The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

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THEBOTH THOUSAND.FAITH OF OUR FATHERSBEING APLAIN EXPOSITION AND VINDICATIONOFBYMOST REV. JAMES GIBBONS, D.DARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.Sixteenth CarefullyRevised and EnlargedBALTIMORE:PUBLISHED BY JOHN MURPHY & CoLONDON: K. WASHBOURNE.1880.

Entered, according to Act Of Congress^ in the year 1879, byJOHN MUBPHY,in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.V

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATEDTO THECLEEGY AND LAITYOF THEARCHDIOCESE AND PROVINCE OF BALTIMORBo

""PEEFACETo THE ELEVENTH EDITION.E first edition ofissued in December, 1876.present fifty thousand copiesThe Faith of our FatherswasFrom that time to theof the work have beendisposed of in the United States, Canada, Great Britainand Ireland, and in the British Colonies of Oceanica.This gratifying result has surpassed the author smost sanguine expectations, and is a consoling evidence that the investigation of religious truths isnotiron age, so much enwholly neglected, even in thisgrossed by material considerations.Besides carefully revising the book, the author hasprofited by the kind suggestion of some friends,inserting a chapter on the prerogatives and sanctityof the Blessed Virgin, which, it ishoped, will be notless acceptable to his readers than the other portionsof the work.He is also happy to announce that German Editionshave been published both in this country and in Germany.He takes this occasion to return his hearty thanksto the editors of the Catholic periodicals, as well as ofthe secular press, for their favorable notices, whichhave no doubt contributed much to the large circulation of the book.BALTIMORE, Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, 1879.by

PREFACE.object of this little volume is to present, ina plain and practical form, an exposition anda vindication of the principal tenets of the CatholicChurch.It was thought sufficient to devote but a briefspace to such Catholic doctrines and practices as arehappily admitted by Protestants, while those whichare controverted by them are more elaborately elucidated.The work was compiled by the author during theuncertain hours which he could spare from tne moreactive duties of the ministry.It substantially embodies the instructions and discourses delivered by him before mixed congregations in Virginia and North Carolina.He has often felt that the salutary influence ofsuch instructions, especially on the occasion of amission in the rural districts, would be much augmented if they were supplemented by books ortracts which would be circulated among the people,and could be read and pondered at leisure.As his chief aim has been to bring home the

viii * PREFACE.truths of the Catholic faith to our separated brethren, who generally accept the Scripture as the onlysource of authority in religious matters, he has endeavored to fortify his statements by abundant reference to the sacred text. He has thought proper,however, to add frequent quotations from the earlyFathers, whose testimony, at least as witnesses of thefaith of their times, must be acceptedeven by thosewho call in question their personal authority.Though the writer has sought tobe exact in allhis assertions, an occasional inaccuracy may haveinadvertently crept in. Any emendations whichthe venerated Prelates or Clergy may deign topropose, will be gratefullyattended to in a subsequentedition.RICHMOND, Nov. 21st, 1876.

CONTENTS.CHAPTERIntroduction 11I. The Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, etc 19II. Unity of the Church 23III. Holiness of the Church 35IV. Catholicity50V. Apostolicity58VI. Perpetuity of the Church 71VII. Infallible Authority of the Church 85VIII. The Church and the Bible 97IX. The Primacy of Peter 117X. The Supremacy of the Pope,132XI. Infallibility of the Popes 145XII. Temporal Power of the Popes How they acquired Temporal Power Validity and Justice of their Title What the Popes havedone for Rome 162XIII. Invocation of Saints. 181XIV. Is it Lawful to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary^as a Saint; to Invoke her as an Intercessor,and to Imitate her as a Model? 194XV. Sacred Images232XVI. Purgatory, and Prayers for the Dead 247XVII. Civil and Eeligious Liberty 264

XCONTENTS.CHAPTERPAGEXVIII. Charges of Keligious Persecution 284XIX. Grace The Sacraments Original SinBaptism Its Necessity Its EffectsManner of Baptizing 303XX. The Sacrament of Confirmation 320XXI. The Holy Eucharist 327XXII. Communion under One Kind 341XXIII. The Sacrifice of the Mass 349XXIV. The Use of Keligious Ceremonies Dictatedby Eight Keason Approved by AlmightyGod in the Old Law Sanctioned by JesusChrist in the New ... 365XXV. Ceremonies of the Mass The Missal LatinLanguage Lights Flowers IncenseVestments 372XXVI. The Sacrament of Penance 385XXVII. Indulgences 427XXVIII. Extreme Unction 437XXIX. The Priesthood . 440XXX. Celibacy of the Clergy 453XXXI. Matrimony 464

INTRODUCTION.TUTY DEAR READER. Perhaps this is the first*?*- time in your life that you have handled a bookin which the doctrines of the Catholic Church areexpounded by one of her own sons. You have, nodoubt, heard and read many things regarding ourChurch ;but has not your information come fromteachers justly liable to suspicion ? You asked forbread and they gave you a stone. You asked forfish and they reached you a serpent. Instead of thebread of truth, they extended to you the serpent offalsehood. Hence, without intending to be unjust,is not your mind biased against us because youlistened to false witnesses? This, at least, is thecase with thousands of my countrymen whom I havemet in the brief course of my missionary career.The Catholic Church is persistently misrepresentedby the most powerful vehicles of information.She is attacked in romances of the stamp of MariaMonk ;in pictorials, like Harper s in; histories, socalled like those of Peter Parley. In a large portion of the press, and in pamphlets, and especiallyin the pulpit, which should be consecrated to truthand charity, she is the victim of the foulest slanders,11

12 INTRODUCTION.Upon her fair and heavenly brow her enemies outa hideous mask, and in that guise they exhibit herto the insults and mockery of the public; just asJesus, her spouse, was treated when He was clothedwith a scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, and,thus disfigured, was mocked by a thoughtless rabble.They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for"Truthhas such a face and such a mienAs to be loved needs only to be seen." *It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the following to take place between a Protestant Ministerand a convert to the Catholic Church.MINISTER. You cannot deny that the RomanCatholic Church teaches gross errors, the worshipof images, for instance.CONVERT. I admit no such charge, for I havebeen taught no such doctrines.MINISTER. But the priest who instructed you,did not teach you all. He held back some pointswhich he knew would be objectionable to you.CONVERT. He withheld nothing; for I am inpossession of books treating fully of all Catholicdoctrines.MINISTER. Deluded soul! Don tyou know thatin Europe they are taught differently?1DRYDEN. Hind and Panther.

"INTRODUCTION. 13CONVERT. That cannot be, for, the Churchteaches the same creed all over the world, andmost of the doctrinal books which I read, wereoriginally published in Europe.^et ministers who make these slanderous statements are surprised if we feel indignant, and accuseus of beingtoo sensitive. We have been vilified solong, that they think we have no right to complain.We cannot exaggerate the offence of those whothus wilfully malign the Church. There is a commandment which says: Thou shalt not bear falsewitness against thy neighbor."If it is a sin to bear false testimony against oneindividual, how can we characterize the crime ofthose who calumniate two hundred and twenty-fivemillions of human beings, by attributing to them doctrines and practices which they repudiate and abhor?,I do not wonder that the Church is hated bythose who learn what she is,from her enemies. Itisnatural for an honest man to loathe an institutionwhose history he believes to be marked by bloodshed, crime, and fraud.Had I been educated as they were, and surroundedby an atmosphere hostile to the Church, perhaps 1should be unfortunate enough to be breathing vengeance against her to-day, instead of consecratingliferuyto her defence.

14 INTRODUCTION.It is not of their hostility that I complain, butbecause the judgment theyhave formed of her isbased upon the reckless assertions of her enemies,and not upon those of impartial witnesses.Suppose that I wanted to obtain a correct estimateof the Southern people, would it be fair in me toselect, as my only sources of information, certainNorthern and Eastern periodicals which, during ourcivil war, were bitterly opposed to the race andinstitutions of the South? Those papers haverepresented you as men who always appealto thesword and pistol, instead of the law, to vindicateyour private grievances. They heaped accusationsagainst you which I will not here repeat.Instead of taking these publications as the basisof my information, it was my duty to come amongyou to live with you to read your lives by study; ;ing your public and private character. This I havedone, and I here cheerfully bear witness to yourmany excellent traits of mind and heart.Now I ask you to give to the Catholic Churchthe same measure of fairness which you reasonablydemand of me when judging of Southern character.Ask not her enemies what she is, for tfeey are blindedby passion ask not her; ungrateful, renegade children for ;you never heard a son speaking well ofthe mother whom he had abandoned and despised.

INTRODUCTION. 15Study her history in the pages of truth. Examine her creed. Read her authorized catechismsand doctrinal books. You will find them everywhere on the shelves of booksellers, inthe librariesof her clergy, on the tables of Catholic families.There is no Freemasonry in the Catholic Church ;she has no secrets to keep back. She has not oneset of doctrines for Bishops and Priests, and anotherfor the laity. She has not one creed for the initiated and another for outsiders. Everything in theCatholic Church isopen and above board. Shehas the same doctrines for all for the Pope andthe peasant.Should not Ibe better qualified to present to youthe Church s creed than the unfriendly witnesseswhom I have mentioned ?I have imbibed her doctrine with my mother smilk. I have made her history and theology thestudy of myleading you ?life. What motive can I have in misNot temporal reward, since I seek notyour money, but your soul, forwhich Jesus Christdied. I could not hope for an eternal reward bydeceiving you, for I would thereby purchase for myself eternal condemnation, by gaining proselytes atthe expense of truth.This, friendly reader, is my only motive. I feel,in the depth of my heart, that, in possessing Catholic

"""1 INTRODUCTION.faith, I hold a treasure compared with which allthings earthly are but dross. Instead of wishing tobury this treasure in my breast, I long to share itwith you, especially as I lose no part of my spiritualriches by communicating them to others.It isto me a duty and a labor of love to speak thetruth concerning my venerable Mother, especiallyas she is so much maligned in our days. Werea tithe of the accusations true which are broughtagainst her, I would not be attached to her ministry,nor even to her communion, for a single day. Iknow these charges to be false. The longer I knowher, the more I admire and venerate her.Everyday she develops before me new spiritual charms.Ah !my dear friend, if you saw her as herchildren see her, she would no longer appear to youas typified by the woman of Babylon, but she wouldbe revealed to you, Bright as the sun, fair as themoon ;with the beauty of heaven stamped uponher brow, glorious an army in battle "as array."You would love her, you would cling to her andembrace her. With her children, you would riseupin reverence and call her blessed."Consider what you lose and what you gain inembracing the Catholic religion.Your loss isnothing in comparison with your gain.You do not surrender your manhood or your dignity

"INTRODUCTION. 17or independence or reasoning powers.You give upnone of those revealed truths which you may possessalready. The only restraint imposed upon you isthe restraint of the Gospel, and to thisyou will notreasonably object.You gain everything that is worth having. Youacquire a full and connected knowledgeof God srevelation. You get possession of the whole truthas it is in Jesus. You no longer see it in fragments,but reflected before you in all its beauty, as in a polished mirror. Your knowledge of the truth is netonly complete and harmonious, but it becomes fixedand steady. You exchange opinion for certainty.You are no longer tossed about by every wind ofdoctrine,"but you are firmly grounded on the rockof truth. Then you enjoy that profound peace whichsprings from the conscious possession of the truth.And in coming to the Church, you are not entering a strange place, but you are returning to yourFather s home. The house and furniture may lookodd to you. But it is just the same as your forefathers left it three hundred years ago. In comingback to the Church, you worship where your fathersworshipped before you; you kneel before the altarat which they knelt; you receive the Sacramentawhich they received, and respect the authority ofthe clergy whom they venerated. You come backlike the Prodigal Son to the home of your Father2* B

""""18 INTRODUCTION.and Mother, and the garment of joy is placed uponyou, and the banquet of love is set before you, andyou receive the kiss of peace as a pledge of yourfiliation and adoption. One hearty embrace of yourtender Mother will compensate you for all thesacrifices you may have made, and you will exclaimwith the penitent Augustine:Too late have 1known thee, O Beauty, ever ancient and ever new ;too late have I loved thee."Should the perusal of this book bring one soulto the knowledge of the Church, my labor will beamply rewarded.Remember that nothingsalvation of your immortal soul ;is so essential as thefor what doth itprofit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose hisown soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchangefor his soul ?lLet not, therefore, the fear of offending friends and relatives, nor the persecution of men,nor the loss of earthly possessions, nor any othertemporal calamity, deter you from investigating andembracing the true religion. For our presenttribulation, which ismomentary and light, workethfor us above measure exceedingly an eternal weightof glory."3May God give you light to see the truth, and,having seen it, may He give you courage andstrength to follow it.1Matt. xvi. 26. II. Cor. iv. 17.

THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.CHAPTER I.THE BLESSED TRINITY, THE INCARNATION, ETC.THECatholic Church teaches that there is butone God, who is infinite in knowledge, in power,in goodness, and in every other perfection who;created all things by His omnipotence, and governsthem by His Providence.In this one God there are three distinct Persons,the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who areperfectly equal to each other.We believe that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, is perfect God and per"fect Man. He is God, for He is over all things,God blessed forever." 1 "He is God of the substance of the Father, begotten before time; andHe isinMan of the substance of His Mother, born2Out of love for us, and in order totime."rescue us from the miseries entailed upon us bythe disobedience of our first parents, the DivineWord descended from heaven, and became Manin the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost. He was born on Christinas day, in a stable at Bethlehem.After having led a life of obscurity for aboufc1Horn. ix. 5.JAthanasian Creed.19

"""20 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.thirty years, chiefly at Nazareth, He commencedHis public career. He associated with Him anumber of men who are named Apostles, whom Heinstructed in the doctrines of the religion which Heestablished.For three years, He went about doing good, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healing all kinds of diseases, raising the dead to life,and preaching throughout Judea the new Gospel ofpeace. 1On Good Friday, He was crucified on MountCalvary, and thus purchased for us redemption byHis death. Hence Jesus exclusively bears thetitles of Saviour and Redeemer, because there isno other name under heaven given to men wherebywe must be saved." 2 "He was wounded for ouriniquitiesHe was bruised for our sins,. . . and by;His bruises we are healed." 3We are commanded, by Jesus, suffering and dyingfor us, to imitate Him by the crucifixion of our flesh,and by acts of daily mortification. If any one,"Hesays,will come after Me, let him deny himself, andtake up his cross 4daily and follow Me."Hence we abstain from the use of flesh meat onFriday, the day consecrated to our Saviour s sufferings, not because the eating of flesh meat is sinful in itself, but as an act of salutary mortification.L)ving children would be prompted byderness to commemorate the anniversary of theirfilial tenl Matt.xi.2 Actsiv. 12.3 Isaiah liii. 5*Luke U. 23.

"""THE TRINITY. 21father s death rather by prayer and fasting than byfeasting. Even so we abstain on Fridays from fleshmeat, that we may in a small measure testify ourpractical sympathy for our dear Lord by the mortification of our body, endeavoring, like St. Paul, tobear about in our body the mortification of Jesus,that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest inour bodies." 1The Cross is held in the highest reverence byCatholics, because it was the instrument of ourSaviour s crucifixion. It surmounts our churchesand adorns our sanctuaries. We venerate it as theemblem, of our salvation. Far be it from me," says"the Apostle, glory save in the cross of our LordJesus Christ." We 2 do not, of course, attach anyintrinsic virtue to the Cross ;this would be sinful andidolatrous. Our veneration is referred to Him whodied upon it,It isalso a very ancient and pious practice for thefaithful to make on their person the sign of theCross, saying at the same time "In the name of:the Father, and of the Sou, and of the Holy Ghost."Tertulliau, who lived in the second century of theChristian era, says: In all our actions, when wecome in or- go out, when we dress, when we wash,at our meals, before retiring to sleep,. . . we formon our foreheads the sign of the cross. These practices are not commanded by a formal law of Scripture; but tradition teaches them, custom confirms1 LL. Cor. iv. 10.a Gal. vi. 14

"22 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS.thorn, faith observes them." 1 By the signof thecross we make a profession of our faith in the Trinityand the Incarnation, and perform a most salutaryact of religion.We believe that on Easter Sunday Jesus Christmanifested His divine power by raising Himself tolife, and that having spent forty days on earth, afterHis resurrection, instructing His disciples, He ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives.On the Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsunday, tendays after His Ascension, our Saviour sent, as Hehad promised, His Holy Spirit to His disciples,while they were assembled together in prayer. TheHoly Ghost purified their hearts from sin, and imparted to them a full knowledge of those doctrinesof salvation which they were instructed to preach.On the same Feast of Pentecost the Apostles commenced their sublime mission, from which day, accordingly, we date the active life of the CatholicChurch.Our Redeemer gave the most ample authority tothe Apostles to teach in His name ;commandingthem to preach the Gospel to 3every creature,"and directing all, under the most severe penalties,to hear and obey them: "He that heareth you,bearoth Me; and he that despiseth you, despisethMe. And he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him thatsent Me."*And lest we should be mistaken in distinguishing1 De Corona, C. iii. 2Mark xvi. 15.*Luke x. 16.

UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 23between the true Church and false sects, which ourI ord predicted would arise, He was pleased tostamp upon His Church certain shining marks, bywhich every sincere inquirer could easily recognizeher as His only Spouse. The principal marks orcharacteristics of the true Church are, her Unity,Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity, 1 to whichmay be added the Infallibility of her teaching andthe Perpetuity of her existence.I shall treat successively of these marks.BYCHAPTER II.THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.unityis meant that the members of the trueChurch must be united in the belief of the samedoctrines of revelation, and in the acknowledgmentof the authority of the same pastors. Heresy andschism are opposed to Christian unity. By heresy,a man rejects one or more articles of the Christianfaith.By schism, he spurns the authority of hisspiritual superiors.That our Saviour requires thisunity of faith and government in His members, isevident from various passages of Holy Writ. InHis admirable prayer immediately before His passion, He says I ":pray for them also who through1Symb. Constantinop.

"24 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.their word shall believe in Me;that they all may beone, as Thcu, Father, in Me and I in Thee, that theyalso may be one in Us that the world; may believe1that Thou hast sent Me." Here Jesus prayed thatHis followers may be united in the bond of a common faith, as He and His Father are united in essence, and certainly the prayer of Jesus is alwaysheard.St. Paul ranks schism and heresy with the crimesof murder and idolatry, and he declares that theauthors of sects shall not possess the kingdom ofGod. 2 In his epistleto the Ephesians, he insistsupon unity of faith in the following emphatic lan"guage Be careful to keep the unity of the Spirit:in the bond of peace one ; body and one Spirit, as youare called in one hope of your calling one Lord,;one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,3who is above all, and through all, and in us all."As you all, he says, worship one God, and not manyGods; as you acknowledge the same divine Mediator of redemption, and not many mediators; asyou are sanctified by the same divine Spirit, andnot by many spirits as you all hope for the same;heaven, and not different heavens, so must you allthe same faith.professUnity of isgovernment not less essential to theChurch of Christ than unity of doctrine. OardivineSaviour never speaks of His Churches, butof His Church. He does not say:Uponthis rock1John xvii. 20, 21. 2 Gal. v. 20, 21. 3Ephes. iv. 3-6.

""UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 25I will build my Churches," but, "Uponthis rock I1will build my Church," from which words we mustconclude, that it never was His intention 10 establishor to sanction various conflicting denominations, butone corporate body, with all the members unitedunder one visible Head for as the Church is a visi; ble body, it must have a visible head.The Church is called a "kingdom He shall:reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of Hiskingdom there shall be no 2Now end." in everywell-regulated kingdom there is but one king, oneform of government, one uniform body of law*, whichall are obliged to observe. In like manner, inChrist s spiritual kingdom, there must be one Chiefto whom all owe spiritual allegiance;one form ofecclesiastical government; one uniform body of lawswhich all Christians are bound to observe; for,every kingdom divided against itself shall bemade desolate." zOur Saviour calls His Church a sheepfold. And4there shall be made one fold and one shepherd."What more beautiful or fittingillustration of unitycan we have than that which issuggested by asheepfold? All the sheep of a flock cling together.If they are momentarily separated, they are impatient till reunited. They follow in the same path.They feed on, the same pastures. They obey thesame shepherd, and flyfrom the voice of strangers.1Matt. xvi. 18.o2Luke i.32, 33. 3 Matt. xii. 25.*John x. 16.

26 THE FAITH OF OTJR FATHERS.So did our Lord intend that all the sheep of His foldshould be nourished by the same sacraments and thesame bread of life ;that they should follow the samerule of faith as their guide to heaven ;that theyshould listen to the voice of one Chief Pastor, andthat they should carefully shun false teachers.His Church iscompared to a human body. 1 Inone body there are many members, all inseparablyconnected with the head. The head commands andthe foot instantly moves, the hand is raised and thelips open. Even so our Lord ordained that HisChurch, composed of many members, should be allunited to one supreme visible Head, whom they arebound to obey.The Church iscompared to a vine, all whosebranches, though spreading far and wide, are necessarily connected with the main stem, and fromitssap they are nourished. In like manner, ourSaviour will have all the saplings of His Vineyardconnected with the main stem, and all draw theirnourishment from the parent stock.The Church, in fine, is called in Scripture by thebeautiful2title of bride or spouse of Christ, and theChristian law admits only of one wife.In fact, our common sense alone, apart fromrevelation, is sufficient to convince us that Godcould not be the author of various opposing systemsof religion. God is essentially one. He is Truthitself. How could the God of truth affirm, for in-1Kom. xii. 4, 5. 2Apoc. xzi. 9.

"GodUNITY OF THE CHURCH. 27stance, to one body of Christians that there arethree Persons in God, and to another that there iaonly one Person in God How ? could He say toone individual that Jesus Christ is God, and toman. How can He tellanother that He isonlyme that the punishments of the wicked are eternal,and tell another that they are not eternal ? Oneof these contradictory statements must be false.lis not the God of dissension, but of peace."Hence, it is clear that Jesus Christ intended thatHis Church should have one common doctrine whichall Christians are bound to believe, and one uniformgovernment to which all should be loyally attached.With all due respect for my dissenting brethren,truth compels me to say that this unity of doctrineand governmentis not to be found in the Protestantsects, taken collectively or separately. That thevarious" Protestant denominations differ from oneanother not only in minor details, but in mostessential principles of faith, is evident to every oneconversant with the doctrines of the different Creeds.The multiplicity of sects in this country, with theirmutual recriminations, is the scandal of Christianity,and the greatest obstacle to the conversion of theheathen. Not only does sect differ from sect, buteach particular denomination is divided into twoor more independent or conflicting branches.In the State of North Carolina, we have severalBaptist denominations, each havingits own dis-1 1. Cor. xiv. 33.

"28 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.tinctive appellation. There is also the MethodistChurch North and the Methodist Church South.There was the Old and the New School PresbyterianChurch. And even in the Episcopal Communion,which is the most conservative body outside theCatholic Church, there is the ritualistic, or highchurch, and the low church. Nay, if you questionclosely the individual members composing any onefraction of these denominations, you will not rarelyfind them giving a contradictory view of their tenetsof religion.Protestants differ from one another not only indoctrine, but in the form of ecclesiastical government and discipline.The church of England acknowledges the reigning Sovereign as its SpiritualHead. Some denominations recognize Deacons,Priests, and Bishops as an essential part of theirhierarchy while the great majority of Protestants;reject such titles altogether.Where, then, shall we find this essential unity offaith and government? I answer, confidently, nowhere save in the Catholic Church.The number of Catholics in the world is computedat two hundred and twenty-five millions. They haveall one Lord, one faith, one baptism,"one creed.They receive the same sacraments, they worship atthe same altar, and pay spiritual allegiance to onecommon Head. Should a Catholic be so unfortunate as contumaciously to deny a single articleof faith, or withdraw from the communion of hia

"UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 29legitimate pastors, he ceases to be a member of theChurch, and is cut off like a withered branch. TheChurch had rather sever her right hand than allowany member to corrode her vitals. It was thus sheexcommunicated Henry VIII. because he persistedin violating the sacred law of marriage, althoughshe foresaw that the lustful monarch would involvea nation in his spiritual ruin. She anathematized,more recently, Dr. Dolliuger, though the prestige ofhis name threatened to engender a schism in Germany. She says to her children: "Youmay espouse any political party you choose; with this Ihave no concern." But as soon as they trench on"matters of faith, she cries out : Hitherto thou shaltcome, and shalt go no farther; and here thou shaltbreak thy swelling waves of discord. The ternlpie of faith is the asylum of peace, concord, andunity.How sublime and consoling is the thought, thatwhithersoever a Catholic goes over the broad world,whether he enters his Church in Pekin or in Melbourne, in London, or Dublin, or Paris, or Home, orNew York, or San Francisco, he is sure to hear theself-same doctrine preached, to assist at the same sacrifice, and to partake of the same sacraments.This is not all. Her Creed is now identical withwhat it was in past ages. The same Gospel of peacethat Jesus Christ preached on the Mount ; the samedoctrine that St. Peter preached at Antioch and3*xxxviii. 11.

80 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Rome; St. Paul at Ephesus; St. John Chrysostomat Constantinople St. Augustine in HippoSt. Am; ;brose in Milan ;St. Remigius in France St. Boni;face in Germany; St. Athanasius in Alexandria;the same doctrine that St. Patrick introduced intoIreland; that St. Augustine brought into England,and St. Pelagius into Scotland, is ever preached inthe Catholic Church throughout the globe, fromJanuary till December "Jesus Christ yesterday,aud to-day, and the same forever." lThe same admirable unity that exists in mattersalso established in the government of theAll the members of the vast body of Catholic Christians are as intimately united to one visible Chief as the members of the human body areof faith, isChurch.joined to the head. The faithful of each parishare subject to their immediate Pastor. Each Pastoris subordinate to his Bishop, and each Bishop ofChristendom acknowledges the jurisdictionof theBishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, andHead of the Catholic Church.But itmay be asked, is not this unity of faithimpaired by those doctrinal definitions which theChurch has promulgated from time to time? Weanswer: No new dogma, unknown to the Apostles,not contained in the primitiveChristian revelation,can be admitted. (John xiv. 26; xv. 15; xvi. 13.)For the Apostles received the whole deposit of God sword, according to the promise of our Lord : "When

""UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 31He shall come, the Spirit of truth, He shall teachyou all And truth." so the Church proposes thedoctrines of faith, such as they came from the lipsof Christ, and as the Holy Spirit taught them to theApostles at the birth of the Christian law doctrineswhich know neither variation nor decay.Hence, whenever it has been denned that anypoint of doctrine pertained to the Catholic faith, itwas always understood that this was equivalent tothe declaration that the doctrine in question hadbeen revealed to the Apostles, and had come down tous from them, either by Scripture or tradition. Andas the acts of all the Councils, and the history ofevery definition of faith evidently show, it wasnever contended that a new revelation had beenmade, but every inquiry was directed to this onepoint whether the doctrine in question was contained in the Sacred Scriptures or in the Apostolictraditions.A revealedtruth frequently has a very extensivescope, and is directed against error under its manychanging forms. Nor is it necessary that those whoreceive this revelation in the first instance, should beexplicitly acquainted with its full import, or cognizant of all its bearings. Truth never changes ;it isthe same now, yesterday, and forever, in itself; butour relations towards truth may change, for thatwhich is hidden from us to-day may become knownto us to-morrow. It often happens," says St. Augustine,that when it becomes necessary to defend

THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.certain points of Catholic doctrine against the insidious attacks of heretics, they are more carefullystudied, they become more clearly understood, theyare more earnestly inculcated ; and so the very questions raised by heretics give occasion to a more thorough knowledge of the subject in -question."Let us illustrate this. In the Apostolic revelationand preaching, some truths might have been contained implicitly, e. g., in the doctrine that graceisnecessary for every salutary work, it is implicitlyasserted that the assistance of grace is required forthe inception of every good and salutary work.This was denied by the semi-Pelagians, and theirerror was condemned by an explicit definition.Andso in other matters, as the rising controversies ornew errors gave occasion for it, there were moreexplicit declarations of what was formerly implicitlybelieved.In the doctrine of the supreme power ofPeter, as the visible foundation of the Church, wenave the implied assertion of many rights and dutieswhich belong to the centre of unity. In the revelation of the supereminent dignity and purity of theBlessed Virgin, there isimplied her exemption fromoriginal sin, etc., etc.So, too, in the beginning, many truths might havebeen proposed somewhat obscurely or less clearly;they might have been less urgently insisted upon,because there was no heresy, no contrary teachingto render a more explicit declaration necessary.1 De Civitate Dei, Lib. 16, Cap. ii.,No. 1.

""34 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHEBS.time, as occasions arise, declare, explain, urge. Thiaisproved not only from the Scriptures and theFathers, but even from the conduct of Protestantsthemselves, who often boast of the care and assiduitywith which they search the Scriptures,"and studyout their meaning, even now that so many Commentaries on the sacred Text have been published. Andwhy ? To obtain more light to understand better;what is revealed. It would appear from this thatthe only question which could arise on this point is,not about the possibility of arriving by degrees at aclearer understanding of the true sense of revelation,as circumstances may call for successive developments, but about the authority of the Church topropose and to determine that sense. So that, afterall, we are always brought back to the only realpoint of division and dispute between those who arenot Catholics and ourselves, namely, to the authorityof the Church, of which I shall have more to sayhereafter. I cannot conclude better than by quotingthe words of St. Vincent of Lerins : Let us takecare that it be with us in matters of religion, whichaffect our souls, as it is with material bodies, which,as time goes on, pass through successive phases ofgrowth and development, and multiply their years,but yet remain always the same individual bodies asthey were in the beginning. ... It very properlyfollows from the nature of things that, with a perfectagreement and consistency between the beginningsand the finalresults, when we reap the harvest of

"HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 55dogmatic truth which has sprung from the seeds ofdoctrine sown in the spring-time of the Church sexistence, we should find no substantial differencebetween the grain which was first planted and thatwhich we now gather. For though the germs ofthe early faith have in some respects been evolved,in the course of time, and still receive nourishmentand culture, yet nothing in them that is substantialcan ever suffer change. The Church of Christ is afaithful and ever watchful guardian of thedogmaswhich have been committed to her charge. In thissacred deposit she changes nothing,nothing from it, she adds nothing to it."she takesCHAPTER III.THE HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH.HOLINESS is also a mark of the true Church ;for in the Creed we say,Catholic Church."I believe in the holyEvery society is founded for a special object.One society is formed with the view of cultivatingsocial intercourse among its members a second is;organized to advance their temporal interests and;a third, for the purpose of promoting literary pursuits. The Catholic Church is a society founded byour Lord Jesus Christ for the sanctification of itsmembers; hence, St. Peter calls the Christians of

""""36 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS.histimea chosen generation,a royal priesthood,a holy nation, a purchased peopleThe example of our divine Founder, Jesus Christ,the sublime moral lessons He has taught us, theSacraments He has instituted all tend to oursanctification. Theyall concentre themselves inour soul, like so many heavenly rays, to enlightenand inflame it with the fire of devotion.When the Church speaksto us of the attributesof our Lord, of His justice and mercy and sanctityand truth, her objectis not merely to extol thedivine perfections,but also to exhort us to imitatethem, and to be like Him, just and merciful, holyand truthful. Behold the sublime Model that isplaced before us! It is not man, nor angel, norarchangel, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whois the brightnessof His glory, and the figure of Hissubstance." 2 The Church places His image overour altars, admonishing us to look and do according to the *pattern shown on the mount." And fromthat height He seems to say to us "Be : ye holy, for I4"the Lord your God am holy."Be ye perfect, evenas your heavenlyFather isperfect."8 "Beye followers of God as most dear children." *We are invited to lead holy lives, not only because our divine Founder, Jesus Christ, was holy,but also because we bear His sweet and venerablename. We are called Christians. That is a name1 I. Pet. ii. 9.* Lev. xix. 2.2Heb. i. 3.* Matt. v. 48. Eph.sExod. xxv. 40.v. 1.

HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 37we would not exchange for all the high-soundingtitles of Prince or Emperor. We are justly proudof this appellation of Christian; but we are remindedthat it has annexed to it a corresponding obligation.It is not an idle name, but one full of solemn significance; for a Christian, as the very name implies, isa follower or disciple of Christ one who walks inthe footsteps of His Master by observing His precepts who reproduces in his own life the character;and virtues of his divine Model. In a word, a Christian is another Christ. It would, therefore, be a contradiction in terms, if a Christian had nothing incommon with his Lord except the name. Tho disciple should imitate his Master, the soldier shouldimitate his Commander, and the members should belike the Head.The Church constantly allures her children to holiness by placing before their minds the Incarnation, life and death of our Saviour. What appealsmore forcibly to a life of piety than the contemplation of Jesus born in a stable, living an humble lifein Nazareth, dying on a cross, that His blood mightpurify us! If He sent forth Apostles to preach theGospel to the whole world if in His name; templesare built in every nation, and missionaries are sentto the extremities of the globe, all this is done thatwe may be saints. God, says St. Paul, "gave someApostles, and some Prophets, and others Evangelists, and others Pastors and Doctors,for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for4

""38 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the building up of the body of Christ, until we allmeet unto the unity of faith and of the knowledgeof the Son of God unto a perfectman." lThe moral law which the Catholic Church inculcates on her children, is the highest and holieststandard of perfection ever presented to any people,and furnishes the strongest incentives to virtue.The same divine precepts delivered through Mosesto the Jews, on Mount Sinai, the same salutary warnings which the prophets uttered throughout Judea,the same sublime and consoling lessons of moralitywhich Jesus gave on the Mount, these are the lessonswhich the Church teaches from January till December. The Catholic preacher does not amuse his audience with speculative topics or political harangues,or any other subjects of a transitory nature. Hepreaches only Christ, and Him crucified."This code of divine precepts is enforced with asmuch zeal by the Church as was the Decalogue ofold by Moses, when he said : These words, which Icommand thee this day, shall be in thy heart; andthou shalt tell them to thy children and thou;shaltmeditate upon them, sitting in thy house, and walkingon thy journey, sleeping, and rising."The first lesson taught to children in our Sundayschoolsis their duty to know, love, and serve God,and thus to be saints ;for if they know, love, andserve God aright, they shall be saints indeed.tender minds are instructed in this great2Theiitruth that,1Ephes. iv. 11-13. 2 Deut. vi. 6, 7.

""HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 39though they had the riches of Dives, and the gloryand pleasures of Solomon, and yet fail to be saints,they have missed their vocation, and are wretched,and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." 1For, what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole"2world and lose his own soul ? On the contrary,though they are as poor as Lazarus, and as miserable as Job in the days of his adversity, they areassured that their condition is a happy one in thesight of God, if they live up to the maxims of theGospel.The Church quickens the zeal of her children forholiness of lifeby impressing on their minds therigor of God s judgments, who "willbring to lightthe hidden things of darkness, and make manifestthe counsels of the hearts," by reminding them ofthe terrors of Hell and of the sweet joys of Heaven.Not only are Catholics instructed in church onSundays, but they are exhorted to peruse the Wordof God, and manuals of devotion, at home. Thesaints whose lives are there recorded, serve likebright stars to guide them over the stormy ocean oilife to the shores of eternity ;while the history oithose who have fallen from grace, stands like a beacon light, warning them to shun the rocks againstwhich a Solomon and a Judas made shipwreck oftheir souls.Our books of piety are adapted to every want ofthe human soul, and are a fruitful source of sanctifi-1Apoc. iii. 7.fMatt. xvi. 2fi

40 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Ration.Who can read without spiritual profit suchworks as the almost inspired Following of Christ, byThomas a Kempis ;the Christian Perfectionriguez; the Spiritual Combat of Scupoli ;the writing?of St. Francis de Sales, and a countless host of otherascetical authors?You will search in vain outside the CatholicChurch for writers comparable in unction andhealthy piety to such as I have mentioned. .Comof Rodpare, for instance, Kempis with Bunyan s PilgrimsProgress, or Butler s Lives of the Saints with Fox sBook of Martyrs. You lay down Butler with a sweetand tranquil devotion, and with a profound admiration for the Christian heroes whose lives he records ;while you put aside Fox with a troubled mind anda sense of vindictive bitterness. I do not speak of theBook of Common Prayer, because the best part of ita translation from our Missal.Protestants also publish Kempis, though sometimes in a mutilated form ;every passage in the original being carefully omittedwhich alludes to Catholic doctrines and practices.A distinguished Episcopal clergyman of Baltimoreonce avowed to me that his favorite book? of devotion were our standard works of piety. L? sayingthis, he paid a merited and graceful tribute to thesuperiority of Catholic spiritual literature.The Church gives us not only the most pressingmotives, but also the most potent means for oursanctification. These means are furnished by prayerand the Sacraments. She exhorts us to frequentis

""""HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 41communion with God by prayer and meditation ,and so imperative is this obligation in our eyes,that we would justly hold ourselves guilty of gravedereliction of duty, if we neglected for a considerabletime the practice of morning and evening prayer.The most abundant source of gracesis also foundin the seven Sacraments of the Church. Our soul isbathed in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ at thefont of Baptism, from which we come forth newcreatures." We are then and there incorporated withChrist, becoming bone of His bone and flesh of His" "flesh ;for as many of you," says the Apostle, ashave been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ." *And as the Holy Ghost isinseparablefrom Christ,our bodies are made the temples of the Spirit ofGod, and our souls His Sanctuary. Christ lovedthe Church and delivered Himself upfor it, that Hemight sanctify it, cleansingitby the laver of water,in the word of life ;that He might presentit toHimself a glorious Church, not having spot orwrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be2holy and without blemish."In Confirmation, we receive new graces and newof life.strength to battle against the temptationsIn the Eucharist, we are fed with the living Breadwhich cometh down from heaven.In Penance are washed away the stains we havecontracted after Baptism.Are we called to the Sacred Ministry, or to the1 Gal. iii. 27. Eph. v. 25-27.4*

""42 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.married stale, we find in the Sacraments of Ordersand Matrimony, ample graces corresponding with thecondition of life which we have embraced.And our last illness is consoled by Extreme Unction, wherein we receive the divine succor necessaryto fortifyand purify us before departing from thisworld.In a word, the Church, like a watchful mother,accompanies us from the cradle to the grave, supplying us at each step with the medicine of life andimmortality.As the Church offers to her children the strongestmotives and the most powerful means -for attainingto sanctity of life, so does she reap among themthe most abundant fruits of holiness. In every ageand country she is the fruitful mother of saints.Our Ecclesiastical calendar is not confined to thenames of the twelve Apostles. It is emblazonedwith the lists of heroic martyrs who were storied,and cut asunder, and put to death by the sword ;of innumerable confessors and hermits who left allthings and followed Christ ;of spotless virgins whoof heaven spreserved their chastity for the kingdomsake. Every day in the isyear consecrated in ourMartyrology to a large number of saints.And in our own times, in every quarter of theglobe and in every department of life, the Churchcontinues to raise up saints worthy of the primitivedays of Christianity.Heh xi. 37.

HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 43If we seek for Apostles,we find them conspicuouslyamong the Bishops of Germany, who are now displaying in prison and in exile a serene heroismworthy of Peter and Paul.Every year records the tortures of Catholic Missionerswho die Martyrs to the faith in China, Corea,and other Pagan countries.Among her confessorsare numbered those devotedpriests who, abandoning home and family ties, annually go forth to preach the Gospel in foreignlauds. Their worldly possessionsare often confinedto a few books of devotion and their modest apparel.And who is a stranger to her consecrated virgin*,those sisters of various Orders who in every largecity of Christendom are daily reclaiming degradedwomen from a life of shame, and bringing them backto the sweet influences of religion who snatch the;abandoned offspring of sin from temporal and spiritual death, and make them pious and useful members of society, becoming more than mothers tothem ;who rescue children from ignorance, and instil into their minds the knowledge and love of God.We can point to numberless saints also among thelaity.I dare assert, that in almost every congregation in the Catholic world, men and women are to befound who exhibit a fervent piety and a zeal lorreligion which render them worthy of being namedafter the Annas, the Aquilas, and the Priscillas ofthe New Testament. Theyattract not indeed theadmiration of the public,because true piety is unos-

44 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS,tentatious, and seeks aGod."It rniret"life hidden with Christ innot be imagined that, in proclaiming thesanctity of the Church, I am attempting to provethat all Catholics are holy. I am sorry to confessthat corruption of morals is too often found amongprofessing Catholics. We cannot close our eyesto the painful fact that toomany of them, far fromliving up to the teachings of their Church, aresources of melancholy scandal. "It must be thatscandals come, but woe to him by whom the scandal cometh."I also admit that the sin of Catholicsis more heinous in the sight of God than that oftheir separated brethren, because they abuse moregrace.But it should be borne in mind that neither Godnor His Church forces any man s conscience. Toall He says by the mouth of His Prophet: "BeholdI set before you the way of life and the way ofdeath," (Jer. xxi. 8.) The choice rests with yourselves.It iseasy to explain why so many disedifyingmembers arealways found clinging to the robes ofthe Church, their spiritual Mother, and why shenever shakes them off, nor disowns them as her children. The Church is animated by the spirit of herFounder, Jesus Christ. He "came into this worldto save sinners." 2 He "came not to call the justbut sinners to repentance." He, was the Friend of1 Coloss. iii. 3.a I. Tim. i. 15.

"HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 45Publicans and Sinners that He might make them thefriends of God. And they clung to Him, knowingHis compassion for them.The Church, walking in the footsteps of her divineSpouse, never repudiates sinners, nor cuts them offfrom her fold, no matter how grievous or notoriousmay oe their moral delinquencies ; not because sheconnives at their sin, but because she wishes to reclaim them. She bids them never to despair, andtries, at least, to weaken their passions, if she cannot altogether reform their lives.Mindful also of the words of our Lord : The poorhave the Gospel preached to lthem," the Churchhas a tender compassion for the victims of poverty,which has its train of peculiar temptations and infirmities. Hence, the poor and the sinners cling tothe Church, as they clung to our Lord during Hismortal life.We know, on the other hand, that sinners who areguilty of gross crimes which shock public decency,are virtually excommunicated from Protestant Communions. And as for the poor, the public pressoften complains that little or no provisionis madefor them in Protestant Churches. A gentleman informed me that he never saw a poor person enter aiiEpiscopal Church which was contiguous to his residence.These excluded sinners and victims of penuryeither abandon Christianity altogether, or find1Matt. xi. 5.

"46 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERSrefuge in the bosom of their true Mother, the Catholic Church, who, like her divine Spouse, claims theafflicted as her most cherished inheritance. Theparables descriptive of this Church which our Lordemployed, also clearly teach us that the good andbad shall be joined together in the Church as longas her earthly mission lasts. The kingdom of Godis like a field in which the cockle is allowed to growup with the good seed until the harvest-time 1it is;like a net which encloses goodfish and bad untilthe hour of separation comes. 2So, too, the Churchis that great house 3 in which there are not onlyvessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and(day.The Fathers repeat the teaching of Scripture.St. Jerome says:The ark of Noah was a type ofthe Church. As every kind of animal was in that,so in this there are men of every race and character.As in that were the leopard and the kids, the wolfand the lambs, so in this there are to be found thejust and the sinful, that is, vessels of gold and silveralong with those of wood and clay."St. Gregory the Great writes "Because in it : (theChurch) the good are mingled with the bad, thereprobate with the elect, it is rightly declared to be5similar to the wise and the foolish virgins."Listen to St. Augustine:4"Let the mind recallthe threshing-floor containing straw and wheat ;the1 Matt. xiii. 2-1-37.2 Ibid. xiii. 47.3 II. Tim. ii. 20.4 Dial, contra Lucif.6Horn. 12, in Evang.

"HOLINESS OF THE CHTTKCH. 47nets in which are inclosed good and bad fish ;theark of Noah in which were clean and uncleananimals, and you will see that the Church fromnow until the judgment day contains not only sheepand oxen, that is, saintly laymen and holy ministers,but also the beasts of the field.. . . For the beastsof the field are men who take delight in carnalpleasures, the field being that broad way which leadslto perdition"The occasional scandals existing among membersof the Church do not invalidate or impair her claimto the title of sanctity. The spots on the sun do notmar his brightness. Neither do the moral stains ofsome members sully the brilliancy of her whocometh forth as the morning star, fair as the moon,bright as the 2sun." The cockle that grows amidstthe wheat does not destroy the beauty of the ripenedharvest. The sanctity of Jesus was not sullied bythe presence of Judas in the Apostolic College.Neither can the moral corruption of a few disciplestarnish the holiness of the Church. St. Paul callsthe Church of Corinth a congregation of saints,8though he reproves some scandalous members amongthem. 4It cannot be denied that corruption of morals prevailed in the sixteenth century to such an extent asto callfor a sweeping reformation, and that laxityof discipline invaded even the sanctuary.But how was this reformation of morals to be1lu Pa. viii., n. 13.* Cant. vi. 9. I. Cor. i.* I. Cor. *.

48 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.effected? Was it to be accomplished by a forceoperating inside the Church, or outside? 1 answer, that the proper way of carrying out this reformation, was by battling against iniquity withinthe Church ;for there was not a single weaponwhich men could use in waging war with viceoutside the Church, which they could not wieldwith more effective power when fighting under theauthority of the Church. The true weapons of anApostle, at all times, have been personal virtue,prayer, preaching, and the Sacraments. Every genuine reformer had those weapons at his disposalwithin the Church.She possesses, at all times, not only the principleof undying vitality, but, besides, all the elements ofreformation, and all the means of sanctification,With the weapons I have named, she purified morals in the first century, and ith the same wT weaponsshe went to work with a right good will, and effected a moral reformation in the sixteenth century.She was the only effectual spiritual reformer of thatageẆhat was theCouncil of Trent but a great reforming tribunal? Most of its decrees are directedto the reformation of abuses among the clergy andthe laity,and the salutary fruits of its legislationare reaped even to this day.St Charles Borromeo, the nephew of a reigningPope, was the greatest reformer of his time. Iliawhole Episcopal career was spent in elevating themorals of his clergy and people. Bartholomew,

HOLINESS OF THE CHUBCH. 49Archbishop of Braga, in Portugal, preached an incessant crusade against iniquity in high and lowplaces.St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Alphonsus,with their companions, were conspicuous and successful reformers throughout Europe. St. Philip Ncriwas called the modern Apostle of Rome, because ofhis happy efforts in dethroning vice in that city.All these Catholic Apostles preached by example aswell as by word.Luther and Calvin, and Zuinglius andHow doKnox, and Henry VIII. compare with these genuine and saintly reformers, both as to their moralcharacter and the fruit of their labors? The private lives of these pseudo-reformers were stained bycruelty, rapine, and licentiousness; and as the resultof their propagandism, history records civil wars,and bloodshed, and bitter religious strife, and thedismemberment of Christianity into a thousand sects.Instead of co-operating with the lawful authorities in extinguishing the flames which the passionsof men had enkindled in the city of God, thesefaithless citizens flyfrom the citadel which theyhad vowed to defend ;then joining the enemy, theyhasten back to fan the conflagration, and to increasethe commotion. And they overturn the very altarsbefore which they previously sacrificed as consecrated1They sanctioned rebellion by underminingpriests.the principle of authority.priests.Luther, Zuinglius, and Knox had been ordained1Calvin had studied for the priesthood, but did not receiveOrders5 D

"50 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.What a noble opportunity they lost of earningfor themselves immortal honors from God and man!If, instead of raising the standard of revolt, they hadwaged war upon their own passions, and fought withthe Catholic reformers against impiety, they wouldbe hailed as true soldiers of the cross.Theywould be welcomed by the Pope, the Bishops andclergy, and by all good men. They might be honored to-day on our altars, and might have a nichein our temples, side by side with those of CharlesBorromeo and Ignatius Loyola; and instead of adivided army of Christians, we should behold today a united Christendom, spreading itself irresistibly from nation to nation, and bringing allkingdoms to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.CHAPTER IV.CATHOLICITY.r PHAT Catholicity is a prominent note of theJL Church, is evident from the Apostles Creed,which says. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church/The word Catholic, or Universal, signifies that thetrue Church is not circumscribed in its extent, likehuman empires, nor confined to one race of people,like the Jewish Church, but that she is diffused overevery nation of the globe, and counts her childrenamong all tribes and peoples and tongues of theearth.

""From"""CATHOLICITY. 51This glorious Church is foreshadowed by thePsalmist, when he sings:All the ends of the earthshall be converted to the Lord, and all the kindredsof the Gentiles shall adore in His sight for the;kingdom is the Lord s, and He shall have dominionover the nations." 1 The Prophet Malachy saw inthe distant future this world-wide Church, when Hewrote :the rising of the sun, to the goingdown, My name is great among the Gentiles and;in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offeredto My name a clean oblation ;for My name is greatamong the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts." 2When our Saviour gave commission to HisApostles, He assigned to them the whole world asthe theatre of their labors, and the entire humanrace, without regard to language, color, or nationality, as the audience to whom they were to preach.This is evident from the following passages: Goye, therefore, and teach all nations" 3 Go " ye intothe whole world, and preach the Gospel to everycreature." 4 Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in"Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and evento the uttermost 6part of the earth"And so it came to pass. The Apostles scatteredthemselves over the surface of the earth, preachingthe Gospel of Christ. Their sound," says St. Paul,went over all the earth, and their words unto theends of the whole world." 6j>Ps.xii.*Mark xvi. 15.2Mal. i. 11.3 Matt. xxviii. 19.6Acts i. 8. Kom. x. 18.

"52 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS.St. Justin Martyr, was able to say, about onehundred years after Christ, that there was no raceof men, whether Barbarians or Greeks, or any otherpeople of what name soever, among whom the nameof Jesus Christ was not invoked.And St. Irenseus,writing at the end of the second century, tells usthat the religion so marvellously propagated throughout the whole world, was not a vague, ever-chaDging"form of Christianity, but that this faith and doctrine and tradition preached throughout the globeis as uniform as if the Church consisted of onefamily, possessing one soul and heart, and as if shehad but one mouth. For, though the languages ofthe world are dissimilar, her doctrine is the same.The churches founded in Germany,in the Celticnations, in the East, in Egypt, in Lybia, and in thecentres of civilization, do not differ from each other ;but as the sun gives the same light throughout theworld, so does the light of faith shine everywhere thesame, and enlighten all men who wish to come tothe knowledge of the truth." 1 "We are but ofyesterday," says Tertullian, and already have wefilled your cities, towns, islands, your council-hallsand camps,. . . the palace, senate, forum : we haveleftyou only the atemples."This Catholicity, or universality, is not to befound in any, or in all, of the combined communionsseparated from the Roman Catholic Church.The Schismatic churches of the East have noAdv. Hser., 1. 1. Apologet., c. 37.

"CATHOLICITX. 53claim to this title, because they are confined withiothe Turkish and Russian dominions, and number notmore than sixty millions of souls.The Protestant churches, even taken collectively,(as separate communions they are a mere handful,)are too insignificant in point of numbers, and toocircumscribed in their territorial extent, to have anypretensions to the title of Catholic. All the Protestant denominations are estimated at sixty-five millions, or less than one-fifth of those who bear theChristian name. They repudiate, moreover, and protest against the name of Catholic, though they continue to say in the Apostles Creed, I believe inthe Holy Catholic Church."That the Roman Catholic Church alone deservesthe name of Catholic is so evident, that it is ridiculousto deny it. Ours is the only Church which adoptsthis name as her official title. We have possession,which is nine-tenths of the law. We have exclusively borne this glorious appellation in troubledtimes, when the assumption of this venerable titleexposed us to insult, persecution, and death; and toattempt to deprive us of it at this late hour, wouldbe as fruitless as the efforts of the French Revolutionists, who sought to uproot all traces of the old civilization by assigning new names to the days and seasonsof the year.Passion and prejudice and bad manners may aftixon us the epithets of Romish and Papist and Ultramontane, but the calm, dispassionate mind, of what-5*

"54 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.ever faith, allthe world over, knows us only by thename of Catholic. .So greatis the charm attached to the name ofCatholic, that a portion of the Episcopal body sometimes usurp the title of Catholic, though in their official books they are named Protestant Episcopalians.If they think that they have any just claim tothe name of Catholic, why not come out openlyand write it on the title-pages of their Bibles andPrayer-Books ? Afraid of going so far, they gratifytheir vanity by privately calling themselves Catholics.But the delusion is so transparent, that the attemptmust provoke a smile even among themselves.Should a stranger ask one of them to direct himto the Catholic Church, they would instinctivelypoint out to him the Eoman Catholic Church.The sectarians of the fourth and fifth centuries,as St, Augustine tells us, used to attempt the samepious fraud, but signally failed :We must hold fast to the Christian religion, andto the communion of that Church which is Catholic,and which is called Catholic not only by those whobelong to her, but also by all her enemies. Whetherthey will it or not, the very heretics themselves, andfollowers of schism, when they convert, not withtheir own, but with outsiders, call that only Catholicwhich is really Catholic. For they cannot be understood, unless they distinguish her by that name, bywhich she is known throughout the whole earth." 1St. Aug. de Ver. Bel., c. 7, n. 12.

CATHOLICITY. 53We possess not only the name, but also the reality.A single illustration will suffice to exhibit ina strong light the wide-spread dominion of the Catholic Church, and her just claims to the title ofCatholic. Take the Ecumenical Council of theVatican, opened in 1869, and presided over byPope Pius IX. Of the thousand Bishops and upwards now comprising the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, nearly eight hundred attended theopening session, the rest being unavoidably absent.All parts of the habitable globe were representedat the Council.The Bishops assembled from Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, and from almost every nation and principality in Europe.They met from Canada, the United States, Mexico,and South America, and from the islands of theAtlantic and the Pacific. They were gathered together from different parts of Africa and Oceanica.They went from the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the cradle of the human race and;fromthe banks of the Jordan, the cradle of Christianity. They travelled to Rome from Mossul, builtnear ancient Nineveh, and from Bagdad, foundedon the ruins of Babylon. They flocked from Damascus and Mount Libanus, and from the HolyLand, sanctified by the footprints of our BlessedRedeemer.Those Bishops belonged to every form of government,from the republic to the most absolute mon-

"66 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.archy. 1Their faces were marked by almost everyshade and color that distinguish the human family.They spoke every civilized language under the sun.Kneeling together in the same great Council-Hall,truly could those Prelates exclaim, in the languageof the "Apocalypse Thou hast redeemed : us, OLord, to God inThy blood, out of every tribe, andtongue, and apeople, and nation."What the Catholic Church lostby the religiousrevolution of the sixteenth century in the old world,she has more than regained by the immense accessions to her ranks in the East and West Indies, inNorth and South America.Never, in her long history, was she numericallyso strong as she is at the present moment, when herchildren amount to about two hundred and twentyfivemillions, or double the number of those who bearthe name of Christians outside of her communion.In her alone is literally fulfilled the magnificentprophecy of Malachy ; for in every clime, and inevery nation under the sun, are erected thousandsof Catholic altars "8upon which the clean oblationis daily offered up to the Most High.It is said, with truth, that the sun never sets onBritish dominions. It may also be affirmed, with1Does not this fact conclusively demonstrate the truth thatthe Catholic Church can subsist under every form of government? And is it not an eloquent refutation of the oft-repeated calumny that a republic is not a favorable soil foiher development ?3Apoc. v. 9. 8 Malachy i. 11.

"HowCATHOLICITY. 57equal assurance, that wherever the British drum-beatsounds, aye, and wherever the English language isspoken, there you will find the English-speaking Catholic Missionary planting the cross the symbol ofsalvationside by side with the banner of St. George.Quite recently, a number of European emigrantsarrived in Richmond. They were strangers to ourcountry, to our customs, and to our language.Every object that met their eye sadly remindedthem that they were far from their own sunnyItaly.But when they saw the cross surmountingour Cathedral, they hastened to it with a joyfulstep. I saw and heard a group of them givingearnest expression to their deep emotions. Entering this sacred temple, they felt that they hadfound an oasis in the desert. Once more theywere at home. They found one familiar spot ina strange land. They stood in the church of theirfathers, in the home of their childhood and; theyseemed to say in their hearts, as a tear trickleddown their sunburnt cheeks,lovely areThy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts !My soul longethand fainteth for the courts of the Lord. Myheart and my flesh have rejoiced in the livingGod." l They saw around them the paintings offamiliar saints whom they had been accustomedto reverence from their youth. They saw the baptismal font and the confessionals. They beheldthe altar and the altar-rails where they received1 Ps. Ixxxiii.

"58 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.their Maker. They observed the Priest at the altar in his sacred vestments. They saw a multitudeof worshippers kneeling around them, and theyfelt in their heart of hearts that they were oncemore among brothers and sisters, with whom theyhad "oneLord, one faith, one baptism, one Godand Father of all."Everywhere a Catholic is at home. Secret societies, of whatever name, form but a weak and counterfeit bond of union, compared with the genuine fellowship created by Catholic faith, hope, and charity.The Koman Catholic Church, then, exclusivelymerits the title of Catholic, because her childrenabound in every part of the globe, and comprisethe vast majority of the Christian family.CHAPTER V.APOSTOLICITY.yPHE true Church must be Apostolical. HenceJL in the Creed framed in the first EcumenicalCouncil of Nicsea, in the year 325, we find thesewords : I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, andApostolic Church."This attribute or note of theChurch implies thatthe true Church must always teach the identicaldoctrines once delivered by the Apostles, and thather ministers must derive their powers from theA.postles by an uninterrupted succession.

"Though"APOSTOLICITT. 59Consequently, no church can claim to be the trueone whose doctrines differ from those of the Apostles, or whose ministers are unable to trace, by anunbroken chain, their authority to an Apostolicsource ; just as our Minister to England can exerciseno authority in that country unless he is duly commissioned by our Government, and represents itsviews.The Church, says St. Paul, is "built upon the1foundation of the Apostles," so that the doctrinewhich itpropagates, must be based on Apostolicteachings. Hence St. Paul says to the Galatians :an angel from heaven preach a Gospel toyou beside that which we have preached to you, lethim be anathema." 2 The same Apostle gives this"admonition toTimothy The : things which thouhast heard from me before many witnesses, the samecommend to faithful men who shall be fit to teachothers also." 8 Timothymust transmit to his disciples only such doctrines as he heard from the lipsof his master.Not onlyis it required that ministers of the Gospel should conform their teaching to the doctrine ofthe Apostles, but also that these ministers should be"ordained and commissioned by the Apostles or theirlegitimate successors. Neither doth any man,"says the Apostle, take the honor to himself, but hethat is called by God, as Aaron * was." This textevidently condemns all self-constituted preachers1Eph. ii. 20. *Gal. i. 8. 8 II. Tim. ii. 2. *Heb. v. 4

""how60 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.and reformers ; for, shall they preach, unless1they be sent?" Sent, of course, by legitimate authority, and not directed by their own caprice.Hence, we find that those who succeeded the Apostles, were ordained and commissioned by them topreach, and that no others were permitted to exercisethis function. Thus we are told that Paul andBarnabas had ordained for them priests in everychurch." 2 And the Apostle says to Titus "For:this cause I left thee in Crete, .... that thoushouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed3 thee." Even St. Paul himself, thoughmiraculously called and instructed by God, hadhands imposed on him,* lest others should be temptedby his example to preach without Apostolic warrant.To discover, therefore, the Church of Christ amongthe various conflicting claimants, we have to inquire,1st, which church teaches whole and entire those doctrines that were taught by the Apostles ; 2d, whatministerscan trace back, in an unbroken line, theirmissionary powers to the Apostles.The Catholic Church alone teaches doctrines whichare in all respects identical with those of the firstteachers of the Gospel. The following parallel linesexhibit some examples of the departure of the Protestant bodies from the primitive teachings of Christianity,and the faithful adhesion of the CatholieChurch to them.1Bom. x. 15.aActs xiv. 22.3 Tit. i. 5.4Acts xiii. 2. 3.

APOSTOLICITY.GlAKWTOLIC OHUBCH.

AFOSTOLJO CHUKCH.THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.

APOSTOLIC CHUECH.APOSTOLICTTY. 63

64 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

""APOSTOLICITY. 65toHenry VIII. of England. The immediate causeof his renunciation of the Roman Church was therefusal of Pope Clement VII. to grant him a divorcefrom his lawful wife, Catharine of Aragon, that hemight be free to be joined in wedlock to AnneBoleyn. In order to legalize his divorce from hisvirtuous queeu, the licentious monarch divorcedhimself and his kingdom from the spiritual supremacy of the Pope.There is a close relationship," says D Aubigne*,"between these two divorces," meaning Henry sdivorce from his wife and Englands divorce fromthe Church. Yes, there is the relationship of causeand effect.Bishop Short, an Anglican historian, candidly admits that the existence of the church of Englandas a distinct body, and her final separation fromRome, may be dated from the 1period of the divorce."The Book of Homilies, in the language of fulsomepraise, calls "Henry the true and faithful minister,"and gives him the credit for having abolished inEngland the Papal supremacy, and established the2new order of things.John Wesleyis the acknowledged founder of theMethodist church. Methodism dates from the year1729, and its cradle was the Oxford University IDEngland. John and Charles Wesley were students1History of the Church of England, by Thomas V. Short,Bishop of St. Asaph s, p. 44.afiook of Homilies.

66 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.at Oxford. They gathered arouDd them a numbeiof young men who devoted themselves to the frequent reading of the Holy Scriptures, and to prayerTheir methodical and exact mode of life obtainedfor them the name of Methodists. The Methodistchurch in this country is the offspring of a colonysent hither from England.^As it would be tedious to give even a succincthistory of each sect, I shall content myself with presenting a tabular statement exhibiting the nameand founder of each denomination, the place andthedate of its origin, and the names of the authorsfrom whom I quote. My authorities in every instance are Protestants.

,APO8TOLICITY. 67gfrlf3foII.52}?S =5 1 r= T:iIII |ri ii li=s: 8 * *!ii f i ft I. iif *iBB 2:f^f!lIi! ! !i-II;j 5 |3 SM3"5-5"

68 THE FAITH OP OUB PATHEB&From this brief historical tableau, we find that allthe Christian sects now existing in the United Stateshad their origin since the year 1500. Consequently,the oldest body of Christians among us, outside theCatholic Church, is not yet four centuries old. Theyall, therefore, come fifteen centuries too late to haveany pretensions to be called the Apostolic Church."But I may be told :Though our public historyas Protestants dates from the Reformation, we cantrace our origin back to the Apostles."This I sayis impossible. First of all, the very name you bearbetrays your recent birth for who;ever heard of aBaptist or an Episcopal, or any other Protestantchurch, prior to the Reformation? Nor can yousay: "We existed in every age as an invisiblechurch." Your concealment, indeed, was so complete, that no man can tell, to this day, where youlay hid for sixteen centuries. But even if you didexist, you could not claim to be the Church ofChrist; for our Lord predicted that His Churchshould ever be as a city placed upon the mountaintop,that all might see it, and that its ministersshould preach the truths of salvation from thewatch-towers thereof, that all might hear them.It isequally in vain to tell me that you were allied in faith to the various Christian sects that wentout from the Catholic Church from age to age ;forthese sects proclaimed doctrines diametrically opposed to one another, and the true Church must beone in faith. And besides, the less relationship you

APOSTOLICTTY. 69claim with many of these seceders, the better foryou, as they all advocated errors against Christiantruth, and some of them disseminated principles atvariance with decency and morality.The Catholic Church, on the contrary, can easilyvindicate the title of Apostolic, because she derivesher origin from the Apostles. Every Priest andBishop can trace his genealogy to the first disciples of Christ with as much facility as the mostremote branch of a vine can be traced to the mainstem.All the Catholic Clergy in the United States, forinstance, were ordained only by Bishops who are hiactive communion with the See of Rome. TheseBishops themselves received their commission fromthe Bishop of Rome. The present Bishop of Rome,Pius IX., is the successor of Gregory XVI., who succeeded Pius VIII., who was the successor of LeoXII. And thus we go back from century to century till we come to Peter, the firstBishop of Rome,Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Christ. Likethe Evangelist Luke, who tracesthe genealogy ofour Saviour back to Adam and to God, we can tracethe pedigree of Pius IX. to Peter and to Christ.There is not a link wanting in the chain whichbinds the humblest Priest in the land to the Princeof the Apostles. And although on a few occasionsthere happened to be two or even three claimantsfor the chair of Peter, these counter-claims could nomore affect the validity of the legitimate Pope than

"70 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the struggle of two contestants for the Presidencycould invalidate the title of the recognized chiefMagistrate.It was by pursuing this line of argument thatthe early Fathers demonstrated the Apostolicity ofthe Catholic Church, and refuted the pretensions ofcotemporary sectaries. St. Irenseus, Tertullian, andSt. Augustine give catalogues of the Bishops ofRome who flourished up to their respective times,with whom it was their happiness to be in communion, and fhen they challenged their opponentsto trace their lineage to the Apostolic See. "Letthem," says Tertullian, in the second century, produce the origin of their church. Let them exhibitthe succession of their Bishops, so that the first ofthem may appear to have been ordained by anApostle, or by an apostolic man who was in communionwith the Apostles"1And if the Fathers of the fifth century consideredit a powerful argument in their favor that theycould refer to an uninterrupted line of fifty Bishops who occupied the See of Rome, how muchstronger is the argument to us who can now exhibit five times that number of Roman Pontiffswho have sat in the chair of Peter! I would affectionately repeat to my separated brethren whatAugustine said to the Donatists of his time " : Cometo us, brethren, if you wish to be engrafted in thevine. We are afflicted in beholding you lying cut1 Lib. de Praescrip., c. 32.

"Thou. CHAPTERPERPETUITY. 71off from it. Count over the Bishops from the verySee of St. Peter, and mark, in that list of Fathers,how one succeeded che other. This is the rockagainst which the proud gates of hell do not prevail."lT)ERPETUITY,VI.PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH.or duration till the end of time,-L is one of the most striking marks of the ChurchBy perpetuity is not meant merely that Christianityin one form or another was always to exist, but thatthe Church was to remain forever in its integrity,clothed with all the attributes which God gaveit iDthe beginning. For, if the Church lost any of heressential characteristics, such as her unity andsanctity, which our Lord imparted to her at thecommencement of her existence, she could not besaid to be perpetual, because she would not be thesame Institution.The unceasing duration of the Church of Christ isfrequently foretold in Sacred Scripture. The AngelGabriel announces to Mary that Christ "shallreignover the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdomthere shall be no end." Our Saviour said to Peter .zart Peter, and upon this rock I will buildMy Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail1Psal. contra part Donati.2Luke i. 32, 33.

"""""72 TiJE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.1against Our blessed Lord it." clearly intimateshere that the Church is destined to be assailedalways, but to be overcome, never.In the last words recorded of our Redeemer in theGospel of St. Matthew, the same predictionisstrongly repeated, and the reason of the Church aindefectibility is "fully expressed Go : ye, teach all.... and behold I am with you all days,nations,even to the consummation of the world." 2 This sentence contains three important declarations : 1st, Thepresence of Christ with His Church, Behold, I amwith you ;2d. His constant presence, without aninterval of one day s absence, I am with you alldays ;3d. His perpetual presence to the end of theworld, and consequently the perpetual duration of theChurch, Even to the consummation of the world."Hence it follows that the true Church must haveexisted from the beginning;it must have had notone day s interval of suspended animation, or separation from Christ, and must live to the end of time.None of the Christian communions outside theCatholic Church can have any reasonable claim toPerpetuity, since, as we have seen in the precedingchapter, they are all8 of recent origin.The indestructibility of the Catholic Church istruly marvellous, and well calculated to excite theadmiration of every reflecting mind, when we consider the number and variety, and the formidablepower ol the enemies with whom she had to contend1 Matt. xvi. 18.2 Matt, xxviii. 20.8Except some Oriental sects dating back to the fifth andninth centuries.

PERPETUITY. 73from her very birth to the present time; this factalone stamps divinity on her brow.The Church has been constantly engaged in adouble warfare, one foreign, the other domestic inforeign war against Paganism and infidelity ; incivil strife against heresy and schism fomented byher own rebellious children.From the day of Pentecost till the victory ofConstantine the Great overMaxentius, embracing aperiod of about two hundred and eighty years, theChurch underwent a series of ten persecutionsunparalleled for atrocity in the annals of history.Every torture that malice could invent was resorted to, that every vestige of Christianity mightbe eradicated. "Christianas ad leones" the Chris-Hans to the lions, was the popular war-cry.They were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, andthus exposed to be devoured by dogs. They werecovered with pitch, and set on fire, to serve as lampposts to the streets of Rome. To justify such atrocities, and to smother all sentiments of compassion,these persecutors accused their innocent victims "ofthe most appalling crimes.For three centuries the Christians were obliged toworship God in the secrecy of their chambers, or inthe Roman catacombs, which are still preserved toattest the undying fortitude of the martyrs, and theenormity of their sufferings.And yet Pagan Rome, before whose standard the7

"74 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.mightiest nations quailed, was unable to crush theinfant Church or arrest her progress. In a shorttime, we find this colossal Empire going to pieces,and the Head of the Catholic Church dispensinglaws to Christendom in the very city from whichthe imperial Cassars had promulgated their edictsagainst Christianity !During the fifth and sixth centuries, the Gothsand Vandals, the Huns, Visigoths, and Lombards,and other immense tribes of Barbarians, came downlike a torrent from the North, invadingthe fairestportions of Southern Europe. They dismemberedthe Roman Empire, and swept away nearly everytrace of the old Roman civilization. They plunderedcities, levelled churches, and left ruin and desolation after them. Yet, though conquering for awhile,th^y were conquered in turn, by submitting to thesweet yoke of the Gospel. And thus, as even theinfidel Gibbon observes, The progress of Christianity has been marked by two glorious and decisivevictories over the learned and luxurious citizens ofthe Roman Empire; and over the warlike Barbarians of Scythia and Germany, who subverted theempire and embraced the religion of the Romans." 1Mohammedanism took its rise in the seventhcentury in Arabia, and made rapid conquests inAsia. In the fifteenth century, Constantinople wascaptured by the followers of the false prophet, whoeven threatened to subject all Europe to their sway.1Decline and Fall of the Koman Empire, eh. xxxvii. p. 450.

PERPETUITY. 75At the earnest solicitation of the Pope, the kingdomof Spain and the republic of Venice formed an offensive league against the Turks, who were signally defeated in the battle of Lepanto, in 1571. And ifthe Cross, instead of the Crescent, surmounts thecities of Europe to-day, it is indebted for this priceless blessing to the vigilance of the Roman Pontiffs.Another adversary more formidable and dangerous than those I have mentioned, threatened theoverthrow of the Church in the fourth and fifthcenturies. I speak of the great heresy of Arius,which was followed by those of Nestorius andEutyches.The Arian schism, soon after its rise, spreadrapidly through Europe, Northern Africa, and portions of Asia. It received the support of immensemultitudes, and flourished for awhile under thefostering care of several successive emperors.Catholic Bishops were banished from their sees, andtheir places were filled by Arian intruders. TheChurch which survived the sword of Paganism,seemed for awhile to yield to the poison of Arianism.But after a short career of prosperity, thiggigantic sect became weakened by intestine divisions,and was finally swept away by other errors whichcame following in its footsteps.You are already familiar with the great religiousrevolution of the sixteenth century, which spreadlike a tornado over Northern Europe, and threatened,if that were possible, to engulf the bark of Peter.

76 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS.More than half of Germany followed the new Gospelof Martin Luther. Switzerland submitted to thedoctrines of Zuinglius. The faith was lost in Swedenthrough the influence of its king, Gustavus Vasa.Denmark conformed to the new creed through theintrigues of King Christian II. Catholicity wasalso crushed out in Norway, England, and Scotland.Calvinism in the sixteenth century, and Voltaireismin the eighteenth, had gained such a foothold inFrance, that the faith of that glorious Catholicnation twice trembled in the balaree. Ireland alone,of all the nations of Northern Europe, remainedfaithful to the ancient Church.Let us now calmly survey the field after the din.and smoke of battle have passed away. Let usexamine the condition of the old Church, after having passed through those deadly conflicts. We seeher numerically stronger to-day than at any praviousperiod of her history. The losses she sustainedin the old world are more than compensated by heracquisitions in the new. She has already recovereda good portion of the ground wrested from her inthe sixteenth century. She numbers now about twohundred and twenty-five millions of adherents.She exists to-day not an effete institution, but in allthe integrity and fulness of life, with her organismunimpaired, more united, more compact, and morevigorous than ever she was before.The so-called Reformation of the sixteenth century bears many points of resemblance to the great

"PERPETUITY. 77Arian heresy.Bath schisms originated with priestsimpatient of the yoke of the Gospel, fond of novelty,and ambitious of notoriety. Both were nursed andsustained by the reigning Powers, and were augmented by large accessions of proselytes. Bothspread for awhile with the irresistible force of aviolent hurricane, till its fury was spent. Bothsubsequently became subdivided into various bodies. The extinction of Protestantism would complete the parallel.In this connection, a remark of De Maistre isworth quoting: If Protestantism bears always thesame name, thoughits belief has been perpetuallyshifting, it is because its name is purely negative,and means only the denial of Catholicity, so thatthe less it believes, and the more it protests, themore consistently Protestant it will be. Since, then,its name becomes continually truer, it must subsistuntil it perishes, just as an ulcer disappears with thelast atom of the flesh which it has been eatingaway."lBut similar causes will produce similar results.As both revolutions were the offspring of rebellion ;as both have been marked by the same vigorousyouth, the same precocious manhood, the same premature decay and dismemberment of parts so;weare not rash in predicting that the dissolution whichlong since visited the former is destined, sooner orlater, to overtake the latter. But the Catholic1 Du Pape.1. 2, c. 5.

78 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Church, because she is the work of God, is always"renewing her strength, like the eagle s."I would now ask this question of all that are hostile to the Catholic Church, and that are plottingher destruction: How can you hope to overturn anInstitution which for more than eighteen centurieshas successfully resisted all the combined assaultsof the world, of men, and of the powers of darkness?What means will you employ to compass her ruin?I. Is it the power of Kings, and Emperors, andPrime Ministers? They have tried in vain to crushher, from the days of the Roman Caesars to those ofthe present Chancellor of Germany.Many persons labor under the erroneous impression that the crowned heads of Europe have beenthe unvarying supporters of the Church, and thatif their protection were withdrawn she would sooncollapse. So far from the Church being shelteredbehind earthly thrones, her worst enemies have been,with some honorable exceptions, so-called ChristianPrinces who were nominal children of the Church.They chafed under her salutary discipline they;wished to be rid of her yoke, because she alone, intimes of oppression, had the power and the courageto stand by the rights of the people, and place heibreast as a wall of brass against the encroachmentof their rulers. With calm confidence we can saywith the Psalmist: "Whyhave the Gentiles raged,and thw people devised vain things? The kings of1Psalm cii. 5.

"PERPETUITY. 70the earth stood up, and the princes met together,against the Lord, and againsthis Christ. Let usbreak their bonds asunder, and let us cast awaytheir yoke from us.He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at themand the Lord shall deride them." 1II. Can the immense resources and organizedpower of rival religious bodies succeed in absorbing her, and in bringing her to naught ? I am notdisposed to undervalue this power. Against anyhuman force it would be irresistible. But if thecolossal strength and incomparable machinery ofthe Roman Empire could not prevent the establishment of the Church; if Arianism, Nestorianism,Eutychianism could not check her development,how can modern organizations stop her progressnow, when in the fulness of her strength?It is easier to preserve what is created, than tocreate anew.III. But we have been told: "Take from thePope his i>.Temporal power, and the Church doomedto destruction. This is the secret of her strength ;strip her of this, and, like Samson shorn of his hair,she will betray all the weakness of a poor mortal.Then this brilliant luminary will wax pale, and shewill sink below the horizon, never more to riseagain."For more than seven centuries after the establishment of the Church, the Popes had no sovereign terri-1Psalm ii. 1-4.

80 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.torial jurisdiction. How could she have outlivedthat period, if the temporal power were essential toher perpetuity? And even for the last seven yearathe Pope has been deprived of his temporalities.This loss, however, does not bring a wrinkle on thefair brow of the Church, nor does it retard one inchher onward march.IV. Is she unable to cope with modern inventionsand the mechanical progress of the nineteenth century? We are often told so; but far from hidingour head, like the ostrich in the sand, at the approach of these inventions, we hail them as messengers of God, and will use them as Providential instruments for the further propagation of the faith.If we succeeded so well before, when we had noships but frail canoes, no compass but our eyes;when we had no roads but eternal snows, virginforests, and trackless deserts ;when we had no guidesave faith, and hope, and God if even then wesucceeded so well in carrying the Gospel to the con-Qnes of the earth, how much more can we do nowby the aid of telegraph, steamships, and railroads?Yes, O men of genius, we bless your inventions ;we bless you, ye modern discoveries and we will;impress you into the service of the Church, and say:"Lightningsand clouds bless the Lord; all- yeworks of the Lord bless the Lord ; praise and exalthim above all forever." 1The utility of modern inventions to the Church1Daniel iri.

PERPETUITY. 81has lately been manifested in a conspicuous manner.The Pope called a council of all the Bishops of theworld. Without the aid of steam, it would have beenimpossible for them to assemble ; by its aid they wereable to meet from the uttermost bounds of the earth.V. But may not the light of the Church growpale and be extinguished before the intellectualblaze of the nineteenth century ? Has she not muchto fear from literature, the arts, and sciences? Shehas always been the Patroness of literature, and thefostering Mother of the arts and sciences. &hefounded aud endowed nearly all the great universities of Europe.Not to mention those of the continent, a barecatalogue of which would cover a large space, Iallude to the Universities of Oxford and Cammaybridge, the two most famous seats of learning inEngland, which were established under Catholicauspices, centuries before the Reformation.The Church also founded three of the four universities now existing in Scotland, viz. :St. Andrew sin 1411, Glasgow in 1450, and Aberdeen in 1494.Without her, we should be deprived to-day of thepriceless treasures of ancient literature; for, in preserving the languages of Greece and Rome fromdestruction, she rescued the classical writers of thosecountries from oblivion. Hallarn justly observes,that were it not for the diligent labors of the monksinthe Middle Ages, our knowledge of the historyof ancient Greece and Rome would be as vague to*F

"82 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.day as our information regarding the Pyramids ofEgypt.And as for works of art, there are more valuablemonuments of art contained in the single museumof the Vatican than are to be found in all our country. Artists are obliged to go to Kome to consulttheir best models.Our churches are not only temples of worship, but depositories of sacred art.VI. Is it liberty that will destroy the Church?The Church breathes freely only where true libertyis found. She is always cramped in her operations,wherever despotism casts its dark shadow. Nowhere does she enjoy more independence than here ;nowhere is she more vigorous and more prosperous.Children of the Church, fear nothing, happeDwhat will to her. Christ is with her, and thereforeshe cannot sink. Caesar, in crossing the Adriatic,said to the troubled oarsman :Quid times ? Csesaremvehis." What Cresar said in presumption, Jesussays with truth : What fearest thou ? Christ is inthe ship. Are we not positive that the sun will riseto-morrow and next day, and so on to the end of theworld? Why? Because God so ordained when Heestablished it in the heavens ;and because it has neverfailed to run its course from the beginning. Hasnot Christ promised that the Church should alwaysenlighten the world? Has He not, so far, fulfilledHis promise concerning His Church ? Has she notgone steadily on her course amid storm and sunshine ?The fulfilment of the past is the best security for thefuture.

PERPETUITY. 83Amid the continual changesin human institutions, she is the one Institution that never changes.Amid the universal ruins of earthly monuments, sheis the one monument that stands proudly pre-eminent. Not a stone in this building falls to the ground.Amid the general destruction of kingdoms, her kingdom is never destroyed. Ever ancient and ever new,Time writes no wrinkles on her divine brow 7 .The Church has seen the birth of every government in Europe, and it is not at all improbable thatshe shall also witness the death of them all, andchant their requiem. She was more than fourteenhundred years old when Columbus discovered our1continent, and the foundationof our Republicis butas yesterday to her.She calmly looked on while the Goth and theVisigoth, the Hun and the Saxon swept like a torrent over Europe, subverting dynasties. She hasseen monarchies changed into republics, and republics consolidated into empires all this has she witnessed, while her own divine Constitution has remained unaltered. Of Her we can truly say in thewords of the Psalmist: "They shall perish, butthou remainest ;and all of them shall grow old asa garment. And as a vesture Thou shalt changethem, and they shall be changed. But thou artalways the self-same, and thy years shalt not fail.The children of thy servants shall continue, andtheir seed shall be directed forever." l1Psalm ci. 27-29.

"84 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.In the brightest days of the Republic of PagarRome, the Roman said with pride:"I am a Romancitizen." This was his noblest title. He was proudof the Republic, because it was venerable in years,powerful in the number of its citizens, and distinfor the wisdom of its statesmen. What aguishedsubject of greater glory to be a citizen of the Republic of the Church which has lasted for nineteen centuries, and will continue till time shall beno more ;which counts her millions of children inevery clime; which numbers her heroes and her martyrs by the thousand; which associates you withthe Apostles and Saints. You are no more strangersand foreigners, but you are fellow-citizens with theSaints and the domestics of God, built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus ChristHimself being the chief corner-stone." lThough separated from earthly relatives and parents, you neednever be separated from her. She is ever with usto comfort us. She says to us what her divineSpouse said to His "Apostles Behold, I am with:you all days, even to the consummation of theworld." 21Eph. ii. 19, 20 2 Matt, xxviii 20.

INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 85CHAPTER VII.INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH.from God to teach reTHE Church has authoritygarding faith and morals and in her; teachingthe ispreserved from error by the special guidanceof the Holy Ghost.,The prerogative of infallibility is clearly deducedfrom the attributes of the Church already mentioned.The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.Preaching the same creed everywhere, and at alltimes ; teaching holiness and truth, she is, of course,essentially unerring in her doctrine for what is;one,holy, or unchangeable, must be infallibly true.That the Church was infallible in the Apostolicage, is denied by no Christian. We never questionthe truth of the Apostles declarations ;lthey were,in fact, the only authority in the Church for thefirst century. The New Testament was not completed till the close of the first century. There i&no just ground for denying to the Apostolic teachers of the nineteenth century in which we live, aprerogative clearly possessed by those of the first,especially as the divine Word nowhere intimatesthat this unerring guidance was to die with the1See Gal. iv. 14; 1 Thess. ii. 13.

""OUR86 THE FAITH *>FFATHERS.Apostles. On the contrary, as the Apostles transmitted to their successors their power to preach, tobaptize, to ordain, to confirm, etc., they must alsohave handed down to them the no less essentialof infallibility.God loves us as much as He loved thegiftprimitiveChristians ;Christ died for us as well as for them ;and we have as much need of unerring teachers asthey had.It will not suffice to tell me :"We have an infallible Scripture as a substitute for an infallible apostolateof the first century," for an infallible book is ofno use to me without an infallible interpreter, as thehistory of Protestantism too clearly demonstrates.But besides these presumptive arguments, we ha^opositive evidence from Scripture that the Churchcannot err in her teachings. Our blessed Lord, inconstituting St. Peter Prince of His Apostles, saysto him : Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I willbuild My Church, and the gates of hell shall notiprevail against Christ makes here a solemnit."prediction that no error shall ever invade HisChurch ;and if she fell into error, the gates of hellhave certainly prevailed against her.The Reformers of the sixteenth century affirm thatthe Church did fall into error ;that the gates of helldid prevail against her ;that from the sixth to thesixteenth century she was a sink of iniquity. TheBook of Homilies of the church of England saysthat the Church lay buried in damnable idolatry1Matt. xvi. 18.

"INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 87for eight hundred years and The more."personalveracity of our Saviour and of the Reformers is hereat issue, for our Lord makes a statement which theycontradict. Who is to be believed, Jesus or the Reformers ?If the predictionof our Saviour about the preservation of His Church from error be false, thenJesus Christ is not God, since God cannot lie. Heis not even a Prophet, since He predictedfalsehood.Nay, He is an impostor, and all Christianity is amiserable failure and a huge deception, since it restson a false Prophet.But if Jesus predicted the truth when He declaredthat the gates of hell should not prevail againstHis Church, and who dare deny it? then theChurch never has, and never could have fallen fromthe truth ;then the Catholic Church is infallible, foishe alone claims that prerogative, and she is the onlyChurch that is acknowledged to have existed fromthe isbeginning. Truly Jesus that wise Architectmentioned in the Gospel, "who built his house upona rock ;and the rain fell, and the floods came, andthe winds blew, and they beat upon that house, andit fell not, for it was founded upon a rock." 1Jesus sends forth the Apostles with plenipotentiarypowers to preach the "AsGospel.the Father,"He says, hath sent Me, I also send a *you." "Goingtherefore, teach all nations, teaching them to observeall things whatsoever 1 have commanded you."3Matt. vii. 24, et seq.2John xx. 21.s Matt, xxviii. la, 20

"8 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Preach the Gospel to every creature." ! " Yeshall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in allJudea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost partof the earth." 2This commission evidently applies not to theApostles only, but also to their successors, to theend of time, since it was utterly impossible for theApostles personally to preach to the whole world.Not only does our Lord empower His Apostlesto preach the Gospel, but He commands, and underthe most severe penalties, those to whom they preachto listen and obey. "Whosoever will not receiveyou, nor hear your words, going forth from thathouse or city, shake the dust from yourfeet. Amen,I say to you,it shall be more tolerable for the landof Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment8than for that "If city."he will not hear theChurch, let him be to thee as the heathen and the* "publican."He that believeth shall be saved ;hethat believeth not, shall be condemned." 5 "He thatheareth you, heareth Me ;he that despiseth you, despiseth Me and;he that despiseth Me, despiseth Himthat sent 6Me."From these passages, we see, on the one hand, thatthe Apostles and their successors have received fullpowers to announce the Gospel ; and on the other,that their hearers are obliged to listen with docility,1Markxvi. 15.2 Acts i. 8.3 Matt. x. 14, 15.* Matt, xviii. 17. 5Mark xvi. 16.6Luke x. 16.

INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 89and to obey not merely by an external compliancybut also by an internal assent of the intellect. If,therefore, the Catholic Church could preach error,would not God Himself be responsible for the error ?And could not the faithful soul say to God with allreverence and truth : Thou hast commanded me,O Lord, to hear Thy Church. If I am deceived byobeying her, Thou art the cause of my error.But we may rest assured that an all-wise Providence who commands His Church to speak in Hisname, will so guide her in the path of truth that sheshall never lead into error those that follow herteachings.But as this privilege of Infallibility was a veryextraordinary favor, our Saviour confers it on therulers of His Church in language which removes alldoubt from the sincere inquirer, and under circumstances which add to the majesty of His word.Shortly before His death, Jesus consoles His disciplesby this "promise I will ask the Father, and He:shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abidewith you forever. . . . But when He, the Spirit oftruth, shall come, He will teach lyou all truth."The following text of the same import forms theconcluding words recorded of our Saviour in St.Matthew s Gospel All "power :is given to Me inheaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and teachall nations, . . . teaching them to observe all thingswhatsoever I have commanded you. And behold.1John xiv. 16 ;xvi. 13.

"am"Go90 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.I am with you all days, even to the consummationof the world."lHe begins by asserting His own divine authorityand mission. "Allpower is etc. Thatgiven,"power He then delegates to His Apostles and totheir successors :ye, therefore, and teach allnations,"etc. He does not instruct them to scatterBibles broadcast over the earth, but to teach byword of mouth. "And behold!" Our Saviournever arrests the attention of His hearers by usingthe interjection, behold, unless when He has something unusually solemn and extraordinary to communicate. An important announcement is sure tofollow this word. "Behold, I am with you."These words, "I am with you"are frequentlyaddressed in Sacred Scripture, by the Almighty, toHis Prophets and Patriarchs, and they alwaysimply a special presence and a particular super1vision of the Deity. They convey the same meaning in the present instance. Christ says equivalently,I who the way, the truth, and the life,"willprotect you fiom error, and will guide you in yourspeech.I will be with you, not merely during yournatural lives, not for a century only, but all days,at all times, without intermission, even to the endof the world.These words of Jesus Christ establish two important facts : 1. A promise to guard His Church fromerror. 2. A promise that His presence with the-Matt, xxviii.2Ex. iii. 12 ;Jer. xv. 20, etc.

INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 91Church will be continuous, without any interval ofabsence, to the consummation of the world.And this is also the sentiment of the Apostle ofthe Gentiles writing to the "Ephesians God gave:some indeed Apostles, and some Prophets, and someEvangelists, and others Pastors and Teachers, forthe perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all meet in the unity of faith,. . . that wemay no more be children, tossed to and fro, andcarried about with every wind of doctrine, by thewickedness of men, in craft, by which theywait to deceive.". 1lie inNotwithstanding these plain declarations of Scripture, some persons think it an unwarrantable assumption for the Church to claim infallibility.But markthe consequences that follow from denyingit.If your church is not infallible, it is liable to errfor there is no medium between infallibility and liability to error. If your church and her ministersare fallible in their doctrinal teachings, as theyadmit, they may be preaching falsehood to you,instead of truth. If so, you are in doubt whetheryou are listening to truth or falsehood. If you arein doubt, you can have no faith, for faith excludesdoubt, and in that state you displease God, for"without faith it is impossible to please God." 9Faith and infallibility must go hand in hand. Theone cannot exist without the other. There can be1Eph. iv. 11-14. 2Heb. xi. 6.

"92 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.no faith in the hearer unless there isunerring authority in the speaker an authority founded uponsuch certain knowledge as precludes the possibilityof falling into error on his part, and including suchunquestioned veracity as to prevent his deceivinghim who accepts his word.You admit infallible certainty in the physicalsciences ; why should ityou deny in the science ofsalvation? The mariner, guided by his compass,knows, amid the raging storm and the darkness ofthe night, that he is steering his course directly tothe city of his destination; and is not an infallibleguide as necessary to conduct you to the city of Godin heaven ?It isvery strange that the Catholic Church mustapologize to the world for simply declaring that shespeaks the truth, the whole truth, and nothing butthe truth.Children of the Catholic Church, give thanks- toGod for having made you members of that Communion in which you are preserved from all errorsin faith, and from all illusionin the practice of virtue. You are happily strangers to those interiorconflicts, to those perplexing doubts, and to thatfrightful uncertainty which distract the souls ofthose whose private judgmentis their only guide.You are not, like others, drifting helplessly oveithe ocean of uncertainty, and "carried about byevery wind of doctrine." You are not as blind

"""INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 93men led by blind You are not like thoseguides."who are in the midst ^of a spiritual desert intersected by various by-paths, not knowing which topursue but you are on that high road spoken of;by the prophet Isaiah, which is so straight a way,that fools shall not err therein." l You are a partof that universal Communion which has no High"church" and "Low church;" no "New School"and Old for School," you all belong to that Schoolwhich is ever ancient and ever new." You enjoythat profound peace and tranquillity which springs*Yom the conscious possession of the whole truth.Well may you exclaim "Behold:how good andhow pleasantit is for brethren to dwell together inunity."2Give thanks, moreover, to God that you belongto a Church which has also a keen sense to detectand expose those moral shams, those pious frauds,those socialistic schemes which are so often undertaken in this country ostensibly in the name of religion and morality, but which, in reality, are subversive of morality and order, which are the offspringof fanaticism, and serve as a mask to hide the mostNeither Mormons nor Millerites,debasing passions.nor the advocates of free love or of women s rights,so called, find any recruits in the Catholic Church.She will never suffer her children to be ensnaredby these impostures, how specious soever theymay be.1 Isaiah xxxv. 8.2 Ps. cxxxii.

94 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.From what has been said in the preceding pagesit follows that the Catholic Church cannot be reformed. I do not mean, of course, that the Pastoraof the Church are personally impeccable, or not subject to sin.Every teacher in the Church, from thePope down to the humblest Priest, is liable at anymoment, like any of the faithful, to fall from grace, andto stand in need of moral reformation. We all carry"this treasure (of innocence) in earthen vessels."My meaning is, that the Church is not susceptibleof being reformed in her doctrines. The Church isthe work of an Incarnate God. Like all God sworks, it is perfect. It is, therefore, incapable ofreform. Is it not the height of presumption formen to attempt to improve upon the work ofGod? Is it not ridiculous for the Luthers, theCalviiis, the Knoxes, and the Hearies, and a thousand lesser lights, to be offering their amendmentsto the Constitution of the Church, as if it were ahuman Institution ?Our Lord Himself has never ceased to rule personally over His Church. It is time enough for little men to take charge of the Ship when the gieatCaptain abandons the helm.A Protestant gentleman of very liberal education remarked to me, before the opening of the lateEcumenical Council :"I am assured, sir, by a friend,in confidence, that, at a secret Conclave of Bishopsrecently held in Home, it was resolved that theDogma of the Immaculate Conception would be re-

"INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 95considered and abolished at the approaching General Council ;in fact, that the definition was a mistake, and that the blunder of 18.54 would be repairedin 1869." I told him, of course, that no such question could be entertained in the Council ;that thedoctrinal decrees of the Church were irrevocable,and that the dogma of the Immaculate Conceptionwas defined once and forever.If only one instance could be given in which theChurch ceased to teach a doctrine of faith which hadbeen previously held, that single instance would bethe death-blow of her claim to infallibility. But itis a marvelous fact worthy of record, that in thewhole history of the Church, from the nineteenthcentury to the first, no solitary example can be adduced to show that any Pope or General Councilever revoked a decree of faith or morals enacted byany preceding Pontiff or Council. Her record inthe past ought to be a sufficient warrant that she willtolerate no doctrinal variations in the future.If, as we have seen, the Church has authority fromGod to teach, and if she teaches nothing but thetruth, is it not the duty of all Christians to hearher voice and obey her commands? She is theorgan of the Holy Ghost. She is the Representative of Jesus Christ, who has said to her : He thatheareth you, heareth Me; he that despiseth you,Me."despiseth She is the Mistress of truth. It isthe property of the human mind to embrace truthwherever it finds it. It would, therefore, be not

"""96 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS.only an act of irreverence, but of sheer folly, to disobey the voice of this ever-truthful Mother.^If a citizen is bound to obey the laws of his country, though these laws may not in all respects beconformable to strict justice; if a child is bound bjnatural and divine law to obey his mother, thoughshe may sometimes err in her judgments, how muchmore strictly are not we obliged to be docile to theteachings of the Catholic Church, our Mother, whoseadmonitions are always just^whose preceptsare immutable !For twenty years/ observed a recently convertedMinister of the Protestant Church, I fought andstruggled against the Church with all the energyof my will. But when I became a Catholic, all mydoubts ended, my inquiriesceased. I became as alittle child, and rushed like a lisping babe into thearms of my mother." By Baptism, Christians becomechildren of the Church, no matter who pours uponthem the regenerating waters. If she is our Mother,where is our love and obedience ? When the infantseeks nourishment at its mother s breast, it does notitsanalyze food. When it receives instructions fromits mother s lips,it never doubts, but instinctivelybelieves. When the mother stretches forth herhand, the child follows unhesitatingly. The Christian should have for his spiritual Mother all thesimplicity, all the credulity, I might say, of a child;guided by the instincts of faith. Unless ye become/ 1"says our Lord, as little children, ye shall not enter

THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 97into the Kingdom of Heaven." 1 "As new-bornbabes, desire the rational milk without guile; thatthereby you may grow unto salvation." 2 In hernourishment there is no poison ;in her doctrinesthere is no guile.CHAPTER VIII.THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE.THE Church, as we have just seen, is the onlydivinely-constitutedteacher of Revelation.Now, the Scriptureis the great Depository ofthe Word of God. Therefore, the Church is thedivinely appointed Custodian and Interpreter ofthe Bible. For, her office of infallible Guide weresuperfluous, if each individual could interpret theBible for himself.That God never intended the Bible to be theChristian s rule of faith, independently of the livingauthority of the Church, will be the subject of thischapter.No nation ever had a greater veneration for theBible than the Jewish people.The Holy Scripturewas their pride and their glory. It was theirnational song in time of peace ; it was their meditation and solace in time of tribulation and exile.Aud yet the Jews never dreamed of settlingtheir1 Matt, xviii. 3. I. Pet. ii. 2.9 G

""98 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.religious controversies by a private appeal to theWord of God.""Wheneverany religious dispute arose among thepeople, it was decided by the High Priest and theSanhedrim, which was a council consisting of seventy-two civil and ecclesiastical Judges. The sentenceof the High Priest and of his associate Judges wasto be obeyed under penalty of death. If thou persays the Book of Deuteronomy, that thereceive,"be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judgof the Le-ment, . . . thou shalt come to the priests vitical race, and to the Judge, . . . and they shallshow thee the truth of the .judgment.. . And thoushalt follow their sentence ;neither shalt thou declineto the right hand, nor to the left. . . . But he thatwill . . . refuse to obeythe commandment of thepriest, that man shall . . . die, and thou shalt take1away the evil from Israel."that GodFrom this clear sentence, you perceivedoes not refer the Jews, for the settlement of theircontroversies, to the letter of the law, but to theliving authority of the Ecclesiastical tribunal whichHe had expressly established for that purpose.Hence, the priests were required to be intimatelyacquainted with the Sacred Scripture, because theywere the depositaries of God s law, and were its expounders to the people. The lips of the priestshall keep knowledge, and they (the people) shallseek the law at his mouth, because he is the angela(or messenger) of the Lord of Hosts."1Deut. xvii. 8. et seq. 2 Mai. ii. 7.

"THE CHUKCH AND THE BIBLE. 99And, in fact, very few of the children of Israel,except the priests, were in possession of the divineBooks. The holy manuscript was rare and precious.And what provision did God make that all the people might have an opportunity of hearing the Scriptures? Did He command the Sacred Volume to bemultiplied No ? but;He ordered the priests andLevites to be distributed through the different tribes,that they might always be at hand to instruct thepeople in the knowledge of the law. The Jews wereeven forbidden to read certain portions of the Scripture till they had reached the age of thirty years.Does our Saviour reverse this state of things whenHe comes on earth ? Does He tell the Jews to be"their own guides in the study of the Scriptures?By no means but;He commands them to obey theirconstituted teachers, no matter how disedifyingmight be their private lives. Then said Jesus tothe multitudes and to His disciples: The Scribesand Pharisees situpon the chair of Moses. Allthings therefore , whatsoever they shall*observe and do."say to you,It is true, our Lord said on one occasion : Searchthe Scriptures, for you think in them to havelifeeverlasting, and the same are they that givetestimony to Me." 2This passage is triumphantlyquoted as an argument in favor of private interpretation. But itproves nothing of the kind. Manylearned commentators, ancient and modern, express^-Matt. xxiii. 2, 3. 3John v. 33.

"""Ye"100 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the verb in the indicative mood : search theAtScriptures."all events, our Saviour speaks hereonly of the Old Testament, because the New Testament was not yet written. He addresses not themultitude, but the Pharisees, who were the teacheisof the law, and reproaches them for not admitting* cHis divinity. You have,"He says, the Scriptures in your hands ;why then do you not recognizeme as the Messiah, since they give testimony tha.tI am the Son of God?" He refers them to theScriptures for a proof of His Divinity, not as to asource from which they were to derive all knowledge ill regard to the truths of revelation.Besides, He did not rest the proof of His Divinityupon the sole testimony of Scripture. For Heshowed it1.By the testimony of John the Baptist (v. 33),who had said, Behold the Lamb of God behold;Him who taketh away the sins of the world." Seealso John i. 34.2.By the miracles which He wrought (v. 36) ;3.By the testimony of the Father (v. 37), whenHe said :This is my beloved Son, in whom I arnwell pleased, hear yeHim." Matt. iii. 16; Lukeix. 35.4.By the Scriptures of the Old Testament as;ifHe were to say,"Ifyou are unwilling to receivethese three proofs, though they are most cogent, atleast you cannot reject the testimony of the Scriptures, of which you boast so much."

"GoTHE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 101Finally, in this very passage our Lord is explaining the sense of Holy Writ ; therefore, its true meaning is not left to the private interpretation of everychance reader. It is, therefore, a grave perversion ofthe sacred Text, to adduce these words in vindication of the private interpretation of the Scriptures.But when our Redeemer abolished the Old Law,and established His Church, did He intend that HisGospel should be disseminated by the circulation ofthe Bible, or by the living voice of His disciples ?This is a vital question. I answer most emphatically,that it was by preaching alone that He intended toconvert the nations, and by preaching alone theywere converted. No nation has ever yet been converted by the agency of Bible Associations.Jesus Himself never wrote a line of Scripture.He never once commanded His Apostles to write aword,* or even to circulate the Scriptures alreadyexisting. When He sends them on their Apostolicerrand, He says: teach all nations." l Preach"the Gospel to 2 "everycreature." He that hearethyou, heareth Me." s And we find the Apostles acting in strict accordance with these instructions.Of the twelve Apostles, the seventy-two disciples,and early followers of our Lord, only eight haveleft us any of their sacred writings. And theGospels and Epistles were addressed to particularpersons or particular churches. They were writtenon the occasion of some emergency, just as Bishops1Matt. xxviii. 19.2 Mark xvi. 15. 3Luke x. 16.*NOTE: Except when He directed St. John to writeApocalypse,i. 11.9*the

""102 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.issue Pastoral letters, to correct abuses whicn mayspring up in the Church, or to lay down some rulesof conduct for the faithful. The Apostles arenever reported to have circulated a single volume of the Holy Scripture, but they going forth,preached everywhere, the Lord co-operating withthem." 1Thus we see that in the Old and the New Dispensation, the people were to be guided by a livingauthority, and not by their private interpretationof the Scriptures.Indeed, until the religious Revolution of thesixteenth century, it was a thing unheard of fromthe beginning of the world, that people should begoverned by the dead letter of the law either incivil or ecclesiastical affairs. How are your civilaffairs regulated in this State, for instance? Certainly not in accordance with your personal interpretation of the laws of Virginia, but in accordancewith decisions which are rendered by the constitutedjudges of the State.Now what the civil code is to the citizen, theScripture is to the Christian. The Word of God, aswell as the civil law, must have an interpreter, bywhose decision we are obliged to abide.We often hear the shibboleth :The Bible, andthe Bible only must be your guide." Why thendo you go to the useless expense of building finechurches, and Sabbath-schools? What is the use1Mark xvi. 20.

"TakeTHE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE.10Sof your preaching sermons and catechizing theyoung, if the Bible at home is a sufficient guide foryour people ? The fact is, you Reverend gentlemencontradict in practice what you so vehemently advance in theory. Do not tell me that the Bible isall-sufficient ; or, if you believe it is self-sufficient,cease your instructions. Stand not between thepeople and the Scriptures.I will address myself now in a friendly spirit toa non-Catholic, and will proceed to show him thathe cannot consistently accept the silent Book ofScripture as his sufficient guide.A copy of the sacred volume is handed to you byyour minister, who says:this book ; you willfind it all-sufficient for salvation."your But here 8serious difficulty awaits you at the very threshold ofyour investigations. What assurance have you thaithe book he hands youis the inspired Word of God ;for every part of the Bible is far from possessing intrinsic evidences of inspiration ? It may, for aughtyou know, contain more than the Word of God, orit may not contain all the Word of God. We mustnot suppose that the Bible was always, as it is now,a compact book, bound in a neat form. It was forseveral centuries in scattered fragments, spread overdifferent parts of Christendom. Meanwhile, manyScripture, werespurious books, under the name ofcirculated among the faithful. There was,for instance, the spurious Gospel of St. Peter ;there wasalso the Gospel of St. James and of St. Matthias.

104 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHEES.The Catholic Church, in the plenitudeof her authority, in the third Council of Carthage, (A. D.397,) separated the chaff from the wheat, and declared what Books were Canonical, and what wereapocryphal. Even to this day, the Christian sectsdo not agree among themselves as to what bookaare to be accepted as genuine. Some Christiansof continental Europe do not recognize the Gospelsof St. Mark and St. Luke, because these Evangelistswere not among the Apostles. Luther used to callthe Epistle of St. James a letter of straw.But even when you are assured that the Biblecontains the Word of God, and nothing but theWord of God, how do you know that the translation is faithful? The Books of Scripture wereoriginally written in Hebrew and Greek, and youhave only the translation. Before you are certainthat the translation is faithful, you must study theHebrew and Greek languages, and then compare thetranslation with the original. How few are capable of this gigantic undertaking !Indeed, when you accept the Bible as the Wordof God, you are obliged to receive it on the authority of the Catholic Church, who was the sole Guardian of the Scriptures for fifteen hundred years.But after having ascertained to your satisfactionthat the translation is faithful, still the Scripturescan never serve as a complete Rule of Faith, and acomplete guide to heaven, independently of an authorized, living interpreter.

"THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 105A competent guide, such as our Lord intended forus, must have three characteristics. It must bewithin the reach of every one ;it must be clear andintelligible; it must be ^able to satisfy us on allquestions relating to faith and morals.1st. A complete guide of salvation must be within the reach of every inquirer after truth ;for, Godwishes all men to be saved, and to come to theknowledge of the truth ;and therefore He must" 1have placed within the reach of every one the meansof arriving at the truth. Now, it is clear that theScriptures could not at any period have been accessible to every one.They could not have been accessible to the primitiveChristians, because they were not all written for a longtime after the establishment of Christianity. TheChristian religion was founded in the year 33. St.Matthew s Gospel, the first part of the New Testament ever written, did not appear till eight yearsafter. The Church was established about twentyyears, when St. Luke wrote his Gospel. And St.John s Gospel did not come to light till towards theend of the first century. For many years after theGospels and Epistles were written, the knowledge ofthem was confined to the churches to which they wereaddressed. It was not till the close of the fourthcenturythat the Church framed her Canon ofScripture, and declared the Bible, as we now possessit, to be the genuine Word of God. And this was1 1. Tim. ii. 4.

"106 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the golden age of Christianity The most !perfectChristians lived and died and went to heaven before the most important parts of the Scriptureswere written. And what would have become ofthem if the Bible alone had been their guide?The art of printing was not invented till thefifteenth century, (1440.) How utterly impossibleit was to supply every one with a copy of the Scriptures from the fourth to the fifteenth century I Duringthat long period, Bibles had to be copied with thepen. There were but a few hundred of them in theChristian world, and these were in the hands of theclergy and the learned. According to the Protestant system, the art of printing would have beenmuch more necessary to the Apostles than the giftof tongues. It was well for Luther that he did notcome into the world until a century after the immortal discovery of Guttenberg. A hundred yearsearlier, his idea of directing two hundred and fiftymillions of men to read the Bible would have beenreceived with shouts of laughter, and would inevitably have caused his removal from the pulpitof Wittenberg to a 1hospital for the insane."And even at ike present day, with all the aid ofsteam printing-presses, with all the Bible Associations extending through this country and England;and supported at enormous expense,it taxes all theirenergies to supply every missionary country with1Martinet, Keligion in Society, Vol. II., c. 10.

""THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 107Bibles printed in the languages of the tribes andpeoples for whom they are intended.But even if the Bible were at all times accessibleto every one, how many millions exist in every ageand country, not excepting our own age of boastedenlightenment, who are not accessible to the Bible,because they are incapable of reading the Word ofGod !Hence, the doctrine of private interpretationwould render many men s salvation not onlydifficult, but impossible.2d. A competent religious guide must be clearand intelligible to all, so that every one may fullyunderstand the true meaningof the instructions itcontains. Is the Bible a book intelligibleto all?Far from it ;it is full of obscurities and difficultiesnot only forthe illiterate, but even for the learned.St. Peter himself informs us that in the Epistlesof St. Paul there are certain things hard to beunderstood, which the unlearned and the unstablewrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to theirown destruction." l And consequently he tells uselsewhere that no prophecy of Scriptureis madeby private interpretation."We read in the Acts of the Apostles that a certain man was riding in his chariot, reading the Bookrf Isaiah, and being asked by St. Philip whether heanderstood the meaning of the prophecy, he replied :u"*How can I understand unless some man show me ?21 II. Pet. iii. 16.* Ibid. i. 20.8Acts viii 31.

"108 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.admitting, by these modest words, that he did notpretend of himself to interpret the Scriptures.The Fathers of the Church, though many of themspent their whole lives in the study of the Scriptures,are unanimous in pronouncing the Bible a bookfull of knotty difficulties. And yet we find in ourdays pedants, with a mere smatteringof biblicalat all in the Wordknowledge, who see no obscurityof God, and who presume to expound it from GenesistoRevelation.Fools rush in where angels fearto tread."Does not the conduct of the Reformers conclusivelyshow the utter folly of interpreting the Scripturesby private judgment? As soon as they rejected thoracle of the Church, and set up their own privatejudgment as the highest standard of authority, theycould hardly agree among themselves on the meaning of a single important text. The Bible becamein their hands a complete Babel. The sons ofNoe attempted in their pride to ascend to heavenby building the tower of Babel; and their schemeended in the confusion and multiplication of tongues.The children of the Reformation endeavored in theirconceit to lead men to heaven by the private interpretation of the Bible, and their efforts led to theconfusion and the multiplication of religions. Letme give you one, example out of a thousand. Thesewords of the Gospel,"This isMy werebody,"understood only in one sense before the Reformation. The new lights of the sixteenth century gave

THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 109no fewer than eighty different meanings to thesefour simple words ;and since their time the numberof interpretations has increased to over a hundred.No one will deny that in our days there exists avast multitude of sects, which are daily multiplying.No one will deny lthat this multiplying of creeds is acrying scandal, and a great stumbling-block in theway of the conversion of heathen nations. No onecan deny that these divisions in the Christian familyare traceable to the assumption of the right of private judgment. Every new-fledged divine, with asuperficial education, imagines that he has receiveda call from heaven to inaugurate a new religion, andhe iz ambitious of handing down his fame to posterity by stamping his name on a new sect. Andevery one of these champions of modern creedsappeals to the unchanging Bible in support of hisever-changing doctrines.Thus, one body of Christians will prove from theBible that there is but one Person in God; whilethe rest will prove from the same source that aTrinity of Persons is a clear article of divine Revelation. One will prove from the Holy Book that JesusChrist is not God. Others will appeal to the sametext to attest His divinity. One denomination willassert on the authority of Scripture that infantbaptism is not necessary for salvation ; while otherswill hold that it is. Some Christians, with Bible1Except, perhaps, Rev. H. W. Beecher, who thinks thataod is glorified by the variety of sects.10

110 THE FAITH OF OTJR FATHERS.in hand, will teach that there are no sacraments.Others will say that there are only two. Some willdeclare that the inspired Word does not preach theeternity of punishments. Others will say that theBible distinctly vindicates that dogma. Do notclergymen appear every day in the pulpit, and onLhe authority of the Book of Revelation, point outto us with painful accuracy the year and the dayon which this world is to come to an end? Andwhen their prophecy fails of execution, they coollyput off our destruction to another time.Very recently, several hundred Mormon womenpresented a petition to the government at Washington, protesting against any interference with theirabominable system of polygamy; and they insistthat their cherished systemis sustained by the Wordof God.Such is the legitimate fruit of private interpretation! Would it not be extremely hazardous tomake a long voyage in a ship where all the officersand crew are fiercely contending among themselvesabout the manner of explaining the compass, and ofsteering their course How ? much more dangerousis it to trust to contending captains in the journeyto heaven ?Nothing short of an infallible authorityshould satisfy you, when it is a question of steeringyour course to eternity. On this vital question thereshouH be no conflict of opinion among those thatguide you. There should be no conjecture. Butthere must be always some one at the helm whose

W> theTHE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE.Illvoice gives assurance, amid the fiercestall is well.storms, that3d. A rule of Faith, or a competent guide toheaven, must be able to instruct in all the truthsnecessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alonedo not contain all the truths which a Christian isbound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin allthe duties which he isobliged to practice.Not tomention other examples,is not every Christianobliged to sanctify Sunday, and to abstain on thatday from unnecessary servile work? Is not theobservance of this law among the most prominentof our sacred duties ? But you may read the Biblefrom Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find asingle line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday.The Scriptures enforce the religious observance ofSaturday, a day which we never ,sanctify.The Catholic Church correctly teaches tha,t ourLord and His Apostles inculcated certain importantduties of religion which are not recorded^ by theinspired writers. 1For instance, most Christians prayHoly Ghost, a practice which nowhere isfound in the Bible.We must, therefore, conclude that the Scripturesalone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of Faith,because they cannot, at any time, be within thereach of every inquirer because they are not of;themselves clear and intelligible even in matters ofthe highest importance, and because they do notcontain all the truths necessary for salvation,i See John xxi. 25 ; II. Thess. ii. 14.

112 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.God forbid that any of my readers should betempted to conclude, from what I have said, thatthe Catholic Church isopposed to the reading of theScriptures, or that she is the enemy of the Bible.The Catholic Church the enemy of the Bible IGood God, what monstrous ingratitude, what basecalumnyis contained in that assertion! As wellmight you accuse the Virgin Mother of trying tocrush the Infant Saviour at her breast, as to accusethe Church, our Mother, of attempting to crush outof existence the Word of God. As well might youcharge the patriotic statesman with attempting todestroy the constitution of his country, while hestrove to protect it from being mutilated by unprincipled demagogues.For fifteen centuries, the Church was the soleguardian and depository of the Bible ;and if shereally feared that sacred Book, who was to preventher, during that long period, from tearing it inshreds and scattering it to the winds ? She couldhave thrown it into the sea, as the unnatural motherwould throw away her offspring, and who wouldhave been the wiser for it ?What has become of those millions of once famousbooks which were written in past ages?They havenearly all perished. But amid this wreck ofancient literature the Bible stands almost a solitarymonument, like the Pyramids of Egypt amid thesurrounding wastes. That venerable Volume hassurvived the wars and revolutions and the barbaric

"THE CHURCH AND THE BIFLE. 113invasions of fifteen centuries.Who rescued it fromdestruction ? The Catholic Church. Without herfostering care, the New Testament would probablybe as little known to-day as the Book of the Daysof the 1Kings of Israel."Little do we imagine, in our age of steam printing,how much labor it cost the Church to preserve andperpetuate the Sacred Scriptures. Learned monks,who are now abused in their graves by thoughtlessmen, were constantly employed in copying with thepen the Holy Bible. When one monk died at hispost, another took his place, watching like a faithfulsentinel over the treasure of God s Word.Let me give you a few plain facts to show thepains which the Church has taken to perpetuate theScriptures.The Canon of the Bible, as we have seen, wasframed in the fourth century. In that same century,Pope Damasus commanded a new and complete translation of the Scriptures to be made into the Latinlanguage, which was then the living tongue not onlyof Rome and Italy, but of the civilized world.If the Popes were afraid that the Bible shouldsee the light, this was a singular way of manifestingtheir fear.The task of preparing a new edition of the Scriptures was assigned to St. Jerome, the most learnedHebrew scholar of his time. This new translationwas disseminated throughout Christendom, and on1 III. Kings xiv, 19.10* H

"114 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.that account was called the Vulgate, or populaiedition.In the sixth and seventh centuries, the modernlanguages of Europe began to spring up like somany shoots from the parent Latin stock. TheScriptures soon also found their way into theselanguages. The venerable Bede, who lived inEngland in the eighth century, and whose name isprofoundly reverenced in that country, translatedthe Sacred Scriptures into Saxon, which was thenthe language of England. He died while dictatingthe last verses of St. John s Gospel.Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, ina funeral discourse on Queen Anne, consort ofRichard II., pronounced in 1394, praises her forher diligence in reading the four Gospels. TheHead of the Church in England could not condemnin others what he commended in the queen.Sir Thomas More affirms that before the days ofWycliffe there was an English version of the Scriptures, by good and godly people with devotionand soberness well and reverentlyred."If partial restrictions began to be placed on thecirculation of the Bible in England in the fifteenthcentury, these restrictions were occasioned by theconduct of Wycliffe and his followers, who not onlyissued a new translation, on which they engrafted1Dialog. 3, 14.

THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 115their novelties of doctrine, but also sought to explain the sacred text in a sense foreign to thereceived interpretation of tradition.While laboring to diffuse the Word of God, it iathe duty as well as the right of the Church, as theguardian of faith, to see that the faithful are notmisled by unsound editions.Printing was invented in the fifteenth century, andalmost a hundred years later came the Reformation.It is often triumphantly said, and I suppose thereare some who, even at the present day, are ignorantenough to believe the assertion, that the first editionof the Bible ever published after the invention ofprinting, was the edition of Martin Luther. Thefact is, that before Luther put his pen to paper, nofewer than fifty-six editions of the Scriptures hadappeared on the continent of Europe, not to speakof those printed in Great Britain. Of those editionstwenty-one were published in German ;one inSpanish ; four in French ; twenty-one in Italian ,five in Flemish, and four in Bohemian.Coming down to our own times, if von open anEnglish Catholic Bible, you will find in the prefacea letter of Pope Pius VI., in which he stronglyrecommends the pious reading of the Holy Scriptures. A Popes letter is the most weighty authority in the Church. You will also find in Haydock sBible the letters of the Bishops of the United States,in which they express the hope that this splendid

116 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.edition would have a wide circulation among theirflocks.These facts ought, I think, to convince every candid mind that the Church, far from being opposedto the reading of the Scriptures, does all she can toencourage their perusal.A gentleman of North Carolina lately informedme that the first time he entered a Catholic bookstore, he was surprised at witnessing on the shelvesan imposing array of Bibles for sale. Up to thatmoment he had believed the unfounded charge thatCatholics were forbidden to read the Scriptures.He has since embraced the Catholic faith.And perhaps Imay be permittedhere to recordmy personal experiences during a long course ofstudy. I speak of myself, not because my case isexceptional, but, on the contrary, because my example will serve to illustrate the system pursued towardecclesiastical students in all colleges throughout theCatholic world, in reference to the Holy Scriptures.In our course of Humanities, we listened everyof the Bible. When we wereday to the readingadvanced to the higher branches of Philosophy andTheology, the study of the Sacred Scriptures formedan important part of our education. We readbesides, every day, a chapter of the New Testament,not standing or sitting, but on our knees, and thenreverently kissed the inspired page. We listened,each day, to selections from the Bible, at our meals,

PRIMACY OF PETER. 117and we always carried about us a copy of the NewTestament.So familiar, indeed, were the students with thesacred Volume, that many of them, on listening toa few verses, could tell from what portion of theScriptures you were reading. The only dread wewere taught to have of the Scriptures, was that ofreading them without fear and reverence.And after his ordination, every priest is obliged inconscience to devote upwards of an hour each dayto the perusal of the Word of God. I am not awarethat clergymen of other denominations are boundby the same duty.What isgood for the clergy must be good also forthe laity. Be assured that ifyou become a Catholic,you will never be forbidden to read the Bible. It iaour earnest wish that every word of the Gospel maybe imprinted on your memory and on your heart.CHAPTER IX.THE PRIMACY OF PETER.Catholic Church also teaches that our LordTHE conferred on St. Peter the first place of honorand jurisdiction in the government of His whole

"118 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Church, and thatthe same spiritual supremacy hasalways resided in the Popes, or Bishops of Rome,as being the successors of St. Peter. Consequently,to be true followers of Christ, all Christians, bothamong the clergy and the laity,must be in communion with the See of Rome, where Peter rules in theperson of his successor.Before coming to any direct proofs on this subject,I may state that in the Old Law, the High Priest,appointed by Almighty God, filled an office analogous to that of Popein the New Law. In theJewish Church, there were priests and levitesordained to minister at the altar ;and there wasalso a supreme ecclesiastical tribunal, with theHigh Priest at its head. All matters of religiouscontroversy were referred to this tribunal and in;the last resort, to the High Priest, whose decisionwas enforced under pain of death ! If there be ahard matter in judgment between blood and blood,cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy,. . . thou shaltcome to the priests of the levitical race, and to thejudge, . . . and they shall show thee true judgment. And thou sbalt do whatever they say whopreside in the place which the Lord shall choose,and thou shalt follow their sentence. And thoushalt not decline to the right hand, or to the left.. . . But he that . . . will refuse to obey the commandment of the priest, who ministereth at the time,. . . that man shall die, and thou shalt take awaythe evil from Israel." 11Deut. xvii.

PEIMACY OF PETER. 119From this passage, it is evident that in the HebrewChurch the High Priest had the highest jurisdictionin religious matters. By this means, unity of faithand worship was preserved among the people of God.Now the Jewish synagogue, asSt. Paul testifies,was the type and figure of the Christian Church ;for, "all things happened to them (the Jews) in1Wefigure." must, therefore, find in the Churchof Christ a spiritual judge, exercising the samesupreme authority as the High Priest wielded in theOld Law. For, if a supreme Pontiff was necessary,in the Mosaic dispensation, to maintain purity anduniformity of worship, the same dignitary is equallynecessary now to preserve unity of faith.Every well-regulated civil government has an acknowledged Head. The President is the Head ofthe United States Government. Queen Victoria isthe Ruler of Great Britain. The Sultan sways theTurkish Empire. If these nations had no authorized leader to govern them, they would be reducedto the condition of a mere mob, and anarchy andconfusion and civil war would inevitably follow, asrecently happened to France after the fall of Napoleon III.Even in every well-ordered family, domestic peacerequires that some one preside.Now, the Church of Christ is a visible society,that is, a society composed of human beings. Shehas, it is true, a spiritual end in view ;but havingto1 1. Cor. x. 11

"We120 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.deaJ with men, she must have a government as wellas every other organized society. This government,at least in its essential elements, our Lord must haveestablished for His Church. For, was He not aswise as human legislators? And shall we supposethat, of all lawgivers, the Wisdom Incarnate aloneleft His Kingdom on earth to be governed withouta Head?But some one will tell me : do not denythat the Church has a Head. God Himself is itsRuler." This isevading the real question. Isnot God the Ruler of allgovernments? "By Me,"He says, "kings reign, and lawgivers decree just1He is the recognized Head of our Rethings."public, and of every Christian family in the land ;but, nevertheless, there isalways presiding overthe country a visible chief, who represents God onearth.In like manner the Church, besid&s an invisibleHead in heaven, must have a visible Head on earth.The body and members of the Church are visible ;whynot also the Head? The Church without asupreme Ruler, would be like an army without a general ; a navy without an admiral ;a sheepfold withouta shepherd or like a human;body without a head.The Christian communities separated from theCatholic Church, deny that Peter received any authority over the other Apostles, and hence they rejectthe supremacy of the Pope.1Prov. yiii. 15.

PR/MACY OF PETER.12 jThe absence from the Protestant communions ofis to them an enda divinely-appointed, visible head,less source of weakness and dissensions.It is an inseparable barrier against any hope of a permanentreunion among themselves, because they are leftwithout a common rallying centre or basis of union,and are placed in an unhappy state of schism.The existence, on the contrary, of a supreme judgeof controversy in the Catholic Church, is the secretof her admirable unity. This is the key-stone thatbinds together and strengthens the imperishable archof faith.From the very fact, then, of the existence of asupreme head in the Jewish Church from;the factthat a head isalways necessary for civil govern^ments, for families, and corporations from;the fact,especially, that a visible Head is essential to themaintenance of unity in the Church, while theabsence of a Plead necessarily leads to anarchy, weare forced to conclude, even though positive evidence were wanting, that, in the establishment ofHis Church, it must have entered into the mind ofthe divine Lawgiver to place over it a Primate invested with superior judicial powers.But have we any positive proof that Christ didappoint a supreme Ruler over His Church? Tothose, indeed, who read the Scriptures with the single eye of pure intention, the most abundant evidence of this fact is furnished. To my mind, the NewTestament establishes no doctrine, u/Jess it satisfies11

"""122 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.every candid reader that our Lord gaVe plenipotentiary powers to Peter to govern the whole Church.In this chapter I shall speak of the Promise, the Institution, and the exercise of Peter sPrimacy, asrecorded in the New Testament. The next chaptershall be devoted to its perpetuity in the Popes.Promise of the Primacy. Our Saviour, on a certainWhom dooccasion, asked His disciples, saying:men say that the Son of man is? And they said:Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; andothers, Elias ;and others, Jeremiah, or one of theProphets. Jesus saith to them : But whom do yesay that I am ? Peter, as usual, is the leader andSimon Peter answering, said : Thouspokesman.art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesusanswering said to him Blessed art thou, Simon:Bar-Jona : because flesh and blood hath not revealedit to thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And Isay to thee that thou art :Peter, and upon this rockI will build My Church, and the gates of hell shallnot prevail againstit. And I will give to thee thekeys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoeverthou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound also inheaven ;and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth,shall be loosed also in heaven." l Here we findPeter confessing the divinity of Christ, and in reward for that confession he is honored with thePromise of the Primacy.Our Saviour, by the words "thou art Peter,"1Matt. xvi. 13-19.

"And"PRIMACY OF PETER....22clearly alludes to the new name which He Himselfhad conferred upon Simon, when He received himinto the number of His followers (John 42) i*. ;andHe now reveals the reason for the change of name,which was to insinuate the honor He was to confeion him, by appointing him President of the Christian Republic ; just as God, in the Old Law, changedAbram s name to Abraham, ^hen He chose him tobe the father of a mighty nation.The word Peter, in the Syro-Chaldaic tongue, whichour Saviour spoke, means a rock. The sentence runsthus in that language: Thou art a rock, and onthis rock I will build My Church" Indeed, all respectable Protestant commentators have now abandoned, and even ridicule, the absurdity of applying the word rock to any one but to Peter as;thesentence can bear no other construction, unless ourLord sgood grammar and common sense are calledin question.Jesus, our Lord, founded but one Church, whichHe was pleased to build on Peter. Therefore, anychurch that does not recognize Peter as its foundation stone, is not the Church of Christ, and therefore cannot stand, for it is not the work of God.This is plain. Would to God that all would see itaright, and with eyes free from prejudice.He continues :I will give to thee the keysof the kingdom of heaven," etc. In ancient times,and particularly among the Hebrew people, keyswere an emblem of jurisdiction. To affirm that a

"Here"""124 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS.fman had received the keys of a city, was equivalent tothe assertion that he had been appointeditsgovernorIn the Book of Revelation, our Saviour says thacHe has the keys of death and of lwhichhell,"means that He is endowed with power over deathand hell. In fact, even to this day, does not thepresentation of keys convey among ourselves theidea of authority? I? the proprietor of a house,ou leavingit for the summer, says to any friend :are the keys of my would not thishouse,"simple declaration, without a word of explanation, convey the idea, I give youfull controlof my house. You may admit or exclude whomyou please.You represent me in my absence ? Letus now apply this interpretation to our Redeemer swords. When He says to Peter: "I will give tothee the keys," etc., He evidently means : I will givethee supreme authority over My Church, which isthe citadel of faith, My earthly Jerusalem. Thouand thy successors shall be My visible representatives to the end of time. And be it rememberedthat to Peter alone, and to no other Apostle, werethese solemn words addressed.Fulfilment of the Promise. The promise which .ourRedeemer made of creating Peter the supremeRuler of His Church, is fulfilled in the following"passage Jesus saith to Simon Peter ::Simon, sonof John, lovest thou Me more than these ? He saitbto Him :Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee*1 fiev. i 18.

PRIMACY OF PETER. 125He saith to him : Feed My lambs. He saith to himagain Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me : ? Hesaith to Him :Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I loveThee. He saith to him : Feed My lambs. He saithto him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovestthou Me ? Peter was grieved because He had saidto him the third time: Lovest thou me? And hesaid to him :Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thouknowest that I love Thee. He said to Mm : FeedMy sheep."1These words were addressed by our Lord to Peterafter His resurrection. The whole sheepfold ofChrist is confided to him, without any exception orlimitation.Peter has jurisdiction not only over thelambs, the weak and tender portion of the flock,by which are understood the faithful but also;overthe sheep,i. e. }the Pastors themselves, who hold thesame relations to their congregations that the sheephold to the lambs, because they bring forth, untoJesus Christ, and nourish the spiritual lambs of thefold. To other Pastors a certain portion of theflock is assigned; to Peter, the entire fold; for,never did Jesus say to any other Apostle or Bishopwhat He said to Peter : Feed My whole flock.Candid reader, do you not profess to be a memberof Christ s flo^k ? Yes, you answer. Do you takeyour spiritual food from Peter, and from his successor ? and do you hear the voice of Peter ? or have11*1John xxi. 16-17.

126 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.you wandered into the fold of strangers who spurnPeter s voice? Ponder well on this momentousquestion. For, if Peter is authorized to feed thelambs of Christ s flock, the lambs should hearPeter s voice.Exercise of the Primacy. In the Acts of theApostles, which contain almost the only Scripturenarrative that exists of the Apostles subsequent toour Lord s ascension, St. Peter appears before us,like Saul among the tribes, standing head andshoulders over his brethren by the prominent parthe takes in every ministerial duty.The first twelve chapters of the Acts are devotedto Peter, and to some of the other Apostles the re;maining chapters being chiefly occupied with thelabors of the Apostle of the Gentiles. In that briefhistorical fragment, as well as in the Gospels, thename of Peter iseverywhere pre-eminent.Peter s name always stands first in the lists of theApostles; while Judas Iscariot is invariably mentioned last. 1 Peter is even called bySt. Matthewthe first Apostle. Now Peter was first neither in agenor in priority of election, his elder brother Andrewhaving been chosen before him. The meaning, therefore, of the expression must be, that Peter was firstnot only in rank and honor, but also in authority.Peter is the firstApostle who performed a miracle.1He is the first to address the Jews in Jerusalem^while his Apostolic brethren stand respectfullylMatt. x. 2; Mark iii. 16; Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 14.ActsiiL

"PRIMACY OP PETEB. 127around him ; upon which occasion he converts threethousand souls. 1Peter is the first to make converts from the Gentile world in the persons of Cornelius and hisfriends. 2When it is a question of electing a successor toJudas, Peter alone speaks. He points out to theApostles and disciples the duty of choosing anotherto succeed the traitor. The Apostles silently acquiesce in the instructions of their leader.8In the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, Peteris the first whose sentiments are recorded. Beforehisdiscourse,when he had ceased to speak,held their peace."*there was much disputing."But"all the multitudeSt. James and the other Apostles concur in thesentiments of Peter without a single dissentingvoice.St. James is cast into prison by Herod, andafterwards beheaded. He was one of the threemost favored Apostles. He was the cousin of ourLord and brother of St. John. He was most dearto the faithful. Yet no extraordinary efforts aremade by the faithful to rescue him from death.Peter isimprisoned about the same time. Thewhole Church is aroused. Prayers for his deliverance ascend to heaven, not only from Jerusalem,but also from every Christian family in the land. 5The army of the Lord can afford to lose a chieftain1 Actsii. Acts*. Actsi. *Actsxv. Acts xii.

128 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.in the person of James ;but it cannot yet spare thecommander-iu-chief. The enemies of the Churchhad hoped that the destruction of the chief shepherdwould involve the dispersion of the whole flock.Therefore they redoubled their fury against thePrince of the Apostles, just as her modern enemiesconcentrate their shafts against the Pope,his successor. Does not this incident eloquently proclaimPeter s superior authority? In fact, Peter figuresso conspicuously in every page, that his Primacy isnot only admissible, but is forced on the judgmentof the impartial reader.What are the principal objections which are ad.vanced against the Primacy of Peter? They arechiefly, I may say exclusively, confined to the threefollowing : 1. That our Lord rebuked Peter 2. that;St. Paul criticised his conduct on a point not affecting doctrine, but discipline. The Apostle of theGentiles blames St. Peter because he withdrew fora time from the society of the Gentile converts, forfear of scandalizing the newly-converted Jews. 13. That the supremacy of Peter conflicts with thesupreme dominion of Christ.For my part, I cannot see how these objectionscan invalidate the claims of Peter. Was not JesusPeter s superior And ? may not a superior rebukehis servant, without infringing on the servant s prerogatives ?And why could not St. Paul censure the conductGaLii.ll.

"PRIMACY OF PETEB. 129of St. Peter, without questioning that superior sauthority? It is not a very uncommon thing forecclesiastics occupying an inferior position in theChurch to admonish even the Pope. St. Bernaid,though only a monk, wrote a work in which, withApostolic freedom, he administers counsel to PopeEugenius III., and cautions him against the dangersto which his eminent position exposes him. Yetno man had more reverence for any Pope thanBernard had for this great Pontiff*. Cannot ourGovernor animadvert upon the President s conductwithout impairing the President s jurisdiction ?Nay, from this very circumstance, I draw a confirming evidence of Peter s supremacy. St. Paulmentions it as a fact worthy of record, that heactually witJistood Peter to his face. Do you thinkit would be worth recording, if Paul had rebukedJames, or John, or Barnabas? By no means. Ifone brother rebukes another, the matter excites nospecial attention. But if a son rebukes his father,or if a Priest rebukes his Bishop to his face, weunderstand why he would consider it a fact worthrelating. Hence, when St. Paul goes to the troubleof telling us that he took exception to Peter s conduct, he mentions it as an extraordinary exercise ofApostolic freedom, and leaves on our minds the obvious inference that Peter was his superior.In the very same Epistle to the Galatians, 8tPaul plainly insinuates St. Peter s superior rank."I went," he says, to Jerusalem to see Peter, andI

"130 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.*I tarried with him fifteen days."Saints Chrysostom,Jerome, and Ambrose tell us that this was notan idle visit of ceremony, but that the object of St.Paul, in making the journey, was to testify his respect and honor for the chief of the Apostles.There are others who pretend, in spite of ourLord s declaration to the contrary, that loyalty toPeter is disloyalty to Christ, and that by acknowledgingPeter as the rock on which the Church isbuilt, we set our Saviour aside. So far from thisbeing the case, we acknowledge Jesus Christ asChief corner-stone,"theas well as the divine Architectof the building.The true test of loyalty to Jesus is not only toworship Himself, but to venerate even the representatives whom He has chosen. Will any one pretend to say that my obedience to the Governor sappointee, is a mark of disrespect to the Governorhimself? I think our State Executive would havelittle faith in the allegiance of any citizen who would"Bay to him :Governor, I honor you personally, butyour official s order I shall disregard."St. Peter is called the firstBishop of Rome, because he transferred his See from Antioch to Home,where he suffered martyrdom with St. Paul.We are not surprised that modern skepticism,which rejects the divinity of Christ, and denies eventhe existence of God, should call in question the factthat St. Peter lived and died in Rome.GaLL18.

"PRIMACY OF PETER. 131The reason commonly alleged for disputing thiawell-attested event, is that the Acts of the Apostleamake no mention of Peter s labors and martyrdomin Rome. For the same reason, we might deny thatSt. Paul was beheaded in Rome, that St. John diedin Ephesus, and that St. Andrew was crucified. TfceScripture is silent regarding these historical records,and yet they are denied by no one.The intrinsic evidence of St. Peter s first Epistle, thetestimony of his immediate successors in the ministry,as well as the avowal of eminent Protestant commentators, all concur in fixing the See of Peter in Rome.Babylon,"from which Peter addresses his firstEpistle, is understood by learned annotators, Protestant and Catholic, to refer to Rome, the wordBabylon being symbolical of the corruption thenprevailing in the city of the Csesars.Clement, the fourth Bishop of Rome, who iamentioned in terms of praise by St. Paul; St.Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who died in 105;Irenseus, Origen, St. Jerome, Eusebius the great historian, and other eminent writers, testify to St. Peter sresidence in Rome; while no ancient ecclesiasticalwriter has ever contradicted the statement.John Calvin, a witness above suspicion, Cave, anable Anglican critic, Grotius, and other distinguishedProtestant writers, do not hesitate to re-echo theunanimous voice of Catholic tradition.Indeed, no historical fact will escape the shaftsof incredulity, if St. Peter s residence and gloriousmartyrdom in Rome are called in question.

132 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.CHAPTER X.THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE.THE Church did not die with Peter, but wasdestined to continue till the end of time. Consequently, whatever official prerogatives were conferred on Peter, were not to cease at his death, butwere to be handed down to his successors fromgeneration to generation. The Churcn is in allages as much in need of a Supreme Ruler as itwas in the days of the Apostles. Nay more as the;Church is now more widely diffused than it wasthen, and is ruled by frailer men, it is more thanever in need of a central power to preserve its unityof faith and uniformity of discipline.Whatever privileges, therefore, were conferredon Peter, which may be considered essential to thegovernment of the Church, are inherited by theBishops of Rome, as successors of the Prince of theApostles just as the constitutional powers given to;George Washington have devolved on the presentincumbent of the Presidential chair.Peter, it is true, besides the prerogatives inherentin his office, possessed aiso the power of workingmiracles, and the gift of inspiration. These twolatter gifts are not claimed by the Pope, as theywere personal to Peter, and by no means essentialto the government of the Church. God acts towardi

SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 133His Church as we deal with a tender sapling.When we first plant it, we water it, and soften theclay about its roots. But when it takes deep root,we leave it to the care of Nature s laws. lu likemanner, when Christ first planted His Church, Henourished its infancy by miraculous agency; butwhen itgrew to be a tree of fair proportions, Heleft it to be governed by the general laws of HisProvidence.From what I have said, you can easily infer thatthe arguments in favor of Peter s Primacy haveequal weight in demonstrating the supremacy of thePopes.As the present question, however, is a subject ofvast importance, I shall endeavor to show, from incontestable historical evidence, that the Popes havealways, from the days of the Apostles, continued toexercise supreme jurisdiction,not only in theWestern church, till the Reformation, but alsothroughout the Eastern church, till the greatschism of the ninth century.1. Take the question of appeals.An appealisnever made from a superior to an inferior court, noteven from one court to another of co-ordinate jurisdiction. We do not appeal from Washington toRichmond, but from Richmond to WashingtonNow, if we find the See of Rome, from the foundation of Christianity, entertaining and deciding casesof appeal from the Oriental churches ;if we findthat her decision was final and irrevocable, we must12

134 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.conclude that the supremacy of Rome over all thechurches is an undeniable fact.Let me give you a few illustrations :To begin with Pope St. Clement, who was thethird successor of St. Peter, and who is laudablymentioned by St. Paul in one of his Epistles. Somedissension and scandal having occurred in the churchof Corinth, the matter isbrought to the notice ofPope Clement. He at once exercises his supremeauthority by writing letters of remonstrance and admonition to the Corinthians. And so great was thereverence entertained for these Epistles, by thefaithful of Corinth, that for a century later it wascustomary to have them publicly read in theirchurches. Why did the Corinthians appeal to Romefaraway in the West, and not to Ephesus so nearhome in the East, where the Apostle St. Johnstill lived? Evidently because the jurisdiction ofEphesus was local, while that of Rome was universal.About the year 190, the question regarding theproper day for celebrating Easter was agitated inthe East, and referred to Pope St. Victor I. TheEastern church generally celebrated Easter on theday on which the Jews kept the Passover ;while inthe West it was observed then, as it is now, on thefirstSunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox.St. Victor directs the Eastern churches, for thesake of uniformity, to conform to the practice of thfWest, and his instructions are universally followed.

SUPREMACY OP THE POPES. 135Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, about the middle ofthe third century, having heard that the Patriarchof Alexandria erred on some points of faith, demandsan explanation of the suspected Prelate, who, inobedience to his superior, promptly vindicates hisown orthodoxy.St. Athanasius, the great Patriarch of Alexandria,appeals in the fourth century, to Pope Julius I., froman unjust decision rendered against him by theOriental bishops ;and the Pope 1 reverses the sentenceof the Eastern council.St. Basil, Archbishop of Csesarea,in the samecentury, has recourse, in his afflictions, to the protection of Pope Damasus.St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople,appeals in the beginning of the fifth century, to PopeInnocent I., for a redress of grievances inflicted onhim by several Eastern Prelates, and by the Empress Eudoxia of Constantinople.St. Cyril appeals to Pope Celestine againstNestorius;Nestorius also appeals to the same Pontiff,who takes the side of Cyril."Theodoret, the illustrious historian and Bishopof Cyrrhus, is condemned by the pseudo-council ofEphesus in 449, and appeals to Pope Leo in thefollowing touching language : I await the decisionof your Apostolic See, and I supplicate your Holiness to succor me, who invoke your righteous andjust tribunal; and to order me to hasten to you,1Socrates Ecclesiastical History, B. II., c. xv.

await136 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS.and to explain to you my teaching, which followsthe steps of the Apostles I beseech younot to scorn my application. Do not slight mygray hairs Above all, I entreat you toteach me whether to put up with this unjustdeposition or not. I"For, your sentence.If you bid me rest in what has been determinedagainst me, I will rest, and will trouble no manmore. I will look for the righteous judgmentof our God and Saviour. To me, as AlmightyGod ismy Judge, honor and gloryis no object, but only the scandal that has been caused:for many of the simpler sort, especially thosewhom I have rescued from diverse heresies, considering the see which has condemned me, suspect that perhaps I really am a heretic, beingincapable themselves of distinguishing accuracy ofdoctrine." lJohn, Abbot of Constantinople, appeals from thedecision of the Patriarch of that city to Pope St.Gregory I., who reverses the sentence of the Patriarch.In 859, Photius addressed a letter to Pope Nicholas L, asking the Pontiff to confirm his election tothe Patriarchate of Constantinople. In consequenceof the Pope s conscientious refusal, Photius brokeoff from the communion of the Catholic Church,and became the author of the Greek schism.Here are a few examples taken at random from1Epist. 113.

"SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 137Church History. We see Prelates most eminentfor their sanctity and learning, occupying the highest position in the Eastern church, and consequentlyfar removed from the local influences of Rome, appealing, in every period of the early Church, fromthe decisions of their own Bishops and their Councilsto the supreme arbitration of the Holy See. Ifthis does not constitute superior jurisdiction, I haveyet to learn what superior authority means.2. Christians of every denomination admit theorthodoxy of the Fathers of the first five centuriesof the Church. No one has ever called in questionthe faith of such men as Basil, Chrysostom, Cyprian,Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, and Leo. They werethe acknowledged guardians of pure doctrine, andthe living representatives"of the faith once deliveredto the saints."They were to the Church in theirgeneration what Peter and Paul and James were tothe Church in its infancy. We instinctively consultthem about the faith of those times ; for, to whomshall we go for the words of eternal life, if not tothem?Now, the Fathers of the Church, with one voice,pay homage to the Bishops of Rome as their superiors. The limited space I have allowed myself inthis little volume, will not permit me to give anyextracts from their writings. The reader who maybe unacquainted with the original language of theFathers, or who has not their writings at hand, isreferred to a work entitled, Faith of Catholics,"

138 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.where he will find, in an English translation, copiousextracts from their writings, vindicating the Primacyof the Popes.3. Ecumenical Councils afford another eloquentvindication of Papal supremacy. An Ecumenicalor General Council is an assemblage of Prelatesrej>-resenting the whole Catholic Church. A GeneralCouncil is to the Church what the Executive andLegislative bodies in Washingtonare to the UnitedStates.Up to the present time, nineteen EcumenicalCouncils have been convened, including the Councilof the Vatican. The last eleven were held in theWest, and the first eight in the East. I will pasaover the Western Councils, as no one denies thatthey were subject to the authority of the Pope.I shall briefly speak of the important influencewhich the Holy See exercised in the eight OrientalCouncils.The first General Council was held in Nicsea, in325 ;the second, in Constantinople, in 381 the;third, in Ephesus, in 431 the; fourth, in Chalcedon,in 451 ;the fifth, in Constantinople, in 553 the;sixth, in the same city, in 680; the seventh, inNicsea, in 787 and the;eighth, in Constantinople, in869.The Bishops of Rome convoked these assemblages,or at least consented to their convocation ; they presided by their legates over all of them, except thefirst and second councils of Constantinople, and they

SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 139confirmed all these eight by their authority.Beforebecoming a law, the acts of the Councils requiredthe Pope s signature, just as our Congressional proceedings require the President s signature before theyacquire the force of law.Is not this a striking illustration of the Primacy ?The Pope convenes, rules, and sanctions the Synods,not by courtesy, but by right.A dignitary whocalls an assembly together, who presides over its deliberations, whose signature is essential for confirmingits acts, has surely a higher authority than the othermembers.4. I shall refer to one more historical point in support of the Pope s jurisdiction over the whole Church.It is a most remarkable fact that every nationhitherto converted from Paganism to Christianity, sincethe days of the Apostles, has received the light of faithfrom missionaries who were either especially commissioned by the See of Rome, or sent by Bishops in opencommunion with that See. This historical fact admitsof no exception. Let me particularize:Ireland s Apostleis St. Patrick. Who commissicnedhim ?Pope St. Celestine, in the fifth century.St. Palladius is the Apostle of Scotland. Whogent him ? The same Pontiff, Celestine.The Anglo-Saxons received the faith from St,Augustine, a Benedictine monk, as all historiansCatholic and non-Catholic testify. Who empoweredAugustine to preach ? Pope Gregory I., at the endof the sixth century.

140 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS.St Remigius established the faith in France, attiie close of the fifth century. He was in active communion with the See of Peter.Flanders received the Gospel in the seventh century from St. Eligius, who acknowledged the supremacy of the reigning Pope.Germany and Bavaria venerate as their ApostleSt. Boniface, who is popularly known in his nativeEngland by his baptismal name of Wiufrid. Hewas commissioned by Pope Gregory II., in the beginning of the eighth century, and was consecratedBishop by the same Pontiff.In the ninth century, two saintly brothers, Cyriland Methodius, evangelized Russia, Sclavonia, andMoravia, and other parts of Northern Europe. Theyrecognized the supreme authority of Pope NicholasI., and of his successors, Adrian II. and John VIII.In the eleventh century, Norway was convertedby missionaries introduced from England by theNorwegian KingSt. Olave.The conversion of Sweden was consummated inthe same century by the British Apostles SaintsUlfrid and Eskill. Both of these nations immediately after their conversion commenced to pay Romescot,or a small annual tribute to the Holy See,a clear evidence that they were in communion withthe Chair of Peter. 1All the other nations of Europe, having been converted before the Reformation, received likewise theButler 3 Lives of the Saints,St. Olave, July 29th.

SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 141light of faith from Roman Catholic Missionaries,because Europe then recognized only one ChristianChief.Passing from Europe to Asia and America, it isundeniable that St. Francis Xavier and the otherEvangelists who, in the sixteenth century, extendedthe kingdom of Jesus Christ through India andJapan, were in communion with the Holy See and;that those Apostles who, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, converted the aboriginal tribes ofSouth America and Mexico, received their commission from the Chair of Peter.But you will say: The people of the UnitedStates profess to be a Christian nation. Do youalso claim them ? Most certainly ; for, even thoseAmerican Christians who are unhappily severedfrom the Catholic Church, are primarily indebtedfor their knowledge of the Gospel to missionaries incommunion with the Holy See.The white races of North America are descendedfrom England, Ireland, Scotland, and the nationsof Continental Europe. Those European nationshaving been converted by missionaries in subjectionto the Holy See, it follows that from whatever partof Europe you are descended, whatever may be yourparticular creed, you are indebted to the Church ofRome for your knowledge of Christianity.Do not these facts demonstrate the Primacy of thePope? The Apostles of Europe and of other countries received their authority from Rome. Is not

142 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the power that sends an ambassador greater than hewho is sent ?Thus we see that the name of the Pope is indeliblymarked on every page of ecclesiastical history. Thesovereign Pontiff ever stands before us as command er-iu-chief in the grand army of the Church.Do the Bishops of the East feel themselves aggrievedat home by their Patriarchs or civil Rulers ? theylook for redress to Rome, as to the star of their hope.Are the Fathers and Doctors of the early Churchconsulted ? with one voice they all pay homage tothe Bishop of Rome as their spiritual Priuce. Is anEcumenical Council to be convened in the East orWest ? the Pope is its leading spirit. Are new nations to be converted to the faith ? there is the HolyFather clothing the missionaries with authority, andto the work. Are new errorsgiving his blessingto be condemned in any part of the globe? allturn towards the oracle of Rome to await hiseyesanathema, and his solemn judgment reverberatesthroughout the length and breadth of the Christianworld.You might as well shut out the light of day andthe air of heaven from your daily walk, as excludethe Pope from his legitimate sphere in the hierarchyof the Church. The history of the United Stateswith the Presidents left out, would be more intelligible than the history of the Church to the exclusionof the Vicar of Christ. How, I ask, could such greatauthority endure so long, if it were a usurpation?

""SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 143But you will tell me: "Thesupremacy of thePope has baen disputed in many So has theages."authority of God been called in question nay, His;very existence has been denied ; for, the fool hathsaid in his heart, there is no God." 1 Does thisdenial destroy the existence and dominion of God ?Has not parental authority been impugned from thebeginning? But by whom? By unruly children.Was David no longer king, because Absalom saidso?It is thus also with the Popes. Their parentalsway has been opposed only by their undutiful sonswho grew impatient of the Gospel yoke. Photius,the leader of the Greek schism, was an obedient sonof the Pope until Nicholas refused to recognize hisusurped authority. Henry VIII. was a stout defender of the Pope s supremacy until Clement VII.refused to legalize his adultery. Luther professeda most abject submission to the tillPope Leo X.condemned him.You cannot, my dear reader, be a loyal citizenof the United States, while you deny the constitutional a ithority of the President. You have seenthat the Bishop of Home is appointed not by man,but by Jesus Christ, President of the Christiancommonwealth. You cannot, therefore, be a truecitizen of the Republic of the Church so long asyou spurn the legitimate supremacy of its divinelyconstitutedChief. "He that is not with Me, isagainst Me," says our Lord, and he that gathereth1 Ps. lii

""144 THF FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.not with Me, How scattereth." can you be withChrist, if you are against His Vicar ?The great evil of our times is the unhappy division existing among the professors of Christianity,and from thousands of hearts a yearning cry goesforth for unity of faith and union of churches.It was, no doubt, with this laudable view, thatthe Evangelical Alliance assembled in. New Yorkin the fall of 1873. The representatives of thedifferent religious communions hoped to effect areunion. But they signally and lamentably failed.Indeed, the only result which followed from thealliance, was the creation of a new sect under theauspices of Dr. Cummins. That reverend gentleman, with the characteristic modesty of all religiousReformers, was determined to have a hand in improving the work of Jesus Christ; and, like theother Reformers, he said, witi. those who built thetower of Babel : Let us make our name famouslbefore our dust is scattered to the wind.The Alliance failed, because its members had noThere was no voicecommon platform to stand on.in that assembly that could say with authority :"Thussaith the "Lord."I heartily join in this prayer for Christian unity,and gladly would surrender my life for such a consummation. But I tellyou that Jesus Christ haspointed out the only means by which this unity canbe maintained, viz.: the recognition of Peter andhis successors as the head of the Church. Build upon1Gen. xi. 4.

"HowINFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 145this foundation, and you will not erect a tower ofBiibel, nor build upon sand. If all Christian sectaWfcre united with the centre of unity, then the scattered hosts of Christendom would form an armywhich atheism and infidelity could not long withstand. Then indeed all could exclaim with Balaam :beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, andthy tents, O Israel !Let us pray that the day may be hastened whenreligious dissensions will cease, when all Christianswill advance with united front, under one commonleader, to plant the cross in every region and winnew kingdoms to Jesus Christ." *CHAPTER XLINFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES.AS the doctrine of Papal Infallibility is strangelymisapprehended by our separated brethren, because it is grievously misrepresented by those whoprofess to be enlightened ministers of the Gospel,I shall begin by stating what Infallibility does notmean, and shall then explain what it really is.1st. The infallibility of the Popes does not signifythat they are inspired. The Apostles were endowedwith the gift of inspiration, and we accept theirwritings as the revealed word of God.132Numb. xxiv. 5.

"146 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.No Catholic, on the contrary, claims that thePope is inspired, or endowed with divine revelatioDproperly so called.For, the Holy Spirit was not promised to thesuccessors of Peter in order that they might spreadabroad new doctrine which He reveals, but that,under His assistance, they might guard inviolably,and with fidelity explain, the revelation or depositof faith handed down by the Apostles."l2d. Infallibility does not mean that the Pope isimpeccable, or specially exempt from liability tosin. The Popes have been indeed, with few exceptions, men of virtuous lives.Many of them arehonored as martyrs. Seventy-nine, out of thetwo hundred and fifty-nine that sat on the chairof Peter, are invoked upon our altars, as saints eminent for their holiness.The avowed enemies of the Church charge onlyfive or six Popes with immorality. Thus, even admitting the truth of the accusations brought againstthem, we have forty-three virtuous to one bad Pope,while there was a Judas Iscariot among the twelveApostles.But although a vast majority of the sovereignPontiffs should have been so unfortunate as to leadvicious lives, this circumstance would not of itselfimpair the validity of their prerogatives, which aregiven not for the preservation of their morals, butfor the guidance of their judgment for, there was;1 Cone. Vat. Const. Pastor J2ternu3, c 4.

"INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 147a Balaam among the Prophets, and a Caiphasamong the HighPriests of the Old Law.The presentillustrious Pontiff is a man of 110ordinary sanctity.He has already filled the high"est positionin the Church for upwards of thirtyyears, a spectacleto the world, to angels, and tomen,"and no man can point out a stain upon hismoral character.And yet Pius IX., like his predecessors, confesseshis sins every week. Each morning, at the beginning of Mass, he says at the foot of the altar,confess to Almighty God, and to His Saints, that Ihave sinned exceedingly in thought, word, anddeed." And at the Offertory of the Mass he says:"Receive, O Holy Father, almighty, everlastingGod, this oblation which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer for my innumerable sins, offences, andnegligences."With these facts before their eyes,I cannot comprehend how ministers of the Gospel betray so muchignorance, or are guilty of so much malice, as toproclaim from their pulpits, which ought to be consecrated to truth, that Infallibility means exemption from sin. I do not see how they can benefittheir cause by such flagrant perversions of truth.3d. Bear in mind, also, that this divine assistanceisguaranteed to the Pope, not in his capacity as aprivate teacher, but only in his official capacity,when he judges of faith and morals as Head of theChurch. If a Pope, for instance, like Benedict

148 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.XIV., were to write a treatise on Canon Law, hisbook would be as much open to criticism as thai ofany doctor of the Church.4th. Finally, the inerrability of the Popes, beingrestricted to questions of faith and morals, does notextend to the natural sciences, such as astronomy orgeology, unless where error is presented under thefalse name of science, and arrays itself against revealed truth. 1It does not, therefore, concern itselfabout the nature and motions of the planets. Nordoes itregard purely political questions, such as theform of government a nation ought to adopt, orwhat candidates we ought to vote for.Consequently, the Pope s Infallibility does not inany way trespass on the civil authority. For, thePope s jurisdiction belongs to spiritual matters;while the duty of the state is to provide for the temporal welfare of its subjects.What, then, is the real doctrine of Infallibility ?as successor of St.It simply means that the Pope,Peter, Prince of the Apostles, by virtue of the promises of Jesus Christ, ispreserved from error of judgment when he promulgates to the Church a decisionon faith or morals.The Pope, therefore, be it known, is not the makerof the divine law ;he is only its expounder. He isnot the author of revelation, but only its interpreter.AJ1 revelation came from God alone through Hisinspired ministers, and was complete in the begin-1 Cone. Vat. Const. Dei, Fttiua, cap. 4 ;Coloss. ii. &.

INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 149ning of the Church. The Holy Father has no moreauthority than you or I to break one iota or tittleof the Scripture, and he is equally wi_h us the servant of the divine law.In a word, the Sovereign Pontiff is to the Church,though in a more eminent degree, what the ChiefJustice is to the United States. We have an instrument called the Constitution of the United States,which is the charter of our civil rights and liberties.If a controversy arise between two States regardinga constitutional clause, the question is referred, inthe last resort, to the Supreme Court at Washington.The Chief Justice, with his associate judges, examinesinto the case, and thenpronounces judgment uponit ;and this decision is final, irrevocable, and practically infallible.If there were no such court to settle constitutionalquestions, the Constitution itself would soon becomea dead letter. Every litigant would conscientiouslydecide the dispute in his own favor, and anarchy andseparation and civil war would soon follow. Butby means of this Supreme Court, disputes are ended,and the political union of the States is perpetuated,There would have been no civil war in 1861, hadour domestic quarrel been submitted to the legitimate action of our highest court of judicature,instead of being left to the arbitrament of thesword.The revealed word of God isthe Church. This is the Magna13*the constitution ofCharta of our

150 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Christian liberties. The Popeis the official guardian of our religious constitution, as the Chief Justice is the guardian of our civil constitution.When a dispute arises in the Church regardingthe sense of Scripture, the subject is referred tothe Pope for final adjudication. The sovereignPontiff, before deciding the case, gathers aroundhim his venerable colleagues, the Cardinals of theChurch ;or he calls a council of his associate judgesof faith, the Bishops of Christendom ;or he has recourse to other lights which the Holy Ghost maysuggest to him. Then, after mature and prayerfuldeliberation, he pronounces judgment, and his sentence is final, irrevocable, and infallible.If the Catholic Church were not fortified by thisdivinely-established supreme tribunal, she would bebroken up like the sects around her into a thousandfragments, and religious anarchy would soon follow.But by means of this infallible court, her marvellous unity is preserved throughout the world. Thisdoctrine is the keystone in the arch of Catholicfaith, and, far from arousing opposition, it ought tocommand the unqualified admiration of every reflecting mind.These explanations being premised, let us nowbriefly consider the grounds of the doctrine itself.The following passages of the Gospel, spoken atdifferent times, were addressed exclusively to Peter:"Thou art Peter; and on this rock I will buildMy Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail

""""INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 151it." I, the supreme Architect of the uni1against"verse," says our Saviour, will establish a Churchwhich is to last till the end of time. I will lay thefoundation of this Church so deep and strong on therock of truth that the winds and storms of errorshall never prevail againstit.Thou, O Peter, shaltbe the foundation of this Church. It shall neverfall, because thou shalt never be shaken ;and thoushalt never be shaken, because thou slialt rest onMe, the rock of truth." The Church, of whichPeter is the foundation, is declared to be impregnable, that is, proof against error. How can yousuppose an immovable edifice built on a tottering foundation? for it is not the ouilding thatsustains the foundation, but it is the foundationwhich supports the building.And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdomof heaven." 2 Thou shalt hold the keys of truth,with which to open to the faithful the treasures ofheavenly science. Whatsoever thou shalt bindon earth shall be bound also in heaven." 8 Thejudgment which thou shalt pronounce on earth Iwill ratifyin heaven. Surely the God of truth iaincapable of sanctioning an untruthful judgment.Behold, Satan hath desired to have you (myApostles), that he may sift you as wheat. But 1have prayed for thee (Peter) that thy faith failnot; and thou, being once converted, confirm thybrethren." * It isworthy of note that Jesus prays1Matt. zvi.2 Ibid.8 Ibid.*Luke xxii. 31, 32.

""152 THE FAITH O7 OUR FATHERSonly for Peter. And why for Peter in particular?Because on his shoulders was to rest the burden ofthe Church. Our Lord prays for two things:1.That the faith of Peter and of his successors mightnot fail ;2. That Peter would confirm his brethrenin the faith, in order,"as St. Leo says, that thestrength given by Christ to Peter should descendon the Apostles."We know that the prayer of Jesus isalwaysheard. Therefore the faith of Peter will alwaysbe firm. He was destined to be the oracle whichall were to consult. Hence we always find himthe prominent figure among the Apostles;the firstto speak ; the first to act on every occasion. Hewas to be the guiding star that was to lead therest of the faithful in the path of truth. He wasto be in the hierarchy of the Church what thesun is in the planetary system the centre aroundwhich all would revolve. And is it not a beautifulspectacle, in harmony with our ideas of God sprovidence, to behold in His Church a counterpart of thestarry system above us ? There, every planet movesin obedience to a uniform law, all of them regulatedby one great luminary. So, in the spiritual order,we see every member of the Church governed byone law, controlled by one voice, and that voice subject to God.1Peter is"FeedMy lambs; feed My sheep."appointed by our Lord the universal shepherd of1John xii. 16, 17.

"INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 153His flock of the sheep and of the lambs, thatis, frhepherd of the Bishops and Priests as wellas of tbe people. The Bishops are shepherds, inreference to their flocks ; they are sheep, in reference to the Pope, who is the shepherd of shepherds.The Pope, as shepherd, must feed the flock not withthe poison of error, but with the healthy food ofsound doctrine ;for he is not a shepherd, but ahireling, who administers perniciousflock.Amongfood to histhe General Councils of the Church already held, I shall mention only three, as the actsof these Councils are amply sufficient to vindicatethe unerring character of the See of Rome and theRoman Pontiffs. I wish also to call your attentionto three facts: 1. That none of these Councils wereheld in Rome; 2. That one of them assembled inthe East, viz., in Constantinople; and, 3. That inevery one of them the Oriental and the WesternBishops met for the purpose of reunion.The Eighth General Council, held in Constantinople in 869, contains the following solemn profession of faith : Salvation primarily depends uponguarding the rule of rightcannot pass over the words of our Lord JesusChrist, who says, Thou art Peter, and on this rockI will build My Church/ what was said is confirmedfaith. And since weby facts, because in the Apostolic See the Catholicreligion has always been preserved immaculate, andholy doctrine has been proclaimed. Not wishing,

"We"154 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.theD, to be separated from this faith and doctrine,we hope to merit to be in the one communion whichthe Apostolic See preaches, in which See is the fulland true solidity of the Christian religion."This Council clearly declares that immaculate doobrinehas always been preserved and preached in theRoman See. But how could this be said of her, ifthe Roman See ever fell into error ? and how couldthat See be preserved from error, if the Roman Pontiffs presiding over it ever erred in faith ?In the Second General Council of Lyons, (1274,)the Greek Bishops made the following professionof faith : The holy Roman Church possesses fullprimacy and principality over the universal Catholic Church, which primacy, with the pleuitude ofpower, she truly and humbly acknowledges to havereceived from our Lord Himself, in the person ofBlessed Peter, Prince or Head of the Apostles,whose successor the Roman Pontiff is ;and as theRoman See, above all others, is bound to defendthe truth of faith, so, also, if any questions on faitharise, they ought to be defined by her judgment."Here the Council of Lyons avows that the RomanPontiffs have the power to determine definitely, andwithout appeal, any questions of faith which mayarise in the Church ;in other words, the Councilacknowledges them to be the supreme and infallibleai biters of faith.define," says the Council of Florence, (1439,,at which also were present the Bishops of the Greek

""INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 155and the Latin Church, we define that the RomanPontiff is the successor of the Blessed Peter, Princeof the Apostles, and the true Vicar of Christ, the Headof the whole Church, the Father and Doctor of allChristians; and we declare that to him, in the personof Blessed Peter, was given, by Jesus Christ ourSaviour, full power to feed, rule, and govern theuniversal Church."The Popeis here called the true Vicar or representative of Christ in this lower kingdom of HisChurch militant, that is, the Pope is the organ ofour Saviour, and speaks His sentiments in faith andmorals.But if the Pope erred in faith and morals,he would no longer be Christ s Vicar and true representative. Our minister in England, for instance,would not truly represent our Government, if he wasnot the organ of its sentiments. The Roman Pontiffis called the Head of the whole Church, that is, thevisible Head. Now the Church, which is the body ofChrist, is infallible. It is, as St. Paul says, withoutspot or wrinkle, or any such Butthing."how canyou suppose an infallible body with a fallible head ?How^can an erring head conduct a body in the unerring ways of truth and justice?He is declared by the same Council to be theFather and Doctor of all Christians. How can youexpect an unerring family under an erring Father?The Popeis called the universal teacher or doctor.Teacher of what ? Of truth, not of error. Error isto the mind what poisonis to the body. You do not

156 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.call poison, food neither can ; you call error, doctrine. The Pope, as universal teacher, must alwaysgive to the faithful, not the poisonous food of error,but the sound aliment of pure doctrine.In fine, the Pope is also styled the Chief Pilot ofthe Church. It was not without a mysterious significance, that our Lord went into Peter s bark insteadof that of any of the other Apostles. This bark, ourLord has pledged Himself, shall never sink, nordepart from her true course. How can you imaginea storm-proof, never-varying bark under the chargeof a fallible Pilot?The Council of the Vatican in promulgating, in1870, the Pope s Infallibility, did not create a newdoctrine, but confirmed an old one. In proclaiming this dogma, the Church enforces as a law a principle which has always existed as a matter of fact.I may illustrate this point by referring again toour Supreme Court.When the Chief Justice decide?a constitutional question, his decision, though presented in a new shape, cannot be called a new doctrine, because it is based on the letter and spirit ofthe Constitution.In like manner, when the Church issues a newdogma of faith, that decree isnothing more than anew form of expressing an old doctrine, because Ihedecisionmust be drawn from the revealed Word ofGod.The course pursued by the Church regarding theInfallibility of the Pope, was practised by her in

INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 157reference to the divinity of Jesus Christ. OurSaviour was acknowledged to be God from thebeginning of the Church. Yet His divinity was notformally defined till the Council of Nicrea in thefourth century and it would not have been defined;even then, if it had not been denied by Arius. Andwho will have the presumption to say that thebelief in the divinity of our Lord had its origin inthe fourth century ?The following has always been the practice prevailing in the Church of God from the beginning ofher history. Whenever Bishops or National Councilspromulgated doctrines or condemned errors,they alwaystransmitted their decrees to Rome forconfirmation or rejection. What Rome approved,the universal Church approved ;what Rome condemned, the Church condemned.Thus, in the third century, Pope St. Stephenreverses the decision of St. Cyprian of Carthage, andofa Council of African Bishops, regarding a questionof baptism.Pope St. Innocent I., in the fifth century, condemns the Pelagian heresy, in reference to which St.Augustine wrote this memorable sentence: "Theacts of two Councils were sent to the ApostolicSee, whence aii answer was returned; the question isended. Would to God that the error had alsoceased."In the fourteenth century, Gregory XI. condemnsthe heresy of Wycliffe.14

158 THE FAITH OF OTJR FATHERS.Pope Leo X., in the sixteenth, anathematizesLuther.Innocent X., in the seventeenth, at the solicitationof 1 he French Episcopate, condemns the subtle errorsof the Jansenists ;and in the nineteenth century,Pius IX. promulgates the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.Here we find the Popes in various ages condemning heresies and proclaiming doctrines of faith; andthey could not in a stronger manner assert theirinfallibility than by defining doctrines of faith andcondemning errors. We also behold the Church ofChristendom ever saying Amen to thedecisions ofthe Bishops of Rome. Hence, it is evident that inevery age the Church recognized the Popes as infallible teachers.Every independent government must have a supreme tribunal, regularly sitting to interpret itslaws, and to decide cases of controversy likely toarise. Thus we have in Washington the SupremeCourt of the United States.Now the Catholic Church is a complete and independent organization, as complete in its spiritualsphereas the United States Government is in thetemporal order. The Church has its own laws, itsown autonomy, and government.The Church, therefore, like civil powers, musthave a permanent and stationary supreme tribunalto interpret its laws, and to determine cases of religious controversy.

INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 159What constitutes this permanent supreme courtof the Church ? Does it consist of the Bishops assembled in General Council ? No because this is;not an ordinary but an extraordinary tribunal,which meets, on an average, only once in a hundred years.Is itcomposed of the Bishops scattered throughoutthe world ?By no means because it would be im;practicable to consult all the Bishops of Christendomupon every issue that might arise in the Church.The poison of error would easily spread through thebody of the Church before a decision could be rendered by the Prelates dispersed throughout the globe.The Pope, then, as Head of the Catholic Church, constitutes, with just reason, this supreme tribunal.And as the office of the Church is to guide menthem from all error,into all truth, and to preserveit follows that he who isappointed to watch overthe constitution of the Church must be infallible, orexempt from error in his official capacity as judge offaith and morals. The prerogatives of the Pope mustbe commensurate with the nature of the constitutionwhich he has to uphold. The constitution is divine,and must have a divinely-protected interpreter.But you will tell me that infallibility is too greata prerogative to be conferred on man. I answer :has not God, in former times, clothed hfs Apostleswith powers fai more exalted ? They were endowedwith the gift of inspiration; they were the mouthpiece communicating God s revelation, of which the

"160 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Popes are merely the custodians. If God couldmake man the organ of His revealed Word, is itfor Him to make man its infallible guarimpossibledian and interpreter? For, surely, greater is theApostle who gives us the inspired Word than thePope who preserves it from error.If, indeed, our Saviour had visibly remained amongus, no interpreter would be needed, since He wouldexplain His Gospel to us but as he; withdrew Hisvisible presence from us, it was eminently reasonablethat He should designate some one to expound forus the meaning of His Word.A Protestant Bishop, in the course of a sermonagainst Papal Infallibility, recently used the following language For my :part, I have an infallibleBible, and this is the only infallibility that I reThisquire." assertion, though plausible at firstsight, cannot for a moment stand the test of soundcriticism.Let us see, sir, whether an infallible Bible is sufficient for you. Either you are infallibly certainthat your interpretation of the Bible is correct, oryou are not.If you are infallibly certain, then you assert foryourself, and of course for every reader of the Scripture, a personal which infallibility you deny to thePope, and which we claim only for him. You makeevery man his own Pope.If you are not infallibly certain that you under-Btand the true meaning of the whole Bible, and

"INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 161this is a privilege you do not claim, then, I ask,of what use to you is the objective Infallibility ofthe Bible, without an infallible interpreter?If God, as you assert, has left no infallible interpreter of His Word, do you not virtually accuse Himof acting unreasonably? for would it not be mostunreasonable in Him to have revealed His truthto man without leaving him a means of ascertainingits precise import ?Do you not reduce God s word to a bundle of contradictions, like the leaves of the Sybil, which gaveforth answers suited to the wishes of every inquirer?Of the hundred and more Christian sects nowexisting in this country, does not each take theBible as its standard of authority, and does noteach member draw from it a meaning different fromthat of his neighbor? While in the mind of Godthe Scriptures can have but one meaning. And isnot this variety of interpretations the bitter fruit of"your principle An infallible Bible isenough for:me? and does it not proclaim the absolute necessityof some authorized and unerring interpreter ?Youtell me to drink of the water of life ;but of what useis this water to my parched lips, since you acknowledge that itmay be poisoned in passing through themedium of your interpretation?How satisfactory, on the contrary, and how reasonable, is the Catholic teaching on this subject ?According to her system, Christ says to everyChristian :Here, my child, is the Word of God ;and14* L

"162 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.with it I leave you an infallible interpreter, whowill expound for you its hidden meaning, and willmake clear all its difficulties.Here are the waters of eternal life, but I havecreated a channel that will communicate thesewaters to you in all their sweetness, without anysediment of error.Here is the written Constitution of My Church.But I have appointed over it a supreme Tribunal,in the person of oneto whom I have given thekeys of the kingdom of heaven," who will preservethat Constitution inviolate, and will not permitit tobe torn into shreds by the conflicting opinions ofmen. And thus my children will be one, as I andthe Father are one.CHAPTER XII.TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES HOW THEYACQUIRED TEMPORAL POWER VALIDITY ANDJUSTICE OF THEIR TITLE WHAT THE POPESHAVE DONE FOR ROME.I.HOW THE POPES ACQUIRED TEMPORAL POWER.FOR the clearer understanding of the origin andgradual growth of the Temporal Power of thePopes, we may divide the history of the Churchinto three great epochs.

""TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 163The first embraces the period which elapsed fromthe establishment of the Church to the days of Congtantinethe Great, in the fourth century the second,;from Constantine to Charlemagne, who was cro\Miedemperor in the year 800; the third, from Charlemagne to the present time.When St. Peter, the firstPope in the long, unbroken line of Sovereign Pontiffs, entered Italy andRome, he did not possess a foot of ground which hecould call his own. He could say with his divineMaster : The foxes have holes and the birds of theair nests ;but the Son of man hath not whereon tolay His head." l The Apostle died as he had lived,a poor man, having nothing at his death save theaffections of a grateful people.But although the Prince of the Apostles ownednothing that he could call his personal property, hereceived from the faithful large donations to be distributed among the needy. For, in the Acts of theApostles, we are told that neither was any one amongas werethem (the faithful) needy; for as manyowners of lands or houses, sold them, and broughtthe prices of the things which they sold and laidthem before the feet of the Apostles, and distribution was made to every one according as he hadneed." 2 Such was the filial attachment of the earlyChristians towards the Pontiffs of the Church ; suchwas the confidence reposed in their personal integ1Matt, viii 20.aActs iv. 34, 36.

16 i THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS.rity, and in their discretion in dispensing the charityof the faithful.During the first three hundred years, the Pastorsof the Church were generally incapable of holdingreal estate in Rome; for, Christianity was yet a proscribed religion, and the faithful were exposed tothe most violent and unrelenting persecutions thathave ever darkened the annals of history.The Christians of Rome worshipped for the mostpart in the catacombs. These catacombs are subterranean chambers and passages under the city ofRome. They extend for miles in different directions,and are visited to this day by thousands of strangers.Here the primitive Christians prayed together here;they encouraged one another to martyrdom ;herethey died and were buried. So that these cavernsserved at the same time as temples of worship forthe living, and as tombs for the dead.At last, Constantine the Great brought peace tothe Church. The long night of Pagan persecutionwas succeeded by the bright dawn of religiousliberty and as our Blessed Saviour rose triumph;ant from the grave, after having lain there for threedays, so did our early brethren in the faith emergefrom the tombs of the catacombs, after haviuw beeaburied, as it were, in the bowels of the earth forthree centuries.Coustantiue gave to the Roman Church munificent donations of money and real estate, which wereaugmented by additional grants contributed by

TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 165subsequent Emperors. Hence the patrimony ofthe Roman Pontiffs soon became very considerable.And Voltaire himself tells us that the wealth whichthe Popes acquired was spent not in satisfying theirown avarice and ambition, but in the most laudableworks of charity and religion. They expended theirpatrimony, he says, in sending Missionaries to evangelize Pagan Europe, in giving hospitality to exiledBishops at Rome, and in feeding the poor. And Imay here add that succeeding Popes have generously imitated the munificence of the early Pontiffs.An event occurred in the reign of Constantinewhich paved the way for the partial jurisdictionwhich the Roman Pontiffs commenced to enjoy overRome, and which they continued to exercise, tillThethey obtained full sovereignty in the days of KingPepin of France.In the year 327, the Emperor Constantine transferred the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople, the present capital of Turkey. The city wasnamed after Constantine, who founded it. A subsequent Emperor appointed a Governor or Exarch torule Italy,who resided in the city of Ravenna. Thisnew system, as is manifest, did not work well.Emperor of Constantinople referred all matters tohis deputy in Ravenna, and the deputy was moreanxious to conciliate the Emperor than to satisfythe people of Rome. Italy and Rome were thenin a political condition analogous to that in whichthe Irish have been placed for several centuries

"166 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.past. Ireland is under the immediate jurisdictionof a Lieutenant-Governor, who is responsible onlyto the home government, and who is never accused,among his other weaknesses, of having an excessivefondness for Ireland.Abandoned to itself, Rome became a tempting preyto those numerous hordes of barbarians from theThe city was sucKorth that then devastated Italy.cessively attacked by the Goths under Alaric, and bythe Vandals under Genseric, and was threatened bythe Huns under Attila. Unable to obtain assistancefrom the Emperor in the East, or the Governor atRavenna, the citizens of Home looked up to the Popesas their only Governors and protectors, and theironly salvation in the dangers which threatened them.The confidence which they reposed in the Pontiffswas not misplaced. The Popes were not only devoted spiritual Fathers, but firm and valiant civilGovernors.When Attila, who was surnamedtheScourge of God," approached the city with an armyof 500,000 men, Pope Leo the Great went out tomeet him without any troops at his back, but by hismild eloquence he disarmed the indomitable chieftain, and induced him to retrace his steps. Thushe saved the city from pillage and the people fromdestruction. The same Pope Leo also confrontedGenseric, the leader of the Vandals ;and althoughhe could not this time protect Home from the plunder of the soldiers, he saved the lives of the citizensfrom slaughter. Such acts as these were naturally

"TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 167calculated to bind the Roman people more stronglyto the Popes, and to alienate them from those whowere their nominal rulers.In the early part of the eighth century, LeoIsauricus, one of the successors of Constantine in theimperial throne, not content with his civil authority,endeavored, like Henry VIII., to usurp spiritualjurisdiction, LXid, like the same English monarch,sought to rob the people of their time-honored sacredtraditions. A civil ruler dabbling in religion is asreprehensible as a clergyman dabbling in politics.Both render themselves odious as well as ridiculous.The Emperor commanded all paintings of ourSaviour and His saints to be removed from thechurches on the assumption that such an exhibitionwas an act of idolatry. Pope GregoryII. wrote tothe Emperor an energetic remonstrance, remindinghim that dogmas of faith are to be interpreted bythe Pontiffs of the Church and not by emperors,"and begging him to spare the sacred paintings. Butthe Popes remonstrance and entreaties were in vain.This conduct of the Emperor tended to widen stillmore the breach between himself and the Romanpeople.Soon after, an event occurred which abolishedforever the authority of the Byzantine Emperors inItaly, and established on a sure and lasting basis thetemporal sovereignty of the Popes.In 754, Astolphus, King of the Lombards, invadedItaly, capturing some Italian cities, and threateningto advance on Rome.

168 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Pope Stephen III., 1who then ruled the Church,sent an urgent appeal to the Emperor ConstantinoCopronymus, successor of Leo the Isaurian, imploring him to come to the relief of Rome and his Italian provinces. The Emperor manifested his usualapathy and indifference, and received the messagewith coldness and neglect.In this emergency, Stephen, who sees that no timeis to be lost, crosses the Alps in person, approachesPepin, King of France, and begs that powerfulmonarch to protect the Italian people, who wereutterly abandoned by those that ought to be theirdefenders. The pious King, after paying his homageto the Pope, sets out for Italy with his army, defeatsthe invading Lombards, and places the Pope at thehead of the conquered provinces.Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin, not onlyconfirms the grant of his father, but increases thetemporal domain of the Pope by donating him someadditional provinces.This small piece of territory the Roman Pontiffscontinued to govern from that time till 1870, withthe exception of brief intervals of foreign usurpation.And certainly, if ever any Prince merited the appellation of legitimate sovereign, that title iseminentlydeserved by the Bishops of Rome.1Sometimes called Stephen II., as Stephen, his predecessor,died three days after his election, whose name is omitted insome calendars.

TEMPORAL POWER OI THE POPES. 169II.THE VALIDITY AND JUSTICE OF THEIR TITLE.There are three titles which render the tenureof a Prince honest and incontestable, viz., long possession, legitimate acquisition, and a just use of theoriginal grant confided to him. The Bishop of Romepossessed his temporality by all these titles.1. The temporal dominion of the Popeis mostancient in point of time. He commenced, as wehave seen, to enjoy full sovereignty about the middle of the eighth century. The Pope was, consequently, a temporal ruler for upwards of 1,100years. The Papal dynastyis therefore the oldestin Europe, and probably in the world. The Popewas the temporal ruler of Rome four hundred yearsbefore England subjugated Ireland, and seven hundred years before the firstEuropean pressed his footon the American continent.2. His civil authority was established not by thesword of conquest nor the violence of usurpation.He did not mount the throne upon the ruins of outraged liberties or violated treaties but he was called;to rule by the unanimous voice of a grateful people.Always the devoted spiritual Father of Rome, heprovidentially became its civil defender; and thetemporal power he had possessed already by popular suffrage, was ratified and sanctioned by thesovereign act of the French monarch. In a word,the ship of state was threatened with being engulfed15

170 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.1 Beneath the fierce waves of foreign invasion. TheCaptain, meantime, folded his arms, and abandonedthe ship to her fate ;and in the emergency the Popewas called to the helm, and saved the vessel fromshipwreck and the people from destruction. Hence,even the infidel Gibbon was forced to use the following language in discussing this "subject Their :(thePopes ) temporal dominion is now confirmed by thereverence of a thousand years, and their noblest titleb the free choice of a people whom they had redeemed from slavery."3. What is the use or advantage of the temporal power? This is well worth considering, asmany persons have erroneous notions on this subject.The object is not to aggrandize or enrich the Pope.He ascends the Papal chair generally an old man,when human passion and human ambition, if anydid exist, are on the wane. His personal expensesdo not exceed a few dollars a day. He eats aloneand very abstemiously. He has no wife or childrento enrich with the spoils of office, as he is an unmarried man. The Popedom is not hereditary,sovereignty of England, but elective, likeof our President, and he islike thethe officesucceeded by a Pontiffto whom he is bound by no familyties. What personal motive, therefore, can he have in desiring temporal sovereignty? I am sure, indeed, that if theHoly Father were to consult his own taste and feelings, he would much rather be free from the tram-

"TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 171mels of civil government. But he has higherinterests to subserve. He must vindicate the eternal laws of justice, which have been violated inhis own person.As the Popes were not actuated by a love of gainin possessing temporal dominion, neither had theyany desire to enlarge their territory, small as it hadbeen. The Temporalities of the Pope were not muchlarger than the State of Maryland, before he wasdeprived of them by Victor Emmanuel a few yearaagoȦnd this is the little slice of land which VictorEmmanuel wrested from the Holy Father.This isthe vineyard which the modern King Achab wrungfrom the unoffending Naboth. But the Pontiff answers, like Naboth of old: "The Lord be mercifulto me, and not let me give thee the inheritance ofmy fathers." lThis is the little ewe-lamb which the modernDavid has snatched from its legitimate owner,Uriah. The royal shepherd of Piedmont had already seized all the other lambs and sheep of hisneighbors but he was not satisfied till he added;to his fold the solitary, tender lamb of the Pope.Let him take care, however, that the prophecydenounced by Nathan against David fall not uponhimself and his posterity:Why, therefore, hastthou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in1 IIT. Kings xii. 3.

172 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.My sight ? Therefore the sword shall never departfrom thy house, because thou hast despised Me.Behold, I will raise up evil againstown house."Jthee out ofthyWhile the patrimony of the Pope was largeenough to secure his independence,it was toosmall to provoke the fear and jealousy of foreignpowers. The authority of the Roman Pontiffs inthe Middle Ages was almost unbounded. Had theywished then, they could easily have increased theirterritory ; yet they were content with what Providence placed originally in their hands. 2The sole end of the temporal power has been tosecure for the Pbpe independence nnd freedom inthe government of the Church. The Holy Fathermust be either a Sovereign or a subject. There i*no medium. If a subject, he might become eitherthe pliant creature if God would so permit, of his1 II. Kings xii.2 1 dare say you could have found, a few years since, somepersons m the United States who entertained a holy fear lestthe Pope should one morning land upon our shores, and takeforcihle possession of our country. A venerable clergymanonce informed me that when he went to pay his respects toPresident Pierce, who then occupied the White House, his"Excellency remarked to him : I had a visit from a nervousgentleman, who asked me whether I was making any preparations to resist the approach of the Pope. I replied that sofar I had taken no steps, but that no doubt I would be prepared to meet the enemy when he arrived. The man retiredmore composed, but not fully satisfied,"

"TEMPORAL POWEE OF THE POPES.ITSroyal master, like the schismatic Patriarch of Con*Btantinople, who, as Gibbon observed, was a domestic slave under the eye of his master, at whosenod he passed from the convent to the throne, andfrom the throne to the convent." And indeed theOriental Schismatic Bishops are as subservient nowas they were then to their temporal rulers. Or,what is far more probable, the Pope might becomea virtual prisoner in his own house, as the presentillustrious Pontiif is at this moment.The Popeis the Representative of Christ onearth. His office requires him to be in constantcommunication with Prelates in every country inthe world. Should the kingdom of Italy be embroiled in a war with any European Power, withGermany, for instance, it would be difficult, if notimpossible, for the Holy Father and the GermanBishops to confer with each other, and religionwould suffer from the interruption of intercoursebetween the Head and the members.The interests of Christianity demand that theVicar of the Prince of peace should possess one spotof territory which would be held inviolable, so that&11 nations and peoples could at all times, in warNPS well as in peace, freely correspond with him.While nothing can be more revolting to our feelingsthan that the spiritual government of the Churchshould be constantly hampered by the hostile aggressions of ambitious rulers, an eventuality always15*

174 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.likely to occur so long as the Pope remains the subject of any earthly potentate. 1But we are told that the Roman people, by aplebiscitum, or popular vote, expressed their desireto be annexed to the Piedraontese Government. Tothis I answer, in the first place, that we ought toknow what importance to attach to elections heldunder the shadow of the bayonet. And it iswell known that the Roman plebiscitum was undertaken by the authority, and guided by the inspiration, of the Italian troops. It is equally notorious that the numerous stragglers who accompanied the Italian army to Rome, legalized thegigantic fraud of their master, as well as their ownpetty thefts, by voting in favor of annexation.In the second place, the Roman people, even had1Some of the evils that were predicted to follow from theoccupation of Rome by a foreign power have been toospeedily realized. Already several convents and otherecclesiastical institutions have been seized and sold, aadtheir inmates sent adrift. A number of colleges foundedand endowed by the piety of foreign Catholics have beenconfiscated.Public religious processions through the streetsof Rome have been prohibited ;and these and other outrages are perpetrated by a government which solemnlypledged itself to maintain inviolate the sovereign rights ofthe Holy Father when it took forcible possession of his cityin 1870. From the events that have already transpired, wewill not be surprised to see the Pope still more seriouslyhampered by a monarch who has unscrupulously violatedbis former guarantees.

"^EMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 175they so desired, had no right to transfer, by theirsuffrage, the Patrimony of St. Peter to Victor Emmanuel. They could not give what did not belongto them. The Papal territory was granted to thePopes in trust, for the use and benefit of the Church,that is, for the use and benefit of the Catholics ofChristendom. And therefore the Catholic world,and not merely a handful of Roman subjects, mustgive its consent before such a transfer can be declared legitimate.Home is to Catholic Christendomwhat Washingtonis to the United States. As thecitizens of Washington have no power, without theconcurrence of the United States, to annex theircity to Maryland or Virginia, neither can the citizensof Rome hand over their city to the Kingdom ofPiedmont without the acquiescence of the faithfuldispersed throughout the world.Therefore we protest against the occupation ofRome by foreign troops as a high-handed act of injustice, and a gross violation of the Commandmentwhich says: Thou shalt not steal."We protest against it as a royal outrage, calculatedto shock the public sense of honesty, and to weakenthe sacred right of public and private property.We protest against it as an unjustifiable violationof solemn treaties.We protest,in fine, against the spoliation as animpious sacrilege, because it is an unholy seizureof ecclesiastical property, and an attempt, as far ashuman agencies can accomplish it, to trammel andembarrass the free action of the Head of the Church.

176 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS.III.WHAT THE POPES HAVE DONE FOR ROME.Although the temporal power of the Pope is asubject which concerns the universal Church, thereis no people who have more reason to lament theloss of the Holy Father s Temporalities than theItalians themselves, and particularly the inhabitantsof Rome.It is the residence of the Popes in Rome thathas contributed to her material and religious grandeur. The Pontiffs have made her the Centre ofChristendom, the Queen of religion, the Mistress ofarts and sciences, the Depository of sacred learningBy their creative and conservative spirit, theyhave saved the illustrious monuments of the past;and side by side with these they have raised upChristian temples which surpass those of Pagan antiquity. In looking, to-day, at these old Romanmonuments, we know not which to admire more, thegenius of those who designed and erected them, orthe fostering care of the Popes who have preservedfrom destruction the venerable ruins. The residenceof the Popes in Rome has made her what she is trulycalled, the Eternal city.Let the Popes leave Rome forever, and in fiveyears grass will be growing on its streets.Such was the case at the return of the Pope in1418 from Avignon, which had been the seat of theSovereign Pontiffs during the preceding century.On the Pope s return, the city of Rome had a popu-

TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES 177lation of only 17,000.1And Avignon, which, during the residence there of the Popes in the fourteenthcentury, contained a population of 100,000, has nowa population of only 36,407 inhabitants. And such,also, was the case in the beginning of the presentcentury, when Pius VII. was an exile for four yearsfrom Rome, and a prisoner of the first Napoleon, inGrenoble, Savona, and Fontainebleau. Grass thengrew on the streets of Rome, and the citylost onehalfof its population.Rome has naturally no commercial attractions.It isonly the presence of the Pope that keeps upher trade. Let the Popes abandon Rome, and herchurches will soon be without worshippers; herartists without employment. Her glorious monuments will perish. Science and art and sacredliterature will take their flight and perch upon somemore favored spot.The hundred thousand strangersthat annually flock to Rome from different parts ofthe world, will shake off the dust from their feetand seek more congenial cities.Let the Popes withdraw from Rome, and itmaybecome almost as desolate as Jerusalem aud Antiochare to-day.Peter preached his first sermons in Jerusalem, buthe did not select it as his See ;and Jerusalem is today a Mahometan city, with its sacred places profaned by the foot of the Mussulman.1Memoir of Pope Sixtus V., by Baron Hiibner, Vol. II,ch.i.M

178 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHEBR.Peter occupied for a time thecity of Antioch ashis first See. But iu the mysterious providenceof God, he abandoned Antioch and repaired toRome. And now Antioch is a deserted villagewith scarcely a stone left upon a stone, or a singlemonument standing to commemorate her formergreatness.Had the Popes remained in Antioch, the continent of Asia, the greater part of which lies buriedin idolatry, would now very probably be, instead ofEurope, the centre of Christianity and civilization ;the immortal Dome of St. Peter s would doubtlessovershadow the banks of the Orontes instead of theTiber ;and Antioch, instead of Rome, would be thefocus of the arts and sciences and of sacred literature, and would be called to-day the Eternal city.Our1present beloved Pontiff, Pius IX., I need notinform you,is now treated with indignity in his owncity. In his declining years, as well as in the earlydays of his Pontificate, he is made to drink deepof the chalice of affliction. His name is dear to usall. To many of us it is a name familiar from ouryouth for, thirty-one years have now elapsed since;he first assumed the reins of government and it is;a noteworthy fact that, since the days of Peter, noPope has ever reigned so long as Pius IX.The Pope in every age, like his divine Master,has his period of persecution and his period of peace.1 When these lines were written, Pius IX. was the reigning Pontiff. He died February 7, 1878.

"TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 179Like Him, he has his days of sorrow and his daysof joy his ; days of humiliation and death, and hisdays of exaltation and glory. Like Jesus Christ, heis one day greeted with acclamations as king, andanother day crucified by his enemies.But never does the Holy Father exhibit his titleas Vicar of Christ more strikingly than in the midstof tribulations ;for if he did not suffer, he wouldbear no resemblance to his divine Model andMaster ;and never does he more worthily deservethe filialhomage of his children than when he isheavily laden with the cross.I envy neither the heart nor the head of thosemen who are now gloating, with fiendish joy, overthe calamities of the Pope; who are heaping insultsand calumnies on his venerable head, while he isin the hands of his enemies, 1and who are confidently1Some time ago, my attention was called to a certain excommunication or "curse,"then widely circulated by thepress of North Carolina. The curse" is attributed to theHoly Father, and is fulminated against Victor Emmanuel.In this anathema, cursing and damning are heaped up in wildconfusion. When this base forgery appeared, an article exposing the falsehood of the production was published. Wefear, however, that many read the slanderous charge whodid not read its refutation.As to this "curse"against Victor Emmanuel so calumniouslyattributed to the Pope, I state here distinctly and positively that its author is not Pius IX., nor any other RomanPontiff, nor any Catholic Priest or layman. It is to theEev. Laurence Sterne, Minister of the Established Church

""180 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.predicting the downfall of the Papacy, from thepresent situation of the Head of the Church, as ifthe temporary privation of his dominions involvedtheir loss irrevocably or, as if even the perpetual;destruction of the temporal power involved thedestruction of the spiritual supremacy itself. Thethey say,is gone. Its isglory vanished.Papacy,"Its sun is set. It is sunk below the horizon, neverto rise again." Ill-boding prophets, will you neverprofit by the lessons of history Have ? not numbersof Popes before Pius IX. been forcibly ejected fromtheir Sees, and have they not been reinstated intheir temporal authority? What has happened sooften before, may and will happen again.For our part, we have every confidence thaterelong the clouds which now overshadow the civil throneof the Pope will be removed by the breath of a righteous God, and that his temporal power will be reestablished on a more permanent basis than ever.But whatever be the fate of the Pope s Temporalities, we have no fears for the spiritual throne of thePapacy. The Pontiffs have received their earthly dominion from man, and what man gives manmay take away. But the spiritual supremacy theBishops of Rome have from God, and no man candestroy it. That divine charter of their preroga*of England, and to his romance of "Tristram Shandy," thatthe English-speaking world is indebted for this infamouscompilation.

"INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 181"tives, Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will buildmy Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail*against it," will ever shine forth as brightly as thesun, and it is as far as the sun above the reach ofhuman aggression.The Holy Father may live and die in the catacombs, as the early Pontiffs did for the first threecenturies. He may be dragged from his See andperish in exile, like the Martins, theGregories, andthe Piuses. He may wander a penniless pilgrim,like Peter himself. Rome itselfmay sink beneaththe Mediterranean; still, the chair of Peter willstand, and Peter will live in his successors.CHAPTER XIII.THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS./CHRISTIANS of most denominations areaccus-V tomed to recite the following article containedin the Apostles Creed: I believe in the communionof saints." There are many, I fear, however, whohave these words frequently on their lips, withoutthe slightest knowledge of the precious meaningwhich they convey.The true and obvious sense of the words quotedfrom the Creed is, that between the children of God,161 Matt. xvi. 18.

"""Through182 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.whether reigningin heaven or sojourning on earth,there exists an intercommunion or spiritualcommunication by prayer; and, consequently, that ourfriends who have entered into their rest are mindfulof us in their petitionsto God.In the exposition of her Creed, the CatholicChurch weighs her words in the scales of the sanetuarywith as much precision as a banker weighsgold.With regard to the Invocation of Saints, theChurch simply declares that it is useful and salutaryto ask their prayers. There are expressionsaddressed to the saints, in some popular books ofdevotion, which,to critical readers, may seem extravagant. But they are only the warm languageof affection and poetry, and are to be regulated byour standard of faith ;and notice that all the prayersof the Church end with the formula our:Lord Jesus Christ," sufficiently indicating her beliefthat Christ is the Mediator of salvation. A hearttenderly attached to the saints will give vent to itsfeelings in the language of hyperbole, just as an enthusiastic lover will call his future bride his adorable queen, without any intention of worshippingher as a goddess.This reflection should be bornein mind while reading such passages.I might easily show, by voluminous quotationsfrom ecclesiastical writers of the first ages of theChurch, how conformable to the teaching of antiquity is the Catholic practice of invoking the intercession of the saints. But as you, dear reader, may

INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 183not be disposed to attach adequate importance tothe writings of the Fathers, I shall confine myselfto the testimony of Holy Scripture.You will readily admit that it is a salutarycustom to ask the prayers of the blessed in heaven,provided you have no doubt that they can hearyour prayers, and that they have the power andthe will to assist you. Now the Scriptures amplydemonstrate the knowledge, the influence, and thelove of the saints in our regard.1. It would be a great mistake to suppose that theangels and saints reigning with God see and hearin the same manner that we see and hear on earth ;or that knowledgeis communicated to them as it iscommunicated to us. While we are confined in theprison of the body, we see only with our eyes andhear with our ears ;and hence our faculties of visionand hearing are very limited. Compared with theheavenly inhabitants, we are like a man in a darksome cell through which a dim ray of light penetrates. He observes but a few objects, and thesevery obscurely. But as soon as our soul is freedfrom the body, soaring heavenward like a bird released from its cage, its vision is at once marvelouslyenlarged. It requires neither eyes to see norears to hear, but beholds all things in God as in amirror. "We now," says the Apostle, "see througha glass darkly ;but then face to face. Now, I knowin part: but then I shall know even as I am known."11 1. Cor. xiii. 12.

""May184 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.That the spirits of the just in heaven are clearlyconversant with our affairs on earth, is also manifestfrom the following passages of Holy Writ. Thevenerable Patriarch Jacob, when on his death-bed,prayed thus for his two grandchildrentheangel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these1Here we see aboys."holy Patriarch one singularly favored by Almighty God, and enlightened bymany supernatural visions, the father of Jehovah sChosen people asking the angel in heaven to obtain a blessing for his grandchildren. And surelywe cannot suppose that he would be so ignorant asto pray to one that could not hear him ?The angel Raphael, after having disclosed himself to Tobias, said to him "When thou didst pray:with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leavethy dinner, I oifered 1thy prayer to the Lord."How could the angel, if he were ignorant of thesepetitions, have presented to God the prayers ofTobias?To pass from the Old to the New Testament, ourSaviour declares that there shall be joy before theangels of God upon one sinner doing penance."Then the angels are glad whenever you repent ofyour sins. Now, what isrepentance? It is a changeof heart. It is an interior operation of the will.The saints, therefore, are acquainted we knownot how not only with your actions and word^but even with your very thoughts.11Geu. xiviii. 16.* Tobias xii. 12. Luke xv. 10.

"INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 185And when St. Paul says that we are made aspectacle to the world, to angels, and to 1men," whatdoes he mean, unless that as our actions are seenby men, even so they are visible to the angels inheaven ?The examples I have quoted refer, it is true, tothe angels. But our Lord declares that the saintsin heaven shall be like the angelic spirits> by possessing the same knowledge, enjoying the samehappiness. 2We read in the Gospel that Dives, while suffering in the place of the reprobates, earnestly besoughtAbraham to cool his burning thirst. And Abraham, though then detained in Limbo, was able tolisten and reply to him. Now, if communicationcould exist between the souls of the just and of thereprobate, how much easier is it to suppose thatinterchange of thought can exist between the saintsin heaven and their brethren on earth ?These few instances are sufficient to convince youthat the spirits in heaven hear our prayers.2. We have also abundant testimony from Scripture to show that the saints assist us by their prayers.Almighty God threatened the inhabitants ofSodom and Gomorrha with utter destruction, onaccount of their crimes and abominations. Abraham interposes in their behalf; and in response tohis prayer, God consents to spare those cities if onlyten just men are found therein. Here the aveng-1 1. Cor. iv. 9. 2 Matt. xxii. 30.16*

"186 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.ing hand of God is suspended, and the fire of Hiswrath withheld, through the efficacy of the prayersof a single man !lWe read in the Book of Exodus that when theAmalekites were about to wage war on the childrenof Israel, Moses, the great servant aud Prophet ofthe Lord, went up on a mountain to pray for thesuccess of his people and the;Scriptures inform usthat whenever Moses raised his hands in prayer, theIsraelites were victorious, but when he ceased topray, Amalek conquered. Could the power of intercessory prayer be manifested in a more strikingmanner ? The silent prayer of Moses on the mountain was more formidable to the Amalekites thanthe sword of Josue and his armed hosts fighting inthe valley.2Y/hen the same Hebrew people were banishedfrom theirnative country, and carried into exile inBabylon, so great was their confidence in the prayers of their brethren in Jerusalem, that they sentthem the following message, together with a sum ofmoney, that sacrifice might be offered up for themin the holy city:Pray ye for us to the Lord ourGod, for we have sinned against the Lord ourGod." 8When the friends of Job had excited the indignation of the Almighty, in consequence of theirvain speech, God, instead of directly granting them1Gen, xviii.fExod. xvii.8 Barucii i. 13.

"INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 187the pardon which they sought, commanded them toinvoke the intercession of Job: "Go,He says, toMy servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust,and My servant Job will pray for you, and his face!will I accept."Nor did they appeal to Job invain ; for, the Lord was turned at the penance ofJob when he prayed for his friends." 2 In this instance, we not only see the value of intercessoryprayei, but we find God sanctioning it by His ownauthority.Bui of all the sacred writers, there is none thatreposes greater confidence in the prayers of hisbrethien than St. Paul, although no one had a betterknowledge than he of the infinite merits of ourSavioir s passion, and no one could have moreendeared himself to God by his personal labors.In hif;Epistles, St. Paul repeatedly asks for himselfthe prayers of his disciples. If he wishes to be delivered from the hands of the unbelievers of Judea,and fhat his ministry may be successful in Jerusalem, he asks the Romans to obtain those favors forhim. If he desires the grace of preaching withprofit the Gospel to the Gentiles, he invokes theintercession of the Ephesians.Kay, is it not a common practice among ourselves.and even among our dissenting brethren, to ask theprayers of one another ? When a father is about toleave his house on a long journey, the instinct ofAJob xlii.Ibid.

""188 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.piety prompts him to say to his wife and chil Jren :Remember me in your prayers."Now I ask you, if our friends, though sinners, canaid us by their prayers, why cannot our friends, thesaints of God, be able to assist us also ? If Abraham, and Moses, and Job exercised so much Influence with the Almighty while they lived in theflesh, is their power with God diminished now thatthey reign with him in heaven ?We are moved by the children of Israel sendingtheir pious petitions to their brethren in Jerusalem.They recalled to mind, no doubt, what the Lord saidto Solomon after he had completed the temple:Myeyes shall be open, and My ears attentive to theprayer of him that shall pray in this lIfplace."the supplications of those that prayed in the earthlyJerusalem were so efficacious, what will God refuseto those who pray to Him face to face in theheavenly Jerusalem ?3. But you will ask, are the saints in heaven sointerested in our welfare as to be mindful of us intheir prayers ? Or, are they so much absorbed inthe contemplation of God, and in the enjoyment ofcelestial bliss, as to be altogether regardless of theirfriends on earth ? Far from us the suspicion thatthe saints reigning with God ever forget us. If theyhave one desire greater than another, it is to seeus one day wearing the crowns which await us inheaven. And if they were capable of experiencing1 II. Paralip. vii. 15.

"IT;VOCATION OF SAINTS. 189sorrow, their grief would spring from the consideration that we do not always walk in their footstepshere, so as to make sure our election to eternal gloryhereafter.The Hebrew people, like us, believed that thesaints after death were occupied in praying for us.We read in the Book of Machabees, that JudaaMachabeus, the night before he engaged in battlewith the army of the impious Nicanor, had a supernatural dream, or vision, in which he beheld Onias,the high-priest, and the prophet Jeremiah, both ofwhom had been long since dead. Ouias appearedto him with outstretched arms, praying for the peopleof God and; pointing towards Jeremiah, Onias saidto Judas Machabeus :This is a lover of hisbrethren, and the people of Israel. This is he thatprayeth much for the people, and for all the holycity, Jeremiah the prophet of God." l Then Jeremiah, as is related in the sequel of the vision, handeda sword to Judas, with which the prophet predictedthat Judas would conquer his enemies. The soldiers,animated by the relation of Judas, fought with invincible courage, and overcame the enemy. TheBook of Machabees, though not admitted by ourdissenting brethren to- be inspired, must be at leastacknowledged by them a faithful historical record.It is manifest, therefore, from this narrative, thatthe Hebrew people believed that the saints in heavenpray for their brethren on earth.1 II. Mac. xv. 14.

"""190 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.St. John, in his Revelation, describes the saintsbefore the throne of God praying for their earthlybrethren : The four and twenty ancients fell downbefore the Lamb, having every one of them harps,and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayersof the saints." lThe prophet Zachariah records a prayer that wasoffered by the angel for the people of God, and thefavorable answer which came from heaven : Howlong, O Lord, wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda, with which Thouhast been angry? .... And the Lord answeredthe angel .... good words, comfortable words."*Nor can we be surprised to learn that the angelslabor for our salvation, since we are told by St.Peter that the Devil goeth about like a roaringlion, seeking whom he "may devour ; for, if hateimpels the demons to ruin us, surely love must inspire the angels to help us in securing the crown ofglory. And if the angels are so mindful of us,though of a different nature from ours, how muchmore interest do the saints manifest in our welfare,who are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh ?To ask the prayers of our brethren in heaven isnot only conformable to Holy Scripture, but isprompted by the instincts of our nature. TheCatholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints robsdeath of its terrors; while the Reformers of thesixteenth century, in denying1Bevel, v. 8.the Communion of2 Zach. i. 12, 13. ~

INVOCATION OF SAINTS.19lSaints, not only inflicted a deadly wound on theCreed, but also severed the tenderest chords of thehuman heart. They broke asunder the holy tiesthat united earth with heaven, and the soul in theflesh with the soul released from the flesh. If mybrother leaves me to cross the seas, I believe that hefor me. And when he crosses thecontinues to praynarrow sea of death, and lauds on the shores ofeternity, why should he not prayfor me still?What does death destroy? The body. The soulstill lives and moves and has its being. It thinksand wills ard remembers and loves. The dross ofsin and selfishness and hatred are burned by thesalutary fires of contrition, and nothing remains butthe pure gold of charity.Oh, far be from us the dreary thought that deathcuts off our friends entirely from us ! Far be fromus the heartless creed which declares a perpetualdivorce between us and the just in heaven! Donot imagine, when you lose a father or mother, atender sister or brother who died in the peace ofChrist, that they are forgetful of you. The lovethey bore you on earth is purified and intensifiedin heaven. Or, if your innocent child, regeneratedin the waters of baptism,is snatched from you bydeath, be assured that, though separated from youin body, that child is with you in spirit,and is repaying you a thousand-fold for the natural life itreceived from you. Be convinced that the goldenlink of prayer binds you to that angeiic infant, and

"192 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERSthat itis continually offering up its fervent petitionsat the throne of God for you, that you both may bereunited in heaven.But I hear men cry out with Pharisaical assurance. "You dishonor God, sir, in praying to thesaints. You make void the mediatorship of Jesu3Christ. You put the creature above the Creator."How utterly groundless is this objection We do!not dishonor God in praying to the saints. Weshould indeed dishonor Him vif we consulted thesaints independently of God. But such is not ourpractice. The Catholic Church teaches, on the contrary, that God alone is the Giver of all good gifts;that He is the Source of all blessings, the Fountainof all goodness. She teaches that whatever happiness, or glory, or influence the saints possess, allcomes from God. As the moon borrows her lightfrom the sun, so do the blessed borrow their lightfrom Jesus, the Sun of Justice," the one MediatorJ(of redemption) of God and men."Hence, whenwe address the saints, we beg them to pray for uathrough the merits of Jesus Christ, while we askJesus to help us through His own merits.But what is the use of praying to the saints, sinceGod can hear us? If it is vain and useless to prayto the saints because God can hear us, then Jacobwas wrong in praying to the angel ; then the friendsof Job were wrong iu asking him to pray for them,1 1. Tim. ii. 6.

INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 193though God commanded them to invoke Job s intercession. Then the Jews exiled in Babylon werewrong in asking their brethren in Jerusalem to prayfor them ;then St. Paul was wrong in beseechinghis friends to pray for him then we are all;wrongin praying for each other. You deem it useful andpious to ask your pastor to pray for you. Is it not,atleast, equally useful for me to invoke the prayersof St. Paul, since I am convinced that he can hearme?God forbid that our supplications to our Fatherin heaven should diminish in proportion as ourprayers to the saints are increased; for, after all,we must remember that, while the Church declaresit to be necessary for salvation to pray to God, she"merely asserts that it isgood and useful to invokethe saints."lTo ask the prayers of the saints, far from beinguseless, is most profitable. By invoking their intercession, instead of one we have many praying forus. To our own tepid petitions we unite the ferventsupplications of the blessed; and "the Lord willhear the prayers of the just."*To the petitions ofus, poor pilgrims in this vale of tears, are unitedthose of the citizens of heaven. We ask them topray to their God and to our God to their;Fatherand to our Father, that we may one day share theii1 Council of Trent, Sees. xxv.* Prov. xv. 20.17 N

194 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.delights in that blessed country in company withour common Kedeemer, Jesus Christ, with whom tolive is to reign.CHAPTER XIV.IS IT LAWFUL TO HONOR THE BLESSED VIRGINMARY AS A SAINT; TO INVOKE HER AS AN INTERCESSOR, AND TO IMITATE HER AS A MODEL?THE susISI.IT LAWFUL TO HONOR HER?sincere adorers and lovers of our Lord JeChrist look with reverence on every objectwith which He was associated, and they conceive anaffection- for every person that was near and dear toHim on earth. And the closer the intimacy of thosepersons with our Saviour the holier do they appearin our estimation ; just as those planets partakemost of the sun s light and heat which revolve thenearest around him.There issomething hallowed to the eye of theChristian in the very clay of Judea, because it waspressed by the footprints of our Blessed Redeemer.With what reverent steps we would enter the caveof Bethlehem, because there was born the Saviourof the world. With what religious demeanor wewould tread the streets of Nazareth when we remembered that there were spent the days of Hisboyhood. What profound religious awe would fill

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 195our hearts on ascending Mount Calvary, where Hapaid by His blood the ransom of our souls.But if the lifelesssoil claims so much reverence,how much more veneration would be enkindled inour hearts for the living persons who were thefriends and associates of our Saviour on earth?For, we know that He exercised a certain salutaryand magnetic influence on those whom He approached."All the multitude sought to touchHim, for virtue went out from Him and healed all,"1as happenedto the woman who had been troubledwith an issue of blood. 2We would seem indeed to draw near to Jesus, ifwe had the happiness of only conversing with theSamaritan woman, or of eating at the table of Zaccheus,or of being entertained by Nicodemus. Butif we were admitted into the inner circle of Hisfriends, of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, for instance,the Baptist, or the Apostles, we would be consciousthat in their company we were drawing stillnearerto Jesus, and imbibing somewhat of that spiritwhich they must have largely received from theirfamiliar relations with Him.Now, if the land of Judea is looked upon as hallowed ground, because Jesus dwelt there; if theApostles were considered as models of holiness,because they were the chosen companions andpupils of our Lord in His latter years, how peeriLukevi.19. "Matt. ii. 20.

"""196 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.less must have been the sanctity of Mary, whogave Him birth, whose breast was His pillow, whonursed and clothed Him in infancy, who guidedHis early steps, who accompanied Him in His exileto Egypt and back, who abode with Him from infancy to boyhood, from boyhood to manhood ;whoduring all that time listened to the words of wisdom which fell from His lips,who was the first toembrace Him at His birth, and the last to receiveHis dying breath on Calvary. This sentiment is sonatural to us that we find it bursting forth spontaneously from the lips of the woman of the Gospel,who, hearing the words of Jesus full of wisdom andsanctity, lifted up her voice and said to Him :Blessed is the womb that bore Thee and the papsthat gave Thee suck."It is in accordance with the economy of divineProvidence that, whenever God designs any personfor some important work, He bestows on that person the graces and dispositions necessary for faithfully discharging it.When Moses was called byheaven to be the leaderof the Hebrew people, he hesitated to assume theformidable office on the plea of impediment andslowness of tongue."But Jehovah reassured himby promising to qualify him for the sublime functions assigned to him : I will be in thy mouth, andI will teach thee what thou shalt speak."*1Exod. iv. 12.

""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 197The Prophet Jeremiah was sanctified from hisvery birth, because he was destined to be the heraldof God s law to the children of Israel : Before Iformed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knewthee, and before thou earnest forth out of the womb,lI sanctified thee."""Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost," thatshe might be worthy to be the hostess of our Lordduring the three months that Mary dwelt underher roof.John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghosteven from his mother s womb." 3 "He was a burning and a 4shiningbecause he waslight,"chosen toprepare the way of the Lord.The Apostles received the plenitude of grace ;they were endowed with the gift of tongues and5other privileges before they commenced the workof the ministry. Hence, St. Paul says: Oursufficiency is from God, who hath made us^ ministers of the New Testament." 6Now of all who have participated in the ministry of the Redemption, there is none who filled anyposition so exalted, so sacred, as is the incommunicable office of Mother of Jesus ;and there isno one consequently that needed so high a degreeof holiness as she did.For, if God thus sanctified His Prophets and1 Jer. i. 5.2Luke i. 41.3 Ibid. i. 15.*John v. 35.17*6 Acts ii.6 II. Cor. iii. 6.

"Be198 THE FAITH OF OUB, FATHERS.Apostles, as being destined to be the bearers ofthe word of life, how much more sanctified mustMary have been, who was to bear the Lord and1If John was so holy, because"Authorof life."he was chosen as the pioneer to prepare the way ofthe Lord, how much more holy was she who usheredHim into the world. If holiness became John smother, surely a greater holiness became the motherof John s Master. If God said to His priests ofold :ye clean, you that carry the vessels ofthe Lord;"nay, if the vessels themselves used in2the divine service, and churches are set apart byspecial consecration, we cannot conceive Mary tohave been ever profaned by sin who was the chosenvessel of election, even the Mother of God.When we call the Blessed Virgin the Mother ofGod, we assert our belief in two things: 1st. Thather Son, Jesus Christ, is true man, else she were nota mother. 2d. That He is true God, else she werenot the Mother of God. In other words, we affirmthat the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, theWord of God, who in His divine nature is fromall .eternity begotten of the Father, consubstantialwith Him, was in the fulness of time again begotten,to Himby being born of the Virgin, thus takingself, from her maternal womb, a human nature ofthe same substance with hers.But itmay be said the Blessed Virginis not the:1Acts iii. 15.2 Isaiah lii. 11.

""""""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 199Mother of the Divinity. She had not, and couldnot have any part in the generationof God. For, that generationis eternal ;her maternity temporal He is her Creator ; ;she His creature.of the WordStyle her, if you will, the Mother of the man Jesus,or even of the human nature of the Son of God,but not the Mother of God.I shall answer this objection by putting a question.Did the mother who bore us, have any part in theproduction of our souls f Was not this nobler partof our being the work of God alone ? And yetwho would for a moment dream of saying,"themother of my and notbody," my mother ?The comparison teaches us that the terms parentand child, mother and son, refer to the persons andnot to the parts or elements of which the personsare composed. Hence, no one says: The motherof my the mother ofbody"my soul; but in allpropriety my mother," the mother of me wholive and breathe, think and act, one inmy personality, though uniting in it a soul directly created byGod, and a material body directly derived from thematernal womb. In like manner, as far as thesublime mystery of the Incarnation can be reflectedin the natural order, the Blessed Virgin, under theovershadowing of the Holy Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of the adorable Trinity,as mothers do, a true human nature of the samesubstance with her own, is thereby really and trulyHis Mother.

""200 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.It is in this sense that the title of Mother of God,denied by Nestorius, was vindicated to her by theGeneral Council of Ephesus in 431; and in thissense, and in no other, has the Church called herthat title.byHence, by immediate and necessary consequence,follow her surpassing dignity and excellence, andher special relationship and affinity, not only withher divine Son, but also with the Father and theHoly Ghost.Mary, as Wordsworth beautifully expresses it,united in her person a mother s love with maidenpurity."The Church teaches us that she wasalways a Virgin, a Virgin before her espousals,during her married life, and after her spouse sdeath. The Angel Gabriel was sent from God.... to a Virgin espoused to a man whose namewas Joseph, .... and the Virgins name waslMary."That she remained a Virgintill after the birth ofJesus is expressly stated in the Gospel. 2 It is notless certain that she continued in the same stateduring the remainder of her days ; for sjie is calleda Virgin in the Apostles and the Nicene Creed, andthat epithet cannot be restricted to the time of ourSaviour s birth, but must be referred to her wholelife, inasmuch as both creeds were compiled longafter she had passed away.1Luke i.26,27.3 Matt. i. 25.

"""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 201The Canon of the Mass, which isvery probably ofApostolic antiquity, speaks of her as the gloriousEver Virgin,"and in this sentiment all Catholic tradition concurs.There is a propriety which suggests itself to everyChristian inMary s remaining a Virgin after thebirth of Jesus, for, as Bishop Bull of the ProtestantEpiscopal Church of England remarks, cannot"Itwith decency be imagined that the most holy vesselwhich was once consecrated to be a receptacle of theDeity, should be afterwards desecrated and profanedby human use." The learned Grotius, Calvin, andother eminent Protestant writers, hold the same view.The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary isnow combated by Protestants, as it was in the earlydays of the Church, by Helvidius and Jovinian, onthe following grounds:1st. The evangelist says that Joseph took untohim his wife, and he knew her not till she brought1forth her first-born son." This sentence suggests todissenters that other children besides Jesus were bornto Mary. But the qualifying word tillby no meansimplies that the chaste union which had subsistedbetween Mary and Joseph up to the birth of ourLord, was subsequently altered. The ProtestantHooker justly complains of the early heretics ashaving abused greatly these words of Matthew,gatheringagainst the honor of the Blessed Virgin,1 Matt. i. 25.

""202 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.that a thing denied with specialcircumstance dothimport an opposite affirmation when once that cirlcumstance is expired."To express Hooker s ideain plainer words, when a thingis said not to haveoccurred until another event had happened,it doesnot necessarily follow that it did occur after thatevent took place.The Scripture says that the raven went forth fromthe ark, and did not return till the waters weredried up upon the 2earth," that is, it never returned."Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death."*He did not, of course, see him after death.TheLord said tomy Lord : Sit thou at my right handuntil I make thy enemies thyfootstool." 4These wordsapply to our Saviour, who did not cease to sit at theright of God after His enemies were subdued.2d. But Jesus is called Mary s first-born Son, anddoes not a first-born always imply the subsequentbirth of other children to the same mother ?By nomeans ;for the .name of first-born was given to thefirst sou of every Jewish mother, whether other children followed or not. We find this epithet appliedto Machir, for instance, who was the only son ofManasses. 53d. But is not mention frequently made of thebrethren of Jesus? 6Fortunately the Gospels themselves will enable us to trace the maternity of those1 Book V., ch. xlv. 2 3Gen. viii. 7. 1.Kings xv. 35.*Ps. cix. 5Josue xvii. 1.6 Matt. xii. 46; xiii. 55, 56.

""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 203who are called His brothers, not to the Blessed Virgin, but to another Mary.St. Matthew mentions,by name, James and Joseph among the brethren oflJesus ;and the same Evangelist and also St. Marktell us that among those who were present at thecrucifixion, were Mary Magdalen and Mary the2mother of James and Joseph. And St. John, whonarrates with more detail the circumstances of thecrucifixion, informs us who this second Mary was, forhe says that there stood by the cross of Jesus Hismother and His mother s sister, Mary of Cleophas,and Mary Magdalen. 3 There is no doubt that Maryof Cleophas is identical with Mary who is called byMatthew and Mark the mother of James and Joseph.And as Mary of Cleophas was the kinswoman of theBlessed Virgin, James and Joseph are called thebrothers of Jesus, in conformity with the Hebrewpractice of giving that appellation to cousins or nearrelations. Abraham, for instance, was the uncle ofLot, yet he calls him brother.4Mary is exalted above all other women, not onlybecause she united a mother s love with maidenbut also because she was conceived withoutpurity,"original sin. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is thus expressed by the Church : We definethat the Blessed Virgin Maryin the first moment ofher conception, by the singular grace and privilege*Matt. xii. 46 ; xiii. 55, 56. 2 Matt, xxvii. ;Mark xv.8 J ohn xix. 25.*Gen. xiii. 8.

""204 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS.of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of JesusChrist, the Saviour of the human race, was preservedfree from every stain of originalsin."Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soulof Mary was never subject to sin, even in the firstmoment of its infusion into the body. She alone wasexempt fron the original taint. This immunity ofdue to the1Mary from original sin is exclusivelymerits of Christ, as the Church expresslydeclares.She needed a Redeemer as well as the rest of thehuman race, and therefore was redeemed, but in amore sublime manner." 2 Maryis as much indebtedto the precious blood of Jesus for having been preserved, as we are for having been cleansed from original sin.Although the Immaculate Conception was notformulated into a dogma of faith till 1854, it is atleast implied in Holy Scripture ; it is in strict harmony with the place which Mary holds in the economy of redemption, and has virtually received thepious assent of the faithful from the earliest days ofthe Church,In Genesis we read : I will put enmities betweenthee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed ;sheshall crush thyhead." 3 All Catholic commentators,ancient and modern, recognize in the Seed, the serpent, and the woman, types of our Saviour, of Mary,and the Devil. God here declares that the enmity1 Bulla Dogmat. Pii Papse IX. 2 Ibid.3Gen. iii. 15.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 205of the Seed and that of the woman towards theTempter were to be identical. Now the enmity ofChrist or the Seed towards the evil One was absoluteand perpetual. Therefore the enmity of Mary, orthe woman, towards the Devil, never admitted of anymomentary reconciliation, which would have existedif she were ever subject to original sin.It isworthy of note that as three characters appear on the scene of our fall, Adam, Eve, and therebellious Angel, so three corresponding personagesfigure in our redemption, Jesus Christ, who is the1second Adam, Mary, who is the second Eve, and theArchangel Gabriel. The second Adam was immeasurably superior to the first, Gabriel was superior tothe fallen angel, and hence we are warranted byanalogy to conclude that Mary was superior to Eve.But if she had been created in original sin, insteadof being superior, she would be inferior to Eve, whowas certainly created immaculate. We cannot conceive that the mother of Cain was created superiorto the mother of Jesus. It would have been unworthy of a God of infinite purity to have beenborn of a woman that was even for an instant underthe dominion of Satan.The liturg es of the Church being the establishedformularies of her public worship, are among themost authoritative documents that can be adducedin favor of any religious practice.181 1. Cor. xv. 45.

"206 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.In the liturgy ascribed to St. James, Mary is commemorated as "our most holy, immaculate, and mostglorious lady, mother of God and ever VirginMary."In the Maronite Ritual she is invoked asourholy, praiseworthy, and immaculate lady."Iii the Alexandrian liturgy of St. Basil she is addressed as "mostholy, most glorious, immaculate." 8The Feast of Mary s Conception commenced to becelebrated in the East in the fifth, and in the Westin the seventh century. It was not introduced intoRome tillprobably towards the end of the fourteenth century. Though Rome isalways the firstthat is called on to sanction a new festival, she isoften the last to take part in it. She is the firstthat isexpected to give the keynote, but frequentlythe last to join in the festive song. While she issilent, the notes are faint and uncertain ;when hervoice joins in the chant, the song of praise becomesconstant and universal.It is scarcely necessary for me to add that the introduction of the Festival of the Conception afterthe lapse of so manycenturies from the foundationof Christianity, no more implies2a novelty of doctrine than the erection of a monument in 1875 toArminius, the German hero who flourished in thefirst century, would be an evidence of his recent1Bibliotheca Max. Patrum, t. 2, p. 3.8De sac. ordinal., p. 313.3Kenaudot. Lit. Orient.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 207exploits.The Feast of the Blessed Trinity was notintroduced till the fifth itcentury, though commemorates a fundamental mystery of the Christian religion.It is interestingto us to know that the Immaculate Conception of Mary has been interwoven in theearliest history of our own country. The ship thatfirst bore Columbus to America was named Maryof the Conception. This celebrated navigator gavethe same name to the second island which he discovered. The first chapel erected in Quebec, whenthat city was founded in the early part of the seventeenth century, was dedicated to God under the invocation of Mary Immaculate.In view of these three great prerogatives of Mary,her divine maternity, her perpetual virginity, andher Immaculate Conception, we are prepared to findher blessedness often and expressly declared in HolyScripture. The Archangel Gabriel is sent to herfrom heaven to announce to her the happy tidingsthat she was destined to be the mother of the world sRedeemer. No greater favor was ever before orsinceconferred on woman, whether we consider thedignity of the messenger, or the momentous character of the message, or the terms of respect in whichit is "Andconveyed. the Angel Gabriel was sentfrom God into a city of Galilee called Nazareth toa virgin,. . . and the virgin s name was Mary.And the angel being come in, said unto her :Hail,full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art

"""208 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself whatmanner of salutation this should be. And theangel said to her Fear not, Mary, for thou hast:found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceivein thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and thoushalt call His name Jesus. . . . The Holy Ghostshall come upon thee, and the power of the MostHigh shall overshadow thee, and therefore, also, theHoly which shall be born of thee shall be called theSon of God." l"Hail, full of grace ! St. Stephen and the Apostles were also said to be full of the Spirit of God.By this, however, we are not to understand that thesame measure of grace was imparted to them whichwas given to Mary. On each it is bestowed according to each one s merits and needs ; for, one is theglory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, andanother the glory of the stars, for star differeth fromstar in " 2glory and as Marys office of Mother of;God immeasurably surpassed in dignity that of the"protomartyr and of the Apostles, so did her gracesuperabound over theirs.The Lord is with thee" He exists in His creatures in different ways ; in those that are endowedwith reason in one way, in irrational creatures inanother. His irrational creatures have no means ofapprehending or possessing Him. All rational crea-1Luke i. 26-35.8 1. Cor. xv. 41.

"AndTHE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 209tures may indeed apprehend Him by knowledge, butonly the good by love. Only in the good does He soexist as to be with them as well as in them ;with themby a certain harmony and agreement of will, and inGod is with all His saints.. But He is withthis wayMary in a yet more special manner, for in her ffcerewas so great an agreement and union with God, thatnot her will only, but her very flesh was to be unitedto him." 1"Blessed art thou women."among The same expression is applied to two other women in the HolyScripture, viz., to Jahel and Judith. The former wascalled blessed after she had slain Sisara, 2 and thelatter after she had slain Holofernes, 3both of whomhad been enemies of God s people, and in this respectthese two women are true types of Mary, who waschosen by God to crush the head of the serpent, theinfernal enemy of mankind. And if they deservedthe title of blessed for being the instruments of Godin rescuing Israel from temporal calamities, howmuch more does Mary merit that appellation, whoco-operated so actively in the salvation of the humanrace?The Evangelist proceeds:Mary, rising upin those days, went . . . into a city of Juda; andshe entered into the house of Zachary and salutedElizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabethheard the salutation of Mary, the infant leapt in herJ 3St. Bernard. Judges v. * Judith xiii.18* O

"210 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the HolyGhost, and she cried out with a loud voice and said :Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is thefruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me thatLord should come to me? Forthe mother of mybeheld as soon as the voice of thy salutation soundedinmy ears, the infant inmy womb leaped for joy.And blessed art thou that hast believed, becausethose things shall be accomplished that were spokento thee 1by the Lord."The usual order of salutation is here reversed.Age pays reverence to youth. A lady who is reveredby the whole community honors a lowly maiden. Aninspired matron expresses her astonishment that heryoung kinswoman should deign to visit her. Sheextols Marys faith and calls her blessed. She blendsthe praise of Mary with the praise of Mary s Son,and even the infant John testifies his reverential joyby leaping in his mother s womb. And we are informed that during this interview Elizabeth wasfilled with the Holy Ghost, to remind us that theveneration she paid to her cousin, was not promptedby her own feelings, but was dictated by the Spiritof God.Then Mary breaks out into that sublime canticle,the Magnificat:My soul doth magnify the Lord,and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour, because He hath regarded the humility of His hand-1Luke i. 39-45.

""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 211maid, for behold from henceforth all generationsshall call me blessed." lOn these words I will stopto make one reflection.The Holy Ghost, through the organ of Mary schaste lips, prophesies that all generations shall callher blessed, with evident approval of the praise sheshould receive.Now the Catholic is the only Church whose children, generation after generation, from the first tothe present century, have pronounced her blessed ;and of all Christians in this land, they alone contribute to the fulfilment of the prophecy.Therefore it isonly Catholics that earn the approval of heaven by fulfilling the prediction of theHoly Ghost.Protestants not only concede that we bless thename of Mary, but they even reproach us for beingtoo lavish in our praises of her.On the other hand, they are careful to excludethemselves from the generations that were destined to call her blessed, for, in speaking of her, theyalmost invariably withhold from her the title ofblessed, preferring to call her the Virgin, or Mary theVirgin, or the Mother of Jesus. And while Protestantchurches will resound with the praises of Sarah andRebecca and Rachel, of Miriam and Ruth, of Estherand Judith of the Old Testament, and of Elizabethand Anna, of Magdalen and Martha of the New, the1Luke i. 46-48.

212 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.name of Mary the Mother of Jesus is uttered withlest the sound of her name should makebated breath,the preacher liable to the charge of superstition.The piety of a mother usually sheds additionallustre on the son, and the halo that encircles her browis reflected uponhis. The more the mother is extolled, the greater honor redounds to the son. Andif this is true of all men who do not choose theirmothers, how much more strictly may it be affirmedof Him who chose His own Mother, and made herHimself such as He would have her, so that all theglories of His Mother are essentially His own. Andyet we daily see ministers of the Gospel ignoringMarys exalted virtues and unexampled privileges,and parading her alleged imperfections, nay sinfulness,as if her Son were dishonored by the piety, andtook delight in the defamation of His Mother.Such defamers might learn a lesson from one whomade little profession of Christianity.Is"thy name Mary, maiden fair ?Such should, methinks, its music be.The sweetest name that mortals bear,Were best befitting thee.And she to whom it once was given,Was half of earth and half ofheaven." lOnce more the title of blessed isgiven to Mary.On one occasion a certain woman lifting up her voice,"Baid to Jesus, Blessed is the womb that bore thee,1 Oliver W. Holmes.

"THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 213and the paps that gave thee suck." It is true thatour Lord replied:Yea, rather (oryea, likewise),blessed are they who hear the word of God and keepit." It would be an unwarrantable perversion ofthe sacred text to infer from this reply that Jesusintended to detract from the praise bestowed on HisMother. His words may be thus correctly paraphrased She : is blessed indeed in being the choseninstrument of My incarnation, but more blessed inkeeping My word. Let others be comforted in knowing that though they cannot share with My motherin the privilege of her maternity, they can participate with her in the blessed reward of those whohear My word and keep it.In the preceding passages we have seen Mary declared blessed on four different occasions, and hencein proclaiming her blessedness, far from paying herunmerited honor, we are but re-echoing the Gospelverdict of saint and angel, and of the Spirit of GodHimself.Wordsworth, though not nurtured within thebosom of the Catholic Church, conceives a trueappreciation of Mary s incomparablethe following beautiful lines :"Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrossedWith the least shade of thought to sin allied;Woman !above all women glorified,Our tainted nature s solitary boast;Purer than foam on central ocean tost,1Luke xi. 27.holiness in

""214 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewnWith fancied roses, than the unblemished moonBefore her wane begins on heaven s blue coast,Thy imagefalls to earth. Yet some, I ween,Not unforgiven, the suppliant knee might bendAs to a visible power, in which did blendAll that was mixed and reconciled in theeOf mother s love with maiden purity,Of high with low, celestial with serene."To honor one who has been the subject of divine,angelic, and saintly panegyric,is to us a privilege,and the privilege is heightened into a sacred duty,when we remember that the spirit of prophecy foretold that she should ever be the unceasing theme ofChristian eulogy as long as Christianity itself wouldexist.Honor he isworthy of, whom the king hath amind to honor." 1The King of kings hath honoredHis divine Son did not disdain to be subjectMary ;to her, therefore should we honor her, especially asthe honor we pay to her redounds to God, the sourceof all glory. The Royal Prophet, than whom noman paid higher praise to God, esteemed the friendsof God worthy of all honor : To me, Thy friends,O God, are made exceedinglyhonorable." 2 Nowthe dearest friends of God are they who most faithare My friends, iffully keep His "precepts You :you do the things that I command you."1Esther vi. 11.3Who2 Ps. cxxxviii. (In Protestant version, Ps. cxxxix.)3John xv. 14.

""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 215fulfilled the divine precepts better than Mary, whokept all the words of her Son, pondering them inher heart ? any man minister to me," says ourSaviour, him will My Father honor." Who ministered more constantly to Jesus than Mary, who discharged towards Him all the offices of a tendermother ?Heroes and statesmen may receive the highestmilitary and civic honors which a nation can bestow,without being suspected of invading the domain ofthe glory which is due to God. Now, is not heroicsanctity more worthy of admiration than civil serviceand military exploits, inasmuch as religion rankshigher than patriotism and valor And ?yet the admirers of Mary s exalted virtues can scarcely celebrate her praises without being accused in certainquarters of Mariolatry.When a nation wishes to celebrate the memory ofits distinguished men, its admiration is not confinedto words, but vents itself in a thousand differentshapes. See in how manv ways we honor the memory of Washington. Monuments on which his gooddeeds are recorded, are erected to his name. Thegrounds where his remains repose on the banks ofthe Potomac, are kept in order by a volunteer bandof devoted ladies, who adorn the place with flowers.And this cherished spot is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims from the most remote sections of1John xii. 26.

216 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the country. These visitors will eagerly snatch aflower, or a leaf from a shrub growing near Washington s tomb, or will strive even to clipoff a littleshred from one of his garments, which are stillpreserved in the old mansion, and these they will bearhome with them as precious relics.I have always observed when travelling on themissions up and down the Potomac, that wheneverthe steamer came to the point opposite Mount Vernon,the bell was tolled, and then every eye was directed towards Washington s grave.And the 22d of February, Washington s birthday,iskept as a national holiday, at least in certain portions of the country. I well remember how formerlythe military and the firecompanies paraded thestreets, how patriotic speeches recounting the heroicdeeds of the first President were delivered, the festivities of the day closing with a social banquet.As the citizens of the United States manifest indivers ways their admiration for Washington, so dothe citizens of the republic of the Church love toexhibit in corresponding formsthe Mother of Jesus.their veneration forMonuments and statues are erected to her. Thriceeach day, at morn, noon, and even, the Angelusbells are rung to recall to our minds the Incarnationof our Lord, and the participation of Mary inthisgreat mystery of love.Her shrines are tastefully adorned by pious hands,and are visited by devoted children who wear her

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 217relics, or any object which bears her image, or whichis associated with her name.Her natal day and other days of the year, sacredto her memory, are appropriately commemorated byprocessions, by participation in the banquet of theEucharist, and by sermons enlarging on her virtuesand prerogatives.As no one was ever suspected of loving his country and her institutions less because of his reveringWashington, so no one can reasonably suppose thatour homage to God is diminished by fostering reverence for Mary; for, as our in o!)ject eulogizingWashington is not so much to honor the man, as tovindicate those principles of which he was the champion and exponent, and to express our gratitudeto God for the blessings bestowed on our countrythrough him, even so our motive in commemoratingMary s name is not merely to praise her, but stillmore to keep us in perpetual remembrance of ourLord s Incarnation, and to show our thankfulness toHim for the blessings wrought through that greatmystery in which she was so prominent a figure.And experience sufficiently demonstrates that thebetter we understand the part which Mary has takenin the work of redemption, the more enlightenedbecomes our knowledge of our Redeemer Himself,and that the greater our love for her, the deeperand broader is our devotion to Him while ; experience also testifies that our Saviour s attributesbecome more confused and warpedin the minds of19

""218 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.a people in proportion as they ignore Mary s relations to Him.The defender of a beleaguered citadel concentrates his forces on the outer fortifications andtowers, knowing well that the capture of these outworks would endanger the citadel itself, and thattheir safety involves its security.Jesus Christ is the citadel of our faith, the stronghold of our soul s affections.Maryis called theTower of David," and the gate of Sion which theLord loveth more than all the tabernacles of Jacob, 1and which He entered at His Incarnation.So intimatelyis this living gate of Sion connectedwith Jesus, the temple of our faith, that no one hasever assailed the former without invading the latter.The Nestorian would have Mary to be only an ordinary mother, because he would have Christ, to be amere man.Hence, if we rush to the defence of the gate ofSion, it is because we are more zealous for the cityof God. If we stand as sentinels around the towerof David, it is because we are more earnest in protecting Jerusalem from invasion. If we forbid profane hands to touch the ark of the covenant,it isbecause we are anxious to guard from profanationthe Lord of the ark. If we are so solicitous aboutMary s honor,it is becausethe love of Christ *presseth us. If we will not permit a single wreath1Ps. Ixxxvi.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 219to be snatched from her fair brow, it is because weare unwilling that a single feature of Christ s sacredhumanity should be obscured, and because we wishthat He should ever shine forth in all the splendorof His glory, and clothed in all the panoply of Hisperfections.But you will ask :Why do you so often blendtogether the worship of God and the veneration ofthe Blessed Virgin ? Why such exclamations as,Blessed be Jesus and Mary? Why do you so oftenrepeat in succession the Lord s prayer and the Angelical salutation ? Is not this practice calculatedto level all distinctions between the Creator and Hiscreature, and to excite the displeasure of a God everjealous of His glory?Those who make this objection, should rememberthat the praises of the Lord and of His Saints arefrequently combined in Holy Scripture itself.Witness Judith. On returning from the tent ofHolofernes, she sang : "Praise ye the Lord, our God,who hath not forsaken them that hope in Him, andby me His handmaid, He hath fulfilled His mercywhich He promised to the house of Israel ....And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel, said toher : Blessed art thou, daughter, by the Lord themost high God, above all women upon the earth.Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth. . .because He hath so magnified thy name this day, thatthy praise shall not Jdepart out of the mouth of men."1Judith xiii.

""220 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Witness Ecclesiasticus.After glorifying God forHis mighty works, he immediately sounds thepraises of Enoch and Noe, of Abraham, Isaac, andJacob, of Moses and Aaron, of Samuel and Nathan,of David and Josias, of Isaiah and Jeremiah, andother Kings and 1Prophets of Israel.Elizabeth in the same breath, exclaims:"Blessedart thou among women, and blessed is the fruit ofthy womb." 2And Mary herself, under the inspiration of heaven,cries out :My soul doth magnify the Lord, and myspirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For,. . .behold from henceforth all generations shall call meblessed." 3Here are the names of Creator and creature interwoven like threads of gold and silver inthe same woof, without provoking the jealousy ofGod.God jealous of the honor paid to !Mary Will afather be jealous of the honor paid to his child?Will an architect be envious of the praise bestowedon a magnificent temple which his genius plannedand reared? Is not the living temple of Mary sheart the work of the Supreme Architect? Must"she not say with all of God s creatures :Thy hands(O Lord) have made me and formed me." Is it notHe who has adorned that living temple with thoserare beauties which we so much admire? Has shenot declared so when she exclaimed : He that is1 Eccles. xliii. et seq.2Luke i.8 Ibid.

"THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 221mighty, hath done great things to rue, and holyis1His name I"God jealous of the honor paid to Mary! Aswell might we imagine that the sun, if endowedwith intelligence, would be jealous of the mellow,golden cloud which encircles him, which reflects hisbrightness, and presents in bolder light his inaccessible splendor. As well imagine that the sameluminary would be jealous of our admiration for thebeautiful rose, whose opening petals, and rich colorand delicious fragrance are the fruit of his beneficent rays.Hence in uniting Marys praise with that ofJesus, we are strictly imitating the Sacred Text;and as no one ever suspected that the encomiumspronounced on Judith and the virtuous Kings andProphets of Israel detracted from God s honor, soneither do we lessen His glory in exalting theBlessed Virgin. I find Jesus and Mary togetherin Nazaat the manger, together in Egypt, togetherreth, together in the temple, together at the crossI find their names side by side in the Apostles andthe Nicene Creed. It isfitting that both shouldfind a place inmy heart, and that both names shouldoften flow successively from my lips. Inseparablein life and in death, they should not be divorced inmy prayer. What God hath joined together, letnot man put asunder."19*1Luke i. 49.

"222 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.II.IS IT LAWFUL TO INVOKE HER?The Church exhorts her children not only tohonor the Blessed Virgin, but also to invoke herintercession. It is evident from Scripture, that theAngels and Saints in heaven can hear our prayers,and that they have the power and the will to helpus. Now 1 if the angels are conversant with whathappens on earth if the; Prophets, even whileclothed in the flesh, had a clear vision of thingswhich were then transpiring at a great distancefrom them if ;they could penetrate into the future,and foretell events which were then hidden in thewomb of time, shall we believe that God withholdsa knowledge of our prayers from Mary, who isjustly styled the Queen of Angels and Saints? For,as Mary s sanctity surpasses that of all other mortals, her knowledge must be proportionately greaterthan theirs, since knowledge constitutes one of thesources of celestial bliss.If Stephen, while his soul was still in the prisonof the body,"saw the glory of God, and Jesusstanding on the right hand of 2God;" if Paulheard secret words" 3 spoken in paradise, is it surprising that Mary hears arid sees us, now that she1Gen. xlviii. 16 ;Tobias xii. 12 ;Luke xv. 10 ;Zach. L12, 13.Acts vii. 55.8 II. Cor. xii. 4.

""""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 223is elevated to heaven, and standsface to facefore God, the perfect Mirror of all knowledge? Itis as easy for God to enable His Saints to see thingsterrestrial from heaven, as things celestial fromearth.The influence of Mary s intercession exceeds thatof the Angels, Patriarchs, and Prophets, in the samedegree that her sanctity surpasses theirs. If ourheavenly Father listens so propitiously to the voiceof His servants, what will He refuse to her who isHis chosen daughter of predilection, chosen amongthousands to be the Mother of His beloved Son?If we ourselves, though sinners, can help oneanother by our prayers, how irresistible must bethe intercession of Mary, who never grieved Almighty God by sin, who never tarnished her whiterobe of innocence by the least defilement, from thefirst moment of her existence till she was receivedby triumphant angels into heaven.In speaking of the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, we must never lose sight of her title of Motherof our Redeemer, nor of the great privileges whichthat prerogative implies. Mary was the Mother ofJesus. She exercised towards Him all the influencewhich a prudent mother has over an affectionatechild.Jesus," says the Gospel, was subject to1that is, toMary and- Joseph. We find thisthem,"obedience of our Lord towards His Mother forciblyexemplified at the marriage feast of Cana. Herbe

"224 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.wishes are delicately expressed in these words rThey have no He wine." instantly obeys her bychanging water into wine, though the time for exercising His public ministry and for working wondershad not yet arrived.Now Mary has never forfeited in heaven the titleof Mother of Jesus. She is still His Mother, andwhile adoring Him as her God, she still retains hermaternal relations, and He exercises towards herthat loving willingness to grant her requests whichthe best of sons entertains for the best of mothers.Never does Jesus appear to us so amiable andendearing as when we see Him nestled in the armsof His Mother. We love to contemplate Him,and artists love to represent Him, in that situation.And itappears to me that had we lived in Jerusalemin His day, and recognized, like Simeon, the Lordof majesty in the form of an Infant, and had wea favor to ask Him, we would presentitthroughMary s hands, while the divine eyes of the Babewere gazing on her sweet countenance. And evenso now. Never will our prayers find a readier acceptance than when offered through her.In invoking our Lady s patronage, we are actuated by a triple sense of the majesty of God,, ourown unworthiness, and of Mary s incomparable influence with her heavenly Father. Conscious of ouruatural lowliness and sins, we have often recourse toher intercession in the assured hope of being morefavorably heard :

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 225"And even as children who have much offendedA too indulgent father, in great shame,Penitent, and yet not daring unattendedTo go into his presence, at the gateSpeak to their sister and confiding waitTill she goes in before and intercedes ;So men, repenting of their evil deeds,And yet not venturing rashly to draw nearWith their requests, an angry Father s ear,Offer to her prayers and their confession,And she in heaven for them makes intercession." lDo you ask me, is Mary willing to assist you?Does she really take an interest in your welfare?Or is she so much absorbed by the fruition of Godas to be indifferent to our miseries? "Can a womanforget her infant so as not to have pity on the fruitof her womb?" 2Even so Mary will not forget us.The love she bears us, her children by adoption,can be estimated only by her love for her Son bynature.that nursed the Infant Saviour.It was MaryIt was her hands that clothed Him. It was herbreast that sheltered him from the rude storm andfrom the persecution of Herod. She it was thatwiped the stains from His brow when taken downfrom the cross. Now we are the brothers of Jesus.He is not ashamed, says the Apostle, to call us Hisbrethren. 3 Neither isMary ashamed to call us herchildren by adoption. At the foot of the cross sheadopted us in the person of St. John. She is anx-1Longfellow s"Golden Legend."2Isaiah xlix. 15.3Heb. ii. 11.P

226 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.ious to minister to our souls as she ministered tothe corporal wants of her Son. She would be theinstrument of God infeeding us with divine grace,in clothing us with the garments of innocence, insheltering us from the storms of temptation, in wiping away the stains of sin from our soul.If the angels, though of a different nature fromours, have so much sympathy for us as to rejoice1in our conversion, how great must be the interestmanifested towards us by Mary, who is of a commonnature with us, descended from the same primitiveparents, being bone of our bone, and flesh of ourflesh, and who once trod the thorny pathwhich we tread now !of lifeThough not of the household of the faith, EdgarA. Poe did not disdain to invoke our Lady s intercession, and to acknowledge the influence of herpatronage in heaven."At morn at noon at twilight dimMaria! thou hast heard my hymn;In joy and woe in good and illMother of God, be with me still 1When the hours flew brightly by,And not a cloud obscured the sky,My soul, lest it should truant be,Thy grace did guide to thine and thee;Now, when storms of fate o ercastDarkly my present and my past,Let my future radiant shine,With sweet hopes of thee and thine."1Luke xv. 7.

"THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 227Some persons not only object to the invocation ofMary as being unprofitable, but they even affect tobe scandalized at the confidence we repose in herintercession, on the groundless assumption that bypraying to her we ignore and dishonor God, and thatwe put the creature on a level with the Creator.Every Catholic child knows from the catechismthat to give to any creature the supreme honor dueto God alone, is idolatry. How can we be said to dishonor God, or bring Him down to a level with Hiscreature by invoking Mary, since we acknowledgeher to be a pure creature indebted like ourselves toHim for every gift and influence which she possesses?This is implied in the very form of our petitions.When we address our prayers to her, we say,Pray for us sinners, implying by these words that sheis herself a petitioner at the throne of divine mercy.To God we say, Give us our daily bread, therebyacknowledging Him to be the source of all bounty.This principle being kept in view, how can we bejustly accused of slighting God s majesty by invoking the intercession of His handmaid ?If a beggar asks and receives alms from methrough my servant, should I be offended at theblessings which he invokes upon her? Far fromit. I accept them as intended for myself, becauseshe bestowed what was mine, and withmyOur consent.Lord says to His Apostles: I dispose toyou a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at Mytable inMy kingdom, and may sit upon thrones,

"Know228 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 1 And St.Paul says:you not that we shall judgeangels, how much more 1things of this world?"If the Apostles maysit at the table of the Lord inheaven without prejudice to His majesty, surely ourLady can stand as an advocate before Him withoutinfringing on His rights. If they can exercise thedread prerogative of judges of angels and of menwithout trespassing on the divine judgeship of Jesus,surely Mary can fulfil the more modest function ofintercessor with her Son without intruding on Hissupreme mediatorship, for, higheris the office ofjudge than that of advocate. And yet while noone is ever startled at the power given to the Apostles, many are impatient of the lesser privilegeclaimed for Mary.ISIII.IT LAWFUL TO IMITATE HER AS A MODEL?But while the exalted privileges of Mary renderher worthy of our veneration, while her saintly influence renders her worthy of our invocation, heipersonal life isconstantly held up to us as a patternworthy of our imitation. And if she occupies so prominent a place in our pulpits, this prominenceis lessdue to her prerogatives as a mother, or to her intercession as a patroness, than to her example as a saint.After our Lord Jesus Christ, no one has ever extrcisedso salutary and so dominant an influence a?1Luke xxii. 29, 30.2 I. v^r n.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 229the Blessed Virgin on society, on the family, and onthe individual.The Mother of Jesus exercises throughout theChristian commonwealth that hallowing influencewhich a good mother wields over the Christian family.What temple or chapel, how rude soever itmaybe, is not adorned with a painting or a statue of theMadonna ? What house is not embellished with animage of Mary What ? Catholic child is a strangerto her familiar face?The priest and the layman, the scholar and theilliterate, the prince and the peasant, the motherand the maid, acknowledge her benign sway.And if Christianity is so fruitful in comparisonwith paganism, in conjugal fidelity, in female purity,and in the respect which ispaid to womanhood,these blessings are in no small measure due to theforce of Mary s all-pervading influence and example.Ever since the Son of God chose a woman to be Hismother, man looks up to woman with a homage akinto veneration.The poet Longfellow pays the following tribute toMary s sanctifying influence :"This is indeed the blessed Mary s land,Virgin and Mother of our dear Redeemer!All hearts are touched and softened at her name;Alike the bandit with the bloody hand,The priest, the prince, the scholar and the peasant,The man of deeds, the visionary dreamer,Pay homage to her as one ever present !20

"230 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.And if our faith had given us nothing moreThan this example of all womanhood,So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure,This were enough to prove it higher and truerThan all the creeds the world had known before." *St. Ambrose gives us the following beautiful picture of Mary s life before her "espousals Let the:life,"he says, of the Blessed Mary be ever presentto you, in which, as in a mirror, the beauty of chasand the form of virtue shine forth. She was atityvirgin not only in body, but in mind, who neversullied the pure affection of her heart by unworthyfeelings. She was humble of heart, serious in herconversation, fonder of reading than of speaking.She placed her confidence rather in the prayer ofthe poor than in the uncertain riches of this world.She was ever intent on her occupations,. . . andaccustomed to make God rather than man the witness of her thoughts. She injured no one, wishedwell to all, reverenced age, yielded not to envy,avoided all boasting, followed the dictates of reason,and loved virtue. When did she sadden her parents even by a look? There was . . . nothing forward in her looks, bold in her words, or unbecoming in her actions. Her carriage was not abrupt,her gait not indolent, her voice not petulant, so thather very appearance was the picture of her mindand the figure of piety."1Longfellow s"Golden Legend."

""THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 231Her life as a spouse and as a mother was a counterpart of her earlier years.The Gospel relatesone little circumstance which amplysuffices to demonstrate Mary s supereminent holiness of life, andto exhibit her as a beautiful patternto those whoare called to rule a household. The Evangelistltells us that Jesus was subject to them,"that is,to Mary and Joseph. He obeyed all her commands,fulfilled her behests, complied with her smallest injunctions. In a word, He discharged towards herall the filial observances which a dutiful son exercises towards a prudent mother. And these relations continued from His childhood to His publiclife ;nor did they cease even then.Now Jesus being the Son of God, the bright1ness of His glory and the figure of His substance,"could not sin. He was incapable of fulfillinganunrighteous precept.The obvious conclusion to bedrawn from these facts is, that Mary never sinnedby commanding, as Jesus could not sin by obeying;that all her precepts and counsels were stampedwith the seal of divine approbation, and that theSon never fulfilled any injunction of His earthlyMother which was not ratified by His eternalfather in heaven.Such is the beautiful portrait which the Churchholds up to the contemplation of her children, thatstudying it they may admire the original, admiringthey may love, loving may imitate, and thus be-Lukeii. 51.2Heb. i. 3.

232 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS."come more dear to God by being made conformable to the image of His 1Son,"ofthe most perfect mirror.whom MaryisTHEveneration of the imagesCHAPTER XV.SACRED IMAGES.of Christ and Hissaints is a cherished devotion in the CatholicChurch, and this practice will be vindicated in thefollowing lines.It is true, indeed, that the making of holy imageswas not so general among the Jews as it is amongus, because the Hebrews themselves were prone toidolatry, and because they were surrounded byidolatrous people who might misconstrue the purpose for which the images were intended. For thesame prudential reasons, the primitive Christianswere very cautious inmaking images, and verycircumspect in exposing them to the gaze of theheathen among whom they lived, lest Christianinmges should be confounded with Pagan idols.The catacombs of Rome, to which the faithfulalone were admitted, abounded, however, in sacredemblems and pious representations, which are preserved even to this day, and attest the practice ofthe early Christian Church. You could see therepainted on the walls, or on vases of glass, the Dove,the emblem of the Holy Ghost ;Christ carrying"Rom. viii. 29.

SACRED IMAGES. 233His cross, or bearing on His shoulders the lostsheep. You could also meet with the Lamb, andan anchor, and a ship, appropriate types of ouiLord, of hope, and of the Church.The first crusade against images was waged inthe eighth century by Leo the Isaurian, Emperurof Constantinople. He commanded the paintingsof oar Lord and His saints to be torn down fromthe church walls, and to be burnt. He eveninvaded the sanctuary of home, and snatched fromthence the sacred emblems which adorned privateresidences. He caused the statues of bronze, silver,and gold to be melted down, and conveniently converted them into coins, upon which his own imagewas stamped. Like Henry VIII. and Cromwell,this royal Iconoclast affected to be moved by azeal for purity of worship, while avarice was thereal motive of his action.The Emperor commanded the learned librariansof his imperial library to give public approbation tohis decrees against images;and when those conscientious men refused to endorse his course, they wereall confined in the imperial library, the buildingwas set on fire, and thirty thousand volumes, thesplendid basilica which contained them, innumerable paintings, and the librarians themselves, wereall involved in one common destruction.Constantine Copronymus prosecutedthe vandalism of Leo, his predecessor. Stephen, an intrepidmonk, presented to the Emperor a coin bearing20*

234 THE FAITH OF OUE, FATHERS.that tyrant s effigy, with these words: "Sire,whoseimage is this?" "It is mine," replied the Emperor. The monk then threw down the piece ofmoney and trampled He it. was instantly seizedby the imperial attendants, and soon after putto a painful death. "Alas!" cried the holy manto the "Emperorif I am punished for dishonor;ing the image of a mortal monarch, what punishment do they deserve who burn the image of JesusChrist?"The demolition of images was revived by the Reformers of the sixteenth century. Paintings andstatues were ruthlessly destroyed, chiefly in theBritish Isles, Germany, and Holland, under thepretext that the making of them was idolatrous.But as the Iconoclasts of the eighth century hadno scruple about appropriating to their own usethe gold and silver of the statues which theymelted, neither had the Iconoclasts of the sixteenth century any hesitation in confiscating andworshipping in the idolatrous churches whose statues and paintings they broke and disfigured.A stranger who visits some of the desecrated Catholic churches of Great Britain and the Continentwhich are now used as Protestant temples, cannotfailto notice the mutilated statues of the saints stillstanding in their niches.This barbaric warfare against religious memorialswas not only a grievous sacrilege, but an outrageagainst the fine arts and had the;destroying angels

SACRED IMAGES. 235extended their ravages over Europe, the immortalworks of Michael Angelo and Raphael would belost to us to-day.The doctrine of the Catholic Church regardingthe use of sacred images, is clearly and fully expressed by the General Council of Trent in the following words "The : images of Christ, and of HisVirgin Mother, and of other Saints, are to be hadand retained, especially in churches ;and a duehonor and veneration is to be given to them : notthat any divinity or virtue is believed to be inthem, for which they are to be honored, or thatany prayer is ta be made to them, or that anyconfidence is to m placed in them, as was formerlydone by the heathens, who placed their hopes inidols ;but because the honor which isgiven themis referred to the originals which they represent,so that by the images which we kiss, and beforewhich we uncover our heads or kneel, we adoreChrist, and venerate His saints, whose likenessthey represent."lEvery Catholic child clearly comprehends the essential difference which exists between a Pagan idoland a Christian image. The Pagans looked uponan idol as a god endowed with intelligence, andthe other attributes of the Deity. They were,therefore idolaters, or image worshippers. CatholicChristiars know that a holy image has no intelli-1Seas. xxv.

"236 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.gence or power to hear and help them. But thevpay it a relative respect; that is, their reverencefor the copy is proportioned to the venerationwhich they entertain for the heavenly original, towhich it is also referred.For the sake of my Protestant readers, I mayhere quote their own great Leibnitz on the reverence paid to sacred images. He says,in his SystemaTheologicum, p.142 :Though we speak ofthe honor paid to images, yet this is only a manner of speaking, which really means that we honornot the senseless thing which is incapable of understanding such honor, but the which rep^totype,ceives honor throughits representation, accordingto the teaching of the Council of Trent. It is inthis sense, I take it,that scholastic writers havespoken of the same worship being paid to imagesof Christ as to Christ our Lord himself; for theact which is called the worship of an image isreally the worship of Christ himself, through andin the presence of the image and by occasion ofit ; by the inclination of the body towards it as toChrist himself, as rendering Him more manifestlypresent, and raising the mind more actively to thecontemplation of Him. Certainly, no* sane manthinks, under such circumstances, of praying inthis wise : Give me, O image, what I ask ;to tiiee,O marble or wood, I give thanks ;but * Thee, OLord, I adore; to Thee I give thanks, and singsongs of praise. Given, then, that there is no

SACRED IMAGES. 237other veneration of images than that which meansveneration of their prototype, there is surely nomore idolatry in it than there is in the respectshown in the utterance of the Most Holy Namesof God and Christ; for, after all, names are butsigns or symbols, and even, as such,inferior toimages, for they represent much less vividly. Sothat when there is question of honoring images,this is to be understood in the same way as whenit is said that at the name of Jesus every kneeshall bend, or that the name of the Lord is blessed,or that glory be given to His Name. Thus, thebowing before an image outside of us is no moreto be reprehended than the worshipping beforean internal image in our own minds for the ex;ternal image does but serve the purpose of expressing visibly that which is internal."In the Book of Exodus, we read: "Thou shaltnot make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likenessof any^ingthat is in heaven above, or in the earthbeneath, nor of those things that are in the watersunder the earth. Thou shalt not adore them norserve them." lProtestants contend that these wordscontain an absolute prohibition against the makingof images while the Catholic Church insists;thatthe commandment referred to merely prohibits usfrom worshipping them as gods.The text cannot mean the absolute prohibitionof making images ; for in that case God would1Chap. xx.

"238 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.contradict Himself, by commanding in one part ofScripture what He condemns in another. In Exodus (xxv. 18), for instance, He commands twocherubim of beaten gold to be made and placedon each side of the oracle ;and in Numbers (xxi,8) He commands Moses to make a brazen serpent,and to set itup for a sign, that whosoever beingstruck by the fiery serpents shall look upon it,shalllive." Are not cherubim and serpents the likenessesof creatures in heaven above, in the earth beneath, andin the waters under the earth ?for cherubim dwellin heaven, and serpents are found on land and sea.We should all, without exception, break the commandment, were we to take it in the Protestantsense. Have you not at home the portraits of living and departed relatives? And are not these thelikenesses of persons in heaven above, and on theearth beneath?Westminster Abbey, though once a Catholic Cathedral, is now a Protestant house of worship. It isfilled with the statues of illustrious men ; yet no onewill accuse the English church of idolatry in allowing those statues to remain there. But you will say :The worshippers in Westminster have no intentionof adoring these statues. Neither have we any intention of worshipping the statues of the saints.AnEnglish Parson once remarked to a Catholic friend:"Tom, don tyou pray to images?""Wepray before them," replied Tom ;"but we have no intention of praying to them." "Who cares for youi

"""""intention,at night?SACRED IMAGES. 239"retorted the Parson. Don tyou prayobserved Tom.said the Parson Ye|," ;; you pray to the bedI"pray at my bed." "Yespost.""Oh, no !said the reverend gentleman ;have no intention of doingthat." "Who cares,""replied Tom, your intention."The moral rectitude or depravity of our actionscannot be determined without taking into accountthe intention.There are many persons who have been taughtin the nursery tales that Catholics worship idols.These persons, if they visit Europe, and see an oldman praying before an image of our Lord or a Madonna, which isplaced along the wayside, are atonce confirmed in their prejudices. Their zealagainst idols takes fire, and they write home, adding one more proof of idolatry against the benighted Komanists. If these superficial travellershad only the patience to question the old man, hewould iell them, with simplicity of faith, that thestatue had no life to hear or help him, but that itscontemplation inspired him with greater reverencefor the original.As I am writing for the information of Protestants, I quote with pleasure the following passage,written by one of their own theologians, in the Encyclopedic(Edit. d Yverdun, torn. 1, art. Adorer) :When Lot prostrates himself before the two angels, it is an act of courtesy towards honored guests;when Jacob bows down before Esau, it is an act of

240 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.deference from a younger to an elder brother, whenSolomon bows low feefore Bethsabee, it is the bonorwhich a son pays to his mother; when INathan,coming in before David, had worshipped, bowingdown to the ground/ it is the homage of a subjectto his prince. But when a man prostrates himselfin prayer to God, it is the creature adoring the Creator. And if these various actions are expressed,sometimes by the word adore, sometimes by worshipor prostration, it is not the bare meaning of the wordwhich has guided interpreters in rendering it, butthe nature of the case. When an Israelite prostrated himself before the king, no one thought ofcharging him with idolatry. If he had done thesame thing in the presence of an idol, the verysame bodily act would have been called idolatry.And why? Because all men would have judgedby his action that he regardedthe idol as a realdivinity, and that he would express, in respect toit, the sentiments manifested by adoration^ in thelimited sense which we give to the word. Whatshall we think, then, of what Catholics do to showhonor to saints, to relics, to the wood of the cross?They will not deny that their acts of reverence, insuch cases, are very much like those by which theypay outward honor to God. But have they thesame ideas about the saints, the relics, and thecross, as they have about God ? I believe that wecannot fairly accuse them of it."A gentleman who was present at the unveiling of

""""SACRED IMAGES.24iGay s statue in the city of Richmond, informed methat as soon as the curtain was uplifted, and thenoble form of the Kentucky statesman appeared infull view, the immense concourse of spectatorsinstinctively uncovered their heads. do "Why youtake off your hat?" playfully remarked- my friendto an acquaintance who stood by. In honor, ofcourse, of Henry he Clay," replied.But Henryis not there in the flesh. You see nothing but day"But my intention, hesir," continued, is to dohonor to the original."He answered correctly.And yet how many of the same people would beshocked, if they saw a man take off his hat in presence of a statue of St. Peter ? It is not, therefore,the making of the image, but its worship, that iscondemned by the Decalogue.Having seen the lawfulness of sacred images, letus now consider the advantages to be derived fromtheir use.1.Eeligiow paintings embellish ike house of God.What is more becoming than to adorn the church,which is the shadow of the heavenly Jerusalem,so beautifully described by St. John? 1 Solomondecorated the temple of God with images of cherubim, and other representations."And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.And all the wallsof the temple round about he carved with di2vers figures and carvings."If it was meet andproper to adorn Solomon s temple, which contained1Apoc. xxi.21 Q2 III. Kings vi.

""242 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.only the Ark of the Lord, how much more fittingis it to decorate our churches, which contain theLord of the Ark? When I see a church tastefullythat the Master is atornamented, it is a sure signhome, and that His devoted subjects pay homage toHim in His courtWhat beauty, what variety, what charming pictures are presented to our view in this temple ofnature which we inhabit ! Look at the canopy ofheaven. Look at the exquisite pictures painted bythe hand of the divine Artist on this earth. Consider the lilies of the field I say to you thatnot even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed asone of these." If the temple of nature is so richlyadorned, should not our temples made with handsbear some resemblance to it?How many professing Christians must, like David,reproach themselves for dwelling in a house of1cedar, while the ark of God islodged with skins."How many are there whose private apartments areadorned with exquisite paintings, who affect to bescandalized at the sight of a single pious emblem intheir houses of worship? On the occasion of thecelebration of Henry W. Beecher s silver wedding,several wealthy members of his congregation adornedthe walls of Plymouth church with their privatepaintings, Their object, of course, in doing so wagnot to honor God, but their Pastor. But if theportraits of men were no desecration to that church,1 II. Kings vii. 2.

SACKED IMAGES. 243how can the portraits of saints desecrate ours? 1And what can be more appropriate than to surroundthe Sanctuary of Jesus Christ with the portraitsthesaints, especially of Mary and of the Apostles,who, in their life, ministered to His sacred person?And is it not natural for children to adorn theirhomes with the likenesses of their Fathers in thefaith ?2. Religious paintings are the catechism of theignorant. In spite of all the efforts of Church andState in the cause of education, a great proportionof the human race will be found illiterate. Dewill teach those what books makescriptive picturesknown to the learned.ofHow many thousands would have died ignorantof the Christian faith, if they had not been enlightened by paintings When ! Augustine, theApostle of England, first appeared before KingEthelbert, to announce to him the Gospel, a silvercrucifix, and a painting of our Saviour, were bornebefore the preacher; and these images spoke moretenderly to the eyes than his words to the ears ofhis audience.St. Francis XavierBy means of religious emblems,effected many conversions in India; and by the samemeans Father De Smet made known the Gospel tothe savages of the Rocky Mountains.lAt the Washington and Lee University, Lexington. Va.,in the sanctuary of the chapel, the portrait of an opulent benefactor holds a conspicuous place.

"""244 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.8.By exhibiting religious paintings in our rooms vwe make a silent, though eloquent, profession of outfaith. I once called on a gentleman in a distantcity, some time during our late war, and, on enteringhis library, I noticed two portraits, one of a distinguished general, the other of an archbishop,These portraits at once proclaimed to me the religious and patriotic sentiments of the proprietor of the house. Behold ! he said to me,pointing to the pictures, my religious creed andmy politicalcreed." If I see a crucifix iu aman s room, I am convinced at once that he isnot an infidel.4.By the aid of sacred pictures, our devotion andlove for the original are intensified, because we can concentrate our thoughts more intently on the object of ouraffections. Mark how the eye of a tender childglistens on confronting the painting of an affectionate mother. What Christian can stand unmoved,when contemplating a picture of the Mother of Sorrows? How much devotion has been fostered bythe stations of the cross? Observe the intensesympathy depicted on the face of the humble Christian woman as she silently passes from one stationto another. She follows her Saviour step by stepfrom the Garden to Mount Calvary. The wholescene, like a panoramic view, is imprinted on hermind, her memory, and her affections. Never didthe most pathetic sermon on the Passion enkindlesuch heartfelt love, or evoke such salutary resolu-

BACKED IMAGES. 245tions, as have been produced by the silent spectacleof our Saviour hanging on the cross.5, The portraits of the saints stimulate us to the imi*tation of their virtues ; and this is the principal aimwhich the Church has in view in encouraging theuse of pious representations. One object, it is true,is to honor the saints ;another is to invoke them :but the principal end is to incite us to an imitationof their holy We lives."are exhorted to look anddo according to the pattern shown us on the mount." 1Nor do I know a better means for promoting pietythan by example.If you keep at home the likenesses of GeorgeWashington, of Patrick Henry, of Chief- JusticeTaney, or of other distinguished men, the copiesof such eminent originals cannot fail to exercise asalutary though silent influence on the mind andheart of your child. Your son will ask you : Whoare those men ? And when youtell him : This isWashington, the Father of his Country ;this isPatrick Henry, the ardent lover of civil liberty;and this isTaney, the incorruptible Judge, yourboy will imperceptibly imbibe not only a veneration for those men, but a relish for the civic virtues for which they were conspicuous. And inlike manner, when our children have constantlybefore their eyes the purest and most exalted models of sanctity, they cannot fail to draw from such a21*1Exod. xxv. 40.

246 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.contemplation a taste forthe lives of the originals.Is not our country flooded withthe virtues which markedobscene picturesand immodest representations which corrupt ouryouth ? If the agents of Satan employ such vilemeans for a bad end if ; they are cunning enoughto pour through the senses, into the hearts of theunwary, the insidious poison of sin, by placing before them lascivious portraits in God s; name, whyshould not we sanctify the souls of our children bymeans of pious emblems?Whyshould not we makethe eye the instrument of edification, as the enemymakes it the organ of destruction ? Shall the penof the artist, the pencil of the painter, and the chiselof the sculptor be prostituted to the basest purposes?God forbid ! The arts were intended to be the handmaids of religion.Almost every moment of the day the eyeis receiving impressions from outward objects, and isinstantly communicating these impressions to thesoul ;and thus the soul receives every day thousands of impressions, which are goodor bad according to the character of the objects presentedto its gaze.We cannot, therefore, overestimate the salutaryeffect produced upon us in a church or roomadorned with sacred paintings. We feel, while intheir presence, that we are in the company of thejust, and the contemplation of these pious portraitschastens our affections, elevates our thoughts, checks

our levity, and diffusesPURGATORY, ETC. 247around us a healthy atmosphere.I am happy to acknowledge that the outcry formerly raised against imageshas almost subsided oflate. The epithet of idolaters is seldom applied tous now. Even some of our dissenting brethren arealready beginning to recognize the utility of religious symbols, and to regret that we have been permitted, by the intemperate zeal of the Reformers, tohave so long the monopoly of them. Crosses alreadysurmount some of our Protestant churches, and replace the weather-cock.A gentleman of Richmond recently informed meduring the preceding Holy Week he adornedthatwith twelve crosses an Episcopal church where,eleven years before, the sight of a single cross wasviewed with horror by the minister.May the day soon come when all Christians willjoin with us not only in venerating the sacred symbol of salvation, but in worshipping at the samealtar.CHAPTER XVI.PURGATORY, AND PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD.fPHE Catholic Church teaches that, besides a placeJL of eternal torments for the wicked and of everlasting rest for the righteous, there exists in the nextlife a middle state of temporary punishment, allotted

"And248 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.for those who have died in venial sin, or who havenot satisfied the justice of God for sins already forgiven. She also teaches us that, although the soulsconsigned to this intermediate state, commonly calledPurgatory, cannot help themselves, they may boof the faithful on earth. Theaided by the suffragesexistence of Purgatory naturally implies the correlative dogma, the utility of praying for the dead ;for, the souls consigned to this middle state havenot reached the term of their journey. They arestill exiles from heaven, and are fit subjects fordivine clemency.Is it not strange that this cherished doctrineshould also be called in question by the levelling innovators of the sixteenth century, when we consider that it is clearly taught in the Old Testament ;that it is, at least, insinuated in the New Testament ;that it isunanimously proclaimed by the Fathers ofthe Church ;that it is embodied in all the ancientliturgies of the Oriental and the Western church;and that it is a doctrine alike consonant with ourreason, and eminently consoling to the human heart?1. It is a doctrine plainly contained in the OldTestament and piously practised by the Hebrewpeople. At the close of an engagement which JudasMachabeus had with the enemy, he ordered prayersand sacrifices to be offered up for his slain comrades.making a gathering, he sent twelve thousanddrachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to beoffered lor the sins of the dead, thinking well and

PURGATORY, ETC. 249religiously concerning the resurrection. For, if hehad not hoped that they that were slain should riseagain, it would have seemed superfluous and vain topray for the dead. ... It is, therefore, a holy andwholesome thought to pray for the dead, that theymay be loosed from 1sins."These words are so forcible that no comment ofmine could render them clearer. This passage proveda great stumbling-block to the Reformers. Findingthat they could not by any evasion weaken the forceof the text, they impiously threw overboard theBooks of Machabees, like a man who assassinatesa hostile witness.They pretended that the twoBooks of Machabees were apocryphal. And yetthey have precisely the same authority as the Gospel of St. Matthew or any other portion of theBible. For, the canon icity of the Holy Scripturesrests solely on the authority of the Catholic Church,which proclaimed them inspired.But even admitting, for the sake of argument,that the Books of Machabees were not entitled to beranked among the canonical Books of Holy Scripture, no one, at least, has ever denied that they aretruthful historical monuments, and, as such, thatthey serve to demonstrate that it was a prevailing practice among the Hebrew people, as it iswith us, to ifferup prayers and sacrifices for thedead.2. When our Saviour, the Founder of the New1II. Mach. xii. 43-46.

"250 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Law, appeared on earth, He came to lop off thoseexcrescences which had grown on the body of theJewish ecclesiastical code, and to purify the JewishChurch from those human traditions which, in thecourse of time, became like chaff mixed with thewheat of sound doctrine. For instance, He condemns the Pharisees for prohibiting the performance of works of charity on the Sabbath day, andin the twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew Hecites against them a long catalogue of innovationsin doctrine and discipline.But did our Lord, at any time, reprove the Jewsfor their belief in a middle state, or for praying forthe dead, a practice which, to His knowledge, prevailed among the people ? Never. On the contrary,more than once both He and the Apostle of theGentiles insinuate the doctrine of Purgatory.Our Saviour says: Whosoever shall speak aword against the Son of man, it shall be forgivenhim. But he that shall speak against the HolyGhost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in thisworld nor in the world to come." 1 When ourSaviour declares that a sin against the Holy Ghostshall not be forgiven in the next life, He evidentlyleaves us to infer that there are some sins whichwill be pardoned in the life to come.St. Paul tells us that "everyman s work shall bemanifest" on the Lord s day."The fire shall tryevery man s work, of what sort it is. If any man s1 Matt. xii. 32.

"PURGATORY ,ETC. 251work abide," that is, if his works are holy,"heshall receive a reward. If any man s work burn,"that is, if his works are faulty and imperfect, heshall suffer loss ;but he himself shall be saved, yet80 as lby His soul fire." will be ultimately saved,but he shall suffer, for a temporary duration, in thepurifying flames of Purgatory.This interpretation is not mine. It is the unanimous voice of the Fathers of Christendom. Andwho are they that have removed the time-honoredlandmarks of Christian faith by rejecting the doctrine of Purgatory? are discontented churchTheymen, impatient of the religious yoke, men who appeared on the stage sixteen hundred years after thefoundation of Christianity. Judge you, reader,whom you ought to follow. If you want to knowthe true import of a vital question in the Constitution, would you not follow the decision of a Story,a Jefferson, a Marshall, a Taney, jurists and statesmen, who were the recognized expounders of theConstitution ? Would you not prefer their opinionto that of political demagogues, who have neitherlearning, nor authority, nor history, to supportthem, but some selfish end to further? Now, thesame motive which you have for rejecting theopinion of an ignorant politician, and embracingthat of eminent jurists, on a constitutional question,impels you to cast aside the novelties of religiousinnovators, and to follow the unanimous sentiments1 1. Cor. iii. 13-15.

""252 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHER*.of the Fathers in reference to the subject of Purgatory.3. I would wish to place before you extended extracts from the writings of the early Fathers of theChurch bearing upon this subject; but I must content myself with quoting a few of the most prominent lights of primitive Christianity.Tertullian, who lived in the second century, sayathat the faithful wife will pray for the soul of herdeceased husband, particularly on the anniversaryday of his falling asleep (death). And if she failto do so, she hath repudiated her husband as far a&in her lies."lEusebius (4th cent.), the historian, describing thefuneral of Constantine the Great, saya that the bodyof the blessed prince was placed on a lofty bier, andthe ministers of God, and the multitude of thepeople, with tears and much lamentation, offered upprayers and sacrifice for the reposeof his soul.And the historian adds that this was done in accordance with the desires of that religious monarch, whohad erected in Constantinople the great church inhonor of the Apostles, so that after his death thefaithful mightthere remember him.2WeSt. Cyril of Jerusalem (4th cent.) writes :commemorate the Holy Fathers, and Bishops, andall who have fallen asleep from amongst us, believing that the supplications which we present will1 De Monogam., n. x. * Euseb., B. iv., c. 71.be

"PTJEGATORY, ETC. 253of great assistance to their souls, while the holy andtremendous sacrifice is offeredup."And he answersby an illustration those who might be disposed todoubt the efficacy of prayers for the dead : If aking had banished certain persons who had offendedhim, and their relations having woven a crown,should offer it to him in behalf of those under hisvengeance, would he not grant a respite to theirpunishments? So we, inoffering up a crown ofprayers in behalf of those who have fallen asleep,will obtain for them forgiveness through the meritsof Christ," 1St.Ephrem, in the same century, says:jure you, my brethren and friends, in the name ofthat God who commands me to leave you, to remember me when you assemble to pray. Do not"I conbury me with perfumes. Give them not to me, butto God. Me, conceived in sorrows, bury with lamentations, and instead of perfumes, assist me with yourprayers for the dead are benefited by the ; prayersof livingsaints." 2St. Ambrose (same century), on the death of theEmperors Gratian and Valentinian, says: "Blessedshall both of you be (Gratiau and Valentiuian), ifmy prayers can avail anything. No day shall passyon over in silence. No prayer of mine shall omitto honor you. No night shall hurry by withoutbestowing on you a mention in my prayers. In1 Catech., n. 9, 10, p. 328.8Apud Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 162 and sej.22

"""254 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.every one of the oblations will I remember you."And on the death of the Emperor Theodosius, heoflers the following prayer:"Giveperfect rest toThy servant Theodosius, that rest which Thou hastprepared for Thy saints. May his soul return thitherwhence it descended, where it cannot feel the stingof death I loved him, and therefore will Ifollow him, even unto the land of the living. Norwill I leave him until, by tears and prayers, I shalllead him .... unto the holy mountain of the Lord,where is life undying, where corruption is not, norlsighing nor mourning."St. Jerome, in the same century, in a letter ofcondolence to Pammachius, on the death of his wifePaulina, writes : Other husbands strew violets androses on the graves of their wives. Our Pammachiusbedews the hallowed dust of Paulina with balsamsof alms. 1 2And St. Chrysostom writes It was not without:good reason ordained by the Apostles, that mentionshould be made of the dead in the tremendousmysteries, because they knew well that these would8receive great benefit from it."St. Augustine, who lived in the beginning of thefifth century, relates that when his mother was atthe point of death, she made this last request ofhim :Lay this body anywhere let;not the careof itany way disturb you. This only I request of1See Faif.Ii of Catholics, Vol. Ill, p. 176.8Ibid., p. 177. Ibid., Vol. II.

"PURGATORY, ETC. 255you, that you would remember me at the altar ofthe Lord, wherever you be."And that pious son prays for his mother s soul inthe most impassioned language:"I, therefore," hesays, O God of my heart, do now beseech Thee forthe sins of my mother. Hear me through the medicine of the wounds that hung upon the woodMay she then be in peace withher husbandAnd inspire, my Lord, .... Thy servants, my brethren, whom with voice and heart and pen I serve,that as many as shall read these words may remember at Thy altar, Monica, Thy servant. . . . ." lThese are but a few specimens of the unanimousvoice ofthe Fathers regarding the salutary practiceof praying for the dead.You now perceive that thisdevotion is not an invention of modern times, but a doctrine universallyenforced in the first and purest ages of the Church.You see that praying for the dead was not a devotion cautiously recommended by some obscure orvisionary writer, but an act of religion preached andinculcated by all the great Doctors and Fathers ofthe Church, who are the recognized expounders ofthe Christian religion.You see them, too, inculcating this doctrine not asa cold and abstract principle, but as an imperativeact of daily piety, and embodyingit in their ordinary exercises of devotion.They prayed for the dead in their morning and1 Confessions, Book ix

256 THE FATTH OF OUR FATHERS.evening devotions. They prayedfor them in theirdaily office, and in the sacrifice of the Mass. The^asked the prayers of the congregation, for the soulsof the deceased, in the public services of Sunday.And on the monuments which were erected to thedead, some of which are preserved even to this day,epitaphs were inscribed, earnestly invoking for theirsouls the prayers of the living. How gratifyingitisto our Catholic hearts, that a devotion so soothingto afflicted spirits is at the same time so firmlygrounded on the tradition of ages!4. That the practice of praying for the dead hasdescended from Apostolic times is also evident fromthe Liturgies of the Church. A Liturgyis the established formulary of public worship, containing theauthorized prayers of the Church. The Missal, orMass-book, for instance, which you see on our altars,contains a portion of the Liturgy of the CatholicChurch. The principal Liturgies are, the Liturgyof St. James the Apostle, who founded the Churchof Jerusalem the ;Liturgy of St. Mark the Evangelist, founder of the Church of Alexandria, and theLiturgy of St. Peter, who established the Churchin Rome. These Liturgies are called after theApostles who compiled them.There are, besides, theLiturgies of St. Chrysostorn and St. Basil, whicharu chiefly based on the model of that of St. James.Now, all these Liturgies, without an exception,have prayers for the dead, and their providentialpreservation serves as another triumphant vindica-

"i URGATORY, ETC. 257tion of the venerable antiquity of this Catholicdoctrine.The Eastern and the Western churches werehappily united until the fourth and fifth centuries,when the heresiarchs Arius, Nestorius, and Eutycheswithdrew millions of souls from the centre of unity.The followers of these sects were called, after theirfounders, Arians, Nestorians, and Eutychiaus, andfrom that day to the present the two latter bodieshave formed distinct communions, being separatedfrom the Catholic Church in the East, just as the Protestant churches are separated from her in the West.The Greek schismatic church, of which the present Russo-Greek church is the offspring, severedher connection with the See of Rome in the ninthcentury.But in leaving the Catholic Church, these Easternsects retained the old Liturgies, which they use tothis day, as I shall presently demonstrate.During my sojourn in Rome at the EcumenicalCouncil, I devoted a great deal of my leisure timeto the examination of the various Liturgies of theschismatic churches of the East. I found in all ofthem formulas of prayers for the dead almostidentical with that of the Roman Missal :Remember, O Lord, Thy servants who are gone before uswith the sign of faith, and sleep in peace. To these,O Lord, and to all who rest in Christ, grant, webeseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, andpeace, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord."22* R

258 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Not content with studying their books, I calledupon the Oriental Patriarchs and Bishops in communion with the See of Rome, who belong to theArmenian, the Chaldean, the Coptic, the Maioiiite,and Syriac rites. Theyall assured me that theschismatic Christians of the East among whomthey live, have, without exception, prayers andsacrifices for the dead.Now, I ask, when could those Eastern sects havecommenced to adopt the Catholic practice of praying for the dead ?They could not have received itfrom us since the ninth century, because the Greekchurch separated from us then, and has had nocommunion with us since that time, except at intervals, up to the twelfth century. Nor could they haveadopted the practicesince the fourth or fifth century,inasmuch as the Arians, Nestorians, and Eutychianshave had no religious communication with us sincethat period. Therefore, in common with us, theyreceived this doctrine from the Apostles. If menliving in different countries drink wine having thesame flavor and taste and color, the inference is, thatthe wine was made from the same species of grape.So must we conclude that this refreshing doctrine ofintercession for the dead has its root in the Apostolictree of knowledge planted by our Saviour.5. I have already spoken of the devotion of cheancient Jewish church to the souls of the departed.But perhaps you are riot aware that the Jews retainto this day, in their Liturgy, the pious practice ofpraying for the dead. Yet such in is reality the case.

"PURGATORY, ETC. 259Amid all their wanderings and vicissitudes of life,though dismembered and dispersed, like sheep without a shepherd, over the surface of the globe, thechildren of Israel have never forgotten or neglected the sacred duty of praying for their deceasedbrethren.Unwilling to make this assertion without thestrongest evidence, I procured from a Jewish convert an authorized Prayer-Book of the Hebrewchurch, from which I extract the following formulaof prayers which are prescribedfor funerals : Departed brother ! rnayest thou find open the gates ofheaven, and see the city of peace and the dwellingsof safety, and meet the ministering angels hasteningjoyfully toward thee. And may the High Prieststand to receive thee, and go thou to the end, restin peace, and rise again into life. May the reposeestablished in the celestial abode ... be the lot,dwelling, and the resting-place of the soul of ourdeceased brother (whom the spirit of the Lord mayjruide into Paradise) who departed from this world,according to the will of God, the Lord of heavenand earth. May the supreme King of Kings,through His infinite mercy, hide him under theshadow of His wings. May He raise him at theend of his days, and cause him to drink of thestream of His delights."lI am happy to say that the more advanced andJewish Prayer-Book.by Siote & Mooney, Philadelphia.Edited by Isaac Leeser, published

260 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.enlightened members of the Episcopalian church aresteadily returning to the faith of their forefathersregarding prayers for the dead. An acquaintanceof mine, once a distinguished clergyman of theEpiscopal communion, but now a convert, informedme that hundreds of Protestant clergymen in thiscountry, and particularly in England, have a firmbelief in the efficacy of prayers for the dead, butfor well-known reasons they are reserved in the expression of their faith. He easily convinced me ofthe truth of his assertion, particularly as far as thechurch of England is concerned, by sending me sixdifferent works published in London, all bearing onthe subject of Purgatory. These books are printedunder the auspices of the Protestant Episcopalchurch ;they all contain prayers for the dead, andprove, from Catholic grounds, the existence of amiddle state after death, and the duty of prayingfor our deceased brethren. 1To sum up: we see the practice of praying for thedead enforced in the ancient Hebrew church, and inthe Jewish synagogue of to-day. We see itproclaimed age after age byall the Fathers of Christendom. We see itincorporated in every one of theancient Liturgies of the East and of the West*Wesee it zealously taught by the Russian church of today, and by that immense family of schismaticChristians scattered over the East. We behold it,1See Path of Holiness, Rivington s,London Treasury ofDevotion, Ibid,.Catedaism of Theology, Hasten, London.

PURGATORY, ETC. 261in fine, a cherished devotion of two hundred millionsof Catholics, as well as of a respectable portion ofthe Episcopal church.Would it not, my friend, be the height of rashness and presumption in you to prefer your privateopinion to this immense weight of learning, sanctity,and authority? Would it not be impiety in you tostand aside with sealed lips, while the Christianworld issending up an unceasing De profundis fordeparted brethren ? Would it not be cold and heartless in you not to pray for your deceased friends, onaccount of prejudices which have no grounds inScripture, tradition, or reason itself?If a brother leaves you to cross the broad Atlantic, religion and affection prompt you to pray forhim during his absence. And if the same brothercrosses the narrow sea of death to pass to the shoresof eteruity, why not pray for him then also When?he crosses the Atlantic, his soul, imprisoned in theflesh, is absent from you when he passes the sea;of death, his soul, released from the flesh, has gonefrom you. What difference does this make withregard to the duty of your intercession ? For, whatis death ? A mere separation of body and soul.The body, indeed, dies, but the soul "lives andmoves and has its being."It continues after death,as before, to think, to remember, to love. And donot God s dominion and mercy extend over thatsoul beyond the grave as well as this side of it ?Who shall place limits to God s empire, and say to

"""262 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Him: "Thus far Thou shall go and no farther?"Two thousand years after Abraham s death, ourLord said : I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac,and of Jacob.of the living."lHe is not the God of the dead, butIf it is profitable for you then to pray for yourbrother in the flesh, why should it be useless foiyoo to pray for him out of the flesh ? For, whilehe was living, you prayed not for his body, but forhis soul.If this brother of yours dies with some slightstains upon his soul, a sin of impatience, for instance,or an idle word, is he fit to enter heaven withthese blemishes upon his soul ? No the; sanctity ofGod forbids it, for, nothing defiled shall enter thekingdom of heaven." 2 Will you consign him, forthese minor transgressions, to eternal torments withadulterers and murderers? No; the justice andmercy of God forbid it. Therefore, your commonsense demands a middle place of expiation for thepurgation of the soul before it isworthy of enjoyingthe companionship of God and His saints.God will render to every man according to hit>works," to the pure and unsullied, everlasting>bliss ;to the reprobate, eternal damnation to soul;stained with minor faults, a place of temporary purgation.I have seen a devoted daughter minister withtender solicitude at the sick-bed of a fond parent1Mark xii. 26, 27. aApoc. xxi. 27.

"PURGATORY, ETC.26SMany an anxious day and sleepless night did shewatch at his bedside. And she moistened theparched lips,and cooled the fevered brow, andraised the drooping head on its pillow. Everychange in her patient for better or worse, broughta corresponding sunshine or gloom to her heart.It was filial love that prompted all this. Herfather died, and she followed his remains to thegrave. Though not a Catholic, standing by thebier, she burst those chains which a cruel religiousprejudice had wrought around her heart, and, risingsuperior to her sect, she cried out :Lord, have mercyon his soul. It was the voice of nature and ofreligion.Oh ! far from us a religion which would decreean eternal divorce between the living and the dead.How consolingis it to the Catholic, to think that,in praying thus for his departed friend, his prayersare not in violation of, but in accordance with, thevoice of the Church ;and that as, like Augustine, hewatches at the pillow of a dying mother, so, likeAugustine, he can continue the same office of pietyfor her soul after she is dead, by praying for her.How cheering the reflection that the golden link ofprayer unites youstill to those who fell asleep inthe Lord," and that you can still speak to themanc! pray for them !Tennyson grasps the Catholic feeling, when hemakes his hero, whose course is run, thus address hissurviving comrade, Sir Bedivere :

2fHTHE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.U I have lived my life, and that which I have doneMay He within Himself make pure ;but thou.If thou shouldst never see my face again,Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayerThan this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voiceRise like a fountain for me night and day.For what are men better than sheep or goatsThat nourish a blind life within the brain,If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayerBoth for themselves and those, who call them friend?For so the whole round earth is every wayBound by gold chains about the feet of God."lOh ! it is this thought that robs death of its stingand makes the separationof friends endurable.And ifyour departed friend needs not yourprayers, they are not lost, but, like the rain absorbed by the sun, and descending again in fruitfulshowers on our fields, they will be gathered by theSun of justice, and they will come down in refreshing showers of grace upon your head "Cast: thybread upon the running waters; for, after a longtime, thou shalt find it again."2ACHAPTER XVII.CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.MAN enjoys religious liberty when he possessesthe free right of worshiping God according tothe dictates of a rightconscience, and of practisingMorte D Arthur.2 Eccles. xi. 1.

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 265a form of religion most .in accordance with his dutiesto God. Every act infringing on his freedom ofconscience is justly styled religious intolerance.This religious liberty is the true right of every man,because itcorresponds with a most certain dutywhich God has put upon him.A man enjoys civil liberty vrtien he isexemptfrom the arbitrary will of others, and when he isgoverned by equitable laws established for thegeneral welfare of society. So long as, in commonwith his fellow-citizens, he observes the laws of thestate, any exceptional restraint imposed upon him,in the exercise of his rights as a citizen, is so faran infringement on his civil liberty.I here assert the proposition, which I hope toconfirm by historical evidence, that the CatholicChurch has always been the zealous promoter ofreligious and civil liberty and that whenever ; anyencroachments on these sacred rights of man wereperpetrated by professing members of the Catholicfaith, these wrongs, far from being sanctioned bythe Church, were committed in palpable violationof her authority.Her doctrine is, that as man by his own free willfell from grace, so of his own free will must he return to grace. Conversion and coercion are twoterms that can never be reconciled. It has everbeen a cardinal maxim, inculcated by sovereignPontiffs and other Prelates, that no violence orundue influence should be exercised by Christian23

266 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Princes or Missionaries in their efforts to convertsouls to the faith of Jesus Christ.St. Augustine and his companions, who were sentby Pope Gregory I. to England for the conversionof that nation, had the happiness of baptizing in thetrue faith King Ethelbert and many of his subjects.That monarch, in the fervor of his zeal, wasmost anxious that all his subjects should immediatelyfollow his example but the missionaries admonished;him that he should scrupulously abstain from allviolence in the conversion of his people; for, theChristian religion should be voluntarily embraced.Pope Nicholas I. also warned Michael, king ofthe Bulgarians, against employing any force or constraint in the conversion of idolaters.The fourth Council of Toledo, a synod of greatauthority in the Church, ordained that no one shouldbe compelled against his will to make a professionof the Christian faith. And be it remembered thatthis Council was composed of all the Bishops ofSpain ; and was assembled in a country and at atime in which the Church held almost unlimitedsway, and among a people who have been represented as the most fanatical and intolerant of allEurope.Perhaps no man can be considered a fairer representative of the age in which he lived than St.Bernard, the illustrious Abbot of Clairvaux. Hewas the embodiment of the spirit of the MiddleAges. His life is the keythat discloses to us

""AND BELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 267what degree of toleration prevailed in those days.Having heard that a fanatical preacher was stimulating the people to deeds of violence against theJews, as the enemies of Christianity, St. Bernardraised his eloquent voice against him, and rescuedthose persecuted people from the danger to whichthey were exposed.Not to cite too many examples, let me only quotefor you the beautiful letter addressed by Fenelon,Archbishop of Cambray, to the son of King JamesII. of England. This letter not only reflects thesentiments of his own heart, but formulizes, in thisparticular, the decrees of the Church, of which hewas a distinguished ornament. Above all,"hewrites, never force your subjects to change theirreligion. No human power can reach the impenetrable recess of the free will of the heart. Violencecan never persuade men : it serves only to makehypocrites. Grant civil liberty to all, not in approving everything as indifferent, but in toleratingwith patience whatever Almighty God tolerates,and endeavoring to convert men by mild persuasion." LIt is true, indeed, that the Catholic Church sparesno pains, and stops at no sacrifice, in order to inducemankind to embrace her faith. Otherwise she wouldbe recreant to her sacred mission. But she scornsto exercise any undue influence in her efforts to convert souls.1Vie de Fenelon.

268 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.It is well known that the superior advantages ofour female academies throughout the country leadmany of our dissenting brethren to send their daughters to these institutions. It is also well known thatso warm is the affection which these young ladiesentertain for their religious teachers ;so hallowed isthe atmosphere they breathe within these seats oflearning, that they often beg to embrace a religionwhich fosters so much piety, and which producessuch pure and fragrant lilies. Do the sisters takeadvantage of this influence in the cause of proselytism? By no means. So delicate is their regardfor the religious conscience of their pupils, that theyrarely consent to have these young ladies baptizedtill they have obtained the free permission of theirparents or guardians, after being thoroughly instructed in all the doctrines of the Church.The Church is, indeed, intolerant in this sense,that she can never confound truth with error ;norcan she admit that any man is conscientiously freeto reject the truth when its claims are convincinglybrought home to the mind. Many Protestantsseem to be very much disturbed by some such argument as this Catholics are very ready now to:proclaim freedom of conscience, because they arein the minority. When^ they once succeed in getting the tipper hand in numbers and power, theywill destroy this freedom, because their faith teachesthem to tolerate no doctrine other than the Catholic.It is, then, a matter of absolute necessity for us that

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 269they should never be allowed to getthis advantage.Now, in all this, there is a great mistake, whichthe Catholic doctrine in itscomes from not knowingfulness. I shall not layit down myself, lest it seemto have been gotten up for the occasion. I shallquote the great theologian Becanus, who taught thedoctrine of the schools of Catholic Theology at thetime when the struggle was hottest between Catholicity and Protestantism. He says that religiousliberty may be tolerated by a ruler when it woulddo more harm to the state or to the community torepress it. The ruler may even enter into a compact in order to secure to his subjects this freedomin religious matters ;and when once a compact ismade, it must absolutely be observed in every point,just as every other lawful and honest contract.1This is the true Catholic teaching on this point, according to Becanus and all Catholic theologians. Sothat if Catholics should gain the majority in a community where freedom of conscience is already secured to all by law, their very religion obliges themto respect the rights thus acquired by their fellowcitizens.What danger can there be, then, for Protestants, if Catholics should be in the majority here?Their apprehensions are the result of vain fears,which no honest mind ought any longer to harbor.The Church has not only respected the conscienceof the people in embracing the religionof their1Becanus de Virtutibus Theologicis, c. 16, qusest. 4, No. 2,

""270 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.choice, but she has also defended their civil rightaand liberties against the encroachments of temporalsovereigns. One of the popular errors that havetaken possession of some minds in our times, is thatin former days the Church was leagued with princes,for the oppression of the people. This is a basecalumny, which a slight acquaintance with eccbsiasticalhistory would soon dispel.The truth is, the most unrelenting enemies of theChurch have been the princes of this world, and socalledChristian princes, too.The conflict between Church and State has neverdied out, because the Church has felt it to be herduty, in every age, to raise her voice against thedespotic and arbitrary measures of princes. Andas a Protestant American reviewer 1 well said,about forty years ago, it was a blessing of Providence that there was a spiritual Power on earththat could stand like a wall of brass against thetyranny of earthly sovereigns, and say to them :Thus far you shall go, and no farther, and hereyou shall break your swelling waves of passion ;a Power that could say to them what John saidto Herod: "Thisthing is not lawful for thee;" aPower that pointed the finger of reproof to them,even when the sword was pointed to her own ne<k,and that said to them what Nathan said to David :"Thou art the man." She told princes that ifthe people have their obligations, they have theiz1 Dr. Brownson, who was then a Protestant.

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 271rights, too that if the;subject must render to Caesarthe things that are Caesar s, Caesar must render toGod the things that are God s.Yes ;the Church, while pursuing her divine mission of leading souls to God, has ever been the defender of the people s rights.St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, affords us astriking instance of the strenuous efforts made bythe Catholic Church in vindicating the interests ofthe citizen against the oppression of rulers.A portion of the people of Thessalonica had committed an outrage against the just authority of theEmperor Theodosius. The offence of those citizenswas indeed most reprehensible; but the Emperorrequited the insult offered to him by a shockingand disproportioned act of retribution, which hasleft an indelible stain upon his otherwise excellentcharacter. The inhabitants were assembled togetherfor the ostensible purpose of witnessing a chariotrace;and at a given signal the soldieryfelluponthe people, and involved men, women, and children in an indiscriminate massacre, to the numberof about seven thousand. Some time after, theEmperor presented himself at the Cathedral ofMilan ;but the intrepid Prelate told him that hiahands were dripping with the blood of his subjects,and forbade him entrance to the church till he hadmade all the reparationin his powerto the afflictedpeopleof Thessalonica.People affect to be shocked at the sentence of ex-

"272 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.communication occasionall^uflicted by the Churchon evil-doers. Here is an instance of this penalty.Who can complain of it as being too severe ? Itwas a salutary punishment, and the only one thatcould bring rulers to a sense of duty.The greatest bulwark of civil liberty is the famousMa$na Charta. It is the foundation not only ofBritish, but also of American constitutional freedom. Among other blessings contained in this instrument, it establishes trial by jury, and the rightof Habeas Corpus, and provides that there shall beno taxation without representation.Who were the framers of this memorable charter?Archbishop Langton, of Canterbury, and the Catholic Barons of England. On the plains of Runnymede,in 1215, they compelled King John to signthat paper which was the death-blow to his arbitrary power, and the corner-stone of constitutionalgovernment.Turning to our own country,it is with no smalldegree of satisfaction that I point to the Statb ofMaryland as the cradle of civil and religious liberty,and the land of the sanctuary."Of the thirteenoriginal American Colonies, Maryland was the onlyone that was settled by Catholics. She was also theonly one that spread aloft over her fair lands thebanner of liberty of conscience, and that invited theoppressed of other Colonies to seek an asylum beneath its shadow.Lest I should be suspected of being too partial in

""TheCIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 273take allmy praise of Maryland toleration, I shallmy historical facts from Bancroft, a New EnglandProtestant clergyman.Leonard Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore,and the leader of the Catholic colony, having sailedfrom England in the Ark and the Dove, reached hisdestination on the Potomac in March, 1634.The Catholics took quiet possessionof the littleplace, and religious liberty obtained a home, its onlyhome in the wide world, at the humble village which*bore the name of St. s."Maryfoundation of the colony of Maryland waspeacefully and happily laid. Within six months,it had advanced more than Virginia had done in as. . .many years.But far more memorable was thecharacter of the Maryland institutions. Every othercountry in the world had persecuting laws but;through the benign administration of the government of that province, no person professingto believe in Jesus Christ was permitted to be molestedon account of religion. Under the munificenceand superintending mildness of Lord Baltimore,a dreary wilderness was soon quickened with theswarming life and activity of prosperous settlements; the Roman Catholics who were oppressedby the laws of England were sure to find a peacefulasylum in the quiet harbors of the Chesapeake and;there, too, Protestants were sheltered against Protestantintolerance. Such were the beautiful auspices under1Bancroft s History of the United States, Vol. I., ch. viLS

""274 THE FAITH OF OUH FATHERS.which Maryland started into being. ... Its history isthe history of benevolence, gratitude, and toleration." 1Maryland was the abode of happiness and liberty. Conscience was without restraint. A mildand liberal proprietary conceded every measurewhich the welfare of the colony required \domesticunion, a happy concert between allthe branches ofgovernment, an increasing emigration, a productivecommerce, a fertile soil, which heaven had richlyfavored with rivers and deep bays, united to perfectthe scene of colonial felicity. Ever intent on advancing the interests of his colony, Lord Baltimoreinvited the Puritans of Massachusetts to emigrate toMaryland, offering them lands and privileges andfree liberty of religion but; Gibbons, to whom hehad forwarded the commission, was so wholly tutoredinthe New England discipline, that he would notadvance the wishes of the Irish Peer, and so the invitation was declined." *On the 2d of April, 1649, the General Assemblyof Maryland passed the following Act, which will reflect unfading glory on that State as long as libertyis cherished in the hearts of men :Whereas theenforcing of conscience in matters of religion hathfrequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequencein those commonwealths where it has been practised,and for the more quiet and peaceable governmentof this province, and the better to preserve mutuallove and unity amongst the inhabitants, no person1Bancroft s History of the United States, Vol. I., ch. vii.

"CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 275whatsoever within this province, professing to believein Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be anywaystroubled or molested for his or her religion, nor inthe free exercise thereof, nor any way compelled tothe belief or exercise of any other religion againsthis or her consent." lUpon thisnoble statute, Bancroft makes the following candid and judicious comment : "The designof the law of Maryland was to protect freedom ofconscience; and some years after it had been confirmed, the apologist of Lord Baltimore could assertthat his government had never given disturbance toany person in Maryland for matter of religion that;the colonists enjoyed freedom of conscience, not lessthan freedom of person and estate, as amply as everany people in any place of the world. The disfranchised friends of Prelacy from Massachusetts andthe Puritans from Virginia were welcomed to equalliberty of conscience and political rights in the2Roman Catholic province of Maryland."Five years later, when the Puritans gained theascendancy in Maryland, they were guilty of the infamous ingratitude of disfranchising the very Catholic settlers by whom they had been so hospitablyentertained. They had neither the gratitude torespect the rights of the government by which theyhad been received and fostered, nor magnanimityto continue the toleration to which alone they were1Bancroft s History of the United States, Vol. I., ch. viLVide Bacon s I aws.* Ibid.

.estates,""27CTHE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.indebted for their residence in the colony. An Actconcerning religion, forbade liberty of conscience tobe extended to Popery/ Prelacy, or licentiousnessof opinion.lWhat shall I say of the prominent part that wastaken by distinguished representatives of the Catholic Church in the cause of our American Independence? What shall I say of Charles Carroll ofCarrollton, who, at the risk of sacrificing his richsigned the Declaration of Independence ; ofRev. John Carroll, afterwards the firstArchbishopof Baltimore, who, with his cousin Charles Carrolland Benjamin Franklin, was sent by Congress toCanada to secure the co-operation of the people ofthat province in the struggle for liberty ;of Kosciusko,Lafayette, Pulaski, and Barry, and a hostof other Catholic heroes who labored so effectuallyin the same glorious cause? American patriots,without number the Church has nursed in herbosom ;a traitor, never.The father of his country was not unmindful ofthese services. Shortly after his election to thePresidency, replying 2 to an address of his Catholicfellow-citizens, he uses the following language:presume that your fellow-citizens will not forgot thepatriotic part which you took in the accomplishmentof their revolution, and the establishment of theirgovernment; or the important assistance they re*l Bancroft s History of the U. 8., Vol. 1., ch. vii. Vide Bacon s Laws.2 The original of Washington s reply is still preserved in the Archives 4the Baltimore Cathedral.I

"CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 277ceivedfrom a nation in which the Roman Catholicfaith is professed."And the Catholics of our generation have noblyemulated the patriotism and the spirit of tolerationexhibited by their ancestors. They can neither beaccused of disloyalty or of intolerance to their dissenting brethren. In more than one instance of ournation s history, our churches have been desecratedand burned to the ground our convents have been;invaded and destroyed our; clergy have been exposed to insult and violence. These injuries havebeen inflicted on us by incendiary mobs animatedby hatred of Catholicism. Yet, in spite of theseprovocations, our Catholic citizens, though wieldingan immense numerical influence in the localitieswhere they suffered, have never retaliated. It is ina spirit of just pride that we can affirm that hitherto in the United States no Protestant house of worship or educational institution has been destroyed,nor violence offered to a Protestant minister, bythose who profess the Catholic faith. God grantthat such may always be our record.And it is just because the Church has ever resistedthe tyranny of kings, in their encroachments on thesacred right of conscience, that she has always beenthe victim of royal persecution. In every age, in thelanguage of the Psalmist, the kings of the earthrose up, and the princes assembled together againstthe Lord and against His Christ." l The brightest

278 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.and most thrilling pages of ecclesiastical historyare those which record the sufferings of Popes andPrelates, at the hands of temporal sovereigns, forconscience and for justice sake.Take, for instance, St. John Chrysostom, the greatArchbishop of Constantinople in the fifth century,and the idol of the people. He had the courage,like John the Baptist, to raise his eloquent voiceagainst the lasciviousness of the court, and particularly against the Empress Eudoxia, who ruled likeanother Jezabel. He was banished from his See,treated with the utmost indignity by the soldiers,and died in exile from sheer exhaustion and illwith the German Emtreatment.Witness Pope Gregory VII., the fearless Hildebrand,in his life-long struggleperor, Henry IV. Gregory directed all the energiesof his great mind towards reforming the abuses whichhad crept into the church of France and Germany inthe eleventh century. The Emperor of Germany,in those days, assumed the right of naming or appointing the Bishops throughout his empire. Thissacred office was commonly bestowed on very unworthy candidates, and very often put up at auction, to be sold to the highest bidder, as is now thecase with the schismatic Greek church in Turkey.These Bishops too often repaid their imperial benefactor by pandering to his passions, and by themost servile flattery.The intrepid Pope partiallysucceeded in uprooting the evil, though the effort

"CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.27Scost him his life. The Emperor invaded Rome,drove Gregory from his See, who died utteringthese words with his last breath : I have lovedjustice and hated iniquity, and therefore I die inexile."For the same cause, Thomas a Becket, Archbishopof Canterbury, was slain at the altar by the hiredassassins of Henry II., of England.And observe how Pius VII. was treated by thefirstNapoleon in the beginning of the present century. The day-dream of Napoleon was to be masterof Europe, and to place his brothers and friends onthe thrones of the continent, that they might revolve, like so many satellites, around his throne inFrance. Napoleon makes two demands on thevenerable Pontiff: 1. That he dissolve the marriagewhich had been contracted between the Emperor sbrother, Jerome, and Miss Patterson, of Baltimore.His ostensible reason for having the marriage dissolved was because Miss Patterson was a Protestant ;but his real motive was to secure a royal bride forhis brother instead of an American lady. 2. Thathe close his ports against the commerce of England,with which nation Napoleon was then at war, andmake common cause with the Emperor against hisenemies. The Pope rejected both demands. Hetold the Emperor that the Church held all marriages performed by her as indissoluble, even whenone of the parties was not a Catholic ;and that, asthe common father of Christendom, he could closehis port against no Christian power. For refusing

280 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.to comply with this second demand, the Pope wasarrested and sent into exile, where he lingered foryears.And at this very moment the old conflict betweenthe Church and despotic governmentsisragingfiercely throughou-t Europe. The scene enactedby John and Herod isto-day reproduced in almost every kingdom of the old world. It is theold fight between brute force and the God-givenrights of conscience.In Russia we see the Bishop of Plock exiled forlife, from his See, to Siberia. His only offence ishis refusal to acknowledge that the Emperor Alexander is the head of the Christian Church.If we pass over into Italy, we see religious menand women driven from their homes ;their houseaand libraries confiscated libraries which pious andlearned men had been collecting and consulting forages. The only crime of those religious is that theyhave not the power to resist brute force.Cross the Alps into France, and there you willsee that many-headed monster the Commune, assassinating the Archbishop of Paris and his clergy,solely because he and they were the representatives of law and order.In the so-called Republic of Switzerland, BishopMermillod isexpelled from Geneva without theslightest charge adduced against his character asa citizen and a Christian Prelate, Faithful clergymen are deprived by the government of their

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 281parochial rights, and renegade priests are intrudedin their place. The shepherdis driven away, andwolves lay waste the fold.Go to Prussia: what do you behold there? APrime Minister flushed with his recent victoriesover France. He is not content with seeing hismaster wear the imperial crown of Germany he;wants him also to wear the tiara of the Pope. LikeArnan, the minister of King Assuerus, Bismarck isnot satisfied with being second in the kingdom solong as Mardochai, that is the Church, refuses tobow down and worship him.He fines the venerable Archbishop of Gnesen-Posen and other Prussian Prelates again andagain, sells their furniture, and finally sends themto prison for a protracted period. St. John Chrysostombeautifully remarks that St. Paul, elevatedto the third heaven, was glorious to contemplate;but that far more glorious is Paul buried in thedungeons of Rome. I can say in like manner, ofArchbishop Ledochowski of Poseu, that he was conspicuous in the Vatican Council among his peers ;but he was still more conspicuous sitting solitary inhis Prussian prison.The loyalty of the Prussian clergyis above reproach. The Bishops are imprisoned because theyinsist on the right of educating students for theministry, ordaining and appointing clergy, withoutconsulting the government.They are denied a rightwhich in this country is possessed by Free Masons,and every other human organizationin the land.24*

282 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Perhaps a simple illustration will present to youin a clearer light the odious character of the penallaws to which I have alluded. Suppose the government of the United States were to issue a generalorder requiring the clergy of the various Christiandenominations to be educated in government establishments, and forcing them to take an oath beforeentering on the duties of the ministry forbidding,;also, the ecclesiastical authorities to appoint or remove any clergyman without permission of thecivil power at Washington. Would not the American people riseup in their might, before they wouldsubmit to have such galling fetters forged on theirconscience? And yet this is precisely the odiouslegislation which the Prussian governmentis enacting against the Church. And the Catholic Church,in resisting these laws, is not only fighting her ownbattles, but she iscontending for the principle offreedom of conscience everywhere.But, thank God, we live in a country where libertyof conscience is respected, and where the civil constitution holds over us the segis of her protection,without intermeddling with ecclesiastical affairs.From my heart, I say: America, with all thyfaults, I love thee still. And perhaps at thismoment there is no nation on the face of the earthwhere the Church is less trammeled, and where shehas more liberty to carry out her sublime destiny,than in these United States.For my part, I much prefer the system which

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 283prevails in this country, where the temporal needsof the Church are supplied by voluntary contributions of the faithful, to the system which obtains insome Catholic countries of Europe, where the Churchissupported by the government, thereby makingfeeble reparation for the itgross injustice has doneto the Church, by its former wholesale confiscationof ecclesiastical property. And the Church paysdearly for this indemnity for she has to bear the;perpetual attempts at interference and the vexatiousenactments of the civil power, which aims at makingher wholly dependent uponitself.Some years ago, in company with the late Archbishop Spalding, on my return from Rome, I paid avisit to the Bishop of Annecy, in Savoy. I wasstruck by the splendor of his palace, and saw asentinel at the door, placed there by the Frenchgovernment, as a guard of honor. But the venerable Bishop soon disabused me of my favorable impressions.He told me that he was in a state ofgilded slavery.I cannot, said he, build as muchas a sacristy without obtaining permission of thegovernment.I do not wish to see the day when the Church willinvoke or receive any government aid to build ourchurches, or to pay the salary of our clergy for,;the government may then begin to dictate to uswhat doctrines we ought to preach. And in proportion as state patronage would increase, the sympavhyand aid of the faithful would diminish.

284 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.May the happy condition of things now existingamong us always continue, when the relations between the clergy and the people will be direct andimmediate: when Bishops and Priests will bestowupon their spiritual children their voluntary labors,their tender solicitude, their paternal affection, andpour out like water their hearts blood, if necessary ;and when they will receive in return the free-willofferings, the devotion and gratitude of a filialpeople.CHAPTER XVIII.CHARGES OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.THE SPANISH INQUISITION THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW QUEEN MARY OF ENGLAND.BUT did not the Spanish Inquisition exercise enormous cruelties against heretics and Jews? I amnot the apologist of the Spanish Inquisition, and Ihave no desire to palliate or excuse the excesses intowhich that tribunal may at times have fallen. Frommy heart I abhor and denounce every species of violence, and injustice, and persecution of which theSpanish Inquisition may have been guilty.And inraising my voice against coercion for conscience sake,I am expressing not only my own sentiments, butthose of every Catholic Priest and layman in the land.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 280Our Catholic ancestors, for the last three hundredyears, have suffered so much for freedom of conscience, that they would rise up in judgment againstus, were we to become the advocates and defendersof religious persecution. We would be a disgraceto our sires, were we to trample on the principle ofliberty which they held dearer than life.And when I denounce the cruelties of the Inquisition, I am not standing aloof from the Church, butI am treading in her footprints. Bloodshed andpersecution form no part of the creed of the Catholic Church. So much does she abhor the sheddingof blood, that a man becomes disqualified to serveas a minister at her altars who, by act or counsel,voluntarily sheds the blood of another. Before youcan convict the Church of intolerance, you must firstbring forward some authentic act of her Popes orCouncils sanctioning the policy of vengeance. Inall my readings, I have yet to find one decree ofhers advocating torture or death for consciencesake. She is indeed intolerant of error ;but heronly weapons against error are those pointed outby St. Paul to Timothy: "Preach the word; beinstant in season, out of season ; reprove, entreat ;rebuke with all 1patience and doctrine."But you will tell me : Were not the authors ofthe Inquisition children of the Church, and didthey not exercise their enormities in her name?Granted. But I ask you Is : it just or fair to hold1 II. Tim. iv. 2.

286 THE FAITH OF OFR FATHERS.the Church responaible for those acts of her childrenwhich she disowDs ? You do not denounce libertyas a mockery, because many crimes are committedin her name ;neither do you hold a father accountable for the sins of his disobedient children.We should also bear in mind that the Spaniardswere not the only people who have proscribed menfor the exercise of their religious belief. If wecalmly study the history of other nations, our enmity towards Spain will considerably relax, andwe shall have to reserve for her neighbors a portion of our indignation. No impartial student ofhistory will deny that the leaders of the Reformedreligions, whenever they gained the ascendancy, exercised violence towards those who differed fromthem in faith. I mention this not by way of recrimination, nor in palliation of the proscriptionsof the Spanish government; for one offence is notjustified by another. My object is merely to show .that "those who live in glass houses should notthrow stones;" and that it is not honest to makeSpain the scapegoat, bearing alone on her shouldersthe odium of religious intolerance.It should not be forgotten that John Calvinburned Michael Servetus at the stake for heresy ;and the arch-reformer not only avowed but alsojustified the deed in his writings, and establishedin Geneva an Inquisition for the punishment ofrefractory Christians.It should also be remembered that Luther ad-

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 287vocated the most merciless doctrine towards theJews. According to his apologist Seckendorf, theGerman Reformer said that their synagogues oughtto be destroyed, their houses pulled down, theirOld Testaprayer-books, and even the books of thement, to be taken from them. Their rabbis oughtto be forbidden to teach, and be compelled to gaintheir livelihood by hard labor.It should also be borne in mind that Henry VIII."and his successors for many generations, inflictedfines, imprisonment, and death on thousands of theirsubjects for denying the spiritual supremacy of thetemporal sovereign. This galling Inquisition lastedfor nearly three hundred years, and the severityof its decrees scarcelyfinds a parallelin the Spanish Inquisition. Prescott avows that the administration of Elizabeth was not a whit less despotic,and scarcely less sanguinary than that of Isabella."1The clergy of Ireland, under Cromwell, were ordered,under pain of death, to quit their country, and theological students were obliged to pursue their studiesin foreign seminaries. AnyPriest who dared to return to his native country forfeited his life. Whoever harbored a Priest suffered death, and those whoknew his hiding-place, and did not reveal it to theInquisitors, had both their ears cut off.At this very moment, not only in England, but inIreland, Scotland, and Holland, Protestants are worshiping in some of the churches erected by theFerdinand and Isabella, Vol. III., p. 202.

THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.piety of our Catholic forefathers, and wrested fromthem by violence.Observe, also, that in all these instances the persecutions were inflicted by the express authority ofthe founders and heads of Protestant churches.The Puritans of New England inflictedsummaryvengeance on those who were rash enough to diflerfrom them in religion. IH Massachusetts,"theQuakers were whipped, branded, had their ears cutoff, their tongues bored with hot irons, and werebanished upon the pain of death in case of their return, and actually executed upon the gallows."And who isignorant of the number of innocentcreatures that suffered death in the same State onthe ridiculous charge of witchcraft towards the endof the seventeenth century? Well does it becometheir descendants to taunt Catholics with the horrorsof the Spanish Inquisition !In the religious riots of Philadelphia in 1844,several Catholic churches were burned down in thename of Protestantism, and houses were sacked. Iwas informed by an eye-witness, that owners ofhouses were obliged to mark on their doors thesewords, this house belongs to Protestants, in order tosave their property from the infuriated incendiaries.For these acts, I never heard of any retaliation onthe part of Catholics, and I hope I never shall, nobe their numbers andmatter how formidable maytempting the provocation.1Blue Laws.1

And in spitetimes,RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 289of the boasted toleration of ourit cannot be denied that there still lurks aspirit of inquisition, which does not, indeed, vent itself in physical violence, but is, nevertheless, mostgalling to its victims. How many persons have 1met in the course of my ministry, who were ostracized by their kindred and friends, driven from home,nay, disinherited by their parents, for the sole crimeof carrying out the very shibboleth of Protestantismthe exercise of private judgment, and of obeyingthe dictates of their conscience, by embracing theCatholic faith ! Is not this the most exquisite torture that can be inflicted on refined natures?Ah !there is an imprisonment more lonely thanthe dungeonit is the imprisonment of our most;cherished thoughts in our own hearts, without amember of the family to communicate with.There is a sword more keen than the executioner sknife ;it is the envenomed tongue of obloquy andabuse. There is a banishment less tolerable thanexile from one s country ; it is the excommunicationfrom the paternal roof, and from the affections ofthose we love.Have I a right to hold the members of theEpis*copal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist3hurches responsible for these prescriptive measuresto which I have referred, most of which have beenauthorized by their respective founders and leaders?God forbid ! For I know full well that these acts ofcruelty form no part of the creed of the Protestant25 T

290 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHEBS.churches. I have been acquainted with Protestantsfrom my youth. They have been among my mostintimate and cherished friends, and, from my knowledge of them, I am convinced that they would discountenance any physical violence which would beinflicted on their fellow-citizens on account of theirreligious convictions. They would justly tell methat the persecutions of former years of which Ihave spoken, should be ascribed to the peculiar andunhappy state of societyin which their ancestorslived, rather than to the inherent principles of theirreligion.stillAnd for precisely the same reasons, and for reasonsmore forcible, Protestants should not reproachthe Catholic Church for the atrocities of the SpanishInquisition. For, the persecutions to which I havealluded, were for the most part perpetrated by thefounders and heads of the Protestant churches , whilethe rigors of the Spanish tribunal were inflictedbylaymen and subordinate ecclesiastics, either without the knowledge or in spite of the protests of theBishops of Rome.Let us now present the Inquisition in its truelight. In the first place, the number of its victimshas been wildly exaggerated, as even Prescott isforced to admit. The popular historian of theInquisition is Llorente, from whom our Americanauthors generally derive their information on thissubject. Now who was Llorente? He was a degraded Priest, who was dismissed from the Board

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 291of Inquisitors, of which he had been Secretary.Actuated by interest and revenge, he wrote his history at the instance of Joseph Bonaparte, the newKing of Spain, and, to please his royal master, hedid all he could to blacken the character of thatinstitution. His testimony, therefore, should be received with great reserve. To give you one instanceof his unreliability, he quotes the historian Marianaas his authority for saying that two thousand personswere put to death in one year in the dioceses aloneof Seville and Cadiz. By referring to the pages ofMariana, we find that author saying that two thousand were put to death in all Spain during the entireadministration of Torquemada, which embraced a periodof fifteen years.Before beginning to examine the character of thistribunal, it must be clearly understood that theSpanish Inquisition was not a purely ecclesiasticalinstitution, but a mixed tribunal. It was conceivedsystematized, regulated in all its procedures andjudgments, equipped with officers and powers, andits executions, fines, and confiscations were carriedout by the royal authority alone, and not by theChurch. 1To understand the true character of the SpanishInquisition, and the motives which prompted KingFerdinand in establishing that tribunal, we must1For an impartial account of the Inquisition, the readeiis referred to thethe Count de Maistre."Letters on the Spanish Inquisition," by

292 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.take a glance at the internal condition of Spain atthe close of the fifteenth century. After a struggleof eight centuries, the Spanish nation succeeded inoverthrowing the Moors, and in planting the nationalflag over the entire country. At last the Cross conquered the Crescent, and Christianity triumphedover Mahometanism. The empire was consolidatedunder the joint reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.But there still remained elements of discord in thenation. The population was composed of three conflicting races the Spaniards, Moors, and Jews. Perhaps the difficulties which beset our own Governmentin its efforts to harmonize the white, the Indian, andthe colored population will give us some idea of theformidable obstacles with which the Spanish courthad to contend in its efforts to cement into one nation a conquering and a conquered people of differentrace and religion.The Jews and the Moors were disaffectedtowardsthe Spanish government not only on political, butalso on religious grounds. They were suspected,and not unjustly, of desiring to transfer their allegiance from the King of Spain to the King ofBarbary, or the Grand Turk.The Spanish Inquisition was accordingly erectedby King Ferdinand, less from motives of religiouszeal than from those of human policy. It was established, not so much with the view of preservingthe Catholic faith, as of perpetuating the integrityof hi? kingdom. The Moors and Jews were looked

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION". 293upon not only as enemies of the altar, but chiefly asenemies of the throne. Catholics were upheld notfor their faith alone, but because they united faithto loyalty. The baptized Moors and Israelites wereoppressed for their heresy because their heresy wasallied to sedition.It must be remembered that in those days heresy,especially if outspoken, was regarded not only as anoffence against religion, but also as a crime againstthe state, and was punished accordingly. This condition of things was not confined to Catholic Spain,but prevailed across the sea in Protestant England.We find Henry VIII. and his successors pursuingthe same policy in Great Britain towards theirCatholic subjects, and punishing Catholicism as acrime against the state, just as Islamism and Judaism were proscribed in Spain.It was, therefore, rather a royal and politicalthan an ecclesiastical institution. The King nominated the Inquisitors, who were equally composedof lay and clerical officials. He dismissed them atwill. From the King, and not from the Pope, theyderived their jurisdiction, and into the King s coffers, and not into the Pope s, went all the emoluments accruing from fines and confiscations. In aword, the authority of the Inquisition began andended with the crown.In confirmation of these assertions, I shall quotefrom Rauke, a German Protestant historian, whocannot be suspected of partialityto the Catholic25*

""294 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Church.In the firstplace," says this author,"theInquisitors were royal officers. The Kingshad the right of appointing and dismissing them.. . The courts of the Inquisition were subject,like other magistracies, to royal visitors. Do younot know/ said the King (to Ximenes), that ifthis tribunal possesses jurisdiction, it is from theKingit derives it ?"In the second place, all the profit of the confiscations by this court accrued to the King. Thesewere carried out in a very unsparing manner.Though the fueros (privileges) of Aragon ibrbadethe King to confiscate the property of his convicted subjects, he deemed himself exalted abovethe law in matters pertaining to this court. . . .The proceeds of these confiscations formed a sortof regular income for the royal exchequer. Itwas even believed, and asserted from the beginning, that the Kings had been moved to establishand countenance this tribunal more by their hankering after the wealth it confiscated than by motives of piety.In the third place, it was the Inquisition, andthe Inquisition alone, that completely shut out allextraneous interference with the state. The sovereign had now at his disposal a tribunal from whichno grandee, no Archbishop, could withdraw himself.As Charles knew no other means of bringing certainpunishment on the Bishops who had taken part in theinsurrection of the Communidades (or communes who

"RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION". 295were struggling for their rights and liberties), hochose to have them judged by the Inquisition.. . .It was in spirit and tendency a political institution. The Pope had an interest in thwarting it, andhe did so; but the King had an interest in conlstantly upholding it."That the Inquisition acted independently of theHoly See, and that even the Catholic hierarchyfell under the ban of this royal tribunal, is alsoapparent from the following fact: After the convening of the Council of Trent, Bartholomew Caranza,Archbishop of Toledo, was arrested by theInquisition on a charge of heresy, and his releasefrom prison could not be obtained either by theinterposition of Pius IV. or the remonstrance ofthe Council.It is true that Sixtus IV., yielding to the importunities of Queen Isabella, consented to its establishment, being advised that it was necessaryfor thepreservation of order in the kingdom ;but in 1481,the year following its introduction, when the Jewscomplained to him of its severity, the same Pontiffissued a Bull against the Inquisitors, as Prescott informs us, in which "he rebuked their intemperatezeal, and even threatened them with deprivation.""He wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella that mercytowards the guilty was more pleasing to God thanthe severity which they were using."When the Pope could not eradicate the evil, he1The Ottoman and Spanish Empires, by Leopold Rarike.

296 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.encouraged the sufferers to flee to Rome, where theyfound an asylum, and where he took the fugitivesunder his protection. In two years he received fourhundred and fifty refugees from Spain. Did thePontiff send them back, or did he inflict vengeanceon them at home ? Far from it ;they were restoredto all the rights of citizens. How can we imaginethat the Pope would encourage in Spain the legalized murder of men whom he protected from violence in his own city, where he might have crushedthem with impunity? I can find no authenticatedinstance of any Pope putting to death, in his owndominions, a single individual for his religious belief.Moreover, sometimes the Pope, when he couldnot reach the victims, censured and excommunicatedthe Inquisitor, and protected the children of thosewhose property was confiscated to the crown.After a struggle, he succeeded in preventing theSpanish government from establishing its Inquisition in Naples or Milan, which then belonged toSpain, so great was his abhorrence of its cruelties.To sum up: I have endeavored to show thatthe Church disavows all responsibilityfor theexcesses of the Spanish Inquisition, because oppression forms no part of her creed ;that these atrocitieshave been grossly exaggerated that the;Inquisitionwas a political tribunal ;that Catholic Prelateswere amenable to its sentence as well as Moorsand Jews, and that the Popes denounced andlabored hard to abolish itssanguinary features.

BELIGIOUS PERSECUTION-. 297And yst Rome has to bear all the odium of theInquisition !I heartily pray that religiousintolerance maynever take root in our favored land. May the onlyking to force our conscience be the King of kings ;may the only prison erected among us for the sin ofunbelief or misbelief be the prison of a troubled conscience; and may our only motive for embracingtruth be not the fear of man, but the love of truthand of God.II.What about the massacre of Si. Bartholomew fI have no words strong enough to express my detestation of that inhuman slaughter.It is true thatthe number of its victims has been grossly exaggerated by partisan writers, but that is no extenuationof the crime itself. But I most emphatically assertthat the Church had no act or partin this atrociousbutchery, except to deplore the event and weep overitsunhappy victims. Here are the facts briefly presented :1. In the reign of Charles IX. of France, theHuguenots were a formidable power and a seditiouselement in that country. They were under theleadership of Admiral Coliguy, who was plottingthe overthrow of the ruling monarch. The FrenchKing, instigated by his mother, Catherine de Medicis,and fearing the influence of Coligny, whom he regarded as an aspirant to the throne, compassed his

"298 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.assassination, as well as that of his followers inParis, August 24th 1572. This deed of violencewas followed by an indiscriminate massacre in theFrench capital, and other cities of France, by an incendiary populace, who are easily aroused but noteasily appeased.2. Religion had nothing to do with the massacre.Coligny and his fellow Huguenots were slain not onaccount of their creed, but exclusively on accountof their alleged treasonable designs. If they hadnothing but their Protestant faith to render themodious to King Charles, they would never havebeen molested; for, neither did Charles nor hismother ever manifest any special zeal for the Catholic Church, nor any special aversion to Protestantism, unless when it threatened the throne.3.Immediately after the massacre, Charles despatched an envoy extraordinary to each of thecourts of Europe, conveying the startling intelligence that the King and royal family had narrowlyescaped from a horrible conspiracy, and that itsauthors had been detected and summarily punished.The envoys, in their narration, carefully suppressedany allusion to the indiscriminate massacre whichhad taken place, but announced the event in the following words On that memorable :night, by thedestruction of a few seditious men, the King hadbeen delivered from immediate danger of death,and the realm from the perpetual terror of civiJwar."

""flELIGIOUS PERSECUTION . 299Pope Gregory XIIL, to whom also an envoy wassent, acting on this garbled information, ordered aTe Deum to be sung, and a commemorativemedal to be struck off in thanksgiving to God, notfor the massacre, of which he was utterly ignorant,but for the preservation of the French King froman untimely and violent death, and of the Frenchnation from the horrors of a civil war.Sismondi, a Protestant historian, tells us that thePope s nuncio in Paris was purposely kept in ignorance of the designs of Charles ;and Ranke, in hisHistory of the Civil Wars, informs us that Charlesand his mother suddenly left Paris in order to avoidan interview with the Pope s legate, who arrivedsoon after the massacre; their guilty consciencefearing, no doubt, a rebuke from the messenger ofthe Vicar of Christ, from whom the real facts werenot long concealed.4. It is scarcely necessary to vindicate the innocence of the Bishops and clergy of France in thistransaction, as no author, how hostile soever to theChurch, has ever, tomy knowledge, accused themof any complicity in the heinous massacre.On the contrary, they used their best efforts inarresting the progress of the assailants, in preventing more bloodshed, and in protecting the lives ofthe fugitives. More than three hundred Calvinistswere sheltered from the assassins by taking refugein the house of the Archbishop of Lyons. TheBishops of Lisieux, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and of other

800 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.cities, rendered similar protectionto those who soughtsafety in their homes.Thus we see that the Church slept in tranquilignorance of the stormy scene until she was arousedto a knowledge of the tempest by the sudden uproarit created. And like her divine Spouse on thetroubled waters, she presents herself only to say tothem: u Peace, be still."III.I am asked : Must you not admit that Mary, Queenof England, persecuted the Protestants ofthe Britishrealm f I ask this question in reply How w it that:Catholics are persistently reproached for the persecutionsunder Mary s reign, while scarcely a voice is raised incondemnation of the legalized fines, confiscations,anddeaths inflicted on the Catholics of Great Britain andIreland for three hundred years, fromthe establishment of the church of England, in 1534, to the time ofthe Catholic emancipation?Elizabeth s hands weresteeped in the blood of Catholics, Puritans, and Anabaptists. Why are these cruelties suppressed orglossed over, while those of Maryform the burden of every nursery tale ? Is it because persecution becomes justicewhen Catholics happen to bethe victims ;or is it because they are expected, fromlong usage, to be insensible to torture ?If we weigh in the scales of impartial justice thereigns of both sisters, we shall be compelled to bringa far more severe verdict against Elizabeth.

"RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 3011. Mary reigned only five years and four months.Elizabeth s reign lasted forty-four years and fourmonths, The younger sister, therefore, swayed theeceptre of authority nearly nine times longer thanthe elder; and the number of Catholics who sufferedfor their faith during the long administration ofElizabeth may be safely said to exceed in the sameproportion the victims of Mary s reign.Hallamasserts that the rack seldom stood idle in the towerand itsfor all the latter part of Elizabeth s "lreign ;very first mouth was stained by an intolerant statute."2. The most unpardonable act of Mary s life, inthe judgment of her critics, was the execution ofLady Jane Grey. But Lady Jane was guilty of hightreason, having usurped the throne of Eugland,which she occupied for nine days.Elizabeth put to death her cousin Mary, Queenof Scots, after a long imprisonment, on the unsustainedcharge of aspiring to the English throne.3. Marys zeal was exercised in behalf of the religion of her forefathers, and of the faith establishedin England for nearly a thousand years.Elizabeth s zeal was employed in extending the newcreed introduced by her father in a moment of passion,and modified by herself. Surely, the coercive enforcement of a new creed is more odious than the rigorouamaintenance of the time-honored faith of a nation.Mary, therefore, insisted on perpetuatingthe established order of things ; Elizabeth, on subvertingit.1 Constitutional History : Elizabeth, Chap. IIL1See Lingard, Vol. VII., pp. 244-5.26

""302 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.4. The elder sister was propagating what she believed to be the unchangeable and infallible doctrines of Jesus Christ the ; younger sister was propagating her own and her father s novel and moreor less uncertain opinions.5. While Mary had no private or personal motivesin oppressing Protestants, Elizabeth s hostility to theCatholic Church was intensified, if not instigated, byher hatred of the Pope, who had declared her illegitimate. Her legitimacy before the world dependedon the success of the new religion, which had legalized her father s divorce from Catherine.6. Hence, as Macaulay says, Mary was sincere inher religion Elizabeth was;not. Having no scrupleabout conforming to the Romish Church when conformity was necessary to her own safety, retainingto the last moment of her life a fondness for muchof the doctrine and much of the ceremonial of thatChurch, she yet subjected that Church to a persecution even more odious than the persecution withwhich her sister had harassed the Protestants.Mary .... did nothing for her religion which shewas not prepared to suffer for it. She had held itfirmly under persecution. She fully believed it tobe essential to salvation. Elizabeth, in opinion, waslittle more than half a Protestant. She had professed, when it suited her, to be wholly a Catholic. . . .What can be said in defence of a ruler who is atonce indifferent and intolerant ?l1Review of Nares Memoirs of Lord Burghley.

"THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 303An intelligent gentleman in North Carolina oncesaid to me tauntingly, What do you think of bloodyMary ? Did you ever hear, I replied, of her sister scruelties to Catholics ? He answered that he neverread of that mild woman persecuting for conscience*sake. I was amazed at his words, until he acknowledged that his historical library was comprised inone work D Aubignes History of the Reformation. That veracious author has prudently suppressed, or delicately touched, Elizabeth speccadilloes as not coming within the scope of his plan.How many are found, like our North Carolina gentleman, who are familiar from their childhood withthe name of Smithfield, but who never once heard ofTyburn ICHAPTER XIX.GRACE THE SACRAMENTS ORIGINAL SINTISM ITS NECESSITY ITS EFFECTS MANNEROF BAPTIZING.THE grace of God is that supernatural assistancewhich He imparts to us, through the merits ofJesus Christ, for our salvation. It is called supernatural, because no one by his own natural abilitycan acquireit.Without divine grace, we can neither conceivenor accomplish anything for the sanctification of our6ouls. Not that we are sufficient," says the Apos-

"""304 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.tie, to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves ;but our sufficiency is from God." 1 For " it is Godwho worketh in you, both to will and to 1accomplish"salvation. "Without"anything conducive to yourMe," says our Lord, you can do nothing. But8in order that divine grace may effectually aid us,we must co-operate with it,or at least we must notresist it.The grace of God is obtained chiefly by prayerand the Sacraments.A Sacrament is a visible sign instituted by Christ,by which grace is conveyed to our souls. Threethings are necessary to constitute a Sacrament, viz. :a visible sign, invisible grace, and the institution byour Lord Jesus Christ.Thus, in the Sacrament of Baptism, there is theoutward sign, which consists in the pouring of water,and in the formula of words which are then pronounced ;the interior grace or sanctification whichisimparted to the soul: "Be baptized, and. . .you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost "*and;the ordinance of Jesus Christ, who said : Teach allnations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 6Our Saviour instituted seven Sacraments, namely,Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, ExtremeUnction, Orders, and Matrimony, which I shall explain separately.1 II. Cor. iii. 5.*Acts ii. 38.a *Phil. ii. 13. John xv< 5.6 Matt, xxviii. 19.

"""""THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 305According to the teachings of Holy Writ, manwas created in a state of innocence and holiness, andafter having spent on this earth his allotted term ofyears, he was destined, without tasting death, to hetranslated to the perpetual society of God in heaven, 1But in consequence of his disobedience, he fell fromhis high estate of righteousness ;his soul was defiledby sin ;he became subject to death and to variousills of body and soul, and forfeited his heavenly inheritance.Adam s transgression was not confined to himself,but was transmitted, with its long train of dire consequences, to all his posterity.And it is calledOriginal sin because it is derived from our originalprogenitor. Wherefore," says St. Paul, as byone man sin entered into this world, and by sinin whomdeath, and so death passed unto all men,all have sinned." * And elsewhere he tells us thatwe were *by nature children of wrath.""Who," says Job,"can make him clean that isconceived of unclean seed," or, as the Septuagintversion expresses it: "There is no one free fromstain, not even though his life be of one *Asday."an infant one day old cannot commit an actual sin,the stain must come from the original offence ofAdam. Behold," says David, I was conceivedin iniquities,and in sins did my mother conceive6 me." The Scripture also tells us that JeremiahASee Wisdom ii. 23.2Eom. v. 12. Eph.4Job xiv. 4.6 Ps. 1. 7.26* U8ii. 3.

306 THE FAITH OI OUR FATHERS.and Johu the Baptist were sanctified before theirbirth, or purified from sin, and of course, at thatperiod of their existence, they were incapable ofactual sin.They were cleansed, therefore," from theoriginal taint.These passages clearly show that we have all inherited the transgression of our first parents, andthat we are born enemies of God. And it is equallyplain that these texts apply to every member of thehuman family, to the infant of a day old as well asto the adult.Indeed, even without the light of Holy Scripture,we have only to look into ourselves to be convincedthat our nature has undergone a rude shock. Howelse can we account for the miseries and infirmitiesof our bodies, the blindness of our understanding,the perversity of our will, inclined always to evilrather than to good, the violence of our passions,which are constantly waging war in our hearts?How well does the Catholic doctrine explain thisabnormal state. Hence, Paschal truly says thatman is a greater mystery to himself without Original sin, than is the mystery itself.The Church, however, declares that the BlessedVirgin Mary was exempted from the stain of Original sin by the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ ;and that, consequently, she was ne\er for an instantsubject to the dominion of Satan. This is what ismeant by the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception..but God, in passing sentence of condemnation on

"THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 307Adam, consoled him by the promise of a Redeemerto come. I will put enmities," saith the Lord, "between thee and the woman, and thy seed and herseed ;she shall crush thyhead." l Jesus, the seedof Mary, is the chosen one who was destined tocrush tne head of the infernal serpent. And"when the fulness of time was come, God sentHis Son, made of a woman, . . . that He mightredeem them that were under the law, that wemight receive the adoption of 2sons."Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, came to wash awaythe defilement from our souls, and to restore us tothat divine friendship which we had lost by the sinof Adam. He is the second Adam, who came to repair the iniquity of the first. It was our Saviour sprivilege to prescribe the conditions on which ourreconciliation with God was to be effected.Now He tells us in His Gospel that Baptism isthe essential means established for washing awaythe stain of original sin, and the door by whichwe find admittance into His Church, vhich maybe called the second Eden. We must all submitto a new birth, or regeneration, before we can enter the kingdom of heaven. Water is the appropriate instrument of this new birth, as it indicatesthe interior cleansing of the soul ;and the HolyGhost, the Giver of spiritual life, is its Author.The Church teaches that Baptism is necessary forx Gen. iii. 15. Gal. iv. 4, 5.

"""308 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.all, for infants as well as adults, and her doctrinerests on the following grounds:Our Lord says to Nicodemus :Amen, amen, Isay to thee, unless a man be born again of waterand the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 1 These words embrace the wholehuman family, without regard to age or sex, as isevident from the original Greek text, for rtj, whichis rendered man in our English translation, meansany one, mankind in its broadest acceptation.The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles ofSt. Paul, although containing only a fragmentaryaccount of the ministry of the Apostles, plainlyinsinuate that the Apostles baptized children aswell as grown persons. We are told, for instance,that Lydia "was baptized, and her household,"by St. Paul and that the; jailer was baptized,*and all his family."The same Apostle baptized*also the household of Stephanas." Although itis not expressly stated that there were childrenamong these baptized families, the presumptionis strongly in favor of the supposition that therewere. But ifany doubt exists regarding theApostolic practice of baptizing infants, it is easilyremoved by referring to the writings of the primitiveFathers of the Church, who, as they were the immediate successors of the Apostles, ought to be thebest interpreters of their doctrines and practice.1John iii. 5.a Acts xvi. 15.* Ibid. xvi. 33.*L Cor. i. 16.

"THE SACKAMENT OF BAPTISM. 309St. Irenseus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was adisciple of St. John the "Evangelist, says Christ:came to save all through Himself; all, I say, who areborn anew (or baptized) through Him infants andlittle ones, boys and youths, and aged persons."Origen, who lived a few years later, writes : TheChurch received the tradition from the Apostles, toagive baptism even to infants."The early church of Africa bears triumphanttestimony in vindication of infant baptism. St.Cyprian and sixty-six suffragan Prelates held acouncil in the metropolitan city of Carthage, in theyear 253. While the Council is in session, a Prelatenamed Fidus writes to the Fathers, asking themwhether infants ought to be baptized before theeighth day succeeding their birth, or on the eighthday, in accordance wmi the practice of circumcision.The Bishops unanimously subscribe to the follow"ing reply As to what : regards the baptism of infants, ... we all judged that the mercy and graceof God should be denied to no human being fromthe moment of his birth. If even to the greatestdelinquents the remission of sins is granted, howmuch less should the infant be repelled, who, beingrecently born according to Adam, has contracted athis first birth the contagion of the ancient death. *The African Council asserts here two prominentof the human racefacts, the universal contagion1Lib II. *dr. Haer.2In Ep. ad Kom,3 Epis. ad Fidum.*

310 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.through Adam s fall, and theaniversal necessity ofBaptism without distinction of age.Upon this decision, I will make two observations :1. Fidus did not inquire about the necessity of infant baptism, which he already admitted, but aboutthe propriety of conferringit on the eighth day, inimitation of the Jewish law of circumcision. 2. TheBishops assembled in that Council were as numerous as the whole Episcopate of the United States,which contains about five thousand Priests and upwards of six millions of Catholics. We may therefore reasonably conclude that the judgment of theAfrican Council represented the faith of severalthousand Priests, and several millions of Catholics.St. Augustine, commenting on this decision, justlyobserves that St. Cyprian and his colleagues madeno new decree, but maintained most firmly the faithof the Church. And this is the unanimous sentiment of tradition from the days of the Apostles toour own times.Is it not ludicrous as well as impious to see a fewGerman fanatics, in the sixteenth century, raisingtheir feeble voice against the thunder tones of allChristendom, by decrying a practice which wasuniversally held as sacred and essential ? And injudging between the teachings of Apostolical antiquity, on the one hand, and of the Anabaptists onthe other, it is not hard to determine on which sidelies the truth ; for, what becomes of the ChristianChurch, if it has erred on so vital a point as that ofBaptism during the entire period of its existence?

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 311Original sin, as St. Paul has told us, is universal.Every child is, therefore, defiled at its birth withthe taint of Adam s disobedience. Now the Scripture says that nothing defiled can enter the kingdom of heaven. 1 Hence, Baptism, which washesaway original sin, is as essential for the infant asfor the full grown man, in order to attain the kingdom of heaven.I said that Regeneration is necessary for all. Butit isimportant to observe that if a man is heartilyBorry for his sins, and loves God with his wholeheart, and desires to comply with all the divineordinances, including Baptism, but has no opportunity of receiving it, or is not sufficiently instructedas to its necessity, God, in this case, accepts thewill for the deed. Should this man die in thesedispositions, he is saved by the baptism of desire.Or, if an unbaptized person lays down his life forChrist, his death isaccepted as more than anequivalent for Baptism; for, he dies not onlysanctified, but will wear a martyr s crown. He isbaptized in his own blood.But is not that a cruel and heartless doctrinewhich excludes from heaven somany harmlessbabes that have never committed any actual fault?To this I reply: Has not God declared that Bapfor all ? And is not God the sutism is necessarypreme Wisdom and Justice and Mercy?I am sure,then, that there can be nothing cruel or unjust in1Apoc. xxi. 27.

312 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.God s decrees. The province of reason consists inascertaining that God has spoken. When we knowthat He has spoken, then our investigation ceases,and faith and obedience begin. Instead of impiously criticising the divine decree, we should exclaim with the "Apostle O the : !depth of theriches of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! howincomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways!For, who hath known themind of the Lord ? or who hath been His counsellor?"1Let us remember that heaven is a place to whichnone of us has any inherent right or natural claim,but that it ispromised to us by tne pure favor ofGod. He can reject and adopt whom He pleases,and can, without injustice, prescribe His own conditions for accepting His proffered boon. If yourchild is deprived of heaven by being deprived ofBaptism, God does it no wrong, because He infringesno right to which your child had any inalienabletitle. If your child obtains the grace of Baptism,be thankful for the gift.It isproper here to state briefly what the Churchactually teaches regarding the future state of unbaptizedinfants. Though the Church, in obedienceto God s Word, declares that uiibaptizedinfants areexcluded from the kingdom of heaven, itshould nothence be concluded that they are consigned to theplace of the reprobate.None are condemned to the1 Eom. xi. 33, 34

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM.31 Storments of the damned, but such as merit diviiievengeance by their personal sins.All that the Church holds on this point, is thatunregenerate children are deprived of the beatificvision, or the possession of God, which constitutesthe essential happiness of the blessed.Now, between the supremebliss of heaven andthe torments of the reprobate, there is a very widemargin.All admit that the condition of unbaptized infantsis better than non-existence. There are some Catholic writers of distinction who even assert that unbaptized infants enjoy a certain degree of naturalbeatitude, that is, a happiness which is based on thenatural knowledge and love of God.From what has been said, you may well judgehow reprehensible is the conduct of Catholic parentswho neglect to have their children baptized at theearliest possible moment, thereby risking their ownsouls, as well as the souls of their innocent offspring.How different was the practice of the early Christians, who, as St. Augustine testifies, hastened withtheir new-born babes to the baptismal font, that theymight not be deprived of the grace of regeneration.If an infant is sick, no expenseisspared that itslifemay be preserved. The physicianis called in ;medicine isgiven to it and the mother will; spendsleepless nights watching every movement of theinfant ;she will sacrifice her repose, her health ;nay, she will expose even her own life, that the life27

"314 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHER?.of her offspring may be saved. And yet the supernatural happiness of the child is too often imperiledwithout remorse by the criminal postponement ofBaptism.But, if they are tobe censured who are slow inhaving their children baptized, what are we to thinkof that large body of professing Christians who, onprinciple, deny Baptism to little ones till they cometo the age of discretion ? What are we to think ofthose who set their private opinions above Scripture,the early Fathers of the Church, and the universalpractice of Christendom ?We may smile indeed at a theological opinion, nomatter how novel or erroneous itmay be, so long asit does not involve any dangerous consequences.But when it isgiven in a case of life and death,how terrible is the responsibility of those who propagate such erroneous doctrines.The opposite practice of the Catholic and theBaptist churches, in their treatment of the new-borninfant, may be well compared to the conduct of thetrue and false mother who both claimed the childat the tribunal of Solomon. The king exclaimed :"Divide the living child in two, and give half tothe one and half to the other." The pretendedmother consented, saying: Let it be neither mine northine, but divide it. But the woman whose childwas alive, said to the king (for her bowels weremoved upon her child): I beseech thee, my lord,give her the child alive, and do not kill it. While

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 315the Baptist church is willing that the child shoulddie a spiritual death, the true mother, the CatholioChurch, cries out: Keep the child, provided itsspiritual life is saved, even at your hands. Let itbe clothed with the robe of innocence even by astranger. Let it be nursed at the breasts even of astep-mother. Better it should live without me thanperish before my face. I will still be its mother,itthough know me not.Ah !my Baptist friend, you think that Baptism isnot necessary for your child s salvation. The oldChurch teaches the contrary. You admit that youmay be wrong, and it is a question of life anddeath. Take the safe side. Give your child thebenefit of the doubt. Let it be baptized.Baptism washes away original sin, and also actualsins from the adult who may have contracted them.The cleansing efficacy of Baptism was clearly foreshadowed by the prophet Ezechiel in these words :"I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall becleansed from all your filthiness." ]When the Jews asked St. Peter what they shoulddo to be saved, the Apostle replied : "Repent, andlet every one of you be baptized in the name ofJesus Christ, for the remission of 2your sins."And Ananias said to Saul, after his conversion :Kise up and be baptized, and wash 1away thy sins.""We were by nature," says St. Paul, "childrenof wrath,"but by our regeneration, or new birth in1Ezech. xxxvi 25.aActs ii. 38.8 Ibid. xxiL 16.

"""And"We316 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS.Baptism, we become Christians and children of God.For, ye are all the children of God by faith inChrist Jesus. For, as many of you as have beenbaptized in Christ, have put on Christ." We*are adopted into the same family with Jesus Christ.What He isby nature, we are by grace, children ofGod, and consequently brethren of Christ. Nay,our union with Jesus is still more close. We become true members of His mystical body, which isHis Church, and His divine image is stamped uponour soul.Baptism also clothes us with the garment of sanctity,so that our soul becomes a fit dwelling-place for theHoly Ghost. The Apostle, after giving a fearfulcatalogue of the vices of the Pagans, says to theCorinthians : such some of you were ;but yeare washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justifiedin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the2Spirit of our God."Baptism, in fine, makes us heirs of heaven, and coheirs with Jesus Christ.ourselves also," saysSt. Paul, were sometime unwise, incredulous, erring,slaves to divers desires and pleasures, living in maliceand envy, hateful, and hating one another. But whenthe goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared, .... He saved us by the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Ghost, whom Hehath poured forth abundantly upon us, through- Gal. iii. 26, 27.* I. Cor. vi. 11.

""""THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 317Jesus Christ our Saviour, that being justified by Hisgrace, we may be heirs according to the hope of*life everlasting."Here we plainly see that the forgiveness of sin,the adoption into the family of God, the sanctificationof the soul, and the pledge of eternal life, areascribed to the due reception of Baptism not, in;deed, that water or the words of the minister haveany intrinsic virtue to heal the soul, but becauseJesus Christ, whose word is creative power, is pleasedto attach to this rite its wonderful efficacy of healing the soul, as He imparted to the pool of Bethsaidathe power of healing the body. 2From what has been said, I ask you candidlywhat are you to think of the decision rendered in1872 by the Bishops of the Protestant EpiscopalChurch, who, in their convention in Baltimore, declared that by the word Regeneration we are not tounderstand a moral change. If no moral changeiseffected by Baptism, then there is no change at allfor, certainly Baptism produces no physical changein the soul.Is it no change to pass from sin to virtue, froma child of wrath to be a child of God from;corruption to sanctification from the condition of;heirs of death to the inheritance of heaven ? If allthis implies no moral change, then these words havelost their meaning.Modes of baptizing.The Baptists err in asserting1 Tit. iii. 3-7.27*aJohn v.

318 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.that Baptism by immersion is the only valid mode.Baptism may be validly administered in either ofthree ways, viz. :by immersion, or by plunging thecandidate into the water; by infusion, or by pouringthe water ;and by aspersion, or sprinkling.As our Lord nowhere prescribes any special formof administering the Sacrament, the Church exercises her discretion in adopting the most convenientmode, according to the circumstances of time andplace.For several centuries after the establishment ofChristianity, Baptism was usually conferred by immersion ;but since the twelfth century, the practiceof baptizing by infusion has prevailed in the CatholicChurch, as this manner is attended with less inconvenience than Baptism by immersion.To prove that Baptism by infusion or by sprinkling is as legitimate as by immersion, it is onlynecessary to observe that, though immersion was themore common practice in the Primitive Church, theSacrament was frequently administered even thenby infusion and aspersion.After St. Peter s first discourse, three thousand per1sons were baptized. It is not likely that so manycould have been immersed in one day, especiallywhen we consider the time occupied in instructingthe candidates.On reading the account of the Baptism of St.Paul and the jailer, the context leaves a strong im-1Acts ii. 41.

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 319pression on the mind that both received the Sacrament by aspersion or by infusion.Early ecclesiastical history records a great manyinstances in which Baptism was administered to sickpersons in their beds, to prisoners in their cells, andto persons on shipboard. And the Fathers of theChurch never called in question the validity or thelegitimacy of such Baptisms. Now, it is almost impossible to believe that candidates in such situationscould receive the rite byWe immersion.have seen, moreover, that Baptism has alwaysbeen declared necessary for salvation. It is reasonable, hence, to believe that our Lord would haveafforded the greatest facility for the reception of soessential a Sacrament.But if Baptism by immersion only is valid, howmany sick and delicate persons, how many prisonersand seafaring people, how many thousands living inthe Frigid Zone, or even in the Temperate Zone,in the depth of an inclement winter, though allcraving the grace of regeneration, would be deprivedof God s seal, or wo*uld receive it at the risk of theirlives !Surely God does not ordinarily impose Hisordinances upon us under such a penalty.Moreover, if immersion is the only valid form ofBaptism, what has become of the millions of soulswho, in every age and country, have been regenerated by the infusion or the aspersion of water inthe Christian Church ?

"320 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.CHAPTEK XX.THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION.p CONFIRMATION is a Sacrament in which,\J through the imposition of the Bishop s hands,unction, and prayer, baptized persons receive theHoly Ghost, that they may steadfastly profess theirfaith and lead upright lives.This Sacrament is called Confirmation, because itconfirms or strengthens the soul by divine grace.Sometimes it is named the laying on of hands, becausethe Bishop imposesfirms. It is also known by the name of Chrism, behis hands on those whom he concause the forehead of the person confirmed is anointedwith chrism in the form of a cross.Frequent mention is made of this Sacrament inthe Holy Scripture. In the Acts, it is written that"When the Apostles who were in Jerusalem hadheard that Samaria had received the word of God,they sent unto them Peter and John, who, whenthey were come, prayed for them that they mightreceive the Holy Ghost for He was not; yet comeupon any of them, but they were only baptized inthe name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid theirhands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost/ *It is also related that the disciples at Ephesuswere baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus ;andwhen Paul had imposed his hands upon them, the1Acts viii. 14-17.

""THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. 32]Holy Ghost came upon vliem, and they spoke tonguesand prophesied."lIn his Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul enumeratesConfirmation, or the laying on of hands, togetherwith Baptism and Penance, among the fundamental2truths of Christianity.And to the Corinthians he writes : He that confirmethus with you in Christ, and that hath anointedus, is God ;who also hath sealed us, and given thepledge of the 3Spirit in our hearts." God confirmethus in faith ;He hath anointed us by spiritual unction,typified by the sacred chrism which is marked onour foreheads. He hath sealed us by the indeliblecharacter stamped on our souls, which is indicatedby the sign of the cross impressed on us. He hathgiven the pledge of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, bythe testimony of a good conscience, as an earnest offuture glory. The Bishop performs the externalunction, but God, who worketh all in all,"sanctifies the soul by His secret operation.It cannot be asserted that the laying on of hands,and the graces which followed from it, as recordedin the Acts, were not intended to be continued afterthe Apostles times ;for there is no warrant for suchan assumption. This function of imposing handsformed as regular and imperative a part of theApostolic ministry as the duties which they exercised in preaching, baptizing, ordaining, etc. Andhence the successors of the Apostles in the nineteenth1 Acts xix. 5, 6.2Heb. vi. 1, 2. II. Cor. i. 21.V

"322 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.century have precisely the same authority and obligation to confirm as they have to preach, to baptize,or to ordain.Those who were confirmed by the Apostles usuallygave evidence of the grace which they received byprophecy, the gift of tongues, and the manifestationof other miraculous powers. It may be asked : Whydo not these gifts accompany now the impositionof hands ? I answer : Because they are no longerneeded. The grace which the Apostolic disciplesreceived was for their personal sanctification. Thegift of tongues which they exercised was intendedby Almighty God to edify and enlighten the spectatois,and to give divine sanction to the Apostolic ministry. But now that the Church is firmlyestablished, and the divine authority of her ministry is clearly recognized, these miracles are nolonger necessary. St. Gregory illustrates this pointby a happy comparison: As the sapling, he says,when it is first planted, is regularly watered by thegardener, who softens the earth around it, that thesun and the moisture may nourish its roots until ittakes deep root, when it no longer requires anyspecial care so the Church in her;infancy had to benourished by the miraculous power of God. Butafter it had taken root in the hearts of the people,and spreadits branches over the earth, it was left tothe ordinary agencies of Providence.St. Augustine writes also on the same subject:In the first days (of the Church), the Holy Ghost

"THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. 323eaine down on believers, and they spoke in tongueswhich they had not learned These weremiracles suited to the times Is it now expected that they upon whom hands are laid, shouldspeak with tongues ? Or, when we imposed handson these children, did each of you wait to see whetherthey would speak with tongues ? .... If, then, therebe not now a testimony to the presence of the HolySpirit by means of these miracles, whence is itprovedthat he has received the Holy Spirit? Let him askhis own heart ;if he loves his brother, the Spirit ofGod abides in him." lFollowing in the footsteps of the Apostles, we findthe Fathers of the Church, from the earliest age,recognizing Confirmation as a divine and sacramental institution, and proclaimingits salutaryeffects.The flesh," says Tertullian,"is anointed, thatthe soul may be consecrated ;the flesh is marked,that the soul may be fortified ;the flesh is overshadowed by the imposition of hands, that the soulmay be enlightened with the 2Spirit."St. Cyprian, speaking of the Christians baptized"in Samaria, says Because : they had received thelegitimate baptism, . . . what was wanting, thatwas done by Peter and John, that prayer beingmade for them, and hands imposed, the Holy Ghostshould be invoked and poured forth upon them.Which now also is done amongst us, so that they who1Tract VI in Ep. Joan. JDe Eesun car.

"324 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.are baptized in the Church, are presented to theBishops of the Church, and by our prayer and imposition of hands, they receive the Holy Ghost, andare perfected with the seal of the Lord." lSt. Cyril of Jerusalem compares the sacredChrism in Confirmation to the Eucharist: "Youwere anointed with oil, being made sharers andpartners of Christ. And see well that you regardit not as mere ointment ; for, as the bread of theEucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost,is no longer mere bread, but the body of Christ; solikewise this holy ointment is no longer commonointment after the invocation, but the gift of Christand of the Holy Ghost, being rendered efficient byHis divinity. You were anointed on the forehead,that you might be delivered from the shame whichthe first transgressor always experienced, and that youmight contemplate the glory of God with an unveiledcountenance. . . . As Christ, after His baptism, andthe descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him, going forth,overcame the adversary, so you likewise, after holybaptism and the mysterious unction, clothed with thepanoply of the Holy Ghost, stand against the adverse:power, and subdue it, saying: I can do all thingsin Christ who strengthened me." *St. Ambrose, commenting on these words of theGod . . . hath given us the pledgeApostle"of the Spirit," (II. Cor. i. 22,) expressly applies thetext to the seal of Confirmation :Remember," he1 Epibt. Ixrih.a Cat. xxi. Mys.iii. De S. Chrism.

"Do"You""THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION". 325says, that you have received the spiritual seal, thespirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety,the spirit of holy fear. God the, Father hath sealedyou ;Christ the Lord hath confirmed you, and hathgiven the pledge of the Spirit in your hearts, as youhave learned from the lesson read from the Apostle.St. Ambrose here speaks of the seven-fold giftsof the Holy Ghost which are received in Confirmation, and every Bishop in our day invokes thesesame gifts on those whom he is about to confirm.you know," writes St. Jerome against thesect of Luciferians of his time, that it is the practice of the churches that the imposition of handsshould be performed over baptized persons, and theHoly Ghost thus invoked Do ? you ask where it iswritten? In the Acts of the Apostles; but werethere no scriptural authority at hand, the consentof the whole world in this regard would have the*force of law."willingly understand," says St. Augustine,"by this ointment the Sacrament of Chrism, whichindeed, in the class of visible seals, is as sacred asBaptism itself." 3The Oriental schismatic churches recognize Confirmation as a Sacrament, and administer the rite aswe do, by the imposition of hands and the application of chrism. Now, some of these churches have1De Myst. cvii. n. 42.283 L. II., contra lit. Petil.aDial. adv. Lucifer.

326 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.been separated from the Catholic Church since thefourth and fifth centuries. This fact is an eloquentvindication of the Apostolic antiquity of Confirmation, and is an ample refutation of those who wouldascribe to it a more recent origin.Protestantism, which made such havoc of the otherSacraments, did not fail to abolish Confirmation initssweeping revolution.The Episcopal church retains, indeed, the nameof Confirmation in its ritual, and even borrows aportion of our prayers and ceremonial. But, inopposition to the uniform teaching of the Catholic, as well as of all the Oriental churches, bothorthodox and schismatic, it declares Confirmationto be a mere rite, and not a sacrament.In violation of the practice of all antiquity, itmutilates the rite by omitting the sacred unction. Itretains the shadow without the substance.It raises, indeed, its hands over the candidates;but they are not the anointed hands of Peter orJohn, or Cyprian or Augustine, to whom it is said:"Whatsoever thou shalt bless, let it be blessed;whatsoever thou shalt sanctify, let it be sanctiTheir hands were lifted up with authority,lfied."and clothed with supernatural power ;but thehands of the Episcopal bishops are spiritually paralyzed by the suicidal act of the Reformers, andthey expressly disclaim any sacramental efficacy inthe ,rite which they administer.1Roman Pontifical.

THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 327CHAPTER XXI.THE HOLY EUCHARIST.AMONG the various dogmas of the CatholicChurch, there is none which rests on strongerScriptural authority than the doctrine of the RealPresence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.So copious, indeed, and so clear are the passagesof the New Testament which treat of this subject,that I am at a loss to determine which to select,and find it difficult to compress them all withinthe compass of this short chapter.The Evangelists do not always dwell upon thesame mysteries of religion. Their practice is rather tosupplement each other, so that one of them will mention what the others have omitted, or have touchedin a cursory way. But in regard to the BlessedEucharist, the sacred writers exhibit a marked deviation from this rule. We find that the fourEvangelists, together with St. Paul, have writtenso explicitly and abundantly on this subject, thatone of them alone would be amplysufficient toprove the dogma, without taking them collectively.These five inspired writers gave the weight oftheir individual testimony to the doctrine of theEucharist, because they foresaw or rather theHoly Ghost, speaking through them, foresawthat this great mystery, which exacts so strong

"328 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.an exercise of OUT faith, and which bids us bow downour understanding unto the obedience of Christ,"1would meet with opposition in the course of timefrom those who would measure the infallible Wordof God by the erring standard of their own judgment.I shall select three classes of arguments from theNew Testament which satisfactorily demonstrate theReal Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.The first of these texts speaks of the promise of theEucharist; the second of its institution; and thethird of its use among the faithful.To begin with the words of the promise. WhileJesus was once preaching near the coast of the Seaof Galilee, He was followed, as usual, by an immense multitude of persons, who were attracted toHim by the miracles which He wrought, and thewords of salvation which He spoke. Seeing thatthe people had no food, He multiplied five loavesand two fishes to such an extent as to supply thewants of five thousand men, besides women andchildren.Our Lord considered the present a favorableoccasion for speaking of the Sacrament of His bodyand blood, which was to be distributed, not to a fewthousands, but to millions of souls ;not in one place,but everywhere not at one; time, but all days, tothe end of the world. "Iam,"He says to His"the bread of life. Your fathers did eathearers,inamia in the desert, and died I am the1 IT. Cor. i. 5.

livingTHE HOLY EUCHARIST. 329bread which came down from heaven. Ifany man eat of this bread, he shall live forever:and the bread which I will give, is Myflesh for thelife of the world. The Jews, therefore, disputedamong themselves, saying How can this man : giveus His flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them :Amen,amen, I say to you Unless ye eat the flesh of the:Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not haveHe that eateth Mylife in you.flesh and drinkethMy blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise himup on the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed,land My blood is drink indeed." If you had been among the number of ourSaviour s hearers on that occasion, would you nothave been irresistibly led, by the noble simplicity ofHis words, to understand Him as speaking truly ofHis body and blood? For His islanguage not susceptible of any other interpretation.When our Saviour says to the Jews: "Yourfathers did eat manna, and died, .... but he thateateth this (Eucharistic) bread shall live for ever,"He evidently wishes to affirm the superiority of thefood which He would give, over the manna by whichthe children of Israel were nourished.Now, if the Eucharist were merely commemorativebread and wine, instead of being superior, it wouldbe really inferior to the manna ;for the manna wassupernatural, heavenly, miraculous food, while breadand wine are a natural, earthly food,28*1John vi. 48-56.

""330 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERSBut the best and the most reliable interpreters ofour Saviour s words are certainly the multitude, andthe disciples who were listening to Him. They allunderstood the import of His language precisely as"it isexplained by the Catholic Church. They believed that our Lord spoke literally of His body andblood. The Evangelist tells us that the Jews disputed among themselves, saying How can this man:"give us His flesh to eat ? And even His disciples,though avoiding the disrespectful language of themultitude, gave expression to their doubt in thismilder form : This sayingis hard, and who caiihearSo much were they shocked at our1it?"Saviour s promise, that after this many of Hisdisciples went back, and walked no more with Him."They evidently implied, by their words and conduct,that they understood Jesus to have spoken literallyof His flesh ; for, had they interpreted His words ina figurative sense, it would not have been a hardsaying, nor have led them to abandon their Master.But, perhaps, I shall be told that the disciples andthe Jews who heard our Saviour, may have misinterpreted His meaning, by taking His words in theliteral acceptation, while He may have spoken in afigurative sense. This objection is easily disposedof. It sometimes happened, indeed, that our Saviourwas misunderstood by His hearers. On such occasions, He always took care to remove from theiimind the wrong impression they had formed, byJohn vi. 61. Ibid. vi. 67.

""JohnTHE HOLY EUCHARIST. 331stating His meaning in simpler language. Thus,for instance, having told Nicodemus that unless aman be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom ofheaven, and having observed that His meaningwas not correctly apprehended by this disciple, ourSaviour added: "Unless a man be born again ofwater and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." l And again, when He warnedHis disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees,and finding that they had taken an erroneous meaning from His word, He immediately subjoined thatthey should beware of the doctrine of the Phari-QBut in the present instance, does our Saviour alterHis language when He finds His words taken in theliteral sense? Does He tell His hearers that Hehas spoken figuratively ? Does He soften the toneof His expressions? Far from weakening the forceof His words, He repeats what He said before, andin"language more emphatic:Amen, amen, I sayunto you, Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you."When our Saviour beheld the Jews and many ofHis disciples abandoning Him, turning to the chosentwelve, He said feelingly to them : Will ye also go?away And Simon Peter answered Him :Lord,whom toshall we go?Thou hast the words of eternal3You, my dear reader, must also take yourlife."choice. Will you reply with the Jews, or with the1 John iii. 2 Matt. xvi.vi. 68, 69.

""And"""332 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.disciples of little faith, or with Peter? Ah ! let somesay with the unbelieving Jews "How can this:man give us His flesh to eat? Let others say withthe unfaithful disciples: This is a hard saying.Who can hear it ? But do you say with Peter :Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the wordsof eternal life."So far, I have dwelt on the words of the Promise.I shall now proceed to the words of the Institution,which are given in almost the same expressions bySt. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke. In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we read the followingnarrative :while they were at supper, Jesustook bread, and blessed and broke, and gave to Hisdisciples, and said : Take ye and eat. This is Mybody. 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, whichshall be shed formany unto remission of sins." 1I beg you to recall to mind the former text relative to the Promise, and to compareit with this.How admirably theyfit together, like two links ina chain! How faithfully has Jesus fulfilled thePromise which He made ! Could any idea be expressed in clearer terms than these This : is Mybody this is My blood ?And ; whyis the Catholic interpretation of thesewords rejected by Protestants? Is it because the1Matt. xxvi. 26-28.

THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 333text is in itself obscure and ambiguous? By110means; but simply because they do not comprehend how God could perform so stupendous a miracle as to give His body and blood for our spiritualnourishment.Is, then, the power or the mercy of God to bemeasured by the narrow rule of the human understanding? Is the Almighty not permitted to doanything except what we can sanction by our rea-Bon ? Is a thing to be declared impossible, becausewe cannot see its possibility ?Has not God created the heavens and the earthout of nothing, by the fiat of His word? What aismystery this ! Does He not hold this world inthe midst of space? Does He not transform thetiny blade into nutritious ?grain Did He not feedupwards of five thousand persons with five loavesand two fishes? What a mystery! Did He notrain down manna from heaven for forty years,to feed the children of Israel in the desert? DidHe not change rivers into blood in Egypt, and waterinto wine at the wedding of Cana ? Does He notdaily make devout souls the tabernacles of the HolyGhost ? And shall we have the hardihood to deny,in spite of our Lord s plain declaration, that God,who works these wonders, is able to change breadand wine into His body and blood for the food ofour souls ?You tell me it is a mystery above your comprehension. A mystery, indeed. A religion that rejects

""334 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.a revealed truth because it is incomprehensible, contains in itself the seeds of dissolution, and will endin rationalism.Is not everything around us a mystery ? Are we not a mystery to ourselves ? Explainto me how the blood circulates in your veins ;howthe soul animates and permeates the whole body;how the hand moves at the will of the soul. Explain to me the mystery of life and death.Is not the Scripture full of incomprehensible mysteries ? Do you not believe in the Trinity, a mysterynot only above, but apparently contrary to, reason ?Do you not admit the Incarnation, that the helpless infant in Bethlehem was God? I understandwhy nationalists, who admit nothing above their reason, reject the Keal Presence but that Bible Chris;tians should reject it, is to me incomprehensible.But do those who reject the Catholic interpretation, explain this text to their own satisfaction :This is My body, etc. ? Alas ! here their burdenbegins. Only a few years after the early Reformershad rejected the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist,no fewer than one hundred meanings were given tothese words: "This is My body."It is far easier todestroy than to rebuild.Let me now offer you some additional reasons infavor of the Catholic or literal sense.According toa common rule observed in the interpretation of theHoly Scripture, we must always take the wordsin their literal signification, unless we have somespecial reason which obliges us to accept them in a

"THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 335figurative meaning. Now, in the present instance,far from being forced to employ the words abovequoted in a figurative sense, every circumstance connected with the delivery of them obliges us to interpret them in their plain and literal acceptation.To whom did our Saviour address these words?At what time and under what circumstances did Hespeak He ? was addressing His few chosen disciples,to whom He promised to speak in future, not inparables nor in obscure language, but in the wordsof simple truth. He uttered these words the nightbefore His Passion. And when will a person useplainer speech than at the point of death ?These words :This isMy body ; this isMyblood," embodied a new dogma of faith which allwere obliged to believe, and a new law which allwere obliged to practise. They were the last willand testament of our blessed Saviour. What language should be plainer than that which contains anarticle of faith ? What words should be more freefrom tropes and figures than those which enforce adivine law? But, above all, where will you findany words more plain and unvarnished than thosecontained in a last will ?Now, if we understand these words in their plainand obvious, that is, in their Catholic, sense, no language can be more simple and intelligible.But ifwe depart from the Catholic interpretation, then it iaimpossible to attach to them any reasonable meaning.

"336 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.We DOW arrive at the third class of Scripturetexts xvhich have reference to the use or receptionof the Sacrament among the faithful.When Jesus, as you remember, instituted theEucharist at His last Supper, He commanded Hisdisciples and their successors to renew, till the endof time, in remembrance of Him, the ceremonywhich He performed.What I have done, do ye alsofor a commemoration of Me." 1We have a very satisfactory means of ascertainingthe Apostolic belief in the doctrine of the Eucharist,by examining what the Apostles did in commemoration of our Lord. Did they bless and distributemere bread and wine to the faithful? or did theyconsecrate, as they believed, the body and blood ofJesus Christ ? If they professed to give only breadand wine inmemory of our Lord sSupper, then theCatholic interpretation falls to the ground. If, onthe contrary, we find the Apostles and their successors, from the first to the nineteenth century, professing to consecrate and dispense the body andblood of Christ, and doing so by virtue of the command of their Saviour, then the Catholic interpretation alone is admissible.Let St. Paul be our first witness. Represent yourself as a member of the primitive Christian congregation assembled in Corinth. A letter is read fromthe Apostle Paul, in which the following words occur :1Luke xxii. 19,

"THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 337The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it notthe communion of the blood of Christ? and thebread which we break, is it not the partaking of thebody of the Lord ? For, I have received of the. . .Lord that which also I delivered to you, that theLord Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed,took bread, and giving thanks, brake it, and said :Take and eat : this is My body which shall be delivered for you. This do for the commemoration ofMe. In like manner also the chalice, after the supper, saying: This cup is the New Covenant in Myblood. This do ye, as often as ye shall drink, forthe commemoration of Me. For, as often as yeshall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye shallshow the death of the Lord until He come. Therefore, whoever shall eat this bread, or drink thechalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of thebody and of the blood of the Lord. But let a manprove himself; and so let him eat of that bread anddrink of the chalice. For, he who eateth and drinkethunworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment tohimself, not discerning the *body of the Lord."Could St. Paul express more clearly his belief inthe Real Presence than he has done here ? TheApostle distinctly affirms that the chalice and breadwhich he and his fellow Apostles bless, is a participation of the body and blood of Christ. And surelyno one could be said to partake of that divine foodby eating ordinarybread. Mark these words of1 1. Cor. x. 16, and xi. 23, 29.29 W

338 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.the :Apostle Whosoever shall take the Sacramentunworthily, "shall be guilty of the body and bloodof the Lord." What a heinous crime !For, thesewords signify that he who receives the Sacramentunworthily, shall be guilty of the sin of high treason,and of shedding the blood of his Lord in vain. Buthow could he be guilty of a crime so enormous, ifhe had taken in the Eucharist only a particle ofbread and wine? Would a man be accused ofhomicide, in this commonwealth, if he were to offerviolence to the statue or painting of the governor?Certainly not. In like manner, St. Paul would notbe so unreasonable as to declare a man guilty oftrampling on the blood of his Saviour, by drinkingin an unworthy manner a little wine in memoryof Him.Study also these words: "He who eateth anddrinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh condemnation to himself, not discerning the body of theLord." The unworthy receiver is condemned fornot recognizing or discerning in the Eucharist thebody of the Lord. How could he be blamed fornot discerning the body of the Lord, if there wereonly bread and wine before him? Hence, if thewords of St. Paul are figuratively understood, theyare distorted, forced, and exaggerated terms, without meaning or truth. But, if they are taken literally, they are full of sense and of awful significance, and an eloquent commentary on the words Ihave quoted from the Evangelist.

""THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 339The Fathers of the Church, without an exception,re-echo the language of the Apostle of the Gentiles,by proclaiming the Real Presence of our Lord inthe Eucharist. I have counted the names of sixtythreeFathers and eminent ecclesiastical writersflourishing between the first and the sixth century,all of whom proclaim the Real Presence some byexplaining the mystery, others by thanking God forthis inestimable gift,and others by exhorting thefaithful to itsworthy reception. From such a hostof witnesses, I can select here only a few at random.St. Ignatius, a disciple of St. Peter, speaking of a"sect called Gnostics, says They abstain from the:Eucharist and prayer, because they confess not thatthe Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ."St. Justin Martyr, in an apology to the EmperorAntoninus, writes in the second century: We donot receive these things as common bread and drink ;but as Jesus Christ our Saviour was made flesh bythe word of God, even so we have been taught thatthe Eucharist is both the fleshand the blood of the sameincarnate Jesus."Origen (third century) writes "If thou wilt go:op with Christ to celebrate the Passover, He willgive to thee that bread of benediction, His own body,and will vouchsafe to thee His own blood."St. Cyril, of Jerusalem, (fourth century) instructing the Catechumens, observes : He Himself having declared, This is My body, who shall dare toidoubt henceforward? And He having said, This

""340 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.is My blood, who shall ever :doubt, saying This ipnot His blood? He once at Cana turned waterinto wine, which is akin to blood ;and is He undeserving of belief, when He turned wine intoblood ? He seems to be arguing with modern unbelief.St. John Chrysostom, who died in the beginningof the fifth century, preaching on the Eucharist,says If thou wert indeed :incorporeal,He wouldhave delivered to thee those same incorporeal giftswithout covering. But since the soul is united tothe body, He delivers to thee in things perceptibleto the senses, the things to be apprehended bythe understanding. How many nowadays say:*Would that we could look upon His (Jesus )form, His figure, His raiment, His shoes. Lo 1"thou seest Him, touchest Him, eatest Him.St. Augnstine (fifth century), addressing thenewly-baptized, says: "I promised you a discoursewherein I would explain the sacrament of theLord d table, which sacrament you even now behold,and of which you were last night made partakers.You ought to know what you have received. Thebread which you see on the altar, after being sanctifiedby the word of God, is the body of Christ.That chalice, after being sanctified by the word of*God, is the blood of Christ."Eut why multiply authorities? At the present1See Faith of Catholics, Vol. II.

COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 311day, every Christian communion throughout theworld, with the sole exception of Protestants, proclaims its belief in the Real Presence of Christ inthe Sacrament.The Nestoriaus and Eutychians, who separatedfrom the Catholic Church in the fifth century, admitthe corporeal presence of our Lord in the Eucharist.Such also is the faith of the Greek church, whichseceded from us a thousand years ago, as well asof the present Russian church. And such is thedoctrine of the schismatic Copts, the Syrians,Chaldeans, Armenians, and, in short, of all theOriental sects no longer in communion with theSee of Rome.CHAPTER XXII.COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND.OUR Saviour gave communion under both formsof bread and wine, to His Apostles at the lastSupper. Officiating bishops and priests are alwaysrequired, except on Good Friday, to communicateunder both kinds. But even the clergy of everyrank, including the Pope, receive only of the consecrated bread, unless when they celebrate Mass.The Church teaches that Christ is containedwhole and entire under each species so that who;ever communicates under the form of bread orof wine, receives not a mutilated Sacrament or a29*

342 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.divided Saviour, but shares in the whole Sacramentas fully as if he participated in both forms.Hence,the layman who receives the consecrated bread, partakes as copiously of the body and blood of Christ asthe officiating priest who receives both consecratedelements.Our Lord says:"I am the living bread whichcame down from heaven. If any man eat of thisbread, he shall live forever; and the bread whichI will give is My flesh, for the life of the world. . . .He that eateth Me, the same also shall live byHe Me.that eateth this lbread, shall live forever."From this passage, it is evident that whoever partakesof the form of bread, partakes of the livingflesh of Jesus Christ, which is inseparable from Hisblood, and which, being now in a glorious state,cannot be divided ; for,"Christ rising from thedead, dieth now no more." 2 Our Lord, in Hiawords quoted, makes no reference to the sacramentalcup, but only to the Eucharistic bread, to which Heascribes all the efficacy which is attached to communion under both kinds, viz., union with Him,spiritual life, eternal salvation.St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says : "Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice ofthe Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the bodyand of the blood of the Lord." *The Apostle hereplainly declaresthat, by an unworthy participation1 John vi. 51, and seq. Kom. vi. 9.3 I. Cor. xi. 27.

""COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 343in the Lord s Supper, under the form of either breador wine, we profane both the body and the blood ofChrist. How could this be so, unless Christ isentirely contained under each species?So forcibly,indeed, did the Apostle assert the Catholic doctrine,that the Protestant translators have perverted thetext by rendering it "Whosoever shall eat this:bread and drink the chalice," substituting and foror, in contradiction to the Greek original, of whichthe Catholic version is an exact translation.It is also the received doctrine of the Fathers,that the Eucharist is contained in all its integrityeither in the consecrated bread or in the chalice.St. Augustine who may be taken as a sample of therest, says that each one receives Christ the Lordlentire under each particle."Luther himself, even after his revolt, was so clearly convinced of this truth, that he was an uncompromising advocate of communion under one kind.If"any Council," he says, should decree or permitboth species, we would by no means acquiesce ; but,in spite of the Council and its statute, we would useone form, or neither, and never both." aLeibnitz, the eminent Protestant divine, observes:"It, cannot be denied that Christ is received entire byvirtue of concomitance, under each species; nor isHis flesh *separated from His blood."As the same virtue is contained in the Sacrament,1Aug. De consec. 2dist. De formula Missae.8Systema TheoL, p. 250.

""344 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.whether administered in one or both forms, thefaithful gain nothing by receiving under both kinds,and lose nothing by receiving under one form. Consequently, we nowhere find our Saviour requiringthe communion to be administered to the faithfulunder both forms ;but He has left this maltei tobe regulated by the wisdom and discretion of theChurch, as He has done with regard to the mannerof administering Baptism.Our Redeemer, it is true, has said : Drink yeall of this." But it should be remembered thatthese words were addressed not to the people atlarge, but only to the Apostles, who alone were alsocommanded, on the same occasion, to consecrate Hisbody and blood in remembrance of Him. Now wehave no more right to infer that the faithful areobliged to drink of the cup, because the Apostleswere commanded to drink of it, than we have tosuppose that the laity are required or allowed toconsecrate the bread and wine, because the powerof doing so was at the last Supper conferred on theApostles.It is also true that our Lord said to the people:Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, anddrink His blood, ye shall not have life in you."Butthis command is literally fulfilled by the laity whenthey partake of the consecrated bread, which, as wehave seen, contains Christ the Lord in all His integrity. Hence, if our Saviour has said "Whoso:eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath ever-

""COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 345lasting He has also said life," :will give is"The bread which IMy flesh, for the life of the world."It seems to me that the charge of withholding thecup comes with very bad grace from Protestantteachers, who destroy the whole intrinsic virtue ofthe Sacrament by giving to their followers nothingbut bread and wine. The difference between themand us lies in this, that under one form we give thesubstance, while they under two forms confessedlygive only the shadow.In examining the history of the Church on thesubject, we find that up to the twelfth century, communion was sometimes distributed in one form, sometimes in another, commonly in both.1. St. Luke tells us that the converts of Jerusalem were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communication of bread (as theEucharist was sometimes familiarly called), and inprayer."lAnd again he speaks of the Christiandisciples assembled at Troas on the Lord s day,break bread." We 2 are led" to conclude, from thesepassages, that the Apostles sometimes distributed thecommunion in the form of bread alone, as no reference is made to the cup.It was certainly the custom to carry to the sickonly the consecrated host. And surely, if there isany period of life when nothing should be neglectedwhich conduces to salvation, it is the time of approaching death. Eusebius tells us that the aged1Acte ii. 42. Ibid. xx. 7.to

346 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Serapion received only the sacred bread at the handsof the priest. And in the life of St. Ambrose, weare told that in his last illness the consecrated hostalone was given to him.The Christians in time of persecution, confessorsof the faith confined in prison, travellers on theirjourney, soldiers before engaging in battle, andhermits living in the desert, were permitted to keepwith them, and to fortify themselves with, the consecrated bread, as Tertullian, Cyprian, Basil, Ambrose, and other Fathers of the Church testify.Moreover, in the Mass of the Presanctified> celebrated in the Latin church on Good Friday only,and in the Greek church on every day in Lent,except Saturdays and Sundays, the officiating Priestreceives the consecrated bread alone. 1In all these instances, the communicants neverdoubted that they received the Lord sSupper in itsintegrity. And surely the conscientious guides ofthe faith would sooner withhold altogether the sacredhost from their flocks, than permit them to partakeof a mutilated Sacrament.2. In the primitive days of the Church, the HolyCommunion used to be imparted to infants, but onlyin the form of wine. The priest dipped his fingerin the consecrated chalice, and gaveit to be suckedby the infant. This custom prevails to this dayamong the schismatic Christians of all the Oriental1Alzog s Hist., Vol. L, p. 72L

COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 817rites. In some instances, the sacred host, saturatedin1the cup, isgiven to the child.3. Public communion was, indeed, usually administeredin the first ages under both forms. Thefaithful, however, had the privilege of dispensingwith the cup, and of partaking only of the bread,until the time of Pope Gelasius, in the fifth century,when this general, but hitherto optional, practice ofreceiving under both kinds was enforced as a lawfor the following reason :The Manichean sect abstained from the cup onthe erroneous assumption that the use of wine wassinful.Pope Gelasius, in order to detect and condemn the error of those sectaries, left it no longeroptional with the faithful to receive under one orboth forms, but ordained that all should communicate under both kinds.This law continued in force for several ages, buttowards the thirteenth century, for various causes,it had gradually grown into disuse, with the tacitapproval of the Church. The Council of Constance,which convened in 1414, established a law requiringthe faithful to communicate under the form of breadonly; and in taking this step, the Council was actuated both by reasons of propriety and of religion.The wide-spread diffusion of Christianity throughout the world had rendered itvery difficult to supplyall the faithful with the consecrated wine. Suchinconvenience isscarcely felt by Protestant com-1Denziger Kit. Orientales.

"348 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.municants, whose numbers are limited, and whoordinarily communicate only on certain Sundays ofeach month. The Catholics of the world, on the contrary, number about two hundred and twenty-five millions ;and as communion is administered to some ofthe faithful almost every day, in most of our churchesand chapels, and as the annual communions in everyParish church are generally at least twice as numerous as its aggregate Catholic population, the sumtotal of annual communions throughout the globemay be estimated in round numbers at not less thanfive hundred millions. What efforts would be required to procure altar-wine for such a multitude?In my missionary journeys through North Carolina,I have often found it no easy task to provide for thecelebration of Mass a sufficiency of pure wine, whichis essential for the validity of the sacrifice. Thisembarrassment would be increased beyond measure,and stillif the cup had to be extended to the laity,more so in cold regions, where the cultivation of thegrape is unknown, and where imported wine is exclusively used. 1It would be very distasteful, besides, for so many1While Protestants consider the cup as an indispensablepart of the communion service, they do not seem, in manyinstances, to be very particular as to what the cup will contain. I am credibly informed, that in a certain Episcopalchurch in Virginia, communicants partake of the juice of theblackberry, instead of the juice of the grape. And the NewYork Independent, of September 21, 1876, relates the following incident: A late English traveller found a Baptist tnis-

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 349Communicants to drink successively out of the samechalice, which would be unavoidable, if the Sacrament were administered in both forms. And in ourlarger churches, where communion is distributedevery Sunday to hundreds, there would be greatdanger of spilling a portion of the consecratedchalice, and of thus exposing it to profanation.But above all, as the Church in the fifth century,through her chief Pastor, Gelasius, enforced the useof the cup, to expose and reprobate the error of theManichees, who imagined that the use of wine wassinful ;so in the fifteenth century she withdrew thecup, to condemn the novelties of the Calixtines, whotaught that the consecrated wine was necessary fora valid communion. And should circumstances everjustify or demand a change from the presentdiscipline, the Church will not hesitate to restore the cupto the laity.CHAPTER XXIII.THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.SACRIFICE is the oblation or offeringmade toGod of some sensible object, with the destruction or change of the object,to denote that God isthe Author of life and death. Thus, in the Oldsion church, in far-off Burmah, using for the communionservice Bass s pale ale instead of wine. The opening of thefrothing bottle on the communion table seemed not quitedecorous to the visitor, who presented the pastoi with a halfdozenbottles of claret for sacramental use."30

S.jOTHE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Law, before the coming of Christ, when the Hebrew people wished to offer sacrifice to God, theytook a lamb, or some other animal, which theyslew, and burned its flesh, acknowledging by thisact that the Lord was the supreme Master of lifeand death. The ancients offered to God two kindsof sacrifices, viz., living creatures, such as bulls,lambs, and birds ;and inanimate objects, such aswheat and barley, and, in general, the first fruitsof the earth.All nations, whether Jews, idolaters, or Christians,except Mahometans and modern Protestants, havemade sacrifice their principal act of worship. Ifyou go back to the very dawn of creation, you willfind the children of Adam offering sacrifices to God.Abel offered to the Lord the firstlings of his flock,and Cain offered of the fruits of the earth. 1When Noe and his family are rescued from thedeluge which had spread over the face of the earth,his first act on issuing from the ark, when the watersdisappear, is to offer holocausts to the Lord, in thanksgiving for his preservation. 2 Abraham, the greatfather of the Jewish race, offered victims to the Almighty at His express command. 3 And we readthat Job was accustomed to offer holocausts to theLord, to propitiate His favor in behalf of his children, and to obtain forgiveness for the sins they4might have committed.When Jehovah delivered to Moses the written1Gen. iv.2 lbid. vih.8 Ibid. xv.*Job i.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 351law on Mount Sinai, He gave His servant the mostminute details with regard to all the ceremonies tobe observed in the sacrifices which were to be offered to Him. He prescribed the kind of victims tobe immolated, the qualifications of the priests whowere to minister at the altar, and the place andmanner in which the victims were to be offered.Hence, it was the custom of the Jewish priests toslny every day two lambs, as a sacrifice to God ;rand in doing this they were prefiguring the greatsacrifice of the New Law, in which we daily offerup on the altar Lamb "the of God, who takethaway the sins of the world/In a word, in all their public calamities wheneverthey were threatened by their enemies; wheneverthey were about to engage in war ;whenever theywere visited by any plague or pestilence the Jewshad recourse to God by solemn sacrifices. And likethe Catholic Church of the present day, they hadsacrifices not only for the living, but also for thedead. For, we find in sacred Scripture that JudasMachabeus ordered sacrifice to be offered up forthe souls of his men who were slain in battle. 2And we find sacrifices existing not only amongthe Jews who worshipped the true God, but alsoamong Pagan and idolatrous nations.No matter how confused or imperfect or erroneous was their knowledge of the Deity, still, the Pagannations retained sufficient vestiges of primitivetra<Numb, xxviii.2 II. Mac. xii. 43-46.

"352 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.dition to admonish them of their obligation of appeasing the anger and invoking the blessings of theDivinity by victims and sacrifices. Plutarch, anancient writer who lived in the second century, saysof these heathen people: You mayfind cities without walls, without literature, and without the artsand sciences of civilized life but ; you will never finda city without priests and altars, or which has notsacrifices offered to the gods."The Indians of our own country were accustomedto offer sacrifice to the Great Spirit, as FatherJogues and other pioneermissionaries inform us.But all those ancient sacrifices were only the typesand figures of the great sacrifice of the New Law,from which they derived all their efficacy ;just asthe Old Law itself was the type of the New Law ofgrace. And because the ancient sacrifices were butfigures and shadows, they were imperfect and insufficient; for, "it is impossible," says St. Paul, "thatby the blood of oxen and of goats sins should betaken away. Wherefore, when He (Jesus) comethinto the world, He saith : Sacrifice and oblation Thouwouldst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to M.e.Holocausts for sin did not please Thee. Then saidI : Behold I come." l As if He should say: Theblood of oxen and of goatsis not sufficient to appease Thy vengeance, and to cleanse Thy people fromtheir sins ;therefore I come, that Imay offer Myselfan acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world.1Heb. x. 4-7.

"THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 353The Prophet Isaiah declared that the Jewishsacrifices had become displeasing to God, and wouldbe abolished. To what purpose," says the Lordby His prophet, "do youoffer Me the multitudeof your victims? ... I desire not holocausts oframs,. . . and blood of calves and lambs and buckgoats.. . . Offer sacrifice no more in vain." *But did God, in rejecting the Jewish oblations,intend to abolish sacrifices altogether? By nomeans. On the contrary, He clearly predicts, bythe mouth of the Prophet Malachiah, that the immolations of the Jews would be succeeded by a cleanvictim, which would be offered up not on a singlealtar, as was the case in Jerusalem, but in every partof the known world. Listen to the significant wordsaddressed to the Jews by this "prophet I have no:pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I willnot receive a of gift your hand. For, from the rising of the sun, even to the going down, My Name isgreat among the Gentiles, and in every place thereis sacrifice, and there isoffered to My Name a cleanoblation ; for, My Name is great among the Gentiles,2saith the Lord of hosts." The prophet here clearlyforetells that an acceptable oblation would be offeredto God not by Jews, but by Gentiles; not merelv inJerusalem, but in every place from the rising to thesetting of the sun. These prophetic words musthave been fulfilled. Where shall we find the fulfil*ment of the prophecy?iIsaiah i. 11-13.30* XaMai. i. 10, 11.

""354 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERSWe may divide the inhabitants of theworld intofive different classes of people, professing differentforms of religion, Pagans, Jews, Mahometans,Protestants, and Catholics. Among which of theseshall we find the clean oblation of which the prophetspeaks ? Not among the Pagan nations for ;theyworship false gods, and consequently cannot haveany sacrifice pleasing to the Almighty. Not amongthe Jews for ;they have ceased to sacrifice altogether, and the words of the prophet apply not tothe Jews, but to the Gentiles. Not among theMahometans for ;they also rejectsacrifices. Notamong any of the Protestant sects ; for they alldistinctly repudiate sacrifices. Therefore, it is onlyin the Catholic Church that is fulfilled this gloriousprophecy for, whithersoever you go, you will find;the clean oblation offered on Catholic altars. Ifyou travel from America to Europe, to Oceauica, toAfrica, or Asia, you will see our altars erected, andour priests daily fulfilling the words of the prophet,by offering the clean oblation of the body andblood of Christ.This oblation of the New Law iscommonly calledthe Mass. The word Mass is derived by some fromthe Hebrew term Missach (Deut. xvi.), which meansa free offering. Others derive it from the wordMissa, which the priest uses when he announces tothe congregation that divine service is over. It isan expression indelibly marked on our English

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 355tongue from the origin of our language, and wefind it embodied in such words as Candlemas,Michael-mas, Martin-mas, and Christmas.The sacrifice of the Mass is the consecration ofthe bread and wine into the body and blood ofChrist, and the oblation of this body and bloodto God, by the ministry of the priest, for a perpetual memorial of Christ s sacrifice on the cross.The sacrifice of the Mass is identical with that ofthe cross, both havingthe same victim and HighPriest Jesus Christ.The only difference consists in the manner of theoblation. Christ was offered up on the cross in abloody manner, and in the Mass He is offered upin an unbloody manner. On the cross He purchased our ransom, and in the Eucharistic sacrifice the price of that ransom isapplied to oursouls. Hence, all the efficacy of the Mass is derived from the sacrifice of Calvary.It was on the night before He suffered that ourLord Jesus Christ instituted the sacrifice of theNew Law."Jesus," says St. Paul, "the night inwhich He was betrayed, took bread, and givingthanks, broke and said: Take ye and eat; this isMy body which shall be delivered for you. Thisdo for the commemoration of Me. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying:This chalice is the new testament inMy blood.This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for thecommemoration of Me for as often as ; ye shall

"35GTHE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.eat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall showshow the death of the Lord until He come." 1From these words we learn that the principalmotive which our Saviour had in view, in insti^tuting the sacrifice of the altar, was to keep us inperpetual remembrance of His sufferings and death.He wished that the scene of Calvary should ever appear in panoramic view before our eyes, and that ourhearts and memories and intellects should be filledwith the thoughts of His Passion. He knew wellthat this would be the best means of winning ourlove, and exciting sorrow for sin in our soul.Therefore,He designed that in every church throughoutthe world an altar should be erected, to serve as amonument of His mercies to His people, as the children of Israel erected a monument, on crossing theJordan, to commemorate His mercies to His chosenpeople. Hence, the Mass is truly the memorial service of Christ s Passion.In compliance with the command of our Lord, theadorable sacrifice of the altar has been daily renewedin the Church, from the death of our Saviour till thepresent time, and will be perpetuatedtill time shallbe no more.In the Acts, it is said that while Saul and otherswere ministering (or, as the Greek text expresses it,sacrificing) to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spiritsaid to them : Set apart for Me Saul and Barna-*I. Cor. xi. 23-26.

""""THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 357Wehas." St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, frequently alludes to the sacrifice of the Mass.have an altar,"he says, whereof they cannot eatwho serve the tabernacle." 1 The Apostle hereplainly declares that the Christian church hasits altars as well as the Jewish synagogue.Analtar necessarily supposes a sacrifice, without whichit has no meaning. The Apostle also observes thatthe priesthood of the New Law was substitutedforthat of the Old Law. 2 Now, the principal officeof priests has always been to offer sacrifice. Priestand sacrifice are as closelyidentified as judge andcourt.St. Paul, after David, calls Jesus a priestforoveraccording to the order of Melchisedech." He8is named a priest, because He offers sacrifice ;apriest forever, because His sacrifice is perpetual ;according to ike order of Melchisedech, because Heoffers up consecrated bread and wine, which wereprefigured by the bread and wine offered by Mel.chisedech, the priest of the Most High God." 4Tradition, with its hundred tongues, proclaims theperpetual oblation of the sacrifice of the Mass, fromthe time of the Apostles to our own days. If weconsult the Fathers of the Church, who have stoodlike faithful sentinels on the watch-towers of Israel,guarding with a jealous eye the deposit of faith,and who have been the faithful witnesses of their1Heb. xiii. 10.2 Ibid. vii. 12. Ps. cix. 4 ;Heb. v. 6.*Gen. xiv. 18.

358 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.owu times and the recorders. of the past, if we con.suit the General Councils, at which were assembledthevenerable hierarchy of Christendom, they willall tell us, with one voice, that the sacrifice of theMass was the centre of their religion, and the acknowledged institution of Jesus Christ.Another remarkable evidence in favor of thedivine institution of the Mass, is furnished by theNestorians and Eutychians who separated from theCatholic Church in the fifth century, and who stillexist in Persia, and in other parts of the East, aswell as by the Greek schismatics who severed theirconnection with the Church in the ninth century.All these sects, as well as the numerous other sectsscattered over the East, retain to this day the oblation of the Mass in their daily service. As theseChristian communities have had no communicationwith the Catholic Church since the period of theirseparation from her, they could not, of course, haveborrowed from her the doctrine of the Eucharisticsacrifice, and consequently they must have receivedit from the same source from which the Church derived it, viz., from the Apostles themselves.But of all proofs in favor of the Apostolic origin of the sacrifice of the Mass, the most strikingand the most convincingis found in the Liturgiesof the Church. The Liturgyis the establishedKitual of the Church. It is the collection of theauthorized prayers of divine worship.are fixed and immovable.These prayersAmong others, we have

"NorTHE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 359the Liturgy of Jerusalem, ascribed to the ApostleSt. James ; the Liturgy of Alexandria, attributedto St. Mark the Evangelist, and the Liturgy ofRome, referred to St. Peter. There are variousother Liturgies accredited to the Apostles or totheir immediate successors. Now I wish to callyour attention to this remarkable fact, that all theseLiturgies, though compiled by different persons, atdifferent times, and in various places, and in diverslanguages, contain, without exception, in clear andprecise language, the prayers to be said at thecelebration of Mass; prayersin substance thesame as those found in our Prayer-Books at theCanon of the Mass.We cannot account for this wonderful uniformityexcept by supposing that the doctrine respecting theMass was received by the Apostles from the common fountain of Christianity Jesus Christ Himself.It was such facts as these that opened the eyesof those eminent English divines who, during thepresent century, have abandoned heresy and schismand rich preferments, and who have embraced theCatholic faith, though, by taking such a step, theyhad to sacrifice all that was dear to them on earth.The following passages from St. Paul s Epistle tothe Hebrews are sometimes urged as an argumentagainst the sacrifice of the Mass "Christ, : . . .neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but byHis own blood, entered once into the Holies, havingobtained eternal redemption."yet that He

"360 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.should offer Himself often, as the high priestenter-leth into the Holies every year." Again Every:priest standeth, indeed, daily ministering, and oftenoffering the same sacrifices, which can never takeaway sins but this; Man, offering one sacrifice forsin, forever sitteth at the right hand of God." 2St. Paul says that Jesus was offered once. Howthen can we offer Him daily? I answer, thatJesus was offered once in a bloody manner, and itof this sacrifice that the Apostle speaks. But inthe sacrifice of the Mass He is offered up in an unbloody manner. Though He is daily offered on tenthousand altars, the sacrifice is the same as that ofCalvary, having the same High Priest and victimJesus Christ. The object of St. Paul is to contrastthe sacrifice of the New Law, which has only onevictim, with the sacrifices of the Old Law, where thevictims were many and to show the; insufficiencyof the ancient sacrifices and the all-sufficiency ofthe sacrifice of the new dispensation.But if the sacrifice of the cross is all-sufficient,what need then, you will say, is there of a commemorative sacrifice of the Mass? I would ask a Protestant in return, Why do you pray, and go to church,and why were you baptized, and receive Communion,and the rite of Confirmation ? What is the use ofall these exercises, if the sacrifice of the cross is allsufficient?You will tell me that in all these actsis1Heb. ix. 25. Ibid. x. 11, 12.

"THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 361you apply to yourself the merits of Christ s Passion.I will tell you, in like manner, that in the sacrificeof the Mass I apply to myself the merits of thesacrifice of the cross, from which the Mass derivesall its efficacy. Christ, indeed, by His death, madea full atonement for our sins. But He has not released us from the obligation of co-operating withHim by applying His merits to our souls. Andwhat better or more efficaciousway can we have ofparticipating in His merits, than by assisting at thesacrifice of the altar, where we vividly recall to mindHis sufferings, where Calvary is represented beforeus, where "we show the death of the Lord until Hecome," and where we draw abundantly to our soulsthe fruit of His Passion, by drinking of the sameblood that was shed on the cross?Iii the Old Law there were different kinds of sacrifices offered up for different purposes. There weresacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God for Hisbenefits ;sacrifices of propitiation to implore Hisforgiveness for the sins of the people; and sacrificesof supplication to ask His blessing and protection.The sacrifice of the Mass fulfils all these ends. Itis a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, a sacrificeof propitiation and of supplication; and hence thatvalued book, the "Following of Christ" says thatwhen a Priest celebrates Mass, he honors God, herejoices the angels, he edifies the Church, he helpsthe living, he obtains rest for the dead, and makeshimself a partaker of all that is good."To form an81

""362 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.adequate idea of the efficacy of thedivine sacrificeof the Mass, we have only to bear in mind thevictim that is offered Jesus Christ, the Son of theliving God.1. The Mass is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. If all human beings in this world, and allliving creatures, and all inanimate objects were collected together and burned as a holocaust to theLord, they would not confer as much praise on theAlmighty as a single Euchai istic sacrifice because;these earthly creatures, how numerous and excellentsoever, are finite and imperfect ;while the offeringmade in the Mass is of infinite value, for, it is ourLord Jesus, theacceptable Lamb without blemish,the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased,and whoence."isalways heard on account of His reverWith what awe and grateful love should we assistat this sacrifice ! The angels were present atCalvary. Angels also are present at the Mass. Ifwe cannot assist with the seraphic love and rapt attention of the angelic spirits,let us worship, at least,with the simple devotion of the shepherds of Bethlehem, and the unswerving faith of the Magi. Letus offer to our God the golden gift of a heart full oflove, and the incense of our praise and adoration,repeating often during the holy oblation the wordsof the Psalmist : The mercies of the Lord I willsing foftsver."2. The Mass is also a sacrifice of propitiation.

""THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 363Jesus daily pleads our cause, in this divine oblation,before our heavenly Father. If any man sin," sayaSt. John, we have an Advocate with the Father,Jesus Christ the just; and He is the propitiationfor our sins; and not for ours only, but also forthose of the whole world." lAnd hence the Priest,whenever he offers up the holy sacrifice, recites thisprayer at the "offertory Receive, O : holy Father,almighty, eternal God, this immaculate victimwhich I, Thy unworthy servant, offer to Thee, myliving and true God, for my innumerable sins, offences, and negligences, for all here present, and forall the faithful living and dead, that itmay availine and them to life everlasting."Whenever, therefore, we assist at Mass, let usunite with Jesus Christ in imploring the mercy ofGod for our sins. Let us represent to ourselves theMass as another Calvary, which it is in reality.Like Mary,let us stand in spirit beneath the cross,and let our souls be pierced with grief for our transgressions. Let us acknowledge that our sins werethe cause of that agony, and of the shedding of thatprecious blood. Let us follow in mind and heart thatcrowd of weeping penitents who accompanied ourSaviour to Calvary, striking their breasts, and let us"say Spare, O :Lord, spare Thy Or let uspeople."repeat with the Publican this heartfelt "prayer O:God, be merciful to me a sinner." At the death ofJesus, the sun was darkened, the earth trembled,1 I. John ii. 1, 2.

""""364 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.as if to show that even invery rocks were rent,"heanimate nature sympathized with the sufferings ofits God. And should not we tremble for our sins?Should not our hearts, though as cold and hard asrocks, be softened at the spectacle of our God suiferingfor love of us, and in expiation for our sins ?3, The sacrifice of the Mass is, in fine, a sacrificeof supplication:For, if the blood of goats and ofoxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled,sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of theflesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who,through the Holy Ghost, offered himself withoutspot to God, cleanse our conscience from dead worksto serve the livingGod?" lIf the prayers of Mosesand David and the Patriarchs were so powerful inbehalf of God s servants, what must be the influenceof Jesus intercession ?If the wounds of the martyrsplead so eloquently for us, how much more eloquent is the blood of Jesus shed daily upon ouraltars ? His blood cries louder for mercy than theblood of Abel cried for vengeance. If God inclinesHis ear to us miserable sinners, how can He resistthe pleadings in our behalf of the Lamb of Godwho taketh away the sins of the world ?Let us go therefore, with confidence, to thethrone of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and findgrace in seasonable aid." 21Heb. ix. 13, 14. Heb. iv. 16.

"THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 365CHAPTER XXIV.THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES DICTATED B^RIGHT REASON APPROVED BY ALMIGHTY GODIN THE OLD LAW SANCTIONED BY JESUS CHRISTIN THE NEW.BY religious ceremonies, we mean certain expressive signs and actions which the Churchhas ordained for the worthy celebration of thedivine service.True devotion must be interior and come fromthe heart ; for, the true adorers shall adore theFather inspirit and in truth. For, the Fatherindeed seeketh such to *worship Him. God isspirit ; and they who worship Him, must worshipHim in spirit and in truth." 1 But we are not toinfer from this that exterior isworship to be contemned because interior worship is prescribed asessential. On the contrary, tUe rites and ceremonieswhich are enjoined in the worship of God and inthe administration of the Sacraments, are dictatedby right reason, and are sanctioned by AlmightyGod in the Old Law, and by Christ and His Apostles in the New.The angels, being pure spirits without a body,render to God a purely spiritual worship. The sunand moon and stars of the firmament payto Him31*1 John iv. 23, 24.

"366 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.a kind of external homage. In the Prophet Daniel,we read : Sun and moon bless the Lord, stars. . .of heaven bless the Lord, praise and exalt Himabove all forever." l But man, by possessing a soulor spiritual substance, partakes of the nature ofangels, and by possessing a body, partakes of thenature of the heavenly bodies. It is therefore, hisprivilege, as well as his duty, to offer to God the, twofold homage of body and soul in other; words, tohonor Him by internal and external worship.Genuine piety cannot long be concealed in theheart without manifesting itself by exterior practices of religion ;and hence, though interior andexterior worship are distinct, they cannot be separated in the presentlife. The fire cannot bumwithout sending forth a flame and heat. Neithercan the fire of devotion burn in the soul withoutreflecting itself on our countenance, and even on ourspeech. It is natural for man to express his sentiments by signs and ceremonies, for, "from the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh." And asthe fuel is necessary to keep alive the fire, even sothe flame of piety is nourished by the outward formsof religion.The fruit of a tree does not consist in its bark 01its leaves and branches. Nevertheless, you neversaw a tree bearing fruit, unless when clothed withbark, adorned with branches, and covered with1Dan. iii. 62, 63. Though this passage is omitted in the Protestant Bible, it is retained in the Book of Common Prayer.

THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 367leaves. These are necessary for the protection ofthe fruit. In like manner, though the fruit of pietydoes not consist in exterior forms, it must, however,be fostered by some outward observances, or it willgoon decay. There is as close a relation betweendevotion and ceremonial as exists between the barkand the fruit of a tree.The man who daily bends the knee to his Maker,who recites or sings His praises,who devoutly makesthe sign of the cross, who assists without constraintat the public services of the Church, who observesan exterior decorum in the house of God, who givesto the needy according to his means, and dulyattends to the other practices and ceremonies ofreligion, will generally be one whose heart is unitedto God, and who yields to Him a ready obedience.Show me, on the contrary, a man who habituallyneglects these outward observances of religion andcharity, and I will show you one in whose soul thefire of devotion burns very faintly,if it is not quiteextinguished.The ceremonies of the Church not only render thedivine service more solemn, but they also rivet andcaptivate our attention and lift it up to God. Ourmind is so active, so volatile, and full of distractions;our imaginationis so fickle, that we have need ofsome external objects on which to fix our thoughts.Almighty God considered ceremonial so indispensable to interior worship, that we find Him in theOld Law prescribing in the most minute detail the

""He368 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHEB8.various rites and ceremonies and ordinances tobe observed by the Jewish priests and people intheir public worship. What is the entire book ofLeviticus but an elaborate ritual of the Jewishchurch?Our Saviour, though He came to establish a morespiritual religion than that of the Hebrew people,did not discard the outward forms of worship. Hewas accustomed to accompany His religious acts byappropriate ceremonies.In the garden of Gethsemani,fellupon His1face,"in humble supplication.He went in procession to Jerusalem, accompaniedby a great multitude who sang Hosauna to the Sonof David. 2At the last Supper, He invoked a blessing on thebread and wine, and after the Supper He chanted ahymn with His 3disciples.When the deaf and dumb man was brought toHim, before He healed him, He put His fingersinto his ears, and touched his tongue with spittle,and, looking up to heaven, He groaned and said :Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened."4When He imparted the Holy Ghost to His disciples,He breathed on them. 5 And the same Apostles afterwards communicated the Holy Ghost toothers by laying hands on them.81 Matt. xxvi.a Ibid. xxi.8 Ibid. xxvi.4Mark vii.6John xx. 6 Acts viii.

THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 369The Apostle St. James directs that if any man issick, he shall call in the Priest, who will anoint himwith oil. 1Now are not all hese acts which I have just recorded,the prostration and procession, the prayerful invocation, the chanting of a hymn, the touchingof the ears, the lifting up of the eyes to heaven, thebreathing on the Apostles, the laying on of hands,and the unction of the sick, are not all these actsso many ceremonies serving as models to those whichthe Catholic Church employs in her public worship,and in the administration of her sacraments ?The ceremonies now accompanying our publicworship are, indeed, usually more gorgeous andelaborate than those recorded of our Saviour ;butit is quite natural that the majesty of ceremonialshould keep pace with the growth and developmentof Christianity.But where shall we find a ritual so gorgeous asthat presented to us in the Book of Revelation?Angels with golden censers stand before the throne,while elders cast their crowns of gold before theLamb once slain. Then that unnumbered multitudeof all nations, tongues, and people, clothed in whiteraiment, bearing palms of victory. Virgins, too,with harp and canticle, follow near the Lamb, singing the new song which 2they alone can utter.How glorious the pageant!How elaborate indetail !1J ames v.*Apocalypse, passim.

"""""370 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Strange would it be, if God, who, in the dispensation past and that to come hereafter, is seen delighting in external majesty, should have deprived theChristian Church (the living link between the pastand the future) of all external glory. For,"asSt. Paul says,"if the ministry of condemnation isglory, much more the ministry of justice abouudethinl."gloryIt istrue, that God uttered this complaint againstthe children of Israel : This people draw near Mewith their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, buttheir heart is far from Me." 2 It is also true thatHe was displeased with their sacrifices and religiousfestivals. 3But He blamed them not because theypraised Him with their voice, but because theirhearts felt not what their lips uttered. And Herejected their sacrifices because they were not accompanied by the more precious sacrifice of a penitent spirit.The same Lord who declares that the true adorershall adore the Father in spirit, commands alsothatpublic praise be given to Him in His holy temple :Praise ye the Lord," He says,in His holyplaces Praise Him with sound of trumpet.Praise Him with psaltery and harp. Praise Himwith timbrel and choir. Praise Him with strings*and organs."And if He saysin one place: Kend your hearts1 II. Cor. iii. 9.a Isaiah xxix. 13.* Ps. cl.8 Ibid. i. 13.

"THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.37land not your garments,"1immediatelyaftei lieadds: "Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast,call a solemn assembly. Gather together the people,sanctify the Church Between the porch andthe altar, the priests, the Lord s ministers, shallweep, and shall say : Spare, O Lord, spare Thypeople."2When St. Paul says, that though he speak withthe tongues of angels and of men, and distributeall his goods to feed the poor, and deliver his bodyto be burned, and have not the love of God, itprofiteth him nothing, 3 he points out the necessityof interior worship. And when he says elsewherethat in the name of Jesus every knee should bendof those that are in heaven, on earth, and under theearth,"*monial worship.he shows us the duty of exterior or cereWhen political leaders desire to influence themasses in their favor, they are not content with addressing themselves to the intellect. They appealalso to the feelings and imagination. They havetorchlight processions, accompanied by soul-stirringmusic discoursing popular airs. They have flagsand banners floatingin the breeze. They havepublic meetings, at which they deliver patrioticspeeches to arouse the enthusiasm of the people.What these men do for political reasons, theChurch performs from the higher motives of religion.1Joel ii. 13. Ibid. ii. 15-17. I. Cor. xiii.* Phil. ii. 10.

372 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Therefore she has her solemn processions. She ha*her heavenly music to soften the heart and raiseit to God. She consecrates her sacred banners,especially the cross, the banner of salvation. Shepreaches with a hundred tongues, speaking not onlyto our heads and hearts by the Word of God, batto our feelings and imagination by her grand andimposing ceremonial.CHAPTER XXV.CEREMONIES OF THE MASS THE MISSALLANGUAGE LIGHTS FLOWERS INCENSEVESTMENTS.LET us now, dear reader, walk together into aCatholic Church, in time to assist at the lateMass, which is the most solemn service of the Catholic Liturgy. Meantime,I shall endeavor to explain to you the principal objects which attractyour attention.As we enter, I dip my fingers in a vase placed atthe church door, and filled with holy water, and Imake the sign of the cr*)ss, praying at the sametime to be purified from all defilement, so that witha clean heart Imay worship in God s holy temple.The Church, through her ministers, blesses everything used in her service ; for, St. Paul says, that"eirery creature of God is good,. . . that is received

"ETC. 373with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word1of God and by prayer."Before Mass begins, the priest sprinkles theassembled congregation with holy water, recitingat the same time these words of the fiftieth Psalm :Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shallbe cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall bemade whiter than snow."The practice of using blessed water dates back toa very remote antiquity, and is alluded to by severalFathers of the primitive Church.As we advance down the aisle, you observe lyingopen on the altar a large book, which is calleda Missal, or Mass-book, because it contains theprayers which are said at Mass. The office of theMass consists of selections from the Old and the NewTestament, the Canon, and other appropriate prayers.The Canon of the Mass never varies throughout theyear, and descends to us from the first ages of theChurch withscarcely the addition of a word.Nearly all the collects are also very old, many ofthem dating back to a period prior to the seventhcentury. I am acquainted with no prayers whichcan compare with the collects of the Missal inearnestness and vigor of language, in concisenessof style, and unction of piety. It is evident thattheir authors were men who felt what they said,and were filled with the spirit of God, despising"thepersuasive words of human wisdom," unlika321 1 Tim. iv. 4.

374 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.somany modern prayer-composers whose roundedperiods are directed rather to tickle the ears of menthan to pierce the clouds.You are probably familiar with the EpiscopalBook of Common Prayer, and have no doubt admiredits beautiful simplicity of diction. But perhaps youwill be surprised when I inform you that thisPrayer-Book is for the most part a translationfrom our Missal.Let us now reverently follow the officiating Priestthrough the service of the Mass.You see him advance from the Sacristy and standat the foot of the altar, where he makes an humbleconfession of his sins to God and His saints. Hethen ascends the altar, and nine times the divineclemency is invoked in the Kyrie Eleison, ChristeEleison. He intones the sublime doxology, Gloriain Excelsis Deo ; sings the collects of the day, readsthe Lesson or Epistle, chants the Gospel, when thesermon is usually preached. Next, he recites theNicene Creed, which for upwards of fifteen centurieshas been resounding in the churches of Christendom. Then you perceive him making the oblationof the bread and wine. He washes the tips of hia"fingers, reciting the words of the Psalmist : I willwash my hands among the innocent, and will encompass Thy altar, O Lord." He isadmonished, bythis ceremony, to be free from the least stain, JDTheview of the sacred act he isgoing to perform.Preface and Canon follow, including the solemn

CEREMONIES, ETC. 375words of consecration, during which the bread andwine are changed by the power of Jesus Christ intoHis body and blood. He proceeds with otherprayers, including the best of all prayers, the OutFather, as far as the Communion, when he partakesof the consecrated bread and chalice, giving theHoly Communion afterwards to such as are prepared to receive He it. continues the Mass, giveshis blessing to the kneeling congregation, and concludes with the opening words of the sublime Gospel of St. John.Here you have not merely a number of prayersstrung together. But you witness a scene whichrivets pious attention and warms the heart into fervent devotion. You participatein an act of worship worthy of God, to whom it is offered.But you are anxious that I should explain to youthe reason why the Mass is said in Latin. WhenChristianity was first established, the Roman Empire ruled the destinies of the world. Pagan Romehad dominion over nearly all Europe and largeportions of Asia and Africa. The Latin was thelanguage of the Empire. Wherever the Romanstandard was planted, there also was spread theLatin tongue; just as at the present time the English language is spoken wherever the authority ofGreat Britain or of the United States is established.The Church naturally adopted in her Liturgy orpublic worship the language which she then foundprevailing among the people.The Fathers of the

376 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.early Church generally wrote in the Latin tongue,which thus became the depository of the treasuresof sacred literature in the Church.lu the fifth century came the dismption of theRoman Empire. New kingdoms began to be formedin Europe out of the ruins of the old empire. The.Latin gradually ceased to be a living tongue amongthe people, and new languages commenced to springTheup like so many shoots from the parent stock.Church, however, retained in her Liturgy, and in theadministration of the Sacraments, the Latin language for very wise reasons, some of which I shallbriefly mention :1. The Catholic Church has always one and thesame faith, the same form of public worship, thesame spiritual government As her doctrine andliturgy are unchangeable, she wishes that the language of her Liturgy should be fixed and uniform.Faith may be called the jewel, and the language isthe casket which contains it. So careful is theChurch of preserving the jewel intact, that she willnot disturb even the casket in which the jewelis set.Living tongues, unlike a dead language,are continually changing in words and in their meaning.The English language, as written four centuriesago, would be now almost as unintelligible to anEnglish reader as the Latin tongue. In an oldBible published in the fourteenth century, St. Paulcalls himself the villain of Jesus Christ. The wordvillain in those days meant a servant, but the term

CEREMONIES, ETC. 377would not be complimentary now toholy than the Apostle.one even lessThis is but one instance, outof many which I might adduce, to show the mutations which our language has undergone. But theLa tin }being a dead language,is not liable to thesechanges.2. The Catholic Church isspread over the wholeworld, embracing in its fold children of all climeaand nations, and peoples and tongues under the sun.How, I ask, could the Bishops of these variouscountries communicate with each other in council, ifthey had not one language to serve as a commonmedium of communication? It would be simplyimpossible. A church that is universal must havea universal tongue; whilst a national church, or achurch whose members speak one and the same language, and whose doctrines conveniently change tosuit the times, can safely adopt the vernaculartongue in its liturgy.A few years ago, a Convocation was held inEngland composed of British and American Episcopalbishops. They had no difficulty in communicatingwith one another, because they all spoke theirmother tongue.But suppose they had representatives from Spain, France, and Germany. The lipaof those Continental bishops would be sealed, becauc e they could not speak to their English brothers;their ears would be also sealed, because they couldnot comprehend what was said to them.In 1869, at the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican,32*

378 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.were assembled Bishops from all parts of the world,speaking all the civilized languages of Christendom.Had those Bishops no uniform language to expresstheir thoughts, public debates and familiar conversation among them would have been impracticable.The Council Chamber would have been a perfectBabel of tongues. But, thanks to the Latin language which they all spoke (except a few Orientals),their speeches were as plainly understood as if eachhad spoken in his native dialect.3. Moreover, the Bishops and Clergy of the Catholic Church are in frequent correspondence with theHoly See. This requires that they should communicate in one uniform language; otherwise, thePope would be compelled to employ secretariesspeaking every language in Christendom.But if the priest says Mass in an unknown tongue,are not the people thereby kept in ignorance of whathe says, and is not their time wasted in Church?We are forced to smile at such charges, which areflippantly repeated from year to year. These assertions arise from a total ignorance of the Mass.Many Protestants imagine that the essence of publicworship consists in a sermon. Hence, to their minds,the primary duty of a iscongregation to listen to adiscourse from the pulpit. Prayer, on the contrary,according to Catholic teaching, is the most essentialduty of a congregation, though they are also regularly instructed by sermons. Now, what is the Mass?It is not a sermon, but it is a sacrifice of prayer

CEREMONIES, ETC.37Swhich the priest offersup to God for himself and thepeople. When the priest says Mass, he isspeakingnot to the people, but to God, to whom all languagesare equally intelligible.The congregation, indeed, could not be expectedto hear the priest, even if he spoke in English, sincehis face is turned from them, and the greater partof what he says ispronounced in an undertone.And this was the system of worship God ordainedin the ancient dispensation, as we learn from theOld Testament, and from the firstchapter of St.Luke. The priest offered sacrifice, and prayed forthe people in the sanctuary, while they prayed at adistance in the court.In all the schismatic churchesof the East, the priest,in the public services, praysnot in the vulgar, but in a dead language. Such,also, is the practice in the Jewish synagogues at thisday. The Rabbi reads the prayers in Hebrew, alanguage with which many of the congregation arenot familiar.But is it true that the people do not understandwhat the priest says at Mass ? Not at all. For, bythe aid of an English Missal, or any other Manual,they are able to follow the officiating clergymanfrom the beginning to the end of the service.You also observe lighted tapers on the altar, andyou desire to know for what purpose they areused.In the Old Law, the Almighty Himself ordainedthat lighted chandeliers should adorn the taber-

"""380 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.nacle. 1 Assuredly that cannot be improper in theftew Dispensation which God sanctioned in theOld.The lights upon our altars have both a historicaland a symbolical meaning. In the primitive dayaof the Church, Christianity was not tolerated by thePagan world The Christians were consequentlyobliged to assemble, for public worship, in the Catacombs of Rome, and other secret places. TheseCatacombs, or subterranean rooms, still exist, andare objects of deep interest to the pious strangersthat visit the Eternal city. As these hidden apartments did not admit the light of the sun, the faithful were obliged to have lights even in the openday. In commemoration of the event, the Churchhas retained the use of lights on her altars.These lighted candles have also a symbolicalmeaning. They represent our Saviour, who is thelight of the world," who enlighteneth every manthat cometh into the world," without whom weshould be wandering in darkness and in the shadowof death.They also serve to remind us to let our light soshine before men (by our good example), that theymay see our good works, and glorify our Fatherwho is in heaven."Lights are used, too, as a sign of spiritual joy.Jerome, who lived in the fourth century, remarks :St.1Exod. xxv. 31, and seq.

""""CEREMONIES, ETC. 31"Throughout all the Churches of the East, beforethe reading of the Gospel, candles are lighted atmid-day, not to dispel darkness, but as a sign ofjoy."You also noticed the priest incensing the altar.Incense is a striking emblem of prayer, which shouldascend to heaven from hearts burning with love, justas the fragrant smoke ascends from the censer.Let my prayer," says the Royal Prophet, ascendllike incense inThy Godsight."enjoined in theOld Law the use of incense : Aaron shall burnsweet-smelling incense upon the altar in the morn2"Hence we see the priest Zachariah offering."incense on going into the temple of the Lord. Andall the multitude were praying without at the hourof incense." 3You perceive that the altar is decorated to-daywith vases and flowers, because this is a Festival ofthe Church. There is one spot on earth which cannever be too richly adorned, and that is the sanctuary in which our Lord vouchsafes to dwell amongus. Nothing is too good, nothing too beautiful,nothing too precious for God. He gives us all wepossess, and the least we can do in return is to ornament that spot which He has chosen for His abodeupon earth. The Almighty, it is true, has no needof our gifts.He is rich without them. The earthis the Lord s, and the fulness thereof." Nevertheless, He ispleased to accept our offerings when they1 PB. cxl.2Exod. xxx. 7.8Luke i. 9, 10.

382 THE FAITH OF OUB, FATHERS.are bestowed upon Him as a mark of our affection!just as a father joyfully receives from his child apresent bought with his own means. Our Saviourgratefully accepted the treasures of the Magi, thoughhe could have done without such gifts.Some persons, when they see our sanctuary sumptuouslydecorated, will exclaim : Hadit not been better togive to the poor the money spent in purchasingthese things? So complained Judas (though caring1not for the poor when ) Mary poured from analabaster vase the precious ointment on the feetof an approving Saviour. Why should not weimitate Mary, by placing at His feet, around Hissanctuary, our vases with their chaste and fragrantflowers, that the Church may be filled with theirperfume, as Simon s house was filled with the odorof the ointment?Does not the Almighty at certain seasons adornwith lilies and flowers of every hue this earth, whichis the great temple of nature ? And what is moreappropriate than that we should on special occasionsembellish our sanctuary, the place which He haschosen for His habitation among us ?It is sweet tosnatch from the field its fairest treasures wherewith tobeautify the temple made with hands.The sacred vestments which you saw worn by theofficiating priest, must have struck you as very antique and out of fashion. Nor is this surprising;for if you saw a lady enter church, to-day, with a1John xii. 6.

CEREMONIES, ETC. 383head-dress such as was worn in the days of QueenElizabeth, her appearance would look to you verysingular. Now, our priestly vestments are far olderin style than the days of Queen Elizabeth ;mucholder even than the British Empire. Eusebius, andother writers of the fourth century, speak of themas already existing in their times. It is no wonder,therefore, that these vestments look odd to the unfamiliar eye.In the Old Law, God prescribed to the priests thesacred vestments which they should wear while engaged in their sacred office "And these shall be:the vestments which they shall make (for the priest):a rational and an ephod, a tunic and a straight linengarment, a mitre and a girdle. They shall makethe holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and hissons, that they may do the office of priesthood untoMe." 1 Guided by Heaven, the Church also prescribes sacred garments for her ministering priests.For, it is eminently proper and becoming that theminister of God, while engaged in the sacred mysteries, should be arrayed in garments which wouldconstantly impress upon him his sacred character,and remind him, as well as the congregation, of thesublime functions he isperforming.The vestments worn by the priest while celebrating Mass are, an Amict, or white cloth around theneck; an Alb, or white garment reaching to hisankles, and bound around his waist by a cincture ;1Exod. xxviii. 4.

384 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.a Maniple suspended from his left arm a; Stole,which isplaced over his shoulders and crossed atthe breast ;and a Chasuble, or large outer garment.The Chasuble, Stole, arid Maniple vary in coloiaccording to the occasion. Thus, White vestmentsare used at Christmas, Kaster, and other Festivals ofjoy, also on Feasts of Confessors and Virgins Red;are used at Pentecost, and on Festivals of Apostlesand Martyrs ; Green, from Trinity Sunday to Advent, on days having no special feast; Purple, duringLent and Advent; and Black, in Masses for the deadOne more word on this subject. Only a few yearsago, the whole Protestant world was united in denouncing the use of floral decorations on our altars,incense, sacred vestments, and even the altar itself,as abominations of Popery. But of late, a betterspirit has taken possession of a respectable portionof the Protestant Episcopal church. After havingexhausted their wrath against our vestments, andvilified them as the rags of the wicked woman ofBabylon, the members of the Ritualistic churchhave, with remarkable dexterity, passed from oneextreme to the other. They don our vestments;they swing our censer, and erect altars in theirchurches, and adorn them with flowers and candlesticks.These Eitualists are, however, easily discernedfrom the true priest,and should one of them everappear before the Father of the faithful in these illfittingrobes, the venerable Pontiff would exclaim,

"THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 385with the Patriarch of old :The voice indeed is thevoice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands ofEsau."I feel the garment of the Priest, but I hearthe voice of the parson.God grant that, as our misguided brothers haveassumed our sacerdotal garments, they may adoptour faith, so that their speech may conform to theirdress. And then having laid aside their earthlystoles, may they deserve, like all faithful priests, to"be seen standing before the throne, and in sight ofthe Lamb, with white stoles arid palms in their hands,. .saying : Salvation to our God, who sitteth uponthe throne, and to the Lamb." lCHAPTER XXVI.THE 8ACRA3IENT OF PENANCE.I.DIVINE INSTITUTION OF THE SACKAMENT OP PENANCETHE POWER OF FOBGIVINO SINS LEFT BY CHRIST TOHIS CHURCH THE NECESSITY AND ADVANTAGES OFCONFESSION.THE whole history of Jesus Christ is marked bymercy and compassion for suffering humanity.From the moment of His incarnation till the hour1Apoc. vii. 9, 10.33 Z

""886 THE FAITH OF OTTE FATHERS.of His death, every thought and word and act ofHis divine life was directed towards the alleviationof the ills and miseries of fallen man.As soon as He enters on His public career, Hegoes about doing good to all men. He gives sightto the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and vigor tothe paralyzed limbs ;He applies the salve of comfort to the bleeding heart and raises the dead tolife.But while Jesus occupied Himself in bringingrelief to corporal infirmities, the principal object ofHis mission was to release the soul from the bonds ofsin. The very name of Jesus indicates this important truth : Thou shalt call His name Jesus," saysthe angel, for He shall save His people from theirsins."1For, if Jesus had contented Himself with healingthe maladies of our body, without attending to thoseof our soul, He would deserve indeed to be calledour Physician, but would not merit the more endearing titles of Saviour and Eedeemer. But assin was the greatest evil of man, and as Jesuscame to remove from us our greatest evils. Hecame into the world chiefly as the great Absolverfrom sin.Magdalen seems to have a consciousness of this ;she casts herself at His feet, which she washes withher tears and wipes with her hair, while Jesus pro-1 Matt. i. 21.

"THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 387nounces over her the saving words of absolution.The very demons recognized Jesus as the enemy ofsin, for they dreaded His approach, knowing, asthey did, that He would drive them out of thebodies of men.And indeed our Lord makes the healing of thebody secondary to the healing of the soul. Andwhen He delivers the body from its distempers,His object is to win the confidence of the spectatorsby compelling them to recognizeHim as the soul sPhysician. For instance: He says to the palsied1man, "Thy sins are forgiven."The scribes are atonce offended at our Saviour for presuming to forgive sins. He replies, in substance If you do not:believe My words, believe My acts and He at once;heals the man of his disease. And after he hadcured the man that had been languishing for thirtyeightyears, He whispered to him this gentle admonition, Sin no more, lest some worse thing mayhappen to thee." 2As much as our spiritual substance excels thisflesh which surrounds it, so much more did ourSaviour value the resurrection of a soul from thegrave of sin than the resurrection of the body fromthe grave of death. Hence St. Augustine pointedlyremarks that, while the Gospel relates only threeresurrections of the body, our Lord, during Hismortal life, raised thousands of souls to the life ofgrace.1Matt Lr. 2.*John v. 14

388 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.As the Church was established by Jesus Christto perpetuate the work which he had begun,it follows that the reconciliation of sinners to God was tobe the principal office of the Church.But the important question here presents itself:How was man to obtain forgiveness in the Churchafter our Lord s ascension ?Was Jesus Christ to appear in person to everysinful soul, and say to each penitent, as He said toMagdalen, "Thy sins are forgiven thee?" or did Heintend to delegate this power of forgiving sins toministers appointed for that purpose ?We know well that our Saviour never promisedto present Himself visibly to each sinner, nor hasHe done so.His plan, therefore, must have been to appointministers of reconciliation to act in His name. Ithas always indeed been the practice of AlmightyGod, both in the Old and New Law, to empowerhuman agents to execute His merciful designs.When Jehovah resolved to deliver the childrenof Israel from the captivity of Egypt, He appointedMoses as their deliverer. When God wished themto escape from the pursuit of Pharaoh, across theRed Sea, did He intervene directly ? No;but, byHis instructions, Moses raised his hand over thewaters and they were instantly divided.When the people were dying from thirst in thedesert, did God come visibly to their rescue? No;but Moses struck the rock, from which the water

"We""THE SACKAMENT OF PENANCE. 389instantly issued. When Paul was going to Damascus, breathing vengeance against the Christians, didour Saviour personally restore his sight,and convertand baptize him ? No He sent Paul to His servant;Ananias, who restored his sight and baptized him.The same Apostle, in one sentence, beautifullydescribes to us, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, thearrangement of divine Providence in the reconciliation of sinners :God,"he says, hath reconciledus to Himself through Christ, and hath given to usthe ministry of reconciliation. . . . For Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors ; God, as it were, exhorting*through That us." is to say, God sends Christ toreconcile sinners: Christ sends us. We are Hisambassadors, reconciling sinners in His name.When I think of this tremendous power which wepossess, I congratulate the members of the Church,for whose benefit it is conferred ;I tremble for myself and my fellow-ministers, for terrible is our responsibility, while we have nothing to glory in.Christ is the treasure ;we are but the pack-horsesthat carryit. bear this treasure in earthenvessels." Christ is the shepherd; we are the pipeHe uses to call His sheep. Our words sounding inthe confessional are but the feeble echo of -the voiceof the Spirit of God that purifiedthe Apostles in thecenacle of Jerusalem.But have we any Gospel authority to show that33*1 II. Cor. v. 18-20.

"""390 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.our Saviour did confer on the Apostles, and theirsuccessors, the power to forgiveWe sins ?have the most positive testimony, and ourSaviour s words conferring this power are expressedin the plainest language, which admits of no misconception. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, ourSaviour thus addresses Peter : Thou art Peter,and on this rock I will build My Church. . . .And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom ofheaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earthshall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thoushalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven."And to all the Apostles assembled together onanother occasion, He uses the same forcible language : Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shallbe bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shallloose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven." aThe soul is enchained by sin. I give you power,says our Lord, to release the penitent soul from itsgalling fetters, and to restore it to the liberty of achild of God.And in the Gospel of St. John we have a stillmore striking declaration of the absolving powergiven by our Saviour to His Apostles.Jesus, after His resurrection, thus addresses Hisdisciples: Peace be to you. As the Father hathsent Me, I also send you. Receive . . . ye the HolyGhost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are for1 Matt. xvi. 18, 19. Matt, xviii. 18.

"THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 391given them, and whose sins ye shall retain, theyare retained." lThat peace which I give to you, you will impartto repentant souls, as a pledge of their reconciliationwith God. The absolving power I have from MyFather, the same I communicate to you. Receivethe Holy Ghost, that you may impart this HolySpirit to souls possessed by the spirit of evil. Iftheir sins are as red as scarlet, they shall be madeas white as wool." If they are as numerous as thesands on the sea-shore, they shall be blotted out,provided they come to you with contrite hearts.The sentence of mercy which you shall pronounceon earth, I will ratifyin heaven. From thesewords of St. John I draw three important conclusions :It follows, first, that the forgiving power was notrestricted to the Apostles, but extended to theirsuccessors in the ministry, unto all times and places.The forgiveness of sin was to continue while sinlasted in the world ;and as sin, alas will !alwaysbe in the world, so will the remedy for sin be alwaysin the Church. The medicine will co-exist with thedisease. The power which our Lord gave theApostles to preach, to baptize,to confirm, to ordain,etc., was transmitted by them to their successors.Why not also the power which they had received toforgive sins, since man s greatest need is his reconciliation with God by the forgiveness of his offences?SlJohn xx. 21-23.

392 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.It follows, secondly, that forgivenessof sin wasordinarily to be obtained only through the ministryof the Apostles and their successors, just as it wasfrom them that the people were to receive the wordof God and the grace of Baptism. The pardoningpower was a great prerogative conferred on theApostles. But what kind of a prerogative wouldit be, if people could always obtain forgiveness byconfessing to God secretly in their rooms? Howfew would have recourse to the Apostles if theycould obtain forgiveness on easier terms. Godsays to His chosen ministers I : give you the keysof My kingdom, that you may dispense the treasures of mercy to repenting sinners. But of whatuse would it be to give the Apostles the keys ofGod s treasures for the ransom of sinners, if everysinner could obtain his ransom without applying tothe Apostles ?If I gave you, dear reader, the keysof my house, authorizing you toadmit whom youplease, that they might partake of the good thingscontained in it, you would conclude that I had doneyou a small favor, if you discovered that every onewas possessed of a private key, and could enter whenhe pleased, without consulting you.I have said that forgiveness of sins is ordinarilyto be obtained through the ministry of the Apostlesand of their successors, because itmay often happenthat the services of God s minister cannot be obtained.A merciful Lord will not require in this conjuncture more than a hearty sorrow for sin joined with

"""THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 393a desire of having recourse, as soon as practicable,to the tribunal of Penance; for, God s ordinancesbind only such as are able to fulfillthem.It follows, in the third place, that the power offorgiving sins on the part of God s minister, involvesthe obligation of confessing them on the part ofthe sinner. The priest is not empowered to giveabsolution to every one indiscriminately. He mustexercise the power with judgment and discretion. Hemust reject the impenitent, and absolve the penitentBut how will he judge of the disposition of thesinner, unless he knows his sins? and how will thepriest know his sins, unless they are confessed?Hence, we are not surprised when we read in theActs, that Many of them who believed, came confessing and declaring their deeds to the Apostles.lWhy did they confess their sins unless they werebound to do so? Hence, also, we understand whyIf we confess our sins, He is faithSt. John says,ful and justto forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us2from all iniquity."The strength of these tests of Scripture will appear to you much more forcible, when you are toldthat all the Fathers of the Church, from the first tothe last, insistupon the necessity of SacramentalConfession as a divine institution. We are not unfrequentlytold, by those who are little acquaintedwith the doctrine and history of the Church, thatSacramental Confession was not introduced intothe Church until 1,200 years after the time of ouiA Acts xix. 18.~2 I. John i- 9-

"394 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Saviour. In vindication of their bold assertion,they even introduce quotations from SS. Basil, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Chrysostom. Thesequotations are utterly irrelevant; but if seen inthe context, they will tend to prove, instead of disproving the Catholic doctrine of Confession. Foithe sake of brevity, I shall cite a few passagesonly from the Fathers referred to. These citationsI take, almost at random, from the copiouswritingsof these Fathers on Confession. From these extracts you can judge of the sentiments of all theFathers on the subject of Confession. "Ab unodisce omnes"St. Basil writes :In the confession of sins, tLesame method must be observed as in laying open,the infirmities of the body ; for as these are notrashly communicated to every one, but to those onlywho understand by what method they may be cured,so the confession of sins must be made to such persons as have the power to apply a 1Laterremedy."on he tells us who those persons are."Necessarily,our sins must be confessed to those to whom hasbeen committed the dispensation of the mysteries ofGod. For thus also are they found to have actedwho did penance of old, in regard of the saints.For, it is written in the Acts, they confessed to theApostles, by whom also they were 2Twobaptized."conclusions obviously follow from these passages ofSt. Basil :1st, the necessity of confession ; 2d, the1 In Keg. Brev., qusest. ccxxix., T. II., p. 492.8 Ibid, cclxxxviii.. D. 516.

"""""THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 395obligation of declaring our sins to a priest, to whom,in the New Law, is committed "thedispensation ofthe mysteries of God."St. Ambrose, of Milan, writes : The poisonissin the ; remedy, the accusation of one s crime : thepoison is iniquity confession is the remedy of the;relapse. And, therefore, it is truly a remedy againstpoison, if thou declare thine iniquities, that thoumayest be justified.Art thou ashamed ? This shamewill avail thee little at the !judgment-seat of God."The following passage clearly shows that the greatLight of the Church of Milan is speaking of confession to priests: There are some/ continues St.Ambrose, who ask for penance, that they may atonce be restored to communion. These do not somuch desire to be loosed as to bind the priest for;they do not unburden their conscience, but theyburden his, who is commanded not to give holythings unto dogs, that not is, easily to admit impuresouls to the holy communion." 2Paulinus, the secretary of St. Ambrose, in his lifeof that great Bishop, relates that he used to weepover the penitents whose confessions he heard.St. Augustine writes Our merciful God wills us:to confess in this world that we may not be conLet no onefounded in the other." s And again:say to himself, I do penance to God in private,I doit before God. Is it then in vain that Christ hathsaid, Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be1See Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 74 and seq.2Apud Wiseman, Doctrines of the Church.8Horn, am

"Lo"""396 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.loosed in heaven? Is it in vain that the keys havebeen given to the Church? Do we make void theGospel ? void the words, of Christ ?In this extract how well doth the great Doctormeet the sophistry of those who, in our times, saythat it is sufficient to confess to God !St. Chrysostom, in his thirtieth Homily, says! we have now at length reached the close ofHoly Lent; now especially we must press forwardin the career of fasting, .... and exhibit a full andaccurate confession of our sins, .... that with thesegood works, having come to the day of Easter, wemay enjoy the bounty of the Lord For, asthe enemy knows that having confessed our sins,and shown our wounds to the physician, we attain toan abundant cure, he in an especial manner opposes us."And again he says:1Do not confess to me onlyof fornication, nor of those things that are manifestamong all men, but bring together also thy secretcalumnies, and evil speakings, .... and all suchthings."2The great Doctor plainly enjoins here a detailedand specific confession of our sins not to God, but toHis, minister, as the whole context evidently shows.The same Father, in an eloquent treatise on thepower of the sacred ministry, uses the following words:To the priests isgiven a power which God wouldnot grant either to angels or archangels insomuch;that what the priests do below, God ratifies above,1 Sermo cccxcii. *Tom. vii. Comm. in Matt.

"What""THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 397and the Master confirms the sentence of His servants.Whose sins you shall retain, they are.For, He says,retained.power, I ask, can be greater than this ?The Father hath given allpower to the Son ;and Isee all this same power delivered to them by Godthe Son.*To cleanse the leprosy of the body, or rather topronounce it cleansed, was given to the Jewish priestsalone. But to our Priests isgranted the power notof declaring healed the leprosy of the body, but ofabsolutely cleansing the defilements of the 1soul."And again: If a sinner, as becomes him, woulduse the aid of his conscience, and hasten to confesshis crimes, and disclose his ulcer to his physician,who may heal and not reproach, and receive remediesfrom him ;if he would speak to him alone, withoutthe knowledge of any one, and with care lay allbefore him, easily would he amend his failings ; for,the confession of sins is the absolution ofcrimes" 2 ,St. Jerome writes : If the serpent,the devil,secretly bite a man, and thus infect him with thepoison of sin, and this man shall remain silent, anddo not penance, nor be willing to make known hiswound to his brother and master ;the master, whohas a tongue that can heal, cannot easily serve him.For, if the ailing man be ashamed to open his caseto the physician, no cure can be expectedfor medi;cine does not cure that of which it knows nothing."31Lib. iii.,34De Sacerdotio.3Comment, in Eccles.aIbid., Horn.

"898 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Elsewhere he says:With us, the Bishop orpriest binds or looses; Dot them who are merelyinnocent or guilty, but having heard, as his dutyrequires, the various qualities of sin, he understandswho should be bound and who loosed." lCould the Catholic doctrine regarding the powerof the priests and the obligation of confession be expressedin stronger language than this ?And yet these are the very Fathers who arerepresented to be opposed to Sacramental Confession ! With a reckless disregard of the unanimousvoice of antiquity, our adversaries have the hardihoodto assert that private or Sacramental Confession wasintroduced at a period subsequent to the twelfthcentury. They do not, however, vouchsafe to informus by what Pope or Bishop or Father of the Church,or by what Council, or in what country, this monstrous innovation was foisted on the ChristianRepublic. Surely, an institution which, in theirestimation, has been fraught with such dire calamity to Christendom, ought to have its originmarked with more precision.It is sometimes prudent, however, not to be too particular in fixingdates.I shall now, I trust, show to the satisfaction ofthe reader: 1. That Sacramental Confession was notintroduced ;2. That it could not have been introduced into the Church since the days of the Apostles,and consequently that it isApostolic in its origin.1Comm. in Matt

""THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 399That Confession was not invented since the dayaof the Apostles is manifest as soon as we attempt tofix the period of its first establishment. Let us goback, step by step, from the nineteenth to the firstcentury.It had not its origin in the present century, aaeverybody will admit.Nor did it arise in the sixteenth century, since theGeneral Council of Trent, held in that age, speaksof it as an established and venerable institution ;and Luther says thatauricular Confession, as nowin vogue, is useful, nay, necessary nor would ; I,"he adds, have it abolished, since it is the remedy" Iof afflicted consciences ;and even Henry VIII.,before he founded a new sect, wrote a treatise indefence of the Sacraments, including Penance andConfession.It was not introduced in the thirteenth century,for the Fourth Council of Lateran passed a decreein 1215, obliging the faithful to confess their sins atleast once a year. This decree, of course, supposesConfession to be already an established fact.Some Protestant writers fall into a common error,"in interpreting the decree of the Lateran Council, bysaying that Sacramental Confession was never required in the Church of Rome until the thirteenthcentury."The Council simply prescribed a limitbeyond which the faithful should not defer theirConfession.1 Lib. de Capt. Babyi. cap. de Poenit.

400 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.These writers seem incapable of distinguishing between a law obliging us to a certain duty and a statute fixing the time for fulfilling it.They might aswell suppose that the revenue officer creates the lawregarding the payment of taxes, when he issues anotice requiring the revenue to be paid within agiven time.Going back to the ninth century, we find thatConfession could not have had its rise then. It wasat that period that the Greek schism took its rise,under the leadership of Photius. The Greek schismatic church has remained since then a communionseparate from the Catholic Church, having no spiritual relations with us. Now, the Greek church isas tenaciously attached as we are to private Confession.For the same reasons, Confession could not dateits origin from the fifth or fourth century. TheArians revolted from the Church in the fourthcentury, and the Nestorians and Eutychians in thefifth. The two latter sects still exist in large numbers in Persia, Abyssinia, and along the coast ofMalabar, and retain Confession as one of theirmost sacred and cherished practices.In fine, no human agency could succeed in instituting Confession between the first and fourth century ; for the teachings of our divine Redeemerand of His disciples had made too vivid an impression on the Christian community to be easilyeffaced ;and the worst enemies of the Church ad-

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 401mit that no spot or wrinkle had yet deformed herfair visage in this, the golden age of her existence.These remarks suffice to convince us that Sacramental Confession was not instituted since the time ofthe Apostles.I shall now endeavor to prove to yoursatisfaction that its introduction into the Church, sincethe A postolic age, was absolutely impossible.There are two waysin which we may suppose thaterror might insinuate itself into the Church, viz. :suddenly, or by slow process. Now the introductionof Confession in either of those ways was simplyimpossible.First, nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that Confession was immediately forced uponthe Christian world. For experience demonstrateswith what slowness and difficulty men aredivestedof their religious impressions, whether true or false.Now, if such is the case with individuals, how ridiculous would it seem for whole nations to adopt in asingle day some article of belief which they hadnever admitted before. Hence, we cannot imagine,without doing violence to our good sense, that allthe good people of Christendom went to rest, onenight, ignorant of the sacrament of Penance, androse the next morning firm believers in the Catholic doctrine of auricular Confession. As well mightwe suppose that the citizens of the United Stateswould retire to rest at night believing they wereliving under a Republic, and wake up impressedwith the conviction that they were under the ruleof Queen Victoria.

102 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Nor is it less absurd to suppose that the practiceof Confession was introduced by degrees. How canwe imagine that the Fathers of the Church theClements, the Leos, the Gregories, the Chrysostoms,the Jeromes, the Basils, and Augustines, those intrepid High Priests of the Lord, who, in every age,at the risk of suffering persecution, and exile anddeath, have stood like faithful sentinels on the watchtowersof Israel, defending, with sleepless eyes, theoutskirts of the city of God from the smallest attackhow can we imagine, I say, that they would sufferthe enemy of truth to invade the very sanctuary *bfGod stemple? If they were so vigilant in cuttingoff the least error, how would they tamely submitto see such a monstrous exotic engrafted on the fruitful tree of the Church ?What gives additional weight to these remarks, isthe reflection that Confession is not a speculativedoctrine, but a doctrine of the most practicalkind,influencing our daily actions, words, and thoughts ;and a sacrament to which thousands of Christianshave constant recourse in every part of the world.It is a doctrine, moreover, hard to flesh and blood,and which no human power, even if it had the will,could be able to impose on the human race. It isonly a God that, in such a case, could exact thehomage of our assent.In whatever light, therefore, we view the presentquestion whether we consider the circumstancesof time, or place, or manner of its introduction

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 403the same inevitable conclusion stares us in the face :that Sacramental Confession is not the invention ofman, but the institution of Jesus Christ.But the doctrine of priestly absolution, and theprivate Confession of sins, is not confined to theRoman Catholic and Oriental schismatic churches.The same doctrine isand inalso taught by a largefluential portion of the Protestant Episcopal chiwchof England.The Rev. C.-S. Grueber, a clergyman of the churchof England, has recently published a catechism, in.which the absolving power of the minister of God,and the necessity and advantage of Confession, areplainly set forth. I will quote from the Rev. gentleman s book his identical words :Question. What do you mean by absolution ?Answer. The pardon or forgiveness of sin..By what special ordinance of Christ are sinscommitted after Baptism to be pardoned?A. By the sacrament of absolution.Q. Who is the minister of absolution?A. A Priest.Q. Do you mean that a Priest can really absolve 4A. Yes.Q. In what place of the Holy Scripturecorded that Christ gave this power to the priesthood?A. In John xx. 23 ;see also Matt, xviii. 18.Q. What does the Prayer-Book (or Book of Common Prayer) say?is it re

"""404 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.A. In the office for the ordaining of Priests, theBishop is directed to say, Receive the Holy Ghostfor the office and work of a Priest in the Church ofGod. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forIn the office for the visitation of the sickgiven."it is said, Our Lord Jesus Christ hath left in HisChurch power to absolve all sinners that truly repent and believe in Him." In the order for morning and evening prayer we say again, AlmightyGod hath given power and commandment to Hisministers to declare and pronounce to His people,being penitent, the absolution and remission of theirsins."Q. For what purpose hath Christ given this powerto Priests to pronounce absolution in His name ?A. For the consolation of the penitent ; the quietingof his conscience.Q. What must precede the absolution of thepenitent?A. Confession Before absolution privatelygiven, Confession must be made to a Priest privately.Q. In what case does the church of Englandorder her ministers to move people to private, or, asit is called, to auricular Confession ?A. When they feel their conscience troubled withany weighty matter.Q. What isweighty matter?A. Mortal sin certainly isweighty ; sins of omission or commission of any kind, that press upon the

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 405mind, are so too.Anything may be weighty thatcauses scruple or doubtfulness.. At what times in particular does the ChurchBO order ?A. In the time of sickness, and before comingto(he Holy Communion.to whomQ. Is there any other class of personsConfession is profitable?A. Yes to those who desire to lead a; saintly life.T/iese, indeed, aretort to it.the persons who most frequently reQ. Is there any other object in Confession, besidesthe seeking absolution for past sin, and the quietingof the penitent s conscience?A. Yes; the practice of confessing each singlesin is a great check upon the commission of sin, anda preservative of purity of life. 1Here we have the divine institution of priestlyabsolution and the necessity and advantages ofSacramental Confession plainly taught, not in aspeculative treatise, but in a practical catechism, bya distinguished minister of the church of England ;taught by a minister who draws his salary from thefunds of the Protestant Episcopal church who;preaches and administers in a church edifice recognized as a Protestant Episcopal church, and who isin strict communion with a Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church of England.lSee "A Catechism on the Church." By the Rev. C. aGrueber, Hambridge, Diocess of Bath and Wells. London :Palmer. 1870.

""406 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.And these doctrines are upheld, not by one eminent divine only, but by hundreds of clergymen, aswell as by thousands of the Protestant Episcopaliansof England.What a strange spectacle to behold the samechurch teaching diametrically opposite doctrines!What is orthodox in the diocess of Bath and Wellsisdecidedly heterodox in the diocess of North Carolina. An ordinance which Rev. Mr. Grueber proclaims to be of divine faith, is characterized by Rt.Rev. Bishop Atkinson l as the invention of men.What Dr. Grueber inculcates as a most salutarypractice, Dr. Atkinson anathematizes as pernicious toreligion. Confession, which, in the judgment of theformer, is a great check upon the commission ofis sin," stigmatized by the latter as an incentive tosin. Behold how good and pleasantit is forbrethen to dwell together in unity."2Suppose that the venerable Protestant EpiscopalBishop of North Carolina, in passing through England, were invited by the Rev. Mr. Grueber topreach in his church in the morning, and that theRt. Rev. Prelate chose for his subject a sermon onConfession ;and suppose that the Rev. Mr. Grueberselected in the evening, as the subject of his discourse, the doctrine advanced by him in his catechism.Let us imagine some benighted dissenter attend-1The Protestant Episcopal Bishop oi North Carolina.a Ps. cxxxii.

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 407ing Mr. Gruebers church at the morning and eveningservice, with the view of being enlightened inthe teachings of the Protestant church, would notour dissenter be sorely perplexed, on returning homeat night, as to what the Protestant Episcopal churchreally did teach ?Some Episcopalians are pleased to admit thatConfession may be resorted to with spiritual profitin certain abnormal cases for instance, in timeof sickness. So that in their judgment, a religious observance which is salutary to a sick man, ispernicious to him in good health. For the lifeof me, I cannot see how the circumstance of bodilyhealth can affect the moral character of a religiousact.That a minister of the Baptist or the Methodistchurch should deny the power of priestly absolution,I readily understand, since these churches disclaim,in their confessions of faith, any such prerogativefor their clergy. But I cannot well conceive why aProtestant Episcopalian should repudiate the pardoning power, which isplainly asserted in hisstandard Prayer-Book.Whenever an Episcopalian Bishop imposes handson candidates for the ministry he employs the following words, which are found in the Book of Common Prayer: "Receive the Holy Ghost for the officeand work of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands.VVhose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ;and

""408 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained."these words do not mean that the minister receiverby the imposing of the Bishop s hands, the power offorgiving sin, they mean nothing at all. And whenthe Bishop pronounces this sentence, either heintends to convey this power of absolution, or hedoes not. If he intended to confer this power, becould not employ more clear and precise languageto express his idea ;if he did not intend to conferthis power, then his islanguage calculated to mislead.Just imagine that prelate addressing a candidatefor Holy Orders, in the morning, with the words :Whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiven ;and after divine service, saying to the young minister :Remember, sir, you have no power to forgivesins. The words of ordination are a mere figure ofspeech.When a Catholic Bishop ordains priests, he usesthe precise words which I have quoted, because theBook of Common Prayer borrows them from ourPontifical. But he means exactly what he says,viz. : That the Priest receives through the ministration of the Bishop the power of forgiving sins.To sum up: We have seen that tjie Sacramentof Penance and absolution by the priest is taughtin Scripture; proclaimed by the Fathers; upheldnot only by Roman Catholics throughout the world,but also by all the schismatic Christians of the East ;If1The Ordering of Priests.

"THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 409inculcated in those old and genuine editions of theBook of Common Prayer, which have not been enervated by being subjected to the prun ing-knife inthis country; and that the same practice is encouraged by an influential portion of the ProtestantEpiscopal church in England, and I will add, also,in the United States.borne, again, object to priestly absolution on theassumption that the exercise of such a functionwould be a usurpation of an incommunicable prerogative of God, who alone can forgive sins. Thiswas precisely the language addressed by the Scribesto our Saviour. They exclaimed "He : blasphemeth! who can forgive sins but God only?" Myanswer, therefore, will be equally applicable toold and modern objectors.It is not blasphemyfor a priest to claim the power of forgiving sins,since he acts as the delegate of the Most High.It would, indeed, be blasphemous, if a priest pretended to absolve in his own name and by virtueof his own authority. But when the priest absolvesthe penitent sinner, he acts in the name, and bythe express authority, of Jesus Christ; for he says:I absolve thee in the name of the Father, and ofthe Son, and of the Ghost."Holy Let it be understood, once for all, that the priest arrogates to himself no divine powers. He is but a feeble voice.It is the Holy Spirit that operates sanctityin thesoul of the penitent.1Mark ii. 7.35

410 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Not a few Protestant Episcopalians, I believe, stilladmit that original sin is washed away in the Sacrament of Baptism. If the minister is not guilty ofblasphemy, in being the instrument of God s mercy,in forgiving sins by Baptism, how can a priest blaspheme in being the instrument of divine mercy, inabsolving sinners in the Sacrament of Penance ? forthe same Lord who instituted Baptism for the remission of original sin, established Penance for the forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism. Did notthe Apostles exercise divine power in raising deadbodies to life again, and in raising souls that weredead to the life of grace? And yet no one butScribes and Pharisees accused them of usurpingGod s powers. And cannot the Almighty, without derogating from His own glory, give to menin the nineteenth century privileges which He accorded to them in the first age of the Church ?Far, then, from dishonoring, we honor God byhaving recourse to the earthly physician whom Hehas appointed for us, and, like the multitude in theGospel, we "glorify God, who hath given such1power to men."Others also object to Confession, on the allegedground that there is no necessity for having recourse to the ministrations of a priest, since Godcan forgive us in secret. If God is able to saveus without any priestly ministrations, why, then,are not the people informed that they can, in1 Matt. be. 8.

"THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 411"future, dispense altogether with the services of theclergy, without any detriment to their own salvation? St. Augustine, who lived 1,400 years ago,will answer the objectionfor me : Let no one,"remarks this illustrious Doctor, say to himself, I loPenance to God in private 1 ;I do it before God. Isit then in vain that Christ has said Whatsoever yeshall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ? Isit in vain that the keys have been given to theChurch?" The question for us is not what Godis able to do, but what He has willed to do. Godmight have adopted other means for the justificationof the sinner, as he might have created a worlddifferent from the present one. But it is our business to take our Father at His word, and to haverecourse with gratitudeto the system He has actually established for our justification. Now, we areassured by His infallible word, that it is by havingrecourse to His consecrated ministers that our sinswill be forgiven us. 1It is related in the Book of Kings that Naaman,the Syrian, was afflicted with a grievous leprosy,which baffled the skill of the physicians of hiscountry. He had, in his household, a Jewishmaid-servant. She spoke to her master of thegreat prophet Eliseus, who lived in her nativecountry, to whom the Lord had given the powerof performing miracles. She besought her masterto consult the prophet.Naaman accordingly set1John xx.

""""412 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.out for the country of Israel, and beggedto heal him. The prophet told him to go andwash seven times in the Jordan ;but Naaman,instead of doing as he was directed, became veryangry, and said I":thought he would have comeout to me, and touched with his hand the . . . placeof the leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abanaand the Pharfar, rivers of Damascus, better than allthe waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, andlbe made clean ?" But the servants of Naamau remonstrated with him, and besought him to complywith the prophet s injunction, tellinghim that theconditions were easy, and the Jordan was at hand.Naaman went and washed, and was cleansed. Ouropponents, like Naaman, cry out :Why should yougo to a priest, a sinner like yourself, when, secretlyin your own room, you can approach God, the purefountain of grace, to be washed from your sins ? Ianswer, because Jesus Christ, a prophet, and morethan a prophet, has commanded you to do so.The last charge that I will notice is the most serious and the most offensive. We are told that private Confession is lawless ;that the conscience soonbecomes enfeebled and chained and starved byit; and, worse and worse, that sins are more readilycommitted, if followed by an absolution conveyingpardon. In other words, that the more attachedCatholics are to the practices of their holy religion,the more depraved and corrupt they become. Or,if they remain faithful to God, this is not by reasonof,but in spite of their religious practices.1IV. Kings v.

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 413Surely this was not the sentiment of the late Dr,Ives, once Protestant Bishop of North Carolina, andof many other illustrious converts, who, from theday of their conversion to the hour of their death,never failed to receive consolation and strength fromthe sacred tribunal.Nor is this the sentiment of Rev. Father Lyman,a Catholic Priest of Baltimore, and brother of theassistant Protestant Bishop of North Carolina. Noris it the sentiment of the present Archbishops ofBaltimore and Philadelphia, and of the Bishops ofWilmington, Cleveland, Columbus, and Ogdensburg,and a host of others, both of the Protestant clergyand laity, who, within the last fifty years, haveentered the Catholic Church.If we compare the Protestant and Catholic systemsfor the forgiveness of sins, the Catholic system willnot suffer by the comparison. According to theProtestant system, repentance is necessary and sufficient for justification. The Catholic system alsorequires repentance on the part of the sinner as anindispensable prerequisite for the forgiveness of sin.But it requires much more than this. Before thepenitent receives absolution, he must carefully examine his conscience, and confess his sins, accordingto their number and kind. He is obliged to havea firm purpose of amendment; to promise restitution, if he has defrauded his neighbor; reparationfor any injury done to his neighbor s character ;reconciliation with his enemies, and to avoid theoccasions of sin. Do not these obligationsafford a35*

"414 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.better safeguard against a relapse into sin than asimple internal act of contrition?Many most eminent Protestant, and even infidelwriters, who were conversant with the practicalworkings of the Confessional in the countries wherethey lived, bear testimony to the moral reformationproduced by Confession. The famous German philosopher, Leibnitz, admits that it is a great benefitconferred on men, by God, that He left in HisChurch the power of forgiving sins. 1Voltaire, certainly no friend of Christianity,avows that there is not perhaps a more usefulinstitution than Confession." *Rousseau, not less hostile to the Church, exclaims :does not"Howmany restitutions and reparationsConfession cause among Catholics "s!The Protestant authorities of Nuremberg, inGermany, shortly after the establishment of thereformed doctrines in that city, were so muchalarmed at the laxity of morals which succeededafter the abolition of Confession, that they petitionedtheir Emperor, Charles V., to have the practice ofConfession restored.It is a favorite practice for the adversaries of theCatholic Church to refer to the alleged loose moralsprevailing in France, and in other Catholic countries, as a proof of the inferior standard of Catholicmorality. This is a safe, and at the same time notthe most honorable, mode of attack, as the people*f those nations are too far off to defend themselves.1Systenia Tkeol.2Remarquee sui i Oiynipc Enuie,

"ByTHE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 415For my part, I have spenta considerable time invarious portions of France, and more edifyingChristians I have never witnessed than those I havemet in that country. For six years I had for myprofessors French priests, whose exemplary liveawere a daily sermon to all of us.And I submit that the cosmopolitan city of Paris(waiving, for the present, the enormities of which itis is accused,) not to be adduced as a fair criterionof French morality. Let us stay at home, and judgeof Catholic morals by the examples furnished underour eyes.The influence of the Confessional has been fairlytested in this country, since the foundation of ourRepublic. Are practical Catholics enfeebled inconscience? Is their conscience chained andstarved? Has the absolution they received, whetted their appetitesfor more sin ? And are theymonsters of immorality ? I think that an enlightened Protestant public will pronounce a contraryverdict.I feel that I can say, with truth, that Catholicswho frequent the Confessional, are generally virtuousin their private lives; just and honorable in theirdealings with others, and that they cultivate charityand good-will towards their fellow-citizens.It will not do to say to me, that it is the system,and not the individual, that is attacked. How canwe judge of a system,unless by its practical workingin the individual ?their fruits ye shall knowthem," says our Redeemer.

416 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Vices, indeed, we have to deplore among certainclasses of our people, which are often superinducedby their migratory habits, and irregular mode oflife. But they are commonly sins of frailty, andthese are not the persons that are accustomed toapproach the Confessional. If they did, their liveawould be very different from what they are.The best of us, alas ! are not what we ought tobe, considering the graces we receive. But if youseek for canting hypocrites, or colossal defaulters,or perpetrators of well-laid schemes of forgery, or ofsystematic licentiousness, or of premeditated violence,you will seek for such in vain among those who frequent the Confessional.But we are told that Confession is an intolerableyoke, and that it makes its votaries the slaves of thepriests.Before answering this objection, let me call yourattention to the inconsistency of our adversaries, whoblow hot and cold in the same breath. At the sametime they denounce Confession as being too hard aremedy for sin, and condemn it as being a smoothroad to heaven. You have only, say they, to paya little toll at the Confessional gate, to pass thebiggest load of sin. And then they call it an intolerable yoke. In one sentence they style it a bedof roses ;and in the next a bed of thorns.In the last objection it was charged that the votariesof Confession had no moral constraint at all.Nowit is said that their conscience is bound in chains of

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 417slavery. Surely Confession cannot be hard and easyat the same time.I have already refuted, I trust, the former charge.I shall now answer the second. I am not aware inwhat sense our people are less independent thanthose of any other class of the community. Theonly icstraint, as far as I know, imposed on Catholics by their priests, is the yoke of the Gospel, andto this restraint no Christian ought to object. Inmy estimation, no body of Christians enjoys moreApostolic freedom than those of the Catholic communion, because they are guided in their conduct,not by the ever-changing ipse dixit of any minister,but by the unchangeable teachings of the Churchof Jesus Christ.But if to love theirpriest,to reverence his sacredcharacter, to obey his voice as the voice of God ;to be willing to make anysacrifice for their spiritualthen our Cathfather ; if, I say, youcall this slavery, olic people are slaves, indeed ; and, what is more,they are content with their chains.Even our Manuals of Devotion have not escapedthe lash of wanton criticism. They have excitedthe pious horror of some modern Pharisees, becausethey contain a table of sins for the use of thosepreparing for Confession. The same flower whichfurnishes honey to the bee, supplies poison to thewasp and, in like manner, the same book which;gives only the honey of consolation to the devoutreader, has nothing but moral poison for those thatsearch its pages for nothing else.if

""418 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.How can any one object to the table of sins inour prayer-books, and consistently advocate thecirculation of the Bible, which contains incomparably plainer and more palpable allusions to grosscrimes than are found in our books of devotion?Let us not forget the adage, Honi soit qui mal ypense"I may be permitted, in concluding this subject, toadd the testimony of my own experience on thebeneficent influence of the Confessional ; for, likemy brethren in the ministry, I am, in the languageof Dryden,"One bred apart from worldly noise,To study souls, their cures, and their diseases."Since the time of my ordination up to the presenthour, I have been accustomed to hear Confessionsalmost every day. I have, therefore, had a fair opportunity of ascertaining the value of thesystem."And the impressions forced upon my mind, far frombeing peculiar to myself, are shared by everyCatholic priest throughout the world who ischargedwith the care of souls. And the testimony of tenexperienced confessors ought, in my estimation, tohave more weight, in enabling men to judge of themoral tendencies of the Confessional, than the gratuitous assertions of a thousand individuals who haveno personal experience of the Confessional, but whodraw on their heated imaginations, or on the pagesof sensational novels, for the statements they offer.

THE SACHAMENT OF PENANCE. 419My experience is, that the Confessional is the mostpowerful lever ever erected by a merciful God forraisingmen from the mire of sin. It has moreweight in withdrawing people from vice than eventhe pulpit. In public sermons, we scatter the seedof the Word of God in the; Confessional, we reapthe harvest. In sermons, to use a military phrase,the fire is at random, but in Confession it is a deadshot. The words of the priest go home to the heartof the penitent.In a publicdiscourse the priestaddresses all in general, and his words of admonitionmay be applicable to very few of his hearers. Buthis words spoken in the Confessional are directedexclusively to the penitent, whose heart is open toreceive the Word of God. The confessor exhortsthe penitent according to his spiritualwants. Hecautions him againstthe frequentation of dangerouscompany, or other occasions of sin or he recom;mends special practicesof pietysuited to the penitent s wants.Hence missionaries are accustomed to estimate thefruit of a mission, more by the number of penitentswho have approached the sacred tribunal, than bythe number of persons who have listened to theirsermons.Of all the labors that our sacred ministry imposeson us there are none more arduous or more irksomethan that of hearing Confessions. It is no triflingtask to sit for six or eightconsecutive hours on ahot summer s day, listening to stories of sm and

420 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS.sorrow and misery and it is ;only the consciousnessof the immense good which he is doing, that sustainsthe confessor in the sacred tribunal. He is one"who can have compassion on the ignorant anderring, because he himself is also encompassed withinfirmity."1I have seen the man whose consciences as weigheddown by the accumulated sins of twenty winters.Upon his face were branded guilt and ehame andremorse and confusion. There he stood by the Confessional, with a downcast countenance, ashamed,like the Publican, to look up to heaven. And heglided into the little mercy-seat. No human earwill ever learn what there transpired. The revelations of the Confessional are a sealed book.But during the few moments spent in the Confessional, a resurrection occurred more miraculous thanthe raising of Lazarus from the tomb it was theresurrection of a soul, that had long lain worm-eaten,from the grave of sin. During those precious moments, a ray from heaven dispelled the darkness andgloom from that self-accuser s mind; and the genialwarmth of the Holy Spirit had melted his frozenheart, and the purifying influence of the same Spiritthat came on the Apostles,"like a mighty windfrom heaven," scattered the poisonous atmospherein which he lived, and filled his soul with divinegrace. And when he came out there was quicknessin his step, and joy on his countenance, and a new1Heb. v. 2.

THE SACRAMENT OF TENANCE. 421And had you asked him why, helight in his eye.would have answered, because I was lost, and amfound ;having been dead, I am come to life again.II.ON THE RELATIVE MORALITY OF CATHOLICTANT COUNTRIES.AND PROTESIt has been gravely asserted that the confessionof sin and the doctrine of absolution tend to thespread of crime and immorality. Statistics are produced to show that murder and illegitimate birthdare largely in excess in countries under Catholic influence ;and that this prevalence of wickedness isthe result of Confession and easy absolution.If our system of absolving those only who bothrepent and confess, leads to laxity of morals, howmuch more must the Protestant system, which omitsthat which is most humiliating, and admits thesinner to reconciliation on condition of mere interiordispositions ? As all our catechisms teach, and asevery Catholic knows, there is no pardon of sinwithout sorrow of heart and purpose of amendment.It is a great mistake to suppose that the most ignorant Catholic believes he can procure the pardonof his sins by simply confessing them, without beingtruly sorry for them. The estimate which so manyProtestants set on the virtue of even the lower classesof Roman Catholics is clearly enough evinced in thepreference which they constantly manifest in their36

""""422 THE FAITH OF OCR FATHERS.employment of Catholics practical Catholics-Catholics who go to Confession. I maintain, therefore,that Confession, far from being an incentive to sin,as our adversaries have the hardihood to affirm, is amost powerful check on the depravity of men, and amost effectual preventive of their criminal excesses,But is it true that crimes, especially murder andillegitimacy, are more prevalent in Catholic thanin Protestant countries? I utterly deny the assertion, and also appeal to statistics in support of thedenial. Whence do our opponents derive theirinformation ? Forsooth, from Rev. M. HobartSeymour sabsolutely unreliable compilations, the false statements of which have been again and again refuted.Nights among Romanists," and likeRev. Mr. Seymour gives the following list of thenumber of murders in England, France, and Ireland :Ireland19 homicides to the million of inhabitants.France 31England 4The reader of the above might well draw back inastonishment, and exclaim, Truly moral atmosphereof !England But how do these statements compare with the official records which I submit tothe unprejudiced reader ? Recent returns from the"Hand- Book" for Prance, ml "Thorn s OfficialDirectory for England and Ireland, 1869,"are aafollows :

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 423Convictions (and sentences to death).Execution*.1864. France 9 51867. England and Wales 27 10Ireland 3These figures, which are from authenticatedsources, do not bear out our accusers in their assertion that murders are more prevalent in Catholicthan in Protestant countries. The statistics of thiscrime are limited, or they are not in very generalcirculation. But we have more extensive information in reference to the other great crime which, it ischarged, prevails to a much more alarming extentin countries under Catholic influence, viz., illegitimacy. Here again we shall meet statistics withWecounter-statistics, to refute unjust declarations.do not wish to be understood as advocating the immaculatenessof Catholic communities. We franklyadmit and heartily deplore the disorders whichCatholics commit, but we deny that they are worsethan their Protestant neighbors and still roci e em;phatically do we deny that the Church is responsiblefor their disorders.The Journal of the Statistical Society of London,of the years 1860, 62, 65, 67, gives the number ofillegitimate births in England and Wales as 6J inevery hundred, whilst in the Catholic kingdom ofover two in theSardinia the number is slightlyhundred, and in Ireland three in every hundred. Ifthe test of illegitimacy is a correct index of thepass frommorality of a country, how refreshing to

424 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Protestant England across to Catholic Ireland, or tothe Continent, and visit Sardinia ! The moral atmosphere of these countries, compared with England.must be as a healthful breeze to a pestilential marsh.That we may see at a glance the real conditionof European countries in reference to this species ofcrime, I will here insert as correct a table as can bemade from the latest reports. (Vid. Catholic World,Vol. XL, p. 112.)PERCENTAGE OF ILLEGITIMACY IN PROTESTANTAND CATHOLIC COUNTRIES OF EUROPE.Protestant.Per cent.Holland 4.0Switzerland 5.5Prussia (Protestant) 10.0England and Wales . 6.5Sweden and Norway 9.6Scotland 10.1Denmark 11.0German States 14.8Wurtemburg 16.4Catholic.Pr centItaly5.1Spain 5 5France 7.2Prussia (Catholic)6.5Belgium 7.2Austria 11.1Ireland 3.0

"THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 425We have divided Prussia into Protestant andCatholic because statistics are kept according to thereligious creed of the people; and we discover that,whilst among the Catholic portion of the empirethere is but a percentage of six and a half of illegitimate births, among the Protestants it runs upto ten per cent. And the same remark is applicableto Ireland.The Scotman, whose statements are based on thereport of the British Kegistrar-General, publishesthe following statistics :The proportion of illegitimate births to the totalnumber of births is in Ireland 3.8 per cent. ;inEngland the proportionis 6.4 ;in Scotland 9.9 ;in otherwords, England is nearly twice, and Scotland nearlythrice worse, than Ireland. Something worse has tobe added, from which no consolation can be derived.The proportion of illegitimacyisvery unequallydistributed over Ireland, and the inequality ratherhumbling to us as Protestants, and still more aaPresbyterians and Scotchmen. Taking Ireland according to the registration divisions, the proportionof illegitimatebirths varies from 6.2 to 1.3. Thedivision showing this lowest figure is the western,being substantially the Province of Connaught,where about uineteeu-twentieths of the populationare Celtic and Roman Catholic. The division showing the highest proportion of isillegitimacythenorth-eastern, which comprises,or almost consists of,the province of Ulster, where the ispopulationalmost36*

426 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.divided between Protestants and RomanequallyCatholics, and where the great majority of Protestants are of Scotch blood, and of the Presbyterianchurch. The sum of the whole matter is, that semi-Presbyterian and semi-Scotch Ulster is fully threetimes more immoral than wholly Popish and whollyIrish Connaught which corresponds with wonderfulaccuracy to the more general fact that Scotland,as a whole, is three times more immoral than Irelandas a whole."It isworthy, too, of notice, that in the tabularstatement above presented, the percentage of illegitimacy in Holland and Switzerland, where thereare large Catholic minorities, is lower than in anyother Protestant country.We have at hand evidences, furnished by Protestant writers, of the hideous immoralities of certainEuropean nations that are more thoroughly Protestantized than England itself. Thus, Mr. Laiugwrites: "Of the 2,714 children born in Stockholm,1,577 were legitimate, 1,137 illegitimate; makingonly a balance of 440 chaste mothers out of 2,714 ;and the proportion of illegitimate to legitimatechildren not as one to two and three-tenths, butas one to one and a half." A Tour in Sweden in1838.But we are not disposed to parade these monstrousvices, no matter by whom committed. We alludeto them with feelings of shame, not of pleasure; andgive them a passing notice merely in self-defence

INDULGENCES. 427against the gratuitous assertions of our adversaries.We certainly do not wish to excuse or palliate theevil de^ds of Catholics, who, with all the blessedaids which their religion affords, ought to be muchbetter than they are. Yet we will add, quoting thewords of the Catholic World: "If we are not verymuch better than our neighbors, we are not anyworse ;and are not to be hounded down with thecry of vice and immorality by a set of Phariseeswho are constantly lauding their own superiority,and thanking God they are so much better than wepoor Catholics." CHAPTER XXVII.INDULGENCES.r PHERE are few tenets of the Catholic ChurchJ- so little understood, or so grossly misrepresentedby her adversaries, as her doctrine regarding Indulgences.One of the reasons of the popular misapprehension of an Indulgence, may be ascribed to the changewhich the*meaning of that term has gradually undergone. The word Indulgence originally signifiedfavor, remission, or forgiveness. Now, it is commonlyused in the sense of unlawful gratification, and offree scope to the passions. Hence, when some ignorant or prejudiced persons hear of the Church grant-

"428 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.ing an Indulgence, the idea of license to sin is atonce presented to their minds.An Indulgenceissimply a remission in whole orin part, through the superabundant meritsof JesusChrist and His saints, of the temporal punishmentdue to God on account of sin, after the guilt andeternal punishment have been remitted.It should be borne in mind, that even after ourguilt is removed, there often remains some temporalpunishment to be undergone, either in this life orthe next, as an expiation to divine sanctity andjustice. The Holy Scripture furnishes us with manyexamples of this truth. Mary, the sister of Moses,was pardoned the siii which she had committed bymurmuring against her brother. Nevertheless, Godinflicted on her the penalty of leprosy and of sevendays separation from the people. 1Nathan, the prophet, announced to David thathis crimes were forgiven, but that he should suffer2many chastisements from the hand of God.That our Lord has given to the Church the powerof granting Indulgences, is clearly deduced from theSacred Text. To the Prince of the Apostles, Hesaid : Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shallbe bound also in heaven ;and whatsoever hou shaltloose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven."And to all the Apostles assembled together Hemade the same solemn declaration. 4By these words1Num. xii.a II. Kings xii. 8 Matt. xvi. 19.4 Ibid, xviii. 18.

""INDULGENCES. 429our Saviour empowered His Church to deliver herchildren (if properly disposed) from every obstaclethat might retard them from the kingdom of heaven.Now there are two impediments that withhold a manfrom the heavenly kingdom, sin, and the temporalpunishment incurred by And it. the Church havingpower to remit the greater obstacle, which is sin, haspower also to remove the smaller obstacle, which isthe temporal punishment due on account of it.The prerogative of granting Indulgence has beenexercised by the teachers of the Church from thebeginning of her existence.St. Paul exercised it in behalf of the incestuousCorinthian whom he had condemned to a severepenance proportioned to his guilt,. that his spiritmight be saved in the day of the Lord." 1 Andhaving learned afterwards of the Corinthian s ferventcontrition, the Apostle absolves him from the penancewhich he had imposed: To him, that is such a one,this rebuke is sufficient, which is given by many.So that contrariwise you should rather pardon andcomfort him, lest, perhaps, such a one be swallowedup with over-much sorrow And to whom youFor, what I havehave pardoned anything,I also.pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, for yourmkes I have done it, in the person of Christ." 2Here we have all the elements that constitutean Indulgence.1. A penance, or temporal punishment proportionedto the gravityof the offence,~I. Cor. v. 5.8 II. Cor. ii. 6-10.

430 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.IBimposed 011 the transgressor. 2. The penitentistruly contrite for his crime. 3. This determines theApostle to remit the penalty. 4. The Apostle considers the relaxation of the penance ratified by JesusChrist, in whose name it is imparted.We find the Bishops of- the Church, after theApostle, wielding this same power. No one disputesthe right, which they claimed from the veryfirstages, of inflicting canonical penances on grievouscriminals, who were subjected to long fasts, severeabstinences, and other mortifications for a period extending from a few days to five or ten years, andeven to a lifetime, according to the gravity of theoffence. These penalties were, in several instances,mitigated or cancelled by the Church, according toher discretion. For a society which can inflict apunishment can also remit And it. our Lord gaveHis Church power not only to bind, but also toloose. This discretionary prerogative was oftenexercised by the Church at the intercession of thosewho were condemned to martyrdom, when thepenitents themselves gave strong marks of ferventsorrow, as we learn from the writings of Tertullianand Cyprian.The General Council of Nice, and other Synods,authorize the Bishops to mitigate, or even to remitaltogether, the public penances, whenever, in theirjudgment, the penitent manifested special marks ofrepentance. Now, in relaxing the canonical penances,or in substituting for them a milder satisfaction, tho

INDULGENCES. 431AndBishops granted what we call an Indulgence.this sentence of remission on the part of the Bishopgwas valid not only in the sight of the Church, butalso in the sight of God. And although the Churchimposes canonical penances no longer, God has neverceased to inflict temporal punishment for sin. HenceIndulgences continue to be necessary now, if not asa substitute for canonical penances, at least as amild and merciful payment of the temporal debtdue to God.An Indulgenceis called plenary or partial, according as it remits the whole or a part of the temporalpunishment due to sin. An Indulgence for instance,of forty days, remits, before God, so much of thetemporal punishment as would have been expiatedin the primitive Church by a canonical penance offorty days.Although the very name of Indulgences is now sorepugnant to our dissenting brethren, there was atime when the Protestant church professed to grantthem. In the canons of the church of England,reference is made to Indulgences, and to the disposi1tion which is to be made of the money paid for them.1 Articuli pro Clero, A. D. 1584. Sparrow, 194. I admit,indeed, that Protestant canons have but a fleeting and ephemeral authority even among themselves, and that the canonsmust yield to the spirit of the times, not the times to thecanons. I dare say that even few Protestant theologians arcfamiliar with the canons to which 1 have referred. Somepeople have a convenient faculty of Forgetting unpleasanttraditions

432 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.From what I have said, you may judge for youran Indulself what to think of those who say thatgence is the remission of past sins, or a license tocommit sin granted by the Pope as a spiritual compensation to the faithful for pecuniary offeringsmade to him. I need not inform you that an Indulisgence neither the one nor the other. It is not aremission of sin, since no one can gain an Indulgenceuntil he isalready free from sin. It is still less alicense to commit sin for ; every Catholic child knowsthat neither Priest, nor Bishop, nor Pope, nor evenGod Himself with all reverence be it said cangive any license to commit the smallest fault.But are not Indulgences at variance with thespirit of the Gospel, since they appear to be a mildand feeble substitute for alms-giving, fasts, abstinences, and other penitential austerities, which JesusChrist inculcated and practised, and which the primitive Church enforced?The Church never exempts her children from theobligation of doing works of penance, as every onemust know who isacquainted with her history.No one can deny that the practices of mortification are more frequent among Catholics than amongProtestants. Where will you find the evangelicalduty of fasting enforced,if not from the Catholicpulpit? And it is well known that, among themembers of the Catholic Church, those who availthemselves of the boon of Indulgences are usuallyher most practical, edifying, and fervent children

INDULGENCES. 433And their spiritual growth, tar from being retarded,isquickened by the aid of Indulgences, which areusually accompanied by acts of contrition, devotion,and self-denial, and by the reception of the Sacraments.But, do what we will, we cannot please our opponents. If we fast and give alms ;if we crucify ourflesh, and make pilgrimages and perform other worksof penance, we are accused of clinging to the ragsof dead works, instead of "holdingon to Jesus"byfnith. If, on the other hand, we enrich our soulswith the treasures of Indulgences, we are chargedwith relying on the vicarious merits of others,pnd of lightening too much the salutary burden ofthe cross. And how can Protestants consistentlyand fault with the Church for mitigating the austerities of penance, since their own fundamental principle rests on faith alone without good works fBut have not Indulgences been the occasion ofmany abuses at various times, particularly in thesixteenth century?I will not deny that Indulgences have beenabused ;but are not the most sacred things liable tobe perverted? This is a proper place to refer brieflyto the Bull of Pope Leo X. proclaiming the Indulgence which afforded Luther a pretext for his apostacy.Lee determined to bring to completion themagnificent church of St. Peter, commenced by hispredecessor Julius II., and with that view he issueda Bull promulgating an Indulgence to such as would37 2C

"""434 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.contribute some voluntary offering towards the ereotion of the grand cathedral. Those, however, whocontributed nothing, shared equally in the treasuryof the Church, provided they complied with the essential conditions for gaining the Indulgence. Theonly indispensable conditions enjoined by the PapriBull, were sincere repentance and confession of sins.D Aubigue admits this truth, though in a falteringmanner, when he observes that in the Pope s Bullsomething was said of the repentance of the heart,1and the confession of the lips."The applicants corthe Indulgence knew well that, no matter how munificent were their offerings, these would avail themnothing without true contrition of heart.Consequently, no traffic or sale of Indulgences wasauthorized or countenanced by the Head of theChurch, since the contributions were understood tobe voluntary. And, in order to check any sordidlove of gain in those who were charged with preaching the Indulgence, the hand that delivered theas DIndulgence," Aubigne testifies, could notreceive the :money that was forbidden under theseverest penalties."2Wherein, then, was the conduct of the Pope reprehensible? Certainly not in soliciting the donationsof the faithful for the purpose of erecting a te;npleof a worship, temple which to-day stands unrivalledin majesty and beauty !1Vol. I., p. 214.a. bid.

INDULGENCES. 435But them of temples old, or altars new,Standest alone, with nothing like to thee .Worthiest of God, the holy and the true,Since Sion s desolation, when that HeForsook His former city, what could beOf earthly structures, in His honor piled,Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty,Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisledIn this eternal ark of worship undeliled." lIf Moses was justified in appealing to the Hebrewpeople, in the Old Law, for offerings to adorn thetabernacle, why should not the Pope be equallyjustified in appealing for similar offerings to theChristian people, among whom he exercises supremeauthority as Moses did among the Israelites?"Nor did the Pope exceed his legitimate powers inpromising to the pious donors spiritual favors in exchange for their donations. For, if our sins can beredeemed by alms to the poor, 2 as the Scripture tellsus, why not as well by offerings in the cause of religion? When Protestant ministers appeal to theircongregations in behalf of themselves and theirchildren, or in support of a church, they do not failto hold out to their hearers spiritual blessings inreward for their gifts.It is not long since a Methodist parson of New York addressed these sacredwords to Cornelius Vauderbilt, the millionaire, whohad endowed a Methodist college: "Cornelius, thyprayer is heard, and thy alms are had in remem-1Byron.aDaniel iv. 24.

""436 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.brance in the sight of God." l The minister is moreindulgent than even the Pope, to whom were giventhe keys of the kingdom of heaven ; for, the ministerdeclares Cornelius absolved without the preliminaryof Confession or contrition, while even, according toD Aubigne, the inflexible Pope insisted on the necessity of repentance of the heart, and Confession ofthe lips,"before the donor s offering could avail himto salvation.John Tetzel, a Dominican monk, who was appointed the chief preacher to announce the Indulgence in Germany, was accused, by Luther, of exceeding his powers by making them subservient tohis own private ends. Tetzel s conduct was disavowed and condemned by the representative of theHoly See. The Council of Trent, which was heldsome time afterwards, took effectual measures to puta stop to all irregularities regarding Indulgences,and issued the following decree :Wishing to correct and amend the abuses which have crept intothem, and on occasion of which, .this signal name ofIndulgences is blasphemed by heretics, the holySynod enjoins in general, by the present decree, thatall wicked traffic for obtaining them, which has beenthe fruitful source of many abuses among the Christian people, should be whollyabolished." 21Acts x 31* Sess. xxv. Dec. de Indulgentiis.

"EXTREME UNCTION. 437CHAPTER XXVIII.EXTREME UNCTION.OXTREME Unction is a Sacrament in which theLJ sick, by being anointed with holy oil, and bythe prayers of the priests, receive spiritual succor,and even corporal strength when it is conducive totheir salvation. This unction is called Extreme,because it isusually the last of the holy unctionsadministered by the Church.The Apostle St. James clearly refers to this Sacrament, and points out its efficacy in the followingwords Is :any man sick amoug you; let him bringin the priests of the Church, and let them pray overhim, anointing him with oil in the name of theLord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sickman and the Lord shall raise him; up; and if hebe in sins, they shall be forgivenhim." lSeveral of the ancient Fathers allude to this Sacrament. Origen (third century) writes: "There isalso a remission of sins through penitence, when thesinner ... is not ashamed to declare his sin to thepriest of the Lord, and to seek a remedy . . .wherein that also is fulfilled which the ApostleJames saith : But if any be sick amonglet you, himcall in the priests of the Church, and let them imposehands on him, anointing him with oil in the name ofthe Lord. "*1Janres v. 14, 15. *Honril ii. in Levit37*

"438 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.St. "Chrysostora (fourth century) says Not : onlywhen they (the priests) regenerate us, but theyhave also power to forgive sins committed afterwards ;for he says Is :any man sick among you ;let him call in the priests of the Church, and letthem pray over him, anointing him with oil in thelname of the Lord.Pope Innocent I. (fifth century), in a letter toa bishop named Decentius, after quoting the words"of St. James, proceeds These : words, there is nodoubt, ought to be understood of the faithful whoare sick, who can be anointed with the holy oil,which, having been prepared by a bishop, may beused not only for priests, but for allChristians."aThe Sacramentary, or ancient Roman Ritual, revised by Pope St. Gregory in the sixth century,prescribes the blessing of oilby the bishop, and theprayers to be recited in the anointing of the sick.The venerable Bede of England, who lived in theeighth century, referring to the words of St. James,writes: "The custom of the Church requires thatthe sick be anointed by the priests with consecratedoil and be sanctified by the prayer which accompanies it." *The Greek church, which separated from theRoman Catholic Church in the ninth century, saysin its profession of faith "The seventh Sacrament:is Extreme Unction, prescribed by Christ ; for, aftei1 Lib. iii. de Sacerd.* Epist. xxv. ad Decentum.8Comment in locum.f \

"EXTREME UXCTION. 439He had begun to send His disciples two and two,(Mark vi. 7-13,) they anointed and healed many,which unction the Church has since maintained bypious usage, as we learn from the Epistle of St.James Is :any man sick among you, etc. Thefruits proper to this Sacrament, as St. James declares, are the remission of sins, health of soulstrength, in fine, of body. But thoughit does notalways produce this last result, it always at leastrestores the soul to a better state, by the forgivenessof sins." This is precisely the Catholic teaching onthis subject. All the other Oriental churches, someof which separated from Rome in the fifth century,likewise enumerate Extreme Unction among theirSacraments.Such identity of doctrine proclaimed during somany ages, by churches so wide apart, can have noother than an Apostolic origin.The eminent Protestant Leibnitz makes thiscandid admission : There is no room for muchdiscussion regarding the unction of the sick. It issupported by the words of Scripture, the interpretation of the Church, in which pious and Catholicmen safely confide. Nor do I see what any one canfind reprehensible in that practice which the Churchlaccepts."Protestants, though professing to be guided by theHoly Scripture, entirely disregard the admonition1Systema Theol., p. 280.

"440 THE FAITTT OF OUR FATHERS.of St. James. Luther acted v/ith more consistencyFinding that the injunction of the Apostle was tooplain to be explained away by subtlety of words, heboldly rejected the entire Epistle, which he contemptuously styled a letter of straw." lIt is sad to think that our separated brethrendiscard this consoling instrument of grace, thoughpressed upon them by an Apostle of Jesus Christ ;for, surely a spiritual medicine which diminishesthe terrors of death, comforts the dying Christian,fortifies the soul in its final struggle, and purifies itfor itspassage from time to eternity, should begratefully and eagerly availed of, especially whenprescribed by an inspired Physician.CHAPTER XXIX.THE PRIESTHOOD.THE Apostles were clothed with the powers ofJesus Christ. The Priest, as the successor ofthe Apostles, is clothed with their power. This factreveals to us the eminent dignity of the priestlycharacter.The exalted dignity of the Priest is derived notfrom the personal merits for which he may be conspicuous,but from the sublime functions which1Lib. de Captiv. Babyl.

""THE PRIESTHOOD. 441he ischarged to perform. To the carnal eye, thePriest looks like other men, but to the eye of faith,he is exalted above the angels, because he exercisespowers not given even to angels.The Priest is the ambassador of God, appointedto vindicate His honor and to proclaim His gloryuWe are ambassadors for Christ," says the Apostle ;If it islGod, as it were, exhorting by us."esteemed a great privilege for a citizen of the UnitedStates to represent our country in any of the courtsof Europe, how much greater is the prerogative torepresent the court of heaven among the nations ofthe earth ! "As the Father hath sent Me," says our2 "Lord to His Apostles, I also send you." Going,therefore, teach ye all nations, .... teaching themto observe all things whatsoever I have commandedyou. And, behold, I am with you all days, even tothe consummation of the world." 8 The j urisdictionof earthly representativesis limited, but the authority of the ministers of God extends over thewhole earth. "Goye into the whole world, andpreach the Gospel," says Christ, "to every creature."4Not only does Jesus empower His ministers topreach in His name, but He commands their hearersto listen and obey."Whosoever will not receiveyou, nor hear your words, going forth from thathouse or city, shake off the dust from yourleet.1 II. Cor. v. 20.2John xx. 21.3 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.*Mark xvi. 15.

""442 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Amen, I say to you,it shall be more tolerable foithe land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judg1ment, than for that "Hecity."that heareth you,heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiset.hMe ;and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him thatgent Me."2God requires not only that His Gospel should beheard with reverence, but that the persons of HisApostles should be honored. And as no greaterinsult can be offered to a nation than to insult itsrepresentative at a foreign court, so no greater injurycan be offered to our Lord than to do violence toHis representatives, the Priests of His Church.Touch not My anointed, and do no evil to My*prophets."God avenged the crime of two and fortyboys who mocked the prophet Eliseus, by sendingwild beasts that tore them in pieces. And the frightful death of Maria Monk, the calumniator of consecrated Priests and Virgins, who ended her life adrunken maniac on Blackwell s Island, proves thatour religious institutions are not to be mocked withimpunity.When an ambassador is accredited to a foreigncourt, from this country, he is honored with the confidence of the President, from whom he receives private instructions. So does Jesus honor His ambassadors with His friendship, and He communicatesto them the secrets of heaven :I will not now callyou servants ; for, the servant kuoweth not what hia1Matt. x. 14, 153Luke x. 16.3Paralip. xvi. 22.

""""HowLord doeth.allTHE PRIESTHOOD. 443But I have called you friends, becausethings whatsoever I have heard of My Father, Ilhave made .known to you."What a privilege to be the herald of God s lawto the nations of the earth :beautiful onthe mountains are the feet of him that bringethgood tidings, and that preacheth peace of him that:showeth forth good, that preacheth salvation, thatsaith to Sion: Thy God shall reign."2Howcherished a favor to be the bearer of the olive-branchof peace to a world deluged by sin ;to be appointedby Heaven to proclaim that Gospel which bringsglory to God, and peace to men ; that Gospelwhich strengthens the weak, converts the sinner,reconciles enemies, and consoles the afflicted heart,and holds out to all the hope of eternal salvation !Not only are Priests the ambassadors of God, butthey are also the dispensers of His graces, and thealmoners of His mercy. Let a man so regard us,"says the Apostle, as ministers of Christ, and dispensers of the smysteries of God."How can he be called a dispenser of God smysteries, whose labors are confined to preaching? Buthe is truly a dispenser of divine mysteries who distributes -to the faithful the sacraments, the mysterious symbols, and efficient causes of grace.As St. John Ghrysostom observes, it was not toangels or archangels, but to the Priests of the Is ewLaw that Christ said : Whatsoever you shall bind1John xv. 15.2 Isaiah lii. 7. I. Cor. iv. 1.

""444 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.on earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosedalsoin heaven." To them alone He gave the power toforgive sins, saying: Whose sins you shall forgive,they are Toforgiven."them alone He gave thepower of consecrating His body and blood, and dispensing the same to the faithful. He has empoweredthe Priests of the New Law to impart the grace ofregeneration in Baptism. He has assigned to themthe solemn duty of preparing the dying Christianfor his final journey to eternity Is any man sick:among you ? Let him bring in the priests of theChurch, and let them pray over him, anointing himwith oil, in the name of the Lord." 1As far as heaven is above earth, as eternity isabove time, and the soul is above the body, so farare the prerogatives vested in God sministers higherthan those of any earthly potentate. An earthlyprince can cast into prison or release therefrom.But his power is over the body. He cannot penetrate into the sanctuary of the soul. But the ministerof God can release the soul from the prison of sin,and restore it to the liberty of a child of God.To sum upin one sentence the titles of a Catholic Priest :He is a king, reigning not over unwilling subjects,but over the hearts and affections of his people.He is a shepherd, because he leads his flock intothe delicious pastures of the sacraments, and shelters1James v. 14.

""THE PRIESTHOOD. 443them from the wolves that lie in wait for theirsouls.He is a father, because he breaks the bread of lifeto his spiritual children, whom he has begotten inChrist Jesus through the Gospel.1He is a judge, whose office it is to pass sentenceof pardon on self-accusing criminals.He is a physician, because he heals their soulsfrom the loathsome distempers of sin.St. John, inhis Apocalypse, represents the Churchunder the figure of a city. I saw the holy city, thenew Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from God,1prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."Our Saviour is the Architect and Founder of thiscelestialcity. The Apostles are its foundation.The faithful are the living stones of the edifice.The anointed ministers of the Lord are the workmen chosen to adjust and polish these stones, thatthey may reflect the beauty and glory of the sun ofjustice that perpetually illumines this city. ThePriests are engaged in adorning the interior of theheavenly Jerusalem, by enriching, with virtue, theprecious souls entrusted to their charge. God gavesome, indeed, Apostles, and some prophets, and othersEvangelists, and others pastors and doctors, for theperfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,for the building up of the body of 8Christ," whichis His Church. What an honor is this to the Priest1 1. Cor. iv 15.2Apoc. xii. 2.Eph. iv. 11, 12.

"""""""446 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.of the New Law !Surely God "hatli not done aliketo every nation, and His judgments He bath notmade manifest to them." lWith how much more force may we apply to thesuccessors of the Apostles; the words which Godepoke to tfhe Priests of the Old Law :Hear, yeeons of Levi. Is it a small thing unto you, that theGod of Israel hath separated you from all thepeople, and joined you to Himself, that ye shouldserve Him in the service of the tabernacle, andshould stand before the congregation of the people,and minister unto Him ?Our Saviour affectionately puts this question threetimes to Peter: "Simon, lovest thou Me?" Andthree times Peter answers Him, Lord, Thou knowestthat I love Thee." What proof of love doesthen Jesus exact of Peter? Does He say: If thoulovest Me, chastise thy body by fasting and stripes,prophesy, work miracles, lay down thylife for Me?No, but feed My lambs," feed My Thissheep."was to be the closest bond of Peter s devotion to hisMaster, and of the Master s affection for His disciple.And our Lord declares that the reward of Hisdisciples would be commensurate with the dignityof their ministry : Behold," says Peter, we haveleft all things and have followed Thee. What,therefore, shall we have ? And Jesus said to them,Ainen, I say to you that you who have followed Me,1Ps. cxlvii. 20.

"AndTHE PRIESTHOOD. 447in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall aiton the seat of His majesty, you shall also sit ontwelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."And immediately after, He adds that the worthysuccessors of the Apostles shall share in their felicity;every one that hath left house, or brethren,or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,or lands for My name s sake, shall receive a hun1dred-fold, and shall possess life everlasting."I know that there are many in our days who denythat Priests possess any spiritual power, as if Godcould not communicate such power to men. I understand why atheists and rationalists, who reject allrevelation, should deny all supernatural authorityto the ministers of God. But that professing Christians, who accept the testimony of Scripture, shouldshare in this unbelief, passes my comprehension.Has not the Almighty, in numberless instancesrecorded inHoly Writ, made man the instrumentof His power? Did not Moses convert the riversof Egypt into blood? Did he not cause water toissue from the barren rock ? Did not the prophetspredict future events ? Did not the sun stop in theDid not Eliseus,do weheavens, at the command of Josue ?the prophet, raise the dead to life? Whybelieve all these prodigies?Because the Scripturesrecord them. Does not the same Word of God declare that the Apostles received power to confer theHoly Ghost by the imposition of hands, to forgive1Matt. xix. 27-29.

""""448 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.sins, to consecrate the body and blood of Christ, etc. .And is not the New Testament as worthy of beliefas the Old ? Has not Jesus Christ solemnly promisedto be always with the ministers of His Church, evento the consummation of the world," strengtheningthem to repeat those miracles of mercy that werewrought by His M first ?isciplesCan the God oftruth be unfaithful to His promises? Is He not asstrong and merciful now as He was in the days ofthe Prophets and Apostles, and are not we as muchin need of the Holy Ghost as the primitive Christians were? And if God could then make feeblemen the ministers of His mercy, why not now?But should a Priest consider himself greater thanother men, because he exercises such authority?Far from it; he ought to humble himself beneathothers when he reflects to what weak hands Godassigns such tremendous power. He should remember what our Saviour said to the seventy-two disci >pies who, returning with joy from their first mission,cried out to Him :Lord, even the devils are subject to us in name."Thy But Jesus checked theirvainglory, saying I saw Satan like lightning fall:from heaven. Behold, I have given you power, . . .but rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject to you ;but rejoicein this, that your names are written inheaven." lThe Priest does not forget that the mostsevere judgment shall be for them that bear rule,"and "thatjudgment should begin at the house of1 Luke x. 18, 20 *Wisd. vi. 6.

""What""THE PRIESTHOOD. 449God." ! The words of the Apostle are present tohis mind :hast tliou that thou hast notreceived? And if thou hast received, why dost2thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" Aswell might the vessel which is filled with preciousliquor, boast on that account of being superior tothe vessel which is filled with water. The Priestknows full well that the powers he has receivedfrom God are given to him not to feed his own vanity, but to enrich the hearts of the faithful and;thatthough he may be instrumental in pointing out toothers the way to heaven, he himself will become areprobate, unless he is adorned with personal virtues ;like those unhappy priests of Jerusalem whodirected the Magi to Jesus in Bethlehem, but didnot go thither themselves.I have planted," says the Apostle, Apollowatered, but God gave the increase. Thereforeneither he that plantethisanything, nor he thatwatereth, but God that giveth the increase." We3perform the outward ceremony, God alone suppliesthe grace.The obligations of the minister of God are, therefore, commensurate with his exalted dignity.The Priest is required to be a man of profoundlearning and of solid piety.The lips of the priestshall keep knowledge, and they (the people) shallseek the law at his mouth." 4 As physician of the1 I. Pet. iv. 17.2 1. Cor. iv. 7.8 I. Cor. iii. 6, 7.* Malach. ii. 7.38* 2D

"450 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Boul, liemust be conversant with its various distempers, and must know what remedy is to be appliedin each particular case. If society justly holds theunskilful physician responsible for the fatal conseGod will call to aquences of his malpractice, surelystrict account the spiritual physician who, throughcriminal ignorance, prescribes injudicious remediesto the souls of the patients committed to his charge.As judge of souls, he must know when to bindand when to loose ;when to defer and when to pronounce sentence of absolution. And if nothing isso disastrous to the republic as an incompetentjudge, whose decisions, though involving life anddeath, are rendered at hap-hazard, and not inaccordance with the merits of the case so ;nothingis more detrimental to the Christian commonwealththan an ignorant priesthood, whose decisions injuriously affect the salvation of souls.The advocate in our courts of justice feels boundin conscience and in honor to study the case of hisclient with the utmost diligence, and to defend himbefore the jury with all the eloquence which he cannot involve moremaster. And yet the suit maythan a brief imprisonment or even a limited fine.But the Priest, like Moses, stands before God to intercede for His people, and stands before the peopleto advocate the cause of God. For, he not onlyascends daily the altar to plead for the people, and tocry out with the prophet, O"Spare, Lord, spare Thypeople, and give not Thy inheritance to reproach ;

THE PRIESTHOOD. 451but every Sunday he mounts the pulpit to vindicatethe claims which God has on His subjects and;certainly, if every attorney is bound to study his client scause before he defends it, no matter how trifling thethe obligationissue, how much more imperativeisof the Priest to study well his case, when he reflectsthat an immortal soul is on trial, and before menwho are often the worst enemies of their own souls.He has to convince the people that the narrow roadis to be followed, which their inclinations abhor, andthat the broad road is to be abandoned, which theirself-love and their passions tend to pursue.Conviction in this case requires rare tact as well as eloquenceand learning.But the minister of religion has to defend the soulnot only against the corruptions of the heart, butalso against those doctrinal errors which are dailyspringing up in every direction, and which are plausibly preached by false teachers, who bring to theirsupport the most specious arguments, couched in themost attractive language. To refute these errorsoften requires the most consummate skill, and a profound knowledge of history and the Holy Scripture.It is no wonder, then, that the Church insists thather clergy be educated men. Hence our ecclesiastical students are usually obliged to devote from tento fourteen years to the diligent study of the modernand ancient languages, of history and philosophy, andthe great science of theology and the Holy Scripture,before they are elevated to the sacred ministry.

""452 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.It is true indeed that, owing to the rapidly-increasing demand for clergy in the Dnited States, ourBishops have hitherto been sometimes compelled toabridge the course of studies of the candidates forthe ministry but now that the Church;is morethoroughly organized, and that seminaries are multiplied among us, they are happily enabled to extendto their young levites the advantages of a full termof a literary and theological training.If the Priest should be eminent for his learning,he should be still more conspicuous for his virtues,for he isexpected to preach more by example thanby precept. If in,the Old Law God charged Hispriests with the admonition "Be : sanctified, ye thatcarry the vessels of the 1Lord," how much morestrictly is holiness of life enjoined on the Priests ofthe New Dispensation, who not only touch the sacredvessels, but drink from them the Precious Blood ofthe Lord ?Purer," says St. Chrysostom, than any solar ray,should that hand be which divides that flesh, thatmouth which is filled with spiritual fire, that tonguewhich ispurpled with that most awful blood."In order to foster in us the spirit of personal piety,we are constantly admonished by the Church to bemen of prayer. The Priest should be like those angels whom Jacob saw in a vision, ascending to heavenand descending therefrom on the mystical ladder.He isexpected to ascend by prayer, and to descend1Isaiah lii. 11.

"CELIBACY, ETC. 453by preaching. He ascends to heaven to receivelight from God he descends to communicate that;light to his hearers. He ascends to draw at theliving Fountain of divine grace he descends to dif;fuse those living waters among the faithful, that theirhearts may be refreshed. He ascends to light historch at the ever-burning furnace of divine love, anddescends to communicate the flame tohis people.The Church, indeed, considers prayerthe souls ofso indispensable to her clergy, that, besides the voluntaryexercises of piety which their private devotion maysuggest, she requires them to devote at least an hour,each day, to the recitation of the divine office, whichchiefly consists of the Psalms and other portions ofHoly Scripture, the Homilies of the early Fathers,and prayers of marvellous force and unction.CHAPTER XXX.CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY.Church requires her Priests to be pure inbody as well as in soul, and to present theirbodies a living victim, holy, well - pleasing untoGod."xOur Saviour and His Apostles, though recognizing matrimony as a holy state, have proclaimedthe1Bom. xii. 1.

"4o4THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.superior merits of voluntary continency, particularlyfor those who consecrate their lives to the sacredministry. There are eunuchs who have made themselves such for the kingdom of heaven s sake. He1who can take it, let him take it." Our Lord evidently recommends here the state of celibacy to suchas feel themselves called to embrace it, in order toattain greater perfection.St. Paul gives the reason why our Saviour declarescontinency to be a more suitable state for His ministers than that of "matrimony He who : is unmarried,careth for the things of the Lord, how he may pleaseGod. But he who is married, is solicitous about thethings of the world, how he may please his wife, andhe is divided." 2Jesus Christ manifestly showed His predilectionfor virginity, not only by always remaining a Virgin,but also by selecting a Virgin-Mother, and a Virginprecursorin the person of St. John the Baptist, andby exhibiting a special affection for John the Evangelist, because, as St. Augustine testifies, that Apostlewas chosen a Virgin, and such he always remained.Not only did our Lord thus manifest, while onearth, a marked predilection for virgins, but He exhibits the same preference for them in heaven ; for,the hundred and forty-four thousand, who are chosento sing the New Canticle, and who follow the Lambas St. Johnwhithersoever He goeth, are all Virgins,testifies.(Apoc. xiv.)*Matt. xix. 12. I. Cor. vii. 32, 33.

""""""CELIBACY, ETC. 455The Apostle of the Gentiles assures us that he leda single life, and he commends that state to others :I say to the unmarried, and to the widows,it isgood for them if they so 1continue, even as I."There is no evidence from Scripture, that any ofthe Apostles were married except St. Peter. St.Jerome says that ifany were married, they certainlyseparated from their wives, after they were called tothe Apostolate. Even St. Peter, after his vocation,did not continue with his wife, as may be inferredfrom his own words: "Behold, we have left alland followed Thee."2Amongthings, all thingsmust be reckoned the fellowship of his wife ; for, hecould hardly say with truth that he had left allthings, if he did not leave his wife. And our Saviourimmediately afterwards enumerates the wife amongthose cherished objects, the renunciation of which,for His sake, will have its reward. 8St. Paul declaresthata bishopmust be sober,just, holy, continent." * And writing to Timothy,whom he had consecrated Bishop, he says: Be thouan example to the faithful .... in charity, in faith,6in chastity."And in another place, he enumerateschastity among the virtues which should adorn theChristian minister : In all things, let us exhibitourselves as the ministers of God in much patience,.... in chastity."*1 I. Cor. vii. 8.2 Matt. xix. 27. Ibid. xix. 29.4 Tit. I 8. I. Tim. iv. 12.6 II. Cor. vi. 46.

"456 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Although celibacy is not expressly enforced byour Saviour, it is, however, commended so stronglyby Himself and His Apostles, both by word andexample, that the Church felt it to be her duty toenforce it as a law.The discipline of the Church has been exertedfrom the beginning, in prohibiting Priests to marryaftertheir ordination. St. Jerome observes thatbishops, priests,and deacons are chosen from virgins or widowers, or at least, they remain perpetually chaste after being elevated to the priesthood/ lAnd to Jovinian, he writes: "Youcertainly admitthat he cannot remain a bishop who begets childrenin the Episcopacy ; for, if convicted, he will not beesteemed as a husband, but condemned as anterer."adul2And again he says: "What will thechurches of the East, of Egypt, and of the Apostolic See do, which adopt their clergy from amongvirgins, or if they have wives, they cease to live asmarried men." 8St. Epiphauius declares that "he who leads amarried life is not admitted by the Church to theor sub-deacon."*order of deacon, priest, bishop,In the primitive days of the Church, owing to thescarcity of vocations among the unmarried, marriedmen were admitted to sacred orders, but they wereenjoined,as we learn from various canons, to liveseparatedfrom their wives after their ordination.MEp. ad Pammach. *Adv. Jovin., lib. L*Adv. Vigilantium. * Hseres. 59, c. 4.

CELIBACY, ETC. 457This discipline, it is true, was relaxed to Borneextent in favor of a portion of the clergy of theOriental church, who were permitted to live withtheir wives, if they happened to espouse thembefore ordination ; but, like the priests of the Western church, the Eastern clergy were forbidden tocontract marriageafter their ordination. It is important also to observe that the unmarried clergyof the East are held in much higher esteem by thepeople than the married priests.It cannot indeed be denied that at certain epochsof the Church s history, especially in periods of disordered society, there were too many instances of theviolation of clerical celibacy. But the repeated violations of a law are no evidence of its non-existence.And whenever the voice of the Church could beheard, it always spokein vindication of the law ofpriestly chastity.Let me now call your attention to the proprietyand advantages of clerical celibacy.1st. The Priest is the representative of JesusChrist. He continues the work begun by his divineMaster. It is his duty to preach the word, to administer the sacraments, and, above all, to consecrate thebody and blood of Christ, and to distribute the sameto the faithful. Is it not becoming that a chasteLord should be served by chaste ministers?If the Jewish while priests, engaged in their turn,in offering the sacrifice of animals in the Temple,were obliged to keep apart from their wives, should

"458 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.not the Priests of the New Law practise continualthe sacrifice of the Immacchastity, who offer dailyulate Lamb?If David and his friends were not permitted toeat the bread of Proposition till he had avowed thatfor the three preceding days they had refrainedfrom women, 1 how pure in body and soul shouldbe the Priest who daily partakes of that livingBread of which the bread of Proposition was butthe type ;and if the people at Mount Sinai wereforbidden to come near their wives for three days;before receiving the Law, 2should not they abstainaltogether whose office it is to preachall times ?the Law atThorndyke, an eminent Protestant divine, in hiawork entitled, Just Weights and Measures, makes thtifollowing observation The reason for :single Ufafor the clergy is firmly grounded, by the Fathers andcanons of the Church, upon the precept of St. Paul,forbidding man and wife to depart unless for a time,to attend unto prayer (1 Cor. vii. 5). For, priestsand deacons being continually to attend upon occasions of celebrating the Eucharist, which ought continually to be frequented ; if others be to abstainfrom the use of marriage for a time, then theyalways."*2d. Writers frequently discuss the secret cause ofthe marvelous success which marks the growth ofthe Catholic Church everywhere, in spite of the mostformidable opposition. Some ascribe this progress1T Ku>e TTL *Exod. rix.8Pagp 239

"CELIBACY, ETC. 459to her thorough organization ;others to the far-seeingwisdom of her chief pastors. Without undervaluing these and other auxiliaries, I incline to the belief that, under God, the Church has no tower ofstrength more potent than the celibacy of herclergy. The unmarried Priest, as St. Paul observes (1 Cor. vii.), is free to give his whole timeundivided to the Lord, and can devote his attentionnot to one or two children, but to the entire flockwhom he has begotten in Christ Jesus, through theGospel while the married minister is divided be;tween the cares of his family and his duties to the"Acongregation. single life," says Bacon, "dothwell with churchmen ; for, charity will hardly waterlground, where it must first fill a pool."3d. The world has hitherto been converted byun^married clergymen, and only by them will it continue to be converted. St. Francis Xavier and St.Francis de Sales could not have planted the faith inBOmany thousands of souls, if they were accompanied on their journeys by their wives and children.Of all the gems that adorn the priestly diadem, noneis so precious and indispensable in the eyes of thepeople as the peerless jewel of chastity. Withoutthis pearl, the voice of a Hyaciuthe becomes asBounding brass and a tinkling cymbal with;" it, thehumblest missioner gains the hearts of multitudes.Everybody is aware of the numerous conversions1Essays, p. 17.

""460 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.to Christianity effected by St. Francis Xavier inJapan, in the sixteenth century. After the lapseofmany years from the death of St. Francis, when aFrench squadron was permitted to enter the Japanese ports, a native Christian, named Peter, havinglearned that French Priests were on board, put theirfaith to the test, by proposing to them these threequestions: "Are you followers of the great Father inRome ? Do you honor Mary, the Blessed Virgin ?The French Priests having satisHave you wives ?fied their interrogator on these points, and especiallyon the last, Peter and his companionsfell at themissioners feet, exclaiming with delight:Thanks,thanks !they are virgins and true disciples of ourApostle Francis." 1A cotemporary writer has wittily remarked, that"perhaps the most ardent admirer of hymeneal riteawould cheerfully admit that he could not conceiveSt. Paul or St. John starting on a nuptial tour, accompanied by the latest fashions from Athens orEphesus, and the graceful brides whom they weredestined to adorn. They would feel that Christianityitself could not survive such a vision as that.Nor could the imagination picture, in its wildestmoods, the majestic adversary of the Arian emperorattended in his flight up the Nile by Mistress Athanasius,nor St. John Chrysostom escorted in his wanderings through Phrygia by the wife of his bosomarrayed in a wreath of orange-blossoms. Would1Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, March, 1868.

"HaveCELIBACY, ETC. 461Ethelbert have become a Christian, if St. Augustinehad introduced to him his lady and her bridesmaids?" 1We frequently hear of unmarried Bishops andPriests laying down their lives for the faith inChina and Corea, and imprisoned in Germany.But such heroic sacrifices are too much to be expected from men enjoying the domestic luxury, andengrossed by the responsibility of a wife and children.But does not St. Paul authorize the marriage ofthe clergy when he says: we not power tocarry about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest ofthe Apostles ? The Protestant text mistranslates" 2this passage by substituting the word wife for woman.It is evident that St. Paul does not speak here ofhis wife, since he had none ;but he alludes tothose pious women who voluntarily waited on theApostles, and ministered to them in their missionary"journeys.It is also objected that the Apostle seems to require that a Bishop be the husband of one *wife."The context certainly cannot mean that a Bishopmust be a married man, for the reason already given,that St. Paul himself was never married. The senseof the text, as all tradition testifies, is that no candidate should be elected to the office of Bishop whohad been married more than once. It was not poa1Marshall, Comedy of Convocation.a I. Cor. ix. 6,39*8 I. Tim. iii. 2.

462 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.sible in those days always to select single men foithe Episcopal office. Hence the Church was oftencompelled to choose married persons, but alwayswith this restriction, that they had never contractednuptials a second time. They were obliged, moreover, if not widowers, to live separated from theirwives.Others adduce against clerical celibacy thesewords of St. Paul: "In the last times, some shalldepart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of1error, .... forbidding to marry."But this passage alludes to the Ebionites, Gnostics, and Manicheans,who positively taught that marriage issinful. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, holdsthat matrimony is not only a lawful state for thosewho are called to embrace it, but that it is also asacrament, and that the highest degree of holinessis attainable in conjugal life.Some go so far as to declare continency impracticable. Our dissenting brethren in the ministryare so uxoriously inclined, that, perhaps, for thisreason they dispute the possibility, as well as theprivilege, of Priests to remain single. But in makingthis assertion they impugn the wisdom of JesusChrist and His Apostle, who lived in this state andrecommended it to others ; they slander consecratedPriests and nuns, and they unwittingly question thepurity of their own unmarried sisters, daughters,and sons. How many men and women are there inlLTim.iv. 1-3.

CELIBACY, ETC. 463the world who spend years, nay, their whole lives,in the single state? And who shall dare to accusesuch a multitude of incontinency?Nor should any one complain of theseverity ofthe law of clerical celibacy, since the candidatevoluntarily accepts the obligations after mature consideration.Finally, it cannot be urged against celibacy, thatit violates the divine precept to "increase and multiply;" for, this command surely cannot requireall marriageable persons to be united in wedlock.Otherwise, bachelors and spinsters would also beguilty of violating the law. The number of men>ind women consecrated to God by vows of chastityforms but an imperceptible fraction of the humanfamily, their proportion in the United States, forinstance, being only one individual to about everyfour thousand. And, moreover, it is an incontrovertible fact that the population increases most inthose countries in which the Catholic clergy exercisethe strongest influence ; for, there married people areimpressed with the idea that marriage was institutednot for the gratification of the flesh, but for the procreation and Christian education of children.

"""464 THE .FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.MATRIMONY isCHAPTER XXXI.MATRIMONY.not only a natural contract between husband and wife, but it has been elevatedfor Christians, by Jesus Christ, to the dignity of a sacrament :Husbands," says the Apostle, love yourwives, as Christ also loved the Church and deliveredHimself up for it, .... so also ought men to lovetheir wives as their own bodies For this causeshall a man leave his father and mother, and shalladhere to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.This is a great sacrament : but I speak in Christ andlin the Church.In these words the Apostle declares that the unionof Christ with His Church is the type or model ofthe bond subsisting between man and wife. Nowthe union between Christ and His Church issupernatural and sealed by divine grace. Hence, also,is the fellowship of a Christian husband and wifecemented by the grace of God. The wedded coupleare bound to love one another during their wholelives, as Christ has loved His Church, and to discharge the virtues proper to the marriage state. Inorder to fulfil these duties, special graces of ourSaviour are required.The Fathers and Councils and Liturgies^hes.v. 25-32.of the

"Have"MATRIMONY. 465Western and the Oriental churches, including theCoptic, Jacobite, Syriac, Nestorian, and other schismatic bodies, which for upwards of fourteen centuries have been separated from the Catholic communion, all agree in recognizing Christian marriageas a sacrament.Hence the Council of Trent, speaking of Matri"mony, says Christ Himself, the Institutor and Perfectorof the venerable sacraments, merited for us by:His passion the grace which might perfect that natural love, and confirm that indissoluble union, andsanctify the married ;as the Apostle Paul intimates,saying: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ alsoloved the Church, and delivered Himself for it; adding shortly after This is a great sacrament, but:I speak in Christ and in the Church. (Ephes. v.)Whereas therefore matrimony, in the evangelicallaw, excels in grace, through Christ, the ancient marriages with reason have our holy Fathers and Coun;cils and the tradition of the universal Church, alwaystaught that it is to be numbered among the sacra1ments of the new law."The Gospel forbids a man to have more than onwife, and a wife to have more than one husband.you not read," says our Saviour, that Hewho made man in the beginning, made them maleand female? And He said, for this cause shall aman leave father and mother, and shall cleave untohis wife,and they two shall be in one flesh.Wherefore1 Sess. xxiv.2K

""466 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.they are no more two, but one flesh. Our Lord" 1recalls marriage to its primitive institution, as it wasordained by Almighty God (Gen. ii.). Now, marriage in its primitive ordinance, was the union ofone man with one woman ; for, Jehovah created butone helpmate to Adam. He would have createdmore, if His design had been to establish polygamy.The Scripture says that "man shall adhere to hiswife"not his wives. It does not declare that theyshall be three or more, but that they shall be twoin one flesh.Hence Mormonism, unhappily so prevalent in theUnited States, is at variance with the plain teachingsof the Gospel, and isconsequently condemned bythe Catholic Uhurch. Polygamy, wherever it exists,cannot fail to be a perpetual source of family discordand feuds. It fosters deadly jealousy and hateamong the wives of the same household it; derangesthe laws of succession and primogeniture, and breedsrivalry among the children, each endeavoring to supplant the other in the affections and the inheritanceof their common father.Marriageis the most inviolable and irrevocableof all contracts that were ever formed. Every human compact may be lawfully dissolved but this.Nations may be justified in abrogating treaties witheach other merchants ; may dissolve partnerships ;brothers will eventually leave the paternal roof, andseparate from one another, like Jacob and Esau.1Matt. xix. 4-6.

"""MATRIMONY. 467Friends, like Abraham and Lot, may be obliged topart company. But by the law of God, the bonduniting husband and wife can be dissolved only bydeath. No earthly sword can sever the nuptial knotwhich the Lord has tied ; for, what God hath joinedtogether, let not man put asunder.It isworthy of remark, that three of the Evangelists, as well as the Apostle of the Gentiles, proclaimthe indissolubility of marriage, and forbid a weddedperson to engage in second wedlock during the lifeof his spouse. There is scarcely indeed a moral precept more strongly enforced in the Gospel than theindissoluble character of marriage validly contracted.The Pharisees came to Jesus, tempting Him, andsaying Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife:for every cause ? Who, answering, said to them :Have ye not read that He who made man from thebeginning, made them male and female? And Hesaid : For this cause shall a man leave father andmother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twoshall be one flesh. Therefore now they are not two,but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. They say to Him :Why then did Moses command to give a bill ofdivorce and to ?put away He saith to them : Because Moses, by reason of the hardness of yourheart, permitted you to put away your wives but;from the beginning it was not so. And I say toyou, that whosoever shall put away his wife, exceptit be for fornication, and shall marry Another, com-

"468 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.mitteth adultery: and lie that shall marry her thatisput away, committeth ladultery."Our Saviourhere emphatically declares that the nuptial bond isratified by God Himself, and hence" that no man,nor any legislation framed by men, can validly dissolve the contract.To the Pharisees interposing this objection, ifmarriage is not to be dissolved, why then did Mosescommand to give a divorce, our Lord replies thatMoses did not command, but simply permitted theseparation, and that in tolerating this indulgence,the great lawgiver had regard to the violent passionof the Jewish people, who would fall into a greaterexcess, if their desire to be divorced and to form anew alliance were refused. But our Saviour reminded them that in the primitive times no suchlicense was granted.He then plainly affirms that such a privilegewould not be conceded in the New Dispensation ; for,He adds I :say to you whosoever shall put away:his wife, and shall marry another, committeth adultery."Protestant commentators erroneously assertthat the text justifiesan injured husband in separating from his adulterous wife, and in marrying again.But the Catholic Church explains the Gospel in thesense that, while the offended consort may obtain adivorce from bed and board from his unfaithfulwife, he is not allowed a divorce a vinculo matrinionii,BO as to have the privilege of marrying another.1Matt. xix. 3-9.

""MATRIMONY. 469This interpretation is confirmed by the concurrenttestimony of the Evangelists Mark and Luke, andby St. Paul all of;whom prohibit divorce a vinculo,without any qualification whatever.In St. Mark we reud : Whosoever shall put awayhis wife and marry another, cornmitteth adulteryagainst her. And if the wife shall put away herhusband and be married to another, she cornmittethadultery."1The same unqualified declaration is made by St.Luke :Every one that putteth away his wife andmarrieth another, committeth adultery and he;thatmarrieth her that isput away from her husband,2committeth adultery."Both of these Evangelistsforbid either husband or wife to enter into secondwedlock, how aggravating soever may be the causeAnd surely, if the case of adulof their separation.tery authorized the aggrieved husband to marryanother wife, those inspired penmen would not havefailed to mention that qualifying circumstance.Passing Horn the Gospels to the Epistle of St.Paul to the Corinthians, we find there also an unqualified prohibition of divorce. The Apostle iswriting to a city newly converted to the Christianreligion. Among other topics, he inculcates thedoctrine of the Church respecting Matrimony. Wemust suppose that as an inspired writer and a faithful minister of the Word, he discharges his dutyconscientiously, without suppressing or extenuating1Mark x. 11, 12.40aLuke xvi. 18.

"470 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.one iota of the law. He addresses the Corinthiansas follows : To thorn that are married, not I, butthe Lord commandeth that the wife depart not fromher husband.) And if she depart, that she remainunmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. Andllet not the husband put away his wife." Here wefind the Apostle, in his Master s name, commandingthe separated couple to remain unmarried, withoutany reference to the case of adultery. And if suchan important exception existed, St. Paul would nothave omitted to mention it; otherwise he wouldhave rendered the Gospel yoke more grievous thanits Founder intended.We must therefore admit that, according to thereligion of Jesus Christ, conjugal infidelity does notwarrant either party to marry again, or we areforced to the conclusion that the vast number ofChristians whose knowledge of Christianity was derived solely from the teachings of Saints Mark,Luke, and Paul, were imperfectly instructed intheir faith.Nor can we suppose that St. Matthew gave to themarried Christians of Palestine a privilege whichSt. Paul withheld from the Corinthians ;for thenthe early Christian Church might have witnessedthe disedifying spectacle of aggrieved husbandsseeking in Judea for a divorce from their adulterouswives which they could not obtain in Corinth ; justas discontented spouses, in our times, sue in a neigh-1 1. Cor. vii. 10, 11.

MATRIMONY. 471boring State for a legal separation which is deniedthem in their own. Christ is not-divided, nor do theApostles contradict each other.The Catholic Chureh, following the light of theGospel, forbids a divorced man to enter into secondespousals during the life of his former partner. Thisis the inflexible law she first proclaimed in the faceof Pagan emperors and people, and which she hasever upheld, in spite of the passions and voluptuousness of her own rebellious children.Henry VIII., once an obedient son and defenderof the Church, conceived, in an evil hour, a criminalattachment for Anne Boleyn, a lady of thequeen shousehold, whom he desired to marry after beingdivorced from his lawful consort, Catherine of Arragon.But Pope Clement VII., whose sanction he solicited, sternly refused to ratify the separation, thoughthe Pontiff could have easily foreseen that his determined action would involve the Church in persecution, and a whole nation in the unhappy schismof its ruler. Had the Pope acquiesced in the repudiation of Catherine, and in the marriage of AnneBoleyn, England indeed would have -been sparedto the Church, but the Church herself would hav^surrendered her peerless title of Mistress of Truth.When NapoleonI.repudiated his devoted wife,Josephine, and married Marie Louise of Austria, swell assured was he of the fruitlessness of his attempt to obtain from the Holy See the sanction ofhis divorce and subsequent marriage, that he did noteven consult the Holy Father on the subject.

"472 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.A few years previously, Napoleon appealed toPius VII. to annu.4 the marriage which his brotherJerome had contracted with Miss Patterson of Baltimore. The Pope sent the following reply to theEmperor Your :majesty will understand that uponthe information thus far received by us, it is not in ourpower to pronounce a sentence of nullity. We cannot utter a judgment in opposition to the rules ofthe Church, and we could not, without laying asidethose rules, decree the invalidity of a union which,according to the Word of God, no human power cansunder."Christian wives and mothers, what gratitude youowe to the Catholic Church for the honorableposition you now hold in society If !you are nolonger regarded as the slave, but the equal of yourhusband ;ifyou are no longer the toy of his caprice,and liable to be discarded at any moment, like thewomen of Turkey and the Mormon wives of Utah ;but if you are recognized as the mistress and queen,of your household, you owe your emancipation tothe Church. You are especially indebted for yourliberty to the Popes who rose up in all the majestyof their spiritual power to vindicate the rights ofinjured wives against the lustful tyranny of theirhusbands.How opposite is the conduct of the fathers of thego-called Reformation, who, with the cry of religiousreform on their lips, deformed religion and societyby sanctioning divorce.

"MATRIMONY. 473Henry VIII. was divorced from his wife, Catherine, by Cranmer, the first Reformed Primate ofEngland.Luther and his colleagues, Melanchthon and Bucer,permitted Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, to have twowives at the same time. 1Karlstadt, another German Reformer, justifiedpolygamy. 2And modern Prussia is reaping the bitter fruitsof the seeds that were then sown within its borders.Seventy-five per cent, of the marriages now contracted outside of the Catholic Church in Berlin,are performed without any religious ceremony whatever. A union not bound by the strong ties of religion is easily dissolved.This subject excites a painful interest in our owncountry, in consequence of the facility with whichdivorce from the marriage bond is obtained in manyof our States. We have here another exemplification of the dangerous consequences attending a private interpretation of the sacred text. When Lutherand Calvin proclaimed to the world that it wasnot wise to prohibit the divorced adulterer frommarrying again,"3they little dreamed of the fruitful1Bossuet, Variations, Vol. I. 2Audin, p. 339.8American Cyclop., art. Divorce. Our Saviour declaresthat he who raarrieth an adulteress, comraitteth adultery. YetLuther and Calvin declare that it is unwise to oppose such amarriage. But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men."And Wisdom has said: will "Idestroy the wisdom of thewise."(I. Cor. i.)40*

474 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.progeny which was destined before long to springfrom this isolated monster of their creation. Thereare already about thirty causes which allow the CODjugaltie to be broken, some of which are of sotrifling a nature as to provoke merriment, were itnot for the gravity of the subject, which is well calculated to excite alarm for the moral and socialwelfare of our country.Persons are divorced by the courts not only forinfidelity, but also without even the shadow of Scripture authority, for alleged cruelty, intemperance,desertion, prolonged absence, mental incapacity, sentence to the penitentiary, incompatibility of temper,and such other causes as the court, in its discretion,may deem sufficient.For the year ending June, 1874. seventeen hundred and forty-two applications for divorce werepresented in the State of Ohio. And if such isOhio s record, what must be the matrimonial condition of Indiana, which is called the paradise ofdiscontented spouses.In Connecticut there were, in 1875, four thousandthree hundred and eighty-five marriages, and fourhundred and sixty-six divorces from the marriagebond. The number of divorces obtained in thesame State during the last fifteen years, has reachedfive thousand three hundred and ninety-one. Andthis is the record of a State whose public schoolsystem is considered the most thorough and perfect

MATRIMONY. 475in the country. The statistics given of Ohio andConnecticut will enable us to form some idea of thefearful catalogue of divorces annually obtained inthe United States.There are some who regard the Catholic Churchas too severe in proclaiming the absolute indissolubilityof marriage. But it should be borne in mind,that it is not the Church, but the divine Founder ofthe Christian religion, that has given us the law.She merely enforces its observance.But the law, how rigorous soever, is mercy itself,when compared with the cruel consequences whichtoilow from the easy concession of divorce.The facility with which marriageis annulled ismost injuriousto the morals of individuals, of thefamily, and of society.It leads to ill-assorted and hasty marriages, because personsare less circumspect in making a compact which may be afterwards dissolved almost at will.It stimulates a discontented and unprincipled husbandor wife to lawlessness, quarrels, and even adultery,well knowing that the very crime will afford a pretext and legal grounds for a separation.It engenders between husband and wife fierce litigationsabout the custody of their offspring.Itdeprivesthe children of the protecting arm of a father, orthe gentlecare of a mother, and too frequently consigns them to the cold charity of the world for the;married couple who are wanting in conjugal love forone another are too often also destitute of parental

476 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.affection. In a word, it brings into the household ablight and desolation which neither wealth nor luxury can repair.There is but one remedy to this social distemper ;and that is an absolute prohibition of divorce a vinculo, in accordance with the inflexible rule of theGospel and of the ancient Church. In Catholiccountries divorces are exceedingly rare, and are obtained only by such as have thrown off the yoke ofthe Church. And if the sacred laws of Matrimonyare still happily observed by so large a portion ofthe Protestant community, the purity of morals is inno small measure due to the presence among themof the Catholic religion, which exercises a beneficialinfluence even over those who are outside the paleof her communion, like the sun, whose benignantlight and heat are felt even in those secluded spotswhich his rays can but dimly penetrate.

INDEX.A BSTINENCE, on Friday, 20.** Angels, assist us by their prayers, 184, et seq.Apostles, authority given to, 22.Apostolicity, falseness of Protestantclaims to, 68.Proved by early Fathers, 70.BAPTISM, sacrament of, 308.Infant, 308.Necessity of, 310.Effects of, 315.Modes of, 317.Bartholomew, St., facts concerningmassacre of, 297.Bible, how used by the Jews, 97.Christ s teaching concerning, 99.Christ did riot intend dissemination of, 101.Protestant theory and practice atvariance concerning, 102.Protestants cannot accept as sufficient guide, 103.Not accessible to primitive Christians, 105.Difficulties of interpreting, 107.Consequences of private interpretation of, 108.All truths necessary to be believed not found in, 111.The Church the guardian of, 112.Popes the guardians of, 113.First editions of, 114.Use made by Catholics of, 116.pARROLL, CHARLES, friend of\Jreligious liberty, 276.Catholicity, not found outside ofthe Roman Church, 52.Celibacy, of clergy, 453.Christ and His Apostles approve,454.Ancient discipline concerning,, 456.Propriety and advantages of, 457.Objections answered as to. 461.Ceremonies, dictated by reason, 365.Old Law,Approved by God in367.Sanctioned by Christ in NewLaw, 368.Acknowledged influence of, 371.Of the Mass, 372.Church, marks of true, 23.Unity of, 23.Figures of, 25.Holiness of, 35.Catholicity of, 50.Numerical strength of, 56.Apostolicity of, 58.Departure of Protestants fromteachings of primitive, 60.Perpetuity of, 71.Indestructibility of, 72.Futility of schemes for destruction of, 78.Infallible authority of, 85.Bible and, 97.Present state in Europe of, 280.477

478 INDEX.Communion, under one kind, 341.Under one kind, Luther s teaching as to, 343.Under one kind, practice of earlyChurch as to, 345.Confession, necessity and advantages of, 393.The origin of, 399.Protestant teaching with regardto, 403.Confirmation, sacrament of, 320.Testimony of early Fathers asto, 323.Protestant, 326.Council of Trent, 48.Vatican, 55.Councils, number of Ecumenical,138.Cross, veneration and early use of,21.DEAD, prayers for, 248. *The Old Testament sanctionsprayers for, 249.Christ sanctions prayers for,250.Teaching of the Fathers as toprayers for, 252.The ancient Liturgies containprayers for, 257.The eastern sects all use prayersfor, 258.The Jews, even to this day, useprayers for, 259.Divorce, Church s teaching as to,468.Of Henry VIII, 471.Of Napoleon, 471.A Reformer sanctioned, 473.Alarming frequency of, 473.Evils of facility in obtaining,475.Dogma, new definitions of, 30.ELIZABETH.persecutions under,300.Eucharist, Holy, 327.Promise of, 328.Institution of, 332.Eucharist, apostolic teaching as to,336.The Father s teaching as to, 339.progress in, 33.FAITH,Flowejs, use of, 381.GOD, nature and attributes of, 19.Grace, 303.Guide, characteristics of a sure, 105.ILLEGITIMACY, in Catholic and-L Protestant countries, 424.Images, veneration of, 232.First crusade against, 233.Teaching of the Church as to, 235.Teaching of Leibnitz (Protestant)as to, 236.A Protestant theologian s defenceof, 239.Advantages of, 241.Incense, use of, 381.Indulgences, 427.Authority of Scripture for, 428.Pope Leo s Bull of, 433.Protestants promise, 435.Council of Trent on, 436.Infallibility, of Church, provedfrom Scripture, 86.Consequences of denying, 91.Meaning of, 94.Explanation of term "Papal,"145.An official prerogative, 147.Scripture grounds for, 150.Acts of Councils indicate thePope s, 153.Instances of the exercise of, 157.The Pope the true source of, 159.

.INDEX. 479Mary, Immaculate conception of,Infallibility, objections answered asPerpetual virginity of, 200. Infallibility of, 145.to, 159.203.Inquisition, Spanish, 284.Dignity of, proclaimed in theChurch not responsible for cruelties of, 2:il.Gospel, 204.Worthy of honor, 214.Origin and true nature of, 291. Various modes ofA political institute, 293.fied, 216.honor justiCatholic prelates under ban of,295.Why we invoke her, 222.Influence of her example, 228.Popes thwarted the operations Maryland, home of religious libof, 295.Popes protected fugitives from,erty, 272.Mass, sacrifice of, 349.296.Invocation of Saints, 181.Meaning of word, 354.What it is, 355.T AFAYETTE, friend of religiousApostolic origin of, 358.Sacrifice of thanksgiving andJJ liberty, 276.propitiation, 362.Latin, why Church uses, 375.Leibnitz, on confession, 414.On extreme unction, 439.Liberty, religious and civil, 264.Catholic doctrine as to, 265.Council of Toledo on religious,Ceremonies of, 372.Matrimony, sacrament of, 464.Christ s teaching as to, 467.Apostles teaching as to, 469.Indissoluble, 469.Missal, the, 373.266.Morality between Catholics andFenelon s letter on religious, 267. Protestants, relative, 421.The great theologian Becanus oil,269.Church defends civil, 270.NAPOLEON, why an enemy ofthe Church, 279.St. Ambrose champion of civil, Divorce of, 471.271.Maryland the only colony thattolerated religious, 272. PENANCE, divine institution of,385.Decree of General Assembly ofMaryland as to, 274.Distinguished Catholic defendersof, 276.Lights, use of, 379.Luther, sanctioned polygamy, 473.Persecution, Reformers instituted,286.Puritans instituted, 288.Ever- existing social, 289.Under Mary and Elizabeth, 300.Peter, primacy of, 117.First Bishop of Rome, 130.MAGNA CHARTA, work of Pius IX., 178.Catholics, 272.Pope, supremacy of, 132.Mary (the Blessed Virgin), divinematernity of, 198.The world converted by emissaries of, 139.

! Saints,480 INDEX.Pope, relations between GeneralCouncils and, 153.Temporal power of, 162.Power, how the Popes acquiredtemporal, 162.Validity and justice of Pope stempo-al, 1G9.Pope s use of, 170.Purgatory, 248.St. Paul s teaching concerning,250.Puritans, intolerance of, 275.Priesthood, dignity of, 440.Titles of, 444.Obligations of, 449.Primacy, 117.Proofs from Old Testament of.118.Proofs from political and socialeconomy, 119.Effects of the absence of, 121.Promise of, 122.Fulfilment of promise of, 124.Exercise of, 126.Objections answered, as to, 128."DEFORMATION, mode of effect-J& ing true, 47.Reformers, true, 48.False, 49.Rome, Peter first Bishop of, 130.What the Popes have done for,176.Rousseau, on confession, 414.SACRAMENTS, the seven, 304.Saints, invocation of, 182.Saints, Scripture teaching regarding, 184.Assist us by prayers, 186.we are remembered by, 183.We do not dishonor God by invoking, 193.Sanctity, motives of, 37.Fruits of, 42.Means of, 40.Occasional scandals do not impairthe Church s, 47.Sects, origin of various Protestant,64.Tabular statistics regarding, 67.Sin, original, 305.Power conferred by Christ of remitting, 390.Teaching of the Fathers, as toremission of, 393.Supremacy, of Pope, 132.Historical evidence of Pope s,133.Early Fathers declare Pope s,137.Ecumenical Councils declarePope s, 138.Striking historical point as to,139.extreme, 437.UNCTION,Apostle St. James and the earlyFathers enjoin, 437.Unity, see Church.Not impaired by doctrinal definitions, 30.VESTMENTS, use of, 382.Virginity, Christ s predilectionfor, 454.Voltaire, on confession, 414.W ATER, HOLY, use of, 372.THE END.

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"This"We"To""has"Faith of Our FathersOpinions of the Press."This work has become so widely known, and has received somany and such high commendations, that it seems needless to speakeither of its scope and plan or of its merits. The copy before us hasmarked upon its title "55th thousand." In addition to thepagenumber of copies disposed of in this country, it is in great request inGreat Britain, Ireland, and Oceanica. It is a plain, practical andirenical exposition and vindication of the principaltenets of theCatholic Church, written in simple, lucid style, and animated throughout by a spirit of gentleness and true Christian charity which makesit attractive even to those who are hostile to Catholicity."Catholic Standard."Thepopularity of this exposition of the Catholic faith by thevenerable Archbishop of Baltimore is attested by the fact that this isthe eleventh edition and fifty-fifth thousand of the volume,written in a candid and unpolernical vein, and sets forth in a clear andsimple manner main tr. principles of the Catholic Church, and the:arguments for their Providence Journal.authenticity."is a new and revised edition of Archbishop Gibbons greatwork He has added to the original one beautiful chapter which,say* he, it is hoped, will not be less acceptable to his readers thanthe other portions of the work." Indeed, it is not. As the worknow stands it is one of the best of its kind ever placedbefore anypublic, and the magnificentsale of 50,000 copies already attainedis a proof of its popularity. The good that it may effect is incalculable, and our readers can aid by purchasing the book and masteringits arguments for use in the future or else it into the hands ofputtingwell-meaning though non-Catholic friends." Western Watchman.are pleased though not surprisedto learn that 50,000 copieshave already been sold. The sale should double in twelve months,for to know the book is to wish to have it ever at hand, and that is impossible if you have any number of earnest non-Catholic friends, except you purchase the work by the dozen. We do not hesitate to designate the Faith of Our Fathers as the completes!, most compact andpoetical work of its class in the "-Cath.English language.Universe.the sincere Catholic and inquiring Protestant, this plain exposition of the mob, important and controverted Catholic isdogmas aninvaluable aid. It seems to have been written mainly for Protestantreaders, but in view of its many excellencies, we have no doubt thatit will continue to find itsway into every Catholic household...Niagara Index.Fifty-five thousand copies of this work have been sold within thepast two years and the demand continues. It is the book for Catholicsand Protestants. Any Protestant reading it attentively must be convinced of hisCatholic Columbian.error.""The llth Edition of this book has justbeen issued, and has beenenlarged by the addition of a chapter on the prerogatives and sanctityof the Blessed Virgin. Th also been translated into Ger">okman It is one of the most popularbooks that has been issued fromthe Catholic press for a long time." Boston filot.MURPHY & Co. Publishers and Catholic Booksellers, Baltimore.

"THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Notices of the llth Revised and Enlarged Edition."It is written in a genial, pleasant style, and abounds in illustrations from history, and, with all, is very free from the controversialspirit which is calculated to arouse antagonism. It has the appearanceof being written more for Protestant ears rather than for those ofCatholic faith. It would be well for controversialists in religionalways to remember what the author of the present volume seems sofully to have understood, that denunciation and sharp retort, admissible in politics,is never in place in religious discussion. While wemay not agree with the tenets of the book, we will freely accord to thediscussion upon its pages Christian courtesy, plausible argument andlearning."Chicago Inter Ocean.It was worthy of the august prelate, who occupies the first See ofthe United States, the Most Rev. James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, to offer to the American public a complete exposition as wellas a victorious defence of Catholic doctrine; and he has done so, notonly with the authority of his high position, but also with a remarkable talent, that has had its influence on the minds of believers as wellas of doubters and hesitators. Hence, hi 3 book has had already avery wide circulation. The Faith of Our Fathers is a work still new,and has already attained a circulation of more than 50,000, and it isstill in demand. In one word, it is the greatest success of its kindthat we know in the United States." N. 0. Propagateur Catholique."A new edition of Archbishop Gibbons very popular volume,1The Faith of Our Fathers, has just been issued. It is revised andenlarged by a fuller development of some points to the extent ofabout fifty pases. Fifty thousand copies of the former editions havebeen sold. This is looked on as a surprising success ; and, comparedwith the success of other excellent volumes of Catholic instruction, itis a grand success. But what an idea does this give of the reading ofthe far larger part of Catholics in the United States! Some peopletalk of six or eight millions of Catholics in the United States. Nodoubt there are at least that many who have been baptized as Catholics, and by Catholics. But how many of them know their catechism ?How many of them know enough of their religionto take any interestin understanding its doctrines; much less in spreading them. Theyhave gone to the Public Schools; and they read the daily papers, andthey are smart in finance or in trade. But the finest Catholic readingis, for the vast majority of them, as uninteresting as strange as ifCatholic books or journals were written in Syriac. That comes ofnot sending children to schools where they are thoroughly instructed1in their religion."A . F. Freeman s Journal."Tothe Roman Catholic it affords a simple expositionof his faith,and gives the reasons for many of its practices.The general readerdesirous of getting a fair exposition of Catholic doctrine from a Catholic stand-point will find it in this little volume plainly and clearlystated. The seeker after truth will think it only reasonable to take aview of that doctrine from the pen of one of the ablest professors ofthe Roman Catholic faith on this continent rather than from an unfriendly, and probably a prejudiced, source. St. John (JV. B.) Globe.MURPHY & Co. Publishers and Catholic Booksellers, Baltimore.

BX 1751 .65 1880ShCGibbons, James,Cardinal, 1834-1921.The faith of our fatherssbeing a plainAJY-5462 (mcab)

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