The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

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.