NOTICE: Return or renew all Library Materials! The Minimum Fee for each Lost Book is $50.00. The person charging this material is responsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for discipli- nary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN L161— O-1096 The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN MAY 16 '•ISC or renew ti\ Library m Hj8 for each Lost 8 aterlals! ok is $50.00 L161— O-1096 "And i will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven : and whatsoeve thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." — Matt. xvi. li . bT. Michaels' Palace, Toronto. /We tecam.rn.end ta aur $letgg and fiea/ile tke ** Mi© Gt ®Wt BmlmW" La. tyatkel @)e SEigneg, £P. J. Jt is cam/tiled uiitk a great deal af accuracy, from tke four ^osfiels, rendering tke utards and miracles af $krist in conAecutiue ardet. JDke Laak might lie called tke concordance af tke four $uangelislA* * John Joseph Lynch, ^fLrckLishok of JDotonta, St. Mary's Cathedral, Trenton, N. J„ "The Mi© and Yeaehi&ss •! ©» Saviour, it. Peter aad ether SafBtS» w is a uiark containing iieTg interesting and in- itructiue reading, and JP uiauld lie fzleased ta see it /zuTckased and *ead in euerg familg of tke $atkedral SParuJi. * Jlntlionjr Smith, Wicat-fgcneraL St. John's Cathedral, Milwaukee, Wis. Vke Laak entitled "¥he Mie of Oar Saviour and CatheUe Toaehia^S M in&i/uctLoe and edifying J> ckeerfullg tecammend it *cZ J KEOQE, MectaA J haae examined the uiark, u Ve^abtBSI Ol til© Gatlelle ©JlOTfllla" and JP cheerfullg recommend this. moAt useful Laak ta our Nathalie fieafile, and la all atherk ui/ia uils.li ta Inform themAelaeA of the true teachings af the Nathalie $hurch. *Jos. ^cidemncher, ^Isha/i of j^a&hallle. JP haae examined uilth a good deal af care the * $ Mie ®£ Out iavitmi? and Qattollo VeaeUngs," and find It exceedingly. Instructive and aerg edifying. JP uilll lie glad to see It extenAlaelg circulated throughout the dlacese af $leueland * JR. Q-ilmour, ^.lAkofi of. /^leaeland. / cheerfully, fecammend the uwjf-k entitled " ©OP SftTiOOf and ©at&olie TeaeMBgs," * P. ji. FeeMn, (Formerly Bishop of Nashville, but now of Chicago.) 3 he kaak entitled "IiU© ol Our Saviour mi& St. Peter," etc , Is a math ta lie recommended, a& the names af the authors, as uiell as the afifiTakatlan af his Eminence, ^ordinal jKc^Laskeg, glue suffi- cient guarantee af Its high merits. Sig. E. JHueAlsiepen, V. Q. ; jbch-Gfilacese af J£ouls, JLcu Cleveland, Ohio. JP haae cursorllu examined the mark entitled M 0Hf MmMMW and s found It correct In doctrine and. edifying In ILLuAtfatlan and detalL JDhe " Jfmjzrlmatur" af the 9tt Siea. @)r. (f !3Lelllg, uihlch It liears, should lie Its fiakAfiort to Nathalie confidence* T. P. Thorpe, SPastar Cathedral Epij^opal Residence, Louisville, Ky., I take great pleasure indeed in recommending to the Catholic com munity the book entitled " Catholic Teachings." It is one of the best books that can be introduced into a Catholic family, as they will find in its perusal that solid food for the mind and heart which will strengthen their faith, nourish their piety, and enkindle in them the love of our Lord. "M. Bouchet, V. G. We heartily recommend to our clergy and people the " Life and Teachings of Our Saviour/' by Father Francis De Ligney, S. J. * J. Thomas, Bishop of Ottawa. St. Louis, Mo. I have thoroughly examined the "Life of Our Saviour" by Father De Ligney, S. J., to which is added a summary of Catholic teachings by Rev. S. B. Smith, author of "Canon Law." These works embody, besides biography, most instructive reading on the doctrines, sacraments, smd sacramentals of the Church, and are well worthy of the attention and consideration of the Catholic public. W. J. Murphy, Professor of Dogmatic Theology Cape Girardeau, Mo. it affords me the greatest pleasure to recommend to the reading Catholic public the "Life of Our Saviour and Catholic Teachings," The work contains biographical and instructive readings on the chief points of Catholic belief. The illustrations are elegant, and tend greatly to enhance the value of the publication. Rev. C. J. Eckles, Prof of St, Vincenfs College. Rev. T, H. Lambert, Editor "Cath, Times," Waterloo, N. Y., says in an editorial The first part of the book, from so eminent an ecclesiastical scholar as Dr. Smith, will be invaluable as a reference in regard to the dogmas, sacraments, and sacramentals of the Church, for intelligent laymen and others who have not at hand complete theological libraries.'* Our Saviour, and the Teachings of His Holy Church . The present work, embracing a complete Life of our Saviour, His Blessed Apostle, St. Peter and the Teachings of His Holy Church, together with the Lives of St. Patrick and St. Bridget, will be found a very comprehensive and desirable Book, as it comprises in one convenient Vol- ume the very essence of Christianity, and true Catholic Teachings, and the contemplation of the Life of our Lord and Master and His Saints, with the study of Catholic Teachings, must ever deeply impress the minds of the faithful, and particularly the young, with those beautiful truths, so well exemplified by these grand lives and explained by the Teachings of the Catholic Church. The acknowledged ability and authority of the Authors, and their peculiar fitness for the work undertaken, make it unnecessary to add anything on that subject, as the numerous appro- bations of the work testify. It is hoped that the work will be found especially valuable to parents in assisting them to explain Catholic Teachings to their children, which is a matter of the utmost importance in this age and country. THE WORK EMBRACES THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS: The Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Life of St. Peter, St. Patrick, and St. Bridget. The Teachings of the Catholic Church regard- ing its Sacraments and Sacramentals. The Teachings* of the Council of Trent, con- j cerning the seven Sacraments, etc Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Sacrament of Baptism. Ceremony of Baptism. Sacrament of Confirmation. Ceremony and Benefits of Confirmation. Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Adornment and Service of the Altar. Form of the Mass. Holy Eucharist as a Sacrament. Sacrament of Penance. Power of Absolution. £>octrine of Satisfaction and Indulgence. Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Rite of the Commendation of the Departing Soul. Sacrament of Holy Orders. Ministers and Ministry of the Sacraments. Tonsure, Minor Orders, Major Orders. Sub-Diaconate, the Diaconate. The Priesthood. Vestment of the Priest at Mass. Office and Dignity of Bishops. Form of Consecration. Mitre, Crosier, Ring, etc. Archieopiscopate. ! Pallium. Papacy. Cardinals. Mode of Election of a Pope. Coronation. Powers of the Pope in Governing the Church. Powers m Defining the Faith and Condemning Error. Infallibility. Councils of the Apostolic Primacy in St. Peter. On the perpetuity of the Primacy of St. Peter in the Roman Pontiffs. The Power and Nature of the Primacy of the Roman Pontiffs. Concerning the Infallible Teaching of the Roman Pontiff. Sacrament of Matrimony. Indissolubility, Beauty and Dignity of the Bond of Matrimony. Marriage Rite and Ceremony. SACRAMENTALS. Missal or Mass Book — Breviary or Office Book — Ritual — Pontifical — Funeral Service- Litanies — The Angelus — Blessed Candles- Holy Water — Holy Ashes — Cross and the Cru- cifix — Blessed Palm — Agnus Dei — Blessings — The Rosary — Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel— Scapular of the Passion and of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary — Scapular of the Sacred Heart — Crucifixes, Medals, and Crosses. The work is printed on superior paper, from good open-faced type, containing twenty-seven beautiful Engravings, and an illuminated frontispiece of great beauty, finely executed in colors, of Christ's Promise to St. Peter, with a Family Record and Marriage Certificate, artistically executed in gold and blue. The Illustrations embrace a series of beautiful Engraving* ^^resenting the Fourteen Stations of the Cross, to which is added the devotional matter pertaining thereto. THE STATIONS; OR HOLY WAY OF THE CROSS. COMPILED FROM APPROVED SOURCES. ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK : ■'HE OFFICE OF CATHOLIC PUBLICATION/ 14 Barclay Street. THE STATIONS, (SDr ^Sbolg ^2Sag of {He (Straps- 77^ Antiphon. We beseech thee, O Lord! to assist and direct our actions by thy powerful grace, that all our prayers and works may always begin and end with thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. A Preparatory Act of Contrition. O JESUS, treasure of my soul, infinitely good, infinitely merciful, behold me prostrate at thy sacred feet ! Sinner as I am, I fly to the arms of thy mercy, and implore that grace which melts and converts, — the grace of true compunction. I have offended thee, adorable Jesus! I repent; let the favor of my love equal the baseness of my ingratitude. This Way of the Cross, grant me to offer devoutly in memory of that painful journey thcu hast travelled for our redemption, to the Cross of Calvary, with the holy design to reform my morals, amend my life, and gain these indulgences granted by thy vicars on earth. I apply one for my miserable soul, the rest in suffrage for the souls m purgatory, particularly N. N. [Here mention the souls for whom you intend to apply them.] I begin this devotion under thy sacred protection, and in imitation of thy dolorous Mother. Let then this holy exercise obtain for me mercy in this life, and glory in the next. Amen. Jesus ! Jesus Condemned by Pilate. Station of the Cross, No. 1. V Christ is sentenced to death by Pilate. V, We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. OUR gracious Redeemer, after suffering blows and blasphe- mies before Annas and Caiphas, after the cruel scourging, insult- ing contempts and bloody crown of piercing thorns, is unjustly condemned to death. This iniquitous sentence your Jesus accepted with admirable humility. Innocence embraces con- demnation to free the guilty. Reflect that your sins were the false witnesses that condemned him ; your stubborn impenitence tne tyrant that extorted from Pilate the bloody sentence. Propose now seriously an amend- ment of life, and while you reflect on the horrid injustice of Pilate, who condems innocence, lest he should not appear a friend of Caesar, arraign yourself for your many sins of human respect ; :hink how often you have offended God for fear of displeasing" the eye of the world, and turning to your loving Jesus, address lim rather with tears of the heart than with expressions of the tongue, in the following PRAYER. O mangled victim of my sins ! O suffering Jesus ! I have deserved those bloody scourges, that cruel sentence of death ; and yet thou didst die for me, that I should live for thee. I am zot vi raced that if I desire to please men, I cannot be thy servant, Let me then displease the world and its vain admirers. I resign mysell into thy hands. Let love take possession of my heart ; let my eyes behold with contempt everything that can alienate my affections from thee ; let my ears be ever attentive to thy word ; let me through this painful journey accompany thee, sighing and demanding mercy. Mercy, Jesus ! Amen. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! You pious Christians who do now draw near, With relenting hearts now lend a tear, Your Lord behold with great humility Sentenced to die on Mount Calvary. Jesus taking the Heavy Cross upon His Shoulders Station of the Cross, No. 2. Christ takes the Cross on his shoulder. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. This second Station represents the place where your most amiable Redeemer is clad in his usual attire, after his inhuman executioners had stripped him of the purple garment of derision with which he was clothed, when as a visionary king they crowned him with plaited thorns. The heavy burthen of the cross is violently placed on his mangled shoulders. Behold your gracious Saviour, though torn with wounds, covered with blood, a man of griefs, abandoned by all, — with what silent patience he bears the taunts and injuries with which the Jews insult him. He stretches out his bleeding arms, and tenderly embraces the Cross. Reflect with confusion on that sensitive pride which is fired with impatience at the very shadow of contempt, — on your discontented murmurs in your lightest afflictions, — and your obstinate resistance to the will of Heaven in the crosses of life, which are calculated to conduct you, not to a Calvary of Crucifixion, but to joys of eternal glory ; and from your heart unite in the following PRAYER. Meek and humble Jesus ! my iniquity and perverseness loaded thy shoulders with the heavy burthen of the Cross. Yet I, a vile worm of the earth, O shameful ingratitude! fly even the appearance of mortification, and everything which would check the violence of my passions ; and if I suffered, it was with a murmuring reluctance. I now, O Saviour of the world! detest my past life, and by thy grace am determined no more to offend thee mortally. Let me only glory in the Cross of my Lord, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. Lay then on my stubborn neck the cross of true penance ; let me, for the love of thee, bear the adversities of this life, and cleave inseparably to thee in the bonds of perpetual charity. Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c, Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! No pity for the Lamb was to be found ; As a mock King my loving Lord they crown'd 5 To bear the heavy cross he does not tire, To save my soul from everlasting nre, Jesus Falls the first time by the Pressure of His Cross. Station of I he Cross, No. 3. jfesus falls the first time under the Cross. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thet., R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY- This third Station represents how our Lord Jesus Christ, overwhelmed by the weight of the Cross, fainting through loss of blood, falls to the ground the first time. Contemplate the unwearied patience of the meek Lamb, amidst the insulting blows and curses of his brutal executioners ; while you, impatient in adversity and infirmity, presume to com- plain, nay, to insult the Majesty of Heaven, by your curses and blasphemies. Purpose here firmly to struggle against the impa- tient sallies of temper ; and beholding your amiable Jesus pros- trate under the Cross, excite in yourself a just hatred for those sins, which rendered insupportable that weight, with which your Saviour, for love of you, was burthened, and thus address your afflicted Jesus : PRAYER. Alas, my Jesus! the merciless violence of thy inhuman exe- cutioners, the excessive weight of the Cross, or rather the more oppressive load of my sins, crush thee to the earth. Panting for breath, exhausted as thou art, thou dost not refuse new tortures for me. Will I then refuse the light burthen of thy commandments : will I refuse to do violence to my perverse passions and sinful attachments ; will I relapse into those very crimes for which I have shed false and delusive tears! O Jesus! stretch thy holy hand to my assistance, that I may never more fall into mortal sin ; that I may at the hour of death secure the important affair of my salvation. Amen, Jesus. ' Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! From loss of blood he fell unto the ground, No comfort for my Lord was to be found, He rose again beneath their cruel blows. And on his bitter way unmurmuring goeij, Jesus met by His Holy Mother. Station of the Cross, No. 4. Jesus carrying the Cross, meets his most afflicted Mother. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. The fourth Station presents to your contemplation the meet- ing of the desolate Mother and her bleeding Jesus, staggering under the weight of the Cross. Consider what pangs rent her soul, when she beheld her beloved Jesus covered with blood, dragged violently to the place of execution, reviled and blasphemed by an ungrateful, outrageous rabble. Meditate on her inward feelings, the looks of silent agony exchanged between the Mother and the Son ; her anguish in not being permitted to approach, to embrace, and to accom- pany him to death. Filled with confusion at the thought that neither the Son's pains nor Mother ^ grief have softened the hardness of your heart, contritely join in the following PRAYER. O Mary! I am the cause of thy sufferings. O refuge of sinners! let me participate in those heart-felt pangs, which rent thy tender soul, when thou didst behold thy Son trembling with cold, covered with wounds, fainting under the Cross, more dead than alive ! Mournful Mother ! fountain of love! let me feel the force of thy grief that I may weep with thee, and mingle my tears with thine, and thy Son's blood. O suffering Jesus ! by thy bitter passion, and the heart-breaking compassion of thy afflicted Mother, grant me the efficacious grace of perse- verance ! Mother of Jesus, intercede for me ! Jesus, behold me with an eye of pity, and in the hour of my death receive me to the arms of thy mercy ! Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ Crucified, have mercy on us ! Exhausted, spent, see Jesus onward go, With feeble step, in anguish faint and slow. At last his grief-worn Mother he can see Exclaiming : My Son my heart is rent for thee. Simon aids Jesus to bear His "Cross. Station f the Cross, No. 5. Christ assisted by Simon the Cyrenean to carry the Cross. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the worlds THE MYSTERY. The fifth Station represents Christ fainting, destitute of strength, unable to carry the Cross. His sacrilegious execution- ers compel Simon the Cyrenean to carry it, not through compas- sionate pity to Jesus, but lest he should expire in their hands, before they could glut their vengeance by nailing him to the Cross. Consider here the repugnance of Simon to carry the Cross after Christ; and that you with repugnance, and by compulsion, carry the Cross which Providence has placed on your shoulders. Will you spurn the love of your Jesus, who invites you to take up your Cross and follow him? Will you yet with shameless ingratitude refuse the Cross, sanctified by his suffering ? Offer up devoutly the following PRAYER. O suffering Jesus! to what excess did thy impious execu- tioners' cruelty proceed! Beholding thee faint under the Cross, apprehensive of thy death before they could complete their bloody intentions, they compel Simon to carry the Cross that thou mightest expire on it in the most exquisite, torture. But vhy should I complain of the cruelty of the Jews, or the repug- nance of Simon i Have I not again crucified thee by my crimes? Have I not suffered with fretful impatience the light afflictions with which thy mercy visited me ? Inspire me now, my Jesus, to detest and deplore my sinful impatience, my ungrateful mur- murs, and let me with all my heart cheerfully accompany thee to Mount Calvary ; let me live in thee, and die in thee. Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! The furious Jews when Jesus fainting fell Simon to bear his Cross, by force compel ; Afflictions bear like Job most patiently, And follow the Lamb with great humility. Veronica wipes the Face of Jesus. Station of the Cross, No. 6. Veronica presents a handkerchief to Christ, V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. The sixth station represents the place where the pious Ver- onica, compassionating our agonizing Redeemer, beholding his sacred face livid with blows and covered with blood and sweat, presents a handkerchief, with which Jesus wipes his face Consider the heroic piety of this devout woman, who is not intimidated by the presence of the executioners, or the clamors of the Jews; and the tender acknowledgment of Jesus. Reflect here, that though you cannot personally discharge the debt of humanity to your Saviour, you can discharge it to his suffering members, the poor. Though you cannot wipe away the blood and sweat from the face of Jesus, you can wipe away the tear of wretchedness from the eye of misery. Examine, then, what returns you have made for the singular graces and favors your bountiful Jesus bestowed on you ; and conscious of your ingrati- tude, address your injured Saviour in the following PRAYER. O Jesus, grant me tears to weep my ingratitude. How often have I, infatuated wretch, turned my eyes from thee and thy sufferings, to fix them on the world and its vanities! Let me henceforth be thine without division. Stamp thy image on my soul, that it may never admit another love. Take possession of my heart on earth, that my soul may take eternal possession of thee in glory. Amen, Jesus! Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us. Veronica, pressed through to meet our Lord, His streaming face a napkin to afford, Lo, on its texture stamped by power divine His sacred features breathe in every line. Jesus Falls the second time under the Cross. Statiou of the Cross. No. 7. Jesus falls under the Cross tfe second time. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. The seventh Station represents the gate of Jerusalem, called the gate of Judgment, at the entrance of which our Saviour through anguish and weakness falls to the ground. He is com- pelled by blows and blasphemies to rise, Consider your Jesus prostrate on the earth, bruised by his fall, and ignominiously treated by an ungrateful rabble. Reflect that your self-love and pride of preference were the cause of this humiliation. Implore, then, grace to detest sincerely your haughty spirit and proud disposition. It was your reiterated sins which again pressed him to the ground. Will you then sin again, and add to the afflctions of your gracious Saviour? PRAYER. O Most Holy Redeemer ! treated with the utmost contempt, deprived of fame and honor — led out to punishment — through excess of torments, and the weakness of thy delicate and man- gled body, thou didst fall a second time to the earth. What impious hand has prostrated thee ? Alas, my Jesus ! I am that impious, that sacrilegious offender : my ambitious pride, my haughty indignation, my contempt of others humbled thee to the earth. Banish for ever from my mind, the unhappy spirit of pride. Teach my heart the doctrine of humility, so that detest- ing pride, vain glory, and human respect, I may for ever be united with thee, my meek and humble Jesus. Amen. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! Prone at the city gate he fell once more, To save our erring souls he suffered sore ; On his great merey let us always call, Since our vain pride has caused his triple fall. Jesus is met by the Weeping Daughters of Jerusalem. Station of the Cross. No. 8. Christ consoles the Women of Jerusalem, who wept over him. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. This Station represents the place where several devout women meeting Jesus, and beholding him wounded, and bathed in his blood, shed tears of compassion over him. Consider the excessive love of Jesus, who, though languish- ing and half dead through the multitude of his torments, is nevertheless attentive to console the women who wept over him. They merited that tender consolation from the mouth of Jesus, "Weep not over me, but over yourselves and your children." Weep for your sins, the sources of my affliction. Yes, O my soul ! I will obey my suffering Lord, and pour out tears of com- punction. Nothing more eloquent than the voice of those tears which flow from the horror of those sins. Address him the following PRAYER. O Jesus, only begotten Son of the Father ! who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may day and night weep and lament my sins ? I humbly beseech thee by these tears of blood thou didst shed for me, to soften my flinty bosom, that tears may plentifully flow from my eyes, and contrition rend my heart, this hardened heart, to cancel my crimes and render me secure in the day of wrath and examina- tion, when thou wilt come to judge the living and the dead, and demand a rigorous account of thy blood. Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ Crucified, have mercy on us ! With tears of love the women they did weep, Compassionating our Redeemer sweet ; Weep for your sins who caused him here to be, O Lamb of God thy mercy show to me. Jesus Falls the third time under the Cross. Station of the Cross, No. 9. jfesns falls under the Cross the third time. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. This Station represents the foot of Mount Calvary, where Jesus Christ, quite destitute of strength, falls a third time to the ground. The anguish of his wounds is renewed. Consider here the many injuries and blasphemous derisions thrown out against Christ, to compel him to rise and hasten to the place of execution, that his inveterate enemies might enjoy the savage satisfaction of beholding him expire on the Cross. Consider that by your sins you daily hurry him to the place of execution. Approach him in thought to the foot of Mount Cal- vary, and cry out against the accursed weight of sin that pros- trated Jesus, and had long since buried thee in the flames of hell, if his mercy and the merits of his passion had not preserved thee. PRAYER O Clement Jesus ! I return thee infinite thanks, for not per- mitting me, ungrateful sinner, as thou hast permitted thousands less criminal, to die in their sins. I, who have added torments to thy torments, by heaping sin on sin, kindle in my soul the fire of charity, fan it with thy continual grace into perseverance, until delivered from the body of this death, I can enjoy the liberty of the children of God and thy co-heirs. Amen, Jesus! Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us. On Calvary's height a third time see him fall, Livid with bruises that our sight appal. O gracious Lord, this sufferedst thou for me, To save my soul from endless misery. Jesus is Stripped of His Garments. Station of the Cross. No. 10. jfeszis is stripped of his Garments, arid offered Vinegar and Gall. V. Weadore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed' the world. THE MYSTERY. This Station represents how our Lord Jesus Christ ascended Mount Calvary, and was by his inhuman executioners stripped of his garments. The skin and congealed blood are torn off with tJ,em, and his wounds renewed. Consider the confusion of the modest Lamb, exposed naked to the contempt and derision of an insulting rabble. They pre- sent him with vinegar and gall for a refreshment. Condemn here that delicacy of taste, that sensual indulgence, with which you flatter your sinful body. Pray here for the spirit of \ hris- tian mortification. Think how happy you would die, if stripped of the world and its attachments, you could expire, covered with the blood and agony of Jesus. PRAYER. Suffering Jesus ! I behold thee stript of thy garments, thy old wounds renewed, and new ones added to the old. I behold thee naked in tl;e presence of thousands, exposed to the incle- mency of the weather ; cold, trembling from head to foot, insulted by the blasphemous derisions of the spectators. Strip, O mangled Lamb of God ! my heart of the world and its deceitful- affections. Divest my soul of its habits of sensual indulgence. Embitter the poisoned cup of pleasure, that I may dash it with contempt from my lips, and through Christian mortification arrive at thy never fading glory. Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! I, O Queen of angels, how thy heart did bleed To see thy Son stripped naked here indeed, And to the vile and cru^.l throng exposed, Who round him now m furious hatred closed. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross. Station of the Cross, No. 11. V Christ is nailed to the Cross. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. This Station represents the place where Jesus Christ, in the presence of his afflicted mother, is stretched on the Cross, and nailed to it. How insufferable the torture — the nerves and sinews are rent by the nails. Consider the exceeding desolation, the anguish of the tender Mother, eye-witness of this inhuman punishment of her beloved Jesus. Generously resolve then to crucify your criminal desires, and nail your sins to the wood of the Cross. Contemplate the suffering resignation of the Son of God to the will of his Father, while you are impatient in trifling afflictions, in trivial disappoint- ments. Purpose henceforth to embrace your cross with ready resignation to the will of God. PRAYER. O Patient Jesus ! meek Lamb of God ! who promised, "When I shall be exalted from earth I will draw all things to myself," attract my heart to thee, and nail it to the Cross. I now renounce and detest my past impatience. Let me crucify my flesh with its concupiscence and vices. Here burn, here cut, but spare me for eternity. I throw myself into the arms of thy mercy. Thy will be done in all things. Grant me resignation, grant me thy love, I desire no more. Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us ! You Christian hearts now join with Mary's grief ; Heaven and earth behold ! deny relief ; Her heart was pierced with bitter grief to see Her loving Jesus nailed unto a tree. Jesus Expires on the Cross. Station of the Cross, No. 12. me twelfth ^Maiion. Christ is exalted on the Cross, and dies, V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. This Station represents the place where Jesus Christ was publicly exalted on the Cross between two robbers, who for their enormous crimes were executed with the innocent Lamb. Consider here the confusion of your Saviour, exposed naked to the profane view of a blasphemous multitude. Imagine your- self at the foot of the Cross. Behold that sacred body stream- ing blood from every part. Contemplate the divine countenance pale and languid, the heart throbbing in the last pangs of agony, the soul on the point of separation ; yet charity triumphs over his agony ; his last prayers petition forgiveness for his enemies. " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." His clemency is equally extended to the penitent thief : "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." He recommends in his last moments his disconsolate Mother to his beloved St. John. He recommends his soul to his heavenly Father, and bowing down his submissive, obedient head, resigns his spirit. Turn your eyes on the naked, bloody portrait of charity. Number his wound- Wash them with tears of sympathizing love. Behold the arm. extended to embrace you. Love of Jesus! thou diest to deliver us from eternal captivity. PRAYER. O suffering Son of God ! I now behold thee in the last convulsive pangs of death, — thy veins opened, thy sinews torn, thy hands and feet, O Fountain of Paradise i distilling blood. I acknowledge, charitable Jesus, that my reiterated offences have been thy merciless executioners, the cause of thy bitter sufferings and death. Yet, God of mercy, look on my sinful soul, bathe it in thy precious blood ! Let me die to the vanity of the world, and renounce its false pleasures. Thou didst pray, my Jesus, for thy enemies. I forgive mine. I embrace them in the bowels of thy charity. I bury my resentment in thy wounds. Shelter me in the day of wrath in the sanctuary of thy side. Let me live let me die, in my crucified Jesus. Amen. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us! Behold the streams of blood from every part, Behold the sharp lance that piere'd his Sacred Heart ; On Calvary's mount behold him naked hang, To suffer for our sins pain's utmost pang. Jesus is taken Down from the Cross. Station of the Cross. No *\ Christ is taken down from the Cross. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee. R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. THE MYSTERY. This Station represents the place where Christ's most sacred body was taken down from the Cross by Joseph and Nicodemus, and laid in the bosom of his weeping Mother. Consider the sighs and tears of the Virgin Mother, with what pangs she embraced the bloody remains of her beloved Jesus. Here unite your tears with those of the disconsolate Mother. Reflect, that your Jesus would not descend from the Cross, until he consummated the work of redemption ; and that at his depart- ure from, as well as at his entrance into, the world, he would be placed in the bosom of his beloved Mother. Hence learn con- stancy in your pious resolutions ! cleave to the standard of the Cross. Consider with what purity that soul should be adorned, which receives in the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist Christ's most sacred body and blood. PRAYER. At length, O Blessed Virgin! Mother of sorrow! thou art permitted to embrace thy beloved Son. But alas ! the fruit of thy immaculate womb is all over mangled, in one continued wound. Yes, O Lord ! the infernal fury of the Jews has at length triumphed ; yet we renew their barbarity, crucifying thee by our sins, inflicting new wounds. Most afflicted Mother of my Redeemer, I conjure thee by the pains and torments thou suffer- edst in the common cause of Salvation, to obtain for me, by thy powerful intercession, pardon of my sins, and grace to weep with a sympathizing feeling, thine and thy Son's afflictions. As often as I appear at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, let me embrace thee, my Jesus, in the bosom of my heart. May I worthily receive thee as the sacred pledge of my salvation. Amen, Jesus, Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us. When from the Cross they took the blessed form, His Mother cries, my Son, I am forlorn ; My child is dead, you virgins join with me, Bewail in tears my love's sad destinv. Jesus is Laid in the Sepulchre. Station of the Cross, No 14. Christ is laid in the Holy Sepulchre. V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thee, R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world THE MYSTERY. This Station represents Christ's Sepulchre, where his blessed body was laid with piety and devotion. Consider the emotions of the Virgin — her eyes streaming with tears, her bosom heaving with sighs. What melancholy, what wistful looks she cast on that monument where the treasure of her soul, her Jesus, her all, lay entombed. Here lament your want of contrition for your sins, and humbly adore your deceased Lord, who, poor even in death, is buried in another's tomb. Blush at your dependence on the world, and the eager solicitude with which you labor to grasp its perishable advantages. Despise henceforth the world, lest you perish with it. PRAYER. Charitable Jesus, for my salvation thou performedst the painful journey of the Cross. Let me press the footsteps marked/ by thee, gracious Redeemer — the paths which s through the thorns of life, conduct to the heavenly Jerusalem. Would that thou wert entombed in my heart, that being united to thee, 1 might rise to a new life of grace, and persevere to the end, Grant me, in my last moments, to receive thy precious Body, as the pledge of immortal life. Let my last words be Jesus and Mary, my last breath be united to thy last breath on the Cross ; that with a lively faith, a firm hope, and ardent love, 1 may die with thee and for thee ; that I may reign with thee for ever and ever. Amen, Jesus. Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. ^ilory, &c. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us i You pious Christians, raise your voices, raise, And join with me to sing your Saviour's praise, Who shed his blood for us and died in pain. To save our souls from hell's eternal flame. thh: conclusion. Compassionate Jesus ! behold with eyes of mercy this devo- tion I have enr'eavored to perform, in honor of thy bitter passion and death, in order to obtain remission of my sins, and the pains incurred by them. Accept of it for the salvation of the living and the eternal repose of the faithful departed, particularly for those for whom I directed it. Do not, my Jesus, suffer the inef- fable price of thy blood to be fruitless, nor my miserable soul, ransomed by it, to perish. The voice of thy blood is louder for mercy, than my crimes for vengeance. Have mercy then, O Lord' have mercy, and spare me for thy mercy's sake ! Amen. Jesus. HOLY WOMEN. THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS ILLUSTRATED, SHOWING THE SACRED ARTICLES USED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS AND THK RITES AND CEREMONIES OF THE CHURCH, TOGETHER WITH THE VESTMENTS WORN BY THE CLERGY, &c, &c. This picture represents His Grace, the Most Rev. John Joseph 'Lynch, Archbishop of Toronto, wearing the Mitre and. Cope or Pluviale, and holding the Crosier- See page 13 7. STOLE. Used in Preaching and Adminis- tering the Sacraments. Page m. BREAD IRONS. Used in Baking the large and small Hosts. Page 53. LARGE AND SMALL HOSTS. Blessed Sacra- CLAPPER FOR HOLY WFFR For Consecration ment to the Sick - One ol the Stations of the Cross. TRIANGLE, COFFIN, With Candles, used at Covered with the Pall at Requiem Mass. Tenebr*: in Holt Week. Pago 157. Pago 161. CHALICE AND PATEN. Page 53. A CENSER. Used for burning Incense. THE VATICAN LIBRAET. The Vatican Library.— The Vatican is the Pope's palace at Rome, and is the seat of the great library, and the museum and collections of art, ancient and modern, which for visitors constitute one of the chief attractions. It covers an area equal to that of the city of Turin when it had a population of one hundred and thirty thousand. It is said to contain sixteen thousand apartments of various sizes, many of them are of unrivalled beauty, among which is the Sixtine chapel decorated in fresco by the pencil of Michael Angelo. Italy is rich in important libraries, but that of the Vatican at Rome stands pre-eminent. The number of printed volumes is about one hundred thousand, and the manuscript department contains no less than twenty-five thousand and is considered the finest collection in the world. The structure is unrivalled in extent, in beauty of proportions and decorations, and its galleries of antiquities. Christian and Pagan, paintings, statuary, bronzes, metals, vases and other oujects of art surpass all other collections in the world. CAEVED DOOR IN THE VATICAN. CARDINAL McCLOSKEY. This portrait represents His Eminence wearing the Soutane with Chain and Cross*. > POPE PIUS IX. This picture represents His Holiness arrayed in Cape, Rochet and Stole. LEO XIIL This picture represents His Holiness wearing the Soutane — the every day coat of a Priest or Bishop. The Holy Heart of Jesus. THE V1BGIK AND CHILD. HIS EMINENCE JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS, ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE. HIS EMINENCE JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS, First Vicar- Apostolic of North Carolina, Fourth Bishop of Richmond, Ninth Archbishop of Baltimore. James Gibbons was born in the cathedral parish, Baltimore, and baptized in that venerable church by the Rev. Charles I. White. He was taken to Ireland at the age of ten, and made his earliest studies there, attracting the attention of Archbishop Mc- Hale by his piety and diligence. Returning to his native coun- try, he entered the preparatory seminary, St. Charles' College, and after his course there entered St. Mary's College, Baltimore. He was ordained in March, 1861, and assigned to St. Patrick's Church, but in a few months received charge of St. Bridget's Church, Canton, with the care of. St. Lawrence's at Locust Point, as well as of the Catholic soldiers at Fort Mc Henry. The zeal of the young priest in this laborious duty showed his merit, and Archbishop Spalding made him his secretary and assistant at the cathedral. The peculiar charm of his manner, the influence his piety exercised, made him a marked man, and at the Second Plen. ary Council of Baltimore he was selected as the priest best fitted to organize the new vicariate-apostolic in North Carolina, a State where Catholicity had made least impression. He did not shrink from the difficult task. Everything was to be created ; the scat- tered Catholics were fewer in the whole State than would be found in a Maryland parish. He was consecrated Bishop of Ad- ramyttum in the cathedral of Baltimore, August 16, 1868, and proceeded to Wilmington, North Carolina, making St. Thomas' Church his residence. He found one or two priests in the State, and seven hundred Catholics scattered in a population of a mil- lion. He drew devoted priests to him, and labored in person with the gentle zeal of a St. Francis of Sales, winning a way to hearts that the profoundest erudition or the highest eloquence failed to reach. He visited every part of the State, preaching and lecturing in court-houses, meeting-houses, any hall that could be had, and everywhere presenting the unknown truth with ir- resistible power. His method can be best understood by his wonderful little book, " The Faith of our Fathers," a work that has been more effective than any other since Milner published his " End of Controversy." Little communities of converts be- gan to form, and the ministers of God began to feel courage. Churches sprang up in the larger cities, the Sisters of Mercy came to open an academy, and the ancient order of St. Benedict pre- pared to found a monastery. On the death of Bishop McGill, Doctor Gibbons was transferred to the see of Richmond, July 30, 1872, retaining, however, the charge of his vicariate. His labors in the larger field were even more fruitful, and the influence was gradually extending, when Archbishop Bayley, finding his health precarious, asked that he should be appointed coadjutor of Bal- timore. On the 29th of May, 1877, he was made Bishop of Jan- opolis and proceeded to Maryland. He left with reluctance the flocks in Virginia and North Carolina to assume the charge of the ancient diocese of Baltimore, of which he became archbishop on the death of Aichbishop Bayley in the following October. The pallium was conferred upon him on the 10th of February, 1878. His venerable mother, who had Lived to see her son en- throned in the cathedral where he had been baptized, died soon after at the age of eighty. Raised thus to the highest position in the American hierarchy, he enjoys the respect of all, and was chosen by Pope Leo XIII. to preside in the Third Plenary Coun- cil of Baltimore in November, 1884, having been invited to Rome with other archbishops and bishops in the previous year in order to deliberate on the most urgent matters to be con- sidered in that assembly. In the Consistory held by Pope Leo XIII. in June, 1886, the Archbishop of Baltimore was created a cardinal priest, and the insignia of his new dignity were soon after borne to him across the Atlantic. PREFACE TO THE TEACHINGS AND ACTS or THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR. Many pious and enlightened persons have considered that a work like this might not be altogether useless; and hence it is that its author has placed it before the public. He first undertook it with the sole idea that it was a good and suitable work for the leisure hours of a priest ; and even in occupying those hours, it was pro- ductive of some advantage to himself, so that he could not consider such time ill spent. But if this work may also serve to instruct the faithful, he believes it his duty not to withhold it from them. His idea is not a new one, and he has no desire to claim the merit of invention. There are in existence numberless concordances of the four Gospels, wherein the word of God and the word of man are in- terwoven, as in this work. Many, almost numberless, are the com- mentaries and reflections on the Gospels ; so that the present writer can lay claim to nothing peculiar, excepting only his style and his selections, together with some observations which he believed neces- sary, in order to explain certain obscure texts. Even for these he sannot venture to claim originality : he can only say that he has never seen them in any of the authors consulted by him. To these are added some moral reflections, which grew out of the subjects before him, and which appeared to the author as calculated to ex- cite and nourish piety. He has also endeavored to explain some of the evangelical dogmas. The nature of the work required that these explanations should be brief, and it was, moreover, necessary to make them clear and simple : it is for the reader to judge whether 10 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. he has succeeded in these points. These explanatory notes are not intended for professed theologians. Far be it from the author's mind to think of giving instruction to those whom he considers as his masters. No; they are solely intended for that numerous class who, in matters concerning religion, have no more than the limited knowledge usually obtained in what is called " a Christian educa- tion." They may also be found of some value to those ecclesiastics who have as yet made no very profound study of Scripture or the- ology, or to those who may have forgotten, in the multitude of their avocations, a portion of what they had in early life acquired. Many of these explanations are directed against heretics, for it is always useful to know how they pervert the Scriptures in support of their errors, and the manner in which the Church confutes them. Prot- estants in particular are frequently referred to, as being more known to us, and coming in closer contact with us. But there is yet another reason — shall we venture to confess it ? There are sometimes found among us Catholics (at least by profession) who advance in conversation the same opinions as they do ; and who, though not daring to maintain them as dogmas, at least propose them speculatively. This mode of speaking is seldom found in coun- tries where the leaven of Protestantism has not penetrated, which fact shows plainly the origin of the evil. Whether those who as- sume this tone believe or do not believe what they say — f or it gen- erally happens that there is more of vanity than of conviction in these flippant remarks — yet every Catholic, who is truly attached to the faith of his fathers, will be very glad to have the means either of enlightening or confounding them, as the case may require. The authorities whom the author has followed in explaining the sacred text are, generally speaking, the Fathers of the Church, and the best authorized commentators. He embraces no particular system, and gives no opinion of his own on those questions ; he simply fol- PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 11 lows the teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church. Whatever is at all opposed to that appears to him suspicious, and he therefore scrupulously avoids it. He cannot hope that his work will be found free from errors, but he implores his readers to place them solely to the account of his limited intelligence, and to rectify them by the same standard which has guided him in his work — the common teachings of the Catholic Church. CONTENTS. THE SACRAMENT AND SACRAMENT ALS 1 GRACE, AND ESPECIALLY THE GRACE OF THE SACRAMENTS. 17 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS— The Sacrament of Baptism— Original Sin— The Immaculate Con- ception of the Blessed Virgin . . 18 The Sacrament of Baptism 21 Ceremony of Baptism 24 THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION 29 THE SACRAMENT OW THE HOLY EUCHARIST— THE BLESSED SACRAMENT 36 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass 47 The Place of the Sacrifice 50 The Form of the Mass 54 The Holy Eucharist as a Sacrament 66 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE 70 THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION 88 Commendation of the Departing Soul. 94 THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS — THE MINISTERS AND MINISTRY OF THE SACRAMENTS 98 The Tonsure 107 Minor Orders — 110 The Subdiaconate 113 The Diaconate 117 The Priesthood 121 The Vestments of the Priest at Mass 127 The Office and Dignity of Bishops — Form of Consecration 130 The Mitre, Crosier, Ring, etc 135 The Archieplscopate— The Pallium 137 The Papacy — The Cardinals or Council of the Pope — Mode of Election of a Pope — Coronation — Powers of the Pope in Governing the Church — Powers in Defining the Faith and Condemning Error— Infallibiijty— Councils. 138 THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY 148 THE SACRAMENTALS 154 The Missal and Breviary 155 The Ritual— Pontifical — Itinerary 156 The Funeral Service 157 Litanies, 160 ; The Angelus 161 Blessed Candles 161 Blessed or Holy Water, 162 ; Holy Ashes 163 The Cross and the Crucifix , 163 Holy Oils— Blessed Palm— The Agnus Del 165 Blessings 166 The Rosary ............. 167 OOAPULA RS M . .... . w .. 1 69 CONTENTS or THE TEACHINGS AND ACTS or THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURGH, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ PART I. FROM THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD UNTIL THE CURE OF THE MAN BORN BLIND. CHAPTER I. Preface of St. Luke. — Eternal Generation of the Word and his Incarnation.— Testimony rendered to Him by St. John the Baptist. — The Holy Pre- cursor announced and promised 13 CHAPTER II. Annunciation. — Visitation. — Birth of St. John the Baptist. — Canticle of Zachary. 19 CHAPTER III. Doubt of St. Joseph. — Birth of Jesus Christ. — His Circumcision — His Genealogy 25 CHAPTER IV. Adoration of the Magi. — Purification. — Flight into Egypt. — Massacre of the Innocents. — Return to Nazareth. — Jesus lost and found in the Temple. . . 32 CHAPTER V. Manifestation of John the Baptist and his Preaching. — Baptism of Jesus Christ. — Fasting and Temptation of Jesus Christ in the Desert. — Testimony of John the Baptist. — Andrew and Peter called for the first time. — Vocation of Philip and Nathaniel , , . . , ♦ 40 CHAPTER VI. Marriage of Cana. — Sojourn at Capharnaum. — Second Vocation of Peter and of Andrew, followed by that of James and John. — Journey to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. — Sellers driven from the Temple 49 X Discourse with Nicodemus \CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. 54 CHAPTER VIII. Jesus Christ preaches and baptizes. —New Testimony of St. John. — Imprison- ment of the Holy Precursor. —Return of Jesus to Galilee through Samaria. 53 CHAPTER IX. The Samaritan Woman 63 CHAPTER X. An Officer's Son healed. — Cure of one possessed, and of the Mother-in-Law of St. Peter. — Three Men reproved 71 CHAPTER XI. The Tempest stilled. — Two Demoniacs cured. — Swine precipitated into the Sea. — Paralytic cured.— Vocation of St. Matthew. —Jesus eats amongst Sinners. -—Dispute relative to Fasting 79 CHAPTER XII. A Woman healed of an Issue of Blood. — The Daughter of Jairus resuscitated. —The Blind see. — Devils cast out 89 CHAPTER XIII. Probatica. — A Man infirm thirty-eight years healed. — Discourse of Jesus Christ to the Jews 94 CHAPTER XIV. A Penitent Sinner at the feet of Jesus Christ. — The Corn plucked 104 CHAPTER XV. The Withered Hand restored.— Mildness of Jesus Christ foretold. — Calling of the Twelve Apostles Ill CHAPTER XVI. The Sermon on the Mount 117 CHAPTER XVII. Continuation of the Sermon on the Mount 137 CHAPTER XVIII. Close of the Sermon on the Mount 142 CHAPTER XIX. The Leper cleansed. — The Centurion's Servant. — The Widow of Nairn's Son re- stored to Life. — John sends two of his Disciples to Christ. — He is com- mended by Jesus Christ c 144 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XX. fhe Holy Women who followed Jesus Christ. — His friends wish to seize his Person. — Healing of a Blind and Dumb Man who was possessed. — Blas- phemy of the Pharisees. — Sin against the Holy Ghost 154 CHAPTER XXI. The Sign of Jonas. — The Ninivites. — The Queen of Saba. — The expelled De- mon enters in again. — Exclamation of a Woman. — The Mother and Broth- ers of Jesus. — Parable of the Seed 162 CHAPTER XXII. Parables of the Cockle, of the Mustard-seed, of the Leaven, and of the Net cast into the Sea. — Preaching of Jesus Christ at Nazareth. — Prophet with- out honor in his own country 1*70 CHAPTER XXIII. Mission of the Twelve Apostles. — Instructions and Advice that Jesus gives them. . 1 80 CHAPTER XXIV. Decapitation of St. John. — Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. — Jesus walks on the water, and supports Peter 136 CHAPTER XXV. Discourse of Jesus Christ on the Eucharist. — Murmur of the Jews 195 CHAPTER XXVI. Continuation of the Discourse on the Eucharist. — The Disciples are scandalized. — Constancy of the Apostles 201 CHAPTER XXVII. Complaints of the Pharisees. — Their Traditions rejected.— -Cure of the Cha- naanean Woman's Daughter 210 CHAPTER XXVIII. Deaf and Dumb cured. — Multiplication of the Seven Loaves. — Demand of a Sign from Heaven. — Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 211 CHAPTER XXIX. The Blind Man of Bethsaida. — Confession of St. Peter. — Promise of the Keys. — Passion foretold. — Peter rebuked. — Self is to be renounced. — The Cross must be carried 224 CHAPTER XXX. The Transfiguration. — Return of Elias announced. — Contrast of Jesus Christ's Humiliation with his Glory 230 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXI. The Lunatic cured. — There is a Demon who can only be cast out by Prayer and Fasting. — Another Prediction of the Death of Jesus Christ and of his Resurrection. — Tribute paid 236 CHAPTER XXXII. Dispute of the Disciples on Precedency. — Evangelical Childhood. — He who is not against us is for us. — Scandal. — Necessity of retrenching all things which are to us an occasion of falling. — Not to despise the little ones. — The Hundred Sheep 243 CHAPTER XXXIII. Fraternal Correction. — Power of binding and loosing. — We are to pardon sev- enty-seven times. — Parable of the Wicked Servant. — Secret Journey to Jerusalem, for the Feast of Tabernacles. — The Ten Lepers 252 CHAPTER XXXIV. Jesus shows himself at the Feast of Tabernacles. — He preaches in the Temple. — Divers Judgments concerning him. — Archers sent to apprehend him. . . 259 CHAPTER XXXV. Mystic Water.— Effusion of the Holy Ghost. — The Jews divided amongst them- selves. — Council of the Priests. — Opposition of Nicodemus. — The Woman taken in Adultery 265 CHAPTER XXXVI. Another Discourse of Jesus Christ to the Jews. — He gives testimony of himself. — Death in Sin. — Slavery of Sin. — We are emancipated from it by the Son alone 270 CHAPTER XXXVII. Sequel of the Discourse. — Jews Children of Abraham, according to the Flesh ; Children of the Devil, by imitation. — Jesus Christ before Abraham. — The Jews wish to stone him r 277 CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Man born Blind. — Jesus is the Good Shepherd. . , 284 CONTENTS. Xlll PART II. FROM THE MISSION OF THE SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES UNTIL THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XXXIX. Election, Mission, and Instruction of the Seventy-two disciples. — Their Re- turn. — Names written in Heaven. — Happy the eyes that have seen Jesus Christ ! — His yoke is sweet, and his burden is light. — Love of God and of our Neighbor. — The Good Samaritan. — Martha and Mary 293 CHAPTER XL. The Lord's Prayer, according to St. Luke. — Perseverance in Prayer. — God gives what is necessary. — The Pare Eye. — The Pharisees condemned 302 CHAPTER XLI. Instruction to the Disciples. — God alone is to be feared. — Jesus refuses to be the Arbiter between two Brothers. —The Rich Miser condemned. — We are » not to be anxious for the morrow. — The Good and Bad Servants 309 CHAPTER XLII. Necessity of Penance. — The Barren Fig-tree. — The Infirm Woman cured on the Sabbath day. — Small number of the Elect. — The Prophet should not perish outside of Jerusalem 315 CHAPTER XLIII. A Man cured of the Dropsy on the Sabbath day. — We are always to take the low- est place. — To invite the Poor. — Parable of those who excuse themselves from coming to the Supper. — We must prefer Jesus Christ before all things. . 324 CHAPTER XLIV. Feast of the Dedication. — Jesus speaks of his own sheep. — He and his Father are one. — The parable of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Groat. — The Prodigal Son. 829 CHAPTER XLV. Parable of the Steward. — To make Friends for ourselves by wealth unjustly ac- quired. — The Rich Bad Man and the Poor Good Man. — First coming of the Messiah devoid of lustre 341 CONTENTS. > CHAPTER XLVI. We must pray always. — The Pharisee and the Publican. — Marriage indissoluble. — Virginity preferable. — Little Children blessed 350 CHAPTER XLVII. The Young Man called to Perfection. — Salvation difficult to the Rich. — All must be relinquished to follow Jesus Christ. — Promises attached to this re- nunciation. — The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard 358 CHAPTER XLVIII. Resurrection of Lazarus. — First Consultation against Jesus Christ. — Caiphas prophesies. — Jesus retires to Ephraim 368 CHAPTER XLIX. Return to Jerusalem. — Zeal of the Two Disciples repressed. — The Passion fore- told with its circumstances. — Ambitious pretension of the Children of Zebedee. — Murmuring of the other Disciples, and instructions given to them 376 CHAPTER L. Passage through Jerico. — A Blind Man restored to sight. — Zacheus. — Parable of the Ten Pounds. — Sight restored to two Blind Men 383 CHAPTER LI. Mary pours precious Ointment over Jesus Christ. — Murmuring of Judas and the Apostles. — Design of killing Lazarus. — Triumphant entry into Jerusalem. — Vexation of the Pharisees 390 CHAPTER LII. Christ weeps over Jerusalem. — The accursed Fig-tree. — Sellers driven out of the Temple. — Faith omnipotent. — Grain of Wheat. — Jesus is troubled. — A voice from Heaven 399 CHAPTER LIIL Incredulity of the Jews. — The Timid condemned with the Incredulous. — From whence came the Baptism of John. — Parable of the Two Sons. — Parable of the Vineyard and the Wicked Husbandmen 408 CHAPTER LIV. Parable of the Marriage Feast. — Obligation of paying the Tribute. — The Resur- rection proved. — The First Commandment of the Law is, the Love of God and our Neighbor. — The Messiah is the Son of David, and yet his Lord. . 417 CHAPTER LV. To hear the Doctors of the Law, not to imitate them. — The Scribes and Pharisees are accursed. — The Widow's Mate. — The ruin of the Temple foretold — Ques- tion as to the time of the ruin of Jerusalem, and of the end of the world. 426 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER LVL Forerunning signs.— Sign of the Son of Man. —The Last Trumpet.— The Elect gathered together. — Vigilance always necessary. — One taken, another left. 433 CHAPTER LVII. Sequel. — Good and bad Servants. — Wise and foolish Virgins. — Talents. — Judg- ment of Jesus Christ 442 CHAPTER LVIII. Conspiracy against Jesus. — Judas makes his Contract. — Paschal Supper.— -Wash- ing of the Feet. — Treason foretold • 450 CHAPTER LIX. Institution of the Eucharist. — Jesus is troubled. — Woe to the Traitor. — Jesus makes him known to John. — Withdrawal of Judas. — Dispute of the Apos- tles upon Priority. — Presumption of Peter. — His Denial foretold. — State of warfare about to commence for the Disciples 458 CHAPTER LX. Discourse after the Supper. — The Disciples encouraged and consoled. — Who seeth the Father seeth the Son. — The Spirit of Truth promised 468 CHAPTER LXI. Sequel of the Discourse. — Jesus Christ is the True Vine. — We are to persevere in Charity. — Persecutions foretold. — Testimony of the Holy Ghost 476 CHAPTER LXII. The end of the Discourse. — Joy promised after Sorrow. — Jesus prays for Him- self and for his Disciples 486 CHAPTER LXIII. Garden of Olives — Kiss of Judas. — Soldiers struck down. — Malchus. — Jesus is apprehended and conducted to Annas and Caiphas. — The Blow. — False Witnesses. — Confession of Jesus Christ 494 CHAPTER LXIV. Insults and Outrages. — Denial of St. Peter, and his Tears. — Jesus interrogated a second time by the Priests. — Repentance of Judas, and his Despair 505 CHAPTER LXV. Jesus conducted before Pilate. — Pilate interrogates him, and sends him to Herod. 512 CHAPTER LXVI. Jesus conducted again before Pilate. — Barabbas. — Pilate's Wife. — Flagellation. — Crowning with Thorns 520 XVI > CONTENTS. CHAPTER LXVIL JScce Homo,'. /Pilate's second Interrogation. — Jesus is condemned. — He carries his Cross.— -Simon the Cyrenean. — Daughters of Jerusalem.— Jesus Cruci- fied between two Thieves. — Title of the Cross. — Lots cast for the Garment. 526 CHAPTER LXVIII. Blasphemies and Insults. — The Good Thief. — The Words of Jesus to his Mother. — Darkness. — Jesus dies. — Prodigies. — The Saviour's side pierced. — Burial. — Descent into Hell 533 CHAPTER LXIX. The Resurrection. — The Angel of the Lord. — The Soldiers frightened. — The Stone raised. — Journey of the Women. — Race of Peter and of John. — Apparition to Magdalen. — Apparition to the other Women. — Return of the guards to Jerusalem, and their Deposition 544 CHAPTER LXX. Divers Apparitions to Peter, to James, to the Two Disciples at Emmaus, and to the Eleven (first and second) 551 CHAPTER LXXI. Apparition by the Sea-side. — Miraculous Fishing. — Peter appointed Pastor of the whole Flock. — -Apparition upon a Mountain of GaliJsa. — Mission of the Apostles. — Final Apparition at Jerusalem. — Promise of the Holy Ghost.— -Ascension. — Conclusion 558 THE TEACHINGS OF THE Holy Catholic Church. Embracing its Dogmas, Sacraments, and Sacrament a tjs. By Rev. S. B. SMITH, D.D., 4 Jk*r of "Cation Law" "Elements of Ecclesiastical Law* 9 EU. THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. Of all the blessings bestowed by Christ on His sacred spouse, the Church, the most excellent and sublime are the Holy Sacra- ments, which, as St. Ambrose says, " are most wholesome medi- cines, instituted by Christ, either to recover or preserve the health of the soul. For they are the precious means by which the merits of Christ's passion are applied to the sanctification of our souls, and by which we are enabled to perform all our Christian duties." The nature, efficacy, and necessity of the Sacraments in general are thus beautifully depicted by the celebrated Father Faber of the Oratory, in his work on the "Precious Blood," p. 134, seq. " It is difficult," says Father Faber, " to describe the Sacraments. If an angel were to bear us from this globe which we inhabit, and carry us to some distant star, which God may have adorned as a dwelling-place for some other species of reasonable creatures, we should be struck with the novelty and peculiarity of the scenery around us. Some of its features might remind us of the scenery of earth, although with characteristic differences; while other features would be entirely new, entirely unlike anything we had ever seen before, either in color, form, or composition. This is very much the effect produced upon us when we come to learn the Catholic doctrine about the Sacraments. It introduces us into a new world. It gives us new ideas. It is more than a dis- covery, for it amounts to a revelation. The Sacraments are part of the new world introduced into creation by the Incarnation of 1 2 THE SA0SAMENT8 AND 8A0BAMEHTALS. the Eternal Word, and therefore are an essential part of creation as it was eternally pre-ordained by God. Yet they aie quite dis- tinct from any other province in creation. The Sacraments of the Old Law were but shadows of the Sacraments of the Gospel The Sacraments of the New Law are created things which have been devised and fabricated by our Blessed Lord himself- The Eucharist was foreshadowed by the Paschal Lamb ; the Sacra ment of Order, by the consecration of priests; and Penance by the legal purifications of the tabernacle. There was no shadow of Confirmation, because it is the Sacrament of the fullness of grace, and so can belong only to the Gospel dispensation. Neither was there any shadow of Extreme Unction, because it is the im- mediate preparation for the entrance of the soul into glory, and there was no entrance into glory for any human soul till Jesus had risen and ascended. Neither could Matrimony be a Sacra- ment under the Old Law, because the Word had not yet actually wedded our human nature ; and the sacramentality of marriage consists in its being the figure of those transcendent nuptials of the Sacred Humanity. * What, then, shall we call these Sacraments ? They are not persons, yet they seem to be scarcely things : I mean that they seem to be something more than things. We want another word for them, another name, and can not find one. They are powers, lives, shrines, marvels, divine hiding-places, centres of heavenly power, supernatural magnificences, engraftings of heaven upon earth, fountains of grace, mysterious efficacies, marriages of mat ter and spirit, beautiful complication of God and man. Each Sacrament is a species by itself. Each has some specialty which is at once its excellence and its mystery. The pre-eminence of Baptism consists in its remission of original sin and of the pains due to it. The pre-eminence of Confirmation resides in the vastness of the succors of actual grace which it brings with it, as we see in the fortitude which it conferred upon the Apostles and which the Eucharist had not conferred ; the Sacrament of Penance can claim the privilege of being the most necessary of all Sacra* ments to those who have been baptized, and of the capability of reiterated remission of mortal sin, which Baptism can not claim. THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. 3 Extreme Unction excels Penance in the greater copiousness of its graces. The excellence of Order consists in its placing men in the singularly sublime state of being domestic ministers of Christ* Matrimony has a glory of its own in its signification of the union of our Lord with the Church. The pre-eminence of the Eucharist resides, as Saint Thomas says, in the very substance of the Sacra- ment, seeing that it is, as it were, the Sacrament of all the other Sacraments — the centre of them, the cause of them, the end of fchem, and the harmony of them. All are because of it, and are subordinate to its amazing supremacy. "These Sacraments were designed by our Lord himself, and were instituted by Him with varying degrees of detail as to mat- ter and form in various Sacraments ; and yet, saving their sub- stance, He has given His Church very extensive power over them, because they are so intimately connected with its unity. We see the exercises of this power in the bread of the Eucharist, in the impediments of Marriage, and in the varieties of Order in the Latin and Greek Churches. The Sacraments are institutions which illustrate at once the magnificence of God's dominion over His creation, and also the capability of creatures to be elevated by Him to astonishing sublimities, far beyond the merit and due of nature ; and this elevability of creatures is one of the most glorious manifestations of the liberty of God. " The Sacraments are not mere signs of grace, but causes of it. They cause grace in us physically by the omnipotence of God, which exists in them as if it were their own proper virtue and energy ; for the omnipotence of God exists so specially in the Sacraments that if, by any possibility, God were not omnipresent, He would, nevertheless, be present in the Sacraments. The Sacra- ments cause grace physically, just as our Lord's Blood, shed long ago, cleanses us from our sins physically, not morally only ; and just as His Resurrection and Ascension causes our resurrection and ascension physically, by an energy and a force which God has appropriated to them. The Sacraments also cause grace in us morally, by representing to the Father the merits of Christ's Passion actually accomplished, and so doing a sort of holy and irresistible violence to God, and thereby procuring for us 4 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. more abundant and, at the same time, very special succors ot grace. r But the Sacraments not only confer sanctifying grace, and in fuse habits of virtue both physically and morally ; they also con- fer a certain special sacramental grace, which is peculiar and dis tinct in each Sacrament. It is difficult to explain this sacramental grace ; but it seems to be a special power to obtain from God by a $ certain right, founded upon His decrees, particular assistances and kinds of grace, in order to the fulfillment of each Sacrament Moreover, it belongs to the grace of the Sacraments that certain of them impress what is called a character, or seal, or signet, on the soul. The nature of this character is involved in mystery ; but the most probable interpretation of it is that which de- scribes it as a natural similitude of the soul of Jesus, likening our souls to His, and imparting hiddenly to our souls a resem- blance of His — hidden in this life, but to be divulged with ex- ceeding glory hereafter. This is a beautiful thought, and fills us full of a peculiar love for the dear Human Soul of Jesus. Lastly, the grace of Sacraments suspended, or dormant, has a marvellous power of revival, which enhances the mystery and the magnifi- cence of these strange and unparalleled works of God." " The Sacraments are the inventions of God himself. No creat- ure could have devised them. I do not believe that, without revelation, the most magnificent intelligence of the angels could have imagined such a thing as a Sacrament. It is a peculiar idea of God. It represents a combination of His most wonderful per- fections. It conveys to us in itself quite a distinctive notion of God. We already know God as the unbeginning God. We know Him also as the God of nature, and as the God of grace. There are two different disclosures of Him to us. So the knowl- edge of H ; m as the God who devised the Sacraments is another disclosure of Him. It adds many new ideas of Him to the other ideas of Him which we possessed before. We should in some respects have thought differently of God, if there had been no Sacraments, from what we think now. This is a great deal to say. It confers upon the Sacraments a most singular dignity, oi rather it expresses in an intelligible manner that singular dignity THE SACRAMENTS AND SACKAMENTALS. 5 which belongs to them. Moreover, God not only invented them, but He invented them for the most magnificent of purposes. He invented them that by their means especially He might impart His divine nature to created natures, that He might justify sinners, that He might sanctify souls, that He might unite to Himself the race whose nature He had condescended to single out and assume to Himself. If they are His own invention they must be works of unspeakable excellence ; for the least of His works is excellent ; but if they were meant also for purposes so dear to Him and of such an exalted character, who shall be able rightly to imagine the excellence of these Sacraments ? Furthermore, they are very peculiar inventions. They do not follow the laws of nature. They even superadd to the laws of grace. They are things apart, almost belonging to an order of their own. They are apparently without parallel in all creation. I know of nothing else to which I could liken them. They come out of some depth in the unfathomable wisdom of God, which does not seem to have given out any other specimens of itself. They are emanations of some abyss of His magnificence, which has only opened once to give them forth, and then has closed and rested. As matter and spirit, as nature and grace, are samples of God's beauty, tokens of ineffable realities in Him, manifestations of His invisible treas- ures, so likewise are the Sacraments. They invest God with a new light in our minds. They are some of His eternal ideas, the more imperiously demanding our devout study, because we have no others like them, no others which we can use as similitudes or as terms of comparison. Our knowledge of God is not only in- creased in degree, but it is extended in kind by our knowledge of a Sacrament." " Strictly speaking, we do not call the Sacraments miraculous. They have laws of their own. So perhaps have miracles. But the laws of the Sacraments are revealed to us. Their action fol- lows rules, and is, under fitting circumstances, invariable. Their order and immutability are two of their most striking feat' ares ; and this distinguishes them from miracles. They are pro* cesses, and in this, also, they are unlike what we popularly term miracles. But so far as they are wonder-working, so far as theii 6 > THE SACRAMENTS AND SACKAMENTALS. results call forth our astonishment, so far as their effects are be yond the power of nature, so far as their completeness and theii instantaneousness are concerned, so far as the revolution they iceomplish and the transmutation they make are beyond the strength of common grace, so far as their success is in their secret divinity, so far we may call their operation miraculous. It is certainly in the highest degree mysterious. Their use of matter seems to point to a philosophy of matter and spirit far deeper than any which has yet been taught. It awakens trains of thought which carry us rapidly into speculations which are too high for us, yet which give us now and then unsystematic glances into the secrets of creation. The form of the Sacraments betokens a mysterious grandeur in language, reminding us of God's peculiar way of working by efficacious words, a characteristic which doubt- less is connected in some hidden manner with the Eternal Gener- ation of the Word. The invisible sacerdotal power which is necessary to the validity of so many of the Sacraments is an- other of their splendors, while the Sacraments which do. not need it imply that latent priesthood which abides in all Chris- tians, and which is an emanation of our Saviour's own priesthood * after the order of Melchisedec.' The jurisdiction required for the administration of so many of the Sacraments, and especially for valid absolution, is a participation in those regal powers which belong to the kingdom of Christ — to the- Church in its character of a monarchy. The power of the Church itself to limit the va- lidity of a Sacrament, as in the case of reserved sins in confession and of impediments in Matrimony, is another feature in the Sac- raments which enhances their mysterious character, while it exalts that lordship of the Sacred Humanity of Jesus which has been so copiously imparted to the Church. All these things are points for meditation, which can not fail to fill the soul with reverence and love, and to unite it more closely with God, by making us feel how the natural is hemmed in with the divine, and with what awful reality we are always lying in the arms of God, with our Liberty held up, secured, and at once imprisoned and set at large by all this exuberance of supernatural inter rentions. " The grace of the Sacraments is another subject for pious won THE SACRAMENTS AND SACBAMENTALH. 1 der. The special grace of each Sacrament, peculiar to itself and accomplishing a peculiar end, is a marvel in itself. Just as the nun brings out the blossoms, and paints their variegated leaves m parti-colored patterns, though the whole leaf is supplied with *;he same sap through the same veins, so does the Son of Justice vork in the special grace of the Sacraments. How He determines them to such various effects is a secret hidden from us. The Sacraments have probably spiritual laws of their own, which are neither gratuitous nor arbitrary, but founded in some intrinsic fitness of things which results from the character of God. The special grace of each Sacrament seems to be almost a visible ap- proach of God to the individual soul, to accomplish some partic- ular end, or confirm some definite vocation, or interfere in some distinct crisis. It is not His usual way of working. It is not merely a general augmentation of sanctifying grace, an infusion of livelier faith, of keener hope, or of more burning charity. It is something more intimate between God and the soul, more per- sonal, more full of reference to the individual case. Again, we muTt not omit to reflect on the inexhaustibleness of the grace of ths Sacraments. It takes an immense heroism, like martyrdom, to come near to the grace of a Sacrament. Even marty rdom does not flupers«de Baptism or confession, if they can be had. No one can tell how much grace lies in a single Sacrament. In a single communion lies all grace, for in it is the author and fountain of all graco ; and, if the theological opinion be true, that there is no grace in my of His members which has not actually been first in our Lord H'mself, then all the grace of all the world lies in one communioc , to be unsealed and enjoyed by the degree < f fervor which we bring. The saints have said that a single communion was enough to make a saint. Who can tell if any created soul has ever yet drained any single Sacrament of the whole amount of grace which w is contained in it simply by virtue of its being a Sacrament ? I ohould be inclined to think, from manifold anal ogies both of nature *nd of grace, that no Sacrament hai evei been duly emptied ol its grace, not even in the Commun on of our Blessed Lady. " No Sacrament is coctent to confine itself to the conferring of 8 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. its special grace. There is always an exuberance about it, giving more than is asked, doing more than was promised, reaching further than was expected. This is a characteristic of all God's works. His magnificence is confined in every one of them, and is forever bursting its bonds, and carrying light, and beauty, and fertility, and blessing, far beyond the shrine in which it had been localized. But the perfection of God, which above all others the Sacraments appear to represent, is His magnificence. They belong to this at- tribute in a very special and peculiar way. Hence, there is about them a redundancy of grace, a prodigality of power, a profuse* ness and lavishness of benediction, which go beyond the ordinary laws of the world of grace. Moreover, besides this exuberance there is an agility about the Sacraments which is most worthy of note. Sometimes, if need be, one will do the work of another. Those which have no ofiice to communicate first grace and justify the sinner, will do so under certain circumstances. Communion will forgive, Extreme Unction will absolve ; not ordinarily, but when there is necessity for it, and the fitting disposition. We can not think without surprise of this power of transforming themselves, and of passing into each other and supplying for each other, which within certain limits the Sacraments possess. Furthermore, the rivers of grace in the Sacraments never run dry. Consider the multitude of Sacraments administered daily in the Church. Picture to yourself the wonderfulness of grace and its supernatural excellence, and then imagine the quantity of it drawn out of the eternal fountains for the well-being of the world. It is an overwhelming thought. Grace is not only more abundant in the Sacraments, and more nimble, but it is also more patient. Grace waits longer inside the Sacraments than out of fchem. They seem to detain it, to hold heaven down upon earth with a sweet force, and so to multiply the occasion and prolong the opportunities of men. "The character which some of the Sacraments confer, also be longs to their grace. It is a revelation to us of the divine im petuosity and energy of the Sacrament's. Amid the ardors of heaven, and in the dazzling splendors of the Beatific Vision, the nystic signets, the inexplicable characters of the Sacraments, THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOKAMENTALS. 9 three in number, as if adumbrating the Three Divine Persons, shine forth as distinct beauties, and brighten through eternity The character of Baptism is, as it were, the finger-mark of the Eternal Father on the soul. The character of Order glistens like the unfailing unction of the priesthood of the Eternal Son, The character of Confirmation is the deep mark, which the fires jf the Holy Ghost burned in, the pressure of His tremendous fortitude, which was lain upon us, and yet we perished not, so tenderly and so gently did He touch us. In the wild fury of the tempestuous fires of hell the same characters glow terribly. They are inde* structible even there, fiery shames, intolerable disgraces, distinct fountains of special agony forever and forever. "To these reflections on the grace of the Sacraments we must not fail to add a due consideration of the doctrine of intention. What things can be more purely divine than these Sacraments ? Yet see how sensible they are to human touch ! It is as if the very delicacy of their divine fabric made them more liable to human impressions. They are jealous of their powers. They do not need our active co-operation, so much as our permission. They require obstacles to be removed, but not assistance to be conferred. They work, as we say in theology, by the force of their own work, not by the energy of the recipient. This is their peculiarity. It is this which distinguishes them from other means of grace. They have reason to be jealous of so magnificent a distinction. Yet, in spite of all this, they are so sensitive to the touch of our fervor, that they unlock fresh and fresh graces according as we press them, as if in their love and their likeness to God they were de- lighted to be pressed, to be solicited, and to be importuned. They are also so delicate and so susceptible that they are at the mercy of our intentions. The very thought of this makes us tremble. We could almost wish it were not so. To be so 'fragile, while they are so exceedingly strong, is not this a surprise and a per- plexity, not seldom, too, a sorrow and a dread ? It seems to show that they are purely things of heaven, exotics upon earth, or weapons of omnipotence becoming brittle when they are plunged suddenly among human actions. Baptism can justify the child whose reason has not dawned. Extreme Unction can deal with 10 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. the relics of sin in a sinner who lies insensible. Such independ ent power have these masterful Sacraments. Yet are they in bondage to our intention. They must be human acts, if they are to be divine ones also. They are not mere charms, or spells, or g] eight of hand. They have magic about them, but it is only that magic of incredible love in which God has clothed them with such resplendent beauty. Nothing, as I think, demonstrates the divinity of the Sacraments more evidently than this exquisite sensitiveness to human touch. " Now look out upon the great laboring world, the world of human actions and endurances. It is not possible to measure the influence which is being exercised upon the world at this moment by the Sacraments. They are penetrating the great mass of man- kind like the network of veins and arteries in a living body. They are being the causes of millions of actions, and they are hindering the consequences of millions of other actions. They are weaving good, and unweaving evil, incessantly. The roots of great events, which grow up and tower in history, are perhaps fixed in some secret Sacrament or other. The silent and orderly revolutions of the Church are often moulded in them. Society would hardly credit to what an extent it is held together by them. The influence of a single reception of a Sacrament may be handed down for generations ; and the making of the destinies of thou- sands may be in its hands. At this instant by far the greatest amount of earth's intercourse with heaven is carried on, directly or indirectly, through the Sacraments. There is a vast wild world of sorrow upon earth. But over great regions of it the Sacra- ments are distilling dews of heavenly peace. In the underground scenery of hidden hearts they are at work, turning wells of bitter- ness into springs of freshness and of life. They are drying the . widow's teai% raising up unexpected benefactors for the orphan nerving the pusillanimous, softening the desperate, rousing the torpid, crowning those who strive, and doing all things for those who die. As the animals came trooping to Adam to be named, so mortal sorrows are coming in herds at all hours to the Sacra- ments to receive the blessing of the second Adam. Somewhere *>r other at this moment a Communion may be giving a vocation THE SAOBAMENTS AND S AORAMENTALS . 11 to some youthful apostle who in after-years shall carry the Gospei to populous tribes in the Asian uplands, or throughout the newly- opened river-system of neglected Africa. Crowds in heaven shal3 owe their endless bliss to that one Communion. " But the world of human joys is not much less vast than the world of human sorrows; and the Sacraments are there also, purifying, elevating, sanctifying, multiplying, supernaturalizing multitudes of these blameless delights. Yet there is a difference between their action upon sorrows and their action upon joys. They make no sorrows. They cause no mourning. They create no darkness. Whereas they are forever creating gladnesses. Splendors flash from them as they move, and their splendors are all jubilees. They are fountains of happiness to all the earth. They cover even the monotonous sands of life with verdure, and make the desert bloom, and crown the hard rocks with flowers, and beautify with their softness the sternest solitudes. Who can tell what songs of human goodness are being sung this hour in the ear of God, because of the joyous inspirations of the Sacra- ments ? Of a truth human joy is a beautiful thing, a very wor- ship of the Creator. Out of Himself there is no beauty like it, unless it be the jubilee of angels. But the joys which the Sacra- ments have sanctified, and, still more, the joys which the Sacra- ments have gendered, who can tell how sweet they are to the complacency of our heavenly Father ? " Below the Sacraments, far, far below, with none of the almost miraculous character given to them by the divine institution, come the Sacramentals, channels to us of numberless graces and blessings, less rich, less full than those which flow in on the soul with such torrent-like power, but yet so necessary in the great scheme of the kingdom, that we should feel as though numbed and paralyzed by their privation. These signs and channels of actual grace, instituted by ecclesiastical authority — the ceremonies of divine worship, all the blessed articles employed in the various functions of the Church, her prayers either in divine worship or in the conferring of the Sacraments, the blessings on ourselves and all that form the various realms of nature — are employed for our well-being, and participate of the nature of Sacraments without being Sacraments. 12 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALb. OF THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL. Of the many definitions, each of them seemingly apt and ap propriate, which may serve to explain the nature of a Sacrament, there is none, says the catechism of the Council of Trent, more simple and perspicuous than that of St. Augustine, a definition which has since been adopted by all scholastic doctors. " A Sacra- ment," says he, " is a sign of a sacred thing ; or, as has beeD said in other words, but to the same purport, a Sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible grace, instituted for our justification." The Sacraments of the Old Law conferred only legal sanctity. Those of the New Law confer true internal sanctity. The Sacraments of the New Law were instituted by Christ for the sanctification and salvation of men. " Through them," says the Council of Trent, " all true justice either begins, or being begun, is increased, or being lost, is repaired." Sacraments, we said, are visible signs of invisible graces. Now, some one may ask, Are not images and crosses signs of sacred things ? I answer, they are, but they are not therefore Sacraments ; because it is the nature of a Sacrament not only to signify some sacred thing, but also to cause holiness or grace in the souL Crosses or images indeed signify some holy thing, but they do not contain or give grace ; but the Sacraments of the New Law do contain in themselves and give a sacred thing, viz. : grace. Thus St. Augustine writes : " The Sacraments of the Old Law promised the Saviour ; the Sacraments of the New Law give health and life ; for those did only signify, but these also effect what they signify. As the seal of a king not only repre- sents and shows the image of the king, but also makes and im- prints it in the wax ; in like manner, the Sacraments in the New Testament not only signify grace, but also imprint and work grace in the soul of man." The Catholic doctrine respecting the Sacraments in general is tius laid down by the (Ecumenical Council of Trent in its seventh session, celebrated on the third day of March, 154? : Canon L — If any one saith that the Sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or that they are more or less than seven, to wit : Baptism, Confirmation, THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. 13 the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony j or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a Sacrament, let him be anathema. Canon II. — If any one saith that these said Sacraments of tiie New Law do not differ from the Sacraments of the Old Law ga^e that the ceremonies are different, and different the outward rites, let him be anathema. Canon III. — If any one saith that these seven Sacraments are in such wise equal to each other, as that one is not in any way more worthy than another, let him be anathema. Canon IV. — If any one saith that the Sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous ; and that without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification ; though all (the Sacraments) are not indeed necessary for every individual, let him be anathema. Canon V. — If any one saith that these Sacraments were instituted for the sake of nourishing faith alone, let him be anathema. Canon VI. — If any one saith that the Sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify ; or that they do not confer that grace on those who do not place an obstacle there- unto ; as though they were merely outward signs of grace or justice received through faith, and certain marks of the Christian profession, whereby believers are distinguished amongst men from unbelieving, let him be anathema. Canon VII. — If any one saith that grace, as far as God's part is concerned, is not given through the said Sacraments always, and to all men, even though they receive them rightly, but (only) sometimes, and to some persons, let him be anathema. Canon VIII. — If any one saith that by the said Sacraments of the New Law grace is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for the obtain* ing of grace, let him be anathema. Canon IX. — If any man saith that in the three Sacraments (to wit), Baptism, Confirmation, and Order, there is not imprinted in the soul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible 14 THE SACRAMENTS AND 8A0RAMENTALS. sign, on account of which they can not be repeated, let him be anathema. Canon X. — If any one saith that all Christians have power to administer the word and all the Sacraments, let him be anathema Canon XI. — If any one saith that in ministers, when they ef feet and confer the Sacraments, there is not required the intention at least of doing what the Church does, let him be anathema. Canon XII. — If any one saith that a minister being in mortal sin, if so be that he observe all the essentials which belong to the effecting or conferring of the Sacrament, neither effects nor confers the Sacrament, let him be anathema. Canon. XIII — If any one saith that the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church, wont to be used in the solemn ad- ministration of the Sacraments, may be condemned, or without sin be omitted at pleasure by the ministers, or be changed by every pastor of the churches into other new ones, let him be ANATHEMA. The Sacraments of the Catholic Church are seven, as is proved from Scripture, from the unbroken tradition of the Fathers, and from the authoritative definitions of Councils. Why they are neither more nor less may be shown, at least with some degree of probability, even from the analogy that exists between the natural and the spiritual life. In order to exist, to preserve ex- istence, and to contribute to his own and* the public good, seven things seem necessary to man — to be born ; to grow ; to be nur- tured ; to be cured when sick ; when weak to be strengthened ; as far as regards the public weal, to have magistrates invested with authority to govern ; and finally, to perpetuate himself and his species by legitimate offspring. Analogous, then, as all these things obviously are to that life by which the soul lives to God ; we discover in them a reason to account for the number of the Sacraments. Amongst them the first is Baptism — the gate, as it were, to all the other Sacraments, by which we are born again to Christ. The next is Confirmation, by which we grow up, and are strengthened in the grace of God, for, as St. Augustine ob serves : " To the Apostles who had already received baptism, the Redeemer said : * Stay you in the city till you be endued with THE SACRAMENTS AND S AOR AM FHT A.L&. 15 power from on high.' " The third is the Eucharist, that true bread from heaven which nourishes our souls to eternal life. The fourth is Penance, by which the soul which has caught the cod fcagion of sin is restored to spiritual health. The fifth is Extreme Unction, which obliterates the traces of sin and invigorates the powers of the soul, of which St. James says : " If he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." The sixth is Holy Orders, which gives power to perpetuate in the Church the public administration of the Sacraments, and the exercise of all the sacred functions of the ministry. The seventh and last is Matrimony, a sacrament instituted for the legitimate and holy union of man and woman for the conservation of the human race, and the education of chil dren in the knowledge of religion and the love and fear of God. The Sacraments are typified in sacred art by the Book with seven seals which was seen in heaven by that beloved apostle who drew from the heart of Jesus such deep draughts of inspira- tion. They are the great channels of sanctifying grace obtained for man by the Lamb of God, who alone could open those sealed fountains. Hence the Sacraments were all instituted by our Lord Himself, since none but God could indissolubly connect material acts w r ith divine grace, or make it accompany them. The Church has always recognized the Seven Sacraments as insti- tuted by Jesus Christ, although the holy apostles and disciples who, under God's inspiration, wrote for the edification of the faithful, do not in all cases record the time or occasion — a fact thai can be easily understood when we see how St. John, with his heart full of love for his divine Master, telling so minutely the language and events of the Last Supper, notices the institu- tion of the Blessed Eucharist only by an allusion to the inscru- table and unfathomable love of Jesus, So, too, ceremonies ap- parently commanded by our Lord in positive terms, such as the washing of feet, have never at any time been regarded by the Church as Sacraments. The rites of the Old Law which ap» proach the sacramental character, such as circumcision and the like, were but types and shadows ; they were of the law and worked through the law ; they did not convey the grace pur chased by the blood of the Messias. 16 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. The Sacraments are the channels instituted by Jesus Christ, by which the saving graces are to be imparted to the soul. To the hierarchy and priesthood of the New Law the graces of state and an indelible character, with the right of duly administering the Sacraments, are imparted by the Sacrament of Holy Orders , by Baptism man is delivered from the bondage of Satan and orig- inal sin, cleansed white in the Blood of the Lamb ; he receives the indelible character of a Christian, and is enrolled as a citizen of the kingdom. He is confirmed indelibly in this character, and made a soldier of Christ by Confirmation, receiving a fullness of grace from the Holy Ghost ; if he falters in his allegiance, if he offends and transgresses, the Precious Blood, on his contrite return, will wash away his defilement in the Sacrament of Penance ; while, in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus Christ gives Himself as a food to the faithful soul — a food necessary to attain eternal life. He sancti- fied marriage, and through it the family, by blessing with His first miracle the wedding at Cana ; but He made matrimony a Sacrament by elevating it to be an image of His union with the Church ; and through it He pours grace to make its recipients holy as instruments in adding fresh citizens to His kingdom. Then, as the mortal career closes, Extreme Unction, that last unction of the Holy Spirit, soothes the sufferer in that last struggle which all must meet, but which no familiarity can rob of its terrors. Christ, in the deep love which overflowed" from His sacred Heart, by an invention of affection, gave this Sacrament with its grace for that fearful hour when human aid and human help avail not, and man feels unutterably alone. Thus the Sacraments differ as stars differ in glory. The Blessed Sacrament — the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ — is the sun, where grace is tasted in its very fountain; Order preserves the teaching Church as Matrimony the Church of the disciples. They are necessary to the kingdom, though not necessary to each and all, but necessary tc those who are called ; while those who follow the Lamb in virgin purity on earth are invited to swell the snow-white band that attend His triumph in heaven. But Baptism is necessary to all, and Penance to all who have lost their baptismal innocence ; while the Holy Eucharist, as the special food sustaining spiritual THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. 17 life, is, to those who have reached the age of reason and can ap- proach it, so necessary that to forego it entails exclusion from the Christian fold. Confirmation and Extreme Unction, though not absolutely necessary, yet can not be relinquished by the Christian who can approach them, without risk and peril to his immortal soul that none should incur. Each of these Sacraments has its peculiar graces ; and we need all the aids of grace to ob- tain our salvation. They are not merely pious ceremonies, in- tended to keep alive faith and devotion ; they are divine institu- tions, and attended with incalculable graces, which God bestows through them, and which can fail to benefit us only by neglect or unworthiness on our own part. • GRACE, AND ESPECIALLY THE GRACE OF THE SACRAMENTS. Grace, in its widest sense, means a favor, a mercy, a liberal kindness bestowed upon us, and to which we have no claim. Were it something ours by right, to which we were entitled ab- solutely, it would be no grace. Graces in the order of nature are all gifts, such as health, strength of body, mental abilities, genius, and talencs, which are bestowed on good and bad, believ- ers and unbelievers. These are all considered as graces, because God owes them to no one, and yet gives them to His human creat ures as it is pleasing to Him, and in what measure He pleases. Above these purely natural graces are the supernatural These are favors and blessings which God grants to His reason- able creatures — favors and graces which are not connected with our bodily life, but are given to aid us in the great end for which we were created, the attaining, by a life spent in obedience tc God's holy will, our salvation and eternal life. The Incarnation of the Eternal Word, His preaching, His miracles, His teaching, the establishment of His Church, the Sac- raments, His death, were external graces of the supernatural order ? while the interior helps which God gives us, such as good in« Bpirations, the gifts of faith, hope, and charity, are internal graces. Sanctifying or habitual grace is that grace of God which dwells 11 and remains with us ; which sanctifies us, and renders us just 18 THE SACRAMENTS AND 8 ACR AM EN T ALS. and agreeable in His eyes. It makes lis His friends, from having been His enemies by sin. In so far as salvation is concerned we can do no good without Sod's grace ; for salvation is a supernatural end, and we, of our« §elves, have only natural means, which are not adequate to attain it. We need a supernatural means, and this is grace. Yet we are free agents, and can resist or reject the grace offered us. We see this daily ; men turn a deaf ear to all the graces, rejecting the means of salvation and, as it were, courting their own destruction. We can not merit the first grace, or it would be a debt, not a grace ; but God never refuses His grace to those who ask it as they ought to do ; and, if we are lost, our destruction is from ourselves and the fault our own. To obtain God's grace and to abide in God's grace is, then, the aim of a Christian; to obtain that grace of final perseverance which will enable him to persevere to the end, and die the death of a saint. Prayer attracts or obtains grace; the Sacraments confer it. THE SEVEN SACKAMENTS. THE SACRAMENT OP BAPTISM — ORIGINAL SIN— THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. God formed man from the slime of the earth, immortal and impassible. His soul He created to His own imas"~ and likeness ; gifted him with free will, and tempered all his motions and appetites, so as to subject them, at all times, to the dictate of reason. He then added the invaluable gift of original righteous- ness. When Adam had departed from the obedience due to God, and had violated the prohibition " of every tree of Paradise thou shalt eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat, for in what day soever thou shalt eat it, thou shalt die the death;" he fell into the extreme misery of losing fche sanctity and righteousness in which he was created ; and of be* coming subject to all those other evils which are detailed by the Council of Trent. The first man Adam, when he transgressed THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. 19 the commandment of God in Paradise, immediately lost the holi ness and justice wherein he had been constituted, and incurred, through the offense of that prevarication, the wrath and indigna- tion of God, and, consequently, death, with which God had pre viously threatened him, and, together with death, captivity and his power who thenceforth had the empire of death — that is to say, the devil ; and through that offense of prevarication, Adam was wholly changed for the worse in body and soul. " This prevarication was not limited in its evil consequences only to Adam himself ; it injured his posterity also. The holiness and justice which he had received of God, he lost not for himself alone, but for us also ; and, denied by the sin of disobedience, he has transfused into the whole human race, not only death and bodily pains, but sin also, which is the death of the soul.' , As the apostle says : " By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned." (Kom. v. 12). Such is the teaching of the Catholic Church in the language of the Council of Trent. (1) This doctrine of the fall of man underlies not only the whole of the Old Testament, but is preserved in the traditions of all nations. Everywhere man retained the tradition of a purer and happier state in which he once was, and which he forfeited by his transgression. This original sin is the source of all human misery. It not only barred heaven against mankind ; but, by leaving him subject to concupiscence, or an incentive to sin — a captive under the power of Satan — exposed him to fall under temptations to actual sin, and the punishment due them. Human nature was utterly powerless to undo the evil done by Adam. There was no remedy but the merit of the one Mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath reconciled us to God in His own blood, made unto us justice, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. i 30). And that remedy was applied first to exempt from original sin the Virgin whom, from all eternity, the Eternal Father had decreed to be- come the Mother of His divine Son. (2) This doctrine has been ftt 8ess. V.. Jra* 17. 1546. (2) lb. 20 THE SACEAMENTS AND SACEAMENTALS. that of the Church from the earliest times — -was so well-known and generally diffused, that Mahomet took it, with other Christian truths, in forming his new religion ; so irrefragable, that Luthei even, after abandoning the one sheep-fold of the one Shepherd strenuously maintained it. It was implied in decisions of many Sovereign Pontiffs, and in the decree of the Council of Trent on Original Sin. It was woven into the very heart of the Catholic 5 world by devotions and festivals. The piety of the faithful asked that this should be specifically defined, and His Holiness, Pope Pius IX., on the 2d of February, 1849, in an encyclical letter, asked, from the bishops of the Cath- olic world, their testimony as to the pious belief and devotion of their several flocks toward the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, and the opinion of the bishops themselves as to the promulgation of a precise definition. The responses were in unison. All tongues became one. Then the Pope, on the 8th of December, 1854, in the presence of a vast array of bishops, issued Letters Apostolic, in which he said: "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privi- lege and grace of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful." (1) Clear and precise as this definition is, the enemies of the Church at once loudly assailed it, or, more generally, other doctrines which they supposed the Immaculate Conception to be. Some, denying the doctrine of original sin, and therefore believing in the immaculate conception of all mankind, denied that of Mary. Others claimed that it made her a goddess — as though Eve, when free from original sin, were consequently a goddess. The Catholic doctrine is clear. By the sin of Adam he drew not only on himself, but on his posterity, with the single excep- tion of Mary, whom God exempted, as the destined mother of His Son, from the guilt of original sin. Mary is said to be im- maculate in her conception — that is, that in the very first instant (1) IneffabiHs Deus. THE SAOKAMENTS AND SACBAMENTALS. 21 of her existence, when her soul was created and infused into the body, she was exempted from original sin, not subsequently sanc- tified in the womb, like the Prophet Jeremias and St. John the Baptist, after having been for a time subject to the guilt of Adam's transgression. The immaculate purity of this ever- Blessed Virgin is a privi lege of immense value, bestowed only on Mary. " Behold, they that serve Him are not steadfast, and in His angels He found wickedness ; but in Mary He found none. She, ever steadfast in His holy service, was, by the special disposition of Divine Prov- idence, from the very first instant of her conception, evermore preserved in innocence, and perfectly unsullied by the smallest stain of sin. She never ceased to be the undefiled temple of God, the chaste and immaculate spouse of the Holy Ghost." Her deliverance was through the merit of the Precious Blood of her Divine Son. For the rest of mankind, since the establish- ment of the Church, this merit of Jesus Christ is applied, both to adults and to infants, by the Sacrament of Baptism rightly administered. THE SAOEAMENT OF BAPTISM. "Baptism is a term of Greek origin, and means immersion, washing, purification. The first Sacrament is so called because it purifies our souls from the guilt of sin, as water washes and purifies the body. " That it is a Sacrament instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ is too plainly laid down in the Gospels to be controverted, and among all who separated from the Church, there were none so bold as to deny it, till these later days, when men begin to lose all faith, and many deny its supernatural effects. Yet the com mission to baptize is precise. i Going therefore, teach ye all na tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father > and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost' (St. Matthew xxviii. 19), Its effect ig no less clearly expressed by the lips of truth itself. 'Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he can not enter into the kingdom of God ' (St John iii. 57. 4 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, lit he that believeth not shall be condemned' (St. Markxvi. 16) 22 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACKAMENTALS. " Baptism is a sacrament which effaces all sin, and remits the punishment due to it. It makes us children of God and of His Church. Not only is original sin remitted by it, but all actual ains committed before its worthy reception. Baptism remits not only the sin itself, but also for time and eternity remits all pun- ishment due to the justice of God, for sins committed before it is received ; so that the baptized Christian is, at the moment of Baptism, if he worthily receive it, not accountable to the justice of God for anything. The mercy of God applies to us in this Sacrament, without any reserve, the merits of Jesus, in granting as the remission of all sin and all punishment. ' No act in life can surpass it in importance. It effects a most complete spiritual revolution, even in the unconscious child. It effects it in a most wonderful way.' 'Each Baptism is a greater, a diviner, a more magnificent work than the creation of the material world' 4 The grace of Baptism restores as to a supernatural standing ; it makes us God's adopted children. It does not merely rescue us from hell, and leave us to spend an eternity of mere natural blessed- ness by the streams and among the fruit-trees of some terrestrial paradise. It entitles us to possess and enjoy God forever. More- over, this Sacrament stores our souls with most mysterious graces. It infases celestial habits into us, and endows us with those un- fathomable wonders, the gifts of the Holy Ghost. No miracle can be more complete or more instantaneous, or more gratuitous than the grace of Baptism.' (1) And all these gifts and graces are bestowed to enable us to struggle against the inevitable con- sequences of Adam's sin which remain — ignorance, concupiscence, corporal and spiritual infirmities — from which we shall, if faith- ful to the end, be delivered after the general resurrection, a de- liverance that may be considered an effect of Baptism. " "Washed in the waters of Baptism, we begin a new life of grace in Jesus Christ, which unites us to God in faith, hope, and aharity ; which enables us to call God our Father, and regard His kingdom as our inheritance. (2) We live by the life of Jesus, or rather He lives in us, and we are His members ; and thus united to Him, we are adopted by God as His children, and (1) Faber. (2) Council of Trent. Sess. V., ch. vii. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. 23 co-heirs with Jesus Christ to His heavenly kingdom (Gal. iL 20 Eph. v. 30 ; 1 John iii 1 ; Kom. viii. 17). Baptism numbers us among the faithful, and gives us a right to the other Sacraments, all which it must invariably precede. As it imprints an indelible character on the soul, it can not be repeated. The ordinary ministers of the Sacrament of Baptism are the bishops and priests. Deacons are the only extraordinary minis- ters who can baptize solemnly, using all the ceremonies; but in case of necessity — of imminent death — any one, without distinc- tion of sex and religion, can give private baptism, provided only that he has the intention to do what the Church does. This has always been the practice of the Catholic Church, as the tradition of every age attests. In these cases, if several are at hand, the baptism should be given by an ecclesiastic, if present, rather than by a lay person ; by a Catholic, rather than one not of the faith ; by a man, rather than a woman ; but, except in case of extreme necessity, a parent should not baptize his own child. Private baptism is conferred by taking water — either holy water or any natural water, from spring, well, lake, or river; rain-water, or even dew — and pouring it on the person to be baptized, if possible on the head, taking care that the water touches the skin, though it is enough, for the validity of the Sacrament, that the water touch any considerable part of the body. While pouring the water, the one who confers baptism must say : " I baptize thee in the name of the Father *f«, and of the Son and of the Holy *i« Ghost." Where there is no such danger of death as to call for private baptism, the child should be taken as early as possible to the parish church to receive this Sacrament ; and, if it survives after private baptism, should be taken to have the ceremonies supplied, In such case, it should always be stated that private baptism has been conferred. The Baptism of infants is not positively directed in the Gospels ; but it is directly inferred, and this inference is clearly justified by the testimony of universal tradition, and the unvarying prao- 24 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. tice of the Chureh since the Apostles. The Council of Trent formally condemns those who assert that little children, for that they have not actual faith, are not to be reckoned amongst the faithful after having received Baptism, or that Baptism should be deferred till they have attained years of discretion. (1) No Catholic parent who loves his child really, will defer its Baptism. What will he not do to shield it from disease ? But here, worse than disease, the eternal loss of the beatific vision, in case of early death, threatens it ; if life is spared, the child is under the bondage of Satan, concupiscence gains strength, the graces of God are withheld, it is daily weakened for the struggle of life, and for its attainment of everlasting happiness. CEREMONY OF BAPTISM. The person to be baptized, with a god-father and god-mother, goes to the church and is met by the priest in surplice and violet stole, who stops him, where the full ceremony is observed, at the door, to show that one subject to original sin is unworthy to be admitted, as it makes him a slave of the devil and subject to his empire. Then he asks: "What dost thou ask of the. Church of God?" The sponsor or adult answers: "Faith.' 7 "What doth faith obtain for thee ? " " Life everlasting." Then the priest con- tinues : u If, then, thou wilt enter into life, keep the command- ments : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." Then he breathes thrice on the face of the one to be baptized, " to signify," says St. Augustine, " the repulsion of the devil by the Holy Spirit? who is called the breath of God, and by the merits of Christ." He then says : " Depart from him, un- clean spirit, and give place unto the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete." Then he makes the sign of the cross on the forehead and breast of the person to be baptized, to teach us that we should glory in the Cross of Christ, and love it, nor ever be ashamed to acknowl- edge ourselves Christians, or fulfill our duties as such. " Receive (U Bees. VII. On Baptism, Canon xiii. THE SACEAMENTS AJSD SAOEAMEitfTALS. 25 tne sign of the cross, both upon thy forehead and also upon thy heart ; take unto thee the faith of the heavenly precepts, and in thy manners beseech that thou mayest be now the temple of God.' } Then he prays God to keep the elect one by His perpetual assist- ance, that he may merit, by keeping the commandments, to attain jnto the glory of regeneration. Then he lays his hand on the head, and prays, beseeching God to drive out all blindness of heart, to break the bonds of Satan, to open to him the gates of mercy, that he may be free from wicked desires, and joyfully serve Him in His Church. Then the priest blesses the salt, by a prayer in the form of an exorcism, and puts a little into the mouth of the child, to signify the wisdom and taste for heavenly things which the Church de- mands for her children — for salt is symbolical of wisdom. Then, wishing peace, he prays God to suffer the child no longer to hunger for want of being filled with heavenly meat, so that he may be always fervent in spirit, rejoicing in hope, always serving the name of God. Then he continues : "Bring him, O Lord, we beseech Thee, to the laver of regeneration, that with Thy faithful he may deserve to attain unto the everlasting rewards of Thy promises." Then he again exorcises the evil spirit in the name of the Holy Trinity, and bids him depart at the command of Jesus Christ, who walked upon the water. Next he makes the sign of the cross, with his thumb, on the forehead of the person to be baptised, saying : " And this sign of the holy cross, which we make upon his forehead, do thou, accursed devil, never dare to violate. 1 * Then laying his hand on the head of the person to be baptized, the priest prays the Almighty to enlighten His servant with the light of wisdom ; to cleanse, sanctify him, and give him true knowledge, that, being made worthy of the grace of Baptism, he may retain firm hope, right counsel, and holy doctrine. Aftef this, the priest lays the end of his stole upon the child or adult, and admits him into the church, saying : " Enter into the temple of God, that thou mayest have part with Christ unto life everlast- ing." When they have entered the church, the priest, as he pro- ceeds to the font, says the Creed and the Lord's Prayer with the 26 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. sponsors, to show that the Church baptizes only those who live in the faith of Christ and His Church, and to show that she de- sires none of her children to be ignorant of the prayer which Out Lord taught The entering into the church, while reading the Creed, shows that it is only by the profession and belief of the true faith that we can merit heaven. Before he reaches the font he pronounces another exorcism. Then the priest, wetting his finger with saliva, and touching in succession both ears of the person, in the form of the cross, says : " Ephphetha that is to say Hh Be thou opened;" then, touching the nostrils, "for a savor of sweetness. But thou, Satan fly ! behold the great and mighty God approaches, the God who wresteth the prey from the strong." This ceremony is based on the action of Our Lord, when curing the deaf and dumb man, and shows that the Church desires her children to have their ears ever open to hear the Word of God, and never be deaf to it, under the influence of the evil one. The priest then interrogates the one to be baptized, by name , " N., dost thou renounce Satan ? " And he answers, if an adult, or the sponsor answers for him, if a child : " I do renounce him." " And all his works ? " Again the answer is : "I do renounce them." " And all his pomps ? " Again the reply comes : a I do renounce them." These promises are required because, in Baptism, the obligations are reciprocal. Man engages to renounce the devil, his worts and pomps, and God engages to give eternal life to all those who faithfully keep these promises. By them the Christian renounces the devil and his partisans ; the maxims, pride, and vanity of the world ; and sin in all its forms. He believes in Jesus Christ, enrolls himself in His service, submits to the mysteries He has revealed, desires to follow His doctrine and example, to belong to the body of His disciples and soldiers, and to take Him and no other for his Master. It is a pious custom often, in after life, to renew these promises, in order to reanimate our faith and courage. After this, the priest dips his thumb in the oil of the Catechu- mens, and anoints the person on the breast and between the Bhoulders, in the form of the cross, saying : " I anoint thee + with THE SACRAMENTS AND SA0RAMENTAL8. 27 the oil of salvation, in Christ Jesus •{« our Lord, that thou mayest have life everlasting." This, as explained by St. Cyril of Jeru- salem, is emblematic of the grace which enables Christians ta meet the toils and combats of a spiritual life, and which sweetens the yoke of Jesus Christ which the Catechumen assumes. The priest then reverses his stole from violet to white, and proceeds : " N., dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth ? " The person or his sponsor an- swers : "I do believe." "Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born, and suffered \ " "I do be- lieve." " Dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting ? " "I do believe." " N., wilt thou be baptized ? " The person or sponsor replies, u I will" Sponsors should always know this ceremony, and make the re- sponses plainly and distinctly. Then the god-father or god-mother, or both, hold or touch the person to be baptized, and the priest takes the baptismal water in a small vessel, and pours it thrice on the head of the person to be baptized, in the form of a cross, and at the same time says : u N., I baptize thee, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Then he anoints him on the top of the head with holy chrism, saying: "May God Almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath regenerated thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and who hath given unto thee remission of all thy sins, Himself anoint thee with the chrism of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, unto life everlasting." He next lays a white linen cloth on the head of the child, in- stead of the white linen garment anciently worn for a week by the newly baptized, and says: "N., receive this white garment and see thou carry it without stain before the tribunal of oui Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life." Then h«3 gives the baptized or the sponsor a lighted candle, saying : u N., receive this burning light, and keep thy baptism blameless : ob- serve the commandments of God, that, when thf Lord shall come 28 THE SAGRAMENT8 AND SAOKAMENTALS. to the nuptials, thou mayest meet Him, together with all the sainta, in the heavenly court, and have eternal life, and live forever and ever. Amen." Then he dismisses the new Christian : " N., go tjl peace, and the Lord be with thee." The unction of the head signifies that we are, in a certain sense, what St. Peter calls us : "a kingly priesthood, a holy nation " (1 St. Peter ii. 9). Kings and priests are anointed, and we are, by our union with Jesus Christ, made, in a certain sense, partakera of His priesthood and royalty. We are kings, also, by the em- pire of grace, by which we reign over our passions, and by our right to heaven, where we shall reign with Christ forever. We are, too, by this unction, consecrated to God as His temples. The burning taper given to the newly baptized is to teach him that he should walk by the light of faith, and that, by the lustre of his virtues, and the ardor of his charity, he should be a burn ing and shining light to mankind. The ceremonies of Baptism are very ancient. Tertullian, St, Basil, St. Cyril, St. Augustine explained them centuries ago ; and the Church retains them as they came down from primitive times. They tell, in unmistakable terms, her belief in the doctrine of original sin, and in the terrible power which that sin gave the devil over the human race. It looks to J esus Christ alone to de- liver us from that bondage, and to support us in our weakness during the struggle which is to last during life with the three great enemies of salvation then renounced, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, enemies that will not relinquish their claim, nor cease seeking to regain by every means the empire they lose in Baptism. What parent meditating on all this can not but feel more deeply the responsibility of bringing up that child, or promise in heart to do all that is possible to ward off from it all temptation, and try by prayer, instruction, counsel, and good example, to fit ihat child for the struggle with the enemies of its salvation ? What parent, conscious of all these perils, can deliberately de- prive a child of a sound Catholic education, or expose it to influ- ences where its faith will be weakened, false impressions received, shame perhaps of the true faith gradually instilled, so that the THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOKAMENTALS. 29 child, when the danger is greatest, is without the helps supplied by the Sacraments and the Holy Sacrifice, and perishes i At baptism, besides those who administer the Sacrament, god« fathers and god-mothers are also required. They present to the church the person to be baptized, and are witnesses of his bap tism ; they also answer in his name, when the person to be bap- tized is a child. They are strictly bound to exercise a constant vigilance over their spiritual children, and carefully to instruct thorn in the maxims of a Christian life. Only Catholics should be admitted as sponsors. THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. Confirmation, though having a most intimate connection with baptism, is yet an entirely different sacrament. For, in baptism, the Christian is enlisted into the service, in confirmation he is equipped for battle ; at the baptismal font the Holy Ghost im- parts the plenitude of innocence, in confirmation the perfection of grace ; in baptism we are regenerated to life, after baptism we are fortified for the combat ; in baptism we are cleansed, in con- firmation we are strengthened ; regeneration saves by its own efficacy those who receive baptism in peace, confirmation arms and prepares for the conflict. At the time when the fire of the passions is about to be enkindled in the heart, and the mind is sufficiently capable of knowing God, He becomes the ruling spirit of the youth, pervad- ing all the faculties of the soul in its now restless and expanded state. But dangers multiply as youth advances ; a stranger cast without experience upon the perilous ways of the world, he has need of additional helps. At this crisis religion does not forget her child ; she has her reinforcements in reserve. Confirmation will support his trembling steps, like the staff in the hands of the traveler, or like those sceptres which passed from race to race among the royal families of antiquity. All the morality of life Is implied in the Sacrament of Confirmation , because, " whoever 30 THE SACKAMENTS AND SACRAMENTAL8. has the courage to confess God will necessarily practice virtue, as the commission of crime is nothing but the denial of the Crea tor."(l) There was never such need of supernatural strength as there is in our days. Look at the young people entering the world, and what Christian parent will not shrink with dread from the dangers to which her children are to be exposed. Religion is de- rided and made light of ; the religion of the Son of God, illus- trated by the lives of all who are holy, great, noble, learned, and sublime in history, is treated as an idle tale ; every effort is made to weaken the faith of the Catholic youth — to make it, in fact, ashamed of its Church, when that Church, even to those who deny its claims, is so grand and incomprehensible as to inspire them with awe. Where, then, is the Catholic parent to seek supernatural strength for that child to meet its terrible antagonists? The Church answers : In the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirma- tion is a Sacrament of the New Law, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ ; it communicates the Holy Ghost to those already baptized, to strengthen them in their faith and make them per- fect Christians. The outward sign of this Sacrament is the im- position of the bishop *s hands, the anointing with chrism, and the form of prayer used by him. The inward grace is the giving of the Holy Ghost. In the primitive times this was manifested by miraculous gifts, but, as St. Augustine says : " Temporal and sensible miracles do not now attest that the Holy Ghost is given by the imposition of hands, as he was formerly given to confirm incipient faith, and extend the rising Church. For who now ex- pects that those on whom hands are imposed, that they may re- ceive the Holy Ghost, should suddenly begin to speak with tongues ? But divine charity is understood to be invisibly and secretly inspired into their hearts by the bond of peace ; so that fchey can say : ' The charity of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given us.' "(2) Confirmation has all the character of a Sacrament, and as such it is recognized by the uniform, universal, and constant tradition (1) Chateaubriand. (2) Lib. 3, De Baptism., contra Donat , ch. 16. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. SI of the Church. (1) It was denied in the sixteenth century be cause the Gospels do not record the particular occasion wherein Christ commissioned Sis apostles to communicate the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. But the Gospels nowhere assume to detail the conversation of our Lord with His apostles during the period after His resurrection, when He instructed them in re- gard to the kingdom of God. Certain it is that they, confirmed by receiving the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, could not of themselves have instituted a rite to convey the Holy Ghost, and had they done so, no miraculous powers would have attended such an un- authorized act. The miracles that accompanied confirmation proved their authority from their Divine Master to administer the Sacrament. It was a Sacrament reserved to the apostles and the bishops instituted by them. This is clear from the first con- firmation recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. When the mar- tyrdom of St. Stephen scattered the Church at Jerusalem, St. Philip the deacon rivalled his martyred colleague by the zeal wherewith he announced J esus Christ crucified to the inhabitants of Samaria. Heaven gave its solemn sanction to the preaching of its herald. The palsied and the lame by his interposition re- covered the use of their limbs ; at his command demons fled from the bodies which they harassed ; other prodigies manifested his divine commission, and Samaria embraced the Gospel. The holy deacon administered the Sacrament of Baptism to the converted multitudes. But something more was needed. Deacon he was, and could baptize ; but Confirmation was needed, and this re quired one of the apostles. Messengers were sent to Jerusalem, and St. Peter and St. John set out to confirm the Samaritans. This at once implies a customary act, and shows that it had been the custom that the apostles confirmed those who had been bap- tized, and must have done so in many cases at Jerusalem. " When they (the apostles) were come, they prayed for them (the newly- baptized Samaritans), that they might receive the Holy Ghost For He was not yet come upon any one of them ; but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid (1) Tertullian Dt Bapt., ch. 7. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book YL, ch. 48. St Cyprian, Ep. 7. Optatus, St. Pacian, St. Jerome, St. Augnstine, St. Cyril of Alex. 32 THE 8 AC(R A.MENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost " (Acta viii. 17). We have also recorded a Confirmation by St. Paul at Ephesus, Some disciples of St. John the Baptist heard the preaching of St. Paul and embraced the faith. " They were bap- tized in the name of the Lord Jesus ; and when Paul had im- posed hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied " (Acts xix. 5, 6). St. Paul indeed, in his Epistle to the Hebrews (vi. 2), classes as more per- fect things, mysteries of which to discourse, the doctrine of Bap- tism and the Imposition of Hands. To receive this Sacrament one must be baptized. It was at one time customary to confirm immediately after baptism ; now, in the Western Church, the Sacrament is deferred till the person has attained the age of reason, that it may be received with greater fruit after proper instruction, and that the young Chris- tian may have some idea of his dangers, and of the necessity of this great supernatural help, feeling already the temptations which are to beset his path in life. The Sacrament is to be re- ceived in a state of grace, and the person to be confirmed should know the principal mysteries of faith. Absolutely speaking, one may J)e saved without Confirmation ; but in view of the temptations and dangers, there would be every probability against it. It is certainly a sin to neglect to receive it, or, what is worse, to despise it, because this is a disobedience to God's will, who instituted the Sacrament ; and to deprive our- selves voluntarily of so powerful an aid to salvation can not but displease the Almighty. The greater the temptations or perse- cutions of the times to all Catholics, or to any one in particular, the greater becomes the necessity for receiving it. When the bishop comes to give confirmation in a church, all not confirmed, who are of sufficient age, should prepare by a good confession, and by attending the instructions always given, or by instruction at home from suitable books. On the day appointed they should come fasting, according to the general usage of the Church, although this is not 'of such imperative necessity as in the case of Communion. The bishop, turning toward those who are to be confirmed THE SACRAMENTS AND SACKAMENTALS. 33 with his hands joined before his breast, says : " May the Holy Ghost come down upon you, and the power of the Most High keep you from all sin. Amen." Then, making the sign of tha cross, he says : " Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. O Lord! hear my prayer: and let my cry come unto Thee. The Lordl be with you to which is responded " And with thy spirit." Then extending his hands toward those who are to be confirmed, which the ancients called the Imposition of Hands, he addresses this solemn prayer to the eternal Father, begging of Him, through Jesus Christ His Son, that He would send down His Holy Spirit, with all His gifts, into their souls. "O Almighty, everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these Thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and who hast given them the remission of their sins ; send forth upon them the seven-fold Holy Spirit, the Paraclete from heaven. Amen. The spirit of wisdom and of understanding. Amen. The spirit of counsel and of fortitude. Amen. The spirit of knowledge and of piety* Amen. Replenish them with the spirit of Thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the »f« cross of Christ, in Thy mercy, unto life everlasting, through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen," Then the bishop takes the name of each person that is to be confirmed, which may either be the same he had in baptism, or the name of any saint whom he chooses for his patron. He makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of each with the holy chrism, or consecrated oil, saying: "N., I sign thee with the sign of the* cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of »§* the Father, and of *{« the Son, and of the Holy *f* Ghost. Amen." Then he gives the person confirmed a little blow on the cheek, saying, Pax tecum, Peace be with thee; to signify that henceforth he is to be ready, like a true soldier of Jesus Christ, to suffer patiently all kinds of affronts and injuries for his faith and for the cause of his Lord ; and to comfort himself, that the true peace of God which " surpasseth all understanding " (Phil. iv. 7), will 84 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. ever be with him in all his conflicts and sufferings for so good a cause. The chrism with which the Sacrament of Confirmation is ad- ministered in the Catholic Church, is a compound of oil of olives and balm or balsam, solemnly consecrated by the bishop on Maundy-Thursday, kept with great veneration in the Church, and made use of only in the consecration of such things as are in a particular manner set aside for the service of God, and dedi- cated and sanctified to him. Thus we consecrate with this holy unction bishops, churches, altars, and chalices ; and whatsoever is once anointed with this sacred chrism, is in such a manner looked upon as set apart for God, that it must not, on any account, be perverted or turned to profane uses ; it would be no less a crime than a sacrilege to violate or profane any such thing that has been thus sanctified. Hence Christians are to understand that by this unction of the holy chrism, which they receive in their Confirmation, they are also solemnly dedicated and consecrated to God, to be His temples forever ; that this outward unction is the visible sign of an inward unction and sanctification of their souls by the Holy Ghost ; that the mysterious compound of oil and balm, denotes the properties, graces, and effects of this Holy Spirit in their souls. For the oil represents the fullness of the grace received ; both because, as oil, when dropped upon any- thing, spreads itself upon it, and insinuates itself into all its parts, so the grace of this Holy Sacrament penetrates into the soul and diffuses itself throughout all her powers ; and also be- cause oil, being a smooth, mild substance, it represents that spirit of mildness and patience under the cross, which is one principal effect of Confirmation. At the same time, as the balm has a par- ticular property of preserving bodies after death from putrefac- tion, it fitly represents the fortifying grace received in Confirma- tion, by which our souls are preserved from the corruption of sin after our sins have been destroyed by baptism. After all have been confirmed, the bishop washes his hands, and, in the meantime, the following anthem is said or sung : " Confirm, O God, that which Thou hast wrought in us from Thy holy temple, which is in Jerusalem. Glory be to the Father and THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. 35 to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost : as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." Then the bishop, repeating this anthem, turns to the altar and says : " Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy : " to which is responded, "And grant us Thy salvation." "O Lord, hear my prayer:" "And let my cry come unto Thee." "The Lord be with you:" to which in the name of the people they respond, "And with thy spirit." Then he proceeds : " Let us pray. O God, who gavest the Holy Ghost to Thy apostles, and hast been pleased to ordain that, by them and by their successors, He should be given to the rest of the faithful ; mercifully look down upon what we, Thy poor servants, have done, and grant that the hearts of these Thy faithful, whose foreheads we have anointed with Thy sacred chrism, and signed with the sign of the holy cross, may, by the same Holy Ghost coming down into them, and by His vouch- safing to dwell in them, be made the temple of His glory. Who, with the Father and the same Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen. Then the bishop gives his benediction to all present in these words : " Behold, thus shall every man be blessed, who feareth the Lord. May the Lord bless you out of Sion, that you may see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life ; and that you may live with Him for all eternity. Amen." Confirmation produces striking effects in the souL The grace of xhe Holy Spirit strengthens us against all exterior as well as interior temptations. Moreover, the character, which, like that of Baptism, is impressed on the soul, is one which can not be effaced. The exterior temptations against which we here receive divine strength, are persecutions, outrages, wrongs, affronts, and, gener- ally, all that wicked men can force Christians to endure, in order to shake their faith, or seduce them from virtue. The interior temptations are all those motions of concupiscence which the devil foments in us by his suggestions, and the world by its malice and evil example. The Holy Ghost enables us to resist thesa temptations by augmenting and perfecting charity in us ; and by His gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, 36 THE SACRAMENTS AN D S AOB AMENTALS. piety, and the fear of the Lord (Isaias x\ 2) : Wisdom being a gift; of the Holy Ghost that detaches us from this world, and gives us a taste and love only for the things of God. Understanding is a gift which enables us to comprehend justly the truths and mysteries of religion. Counsel enables us to choose what con- tributes mostly to the glory of God and our own salvation. For- titude makes us surmount courageously all the obstacles and t difficulties we meet in our way to heaven. Knowledge enables us to see the path in which we must walk, and all the snares and dangers to be avoided in the road to everlasting life. Piety is a gift which inclines us to serve God with facility and delight The fear of the Lord fills us with respect mingled with love foi our Creator, and makes us dread to offend Him. Baptism made us children of God ; in Confirmation we become soldiers of Jesus Christ. THE SACKAMENT OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST. THE BLESSED SAOBAMEOT. Jesus, veiled in His own great mystery of love, offered by our priests, dwelling on our altars, feeding our souls — this is the sacred and venerable truth which we are now about to consider. Our Lord, who having loved His own, loved them to the end, to give them some admirable and divine pledge of this His love, aware that the hour was come when He should pass out of this world to the Father, by an effort of wisdom which transcends the order of nature, devised a means of being always present with His own. Having celebrated the feast of the Paschal Lamb with His disci- ples, that the figure might give way to the reality, the shadow to the substance, " Jesus took bread, and giving thanks to God, blessed and brake and gave to his disciples, and said : Take ye and eat ; this is my body ; this do for the commemoration of me. And taking the chalice, he said : This chalice is the New Testa- ment in my blood." As Catholic devotion, taking the dearest attribute to the Mother THE SAOBAMENTS AND SA0BA3TENTALS. 37 of our Lord, couples with it the title she declared would be given her by all generations, and knows her best as " The Blessed Vir gin," so Catholic devotion singles one of the Sacraments, ane! loves to call it " The Blessed Sacrament." All the Sacraments are blessed and blessing, but this is pre- eminently blessed. Others give grace, here is the source of grace ; others consist of a sign or ceremony, this contains Him who gives all rites and ceremonies, all Sacraments, their power, and efficacy . Jesus (jurist, in His Body and Blood. The doctrine of the Catholic Church, as to the Real Presence, is that of the Greek, Armenian, Syriac, Chaldee, Coptic, Abys- sinian, Malabar, and other Oriental Churches, none of which ever departed from this uniform standard of faith. The Reformers, as they called themselves, in the sixteenth century, first dared to reject this universally received dogma, based, as it is, on the plain words of Scripture. The holy Council of Trent, in its Thirteenth Session, under the Sovereign Pontiff Julius HL (October 11, 1551), thus defines the Catholic doctrine : " The sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod of Trent — lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same Legate and Nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding therein — although the end for which it assembled, not without the special guidance and governance of the Holy Ghost, was, that it might set forth the true and ancient doctrine touching faith and the Sacraments, and might apply a remedy to all heresies, and the other most grievous troubles with which the Church of God is now miserably agitated, and rent into many and various parts ; yet even from the outset, this especially has been the object of its desires, that it might pluck up by the roots those laws of execrable errors and schisms wherewith the enemy hath, in these our calamitous days, over- sown the doctrine of the faith, in the use and worship of the sacred and holy Eucharist, which our Saviour, notwithstanding^ left in His Church as a symbol of that unity and charity with which He would fain have all Christians be mutually joined and united together. Wherefore this sacred and holy Synod, deliver- ing here on this venerable and divine Sacrament of the Eucharist 38 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT AL8. that sound and genuine doctrine which the Catholic Church, in structed by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and by His apostles, and by the Holy Ghost, who, day by day, brings to her mind all truth (St. John xiv. 26; xvi. 13), has always retained and will preserve even to the end of the world, forbids all the faithful of Christ, to presume to believe, teach, or preach henceforth, con cerning the Holy Eucharist, otherwise than as is explained and defined in this present decree. " In the first place, the holy Synod teaches and openly and sim- ply professes, that in the august Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesua Christ, true God and man, is. ciuly, really, and substantially con- tained und Q r the species of those sensible things. For neither are these things mutually repugnant, that our Saviour himself always sitteth at the right hand of the Father in heaven, accord- ing to the natural mode of existing, and that, nevertheless, He b^, in many other places, sacramentally present to us in His own substance, by a manner of existing, which, though we can scarcely express it in words, yet can we by the understanding illuminated by faith conceive, and we ought most firmly to believe, to be pos- sible unto God ; for thus all our forefathers, as many as were in the true Church of Christ, have most openly professed that our Redeemer instituted this so admirable Sacrament at the Last Sup- per, when, after the blessing of the bread and wine, He testified, in express and clear words, that He gave them His own very Body and Blood ; words which — recorded by the Holy Evangel- ists, and afterwards repeated by St. Paul, whereas they carry with them that proper and most manifest meaning in which they were understood by the Fathers — it is, indeed, a crime the most unworthy, that they should be wrested by certain contentious and wicked men, to fictitious and imaginary tropes, whereby the verity of the flesh and blood of Christ is denied, contrary to the imversal sense of the Church, which, as 'the pillar and ground oi truth,' has detested as satanical these inventions devised by impious men ; she recognizing with a mind ever grateful and un forgetting this most excellent benefit of Christ. (1) (1) Acts and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Sees, xiii., ch. 1. PHE SACRAMENTS AND S A OR AMENTALS. 39 u Wherefore our Saviour, when about to depart out of this world to the Father, instituted this Sacrament, in which He poured forth, as it were, the riches of His divine love toward man, making a remembrance of His wonderful works (Ps. ex. 4) ; and He com manded us, in the participation thereof, to venerate His memory and to show forth His death until He come (1 Cor. xi. 26) tc judge the world. And He would also that this Sacrament should be received as the spiritual food of souls, whereby may be fed and strengthened those who live with His life, who said : i He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me ' (John vi. 58) • and as an antidote whereby we may be freed from daily faults, and be preserved from mortal sins. He would, furthermore, have it be a pledge of our glory to come, and everlasting happiness, and thus be a symbol of that one body whereof He is the Head, and to which He would fain have us members, be united by the closest bond of faith, hope, and charity, ' that we might all speak the same things, and there might be no schisms amongst us ' (1 Cor. i. 10). (1) " The most Holy Eucharist has, indeed, this in common with the rest of the Sacraments : that it is a symbol of a sacred thing, and is a visible form of an invisible grace. But there is found in the Eucharist this excellent and peculiar thing : that the other Sacraments have, then, first the power of sanctifying when one uses them, whereas, in the Eucharist, before being used, there is the Author himself of sanctity. For the Apostles had not as yet received the Eucharist from the hand of the Lord, when, never- theless, Himself affirmed with truth that to be His own Body which He presented to them. And this faith has ever been in the Church of God. that ; immediately after the consecration, the veritable Body of our Lord, and His veritable Blood, togethei with His soul and divinity, are under the species of bread and wine ; but the Body, indeed, under the species of bread, and the Blood under the species of wine, by the force of the words ; but the Body itself under the species of wine, and the Blood under the species of bread, and the soul under both, by the force of that natural connection and concomitancy whereby the parts of (1) Acts and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Sess. XIII., ch. ii. 40 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. Christ our Lord, ' who hath now risen from the dead to die no more' (1 Cor vi. 9), are united together; and the divinity, furthermore, on account of the admirable hypostatical union thereof with His body and soul. Wherefore, it is most true that as much is contained under either species as under both ; for Christ, whole and entire, is under the species of bread, and under any part whatsoever of that species ; likewise the whole (Christ) is under the species of wine, and under the parts thereof. (1) " And because that Christ our Eedeemer declared that which He offered under the species of bread to be truly His own Body, therefore has it ever been a firm belief in the Church of God — and this holy Synod doth now declare it anew — that by the con- secration of the bread and of the wine, a conversion is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His Blood ; which conversion is, by the holy Catholic Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantia- tion. (2) u Wherefore there is no room left for doubt that all the faith- ful of Christ may, according to the custom ever received in the Catholic Church, render in veneration the worship of latria, which is due to the true God, to this most holy Sacrament. For not, therefore, is it the less to be adored on this account, that it was instituted by Christ the Lord, in order to be received ; for we believe that same God to be present therein, of whom the eternal Father, when introducing Him into the world, says: * And let all the angels of God adore him' (Ps. xcvi. 7); whom the wise men, falling down, adored (Matt, ii. 11) ; who, in fine, as the Scripture testifies, was adored by the apostles in Galilee. "The holy Synod declares, moreover, that very piously and religiously was this custom introduced into the Church, that this sublime and venerable Sacrament be, with special veneration and solemnity, celebrated every year, on a certain day, and that a festival; and that it be borne reverently/ and with honor in pro- cessions through the streets and public places. For it is most just that there be certain appointed holy days, whejeon all Chris* (1) Ib M ch. iii. (2) Ib. s ch. iv. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. 41 fcians may, with special and unusual demonstrations, testify that their minds are grateful and mindful to their common Lord and Redeemer for a benefit so unspeakable and truly divine, whereby the victory and triumph of His death are represented ; and so, indeed, did it behoove victorious truth to celebrate a triumph over falsehood and heresy, that thus her adversaries, at the sight of so much splendor, and in the midst of so great joy, of the uni- versal Church, may either pine away (Ps. cxi. 10), weakened and broken, or, touched with shame and confounded, at length re- pent. (1) " The custom of reserving the Holy Eucharist in the Tabernacle is so ancient that even the age of the Council of Nicaea (ch. xiii) recognized that usage. Moreover, as to carrying the sacred Eucharist itself to the sick, and carefully reserving it for this purpose in churches, besides that it is exceedingly conformable to equity and reason, it is also found enjoined in numerous coun- cils, (2) and is a very ancient observance of the Catholic Church. Wherefore, this holy Synod ordains that this salutary and necea- sary custom is to be by all means retained. (3) a If it is unbeseeming for any one to approach to any of the sacred functions unless he approach holily, assuredly the more the holiness and divinity of this heavenly Sacrament are under- stood by a Christian, the more diligently ought he to give heed that he approach not to receive it, but with great reverence and holiness, especially as we read in the apostle those words full of terror : ' He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself' (1 Cor. xL 29). Wherefore, he who would communicate ought to recall to mind the precept of the apostle : 1 Let a man prove himself ' (1 Cor. xi 28). Now ecclesiastical usage declares that necessary proof to be, that no one, conscious to himself of mortal sin, how contrite soever he may seem to himself, ought to approach to the sacred Eucharist without previous sacramental confession. This, the holy Synod (1) Acta and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Sess. XTEL, ch. vii. (2) Council of Rheims, ch. ii. 10; Labbe, V., 1698; Council of Later an under Inx&o* eent HI., ch. xxvi. ; Council of Ancyra, ch, yi; ; Council of Agatha, ch. xv. (8) Acts, etc., of Council or Trent, ch. vi 42 THE &AOBAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. hath decreed, is to be invariably observed by all Christians, even by those priests on whom it may be incumbent by their office to celebrate, provided the opportunity of a confessor do not fail them ; but if, in an urgent necessity, a priest should cele- brate without previous confession, let him confess as soon as pos- sible. (1) " Now, as to the use of this Holy Sacrament, our Fathers (2) have rightly and wisely distinguished three ways of receiving it For they have taught that some receive it sacramentally only, to wit, sinners ; others, spiritually only, those, to wit, who, eating in de- sire that heavenly bread which is set before them, are, by a lively faith 1 which worketh by charity ' (Gal. v. 6), made sensible of the fruit and usefulness thereof ; whereas the third class receive it both sacramentally and spiritually — and these are they who so prove and prepare themselves beforehand as to approach to this divine table 4 clothed with the wedding garment ' (Matt. xxii. 11, 12). Now, as to the reception of the Sacrament, it was always the custom, in the Church of God, that laymen should receive th^ communion from priests; but that priests, when celebrating, should communicate themselves ; which custom, as coming down from an apostolical tradition, ought, with justice and reason, to be retained. And, finally, this holy Synod, with true fatherly affec- tion, admonishes, exhorts, begs, and beseeches, through the Dowels of the mercy of our God, that all and each of those who bear the Christian name would now, at length, agree and be of one mind in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity, in this symbol of concord ; and that, mindful of the so great majesty and the so exceeding love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His own beloved soul as the price of our salvation, and gave us His own flesh to eat, they would believe and venerate these sacred mysteries of His Body and Blood with such constancy and firm- ness of faith, with such devotion of soul, with such piety and worship, as to be able frequently to receive that supersubstantial bread, and that it may be to them truly'the life of the soul, and the perpetual health of their mind ; that, being invigorated by the (1) Acts, etc., Council of Trent, Sess. XTTT., ch. yii. (2) St. Augustine against the Donatists ; St Prosper in the Book of Sentences. THE SACRAMENTS AND SACEAMENTALS. 43 strength thereof, they may, after the journeying of this miserable pilgrimage, be able to arrive at their heavenly country, there to eat, without any veil, that same bread of angels which they nxm eat under the sacred veils." This doctrine is clear and explicit, supported by Holy Writ and the uniform, unwavering testimony of tradition in all the Churches of the East and West. The Keformers did not at first dare to assail so well-known a truth; and, in their endeavors to set at aaught the plain words of Scripture, no two of them agreed. Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper ; but He had previously announced the great mystery, and made it a test, as it were, of fidelity to Him. He had multiplied the loaves and fishes in the desert, and the people followed Him in throngs ; but He sought to raise their minds to spiritual things. " Labor not for the meat which per- isheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you." Even then they did not under- stand that He was to give them a food of an order they knew not. They asked a sign, and He brought them back again to the same subject : " Amen, amen, I say to you : Moses gave you not bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world" " They said, therefore, unto him : Lord, give us always this bread. And Jesus said to them : I am the bread of life : he that cometh to me, shall not hunger ; and he that believeth in me, shall not thirst." .... u The Jews, therefore, murmured at him, because he had said : I am the living bread which came down from heaven." " Jesus therefore answered, and said to them: Murmur not among your- selves ; " and, after declaring His mission from the Father, He re- peated the declaration : "lam the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven ; that, if any man eat of it, he may not die. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever : and the bread that I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world. The J ews, therefore, strove among themselves, saying : How can 44 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS this man give us his flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them Amen, amen, I say unto you : except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life ; and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father ; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live forever. These things he said, teaching in the synagogue, in Capharnaum." Words could not be more stronger, or more clearly and dis- tinctly stated and repeated. The manna eaten by the Israelites was but a figure of Him. That was eaten and gave a temporal life. His flesh and blood were to be eaten and drunk to give eternal life. This eating was to make a union between Him and the believer, so that the believer should live by Him as He lived by the Father. Seven times does He repeat the expression, " Eat me," "Eat my flesh," "Eat of this bread," and "This bread is my flesh." The Jews, as their murmurs showed, so understood it; but, instead of explaining or modifying His language, our Lord made it stronger and more emphatic ; nor was it only the mass of the Jews who had often criticised His doctrine, and refused to follow Him, who were shocked ; many of those who had hitherto listened to Him with eagerness, and had believed in Him, began to waver in their faith. " Many, therefore, of his disciples, hear- ing of it, said : This saying is hard, and who can hear it ? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them . Doth this scandalize you % If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before ? It is the Spirit fcbat quickeneth : the flesh profiteth /nothing : the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not." He made it, in fact, a test of faith. This doctrine was vital — the spirit and life; the spirit quickening his whole teaching. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. 45 * For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who he was that would betray him. And he said : Therefore did I say to you that no man can come to me^ unless it be given him by my Father. After this many of hia disciples went back, and walked no more with him." He not only made no effort to recall them ; but, as it were, sought to apply the test again. " Then Jesus said to the twelve : Will you also go away ? And Simon Peter answered him : Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed, and have known that thou art the Christ the Son of God. Jesus answered them : Have I not chosen you twelve ; and one of you is a devil? Now he meant Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon : for this same was about to betray him ; whereas he was one of the twelve." The inference is irresistible that, although St. Peter spoke from his heart and answered for the belief of his brethren, yet that Judas did not believe, but remained hypocritically from sordid motives. And this whole discourse is at once linked with the scene at the Last Supper, where our Lord pointed out His be- trayer, who sealed His destruction there by an unworthy com- munion (St. John vi. 27-72). The institution of the Holy Eucharist, shadowed forth in the discourse at Capharnaum, is thus recorded by St. Matthew : " And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye and eat: This is my Body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks ; and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my Blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many unto remissions of sins " (St. Matt, xxvi 26-28). St. Mark uses almost the same language : " And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said: Take ye, this is my Body. And having taken the chalice, giving thanks, he gave to them ; and they all drank of it. And he said to them: This is my Blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many " (St. Mark xvi 22-23) St. Luke records it : " And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake, and gave to them, saying: This is my Body which ia 46 fHE SACRAMENTS AND SACKAMENTAL3. given for you : do this for a commemoration of me. In like man* ner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying : This is the chalice, the New Testament in my Blood, which shall be shed for you " (St. Luke xxii. 19, 20). St. Paul, taught by our Lord himself, writes thus to the Co- rinthians : " For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye and eat : this is my Body which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying : This chalice is the New Testament in my Blood : this do ye, as often as ye shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink this chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself : and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drink eth judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord" (1 Cor. xi 23-29). The twelve apostles had assembled with our Lord to eat the Paschal Lamb, a type and figure of Him who was called by St. John the Baptist, "The Lamb of God-," and by St. John the Evangelist, " The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The promise at Capharnaum is here fulfilled. He had promised to give His body to be eaten, and His blood to be drunk ; and He here gives them under the form of bread and wine, saying : fa This is my Body; this is my Blood." Those who insist on taking the Bible without note or comment endeavor to explain these words to mean the very opposite of what they read — to jut such a construction on them as would have satisfied the Jews at Capharnaum, and made them all His followers. Catholics take the words of Jesus Christ as they are plainly and distinctly given : so the Church has ever bid them take the words ; and when, in these later centuries, sect after sect calls on them to reject the words in their plain and evident THE SACRAMENTS AND SACK A MENTALS. 47 meanings they answer firmly, with Saint Peter, turning to our Blessed Lord himself, who promised to abide forever with His Church, and they ask Him: u Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Catholics have, in favor of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, the plain words of our Lord himself, as re- corded by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul ; they have the unanimous consent of all Christian Churches of the East and West, as against those who, in the sixteenth century, revolted from the Latin Church, and, with Luther, maintained that the Body and Blood were really present, and the bread and wine also ; or, with Calvin, that they were present in a spiritual man- ner only, but that the bread and wine remained bread and wine ; or, with Zuingle, whose idea is now that of the mass of Prot- estants, that there is no presence at all — that it is all figurative. While they have been thus discordant, unsupported by the words of Scripture or the teaching of the Churches which introduced the faith, the Catholic, bowing to the teaching of the divine Founder of his faith, takes His words in simple faith, believing that He is God, and that He who created the world out of nothing, who changed water into wine, could easily do all that His words imply. The Holy Eucharist, as the Council of Trent notes, differs from the other Sacraments in its permanent character, in its existence apart from the act of imparting to the faithful The bread and wine are consecrated in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This Sacrifice is the peculiar act of Divine Worship in the Church. The Holy Eucharist, consecrated in the Mass, is either then, or at other times, given to the faithful as a Sacra- ment. We shall consider first the Sacrifice of the Mass. THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS* Sacrifice consists in the oblation or offering of some sensible thing made to God, by a priest or lawful minister, to acknowl edge, by the destruction or other change of the thing offered, the sovereign power of God, and His absolrjte dominion over all 48 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. creatures, and to rendei Him the homage due to His supreme majesty. The public worship of God must be some distinctive act, pee^il \ar to God alone, and instituted by God Himself. Amid the errors and false ideas introduced among men in the sixteenth century, none has been more pernicious or fatal than that which overthrew the true notion of worship. Now, among the deluded followers of those various systems, public worship is generally confined to preaching. The instruction of the peo pie in true religious knowledge is good, but it is not the worship of God. Prayer is not distinctive of public worship. They would fail to tell what was the essential element of public wor- ship, as distinguished from prayer or preaching. The Catholic has no such confusion of ideas. The great act of the public worship of God is, and always has been, sacrifice. All nations have recognized this. A victim was immolated, and consumed by fire or by the believers. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America show this belief to have been universal among men. Under the patriarchs, and under the Mosaic law, sacrifices were offered ; and, under Moses, minute regulations were given in re- gard to them, and to the priesthood, who alone were empowered to offer them. These sacrifices were, in themselves, inefficient as a becoming adoration of God; they could not, in themselves, wash away sin, or reconcile man to God. They were but types and figures, deriving all their efficacy from the Sacrifice of the Messias, who was one day to come and offer Himself for the sal- vation of the world* The victims offered, representing man doomed to death by sin, were substitutes for that great victim. The Paschal Lamb, a sacrifice not offered in the temple, but in each house, also foretokened the same victim — the Lamb of God. God zealously maintained public worship as a debt due to Him from man. It is a debt which man must pay as God wishes, and inan can not of himself fix the maimer or form. Under the Old Law, sacrifice was offered only before the ark of the covenant, in the tabernacle, and after its erection, in the temple. The Samari tans did, indeed, erect another temple on Mount Garizim ; but though they offered the sacrifices appointed by the law, and even THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. 4:9 had fallen priests of the house of Aaron to offer them, all their sacrifices were rejected by God. When the Samaritan woman referred the matter to our Saviour, He answered distinctly : " Sal- vation is with the Jews." All that the Samaritans did availed not to salvation. Divine worship must be instituted by God — offered when, and where, and by whom God institutes. Any human will or private judgment is excluded. Under the New Law we must look for the same conditions. There must certainly be a sacrifice as the public worship of Go<£. It must be of divine institution. It must be connected with the Sacrifice of our Lord on the Cross, and be more than a mere type, as the Jewish sacrifices were ; for the New Testament is superior to the Old. The Sacrifice of the Mass is an offering made to God of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, under the sensible appearance of bread and wine, by Jesus Christ Himself, our invisible High- Priest, and that, through the ministry of the priests of His Church, lawfully consecrated and empowered by Him for that ofSce ; in which offering the bread and wine are, by the almighty power of God, really and substantially changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, and by the separate consecration of the two different species of bread and wine, the death of Jesus Christ is mystically represented. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the Sacrifice of Calvary — not re- peated, for Jesus Christ dieth , now no more ; but shown forth until He comes. Time is, as it were, annihilated* Jesus Christ, as High-Priest, offers His Body and Blood to His Eternal Father as a sacrifice of adoration, homage, thanksgiving, and also ol atonement and impetration. This idea of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is plainly expressed, from the days of the apostles. St. Paul, and, soon after, St. Ignatius* Bishop of Antioch, speak of the Christian altar (1 Oot. ix. 13) Bt Ignatius ad Philippenses). St. Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Tryphon, designates the Eucharist a sacrifice, and observes that it was of this sacrifice of the Christians, which is offered up In every place, that Malacliia? prophesied St. Iren»us and Ter 50 THE N SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. fculliaL, in the same second century, also speak of it as a sacrifice, and each succeeding age increases the number of witnesses. A very ancient Irish treatise on the Mass, supposed to be coeval with the introduction of Christianity, says : " Another division of that pledge which has been left with the Church to comfort her, is the Body of Christ and His Blood, which are offered upon the altars of the Christians — the Body, even, which was born of Mary, the Immaculate Virgin, .... and sits upon the right hand of the Father in heaven It is that Body, the same as it is in this great glory, which the righteou3 consume off God's table, that is, the holy altar."(l) The form of the Mass, in word and rite, is worthy of the awful conception of this Sacrifice. It is the most ancient document of Christendom ; and though schism rent from Catholic unity many of the Eastern Churches, the Mass has been maintained in all, different in language and vestments, but so uniform in the idea and essential parts, that the most ignorant at once recognizes it. The central point of the Mass is the consecration of the bread and wine. This is the Sacrifice. The Communion of the priest and people consummates the Sacrifice. THE PLACE OF THE SACRIFICE. The Altar. The Mass, according to the institution of the Church, must be offered upon an altar. All the liturgies recog- nize this, and from the days of the apostle the term was used. 'For the first three centuries, the altar was more generally, though not always, of wood ; this is evident from a variety of testimonies. Tradition has handed down the altar in the form of & wooden table, upon which St. Peter, as it is said, was accus- tomed to offer up the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass, in the house of the patrician Pudens, at Rome, where it is still pre- served with much respect in the* church of St. Pudentiana. St, Athanasius^ St, Optatus of Milevi, and St. Augustine, also, notice altars of wood in speaking of the ravages of tae (1) See the whole extract in O'Onrry's Lectures on the Manuscript Materials ol Ancient Irish History, p. 877. THE SACRAMENTS AND BAOB A MENTALS, 51 Arians. (1) From tlie earliest times, however, it is certain that it aras customary to celebrate Mass in the catacombs, upon the tombs of the apostles and martyrs, not only at Rome, but in every other portion of the Church of Christ. The slab of marble which covered the sepulchre, was made to serve as the altar table, and the low-browed arched recess that spanned it merely left suffi- cient space for the priest to perform the sacred Eucharistic mys- teries. When the altar, as occasion happened, was not the tomb of a martyr, it was sometimes of an oblong cubic figure, and, for almost fourteen centuries, it has been a universal custom to have that part of the altar on which the Eucharist is consecrated, of stone or marble." When the Christians were at last enabled to practice their re- ligion openly, churches were erected as temples for divine wor- ship, and in these the altar was placed directly over the tomb of the martyr in the catacombs. Where this could not be done, some portion of the relics of a saint was invariably enclosed in it, and this usage prevails to the present day, the altar stone on which the chalice is placed having relics in it. " Not only did thib custom call to the remembrance of the faithful, the brethren whose souls are described by St. John as reposing under the mys- tic altar of heaven (Apoc. vi 9), but it furnished them with an admonition of their duty to lay down their lives like the martyrs, if required, in the profession of the faith of Him who was cru- cified for their redemption." The Sanotuaey. The part of the church where the altar is, is the sanctuary, which is cut off from the rest of the church by a railing or screen ; the latter, in the Greek Church, still hides the priest during much of the Mass. In the West it was gradu- ally made more open, often in the form of the beautiful rood- screens, and finally became a mere railing. The Nave, or main body of the church, is for the use of the faithfuL The Adoenment and Service of the Altab, The table oi the altar is covered with a linen cloth. As early as the year 370, (1) St. Athanasiua, Epist. ad solit. vitam agentes ; St Optatus, contra Parmen. Lib, si; St. Augustine, Ep. i. ad Bonif. 52 THE^ SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. St. Optatus, of Milevi, mentions this practice as one everywhere observed; and the Sacramentary of St. Gelasius has a form for blessing the linen cloths set apart for this use. For more than a thousand years a custom has prevailed universally, throughout the Latin Church, of having the altar at all times overspread with this altar-cloth. Over this, at the celebration of* the Mass, is laid a second species of altar-cloth, called the corporal ; this was originally large enough to cover the whole altar, but is now reduced so that it covers only the part immediately before the priest. " No sooner did the Christian religion behold the erection, for her service, of those sumptuous edifices which Constantine reared throughout his empire, than her altars became the principal ob- ject of devotion and ornament. (1) The altar was overshadowed by a canopy resting on four pillars, and surmounted by a cross. In this dome-like structure hung a silver vessel, often in the form of a dove, in which the Blessed Sacrament was kept. In time this vessel took its present shape, that of the cup of the manna, on Jewish coins, and received the name of the canopy, ciborium, though its proper term is pyx ; while the canopy in which it is kept became the tabernacle, an ornamental repository rising from the rear of the altar table, directly before the priest. In Italy the tabernacle is called by the old name, ciborio. " The early Christians used lamps to give splendor to the sacred institution, as we see in Acts xx. 7, 8, and also for light ; when they were forced to offer their sacred rites in the catacombs, amid the gloom of those subterranean recesses, they required light; but, as oil was not so easily carried, they first introduced candles made of wax, which the world soon borrowed from the Church, After peace was acquired, these candles and lamps were st :, ~ o- tained to shed splendor and brilliancy around ; and, by th use of perfumed oil and wax, a sweet^fragrance was diffused through the church The use of candles is retained to this day as a sym boi of joy, a type of faith, and of the good example which we should give — a figure used by our Lord himself — and also to re- mind us of those heroic early Christians who first introduced (1) Rock's Hierurgia, 788. THE 8ACBAHENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. 53 them. On our modern altars there are by rule six candles, thre« on each side of the tabernacle. These should properly be of wax, and all the blessings of candles in the Church service, on Candle- mas day and Holy Saturday, refer to the material as the product of bees. Flowers and vases were not forgotten by the ancient Christians, in the decoration of their churches, and were used especially on their altars. St. Jerome praises Nepotian foi his zeal in bestowing these floral decorations on churches. " All antiquity show the reverence paid to the altar. This did not consist only in the language used ; it was manifested in other ways. From time immemorial, Latins, Greeks, and Orientals have been accustomed to bow to the altar on entering the church. From this respect felt towards the altar, as the shrine of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, the church became an asylum. As at the temple of Jerusalem a laver stood in the court, a vase of blessed or holy water stood at the entrance of the Christian church, and each one entering signed himself with it, with the sign of the cross, to mark the purity of heart and conscience that should characterize all who entered there." The Chalice and Paten. For the celebration of the Mass, the priest has a chalice, now generally of silver or gold, or plated with those metals, and a paten, a plate of the same material. These are solemnly blessed and anointed for the use of the altar, and are kept and handled with the greatest reverence, as we have seen in the ordination service. The Host. Our Divine Kedeemer, in instituting the Holy Eucharist, used unleavened cakes. This is a fact concerning which no doubt can be entertained for a moment, as the Evan- gelists all concur that it was the first day of the azyines, or un- leavened bread. Hence, the Latin Church has, from time imme- morial, employed unleavened bread for the Host. This is made thin and circular, and bears upon it either the figure of Christ or the initials L IL S. The Maronites and Armenians also use un- leavened bread, though the Greek Church has come to use leavened. The expression in the Apocalypse : " To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and I will give him a white counter and, in the counter, a new name written" (Apoc. ii. 17), is a 54 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. beautiful allusion to the Host used in the Mass. Indeed, the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist can alone give sense and mean ing to this passage. THE FORM OF THE MASS. The form of the Mass is known as the Liturgy, and this term is used by Saint Luke in Acts xiii 2, where our English transla- tion has : " And, as they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting." Erasmus translates it " sacrificing," the evident allusion being to the sacrifice of the Mass, the custom of offering which fasting has now become a rule. " In the absence of history, both religion and decorum would prevent our supposing, even for an instant, that the Apostles did not observe any certain rites in offering up the Eucharistic Sac- rifice. Undoubtedly, they were unanimous in agreeing with Saint Paul, who admonished the Corinthians to " Let all things be done decently and in order." St. John, in the Apocalypse (i. 10-13, iv. 2-4, v. 1-12, vi. 9, 10, viii 3, 4), gives an idea of the Mass as offered. We behold an assembly presided over by a venerable pontiff, seated on a throne, and encircled by twenty-four ancients or priests. The white robe, the garment reaching to the feet, to- gether with the golden girdle, are enumerated as sacerdotal vest- ments ; the harps, the canticles, and a choir, gave the aid of music to the solemn rite ; of the instruments employed in sacrifice, an altar, golden candlesticks, a golden censor with its fire and smok- ing incense, and the sealed book, are specifically mentioned. There is present a lamb, as it were slain, hence a victim, standing as a priest ; yet to him divine honors and supreme adoration are exhibited by every creature in heaven and on earth." (1) He is, therefore, at once, Priest, Victim, and God. In the earliest ages of the Church, St. Irenaeus, in the year 167, remarks : " Either St. John, in order to shadow forth the glory »»d the splendor of the adoration which all the choirs of angels anu saints are continually exhibiting to God within His sanctu ary of heaven, must have used an imagery and language descrip- tive of the ceremonial practiced by the Christians of his time, in (1) Rock's Hierorgia, pp. 288-5. THE SACKAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. 55 their assemblies on the Lord's day ; or else the liturgy of the Holy Sacrifice, or the Mass, must have been modelled according to the vision of that favorite disciple of our Lord." (1) In either case, the Liturgy or Mass bears deeply impressed upoia it the type of apostolical institution. We can scarcely doubt that our Lord, directing them to offer the Holy Sacrifice, in the words recorded by the Evangelists, gave the definite form after His resurrection. No one who reads the Jewish rite for offering the Paschal Lamb, even as now practiced, with the additions and changes caused in eighteen centuries, can fail to see that the Mass was drawn up by one to whom that rite was familiar. There are resemblances so striking, that it is im- possible that the Mass could have assumed its present form long after the Christians became distinct from the Jews. The chant of the Preface is said to be one used in the service of the temple ; its form is found in the Paschal service. The existence of a definite form seems indicated in St. Paul's charge to St. Timothy : " Hold the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith, and in the love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. L 13). (2) St. Justin Martyr, about the year 150, has left us an interesting description in the first of his apologies addressed to the Emperora Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. " To him who presides over the brethren is presented bread and a cup of water and wine, which he, taking, gives praise and glory to the Father, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and returns thanks, in many prayers, that such gifts have been vouchsafed to us. These offices being duly performed, the whole assembly in accla- mation answers, 'Amen;' then the ministers, whom we call dea- cons, give to each one present, to partake of the blessed bread, and the wine and water, and take some to the sick. This food we call the Eucharist, of which they alone are allowed to partake who believe the doctrines taught us to be true, and have been washed by baptism for the remission of sins, and unto regenera tion. Nor do we take these gifts as common bread and com (1) lb., p. 266, citing St Irenaeua adversus Hser. Lib ir., c. xrii., xyiii. (2) Form of Service fl»r fcke Two First Nights of the Feast of PassoYer. New Yoik, 869, p. 28. 56 THE BAOKAMENTS AND SAORAMENTA Lfi. mon drink; but in the same manner as our Saviour, Jesus Christ, incarnate by the word of God for our salvation, t >ok flesh and blood, so we have been taught that the food wherewith, by change, our blood and flesh are nourished, being blessed by the prayer of His word, becomes the flesh and blood of that very incarnate Jesus." (1) The Mass was said, in the East, in Syriac, Chaldaic, Armenian, and Coptic ; and, through most of the Roman Empire} in Greek ; and, in the West, in time, universally in Latin. These languages have been retained. Latin became a general language, and the modern tongues are undergoing such constant changes, that the Church wisely adheres. to the Latin, which all of any education can understand, and those who have not acquired a knowledge of the language, by means of their prayer-books and custom, readily distinguish and follow. Where other languages have been tried, they soon became obsolete, and were gladly abandoned for the more general language, Latin. The Mass, as preserved in the oldest Sacramentaries of Gelasi is and St. Gregory the Great, in the Bobbio Missal, in the ancient Irish treatise on the Mass, is identical in its main features with that now universally used in the Church. The High Mass is preceded by a ceremony, which has its counterpart in the aspersions of the Mosaic law. This is the sprinkling of the congregation with blessed or holy water. The priest comes out in alb, and intones an anthem from the fiftieth Psalm : " Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed ;" though, in the Paschal season, another anthem from the forty-seventh chapter of the prophet Efcechiel is substi- tuted, beginning : " I saw water flowing from the right side of the temple." The priest then- descends the aisle, sprinkling the congregation. When he returns to the foot of the altar, he re- peats several versicles, and concludes with this prayer : " Hear U&, O Holy Lord, Almighty Father Eternal God, and vouchsafe to send Thy holy angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, Tisit, and defend all who are assembled in this place. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord R. Amen." (1) St. Justin, Apologia 1 ; Hagae Comitium, 743, pp. 82, 83. THE SACRAMENTS AND 8A0RAMENTAL8. 57 The priest then returns to the sacristy, and assuming the ^hasuble, (1) the sacrificial robe, he enters the sanctuary, preceded by at least a clerk ; he carries in his hand the chalice, covered with the paten, on which lies a host, the whole concealed beneath the ^eil, which corresponds to the color of the chasuble. High Mass is the Liturgy celebrated by the priest or bishop, with some solemn ceremonies omitted in Low Mass. Where the officiant is attended by a deacon and subdeacon, it is called a Solemn High Mass, and Pontifical, if a bishop officiates. In these Masses the responses are chanted by the choir, which also sings the Gloria in Excelsis and the Nicene Creed. In a Low Mass the responses are made by an acolyte or clerk. After placing the chalice on Hie altar, and opening the missal, the priest makes the sign of the cross, and begins the first part of the Mass, called the Mass of the Catechumens. *j« In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. An antiphon, from the forty-second Psalm, " I will go in to the altar of God." R. " To God who giveth joy to my youth," is followed by the whole of that psalm, said responsively, and closed, as psalms almost universally are, with the doxolcgy. Then the antiphon is repeated, and the versicle, " Our help is in the name of the Lord," is responded to, " Who made heaven and earth." Then, bowing his head, the priest repeats the general confes- sion : " I confess to Almighty God," etc., acknowledging his sins before heaven and earth, and striking his breast in sign of con- trition, beseeching all the blessed in heaven and his brethren on earth to pray to the Lord our God for him. The response is solemn: "May Almighty God be merciful unto thee, and, forgiving thee thy sins, bring thee to everlasting life. Amen." The acolytes then make the same confession, and the priest responds. After the Amen, he pronounces the priestly form. u May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us *f* pardon, abso- lution, and remission of our sins." Then follow versicles and responses of Scriptural origin, closing (1) For explanations of vestments, see Hoiy Orders, 58 > THE SACRAMENTS AND HA DRAMENTALS. with a versicle that occurs constantly in the Church service ' The Lord be with you," a blessing which includes all others, to which the people always reply, " And with Thy spirit,'- to show that the divine aid and presence we seek is rather for our soul and its good, than for the body and material prosperity. Then the priest, joining his hands, says: "Let us pray," and ascends the steps to the altar, reciting another prayer to be cleansed from sin, so as to approach with pure mind to the holy of holies. Our Lord, who praised the publican in the temple, confessing his sins and striking his breast, surely instituted this. He bows down and kisses the altar, praying to God to forgive his sins through the merits of the saints whose relics are there. In High Masses the priest blesses incense and incenses the altar, renewing the daily rite of the priests of the Old Law, offering incense to the Lord. A short prayer, called the Introit, generally a passage from Scripture, follows. So far, the words have been Latin, except the response, Amen, from the Hebrew. The third of the languages set upon the cross follows. "Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison," are thrice repeated, meaning, in Greek (Kvpu tXeritJov, Xpicrm eXerjow), "Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy," and being an appeal to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for forgiveness. This has been thus far the sole burthen of the prayers— a prolonged cry for mercy and pardon. Then hope fills the heart, and as though like the world which had groaned for four thousand years under the yoke of sin, he hears the chant of the angels, the priest stands before the altar with extended arms, and intones that canticle begun 'by the angels : " Glory be to God on high ! " It is the most magnificen hymn of praise, and contains, perhaps, the sublimest thought that ever was conceived, thanking God — not for His benefits to man, creation, redemption, the promise of heaven, but thanking Him for His own glory, man forgetting self to think only of God and His attributes. Yet, even amid this joy, the cry for mercy wells up, as if not the holiest joy could cause man to forget his misery. Then follow the Collects of the day, prayers which, for con THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. 59 ciseness of form, richness of expression, and depth of meaning; have never been equalled. Familiar to many Protestants, as translated in the Book of Common Prayer, these Collects have been greatly admired to this day, and the attempts to imitate them have always shown the weakness of the origin of the inno- vators. After the Collects, the priest reads a part of Scripture, taken from the Epistles, Acts, or Apocalypse, or from the sapien tial or prophetic books of the Old Testament, and, on some oc- casions, from others. After responding, " Thanks be to God," at the close of the Epistle, the clerk or acolyte goes up to the altar, and takes the missal, which has hitherto been on the right side of the altar, descends to the foot of the steps, kneels, and takes it tip to the left or Gospel side, as if to show that the light of faith, rejected by the Jews, had been carried to the Gentiles. Then the people rise, while the priest, after the " Munda cor meum," a prayer that his heart and his lips may be cleansed, so that he may worthily announce the Gospel, goes to the Gospel side, and, making the sign of the cross on his forehead, lips, and breast, reads the Gospel of the day — a selection from one of the four Evangelista And, out of respect, the faithful always rise in any service when a part of the Gospels is read. The selections of the portions for the Epistles and Gospels of the year, now in use in the Church, is very ancient, and was based on the custom of the Jews. The present selections are said to have been arranged by St. Jerome, about the year 876, at the request of Pope Damascus. Between these selections from Holy Writ are said the Gradual, Tract, and sometimes a hymn, called a Prose or Sequence. (1) In Solemn Masses the priest again incenses the missal and altar, and the deacon, after receiving the priest's blessing, chants the Gospel at the Gospel side, an acolyte standing with lighted can- dles on either side of the subdeacon, who holds the book of fch& Gospels. The priest closes the Gospel, saying : " May our sins be blotted out by the words of the Gospel ; " to which the acolyte responds (1) There are four : " Victim® Paschali," at Easter ; u Veni Sancte Spiritna," at Pesa? teeost; "Lauda Sion," at Corpus Christi; and the celebrated "Dies Irse," at All Souls 60 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. " Pmse be to Thee, 0 Christ." In Solemn Masses, the deacon carries the book to the priest, who kisses it, and is incensed by the deacon. After this the celebrant, standing before the middle of the altar, recites the Nicene Creed, an ancient profession of faith, as adopted by the Councils of Nice and Constantinople, during which priest and people stand, but kneel at the words : " And He was made man." The Creed closes with the beautiful " The Lord be with you." As long as the Discipline of the Secret was enforced, this was the period at which the Catechumens were dismissed from the assembly, terminating the Mass of the Cate- chumens — the word mass, missa, coming from dimissio. All who were not baptized, and all penitents, except those who had been really pardoned, were prohibited from attending the rest of the Sacrifice. (1) The Mass of the Faithful begins with the Offertory, a selection of Scripture, varying with the day. At Low Mass, the priest here unveils the chalice, and unfolds the corporal, the deacon and subdeacon assisting at High Mass; then, taking the paten with the host, the priest elevates it with both hands, saying this prayer, in which he anticipates the great action, and offers the host, not as it is, but as it is to become : " Accept, O Holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this un- spotted host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offences, and negligences, and for all here present; as, also, for all faithful Christians, both living and dead ; that it may avail both me and them to life everlasting." Laying the host on the corporal, the priest, or, in High Masses, the deacon and subdeacon, pour wine and a little water into the chalice, and, making the sign of the cross over it, he prays that we may become partakers of Christ's redemption, as He vouch- safed to become partaker of our human nature. Then he offers the chalice solemnly to God, in this impressive prayer : " We offer (1) The Discipline of the Secret, which is of Apostolic origin, enacted that the faith- ful, in general, should conceal the Creed, the Sacraments, and the Holy Sacrifice of th# Mass, from all knowledge of the uninitiated ; and the priesthood were required to con- vey the substance and formularies of the Liturgy, by word of mouth. They were pro- hibited from writing them. Emwuel a Schelstrate, De Disciplina Arcani, Home, 168ft THE SACBAMENT8 AND 8A0RAMEN1 ALB. 61 unto Thee, O Lord,the Chalice of Salvation, beseeching Thy clem eney, that it may ascend before Thy divine Majesty, as a sweet odor, for our salvation, and that of the whole world." Then follow prayers, beseeching God to look favorably upon the Sac rifice to be offered to Him ; and, in High Masses, the offerings and the altar are here incensed. Proceeding next to the Epistle side of the altar, the priest washes the tips of his fingers, reciting the beautiful twenty-fifth Psalm, beginning with the sixth versa Renewing the offering once more, he turns to the people and says : " Brethren, pray that my and your Sacrifice may be accept- able to God the Father " — that the faithful may not consider them- selves mere spectators, but may remember that it is their Sacrifice also. They reply in this sense : " May the Lord receive the Sacri- fice from thy hands, to the praise and glory of His name ; to our benefit, also, and that of all His holy Church." A varying prayer with the day is then recited in a low tone, whence it is called Secret. Raising his voice at the close, he pronounces these words : " World without end," followed by his usual salutation : " The Lord be with you." As the most solemn part of the Mass is now rapidly approaching, he again calls on the people to collect their thoughts by the words : " Lift up your hearts." The clerk re- plies for the people : " We have lifted them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to our Lord God." " It is meet and just," reply the people. Then the priest intones, with a peculiar chant, the Preface, a prayer of most ancient form, varying slightly in some of the Masses, but always ending: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth ! heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." This solemn part of the Liturgy is the same in the Latin and Oriental rites, and is especially described in the ancient docu ment, the Apostolical Constitutions. The bell is rung at its close, to call attention again to the solemn act about to be per- formed. The Canon of the Mass then begins, and closes with the Patei Noster. It opens with a prayer to God to accept and t less thia 62 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. holy, unspotted Sacrifice, which is offered for the holy Catholic Church, its peace, its preservation, unity, and good government ; for the Pope and all who profess the Catholic faith. The priest prays then secretly for any for whom he specially offers the Sac- rifice, and continues in these words, which indicate the share the people should take in the Sacrifice : u Be mindful, also, of all here present, whose faith and devotion are known to Thee, for whom we offer, or who offer up to Thee, this Sacrifice of praise for them- selves, their families, and friends — for the redemption of their souls, for the health and salvation they hope for — and who pay their vows to Thee, the eternal, living, and true God." Then, to illustrate the Communion of Saints, it is said to be offered : Com- municating with and honoring the Blessed Virgin and many illus- trious saints of various ages, "by whose merits and prayers, grant," the priest asks of God, " that we may be always defended by the help of Thy protection." Then, after renewing the obla- tioBj he proceeds to rehearse the institution of the Blessed Sac- rament, and consecrates the host, using the words of Christ, Then a hush, more eloquent than words, a silence of awe, falls upon the church ; the music ceases ; all kneel in silent adoration. " To excite his own devotion, let each one occupy his mind with the real, though shrouded, presence of Jesus, now throned upon the altar, around which cherubim and seraphim are kneeling lowly down in worship." Nor should he forget that this is really the Sacrifice; Jesus Christ stands here as high-priest, offering His Body and Blood for our sins, and we should offer it through Him to the Eternal Father, that we may venture to approach in sj)irit the throne of His awful Majesty. Then we offer it to ren- der to God all the adoration, homage, awe, veneration, and wor- ship that are His due ; to thank Him for His infinite attributes ; to thank Him for the glory bestowed on His Divine Son, and for all that Jesus Christ suffered for love of us ; to thank Him for the glory of the sacred humanity, and all the graces and glory bestowed on His Blessed Mother and all the Saints ; for all the graces bestowed on mankind, especially on ourselves, who are so often ungrateful, and to beg new graces, and, above all, the grace of final perseverance for ourselves and all dear to us. Then the THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. 63 priest consecrates the wine, again using the words of Jesus Christy and again all bow in silent prayer. This is a moment in a Catholic church which never fails to im press deeply every religious heart, no matter how prejudice may have biased it against the true faith. To many it has come as a revelation of what worship really is. Again, the priest offers this " Pure Victim, this holy Victim, this unspotted Victim, the holy Bread of Life everlasting, and Chalice of perpetual salvation." He prays that God who vouch- safed to look on the sacrifices of Abel, Abraham, and Melchise- dech will look on this holy Sacrifice and unspotted Victim — the Divine Lamb ; and he prays that God would command it to be carried by the hands of His holy Angel to His altar on high, in the sight of His divine Majesty ; and tnat all who shall receive this most sacred Body and Blood may be filled with eveiy heaven ly grace and blessing. Then follows a special prayer for the dead, soliciting for them a place of refreshment, light, and peace. Then he prays for all present, that God would associate them in His glory with the il- lustrious saints who are named in the diptych, " not in considera- tion of our merit, but of thy own gratuitous mercy. Through Christ our Lord, through whom, O Lord, thou dost always create, sanctify, quicken, bless, and give us all these good things. Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, is to Thee, God the Father Almighty, in the Union of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory." Then the Our Father is solemnly chanted by the priest ; the clerk saying the last petition, which the priest takes up, asking that we may be delivered from all evils of soul and body. He then prepares to complete the Sacrifice by partaking of the Vic- tim offered, and wishing the people peace, saying : " The peace of the Lord be ever with you." He breaks the host, and, putting & small part in the chalice, pronounces the following prayer : " May this mixture and consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be to us, who receive it, effectual to life ever- lasting." Then, recalling the Paschal Lamb, and the epithet based on it, he says, striking his heart : " Lamb of God, whc 64 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. v ' takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us ! " This h« repeats thrice, substituting the last time the petition, a Give us peace ! 19 Extending this prayer for peace, he prepares for his Commun- ion, praying by virtue thereof to be delivered from all his iniqui ties, and to be made to adhere to the commandments of God, and never to be separated from him. And, confessing his unworthi- ness, he asks that his Communion may not turn to his condemn* tion, but may be a safeguard and remedy of soul and body. Then taking the Host in his hands, he says: "I will take the bread of heaven, and call upon the name of the Lord ; " and, striking his breast, he says, almost in the words of the Centurion (St. Matt. viii. 8), " Lord, I am not worthy that thou should enter under my roof; but- only say the word, and my soul shall be healed." Then, reverently taking both parts of the Sacred Host in his right hand, and signing with it the sign of the cross upon him self, he says : u May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul unto life everlasting ; " and then receives the Holy Com- munion. After a short meditation on the stupendous mystery, he uncovers the chalice, adores the Sacred Blood, and, gathering on the paten any fragments of the host, puts them in the chalice, and, taking it in his hands, he recites the 13th verse of the 115th Psalm, and receives the Precious Blood, saying : " The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul unto life everlasting." The acolytes then ascend to the Epistle side of the altar, and wine is poured into the chalice, which the priest then drinks, with an appointed prayer. A second ablution is also made, in which the wine is poured over the tips of the fingers which have touched the sacred species. If any of the faithful are^ to communicate, they approach the failing at the priest's Communion, and the acolytes then kneeling at the side of the steps, say the Confiteor. The priest, turning, pronounces the Misereatur and Indulgentiam, and opening the tabernacle, takes out the pyx or ciborium, and, descending to the altar-rail, gives Communion to each one, saying : " May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul to life everlasting." THE SA0RAMENT8 AND SACKAMENTALS. 65 After the ab.utions, the acolytes restore the missal to tha Epistle side, and the priest reads the Communion, and the Post Communion, which vary from day to day. Then, after the usual salutation, he says, still turned toward the people : " Go, it is the dismissal," or, on some occasions : " Let us bless the Lord." Then, bowing before the altar, he prays that the Sacrifice which he, though unworthy, has offered, may be acceptable to the Holy Trinity, and be a propitiation for himself and for all in whose behalf he offered it. Then, looking up to heaven, he invokes the blessing of Al- mighty God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — upon them. The Mass concludes by the opening portion of the Gospel of St. John, recited at the Gospel side ; though, if the Gospel of the day has been displaced by any feast in the earlier part of the Mass, it is now recited. At its close, the acolyte responds : 1 Thanks be to God." The priest, taking the chalice, paten, and veil, descends from the altar, and re-enters the sacristy. Such is the grand Christian Liturgy, the Mass ; addressed en* tirely to God Himself ; Scriptural and sublime in all its parts ; a form in which man is nothing, presumes nothing, recognizes his sinfulness, and appeals constantly for God's mercy. No man- made creed ever devised a liturgy so overpowering, so worthy of the Creator, so fitted to man's wants. When carrying out the Communion of Saints, Masses offered for the soul of the departed Christian, either lying in the church before God's altar, or resting in his silent grave, the vestments are black ; the opening Psalm, the Gloria in Excelsis are omitted. The Agnus Dei concludes with the words, " Give them rest " and the prayer for peace is not said, nor is a blessing given, while, be- fore the Gospel, the mournful sequence, Dies Xrae, thrills every heart. The Jewish sacrifices for the dead and the Kaddisch have inspired this form ; and as the Kaddisch was offered on the seventh and thirty-first day, and the yearly anniversary, so the Church has her week's mind, her month's mind, and her anniver« sary Masses for her children. 6G THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. THE HOLY EUCHARIST AS A SACRAMENT. There are three classes of communicants: some receive tht Sacrament only; such are those sinners who dread not to ap proach the holy mysteries with polluted lips and depraved hearts, who, as the apostle says: "Eat and drink unworthily." They indeed eat and drink judgment to themselves. Others are said to receive the Holy Eucharist in spirit only : they are those who, inflamed with a lively faith that worketh by charity, participate ii desire of this celestial food, from which they receive, if not the en tire, at least a very considerable fruit. Lastly, there are some who receive the Holy Eucharist both spiritually and sacrament ally: those who, according to the advice of the apostle, having first proved themselves, approach this divine banquet, adorued with the nuptial garment, and derive from it, in a greater or less de- gree, superabundant graces which are contained in this Sacra- ment. When the faithful believer wishes to receive the Blessed Sacra- ment, he prepares, by proving himself, cleansing his conscience by the Sacrament of Penance. On the morning of Communion he proceeds, fasting from midnight, to the church, in becoming attire, and, when the bell rings at the priest's Communion, goes up to the railing, which becomes the Holy Table; gloves are removed, and the cloth is raised to prevent any particle from dropping. By special and fervent prayers he excites in his heart contrition and detestation for sin, faith in the real presence of Him whom he is soon to receive, an earnest desire to be united with his Lord. Then, recalling the warning of our Lord, that we can not have life everlasting unless we, in this Sacrament, eat His sacred flesh and blood, and His promise* to abide with those who worthily receive it, the faithful Christian, dispelling the fear \hit such a favor inspires, receives his Lord " The moment of Communion," says a pious writer, " is different from any other moment of our lives. Then we may truly exclaim : My God and my all ! When we communicate, God himself ig present in oui little hearts, as our friend and spouse. Nothing THE SAOBAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. 67 can be more intimate than the union that then takes place between the Creator and His creature. It is more like the In- carnation of the eternal Son of God in the womb of the Blessed Virgin than anything else. The same Son of God, the Holy One., that was born of the spotless Virgin, comes into our hearts in the Sacred Host. Think of all that is most beautiful and most pre- cious in the world, of all the riches of the whole universe, of all the glory of heaven, and you have, as yet, but a faint idea of the wealth of a soul that has received Holy Communion. Such a goul possesses not only earth and heaven, but the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth. It is a mystery which almost baffles thought." (1) We can, therefore, easily understand why all manuals of devo- tion urge, what the slightest reflection would teach all, that some time should be spent, after receiving Holy Communion, in thank- ing God for such a gift ; in adoring the Saviour, whom we have received ; in expressing sorrow for our sins, which caused Him such suffering, and are, in themselves, so base and ungrateful ; and in imploring, for ourselves and all others, grace to be faithful to Him to the end. The Holy Communion is given to the sick. A rule of the Church requires that all should receive it at Easter ; and those who neglect to do so, forfeit their membership in the Church. In Catholic countries, the parish priest, after Easter, goes in a pro- cession to the houses of his sick parishioners, to give them the Communion which they are unable to go up to the temple to re- ceive. When the last illness stretches the Catholic on his bed of death, the Holy Communion is again brought to him as a Viat- icum, or provision for a journey. Whenever the Blessed Sacrament is brought to the house, re- spect for the Divine Guest requires that the sick-room should be made as clean and proper as possible. It may be as poor as the stable in which He chose to be born, but it can be made clean. A table should be made ready, covered with a clean linen cloth, and on it, two lighted candles, a crucifix, and holy water. None but those actually necessary to assist the sick should remain. (1) Muller, The Blessed Eucharist, p. 109. 68 > i THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. The room becomes, for the moment, a chapel. All who feel this will endeavor to make it so, by neatness, silence, and devout at- tendance. The priest, coming to give holy Viaticum, enters, say- ing : " Peace be to this house," to which the reply is : " And to ail who dwell therein." Then, laying the corporal on the table, he places the Blessed Sacrament upon it, when he and all present kneel and adore Jesus Christ present in the Sacrament of His Love. He then sprinkles the room with holy water, and, after the Confiteor, recited by the sick person, or one in his name, the priest says the Misereatur, etc., and, taking the Blessed Sacra- ment, elevates it before the dying Christian, saying : " Behold the Lamb of God ! " Then repeating the Domine non sum dignus, he gives the Communion to the dying, saying : " Keceive, brother, the Viaticum of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He may preserve thee from the malignant enemy, and bring thee to life everlasting. Amen." Then he washes his fingers in silence, and recites a prayer, beseeching Grod that the Communion may be, to the sick man, an eternal remedy, both of soul and body. He then blesses the sick man with the host, if any particles remain, or with his hand, and departs, reciting psalms adapted to the service. The Holy Eucharist was instituted on the Thursday before our Lord's death. This is known in the churches as Maundy-Thurs- day. As it falls amid the sorrows of Holy week, amid the con- templation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, it can not be celebrated with the joy inspired by so great a favor and blessing conferred on mankind. To commemorate • this fully, the feast of Corpus Christi, or of the Body of our Lord, was instituted. It arose in Northern Europe, chiefly by the exertions of Saint Juliana ; and was celebrated as a feast in 1247, by Robert, Bishop of Liege, in Belgium. Pope Urban in 1264, commanded its celebration throughout the Church, and Clement V., at the Council of Vienne, 1311, fixed the feast on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. It lias ever since been one of the most solemn and impressive holi- days of the Church, the Blessed Sacrament being borne in pro cession through the streets, followed by the different religious orders and confraternities, and thousands of the pious, while men. of the highest rank deem it an honor to support the canopy held THE SAOBAMENTS AKD 8AOEAMENTALS. 69 aver the Ostensorium. The streets are lined with greens &nd festive arches, and, in some places, as at Genzano, in Italy, the route is strewn with flowers arranged to form a magnificent carpet. Faith and devotion reach their highest point, and we can well understand how, once, a Protestant lady in France, see ing it, said to an incurable Catholic Mend : " Why can I not be* 'ieve, like you ? But if I did, I should not stay here, as you do. [ would drag myself on my knees after my Lord, as the woman did in the Gospel." Faith was roused in the Catholic lady's heart ; she did actually drag herself after the Blessed Sacrament, and was healed. (1) When the Blessed Sacrament is borne in procession, or exposed for veneration, it is placed in a sacred vessel called the Ostensorium, or Monstrance, in which the Sacred Host is covered with a circu- lar glass, and encircled by rays. This is used every Sunday, at the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, a service that generally follows Vespers, and in which Christ, in this invention of His love, blesses, in the priest's hand, the faithful who come to honor Him, and seek His grace and benediction. u What shall we say of the two-fold wonders — the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Sacrament of Communion ? There the Precious Blood puts on the vesture of omnipresence, and it becomes it welL Multiplied by how many hundreds of thousands of times, is it not dwelling, whole, living, and glorified, in the hosts reserved within the tabernacles of the world ? Into how many thousand human hearts does it not descend daily, whole, living, and glori- fied, in the glory of the dread reality of Communion ? Into how many thousand chalices does it not empty itself, from out the Sacred Heart in heaven, every day ? The very whirling of the earth, as it makes day and night by turning to or from the sun, ministers to the longings of the Precious Blood. It is bewilder- ing to think of the countless graces of expiation which flow daily from the Sacrifice, or the countless graces of union which flow (1) This lady was Anne de Lafosse, and the cure, which took place on Corpus Chris ti, 1725, led to much discussion, and, consequently, to the strictest examination. See an account in Muller's Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, p. 101 ; and in Feller, Dictionnair* Histori^ue, title Lafosse (Anne Charlier). 70 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOKAMENTALS. daily from the Sacrament. In the heart of the Andes, vast intei woven and mutually-enfolding mountains cover themselves with gigantic forests. The condor, as he wheels above, looks down jpon an ocean of impenetrable foliage, without a rent, or break, or insight into the green abyss. So does the Precious Blood, in Mass and Communion, mantle the whole Church with tropical exuberances of grace, as they appear, hiding the natural features of the ground with the ample folds of their verdant overgrowth The tinklings of the Mass-bell, like new creative words, change the whole aspect of the unconscious world." (1) THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. Sin is the terrible scourge of man. Our evils, physical and moral, all spring from this one fountain. Yielding to it, man sighs to 1 e delivered from it, hopeless and helpless in himself to rise from out its slough. In the old law, man sought, in the sac- rifices of the law, types of the one only Atoning Sacrifice of Cal- vary—remission of sin through that Precious Blood, to be shed in a future still veiled from his eyes. Sacrifices were offered foi the sins of the whole people, and each one, guilty even of inad vertent transgressions — venial sins — made his public offering through the priest. Yet there was no remission, really, in the blood of goats and calves. The prophets foretold that, under the reign of the Messias, there should be a fountain ever open for the washing of the sinner. Penance may be considered as a virtue or as a sacrament. As a virtue, it was always necessary, even before our Saviour taught His Gospel and instituted the Holy Sacrament. Penance, as a virtue, is a gift of God which makes us deplore and hate the sins we have committed, with a firm purpose to amend, and make satisfaction for the sins committed. Penance, as a sacrament, becomes necessary as often as we may have sinned after Baptism. For those who fall into sin after Baptism, say the (1) Faber. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. 71 Fathers of Trent, the Sacrament of Penance is as necessary to sat vation, as is Baptism for those who have not been already bap tized. For, as he who suffered shipwreck has no hope of safety, unless perchance he seize on some plank from the wreck ; so he that suffers the shipwreck of Baptismal innocence, unless he cling to the saving plank of Penance, may abandon all hope of sal- vation. Jesus Christ claimed, as man, the power to forgive sins ; He claimed the right to delegate that power. His enemies were shocked at His claim. On one occasion they said in themselves, what the enemies of the Church often say openly, and even cite against her, as though Christ's enemies spoke the truth, and He, truth itself, had erred — they said within themselves : " "Who can forgive sins but God alone ? " But our Lord revealed their hidden thought, and condemned it, saying: " Why do you think evil in your hearts % " " That you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins " — He paused, as though words were too weak an argument, and, turning from His enemies and their objections, He bade the sick man arise, take up his bed, and walk. (1) Nothing can be clearer, more striking, more absolute. He as- serted His power to forgive sins as man. It was denied ; and He at once wrought a miracle to show that His words, potent to effect a bodily cure, were as potent to effect the spiritual cure. He exercised His power again and again ; (2) and though His enemies murmured, He not only maintained the power, but con- ferred it on His apostles. To Peter, as the prince and primate of the apostles, He gave the full power: " And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatso- ever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." (3) The same grant, substantially, was extended to all ths apostles, when our Lord said to them: "Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed (1) Compare St. Matt. ix. &-6 ; St. Markii. 6-11 ; St. Luke v. 20--25. (2) St. Luke vii 48, 49. (3) St. Matt, xtL 1§. 72 V THE SACIIAMENTS AND SACRAMENTAL?*. also in heaven." (1) Then, after His resurrection, He breathed on all the apostles, and said to them: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (2) Such are the clear and unmistakable words in which the Sacra- ment of Penance is declared in the Scriptures, and it can not be questioned without siding against Christ with His enemies, or so commenting His words as to make them the very contrary of what they are as they stand. The doctrine of the Church, as to the Sacrament of Penance, is thus declared by the Council of Trent : " So great, in these our days, is the multitude of various errors relative to this Sacrament, that it will be of no slnall public utility to have given thereof a more exact and full definition, wherein all errors having been, under the protection of the Holy Ghost, pointed out and extir- pated, Catholic truth may be made clear and resplendent, which Catholic truth this holy Synod now sets before all Christians to be perpetually received. " If such in all the regenerate were their gratitude toward God as that they constantly preserved the justice received in Baptism by His bounty and grace, there would not have been need for another Sacrament, besides that of Baptism itself, to be instituted for the remission of sins. But because God, rich in mercy, knows our frame (Ps. cii. 14), He hath bestowed a remedy of life even on those who may, after Baptism, have delivered themselves up to the servitude of sin and the power of the devil — the Sacra- ment, to wit, of Penance, by which the benefit of the death of Christ is applied to those who have fallen after Baptism. Peni- tence was, indeed, at all times necessary, in order to attain to grace and justice, for all nten who had defiled themselves by any mortal sin, even for those who begged to be washed by the Sac- rament of Baptism, that so, their perverseness renounced and amended, they might, with a hatred of sin and a godly sorrow of mind, detest so great an offence of God. Wherefore the prophet says : 1 Be converted, and do penance for till your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin ' (Ezech. xviii. 30). The Lord (1> Si. Matt, xviii. 18. (2) St. Jolin xx. 22, 23* THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. 73 folso said : ' Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish (Luke xiii. 5). And Peter, the prince of the apostles, recom- mending penitence to sinners who were about to be initiated Ly Baptism, said : 1 Do penance, and be baptized every one of you. 1 Nevertheless, neither before the coming of Christ was penitence a Sacrament, nor is it such since His coming, to any previously to Baptism. But the Lord then principally instituted the Sacra- ment of Penance, when being raised from the dead, He breathed upon His disciples, saying : i Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained ' (John xx. 23). By which action so signal, and words so clear, the consent of all the Fathers has ever understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the apostles and their lawful succes- sors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after Bap- tism. And the Catholic Church, with great reason, repudiated ind condemned as heretics the Novatians, who, of old, obstinately denied that power of forgiving. Wherefore, this holy Synod, ap proving of and receiving as most true this meaning of those words of our Lord, condemns the fanciful interpretation of those who, in opposition to the institution of this Sacrament, falsely wrest those words to the power of preaching the word of God, and of announcing the Gospel of Christ." (1) " For the rest, this Sacrament is clearly seen to be different from Baptism in many respects ; for, besides that it is very widely different indeed in matter and form, which constitute the essence of a Sacrament, it is beyond doubt certain that the minister of Baptism need not be a judge, seeing that the Church exercises judgment on no one who has not entered therein through the gate of Baptism. i For what have I,' saith the apostle, 1 to do to judge them that are without?' (1 Cor. v. 12). It is otherwise with those who are of the household of the faith, whom Christ our Lord has once, by the laver of Baptism, made the membera of His own Body ; for such, if they should afterwards have defiled themselves by any crime, he would no longer have them cleansed (1) Acts and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Session XIV., under Pope Julius IDL Nov. 5, 1551, Ch. I. 74 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. by a repetition of Baptism — that being nowise lawful in the Catholic Church — but be placed as criminals before this tribunal, that by the sentence of the priests they might be freed, not onc^ but as often as, being penitent, they should flee thereunto, from the sins they have committed. Furthermore, one is the fruit of Baptism, and another that of Penance. For by Baptism putting on Christ, we are made therein entirely a new creature, obtaining a full and entire remission of all sins ; unto which newness and entireness, however, we are noways able to arrive by the Sac- rament of Penance, without many tears and great labors on our parts, the divine justice demanding this; so that Penance has justly been called, by the Holy Fathers, a laborious kind of Bap- tism. (1) And this Sacrament of Penance is, for those who have fallen after Baptism, necessary unto salvation, as Baptism itself is for those who have not as yet been regenerated." (2) " The holy Synod doth furthermore teach, that the form of the Sacrament of Penance, wherein its force principally consists, is placed in those words of the minister, " I absolve thee," etc., to which words, indeed, certain prayers are, according to the custom cf the holy Church, laudably joined, which, nevertheless, by no means regard the essence of that form, neither are they necessary for the administration of the Sacrament itself. But the acts of the penitent himself, to-wit : contrition, confession, and satisfac- tion, are, as it were, the matter of this Sacrament ; which acts, inasmuch as they are, by God's institution, required in the peni- tent for the integrity of this Sacrament, and for the full and per- fect remission of sins, are for this reason called the parts of Penance. But the thing signified indeed, and the effect of this Sacrament, as far as regards its force and efficacy, is reconciliation with God, which sometimes, in persons who are pious, and who receive the Sacrament with devotion, is wont to be followed by peace and serenity of conscience, with exceeding consolation of spirit. The holy Synod, whilst delivering these things touching the parts and the effect of this Sacrament, condemns, at the same (1) St Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 89. St. John Damascenes, Lib. IV., De Fide, ch. z. (2) Acts of the Council of Trent, Sess. XTV., ch. ii. THE 8 AOK AMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS, 75 time, the opinions of those who contend that the terrors which agitate the conscience and faith are the parts of Penance." (1) " Contrition, which holds the first place amongst the aforesaid acts of the penitent, is a sorrow of mind, and a detestation for sin committed, with the purpose of not sinning for the future. This movement of contrition was at all tu*es necessary for ob- taining the pardon of sins ; and, in one who has fallen after Bap- tism, it then at length prepares for the remission of sins, when it is united with confidence in the divine mercy, and with the de- sire of performing the other things which are required for rightly receiving this Sacrament. Wherefore the holy Synod declares that this contrition contains not only a cessation from sin, and the purpose and the beginning of a new life, but also a hatred of the old, agreeably to that saying : ' Cast away from you all your iniquities, wherein you have transgressed, and make to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit ' (Ezech. xviii 31). And assuredly he who has considered those cries of the saints : ' To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee ' (Ps. 1. 6) ; 1 1 hav® labored in my groaning, every night I will wash my bed ' (Ps. vi 7) ; ' I will recount to thee all my years, in the bitterness of my soul' (Is. xxxviii. 15), and others of this kind, will easily understand that they flowed from a certain vehement hatred of their past life, and from an exceeding detestation of sins. The Synod teaches, moreover, that, although it sometimes happens that this contrition is perfect through charity, and reconciles man with God before this Sacrament be actually received, the said recon- ciliation, nevertheless, is not to be ascribed to that contrition, in- dependently of the desire of the Sacrament, which is included therein. And as to that imperfect contrition, which is called at- trition, because it is commonly conceived either from the con- sideration of the turpitude of sin, or from the fear of hell and of punishment, it declares that if, with the hope of pardon, it exclude the wish to sin, it not only does not make a man a hypocrite and a greater sinner, but that it is even a gift of God, and an impulse of the Holy Ghost — who does not, indeed, * as yet dwell in the penitent, but only moves him, whereby the penitent, being (1) lb., ch. iii. 76 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. assisted, prepares a way for himself unto justice. And although this (attrition) can not of itself, without the Sacrament of Pen- ance, conduct the sinner to justification, yet does it dispose him to obtain the grace of God in the Sacrament of Penance. For smitten profitably with this fear, the Ninevites, at the preaching of J onas, did fearful penance, and obtained mercy from the Lord- Wherefore, falsely do some calumniate Catholic writers, as if they had maintained that the Sacrament of Penance confers grace without any good motion on the part of those who receive it — a thing which the Church of God never taught or thought ; and falsely, also, do they assert that contrition is extorted and forced — not free and voluntary." (1) " From the institution of the Sacrament of Penance, as already explained, the Universal Church has always understood that the entire confession of sins was also instituted by the Lord, and is, of divine right, necessary for all who have fallen after Baptism ; because that our Lord Jesus Christ, when about to ascend from earth to heaven, left priests his own vicars, as presidents and judges, unto whom all the mortal crimes into which the faithful of Christ may have fallen should be carried, in order that, in ac- cordance with the power of the keys, they may pronounce the sentence of forgiveness or retention of sins. For it is manifest that priests could not have exercised this judgment without knowledge of the cause; neither, indeed, could they have ob- served equity in enjoining punishments, if the said faithful should have declared their sins in general only, and not, rather, specific- ally, and one by one. Whence it is gathered that all the mortal sins, of which, after a diligent examination of themselves, they are conscious, must needs be, by penitents, enumerated in confession, even though those sins be most hidden, and committed only against the last two precepts of the decalogue — sins which some- times wound the soul more grievously, and more dangerous than those which are committed outwardly. For, venial sins, whereby we are not excluded from the grace of God, and into which we fall more frequently, although they be rightly and profitably, and without any presumption, declared in confession, as the cu& (1) Ch. iy. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAORAMENTALS. 77 torn of pious persons demonstrates, yet may they be omitted without guilt, and be expiated by many other remedies. But, whereas all mortal sins, even those of thought, render men chil dren of wrath (Eph. ii 3), and enemies of God, it is necessary to geek also for the pardon of them all from God, with an open and modest confession. Wherefore, while the faithful of Christ are faithful to confess all the sins which occur to their memory, they, without doubt, lay them all bare before the mercy of God to be pardoned ; whereas they who act otherwise, and knowingly keep back certain sins, such set nothing before the divine bounty to be forgiven through the priest ; for, if the sick be ashamed to show his wound to the physician, his medical art cures not that which it knows not of. We gather, furthermore, that those circumstances which change the species of the sin are also to be explained in confession, because that, without them, the sins themselves are neither entirely set forth by the penitents, nor are they known clearly to the judges ; and it can not be that they can estimate rightly the grievousness of the crimes, and im- pose on the penitents the punishment which ought to be inflicted on account of them. Whence, it is unreasonable to teach that these circumstances have been invented by idle men ; or that one circumstance only is to be confessed, to wit, that one has sinned against a brother. But is also impious to assert that confession enjoined to be made in this manner, is impossible, or to call it a slaughter-house of consciences; for it is certain that, in the Church, nothing else is required of penitents, but that, after each has examined himself diligently, and searched all the folds and recesses of his conscience, he confess those sins by which he shall remember that he has mortally offended his Lord and God; whilst the other sins, which do not occur to him after diligent thought, are understood to be included as a whole, in that same confession ; for which sins we confidently say, with the prophet • ' Prom my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord ' (Ps. xviii 13). Now, the very difficulty of a confession like this, and the shame of making known one's sins, might indeed seem a grievous thing, were it not alleviated by the many and great advantages and consolations which are most assuredly bestowed by absolutio* 78 THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMEHTALS. upon all who worthily approach to this Sacrament For the rest> as to the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone, although Christ has not forbidden that a priest may — in punishment ol his sins, and for his own humiliation, as well for an example to others as for the edification of the Church that has been scandal- ized — confess his sins publicly, nevertheless this is not com- manded by a divine precept ; neither would it be very prudent to enjoin, by any human law, that sins, especially such as are secret, should be made known by a public confession. Where fore, whereas the secret sacramental confession which was in use from the beginning in holy Church, and is still also in use has always been commended by the most holy and the most ancient Fathers, with a great and unanimous consent, the vain calumny of those is manifestly refuted, who are not ashamed to teach that confession is alien from the divine command, and is a human invention, and that it took its rise from the Fathers as- sembled in the Council of Lateran; for the Church did not, through the Council of Lateran, ordain that the faithful of Christ should confess — a thing which it knew to be necessary, and to be instituted of divine right— but that the precept of confession should be complied with at least once a year, by all and each, when they have attained to years of discretion. Whence, through- out the whole Church, the salutary custom is, to the great benefit of the souls of the faithful, now observed, of confessing at that most sacred and most acceptable time of Lent — a custom which this holy Synod most highly approves of and embraces, as pious and worthy of being retained." 11 But, as regards the minister of this Sacrament, the holy Synod declares all these doctrines to be false and utterly alien from the truth of the Gospel, whicfi perniciously extend the ministry of the keys to any others soever besides bishops and priests ; imagin- ing, contrary to the institution of this Sacrament, that those words of our Lord, ' Whatsoever you shall bind upo i earth, shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loo> upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven' (Matt, xviii 18), md, i Whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained ' (John xx. 23), were in such wise THE SACRAMENTS AND SACEAMENTALS. 79 addressed to all the faithful of Christ, indifferently and nidi* eriininately, as that every one has the power of forgiving sins — public sins, to wit, by rebuke, provided he that is rebuked shall acquiesce ; and secret sins, by a voluntary confession made to any individual whatsoever. It also teaches that even priests who are in mortal sin, exercise, through the virtue of the Holy Ghost which was bestowed in ordination, the office of forgiving sins, as the ministers of Christ ; and that the sentiment of those is er- roneous who contend that this power exists not in bad priests. But ; although the absolution of the priest is the dispensation of another's bounty, yet it is not a bare ministry only, whether of announcing the Gospel, or of declaring that sins are forgiven, but is after the manner of a judicial act, whereby sentence is pro- nounced by the priest as by a judge ; and therefore the peni- tent ought not so to confide in his own personal faith, as to think that — even though there be no contrition on his part, or no in- tention on the part of the priest of acting seriously and absolving truly — he is, nevertheless, truly and in God's sight absolved, on account of his faith alone. For neither would faith without penance bestow any remission of s:ns, nor would he be otherwise than most careless of his own salvation, who, knowing that a priest but absolved him in jest, should not carefully seek for another who would act in earnest." " Finally, as regards satisfaction — which, as it is, of all the parts of Penance, that which has been at all times recommended to the Christian people by our fathers, so it is the one especially which, in our age, is, under the loftiest pretext of piety, impugned by those who have 1 an appearance of godliness, but have denied the power thereof (2 Tim. iii. 5) — the holy Synod declares that it is wholly false and alien from the word of God, that the guilt is never forgiven by the Lord without the whole punishment also being therewith pardoned ; for clear and illustrious examples are found in the Sacred Writings, whereby, besides by divine tra- dition, this error is refuted in the plainest manner possible. And, truly, the nature of divine justice seems to demand that they who, through ignorance, have sinned before Baptism, be received into grace in one manner ; and in another, those who, after having 80 THE SAOBAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. been freed from the servitude of sin and of the devil, and aftei having received the gift of the Holy Ghost, have not feared, knowing, ' to violate the temple of God' (1 Cor. iiL 17), and 'to grieve the Holy Spirit ' (Ephes. iv. 30). And it beseems the livine clemency, that sins be not in such wise pardoned us, with out any satisfaction, as that, taking occasion therefrom, think ing sins less grievous, we, offering, as it were, an insult and an 1 outrage to the Holy Ghost ' (Heb. x. 29), should fall into more grievous sins, * treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath (Rom. ii. 4). For, doubtless, these satisfactory punishments greatly recall from sin, and check, as it were, with a bridle, and make penitents more cautious and watchful for the future. They are also remedies for the remains of sin, and, by acts of the oppo site virtues, they remove the habits acquired by evil living Neither, indeed, was there ever in the Church of God any way accounted surer to turn aside the impending chastisement of the Lord than that men should, with true sorrow of mind, practice these works of penitence. Add to these things that, whilst we thus, by making satisfaction, suffer for our sins, we are made con form able to Jesus Christ, who satisfied for our sins, from whom all our sufficiency is (2 Cor. iiL 5) ; having also, thereby, a most sure pledge that \ If we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him ' (Bom. viii. 17). But neither is this satisfaction which we discharge for our sins so our own as not to be through Jesus Christ ; for we, who can do nothing of ourselves, as of ourselves, can do all things, He co-operating who strengthens us. Thus, man has not wherein to glory, but all our glorying is in Christ, in whom we live, in whom we merit, in whom we satisfy, 1 bring- ing forth fruits worthy of penance ' (Matt. iiL 8), which from Him have their efficacy, who have succeeded to the place of the Apostles, principally belong to this hierarchial order ; that they are ( placed,' as the same apostle says, * by the Holy Ghost, to rule the Church of God ; ' (3) that they are superior to priests ; administer the Sacrament of Confirmation ; ordain the ministers of the Church; and that they can perform very many other things — over which functions others of an inferior order have no power. Furthermore, the sacred and holy Synod teaches that, in the ordination of bishops, priests, and of the other orders, neither the consent, nor vocation, nor authority, whether of the people, or of any civil power or magistrate whatsoever, is required in such wise that, without this, the ordination is invalid ; yea, rather, doth it decree that all those who, being only called and instituted by the people, or by the civil power and magistrate, ascend to the exercise of these ministrations, and those who, of their own rashness, assume them to themselves, are not ministers of the Church, but are to be looked upon as ' thieves and robbers, who have not entered by the door.' (4) These are the things which it hath seemed good to the Sacred Synod to teach the faithful of Christ, in general terms, touching the Sacrament of Order " Holy Order is a Sacrament which gives graee and power to perform the public functions connected with the worship of God and the salvation of souls. Every Sacrament has its outward (1) Cant vi. 8. (8) Acts xx. 88. (2) Ephes. yi. 11-12. (4) John x. 1. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS. 105 sign, and its inward grace, and its appointed minister. The minis- ter of this Sacrament is a bishop. Only the apostles and the bishops, their successors, are recorded in the inspired books of th® New Law as conferring this Sacrament. The constant tradition of the Catholic Church is marked by its repeated condemnations )i those who called this point in question. The sensible sign is the prayer of the bishop and the imposition of his hands. St. Luke, in the Acts, and St. Paul, in his Epistles to Timothy, men- tion the imposition of the bishop's hands as the essential sign in the ordination of priests and deacons. (1) The apostle of the Gentiles, and the tradition of the Church in all ages, connect special graces with the prayers and imposition of hands by the bishop on the Christian levite. The effects of this Sacrament transcend human thought and human words. " In conferring the priesthood, the crowning of Holy Order as a Sacrament, the Church comes forth in the pleni- tude of her greatness. What earthly power shall presume to vie with that which Saint John Chrysostom rates above the dignity of angels ? The angels, indeed, see their Lord face to face, bvt to them is not given, as to the priest, the control of His very Body. He vouchsafes, of His abundant condescension, to obey the bid- ding of His creatures ; to descend at their word upon our altars ; to contract Himself within the limits of space." By this Sacra- ment, too, man is invested with a power that seems a very attri- bute of omnipotence — the power of forgiving and retaining gin, which Jesus Christ paused in an argument to prove, by a miracle, that He possessed as man, and which, in the fullness of His power, he confided to His apostles. This tremendous dignity of the priesthood is not lightly con- ferred. The Church surrounds the approach to the Sacrament of Order by a host of precautions. She seems to hesitate, to ex- amine, to pray, at every step of the long preparation. There must be a vocation from God. " We should always distrust a vo- cation which springs from our parents or ourselves, no matter how good our intentions may seem to be." (2) Of any motive like am bition, or avarice, we need not speak ; the world itself would (1) Acts yi. 6 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14, 22 ; 2 Tim. i. 6. (2) Saint Gregory on Vocation. 106 THE 8AOKAMENTTS AND SACBAMENTALS. condemn it An enlightened spiritual guide, well instructed in the laws of the Church, having experience in the ways of God and full ol prudent zeal, will best direct one who, believing him- self called by God, seeks in prayer and humility to follow the divine will in his choice of a state. The vocation of the bishop, guided by special graces for the maintenance of the sacerdotal order, will rarely fail to be, to the pure of heart and mind, a clear and unmistakable guide. The urgings of parents to enter on the service are always liable to suspicion, and have often led to de- plorable results ; for though any parent may desire, with a holy desire, to behold his son called to a state so intimately connected with the worship, he is not an unbiased judge, and may be op- posing the will of God. - A real vocation will generally be shown by a detachment from the world, its vanities, its all-absorbing pursuits, its stupefying love of comfort ; by disinterestedness, charity ; by zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of men ; as well as by mental gifts- — science and talents to serve the Church ; a love of labor and study ; a spirit of retirement ; courage, determination, pru- dence, patience, chastity, humility, docility, and a love of prayer. Yet, even when a person seems to have marks of a real voca- tion and the necessary dispositions, there may be difficulties to his entrance on the ecclesiastical state, in the provisions with which the Church, for the honor and dignity of God's worship, has environed the way to the priesthood. No one whose mind or reason is in any way affected ; who is possessed or subject to epileptic fits, or any disease likely to affect the mind ; no one maimed, or distorted, or so disfigured by birth or accident as to repel people, can be admitted. A candidate must be born in lawful wedlock, be a free person ; in the Latin Church, unmar- ried ; and the restriction even extends so far as to exclude one who has married twice or married a widow. No one who has ahed human blood, or as a judge condemned men to death; no one whose life has been infamous or shameful ; no one who has been an actor or public performer for the amusement of the world , can enter the sanctuary, except in such grave cases, as rarely occur, where the Church will exert its dispensing power to THE SACRAMENTS AND SACKAMENTAL8. 107 remove any of the irregularities incurred by these, in view of par fcicular circumstances. The candidate should be called by God, be perfect in body and mind, without a stain in the eyes of his fellow-men. The vcca tion generally develops in the boy ; the evident call is seen, di- rectors guide him, a Catholic college becomes his home, and his delight is to minister in the sanctuary — to bear his part, like young Samuel, in the appointed work of God's ministers at the altar. It is soon seen that he loves " the beauty of God's house, and the dwelling-place of His glory " — that His altars are the home to which he would cling as the bird to her nest. THE TONSURE. When, at last, he is admitted to the Seminary devoted in an especial manner to the training of young levites for the sanctuary, he undergoes a sacred and holy rite — not a Sacrament or part of Order, but a Sacramental — a preparation for it. This is the Tonsure It marks the entrance into the ecclesiastical state. The time when it is given is not determined, but is rarely given before the age of fourteen. (1) The Tonsure, or shaving of the head, was, under the Mosaic law, a mark of a vow, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles. (2) As a preparation to the Sacrament of Order, it is said to have been instituted by St. Peter, and is coeval with the establishment of the Church. The practice of wearing it is as old as the time of Pope Gregory, who lived early in the sixth century. By some it is considered to represent the royal dignity of those thus exalted ; by others it is viewed as a figure of the crown of thorns which encircled the head of our Lord, that, as His cross has become a symbol of honor, His thorny crown should also be one of dignity. In its pious signification, this thought of the Divine Master will always be, to the ecclesiastic, a source of consolation and piety. In times when the Church was the acknowledged mis- tress of Christendom, the Tonsure was always worn — that is, the crown of the head was kept shaved — and this mark of the (1) Council of Trent, Session xxiii., Ch. 4. (2^ Acts xxl 24. 108 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT AL9. ecclesiastical state exempted the wearer from civil jurisdiction marking the lines of the two concurrent powers. " The office by which our holy mother consecrates the entrance Into this state is short, but exquisitely sweet." The candidate for the Tonsure appears before the bishop in a cassock or soutane, the canonical habit of ecclesiastics, with a surplice on his arm, and a wax taper in his hand. " The psalms (1) chosen are those two beautiful ones, the fifteenth and twenty-third ; and won- drously does each of them shroud, in that soft, graceful disguise, which the words of an earlier dispensation throw over the truths of a later, what may be called the sentiment of the peculiar oc- casion. The fifteenth psalm appears to be said in the person of the candidate ; it immediately precedes the act of giving the Tonsure, and embodies a prayer for help, and a pledge of fidelity. ' Preserve me, O Lord, for I have put my trust in thee ! I have said to thee, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods.' The key-note of this psalm, as used by the Church, is found in a verse toward its close : 1 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my chalice : it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me.' " These loving words the candidate repeats at the dictation of the bishop ; for, like the Sacrament of Ordei itself, the Tonsure is given only by the bishop. And, while the candidate repeats fhem, the bishop cuts away some of the hair on the crown of the head, in the form of a cross. After a short prayer by the ordinary, that he, the hair of whose head, through divine love, has been laid aside, may remain always in the love of God, and without spot forever, the choir begins the antiphon of the following psalm, in which the Church, now speaking in her own person, pronounces her words of maternal benediction upon the child whom she has thus adopted into her closer em- braces, and reminds him into what kind of privilege she has elected him. " The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof : the world, and all they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas : and hath prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall scend into the mountain of the Lord ? or who shall stand in his holy place ? The innocent in hands, and the clean of heart, wh« (1) Dublin Review THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. 109 hatn not taken his soul in vain He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour." These last are the words selected as an antiphon. Then it goes on to char- acterize the state : " This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of Jacob." Nor is the concluding portion of that triumphant psalm less appropriate : " There the angels, in parted companies, like two sides of a choir, discourse with one another in notes of jubilation, upon the entrance of the King of Glory within the heavenly portals." As the chant of the psalm dies away, the bishop proceeds to invest the candidate with the garment of his state — the surplice, which, though at times allowed to those ministering in the sanctuary, is properly the robe of ecclesiastics only. The bishop confers it with these words : " May the Lord clothe thee in the new man, who is created according to God in justice and the sanctity of truth." The soutane worn by him shows that he has renounced the world; the taper is an offering to Jesus Christ, and the tonsured person testifies by this offering that he desires to be consumer as this taper, in the service of God. The cutting of his hair re- minds him that he must be detached from this world, and divest- ed of all superfluity ; the words which he repeats are a protesta- tion before Christ and His Church, that, in spirit, he takes God for his inheritance, and that he ardently desires to consecrate his whole life to his Lord and Saviour, in the ecclesiastical state* The white surplice, being clerical, reminds him that he is now enrolled as an ecclesiastic ; and its pure white is an emblem of the innocence and virtue in which he is obliged to live. The ecclesiastic, thus enrolled, prepares, by study and prayer, for *1hi reception of the first steps in tJbe Sacrament of Order. 110 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. MINOR ORDERS. OSTIARIUS, OR DOORKEEPER — LECTOR, OR READER — EXORCIST — ACOLYTE. Understood in the strict sense, the word " order " means th disposition of superior and subordinate parts, which, when united, present a combination so harmonious as to stand in mutual and accordant relations. Comprising, then, as the ministry does, many gradations and various functions, and disposed, as all these grada- tions and functions are, with the greatest regularity, this Sacra- ment is very appropriately called " the Sacrament of Orders." The first steps toward Holy Orders are known as Minor Orders. These have not been the same in all parts of Christendom ; the Oriental Church recognizing only two, while in the Latin Church these Minor or Preparatory Orders have from time immemorial been four in number. It has not been expressly defined that these Minor Orders constitute part of the Sacrament, the full and complete conferring of which is attained in the priesthood. "It is certain, however, that in one sense all the seven orders are sac- ramental, as making up one Sacrament, the Sacrament of Or. 858). Ib M VoL IX, pp m, 1570. 146 THE SACBAMENTS AND SA0RAMENTAL8. tion of salvation is to keep the rule of the true faith. And be cause the sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ can not be passed by who said : u Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church " (St. Matt, xvi. 18), these things which have been said are approved by events ; because in the Holy Apostolic See the Catholic religion and her holy and well-known doctrine has al- ways been kept undefiled. Desiring, therefore, not to be in the least degree separated from the faith and doctrine of that See, we hope that we may deserve to be in the one communion, which the Apostolic See preaches, and in which is the entire and true solid- ity of the Christian religion.' (1) And with the approval of the second Council of Lyoiis, the Greeks professed that the Holy Ro- man Church enjoys supreme and full primacy, and pre-eminence over the whole Catholic Church, which it truly and humbly ac- knowledges that it has received, with the plenitude of power, from our Lord himself, in the person of blessed Peter, Prince or Head of the Apostles, whose successor the Roman Pontiff is, and as the Apostolic See is bound before all others to defend the truth of faith, so also if any questions regarding faith shall arise, they must be denned by its judgment. (2) Finally, the Council 3f Florence defined, (3) ' that the Roman Pontiff is the true Vicar of Christ and the Head of the whole Church, and the Father and Teacher of all Christians ; and that to him, in blessed Peter, was delivered, by our Lord Jesus Christ, the full power of feeding mling, and governing the whole Church' (St. John xxi. 15, 17). " To satisfy this pastoral duty, our predecessors ever made un- wearied efforts that the salutary doctrine of Christ might be propagated among all the nations of the earth, and with equal care watched that it might be preserved genuine and pure where it had been received. Therefore, the bishops of the whole world, now singly, now assembled in synod, following the long-estab- lished custom of churches, (4) and the form of the ancient (1) Formula of St Hormisdas, subscribed by the Fathers of the 8th Gen. Council, i± of Constantinople (a.d. 869). Labbe's Councils, Vol. V., pp. 588, 622. (*) Acta 14th Gen, Council, 2d of Lyons (a.d. 1274). Ib., Vol. XTV., p. 512. (8) Acta 17th Gen. Council (Florence, 1488). Ib., VoL XVIII., p. 526. (4) Ep. St Cyril of Alexandria to Pdjw St. Oelestine I. (ajd. 422. E. Paris, 1688 VoL VI., pan 2, p. 36.) THE SAOEAMENTS AND 8ACEAMENTAL8. 147 rule, (1) sent now to this Apostolic See of those dangers espe- cially which sprang np in matters of faith, that there the losses of faith might be most effectually repaired where the faith can not fail. (2) "And the Roman Pontiffs, according to the exigencies of times and circumstances, sometimes assembling (Ecumenical Councils, or asking for the mind of the Church scattered throughout the world, sometimes by particular synods, sometimes using other helps which Divine Providence supplied, denned as to be held, those things which, with the help of God, they had recognized as conformable with the Sacred Scriptures and Apostolic Traditions. For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by his revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by his assistance they might inviolably keep, and faithfully expound, the revelation or deposit of faith delivered through the apostles. And, indeed, all the venerable Fathers have embraced, and the holy orthodox Doctors have venerated and followed their apostolic doctrine; knowing most fully that the See of holy Peter remains ever free from all blemish of error, according to the divine promise of the Lord our Saviour made to the Prince of His disciples • ' I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren ' (3) (St Luke xxii. 32). " This gift, then, of truth and never-failing faith was conferred by heaven upon Peter, and his successors in this chair, that they might perform their high office for the salvation of all ; that the whole flock of Christ, kept away by them from the poisonous food of error, might be nourished with the pasture of heavenly doctrine ; that the occasion of schism being removed, the whole Church might be kept one, and, resting on its foundation, might stand firm against the gates of helL " But since in this very age in which the salutary efficacy of the apostolic office is most of all required, not a few are found (1) St. Innocent I., Rescript to Council of MUevii (a.d. 402). Labbe, lb. Hi., p. 47. (2) St Bernard, Ep. to Pope Innocent n., 1280. Epiai 191. Opera (Paris, 1743> Vol. IY., p. 433. (8) A.cts 6th Gen Council, a.d. 680. Abb6, Vol. VII., p. 659. 145 THE SAOKAMENTS AND 8AOBAMENTALS. who take away from its authority, we judge it altogether neces sary solemnly to assert the prerogative which the only begotten Soc of God vouchsafed to join with the supreme pastoral offlca " Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God qui Saviour, the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and the sal vatic n of Christian people, the Sacred Council approving, We teach and • define that it is. a dogma divinely revealed : That the Roman Pon* tiff, when he speaks ex cathedra — that is, when, in discharge of the ofKce of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the Universal Church, by the divine as- sistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be endowed, for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals; and that, therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable (1) of themselves, and not from the con- sent of the Church." The whole structure of the Church, its government and mis* gion, are thus indissolubly connected with the sacrament of Holy Orders. " What a complication of graces is implied in ordi- nation," says Faber, "and then, also, what a magnificence of powers ! It is a manifold Sacrament. Its unity is a three-fold unity in Bishops^ Priests, and Deacons — a shadow of unutterable divine grandeurs ! It is, as it were, the sacred vessel in which the other six Sacraments are kept, and out of which they radiate their glory and their life." (2) THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. St. Paul says : " I would that all men were even as myself ; " that is, that all embraced the virtue of continence. In fact, if there be any one blessing superior to any other, it surely falls to (1) In the words used by Pope Nicolas L (ante), and in the Synod of Qucdlinbnrg 1 a-D. 1085, " it is allowed to none tc revise its judgment and to sit in judgment upon what t has judged." Labbfi, Vol. XII., p. 679. (2) The Precious Blood, p, 292. THE SACRAMENTS AJKD SACRAMENTALS. 149 the lot of him who, unfettered by the distracting cares cf the world, the turbulence of passion tranquilized, the unruly desires of the flesh extinguished, reposes in the practice of piety and the contemplation of heavenly things. But as, according to the same apostle, every one has his proper gift from God, one after this manner, another after that, and as marriage is gifted with many divine blessings, holding, as it does, a place amongst the Sacra- ments of the Church, it becomes our duty to describe, not on If the dignity, but also the duties of the married state. " How beautiful are the graces of the Sacrament of Marriage ! Full of human tenderness, yet so softly insinuating the sovereign love of God ; teeming with habitual self-sacrifice, yet filling the sacrifice with such sweetness, that it becomes not painless only, but a joy ; breeding in young hearts such a gravity of new, heav enly duties, and yet flinging over life the lustre of an additional light ; hardening the changeful heart with a supernatural prepar ation of perseverance, and yet softening every harshness, and making every sensitiveness more exquisitely keen ; fortifying the soul with boldness to do right, at the very moment it is gracing it with all the bashful timidities of love ; elevating affection into devotedness, and giving therewith a beautifulness of purity which is akin to the white innocence of virginity ; — these are the graces of the Sacrament of Marriage, and they are all creations of the Precious BloocL They are all of them working daily in millions of hearts, hearts in sorrow, and hearts in joy ; and their life is in the throbbing and pulsation of the Precious Blood." (1 J If, before the Redeemer came, a wise man had been asked where this coming regenerator should pour most freely out his graces to renew and raise a fallen world, and train the coming generations to virtue, he would surely have said : " Upon mar- riage. Sanctify marriage, and, in the regenerate home, the new generations will be a blessing to earth." Society could not be regenerated .but in its source. Divina Wisdom elevated the union of man and wife to be a Sacrament. He made a channel of graces for the individuals themselves, and for those to spring from them — Christian marriage, sacramental" (1) Faber, Precious Blood, p. 219. 150 THE SAOBAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. ized, reforming society, and, through it, the nations. At the un happy revolt of the sixteenth century, which tore so many from the Church, paganism, reasserting itself, attacked Christian map riage. They spurned the Sacrament, and all that was supernat a rax. They descended to the natural, the animal. But practice was stronger than new doctrines. Woman, elevated by the Cath- olic Church, clung to what she could of the past ; but, gradually, paganism gained ground till, now, States deny Christ, and deny His influence and graces in marriage, and decree that it must be heathenish. Can we wonder at the widespread misery that over- flows the world, a.t the'breaking up of all the family ties, at the looseness of thoughts and words in regard to that union on which society depends ? There is but one hope — the Catholic doctrine of the Sacrament Matrimony. And Catholics should feel how much they have reason to thank God for this Sacrament, and how they should prize its graces. The holy Council of Trent, even before that flood of iniquity iiad overflowed the world, thus defines the Catholic doctrine on the Sacrament of Matrimony : " The first parent of the human race, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, pronounced the bond of Matrimony perpetual and indissoluble when he said : ' This, now, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. Wherefore, a man shall leave father and moth- er, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh ' (Gen. ii. 23, 24) ; but that by this bond two only are united and joined together, our Lord taught more plainly, when, rehears- ing those last words as having been uttered by God, He said : 4 Therefore, now they are not two, but one flesh ' (St. Matt, xix 6), and straightway confirmed the firmness of that tie, proclaim- ed so long before oy Adam, by these words : 1 What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.' But the grace which might perfect that natural love, and confirm that in dissoluble union, and sanctify the married, Christ himself, the institutor and perfecter of the venerable Sacrament, merited for as by His passion, as the Apostle Paul intimates, saying : ' Hus- bands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church, and d* THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. 151 livered himself up for it,' adding, shortly after : * This is a grea* Sacrament, but 1 speak in Christ and in the Church ' (EpLss. v 25, 32). Whereas, therefore, Matrimony, in the evangelical law excels, in grace through Christ, the ancient marriages, with rea son have our holy Fathers, the Councils, and the tradition of the universal Church, always taught that it is to be numbered among the Sacraments of the New Law, against which impious men ol this age, raging, have not only had false notions touching this venerable Sacrament, but introducing, according to their wont, under the pretext of the Gospel, a carnal liberty, they have, by word and writing, asserted, not without great injury to the faith- ful of Christ, many things alien from the sentiment of the Cath- olic Church, and from the usage approved of since the times of the apostles." (1) Marriage, as a Sacrament, signifies the union of Christ with His Church; and as Christ never separates Himself from His Church, so a wife, as far as regards the tie of marriage, can never be separated from her husband, nor a husband from his wife. The bond of marriage can be dissolved by death alone. The principles of " free love " are condemned alike by natural and supernatural law. And it is to be sincerely regretted that no small number, even of Catholics, in the United States have become infatuated with the erroneous impression that the bond of matrimony can be totally severed in such manner as to allow those who are separated by divorce to enter upon a new marriage. Divorces- granted by the civil authorities can never justify parties who were properly married to proceed to a new marriage. Persons who intend to enter the holy state of Matrimony should present themselves before the priest who is to celebrate the mar- riage, in time to have the banns properly published, and inquiry made whether any impediments exist. The most usual of these arise from relationship or difference of religion. The Church tolerates, but does not favor, mixed "marriages, and warns hef children against them. The warning is often unheeded, but the bitter results are known to many an aching heart, unbuoyed by any aid amid trials that were blindly courted. (1) Canons of the Council of Trent. Sees. XXIV. (Nov. 11, 1563.) 152 TUB BAOBAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. It is most iii accordance with the intention of the Church, that Mass should be celebrated at the time of marriage ; but this con- dition is too often omitted, and Catholics are often married, as it were, by stealth, in the evening ; as though it were a crime, that needed the darkness to cover it, when it is in fact a glorious Sacrament, that should be received before God's altar in all the glory of day. The Church provides even a special votive Mass, the Missa pro Sponso et s Sponsa, a Mass of singular beauty, for the celebration of marriage ; and when the Mass of a festival supersedes this Mass, its distinctive parts are introduced into the more solemn service. ' The bride and bridegroom, with their friends, having taken their places near the altar (the bridegroom standing at the right hand of the bride), the priest, vested in surplice and white stole (over which he may wear a white or gold cope), proceeds with his attendants to the altar, where, after a short preliminary prayer, he turns to the bride and bridegroom, and interrogates them each as to their consent : " N., Wilt thou then take N., here present, for thy lawful wife, according to the rite of our Holy Mother, the Church ? " When he answers, " I will," the priest puts a similar question to the bride. Then they join hands, and the priest says : " I join you together in marriage, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Then he sprinkles them with holy water. This done, the bride- groom lays the wedding-ring on the book, and the priest, affcer a few versicles and responses, prays: "Bless, O Lord, this ring, which we bless in Thy name, that she who shall wear it, keeping true faith unto her spouse, may abide in Thy peace and will, and ever live in mutual charity. Through Christ our Lord." The priest then sprinkles it with holy water, and gives it into the hand of the bridegroom, instructing him to say the words in which he declares that he weds the bride with that -ing : " In tho mame of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." As the bridegroom says " Amen," he should place the ring on her fourth finger. The priest then turns to the altar, and says certain versicles, with the Kyrie eleison, and Lord's prayer, and thii prayer : " Look, O Lord, we beseech Thee, upon these Thy serv- THE SAOBAMETTTS AND SACRAMENT AL8. 153 ants, and graciously assist Thine own institution, where Dy Thou hast ordained the propagation of mankind, that they who are joined together by Thy authority may be preserved by Thy help Through Christ our Lord." After which, if Mass be celebrated, he puts on the sacerdotal vestments, and begins the Mass. The Mass has a special Collect, and the Epistle is taken from St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (v. 22, 23), where husbands are exhorted to love their wives, as Christ also loved the Church j and women are exhorted to be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord ; and in which the holy apostle says : " This is a great Sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church." The Gospel is from St. Matthew (xix. 3-6), where our Lord declared the indissolubility of marriage. After the Pater Noster, the priest, standing at the Epistle side of the altar, and turning to the bride and bridegroom kneeling before him, says a short prayer, like that before the Mass, and then this more solemn one : " O God, who, by the might of Thy power, didst create all things out of nothing; who, when the be- ginnings of the universe were set in order, and man was made in the image of God, didst ordain the inseparable assistance of woman, in such wise that Thou gavest beginning to her body out of the flesh of man, teaching thereby that what it had pleased Thee should be formed of one it should never be lawful to put asunder ; O God, who hast consecrated the bond of Matrimony by such an excellent mystery, that, in the covenant of marriage, Thou wouldst signify the Sacrament of Christ and His Church ; 0 God, by whom woman is joined to man, and society, as ordaind from the beginning, is furnished with a blessing which alone was not removed, either in punishment of original sin, or by the sentence of the deluge : look mercifully upon this Thy handmaid, who, being now to be joined in wedlock, earnestly desires to be fortified with Thy protection. May it be to her a yoke of love and peace; may she marry in Christ, faithful and chaste, and remain a follower of holy women ; may she be amiable to her husband, like Rachel ; wise, like Rebecca ; long-lived and faith ful, like Sara. In none of her deeds may that author of deceit have any power over her ; may she abide firmly knit to the faith 154 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT AL8. and the commandments; joined unto one bed, may she fly all xm lawful approaches ; may she fortify her weakness by the strength of discipline ; may she be in shamefacedness, grave ; in modesty, venerable; in heavenly doctrines, learned; may she be fruitful in offspring, approved and innocent, and attain unto the rest of the blessed, and unto the heavenly kingdom ; that they both may see their children's children, to the third and fourth generation^ and arrive at a desired old age. Through the same Christ, our Lord." Immediately before the benediction of the people, at the end of the Mass, the priest turns again to the bride and bridegroom, and says : " May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and Himself fulfill His blessing upon you, that you may see your children's children unto the third and fourth generation, and may afterward have everlasting life, without end, by the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Amen." Then he sprinkles them with holy water, and concludes the Mass. THE SACRAMENT ALS. Sacrament als, like the Sacraments, have an outward sign or sensible element ; but while the Sacraments were instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, outward signs with an inward grace, the Sacramentals are, for the most part, of ecclesiastical origin, instituted by the Church in her greajb work for the reno- vation and salvation of man. They do not, of their own power, infuse grace into the soul, but they excite the soul to desires, through w T hich it may obtain, from the gratuitous mercy of God, fehe special grace signified, or an increase of it. Thus, Holy Wa- ter is a Sacramental. It does not, of its own nature, wash tha soul from sin and infuse grace, as the Sacrament of Baptism does ; but, by reason of the Church's blessing attached to it, Holy Water aids the will to form pious desires. THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. 155 In general terms, the Sacramentals include the prayers of the Church and the Blessings of the Church. All the prayers of th6 Church said by the priest in the Mass, the psalms sung in the divine Office, the forms of prayer used in the administration of the Sacraments, in the consecration of bishops, the consecration and blessing of churches, of bells, vestments, crosses, rosaries, and of pictures, are Sacramentals. The books containing these official prayers are : The Missal, or Mass-Book. This contains the Ordinary of the Mass, which is the unalterable portion, and also the Introits, Col- lects, Epistles, Tracts, Graduals, Sequences, Epistles and Gospels, Offertories, Secrets, Prefaces, Communicantes, Communions, and Post-communions, for the various feasts and ferias of the ecclesi- astical year ; with a variety of votive Masses which may be said at option on certain days — the Mass of Marriage, Dedication of Churches, and the Masses of Requiem or Masses for the Dead. At one time, many countries, and even parts of countries, had \Missals varying somewhat ; but in later years these have grad- ually been laid aside, and the Roman Missal is now in almost universal use, although each country has a Proper of its own, containing services for special feasts, to which the people of that country have particular devotion, such as of saints who have flourished in the country, or feasts which have become in some way patronal. The Breviary, or Office Book of the Church, with the Diurnal, contains the Church prayers for the different hours of the day, ac- cording to the ancient division of time and the custom of the East. These are Matins ; Lauds ; Prime, so called from being said at the first hour; Tierce, said at the third hour ; Sext, at the sixth ; None, at the ninth ; Vespers, or the Evening Service ; and Com- pJn, or the concluding service of the day. Each of these parts contains some of the psalms of David, with extracts from other parts of the Bible, or from the Fathers, or an account of the feast or saint honored on the day ; canticles from the Scriptures, hymns, and prayers. The Breviary is divided into four parts, corresponding to the seasons — a division evidently of Jewish ori gin, as their prayer-books to this day are similarly divided 156 THE SACRAMENTS (lND SA0BAMEKTAL8. Every priest is bound to recite each day the divine office, and in the older monastic orders it was chanted in choir. Of these offices, Vespers is the only one in which the people now generally take part, on Sundays. It is composed of the 109th, 110th, 111th, 112th, and 113th Psalms, a hymn, the Mag- niflcat, or Canticle of the Blessed Virgin, from St. Luke, and the Collects. During Holy Week, the Matins and Lauds of Thurs- day, Friday, and Saturday are said publicly on the preceding evenings, instead of at midnight, and form the touching service known popularly as Tenebrse. Besides the general offices of the Breviary, there is the Office of the Dead, said by many out of de- votion, especially in confraternities. A shorter office, known as the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, is also used in some relig- ious orders and associations. The Ritual is a book containing the form of administering many of the Sacraments, the funeral service, various benedictions and minor services ; while those peculiar to bishops are given in the Pontifical. The Itinebary is a Church prayer of remarkable beauty. It opens with the Canticle of Zachary, father of St John the Bap- tist, followed by this anthem : " In the way of peace and pros- perity may the Lord, Almighty and merciful, direct our steps ; and may the angel Raphael accompany us on the way, that we may return to Our home in peace, safety, and joy." Then follow the Kyrie, Lord's Prayer, and versicles, leading our thoughts from the ways of earth to the ways of salvation. " Show us Thy ways, O Lord." " And teach us Thy paths." " Oh that our ways were directed." " To keep Thy justifications." Then fol- lows a prayer, which, after alluding to the passage of the Red Sea by the Children of Israel, and to the journey of the three Wise Men, proceeds : u Grant to us, we beseech Thee, a prosperous journey, and calm weather, that, attended by Thy holy angel, we may happily arrive at that place whither we are journeying, and finally at the haven of eternal salvation." Three other prayers follow, all full of beauty and unction, which no one can recite amid the vicissitudes of travel without a feeling of sweet confl dence and trust. THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOBAMENTALS, 157 Tub Funeral Sebvice. It has been said of the Puritans of New England, that they were married and buried without the presence of a minister of religion. Such was not the thought ot the Catholic Church. Every step in life finds her ready to blesa> encourage, strengthen ; and, after fortifying the soul for its last struggle, the Church waits to give the funeral rite her distinctive and touching character. Christian burial ! Even over those who mock and disbelieve, it has a power ; men who cut themselves off from the Church by their lives are anxious to have Christian burial. Let us examine the rite which seems to have such a hold on the minds of men who set all the laws and government of the Church at defiance, but yet — as has been seen in a neighboring province — invoke the mighty power of England tu compel Cath- olic clergy, by force, to pronounce it over one of their number whose life, under the Council of Lateran, had cut him off from the fold. In its full rite, the funeral service begins at the house of the departed. The priest, in surplice and black stole, before the body is borne out, sprinkles it with holy water, and intones the 129th Psalm, " De Prof undis," which the Church has adopted as the cry of the departed. It closes, as do all in the service of the dead : " Eternal rest give them, 0 Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them." The antiphon is the verse : " If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand ? " Then the body is borne out, and when the priest pronounces the antiphon, the chanters begin the Miserere (Ps. 50). As they enter the church, the prayer of mercy gives place to one of hope, inspired by the house of God. The chanters intone the antiphon : " The bones that are humbled shall rejoice." Then : " Come to his assistance, ye saints of God ; come forth to meet him, ye angels of the Lord, receiving his soul, offering it in the sight of the Most High." " May Christ receive thee, who called thee, and angels conduct thee to Abraham's bosom." The corpse is placed in the middle of the church, with the feet to the altar, if a layman ; but if a priest, with his head toward it Papers are lighted around the body. Then the Funeral Mass is said, after whif h the priest, taking off his chasuble and man 158 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. iple, moves processionally to tlie coffin, the subdeacon, if one ig present, leading with the cross, and taking his position at the head of the departed Christian, an acolyte on either hand bear- ing tapers, while the priest stands at the foot, with attendants bearing a censer and holy- water vessel. Then the priest begins . ' Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, 0 Lord ! for in Thy sight shall no man be justified, unless through Thee the remission of all his sins be granted unto him. Let not, therefore, we be- seech Thee, the sentence of Thy judgment weigh upon him whom the true supplication of Christian faith doth commend unto Thee ; but, by the succor of Thy grace, may he merit to escape the judg- ment of vengeance, who, while he lived, was marked with the seal of the Holy Trinity : who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen." Then, a chorister beginning, the clergy standing round chant the response : " Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, in that tremendous day : when the heavens shall be moved, and the earth : when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fira V. I am in fear and trembling, until the trial cometh, and the wrath to come. R. When the heavens shall be moved, and the earth : when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. V. That day, a day of wrath, calamity, and misery ; a day great and very bitter. R. When Thou shatt come to judge the world by fire. Eternal rest give unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. V. Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, in that tremendous day : when the heavens shall be moved, and the earth : when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy . Lord, have mercy." Then, repeating the prayer of our Lord, so of ten in life on the lips now cold in death, the priest sprinkles the lifeless body with holy-water, and then incenses it. That body is a temple of the Holy Grhost, consecrated by the Sacraments, by chrism and holy oil, by the coming of the Holy Ghost in Confirmation, by the Body and Blood of the Word made Man, Then the priest prays : " From the gate of hell, deliver his soul, O Lord" " May he rest in peace. Amen." u O Lord, hear my prayer." a And let my cry come unto Thee." " The Lord be THE SACRAMENTS AND SACBAMENTALS. 159 with thee." " And with thy spirit." " O God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, we humbly beseech Thee for the soul of Thy servant, which Thou hast this day command ed to depart out of this world : that Thou deliver it not into the hands of the enemy, nor forget it unto the end : but command it to be received by the holy angels and conducted into Paradise, our true country ; that, as it trusted and believed in Thee, it may not suffer the pains of hell, but attain unto everlasting joys.* "Amen." This is the prayer of Absolution, and, in the case of a deceased bishop, is given by several bishops in succession. The body is then borne out, the choir chanting: " May the an- gels conduct thee into Paradise ; at Thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and lead thee to Jerusalem, the holy city. May the angelic choir receive thee, and with Lazarus, once a beggar, may- est thou have eternal rest." On arriving at the grave, opened in consecrated ground, to re- ceive the body of one who has died in the communion of the Church, the corpse is placed beside it ; the priest again sprinkle* and incenses the body and the grave, and recites the Canticle of Zachary : " Benedictus," followed by the antiphon : "lam the res- urrection and the life : he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live : and every one that liveth and believeth in me shall not die forever." The corpse has been lowered into the grave, and earth cast on it. Again the Kyrie resounds ; again the Our Father is said, and, after some versicles and responses, comes the final prayer : " Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, this mercy unto Thy servant deceased, that, having in intention kept Thy will, he may not suffer in requital of his deeds ; but that as, here, a true faith joined him unto the company of the faithful, so, there, Thy compassion may associate him with the choirs of angels, through Christ our Lord. Amen," " Eternal rest give unto him^ O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. May his soul, and the souls of all the faith- ful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.'* The grave is then filled up, and the priest, returning to the church, again recites the " De Prof undis." 160 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. Such is the burial service of those who have attained the age of reason, and entered on the spiritual combat — the warfare upon earth ; but when the innocent child is to be buried, still wearing its baptismal robe of innocence, the service is entirely changed. The priest, in surplice and white stole, with no sign of mourning, sprinkles the corpse, and intones the 112th Psalm: "Praise, ye children, the Lord," followed by the 118th. At the church, the 23d Psalm, the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into he&ren, is said, followed by the Kyrie and Lord's Prayer, with the versicle : " Thou hast upheld me by reason of my innocence, and hast established me in thy sight forever" (Ps. xl. 13). The prayer is as follows: " Almighty 'and most benignant God, who at once bestowest eternal life on all little children regenerated in the waters of Baptism, when they depart from this life, without any merits of theirs, as we believe Thee to have done to the soul of this little child to-day; grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and of all Thy saints, to serve Thee here with purified minds, and to be associ- ated in Paradise forever with the blessed little ones. Through Christ our Lord." Then the 148th Psalm is recited, with ver- Sxdes and this prayer : " Almighty, eternal God, lover of holy purity, who hast this day mercifully vouchsafed to call the soul of this little child to the kingdom of heaven, vouchsafe also, O Lord, to deal mercifully with us ; that, by the merits of Thy most holy Passion, and the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and of aL Thy saints, Thou mayest make us ever rejoice in the same kingdom with all Thy saints and elect. Amen." Then the body and grave are sprinkled and incensed. Returning from the grave, the priest recites the Canticle of the Three Children, with the Collect of the Holy Angels. While for the mature we pray and mourn, in the case of chil- dren we rejoice : they need no prayers ; their triumph is assured — their victory won Praise and thanksgiving are the only offer- ings of our heart. Around such a coffin, the flowers of joy are strewn ; but, alas ! on ours, rue and wormwood would be more befitting. Litanies. Among the prayers of the Church in common use - THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. 161 by the faithful, are : the Litany of the Saints, an extremely ancient form of prayer, which was used as far back as the year 350 ; the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, which dates back to the primitive Church ; the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, which has been long in use, but was not approved till our own times under Pius IX. The Angelus. This beautiful devotion, enriched with many indulgences by the sovereign Pontiffs, was instituted to honor the Incarnation of the Son of God. It is said at morning, noon, and night, and in Catholic countries the bell is rung to give notice of the time, and, in ages of faith, all labor and conversation was suspended to recite it. Its form is this : " The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Ghost" Then the Hail Mary is recited : " Behold the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done unto me according to Thy word." Then follows a second Hail Mary : " And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." A third Hail Mary, with the prayer : " Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may, by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His resurrection, through Christ our Lord. Amen." As faith in the Incarnation declined, this devotion became vital, and in our own day, when the spirit of anti-Christ, which denies that Jesus is the Son of God, pre vails, Catholics should more assiduously cultivate this beautiful devotion. Blessed Candles. We have alluded already to the use of candles in the Church service. The Jews connected lights with their public and private devotions. The lighting of the Sabbath lamp was a devotional act. That the Church used lights from the beginning we know by the attacks of heretics. As far back as the fourth century, Vigilantius attacked the use of lights m churches, and St. Jerome defended it. On Candlemas day, w r here the service calls our Lord, with holy Simeon : " A Light to the revelation of the Gentiles," the Church blesses candles for us children of the Gentiles, to hold while worshiping and acknowl- edging Him who is our Light and the light of the world. Thesf 162 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. candles are then carried home ; and we place confidence in them, for the prayers of the Church have ascended to God that He would bless and sanctify them for the service of men and for the good of their bodies and souls in all places." The Paschal Candle is a large candle blessed with solemn rite on Holy Saturday. It is kept on the Epistle side of the altar, and lighted from the Elevation, from Easter during the Paschal season. It is mentioned as early as the year 417, as. a thing already in use. We may light them in any danger or peril; but, above all, let the holy candle burn beside the bed of the sick or dying Catholic, to banish by its holy gleam the shades of trouble and doubt that may assail the soul in its last hour. The candle was placed in our hands at baptism ; the blessed candle should be at our hand in death. Blessed or Holy Water. Holy Water entered into the ceremonial of the Old Law, and the very term is used in Num- bers v. 17, in all versions. A sacred laver of water stood between the altar and the tabernacle : there was a water of expiation ; a water of jealousy; and there were sprinklings appointed. The custom of blessing water for the use of fche faithful is very an- cient. As far back as the year 109-119, Pope St. Alexander L speaks of it as an established custom — so that it must have been coeval with the establishment of Christianity. There are three kinds of holy water : Baptismal water, blessed on Holy Saturday ; Pontifical water, blessed by a bishop and used in consecrating churches or reconciling churches which have been profaned; common holy water, which a priest may bless. In the ritual for blessing it, water and salt (the symbol of wisdom) are both exor- cised before being blessed. Beautiful prayers are then recited to express the spiritual effects which the Church wishes them to produce, and which, in virtue of her benediction, they will pro- duce, unless the unworthy dispositions of the faithful prevent As we have seen, the Church uses holy water in nearly all her l>enedictions, and in many of the Sacraments ; she places it at the door of her temples, that all who enter the courts of the Lord, or depart from them, may use it. For use in the trials of life, be- fore prayer, in sickness, and especially when the priest is to come THE SACRAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. 163 to administer the Sacraments, we should always have holy watei in our houses, in a vessel devoted especially to that use. Holt Ashes. On Ash Wednesday Che Church blesses asheSs and puts them on the forehead of her children, to remind them that they are only dust and ashes. The palms blessed on Palm Sunday in the preceding year are burned ; and the ashes, blessed, wer which had so long threatened Europe ; it was the hand of &od, put forth in answer to the prayers of the Confraternity of the Rosary. The reigning Pontiff, St. Pius V., in gratitude for so signal a favor, ordered the first Sunday in October to be observed as an THE 8A0EAMENTS AND SAOEAMENTALS. 1G9 nual commemoration in the Church of St. Mary of Victory; this feast was extended to other churches and countries by other Popes, till at last, after another victory, Clement XL, in 171 6, made the Festival of the Rosary a feast for the universal Church. There are few devotions to which the Holy See has granted so many indulgences as to the rosary : one hundred days for each Our Father and Hail Mary, and a plenary indulgence once a yeai to those who approach the Sacrament of Penance, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the wants of the Church. To gain these indulgences, the beads must be blessed by a priest who has received faculties from the Pope, and the person must say the rosary, meditating on the mystery assigned to each decade. Besides the Confraternity of the Rosary, another has been established in this century. This is the Confraternity of the Living Rosary. In this, five persons are associated, each saying one decade each day, so that the five say the whole chaplet ; two similar bands, with them, will thus recite the whole rosary daily. This is called the Living Rosary, and the fruits produced by it have been so great and manifest, that the holy Fathers have en riched it with many indulgences. Nothing should deter Catholics from adhering to a devotion so holy, so consoling. Many, indeed, think it one for the ignorant only ; but this is a grave error. Meditation on the life of our Lord is something to occupy the most exalted and most culti- vated minds, and give them light and strength. The example of officers in the army and navy, who faithfully adhered to this pious practice, would alone suffice to show that the greatest ability and learning are found among the faithful adherents to this de- votion, which is, in itself, an almost certain test of real Cath- olicity. The Scapulae of oxje Lady or Mount Cabmel. This is another widespread devotion among Catholics, in honor of the Blessed Virgin. Its origin and meaning need some explanation ; As religious orders spread in the Church, and gathered into cloisters and convents many who were called by God to the way )f perfection, by the practice of the evangelical counsels, they, in turn, exerted an influence on the pious anions the laity, many of 170 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACBAMENTALS. whom were, by marriage, or the duties of their state of life, un abie to devote their lives to God's service in religious orders, and who had, in fact, not been called by Providence to that state, 3tiL piety led them to desire to be associated with the holy re- ligious whom they revered. Hence sprang up forms of affiliation, tc satisfy the piety of the faithful. The Franciscans have a third order, instituted by their seraphic founder himself, for persons living in the world, who receive a habit, and follow the rule modified to suit their condition in life. Then, too, they instituted the Confraternity of the Cord of St. Francis — not an order, but a simple* association, without the obligations attached to the third order. This confraternity, like the third order, has been ap- proved by many Popes, and indulgences have been granted to the members. The Dominicans have also their third order, and similar con fraternities ; but while the affiliations of these two orders, sharing in the prayers, masses, labors, and austerities of the Sons of St. Francis and St. Dominic, have numbered thousands, the confra- ternity connected with the order of Friars of our Lady of Mount C arm el numbers its associates among the faithful by millions, and has them in all lands ; so that it has become, we may say, less a confraternity than a general devotion. The order of Mount Carmel, claiming in a manner descent from the Prophets Elias and Eliseus and their disciples, received a rule from the Blessed Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the year 1209; and, after its approbation by the Holy See, the order spread over Western Europe. One of the most illustrious generals of this order was Saint Simon Stock, an Englishman, noted for his tender piety, and his devo* : on to the Blessed Virgin. His piety was rewarded by a vision, in which she appeared to him, and handed to him the brown scapular, similar in color and material to that worn by his order, promising special graces to those who should wear It devoutly. The new devotion was not adopted without ex« juninaticn ; the facts were submitted to learned theologians, and evidence that would convince any jury of reasonable men con vinced these pious and learned men that the vision was authentic The Sovereign Pontiffs authorized the use of this new devotion THE SACRAMENTS AND 8 ACE AMENTA LS. 171 Phe fruits of salvation that attended it proved that the finger of God was really there, and it was encouraged, not only by grants of indulgences, but by the establishment of a festival in honor of Our Lady, under this title. " The advantages which we derive from wearing the scapular are three-fold: It puts us under the particular protection of Mary ; it makes us participants in all the good works of the Car- melite order; and places within our reach numerous indul gences." (1) To participate in the benefit of the confraternity, it is neces- sary to be received into it by a priest duly empowered He de- livers to the new member a scapular, consisting of two pieces of brown woolen cloth connected by bands, which he blesses. This must be worn so that the ends are on the breast and back, and must be worn constantly. If the first one is worn out or lost, another can be obtained, when needed, and will not require to be blessed. There is a plenary indulgence granted to each one on the day he enters the confraternity, and at the hour of death, and every year on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, aa well as many partial indulgences. THE SCAPULAE OF THE PASSION AND OP THE BACKED HEARTS 03? JESUS AND MARY. This scapular has, on one side, the figure of our Lord on the Cross, surrounded by the instruments of His Passion ; and, on the other side, the hearts of Jesus and Mary. This scapular arose from a series of visions to a Sister of Charity, and was ap proved by Pope Pius IX, in 1847. THE SCAPULAE OF THE SACRED HEART. Of the more recent scapulars, one of the most cherished is the Scapular of the Sacred Heart, to which the pilgrimages ha^e given a great impulse. It may be said to have originated with the Holy Father, Pope Pius IX., himself. A Roman lady of great piety having made a scapular of the kind, presented it her (1) The Sacramentals of the Holy Catholic Church, or Flowers from the Garden ol the Liturgy, by Rev. William J. Barry ; an excellent work, which we hare uaexi freely m this portion of our subject. 172 THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENT ALS. self to the Sovereign Pontiff. Taking it in his hand, he reflected for a moment, and then said : {< Madame, this is a thought from heaven ; n and, after a little further reflection, he added : " With all my heart I bless this little Heart, and I will that all those which may be made after this model, shall receive my blessing, without it being necessary for any other priest to give it. More- over, I will that in noways shall the devil have power to hurt those who shall wear this little Heart." He then directed the following prayer to be written, and to be used especially in time of calamity : " Open to me Thy Sacred Heart, O Jesus ! show me its charms, and unite me with it forever ; may every breath and every pulsa- tion of my heart, which cease not during my sleep, be to Thee a testimony of my love, and say to Thee unceasingly : 1 Yes, Lord, I love Thee.' Accept the little good I do ; grant me grace to re- pair my evil ways, that I may praise in time, and bless Thee for all eternity." CRUCIFIXES, MEDALS, AND CROSSES are blessed by priests having the faculty, and those who wear them piously obtain, under the grants of the Sovereign Pontiffs, numerous indulgences. One of these medals, that has a world- wide fame among Catholics, is the medal of the Immaculate Con ception, which ""bears, on one side, the Blessed Virgin, represented under that title, with the words: "Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us," and on the other, the monogram " A. M.," surmounted by a cross and surrounded by stars. This medal owes its origin to a holy Sister of Charity, and the graces obtained by the devout wearers of it, especially in connection with the recitation of the Memorare, have won for it the common title of Miraculous Medal, by which it is generally known. The sudden and remarkable con- version of Katisbonne, at Rome, through this medal, is one of the most authentic and indisputable miracles of our times. The favors obtained through the use of other medals, such as those of St. Benedict, St. Ignatius, etc., are well authenticated, and should inspire confidence. It is not that the objects h*ve in themselves any virtue as amulets or charms, but they are a pro THE SACRAMENTS AND SACRAMENTALS. 173 fession of our faith, of our hope, confidence, and trust in God's mercy and goodness, and of our charity and love, by which, in spite of all our frailty and shortcomings, we wish sincerely, and really to serve God in life, and be with Him in eternity. We have thus rapidly treated of the Sacraments and Sacra- mentals of the Catholic Church, in a popular form, giving the reader a view of the whole government of the Church, its hie- rarchy, from the Sovereign Pontiff to the tonsured clerk serving in the sanctuary; of its public worship, that august Sacrifice which has, and can have, no equal on earth, and which, in its imposing liturgy and ritual, commands the respect and awe of all. We have seen how the Church, in her Sacraments, guides the Christian from the cradle till the earth closes above his grave — nor leaves it then to forget him, but is mindful of her children, even when the world, that flatters and seduces, has ceased to think of the departed. And in her Sacramentals are further aids, showing how she takes occasion, from all around us, to raise our thoughts to heaven and secure the one thing necessary. ... THE DOGMA 07 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 0 F OUR MOST HOLY LORD PIUS IX., BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE POPE, CONCERNING THE DOGMATIC DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD. [TRANSLATION.] Pius, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God: for the perpetual remembrance of the thing. The Ineffable God, whose ways are mercy and truth, whose will is omnipotence, and whosa wisdom reaches powerfully from end to end, and disposes all things sweetly, when he foresaw from all eter- nity the most sorrowful rain of the entire human race to follow from the transgression of Adam, and in a mystery hidden from ages determined to complete, through the incarnation of the Word, in a more hidden sacrament the first work of His goodness, so that man, led into sm by the craffe of diabolical iniquity, should not perish contrary to his merciful design, and that what was about to befall in the first Adam should be restored more happily in the second ; from the beginning and before ages, chose and ordained a mother for His only-begotten Son, of whom, made flesh, He should be born in the blessed plenitude of time, and followed her with so great love before all creatures that in her alone He pleased Himself with a most benign complacency. Wherefore, far before all the angelic spirits and all the Saints, He so wonderfully endowed her with the abun xiv LETTERS APOSTOLIC OF OUR dance of all heavenly gifts, d:awn from the treasure of divinity, that she might be ever free from every stain of sin, and, all fair and per* feet, would bear before her that plenitude of innocence and holiness lhau which, under God, none greater is understood, and which except God, no one can reach, even in thought. And, indeed, it was most becoming that she should shine always adorned with the splen dor of the most perfect holiness, and, free even from the stain of original sin, she should have the most complete triumph over the ancient serpent — that Mother so venerable, to whom God the Father willed to give his only Son, begotten of His heart, equal to Himself, and whom He loves as Himself; and to give Him in such a manner that He is by nature one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Virgin, and whom the Son chose sub- stantially to be His Mother, and of whom the Holy Ghost willed that, by His operation, He, from whom He Himself proceeds, should be conceived and born. Which original innocence of the august Virgin agreeing com- pletely with her admirable holiness, and with the most excellent dignity of the Mother of God, the Catholic Church, which, ever taught by the Holy Spirit, is the pillar and ground of truth, as possessing a doctrine divinely received, and comprehended in the deposit of heavenly revelation, has never ceased to lay down, to cherish, and to illustrate continually by numerous proofs, and daily more and more by conspicuous*facts. For this doctrine, flourishing from the most ancient times, and implanted in the minds of the faithful, and by the care and zeal of the Holy Pontiffs wonderfully propagated, the Church herself has most clearly pointed out when she did not hesi- tate to propose the conception of the same Virgin for the publiG devotion and veneration of the faithful. By which illustrious act fihe pointed out the conception of the Virgin as singular, wonderful, and very different from the origin of the rest of mankind, and to be venerated as entirely holy, since the Church celebrates by festivals only that which is holy. And, therefore, the very words is which the Sacred Scriptures speak of uncreated Wisdom and rep- resent His eternal origin, she has been accustomed to use not only in the offices of the Church, but also in the holy liturgy, and to transfer to the origin of that Virgin, which was pre-ordained by 4 MOST HOLY LORD PITJ8 IX. XV one and the same decree with the incarnation of Divine Wisdom. Bnt though all those things everywhere justly received amongst the faithful sho\* with what zeal the Koman Church, the mother and mistress of all churches, has supported the doctrine of the Immacu- late Conception of the Virgin, yet the illustrious acts of this Church are evidently worthy that they should be reviewed in detail ; sinea &o great is the dignity and authority of the same Church, so much is due to her who is the centre of Catholic truth and unity, in whom alone religion has been inviolably guarded, and from whom it is right that all the Churches should receive the tradition of faith. Thus the same Roman Church had nothing more at heart than to assert, to protect, to promote, and to vindicate in the most eloquent manner the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, its devotion and doctrine, which fact is attested and proclaimed by so many illus- trious acts of the Roman Pontifls, Our predecessors, to whom, in the person of the Prince of the Apostles, was divinely committed by Christ Our Lord the supreme care and power of feeding lambs and sheep, of confirming the brethren, and of ruling and governing the Universal Church. Indeed, Our predecessors have ever gloried in instituting in the Roman Church by their own Apostolic authority the Feast of the Conception, and to augment, ennoble, and promote with all theii power the devotion thus instituted, by a proper Office and a propei Mass, by which the prerogative of immunity from hereditary stain was most manifestly asserted ; to increase it either by indulgences granted, or by leave given to states, provinces, and kingdoms, that they might choose as their patron the Mother of God, under the title of the Immaculate Conception ; or by approved sodalities, cod gregations, and religious families instituted to the honor of the Im- maculate Conception ; or by praises given to the piety of those who have erected monasteries, hospitals, or churches, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, or who have bound themselves by a eligious vow to defend strenuously the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Above all, they were happy to ordain that the Feast of the Conception should be celebrated through the whole Church as that of the Nativity ; and, in fine, that it should be cele- brated with an Octave in the Universal Church as it was placed in XVI LETTERS APOSTOLIC OF OCHB the rank of the festivals which are commanded to be kept holy ; also, that a Pontifical service in our Patriarchal Liberian Basilica should be performed yearly on the day sacred to the Conception of the Virgin ; and desiring to cherish daily more and more in the minds of the Faithful this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, and to excite their piety in worshipping and venerating the Virgin conceived without original sin, they have re- joiced most freely to give leave that in the Litany of Loretto, and in the Preface of the Mass itself, the Immaculate Conception of the same Virgin should be proclaimed, and that thus the law of faith should be established by the very law of supplication. We our- selves, treading in the footsteps of so many predecessors, have not only received and approved what had been most wisely and piously established and appointed by them, but also mindful of the institu- tion of Sixtus IV., We have appointed by Our authority a proper Office for the Immaculate Conception, and with a most joyful mind have granted the use of it to the Universal Church. But since those things which pertain to worship are evidentlj bound by an intimate chord to its object, and cannot remain fixed and determined, if it be doubtful, and placed in uncertainty, there fore our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, increasing with all their care the devotion of the Conception, studied most especially to de clare and inculcate its object and doctrine ; for they taught clearly and openly that the festival was celebrated for the Conception of the Virgin, and they proscribed as false and most foreign to the intention of the Church the opinion of those who considered and affirmed that it was not the Conception itself, but the sanctification to which devotion was paid by the Church. Nor did they think of fereating more indulgently those who, in order to weaken the doc- trine of the Immaculate Conception, drawing a distinction between the first and second instant and moment of the Conception, asserted that the Conception was indeed celebrated, but not for the first instant and moment; for Our predecessors themselves thought it Sheir duty to protect and defend with all zeal both the feast of the Oonception of the Most Blessed Virgin, and the Conception from dhe first instant as the true object of devotion. Hence the wxHrdSj evidently decretive, in which Alexander VII. declared the true in MOST HOLY LORD PIUS IX. section of the Church, saying: "Certainly, it is the ancient piety of the faithful of Christ towards His Most Blessed Mo&er the Virgin Mary, believing that her soul, in the first instant of creation and of infusion into the body, was by a special grace and privilege of God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ her Son the Redeemer mankind, preserved free from the stain of original sin, and in thia sense they keep and celebrate with solemn rites the Festival of her Conception." And to the same, Our predecessors, this also was moat especially a duty to preserve from contention the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, guarded and protected with all care and zeal. For not only have they never suffered that this doc- trine should ever be censured or traduced in any way, or by any one, but they have gone much farther, and in clear declarations on repeated occasions they have proclaimed that the doctrine in which we confess the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin is, and by its own merit, held evidently consistent with Ecclesiastical worship, that it is ancient and nearly universal, and of the same sort as that which the Roman Church has undertaken to cherish and protect, and, above all, worthy to be placed in its sacred liturgy and its solemn prayers. Nor content with this, in order that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin should remain inviolate, they have most severely prohibited the opinion adverse to this doc- trine to be defended either in public or in private, and they have wished to crush it, as it were, by repeated blows. To which reiter- ated and most clear declarations, lest they might appear empty, they added a sanction ; all which things Our illustrious predecessor, Alexander VIL, embraced in these words : — " Considering that the Holy Eoman Church solemnly celebrates the festival of the Conception of the Immaculate and Ever-Blessed Virgin, and has appointed for this a special and proper office accord- ing to the pious, devout, and laudable institution which emanated from Our predecessor, Sixtus IV., and wishing, after the example of the Roman Pontiflfe, Our predecessors, to favor this laudable piety devotion, and festival, and the reverence shown towards it, nevei changed in the Roman Church since the institution of the worship itself • also in Drder to protect the piety and devotion of venerating KVlli LETTERS APOSTOLIC OF OUR and celebrating the Most Blessed Virgin, preserved from original sin by the preventing grace of the Holy Ghost, and desiring to pre serve in the flock of Christ nnity of spirit in the bond of pcace t removing offences, and brawls, and scandals ; at the instance and prayers of the said Bishops, with the Chapters of their churches, and of King Philip and his kingdoms, — we renew the constitutions and decrees issued by the Roman Pontiffs, Our predecessors, and , especially by Sixtus IV., Paul V., and Gregory XV., in favor of asserting the opinion that the soul of the Blessed Virgin, in its creation and infusion into the body, was endowed with the grace of the Holy Ghost, and preserved from original sin ; likewise, also, in favor of the festival of the same Virgin Mother of God, celebrated according to that pious belief which is recited above, and We com- mand that it shall be observed under the censures and punishments contained in the same constitutions. " And against all and each of those who try to interpret the afore* said constitutions or decrees so that they may frustrate the favor shown through these to the said belief and to the festival or worship celebrated according to it, or who try to recall into dispute the same belief, festival, or worship, or against these in any manner, either directly or indirectly, and on any pretext, even that of examining the grounds of defining it, or of explaining or interpreting the Sacred Scriptures or the Holy Fathers or Doctors ; in fine, who should dare under any pretext or on any occasion whatsoever, to say either in writing or in speech, to preach, to treat, to dispute, by determining or asserting anything against these, or by bringing arguments against them and leaving these arguments unanswered, or by expressing dissent in any other possible manner ; besides the punishments and censures contained in the constitutions of Sixtus IV., to which we desire to add, and by these presents do add, those We will that they should be deprived ipso facto, and without other declaration, of the faculty of preaching, of reading in public, or of teaching and interpreting, and also of their voice, whether active or passive, in elections ; from which censures they cannot be absolved, nor obtain dispensation, unless from Us, or Our successors, the Ro* man Pontiffs ; likewise We wish to subject, and We hereby do sub* ject, the same persons to other penalties to be inflicted at Oar will MOST HOLY LOjID PIUS IX and at that of the same Eoman Pontiffe, Our successors, renewing Jie constitutions or decrees of Paul IV. and Gregory XV., above referred to. u And We prohibit, under the penalties and censures contained ji the Index of Prohibited Books, and We will and declare that they should be esteemed prohibited ipso facto, and without other declaration, books in which the aforesaid belief and the festival or devotion celebrated according to it is recalled into dispute, or in which anything whatever is written or read against these, or lec- tures, sermons, treatises, and disputations against the same, pub- lished after the decree of Paul V. above mentioned, or to be pub- lished at any future time." All are aware with how much zeal this doctrine of the Immaca late Conception of the Mother of God has been handed down, asserted and propagated by the most distinguished religious Orders, the most celebrated theological academies, and the most eminent doctors of the science of Divinity. All know likewise how anxious have been the Bishops openly and publicly to profess, even in the Ecclesiastical assemblies themselves, that the Most Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, by virtue of the merits of Christ Our Lord, the Saviour of mankind, never lay under original sin, but was pre- served free from the original stain, and thus was redeemed in a more sublime manner. To which, lastly, is added this fact, most grave, and, in an especial manner, most important of all, that the Council of Trent itself, when it promulgated the dogmatic decree concerning original sin, in which, according to the testimonies of > the Sacred Scriptures, of the Holy Fathers, and of the most ap- proved councils, it determined and defined that all mankind are born under original sin ; solemnly declared, however, that it was not its intention to include in the decree itself, and in the amplitude of its definition, the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Indeed, by. this declaration, the Tridentine Fathers have asserted, according to the times and the circumstances of affairs, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from the original stain, and thug clearly signified that nothing could be justly adduced from the sacred writings, nor from the authority of the Fathers, which would n any way gainsay so great a prerogative of the Virgin. XX LETTERS APOSTOLIC OF OUE And, in real truth, illustrious monuments of a venerated antiquitj of the Eastern and of the Western Church most powerfully testify that this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin, every day more and more so splendidly explained and confirmed by the highest authority, teaching, zeal, science, and wisdom of the Church, and so wonderfully propagated amongst all the nations and peoples of the Catholic world, always existed in tne Church as received by Our ancestors, and stamped with the charac- ter of a divine revelation. For the Church of Christ, careful guar- dian and defender of the dogmas deposited with her, changes no- thing in them, diminishes nothing, adds nothing, but, with all indus- try, by faithfully and wisely treating ancient things, if they are handed down from antiquity, so studies to eliminate, to clear them up, that these ancient dogmas of heavenly faith may receive evi- dence, light, distinction, but still may retain their fulness, integrity > propriety, and may increase only in their own kind — that is, in the same dogma, the same sense, and the same belief. The Fathers and writer of the Church, taught by the heavenly writings, had nothing more at heart, in the books written to explain the Scriptures, to vindicate the dogmas, and to instruct the faithful^ than emulously to declare and exhibit in many and wonderful ways the Virgin's most high sanctity, dignity, and freedom from all stain of original sin, and her renowned victory over the most foul enemy of the human race. Wherefore, repeating the words in which, at the beginning of the world, the Almighty, announcing the remedies of his mercy, prepared for regenerating mankind, crushed the audacity of the lying Serpent, and wonderfully raised up the hope of our race, saying, "I will place enmity between thee and the woman, thy seed and hers," they taught that in this divine oracle was clearly and openly pointed out the merciful Kedeemer of the human race — the only-begotten Son of God, Christ Jesus, and that his Most Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, was designated, and a the same time that the enmity of both against the Serpent was sig oally expressed. Wherefore, as Christ, the mediator of God and men, having assumed human nature, blotting out the handwriting of the decree which stood against us, fastened it triumphantly to the Cross, so the Most Holy Virgin, bound by a most close and ji MOST HOL1 LORD PIUo IX. X dissolable chain with Him, exercising with Him and through Him eternal enmity against the malignant Serpent, and triumphing most amply over the same, has crushed his head with her Immaculate foot, This illustrious and singular triumph of the Virgin, and her most exalted innocence, purity, and holiness, her freedom from all stain of sin, and ineffable abundance and greatness of all heavenly graces, virtues, and privileges, the same Fathers beheld in that ark of Noah, which, divinely appointed, escaped safe and sound from the common Bhip wreck of the whole world ; also in that ladder which Jacob beheld reaching from earth to heaven, by whose steps the Angels of God ascended and descended, on whose top leaned God himself; also in that bush which, in the holy place, Moses beheld blaze on every side, and amidst the crackling flames neither to be consumed nor to suffer the least injury, but to grow green and to blossom fairly ; also in that impregnable tower in front of the enemy, on which are hung a thousand bucklers and all the armor of the brave ; also in that garden fenced round about, which cannot be violated nor cor- rupted by any schemes of fraud ; also in that brilliant city of God, .whose foundations are in the holy mounts; also in that most august temple of God, which, shining with divine splendor, is filled with the glory of God ; likewise in many other things of this kind which the Fathers have handed down, that the exalted dignity of the Mother of God, and her spotless innocence, and her holiness, ob- noxious to no blemish, have been signally pre-announced. To describe the same totality, as it were, of divine gifts, and the original integrity of the Virgin of whom Jesus was born, the sanv* Fathers, using the eloquence of the Prophets, celebrate the august Virgin as the spotless dove, the holy Jerusalem, the exalted throne of God, the ark and house of sanctification, which Eternal Wisdom built for itself ; and as that Queen who, abounding in delights and leaning on her beloved, came forth entirely perfect from the mouth f the Most High, fail and most dear to God, and never stained with the least spot. But when the same Fathers and the writers of the Church revolved in their hearts and minds that the Most Blessed Virgin, in the name and by the order of God himself, was proclaimed fall of grace by the Ang;el Gabriel, when announcing her most sub xxii LETTERS APOSTOLIC OF OUB lime dignity of the Mother of God, they taught that, by this singuiai and solemn salutation, never heard on any other occasion, is shown that the Mother of God is the seat of all divine graces, and adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Ghost — yea, the infinite store house and inexhaustible abyss of the same gifts; so that, nevex subjected to malediction, and alone with her Son partaker of per- petual benediction, she deserved to hear from Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Ghost : " Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Hence it is the clear and unanimous opinion of the same that the Most Glorious Virgin, for whom He who is powerful has done great things, has shone with such a brilliancy of all heavenly gifts, such fulness of grace,- and such innocence, that she has been an ineffable miracle of the Almighty, yea, the crown of all miracles, and worthy Mother of God ; that she approaches as nearly to God as created nature can do, and is far above the praise of men or angels. And, therefore, to vindicate the original innocence and justice ot the Mother of God, they not only compared her to Eve, as yet virgin, as yet innocent, as yet incorrupted, and not yet deceived by the most deadly snares of the most treacherous serpent, but they have preferred her with a wonderful variety of thought and expression. For Eve, miserably obeying the serpent, fell from original innocence, and became his slave, but the Most Blessed Virgin, ever increasing her original gift, not only never leant an ear to the serpent, but by a virtue divinely received utterly broke his power. Wherefore they have never ceased to call the Mother of God the lily amongst the thorns, earth entirely untouched, virgin, undeflled, immaculate, ever blessed, and free from all contagion of sin, from which was formed the new Adam, a reproachless, most sweet para- dise of innocence, immortality, and delights, planted by God himself, and fenced from all snares of the malignant Serpent, incorruptible branch that the worm of sin has never injured ; fountain ever clear and marked by the nrtue of the Holy Ghost, a most divine temple, or treasure of immortality, or the sole and only daughter not of death but of life, the seed not of enmity but of grace, which by the singular providence of God has always flourished, springing from a corrupt and imperfect root, contrary to the settled and common MOST HOLY LORD PIUS IX. XXill Laws But if these encomiums, though most splendid, were not sum dent, they proclaimed in proper and denned opinions that when sin was to be treated of, no question should be entertained concerning the Holy Virgin Mary, to whom an abundance of grace was gives to conquer sin completely. They also declared that the Most Glo- rious Virgin was the reparatrix of her parents, the vivifier of pos- terity, chosen from the ages, prepared for himself by the Most High, predicted by God when he said to the serpent, " I will place enmity between thee and the woman," who undoubtedly has crushed the poisonous head of the same serpent ; and therefore they affirm that the same Blessed Virgin was through grace perfectly free from every stain of sin, and from all contagion of body and soul and mind, and always conversant with God, and united with him in an eternal covenant, never was in darkness, but always in light, and therefore was plainly a fit habitation for Christ, not on account of her bodily state, but on account of her original grace. To these things are added the noble words in which, speaking of the Conception of the Virgin, they have testified that nature yielded to grace and stood trembling, not being able to proceed further ; fo it was to be that the Virgin Mother of God should not be conceived by Anna before grace should bear fruit. For she ought thus to be conceived as the first born, from whom should be conceived the first born of every creature. They have testified that the fiesh of the Virgin, taken from Adam, did not admit the stains of Adam, and on this account that 'the Most Blessed Virgin was the tabernacle created by God himself, formed by the Holy Spirit, truly enriched with purple which that new Beseleel made, adorned and wovec with gold ; and that this same Virgin is, and deservedly is cele- brated as she who was the first and the peculiar work of God, sscaped from the fiery weapons of evil, and fair by nature, and entirely free from all stain, came into the world all shining like the morn in her Immaculate Conception ; nor, truly, was it right that this vessel of election should be assailed by common injuries, since, differing very much from others, she had community with them only in their nature, not in their fault. Moreover, it was right that, as the Only Begotten had a Fathei n heaven whom the seraphim proclaim thrice holy, so he should XXtV LETTERS APOSTOLIC OF OTTB have a Mother o_ the earth, who should never want the splendoi of holiness. And this doctrine indeed, so filled the minds and souls of our forefathers, that a marvellous and singular form of speech prevailed with them, in which they very frequently called the Mother of God immaculate and entirely immaculate, innocent and most innocent, spotless, holy, and most distant from every stam of sin, all pure, all perfect, the type and model of purity and inno- cence, more beautiful than beauty, more gracious than grace, more holy than holiness, and alone holy, and most pure in soul and body, who has surpassed all perfectitude and all virginity, and has become the dwelling-place of all the graces of the Most Holy Spirit, and who, God alone excepted, is superior to all, and by nature fairer, more beautiful, and more holy than the cherubim and seraphim ; sl^e whom all the tongues of heaven and earth do not suffice to extol. No one is ignorant that these forms of speech have passed, as it were, spontaneously into the monuments of the most holy liturgy, and the Offices of the Church, and that they occur often in hem and abound amply ; and that the Mother of God is invoked nd named in them as a spotless dove of beauty, as a rose evei blooming and perfectly pure, and ever spotless and ever blessed, and is celebrated as innocence which was never wounded, and a second Eve who brought forth Emmanuel. It is no wonder, then, if the Pastors of the Church and the faith- ful people have daily more and more gloried to profa&s with so much piety and fervor this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God, pointed out in the ftacred Scriptures, according to the judgment of the Fathers, handed down in so many mighty testimonies of the same, expressed and celebrated in sc ACTS [PAKT L her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying : Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife ; for that which is conceived in her is of (3) the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people from their sins." mis supernatural conception had been foretold. Had Joseph been but slightly versed in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he ought not have been ignorant of it, and such knowledge served orous justice. Besides, the quality of the just man given to him in the Gospel does not merely signify an equitable man ; it expresses the assemblage of all virtues in a most exalted degree. Another cause, which is more tjian likely, is given for this proceeding. The virtue of his incomparable wife was of so unequivocal a character, that when confronting it, if we may venture so to speak, with what he perceived, he knew not what to believe or what to disbelieve. Wherefore he endeavored to recon- cile both things by separating from her, on account of the semblance of crime, and by saving her honor, on account of the persuasion of her virtue, which was so for- cible as to counterbalance in his mind such appearances. (3) Every thing which God performs outside of his essence (ad extra) is common to the three divine persons. Nevertheless, the Incarnation is attributed to the Holy Ghost, because it is a work of love and goodness. The Holy Ghost, ought not, however, to be called the father of Jesus Christ, because, when forming his body, he furnished nothing from his own substance. In this work there was no fresh creation. The entire matter which served to form the body of Jesus Christ was extracted from the blood of Mary. On this aecount we may $ay correctly, that she contributed more than any other mother to the formation of the body of her son. It does not follow from this that Mary, who certainly was Jesus Christ's mother, should be called the father of Jesus Christ, because that particle of her blood from which the body of Jesus Christ was formed was not a germ, and the same particle took the form of a human body only by the supernatural operation of the Holy Ghost. God was not the natural father of Adam, although God himself immediately pro- duced Adam, since he did not produce him from his own substance. Adam was not the father of Eve, although she was produced from his substance, because the side of the first man, which served in the construction of the first woman, was not a human germ : thus it is that Jesus Christ, inasmuch as he is God, has a father and not a mother : and inasmuch as he is man, he has a mother and no father. As God, he was begotten, not made (genitum non factum) ; and as man, he was made, and not begotten, properly so speaking. We deem it right to add, the body of Jesus Christ was not formed successively and by degrees, nor animated some time after conception, as happens to other chil- dren. Perfect organization, yet of suitable diminutiveness, animation, and hypos- tatic union of body and soul with the person of the Word were all the work of one and the same instant, and the instant was, as has been said, that of Mary's consent. OHAP. III.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 27 apparently to facilitate his belief. " Now all this was done that the word might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the Prophet : Be- hold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us. Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. He knew her not until she brought forth her first-born son, and he called his name Jesus." It was at Nazareth that Joseph had these perplexities, and the vision of the angel which dissipated them. No doubt he did not then intend to quit that town where he usually resided. But the prophets had already foretold that the Christ should be born at Bethlehem ; and God, who does every thing, even when he seems least active, obliged Joseph to remove there with his wife precisely at the time when Mary was to bring forth her son. The occasion of this journey was as follows : (a) " In those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world (4) should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrimus, the governor of Syria; and all went to be enrolled, every one to his own city. Because he was of the house and family of David, Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of Judea, which is called Bethlehem, to be enrolled with Mary, his espoused wife, who was with child. When they came, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her first-born son (5), wrapped him up in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger, be- cause there was no room for them in the inn. There were in the same country shepherds' watching and keeping the night-watches (a) St. Luke, ii. 1-21. (4) That is to say, all the subjects of the Roman empire. The Romans called them • selves masters of the world, although their empire, in its widest extent, had never been one-fourth part of the habitable world. It is true, that the part which they occu- pied constituted the greatest part that was known in those times. (5) And at the same time her only son. To enable him to be called first-born, it is enough, especially in the language of Scripture, that no other should have preced- ed him. It is thus that he is called by Saint John, the only begotten son of the Father ; and his first-begotten, by Saint Paul (Heb. i. 6). 28 THE TEACHINGS, MIEACLES, AND ACTS [PABT I. over their nocks (6). An angel of the Lord stood by them ; the brightness of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. But the angel said to them : Fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people. This day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord, in the city of Da- vid. , This shall be a sign to you : you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger. Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying : Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace to men of good will. "After the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another : Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us. They came with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in a manger. Seeing, they understood the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child ; and all they that heard wondered ; also at those things that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. " After eight days were accomplished that the child should be cir- cumcised, his name was called Jesus (7), the name which was called by the angeljoefore he was conceived in the womb." (6) Yet it was the 25th of December ; but the winters in Palestine are much less harsh than ours. (7) No one is ignorant of this name's signifying Saviour in Hebrew. We shall not descant upon the properties of this adorable name, which maketh every knee bend in heaven, on earth, and in hell. We shall only remark, that by being the proper name of Jesus Christ, it gave ground to the objection that Jesus Christ did not, therefore, call himself Emanuel, as the Prophet Isaias had foretold. All the enemies of religion — Jews, Pagans, and ancient heretics — reproached him with this apparent contradic- tion ; yet nothing is more easily explained. The name Emanuel had been foretold, not inasmuch as it was to be the proper name for Jesus Christ, but as significative of what Christ was to be : and in point of fact, since he is at the same time both God and man, and that he has conversed with men, he truly was God with us. Thus the same Isaias said : His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the mighty, Father of the world to come, Prince of peace (ix. 6). This does not mean that any of these names was to be his proper name, but that he should be all that is signified by these n?.mes, and that not one of them is unsuitable to him. OHAP. ni.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDEE OF THE CHURCH We place here the genealogy of the Saviour, such as Saint Mat- thew and Saint Luke have given it to us. The first, whose principal object was to make known the accomplishment of the prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ, opens by calling him the Son of David, the son of Abraham, because those two Patriarchs had a special promise that the Messiah should be born of their blood. Then run- ning over the several degrees (a) " Abraham," says he, " begot Isaac, Isaac beerot Jacob, Jacob bes;ot Judas and his brethren, and Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamur, Phares begot Esron, Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab, Aminadab begot Naasson, Naasson begot Salmon, Salmon begot Booz of Rahab, Booz of Rahab begot Obed of Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, Jesse begot David the King, Da- vid the King begot Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias, Solomon begot Roboam, Roboam begot Abias, Abias begot Asa, Asa begot Josaphat, Josaphat begot Joram, Joram begot Ozias (8), Ozias begot Joatham, Joatham begot Achaz, Achaz begot Ezechias, Ezechias begot Manasses, Manasses begot Amon, Amon begot Josi- as, Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon, and after they were carried to Babylon J echonias begot Salathiel, Salathiel begot Zorobabel, Zorobabel begot Abuid, Abuid begot Eliacim, Eliacim begot Azor, Azor begot Sadoc, Sadoc begot Achim, Achim begot Eliud, Eliud begot Eleazor, Ele- azor begot Mathan, Mathan begot Jacob, Jacob begot Joseph (9), (a) St. Matthew, i. 1-17. (8) Three are omitted — Ochosias, Joas, and Amasias. The mixture of the blood of Achab with that of David was the cause. God had declared to Achab that, in punish- ment of his crimes and impiety, all his race should be exterminated. He had promised David that his race should always subsist, and would reign during many centuries. Here we see the accomplishment of both promise and threat : David's blood is perpetuated, and continues to reign in Juda ; but three kings of Juda, descended from Achab by his daughter Athalie, wife of Joram, are suppressed in the list of Kings, and by this sup- pression are, as much as it was feasible, included in the proscription of the impious Achab. (9) As Jesus Christ was son of Mary, and not of Joseph, persons are always tempted to ask — Why the Evangelists have given the genealogy of Joseph, and not that of Mary? This difficulty may be considered as the rock on which all the interpreters that endeav- ored to explain it away have split : some give explanations by no means reasonable, and the most rational interpreters have stated nothing certain. It is more than probable that information respecting this point was extensively circulated at the time the evan- gelists wrote. The just must know clearly that Jesus Christ was the son of David 30 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS fPABT L the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David until the carrying away to Babylon fourteen, and from the carrying away to Babylon till Christ fourteen." The genealogy which Saint Luke gives differs from this in many particulars. In the first place, he progresses directly in the reverse of Saint Matthew ; and whilst the latter descends from Abraham un- til Joseph and down to Jesus Christ, Saint Luke ascends from Jesus Christ and Joseph not only until Abraham, but even up to Adam. A second difference is, that he traces the descent of Joseph not through Solomon, but through Nathan, another son of David. The third discrepancy is, that he makes Joseph not the son of Jacob, as Saint Matthew says ; but (a) the son of Heli (10), "who was of (a) St. Luke, iii. 23-38, Therefore the intelligence was necessary, and when it ceased to be so, was lost. We must not be surprised, for nothing is useless in Scripture. lam the Lord thy God, that teach thee profitable things. — Isaias, 48. Now every thing is not equally useful at all times. It is enough that God confers the understanding of each text at the time of its utility. Thus our predecessors had information on several points which those had not who came after them ; and our successors shall be informed on many points un- intelligible to those who went before them. Such are the many prophecies of the Apocalypse which regard later times. Faith believes all things ; but the reason of the faithful rests satisfied with knowing what God has placed within the reach of our information. « (10) This third difference is the most embarrassing. Still, although J oseph truly was the son of Jacob, he might be called son of Heli, for one or other of the following rea- sons : 1. By title of adoption. 2. A son of the widow of Heli, married a second time by Jacob, according to the disposition of the law obliging the brother or nearest relative to marry the widow of the brother or parent who had died without children ; and the offspring of the second marriage were considered as belonging to the deceased. 3. Jo- seph might be called son of Heli, because he was his son-in-law; for, supposing this,HeD is not different from Joachim, father of the BlessedVirgin. Out of these three explanaK tions, the first is the least followed ; the second is the most ancient and the best author} ized. Saint Augustine, who originally adopted the first, and to whom the third was by no means objectionable, finally returned to this view of the subject, as may be seen it the eighth book of the Retrac. , ch. vii. The third, which has been relished by a great number of modern writers, has this fortunate circumstance in its favor, that it presents the genealogy of the Blessed Virgin, and by this means the true genealogy cf our Sa- viour, and his descent from David. Ml this, nevertheless, does not go beyond conjec- ture, and each individual has a right to rely upon the explanation which seems most probable to him. What we are bound to believe is, that the evangelists do not contradict one another, and in this there exists no difficulty. For, as the sundry supposition* CHAP. m.J OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE OHUROH. -81 Mathat, who was of Levi, who was of Melchi, who was of Jaime, who was of Joseph, who was of Mathathias, who was of Amos, who was of N ahum, who was of Hesli, who was of Nagge, who was of Ma- hath, who was of Mathathias, who was of Semei, who was of Joseph, who was of Juda, who was of Joanna, who was of B,eza, who was of Zorobabel, who was of Salathiel, who was of Neri (11), who was of Melchi, who was of Addi, who was of Cosan, who was of Helmadan, who was of Her, who was of Jesus, who was of Eliezer, who was of Jorim, who was of Mathat, who was of Levi, who was of Simeon, who was of Judas, who was of Joseph, who was of Jona, who was of Eliakim, who was of Melea, who was of Menna, who was of Matha- tha, who was of Nathan, who was of David, who was of Jesse, who was of Obed, who was of Booz, who was of Salmon, who was of JSTaasson, who was of Aminadab, who was of Aram, who was of Es- ron, who was of Phares, who was of Judas, who was of Jacob, who was of Isaac, who was of Abraham, who was of Thare, who was of Nachor, who was of Sarug, who was of Ragan, who was of Phaleg, who was of Heber, who was of Sale, who was of Cainan, who was of Arphaxad, who was of Sem, who was of Noe, who was of Lamech, who was of Mathusale, who was of Henoch, who was of Jared, who was of Malaleel, who was of Cainan, who was of Henos, who was of Seth, who was of Adam, who was of God (12)." These genealogies were mainly for the Jews, who could not rec- ognize a Messiah that might not have been of the blood of David, Whatever difficulties we may meet in them, it is certain that Jesus Christ's descent from David was never questioned, as it never could be, in point of fact. For those who deemed him simply a son of J oseph could not moot an objection ; no more than those who be- advanced to harmonize them are all possible, it follows, at all events, that no contra diction can be proved, and this is quite assurance enough for our faith. (11) Saint Matthew says Jechonias was father of Salathiel. Yet the latter might be called son of Neri, either inasmuch as he was his son-in-law, or inasmuch as h^ was his grandson by this mother, the daughter of Neri, who had married Jecho- nias, which again suffices to obviate contradiction. [12) That is to say, who had God for the immediate author of his existence. We may remark, in connection with this, that Saint Luke, who here employs the term of son in a sense different from that of eternal generation, thereby authorizes the different meanings we have given to this term in the preceding notes. S2 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS fPABT L lieve he was born of a virgin can doubt for one moment but that he was all that the Prophets announced he was to have been, all that the Evangelists assure us, all that he has declared of himself. CHAPTER IV. ADORATION OF THE MAGI. PURIFICATION. FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS. RETURN TO NAZARETH. JESUS LOST AND FOUND IN THE TEMPLE. Another sign, just as plainly foretold, was to manifest him to the Gentiles ; and this sign, whether it appeared at the moment of his birth, or a little before, immediately produced its effect. For, (a) " When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold there came wise men (1) from the East (2) tf (a) St. Matthew, ii. 1-12. (1) We find the term Magi used by the ancient authors to signify, 1. Magicians and enchanters ; 2. The inhabitants of a certain district of Arabia which was called Magodie ; 3. Wife men and philosophers of Persia, who perhaps were called Magi because there was a good deal of astronomy mixed up with their philosophy, and the simplicity of the ancients identified astronomy with the magic art. The number of the Magi who came to adore the Saviour is not recorded. The traditionary number of three, which is usually fixed upon, seems to be grounded upon the number of presents which they offered. Their royalty is not acknowledged by some interpreters. Being commonly cred- ited, the antiquity of the idea entitles it to respect. Yet we must not be understood to mean that they were great and powerful. We know that there are still several countries where the title King is conferred on petty potentates, whose sovereign jurisdiction only extends over two or three boroughs. (2) According to some, they came from Persia, which is directly east of Palestine. The name of Magi helps to support this view of the case, which probably would have prevailed, if the distance of nearly five hundred leagues from Persia to Judea did not present a difficulty highly embarrassing and unanswerable to any one who adopts the generally received idea that the Magi arrived at Bethlehem on the thirteenth day after the birth of the Saviour. The knowledge of stars whio.h they are supposed to have pos- sessed, induced others to say that they came from Chaldea,a country fertile in astrono- mers, situate northeast of Judea. Finally, the quality of the presents they carried has CH A.P. IV.j OF THE DIVINE FOUNDEK OF THE CHURCH. 88 Jerusalem, saying : Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen his star (3) in the East, and are come to adore him. King Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all • Jerusalem with him ; and assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, him inquired of them where Christ should be born. They said to him, In Bethlehem of Juda ; for so it is written by the prophet : And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda ; for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them, and sending them mto Bethle- hem, said : Go (4), and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found him bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him. Having heard the king, they went their way," given rise to the opinion of their having come from Arabia, which is placed southeast of Judea, from which it is not very far distant ; and this opinion is generally adopted. (3) We have nothing but conjecture as to the nature of the star which appeared to them, in what part of the heavens they descried it, and the manner in which their course was thereby directed. Here are the most probable which have been made. This was not a real star, but a meteor more brilliant than stars usually are, inasmuch as its lustre was not eclipsed by the brightness of daylight. They saw the star over Judea ; for how could it have made them think of the birth of a new King of the Jews, had they seen it over the country which they inhabited ; and could the prophecy which said, a star shall be born of Jacob, be applicable to a star which may have suddenly arisen over Arabia ? Placed over Judea, this star, by its position alone, furnished them with a guide ; nor was it necessary to see it set in motion to ascertain whither they should direct their steps. Once arrived at J erusalem, they no longer saw the star. If it were, as has been said, in order to test their faith that God made the star disappear, his principal inten- tion was to disclose to the Jews, by means of the Magi, the Messiah's birth, and to the Magi, by means of the Jews, the spot where the Messiah should be born, and the accordance of the prophecies with the miraculous sign which had attracted them. (4) Herod reasoned thus : should the inquiry be made in my name and by my peo- ple, mistrust will make them conceal the child, whereas they will be all eagerness to find out the child for these good natured East-men, of whom no one has the slightest diffidence. This was subtle reasoning ; but the man did not reason when he ordered the murder of the innocents. For this murder was useless if the Messiah were not born ; and if the Messiah were born, God, who had promised him to the world, could not allow him to be enveloped in the general massacre. When Herod was subtle, God made a mockery of his subtlety ; when he was irrational, God allowed him to commit, without reaping any fruit to himself, a crime which has rendered him the execration of all ages. Ye wise and mighty of the world, how foolish, how weak are ye when you dare to cross the designs of the Deity ! 3 34 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART I. without distrust, and disposed to satisfy him ; and " behold the star which they had seen in the East went before them until it came and stood over where the child was. Seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and entering into the house (5), they found the child with Mary his mother (6), and falling down, they adored (7) him." Afterwards " opening their treasures, they offer- ed him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (8), and having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country." That prince awaited their return ; and since he reckoned upon them, it seems that he made no other inquiries (a), " when, after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses (9), were (a) St. Lake, ii. 22-32. (5) The majority of the old writers affirm that this was in the stable of Bethlehem; others think Mary had quitted a by-place so inconvenient, and had taken another lodg- ing. The truth is not known ; but if we confine ourselves to the text, we will find it difficult to credit that what is called simply the house could have been a stable. (6) Joseph is not named, which gives ground to the presumption of his absence ; for when the shepherds came to the manger, and on the other occasions when Joseph was present, the Evangelists make mention of him. Those who are anxious to give a reason for every thing, say that God permitted his absence, lest the Magi might fancy him the father of Jesus Christ. This idea was utterly independent of his presence or absence, and must still have been prevalent in the minds of the Magi, had not God revealed to them that the child whom they adored was the son of a virgin. (7) Scripture frequently employs this term to signify the homage rendered to kings or personages for whom we have a high respect. In this passage the term is more com- monly taken in the sense of adoration properly speaking, because there is very little doubt but the Magi knew by a supernatural light the divinity of Jesus Christ. (8) These presents were mysterious. By gold, they recognized the royalty of Jesus Christ ; by incense, his divinity ; and by myrrh, which was used in embalm- ing bodies, his humanity in suffering and mortal flesh. We shall imitate them, said a holy father, by offering to God the gold of charity, the incense of prayer, and the myrrh of mortification. These were our first fruits, and the vocation of the Gentiles commenced by them. Hence the unusual joy with which we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. (9) Here we should notice two distinct laws — one, which obliged those who had borne children to come and be purified at the temple after a certain number of days; the other, which prescribed the offering of every first-born male to the Lord. It may be asked, whether both these laws regard Jesus Christ and Mary ? Jesus Christ, who is God, is above every law. Yet, having voluntarily submitted himself to the observation of the Mosaic law,he could not, as he wa? the first-born, fail in accomplishing the law referring CHAP. IV.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHTTBCH. 36 accomplished, she carried Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male open- ing the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacri- fice, as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or two pigeons. At this twit there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. This man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was in him : he had even received an answer from the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came by the Spirit into the temple ; and when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law (10), he took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said : Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people : a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Thus we see literally accomplished in this holy old man that ex- pression of the Psalmist : (a) " I will fill him with length of days, and I will show him the salvation." But the favor surpassed the promise : for, not content with allowing him to see, the Lord permit- ted him to clasp his Saviour in his arms ; and besides the consola- tion of Israel which he expected, he was moreover gladdened by the knowledge of the vocation of the Gentiles, and that salvation was thrown open to all people — a truth which was pointed out by all the prophets, but which was then scarcely known, and which the Apostles themselves did not entirely understand until some time after the descent of the Holy Ghost. (a) Psalms, xc. 16. to this qualification. The law of purification had for its object the expiation of the legal impurity which women contracted in consequence of their child-bearing. Mary, whose divine parturition had been purer than the sunbeam, was not in the case contemplated by the law ; still her perfect purity was an unknown mystery, and the time was not yet come to reveal it. Wherefore she could not dispense herself from the common obliga- tion, without causing herself to be regarded as a prevaricator, that is to say, without giviug scandal. Thenceforth did it not become an obligation on charitable ground ? (10) That is to say, offer him to the Lord, and redeem him afterwards, by giving five shekels of silver, as is marked out in the 18th chapter of the book of Numbers ; for the offering of the lamb or of the turtles was only for the purification of the mother. 36 THE TEACHINGS, MIKACLES, AND ACTS [PART I. " His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. Simeon blessed them" both. But en- lightened as he was on the difference he should make between her who was really the mother, and him who, merely in public opinion, was the father, he said, speaking only to Mary, his mother : (a) " Be- hold, this child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted (11). And thy own soul," he adds to her, " a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed." He also prophesied the passion of the Saviour. God wished that this awful futurity should be ever present to the mind of Mary dur- ing the entire course of her Son's life. The object was to prepare her for the catastrophe, and also to temper the joy of possessing such a treasure. Had this joy been utterly unalloyed, she would not have acquired sufficient merit ; her consent to the sacrifice of her son would only have been, like that of Abraham, the merit of one day ? had she not, by anticipating the intelligence, been furnished with an occasion to make that sacrifice every day of her life, nay, per- haps at every moment of the days and years which preceded the event. (b) " The Lord saith : In the last days I will pour out of my spirit upon alkflesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." This prediction, which was entirely accomplished after the descent of the Holy Ghost, began from this day to be verified. God included both sexes in the glorious testimony which he designed should be rendered to his son. With the holy old man Simeon he associated ( and were washing their nets." In or- der to join this circumstance with the preceding one, we must sup- pose these fishermen (whom Jesus had just called), after alighting from their ships, were still washing their nets either from habit or for the service of those who were afterwards to use them. " Jesus going into one of the ships that was* Simon's, desired him to draw back a little from the land ; and sitting, he taught the multitudes out of the ship (6). When he had ceased to speak, he said to Si- mon : Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Master, said Simon to him, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down the net. When they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke (7), and they beckoned to their partners, (a) St. Mark, i. 16, 17, 19. (b) St. Luke, v. 1-11. (6) The Ship of the Church which the Lord ascends is no other than that one of which Peter was established the pilot, when the Lord said to him : Thou art Peter 7 and upon this rock I shall build my Church. — Ambr. Serm. ii. (7) This miraculous fishing is the figure, or rather the prophetic history, of what was to happen to the Church. The prophets had labored almost without any fruit under the Old Law, which was a state of shade and obscurity. At last the great day of grace having appeared, Peter, on the word of Jesus Christ, casts the net of the Gospel. All nations enter there in throngs : both ships, that is to say, the two Churches of the East and West, are filled. This gathering occasions the rupture of the net, whose integrity 52 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART L that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sink- ing ; which, when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying : Depart from me, O Lord (8), for I am a sinful man. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken, and so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. But Jesus saith to Simon : Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men ; and having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. (a) Simon and Andrew left their nets ; James and John," not only " their nets they were mending, but their father, Zebedee, (6) in the ship with his hired men." FIEST PASSOVER. We have said that this first sojourn which Jesus made at Caphar- naum was but for a few days, (c) " The pasch of the Jews was at hand," and the time was come when Jesus should make known to all Israel its Messiah and its King. "He went up " then with his new disciples* " to Jerusalem," whither the festival had gathered together Jews from all nations under the sun. He made himself remarkable there at the outset, by an action which attracted all eyes towards him. " He found in the temple them that sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money (9), sitting. When he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords (10), he drove them all out of (a) St. Matthew, iv. 20, 21. (b) St. Mark, i. 20. (c) St. John, ii. 13-25. marks the unity of the Church ; and whose rupture the schisms and the heresies by which she loses part of her fishing, if we can call a loss a circumstance which delivers her from those cruel children who only were fostered in her bosom to tear her asunder. (8) The same humility that makes the centurion say : Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof, made Peter say here : Depart from me, 0 Lord, for L am a sinful man. Some have wished to give a different meaning to this say- ing ; but the reason which Peter adds, because I am a sinful man, seems to exclude them, and fixes the sense to our construction. (9) The money-changers gave small change in exchange for large coin, and drew a profit from this sort of traffic. (10) In order that the weakness of the instrument should make more apparent the OHAP. VI.] OF TUE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 53 the temple, the sheep, and also the oxen ; the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. To those who sold doves he said : Take these things hence (11), and make not the house of my Father (12) a house of traffic. His disciples remembered that it was written : The zeal of my house hath eaten me up. The Jews said to him : What sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things (13) ? Jesus answered : Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said . Six-and-f orty years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days ? But he spoke of the temple of his body. When, therefore, he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed (14) the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. When he was at Jerusalem at the pasch, upcm the festival day, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, and he needed not that any should give testimony of man ; for he knew what was in man." power of him who employed it. This miracle seemed to Saint Jerome the most surprising of all those which Jesus Christ performed. (11) Had he acted towards these as with the others, th« pigeons would have flown off, and be lost to the owners. Jesus, who wishes to frighten all, wishes to wrong none of them ; and in an action so calculated to excite, he further teaches us that zeal should ever be regulated by prudence and tempered by charity. (12) An expression till then unheard of. Who, therefore, is this man who calls the house of God the house of my father, and who exhibits himself there with all the authority of a master ? (13) Jesus Christ never worked miracles when either curiosity or malignity was the motive which made them be sought after. (1 4) They then comprehended the sense of this expression, which they had not at first understood ; they saw its conformity with those passages of Scripture where the resur- rection of Jesus Christ is so clearly figured, and they were corroborated in their faith. What served to establish the faith of the disciples furnished matter to the Jews for calumniating the Saviour. The same results follow from the word of Jesus Christ as from the flesh of Jesus Christ ; both one and the other are a bread of life for the good, and a mortal poison for the wicked. Mors est malis, vita bonis. 54 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS ( part I. CHAPTER VIL DISCOURSE WITH NICODEMUS. Tm? togirds those who at first believed in him, but whose incon* stancy, kaown clearly to hirn before whose eyes all is naked and un« covered, obliged him to take certain precautions with them. Others had even then openly declared against him, and his miracles and doctrine had already produced the double effect always produced by great merit when signalized by great actions, viz. : esteem and veneration in upright hearts ; in perverse hearts, envy and hatred. These two passions ever persecuting, and at last accomplishing the death of the Saviour, were inflamed at the sight of his first successes, and thenceforth menaced those who ventured to declare themselves in his favor. This appears by the conduct (a) " Of a man then of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews ;" already faith- ful, yet^timid, anxious for instruction, still dreading persecution, " He came to Jesus by night, and said to him : Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God, for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless God be with him ." This introduction expressed the object of his visit ; he came to be instructed. Jesus stated to him in a few words the entire plan of Christianity, and commencing by regeneration, which is the ground- work, " Answered him : Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This reply sur- prised Nicodemus, who, aware of but one way of being born, could imagine no other. " How can a man be born, saith he, when he is old ? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born again V He asked for an explanation, which Jesus immediate- ly gave him. " Amen, amen, he answered, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water (1) and the Holy Ghost, he cannot en- fa) St. John, iii. 1-13. (1) This water is that of baptism ; for it is not allowable to seek here, for anothei CHAP. VH.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 66 ter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh i3 flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Wonder not that I said to thee : You must be born again. The spirit breatheth where he will (2) ; and thou nearest his voice ; but thou knowe.st not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth : so is every one that is born of the spirit." Which is tantamount to the known maxim, Every thing produces its kind. The production of the spirit is, therefore, spiritual, like its principal, wherefore it falls not under the senses. Yet it has effects which hinder us from doubting: its reality, like the air or wind, which, though not perceptible to the eyes of the body, is known by sound or other peculiar effects. The mystery had been explained as clearly as it could be : still " Nicodemus answered : How can these things be done ? Art thou, said Jesus to him, a master in Israel, and knowest not these things ! Amen, amen, I say to thee, that we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony. If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not, how will you believe when I speak to you heavenly things ? No man hath ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven — the Son of man who is in heaven (3)." These words, all full of depth, signify, 1st, That faith in mysteries meaning after the decision of the Council of Trent, Sess. 7, Can. 2 : Should any one say that very and natural water is not necessary in baptism, and consequently if he gives a metaphorical sense to those wo?'ds of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Unless a man be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost, dec, let him be anathema. (2) This expression signifies here properly either the breath or the wind. This does not hinder an appropriate application of the expression to the free and inde- pendent operation of the Holy Ghost in our souls. (3) Yet the humanity of the Saviour had not descended from heaven, but only ascend ed there on the day of the ascension. This is explained by the personal union of the Word with human nature. By this ineffable union, the Sovereign God who reigns in the highest heavens is truly the Son of man ; in this sense he could have said that the Son of man hath ascended into heaven, since he who is in heaven became the Son of man, which he was not previously. He might also have said that he descended from heaven, because this Son of man, who conversed on earth with man, was the same person with the Sover- eign God who reigns in the highest heaven. He could have added that he was still in heaven, because his immensity renders him present everywhere, and his persevering union with humanity makes him who is everywhere present be everywhere and always with the character of Son of man, although his humanity be not everywhere present, as the Lutherans say, by an error, the absurdity of which equals at least its impiety. 56 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART I. is not grounded on the evidence of the object, but on the authority of the testimony of Jesus Christ, a proposition which Nicodemus could not gainsay, he having just recognized the divinity of a mis- sion proved manifestly by miracles ; 2d, that the explanation just given to him was the most proper to make him comprehend the mystery which Jesus Christ had proposed to him ; I say, to make him comprehend it in such a way as it can be comprehended, at least in this life, he clothed it in sensible and corporal images, such as birth, the wind, and its effects. Whence the Saviour concluded that, if he did not place faith in him when speaking such language as he calls earthly, because proportioned to the human intellect ever cleaving to that earth to which it is bound; much less would he be- lieve had expressions been used as sublime as the things themselves that were proposed, viz.: such expressions as no mortal man could understand, and such apparently as human language could not fur- nish. What Jesus Christ adds, " no man hath ascended unto heaven but he that descended from heaven," relates to two parts of his an- swer, and signifies that, both as to mysteries and the manner of pro- posing them, we must refer alone to him who, having descended from that heaven which he always continues to inhabit, and having alone seen them in their origin, is the only person who knows them, and who is in a position to speak of them ; which we find similarly expressed in these words of the first chapter of Saint John : (a) " No man hath seen God at any time : the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Nicodemus, thus disposed, was prepared to listen with docility to the other truths in which Jesus Christ was going to instruct him ; the Saviour continued in these terms : (b) " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that who- soever believeth in him (4) may not perish, but may have life ever- (a) St. John, i. 18. (b) St. John, iii. 14-21. (4) Here faith alone is spoken of : Doth faith, then, suffice, without works ? No more than good works can suffice without faith, although in many places of Scripture salvation is attributed to works, without mention being at all made of faith. Join these texts, and in their union you will find the Catholic truth ; separate them, or merely consider them in their apparent opposition, and you evidently come in col CHAP. VII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 57 lasting. For God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son (5), that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting : for God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. He that believeth in him is not judged ; but he that doth not believe is already judged, because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment ; because the light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil : for every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved ; but he that doth truth (6) cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God." Such is the discourse which the Saviour made to this learned man of the synagogue. It comprises, as I have said, the entire plan of Christianity, and its principal mysteries are here clearly proposed. We see here the three persons of the adorable Trinity, and the part which each of them condescended to take upon himself in the re- ademption. The Father gives his only Son ; the Son consents to be immolated ; and the regenerating Spirit, uniting with the water of baptism his all-mighty action, transforms the old man into a new creature, gives brothers to the Son, and adopted children to the Father. The motive of so great a gift is, on the part of the Father, immense, we may say, excessive love, actuating him to deliver up his only Son, the object of all his complacency, for the salvation of an impious and perverse world : in the Son there is a voluntary im- molation upon the tree of the cross ; and in regenerated man a live- ly faith replete with confidence in him whose charity was so extreme lision with one of these two stumbling-blocks : You will think that works suffice without faith, which annihilates all religion ; or with some Protestant sects, that faith suffices without works, which opens the road to every crime. (5) A Jew might think that God had only given his Son for the salvation of Jews. Jesus Christ anticipates this error, by declaring that the Son was given for the salva- tion of the world, and of every man, saith e!sewhere the beloved disciple, I. John, 22. (6) It may be, as some have thought, that the original believers in Jesus Christ were the best class among the Jews, although this was not without exception ; or it may be that the expression he that doth truth, or to do truth, signifies in sinners the knowledge and detestation of sin, according to this thought of Saint Augustine : the confession of crime is the beginning of virtue. 58 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT I. as to suffer for him torment and death. The brazen serpent is given here as a figure of the Old Testament, representing in the most nat- ural manner many wonderful things therein detailed. It resembles the serpent, though without its venom, thus shadowing him forth who, himself without a blemish, assumed the semblance of sin ; its elevation in the desert typifies the cross raised on high, and exposed to all eyes. Faith in Him crucified, which may be called the glance of the soul, produces an effect in souls similar to that produced in bodies on corporeally beholding the brazen serpent. Yet, as the brazen serpent, although salutary to many, and injurious to none, hindered not those from perishing who, when mortally wounded by the serpents of fire, refused thus to seek recovery by so easy a rem- edy, so also those who shall be saved are to be saved by him alone whom the serpent prefigured, and the damned shall be condemned by their own fault. The Saviour goes so far as to declare that the latter are already condemned, inasmuch as, in the sin of their first father and their own personal iniquities, they carry with them the manifest cause of their condemnation ; as the Israelites stung by the serpents carried, in the venom which they had received, the impend- ing cause of inevitable death. Those who perish, therefore, perish merely because they choose to do so ; and from themselves alone originates the judgment which condemns them. The Messiah's first coming had salvation, not the condemnation, of the world for its object. But this fearful and eternal condemnation only comes upon them for having shunned another transient and salutary condemna- tion, that which they themselves should have passed upon their own crimes, had they wished to open their eyes to the startling light which disclosed to them their enormity. Still the same fund of corruption which wedded them to their vices made them love the darkness which concealed their enormity, and hate the light which would have revealed it to them ; that light which is earnest- ly sought after and beheld with joy by those who are pure in heart and of virtuous life. An upright mind is always cheered by the light which irradiates it, and virtue must always experience the highest satisfaction from the favorable testimony of such a witness. The grace with which the Saviour accompanied the instruction he imparted to Nicodemus made that proselyte a faithful disciple. CHAP. VIII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDEK OF THE CHURCH. 59 Though he measured cautiously his first advances, yet Nicodernus never betrayed his conscience. True it is, he did not as yet openly declare himself for Jesus Christ, but far from being implicated in the unjust conspiracy of his enemies, he knew well, when the occa- sion presented itself, how to make them feel the whole extent of their injustice. Cured of his timidity after he had viewed the mys- terious serpent elevated upon the mountain, when the apostles were flying in all directions, this prince of the synagogue joined with Jo- seph of Arimathea in rendering to his divine Master the rites of bu- rial ; and lavished upon him the most costly perfumes with a liber- ality worthy of his opulence and his piety. He persevered till death in the confession of the faith, and in the practice of every Christian virtue ; and the Church has placed him in the rank of the saints to be invoked. CHAPTER VIII. JESUS CHRIST PREACHES AND BAPTIZES. NEW TESTIMONY OF SAINT JOHN. IMPRIS- ONMENT OF THE HOLY PRECURSOR. RETURN OF JESUS TO GALILEE THROUGH SA- MARIA. (a)" Jesus," after having made this conquest, "came into the land of Judea ; " that is to say, he quitted the capital to travel over the country " with his disciples. There he abode with them, and baptized (though Jesus himself did not baptize, (Z>) but his disci- ples)." A very remarkable difference between him and John. The former baptized by himself alone, because, being merely the minis- ter of his baptism, he could not substitute instead of himself any other minister ; whereas Jesus, author of his own baptism, could appoint any administrator he wished, and preserve to the rite its entire virtue, no matter by what hand it was administered. Yet the baptism of John was not immediately abolished, after the in- (a) St. John, iii. 22. (b) St. John, iv. 2. 60 THE TEACHINGS, MIEACLES, AND ACTS [PAST I. troduction of Christ's baptism. Every tiling is gradually shaded in the works of God ; and until the precursor's imprisonment, the baptism of water subsisted at the same time with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire, as the Jewish practices subsisted side by side with infant Christianity, until the destruction of Jerusalem. ' While, therefore, Jesus was conferring baptism by the hands of his disciples, accustoming the world from thenceforth (a) " to account them his ministers, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God, (S) John also was baptizing in Ennon, near Salim, because there was much water there, and they came, and were baptized ; for John was not yet cast into prison. There arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews (1) concerning purification (2)," which here must be understood to mean baptism. The Jews who had declared themselves in favor of Jesus Christ, maintained that their new Master being much superior to John (Aug. tract. 13 in Joan.), his baptism should be preferred to that of the precursor. Whereupon " John's disciples came to him, and said : Eabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou gavest testimony, behoid, he baptizeth, and all men come to him." The disciples disputed ; but the masters were of the same mind. " John," who never had attributed any merit to himself, and who always returned back to Jesus the glory due to him, " answered and said : A man cannot receive any thing unless it be given him from heaven. You yourselves do bear me witness that I said : I am not Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom (3) ; but the friend of the bridegroom who stand- eth, and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy, because of the bride- (a) I. Corinthians, iv. 1. (b) St. John, iii. 23-36. (1) Apparently the disciples of John were mostly Galileans, whereas those who had just received the baptism of Jesus Christ were from Judea, properly speaking. For which reason the latter are called Jews in this passage ; although, in a more com- prehensive sense, the name also belongs to the disciples of John. (2) Baptism might be called by the name of purification, as purifications elsewhere go under the name of baptism. (3) The bride is the Church, composed of the multitude of those who believe in Jesus Christ. Its formation was commenced, and the disciples of John brought him the intelligence. Thus, while seeking to excite his jealousy,they ravished him with joy. CHAP. VIII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 61 groom's voice ; this my joy, therefore, is fulfilled (4). He must in- crease, but I must decrease (5)." The difference of origin is the reason which John assigns for this extreme difference between Jesus Christ and himself. " He, said John, that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh (6). He that cometh from heaven is above all, and he testifieth what he hath seen and heard (7), and no man re- ceiveth his testimony (8). He that hath received his testimony (9) (4) Comparisons only extend to a certain point. John did not actually see Jesus Christ, nor did he hear his voice ; but he knew hirn to be near at hand, and preach- ing, and he heard the rumor of his first successes. This it is that inspires him with joy comparable to that caused by the voice of the person we love most, which is said to be the sweetest of all music. (5) In public estimation. For, in reality, there neither was increase in Jesus Christ nor diminution in Saint John. (6) When he speaks from himself. For, by inspiration, he can know and utter heavenly things, and John himself is proof of this. But those heavenly things which the Son uttered had been taught him by no one ; he s(>oke them from his own will. Others consider Saint John to term earthly those things which he said himself, in opposition the more sublime truths which Christ Jesus came to reveal to the world. (7) These words, and those which close the discourse, are sufficiently explained in the preceding discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus. (8) Passion ever exaggerates. Envy made John's disciples state, all men come to him , because several did go ; and an affectionate zeal for the glory of Jesus Christ made John say, no man receiveth his testimony, because all men did not receive it. (9) To believe his word, who is sent by God, is to believe the word of God ; and to believe the word of God is an authentic declaration that God is incapable of a lie, and that he always speaks the truth. Faith is wholly and entirely comprised in these few words. God has sent his Son ; the Son has sent his apostles. These, by his order, have communicated their mission to their successors, who have transmitted it to us, and who will transmit it from age to age, until the end of the world. To believe these, therefore, is to believe the apostles, who have transmitted the mission to them ; the Son, who hath sent the apostles ; and God, who hath sent the Son. The simple- minded enter without trouble and without diffidence the road that lies open before them : the road which is straight, ievei, spacious, trodden by the Christian throng, and in which they see their guides marching before them. Those who combine great abilities with superior judgment, seeing the natural inability of the masses to conduct themselves, agree that they could not be conducted by another course ; that there must be a course marked out for them, since they are not excluded from sal- vation ; that it was natural that this road, which suffices for all, should be the same for all. The more so, as when they recollected the great wanderings in which men of eminent talents frequently indulge, they deemed this road at least as necessary 62 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PAST l hath set to his seal that God is true : For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God doth not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loveth the Son, and he hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting ; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; the wrath of God abideth on him.' 1 The imprisonment of the holy precursor quickly followed this magnificent testimony which he had just rendered to Jesus Christ. The country which he then inhabited, if not actually part of the di- vision allowed to Herod the tetrarch, at least bordered on his do- minions. John had occasion to see and to speak to him. (a) " Her- od was reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evils he had done. He added this also, above all, and shut up John in prison, (b) When Jesus had heard that John was delivered up, (6) and understood that the Pharisees had heard that he maketh more disciples, and baptizeth more than John, (d) he left Judea, and returned, in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee, preaching the Gos- pel of the kingdom of God." (a) St. Luke, iii. 19, 20. (c) St. John, iv. 1-3. (b) St. Matthew, i'y. 12. (d) St. Luke, iv. 14 ; St. Mark, L 14, for those who reason with over-subtlety as for those who do not reason enough. Still there exist subtle minds, who cannot sympathize with what is simple : men of a curious turn of mind, which disdains every thing that is ancient, for the sole reason that it is not new ; singular characters, who ever try to distinguish themselves from the multitude ; presumptuous men, who wish to lead themselves, and show the way to their very guides ; wrangling dispositions, who could scarce live if they did not find matter for contradiction. Such characters quit the high-road, band themselves together, seek for crooked by ways, thrust themselves into them, and there wander — that is to say, become heretics — for the same reasons which produce in the world blunderers, originals, the headstrong, bad reasoners, bad debaters, and bad lawyers CHAP. IX.] OF THE DIVIDE FOUNDEB OF THE CHURCH. 63 CHAPTEE IX. THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. (ci) "He was of necessity to pass through Samaria. He corner, therefore, to a city of Samaria which is called Sichar (1), near the land which J acob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour (2). There cometh a woman of Sama- ria (3) to draw water. Jesus saith to her : Give me to drink (for his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats). Then that Sa- maritan woman saith to him : How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman ? for the Jews do not com- municate with the Samaritans." To this reply, which perhaps sa- vored more of a jest than of a refusal " Jesus, answered : If thou didst know the gift of God, and who is he that saith to thee : Give (a) St. John, iv. 4-30. (1) The same which is called Sichem in Scripture. It was situated near the mountain of Garizim. (2) About noonday. (3) These Samaritans were originally a Chaldean colony, sent by Salmanasar to inhabit the country, which remained a desert in consequence of the transportation of the ten tribes into the States of this prince. .These Chaldeans carried along with them their idolatrous worship. God sent lion&>, which committed fearful ravages over the country. To be delivered from this scourge, they brought from Assyria a priest of the race of Aaron, who was to instruct them in the religion of the God of the country ; such was the title they first gave him. They acknowledged revelation ; but they only received the five books of Moses, and they altered even them in several passages. But what most of all contributed to make them be regarded as schismatics by the Jews, was the temple, which Sanabelleth, one of their governors, caused to be built on the mountain of Garizim. They constantly preferred it to the temple of Jerusalem, the only place on earth where it was then allowable to offer sacrifice to God. This hatred still exists between the Jews and Samaritans, although the latter are reduced to almost nothing, and are sunk in the most profound ignorance. f 64 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [part l me to drink, thou perhaps (4) wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water (5)." So far, if this discourse did not render this woman faithful, it made her at least .respectful. " Sir, she saith to him, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep : from whence, then, hast thou living water ? Art thou greater than our father Jacob (6), who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cat- tle ? J esus answered to her : whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again ; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him shall not thirst for ever, and the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life ever- lasting." She seemed then to place faith in him ; but not understanding what was the nature of this wonderful water, " Sir, she saith to him, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw. Go, saith J esus to her, call thy husband, and come hither. I have no husband, the woman answered," whether she wished to speak sin- cerely, or that the ardor of her desire made her deny every thing that (4) Jesus Christ was not ignorant of what she would do had she this knowledge. This perhaps should therefore be understood, according to the interpreters, to refer to the power she would have still retained then to ask, or not to ask. The amazing prerogative of grace, and that which most strikingly displays its power, is this triumph over hearts, leaving them at the same time the actual power of resistance. If it were necessary to deprive hearts of this power of resistance, grace would no longer be almighty, since, being disabled from triumphing over hearts actually vested with this power, there would be a something that grace was unable to do. (5) This gift of God and this living water are nothing else but the Holy Ghost, who extinguishes in souls the thirst after the pleasures of sense and perishable goods, who deadens the ardors of concupiscence, who waters the aridity of the heart by re- freshing sentiments of piety, and who renders the soul fertile in good works : truly living water both in itself and in its effects, inasmuch as the Holy Ghost, being life, gives life to those souls who receive him. (6) The Samaritans were not descendants of Jacob. Yet there is nothing to hindei us from believing that in their district several families of Israelites resided : whether 01 not, they remained there during the transmigration, or came and established themselves there with the Chaldeans, the latter associating with them in their form of worship. Suoh families would, when speaking of Jacob and the patriarchs, call them their fathers. Chaldeans might also descend from him by alliances with Israelitish women ; and sup- posing none of these reasons existed, the mere habit of hearing the Jews repeat Our Father Jacob, might have introduced that fashion of speech into the Samaritan tongue. CHAP. IX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 05 might retard its accomplishment. " Jesus said to her : Thou hast said well, I have no husband : for thou hast five, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. This thou hast said truly." If this was not naturally a good woman, she must have become so already during the interview she had with Jesus Christ ; for, instead of giv- ing him the lie, as many others would have done, and with greater assurance the more foundation there was for the reproach, " she saith to him," respectfully, but with shame, " Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet : " an expression which comprises the double confession which she made of Jesus Christ's quality of prophet, and of her own sinful life. This last avowal was so humiliating that she could not dwell upon it, but takes advantage of the other to turn the conver- sation upon the controversy which divided the two classes of people inhabiting Palestine. " Our fathers (7 )," added she, " adored (8) on this mountain, and you say that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore.' This question has given occasion more than once for regarding the Samaritan as an inquisitive woman, forward in entering on discus- sions beyond her reach. It seems, nevertheless, that having had the happiness to meet a prophet, she acted wisely in asking him to in- form her upon a point of religion deemed of capital importance. Do not let us, therefore, blame what Jesus Christ himself has not blamed. Nay, perhaps he himself inspired the question, that he might take occasion therefrom to instruct the woman in that per- fect worship which he came to establish upon the ruins of all the an- cient systems, not even excepting that which, though true in itself, was merely preparatory. Therefore he thus spoke to her : " Wo- man, believe me, that the hour cometh when you shall neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem adore the Father (9). You adore (7) Our ancestors, if we prefer to say that the Samaritans were under the impres- sion that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had offered sacrifices on the mountain of Garizim, which left the question at issue still undecided ; for the place where sacrifices must be offered was not wherever the patriarchs had sacrificed, but wherever God had chosen, to the exclusion of all other places. (8) To adore signifies here to sacrifice. Simple adoration was never forbidden in any place. (9) My father, or he who, by adooting you, is going to become yours, or better 66 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [part l that which you know not (10) ; we adore that which we know : for salvation is of the Jews (11). But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth (12) ; for the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit, and they that adore him must adore him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith to him : I know that the Messias cometh who is called Christ. Therefore when he is come (13) he will tell us all things." In the mean time she was still obliged, by the dec- laration of him whom she recognized for a prophet, to acknowledge the superiority of the Jewish worship over the Samaritan — a truth which she seems inclined to elude. As to what regards the new worship which the Messiah alone could establish, she very properly said they should wait for the Messiah. " I am he, who am speaking with thee, saith Jesus to her. Immediately his disciples came, and they wondered that {contrary to his custom) he talked with the woman. Yet no man said : What seekest thou ? or, Why talkest thou with her ? The woman, therefore, left her water-pot, went her way into the city, and saith to the men there : Come and see alnan who has told me all things whatsoever I have done ; is not he the Christ ? " Such was, in regard of this woman, the conduct of Jesus Christ, and such was its success. Few examples can be found of so prompt a conversion, and of one whose se veral degrees are so still, both together, that is to say, my father and yours. The two meanings are true — both suit the text ; and Scripture, according to the remark of Saint Augustine, frequently comprises more than one sense in a single word. (10) Whether it be that the Samaritans had blended with the idea of God some gross error, or whether these words signify that they could not tell upon what grounds they worshipped, their worship having, in point of fact, no divine institution. (11) It was proper that God should more highly instruct that people, from whom salvation, or the Saviour, was to issue. (12) Truth is going to succeed shadows, spiritual objects those of sense. Both forms of worship are opposed in what forms their leading quality ; for the new wor- ship is in some things addressed to the senses, while the old must have contained much that was spiritual. (13) Although the Jews were unwilling to acknowledge the fact, every one, even the Samaritans, expected the Messiah, and expected him at no distant periods For to refer the decision of an essential point of religion to a Messiah who was only to come at some distant and indefinite period, would have been as senseless a proceeding as to refer now-a-days a similar decision to the coming of Elias. CHAP. IX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDEK OF THE CHURCH. 67 distinctly marked. We see her pass successively from respect of the virtuous man who speaks to her, to the desire of obtaining that which he promises her, although as yet she is ignorant of its nature. Next she recognizes him for a prophet, and in this very avowal which she makes admits herself to be a sinner. She wisely profits by the oc- casion to get instruction ; she listens with docility, and, when once enlightened, she burns with the desire of communicating to her fel- low-citizens the light which has just sparkled before her eyes. She leaves her pitcher, as the apostles left their nets : she runs to the city, which she immediately fills with the rumor of the wonderful discovery she had just made. Her zeal for the glory of him whom she announces goes to the extent of prompting her to sacrifice her own fame, by adducing, to prove that he was a prophet, her own misdeeds, which he could have known only by a supernatural light. She invites all the inhabitants to come and satisfy themselves as to the truth of the things she recounts ; and, with a success which we may compare to that of the first preaching of St. Peter, she succeed- ed in as short a time in gaining over to him an entire people. In- comprehensible effect of grace, which in a moment makes a sinner a penitent, and a penitent an apostle. But whilst no better illustra- tion can be given of the efficacy of divine grace, where else is to be found a more affecting picture of its soothing operation, or where can we find a better instance of that admirable art which shrouds, as it were, with the veil of chance, the designs of God, and the most maturely reflected projects of his mercy ? Jesus returns from Jeru- salem to Galilee ; he traverses Samaria, which happens to be upon his route ; he halts about mid-day, while his disciples were gone in search of provisions to a neighboring city : he is tired, and he sits down near a well. A woman comes there to draw water ; he is thirsty, and he asks her for a drink ; she refuses, or seems to refuse it, under pretence of the division which exists between the two na- tions. What have we here that does not appear the effect of pure chance ? Yet ail this is nothing- else but the execution of the de» crees of the Almighty. God, from all eternity, had determined to inspire the woman with a wish to come to this spot on the day and at the hour when she actually came there. She came there of her own free will ; but there she must have come inevitably. Heaven 68 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PAKT L and earth must have perished ere she missed the appointment. The discourse which Jesus Christ held with her, and which seemed en- tirely occasioned by the good or bad things which she said — that discourse was also preconcerted in the councils of the Most High ; and that portion of knowledge which was to be communicated to her had been weighed in the eternal scale. Before she was in the world, yea, before the world existed/it was settled that Jesus Christ should originate in her mind the idea of, and the thirst for, a water which should forever quench thirst, and whose inexhaustible source gushed forth unto life everlasting. Also, that in order to give her at the same time both faith and penance, he should disclose to her both what he was, and what she herself was, that he should enlight- en her on the errors of Samaritan worship and the imperfection of the Jewish ; that thereupon he should elevate her to the knowledge of a universal and eternal worship, which should extend itself over all times and every people, making truth succeed to figures, spirit to the letter, and the homage of the heart to legal ceremonies. More- over, it was also settled from eternity that she should be informed at the time of which we speak, that this interior and spiritual wor- ship, alone capable of worthily honoring God who is a spirit, was going to be established ; nay, that it actually was established, inas- much as he who was to be its author and its object — this Messiah whose coming she expected — he himself now spoke to her, and she heard his voice. All these great truths, I say, it was settled that Jesus Christ should reveal unto her, and that independently of her own voluntary effusions, although he said nothing to her that did not seem to flow naturally from her own discourse. Nothing is chance in the eye of God. Nothing happens in the universe but what he has foreseen, but what he has wished, and what has its first cause in his decrees ever free, yet eternal and eternally immutable. 1 except sin, which, like all the rest, he hath foreseen, but which he can only permit, and which he makes subservient to the execution of his designs. I return to what immediately followed the discourse that gave rise to these reflections. The following is the instruction which Christ gave to his disciples. As they found him exhausted with fatigue and hunger, (a) " They (a) St. John, iv. 31-43. CHAP. IX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 69 prayed hira, saying : Kabbi, eat." Every occurrence presented to Jesus an occasion of instruction and edification : water had been such for the Samaritan ; here food was so for those who offered it him. " I have meat to eat, he said to them, which you know not. The disciples said one to another : Hath any man brought him to eat ? Jesus saith to them : My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, 'that I may perfect his work." He then added, to teach them what that work was in which they were incessantly to co-op- erate with him : "Do not you say there are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh (14) ? Behold, I say to you : Lift up your eyes, and see the countries, for they are white already to harvest." The apostles did not say what Jesus supposes them to say. These words, " there are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh," was a proverbial way of saying that there was no pressing hurry, and that there was still time for rest. The disciples so understood it with reference to the functions of their ministry. Jesus unde- ceives them by showing them the countries all yellowing into ripe- ness, figurative of those people who were ready to receive the Gos- pel, and of the Samaritans in particular, who, at the moment he was speaking, thronged to him in crowds. Yet, as the apostles might have said to him, the harvest doth not come till after seed-time, Jesus Christ informs them that the seed was already sowed by the prophets their predecessors, whose toil, though at first sight un- productive, was now going to yield a harvest that should glad- den both sowers and reapers : this is what the Saviour meant to convey by the following words : " He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life everlasting, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. For in this is the saying true : That it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth (15). I have sent you to reap that in which you did (14) They then were between Easter and Pentecost, and it is known that Pente- cost is the time when harvest is reaped in Palestine : a proof of what we presently state, that this was a proverb of the country, and not a saying of the apostles. (15) This proverb only has, in the circumstances in which used by Jesus Christ, half its application. It signifies, in the ordinary application, that one has all the trouble, another ali the profit. Jesus Christ wishes merely to convey that the reaper is different from the sower, although one and the other were equally to share the crop. 70 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS | J'AKT 1. not labor : others have labored, and you have entered into their labors (16)." " Now many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him for the word of the woman giving testimony (17): He told me all things whatsoever I have done. So when the Samaritans were come to him, they desired that he would tarry there, and he abode there two days ; and many more believed in him, because of his ov word. They said to the woman (18) : We now believe not for thy saying, for we ourselves have heard him, and know that this is in- deed the Saviour of the world (19)." After the two days which Jesus had granted to the earnest so- licitations of the Samaritans, " he departed thence, and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself gave testimony that a prophet (20) hath (16) Have not, then, the apostles toiled as much as the prophets ? Yes, but when toiling they had the consolation of reaping the fruit of their labors. Theirs was the toil of the harvest-time, wherein pain is mingled with joy, and the joy exceeds the pain. Sow always, ye laborers in the field of the Lord : the seed will be productive at the time when your hopes are at the lowest ; or, if it produce nothing, your reward is i!of the less assured by a Master who recompenses the toil, and not the success. (17) It is strange to see them crediting so easily the testimony of a lewd woman. This has induced some to believe that she had contrived to save appearances, and preserve the reputation of a decent widow. Whatever weight there is in this conjecture, grace might give sufficient force to the word of a disgraced woman to make her find credence in people's minds, and to make this trust in her neither pre- cipitate nor imprudent. (18) This woman, according to Origen, represents the Church. We believe at the present day on her testimony ; but when we shall have the happiness to see Jesus Christ face to face, we shall say with the Samaritans : We believe now not for thy saying, for we ourselves have heard him, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world. (19) This was the first people who recognized in Jesus Christ the amiable charac- ter of Saviour of the world. There is no doubt but Jesus Christ declared unto them who he was, and we see here what faith they reposed in his words ; but, moreover, they who were not Jews, and who expected the Messiah, could not be fettered by the prejudice of those who regarded him as the Saviour of the Jews merely ; where- fore they could only expect him as Saviour of the world, and this, therefore, disposed them towards the belief of this article of Christian faith. (20) Elsewhere we shall explain this sentence, which seemingly Jesus Christ did not advance, but Saint John gives as the motive of the journey he made into Galilee. This forms a very embarrassing difficulty. For the little welcome that a prophet receives in his country was a reason for J esus to remain in Samaria, where he was so well received, and not to leave it and return to Galilee, which to him was that ungrateful country, whose disgraceful proceedings made him say that a prophet enjoys no consideration in CHAP. X.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER pF THE CHURCH. 71 no honor in his own country. When he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things he had done at Jerusalem on the festival day ; for they also went to the festival day. (a) And the fame of him went out through the whole coun- try He taught in the synagogues, and was magnified by all." CHAPTER X. AN OFFICER^ SON HEALED. CURE OF ONE POSSESSED, AND OF THE MOTHER-IN-LAW OF SAINT PETER. THREE MEN REPROVED. (Z>) " Jesus came again, therefore, into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death." Since he thus had recourse to Jesus Christ, he may have some time previously commenced believing ; but his incipient faith was as yet merely a (a) St. Luke, iv. 14, 15. (b) St. John, iv. 46-54. his country and among his kindred. . This is explained by saying that what was called the Saviour's country is not entire Galilee, but solely the city of Nazareth, whither he did not wish to return, for the reason assigned by the Evangelist, choosing rather to dwell at Capernaum or in other parts of Galilee. This explanation, which appeared to me more satisfactory than five or six others given by the interpreters, is still far from being satisfactory. Those who will not content themselves, may consider this passage as not explained : what inconvenience can result from this ? There are enough of matters clear in Scripture to support faith and maintain piety. Those who wish to understand every thing are not aware that intelligence of every thing is not granted at all ; what you cannot understand another does understand, and the lat- ter in his turn does not understand what you do. Besides, the explanations which are not satisfactory to me are so to others, and there is no decision whether they or I judge the best. Whatever be the case, let us seek and ask for light ; yet let us respect the obscurity which should not at all weaken the faith and veneration due to the divine Scriptures, because, as T have said, there remain enough of things so clear as incontes- tably to assure both one and the other. And reason alone teaches us that we are to judge, not what is clear by what is obscure, but what is obscure by that which is clear 72 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT I. doubt to be resolved into true faith, once he had seen or experi- enced himself the truth of those things which he had heard con- cerning the Saviour. Jesus, aware of his disposition, reproached him for it by these words: " Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not." The father, who was entirely engrossed with his son's danger, " saith to Jesus : Come down, Lord, before that my son die. Go thy way, saith Jesus to him ; thy son liveth." This efficacious expression operated simultaneously upon the son's body and the father's soul. " He believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way." The next day, " as he was going down, his servants met him, and they brought him word that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better, and they said to him : Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him (1). The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him : Thy son liveth ; and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle (2) that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee." It has been said already that (a) " Jesus, leaving the city of Naz- areth, came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea-coast, in the bor- ders of Zabulon and of Nephthalim." He went there after the mir- acle at the marriage of Cana, (b) " he and his mother, his brethren and his disciples." But as the " pasch of the Jews was at hand, they remained there not many days," during which they scarcely had time to do more than prepare their place of abode. Jesus returned thither again from Cana, () " Immediately rising up oat of the synagogue they came, Jesus with James and John, into the house of Simon and Andrew. 1 ' The occasion which Jesus there found for exercising his charity was a further reason for his visit. "Simon's wife's mother lay in a fit of fever. Forthwith they tell him, and they besought him for her. (c) Coming to her, he lifted her up, taking her by the hand : and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them." Many other sick persons desired and hoped for the like favor. But they must be brought to him, and the repose of the Sabbath-day, which it is well known was scrupulously observed by the Jews, had hindered their (a) St. Luke, iv. 36 ; St. Mark, (c) St. Mark, i. 31 ; St. Luke, i. 27, 28 iv. 39. (6) St. Mark, i. 29, 30 ; St. Luke, iv. 38. against the Sacramentarians. This seeming zeal imposed upon the simple, and, by combating the Zuinglians, he created Lutherans. (5) What caused this great astonishment was, that this possessed is the first whom Jesus Christ had delivered. He soon familiarized the Jews to this prodigy, one of these which he worked most frequently ; and his disciples subsequently accustomed the universe to it. This power has remained in the Church, who employs it with efficacy in incontestable cases of possession. Yet they are become rare. (6) Who is this new teacher who speaks such new and such wonderful things ? CHAP. X.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHUBCU. 75 neighbors from rendering them this charitable office. This obliga- tion ended with the light of day, in accordance with that law of Leviticus : (a) " It is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls beginning on the ninth day of the month : from evening until evening you shall celebrate your Sabbaths." (b) " It was," there- fore, only " when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Jesus all that were ill and that were possessed with devils. ( believe in this matter ? CHAP. XII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 91 the synagogue, saying to him : Thy daughter is dead, trouble him not" uselessly. Jairus, whose faith had received a new impulse from the miracles of which he had just been a witness, did not despair for all that, (a) " Lord," said he, " my daughter is even now dead ; but come lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live." For thus one of the evangelists makes him speak ; and they are all unanimous in placing here this expression, which is different from what the other evangelists make him utter, who only make him speak of the ex- tremity of his daughter. (Jj) " Jesus hearing this w T ord, answered the father of the maid : Fear not, believe only, and she shall be safe. When he was come to the house, he suffered not any man to go in with him but Peter, and James, and John, and the father and mother of the maiden. He saw the minstrels (3) and the multitude making a tumult, weeping and wailing much ; all mourned for her. Why make you this ado (saith he to them going in), and weep ? (c) Give place, for the girl is hot dead, but sleepeth (4). And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. He having put them all out, taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with them, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. (d ) Taking her by the hand, he cried out to her : Talitha cumi, which is, being interpreted : Damsel, I say to thee arise, (e) Her spirit returned. She arose immediately, and walked. She was twelve years old. Jesus commanded that something should be given her to eat. Her parents were astonished. He charged them strictly to (a) St. Matthew, ix. 18. (c) St. Matthew, ix. 24 ; St. Luke, viii. (b) St. Luke, viii. 50, 51 ; St. Matthew, 53 ; St. Mark, v. 40. ix. 23 ; St. Mark, v. 38. (d) St. Luke, viii. 54 ; St. Mark, v. 41. (e) St. Luke viii. 55, 56 ; St. Mark, v. 42, 43 ; St. Matthew, ix. 26. (3) It was a custom common to both Jews and Gentiles to hire flute-players, who accompanied with mournful airs the lamentations which were made at funerals. Although we are ignorant whence the usage derived its origin, the probability is, that the Jews borrowed it from the Gentiles. If we were to conclude from thence, as some writer has done, that the flute-players in question here were Gentiles, must we not contend also that all our painters are Italians, inasmuch as painting comes from Italy ? (4) A death which was to be confined, by so speedy a resurrection, to scarcely the duration of a short slumber, should be called sleep rather than death. 92 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACT8 [PART L tell no man what was done (5)." Yet u the fame hereof went abroad into all that country ." (a) "As Jesus passed from thence" into the house where he dwelt, " there followed him two blind men, crying out and saying : O, son of David, have mercy on us." Tt was undoubtedly in order to try their faith that Jesus, who heard them, declined stopping. " When he was come to the house, the blind men," who had still kept follow- ing him, " came to him, and he saith to them : Do you believe that I can do this unto you ? Yea, Lord, they say to him. Then he touched their eyes, saying : According to your faith be it done unto you. And their eyes were opened ; and Jesus strictly charged them, saying : See that no man know this. But they going out, spread his fame abroad in all that country." " When they were gone out, they brought him a dumb man pos- sessed with a devil." An evangelist conveys to us that he was dumb by the influence of the devil himself, because the devil hindered the possessed man from speaking, thus informing us that this hindrance (a) St. Matthew, ix. 27-34. (5) There were too many witnesses of the death to give a mysterious character to the resurrection, and the secrecy imposed by Jesus Christ upon this occasion can merely apply to the mode in which he wrought the miracle. Jesus Christ exacted the like secrecy for the ensuing miracle, and in some other transactions. We may be asked what reason had he for this line of conduct, he who wrought publicly so great a number of miracles, and who, far from desiring to make a mystery of them, frequently gave orders to publish them. Out of the several reasons assigned, the only one which has some probability is, that he wished to inform his disciples, and all those to whom he should communicate the gift of miracles, to conceal them as much as in their power, and thus steal away from the applause of men. Many saints have profited from this lesson, and we know the precautions they have taken to withdraw from the eyes of the world the wonders which God operated by their means. Thus is explained why Jesus Christ wished some of his miracles to be kept secret, but not why he pursued this course in regard of such and such a miracle more than any other. Not that no reasons are advanced by those who undertake to explain every thing, but no satisfactory reason has been put forward. Let us be content to know that he had reasons highly worthy of his wisdom, deduced from the circumstances of time, place, and person. The secret was not always kept by those upon whom it was enjoined. Whatever the rigid Calvin may think, Catholic divines do not tax them with this as a crime. Gratitude, which made them speak, excused this want of submission to orders which they merely attributed to the modesty of their benefactor. f CHAP, m] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHUBOH. 93 did not come upon the man from any natural cause, but from the de- mon tying his tongue. This construction seems obvious, from the manner in which the cure is recounted ; for, " after the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke. The multitudes wondered, saying : Never was the like seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said : By the prince of devils he casteth out devils." Jesus did not then condemn this blasphemy, which perhaps had not been uttered in his presence. We shall see, upon another occa- sion, that he answered it in a manner which covered with shame those who dared to advance the like within his hearing ; the result was, that they became his irreconcilable enemies. For to be utterly devoid of blame is the highest offence in envious eyes. SECOND PASSOYER. Jesus left the Pharisees of Galilee for a time, to go seek those of the capital. If the latter were not more malignant, they were more formidable in point of number, as also by their proselytes and the facility there exists in large cities for caballing and exciting popular outbreaks. But it was not for the purpose of warring with them that the mildest of men came to meet them ; he sought only to en- lighten and convert them. It was a religious motive that induced him to make this journey. It was the feast of the Jews, which we believe, with many interpreters, to have been that of Passover, were it merely for the reason of its being called here simply " the Feast." It is known that this was the principal of the three feasts for which the law ordained that every Jew should repair to Jerusalem. Jesus, the author of the law, had voluntarily made himself a subject of the law, and he always observed it with the most perfect punctuality. He came, therefore, to the feast with his disciples, and a miraculous cure, by which he signalized his arrival, was for the Pharisees an oc- casion to calumniate him ; to him an opportunity for instructing them by an admirable discourse. Here is the manner in which these things occurred. 94 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS fPABT L CHAPTER XIII. PROBATICA. A MAN INFIRM THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS HEALED. DISCOURSE OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE JEWS. (a) " There [was] (1) at Jerusalem a pond called Probatica (2), which in Hebrew is named Bethsaida, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, of withered, waiting (a) St. John, v. 2-47. (1) We read in the text : There is at Jerusalem a pond which has five porches. This form of expression seems to show clearly that Jerusalem still existed when Saint John wrote this. Still the opinion of the most ancient doctors, and of those whose au- thority ranks highest, is, that Saint John did not compose his Gospel until several years after the ruirf'of Jerusalem. In referring to their authority, I own I would have desired to find an answer to this difficulty, which they seern not even to have thought of. Two things are possible, each of which, if true, would suffice to reconcile Saint John's form of expression with the date which all antiquity assigns to his Gospel : 1st, After the capture of Jerusalem by the Emperor Titus, the town was not so utterly destroyed as not to leave some edifices standing, and some Jews occupying them. Some writers even maintain that they still preserved there some synagogues until the time of their last, and their utter and irrevocable expulsion, which was under the Emperor Adrian. The pond and the porticoes might then still exist, and Saint John could speak of them as of things actually existing. 2d. Saint John, who according to constant tradition did not publish his Gospel until after the capture of Jerusalem, might very well have written previously some passages which he may have inserted afterwards in the body of the work. We have now only to suppose that the cure of the paralytic was one of these passages written before the capture of Jerusalem, and the difficulty will be re- solved, at least for those who are satisfied to be content with these suppositions. (2) This Greek word probatica signifies sheep-pond. This name was given either be- cause it lay near the gate by which the sheep entered into the city, or because this pond was in the market where they were exposed for sale, or because they were washed there before being immolated, or perhaps because the waters which had been made use of in washing the immolated victims were brought thither by subterraneous channels. This last conjecture has induced several to think that it was for this reason God had communicated to these waters the miraculous virtue which is about to be related, and which made them be regarded as a figure of the waters of baptism. These waters extract from the blood of the Lamb immolated for the sins of the world, the vivifying virtue which communicates to souls the supernatural life of grace, by a miracle far superior to all cures and all corporeal resurrections. The Anabaptists regard as fabulous this miraculous sheep-pond spoken of by CHAP. XIII.] OF THE DIVIDE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 9ft for the moving of the water. An angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond, and the water was moved. He that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. There was a certain man there, that had been eight-and-thirty years under his infirmity. When Jesus had seen him lying, and knew he had been now a long time, he saith to him : Wilt thou be made whole ? The infirm man answered : Sir, I have no man, when the water is troub- led, to put me into the pond ; for whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me. Arise, Jesus saith to him, take up thy bed and walk. Immediately the man was made whole, and he took up his bed, and walked. It was the Sabbath that day. The Jews there- fore said to him that was healed: It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed. He answered : He that made me whole, he said to me : Take up thy bed and walk." The man was perfectly justified in doing as he did by the order of him who had so miraculously effected his cure, whilst the author of that order was justified at the same time by the miracle which he had wrought. The Jews, who merely sought to criticise, seemed to pay no attention to what this man stated about his recovery, and they did not ask him, Who is that man who cured thee ? but only, " Who is that man who said to thee : Take up thy bed and walk % But he who was healed knew not who it was ; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place. Afterwards, Jesus find- eth him in the temple, and saith to him : Behold, thou art made . whole : sin no more, lest some worse thing happen thee. The man went his way, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole," and not that it was Jesus who had given him the order to take away his bed. This shows that gratitude prompted him to speak, and that his intention was not to denounce Jesus as a viola- tor of the Sabbath, but to make him known as author of the mir- acle. Yet " the J ews," who were only willing to see in him the first of Saint John, because Josephus, the Jewish historian, does not speak of it. If Saint John did not speak of it, and Josephus did, apparently they would believe it. We believe just whoever we please when we believe only what we like. 96 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AJfD A0T8 [PART I. these two characters, " therefore did persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the Sabbath :" for here is the commencement of that complaint, which they renewed every time that the occasion pre- sented itself, although the reproaches which they cast upon Jesus on this subject turned always to their own confusion, by the replies he made, and which they never could answer. Still, once that hatred had induced them to say : " He breaks the Sabbath/ 1 they never ceased repeating it ; and passion, which blindfolded them, so as to hinder them from seeing the absurdity of this accusation, steeled their hearts, rendering them insensible of the disgrace which recoiled back upon themselves every time they renewed the charge. Here, then, is the answer which Jesus then made. " My Father worketh until now (3) ; and I work." Sublime expression ! signifying that the action which Jesus Christ had just performed was above all criticism, because it was as much the action of his Father as his own. Whence it followed, that as there was existing between him and his Father unity of action, there must also have been unity of nature ; and that when he called God his Father, he did not do so in the sense of adoption, which was unknown to the Jews, and would not, therefore, have scandalized them, but in the sense of gen- eration, by virtue of which he attributed to himself divine nature, and perfect equality with God. I say that this was a manifest con- sequence, for so the Jews understood it ; and as their envy redoubled in proportion to the great things which Jesus disclosed to them in reference to himself, "they sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the Sabbath, but also said God was his father, making himself equal to God (4)." To which he replied by the (3) My Father worketh until now, that is to say, there is no time or no day during which my Father doth not act, not excepting the Sabbath-day. This is the seventh day, upon which day God rested, after employing six days in the creation of the world. He wished that in memory of this rest the seventh day might be consecrated to him by a religious stillness. Yet God only rested inasmuch as he ceased to create new species ; for he never ceases working their preservation and their production. The same ceaseless action exists in the Son, and is not distinguished from that of the Father. (4) If Jesus Christ is not equal to his Father, the duty was imperatively incumbent on him of disabusing the Jews, when they thought they found this equality conveyed by his words. Yet he has not done so, and we are going to hear him express himself upon the point in terms much stronger than those he had heretofore made use of. Where- CHAP. XIII. J OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 97 following discourse, in which two different parts, as it were, are dis- tinguished. The first is the further development of the expression we have just noticed, and the direct justification of his own conduct on the present occasion. The second establishes the divinity of his mission, by all the proofs that can render it incontestable. He re- sumed, therefore, in these terms : " Amen, I say to you, the Son can- not do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing ; for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like man- ner : for the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things which himself doth, and greater works than these will he show him, that you may wonder." Unity of operation and of nature, and perfect equality between the Father and the Son, are found explained in this passage. Still, it is well to observe that here it is said, the Son cannot do anything of himself, but only what he seeth the Father doing. Not in the meaning attached to these words by the Arians, viz. : — That he bor- rows from the Father any knowledge which he had not in himself, or any power in which he was deficient ; but, because the Son acts solely through the knowledge and power which he receives from the Father through the eternal generation. This, very far from limiting the one or the other, proves the infinitude of both ; for what the Father possesses from all eternity the same doth he com- municate in all its plenitude to his Son, without losing any thing for what he gives, or ceasing to possess what he incessantly communi- cates. It is in this sense that the Son cannot do any thing without the Father. But it is not the less true, as the fathers of the Church said to the Arians, that the Father cannot do any thing without the Son, since the divine nature, which is common to the Father and the Son, cannot divide itself, nor, whilst it acts in the Son, cease to act in the Father. Yet, as the cure of this man languishing under paralysis was but fore there is no medium : either he possesses divine nature, or he wishes to usurp its honors ; and, if not God, he is an impostor. Now, he is not an impostor, according to the avowal of the Arians and Sooinians,who, when combating his divinity, nevertheless acknowledge him as the envoy of God, and subscribe to the truth of all his words. This reasoning must ever be a rock against which their hollow subtleties shall dash to pieces. 7 98 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART 1. a slight exertion of the infinite power which the Father has commu- nicated to the Son, Jesus Christ prepares the Jews to see its effects on a more extensive scale, and in a manner more calculated to ex- cite their admiration. " For," said he to them, " as the Father rais- eth up the dead, and giveth life, so the Son also giveth life to whom he will." Therefore the power of giving life, or of raising the dead, is no more restricted in the Father than in the Son ; for to say that the Son giveth life to " whom he will," is saying very plainly that his power in this respect is unlimited. And as that great miracle of the general resurrection, in which the Son shall operate conjointly with the Father, must be followed immediately by universal judg- ment, Jesus Christ takes therefrom an opportunity to declare to the Jews, that, besides the power of resuscitating, he has received from his Father authority to judge, which, in one sense, is peculiarly his own. " For," he also says, " neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father (5)." This is done in the present state of (5) The last judgment will be the judgment of God, and, considered as a divine act, will be common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, because the three persons of the adorable Trinity concur equally in all the actions which God produces beyond himself. By the sacred humanity of the Man-God, which shall serve as their instrument on this occasion, will the three persons exercise this judgment; and so far we see no dif- ference between them. But this humanity, which alone shall appear in this great ac- tion, is properly the Son's, who has united himself with it, and not the Father's or the Holy Ghost's, who have not contracted with it a similar union. In this respect judg- ment belongs more to the Son than to the Father or the Holy Ghost, because, when judging by his humanity, the Son judges by an instrument united to himself, whereas the Father and the Holy Ghost judge by an instrument separated from them respective- ly. Divines express themselves thus; and this may be better understood by saying that when judging by the humanity, the Son judges by himself, whereas the Father — and the same may be said of the Holy Ghost — judges by another person than himself, but who at the same time is another self ; a fashion of speech which can only have a literal signification when speaking with reference to the three persons of the adorable Trinity. The Fathers advance several reasons why God wished that judgment should be exer- cised by the sacred humanity of the Saviour. 1 st. To indemnify him for the profound humiliation to which he voluntarily reduced himself, conformably to those words of Saint Paul : He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. . . . He humbled him- self, becoming obedient unto death, and unto the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow that are in heaven, on earth, and under the CHAP. XIII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 99 existence by those who believe in the Son, and consequently who ren- der him the honors due to the only Son of the Father, and its accom- plishment shall be seen in a much more dazzling manner at the day of judgment, when Jesus Christ shall be recognized and honored by all men, not even excepting those who shall have refused to believe in him, but who can now no longer pretend not to know him, when they shall see him come in a cloud of light, full of majesty and glory, armed with might and power, and by the prodigies of his right arm announcing to all nature its Lord and its King. Then, convinced by the evidence of their own eyes, they shall at least recognize him by their involuntary tremor and forced adoration, and they shall have nothing to plead in reply to the sentence by which they shall be declared attainted and convicted^ of the crime of high treason against the Divine Majesty, for having refused him during life the faith and homage which were due to him ; whereby they have as grossly in- sulted the Father as himself: "For he who honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father, who hath sent him." And he that would simply honor him as an envoy of the Father, could not escape a similar condemnation ; because that, not honoring him as the Son, in which quality he has been sent, is equally despising both Father and Son. Happy those for whom this resurrection shall be the commence- ment of a life eternally happy ! But to this end they must have had share in the first resurrection, which is from the death of sin to earth. 2d. To confer on Jesus Christ the special glory of judging those by whom he has been judged, and of justly condemning those by whom he has been unjustly condemned. The latter shall see with unutterable dread the scars of the wounds which their brutal fury imprinted on his innocent flesh, according to these words : They shall look on him whom they pierced (St. John, xix. 37). 3d. That men may have a judge to whom they cannot object. He is man like themselves, bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. Will they object to him who has only become their judge because he condescended to become their brother ? He is their Saviour, who only acquired this qualification at the expense of his peace, his glory, his blood, and his life. Can any one desire the perdition of those for whom he has made such sacrifices ? And is not a person a thousand times more culpable for having neglected a salvation which had cost so dearly ? Israel, from thyself cometh thy destruction, accuse not, therefore, thy judge. His past mercies cannot but authorize present severity, and in dying for thee he has justified by anticipation the sentence of death which he shall pronounce against thee. 100 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART JL the life of grace. In this resurrection the Son doth not less operate than in the other ; but here there is one thing which belongs not to the other resurrection, viz., the co-operation of man is requisite. All shall have part in the second, because no one can resist the stern command of Almighty power. Many shall resist the first, and by their resistance exclude themselves from it altogether. For this reason Jesus Christ promises the first to " him who heareth his word f whereas of the second, he states absolutely and without any condition : "All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth." Here are his words, continuing his address : " Amen, amen, I say to you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life everlasting (6) and cometh not into judgment ; but is passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God (7) : and they that hear shall live. For, as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son also to have life in himself, and he hath given him power to do judgment because he is the Son of man (8). Wonder not at (6) There is the principle of this in sanctifying grace, which is the life of the soul — a life which, by its nature, must last always, and which shall procure for the body immortal life, if the possessor of this life doth not voluntarily lose it by sin- ning again, and by thus inflicting death a second time on the soul. (7) This is understood to allude to the particular resurrections effected by Jesus Christ, and which he was going to operate again. They are proof by anticipation, and, as it were, the earnest of the general resurrection. (8) In a book so precise and so profound as Scripture,, all the terms must have been weighed. What occasions this reflection is, that it is written that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and that the Son is entitled to judge, because he is Son of man. Still it is the same person, and there is no difficulty in saying, the Son of man shall resuscitate the dead, and the Son of God shall judge them ; but here is at- tributed to each of the two natures the act which it shall produce immediately by itself. To the divine nature is attributed resurrection, because nothing but an almighty nature can effect this by its own proper virtue : to human nature is attributed judg- ment, because the sitting of the judge, the pronouncing of judgment, and every thing of a sensible character in judgment, can be the immediate effect of a limited nature. Yet the right of sovereign judgment over the universe belongs to God alone. And so the Son enjoys it, because he is at the same time Son of God, and, inasmuch as by the personal union of the Word with human nature, humanity has been associ- ated with all the rights of the divinity, who imparts to it the power of doing imme- diately, and by itself, every thing which is not beyond the sphere of created nature. CHAP. XIII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH- 101 this. For the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life ; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." Jesus Christ adds, what is, in two words, an apology for all his acts and judg- ments, viz., that the former are produced by the power imparted to him by his Father, whose judgments and wishes are equally the rule of his wishes and his judgments : this he expresses by these words : " I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge, and my judgment is just. Because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me." He has just announced great things : he is now going to support their truth by great testimony. The first is that of John ; for what- ever authority the purity of his morals and his irreproachable con- duct gave to the statement of Jesus, he does .not expect to be be- lieved upon his own simple assertion. " If I bear witness of my- self, my witness is not true (9). There is another that beareth wit- ness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true." You yourselves have recognized the legitimacy of his tes- timony ; for " you sent to John, and he gave testimony to the truth. But I receive not testimony from man," which is by no means neces- sary to me. Wherefore it is not for nryself, " but I say these things that you may be saved." Besides, this testimony you have chosen is void of all reproach, and I do not now cast any reproach upon it to be reported by you to him. " John was a burning and a shining light. You were willing for a time to rejoice in his light (10)," yet (9) If we gave the literal meaning, it would be, My testimony is not true ; and Jesus Christ would contradict himself, for he says in another place : Although I give testi- mony of myself, my testimony is true (John viii.). No doubt it was true ; but if it were single testimony it proved nothing, and the hearers had a right to decline be- lieving upon the maxim that no one can be judge or witness in his own cause. Hence what he acquires by extrinsic testimony is not truth, but legitimate evidence, which renders truth available, and compels it to be received. (10) Since they sent a deputation to him, with the disposition, for the most part, of recognizing him as the Messiah, supposing he had declared himself such. We say for the most part, for the people proceeded in the matter with good faith, and the perverse intentions spoken of elsewhere are only attributed to the Scribes and Phari- sees. John referred back this honor to him to whom it belonged. Yet the Jews did 102 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART L you turned away your eyes from this light, which seemed at first so welcome. But although he was worthy of all belief, " I have a greater testimony than that of John;" even that of my Father. " For the " miraculous " works which the Father hath given me to perfect, the works themselves which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me, and the Feather himself who hath sent me hath given testimony of me. Neither have you heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape ;" for God, who is a pure spirit, comes not under the observation of the senses ; but by the works which he has given me to perform, and which are, as it were, his voice, he has made sensible the testimony which he has rendered concerning me ; " and you have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent, him you believe not." Meantime you deem yourselves the faithful depositories and mi- nute searchers of this divine word. You " search the Scriptures, for you-think in them to have life everlasting. The same are they that give testimony of me, and you will not come to me that you may have life (11)," which they only promise you through me. You remove from, whilst you seem to be in search of it, because you withdraw from the only road that conducts to it. "Whereas, if I seek to attract y ou to me, I do so with a view to your interest, and not my own. " I receive not glory from men. But " you, who wish to justify by the motive of the love of God your unwillingness to hear me, " I know that you have not the love of God in you," and the conduct you pursue towards me is proof of this ; for " I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive (12)." Yet your incre- not believe him, although much more deserving of credit when rendering this testi- mony to another than if he had rendered it to himself. (11) Who is there who would not have life, and above all others, eternal life ? The lews wished for it, and we also wish for it. But the Jews did not wish to have it through faith in Jesus Christ ; and we do not wish to have it through the observance of the law of Jesus Christ. They wished for the end like ourselves : like them, we do not wish for the means. They perished with such a wish ; and what can we expect but to perish like them, if we do not pass from this wish (which I know not whether to call chi- merical or hypocritical) to a sincere, absolute, and efficacious wish, tending to the end by the means, and embracing every thing without exception and without reserve ? (1 ?) This is not merely a threat, 'tis prophetic of what was going to happen immedi- CHAP. XIII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 103 clulity should not excite surprise. There is nothing in faith that flatters human pride ; being little esteemed amongst men, faith at- tracts the complacency of God alone. " How can you believe, who receive glory one from another, and the glory which is from God ately after the death of Jesus Christ. All those who wished to assume to themselves the title of Messiah, found followers amongst them, and the prodigy of their credulity in this regard equals that of their incredulity. Terrible, yet just chastisement of that vol- untary blindness which, after having closed their eyes to the truth, renders them the dupes, and at last the victims of the grossest illusions and the most absurd lies ! Let us dread this, since it is daily renewed before our eyes. When men decline hearkening to the voice of those whom God has established as interpreters of his oracles, they listen to others, for after all the people do not know how to construct for themselves a system of religion, and error, like faith, cometh to them by hearing (Rom. x. 17). Wherefore to them it is a necessity to hearken to other-masters; and to what masters do they hearken? First of all, to men without title, without credentials, without mission, who bear witness of themselves, who must be credited on their word, when,»with a boldness as ridiculous as 'tis insolent, they come and tell, I alone am more enlightened in matters of religion, I understand Scripture better than all the doctors and all the pastors of the Church. But this is merely the beginning of the illusion. After having rejected those really sent by God, the people receive as envoys of God every one who presents himself before them. By means of considerable effrontery and some strokes of jugglery, a man, qualified at most to figure as a mountebank, sets the rumor afloat that he is a prophet, and a thou- sand voices are heard repeating, He is a prophet. Others come to enlist themselves, and as all have an equal right, there soon appears formed a body of prophets and prophet- esses, composed of the very dregs of the lowest' populace. In language worthy of those who use it, they retail the most monstrous conceits, such ravings, as the excitement of fever could scarcely engender in the brain of a distempered patient. All that is intelli- gible is their palpable impiety ; but in general they do not understand themselves. Whether we can understand them or not, still they are oracles, who are listened to with religious attention, who are entertained, whose sayings are reported and treasured up like a second Scripture, more respected than the first, which now is merely made use of to clothe their extravagant whims in sacred expressions. The mind once fascinated and carried away, the flesh has no longer any bridle : the filth of impurity mingles with the yisions of fanaticism, and comes to be incorporated with its fearful mysteries. And well would it be if they did not soon pass from lust to cruelty, from folly to phrensy ; if they did not advance with torch and steel in hand to accomplish the sanguinary predictions of those prophets, who never cease announcing the impending and utter ruin of their ad- versaries ! To such a pitch does this reason degrade and vilify itself, when too proud to bend under the salutary yoke of divine authority. This is an abridgment of the history of the Gnostics, the Montanists, the Priscilianists, the Donatists, the Albigenses, the Hussites, the Anabaptists, the fanatics of Cevennes, ur debtors ; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen (26)." (a) St. Matthew, vi. 7-13 ; St. Luke, xi. 3. (25) That which renders long discourses unnecessary, or a great display of our miseries, is the knowledge which God has of them. Our sentiment thereof must be lively, and accompanied with an ardent desire to be delivered from them. This does not require many words. (26) Can God, says Saint Cyprian, not hear this prayer, in which he recognizes the very words of his Son ? Tertullian calls it the abridgment of the Gospel. It is in reality, for those who meditate upon it, an inexhaustible source of light and instruction. We shall confine ourselves to giving the sense of it which appears the most literal. The name of Father is at the commencement, 1st, to excite our confidence; it is to our Father that we pray ; 2d, to touch the heart of God ; those who pray are his children. When calling him our Father, we remember that we arc all brethren, since we have a common Father. The heathens, who have not received the grace of adoption, have not, like us, the right of calling him our Father, and the only Son whom he engendered from all eternity is properly the only person who has the right of calling him — my Father. Who art in heaven. God is everywhere, but heaven is the abode of his glory, and the inheritance which he has prepared for his children. Where can we more willingly contemplate him than in the place where he reigns with the greatest lustre, and where we are to reign eternally with him ? Hallowed be thy name. The name of God is essen- tially holy, says Saint Augustine; wherefore all that we can ask for here is, that his sanc- tity may be known and confessed by all men. Thy kingdom come. Reign everywhere without opposition, and hasten the arrival of that great day when all thy friends shall be side by side with thee, and all thy enemies at thy feet. Thy will be done, &c. Those CHAP. XVI.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 135 After having given us this admirable prayer, JesusChrist refers again to the fifth petition in it, to make us understand that it com- prehends a species of treaty between Grod and man, by which God undertakes to forgive the man who forgives, and the man who doth not forgive virtually refuses to obtain from God the pardon of his who love God desire the most perfect accomplishment of his will that can possibly be imagined. In heaven but one will is accomplished, that of God, because all others are perfectly conformable to it. We ask for the same state of things to be on earth ; if we cannot obtain it for all men, each may obtain it for himself, and the earth has the happi- ness of still possessing souls sufficiently angelical to render it easy for us to judge that this petition is not without effect. Give us this day our daily bread — that is to say, whatsoever is necessary and sufficient for the support of the life of the body. This day: for who knows whether he shall see the morrow ? Our daily bread : We read it thus in Saint Luke. In Saint Matthew we read super-substantial bread. The Greek word is the same in the two evangelists, and there is every appearance that the super-substantial of Saint Matthew bears the same sense as the daily of Saint Luke. The first may signify the bread necessary to the support of our substance, that is to say, of our body, or in- deed the bread which corresponds to the substance of this day ; for the Hebrews, in order to signify the present day, said the substance of the present day ; and we know that Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew (Maldon on Saint Matthew, p. 147). This bread, above all substance, is also, according to the Fathers, the Eucharistio bread ; for this sense, although mystic, is not the less on that account here a direct and literal sense. If it be reasonable for us to ask for the bread which nourishes the body, how much more so is it to ask for the bread which supports the life of our souls ? And can we pray to our Father without asking from him the bread which is by excellence the bread of the children ? And forgive us our debts. Our offences, which render us, with regard to God, insol- vent debtors. God, nevertheless, consents to remit to us these immense debts, these ten thousand talents ; provided that we remit to our brethren the few pence wherein they may stand indebted to us. This is drawing good from evil, and causing life to issue from the bosom of death, whilst we learn from our own sins to grant unto others a pardon which we are so much in want of ourselves. And lead us not into temptation. God does not tempt us ; but he permits us to be tempted, and the experience which we have of our weakness makes us beg of God not to allow it — a prayer which God grants by diminishing temptations and re- doubling his help. But deliver us from evil. The Latin word signifies, equally, the evil or the wicked one. The Greek word properly signifies the evil one, that is to say, the demon. As to the sense, it is quite equal to ask from God that he should deliver us from the evil which the wicked one doth, or from the wicked one that doth the evil. There are two parts in this prayer : the first appears to have only in view the in- terests of God ; the second part is for us. Good children should desire the pros- perity of their father before their own. The glory of God is more advantageous to ourselves than we think. If it were not so, would the Church say to God : We thank thee for the greatness of thy glory ? 136 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT I. sins. This truth, equally terrible and consoling, is expressed by these words : (a) " For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences." Now, if we pray after the manner prescribed to us, we may reck- on as certain that our Father will hear us. His word is express, and his goodness alone is as infallible a guarantee to us as his truth. For Jesus Christ saith further : (Z>) " Ask, and it shall be given you : seek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh receive th, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone (27) ? or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ? Or, if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion ? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Fa- ther from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him ? When you fast," continues the Saviour, " be not as the hypocrites, sad : for they disfigure their faces (28), that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head (29), and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret ; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, will repay thee." Therefore we must have God alone in view in all the good works that we perform. This simplicity of purpose and purity of inten- tion is what renders them virtuous and worthy of recompense. But (a) St. Matthew, vi. 14, 15. (b) St. Luke, xi. 9-31 ; St. Matthew, vi. 16-18. (27) We ask from God what we think to be bread, and which is in reality a stone. God gives to us what appears a stone, but which, nevertheless, is bread. God listens when he seems to refuse. He would have refused if he had appeared to listen. For after all, what is sought for is bread. (28) &>rae think that they rubbed their faces with certain compositions, which rendered them pale and livid. This was the artificial coloring of hypocrisy. (29) Supposing, besides, you did mean to perfume the head upon that day : for if a person only perfumed on fast days, then perfumery, instead of dissembling the fast, would announce it. Therefore affect nothing, and conceal the mortifications which you should practise in secret. CHAP. XVII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUKDER OF THE CHURCH. 137 if vanity or interest is their sole or principal object, that is to say, if the intention be corrupt, this vitiates every act we perform, as Jesus Christ gives us to understand by this elegant metaphor: (a) " The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome ; but if thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be darksome. If, then, the light that is in thee be dark- ness, the darkness itself how great shall it be ! CHAPTER XVII. CONTINUATION OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Pride, lust, anger, and vindictiveness — that is to say, almost all the passions — were overthrown by these divine precepts. Jesus Christ had attacked them even in the very heart of man, where they could no longer exist after the deadly blows he had given them. For, widely different from the Pharisees, who cleansed the exterior, and left all corruption within, this wise physician applied himself to rectify the interior, without which the exterior, even sup- posing it were well regulated, would only be a deceitful show, and vice glossed over with the colors of virtue. There remained one more passion to be subdued — this was avarice — of all the passions, the one which strikes its roots the deepest into the soul, and is the most difficult to be extirpated. Jesus Christ exhibits its folly, in hoarding up goods which it seldom enjoys ; its disorderly charac- ter, engrossing as it does the whole heart, to the exclusion of every thought and desire of heaven ; its illusion, in endeavoring against reason and experience, cunningly to ally its schemes with the service of God : for nearly all avaricious men would fain be devout, and persuade themselves that they are so. Lastly, pursuant to his ordi- nary method, Jesus Christ attacks this passion in the heart, by stripping it of the most specious of all its pretexts, which is the fear (a) St. Matthew, vi. 22, 23. 138 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS fPABT I. of future want. This excellent lesson constitutes the subject of the following articles: , (a) " Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth, where the rust . and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven (1), where neither the' rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." " No man can serve two masters ; for either he will hate the one and love the other ; or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (2). Therefore, I say to you : Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment ? Behold the birds of the air : they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns ; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they ? Now, which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit ? And for raiment why are you solicitous ? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow : they labor not, neither do they spin ; but I say to you, not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed as one of these. Now, if the grass of the field, which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe, how much more ye, O ye of little faith ! Be not solicitous, therefore, saying : What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed ? For after these (3) things do the heathens seek, and your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God (a) St. Matthew, vi. 19-21 ; 24-34. (1) This is principally done by alms. Keeping one's goods is, therefore, losing them and giving them, is treasuring them up. (2) Remark the propriety of the term : for a person can possess riches and serve God, but we cannot be subject to riches and serve- God. (3) God does not prohibit foresight, but he prohibits anxiety, as injurious to his parental providence. Not to trouble ourselves about this present life, and to occupy ourselves entirely a) out the future life, are, in two words, what we ought to do, and the contrary of v Aat we actually do. CHAP. XVII.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE OHUEOH. 139 and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Bs not, therefore, solicitous for to-morrow ; for the morrow will be so- licitous for itself. Sufficient for the dav is the evil thereof." The judgments which we are in the habit of passing upon one another occupy a position here which shows how much more impor- tant this matter seemed to Jesus Christ than to the majority of man- kind, who scarcely reckon as faults the transgressions of this kind which they daily commit. Their consequence will be better known, when we shall have seen what recompense Jesus Christ promises to those who do not judge, and what a judgment he reserves for those who do (4). "Judge not," he says, a and you shall not be judged ; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned ; for with what judg- ment you judge, you shall be judged (5). And why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye ? Or how say est thou to thy brother : Let me cast the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thy own eye ? Thou hypocrite (6), cast out first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (4) We do not judge, but we see what is as clear as day. Beyond this never judge, if you be not a judge. You are such with regard to those over whom you have a right of correction. We may be allowed to act upon a legitimate suspicion ; but we are not permitted to judge. That a man's fidelity is suspected is not enough to entitle us to judge him faithless, although it be enough to enable us in certain circumstances to displace or discharge him, on account of the right which we have to make use of only persons of unsuspected fidelity. Whilst this right is well known, its limits are scarcely ever known ; for we do not only form the judgment, but we pronounce and we publish it, without dreaming that a subordinate, and per- haps a servant, has no less a right to his reputation than the master has to his own, and that often this reputation is even more necessary to the servant. This is one of those sins which are never remitted, if there be not reparation made. (5) That is to say, that those who shall have judged rigorously shall be judged with rigor ; for the judgments of God shall neither be false nor rash, like ours. In what, therefore, could they resemble ours, if not by severity ? There are two ways of judging the guilty, even when attainted and convicted — one full of sternness and harshness — the other meek and indulgent. The first was that of the Pharisees — the second that of Jesus Christ, who said to the adulterous woman : Neither will I condemn thee. (6) Because censure supposes the zeal of justice, and is the expression of it. Now he who does not commence by condemning himself, has not truly the zeal of jus- tice. He, therefore, only wears the mask of justice, and this it is that makes him a hypocrite. 140 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PAET I. We have already remarked, that throughout this entire discourse Jesus Christ had the apostles, more directly in view, and that amongst the precepts he gives, some only apply to them and their successors in the ministry. We now call the reader's attention to one of the latter class. " Give not that which is holy to dogs, nei- ther cast your pearls before swine, lest, perhaps, they trample them under their feet, and, turning upon you, they tear you (7)." Which signifies that we must not expose holy things to profanation, nor an- nounce the Gospel truths, when we could not reasonably expect any other fruit than to irritate those to whom they are announced, and to attract from these individuals a persecution detrimental to the preacher, and perhaps to the whole Church. Zeal should, there- fore, be intelligent — many people will tell you so. But intelligence should not be devoid of zeal ; and, if indiscretion is blameworthy, cowardice is more so. Let us add, that it is more common, because human interests find here a good consideration. In the apostles' time, it was necessary to recommend discretion rather than zeal. At other periods, the reverse was the case : zeal, not discretion, required to be inculcated. After having laid down the law, Jesus Christ had now nothing more to do but to fortify his followers against the false construc- tions which might be put upon it. These were to be of two kinds. They might be explained, first of all, by custom, which is, they say, the best interpreter of laws. Jesus Christ gives us to understand that this maxim has no connection with his law. He formally de- clares that the majority shall be prevaricators, and that the number of faithful observers shall be beyond comparison the smallest of the two ; that, therefore, his law should be understood and observed to (7) If any one be tempted to believe that Jesus Christ acted contrary to his own maxim, when he announced his doctrine to the Jews, to whom it was useless, and to the Pharisees, whose fury it excited, we answer: 1st. That many listened with docility and profited by his instructions. 2d. When he taught the Jews, he taught all nations and all ages, to whom his doctrine should be repeated. 3d. The contradictions which it drew upon him should, by causing his death, occasion the redemption of mankind. Persecution, even when foreseen, should not hinder preaching : it should only suspend that preaching, which could have no other effect than exciting perse- cution, or could not produce sufficient fruit to counterbalance the evil of persecution. CHAP. XVH.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 141 the letter, or, if we wish to explain it by practice, we seek the true construction in the practice of the lesser number. The bad con- struction of the false prophets was the second rock that should be avoided. Jesus Christ teaches us how to know these dangerous men 5 and thus gives notes of them beforehand to those who are sin- cerely desirous of not being seduced. For the false prophet, when once he is unmasked, only takes in those who wish to be taken in. Here are the very words of the Saviour : (a) " Enter ye in by the narrow gate ; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that lead- eth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. O, how narrow is the gate !" he exclaims, in a tone which should strike dread into every heart — " O, how narrow is the gate, and straight is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it !" This says a great deal in a few words. Directly he adds : " Beware of false proj^hets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them (8). Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit (9). Every tree that bringeth not (a) St. Matthew, vii. 13 ; St. Luke, vi. 45. (8) That is to say, by their works. A work, if bad, may decide that the prophet is false. A good work does not equally decide the true prophet. We have seen already that there are ostentatious prayers, proud fastings, and pharisaical alms. Humility and charity are the least equivocal marks. In vain may the false prophet disguise himself ; he is always despising and slandering, and he is not slow in ap- pearing. Yet, a person may neither be humble nor charitable, and still not be a false prophet. There are men who do wrong, and teach good. Works are not, therefore, an infallible rule to distinguish the true from the false, and Jesus Christ only proposes them as a prudent rule to discern between those whom we ought to reprove, and those whom we ought, at least, to distrust. (9) It would be troublesome to reckon all the errors which have been built upon this maxim. The most impious was that of the Manicheans, who made use of it to defend their dogma of men born and necessitated to good, and of men born wicked, and necessitated to evil. The most silly was that of the Pelagians, who inferred from it that there was no original sin, because then would a bad fruit spring from marriage, which is a good tree. The most generally known is that which the Council of Trent condemns in Protestants, who concluded from it that all the actions of sinners and of the unbelieving are so many sins. 142 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT I. forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good ; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth that which 's ^vil : for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth sueaketh." CHAPTER XVIII. CLOSE OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Jesus enaea by saying that which is the natural conclusion of a discourse like this — that he doth not give his law to men in order to gratify^ their curiosity, or to furnish them with matter for elo- quence, but in order that they may observe it, and save themselves by the observance. He who shall have observed it shall be saved ; but he who shall not have observed it shall be condemned, even if in other respects he were a prophet and a man of all power ; for these gifts, which God grants for the good of his Church, do not pre- suppose sanctity in those who receive them. Judas, and several others in the commencement of Christianity, are a proof that the gift of miracles is not absolutely incompatible with the state of sin. But had we not this fact in proof, it suffices for conviction, to hear the anticipated judgment which Jesus Christ is going to pronounce against several of these prevaricating prophets and reprobate work- The good orbad tree, and the good or bad man, have some points of resemblance : it is in these points that Jesus Christ compares them. There are also essential differences between them, and it is by comparing these differences that persons are misled. The good tree cannot render itself bad, and the good man can render himself bad, by abus- ing his liberty. The bad tree cannot render itself good, and the bad man can, by his free co-operation with grace, become good and just. The bad tree cannot produce a good fruit, because its productions are always conformable to its nature, which is bad ; but the bad man may absolutely produce an action which is not bad, because, being free, he may not always act conformably to his bad disposition. We, therefore, judge infallibly of the tree by its fruits, and morally of the man by his works. And, when we speak of the man, we mean his doctrine ; for this is what is here referred to. CHAP. XVni.] OF THE DIVINE POUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 143 ers of miracles, (a) " Why," saith he to them, " do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ? Not every one that saith to me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have not we prophe- sied in thy name ? and done many miracles in thy name ? And then I will profess unto them : I never knew you ; depart from me, you that work iniquity." Thus, it is by deeds, not by words, that Jesus Christ will recog* nize his own. We shall not be commended for what we shall have said, or for what we shall have learned, but for what we shall have done. Happy he who shall have put in practice the knowledge which God has given him of his law ! Unfortunate, on the con- trary, he who, limiting himself to knowledge, shall not have pro- duced fruit therefrom ! But that which, on that great day, shall constitute the difference between happiness and misfortune, makes at present the distinction between wisdom and folly. Oh, how many shall be found truly wise whom we at present treat as simple and ignorant ; and how many silly amongst those whom we now re- cognize, not merely as wise, but as masters of wisdom ! This is what Jesus Christ intimates to us by these last words : " Every one that cometh to me, and heareth my words, and doefch them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who digged deep, and laid the foundation upon a rock : the rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon that house ; and it fell not. for it was founded on a rock. But he that heareth these my words, and doeth them not, shall be like a foolish man, that built his house upon the sand. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon that house ; it fell, and great was the fall thereof. Jesus, having fully ended these words, the people were in admiration of his doctrine. For [it was again said] he was teaching them as one having power, and not as the Scribes, and as the Pharisees (1)." There are reasons for believing that the whole of this discourse (a) St. Luke, vi. 46-48 ; St. Matthew, vii. 21-23 ; 25-29. (1) See note 3 of chapter x., page IS. 144 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PAST I. was not spoken then upon the mountain, but that on the occasion of the sermon which Jesus Christ there gave, the Gospel reports sev- eral other maxims of the Saviour, pronounced at other times, and which, when added to those he proposed on this occasion, constitute a body of doctrine, which may be regarded as the abridgment of the Christian law. It might have been observed, that we did not always constrain ourselves to follow the order in which they are found placed in the sacred text. We have done this, in order to place consecutively those which refer to the same subject. The in- terpreters are not sufficiently agreed whether the evangelists them- selves ranged them in the order in which the Saviour spoke them. This order was not necessary, since the Holy Ghost did not inspire them to follow it ; but we were obliged to draw them together thus in a work which has for its principal object to connect their sacred words, and to compound from them a consecutive and methodical narrative. CHAPTER XIX. THE LEPER CLEANSED. THE CENTURION^ SERVANT. THE WIDOW OF NAIm's SON RESTORED TO LIFE. JOHN SENDS TWO OF HIS DISCIPLES TO CHRIST. HE IS COM- MENDED BY JESUS CHRIST. We return to the details of the actions of the Saviour, in which an attentive mind will find no less instruction than in his discourses : (a) " When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him : and behold a leper came to him, and adored him, be- seeching him, and kneeling down, said to him : Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Jesus having compassion on him, stretch- ed forth his hand, touched him, and saith to him : I will ; be thou cleansed. Immediately the leprosy departed from the man, and he Was made clean. Jesus forthwith sent him away, and he strictly (a) St. Matthew, viii. 1, 2 ; St. Mark, i. 40-45 ; St. Luke, v. 12, 13. CHAP. XIX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 145 charged him: See thou tell no man (1). But go show thyself to the high priest (2), and for a testimony unto them, offer the things that Moses commanded (3). But he being gone out, began to pub- lish, and to blaze abroad the word ; so that Jesus could not openly go into the city, but was without in desert places. But they nocked to him from all sides to hear him, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And Jesus " withdrew from them from time to time, and " retired into the desert and prayed." Charity soon obliged him to leave it, and return to those places which he avoided with so much care, (a) " He entered [then] into Capharnaum," where he found at his very arrival what his kind fore- sight had come to seek. "The servant of a centurion, who was dear (a) St. Luke, vii. 1 ; St. Matthew, viii. 6, 7. (1) We have already stated in note 5, chapter xii., page 92, the several reasons on account of which Jesus Christ sometimes exacted secrecy from those whom he had miraculously cured. There remains one difficulty with regard to this man. It appears that he was cured in the sight of a great number. Could Jesus Christ reasonably expect that so public an action should remain secret ? It is answered, that it was not impossible that the miracle may only have been perceived by a very small number. In the crowd a leper may not have been recognized as being a leper. Had this man been so recognized, would the Jews have allowed him to push himself so far forward, and to penetrate to the very feet of the Saviour ? If the disease might not have been perceived, the cure might equally have escaped so great a number. The cure being asked in so few words and obtained by a simple touch, accompanied by two words, it might only have been remarked by the disciples, who apparently surrounded the Saviour, and concealed him, at least in part, from the eyes of the multitude. (2) Several interpreters have asserted that Jesus Christ sent the cured leper to show himself to the priests, in order that they might not have it in their power to contest the miracle after they themselves had recognized and declared it. There is no appearance of his having had this design in view. A person might be cured of the leprosy by natu- ral means, and the inspection of this man might be an assurance of his cure, but not of the miraculous manner in which it had been wrought. It was, therefore, out of defer-* ence to the law that Jesus Christ obliged him to take this step. But had he not also violated the law by touching this man ? Without here animadverting upon the incon- testible titles which dispensed him from the law, we may say that, in appearing to de- part from the letter, he had followed the spirit of it. The law forbade to touch a leper, because leprosy, being a highly contagious disease, communicated itself by the touch. The touch of Jesus Christ, whilst salutary to the leper whom he touched, could not be dangerous to himself ; and the law, which forbid contact that might multiply lepers, was very far from prohibiting that contact which diminished the number of lepers. (3) The rite for the purification of lepers is to be found in the 14th chapter of Leviticus, from the 2d to the 31st verse, inclusive. 10 146 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT L to him, being sick, was ready to die. When he had heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the ancients of the Jews, desiring him to come and heal his servant, saying : Lord, my servant lieth at home sick, and is grievously tormented. When they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying to him : He is worthy that thou should do this for him; for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a syna- gogue." The seeking to interest him by this motive was, notwith- standing whatever may have since been said upon the subject, ac- knowledging J esus to be a good citizen. His answer must have con- firmed them in this idea. " I will come, said he to him, and heal him." " He went with them, and when he was not far from the house, the centurion," whose faith had received a new impulse sent his friends to him, saying, on his part, those words which Jesus Christ has praised so highly, and which the Church has treasured as the expression of the most profound humility : (a) " Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof. For which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come to thee : but say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers, and I say to one : Go, and he goeth ; and to another : Come, and he cometh ; and to my servant : Do this, and he doeth it." This was confessing that for a much stronger reason, Jesus, who was master of all things, and who recognized no master in the universe, had only to speak to be obeyed by all nature. " Jesus, hearing this, marvelled (4), and turn- ing about to the multitude that followed him, said : Amen, I say to you, I have not found so great faith, not even in Israel (5). And I (a) St. Luke, vii. 6-10 ; St. Matthew, viii. 11-13. (4) Admiration, properly speaking, is excited by some unforeseen occurrence, or by some unknown and new object ; it therefore always supposes some want of previous knowledge, and cannot belong to Jesus Christ, who knows and is aware of every thing, and who could not be ignorant, particularly of the centurion's faith, which was his own work, since it had been produced by his grace ; but he assumed the air and the tone of admiration to conform to our ways of acting, and to teach us what we should admire. (5) Several interpreters except the apostles ; all, the Blessed Virgin and Saint John the Baptist. Jesus Christ speaks here of the nation in general, without including special vocations and privileged souls. A king may say, speaking of one of his sub- CHAP. XIX. J OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THiU Oif UR0H. 147 say to you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down (6) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven (7), but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [Then] Jesus said to the centurion," through the intervention of those whom the latter had deputed : " Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee (8) ; and the servant was healed at the same hour ; and they who were sent being returned to the house, found the servant whole who had been sick." (a) " Jesus went [after] into a city called Nairn : there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude." We have already seen (a) St. Luke, vii. 11-17. jects, there is no one in my kingdom who has such affection for me as this person, although the king be not ignorant that he is much dearer to his wife and to his children. (6) The Latin word signifies supper, which was properly the repast of the an- cients. Scripture often compares to it the happiness of heaven. What follows con- tinues the comparison. Whilst strangers shall be sitting there with the patriarchs, the children of the kingdom, that is to say, the Jews, who, by virtue of the prom- ises, had that right to it which children have to sit at the table of their father, shall be driven from it and cast out into exterior darkness. When supper is going on, the light is in the apartment, and darkness is outside. There they shall weep from grief, and shall gnash their teeth with rage, at seeing themselves excluded from the feast to which they first of all had been called. (7) By the kingdom of heaven some understand here the Church, or faith in Jesus Christ. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have believed in the Messiah who was to come, as we believe in the Messiah who is come ; they, therefore, were members of the Church as well as the Gentiles. Moreover, we know that the Gentiles shall have their place in heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The kingdom, therefore, is both the Church and heaven, the happiness of which is represented by the feast, as exterior darkness is the image of hell s the punishment of which is expressed by weeping and gnashing of teeth. (8) Jesus Christ appears to speak to the centurion as if he were present ; and it seems, according to Saint Matthew, that in reality he was present in person. According to Saint Luke, he did not deem himself worthy to present himself before Jesus Christ, and he first deputes the ancients of the Jews, and then his friends. This difference has induced the belief that these were two different occurrences ; but there is a ground- work of resemblance which decides that it is the same. In both narratives we have a cen- turion, a sick servant, the same discourse of the Master, and the same prayer to Jesus Christ not to come to his residence, the same faith, and on the part of Jesus Christ the same admiration which makes him say that he has not found such great faith in Israel. With all this, it is still in any one's power to cavil at the difference; but at bottom it is the same narrative, and good sense will not permit us to entertain a doubt on the subject. 148 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS fPABT L that the Jews were in the habit of interring their dead outside of the cities, whether to avoid some legal penalty, or whether this was merely a salutary civic regulation. " When therefore^ he came nigh to the gate of the city (9), behold," by one of those seeming chances which were never such to the Saviour, " a dead man was carried out. He was the only son of his mother, and she a widow, and a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom, when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, Weep not, he said to her. And he came near and touched the bier. They that carried it stood still." Then assuming an absolute tone, which only suits the sovereign arbiter of life and death : " Young man, said he, arise, I say to thee. He that was dead sat up, and began to speak ; and J esus gave him to his mother. There came a [religious] fear upon them all, and they glorified God, saying : A great prophet is risen up amongst us, and God hath visited his people This rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and all the country round about." The miracle at last reached the ears of John, who though detain ed in a prison, into which he had been cast by the incestuous Herod, was not kept in such solitary confinement as to be deprived of out- side communication. There he was visited, and in pursuance of the practice of saints, who perform all the good they can, when they cannot perform all they might wish to do, he announced the Mes- siah, at least to his disciples, and profited by the occasions which were offered to make him known to them. That which presented (9) The meeting of the people who followed Jesus, with the crowd that accom- panied the funeral, furnished spectators to this miracle ; and it is certain that Jesus Christ wished to make it public. The interpreters add, besides, to the gathering the people who happened to be waiting at the gate of the city for the legal decisions, We read, in point of fact, in Scripture, that the Israelites held there a sort of court, where causes were decided ; but did this custom still exist in the time of Jesus Christ ? The texts which are cited with reference to this matter are not posterior to the times of the kings of Juda. In matters of custom, several centuries make great changes, especially among a people who, during various transmigrations, might have quitted many of its usages to assume those of the nation in whose midst it dwelt. It sometimes occurs to interpreters to give thus as customs of the time of Jesus Christ those for which we find no example but in centuries much anterior. Nothing is more uncertain, and we have thought that it might not be useless to make this remark here. CHAP. XIX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 149 itself on the occasion of this miracle was one too favorable to be overlooked by him. (a) " When, therefore, he had heard in prison/ the rigor of which this recital had made him forget (" his disciples told him of all these things), he called to him two of his disciples, cind sent them to Jesus, saying : Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another V It is not difficult to penetrate his design. John could not be ignorant what Jesus was, he who made him known to others, nor could he begin to doubt if he were the Messiah when he heard of him working miracles, after having recognized him be- fore he had worked any. But his disciples, always too much pre- possessed in favor of their master, still doubted whether Jesus was preferable to him. John wished them to see him with their own eyes, the evidence of which would complete their conviction, al- though, with regard to them, it should not have greater certainty than the testimony they had heard from his lips. The two depu- ties, who apparently were some of the most incredulous, " when they were come unto Jesus : John the Baptist," said they, " hath sent us to thee, saying : Art thou he that art to come, or look we for an- other ?" Before replying to them, Jesus did what John had fore- seen. " In that same hour he cured many of their diseases and hurts," with which they were afflicted, " and of evil spirits, which possessed them : to many that were blind he gave sight. Then, making answer, he said to John's disciples : Go, relate to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk (10), the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, to the poor the Gospel is preached (11): blessed is he whosoever shall not be scandalized in me." (a) St. Matthew, xi. 2 ; St. Luke, vii. 18-23. (10) We read in the 35th chapter of Isaiah, that in the time of the Messiah the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unclosed ; that then the lame man shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free. Jesus Christ manifestly makes allusion to these words, which allusion furnishes the disciples of John with a double proof — that of his miracles, and the accomplishment of the prophecies regarding him. (11) He who would preach only for the rich, would prove nothing, for he would not even prove that he is persuaded of the truths that he preaches. So disinterested a charity becomes a proof of religion, comparable to the cure of the blind and the 150 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART 1. This answer is addressed to John, because the demand was made in his name ; but, at bottom, it was for the disciples it was made. The conclusion of the answer completely demonstrated this. Happy, in point of fact, whosoever does not become scandalized in Jesus Christ ! The greatest misfortune of the Jews was their being scan- dalized in him. But this had a particular application to the disci- ples of John, who had taken scandal, because Jesus Christ did not prescribe to his disciples a kind of life as austere as what they prac- tised themselves ; and we have not forgotten that they combined with the Pharisees to make this a cause of reproach against him. Here, then, they found all that they needed — proof of the mission of Jesus Christ by miracles, to which he condescended to let them be ocular witnesses, and, moreover, a preservative against every thing that could alienate them from his person. Neither one nor the other was necessary to John the Baptist. Wherefore the Sa- viour had nothing to give him but eulogy, the most magnificent that ever issued from his sacred lips, but of which no person could have been less worthy than the precursor, if, after having been bless- ed beforehand with so many lights, he had been capable of doubt- ing, for one instant, that Jesus was truly the Messiah. For whether Jesus Christ wished only to praise John, or whether his design was to hinder, at the same time, those who had witnessed the deputation from believing that John vacillated in the testimony he had rendered to him, (a) "when the messengers were departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John," and beginning by praise of his unshakable firmness, " he began to say to the multitudes" who listened to him : " What went you out to the desert to see ? a reed shaken with the wind ?" Could a soul so superficial, and a charac- ter so frivolous, excite to such a pitch your curiosity and your admi- ration? "But what went you out to see ? a man clothed in soft garments ? Behold, they that are clothed in costly apparel and live delicately are in the houses of kings." Another circumstance which gives weight to the testimony of John. A man devoted to such an (a) St. Luke, vii. 24-26, 28 ; St. Matthew, xi. 10-14. resurrection of the dead. Would to Heaven that it had no other point of resem- blance to these prodigies — that of being as rare ! CHAP. XIX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 151 austere course of life, having no wants, had no interest in this world. He could not, therefore, be suspected of flattery ; for what profit could he have derived from it ? " But," in short, adds the Saviour, 14 what, then, went you out to see ? a prophet ? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written : Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee (1 2). For, amen, I say to you, amongst those that are born of women, there is not a greater than John the Baptist (13). Yet he that is lesser in the kingdom of God is greater than he." Such is the superiority of the law which commences at the close of the ex- isting law, that the first of the one, in the order of the ministry, is the last of the other. For here a new order of things is actually being established, and John, placed between the two Testaments, terminates the ancient, and announces the new. " From the days of the preaching of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heav- en," previously proposed to one nation alone, " is open to all people." Let the Jews cease to boast of the rights to which they lay claim. This is not an inheritance in which children must succeed to their (12) God said, in Malachy, chapter iii. : Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. In the prophet it is the Son who speaks ; in the evangelist it is the Son who makes the Father speak ; in both cases it is always God, and the same God ; and the difference of the two texts shows the distinction and the equality of the persons. This is the first proof which Jesus Christ gives of the superiority of John over all the other prophets ; for he is the only prophet who has been foretold. He is called angel, which signifies sent, on account of his office, and also on account of his life, more angelical than human, which, as Eusebius re- ports (Demon. Evang., lib. ix., chap. 5), made some believe that, in point of fact, and by nature, John was not a man, but an angel. No doubt they were deceived but then it was a matter in which they might easily be so. (13) Saint Matthew only says : There has not arisen among them that are born of wo- men a greater than John the Baptist. What he says before and after lets us easily see that it is with reference to prophecy that John is preferred to all that had appeared up to that time. Saint Luke, who says plainly that there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist, does not permit us to doubt any longer of this being its literal sense. The text of Saint Matthew has made some believe that Saint John was the greatest saint, as well in the Old as in the New Testament ; or, to speak with more precision, that none was more saintly than he ; for the text does not exclude equality. This sense, although not literal, should always be respected, because it has been always followed by antiquity, and the Church seems to have adopted it in these words, which it sings in honor of the holy precursor : JVo one in this vast universe has been more holy than Saint John. 152 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT L fathers ; it is a conquest reserved for whosoever shall have the cour- age to carry it sword in hand : it suffereth violence, and the " violent bear it away. For all the propnets and the law prophesied until John." But prophecy ceases when accomplishment begins. True, you think that Elias should be the precursor of the Messiah ; but " if you will receive it, John is Elias that is to come. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear (14)." Informed of what John the Baptist really was, and of the inter- esting object of his mission, (a) " the people and the publicans, be- ing baptized with John's baptism, hearing, justified God," and recog- nized his justice in the means by which he attained his ends. " But the Pharisees and the lawyers, being not baptized by John (15), despised the council of God against themselves," and their inflexible stubbornness in rejecting all the means which God had set in mo tion to gain them over, drew down upon them this just reproach: " Whereunto, said he, shall I liken the men of this generation, and (a) St. Luke, vii. 29-35. (14) Jesus Christ sometimes makes use of this conclusion when his words have a mys- terious and profound sense, or when they propose a sublime perfection. The words which he has just spoken are of the first kind ; and we do not flatter ourselves that the explanation inserted in the text removes all the difficulties : here is an abstract thereof, which may throw further light upon it. John is declared to be the greatest of the chil- dren of women, not for his sanctity, if we confine ourselves to the literal sense, but for his quality of immediate precursor of the Messiah, a quality which raises him above all the prophets. But the Church, which the Messiah came to found, is so superior to the synagogue, that the lowest of its ministers is, by his ministry, superior to John himself. This Church is actually established, and is designated by the most magnificent char- acters, by its universality, which embraces all people, called from the four parts of the world to enter into it as into a conquered country. The preaching of John was given to announce its establishment, and the cessation of the law and of the prophets, which only served as .preparatives to it. The Jews were under the persuasion that Elias should precede the Messiah. John has the spirit and virtue of Elias, and in this matter their expectation is already fulfilled, without reference as to what shall happen at the second coming, when every one agrees that the Messiah shall be preceded by Elias in person. (15) It was through the baptism of John that God wished to bring them to the faith. The contempt of the smallest grace made them miss the decisive grace of salvation. The chain, being once broken, was never more renewed for them. Let us profit from every thing, since the greatest things are often hinged upon the small- est, and that it is not impossible that the very thing upon which all depends seems to dwindle to a mere trifle. CHAP. XIX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHUROH. 103 to what are they like ? They are like to children (16) sitting in the market-place, speaking one to another, and saying : We have piped to you, and you have not danced ; we have mourned, and you have not wept. For John the Baptist came, neither eating bread nor drinking wine ; and you say : He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking ; and you say : Behold a man that is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. Thus wisdom is justified by all her children," not merely by those who have been docile to her voice, but also by the rebellious. Did the latter wish for an austere life ? They found that in Saint John the Baptist. Did they like a common life ? Such was the life of Jesus Christ. Take the two opposite kinds of life : criticism of the one was apology for the other, and meant respectively preference of one to the other. In this state of things, to be scandalized at both one and the other, and not submit to either, is a declaration of pur- pose to be scandalized at every thing, and submit to nothing. As regarded God, the means did not fail, but they became useless, by .the obstinacy of the incredulous, and the reasons which the latter advanced to elude them were at the same time the apology of God's conduct, and the condemnation of their own incredulity. Let us not be surprised that they should be included under the common denomination of children of wisdom. All the Jews had God for their legislator, and his wisdom for their director ; and, though for the most part bad disciples, they were not the less under her disci- pline ; and in this sense all might be called her children. (16) It is not the incredulous Jews, it is Jesus Christ and Saint John who are com- pared to children who sing and weep ; and unbelievers are compared to children whom others cannot induce by any means to share in their joys or sorrows. This mode of comparison is not unexampled in Scripture, which often compares the whole to the whole, leaving to the attentive reader the care of distributing the differ- ent members of the comparison. 154 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART I. CHAPTER XX. THE HOLY WOMEN WHO FOLLOWED JESUS CHRIST. HIS FRIENDS WISH TO SEIZE HIS PERSON. HEALING OF A BLIND AND DUMB MAN WHO WAS POSSESSED. BLASPHEMY OF THE PHARISEES. SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. Meantime " Jesus," whose zeal could neither be blunted by con- tradiction, nor exhausted by toil, (a) " travelled through the cities and towns, preaching and evangelizing the kingdom of God. The twelve," to whom his examples were to serve as lessons for the same ministry, "were with him. And [there also were] with him certain women (1) who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, viz. : Mary, who is called Magdalen (2), out of whom seven devils were * (a) St. Luke, viii. 1, 2. (1) Perhaps we may be surprised that Jesus Christ should have suffered women in his retinue. It was, says Saint Jerome, an established usage among the Jews, that women, and especially widows, should follow their religious teachers, and administer to their wants. The custom took away the scandal, and assuredly the Jews took no scandal at Jesus on this account, since they never made any reproach to him concern- ing it, whilst they caluminated him upon every thing else. The apostles conducted themselves in the same way as their divine Master. Saint Paul decides positively that they had a right to do so. If he did not avail himself of this right, it was out of precaution for the Gentiles, who, not being aware of this usage, might thereupon take scandal. The heretics have much too far abused it ; and you will find very few sects, indeed, who have failed to avail themselves of it. We, therefore, have a right to this usage founded on the example of Jesus Christ. We have, in the ex- ample of Saint Paul, reserve, if when availing ourselves of the right, there be appre- hensions lest people should be scandalized ; and in heretics, we have the abuse ; the consequences of which should make those persons tremble who are so badly advised as to attach themselves to these false teachers. For, if she who serves the apostle shall have the same reward as he, the punishment of the heresiarch shall therefore be reserved for her who shall have served the heresiarch. (2) The reader has seen, page 104, Chap. XIV., the reasons on account of which we do not distinguish her from the penitent woman, nor from Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and of Martha. Some interpreters understand by the seven demons, the vices from which she was delivered. Others hold that she really was possessed by seven demons, whom Jesus Christ expelled from her body by the virtue of his word. Those who declare themselves to be of this opinion should add, that this deliverance preceded, and apparently occasioned the conversion of Magdalen. CHAP. XX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDEK OF THE CHURCH. 155 gone forth • Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward ; Susanna, and many others who ministered unto him of their substance.' 1 They, in this way, all contributed their ]3art to the apo* tolical func- tions, and deserved to share the recompense thereof ; for the sup- porting an apostle is preaching by his mouth, since he could not preach if he were diverted from it by the care of procuring the necessaries of life. During the course of this mission, those who accompanied him («) " came to a house" to rest themselves ; but "the multitude com- eth together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread." Meantime reports of what he had done were spreading throughout the country. " When his friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him (3) ; for they -said : he has become mad." These good people could not persuade themselves that he whom they had seen reared amongst them, and like one of themselves, could be a prophet and a worker of miracles. They concluded, therefore, from the rumors afloat about him, that he had lost his wits, and thought they performed the office of good friends by seizing his person ; for it does not appear to have been a malicious act on their part. This was that weakness usual to persons of limited understanding, and who, having received no education, are incapable of believing any thing beyond the sphere of their sight, or the range of their fancy. (a) St. Mark, iii. 20, 21. (3) There is something here which creates embarrassment, viz. : it seems, by the sequel, that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was with them. To believe that she had the same idea of Jesus which they had conceived, and that she shared in the design of seizing him, is a thing the very thought of which strikes us with horror ; but it is not difficult to exculpate her from this. 1st. Although it may be probable enough, yet it is not certain that this is the same occasion whereon Jesus got notice that his mother and his brothers were waiting for him at the door ; it is not, therefore, certain that Mary was to be found present upon this occasion, because this only could occur in the case of its being certain that the fact occurred on one and the same occasion. 2d. Supposing even that it were the same occasion, Mary might have been ignorant of their design, and have come with them, impelled by the desire of seeing her son. Perhaps they had even induced her to join with them, hoping that the son, assured by the presence of his mother, would let himself the more easily be drawn into the snare which they wished to lay for him. Whatever may be the case, we should reject as impiety the very thought, that Mary could have towards her son the idea which his relatives entertained, and that she took part in their plotting. 156 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PABT I. Now, they had not seen the miracles of Jesus Christ, and they could not imagine that he whom they had seen in the lowliness of infancy, and in the obscurity of a poor workshop, was become suddenly such an extraordinary man. Perhaps that at the same time some free- thinker passed the same judgment upon him ; for extremes meet, and as the simple believe nothing beyond what they see, the subtle admit nothing beyond what they understand, as if the mind's eye had not limits as certain, and marked as clearly, as the sight of the body. Wherefore, to measure the extent of possibility by the nar- row sphere of our knowledge, is, in both cases, the cause of error ; and they are as like each other in their principle as in their conse- quences. Lastly, this low idea entertained of Jesus Christ by his friends, is a convincing assurance to us, that during the thirty years he had passed at Nazareth, he allowed nothing to escape him which could raise the suspicion of what he was, and that the only virtues perceptible in him were only those suitable to his age and condition — virtues ever estimable, and scarcely noticed by men, who only re- mark and esteem virtue of a wonderful and dazzling cast. Yet these virtues of each condition and age, when they are practised with inviolable fidelity, and from sublime motives, are virtues which command the approbation of God and the admiration of his angels. For, was there ever an object so worthy of both as this young arti- san, unknown to all the world, and, after him, as Mary, his holy mother, shut up in the same cabin, covered with the same obscu- rity, and similarly occupied in manual labor, of no consideration in the eyes of men ? Still, it does not appear that the Saviour's friends pushed any fur- ther the project they had formed against his person ; whether they were enlightened by his grace, or arrested by his power, or whether he escaped from them, by rendering himself invisible to their eyes, as he did on another occasion. However the matter occurred, we do not read that he permitted them to lay hands upon him, nor did he discontinue those practices which had given rise to their strange mistake. For it was (a) " then was offered to him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw. All the multitudes were amazed, and said : Is not (a) St. Matthew, xii. 22-24 ; St. Mark, iii. 22 ; St. Luke, xi. 15, 16- CHAP. XX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 157 this the son of David (4) ? The Scribes, who were come down from Jerusalem, and the Pharisees, hearing it, said : He hath Beel- zebub, and he casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Others, tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven." We recognize in these traits, in addition to the dark thoughts of envy, incredulity and its pitiful subterfuges. The people, on the contrary, who had neither passions nor predilections, had judged correctly that the author of the great prodigy they had witnessed must needs be the Messiah. For the people never err, when they follow that upright sense which is common to all men, and which is the more accurate and sure, inasmuch as it is the less mixed up with science and subtlety. But if this has given ground for the assertion that the voice of the people is the voice of God, signifying that the people's judgments participate, in some manner, in the infallibility of the divine judgments, still it is far from being as unchangeable. Nothing is so easy as to make the people change their ideas and sentiments, and to make them pass in a moment from admiration to contempt, and from love to hatred. And this was precisely what the envious and the incredulous actually aimed at bringing about. Scattered through the crowd, they had spread the atrocious cal- umny which we have just heard, when the Saviour, in order to caution that weak and inconstant multitude against these base de- signs, silenced the tongues of the calumniators, by making them feel the absurdity of the reproach they cast upon him, and the enor- mity of the crime they thereby committed. (a) " Knowing then their thoughts," and aware of their pernicious designs, " and after he had called them together, Jesus said to them in parables : How can Satan cast out Satan ? Every kingdom di- vided against itself shall be brought to desolation ; and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan (a) St. Luke, xi. 17, 18 ; St. Mark, ill. 23-26 ; St. Matthew, xii. 25, 26. (4) By excellence, the Son of David, that is to say, the Messiah. This name had been consecrated by tradition with that signification. But was not the crowd who spoke thus composed of Gentiles ? We should be driven to say so, if it were true, as some have dreamed, that Gentiles alone gave to the Messiah the title of Son of David. 158 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [PART L cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, shall his kingdom stand ? He cannot stand, but hath an end." Although the irreconcilable enemies of union, still do the demons unite to divide and to injure. They are wise enough to see that unless there be a certain confederacy amongst them, none of their designs can succeed. This union is that of cabal and faction. Too faithfully imitated by the wicked, it renders them but too effective for mischief ; whilst unhappy divisions often cause the failure of the enterprises which the virtuous would wish to undertake for good designs. But, although this first answer of the Saviour silenced his enemies, he yet adds a second, which exhibits to the Pharisees their condemnation, in their own sentiments and in their conduct. For, in all the cases that ever arose in which demons were expelled, ex- cept when expelled by Jesus Christ, the Pharisees constantly attrib- uted the act to divine power, and it never occurred to their minds that such acts could be the result of a compact with Satan. To ac- cuse Jesus Christ alone of this, was, therefore, showing upon their part the most glaring, and, at the same time, the most iniquitous partiality. Such is the sequel deducible from these words. (a) " You say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now, if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out (5) V You have always acknowledged that it was in the name of God. " Therefore they shall be your judges." For, what shall you answer to the reproach they will make you for having stigma- (a) St. Luke, xi. 18. (5) An expression used in Scripture, when intending to say those of your nation. The ancients understood it with reference to the apostles, who expeiled the demons by the power which Jesus Christ had given to them. The majority of modern interpreters un- derstand it with reference to the Jewish exorcists, who employed with success against the demons certain formulas of conjuration which Solomon had taught them, as Jo- sephus reports, Book viii. of Jewish Antiquities, chapter ii. If the first opinion has in its favor the most respectable authorities, the second has more apparent reasons. 1st. It appears that Jesus Christ had not yet given to his apostles the power of expelling demons, or at least that the apostles had not as yet exercised it. 2d. Supposing that they had then already exercised it, this power being the same at bottom as that of Jesus Christ, the Pharisees might have equally attributed it to the prince of demons, as Jesus Christ even gives us to understand by these words : If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub how much more them of his household / — (Matthew, x.) CHAP. XX.] OF THE DIVIDE FOUNDEE OF THE CHURCH. 159 tized as a diabolical operation in me what you regard in them as a divine work ? (a) " But," adds Jesus Christ, u if J, by the finger of God, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you." This was the main truth which Saint John had announced at the outset, which Jesus Christ never ceased repeating, which he had proved by all the miracles he had hitherto worked, but of which the expulsion of demons was in some sort a more direct proof. For this was a direct proof of the destruction of the kingdom of Satan which kingdom could only be annihilated by the coming of the kingdom of God, — a truth which the Saviour makes manifest by this comparison : " How can any one enter into the house of the strong, and rifle his goods, unless he first bind the strong ? When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor in which he trusted, and will distribute his spoils." These spoils wrested from Satan are the men whose arms and bodies he possessed, and who are delivered from his tyranny by the power of Jesus Christ. Wherefore, his defeat is certain, and the conqueror can no longer be mistaken. And this is so evident, that it would be criminal to act with in- difference or neutrality towards Jesus Christ, as he assures us by these words which he distinctly adds : (d) " He that is not with me, is against me ; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth." Hence, what must be their crime who declare against him with that excess of malignity and fury which goes to the extent of at- tributing to the infernal spirits the works of his almighty power ? And should we be astonished at his immediately drawing this dreadful conclusion ? " Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blas- phemy shall be forgiven men ; but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven (6). And whoever shall speak a word against the (a) St. Matthew, xii. 28, 29 ; St. Luke, (b) St. Matthew, xii. 30-32 ; xi. 21, 22. St. Mark, iii. 29, (6) It is not blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, considered as the third person of the adorable Trinity, but against the Spirit of God, author of the wonders which 160 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS [part l Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come (7). He shall never have forgiveness, and shall be guilty of an everlasting sin." He sjDoke thus to them, "be- cause they said : He hath an unclean spirit (8)." Jesus Christ operated. Were we to understand it in the first sense, we should believe that the Eunomians, who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, were the most hard- ened of all sinners. Yet, Saint Chrysostom says that they were seen returning in crowds to the bosom of the Church. By blasphemy against the Son of man, the in. terpreters understand commonly the reproachful calumnies of the Jews, which only affected the humanity of the Saviour, for example, when they said that he loved good cheer and wine, that he favored sinners, &c, &c. These reproaches were always highly criminal. Still, because they only attacked directly his divinity, Jesus, the meekest of men, seems to account them as nothing, and is not unwilling to let it be known how ready he is to pardon them. (7) Therefore, there is some remission in the other world ; and the Protestants, who deny it, and who consequently reject purgatory and prayer for the dead, are refuted by this single saying. (8) This expression decides what is the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is here in question. It is visibly that which the Pharisees committed, by attributing to the demon the works of Jesus Christ, which had the Spirit of God for author. I leave it to theologians to examine, if there be other sins against the Holy Ghost, what they are, and how many should be reckoned of this class. I content myself with remarking that, among the sins which are committed in the world, that which ap- proaches nearest to the sin of the Pharisees, is to attribute to hypocrisy, or to any other vicious principle, the virtues of the saints, which the Spirit of God operates by his grace — a sin as common as it is enormous ; but it remains for us to see in what sense it is said that it shall never be pardoned. Saint Augustine, and, after him, the majority of interpreters, regard this passage as one of the most difficult to explain. The difficulty arises from the fact that the Church does not recognize any sins to be absolutely irremissible, and that this seems to be de- clared such. We are, therefore, forced to say, that when Jesus Christ assures that it shall never be pardoned, he does not advance any thing further than that the remission shall be more rare and more difficult. We agree that this mitigated interpretation is with difficulty adjusted to the strong and absolute expressions which the Saviour em- ploys here. Nevertheless, we find, even in this passage, matter to justify it. Those who have asserted that sin or blasphemy against the Son of man is merely a venial sin, have asserted an absurdity : this sin is mortal and irremissible in its nature, whether in this world or in the other, if it be not expiated by penance. Yet Jesus Christ says simply and absolutely, that it shall be pardoned, remittetur. Does he- wish to give us to understand that it shall be so always ? No, but that it shall be so easily and so often, in comparison with the sin against the Holy Ghost, which shall, therefore, only be pardoned rarely, and with difficulty. In a word, Jesus Christ says absolutely of the sin against the Son of man, that it shall be pardoned, CHAP. XX.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 161 Finally, inasmuch as the expulsion of the demons is evidently a good work, there exists only one more consequence to be drawn, viz., that Jesus Christ, the author of this, was good — that is to say, holy and irreprehensible, and that those who calumniated him so atrociously were wicked and corrupt. The Saviour did not leave these perverse men to remain ignorant of this. " Either make the tree good, he again said to them, and its fruit good ; or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil ; for by the fruit the tree is known. O, generation of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas you are evil ? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak- eth. A good man, out of a good treasure, bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man, out of an evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things (9). But I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it at the day of judgment ; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." The latter words of the Saviour give us to understand that the Pharisees reckoned as of little consequence the sins of the tongue ; and those immediately preceding were meant to inform us how rigorously blasphemous words shall be punished at that exact and severe judgment, in which an idle word shall not remain unpunished. as lie says absolutely of the sin against the Holy Ghost, that it shall not be pardoned. It does not occur to our mind to believe that the first shall be always pardoned ; neither, therefore, should we conclude that the second shall never be pardoned. (9) Habitually, and not always. See Note 9 of Chapter XVII., page 141. It is not necessary for the truth of moral propositions, that the) should never suffer ex- ceptions. They are true when the things are, generally speaking, such as these propositions announce. n 162 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS Tpabt l CHAPTEE XXL THE SIGN OF JONAS. THE NINIVITES. THE QUEEN OF SABA. — THE EXPELLED DEMON ENTERS IN AGAIN. EXCLAMATION OF A WOMAN. THE MOTHER AND BRETHREN OF JESUS. PARABLE OF THE SEED. (a) " Then some of the Scribes and Pharisees answering him, said Master, we would see a sign." Apparently these petitioners were the same who had already asked him for a heavenly sign. Jesus had left them unanswered, because he should first reply to the odious accusation we have just spoken of. These inquisitive and artful men renewed the tempting solicitation, and (b) " the multi- tude running together," to see the wonder they expected, "Je- sus began to say : This generation is wicked and adulterous ; it asketh a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jo- nas the prophet (1). For as Jonas was a sign to the Mnivites, so shall the Son of man also be to this generation. As then Jo- nas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights (2), so (a) St. Matthew, xii. 38. (b) St. Luke, xi. 29, 30 ; St. Matthew, xii. 40. (1) Jesus Christ refuses to them the miracle which they asked, and he promises one to them which they did not ask. Was it reasonable that the divine power should be subservient to their caprices, and that it should perform the miracles which they wished for, because they did not wish to yield submission, in consequence of those which it wrought ? Yet, if we are even slightly acquainted with the genius of in- credulity, we shall not hesitate to believe that they were highly puffed up after the refusal, and that they said more than once, and with an air of triumph : Why does he not work the miracle which is asked of him ? (2) Jesus Christ was not three entire days and three entire nights in the bosom of the earth ; he only passed there one entire day and one entire night, with a part of two other days and of two other nights. It is in this sense it is said that he passed there three days and three nights. Here is the way in which this is explained. We must just reckon the entire day from midnight unto midnight. We do so thus : and although this was not the Jewish mode, it was that of the Egyptians, whom all people then re- garded as legislators in astronomy, and that of the Romans, the masters of the world, and particularly of Judea, where it is natural to think that they partly introduced this usage, as well as in the other countries of their domination ; for they dated, apparently, the public transactions according to their ordinary manner of reckoning the days. Sup- OHAP. XXI.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 163 shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth (3) three days and three nights." This sign, more wonderful than that of Jonas, since it is more wonderful to come forth alive from the bosom of the earth, after having entered it dead, than to come forth alive from a fish, which a living man had entered — this sign, I say, according to God's inten- tion, was to be for the Jews a sign of conviction and salvation ; but because Jesus Christ foresaw that their incredulity would render it useless, he proposes it to them here as a sign of judgment and of condemnation, the equity and rigor of which are justified with re- gard to them by the example of the Ninivites. He proceeds, there- fore, as follows : (a) " The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it : because they did penance at the preaching of J onas ; and behold a greater than Jonas here. The Queen of the South shall rise in judgment with this generation, and (a) St. Matthew, xii. 41-45 ; St. Luke, xi. 24, 26. posing this to be the case, there exist no longer any difficulties. Jesus Christ, having died on Friday at three o'clock, after mid-day, and being almost immediately taken down from the cross, may have been laid in the tomb before sunset, which was then after six o'clock. This is the more likely, as the repose of the festival, which obliged the Jews to suspend their work, commenced at sunset. Thus Jesus Christ shall have passed in the bosom of the earth the part of the day which remained from his depo- sition in the sepulchre until sunset. From sunset until midnight there are about six hours of the night which belong to Friday. We therefore have already part of a day, and of the night of Friday, passed in the tomb. The Saturday does not puzzle us. As to Sunday, we have firstly, the part of the night which commenced at midnight, when Saturday closed ; and as to the day, although it be held that the Lord rose before sunrise, he may not have risen until the day gleamed with suffi- cient light to enable us to say truly that it was day. And that period of light, or day, passed in the tomb, if it were only to have lasted for a moment, suffices to enable us to say with truth that he was there upon the day of Sunday. (3) There is in the Latin text in corde terra, in the heart of the earth : this word is usually understood with reference to the bosom of the earth, in which the body ot the Lord was inclosed. Yet as this is the only passage where Scripture makes use of this mode of speech to express a sepulchre, and as, besides, the Hebrew phrase also signifies the centre of the earth, an expression too strong for the sepulchres, which we may say were only on the surface, Catholic interpreters have thought, with reason, that it should also be understood with reference to Limbo, whither the holy soul of the Saviour de- scended immediately after his death. Saint Paul has said, in the same sense, that Jesus Christ descended into the lower parts of the earth (Ephes. iv.). This truth is of faith ; it forms a part of the Apostles' Creed, and we do not see upon what grounds, nor for what reasons Protestants insist on rejecting it. 164 THE TEACHINGS, MIRACLES, AND ACTS fPABT L shall condemn it ; because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon ; and behold a greater than Solomon here." It was on the occasion of a man being possessed by the demon that Jesus said all this. He closes by a sort of parable, in which, under the figure of a man repossessed after deliverance, he announces to the Jews the increase of their crimes, and the excess of their future misfortunes. " When the unclean spirit," said he to them, " is gone out of a man, he walked through dry places, seeking rest, and not finding, he saith : I will return into my house whence I came out ; 5ind coming, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. They enter in, and dwell there : and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wick- ed generation." There are several ways of explaining this parable, but we pass them Qver to confine ourselves to its clear signification. This is, that the Jewish nation, so often criminal and so often penitent, having again given entrance to the demon by its outrageous contempt for the person of the Saviour, his doctrine and his miracles, shall again become more criminal and more unfortunate than it had ever been before, The event too truly justified the prophecy, and the applica- tion tested by every day's experience, in the case of relapsing sinners, is but too highly justified by experience. (a) u As he spoke these things it came to pass, a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice," midst the murmuring of the Pharisees, " said to him : Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck." She envied, as is usual with those of her sex, the happiness of her who had brought into the world a man so wonderful, and wished that herself could have been that happy mother. Jesus Christ instructed her, by informing her that there was a happiness preferable even to that of such an exalted ma- ternity, and consoled her by giving her to understand that she could procure for herself this happiness. " Yea, rather," he said, " blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it." This expression was not meant to depreciate that inestimable happiness which the (a) St. Luke, xi. 27, 28. CHAP. XXI.] OF THE DIVINE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH. 165 mother of God has foretold in her canticle should be celebrated by all the nations of the earth. Much less did it convey that the Bless- ed Virgin had not cherished the word of God, or failed to practise it herself. The expression merely denoted how preferable was the happiness of her fidelity to that of her maternity : that her fidelity surpasses in point of fact her maternity, inasmuch as she would not have been the happiest of all creatures, if she had not been the most faithful. This was the moment which the Son of God had chosen to estab- lish that great maxim, that by perfect observance of the law of God, we unite ourselves to him by closer and stronger ties than those of flesh and blood. To imprint it still more deeply on the mind, he contrived the following transaction, which furnished him with an oc- casion to repeat it. (a) " As he was yet speaking to the multitudes, his mother and his brethren (4) stood without, wishing to speak to him. They could not come at him for the crowd. Standing with- out, they sent unto him, wishing to speak to him. The multitude (a) St. Matthew, xii. 46-49, 50 ; St. Luke, viii. 19 ; St. Mark, iii. 31-33. (4) Those who wo 7 uld say that after the birth of Jesus Christ the Blessed Virgio had several children by Saint Joseph, who are here called the brothers of the Lord, would renew the heresy of the infamous Helvidius, who was victoriously opposed b) Saint Jerome. The Greeks, and among the Latins, Saint Hilarius and Saint Am- brose, who are followed on this point by some moderns, have thought that the brother* of the Lord were children of Saint Joseph, born from a first wife, whom he ha