E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

1 88 APPENDIX.
and preserving the faith. According to a theological
maxim her prayer is the rule of her belief. Like her
Divine Master of old, she opens her mouth to pray,
and in her prayer she teaches the multitude. The
Gloria Patri teaches and enforces the mystery of the
Trinity ; the Church s exorcisms over catechumens
before Baptism imply the doctrine of original sin ; the
necessity of grace to make an action supernatural and
worthy of eternal reward is inculcated constantly in
her public supplications ; her prayers for the dead
from earliest ages set forth her teaching on Purgatory.
Apart from the Creed, an epitome of Catholic belief
said at Mass on Sundays, holidays, and all great
festivals, the Church during the Holy Sacrifice proclaims
the following doctrines the Unity and Trinity of
God ; the Incarnation and Redemption of Christ ;
His blessed Passion, Resurrection, and glorious
Ascension ; the perpetual virginity of our Lady ; the
intercession of angels and saints; the veneration due
to relics ; the Sacrament of Holy Orders ; the reality
and necessity of sacrifice ; the Real Presence of Christ
in the Eucharist under both kinds ; the efficacy of
prayer and Mass for the dead, and the existence of
Purgatory. The truths of faith are necessarily expressed
in words, and it is important that the language in
which they are expressed should always remain the
same, both as regards the words, and even more
as regards their meaning. A vernacular being essen
tially a living language fluctuates, while an ancient
tongue like the Latin is fixed and stable in its character.
The latter is much better adapted to the exact expression
of the Church s doctrine and rites in these liturgical
forms which play so large a part in handing down to
successive generations the revelation of God.