JOHN W. WERN1NGER. Censor Detutatus. 3mnrimatnr: tPATRICK J. DONAHUE, Bishop of Wheeling. COPYRIGHT BY HENRY B. ALTMEYEK 1811 Alt ^ .SERMONS DELIVERED BEFORE MIXED CONGREGATIONS >* EM BRACI NG :-: APOLOGETICS :-: CATHOLIC FAITH and CHRISTIAN MORALS INTENDED FOR IN FID ELS. PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS STANDARD PRINTING & PUBLISHING COMPANY HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA ALTMEYEK 1911 INDEX PAGE God and the Soul 5 The First Miracle of Christ , 14 Possibility and Necessity of Revelation 20 The Cockle and The Wheat - 30 The Christian Religion Satisfies the Demands of Reason and the Aspirations of the Soul 35 Catholic Faith 43 Divinity and Humanity of Christ 48 The Holy Rosary 58 Resurrection of Christ 64 The End of the World 72 The Primitive Religion 80 The Mosaic Religion 84 The Christian Religion 91 Catholic Church and the Bible 97 Did Christ Establish a Church? 107 Catholic Education .. 112 The Unity of the Church 118 Holiness of the Church ... 124 Catholicity of the Church 130 Apostolicity of the Church 13(> Haptism 143 Our Last End 150 Death . 155 Sacrament of Penance .. 100 INDEX CONTINUED PAGE Judgment - 168 Hell .. 173 Heaven - - 170 Jesus in the Garden of Olives 185 Christ Before Pilate and Herod 190 The Immaculate Conception 195 Christ Before Annas and Caiphas 202 Condemnation of Christ '. 207 The Crucifixion - - - _ 212 St. Louis I - T - -...-- 217 The First Commandment - 22(5 The Second Commandment : 220 The Third Commandment - - - 232 The Infallibility of the Pope 235 The Fourth Commandment _.: 245 The Fifth Commandment - 249 The Sixth and The Ninth Commandments 253 The Mission of the Knights of Columbus 256 The Seventh and The Tenth Commandments ... 261 The Blessed Eucharist 265 The Eighth Commandment 273 The Church and the State .. 277 St. Patrick 281 The Religious Life ... 296 The Mass . 303 What the Church Stands For ... 312 Purgatory 310 Indefectibilitv of the Church .. 328 PREFACE My Dear Reader: This volume of sermons I have affectionately dedicated to the members of St. Joseph's Congregation, who have shown so much kindness to me and co-operated so willingly with all the labors undertaken in their behalf. I send it forth under the patronage of St. Joseph, the foster father and guardian of the Child Jesus, and the patron of this parish and diocese, with the hope that it will help to advance the kingdom of God in this world. I believe these sermons have been the weak and humble instruments in the hands of God of doing a little good. The old truths I have tried to put in a way perhaps somewhat new, but always aiming at clearness, concise- ness and conclusiveness. If there be anything contrary to the teaching of the Church or even opposed to her spirit in these sermons, that, I am the first to condemn and reject. It is needless to say that I have the full permission, and I shall add fatherly encouragement of my bishop to publish them. Any money realized from the sale of them will go towards liquidating the debt incurred in remodelling the old Church and building a new school in this truly missionary part of the diocese. Feast of our Lady of Lourdes, HENRY B. ALTMEYER, Pastor St. Josephs' Church, Huntington, W. Va. February 11, 1011. SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL. PREACHED BEFORE THE HOLY NAME SOCIETY, ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. Dear Members of the Holy Name Society: Before be- ginning our discourses on Religion, I wish, as an introduc- tion, to speak on God and the Soul. I know, as the Scrip- ture teaches, that it is only the fool who says there is no God, and that he does not really believe it, but only wishes it to be so. But I am also aware that there are some who maintain seriously that theists cannot prove to a certainty these truths. As an answer and a fitting prelude, we shall therefore, this evening, try to demonstrate the existence of God and the Spirituality and Immortality of the soul. Now as to the existence of God, I am simply going to throw into English and develop a little, the five arguments of St. Thomas as they are found in his "Suinma Theolog- ica" I believe they are the basis of all the conclusive arguments which may be advanced in support of the exist- ence 6f God. The first argument of St. Thomas is taken from motion, and he says it is the more obvious way. As I interpret it, it may be stated thus: It is evident that there is motion in the world; that i?, bodies cliange their local position or pass from one place to another. This is a fact of daily observation. Now motion implies a mover. This mover must be either the body itself or an outside body. But it cannot be itself, for then it would be mover and moved, or stationary and moving, or potential and actual, or per- fect and less perfect at the same time and under the same aspect, which is a contradiction. Therefore it was moved by another. Now this immediate mover is moved by an- other, and this other by another, and so on for the reason given. But in this series of movers we must reach a firs4 mover who is moved by no other, for we cannot proceed into infinitv with these secondary movers. There must 6 SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL be a first mover back of all this motion, otherwise there would be no second, third nor fourth, nor last immediate mover. They are second and third and fourth and last, only insomuch as there was a first. Do awaty with the first and there can be no middle and last. Therefore from the existence of motion we reason to a first mover who is all motion, or all life, or is the most pure act in whom there is no potentiality. And this being we designate as God. The second argument is taken from cause and effect. We find an order of efficient causes in sensible things. That is, we see that by certain things being done, certain results will surely follow. I pull the trigger of a loaded rifle and immediately there will go forth from the barrel with the greatest velocity a bullet. I apply a lighted match to powder and immediately there will ensue an explosion. I apply a lighted torch to straw and there will follow flame and smoke. Now these effects cannot be the cause of them- selves; otherwise they would exist before they existed, which is a contradiction. It would be the same as saying that the going . forth of the same bullet caused the going forth of the same bullet; that the same explosion caused the same explosion; that the same flame and smoke caused the same flame and smoke. They did not exist until after the causes were placed. Now these immediate causes are again the effects of other causes, and the causes of them are effects of other causes, and so on, until we reach a first cause which is uncaused. We cannot proceed into infinity with these causes and effects, and effects and causes, for the reason that in this series of effects and causes there must be a first cause which is the cause of the middle, and the middle the cause of the last. If there be no first cause, there will be no middle, and if there be no middle cause, there will be no last, or no effect at all, which is false. Therefore from effects which we see in the physical world, we reason to a first cause who is uncaused, the cause of all causes, the eternal cause whom we call God. The third argument is taken from the nature of con- tingent being. A contingent being is one that may or may not exist. It is a being whose essence does not demand existence. It is a being which we can conceive as not SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL 7 existing. Now, the world considered as a whole, or in the various parts that go to make it up, is contingent. We can conceive it as not existing; we can conceive its con- stituent parts as not existing. Again new beings are com- ing into existence every day and old beings are losing their existence. In the mineral, in the vegetable, and in the animal world we see such to be facts. We are con- scious that we ourselves did not always exist. Contingent beings, then, by their nature owe their existence fo other beings, since they were indifferent to existence and non- existence, and could not determine for themselves; or "de facto", not always existing they depend for their existence on other beings. Now these other beings are again con- tingent. But in this line or series of contingent beings we must come to a necessary being who exists of necessity, whose essence and existence are one and the same, whom we cannot conceive as not existing, upon whom all contin- gent beings depend or to whom they owe their existence. Therefore, since there is a contingent being there must be a necessary being. No number of contingent beings can change their nature. An infinite number is an absurdity. This necessary being we call God. The fourth argument is taken from the grades of per- fection found in things. No one will deny that some beings are more perfect than others. Thus the vegetable is more perfect than the mineral, the animal more perfect than the vegetable, and man more perfect than the animal. Among mefi we find various grades of perfection. Some men are more noble, more beautiful, more truthful, more just, more merciful, more benevolent, more wise, more powerful than others. Now beings are called more or less perfect, and are more or less perfect only in so much as they approach nearer or recede farther from a being who is perfect. We can have no idea of grades of perfection, nor can they exist unless there is a most perfect being with whom they are compared and of whom they are diminutions. There- fore there is a being who is perfect, who possesses truth, beauty, wisdom, justice, goodness and power in the most 8 SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL perfect degree. Or in other words there is a being in whom these perfections are not limited, who is infinite. The fifth and last argument of St. Thomas is taken from the government of material things. It is evident that material things want knowledge, else there would be variety in their operations, or in the manner in which they reach their ends. Wanting knowledge, they must be direct- ed by a being who possesses knowledge just as an arrow must be directed by an archer. Now in the general purpose and end of material things, we see the greatest wisdom and power displayed. Therefore the being who directs them must be most wise and powerful, or his wisdom and power must be most perfect. And this most wise and powerful being we call God. We now pass to the consideration of the second part of our subject, namely, the Spirituality and Immortality of the soul. The arguments we shall advance for the spir- ituality of the soul will be conclusive, but not so with the arguments for immortality ; we can give strong reasons why it should be so, and we can prove to a certainty that there Is a future life, but revelation is needed to prove beyond any doubt or cavil that the future life is eternal, or that the soul is immortal in the true sense of the word. Before showing that the soul is spiritual we must first demonstrate that the soul is a substance. Now a substance \ something which exists by itself and in itself, while an accident is something which must adhere to some subject for existence. Thus, for example, a wall is a substance, while the whiteness or hardness of it is an accident. We cannot conceive whiteness or hardness existing alone with- out a subject. From introspection we must conclude that our soul is a substance. We think, love and desire. Now we cannot conceive these operations without the soul. They do not exist in themselves; they proceed from a principle, and they come and go. But their source remains the same, and w< think and speak of it as existing in itself and being the cause of these mental states. Therefore, the human floul is a substantial principle. Spirituality includes simplicity, but not vice versa. The soul of a brute i said to be simple, but not spiritual. SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL 9 The spirituality of the soul demands that it not only wants parts or is indivisible, but also that in its own specific actions it is independent of matter. To be conclusive, we have two theses to substantiate; first, that the soul is simple, and secondly, that the soul is spiritual. And now to the first. The human soul is a simple substance. That the soul of man is not extended nor composed of material parts, we conclude from the fact that it has ideas which are simple in their nature. Thus for example, we have ideas of justice, truth and virtue, which cannot be divided into parts. Now such ideas cannot proceed from a material principle. And we prove it in this way: If the idea of justice emanated from the brain, then it would be diffused over the whole brain, or it would be whole in each part or atom of the brain, or it would be confined to one part of the brain. The first supposition is opposed to the nature of the idea for being simple, it cannot be divided or diffused over the whole brain. The second supposition contradicts our experience; for then we would have as many ideas of justice at the same time as there are atoms in the brain. On the third supposition, this one part of the brain from which the idea emanates is either divisible, and then we are thrown back on the first or second supposition, or it is simple, incapable of division, and our thesis is proved. Therefore, the source of simple ideas, or the human soul, is an indivisible substance or a simple principle. We shall now consider the main thesis to which the first two lead up. The human soul is spiritual. By the spirituality of the soul, the common folk understand it to be a substance, which, by the nobility and greatness of its nature transcends every power or aptitude of matter. The scholastics have taken up this vulgar notion and put it into the following philosophical form : A spiritual sub- stance is something which subsists of itself, and by itself, and independent of matter performs its own specific actions. From the fact that the soul has actions which transcend all the powers of matter; that it understands immaterial things; that it understands sensible things in a universal and immutable way, and that it is borne more towards 10 SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL spiritual than corporal objects, we conclude that it is a spiritual substance. No one will deny that we can by self reflection study the thinking principle can enter into our very souls. In this process we are conscious that the principle, or I which is thinking, is the same identical I which is the object of thought. Or, again we are conscious that we can will, or not will to do certain things. Now, by these acts the soul covers itself and acts upon itself, which opera- tions are entirely opposed to the nature of matter. Let us illustrate by taking a blank chart. We may place one part of the chart over another part, but we cannot place the whole chart over itself. One atom or molecule of matter may act upon another, but never on itself. It cannot be the agent and the patient. But in self reflection and will- ing, we have the soul covering its whole self and acting upon itself. Therefore, since the soul has actions which are op- posed to the nature of matter and transcend its powers, it is spiritual. We, and the materialists also, speak about spiritual things; we have at least a concept of them, for no one can speak of things entirely unknown. Now, a principle which thus manifests itself cannot but be essentially spiritual. The nature of the action bespeaks the nature of the cause, and a being cannot give what it has not, otherwise we would have an effect without a cause. Therefore, since the soul understands spiritual objects, it must be spiritual. The human soul by the power of abstraction, under- stands pensible things in a super-sensible way. Material things as they exist in themselves are sensible, many, and changeable. But .the soul gets from them, simple, abstract, universal ideas. Thus, for example, I see a chain. It is simple, material and changeable. It is impressed upon my imagination as such. But the intellect takes out of that material chain a universal idea the idea of a chain in general. This idea remains the same and corresponds to all material chains. Now this is understanding things in an immaterial or spiritual manner. Therefore, the power, or the soul which is able to do this, is truly spiritual. In speaking of the soul being borne more toward spir- SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL 11 itual than corporal objects, we refer to the souls of those men who know and feel their dignity, in whom the life of the animal does not predominate and prevail. Now, .every power is ordained to its own object by which it is perfected. Thus sight is ordained to light, hearing to sound, etc., and these faculties being exercised upon their objects are perfected. Therefore, there must be a propor- tion and a similarity of nature between faculties and their objects. If the objects are material, the faculties must be material, otherwise it would be impossible for them to reach these objects and be perfected by them. Secondly, a spiritual desire in a subject not spiritual, is inconceivable, for we would have an effect without a proportionate cause. And thirdly, a natural desire does not spring except from the knowledge that the object sought will perfect the thing seeking. But no object can perfect a subject with which it has not fitness nor aptitude of nature. An animal is not perfected by virtue and knowledge, and man is not per- fected by sensual objects. Therefore, from spiritual desires which bear the soul on vehemently towards spiritual ob- jects, we conclude that the soul is essentially spiritual. We have now reached the third part of our subject the Immortality of the Soul; and I wish you to bear in mind, that I said, that we cannot prove it apodeictically from pure reason; God's word is necessary to give us abso- lute certainty. That, that principle in me which thinks, knows, wills, desires, which makes a man of me and distinguishes me from the rest of God's creatures, will live on in the next world and will not come to naught, we conclude from the following reasons : I. The human soul is an incorruptible substance. II. The* human soul cannot be annihilated, either by itself or any created being. III. A sufficient sanc- tion of the moral law demands a future life. IV. The de- sire of perfect happiness argues a future life. We shall take up each proposition separately and briefly, and show its proving force. The human soul is an incorruptible substance. Material substances, because they are made up of united parts come to nothing by the dissolution of these parts. But we have 12 SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL shown that the human soul is a simple, unex tended sub- stance. It will not, therefore, by disintegration cease to be, and since it is independent of the body for its specific actions, it will not be destroyed in the destruction of the body, as in the case of the soul of brutes. The human soul cannot be annihilated by itself, or by any created thing. Annihilation is the reduction of some- thing to nothing. A positive act always results in some- thing positive. A positive act of a creature can only change the material upon which it operates. It can cause a change in the state or being of the thing, but it never can cause the thing itself to disappear entirely. This is what a chem- ical change does. Annihilation is possible, then, only by the withdrawal of the conserving power of God. But it is God who conserves the soul; therefore to Him and not to the soul, nor to any creature does the power to annihilate belong. An efficacious sanction of the moral law demands a future existence. Good deeds are not sufficiently rewarded in this life, or in other words, the virtuous do not receive a sufficient recompense here. On the other hand, wicked deeds do not carry with them sufficient punishment, or in other words, the wicked do not receive sufficient punish- ment for their bad deeds. I appeal to personal observa- tion for a confirmation. How many good people, even in our midst, suffer temporal crosses and afflictions, whilst their wicked neighbors have all that the world can give! Now an infinitely holy and just God cannot permit this to remain so forever. He cannot allow those who break the laws of nature, and violate His positive precepts, to be ultimately better and happier than those who observe His Commandments, and make sacrifices * for His honor and glory. We must therefore admit that there is another world where all these inequalities and deficiencies will be set right. The desire of perfect happiness argues the existence of a future life. No one will certainly question the fact that man desires to be perfectly happy. The more noble and spiritual a man's life is, the stronger is this desire in him. Man wishes for perfect beatitude. What is the history SERMON ON GOD AND THE SOUL 13 of man but a yearning and a striving after happiness! Neither is he ever satisfied. He soon begins to realize that the world cannot satisfy this rational desire. But is it not against the attributes of God to put such yearning into man's breast, and not put within his reach the power to realize it? Yes, this craving for perfect happiness and for eternal life is a strong proof of the immortality of the soul. My brethren, we have finished our task. It has re- quired a strained effort on my part, and I know the closest attention on yours. We have dealt with the most neces- sary, subtle truths, and my reasoning, to be of much value, must have been abstract, and my language must have been devoid of ornament. I could have advanced other proofs much less abstract, and dressed them up in rhetorical lan- guage. I could have advanced proofs from the beauty and order of the universe, and the universal consent of man in support of the existence of God. I could have appealed to many facts impossible of explanation without the spiritual- ity of the soul. I could have drawn analogies from nature from which we might infer the immortality of the soul. But these would be only probable and confirmatory proofs. I have offered the metaphysical proofs which are irrefutable and conclusive! SERMON ON THE FIRST MIRACLE OF CHRIST. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren: This is a beautiful and sublime gospel ; beautiful on account of the simplicity of the lan- guage, and sublime on account of the matter treated therein. In it, by contrast we see the two sides of Christ, the human and divine, blended together most harmoniously. How consoling to poor human nature, and what lessons ! "At that time, there was a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the wedding. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to Him; They have no wine." My Brethren, it is a traditionary belief that the bride and groom were related to the Blessed Virgin. St. John does not say that he had been invited. She needed not an invitation. As a relative, she came before-hand to assist in the preparation for it. No doubt, on account of their humble station, and the unlocked for arrival of the discip- les, and those who accompanied them, it was that the wine began to fail. The Blessed Virgin did not wait until it had been entirely consumed, and thus cause the host and hostess great embarrassment; but as soon as the waiters apprised her of their fears, she immediately went to her Son, in whose omnipotent power she firmly believed, and acquaint- ed Him of the circumstances. She did not make a direct request. She does not ask her Son to work a miracle. Quietly and modestly she goes up to Him and simply says: "They have no wine." There was no need for her to make a special request; for she knew from past experience that He would come to her assistance, and anticipate even her slightest wish. "And Jesus saith to her: Woman what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come." Rome of our non-catholic commentators see in those 14 SERMON ON THE FIRST MIRACLE OF CHRIST 15 words a reprimand, given to the Mother of Jesus. But they imply nothing derogatory at all to her. The English word "woman", beginning a direct address has some harshness in it nowadays. But not so with the word used by Christ. The Syro-Chaldaic word used by Christ meant "Mistress", "Lady". But granting that He did use the word "woman", was it not by this same word that He addressed her, when hanging on the Cross, and He saw her standing at the foot weeping streams of tears, and disconsolate? And was it not by this same word "woman", that He addressed her on that most solemn and sorrowful of all occasions, when about to breathe His last, He bade her farewell, and commended her to His beloved disciple? "Woman, behold thy Son !" "What have I to do with thee?" That phrase in the Syro-Chaldaic tongue had no harshness in it. It is used several times in the Old and New Testament, and in no one instance does it imply any kind of reproof. It simply presented a lively objection, or sometimes a mild dissent. Why should Christ reprove His mother on this occasion? Why should He reprove her whom He loved so tenderly, and for no fault? Her action was dictated by a spirit of consideration and kindness. But behold the outcome! It is the best interpreter. Is she disconcerted or dismayed? Full of confidence, she knows that her wish will be fulfilled. For immediately she says to the waiters: "Whatever He shall say to you, do ye." How does Christ act? On the instant He sets to work and performs a wonderful miracle. Away then with the thought that those words contain the least reprimand I It is almost blasphemy to harbor such an opinion ! "My hour is not yet come." By an eternal decree of God, the time for working miracles and proving His divin- ity had not yet come. But by another eternal decree in view of the merits of His immaculate mother who would request Him, this ordinary arrangement of Providence would be interfered with, so to speak, and a miracle would be performed. This throws more light too on the phrase: "What to Me and to thee", the literal translation. His mother saith to the waiters : "Whatsoever He 16 shall say to ye, do ye;" Now six stone pitchers were set there after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, con- taining two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them : "Fill the pitchers with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus saith to them: "Draw out now and carry to the master of the feast." And they carried it. My Brethren, these six stone pitchers were standing close by, filled with water, and covered with branches to keep the water cool and fresh. The guests were required not only to wash their feet before touching the linen and drapery of their couches, (they ate reclining) but during the meal to purify frequently their hands. The banquet must have progressed considerably, for the urns by the frequent purifications were being emptied. They were water vessels able to hold at least twenty gallons. Hence this removes all suspicion that they were carried there full of wine for deception. "Fill the pitchers with water." And they filled them to the brim. There was no room to pour in even a little wine and mix it with the water. They were filled to the brim. The servants, disinterested parties, filled them too, so that it could not be said that Christ, or His disciples brought the wine to give the color of a miracle to the occurrence. "Draw out now and carry to the master of the feast." This shows that the miracle was worked on the spot, and proves the divinity of Jesus Christ. They are ordered to carry it to the master, to him who presided at the ban- quet, who was overseeing all arrangements, and not to the host. Hence there would be no reason of deception, and he would be the best judge of the quality of the wine. "And when the master of the feast tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters who drew the water knew, the master of the feast calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him: 'Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is inferior; but thou hast kept the good wine until now.' This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana, of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His discip- les believed in him." SERMON ON THE FIRST MIRACLE OF CHRIST '37 "And knew not whence it came." This circumstance adds much weight to the truth and splendor of the mir- acle. This miracle, Christ must have worked without any form of words or external ceremonies. For the waiters saw and heard nothing; and "He calleth the bridegroom". At banquets, the usual practice is to serve the best wine first, that while the taste is still sharp it will be better appreciated. Then when the taste is somewhat blunted by satiety, to bring on the inferior quality. These words are not intended to convey that there was any intem- perance at the banquet. The chief steward by the words : "When men have well drunk," was referring to a fact that usually happens, and not to this particular occurrence. The quantity and quality of the wine, and the manner of the miracles, show the divine splendor and munificence of the Lord. This was the first of Christ's public miracles. Whether He had before this, worked any miracles in private, we cannot say, most probably, not. All of Christ's miracles were intended to glorify God by increasing faith in His followers. Christ's disciples from the testimony of John and their conversation with Him, had already believed in His divin- ity. But our faith can be made stronger and firmer; and such was the effect of this miracle, and the meaning of the phrase: "And his disciples believed in Him." My Brethren, today's gospel is quite consoling. Christ,, although God, condescended to be present at a wedding festivity, where we know a great deal of mirth, and merri- ment were carried on. Christ our model, went there, and no doubt, was not only an onlooker, but helped to enliven the scene. Christ then by His presence at this wedding, sanctified innocent recreation and pleasure. Yes, pleas- ures and enjoyments kept within proper bounds, are not only lawful and legitimate, but for most people are neces- sary. It is unlawful pleasures and amusements that are forbidden. "The bow" as the great St. John Chrysostom says, (when some pharasaical creature was scandalized at seeing him indulging in innocent recreation) "the bow," 18 SERMON ON THE FIRST MIRACLE OF CHRIST said he,' "cannot always be bent, or else it will lose its strength." My Brethren, perhaps some fanatics will be scandalized and shocked when they read this gospel, and learn that wine was the beverage used at the wedding. These same people are shocked, whenever they learn that wine is used on any occasion, or in any manner whatever. It is the scandal of the Pharisee, and we are not obliged to pay any attention to it. Dare ye to criticise Christ, our Model! Dare ye to criticise the infinite Wisdom ! Wine is a creature of God, and like everything that comes from His hand, is good in itself. In the abuse of it lies the evil. It is the abuse of strong drink, and the places, and the manner in which it is sold, and intemperance and drunkenness that constitute the evil of the liquor traffic. My Brethren, our divine Lord, by His presence at this feast, sanctified the marriage state. Yes, marriage is a holy state, and has, and will be the lot of most people, and our Lord raised it to the dignity of a Sacrament. The love between husband and wife. He willed to be symbolical of the love between Himself and the Church. Marriage is a holy state, but virginity consecrated to God, is holier. St. Paul teaches this doctrine, and gives the reason for it: "He that is without wife is solicitous for the things of the Lord, how he shall please God. But he that is with wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided." To you, in the words of St. Paul, I say : "Therefore, both he that giveth his virgin in marriage doth well; and he that giveth her not, doth better." And fourthly and lastly and this is the most import- ant lesson I would draw from the gospel, and I wish to impress it upon you at the beginning of the New Year namely, devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God. Ro great was her intercessory power with Him, that she had the eternal decree of God, so to speak, changed. In- stead of today's gospel teaching anything derogatory to the Mother of God, it exalts her beyond all measure. Because flhe willed it, Christ worked a great miracle before the time et in the dispensation of God. The Blessed Virgin is still Christ's mother, and she -is SERMON ON THE FIRST MIRACLE OF CHRIST 19 seated nearest His throne. She has more power over Him now than when on earth. No doubt it is the Blessed Virgin, who holds back the omnipotent arm- of God, when at times, on account of the wickedness of the people, He would roll back the flood gates of Heaven and sweep man from off the face of the earth. It' is true that God could save us without the interces- sory power of the Blessed Virgin; but since He took her into the designs of the adorable Trinity, when our redemp- tion was devised and planned, He wishes us to come to Himself and His kingdom in a great measure through His mother. Let us invoke her frequently, especially in temp- tations and trials, knowing that true devotion to her is a sign of predestination. O Mother of God, take us all under thy sweet care, and be with us now, during every moment of our lives, and especially be with us at the hour of our death ! Amen ! SERMON ON THE POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION. DELIVERED BEFORE THE HOLY NAME SOCIETY AT ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. Dear Members of the Holy Name Society: The sub- ject upon which I am going to speak tonight "The Possi- bility and Necessity of a Supernatural Religion is one of the most important parts of Christian Apologetics. If a supernatural religion be not possible, then "de facto", there is no such thing as Christianity. Christianity is a gigantic fraud, its teachers, impostors, and its disciples, dupes; Whereas, if it be possible, is there not a sort of an antece- dent probability of its existence? At least there is an obli- gation upon every man to investigate its claims. If we demonstrate its necessity, then half the battle against the enemies of Christianity is won. If it is necessary to man, then it must be, otherwise, God does not concern Himself about His creatures, and the Creator is indifferent to the work of His hands. Tonight, we are going to show that a supernatural religion is not only possible, but is necessary in order that man may know and reach the natural end of his existence. I take it that you understand by the word "man", man- kind in general. We grant that here or there may be found an individual who may fully reach his natural end with- out supernatural aid; but we affirm that by far the major- ity of men would remain in ignorance of it, and would fail to reach it without a supernatural religion. We grant that, abstractly considered, it is possible for man to reach his natural end without a supernatural religion ; but we affirm that when you take man in his present condition with his aptitude and his cares, and the truths of religion with their .sublimity and depth the majority of men by far would remain in ignorance of, and fail to practice their duties toward God, neighbor and self; and even if an exceptional 20 POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION 21 individual would be so fortunate, it would be only late in life after much serious study and labor. With such ex- planations we enter upon our task. In the possibility of a supernatural religion, four and only four things are to be considered : First, God who re- veals; second, man who receives the revelation; third, the truths revealed; and fourth, the manner of the revelation. Now, if we show that God knows truths, which man does not; that He can reveal them, and that it will not be un- becoming to His majesty and wisdom to do so; if we show that man can be taught by God, and be certain that God has spoken; and even if man does not comprehend all the revealed truths, but believes them on the word of God, he does not thereby abdicate his reason ; -then we have sus- tained the contention that a supernatural religion is pos- sible. Who will deny that an infinite mind does know many truths which a finite mind does not know? Among men, whose intellects are finite, we see some who know many things of which the rest of men are ignorant. Do not men of science know many truths of which the uneducated have never heard? God is the infinite Truth, upon His intellect depends all truth, in His mind are the prototypes of all actual and possible beings. He sees from eternity to eternity. With Him there is no past, nor future, but only an eternal present. To deny that He does know many truths of which the most learned are ignorant, is to deny that He is omniscient, it is to place the knowledge of the Infinite and the finite on the same level. Who will deny that the Omnipotent One can, either by help of words or by the infusion of ideas into the mind, reveal these truths? Surely He, who created the intellect, and gave the power of speech to man, can illuminate his mind. Neither will an illumination in such a way be unbecoming to God. Not to His majesty; for if it were not unbecoming to His majesty to create man, it certainly is not unbecoming to His majesty to have a care over man, and to provide for his perfection and salvation. Not to His wisdom; for revelation is a new light which is added to reason to perfect it by mani- festing new truths, or proposing more clearly some ob- 22 POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OP REVELATION scurely known. God has a sufficient reason in so doing; for it is to manifest more perfectly His -attributes, and to elevate man to a closer union with the Divinity. Man can be taught by God. For this it is requiped, and sufficient, that man can hear God speaking, and understand Him. If man can be taught by man if one man can speak to another, and be understood by him surely the Infinite Creator can speak to His creature and be understood by him. If it is not below the dignity of man to listen to a human teacher, it certainly is not below his dignity to listen to God who cannot be deceived, nor deceive. The human mind is independent in the sense that it is not held to embrace a truth before it sees it to be a truth; but human reason does command us to embrace that which is proposed to us by a learned and truthful man; and much more so if that master be God, who is infinite in knowledge and veracity. A revelation can be made in two ways; either God can speak directly to each individual, or by the help of leg- ates, speak to the human race. Now either way is possible with God. To say that God cannot speak directly ty> each man is to place His power below that of man. Every moment during the day, man is speaking to his fellow man. To deny the second manner of revelation, is to deny the omnipotence of God. The only thing necessary is that a true legate can be known from an impostor. Now, mir- acles are such means. No one can work a miracle except through the power of God. A miracle is the seal of God, put upon a work, stamping it divine, and giving the legate divine credentials. There remains for us to show the possibility of reve- lation from the fourth point of view. That God can re- veal truths which may be known from the natural light of reason, we have sufficiently shown. That God can reveal positive precepts which do not necessarily flow from the nature of things, but depend upon His free and positive will, is easily seen from an analogy. God who is the Supreme Lord, certainly has greater power and authority than civil rulers. Now, they enact and enforce positive precepts which do not flow from the nature of things for POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION 23 I the purpose of promoting the good of civil society. God, therefore, can do the same. He can reveal positive pre- cepts to manifest more vividly His supreme dominion, to promote the better observance of the natural law, and to determine more definitely all that pertains to the worship of Himself. Neither will this interfere with human liberty; for a wise law, instead of hurting liberty, directs it. God in giving positive precepts, also gives the necessary help to keep them. And thus, they become the occasion of merit. But we are told the quarrel is with the mysteries; God cannot, say the naturalists, reveal truths which are above the comprehension of man, as for example, the mys- tery of the Blessed Trinity. Now, if there is no repugnance on the part of God, nor on the part of man, then the reve- lation of mysteries is possible. God certainly knows such truths. There are many truths which are comprehended by the learned which the illiterate do not understand. But, this is no reason why they should reject them. They perform a most reasonable act when they accept them upon the authority of scholars. There are many truths in philosophy and science, which even the learned accept, although they do not comprehend them fully. Who has penetrated inwardly into the nature of vegetable and animal life? Who understands internally the laws of attraction and cohesion? Who can fathom the mystery of creation? Who can comprehend the agreement of human liberty with divine foreknowledge? Who can explain the union between soul and body? Who knows the intimate nature of electricity? These are natural mysteries which we believe, although we do not fully comprehend them. Should we not then expect to find mysteries in the supernatural order? Yes, we should be surprised if we did not. Now, men communicate natural mysteries; for a still greater reason God can communicate supernatural mysteries. It is not necessary for belief, that we see the agree ment between two ideas. If God says that such an agree- ment exists, and we understand the subject and predicate, that is all that is required. We perform a most reasonable act in believing such mysteries on the authority of God. 24 POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION Yea, to reject revealed mysteries because we do not exactly see how the predicate is contained in the subject, is most irrational; and we are inconsistent. St. Thomas says that as it would be a sign of idiocy in an illiterate person to assert as false, truths proposed by learned men, because he did not comprehend them; so it would be a sign of greater idiocy in learned men to reject as false, truths which were proposed by God, because they did not compre- hend them. We come now to the second part of our subject, namely, the necessity of a supernatural religion. We have said that such a help is necessary in order that man may know and practice the truths of natural religion, and reach his nat- ural end and destiny. It goes without saying that the principal truths of natural religion are the existence of a Supreme Being, the immortality of the soul, a future life of reward or punish- ment, the sacredness of life, the sanctity of home, and the practice of justice and truth. I do not think it necessary to show that these truths must be known, and must enter into the lives of the people if civil society is to exist and progress. Without them, might becomes right, and man's selfish passions, the directing principle. Now in order that man might know these truths, they should bear before them the greatest evidence. They should be almost evidently true. But most of them are not, and, following the reasoning of St. Thomas, of Aquin, we shall show that without a revela- tion, mankind would remain in ignorance of them. From one of three causes, man, without supernatural assistance cannot come to their knowledge. First, man's inaptitude ; a large percentage of the human race, on account of their mental incapacity, would never discern those truths by unaided reason. Anyone who has studied philosophy realizes keenly that it requires a good mind, a high degree of mental discipline, to reason upon those truths. Secondly, granting, that all men were mentally gifted and cultured, they could not find the necessary time for the investigation of those truths. The cares of life, the necessity of providing for themselves, and for their families, business and labor would preclude such serious study. Thirdly, granting POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OP REVELATION 25 that all men were intellectually fit, and had time, they would want the necessary energy and ambition to prosecute such studies successfully. Granting all the foregoing supposi- tions (which are contrary to facts), on account of the sub- limity of those truths, and man's having been born in ig- norance, and subjected to passions, he would discover those truths only late in life, and would not be certain of them. From the study of the nature of man, and of the truths of natural religion, we are therefore led to conclude that a very small percentage of the human race would come to the knowledge of the truths necessary for the right institu- tion, and prosecution of life, without supernatural help. . But some will say, we grant that the "a priori" reason- ing seems sound and convincing, but facts are another thing. Does history bear out those conclusions? Yes, and that is what we shall proceed to show. The historical argument is conclusive in itself. For if it were within the power of unaided reason and will, to discover those truths, and live them out, four thousand years surely was a sufficient length of time in which to make the trial ; I lay these down as historical facts: that the farther the Pagan nations got away from the primitive revelation, the more obscure and erroneous became their ideas about the truths of natural religion; that they fell into the grossest errors, both intel- lectual and moral; that men's minds became so darkened, and their wills so corrupt, that Socrates, a Greek philos- opher, four hundred years before the coming of Christ, cried out: "Unless some one comes to put aside the thick mist, no man can know how to comport himself towards God and man." The Pagan nations of antiquity were the Chinese, Hin- doos, the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. What were the beliefs and morals of those na- tions? The Chinese believed in a supreme reason called Tao, and in a heaven called Tien. They had no system of morality. Their emperor typified Tao, and their monarchy was a type of their heaven. Even after Confucius, five hun- dred years before Christ, their moral code was one of no utility, and was vain and empty. The Hindoos had three principal divinities : Indra, the 26 POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION god of air, thunder, and rain ; Varuna, the god of the vault of the heavens; and Agni, the god of fire. These divinities were supposed to have wives who were worshipped as secondary deities. Their morality being founded upon the principle that man's life here is a state of misery, they taught that he must either become immerged into the su- preme good (Pantheism), or lose his personality (next to annihilation). Hence, he must detach himself entirely from things earthly, and disregard all temporal affairs. The Chaldeans first worshipped the stars. The sun was the supreme deity, and the moon a secondary deity. They believed in two great principles, the one the true, the pure, the good, and the other, the spirit of darkness, untruthful- ness and death. But finally they fell back into astrological superstitions, and worshipped the stars and the powers of nature. The Egyptians believed that primeval matter from in- finite darkness, begot by generation, the sun-god, who in his turn begot of his mother, other gods. The sun-gods were in different places, worshipped under different names. They attributed their civilization, their laws and arts to their gods. But at a later date they worshipped the animals. They had two principal divine bulls. Apis and Mnevis, and the latter they called the "Twice great and ancient god, and the great god and king of heaven and earth." Even women at their religious ceremonies indulged in the grossest licentiousness. We have now reached the Greeks and the Romans. The Greeks worshipped Zeus as the god of the heavens, and Gaia as the goddess of earth. They had minor divinities. Homer and Hesiod were their authorities on religion. Homer represented all the gods assembled on beautiful Olympus, presided over by Zeus. They believed that their gods had the form, desires, occupations, patriotic feelings, virtues, and the vices of men, and were subject to the inevitable decrees of fate. Their worship consisted of symbols, signs and ceremonies, and allegorical representations of legions, and portions of the mystical histories of their gods. Accom- panying their worship were many indecent and immoral celebrations. Then arose the philosophers. Thales taught POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION 27 that water was the principle of all things, Anaximenes placed it in the air, and Anaximander believed it to be fire. Pythagoras defied the powers of nature, and taught the transmigration of souls. Plato came nearest of all the phi- losophers to the truth. He taught the existence of a supreme Being, had a vague notion of the fall of man, a distinct idea of the immortality of the soul, and a hopeful belief in a future life. Aristotle, although admitting a supreme intel- ligence, rejected his personal, wise and providential direc- tion of human affairs by teaching that all things were fixed and unchangeable. Denying the free will of man, he struck down the basis of morality. Epicurus taught that happi- ness is the supreme god. ' Zeno taught that everything is god. Religion began to wane among the Greeks. No one could be believed, no one trusted. The illicit love of boys prevailed everywhere. Pederasty was common. Art became most immoral, pandering to the grossest sensuality. Aph- rodite and their other goddesses were worshipped by very immoral rites. The religion of the ancient Romans was most contra- dictory. Whilst they had one supreme god whom they called Jupiter, nevertheless by impersonating the powers of nature, they split up his unity. And in the end the most trivial occupation of man had its own tutelary deity. While art was the characteristic element of the Grecian religion, morals and politics were that of the Romans. But even in the time of the Tarquins, Greece began to exercise an in- fluence on the religion of the Romans, and with it came idols, then Greek modes of worship; and in their train fol- lowed immorality and the loss of civic virtues. The Romans now praised justice, but nowhere practiced it. They strove to subject the whole world to their power. The state became supreme; man, as such, was nothing; everything was swallowed up in his citizenship. The State was their divinity, and all things must be made subservient to it. After drinking in the blood of other nations, Rome turned upon herself. Civil strife was rampant, and bloody wars ensued. Fratricides, homicides and suicides were fre- quent. Under the Emperors, the confusion and moral de- pravity especially grew worse. The feasts of the Lupercal 28 POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION and Floreal were celebrated with wanton lasciviousness and debaucheries. Obscene and immoral plays prevailed at the theatres. Life was no longer regarded as sacred, and suicides caused no surprise. This unbelief and immorality were fol- lowed by the grossest superstitions. Astrologers, sorcerers and soothsayers, swarmed to Rome where they played upon the credulity of the people. The philosophers were power- less to offer any resistance. They had a few followers in- deed, but that was all. Their lives conflicted much with their teaching. Amid the prevailing confusion they sought comfort and hope from the Sibilline Books, which announced that one day man would rise to a higher and holier state, and return to the early age of happy innocence. Virgil announced the approach of it, but the prophetic words of Cicero were most remarkable: ''There shall be no longer one law at Rome, and another at Athens, nor shall it pre- scribe one thing today, and another tomorrow, but one and the same law eternal and immutable, shall be prescribed for all nations and times, and the god who shall prescribe, introduce and promulgate this law, shall be one and supreme." To sum up, we may say that the Pagan nations of anti- quity gradually lost the knowledge of a personal god, and fell into the most degrading idolatry. With this belief gone, the foundation of morality was snapped asunder. The lowest vices were stamped with the seal of religion. The temples of the gods were the scenes of unbridled lusts, and immorality of the worst type formed the essence of the heathen religion. Cruelty, its inseparable companion, show- ed itself everywhere; in the endless bloody wars, in slavery, in the degraded condition of woman, in the strangling of cripples, in the bloody contests of the gladiators, and in the so-called rights which parents claimed over their offspring. In answer to all this, the rationalists may say perhaps, the time and condition of the human race were the causes, anil if a revelation had Ix-en given they would have been no letter off; these same errors and vices would have prevailed. A complete answer to the objections is found in the history of the Jewish people. This people, right in the very midst of the (Jentile world, surrounded by them on all sid; s. POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY OF REVELATION 29 through a supernatural religion, retained the knowledge of the one true God, a belief in the immortality of the soul, a belief in the future life of reward and punishment. Life was held sacred by the Jews; the sanctity of the home was guarded and respected; purity was taught; authority was respected ; and justice and truth were praised and practiced. Again, the rationalists may say: Are there not many infidels of the present day who believe in and practice the truths of natural religion? I answer that I believe there are a few ; but it is owing to their Christian education, or to their living in a Christian community; not from infidelity, but from Christianity have they derived their principles of right living. In confirmation, I ask you what do the lead- ing rationalistic scholars of the day teach? Hume and Boyle teach skepticism; Spinoza, Fichte, Schelling, Heggel, and Vocherot, teach Pantheism ; Kante teaches subjectivism ; and Buchner, Huxley, Spencer, and Fouille, teach Agnos- ticism. In conclusion, to show that it was not due to the want of culture that these nations erred so egregiously on moral and intellectual subjects, I place before your consideration one eloquent fact ; it was the Pagan nations that have given to the world the greatest law-givers, generals, orators, poets, philosophers and artists! To these nations belonged Solon and Lycurgus, Hannibal and Caesar, Demosthenes and Cicero, Homer and Virgil, Aristotle and Socrates! It was during this period, and among these people that Apollo, Diana and Yenus were conceived and brought forth ! THE COCKLE AND THE WHEAT. PREACHED AT ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren: When our divine Lord spoke the parable which constitutes today's Gospel, He was standing on the historical shores of the Sea of Galilee. A great crowd had come out from the city of Capharnaum, and were eager- ly awaiting such time as the great Teacher and. Master would begin to speak. A boat was drawn up on the shore, and into this boat Christ entered, and seated himself. Back over the heads of the people were smooth fields, sloping towards the water's edge. They were covered with green grass; but running through them were beaten winding paths, and here and there were huge rocks and clumps of cactus-like thistles. Sitting then, as was His custom, with this great throng of people around Him, Christ stretched forth His divine hands and began to speak. He first compared His kingdom to a vast field, which contains different kinds of soil, the Word of God to the seed, and Himself to the sower. That which fell by the wayside was picked up by the birds; that which fell among thorns was choked; that which fell on stony ground was soon scorched by the sun; and that which fell upon the good ground brought forth various folds of fruit. After explaining that parable, He spoke another, and it is the one which I have just read. He spoke it to teach us that the good, and the bad will always be found within His Church, that the Church will be persecuted to the end, and that such must needs be for the sake of the elect. "The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But, while the men were asleep his enemy came and sowed cockle among the wheat, and went away. When the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle." My brethren, this picture was a very familiar one to those Eastern people. Savage feuds were common occur- 30 THB COCKLE AND THE WHEAT 31 rences among them, and often split up families, and whole tribes. The weaker foe, because he was weak, could not have recourse to open attack, but must resort to trickery and treachery. Hence often at night, under the cover of darkness, we find him creeping into the fields of his enemy and sowing cockle among the wheat. Cockle is a species of grass containing intoxicating properties, is poisonous, and much resembles wheat, as long as the ear is unformed. It therefore could not be very easily detected until the wheat was almost ripe. The devil is the eternal enemy of God, and after the precepts of the Gospel have been implanted within our souls by the Almighty, when the pastors of the Church are off their guard, and the faithful are indolent, he comes and plants likewise within our souls the cockle of evil and wickedness. God loves the light, and always works in the light, but the devil loves the darkness, and always works in the darkness. "And the servants of the householder came and said to him: 'Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it cockle?' And he said to them: 'An enemy hath done this.' And the servants said to him : 'Wilt thou, that we go and gather it up ?' And he said : 'No, lest in gathering up the cockle ye root up the wheat also with it. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers: 'Gather up first the cockle and bind it in bundles to burn, but the wheat gather into my barn.' " My brethren, the servants of the master were not aware of the quarrel, and were surprised when they found the cockle among the wheat. And not being skilled in hus- bandry, they were for pulling up immediately the cockle. But the master is experienced, and he knows that it is next to impossible to uproot the cockle, without destroying at the same time much of the wheat. He knows that the only reasonable thing to do is to wait till the harvest time, un- til the wheat has become ripe, when it can be easily distin- guished from the cockle, then make the separation. And he says to the servants, just wait until the harvest time, and when the fields have been mowed, I shall order the reapers 32 THE COCKLE AND THE WHEAT to make the separation, and to burn the cockle, and to put the wheat into the barn. Let us now apply this part of the parable: Whom do these servants signify? St. Jerome, the greatest Scriptural scholar understands them to be angels. But St. Augustine thinks that they signify men, especially those over zealous, but not too wise members of the Church. We shall accept the second interpretation as being the most practical at least. My brethren, is it not a fact that some over zealous Christians would like to drive out of the Church all sin- ners at least confirmed and habitual sinners? They would tolerate within the Church, none but the good, forgetting at the same time, -that they once were sinners. What if the separation had taken place when they were found, not among the saints, but among the sinners? Some of the greatest sinners have become the greatest saints. Could there have been greater sinners that St. Mary Magdalene and St. Augustine? Yet, who are greater in the catalogue of the saints? Sinners are a lesson and a warning to the saints? Without sinners in the Church where would we find the occasions for works of zeal? We must not forget that Christ came to call sinners, and not the just to repent- ance; that He left the ninety-nine sheep to go after the one that was lost; and that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that doth penance, than over ninety-nine just that need not penance. Some over zealous pastors and lay Christians too, would wish to draw the sword against all the persecutors of the Church, seemingly forgetting that God could, if He so willed, send ten thousand angels from heaven to fight His battles, and against Whom the whole world would be pow- erless. Let us ever remember the words of Christ to St. Peter, who drew his sword and cut off the ear of the ser- vant of Malchus, because he struck our divine Lord in the face: "He that taketh up the sword, will perish by the sword." God permits persecutions, and draws out of them good. Persecution drives out of the Church traitors. Per- secution arouses to action the half hearted Catholic. Per- secution even serves to strengthen the faith of the strong. THE COCKLE AND THE WHEAT 33 It is only when the country is attacked that we find out the traitors, and the true patriots. It is war that makes the general. It is in combat that we gain strength. The storm drives deeper into mother earth the roots of the trees. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. My brethren, let us never be scandalized when we see sinners within the bosom of the Church. Good and evil must and will exist together until the final separation. It was the mission of Christ, and it is the mission of His Church to turn sinners from their evil ways, to keep the just from falling, and to make the holy, holier. Where there is much wickedness you will find invariably much goodness. It seems to be a universal law that extremes are found to- gether. And, if there were no darkness we would not ap- preciate the light. If there were no storms, we would not appreciate the sunshine. Without the cross we could not appreciate the value of the crown. Instead of being scan- dalized let us set about to work for their conversion, and take heed lest we ourselves fall. God oftentimes punishes the over-captious and critical by allowing them to fall into the very faults which they too severely censured in their neighbors. We are all walking on slippery ground. It is only God's grace that keeps us from falling; for as St. Augustine truly said: "There is no sin in the Decalogue that he could not commit, if God's grace did not forestall him." Besides, even in the lives of the best there are many imperfections and minor faults. When persecutions arise, let us not grow timid or fear- ful. The Church has been founded by Christ to do His work until the end of time. He is with the Church, and His Spirit guides, directs and sustains her. He built her upon a rock, and the gates of hell will never prevail against her. She has been persecuted in every age, and she has over- come them all. The powerful ones of this earth have risen up against her, but they all found their St. Helena. Out of every struggle she has come forth victorious, stronger, purer, younger and more vigorous. Christ is only sleeping in Peter's bark to try our faith, and when the clouds are blackest, the storm fiercest, and the boat is about ready to 34 THE COCKLE AND THE WHEAT sink, He rises up and says : "Peace, be still !" And a great calm ensues. But, my brethren, let us fear and tremble at the thought of the final separation, when God will weed out of His kingdom, all evil. Have we not allowed the devil to plant his cockle among God's wheat? Bad and wicked thoughts are the cockle, and the fruit is all kinds of sin and evil. At the end of the world after Christ has been wafted to this earth in great power and majesty, and we have been assemb- led in the valley of Jehosaphat, He will say to His angels: "Place the good on My right, and the wicked on My left hand" ; and to the former He will say : "Come, ye blessed of My Father, and possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" ; and to the latter, He will say : "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels." THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION SATISFIES THE DE- MANDS OF REASON, AND THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA V BEFORE THE HOLY NAME SOCIETY. Dear Members of the Holy Name Society : In our first discourse on "Revelation", we showed, first, that a supernatural religion is possible, because it is conson- ant to the nature of God and man; and secondly, that it is necessary, because without it man cannot know the truths of even natural religion clearly, and with certainty. To- night we begin to prove the actual existence of a supernat- ural religion. There are two ways of doing this: first, by showing that miracles are the criterion of Revelation, and that they have been worked in favor of a supernatural religion; and secondly, by the study of the doctrines of the Christian relig- ion showing their . superior excellence. Now, we intend to begin with the latter method first, and show that the doc- trines of the Christian religion are most comformable to reason, and answer its legitimate aspirations. You will readily see that this is a big subject, and cannot be done justice in one evening's discourse. Tonight we shall confine ourselves, therefore, to the question, "The Christian Religion Satisfies the Demands of Reason, and the Aspirations of the Soul." There are four questions which have ever engaged the attention of man. The illiterate as well as the wise man, has ever been anxious to know about the existence of a Supreme Cause, about the origin of the world, about the origin and nature of man, and about man's last end, and how he is to reach it. As soon as reason begins to open these questions spontaneously, as it were, force themselves upon our minds, and will not quit us until we answer them. We may drive them out and banish them for a time, but 35 36 THE CHRISTIAN SATISFIES THE DEMANDS they will come back, and press for a solution. I appeal to the personal experience of each for a confirmation of this assertion. The Christian religion gives no uncertain answer to these inquiries of the soul. The Christian religion tells us emphatically that the supreme cause of all things is God; and that this God is one, true and living, the Creator of the heavens and the earth; that He is omnipotent, eternal, immense, incomprehensible and infinite in all His attri- butes; that, although he is in all things, and through all things, and back of all things, He is distinct from the world and creatures; and that He is independent and sovereign, most blessed in Himself and of Himself. And by teaching the mystery of the Trinity, it explains rationally how God lives within Himself and suffices for His own beatitude. The Christian religion tells us not only about the origin of the world, but about its end, and how it is directed by Divine Providence towards that end. It teaches us that the one true God by the most free act of His will, drew the world out of nothing; that He was moved to this, simply by His infinite goodness, and not to increase His happiness, but to manifest externally His glory; and that He directs and governs the world strongly, but sweetl}', bringing good out of evil, ordering all things from the beginning to the end, for the accomplishment of His purposes. In these few words we have truths which the wisest philosophers of antiquity attempted in vain to discover. No philosopher before the time of Christ taught the doctrine of creation; and no philosopher before the time of Christ, so much as dreamt of the paternal providence of God. Aristotle, in whom unaided reason reached its summit, taught that all things were fixed and unchangeable. The Christian religion tells us that we are all descended from Adam and Eve. It teaches us that man is composed of body and soul; that the soul is spiritual, free and im- mortal; that there are two laws in us, the superior, and the inferior; that the former is ever urging us upward to the love of the true, the beautiful, and the good, whilst the latter is constantly dragging us downward to the low, the sensual, and the base. It teaches us that this was not the OP REASON AND THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL 37 primitive condition of man, but is the effect of a fall from a higher state. It teaches us that God, in order that man should not despair, sent into the world, His Son, whose suffering in the flesh redeemed us from the servitude of sin and merited grace, by which we could live pious lives, and reach our final end God. In the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, reason can see how an offended, infinite being can be ap- peased, and sin forgiven. Christ suffers in the human nature, and on account of its being united to the divine, in the person of the Word, the sufferings have an infinite value. Thus infinite justice and mercy meet and kiss, and reason learns the solution of a question which before it was powerless to solve. And finally, the Christian religion tells us that there is a future life of reward and punishment, and that it is eternal. This truth is the fulcrum of the ethical world. Without it civil society could not exist. Evil would flourish, and good would disappear from the face of the earth. It is this truth which curbs the passions of man, and leads him on to virtue and holiness. Do not attempt to tell a man of experience, that the love of goodness and virtue for their own sake, can take its place. That principle cannot bridle the passions of sensuality, covetousness and revenge. You, who live in luxury and refinement, and have all your wants and desires satisfied, might preach it to your likes. But I tell you, you dare not preach it to the strong lusty man, when under powerful sensual temptations; you dare not preach it to the poor man living in a hovel, when you live next door in a palace; you dare not preach it to your subject when smarting under severe chastisement. It is a child's play-house which will topple over at the first gush of strong temptation. The school of Christianity is free from all philosophical errors, whilst outside her, the most absurd errors flourish. Her skirts have been kept clean of the errors of the eternity of matter, dualism, polytheism, pantheism, fatalism, etc. Against such aberrations she has declared her anathemas. If some absurd doctrines are attributed to her, it conies from a false interpretation of her creed. Thus do her enemies attribute absurd doctrines to her, by interpreting wrongly 38 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION SATISFIES THE DEMANDS her teaching on the Trinity, Original Sin, the Incarnation, and the Redemption. We are reported as teaching that God is one and three under the same aspect, whereas, the true doctrine declares that God is one in nature, and three in person. We are reported as teaching, that original sin is a voluntary act of the sinner, depriving man of the owed gifts of nature, whereas, the true doctrine declares that it is not a personal fault, but a state inherited from our first parents, and which deprives us of the original justice in which they were . first constituted. We are reported as teaching the mixture of the divine and human natures in the Incarnation, whereas, the true doctrine declares dis- tinctly that each nature remains intact and whole after the union. And finally, we are reported as teaching that man is justified without any change of heart, whereas, the true doctrine declares that we must suffer with Christ, and do penance, if we wish to reign and be glorified with Him. Dear members of the Holy Name Society : All the doc- trines of Christianity are harmoniously united. There is no conflict, no clash among them. One naturally flows from the other. This unity is so remarkable that you cannot deny one without denying others. Thus for example, the Incar- nation and Justification follow so closely and logically from the Trinity that if we deny the Trinity, the Incarnation falls, and Justification loses its force and reality. The unity among the doctrines has been so admirable that heretics have never denied a single doctrine of consequence, without attacking the whole body of revealed truths. This so ^hap- pened in the history of Arianism, Pelagianism and Nestorian- ism. Moreover, the doctrines of the Christian religion are summed up in and recapitulated in the mystery of the Re- demption, for it supposes first, the Trinity, since it is the effect of the advent of the Son of God, Who took flesh through the power of the Holy Ghost to satisfy the Father ; and it supposes original sin which it is intended to repair. From it follows Justification, by which the fruits of the Redemption are applied to sinners; from it flow the Sacra- ments, through which graces merited by Christ are dis- pensed to souls; and, from it follows the glorification of body and soul, to which it ultimately tends. Nay, all the OF REASON AND THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL 39 precepts of the Decalogue flow logically from the Trinity and Redemption ; for all of them may be reduced to two, the love of God, and neighbor; and this double love springs from the contemplation of the infinite perfections which shine forth in the Trinity, and also from the consideration of the benefits which accrue from the Redemption. The truths of the Christian religion, by their depth sat- isfy the greatest intellects, and by their simplicity are aptly suited to the capacity of the uneducated. The truths of Christianity are so profound and broad, that they supply inexhaustible matter for the investigation of the learned. Need I tell you that for nineteen centuries theologians have been delving into the doctrines of the Trinity, Incarnation, Redemption and Grace, and have not yet exhausted them. Need I tell you, that by a comparison of the doctrines among themselves, and with the principles of reason, theologians have deduced, and are deducing, many new conclusions which have enlarged, and are enlarging the field of theology ; and still they have not exhausted the truths of Christianity. On the other hand, the truths of the Christian religion are so simple that in a few words they can be put into a symbol, which by a little study can be mastered even by children. In Catholic catechisms the most sublime truths are learned by the little ones truths which the greatest Pagan philosophers were ignorant of. Hence Christianity satisfies the learned and the unlearned; the former sees in it an inexhaustible source of knowledge, and the latter a simple answer to the simple inquiries of the soul. The Christian religion presents the most perfect code of ethics. In order that such a code may be safe, sound, and complete, it must comprise three things: namely, our offices and duties toward God, toward our neighbor and toward ourselves. Now Christianity teaches that these flow from the love of God. When Christ was asked by the doctor what was the greatest commandment i>f the Law, He answered: "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with all thy mind." This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Upon these two commandments depend the whole law and the 40 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION SATISFIES THE DEMANDS prophets. A simpler, a nobler, and a more perfect founda- tion for ethics has never been discovered. From it flow our duties toward God, neighbor and self. If we love God above all things, we shall freely acknowledge His supreme dominion and worship Him, not with the chilling, freezing worship of the rationalists, nor with the impure worship of the Pagans, but with a fervent, burning, chaste worship, which will draw us to the imitation of the divine perfections. "Be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is per- fect;" such words beget in us a fear, not servile, but filial, and an obedience and devotion which will move us to for- sake our own glory and interest to promote that of God's. This love of neighbor as self, is not restricted to rela- tions, friends and countrymen, but embraces the human race ; the Greek and the Barbarian, the Jew and the Gentile, the slave and the free man, for all have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, and are called to Immortality. To this Christian principle must be traced that love of ene- mies which prevails in many places, and to it must be traced the poor houses, the orphan asylums, the reformatories, the homes for the aged, the maimed and the lame. Christianity teaches man to acknowledge his own dig- nity. It admonishes him to put aside the works of dark- ness, and put on the new man, Christ. It teaches him that if he wishes to avoid sin he must moderate his desires by temj)erance, and deny himself, even in lawful things in orc!er to overcome the unlawful. It teaches him to respect and reverence his soul and body, for they are the temples of the Holy Ghost. It exhorts him to practice virtue, to be humble without being cowardly, to be obedient without be- ing servile, to be perfectly continent and to consecrate his life to the service of God, and his neighbor. The Christian religion not only tells man to keep the law. but it also offers him the means. First, it places be- fore him a perfect exemplar in Christ, who began to do and to leach, and whom the rationalists admit to have been the most perfect man that ever walked the earth. Rightly He could say to His disciples: "Whatsoever I have done, do you also." We know the power of example "W T ords move", as the philosopher says: "but examples draw". Secondly, OF REASON AND THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL 41 it gives an efficacious sanction to the law. During this life it offers to the just, even amidst many tribulations and crosses, peace and joy of conscience, and it promises them an eternal recompense in the next world : "Every one", says Christ, "that hath left home, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall possess life everlasting." And thirdly, it gives the necessary strength to keep the law. To fulfill that which is above our natural powers, grace is freely given, and to those who are weak by nature to do even the things of nature, sufficient grace is given: "I can do all things", says St. Paul, "in Him Who strengthened me." Dear Members of the Holy Name Society, the Christian religion answers all the demands of the sensitive faculties. By its sacrificial act of worship, it satisfies the demand for external worship. Today, and during nineteen hundred years, all over the world, there is, and has been, renewed on Catholic altars in a most solemn and unbloody manner, the Sacrifice of the Cross. Nothing can be more excellent than this rite. In it we have prayers and ceremonies, songs and divine readings, which excite and stir up pious feelings conducive to true holiness. The same may be said of the Sacraments, and of the Sacramentals ; our feast days suc- ceeding one another in wonderful order, bring before our minds and represent sensibly the mysteries of faith. The Christian religion satisfies the demand for comfort and solace. Reason cannot conceive why God who is infin- ite goodness, permits man whom He loves to be subject to so many evils. But Christian faith says why. It tells man that the miseries of life are the punishments of sin, are necessary for his probation, for his virtue, for the increase of his reward, and that they offer a most safe way to eternal happiness. Hence we are glorified in our tribulations, know- ing that if we suffer with Christ, we shall be glorified with Him, that if we are separated from our dear friends for a while, we shall be united to them eternally in Heaven. The Christian religion satisfies the demands of the sensitive faculties by sanctioning human activity and in- culcating the law of labor: "In the sweat of thy brow thou 42 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION SATISFIES THE DEMANDS, ETC. shalt eat thy bread." The Christian religion fosters the arts and sciences, because they promote the glory of God, and the good of man; she cherishes commerce and industry, be- cause they alleviate the necessities of the indigent, and spread Christian charity. In a word, whatever is good, true, beautiful, holy, just and merciful, Christianity cherishes, fosters and promotes, because they advance the kingdom of God in the hearts of men. SERMON ON CATHOLIC FAITH. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren : The parable, which constitutes to- day's Gospel was spoken by our Divine Lord during the third year of His public ministry, in a quiet and secluded part of the city of Jerusalem. It was spoken directly to the man to whom He had restored sight, and was intended to comfort him, because he had been put out of the Syna- gogue on account of his honesty and sincerity. And after he had been healed by Christ, he was ques- tioned concerning this great miracle, and he answered their inquiries, by saying: "I was born blind; that man whom they call Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes with it, and told me to go and wash in the pool of Siloe. I went; I washed, and I see." And when they further questioned him to try to make him contradict himself he said : "I have ex- plained it to you, and you have heard it. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too wish to become His dis- ciples?" Smarting under this irony, they began to load him with taunts. Instead of quieting him, they made him bold- er, and he finally said: "It was never yet heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. So if He were not from God, He could do nothing." At these words the Scribes and Pharisees became en- raged, and they cried out: ''You are nothing but a mass of sins, and do you propose to teach us?" Then it was that our Divine Lord sought out the man and worked a still greater miracle. He opened the eyes of his soul; he be- stowed upon him the gift of faith ; and afterwards spoke the parable to comfort and console him. My brethren, this similitude of the sheep fold was a figure very familiar to the Jews. Even at the present day, in those Eastern countries, it presents the same general characteristics. At nightfall, the shepherd gathers his fleecy flock be- hind some encircling wall which is crowned with clumps of thorn bushes. On the outside, under the shadow of the wall there lurk various foes. The wolf prowls about, the 43 44 SERMON ON CATHOLIC FAITH panther leaps around, and the robber finding the gate fast barred, climbs up and creeps along the wall. But the shep- herd is watching, and wards off all danger. And at the dawn of the morning he takes up his crooked staff, and leads the sheep out of the fortress. One by one he counts his fleecy charge, and leads the way into fresh pastures. Every now and again he utters a shrill cry, and the scattered sheep huddle together at his feet. But let the voice of a stranger be heard, and instantly the sheep stop grazing, raise their affrighted heads, and scamper away, for they know not the voice of the stranger. My Brethren: As the gospel is not lengthy, let us take it up, sentence by sentence. "I am the good shep- herd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep." Our Divine Lord here contrasts Himself with the Scribes and Pharisees, mercenaries who come like wolves and rend and tear and destroy the sheep. Christ is the good shep- herd, who was promised by God, revealed by Moses, foretold by the Prophets, and destined to redeem and govern the people. Christ the good shepherd, did literally lay down His life for His sheep. And the pastors of the Catholic Church, in every age have been ready, and have laid down their lives during pestilence and persecution for their flocks. "But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth and scat- tereth the sheep." Our Divine Lord now contrasts Himself with another class of wicked pastors hirelings; men who care for the flock simply with the view of gain. And when they scent any kind of danger, forsake the sheep, leave them to their fate, and take safety in flight. The consequence is in so far as they are concerned, the wolf scatters and de- vours the sheep. "And the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and hath no care for the sheep." Christ gives us a very evident reason why the hireling fleeth ; because he worketh simply for gain, loveth not the sheep, has no care for their welfare, and only renders "quid pro quo" a service equal to the money paid. This was particularly true of the Scribes and Pharisees whom our Lord wishes to censure. SERMON ON CATHOLIC FAITH 45 "I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me." Christ here applies to Himself the qualities of a good shepherd. He knows His sheep; He can call them by name; and His knowledge is accompanied by love, and beneficence. The sheep, in their turn, on account of this knowledge and love, know Him, believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him. "As the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for My sheep." Our Divine Lord wishes to teach us that His love for the sheep, and their love for Him is like unto the love, which exists between the Father and the Son of the Adorable Trinity, although in- finitely inferior to, and beneath it. The divine and un- created love is the source and origin of all love. The Father desired that His natural and uncreated Son, Jesus Christ, should love His adopted sons, men ; who in their turn would faithfully repay such love. The love was similar, but un- equal. The second clause of the sentence teaches again the quality of the good shepherd. The words "I lay down My life for My sheep," are immediately connected with the fol- lowing "I know mine, and mine know Me," and are the consequence of it. From the intimate knowledge springs the love. Christ was prepared to lay down His life for His sheep, which He did shortly afterwards. "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." These words refer in the first instance to the Gentile world in contradistinction to the Jewish world, to which Christ and the Apostles first went. He speaks in the present, and calls them already His sheep, because He antic- ipated their call, and foresaw at no distant time their en- trance into the kingdom. "They are not of this fold", be- cause they are scattered abroad, and have no place wherein to congregate safely. "Them also I must bring" into the fold by bestowing upon them the light of faith, as I am constituted by My Father "the light to enlighten the Gen- tiles". "And they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." The two peoples, the Jews 46 SERMON ON CATHOLIC FAITH and the Gentiles are to enter the one fold founded by Christ, who is to be the chief shepherd. And all other shepherds are to be dependent upon and subordinate to Him. Such, my brethren, is a running, commentary on this touching Gospel. Now what are the lessons? The first lesson I would draw, is the superiority and greatness of the Catholic faith. You will remember the occasion of the parable. The young man who had been born blind, after he had been healed, on account of his honest profession, was driven publicly out of the Synagogue. Then Christ received him into His kingdom, conferred upon him the gift of faith, and spoke the parable to comfort him. What a priceless gift is Cath- olic faith! To know with certainty what we must believe, and what we must do in order to be saved; and not to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, and perturbed by every theory of morals what can be compared to this great gift! The Catholic believes most firmly that he is a pil- grim here, has pitched his tent but for the night, and is passing on to his eternal home beyond the skies ; which he believes is a place of unalloyed happiness and bliss. And he has the firmest hope that no matter what storms may arise, if he be faithful to the divine Pilot, he will arrive safe and triumphant into the heavetily port. The second lesson I would draw, is the contrast between the shepherd and the hireling. Where but in the Catholic Church will you find men who lay down their lives for their flock. Persecution will not drive them away! They do not call upon the civil power to defend them when doing missionary work among the heathens, and thus entangle the nations in war. They go to the rack and the dungeon silently, and pour out their blood like the Divine Master, that it might fructify and bring forth a wonderful harvest of souls. Pestilence does not frighten them! When neces- sary they will face contagious disease in its most malignant form to administer the Sacraments, and give consolation to the dying. They are the true shepherds; they know their sheep, and their sheep know them ; and there springs up between them the truest, warmest and purest love. And the third, and last lesson T would draw, is to do all SERMON ON CATHOLIC FAITH 47 in our power to hasten the day, when there shall be again one fold and one shepherd; to hasten the day, when our non-Catholic brethren shall return to the faith of their forefathers and worship at the same altars with us, and partake of the same spiritual food and drink. Our first duty, however, is to our own people to keep the faith pure and undefiled among them. The Apostles were sent first to the children of Israel; afterwards to the Gentile world. We are to imitate them. "But other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring; and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." You, brethren of the laity can hasten this union; first by good example, by living good Catholic lives, by putting into practice the teaching of the Church, allowing her doctrines to permeate and leaven your daily lives: "Words move, but examples draw!" "By their fruits you shall know them." A good practical Catholic teaches silently, but eloquently, all day long. You may not per- ceive the immediate effect of this; but remember, all great forces do their work secretly, almost imperceptibly. You can hasten this union, secondly, by understanding Catholic doctrines better, by being able to explain them, when misrep- resented, and defend them when attacked. In this age of un- rest and inquiry, there is an obligation upon Catholics to know their creed well. You do not have to study learned works A small catechism, and a book like "The Catholic Belief" are sufficient. A simple statement of our belief is often the strongest proof; "For truth has such a face and mien as to be loved, needs only to be seen." The intellect has been made for truth, and truth by its nature draws the intel- lect to itself, as the magnet does the needle. You can hasten the day by prayer; and without prayer you cannot hasten it. "Paul planteth, Apollo watereth, but God giveth the increase." Faith is a divine gift. Christ died to save all men, and He wishes them to come to the knowledge of the fullness of truth. Let us pray, pray often, and pray fer- vently that all men may meet in the unity of the faith, in the perfect knowledge and likeness of Jesus Christ. You may convince the intellect by reasoning, but it takes the grace of God to move the will ! DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST. CHRISTMAS SERMON,, PREACHED AT STi JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren and Christian Friends: Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the coming of the Son of God into the world. Today is the great Christian festi- val, and all hearts are filled with joy and gladness. And, "Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Savior's birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long." Yes, on this day all Christians should be glad and rejoice; for some nineteen hundred years ago and more, the Christ, the Messiah, the Expected of Nations, had come; on this day the Lord, the God, the Savior, the Alpha and Omega of all things came and dwelt amongst men ; and from out the depths of the blue sky was heard the angel's song: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will." Christmas means this and more to Catholics, and therefore our souls are filled with joy and gladness, which find expression in this celebration nigh universal. In the village of Nazareth there lived a Virgin, who was espoused to Joseph, and both were of the royal house of David. One day as the maiden knelt in humble prayer, she was visited by an angel who announced to her that she would miraclously conceive and bring forth the Christ, the Son of the Most High. Joseph being of the tribe of David, must repair to Bethlehem to be enrolled. Accompanied by his young spouse, he quits the hills of Zabulon and jour- neyg on to Bethlehem. They traveled four days, passing over the plains of Esdralon, En-Gamnum, Sichem and Sion, until they espy the city of David. Bethlehem was situated on a long, whitish hill, whose slopes were covered with vines, olive and fig trees. En- 48 DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST 49 tering they met other travelers who, under the shelter of the rude galleries were spreading their mats, while all around them were beasts of burden, blocking up the court- yard. Mary and Joseph have come late; they are poor, and her time is drawing near; they receive a cold welcome, and are told that there is no room for them. But the chalked hills of Judea are honey-combed with caves, some of which are used to shelter such beasts of burden as the public stables cannot accommodate. Into one of these Mary retires, unable to find refuge elsewhere. And here on a cold winter's night, far from all assistance, amidst the straw, she brings forth painlessly, and without effort, as a ripe fruit plucked from a branch, Jesus Christ, and wraps Him in swaddling clothes, and lays Him in a manger. O Virgin Mother, take that Child, fondle Him, caress Him, press Him to thy bosom, and make up by the warmth of thy caresses for the coldness of the world ! Those tiny hands that reach out to thee are divine! Those lips that touch thy chaste breast are divine! That cry is divine! For that Babe, which thou hast brought forth, is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord, true God, and true Man! My Brethren, in Jesus -Christ there are two natures, the nature of God, and the nature of man. By man, we mean that Christ assumed, not a phantom of a body, not a heavenly body, but a real, earthly body, which was formed from the substance of the Virgin Mary in time; and also, that He assumed a true, rational soul like ours. And by God we do not mean that Christ was simply the most per- fect of men, with a divine mission, in whom the Godhead dwelt and operated, but we mean that Christ was true God, the Second Person of the Adorable Trinity, begotten of the Father from all eternity, possessing the divine nature in all its fullness and entirety; and consequently there were in Christ one person, two wills and two operations. Such is the mystery of the Incarnation. Just a word or two about the human nature of Christ, as it is scarcely questioned now. Jesus Christ was a real and true Man. "See My hands, and feet, that it is Myself; handle and see. for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as 50 DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST you ee Me to have." (Luke XXIV 39) ; "Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shall bring forth a Son ; and thou shalt call His name Jesus." (Luke I, 31) ; "Then He saith to them: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here and watch with Me'." (Matt. XXVI, 38.) For three years Christ lived a public life, eating, drinking and conversing with men. And after having been cruelly scourged, He was finally nailed to a cross, and there died between two thieves. All of which proves conclusively that He was a real and true man, possessing a fleshy body and a rational soul. "Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes meet together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Let us break their bonds asunder, and let us cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall deride them. Then shall He speak to them in His anger, and trouble them in His rage. But I am appointed by Him over Sion, His holy mountain, preaching His commandment. The Lord has said to me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee, ask of Me and I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inher- itance, and the utmost parts of the earth, for thy possess- ion. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shall break them in pieces like a potter's vessel." These words of the second Psalm of David evidently refer to the Messiah. And from this speech we learn that the princes, and the kings, and the powerful ones of the earth are to contend, cry out and wage war against Him, but that He will come out of the conflict victorious, and will establish His rule over all nations, and that His kingdom will have no end. In whom was this prophecy fulfilled? Not in David, nor any other Jewish King, but in Christ alone, the Anointed, the Son of God. "At the first time, the Jand of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtali was lightly touched; and at the last, the way of the Sea, beyond the Jordon of the Galilee of the Gentiles was heavily loaded. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen. Thou hast multiplied DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST 51 the nations and hast not increased the joy. They shall re- joice before Thee as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey when they divide the spoils. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the sceptre of their oppressor, thou hast overcome as in the day of Madian. For every violent taking of spoils with tumult and garment mingled with blood shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, and the government is upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace; He shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judg- ment, and with justice from henceforth and forever; the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." This prophecy of Isaias, too, is certainly Messianic. The Rabbis, St. Matthew, St. Luke, and all the Fathers have considered it such. That child called in prophecy, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, God the Mighty, Father of the world to come, and the Prince of Peace could be no other than the Messiah. But do not, I ask, all these attributes and characters fit exactly that Babe which was born some nineteen hundred years ago? Was He not the Wonderful! Was He not the Counsellor! Did He not enlighten those who sat in the valley of darkness, and in the shadow of death! Was He not the Prince of Peace! Did He not sit upon the throne of David and strengthen it with justice and judgment! Has not His empire been multiplied over the world until the end! Yes, from these two prophecies we are taught that the Child whose birth we are celebrating today, and whose birth the Catholic Church has been cele- brating for nearly nineteen hundred years that Child of the Virgin Mary was He who was to come of the seed of Abraham, of the house of David was He who was the Ex- pectation, the joy of Israel, and the desired and consola- tion of the nations the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God! "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the 52 DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was made nothing that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us (and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." St. John the Evangelist could not teach in clearer language, the divinity of Jesus Christ. He describes His eternity, imminancy, consubstan- tiality with the Father, and His creative power: "In the beginning was the Word" eternity; "And the Word was with God" imminancy; "And the Word was God" consubstantiality ; "All things were made by Him" creative power. And he asserts that this same Word took flesh, became man, and who was no other than Jesus Christ, as all rationalists admit, and which is clearly seen from the context of this first chapter of St. John's Gospel. My Dear Brethren, when Christ in a familiar discourse with His disciples, was asked by Philip to show them the father, responded, "So long a time have I been with you, and have you not known Me? Philip, he that seeth Me, seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself, But the Father who abideth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Otherwise believe for the work's sake. Amen, Amen. I say to you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do." (John XIV, 9-13.) Again when He was asked on Solomon's porch whether He was Christ, answered : "I and the Father are one." The Jews then took up stones to stone Him. In these first words repeated by St. John, the Evangelist, Christ says that He is God. For unless He was perfectly equal to the Father, of one and the same divine nature and substance, it would have been blasphemy for Him to have said, that whosoever saw Him, saw the Father. This is confirmed by the expression which follows: "I am in the Father and the Father in Me." And those other words of Christ: "I and the Father are one", teach the same truth, namely identity of nature and substance. The Jews understood Christ in that sense, for after He had DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST 53 spoken thus, they stoned Him, and said : "For a good work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy, because that Thou being man makest Thyself God." I could quote more from the teaching of Christ to show that He himself believed in His own divinity, or God-head, but the foregoing, I believe, shall be sufficient. Now Christ was not deceived about His own nature, neither could He deceive us. We must therefore accept His testimony concerning Himself. No one except a demented man could be mistaken about his own personality. No one of sound mind could persuade himself that He was God, 'if He were not. But the infidels of all ages, even those most hostile to Christianity, admit that Christ was one of the wisest of men, that He possessed a calm and serene mind, that He was a man of great temperance, moderation and prudence. The doctrine which He taught, the work which He did, and the religion which He founded prove this. He could not then have been deceived about Himself. Neither did He deceive us. With the exception of a few Jewish writ- ers, all His enemies acknowledged His perfect sincerity. Yes, if we study the character of Jesus Christ, we shall see that He had none of the earmarks of an impostor. He was most sincere and humble. See how He exhorts His disciples to practice this virtue, "Let your speech be, yea, yea, no, no." On account of His candor, some of His disciples left Him and walked no more with Him. How sincere He was with His disciples, and the multitude, yea, even His enemies, and persecutors ! He upbraids the disciples for their faults, and reproaches the vices of the people, going so far as to disclose the secret motives of their actions. He taught love of the Cross and self-denial, as the only foundation of true dis- cipleship; and when Pilate, during His trial and condem- nation, asked Him if He were a King, He answered : "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world. That I should testify to the truth." And what humility! For thirty years He lived at Nazareth, in the humble home of Joseph and Mary, unknown to the world. During this time He worked no miracles, and sought not His own glory, but that of His Father. And when they came to make Him 54 DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST King, He could truthfully say, "Learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart." My Brethren, we have Christ's own miracles, and the testimony of the apostles as a further proof of the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Unlike the prophets and apostles, Christ worked miracles in His own name, and by His own power. Moses' miracles in the land of Egypt are attributed to God ; the miracles worked by Elias were done through the power of God; and the apostles healed the sick, and raised the dead to life in the name of Jesus. Contrast the manner in which Christ worked His miracles. When the leper said : "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean," Christ answered : "I will, be thou made clean ;" when the Centurion asked him to heal his servant, He said : "I will come and heal him ;" When He restored sight to two blind men He simply touched their eyes and said: "According to thy faith, be it done unto you;" when He raised to life the son of the widow of Nairn, He said: "Young man, I say to thee arise;" when He likewise raised to life, the daughter of Jairus, He said: "My child, I say to thee arise;" when He brought back to life the brother of Martha and Marj r , He said: "Lazarus, come forth from the tomb;" and finally, when He foretold his own death and resurrection, He said: "I lay it down of myself, and I have power to lay it down ; and I have power to take it up again." God, when He created this universe, imposed upon all creatures, laws which they must follow and obey. God is the Author of the laws of nature, and it is He who gives them their force and stability. Whenever something hap- pens above, contrary to, or outside those laws, we know that God has interposed. A miracle is the seal of God, and stamps a work divine. It bespeaks divine intervention, and mankind has always considered miracles in this light. We have seen that Christ worked miracles in His own Name, and by His own power. On several occasions He called the attention of the people to the fact that His miracles were a proof of His divinity. Thus, when He said that He and the Father were one, and His hearers doubted it, He told them if they would not believe His words, to believe His works ; "I speak to you, and you believe Me not ; the works DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST 55 that I do in the name of the Father, they give testimony of Me." Thus again, when His power of forgiving sins was questioned, He said : "Whether it is easier to say thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has the power on earth to forgive sins," He said to the paralytic : "I say to thee, arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house." To all this we could add the testimony of the apostles as they went forth to preach the Gospel to the whole world, and the belief and faith of the early, primitive Church in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. We could quote explicitly from their writ- ings to show this; but sufficeth it, now, for us to simply refer to the fact that they preached and believed that Christ was the Emmanuel, our Lord, and our God. My brethren, from history we learn that outside the Jewish people whom God had set aside, guided and directed in a most special manner, the ancient world had fallen into the grossest errors, both intellectual and moral. Down through the ages, from the time of our first parents, there had been a gradual departure from truth and holiness. And the more remote the people were from the primitive reve- lation, the more erroneous became their ideas about God, the soul, immortality, and the hereafter. The state of the ancient world as we view it. in the his- tory of the Hindoos, the Persians, the Chaldeans, the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans, was most appalling. From the worship of the starry heavens they descended to the creatures of this earth to* men, to beasts, and then to dumb idols. Their morality became so debased that they performed the most obscene rites in the temples as acts of worship. Men's minds had become so darkened, and their wills so corrupt, that Socrates, four hundred years before Christ, cried out : "That unless some one came to put aside the mist, man could no longer know how to comport himself toward God and man. The time was ripe for the coming of the Christ, the Redeemer and Savior. The Pagan world had been taught the insufficiency of itself, and now believed that no effectual, lasting help could come but from God, alone. Mankind had tasted to the full the bitterness of its rebellion, and 56 DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST was prepared to appreciate the blessings which the Expected of the Nations would bring. The Christ was born. He lived a secluded life for thirty years, and then began His work and mission. The world was soon changed. It was moved by new ideals and forces. In the humble birth of the Savior, it received its first great lesson. Christ taught the existence of one God, who was supreme, absolute, perfect and infinite, and in whom there were three Divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He taught that He, Himself, was both divine and human. He taught the immortality of the soul ; the existence of a future life where man would be rewarded or punished according to his works; promul- gated anew the Ten Commandments, and taught the Eight Beatitudes; established a new form, of worship, of which the Old Law was a shadow; instituted seven channels of grace, and established a Church to continue His work until the consummation of the ages. Christ, His doctrines, and the Church changed the face of the earth. The nations in their turn became converted, and Chris- tian principles and sentiments ruled them. Light and pur- ity shone out everywhere. It is true that some of th'e nations were rough and uncouth externally, but sound faith and true virtue were there. It was these nations, recently converted that erected those magnificent Cathedrals and built the grand monasteries, which were the centres of education and the homes of charity, that inaugurated and carried on the Crusades to recover the Holy Land from the Turk and Saracen, and gave their treasure and their blood freely to that sacred cause. From then on down through the centuries, among all nations, and people, and races, there have been found true followers and disciples of Jesus Christ innumerable. It is true that a few infidels have been found in every age, but their number has been insignificant. Their number to the number of Christians may be compared as the number of the blind to those who have sight. And just as the wanting of sight in the blind does not affect the existence of the Sun, so neither does the unbelief of a handful of infidels affect the truth of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. They do not be- DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST 57 lieve, because they are either taken up so much with this world and its vanities that they will not examine into the claims of Christ, or because they are the secret victims of some great vice, which holds them in its embrace like chains of steel, or because they are so filled with pride and conceit, that they become in their own folly, self-sufficient, and desire not the higher and nobler life. But Christ has been king for nineteen hundred years. His sovereignty has been uni- versal. Not by the sword, not by pandering to sensuality, not by money, not by temporal advantages has Christ's kingdom been advanced, yea, in spite of these, and by the very opposite, and yet it is universal and supreme! In conclusion, my brethren in Christ, the deep study of history teaches two great truths; first, that the world for four thousand years or more was being prepared by the providence of God, for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This we see especially in the history of the Greeks, Komans and Jewish people. In their wars, conquests, defeats, philos- ophy and theology the people were being prepared for the full revelation of the truth in Christ Jesus. And secondly, the philosophy of history teaches the deep student, that since the coming of Christ, in the march of the kingdoms and empires, in the migration and intermingling of the nations, in the advancement of the arts and sciences God has been back of all, quietly, slowly, but surely, advancing His kingdom in the hearts and minds of men, until all meet (that are called in the counsels of God) in the perfect knowledge and sanctity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Expected of the Nations, the Lord, the God, the Alpha and Omega ; and when this is accomplished, then shall come the consummation of the ages then shall come the final restoration of all things! SERMON ON THE HOLY KOSARY. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren: As today is the "Feast of the Solemnity of the Holy Rosary", and the month of October is dedicated by the Church to the Rosary, I deem it most appropriate and advantageous to speak this morning on this devotion. We shall therefore consider its nature, what it is, and its excellence, how it originated, that is, how it came to fasten itself upon the Church, and its importance in the salvation and sanctification of our souls. According to the signification of the word "Rosary" it means a chaplet, or string of beads used in prayer. The beads themselves may be made out of any durable material, but usually they are made out of some kind of hard beans. And the material rosary consists of so many of these strung together on a chain. But the "Dominican Rosary" which is the real and approved rosary, consists of a crucifix, sixteen large beads and one hundred and fifty three small ones. On the crucifix is said the "Apostles' Creed" followed by a "Pater Noster", three "Ave Marias" and a "Gloria"; and then a "Pater Noster", ten "Ave Marias" and a "Gloria"; and thus on until there has been said fifteen "Pater Nos- ters", one hundred and fifty "Ave Marias" and fifteen "Glorias". The "Rosary" is divided into three parts. The first part comprises the "Joyful Mysteries," the second the "Sorrowful Mysteries", and the third the "Glorious Mysteries". Lay people as a rule, possess but one-third of the Rosary, and when they wish to say the whole Rosary they must tell over their beads three times. My brethren, tradition has it that the Blessed Virgin herself made known this devotion to St. Dominic. Needless to ay that this tradition is -accepted by Catholic scholars, and among them there are nine Popes who have taught ex- plicitly that St. Dominic was instructed in the devotion of 58 SERMON ON THE HOLY ROSARY 59 the Rosary by the Blessed Virgin when he was preaching a crusade against the Albigenses. Needless to say that it has been enriched with many indulgences by the Church. In his efforts to convert those heretical fanatics, he was meeting with very little success. And one day whilst pray- ing to the Blessed Virgin before her statue, he complained of it. Instantly she answered him in the following words: "Wonder not that until now thou hast gathered so little fruit from thy labors; thou hast spent them on a barren soil not yet watered by divine grace. When God willed to re- new the face of the earth, He began by sending down the fertilizing rain of the "Angelic Salutation." Therefore preach my 'Psalter', composed of one hundred and fifty 'Angelic Salutations' and fifteen 'Pater Nosters', and then thou shalt obtain an abundant harvest." From that day St. Dominic began to preach the devo- tion of the "Rosary", and he reaped an immense harvest of conversions. To that day, Catholic tradition traces the origin of the Rosary. It is true that a certain number of "Pater Nosters" and "Ave Marias" had been said before the time of St. Dominic. The frequent repetition of the "Lord's Prayer" is a practice as ancient as the gospel. No doubt too, the "Angelic Salu- tation" had been repeated from the beginning. The custom of using pebbles or beads, to keep an account of the "Pater Nosters" and "Ave Marias" told, is very ancient. For we learn that an Egyptian Monk by the name of Paul, who lived in the Fifth Century, had put three hundred pebbles in his lap and flung away one in succession as he finished each of the three hundred prayers. In the Ninth Century we hear of another person who recited, every day, sixty "Ave Marias". The monk Albert of the same century, and St. Egbert, of the Twelfth Century, each recited every day one hundred and fifty "Ave Marias". But the "Rosary" as we have, and understand it, was made known to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin, and was first used by him in his labors for the conversion of the Albigenses. My brethren, a few words about St. Dominic who was the instrument in the hands of God for the institution of the devotion of the Holy Rosary, will not be out of place. 60 This great Saint was born about the year 1170, at Calamega, Spain, of an illustrious house. His mother whilst with child of him, dreamt that she brought forth a whelp that carried in its mouth a burning torch, with which it set the whole world on fire. No doubt, that dream was a premonition, and a prophecy of St. Dominic's great work. He was speedily baptized after his birth. His mother, like the mother of many great Saints, by her early instructions, at the first dawn of reason turned his mind towards his Creator. He spent much of his time during his boyhood in prayer, relig- ious reading, and charitable works. He was first sent to the schools at Palencia, and then to the University of Sala- manca. Whilst here he kept a strict watch over his senses, and by discipline and mortification brought them under per- fect control. During a severe famine, he gave away all his money and goods, and sold his books, writings and commen- taries. And on another occasion when a poor woman came to him begging alms with which to redeem her brother who had been sold to the Moors as a slave, St. Dominic said to her : "I have neither gold nor silver, but I am able to work. Offer me to the Moors in exchange for your brother. I am willing to be their slave." He preached the gospel with wonderful power and suc- cess at Palencia, where he was looked upon as an oracle of God, and was consulted by all classes of people in their troubles and perplexities. He spent ten years in France preaching to the Albigenses, and then founded the "Order of Dominicans", to supply the church with zealous preachers and missionaries. Suffice it to say that the "Order" flourished everywhere, and at his death it numbered sixty convents. Whilst missionaries of the "Order" were preach- ing with much fruit to the Christians and heathens, many of the brethren were laboring as professors in colleges and universities. The "Order" besides giving to the Church countless numbers of Saints has furnished her with three Popes, sixty Cardinals, over one hundred and fifty Arch- bishops, and upwards of eight hundred Bishops. As time will not permit me to dwell longer upon this inviting subject we must draw our incomplete sketch to a close by an account of St. Dominic's death. Our Saint had SERMON ON THE HOLY ROSARY 61 a foresight of his death quite a while before it happened. Before setting out on a journey from Bologna to Milan he said to his brethren: "Now you see me in health, but before the 'Glorious Ascension of the" Virgin Mother' I shall take my departure hence to the Lord." He returned to Bologna and was seized with a burning fever. Notwith- standing his serious illness he passed the greater part of the night in prayer in the Church, as was his custom. He was obliged to retire to his room, but would not lie on a bed. During his sickness he continued most cheerful, and when finding himself growing most. weak and realizing that the hour of dissolution was near at hand, he assembled his religious brethren, and in a touching discourse which he called his last testament, he exorted them to practice con- stantly humility, purity, fervor and watchfulness over themselves, particularly against the snares of the demon of impurity. Seeing his brethren weeping, he promised never to forget them when he should be with God. He re- ceived the last Sacraments, continued in secret prayer until he calmly expired on the sixth of August, 1221, in his fifty first year. Returning now, my brethren, to the "Rosary", let me affirm that there is no private devotion in the Church more salutary than the devotion of the "Holy Rosary". It should be to the lay people what the Divine Office is to the priests. Never should they allow a day to pass by without saying the Holy Rosary. Can anything be more solid, or more efficacious ! In the beginning we say the "Apostles' Creed", which tradition tells us was drawn upi by the Apostles, be- fore their separation to preach the gospel to the Nations. By it we profess our faith in one God, the Creator of all things ; in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the World ; in the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Light and Sanctity; in the Holy Catholic Church, the representative of Christ upon earth; in the Communion of Saints by which the members of the Church can assist each other by their prayers; in the Re- mission of Sins through the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance; in the Resurrection of the Body on the Last Day; and in the bestowal of life everlasting upon the Just. In 62 SERMON ON THE HOLY ROSARY the recitation of the creed we exercise too, the virtues of faith, hope and charity. In the devotion of the "Holy Rosary", we say fifteen times the "Pater Noster", the prayer taught us by Jesus Christ Himself after the Sermon on the Mount when He was asked by the Apostles how we should pray. In this prayer the greatest of all prayers, we profess that we are children of the same Heavenly Father; we ask that His name be hallowed and reverenced above all things; we pray for the extension and triumph of His Kingdom in our own hearts, and in the hearts of all men; we ask that His will be the law, and guide on earth among men as it is in Heaven among the angels and saints; we beseech Him to supply our spiritual and temporal wants ; we ask God to forgive us our sins in the same measure as we forgive our fellow man his trespasses against us; and finally we supplicate our Heavenly Father to keep us away from temptations and de- liver us from all evils. Hext come the one hundred and fifty "Ave Marias". What a prayer! It originated in Heaven. It was composed by the Holy Ghost. It was brought to this earth by an angel, and was sung in the Virgin Mary's ear as she knelt in humble prayer. In it the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption is foretold. By it we praise God for His infinite goodness towards us, and exalt His Mother because she is the instrument of it. In the second part, beginning with the words "Holy Mary" which was composed by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, we acknowledge our sinfulness and weak- ness, and profess that we stand greatly in need of God's help now, during our present life, surrounded by evil on every side but especially at the hour of death, when Hell and Satan, and the evil spirits make their last assault upon our souls. And by the fifteen "Glorias" we profess our faith in the Adorable Trinity, the life which God lives within Himself, and wish that the Three Persons of the God-head might be exalted and glorified forever and ever. This is not all, my brethren: In the devotion of the Holy Rosary before our mind is brought the whole life of Christ and His Blessed Mother. In the "Joyful Mysteries" we call to mind the scene of the angel visiting the Blessed Virgin, and announcing to her that she was to become the SERMON ON THE HOLY* ROSARY 63 Mother of God; of the Blessed Virgin who was with child of Jesus Christ visiting St. Elizabeth, who was with child of John the Baptist, and the infant leaping within her womb ; of the birth of the Child Jesus in the cold and bleak stable at Bethlehem; of the Presentation of the Divine Infant in the Temple according to the Mosaic Law; and of the Finding of the Boy Jesus after He had been lost three days, in the midst of the doctors, hearing and asking them questions. In the "Sorrowful Mysteries", we meditate upon the bloody sweat of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemani; upon His cruel scourging in the courtyard; upon the crowning of His head with the wreath of thorns; upon His humiliating and painful journey to Calvary's heights, and upon His death there are on the Cross between two thieves, all bleed- ing, lacerated, and mangled. And in the "Glorious Mys- teries" we picture to ourselves the coming forth of Christ from the tomb in great power; His glorious Ascension and triumphant entry into Heaven ; the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles in the visible form of tongues of fire; the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven, and her crowning there above all the angels and saints. O Blessed Mother! On this Feast of the Holy Rosary we raise our minds and hearts to thee, and beseech thee to look down with mercy and compassion upon thy weak and sinful children ! From thy high throne in Heaven turn thy motherly heart here and listen! We beseech thee to inter- cede with thy Divine Son, that the Devotion of the Holy Rosary may take firm root in this parish and spread, believ- ing as we do that it will be the cause of much holiness among our people, and the conversion of many to the true faith' in Huntington! We also invoke thee, St. Dominic, that thou mayest obtain for us from Christ, some of thy spirit of purity, mortification and compassion! O Blessed Mother! Drive away from us all spirit of heresy and unbelief, and be ever at our side in the conflict with the powers of darkness! O, St. Dominic! we beseech thee to intercede with Christ that we may have more love for, and more devotion to His mother, always firmly believing as it is a fact that as the Mother and the Son went together in the work of our Redemption, they cannot be separated in the work of our Salvation ! RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. EASTER SERMON. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren and Christian Friends : The last to leave the tomb of Jesus were the holy women who had fol- lowed Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Eager to embalm the body with greater care than Nicodemus had been able to do, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome purchased some sweet spices on the evening of the Sabbath's rest. And the next morning, the first day of the week, while it was still dark and misty, they pass without the city walls and wend their way to the sepulchre, murmur- ing to each other as they hasten along: "Who will help us to remove the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre?" As they drew near to the garden, suddenly the earth quivers and shakes, and a darkness darker than Erebus it- self envelopes Jerusalem. The women, much frightened, stop and hesitate to go further. An angel of the Lord de- scends from Heaven and rolls back the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre. Reassured by the ensuing quiet, they pass within the shadowy garden, and raising their eyes behold that the stone has been drawn away. At the sight of this, Mary Magdalene leaves her two com- panions and hastens to Jerusalem to inform the disciples. On the way she meets Peter and James, and cries out : "They have taken the Lord away from out the sepulchre, and we do not know what they have done with Him!" In the meanwhile, Mary's two companions linger at the tomb. At last they decide to enter within; and behold! an angel clothed in white garments is seated at the right hand of the tomb; and a great fear overcomes them. But the angel cairns them by saying: "Fear not! I know you seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He is risen! He is no longer here! Come and see the place where they laid Him. Go quickly and announce to Peter and the dis- 64 65 ciples that He is risen from the dead. He will go before you into Galilee. It is there that you shall see Him, ac- cording as He foretold it to you. Lo, I have warned you thereof before hand." The two women Went forth from the sepulchre with their hearts divided between fear and gladness. But fear soon overpowered them, and they fled, afraid to repeat what they had just seen and heard. Peter and John have now arrived at the tomb. They look within, and lo! the body of Christ is gone, but they see the swathing bands and linen, and the napkins neatly folded and laid aside. At this sight they realize that it was necessary for the Christ to die and rise again. And they return straightway to their homes with their hearts overflowing with joy, and meditating on these things that had come to pass. Such, my brethren and Christian friends, is a brief description of the happenings around the tomb on that first Easter morn, nearly nineteen hundred years ago, and which glorious event we celebrate today, and which the Catholic Church has been celebrating these many hundred years. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith and hope; for as St. Paul says: "If Christ be not risen from the dead, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." Yes, Christ Himself selected this to be the miracle of His miracles, and an in- vincible proof of His divine mission. For when the Scribes and Pharisees asked Him for a sign, He said: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign; and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas, the Prophet. For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." Moreover, the Apostles based the truth of their preaching upon it; Matthias was chosen to be a witness of it; it formed the burden of St. Peter's first sermon; and St. Paul preached it to the Athenians in the Areopagus. My Brethren and Christian friends, unbelievers know- ing this knowing that the Resurrection is the citadel of Christian faith, have attacked the reality of it in every con- 66 RESURRECTION OF CHRIST ceivable way. Some with Salvador and Paul have said that Christ was simply in a trance when taken down from the Cross. Others have renewed the story concocted by the Jewish priests, and propagated so zealously by Celsus, of the Fourth Century, namely, that the Apostles were rank deceivers. Others again with Strauss and Kenan as their leaders, have invented the theory of hallucination. A fourth class admit that He appeared to the disciples, but say in spirit only, not corporally. And a fifth class deny that the Apostles preached the real Resurrection of Jesus Christ. They say that such a doctrine was a gradual aftergrowth. My Brethren and Christian friends, as these rationalis- tic theories are being propagated insidiously by men in high places, and teachers of the people, I take Easter as an opportune time to answer and refute them. I know that I cannot do this as thoroughly as the importance of the subject demands, in one short discourse, and I therefore ask you to bear this in mind if I do not enlarge sufficiently some points. And first as to the death of Jesus Christ was He dead or in a trance when taken down from the Cross? Against the speculation of a few rationalists we offer the testimony of eye witnesses of impartial witness- es the testimony of the Centurion, Pilate, Nicodemus and the Jewish guards. From the Gospels we learn that Pilate would not allow the body of Jesus to be buried until he heard from the Centurion that He was really dead. More- over, when the Jews asked Pilate for the bodies of the ' crucified, he was surprised to learn that Christ was dead so soon. And to make certain of it, he sent soldiers, who according to the law, were to break His legs, and thus crush out any remaining spark of life. But coming to Him, they perceived that He was actually dead, and they passed on to the other two criminals. However, one of them ran his spear into the side of Christ. Only after that was the body of Jesus handed over to Nicoderaus, who bound it with linen bands and spices, and prepared it for burial. Who will say that the Jewish guards, who had been appointed to see that the sentence of death was executed did not perform their task well? A word from the rationalist Renan upon this point: "In reality the best guarantee which a histor- RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 67 ian possesses upon a point of this nature is the suspicious hatred of the enemies of Jesus. It is doubtful whether the Jews were thus early affected by the fear, lest Jesus should be thought to be raised from the dead ; but at all events they must have made certain that He was actually dead." My Brethren and Christian friends, it was a physical impossibility for Christ to have survived His Passion and Crucifixion. For let us not forget that before He was nailed to the Cross, He had suffered a dreadful agony in the garden; so severe was the mental suffering there, that the evangelists tell us that He literally sweat blood. Then He was scourged in the courtyard by strong Roman sold- iers, the number of whose blows were limited only by their endurance. After that they placed a, crown of thorns upon His head, and drove it down into His sacred brow. All bloody and mangled, He starts up the heights of Calvary with the heavy Cross upon His shoulders. Before He reached the gates beyond the walls of Jerusalem, He falls from exhaustion. With blows from pike and javelin, they force Him to rise, but He is too weak to carry the Cross, and they compel Simon, the Cyrenean, to carry it for Him. After reaching Calvary's Heights, He was laid upon the Cross, and His arms and legs were pulled almost out of their sockets in order that they might reach the holes made in the wood. Then they drove blunt spikes through the palms of His hands, and the soles of His feet, and fasten them tightly to the Cross. They now swing the Cross aloft, and allow Him to hang suspended between earth and heaven with the weight of His body upon those pierced and wounded hands and feet. And finally one of the soldiers, as he passed by, ran his sword into His heart, and from out the wound came blood and water. Who but a man urged on by madness and desperation would dare to insinuate that Christ could have survived all this? If some other histor- ical character than Christ had endured so much, and there would rise up in our midst a man advancing such a theory, he would be judged insane by thinking people. I say then, away with the trance theory! It is unworthy of the serious consideration of any sensible man, and today all scholarly rationalists reject it. 68 My Brethren and Christian Friends, as Christ truly and really died on the Cross, so He truly and really rose from the dead as He had foretold. After His resurrection, He appeared not once or twice, but several times; not to one or two disciples, but to many; not in one place, but in several. He appeared to Mary Magdalene as she stood weeping at the tomb; to the holy women returning from the sepulchre; to Simon Peter; to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus; to the eleven Apostles; to the twelve Apostles, Thomas now being present, and who was bidden by the Master to come and put his fingers into the wounds of the hands, and feet, and side, and believe; to the five Apostles and two disciples at the sea of Tiberius; to the eleven Apostles on the way to Gallilee; to the five hundred brethren ; to Jacob ; to the Eleven Apostles in the upper room at Jesusalem; afterwards to the same on the way to Bethany, from whence Christ ascended into Heaven. And finally He appeared to St. Paul, on the way to Damascus. Not for a second or two did He come and go; no, He re- mained with them for sometime, conversing with them, and teaching them. My Brethren and Christian Friends, the witnesses of the Resurrection were men worthy of the greatest faith. They were men of simple minds, honest, and God-fearing. They were men who were not likely to be deceived, nor subject to hallucination. They were skeptical concerning the Re- surrection of Christ; for when the women announced to them that they had seen the risen Christ, they would not believe. Yea, when the same Christ appeared to them they took Him for a spirit, and they would not believe that He had flesh and blood until they touched Him and ate with Him. And we know the great incredulity of Thomas when the other eleven had told him that they had seen the risen Christ: "Unless", said he, "I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." My Brethren and Christian Friends, it is certain that the body of Christ was buried, and it is no less certain that the sepulchre was found empty on the third day. Both the Jews and rationalists admit so much. What then became of RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 69 the body of Christ? Was it swallowed up by the earth? It certainly was not, else the linen bands and napkin would not have been found within the tomb neatly folded and laid aside. Did the disciples steal the body? The Jewish priests told the soldiers to say that when they were asleep, the disciples came and stole the body; but St. Augustine answered this fiction some fifteen hundred years ago: "If the soldiers were asleep," said he, "what could they see? And if they saw nothing, how could they testify ?" Roman soldiers asleep when on guard ! Death was the pen- alty. The Apostles stole the body of Christ! Why were they not accused and punished? To violate a tomb was a most serious offense, and the crime was punished accord- ingly. My Brethren and Christian Friends, against the vision theory of Renan and Straus, we answer that He appeared not to one or two disciples who were disposed to believe in His resurrection, but to several hundred, many of whom were very skeptical about it; that He appeared not in one place, but in several ; that He did not appear and vanish in a second, but that the apparitions lasted several minutes; that those who saw Him conversed with Him, ate with Him, and touched Him; that the apparitions continued during a per- iod of at least sixty days; that the Apostles remembered the minutest circumstances of them; and that their faith in them did not cease after the visions ceased, but grew stronger, day by day. All these circumstances are opposed by their very nature to an hallucination, and make the theory most unreasonable and untenable. Against the spiritual manifestation of Keim Ewald and Schenkel, we respond, that the Apostles saw the empty sepulchre, and heard the angels saying that Christ was no longer there; that Christ Himself said that He was not a spirit, but had flesh and blood ; and that the Apostles touched Christ's body with their own hands, and saw Him eating. And finally in answer to Weizzacker and Martineau who hold that the Apostles simply believed and preached the resurrection in a general and indefinite way, and that the belief in and preaching of the actual resurrection was 70 RESURRECTION OF CHRIST an after growth and development, we say that this theory, besides contradicting historical facts is unable to explain how the apostles, who before the death of Christ were weak, timid, vacillating and despondent, became immediately after, brave, strong, fearless and indomitable; so much so that they went into the very city where Christ had been crucified and preached His resurrection to the very men who had put Him to death. My Brethren and Christian Friends, if the truth of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ did not carry with it moral responsibility, it would never be questioned. With it as with Christianity itself, men who do not want to curb their passions and appetites, who are entirely satisfied with the present world, who desire or seek not after the higher, better life, wish that it were not so. And like the poor drowning man who snatches at the floating straw, so do these men eagerly embrace any theory, no matter how weak it may be, that runs counter to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the whole range of history and science, there is no fact or theory supported by such strong evi- dences. And yet these very men who doubt it, accept the latest historical opinion or scientific theory on the most slender evidence. If Jesus Christ did not die and rise again, we can know nothing of the past; only what our own eyes see, or our own hands touch, or our own ears hear can we be certain of. We must become absolute skeptics. But this is most unreasonable, and would destroy our very nature, and the mind is appalled at the thought and revolts against such a doctrine. Yes, the mind can reason from effects to causes, can see behind the material, the spiritual, can trust the testimony of olhers. We can know from his- tory what has taken place in the past, and history, the best of history the four gospels which have stood the blunt of the blows, and the closest scrutiny and criticism of the infidels for eighteen centuries to make them false tell us that Jesus Christ was crucified, put to death, buried, and that He arose again as He had foretold, and was seen by many disciples in various places with whom He conversed and (hiring a period of almost forty days. RESURRECTION OP CHRIST 71 Historian after historian, in one way or another, for eighteen hundred years has been rehearsing the gospel's narrative. The brightest minds in philosophy, in science, in history, in literature, in art, and the noblest souls in every age and country, have believed in it. This belief has transformed the world. It has made life worth liv- ing. It has been back of all the movements in the world for the real uplifting of man, and making this a better, brighter and more beautiful world to live in. The number of those who have questioned it has been indeed most insig- nificant; they constitute but an infinitesimal fraction of the human race; and affect not the universal consent and belief of man in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My Brethren and Christian Friends, it was fitting and proper that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should be exalted by His heavenly Father and rise triumphant from the dead, because in obedience to Him, He had humbled Himself even to the death of the Cross. It was fitting and proper that Jesus Christ should rise the third day to strengthen our faith in His divinity and humanity. Three days in th3 tomb was sufficient time in which to show that He was really dead. And to prove that He was divine, it behooved Him to rise quickly from the grave, and not to allow too long an interval to elapse between His death and resurrec- tion. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ should fill all true sincere Christians with hope and joy. Christ is our head, and where the head is, the body should also be. Christ is our exemplar, and the likeness should be conformed to the Model. Jesus Christ rose glorious, immortal and impas- sible from the grave: "Death was swallowed up in vic- tory." We too shall rise glorious, immortal and impassible if we crucify the old man, Adam, and put on the new man, Jesus Christ, and walk in the footsteps of the Savior unto the end in humility, obedience and mortification : "O grave, where is thy victory! O death, where is thy sting!" SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren: It is with feelings of fear and dread, commingled with hope and joy, that Christians should meditate on today's Gospel. For therein are pointed out the great physical commotions which will precede the end of the world; therein is described the glorious coming of the crucified Christ; and therein are foretold the awaken- ing, the arising, and the coming of the dead to judgment. The first part of the gospel was a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem. And if the signs which Christ foretold would forerun that event, were more than literally fulfilled (as we shall see they were), what must we expect about the signs which will precede the end of the world? Although graphic and terrible, as placed before us by the inspired writer in the second part of the gospel, we know that they will fall very far short of the reality. Let us then with attentive minds and docile hearts meditate, this morn- ing, on these great truths as foretold us by Jesus Christ Himself. "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place; let him who readeth, understand.'" My brethren, Jesusalem was twice besieged; first by Cestius, about the year 68, when he encamped himself six miles from Jerusalem, and then by Titus, about four years afterwards. The "Abomination of Desolation'" happened during the siege of Cestius. .Shortly after the investment, they took up their quarters in the Temple of JerusaJem, and it became the seat of their tyranny. Not content with shedding blood in the very courts of the Temple, they mim- icked the sacred functions, and drew lots for a Sovereign Pontiff. A man, not even of the Tribe of Levi was pitched upon. They invested him with the ephod, and before the eyes of the weeping priests forced him to go through the sacred rites. 72 SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD 73 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. And let not him who is on the house-top come down to take anything out of the house. And let not him who is in- the field go back to take his coat." My brethren, at this sign of the "Abomination of Deso- lation", the apostles as they had been forewarned by Christ, took to flight. They took to flight before Titus came, and surrounded the city by ditches and fortifications, before John of Gaskala closed the gates of Jerusalem; before the robber hordes camping around about, began to massacre the fugitives, before the Roman General wheeled up his troops and hedged in the doomed city, to make it the tomb of Judea. Yes, they took to flight and fled to the mountains where from their hiding places, beyond the Jor- dan, they beheld the "Great Wrath" falling upon Jerusa- lem, and in the frightful sacking saw the fulfillment of the desolation predicted by Jesus Christ. "Then if any man shall say to you: 'Lo! Here is the Christ, or there, believe it not. For false Chris ts and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive (if possible), even the elect. Behold, I have told you before. If therefore, they shall say to you; 'Behold, He is in the desert; go ye not out; behold in the closets' ; believe it not. For as lightning cometh forth from the East and appeareth even unto the West, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." My brethren, never was the spirit of deception so po- tent as when the siege of Jerusalem was close at hand. From Josephus the most celebrated Jewish historian, we learn that at the call of Teudas, the populace rushed to the Jordan, carrying with them their goods, believing that at their approach the waters would stand apart, as the waters of the Red Sea had done at the command of Moses. From the same historian, we learn that over thirty thou- sand Jews went up into the desert, led there by a false prophet, and waited upon the Mount of Olives for the walls to fall before them, as of old, the walls of Jerico had fallen. From St. Matthew we learn, that at this time Simon, the magician, was active among the Jews, working his deceptive wonders, and in their midst were hanging the 74 two sons of Judas, the Gaulonite, who had been put to death for renewing the sedition which had been set on foot by their father. "And woe to those who are with child, and to those who give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as has not been from the be- ginning of the world till now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh will be saved, but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened." My brethren, the Jews rebelled against the rule of Caligula and Claudius. This rebellion assumed an open and hostile revolt under Nero. But the Jewish leaders themselves were not united, and as a consequence, their people became divided, and separated into hostile camps. Peoples and cities now flung themselves against each other, and blood flowed in every land. In Gaul, in Germany, on the Danube, in Britany, and even to the frontiers of the Parthian Empire, the fratrici- dal war continued in all its madness and fury. Those who escaped the sword perished otherwise. Under the reign of Claudius, a famine became universal. And during one Autumn over thirty thousand died at Rome. The earth began to shake. Jerusalem was not the only spot disturbed. At Naples, the soil began to burn and smoke. Crete, Apamea and Laodicea trembled on their bases. Hell was let loose on the disciples of Christ. Some were starved to death in prison and chains; others were stretched and tortured to death on the rack ; some were thrown to the wild beasts, and others were saturated with pitch and rosin and set on fire, to serve as torches to light up the gardens of Nero. Titus, the scourge of God, as he Himself avowed, wheeled up his groat army and hedged in the city of Jerusalem. The Jews had neglected their defenses; their provisions were Boon gone; the Koman army first starved them, and then began the siege and massacre. In seven months over ten hun- dred thousand perished ; and those who survived the sword were led away captive by the nations. Surely, if the days had not been shortened, all flesh would have perished. And SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD 75 "where the carcasses were, there also were the eagles gathered." "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." My brethren, God, Who seeth from eternity to eternity, has a thousand years as one moment. With Him there is no past nor future, but an ever eternal present. Hence, He says : "Immediately after the tribulation of those days," meaning the taking and destruction of Jerusalem, the signs preced- ing the end of the world shall begin to come to pass. Since Jerusalem was only a small part of the civilized world, and the Jewish people only a fraction of the human race, must we not expect more than a literal fulfillment of the signs which will forerun the second event? Must we not expect that the signs which are to precede the end of the world, and the destruction of the human race will be more awful and stupendous still? The world is about to expire, and the human race is about to come to an end. The gospel gives only briefly and summarily the signs; but in themselves, they are sufficient to send the blood, chilled and freezing, through our veins. In the first event, the physical commotions were con- fined to our earth and its inhabitants ; in the second event, the whole planetary system is to be involved, and super- human agents are to be employed. In the first event we had volcanoes and earthquakes, famines, plagues and bloody wars; in the second event, the whole heavens are to be moved. The sun, the centre of the planetary system, the source of light, and heat, and physical life is to become dark and lifeless; the moon is to grow pale; the stars are to fall from the heavens; the seas are to roar and lash themselves into the wildest fury; the angels are to awake the dead by trumpets, whose sounds will reach the utmost bounds of the earth ; the dead are to arise, the damned most hideous, and the just most beautiful ; and then Christ in all His power and majesty will be wafted down to the earth upon the clouds. 76 SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD It matters not how all this is to be done; whether God shall curse and blight directly the sun into barrenness, or whether he shall so intersperse the clouds as to prevent its light and heat from reaching us; whether it shall be the moon unenlightened by the sun, or the earth ceasing to rotate that will give us the moonless and starless nights; whether it shall be the moon or the earth that will cause the upheaving of the waters of the deep ; whether it shall be the planets moving out of their orbs or some atmospheri- cal phenomenon that will cause the extraordinary move- ments of the entire machinery of the heavens; whether the angels shall blow real trumpets or cause the reverberating sounds otherwise; whether it shall be the same identical cross upon which Christ died or a perfect likeness of it which will appear luminous in the heavens, I say all this concerns us not. They are speculative questions. We have the effects. It was more for the purpose of Christ to de- scribe them than to point out their causes. We know that darkness, darker than Erebus itself, will e'nvelope the days and nights; that ignited bodies, carrying death and destruction will fall from the heavens; that the seas will roar and rage and chafe themselves into the wildest fury; that all things around, below and above us will show signs of an expiring world; that a trumpet-like noise will pierce and rend the whole heavens until the dead arise; that a cross like unto the one upon which the Saviour died, but now more luminous than the diamonds, and more beautiful than the pearls will appear in the heavens; then Christ will appear. Shall I attempt to de- scribe Him ? No ; human speech is powerless. Any descrip- tion of Him must fall almost infinitely short of the reality. The beauty of His glorified body will be so ravishing that to gaze upon it for a moment would be a sufficient reward for a life of trial and suffering. Christ shall come in the heavens preceded by the cross, the ensign of man's redemp- tion. It is probable too, that the crown of thorns which had been pressed down upon His head and driven into His brow will be there; that the nails which pierced His hands and feet will be there; and that the scourges which lashed and tore His flesh will be there, all shining and resplend- SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD 77 ent. A heavenly host shall accompany Christ. At His first coming He was alone, and came in poverty, lowliness and meekness, but now He is accompanied by the Seraphim and Cherubim, the Thrones, Dominations and Powers and comes in opulence, might and grandeur. He came first as our humble Kedeemer, but now He comes as our terrible Judge. At His first coming men could refuse to believe in Him; but now they shall be compelled to acknowledge Him as their Lord, King and Judge. "And then shall the tribes of earth mourn." Yes; all who have rejected Christ, either by refusing to believe in Him, or by not conforming their lives to His, shall mourn exceedingly when they behold Christ coming in the clouds. The unavailing wailing of the infidels, the Jews, and all lost souls, Christians, as well as Pagans on beholding Christ whom they had rejected, language is powerless to portray. They shall be compelled to look upon Christ who was their Saviour, but now their Judge. They shall be compelled to look upon those wounds which were received and borne for them in vain. They shall be compelled to look upon that Cross, the instrument of their Kedemption which they despised in life, but which now rises up in judg- ment against them. To whom shall they go? The time of mercy is over. Whither shall they flee? Christ and His Cross are there. Fear, remorse and despair will seize them and rend their souls through and through. In vain shall they call upon the mountains to fall upon them! In vain shall they call upon God to annihilate them! They must now look upon Christ as their Judge, Whom they refused to look upon as their Saviour. They must now look upon that Cross as a witness, which they refused to look upon as the instrument of their Redemption. There they must stand with their gaze fixed upon that scene until they hear their sentence and are driven back into Hell ! On the other hand those who received, heard and fol- lowed Christ, and loved the Cross, will be filled with inef- fable joy and consolation, when they see that Cross and Christ, and the heavenly army coming in the clouds. They shall stand and behold that glorious, triumphant scene in great peace, hope and confidence. They loved Christ and 78 SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD His Cross, accepted His teaching, and were His true fol- lowers and subjects. They come now to hail Him as their King and receive the reward of their loyalty and service. Their joy and gladness no man can tell. It will be a fore- taste of Heaven. In ecstasy they shall stand and gaze upon that scene until they are received into the bosom of the Infinite Beauty, Goodness and Truth! "Amen, I say to you that this generation shall not pass away till all these things be done." My brethren, no one knows the meaning of that word, "generation". Whether we agree with that greatest of all scriptural scholars St. Jerome, that it refers to the human race, and especially the Jewish people; or with St. John Chrysostom that it refers to this new generation of faith- ful believers, or with a third class of interpreters, that it refers to that period or age of time which has already set in I say it matters not which opinion we embrace, for no one knows when that time w T ill come. The time of the end of the world is a secret hidden within the recesses of the bosom of the Blessed Trinity. Neither the angels, nor the Saints, nor the Blessed Virgin, nor Christ as Man knows the time; for in the next verse Christ Himself tells us, ''That hour and day no one know- eth, no, not the angels in Heaven, but the Father alone." Nevertheless from many places in the Sacred Scriptures we are taught that certain events must first have come to pass. Theologians tell us that the gospel must first have been preached to all nations; that there must have been first an apostasy of the nations from the true faith ; that anti-Christ must first have come; that the Jews must first have been converted through the preaching of Enoch and Elias, who will return to this world again; and that wars and famines and earthquakes and pestilences must first have occurred. These events must all have taken place before the immediate signs described will begin to come to pass. Whether any of Ihem have already happened let each one determine for himself. It seems that some of them have come to pass. Ft seems that the gospel has been preached to all peoples, that there has been an apostasy of the nations, and that anti-Christ is in the world in the open enemies SERMON ON THE END OF THE WORLD 79 of Christ and His kingdom. We have had earthquakes and wars and famines; but we know that Enoch and Elias have not yet appeared, and that the remnant of Jewish people have not come into the kingdom of Christ. But my brethren, we know with certainty that the end of the world will be immediately preceded by great signs, We know with certainty that the dead will be awakened by the angels, and that the bodies of all will rise. We know with certainty that the Cross will appear in the heavens, and that Christ will come in majesty and power/ to judge both the living and the dead. Just as surely as the present forms of things will pass away, just so surely! will these things predicted and announced by Jesus Christ, be fulfilled. Stop, reflect and resolve ere it is too late! SERMON ON THE PRIMITIVE RELIGION. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren and Christian Friends: Religion upon which I am to speak is the most interesting, neces- sary and sublimest of all subjects. Compared with it, the social and political questions, yea, even the natural sciences become flat, insipid and uninviting. In importance what are they compared with religion? They deal with earth and time, whilst religion deals with heaven and eternity. In the study of the social and political questions, the mind cannot get certainty, whilst in the principles of true relig- ion it finds serene rest. The physical sciences do not reach back far enough and deal with earth and matter and sec- ondary causes, whilst religion solves the deepest inquiries of the soul. It tells us from whence we came, what we are here for, and whither we are going. These are questions which demand an answer by all serious minded people. Why then is it, we may ask, that men will devote their nights and days to the study of the former, and will scarcely give any time to the study of the latter question? No doubt the teachers of Israel are partly to blame. But the cause lies deeper. Men are unphilosophical, even those of the best parts. The world is near and imposing and deceitful; whilst heaven is distant and its claims, modest and truthful. Religion ! How few understand what is implied in that term ! Like liberty, it is in the mouth of every one, but fewer still comprehend what it really means. Religion is the bond which unites man to his Creator. It implies doctrines and precepts, forms of worship and authority. It has been in the world from the beginning, from the crea- tion of man. substantially the same, and it will be in the world until the consummation of the ages. Religion according to its epochs and the fulness of its revelation may be divided into the Primitive, the Mosaic nnd the Christian religion. The first existed from the time 80 SERMON ON THE PRIMITIVE RELIGION 81 of Adam to Moses, and was given through the Patriarchs to man. The second existed from the time of Moses to Christ, and was given through Moses and the Prophets. And the third existed from Christ unto now, and will exist until the end of the world, and was given through Christ and the inspired Apostles. From the historical scriptures and the traditions of the nations we learn that God from the beginning often appeared to man, conversed with him, and made known to him His counsels. Thus did He appear to Adam and Eve, to Cain, to Noe and to Abraham. Hence among the most remote nations who had no intercourse with one another, we find doctrines and precepts and sacred rites. Those people believed in God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. They believed that He had made man to His own image and likeness ; that He put him in this world on trial and probation; that man fell, and for this was driven out of Paradise. They called that age the "Golden Age", and that state the "State of Happy Innocence", and they be- lieved that a future Redeemer would come and restore to man, what he had lost through the fall of our first parents. The moral precepts of this Primitive religion embraced the fear and love of God; the reverence of children for their parents and elders ; pure conjugal love between man and wife; the sacredness of life; and hospitality even to strangers. Although we do not know all the primitive rites, we know, however, that the Sabbath was sanctified, that the name of the Lord was solemnly invoked, and that sacrifices and oblations were offered. Thus do we read, Enos called solemnly upon the Lord; that Abel, Cain, Melchisedech and Noe offered to God; that Jacob vowed solemnly; and that circumcision was the sign of the covenant established be- tween God and the posterity of Abraham. Before passing over to the Mosaic religion I wish you to observe that the Primitive religion was one ; that it poss- essed authority, and that a sacrifice was the act of worship by which the dominion of God was fittingly acknowledged. I wish to call your attention to the fact that the Primitive religion bore marks of its divine origin ; first, because, God, at divers times spoke miraculously from heaven to confirm 82 SERMON ON THE PRIMITIVE RELIGION it; and secondly, because its doctrines were most consist- ent, harmonious, holy and useful to man. After the deluge with the wonderful increase of the human race, and the great growth of crime, mankind had almost lost the certain knowledge of the Primitive religion. To prevent the universal shipwreck of the faith, and to pre- serve on earth a knowledge of the future Redeemer, God made a covenant with Abraham. He chose him and his seed to be the elect people; and to their guardianship He committed the true religion, and the faith in the future Messiah. When therefore the posterity of Abraham had become multiplied like the stars, God through Moses un- folded more the doctrine of the Primitive religion, pro- mulgated the moral law, instituted a religion and civil society, and promised that it would last until the fullness of time. The new religion was called the Mosaic, because it was given through Moses; and it was called the "Written jLaw", because it was consigned to writing and committed to the Levitical order whose duty it was to guard and explain it. And in the course of time, through the voice of the Prophets, that the elect might be better prepared for the Christian religion, the Mosaic religion received a fur- ther development. Let us proceed to a more minute study of it. The Mosaic religion taught more clearly those doc- trines which had been revealed to the Patriarchs. Thus did Moses and the Prophets teach more clearly the nature and unity of God: "I am who I am; Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God." The Mosaic religion taught more explicitly the providence of God, His eternity, omnipres- ence, justice, mercy, goodness and other attributes. It nour- ished constantly the faith and hope in a future redeemer. It affirmed emphatically the liberty of God, the immortality of the soul, and the existence of a future life in which Jehovah would reward the good and punish the wicked ac- cording to their works. The moral precepts of the Mosaic religion were the "Ten Commandments" which were given amidst thunder and lightning upon Mount Sinai. In them we find all of man's duties; his duties towards God, his neighbor, and himself. SERMON ON THE PRIMITIVE RELIGION 83 All things in the Decalogue are directed towards this; that man may love God supreme, and his neighbor as himself, which is the fulfilling of the whole law. The Mosaic relig- ion had its ceremonial and judicial precepts. The former prescribed the rites and sacrifices, determined the sacra- ments,- specified the feasts, and imposed the sanctification of the Sabbath. The latter exhibited the form of their civil government. It determined the relation of the Jews to their neighboring nations, and their relations to each other. The Mosaic religion, like the Primitive, bore marks of its divine origin. Moses, its author, was a man of great sanc- tity and confirmed his religion by miracles and prophecies. That Moses was a man of remarkable goodness and holiness, besides the scriptures, we have the unanimous and constant testimony of the Jews and Christians, and even the Mohammedans. Moses very often spoke in the name of God, and the people believed that God spoke through him. The prophecies which he uttered, and the miracles which he worked were in confirmation of his divine mission. This we know from his own words and his manner of action. Of the miracles worked by Moses, we may enumerate the "Ten Plagues" which were sent upon the Egyptians ; the passing of the Israelites over the Ked Sea, and the destruc- tion of Pharoah's army in hot pursuit; the quails and manna which fell from heaven and nourished the Jews dur- ing their pilgrimage ; the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, which went before them guiding them in the desert; the opening of the earth which swallowed up Core, Dathan and Abiron in punishment of their revolt; the miraculous water from the rock ; and the healing of all those who look- ed upon the brazen serpent held up by the hands of Moses. Besides the prophecies which announced the coming of Christ, Moses had foretold the "Ten Plagues" the miraculous feeding in the desert, and the punishment of Core and his companions. He foretold too, that every seventh year, the earth would yield a threefold crop; that God would reward the faithful observance of the law with temporal blessings, and punish the non-keeping of it with temporal calamities. And from a study of Jewish history we know that all these * prophecies were literally fulfilled. SERMON ON THE MOSAIC RELIGION. PREACHED IN ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, HUNTINGTON, W. VA. My Dear Brethren and Christian Friends : The Mosaic religion was the preparation for the Christian religion which was to supplant it. It was holy and just, and pleasing to