals belonging to this congregation 
 varied from time to time as seemed fit to the Pope. All matters 
 relating to heresy, apostasy from the faith, schisms in the church, 
 superstitious practices, the abuse of the sacraments, &c., come 
 before this tribunal, which has jurisdiction over all patriarchs, 
 archbishops, bishops, &c. If there be an appeal from the other 
 congregations about episcopal afairs, they bring it before this 
 committee. They formerly examined and forbid bad books, con- 
 demned false teachings, and looked after the most important mat- 
 ters relating to faith and morals. They are divided into two houses, 
 the house of cardinals and the house of consultors. The house or 
 congress of consultors meets each Monday, and deliberate on the 
 matters before the house. On the next "Wednesday the house of 
 cardinals meet, without the Pope as chairman and hear the reports 
 of the consultors. If the matter be of little importance, they then 
 pronounce sentence. But usually after deliberating, they post- 
 pone the final sentence till the next day, when they meet again with 
 the Pope as chairman, whose sentence ends the whole matter. In 
 condemning a bad and immoral book the congregation of the 
 index appoints a censor to read it. If he condemn it, they se- 
 cretly appoint another, when both agree in condemning it the 
 book with the parts marked which are erroneous or immoral is 
 brought before the whole congregation. If the both readers do 
 not agree, they secretly appoint a third and pass on the judgments 
 of the three consultors 
 
 The church from its very foundation ever exercised the right of 
 forbidding bad and immoral books, for nothing so poisons the mind 
 
294 VARIOUS GOVERNMENT BUREAUS. 
 
 of men as bad and erroneous teachings. Since the invention of 
 printing, the press has become a vast power for good or evil. But 
 with greatest care the church has ever forbidden and proscribed 
 bad and filthy books, lest they might poison the minds of the 
 faithful. Paul III. conferred the duty of examining such books 
 on the congregation of the office. But when at the reformation, 
 the number of such books increased, so that the latter committee 
 could not find time to examine them, PaulIV. commanded that 
 they draw up an index giving the names of all such bad books. 
 They published it in 1559. The council of Trent selected 18 fath- 
 ers to revise the catalogue of forbidden books, but they referred it 
 to the Holy See. Paul IV. appointed the most learned men in the 
 church to look after the matter, and Clement VIII. in 1594 or- 
 dered that the list of bad books be published to the whole world. 
 As the congregation of the office had so much business that they 
 could not see after bad books, Paul V. appointed a special com- 
 mittee for that purpose. It is called the congregation of the index. 
 
 Pious IV. founded a congregation for defining and executing^ 
 the decrees of the council of Trent. Later Popes delegated to 
 it the examination of the decrees of provincial synods, the receiv- 
 ing of the accounts of the state of religion, and the reports of the 
 bishops coming from all parts of the world on their visits to the 
 tombs of the apostles, replying to their requests, seeing to their 
 business, and promoting special devotions in their dioceses. 
 
 In 1587 Sixtus V. formed the committee or congregation of rites 
 which is composed of a cardinal prefect, as well as other cardinals, 
 consultors, a secretary, a sub-secretary, a chancellor and other offi- 
 cers. This bureau sees that the ancient rites and ceremonies of the 
 church are carried out in all parts of the world. They supervise the 
 masses, the divine offices and the administration of the sacraments. 
 They also correct abuses, revise aud correct the ceremonial, and the 
 official books relating to these rites. They also examine the 
 case of the canonization of the saints, and see that kings, princes 
 and persons of authority coming to the Holy See are received 
 with proper honors. But the Pope himself issues the decree of 
 the canonization of the saints, after this congregation pronounces 
 on the proofs of the holiness of the servant of God, which the church 
 wishes to hold up as an example to all men. The church canon- 
 izes a saint only after the most extraordinary proofs of a holy life,, 
 an edifying death, and well attested miracles after his decease. 
 
 In 1G68 Clement IX. formed the congregation of regulars for 
 Italy, which Innocent X. and Innocent XI. confirmed for the 
 whole world. They regulate matters relating to the religious 
 orders, their novitiate, their vows, their suspensions, the exten- 
 sion of the order, the reception of members and the confirmation of 
 their constitutions. Innocent XII. formed a branch of it for reg- 
 ulating the discipline of the religious orders. This was confirmed 
 with little change by Pius IX. 
 
 Gregory XIII. and Sixtus V. established the congregation of 
 
THE CONGREGATION OF THE PROPAGANDA. 295 
 
 bishops and regulars, before which come all matters relating to 
 bishops, the administration of their dioceses. This bureau hears 
 complaints against bishops and decides charges of a minor nature 
 against them, their vicars general, and other officials of the diocese. 
 They also appoint administrators of the diocese, when the bishop 
 becomes incapable, settle disputes between different religious 
 orders, and between them and bishops as well as controversies of 
 that kind. 
 
 In 1622 Gregory XV. instituted the congregation of the prop- 
 aganda for the spreading of the faith into all parts of the world. 
 The church in all countries where the full machinery of the 
 diocese cannot be enforced is under the supervision of this con- 
 gregation. 
 
 The church throughout the world may be considered in two 
 respects, where the common law or canon law prevails, or where the 
 bishops have not the title of the episcopal see where he lives, but 
 when he has the title of a see in the hands of the infidels, and where 
 he administers the churches not as their bishop, but as the vicar or 
 delegate of the Pope, waiting till the diocese has grown so as to 
 become a perfect church with its own bishop. In the latter case 
 it is a missionary diocese, or it is like a territory waiting to be ad- 
 mitted into the church as a perfect diocese, with its own titular 
 bishop. Thus where the larger number of citizens are not catholics, 
 the church is considered to be in a missionary state, and it is sub- 
 ject to the congregation of the propaganda, while matters of 
 purely catholic countries come before the regular bureaus or con- 
 gregations in Rome. The propaganda then has within itself, in 
 certain degree, the authority of all the other committees at Eome, 
 for the settlement of matters belonging to missionary countries. 
 Nearly two-thirds of the countries of the world are under the 
 direction of this committee, whose authority is both legislative, 
 judicial and administrative. But matters of great moment go 
 before the Pope himself. According to Urban VIII. and Innocent 
 X. when the decrees of this committee are signed by the cardinal 
 prefect and the secretary, they have the force of a pontifical law. 
 They educate young men for the ministry, and send them to all 
 parts of the world to preach the Gospel to pagan and infidel na- 
 tions, and receive clergymen coming from all parts of the world, 
 to lay before the feet of his Holiness the accounts of their labors 
 of the church. Almost all the languages of the world may be 
 heard within the great palace of the propaganda, built for this con- 
 gregation by Urban VIII. They spend vast sums of money for 
 the support of these numerous missions. An ordinary meeting 
 of the congregation takes place before the cardinal prefect and 
 secretary, where the business to come before the full meeting is 
 arranged. Later the whole committee discusses the business and 
 their sentence is laid before the Pope, who confirms or vetoes it. 
 
 In the beginning of this century so many political questions 
 came up, that the other committees could not find time to attend to 
 
296 OTHER COMMITTEES. 
 
 them, and Pius VII. in 1814 established the congregation of extraor- 
 dinary church matters to settle them. They are bound by the most 
 solemn oaths not to reveal what takes place in this committee. 
 
 In 1669 Clement IX. delegated to the congregation of indul- 
 gences and relics the power of regulating indulgences, settling 
 doubts about them, and the care of the remains of the saints and 
 martyrs. They root out abuses regarding these things, condemn 
 false and erroneous teachings about relics, but they do not pass on 
 matters of christian doctrines, as this belongs to the congregation of 
 the office described above. The general indulgences granted by 
 the church are null and void unless they bear the signature of 
 the secretary of this committee. 
 
 By the common law of the church, each bishop must live in 
 his diocese, and Urban VIII. founded a congregation to see that 
 these laws are carried out. Benedict XIV. appointed a prosecut- 
 ing lawyer, who will proceed against a bishop, who breaks these 
 laws and oblige him to live in his diocese. When for reasonable 
 cause, the bishop must leave his diocese for a time, the Holy See 
 will give him the necessary permission. 
 
 The congregation of immunity from the interference of the 
 civil authorities was erected by Urban VIII., to take measures to 
 protect the church and her ministers from all secular abuses and 
 intermeddlings. The business coming before this committee 
 nearly always arises in the pontifical states, and in nations having 
 an agreement or concordate with the Holy See, about the freedom 
 of divine worship, the support of the church, &c. 
 
 From the very beginning the church has shown her hatred and 
 abhorrence of great and atrocious crimes, so that she ever visited 
 severe censures on those guilty of them. These are called ecclesi- 
 astical censures and punishments. The first Popes usually reserve 
 to themselves tlie absolution of these great penalties. In 1744 
 Benedict XIV. in his constitution gave the reasons for forming 
 the tribunal of the penitentiary, which is a court for the remission 
 of such great punishments and censures reserved to the Pope. 
 This court also grants dispensations, changes of vows, &c. Some 
 writers find the origin of this court in the power given certain 
 priests in the days of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, who imposed 
 penances on the Christians, who fell by weakness during the per- 
 secutions, and took measures to reconcile them to the church. 
 They were called penitentiary priests. Many later Pontiffs ex- 
 tended their powers and jurisdiction. When a person has commit- 
 ted a great crime reserved to the Holy See, he can write to the card- 
 inal of the penitentiary in any language, not giving the name, 
 but the sin with all the circumstances relating to it, as well as the 
 name of the clergyman to whom lie will direct his reply, and the 
 cardinal will empower a clergyman to absolve the sinner from the 
 censures and the crime. 
 
 The apostolic or chancery office sees to the issuing of pontifical 
 bulls and letters of the Pope. They are called bulls. Ihtjiusc they 
 
IMPORTANT OFFICIALS. 297 
 
 are sealed with a little lead ball called in Italian a "bulla. " The 
 chancery of the Eoman church, is one of the most ancient offices 
 in the church. St. Jerome says: " For many years I helped Da- 
 masus, Bishop of the Roman church, taking care of his ecclesiastical 
 papers, and replying to questions coming from synods both of tho 
 East and of the West. " ' The name chancery was given to it 
 later. In the early church it was called the notary's or librarian's 
 office, &c. In former times churchmen below cardinals held the 
 office. The Jurisdiction of this court or office of vice-chancellor 
 ceases at the death of the Pope, and then the vice-chancellor 
 breaks the fisherman's ring before the cardinals. The datery is 
 an office by which the Pontiff grants benefices, pensions, honors 
 and dignities to worthy clergymen and dispenses in irregularities 
 in marriages, &c. 
 
 The rota is the most ancient court of the Roman church. This 
 tribunal in the early church heard appeals, examined controversies, 
 and replied to questions asked the Pontiff coming by people of 
 different parts of the world. They did not give any decision, as 
 that belongs to the Pope, but they heard the questions and in- 
 formed the Pontiff about the matters asked. Later when the 
 Pope was so occupied that he could not give his time to these 
 matters, the court of the rota defined and settled such business. 
 John XXII. laid down the rules they follow in the court. This 
 tribunal often settled civil disputes between nations, peoples and 
 princes, thus often prevented war. The officers of this court are 
 called auditors, from their original duty of hearing the cases re- 
 ferred to them in the ancient church. They act both as chaplains 
 and subdeacons of the Pontiff on ceremonies. The oldest of the 
 twelve auditors presides as chairman of the meeting. Before the 
 French revolution they were chosen from Italy, Austria, Spain, 
 France, the republic of Venice, and other christian nations. They 
 are France Venice two from Spain often appointed by the govern- 
 ments of these nations and confirmed by the Pope. In serving the 
 Pope on ceremonies the deacon always wears the episcopal mitre. 
 
 One of the most important officials of the Roman church is the 
 cardinal secretary of state, before whom comes all political and 
 government matters, The Pontiff, head of a supreme spiritual 
 empire, enters into relation with supreme nations, governments 
 &c., and the secretary of statedeals with them as the prime minis- 
 ter of the Pope, a spiritual sovereign over the vast kingdom of 
 Christ spread throughout the whole world, above and independent 
 of all civil rulers. 
 
 As defined by the Vatican council, proved by the voice of tra- 
 dition and by the very constitution of the church, the Roman 
 Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and has direct and universal juris- 
 diction over every soul redeemed by our blessed Lord. On him 
 rests the government of the whole church. For the first VIII. 
 centuries the Bishops of Rome used to send vicars and churchmen 
 
 * Eplst ad Gerantine de Monogam. 
 
298 ANCIENT VICAKS OF THE POPE. 
 
 to every part of the christian world to represent him, and in his 
 name to administer the church laws and carry out the discipline. 
 From the time when Constantine moved his empire to the banks 
 of the Bosphorus, fixing his seat at Byzantium, whicli he called 
 Constantinople, the Pope had appointed his vicar at the seat of 
 the Koman empire, who informed him on all matters relating to 
 the church in the Greek empire. ' These vicars of the Pope liad 
 more or less jurisdition over the churches in these co'.intries to 
 which they were sent.' In 682 Constantinus Pogonatus wrote to 
 Leo II.: " I exhort your most holy Supremacy, that as soon as 
 convenient you send as customary a legate, that all matters be re- 
 ferred to him."' The Pope appointed Anysius bishop of Thessa- 
 lonica his vicar for the JUirican regions, and Innocent I. con- 
 firmed the office. Innocent in 412 appointed a new nuncio for 
 that country. In 422 Boniface wrote to that bishop, telling him 
 to look after the dioceses and churches in these provinces. ■• He 
 wrote another letter to the bishops of the province of Thessaly 
 reproving them for not obeying the laws as was customary with 
 their fathers. The Pontiffs from the very beginning of the 
 church, used to appoint such vicars over the bishops of certain 
 kingdoms and nations, directing them to see that the laws and 
 disciplines of the church were carried out. 
 
 In France the archbishops of Aries had, it seems, been appointed 
 by the Popes their vicars before the appointment of the bishops of 
 Thessalonica. In 461 Hilary wrote to Leontius, bishop of Aries, 
 about Hermetes, a bishop who had unjustly invaded the see of 
 Narbon, reproving him for not reporting the dispute to the Roman 
 See.' In /iM Hormistas appointed Kemigius his legate over the 
 churches of the kingdom of King Clovis, where so many had lately 
 been converted to the church. 
 
 Simplicius elected in 467 appointed Zeno his vicar over the 
 churches of Spain." The same Pope nominated Sallustius his vicar 
 for Portugal. Gregory the Great sent Peter, a deacon of the Roman 
 church, as his legate to the churches of Sicily, and Gregory II. 
 sent St. Boniface as his legate to the churches of Germany, thus 
 in all ages the Holy Pontiffs looked after the church in different 
 parts of the world. For the first eight centuries the bisiiops of 
 the most important sees acted as permanent agents or vicars of the 
 Popes. From the ninth to the fifteenth centuries the Popes ap- 
 pointed regular legates. From that time they nominated embas- 
 sadors, legates and nuncios to represent them at the seats of differ- 
 ent governments. 
 
 A legate of the Holy See has ordinary jurisdiction in the province 
 or country to whom the Pope sends him. A legate differs from a 
 ablegate in this, that the former has authority over all cases brought 
 before him, while the latter is appointed only for certain and 
 specified cases. Whereas a legate has the same power as the Pope 
 
 » Hlncmar T. II. p. 20. 206. » Ivo Eptet 50. » Ccncll Hard. T. III. col. 1468. 
 
 * Lab. T. V. col. 840. * Lab. T. IV. ooL 1040. • Lab. T. IV. col. 1U68. 
 
EMBASSADOKS, LEGATES AlfD 7ICAKS OF THE HOLY SEE. 299 
 
 himself, while an ablegate has only a restricted authority, deter- 
 mined by the Holy See on his nomination. But the 'Pope can 
 restrict any embassador or nuncio. Such embassadors can subdele- 
 gate their power to another. Their powers do not cease at the 
 death of the Pope, who sends them. In cases of appeal from the 
 episcopal courts, the matter comes before them, before being ap- 
 pealed to the Holy See. This was decided by Alexander III. 
 against the archbishop of Canterbury and also by the council of 
 Trent.' But when the Pope delegates any special case, another 
 legate cannot touch it. A legate has also legislative power in the 
 province to whom he is seiU and can take measures for the reforma- 
 tion of discipliue. But from the time of the council of Trent, he 
 cannot proceed criminally against any bishop or archbishop, that 
 being reserved to the Holy See. As a general rule a legate can do 
 what a bishop or archbishop can do in his diocese or archdiocese. 
 
 In the early ages of the church, the Pope used to appoint bishops 
 over all the archbishops, bishops and churches within a certain 
 territory. They were called the vicars of the Apostolic See. They 
 differed but little from the legates of modern time. Thus Pope 
 Damasus appointed the archbishop of Thessalonica liis vicar over 
 the neighboring bishops. Hermodistas thus nominated the arch- 
 bishop of Tarracon his vicar in parts of Spain and Portugal, and 
 appointed archbishop Eemigius of Eeims . his vicar over the 
 churches of southern France. Even to our day the cardinal vicar 
 of the Pope rules the diocese of Rome. 
 
 In our day vicars apostlic are bishops, whom the Pope appoints 
 to rule certain missionary regions, where the faithful are too few 
 and scattered for a diocese with its own bishop. They admin- 
 ister these churches, not in their own, but in the name of the Pope. 
 The bishops of the regular dioceses have in their own name the 
 ordinary power of ruling both in external and internal jurisdiction, 
 while vicars apostolic govern not in their own, but in the name of 
 the Pope. Some vicars apostolic are bishops with the titles of the 
 old sees now overrun by the infidels, w^hile others are only simple 
 priests with episcopal jurisdiction in their vicariates. The latter 
 are called Apostolic prefects. They are nearly always consecrated 
 bishops of these old sees, so they can confirm and ordain the 
 clergy. The quasi-dioceses which they govern are in a territorial 
 state, waiting till they can be erected into regular dioceses. Such 
 are the numerous districts of Africa, Asia and America, where a 
 canonical diocese cannot be formed, or the clergy and churches 
 supported. They are missionary countries. Again when the bish- 
 op of a diocese dies, leaves, or becomes incapable of governing his 
 diocese, a vicar capitular or an administrator is appointed to rule 
 during the vacancy, not as the pastor of the diocese, but as the 
 vicar of the Holy See. According to Benedict XIV. the bishops 
 .should appoint a vicar general who at their death, becomes the 
 Ticar apostolic, during the vacancy of the see. 
 
 1 Cap. Cum non Ignor. I de Officio Legal. Concil Trid. Cap. 20 Ses. 84. 
 
300 APOSTOLIC ADMINI8TRATI0N. 
 
 These missionary regions, being directly under the jurisdiction 
 of the propaganda, this congregation makes laws for the government 
 of the churches. All appeals come before this tribunal, but 
 matters of great importance came before the Pope himself. 
 
 When because of old age, bad health, or for other causes a bish- 
 op cannot govern his diocese, the Holy See either appoints a coad- 
 jutor to help him, or an administrator of the diocese so the churches 
 may not suffer. In these cases it is customary to consecrate the 
 administrator to the episcopal oflBce, so he may ordain, confirm, 
 and carry out the episcopal duties, when he becomes the administra- 
 tor. When the bishop retains the title of the see, the latter or titu- 
 lar bishop can exercise no act of jurisdiction, without the consent of 
 the administrator, for the latter has the whole administration in 
 his hands. 
 
 In the early ages of the church Clement I, and Antherus appoint- 
 ed learned men to write the histories and lives of the martyrs, so 
 that the histories of their heroic deaths might go down as examples 
 to posterity. They were called notaries, but when they were hon- 
 ored by special dignity they were named proto-notaries. Former- 
 ly they took precedence of bishops, but Pius II. ordained thafc 
 bishops even elected and not consecrated should precede them. In 
 public consistories or meetings of the cardinals, when the Pope 
 takes possession of his cathedral of St. John Lateran, receives 
 kings in audience, &c. four notaries sit next the Pope and then 
 these notaries precede bishops and archbishops not taking part in 
 the pontifical ceremonies. 
 
tHE church is like a vast army of the people of God, " in bat- 
 tle array," fighting out their salvation under her different 
 grades of officers divided into distinct ranks, with author- 
 ity which comes from Jurisdiction and not from holy 
 orders. For the power Christ left the church divides into two 
 distinct streams ever flowing down from him. They are holy 
 orders and jurisdiction. Holy orders relate to the real body of 
 ■Clirist born of the Virgin and to the sacraments he left for the feed- 
 ing of his people, while jurisdiction relates to the government of 
 
 aoi 
 
ST. REMUS BAPTIZING KINO CL0VI8 IN THE CATHEDRAL RHEIMS. 
 
BBAl<fCHES OF PETER^S AUTHORITY. 303 
 
 the mystic body of Christ, his holy church. The head of holy 
 orders is the bishop the chief administer of the sacraments, while 
 the head of jurisdiction is the Pope the chief ruler of the church. 
 
 The Lord while on earth founded his church on the apostles, 
 heads of the dioceses, and in Peter the Papacy. The apostles then 
 were the heads of holy orders and Peter the head of jurisdiction. 
 The church, the mystic body of Christ, is a vast kingdom, a per- 
 fect spiritual government of souls, and he rules his kingdom by 
 and through his prime minister, the Pope the heir of Peter to 
 whom he gave all jurisdiction. 
 
 In holy orders all the bishops of the world are equal, as the 
 apostles were equal. But to one to Peter he gave complete juris- 
 diction saying: '' Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep." ' But for the 
 better government of such a vast empire over the souls of men, it 
 was meet and right that the rays of complete jurisdiction centring 
 in the heir of Peter, might flow unto other bishops, and that 
 the care of the whole church given to the Prince of the Apostles, 
 might be divided among the other bishops scattered throughout 
 the world. The bishops then are equal in holy orders but they 
 are not the same regarding jurisdiction. For the patriarchs, pri- 
 mates and archbishops partake in the jurisdiction of the Pope, 
 and they are the aids and the lieutenants of the Roman Pontiff. 
 They are appointed by him "not to partake in the fulness of his, 
 power, but to a part of his care of souls."" 
 
 Thus the Vicar of Christ, by appointment, sends down on some~ 
 of his brethren in the episcopacy parts of his supreme jurisdic- 
 tion, by w|iich they preside over the bishops of the surrounding 
 country, and by that he makes them so many images of himself. 
 The patriarchs, primates and archbishops partake in a way in the 
 the primacy of Peter. They have a share in the care of the Pope 
 over the bishops of the provinces under them. As the Pope is 
 over the whole episcopacy, so they are over the bishops in, their 
 provinces. One of the peculiar qualities of creatures is, that each 
 part is but a reproduction of the whole. Thus any part of a 
 metal has all the perfections of the whole. As I look through 
 the window I see some beautiful spruce and pine trees before me. 
 But each limb is but a copy and an image of the central trunk, 
 each limb is a reproduction of the whole tree. Our Lord himself 
 compares his church to a vine of which we are the branches, 
 to a "grain of mustard seed," a peculiar tree of Syria "which 
 filled the whole earth." ^ 
 
 The archbishops, patriarchs, &c., are but the branches of 
 the Papacy, ''All the apostles are equal, but to one was given 
 to preside ever the others. That is the image of Peter thus im- 
 pressed on the whole church, that there might be in each province 
 certain ones, who would have the chief sentence, and again that 
 those who were in the larger cities might have larger charges, so 
 that the care of the whole church might flow to the one chair of 
 
 1 John xxli. 2 §(;_ Leo Eplst. xiv. ad Anast. Thess. n. I. ^ jjatt. .xui. 31, 33, 33. 
 
304 ORIGIN OF ARCHBISHOPS. 
 
 Peter, and that nothing might fall away from the head." ' Such 
 therefore is the nature, the origin of the great foundations of 
 these archiepiscopal sees we find so celebrated in history. These 
 bishops became heads over their neighboring bishops and churches, 
 not because they were elected to that office by the bishops, because 
 the bishops being all equal, they could not give what they did not 
 have, authority over each other. That power and authority of 
 the metropolitan cities came from the Successor of Peter, who 
 alone received that power from Christ. Tlie archbishops are as so 
 many little papacies over their suffragans and the churches under 
 them. 
 
 We find that they were established at the very beginning of the 
 church. They are not archbishops, because they are the succes- 
 sors of the apostles, but because they were established by the 
 Eoman Pontiffs. Thus the apostles with Peter appointed St. 
 James the first bishop of Jerusalem. But neither James nor his 
 successors in that old and venerable see, had any authority over 
 the neighboring bishops. He, like them, was subject to the 
 archbishop of Oesarea. St. John the Evangelist lived the latter 
 part of his life at Ephesus, of which St. Timothy was the first 
 bishop. But he and his successors in that see were subject to tlie 
 patriarch of Antioch, Peter's first church. St. Timothy as well 
 as St. Titus, consecrated bishops by St. Paul, became subject to 
 the patriarch of Antioch. It is true that now Jerusalem is the 
 seat of a patriarch, but for many centuries in the early church it 
 was only a simple bishopric. All these are striking examples 
 among the many other historic facts which we could cite from 
 the very apostolic days, proclaiming the Primacy of Peter and the 
 supremacy of the Popes. 
 
 Who knows the intimate and familiar counsels, advices and di- 
 rections which Christ gave the apostles, and especially to his chief, 
 Peter, during the three and a half years he lived among them? 
 St. John says the world would not contain all the books if all the 
 Lord told them were written down. For several years after the 
 ascension the apostles lived at Jerusalem. They were all then 
 missionary bishops. They went back and forth establishing 
 churches and missions. The title of bishop of Jerusalem was 
 first given to St. James. Why was not that city of the scenes of 
 life and death of our Lord made the centre of the church?— be- 
 cause of the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles. 
 When the apostles separated, it was to preach to the Gentiles sit- 
 ting in the darkness of the shadows of death. 
 
 After his vision at Joppa of the clean and unclean animals, St. 
 Peter turned his face towards the great West. First he stopped at 
 Antioch. There for seven years he lived and labored. Then, either 
 inspired by the Holy Spirit, or following the directions given him 
 by Christ before the ascension, he turns his steps towards Rome, 
 and there on the very steps of the Caesar's throne ho fixes 
 
 * St. Leo Epist. zlT. ad Anast Tbess. n. I. 
 
ST. PETER ESTABLISHES ARCHBISHOPS. 305 
 
 his apostolic Chair. He brought the whole machinery of the 
 government of the church from Jerusalem to the imperial City, 
 and there the heart of the church, Peter lives till this very day in 
 his successors the Popes. 
 
 He consecrated his companion, and disciple St. Evodius, as 
 bishop of Antioch. Before this he had sent his disciple St. Mark 
 to become the first bishop of Alexandria. While living at Anti- 
 och Peter directed the missionary labors of the other apostles. It 
 is said that while he lived at Antioch he gave the care of the Jew- 
 ishjcon verts to St. Evodius a Jew, and that St. Ignatius a Gentile 
 took care of the converts coming from the Gentiles. When leav- 
 ing for Eome he gave the care of the churches to his two chief 
 disciples Sts. Evodius and Mark, because they had lived long 
 with him and had become imbued with his spirit. Evodius 
 looked after the churches of that part of Asia, while St. Mark 
 superintended the aifairs of the church in Egypt and Lybia. 
 Such was the beginning of the archbishops, primates and patri- 
 archs in the church. In the early church they came from Peter 
 like all great church movements, as to-day they come by appoint- 
 ment of Peter's successors. 
 
 Therefore we see that Peter first laid the foundations of, and 
 presided over the establishment of the three great historic sees of 
 Antioch, of Alexandria and of Eome. The first was the chief city 
 of Asia, the second the metropolis of Egypt and of Lybia, while 
 the third was the great central city of Europe. Then by him- 
 self or through his two intimate disciples, Peter gave the faith 
 to the three great geographical divisions of the old continents. 
 But there is another lesson to learn from these first metropolitan 
 cities of Peter. The first bishops of Antioch presided over the 
 bishops of all the neighboring countries of Asia, while the suc- 
 cessors of St. Mark supervised the churches of Egypt and of Lybia, 
 yet Antioch and Alexandria rest not in the centres of countries 
 over which their first bishops presided as patriarchs, images of 
 Peter. These cities are on the borders of the Mediterranean 
 Sea, so that they can at once communicate with Rome the central 
 city where Peter lived so long. The bishops of these cities were 
 to become the channels of communication between these churches 
 and the head the Popes of Rome. 
 
 We are sometimes astonished why writers do not see the real 
 reason why Peter stopped at Antioch on his way to Rome. Was 
 it not to establish the patriarchate of Antioch as a striking exam- 
 ple to all future ages, to show that the archbishops, primates and 
 patriarchs came from no other source but from the Papacy? Be- 
 sides we would naturally conclude that Antioch would be the 
 chief see after Rome, but it is not. During all the early ages, 
 Alexandria was the chief see af terRome. When Constantine found- 
 ed on the site of the little city of Byzantium the imperial city of 
 Constantinople, when he moved there the seat of the vast Roman 
 Empire, the bishops of the imperial city of Constantinople became 
 
306 HISTORIC ABCHDIOCESES. 
 
 very prominent. Before the founding of the great city, the bish- 
 ops of Byzantium were subject to the archbishops of Heraclea. 
 Because of the prominence of the city of Constantinople, as the 
 seat of the Koman empire, it soon became the seat of an archbish- 
 op, and soon it applied for the first place after Eome, which Alex- 
 andria held at that time. But that question was agitated in the 
 council of Chalcedon, and the measure was passed but it was 
 later disapproved by the Pope. Thus Constantinople got the 
 honor of being the first patriarchate after Rome from Pope 
 Innocent III. at the Lateran council. From the days of 
 the apostles, the chief cities of the converted world became 
 the seat of Archbishops, each having under him a more 
 or less numerous episcopate. Thus while Jerusalem, the very 
 fountain-head of the christian religion and of the Gospels, re- 
 mained for some time the seat of a simple bishop, successor of 
 St. James put lo death by the impious Ilerod, Cesarea, Herac- 
 lea, Carthage, 1'oledo, Constantinople, Ephesusj Antioch, Alexan- 
 dria and other cities early became the seats of celebrated archbish- 
 ops, and centres of great religious activity. They looked in the 
 early church for guidance not to Jerusalem, the see of James, nor 
 to Ephesus the home of John the see of Timothy, not to Alex- 
 andria where Mark lived, but to Eome where Peter died. 
 
 The whole history of the apostolic ages tells us, that Peter 
 founded the three great sees of Rome, of Alexandria and of Anti- 
 och. The other great cities of the world by consent of Petei'^s 
 successors soon became the seats of archbishops, primates and 
 patriarchs. But the church also showed that she is not obliged 
 to follow the civil and political divisions of countries. That she 
 proved in the establishment of the primitive episcopal sees of 
 Asia Minor, of Pontus, of Thrace and of Gaul. When Pope Syl- 
 vester in 325 called the bishops of the world together to deliberate 
 regarding the celebration of Easter, and to condemn Arius for de- 
 nying Christ's divinity, nearly every chief city was the residence 
 of an archbishop. In the expressive Greek languages they were 
 called metropolitans, which means the mother cities. This 
 may be seen in the provincial councils called by the Popes who 
 lived a few years removed from Peter and the apostolic age. ' 
 But antiquity shows us the Roman Pontiff, rising like a pillar. of 
 light from the supreme Throne of the Fisherman, above the 
 archbishops, the primates and the patriarchs of every country of 
 the ancient world. As St. Boniface says: " The universal custom 
 of the rising church was to derive all from the primacy, in honor 
 of blessed Peter, in which his authority and primacy consisted 
 ... all this was given by the word of the Lord. The council of 
 Chalcedon attended by 318 bishops re-echoed tte voice of an- 
 tiqjuity by proclaiming: " That the Roman church always held the 
 primacy.^' ' These ancient councils and monuments of antiquity 
 
 » See Labbe Concll. ' St. Boniface I. Eptet. ad Eplacop. Thess. T. iv. col. 1706. 
 
 » Concll. Chalcld. act. xvl. col. 812. 
 
ARCHDIOCESES IN ANCIENT TIMES. 307 
 
 show us, that the priesthood, the episcopacy and the Papacy were 
 established by the Lord Jesus himself. But the patriarchs, pri- 
 mates and the archbishops are purely church institutions, and de- 
 rive all their force from church polity and ecclesiastical law. 
 They are the images and the shadows of the Papacy. 
 
 The highest representatives of St. Peter in the world are there- 
 fore the patriarchs. St. Peter first founded them by the ap- 
 pointment of Sts. Evodiiis and Mark, to the cities of Antioch 
 and of Alexandria. They were to represent him in the churches 
 of Asia and of Africa, while he was the great patriarch of the 
 West, living at the seat of the Roman empire. He reserved in a 
 special way to himself the Latin nations conquered and governed 
 by the Romans, with the North-west of Africa and the Greek j)onin- 
 sula. Tliat was to show in a striking way the primacy of Peter over 
 all the otiier apostles. As St. Gregory says: "Although there were 
 many apostles, nevertheless the See of one, of the prince of the 
 apostles, prevailed over all in authority. It is in three places, 
 yet it is of one. He raised up his see in which he was to rest and 
 end his life. He honored the see to which he sent his disciple the 
 Evangelist. He strengthened the see in which he lived for seven 
 years. "^ . In the words of the Hincmar: ''The chief sees of the 
 
 cliurcli are at Rome, at Alexandria and at Antioch although 
 
 they are separated by distance, they are but the one see of the 
 great Peter, Prince of the apostles.'" 
 
 Antiquity tells us that St. Peter founded many episcopal sees 
 besides the three above mentioned, but these were his in a special 
 manner. They were the organs or the channels by which he com- 
 municated witli these vast regions of the world. ^ The reader 
 will now see that the patriarchs, primates and archbishops partake 
 in a part of the primacy of the Pope, that with him they have a 
 certain authority over their suffragan bishops both clergy and 
 people, not that they were elected to tliat office by the latter, but 
 they were appointed to it by the Roman Pontiff, whom they rep- 
 resent. " 
 
 The patriarchs are the occupants of the oldest and most vener- 
 able sees m the world after Rome. We have already spoken 
 enough of the patriarchs of Alexandria and of Antioch. The 
 Pope having in his august person all the perfections of tlie clergy 
 below him, he has always been the patriarch of the West, as well 
 as the primate of Italy, the archbishop of the Roman province, 
 and the Bishop of Rome. Soon after the time of the Apostles^ 
 the cities of Ephesus, Heraclea and of Cesarea became the seats of 
 archbishops. In later times the archbishop of Aquila received 
 the honor of being called a patriarch. 
 
 All know how the Greeks separated from us in the eleventh 
 century. But they have in many cases come back again and be- 
 come reconciled to" the church. This reconciliation of the schis- 
 
 > Greg. Mag. Eulog. Alexander. L. vli. Epist. xl. 2 pjjnp Qpp. t. li. p 431 Ed Miirne 
 3 St. Leo Episl. xiv, ad Anast. ■» Coucil. Lugd. II. ap. Lab. T.' xi. col. 966! 
 
308 PATBIARCHS, PRIMATES AND ARCHBISHOPS. 
 
 matics has increased the number of the patriarchs. For to keep 
 them in union with us, the Holy See allowed their chief bishops to 
 retain the old and venerable title of the patriarchate. Thus we 
 have the patriarchs of Constantinople, of Alexandria and of Jeru- 
 salem, both for the Latin and Greek liturgies, a third of 
 Alexandria and of Antioch, for the Coptic and Maronite Rites. 
 Besides these there are others for the Ethiopians, the Armenians, 
 the Chaldeans, the Syrians and one for the East Indies. 
 
 The patriarchal sees we have mentioned, do not exhaust all 
 the riches of the Papacy. These vast regions over which Peter 
 appointed his disciples, Evodius and Mark, were in their turn 
 divided up again into ecclesiastical provinces, each presided over 
 by a primate or an archbishop. The primate from the Latin primus 
 is the first bishop in a nation, the archbishop is the chief bishop 
 of a province, while a patriarch from the Latin father is the 
 father of bishops. Hence a patriarch is a bishop of one of the old 
 apostolic sees, a primate sits on the first seat of a nation while an 
 archbishop is a bishop of the chief or metropolitan city. 
 
 Then the patriarchs, primates and archbishops are but so many 
 branches of the Papacy. They represent and carry out in their 
 person the power and authority given to Peter: " Feed my lambs 
 Feed my sheep;" by that supreme apostolate ruling other bishops 
 and churches under them. Whence they always preside over the 
 other bishops of their provinces, or nations, or patriarchates under 
 them. When the decision of the bishop is disputed the appeal is 
 taken before the archbishop, and if the latter's sentence seems not 
 just the appeal is taken to Eome. The archl)ishops in our age 
 have authority only in provincial councils, in visitations and in 
 appeals. In former times because of the difficulties of travelling, 
 or of acquainting Rome with the details of administration of far 
 distant countries, the archbishops, primates or patriarchates as dele- 
 gates of the Holy See approved the election of bishops, and regu- 
 lated many things now reserved to the Popes. That was the 
 ancient discipline because of the difficulty of laying these matters 
 before the Roman Congregations, which did not exist in the early 
 ages. ' 
 
 The patriarch, primate and archbishop, presiding over these 
 bishops, are so many images of the Papacy over the whole chris- 
 tian world. St. Peter rules them in the person of the metropolitan 
 wearing the pallium taken from the tomb of the Prince of the 
 apostles. For that reason St. Leo calls them " The forms of Peter 
 offered to the episcopacy." The reader now sees that one bishop 
 can have no authority over another except it comes from the 
 Chair of Peter, to whom Christ gave it saying: " Feed my 
 lambs Feed my sheep."' St. James bishop of Jerusalem, and 
 one of the apostles would certainly claim authority over the other 
 pishops of Palestine and of Syria, if it came from his apostolate. 
 But history tells us that his see was also subject to the archbishop 
 
 • Const. Apost. Can. 9 Lab. T. I. col. 31. Concll. Laodlc. Can. 12. col. 1498. * John xxL 
 
THE CLERGY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE. 309 
 
 of Cesarea, while the bishops of Antioch and of Alexandria and of 
 Kome shine forth in all antiquity with the glorious powers of 
 Peter, although they were only disciples and had not the honor of 
 the apofetolate like Sts. James, John and the other apostles. 
 
 The clergy of Eome partake in the honor, power and dignity of 
 their bishop, the Pope. They assist him in the government of 
 the Roman diocese, and of the whole church. They govern the 
 church universal; when the See of Rome is vacant, they elect his 
 successor. In a like way the clergy of the patriarchal, primatical 
 and metropolitan dioceses partake in the honors and powers of their 
 bishops. They aid them in the ruling of these churches, they 
 govern the diocese when the see is vacant and they present to the 
 Pope a candidate for the widowed church. 
 
 Whence we see that all through the church, the clergy of these 
 great and honorable sees have taken an active part in matters, be- 
 longing not only to their own dioceses, but also in things relating 
 to the other dioceses, over which the archbishop primate or pa- 
 triarch presided as metropolitans. When any one appeals from 
 the bishop to the archbishop, the latter lays the matter before his 
 most learned clergy and asks their advice before giving his de- 
 cision. The archbishop is surrounded by his court of clergymen his 
 crown, who partake in the splendors of his powers over the other 
 bishops of his province. Whence during a provincial council the 
 most important offices are filled by the clergy of the archdiocese. 
 In the same way, the clergy of the great patriarchal sees stand in 
 higher honor than the clergy of any other diocese. That is shown 
 in a more striking manner by the cardinals, who are the clergy of 
 the Roman diocese, whose bishop is the Pope himself, for they are 
 the pastors of Rome. 
 
 But there is this diiference between them and the clergy of other 
 dioceses. For while the clergy of all other dioceses only propose 
 the name of their candidate for the vacant see and he is confirm- 
 ed or rejected by the Pope, yet the elect of the cardinals for the 
 See of Rome becomes at once the Pope, and the anointed of God, 
 for there is no power or authority on earth above the Papacy which 
 can reject or confirm the choice of the cardinals. We find that 
 they always precede the other bishops of the world, even when 
 they are only simple priests or belong to the lower clergy. This 
 gave rise to much ill-feeling on the part of the Greeks, because the 
 cardinals of the Roman diocese ranked higher than their patriarch 
 bishop of Constantinople. * In every part of the world the Ro- 
 man clergy in all ages ranked higher than the clergy of any other 
 church. Following the same rule the pastors of the archdiocese 
 preceded in honor the pastors of the other dioceses of the prov- 
 inces. In many places the clergy of the great sees were called 
 cardinals. Thus we read that the clergy of Ravenna signed their 
 names as cardinals to the decrees of a council held there. * The 
 
 > Codinus, Offlc Mag. Eccl. Constantinople Ed. 1635. Essai Historic Sur les Arcliidac. Ed. 1851 
 par D. A. Grea. 2 concil. Raven, iu the year 998. 
 
310 PROMINENCE OF THE ARCHDIOCESES. 
 
 bishops of the province of Cologne signed their names: ''with the 
 chapter and the prelates/" The archbishop of Narbon when 
 signing his name to the decrees wrote: "We the archbishop of 
 
 Narbon with the bishops present and our venerable chapter 
 
 &c.'" The same dignity may be seen in parts of history. * 
 
 Not only that, but we see the archdeacons and officials of the 
 metropolitan sees fulfilling very important functions in the dio- 
 ceses subject to their archbishops. Thus cardinal Jules, retained 
 at Rome, ordered the archdeacon, the president of the chapter 
 of his cathedral, to hold a council in his absence. That was in 
 1517, and all the bishops of his arehiepiscopal province attended. 
 The chapter of that same archdiocese held a council in 1573 dur- 
 ing the absence of their archbishop. Even to-day when the pow- 
 ers of the archbishops over their provinces liave been much restrict- 
 ed, because of modern facilities of reaching Rome, still while the 
 arehiepiscopal see is vacant, the clergy of the metropolitan diocese 
 have certain rights over the other dioceses of the province. For 
 it belongs to them to supply the absence of the archbishop by 
 guiding the clergy of any diocese while he is away, or when the 
 arehiepiscopal throne becomes vacant. History shows us some ex- 
 amples of that kind. In the year 1^43 the chapter of the diocese 
 of Canterbury, England, while the arehiepiscopal see was vacant, ex- 
 comniunicated the suffragan bishop of London. * While the arch- 
 diocese of Reims was vacant in 1271, the chapter of that cathedral 
 adjourned a council called by Milon bishop of Soissons. ' In 1290 
 the cliapter of the cathedral cluirch of Tours allowed the clergj' 
 of Angers to elect a pastor as bishop. They examined and confirmed 
 his election, and commanded the bishops of the province to assem- 
 ble and consecrate him a bishop. The chief of the chapter of the 
 archdiocese of Cashel in Ireland revoked the election of a bishop 
 carried out contrary to the laws of the church provided in such 
 cases. " We see the jilace of honor given to the metropolitan 
 clergy in the councils of the middle ages notably in the II. council 
 of Soissons and at Frioul &c. In our own country we see that 
 when a provincial council is held in any part of tlie United States, 
 the clergy of the archdiocese takes a more prominent part than 
 any of the clergy of the other dioceses, and the clergy of the arch- 
 diocese of Baltimore took a most prominent and active part in the 
 three plenary councils of the American church held there. 
 
 As the archbishops, primates and patriarchs are the branches and 
 copies of the Papacy, holding the place of the latter with regard 
 to the dioceses under them, so their dioceses bear the likeness of 
 and are the images of the diocese of Rome. Tims, because the 
 Bisiiop of Rome is by that very fact the Pope and head over the 
 universal churchy so the bishop of any of the archdioceses or patri- 
 archal sees becomes by his appointment to that dioceses a patriarch, 
 archbishop or primate, according to the rank of his see his spirit- 
 
 > Condi. Colon. In the year 1810. » Concll. Narbon- In the year 1374. 
 
 > Concil. Hispalean. 1512. Cfmcil. Colon. 1649 &c. * Lab. T. XI. ool. 601. 
 
 * Ibidem col. 1922. * Thomas. Diac. Eccl. Ireland. P. I. 111. c. X. 
 
TOMB OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA IN THE CATHEDRAL BRUNN. 
 
312 ANCIENT PAPAL DELEGATIONS. 
 
 ual spouse. Whence these honors and dignities' are inherent in 
 the see. They are not personal as the cardinalate, nor do they 
 die at the death of the prelate, but they live in the person of his 
 successor. We see that in the diocese of Rome, Peter is not dead, 
 for he ever lives in the person of his Successors the Roman Pontiffs. 
 That is why the clergy of these metropolitan archdioceses and 
 patriarchal sees are honored above the bishops of common dioceses. 
 The reader will see at once that the archbishops, primates or 
 patriarchs do not receive any episcopal consecration, which makes 
 them in holy orders the superiors of bishops. For all bishops, even 
 the Popes, are by power of holy orders equal, and one is not above 
 the other in episcopal rank. It is in jurisdiction that the Pope is 
 over the whole world and the Bishop of bishops. 
 
 The archbishops, primates and patriarchs are above the other 
 bishops, because they partake in the jurisdiction of the Pope. 
 They have been called by the latter to partake in his primacy, to 
 represent him, and in his name to preside over the other bishops. 
 They are the copies of and the branches of the Papacy. As the 
 branches of a tree are the copies and images of the trunk, and re- 
 ceive all their sap and life from the trunk, so that they may in their 
 turn have branches growing out of them, so the patriarchs, prim- 
 ates and archbishops have other dioceses and other churches under 
 them, which they rule in the name of the Pope. 
 
 The best known of these ancient papal delegations of the early 
 church M'as the region or diocese of Illyricum, ruled by the arch- 
 bishops of Thessalonica. Popes SS. Damasus, Leo the Great and 
 Gelasius, one after the other appointed the archbishops of this city 
 their legates over the aforesaid country. Representing the Popes, 
 they appointed bishops; they decided disputes; they ended minor 
 matters, and they sent those of greater importance to Rome. ' 
 They could in the name of the Pope call the bishops of their prov- 
 ince to meet in council. ' Each archbishop at his appointment 
 received from the Pope his appointment as the delegate of the 
 latter. ' 
 
 In ancient Gaul, now France, the archbishop of Aries was the 
 papal delegate for all surrounding regions of southern France, till 
 because of abuses St. Leo revoked the authority given by his pre- 
 decessors. * In the same way we read that the bishops of Sens 
 and of Vienna were in former times the delegates of the Roman 
 Pontiffs. The latter appointed various bishops with metropolitan 
 jurisdiction without regard to the sees they occupied. Such was 
 St. Syagrius bishop of Autun under Gregory the Great. Such was 
 Gregory VII. before his election to the Papal Chair. Such were 
 also St. Bernard of Clairveaux, St. Boniface archbishop of Germany 
 and many bishops and archbishops of France and of Germany under 
 Charlemagne and his successors. In England the archbishops of 
 Canterbury often bore the honors of an apostolate delegate. St. 
 
 ' S hm Epist. V. ad Metrop. Illyricum n. 4, 0. et Epist. VI. ad Anas. Tbes. n. 4, &. 
 ' Supra, n. 4. > Ibidem n. lU. * Ibldenf Epist. z. 
 
REPRESENTING THE POPE. 313 
 
 Patrick was during the latter part of his life the papal delegate 
 for Ireland. In Spain the archbishops of Toledo and of Seville 
 were often appointed to that honor."' 
 
 The bishops and dioceses of the north of Africa were subject to 
 the archbishop of Carthage, so celebrated for being the see of St. 
 Oyprian. History tells us how close and intimate was the union 
 of that see with Rome. The writings of St. Cyprian show the 
 honor with which he held the Roman Pontiff. Carthage was for 
 many centuries the seat of a simple archbishop, till in the days of 
 SS. Leo IX. and of Gregory VII. the churches of Carthage and 
 of Africa were totally destroyed by the oppression and tyranny of 
 the barbarians and Mohammedans. The meetings of the bishops 
 of the north of Africa in those days always took place under the 
 presidency of the archbishops of Carthage, who represented the 
 Pope in the midst of and as chairman of the bishops of Africa 
 assembled in council. When the archbishop was absent the common 
 or cation law provided that his place sliould be tilled by the 
 dean of the episcopacy, that is by the oldest or Senior bish- 
 op. For that reason the Popes did not appoint any delegate in 
 the north of Africa, as they were well represented there by the pa- 
 triarch of Alexandria and by the archbishop of Carthage, till the 
 flourishing churchesof Africa weredestroyed by the Mohammedans. 
 At an early age the vast regions of Syria, of Asia Minor, of Greece 
 and of southern Europe were divided into provinces then called 
 dioceses. Over each presided an archbishop, as the delegate of 
 the Roman Pontiff, while in each city of these countries sat a bish- 
 op. There were often no archiepiscopal sees like they are now, 
 for the delegation was purely personal and died with the one so 
 honored. That was the way the Popes of the early ages exercised 
 their powers over far distant countries. Besides they limited the 
 power of these delegates to certain specified acts, which could be 
 revoked by the Pope at any time. The ecclesiastical laws did not 
 regulate these delegates of the Roman See. Being delegates of 
 the Popes, the latter at their appointment laid down their duties. 
 The honor was purely personal, and was not attached to the epis- 
 copal sees they ruled. Thus, although we see that many of the 
 ancient sees in the early church were honored with bishops, who 
 became one after the other the delegates of the Popes, yet the 
 delegation was not attached to the see itself as the archiepiscopal 
 and patriarchal dignities are now attached to metropolitan cities 
 in a lasting and stable manner. 
 
 At first these papal delegations were nearly always given to 
 the bishops of certain dioceses, as to the metropolitans of Aries, of 
 Thessalonica, &c. But in Spain, in France and in other countries 
 the honor was conferred on bishops of diverse dioceses, because of 
 the personal merits of the bishops of these ancient sees, who in 
 many cases were great saints and men of God. But little by 
 
 ' St. Hormisda Epist. xvl. ad Salust. Spalen. ap Lab. T. IV. col. 1469. Id. Epist. xxiv. ad Joan. 
 Tarracon. col. 1466. 
 
314 THE PRIMATES. 
 
 little, the custom of conferring it on the bishops of certain flour- 
 ishing cities gave them a pre-eminence among their brethren of 
 the episcopac}' of the whole nation, and that gave rise to their 
 permanency in the nation. From that they were called the primates 
 and their episcopal sees became the primatial sees. Thus the chief 
 sees of Europe, as Armagh in Ireland, Canterbury in England, 
 Bourges, Paris, Lyons and Aquitaine in France, Milan in Italy 
 with Seville and Toledo in Spain occupied the first rank in 
 Europe, like the great patriarchal see of Antioch, Constantinople, 
 and Alexandria in Asia and Africa, But it was in appearance 
 only, as Rome alone could equal or be really above the great 
 sees of antiquity. This St. Gregory meant when he wrote: " The 
 patriarchs or primates, hold the same poAver, although they are 
 of different names." ' 
 
 In the middle ages there were many misunderstandings regard- 
 ing the primacies. Some bishops claimed the honor, because they 
 occupied the sees of the former delegates of the Roman Pontiffs. 
 For that reason Hincmar claimed that all the archbishops, who 
 were subject direct to the Pope became by that primates. A 
 number bore the honor only. Thus, when there was a dispute 
 between the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin regarding the 
 primacy of Ireland, the Pope solved the difficulty by giving the 
 title of primate of all Ireland to the former and the title of pri- 
 mate of Ireland to the latter. 
 
 The primates, being the chief bishops of a country,- and repre- 
 senting the Pope himself, the Popes alone can appoint them to 
 that honor. Thus we read that Popes Nicholas I. and Alexander 
 III. recognized the primacy of the bishops of Bourges over the 
 churches of Aquitaine; IJrban that of Narbonne over Aix, 
 that of Lyons over the provinces of Tours of Rouen," and St. Greg- 
 ory VI. over Sens. This was the custom of the West. In the 
 East, before the destruction of the Greek empire, the patriarchal 
 sees mentioned before received from various Popes the care of the 
 regions near their cities. They were the direct delegates of the 
 Supreme Pontiffs. In the expressive Greek language, which from 
 the conquest of Alexander, 400 years before Christ, prevailed in 
 these eastern countries, these delegates of the Holy See were 
 called katholikoi, that is universal delegates. Thus tlie regions 
 of upper Asia depended on the papal delegate archbishop of Seleu- 
 cia, the vicar of the patriarch of Antioch. The Etheopians were 
 ruled by a vicar of the patriarch of Alexandria. The churches of 
 Armenia were subject to a katholikos, who belonged to the arch- 
 diocese of Cesarea. 
 
 Tiiese in their turn gave rise to the patriarchs of the various 
 oriental rites which we see to-day in the East. The patriarch of 
 the Chaldeans represents the old katholikos of Seleucia. The pa- 
 triarch of the Maronites represents the papal delegate of that na- 
 tion. So it is with the catholics and united Armenians, the Syr- 
 
 " Pat. Lab. T. cxivlll. col. rm. » St. GreRory VM. L. vl. EpUt. 34 and 85. 
 
THE FIRST BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES. 315 
 
 ians, the Abyssinians, the Copts, &c. ; they are all the disciples of tlie 
 ancient catholics of these countries of the East, where thecliurch 
 so flourished, before the political revolutions divided them from 
 Eome, the centre of unity and of faith. This rapid sketch will 
 give the key to many historic facts of history, which the ordinary 
 reader cannot understand. Thus it appears that in ancient times 
 any archbishop, primate or patriarch could appoint and consecrate 
 a bishop, divide a diocese, and perform many acts now i-eserved 
 to the Pope. They could do this because they were the delegates 
 of the Roman Pontiffs for these functions, because travelling and 
 communications with Eome were so difficult in those times, that 
 Popes had to appoint bishops to represent them in these dis- 
 tant regions. 
 
 Coming back to our own country we will now better understand 
 the nature of the titles of the bishops of this country. The first 
 bishops appointed in tliis country were the bishops of Quebec, 
 the bishop of which city was made a V^icar Apostolic by 
 the appointment of Francis de Laval in 1674. His jurisdiction 
 then extended over all Canada and the French possessions of the 
 Mississippi valley to the Eocky Mountains. The see of Quebec is 
 therefore the first diocese of that country. 
 
 In the United States the few and scattered catholics living with- 
 in our boundaries before the revolutionary war were subject to the 
 vicar apostolic of Ijondon. This arrangement remained till 1789, 
 when at the request of the clergy and by the votes of the priests, Eev. 
 John Carroll, cousin of Chas. Carroll of Carrolltown, one of the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and himself a personal 
 friend of Washington, became the first bishop of Baltimore. His 
 diocese was then the whole United States. In 1808 the church had 
 so increased that Baltimore became an archdiocese, and New York 
 and Philadelphia, Boston and Bardstown, became the seats of bish- 
 ops. New York was erected into an archdiocese in 1850, having 
 subject to its archbishop all the New England states, with the 
 states of New York and New Jersey. In 1875 Boston became an 
 archdiocese, having as suffragans the New England states, leaving 
 to the archdiocese of New York the two states of New York and 
 New Jersey. Thus all the dioceses of these two states form the 
 ecclesiastical province of New York, and their bishops are the suf- 
 fragans of its archbishop, who presides over them in councils and 
 in meetings of this kind. But when the bishops of the whole 
 country meet in council, the archbishop of Baltimore usually pre- 
 sides over them, because he is the bishop of the oldest diocese. 
 Three plenary councils of the whole church have been held in Bal- 
 timore, and the prelates of this archdiocese presided over them as 
 the delegates of the Pope. There they enacted laws for the whole 
 country. From these customs the archbishops of Baltimore have 
 been called the primates of the United States, without really hav- 
 ing the title or the authority of a primate. 
 
 Pope St. Leo says, that in his time the great rule of the church 
 
316 ANTIQUITY OF PATEIARCHS. ' 
 
 was to give to each province and nation: "The form or image of 
 Peter," by the union of all bishops and churches under the head- 
 ship of one archbishop, primate or patriarch representing the. 
 Pope. * That was the universal custom in every age and country 
 back even to the time of the apostles. We trace it back, till we 
 find it lost in the silence of the apostolic times. No Pope or coun- 
 cil established then that ancient office. The most ancient councils 
 speak of them as being already ancient in their days. The council 
 of Antioch says: "It was the rule of the fathers from the begin- 
 ning. '" It may be seen in the Apostolic Constitutions.' The 
 council of Laodecia speaks of archbishops over bishops. The writ- 
 ings of the fathers are filled with texts, which sliow that some 
 bishops were over other bishops in their time. These bishops may 
 be called by different names, but it only shows that they were known 
 in the church at the time these fathers lived. 
 
 The word patriarch from the Greek meaning a prince of fathers, 
 in the first ages signified those bishops, who had authority over 
 others bishops. The bishops who occupied the old apostolic sees 
 were mostly known by that name. The bishojjs of these venerable 
 sees ruled not only bishops, but also primates and archbishops. 
 The most ancient patriarchal sees were Rome, Alexandria and 
 Antioch, the sees of Peter. Later the cities of Jerusalem and 
 Constantinople became the seats of patriarchs. Some times arch- 
 bishops were called patriarchs. In one council the bishop of Lyons 
 is called a patriarch, and often the Arian heretical bishops were 
 called by the same name. The names pope, patriarch, primate, 
 archbishop &c., are sometimes used in a misleading way in the early 
 church, so that men not well versed in ecclesiastical lore, make many 
 mistakes by confounding the names with their offices. 
 
 The first universal council of all the bishops of the church since 
 the days of the apostles met at Nice in the year 325. At that 
 time there were archbishops over other bisliops, and the office was 
 even then old in the church. The fathers of this council decreed: 
 " Let the old customs be kept, which are in Egypt, Lybia and Pen- 
 tapolis, that the bishops of Alexandria should have power over the 
 others, similar to the Bishop of Rome, for this is customary. In 
 the same way and in Antioch and in the other provinces, let the 
 privileges of these churches be guarded, as was clone in antiquity."* 
 " Because custom and the ancient tradition thus holds, that he who 
 sits bishop in JEVm " (the pagan name for Jerusalem after its 
 destruction and rebuilding by the Romans,) " let him be honored, 
 and the consequence of this honor, let the dignity of his Metropolis 
 be guarded." ' Here we see that the authority of these three great 
 patriarchal dioceses according to the very words of the first great 
 council of the whole church, extended over all the other bishops of 
 the surrounding nations. That is the real nature of the power of 
 a patriarch in the church, although the name itself is not given 
 
 > Senno Iv. * Concll. AnUocb in the year 341 Lab. T. U. col. 666. * N. 38. 
 
 * ConcU. Nicaenl Can. G. * Coacil. Nlcaeni Can. 7. 
 
WHAT THE COUNCIL OF NICE SATS. 317 
 
 "by the fathers of the council of Nice. But while they do not 
 say that the bishop of Jerusalem has the same authority as the 
 bishops of Aiitioch and Alexandria, but the honor only, they show 
 in striking words the authority of these two sees which Peter found- 
 ed before going to Eome. Yet the see of Jerusalem was probably 
 established by Christ himself as some say when on the day of his 
 ascension he gave the church at Jerusalem to St. James, as tradi- 
 tion says. Yet according to the great council, the sees of Peter 
 have full authority over dioceses and nations, while the see found- 
 ed by Christ himself or by the apostles at Jerusalem has only an 
 honorary title or the dignity of the patriarchate without the power, 
 a wonderful testimony of Peter's sees established in his disciples 
 Sts. Mark, Evodius and Ignatius. 
 
 The council of Nice mentions not the see of Constantinople, be- 
 -cause a few years before the emperor Constantino had moved the 
 seat of the Roman empire to the little city of Byzantium, till then 
 subject to the archbishop of Heraclea, which he called Con- 
 stantinople after himself. In the fourth century the bishops of 
 Constantinople made themselves patriarchs, which the Popes toler- 
 ated, but they did not give them the first place till the thirteenth 
 century. In the ancient church then only the three sees of 
 Peter, Eome, Alexandria, and Antioch were called patriarchal 
 churches.' 
 
 Later the Popes erected the sees of Jerusalem and Constanti- 
 nople to the honor of the patriarchate, because at the former city 
 Christ lived and died, and they conferred the honor on the imperial 
 city, that they might conciliate the favors of the Roman emperors, 
 jealous of the supreme power of the Bishops of Rome. That took 
 jilace in the thirteenth century. Before this, the imperial city 
 of Constantinople endeavored to obtain the second place after 
 Rome, and to rank her archbishop over the patriarchs of Alexandria 
 and Antioch, but the Roman Pontiffs rejected the canons formed 
 for that purpose. Only twenty canons of the council of Nice now 
 remain, but the learned tell us that they passed other canons which 
 have been lost. The canons decreeing that Easter must be cele- 
 brated on Sunday, that men twice married must not be ordained, 
 that there must not be two bishops of the same see, the canons 
 relating to the scriptures, that clergymen saying Mass must be 
 fasting, that appeals must be to the Bishop of Rome, the decree 
 relating to the examination of synods, the addition of the ^' As it 
 was in the beginning '^ &c,, after the "Glory be to the Father" 
 &c., all these canons mentioned by later writers are nowhere now 
 to be found. Like so many other precious monuments of antiquity 
 they h^.ve perished. 
 
 In 451 a council was called at Chalcedon over which presided 
 Pascasinus, Lucentius and Boniface, legates of the Pope, who had 
 in the meantime died, and when in the decree of this council was 
 read in the council erecting Constantinople into a " new Rome, " 
 
 • Cardinal Petra'T. iv. ad Const. 17 Eug. Iv. sec. ill. n. 4. 
 
318 CASES AGAINST BISHOPS. 
 
 next to the *'old Rome of Pqter/' the legates of the Pope refused 
 to confirm the decree formulated by the one hundred and fifty as- 
 sembled bishops, as being contrary to the council of Nice, stating^ 
 that: " The Apostolic Throne of the Papacy had commanded them 
 to refer it to The Apostolic Bishop and prince of the whole church." 
 Thus they vetoed the action of the bishops, who the day before 
 while the legates were absent had passed this decree placing Con- 
 stantinople over the apostolic sees of Alexandria and of Antioch. 
 '* In the course of time Constantinople and Jerusalem became pa- 
 triarchal sees, because they were not so from the beginning" says- 
 the council of Florence.' Pope Nicholas in 858 said that only the 
 sees established by the apostles were the seats of patriarchs, but 
 that Constantinople or Jerusalem had not the same patriarchal pow- 
 er as Alexandria and Antioch established by Sts. Mark and Peter, 
 that the council of Nice did not name the bishop of Jerusalem, 
 because the true Jerusalem is heaven, of Avhich Christ our Lord is- 
 the real Bishop. But they called him bishop of ^Elia, the city 
 built on the ruins of Jerusalem by Adrian, after the holy city had 
 been destroyed by the Romans, as foretold by our Lord. ' 
 
 The council of Nice commanded the metropolitans or archbish- 
 ops to meet in council under their patriarch once each year, and 
 forbade them to proceed criminally against any bishop without the 
 consent of the patriarch. The council of Chaledon gave to the 
 archbishop of Constantinople the privilege of sitting in judgment 
 in the controversies between bishops and archbishops within his 
 province or subject to him. ' In the year 1215 the Lateran coun- 
 cil granted the long desired honor to Constantinople, that of being 
 the first metropolitan see after Rome, next coming Alexandria, 
 then Antioch and Jerusalem. The patriarch of Constantinople 
 could sit in cases of appeal coming from all provinces of the 
 Greek empire before the cases would go to Rome. * In these times 
 many archbishops and bishops were called patriarchs, without hav- 
 ing any authority attached to their titles. 
 
 The authority of the patriarchs is given in the common or canon 
 law of the church. Pope Nicholas the I. wrote to Archbishop 
 Rodolph that all cases of appeal in the dioceses of the bishops, arch- 
 bishops and primates come before them, before coming to the last 
 court of appeal the Roman Curia. ' In the early church, criminal 
 cases against bishops often did not come before the patriarch, but 
 before a provincial synod of tlie bishops. But they could not 
 depose the bishops unless the Pope agreed, after hearing the 
 case on appeal, because the Pope is the Bishop of bishops, and 
 alone to him belongs to create or depose bishops. Cases against 
 archbishops first came before the patriarch, who called a council of 
 all the bishops and archbishops in his patriarcliate to hear and 
 
 {)ronounce on the charges. That was incorporated into the Roman 
 aw under the emperor Justinian. * But the metropolitan could 
 
 ' Parte H. col. 22. » Lab. T. 8 ool. M.'i n. 92. » Can. 17. 
 
 * Coocil. Lat. iv. an. 1215 under Innocent HI. * Concil. Lat. Iv. cap. 5. ■ Novel. 128. 
 
HISTOEIC NOTES. 319 
 
 not be deposed by that court, without the confirming voice of the 
 Bishop of Home. A patriarch always presided over national coun- 
 cils of all the bishops and archbishops in any country. ' But no 
 patriarch could call such a meeting without the consent of the 
 Pope. Julius I. condemned a council of this kind called at An- 
 tioch by the bishop of that city. In the council of Chalcedon 
 the papal legates Paschasianus and Lucentius, would not let 
 Dioscorns, patriarch of Alexandria sit with the other bishops, be- 
 cause without the consent of the Bishop of Rome, he had called 
 and held such a council, stating that either he should leave the 
 council or they would. ' Such councils then could neither be held, 
 nor the decrees published without the consent and approbation of 
 the Pope. In 1112 Primas, bishop of Lyons, called a council, but 
 some of the bishops refused to come, saying that he did so without 
 the consent of the Pope. ' Damiburtus. archbishop of Siens, Ivo, 
 bishop of Chartres, Walo, bishop of Paris and John, bishop of 
 Orleans wrote him refusing to attend the council, stating that 
 patriarchs and primates had not authority over bishops, except 
 what was given them by the common laws of the church, and that 
 no council could be held without the consent of the apostolic See. 
 As a sign of their authority, the cross must be carried before a 
 patriarch, except when they are in Rome, or when the Pope or a 
 legate of the Pope is present. This is a privilege granted to some 
 other prelates below patriarchs. 
 
 In finishing this historic research into the powers of the patri- 
 archs who sit on the apostolic sees, we might say that every on& 
 of these old sees established by the apostles have been overturned, 
 not only once but many times, since they were established by 
 the apostles. Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople, 
 the great historic cities have fallen from their honors. They 
 were overrun by the Saracens, the Mohammedans, the Turks 
 &c. 
 
 The archbishop of the first diocese is called the primate. He 
 is over all the archbishops, bishops and churches of the country. 
 They are not really primates unless they have certain jurisdiction 
 or authority over the archbishops of the country. This was 
 stated by Pope Boniface I. in 418. After the Saracens were driven 
 from Spain, Urban II. in 1088 restored the primatial dignity to 
 the archbishop of Toledo, who by that obtained authority over the 
 archbishops, bishops and churches of Spain. At the same time he 
 made him the legate of the Holy See for this nation, with instruc- 
 tions to respect the privileges and rights of the church and of the 
 bishops given them by the common laws. The councils held at 
 Toledo, Spain became very celebrated, and many things there first 
 introduced became universal by the customs, or by the acts of the 
 Pope or by universal councils. The Pope appointed the archbishops 
 of Lyons the primate of that part of France. Later the archbishop 
 of Aries became the legate of the Pope over all France. But he 
 ' Benedict xiv. De Synod. Dloces. 1. 1. c. i, n. 2. * Lab. Concll. T. 4. Act. i. col. 94. 
 
320 THE POWERS OF PRIMATES. 
 
 was never the primate, for it was a personal power which did not 
 descend to his successors in the see. 
 
 Whence the patriarchal dignity is a power over primates, arch- 
 bishops, bishops and churches permanently affixed to the see. A 
 primate may be subject to a patriarch, while the latter is subject 
 only to the See of Rome. This was always the custom in the East, 
 while in the West many primates are directly subject to the Pope, 
 who in his own person has all the honors and dignities of every 
 grade both of orders and of jurisdiction. In the East there are the 
 primates of Ephesus, of Cesareaand of Heraclea, with archbishops 
 under them. In the early church they were called exarchs, from 
 the Greek meaning a chief or leader. The council of Chalcedon 
 says that when controversy rises between archbishops, the appeal 
 must be heard by the exarch of the province or before the patri- 
 archal throne of Constantinople, The primates were sometimes 
 called catholici, because of their partial universal authority. That 
 name was given them in the council of Nice. * 
 
 They were forbidden by this council to create archbishops where 
 there was a patriarch. Often the region over which they ruled 
 was called a diocese, from the Greek meaning the administration 
 of a house or of a province. The second council of Carthage for- 
 bade bishops to consecrate a bishop without consulting the primate 
 of the church in Africa. Some authors say that the primatial 
 sees were instituted by the apostles, but the more certain opinion 
 seems to say that they were erected by the Popes. Pius VI. sup- 
 pressed all those of France when the concordate with that country 
 was signed in 1801. 
 
 The primate has no authority over churches unless it is found 
 in the common law, as Nicholas I, wrote to archbishop Rodolph. 
 Appeals from the archbishop go before the primate. Such was 
 determined in the council of Chalcedon. ' The primate under 
 the direction of the Pope, may call a national council, and he us- 
 ually presides over the other bishops as chairman. * But they 
 cannot undertake episcopal visitations in the provinces of other 
 archbishops. When the II. council of Baltimore was called in 
 1884, by order of Leo XIII., the archbishop of Baltimore presid- 
 ed, as did his predecessors in the former national councils. The 
 primacy appears to have fallen into disuse in modern times. Thus 
 since Pius VI. suppressed all the provinces and dioceses of France 
 in 1801, there are no primatial sees in that country. 
 
 The word archbishop comes from the Greek and means the first 
 or chief bishop, the same as an archangel, archpriest, &c., are over 
 others in the hierarchies. In the early church they were called 
 metropolitans, that is bishops of the mother churches, the mean- 
 ing of the word in Greek. The bishops then of the chief cities 
 were called in the early churches metropolitans. They were first 
 called thus in the Greek empire. In the council of Chalcedon, 
 the bishop of Alexandria is called an archbishop. In the third 
 ^ Tom. 11. col. 301. * Can. 9. et. 17. * Benedict xiv. de Synod, dioces. L. I. C. I, n. 2. 
 
THE archbishop's POWERS. 321 
 
 council of Carthage the metropolitan is called: ''the prince of 
 priests, or the supreme priest." But in the church of Africa the 
 oldest consecrated bishop, presided over the council, and the office 
 was not fixed to any particular see. He was called the senior 
 bishop. The only exception was Carthage, to which the office of 
 metropolitan was permanently fixed, and her bishop was called 
 the primate. 
 
 The name metropolitan is much older than that of archbishop, 
 and seems to go back to the very days of the apostles. In our 
 day the words metropolitan and archbishop mean the very same, 
 that is the bishop, who by right attached to his see, presides over 
 the bishops of his province, and before whom comes the appeals 
 from the episcopal courts. 
 
 An archbishop then is a prelate who has authority over suffra- 
 gan bishops not having jurisdiction over other bishops. The 
 archiepiscopal office was instituted by Peter and his successors, for 
 we find that the archiepiscopal office existed long before the first 
 general council of Nice held in 325. The archbishop takes an active 
 part in the election of the bishoiDS of his province, and he usually 
 consecrated them, while formerly he even ordained clergy of the 
 dioceses of the bishops under him. But in the East he could not 
 consecrate any bishop without the consent of the patriarch. He 
 presided over the bishops of his province assembled in council, and 
 there passed judgment on important matters appealed from 
 these dioceses of his j^rovince. But he cannot depdfee a bishop, 
 for he can only take testimony and obtain information, which 
 will be later laid before Rome. The council of Trent decreed 
 that important episcopal cases must be passed on only by the 
 Holy See. In former times the archbishop could undertake epis- 
 copal visitations in the dioceses of their suffragan bishops, but 
 they do not do so now, except by orders of Rome when the state 
 of religion demands it. 
 
 The archbishop can do notliing in the diocese of his suffragan 
 bishops except what the common law says. Being a branch of 
 the Holy See, the archbishop must report his actions and judg- 
 ments in the dioceses of his province. ' The archbishop takes 
 charge of matters of appeal from the dioceses of his province, and 
 passes judgment for or against the appellant according to the tes- 
 timony passed on by the bishop's court. Although in the early 
 ages of the church, archbishops, not being able to inform Rome, 
 could elect and consecrate bishops in their provinces, in modern 
 times, because it is so easy to write to the Holy See, the Pope re- 
 serves to himself the election and consecration of bishops. 
 Neither can archbishops sit in judgment in serious episcopal cases, 
 that being reserved to the Holy Father, while matters of small 
 importance come before provincial councils. * 
 
 It is disputed whether the archbishop is the judge in civil cases 
 between bishops and their subjects, as the council of Trent says 
 
 ' Innocent III. 9. Duo simul. ^ Trld. Concil. Ses. 24. C. 5. 
 
323 APPEALS TO THE ARCHBISHOP. 
 
 nothing about such cases, stating only that small cases should be 
 tried in a provincial council and important ones must go before 
 Rome. When the archbishop calls the bishops of his province to 
 meet in council, they are obliged to attend. The archbishop can- 
 not pass judgment on subjects of the dioceses in his province, ex- 
 cept on appeal after the episcopal court has given its sentence. 
 Neither can he take any action while such cases are pending, nor 
 receive any appeal, except when the sentence of the bishop's final 
 court would not justify the complainant. But if the case be not 
 decided within two years, the case may come before the metropoli- 
 tan court. ' The archbishop therefore is the court of appeal for 
 all the members of the dioceses in his province, when the appeal 
 is regularly made within ten days. If a vicar general abuses his 
 office, the archbishop can correct him. Where no cathedral 
 chapter exists, when the episcopal see becomes vacant, the arch- 
 bishop has jurisdiction and can appoint an administrator of the 
 vacant see. In former times the archbishop could officially visit 
 the dioceses and parishes within the limits of his province, but 
 the council of Trent made a law, stating that could be done only 
 for a cause heard in a provincial council. But this hardly ever 
 takes place now. The archbishop can use the pallium and have 
 the cross carried before him in all parts of his province. 
 
 The pallium is an ornament of the Popes in the form of a scarp, 
 made of the wool of the lambs kept by the sisters of St. Agnes at 
 Rome, and sent by the Pope to patriarchs, primates and archbish- 
 ops, after being laid on the tomb of St. Peter under the main al- 
 tar of St. Peter's church. It is sent to them as a sign of their 
 authority over other bishops as branches of the Papacy, for tliey 
 partake in the power of Peter. Some say that the Roman emper- 
 ors used to give a pallium to the Bishops of Rome in ancient 
 times In 336 Pope St. Mark conferred the pallium on the bish- 
 op of Ostia, and from that time he wears it on pontifical ceremonies. 
 The moment a bishop receives the oflficial notification of his elec- 
 tion by the Pope, he can exercise episcopal jurisdiction in his dio- 
 cese even before his consecration. But before he receives the 
 pallium an archbishop cannot call a council, bless the chrism, 
 dedicate a church, or ordain the clergy, because the fulness of his 
 power comes with the reception of the pallium. Within three 
 months the new archbishop must ask for the pallium. If he be 
 at Rome, the Pope himself imposes the vestment on his shoulders, 
 otherwise the Holy Father appoints a cardinal, an archbishop or 
 bishop to place it in his name. 
 
 The Pope alone wears the pallium everywhere every day, for to 
 him descends the fulness of Peter's power over bishops, while 
 archbishops wear it only in their own church or province, when 
 celebrating Mass on certain great feast days. He cannot wear it 
 in another province without the consent of the archbishop of that 
 province, for he has no jurisdiction outside of his own province. 
 
 > Ooncil. Trld. Ses. 24. Cap. 20. 
 
|HE other bishops are like pastors within thenniversal church, 
 of which the Pope is their bishop, while the dioceses they 
 rule may be likened to great parishes within the church uni- 
 versal. Therefore we must consider the whole church as a 
 great diocese of which Christ is the Bishop, and the Pope his Vicar 
 General with full jurisdiction, wherein the bishops are subject to the 
 rule and authority of the Vicar of Christ. In the same way the 
 church universal spreads everywhere, but we cannot tell who belong 
 to it for, " man looketh on the outside while God alone beholdeth 
 the heart," and he only can tell who is in the state of grace belong- 
 ing to the universal church. But like the Son of God becoming in- 
 carnate and visible as a man, the church becomes individualized 
 and visible in the Roman diocese. 
 
 To him alone it belongs to call a meeting of all the bishops of the 
 church, and they meet under the presidency of their chairman as 
 pastors of the great diocese of the universal church. 
 
 Not only when assembled in council, but even when scattered all 
 
 383 
 
INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL, SIENNNA, ITALY. 
 
THE BISHOPS AND THE POPE. 325 
 
 over the whole world in their own dioceses, the bishops aid the 
 Pontiff in his government of the universal church. Both united 
 in council and scattered in their dioceses, they are completely 
 under the authority and headship of their- bishop the Pope, sub- 
 ject to the laws of the Papacy made for their guidance. For the 
 Son coming forth from the Father in heaven, acts not in any ir- 
 regular way, but he is always subject to the laws eternal of the 
 divine filiation. In that he is under the authority of the eternal 
 Father, because he is begotten of the Father in whose divine 
 nature he partakes. So all the bishops of the world are begotten 
 of, and come forth in a spiritual manner from their Father the 
 Pope, and they are one with him, as the Son is one with the 
 Father, and the church is one and has only one divine Priest- 
 hood. Ill the Deity, the Son is equal to the Father and has 
 only one divine nature with him, but the Father has his father- 
 hood and the Son has his sonship and in these they differ. So in 
 holy orders the bishops are one with the Pope, for there is but 
 one eternal Priesthood, that of Christ, and in holy orders the 
 bishops are the equals of the Pope, for all bishops have received 
 the fulness of the Priesthood of Christ, as Christ receives the 
 fulness of his Divinity from his Father. But the bishops have 
 not the fatlierhood of the Pope over the whole church, but only 
 that of holy orders in their own dioceses. 
 
 We see therefore that there is a continual interchange of 
 power, of aid and of help between the bishops of the church and 
 their earthly head, which resembles the communication of nature 
 and of action taking place between the august Persons of the 
 Trinity. The bishops of the world reflect the infallible teaching 
 and the sanctifying action of the Pope. They partake in his 
 supreme government over the members of their own diocese, 
 because they partake with him in the government of the flocks 
 given to their care. The bishops put in force the common or 
 canon laws of the church, which come from the Papacy. They 
 can make rules and regulations for the particular good of their 
 own people. Thus each diocese is like a Sovereign State which 
 has the regulation of its internal affairs in the most perfect 
 manner, yet forming a part of the general Government of the 
 church. 
 
 In that way many customs rise in different parts of the world, 
 and by the silent consent of the Popes they continue, till at last 
 they become universal laws in the church. For custom makes 
 law as well as legislatures. In this way rose the custom of reciting 
 the Roman Breviary in the apostolic ages, the fasting from meat on 
 Fridays, because the pagans dedicated Friday to the impure wor- 
 ship of Venus, goddess of impurity, and because Christ died on 
 that day. In the same way rose ' the custom of calling three 
 times the names of parties about to be married and numerous 
 other customs. When the Sovereign Pontiff confirms these local 
 
 ' la England. 
 
326 EXTRAORDINARY POWER OF BISHOPS. 
 
 customs, when he extends them to the whole church, it is the same 
 as the approval of the canons of a council. They then become the 
 law for the whole church. The same may be said relating to the 
 canonization of the Saints. Many saints of the early church were 
 held as such by the people and bishops of one or more dioceses. 
 The Pope tolerated that till it spread to the whole church. The 
 Saints of the Roman Missal were considered as holy by the pas- 
 tors and people of the Roman diocese, without any official action 
 on the part of the authorites of the church. In all this we see 
 the life of the church ever acting, producing from witliiii, that 
 life is the Holy Spirit flowing from the Head Christ, down on the 
 members and rising again from the members to the head visible, 
 the Pope. 
 
 The bishops not only in council when assembled are united in- 
 to their chief the Sovereign Pontiff, but also when scattered into 
 all parts of the world. Then they keep order, preach the Gospel, 
 and upliold the discipline of the church in the diocese over which 
 the Holy Ghost has placed them to " rule the church of God." ' 
 At the preaching of the apostles the whole world lay before their 
 feet, ripe for the harvest of the Lord. They went first as mis- 
 sionary bishops where they wished to found cliurches. Later they 
 became the titular bishops of different dioceses. In this we see 
 that the church universal existed before any particular church or 
 diocese or parish. It follows that the church universal is not de- 
 prived of ite authority over souls by the establishment of dioceses, 
 no more than the authority of the bishop in his diocese is taken 
 away by the erection of parishes. In the hierarchy of the church 
 universal, the Pope is the Pastor of all men, for he is the Vicar 
 of Christ who died for all mankind. But because they are the 
 pastors of the universal church, the bishops take part in its gov- 
 ernment, as in a much inferior way the pastors of the diocese 
 take part with the bishop in the government of the diocese. In 
 this the bishops have a power in the universal church, which ex- 
 tends beyond the limits of their diocese, as the pastors may have 
 the faculties of administering the sacraments in all parts of the 
 diocese. 
 
 Thus we see in history that the bishops took charge of souls 
 outside their diocese. They often become the titular bishops of 
 dioceses where the church has been overturned by wars and the in- 
 cursions of the infidels. They are often appointed to dioceses to 
 rule, not in their own names, but as apostolic vicars of the Pope. 
 But all this is absolutely under the direction of the Pope, for he 
 is the Vicar of him who died for all. In a similar way the pas- 
 tors of the diocese rule their people in union with their bishop, 
 because he is for the pastors what the Pope is for the bishops. 
 This is called the extraordinary ministration of the Gospel. For 
 when the diocese or the parish is complete, and canon law in its 
 full extent has been introduced, then tne church is in its normal 
 
 > Acts u. 28. 
 
THE ONLY IMMOETAL DIOCESE. 327 
 
 or ordinary state. In that case the canon law regulates every 
 action of the clergy, and nothing is left to the arbitary action of 
 the ministers of the church. In this case every act of priest or 
 of bishop has been laid down and regulated by the canon law, and 
 they must follow the law in every case or be punished. Then 
 the human element in the church is curbed by the divine element, 
 the law which keeps the human passion under, and the oppression of 
 any of Christ's sheep is impossible, because they are protected by 
 the wise enactments and laws of the church. Then the particular 
 church, the diocese, and the imperfect church the parish, flourish 
 in every land, and the church universal rejoices in the health and 
 the prosperity of her daughters, the dioceses and parishes. On 
 the contrary the phurch universal suffers when her children suf- 
 fer or become weak members, when they die by persecution or by 
 the loss of faith. 
 
 From this we learn that the particular churches the dioceses 
 are not immortal. For being great moral and religious persons 
 they are subject to destruction and to death. For history tells us 
 of the former flourishing dioceses of Palestine, of Egypt, of Ara- 
 bia, of Asia Minor and of many other famous and historic churches 
 in these countries now oveiTun by infidels. They now live only 
 in the persons of their titular bishops. But as dioceses they have 
 been destroyed for the sins of their people as was said by Jesus of 
 the churches of Asia. ' The church universal alone is immortal 
 because it is the bride of the lamb. The Roman Church alone 
 has withstood the rage of the demon, for of her Christ foretold: 
 " Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and 
 the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." "'' 
 
 Because it is the seat of the Papacy, the Vicar of Christ is its 
 Bishop. To him belongs all souls redeemed. For that reason 
 the Chair of Peter is called the Apostolic chair. For to the 
 apostles under Peter, Christ gave power to preach to the Jews 
 and pagans before their conversion. Whence all missions are 
 directly under the power of the Pope. When by any misfortune 
 one of the dioceses ceases to exist, the Apostolic authority again 
 assumes full power over the remaining christians in that diocese. 
 For when they have no bishop of their own, they become more 
 especially the people of Christ, and his Vicar takes charge of them. 
 The Propaganda looks after them. For we see that at the begin- 
 ning of the church, the apostles and their disciples went forth as 
 teachers of the universal church, according to those words of our 
 Lord. '* Going forth therefore teach ye all nations." That was 
 their universal mission. He said that only to the apostolic college. 
 He did not want to make them bishops of any particular diocese, 
 because there were no dioceses till they had formed them by their 
 preaching. That universal power of the apostolate belonging to 
 all the apostles and which made them universal missionary bishops 
 is still in the church, for he continued: " behold I am with you 
 
 » Apoc. 1. il, lit. 2 Matt. xvi. 19. 20. 
 
328 PERSONAL POWERS OF EACH APOSTLE. 
 
 all days even to the consummation of the world." ' Acting on these 
 words of our Lord, they went forth to the uttermost ends of the 
 earth for " their sound went fortli unto all the earth."" When 
 they had founded churches, then they or their disciples became 
 the titular bishops of these newly formed churches. Thus we see 
 that St. Paul left his disciple Titus at Crete and he consecrated 
 his other disciple Timothy as bishop of Ephesus. St. Peter sent 
 St. Mark to Alexandria and left his friend St. Evodius at Antioch. 
 
 But things could not continue always in that \ ay. For soon 
 one bishop might encroach on the limits of another, and confu- 
 sion and disputes would soon undo all the good they had achieved. 
 For that reason they were from the beginning subject to St. Peter, 
 to whom alone was given supreme control and an unlimited 
 apostolate to convert the entire world. St. Cyprian calls Peter 
 '' The Origin of the apostolate."^ And Innocent says of him: 
 **By whom in Christ the apostolate and the episcopate received 
 their origin." * For " the keys of the kingdom of heaven which 
 were to be given to the others, Peter alone received them."^ 
 For that reason Peter chose one of the disciples to be an apostle 
 in the place of Judas, ' and as St. Clirysostom says: " With his 
 power alone he could elect and consecrate him " ' although out of 
 regard for the other apostles he called them to the council. 
 
 The priest or the assistant of the pastor is not necessary for 
 the parish. A vicar general is not so required that the diocese 
 cannot get along without him, because the parish or the diocese 
 are not perfect churches. But the universal church, being per- 
 fect, it could not exist without the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of 
 Christ. " For in raising blessed Peter over the other apostles, 
 in him he raised an everlasting principle and visible foundation, 
 upon whose strength he might raise an eternal temple, that by the 
 strength of his faith, the head of the church might rise to the 
 heavens. "® " Therefore we teach and we declare, that by the ac- 
 tion of the Lord Peter has obtained a principle of ordinary power 
 over all other churches. " * 
 
 Each apostle received a personal confirmation in grace and in 
 holiness and they were at the same time wonderfully united to their 
 chief, St. Peter, for they heard his commission given direct by 
 their Master. They acted with more freedom than any of their 
 successors, the bishops who had not received their commission from 
 Christ himself, but from Peter, the head of the church. The apostles 
 were bounded by no limits, for they were first on the field, 
 when there was no church, .no diocese, no spiritual organization. 
 Only the universal church then appeared in their pei-sons, and it 
 was freed from abuses and from the dangers of older dioceses, and 
 edified by the personal holiness, light and grace of the apostles. 
 Converts at that time had great faith, and the Holy Spirit worked 
 
 • Matt, xxvlll. 19. " Psalm xvlU. 6. * St. Cyprian Eplst xlv. ad Cornel. 
 
 ■• St. Innocent I, Eptet. II. ad. Vlctric. • St. Uptatus MUev. con. Farm. I. 7. 
 
 • Aci«. 1. ^ St. Chryst. In Acts Apoet. Horn. II. 
 
 • Council Vat. Const. Pastor £temus. * Vatican Council Ibidem Council Lateran IV. 
 
HOW THE APOSTLES FIRST PREACHED. 329 
 
 wonderful miracles to attract the nations to the Gospel. Thus 
 we read of wonderful things done by the apostles. Even they 
 raised the dead, cured all kinds of diseases and worked the most 
 wonderful works. Eusebius, one of the earliest christian historians 
 tells us that, " Besides these, at the same time flourished among 
 the disciples of the apostles, men of the highest merits. For 
 these disciples of such great and wonderful men were evidently 
 divine. When the apostles laid the foundations of the church in 
 different places, they added to the edifice, by the preaching of the 
 Gospel, by sowing the seed of the heavenly teachings, and scat- 
 tering it all over the earth Then having left their own country, 
 
 they went forth to fulfil the duty of evangelists, for those who 
 have not heard desired to know Christ, and to have the books of 
 the Holy Gospel given to them. And after these had laid the 
 foundations of the faith in the most remote places, they ordained 
 other pastors, satisfied to give to them the care of the new planta- 
 tion, that they, with the help of God, might hurry to new regions" 
 &c. ' By this we see that the apostles were mostly m issionary bish- 
 ops of the universal church , without being attached to any particular 
 church, and that when they converted any people, they estab- 
 lished pastors over them, and then hurried away to new con- 
 quests of Souls for Christ. 
 
 Thus we read that St. Peter and the first Popes sent legates to 
 the pagan nations to convert them to the GospeL St. Peter him- 
 self sent the first bishops to Spain soon after Sts. Paul and James 
 began to preach the Gospel to that nation. Sts. Peter and Clement 
 sent to Paris St. Dennis, the Greek who at the time of the 
 crucifixion said: "Either the Lord of the universe is dying or the 
 universe is dissolving. " St. Dennis preached on the banks of the 
 Seine at the little city of Leutitia, now Paris. " The monks came 
 to Vienna from Rome. The first bishops of France came from 
 the East sent by Eome to that nation. They were Trophimus, 
 Paulus, Martialis, Gratianus, St. Saturnenus, Valerius, &c., 
 sent to that nation by St. Peter himself, because they were his 
 companions in his work at Rome. * St, Boniface was sent to 
 preach to the Germans, St. Augustine to the English, St. Patrick 
 to the Irish, all sent by the Popes, because from Rome and 
 from the Chair of Peter the whole of Europe received its civiliz- 
 ation, christian faith and teachings. 
 
 But not all of these apostolic men received full power to be the 
 legates and the representatives of the Papacy. For many of them 
 were only simple bishops, or priests, preaching the Gospel and 
 establishing missions among the pagans of Europe. When their 
 labors became fruitful, when congregations increased, parishes 
 ^nd dioceses w^ere formed out of the large territory. In time the 
 full machinery of the church took the place of the imperfect mis- 
 -sionary organization which they founded. We see that taking 
 
 * Eusebliis Hist. Eccl. L. lU. C. 37. 2 Cathedrals of the World, Notre Dame Church, Paris. 
 
 * Vet. MS. Arelat. ap. Falon. Monum. Ined. T. li. p. 33. 
 
330 MISSIONAKY BISHOPS. 
 
 place under our eyes to-day in this country, and in all missionary 
 countries of the world. Missions are first established, they become 
 more and more perfected, till at last the complete organization of 
 the parish and diocese takes the place of the mission. In the first 
 ages the apostles went forth with the complete authority of Christ 
 to do what they could to save souls. They had from Peter the 
 full authority to do the best they could, and the Head of the 
 church left things rather to their judgment. In that age travel- 
 ling was difficult, and because of the persecutions they could but 
 seldom see their chief, the Roman Pontiff. 
 
 To-day priests and bishops go forth into Asia, Africa and every- 
 where among the pagans or the heretics, and they are either apos- 
 tolic delegates, that is, they represent the Pope, or they are mis- 
 sionary priests, bishops, vicars of the Pope, representatives of the 
 Eoman Pontiff, with the titles of old dioceses now in the hands of 
 the Turks. When by their labors people come to hear them, 
 and converts are numerous, they form a diocese. Then they 
 become the bishops of the place, and the laws and organization of 
 dioceses obtain full force. It was necessary for them at first to 
 go out as missionaries, because they must be free from the com- 
 mon laws binding bishops and pastors to reside in their dioceses 
 and parishes, to consecrate the holy oils during holy weeks with 
 many clergymen, besides binding them to numerous other epis- 
 copal duties which regular bishops are required to perform, where 
 the common law of the church is in full force, which could not be 
 carried out in a missionary country. 
 
 After the diocese has been established and when by some misfor- 
 tune of war, of persecution, of infidelity, the organization of the 
 church has perished, then the universal church throws her pro- 
 tecting powers over her unhappy daughter, the unfortunate peo- 
 ple look to Rome to help them in their spiritual wants. Thus in 
 the IV. century St. Eusebius went from place to place in the East, 
 preaching and ordaining priests for the churches destroyed by the 
 Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. When the 
 Huns, the Vandals, the Visigoths, and the other barbarians com- 
 ing down from the North-east of Europe, overunning the South, 
 destroying churches, and putting bishops and priests to death, the 
 neighboring bishops looked after the wants of the persecuted dio- 
 ceses, till regular pastors and bishops could be regularly ordained 
 and consecrated. When the church was persecuted by Henry 
 VIII. and by his illegitimate daughter Elizabeth, when bishops 
 and priests were put to death or driven out of England, the clergy 
 of France, of Belgium, and of other neighboring countries attend- 
 ed to the English people, till at the rising of the faith again in 
 England, an apostolic Legate at London was appointed by the 
 Holy See bishop of that city. The bishops of Ireland often at 
 that time administered to the people of the neighboring dioceses, 
 when their own pastors were put to death by the conquering Danes 
 or English. 
 
HOW BISHOPS DIFFER FKOM THE APOSTLES. 331 
 
 By virtue of these laws one bishop can give letters to another 
 bishop to ordain one of his own clergymen. When one bishop is 
 absent, another can consecrate the holy oils for him or do any 
 other episcopal work in his diocese. But as the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff is at all times the Vicar of Christ, who by redemption has com- 
 plete power over souls, he can ask a bishop to resign, appoint 
 an administrator to a vacant diocese, or do anything in any dio- 
 cese, which the bishop of the same can do, because he is the direct 
 pastor of the whole flock of Christ. ' 
 
 But the interference of one bishop in another's diocese cannot 
 take place, except when the necessities of the case require. 
 Otherwiseone would interfere in the business of his episcopal broth- 
 er, and confusion would result. All these cases are regulated 
 by the canon law of thechuch. Therefore that universal power 
 of the bishops, by which they can go outside the limits of their 
 diocese to exercise episcopal functions, is rooted in episcopal or- 
 der, because they belong first to the universal church, which has 
 no boundaries. But only in extraordinary cases can they do so, 
 as when they become bishops of a certain place, there they live 
 and spend their days in working for the good of their own dio- 
 ceses. When bishops have the titles of dioceses among the infi- 
 dels, but work in another diocese, they are forbidden to exercise 
 their functions in their episcopal city, lest a contest regarding jur- 
 isdiction should arise. Thus one of the auxiliary bishops of this 
 country, or a titular archbishop of Petra, in Arabia, but who 
 would be a coadjutor of some archbishop in this country could 
 not enter the city of Petra, to there perform episcopal functions 
 if he were travelling there, because these regions are usually in the 
 care of apostolic vicars. 
 
 It is evident from what we said that the bishops are the pastors 
 of the universal church, and that they have ordinary jurisdiction. 
 But they are subject to the Roman Pontiff. They have not the 
 gifts of the apostolate as given to the apostles. For by reason of 
 their close relationship with our Lord, the apostles were universal 
 bishops in the church. He confirmed them in grace. They were 
 all infallible by a peculiar gift of the Holy Ghost. They could 
 perform miracles and speak all languages. These were given them 
 on Pentecost, because they wanted all these for the establishment 
 of the church at that time.* These personal gifts remained with 
 them till they had organized churches over all the nations of 
 antiquity, that they might command respect from their converts, 
 inspire reverence in their successors, and that by the weight of 
 their personality, they might keep the church together till the full 
 organization of the diocese was completed. 
 
 Even St. Paul preached till there was no place for him in the 
 countries divided up among the apostles: " But now having no 
 more place in these countries." ' We must then consider the kinds 
 of gifts given to the apostles, one of the personal gifts of mir- 
 1 Concll. Vatlcanum. ^ pjyg yi. Brev. Super. Nynclat. C. HI. Sec, 1. ^ Rom. xv. 23. 
 
332 THE HEAD OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 acles, confirmation in grace, the unlimited power of preaching, 
 infallibility and the gift of speaking all languages. But alone 
 the authority of preaching and of governing was to be handed 
 down to their successors in the episcopacy under the presidency 
 of Peter and of his successors. Suarez thinks that they received 
 only delegated authority, Peter only having the ordinary jurisdi- 
 tionem ' while Bellarmine thinks that the power of miracles and of 
 infallibility was given to each of the apostles which was to die with 
 them except in the case of Peter, who was to hand it down to his 
 successors in the See of Rome." 
 
 Christ gave full power to all of the apostles. Then when he as- 
 cended into heaven, he became invisible to human eyes, but he 
 remains for all time visible in the person of his Vicar in the 
 Roman See. The first Bishops of the church, the apostles, who 
 heard the Lord speak by his own mouth, now hear him speak by 
 the words of his Vicar on earth. Thus the bishops of the world 
 come forth from their father the Pope, as the Son of God comes 
 forth from his Father in heaven. In this, the workings of the 
 church are an image of the working of the Persons of the Holy 
 Trinity. When St. Paul was persecuting the church, the Lord 
 Jesus said to him: "Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me?"' The 
 church is one with Christ, and for that reason he asked why he was 
 persecuting him, not the members of the church. AVhen St. Paul 
 was instructed and ready for the ministry, he was baptized at 
 Bamasus and ordained at Antioch by the disciples of the apostles 
 in union with St. Peter. From that time he began to convert the 
 pagans to the church. But he had to go to Jerusalem, to give an 
 account to Peter of his work in the ministry, as he says: "after 
 three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter."* Peter gave him 
 the special mission of converting the Gentiles. From that day to 
 this, St. Paul has been the greatest missionary the church ever 
 had.* 
 
 As Peter gave St. Paul his mission, we must conclude also that 
 he gave their missions to all the other apostles." His judicial 
 power appears in the condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira,' and 
 also in the election of the successor of Judas. We see that power 
 in his successor. Pope St. Victor, who replied to the disciples of 
 the apostle St. John: "You must hold the solemnity of holy 
 Easter on Sunday^ this our predecessors have already ordered, and 
 we command you to solemnly celebrate it on the same day, be- 
 cause it is not right for the members to separate from the head, or 
 do what is contrary to him."" We must remember that this Pope 
 who issues such a command to all Asia Minor and to the disciples 
 of St. John the Evangelist, was elected to the Roman diocese in 
 the year 193. 
 
 > Suarez De Sum. PnnUf. Sec- 7. I. n. 4. ' Bellarmine De Sum. PonUf. L. I. C. Ix. n. 44. 
 
 * Acts U. 4. « Gal. 1. 18. Ibidem II. 2. » Gal. II. 7. 8. 9. 10. 
 
 • Oerson De Potest, Eccl. Cons. 9. ^ Acts 5. 
 
 ■ St. Victor Epist. I. and Tbeop. Epls. Alezan. apud Labb. T. I. col. 502. Tbia is only prob- 
 ably Kenuiue. 
 
OKDERS AND JURISDICTION. 333 
 
 What we have said so far about the bishops of the pastors of the 
 universal church, shows the reader the great dignity of the bishops 
 of the church. Except our Lord himself there cannot be in this 
 world any higher or more wonderful person than a bishop of the 
 catholic church. Stunding above the world and below Jesus 
 Christ, ruled only by his Vicar the Pope, the bishops hold the 
 power of tlie Lord over the church of God. They have received 
 the fulness of the eternal Priesthood of the Son. They have re- 
 ceived fl'om him, his fulness of priestly power, not for themselves 
 but for the church, to teach, sanctify and rule his holy people. 
 Christ by episcopal consecration gives complete power to the 
 bishops, that they in tlieir turn may give a part of it to the priests 
 and to the lower ministers of the church. Now the fulness of a 
 thing is such that you cannot give any more. Thus the bishops 
 have so much of the priesthood of Christ, that even Christ him- 
 fielf could not give them any more of his priestly power. The 
 bishops are then so high, that they could not rise any higher in 
 the sacerdotal powers tliey received of Christ. 
 
 By that the episcopacy is one, simple and undivided in each 
 bishop.' It also follows that the bishops of the whole church are 
 absolutely equal, as St. Cyprian says: "the apostles were endowed 
 with equal honor and authority."* St. Jerome says that: ''the 
 bishop of Gubbino is equal to the bishop of Eome,^" inasmuch 
 as tliey are both bishops, jiot considering the Bishop of Rome as 
 being the head of another kind of power, that is of jurisdiction. 
 By that he is the Vicar of Christ and the head of all the bishops 
 of the world, because he is the head of the church universal. 
 
 But at a meeting of the bishops some will precede others. The 
 Bishop of Rome, because he is the Heir and the successor of Pe- 
 ter and Vicar of Christ, is the head of the whole church, and he 
 presides over all the bishops of the world. But he is only a bishop, 
 and considering holy orders he is not higher than the bishop of 
 the most obscure city. For that reason he addresses the bishops of 
 the world in all his communications to them as "Venerable 
 Brethren" because they are his brethren and equal in episcopal 
 order. St. Peter was at all times named the first among the apostles 
 after he had received the Primacy from Christ. For that reason 
 the Council of Lyons solemnly proclaimed that the "Holy 
 Roman church obtained the full and highest primacy and princi- 
 pality over the whole catholic church."* 
 
 For that reason the patriarchs, primates and archbishops being 
 the branches of the power given to Peter, they are like little Popes 
 over the bishops subject to them. At all meetings of the bishops 
 they precede the bishops, because they represent the Pope. Not 
 only that, but the church wishes to honor certain sees because of 
 peculiar reasons. In the meetings of the first bishops of the early 
 church, the bishop of Jerusalem was subject to the archbishop of 
 
 1 St. Cyprian De Unltate Eccl. n. 5. > Ibidem. ' Eplst. ad Evangellum. 
 
 ^ IQ Profes. Fld^e. Grecorum. 
 
WHO TAKES THE ABCHBISHOP'S PLACE ? 335 
 
 Cesarea, who in his turn was under the authority of the patriarch 
 of Antioch. But because of the honors due Jerusalem the holy 
 city, he was at length placed next after the archbishop of 
 Cesarea. When the council was called at this latter city under 
 Pope St. Victor, to discuss the celebration of Easter,' the arch- 
 bishop of Cesarea sat above the bishop of Jerusalem, as the repre- 
 sentative of the authority of St. Peter given to each archbishop. 
 Is not this a striking proof of the supremacy of Peter over all the 
 churches at such an early date ? But in after years, when the 
 whole episcopacy of the church met at the council of Nice, the 
 archbishop of Cesarea stepped down, and took his place with the 
 other bishops, because he no longer represented the authority of 
 Peter in the council, for he came as a simple bishop. At that 
 council, the bishop of Jerusalem who was only a bishop, sat among 
 the archbishops as the fourth bishop of the world, because they 
 wished to honor in him Jerusalem the holy city at that the 
 first general council of the church.* That forms one of the can- 
 ons of that celebrated council held in the year 325.' We give 
 these facts of history to show that these distinctions between the 
 bishops of antiquity, not only related to the Papacy, but also be- 
 longed to the old venerable apostolic cities of antiquity, and because 
 of their peculiar relations to our Lord or to the church. 
 
 Besides, certain peculiar circumstances elevated one bishop over 
 the others. In the East they are called protothroneries and in the 
 West deans. Thus the archbishop of Tyre,* was the prothronotary 
 of the bishops subject to the patriarch of Antioch. The bishop of 
 Ostia is the dean of the college of cardinals.^ In ancient times h& 
 was also the dean of the bishops of the province of Rome. The bish- 
 op of Autun was the dean of the province of Lyons." The bishop of 
 London was in former times in the middle ages and before 
 the reformation, the dean of the province of Canterbury.' In 
 Africa the bishop of Citra was the dean of all the bishops of 
 Numidia. 
 
 In the United States they have only deans of age in the episcopacy, 
 having no analogy with the episcopal deans of the early church. 
 When the III. council of Baltimore assembled in 1884, the arch- 
 bishop of St. Louis was the oldest in years of consecration, and 
 the other bishops showed him the utmost respect. When an 
 episcopal see becomes vacant and the council and the permanent 
 rectors of the diocese meet for the selection of three candidates for 
 the vacant throne, the aforesaid council says that if the archbishop 
 cannot come, the bishop longest consecrated shall take his place and 
 preside over the meeting, who, if he too cannot come he must appoint 
 another bishop to take his place.' In this we see, that the senior 
 bishop should be the dean of the bishops, when their customary head 
 the archbishop is not present. Thus from the most ancient times, 
 
 ' Concil. Palaestin. Labbe T. I. Col. 596. ^ CoDcll. Vic. Can. 7. Col. 314 418 
 
 3 Labbe T. II. col. 51. ■» Ibidem T. vlil. col. 978 &c. « Ibidem T. x. col. 388. 
 
 « Le Cointe in the year 685. "> Le Cointe year 685. 
 
 8 Concil. Bait. T. III. D Eplscopis. No. 15. 
 
336 WHAT IS A MISSION ? 
 
 when the representative of the Papacy, the archbishop, the primate 
 or the patriarch is not there, the church honors the oldest in epis- 
 copal orders by electing him to preside over them in the absence of 
 their regular head or chairman. From all that has been said, the 
 reader will see that when the bishops of the church meet without 
 their real head, the Successor of St. Peter, the distinctions between 
 ithem flows from three sources — the Papacy represented by the patri- 
 :archs, primates and archbishops, the privileges of illustrious sees as 
 .Jerusalem, Antioch, &c., or age in years of episcopal consecration. 
 
 The holy hierarchy of the bishops resembles the hierarchy of the 
 Persons of the Trinity. As the Son comes from the Father, so the 
 ibishops come forth from their father the Pope. From him alone 
 they get their jurisdiction, authority and their mission. From 
 liie Father, Christ received his mission and the fulness of his eter- 
 nal Priesthood. The mission once given is lasting in its effects. 
 Thus the sacrifice of Christ on the cross still goes on in the Mass, 
 and it will last as long as the world remains. The holy wounds of 
 Christ still remain in his sacred body, and from them flows down 
 •on us all the benefits of his atonement. Once ordained a man 
 forever remains a priest, consecrated a bishop, he will be a bishop 
 .as long as Christ remains the Son of God. 
 
 This is so with all the works of God. He rested on the Sabbath 
 •day from creating and creation still goes on, his creatures remain 
 •ever showing forth his glories, although he stopped creating new 
 species on the Sabbath day at the seventh great epoch of time. All 
 this is but an image of the hidden internal and eternal life of God. 
 For " In the beginning was ihe Word, and the Word was with 
 •God, and the Word was God."' That was the eternal generation 
 of the divine Son. His origin had no beginning, but it is still 
 going on and will be so, for with God there is no time, but eter- 
 nity without beginning or end. 
 
 We are all made to the image and likeness of God, but the 
 church was made to the likeness of the holy Trinity, while each 
 member of the church resembles the divine Son. The three 
 .sacraments of baptism, confirmation and holy orders raise us up to 
 & supernatural union with Christ, to the likeness of Jesus. Once 
 received, holy orders cannot be received again, because of the 
 changeless beauties of the priesthood of Jesus. Then once a priest 
 or bishop, he is that for eternity. Founded on hoiy orders is the 
 mission, that is the authority to exercise the powers received in 
 holy orders. But mission also comes only from Christ, who said : 
 ** All power is given me in heaven and on earth going forth then 
 teach ye all nations."* The power of holy orders comes direct 
 from Christ himself at the ordination of the priest or the consecra- 
 tion of the bishop. But jurisdiction, or the mission, comes from 
 him through his Vicar the Pope. Unlike orders, the mission can 
 be taken away. That was necessary for the good of the church, 
 lest bad ones might intrude themselves into the ranks of the clergy 
 
 ' Jobn i. 1. 1 Matt, urill. 19. 
 
WHO GIVES JURISDICTION ? 337 
 
 to the destruction of souls. But jurisdiction or the mission once 
 given lasts till it is taken away by the one who gives it. To St. Peter 
 Christ gave complete jurisdiction, when he gave him the care of his 
 " lambs and sheep/' and the power to '' close or open heaven" to all 
 men. Then while any bishop can administer holy orders, only the 
 head of the church can allow the exercise of these orders. But as 
 the works of God are without repentance, every sacrament except 
 penance and confirmation is valid although forbidden when admin- 
 istered without jurisdiction or mission. From this it follows that 
 the orders given by the bishops of the schismatic Greeks and Orien- 
 tals, who reject the authority of the Pope are valid but forbidden. 
 
 From the principles here laid down it follows that only the Pope 
 can give a bishop jurisdiction over any diocese. Only by his com- 
 mand can bishops be consecrated in the church. As the Pope is 
 the Vicar of Christ and the supreme Pastor of the whole church, 
 then it follows that only he can appoint a bishop to a diocese one 
 of the great parishes of the universal church. Then those bishops 
 not in union with the Vicar of Christ are not the right bishops. 
 Even if they have received valid episcopal consesration, the people 
 must not receive the sacraments from their hands, for they do not 
 belong to the body of Christ. Only in the regular way, and ac- 
 cording to the laws, Christ saves souls, for as the soul works only 
 by and through the organs of the body, thus Christ saves only by 
 the organs of the church his mystic body. At the consecration 
 of a bishop, the letters of the Bishop of Rome are read before the 
 bishops impose their hands on the candidate. 
 
 The testimony of the early ages tells us that often by commis- 
 sion of the Popes or patriarchs, they consecrated bishops in every 
 age up to the time of the apostles: " It belongs to Peter to choose 
 the election of bishops his equals, that he may raise them to an 
 equal honor with himself, and we know that it belongs to no other 
 but to Christ, . . . .and among all mortals this belongs to Peter, who 
 in the place of Christ is the leader established, the Prince set up 
 by Christ." ' " The episcopacy and all authority flows from the 
 apostolic See," says Innocent I. in his letter to the council of Car- 
 thage. In his letter to another council he repeats: " Peter is 
 the author of the name and of the dignity of bishops."' "All 
 that Jesus Christ gave to the other bishops, he gave to them by 
 Peter," says St. Leo/ "From him as from his head, his grace 
 flows down on the body." * " If you think heaven is closed." says 
 Tertullian, " remember that the Lord gave the keys of the king- 
 dom of heaven to Peter, and by him he left them to the church. " *■ 
 " For the sake of unity Peter was preferred to the other apostles, 
 and he also got the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which he was 
 to give to the others." ® " By Peter, Jesus Christ gave the keys 
 of the kingdom of heaven to the other bishops." ^ 
 
 1 Maxim. Planud. Econ. in SS. Peter et Paul, Patrum Grace T. cxlvii. col. 1070. 
 
 ^ Epist. ad Concil. Milev. ^ Sermo. Iv. in Nat. suo. No. 2. 
 
 * Ibidem Epist. X. rd. Episcopos Provinc. of Vienna. * Adv. Gcost. 
 
 • St. Optatus De Schism. Donatist. L. vii. n. 3. 
 
 '' St. Gregory of .Vyazan. Adversus Mfije Ferentes Castlsrat. 
 
338 WHO APPOINTS BISHOPS ? 
 
 We might give many other citations from the early church, but 
 these are enough to show the belief of the apostolic age, that from 
 the apostolic See of Peter, the bishops in every age and nation re- 
 ceived their consecration and their authority. As authors say, 
 " partake in the authority and the freedom of that See." ' *' They 
 succeed Peter." 'or " They are the vicars of Peter," as the VI. 
 council of Paris proclaimed." ''Because their authority is only 
 given them by the blessed Peter," as the council of Rheims de- 
 clares.* The reason why the appointment and selection of bish- 
 ops belongs alone to the Pope, is because he is the Bishop of the 
 whole world, the Vicar of Christ who redeemed the world. The 
 bishops are the pastors of that great diocese, the whole redeemed 
 world. It belongs alone to the bishop of the diocese to ordain 
 and appoint priests and pastors in his own diocese. Therefore to 
 the Papacy, as the Bishop, who alone has universal jurisdiction 
 over all the souls redeemed by Christ, to him alone it belongs to 
 appoint pastors over his people, partaking in his supreme author- 
 ity in the universal church of Christ. 
 
 The reason of this is still deeper. The priesthood of Christ is 
 eternal. To him the Father said: " Thou art a priest forever ac- 
 cording to the order of Melchisedek." * His Vicar is the Bishop 
 of Rome. Being the most perfect image of that great High 
 Priest, Jesus, because of the indweUingof the Holy Spirit in him, 
 the Pope will never fail in teaching the world the true doctrines 
 of faith and morals. This comes from his remarkable union with 
 his chief Jesus Christ. The Pope cannot be deposed. For he is 
 one with his Bishop Christ, of which he is only the Vicar-general. 
 But no such a union exists between Christ and any of the other 
 bishops of the other dioceses. For that reason we never see the 
 Bishop of Rome doing an injustice to all, while sometimes the 
 bishops of the other dioceses have fallen into heresy or oppressed 
 the clergy and the people under their charge. The Pope is their 
 pastor. As it belongs to him to appoint them to their dioceses, 
 so to him belongs to depose them if they live not faithful 
 to their divine office. In the bishop of Rome then, dwells the 
 fulness of the Priesthood and jurisdiction of Christ, as well as 
 in all the other bishops. But the Pope may take away the jur- 
 isdiction of the other bishops, restrict or entirely suspend their 
 ?owers depending on jurisdiction. But the jurisdiction of the 
 'ope cannot be so restricted, taken away, or curtailed by any earth- 
 ly power. For Peter lives in his successors " And the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against" " that Rock of Peter," because of the 
 direct indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Then by the very constitution of the church, the appointment 
 of the bishops of the church belongs to the Pope, the bead of the 
 church. In modern times the Pope appoints them by letters, bulla 
 and briefs. In the early church it was not easy to go to, or apply 
 
 > St. Ephlr. Encon. St. BazU. ^ Gaiident. Brlz. Tract, in die suae. ord. 
 
 » Apnd. Labbe T. vll. col. 166L * Ibidem T. ix. col. 4»1. 
 
 • Psalm clx. 4. 
 
APPOINTING THE FIRST BISHOPS. 339 
 
 to Kome, or to get into direct communication with the Holy 
 Father, because of the difficulties of travelling, and oecause of the 
 frightful persecutions of the first three centuries. To overcome 
 these difficulties the first Popes impressed " The Image of Peter," 
 on the whole church, by the appointment of patriarchs, primates 
 and archbishops in the great cities, each as a little pope over the 
 neighboring bishops and churches of his province. In delegating 
 a part of his supreme power to the bishops of these large and im- 
 portant cities, so that they represented the Bishop of Rome, over 
 the bishops and laity, and clergy of their provinces, he but gave 
 them a part of the supreme authority Christ gave to Peter, so 
 that the perfections and the form of the whole church might be 
 impressed on each part or province. As the bishops of every see 
 in the early church were elected by the votes of the clergy and 
 iaity of the vacant diocese, the churchmen thus elected and conse- 
 crated to these important sees, notified the Pope of their election 
 and consecration, and the patriarchs did not wait for the comfirma- 
 tion of the Pope, but exercised the functions at once as was cus- 
 tomary and given them by the councils. 
 
 The system was very simple. God alone through Jesus Christ 
 gave power to the Bishop of Rome through Peter, and from him all 
 jurisdiction came down from Christ, and flowed down on the 
 archbishops of other important sees, " images of Rome." From 
 the eternal throne, through Christ, the power of jurisdiction with 
 love and redemption for fallen man comes down on the anointed 
 Bishop of Rome. From him it flows to the archbishops to the im- 
 ages of himself over the other bishops, till the grace of redemption 
 and of salvation flows like living waters through the regular cliaii- 
 nels, till it touches and heals every wound afflicting mankind. 
 
 The root and the foundation of that power is the episcopal con- 
 secration. In former times the archbishops and the patriarchs 
 usually consecrated the bishops of the vacant sees within their 
 jurisdiction. That was always the custom among the Greeks of 
 the early church.' They were very careful whom they raised to 
 such a dignity in the church, for the consecration of a bishop at 
 that early time not only gave holy orders, but also jurisdiction or 
 the communion of the episcopacy, with his title as pastor of a 
 particular church. As delegates of the Roman Pontiff, these pa- 
 triarchs, primates and metropolitans consecrated the bishops of 
 the early church. 
 
 In holy orders the superior always confers them on the inferior. 
 But at the consecration of a bishop, one bishop raises another 
 <ilergyman up to an office, which makes him the equal with him- 
 self, for the bishop represents the Son coming forth from and the 
 equal of his Father, the Persons of the Trinity having one and the 
 same divine nature, as the bishops have one and the same holy and 
 complete priesthood. Whence Jesus Christ, entering into the 
 -eternal glories which he had with his Father before he became 
 
 ' Barlaam de Papse Primatu C. 6. Patr. Grec. T. cli. col 1287. 
 
340 CONSECRATING A BISHOP. 
 
 man, he supplies his absence since the ascension by the ministry 
 of his bishops, to whom he gave the fulness of his priestly powers. 
 Therefore any bishop can consecrate another bishop. 
 
 But no priest can ordain another priest, for no simple priest 
 receives the fulness of the priesthood, and therefore he cannot bring 
 forth another like himself. We see this in the natural generation 
 of living creatures. The complete race, represented by both fatlier 
 and mother must take part in the natural generation of another 
 like themselves, and full health and strength must be there. Th& 
 material is but an image of the spiritual. Christ the eternal Priest 
 went to heaven at the ascension, but the bishops take his place as 
 the complete ministers of the sacraments. Yet Christ still lives- 
 here regarding jurisdiction or the exercise of the powers of holy 
 orders, for his Vicar takes his place, because the vicars are the very 
 same, or form one moral person and one authority. But the sacra- 
 ments cannot be given rightly without jurisdiction. Therefore no- 
 bishop is allowed to consecrate another bishop without the official 
 letters of the Pope, the father of all bishops from whom they come 
 forth as the Son in heaven comes forth from his Father. 
 
 Although one bishop can consecrate another bishop, and it will 
 be a valid but sinful action, without the express letters of the Sover- 
 eign Pontiff, yet according to the laws of the church, the Pope 
 is there taking part as father by his official letters, and the episco- 
 pacy is there because three bishops must take part in the consecrat- 
 ing ceremony to represent the whole episcopacy of the ciiurch. 
 But there is one exception to this august representation of the 
 episcopacy. The Pope alone is allowed to consecrate a bishop with- 
 out any assistant bishops to aid him,' because he is the complete 
 source and father of the bishops, and takes the place of their real 
 Chief Christ. In the consecration of any bishop, the archbishop 
 lays hands on him, as the representative of the Roman Pontiff, who 
 cannot be present at all such ceremonies throughout the world. 
 It is very natural for the inferior to receive from the superior, the 
 bishop to receive the laying on of hands of the archbishop his met- 
 ropolitan, but not prescribed, the archbishop from the primate, the 
 latter from the patriarch, while he may be consecrated by the Pope 
 the Vicar of Christ, the great Bishop of us all. 
 
 It is evident that this cannot be carried out at all times, for it 
 would be very hard sometimes for nominated bishops at a distance 
 to go to their archbishop for episcopal consecration, or for the 
 metropolitan to come to tiiem. In the early ages, when travelling 
 was difficult, this could not be done. Otherwise the diocese migiit 
 be left a long time without a bishop. In the early church, 
 neighboring bishops came and consecrated the candidate, when the 
 archbishop could not come. There was still greater difficulties 
 regarding the consecration of an archbishop, whose see was far from 
 the city of the primate or the patriarch who usually consecrated 
 him. But when a patriarch was to be elevated to one of the vener- 
 
 ■ i'lilKent. Ferand. Breviat can. n. 6, &c. 
 
BRANCHES OF PETER. 341 
 
 able and historic sees, the Pope could not always leave Eome, be- 
 cause of political troubles, or because his time was taken up with the 
 business of the universal church. In that case the Pope sometimes 
 appointed one of the neighboring patriarchs or metropolitans to 
 take his place, but this appointment was not always waited for. 
 
 Thus we read that the archbishop of Tyre, in the early church, was 
 consecrated by the patriarch of Antioch, while the archbishop of 
 Ravenna received the imposition of hands from the Bishop of Rome 
 himself. When the archbishop, primate or the patriarch could 
 not come, all the bishops of the province assembled around the 
 vacant throne, and the dean, that is the bishop oldest in episcopal 
 orders, imposed his hands on the bishop elect, who in that was 
 aided by his brothers, the other bishops. They only supplied by 
 the common law the absence of the Pope their chief as the coun- 
 cil of Nice says. ' When they had not the express license of their 
 patriarch, they presumed his permission, which he afterwards rati- 
 fied. That was according to the common law. The simple bish- 
 ops thus consecrating an archbishop, did not by their act give 
 jurisdiction to their metropolitan, for before this the see which they 
 supplied with a prelate had been raised to the dignity of an arch- 
 bishopric, and by that any bishop consecrated to that see, became an 
 archbishop, a branch of Peter, with authority over all his suffragan 
 bishops, of the ecclesiastical province over which his predecessors 
 presided. But if it were found that the candidate thus consecrated 
 was unworthy, or a heretic, or preached false doctrines, the Pope 
 condemned him, or gave him ten days in which to retract his errors.* 
 Otherwise he was denied jurisdiction, which flows down on the 
 members from the Pope, the head of the visible body of Christ.' 
 
 In the ancient church jurisdiction was called communion or 
 rather the acknowledgement of confirmation of jurisdiction or 
 the " Pax," peace. In many of the monuments of the early church, 
 the Pope is said to give communion to a bishop, when he acknowl- 
 edges or confirms his jurisdiction in the diocese to which he had 
 been consecrated. When the Pope refused to receive a bishop in- 
 to his communion, by that he was excommunicated and cut off from, 
 the church. But this, the most severe punishment of the church, 
 was never inflicted except when there was no hope of reclaiming 
 the public sinner, as when a bishop illegally intruded himself into 
 the episcopal office and diocese of another bishop. " For " the in- 
 stitution of all priests and of all churches throughout the world has 
 its rise in the Prince of the apostles." ^ 
 
 From this it follows that the authority of the bishops to exercise 
 their orders of jurisdiction comes from the head and the father of 
 bishops, the Roman Pontiff. Any inequality or authority they 
 have, one over other bishops, comes from the Pope, as he represents 
 the power given to Peter. Numerous proofs might be given from 
 
 ' Concil. Nic. I. canon 4 Labbe T. il. col. 30. 
 
 * St. Coelestln I. Epist. ad St. Cyril Alex, ad Pat. Lat. T. L. col. 463. 
 
 » St. Fel. III. Epist. xiii. ad Flavlt. ■• St. Leo. Epist. L. ad Constan. 
 
 • Steven VI. ad Bazil. Labbe T. ix. col. 366. 
 
342 THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 the writings of St. Cyprian from the council of Chalcedon with 
 almost numberless quotations from the writings of the early 
 church, to show that no priest or bishop was ever received in the 
 church except he lived in union with the See of Peter. But this 
 would make this book too large for its object. When the senior 
 bishop or the dean of the episcopal college in the absence of their 
 chief, imposed his hands with the other bishops on the head of the 
 candidate, he acted in the name of their superior the Pope who 
 was away and who could not come. When the Pope received the 
 newly consecrated bishop in communion, by that he confirmed what 
 was done in his name, and this confirmation gave the new bishop 
 full jurisdiction. We read that Pope St. Leo received the patri- 
 arch of Antioch in the council of Chalcedon, and gave him juris- 
 diction over all churches subject to that patriarchate. ' 
 
 But when the candidate was a holy and worthy man, when the 
 election and the consecration were regular, the Pope never refused to 
 receive the new bishop into full communion, and always allowed him 
 to exercise complete jurisdiction in his diocese. We read that Pope 
 St. Leo confirmed the election of Proterius, archbishop of Alex- 
 andria. Pope St. Simplicius thus received Calendion, patriarch of 
 Antioch. * Even if there was any defect in the regularity of the pro- 
 ceedings, the Pope often supplied what was wanting. This was 
 done by Pope St. Leo, regarding Anatolius, archbishop of Constan- 
 tinople, who was consecrated by heretical bishops as he said: " I am 
 sorry that the weakness of his ordination troubles him."' 
 
 When the bad Photius drove the legitimate St. Ignatius archbish- 
 op of Constantinople, from his see by the power of the emperors of 
 the Greek empire, he was excommunicated by the Pope, and the 
 good and venerable St. Ignatius restored by the Roman Pontiff. 
 But after the death of Ignatius the clergy and the bishops of the 
 Byzantium empire with the government asked for the restoration of 
 Photius, who was related by the marriage of his uncle to the em- 
 peror's family. In reply Pope John VIII. elected to the Papal 
 chair later in 872 restored Photius to full communion of the church, 
 because he had before been excommunicated for his villainy. At 
 the death of St. Ignatius the Pope appointed him to the vacant see 
 of Constantinople. As a council of 318 bishops in 861 had confirm- 
 ed his election, and sent the archbishop Ignatius into exile the 
 reader can imagine the power of the Pope, who restored Ignatius 
 against all those bishops, with the whole power of the empire of 
 Constantine at their back. At that time began the unfortunate 
 division of the Greek schism, by which the East was separated from 
 the West. Often it was healed, but it broke out again by the per- 
 fidy and the bad faith of the schismatics. * The council of Nice held 
 in 325 enacted again the old rule that the archbishops should conse- 
 crate their suffragan bishops, and introduce them into their episco- 
 
 > Concll. Chal. Act. X. ap. Labbe T. Iv. 673, 682. 
 
 ' St. Leo KplRt. cxvll. ad Julian. EpLst. Coens. n. I. et St. Simplicius Epist xvi. ad Acac. 
 
 * St. Leo EpLst. rxll. ad Pulrhor Auk- n. I. &<•. 
 
 * John vlli. Epist. ex cix ad Bazll ap. Labbe T. ix. col 181. 18S. 
 
APPOINTING BISHOPS IN EARLY TIMES. 343 
 
 pal church in the presence of the archpriests, the archdeacons and 
 clergy of the diocese. ' In the Eoman province of Italy of which 
 the Pope is the archbishop, Pope Innocent III. reserved the ex- 
 amination of the candidates for vacant sees to the Papacy. 
 
 From the very beginning of the church the Bishops of Rome 
 watched and supervised the election and the consecration of bish- 
 ops. When they could not do so, they delegated it to the representa- 
 tives of the Holy See, to the patriarchs and archbishops. For that 
 reason some authors in canon law say that in the early church the 
 appointment of bishops was left in the hands of the archbishops. 
 Even the pagan emperors considered that rule of such weight, that 
 when there was a dispute regarding a vacant see, they looked to 
 the Bishop of Rome for a solution of the trouble. When Paul of 
 Samosates was deposed from the see of Antioch and his successor 
 Domnus received the letters from St. Dennis in the year 264 confirm- 
 ing his election in the place of the deposed Paul of Antioch, 
 the latter refused to give up the bishop's house, and the emperor 
 Aurelianus was called upon to settle the case. Although a pagan, 
 the emperor knew so well the customs of the church even in that 
 early time that he decided that the house belonged to the bishop 
 with whom the Bishop of Rome was in communion. This case is 
 given by Eusebius, one of the earliest historians of the church. ^ 
 We must remember that this took place in the year 264, when the 
 ■church was in the midst of a terrible persecution, and that the em- 
 peror and the whole empire was then fighting the church, showing 
 us that even the pagans believed in the supremacy of the Bishop 
 of Rome. 
 
 St. Ambrose tells us that all the bishops of that time were ac- 
 customed to look to the Bishop of Rome for letters confirming 
 their election and consecration to the episcopal office. In one part 
 of his writings he complains that Flavins alone was the only ex- 
 ception to that universal rule of the early church. " If, " before the 
 consecration, the bishops or archbishops could not receive such 
 letters from the Pope, they were very careful after their consecration 
 to go to Rome, or send some one to represent them, and get the 
 blessing of the Pope on their work. " * 
 
 When the troubles of the times of the persecutions would not 
 let them hurry to the feet of Peter's heir, they used to have their 
 names written on the dipfcics of their churches to show their suc- 
 cessors that they ruled the diocese. There were no exceptions 
 even for the great historic sees like Jerusalem, Antioch, Constan- 
 tinople, or Cesarea. The canons of the church and the customs 
 of the early ages required that the archbishops of these great sees 
 at once start for Rome to receive from its bishop jurisdiction, not 
 only in their own diocese, but also over all the bishops of the 
 provinces under them. " They did this in order to tell the Pope 
 
 * Concil. Nic. Can. 71. " Hist. Eccl. L. vll. C. 30. ' St. Ambrose Epist. Ivl. ad Theop. 
 
 * Soz. Hist. Eccl. L. 8. C. 3. Theod. Hist. Eccl. L. v. C 23. 
 
 * St. Simplicius Epist. ad Acac. Labbe iv. c. 10. 35. et St. Horm. Epist. Ixxi. ad Epiph, 
 Ibidem col. 1533. 
 
344 GIVIKQ THE PALLIUM. 
 
 what took place in their provinces and to get from him their letters 
 confirming their jurisdiction. " Our predecessors " sa3's St. 
 Gelasius, ** addressed to the See, where sat Peter the Prince of 
 the apostles, laying before him the beginning of their labors, 
 asking of him strength and force in their work. " ' These great 
 bishops of the early church asked of the Roman Pontiff " authen- 
 tic letters of the Papacy confirming their election to the episcopal 
 office. " » 
 
 On their part the Popes of these early ages gave them the letters 
 as St. Leo says, thus " strengthening these foundations. " ' Pope 
 St. Boniface I. about the year 420 wrote: "No one doubts that 
 Flavins has been received into the grace of communion, which he 
 would never have received if he had not asked by these writings. '* * 
 The great council of Chalcedon published solemnly that: ''The 
 holy and most blessed Pope had conSrmed the episcopacy of the 
 holy and venerable Maxiraus the bishop of the church of Antioch.'"^ 
 This custom was necessary. For the chief and important arch- 
 dioceses, primacies and patriarchates of the early church repre- 
 sented the Roman Pontiff in all the foreign countries over which 
 they ruled, as the branches of the Papacy, because iu those days 
 travelling was difficult and seldom undertaken. 
 
 Therefore in the early church, the jurisdiction of the Pope was 
 confirmed to those, who represented him over the other bishops by 
 apostolic letters, from almost the apostolic age, the authority of 
 Peter was typified by the pallium. Thus we read that in the IV. 
 Council of Constantinople they enacted that the bishops of Old 
 Rome and of New Rome, that is Constantinople, of Antioch and 
 Jerusalem, that the bishops of these sees should be consecrated, 
 as the old custom obtained by the imposition of hands, or by the 
 reception of the pallium from those who had the power. " * As 
 St. Innocent says the pallium aptly represents the office of the 
 " good shepherd, ** and the Pope sends them to the patriarchs, 
 primates and archbishops of the world, as a sign of the part they 
 take with him in the government of the universal church. ^ 
 This was done in the early church as it is to-day, and the patri- 
 archs in their turn gave the pallium to the archbishops under them 
 as the IV. Lateran council says. * 
 
 The difficulties of going direct to the Pope then gave rise ta 
 such customs in the church. For the bishops of the sees near 
 Rome received their consecration from the Pope himself, or from 
 some one whom the Pope appointed to take his place. * But the 
 last remains of the custom allowing the archbishop to first consecrate 
 and then look to the Pope for the confirmation of that act, ended 
 with the decree of Innocent III., because travelling became easier 
 and the times of persecution had passed away in Europe. The 
 
 > St. Gelasius Eplst. xlv. » St. Boniface 1. Eplst. Vad. Ruf. et. Episoopas MacedoD. 6. 
 
 » St. Leo Eplst. Ix. ad Disc. Alex. 
 
 « St. Boniface elected In the year 430. Eplst. xv. ad Bef. n. 6. 
 
 • Concll. Chal. Act. Ix. * Concll. ConsUnt. Att- x. Reg. 17. 
 T De Sac. Altar. Myst. L- I. C. 63. • Can. 5. 
 
 • Innocent III. In Deer. GrBRory IX. L. I. Tit. t1. c. 44. Nihil, est Barlaam. 
 
BISHOPS APPOINTING OTHER BISHOPS. 345 
 
 custom of archbishops, primates and patriarchs consecrating 
 bishops, before they got the permission of the Pope was only a con- 
 cession on the part of the Bishop of Rome. The metropolitans 
 never claimed it as a right. For the office of archbishop &c. is an 
 institution of the ciuirch, a branch of the power of Peter over the 
 other bishops, and it can be taken away at any time by the Pope 
 who gave it. Only the Pope, the bishops and the lower clergy are 
 of divine establishment, and they never can be taken awav by 
 man, for no man can interfere with the works of God. " Of all 
 tie members of mortals, Peter alone can establish others like him- 
 self over the bisiiops, for in the place of Christ, by Christ, he was 
 made their prince. " ' 
 
 Because they could not do otherwise, the Popes allowed the 
 archbishops and the patriarchs to institute bishops in countries 
 far from Rome. When they could the Popes did it directly them- 
 selves. Thus we read that Pope Constantine, when travelling in 
 the East appointed twelve bishops in as many cities. " Pope 
 St. Martin told the bishop of Phihidelphia to appoint bishops in 
 every city depending on the dioceses of Jerusalem and of Antioch.' 
 
 We liave therefore seen the bishops scattered in their dioceses 
 throughout the world, we must now consider them united in coun- 
 cil legislating for the universal church, and that will be the matter 
 of the following chapter, 
 
 1 Maxim. Planud. * Anastas. Biblioth. in Constant. P. P. 
 
 ' St Martin I. Epist. Phidel. 
 
The Bishops Gathered in Council. 
 
 OD the Father dwells not alone in heaven. With him 
 are his Son and Holy Spirit, forming the Council of 
 the mighty Three in One. Before acting in creatures 
 they take council. At the creation of man they counciled to- 
 gether, saying: ''Let us make man to our own image and 
 likeness."' All things God made, he wrought to the image of 
 his divine Son. For having in himself all perfections in an intinite 
 and measureless degree, he could not create anything which would 
 not be like his Image, his Council, his Son, who "'In the begin- 
 ning was with God and the Word was God."' The Son therefore 
 is the Councillor of the Godhead. " I Wisdom dwelled in council 
 and am present in learned thoughts, ... .Council and equity is 
 mine. By me kings rule and lawgivers decree justice. " ' In all 
 his works therefore the Father takes council with his only begotten 
 Son. 
 
 The church the image of the Holy Trinity formed as the model 
 of the mighty Three, the church also has her councils, where the 
 Father of bishops takes council with his sons in the episcopacy of 
 the universal church. When God established the Jewish religion 
 as a preparation for the christians, he told Moses to make the tab- 
 ernacle according to the model shown him on the mount. * Acting 
 on the advice of his father-in-law, Moses appointed councillors 
 over Israel, * while the high-priest never undertook any important 
 matter without first getting their advice. Such was the figure 
 given the christian church, and such has been the custom from 
 the apostolic age. The Son and Holy Spirit are the councillors 
 of the Father. They come forth from the Father. The cardinals 
 are appointed by the Roman Pontiff, for they are his councillors, 
 the cathedral canons are the councillors of the bishop for they 
 are appointed by him, the bishops are the councillors of the Pope, 
 for he creates them. When they assemble from all parts of the 
 world round his throne, they form as it were the venerable congress 
 of the whole church, under the presidency of him their head and 
 father. 
 
 1 Oen. 1. 26. 
 * Exod. XTll. 
 
 » John 1. 1. * Prov. tIU. 12. 18. 14» 15. 16. 
 
 846 
 
 * Exod. XXT. zztL 
 
348 THE FIRST COUNCILS AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 Some knowing no better, think that the councils make new 
 doctrines. But that is not so. For truth, being the image of 
 the Son in the mind of man, it cannot change. As revealed and 
 completed by the coming, of the Son, these supernatural truths 
 must remain the same as in the apostolic days, for they form the 
 constitution of the church, which Christ alone established and 
 only he can change them. 
 
 A council is a meeting of the bishops called by their head the 
 Roman Pontiff, who in person or by his legates presides over them. 
 They meet to make laws and to legislate for the churches under 
 them. But they also meet to take council together, to pray with 
 and for each other, to foster charity and brotherly love, and to 
 unite as the successors of the apostles, as they did in the cenacle, 
 the upper chamber belonging to the mother of St. Mark where 
 the Holy Ghost descended on the apostles.' The apostles them- 
 selves give us the first example of a council, for we read that they 
 often united in the upper ciiamber." While in council the Holy 
 Ghost came down on them in the form of tongues of fire." Be- 
 fore their death they held four councils at Jerusalem, which meet- 
 ings became the type and the model of all the future councils of 
 the church. Again they came together at the death and burial of 
 the Virgin Mother of their Lord. St. Paul also held a council. 
 For "sending from Miletus to Ephesus, he called the ancients of 
 the church....'' and said* "Take heed to yourselves and to the 
 whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops to 
 rule the church, which he hath purchased with his own blood."* 
 Councils therefore are not new in the church. They proclaim 
 again the doctrines of the church held from the very beginning. 
 Christ being the source and the fountain head, because from him 
 through the apostles, come all the teachings and doctrines in tlie 
 church. For all the bishops, priests and Popes altogether could 
 not make a single new doctrine of the church. 
 
 While the church in unchangable in her doctrines, she is not so 
 regarding her discipline. For discipline relates to the way of ad- 
 ministpring the church, and she regulates her way of adapting her- 
 self to the various customs, manners, nations, tribes and peoples 
 of the world. As the people change from country to country and 
 from age to age, so the church changes her own laws to suit tiiese 
 changed conditions of men. That is discipline. Councils are 
 called then mostly to define doctrines when attacked, and to make 
 disciplinary laws for the better carrying out of church work when 
 the needs of the people require it. But no new doctrines can be 
 manufactured by any council. 
 
 Let us understand the church in her councils. Having been 
 made as an image of the Holy Trinity, the church shows us the 
 likeness of the mighty Three in One in her councils. The Pope 
 has his council, the bishops of tlie world. They are for him 
 
 > Acts 11. "Acta of the Apostles vUl. 14 ; xl. 1-2 ; ill. 2-3 ; xv. 2-3(). Gal. U. 2, 9. 
 
 » Acts 11. * Acta XX. 17-28. 
 
THE bishops' titles TO THEIR DIOCESES. 349 
 
 as the Son is for the Father, the image of himself, coming forth 
 from him by his appointment. They never separate from him, but 
 rule their dioceses in and for him, and united to him they form 
 the grand presbytery of the universal church, as the priests of the 
 diocese compose the presbytery of the diocese. Thus we see that 
 the mystery of the church penetrates to each and every part and 
 ■each part is a copy and an image of the whole church of Christ. 
 
 Christ first founded the universal church in the persons of the 
 apostles, and they erected the dioceses over which they presided 
 as bishops, ordaining priests to aid them in that work of their 
 ministry. But they formed the diocese according to the organ- 
 ization of the universal church, and when later the parishes were 
 formed out of the diocese they then became an image of the 
 latter. Thus we see that each church is a reproduction of the 
 church universal the image of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 The bishops of the universal church united in council, compose 
 the congress of the universal church, as the college of cardinals 
 form the senate of the Roman diocese, as the cathedral chapter 
 makes the senate of the diocese. But because the bishops partake 
 in the communion of episcopal orders, the bishops first of all be- 
 long to the universal church, as the cardinals belong to the Roman 
 diocese, and as the members of the cathedral chapters belong to the 
 diocese. But because of their titles, as bishops of certain dioceses 
 they rule these dioceses. Whence their episcopal consecration 
 gives them a subordinate power over the whole church, while 
 their titles as bishops of certain dioceses gives them power to rule 
 these dioceses as their own. Such it is in the universal church, 
 and we see an image of the same in the diocese, the copy of the 
 church universal. Ordination gives a clergyman tlie right of be- 
 ing numbered with the clergy of the diocese, and his appoint- 
 ment to a church of the diocese gives him the right to be the pas- 
 tor of that church, and to rule it in his own name, guided by the 
 discipline of the diocese and according to the laws of the universal 
 church. 
 
 Thus episcopal consecration gives to all bishops the right of 
 belonging to the universal church, making them all equal, and 
 in episcopal orders one is not above another, for they all are com- 
 plete priests, and all bishops have the same power over the real 
 body and blood of Jesus Christ. But founded on holy orders, we 
 find the title, giving the right to rule a certain diocese and in this 
 the bishops are not equal. For because of his title as Bishop of 
 Rome, the Pope is over all the churches of the world, while other 
 bishops rule not simple dioceses but archdioceses and patriarchal 
 sees, and in these things the bishops are not equal, and this differ- 
 ence of authority among them comes not from holy orders but 
 from jurisdiction, because the Pope with the fulness of jurisdic- 
 tion erected some dioceses over others, giving the bishops of these 
 sees the titles of archbishops, primates or patriarchs. 
 
 Therefore as a priest may belong to no parish but to the whole 
 
350 THE CONGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 diocese, when he has charge of no parish, thus a bishop may be- 
 long to no diocese but to the whole church when he has no title. 
 But because of the dignity of the episcopal order each bishop should 
 have the title of some episcopal city as well as episcopal consecra- 
 tion, and in theearly church no priest or bishop was advanced to holy 
 orders, without giving him the title of a diocese or of a church. 
 Whence the reader can see that the power of the bishops over the 
 universal church diifers from the authority by which they rule 
 their dioceses, the great parishes within the universal church. 
 For this reason St. Ignatius calls the bishops: "The pastors of the 
 catholic church."' That St. Paul meant when he said to the bish- 
 ops he had established: "Take heed to yourselves and to the whole 
 flock, wherein the Holy Ghost has placed you to rule the church 
 of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.'" 
 
 The mystery of the whole episcopacy of the world, united with 
 their head the Bishop of Rome appears above all in an ecumenical 
 council, where they assemble with the Pope as their chairman, 
 and in that meeting, the most august which can assemble, there 
 the wonders of the episocpacy appears in all its strength, beauty 
 and perfection. In such a congress or legislature of the church 
 universal, under the presidency of the Roman Pontiff, there the 
 mystery of the kingdom of God shines forth with all its brightness 
 before the eyes of mankind. Let us stop and study it more in 
 detail. But first we should raise our thoughts to heaven, to the 
 Holy Persons of God, of which the church is the image. 
 
 In heaven the Father gives all his divinity to the Son, and all 
 the Son has he receives from his Father. The nature of the God- 
 head is in the Wisdom of the Father, the Light, the Truth and 
 every perfection of the Father, the Son receives all from the Father, 
 and the church brings forth images of these perfections in God, 
 but marked with the imperfections of created things. In the 
 council, all the bishops being equal in holy orders, they are not nor 
 can they be supreme in authority, or as teachers of faith and momls. 
 What they have not they cannot give, and as they have not au- 
 thority over the universal church, they do not elect their chairman 
 or their head. The Pope is their head, as the Father is the head 
 of the Son, and as the Father gives all he has to the Son, so the 
 Pope the Father of bishops gives the bishops light, power, strength 
 and divine influence. 
 
 Therefore an ecumenical council to have force, must have 
 these three marks: it must be called by the Pope; he must preside 
 over it either personally or by his legate, and he must confirm 
 the decrees. If one or more of these conditions be absent the 
 decrees or laws of the council have no force. As in the Deity all 
 comes from the head, the Father, so in the church all comes from 
 the head of the church the Pope. Without him no council can 
 be held, he or one representing him is always the head and the 
 chairman, and without him they could have no presiding officer. 
 
 > Eplst. ad Phlladel. ad Ephes. ad Trail. Llv. I. Cap. v. vll. se<'. HI. » AcU xx. 28. 
 
THE CHAIEMAif OF THE CONGRESS. 351 
 
 For the bishops being equal in holy orders, they could not choose? 
 a chairman in the place of the Pope or in place of his representa- 
 tive the patriarch, primate or archbishop or the papal delegate. 
 The bishops who would unite without their head could not hold 
 a council. For when united in such a council of bishops would 
 be no greater united together than they were when separated. 
 Now the bishops scattered throughout the world have but a rad- 
 ical, unformed and incomplete authority over the universal 
 church, and united without their head, the Pope, they would 
 have no more and no less than the same power. The presence 
 then of the bishop of Rome completes their radical and incomplete 
 authority over the church universal, because he is the Bishop of 
 the whole world, the Pastor of Christ's sheep-fold to whom Christ 
 said : " Feed my lambs Feed my sheep." From this appears how 
 falsely conclude some, who think that the bishops of the Avhole 
 world could meet in council, depose a Pope, make laws indepen- 
 dently of him, reform his decrees and judge him or his actions. 
 
 The Pope being the bishop of bishops, he is the head and chair- 
 man of the council. He confirms the decrees, ratifies their decisions, 
 vetoes their laws, and can reject the bills or measures which he does 
 not approve. In doing this he uses the form: " The whole coun- 
 cil approving, " not that the council approves but because he ap- 
 proves. These words show that he and the council are one, and 
 united as the members of the body with their head, it shows 
 that there is no division among them. The force and authority 
 of the decrees of the council come, therefore, not from the bishops; 
 composing it, but from the Pope calling them together, presiding 
 over them, and promulgating the statutes and decrees. "The 
 Holy See is of the Roman Church, by whose authority and sanction 
 allsynodsand holy councilsare strengthened and receive power.* 
 
 Again we must consider the united bishops sitting in this au- 
 gust assembly of that congress of the whole christian world. AH 
 the bishops of the world must be called to the council. If some stay 
 away, because of sickness etc., yet by divine right all can come, and 
 no power on earth can take away that right from any bishop in 
 union with the Roman Pontiff. Every one with episcopal conse- 
 cration, who is not excommunicated can come and take his seat. 
 For they do not come as the representatives of their dioceses, but as 
 the senators and the pastors of the universal church. Whence 
 those bishops who rule flourishing dioceses, those bishops who 
 have the title of dioceses now overrun by the pagans, bishops- 
 without titles, all without an exception have a right to sit in the 
 council. Those who would hold a contrary opinion do not ap- 
 pear to understand the nature and the organization of the church of 
 Christ. The bishops sit in council, because they belong to and 
 are the pastors of the universal church. For the Lord Jesus, 
 first founded the church universal in the persons of the apostles, 
 and they belonged to the universal church founded by him before 
 
 > St. Nicholas I. Epist. aPhotiis. Lab. 
 
352 THE MEMBEES OF THE C0XGKES8. 
 
 they become the pastors of any particular churches or dioceses. 
 We read in the Acts of the apostles that they held the first uni- 
 versal councils of the church at Jerusalem before their separation, 
 when only one of them, St. James first bishop of Jerusalem, was 
 :a bishop of any particular church or diocese.' The apostles sat 
 in that first council by right of their pastorate over the whole 
 •church. 
 
 No one but a bishop who has received episcopal consecration 
 -can sit in the universal or ecumenical councils of the church, be- 
 cause only the bishops are the senators or pastors of the universal 
 ■church. To them in the persons of the apostles the Lord said: 
 •*' Going forth therefore teach ye all nations."' By that he made 
 them the spiritual teachers, the doctors and the rulers of all 
 the nations of the earth. The reader will therefore understand 
 that the church is not a reunion of all bishops representing the 
 dioceses of the world. The church was founded by our Lord in 
 the persons of the apostles before there was a diocese in existence, 
 and therefore the bishops sit in council, not as the heads and repre- 
 sentatives and spokesmen of the dioceses, but as the senators, pas- 
 torsand bishops of this same universal church founded by our Lord. 
 By divine right given them by our Lord himself, the bishops teach 
 the nations of the world, the matters of faith revealed to the apos- 
 tles by Jesus Christ himself. The decisions of the council of the 
 church are to be obeyed as the voice of God himself, for Christ 
 said: " Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation 
 of the world.'" 
 
 As the bishops meet in council not as the pastors of their dio- 
 ceses, but as the senators of the universal church, it follows that 
 they are all equal as judges of faith and morals. From that 
 it follows also that the votes of the patriarchs of the venerable sees 
 of Alexandria, of Antioch or of Constantinople, have no more 
 weight than the votes of the bishops of the most obscure dioceses, 
 or even of those bishops who rule no dioceses. In the early 
 church that principle was not clearly understood. In the council 
 of Chalcedon, frightened at the tyranny and persecutions of 
 Dioscorus, some of the bishops of Egypt pretended that the patri- 
 archs of Alexandria could cast their votes for them, and claimed the 
 right to abstain from voting, till Hierarchus archbishop of Alex- 
 andria had voted, saying: "We wait the vote of our blessed arch- 
 bishop, and we ask your kindness to let us wait for the vote of 
 ■our president, for we follow him in all things. For the Holy 
 Fathers gave this rule, that all Egypt shoull follow the archbish- 
 op of the great name of Alexandria, and that nothing should be 
 done by any bishop subject to him without his consent. '* At 
 once the whole council cried out against the bishops of Egypt, 
 and they.had to vote in their turn. * The voice of antiquity 
 tells us that the bishops in ancient councils did not vote because 
 
 1 Acts of tbe Apost. * Matb. utIU. 19. * Hatli. xzrUi. 90. 
 
 * Concil. Cbalc SesB. IV. Labbe T. It. ool. 518. 
 
BISHOPS OF ANCIElfT SEES IN THE COUNCIL. '663 
 
 of the sees they occupied, but because of their episcopal diguity 
 and consecration To give them any prominence or attach more 
 weiglit to the vote of any bishop, because of the prominence of 
 liis episcopal see, is to lay the seeds of heresy and division. 
 This we see in the case of the impious Photius, archbishop of Con- 
 stantinople. Constantinople being the seat of the Greek empire,. 
 its bishop became very prominent over the bishops of the whole 
 East. They all looked to him for direction. Although for 
 many centuries the episcopal chair of Constantinople had been; 
 occupied by saints, still when Photius fell into schism all the 
 bishops of the empire, who looked to Constantinople as to their 
 patriarchs and archbishops, they nearly all followed him into the 
 heresy of the Greek schism. Their followers are known to-day as 
 the Greek schismatics. Ethiopia and Egypt followed the arch- 
 bishop of Alexandria into the schism of the Copts. The same 
 can be said of the christians subject to the patriarchs of An- 
 tioch. They now form the schismatics of the East. Only the 
 Bishop of Rome has any superiority over the other bishops, and 
 that comes from his position as Bishop of Rome, heir of Peter and 
 supreme Pontiff over the whole church. 
 
 Yet we must admit an exception in the case of one of the old and 
 venerable apostolic dioceses of the world, where the church has 
 flourished for many centuries from apostolic times. A bishop of 
 such a diocese is the witness of the old traditions of his church. As 
 the bishop is the head of the diocese, he carries in his person all 
 the perfections of the body of the people, his church and spouse, 
 and therefore he can give a better testimony of the traditions 
 of his church and people, than any bishop of a newer diocese. 
 As the faith of the apostles comes down to us, not only by holy 
 Scriptures, but also by tradition, so the words of such a bishop 
 will have great weight in the council. In the same way the 
 bishops of Jerusalem, of Alexandria, of Antioch, of Ephesus and 
 of the old apostolic sees were better witnessess of the faith of the 
 apostles transmitted by their churches, than other bishops of re- 
 cently erected dioceses. The bishop of a people disturbed by 
 false doctrines, by heresies and by the teachings of infidels, will 
 be a better Judge of the needs of the church to remedy these 
 troubles, than the bishops of a diocese where exist no difficulties 
 of this kind. But all these relate to the discussion and not to 
 the decisions of the council. In deciding the bishops are all 
 equal, but in discussing matters before arriving at the conclusion, 
 they are not equal, for they may be of unequal learning, elo- 
 quence, experience, &c. The bishops are entirely free both in 
 discussing and in voting in all the coancils of the church. Thus 
 when the decree of infallibility of the Pope was defined in the IV. 
 chapter of the Vatican council, all voted for it but two bishops, 
 who voted against it, thinking that the time had not yet come 
 for defining that dogma held from the very days of the apostles. 
 
 As tlie Pope is the head and infallible guide of the churchy his 
 
354 THE GREAT COUNCILS. 
 
 confirmation alone is required that the decrees of any council 
 may be legitimate and binding in conscience. Therefore the 
 number of bishops, whether there be few or many at the council, 
 makes no difference regarding the decrees. If they were con- 
 firmed by the Pope, that is enough to make them binding on the 
 whole christian world. Following this rule, we find that many 
 of the councils, which are now considered of the highest weight, 
 were at first but provincial or national meetings, or attended by 
 few of the bishops. They were afterwards confirmed by the Popes, 
 and that made them binding throughout the whole christian church. 
 In thus confirming national or provincial councils, the Pope 
 shows his power as the head of the church universal by giving author- 
 ity and strength to these partial assemblies, and sending their de- 
 crees outside the boundaries of the jurisdiction of the bishops, 
 which compose them, and extending them to the whole church by 
 virtue of his supreme pontificate. To him alone the Vicar of 
 Christ it belongs to give force, sanction and authority to these 
 laws, because from him flows the life of Jesus down on all the 
 church his body. 
 
 Many examples of history could be cited where the councils 
 were not universal, or they were formed of the episcopacy of the 
 church, or labored under a defect or they were incomplete till rem- 
 edied by the solemn confirmation of the supreme and visible 
 head of Christ's body the Pope. Thus the second council of 
 Constantinople was not called by the Pope, nor presided over by 
 him or his legates, neither did any bishops attend beside the prel- 
 ates of the East. But the Eoman Pontiff afterwards confirmed 
 the decrees of this council, and that was enough to supply the 
 above mentioned defects, for they have since been considered as 
 binding on the whole christian world. Although numerous coun- 
 cils were held in the early church, where all the bishops were 
 called, and over which the Popes presided, either in person or by 
 their legates, and these assemblies have great weight in the church, 
 yet because of the importance of their decrees, the four councils 
 of Nice against the Arians in 325, of Constantinople against the 
 Macedonians in 381, of Eplieseus against the Nestorians in 
 431, and of Chalcedon against Eutyches and Marcian in 451, 
 these have been held in such esteem as to be compared to tlie four 
 Gospels. 
 
 Up to the present time nineteen ecumenical councils have been 
 held in the church, as well as forty-one remarkable particular 
 councils. 
 
 But each and every council presided over and ratified by the 
 Roman Pontiff as Pope, their decrees relating to faith and morals 
 were considered as infallible, the same as coming from Christ 
 himself. Such are the councils of Sardica, the IV. council 
 of Rome held in the year 382, that of Bari presided over by 
 Urban II., where was settled a difficulty regarding St. Anselm 
 archbishop of Canterbury. The councils may be divided into two 
 
HOW COUNCILS EXTEND TO THE WHOLE CHUECH. 355 
 
 classes, those which were presided over by the Pope, as Bishop of 
 the whole church, and those assemblies where he sat not as Pope, 
 but as patriarch of the West, as primate of Italy, or as archbish- 
 op of the Koman province. In the councils of the first rank, 
 shine forth the mystery of the church in all the splendors of the 
 whole episcopate, united to their head and receiving all their life 
 from him. 
 
 The Greek schism caused by the rebellion of Photius archbishop 
 of Constantinople, and the total destruction of the Greek empire 
 by the capture of Constantinople by the Mohammedans in 1453 
 put an end to the great unions of the East and the West, or of 
 the Latin and the Greek speaking nations. But the church still 
 continued her legislative enactments and decrees by the councils 
 she held in the West. The Greeks, having been cut off from the 
 head by their rebellion, and by the devastations of the Turkish 
 empire, they belong no more to the body of Christ, for they 
 separated themselves from the head the Papacy. Before this 
 time many general councils called Eoman councils had been held, 
 but from this epoch they began to disappear. They had been at- 
 tended chiefly by Latin bishops of the West or European prelates, 
 while the great ecumenical meetings were composed of all the 
 bishops of the whole christian world. We do not include in any 
 of these meetings the councils of the bishops of Italy under the 
 Pope as their primate, or the numerous councils of the Roman 
 province presided over by the Pope as archbishop of his province, 
 such as Pope Benedict XIII. held with his suffragan bisnops of 
 the Roman province. These legislative bodies, not belonging 
 to the universal church, or presided over by the Pope as head of 
 church and Vicar of Christ, their statutes only bound the dioceses 
 under these bishops Avho were called, and not the whole body of 
 Christ, unless the Pope extended them to the whole church by a 
 positive decree. Thus as a tradition of the Roman councils, the 
 Pope at the canonization of the saints calls to take part with him 
 in the ceremonies all the bishops present in Rome. That has the 
 appearance of a council. ' Thus the first council of Constanti- 
 nople was not an ecumenical or even a general gathering of the 
 bishops of the world. But later it acquired the authority of an 
 ecumenical council, and its decrees were extended to the whole 
 church by a decree of the Pope after it was held. In the same 
 way the council of Orange was but a provincial meeting, but its 
 decrees regarding faith were approved by Pope Boniface^ and thus 
 he extended them to the whole church, because it condemned the 
 Pelagians and Semi- Pelagians and their peculiar errors regarding 
 free will and grace. 
 
 We have written not only regarding ecumenical but also general 
 
 and provincial councils. Let us understand it better. The 
 
 church is the mystic body of Christ, receiving all her life, grace, 
 
 strength and movements from him her head. He gives all his 
 
 * Benedict, xlv. de Beatif. et Canon. Sanct. L. I. C. xxxiv. 
 
356 COUNCILS THAT ARE KOT UNIVERSAL. 
 
 powers to the Pope his Vicar, from whom all jurisdiction flows 
 down upon the rest of the body. As in any living organism all 
 life comes from the head, as the branches of every tree live on 
 the trunk, so live the branches of the vine of Christ — for he is the 
 vine we are the branches. All men must be united to the Papacy 
 to spiritually live. We have spoken of the patriarchs, the pri- 
 mates and the archbishops the branches of the supremacy of Pe- 
 ter. These are as so many little popes. They represent the Pope 
 presiding o'ver their suffragan bishops as the branches of the Pap- 
 acy. To them by direction of the Pope it also belongs to call a 
 council of the bishops under them. There again in that solemn 
 assembly of prelates we find: "the form of Peter," the type, the 
 image of the universal church. There the bishops of the patriarch- 
 ate, of the whole nation or of the province united under their 
 chief, from whom they received the impulse by which they hold 
 the council. There we see again an image of an ecumenical coun- 
 cil of the church universal. The presiding officer of these meet- 
 ings is the archbishop, if it be a provincial council, the pri- 
 mate or legate of the Pope if it is a council of the whole nation, 
 or the patriarch if a council of all the bishops of a patriarchate, 
 the same as the Pope presides over all the bishops of the universal 
 church. The bishops do not appoint a chairman, because 
 they have no authority one over the other, as they are all equal in 
 holy orders, whence authority over them must come from Peter 
 in his successor. 
 
 As the Pope either in person or by his delegate presides over 
 the bishops of the whole world, a likeness of Jesus over his church, 
 so the patriarch, as the image of the Pope, presides over the bish- 
 ops of all the dioceses and archdioceses subject to his patriarchate, 
 and under his care. That is a council of a part of the church, 
 composing only the prelates of that part of the world, over which 
 the patriarch presides. The dignity of the chairman, the numer- 
 ous episcopacy, and the extent of territory ruled by the assembled 
 bishops make it the next to an ecumenical council. But in ac- 
 knowledging the right of the patriarch to preside over them, they 
 see in him not his own personal authority, but that of the Pope, 
 whom he represents. The Pope being one with Jesns Christ, the 
 Lord himself is their chairman in the person of their patriarch. 
 When the bishops of a whole nation meet in council the primate 
 presides over them in the name of Peter. When a provincial 
 council is called, the presiding officer is tiie archbishop. There- 
 fore the bishops do not choose their chairman, as is always done 
 in political meetings, for the people have the right to choose their 
 chairman, for they rule themselves. But in the church all having 
 been regulated by our Lord at the time he was on earth, the whole 
 machinery of its government, is provided by the common laws of 
 its divine constitution. When the patriarch, primate or arch- 
 bishop dies or is absent, the council is deprived of the head pro- 
 vided for it by the common law. The law of the church provides- 
 
THE CHAIRMAN IN PROVINCIAL COUNCILS. 357 
 
 that incase the archbishop, primate or patriarch representing the 
 Pope be absent, the authority falls back on all the bishops equally 
 to supply a chief. By the common law and custom the presiding 
 bishop will be oldest in consecration. By priority of episcopal 
 years lie is the dean of the assembled college, because he is the 
 senior bishop. But he is not their real and natural head, because 
 he has not received the pallium or the appointment of the Pope 
 by which he represents or heads a branch of the Papacy. His 
 brethren of the episcopacy have been deprived of their father by 
 death or accident, and he only supi)lies for the time being his place. 
 Somewhat in the same way the priests of a diocese, the adminis- 
 trator, the cathedral chapter, or the vicar-general supply the ab- 
 sence of their bishop when the latter dies or is absent. Thus the 
 divine life of the body of Christ flows from the heart of the 
 church, the Papacy, thi'ough all the channels and arteries unto the 
 uttermost ends of the earth, giving life and grace and salvation 
 unto all in union witn Rome through Peter and up to Christ. 
 
 When decrees of these councils relating to faith and morals have 
 been formed, they must be sent to Rome for review, because to the 
 Roman Pontiff it belongs to define matters relating to faith and 
 morals. He alone is infallible in faith and morals, and not the bish- 
 ops separated from him. He examines them to see that these 
 decrees of councils have no false doctrines, before they are promul- 
 gated to the clergy and the people of the regions under these 
 bishops. For these reasons the decrees of any councils are never 
 published till they have been reviewed by the Popes, or the congre- 
 gation appointed for that purpose. 
 
 When all the priests of a diocese assemble together under their 
 bishop in an assembly of the diocese they make laws for the diocese. 
 It is a kind of a council, but it is called a diocesan synod. The 
 decrees of such a synod relate mostly to matters of discipline, the 
 administration of church property, the sacraments, &c. Not touch- 
 ing faith and morals, the statutes of diocesan synods are not sent 
 to Rome for review. For the Pope wishes to leave each diocese 
 free in the administration of its home government or internal af- 
 fairs. In the case of a diocesan synod, the diocese being the image 
 of the universal church, of which the Pope is the universal bishop, 
 the bishop presides in the diocese as tlie Pope in the church uni- 
 versal, and of which the diocese and the parishes are the image. 
 Whence as the bishops are the pastors of the church universal, and 
 in a council they all meet under the presidency of their bishop the 
 supreme Pontiff, so in the diocese, which is a copy of the whole 
 church, the pastors of the diocese meet under the presidency of 
 their bishop, although they are not the judges of faith and morals. 
 The bishop makes laws and enacts statutes for the territory sub- 
 ject to him. As in a councilof the bishops of the universal church, 
 the whole assembly receives its impulse, strength and power from 
 the head, the Pope, so in an ecumenical council the Pope or his 
 representative presides but if a provincial, it is the primate or arch- 
 
358 THE EPISCOPAL DEANS. 
 
 bishop. From the Pope must come all movement and authority 
 in any council. Without his sanction either personally or through 
 his legate there is no council of bishops. Thus we see that the 
 church like a living organism reproduces itself and brings forth its 
 images in every part of its vast extent. 
 
 Ancient history offers us many examples of councils, which ex- 
 plains the mystery of the church we have been describing in her 
 councils. We will cite but a few of them for want of space. We 
 have said that the North of Africa was subject to the archbishop of 
 Carthage. Under him were once six ecclesiastical provinces. The 
 bishops of each province often assembled in council. Not having 
 among them their metropolitan, the archbishop of Carthage, 
 they fell back on the common law, and appointed as their chair- 
 man their dean, who by ordination was senior bishop. He took 
 the name of primate according to the customs of these countries. 
 In some countries such prelates were called deans of the episcopal 
 college. In other places they were known as prothonotaries. 
 These primates of Africa were in no way compared to the primates 
 of other parts of the world. For while the former presided over 
 councils only composed of the bishops of a province, when the 
 archbishop M^as absent, the latter presided over all the bishops of 
 many provinces, or of a whole nation, because they were the arch- 
 bishops of the oldest or chief see in the nation. In Numidia, the 
 primacy usually belonged to the see of Cirta or of Constantine, 
 which never became the seat of an archbishop. Yet this rule 
 regarding the senior bishop being the dean and primate in the 
 episcopal college, was not always followed in the ancient church of 
 Africa. For the primacy was sometimes attached to certain promi- 
 nent sees of the ecclesiastical provinces. Thus we read that the 
 bishop of London was the dean of the ecclesiastical province of the 
 archdiocese of Canterbury, the bishop of Anton was the dean of 
 the province of Lyons in ancient France. The most celebrated of 
 these deaneries is that of Ostia in the Pontifical province of Rome 
 of which the Pope is the archbishop. For that reason the bishop 
 of Ostia has the right of consecrating the Pope, if the latter is not 
 already a bishop on his election, and he crowns him with the tiara, 
 the triple Papal crown, because he is the dean of the cardinals with 
 the rank of chief bishop in the college of cardinals. 
 
 The councils presided over by the archbishops of Carthage were 
 called plenary councils. Following that ancient custom, the coun- 
 cils of Baltimore, composed of all the bishops of this country and 
 presided over by the archbishops of Baltimore are called plenary 
 or national councils, although the church knows no race or nation, 
 because national divisions and distinctions of peoples into nations, 
 come from climatic and natural causes influencing them for many 
 generations after they came from the race of Adam. The church 
 tends to unite them all again into the race of Christ, which is the 
 christian church. These councils of Africa composed of the bish- 
 ops of many provinces must be considered as so many provincial 
 
HISTORIC PROVINCIAL COUNCILS. ?/59 
 
 gatherings under the great archbishops of ancient Carthage. From 
 what has been said, it will appear that the deans or prothonotaries as 
 they were called, or primates of the African churches only presided 
 in the absence of the metropolitan, the regular head of the council 
 and not in their own name, as the latter alone represented St. Peter. 
 
 The councils of ancient Carthage, especially the first tour, were 
 very celebrated in history. It was at the third and fourth councils of 
 Carthage that the apocrypha] gospels were rejected from the Bible, 
 and there the canon of the holy books as we have them now was 
 finally established, as well as many measures, which the church fol- 
 lows even till our day. The ancient city of Toledo, Spain, as well 
 as Orleans in France saw numerous celebrated councils meet with- 
 in their walls. May we hope that Baltimore in future ages may 
 become as famous for the wisdom and far reaching utility of the 
 statutes of the plenary councils which will meet within the walls 
 of its noble cathedral. 
 
 The archbishops, primates and patriarchs, who in the name of 
 the Pope, and as his representatives, preside over these provincial or 
 partial councils, shed down their powers on the bishops under them 
 as the Pope himself. They publish the decrees with the words 
 " the council approving.^' There again appears the authority of 
 Peter over all bishops. For that authority and supremacy over 
 the assembled prelates, comes from Peter through the Papacy to the 
 presiding archbishop, who as holding that supremacy over them 
 sits as another Peter. St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, 
 held that it properly belonged to the one archbishop presiding 
 over the council as the representative of the Peter to define and 
 interpret the decrees. But this does not take place when the 
 archbishop or apostolic delegate being absent, the dean or sen- 
 ior bishop of the assembled episcopacy takes his place. For the 
 latter has no part in the supremacy of Peter over the other bishops, 
 the same as the patriarch, primate or archbishop. The common 
 law and ]iot the direct act of the Pope has made him chairman. 
 The archbishop, primate and patriarch, when their office is at- 
 tached to the see they occupy and ex officio come from the direct 
 appointment of the Holy See, and they represent the Pope in 
 presiding over councils. The archbishop is the head of the 
 ecclesiastical province, and the bishops their subjects, are called 
 their suffragans, and they preside as metropolitans. All this was 
 determined by the Pope when he erected their episcopal metropoli- 
 tan sees. We see at once that their whole authority depends on the 
 Pope, the successor of Peter, to whom Christ gave to "■ feed his 
 lambs and feed his sheep." 
 
 As the Holy See marks out the boundaries of the ecclesiastical 
 provinces, and nominates the city which will be the seat of the met- 
 ropolitan, and the bishops of these sees will be afterwards archbish- 
 ops, primates or patriarchs. But no bishops of other provinces have 
 any right to sit in a council of that province. Other bishops may 
 
 ' ConcU. Medlolan. in the year 1565. Concil. Burdigal, in 1624, &c. 
 
360 WHAT BISHOPS SIT IN PROVINCIAL COUNCILS. 
 
 come and take part in the deliberations, hear the matters discussed,, 
 but only the prelates of the province have a vote. History offers 
 us many examples of this, but we will not take up space giving 
 them. Archbishop Lynch of Toronto in this way sat in the III. 
 Plenary council of Baltimore in J884, but he did not vote, as he did 
 not belong to the United States. 
 
 Ecumenical councils, being composed of all the bishops of the 
 world, they extend to the whole church. But national and pro- 
 vincial councils, being formed of the bishops of these regions, 
 their decrees do not extend beyond the confines of the the prov- 
 inces of the bishops who sit in them, because their authority and 
 jurisdiction does not extend beyond the dioceses over which they 
 preside as bishops. The bishops being the pastors of the universal 
 church, in a council of the province, they exercise their powers as^ 
 bishops of the whole church only over the province, of which they 
 compose the episcopacy. Having the titles of bishops of cities of 
 that province, by virtue of which they govern their dioceses, in a. 
 council they exercise the common rights of the episcopal order, by 
 which they are bishops or pastors of the universal church. By 
 this episcopal communion, they apply the power they have over the 
 whole church to the province of which their dioceses form a part. 
 But while they are the bishops and pastors of the whole church, 
 the Pope is their bishop, as they are in their turn bishops over their 
 priests. Therefore the mystery of Peter spreads over the world, ex- 
 tends to the whole church, binding all into the most perfect and 
 harmonious whole. There are wheels without and wheels within, 
 all moving with the most wonderful harmony, but the whole ma- 
 chinery put in motion by the main wheel the Papacy, while this^ 
 was first set in motion by the authority Christ gave to Peter. 
 
 The bishops sit in councils, not because they are bishops of cer- 
 tain dioceses, that is because of their titles to these dioceses, but 
 because they are members of the whole college of bishops scattered 
 throughout the world, united to their head the Pope, through 
 their archbishops, primates and patriarchs. The limits of the 
 dioceses having been marked by the Holy See, the bishops of a- 
 province sit in a provincial council. As the bishops are known by 
 their titles, as prelates of certain dioceses, so tnese titles give 
 them the right to sit in these particular councils. But in former 
 times, thev were not so restrained. We read that St. Hilary, bish- 
 op of Poitiers, when in exile from his native France, sat in the 
 councils of the bishops of Asia assembled at Selucia, after he had 
 subscribed to the faith proclaimed by the Nicene council as was- 
 customary in these ancient times. ' 
 
 The councils composed of the bishops of a province, of a country, 
 or of a patriarchate held under their regular patriarchs, primates 
 or archbishops are the regular councils of the church. 1 he com- 
 mon or canon law of the church provides, that they should be held 
 frequently, " for the reformation of morals, the correcting of ex- 
 
 • Sulp. Sev. 
 
WHAT BISHOPS SIT IN PEOVINCIAL COUNCILS. 361 
 
 ■cesses, the ending of controversies,'^ and for other things stated in 
 the canons. Whence they are presided over by the metropolitans 
 or if prevented, by the senior bishop. Such councils should be 
 frequently held. " Within three years from the last they should 
 hold another council."* An extraordinary council is formed not 
 of the ordinary province, nation or patriarchate, but of many prov- 
 inces united together by order of the Holy Father and under him 
 or his legate as presiding chairman. They legislate for the special 
 needs of the church in that part of the world. Such were the 
 councils of ancient France under Pope St. Boniface," the councils 
 of Rheims ' and of Paris * held under Pope Sts. Leo IX., and 
 those of Pictavia, Wirtzeburg, Avingnon &c. under Pope St. 
 Oregory VII.' The third council of Baltimore was called by or- 
 der of Leo XIII. under archbishop Gibbons of Baltimore, after- 
 wards a cardinal. It was an extraordinary meeting of the bishops 
 of the United States to remedy the evils which threatened the 
 church in this country. The church in the United States and in 
 fact in about all English speaking countries is still in a missionary 
 state not yet having its complete organization. 
 
 The Apostolic Constitutions say that a provincial council should 
 be held twice each year." But while that might have been done 
 in the early days, it is scarcely practical now. That was also 
 given in the councils of Nice ' and of Chalcedon.* 
 
 ' CdDcil. Trident. Sess. xxiv. de Ref. Cap. 11. 
 
 ^ Concil. German. 1. apud. Labbe T. vl. col. 1555. Concil. Liptin Ibidem col. 1537. Con- 
 cil. German. Hi. Ibidem col. 15.55. 
 
 ' Conoil. Rhem. Labbe T. ix. col. 103?. ■» Concil. Paris Ibidem col. 10.50. 
 
 5 Concil. Pictav. i. Ibidem col. 1046. Concil. Pictav. 11. Ibidem col. 1078. Concil. Wirtze- 
 burg. Ibidem col. 385. Concil. Avenion. Ibidem col. 391, &c. 
 
 • Const. Apostol. n. 38. ' Concil. Nlc. can. 5. » Concil. Chalcidon. can. 19. 
 
Mm 
 
 ;.A.: ill' . •ii'^'B^; 
 
 V 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 i/ 
 
 ,in 
 
 A 
 
 History of the Diocese. 
 
 ^JT his vision of heaven, St. 
 2Tli John saw the triumphant 
 (^ church of the saints and an- 
 gels made perfect in count- 
 less numbers assembled before the 
 face, of God Almighty. There 
 stood the twenty-four ancients, 
 clothed in white robes, with gold- 
 en crowns upon their heads. 
 High on the throne of glory sat 
 the eternal Father. The holy Spir- 
 it was represented by the seven 
 lamps ever burning with the fire 
 of Charity. There also stood the 
 ''Lamb of God slain from the 
 foundations of the world."' In 
 their midst were the four living 
 creatures, which are the symbols of 
 the four Evangelists, f he book, 
 the holy Gospel was closed sealed with the seven seals, for no one 
 but the Lord Jesus could open it, because no one can understand 
 its meaning unless taught by the church. Then all the members 
 of that supernal court of God sang a hymn of sweetness and of 
 gladness to the Lamb of God: *' Who hath made us to our God a 
 kingdom and priests and we shall reign on earth."* 
 
 Such was the first vision given to the beloved apostle in the Isle 
 of Patmos, when he was banished by the cruel emperor Domitian. 
 That was the model of the christian church. From the verv be- 
 ginning of their preaching, the apostles followed that arrangement 
 which God gave the early church in the vision seen by St. John. 
 When the apostles established dioceses and churches over all parts 
 of the world, they introduced the services not only according to 
 the temple of the Jews the model shown to Moses on the mount, 
 but also according to the court of heaven St. John saw in the vision. 
 
 • Apoc. xlll. 8. * Apoc. V. 10. 
 
 an 
 
 ^ 
 
CHRIST IS HEAD OF THE DIOCESE A8 WELL AS OF THE WHOLE CHURCH. 
 
364 THE WORK OF STS. PETER, JAMES AND JOHN". 
 
 At Ephesus, where St. John lived the latter part of his life as a 
 missionary superintending bishop of the churches of Asia Minor, 
 he formed the services of these churches according to what he saw 
 in heaven. He was the last of the apostles. For as his Master 
 foretold he waited till he came. ' In the feablquess of old age he 
 could not celebrate the Mass with the golden diadem on his head, 
 as before, nor was he strong enough to preach. Tlien they carried 
 him into the church each Sunday and feast day, that they might 
 see him at the celebration of the mysteries. As he passed -along 
 the rows of worshippers, each knelt to get the blessing of the last 
 •of the apostolic college, while he repeated to each one: " Little 
 ■children love one another," his whole person beaming with that 
 love which shines all throughout liis Gospel, for he said love was 
 the whole law. 
 
 Under him the churches of that part of the world were estab- 
 lished. The other bishops and apostles copied after the services 
 of the churches of Asia Minor founded by St. John. Tiie people 
 •of that time were filled with the most extraordinary piety, devo- 
 tion and good works. 
 
 In the mystic meaning of the church, while the nave where the 
 people sit means the christians, the sanctuary signifies heaven. 
 As St. John saw the members of the glorious church of heaven 
 clothed in white garments around the throne of God, so he 
 formed the services of his churches of Asia Minor according to 
 the model shown him in his vision. The clergy of these churches 
 of St. John were vested in white flowing garments, each in the 
 rank of his orders while attending the holy services. From these 
 customs introduced by St. John, all the other churches copied, 
 and from his day to our time the clergy in the sanctuary, and the 
 altar boys are vested in white garments, the altar and the sanc- 
 tuary are lighted up with the candles, which but typify the light 
 of glory of that heavenly churcii, which the beloved apostle saw 
 in Patmos. Thus while Peter formed the Latin Rite and stamped 
 his character of universal jurisdiction on the churcli universal, St. 
 John first gave the form and the peculiar beauties to the diocese, 
 while St. James composed the Greek Rite, and he was the model 
 bisiiop. Peter, James and John were the witnesses of the glories of 
 the Son of God in his transfiguration, when Moses representing the 
 Jewish Law and El ias personating the Propiiecy of the Old Testa- 
 ment on Thabor's heights spoke of the Saviour's death. And when 
 his death approached, the Lord called these three apostles into the 
 garden witli him, for they were to stamp their character on the 
 universal church, on the diocese, and on the episcopacy, and on the 
 Liturgies for all future time. 
 
 The people of the apostolic age were filled with the most re- 
 markable piety, devotion and good works. They often had no 
 rulers but their bishops and the priests in union with him. ' At 
 the founding of the church by the preaching of the apostles, the 
 
 > John xxi. «i. * Acts. 11. 42, 40, &c. 
 
HOW THE SERVICES WERE FORMED. 365 
 
 whole time of the clergy was taken up with the work of the min- 
 istry. Often the people whom they converted were poor, some of 
 them even slaves^, owned by cruel pagan masters, and the early 
 christians had to work hard for their living. It was only later 
 that the church converted the rich. When not occupied with 
 their daily labors, they frequently met in church and there recited 
 the Psalms and canticles of the Bible in praises to the Lord. We 
 do not find exactly when the services were formed, but the grand 
 Liturgies, which at least in substance go back to the apostolic days, 
 were then about forming under the guiding hands of either the 
 apostles themselves or their converts. 
 
 As a great part of the people of the Eoman empire spoke the 
 Latin language, they soon translated parts of the Scriptures into 
 that tongue, and later the whole Bible was rendered into that 
 sweetly sounding language, and it became so well known that even 
 in the apostolic age it was known as the Vulgate, that is the Latin 
 for the common Bible. From that day to this the Vulgate 
 revised by St. Jerome has been the official Bible of the whole 
 church. 
 
 The laity with the clergy took part in reciting the divine offices 
 of the breviary. St. Cyprian of Carthage tells us how the people 
 of his episcopal city, not only on Sundays, but even during week 
 days, came to sing the hours of tierce, sext and none. He says 
 that they were so numerous that their united voices rose towards 
 heaven. AVe do not think that the offices were always thus sung 
 by the laity in the early church, because St. Ambrose tells us that 
 only after the people had been shut up in his cathedral at Milan 
 for some days by the soldiers did they learn to sing the offices. ' 
 It seems that the apostles and their disciples first said Mass, recit- 
 ing the service as we now do at a low Mass, and that only later were 
 the sacred words sung. 
 
 When the people of the early church met for prayer, if they had 
 no clergymen among them, one of them read parts of the Bible, the 
 acts of the martyrs, and some of the explanations of the early fath- 
 ers. When the bishop was present, he explained the part of the 
 Scriptures read by the reader. * St. Bazil tells us that in Arabia, 
 Phenecia, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, the people 
 rose in the night to recite or sing the praises of the Lord. * We 
 see these ancient rites to-day in the ceremonies of holy week, of 
 Advent, of Lent and in other ancient ceremonies in the venerable 
 liturgies, and in the monuments of the apostolic age. The Lit- 
 urgies of the early church give us an insight into the way the 
 services were carried out soon after the apostles. The Liturgy of 
 the Babylonians, composed by St. Thomas, and which his disciples 
 Sts. Adaeusand Maris wrote down are precisely the same as they came 
 from their hands. It is said that not a word has been changed. * 
 The words of consecration and the substantial parts are the very 
 
 ' Given by Cardinal Newman. ^ Const. Apost. 1. 11. C. 59. Ibidem 27, 57. 
 
 ' St. Bazil Epist. ccvll. ad Cleros Neoces. n. 3. Thomas Disc. Eccl. T. I. 
 * See Liturgy of the B. Apostles in Early Liturgies Ante-Nicene Fathers. 
 
366 CHARITIES OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 same in all these ancient Liturgies or services of the Mass, which 
 among the Orientals is still called " The Mystery." 
 
 At these services the people brought their gifts to the church, 
 and after the Gospel they offered them at tlie altar, on a table 
 placed within the sanctuary. Hence even to our day this part of 
 the Mass is called *'The Offertory." The bishop alone was 
 charged with the administration of the church property. ' One 
 of the early Popes decided that these gifts should be divided into 
 four parts — one for the support of the bishop, the other to main- 
 tain the clergy of the diocese, the third for the expenses of the 
 church, and the rest for the poor, for the widows and orphans. ^ 
 When the conversion of the emperor Constantine gave peace to 
 the church, these offerings became more numerous, the christians 
 began to build more costly churches, to increase the splendors of 
 divine worship, to erect asylums, hospitals, monasteries, &c. , and to 
 establish schools for education of both sexes. Then were laid 
 the foundations of these great charitable and educated works, 
 which flourish all over the christian vi'orld to-day, where every 
 misfortune of poor fallen humanity finds a help and a cure. So 
 many gifts were given, and such valuable property left to the 
 churches, that in his time St. Ambrose tells us they were enough 
 for all the poor of his episcopal city, Milan. ' 
 
 At Jerusalem only, in the apostolic age, the people sold their 
 goods and gave the price to the church. * As said the law of God 
 to the Jews, in the following centuries the christians gave the 
 tenth part of their goods to the church. ' The christians, es- 
 pecially in Judea, having all worldly goods in common, they lived 
 like the monks and religious orders of the present time, bringing 
 the first fruits of the earth and the proceeds of their business to 
 the church, as the Jews did to the temple under the law 
 of Moses. 
 
 The diocese of Alexandria in Egypt fitted out ships, loaded 
 with provisions from the historic Nile valley, and sent them to 
 the christians stricken with famine in the East also appointing a 
 
 feneral manager with officers under him to take charge of all such 
 inds of chaiitable works. Many of the ancient councils speak of 
 these things. * St. Gregory says that they often rebuilt the walla 
 of, and repaired the cities of the christians, after they had been 
 captured and pillaged by pagan enemies. ' At one time the early 
 christians gave so much to the churches, that the bisiiops com- 
 plained that they gave too much, but they did not stop but con- 
 tinued still to give. 
 
 In the early church the chapters of the cathedrals were like 
 courts, before whom the people came to confess their sins, both 
 in private and in public. The private court for the hearing of 
 confessions was composed of the bishop himself, and associated 
 
 • Const. Apost. n. 37. » GreR. \az. Oral. xUli. in Laud. St. Bazll. n. 63. 
 
 ' S«Ttn<) Contra Auxent. n. 8. ♦ Acts iv. iM. ;ii. » Const. Apost. L. vll. C. 30. 
 
 • (Dncll. Chalce<lon. Sess. xv. Can. 20. Concll. Hiapal. Can. 3. Concil. Toletan. lil. Can. 9. 
 Concll. Toletan. Iv. Can- 48 Ac- ^ Eplst. v. 
 
THE A.GES OF SAINTS. 367 
 
 with him were a number of the chief cathedral clergy, which 
 formed a court presided over by the bishop. Before this court 
 came all who wished to go to confession, and openly they con- 
 fessed, then the court gave them absolution. The public court 
 of the diocese was also formed of the bishop and the same clergy- 
 men, and in public they decided the disputes among clergy and 
 people; and heard cases relating to both temporal and spiritual 
 matters. The court thus repressed disorders, punished the 
 guilty, legislated for the diocese, presided at the divine offices of 
 the church, at the reciting of the breviary, sang in some places 
 the daily Liturgy, and fulfilled the same duty as the cathedral 
 chapter of the present time. They called and educated the stu- 
 dents for holy orders, and in the name of the clergy of the diocese, 
 the archdeacon presented them to the bishop for holy orders, the 
 remains of which are still seen in the ordination of the clergy of 
 our day. 
 
 In the apostolic age the diocese was much simpler than it is 
 now, and there appeared to be a bishop in almost every small city, 
 as there were no parishes in the country till the fourth century 
 and in cities till the tenth century. The bishops therefore looked 
 after the spiritual wants of the people. But the various depart- 
 ments of the diocese and her offices grew, as the christian nations 
 and states multiplied, and as the wants of religion required. 
 
 At the head of the diocese stood the bishop, daily at the altar 
 offering the " Mystery," the sacrifice of the Cross, surrounded by 
 his priests, the creations of his own priesthood. In the cata- 
 combs, in the forests, or in the deserts, the whole sanctuary was 
 lighted with the candles, like the vision of heaven which St. Jolm 
 saw. In the nave below the clergy, were the members of the 
 church in good standing all following the services in Greek, Lat- 
 in, &c., for then the laity well knew these ancient tongues as we 
 know English now. Lower down were the catechumens, that is 
 the applicants for admission to the church, but who were on pro- 
 bation and under instruction, while outside the door were the 
 public sinners, whose crimes, prescribed by the law, prevented 
 them from entering the church till they had finished their pen- 
 ances. During the persecutions, which lasted for more than 300 
 years, all members of the church expected to be put to most 
 cruel deaths, and they lived most devoted and pious lives. At 
 their conversion at the hands of the bishops, or of a priest dele- 
 gated by him for that function, the converts received baptism,, 
 and on the same day, or soon after, they were confirmed by the- 
 bishop, and often they also received Holy Communion. On each 
 Sunday at least, they secretly came to the church, where the bish- 
 op oflFered up the Mass, which in the Latin speaking peoples was 
 called the Communion Service, among the Greeks the Eucharist, 
 that is the Sacrifice of Praise to God, and among the Orientals it 
 was called " The Mystery." For the first few years, the Mass was 
 said in the evening after supper, following the example of the 
 
368 HOW EUROPE WAS CONVERTED. 
 
 Last Supper of our Lord. In that service the bishop was always 
 surrounded by the priests of the diocese, his presbytery, who with 
 him formed one spiritual government. All together with him 
 they pronounced the words of the Mass. We see the remains of 
 that ancient custom in the ordination of a priest, who says the 
 very same words with the bishop ordaining him. There at the 
 very beginning of the church in all the meetings and services, 
 the bishop presided at the head of his priests. Sitting on his 
 ■episcopal throne, often erected in the apse of the cathedral, with 
 them hearing the confessions of clergy and laity, acting as judge 
 in the disputes of the members of the church and of the clergy, 
 or sitting on his episcopal throne at Mass and other services, in 
 the name of Christ he ruled, surrounded by his clergy. The cler- 
 gy of the city or the priests attached to the cathedral first formed 
 the chapter or the senate of the diocese in the early church. Be- 
 fore any important matters could be undertaken by the bishop, 
 they had first to come before this spiritual legislature to be 
 passed upon by them. The bishop could veto any measure he 
 did not like. The catechumens and the pagans, attracted by the 
 teachings and the beauties of the church, each century approached 
 nearer the church, till at last all Europe became catholic. Then 
 christian civilization spread over the known world, and the light 
 of truth coming from God shone over the world from the Vicar 
 -of Christ, the Teacher of mankind. 
 
 At that time every church was an association of prayer, a char- 
 itable society, a community for the teaching of men, and a power- 
 ful organization for the reformation of morals. The central sun 
 was the Bishop of Rome, who in every age was most zealous and 
 -active in sending missionaries into every nation of the world. 
 Thus the ancient saints and monks started from Home, destined 
 for every part of the then known world, penetrating everywhere 
 where there were souls to save. The clergy from Rome pene- 
 trated to every clime, and began to preach the Gospel of the Cru- 
 ci lied, in the tents and the cabins of the poor, in the streets of the 
 pagan villages, in every place they could find an audience of 
 people to hear them. With few exceptions they ended their lives 
 of suffering and of self-denial by a martyr's death. St, Peter sent 
 St. Barbara to preach to the people of Milan; priests from Rome 
 first announced the Gospel to the people living where now stands 
 the great city of Vienna; St. Remi came from Rome to the city 
 of Rheims; Lazarus raised from the dead, after being with his 
 sisters sent adrift to France, and fixed his episcopal residence at 
 Marseilles, his sister Mary Magdalen passed her days in a cave of a 
 neighboring mountain; Longinus, who opened the side of Christ 
 with the spear, evangelized the people of the south of F'rance; St. 
 Dennis with Rusticusand Eleutherius came and converted the peo- 
 ple of Laetetia, the ancient name of Paris. From Rome St. Patrick 
 came to Ireland. Gregory I. sent St. Augustine as first bishop of 
 Cauterbnry, England, with Paulinas first bishop of Lincoln, and 
 
WHY THE LAITY DO NOT VOTE. 369 
 
 Miletus first bishop of London with their thirty followers, sending 
 them with full powers for the conversion of pagan England. An- 
 other Pope sent St. Boniface as his legate to Germany, where he 
 laid the earliest foundations of christian civilization in that na- 
 tion. Every civilized people and tribe and tongue to-day upon 
 the surface of our planet who rejoice in liberty and Christianity 
 are indebted to the church, especially to Roman Pontiffs for the 
 benefits they enjoy. 
 
 The monks and the priests from Rome, when coming to establish 
 the church among the pagan people of that age found great diffi- 
 culty. Simple was their way of carrying out the services. ' In 
 the open air, in the cabins of the poor, in the basilicas or 
 court houses of the Roman empire, in every place where they 
 could call the people, there they said Mass, and there they estab- 
 lished missions. Soon by conversions and by the natural increase 
 of the populations, the churches they founded, increased and be- 
 came the parishes. When these parishes or cities grew larger, they 
 became the seats of the great dioceses of Europe, of Asia or of Africa, 
 since so famous in past history. The people of that time took a 
 lively interest in the workings of the church, in the ordinations 
 of the clergy, even in the consecrations of the bishops, the people 
 took an active part. Thus we read that the laity took part in the 
 elections of the Bishops of Rome and in the selection of the other 
 bishops all over the world. This was the discipline for the first 
 centuries. 
 
 But by the intrigues of designing politicians and by the inter- 
 ference of the Roman emperors, that concession granted to the 
 laity was revoked, and the other dioceses of the world following 
 Rome, soon i^eserved the election of their bishops to the clergy. 
 Thus an ancient Roman Ritual during an ordination service says 
 to the laity: "Speak, we cannot hear you if you keep silent. " 
 St. Cyprian ' gives his reasons for ordaining Saturusa priest. St. 
 Augustine tells us how he resisted the clamors of the people of 
 Hippo, who wanted to force him against his will to ordain St. 
 Pinian. The history of the election of the first Bishops of Rome 
 shows us the manner of electing the clergy of the first ages. 
 
 Excepting the Popes, whose office belonged to the whole world, 
 the clergy of the early church belonged to the parish or 
 cathedral for which they were ordained. For that reason the 
 people know them, as they saw them in the ranks of the lower 
 clergy waiting on the bishop, as the inferior clergy of the cathe- 
 dral, or attached to the parish churches, aids and helpers of pastor 
 of the church of which they frequently became pastors. They were 
 educated in the house of the bishop or of the pastor, for 
 there were no seminaries at that time. Pope Sergius first estab- 
 lished schools, which were enlarged afterwards by Popes Leo HI. 
 and Sylvester. The ancient councils forbade clergymen to change 
 from one diocese to another. " At that time the clergy rarely or 
 
 * Epist. xxiv. Ad Cler. * Concil. Nic. Can. 16. Sardic. Can. 18. Chalc Can. 20, &c. 
 
370 THE POOK AND THE RICH. 
 
 never resigned. And seldom were they deposed from adraister- 
 ing the sacraments or their titles taken from them. In the early 
 church the suspension of a priest happened very frequently. It 
 took place only after open trial before the bishop and the members 
 of the chapter. They were never tried except for enormous sins, 
 which shocked the whole church. Such trials took place usually 
 in a council of the bishops, in the case of an accused bishop, or in 
 a, synod of the priests if a priest were accused.' Seeing in the clergy, 
 united to their church and congregations, an image of the union of 
 Christ with his church universal, that union was only broken by 
 the death of the clergy, bishop or pastor. As the people chose 
 and presented to the bishop the candidates for holy orders, as the 
 clergy and laity of tiie diocese chose their bishop and presented 
 him to the archbishop, or to the three consecrating bishops, so 
 these churches or spiritual brides chose their spiritual husbands, 
 and that ghostly marriage only ceased at death. 
 
 Such was the state of the church in Europe while the Homan 
 empire lasted, up to the time when the barbarians from the North 
 came down with fire and sword on the sunny plains of Southern 
 Europe, when they wiped outthe last remainsof pagan Roman civil- 
 ization. All the laws, literature, letters and customs of pagan civil- 
 ization fell before the rude attacks of the savage hordes of the Teu- 
 tonic races. When the captains of these robbers found no more 
 rich regions to conquer and pillage, they built their castles in the 
 fairest valleys, or on the strongest natural positions, and then 
 turned and made war on their neighbors. Then the wealthy 
 people of all Europe looked to Ireland for the education of their 
 eons and daughters, while the common people sought the protection 
 of the bishops and the clergy of the church, who alone had saved 
 the laws and the literature of Rome from the destruction of the 
 barbarians. 
 
 In the following ages the bishops and the pastors became the judges 
 and the magistrates of Europe. They gave the peoples and 
 nations their laws and customs. On the ruins of the Roman 
 empire, they laid the foundations of a new civilization, differing 
 from that of destroyed pagan Rome, which had been completely 
 swept away. Everywhere the clergy of the catholic church became 
 the fathers of the people. The first work of the church was then 
 to convert, to reform and to educate this horde of Northern savages, 
 and to civilize and christianize them. The proud, haughty aris- 
 tocrats of Europe, being the descendants of these robber-murder 
 chiefs, they resisted the church more than the common people. 
 For that reason even to our day the poor .are in the church, which 
 ever protected them from the rapacity and the slavery of the rich. 
 Slavery then existed in every part of the world. Those captured 
 in battle were always sold into slavery. 
 
 Above all the Roman church and the diocese of the Pope, 
 showed herself most anxious for the softening of the rigors and 
 
 * ooDcii. Qev- 
 
KISE OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. 371 
 
 the gradual suppression of slavery, for the protection of the poor, 
 for the refining of the manners of the people, for the spread of 
 learning, for the peace, advancement, and the prosperity of the 
 church. When Pope Leo I. stopped Attila on his march to Kome, 
 when Leo requested him to spare the eternal city, no king could 
 resist him. Then left without a government, without laws, without 
 any stability of institutions, the people of Eomeand of Italy looked 
 up to the Pope, as to their protector. Then rose the temporal 
 power of the Popes, which has existed even to our times, the only 
 government which goes back 1400 years to the destruction of the 
 Roman empire, and which was recognized and strengthened by the 
 great emperors Pepin, Charlemagne, and by all the great rulers of 
 the world. 
 
 After the fall of the Roman empire the Gospel was preached in 
 the country places. When the monks first taught the rotation 
 .system of farming, as we have it to-day, then the people became 
 fixed to the soil. Gradually the church taught them to turn from 
 robbery, bloodshed and war, and to change their swords into the 
 instruments of peace. The chief work of the church then was the 
 conversion of Europe, the reclaiming of the barbarians, and the 
 civilization of the nations. All Europe, lying in ruins from the 
 invasions of the barbarians, the only salvation of mankind was 
 the church, and to the church alone the nations of the world then 
 looked for their safety, as the civilization of Greece and Rome 
 had been completely wiped from the face of the earth. 
 
 The saviours of society at that time were alone the clergy. Above 
 all, the Roman Pontiffs, following the example of St. Leo, who 
 -arrested Attila, gave an example to all the other bishops of the 
 world. Under the instructions of the Popes, the bishops began 
 the conversion of the robber princes and their descendants, living in 
 the castles they had built in the regions they or their fathers had 
 •conquered and settled, surrounded with their half-civilized and 
 half-clothed soldiers. Pope Anastasius in his letters to Clovis, 
 king of France, approved all the good work of bishop Remi in 
 his instructions and conversion of that king. St. Gregory T. did 
 the same with the Goths, the Lombards, the English and the Irish. 
 
 At Gregory's time first rose the temporal power of the church, 
 and Pontiffs with all their power who came after him aided the 
 bishops in their contest with these robber princes. In every coun- 
 try the legates of the Popes pleaded with the savage, ignorant kings, 
 and nobles the cause of learning, of literature, of manners and 
 taught refining morals. In that way they gradually impressed the 
 Roman civilization on all Europe, and little by little the nations 
 of that part of the earth received from Rome the religion of 
 Christ. This was the chief work of the clergy and monks who re- 
 ceived their constitutions and their foundations from the confirma- 
 tions of the Popes. Thus in Ireland flourished St. Columba, who 
 after his exile at lona, formed numerous monasteries according to 
 the rule of St. Benedict. The cities of Germany were called 
 
372 ORIGIN OF DIOCESAN OFFICERS. 
 
 burghs in the mountains and forests where the monks settled. St. 
 Bruno founded the Great Chartreuse in France. St. Miletus- 
 founded the monastery of the famous Westminster Abbey in 
 England, and thus that great and famous monastic institution 
 became the cradle of the British parliament, which was the model 
 of all legislative bodies all over the world. 
 
 In every place the bishops, the priests and the monasteries 
 opened schools for the children, colleges for young men and con- 
 vents for young ladies. As the church grew in numbers dioceses 
 were formed, archdioceses erected, parishes established all over 
 Europe, and religion spread. The clergy were mostly chosen from the 
 higher ranks of the people, and in each nation a national priest- 
 hood and episcopacy sprung up devoted and loyal to the church 
 and to the nation. Some of the teacher priests became famous in. 
 all history, as Miletus and Bede in England, Jerome and Gregory in 
 Home, Wilfred, St. Thomas Bernard, &c. Slavery then extended 
 all over Europe as human ownership is the remains of pigan 
 times. The rich oppressed the poor, the strong ground the weak 
 the nobles sometimes treated the people as cattle. The rich and 
 powerful often lived in splendid idleness, their only occupation 
 robbery, war and bloodshed, while the poor labored in hovels built 
 under the shadows of the castles. In these early ages the clergy, 
 the monks, the priests and bishops were the only protectors of 
 society. The poor fled to the protection of the clergy, the bishop's 
 homes, the churches and the monasteries became the asylums of the 
 oppressed. Whence the people crowded around these ecclesiastical 
 institutions, and in a short time populous towns grew up around 
 these church foundations, till in time they beaine great cities. 
 
 As the population grew, parishes were established, which were 
 attended by the monks or by regular clergy from the monastery. 
 At last what was only a forest when they came, later became the 
 seat of a bishop. For that reason most of the bishops of Europe 
 at first came from Rome, while the second generation of bishops 
 and clergy were chosen from the native clergy of the monasteries. 
 As the clergy grew to be more numerous, duties were as.signed to 
 each. Then divine service and the church functions belonging to 
 each order were marked out for each, so there would be no con- 
 fusion. In episcopal ceremonies, they reserved all the duties of 
 the deaconate to the archdeacon, and as time went by he became 
 the vicar-general or the natural aid and lieutenant of the bishop. 
 For that reason in the early church, he fulfilled the office and place of 
 the vicar-general in many parts of the church. The archpriests, 
 provosts, priors and other officers of the church were established 
 as the needs of religion required. As the parish grew in import- 
 ance and in numbers, their pastors became more and more prom- 
 inent in the diocese, and the bishops consulted them in ruling and 
 in making important changes in the diocese. From that in the 
 lapse of centuries, rose the cathedral chapters in every diocefie, 
 copied after the constitution of the Roman diocese. 
 
374 ORIGIN" OF THE CHRISTIAN NATIONS. 
 
 As certain princes became by force of arms, by diplomacy, or by 
 other means more powerful than the others, they at last became 
 the ruling house, and they thus gave the kings and rulers to their 
 nation. This was the origin of all the ruling families of Europe. 
 As the clergy had rights given them by Eome, by which the bish- 
 ops could not oppress them, as Rome ever followed her constitu- 
 tion in dealing with bishops, so the laity soon copied after the 
 church and founded civil courts after the manner of the Eomans, 
 as the church taught them law or order when the Roman empire 
 had fallen before the barbarians. In this way civil courts were 
 founded all over Christendom. The settlement of disputes be- 
 tween man and man came before these tribunals, and the rulers of 
 Christendom were forced by the church to listen to the people, and 
 and to give the people their rights. Many of the clergy wlien or- 
 dained brought their property to the church and gave it to the 
 diocese when they died. Frequently rich families, when they had 
 no heirs, left all their riches to the church. In this way the 
 churches became rich and powerful, to uphold the trampled rights 
 of the people, to educate the masses, found colleges and universi- 
 ties and to christianize all Europe. 
 
 After a thousand years had passed by, the feudal system of the 
 nobility and the poor, the castle and the cabin were found side by 
 side. The remains of the fallen Roman empire had been converted, 
 civilized and educated. All else of the ancient world had went 
 down before the incursions of the barbarians, but the church 
 alone had survived the shock, and she came forth from the ruins 
 of the ancient levelled destroyed world, more beautiful, more perfect 
 than before. She turned a'.id reformed the modern iiations 
 coming from these ruins, but they were christians, not pagans. 
 Above the kingdoms of the earth rose the church, the mother of 
 them all. Then the Popes were the fathers of rulers and of na- 
 tions. For that reason the nations of the middle ages gave to the 
 Popes authority to settle disputes. The people called on the 
 Popes when their rulers oppressed them. Therefore we read that 
 tlie Bishops of Rome deposed kings and princes, for the Roman 
 court formed a court of arbitration in the disputes between king- 
 doms and peoples. During these times, called the middle ages, 
 there were many wars but moderated by the ** truce of God," the 
 sufferings, the carnage and all the ills of conquest and of in- 
 vasion were avoided, for the church forbade wars and the Popes 
 were the supreme courts for the settlements of disputes among 
 nations. Many of the foremost statesmen of that time were 
 monks, priests or bishops, and they guided the destinies of the 
 chief governments of Europe, during the age when few men were 
 educated. Thus history gives us the example of St. Thomas a 
 Becket, prime minister of England, before lie became the great 
 archbishop of Canterbury, of Suger, Abbot of St. Dennis, Paris, 
 prime minister of the king of France before he began to rebuild 
 the monastic church of St. Dennis, of Cardinals Richelau, Maza- 
 
RISE OF CON^STITUTIONAL GOVERNMENTS. 375 
 
 rini, and all the great statesmen of the chief European governments 
 who stepped down from the ranks of the clergy to guide the ship 
 of state in troublous times. 
 
 The church consecrates the Pope and the Pontiff, that they may 
 like Aaron and Moses rule the people of God with judgment and 
 •equity. She consecrates the king, she enthrones the emperor as 
 the prophet anointed Saul, David and Solomon, that the spiritual 
 may bless the temporal, for the spiritual cliurch ever sanctifies 
 and completes the temporal. For that reason every king or rifler 
 of the middle ages was crowned and consecrated by the bishops or 
 by the Popes. 
 
 In the days of feudalism, that is when the nobles and the poor 
 lived in the relation of master and worker, rather when a few 
 aristocrats owned the people under them and kept them almost 
 as slaves, then the church fought the rich and powerful. She 
 gained the rights of the poor. She forced from the rich and the 
 powerful, the concessions which the people enjoy to-day. For we 
 must remember that in those early days the common people were 
 sometimes oppressed by pagan princes more than the people of Rus- 
 sia are oppressed to-day. There was not a constitutional govern ment 
 on tlie face of the earth at that time. The government of the 
 ■church alone was the constitutional government, from which the 
 nations copied in the middle ages. Right then took the place of 
 might, till the church forced kings and rulers to give the people 
 of the European nations justice and right, and if the people of the 
 world to-day have their rights they are indebted to the church 
 for them. It is true that the fight for their rights was long and 
 bitter. Even to our day the lies and the slanders which wicked men 
 heaped on the church, still live in the minds of the children of 
 those who fought her, still the world is getting to know and realize 
 that the church was right. 
 
 From the tenth century, the church, having recovered from the 
 evils arising from the incursion of the barbarians by the complete 
 conversion of their children, soon she began to refine and civilize 
 them. 
 
 At that time the kings of the christian nations claimed as a 
 right what was only a concession or a privilege, that is the presen- 
 tation of the bishops and of the pastors of the church. The Roman 
 See alone has the right of naming the bishops of the universal 
 •church, as the bishops alone have the right of appointing the pas- 
 tors of the diocese. When Henry IV. of Germany came to the 
 throne of the most powerful empire upon the earth, he claimed 
 the right of naming the bishops to the vacant thrones of dioceses, 
 and of appointing to the vacant parishes the men whom he wanted, 
 or the clergy who gave him the most money. This sin was the 
 crime of simony so called from Simon Magus who offered money 
 to St. Peter. It had spread into many parts of the church, and 
 dioceses and parishes were suffering fiom the unworthy heads 
 forced on them by civil rulers. This was the condition of things. 
 
376 GREGORY VII. AND HENRY IV. 
 
 when the great Hildebraiid under the name of Gregory VIL 
 came to the throne of Peter. He determined at once to reform 
 this abuse, which was poisoning the church in its very root and 
 foundation, the clergy and pastorate. The powerful Henry 
 fought the Pope. He invaded Italy. He declared war against 
 the Pope, and the latter was obliged to fly from Rome. For 
 years the fight continued. The great Pope was broken down in 
 health by his fights for the purity of the clergy and for the rights of 
 the church, he found a refuge and asylum in the fortress of Can- 
 osa. Here at last came Henry IV. of Germany to make peace- 
 with him, when he found he could not fight that spiritual power 
 the church. Standing at the door, the emperor sent up word 
 to the tottering, feeble Pope saying that he wanted to speak with 
 his Holiness. Gregory VII. sent word, that if he wanted to see 
 him he should stand three days and three nights barefooted in 
 the snow before the door of the monastery before he could see 
 his Holiness. And Henry stood, thus penitent, before his army, 
 and in the eyes of all his court, and there he made peace with the 
 church. From that day the church is free in the appointment and 
 the dismissal of the clergy. No civil power can claim the right of 
 interfering with the election of Popes, bishops or pastors of the 
 church. That is the meaning of the words: " Going to Canosa." 
 Then opened the greatest religious epoch of the church. In every 
 city of the christian world, she built a cathedral which Sundaj's 
 and holidays could not hold the multitudes of people who crowded 
 there to worship God. The bishop presided, surrounded by hi& 
 clergy. The kings and members of royalty sat within the sanct- 
 uary, for the church granted this privilege to honor the law and 
 to bless the government in their persons. The lofty vaulted naves 
 and aisles re-echoed with the grand and stately strains of the plain 
 chant, the solemn music of the church. The entire people took 
 part in the congregational singing. The voice of the people rose 
 towards heaven as a mighty sound. That Latin service was in the 
 language of Rome, the chief liturgy which the church had treas- 
 ured and rescued from the remains, of the mighty Roman em- 
 pire, which centuries before had been blotted from the face of the 
 earth. In the cathedral cities of England, we find still standing 
 to-day the great cathedrals built in the time of which wo write, but 
 now silent and abandoned monuments of the ages of faith, be- 
 fore the political rage and the spiritual delirium of the reformation 
 tore from the heart of the English people that catholic religion, 
 which had flourished among them from the preaching of St. 
 Augustine in 492. Now but a small wing of these cathe- 
 drals holds the protestant people, children of noble catholics of 
 England, who built them. There you find the sanctuary where 
 the clergy sat surrounding their bishop, the nave where the people 
 heard Mass, often closed from the sanctuary by the chancel screen, 
 the charter house for the meeting of the senate of the diocese, the 
 cathedral chapter, the bishop's house, the cloisters for the monks. 
 
FOUNDING THE GREAT SCHOOLS. 377 
 
 ihe buildings for the convent and monastic schools, and the build- 
 ings for the whole machinery of the complete diocese. The Eng- 
 lish church was one of the noblest daughters of the universal 
 church, before the bad king Henry VJII. persecuted and put to 
 death the bishops, priests and monks of the Ens^lish church, and 
 appointed laymen in their place, such as we see in the English Prot- 
 estant church of to-day. 
 
 As the church then enjoyed peace, she could give her wliole 
 attention to the work of converting and saving souls. The clergy 
 were found in every walk of life, at the head of every public move- 
 ment for the advancement of the race. They established schools 
 and colleges in every land. They laid the foundations of the great 
 universities of Oxford, of Cambridge, of Paris, of Salmanca, of 
 Freiberg, of Rome, and of every seat of learning. No work 
 was begun without the blessing of the priest. More than 1^0,000 
 students each year flocked to Paris to attend the great univei'sicy. 
 The other universities were as nearly well attended. The priest pro- 
 fessors opened their classes in every department with the prayers, 
 and all great works were undertaken with the blessings of the 
 priests who were the leaders of men. There in the Uiiiversity of 
 Paris, Albert the Great taught St. Thomas, there Abelard delivered 
 his lectures, which opened the way for the rationalism of our day 
 till he was condemned by the Bisliop of Rome. 
 
 In the country and in the little villages which grew up with the 
 settlement of Europe, the missionaries labored till they had founded 
 parishes, built parish churches, established monasteries and schools 
 to educate the people. By the lapse of ages these little hamlets 
 grew into cities, great and famous in history. In Ireland the or- 
 iginal people were patriarchal in their habits, living on their flocks. 
 They had no cities till the Danes came and conquered certain parts 
 where they built cities. The whole Irish nation was divided into 
 -certain districts or counties, which the people owned in common, and 
 where they pastured their flocks. The people of each section were 
 related either by descent or by blood, and they elected their chief. 
 This was the origin of the counties of Ireland. This is why the 
 people from each county have a peculiar affection for those who come 
 from the same neighborhood or county. A number of councies 
 formed a province, over which reigned a king elected by the chiefs. 
 Over all kings, chiefs and people ruled the monarch of all Ireland. 
 This was the state of society in that country when in 432 St. Patrick, 
 sent by Pope Celestine, come to convert the Irish to the faith. 
 
 When in the rest of Europe the clergy had converted the nobles, 
 children of the robber chieftains, who had generations before 
 destroyed the Roman empire, the clergy established chapels in their 
 castles. That gave rise to the discipline of the private chapel. 
 Rome made laws relating to the services held in these private chap- 
 els of the nobility so they would not interfere with the regulations 
 of the parish Mass. The nobility had their chaplains. They were 
 often the tutors of their children. To the clergv were the nobles 
 
378 DIRECTED BY THE MOTHER CHURCH, 
 
 indebted for their education, their manners, their social culture and 
 their breeding. When they were at war with their neighboring 
 chiefs, the church was frequently built under the walls of the castle, 
 as a protection against robbers, or on a high rock, as we see in the 
 examples of the churches near the castles of central Europe, in 
 the monasteries of the Orient, in Cormack's chapel on the rock 
 of Cashel, Ireland and in numerous other examples of Europe. 
 Religion then penetrated intoevery fibre of social life. The kings 
 sometimes recited the breviary, or they became honorary members 
 of the cathedral chapter, the brightest sons of the nobles entered 
 the ranks of the clergy. 
 
 The discipline of the diocese gradually changed from age to age. 
 The stations in private houses became parish churches, the clergy 
 of the city took part in the episcopal ceremonies, the cathedral 
 clergy replaced the ancient presbytery, the clergy of the bishop's 
 household became the cathedral chapter, the pastors ruled by rigiit 
 of office and not as vicars of the bishops, and Rome defined in 
 canon law the movements of that vast organization, the church 
 the body of Christ. Many disputes rose relating to the rights of 
 certain members of the clergy in the same orders. Tiie limits of 
 authority and the places of all those, and the dealings between the 
 bishops and the parish priests were defined by the councils, or they 
 were referred to Rome for the decision of the Pontiff. These decis- 
 ions forever regulated the standing of each office. From time to 
 time the Roman Pontiffs gave decrees relating to these functions, 
 and these decisions explained the canon law, which regulates 
 the movements of every officer and clergyman belonging to that vast 
 army of the cliurch, in its most minute details. The eyes of the 
 whole world turned to Rome and to her Bishop in all their disputes. 
 
 The Roman diocese of Peter was the model for all the other 
 dioceses of the world. From the Lateran church, where the Pope 
 lived for a thousand years, the Mother of the churches of the world, 
 came the mighty impulsions which moved and formed the other 
 diocese and brought order into every rank and file of the other 
 parishes and dioceses. In her seven cardinal bishops, her cardinal 
 priests and deacons, her twelve canons, her archpriest and arch- 
 deacon, in her rites and ceremonies, in her unchanging customs 
 they heard the voice of God the Son, and saw the image of the Holy 
 Ghost. The world copied these till the constitutions of the Popes, 
 their diocese and cathedral gave a constitution to all the churches, 
 parishes and dioceses of the world, born of her their Mother at their 
 erection. The Popes with their senator cardinals had direct juris- 
 diction over each and every cathedral, church and parish of the 
 world. That was the doctrine of every church even before it was 
 defined by the Vatican council. ' Thus we read that St. Leo IX. 
 visited Besancon, and that the members of the two chapters of its 
 double cathedral met under his presidency as had been done before 
 by Pope Calixtus I. 
 
 ' CoDcll. Vat. Sess. Iv. 
 
THE SENATE OF THE DIOCESE. 379 
 
 In that age the chapters of the cathedrals all over the world were 
 divided into three ranks, following the example of the cardinal 
 bishops, priests and deacons of the Roman church. The canons of 
 the diocese living at and attached to the cathedral represented the 
 seven cardinal bishops of Rome, the clergy of the city parishes or 
 pastors of the city represented the cardinal priests, pastors of Rome, 
 while the country pastors, who became by right of pastorate, or 
 who had been made honorary members of the chapter, represented 
 the cardinal deacons of the Roman diocese. As all matters of im- 
 portance came first before the chapter of the diocese, so the execu- 
 tion of its decrees belonged to the bishop, as the governor and the 
 president in the United States are the executors of the laws. So 
 in every diocese the bishop had his archpriest, liis vicar-general, his 
 archdeacon, or his legate, to execute his decrees and the decrees of 
 the chapter. As the needs of the church grew by the natural growth 
 of its members, or by conversions, so the church offices grew, till 
 at last the perfect diocese rose on the foundations of the mission, 
 the parish, the missionary diocese or the vicar apostolic. Thus we 
 see the perfect diocese existed with her own bishop, her chancery 
 office, vicar-general, cathedral chapter of canons, &c., and they were 
 formed m all the dioceses of central Europe during the latter part 
 of the middle ages before the reformation. 
 
 The thirteenth century appears to be the golden epoch of the 
 middle ages. Then flourished the great writers of the church. St. 
 Thomas codified all the writers of the world from the ancient 
 Greeks to his teacher Albertus Magnus, and he gives us the 
 substance of the learning of the race in his wonderful codifications. 
 Before him flourished St. Bernard the model of the monk and tiie 
 man of the world, who ruled nations, regulated society, saved the 
 church from a schism by a dispute about the chair of Peter, and 
 wrote the sweetest works of later times. We must not pass by St. 
 Bonaventure of the Franciscans, or Abelard teaching rationalism 
 at the university of Paris, till condemned by the Bishop of Rome. 
 He was the father of modern rationalism or the right of reason to 
 examine all the works of God and reject what we do not under- 
 stand. 
 
 At that time the church had converted the remains of the Roman 
 empire. The Turks were knocking at the gates of Constantinople. 
 The Moors had captured the fairest parts of Spain. The followers 
 of Mohammed had wiped out the church in Arabia, Asia Minor, 
 Egypt, Syria. Europe was threatened by the Saracens, The 
 nations of Christendom looked to the Pope their christian father 
 to save christian civilization from utter destruction. Peter the 
 Hermit was preaching the Crusades. The religious orders wei-e 
 doing a wonderful work. A schism devastated parts of the church. 
 Kings and princes ceased to hear her teachings. Europe was torn 
 by cruel wars, when the voice of the Roman Pontiff cried out call- 
 ing them to save Europe from the invasions of the Turks, the infidel 
 followers of Mohammed. Then rose the cry of saving the Holy 
 
380 ORIGIN OF CHURCH LIVINGS. 
 
 Sepulchre of our Lord from the despoiling profanations of the 
 Saracens. '^L'hat turned the attention of warlike European peoples 
 to Jerusalem. The latter city was captured, Godfrey de Bullion the 
 first christian king refused to wear a royal crown in the city where 
 our Lord wore a crown of thorns. Often the priests imposed as pen- 
 ance on sinners an obligation of going to Jerusalem. They enjoined 
 it especially on those guilty of great sins, and the holy city was filled 
 with pilgrims from every land. Such was the height of perfection 
 to which the church had elevated society, that all Europe appeared 
 peopled with saints, and the foundations of the civilization of our 
 modern society were laid so deep, that we are reaping the benefits of 
 the work of the church even in our days. 
 
 The first parishes, having been founded by the monks and by 
 priests who lived together in the monastic community life, that 
 custom continued in Europe down till almost modern times. Some 
 of the clergy of the cathedrals lived together as regular canons. 
 They ate at the same table with the -bishop, aud they had their 
 living from the common fund. When the rich died childless and 
 left their wealth to the churches, at later times each diocese or 
 parish church had a certain revenue. Later, parts of this revenue 
 called benefices were divided among the clergy. Even in our time 
 they are called benefices or livings in the church of England. In 
 the Episcopal church in England to-day they are sold or given by 
 the nobility to the highest bidders. To such a degree of corruption 
 has the noble English church fallen, since England fell away from 
 theauthority of the Roman Pontiffs, who alone receive power from 
 Christ to heal the wounds of society and to keep the sheepfold of 
 Christ pure and undefiled. Even in our time and country the 
 people of other churches call their ministers, and they dismiss 
 them at will, and give them the salary they think they earn by their 
 eloquence and popularity. Thus church salaries and ecclesiastical 
 livings outside the catholic church have degenerated into wordly 
 professions. 
 
 When benefices were established in the 13th century, the com- 
 mon monastic life of the canons of the cathedral ceased, and 
 they met only at stated times, or at the call of the chairman as 
 members of the same corporation. The clergy of the great cathe- 
 dral churches separated, the cloister regulations ceased, the great 
 dining rooms were found only in the colleges and seminaries, 
 the clergy slept no more in large dormitories as before, the offices 
 of the breviary were not sung by the chapters in the cathedrals, 
 the reformation disturbed Christendom and the discipline of this 
 age was introduced. 
 
 Up to the times before the reformation the canons of the ca- 
 thedrals lived as monks. They now lived as secular priests and the 
 monastic customs were abandoned. At this epoch, the wliole 
 discipline of the middle ages relaxed, not only in the cathedrals 
 but also in the monasteries and convents. Lent was not kept 
 with such rigors as before, the nuns mitigated their rules, the 
 
THE BISHOP AND CHAPTER. 381 
 
 clergy and laity relaxed their austerities of the body, and the church 
 mitigated the harsh customs of the former ages. The mildness 
 of Kome spread over the world. The knowledge of the 
 eacred rights of man became better known. The church be- 
 gan to accommodate herself to the changing opinions, peculiari- 
 ties and the modern customs and beliefs of mankind. The clergy 
 mixed up more with the laity and the laity better knew them. 
 
 But the clergy of the religious orders did not change their rules. 
 They regulated and modified the most rigorous discipline, and they 
 eubmitted their rules to the Roman Pontiff, to whom alone 
 they belonged. Because of their regular lives and customs, they 
 were called the regular clergy, while the clergy who belonged to the 
 different dioceses, and who as pastors gave themselves up to the 
 salvation of others, because they lived separated in the world from 
 those they preached to, they are known as secular clergy. Only 
 those ordained to the priesthood had charge of souls. The lower 
 clergy took part in the divine office, they looked after the poor, the 
 orphans, and took charge of the temporal matters of the churches. 
 They were appointed to these offices by the bishop, with and by 
 the consent of thechapter, or the senate of the diocese. At first the 
 chapter and the bishop were one. But by the lapse of the ages, they 
 separated, and each had the proper functions belonging to them 
 by law, and whicli the others could not invade, somewhat like the 
 president and the senate of the United States, and other civil offi- 
 ces in our country. That there might not be any conflict of author- 
 ity, the Roman Pontiffs regulated the relations of the bishops with 
 their chapters, and the Popes defined the rights and limits of 
 each authority. There was but one authority in the diocese. But it 
 came from one episcopal throne in two streams, through the bish- 
 op, or through the chapter to the clergy and people of the diocese. 
 When disputes rose between the bishop and the chapter, the 
 Roman Pontiff was the judge, and his decision was final, because 
 he as the Vicar of Christ has direct authority over the whole church 
 of Christ. 
 
 The archpriest or archdeacon of the diocese, being like the vicar- 
 general, one authority with the bishop, he did not belong to the 
 cathedral chapter. The bishop was not the chairman of the chap- 
 ter, as the president or governor are not members or chairman of 
 the senate. The vicar-general, archpriest and archdeacon, were ap- 
 pointed to execute or carry out the orders of the bishop, when these 
 orders had been passed by the chapter and signed by the bishop. 
 
 The clergy having belonged to and having been raised up from 
 the ranks of the laity, they worshipped in the church to which they 
 ministered, the clergy belonged to the parish and all knew them. 
 They were not therefore strangers to the people to whom they min- 
 istered. When the clergy changed from the regular to the secular 
 life, at the division of the benefits, when they no longer lived a 
 community life, then the people and the clergy became more 
 united. The bishops and pastors having charge of souls, had as- 
 
PECULIAR CUSTOMS. 383 
 
 sistants to work in their place, while they sometimes spent the 
 most of their time away from their charges. That abuse was re- 
 formed by the council of Trent, which forbade bishops to live away 
 from their dioceses. From that rose the custom of having assist- 
 ant priests and assistant bishops, or as they are called vicars and 
 curates. In England the names were reversed. For the word cu- 
 rate or cure in French means one having the cure, that is the care 
 of souls. Those having the care of souls are attached or united 
 by a spiritual marriage to their parishes or dioceses, while the as- 
 sistants aid them in their charges. When towards the end of the 
 middle ages, pastors of large parishes got others to assist them, 
 then rose the custom of ordaining priests asassistants, who had no 
 care of souls, but who belonged to the whole diocese. After some 
 time they did not ordain the clergy for their particular church, as 
 in the early ages, but they ordained them for the diocese. This 
 the bishops do at the present time. When these priests have ex- 
 ercised the ministry for some years as assistants, they are ap- 
 pointed pastors. But bishops were never consecrated without a 
 title. For the episcopal office has better preserved the dignity of 
 the apostolic age. When a bishop was consecrated as assistant 
 bishop, or to rule a diocese as coadjutor to another infirm bishop, 
 he receives as his title one of the ancient dioceses among the 
 infidels. 
 
 The ancient customs having changed, it came to pass in mod- 
 ern times that a clergyman can resign his benefice, his charge of 
 souls, his parish, into the hands of his bishop, which could not be-' 
 done in early ages. But no one can resign unless to his superior, 
 the pastor into the hands of the bishop of the diocese, the bishop 
 into the hands of the Pope. But the Pope, having as his supe- 
 rior only Christ, he can resign as Pope Celestine did. From 
 the frequent resignation of the clergy rose the custom of mov- 
 ing from one diocese to another, which became so common 
 that it became an abuse. Thus we read that the canons of the 
 cathedral of Toledo, Spain became canons of Lincoln, England, 
 and that the priests of one diocese in this country often left and 
 went to other dioceses. The legislation of the third council of 
 Baltimore made strict rules to renew the ancient canons. But 
 the laws of missionary countries laid down by Eome for this 
 country directed the clergy to take an oath that they would not 
 leave their own diocese. But these laws perhaps were required for 
 the countries settled by emigrants from all parts of Europe, 
 for their priests naturally followed their people into exile to attend 
 to their spiritual necessities. Thus we see that the first clergy of 
 America, of Australia, of India and countries settled by the Eng- 
 lish speaking race were Irish, for these countries received the 
 faith from the Irish emigrants. 
 
 When the French Popes lived for seventy years at Avigne, France, 
 there they had the usual revenues of their estates. They invested 
 many of the bishops of other dioceses with the dignity of the car- 
 
384 ORIGIN OF PEOTESTANTISM. 
 
 dinalate of the Roman church, and they incorporated the lower 
 clergy of other dioceses into the Roman diocese, so they might de- 
 rive a revenue from other dioceses and from the livings and 
 benefices of these rich churches. That was the beginning of the 
 custom of making the clergy of other dioceses members of the dio- 
 cese of Rome. Thus the acts of the Pontiffs at that time is felt 
 for the good of the church even in our day. For from that time 
 the brightest and best of the clergy of the world, became members 
 of the apostolic college of cardinals. Thus every people and na- 
 tion can have a voice in the election of the Pontiff through their 
 cardinal. 
 
 The diocese and religious orders became very rich during the 
 middle ages, and the bishops and superiors of these orders were the 
 administrators of this wealth. In the hands of the church it 
 was the property of Christ and of the poor, when the reformation, 
 like a destructive flood swept over the north of Europe. Covetous 
 for the wealth of churches and monastic institutions, the bad kings 
 and corrupt nobles raised an insurrection against the clergy, and 
 put them to death, or drove them from the country. They seized 
 these rich estates of the church and stole the property of the 
 clergy. From that date they began to lie about the clergy and to 
 paint them in the blackest light, so as to poison the minds of the 
 laity against their priests, so that they could confiscate their rich 
 possessions. That was the origin of the calumnies and prejudices, 
 ■which have lived in the minds of the Protestant people for gener- 
 ations, and only in our day are they finding out, that by bad designing 
 warfare their fathers were driven from the church their mother. 
 Then in all the northern countries of Europe, the property of the 
 church was stolen, and the ancient catholic faith of the people of 
 the catholic church was driven out. Feeling the want of some re- 
 ligion, still keeping a part of the christian religion, they had received 
 from the teachings of the church, these people founded other systems 
 of religious belief, or organized churches on the foundations of the 
 catholic teachings, their fathers had received during the thousand 
 years when all Europe was catholic, and when a Protestant church 
 did not exist. Thus the difference between Protestants and Cath- 
 olics consists in this, that while the Catholic church holds all the 
 revelation made by God to man, the Protestant churches have 
 only a part and their belief is fragmentary. The church has all 
 truths which Protestant churches hold and more, but they are 
 known under a different name. 
 
 Thus, coming from a Protestant church into a catholic church, 
 one has not to reject anvthing which is true that he learned in the 
 Protestant churcn, but lie holds all and believes with a little more 
 added to it, then he is a catholic. From the days of the reforma- 
 tion, when the church received such a shock, the English speaking 
 clergy had to devote their time to saving the few souls left to them. 
 They could not give much attention to writing. For that reason, 
 the English literature of the church is very poor compared to the 
 
ORIGIN OF PROTESTAIS^TISM. 385 
 
 great riches of the church in Latin, French, Italian, German, &c. 
 In reality the literature of the church by far exceeds all the books 
 ever written on any other subject in all languages. But we see 
 little of these great works unless we go into the other languages. 
 
 When impiety, fanaticism and irreligion, roused by the reforma- 
 tion, tore peoples from the bosom of their mother, the Holy Spirit 
 roused St Ignatius at Manresa to found his order for the combat- 
 ting of Protestantism. Before this Pope Innocent had seen Sts. 
 Francis and Dominic upholding the shaken Lateran church the 
 cathedral of the world. Then rose the Jesuits and many other 
 religious orders, and likewise the great sisterhoods. The divine 
 Spirit appeared to be poured out upon the world in greater meas- 
 ure than even in the apostolic age. The invention of printing, the 
 spread of commerce, the discovery of America, the attacks and de- 
 fence of different revealed truths, the proclaiming of infallibility, all 
 combined to the spread of religion and to the strengthening of the 
 bonds of unity. In our day the world is becoming one. The 
 greatest minds of men are turning to the church, looking to her 
 for relief from the wounds of sin and ignorance. 
 
 The reformation of manners, and the changes of modern times 
 are felt even in the religious orders, in the clergy as well as among 
 the laity. The rights of man to life, liberty and happiness, 
 in the political sense spreads over the world. The self inflicted 
 tortures of the middle ages have given away to the bowing down 
 of the will, to the obedience of the religious orders, and to the 
 submitting of the mind to the teachings of the church. The altar 
 boys have taken the place of the lower clergy, under the direction 
 of the council of Trent. The ancient rites and ceremonies are 
 better understood by our congregations; the modern music and 
 the plain chant live side by. side in the choir and in the chancel; 
 the church has harnessed to its use the press, that modern, tremen- 
 dous power for good or evil first turned against her; the English 
 speaking race spreads over the earth, bringing the catholic Irish 
 with them. The telegraph, the mails, the steamships, the telephone 
 are uniting mankind. Business enterprise penetrates all nations, 
 and on the wings of modern progress in triumph, rides the church 
 coming with her words of peace and salvation to all men. Never 
 before had the church such a prospect before her. Never before 
 was she so united within and so admirable without. Now the 
 attention of the human mind is attracted by her beauty, her teach- 
 ings, and her most wonderful unity and discipline. 
 
 No longer are the offices ot the breviary sung in the churches, 
 as in the days of yore, but the vespers, the high Mass, the episco- 
 pal ceremonies, the beautiful rites of the church still remain to 
 remind us of the early ages. When the church shall have again 
 for the third time converted Europe, when the errors of the re- 
 formation will have been cleared up, the church in triumph 
 shall again enter her grand cathedrals, in England, in Scotland 
 and in all the north of Europe, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic, 
 
386 ORIGIN OF PROTESTANTISM. 
 
 from the Hudson Bay to the Cape of Horn, from the straits of Gib- 
 raltar to the shores of China, the daily offices will be sung in all 
 our cathedrals, and anew the poems of praise and of gladness will 
 rise to Christ the King of glory, for his greatest victory over error 
 and over all the powers of hell. 
 
 Never in the history of the church were so many religious or- 
 ders of men and of women working for the good of mankind as at 
 the present time. There every soul can find repose and an outlet 
 for zeal of every kind, and fully gratifying their desire for the 
 good of their fellow man. The church is gradually repairing the 
 wounds of human nature made by the fall of Adam, and the times 
 of peace prophesied by the sages, and foretold by the prophets 
 come to pass. The Roman diocese, to which these great religious 
 orders belong, foster them and guard them from the encroach- 
 ments of the other churches. When they are persecuted in one 
 place, according to the words of our Lord, they fly to other places, 
 and there they still continue their work for the benefit of their fel- 
 low man. 
 
 When fifty years had passed after the rise or the revolt of 
 Protestantism against the church, the fanaticism started by Luther 
 had made no headway. The council of Trent then reformed the 
 morals of the laity, the lives of the clergy, and re-established the an- 
 oint discipline of the church, in these matters where they had fal- 
 len away from the normal given by the Roman Pontiffs. The 
 children of the once catholic peoples after the reformation estab- 
 lished numerous Protestant churches, each man and woman by 
 the so called right of interpreting the Bible to suit themselves 
 made each man his own Pope, and by the lapse of 300 years scarce- 
 ly a vestige of religion remains in the Protestant churches. In our 
 day every doctrine is attacked and the rising generation have not 
 the faith of their fathers. Now is the age of infidelity, when 
 every teaching, even the very existence of God and his creation 
 are attacked. When the Protestant churches were tottering with 
 their own frailty, the church again comes to the rescue to save 
 the race from the utter horrors of infidelity. Then our great 
 writers tackled infidelity and saved religion. 
 
 This is the state of religion at the present time, when the church 
 has come forth from her last and greatest fight, first with Arianism, 
 later with Protestantism and then with infidelity. Now she lifts 
 her glorious head, crowned with the Holy Spirit. She raises it 
 aloft above the waters of every system of modern and of ancient 
 times, and she calls all people into the fold and rescues them 
 from the floods of error sweeping over the human mind. Now 
 begins her greatest conquests. Now she is united. No more 
 can the bishops of France or of any other country proclaim their 
 independence of the Holy See. No Luther now can hide behind 
 the excuse of calling a general council to examine his errors, and 
 still keep poisoning the mind of man before the council can be 
 called. The decisions of the Bishop of Rome will be heard at 
 
ORIGIN OF PROTESTANTISM. 387 
 
 once and flashed under the ocean, teaching the nations the revealed 
 matters of faith, and the ways of daily life as revealed in the 
 Bible, and contained in holy traditions. He is the teacher of things 
 relating to the faith and morals of mankind. The walls of the 
 heavenly Jerusalem have now been firmly built, its streets are 
 covered with the gold of everlasting truth, its buildings, pearls of 
 purity are finished, the decree of the infallibility has made it im- 
 pregnable. Now let the gentiles rage, and let the kings devise 
 new things, the church has come out triumphant and glorious 
 from every contest, her march from now forward will be more 
 glorious than in any of the ages of the past. 
 
fHE diocese has all the spiritual perfections of the universal 
 church its mother from which it was born. As the Son 
 lives in the Father, as the universal church lives in Christ 
 her head, in the same way the particular churches, the 
 diocese and parish live in the univ-ersal church. 
 
 But now we begin to see the imperfections of creatures. The 
 dioceses are not immortal like the universal church. Only one, 
 the diocese of Rome, is immortal, indestructible, eternal. Ronie 
 is everlasting because of its peculiar and remarkable relation with 
 the universal church, of which it is the centre and the heart. 
 Thus while other dioceses may fail, while their people may lose 
 the faith, while their sees may be overturned by wars or be wiped 
 out by conquest, the diocese of Rome alone stands, eternal, inde- 
 
"FEED MY LAMBS' 
 
 FEED MY SHEEP."— JOHN XXI, 16-17. 
 
390 WHY ROME IS THE ETERNAL CITY. 
 
 struct! ble, immortal, because it is upheld by the power of the Son 
 of God, whose Vicar is the bishop of tliat central Roman diocese. 
 Thus we read that all the old dioceses founded by the apostles, or 
 by their successors, fell away and died, while the See of Peter, 
 the Eoman diocese alone rises above the ruins of the ancient 
 world, still she holds aloffc its head the Papacy in all its strength, 
 beauty and indestructibility. Where is the diocese of Hippo, the 
 chair of the great St. Augustine? Where is ancient Carthage the 
 see of St. Cyprian? Where is the archdioc^e of St. Mark at 
 Alexandria? Where is Epiiesus the diocese of Timothy and the 
 house of St. John? The schismatic or half pagan Copts are the 
 remains of the once flourishing christian church of Egypt, where 
 for centuries every apostolic virtue bloomed and in the Nile valley 
 flourished. Where is Cesarea the church of the great St. Bazil? 
 From the destruction of Jerusalem under Titusand Vespasian, when 
 not a stone was left upon a stone, as foretold by the prophets and 
 by our Lord, when the very site of the holy city was plowed and 
 sowed, to the beginning of the IV. century, the very name of 
 Christ was blotted from the see of St. James. ^Elia was the name 
 of Jerusalem till Helena, Constantine's sainted mother found 
 the holy site of Calvary and there restored again the worship of 
 the living God. Again the Moliammedans, the Saracens laid waste 
 the great apostolic cities, and again the lines of the bishops of the 
 apostolic sees were broken. Alone amid the ruins of the ancient 
 world the See of Peter stood, and still she stands to our day, the only 
 direct Apostolic See. Her Bishops alone go back in an' unbroken 
 line to the days of her first Pope Peter. Was not this the work of holy 
 Providence carr3'ing out the words of Christ to Peter: *' on this rock 
 I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against her. " ' The ancient sees of the apostles have perished 
 from the earth. War, conquest, famine, infidelity have done 
 their work. The apostolic dioceses now live only in the persons 
 of their titular bishops, who rule other churches in the name of 
 the Pope, as vicars apostolic, as assistant bishops, or they live 
 attached to the congregation of Rome aiding the Pope in his uni- 
 versal government of the church. 
 
 How history has proved the words of the Lord to Peter that he 
 was to be the rock of eternity. In the Chaldean language spoken 
 by our Lord and probably by Adam, as well as in neaiTy all the 
 ancient tongues, Peter means the Rock the Stone. And that 
 Peter, that Rock, came to Rome and there became the foundation 
 Stone of the universal church. His body still rests under the 
 great St. Peter's church as the corner stone of that greatest tem- 
 ple built to the worship of the true God. On that Rock, that is 
 on Peter and on his successors, the Lord built his church and 
 against them the gates of hell will never prevail. 
 
 While Rome has stood, while the diocese of Peter never waved 
 in the faith, the other dioceses have not been as immovable in 
 
 > Matb. zvl. 19. 
 
CHKIST HEAD OF THE KOMAN DIOCESE. 391 
 
 truth. The great christian churches of other lands may fall away 
 from the religion of Christ, such as Canterbury, Jerusalem, Con- 
 stantinople, Cappadocia, Alexandria, Antioch, &c., because of 
 the sins of the people, or because of the secret designs of God 
 which we cannot now understand, but the church universal with 
 its central diocese Rome will last forever, to show the truth of the 
 prophecy of Christ. Thus the Roman diocese is upheld from on 
 high, for its head its sumit is crowned by the Person of Christ the 
 Son of God himself. It has withstood the greatest onslaughts 
 that any government has ever met, and lived, and still it stands 
 the only institution which binds modern times with the dead and 
 silent ages of the world, which have gone and which lie buried in 
 the tomb of the bygone ages. The Roman diocese is therefore like 
 a vast pillar of spiritual light, reaching from earth to heaven, its 
 base jarred and buffeted by the revolutions, the changes of time, 
 and the weakness of fallen human nature, but it is upheld by 
 Christ himself, for it is his diocese, and the Pope is only his Vicar 
 General, ruling it for him till he comes again. 
 
 Christ therefore founded the dioceses in the persons of the 
 apostles, the first bishops of his church. His design was to divide 
 the whole world into small districts and territories, over each to 
 be a bishop ruling for Christ that part of the people of God. 
 While the chief matters which related to the whole church be- 
 long to the central authority of Rome, the simpler matters of 
 administration, the carrying out of the discipline, the administra- 
 tion of property, the purely local affairs were to be left in the 
 hands of the other bishops. Each diocese has then at its head a 
 bishop, the chief minister of Christ, in whose person and author- 
 ity the whole clergy and laity see Christ himself. The diocese as 
 well as the whole church is the spouse of Christ. Through the 
 bishop, at her head, who wears the marriage ring, the diocese is 
 wedded to Christ. She has all the riches of the graces of Christ 
 her spouse. The bishop by the laying on of hands brings forth 
 his clergy, the fruit of the superabundance of the complete 
 Priesthood of Christ. He administers the saving sacraments, the 
 channels of the graces of the Crucified. He enforces the rules 
 and laws of the universal church. He celebrates the wonders 
 of the crucifixion and of the last supper in the Mass each 
 Sunday, and the Gospel he preaches to the people. All the bene- 
 fits and the riches of the universal church are in the dioceses. 
 That is the nature of any living organism. Whatever is in it is 
 also found in each and every part of it. Each part of the church, 
 each diocese, each parish is a reproduction of the whole church. 
 '^ Whatever belongs to the whole organism in a certain way it 
 appears also to belong to a part. " ' 
 
 But we must not fall into the error of thinking that the dioceses 
 and churches are independent, one of the other, or that they form 
 so many independent churches. They are all in the universal 
 * St. Peter Dam. Lit. Com. v- vol. c. 6. 
 
392 HOW DIOCESES ARE FOUNDED. 
 
 church. They are the members of her that is the body of Christ. 
 Each diocese being a perfect church within and living in the uni- 
 versal church, there is a perfect home government in each diocese. 
 But they are all subject to the central diocese Rome, for the dio- 
 ceses live not in themselves but in the universal church, of which 
 the Roman Pontiff is the universal bishop and the Vicar of Christ, 
 who is the head of the jurisdiction of the whole church. Hence 
 those who try to find the model and the image of the church in 
 earthly governments will be mistaken, for she was formed and 
 modeled according to the image of the Holy Trinity. '* She ad- 
 heres to the heavenly mysteries. She is founded on the divine 
 stability. " ' 
 
 Thus as Christ is the head and the spouse of the church, 
 by whom he brings forth his spiritual sons and his daughters, so 
 the Pope, his vicar, is the spouse of the diocese of Rome, and 
 each bishop is the spouse of his diocese, as the pastor is of his 
 parish. The Holy Ghost organizes the churches and brings these 
 forth as so many images of the Persons of the Trinity, " made 
 conformable to the image of his Son. "^ That Holy Ghost who is 
 the Breadth of the Father and of the Son, he was promised to the 
 world to be sent by the Father and by the Son, when he breatlied 
 on his disciples saying: ^'Receive ye the Holv Ghost. " ' That 
 same Holy Spirit, who is the bond of union between the Father 
 ind the Son, he is at the same time the bond of union between 
 )he Pope and the bishops, between the clergy and their bishop, 
 and between the people and their pastors. By the bishops, as 
 the chief ministers of Christ, the Holy Ghost teaches the races of 
 men. " The bishop has the power of enlightening, because he 
 resembles the Father of lights, and abundantly he has this power. 
 There is but one grace and power and order coming forth from 
 God first, and from the Father alone and from the bishop. " * 
 
 As Christ the eternal Bishop of bishops, comes down from his 
 supernatural sanctuary, the bosom of his Father, into the world 
 to found his universal church, which he rules by his Vicar the 
 Bishop of Rome, so the church universal by the voice of the Vicar 
 of Christ, sends the bishop into the diocese to be her head, her 
 spouse, as Christ is the spouse and the head of the church, as the 
 Father is the head of Christ. The bishop, head of the diocese 
 sends the pastor to the parish, to rule and govern it in the name 
 of Christ the head of every church on earth. 
 
 The world then is a great diocese, of which Christ is the head, 
 and the Bishop of Rome is his Vicar General ruling and adminis- 
 tering it till he returns. The dioceses are the great parishes of 
 the universal church, and the Pope is their Bishop. But the 
 bishops divide their dioceses into parishes, and over each they ap- 
 point a rector. Wonderful is the church in her sublime perfec- 
 tions, the last and most stupendous work of the Almighty. God 
 
 > St. Cyprian De Unit. Eccl. C. 6. n. 6. » Bom. vlll. 20. • John x. 22. 
 
 * Simeon Tbaa. de Sacer. Ord. c. 1. 
 
ALL PERFECTIONS OF THE DIOCESE IN THE BISHOPS. 393 
 
 the Father embracing the Son, who came to earth, Father and 
 Son giving all their divinity to the Holy Ghost, he comes into 
 the world and forms the universal church of the fallen race of 
 Adam. The universal church gives birth to the diocese, and the 
 latter to the parish, which bring forth the laity '' born again 
 of water and of the Holy Ghost " into the kingdom of Christ, ail 
 peoples and churches being held together by the bond of the very 
 Trinity. " That you also may have fellowship with us and that 
 our fellowship may be with the Father and with his Son Jesus 
 Christ. '" Thus as Christ is the head of the diocese and church, we 
 are all united to him, and through him to the Persons of the Tri- 
 nity, " I in them and thou in me that they be made perfect in one."' 
 The adorable Persons of the Trinity are in the diocese, poured out 
 into the hearts of the people by the ministry of the clergy, all spirit- 
 ually born of the infinite richness of the atonement of Clirist the 
 head of the diocese, " I in the Father and the Father in me. " ' 
 
 Thus Christ the head of the diocese presides over it in the person 
 of the bishop and in the ministry of the priests, *' In that day 
 you shall know that I am in my Father and you in me. " * The 
 body lives in and by the head. As Christ is the head of the dio- 
 cese, so the members of the diocese live and move and have their 
 whole spiritual being in Christ, who is their head. As St. Ambrose 
 speaking of the universal church said: " Where Peter is there is 
 the church " " so we can say that the whole diocese lives and has 
 its being in the person of the bishop. According to the designs of 
 Christ, all the learning of the clergy, all the sanctity of the people, 
 all the virtues of the whole diocese should centre in the perfections 
 of the bishop, as all the perfections of the universal church centre 
 in Christ. "You must know that the church is in the bishop 
 and the bishop in the church. " * Each bishop therefore should 
 be a model of every virtue and learning to both clergy and people, 
 as the Bishop of Eome shows every virtue and perfection of law 
 and of order to the other bishops and dioceses of the world. *' It 
 is necessary that where the bishop is there is his people, as where 
 Jesus Christ is there is the catholic church. " ' 
 
 All science and learning centre in Christ. For *'all things were 
 by him made, and without him was nothing made that was made.'' * 
 The sciences of the saints, the knowledge of holy things are found 
 in the Pope the Vicar of him, to whose image and likeness they 
 were niade. To him in the person of Peter was given to feed the 
 laity, the lambs, and the other diocese the sheepfolds of Christ. 
 Alone of all the bishops of the world, he confirms the bishops 
 whom satan hath desired to sift as wheat. Aloft, sitting on the 
 Chair of Peter, crowned with the triple crown of the teaching, 
 the sanctifying and the ruling powers of Christ the Prophet, 
 Priest and King of ages, to whom be power and glory the immor- 
 tal and invisible God, " * the Bishop of the Roman diocese 
 
 1 John 1. 3. 2 John xvii. 33. « joi,n xiv. 10, * John xiv. 20. 
 
 • St. Ambrose In Psalm xl. 30. • St. Cyprian. 
 
 ' St. Ignatius of Antioch Epist. Ad Smyr. n. 8. * John I. » I. Tim. I. 
 
394 WHERE ARE THE FALLEK DIOCESES? 
 
 guards the '^deposit of faith, " given to the saints. From him 
 go forth apostolic men into every diocese and parish, teachers 
 of the nations sitting in the darkness of death. 
 
 Shining with the spiritual light of Christ, reflected from the 
 everlasting Throne of the Fisherman of Galilee, bishops preach 
 the Gospel of the Crucified, administer the sacraments, rule 
 churches, because they partake in the jurisdiction of the Vicar of 
 our blessed Lord. He is the administrator of the constitution and 
 the laWs of the church universal. Sent by him the bishops come 
 into their dioceses, bearing all the spiritual riches of their pastor- 
 ate, giving them without money and without price to the races 
 and the nations of the earth. 
 
 Following then these principles, the dioceses live in the persons 
 of their bishops.. Even the fallen churches, the once flourishing 
 dioceses of Asia, of Africa and of other parts of the world, but 
 now fallen from their ancient glories, still they live in the persons 
 of the titular bishops, who now bear their titles. Thus the bish- 
 ops who have been consecrated to these dioceses, bear radically in 
 their persons all the lights and privileges of these ancient fallen sees. 
 
 Christ established the Papacy in Peter, the episcopacy in the 
 apostles and the priests and ministers in the disciples. ' As the 
 Pope rules the church universal, so the bishops rule their dioceses, 
 so the pastors administer their churches. The Pope appoints 
 the bishops, the bishop appoints the rectors of the churches of the 
 dioceses. Christ laying down the supreme principles of the con- 
 stitution of the church, appointed the Papacy, the episcopacy as 
 well as the priests and the ministers of the church as the Council 
 of Trent declares. He founded the church universal alone, and 
 left the appointment of pastors and bishops to particular sees, to 
 the administration of the church. The administration of the 
 church is an act of jurisdiction, and it belongs to the Bishop of 
 Rome, in whom alone centres all jurisdiction in the church. 
 
 The bishop saving Mass, administering the sacraments or preach- 
 ing the Gospel is the most perfect image of Christ. He does so 
 according to the laws of the universal church. In him the clergy 
 and people see Christ the Bishop of eternity. " He that receiv- 
 eth you receiveth me. He that- despiseth you despiseth me." 
 That relates not only to the Pope, to the bishop, but in a less de- 
 gree to any pastor, to any minister of Christ. For the ministers 
 of Christ preach not themselves but " Christ and him crucified. " * 
 The bishop is the head of the diocese. He is the father of all the 
 faithful in the diocese. For he brings forth his spiritual children, 
 his priests and clergymen by rite of holy ordination. They are the 
 images of himself. The Priests he ordains are his sons whom he 
 brings forth to God. He feeds his children by the words of life, 
 by good example, by heavenly food, by the teachings of eternal 
 life. Happy is the diocese and the clergy who have a bishop 
 after the heart of Jesus Christ, who lives the life of the Master. 
 
 » ConcU. Trident. « I. Cot. U. 2. 
 
WHERE THE CHURCH IS VISIBLE. 395 
 
 The good bishop loves his clergy; looks on them as a father on 
 his children; he upholds the good priest; he rewards the men of 
 God; he defends the weak; he treats them with justice, be- 
 nignity, gentleness, kindness; he is clothed with the bowels of 
 the mercy of Jesus Christ, with forgiveness looking down from on 
 high on those who falter on the way. Behold his name will be called 
 blessed, his clergy and people will love him, they will uphold him; 
 like Moses on the mount, they will stand under his weary hands, 
 strengthening him till he gains the victory over all enemies of the 
 Lord and of his church. Both clergy and people will love him 
 because he is "like unto the only begotten Son of God full of 
 grace and truth" ' who '' for us men and for our salvation left the 
 bosom of his Father, came down from heaven and was made man 
 and dwelt among us'"* to show pa'stors how to rule their sub- 
 jects. 
 
 The church universal then becomes individualized and person- 
 ified in the person of the Roman Pontiff, as God the Son became 
 visible and walked the earth, as Christ both God and man. Now 
 invisible to the eyes of men, he is visible to us in the person of 
 his Vicar or in the other bishops or pastors, the ministers of Christ 
 the spiritual heads of the churches, wherein God dwells whose 
 *' delights are to be with the children of men. " As the laity are 
 under their bishops and pastor, so the bishops and pastors are 
 under their superior in the Roman See. In spiritual power the 
 clergy are the same as Christ, because the sacraments adminis- 
 tered by them are the very same in healing power as though 
 Christ himself came and gave them. For to them in the persons 
 of the apostles the Lord said: " All power is given me in heaven 
 and on earth. Going forth therefore teach ye all nations. "" "What- 
 soever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also in heaven, 
 and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth it shall be loosed al- 
 so in heaven. "* The Pope has this power over the canons and 
 laws made by himself or by his predecessors in every age. He 
 binds and loosens the doors of heaven, by making laws for the 
 good of the community which bind the consciences of men. For 
 being the Vicar of him, who received all power from his Father in 
 heaven and on earth, he is the chief legislator of the church uni- 
 versal and of each diocese, for he takes the place of him who is 
 the real head of every church and congregation in the world. 
 Leaving untouched and inviolate the laws of God in the revelation 
 and the primary truths of human reason, the Bishop of Rome can 
 annul, reform or abrogate every law enacted by the councils or by 
 his predecessors, for he has the same power and authority as they 
 had. To him was given charge of the sheepfolds of Christ. 
 
 For Christ in heaven now reigns over the spiritual church re- 
 joicing in the happiness of these celestial abodes. There, as the 
 head of "the saints made perfect," high over the prophets, patri- 
 archs, over angels and archangels, "the first born among many breth- 
 
 1 John I. 2 Nlcene Creed. ' Matt, xxvill. 19. < Matt. xvi. 19. 
 
896 WHAT UNITES THE CHURCH ? 
 
 ren," there sits Christ as the head of the church universal. But 
 the church universal takes in not only the saints in heaven and 
 the saints not yet made perfect, but those who after death still 
 suffer for their sins and faults. He is at the same time the head 
 of the church on earth. But he presides on earth in the person 
 of the Bishop of Kome over all the dioceses into which the church 
 on earth divides. We give some of the beautiful words of St. 
 Ignatius, the second archbishop of Antioch after St. Peter and dis- 
 ciple of the Prince of the apostles. As he lived in the apostolic age 
 his words have great weight: "1 ask you to unite to the Sentence 
 of God, for Jesus Christ is the Sentence of the Father, as the bish- 
 ops scattered over the world are the sentences of Jesus Christ; 
 and you * should unite in the words of the bishop, because your 
 worthy priests of God unite with and harmonize with the bishops 
 as the strings of a lyre, and thus in your union and in your charity 
 Jesus Christ is praised without ceasing."' In another place he 
 says: "I think you are happy, you who are united to your bishops, 
 as the church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to his Fath- 
 er."' "If the prayer of one or two has such power, how much 
 greater that of the bishop and the whole church united." "It is then 
 true that we should receive the bishop as the Lord himself."* 
 "Obey the bishop and the priests as one undivided." " These 
 words, still sounding from the apostolic age, he wrote when he was 
 about to die the most horrible death of martyrdom, and consequent- 
 ly his words have great weight. 
 
 The bishop then the head of the diocese takes the place of 
 Christ, both for priests and people. But we must consider the 
 first diocese and the first bishop of the world. The bishop and the 
 diocese of Eome is the model for all the bishops of the world, and 
 the diocese of Rome is the normal and the pattern according to 
 which all the other dioceses of the world are founded. 
 
 Christ founded the church on Peter saying: "Thou art Peter and 
 upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against it."' Peter, the head of the apostolic college, 
 came to Rome. There on the very steps of the throne of the 
 Caesars he fixed his apostolic Chair. "When the twelve apostles had 
 received from the Holy Spirit the power of preaching the Gospel 
 in all the languages of the earth, and when they divided the world 
 among them, blessed Peter the prince of the apostolic order, re- 
 served to himself the imperial city and Roman Empire, that the 
 law of truth, which was to bring salvation to the Gentiles, might 
 be better preached by him the head to the whole body of the 
 world from the head. You did not fear to come to this city. 
 most blessed Peter the apostle, and thy companion was Paul, 
 that apostle taken up with the ministry of so many churches. You 
 entered this wood filled with wild beasts of prey, this ocean of 
 deep iniquity, you walked over it safer than when you walked 
 
 ' Church of Ephesus. ' St. Ignatius Eplst. ad Epbesus n. 3. 4. • IMdem n. ^. 
 
 * Ibidem n. 6. * Ibidem n-HO. * Hath. xt. 18. 
 
WHAT PETER DID. 397 
 
 over the waters. Now you teach the people who believed coming 
 from the circumcision. You founded the church at Antioch, 
 where the dignity of the christian name rose, you filled Pontus, 
 Galacia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithania with your preaching of 
 the Gospel," &c. ' • 
 
 The diocese of Peter was to be the foundation of the church. 
 As Christ said to Peter: " And I say to thee that is as my Fath- 
 er has shown you my Divinity, thus I will show you your excel- 
 lency, because thou art Peter that is, as I am the unchangeable 
 Kock, I the corner stone, I who make both of us one. I am the 
 foundation on which no one can lay another foundation, but 
 thee thou also art a rock, because thou shalt be strengthened with 
 my power, and those which belong to me by my own power, I 
 will give you, so they will be common to us both, ' and upon this 
 rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it.' " " Upon this strength I will build my everlasting tem- 
 ple, and the height of my church shall pierce the heavetis, and in the 
 strength of this faith it shall rise. The gates of hell shall not 
 hold out against this confession. The bonds of death will not 
 bind it, for this word is the word of life. . . .Therefore he said to 
 blessed Peter: 'I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven, and whatever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound 
 also in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose upon earth it shall 
 be loosened in heaven.' " ' 
 
 An ancient tradition tells us that Pontius Pilate sent i-uch on 
 account of the life and miracles of Christ to the Roman emperor 
 Tiberius, that the latter was veiy angry at him for allowing Christ 
 to be crucified. The Aprocryphal Gospels give some curious details 
 of these times." But the persecutions at Jerusalem still continu- 
 ing, twelve or fourteen yeai's after our Lord's ascension, the apos- 
 tles divided the world up among them. St. Peter started on his 
 famous journey to Rome. He stopped at Antioch and there he 
 lived for seven years. He used to travel into different parts of 
 the surrounding countries giving missions to the people. He was 
 at Jerusalem in the year 37, when St. Paul came to see him and 
 stayed with him fifteen days. " The historian Eusebius tells us that 
 he preached to the Jews in various parts of Asia, before setting 
 out on his historic journey for Rome. 
 
 When Peter came to Rome, being a Jew, he first preached to 
 the Jews residing in the Jewish quarter of the imperial city. He 
 came in the year 43, in the reign of the emperor Claudius. Two 
 years after he returned to Jerusalem, where in the year 44 he was 
 arrested and thrown into prison by king Herod Agrippa, ° from 
 which he was delivered by an angel, for it was God's design that he 
 might die not at Jerusalem but at Rome. He then travelled into 
 many parts of Asia, preaching and establishing bishops in many 
 cities. When again he returned to Rome, the Jews raised such a 
 
 ' St. Leo Ser. de SS. A post. Petri et Pauli ante raed. ^ jjatt. xvl. 18. 
 
 ' St. LeoSermoS In Anniv. Assumpt. Suae p. in. 
 
 * Butler's Lives of the Saints. Si. Peter. * Gal. 1. 19. • Acts xU. 
 
398 PETER^S OPPOSITION IN ROME. 
 
 disturbance over his coming, that the emperor Clandins banished 
 both christians and Jews from the city. With St. Paul, St, Peter 
 soon returned again to tlie eternal city, and tliere he made his 
 home. He stili travelled into many provinces, even into Judea, 
 but soon the increase of the (fluistian religion at Rome engaged 
 all his time. 
 
 One of his first converts was the celebrated Senator Pudens 
 and his daughter Pudentiana. The latter waited on tiie Prince 
 of the apostles in lier father's house, where Peter took up his 
 permanent abode. The table on which Peter said Mass in this 
 senator's house has been preserved in Rome as a relic of the times 
 of the great apostle. We must remember that the sctiators of the 
 time of Christ were great and powerful men, which Pyrhus com- 
 pared to kings. At that time they had collectively greater power 
 than kings at the present time. The conversion of this cele- 
 brated and wealthy family gave not only a place of residence for 
 the prince of the apostle, but the power and the standing of this 
 family attracted the attention of the Roman nobility. 
 
 Peter found opposition from an unexpected source. The reader 
 Avill remember, that when Peter went to comfirm the converts of 
 Samaria ' when they received the Holy Ghost the made new 
 converts worked many miracles. Simon Magns had practised his 
 trickery and magic amojig the Samarians, and being in league with 
 the devil he had deceived many of them. He wanted to perform 
 as great wonders as he saw the apostle and the converts work, and 
 he offered Peter money for the power of conferring the sacrament 
 of confirmation. For that inculent, to buy spiritual things with 
 money or with worldly gifts is called the sin of simony. 
 
 Simon was a complete hypocrite, yet he pretended to be a firm 
 christian. The works of Simon made him famons and liis reputa- 
 tion spread even to Rome, where he wejit and soon made an im- 
 pression on the superstitious Roman people, especially on the mind 
 of the emperor. In Rome all the errors of the world had found a 
 resting place, and Simon was received with great favor, even di- 
 vine honors being offered to him, and on an island in the Tiber tliey 
 erected to him a statue with an inscription. " Above all he ex- 
 erted agreat influence on Messalina, wife of the emperor Claudius. 
 Because of her adulteries and crimes, Messalina was put to death 
 in the year 48, and then the emperor Claudius, who was like a 
 child with gray hairs and as big a fool as ever reigned took to wife 
 his niece Agrapina, a crime till then condemned by the Roman 
 law. By her first husband Agrapina had a son Nero, whom Chin- 
 dius adopted as his own son, although he had another son by 
 Messalina called Britanicus. This bad woman pushed Claudius 
 to every extreme, and enflamed the Romans against the church. 
 Thus rose the first persecution against the Christiana. It was di- 
 rected especially against Sts. Peter and Paul. In tlie year 51 
 Agrapina poisoned the emperor Claudius, and by a series of aw- 
 > Acts. * "SeiQoni Deo Sancio." SU. Justin. Ireneus. TertuIMsD. &c- 
 
PETER AT NERO'S COURT. 399 
 
 ful crimes, she prepared the way to the throne of the Roman em- 
 pire for her son Nero, who became the greatest monster of the fal- 
 len race of Adam. 
 
 For five years the young prince Nero, ruled well, after he had 
 set aside his bad mother. He did this because in his administration 
 he was guided by his master Seneca. In the year 55 he poisoned 
 his brother Britanicus while they were at supper. In 58 he killed 
 liis own mother, so as to put her out of his way to complete mastery 
 of the throne. Simon Magus soon gained the esteem of this tyrant, 
 by acting on his supertitious mind. The emjieror's only ambition 
 was to become master of magic. For this reason he called the 
 chief magicians of the world to Rome to teach him their magic arts. 
 This was the state of things when St. Peter returned to Rome, and 
 there he found as his chief opponent this impious Simon Magus, 
 whom before he had met at Samaria. 
 
 Peter continually suffered from the persecutions and the plottings 
 of this Simon the Sfagician, who had become the leader of the Jews 
 agait\st him. When St. Paul returned from his preaching among 
 tlie gentiles, after the Romans thought him dead, Peter told Paul 
 all the difficulties raised before him by this bad Simon. ^ It is said, 
 but we do not vouch for its truthfulness, that when a tumult rose 
 between the Gentiles and the Jews, St. Paul came to Rome and 
 Peter rose up and explained how as Eve was created out of the side 
 of Adam so the church came out of the side of Christ &c. At this 
 Sermon Nero's wife Libia believed, and was baptized, besides a slave 
 of Agrippa and some of the soldiers, as well attendants on the bed- 
 chamber of the emperor Nero. 
 
 The eloquence of Sts. Peter and Paul penetrated every mind, 
 and the church at Rome was growing rapidly, when Simon Magus 
 rose up to oppose the good work. By his magic he made statues 
 move, he raised himself in the air and did other wonders, while 
 Peter healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and even raised the 
 dead, performing miracles like to his Divine Master. Peter and 
 Simon each had their following, and such a noise was raised that the 
 tumult came to the ears of Nero, who first sent for Simon and then 
 for the apostle St. Peter. Simon claimed to be the Son of God, 
 while St. Peter told the emperor that he was an imposter, and ad- 
 vised the emperor to look up the report of Pontius Pilate about 
 Christ sent in to his predecessor the emperor Tiberius. The report 
 having been read before the court as given by Pilate, relating that 
 the Jews claimed that the Holy One of God would come, that 
 Jesus did great wonders, that the Jews cruqified him, that the 
 soldiers guarded his grave, that he rose from the dead, and that 
 the Jews bought the soldiers up to say that while they slept the disci- 
 ples came and stole his body &c. Then Peter told the emperor 
 how all these things took place as related in Pilate's letter. 
 
 The dispute between Sts. Peter and Paul on one side, and Simon 
 Magus on the other waxed strong and warm for many days before 
 ' Acts or Peter and Paul Aprocr. Gospels. 
 
400 DEATH or STS. PETER A.KD PAUL. 
 
 the emperor's court, till Simon claimed that if the emperor put him 
 to death he would rise on the third day. Then they secretly put 
 a ram to death, and Simon's followers claimed that Simon was 
 beheaded. Simon claimed to be the Son of God. But when he 
 found that Nero inclined to believe Sts. Peter and Paul, he prom- 
 ised to ascend into heaven to his Father, from the top of a tower 
 as Christ had ascended from the mount of Olives. 
 
 Nero ordered a lofty tower built in the Campus Martins, and 
 the next day the whole city turned out to see the ascension. 
 When Simon went up into the tower St. Paul fell upon his kneesand 
 began to pray. Crowned with laurels Simon began to fly, held up 
 aloft it is said by demons. Then Peter with Paul prayed to the 
 Lord, that he might fall. At once Simon Magus fell from a great 
 height into the street Via Sacra, and broke his legs and later he 
 died from his injuries. 
 
 His followers claiming that he would rise from the dead the 
 third day, the emperor imprisoned the two apostles in the Mamer- 
 tine prison, where they converted their guards. The emperor 
 condemned them to be killed in a sea fight for the amusement of 
 the populace. But Agrippa advised that they be put to death by 
 violence. St. Paul was a Roman citizen, and Romans were never 
 condemned to the disgraceful and excruciating death of crucifix- 
 ion, he was beheaded outside the walls at the Three Fountains. 
 A few days before St. Peter, fearing the terrible persecution had 
 fled from the city. Outside the walls he met our Lord bearing his 
 cross towards the city. Peter asked him where he was going, and 
 Christ replied: '* To Rome to be crucified." Taking the hint the 
 apostle again returned to the city.' Remembering that he had 
 denied his Master, when they were about to crucify him, Peter 
 asked that he might be crucified with his head down. Thus died 
 the great apostles on the ;i9th of June in the year 66. 
 
 Marcellus, Basilissa, and Anastasia with others, took the body 
 of St. Peter and hid it under the terebinth of the circus on the 
 Vatican hill. A little oratory rose over their tomb. There the 
 bodies of both apostles found a resting place, while their heads 
 were afterwards placed in the Pope's cathedral St. John Lateran. 
 When in 313 Constantino repaired the tomb, and built the great 
 St. Peter's church, he placed the bodies in metalic caskets, on the 
 lid of which he laid a cross of gold weighing 150 lbs. Over 
 their bodies to-day stands the great St. Peter's Church, the 
 grandest church raised to the glory of the Living God. The 
 crypt where rest the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul is called the 
 Confession of St. Peter. In the days of Constantino, before ho 
 moved the seat of the empire to the banks of the Bosphorus and 
 founded the great capital of Constantinople, he covered the M'alls 
 of the Confession of St. Peter's with plates of gold encrusted 
 with most precious gems. 
 
 In the days of the pagan empire, captive kings and conquered 
 
 * Boman Tradition. Apocryphal Gospels, Arti of Peter and Paal. 
 
INFLUENCE OF ROME ON NATIONS. 401 
 
 nations thronged the streets of Rome. But they came as slaves. 
 From the days of Peter strangers still come to Rome, but they 
 come as christians rescued from the darkness of error walking in 
 tlie light of the Gospel. They come to the feet of the successor 
 of the humble Fisherman of Galilee, and to the tomb of the two 
 great apostles Peter and Paul. Each bishop of the universal 
 church must come and give an account of his diocese to Peter 
 in his successor. Once each three years come the bishops of It- 
 aly, the bishops of Europe every four years, and the bishops of 
 Ireland, of Asia and of America, every ten years must render an ac- 
 count of their stewardship to the the Pope, and pray at the tombs 
 of the great apostles, and their visits are called their visits to 
 " Limina Apostolorum," — Tombs of the Apostles. Tiius the great 
 St. Peter's Church is the tomb of Peter the first Bishop of Rome. 
 In the sixteenth century Clement VII., with cardinal Bellarmin 
 and the members of the Papal court went down into the Confession 
 and found the casket and tlie cross of gold placed on it by Constan- 
 tine in 312. From the days of the apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul, 
 Rome and her Bishops ever stood as a lighthouse to guide the na- 
 tions sitting in the darkness of death and error. But the gates of 
 hell rose up against that throne, and for 300 years the whole power 
 of pagan Rome raged against the church, personified in her /isible 
 head, the successor of Peter. But the Popes at once began the 
 providential work given them by God. The sons of Esau child 
 of Isaac, who sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob 
 the father of the Jews, his children having settled Italy, the 
 Jews rejected the Lord, who chose the Italians children of Esau, as 
 the people selected for the seat of the Papacy, and the children of 
 Esau received at last his birthright. From that time, Rome and 
 not Jerusalem, became the city of God. 
 
 The Popes at once began the conversion of paganism. Up to 
 that time there was no law or courts where Justice was found 
 among men. The Popes issued laws and canons to every nation, 
 people, and church. The church tempered the cruelty of these 
 pagan idolaters by wise and just regulations. Oufside her pale 
 there was neither mercy, forgiveness, or justice for the fallen. 
 The Bishops of Rome thundered against the oppressions of rulers 
 grinding their subjects. The ignorant laity, crushed with the 
 weight of sin and of bad rulers, found that the clergy were their 
 only friends, and tyrants found in the church a power they had 
 to respect. The constitutions of Popes, the apostolic letters of 
 the Roman Pontiffs, their bulls and briefs then became the 
 framework of that wonderful code of laws the canon law of the 
 church, by which the whole vast organism of Christendom was 
 ruled and regulated. The relations of the people to their pastors, 
 the duties of priests to the bishops, the functions of every office 
 in the church, the way each sacrament must be administered, the 
 official act of every officer of the church, from the Pope down 
 to the simplest layman, was regulated by the enactments and the 
 
402 ROMAN INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 
 
 laws made by the Popes. They form the canon or ecclesiastical 
 law of the church, which should be written in letters of gold 
 shining with the sunlight for the instruction of mankind. 
 
 At the time of Christ, the Roman empire in the secret designs 
 of God's Providence settled by the sons of Esau, blessed by Isaac 
 had spread over the earth, sending everywhere Roman civiliza- 
 tion, an image of the more wonderful destin}' of christian Rome 
 over modern christian civilization, as before the sons of Japhet 
 blessed by Noe had founded the Greek empire. From the Roman 
 law the church took many principles of justice and of reason be- 
 tween man and man, and incorporated them into her canon law. 
 Then having purged Roman law from the errors of paganism, and 
 incorporated christian principles into what was good among the 
 Romans, she sent them blessed with the truths of the Gospel to 
 all the nations who received their faith from the royal line of Pe- 
 ter. She spread these truths over the whole christian world. 
 These were the first rays of the liberty of 'conscience, of the dig- 
 nity of man redeemed, and of the priceless value of immortal 
 souls. From that exhaustless font of the Papacy, in the later 
 middle ages, men drew their rules of politics, their forms of legal 
 procedure, their framework of courts, their modes of government, 
 their international law, and their inspiration for the bettering of 
 human life. 
 
 In the bishops' houses, in the monasteries and schools of chris- 
 tian scientists, in the confessional, from the pulpits of the churches, 
 the Gospel truths were taught the people, not as coming from the 
 teacher but as the reflections of the Bishop of Rome, and the def- 
 initions of Peter. All the founders of the christian nations were 
 taught by the clergy of the church, and from them the statesmen 
 of the middle ages learned the wisdom of governing well their 
 subjects. Under the shadow of Westminister Abbey, the first Eng- 
 lish parliament sat inspired by tiie clergy who infused christian 
 principles into the great nssembly of the Saxons, and in the lapse 
 of ages they wrested the liberties of the people from tyrannical 
 kings. In France, Spain, Austria and in every country of Chris- 
 tendom it was the same. From England we get our laws thus pur- 
 ified, and the people of this country must look to the clergy and to 
 the Popes for the liberty and prosperity they enjoy. 
 
 Under the eyes of the Popes, or by their directions in the early 
 ages, the Missal used in saying Mass, the Ritual containing the 
 prayers in administering the sacraments, the Pontifical which the 
 bishop uses in episcopal functions, the Breviary containing the 
 prayers said by all the clergy in sacred orders, all the liturgical 
 works of the church have grown up from the apostolic age, and we 
 do not know their authors. They go back till they are Tost in the 
 time following the apostles. Tiie Bible alone excepted, no Liter- 
 ature can compare with these official books of the church. The 
 power and sublimity of the Scriptures, the polish and sweetness 
 of the finest poetry, the eloquence and stately figures of the 
 
JESUS CONSOLING AND HEALING THE SICK. 
 
404 MYSTIC MEANING OF CHURCH BUILDINGS. 
 
 greatest orators, the mysticism of the Jewish church and the tem- 
 ple sacrifice, the grandeur of tlie Greek and Koman writers, the 
 matchless compositions of the Latin and Greek aiitliors, all seem 
 consecrated and embodied in these official works of the Koman 
 chnrch. Fur they have spread to the uttermost ends of the 
 earth, and on the title pages you will see that they are the ofiicial 
 books of the Eoman diocese. 
 
 From the tabernacle of tiie Jews, christian Rome learned the 
 fundamental plan of church bnil^^ings, for the model of the tab- 
 ernacle came from God, who told Moses to make it according to 
 the model shown him on the mount. The Roman basilica or 
 court lionse gave tiie idea of the gothic and Greek cross. The 
 first fine churches were bnilt in Rome under the direction of the 
 Popes, and from there all church architecture decorated with the 
 finest works of the artists and sculptors, church buildings spread 
 over the world. The cathedral itself is but a model in material 
 form of the diocese, while tlie parish church is the ritual embodied 
 in the church building, filled with mysticism of the revelation 
 made to man, which was treasured up by the apostolic men, 
 guarded by the Bishops of Rome, impressed on Rome's most beauti- 
 ful building, and from the eternal city spread over the christian 
 world, by Christ speaking through the lips of his Vicar. Thus 
 the Holy Spirit, the Soul of the church speaks to the world, not 
 only by the voice of the visible head, but also we might almost say 
 by the customs, observances and traditions of the Roman diocese, 
 and by the christian civilization which spreads from Rome to the 
 whole world. 
 
 God the Son dwelled invisible in the bosom of his Father; but 
 he became man that we might know and see him. So the 
 church universal and invisible becomes individualized and visible 
 in the Bishop and diocese of Rome to whom Pefer brouoht all 
 the riches of the Papacy, which he had received from his Master. 
 
 Little by little did the wonders of that papal power appear be- 
 fore the minds of men, till the Vatican Council gave it tlie finish- 
 ing touch. Before this time, seventeen great legislative bodies of 
 bishops or councils had met and offered to the world salutary meas- 
 ures for the accommodation of the changing customs of men, so the 
 nations might better receive the good tidings of the Gospel. But 
 these councils did not change any old doctrines or form new truths 
 different from what had been received from the apostles. Under 
 the direction of the Bishop of Rome they decreed certain changes 
 of discipline and customs, while the fundamental constitution of 
 the church remained the very same. The Roman Pontiffs gave 
 the diverse impulses to these great legislative councils in every 
 age. and without him they could do nothing in any council. These 
 legislative bodies of the church, or these councils, first gave the 
 key to all the other popular legislative branches of modern gov- 
 ernments. The courts of the cliurch for the trial of cases first met 
 in Rome, from which they spread to the other dioceses of the world. 
 
The Election of Bishops- 
 
 jESUS Christ called his apostles from the ranks of the disciples, 
 " And going np into a mountain, he called unto him whom 
 he wonld himself; and thoycame to him. And he made 
 that twelve should he with him, and that he might send 
 them to preach."* To them after the resurrection he said: " As 
 the Father hath sent me so I also send you: Going forth there- 
 fore teaoli all nations.'^' Such was the election of the first bish- 
 ops oi' tlie church. To the clergy of Ephesus St. Paul said: 
 "Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy 
 Ghost hath placed you bishops to rule (Poimainein) the church 
 of God." ' The apostles with the laity and clergy elected Mat- 
 thias in tlie place of Judas. In the first chapter of his Epistle to 
 Titus, St. Paul tells him the qualities a bishop should have be- 
 fore he consecrates him to that holy office. Thus history shows 
 us that following the example of Christ bishops, were ever conse- 
 crated by bishops. 
 
 In the early church the clergy and laity were usually called to take 
 part in the selection of the candidate for the vacant church. The 
 bishops of the early church always consulted the clergy regarding 
 the piety and learning of the priest or deacon they elevated to the 
 episcopal office. In the age immediately following the apostles, 
 they often selected a heroic confessor of the faith, one who had. 
 showed his virtue and faith by suffering for the church. For 
 that reason many of the immediate bishops the followers of the 
 apostles bore the marks of persecution. This way of electing 
 prelates continued for the first three centuries, so that many of 
 the bishops sitting in the Council of Nice were disfigured, or bore 
 » Mark ill. 13, 14. * John xx. 21. » f^f.^ ^x. 28. 
 
 405 
 
8E.\T8 rOB THE MEMBEfM OF THE CATHEDRAL CHAPTEK. BRUNN CATUEURAL, AUSTRIA- 
 
WHAT ST. CYPRIAN SAYS. 407 
 
 the scars and wounds of the persecutions of the Roman empire, to 
 which Constantine put a stop by his conversion. 
 
 The apostles appointed bishops in each city where they had 
 made converts. The consecration ceremony was very simple. 
 After the selection of the candidate, in which the apostle took the 
 most active part, they prayed and fasted, and then surrounded by 
 the whole people, they imposed their hands on the elect, inducted 
 him into his episcopal chair, and before the whole church they 
 gave him his commission to rule that part of the church of God. 
 From the time of Constantine, the christian peoples increased, 
 and the nobles, the judges, the magistrates, &c. , took an active 
 part in the election of their bishop. But the chief duty belonged 
 to the clergy of the diocese, and the laity were given a voice, not 
 as a right but as a privilege. St. Cyprian in numerous parts of 
 his writings tells us the role each rank of clergyman took in the 
 election, saying that such came from the traditions of the apos- 
 tles.' ** It is required of us," he says, " to guard the divine and 
 apostolic traditions, such as are held by us and by all other prov- 
 inces. That the ordination may be carried out in a proper man- 
 ner, all the bishops of the province gather at the place where a 
 pastor is to be promoted, and he must be elected in the presence of 
 the people, who know the life of each one, for he lived among 
 them for a long time. We saw how this took place among us at 
 the consecration of Sabin, our colleague, to whom we gave the 
 episcopacy following the votes of his brethren and the judgment 
 of the bishops, as well as those who were present, besides those 
 whom we notified by letters, that they mighc think of him after 
 which we had imposed hands on him, and we substituted him in 
 the place of Basilidus, who had been deposed because of his 
 crimes." 
 
 Such St. Cyprian says was the way Christ ordered bishops to be 
 elected. That was the way he was elected himself. When the 
 clergy and people were unanimous regarding a candidate, it was 
 taken as a judgment of God. Not only the people and the clergy 
 of the cathedi'al city, but also the laity and clergy of the country, 
 and of all the towns and cities of the whole diocese were called to 
 take part in the election of the father of the diocese." When the 
 diocese of Tours became vacant, a great crowd of people and of 
 clergy from all the surrounding country gathered at Tours and 
 elected the great St. Martin of Tours.' 
 
 That was not only the discipline of Europe, but also the custom 
 of the Orient. When the Council of Chalcedon met, some of the 
 bishops doubted the regularity of the election of St. Lawrence 
 bishop of Ephesus, who replied: " Forty bishops of Asia ordained 
 me with the votes of the nobles, the princes and the venerable 
 clergy of the whole city." ^ When Pope St Leo called the bish- 
 ops of the world to this council, he wrote to the bishops of the 
 
 ' Epist. 08. 2 Sererua Sulpiclus. ' Severus Sulpicius. In Vita S. Martini C. 7- 
 
 * Act. 2. 
 
408 HOW ST. BAZIL WAS ELECTED. 
 
 province of Vienna, that no episcopal election would be considered 
 as rightly carried out in any different way, adding: "they must have 
 the signatures of tiie clergy, the testimony of honorable persons, 
 and the consent of the magistrates and of the people .... he who 
 is to be over all should be elected by all." ' Such was the way of 
 electing bishops in all parts of the church up to the middle of the 
 fifth century, and it was the way the great bishops such as the 
 Cyrils, the Chrystoms, the Augustines, the Bazils and the great- 
 est men of the church were elected. 
 
 But the minor details were not always the very same in all parts 
 of the world at that time. The archbishop and the bishops of 
 the province at all times took the most prominent part in the 
 election. They asked the people and the clergy for their votes, 
 ** It was," as Pope St. Oelestine says, *' lest a bishop they would 
 not receive be placed over them."* The confirnnition or the 
 vetoing of the choice was always in the hands of the bishops, who 
 acted as the delegate of the Bishop of Rome. Pope Oelestine 
 wrote to the bishops of Calabria, that, ** In these times they must 
 teach the people and not follow them, toll them what is allowed 
 them and what is not." ' When Eusebius bishop of Cesarea died, 
 the clergy of the diocese wrote to all the bishops of the province 
 to come to the election. Gregory a priest with a little country 
 parish was old and could not come, but he wrote to the clergy 
 saying that he gave his vote for Bazil, " He is a man I say before 
 God, whose life and teachings are pure and the only man or the 
 one most proper to oppose heresy," &c. The good old priest 
 Gregory also wrote to bishop Eusebius, who was not of that prov- 
 ince, imploring him to come because of the spread of heresy at 
 Cesarea, and Gregory was carried to Cesarea in his bed of sickness. 
 The great St. Bazil was thus elected to the vacant see of Cesarea 
 although the rich and well to do of the diocese opposed his selec- 
 tion. * 
 
 Thus we see how careful they were in the early church in the elec- 
 tion of tiie bishops, so much sothatevenbishopsof otherprovinces 
 took an active part in the selection of the candidiites. In Africa 
 it was customary to send one of the neighboring bishops to the 
 widowed cathedral church, to teach the people and clergy the 
 manner of holding the election, so it might not degenerate into a 
 political intrigue. That bishop then governed the vacant church 
 and was called the Intercessor or Visitor. His duties were regu- 
 lated by the V. Council of Carthage. ' The see remained vacant 
 for one year, so ns to give the clergy and people plenty of time to 
 select the new bishop, while if the see was not filled at the end of 
 the year, the visiting bishop returned home, and another neighbor- 
 ing bishop took his place. That was the custom in Africa, 
 but tlie council of Chalcedon gives oidy three months for a 
 vacancy. * 
 
 • Epist. X. n. e<1. » Eptat. H. Cap. 6. » Epist. 111. c. 8. 
 
 * (ireg, Eplst. 1» oral. 10 el 1». » Can. 6. • St. Greg. L. 6. Eplat. A 
 
EXAMINING THE EPISCOPAL CANDIDATE. 409 
 
 "When the clergy and laity were well instructed by the visiting 
 bishop, a day for the election was appointed, and all the bishops 
 of the province were called to the city to take part. Then they 
 appointed three days of prayer and fasting in which to ask the 
 light of the Holy Spirit. When the bishops assembled, they placed 
 before them a list of the voters, the archbishop with his suffragan 
 bishops presiding as inspectors of the election. They counted the 
 voters cleric and laic. They examined the candidate, his learning, 
 morals and his worthiness for the office. The candidate received 
 no right to the diocese or to the vacant see, till he was ap- 
 proved by the archbishop and the bishops, who always selected the 
 candidate proposed by the clergy and people, unless very urgent 
 reasons required them to veto the choice. 
 
 The IV. Council of Carthage, composed of 214 bishops held in 
 389, tells us how the candidate was examined before iiis conse- 
 cration to the vacant see. They carefully examined if he were 
 prudent, moderate, chaste, temperate, attentive to his religious 
 duties, affable with all, merciful, well versed in the laws of God, 
 a good biblical student, well knowing the meaning of the Gospels 
 and posted in the dogmatic teaching of the church. But above 
 all things they examined him in matters relating to faith. So as 
 not to surprise him or confuse him before the whole church, they 
 allowed him to write his answers to their questions on the chief 
 dogmas of religion. According to this Council, they asked him 
 among other things, if he believed that God is the Author of both 
 the Old and New Testaments, of the law, of the prophecies, and of 
 the Gospels; if he believed that the devil is bad by his own will, 
 if he approved marriage, if he was certain that outside the cath- 
 olic church there was no salvation &c. 
 
 That examination having been found satisfactory, the clergy 
 and people presented him to the bishops for consecration. The 
 archbishop assisted by two of his suffragan bishops then consecrated 
 him according to the rules of the council of Nice. ' Such was 
 the mode of electing bishops during the first five centuries of the 
 church, and many of the bishops selected with such care became 
 the very flower of the whole episcopacy of the Church, they were 
 the great saints and doctors who illuminated the whole world by 
 the splendors of their talents and the beauties of tlieir wi-itings. 
 Even to this day their Avorks are mines of learning, from Avhich 
 we learn the truths of the traditions of the apostles. 
 
 The Roman emperors following Constantine were for the 
 most part at least christian, if only nominally, and they began 
 to mix in the election of the bishopsof their empire. First they left 
 the church free to follow the holy canons, except in the election of 
 the Bishops of Eome and of Constantinople. They asked that 
 the name of the bishop elect might be sent to them for their 
 approval before his consecration, and to this the church agreed 
 rather than excite their poAverful hostility. Justinian the ein- 
 
 * Concll Nic. Can. 4. 
 
410 FIRST GOVERNMENT INTERMEDDLING. 
 
 peror first obtained that concession. Lyons, then the principal 
 city of France, often waited for what tliey thought was a special 
 mark of Providence before they elected their .bishop. ' Once 
 after the death of their beloved bishop, it is said an angel 
 appeared in the form of a ciiild, and told them to send for St. 
 Encher, who had hidden in a cave, and they sent their archdeacon 
 to bring him to Lyons to be consecrated. 
 
 When in the V. and VI. centuries the barbarians swept down 
 from the North overran Europe, and laid the foundaions of the 
 modern nations of Christendom, many of these princes fell into the 
 Arianean heresy which denied the Divinity of Christ. Seeing the 
 power exercised by the bishops over the people, they asked to be 
 given a voice in their election. * Rather than fight them, the 
 church conceded that, not as a right but as a favor, allowing the 
 kings to represent the people in such elections, still reserving to the 
 bishops and the clergy the right of vetoing an unworthy candidate. 
 A council held at Paris in 557 regulated that matter for the king- 
 dom of France, and forbade the consecration of any bishop with- 
 out the consent of the bishops and the clergy of the widowed 
 diocese. Later when a bishop died, they had to get an order 
 from the king to elect and consecrate his successor. ' 
 
 When the bishop of Aixdied, Nicetius the Count received from 
 king Chilperic permission to have another bishop consecrated for 
 the vacant see. King Thirry, the eldest son of king Clovis, had 
 St. Quintien consecrated to the see of Clermont, and when bish- 
 op Pientius died at Paris, king Charibert ordered them to elect 
 Pascentius in his place. * Many elections took place in this way 
 throughout the diffierent kingdoms of Europe. The Visigoths of 
 Spain and the kings of France obtained the same privilege, which 
 was conceded to the former by the VL council of Toledo, * and 
 by the XIV. council held at the same place. These elections took 
 place thus: the king named a person in sacred orders whom he 
 would like to see promoted to the vacant see; the bishops and 
 the clergy examined the candidate in the same way as described 
 above, and if no obstacle stood in the way they consecrated him 
 in the regular manner and installed him in his episcopal throne. 
 In the beginning of the eighth century King Louis the Meek re- 
 nounced that royal concession or privilege in the parliament at 
 Attigni, saying that the church should be free in such actions, he 
 being the first emperor who gave complete liberty to the church 
 since the dominion of the Franks, and the conquests of the Bar- 
 barians. 
 
 Regarding the election of the archbishops, they always informed 
 the emperor to see if he had any objection to their candidate. 
 When a see became vacant, the clergy and people informed the 
 archbisliop, who reported the fact to the emperor or king. Then 
 the archbishop nominated a bishop to visit the vacant diocese 
 
 « MabUloti Consr. T. I. p. 24«. » Fleuri Inat. Cad. 10. * St. Greg, of Tours. 
 
 « Grejt. L. a. C. 16. 1. b. C. W. » Tit. I. C. 10. 
 
HOW ABUSES AIIOSE. 411 
 
 who presided over the election and saw that the canons of the 
 church were observed. The visiting bishop called a meeting of 
 the clergy and people in the cathedral, where ho read the Lesson 
 of St. Paul regarding the qualities of a bishop, and the laws of the 
 church defining the mode of election. Then the clergy attached 
 to the cathedral and other churches of the diocese, the monks, 
 nuns and people, voted for the candidates. At that time the 
 monks took an active part in the proceedings. For three days 
 they fasted and prayed before they voted. All voters signed the 
 paper and sent it to the archbishop, who called together all the 
 bishops of the province. They usually met in the vacant cathe- 
 dral, and examined to see if the election had been held in a reg- 
 ular way, and according to the laws of the church. The candi- 
 date who had received the most votes then appeared before the 
 meeting of bishops, where the archbishop as chairman examined 
 him regarding his birth, his life, his promotion to the orders he 
 had already received, so as to see if there might be any irregular- 
 ity, after wiiich the bishop elect made a profession of faith, then 
 a day for the consecration was appointed. If any obstacle were 
 found, they rejected him, and at once held another election. 
 Such was the way of electing bishops from the VII. to the IX. 
 centuries in many parts of Europe. 
 
 Later Lothair son of Charles the Bauld disposed episcopal sees 
 almost as he wished, against which abuse Pope Leo IV. protested 
 in the election of the deacon Colonus to the vacant see of Reiti. 
 Pope Engenius IV. wrote the same kind of a protesting letter to 
 Count Guy. The successors of Louis the Meek on the other side 
 of the Ehine followed the example of their father, and left the 
 church free in the selection of her bishops. But the rulers who 
 came later often abused this privilege, once granted tiieir ances- 
 tors by the church, and they frequently disposed vacant sees as 
 they wished, sometimes even nominating their unworthy relatives 
 to the vacant dioceses. Above all these abuses grew especially in 
 Germany and England, kings giving the ring and pastoral staff to 
 whom they wished, taking no notice of the elections or votes of 
 the clergy and laity of the vacant sees. 
 
 Henry IV. son of Henry the Black claimed the right of nom- 
 inating all the bishops and pastors of his empire, and he even 
 sold the vacant churches and dioceses to the highest bidders. In 
 this way many unworthy men were introduced into the church. 
 Many Popes protested against these crying abuses, till the cele- 
 brated Hildebrand ascended the throne of Peter. Taking the 
 name of Gregory VII. he began a bold contest causing many 
 wars, the Pope protested against Henry appointing bishops and 
 pastors to the vacant churches of his empire, and Henry claimed 
 the right. The whole of Europe was arrayed on one side or the 
 other, with the church or with the state. The emperor held that 
 -his predecessors for centuries had the right of appointing all the 
 bishops of the kingdom, while the Pope protested that it was 
 
412 THE CHURCH ASSERTS HER RIGHTS. 
 
 only a favor given them by the church, which the church could 
 at any time withdraw. St. Oihon had been appointed the guar- 
 dian of the episcopal rings and pastoral staffs of the vacant bish- 
 oprics of Germany, and which he was accustomed to lay before 
 the throne of the'emperor. When he himself was elected to the 
 episcopal throne of Bamberg, he received his iuvestature, not 
 from the emperor, but at Rome from the hands of the intrepid 
 Pope Gregory VII. who consecrated him. St. Anselm had re- 
 ceived the crosier and ring from Henry I. of England, but on re- 
 ceiving a protesting letter from Gregory VII., he sent the Pope 
 the insignia of his office and retired to a monastery, from which 
 he was again recalled by the Pope to take charge of his diocese. 
 
 In that day even the saints were not well instructed regarding 
 the matters in dispute till taught by the Holy See. The abbot of 
 Cluny, St. Hugues, became the mediator between Henry of Ger- 
 many and the Holy See. In England, St. Anselm had trouble 
 with Henry I. of England regarding the same question, and he 
 refused to consecrate bishops selected by the king, claiming that 
 the chuich alone could choose her ministers. Tlie question so 
 agitated the civilized world, that neither clergy or people could 
 with safety exercise their right of voting for tbeir bishops, the 
 kings and political rulers claiming the whole right. Such was the 
 condition of the church in the XII. centnry. From that time 
 the church has maintianei her freedom in the choice of the bishops, 
 and temporal rulers lost the right of electing themselves bishops and 
 abbots, as well as the concession regarding tlie election of the clergy 
 
 Such was the discipline of the XIII. century. The victory 
 which Gregory VII. gained over the oppressions of the state and 
 of politicians interfering in the election of church officials will 
 last to the end of the world. From that time the church has 
 been free in the appointment of her ministers, although later 
 cruel rulers received the privilege of nominating candidates for 
 ecclesiastical dignities. 
 
 During these epochs and the centuries following the devas- 
 tations of the barbarians, the laity, having been for the most part 
 intimidated from taking part in the election of the bishops, the 
 kings and rulers retained and assumed as a right that they alone 
 could elect bishops. The church having asserted her rights in 
 that most important matter in the historic contest with Henry of 
 Germany, from the XII. and XIII. centuries the members of the 
 cathedral chapter took their place as the electors of the bishops, 
 and the llolv See generally confirmed their choice. Forming the 
 senate of tlie diocese, the canons met in regular form and se- 
 lected their candidate to the exclusion of all others. At this 
 epoch they did not even allow the bishops of the province to take 
 any part in the selection of their bishop. We see the remains of 
 that in the election of the rulers of the religious orders, which 
 were established or reformed at that time. 
 
 Grave contests rose in the cliurch at Canterbury England, be- 
 
FROZEN BODIES OF THE MONKS IN THE MORTUARY CHAPEL, 
 THE CELEBRATED HOSPICE OF ST, BERNARD ON THE ALPS. 
 
414 CUSTOMS OF THE MIDDLE AGKS. 
 
 tween the archbishop of that see and the chapter of the cathedral, 
 composed for the most part of regular cauons or monks. The 
 Holy See favored the chapter. Innocent III. proclaimed the 
 ancient rights of the chapters, and upheld their right of electing 
 their bishops, both in Canterbury and in Strigonie and in Coloza. 
 In 1269 St. Louis, king of France, issued a letter telling all the 
 canons of the vacant cathedrals to assemble for the election of 
 bishops to the vacant sees of his kingdom, stating they could on 
 condition that they would first get the consent of the king before 
 proceeding to ballot. The cathedral chapter used to send the 
 archdeacon with a letter from the dean of the chapter to the 
 king, asking license to proceed to the election of a bishop ta 
 the vacant see. 
 
 During this epoch when all Europe dwelled in peace, the mem- 
 bers of the cathedral chapter to the exclusion of the rest of the 
 clergy, of the laity and of civil princes — this senate of the 
 diocese alone took part in the election of their bishops. 1 hen 
 when Rome had confirmed their choice, they called on the arch- 
 bishop to consecrate him. Usually the bishop elect himself 
 asked the Holy See to confirm his election. As the bishops of 
 that time for the most part ranked as great lords, and adminis- 
 trators of vast properties then belonging to the church, such 
 elections sometimes became the cause of civil contests, and 
 John XXII. reserved all confirmations to the Holy See, so that 
 they might examine the proceedings at Rome and exclude the 
 unworthy. By agreements with the kings of France and of 
 Spain in 1516, the latter took part again in the election of bish- 
 ops of these countries, the bishops of these kingdoms being 
 temporal princes of these nations. In 1447 the church formed 
 an agreement with the kings of Germany regulating the election 
 of bishops in that country. The bishops at thai time took two 
 oaths at their consecration, one to the state, the other to the 
 church, swearing on the holy Gospels to fulfil their duties to 
 both powers. Halinard abbot of St. Benigne de Dijon, elected arch- 
 bishop of Lyons refused to take the customary oath to the king of 
 France, as he did not wish to be a bishop, being very humble, 
 and the king did not press the matter at his consecration, being 
 requested to omit that part at the request of Bruno of Toul, 
 who later became Pope Leo IX. This took place in 1046. 
 
 The custom of taking an oath at the consecration of a bishop 
 began first in England, because there the bishops had become lords 
 sitting in parliament, and taking an active part in the temporal 
 administration of the realm. Some of the archbishops of York 
 refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the archbishops of Can- 
 terbury over them, and the latter archbishops, being the primates 
 of the whole kingdom, demanded that they take an oath of obe- 
 dience to them at their consecration. Thus in 1072 archbishop 
 Lafranc primate of Canterbury, made Thomas archbishop of York 
 take an oath of obedience to him at his consecration to that see^ 
 
GOIKG BACK AGAIK. 415 
 
 as was customary for many years before. These were only local 
 customs, differing in different countries, while the Popes only re- 
 quire canonical obedience of all the officials of the church, that is 
 obedience according to her wise canon laws, by which the whole 
 organization is ruled, regulated and kept together. Before the 
 time of Gregory VII., only a promise of canonical obedience was 
 required by the church. Before giving them the pallium, this 
 Pope required archbishops to take an oath of fidelity to him. 
 This was required at that time of trouble with the civil powers in 
 the appointment of all bishops and pastors, as the civil govern- 
 ments claimed such appointments. 
 
 In the rapid sketch given here of the diverse ways of nominat- 
 ing bishops, we have not stopped to give the many and deplorable 
 abuses which arose from the days of the apostles in different coun- 
 tries. The office of bishop is so high, and brings with it such 
 power, that in all ages designing men have coveted it, and gov- 
 ernments have tried to use it for political purposes. To the great 
 Gregory VII. we are indebted for the freedom every christian 
 church has now in the appointment of their pastors. We must 
 now go back to the apostolic age and trace the true and legitimate 
 way of electing bishops in the church of God. 
 
 To Peter Christ gave the office of feeding his lambs, his laity 
 and his sheep the other churches of his kingdom. To Peter then 
 and to his Successors belongs the appointment of bishops. Christ 
 himself first appointed the apostles the first bishops of his church, 
 and to the Papacy it ever belonged. No matter how they were- 
 selected, from the days of the apostles their confirmation ever- 
 belonged by an inherent right which was not always executed by^ 
 the Holy See. Because of the difficulties of travelling and the 
 delays in getting word from Rome, in the early church the Popes 
 first appointed the patriarchs, both of the East and of the West, 
 and then by the same confirmation the patriarchs became the del- 
 egates of the Holy See in the appoiniraent of the archbishops and 
 bishops under them. The patriarchs of Antioch, of Alexandria 
 and of Constantinople were appointed directly by the Bishop of 
 Rome, and after their consecration they acted as his delegates in 
 Asia, Africa, and in that part of Europe not directly subject to 
 Rome. Numberless historic documents prove all this. 
 
 When in 382 Nectarius was elected archbishop of Constantinople, 
 the emperor Theodosius sent his legates with a number of the bish- 
 ops of his empire to Rome asking Pope Damasus to confirm his elec- 
 tion, . . . . " that the Roman See might strengthen his priesthood." ' 
 In 449 Analtolius was elected patriarch of Constantinople, but 
 Pope Leo the Great refused to confirm him, unless he first signed 
 the profession of faith laid before him by the legates of the said 
 Pope. When he had signed he was confirmed. Then he wished 
 to have Constantinople placed as first patriarchal see after Rome, 
 but Leo wrote to the emperor denying the request. '■* 
 
 » Boniface Lit. an. 423. Epist. 15. * gj, j^q Opera Epist. 105. 
 
416 WHO APPOINTS THE PATRIARCHS? 
 
 When in 451 Maximus was elected patriarch of Antioch, the 
 «anie Pope confirmed him in his see, and appointed him the leg- 
 ate of the Holy See for all the churches subject to the jurisdic- 
 tion of Antioch. He had been elected by the council of Ephesus, 
 which had not been canonically held, and Pope Leo the Great an- 
 nulled all the acts of the synod, except the election of Maximus, 
 which he alone Jis Pope confirmed. At the council of Chalcedon, 
 some of the bishops were opposed to him, but the bishop of Con- 
 stantinople spoke up in the council in his favor, saying that no 
 act of the council of Ephesus prevailed except the election of 
 Maximus, for: " The most holy Leo, archbishop of Rome, received 
 him into communion, and gave him authority to preside over the 
 church at Antioch." ' In 482 Simplicius thus wrote to Acacius 
 regarding John, bishop elect of Alexandria, who had been elected 
 to that see in a synod of the clergy and laity of the church in 
 Egypt: "Timothy being dead John was elected in his place, and 
 the clergy of the diocese of Alexandria asked him the Pope to con- 
 firm such election.^' The Pope replying says he refuses to con- 
 firm such election according to the custom, because the emperor 
 accused the said .Fohn of perjury and therefore he revoked his 
 confirmation. 
 
 In 489 Acacius having died, Flavitas was elected in his place, 
 «,nd to Pope Felix they wrote to get his authority and confirmation 
 before his consecration.' When in 490 Euphemius succeeded 
 archbishop Flavita, without delay he wrote to Pope Felix, and 
 Theophanes tells us that the Pope refused to acknowledge him as 
 the bishop of Constantinople, because of the prior rights of 
 Acacius to that see, although he recognized him as in communion 
 with the church. In 536 Agapitus refused to acknowledge An- 
 themus, who was proposed by the empress for the see of Con- 
 stantipole. When Authemus was forced against the wishes of the 
 Roman Pontiff, the latter deposed him and had Menna consecrated 
 in his place.* 
 
 After this historic account taken from the very best and most 
 authentic documents, we must pass by numerous proofs and con- 
 clude with the words of Roussel:* "From the ancient documents 
 this is evident to me, that the Roman Pontiffs confirmed the pa- 
 triarchs of the East, which without doubt shows his Principality 
 over all the churches." 
 
 We may then conclude that in the East, and all over the Asi- 
 atic continent, the Popes in the early church confirmed or re- 
 jected the patriarchs, who, when confirmed, became the delegates 
 of the Holy See for the consecration of the archbishops, while 
 the latter consecrated the bishops. This confirmation of both 
 the patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, took place only after 
 they had been elected by the laity and clergy of their respective 
 dioceses, and in the regular and canonical order laid down by 
 
 > Concil. Cbalo. Sea. x. * Uberatus Brer. C. 18. * Lib. Brev. Cap. 21. p. 147- 
 
 * Hist. Pontlf. JuiIikUc. L. 2. no. 12. 
 
THE FIKST ARCHBISHOPS OF EUROPE. 417 
 
 the ancient discipline. This discipline was expressed by Inno- 
 cent I. in his letter to Alexandrus, patriarch of Antioch: ' 
 " Thus we believe beloved brother, that as yon consecrate met- 
 ropolitans with one only authority, thus other bishops must not 
 be created without permission and without thy authority, in 
 which you will rightly follow this way. If they live far away 
 give letters to those you judge worthy, and let them be conse- 
 crated according to your judgment. But for these who live 
 nearer, if you so think, you can go and impose hands on them.'* 
 
 Whence without the permission of the patriarch, no bishop 
 could be consecrated even after he had been elected by the clergy 
 and laity of the diocese, as appears from the words of the Pon- 
 tiff, and from the historic confirmations of patriarchs given above. 
 The Pope alone therefore confirmed the election of the 
 patriarchs. 
 
 In all other countries of the world, except in parts of Africa and 
 Europe, and in those regions of Asia known as the East, there 
 were no archbishops except the Roman Pontiff. To him alone 
 belonged the confirmation of the elected bishops. He confirmed 
 the election of the bishops of France, of Brittany, of Spain, of 
 Africa, of Italy, &c. Such was the discipline of. the first four 
 centuries. It was only during the centuries following that archi- 
 episcopal sees were erected in these countries. " The Bishop 
 of Eome alone was the metropolitan or the archbishop of the West 
 or of Europe during these times, while to the patriarchs of the 
 distant East, he delegated the confirming of the elected bishops, 
 for travelling was very difficult in these days, and it would take 
 months sometimes to travel from Rome to the Levant. To him 
 alone then belonged the confirmation of all the bishops of Europe 
 and of the North of Africa, as these countries were nearer and 
 more in direct communication with Rome. 
 
 Whence most of the early missionary bishops of Europe were 
 first consecrated by the Pope, and then he sent them as the first apos- 
 tles of these nations of Europe. When the church had spread, 
 and when the episcopal sees began to multiply, the archbishops 
 were established as branches of the Papacy, having jurisdiction over 
 the neighboring dioceses, and then the canon law of the church 
 obtained full sway. The first archbishop established in Italy was 
 that of Milan. That was in the days of the great St. Ambrose, 
 Then the next was at Aquilia. But the archbishops were to re- 
 ceive episcopal consecration only from the hands of the Bishop of 
 Rome, the only font of jurisdiction. In the year 556, when 
 Pope Pelagius I. ascended the Chair of Peter, this was even then 
 called ''the ancient custom."^ 
 
 From a letter of Gregory the Great, we learn that the two arch- 
 bishops of Milan and of Aquilia took turns in conferring holy orders. 
 When Lawrence archbishop of Milan died, and the clergy and 
 
 ' Apud Custant. Epist. 24. T. I. Col. 851. ' See Bacchlnus Ballerini Frat. &c. 
 
 3 See Zaccarla Antileb. T. 3- p. 138. ed. Cesenae 1770. See Frag. Epist. Pelag. T. 9. Council. 
 - Mansi. col. TsO. 
 
418 WHO CONSECEATED THE ARCHBISHOPS ? 
 
 laity were about to meet to select his successor, Pope Gregory the 
 Great sent John, a subdeacon, to Milan to preside over the conclave 
 wherein they elected Constantius in his place. The subdeacon 
 first stated the common law, that " only the Holy See could con- 
 firm the election of all bishops in the world as had been the 
 ancieni custom. " Towards the middle of the V. century, Ravenna 
 was erected into an archdiocese by a privilege of the Roman See, ' 
 but her archbishop was to be consecrated by the Pope himself. 
 Maurus, one of her prelates, tried to change that discipline, and 
 get the archbishop of that see consecrated by three suffragan 
 bishops, he was aided in that by the emperor Constantine. But 
 the schism did not last long, for under Leo II. it became extinct, 
 and the ancient custom again prevailed. ' 
 
 When gradually archbishops had been appointed by the Holy 
 See in the chief cities of Europe, after they had been elected by 
 the laity and clergy of their respective dioceses, their consecration 
 was reserved to the Pope alone. But Avhen archiepiscopal sees be- 
 came so numerous that the labor of consecrating them was too great, 
 the difficulties of travelling multiplied, troubles caused by the 
 unsettled state of Europe, by the incursions of the barbarians, the 
 Holy See delegated their consecration to the bishops of their respec- 
 tive provinces.' By an indulgence then of the Holy See, they became 
 exempt from the long and dangerous journey to Rome, to receive 
 from the heir of Peter episcopal consecration. In Illyrico, the arch- 
 bishops could be consecrated only by the vicar of the Pope, who 
 was usually the archbishop of Thessalonica, as the works of Pope 
 St. Leo show.* 
 
 When in the year 491, Gregory the Great sent Augustine, the 
 superior of hismonasteiy of St. Andrews on the coelian hill, with 
 his 30 monks for the conversion of England, and the English peo- 
 ple received the pure Roman doctrines from these saintly men, 
 then many dioceses were soon erected all over the realm. Then Can- 
 terbury became the seat of the holy St. Augustine, who acted as 
 the delegate of the Pope. Gregory the Great, ever mindful of the 
 noble English race whose first members he had seen as slaves of- 
 fered for sale in the Roman Foram when he was a deacon, this 
 Pope erected the sees of London and York into archiepiscopal 
 sees, each having under them twelve suffragan bishops and diocese. 
 He empowered these two archbishops and their successors to con- 
 secrate bishops in any provincial councils which they might hold. 
 Yet he required them to come to Rome, in order to receive from 
 the hands of the Pope the pallia, the insignia of their authority 
 over the bishops forming their provinces.* According to that in- 
 dult, only the archbishops could consecrate bishops, while they 
 were obliged to go to Rome themselves for their episcopal consecra- 
 tion.* 
 
 In the early churohea of France and of Spain, we find the same 
 
 ' Blanrhl Vca^XA e PoMzIa (1«11b Chlesa T. 4. L. 2. C. I. Wh-. 16. p. 285. 
 
 » ADaHtajtJiM Vita St. Leonls II. • Innocent 1. ad Alexandruni. Antloch. Constant, col. R51. 
 
 * T. I. col. oiH. » St. GreK. verba Antlfebronio T. 8. p. 150. • Honorius I. 
 
GRANTING THE PALLIUM. 419 
 
 discipline with little change. The Popes gave power to the arch- 
 bishops of these nations to consecrate their suffragan bishops, in 
 a synod of the province subject to each. The archbishop had to 
 go to Rome to receive episcopal consecration from the hands of 
 the Pope, as in the churches of Asia and parts of Africa tlie bish- 
 ops received consecration from the patriarchs, representing the 
 Pope. But when difficulties of travelling to Rome arose, the Pope 
 dispensed with the voyages and appointed other bishops their 
 immediate primates or superiors to impose hands on them. But 
 the Pope never did that regarding the archbishops of Milan and 
 of Aquilia, as these cities were near Rome, and the cause exempt- 
 ing them from this journey did not exist. As it was often dan- 
 gerous or difficult to cross the Mediterranean sea, the bishops of 
 the North of Africa received the same indult, while at the same 
 time the Popes conceded that the archbishops of Carthage could 
 be consecrated in provincial council, after they had been elected 
 by the laity and clergy of the historic diocese of that great city 
 which once rivalled Rome. 
 
 Wlien by the indults received from the Holy See, the archbish- 
 ops, elected by their dioceses, were accustomed to be consecrated in 
 a provincial council, they were obliged to first get the approbation 
 of the Pope before the ceremony took place. From the year 743 
 each archbishop was accustomed to wear the pallium, coming from 
 the tomb of St. Peter, as a sign of the power of Peter over the 
 bishops of their provinces, and the giving of this insignia to the 
 archbishop elect was the same as the confirmation of the Pope, 
 ^iven to the election held by the clergy and laity of the metropoli- 
 tan diocese. Then only were the bishops of the province called to 
 assemble in council to impose their hands on the candidate. In 
 the important selection of the archbishop, took part the laity and 
 ■clergy of the archdiocese, the bishops of the province under the 
 archbishop elect, and the confirmation of the Holy See. 
 
 A German council held in the year 742 thus commanded: ""We 
 decree in our synodal convention, that the archbishops must seek 
 the pallium from that See and try to canonically follow the precepts 
 of Peter, that they may be numbered among the sheep given to 
 him."' Numerous councils and writers of the IX. century show 
 us that the archbishops were then obliged to ask their pallia from 
 the hands of the Bishop of Rome. ' Hincmar, archbishop of 
 Rheims, rose in an assembly of bishops, kings and princes, and 
 showed them the letter he had received from the Pope confirming 
 his election to that see. In his reply to the Bulgarians, Nicholas I., 
 giving the discipline of his day, says that because of the ''long 
 journey the archbishops were exempt from coming to Rome, but 
 that they must not sit on their episcopal thrones before they had 
 received the pallium from the Pope." The archbishops of Ulyri- 
 cum could not be consecrated without the confirmation of Rome. 
 
 Numberless historic facts tell us, that even when the bishops of 
 * Lab. Edit. Venetas T. 8 col. 281. ' See. Hincmar Concil. Suesslonen. 11. an. 853. 
 
420 WHAT THE BISHOPS OF ROME DID. 
 
 the early church were elected by any of the means given above, 
 the Bishop of Rome confirmed the candidate, either directly, as in 
 Europe, or indirectly by his representative or legate as in the East. 
 Everywhere was seen the authority of Peter living in his successor. 
 Such was the discipline given by the decretals of Siricius to 
 Himerus, of Innocent I to Victricius, of Zozimus to Patroclus, 
 of Celestin to the bishops of the provinces of Vienna and of Narbon, 
 of St. Leo to Anastasius of Thessalonica, of Symmachus to Caesar 
 of Aries, of Gregory the Great in his epistles, and other numerous 
 monuments of this early age of the church. Every historic 
 proof shows us the Roman Pontiff feeding the churches and 
 sheepfolds of Christ all over the world, all following out that com- 
 mission of Christ to Peter. If a dispute arose relating to any of 
 these elections of the bishops of the early church, it was settled 
 by the official decision of the Pope. Thus we read that the con- 
 troversy of Minicias and of Rufinus in Spain was settled by Inno- 
 cent I and the dispute between Sylvanus and Irenaeus and Hilary 
 was ended by the same Pope. 
 
 At the same time we find that many of the episcopal elections 
 were declared illegal, null and void by the Popes, who sent other 
 bishops in their places. The Holy See sent Eunomius and Olym- 
 pius as bishops to Africa, with letters deposing two contestants, 
 and with power to consecrate another candidate for the see in dis- 
 pute. When Ravenna became vacant, Donatus and John both 
 contended for the vacant throne, but Gregory rejected both and 
 consecrated to that see Marinianus. ' When the clergy of Ariminses 
 elected Ocleatinus as their bishop, Gregory the Great rejected 
 him, and appointed a visitor bishop to preside over a new election, 
 which he ordered, because of the informalities in the first election, 
 and he did this without communicating with the archbishop of 
 Ravenna, the metropolitan see to which this diocese was then 
 subject. 
 
 In the year 649, when the errors of the one will in Christ were 
 spreading over the Greek nations, Martin I. appointed John of 
 Philadelphia as his legate, with power of instituting bishops, priests 
 and deacons in the churches subject to the sees of Jerusalem of 
 Antioch and of other cities in the East. Not one of the patriarchs 
 of these old historic churches then protested, although their pre- 
 decessors from time immemorial had confirmed and consecrated the 
 bishops of these churches, for they knew that they did that only 
 as the delegates of the Holy See, which they knew could recall as 
 Pope Martm did, these delegated powers. * 
 
 The cases of such action on the part of the Popes in the early 
 church are so numerous, that we cannot take up space in giving 
 more examples. We may conclude then by summing up all we 
 have said thus far: The Pope confirmed the patriarchs of the 
 great historic and apostolic churches; the patriarchs confirmed the 
 primates and the archbishops within their respective jurisdiction, 
 
 1 Ei>lst. Lib. I Epist. B7. * Eplst. 6 puad Mansi T. la 
 
REGULAR EPISCOPAL CONSECRATIONS. 421 
 
 doing that as the delegates of the Koman Pontiffs; the archbishops 
 approved and consecrated the bishoi^s under them, while the bish- 
 ops confirmed the election which took place by the votes of the 
 laity and clergy of the vacant diocese. In Europe, the Pope con- 
 secrated the archbishop elected by the laity and clergy of the vacant 
 ^ diocese, and when the Pope could not, he was consecrated by the 
 suffragan bishops assembled in council. When the vacant see was 
 far from Eome, the Popes dispensed with the journey to the eter- 
 nal city, so that the archbishops of this part of the church were 
 consecrated by the council of bishops, after the election had been 
 confirmed by the Holy See. In Europe the archbishop consecrated 
 the bishop, when their election had been confirmed by Rome. 
 The laity and clergy of the vacant diocese, the bishops of the 
 ecclesiastical province, and the archbishops took part in all these 
 elections, while the patriarchs in the East confirmed these actions, 
 as the delegates of the Bishop of Rome. But Europe, being nearer 
 to Rome than the regions of Asia, the Pope reserved the confirma- 
 tion or rejection of bishops elect to himself, and no one was conse- 
 crated without his approval, for to him belonged to feed the lambs 
 and sheep of Christ, and to provide all the churches with pastors 
 according to the heart and mind of Christ, whose Vicar he was. 
 To him all churches ever looked as the fountain of universal juris- 
 diction over the whole unique sheepfold of Christ. 
 
 The great writers of the holy church, as Sts. Leo, Gelasius, In- 
 nocent I, Chrystom, &c., tell us that St. Peter himself appointed 
 the first bishops of the great churches of Antioch and of Alexan- 
 dria, and then filled his own See at Rome. In 494 the Roman 
 councils defined that: " the holy Roman and Apostolic church was 
 founded by no synodal institutes, but by the words of our Lord and 
 Saviour it received its Primacy saying: " Thou art Peter, " &c., giv- 
 ing Christ's words to Peter. '' Therefore the Roman Church is 
 the first See of Peter, which has no spot or stain or anything of 
 this kind.' But the second see of blessed Peter is at Alexandria 
 which was established by his disciple and Evangelist, for Peter the 
 apostle sent him into Egypt, to there preach the word of truth, 
 where he finished a glorious martyrdom. But the third see of the 
 same blessed Peter the apostle is at Antioch, which is honored by 
 his name because there he lived before he came to Rome.'* Thus 
 speaks the council of bishops of the early church assembled in Rome 
 at this early date. 
 
 Such has ever been the teachings of the whole christian world, 
 and every testimony but proves the truth of this historic fact, 
 which has often been proclaimed by Popes and councils in every 
 age. " To the patriarchs of these venerable apostolic sees, the 
 Popes often confirmed that jurisdiction given them first by Peter, 
 to oversee the churches subject to them, and to report to him at 
 stated times the condition of religion on the two great continents 
 of Asia and of Africa,. Pius VI. tells us that their authority came 
 
 - 1 Concil. Roman, held In 494. ' Pope Nicholas 1. Resp. ad Bulg. 
 
422 HOW CANTERBURY OBTAINED THE PRIMACY. 
 
 not from the law of God, not from a universal council, not from 
 provincial synods, not from any agreement among the bishops, but 
 that it came alone from Peter the apostle, who received universal 
 jurisdiction from his Master.' And when in the council of Chal- 
 cedon, the archbishop of Constantinople, urged on by the emperor, 
 tried to elevate himself over the archbishops of Pontus, of Thrace 
 and of Jerusalem, then called Aelia, Pope St, Leo refused to give 
 his consent, but vetoed the 28th canon of this great council. Only 
 long after did Constantinople receive from Rome the honor of be- 
 ing a patriarchal see. 
 
 From Rome, coming with the blessing of her Bishop, came all the 
 bishops and priests who first evangelized Europe, as Innocent I. 
 says : '* It is evident that the venerable Peter the apostle and his 
 successors appointed priests in all Italy, France, Spain, Africa, 
 Sicily and the adjacent islands, and without them no churches 
 were established in these places."' To St. Augustine the apostle 
 of England St. Gregory the Great wrote: ** And because of the 
 Omnipotent God, and by your works, the church of the English 
 has come forth and increased, "We grant jon the use of the pallium, 
 so that in twelve places you may consecrate so many bishops, who 
 will be subject to your word, in so much that the bishop of London 
 must be consecrated by the bishops of his own synod, and from the 
 Holy and Apostolic See he may have the honor of the pallium. 
 But We wish you to send a bishop to York, send him whom you 
 judge worthy of consecration, so that in the neighboring places 
 near that city, which receive the word of God, let him consecrate 
 twelve bishops, and be himself their metropolitan, because he also 
 was your companion, and the Lord favoring, We propose to confer 
 on him the pallium But not only the bishops whom you con- 
 secrate, but those ordained by the bishop of York and all the 
 priests of England, the Lord favoring, We wish to be subject to 
 you."' From that time the successor of St. Augustine is the pri- 
 mate of England. Even after the deplorable schism, from the ref- 
 ormation to our day, the successor of St. Augustine is the primate 
 of the church of England. 
 
 When by the grace of God, and by the appointment of Pope Cel- 
 estine, in 432 St. Patrick became the apostle of Ireland, and after 
 he had established bishops in many cities, he still remained till 
 his death in 495, the legate of the Holy See for the consecration of 
 the bishops of the " Isle of the Saints, " the same as St. Boniface 
 the apostle of Germany ruled the bishops whom he had consecrated 
 in that country, for he too was the legate of the Pope. 
 
 In the West of Europe and the East of Asia, the bishops of the 
 chief cities were delegated by the early Popes to confirm and con- 
 secrate the bishops elected by the laity and clergy of the vacant 
 dioceses. Thus no bishop could be consecrated or enthroned in 
 any vacant diocese in the province under the archbishops of Thes- 
 
 ' Phw VI. In Respon. de. Nunciat. Cap. 9 sec I. n. 8 etc * Splst. 88. 
 
 * Ureg. Mag. Lib. 12 Eplst.15. 
 
SEATS FOR THE MONKS OF THE MONASTIC CHURCH AT WETTINGEN, BADEN. 
 
424 THE CONFIRMATION OF THE BISHOP-ELECT. 
 
 salonica without his consent, for their confirmation was reserved to^ 
 the archbishop of Thessalonica, who was the delegate of the Roman 
 Pontiffs for all that part of the church, the same as the bishop of 
 Aries was the delegate of the Pope for ancient Gaul, as the bishop 
 of Seville was for Spain. These ancient delegates of the Holy See 
 had great authority over the churches of these countries, for they 
 settle disputes among the bishops, they called national councils over 
 which they presided as chairman in the name of the Eoman Pon- 
 tiffs, and they took the place of the latter in many circumstances. 
 
 In these early days in the East, that is that part of the church 
 in the west of Asia, then so flourishing, now known as the Greek 
 church, the consecration of not only the archbishops, but also of 
 the bishops was reserved to the patriarchs, as the delegates of the 
 Bishop of Eome, who alone confirmed them, after they had been 
 elected by the votes of the clergy and laity of these great historic 
 dioceses. Thus Innocent I. wrote to the patriarch of Antioch: 
 " As by your authority alone the archbishops are consecrated, thus 
 and other bishops you will see, are not created without your 
 permission and your knowledge.^' ' Not only that, but it seem& 
 most probable, that the approbation of the Pope was required for 
 the consecration of even the simple bishops, except where by his- 
 express delegation, the patriarch or archbishop acted as the papal 
 delegate. Innocent I. recognized this custom, as we find by hi& 
 letter to Alexandrus, patriarch of Antioch cited above. In said 
 letter, he says that such authority comes from the council of Nice: 
 *' Therefore revolving on the authority of the Nicine Synod, which 
 with one mind explains the mind of the priests all over the whole 
 world. "^ We could cite numerous proofs from the councils and 
 letters of the Popes, and the writings of the fathers of this age to 
 prove these assertions, but space forbids — we have given enough 
 to show any fair minded reader, that the Pontiffs of Rome have 
 ever followed the words of Christ to their chief, Peter, to *' feed his 
 lambs and sheep. " 
 
 Now we come to the confirmation of bishops in the early church . 
 The -confirmation of bishops, whether elected by the clergy and 
 people, or by the civil powers representing the laity, their con- 
 secration was not in the early church reserved to the Popes as at 
 the present time. When elected by the laity and clergy of the 
 widowed diocese, the confirmation and consecration of the can- 
 didate belonged to the bishops of the province, over whom presid- 
 ed thearchbishop.the patriarch or primate, representing the Roman 
 Pontiff as given above. This discipline was given in the IV. canon 
 of the council of Nice, which says: ** It behooves the bishop to be 
 especially consecrated by all who are in the province. But if this 
 be difficult, because of urgent reaj^ons, or of the long distance, at 
 least three bishops must gather at the place, and vote in the name 
 of the absent bisliops, writing down the essential things, then let 
 the consecration take place. But all which takes place in each 
 
 > Ap. Ck>nsUnt. col. 861. * Ibidem. 
 
THE LAITY BECAME VIOLENT. 425 
 
 province must be confirmed by the metropolitan." ' The council 
 of Laodocia gave somewhat the same directions. John the Schol- 
 astic, ' in a rubic, says that the bishop should be consecrated by 
 the archbishop, and by all the other bishops of the province, and 
 that the absent bishops should send their consent in writing. 
 
 St. Cyprian says that the election and consecration of the bish- 
 ops of the whole church, in his day took place by the votes of the 
 laity and of the clergy of the vacant diocese, and that the bishops 
 of the pi'ovince, at least to the number of five, came to the conse- 
 cration. ' Peter, patriarch of Alexandria, tells us that the election 
 of bishops took place in his day by the people, the clergy of the 
 diocese, and the consent of the bishops. * The votes of the 
 people in the early church were cast, not to elect the bishop, but 
 to propose him as their candidate, lest a pastor which they did 
 not want might be imposed on them. Then the clergy of the 
 widowed church voted for their candidate, the bishops later con- 
 firmed the election, and the archbishop, primate or patriarch, 
 with the aid of the bishops of the province, came, consecrated and 
 enthroned the new bishop in his cathedral, with all the ceremo- 
 nial customary at that time. St. Cyprian says that the clergy and 
 people of the diocese only voted, but that the final judgment or 
 confirmation belonged to the bishops, and archbishop. Sometimes 
 these assemblies of the people became so noisy and boisterous in 
 the churches, that they were a disgrace to religion. That excel- 
 lent author Christ. Lupus says, that they resorted to crime and 
 even to the spilling of blood in the churches, as the people often 
 divided into factions, each favoring their candidate. 
 
 Pope St. Leo forbade any one to be consecrated a bishop, who 
 had not received the votes of the clergy, and people of the diocese, 
 as well as the approbation of the bishops of the provinces, and the 
 confirmation of the archbishop.* Gregory the Great, in his direc- 
 tions to the archbishop of Eavenna, tells him to send the name of- 
 the person proposed by the people of the diocese, and voted for by 
 the clergy, to him at Rome, that he might confirm the election. 
 
 Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims in France, wrote to one of the 
 bishops of his province, that when a diocese became widowed by 
 the death of her bishop, it belonged to him as archbishop to nom- 
 inate a visitor bishop, to examine the candidate proposed by the 
 people and by the clergy, stating that it belonged to this bishop, 
 wlio was then interfering in the business of his metropolitan, to 
 simply come with the other bishops of the province to the conse- 
 cration of the elect. « 
 
 We conclude then that the votes of the laity were first required, 
 then the votes of the clergy of the diocese, then the consent of 
 the bishops of the province, then the confirmation of the Pope or 
 of the archbishop, primate or patriarch, as papal delegate represent- 
 ing the Roman Pontiff, These preliminary actions were required 
 
 ■ » The archbishop. 2 jn jjis Collection, Tit. 7. » Eplst, 64. 
 
 * Apud. Theodor. Lib. 4. Cap. 20. « Ed. Bal. T. I. col. 1420. 
 
426 THE ELECTION RESERVED TO THE POPE. 
 
 before any one could become a bishop in the early church. The 
 meetings of the people, formed first of saints with the good of 
 religion only at heart, became at last political gatherings, the 
 seats of the lowest political intrigues, of bloodshed, and of every 
 crime, so that by the tacit consent of the Popes, emperors, kings 
 and governments took the place of the people, and proposed the 
 candidates to the Pope or to his representative, the archbishop or 
 patriarch. 
 
 Such were the methods of electing bishops in the early church 
 before the cathedral chapters took their place, and as the senate of 
 the diocese, represented the laity and clergy in the election of 
 their bishop. 
 
 To the apostles therefore Christ left the power of appointing 
 bishops in this way, that while the other apostles received juris- 
 diction from the Lord as a personal privilege, which was to die 
 with them, it was to remain forever in the Bishop, who became 
 the successor and the heir of Peter. He alone was to feed the 
 church of Christ, by appointing pastors over all the churches. In 
 the middle ages, many abuses crept into this particular part of the 
 discipline of the church. Kings and princes appointed the most 
 unworthy persons, even the archbishops representing the Roman 
 Pontiff sometimes elevated unworthy candidates to the vacant 
 thrones of the sees within their provinces. From this rose many 
 abuses and grave contests, between these diverse powers and the 
 Holy See. The remains of that may be seen in England to our very 
 day, where the civil government, or the English sovereign, appoints 
 all the bishops of the schismatic church of England. 
 
 To reform the church from such abuses, the Holy See took an 
 active part, issuing many decrees. The chapters of the cathedrals 
 took their places as the electors of the bishops, whiile the Pope 
 usually confirmed their candidate, when he found that the election 
 was regular. The chapters represented the clergy of the diocese, 
 or the ancient presbytery of the church. But even then abuses 
 rose, and many were the contentions between the bishops and the 
 chapters sitting as the senate of the diocese. 
 
 Christ did not determine the way of electing the bishops. He 
 therefore left to the church the power to change her discipline, as 
 the customs and the needs of the ages seemed to require. Benedict 
 XII., elected to the pontifical throne in the year 1334, reserved to 
 the Pope all confirmations of both archbishops and bishops all over 
 the world, so as to put an end to the divisions and contentions on 
 that subject, then disturbing the church.' From that time the Holy 
 See alone confirms or rejects the candidates for the vacant thrones 
 all over the christian world, no matter by what means elected. 
 
 From that time, then the bishops were both elected and confirm- 
 ed by the Pope, in a public consistory or meeting of the senate of 
 cardinals. After they had carefully examined the qualities of the 
 candidate for the episcopal throne, by the numerous means at the 
 
 * Ferrarto V. Epiac. Art. 8 n. 6. 
 
ANOTHER WAY OF ELECTING BISHOPS. 427 
 
 disposal of the authorities, the Pope chose the one he judged tlie 
 most worthy, and pronounced the sentence: ''By the authority 
 of the Almighty Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and of the blessed 
 apostles Peter and Paul, and by onr power. We provide for the 
 church, (naming the diocese) in the person of, (naming the bish- 
 op), and We nominate him as Bishop and pastor, and We commit 
 to him the fulness of power, both in spirituals and in temporals/" 
 Then they sent him the papal bulls, (thus called because they 
 are sealed with leaden balls, in Italian bulla) officially notifying him 
 of his appointment, and giving him power to be consecrated by 
 neighboring bishops, or by the archbishop, representing the Pope 
 at the ceremony. 
 
 The right of nominating bisiiops, which some of the christian 
 governments still have, as given in the agreement with the Holy 
 See, is not the right of appointing them, but only of nominating, or 
 presenting the candidate for confirmation to the Pope, to whom 
 alone is reserved the final confirmation and appointment. For, 
 not from the government, nor from the election, by whatever 
 way it takes place, does the "bishop get his power, buc alone from 
 the heir of Peter, who ever feeds the sheepfolds of Christ, the 
 other dioceses of the world. 
 
 The council of Trent directs that the legates, the papal nuncios, 
 and the neighboring bishops be asked regarding the character of 
 the candidates for episcopal consecration.* In another place, the 
 holy Synod directs that the bishops may examine into the abilities 
 and qualities of the candidates in a provincial council, so that the 
 whole matter, with the documents, may be sent to the Pope, as 
 well as the profession of the faith of the candidates, that the Pon- 
 tiff may select the one he judges the most worthy. The docu- 
 ments are first examined by the committee of four cardinals, who 
 report to the consistory.* 
 
 In May 1591 Gregory XIV. issued his famous Constitution, * 
 still better defining the mode of examining candidates for the 
 episcopacy, as given by the Tridentine council. He defined that 
 all relatives of the candidates should be rejected, that the nuncios 
 and legates should obtain the information personally, and not del- 
 egate this duty to others, that in places where there were no leg- 
 ates, the archbishop, or if he could not attend, the senior bishop 
 should perform the duty, that they should carefully examine the 
 candidates relating to their parents, their age, where they studied, 
 where they exercised their ministry, their success in fulfilling their 
 duties, &c., so that such details may be laid before the Holy See in 
 regular form. The documents are first examined by a committee 
 composed of the cardinal dean bishop, the cardinal dean priest, 
 and the cardinal deacon living at the papal court. 
 
 In 1627 Urbanus VIII. issued another instruction, incorporat- 
 ing the foregoing directions, both of the council of Trent and of 
 
 > Benedict XIV. De Synod. Dioces. L. 5 n. 3. ^ ggg. 22 de Refer. Cap. 2. 
 
 ■^ Concil. Trid. Ses. 24 Cap. I de Ref. ■• Onus Apost. 
 
428 THE PRESENT MODE OF ELECTING BISHOPS. 
 
 Gregory IV., but going more into detail in the matter there ex- 
 amined regarding the candidate, whether proposed either by the 
 civil authorities testifying how the candidates shall be examined, 
 the qualities of the witnesses allowed to give testimony in favor 
 of the candidates for the episcopacy, the population and peculiar- 
 ities of the episcopal city, and all things relating to the church 
 and diocese, to which the candidate will be sent as bishop. 
 
 In March 1631 the congregation of the Consistory issued an- 
 other decree relating; to the same matter, defining still better the 
 mode of proceeding m selecting bishops. In Oct. 1746 the great 
 Benedict XIV. still farther regulated the matter by abrogating 
 the constitutions of both Clement XI. and Urban VIII. regarding 
 the manner of electing bishops, with titles of dioceses destroyed 
 by the infidels,' but who were to be promoted to other dioceses, or 
 assigned to offices in Koman courts. He ordered that questions 
 should be sent to the bishops and prelates of Albania, Macedonia, 
 Servia, Bulgaria, Persia, Armenia and Egypt, that the replies 
 might be filed in the congregation of tl^e Propaganda to be referred 
 to as wanted. If the candidates then resided at the eternal city, 
 two witnesses were required to testify regarding them, but if they 
 did not live at Rome, then information regarding them "was to be 
 obtained in the regular way. When vicar apostolics were to be 
 sent to missionary countries, the questions relating to their 
 churches were omitted. 
 
 The three cardinals deans of the sacred college, having carefully 
 examined all the documents relating to the candidates for the 
 episcopacy, and reported the candidates they found most worthy 
 for the office, the cardinal relator, or chairman of the committee, re- 
 ports to the consistory. If the vacant see be in one of the cath- 
 olic nations, this cardinal relator will be the cardinal protector of 
 this nation, otherwise he will be delegated by the Pope for this 
 office. In the first consistory or meeting of the cardinals, the 
 relator proposes in a formal way the candidate to the Pope who 
 sits as chairman. The same is again done in a more formal man- 
 ner in the next meeting of the cardinals. Then the Pope asks all 
 the cardinals : " What seems to you best ?" When each card- 
 inal gives his opinion, if they all agree, the Pope uncovers his 
 head, and pronounces the form by which he confirms the election. 
 This was the way the candidate was promoted a few years ago, but 
 now the Pope himself, and not the cardinal relator, proposes the 
 name, and the question : " What seems to you best," is merely a 
 ceremony, as before the matter comes to this point, all things 
 have been carefully examined by the various processes mentioned 
 above. The vice-chancellor cardinal, who is the clerk, of the 
 senate, keeps a record of all the promotions, and he sends noti- 
 fication of his election to each of the bisliops, wlio must take a 
 solemn oath of obedience and fidelity to the Roman Pontiff. This 
 oath is usually taken by the bishop the day of his consecration. 
 
 > In Partlbiu InndeUum. 
 
omtnTt forth from the Futlier, the eternal Son ever remains 
 i'^ with the Father, having in common with him all the per- 
 fections of the Divinity, never breaking his relations with 
 the other Persons of of the Trinity, coming to earth to be- 
 come man, the Father who sent him crowns him with the tiara of 
 his eternal Priesthood, saying: 'Thou art a Priest forever accord- 
 ing to the order of Melchisedech."* 
 
 So it is with the bishop, the high priest of that New and eternal 
 Testament the church, that mystery of faith, now spread through 
 the world, everywhere exercising the ministry of Christ in saving 
 the souls bought by his passion and death. As the Son came 
 down from his sanctuary of heaven, from his equality with the 
 other Persons of the Trinity, so the bishop comes forth from the 
 higher companionship of his brothers in the episcopacy, he comes 
 down from the universal church, yet he never leaves that hierarchy 
 of the universal church; he comes at his consecration by the 
 appointment of his Father the Bishop of Eome, he comes down to 
 the particular church of his diocese, there to become in his turn 
 the head of holy orders and jurisdiction in the diocese, that image 
 of that universal church, from which he came at the bidding of 
 the Pope. 
 
 As the Son in heaven has all the perfections of the Father, 
 from whom he descended into the world at his incarnation, so the 
 bishop coming by appointment of the Roman Pontiff, he bears in 
 his eternal priesthood all the riches of the universal church, which 
 ^ave him spiritual birth at his consecration. As the Son ever 
 
 • Psalm cix, 4. 
 
 429 
 
MURDER OF THOMAS-A-BECKET. 
 
THE DIOCESE A DAUGHTER OP THE CHURCH. 431 
 
 lives ill his eternal Father, so the bishop and the diocese live in 
 the universal church, from which she cannot be separated, no 
 more than the Son can separate from his Father in heaven. As 
 Christ is the head of the universal church, so the bishop is the 
 head of the particular church the diocese. Christ is the spouse of 
 the universal church, and the bishop, his image, is the spouse of 
 his diocese, the image of the church universal. From our bless- 
 ed Lord the church universal receives her crown, her glory. All 
 the spiritual riches which he received from his Father, he gave 
 her his spouse. So from the universal church, the diocese receives 
 all her spiritual riches, her Gospel, her sacraments, her doctrines, 
 her rites and ceremonies, her religious principles, her salvation, 
 which she pours out over the souls of the dying world. 
 
 From the universal church in which still he dwells, then the 
 bishop receives his holy orders, his apostolic succession, his teach- 
 ings, his words of saving faith, his holy sacraments, his power of 
 ruling souls, his jurisdiction over clergy and laity, his spiritual 
 authority over men and his everlasting priesthood. At his con- 
 secration and appointment to his diocese, the universal church by 
 the voice of her head the Pope, gives him all these graces of re- 
 demption for the souls given into his charge, and now bearing all 
 these, he comes down from the universal church into the particu- 
 lar church his diocese, as the Son came down from his unseen^ 
 Holy of Holies from his Father's eternal throne. Thus the bishop 
 comes to become the head of the diocese, the spiritual father of 
 the christians of his church. As the divine Son received his com- 
 mission from the Father, head of the Trinity, to become the Sav- 
 iour of mankind, thus from the Pope, head of the universal 
 church, the bishop becomes the head and the chief pastor of the 
 diocese, having authority to rule that part of the universal church 
 which is called a diocese. Thus the bishop, a member of the 
 episcopacy of the whole church, with Christ at their head, be- 
 comes in his turn the visible head of another church, the diocese, 
 the daughter of our holy mother the universal church, of which 
 she is the likeness and the image. 
 
 God then is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the univer- 
 sal church, while the bishop is the head of the diocese. For the 
 church, being the work of the Holy Ghost, each part is a repro- 
 duction of the whole, following that universal law in nature, by. 
 which each part of any living being has everywhere the perfections 
 of the whole. As the form or soul of each living organism is whole 
 and complete in each and every part, thus the Holy Spirit extends 
 to every part of the whole church, and reproduces the perfections 
 of the whole in each church and diocese. The parish, not being 
 a perfect church, it cannot form itself without the bishop's 
 authority, or ordain ministers. The diocese has the perfections of 
 each and every holy order, but not of jurisdiction in the uni- 
 versal church. 
 
 Let us first see the nature of the episcopal office, its rights and 
 
432 HOW BISHOPS WERE CALLED IN THE EARLY CHURCH. 
 
 dignities, then we can examine the relations of the bishops with 
 the diocese. He is head of the diocese and to him belongs to 
 superintend or oversee the spiritual business of the whole diocese. 
 In the early church the first bishops were called by many names, 
 signifying Iheir holy office, their spiritual power, or the veneration 
 with which they were held by the apostolic converts. According 
 to Theodoret, they were called apostles, that is the men sent by 
 our Lord to preach the Gospel, the good tidings to the whole world. 
 In this way St, Paul was called the apostle of the gentiles, 
 although he was not an immediate follower of our Lord, as he was 
 converted only after the ascension, yet he was the equal of the 
 other apostles. 
 
 In the early writers of the church we find many names given to 
 the bishops. They were called antistes, that is standing first or 
 before, as they were the leaders in the church, and stood in the 
 place of honor before the priests or inferior clergy. The bishops 
 converted and consecrated by tlie apostles were sometimes named 
 apostolic men. They were held as princes of the people, or princes 
 of the church, while the body of the episcopacy was known as the 
 principality of the church. Again we find them given as prefects 
 in the Greek fathers, or as presidents, inspectors, leaders of the 
 'church, the princes of priests, or the supreme pontiffs. Among 
 .the Greeks they were known as popes, the meaning of which is 
 tfather, a title later reserved entirely to the Bishop of Rome. In 
 their relation to the priests of their dioceses, they were sometimes 
 •called the fathers or the judges of the clergy. 
 
 Because of the holiness of their office they were addressed as the 
 most holy, most reverend, most blessed, most venerable, most 
 Iionorable, most amiable, most devoted, most religious, most 
 pious; the vicars of Christ, the angels of the church. When one 
 bishop addressed another, he used the words my colleague, my 
 brother, my co-minister, my venerable brother, &c., words still 
 used by the Holy See in official letters to the bishops. 
 
 In the apostolic times, the clergyman who had charge of the 
 church was called the bishop, that is the superintendent, whether 
 he was in episcopal orders or not, for among the pagan Romans 
 the word bishop meant the man who had charge of the public 
 works.' Even to this day a clergyman elected, but not yet con- 
 secrated may be called a bishop. 
 
 Aerius first in the fourth century, and many of the reformers of 
 "the sixteenth century, held that bishops are not superior in holy 
 orders to simple priest or presbyters, a new doctrine attacked by 
 St. Epiphanius, rejected by the great fathers of the church, as 
 well as condemned by the councils, especially by the council of 
 Trent.* Our Lord chose twelve men, whom he called his apos- 
 tles, and he promised to place them on *' twelve thrones judging 
 the twelve tribes of Israel." When Judas committed suicide, 
 lest the college of bishops should remain unfilled, they chose Mat- 
 
 > Cicero Lib. 7. Epist. ad St. * Sea. 28 can. 7. 
 
BISHOPS AKE ABOVE PEIESTS, 433 
 
 thias in his place. The whole tradition of the church shows us 
 that the bishops, and not the priests are the successors and heirs of 
 the apostles. St. John in his Revelations directs his threatening 
 words to one of the seven angels of the seven churches, that is to 
 one of the seven bishops of these churches, threatening him un- 
 less he does better. They were the bishops of the churches of 
 Asia Minor, for in these days bishops were called the angels of 
 the churches. 
 
 St. Ignatius, a disciple of both Sts. Peter and John, the second 
 bishop of Antioch after St. Peter, in many parts of his works 
 mentions both bishops, priests and deacons. He says that bishops 
 are the superiors of priests, Avhom he calls presbyters. 
 
 We can give but one or two passages from the beautiful writ- 
 ings of this saint, made so illustrious by his glorious martyrdom in 
 107. In his letter to the people of Smyrna he says: " Let us all fol- 
 low the bishop, as Jesus Christ does his Father, and the presbytery 
 as the apostles, but let us revere the deacons, as the command 
 of God." * " That you being subject to the bishop and to the 
 presbytery, you may be sanctified in all." * Writing to his dis- 
 ciple Polycarp, whom St. John taught, he says: ''Look to the 
 bishop as God does to you. I am devoted to these who are sub- 
 ject to the bishop, to the priests and to the deacons, and it hap- 
 pens that I have apart with them in God." ' "It becomes you 
 to agree in the sentence of the bishop; this do. For your vener- 
 able presbytery worthy of God, is thus united to the bisliop, like 
 the strings to the zither." ^ 
 
 Clement of Alexandria says: ''In the church there are grades of 
 bishops, distinct from the presbyters and the deacons, to whose 
 power and government both of the body of the presbyters, the dea- 
 cons and the rest of the laity are subject." * Tertullian writes: 
 " The supreme priest, who is the bishop, has the power of giving, 
 from him the presbyters and the deacons have it, but not without 
 the authority of the bishop." " We will not stop to give any more 
 texts from the early writers to show that bishops are of a higher 
 rank than presbyters in the church, for very few chi-istians believe 
 the contrary. 
 
 In the early churches established by the apostles, it was custom- 
 ary to carefully guard the names of the bishops, which succeeded 
 each other from the founding of the diocese, and the lists of suc- 
 cession were used against the early heretics, to show that the latter 
 did not come from the apostles. In these lists of ancient bishops, 
 they are always given as the superiors of the priests and deacons. 
 The names of the dead pastors of these ancient churches were 
 written on the diptics placed at the side of the tabernacle, so 
 their memories could be recalled during the Mass, for their de- 
 parted souls or ask their prayers. In that way the names of the first 
 bishops, saints and martyrs of Rome became inserted into the canon 
 
 ' Epist. ad Symrnos, Cap. 8. - Epist. ad Polycarp Cap. n. ^ Ad Polycarpum Cap. 6. 
 - ■» Epist. ad Ephes. Cap. IV. ^ Lib. 6 Strom. Cap. 13 ed Pot. « Lib. de Fuga Cap. II. 
 
434 THE JUEISDICTION OF THE BISHOPS. 
 
 of the Mass. The lists of the priests were not always as carefully 
 kept, because the succession of presbyters in a church was not of 
 such importance as that of the bishops, who like Aaron in the an- 
 cient tabernacle was the father of his clergy. 
 
 Centring in the bishop, we find the power of orders and the pow- 
 er of jurisdiction. The power of orders comes by holy orders from 
 God direct to him on the day of his consecration, by which he 
 can administer all the sacraments, because the bishop is a perfect 
 priest. Thus a bishop can ordain the clergy, which no priest can; 
 without any special delegation he can confirm, while confirmation 
 given by a priest without a special delegation of the Pope would 
 be invalid. These powers given by holy orders are the same 
 in all bishops, even the Bishop of Eome is only a bishop in 
 holy orders. In this the)- are superior to priests or presbyters. 
 But it is doubtful if episcopal consecration be an order and a sacra- 
 ment distinct from the priesthood. 
 
 The jurisdiction which resides in the bishop is of two kinds, 
 external and internal, according as it is exercised in the ecclesias- 
 tical courts of the diocese, or in the confessional. To the external 
 jurisdiction belongs the legislative, administrative, and governing 
 authority, that is the ruling of the diocese both clergy and people, 
 while to the last belongs the power of absolving from sins in the 
 tribunal of penance. As we have already treated on the internal 
 court of penance in another book, ' we will speak here only of the 
 external jurisdiction of the bishop in his own diocese, by which 
 he guides and rules the souls of the clergy and people under his 
 <;harge. 
 
 It is evident that episcopal jurisdiction can be granted to any 
 clergyman not in episcopal orders. A simple priest, elected to 
 the episcopacy, may govern his diocese before his consecration, 
 and an administrator in simple priest's orders may rule the dio- 
 cese in the absence of the bishop. A clergyman consecrated a 
 bishop, to whom the Pope has not given any diocese has the epis- 
 copal powers of orders, but no subjects on whom he can exercise 
 these powers. The Pope can restrict the powers of a bishop, so 
 that he can exercise no episcopal functions, at least without sin, 
 for although it is a disputed point whether the bishops get their 
 jurisdiction direct from Christ, or from the Pope, yet it is certain 
 that their jurisdiction, that is the exercise of holy orders, remains 
 tied by Papal authority. But it is disputed whether episcopal or- 
 ders can be given at the consecration of a bishop, without giving 
 him at the same time episcopal jurisdiction, at least tied by his 
 superior the Pope. That is, can simple episcopal orders be given 
 without episcopal jurisdiction? 
 
 The wliole tnwlition of the church, the councils and the writ- 
 ings of the fathers tell us that no one but a bishop could ever 
 ordain a priest or confer the major or sacred orders. ' St. Ath- 
 anasius tells us that Colluthus, a priest who pretended that he 
 
 " THE SEVEN GATES OF HEAVEN. » CJoncU. Trident. Ses. 83. can. 7. 
 
THE MINISTER OF ORDERS AND CONFIRMATION. 435 
 
 was a bishop ordained Ischyra a priest. He as well as others 
 whom Colin thug ordained were by the synod of Isius reduced to 
 tlie ranks of the laity, because such orders were not valid. ' Eu- 
 sebius tells us that Novatus wished to become the bishop of Rome, 
 and asked many bishops to consecrate him, showing that only a 
 bishop can consecrate a bishop. St. Epiphanius referring to the 
 errors of Aerius, who claimed that priests were equal to bishops, 
 wrote: " For indeed the order of bishops is chiefly to bring forth 
 fathers. For this is the propagation of fathers in the church. 
 There is another order of presbyters, which cannot bring forth 
 fatners, but it brings forth sons in the church by the regeneration 
 of washing."^ The IV. council of Carthage ordered priests to im- 
 pose their hands with the bishop at the ordination of priests, but 
 stated that it was only a part of the ceremony, and it did not 
 belong to the essence of the sacrament, which is given alone by 
 the laying on of the hands of the bishop. The council of Nice 
 directed priests to impose hands on the newly ordained, because 
 the candidates for the priesthood were selected by the presbyters 
 in the early church. 
 
 It is an article of faith that the bishop alone is the ordinary 
 minister of confirmation. ^ But a simple priest, having been 
 delegated for that function, he can confirm with the chrism 
 blessed by a bishop. * It is disputed whether a bishop can dele- 
 gate a simple priest to administer confirmation, where the Holy 
 See has not reserved this faculty. But in case the Holy See has 
 reserved such power, it is certain that a bishop then cannot 
 delegate such power to any priest. The Pope reserves such pow- 
 er from all priests of the Latin rite, while in the Greek church, 
 where the priests confirm, the sacrament is valid for the Holy 
 Father tolerates such a custom. ' 
 
 The bishops of the church are the successors of the apostles. 
 The council of Trent defines* and declares that they have suc- 
 ceeded to the place of the apostles. The same was defined by the 
 council of Florence. Such has been the teachings of the church 
 from the beginning, and it is found in the writings of all the 
 fathers and apostolic writers from the very beginning, as shown 
 in the former chapters of this work. 
 
 Each apostle received from Christ the fulness of the priesthood 
 aiid universal jurisdiction, subject to Peter the head. For we 
 must consider in each apostle, the priesthood, episcopal consecration, 
 and universal jurisdiction, because these three were given each 
 apostle by Christ our blessed Lord. The night before his death, 
 he ordained them priests by these words : " Do this in commem- 
 oration of me," ' words of power by which he gave them author- 
 ity over his body and his blood, power to offer him as the ever- 
 lasting sacrifice to his Father, for the salvation of the whole world 
 
 ' Athuas. Tom. I. p. 193. ed. Mont. ^ St. Epiphan. Hspres. 75. 
 
 ^ Concil. Trident Ses. vli. can. 3. Concll. Constan. Eupenius iv. Ad. Armen. 
 ■* Benedict xlv. De Synod. L. 7. c. 7. n. 7. * Benedict xiv. de Synod. L. 7. c 9. 
 
 " Ses. 23. Cap. 4. ' Matthew, Mark. Luke, John. 
 
436 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APOSTLES AND BISHOPS. 
 
 unto the end of time.' He gave them the fulness of jurisdiction, 
 for he sent them into the world saying: " Going foith therefore 
 teach ye all nations." "As the Father hath sent me so 1 also send 
 vou." "All power is given me in heaven and on earth." &c. This 
 IS the common teaching of all catholic writers, Suarez says : 
 "All the apostles received from Christ the Lord jurisdiction and 
 spiritual power in the whole church, and in the whole world. This 
 conclusion is certain and common among writers.'"' Some say 
 that Christ did not give them jurisdiction directly, but through 
 Peter, but the larger number of writers reject that, and say the 
 Lord gave that jurisdiction directly to each. ' But they were 
 subject in authority to Peter, to whom he gave the power of feed- 
 ing his sheep and lambs. 
 
 The Roman Pontiff, the heir of Peter alone excepted, the other 
 bishops are not the direct successors of the apostles, because they 
 do not sit now on the sees founded by the apostles. Tims the 
 present patriarch bishop of Jerusalem, in a certain way may be 
 called the successor of St. James as the first bishop of that city 
 but not as an apostle. But he does not trace the line of his pre- 
 decessors back to the days of the apostles, for after the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, the see was suppressed for many years, till re-estab- 
 lished by the Bishops of Rome. Rome and Jerusalem, the cities 
 of Peter and James excepted, the apostles did not become the bish- 
 ops of any cities. For this reason the Bishop of Rome alone can be 
 said to be the direct successor of the apostles, and therefore the 
 Popes alone sit on the only apostolic See. 
 
 Although the apostles received from our blessed Lord univer- 
 sal jurisdiction over the whole church, and the bishops are their 
 successors as bishops, yet no bishop except the Pope has universal 
 jurisdiction in the whole church the same as the apostles had. 
 That is the universal teachings of writers in the church. The 
 church has always condemned the contrary doctrine as being er- 
 roneous and subversive of faith. St. James' jurisdiction did not 
 extend beyond the limits of Palestine as ancient documents show. 
 St. John in the Apocalypse mentions the seven bishops of the 
 churches of Asia Minor, and what he says to them relates to their 
 churches, and his words show that these first bishops had no au- 
 thoi-ity over other churches of the world. The early fatlrers tell 
 us that each bishop of that time had jurisdiction only in his own 
 church and diocese, and not in the churches of other bishops. 
 St. Ireneus says that St. Polycarp was not only educated by the 
 beloved apostle St. John, but that he was also appointed by the 
 apostles in Asia as bishop of Smyrna. * St. Cyprian says: " A 
 part of the sheepfold is given to each pastor, which each one 
 rules and governs." * 
 
 The councils of the early ages are filled with canons and stat- 
 utes forbidding bishops to interfere in the dioceses and churches. 
 
 ' Council of Trent Ses. SJ2. Cap. I. » De Fide Part. I. DIsp. 10 Sec. 1. n. I. 
 
 ' Itttllmarmin De Sum. Pont. I. 4. C. 22. Suarez &c. * L. 3. contra Haeres. 0. 8. n. 4. 
 
 * Eplst. 55. ad Cor. Papam. 
 
THE SOURCE OF JURISDICTION. 437 
 
 of neighboring bishops. The council of Constantinople, held in 
 the year 381, says: " According to the rules, he who is appointed 
 tlie bishop of Alexandria, will govern only in these things which 
 belong to Egypt, the Oriental bishops will take care only of the 
 Orient, while the bishops of Asia will govern only the things whicii 
 belong to the church in Asia." The Apostolic Constitutions for- 
 bade bishops to hold ordinations beyond the limits of their dio- 
 ceses. ' Numerous are the texts of the fathers and numberless 
 are the laws of the early church showing that the bishops have 
 not universal authority over the whole church, the same as the 
 apostles had, for Christ gave that to Peter alone, otherwise there 
 would be nothing but disputes, no order but everlasting turmoil 
 would reign in the church of God. 
 
 The bishops therefore are the successors of the apostles regard- 
 ing the powers of holy orders, that is each bishop has the charac- 
 ter of the fulness of the priesthood imprinted in his soul, as in 
 the apostles, by episcopal consecration. By holy orders therefore 
 each bishop of to-day has the very same power and episcopal au- 
 thority which the apostles received from Christ. By this the 
 bishops are the equals of the apostles and the superiors of the sim- 
 ple priests or presbyters. While the apostles received from 
 Christ the fulness of this episcopal consecration, and the fujness 
 of jurisdiction over the whole world, each bishop at the present 
 time receives the same fulness of the priesthood, and a particular 
 jurisdiction in his own diocese, but not in the dioceses subject to 
 other bishops. 
 
 But whether each bishop taken separately receives his juris- 
 diction directly from God, but subject to the Pope, or whether 
 he receives such power in his diocese not direct from God but 
 from God through the Bishop of Eome, is disputed among writ- 
 ers. There is no doubt but holy orders, like the other sacra- 
 ments, comes direct from Christ the Kedeemer, and the charac- 
 ter of the high Priesthood is impressed by God directly in the 
 soul of the bishop at his consecration, because the effects of the 
 sacraments come direct from God into the soul. Some writers 
 say that in instituting the episcopacy in the apostles, he gave 
 each bishop jurisdiction to the end of the world, so that at his 
 consecration, each bishop receives from God this jurisdiction, 
 which he radically has as a power, but that he cannot exercise it 
 till the Pope assigns him a diocese or territory, in which he can 
 perform his episcopal functions. The other opinion says, that 
 while each bishop receives at his consecration the powers of holy 
 orders, yet jurisdiction or the exercise of holy orders comes from 
 the Pope alone, to whom Christ gave the power of feeding his 
 lambs and sheep. The Pope gives each bishop jurisdiction, 
 when he appoints him to a diocese. This seems to be the more 
 probable and common opinion in the church. The matter was agi- 
 tated in the council of Trent, but no official decision was rendered. 
 
 » Can. 28. 
 
438 THE HIGH PRIEST OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 The church is a kingdom formed somewhat like a monarchy, 
 with one ruler and King, Jesus Christ, who governs by his Vi- 
 car, Tiie governors and rulers of any province in a kingdom re- 
 ceive their authority from the king, so the bishops receive their 
 spiritual jurisdiction from the Roman Pontifif. Thus during all 
 antiquity, the Pope has been called the supreme High Priest, the 
 Bishop of bishops, the Prince of priests, the universal Bishop, 
 the Fountain of authority in the church. Such is the testimony 
 of the fathers and early writers of the church. St. Thomas sums 
 them all up with his usual force, saying: "To Peter alone he 
 (Christ) i)romised: *' I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom 
 of heaven,'' that he might show that the power of the keys, 
 through him (Peter), was to descend to others, so as to preserve 
 the unity of the church." ' In creating a bishop, the Pope 
 
 closes his letter " Committing to him the administration of 
 
 both temporals and spirituals. In the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen." 
 
 The constitution of the church requires each diocese to be 
 ruled by a bishop as her pastor. For it is impossible for one man, 
 the Pope, to govern the whole world alone by himself. Hence 
 
 the council of Trent decreed: "The holy Synod declares 
 
 the fcishops are placed as the apostle says: "to rule the church of 
 God." ' St. Ignatius, the disciple of St. Peter, says: " As Jesus 
 Christ, our inseparable life, is the Word of the Father, thus 
 the bishops scattered to the ends of the earth are the words of 
 Jesus Christ. " * Thus we see that Christ wished bishops ap- 
 pointed in every section of the world. In missionary countries, 
 the Holy See first appoints a simple priest to rule a few scattered 
 faithful, and later the Pope appoints a bishop with one of the 
 titles of the old sees. When a bishop dies, an administrator 
 will be appointed but where canon law exists the cathedral chap- 
 ter rules the diocese, till the new bishop is appointed. All this 
 serves to show tliat the Holy See gives jurisdiction to the bishops 
 and pastors of the whole world, and that jurisdiction comes from 
 the Roman Pontiffs. 
 
 The episcopacy is the fulness of the new priesthood insti- 
 tuted by Christ. Aaron and the high priesthood of the Old 
 Testament were but figures of the bishop, the head and high- 
 priest of the diocese. Tlie fulness of the priesthood belongs to 
 the essence of the episcopacy. The presbyters or priests are not 
 bishops, for they have not received the completion and the ful- 
 ness of the priestly character. Christ did not intend to ordain 
 or give holy orders to the laity of each church and parish. There- 
 fore he established that priests would administer only the sacra- 
 ments required for the salvation of the souls of the people. But 
 the bishop, being the head and fountain of holy orders, to him 
 lielongs the power of ordaining the clergy for the churches of the 
 diocese, and therefore he must have the fulness of the powers of 
 ' CoDtra GentM L. It. C . 7. * Ses. 23 C. 4. * £ pist. ad Epiies. Cap, 8. 
 
THE FATHEE OF THE DIOCESE. 439 
 
 the priesthood, that he may bring forth spiritual sons, priests 
 like unto himself. The bishop is a higlier and more perfect 
 priest than the simple presbyters of the diocese. The priesthood 
 is common both to priests and bishops, but the priesthood of the 
 priest or presbyter is completed by episcopal consecration, by 
 which he receives its fulness and complete power to confer orders, 
 confirmation and to rule a diocese. The power of orders comes 
 therefore direct from God like baptism and the other sacra- 
 ments, while jurisdiction or the power of ruling a diocese comes 
 from the Eoman Pontiff, 
 
 The word bishop means an overseer, a superintendent and gov- 
 ernor of churches, over the clergy the spiritual children he brings 
 forth from the fecundity of his priesthood. As the Father rules 
 the Son in heaven, so it belongs to the bishop to rule his children, 
 for Christ wished the bishop, not only to ordain, but also to rule 
 the priests he brings forth at ordinations. From the beginning 
 of the church, they had jurisdiction over the churches, congrega- 
 tions and clergymen of the part of the church composing the 
 diocese under their care. The actual ruling of souls is not 
 essential to the office of bishop, the same as holy orders, or the 
 episcopal character imprinted in his soul by consecration. For 
 he may be a bishop and have no diocese or subjects, or he may re- 
 sign his diocese and take no other episcopal title. In every age 
 a clergyman once consecrated a bishop, was ever after considered 
 a bishop, no matter what diocese he had, or even if he had no 
 diocese to govern. 
 
 The episcopate therefore may be called the fulness of the 
 priesthood instituted by Christ to rule the church. For not to 
 the laity or to the disciples did Christ give the fulness of his 
 power, but alone to his twelve disciples he said: " All power is 
 given me in heaven and on earth. As the Father hath sent me so 
 I also send you. Going forth therefore teach ye all nations. He 
 that receiveth you receiveth me, " &c. This all catholic writers 
 say. No catholic writer denies that the episcopacy is the fulness 
 of the priesthood of Christ, and they agree in saying that Christ 
 Avished each section or part of the universal church to be ruled 
 and governed by a clergymen, with the fulness of the priesthood, 
 that is by a bishop, and not by simple priests or deacons. They 
 also agree in saying the power and effects of holy orders, 
 like the other sacraments, comes directly from Christ. The 
 larger part say that episcopal jurisdiction comes from God 
 through the Roman Pontiff, to whose predecessor the Lord said: 
 " Feed my lambs Feed my sheep."' 
 
 But it is disputed whether the episcopal consecration be a sacra- 
 ment distinct from the priesthood, which simple priests receive 
 at their consecration. To enter a little into that question, we 
 must first give a definition of the priesthood, which is a sacrament 
 of the New Law, which once received impresses a character on the 
 
 1 Johnxxl, 19. 
 
440 PAPAL AND EPISCOPAL AUTHORITY. 
 
 soul, by which a special power is given a man to administer the 
 sacraments and consecrate the Eucharist. The Council of Trent 
 says: " By the testimony of Holy Writ, by the apostolic tradition, 
 and by the unanimous consent of the fathers, it is evident that 
 holy orders, which is given by exterior signs and words, that in 
 it grace is given, and so no one can doubt but what it is one of 
 the seven sacraments of the church. " * The apostle says: " I ad- 
 monish thee, that thou stir up the grace which is in thee by the 
 imposition of my hands."" St. Paul ordained his disciple Timothy 
 a bishop, and it is evident that it was a sacrament of the Church, 
 as decreed in the Tridentine Council. It is also certain that in 
 holy orders priests receive a sacrament. 
 
 The bishops who rule the dioceses, of which they have the 
 episcopal titles, that is of which they are the titular bishops, do 
 not govern their dioceses in the name of the Pope, but in their 
 own names as pastors of that part of the flock of Christ. This is 
 not so regarding vicars apostolic and other administrators; 
 for they govern the diocese as the vicars of the Pope. On the 
 one hand M. A. De Dominis held that all bishops were the simple 
 delegates of the Pope, and at his death their jurisdiction ceased, 
 which is false. On the other hand the Galican school taught that 
 the bishops Avere in their dioceses independent of the Holy See, 
 which is the other extreme. The Pope chooses the bishops to take 
 part in his care of souls, and each diocese has a kind of home rule 
 relating to matters of discipline, while from the universal church, 
 she gets her doctrines, her sacraments, her services and her juris- 
 diction, in all things acting according to the common law of the 
 universal church. 
 
 The Pope then appoints the bishops, giving them jurisdiction, 
 but they are not his vicars, nor can he remove all the bishops 
 at once without cause. The customary jurisdiction of the bishop 
 in his diocese does not exclude the ordinary and direct jurisdiction 
 of the Pope in his diocese, the same as the jurisdiction of the 
 United States still extends over all the people of any state in the 
 union, the same as the ordinary authority in the county does not ex- 
 clude the state and federal authority over the people living in that 
 county. Therefore the Pope can restrict the authority of any bish- 
 op in his own diocese, reserving to himself important cases, crimes 
 and dispensations. He can divide the diocese, appoint members 
 of the diocesan senate or cathedral chapters, or declare certain per- 
 sons independent of the jurisdiction of the bishop. He can send 
 legates, nuncios, &c., with papal jurisdiction to settle difficulties, 
 hear complaints, receive appeals against the bishops, &c. Not 
 only that, but the Pope for grave reasons can ask any bishop to 
 resign. He can depose him or excommunicate him, if he becomes 
 a heretic. But as the bishops were first established by Christ in 
 the persons of the apostles, the Pope could not depose all the 
 bishops of the world at once, and rule the dioceses by vicars, as 
 
 • Set. 88. Cap. 8. » II. Tim. I. ft. 
 
THE bishop's relations WITH THE DIOCESE. 441 
 
 that would be contrary to the divine constitution of the church, 
 which the Council of Trent declares is formed of bishops, pres- 
 byters and deacons. We know that the design of Christ was to 
 give each diocese into the care of a bishop, its own pastor, who 
 would govern the souls there living by his own authority received 
 from Rome and limited alone by Rome. 
 
 Thus have we outlined the relations of the bishop with the 
 universal church, let us now see his relations with the diocese, 
 with the clergy and the laity under him. To understand that 
 better we must repeat a little. The diocese is an image of tiie 
 universal church, as the Son is the Image of his Father. Christ 
 is the head of the whole church, and at the same time, he is the 
 head of every church, and diocese, and parish. But the univer- 
 sal ciuirch, being like to him, invisible and unseen, Christ rules 
 the diocese through his chief minister the bishop. As the Pope 
 rules the universal church for and in the name of the Saviour as 
 his Vicar, so the bishop rules the diocese in and for Christ whom 
 he represents. For before leaving the world Christ gave to tlie 
 apostles all the fulness of the eternal priesthood, saying at the 
 last supper: " Do this m commemoration of me, " saying after 
 the resurrection: "^ Going forth therefore teach ye all nations," 
 *' As the Father sent me so I also send you, " " He that receiveth 
 you receiveth me, he that despiseth you despiseth me and, he 
 that depiseth me despiseth him that sent me. " Having received 
 the fulness of the priesthood of Christ, the apostles ordained 
 their followers, and placed them over churches and over dioceses. 
 Thus that power of holy orders comes from Christ down to our 
 ■day, and it is called orders, or the apostolic succession. 
 
 They have then the very same spiritual power as Christ him- 
 self, for the salvation of man. The bishops then being equal in 
 the church universal, whence is it that they are not the same in 
 authority? 
 
 One is above another because of jurisdiction and of the dio- 
 ceses they rule. Thus the bishop of Rome, because of the See of 
 Peter is by that the bishop of Rome, the archbishop of the province 
 •of Rome, the primate of Italy, the patriarch of the West and the 
 Vicar of Christ. The Elect of the clergy of Rome, becomes the 
 Pope, no other power on this earth can elect a Pope, or take that 
 ■electing power from the clergy or cardinals of the Roman diocese. 
 The diocese being the spouse of the bishop, as Christ is the Spouse 
 ■of the universal church, the clergy of the diocese should present 
 the bishop to the Pope for confirmation, as the wife alone can choose 
 her husband, and without her consent the marriage is invalid. To 
 Rome, to the rules and customs of the See of Peter, the whole church 
 looks for example, faith, discipline and government. Therefore 
 the other dioceses of the world should copy after Rome, for to that 
 diocese of Rome the Lord said in the person of Peter: '^ Thou art 
 .Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church and the gates 
 •of hell shall not prevail against her." The clergy of the Roman 
 
442 THE DIOCESE OF ROME EVEELASTING. 
 
 diocese, in the persons of the chief clergy of that diocese, that is 
 the cardinals, elect their Bishop, who by that becomes their head 
 and Vicar of Christ, tlie Pastor of every soul redeemed by him. 
 No authority on eartii but the Koman clergy can elect a Pope. All 
 tlie bishops, priests, clergy and laity, all the governments of eartli 
 without the cardinals could not elect a Pope, for to them alone it 
 belongs to select their Bishop. 
 
 The Roman diocese, consecrated by the teachings of Sts. Peter 
 and Paul, and hallowed by their blood, never fell away from the 
 faith, because its Pastor is the eternal Rock on which the Lord 
 built his church. As every other diocese is but a copy and an 
 image of her, whose bishop is the Vicar of our beloved Redeemer, 
 so every church and diocese should copy the forms and modes of 
 action of the diocese of Rome, and each bishop should be guided 
 by the benignity and example of the Bishop of Rome, through 
 whose mind the Holy Ghost teaches the world by word and ex- 
 ample. 
 
 The diocese has all the perfections of the church universal, inas- 
 much as these religious things are wanted for the salvation of souls. 
 But the diocese of Rome alone excepted, no other diocese is immor- 
 tal, because to her where it is possible the Lord said: *'Thou art 
 Peter and upon this Rock I will build my church and the gates of 
 hell sliall not prevail against her." Eternal years are hers, and 
 alone amid the ruins of the ancient world, she stands imperishable 
 as the human race, because she is the diocese of Peter. Christ 
 sees that his prophecy is being fulfilled each year and age, " For 
 the gates of hell shall never prevail against her," because she is the 
 seat of the Papacy. Without tlie Popes then, Rome would have 
 long ago met the fate of Babylon, of Carthage, of Memphis, of 
 Palmyra and of the great cities, whose extensive ruins in silent but 
 in eloquent words now proclaim their former greatness. 
 
 All the higher perfections of the body are in the head, so all the 
 sanctity and graces of the universal church center in Clirist, from 
 which they flow down in silent but invisible streams into the souls 
 of the men he redeemed. So all the virtues perfection and graces 
 of the whole diocese should be found in the bishop. Not from 
 men or from tliis world did Christ receive his Godhead and his 
 perfection, but alone from his eternal Father, from whom he came 
 into this world to become the head of the church. Not from the 
 diocese but from the church universal, from whom he comes down 
 does the bishop receive his holy orders and his autbority over 
 the clergy and the laity, whom he spiritually brings forth, teaches, 
 rules and sanctities. 
 
 Therefore, coming from the universal church, of which he is a 
 pastor, the bishop comes down into his diocese, bearing all the 
 perfections of his eternal priesthood, an image of that Son of God 
 our blessed Redeemer leaving his Father's throne and coming to 
 this earth, to become the head and father of the regenerated hu- 
 man race. Thus from that hierarchy of the bishops, whose father 
 
THE BISHOP IS MARRIED TO HIS DIOCESE. 443 
 
 is the Bishop of Eome, the bishop comes as another saviour of his 
 clergy and people. He lays his consecrated hands on the best of 
 his students, and thus he brings them forth by the Holy Ghost, 
 priests like unto himself, workers with him in the vineyard of the 
 Lord. In the bishop then the diocese has the fulness of the eternal 
 Priesthood of Christ, his Gospel, his Bible, his sacraments, his 
 Body, his Blood, with all the riches of Christ's redemption. In 
 and by the universal church, the bishop lives and moves and has 
 his being, as in the Son in heaven lives in his Father. By the mys- 
 tery of that union of the diocese with the bishop, one of the 
 daughters of the universal church becomes a complete church, an 
 image of our blessed mother. The diocese therefore becomes 
 espoused to the bishop, whose episcopal ring is but an image of 
 that union. The parish priest wears no ring, because he is pastor 
 of an imperfect church, the parish, whose supernatural life lives 
 only in that higher and more perfect church the diocese. The 
 parish priest does not sit on a throne judging one of the twelve 
 tribes of Israel, for his power mostly relates to the internal and 
 secret tribunal of penance, while the bishop is a pastor of the uni- 
 versal church, having both internal and external jurisdiction in 
 his diocese. The bishop brings forth his spiritual children, sons 
 and daughters from the fecundity of his everlasting priesthood in 
 the administration of the sacraments, which he receives from the 
 universal church, whose canon law rules and guides his every 
 move and action. Such then is the mystery of the mystic marriage 
 of the bishop with his diocese. 
 
 The family is founded on the union of man and wife in the 
 sacrament of marriage. But in the new and redeemed humanity 
 of Christ, the universal church rests on a spiritual marriage of 
 Christ with the universal church, and the bishop with his diocese 
 and the pastor with his church. But that union of the bishop 
 and of the pastor with their churches, by which they bring forth 
 their spiritual children unto Christ, are but so many images of 
 the wonderful wedding of Christ with his church universal. 
 The diocese is espoused like a chaste virgin to one man, the 
 bishop, for and to whom she continually brings forth spiritual 
 children to the Lord. The dioceses are the "sheep*' of the 
 flock of Christ ever bringing forth lambs, of whom he said to 
 Peter and to the Popes: "Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep." 
 Then to the bishops and to the dioceses we can say: " They adhere 
 to the heavenly mysteries founded on the divine stability." ' 
 
 Let us deeper penetrate the mystery. The diocese is in the 
 bishop, the bishop is in the universal church, the church univer- 
 sal is in Christ and Christ is in his Father. " He that receiveth 
 you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that 
 sent me.'"* 
 
 Thus as the Lord Jesus is the husband of the universal church, 
 which is now unseen like unto himself, so the bishop is the hus- 
 
 > St. Cyprian De Unitate Eocl. n. 6. » Mark ix. 36. 
 
444 THE BEAUTIES OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 band of the diocese, that part of the invisible church which 
 he rules in the name of Christ.' As the whole church centres 
 and becomes personified and visible in the Roman diocese, so 
 each diocese should be an image and a faithful copy of the 
 diocese of Rome. Each bishop should be an image, a likeness 
 and a copy of the Roman Pontiff. Whence it follows that those 
 parts of the church which in former times copied better after 
 Rome, became stronger and more powerful to keep the faith 
 and to resist the attacks of the revolutions of past ages. Thus 
 we see that Europe, which from the apostolic age copied the 
 canons, the customs of the Roman diocese, the Missal, the 
 Breviary Ritual, the Pontifical and the Roman Rite and Ceremo- 
 nies, thus enlightened Europe, blessed by Noe, still retains the pure 
 faith taught by the Chair of Peter, while the Greeks and the 
 Orientals in Asia, who preserved the other venerable Rites, easily 
 and early fell away from the faith and perished by revolutions 
 and the inroads of the Mohammedans. 
 
 Not only that but the bishop is the father of the diocese. " For 
 the bishops have the power of enlightening, because they imitate 
 the Father of lights, and abundantly they have his power,"' In 
 heaven are the Father and the Son, who is generated from him, 
 and from both proceeds the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. 
 On earth we have the bishop and the clergy of diocese, w'hich by 
 holy orders proceed from him, and with the laity these three are one. 
 They form the diocese. With the Father and Son is the Holy 
 Ghost. With the bishop and the clergy are the people. The 
 Holy Spirit is the bond of union between bishop, clergy and the 
 people. The Holy Spirit is the Soul of the diocese, as he animates 
 the universal church. 
 
 Then from the depths of eternity the Father sends his Son to 
 redeem the fallen race. He comes into the world, and from him 
 and from the Father comes the Holy Ghost, to gather together 
 all the children of men, to bring them forth in baptism, born for 
 Christ as his children unto everlasting life.' As from that 
 higher hierarchy of the* Holy Trinity comes the Son and Holy 
 Spirit into the world, so from the higher hierarchy of the bishops 
 of the universal church, the bishop comes into his diocese. So 
 the pastor of the parish comes down from the hierarchy of the 
 priests of the diocese to the parish, all bringing the glad tidings 
 of the Gospel of salvation to fallen man. All is order in the mys- 
 teries of God, Christ the eternal Son comes from the heights of 
 the most holy Trinity, the church universal proceeds from Christ, 
 the diocese descends from the universal church and the parish is 
 born of the diocese, and the people are born of the parish '* of 
 water and the Holy Ghost." * 
 
 Thus the Persons of the Holy Trinity come from heaven into 
 the church, that they might unite man with them in this world, 
 and that union with God is to be finished with them in heaven. 
 
 > Sum. Tbeol. Suppl. 9. xl. a. 7. * Simeon Tbea. * John Till. 42. * John. 
 
THE MODEL BISHOP. 445 
 
 ''I am in the Father and the Father in me," * "and j^ou in me 
 and I in yon,"* " I in tliem, and thou in me, that they may be 
 made perfect in one, and the world may know that thou hast sent 
 me."' As the Persons of the Holy Trinity are one iii nature, so 
 Clirist and the diocese are one in nature. For the church is 
 formed of the race of Adam redeemed by Christ, who being God 
 became a son of Adam, to redeem and save his race by the church 
 of which he is the head. As Eve the wife of Adam came from 
 the side of Adam, so the church was born of Christ, so the diocese 
 was born of the universal church at its erection by decree of the 
 Pope, so the diocese is the spouse of the bishop, so the parish is the 
 bride of the pastor. 
 
 As all tlie senses of the body are in the head so all the wisdom 
 learning, prudence and sanctity are in Christ the head of the 
 whole church, and so they should be and in tlie bishops who pre- 
 side over parts of the church of Christ. Thus Christ is the only 
 begotten Son of the Father. Being the Image of the Father 
 he is eternal Wisdom itself. He is the Teacher of the universal 
 church. The bishop being the head of a particular church, the 
 diocese, he is the teacher of the clergy and laity of the diocese. 
 For that reason the bishop should be the ablest, most learned 
 among the clergy, so that he may be the brighest mind in the dio- 
 cese. At the same time he should be a saint. In the elec- 
 tion of bishops, the electors of the chapter should look to the 
 learning of thecandidates, and elect a man of God like to the bish- 
 op of our souls Christ Jesus. For Christ as the Son of God is 
 full of the Holy Ghost. He is the source of all the holiness 
 which flows down on men. * From his sacred wounds comes all 
 the sanctity of the church. The bishop being the husband of the 
 diocese or particular church, he should be also " full of grace 
 and truth,"* like unto Christ, For that reason holiness and 
 sanctity should abound in the bishop. For in what would men of 
 learning without holiness differ from professors in college, or fallen 
 archangels, whose minds are exceedingly bright, but whose wills 
 have become depraved ? 
 
 Following then these rules of the church, inasmuch as the 
 pastors and the rulers of the church approach Christ in learning 
 and in holiness, as they ascend thrones of power in the church, 
 they will merit mansions of glory in heaven. 
 
 As the whole church centres in Christ, so the sanctity and 
 learning of the wliole diocese centres and becomes personified in 
 the bishop of the diocese, and the whole parish lives in the pastor. 
 For that reason the church preserves those old and venerable 
 dioceses of the East now overrun by the Infidels. 'J'hese fallen 
 churclies now live and exist in the persons of -the titular bishops 
 of these ancient dioceses, without subjects. All the powers of 
 holy orders, the virtues of the clergy, the holiness and the sanctity ' 
 of clergy and of people, the perfections of fallen dioceses now exist 
 ' John xiv. 10. » John. xiv. 20. 3 John xvii. 23. * St. Bernard. » John 1. , 
 
446 heaven's glorious image. 
 
 and live in a higher degree in their titular bishops, ornamented 
 and as it were crowned with tlie f nhiess of the Priesthood of Christ. 
 Thus by a special privilege many clergy of the Roman diocese, the 
 coadjutors of bishops, the administrators of vacant sees, the vicar 
 apostolics, and all titular missionary bishopfc have the titles of these 
 ancient dioceses once so flourishing, now overturned by persecu- 
 tions and by the ravages of wars, they still live in these bishops, 
 as all the property and the titles of a princely family may live in 
 the person of the only living heir, when all the others have passed 
 away in death. 
 
 But we must consider the bishop in the midst of his clergy 
 and people on his episcopal throne. "Judging the twelve tribes 
 of Israel. " What a spectacle for angels and men to see the whole 
 diocese around the throne of the bishop they selected and ele- 
 vated to that office, and which represents to them the throne of 
 the Most High God ruling the souls of men. 
 
 In heaven the Father has his Council, his only begotten Son, 
 who ever comes forth from him. So the bishop in his diocese has 
 his council, the chief members of his clergy, who are so many 
 images of himself, and who came from him by rite of ordination 
 and by appointment. As the Son partakes in the authority of his 
 Father, and sits on his eternal throne with him, so the bishop has 
 his council, his senate, his legislature, for the government of the 
 diocese his church. They form the presbytery of the diocese. 
 They are the venerable senate of the diocese. In completely or- 
 ganized dioceses they form the chapter of the cathedral. Being 
 the chief members of the clergy, they aid the bishop in the ad- 
 ministration of the spiritual affairs of the diocese, they govern the 
 diocese in his absence, and at his death they elect his successor. In 
 this they imitate the venerable college of the cardinals of the 
 Roman church. 
 
 The bishop is the head of the diocese, as the Father is the head 
 of the other Persons of the Trinity. He is the father of both 
 clergy and people, born of him and of the diocese his spouse, which 
 comes from him like Eve from Adam and is the fruit of the fe- 
 cundity of his priestliood. 
 
 What a sight to see the diocese complete in all the splendors of 
 the beauty of the perfect church, bearing in its bosom the perfec- 
 tions of the church universal. The Saviour suffered for the uni- 
 versal church, that he might unite to her his virgin spouse, still 
 unspotted ever rejoicing with everlasting youth, immortal over 
 all the earth, bringing forth to him his cnildren unto everlasting 
 life, preparing to unite with him in the splendors of the skies. For 
 that spouse of the Lamb of God, ever coming forth from his side 
 pierced on Calvary, is crowned by him as his Queen in heaven, 
 and now she sits with him on his throne of glory. From Calvary 
 then as his virgin, she comes forth a universal church, the bride of 
 Christ, everywhere giving birth to his daughters the dioceses of 
 the world, espousing them to bishops, who rule them in the name of 
 
THE BISHOP SUliROUNIJED BY HIS CLERGY. 44? 
 
 Christ, who is espoused to the universal church, of which the 
 best part is in lieaven rejoicing with him after their victory over 
 the world, the flesh and the devil. 
 
 Wiiat an image of tl>e glories of heaven and of the universal 
 church, we see wiien the bishop pontificates, surrounded by his 
 clergy and his people, who have elected him to the episcopal tin-one. 
 The lights of immortal trntli come forth from the Son of God. 
 The sanctifying grace comes forth from the Holy Spirit. Tlie clergy 
 come forth from the bishop, and the laity come forth from both 
 bishop and clergy by the saving ordinances of the holy sacraments 
 of Christ. And all these comedown in silent, unseen streams from 
 Christ in the ministry of the bishop " full of grace and truth." ' 
 See in the bishop an example for both clergy and people of Christ 
 who is the bishop of our souls the head and the husband of the uni- 
 versal church. 
 
 The bishop is also an image of the Pope the infallible head 
 of the Roman diocese and the Vicegerent of Christ. The bishop 
 but reflects the teachings of the Roman Pontiff. Coming down 
 from the universal church, he brings with himself the spiritual 
 lights and graces of his head the Pope. In his turn he teaches these 
 by word and example his clergy, the pastors of the diocese, 
 who carry from hini the glad tidings of the Gospel of redemption 
 to the people of their parishes. Then the bishop sits on his epis- 
 copal cliair on the Gospel side, as one of the "' Judges of the tribes 
 of Israel." lie sits on the Gospel side as he is the chief teacher of 
 the Gospel in the diocese. The priest in his parish sits on the 
 Epistle side, for he is not the chief teacher of the diocese or of 
 the people, nor does he speak against the will of the bishop. 
 
 They teach not worldly things, but the revelation of God in the 
 Bible founded on the stability of the divine decrees at the founding 
 of the church, while civil governments are founded on the chang- 
 ing politics, on the passions and the ambitions of men. Let the read- 
 er study the history of nations, and of the efforts of men to estab- 
 lish a stable government in the place of Adam their natural father. 
 What wars, rebellions, insurrections, changes, upheavels ! What 
 sorrows, misfortunes, calamities and divisions have not taken place 
 in nations, in governments and in the politics of men, since the begia- 
 ing of the world, when they lost their natural ruler Adanv y^ho. by 
 sin lost his kingdom. But there is one government, that of the 
 church universal and her centre and heart, the Roman diocese, 
 which because of her peculiar relation to the universal church 
 rises above the chsinges and the mutations and the misfortunes of 
 this earth. The Roman diocese alone excepted no other diocese is 
 immortal and eternal. They may die out as they have not the 
 promises of Peter to withstand the gates of hell like the universal 
 church, and the diocese of Rome. Yet the other dioceses are 
 themostperfectimagesof the universal church, and for that reason 
 they partake in part in her immortality. Even when the people and 
 
 > John 1. 12. 
 
448 SHE COMES BLESSING ALL 3IEN. 
 
 the clergy of the diocese fall away, the diocese still lives in the per- 
 son of her titular bishop, working in some other part of the world as 
 an assistant bishop a vicar apostolic, or at Konie, in some of the con- 
 gregations, aiding t!ie Papacy. Even after the diocese has died out 
 as many of the great chuiches of the East were swept from the 
 earth, they have been fruitful mothers of the children of God, for 
 their clergy and laity now sing the pra'ses of the " Lamb of God " 
 before the eternal throne. They have added to the external glory 
 of God; they have gathered up the harvest of the Lord; ar.d they 
 have accomplished their missio.i on earth. Perhaps their light is 
 only for a time obscured by infidelity or revolution, and that in 
 after ages the people of these countries, now in the hands of the 
 heathens or Mohammedans, will be called again to the faith of their 
 fathers, and the great dioceses of the East will once again flourish 
 as they did in the early ages of the church. They are at least sad 
 lessons of the chastisements and punishments of God, when he 
 takes away the light of faith, as said to the churches of Smyrna, of 
 Ephesus and of the East.' 
 
 But alone above the changes of time, because she is the spotless 
 spouse of the Lamb, the church universal is eternal, immortal and 
 unchangeable. She repairs the loss of dioceses, of churches and 
 of souls by ever engrafting, assuming and incoiporatij)g into her 
 organism, the other peoples "sitting in the darkness of death.'* 
 Thus throughout the ages, the church universal travels from place to 
 place; like her husband who when on earth had no resting place, 
 she is ever an exile and a traveller on this earth, ever rescuing souls 
 from the demon, who goes around *' like a lion seeking whom he can 
 devour." When the nations and the peoples receive her, as they 
 received Jesus Christ her spouse, she teaches them, she sanctifier 
 them, she civilizes them, she protects them, she raises them up to 
 a higher level, she brings them forth sons of Christ her spoiise, by 
 the ministry of her clergy, and thus she fills heaven with the scat- 
 tered members of the lost race of Adam, who born of her become 
 the children of the new Adam Jesus Christ, because born of the 
 church universal his wife by the waters of baptism and the Holy 
 Ghost. Everywhere the universal church works through the dio- 
 ceses its instruments. She blesses the earth, the land, the people 
 and the nation Avhere she passes, driving out the "prince of this 
 M'orld " from the minds of men, whom he had before led to infidelity 
 and idolatry and deceived from the foundations of the nations. 
 But woe to that race, nation or men who will not receive the church. 
 '• For the nation that shall not serve thee shall perish.'*' And 
 when a people will not receive the church represented by the bish- 
 op and the clergy, then let them shake the dust off their feet, and 
 leave them to their darkness, and when they persecute them in 
 onecity they follow the words of the Master and " flee into another.'* 
 
 Then the church universal flourishes and grows strong when the 
 particular churches, the diocese and the parish flourishes. This 
 
 > Apor.il. < Ia»ia«. 
 
THE BISHOP AND HIS CLERGY. 449 
 
 shows that the church is of heaven, and that she does not really 
 belong to this world but to heaven, where her spouse Christ now 
 lives in " the splendors he hud with the Father before the world 
 was." 
 
 The diocese with the bishop alone cannot make a perfect church. 
 For froni the fulness and the pei'fection of the priesthood of the 
 bishop, come forth and are spiritually born the priests of the diocese. 
 He forms, ordains and appoints them at the proper time to rule 
 parishes within tlie diocese, as he was by his bishop the Pope ap- 
 pointed to rule a diocese, one of the great parishes of the universal 
 church. The pastors of the diocese then in some manner foi'm the 
 presbytery or the senate of the diocese, as the cardinals, the Pastors 
 of the Roman diocese, compose the senate of the universal church. 
 As Jesus Christ comes forth from his Father, as he is the eternal 
 Council and the Image of the heavenly Father, so the priests com- 
 ing from the fecundity of the eternal Priesthood of the bishop are 
 the images of the bishop, so they are the council of the bishop. 
 
 The diocese is tiie spouse of the bishop, and she has all the 
 spiritual fruitfulness of a virgin mother. She brings forth spirit- 
 ual sons to the bisliop. They are the clergy of thedio(!ese. They 
 are, as clergymen, the images of the bishop. Not only that but 
 the bishop gives the last perfection to his diocese, by forming aud 
 ordaining the lower ministers of the priests, the deacons and 
 lower clergy. They are to be the aids and the helpers of himself and 
 of the priests. The wife is also a man, the female man, the bone 
 of his bone and flesh of his flesh, of the same race with him, equal 
 in nature to her husband. By her he brings forth his children 
 his images, members of the race like unto himself. So it is with 
 the diocese. She is the spouse of the bishop, as the universal 
 church is the spouse of Christ. The church universal is equal to 
 Christ, her spouse, for no beings can generate others like unto 
 themselves. excei)t by tlie union of another of the same race, like 
 themselves their equal in nature. 
 
 The whole diocese then is like a spiritual family and rests on 
 the bishop, from whom both clergy and laity proceed. But 
 the bishop's office rests on the eternal Priesthood of Christ. For 
 because he has received the fulness of tlie Priesthood of Christ 
 he is a bishop. For if he had no holy orders he would be a lay- 
 man. Then the whole foundation of the particular church or 
 diocese is Christ. He is the ' ' Rock of Ages" on which every church 
 was built. Without him, their Redeemer, they would be built in 
 the ail", aud they would soon fall. The elernal Priesthood of 
 Christ in the bishop is the whole foundation of the diocese, as the 
 foundation of the universal church is in the Pope the successor 
 of Peter. 
 
 The mission of the bishop and of all pastors is an extension in 
 time of the eternal mission of Christ, coming from his Father in 
 time to this earth to save mankind. The mission of Christ 
 has three elements — to teach truth found in the Gospels, to sanctify 
 
450 THE BISHOP A TEACHER AND SANCTIFYER. 
 
 son Is by the sacraments, and to govern men by the common ecclesi- 
 astical law. We have seen that the church universal has received 
 from her founder Ciirist these three powei-s of teaching, of sanc- 
 tifying and of governing souls. Being the image of tlie universal 
 church, the diocese has in the bishop these three powers. .Coming 
 down from the higher hierarchy, the head of the universal church, 
 the bishop brings these three powers to the diocese, tliat by them 
 he may teach, sanctify and govern both clergy and people, whom 
 he brought forth from the diocese by the ministry of his eternal 
 Priesthood. 
 
 Then the bishop first begins by being the teacher of the diocese. 
 Without faith it is impossible to please God. But how can 
 they believe unless they are taught, and how can they be taught 
 without a teacher ? How can the teacher come unless he is sent ? 
 The bishop is sent by tlie universal church, as the pastor is sent by 
 the bishop. By his teaching, then the bishop first lays down the 
 foundation of the christian religion which is faith. Then the 
 people first begin by listening to his teachings. For Christ first 
 taught his apostles before he sanctified them by his passion. The 
 pagan unbelievers first come to hear him before they are baptized. 
 For he is not their pastor at first but their teacher, even before 
 they come into the " Kingdom of God by water and the Holy 
 Ghost."' Even after their baptism the bishop continues to teach 
 them the ways of eternal life. Whence the bishop must either 
 preach or get a priest to do so. The foundation of religion is 
 faith. The Son of God is the Word of the Father. He is eternal 
 Truth. The bishop teaching truth to his people feeds them on the 
 Son who is the Truth of the Father by teaching them the Gospel 
 truths. But the bishop or the clergy are not their own strength. 
 They are infallible teachers only inasmuch as they teach the 
 truths in revelation explained and interpreted by the Vicar of 
 Christ the Roman Pontiff. Then the bishop and clergy of the 
 diocese must live in union with the Pope, whom alone the Lord 
 keeps from error, because he is his Vicar and speaks in his 
 name. 
 
 But the office of bishop is not alone to tench the members of his 
 diocese. For teaching alone belongs to a school, a college where 
 minds are trained. But after educating, instructing and teaching 
 them, the bishop must sanctify his people by the sacraments in- 
 stituted by Christ, and by that infusing into them from his eternal 
 Priesthood the Holy G host, the Spirit of God the Son. By preach- 
 ing and teaching they become enlightened. Thus from all these 
 holy sacraments the Christians, membei-s of the diocese, receive 
 grace and power and strength, all flowing from the fountains of 
 the Saviour. 
 
 But the bishop is the chief minister under Christ of all these 
 sacraments. For he too is but the minister of Christ. By virtue 
 of the fulness of the eternal Priesthood of Christ received at his 
 
 > John 1. 
 
THE BISHOP AS A SANCTIFIEB. 451 
 
 consecration, he administers these saving ordinances to the souls de- 
 prived of grace by the sin of Adam. 
 
 At tlie Altar he stands the mediator between God and man, not 
 because he is a man, but because in the diocese lie is tlie chief min- 
 ister of Christ. At the altar he stands saying Mass, distributing 
 the Body and Blood of Christ to the clergy and to the people. 
 There he breaks the bi-ead of life. There he blesses the Holy Oils. 
 He sits on his episcopal throne, clothed in the royal purple and 
 gold of ancient kings, surrounded by his clergy like buds of 
 roses, while the people fill the nave of the great cathedral. Thus 
 the Roman Pontifical as well as the Apostolic Constitution say 
 that: "It belongs to the bishop to offer sacrifice and to consecrate. '' 
 At the altar the bishops ever opens anew the wounds of Christ, and 
 the fountains of grace flow from "he superabundant merits of the 
 Crucified Lord. Thus the bishop showers down unseen redemp- 
 tion from Calvary, and pours graces by the sacraments into the 
 wounds of human souls gasping for eternal life. 
 
 To typify the power of the prayer of the bishop at the altar, to 
 show forth his office in all its beauty, the church says that when 
 the bishop says a pontifical Mass, he will have his assistant priest, 
 his deacons of honor, his deacon and subdeacon of the mass. All 
 wait on him, to give dignity to such high and sacred functions. On 
 the great feasts or Sundays, the diocese by him offers up to God 
 the eternal F'ather through Jesus Christ the praises and the thanks- 
 givings of the clergy and people. The cathedral itself was built as 
 it were to write in wood and stone in a visible image the frame- 
 work of the diocese, the form of the episcopal ceremonies. The 
 throne of the bishop tells of the episcopal power to judge that tribe 
 of Israel, that is the christians of the diocese to whom the Roman 
 Pontiff sent him. As one of the successors of the apostles he 
 teaches from the pulpit. The sanctuary filled with clergy and 
 brilliant in light tells of heaven. The nave speaks of the christian 
 world, and the porch typifies the pagans living in the spiritual 
 darkness of death, because they have not yet come into the light 
 of the Gospel. When the bishop sits there on his throne on the 
 Gospel side, no other bishop can occupy it, even his assistant bishop 
 Bits on the Epistle side, for the bishop of the diocese alone is head 
 of the cathedral, the husband of the diocese which can have no other 
 husband, till he is removed by death or by the Roman Pontiff. 
 
 What a spectacle for angels and for men to see the diocese blos- 
 soming forth in all its beauties, perfections and grandeurs Sundays 
 and holidays at the offices and the prayers of the liturgy of the 
 Roman Rite. The bishop sits on his episcopal throne. Near him 
 his vicar general. Along each side of the chancel sit the canons 
 of the cathedral. They form tlie senate of the diocese, an image 
 of the Roman diocese and of the august college of the cardinals 
 with the Roman Pontiff at their head. There to the cathedral 
 .chancel come the bishop and the chapter morning and evening to 
 sing the glories of God in the divine office. The harmony of the 
 
462 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRAYERS. 
 
 church music, as beauti6ecl by St. Ambrose and reformed by the 
 first Gregory, floats out from the sanctuary. The custom of the 
 great choirs of the ancient temple of Solomon, and the harmonic 
 music heard by Moses and Aaron still lives in the majestic liturgy 
 of the churcli. No works tiie writer ever saw are like the beauties 
 of the Roman liturgy. To see a diocese in all its grandeur is a sight 
 which leaves an impression on the mind which lasts forever. 
 
 When a person prays, he oifers up his heart to God as a private 
 person. But if when two or three unite in prayer, God is in the 
 midst of them, what must be the power and the force of the 
 whole diocese, praying througli their bishop and their clergy recit- 
 ing or singing the divine office in the cathedral. But that is not 
 all. The divine office said by a clergyman in any rank of holy orders 
 above a subdeacon is tiie prayer of Christ himself. As St. Ignatius 
 says: " If the prayer of two or three has such power, what will be 
 the prayer of the church and of the bishop? " * That Mass and office 
 of the bishop is the prayer of the whole church, the spouse of Jesus 
 Christ. Of that prayer of the diocese and of the episcopal Mass St. 
 Cyprian says: " The great sacrifice offered to God is the peace of our 
 meetings, and the people united to their Father, and to the Son, 
 and to the Holy Ghost."' 
 
 There when the bishop pontificates you see the image of heaven, 
 where the angels and the saints ever stand before the eternal throne, 
 praising and blessing God, through Jesus Christ the only Mediator 
 of man. Clothed in white garments, washed in the " Blood of 
 the Lamb ''slain from the foundations of the world," the choirs 
 of heaven ceaselessly sing the hymns of glory and of praise, as they 
 bathe in the light of perfected reason and of glory outflowing from 
 the eternal throne. The bishop, the clergy and people singing 
 the praises of the Lord in the cathedral and in our churches, form 
 80 many images of the heavenly abode of bliss. But the clergy 
 and people being men, cannot forever sing the songs of joy, or ever 
 chant those prayers unto God. For they must rest and sleep and 
 have their diversions, because they have a body of earth which must 
 seek repose. But if they are not present all the time in the churches 
 as angels and saints are in heaven, they at least mav be present in 
 spirit. Although these beautiful offices of the church, by the 
 reformation, were driven from the great cathedrals of England", and 
 although they have ceased in many parts of Europe, yet the bishops 
 and the clergy have to privately say that office, that prayer of the 
 church, each day under pain of mortal sin. Whether united with 
 the bishop in the chancel of the cathedral, or taking his place at 
 the head of the parish, or in choir, the clergy and the bishop are 
 one when saying the divine office. And the" people are one with 
 them when saying their beads and private prayers, inasmuch as 
 they all belong to the diocese and to the universardiurch, and they 
 all pray through Jesus Christ, who sits in glorv on the eternal 
 throne, ''always interceding for us." Then the divine office is 
 
 » St Ign. EpiBt. ad Epii. n. «. ■ aL Cyprtan de Orat. Doin. n. 28. 
 
MYSTIC MEANING OF THE LITL^RGY. 453 
 
 the prayer of the diocese and of the universal churcli, and every 
 clergyman from the subdeaeon to the Pope must say that office 
 every day, and when they recite its holy words, the whole church 
 with Christ at the head prays through them. 
 
 God called the laity to take part in these sacred functions of the 
 Roman liturgy, that divine service transcendent over all others. 
 For in former times, in the early church when the people under- 
 stood Latin, they took an active part in the divine offices. The 
 hymns of praise then came not only from the sanctuary but from 
 the laity of the whole church. As the apostles formed tiiese offices 
 from the Bible in the Latin tongue, the offices of the church were 
 for the ear of God alone, and the church cannot now change them. 
 What the clergy say to the people they speak to them in their own 
 language. But the laity should take part by congregational 
 singing in these great offices of the church. Li this way they can 
 enter into the spirit of the ditt'ereut offices during the year. For 
 the church oifers to God through Christ, "the thoughts and the 
 desires of all; the ti'oubles of the people, the dangers of nations, the 
 groans of captives, the misfortunes of orphans and of those witliout 
 homes, the pains and the weaknesses of the sick and of the wound- 
 ed, the feebleness of the old, the desires of the young, the vows of 
 virgins and the tears of widows and of orphans. " ' 
 
 Almost in the very days of the apostles, St. Ignatius wrote: 
 " The church is a choir and the bishop presides at her concerts, 
 Avhich are like the choirs of heaven, which cease not day or night." " 
 Again he says that: " The church is a harp, with clergy and peo- 
 ple united to their bishop, like the strings of a lyre, tied to the wood 
 of the instrument, which binds them together, and in that union 
 of souls and of voices, on that lyre of the church, the Holy Spirit 
 sings to Jesus Christ. "* 
 
 As Jesus Christ gives spiritual life to his church by the Holy 
 Ghost, his Spirit, who comes from him, and builds and forms the 
 whole church organism, so the bishop by the Priesthood of Christ 
 of which he has the fulness, the bishop by his ministry sends that 
 same Holy Ghost into the whole diocese. Whence, as Christ is the 
 head of the whole church, so the bishop is the head of the whole 
 diocese. For as the bishop is a living man and an image of Christ, 
 and as tlie diocese is the material image of the invisible chur3h 
 universal, so the workings of divine grace in the diocese but 
 copy or typify the workings of the Holy Spirit in the whole 
 church, and in the souls of the members of the diocese. As 
 the Lord Jesus rules his universal church by the constitution he 
 laid down for the whole church, at its foundation on the apostles 
 and on the prophets, so the Vicar of Christ lays down the consti- 
 tution of the diocese. If the diocese falls away from the divine 
 model seen in tlie constitution of the universal church, and in 
 the constitution of the Roman diocese, M'hich has ever preserved 
 
 * St. Ambrose Orat. ante Mlssaai In Mis. Roman. * St. Ifrnatlus Epist. ad Ephes. n. 4. 
 » Ibidem. 
 
454 MYSTIC MEANING OF THE LITURGY. 
 
 unchanged the '' deposit of faith " and the frame-work left by 
 Peter, it belongs to Peter's Successor to bring back the diocese to 
 apostolic customs. 
 
 As the Pope, the Vicar of Christ, rules the whole church, not 
 for himself but for the Lord, whose church and bride she is, so 
 the bishop rules the diocese, not for himself, but for the Jesus 
 the spouse of the church universal, he who bought these precious 
 souls with the price of his passion and his blood. For that reason 
 the bishop cannot do everything he wants to. He must follow the 
 laws and the canons of the church. He must not change any of 
 the laws of the universal church. He keeps to the traditions of 
 the apostolic age. He must live in peace with his clergy and 
 with the people, for the Lord hath called us in peace and not 
 in continual quarelling and contention. For the Holy Spirit 
 is not in the whirlwind, not in the storm, but in the still small 
 voice of the Gospels. Whence if the clergy and people are con- 
 tinually disturbed, they cannot grow in holiness, but in that case 
 the devil will soon find a way of destroying the sheep fold. 
 
 But to each diocese belongs home government. For the con- 
 ditions of peoples, and of nations, the customs of countries change 
 from age to age, and from nation to nation. And that the laws of 
 the universal church may be accommodated to the changing condi- 
 tions of men, each bishop in his diocese has the triple authority 
 of making laws for the diocese, of judging the guilty and con- 
 demning them to spiritual punishments stated in the laws, of ex- 
 ecuting the laws of the church, and of regulating financial, dis- 
 ciplinary and temporal matter. Then the bishop makes laws for 
 the diocese, gives decisions as an ecclesiastical judge, and enforces 
 and executes the laws both of the whole church and of the diocese. 
 The bishop is not free in doing this. For he too must follow the 
 laws of the universal church, — the canon law enacted by his Bish- 
 op the Roman Pontiff. The Roman Pontiff too must follow the 
 constitution given by Christ to the apostles and found in the reve- 
 lation as known by tradition. The statutes or laws of the diocese 
 are promulgated by the bishop in the diocesan synod, as the laws 
 of the universal church are made in the Ecumenfcal councils. In 
 matters relating to the home government of the diocese and the stat- 
 utes of the diocese are not sent to Rome for revision, as they relate 
 not to faith or morals as the statutes of the bishops of a province in 
 provincial councils or as the bishops of a nation in a national 
 council. 
 
 Each age, each country has its time of peace, or persecution, its 
 customs, aspirations, peculiar dangei-s and temptations. For that 
 reason the diocese is small in extent, so that the bishop and the 
 clergy may make laws to meet these new and changeable traps and 
 snares laid by Satan for the destruction of souls. The manners of 
 people, their diverse conditions, theirsocial standing, their educa- 
 tion vary from generation to generation. And the church, the 
 diocese and the parish, coming from God, with all his authority 
 
MYSTIC MEANING OF THE LITURGY. 455 
 
 in spiritual powers, comes and seeks these remains of tlie race of 
 Adam. Bride of God, Queen of heaven, she passes through tliis 
 world of exile, seeking tlie members of the fallen I'ace. The 
 christian lives in this world, while he does not belong to this 
 world, but to heaven where his Ijord and Master dwells in glory 
 waiting, that " where he is there may his people be. " 
 
 The bishops and the pastoi's of souls, with prudence apply 
 these laws of the universal church and of the diocese to the vary- 
 ing conditions of the people. Every act of the bishop and of the 
 pastor is laid down in the canons and the laws of the church. They 
 should follow these laws in all their dealings with the people and 
 Avith the clergy of the diocese. Nothing is left to the arbitrary 
 whim of tlie bishop, or of the pastor, or of the priest dealing with 
 matters relating to the salvation of souls. For the whole church 
 is a vast spiritual government, with Christ at the head having un- 
 der him his ministers. We have seen in a former work (Man the 
 Mirror of the World), how God rules every creature of the world 
 so that it acts and moves and lives. And to change one of these 
 natural laws is a miracle, so the bishop rules the diocese, not ac- 
 cording to his whims and moods, but according to the laws 
 laid down in the canon laws of the church, enacted in the coun- 
 cils or by the Roman Pontiff. If troubles arise in the church, it 
 is because some of these laws have been broken, and the oppressed 
 is looking for justice. 
 
THE PARISH PRIEST ADMINISTERING COMMUNION. 
 
jM»s»»iia«!»iJ«i«?if»i!r»«^^^ 
 
 dROM tlie society of the Father and Holy Spirit comes the 
 Son down to earth, to become the liead of the nniverpal 
 chiircli. He has no eqnal on the earth for he belongs to the 
 liierarchy of the Holy Trinity. From the Roman Pontiff 
 Vicarof Christ comes the bishop, down he comes into the diocese 
 from the hierarchy of the bishops of the nniversal church, find- 
 ing not his equal in the diocese, but among the bishops of the 
 nniversal chnrcii. Thns he comes into his diocese to become the 
 head of holy orders and the font of jurisdiction for the whole dio- 
 cese. Again from the hierarchy of the priests of the diocese comes 
 the pastor into his parish, as head of his church and congregation. 
 Bishops and priests therefore come down from the ranks of the 
 hierarchies to which they belong, berj-ing with them the teaching, 
 the sanctifying and the ruling powei-s Avhich Christ bore from 
 heaven, and with which he sent them forth as the Father had sent 
 liim. 
 
 Therefore we must consider the bishop as the chief teacher, sanc- 
 
 457 
 
458 TEE BISHOJ* AND THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 tifyer and rnler of the diocese, bearing in his person tlic truths of 
 the Gospel, the sanctifying powers of Christ, the authority of the 
 whole church; tlierefore lie rules both clergy and laity whom he 
 brings forth as his spiritual children, and he rules both laitv and 
 clergy for he is their spiritual father. 
 
 Peter chose Rome as his eternal diocese from among all the 
 cities and dioceses of the whole world when Christ had establish- 
 ed the universal church. So when the diocese, the image of the 
 universal church is born of her by appointment of the Pope, the 
 bishop comes into the city of his see and chooses one of the church- 
 es as his cathedral, there he erects his spiritual throne, fi-om which 
 he judges that tribe of Israel given into his care. The relations of 
 the Bishop of Rome to the Roman people differ from his relations to 
 the other dioceses of the world, for he is the titular Bishop of Rome. 
 The relations of the bishop to the people of the cathednil parish differ 
 from his relations to the other parishes of the diocese. As the 
 Pope is not the titular bishop of all the other dioceses of the world, 
 so the bishop is not the pastor of all the other parishes of the dio- 
 cese, but he sometimes is of the cathedral parish. As the Pope is 
 the Vicarof Christ, and has direct and immediate jurisdiction over 
 every soul redeemed by Christ, so the bishop has a supervision 
 over the parishes and people of the other parishes of the diocese, 
 80 that if the pastors do not attend to the spiritual wants of the 
 people, the bishop supplies them. Thus there are other pastors 
 in the diocese, who rule their churches and parishes in their own 
 pastoral rights, because they have the titles of these churches. 
 
 But the relations of the bishop with the cathedral do not change. 
 Other parishes of the diocese may rise or fall, pastorsand priests may 
 move, other dioceses may be formed out of the territory, or diocese 
 may be united or added to the diocese making it larger, but the re- 
 lations of the bishop to the cathedral ever remain the same. No 
 matter what change or upheavels may take place in the diocese or 
 whether it may become the see of an archbishop, the relations of the 
 bishop with the cathedral remain the same. He will lemain bish- 
 op of that see, as the Pope will ever be the Bishop of Rome, nor 
 can the See of Peter be ever changed from the eternal city, and 
 Christ will always be the Pastor Eternal of the universal church, 
 individualized and visible in his Vicar. 
 
 The Bishop of Rome appoints certain bishops of important sees 
 as archbishops, primates and patriarchs over the other bishops 
 and churches. They are representatives of his complete power. 
 So the bishop appoints other pastors with a part of his jurisdiction 
 over the other churches and pastors of the diocese. They are the 
 rural deans, and they have a certain supervision of the finances and 
 condition of the churches in their deaneries. 
 
 We read in the Gospel of the establishment of the Papacy in 
 Peter and of the bishops in the apostles. At the last supper Christ 
 ordained his apostles priests, later he consecrated them bishops of 
 his universal church, while the council of Trent says that Christ 
 
THE bishop's powers LIMITED. 459 
 
 also ordained priests and ministers, and the Acts of the apostles 
 tell us of the ordination of the deacons. But we find but few 
 and dim traces of the priests or presbyters of the church. Why do 
 not the evangelists and writers of the New Testaments give the 
 priests ordained by Christ more prominence ? Their silence shows 
 all ages, that our blessed Lord built his church on the Papacy and 
 on the episcopacy, so as to take away all danger of the parishes or 
 priests separating from their bishop and from Rome, and founding 
 separate communions, independent of the universal church and of 
 the diocese. That false principle carried to its extreme is found 
 to-day in the Baptist, Presbyterian and other churches, who claim 
 that each congregation is independent of all other congregations. 
 
 The bishop then, a pastor of the universal church, comes down 
 from the universal church, never leaving that everlasting and 
 wonderful organization founded by our blessed Lord, he comes in- 
 to his diocese, bearing with him all the doctrines, teachings, sac- 
 raments, authorities and. powers of oi'ders and of jurisdiction over 
 the clergy and laity of his diocese. He has all the spiritual riches 
 of the universal church, and these he deals out to his spiritual 
 children his clergy and laity, the fruit of his complete priesthood. 
 Butasthelimitsof the powers of the Pope in the universal church are 
 bounded by the revelations of God, and by the divine law revealed 
 to man, so the powers of the bishop and his actions are regulated 
 by the laws of the universal church, by her canons and her statutes 
 made by the Pope in councils, and issued in his constitutions, 
 briefs and letters. The bishop must proceed according to the 
 canon law, as the Pope must obey the divine law, as Christ the 
 Son acts according to the eternal laws of his divine nature re- 
 ceived fi'om his Father. We will treat therefore of the duties 
 and obligations of the bishop in this chapter. 
 
 As the Pope has supreme legislative authority over the whole 
 church, so the bishop has legislative power over all the members 
 of his diocese. He can therefore make laws for the diocese, and with 
 severe spiritual punishments he can chastise those who refuse to 
 obey these laws. He can suspend the clergyman and excommu- 
 nicate the lay person who will not obey the laws he makes for the 
 diocese. ' Laws made at a synod last till revoked, but the 
 legislatrve enactments made by a bishop outside the synod probably 
 cease at his death or resignation. But no bishop can make a law 
 which conflicts with the common laws of the universal church. 
 For they originated with the Pope, or they were made in a council, 
 which by the Pope's apjiroval became common to the whole church, 
 and the bishop cannot make any law in conflict with the superior's 
 statutes. When a custon prevails in a diocese, Avhich is con- 
 trary to the common law of the church, the bishop may act ac- 
 cording to this old custom, for custom makes law, but his cannot 
 make any law agreeing with a custom contrary to the uni- 
 Yersal church, because he has not the power to go contrary to the 
 
 > Benedict xiv. L. I 13. C. 4. n. 5. De Synod. Dlo. 
 
460 THE BISHOP AND ROM AX LAWS. 
 
 universal law. ' For that reason when the acts and decrees of 
 provincial councils, confiictiiig with the universal laws of the 
 church are sent to Rome for review, the congregation always 
 repeals such things. Each diocese is more or less free regarding 
 home discipline, and therefore home rule prevails in each diocese. 
 
 For the bishop alone does not define matters of faitli and prac- 
 tice, for that belongs to the Bishop of Rome, who alone has the 
 note of infallibility, which belongs to no other bishop in the 
 world. But the bishop in his diocese sees that the doctrines of 
 the universal chnrch alre.idy proclaimed are believed by both 
 clergy and people. Bnt he cannot act as jndge about things agi- 
 tated among theologians, nor decide dispntes in matters relating 
 to the whole church, for he is not infallible, nor can the bishop 
 punish a clergyman who will not agree with him in such things. 
 
 The laws made by the Pope for the universal church oblige in 
 the diocese nnder pain of sin, before the bishop accepts them, for 
 they come from his superior. Bnt the bishop can give the 
 reasons why the pontifical laws cannot be introduced into the 
 diocese, and the laws may then be suspended till the bishop receives 
 the reply from Rome. But if the reply from Rome states that 
 the reasons are nut enough, then the law of the universal church 
 obliges and has fnll force in the diocese. But this rule can be 
 applied only to some, but not all pontifical laws. The laws of 
 the Pontiff obtain their full force all over the world, when they 
 are promulgated at Rome, although in some countries and at di- 
 verse tim6s the Popes allow the bishops to examine and approve 
 the papal laws before they promulgated them in their dioceses. 
 This is like a concession to the bishop, lest it might be difficult to 
 carry out the laws of the Roman Pontiff, or lest they might be- 
 come oppressive for any peculiar or local reasons. But the Holy 
 See will not consent that the Roman law for the universal church 
 does not oblige, unless the bishop consents. But often Rome 
 does not insist, lest the bishop may have peculiar local reasons, 
 which arise in his diocese. The bishop then cannot examine and 
 pass judgment on apostolic letters and laws, before allowing them 
 to be enforced in his diocese. On the contrary he would greatly err 
 in subjecting papal decrees to his judgment. If he j)ievented 
 their execution, he would be excommunicated, as Clement VII. 
 says. ' 
 
 The church is so careful lest her laws might become oppressive 
 in particular cases, that she gives dispensation, by which a law, 
 which binds all, is taken away for this particular case. The same 
 power which made the law can alone dispense it. Thus the 
 Pope alone, who makes laws for the church universal can dispense 
 them for the whole church, and the bishop can dispense only 
 liis own or his predecessor's laws for the diocese. The general 
 rule is that the inferior cannot dispense in the laws of his super- 
 ior. Some authors say that the bishop can disjwnse in all the 
 * BeoHdlct xtr. De Synod. L. 12. C. 8. d. 8. " Const. 47 T. 4 p. I. 
 
THE BISHOP GIVING DISPENSATIONS. 461 
 
 laws of the Pope, except where the Pope reserves such dispensa- 
 tions to himself in a special manner, while others are reserved in a 
 special manner to the Pope. The more probable opinion is that 
 no bishop can give dispensations in laws for the whole church, 
 made either by the Pope alone, or by the Pope in the councils, 
 because the inferior cannot repeal, or wipe out the laws of his 
 superior, and because the giving of a dispensation is an act of 
 jurisdiction, and the bishop has no jurisdiction over the Pope, 
 nor over his laws. Besides if every bishop could thus interfere 
 with papal laws,these laws would become useless, the Pope would 
 not be the Pastor of all the sheepfolds of Christ, as the Vatican 
 council declared. The Holy See gives the bishops power to dis- 
 pense in certain laws, as the keeping of feasts, the regulations of 
 lent, in laboring works on Sundays, fasting, &o. Many of the laws, 
 made in the universal councils and by the Pope, directly state 
 that the bishops can dispense for certain reasons. Even custom, 
 which Rome tolerates, gives the bishop the power of dispensing, 
 for custom makes law. When there is danger in delay, or when 
 ^rave necessity urges, the bishop can grant a dispensation, for 
 necessity knows no law. Law M'as made for the good of souls and 
 when therefore any law becomes oppressive, the people would be 
 led by it not to eternal life, which is the object of all church laws, 
 but they might sometimes be inclined to break these wise laws 
 and commit sin. The church ever seeking the good of her mem- 
 bers, wishes not to enforce a law which good in most cases, may 
 become oppressive and hurtful for a few, and in such occasions 
 the church allows the bishops to dispense in church laws. 
 
 The law being universal for all people, and a dispensation being 
 a taking away of the law for one or more cases or persons, there 
 must be a good and valid reason for granting a dispensation. For 
 these wise laws, having been made by the bishop's superior for 
 the universal church, he must act with reason in giving dispensa- 
 tions. The bishop may grant a dispensation without any reason in 
 the laws of the diocese, made by himself or by his predecessor, and 
 it will be valid for what the same power did it can undo. 
 
 According to these rules the bishops have the power of dispens- 
 ing in the laws relating to fasting, and from abstaining from 
 manual labor on feast days. If there be doubts about the cause 
 for granting such dispensation, the bishop may change the fasting 
 to some other work of piety. In special cases, and for one or more 
 occasions, he may dispense a person from the general law of fast- 
 ing, for special reasons and for the furthering of works of piety. 
 But Benedict XIV. ' decreed that bishops could not dispense 
 for their whole flocks in the law of fasting, and he gave them au- 
 thority of so dispensing that year in the said law regarding the 
 feast of St. Mathias. By the common law a pastor can dispense 
 his people from the law of fasting, in particular cases but he can- 
 not dispense all the people of the parish. 
 
 1 Bull Tom. 3. 
 
462 WHAT DISPENSATIONS HE CAN GIVE. 
 
 The church in the early ages made a law forbidding laboring- 
 work on Sundays, which the whole christian world has since ob- 
 served. The Pope can dispense in that law for the whole world, 
 if there be a just cause the bishop for the diocese. But if he were 
 to do so without any reason, it would be a great sin. A parish 
 priest can give such a dispensation for particular cases, and for a. 
 few days, when his parishioners cannot see the bishop.' All this- 
 relates to fasting from food, for it is harder to fast from food than 
 to abstain from meat and other kinds of food. 
 
 But the bishops cannot dispense the laws relating to abstaining 
 from meat and white meats, such as milk, cheese, eggs, &c., for 
 these things are regulated by the common laws of the church re- 
 lating to lent, advent, &c. But the Pope has given special facul- 
 ties for dispensing, unless the law reads that a dispensation may 
 be given; when the case is urgent; when there be danger in a de- 
 lay; when the bishops are accustomed to give such dispensations, 
 and Avhen there is a doubt regjirding the power of the bishop to- 
 grant such a dispensation. But for good reasons the bishops can 
 dispense in these laws for particular reasons. As it is impossible 
 for such persons to apply to the Holy See and wait for an answer^ 
 the custom is to apply to the bishop. 
 
 The law obliging us to abstain from meat, &c., during Lent was- 
 made by the universal church, and it is customary for the bishop* 
 to give particular persons dispensations from this law, because it 
 would be impossible for each one to address the Pope asking for a- 
 dispensation, when weakness, disease, or other reasons make them 
 incapable of keeping the law. Even inferior prelates, administra- 
 tors of dioceses, and parish priests may dispense in these laws. 
 But no bishop, without an indult from the Pope, can give a dis- 
 pensation for the whole diocese, for the bishop cannot take away 
 the common law of the whole church even in his own diocese, except 
 in the cases stated; otherwise the laws of the whole church would 
 be nullified. As the natural law is the foundation of all laws, 
 the physician can declare that the law of fasting does not exist 
 for those whose health does not allow them to fast. But no 
 one can declare any diocese or multitude of people free from the 
 laws of fasting as Benedict XIV. says." But any widespread dis- 
 ease or raging epidemic in a country or diocese, or the difficulty of 
 getting fish, eggs, butter, oil, cheese, &c., is enough to give the bish- 
 op cause to dispense in the Lenten fasts of the church, as Benedict 
 aIV. says. But if a contrary custom exists in any diocese, and the 
 Pone knowing it says nothing, we must conclude that he agrees 
 ana that it is allowed. 
 
 The bishops cannot give dispensations relating to the sacred rites 
 and services of the church, nor can he change any of them, as that 
 belongs to the Holy See. But the bishop may dispense from the 
 laws of the diocese, which were enacted either by himself or by his 
 predecessors, for the same power which made laws can take them 
 
 * St. Llsory L. 3 n. 1032, 288, &c * Bull. Ubentlaslme Tom. I n. 130. 
 
CHURCH AND STATE EIGHTS. 463 
 
 away, except in the case where these diocesan laws have been 
 specifically approved by the Pope, in which case they are approved 
 and strengthened by the bishop's superior. 
 
 But whether the bishop can do in his own diocese, what the 
 Pope can do in the whole church, except these things specially 
 reserved to the Holy See, is disputed by authors. But the best 
 authors say the bishops cannot do that. For if bishops could 
 do so, they could take away all the acts of the councils, the decrees 
 of Popes, the laws of discipline, and overturn the whole common 
 law of the universal church ; whereas most of the laws of the uni- 
 versal church say that the bishops are forbidden to abrogate, repeal 
 or dispense them for their own dioceses. The opinion which holds 
 that bishops can do so is contrary to the teachings of the great 
 masters. ' As we have seen the Pope is the ruler and administrator 
 of the universal church, and the bishops are under him as well as the 
 other clergy and laity, for the council of Florence and of the Vati- 
 can defined, that the Pope has full and direct Jurisdiction overall 
 pastors and people, because he is the Vicegerent of Him who re- 
 deemed all men. 
 
 The council of Trent states that any man who accidentally com- 
 mits murder, even if it be secret, that he can never advance to holy 
 orders. If in defending himself from an unjust attack on his life,,, 
 he takes life, his bishop, his metropolitan or a neighboring bishop^ 
 may dispense him so he can be ordained. In all other irregulari- 
 ties or suspensions arising from secret crimes, the bishop omi 
 dispense, says the council of Trent. * 
 
 The governments of the world have often invaded the church, 
 persecuted her, stole her property, and trampled on her most sacred 
 rights. The division of churches was caused by such unjust usur- 
 pations. The church is a perfect and complete government and 
 society, and to lier alone belongs the sacred things given into her 
 hands by Christ for the salvation of the human race. All spiritual 
 things, as the sacraments, articles of faith, divine worship, &c., 
 belong to her alone, and in these things the people or the govern- 
 ment has no control. " The rulers of nations are her sons, not her 
 rulers, and they are saved by her like the people they govern. 
 
 According to the laws of the church, the clergy are exempt from 
 being cited before the civil courts, but liable before the courts of 
 the church. It is disputed whether they derive this from the divine 
 or from the church laws. But in very few countries are these 
 things now carried out. Benedict XIV. tells bishops to try and 
 hold their rights over purely holy things, and that it would be 
 useless for them to try to regain the full freedom of the church, 
 such as she had in the middle ages. Who could count the millions 
 of property, which the governments of the world stole and confis- 
 cated from the church?* 
 
 1 Suares L. 6. de Leg. C. 14. n. 4, et6. Benedict. XI V, de Synod. Dioces. L. 9, C. I. n. 5. 
 
 2 Ses. 14. C. 7. Ses. 24. C. 6. » Benedict XIV. De Synod. L. 9. C. 9. n. 2. 
 * De Synod. Dioces. L. 9. n. 11. et 12. 
 
464 LITURGICAL BOOKS AND CHAPELS. 
 
 The bishop has not legislative power regarding the liturgic books 
 of the church, such as the Missal, the Breviary, the Ritual, &c., as 
 that belongs to the Pope. The Missal and Breviary edited by Pius 
 V. must be used in all churches where the Latin Rite prevails, and 
 no other liturgical books less that two hundred years old from the 
 time of his edition can be used, without a special indult from the 
 Pope. Many of the dioceses formerly used new editions, which 
 had been changed from the authentic Roman books, and they were 
 becoming very corrupt, when Pope Pius V. published new editions 
 revised and modified of the liturgical books, which conformed with 
 historic books of the Roman diocese. Therefore the bishops of 
 the Latin rite cannot use any other kinds of liturgical works, which 
 originated later than two hundred years before the publication of 
 the Brief of Pius v.; neither can they change anything in these 
 books, nor in the ceremonies of the church. The same may be 
 said regarding the office of the Virgin, the Martyrology published 
 by Gregory XIIL, and corrected by Benedict XIV., the Pontifical 
 used by the bishops and the Pontifical Ceremonial followed in 
 episcopal ceremonies. It is not so clear regarding the Roman Rit- 
 ual, for authors commonly say that each diocese may keep or have 
 its own Ritual, although thecontrary opinion is also held, that if the 
 rites are praiseworthy and approved, that is, that all belonging to 
 the Latin Rite when they make a change they should adopt the 
 Roman Ritual. The appointing of days of obligation for feasts 
 belongs to the Pope, as well as the suppression of feasts of obliga- 
 tion. We see that according to the request of the III. Council of 
 Baltimore, Leo XIIL suppressed some of the feasts, which before 
 that council were held and celebrated in this country holy the same 
 as Sunday. 
 
 The bishop can forbid certain kinds of music in the churches, or 
 the singing of the services in the modern languages, as thelTridentine 
 Council says.' The bishops regulate the pew rents and modes of 
 raising moneys for the support of the churches in his diocese." 
 
 A public chapel or oratory is one that has a door opened for 
 the public, and that is exempt from private ownership. Only 
 by the awthority of the bishop can such a chapel be erected and 
 Mass said in it. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved for the sick in 
 parish churches, and It cannot be served in private chapels without 
 "the permission of the Pope, unless a long custom gives such per- 
 mission.* But the colleges, hospitals, chapels of monks, convents 
 •of nuns, &c., are exempt from that law.* From the most re- 
 mote times bishops have had private chapels in their houses, where 
 ihey have been accustomed to say Mass; and the council of Trent, 
 ivhich forbids Mass to be said in private chapels, exempts such 
 Masses in the private chapels of episcopal residences. Each bishop 
 may have a portable altar, and he can say Mass on it in any house, 
 either in his own or in another diocese, when travelling, even 
 
 • Ue Evltand. In Celeb. Mis. * 8. Congregatio Rlt. 
 » Benedict XIV. Const. Quamvis Justo 30 April. 1749. 
 
 * Qsrdlnal Petra Tom. III. ad Congt. Urbaoi IV. n. 15. 
 
RELATING TO MAERIAGE. 465 
 
 without the consent of the bishops of the diocese in which he stops. * 
 That is a very old custom, which neither the council of Trent nor 
 the decree of Paul V. revoked." In the private chapel of the bish- 
 op, any one may hear Mass on Sundays and holidays, and satisfy 
 the obligation either by saying or by attending the services there, 
 for the palace of the bishop is not a private house. 
 
 Before the council of Trent the bishops used to give permission 
 to say Mass in private oratories or chapels. But that council took 
 away this permission and reserved it to the Pope, who alone cam 
 give the permission of saying Mass in private chapels. Nevertheless- 
 for just causes, the bishop may give such authority, for example in 
 the case where otherwise the people could not hear Mass on Sundays^ 
 and holidays, where the custom exists, as in Ireland and in mis- 
 sionary countries, or where there are no churches. The law was- 
 made by the council to prevent abuses, and relates only to the per- 
 petual use of such a private chapel in private houses, but not to 
 occasionally one or two Masses, or in case the owner is sick, dis- 
 abled so that they cannot attend the parochial Mass. Hence the 
 council of Trent did not entirely take away this permission, 
 but rather restricted it.' The decisions of the congregation re- 
 lating to these things do not include the chapels of seminaries, 
 colleges, monasteries, convents, &c., for these are public not private 
 chapels. The superiors of religious orders have the faculties of 
 allowing Mass said in the chapels belonging to the members of 
 their orders. 
 
 At his coming Christ took the natural contract between man 
 and wife and elevated it to the dignity of being one of the sacra- 
 ments of the New Law. A sacrament is a holy ceremony, giving 
 grace coming from the fountains of the Saviour. To the church 
 alone all holy things belong, and no other power can interfere in 
 holy rites and sacraments for they are of God made by him for 
 the sanctification and the salvation of souls bought by the blood 
 of the " Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. ^' 
 Marriage is a holy union between man and woman, an image of 
 the ineffable and fruitful union of Christ with his church, which 
 never will be dissolved. All things then relating to marriage be- 
 tween christians belong to the church, and the interference of the 
 secular governments in marriage matters works to the destruction 
 of souls, the disturbing of civil society and ruin of the family. 
 The church being the guardian of the family, the upholder of 
 every government founded on right reason, the church protects 
 society in its very origin and foundation, the marriage tie. For 
 that reason the church made wise laws relating to the marriage 
 contract, and the sacrament of marriage founded on the contract. 
 
 The promise of marriage is a contract between two parties capable 
 of marrying, and it i*s founded on the natural law, like other con- 
 tracts into which the church does not enter. Therefore the bishop 
 
 - * Boniface Vin. Quoniam De Previp. ^ Benedict XIV. Encycl. 4, et 5. 
 
 * Card. Petra Tom. 3 ad Const, viii. Honorii iil. n. 10. 
 
466 MARRIAGE IMPEDIMENTS. 
 
 cannot give a dispensation releasing the parties from a valid engage- 
 ment, when one of the parties is unwilling to release the other. 
 If before the wedding, one of the parties take a vow of entering a 
 religious order, or makes a vow of prepetual chastity, tlie bishop 
 cannot grant a dispensation, for the Holy See has reserved this. 
 The party has promised God to enter a more perfect state of life, 
 and only the Pope can release him according to the words of our 
 Lord : ' ' Whatever thou shaltbind upon earth it shall be bound also 
 in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose upon earth it shall be 
 loosed also in heaven." 
 
 Marriage between a catholic and a baptized heretic is forbidden, 
 because of the danger of the catholic party or of the children be- 
 ing perverted to the religion of the other. In this case the bish- 
 op cannot dispense, as that is reserved to the Holy See.* That 
 law was made in the council of Chalcendon, and relates to the 
 universal church, over which the bishop has no control, the Su- 
 preme Pontiif alone having the power to dispense in the general 
 laws of the church." But as St. Ligory says, in many cases tiie 
 custom is for the bishop to grant such dispensations. Besides the 
 Pope delegates to the bishop the power of giving such the per- 
 mission, on the condition that the catholic party will have full 
 liberty to follow his religious duties; that there be no danger of 
 losing the faith; that all children shall be brought up in the 
 catholic faith. In all other impediments forbidding or impeding 
 marriage the bishop can dispense. 
 
 But there are other impediments which not only impede, and 
 because of which the marriage is forbidden, but which render the 
 contract entirely null and void. Before the nuptials, the bishop 
 cannot grant such dispensations, and the congregations of the coun- 
 cil and of the inquisntion have often condemned the contrary 
 opinion. But in secret cases of great urgency, the bishop may give 
 a dispensation so the parties may marry. Even after the wedding 
 the bishop can give the dispensation, when the impediment is 
 secret, but not when it is well known. Even sometimes, in very 
 extraordinary circumstances, the pastor might declare that the laws 
 of the church do not oblige, but when possible he may apply to 
 the bishop for a dispensation. As the sacraments were made by 
 Christ for the whole church, and to the whole church belongs the 
 autiiority of regulating them by its laws, the bishop cannot make 
 any law or impediment rendering marriage null and void. Urban 
 Vill. approved a degree of the congregation forbidding bishops 
 to do 80. Nevertheless not only the bishop, but the parish priest 
 for a reasonable cause may forbid a marriage. A marriage with- 
 out the consent of the parents is forbidden but valid. If tlie ob- 
 jections of the parents be frivolous, the marriage is lawful as well 
 as valid, for tiie parents often object for tiie most foolish reasons. 
 The Holy See gives authority to missionary bishops to grant dis- 
 
 ' Benedict xlv. De Synod. Dloc. L. 9. C. 3. 
 * Natalia Alexander Tbeo. Do^mat. T. II. Art. 8. 
 
468 DUTIES OF BISHOPS TOWARDS STUDENTS. 
 
 pensations for nearly all impediments of marriage, reserving to the 
 Pope only the most important impediments. The way to obtain 
 a dispensation is to apply to the pastor, who will communicate 
 with the bishop. 
 
 We now come to the dealings of the bishop with the most import- 
 ant persons of the diocese, the clergy, and we will begin with the 
 priests, both of the diocese and of the religious orders, before they 
 are ordained to the priesthood. The bishop is the superior of 
 all the clergy in the diocese, that is of the students for the min- 
 istry, who have acquired a residence in the diocese before they 
 became clerics, who for three years have partaken at his table, or 
 who have been received by him coming from another diocese.' 
 The councils, especially the one held at Trent, say that they must 
 look to him for ordination." This relates to all clerics below 
 priesthood studying for the ministry,— each must be ordained by 
 either his own bishop, or if by another bishop with letters from 
 his own bishop. This law was to prevent candidates or clerics- 
 from wandering from one diocese to another, so that the bishop 
 may be able to judge who are the worthy candidates for holy or- 
 ders. This was decreed by so many councils, that we cannot give the 
 decrees now. The bishop therefore must not ordain clerics wan- 
 dering from place to place without letters from their bishop, for 
 as St. Paul says the bishop must not impose hands lightly on any 
 one. If the student were born in another diocese or place, 
 but lived for a time in the diocese of the bishop, so that 
 he acquires a domicile or residence in the bishop's diocese, 
 the latter can ordain him.' If for three years the cleric has exer- 
 cised the ministry in the diocese, and if within one month before 
 the ordination, the bishop grants him a benefice or means of 
 living then he can ordain him.* But the bishop who would ordain 
 a stranger, without the consent of or letters from his bishop, for 
 one year would be suspended from episcopal functions, and the 
 man he would ordain would be suspended as long as would seem 
 right to his own bishop. 
 
 A bishop may give another bishop authority to ordain one of 
 his subjects, even the vicar general can do so when the bishop i» 
 away, or cannot act, but without his express consent the latter 
 cannot do so when the bishop is at home. When the see has been 
 vacant for a year or more, the vicarof the chapter can grant such 
 letters, * and within eight days after the death of the bishop, the 
 chapter is obliged to appoint the vicar for the administration of 
 the diocese, and to him all jurisdiction belongs. Patriarchs, 
 primates, archbishops, &c., cannot give such letters or ordain the 
 subjects of their suffragan bishops, or give them letters so the 
 other bishops may ordain them, because their powers relate 
 to jurisdiction over them on appeals, and not to holy orders. 
 Students who live for four months in Rome cannot be ordained by 
 
 I Boniface rlJl. an. 1299. » Concil. Trid. De Ref. Cap. 8. 8es. ?8. 
 
 * Con&t. Spec. Innocent xil. Sec. 13. * CoDCll. Trtdeut Ses. 23 C. 9. Const. Citat. D. 18. 
 
 * Concil. Trident Cap. 10. Sea. 7. 
 
LAWS RELATING TO ORDINATIOJST. 469" 
 
 another bishop, even when they have letters from him, but for 
 ordination they must present themselves to the cardinal vicar of 
 the Pope. When the bishop gives letters to one of his students 
 to be ordained by another bishop, it is not enough to give only a 
 testimonial of the student's good character, but the letter must also 
 give permission to another bishop to ordain him. 
 
 No one should be promoted to holy orders unless he can be 
 supported in an honorable and decent way, lest disgrace be 
 brought on the clergy and the priesthood. Neither can he resign 
 his benefice or office, unless there be some other way of supporting 
 him because: "Those who serve the altar should live by the 
 altar " says St. Paul. The clergy are supported by the revenues 
 of the mission or parish they serve, by their own inheritance or 
 by the religious order to which they belong. When they live on 
 the revenues of ihe parish or mission, the bishops regulate the 
 amount or maintenance they are to receive each year from the parish. 
 It is generally the same for all the priests of the diocese. But if 
 they live on the revenues of their own property, they cannot 
 sell or alienate any of this property without the consent of the 
 bishop. ' Only those whom the bishop selects should be or- 
 dained, for he is the judge of the wants of the churches of his 
 diocese. " The clergyman who would deceive his bishop regard- 
 ing his property, so that he can be ordained to the title of his 
 patrimony when he has none, becomes at once suspended. 
 
 Although tonsure may be conferred at any time on any day, 
 and the clergy may be promoted to minor orders on Sundays and 
 feast days, yet the regular ordination to the higher orders should 
 take place only on the Saturdays of the quarter Senses, on holy 
 Saturday and the Saturday before passion Sunday and during the^ 
 mass said by the bishop, although the strict law does not require 
 the last for minor but does for the sacred orders. A certain time 
 should elapse between the reception of one order and another, so as to 
 give the clergyman time to exercise the functions of his order al- 
 ready received, but often the wants of the church are such that 
 the bishop may dispense. 
 
 The clergy must be highly educated in order to " teach all na- 
 tions. " Therefore the bishop should examine them before 
 ordination. In the early ages when the bishops' houses were 
 seminaries for the education of the clergy, the bishop himself per- 
 sonally examined the candidates for holy orders. In these early 
 days the bishops' houses and the monasteries were the only schools 
 and colleges, and the bishops' students lived in the house with 
 him and he was often their teacher, and therefore he personally 
 knew them all. That was the origin of the present education 
 title of familiarity, where the student partakes of the bishop's 
 table for three years. But in modern times seminaries take 
 charge of the education of the diocesan students. Therefore 
 when the bishop sends a student to the seminary, he places him. 
 
 1 Concll. Trident. Ses. 21. Cap. 2. * Couucll of Trent Ses. 21. Cap. 2. 
 
470 ORDINATIOX OF OTHERS NOT SUBJECTS. 
 
 jinder the charge of the professors. Although the council of Trent 
 says that the bishop should examine the students for ordination 
 in the presence of learned men, ' not only regarding their stud- 
 ies, but he should also inquire about their families, their char- 
 acter, age, faith and morals, yet synodal examiners do that now 
 for him. A bishop is not required to examine a student sent 
 him by another bishop for ordination, for the bishop to whom he 
 belongs should do this." But he may do so if he so desires, as the 
 sacred congregation defined. ' 
 
 Without a formal trial but from secret information the bishop 
 may refuse to ordain any student, he is not obliged to give his 
 reasons. If the rejected student has a benefice, that is an office 
 which he will receive as soon as he receives the orders, then he 
 may appeal or have recourse for relief to the bishop's superior. If 
 lie has no benefice he may appeal to the Supreme Pontiff. The 
 reason for this is because often bad men, led by the desire of the 
 priesthood, get themselves ordained and they do great harm in the 
 church by the scandals they cause, when they have no divine call 
 to that holy office. But the church, in order to be just to all, gives 
 the student the right to appeal and apply to the Pope for relief, by 
 what is called a recourse to the Supreme Pontiff, and the secretary 
 of the congregation to whom the Pope delegates the matter writes 
 to the bishop for his reasons, when if the reasons are not good, the 
 student receives a letter empowering any bishop in the world to 
 ordain him. 
 
 The bishop is the judge of the wants of his diocese, and of the 
 number of priests required for the work of the ministry. There- 
 fore the council of iTent * forbids bishops to ordain clergymen, 
 unless he has a place for them, and the council also says that no 
 clergyman can leave his post without the permission of the bishop. 
 If a clergyman leaves his church without permission of the bishop, 
 going to another place or diocese, the council says he should be 
 suspended from the exercise of his orders, for churches and parishes 
 must not be left without priests to administer the sacrameuts and to 
 say mass for the people. 
 
 The bishop of the diocese in which the monastery or religious 
 order is, ordains the members when they have a letter from their 
 own supeiior. But as these things relate little to the laity, we will 
 pass them by for the more practical question relating to the sacra- 
 ment of confirmation. 
 
 The bishop is the ordinary minister of the sacrament of confir- 
 mation, 80 that without the delegation of the Pope, no priest can 
 ■confirm. As it is a sacrament properly belonging to the bishop, 
 no bishop can confirm in another diocese, not even his own people, 
 without the consent of the bishop of that diocese. If he were to 
 do so he would be suspended from pontifical functions. ' When the 
 bisiiop comes to the parish to give confirmation, and to make his 
 
 » Sea. 28. Cap. 7. = Com-il trident. Ses. 23. C. 3. 
 
 » Nulllus 16 Jan. Ifi86. et 17 Jan. ltl!«. llenedlct xlv. De Synod. L. 12.C. 8. n. 7. 
 
 * Cap. 16 Ses. 28. * St. Ug. L. 6. n. 171. 
 
PAPAL RESEEVATION. 471 
 
 episcopal visit, it is a great clay for the pastor and the people. Iq 
 catholic countries tlie whole population turn out to receive him, 
 the streets and houses then are decked in their brightest hues, and 
 it is one of the scenes seldom seen in our day especially in this 
 country. 
 
 No layman can be the judge of the teachings of the church, not 
 even relating to a question of fact, ' for the laity belong to the believ- 
 ing, while the clergy belong to the teaching part of the church. 
 The judges of the teachings and of the doctrines of the church 
 are the Supreme Pontiff for the whole world, the bishop for all 
 the members of his diocese, even for the regular religious orders. 
 Other officers of the church, whom the Pope delegates for that 
 purpose are judges of faith, " but they cannot proceed against bish- 
 ops, apostolic legates and officials of the Roman court, but they 
 are to inform the Holy See if the latter lose the faith. The 
 bishop and the Roman official, both acting together, or separately 
 may proceed against the one who preaches false doctrines. But 
 in the latter case, each must inform the other before pronouncing 
 sentence, which carries with it a severe spiritual punishment, 
 even to the depriving of his office in the case of a clergyman, for 
 the church will not allow one of her officers to teach false matters 
 of faith and practice. 
 
 The Pope reserves certain great and enormous sins to himself, 
 ^nd the bishop cannot absolve from them. But the council of 
 Trent gives the bishops authority to absolve them in confession. ' 
 But the crimes contained in Bull Caenae of the holy See cannot be 
 brought before the bishop. 
 
 As the Pope reserves certain great crimes to his own judgment, 
 so the bishop can reserve certain sins in his own diocese. That 
 the bishops generally do in a synod. The congregation tells bish- 
 ops to reserve only few cases of great crimes in their diocese. * 
 Sins which are only mental and entirely internal are not reserved. 
 The reason why such cases are reserves as given flows from the 
 nature of the church, which is Christ still living with all his power 
 in the world, and because he said to his apostles: " Whose sins you 
 shall forgive they are forgiven them and whose sins you shall retain 
 they are retained.^' When the confessor refuses to give absolution, 
 or when his powers of absolving are restricted by the Pope or by 
 the bishop of the diocese these sins are really retained. 
 
 No priest can validly give absolution to any one, lay person or 
 clergyman in confession, without approbation and jurisdiction, or 
 as they are called the faculties of the diocese given him by the 
 bishop. The religious orders belong to the Roman diocese, and 
 they can hear their own subjects, but they are also restricted by 
 the same laws of the diocese relating to the laity and clei-gy of 
 the diocese. ^ The priest must first get the faculties from the bish- 
 op of the diocese, or from the administrator if the bishop be ab- 
 sent, because confession is a judicial act, which requires jurisdiction 
 
 > 18 De Haer. Ut. Inq. in 6. &c. = 9 De Haer. Ad Abol. ^ ges. 24 C. 6. 
 
 * Jan. 9, 1601. 26 Nov. 1603. » Council Trid. Ses. 23 C. 15. 
 
472 kun's confessors, vows, &g. 
 
 over subjects before it can become valid. The general faculties 
 once given do not cease at the death or resignation of the bishop. 
 At the moment of death any catholic priest can absolve any sin 
 no matter how grievous \ where no other priest can attend him 
 before death. The members of the religious orders without the 
 approbation of the bishops can hear the confessions of the mem- 
 bers of their own order, the novices, servants, &c., who belong 
 to and live in the monastery. If the bishop finds the priests of 
 the religious orders in his diocese worthy, he should give them 
 the regular faculties of the diocese, or he may grant only limited 
 faculties." 
 
 The faculties of hearing the confessions of nuns are not given to 
 all the priests of the diocese, but the bishop appoints a confessor 
 for each convent. They cannot elect their confessor unless it i& 
 the custom, or unless they have this concession from the founda- 
 tion of the house or convent. If they are exempt and reserved to 
 the Pope, the bishop appoints a confessor for them. Besides this, 
 once, twice or three times the bishop should appoint an extraordi- 
 nary confessor, for all the nuns of whatever order in his diocese, 
 and if he omits to do so the cardinal penetentiary will appoint one, 
 taken from those appointed by the bishops to hear the confessioni* 
 of nuns. While the extraordinary confessor is fulfilling his 
 duties, the regular confessor has no faculties in that convent, and 
 when the former has fulfilled his duties he can no more hear them. 
 The same confessor cannot hear their confessions for more than 
 three years, without a dispensation from the congregation. These 
 rules relate to cloistered nuns, who take solemn vows, and wise 
 and prudent priests, specially approved by the bishop, should hear 
 them. 
 
 A vow is a deliberate promise made to God of doing something 
 better, made to God so that not to fulfil the vow would be a sin. It 
 is like a particular law one makes for himself, binding him- 
 self under sin. In this a vow differs from a resolution, which does 
 not bind under sin. The matter we vow must be something better, 
 as to vow to say so many prayers, to give money to a religious 
 object, or to take a vow of not marrying, &c. As to Peter Christ 
 said: " Whatever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound 
 also in heaven. And whatever thou shalt loose upon earth it sliall be 
 loosened also in heaven," the Pope his succesor can nullify and 
 dispense in all vows made to God. A few dioceses in the East ac- 
 cepted, all clergymen in the higher orders from subdeaconship 
 up take a vow of chastity, for this is the discipline of the church, 
 and no one can minister at her altars unless they take such a vow. 
 It belongs to the Pope alone to dispense in the vows taken by clergy- 
 men. Other vows the Pope reserves to their own dispensing and 
 in them the bishops cannot act. In all other vows not so reserved 
 the bishop can dispense. The bishop cannot dispense in the vows 
 taken by the members of religious orders. The church can- 
 > CoDcil. tiid. S68. 14. C. 7. * Clement X Bull Seperna Cong. Epist. et BeglL 
 
LEAVING THE DIOCESE. 473 
 
 tiot enter into contracts between men, for they are founded on 
 the natural law. There must exist a just cause for dispensa- 
 ting in vows, and when such a cause exists, the superior is bound 
 to grant the request. Five vows the Holy See has reserves; the vow 
 of perpetual chastity; of making a pilgrim to the tomb of Christ at 
 Jerusalem; of visiting the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul at Rome; 
 of entering a religious order approved by the church, and of visit- 
 ing the church of St. James, called the Compostellana. Under 
 pain of excommunication, no one without a special delegation from 
 the Pope can or must attempt to dispense in them. The bishop 
 may change a vow at the request of the one taking it, if there be 
 a legitimate reason. 
 
 The bishop being the head and superintendent of the whole dio- 
 -cese, he sees that the clergy attend to their duties, and they can- 
 not leave their post without his permission. If they do so he may 
 suspend them. * That was also decreed in the council of Aries held 
 in the year .314.' Later the council of Nice decreed that bish- 
 ops, presbyters, or deacons must not leave the churches to which 
 they are assigned,^ while the council of Chalcedon says that the 
 clergy should not be ordained unless they are assigned or appointed 
 to some church, which they are to serve. Later in the church 
 rose the discipline of having benefices to support the clergy, and 
 they were not always obliged to reside at their church in order to 
 derive the revenues. Later began the custom of ordaining the 
 clergy to patrimonial or missionary titles, when they are support- 
 ed by their own properties, when they live on the revenues of their 
 missions. According to the latter title nearly all the clergy of 
 missionary countries are now oi'dained. Many abuses rose, which 
 wishing to take away the Trident council decreed that no one should 
 be ordained unless the churches required his services, thus renew- 
 ing the ancient decrees. At the present time the priests of this 
 country take an oath when ordained subdeacons, that they will 
 not leave the diocese for which they are ordained without the per- 
 mission of the Holy See, and later a decree was issued by which 
 they may with the permission of their bishop go to another dio- 
 cese within the province. From decisions given by the congre- 
 gation in Rome, which has authority over these things, it appears 
 that the bishop must see that the priests of the diocese have suf- 
 ficient means on which to live, and that they cannot leave the dio- 
 cese when they have no place, even without his consent or even if 
 they have not the means wherewith to live as becomes the clerical 
 order. 
 
 The council of Trent forbids bishops to allow strange priests 
 to say Mass and administer the sacraments in his diocese unless 
 they have letters from their own bishop. * That has always been 
 the custom in the church, and this council only renewed the an- 
 cient discipline. In reply to a question of the patriarch of Jeru- 
 
 1 Benedict xiv. De Synod. L. il. C. 2. n. 4. ^ Canon 3 et 21. ^ can. 15. 
 
 « Ses. 23 C. 16 de Ref. 
 
474 THE SUPPORT OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 salem about priests coming there and asking to say Mass, Innocent 
 III. told him that if they had no letters from their own bishops, 
 that he must be certain of their canonical ordination by the testi- 
 mony of witnesses, but not to let unknown priests say Mass in 
 public. This wise law, first promulgated by the council of Chal- 
 cedon, ' at present relates, not only to the secular priests, but also to 
 the members of religious orders living in another diocese, although 
 they may celebrate Mass in their own churches. ' It is easier to 
 allow an unknown priest who has not letters from his bishop to 
 celebrate privately than before the public. 
 
 An indulgence is the remission of temporal punishment due 
 for sin after the sin has been forgiven. It is the application of 
 the sufferings of Christ and of the saints, so that Christ atoned 
 on the cross for us. The right of giving a plenary or full indul- 
 gence belongs alone to the Pope in virtue of the words of Christ: 
 " Whatever thou shalt loose upon earth it shall be loosed also in 
 heaven." The bishops have from the Roman Pontiff the privi- 
 lege of publishing partial indulgences greater or less according to 
 their position on the occasion. 
 
 The clergy are supported in this country by the offerings of 
 the people. The offerings for Masses, funerals, &c, , are regulated 
 by the bishop, and the priest cannot ask more for the low Masses 
 he may say than the usual offering. The pastor may regulate 
 the offerings for funerals and high Masses for the dead of his 
 parish. It is disputed whether any priest can rightly accept lesa 
 than the ordinary offering for low Masses except when he is 
 understood to do so for charity or for the sake of friendship. 
 
 The Lateran council under Innocent II. decreed that " Every 
 one of the faithful of either sex, after he has come to the use of 
 reason must faithfully confess all his sins to his own priest at 
 least once a year. " * That is the law at the present time. The 
 law was made obliging us all under pain of sin, so the people 
 might be forced to receive the sacraments, not deprive themselvea 
 of the graces of confession, and that sin might not remain like a 
 chronic sore eating the spiritual life of the soul. That confession 
 may be made to any priest having the proper jurisdiction ns well 
 as to the penitent's own priest, even without the consent of the 
 pastor, as the Roman congregations often decided, * for the church 
 wishes to leave her children free to choose their confessor, and the 
 bishop may forbid any pastor requiring his people to confess to 
 him alone. * 
 
 Innocent XI. enacted a statute forbidding bishops to receive 
 any offering for conferring holy orders. The council of Trent 
 allows only a small offering given to notaries for granting official 
 documents. A certain offering is given the chancery office for 
 the dispensations from marriage laws. But each diocese has its 
 own regulations in this matter. Besides it is allowed to ask ladies 
 
 ' Can. 13. » Benedlct;xlv. Const. Quam Gravis. 2 Aiiff. 2 1757. » Canon 21. 
 
 * Benedict xiv. De Synod L. II. C. H. * ConK- Eplst. et Reg. 8 April, 1684. 
 
assistant's clerical garments. 475 
 
 entering convents to give a certain amount to the community 
 which pays their board during their novitiate as a dovvery. This 
 constitution of Innocent XI. forbids anything to be exacted for 
 the sacraments of baptism, confirmation. Communion, confes- 
 sion and extreme unction. Tiiis does not relate to the offerings 
 freely given to the bishop or pastor, offerings which are custom- 
 ary in this country. The meaning of all this is that salvation 
 and the graces given us by Christ through the church are so 
 great and so valuable, that no price can be put on them, and 
 to exact money for such benefits would be to sell spiritual 
 things for temporal tilings, which would be the crime of simony 
 punishable by severe penalties. Yet as St. Paul says : " He wha 
 serves the altar lives by the altar, '' the ministers of religion and 
 the dispensers of holy things must receive their living from the 
 people and the churches they serve. The church has made wise 
 laws for their maintenance — so that not being obliged to work for a 
 living, they can devote their whole time in the ministry of Christ 
 and for the salvation of souls. 
 
 In many parishes are associations, congregations, sodalities, &c., 
 formed under the guidance of the pastor for the exercise of pious, 
 charitable and other works. The formation aiid erection of such 
 societies belongs either to the bishops or to the generals of re- 
 ligious having special concessions from Eome for that purpose. 
 
 When the bishop judges that a pastor by reason of poor health, 
 or for other reasons, cannot attend to the duties of the parish, he 
 can oblige the pastor to receive one or more priests to attend to 
 the spiritual wants of the people, and carry out the services of the 
 church. This is stated in the council of Trent.' By the com- 
 mon law, the selection of the assistant belongs to the pastor and 
 not to the bishop, but the bishop alone can approve him and give 
 him the faculties of the diocese and of the parish. But when the 
 pastor refuses or neglects to appoint the assistant, the bishop him- 
 self can do so. From the revenues of the church the bishop can 
 assign the assistant his means of living. The assistant's salary 
 comes from the revenues of the church, while all incomes from funer- 
 als and offerings for the reception of the sacraments belong by 
 common law to the pastor. 
 
 The common law of the church does not say of what kind 
 should be the garments of the clergy. The church only prescribes 
 the vestments of their official duties, and the clerical dress may 
 vary from time to time and from one country to another, never- 
 theless, in every day dress the Pope is clothed in white, the color 
 of innocence; the cardinal's dress is red, the color of the Roman 
 emperor; the bishops have the purple and gold of the ancient 
 kings; while the priests and lower clergy have the black dress, the 
 color of death, for they are dead to the world. To the bishop be- 
 longs to determine the clerical habit of the clergy of his diocese, 
 and see that they wear garments becoming to their state, " for the 
 
 » Ses. 1. C. 42. 2 Council Trident. Ses. 16 Cap. 6. 
 
476 THE PRECEDENCE OF BISHOPS. 
 
 councils say that he can make regulations relating to the clergy's 
 dress. 
 
 In his own diocese the bishop precedes all others, except the 
 Pope and his representatives, the cardinals or the archbishop of that 
 province. In provincial councils the bishops rank according to 
 their years of episcopal consecration, and not according to their 
 dioceses, for the bishops are all equal in holy orders. A bishop 
 who resigned or who belongs to another province can sit and vote 
 in a provincial council, when invited to take part by the other 
 bishops. But if an archbishop from another province is admitted to 
 the council, because of his higher rank, he precedes the simple bish- 
 ops. AVe have given here but a few of the most important episcopal 
 duties and obligations but there are many more all regulated by 
 the common law of the church.. 
 
'vf^THEN the apostles established dioceses in the oomitries 
 ^^^u^ m which they preached, in ejich city they appointed 
 
 ^c) bishops, consecrating them and giving them author- 
 
 ity to rule that part of the church of God, but they 
 also ordained a body of clergymen, priests and deacons to be 
 the bishop's helpmate, his crown in the government of the diocese. 
 They wei-e called the presbytery of the diocese from the Greek 
 word meaning priest. 
 
 Each diocese of the apostolic church had its body of priests, its 
 presbytery or senate of the diocese, or the bishop's advisory board 
 of priests. No council, pontifical decree or ancient writer who 
 mentions them, but speaks of them as beinj; ali-eady old m their 
 time, and therefore with nearly all the solid writers, we conclude 
 that the presbytery or the bishop's council was established by the 
 apostles. 
 
 St Ignatiusof Antioch, converted by St. Peter, or as some say the 
 little child blessed by our Lord, spenks in many places in his 
 fifteen Epistles of the presbytery of the diocese, the priests and 
 the deacons: "For your justly renowned presbytery, being 
 worthy of God, is fitted exactly to the bishop as are the strings 
 
 477 
 
THE "D0MINU3 VOBISCUM." OR THE PUIEST SENDING THE HOLV SFiBlT INTO 
 THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
A VOICE FKOM THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 479 
 
 to the harp. Thus being joined togetlier in concord and har- 
 monius love, of which Jesus Christ is the Captain and the 
 Guardain, do ye man by man become but one choir." " Be ye 
 therefore ministers of God and tlie mouth of Christ."' Exiiorting 
 them to hokl fast in tiie faitli he continues: " Being un- 
 der the guidance of the Comforter, be in obedience to the bishop 
 and the presbytery, with an undivided mind breaking one and 
 the same breail, which i^the medicine of immortality, and the 
 antidote which prevents us from dying, but a cleansing remedy 
 driving away evil, that we should live in God through Jesus 
 Christ. "* " 1 exhort you to study to do all things with a divine 
 harmony, while your bishop presides in the place of God, and 
 your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles, along 
 with you deacons, who are most dear to me and are entrusted with 
 the ministry of Jesus Christ. " * " Study therefore to be estab- 
 lished in the doctrines of the Loi'd and of the apostles, so that all 
 things whatsoever you do may prosper, both in the flesh and 
 spirit, in faith and love with your most admirable bishop, and the 
 well woven spiritual crown of your presbyterv, and the dea- 
 cons who are according to God." * " Be ye subject to the bishop 
 and one another as Christ to the Father, that there may be a 
 unity according to God among you." ^ 
 
 To the Trallians he writes : " And be ye subject also to the pres- 
 bytery as to the apostles of Jesus Christ, who is our hope, in 
 whom if we live we shall be found in him. It behooves you also in 
 every way to please the deacons, who are ministers of the mys- 
 teries of Christ Jesus, And do ye reverence them as Christ 
 
 Jesus, whose place they are the keepers, even as the bishop is 
 the representative of the Father of all things, and the presbyters 
 are the sanhedrim of God, and the assembly of the apostles of 
 Christ. Apart from these there is no elect church, no congre- 
 gation of holy ones, no assembly of saints. " ' We close these 
 writings of the apostolic age by the following words of this 
 father and companion of the apostles made so famous by his 
 martyrdom: "And do you also reverence your bishop as Christ him- 
 self, according as the blessed apostles have enjoined you. lie 
 that is without the altar is pure, wherefore also he is obedient to 
 
 the bishop and the presbyters For what is the bishop but 
 
 one who bevond all others possesses all power and jtuthority, so 
 far asitis possible for a man to possess it, wlionccordingtohis ability 
 has been made an imitator of the Christ of God. And what is the 
 presbytery but a sacred assembly, the counsellors and assessors of 
 of the bishop? And what are the deacons but the imitators of 
 the angelic powers.' 
 
 The early apostolic writers tell us that the apostles founded the 
 presbytery of the dioceses, formed of priests and deacons in each 
 diocese, often to the number of twelve priests, images of the twelve 
 - * Ibid. Cap. X. - Epist. ad Mag. xx. ' Episr. ad Magnes. Cap. vl. 
 
 * Ibidem Cap. xlll. » Eplst. ad Magnes. Cap. xill. • Cap. iii. 
 
 ' Ad Trallians Cap. vu. 
 
480 FORMATION OF THE PRESBYTERY. 
 
 apostles and of seven deacons, copied after the deacons established 
 by the apostles in the church at Jerusalem. * -They were the coun- 
 sellors of the bisliop, the senate of the diocese, as the Son is the 
 Counsellor of the Father in heaven in all the works of the Divinity. 
 The apostles founded them jis the presbytery of the diocese, the 
 bishop's council, as an image of the twelve apostles established by 
 our Lord. While with them in each diocese were seven deacons, 
 copied after the deacons established by the apostles. * as the wants 
 of the early christians required, they also ordained lower ministers 
 to take care of the church, to read the Scriptures, to look after the 
 finances, the widows and orphans, to prepare the bread and wine for 
 the ssijCred mysteries of the mass, and to wait on the bishops and 
 priests of the first ages of the church. These twelve priests 
 and seven deacons were even in apostolic times called the bi.sliop's 
 council or the senate of the church. These alone excepted, there 
 were no other ju'iests \jV deacons in the days of the apostles. In 
 the famous archdiocese founded by St. Mark at Alexiindria, this 
 peiKiie of the diocese was celebi'ated for her learned churchmen. 
 From this senato the bishop of this see was always elected, at whose 
 (ionsecration thevclected and ordained a priest to fill the vacancy. 
 The decrees of Nice, probably genuine foibid any diocese to have 
 less than these twelve priests and seven deacons: " f^st the prayers 
 of the church might cease or her ministry suffer, l)ut not more 
 than these lest the expenses might become too great.'" On Sun- 
 davs and feast days, the bishop sent one or more of these clergymen 
 to places outside the city to attend t<> the sjiiriiind wants of the 
 people living there, and after fulfilling these duties they returned 
 to the cathedral, and reported to the bishop that thev had fulfilled 
 the functions for which he had appointed them, licoause of her 
 universal dominion over all the other cliurches of the apostolic 
 age, Rome had a dotible presbytery of twenty-four priests and 
 fourteen deacons, whose chaiiinan was the arehpriest, and the 
 superior of the desicons was the archdeacon, who to<»k care of the 
 pioperties, the finances, the widows and the orphans of the Roman 
 diocese. 
 
 T'he bishops, heirs of the apostles, were the pastors of the dio- 
 cese, and they administered the whole diocese by and through the 
 members of the presbyteries. When in the IV. century the coim- 
 try parishes began to be established in some places, priests and 
 deacons were appointed to these parishes outside the episcopal 
 cities, but they were considered as inferior to the cathedral clergy, 
 who as from the apostolic age stdl formed the seiuite of the dio- 
 cese. In all the chanires of discijjline, the twelve priests and the 
 seven deacons always formed the senate of the diocese, the council 
 of the bishop, the chosen members of the diocesan clergy. They 
 were ktiown by divers names in different ages, as the presbyters, 
 the senate, the bishop's crown, the Ijishoji's council, the cathedral 
 chapter, &c., but from the days when they were est jiblished by the 
 
 I Acts vli - Acts v2. * Canon 62 Nloente-Anblctu. 
 
HOW THE APOSTLES FOUNDED DIOCRSES. 481 
 
 apostles, np to our time, they liavo rernuiiied siibstantiully the same, 
 for tliey beloiiof to tlie perfect orfrniiizatioii of the dioeet^e. 
 
 In each city where the apostles |)reach(^d. they built iij) a cliiirch 
 from tiie converts they made, then they appointed and conseciated 
 a bishop for them. This 8t. Panl did when he appointed his dis- 
 ciples Sts. Timothy and Titus. St. Peter did it at Antioch. St. 
 Thomas did thi same at Babylon in nominating his followers Sts. 
 Adaeusand Maris. There these beloved disciples wrotedown the Lit- 
 urgy, which he bad composed in the Babylonian tongue, which 
 remains to our day not a word changed.' When the church was 
 well established in tiie city, the apostle left them under the guid- 
 ance of the bishop he had given them, and went forth to convert 
 other people to the faith of Christ. 
 
 But the apostles did not leave them alone to the care of the bish- 
 op, for he too must have his helpmate for the work of the minis- 
 try. Befoi-e leaving the apostle appointed and ordained a dio- 
 cesan clergy, spiritual sons and images of the bishop, and they 
 preached and administered under the eye and care of the bishof). 
 They were to the number of twelve pi'iests and seven deacons in 
 every church founded by the apostle--. The bishop was the head 
 of the diocese, and they were one with him, hisadvisers and helpers 
 in his diocese, hence their name the chapter, from capitulum from 
 caput, the Latin for head, or from the capitulum read by them in 
 the Office. According to the rules of the early church, and the 
 customs found in the fathers before the council of Nice.* the sen- 
 ate of the clergy was found in every diocese of the early church. 
 Their names were often written in the catalogue, after that of the 
 bishop and his former predecessors, who had departed this life. 
 That list of names was often called the canon of that church, and 
 therefore they were called the canons of the cathedral. We see 
 thus the chief saints of the Roman church even to our day in the 
 canon of the Mass. The bishop was their father in Christ, because 
 he or his predecessor had ordained them and he looked after their 
 support.' 
 
 When an apostle had converted a city, each Sunday and feast 
 day he assembled the clergy and people for the services, and his 
 senate of priests and deacons altogether with him said the Mass, 
 altogether pronoum-ing the sacred words, the same as we still do 
 at the ordination of a priest. This took place in the catecombs, 
 in secret places, or in the fastness of the mountains, for they were 
 ever belied and misunderstood. The pagans heard of the Mass, 
 the "mystery" as it is still called in eastern Rites, and they sup- 
 posed the christians met to put a little child to death and eat his 
 flesh. 
 
 The diocese had then one church, the cathedral or mother church 
 of the whole diocese, while at Rome was the Mother church of 
 the world, the Chair of Peter. The other dioceses of the world 
 
 1 See Lit. of the Blessed Apostles. Early Lltunries Anti-Nlcene Librarj'. 
 
 ^ Anti-Nicene Library. ' Concll. I'achiitli an. VSr. ; 
 
482 THE SENATE ADVISES THE BISHOP. 
 
 were the daughters of this Mother church at Roine,as the par- 
 ishes established later were the daughters of the cathedral. The 
 bishop alone was the pastor of the whole diocese, while these twelve 
 ])riests and seven deacons aided him in preaching the Gospel, in 
 administering the sacraments, and in ruling his christian people. 
 The bishops of the early church did nothing without first consult- 
 ing their senateof priests and deacons, a body which was sometimes 
 called the cathedral college. Later the country parishes were 
 formed each with a priest as rector, the number of priests and 
 lower clergy of the diocese increased, the wants of the churches 
 multiplied, but still the twelve canons were found at each cathe- 
 dral aiding and helpijig the bishop. The bishop and his senate 
 sat in the church; often the bishop's throne was behind the altar 
 in the apse of the cathedral, with the seats of the priests and 
 deacons around it. There they heard confessions as a spiritual 
 court, both bishops and priests pronouncing the words of absolu- 
 tion. AVithout them the bishop could not hear cases or give 
 judgment. " The deacons and presbyters shall assist at the 
 judgment" says the A[)ostolic Constitutions.' "The bishop 
 shall hear no case without the presence of his clergy, otherwise 
 the sentence of the bishop shall be null and void, unless it be 
 strengtiiened with the sentence of the clergymen," says the IV. 
 council of Carthage.* That was the discipline in England in the 
 days of the great Egbert of York, who says:' " The bishop shall 
 hear no case without the presence of his clergy, confession alone 
 excepted." The great St Chrystom complains of his cathedral 
 chapter at Constantinople in these words: "Those who with us 
 guide th.e ship have tried to sink the vessel."* '* The bishop 
 jnust not ordain the clergy without the advice of his clergy " says 
 the TV. council of Carthage. Such was the discipline of the 
 early church. The council of Trent wishing to renew that wise dis- 
 cipline says: *' Ordinations should take place in the cathedral. 
 Tlie canons of the cathedral being called and present at the 
 function."' 
 
 Numerous monumentsof the early church show us that the presby- 
 tery, or the priests of the cathedralformed thesenate of the diocese. 
 The first bishops did nothing without first consulting them. For 
 the first three centuries of the church, the presbytery of the dio- 
 cese was the senate, without the consent of which the bishop un- 
 dertook nothing. As St. Jerome says it was a body likened to the 
 great senate of the Roman empire under the Caesars. The arch- 
 priest was head of the twelve priests, and the arohdcaoon was the 
 chief of the deacons composing this. They did all the work 
 in the diocese now done by the country pastors up to the establish- 
 ment of rural parishes after the IV. century, and they carried out 
 the work of the city pastors till the XI. century, when the city 
 parishes were founded. The diocese is an inuige of the whole 
 
 • L. 2. C. 4T. » Canon 28. » Excerpt- can. 43. « 8er. post red. n. 5. 
 
 • Ses. 88. C. 8. DeRef. 
 
THE SENATE AND BISHOP DISAOREE. 483 
 
 church, and tliey were in the diocese and lield a similar relation re- 
 garding their bishop, that the venerable college of cardinals are 
 regarding th3 universal church, and regarding their own Bishop 
 the Pope. For centuries they formed a brotherhood under the 
 presidency of the bishop, living in his palace, eating at his table, 
 and having all things in common like the christians of the apostol- 
 ic age. 
 
 In the XI. century began divisions between the bishops and the 
 chapters— the members of the chapters in some places wished no 
 longer to live a community life ; the bishops sometimes did not 
 consult them before taking important steps in the diocese ; they 
 often were Jiot called to take part in provincial councils ; occasion- 
 ally they did not receive the usual means of living ; they were even 
 away from their duties at the cathedral ; some chapters acted inde- 
 pendently of the bishop ; others refused to allow the bishop to make 
 episcopal visits among them ; in some cases they claimed that they 
 were independent of the bishop in the administration of the church 
 property, and at last they refused to attend the bishop on episco- 
 pal ceremonies, or give him the honor due his office. These diffi- 
 culties, flowing from human weakness, upset the holy relations be- 
 tween the bishop and his chapter, and numerous were the disputes 
 appealed to and settled by the Holy See, whose wise decisions reg- 
 ulated the relations of the chapter to the bishop. From such de- 
 crees of Rome grew up the common law of the church, that mon- 
 ument of wisdom coming from the Holy Ghost, the fountain from 
 whici) streams the rules regulating the whole body of Christ, his 
 holy church. The Popes reduced the chapter to its i-ight place as 
 the iiid and the council of the bishop, as the apostle had founded it 
 for that purpose. 
 
 The chapter then is to aid the bishop in his administration and 
 to supply his al)sence from the diocese. They are the senators of 
 the dioceso, as the cardinals are the senators of the universal 
 church. When founded by the apostles, they did not live a life in 
 common, at le;ist in every country, for community life was intro- 
 duced m the IV. century after the division of the diocese outside the 
 episcopal city into country parishes. Even in our time, very few 
 cathedral chapters live a community life, having all things in com- 
 mon like religious orders. During the middle ages, they met each 
 Sunday and iVast day to say Mass, to sing the divine Office of the 
 Breviary, but the latter is not essential to their duties. As Pope 
 Felix said in deposing the bad Peter Cnapheum from the see of 
 Antioch: '• This is your final deposition from me and from those 
 who with me rule the apostolic throne." The cardinals rule the uni- 
 versal church with the Pope, and the canons help the bishop to rule 
 the diocese, partaking with him in bis jurisdiction over the diocese 
 both in spiritual as well as in temporal things. St Jerome says : 
 " And we have our senate the board of presbyters ; " " The senate 
 of presbyters in the city ; "' " The councillors and aids of the bish- 
 
 ) St. Bazil. Epist. 319. 
 
484 RELATIONS OF THE CHAPTER TO THE BISHOP. 
 
 op in tlie place of the senate of the apostles." ' The senate of the 
 Roman diocese was the most perfect and honorable of all the sen- 
 ates of the ancient church. 
 
 The council of Elnense rejected certain matters to the judg- 
 ment of the bishop and of the chapter. Pope Calixtus II. forbade 
 archpriests or archdeacons to suspend clergymen without the 
 council of canons, and required first the consent of the archbishop 
 and of his council. Alexander III. wrote to the bishop of Jeru- 
 salem: " You and your brethren are one body, of which 30U are 
 the head and they the members, whence it is not becoming 
 that, leaving out the members, you follow different councils in 
 church matters, for without doubt it is not well to contradict the 
 institutions of the holy fathers. It has come to our ears that, 
 without the council of your brothers, you appoint abbots, superi- 
 ors of nuns, and other church officers, as well as suspend them. *'" 
 The council of Trent requires the bishops to call the chapter of 
 the diocese and have them vote on the matters he proposes to 
 undertake in the diocese. This council enacted wise laws guid- 
 ing the bishop in his administration of the diocese, pointing out 
 how the chapter helps him in his work. When the French revohi- 
 tion disturbed the church in France and Belgium, Pius VII. 
 asked the bishops of these countries, as well as the cathedral 
 chapters, to send in to him within ten days their resignations, that 
 he migiit erect these dioceses in another way, to better agree with 
 the changed condition of things after the French revolution. In 
 1851 Pius IX. when forming his concordate with Spain, used 
 these words: *' The cathedral chapters of the archbishops and of 
 the bishops form the senate and the council of the bishops."' 
 The letters of the Popes in every age, as well as the decisions of 
 the Roman councils, call these bodies the senates of the dioceses 
 the counsels of the bishops, stating that the mind of the church 
 is to erect such bodies in each and every diocese of the world, so 
 that the bishops may consult them in important matters relating 
 to the diocese. We" see therefore that the chapter or senate of 
 the diocese should be in every diocese, as the helpmate of the 
 bishop and as the legislature of the diocese. 
 
 They are called Hie cathednil cha[)ter because they assist th? 
 bishop", whope church is the cathedral wherein he erects his teach- 
 ing chair. When God created man he said: " It is not well for 
 man to be alone, let us make help like unto himself,"* so the 
 chapter is as it were a help unto the bishop, aiding him in his 
 episcopal labors. 
 
 'i'he cathedral chapter then is a corporate or a united body of 
 men, or a college of clergymen instituted by the church under 
 one prelate, with him living and forming one and the samenionil 
 body, to aid him in tlie administration of the diocese, and to take 
 his place when the see becomes vacant. As the cardinals the 
 
 ' St. Isrnatlus the Martyr ad Tralllanes. ' Caput. Novlt. •■• Art. l.">. 
 
 * Gen. IL 18. 
 
WHO COMPOSE THE CHAPTER. 485 
 
 senate of the Roman diocese in honor precede all otlier prelates 
 of the church, I'anking next to their chief the Pope, so the canons 
 of the catliedral precede all other clergymen in the diocese, ever 
 ranking next to their bishop. ' Neither the bishop nor his vicar- 
 general, nor any other dignitary of the diocese belonging to the 
 bishop's court belong to the chapter, unless they are admitted, or 
 it is the custom of the diocese. 
 
 But the chief head of tiie ciiapter is always the bishop, or the 
 prelate who administers the diocese. The senior priest of the 
 chapter in former times was called the archpriest. In the absence 
 of the bishop, lie presides over the members as their head and 
 chairman when they meet for business, and he is the pivsidiiig 
 officer when the chapter sits without the bishop, for the latter 
 has not a vote in all their meetings. 
 
 The council of Trent says: *' In all cathedral chui'ches let 
 there be presbyters, deacons aud subdeacons. having chaptei'al 
 rights and livings. Aud with the advice of tiie chapter, let the 
 bishop distribute honors and ordain candidates to holy orders 
 as seems well to him, so that each may exercise his order, but let 
 it be so that at least half will be priests, and the rest deacons ami 
 subdeacons. But where the custom ])rev{iils, it is praiseworthy 
 to have moi-e or even all of them in priest's orders."* But few 
 cathedrals in the English speaking world have the means and reve- 
 nues of supporting a cliaptei", and the priestsof the diocese, called the 
 bishop's council, take their place in the present state of the 
 church in this country. 
 
 The canons instituted by the apostles were genei-allv to the 
 numl)er of twelve in each diocese, an imnge of the apostolic college 
 founded by our Lord. At the present time, no absolute number 
 is given by the common law of tiie church, that being left to the 
 judgment of the Supreme Pontiff, to whom alone belongs the 
 erection of a cathedral cinipter. 'I'hen he states the luiinber of 
 clergymen which will compose the board, and he alone can increase 
 or diminish the number of canons of each cathedral. Sometimes 
 worthy clergymen are named as honorary canons. The council 
 of Trent gives the bishops power to diminish the number of canons 
 with the consent of the chapter, where the condition of the diocese 
 requires such a measure. ' But the original number cannot be 
 diminished without the consent of the chapter, because the Pope 
 states the number of clergymen who will form the chapter, 
 nor can any change be made during a vacancy of the see. 
 
 Formerly the chief priest was usually called the archpriest 
 and the head of the dencous of the chapter is the archdeacon, the 
 same as the superior of bishops is the arclibishop. There are two 
 kinds of archpriests, one who presides at the head of the presby- 
 ters of the chapter, the others live often in a country parish, and 
 formerly he was called the choi-ebif;hop. now he is the rural dean, 
 or as the Greeks- call him the protopapa. They were often the 
 
 ' Concil. Cologne. 11. p. 3. C. 2. ■ Ses. 24. C. 4. ^ geg_ 2\. C. 15. de Ref. 
 
486 THE ARCHPRIEST A3fD ARCHDEACON. 
 
 vicars of the bishop, having jurisdiction in certain parts of the dio- 
 cese in the early ciiurch. Having sometimes in the early church 
 ten parishes and pastors under them, they were called deans from 
 the Latin decern, ten. As the rural dean hud authority over the 
 ten parishes of his deanery, so the arch priest, the head of the 
 presbyters of the chapter, had authority overall the priests of the 
 cathedral city. He was the first in dignity, ranking next after the 
 bishop, whom he attended on all episcopal ceremonies, fulfilling 
 the duties of the assistant ])riest in our days. He was the vicar- 
 general of the bishop for spiritual matters, while the archdeacon 
 was the bishop's vicar for tern peral things and in the administration 
 of church property. But they differed from the vicars-gener- 
 al of our time, in this, that the latter may be removed by the bish- 
 op, while the former could not be so removed. The dignity of 
 the archpriest in the church by custom has been reduced to an 
 honorary office, when separated from the office of vicar-general. 
 He occupies the first place in the ceremonies of the church but 
 that is all. 
 
 The most ancient dignity among the clergy of the diocese was 
 that of the archdeacon, because from the time when at Jerusalem 
 the apostles ordained the seven deacons, each diocese had its band 
 of deacons, and one of these was their superior. That was the 
 origin of this office. In the first five centuries of the church, he 
 was called the hand and eye of the bishop, that is he was his 
 vicar-general, the judge in criminal cases, the guardian of the tem- 
 poral properties of the church, and the chief and the leader of the 
 inferior clergy. The IV. council of Carthage says that at the 
 reception of minor orders, he handed the instruments of their 
 office to the candidates during the ordination ceremonies. Al- 
 though he was only in deacon's orders, yet being the bishop's vicar- 
 general, he formed one moral person with the latter, and was 
 therefore in jurisdiction over the priests and other clergy of the 
 diocese, the same as the cardinal deacons of the Roman church to- 
 day, even when only in deacon's orders, yet precede all bishops, 
 archbishops, &c.. for they follow their chief, the Bishop of Rome 
 in his universal jurisdiction, " Really he is the first of the 
 ministers because he always preaches to the people, he leaves not 
 the Pontiff's side, an eviTfollows if he is ordained a presbyter," 
 says St. Jerome when writing about the archdeacon.' Peter 
 Blesensis a deacon of London refused to be ordained a priest, 
 saying that he would lose his authority over the priests, for he 
 was the vicar-general of the bishop.' When the archdeacon died, 
 the six remaining deacons belonging to the chapter elected his 
 successor, but in some placesthey presented the candidate to the bish- 
 op for his approval, and after his ordination and installation in office, 
 the bishop could not remove him without a cause established by a 
 trial. During the VI., VII. and VIII. centuries the archdeacon 
 was everywhere the vicar-general of the bishop, and the judge of 
 
 > lo Ezflcb. C. 18. - Epist. 138. 
 
ARCHPRIESTS AND ARCHDEACONS REGULATED. 487 
 
 criminal cases, exercising his authority over the lower clergy of 
 the diocese, and even over the country pastors. During the reign 
 of Charlemagne, they visited the different parishes and parts of 
 the diocese on episcopal visitations with the bishop sonietitnes in 
 place of the bishop's vicar-general. There was only one archdeacon 
 in each diocese, but in some cases we find two or more. Thns 
 Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, France, had two sucli otHcials in 
 his diocese. Often they had also jurisdiction over the priests and 
 archpriests as vicars of the bishop, ' but this never obtained in the 
 Greek church. They could not be removed at the wish of the 
 bisliop, as the vicar-general of our time, as they had authority 
 from the common law with officials attending on them. Contests 
 arose between some of them and the bishop, as in the case of 
 Theobald, archdeacon of Paris, who, without notifying the bish- 
 op, closed and interdicted all services in the churches of his 
 deanery, and he would not let even the bishop enter them for 
 divine service.* From being the aid and the iielper of the bishop, 
 the archdeacon in some dioceses became a hindrance and a stumb- 
 ling block, till bishops got over the difficulty by appointing other 
 vicars-getteral removable at will. Then the councils forbade the 
 archdeacous to touch important cases, especially relating to mar- 
 riage. At Romeand at Constantinople tlieoffice was disestablished, 
 and by the lapse of titne. the duties of the archdeacon were reduced 
 to one only of dignity when on episcopal ceremonies, as we see it 
 at the present time. The church may change her own institutes 
 founded by himself, while these officers established by our Lord 
 and the apostles, as ttie Papacy, the episcopacy, the priesthood 
 and the lower ministers ever remain, for they are fundamental to 
 the very church's existence. 
 
 The council of Trent says that the archdeacons should be the 
 helpers and as the eyes of the bishop in every diocese. They should 
 be doctors in theology, licentiates in canon law, and they must not 
 act in important cases, as these thiugsare now reserved to the bish- 
 op, thus showing that the office itself was not taken away by this 
 council, but only that its powers were restricted. The archdeacons 
 still remain the judges of civil cases arising between the clergy. 
 They examine the clergy for promotion to holy orders and pre- 
 sent them for ordination. They are over the lower clergy, from 
 whom they receive the honors due their state and holy office. But 
 they are appointed by the bishop and may be removed by him for 
 cause." 
 
 Th^ council of Trent says: ''The same holy synod, following 
 the constitutions of the Supreme Pontiffs, and the councils, 
 embracing and increasing them, lest the heavenly treasury of the 
 Holy Bible, which the Holy Ghost with such liberality gave men 
 might be neglected, the council defines and decrees, that in each 
 church, where there is a foundation or a stipend, or a support, or 
 
 • Greg. L. 1. Decret. Tit. xxiii. C. I. 7. Innocent lli. &c 'In the year 1131. 
 
 » I Decret. C. De Haec. 
 
488 IMPOllTANT OFFICERS. 
 
 called by any other name left for readers of holy tlieology, the 
 bishops, archbisliops, primates and ordinaries of these places, 
 where were left these foundations for the explanations and inter- 
 pretation of the holy Scriptures, they will explain them either by 
 themselves if capable or by another worthy man," &c.' The official 
 of the diocese for the explanation of the Holy Bible, thus pointed 
 out by the council, should be a member of the cathedral chapter, 
 and a doctor of theology, and he should be supported by the funds 
 above mentioned by the bishops and by the council, or by any other 
 way which tiie bishop judges best. He is called the theological 
 canon. The bishop appoints and removes him with the advice of 
 the senate or chapter of the diocese. In certain cases given in the 
 canon law the appointment belongs to the Pope, in Italy there is 
 an examination of the candidates, which follows the same rules as 
 the examination of the candidates for the permanent rectorships 
 of this country given in the III. council of Baltimore. The rules 
 to guide this official are given in canon law of the church, but they 
 would not interest the laity. 
 
 " In every cathedral church, where it can be done, let the bishop 
 appoint a penitentiary. . .who is a master, doctor, or licentiate in 
 divinity or in canon law, and of forty years of age, or any other 
 more apt considering the church, who while he hears confessions 
 maybe considered as present in the choir.'*' The penetentiary 
 thus nominated hears confessions, for which duty more learning 
 is required than for any other duty in the church. His faculties 
 extend to the whole diocese, and the common law gives him the fac- 
 ulties as soon as the bishop appoints him to the office. But he 
 cannot absolve cases reserved to the Pope nor to the bishop witiiout 
 special faculties. The discipline of the church has changed re- 
 garding these things. "When in later centuries the duties of the 
 bishop multiplied, he delegated this duty to the penetentiary as 
 given above. At the present time all the priests of the diocese 
 hear confessions, and the office of penetentiary is no more re- 
 stricted to one member of the chapter. 
 
 Each canon had his official duties assigned him by the bishop or 
 the chapter. Although these duties differed from time to time and 
 from one diocese to another, we will give- the offices of the chapters 
 attached to most of these 24 great cathedrals of England, before 
 the reformation swept the true church from the whole lealm. and 
 left these great monuments of the ages of faith silent witnesses of 
 that church, once so flourishing, but now fallen into heresy. 
 
 The governing court otiicers of the bishop, as head of the diocese, 
 were his vicar-general, the archpriest, the archdeacon, the chan- 
 cellor of the diocese and the bishop's secretary. The archpriest 
 and archdeacon were often members of the chapter, one being the 
 head of the priests the other the chief of the deacotis belongitjg to 
 the chapter. The bishop and his vicar did not properly belong to 
 the chapter, yet sometimes the bishop chose one of the members 
 
 « Ses. 6. C. I. de Ref. * CodcII. Trld. Sea. 24 d. 18. De Ref. 
 
THE CHAPTER ESTABLISHED IN ENGLAND. 489 
 
 of the chapter as liis vicar. The officers proper of tlie senate were, 
 the dean of the priests, or as he was called thearchpriest, who })re- 
 sided as chairman at the sittings of the chapter. The presenter 
 trained tlie choir in all the beauties of the church music or plain 
 chant. The chancellor kept the records and minutes of the meet- 
 ings, and was the clerk of the senate. The treasurer took charge 
 of all moneys and properties belonging in common to the senate; 
 another was a doctor in Divinity and two were doctors in canon 
 law; the vicar choral looked after the services and was the master 
 of ceremonies; the archschola was the schoolmaster and head of the 
 seminary for the education of the young levites, candidates for 
 holy orders; another was the chief singer, and lead the chancel 
 choir; another was the master of the fabric and took care of the 
 buildings attached to and belonging to the cathedral, while still 
 another looked after the parish duties. But they had other minor 
 duties, as the preaching of the Gospel, various learned and scien- 
 tific studies, tlie hearing of confessions and other obligations of 
 their sacred ministry. 
 
 AV hen 8t. Augustine, tall of stature and imposing in appearance, 
 landed on thesliores of Kent,' leading his forty Benedictines sent 
 by Gregory the Great for the conversion of England, carrying with 
 tiiem their library of sacred books and their knowledge of Koman 
 customs, which they have practised in St. Andrew's monastery on 
 the Coeliaiiian hill, the ancient home of the senatorial family of 
 whicli Gregory was the heir, they formed themselves into a band or 
 college of monks. St. Augustine Apostle of England founded Can- 
 terbury Cathedral. Miletus then built St. Paul's, London and laid 
 the foundations of Westminster Abbey, around which cluster the 
 history of Enghmd's greatness. Under the shadow of those hallow- 
 ed walls was born the British parliament, that mother of legislative 
 assemblies in all the English speaking nations. Paulinus establish- 
 ed the church at Lincoln and became her first bisiiop. Hissucces- 
 sor. bishoiiRemi, organized the firstchapter of thishistoric church, 
 which later became the most famous senate of the early English 
 dioceses. Henry of Huntingdon in his " Epistle to Walter " gives 
 us description of each member, in hisown quaint English, of that 
 famous chapter of Lincoln cathedral. '• The founder Remigius L 
 never saw, but of the venerable clergy, to whom he first gave places 
 in his church, I have seen every one. R.ilph the first Dean — a ven- 
 erable priest. Reyner first Ticiisurer, full of religion* had prepared 
 a tomb against the day of his death, and oft sate by it singing of 
 psalms, juid jirayinglong whiles, to use himself to his eternal home. 
 Hugh. (Chancellor), wni-thv of all memory, the mainstay, and as it 
 were the foundation of thechiirch. Osliert, Archdeacon of Bedford, 
 afterward Chancellor, a niiin wholly sweet and lovable. William, a 
 youngcanon of greiitgenius. Albin, (my own tutor), Albin's brotii- 
 er, '• most honorable men," my dearest friends— men of f)rofoundest 
 science, brightest purity, utter innocence, and yet by God's inscrut- 
 * Acta Sanctorum 399. 
 
490 THE FIRST CHAPTER AT MOXTKKAL. 
 
 able judgment smit with leprosy— but death hath made them clean. 
 Nicholas, Archdeacon of Cambridge, Huntingdon and Hertford, — 
 none more beautiful in person, in character beautiful no less, " Stel- 
 la Cleri,'^ so styled in his epitaph, a married canon, and Henry's 
 father, — Walter, prince of Orators, Geslebert, elegant in prose, in 
 verse, in dress. With so many other most honored names, I may 
 not tax your patience. ..." In his descriptions of the members of 
 this famous chapter, we find the " The Priest to the temple, the 
 Assetic, the Theologian, the Schoolmen, the great Preacher, the 
 Canonist, the winning manner of the Administrator, the polished 
 elegance of the Scholar, '^ all eminent leaders of that wonderful 
 English people, who even then were preparing the laity in future 
 ages to overrun and colonize a large part of the world, and introduce 
 their form of government but slightly modified into so many nations. 
 
 While reading this sweet description of Walter, the idea struck 
 the writer, that he too saw the first chapter which bishop Bourget 
 established in iiis ciithedral at Montreal, who went to Eome for that 
 purpose, and there lived two years, studying the cermonies of St. 
 Peter's, so he might introduce the pure Latin Rite into his church. 
 For nearly two years, each Sunday and holiday, the writer took 
 part with the canons at that new St. Peter's cathedral, Montreal, as 
 subdeacon or deacon waiting on the bishop on these great episcopal 
 ceremonies. And well he remembers the twelve canons and the 
 peculiarities of each; but alas he forgets their names, and they are 
 all now dead, but one alone remains, Rev. P. Lablanc, down whose 
 cheeks the tears ran two years ago in i-emembrance of the olden 
 times recalled to his mind, when the writer again vii^ited the ca- 
 thedral. Of the canons, one was full of grace in every movement, 
 peculiar because of his long beard; another most learned in the 
 sciencesof saintsj another washandsome, tall and slim, of a fair face; 
 all were dignified ajid courtly in manners. Like in the first chapter 
 at Lincoln, one was a married man, and the day he was received 
 into the chapter in the bishop's chapel, his little daughter nine 
 years of age knelt at the side of the writer, while the bishop coad- 
 jutor, now Archbishop Fabore, placed on his shoulders the insignia 
 of the canon. He had been a physician across the river, till his 
 wife died, when he became a priest, in that following the footsteps 
 of Card. Manning, and others, for the church condemns not mar- 
 riage, but sanctifies and hallows the legitimate union of man and 
 woman. Their saintly founder is dead, the canons were dispei-sed 
 and became pastors of other parishes, because they could not be 
 supported, as the diocese became involved in debt, and the sweet 
 singing of the holy office is heard no more in that church the same 
 as of yore, when the Roman ceremonial was carried out so beauti- 
 fully. But the time will come wiien the ciiapters will be established 
 in the cathedrals of this coui\try, and the senate will take its place 
 as becomes the perfectly formed diocese. 
 
 The twelve canons, with other clergymen took part on ceremonies 
 with the bishop. The archpriest stood at the bishop's side in cope. 
 
THE DUTIES OF EACH CANON. 491 
 
 The archdeacon was the deacon of the Mass. The chief of the 
 subdeacons was below the deacon as the siibdeacon of the Mass. 
 The chief canons in deacon's orders were tlie deacons of honor, 
 while the other canons occupied the stalls along the chancel walls. 
 
 The ceremonies of the church show the true organization of the 
 diocese on holy week, and when the bishop solemnly pontificates, 
 surrounded by both the members of his court of jurisdiction, the 
 canons and cathedral clergy. There we see the officials of the 
 diocese in their true places, as the aids and helpers of tlie bishop. 
 For the church holds to her ceremonial given in the Missal and 
 the Pontifical of the Roman diocese, and each bishop and diocese 
 of the Latin Rite must follow it. As the diocese of Peter ever re- 
 mains the same unchanged, to be the model and the normal of all 
 the other dioceses of the world, the episcopal ceremonies show the 
 varied beauties of the diocese in all its splendors, such as was prac- 
 ticed from the days of the apostles, and kept unchanged, unspotted 
 by that long line of Bishops, who sat on the throne of Peter, against 
 which the " Gates of hell have not prevailed. " The canons and 
 cathedral clergy, who do not take part in the ceremonies during 
 the pontifical ceremonies they compose the chancel choir and sing 
 parts of the Mass. At stated times each day they gather in the 
 sanctuary and sing the divine office of the Roman Breviary. The 
 punctator culls their names and keeps an account of the absent. 
 The supernumei'aries fill the stalls or seats below the regular canons, 
 for they are candidates for any stalls which may become vacant. 
 But the bishop cannot add any honorary canons without the con- 
 sent of the chapter. ' 
 
 In the early ages the bishop's house was the school or college for 
 the students, as there were no other schools at that time, and one 
 of the canons was the teacher of these students for the priesthood. 
 He was called the school master. Each week the bishop appointed 
 in his turn one of the canons to lead the people in congregational 
 singing, another to lead at the public prayers of the laity morning 
 and evenitig in the cathedral, another to attend the sick, to baptize 
 the children and look after the spiritual wtiuts of the whole city. 
 We find this latter official mentioned by the council held at Con- 
 stantinople in the year 536. Often a deacon, a siibdeacon and a por- 
 ter waited on this official, and they remained in the vestry of the 
 cathedral all night, where vvei'e guarded the holy oils, the vestments, 
 &c., so that they (iould attend the sick calls in the city without 
 delay. To-day thi.< official says the office in the choir in these 
 cathedrals where still are cathedral chapters, while on Sundays and 
 feasts, the whole cliu[)ter gather to sing or recite the office in the 
 cathedral chancel. 
 
 In the early ages, even during that epoch called the middle ages, 
 numerous gifts were left to the church and for the support of the 
 clergy. The bisho]) as head of the diocese was the administrator 
 of all these goods. The canons being the senate of the church, and 
 
 i S. CQDgreKatio 26 Feb. 1639. 
 
492 now IHE CHAPTER WAS SUPPORTED. 
 
 one authority with hirn, tliey partootc of and lived on these offer inors, 
 Avliich were tlie revenues of the cathedrah Thev first lived in the 
 episcopal palace with the bishop, but jjiter they had a separate house 
 attached to the cathedral, which in England to this day is called 
 the chapter house. Yon will find that cliapter house still standing 
 attached to many of the great cathedrals of England, Avith the bish- 
 op's palace, the monastery where the canons lived, the school 
 wliere they taught the students, the stalls where they sat when sing- 
 ing the divine oftice. But the chapter house where they met and 
 legislated for the diocese, the cathedral excepted, was usually the 
 finest buiUling, often it was decorated like the cathedral. Fre- 
 quently the chii])ter house was a chapel or part of the cathedral itself. 
 To understantl the comj»lete architecture of one of these famous 
 cathedrals, one must nndeistand the constitution of the diocese, 
 which there is impressed on the sacred buildings of England, now 
 isad and Filent monuments of these ages of faith. 
 
 1'he way the canons must be snpported was given by divers 
 early councils. The council of Trent says that the bishops, as the 
 delegates of the Pope, must distribute these offerings and reven- 
 ues of the church to the members of the cathedial clergy. The 
 details of this distribution would weary the reader, but all was 
 carried out in the most regular manner according to statute. The 
 canons who had served for forty years could be retired with full 
 support. The sick and disabled were supported as well as the well 
 and strong. 
 
 The complete destruction of the church in England, the confis- 
 cation of church property in France, the upheavals during the ter- 
 rible French revolution, and the persecutions of the church in other 
 countries have interfered with tiie full establishment and workings 
 of the cathedral chapters. In this country the bishop's council, 
 formed of liis officials at the cathedral, the heads of religious orders 
 in his diocese, and the chief pastors of the diocese, are but the 
 shadow of the venerable senate of the diocese. We are waiting 
 till the clr.u'ch grows, so we can introduce the chapter in its full 
 vigor into the dioceses of the English speaking races. 
 
 The cathedral chajiter is the diocesan senate. They form a 
 deliberative boily, theactsof which are complete and valid only with 
 the (;onsent and ratification of the bishop. Two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers form a quorum and are required for business, and if less than 
 that number meet, the absent ones can meet and nullify the 
 proceedings. In voting the juajority rules, the same as in all 
 civil legislative bodies, which have only copied the customs of the 
 cathedral chapter all over the christian world. The bishop there- 
 fore, with the majoritv of the chapter, can override the minority of 
 the chapter, and pass any measure they see fit for the good of the 
 diocese, or even in matters relating to the chajUer or its members 
 taken as a body. But they cannot interfere in the private and 
 personal business or properties of the members, as they are founded 
 on the natural law. No measure or diocesjvn law passed by the 
 
THE POWERS OF THE CHAPTER. 493 
 
 senate becomes valid without the approbation of the bishop, who 
 can veto any measure he does not approve, the same as the Pope 
 may veto any decision of the cardinals, as the governor or president 
 can veto any law enacted by the legislature or by congress. 
 
 The reader will therefore see tiiat the bishop holds a relation to 
 the chapter, like the Pope to the senate of cardinals, or the 
 governor of a state, or the president of the United States regarding 
 laws passed by the legislature of the state or congress. But the 
 bishop has more power in his diocese than the governor has in the 
 state. For the Pope has supreme jurisdiction over the whole 
 church and over each member, and he can annul all enactments 
 of any diocese if he sees it is right to do so, but the president can- 
 not do regarding any state. Nor must any one say that the diocese 
 or cathedral chapter was formed or copied from any form of civil 
 government, because the cathedral chapter or senate of the dio- 
 cese was formed by the apostles themselves, for we find that they 
 were in every church or diocese founded by the apostles. No 
 council organized them, no writer mentions them, but speaks of 
 them as being everywhere spread fi'om the apostolic age. 
 The civil legislatni-es were copied from them and they gave the 
 first im|)ulse to the parliamentary and legislative forms of gov- 
 ernments throughout the whole world. But although desirable yet 
 the chapter is not essential to the diocese. 
 
 The chapter must meet in the church, hall or senate chamber 
 appointed for that purpose, nor Ctin they without a just cause sit 
 in any other place. ' But this does not oblige under pain of the 
 proceedings being invalid. The bishop cannot call the chapter 
 to meet in his house, but only in the church or in the usual place, 
 unless the contrary custom prevails, which may be followed. 
 The sacred congregation decided regarding the senate of the 
 archdiocese of Tourin,* defining that when they sat to deliberate on 
 matters relating to the private affairs of the archbishop himself, 
 neither the latter nor his vicar general could be present. The 
 chapter may elect a bishop when the see is vacant in any room, 
 chapel or hall, even without any reason, except the election of the 
 Bishop of Rome by the senate of cardinals, which must be held in 
 the conclave, as given in a former chapter, otherwise it would be 
 invalid. ^ 
 
 The senate usually is called by the chairman or president of the 
 chapter, and they may meet at any time or place wlien they are 
 accustomed to meet. The bishop can call them together when he 
 wishes by its chairman to a special session, or to elect a bishop, be- 
 cause the see has become vacant, when new members of the senate 
 are to be received, and when important measures are to be brought 
 before them. It is not required of the chairman to tell them be- 
 fore the meeting what matters are to be discussed, * because having 
 heard the matters regularly brought before the senate, they can 
 adjourn. 
 
 ■'Laurenliis For. Eccl. T. xi. L. Hi. * Nov. 28, 1650. 
 
 8 Cbl Perlc. De Elect. (5, ^terni Patris. Greff. XV, &c. < Concil. 13 March, 1655. 
 
494 THE CHAPTER THE BISHOP's CKOWX. 
 
 The matters coming before the senate relate to religions affairs 
 in the diocese, the celebration of Mass, the holding of divine ser- 
 vices, the correction of abuses, the punishment of those who tend 
 not to their duties in the church, the temporal business and prop- 
 erties of the church and of the diocese generally, to all things which 
 relate to the spiritual good of religion in the diocese. Such say 
 the councils belong to the cathedral chapter. But when they meet 
 for the election of the bishop, in many places they follow the rules 
 of the conclave for the election of the Bishop of Rome. The re- 
 spective dignities and powers of the bishop and of the senate are 
 80 arranged by the canons, that there cannot be any clashing be- 
 tween them. Nothing so adds to the peace and prosperity of 
 religion in a diocese as to bring all matters before the chapter for 
 discussion, before the bishop puts them into execution. 
 
 The Pope alone can erect and form a cathedral chapter. When 
 he has erected such a body, without the consent of the senate, the 
 bishop cannot admit new members of the chapter nor new digni- 
 taries, as this frequently was defined by the sacred congregation. 
 But if the chapter act unreasonably, the holy congregation will 
 take the matter in their hands. 
 
 The appointment of pastors and ministers to parishes, benefices 
 and church livings, belongs not to the power of holy orders, but 
 to jurisdiction. Therefore as delegates of the Holy See, the bish- 
 ops appoint pastors and other officers in the diocese. For that 
 reason the bishop should consult his senate or chapter established 
 by Rome before making such appointments. In certain cases the 
 Pope himself appoints certain officials of the diocese and of the 
 chapter. Even it is a grave question whether the bishop alone or 
 only the chapter appoints the rector of the cathedral. The read- 
 er will see at once the wonderful wisdom of tlie apostles appoint- 
 ing that presbytery or chapter in each diocese, which the bishop 
 must consult before undertaking important matters. The univer- 
 sal church represented by the Pope, and the diocese represented by 
 the presbytery, his sons, surround the bishop with the chapter his 
 crown, who enlighten him regarding his movements for the good of 
 religion, and thus the mitre is not left to stand alone, but is helped 
 by other aids in that high and godly office. 
 
 The duties of the senate are fully given in canon law, and 
 here we will only give a rapid glance of them. Above all the 
 members of the chapter must show honor and respect to the bish- 
 op, the head of the diocese, the Aaron of the New Testament. He 
 sits on his episcopal throne as the high priest of the diocese, the 
 first in the sanctuary, and he is the chief authority at all meetings, 
 where in virtue of his office he presides.' Over his throne should 
 be a canopy, a sign of his supremacy. When he celebrates solemn 
 Mass, or carries out other episcopal ceremonies, he must be assist- 
 ed by the chapter and other dignities of the diocese.' The Roman 
 
 ' Concll. Trident. Se». 26 De Ref. ' 
 
 * CoocU. Trid. 8es. 84. c. 1«. Oe Bef. 
 
THE BISHOP MUST CONSULT HIS COUNCII^. 49.5 
 
 Ceremonial points out the duties of eacli official waiting on the 
 bishop.' The chapter must aid him on all ceremonies within the epis- 
 copal city and on episcopal visitations outside the city. But the ca- 
 thedral must not be left without clergymen, to attend to the spiritual 
 wants of the parish during such episcopal visitations of the diocese. 
 
 From the days of the apostles to the middle ages, the bishop 
 could undertake no impoi'tant work, without first layi?ig it before 
 tlie senate, who first passed tiie statute, and when it was signed by 
 the bishop it became a law for the diocese. Without the consent 
 or signature of the bisliop, the senate could pass no measure. 
 Their relations with the the bishop as given by the documents of 
 the early church was similar to the relations of the congress to the 
 president, or to the state legislatures regarding the govei'nor, or 
 rather that of the senate of the United iStates with regard to the 
 president. But the church found it necessary to restrict the pow- 
 ers of the chapter, till the council of Trent defined the mutual 
 duties and obligations of both the bishop and the chapter. This 
 was caused by the action of the chapters, which in some places put dif- 
 ficulties in the way of the bishop, and tried to lestrict liis authority 
 in his diocese. The mind of tlie church, directed by the Holy 
 Spirit who dwells within her, is to liave a cathedral chapter or 
 senate in every diocese, who will be the ornament and the aid of 
 the bishop, thus giving a perfection and a beauty to the episcopal 
 order, and to the cathedral, the capitol of the diocese, which can- 
 not be replaced in the church by any other means. 
 
 By the common law, the bishop must consult his chapter in the 
 administration of important mutters of the diocese.^ Alexander 
 III. in writing to the patriarch of Jerusalem says : " Let it be 
 known to tliee in thy care and prudence, how thou and they form 
 one body, of wliich thou art the head, and they are the members. 
 Whence it doth not become thee to put aside the members, and 
 use the councils of others in the business of thy church, because 
 without doubt it would be against your welfare, and contrary to 
 the institutions of the holy fathers. For it has come to our ears, 
 that you act without the councils of your brethren We com- 
 mand you, our brother, tliat in appointments and comfirmations, 
 and in other religious business of your church, you seek the advice 
 of your brethren, and that you act with their council or with the 
 advice of the lai-ger part of them, and in that way you shall act 
 and proceed so that you form statutes, which are to be passed, and 
 correct errors, and root up and destroy evil." Following then 
 such decrees of Popes the decrees of councils, and the entire body 
 of ecclesiastical lawyers, we conclude that the bishop must con- 
 sult his council in important matters of the diocese. But he is not 
 obliged to follow their advice, ami where the contrary custom is 
 tolerated by Rome, he can even act without first consulting them. 
 The common law specifies the cases when the bishop is bound tp 
 
 ' CoDR. Rlt. March 23, 1592. ' Lib. iii. Decrat. Tit. 10. 
 
496 FORBIDDEN TO ACT WITHOUT HIS CLERGY. 
 
 ask the advice of liis council, but we will not stop now to give the 
 cases laid down in the common law. 
 
 We have said that the bishop was not obliged to follow the ad- 
 vice of his council, but tiiere are certain things he cannot do with- 
 out the consent of the chapter. Thus against their advice, he can- 
 not put a heavy debt on tiie church property, soil the cathedral, 
 alienate any part of the real estate belonging to the church," and 
 other things which would notably change the condition of the 
 church or diocese, all these are given in the councils of the church. 
 
 The IV, council of Carthage defined: ' *' The bishop must hear 
 the case of no one without the presence of his clergy, otherwise 
 the sentence of the bishop will be invalid, without it is con- 
 firmed by the presence of the clergy, " and that wise law was in- 
 corporated into the common law of the universal church, ' 
 Alexander III, decreed: '' As the priests are sons and brothers, 
 you must foster them with brotherly charity. We command that 
 you in no way presume to exact from them unaccustomed duties, 
 or unreasonably weigh them down, or treat them dishonestly, or 
 suspend them without the judgment of the chapter, or try to put 
 their churches under an edict, , , . , and be it known to you for 
 certain, that if such rumors again come to our ears, or that if 
 you commit such excesses again, Ave will punish you, in such a way, 
 that the fear of such a punishment will make you abstain from 
 such things in the future,'' From these two texts Leurenins 
 concludes that the bishop's condemnation of any clergyman or 
 the suspension of divine services in his church without the consent 
 of the chapter w^uld be invalid. This seems to be the opinion 
 of all writers on the subject, because the bishop must get the 
 consent of the council on all important matters relating to religion 
 in the diocese, and the suspension of a priest or the forbidding of 
 divine services in a church, is certainly a most inipoitant thing 
 for the whole diocese, especially in our days when such things 
 are often published far and wide in the news})apcrs. According 
 to the recent decisions of the Roman tribunals, the bishop can 
 examine into charges and punish the clergy of his diocese witliout 
 the consent of the chapter. But in tliis country, in Italy, &c,, 
 he must follow tlie rules of the papal decree " Cum Magnopere." 
 before depriving them of any parish, or before moving any per- 
 manent rector, as a punishment. 
 
 The bishop is the head, and the senate or chapter is the body 
 and chief members of the cathedral and of the diocesan clergy. 
 The members do not rule the head, and therefore the chapter 
 cannot make regulations for the bishop, nor for the dioceses with- 
 out the consent of the bishop. But they can lay down rules for 
 their own meetings, and for themselves, as they compose a cor- 
 porate board. But without the bishop's consent, they cannot 
 make laws for the diocese, or do anything to change the existing 
 
 > Cap. sine Excep. 12 Q. 3. * C. 88. ' As given in Ub. V. Decrat. Tit. 31. 
 
THE LEGISLATURE OF THE DIOCESE. 4^7 
 
 state of things in any church in the diocese. Taken separately 
 from the Bishop of Rome, the senate of cardinals or the other 
 bishops have not jurisdiction in the universal church, and wiien 
 they meet in council to legislate for the whole church, they meet 
 at the call and under the chairmanship of the Pope, present in 
 person or by his legate. Neither has the chapter of tiie cathe- 
 dral any jurisdiction in the diocese taken separately from the 
 bishop, and therefore separted from him they cannot make laws 
 and statutes for the diocese, — their enactments must be signed by 
 him befoi-e they become laws, only his consent or signature then 
 giving them all their force and authority. But as a body corporate, 
 they may make their own regulations regarding meetings, the 
 time and mode of procedure, they can elect their chairman, &c. The 
 senates and legislative bodies of civil governments in every nation 
 regulate their own internal affairs, and allow no one but a mem- 
 ber to interfere with thetn, or even to enter the senate chamber or 
 speak while they are in session without their consent. UMie 
 chapter then without tiie bishop can make laws which do not re- 
 late to the diocese, the cathedral church, or to the personal rights 
 of the bishop. This is given in the common law. But the 
 bishop can veto any measure which exceeds the authority, which 
 the common law gives the senate of the diocese. They may pass 
 laws relating to the personal rights of the bishop, and affecting 
 the cathedral church and diocese, even without the bishop's con^ 
 sent, but they will remain null and void until the bishop consents. 
 But by his tacit consent or silence, or if he says nothing, after a 
 certain time they may become statutes for the diocese. As the 
 administration of the cathedral belongs to both the bishop and the 
 chapter taken together, and as when once formed by the Pope, 
 their authority comes from the universal church given them by 
 the common law, the council of Trent therefore says tiiat the 
 bishop forming a cathedral clergy or cliapter acts as the delegate 
 of the Apostolic See, ' and he may assign to each a part of the 
 revenues for his living. Then the administration of the cathedral 
 church belongs to the bishop and the senate together, and one 
 without the other cannot make laws relating to its services, the 
 administratioTi, &c., of the diocese. The bishop can force them to 
 take measures which he sees necessary for the churcli. The 
 laws passed by the senate and approved, either by the bishop or 
 by the Holy See. bind each and every member of the chapter, the 
 clergy and laity of the diocese, and the chai3ter can punish those 
 who disobey tliese laws. 
 
 The common law directs the bisliop to hold a synod of the dio- 
 cesan clergv jit stilted times, and he can call the clergy together 
 without iisking the advice of the chapter, for in this he is di- 
 rected by the comtnon law of the universal cliurch. In enacting 
 the statutes of the diocese in the synod, he need not ask the con- 
 sent of the chapter, for he is the legislator of the diocese. But it 
 > Ses. 22. C. 3. De Rcf. 
 
498 WHO CORRECTS THE BISHOP. 
 
 is dispnted whether these statutes would be valid without the ad- 
 vice of the chapter. 
 
 The chapter, forming a social board or a moral body with their 
 chairman, they can punish any member of their own body, any 
 cleric or clergyman who is delinquent in his duties. Where it is 
 the custom, tiiey can meet without the permission of the bishop, 
 according to the accustomed time and place, but when it is cus- 
 tomary for the bishop to call tl.em for a special session, tiiey 
 come only at his call to such special sessions, as the Kota defined". 
 But most authors say that they can meet at any time without the 
 consent of the bishop, and that seems to be the intention of 
 Rome. ' Bouix says* that by tlie common law, thev can meet 
 any time or place they wish without the consent of the bishop, 
 except where the contrary custom exists, or when for a grave 
 reason the bishop forbade such a meeting. 
 
 The canons of the cathed'-al alone form the senate, and the par- 
 ish pi'iests or other clergy of the diocese do not belong to it, for 
 by the common law only the canons compose the senate. The 
 permanent rectors and the bishop's council take the place of the 
 chapter at present in the English speaking countries. But it is 
 only for a time, till the regular senate can be formed. ' The 
 other clergy of the diocese then cannot meet without the consent 
 of the bishop, or form a body for the business of the church or 
 t)f the diocese, for the common law does not give them any such 
 license. But when the cause of religion requires, the priests of 
 the diocese can meet to take measures to aid religion or for 
 other good works. 
 
 The wife being one with the husband, as shown by the creation 
 of Eve from the bone aiul flesh of the first man, and in the for- 
 mation of the universal church from Christ, the clergy and the 
 bishop of the diocese, from whom they come by ordination, are 
 one body and the laity are their spiritual children. The wife is not 
 only the aid and the helpmate of her husband, but she advises him 
 and admonishes him of his faults. The cathedral chapter, being 
 the chief clergymen of the diocese, formed and ordained by him, 
 they are united to the bishop by a closer tie than the other 
 clergy. As St. Paul admonished St. Peter, * although subject to 
 the authority of the latter, so the chapter can advise and admon- 
 ish the bishop, that by this brotherly warning the bishop may 
 correct his faults. And speaking of this, Gregory the Great 
 Bays: " Peter was silent, because as he was the first among the apos- 
 tles, he would be first in humility."* Of it St. Augustine says: 
 " A rarer and a holier example Peter left to posterity, by which 
 
 we deign to be corrected by our inferiors," • "take pity not 
 
 only on yon, but also on your prelates, because the higher places 
 they occupy, the more danger they are in.*'* Therefore with 
 great prudence and from the sole motive of charity, superiors 
 
 " Rota 9 March, 1684. » De Cap. p. 418. » Conrll. Bait. III. N. 17. 
 
 ♦ Galat. 11. II. » Horn. 1». Ezech. • Eplst. ad Hler. ' Epist. 109. 
 
THE PRESBYTERY ON HOLY WEEK. 499 
 
 may be correcfcod by inferiors pointing out tlieir ftuilts, and tlie 
 history of the chureb tells us bow those who did so were hon- 
 ored, wben they did it with wortby reverence, as becoming to 
 the episcopiil dignity. This duty belongs to the chapter or the 
 bishop's council, and under pain of sin they are obliged to notify 
 the Holy See if the bishop falls from the faith, or if he does any- 
 thing which would redound to the detriment of religion. But 
 this hardly ever happens, but it shows the wisdom of the church in 
 leaving no church or diocese tobecome the prey of human weakness. 
 
 The council of Trent directs seminaries for the education of 
 the clergy to be built in every diocese, when it can be done, and 
 the chapter with the bishop has the care of the institution. 
 The bishop, aided by two members of the chapter forming an 
 administrative board, takes charge of the spiritual government 
 of the diocesan seminary. The bishop himself elects these 
 two canons, but he cannot remove them without just and legal 
 reasons. He must seek their advice in the spiritual administra- 
 tion of the seminary, but he is not bound to follow their advice. 
 According to the same council, two other canons and two 
 clergymen of the cathedral city aid the bishop in the temporal 
 administration of the seminary. The bishop chooses one canon 
 and the chapter the other, while the bishop selects one of the 
 city clergymen and the diocesan clergy nominate the other. The 
 members of this board are permanent, being only removed for 
 cause. The bishop must consult this committee in administering 
 the seminary, and without so doing his action would be null and 
 void, but he is not required to follow their advice in the temporal 
 administration of the seminary. The common law and the de- 
 cisions of the Roman congregations, give minute details regarding 
 these tilings, which would not interest the laity and therefore we 
 pass them by. 
 
 On church ceremonies, the canons wear the rochet as a sign 
 of their radical jurisdiction, the cappa and other insignia of 
 their office which becomes administrative when the see is vacant. 
 The stalls where they sit are generally carved in most beautiful fig- 
 ures as given in the engravings. Each day they come at stated times 
 to sing the divine office in the cathedral chancel, with its peculiar 
 quaint music, reminding us of the strain of choral singing estab- 
 lished by David and by Solomon in the ancient tabernacle and 
 temple of the Jews. On Holy Week, during these ceremonies 
 which the church has guarded with such care, at the blessing of 
 the holy oils, and during the singing of the Lamentations, the an- 
 cient presbytery of the apostolic age may be seen in all its beauti- 
 ful simplicity, where the twelve priests, seven deacons, and seven 
 subdeacons surround the bishop, as they did when the apostles 
 appointed the senate of the diocese in every church which they 
 established. The canons fulfil the chief functions after the bish- 
 op, and the clergy of the city and of the country parishes come to get 
 the hallowed oils, which they carry home to use in the adminis- 
 
600 WHEN THE SEE BECOMES VACANT. 
 
 tration of the sacraments, and in other church functions of their 
 parishes during the year. We refer the reader to one of our 
 former books' for a history, description and tlie mystic meanings 
 of the ceremonies of holy weeic. Tiie chancel of tiie cathedral rep- 
 resents to our eyes in a material form that heavenly Jerusalem, 
 seen by the beloved apostle while exiled in Patmos. As there are 
 divers grades of angels and men ministering before the eternal 
 throne of God Almighty, thus the canons of the cathedral ap- 
 proach near their bisiiop, who to them represents Jesus, and for 
 that reason the church defines the various grades they will occupy, 
 while taking part in the ceremonies of the cathedral. 
 
 What we said thus far relate^ to the duties of the senate, while 
 the see is occupied by her own bishop. Now we will give their duties 
 when the episcopal throne becomes vacant, which takes place at 
 the bishop's death, when he moves to another see, resigns, be- 
 comes a heretic or is deposed. Then the administration belongs to 
 the senate, because the administration of the diocese belongs to 
 the bishop, and the chapter as the head and body, as they form one 
 only authority. But if the head be takeii away, the administra- 
 tion falls back on the chapter, as the members of that moral body, 
 which lost its head. Such are the provisions of the common law. ' 
 That happens the moment the bishop dies, is changed, or has 
 been pronounced a heretic, for the diocese ceases not a moment to 
 have the jurisdiction given her by the common law. If Rome re- 
 moves him to another diocese, the senate receives jurisdiction the 
 moment they are officially notified of the removal. Witiiin eight 
 days from the time they obtain jurisdiction, they must appoint a 
 vicar capitular administrator of the diocese, while during this in- 
 terval, before such appointment, the administration rcsts witli the 
 whole chapter, as the administration of the whole church belongs 
 to the cardinals when the.Popedies. The Council of Trent states 
 that the chapter cannot hold the administration longer than these 
 eight dayp. 
 
 Before the said council, the archdeacon took charge of the tem- 
 porals or worldly matters, while the archpriest had the spiritual 
 administration of the diocese. This seems to have been the cus- 
 tom in nearly all dioceses in former epochs up to the time of the 
 apostles. But according to our more modern mode of discipline, 
 ti)e administration of tne vacant diocese belongs to the whole 
 chapter taken as a body, with administrative powers, and within 
 eight days they must appoint a vicar, till the new bishop is ap- 
 pointed by the Holy See. ' In some places they used to appoint 
 two or more vicars during a vacancy, who took turns in adminis- 
 tering, or administered together the diocese. Where this has been 
 the custom for many centuries, it may be continued, as Rome de- 
 cided a number of times. Rome would not let the chapter of Lima, 
 Peru, select two administrators, one to administer the archdiocese, 
 
 • THE FESTAL YEAR. 
 
 » Boniface vlll. Decret.C. Si. EpW. Prael. In 6. Condi. TrW. Ses. C. 7. IQ. Sec. 
 
 * CoQcll. Trld. Ses. 24 C. 16 De Bet. 
 
APPOINTING AX ADMIXISTRATOK. 501 
 
 the other to hear cases of appeal ^roin the suffragan diocese, be- 
 cause such a custom did not exist for centuries, and the congrega- 
 tion directed them to appoint one administrator versed in canon 
 law — a decree which was contirmed by Urban VIII. ' The custom 
 of appointing more than one administrator must have existed in 
 the diocese for a long time, otherwise the appointment belongs to 
 the archbishop, as the couiicil of Trent says. Therefore we sum 
 up bj saying, that within eight days from the time that tlie see 
 becomes vacant, the chapter must elect one administrator, who is 
 a doctor in canon law, or otherwise a wortiiy clergyn)an, and if 
 any of these three things be absent, the appointment belongs to 
 the archbishop. 
 
 Tiie chapter cannot reserve to itself any administrative powers 
 over the diocese, as the administrator has complete authority 
 given him by the common law. They cannot appoint him as a 
 temporary administrator, but his authority lusts for the whole 
 time during which the see remains vacant, nor can they remove 
 him without a just cause, on whicii the Koman congregation shall 
 first pass sentence. When disputes arise among them about 
 whom they ought to nominate, Rome often appoints another 
 belonging to neither faction, who will have charge of the diocese 
 till the new bioliop is appointed. The admniistrator is generally 
 taken from among the canons, but if they choose a priest not a 
 canon, Rome will not reverse the election. They frequently elect the 
 vicar-general of the former bishop, a member of the chapter, a 
 Avell-known priest, or a pastor of a city parish, and they are free in 
 choosing whom they think the most worthy. But the mmd of 
 tiie church seems to direct them to select a clergyman who is a doc- 
 tor in canon law, so that he will act according to the wise laws of 
 the church in all his official duties. He should live in the city, 
 as most authors say, and therefore it is not customary to choose a 
 country pastor. As pastors have enough to do to take care of 
 their parishes, it is not customary to choose one of them, but 
 rather a member of the chapter, who will be free to give all his 
 time to the administration of the diocese during the vacancy. 
 
 In the infancy of the American church, the bishops of the 
 ecclesiastical province met in council, and sent the names of three 
 candidates for the vacant see to Rome, with their fitness giveii as 
 tlie worthy, tiie more worthy, and the most worthy, and the Holy 
 See selected the candidate from among them, or rejected the three 
 and appointed another. 
 
 The III. council of Baltimore under the direction of the Great 
 Leo XIII., lays down the following rules to be followed for the 
 present time till cathedral chapters can be formed in this country. 
 When the see becomes vacant, the bishop's couiicil, the image of the 
 cathedral chapter, and the permanent rectors of the diocese, meet 
 nnder the chairmanship of the archbishop, or of a bishop of the 
 province named by the archbishop, or if tiie arch iepiscopal see it- 
 ' Exponi Nobis. 
 
SO^ ELECTING A BISHOP. 
 
 eelf be vacant, under the bishop*of tlie province the senior in epis- 
 copal orders. Then the members of this quasi senate of the dio- 
 cese, taice an oath that they will not be moved to vote for any one 
 by favorsof any kind, they choose the candidates they think wortliy 
 for bisho})ric of the vacant diocese, and ihe archbishop sends tlie 
 minutes of the meeting to the Holy See, and to each of the bishops 
 of tlie province. The bishops of the province then meet ami vote 
 for the candidates. If they reject the men proposed by the])iiests 
 of the diocese, they must send their reasons to Rome against 
 them.' In Ii-eland, England, and Scotland, and some of tiie col- 
 onies, the priests of the diocese propose the names to Rome for 
 the vacant diocese. Where regular chapters have been established, 
 they meet ajid nominate the bishop, many chapters following the 
 "wise rules of the venerable senate of the universal church, the col- 
 lege of cardinals in the election of a Pope. 
 
 ' Council Bait. III. T. xv. 15. 
 
^ N the early church the priests were called simply the preshytery^ 
 %h or later presbyters of the diocese. ^ In the VI. and VII. 
 (^ centuries they were known as the parish presbyters or parish 
 priests.' In the VI. century some of them were named arch- 
 priests.* The Greek word meaninjr parish often sicrnified the whole 
 diocese or territory subject to tlie bishop. From tlie apostolic asre 
 the limits of the bishop's authority were defined forojich bishop, " 
 and clersfymen were forbidden to pass from one diocese to an- 
 other, 8t. Jerom uses the word parish to sisfjiifv the diocese." 
 Some authors say that the word parish comes from Greek meaning 
 subject to the bishop, while others think itmenns a little citv or 
 country villasfe outside the cities, toAvhich in the first ages the bish- 
 ops sent certain pi-iests to take care of the spiritual wants of the 
 christians there living. The early writers and first councils of 
 the church quite often used the word parish. 
 
 ' Council earth. Iv. C. 34. Council Tar. held .510. &c. = Conncil Tol. 111. held In 589. 
 
 ' Council Valent. ill. C. 9. ■• Council Tiiron. held in 561. C. 7. 19. 
 
 * Concil. Ant. C. 9. et 21. « Ep'st. Ad. Pam. 
 
 503 
 
604 THE BISHOP PASerOE OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 As Christ founded the church universal in the peraons of the 
 apostles, to them giving the care of the flocks in subordination to 
 Peter, thebishops and their successors have in their diocese ordin- 
 ary power of feeding the sheep of Christ in their own name. 
 But as a pastor has the care of souls in a certain part of the dio- 
 cese, and not over all the diocese, it follows that he is not the 
 pastor of all the parishes in the diocese. ' The Pope has complete 
 power over the whole church as the Vicar of Christ, but he is not 
 tlie bishop of all the dioceses, but of that of Rome. In the same 
 way the bishop may be especially the pastor of the cathedral par- 
 ish, but he has not the parish titles of all the other parish churches 
 in his diocese. As the bishop is subject to the rules of the uni- 
 versal church, from which he comes into his diocese, so the pastor 
 is subject to the rules of the diocese, from which he came by or- 
 dination and appointment to the parish. 
 
 Up to the IV. century there were no divisions of the diocesea 
 or parishes, except in Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. Before 
 this time the bishops sent clergymen each Sunday to say mass and 
 preach to the people of the diocese, who could not come to the 
 cathedral. The bishop at that time was the pastor of the whole 
 diocese, and both clergy and jieople of the episcopal city came 
 each Sunday and feast day to the cathedral, to celebrate the divine 
 mysteries with him. The remains of this are seen to day in the 
 ceremonies of holy week, when the bishop blesses the holy oils with 
 the priests, deacons and subdeacons taking part with him. 'J'he an- 
 cient authorities, who prove this are too numerous to cite. Thereto 
 the cathedral church, they all came to receive the sacraments, to 
 hear the Gospel preached, and to receive the spiritual nourishments 
 of religion. The bishop at that time ordained the priests, deacons 
 and clergy he wanted for the work of the ministry. He appointed 
 them for the needed work, and he removed them at his will. 
 
 In the early church then there were no parishes, either in the 
 country or in the cities, — each diocese was a large parish, with one 
 cathedral, and often some filial churches in the city and suburbs. 
 There was a bishop there in every city, where a large congregation 
 was found, which generally would be attended from the cathedral. 
 But as tlie people of the country became converts to the faith, 
 the bishopcould notalone with his cathedral clergy attend to them, 
 and certain country parts of the diocese were marked out called 
 villas, regions or later paishes. This took place about the mid- 
 dle of the IV. century. * Still most of the people of the cities at- 
 tend the bishop's church — or cathedral, it often being the only 
 one in the city. This continued till the X. century, when the 
 cities were in their turn divided up into city parishes. The early 
 exceptions to this general rule were found in the great cities of 
 Rome and Alexundna, which under the influence of St. Peter 
 and his immediate successors was divided into regions, a priest 
 called a cardinal being placed over each, the image of the future 
 > Bouiz Tract. De Parocbo C. ii. n. 2. > Tbomaaslaus. 
 
THE ORIGIX OF PAUTSHES. 505 
 
 parish. ' Some writers say the parishes come from the apostles, 
 others that they were iiistitnted by the Popes, by St. Aiiacletus or 
 Clement I, while others think they were only instituted about the 
 IV. century, and even then they were found only in country 
 places in Europe, where the bishops could not personally attend 
 to the wants of tlie people. Even at the time of the Council of 
 Trent, some of the episcopal cities had no parishes. " Only the 
 country parishes were formed before the X. century, while the 
 cathedral parish took in the whole city. As the dioceses grew 
 larger and more populous, the bishop at his c:ithedral alone could 
 not attend to the spiritual wants of the people of his cathedral 
 city, and he appointed priests to administer the sacraments in 
 other churches. As a general rule, the arch]n-iest took upon 
 himself to provide for these wants, not only in the episcopal 
 city, but also throughont the diocese. Hence he was the vicar- 
 general of the bishop in spiritual matters, not only for the epis- 
 copal city, but for the whole diocese, Avhile the iii'chdeacon at- 
 tended to the temporal affairs. Such was the origin of the 
 vicar-general, who to-day takes the place of the archdeacon, and 
 sometimes of the archpriest, in our modern mode of administra- 
 tion. 
 
 We read that our blessed Lord chose 73 disciples, and sent 
 them into all the cities of Judea to go befoi'e his face." Accord- 
 ing to some writers the first deacons appointed by the apostles* 
 were chosen from them; others even think they were the priests, 
 saying that thus Christ founded the church — the pa])acy in Peter, 
 the episcopacy in the apostles, and tlie priesthood in the 72 dis- 
 ciples. 13ut it is generally held that these disciples were only 
 chosen temporarily for the mission of preparing for the coming 
 of Christ, like St. John the Baptist and the prophets, and that 
 they received no lasting power, such as the apostles received. They 
 may be compared to lay missionaries, who go from place to place 
 in pagan countries, preaching the Gospel and preparing for the 
 establishment of real parishes and dioceses. They were the tyjies 
 of the ministers of the church, as the Council of Trent says the 
 church was founded on the bishops, the presbyters and the min- 
 isters. From this it follows that parish priests were not insti- 
 tuted by our Lord, but that they are a purely church institution, 
 Avhich came later than the diocese. Yet the false decretals of 
 Mercator say that Pope Anacletus claims the parish priests were 
 instituted by the apostles in the persons of the 72 disciples, whom 
 they elected and ordained to the priesthood after the ascension of 
 our blessed Lord. According to the best authorities, each apostle 
 and bishop of the early church had with him a body of priests 
 and ministers, who formed a senate of the diocese. They aided 
 him in the government of the dioceses and in the administration 
 of the sacraments. But they had no charge of souls separate or 
 independent of the bishop. Pope Anacletus the second from St. 
 
 > Bouix De Parocho p. 85. ' De Ref. Chap. 13. ^ Luke x. * Acts. 
 
506 WHO INSTITUTED PARISH PRIESTS ? 
 
 Peter in the Roman See. as reported in these Decretals, says: 
 '* The order of tlie priesthood is double, thns the Lord instituted 
 it, it should be disturbed by no one. The bishops hold the place 
 of the apostles of the Lord, the presbyteis hold the place of the 
 "72 disciples."' Ven Bede holds that the priests were typified by the 
 72 disciples. Numerous Popes, councils and famous writers of the 
 early ages liold the same doctrine, which probably shows that the 
 Lord laid the foundation of the three distinct organizations into 
 which the church is to-day divided, the papacy, the diocese 
 and the parish. The professors of the Sorbonne at Paris, a un- 
 iversity founded by Charlemagne in 790, held that the Lord insti- 
 tuted the parish priests in the persons of the '72 disciples, but the 
 doctrines of the Sorbonne were not always tiic most orthodox. 
 In that famous school, it is true, during the middle ages there 
 gathered sometimes .30,000 students. In it the great S*.s. Thomas, 
 Bonaventure, Peter Lombard, &c., taught. But in latter times, 
 it became the fountain head of many errors, which in the last 
 century developed into Galicanism, which endeavored to dimin- 
 ish the authority of the Poman Pontiff. The Vatican council 
 put an end to its errors. Frequently the Popes had condemned 
 the false tenets of that school, which ever tended to lower tlie 
 authority of the Pope, and to elevate in its stead the royal power, 
 and under this the bishops, the parish priests and the national 
 churches. Clement XI. condemned John Major, a professor of 
 the Sorbonne, who taught that Christ instituted parish priests. 
 
 From the earliest ages of the church, priests an(l deacons helped 
 the bishop in the administration of the church. They formed 
 the ancient presbytery or the senate of the diocese, which latter 
 became the cathedral chapter, as given in the preceding chapter. 
 But these were not parish priests. They did not fulfil the 
 office of a parish priest. They did what the bishop com- 
 manded them, and their authority ended when they finishe<l 
 that particular work. Their authority did not extend to any 
 particular part of the diocese as a parisli, but to the whole diocese. 
 They were the assistants, or the vicars of the bishop, and without 
 a special mandate of the bishop, they could not fulfil the duties 
 of the pastors. This St Ignatius thet-econd from St. Peter in the 
 see of Antioch tell us.' Many ancient councils and decrees of the 
 Popes prove to us the same. We must then conclude, that all 
 history tells us that the parish priests were not instituted by our 
 Lord, or by the apostles, but that parishes are the creations of the 
 church, while the orders of ministers, priests, bishops and the 
 Papacy were instituted by Christ. 
 
 In the IV. century rose the errors of Aerius, who claimed 
 that presbyters, or priests, are equal to bishops. That error was 
 revived at the reformation and condemned by the council of Trent, 
 but it is held by many of the separated churches in our day. 
 
 Towards the beginning of the IV. century, the population of 
 
 > Evaog. LucsC. la ' Epist. act Smyr. □. 8. 
 
THE RISE OF GALICAN ERRORS. 607 
 
 the diooese grew so large, that even with tlie help of their pres- 
 byters or priests, the bishops could not attend to the spiritual 
 wants of tlie people. For that reason they gave the care of the 
 little cities of the diocese to the priests of the diocese. That was 
 the origin of the country parishes. But when they gave them such 
 care of souls, they did not take away their own power of sending 
 other priests to preach to them, or to admiuster to them the sacra- 
 ments, for the ])arish priests are subject to the bishop, as the latter 
 is subject to Rome. For the parish is not a perfect church found- 
 ed by Christ, as he founded the dioceses in the persons of the 
 apostles. ' The contrary was tlie error of the university of Paris 
 coiulemned by Alexander IV. " Such errors on the part of the 
 university of the Sorbonne gave rise later to the errors of the Jan- 
 senists, who extol the power of the parish priests, and of national 
 churches, to the detriment of the bishops and of the Apostolic See. 
 Their fathers were John Duvei'gier, abbot of St. Cyran and Jan- 
 senius, bishop of Ypres. The errors of the Jansenists in this 
 matter may be resumed in sayiug that: the Pope can do nothing in 
 any diocese without the permission of the bishop; the bishop can- 
 not act in the parish without the license of the pastor, a doct!-ine 
 which the Holy See often condemned. The professors of the Sor- 
 bonne took up the controversy, and held that a pastor could appeal 
 to the civil power, when his ecclesiastical supei'ior interfered in his 
 rights. These vicious principles at the reformation in England, had 
 resulted in founding the national church of England independent 
 of the Holy See. Some doctors of the university of Louvain 
 inclined to the same error in the XVIII. century. According 
 to these subvei-sive doctrines, the bishop would only have an in- 
 direct power in the parish, the Pope only an indirect and imperfect 
 authority in any diocese, the government of the church would at 
 last belong to parish priests, and not to the bishops, and to the 
 Koman Pontiffs, and there would be no need of either bishop or of a 
 Pope. It would overturn the whole organization of the church. 
 
 The parish priests then having no external jurisdiction in the 
 church, they are not the judges of faith and morals, and they have 
 no decisive voice in councils. If they sit in the councils of the 
 church, it is as advisers, as theologians, or as chaplains of the bish- 
 ops. They preach the teachings of Clirist as they receive them 
 from the bishops, and the Roman Pontiffs, explaining the teachings 
 of Christ found in the Gospels, the Bible, and in the traditions of 
 the church. They cannot publicly excommunicate even their own 
 parishioners. In a parish, a person may excommunicate himself 
 by sins forbidden under that penalty, and it belongs to the pastor 
 to bring him back again to the church by absolution with the neces- 
 sary power, when he is penitent and resolved to sin no more, while 
 it belongs alone to the Pope and the bishop to publicly excommu- 
 nicate for public and notoi-ious sins. The Pontiff and the bishop 
 alone can receive again that person into the church, for they are 
 » St. Thomas Opus. xvi. = In 1255. 
 
508 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL JURISDICTION. 
 
 the legislators of the church. They can reserve to themselves the 
 absolution from these censures. For to the apostles Christ said: 
 ''Whatever you shall bind upon earth it shall be bound also in 
 heaven," &c. The power of excommunicating belongs to the legisla- 
 tive or public governing authority of the church, and not to the 
 pastors, but to the bishops and the Pope, for they form the hierarchy 
 of jurisdiction and government of the church. Tliereforea simple 
 parish priest has not the power of excommunicating, unless it were 
 given him by the bisho]) or by the common law of the church. 
 But a priest, having the administration of a diocese, with a special 
 mandate from the bishop or from the Holy See, can excommunicate 
 by virtue of this external jurisdiction. But the pastor can declare 
 that such a one is excommunicated, when he does anything to 
 which such a punishment is attached by the common law of the 
 church. 
 
 The word pastor, parish, &c., come from the Latin meaning to 
 feed. In Hebrew it is rahah, and in the Bible it not only means to 
 feed but also to rule or govern. * Princes who rule are called in 
 the Bible pastors; even the Lord calls Cyrus pastor. ' Homer calls 
 Agamemnon the pastor of men, because he ruled them. From this 
 it appears, that when Christ told Peter to feed his sheep and lambs 
 he meant to rule them. Whence the Bishop of Rome, Peter's suc- 
 cessors, are the spiritual rulers of the church univei'sal. The bish- 
 ops then carry tlieir pastoral staff, the sign of their episcopal juria- 
 diction over the sheepfold of Christ residing within their dioceses. 
 'I'liis is the sense of the council of Trent, when speaking of the 
 bishops, ' " ruling the church of God."* Such has ever been the 
 teachings of the church as found in the writings of the early 
 fathers. Only in modern times do we find parish priests called 
 pastors. 
 
 Tlie parish priest is not a prelate. For a prolate is a clergyman 
 having external jurisdiction over spiritual subjects, or a high 
 ecclesiastical dignity, while parish priests have only jurisdiction 
 proper in the secret tribunal of penance. The Pope, the cardinals 
 and bishops are the major, and the superiors of religious orders 
 are the minor prelates of the church, as the latter have authority 
 and jurisdiction over their spiritual subjects. The cardinals, even 
 of the Roman courts in deacon's or priest's orders have jurisdiction 
 over bishops, for being attached to the Roman diocese, they form 
 one and the same court or government with the Bishop of Rome, 
 who is over all the churches of the world. 
 
 The council of Trent ordered that a priest be appointed in di- 
 verse parts of the diocese from whom the people could receive the 
 sacraments. ' Hence we conclude that to be a parish priest, he 
 should have power to hear the confessions of the people, that he 
 is obliged to administer to them the other spcraments when they 
 ask, that he does so in his own name, that he does so in his own 
 
 > CnrnellimA. Ijip. Tn St. John C. 21 t. 15. > Isatas xUv. 29. 
 
 » Concll. Trid. Ses. 23. C. 4 « AcU. • 3es. 24 C. 18 De Ref. 
 
THE DUTIES OF A PARISH PRIEST. 509 
 
 church and to his own people. ' The office then of the parish 
 priest is for the spiritual good of his people, wrought by the contin- 
 ual preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacra- 
 ments of Christ. To the parish priest then belongs the care of 
 souls living within a certain limit, who come to his church, and 
 they may be obliged to support it. He continually exercises to- 
 wards them the triple office of teacher, priest and ruler, the same 
 as the bishop is the teacher, priest and ruler of the diocese, as the 
 Pope is the teacher, priest and ruler of the church universal, — all 
 in the name and by the power of the eternal Prophet, Priest and 
 King, Jesus Christ. There is then for the parish priest an obliga- 
 tion of teaching, sanctifying and ruling his people. Nor can he 
 refuse when they reasonably ask from him these holy things. On 
 the part of the people, they must as far as necessary provide for 
 his support. Thus between the rector and the people there is a 
 holy contract, by which he gives them spiritual things, and they 
 give him temporal things, his living. 
 
 Now we begin to see the beauties of our holy mother the church. 
 From the bosom of the Holy Trinity came Christ to earth, and 
 all redeeming powers he receives from the Father, he gives to the 
 church. He left Peter as his chief pastor. The bishop comes 
 down from the universal church into his diocese. All he receives 
 from her he brings to the diocese. The parish priest comes down 
 from the diocese, and all he receives he gives to the parish, and he 
 comes bringing to his people the teachings of Christ and his sacra- 
 ments, which sanctifies their souls. A parish priest then is a rec- 
 tor, who has been regularly appointed to administer the parish ia 
 his own name, to preach the word of God, and administer the 
 sacraments to certain persons of the diocese, and these people 
 should receive these spiritual things from him. Each parish then 
 should have a parish church, where the pastor or rector may preach 
 and administer the sacraments to the people of that section of the 
 diocese. 
 
 A parish priest then has the care of souls redeemed by Christ. 
 But there are many different cares of souls. The Pope has the 
 care of all the souls of men in the world, for he is the Vicar of 
 Christ who died for all mankind. The bishop has the care of the 
 souls of those living in his diocese. The vicar-general partakes in 
 the same power with the bishop, for he is one and the same moral 
 person with the bishop, as the Pope is one and the same moral 
 person with Christ. The Pope has the care of souls, in such a 
 way that in him resides the full power of the church, both in the 
 internal and in external courts. The bishop has the care of souls 
 in his diocese, both in conscience and in the ecclesiastical courts, 
 while the parish priest has complete authority only in the confes- 
 sional, the internal or secret court of conscience. Only by persua- 
 sion, by advice, or by the denial of absolution, can he induce his 
 people to be good and avoid sin. 
 
 ' Cong. Rotae Romanae. 
 
510 THE REMOVAL OF PAllISH PRIESTS. 
 
 No parish should have more than one rector, for no woman can 
 have more than one spouse, ' nor can a body have more than one 
 head, else it will be a monstrosity. AYhen more th^n one priest 
 presides in a church, one is the parish priest and the others are the 
 assistants of the pastor. When one clergyman attends more than 
 •one church, all together they form one parish, for a man cannot 
 have more than one bride." Yet a parish may have two or more 
 pastors ' but in practice it gives rise to many difficulties. 
 
 In missionary countries, where catholics are few and scattered, 
 the bishop appoints priests to missions and removes them at will, 
 until the diocese and the parishes are fully established, then new 
 regulations are made, according to which all things are to be ruled 
 hy the common law. When the church spreads and the bishop 
 becomes the real titular bishop of the diocese, and not the vicar 
 apostolic of the Pope, then the common law may be established, 
 by which the bishop becomes the real spouse of the diocese, and the 
 parish priests may be made immovable by the canons of the church. 
 In this case the parishes are not only under the bishop, but also 
 under the common law, and from it the pastors derive their rights. 
 Thus the parish in its full organization depends not only on the 
 bishop, but also on the Papacy, the Father of all churches. The 
 III. council of Baltimore, according to the desire of the Holy See 
 made one in ten of the rectors of this country immovable, as com- 
 manded. Whensuch a priest is accused of any crime, Jie cannot be re- 
 moved before being tried by the canons given by Leo XIII. in the 
 3Iagnopere,or form of trial for this country. 
 
 According to the Magnopere, when a priest is accused, the pros- 
 ecuting attorney of the diocese examines the witness under 
 oath, sifts the charges, reports to the bishop if there be any foun- 
 dation for them. If he find that the accusers are lying, he drops 
 the matter, otherwise he draws up the charges in the form of an 
 indictment, and cites the accused for trial. The latter then ap- 
 points his advocate. If he admits that the witnesses were rightly 
 sworn and examined at the preliminary examination, their evidence 
 is accepted. If he reject them, they must be examined over again 
 in court, and cross examined by the advocate of the accused. Tlie 
 trial proper begins by the examination of the witnesses for the 
 
 {)rosecution, all proceedings being according to regular form of 
 aw. When the prosecution lias rested, theaccused brings liis wit- 
 nesses on the stand to refute the other testimony against him. 
 The prosecution may bring in rebuttal evidence, followed by re- 
 butting evidence on the part of the accused. Either side may ap- 
 peal to the archbishop within ten days after the decision has been 
 given by the priest appointed by the bishop as judge. The appeals 
 in every case shall take place according to the form prescribed by 
 Benedict XIV.* The metropolitan court then sits as a court of 
 appeal, and passes only on the evidence brought before the bishop's 
 
 > Rota Decls. 684 n. S. p. ■ * Alexander HI. et 4. QueteS. c. 21. 
 
 * S Cong. ConcU. 18 Junil 1757. * Ad MUltantis. 
 
THE FORMATION OF PARISHES. 611 
 
 <;ourt. Many rules must be followed under penalty of rendering 
 the whole proceeding invalid from the beginning. Bishops are tried 
 by the Congregation at Rome, for the Holy See is their superior. 
 All this is to guard each clergyman in his rights, and to punish 
 those who are guilty of crime. 
 
 In former times, when monasteries and chapters had livings or 
 parishes, with the right of appointing the pastors to them, they 
 reserved a part of the revenues to themselves, till that abuse was 
 condemned by the Popes and the councils. In Ireland the bishops 
 often reserve certain parishes, and appoint an assistant to administer 
 them, giving them parts of the revenues and reserving the rest to 
 themselves. In France, in partial payment for the church pro- 
 perty confiscated during the revolution, the government gives the 
 pastors and bishops a certain income, called a salary. But the 
 amount is so small, that tliey can scarcely live. In this country the 
 pastors' and assistants' salaries are regulated in the diocesan synod, 
 each parish gives the bishop a fixed sum each year called the cathe- 
 draticum. If the bishop is the pastor of the cathedral parish, from 
 that he also may receive a pastor's maintenance. 
 
 As the pastor rules and governs the parish in the name of 
 Christ, to the people he takes the place of our Lord, an image 
 of the everlasting Head of the universal church, so the pastor 
 should not be moved from the parish without a reason. There 
 must be a sufficient cause for breaking the bonds of unity and of 
 fatherhood between the parish and the pastor. That the Eoman 
 Congregation often decided. For such changes in a parish give 
 rise to numerous difficulties, disputes and misunderstandings, and 
 work to the detriment of souls. 
 
 The pastor has jurisdiction to administer the sacraments to his 
 people, and he retains that authority as long as his office of pastor. 
 For CO the office of pastor belongs the duties of administering the 
 sacraments, preaching the Gospel and ruling his people. If he 
 becomes incapable for any reason, he can do so by the aid of an 
 assistant. 
 
 When a pastor is sent to a people who never before belonged to 
 any priest the parish is said to have been created. 
 
 After the French revolution Pope Pious VII. suppressed all the 
 parishes of France, and after the concordate of 180!^, pastors were 
 appointed to all the parishes of the kingdom. It seldom happens 
 that the people living in a section of a diocese do not belong to 
 any pastor, so that the creation of a parish except in missionary coun- 
 tries seldom takes place. It belongs to the bishop to assign and 
 appoint a pastor over a part of the diocese, and form them into a 
 parish. The bishops and the priests go first among the infidels 
 as missionaries, preaching to them the Gospel of Christ. When 
 they have converted them, from being wandering missionaries, 
 they become settled bishops and pastors, fixing their seats at a 
 certain place, usually where the most families and members of the 
 -church reside, so that the people may be better attended. 
 
5l5f DIVIDING AND UNITING PARISHES. 
 
 As Vicar of Christ the Redeemer of souls, the Pope can suppress^ 
 erect, or divide dioceses, or parishes. No one ever questioned hi» 
 authority, for he is the supreme Pastor of the world. We read 
 that in 1170 Alexander III directed the bishop of York to build 
 a church in his diocese, and appoint a pastor, in spite of the appeal 
 of the rector. The council of Trent commands the bishops, as 
 delegates of the Holy See, to appoint assistants to a pastor, where 
 he cannot attend to his duties himself. If the parish be so exten- 
 sive that the people cannot come to the parish church, the bishop 
 may divide the parish, appoint anew pastor to the part so divided, 
 assign him his sustenance from the mother church, and see 
 that the people of the new parish give their newly appointed rec- 
 tor the means of living.' According to the III. council of Balti- 
 more the bishop must consult his council before he divides a 
 parish, * hear the objections of the pastor, see that there be suf- 
 ficient cause, that the wants of the people require it, that the parish 
 they are going to divide is too large, and that the people live too 
 far from the church, &c. For the bishops in this matter as in 
 others must follow the laws laid down by the Holy See.' If the 
 pastor appeals against the division, it will not suspend the act of 
 the bishop, which may be reviewed by the archbishop, and if he 
 appeals to the Pope, the Propaganda, as a last court, may review 
 the case.* 
 
 The bishop may unite two parishes into one, when the two- 
 parishes cannot support two pastors. Then the two become one 
 parish, with only one rector, with the title of only one church. 
 Or the parishes may be united into one parish, still retaining 
 their old title, the pastor of one administering the other like a 
 mission attached to the parish where the rector lives. In this 
 way several dioceses of Ireland, once flourishing, have been at- 
 tached to others or united under one bishop. But says the coun- 
 cil of Trent, this should not be done to the detriment of the pas- 
 tor, and it may better take place at his death, resignation, or with 
 his consent, so that his rights may not be trampled on. 
 
 In former times as now, in some countries many rich people 
 build churches or found benefices for tlie support of the clergy, 
 and they are given the privilege of presenting candidates for 
 such churches. The bishops appointed the persons they named, 
 provided they had duly qualified according to the canons of the 
 church, which regulated these nominations, so that unworthy 
 clergymen might not be appointed to these benefices. 
 
 The Pope as the head of the universal church, appoints the 
 bishops, wherever they are nominated by the government, by the 
 pastors of the diocese, by the bishops of the province, by the 
 chapter of the cathedral, or by any other mode of nominating 
 bishops. The true appointing power resides in the Pontiff, the 
 Pastors of bishops. So in the diocese, to the bishop ordinarily 
 
 » CoDcll. Trld. Ses. 21. C. 4. » N. 20 ot 84. 89. et pp. 219, 231. 
 
 » 8. Cong. Oonctl. 18W T. 10 9 May. * Innocent III. Cap. Pastoralls, S2 T. 28. 
 
WHO APPOINTS THE PASTORS? 513 
 
 belongs the appointment of pastors of tlie parishes. For as the 
 Son was sent by the Father to the world, so the pastors of the 
 ■church are sent by their father the bishop. In appointing pas- 
 tors to permanent rectorships in this country, according to the HI. 
 council of Baltimore, the candidate must have labored in tiie dio- 
 cese for ten years, and during that time shown himself a capable 
 pastor, both in spiritual as well as in temporal things of the 
 church.' Benedict the XIV. laid down the rules to be followed 
 in electing such pastors, so that the unworthy may be excluded 
 and that the best maybe selected. The examination must be on mat- 
 ters relating to the pastoral office, before the bishop or his vicar 
 general, and before at least three of the clerical examiners of the dio- 
 cese," Having examined the candidates, the examiners report to 
 the bishop the names of those whom they think worthy for the 
 vacant parish, and the bishop can judge and appoint the one he 
 thinks most worthy. 
 
 To the Pope as the Vicar of Christ belongs the appointment of 
 all offices in the church. He is the supreme administrator of the 
 fold of'Christ. For to him was said in the person of Peter: "Feed 
 my lambs feed my sheep." When inferior administrators refuse or 
 neglect to fill vacancies, the Pope may supply their defect and fill 
 the vacant office. He can reserve the light of appointing to any 
 office in any diocese. He appoints the cardinals, the judges of the 
 Eoman courts, the ablegates of the Holy See, the bishops, the 
 archbishops, the pastors in certain dioceses, where the common 
 laws of the church obtain, even some of the canons of the cathe- 
 dral chapters, for he is the chief pastor of souls, the Vicar of him 
 who is the head of the church. From the days of Innocent VIII. 
 ■Certain appointments were reserved to the Popes, and from the 
 XIII. century they reserved the appointments of offices in the 
 •chapters of the cathedrals, which become vacant during some 
 months of the year. This relates especially to benefices estab- 
 lished for the support of the clergy, for divine worship, and 
 for the confirmation of bishops elected by the diverse ways estab- 
 lished in different countries. This was done because abuses crept 
 into these appointments, and because the Holy See wished to re- 
 ward good clergymen and clerics, who had rendered great services to 
 religion, and also that the Pope might be indirect communication 
 with all parts of the world.' The Pope often promotes clergymen 
 to be monsignors, private chaplains, apostolic notaries, &c., in 
 many dioceses, thus making them members of the Roman diocese. 
 The appointment of all the patriarchs, primates, archbishops and 
 bishops of the world belongs to the Pope, from him they receive their 
 jurisdiction over the sheepfolds of Christ, so the Pope may appoint 
 the pastors under them. Hence in these countries where the 
 canon or common law of the church obtains, the Holy See appoints 
 some of the parish priests,* after the regular concursus for the 
 
 » Concll. III. Bait. n. 36. " Concil. Bait. n. 41. ^ Leurenius For. Benii. q. 525. 
 
 * Bouts De Parocbo Pars. 3d 9 rule. 
 
514 WHO MAY BE APPOINTED PASTOR, 
 
 oflBce has been held. In France, according to the concordate of 
 1801, the bishops must nominate only pastors whom the govern- 
 ment accept.* 
 
 In missionary countries where the common law of the church 
 has not been promulgated, where the church is in an imperfect or 
 territorial state, the bishop appoints all rectors of parishes 
 and he removes nearly all of them at will. Where the church 
 has increased so as to become more fixed and stable, the laws of 
 the universal church are introduced, so that while the bishop may 
 change pastors, he must not do so without cause. "Where the 
 full canon laws obtains, when they refuse to go he can do so only 
 after a trial, where their unworthiness has been proved by a 
 regular legal process. In English speaking countries, where the 
 church is entirely free from government influence, she is independ- 
 ent in all her movements. This power of appointing to all offices in 
 the church resides in all its fulness in the Koman Pontiff, from 
 whom it flows down into the episcopacy." If the appointment has 
 been reserved to the Pope, the bishop cannot interfere when the 
 parish is vacant. But if the parish is not so reserved, the bishop 
 can appoint the pastor. No parishes of this country are reserved 
 to the Holy See. 
 
 As the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, what he does in the church, 
 he does for our dear Lord, for he rules the church for him, of 
 whom he is the prime minister. So in the diocese, the image of 
 the universal church, the vicar general of the bishop rules the dio- 
 cese in the absence of the latter. The vicar general then, or the 
 administrator of the diocese, can appoint a rector to a vacant 
 parish. At the death of the Pope the administrator of the church 
 universal belongs to the college of cardinals. On the death or 
 resignation of the bishop, the administration of the diocese falls on 
 the chapter or senate of the diocese, in countries where they exist. 
 But they cannot confer benefices, or appoint permanent rectors of 
 parishes, for they are only administrators till the see is filled.' 
 
 We now come to the candidate for a vacant parish. In the first 
 place the candidate must be in the 25th year,^ of sufficient knowl- 
 edge and of good morals. The council of Trent confirmed all 
 this which had been so often enacted by former councils.' Even the 
 bishop cannot dispense in this law. The proposed pastor must 
 have received at least tonsure, and he should be ordained at 
 least within a year a priest, as the sacraments depend on his 
 priesthood. These matters are looked into by the bishop, or the 
 authorities who appoint the pastor. 
 
 The union of the pastor with his parish is an image of the union 
 of Christ with his church universal. Our dear Lord espoused 
 forever his church, and nothing can ever dissolve that spiritual 
 matrimony. The union of the bishop with his people is an image 
 of the union of Christ with his church. Onlv death should part 
 
 ' Pius VII. Bui. Eccl. Chrlsti. « Boulx De Parocho p. 327. 
 
 * Cap. Tic. Ne sede vacante. * Alexander III. In Conoil. Lat. GreR. X. 
 
 » Cap. Licet. U. T. 6. L. I. in 6. 
 
HOW THE CHURCH PUNISHES THE GUILTY. 515 
 
 the pastor from his spiritual bride, his people. But we must not 
 look for perfection in this world. No priest or bishop can be as 
 perfect as our blessed Lord. The human and the divine elements 
 form the church, as the human and the divine blended in the one 
 Personality of Christ. The human nature in the priesthood tends 
 to fall away from the perfections of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. 
 The congregation then and the people who look for the perfections 
 of God in the clergy will be mistaken. Not understanding these 
 things, weak-minded people, who find faults in the clergy, tend to 
 fall away from the church, as though the church were founded on 
 men and not on her founder Christ. It matters little what the 
 priest does, the sacraments he administers are the holy ordinances 
 of God, the channels of. grace flowing from the fountains of the 
 Crucified, and they come direct into the hearts of the people, not 
 stopping on the way to pass by or through the priest, who admin- 
 isters them. Salvation comes direct from Christ into our souls. 
 The clergy may have their faults, but they are the faults of 
 individuals and not of the church, or of Christ who alone re- 
 deems. 
 
 Whence it follows that in every age some of the clergy have fall- 
 en under the weight of the weaknesses of mankind. They may 
 sin, but that does not poison the streams of salvation flowing fromt 
 the God-man, ever working by his Holy Spirit in the souls of men. 
 But when such sins have been deliberately and publicly com- 
 mitted so as to outrage public sentiment, the church punishes the 
 breaking of the laws. Hence bishops and pastors may be suspended, 
 deposed, excommunicated, or degraded from, the offices they dis- 
 grace. But like health, a man may lose his good name without 
 his fault. For no men are so exposed to being belied as the clergy. 
 Because of the dignity of the episcopacy, Rome alone deals with 
 bishops, the Pope, the bishop of bishops, alone can depose, degrade 
 or suspend them. The bishop of the diocese alone can deal with 
 a priest, unless the Holy See reserves him to itself. For heinous 
 crimes, the church may degrade a clergyman and deliver him to 
 the civil power to be punished. As it belongs not to the laity, but 
 to the church to ordain and appoint pastors, so to the church be- 
 longs the power of deposing clergymen. As the sacrament of 
 orders, like baptism, and confirmation, imprints a character in the- 
 soul, which ever remains even in the other life, so no one can- 
 ever be divested of his orders. But the exercise of these spiritual 
 powers may be suspended for crime. But the crime should be 
 proved in a regular court, subject to the rules of testimony, on 
 which the judgment of the court should be founded. A pastor 
 unwilling then should not be removed without a very grave cause.. 
 His title should not be taken away without he willingly commits 
 a great crime, that can be proved before a court of justice, for 
 secret sins belong to the confessional only. If by reason of health, 
 or for other reasons, he becomes incapable of administrating his 
 parish, a coadjutor or an administrator should be appointed, while 
 
516 HOW COADJUTORS AND ASSISTANTS ARE APPOINTED. 
 
 he remains the pastor. All these wise rules were established to 
 guard the rights of the office. 
 
 The extent of the parish, poor health, or other causes may ren- 
 der the pastor unable to attend to the spiritual wants of the peo- 
 ple. The bishop can send him an assistant priest. The latter is 
 called in English speaking countries the curate, assistant or chap- 
 lain. A coadjutor bishop must be a bishop consecrated. To 
 be a coadjutor, he must be in the same orders as the one he aids. 
 Thus the vicar-general, although he helps the bishop, is not his 
 coadjutor. A deacon who helps a pastor is not his assistant or 
 coadjutor, for the latter must be a priest. When by incurable de- 
 fect of either body or mind, a pastor cannot govern or administer 
 a parish, a coadjutor priest should be appointed to help him, he 
 retaining the title of pastor. But the council of Trent forbids 
 coadjutors to be appointed with the right of succeeding perma- 
 nent pastors.' But the council makes an exception for bishops and 
 abbois, when sufficient reasons are known to the Holy See, for such 
 appointments with the right of succeeding are contrary to the laws 
 of the church, in which alone the Pope can dispense. 
 
 The assistant must be supported from the revenues of the church 
 according to the statutes of the diocese, and the laws and regula- 
 tions of the church. If the pastor appeals against the appoint- 
 ment of an assistant, his appeal does not suspend the appointment, 
 but the bishop can execute the mandate, and wait the decision of 
 the higher courts of the church. 
 
 • The assistant must not be taken by the people as their pastor, 
 nor are they his people, for they belong to the pastor. He is there 
 as the assistant of the parish priest, to do his bidding, to take his 
 place, to administer the sacraments in his name. The assistant 
 then has not the title of the church, he has no call on the parish, 
 he can be changed at any time by the bishop. The assistants 
 are governed by all the rules of the church, as the pastors. The 
 pastor has the right of administering the sacraments to his peo- 
 ple, and the people should not go to another parish for the sacra- 
 ments without some good reason ; acting otherwise would sometimes 
 beeven grievously sinful.' Yet penitents can generally go anywhere 
 to receive the sacramemt of Penance, and also the Holy Eucharist, 
 except at Easter time. Each parish church should have a baptis- 
 mal font, where the converts and children must be baptised. If 
 one priest, without permission, baptizes the subjects of another 
 pastor without a reason he commits a mortal sin." 
 
 By the common laws of the church, the pastor has internal jur- 
 isdiction in the confessional. But the bishop mav reserve in the 
 diocese certain cases or sins, so that no priest of the diocese can 
 absolve of them. Only a few cases, as the salvation of souls may 
 require, should be reserved, for canonical pastors liavenot delegated 
 but ordinary jurisdiction, says Benedict XIV.* Although the jur- 
 
 > 868. 25 C. 7. * Vd. Boulx De Paroco p. 448. » De Paroctao p. 448. 
 
 ** De Synod Dlooes. L. 5, c. 4. n. 3. 
 
PAKOCHIAL RIGHTS. 517 
 
 isdiction of the pastor extends only to his pasirh, yet the Congre- 
 gation stated that the bishop may give pastors the faculties for the 
 whole diocese.' The pastor cannot give faculties to a priest from 
 another diocese to hear confessions in his parish. Only the bishop 
 €an do that, because the latter alone can give jurisdiction to strange 
 priests. The pastor can hear his own subjects in any place. The 
 pastor cannot dispense from vows, except by special faculties as 
 are granted for some cases to confessors. The pastor alone has by 
 common law the right to administer paschal Communion by him- 
 self or his assistants to his people. At the present time the pastor 
 cannot force his people to hear Mass or the Sunday sermon in his 
 church, for they can go to Mass to any church they choose.* With- 
 out cause, no priest can celebrate more than one Mass each day, 
 except on Christmas, when they may say three. But on Sundays, 
 when there are two congregations, or a large number of his people 
 who otherwise would be deprived of Mass, a priest can say two, one 
 Mass for each of them, but not without permission of the ordinary. 
 
 The council of Trent made a law obliging people to get married 
 before their own pastor, so that the marriage would be invalid if 
 contracted before any other priest. This law obliges only where 
 it has been duly promulgated. As far as we know that law, called 
 the law of clandestinity, has not been promulgated in this country, 
 except in some dioceses of the South and the West. When people 
 are about to be married, they should see at once there own pastor, 
 and make arrangments with him. It is a sin both for them and 
 for any other priest to marry them, the bishop or his delegate alone 
 excepted. If they be married before a minister, by that they are 
 excommunicated from the church. Such is the law in this 
 country. If one of the parties was not baptized, the marriage is 
 invalid, even when contracted before their own pastor, for a chris- 
 tian by a universal law of the church becomes incapable of mar- 
 riage with an unbaptized, till that impediment is removed by a 
 dispensation. No matter how long they live together, their union 
 is null and void, before God and before the church. As marriage 
 is a holy sacrament, and the church alone has the regulating of it, 
 no other power can interfere with the holy rites ordained by God. 
 
 Before marriage the parties should be called in the church, that 
 is have their banns proclaimed by the pastor or by his direction. 
 To the pastor belongs the marriage ceremony and the nuptial 
 blessing. But he can appoint another priest to take his place. 
 But as the bishop is the pastor of pastors in the diocese, he can 
 administer all the sacraments to the people in any parish. His 
 vicar-general can do the same, for he represents the bishop 
 throughout the whole diocese. But they should not do this un- 
 less there be some grave reason. The pastor should not marry 
 parties, unless their banns were called in the church, or unless 
 they obtained from the bishop a dispensation from the calls. 
 Pastors have been granted the authority of dispensing with one 
 
 i Aug, 1600 L. 9 Dec. p. 7. * Benedict xlv. De Syn, D. L. xl. c. U 7. il. 
 
518 THE SUPPORT OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 call, and the good of souls sometimes requires them to marry in 
 certain cases without any calls, to prevent scandals. The pastor 
 should not marry people privately, without reason, for these wed- 
 dings are forbidden by the church, and they are causes of scandals- 
 and troubles. 
 
 It belongs to the pastor to anoint his people when they are- 
 sick unto death, so that no other priest except in case of necessity 
 can do so without sin. In former times it was such a sin to 
 anoint a person belonging to another parish without reason, that 
 a member of a religious order who did so without cause, in- 
 curred an excommunication reserved to the Pope. ' The same may 
 be said regarding the holy Viaticum or communion for the dying. 
 Even a canon or a member of the cathedral chapter had to be attend- 
 ed by the pastor in whose parish he lay dying. This was often 
 decided by the Holy See. The bishop alone is exempt from this 
 law, for he is the pastor of the whole diocese. The highest in dig- 
 nity in the chapter in former times anointed the dying bishop, and 
 prepared him for death in the presence of all the members of the 
 cathedral clergy." By this we see how carefully the church guards 
 the rights of the rector in these cases, so as to prevent people run- 
 ning around from church to church, and place to place. For the 
 pastor should know his sheep and give them their spiritual food^ 
 and they should look to him for their spiritual wants. 
 
 We now come to the offerings of the people, the perquisites in 
 a parish. They belong to the pastor. The offerings for a Mass- 
 belong to the priest who says the Mass. The offerings for bap- 
 tisms, marriages, funerals, &c., belong to the rector. The pew 
 rents and other collections belong to the church. From them the 
 expenses of the church, the livings of the clergy, the salaries of 
 sextons, organists, &c., are paid. The custom of the place, the stat- 
 utes of the diocese, and the councils regulate these things. In this 
 country the rector or treasurer of the parish keeps a cash book, in 
 which all the revenues, not belonging to the pastor, are entered, 
 as well as the expenses. A report signed by the rector and the 
 trustees each year he sends to the bishop. In this way the account- 
 is balanced at stated times. There is never any cause of sus- 
 picion on this head, for the church makes wise laws to protect 
 the rector from being wrongfully accused regarding financial mat- 
 ters. When money or property is left to the church for any ob- 
 ject, it should be devoted to the object. The pastor in justice 
 can demand his living from the people he serves. * The livings 
 of the clergy are regulated by the bishop, or by the statutes and 
 customs of the diocese. The amount a clergyman receives is very 
 small considering his work, as he does not work for money but 
 for the salvation of souls. The rectorship is an office which he 
 holds for life, and he receives only enough so that lie can live like 
 a gentleman — as becomes his high and holy position as the minis- 
 
 ' Clement I. de Prlv. » CsBremon. L. 2. C. 88, 8. 4. 
 
 • Barbosain dn Parocbo C. 34, n. 12. 
 
REGULATIOKS REGARDING FUNERALS. 519 
 
 ter of Christ. *' Who serves the altar lives by the altar. "^ If a 
 priest saves money from his livings and from the offerings given 
 him by his people, or from a benefice, that is his business, and he 
 is free to dispose it during life or at his death, like any other man. 
 
 The pastor can regulate, under the supervision of the bishop 
 the offerings for funerals and high Masses in his parish. The of- 
 ferings for low Masses are regulated by the customs of the diocese. 
 When the bishop enacts rules for the whole diocese, the pastor and 
 people must follow them, for the diocese contains the parish, and 
 the bishop has legislativepower over all the parishes in his diocese. 
 Few clergymen have more than enough for their living, while some 
 of them are poor. The Jews were commanded by God to give for 
 the support of religion the tenth part of their revenues, the first 
 fruits of the earth, the first born of their flocks and of their chil- 
 dren. This was the custom in the middle ages, and the remains 
 may be seen to-day in the tithes, still exacted in some catholic coun- 
 tries. Few ever miss what they give for the support of religion. 
 The sums of money given for drink, for dissipation and for foolish 
 things, mount up into countless millions compared with the small 
 pittances given to God's worship, or for the saving of souls. 
 
 The rector has the right of burying his people for it is a religious 
 ceremony. ^ The funeral belongs to the pastor in whose parish the 
 person dies, or to the pastor whose church the deceased has chosen 
 for his funeral, not to the pastor in whose cemetery the dead will 
 be buried. But every one can select the cemetery in which they 
 wish their remains to rest. ' In this country converts, whose family 
 have a lot in a protestant cemetery, or catholics in good faith who 
 before the law was made bought such a lot, may be buried there 
 and the grave blessed by the rector, who can hold the funeral 
 ceremony either at the house or at the church, unless the bishop 
 forbid it. * No priest must officiate at a funeral in another church, 
 without the consent of the rector of that parish, for it is not his 
 church, 
 
 A pastor is obliged to attend the funerals of the very poor with- 
 out exacting any offering. But if they want a high Mass, he 
 can demand the usual offering, for a Requiem High Mass is an unusu- 
 al ceremony. The rector can dispense, or declare that a person is 
 dispensed from fasting from food or abstaining from meat, on the 
 days prohibited. He can also allow the people to work on holy- 
 days when necessary. 
 
 Religious orders can build a monastery or convent in the parish 
 without the consent of the pastor, for as they belong to the church 
 universal, by authority of the Bishop of Rome they can erect their 
 houses in any part of the world, when they get the permission of 
 the bishop of the diocese. 
 
 The council of Trent requires permanent pastors, and all having 
 the care of souls to make a profession of faith and obedience under 
 
 ' I. Cor. Ix. 13. 2 Innocent III. 3 Tit- de Sepul. 12. 
 
 ' I. de Sepult. et Licet 4. « III. Coacll. Bait. n. 318. 
 
520 REGULATIONS REGARDING FUNERALS, ETC. 
 
 oath to the Roman Pontiff, according to the constitution of Pius 
 IV.' For neglecting or refusing, he may be deprived of the rev- 
 enues of his office. The council of Trent also commands both 
 bishops and pastors to live in their dioceses and parishes. The 
 bishop must not without cause be away for more than three, or the 
 pastor for more than two months, unless they have permission from 
 their superiors. Assistants and coadjutors are bound the same 
 way. But the common law allows all clergymen to take a vacation 
 each year, or to attend to pressing business. The danger of 
 catching a fatal disease will not excuse a pastor from residing in 
 his parish, and attending his people when sick with such diseases. 
 
 The pastor must keep regular records for baptisms, marriages, 
 confirmations, burials, moneys received and paid out. In the 
 baptismal records, he puts down the name of the baptized, the date 
 of birth and of baptism, the father, mother and sponsors. He 
 enters in the marriage records the names of the man and wife, the 
 witnesses and the date of the marriage. The book of confirmation 
 is wherein he keeps a record of those confirmed, and the date of the 
 bishop's visitation to the parish. 
 
 Every pastor must, ordinarily speaking, say Mass on Sundays and 
 holydays for the people of his parish. He must also preach the 
 Gospel, and explain the teachings of religion and the means of 
 salvation to the people. He alone is the judge of the matter and 
 the way of instructing them. The pastor has the right of preaching 
 if he wishes, or he can appoint another to do so in his place. 
 
 The temporal administration of the parish, the revenues of the 
 church, &c., are controlled in various ways. In some states, as in 
 New York and New Jersey, this is done by a board of trustees com- 
 posed of the pastor and two laymen, elected either by the bishop, 
 by the pastor, or by the congregation as the bishop may determine. 
 All business matters and temporals of the parish come before them. 
 The pastor is by his office president of the local board. The full 
 board comprises with these mentioned the bishop and his vicar- 
 general. At a meeting of the full board by right of office the 
 bishop presides. This corporation owns all the church property 
 in trust for the congregation. If the pastor and two laymen cannot 
 agree it is brought before the full board. No lay trustees can be 
 appointed without the consent of the pastor. * 
 
 > 868. 24 0. 12. * ConcU. Bait. n. 284 to 288. 
 
The Religious Orders. 
 
 -HE religious orders do not belong to the essence 
 of the church. The church could live without 
 them. For the church lived and flourished 
 and brought forth countless saints, before 
 the establishment of the diverse brotherhoods and 
 sisterhoods now so flourishing. Only the Papacy 
 and the episcopacy belong to the essence of the 
 church, and to take them away, the teaching church 
 would go with them, and there would be no one to 
 teach the laity, or to ordain ministers to continue the 
 saving works of the eternal Priesthood of our bless- 
 ed Lord. 
 
 In the Gospel we find two kinds of teachings — 
 the commands of Christ and the counsels of our 
 Lord. The commands of Christ as well as the ten 
 commandments form the laws of God, which were 
 given to rule the mystic body of the Lord, his 
 church. They are the perfecting of human reason. 
 To break them is sin and damnation for the sinner. 
 No Pope, council, or legislative body can change 
 them, as they came direct from Christ or from God, 
 and the same authority which made them only 
 can change them. 
 
 But in the Gospel and in the Bible, we find 
 many advices or counsels for the guidance of men, 
 
 621 
 
,^C10'« .«««B«A«S ^O.* ,j^^^ ^^^^ 
 
A LAW BINDS, AN ADVICE DOES NOT. 623 
 
 which are well to follow or not to follow, but not to follow is not a sin. 
 Por an advice does not bind as a law. When we ask a person's advice, 
 we are not obliged to follow it. Jesus told a young man to go sell what 
 he had, give it to the poor and to come and follow him if he wished 
 to be perfect; he told his disciples when they were struck on one 
 cheek to turn the other cheek to the striker ; if a man asked of 
 them their cloak he told them to give also their coats, and he 
 told them not to take the second coat when they went forth to con- 
 vert the nations. These were not commands but advices, which 
 they were free to follow or not. Many are the words of our Lord, 
 which are good advices but not laws. To follow his laws is to be 
 saved. To follow his counsels or advices is to be perfect. His 
 laws bind under sin but his counsels do not. 
 
 The whole church both clergy and laity follow the commands or 
 precepts of Christ, while the religious orders follow not only the 
 commands but also the counsels or the advice of Christ. They 
 ever strive to be perfect, more perfect than the other members of 
 the church and by such lives to gain a higher place in heaven. 
 In them the divine life of God the Holy Ghost develops not only the 
 laws of Christ, but also the advices of Christ, which lead them to 
 higlier perfection than the simple laws which rule the rest of the or- 
 ganization of the church. 
 
 To get the right idea of the religious orders, we must consider 
 the whole organization of the church, ever ruled by the laws of 
 nature, by the laws of God given in the revelation in the Gospel, 
 by the special laws of the church, at the same time governed by the 
 laws of the nations under which the various members live. These 
 are the four codes of laws for the whole church. But there will 
 be many persons in the church, who feel not satisfied with these 
 ordinary laws ; they will not be content with keeping from sin, by 
 obeying tlie laws only They will look for a higher and more 
 perfect st<-ite ; these souls dear to God, will feel called to follow the 
 counsels of Christ — call to sell all they have, give to the poor and 
 follow him — follow not only his laws and keep from sin, but also 
 choose to follow his counsels, and by that gain more holiness in 
 this world, and a higher place in heaven. 
 
 Then the religious state is an external profession of christian 
 perfection ; it is the perfection of the christian religion ; the ful- 
 filment of the baptismal vows ; the completion of christian holiness. 
 The keeping of the simple laws of the church and of the govern- 
 ment relates to justice, while the keeping of the counsels of our 
 Lord in the Gospel relates to charity, that is to the union of pious 
 souls with God. The very essence of the religious orders is to 
 strive towards the perfections of the christian life. The religious 
 try first to become perfect themselves, and then they labor for the 
 good of their neighbors. They die for themselves to live for others. 
 Following the example of their Lord, who delivered himself up for 
 others, the members of the religious orders devote their lives to the 
 good of their neighbors. 
 
524 THE vows OF POVERTY, CHASTITY, AND OBEDIENCE. 
 
 The church universal, filled with the Holy Ghost, is by its very 
 nature holy. But the members of the church are not equal in 
 holiness. Some are holier and more perfect than others, for 
 there are many mansions in our Father's house left vacant by the 
 angles' fall, and to these were we called, and in this life there are 
 many ranks or stages in our approach to God. While the larger part 
 of the race marry and bring forth children, yet God calls others to 
 the higher state of virginity. These, listening to his inward voice, 
 renounce the world, the flesh, their own wilful desires and enter 
 the religious orders. 
 
 Holiness then is the very essence of the religious life. With- 
 out that holiness as its object, there can be no religious life. But 
 men can unite for many other ends than a holy life. Man and 
 woman join in wedlock for the propagation of the race, men form 
 companies to make money or for pleasure. But these are not 
 religious orders, for their ends are worldly, and they are for 
 the temporal advancement of the members. But when bodies of 
 men or of women unite to promote personal holiness, these are 
 religious associations. 
 
 But we must take men as we find them, born of the fallen race 
 of Adam with all the weakness of the race. We are attached to 
 the creatures of this world, and the things we see make deeper im- 
 pressions on us than the things of eternit}^ — visible things attract 
 and drag us down to their own level, creatures ever draw us from 
 God. The passions of the soul for worldly things may be re- 
 duced to three heads — the love of creatures, the instinct of prop- 
 agating our race, and the love of our own free will. Man has 
 not only a soul but also a body. By property and possession, 
 the goods of this world become his, and his means of bodily com- 
 fort are much increased. The race was not all created at once 
 by God as the angels, but the child is born of man and woman 
 in wedlock, an image of the Holy Trinity. ' The instinct of prop- 
 agating the race is in the nature of man, and of all other passions 
 it is the most abused. The will guides man in all his reasonable 
 acts. Being the head of creation, man instinctively loves to have 
 his own way in all things, and it is not pleasant for man to be 
 under another. 
 
 It would be impossible for men or women to live in religious 
 orders afflicted with all these passions. They would continually dis- 
 pute about property, quarrels would arise about the possessions 
 of each, many families could not live in the same house, their 
 children would fight and quarrel, and no house could be built 
 large enough for numerous united families, while Avithoutaunion 
 of strength they would divide and separate. To remedy these 
 evils the church offers three remarkable remedies or measures 
 never before proposed by man, and never put in practice outside 
 the church. Thev are the three vows ofpovertv, chastity and obedi- 
 ence. Thus with the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, the three great 
 
 > See Han tbe Mirror of tbe UniTeree by tbe Autbor. 
 
THE PERFECTION OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 525 
 
 evils of the fallen man are rooted out at their very source. All 
 the advices or couucils of our Lord in the Gospels may be reduced 
 to these three heads, and by keeping these three vows the mem- 
 bers of religious orders keep the councils of our Lord in their most 
 heroic degree. We read of heroes and we admire their heroism, 
 but the heroism of the saints transcends all the heroism of the 
 world. For real nobility does not consist in conquering others, 
 but inovercommg ourselves. "He that overcometh himself is 
 greater than he that taketh a city. " ' 
 
 By these three vows, the members of the religious orders detach 
 themselves from the things of this world, that they may be free 
 from earthly passions, that they may rise towards God, untramelled 
 by the weight of creatures. On earth they live the lives of the 
 angels of heaven. Angels have no bodies. For them material 
 things are useless. Wlience they have no possessions or dominion 
 over material things. ' They do not propagate their race, for they 
 have no generative powers. Divided by their nature into nine 
 choirs, one above another, each rank consists of countless numbers, 
 each individual spirit is a complete species or race in itself, they 
 obey one the other, the lower are subject to the higher, with the 
 eternal Son of God at their head — thus God at creation formed 
 the ranks of the angelic hosts. The religious orders resemble the 
 countless hosts of heaven, ever standing before the throne of God 
 worshipping the Almighty. 
 
 The property of the religious belong in common to the whole 
 order, they have no care for the things of this world, they curb 
 tiie passions of fallen nature, they obey their superiors on earth, 
 they live the life of angels, they practice lives of heavenly virtue, 
 inasmuch as it is possible for fallen man. Since mankind lost 
 the delights of paradise, there is no other state of life so peaceful, 
 so separated from the turmoils of life, so independent of the anx- 
 ieties and the crosses of this fallen state. But this is only for 
 those whom God calls to that perfect state. For those, who enter 
 without a call, or for those, Avho b}' their own fault have lost wholly 
 or in part their divine call, the religions state is a hell. The re- 
 ligious must first he sure that God calls him to that state, and 
 then take care that by his own sin he does not lose that call, and 
 all the graces belonging to it. Having arrived at that state where 
 he loves no creature, where all liis love is for the Creator, no crea- 
 ture can afflict him, and the Creator rewards them with his choic- 
 est blessings. No one can love a creature, but that creature will 
 sooner or later afflict him, because man was made to love God and 
 him alone. But for tlie good of the race and for the perfecting 
 of the individual, God has implanted the family instincts, and 
 the desire of worldly things in the hearts of those whom he calls 
 to "worldly lives, while to those whom he calls to the religious 
 life he fills Avith the desiies of the heavenly perfections. The 
 way then to know if you are called to the religious life, is to con- 
 ^ Psalm. ' Card. De I.uro De Jusilcia et Jure. 
 
526 OBJECT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE. 
 
 suit your own heart and seek what the Creator has imphanted there. 
 
 The members of the religions orders live like the angels of 
 God; they marry not, neither are they given in marriage; their lives 
 begin the eternal life of heaven. By chastity they are married to 
 the " Lamb of God, " by poverty they take God as their eternal 
 inheritance, and by obedience they obey the Son of God, whom 
 they see represented in their superiors. Bnt as the things of heav- 
 en are seen only in their shadows iiere below, so one mnst not look 
 for the perfections of heaven in the imperfections of earth. The 
 religious fulfil the baptismal vows by their regular lives. Buried 
 in Christ by the waters of baptism^ dead to their friends and to 
 the world, in his death they live only for Christ, for the church, 
 and for the benefit of their neighbors. Taking into account that 
 all are not called to such a perfection in this world, Christ does not 
 invite every one baptized to the perfections of the convent and tlie 
 monastery. Those whom he loves with a special and particuhir 
 love, them alone he calls, while tlie greater pavt of the members 
 of the church still retain their attachments to worldly things, till 
 the moment of their death, when temporal goods will be useless 
 to tliem in eternity. Thus the religious orders, even while living 
 in this world, approach the perfections of that othei- high and lieav- 
 enly life, by purifying the soul from certain attachments to things 
 below us. 
 
 The members of the religious orders, the monks and nuns of the 
 church live by their lives the words of St. Paul: '* Know ye iiot 
 that all we, who were baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his 
 death. For we are buried together with him by baptism unto death, 
 that as Christ is risen from the death by the glory of the Father, 
 so we also may walk in the newness of life. For if we have been 
 planted together in the likenes"? of his death, we slnill be also in the 
 likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old 7uan is 
 crucified with him. that the body of sin may be crucified, to the 
 end that we may serve sin no lonjrer. For he thntis dead is justi- 
 fied from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we 
 shall live with Christ. &c. ' Thus the members of the religious 
 orders follow the counsels of the Saviour. Dying to themselves 
 they live but for God. and for the good of their neighbors. But 
 the external habit of the religious will not .save them, unless 
 they follow their rules and become more or less perfect. Becjiu?e 
 if one belongs to the church, it will not save him unless he follow 
 its divine teachings. 'I'hose belonging to the spirit of the church 
 form a part of the invisililo body of Christ, they may still live un- 
 known in the world and follow the connsel.sof the gospel. These 
 may be leally religious, and they may become more perfect thaii the 
 members of the religious orders, with all their external profession 
 made before the church, when they do not put it in practice in 
 their daily lives. 
 
 As the religious orders tend to the perfection of the members,, 
 • Kom. V. 3. 1 Q. 
 
OarOIif OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 527 
 
 and the object is to make them saints, it follows that the religious 
 orders are founded in the holiness of the church. They are theex- 
 ternul showing forth of the in visible holiness of the church universal. 
 For the churcli, the spouse of Christ, is holy by the indwelling of 
 the Holy Ghost, and the external profession of the religious orders 
 of the church is the outside expression of that holiness, which the 
 church enjoins on all her members. They carry that holiness 
 within their souls, hidden from the world. As the clergy, the of- 
 ficers of the church, form the highest and the most perfect part 
 of tlie bride of Christ, they too are called to all the perfections of 
 the holiness of the church, even to the highest perfections of the re- 
 ligious. Although the secular clergy do not take the three vows of 
 the religious orders at ordinations, they should cultivate the spirit 
 of the poverty, chastity and the obedience of the members of the 
 religious orders. For that reason St. "i'homassays that the bishop, 
 the summit of the sacrament of holy orders, should be poor in spirit 
 and have all the perfections of the religious. ' Thus we see that 
 the religious orders are like the exterior vestments of the church, 
 the beautiful bride of Christ. 
 
 The religious orders then form one of the chief branches of the 
 living trunk of Christ and it bears the finest fruit. As all the 
 members of the church were called to that internal perfection, of 
 which the religious orders are the external expression, it follows 
 that the internal profession of that perfection belongs to the 
 essence of the church. The essence of a thing is that without 
 which it cannot be. Therefore we conclude that the perfections 
 of the religious orders belong to the essence of the church, and it 
 was in the church from the very beginning. Thus we read that at 
 the foundation of the church at Jerusalem, the people sold their 
 goods and brought them to the feet of the apostles, and they spent 
 their whole time in prayer, like the religious orders at the present 
 time. The apostles were the first religious. While living with 
 our Lord, they had all things in common, and Judas kept the pnrse, 
 which was the common money of tiie little band. After the 
 ascension of our Lord, the rising church at Jerusalem offered the 
 world the example of a completed religious order, comprising the 
 members of the whole church. The example was given them by 
 our Lord himself, who while on earth lived with the apostles, 
 having all temporal things in common with them. Li every part 
 of the world where the church had spread in the apostolic age, the 
 Holy Ghost formed the dioceses and the parishes on the model of 
 the church at Jerusalem, having their goods in common, all un- 
 der the direction of the first bishops and priests. 
 
 As our Lord used to spend his nights and parts of his days in 
 solitude in the deserts, fasting and praying, this example was 
 followed by the laity and clergy of the early church. When lay 
 persons spent their lives in the solitudes of the deserts, they were' 
 called ascetics, hermits, ancorites, &c. The early history of the 
 
 • Sum. Theo. Ila Ilae Q. olxxxiv. a. 5. 
 
528 THE RELIGIOUS OF THE EARLY CHURCH. 
 
 church is filled with stories of the reliofions of the deserts. That 
 was before the establisliment of the religious orders proper. The 
 early bishops, disciples of the apostles^ practised the religious life 
 to the highest degree. 
 
 From the very beginning of the church, holy souls felt called to 
 a higher state of perfection. These members of the church, not 
 satisfied with practising the commands of the Gospel, but wishing 
 to follow as well the counsels of Christ, they took vows of virginity, 
 sold all their goods to feed the poor, and lived as religious among 
 the laity. In the early church they did not form a body separate 
 from the laity. They were known alone to the clergy, they took 
 their vows in secret under the advice of their confessor. Even to 
 this day the laity may take vows in secret, in the confessional. 
 The early church was filled with religious men and women 
 practising among the people the most heroic virtues. The bishops 
 appointed special priests to take charge of these religious persons. 
 Thus within the dioceses of the early church, we find the commu- 
 nites of the perfect christians, for besides the regular organization 
 of the diocese, rose the convents and monasteries for both sexes. 
 Their title is mentioned in the council of Chalcedon.' The 
 religious then we find were from the very beginning of ciiristianity. 
 They were few at the beginning, but as the wants of the people 
 increased, also grew up colleges of religious priests, assisted by 
 deacons, subdeacons and ministers, each having his duties marked 
 out by the superiors.' They had an organization similar to that 
 of the diocese. They differed from the secular clergy only in the 
 practise of a higher religious life. They were a complete church, 
 but a more perfect church by the flourishing of the virtues of a 
 more perfect state. Fully organized, these religious communities 
 were governed by a double authority, that of tlieir own superioi-s 
 sent to them by the bishop, and by the bishop himself, who had 
 supreme authority over them. 
 
 Pushed on by the Spirit of God, many penetrated into the 
 wildest and most secluded places, where free from the distracting 
 cares of the world, they lived the most heroic lives of solitude and 
 of prayer. "When the dioceses and the parishes became vacant, 
 the clergy and laity often chose the bishops and the pastors from 
 the ranks of these solitaries and saints. Thus Sts. Bazel, the two 
 Cyrils, Chrystom, and nearly all the great men of the early ages 
 came from the solitude of their retreats, to rule the churches to 
 which they had been elected by the votes of both clergy and people. 
 At no time did the church have greater men at the head of tlio- 
 ceses, in the great historic churches, than these men chosen 
 from the solitudes of the Levant.* Later nearly all the abbots 
 were ordained priests by the bishop in whose diocese the commun- 
 ity was established. The abbots used to confer the lower orders 
 on the inferior ministers of their orders. Its vestiges remain even 
 to our day, abbots can give tonsure and ordain the clergy to mi- 
 
 > CODcU. Cbtd. Can. 0. ' Concil. Arelat an. 445. ' GreR. Mag. U VL Epist. UK. 
 
DIFFEKENCE BETWEEIS" SECULARS. AND REGULARS. 529 
 
 nor orders. When a synod of the diocese was called, the priests of 
 the religious orders took part in the deliberations of the clergy. 
 Bat as the religious orders were established later than the dioceses, 
 as they had superiors more directly over them, they came in a place 
 second only to the secular clergy of the diocese. That is the prac- 
 tice even in our day. This is seen in the early councils. In com- 
 munities with numerous members, the abbot often became the 
 archpriest or the vicar -general of the bishop. As timewent by 
 many more members of the communities became priests, that they 
 might say mass, attend to the spiritual wants of the monks and 
 laity of the surrounding country. The monks not only looked 
 after the spiritual wants of the community, but they converted the 
 pagans of the Eoman empire. Then the bishop appointed them 
 pastors of these converted peoples whom they had brought into the 
 church. To avoid conflicts between the clergy of the diocese and 
 the monks, about the IX. century the councils enacted many regu- 
 lations, defining the limits of the authority of the monastic orders.* 
 The history of the church in these ages shows the immense labors of 
 the monks in christianizing the rude peoples of these times. All 
 Europe felt the works of these holy men. Only God knows the 
 hardships they underwent to soften the morals of the race, and to 
 drive out the abominable corruptions of the Roman empire. They 
 penetrated to every race, tribe, and tongue, preaching to all men 
 Christ and him crucified . By the lapse of ages, some of these mon- 
 asteries became not only parish churches, but also episcopal sees, 
 even many had archiepiscopal jurisdiction over other bishops, be- 
 cause they were the residence of the archbishops. In these cases 
 the members of the community were appointed to the titles of the 
 churches of the city, as were the priests belonging to the regular 
 diocesan clergy. 
 
 The ordinary clergy of the dioceses were called the secular clergy, 
 and the clergy of the monasteries were named the regular or ascetic 
 clergy, a distinction observed even in our day.' In the council 
 of Laodicia, Pope Sixtus called all the clergy, both canonic and 
 monastic to meet in tlie basilica of Helena. This distinction be- 
 tween the secular or canonic and the monastic clergy is mer.tioned 
 in the Capitulesof Charlemagne." It was held throughout the mid- 
 dle ages, even the council of Trent shows the difference between 
 the benefices of the clergy of the diocese and those of the monks. 
 
 Although the secular clergy of the diocese was organized by 
 Christ in the persons of the apostles and their disciples, yet the 
 church calls all her clergy to the perfection of the religious. If 
 the secular clergy of the diocese do not take the vows of poverty 
 and of obedience like the monks, still they are called to the same 
 in spirit. St. Jerome writing of this says that the clergy are thus 
 named from the Greek word "cleros" meaning a part, an inherit- 
 ance, for the ministei'S of Christ have chosen the Lord as their 
 
 > Concll. Constan. in 531! Synod Auxer. Synod Roman Can. under Pope Eii^enius II. &c. 
 ^ Concil. Mogiint. Cap. U in 847. ^ Concil. Laod. Can. 90 held in 314. 
 
 * Capt. L. VI. C. 301. 
 
.530 HOW RELIGIOUS ORDERS ARE FOUKUED. 
 
 inheritance; like the priestly tribe of Levi, they receive no inber- 
 iiance in the promised land, for the Lord God alone is their 
 part and their inheritance. ' To this day nearly all the religions 
 orders have not only priests, but also brothers, who never ascend to 
 the priesthood or receive any of the holy orders. But they are 
 as much bound to follow the counsels of the Gospel, as are 
 the clergy. We must not fall into the error of supposing that the 
 religious orders came later than the secular clergy of the church, 
 for Pope Pius V. says: "The regular canons derive their origin 
 from the apostles."* The words of St. Jerome are: "Whatever 
 is found in the monks is more abundantly among the clergy, who 
 are the fathers of monks. *' The monastery and the religious as- 
 sociations or communities are real parishes, with all the notes of 
 true parishes or dioceses, ruled by the common laws of the 
 church. They are the most perfect of the churches, living with- 
 in the womb of the church universal, living her life and drawing 
 from her their spiritual nourishment. As each diocese and paiish is 
 the church universal, individualized and particularized and vis- 
 ible where it exists, like each man is universal human nature 
 individualized with all the peculiarities of his own individuality, 
 so each religious community has its own peculiar ways, customs, 
 and characteristics. 
 
 The members of the religious orders in the Ejist separated one 
 from another from the beginning. Then each was free to 
 follow the bent of his own inclinations. When driven to the 
 West by persecutions, they formed and united again under the 
 common law of St. Benedict, and in place of living separate they 
 began to unite into communities. But numerous ditferent orders 
 sprang up, each with its own peculiar rules and customs, so that 
 in our day there are a great many difiFerent religious orders in the 
 church. Under the leivdership of the Holy Spirit, they have 
 banded into associations for the perfection of the members, some- 
 what as we see in ourday, business men form associations for busi- 
 ness, pleasure, and money making, each stockholder having a part of 
 the profits, according to the amount of his money in the company. 
 
 As the religious orders relate to the whole church, and not to 
 ajiy one diocese or nation alone, thus it comes to pass that before 
 they can exist, they must have the approbation of the head of the 
 church, the Roman PontilT. For no other bishop has ordinary 
 authority or jurisdiction over all the church. Therefore when a 
 saint established his order, he first got the approval of the Pope. 
 This is seen in the lives of all the founders of religious orders. 
 They received their impulse from the Holy Spirit, then the Vicar 
 of Christ established them by his supreme authority. But as the 
 bishop is the ruler of his dio(;ese, and the head of his diocese un- 
 der the Roman Pontiff, before any religious order comes into the 
 diocese the members must get tlie permission of the bishop of the 
 diocese. As the church universal profits by their labors, they 
 
 > St. Uier. Epist. 111. ad Nepot. ' Bull Cum ex ordlnem Dec. 19, 1570. 
 
THE ESSENCE OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE. 531 
 
 belong to her, their bishop is tlie Pope, who alone in this world 
 has universal spiritual jurisdiction. They are apostles in the 
 sense tiiat they belong to the whole church, and every diocese into 
 which they come has the benefit of their labors. Often in this 
 cr-uitry they have charge of parishes, asylums, schools, colleges, 
 reformatories, in fact every work for the bettering of human life. 
 
 "JMie reader will now understand that there are two things to 
 consider in the Gospel words of our Lord, the law by which we 
 enter heaven, the council by wliich we get a higher place tlian those 
 who keep the law.' " If thou wilt enter into life keep the command- 
 ments." " If you wish to be perfect go sell what thou hast and 
 give it to the poor .... and come and follow me." ' Then the differ- 
 ent states of life may be reduced to three— the married state, the 
 religious life, and the state of celibacy in the world. 
 
 The religious state is a lasting mode of life, approved by the 
 church for those v.iio living under a regular rule, and strive to 
 perfection under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It 
 is a lasting kind of life, because by these three vows, they bind 
 themselves for life. As it is a holy community, it must be ap- 
 proved by the Pope, who alone has supreme authority in spiritual 
 things. In former times each bishop could approve any new 
 order in his diocese. But Innocent III., during the Lateran 
 Council, seeing so many new orders arising, forbade new ones to 
 be founded without the approval of the Pope. They must strive 
 towards perfection, for tiiat is the very essence of the religious 
 life, and the object for which the order was instituted. It is not 
 the essence of the order that they be all perfect, but that they 
 must try to be perfect. It is necessary that they take at least 
 simple vows, not solemn vows, although most of the orders of men 
 take solemn vows.* Those who take these three vows, and live 
 according to a rule approved by the Pope, form religious. But 
 these are not real religious, who although they take these three 
 vows, yet do not live according to such an approved rule. These 
 may be approved by the bishop in whose diocese they live, but in 
 that case they are only pious associations of either men or women 
 belonging to tliat diocese, but not to the universal church, because 
 they were not formally approved by the Bishop of Rome, vv'ho 
 alone can legislate for tiie church universal. Before God tiiey 
 will have the same reward for their good works as the members of 
 regular religious orders. At the present time the Holy See does 
 not readily approve religious orders, only approving them as 
 simple religious congregations bound by simple vows, which may 
 be dispensed much more easily, because of the troubles, the revolu- 
 tions, and attacks to which the religious orders are exposed at the 
 present time iti many parts of the world.'' Tliese taking vows for 
 life, of poverty, chastity and obedience to their bishop or to their 
 confessor, are not regular religions, because thev do not live sub- 
 ject to superiors. By decree of Pope Pius IX., when religious 
 ' Math. xix. ir. 2 Math. v. 21. » Bull Gregorli XIII. * Analecta J. P. 
 
532 RULES OF THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 have made their novitiate, they take simple vows for three years, 
 and tlien they may take solemn vows for iife. For good reasons 
 the taking of these solemn vows which bind for life may be post- 
 poned.' But the solemn profession cannot be put off' for more 
 than 25 years. This long probation under only simple vows, is to 
 try them well before admitting tliem to vows which bind them for 
 life, so that the bishop may dispense them from these simple 
 vows if they leave the community,' or if they be sent away by their 
 superiors. But they cannot bo sent away because of sickness only. 
 Even those who take only simple vows, partake in all the privileges 
 of the order, the same as the regularly professed. 
 
 That these vows bind, they must be at least 16 years old, make 
 one year of the novitiate, for that time wear the religious habit, 
 have no impediment, be received by the su])erior and freely give 
 their consent. It is the duty of the bishop to find out, either by 
 himself, by his vicar-general or by others delegated by him, who 
 may see that young ladies freely enter a convent, that they be not 
 unlawfully or unwillingly detained there, even after they have 
 made their profession. If she were forced to take vows, the vows 
 would be invalid. The whole year of the novitiate from the day 
 of taking the habit is so necessary, that if it lacks even a day, the 
 profession would be invalid.' If they interrupt their novitiate, even 
 for two hours, they must begin again a new novitiate.* If a relig- 
 ious without permission go aAvay with the intention of not re- 
 turning, when sent away by the superior, when they leave without 
 permission and go into another religious house, or to a house of 
 the same order in another province during their novitiate, they 
 interrupt their novitiate, so that they must begin over again. Sick- 
 ness preventing them attending all the exercises, or if they by 
 force they be driven from the house and return as soon as they can, 
 if with permission they spend a little time with their relatives out- 
 side, if falsely accused, and when the truth is found out they be 
 taken back, or if they undertake a journey at the command of 
 tiieir superiors, these interruptions do not render their novitiate 
 invalid. These rules have been made to prevent any one being de- 
 tained against his or her will in a religious order, and to make them 
 finish their novitiate, so as to try well if they have been called to 
 that state of life. 
 
 The first object of the religious life is to tend towards perfection 
 by these three vows and by the rules of the order. If they keep 
 not these vows, they are religious only in name but not in heart. 
 If they often break their vows, or if they do not obey the rules of 
 the order in important matters they sin mortally. But if led by 
 strong temptations, or think their vows and rules not necessary for 
 their salvation, or if they be guilty only of small things, or do 
 so from habit, they are guilty only of venial sins. Some writers 
 think that if they often break the rules of the house, they sin mor- 
 
 " Eplsl. S. Conjnv. neg. die 19 Mart. 185T. - Ibidpm die 25 Feb. 1858. 
 
 = Concll. of Trent. ■• 8. CoagtvgtMo. 
 
% 
 
 WHAT BINDS UNDER SIN. 533 
 
 tally, because these rules were made to guide them to perfection. 
 It is not likely that they sin mortally, who keep the commandments 
 which bind under mortal sin, but break frequently the counsels of 
 the Gospel, tlie rules of the house, &c., which bind only under ve- 
 nial sin. But it is certain that sucli religious live in continual 
 danger of mortal sin, because their neglect is a kind of contempt 
 of the rules of their holy state, which was made to guide them to 
 perfection. The rules of the order itself in general do not bind 
 under sin. But the matters of the vows and the express commands 
 of the superiors should be obeyed. But there is always a wrong 
 in breaking these rules, full of wisdom for the guidance of the re- 
 ligious. The superior himself would sin if he should neglect to 
 correct the faults of the members of the order. 
 
 The members of religious orders professed for the choir, and the 
 clergy in the sacred orders must recite the divine oflHce each day 
 under pain of sin. That obligation begins from the day of their 
 ordination to subdeaconship, of religious profession, or when they 
 take solemn vows. But in religious orders, where they only recite 
 the Virgin's office, they are not bound under mortal sin to say it, 
 even when they take solemn vows in female orders. That was often 
 decreed by the Holy See. The same we say regarding the com- 
 munities, where they say certain prayers or recite psalms and 
 litanies. When there is reason for leaving the community, or when 
 for any reason they cannot recite their office, the Pope can dispense 
 them, because the whole matter belongs to the legislation of the 
 church, ' and not to the divine law established by Christ. AVhat 
 the Pope made he can unmake, but only God can repeal what he 
 has established, and those principles which flow from the natural 
 laws of reason. When during persecutions many monks and nuns 
 left their religious orders and married, Pius VIL dispensed them 
 from their vows, so that their marriages became valid. But seldom 
 the Popes dispense priests and bishops from the vow of chastity. 
 Once when the royal house of Poland became almost extinct, so that 
 only one maa and he a priest remained, the Pope dispensed him 
 from his vow of chastity,' and commanded him to marry so as to 
 continue the family. When his son became of age, he resigned his 
 throne, crowned his son in his place, and then retired to his mon- 
 astery. 
 
 God calls certain persons to the religious state and gives them 
 the graces to live according to that mode of life. He leaves others 
 to marry, and gives them the grace of marriage. That call is an 
 act of his divine providence, not in nature but the supernatural act- 
 ing in the human soul, as St. Paul speaking of the priesthood says: 
 *' Let no one take the honor, but who is called as Aaron was. "* 
 The same may be said about a religious vocation. Iso one is 
 obliged to follow the counsels or advices of the Gospel, for an ad- 
 vice does not bind like a law. But when a person is called to the 
 religious state, he has from God the graces of that state, and not 
 
 ' Extravagantes Joan. xxil. Tit. C. et Bull. Assi; Com. GrcR. XIII. ' Heb. v. 4. 
 
# 
 
 534 RULES RELATING TO PROP,EKTY. 
 
 thegnices of any other kind of life. It would be very dangerons 
 for him not to follow the divine cjill, for being deprived of the 
 grac3 of any other state in life, ho would live without any grace of 
 a state, in great danger of damnation. In the same way it would 
 be a great sin for any one to enter a religious order, feeling that 
 be had no vocation for that kind of life, for he would live in a 
 continual state of unrest, and disturb the whole community. A 
 parent who would prevent a cliikl from entering either the ranks 
 of the clergy, or a religious order, knowing that the child was 
 called to that state, he would commit a great sin. It would like- 
 wise be a great sin for a family to force one of their children to 
 take holy orders, when they knew he had not a divine call. For 
 he would be a disgrace to the clergy, because not having the gracHj 
 of the priesthood, he would live only with great difficulty a 
 priestly life. The best signs of a vocation are a continual desire, 
 and the facility and aptitude of fulfilling the duties of that state. 
 
 The member of any religious order approved by the church, 
 who takes a solemn vow of poverty, renders himself incapable of 
 having pro[)erty in his own Jiame, unless with the permission of 
 his superior. ' The community in general has temporal goods, 
 unless its constitution forbids it. Then by the vow of ])overty, tlie 
 members of a religious order have nothing, not even the clothes 
 they wear, nor can they either validly or legally have even the 
 property left them by their pnrents or friends. They can neither 
 give nor take temporal goods of any kind. The religious, who 
 take only simple vows of poverty may have property, but they can- 
 not dispose it without the permission of their superior, whether 
 the order has been approved either by the Holy See, or by the bish- 
 op alone. For by taking the vow of poverty, they bind themselves 
 to have nothing in this world, to live like our Lord, who had noth- 
 ing, not even a place whereon to lay his head. The religious not 
 oidy have no goods of this world, but they are bound lo weed out 
 of their hearts all affections for temporal things. They would even 
 violate the virtue of their vow by the desire of having the things of 
 this world. All they have belongs to the (immunity in general, and 
 the community gives them everything they want, clothes, money, 
 travelling expenses, &c. Before the law, a member of a religions 
 order has all his property, rigiits. &c., because the vow of poverty 
 has only an effect in religion and in the church. Then members 
 of the religious orders being free from the distracting care of tem- 
 poral things, they can devote their time to the work before them^ 
 better than if they were troubled with the distract'ons of temporal 
 things. 
 
 By the vow of poverty the christian divests himself of the exter- 
 nal things of this world. But by the vow of einistity, he rejects 
 the pleasures of the senses, not only forbidden by the divine law 
 and the law of reason, but he even denies himself those things 
 which are allowed liitn in legitimate marriage. The solemn vow 
 
 • Cone::, of Trcnl Sol . 3\ C. ~. 
 
OBKDIENCE IS THE GUEATEST vow. 535 
 
 of chastity renders marriage iinulid, while tlie simple vow does not 
 render a marriage invalid, but forbidden. That those who by these 
 vows l)ave dedicated themselves to God may live with more securi- 
 ty, the church has introduced the cloister, that they may be better 
 guarded from danger. Tiiey cannot go out without permission 
 except in stated cases. Men, even clergymen, are not allowed in the 
 cloisters of women, nor women within the cloisters of men,* 
 
 Considei'ing the three vows one with another, the vow of obe- 
 dience is the greatest. For by the vow of poverty the religious 
 separates himself from the external things of this world, by the vow 
 of chastity he despoils himself of the pleasures of the flesh given 
 for the preservation of the human race, but by the vow of obe- 
 dience he gives to God his will and the sweetness of ever doing what 
 he wishes: "For obedience is better than victims:" * and "The 
 obedient ma7i speaks victory. "'' By the vow of obedience, the re- 
 ligious is bound to do all his superior commands him under the I'ules 
 and the constitution of the religious oi'der to which he belongs. 
 But that there bea sin in his difobedience, he must disobey an ex- 
 press command given expressly, and not by way of coaxing. The 
 superior cannot only command these things given in the rule, but 
 also whatever are wanted for the good government of the house, and 
 therightadministrationof the affairs of the order. But no one must 
 obey anything ridiculous, or impossible, or do what would be a sin. 
 For these things are not contained in his vow of obedience, which 
 is an obligation not of wickedness, but of religion and of perfection. 
 
 The vow of obedience relates to the external carrying out of the 
 commands of the superior, while the internal virtue of obedience 
 relates to disposition of the mind, prepared to always obey the 
 Avorthy commands of this superior. Thus the religious, who, al- 
 though he obeys the commands of the superior, yet continually 
 grumbles or murmurs in his heart, has not the virtue of obedience. 
 Then the religious who disobeys his superior, sins first against the 
 commands of his chief, and against his vow. But those members 
 of simple religious associations who take no vows, but who disobey 
 their superiors do not sin against religion like regulars would, but 
 commit only one sin. Therefore thedisobedient religiouscomniits a 
 grievous sin, when he refuses to obey his superior in serious mat- 
 ters; wiien he openly refuses to do what he is told, or when from 
 his refusal scandal follows in the community. The members 
 should always obey from a motive of religion, seeing in the super- 
 ior the person of our blessed Lord, Avho is ever subject to his 
 Father in heaven, even to the horrors of his "passion obeying 
 him: "Father not my will but thine be done;" who was subject to 
 his mother and foster father: "And he went down to Nazareth 
 and he was subject to them" and who teaches us to do the will of God 
 as the angels and Siiints do in heaven: ■• Tliy will be done on earth 
 as it is in heaven."^ 
 
 As the regular religious orders spread to all ])arts of the world, 
 1 Cpust. Clemens VIII. - I. Kings 15. 22. »Prov. £3.28. * Lord's Prayer, , 
 
536 RISE OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDER IN EGYPT. 
 
 the Pope himself is their superior, but he has not exempted them 
 from the jurisdiction of the ordinaries and bishops of the dioceses 
 in which they live, and the Pope being their immediate superior, 
 it follows that they are in a certain measure independent of the 
 bishops regarding the sacrament of penance for their own subjects, 
 Mass, censures, irregularities, their vows, and the bonds uniting 
 them to the community. Their superiors have an authority like 
 a bishop over them. They are exempt from episcopal visitation 
 both for themselves, their monastery, and their church. But this 
 does not include convents of nuns, because for them the bishop of 
 the diocese is the delegate of the Holy See, nor does it include 
 parishes ruled by members of religious orders, for the laity of these 
 churches belong to the bishop. But it includes the members of 
 the order, both the professed and those in the novitiate, for they 
 belong to tiie order, and they are subject to their own superiors. 
 
 Priests of a religious order, with tlie permission of their super- 
 iors, can absolve all members of their own order without the 
 faculties of the bishop. But this does not include those religious 
 congregations, which are not regular orders of tlie church. These 
 must go to the priests appointed by the bishop for that purpose. 
 Members of the order can absolve their own members from all 
 cases not reserved to the Pope, in the same way that a bishop can 
 absolve his own subjects, in papal cases, even from excommuni- 
 cation for striking a cleric. They can dispense from all secret 
 irregularities except for murder. They can say Mass three hours 
 before sunrise in their own church, and give Communion to their 
 own members, novices, servants and to the people, but not the Eas- 
 ter Communion to the laity, except when they have charge of a 
 parish. 
 
 In the days of the apostles, when Celsius, one of the 72 disciples 
 of our dear Lord, first denied his Divinity, Sts. Matthew and Mark 
 came preaching into Egypt, and in the fertile Nile valley, where the 
 pyramids still stand as the gateways of that mysterious land, where 
 the torrid blasts and parching sands encroach on the luxurious rich- 
 ness of the shores, yearly enriched by the overflowing Nile waters, 
 there these apostles found a naturally religious people, ready for 
 the Gospel. The Egyptians received the faith with gladness. 
 At that time God foresaw that later Arius of Alexandria would 
 rise up and deny the divinity of Christ, aiid Providence raised a 
 bulwark against that greatest enemy of Christ, Arius and his fol- 
 lowers. While Dccius was emperor of Rome, in 251 was born 
 Antony, the father of tlie monks of Egypt. Listening to the 
 voice of God, he sold the property left him by his parents, he gave 
 the i)urchase price to the poor, and following the inspiration of 
 the Holy Ghost, he retired into the desert, where in the vast sandy 
 solitude marked with the monuments of a former civilization, there 
 he found a home, and he dwelled the remainder of his life. The 
 fame of his holiness filled the church, and crowds of followers 
 flocked to see him and learn wisdom, and the way of salvation from 
 
FOUNDING TfFE EARLY MONASTERIES. 637 
 
 his lips. His disciples soon made the solitudes bloom and blossom. 
 Wiieii later the terrible heresy of Arianism rose, teaching that 
 Ciirist was only a man, a creature, tlie greatest God coukl create, 
 the disciples of St. Antony were the upholders of the true 
 doctrine, that Christ is the Son of God as well as the Son of Mary, 
 with the double nature of God and man nnited in the one Person 
 of the divine Son, who ** In the beginning was the Word and the 
 Word was with God and tlie Word was God."' Soon religious 
 houses and monasteries, filled with the followers of Antony, rose 
 in every part of the Levant, whose members went forth preaching 
 Christ, and him crucified to the people of the Orient. 
 
 To guard them against attack in that epoch, they were often 
 built on tops of mountains, on the side of precipices, and there 
 we often find thetn even to our day, after having survived the re- 
 volutions, which have swept over these unhappy countries. These 
 monk-priests were often the pastors of the surrounding regions. 
 Each Sunday and holiday they went forth outside the gates of 
 their monasteries, to the chapels there to say Mass, and preach 
 to the people, or the people often came to the monasteries, to hear 
 Mass or to receive the sacraments. Tlie monks, or the lay relig- 
 ious, were often the most holy members of the church, while the 
 priest-monks were the educated and trained clergymen, who by 
 holy orders and by education were in rank over the other monks. 
 The monks, from monos, the Greek for alone, were the teachers of 
 the early christians. Because the priests could not attend to the 
 temporal affairs of the monasteries, they took into the house, to 
 help them in temporal matters, raligious men who never received 
 holy orders, but who always remained laymen, for they never in- 
 tended t) advance to holy orders. These were the lay-monks, or 
 brothers as we call them at the present time.^ As the parishes 
 were not at tliat time regularly established, the deserts and soli- 
 tudes of the East were peopled with tlie monasteries, built by the 
 disciples of the cultured Antony. From there they spread over 
 Arabia-Petra, into Palestine, wherein upon every place sanctified 
 by our Lord's life, or celebrated in the Old Testament there they 
 erected a religious house. 'JMius they crowned the heights of Sinai 
 where Moses received the law; a monastery rose on Horeb where 
 Elias lived, where he educated his disciples, called the son of the 
 prophet; Mount Carmel had its monastic institute for men and 
 women; another was built on Mount Olives from whence the Lord 
 ascended; even calvary itself had built upon its sides the moims- 
 tery, or the convent. As the brook Cedron leaves the walls of 
 Jerusalem and flows to the Dead Sea, in ages past it scooped for 
 itself a dark and dismal canon, and still it flows down deep in 
 the flinty mountain. Soon the sides of this rocky gorge was lined 
 with monasteries. The Lenten mountain, not far from the Jordan 
 and near the historic Jerico, hasa cave near its summit, where trad- 
 ition says the Lord spent his fast of forty days and forty nights. On 
 
 ' John 1. 1. * Concll. Chald. 
 
538 DRIVEN FROM THE ORIENT. 
 
 Hie very spot saiiclifioti by our Tjord's first Lent, the monks from 
 E,iry[)t came and built tlieii- house of prayer, and tliere even to our 
 day theyever ke})t tlie rigorous fast of Lent fh-st taught them by onr 
 Lord. Tabor also which saw his transfigui'ation soon wasiionored 
 by the moiuistery whose ruius attract the toui'ist of to-(hiy. 
 
 Because of ilie unsettled state of society at that time, churclies 
 and dioceses could not be regularly formed, the clergy could not 
 depend on a people continually harrassed by wars and robbers, and 
 the clergy were ordained for their monas/eries, to whom they 
 were to look for their support. That was the origin of the priest- 
 ly title of " the common table." The members of the religious or- 
 ders are ordained at present to the title of poverty. Because of 
 the dignity of the yiriesthood, the clergy ai'e now oidained for the 
 diocese, and the diocese must see that they get theii" living, or 
 they are ordained for the religious order to which they belong, and 
 the order must support them. In the early ages then, the priests 
 formed the presbytery of the order, and the monks and lower clergy 
 were the ministers of the monastery. The chief priests were the 
 quasi-carions, while the head of the order was called the abbot. Be- . 
 cause of his authority, more or less episcopal over the houses or 
 monastei-ies of tiie order, the abbots were like bishops. They 
 wore the ej)iscopal cross, the miter and the vestments of a bishop. 
 The word abbot, abbey, &c., come from the old Syro-Chaldaic and 
 means father, and in the early church it was applied to all the chief 
 clergymen of the church. 
 
 The monasteiios, the convents and the germs of the religious 
 orders then like the sun rose in the Orient, in time these religious 
 liouses were built in strong places, deep ravines, high mountains, 
 inaccessable rocks and natural strongholds were the ifavoi'ite places, 
 where alone the monks felt safe from the attacks of the robber 
 bandits of that age. That is the reason the monasteries of the East 
 are built on mountain tops, and why they look more like forts and 
 castles than houses of prayer. 
 
 When pagan Rome persecuted the church, when AriaTiism 
 threatened the very life of Christendom by denying the divinity of 
 Christ, the monks, priests, and bishops came forth from the soli- 
 tiides of the deserts, from the tombs of the Nile land, from the 
 heights of Carmel and of Ilermon, and nobly ihey defeated that 
 schism of irreligion and impiety. But the victory roused the de- 
 nrons of hell. Soon Mohammed came with his fanaticism and 
 errol's. ^'he monasteries were conquered and sacked, the monks 
 
 Iiut to death, Egypt, Palestine, Arabia. Syria, Turkey and the 
 ^]ast became Mohammedan. Now the oft met ruins of these great 
 religious establishments tell the traveller of the once flourishing' 
 ftate of the church in these cradle laiuls of the faith. 'J'hc CJreek 
 m'in<l was sharp and penetrating, the IJomans were rulers and 
 statesmen, but the Oriental tendency Avas tow.-irds effemimuiy aiid 
 lilziness. In the unfortunate East, in ])lace of the self-denial of the 
 monks you now find the niimerous wives of the 'J'urk. 'J'he stag- 
 
RELTGIOrS OR DEES TX ROME. 589" 
 
 nation of the Al Coran that most abominable book lias paralyzed all 
 eTiterpi'ise, and in place of the charity of the early religions, you 
 find an unbending fanaticism and a hatred of the christian )ianie. 
 
 With fire and sword the followers of Mohammed swept over the 
 ci'adle lands of the faith, and in a generation religion was swept 
 f)-om the hearts of the people, where once it had so flourished. 
 The monastic institutions then looked to the Father of the faith- 
 ful for protection. They fled to the Roman Pontiff for safety. 
 The religious honses then began to floui-ish moi-e than ever at 
 Rome. The Roman nobility soon imitated the wonders of the 
 monasteries of Egypt, of Thebs, of Sinai and of the Levant. The 
 senatorial families, whom Phyrrus compared to kings gave their 
 sons, their daughters and their property to the church for the es- 
 tablishment of religious houses in the eternal city. The children 
 of the Scipions, of the Marcellus, of the Gamillus, of the Anicius, 
 and the ])atricians became the holiest members of the religious 
 orders. The Roman morals during pagan Rome had fallen so low, 
 that the weight of a silk dress was a burden to a Roman lady, hosts 
 of servants waited on them, they even killed for a mistake 
 or in a fit of anger, chastity humility and christian virtues were 
 nnknown, the rich were corrupt, impure, haughty, overbearing. 
 No woman's virtue was safe ; no property was secure; human life 
 Avas ever in danger; men were ruled only by their passions, and 
 neither faith nor morals were known to the unconverted pagan 
 Romans, rotten Avith the vices of the abomiiuitions of dying pagan- 
 ism, whenhosts of monks, driven by revolutions from the East, came 
 to Rome to claim the protection of the Father of the faithful. From 
 the vei-y days of the great apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, the relig- 
 ions life had existed at Rome in the way described before. But 
 Avhen the monasteries of the East were pillaged by the infidels, 
 the persecuted religious in great numbers came to the West. To 
 Europe they brought their regular lives, their studies of the Scrip- 
 tures, their fasts and prayers, their saintly coi'versations. In a 
 Avord, driven from the scenes of our Saviour's life and death, fi'om 
 the places hallowed by the giving of the law to Moses, from the 
 ]5iblical scenes so holy, and from the East they flocked to 
 Europe, and that favored region profited by the convulsions of the 
 Levant. Thusit always comes to pass, that the church, persecuted 
 in one place profits by the redoubled effoi'ts of the persecuted in 
 some more favored region, Avorking for the greater glory of the 
 Lord, for all things worketh for the good of those Avho love God. 
 
 The monks, strengthened by the solitudes of the A'ast deserts of 
 the East, could not find such desert regions in the West. A reform 
 was wanted. St. Antony tells us that the mission of reforming- 
 the monastic orders Avas first offered by God in a vision to a solitary of 
 the desert, Avho refused to underrake the great Avork. Sts. 
 Chrystom and Bazel lived as monks from their ordination till the 
 latter was called to the episcopal office, and Ave read hoAV on«- 
 reproached the other for leaA'ing him a priest, and ascending to 
 
540 SPIRITUAL SOXS OF ST. ANTONY. 
 
 episcopacy Hie culminating point of the priestly ordere, when 
 botli had promised each other to remain simple priests. St. Jerome 
 lived as a monk for years in the desert, till called by St. Damasus 
 to become his private secretary, and to reform the Bible. He was 
 a monk in the highest terms. Amid the splendors of the papal 
 court, he kept the rules of the monastic house he founded at the 
 grotto where our Lord was born at Bethlehem. All the great bish- 
 ops and priests of the early church were monks, and the clergy lived 
 severe lives from the times of the apostles. Let us see first those 
 religious who follow the rule of St. Antony. 
 
 In tracing the origin of the religious order, we must go back to 
 the days of the kin^s of Juda. We read that the prophet Elias 
 founded a school of prophets, and often in the holy Scriptures we 
 find mention of these schools of the " sons of the prophets. '' This 
 school of the prophets was founded on Mount Oarmel, and existed 
 in the days of our Lord. They were monks of the old Law. But 
 they had not regular rules to guide them. Their daily lives were 
 spent in the studies of the Scriptures. When the apostles came to 
 preach Jesus crucified, they embraced the christian religion. 
 When the rules of St. Antony had spread into Syria, when 
 they saw the wise religious of St. Bazel, the monks of Carmel 
 adopted them, and from that time they have followed these rules 
 of St. Antony. In our day they are known as the Carmelites, 
 from Mount Carmel, where Elias dwelled before he was taken up 
 into heaven on a fiery chariot of the Lord of Hosts. ' They 
 form the oldest order in the church. In 1209 St. Albert, the 
 Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, gave them a modified rule. When 
 Syria was finally conquered by the Mohammedans, they spread all 
 over Europe. In 1259 St. Louis king of France enriched them 
 with many gifts, and gave them a convent at Paris. In 1287 
 they began to wear the scapular of Mount Carmel, which they 
 say was given to the Blessed Simon Stok. From that dates the 
 foundation of the Confraternity of the Scapular. 
 
 The regular Canons of St. Victor follow the rules of Sts. Antony 
 and Bazel. They wear a white robe of serge and the rochet, 
 with a surplice over it, and a white cloak in winter. 
 
 Under the rules of St. Augustin come the regular canons of the 
 Premonstrates, founded by St. Norbert under king Louis the Big. 
 In choir they wear the surplice, the white amice and the purple 
 mantle. 
 
 In the middle ages, the Turks threatened all Europe, and the 
 christians ever looked to their Father the Pope for protection 
 against the infidels, till they were defeated by the combined 
 christian troops under Don Joan at Lepanto. At that time the 
 inhabitants of southern Europe, as well as captured soldiers were 
 sold into slavery. Thousands of christian slaves lost their lives 
 on the burning sands of Africa, or spent their miserable days of 
 the most abject slavery, amidst the hardships of the Moham- 
 
 IV. Kings U. 
 
ST. AUGUSTIN A FATHER OF MONKS. "541 
 
 medans. In 1198 Sts. John of Matliaand Felix of Valois fonntled 
 the Older of tlie Trinitarians. The object was the redemption of 
 these unfortnaate christians, held captive by the Saracans. 
 Three-quarters of the revenues of each religious house was to be 
 spent in buying these christian slaves. Many of the religious men 
 voluntarily gave themselves in place of the captives, and for their 
 love of their neighbor in danger of losing their faith for their de- 
 livery, they spent their lives in slavery, while the man they rescued 
 returned home to Europe. They lived entirely on vegetable food 
 except on Sundays and great feasts, when they ate a little meat. 
 A branch of them was reformed by Father Jerome Halies. They 
 are called The Barefooted Trinitarians. 
 
 In 1624 Father St. Charles Faure founded tlie Congregation of 
 France, Avhich soon became so numerous that they had 100 houses. 
 They took charge of parishes, opened hospitals for the cure of all 
 kinds of diseases, gathered the children into Sunday schools, 
 sang the divine office, and turned themselves to all kinds of 
 christian works. 
 
 When the great St. Augustin became bishop of Hippo, in the 
 North of Africa, he formed the clergy of his cathedral into a re- 
 ligious order; for thirty years he lived among them as their su- 
 perior, studying and writi'ig, and he gave the church these great 
 books, which have since illumined the whole christian world. 
 The order w-hich he founded still flourishes, and they are known 
 as the Augustinians. To that order once belonged the unfortunate 
 Luther, father of the modern religious revolt called the reforma- 
 tion. Numerous religious orders came from the order organized 
 by the great bishop of Hippo, and they soon spread intoevei-ypart 
 ofthe church. In 1254 Pope Alexander IV. reformed them and 
 iinited them again into one order. At the present Avriting the 
 Eeligious Hermits, the Congregation of France, the Dominicans, 
 the Order of Mercy, the Servites of Mary, the Celotes, the Thea- 
 tines, the Barnabites, the Brothers of Charity, &c., follow the rules 
 of St. Augustin. 
 
 But the church, ever fruitful in the variety of her children, soon 
 saw rise another code of laws for the guidance of her chosen 
 children called to the counsels of our Lord. At Eome in 480 was 
 born of noble parents Benedict, who frightened at the licentious 
 conduct of his companions at school, fled to desert mountains of 
 Subiaco, 30 miles from the eternal cit}^ where for three years he 
 lived in union with God separated from men. He was elected by the 
 monks of a neighboring monastery to be their abbot, but they 
 could not agree, and he left them and went back to his solitude. In 
 a few years he established twelve monasteries. The clergy and the 
 nobility of Rome flocked to see him, went to see an other St. John 
 the Baptist in the wilderness. In 529 he founded the great abbey 
 of Casino on a high mount, on the ruins of a pagan temple, where 
 np to that time the neighboring pagans offered sacrifices to the 
 false gods. From the pen of Gregory the Great, we learn most of 
 
542 THE CHILDREN OF ST, BENEDICT. 
 
 the imformation we have of the third great father of the religions 
 life. P'illed with the science of the Saints, he composed a rule of 
 life, Mhich was to regnlate all the monasteries he founded. St. 
 Gregoi-y the Great says it is the best rule for religious, as it is 
 founded on silence and self -denial, solitude, prayer, humility and 
 obedience. 
 
 That rule of St. Benedict soon spread to all the monasteries of 
 Europe, and nearly all the religious houses of the middle ages 
 adopted it as their guide. For that reason he is called in history 
 the Patriarch of the Monks of the West. When in 895 the cele- 
 brated and historic Cluney was founded, the monks of that great 
 historic house adopted the rule of St, Benedict. So did St. Paul 
 Justinian in 1520, when he established the Camaldulesof France. 
 AVhen St. Kobert laid the foundations of the famous abbey of Ci- 
 teaux, which 100 years afterwards counted 180i> monasteries, 
 daughters of the fruitful parent, when they laid its foundations 
 amidst the mountains, they were regulated by the wise rule of St. 
 Benedict. In 1586 the order of Citeaux was reformed by Dominic 
 and his disciples. In 1140, under the same rules were founded 
 the Trappists, so called from their first house of la Trappe. 
 It is the severest order in the church. Reformed in 1602 from 
 its primeval rigors by John le Boutillier, to this day it frightens 
 the people of the world with the awful severity of its members. 
 Under Godfrey de Bullion in the days of chivalry, the crusaders and 
 the christians saw the holy land the prey of the Saracens, and they 
 flocked in crowds to rescue the places hallowed by the footprints 
 of our Lord from the desecrating hands of infidels. For that pur- 
 pose in 11 18, Ungues of Paganes and Godfrey of S. Amour, founded 
 the order of the Templars into a holy society for the defence of the 
 pilgrimson their way to Jerusalem the holy land. After giving great 
 assistance to religion, at last they left their first fervor, they became 
 proud ; they were condemned by the kings of France, of Spain, of 
 Portugal, of England. In 1311 they weYe formally suppressed by the 
 church. The religious of Fontevrault followed Benedict's rule, 
 when they became lax in their lives they were reformed by Mary 
 of Britagne. Tiiat was towards the end of the XV. century. The 
 religious of the Congregation of St. Maur were perhaps the most 
 illustrious of the family of St. Benedict during the middle ages. 
 They had colleges in various parts of Europe for the education of 
 the young. 
 
 We now come to the religious families, who follow the last of 
 the four great founders of religious orders St. Francis of Assissium. 
 The human race had advanced since the order of St. Benedict was 
 established nearly eight centuries before, and the Spirit of God 
 brooding over the church had raised up apostolic men to meet the 
 changing conditions of society. The old religious orders had seem- 
 ed to have done their work, and new life and new materials were 
 wanted to meet the new conditions of society. God raised up an- 
 other leader in Isi-ael. In the little city of Assissium, on the brow 
 
THE WORK OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISSIL'M. 54^ 
 
 of the hill of Assi, in 1182 was born St. Francis, one of the last 
 great fathers of the religions life of poverty. By tiie rapacity of 
 rulers, by the ignorance of the people, by the vices of the rich, and 
 by the indifference of the laity the church of God was shaken to 
 its very foundations. God called the poor P^'rancis to re- 
 pair his house. He supposed the Lord meant the church of St. 
 Damian outside the walls of Assissium. But God meant his church 
 universal, of which the material building is but the image and the 
 figure. He lived the most austere life. He gave his goods, even 
 his clothes to the poor. He gathered a little band of disciples 
 around him, then he laid the foundations of the great Franciscan 
 order at Portiuncula, Italy, on the 16th of August, 12U9. The same 
 year he received the approval of Innocent IV. He composed a 
 rule for the guidance of the members, which was chiefly formed 
 of the counsels of the Gospel, to which he added certain regulations 
 of human prudence. In a vision at niglit God gave to the great 
 Pope Innocent III. a prophecy of what the order was to be in the 
 universal church. The Pope saw Fi'ancis upholding the Lateran 
 Church, the Pope's Cathedral, the Mistress the Mother of all the 
 churches of world and the Cathedral of thelioman diocese. Five 
 years after he saw another vision, in which St. Dominic sustained 
 the same church when it was tottering to the ground. Thus did 
 God enlighten the mind of the Pope regarding the future mighty 
 works of the followers of these two great fathers of the religious 
 life. 
 
 When this order of St. Francis was approved by the supreme 
 head of the church, with his twelve disciples he began to preach 
 penance. Numerous holy men joined his order, and soon they 
 spread all over the cliristian world. Numerous dioceses, cities, 
 and nations asked his disciples to found houses of the new order, 
 that they might be animated by the examples of the heroic virtues 
 of his disciples. In 1212 he gave his habit and his rules to St. 
 Clare, Avho under his direction founded the second order of St. Fran- 
 cis for the sanctification of the holy virgins. Till his death he 
 took personal charge of the house she founded at the monastery 
 of St. Damian in Assissium. That Avas the mother and model 
 house of the great congregations of Franciscan nuns and sisters, 
 Avhich at this writing are doing good in almost every diocese of 
 the Avorld. 
 
 Towards the end of his life he was once in prayer on the mountain, 
 on the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. He saw coming 
 down from heaven the Saviour himself as a Seraph nailed to the 
 cross. He had six wings of fire, two covered his body, two 
 stretched above his head, and with the other two he flew from the 
 heights of heaven to the man of God, whose heart so burned with 
 the fire of charity that he nearly died. The crucified Lord 
 fixed npon him the most tender eye of love, showing him that he 
 was not to die a martyr by the sufferings of the flesh, but by the 
 inward anofuish of the soul. From each of the wounds of the 
 
544 BRANCHED OF THE FRANCISCANS. 
 
 Crucified, came rays of piercing light to the hands and feet and 
 side of the saintly Francis. From that moment till his death, his 
 feet and hands, as Avell us his side, bore the murks of tlie wounds 
 or stigmata, as though he had been crucified. The nails with 
 black heads made of living flesh penetrated through his hunds 
 and feet, while the points pierced the other side and were clinched 
 into his palms, and into the soles of his feet. In his side was 
 left an open wound which frequently bled. He died in the year 1226. 
 
 The Franciscans founded by St. Francis has undergone many 
 changes and reformations, according to the wants of the church 
 and the changed condition of society. 
 
 In 1368 Father Paulet founded a branch of them called the 
 Cordeliers, to whom Pope Leo X. gave precedence over the other 
 disciples of the saint. In Spain, about the year 1484, John of 
 Guudelouj)e organized the Ricolets, wlio in 155J5 came to France. 
 Matthew of Bassi and Louis of Fossembrun established the 
 Capuchins, so called from the crown or hood of their habit. They 
 were a branch of the minor Brothers of the Franciscans. The 
 order produced numerous distinguished persons. 
 
 In 1250 Pope Innocent IV. gave the name of Minor Conventuals 
 to all the Franciscans, who live a community life. But in 1517 
 Pope Leo X. restricted the name to the Franciscan monks, who 
 persisted in living a less rigorous life, while the other reformed 
 monaiiteries of St. Francis were named Observants. 
 
 After founding his first order for men and his second for 
 women under St. Clare, he organized a Third order for the laity, 
 who were impeded from entering the religious state, yet partake 
 in all the benefits of the religious. That order composed of both 
 feexes, became very extensive. Some of thtm actuated by piety, 
 wanted to form it into a community and have the members take 
 TOWS, but it was impracticable. They were named the Peneten- 
 tiaries of the Third Order of St. Francis. In 1287 it was estab- 
 lished in France. In 1594 Father Mousart reformed it. From 
 the name of the first house in Paris it was called Picpus, so 
 graphically described by Victor Hugo. Some of them wore the 
 mantle, and these were called the Religious of the Third Order 
 of St, Francis. 
 
 Tiie order of Chartreuse was thus named from the house where 
 St. Bruno first founded them in the year 1086, of which we 
 will treat more freely at another time. Tiie rule is very severe. 
 The order gave many celebrated saints to the church, and it ex- 
 erted the most powerful influence on the whole civilized world 
 during the middle ages. 
 
 In 1435 St. Francis of Paul founded the Minims. According 
 to their rule they never eat meat or any product of the animal 
 kingdom. 
 
 When the nations of the north of Europe, following the revolt 
 of Luther, rebelled against the church, the Holy Ghost raised up 
 another man to combat his teachings. He was St. Ignatius of 
 
THE JESUITS, ORATORIANS, &C. 545 
 
 Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. His conversion by reading 
 the lives of the Saints, when M'ounded in the hospital, his retreat 
 at Manresa, his calling of his disciples, the wonderful conversion 
 of his disciple, St. Francis Xavier, their voyages and discoveries 
 in North and South America, their great success as teachers of the 
 young, are facts of history. The reformation had thrown into the 
 church and into society the element of rebellion and of revolt against 
 all authority. To counteract it, the Jesuits muke a special vow of 
 obedience to the head of the church and to their own superiors. 
 Up to that time the mind of men in the church had tended to the 
 castigation of the body and to the severity of tlie middle ages. 
 These corporal austerities did not take with a people looking for 
 the ease and the luxury of wealth, revelling in the pleasures of life. 
 Tlie founder of the Jesuits above all taught the denial of the will, 
 the crucifixion of the intellect. They were suppressed by Pope 
 Clement XIV. in 1773, because of the pressure brought to bear on 
 him by the lying enemies of the Jesuits. They Avere restored by Pope 
 Pius VII. in 1814. To this day they continue their religious 
 work. The wi'iter knows of what he writes, for he spent the 
 greater parts of the years 1869 and 1870 as professor in a College 
 i;nder the Jesuits, und he knows them from his own observation, 
 because he has seen the daily lives of the Jesuits, and knows the 
 objects of the order. 
 
 13esides the illustrious orders mentioned before, we find in the 
 church many congregations founded for some particular work. 
 They usually follow wholly or in part the rules of religious orders. 
 There is not a weakness or disease of human nature but what the 
 Holy Ghost has established a remedy, by raising up great men 
 to combat it by the religious order or congregation they es- 
 tablished. 
 
 In 1611 Cardinal Berulle founded the Oratorians of Jesus, for 
 the management of colleges and seminaries for the education of 
 the clergy. Its chief house was at Paris. 
 
 In 163'^ St. Vincent of Paul organized the congregation of the 
 Mission, or as they are better known the Lazarists, so called from 
 their first house in Paris. Their chief object is to give missions 
 in parishes and to revive the faith of the weak. But they also 
 take charge of colleges for the education of the young. 
 
 The Christian Brothei's, who take charge of schools were or- 
 ganized by Blessed John Baptist de la Salle, who made his studies 
 with the Sulpicians. He found much opposition and many per- 
 secutions before he could succeed. The death of one of his disci- 
 ples showed him that they were not to be ordained a priest. They 
 are a band of school teachers devoting their whole lives to that 
 laudable object. 
 
 -In Italy, France, Spain, &c., we find congregations of religious 
 men who devote their whole time to the unfortunate persons con- 
 demned to death for capital crimes. These good men look after 
 the temporal and spiritual interests of these unhappy prisoners 
 
546 IHE END OF THE BOOK. 
 
 before their execution and see tliat they are decently buried after 
 tlieir death. 
 
 The Chivaliers of St. John of Malta were organized in 1099 in 
 order to defend Christendom against the attacks of the Moham- 
 medans. In 1310 they captured Rhodes from the followers of the 
 false prophet, and that city became the seat of the order, half 
 religious and half military, till 1530 Avhen Charles V . gave them the 
 Island of Malta — hence their name. The order was divided into 
 three classes— the 6rst being chevaliers belonging to the nobility — 
 the second were priests or chaplains and the third rank were soldiers. 
 Since 1798 they have existed without leading a community life. 
 In 1802 the Island of Malta was annexed to England. 
 
 Thus far have we written of the church of God and of her di- 
 vine constitution as founded by our Lord to teach, sanctify and 
 save the members of his race which he came down to lead up into 
 the society and companionship of his Father and his Holy Spirit. 
 Now our work is done, but not complete. For we have only 
 given the principles wiiich require better and more complete ex- 
 planations, before the reader can see and appreciate the full 
 beauties of the Bride of the Ljimb. When we have rested from 
 the three years of labor spent in the writing of this book, in 
 another work, we may again take up our pen to continue our la- 
 bors for the glory of God for the instruction of the laity. 
 
u 
 
 ^';^. 
 
 ^^». 
 
 ii^ 
 
 Abbot, tlio, 529. 
 
 'Ablegate, a iiapal. 73, 298. 
 
 Absence irom cinircli, 383. 
 
 Acolyte, duties of, 63, 64. 
 
 Act, of orders juiisdiciioii, 63. 
 
 Act, a human, 185. 
 
 Adam, creation of. 267. 
 
 Adam's sin. 19, 46, empire, 18, 19. 
 
 Administrator of diocese, 501, qnalilies 
 of. 501. 
 
 Adrian I.. 259. 
 
 Advent, Lent, &c . when ordered, 213, 
 
 JElia., ancient name of Jerusalem, 316, 
 318. 
 
 Aerius, liis errors, 506. 
 
 Africa, bishops of, held a council, 225. 
 
 Agapitus, Pope, 236. 
 
 Agatho, Pope, 249. 
 
 Agent, nature of, 71, 92, 140, 144. 
 
 Agnosticism in ancient times, 213. 
 
 Alcuin, teacher of Cliarlemagne, 262. 
 
 Alexander, St., 212, 305. 
 
 All Saints, orinrin of the feast, 242, cele- 
 brated in France, 264. 
 
 Altar boys, 385, bisliops portable, 464. 
 
 Anacletus, St., 212, 214. 
 
 Anastasius, St.. 225, 231. 
 
 Andrew the apostle. 125, 126. 
 
 Angels, the fall of the. 16. 
 
 Angels, wliy they Avere not redeemed, 17. 
 
 Antioch, seat of an arclibi.shop, 305. 
 
 Antiquity of, 316, councils on, 318, 
 cliarcrcs against, 318, 
 
 Antony, S,., founded a religious order, 
 
 537, 539. 
 Apostles, powers of the, 435, 436. 
 Approbation required for confession, 471. 
 647 
 
 lM 
 
 «lfr-»w 
 
 
 
 » 
 
548 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Apollonarians, errors of, 223, 224. 
 Apostle, meaning of the wortl, 125. 
 Apocryphal Books, tlic, 189. 
 Apostolic church, the, 122, delesrates, 
 
 330. 
 Apostolic See, the, 146. 
 Apostles, tiieir communion, 47. 
 Apostles, tiieir works. 328, 329, 331, of 
 
 tlie christian nations. 329. 
 Appeals, 308, 309, 318. 
 Archbishops, 301, 322, consecration of, 
 
 340, 341, antiquity of, 505, 506, 
 
 consecrated the bishop, 409, l>y the 
 
 Pope. 418, 419. 
 Archbishop, 321, 322, duties of, 322, 
 
 a braucii of Peter. 333, election of, in 
 
 earlv churcli, 410, 411. 
 Archbishopric, tlie first, 150. 
 Archdeacon, 486, 487, abuse of, 487. 
 Archdiocese, clergy of, 309, 310, 312, 
 
 antiquity of, 316. 
 Architecture, clnirch origin of, 404. 
 Archpriest, 482, 485, two kuids of, 485, 
 
 on ceremonies, 490, 491, in early 
 
 church, 585, 505. 
 Aries, arclibisliop ot, 312. 
 Arius, liis errors. 213, 219, spread, 222, 
 
 410. 
 Arian bishops condemned, 222, 238. 
 Assistant priests, 383, 475, 516. 
 Athanasius of Alexandria lal.sely ac- 
 
 cnsc'd. 222. 
 Athens, the city of, 270. 
 Attila, tiio scourge of (Jod, 229, met by 
 
 I'()))e St. Lei>, 229. 
 Augustine, St., to the Pope, 227. 
 Augustinians, origin of tlie. 540, 541. 
 Bad books, a list of published, 294. 
 Baltimore, tlie first 8ec, 315. 
 Banns i>f marriage. 517. 
 Baptism, 44, received only once, 230. 
 Baptismal font. 5T6. 
 Baptist church, the, 102. 
 Barbarians, destruction caused bj*, 370. 
 Bartholomew^, St., 127, 
 Belisarius, invaded tiic Pope's dotninioua, 
 
 23- 
 
 Benedictines, origin of the, 541, spread 
 of tiieir rule. 542. 
 
 Benedict I. Pope, 239. 
 
 Benedict 11.. Pupc. 251. 
 
 Benefices, 380. 
 
 Bible, when proclaimed inspired, 189, 
 wiiat is in the, 106, 231, 331, 394, 
 j)roiioimced inspired by the Po[>e. 231. 
 
 Bishop, lu Part Iidulel, 74, meaning of 
 the word. 432, 439, when liis power 
 bt;gins, 75, 429, equal in lioly orders, 
 131, 333, preacliing. 212, election of, 
 232, 405 — 428, crimiiiul charges 
 
 against, 318, dignity of, 333, 394, 
 395, 434, relations with his diocese, 
 ,429—455, tlie Head of bishops, 333, 
 441, wiio appoints them. 338, 242, con- 
 secratuiga, 339, 340, of Rome, tlie line 
 of tlie, 388, power of tlie, 394, 395, 
 436, 439, as head of the diocese. 
 429 — 457, origin of his jiower, 431, 
 432, names of in the early churcli, 
 432, errors of Aerius resrarding the, 
 432, 433, lines of the first. 433, only 
 can ordain priests, 434, 435, of Rome, 
 only successor of the Apostles, 436, 
 restricted by the law, 437, origin of 
 the b's jurisdiction, 437, governs his 
 diocese in his own name, 440, teach- 
 ing, sanctifying and governing, 450, 
 451, 452, pontificating, 451, 452, ob- 
 ligations and duties of the, 457-476, 
 how pastor of the dioceso in lato sen- 
 8u, 458, must consult the chapter, 
 492—497, legislative powers of the, 
 459, his powers limited, 460, over 
 students, 498, by whom admonished, 
 498, when removed from See, 500, 
 nomination of. in U. S.. 501, 502, 
 once pastor of the whole diocese, 504. 
 
 Body of Christ, the mystic. 70, 141, the 
 glorified. 38. 
 
 Boniface, St., sent to convert Germany, 
 254, consulls the Poix;. 257. 
 
 Born, wlien the church was. 13, 22. 
 
 Born, Christ b. three times. 36. 
 
 Bread and wine at Mass regulated, 
 213. 
 
 Breviary in early church, 365, 452. 
 
 Brothers in monasteries, 530. 
 
 Bull, a Papal letter, why so-Ciiiled, 297. 
 
 Byzantium becomes Constaniinopic 220, 
 241. 
 
 Caius, St.. 217. 
 
 Calixtus, St., 215. 
 
 Candidate for parish, 514. 
 
 Candidates for the episcopacy, 427, ex- 
 
 alliiiiiitiou of. 427. 
 
 Canoniz. tion of saints, 294, 326, 355. 
 
 Canosa, meaning of going to, 376. 
 
 Canon law, origin of the, 318, 378, 401, 
 402. 
 
 Canons, of the Cathedral, 477—502. 
 
 Cardinal, meaning of the word. 270. 
 
 Cardinals, duties of the. 270—288, an- 
 ti([ui y of the, 271, 217, three rank.s 
 ol. 272, bishops. 276, 273, de.icons, 
 272, 273, priests, 273, 276, how 
 elected, 275, 276, selected from all 
 nations, 276, candidates for, 276, re- 
 ception of. 275, antiquity of, 291. 
 
 Carmelites, origin of the. 540. 
 
 Catechumens in the early church, 367. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 540 
 
 Cathedral, why so-called, 74, rektion of 
 i^ishop to the, 458, an imago of llie 
 diocese. 404, 451. 
 
 Cathedrals ot England, 376, 377. 
 
 Catholic, iiieanitifrof lliewoid. iliechiircli 
 is Caliiollc. 119, 121, 122, tlio llo- 
 miiii Catholic cluircli, 119, origin of 
 tlie Catholic church. 15, 20, iiiHiience 
 cf, 15, what is the, 16, clergymen be- 
 long fh'st to, 65. 
 
 Catholic king on ceremonies at Rome, 
 277. 
 
 Celestine, Pope. 
 
 Cemetery, laws relating to, 519. 
 
 Cerdo, his errors, 214. 
 
 Cerinthus, errors of, 125. 
 
 Cesarea, archhishop of at Nice. 335. 
 
 Change of pastors. 211, 212. 
 
 Chancery, ilie Roman, 256. 
 
 Chancel cJioir. 491, 500. 
 
 Chapters of the cathedrals, 366, before 
 the reformation, 380, during a va- 
 cancy, 500. 
 
 Chaplains in the army. 257. 
 
 Chapel, private origin of tiio, 377, bish- 
 op's power regarding, 464, 465. 
 
 Chapter houses, 492. 
 
 Chapter electing their bishop, 412, 426, 
 of Canterbury and the bishop. 412, 
 414, oKgin of the word, 483, of 
 France, 414, history of the, 477 — 
 502, founded by the apostles, 477, 
 
 479, of twelve priests and seven dea- 
 cons, 479, the senate of the diocese, 
 
 480, 482, 383, 384, 492, 498, 506, 
 Rome had a double ciiapler. 480, in 
 difficulties. 383, asked to resign. 384, 
 a corporate body, 384, 385, 496, 497, 
 otficials of, 488, 489, iirst of Lincoln, 
 489, 490, Montreal, 490, on holv 
 week, 491, 499, support of, 492, how 
 thc\' vote, 492, 493, relation of bish- 
 op to, 493, 495, 497, place of meet- 
 ing, 493, chairman of. 493, matters 
 treated by, 494, 496, duties of, 4Q4, 
 495, 497, its bishop head of the, 490, 
 \gy, acts of must be signed by the 
 
 isiiop, 497, dress of members of, 
 499, during vacancy, 500, 514, must 
 appoint an administrator. 500, 501, 
 two administrators forbidden. 500, 
 501. 
 
 Charlemagne, 259, 261, 262, crowned 
 at Rome, 261, 262. 
 
 Chartreuse, founding of the, 544. 
 
 Chamberlain, at death of Pope. 280. 
 
 Charity of the early christians, 365, 366. 
 
 Charity, the virtue of, 187, 188. 
 
 Chastity, the virtue of, 524, 525, 526. 
 
 Christian Brothers, founding of the, 545. 
 
 Children of Catholics must be baptized. 
 226, 
 
 Christ and the church one, 16, 20, 43, 
 62, 103, 104, preligiucd in the old 
 law, 6l, a king, 79, 84. 
 
 Chrism, holy, how blessed, 220. 
 
 Church, the, a copy of the Trinit}', 23, 
 how united with the Trinity, 30, 43, 
 outside of no salvation. 35, 40, 52, 
 obedient to Christ, 43, tlie spouse of 
 Christ, 68, 70, 77, 79, teaching, sanc- 
 tifying and ruling. 82, the city of God. 
 50. 
 
 Church, the congregational, 102. 
 
 Citeaux, founding of. 542. 
 
 Cited, before civil courts, clergy exempt 
 from, 23. 
 
 City of God, the. 50. 
 
 Clandestinity, laws aboiit. 517. 
 
 Clement, St.. 216, Kpistie ot to the Corin- 
 thians, 212, 214. 
 
 Clergy, support of the, 469, 470, 473, 
 474, 475, education, 469, me.ining of 
 ti;e word, 529, cited before church 
 courts, 223, reform of, 224, 381, regu- 
 lar and secular, 381. 
 
 Clerk of the .senate of cardinals, 280. 
 
 Cletus, St., 211. 
 
 Clovis, the emperor, 247. 
 
 Coadjutor, when ai)[)ointed, 300. 
 
 Communion, 47, 214, meaning of, ineany 
 church, 55. 
 
 Communion meant jurisdiction, 341, 
 342. 
 
 Confession in the early church, 366, 
 420, 421, annual. 474. 
 
 Constantine, I'ope, 254, tlie emperor, 
 220, liealed from leprosy. 219. 
 
 Constantinople, councils of, 173, 174, 
 Roman empire changed to, 173, when 
 taken by the Mohannnedans, 202, VJ. 
 council of. 250, refused the first place 
 after Rome, 422. 
 
 Confirmation of bishops. 424, 426, 
 foim of, 427, sacrament of, 470. 
 
 Confirmation, ordinary minister of. 
 
 435- 
 
 Congregation of extraordinary church 
 matters, 296, of indulgences, 296, of 
 immunity. 296, of France, S^I. 
 
 Congregations, the Roman, 289-300, of 
 • bishops. 295. 
 
 Congregation, of Regulars, 294. 
 
 Consecration of bishops, 405—428, by 
 the Pope, 421. 
 
 Consistory, what is a, 222. 
 
 Council, who calls a, 323, 350, of the 
 Father, 346, nature of a, 346-361, 
 in the earlj' church, 348, ecumenical, 
 an, 350, 360, chairman of a, 351, 
 
550 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 members of a, 352, confirmation, 353 
 -354, the most iii)f>ort;int. 354, p-irtic- 
 "''i'-, 355, 356, of Africa. 358, 359, of 
 France and Spain, 359, visiting bish- 
 ops in a, 360, provincial, 360. 
 
 Conclave for eleciion of a Pope, 281, 
 288. 
 
 Consecration of bishop by three bishops, 
 212, of a chi rch by a bisiiop, 230. 
 
 Constitution, wliat is n, 83, 151. 
 
 Constitution of tiie United States, 47. 
 
 Consultors, house of, 293. 
 
 Conversion of Protestants, 384. 
 
 Copts, sciiism of the, 353. 
 
 Cornelius, St.. 216. 
 
 Counties in Ireland, origin of, 377. 
 
 Councils of Baltimore, 361. 
 
 Council of the Father, Christ the, 31, of 
 the church, 153. 
 
 Courts, in the early chnrch, 367. 
 
 Court, the snpreine 154, 129, to 289. 
 
 Courts, civil foundation of, 374. 
 
 Creation of the angels, 16, of Man, i6, 
 267, 269. 
 
 Custom, how it makes law, 325, 459. 
 
 Damasus, St.. 223. 
 
 Datary, the Roman, 297. 
 
 Dating the years from birth of Christ, 
 236. 
 
 Deacons, esUiblished by the Apostles, 
 272, office of, 63, appointed in Home, 
 216, 272, stole, how worn, 226, dia- 
 dem worn by St. John, 364. 
 
 Deans, among the bishops, 335, 357, 
 358, 359, origin of the word, 486. 
 
 Death, the cause of, 34, Christ delivered 
 ns from, 34, why Christ siilTcred. 34, 
 35, had no dominion over Christ, 36, 
 disciples, the, 72, 505, 506. 
 
 Delegate, a papal, 73, 74, 424. 
 
 Delegates, of Christ, 70. 
 
 Dennis, St., 216, falsely accused, 2l6. 
 
 Destruction of literature and arts, 229. 
 
 Diocese, how born, 49, 54, 56, s|X)use of 
 the bisiiop. 68, why some fall, 135, 
 why the Roman ever stands, 135, 
 history of the, 362, 387, head of the, 
 367, 389, diocese of Rome, 388-404, 
 only immortal, 388, 389, .some fell 
 away, 388, 389, founded on the Apos- 
 tles, 389, the spouse of Christ, 389, 
 ruled by a bishop, 438, authority of 
 Pope in, 440, constitution of the, 453. 
 
 Diptychs in the early church, 433. 
 
 Diptychs, the, 149. 
 
 Discipline, nature of, 348. 
 
 Dispensation, nature of a, 460, 461, 
 reasons for giving, 461, what bishops 
 can do regarding, 461, 466, for relig- 
 ious to marry, 333. 
 
 Disputes about a diocese, 218. 
 
 Division, of churches, effect of, 104, ol 
 the parishes of Rome, 217. 
 
 Domnus, Pope. 249. 
 
 Donatists, their errors, 218, 225. 
 
 Dualists, errors of, 213. 
 
 Easter, cele!>nition of 156,214. 
 
 Ebion, errors of, 125, 196. 
 
 Election of a Pope, 277-288. 
 
 Election of bishops in tiic U. S., 335, 
 early church. 405, 429, by the apos- 
 tles, 407, 426, St. Cyprian on, 407, 
 425, early look pnvt in tiio. 407, 425, 
 in Africa, Kgypt, Ac. 408, 409, 419, 
 mode of procedure, 409, 428, inter- 
 ference of government in, 409, 410, 
 4-26, patriarchs in 415, 416, contirm- 
 ation of the Po|k\ 416, 417, 418, 
 illegally declared invalid, 420, abuses 
 at, 425, 426, of bishop of Rome, 
 
 ^, 367-388, 341, 347. 
 
 Elements, the divine and human in the 
 church. 142. 
 
 Eleutherius, St.. 215. 
 
 Ember days, 215. 
 
 Emperor, on ceremonies at Rome, 280. 
 
 Empire, what i.s an. 192. 
 
 English church looks lo Rome, 257. 
 
 England, conversion of, 29, 248. 
 
 English college at Rome, 261, apjK^ils to 
 Rome, 243. 
 
 Ephesus, councils of. 55, 228, confirmed 
 by the Pope. 228. 
 
 Episcopate, nature of the, 429, 456, 
 fulness of the priesthood, 439, is it a 
 saciameiii, 439, 440. 
 
 Episcopal cliurcii, the, 102. 
 
 Episcopacy, the, 55. 
 
 Espousal of tho bishop with Ibe diocese, 
 56. 
 
 Espousal of Christ with tho church, 15, 
 56, 269. 
 
 Essence in Gml, 64. 
 
 Eugenius, Pope, 248. 
 1. • 264. 
 
 Eulalius, schism of, 227. 
 
 Eunomians, the, 223. 
 
 Eunomians, errors of, 223. 
 
 Eutyches, errors of, 171, 231, 234. 
 
 Evangelists, figures of, 125. 
 
 Evaristus, St., 212. 
 
 Eve, crciition of, 16, 20, 267. 
 
 Evodius, Si., 155, archbishop of Antioch, 
 
 305. 
 Examination of candidate for bishop, 
 
 409. 
 Excommunication, 507, 517. 
 Exemption of clergy from civil courts, 
 
 463. 
 Exorcist, office of, 63. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 551 
 
 Extraordinary confessor for nuns, 472. 
 
 Extreme Unciioii, 518. 
 
 Faculties of the diocese, 471, 517, for 
 rums, 472. 
 
 Faith, nature of supernatural, 186, 187. 
 
 Faith and morals, liie teachers of, 179. 
 
 Fall of the angels, 16. 
 
 Fall of man, 17. 
 
 Fasting, on Sunday and Thursday for- 
 bidden, 218, dispensations from, 462. 
 
 Father of the Apostles, Christ the, 44. 
 
 Fatherly authoritj^, 22. 
 
 Felix, St., 217. 
 
 Felix III., 230. 
 
 Felix IV., 233. 
 
 Feudalism and the church, 374, 375. 
 
 " Filioque," disputes about tlie, 262. 
 
 Franciscans, origin of the, 542, 543, 
 
 ^ 544- 
 
 Freedom of worship, 218. 
 
 Fruits of tlic earth blessed, 217. 
 
 Funerals regulated by the Pastor, 519, of 
 the poor, 519. 
 
 Garments, clerical, 475. 
 
 Gelasius, St., 217. 
 
 Generation of men, 19. 
 
 in God, 62, 99, 100. 
 
 Gentiles, calling of the, 61. 
 
 Gifts of tlie people, 215. 
 
 Godfrey de Bullion, 380. 
 
 Gospel, u liy we stand at the, 226, 232. 
 
 " Gloria " when added to the Mass, 213. 
 
 Grace of the Aposiles, 328. 
 
 Grace, foundation of, 18, 32, 35, 45, 
 grace given by the S<icraments, 44, 45. 
 
 Greeks, the schismatic, 202. 
 
 Gregory the Great, 239, 241. 
 
 Gregory I., 240, 241. 
 11 , 254. 
 
 Gregory YII. and Henrj'^ IV'. of Ger- 
 many, 41 1, of England, 412. 
 
 Head of the church, Christ the, 39, 41, 
 49, 72, lOi, 113, of the whole race, 
 Christ the, 39, God the head of Christ, 
 41, of tlie Roman diocese, 392, of the 
 diocese, 393. 
 
 " Health,"' and apostolic Benediction when 
 lirst used, 211. 
 
 Helena, St., 219. 
 
 Hell, separation from God, 34. 
 
 Hermas, his book, The Pastor, 156. 
 
 Hierarchy of the Trinity, 99, tlie five, 24, 
 25, 46, 53, 54, of orders and of juris- 
 diction, 71. 
 
 Hilary, St., 229. 
 
 Hincmar, 265. 
 
 Holiness, meaning of, 87, 117. 
 
 Holy office, congregation of, 293. 
 
 Holy Ghost, how he speaks to the world, 
 52, 78, 154, how sent to man, 53, 
 
 54, 57, 116, the Soul of the church, 
 
 55, 56, 114, 115, 116, 183, errors 
 relating to, 244, 259, 262. 
 
 Holy orders lasting, 336. 
 
 Home government, 391, 392, 440, 454. 
 
 Honorius, Pope, 243. 
 
 Hope, the virtue of, 187. 
 
 Hormisdas, St., 232. 
 
 House of Peter, antiquity of, 289, 291, 
 
 compared to Kings, 291. 
 Hyginus, St , 214. 
 Ignatius, St., 68, 155, 156. Driven 
 
 from Constantinople, 342. 
 Illyricum, ancient, 224. 
 Image of the Trinity the church an, 15, 
 
 57. 
 Image breakers the 173, 256, 260, 265, 
 
 259. 
 Images, worship of 255, 259, 264, 260. 
 Imposition of hands of priests. 435. 
 Incarnation, the wonders of the 18, 26, 
 
 29, 46. 
 Incense in the services 214. 
 Index, congregation of the 293, 295. 
 Indulgences, nature of 474. 
 Infallible, 84, 86, 108, 189, 144, 154, 
 
 180, 181, 182. 
 Infallibility, meaning ot the word, 181. 
 Innocent I., St., 226. 
 Interpretation of the Bible private, 181. 
 Interpreter of the Bible, the, 181, 186. 
 Ireland the school house of Europe, 370. 
 Irene the empress, 260. 
 James the Apostle, 126, The Less, 126. 
 Jansenists, errors of the, 507. 
 Jerome, St., works of, 224. 
 Jerusalem, council of, 167, destruction 
 
 of, 213, 214, when destroyed, 245, 
 
 rebuilt by Adrian, 213, why Peter 
 
 left, 304, bishop of at Nice, 335. 
 Jesuits, founding of the, 385, 545. 
 John, meaning of the name, 124. 
 John, St., as an archbishop, 125. 
 John, St., the Evangelist, 124, 125, Pope, 
 
 233. 
 John II., Pope, 234, 252. 
 Judas, his end, 128. 
 Jude, St , 127, 128. 
 Judiciary powers of the church, 81, 95, 
 
 143. 
 
 Judges of faith, who are the. 471. 
 
 Jurisdiction, nature of, 65, 70, 301, 303, 
 in penance, 66, of the Bishop of 
 Rome, 69, 337, 394, given to Peter, 
 70, the head of, 73, 336, 337, 338, 
 339, deprived of. 76, bishops have 
 not an equal. 131, in the Papacj-, 
 141, 193, meaning of in early church, 
 65, two kinds of in bishops, 434, 
 restricted by the Pope, 434. 
 
553 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Justinian tlic emperor, 172, 234. 
 Key, meaning of, 134. 
 King on ceremonies at Rome, 280. 
 Kings of Europe, origin of the, 374, Jre- 
 
 laiui. 377, nominating hisliops, 410, 
 
 411, 412. 
 Kingdom of Christ. 39, 40, 48, lOl, I06, 
 
 not of tiiis world, 48. 
 Laity excluded from electing a Pope, 259. 
 Latin, when it became a dead language. 
 
 270. 
 Law courts established, 401, codes of, 
 
 523. 
 
 Lazarists, founding of the. 545. 
 Legate, a papal, 73, 420, arclibishop of 
 
 Thessalonica, a 224, his power, 298, 
 
 299. 
 Legislative powers, 81, 85, 143. 
 Leo I., 228. 
 Leo 11., 251, 
 Leo III., 261. 
 Leo IV., 265. 
 
 Letter written by Christ, 127. 
 Letters, our Latin introduced by Alcuin, 
 
 262. 
 LeTvis crowned at Rheims by Stephen V. 
 Libellus, the, of Adrian, 174. 
 Liborius, St., 222. 
 Lies about the clergy, 384. 
 Linus, St., 211. 
 
 Liturgies of the church, 365, 452, 453. 
 Liturgical Books at Babylon, 481. 
 Love of God the Holy Ghost, 18, for the 
 
 church, 37, 116. 
 Luke, St., 124. 
 Lutheran church, the, 102. 
 Macedonians, errors of, 223. 
 Manicheans, errors of. 225. 
 Marriage, bishops' |)ower relating to. 465, 
 
 promise of, 465, dispensations for, 
 
 466. 
 Marriage before tlieir own pastor, 517. 
 Marriage of Christ with the church, 108. 
 Marriage upheld by the Popes, 259. 
 Marriage, secret forbidden, 212. 
 Mary Major, church of, 222, 223. 
 Marcelinus, St., 217. 
 Marcellus, St., 217. 
 Mark, St., 220, the Evangelist. 123, 155. 
 Maronites, origin of the, 249. 
 Martin, St., 246. 
 Martel the emperor, 256. 
 Martyrs, the, 58. 
 Mass, the, 18, 88, 190, over the remaitis 
 
 of the Martyrs, 217, the (ir.<!t. 64, 
 
 called the Ifvstery in the early churcli, 
 
 36s, 366, 367. 
 Mass, the, 18, 88, 190, the first, 64. 
 Mathias, St.. 128. 
 Materialists, errors of, 213. 
 
 Melchiades, St., 218. 
 
 Melchisedech a iigure of Chri.st. 60. 
 
 Mercy, wiiy liod has on us, 18. 
 
 Metropolitans, meaning of, 506. 
 
 Methodist church, the, 102. 
 
 Ministers of Christ, 71. 
 
 Miracle, a. 71, 72. 
 
 Mission of the clergy, 336. 
 
 Missal, origin of the, 402. 
 
 Missions, tirst established, 329, 330, of 
 the clergy, 449, 450, 459. 
 
 Mission of Christ. 23, 62, of the Holy 
 Spirit. 23, of the church, 21, 24. 
 
 Mixed marriages. 243. 
 
 Mogg, Peter usurps tlie see of Constan- 
 tinople, 230. 
 
 Mohammed, 242. 
 
 Mohammedans, 242, 264, 243, 379. 
 
 Monothelites, or one will in ChrL-it, error 
 coridennied, 245, 246. 
 
 Monsignor, a, 293. 
 
 Monarch of Ireland, 377. 
 
 Monasteries in early church, 537, 538, 
 in Europe. 538, 539, dcsiriietion of in 
 the East. 538, of Mount Carinel, 540, 
 
 Moors invjide Spain. 256, 
 
 Morals, uiiat are. 188, 190. 
 
 Mother, meaning of the word, 123, his- 
 tory of, 123. 
 
 Mother, our, the church, 13. 
 
 Mozarabic Liturgy, 260. 
 
 Music of the church, 452, bishop's power 
 over, 464. 
 
 Mystic moaning of the church building, 
 364. 
 
 Natures in Christ, tho two, 228, the 
 Papacy enlighiens Spain on. 260. 
 
 Nero tho emperor, 398, 399. 
 
 Nestorius, his error.*, 70, 228, con- 
 demned, 228, 229, 244. 
 
 Nice, council of, 168, 193, 219, VII. 
 general council at, 260. 
 
 Nobility, formation of the, 370. 
 
 Northmen, the devastations, 365. 
 
 Notaries public, their origin, 301. 
 
 Novitiate of religious, 532. 
 
 Nuncio. Papal, 73. 
 
 Nuptial Mass, origin of, 212. 
 
 Oath of a bishop at his consecration, 414, 
 
 415- 
 
 Offerings of the church divided into lour 
 l)arts, 230, regulation of the, 474, 
 475, for holy orders forbidden, 474, 
 belong to the pastor, 518. 
 
 Offertory, origin of the word, 366. 
 
 Orders, holy, 66, power, of, 63, Christ 
 exercised all the, 63, must bo giver, 
 publicly, 212, conferred at tho Quarter 
 Tenses, 215, among the 8chiamatic8, 
 336. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 653 
 
 Ordination, 71, time of, 469, title of, 
 
 469, 470. 
 Ostia, bisliop of wears the pallium, 220, 
 
 crowns llie Pope, 273, ranks next 
 
 tlie Pope, 280. 
 Paganism abolished in Rome, 231, d3-ing 
 
 out, 240, 241, rooted out of France, 
 
 243, destroy in Northern Europe, 
 
 257- 
 
 Pallium, 308, 322, 344, 419. 
 
 Pantheon, ilie consecrated, 242, 
 
 Pantheists, errors of, 213. 
 
 Papacy, why Christ founded the, 24, 46, 
 one with Christ, 75, 88, 95, why not 
 an order above the episcopacy, 75, the 
 bond of unity, no, in, establish- 
 ment of the, 133, wir. last forever, 
 145, in the early Church, 15, etc., 
 193, 194, the councils on the, 167, 
 office of tiie, 184, the, could not be 
 moved from Rome, 195, the power of 
 in the early church, 203, etc., appeals 
 to the, 204, commission of, given to 
 Peter, 70, settling disputes between 
 nations, 374, authority of over all 
 ranks, 459. 
 
 Papal reservations, 440. 
 
 Paraclete, the, 62. 
 
 Parliament, origin of the British, 121, 
 
 153. 
 
 Parliament, the English, origin of, 402, 
 
 Parish, the origin of, 211. 
 
 Parish, origin of, 367, 380, in country 
 founded by monks. 380, sold in I'liig- 
 laud, 380 country p. founded, 480. 
 
 Parish, meaning of the word, 508, lirst 
 established in Rome, 211, 212, 272, 
 in Alexandria, 504, in tlio country, 
 480, once meant the dioce.se, 503, 
 no p. in early church, 504, division 
 of, 512. 
 
 Parish Priest, SO3-521, in country es- 
 tablished in IV. century, 504, 505, 
 city established in X. century, 504, 
 not instituted by Christ, 505, has not 
 external jiu-isdiction, 507, cannot 
 excommunicate, 508, duties of, 508, 
 
 509, 510, 517, appointment of. 509, 
 
 510, 512, 513, 514, trial of in U. S., 
 500, 511, sui)port of, 511, in mis- 
 sionary countries, 514, imion of with 
 parish, 514, when an assistant is ap- 
 pointed. 516, livings of the, 518, 519, 
 must live in his parish, 520, must 
 say Mass for las people, 520, controls 
 finances, 520. 
 
 Paschal candle blessed by a deacon, 226. 
 Pastors, origin of the, 457. 
 Pastor, meaning of the word 138, 508. 
 Pastoral staff, meaning of, 508. 
 
 Paschal I., 263. 
 
 Paschal communion, 517. 
 
 Pastors appointed in Home, 217, laity 
 must go to their ow , 217, 218, 
 charges against. 515. 
 
 Patriarch, meaning of the word, 308, 
 316. 
 
 Patrick, St., 227, 228. 
 
 Patrick, St., papal delegate, 313. 
 
 Paul, meaning of the word, 124, confes- 
 sion of, 332. 
 
 Pelagians, their errors, 226. 
 
 Pelagius, Pope, 238, II., 239. 
 
 Penitentiary, the Roman, 296. 
 
 Penitentiary canon, 488. 
 
 Pepin, tlie emperor, 257, 258. 
 
 Persecutions in diverse countrie.s, 330. 
 
 Permanent rectors, 498. 
 
 Person in Christ, 35. 
 
 Peter, meaning of the word, 134, 388, 
 communion given him by Christ. 129- 
 150, his body in St. Peter's Church, 
 219, 388, came to Rome, 397, his 
 labors, 388-404, opposed by Simon 
 Magus, 398-400, and Pan! in jiri.><on, 
 400, Christ appeared to. 400, death 
 and burial of. 400, all bishops nmst 
 visit his tomb, 401. 
 
 Pew rents, the bishop on, 464, 518. 
 
 Philip, St., 127. 
 
 Photius excommunicated, 342, author 
 of the Greek schism, 353, 355. 
 
 Pius, St., 214. 
 
 Plan of the (Jimrch, the Trinity, 22, 29. 
 
 Politics and religion, 21, 22, 142. 
 
 Pontian, St.. 215. 
 
 Pontius Pilate's letter to the emperor, 
 
 397, 399. 
 Pope, his ottice. Public and private life, 
 
 181, 184, 192, elcciiun of a. 277- 
 
 288, ceremonies at death of, 281. 
 Porter, duties of the, 63. 
 Poverty, vow of, 524. 
 Prayer of Christ (or unity, 29, 46, public 
 
 of the Church. 452. 
 Prelates and curials, 292. 
 Precept and advice, difference between, 
 
 521, 523- 
 Priest, Christ the Great High, 44, 62, 63, 
 
 64. 65, 79, 90. 
 Priesthood of the apostles, 61. 
 Priesthood, the eternal. 60-79. 
 Primates and archbishops, origin of, 303, 
 
 304, established by Peter, 305, 307, 
 
 tiie different patriarchal sees, 307, 
 . 308. 
 Prime minister of Christ, 131. 
 Profession of faith. 519, 520, the eternal 
 
 of Christ, 60-78. 
 Prophet, what is a, 79, 82. 
 
554 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Presbyterian church, the, 102, origin of 
 
 the, 384. 
 Presbytery, the ancient, 220, 480-482. 
 Primate, meaning of tiie word, 308, 
 
 office of, 319. 
 Primacy, disputes regarding, 314, in the 
 
 ancient -church, 320. 
 Primate, 328. 
 Propaganda, congregation of, 295, what 
 
 churches are under the, 295. 
 Property of religious orders, 525. 
 Property, churcli, ahcnation ol, 229,232. 
 Protestant services, the, 103, 105, 106. 
 Protestantism, eifect of. 103, 104, lo6, 
 
 386. 
 Prothonotaries, 358. 
 Psalms sung by alternate choirs, 224. 
 Pudens tlie Senator converted, 398. 
 Punishment of false accusers, 224. 
 Quarter Tenses, 215. 
 Quebec the first see in N. America, 315. 
 Rationalism originated by Abelard, 378. 
 Rebellion against the church, effect of, 
 
 95, 96, 97. 
 
 Rector of cathedral, 494, a parish, 509, 
 immovable in the U. S , 510. 
 
 Redeemer, promise of a, 20. 
 
 Reformation, causes of, 384. 
 
 Regulars of baptisms, niarriages, &c. $20. 
 
 Religion, what is, 106. 
 
 Religious orders, 521 546, not necessarj- 
 ior the church, 521, perfections of ni 
 the church, 527, precepts and advices 
 of Christ, 521, 523, 531, follow 
 Christ's advice, 523, nature of tlie, 523, 
 526, 532, strive towards perfection, 
 523, the three vows of, 524, 525, 
 vocation for the, 526, Christ and re- 
 ligious, 527, origin of the, 528, in the 
 early church, 528, labors of the, 529, 
 secular and regular, 529, are parishes, 
 530, driven from the East, 530, how 
 establisiied, 530, 531, profession of, 
 532, vows of, 532, 534, 535, must 
 not be detained against tJieir will, 
 
 532, clergy of recite the Breviarj', 
 
 533, roust have a vocation to, 534, 
 l)roperty of tlie, 534, oljediencc of, 
 the, 535, the Pope is their superior, 
 536, exemptions of, 536, rights re- 
 garding sacraments, 536, origin of in 
 l^gypti 536, 537, Klias the lirsl monk 
 540, diverse families of, 540-546. 
 
 Representative, the, 71. 
 Report, lilt' (inancial, 518. 
 Reservations, Papal, 471. 
 Resignation of church offices, 383. 
 Ring, Pope's, broken at his deaUi, 281. 
 Rites, congregation of, 294. 
 Rock, Christ the, 133, 134. 
 
 Rome, foundation of tlie city, 147. 
 
 Roman Bishops, the lirst, 209-266, 
 Catholic, meaning of word. 194, con- 
 gregations during a vacancy, 280. 
 
 Roman Ritual introduced into England, 
 263. 
 
 Roman empire moved to Constantinople, 
 220. 
 
 Rome, the capital of the chnrcli, 195, 
 the diocese of, 103, the iirst bishop 
 of, 269, chosen by Peter, 269, 270, 
 396, 397, influences of Christian, 308, 
 
 369. 
 
 Rota the Roman, 297. 
 
 Rules of religious orders, 533, 
 
 Ruling power of the Church, 94, 95, 97, 
 185, object of. 140, 142. 
 
 Rural deans, 45*8, 485, 486. 
 
 Sabellians, errors of. 216. 
 
 Sacraments, tlie seven, 90, 91, 92, ad- 
 ministered by their own pastor, 230. 
 
 Salt at blessing holy water, 213. 
 
 " Sanctus," when added to the Mass, 
 213. 
 
 Sanctifies, how the church, 90, 91, 
 bishop, 451. 
 
 Sanctify, meaning of, 87, II7. 
 
 Saturday kept holy, 226. 
 
 .Scholastic method. 243. 
 
 Schools first established by Pope Sergius, 
 369. 
 
 Schism, the Greek, 342. 
 
 School, how the church differs from a, 
 450, origin of, 491. 
 
 Sedan chair of the Pope, origin of, 257. 
 
 Seminaries, council of Trent on, 499, in- 
 spectors of, 498. 
 
 Semiarians, errors of, 223. 
 
 Senate of the universal church. 274, an- 
 tiquity of, 289, 292, how it meets, 
 292, liusincss before the, of the dio- 
 cese. 477-502. 
 
 Senators, power of the Roman, 398. 
 
 Septuagint Version of tlie Bible, 224. 
 
 Sergius II., 265. 
 
 Services, origin of our, 362, 365, 366, 
 condemned, 238. 
 
 Severenus, Pope, 245. 
 
 Shave, clergy ordered to, 214. 
 
 Shepherd, the, 102. 
 
 Simplicius, St.. 229. 
 
 Simon Magus, his errors, 398, death, 
 400. 
 
 Simony, 
 
 Sin disturbed God's works, 16, 17, 19, 
 nature of, 29, how atoned for, 20, 30, 
 power of forgiving, 64. 
 
 Singing the services, origin of, 365. 
 
 Siricius, St., 225. 
 
 Sixtus I., St, 213, HI., 238. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 555 
 
 Slavery in Europe, 370, 371, 372. 
 
 Son of God, Christ the, 34, crowned, 62. 
 Sons of God, we are tiie, 34. 
 Sorbonne, errors of Uie, 506, 507. 
 Soterus, St., 214. 
 
 Soul ol ilio olmrcli,,the, 23, 31, 32, II2. 
 Spain, liisliops of receive a papal decree, 
 
 225. 
 Spirit, ilic lioly in tlic clnircli, 35, 37, 43. 
 Spouse of llie clmrdi, 76, 68. 
 Statesman, Ciirisl a <rrcai, 153. 
 Stations in Home, 229. 
 Stephen, St., 216, II., 257, the heretic 
 
 condemned, 251, V.. 263. 
 Strangle priests, 473, 474. 
 Student for the minisir^-, 226. 
 Students, laws relating; to, 468. 
 Subdeacon, oBice of, 63, antiquity of, 
 
 215. 
 Substance and a % 62. 
 Sunday rest,origiri ^f the, 462. 
 Sunday called the Lord's da}'. 220. 
 Sunday .«er\ ices, origin of, 481. 
 Suspension of priests in early times, 370, 
 Sylvester, St, 219. 
 Sylverius, Wt., 237. 
 Symmachus, St., 232. 
 Synod, a diocesan, 357. 
 Synod, when lield, 497. 
 Teacher of the Chinch, the, 179, 180, 
 
 the bishop is a, 450, 
 Telesphore, St., 213. 
 Temporal power of the Popes, 255,241, 
 
 252,258,261, 371. 
 Theodore 1.. 246, bishop, appointment of, 
 
 249- 
 
 Theological canon, 488. 
 
 Thessalonica, archbisliop of, 312, 313. 
 
 Theodosius sends a delegation to Rome, 
 225. 
 
 Thomas, St., 127, 379. 
 
 Three cliaptcrs condemned, 238, 243. 
 
 Throne, the bishop's, 368, 451. 
 
 Tiara of the Pope, meaning of ilie, 393. 
 
 Time, elapsing between orders, 226. 
 
 Title, church natnre of, 66, 67, 349, 
 Christ's, 66, 68, of the Pope, 67, at or- 
 dination, 67, 473, of the (jlergy, 73, 
 originated in Rome, 212, esUiblis.lied 
 by Christ, 148, should not be taken 
 away without cause, 515. 
 
 Titular churches of Rome, 272. 
 
 Transfiguration, explanation of, 364. 
 
 Translation of Bible into Latin, 365. 
 
 Trinity, the, during eternity. 16, 177, 
 why they created 16, generation of the 
 Persons of, 19, 31, 43, and the 
 cluirch one being, 59. 
 
 Trinitarians, origin of, 541. 
 
 Triple crown or Tiara of the Pope, 261 
 
 Trials of priests in ear'v Church, 370, 
 Truth, what is, 82, 83, 84, of the Father. 
 
 Christ the, 37, 49, the object of the 
 
 mind 37, of mathematics, 49, in the 
 
 chnrcli unchanged, 121. 
 Twice married cannot be ordained, 229. 
 Union of God and man in Christ. 29, 46. 
 Uniting with other dioce.'^es, 383, 384. 
 Unity of God, 62, 63, of the church, 99 
 
 — 119. 
 Universal Cluirch, the, was first, 145. 
 Universities, founded by the church, 
 
 377- 
 Urban, St., 215. 
 Ursinus, schism of. 223. 
 Vacancy of an epi>copal throne, 409. 
 Vacation, each year allowed. 520. 
 Vestments, worn only in chuich, 216. 
 Viaticum, 518. 
 Vicar of Christ, 450. 
 Vicar of the Pope, 297—300, 326, 440, 
 
 for Thessalonica, 298, for ]''rjince, 
 
 298, nature of the office, 298, 299. 
 Vicar of the pastor, 132. 
 Vicar-General, nature of, 131, 132, of 
 
 Christ, 75, 76, 86, 113, 129- 151, 
 
 145, of the bishop, 132, of Christ, the 
 
 Pope the, 153, 184, 183. 
 Vigilius, Pope, 238. 
 Virgin nuns, rules for, 214, 227, 229. 
 Virtues, the cardinal, 186, or the saints, 
 
 117. 
 Visiting bishop, 408, 409, 425. 
 Vision of St. John, object of, 362, 364. 
 Vow, nature of a, 472, 524, 532, reserved 
 
 to tlie IIolv See, 473, power of bish- 
 op over, 473. 
 Vulgate version of the Bible, 365. 
 Water added to wine at Mass, 213, holy, 
 
 213. 
 Week days called ferials, 220. 
 Westminster Abbey, founding of, 242. 
 " Who the day before he suffeied " &c., 
 
 when ihe.se words were added to the 
 
 Mass, 212. 
 Wife, antiquity of, 269. 
 Wilfred, bishop of York appeals to Rome. 
 
 250, 252. 
 Wills, the two in Christ, 245, 246, 247, 
 
 250, 420. 
 Women, covered in church, 211. 
 Wonders of the incarnation, 18. 
 Zachary, Pope, 256. 
 Zephyrinus, St., 215. 
 Zosimus, St., 226. 
 
THE SEVEN 
 
 Gates of Hbaven, 
 
 Or, The Teachings, Discipline, Customs, and Manners of 
 
 ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENTS 
 
 Among The Abyssiniaiis, The Anglicans, The Armenians, The Baptists, The Catriolics, The 
 t'ongregationalists, The Copts, The Episcopalians, The Greeks, The Jacobites, The 
 Lutherans, The Maronites, The Methodists, The Xestorians, The Presby- 
 terians, Tlie Syrians, Etc., Etc. 
 
 WITH THE DIFFERENCES 
 
 Between these Various Christian Denominations Clearly and Simply Explained for 
 
 the People ; 
 
 THE BEIjIEF of the EA-RIj-V- CIiE.ISTIA.3SrS, 
 
 The Changes of Discipline, and the Abuses Condemned in Different Centuries: 
 
 GIVEN WITH THE 
 
 ^»|aditions of M\ ^bi|i8tian Jfeoples delating to these J^oly Bites. 
 
 SO AS TO SHOW THE RULES AND CEREMONIES OF EACH CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Rev. Jas. Iv. IVIeagher, 
 
 Pastor of St. James' Church, Cazenovia, N. Y., author of "Teaching Truth by Signs and 
 Ceremonies," "The Festal Year," " The Great Cathedrals of the World," etc., etc. 
 
 OOISTTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. — Man, how bom, naturally and spiritually. — What is a sacrament ?— Dif- 
 ferent classes of sacraments. — Ceremonies of the sacraments. — Matter and form of the sacra- 
 ments. — The ministerof the sacraments.— Intention in the minister. — Effects of the sacraments. 
 — The character they impress on the soul. — Receiver of the sacraments. — Apostolic Liturgies. 
 — Liturgies of St. James, of the Copts, Alexandrian, of St. John, the Mozarabic, the Galilean, 
 of Salisbury, of Egbert of York, the Anglican, Episcopalian, Latin or Roman, Abyssinians,. 
 Albigenses, Armenians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Copts, Episcopalians, Greeks, Jacob- 
 ites, Lutherans, Maronites, Nestorians, Presbyterians, Syrians, Councils, etc. 
 
 BAPTISM. — Meaning of the word.— Definitions of baptism. — Prophets on, figures of baptism.. 
 —Traditions of all nations relating to.— The wonders of water.— Baptism of Christ.— Tra- 
 ditions of the Church. — Necessity of baptism, of desire, of blood, and of water.— EflFects of 
 baptism. — Infant baptism. — The matter and form of baptism of water, baptism by sprinkling, 
 4)ouring, and by immersion. — Baptism among Catholics, Protestants, and Orientals.— The 
 minister of baptism. — Bishops, priests, laymen, and ladies baptizing. — Early troubles relating 
 to re-baptizing heretics. — Vestments worn in various Churches when baptizing. — Time and 
 place of baptism. — Baptismal fonts and baptisteries. — Godfather and godmother. — Origin and 
 history of the ceremonies of baptism, etc. 
 
CONFIRMATION.— Makes us perfect.— Figures of, among Ihe Jews.— The Fathers on. — 
 Instituted by Christ.— Early Church on. — Imposition of hands.— Anointing with chrism in 
 the East and West. — Form of in East and West.— Among the Episcopalians. — Chrism among 
 the Orientals.— Sponsors.— In the East, priest or bishop, in the West, only bishops confirm. — 
 How the Episcopalians confirm. — Essential parts of —Minister of — History, ancient customs, 
 and preparations.— Effects of. — Origin, history, and meaning of ceremonies of confirmation, 
 etc. 
 
 EUCHARIST.- Names, figures, and definitions.— Bodily and spiritual foods.— Fathers and 
 St. Paul on.— Christ's promise.— The last supper.— How the change takes place. — Communion 
 in the early Church. — Chalice once given the laity. — Reasons for changing communion in \h* 
 
 early Church.— Oriental customs. — The chalice.— Grecian and Oriental ways and manners 
 
 The bread and wine.— Words, customs, and ceremonies at Communion. — Condemned abuses. 
 — Laity once gave Communion. — Reasons for changing that. — Communion of the sick.-^ 
 Where kept. — Tabernacle. — How necessary for salvation.— First Communion.— Holy vessels. 
 — Words of, in Protestant Churches. — Minister and receiver, and preparations.— EflFects of.— 
 Time and place of. — Laws relating to Communion, etc. 
 
 PEN ABfCK.— Nature of.— Satisfying for sin. — Penance a virtue.— Sin the object of penance.-^ 
 Perfect and imperfect contrition.— Penance as a sacrament.— Early Church. — Fathers on. — 
 History of penance in the Eastern and Western Churches. — Changes of discipline.— The keys. 
 — Minister of penance. — Public penances in past ages.— Material and words of penance. — Con- 
 trition necessarJ^ — Early customs. — Confessions among Copts, Greeks, and Orientals. — Places; 
 where heard.— Changed disciplines.— Object of.— Satisfaction for sin. — Severity of the early- 
 penances. — Penitents in the early Church. — Ancient penitential customs. — Public sisners.— • 
 Oriental confessions. — Receiver of this sacrament. — Necessity of penance. — Its effects. — Ex» 
 amination of conscience.— Manner of confessing sin.— Jurisdiction.— The priest a father, phy- 
 sician, a teacher, and a judge. — The secrets of the confessional, etc. 
 
 EXTREME UNCTION.— How called by early writers.— When established by Christ.— 
 Fatherson.— Matter and form of.— Parts anointed in all Churches. — Effects of — Ministers and 
 receivers of. — History of, in all ages. — Changes of discipline, and peculiar customs of other 
 Churches, etc. 
 
 HOLY ORDERS.— Nature of orders.— Ranks of clergymen in early Churches.— Orders a 
 sacrament.— Scriptures, Fathers, and early traditions on. — What orders Christ established. — 
 Propagated by external rites. — Bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, 
 readers, porters, tonsured. — Election of bishops in all ages and countries.— Election of lower 
 ministers. — Bishops superior to priests.— Episcopalians, Orientals, etc.— Ordination in various 
 Churches. — Imposition of hands.— Minister and subject of orders.— Hierarchy of orders and 
 jurisdiction.— Christ head of all orders.— Effects of orders.— Celibacy of clergy.— Exceptions 
 to law of celibacy.— Rules of the English Church.— Election, ordination, and mission of the 
 clergy.— Vocation.— Customs of early Church.— Time and place.— Obstacles.— Origin, cere- 
 monies, and history of lower orders. — Consecration of bishops in all Churches, etc. 
 
 MATRIMONY.— Generation of creatures.— .\dam and Eve's marriage figured union of Christ 
 with his Church.— Why Eve was made from a rib.— Object of marriage, courtship, engage- 
 ments.— Rules relating to.— Bans, and time and place of, publication of.— Nature of.— Marriage 
 a sacrament. — Matter, form and unity of.— Of widowers and widows.— What marriages can 
 be dissolved.— Rules for married people.— Time and place of marriage.— Receiver of nuptial 
 mass and blessing.— Oriental rules and ceremonies of.— The crowns in the Ea,st.— Impedi- 
 ments of some, rendering marriage invalid.— Others forbidding.— Dispensations, etc. 
 
 INDEX.— From pages 462 to 473. 
 
 The most exhaustive work in any language on the sacraments. Also it contains 
 
 43 Bet^utifVil Krncravin«s, 
 
 Showing the rites and ceremonies of all Churches, Catholic, Protestant, and Oriental Churches. 
 
 Extra fine paper, cloth, costly stamp in gold, 92.00 1 paper covers, SI.OO. 
 
 Aifenta make from $7!>.00 to $150.00 a month. Affftita trantrti in every place, 
 tvtcn atUl city. Address at onee^ 
 
 Eer. Jas. L. MEAk^HER, CazenoTia, N. X 
 
"A REMARKABLE BOOK." 
 
 Teacjing Truth iiif ^ign^^deiiBmoniB^, 
 
 OB, 
 
 The Church— Its Rites and Services Explained 
 FOR the People. 
 
 T\A7ENTY- FIFTH EDITION. 
 
 Beitig n grapliic ind clcnr desciiiptiox and explanation of the ChtuMJli— Its shape, 
 and why ii is bnilt in that manner, the meaning of each part, a history of akchitec- 
 TUUE, scuLPTUHK, MUSIC and PAINTING. —The THINGS in the Church, tlieirmeaning 
 and their object, the Statues, Images, Pictured, and the I'ictorial windows. 
 
 The Sanctuary, why separated frcm the rest of the Chmrh. — The riGHT, its 
 meaning. — The candles, why used, ihcir laeaiilnt;, tl'.eir reasons and their history. 
 
 The Altar, it^ hrstory, why made in that way, what it si^rnifies. The Altar 
 among the Jews, the way the tabkhnaci-b of Moses was made, the meaning or 
 each thing in the ancie'il i abrknaci.e, and how onr < hiirclies arc ma'le like it. 
 — The Holy Vessels and -.rNENs Ut-ed ia our Servi^.es. — Why we have latin .nnJ 
 uot some modem tongue. 
 
 The Vestments, their m-^anings and their histories.— The six worn by bishops 
 and priests, and the nine worn by tl:e bisl^oj.s nply.— .The meaning of each Vestment 
 in particular. — The color of the Vestments, and. meaning of the colors. 
 
 THE MASS EXPLAINED. 
 
 Every movement of the Celelirant given when safd bj' either a priest, a bishop, or 
 the POPE, with the reasons and the meanings of rach Ceremony.— The Mass op 
 IlIastek given word for word as a sptciineti of the other Masses. — A histokv of the 
 ilass us said by the Clergymen of the Latin liiXE. 
 
 The Funeral Ceremonies given, witli the'r m'^anings and the origin of all (he 
 rites around t lie coffin and ttie grave. The laws relaung^to the burial of the dead 
 and of the cemeteries in the Christian Churcli. 
 
 Vespers and IJenediction, with the siguificationc and histories of the cere- 
 monies of the afternoon service. 
 
 The most Complete and Exhaustive "Work ever published in the English lan- 
 guage on that subject. The Boole is ihe labou of many years, the ideas having been 
 lalcen from the Great Writers and the Fathers of the Church, and from all who 
 treat of these subjects. 
 
 The Boole is intensely interesting to all parties, of whatever religion, saying 
 nothing of any form of helipf, but telling in the simplest words the meaning of SQ 
 •auch that is mysterious in the Church. 
 
 Illustrated with Twenty-one Beautiful Engravings, 
 
 Done by the Greatest Engravers cf the world, never before published in this country, 
 ot all the Great Cathedrals and the most Celebrated Churches in the world, 
 and whatevr; is beautiful in religion. 
 
 PAPER, SO CENTS. CLOTH, Sl.OO. 
 
 Agents mfr'i* from $50 to $125 a month selling the Book. Agents wanted 
 wherever the English language is spoken. 
 
 . Address.- Rev. JAS. L. MEAGHER, 
 
 Cazenovia, N. ?■ 
 
THE FESTAL YEAR; 
 
 OR, 
 
 The Origiij, Ijistory, Ceremonies and ^eaijiijgs of the Suijdays, Sea- 
 
 soijs, Feasts and Festivals of the Churclj during the Year. 
 
 Explained for the Peoplbl 
 
 :By Rev. JA.S. Tj. MKiVC-HBjrt, 
 
 AuOwrqf Teaching Truths by Signs and Ceremonies ; The Oreat CaOMral* qfthe 
 
 World, etc. 
 
 FIFTH EDITiax. 
 
 <3ivinK in clear nnd simple words the origin, history and astrosomioai, causes of 
 the HouB, the day, the week, the month, and the year, with cnetome of the people 
 of antiquity as well as in oiir days, relating to these divisions of time, as well as the 
 origin and meaning of the names of the days of the week, and the months and 
 seasons of the year. 
 
 The rEASTS of the Pagans. Jews, and Chrktians are described wi» h the PtBUO 
 Offices of the Christian Church, with a complete history and description of the cele- 
 ■brated Gregorian Calendar, the meaning of the religious seasons, the parts of the 
 Bible read during these times of the Christian Year, and the titles ol the Misfal 
 explained thoroughly. 
 
 The Advent Season, its origin, history and meanings with its 4 weeks tell- 
 ing of the 4.000 years before Christ's coming, and its 4 Sundays, typifying his 4 com- 
 ings, with the Spotless Conception and antiquity of all these feasts. 
 
 The C'liristiiias Season, ceremonies of Christmas Eve, anthjuity, history 
 and meanings of this time, celebrated by all Christians. Christmas Day, New Years 
 Day. Ei'iPHANY. the Holy Kame and the Pkbsentation with their history and the 
 meaning of their ceremonies. 
 
 The S«|>tiia}$esiiiia Season with its ORIGIN, history and XEANTNO.also Sep- 
 
 TDAGESIMA, SeXAOESIMA, QdINQUAOESIMA SUNDAYS, ASH WEDNESDAY aud SHROVE- 
 TIDE. 
 
 The I^enten Season with its origin fVom the Apostles, the la^vs of ancient 
 nations, councils and decrees aud its history from the time of Christ, -wrth ita 4 Sum- 
 days aud Passio.n Souday. 
 
 The Hol.v Week Season, its origin and history. The ceremotjies of Palm 
 Sunday, singine the Passion, the "Tenebrab," on Holy Wednesday, the blessing 
 of the Holy Oils, the washing op the feet, the processions of Hoi-y Tkursday 
 *nd of Good Friday, the 12 lessons, the kissing of the cross, blessing of the fike of 
 the PASCHAL CANDLE and of the baptismal font on Holy Saturday are oivkn with 
 
 THE meanings, HISTORIES AND AUTHORS OP THESE MOST ANCIENT and VENERABLB 
 CEREMONIES. 
 
 The Kaster Season, ancient troubles relating to Easteb, the antiquity, his- 
 tory and MEANING of this bea.<on, the greatest of the year, with the bervicks and 
 CEREMONIES of Easter and Low Sundays, the Annunciation, the A^icension and 
 Pentecost Siiudar. 
 
 The After-Pentecost Season, its history and meanino, with the history 
 and significations of Tiunity Sunday, Corpus Chiusti, the Asuumptiok, Feasts or 
 All Saints and of All Souls. 
 
 Thus the religious year is divided info 7 Seasons, with 5 Pbasts in Mch. 
 
 The whole work is the most complete and exhaustive ever published on that 
 Important subject perhajjs in anv language, and is like a vast libhaby condensed 
 into one book, the author having houglit over $>00.00 worth of books, besides those 
 in his possession and cotisuitwl in other libriirie*. Beautifully illustrated with 19 
 engravings of the most celebrated cathedrals of the world. 
 
 Fine English Cloth, 335 Pages, large, clear type, Postpaid $1,00- 
 
 J'lrnKe fitio,e thin to some one irho frill net n« Afjetit, Agentit mnlce 
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 AffitntH ivanfeU in every town and city where the ICnyliah Utnyuoge i» 
 sj/ohen. 
 
 ADDRK8S: Rev. JAS. L. MEAGHER, 
 
 Cazeuoviai 9f> 7 
 
A ^UATJIII'IIL ^OOK! 
 
 fiRaiCmilEDRALSjNDMOSTCELEBRllKO CHURCHES 
 
 OF THE \NOn\JD. 
 
 Giving their Founders, Patrons, Builders, and Architects ; 
 With^a Complete History of Each up to our times. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 -^ DESCRIPTION OF THEIR DIFFERENT STVLES OF ARCHITECTURE. 
 AND THE SCULPTURES, PAINTINGS, ORNAMENTS, and CEREMONIES 
 
 OF THESE WONDERFUL TEMPLES OF CHRISTENDOIVI. 
 
 BEAUTIFUIiliY ILLUSTRATED with GO of the most isiiperb Eugrav- 
 iugs, by the Moi^t Kiiiiiivut Artists. 
 
 Adapted by 
 Rev. JA-S. L. jVIEAGHKR, 
 
 AUTHOR iOP "teaching TROTH BY SIGNS AND CEIIEMONIES: ' ""HE FESTAL TEAR J " 
 "the seven gates Of HEAVEN;" ETC., ETC. 
 
 One of the most beautifully gotten up works ever published in this 
 country ; and gives a historic account of the great and celebrated 
 churches of the world in the different countries where the Christian 
 religion has spread. The following are the church buildings described: 
 
 St. Peter's, Rome ; St. John, Lateran, Rome ; St. Mary Major, Rome ; 
 The Cathedral, Milan; St. Mark's, Venice; The Cathedral, Florence; 
 The Cathedral, Pisa. 
 
 Notre Dame, Paris ; Holy Chapel of the Palace, Paris ; St. Denis, 
 Paris ; The Cathedral, Rheims ; The Cathedral, Amiens ; Church of St. 
 Owen, Rouen; The Cathedral, Chartres; The Cathedral, Bourges. 
 
 The Cathedral, Canterbury; The Cathedral, York; The Cathedral, 
 Salisbury ; The Cathedral, Lincoln ; St. Patd's, Xiondon ; ■Westminster 
 Abbey, London. 
 
 The Cathedral, Cologne; The Cathedral, Metz; The Cathedral, 
 Spire; The Cathedral, Strasburg. 
 
 The Cathedral St. Stephen's, Vienna. 
 
 The Cathedral, Antwerp; Church of St. Gudtde, Brussels; The 
 Cathedral, Burgos. 
 
 The Cathedral, Cordova; The Cathedral, Seville; The Cathedral, 
 Toledo ; St. Sophia, Constantinople ; Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 
 Jerusalem ; St. Isaac's Church, St. Petersburgh ; Church of Notre 
 Dame, Montreal ; The Cathedral, New York ; The Cathedral, Albany ; 
 St. Joseph's Church, Albany ; The Cathedral, Rochester ; The Cathedral, 
 Buffalo; The Cathedral, Boston; The Cathedral, Providence; The 
 Cathedral, Hartford; The Cathedral, Springfield; The Cathedral, 
 Philadelphia; The Cathedral, Scranton; and some Volumes contain 
 Trinity Church, New York. 
 
 The engravings are mostly done by the great Pannamaker, who en- 
 graved Gustave Core's designs, and are exceedingly beautiful. * The 
 whole work is a masterpiece of beauty on fine thick paper. 
 
 FINE CLOTH, ^3.00 ; SUPERB GILT, $3.30. 
 
 Agents make from $75.00 to $150.00 per month. Agents wanted every- 
 where. Address, 
 
 Rev. JAS. L. MEAGHER, 
 
 Cazenovia, Sfn ir> 
 
THE MIRROR OF THE UNIVERSE; 
 
 — OR, THE — 
 
 Agreement of Science and Religion. 
 
 This most interesting work in fine cloth, will be sent 
 to any address postpaid, on receipt of price, $i.oo. 
 
 Agents wanted for the sale of this and other works 
 •written by Father Meagher. Address, Rev. Jas. L. 
 Meagher, Cazenovia, N. Y. 
 
 The following Contents give but a few of the interesting 
 subjects treated: 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction — Science and Religion — Man, Beauty, Truth 
 and Goodness — Mathematics — Scholastics — Metaphysics — 
 Importance of Sound Principles for the Sciences, etc 9-22 
 
 THE MINERiVL KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE WOULD. 
 
 Creation— Reasons for and Against the Eternity of Matter— The 
 Nebular Theory Described— Formation of the Sun, Moon, 
 and Planets— Universal Gravitation— Origin of Light, 
 Heat, Motion etc.— Wonders of Astronomy, Geology, 
 Mineralogj', etc 23-3? 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF MATTER. 
 
 The Dynamic, Atomic and Scholastic Theories Relating to Mat- 
 ter, Monads, Atoms, Molecules, Primeval Matter and Sub- 
 stantial Form— Physics— Chemistry— Movement— Force- 
 Energy— Laws of Crystalization— Forces of Matter, etc. . . 83-43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIGHT, HE.VT, ATTRACTION ETC. 
 
 Extension— Sound— Music— All Nature Founded on Mathematics 
 —Solids— Liquids— Gases— Laws of Light, Heat, Elec- 
 tricity—Chemical Changes— Geometry of Crystalization- 
 Substances— Modes and Accidents of Matter, etc 44-55 
 
* CONTENTS. 
 
 THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW PLAKTS DIFFER FROM MINERALS. 
 
 "Plants have a Different Origin, Composition, Constitution, De- 
 velopment, Dumtioii, Reproduction than Minerals — The 
 ' Plant Compared to the Mineral, etc 56-63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF PLANTS. 
 
 History of the Classification of Plants — Systems of Linnaeus, 
 Bernard de Jussieu, De CandoUe, John Lindley — The 
 Exogenae and Endogenae — Botany, etc 64-66 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHAT IS LIFE? 
 
 Life is Movement from "Within— Vegetable, Animal and Intel- 
 lectual Life — Substantial Forms of Minerals — Vital Prin- 
 ciple of Plants — Sensitive Souls of Animals— Immortal 
 Soul of Man — Pure Spirits— Various Objects of These Living 
 Princijjles — Life — Movement Remains "Within the Living 
 Being — Generation — Perfect Life Found only in God, etc. 67-75 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 NATURE OP VEGETABLE LIFE. 
 
 Living Organisms differ from Minerals — Testimony of the 
 Learned — Analysis — Synthesis — Plants and Animals Use and 
 Control Mineral Forces — Operations of Vegetable Life — 
 Growth, Nutrition, Reproduction, etc 76-89 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GROWTH OP PLANT, ANIMAL AND MAN. 
 
 "Wonders of Living Organisms — The Soul Builds the Body — 
 Development of the Young — Cold and Warm-Blooded 
 Animals — No Feeling in Plants — Cells — Manner of Growth 
 Determined by God— The Soul Builds the Body Accordina- 
 to Fixed Laws— The Child before Birth, etc '83-91 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NUTRITION OF PLANT, ANIMAL AND MAN. 
 
 Pood — Growth and Nutrition Identical in Plants — Growth stops 
 at last in Animals and Man — Nutrition Continues — 
 Living Organisms Require Nourishment — Snirits Remain 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Unchanged — Reasonable Beings Grow with Truth and 
 Happiness — Circulation of the Sap and Blood — Breathing of 
 Plants and Animals, etc 93-100 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE GENERATION OF BEINGS. 
 
 All Living Beings Generate Another like Themselves — Animal 
 and Vegetable Souls Generated — Human Soul Created by 
 God — Generation in Creatures a Figure of tlie Trinity — 
 Seeds — Sexual and Uusexual Generation — Pollen— The 
 Egg — The Embryo — Generation of a Thought — Generation 
 of the Persons of the Trinity, etc 101-110 
 
 THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 now ANIMALS DIFFER FROM PLANTS. 
 
 •Object of Vegetal)le Life — The Organism of Animals — All Sur- 
 rounding Bodies — Plants have No Sensation — Plants Com- 
 posed of Carbon. Oxygen and Hydrogen — To these in 
 Animals add Nitrogen — Animal Species more Numerous 
 than Those of Plants — Animals have Higher and More 
 Perfect Organizations than Plants — One or More Sense in 
 Every Animal — Animal Instincts, etc 111-119 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 KINDS AND SPECIES OF ANIMALS. 
 
 Five Great Divisions of Animals — Animalcules — Radiates, Mol- 
 lusks. Articulates, Vertebrates — Description of Each Class — 
 Zoology, etc 120-125 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SKELETON, MUSCLES AND NERVES. 
 
 The Human Skeleton — Bones — Composition and Structure in 
 Man and Animals— The Muscular System — Conijnisition and 
 Description of the Voluntary and Involuntary ^Muscles — The 
 Heart — Tendons — The Nerves — Their Funrtinn«— Functions 
 and Structure of Spinal Column — Bruin, etc 126-134 
 
CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE FIVE SENSES. 
 
 Material Things, the Object of the Five Senses— Special Nerves of 
 the Senses — Touch Resides in all Parts of the External Skin, 
 but especially in Tongue and Fingers — Taste in the Mouth 
 espe( iall y in Tongue — Smell, Description of — Enorniousjv 
 Developed in some Animals — Hearing — External, Middle, 
 and Internal Ear in Man — The Drum, Hammer, Stirrup, An- 
 vil, Labyrinth, Cochha — Investigations of Helmholtz, Corti 
 and otners — Wonders of the Inner Ear— Seeing — Laws of 
 Optics — Description of the Eye, Cornea, Crystaline Lense — 
 Retina — 0[>tic Nerve, etc 135-149 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 IffTERIOR SENSES, IMAGINATION, MEMORY, INSTINCT, ETC. 
 
 The Common Sense — Sensations — Fancy — Memory — Wonders of 
 
 Instinct, etc 150-155 
 
 THE HUMAN KINGDOM, 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS. 
 
 3Ian a Reasonable Animal — The Highest and Most Complicated 
 Organism — Art, Commerce, Industry, Mind, Will, Liljerty, 
 Education, Sociability — Man a Mineral, a Plant and an Ani- " 
 mal — Reason — Development of Man — Growth, Decay and 
 Death, etc 156-167 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE MIND. 
 
 Universal Truth, the Direct Object of the Mind — Particular 
 Truth, the Indirect Object of the Mind — Ideas — ^Thoughts — 
 In God the Thought or Idea is the Son — Superiority of the 
 Mind over Other Powers- -Origin of Ideas — Language — Wit 
 and Humor — Concrete and Alastract Ideas— Plans and Rea- 
 sons of All Things in God — Conduct of the Mind— Intel- 
 lectual Memorv-^The Mind, the Image of God — The Active 
 and Passive Mind, etc 168-180 
 
CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WHAT IS REASON? 
 
 The Mind in Action is Reason — Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Ad- 
 verbs, Pronouns — T!ie Foundations of Grammmar — The 
 Verb to Be — Substance, Existence— Tlie Eternal Idea of . 
 God's Mind, the Son, the Model of all Creatures — The 
 True— The False— The Good— The Bad— Axioms, Princi- 
 ples, Reasoning, Syllogisms — The Universal — Genus — 
 Species — Sentences, Subject and Predicate — Judgments — 
 Deduction, Induction — The Natural Sciences, etc 181-194 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FREE-WILL. 
 
 (Jniversal Good the Object of the Free-Will— The Will the 
 Reasonable Appetite — The Mind Enlightens the Will — 
 Happiness — Learning — Mind and Will in God — Power of the 
 Will over the Other Faculties — Sin the Abuse of Reason — 
 Sources of Laws — The Will the Foundation of Liberty — 
 Conscience— The Good — Happiness— The Mind of Man — 
 Motives — God the Final End of all Created Reasons — In 
 God, the True is the Son, the Good, the Holy Spirit, etc. 195-206 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WHAT IS LIBERTY? 
 
 The Free-Will in Action is Liberty — To Possess the Good is Joy 
 and Happiness — Nature of Liberty — We are Free Regarding 
 Particular Good Not Relating to Our Final Happiness — Lib- 
 erty of Man, Angel and of God — Authority over Creatures — 
 Why We Are Never Satisfied in This World — Physical, 
 Metaphysical and Moral Liberty — Election — Human Liberty 
 a Primary Truth — Predestination — Sin the Abuse of Lib- 
 erty — God Free in Creating — Liberty and Grace, etc . . 207-325 
 
 CHAPTER XXT. 
 
 UNION OP SOUL AND BODY. 
 
 The Soul the Substantial Form of the Body— Bodily Heat — Sur- 
 prising Changes in the Body — Wonders of the Human Body 
 \ — Child Resembles the Parents — Influence of Soul on Body 
 Develops the Temperaments — The Nervous, Phlegmatic, 
 Bilious and Sanguine Temi)eraments— Substantial Union 
 of Soul and Body — Chemical and 3Iechanical Unions — 
 Union of God and Man in Christ — the Unity of the Organ- 
 ism — The Incarnation of Christ — Personality in Man, Christ 
 and in God — Accidental, Substantial and Personal Unions — 
 Mind and Will Superior to the Body — The Soul h Whole 
 and Complete in Every Part of the i3ody, etc 224-250 
 
CO:s TENTS. 
 CH.VPTEH XXII. 
 
 IMMORTALITY OF TIIK SOUL. 
 
 Importance of tlieSuhjeet — Repu^-iiMiux- to Dfjith— TfeAFurds nnd 
 PLinishments of this Life not Sufficient -The Soul is Imni.i- 
 terial. and Tlierefore Immortal — Force Indestruetiltle — The 
 Soul Indestructible in the Mind — Mind and Will are the Im- 
 mortal Parts of Man — Animal Souls — Tiie Human Soul a 
 Complete Spiritual Substance — Truth Immortal is grasped 
 by the soul which also must be Immortal — The La-t 
 Resurrection — The Soul has No Parts — Generation Proses 
 Immortality, etc 231-270 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE FALL AND HOW REPAIKED. 
 
 Superiority of Man — Science — Creation of jVIan— Man was made 
 Perfect at First— The Temptation and Fall— Original Sin — 
 Remainsof the Fall — The Atonement — How Christ Re|)aired 
 the Fall of Man — The Agent, Representative and JNIinister 
 of Christ 271-290 
 
 THE SPIRIT KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SPIRITUAL AND THE MATERIAL. 
 
 Matters Visible and Invisible — Extension, Time, Space etc. 
 Belong Only to Matter — Substances — Living and Non-living 
 Bodies— Pure Spirits— The Visible World — Spiritual Thin<>s 
 Difficult to See, etc 201-297 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE ANGELS. 
 
 The Angels are Intellectual Forces — Time, Place and State of 
 Their Creation — Their Wonderful Power — Sin and Fall of 
 the Angels — Their Manner of Life and Mode of Reasoning — ■ 
 Their Mind, Will, Liberty etc — Angelical Conversations — 
 The Good See God Face to Face, the Bad are the Demons 
 in Hell — The Nine Hierarciiies of Heavenly Spirits — Each 
 Choir has a Special Name and Object, etc 298-32 J 
 
CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 HEAVEN. 
 
 The True and the Good, that is the Son and Holy Spirit, the 
 Objects of Created Mind und Will— All Men Desire Hap- 
 piness—True Happiness Cannot be Found in This Life— Rea- 
 son Why— Heaven is for Created Reasonable Beings— Hea- 
 ven is to Have the True, to Possess the Good, that is the 
 Son and Spirit— Heaven is the Possession of God— Heaven 
 not a Place but a State— Love— Why God Loves Us— Love 
 Unites— The Light of Glory —The Vision of God— Different 
 Degrees of Happiness in Heaven, etc 322-33& 
 
 CHAPTER XXVH. 
 
 Hell follows the Abuse of Reason— No Redemption in Hell- 
 Hell God's Prison— Sinners send Themselves to Hell— Pains 
 of Hell not Purgative— The Evils of Sin— Death of the 
 Sinner— Hell the Absence of Truth and Goodness— Nature's 
 Laws Inflexible— Hell is the Loss of God— In Hell no 
 Supernatural Truth or Happiness— Hell is Mental Stiffering 
 -How the Demons Fell— The Sin of Lucifer— He Led the 
 Bad Angels to Perdition— State of the Damned— Demoniac 
 • Possession, Ghosts, etc— Hell a State not a Place— Stub- 
 borness of the Damned— They adhere to Error and to Evil- 
 No change in Hell— The Sufferings of Hell will Last For- 
 ever-Pains ot Hell are According to the Greatness of the 
 Sin— No Redemption in Hell— State of Those who Die 
 Guilty of Little Sins— Sensitive Pain in Hell— Is there Fire 
 in Hell? etc 339-35S 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 GOD. 
 
 God Known to Us by both Reason and Revelation— Nature and 
 Grace— Utility of Religion— Atheism, or the Denial of 
 God— Atheists Monstrosities of the Intellectual Order- 
 All Nations Believe in Some God— Interior Conscience 
 Tells of God— Proofs of the Existence of God— God 
 Eternal Truth— Mathematics— Attrjbtites of God— His 
 Chief Attribute— More than One God Cannot be— God 
 Everywhere Infinite and Unchangeable— Life, Reason and 
 Knowledge of God— Predestination and Free-Will— Will 
 of God— His Omnipotence, Justice, Mercy, etc 359-37.> 
 
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